A new banner for my cube at work

I have a "Hanging on a Star" hanger at work outside my cube that I have made different banners for throughout the year..I didn't have a February/Valentine's Day one, so Sunday afternoon and today in the afternoon, I made one up finally.  I will be anxious to hang it tomorrow and take down my snowman one for January..I am anxious for warmer weather and spring to come and this might help seeing it's fresh colors and hope for just that!  I think it turned out pretty..

Chocolate Fondue

At work we celebrate all the birthdays in one given month, and this month was my assignment to do the "treats".  I have been thinking about chocolate covered strawberries and suddenly remembered the chocolate fondue from my "hay days" and went for it for the party.  I found a recipe online and it was easy, chocolately and creamy, so am passing it on.  You can have whatever you like for "dippers".  I had pretzels, almond biscotti, marshmallows, fresh pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, clementine sections, and bananas, but angel food wedges, pound cake, and whatever else you like is an option. I also added some sliced almonds, coconut and sprinkles for adding onto the chocolate.  It seemed like everyone liked it and it was a good conversation dessert.  We were so busy eating that we forgot the birthday song! 

Here is the fondue recipe:

in a heavy saucepan-medium sized, combine the following ingredients:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 Tablespoons butter
1 (14 ounce sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
2 Tablespoons water

Over medium heat melt the above, then add 1 tsp vanilla. 

Serve warm..store leftovers in the fridge.  can be used over ice cream or cake also.

Mongolian Beef Noodle Bowl

One of my coworkers has a daughter who enjoys cooking a lot and sent this recipe to her to try because she liked it so much.  I finally tried it tonight and agree that it's as good as any takeout from a restaurant...very flavorful and pretty fast to bring together.  I makes a family sized portion, or lots of leftovers for lunches and you could substitute the beef for thin sliced chicken or pork and it would be just as good. 

Here is how I made it:

8 ounces of either rice noodles, pad thai noodles or bean thread noodles (I used the bean thread noodles because I had them).  Prepare per package directions. set aside

In a small bowl mix:
1/2 cup low sodium Tamari or soy sauce..I used half and half because I had both.
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes
and set aside.


Heat a wok or a large skillet with 1/2 Tablespoon of vegetable oil.  add fairly small portions of
1 lb of stir fry meat, or a flank steak sliced very thin against the grain, lightly salt and pepper and brown and remove from skillet. Then add 1/2 Tbsp more of oil and do more batches, until all is browned and a little underdone.  set aside.

Add 1/2 Tablespoon  of oil again and 5 green onions that have the green parts chopped into 2 inch pieces and the white parts into 1/2 inch pieces.  Then add 3 cups of coleslaw mix and stir until cabbage is starting to wilt.  Add 3 minced garlic cloves and about 1/4 tsp powdered ginger or 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger.  Stir fry another 30 seconds. 

Add the prepared sauce, meat and prepared noodles.  I cut mine a little for easier eating, but not too small.  sprinkle a little more chopped green onion on top for a garnish or even crushed peanuts would be good.

Porcupine Meatballs

Joe requested I make porcupine meatballs for supper tonight and I was glad for the suggestion.  I had a pound of hamburger thawed and sort of in a dead zone in my mind what to make with it.  I found this recipe a lot of people liked and just changed it by adding an egg as some people said they kind of fell apart for them.  Don't overcook them..the sauce will all disappear and that is good with the potatoes..(I made mashed potatoes and peas and carrots and some segmented grapefruit to go with them)  Here is the recipe: I will definitely made them again.

PORCUPINE MEATBALLS:
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice (I used white)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb ground beef (I used lean)
1 egg

Mix these ingredients together.  In a large fry pan, heat 2 Tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil up on medium high.  Form the meat mix into 1-1/2 inch meatballs (I used a small cookie scoop).  The mixture will be wet, but the meatballs will be fine)..brown on one side and then flip them over with a Tablespoon carefully to the other side and brown lowering heat if too hot. 

In a medium sized bowl mix together the following ingredients:
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Pour over the meatballs and slowly simmer for 1 hour. 

Homemade Bird Treat

Dave cut out an article on making a homemade bird treat because he knows how I like to watch the birds outside my kitchen window and other critters that come to the feeder.  It was in the Minneapolis newspaper.  I decided to make it today, but only half a batch to see if they actually like it and it doesn't go to waste.  It's got a lot of kind of non-cheap ingredients.  It's in the freezer right now.  I froze my half batch in 3 takeout style coffee cups that filled them about half full and I'm going to cut slots down the sides once they freeze and punch holes in the top with a string to hang them on the feeder with.  I will post a picture once I've got one of them up.  Here's the recipe:

HOMEMADE BIRD TREAT:
(full recipe as written by the Star Tribune)

1 cup butter or lard-I used butter because I didn't have lard in the house
1 cup peanut butter
1-1/2 cups sunflower seeds-whole
1-1/2 cups chopped nuts-I used peanuts and broke them up
1-1/2 cups cornmeal
1-1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup sugar

Mix dry ingredients and set aside.  Melt shortening/butter and peanut butter together, stirring until combined.  Pour melted mix into dry mix and stir until combined.  Press into containers and freeze for 2 hours before filling feeders, then refreeze the rest.  (This is a deluxe mix, so you might want to portion it out slowly)

Old Fashioned Gingerbread

I haven't made gingerbread for years, but had some whipping cream to use in my fridge and for some reason I thought of gingerbread..it was cold and snowy so maybe that was what did it..anyway, I mixed some up tonight for an after dinner treat.  It is fast to make, although takes an hour to bake, but the house smells so good when it's baking it's worth the wait to eat it.  One nice thing about gingerbread, I think it tastes better warm..it brings out the spices so nicely.  Then add a big blob of sweetened, vanilla laced whipped cream and it's perfect around Christmas.  Here's the recipe:

OLD FASHIONED GINGERBREAD:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour a 9 x 9 cake pan.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup hot water

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Beat in the egg and mix in the molasses.
2.  add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves.  Blend into the creamed mixture and stir the hot water, stirring until it's a smooth creamy batter.  Pour into the prepared pan. 
3.  Bake 1 hour in preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool until slightly warm and serve with whipped cream. 

Leslie's Homemade Caramels

I need to get out today and do a little shopping, but since it's so dang cold and not sure about the roads yet since we had a pretty big snow last night, I decided to make a half batch of homemade caramels for Christmas. Granddaughter Alana really likes them and I didn't make them last year. It's a lot of time, but I really like these because they are buttery and have a good vanilla taste. The whole batch is huge and I didn't feel like wrapping them up for hours since Alana is gone this weekend to help me! Thank goodness there is always some left on the spoon and kettle to sample while they cool!

Here is the recipe (I got it from my friend, Leslie..she used to give me little gift bags of them that I'd hoard for myself before I finally asked for the recipe!)

Leslie's Homemade Caramels: Just half the ingredients if you want a smaller size)

In a LARGE heavy kettle combine:
4 cups white granulated sugar
4 cups light Karo syrup
Bring to a boil over medium heat until a candy thermometer registers 245 degrees, stirring frequently.

ADD:
1 cup butter until melted.
Then slowly add 3 cans Carnation evaporated milk so it doesn't curdle.
Bring to a rapid boil at medium-high heat up to 240 degrees stirring constantly so bottom doesn't scorch.  This is a slow process, but be patient so they harden correctly.  It's nice to have a backup stirrer or a stool to sit on while doing this stage.

Then remove from heat and add:
1/4 tsp salt
2 teaspoons good vanilla

Pour into a PARCHMENT papered jelly roll pan to completely cool before cutting and wrapping into caramels.