Can You Tell I'm Off Work Today ?

Wow, can you believe it, I am back again !!!

As I was reading the Recipe Curio blog a few minutes ago I came across a chicken casserole recipe that reminded of one I made years ago. Granted, it is one of those oh so NOT politically correct "cream of something" casseroles, but it is full of great flavor and gives us that comfort food feel that we need on these cold windy days.
Hope you enjoy!

Nacho Doritos Chicken Casserole

1 bag Nacho flavor Doritos (or Fritos, but they are boring)
3-4 chicken breasts
1 ½ cups chicken stock
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
½ cup sour cream
1 can green chilies - chopped
1 small onion - chopped fine
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 Tbsp. chili powder (or to taste)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. pepper
2 cups grated Taco seasoned cheese
Cook chicken in salted water (or Kitchen Basics stock) in *pressure cooker about 20-25 minutes.
Lightly spray a 9x13 inch pan with Pam. Cover the bottom with ¾ bag of Doritos.
Remove chicken and strain stock. Remove the skin and bones and dice chicken into small pieces.
Combine 1 ½ cup of the strained stock, chicken soup and celery soup, sour cream, green chilies, onion, minced garlic, chili powder, brown sugar, and pepper in a sauce pan. Cook over medium heat 10 minutes, stirring as needed.
Remove from heat. Layer diced chicken over Doritos and top with soup mixture. Sprinkle grated cheese over top and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and crumble the remaining Doritos over top. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes.

So, until tomorrow.........
S~~~

Sitting In The Bad Blogger Corner

OK, I know, I know............................. I am officially the worlds worst blogger. I mean to be better, really I do, I aspire to be Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman. We all know how good she is, 4 kids that are home schooled, a ranch to work, a New York Times # 1 best selling cookbook, appearances on national television and cooking meals every night that she is home............ among other obligations I'm sure and she still finds time to blog everyday. Not just blog but include incredible photography and the world's best recipes.

Anyway, I just have a lack of inspiration at the moment. That said, I do have some fun things coming up that I will be blogging about so bear with me.

On a quick note, I came across a really cute blog the other day and the nostalgia has held me captive. I am a sucker for old hand written recipes and clippings and this blog is just like pilfering in my Mother's recipe drawer, minus all the yucky molded jello stuff. She scans in the vintage clippings and hand written recipes as well as types them out for easy reading.
Check out: www.recipecurio.com
Let me know if you have as much fun there as I have!!

So, until tomorrow...................
S~~~

Welcome Back, Lacy Jay and Bashar

Welcome back, Your dreams were your ticket out.
Welcome back, To that same old place that you laughed about.
Well, the names have all changed since you hung around.
But those dreams have remained and they're turned around.
Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya)
Back here where we need ya (Here where we need ya)
Yeah, we tease her a lot cause we've got her on the spot.
Welcome back, Welcome back, Welcome back...............................

Theme from Welcome Back, Kotter by John Sebastian (with liberties)

I can't help but think of Lacy when I hear the theme song from one of my favorite 70s television shows. She couldn't wait to leave Marion for college, then onto the big city of Philadelphia. Slowly, somewhere along the line she realized that North Carolina really is home. The dream is to be back in Raleigh.

In the meantime, it has been the most incredible time having Lacy and Bashar (Scooter, Bo and Mason too) here with us on a bi-monthly schedule. We have always been close, but it has been such a joy to share a home day to day with our "grown up" daughter. Realistically, she hasn't lived with us since that sad (for Ronnie and I, not Lacy, she loved every minute of her time in Raleigh) Saturday in August when we drove out of Wake County and left her behind at NC State. After graduation, she stayed in Raleigh until she and Bashar moved to Pennsylvania in 2007.

Even though this arrangement is short lived, probably just until June or July, I plan to make the most of every minute. As my friend Cyndi said, this is bonus time most parents never get.

So, March (as well as May and possibly July) is our month, and this Mother could not be happier!!

So, until tomorrow.........,
S~~~

It's a Conundrum

According to Webster: A conundrum is a confusing, perplexing or awkward predicament.

Well, maybe, but no less intriguing at this point. Let me start at the beginning...............

Yesterday I had a client ask if I could provide 35 bottles of Conundrum to be placed in her guests rooms when they arrive in April. I assured her that I could, set myself a reminder to take care of this in late March and didn't think a lot about it. That is until I opened up the Pioneer Woman's site and read "what would life be like without Conundrum wine?" ummmm, maybe we are on to something here. Let me back up here a bit and remind you that I am the "instant gratification girl" personified. Remember when I told you about those little signs in the grocery store that say "new item" might as well have my name on them? Yeah, well.... even though Buncombe county was under a blizzard warning yesterday I had to make a least one stop to try to locate Conundrum. No such luck. Today I check their website to see that Ingles on Merrimon carries it, so off to Merrimon Avenue after work , no luck. So, Lacy calls as I am driving home and I explain my obsession to find Conundrum and she says