Pecan Sandies

I wanted to share with you one of my mom's favorite cookies. 

One of them, mind you, cause she is a cookie monster!  She loves snacking on cookies...always has them in the house...but this one is a favorite.  Pecan Sandies!

She loves pecans.  Pecans, pecans, pecans.  Pecan pie, pecan bars, and pecan sandies!!  My uncle in Texas had a pecan tree and he would send us fresh pecans every year...heaven!  So mom knows pecans.  (In fact, she still sends me store bought pecans LOL!)

These cookies satisfy that certain craving she gets for something sweet.

So here's a tribute to one mom's favorite cookies.  Bake some and share them with your family and friends.  They will LOVE you!

These are simple to make...as there is only 6 ingredients.  Here we go.

In a large mixing bowl beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add your vanilla and salt.  Mix well.  Use good vanilla, it will make a difference in the taste of your cookie!

With the mixer going, slowly add the flour.  Mix until well combined.

  

Fold in chopped pecans.  Ruff chop is good.

Dough will appear crumbly.  Pull it together with your hands.

Mike dough balls of 1 1/2" round and place them on a cookies sheet about 2" apart.

Flatten the balls slightly.

Bake about 13 min.  Watch them closely!  They will burn...trust me!

Super duper easy....super duper tasty!!! YUMM!

Pecan Sandies

Ingredients

1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 c golden brown sugar

1 3/4 t vanilla extract

1/4 t salt

1 c all purpose flour

1 c pecans, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and salt. Mix well.  With mixer on low, gradually add flour, beating just until combined. Fold in pecans.

Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls, and place on two baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Lightly flatten each ball.

Bake until cookies are golden brown, 13 - 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and cool.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

It's berry season!!!

Here in California we are BIG on berries.  This weekend is the...

2011 California Strawberry Festival

Saturday and Sunday, May 21st & 22nd, 2011

10:00am to 6:30pm
Strawberry Meadows of College Park
3250 South Rose Avenue in Oxnard


The California Strawberry Festival celebrates the region’s rich agricultural heritage while raising funds for numerous Southland charities. Since its inception, over $3 million dollars has been collected to benefit others. Twenty-four companies harvest and cool more than 207,646 tons of sweet berries in the area from 11,538 acres with annual revenues topping $300 million to ship them worldwide from the region, known as California’s Strawberry Coast.

Ranked among the top Festivals in the nation. Since 1984, Festival guests have enjoyed award-winning attractions, interactive exhibits, gooey contests, the hottest names in entertainment, the largest collection of Fine Arts & Crafts with 200+ booths, and an unbelievable assortment of delicious strawberry foods and beverages. The Strawberry Promenade offers cooking demonstrations and presentations, Strawberryland For Kids boasts free rides, puppet shows, and more.

So if you are in the area try to go to this great festival!



In honor of strawberries I've brought you this great smoothie recipe.  MGG and I love smoothies...don't you?  He says that I make the best smoothies!  He can't seem to get the right balance or consistency down.  I must say I do make a MEAN smoothie!

I find that I make them all summer long while we have an abundance of fruit.....think I'm becoming a smoothie junkie! 

Who needs to go buy a smoothie when you can make healthy, creamy, real fruit smoothies at home!!!  Go make one now...

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Serves 2

1 individual container of vanilla lite yogurt

1 small to medium banana

1/3 c 2% milk

6 medium hulled strawberries

1 cup ice cubes

Place ingredients in blender, putting the liquid ingredients if first.  Blend on high until smooth and all ice and fruit is crushed.  Serve.

 

 

YUM!!

 

 

Great Tips:

Freezing berries for year-round use…

The best method for freezing is first cleaning, hulling, and then pulsing the berries in a blender. By pulsing the berries, you have a more chunky texture. Add a tablespoon of sugar to each blender portion to prevent the pale pink color of the thawed berries. Pour this mixture into sandwich-sized plastic bags and freeze, placing flat in freezer. As needed, open the bags, break off a piece of the frozen product, reseal the bag and replace in freezer. The frozen section can be thawed for use on waffles, meringues, ice cream or in smoothies.

Sprinkle sugar over the berries once thawed to prevent pale pink coloration and maintain ruby color.

Strawberry fields forever...

Fried Rice

Don't you just love going to a Chinese Restaurant and ordering Fried Rice?
Doesn't everyone?

Here's a simple recipe that will allow you to forget the takeout and make this classic dish at home.  What gives it that wow factor?  The combination of flavors that you add by using this unique sauce.  It turned out awesome!

We served it with my tasty Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs.  You can link to that recipe by clicking on the title.  You can certainly serve this with a multitude of stir fry dishes as well.

So go make some Fried Rice you'll love it!

Fried Rice

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 T chicken broth

1 T rice wine vinegar

½ T low sodium soy sauce

¼ t salt

½ t sesame oil

1/8 t black pepper

1 T canola oil

2 eggs

1 c of vegetable mix, asparagus, corn, and carrots (fresh or frozen)

Combine chicken broth, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sale, sesame oil, and pepper in a small bowl.  Set aside.

In a wok or large skillet, add oil and heat over medium high heat.  Add egg and stir fry until scrambled.  Add vegetables and stir fry until cooked crisp tender.  About 4-5 min.    Add rice and stir fry until heated about 2-3 minutes.

Stir liquid and add to the rice, tossing to coat evenly.  Serve.

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

MGG and I love to grill whenever we can.  We had planned on a nice grill the other day and then it decided to rain.

Not going to stop us though!  We brought the grill inside!  Grilling on the stove top with a great grill pan is a great way to go!  It's quick and easy, doesn't taste quite the same..but you get the drift!

MGG and I love to cook together.  He's never really cooked a wide variety of food but he's a quick learner and a great sous chef!

Here's what we came up with.  We love kabobs, all types of meat and flavors.  It allows for great creativity.  When I would visit my sister when she lived in Maui, we would always go to Azeka's Market and pick up some chicken to make kabobs.

So I wanted to recreate the prominent Hawaiian and Asian flavors that bring back such great memories, in this dish.  So we went with pineapple for the tropical feel and an Asian marinade for the chicken, along with vegetables that complimented the theme.  

This recipe is super easy and yummy as heck! 

Let's create this:

Cut your chicken breasts, or thighs if you prefer, into chunks.

In a plastic bag place your minced garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice, teriyaki sauce, olive oil, worcestershire sauce, and salt & pepper.  Mix well.  This is your marinade.  Add your chicken to the bag and marinate in the frig for 1 hour.

While this is happening you should soak your wooden skewers in water, if using wooden ones.  This keeps them from burning. 

Assemble your kabobs.  Start and end with a cherry tomato.  Next add a piece of chicken followed by a some pineapple.  Add a mushroom, another piece of pineapple and then some more chicken.  The order does not matter, you can create a pretty kabob to suit your taste.

Cook the kabobs over medium high heat.  We used a double grill pan on the stove top and that worked out perfectly. 

Make sure to cook them until the chicken is completely done.  About 4 minutes per side, or more if you chicken is really thick.

That's it...really simple but oh so tasty!

Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Pinch pepper

Pinch salt

1 pound chicken breasts, cut in to chunks

Fresh Mushrooms

Cherry tomatoes

Pineapple chunks

Directions:

Rub your indoor or outdoor grill rack with oil.  If using an indoor grill preheat grill pan to medium-high heat, and for the outdoor grill bring the temperature up to medium high.

In a large re-sealable plastic bag, combine the garlic, soy sauce, lemon juice, teriyaki sauce, olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, and salt. Add your chicken and marinate for about 1 hour. 

Pull chicken out and discard the marinade.   Thread the chicken, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and pineapple onto the skewers. Note:  if using wooden skewers make sure to soak them for about 30 min so they will not burn while grilling. 

Cook over medium high heat until the chicken is done, turning once, about 4 minutes on each side. Serve with rice.

Cool Things

I wanted to share something pretty cool with you...

Doesn't everyone love Williams-Sonoma??  I know I do.
They have great products, wonderful cooking demonstrations and technique classes...

and their recipes are AWESOME!

So Williams-Sonoma was kind enough to give me a little widget to share with you.  It's a Williams-Sonoma recipe of the day!

If you look to the right of this post right under my "About Me" section you will see it!  Each day they add a new recipe to the roll and you can scroll through them, backwards and forward drooling as you go.

Once you find one you like you just click on it and it will take you to that recipe so you can copy or print it out.

I've been eyeing the Cinnamon Sugar Pillows on there...might have to try that one!

It's that simple!

And it's all for you!!!

Isn't that cool???

Salisbury Steak in a Mushroom Gravy

Who doesn't love comfort food?

Sometimes comfort food is just what the doctor ordered...this dish is fits the bill. 

This is a recipe from way back.  My mom used to make this when I was growing up.  I also just learned that this was also a favorite of my Grandma and Grandpa's.  Mom has told me stories of them enjoying this dish so much that it makes me feel more comfort knowing they loved it so much.

It's pretty much all about the gravy.  The gravy is the BOMB!  So if you don't like mushrooms, leave them out, but make the gravy...you'll love me for it!
So here's an ode to Grandma and Grandpa Landon, and their love of Salisbury Steak in a Mushroom Gravy!


First, combine the ground sirloin, pepper, salt, and garlic.  Make patties, and place them in a heated skillet over medium high heat.  Cook about 4 minutes per side.

Remove from pan and keep warm.

Add butter to skillet and sliced mushrooms.  Saute 4 minutes until softened. 

Stir wine to the pan.  Cook 2 minutes. 

Stir beef broth and Wondra together.  Add to the skillet. 

Bring to a boil.  Cook for 5 minutes until reduced slightly and thickened.

Add patties back to the pan.  Add vinegar.  Cook for another 2 minutes.

Serve patties with mushrooms and sauce on top.

Oh boy!  Add a little mashed potatoes and some green beans...comfort galore!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for lovin' this dish...cause I love it too!

Salisbury Steak in a Mushroom Gravy
4 servings

1 pound ground sirloin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 clover of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup dry red wine
1 1/4 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or Wondra
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Combine beef, pepper, salt, and garlic. Shape into 4 patties. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Add patties; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned.  Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Melt butter in pan. Add mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes. Stir in wine cook 2 minutes. Combine broth and flour; add to pan, and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes or until thick. Add patties and vinegar to pan; cook 2 minutes.  Serve patties with mushrooms and sauce over them.


Linked To:  Hammock Tracks: Ground Beef Blog Hop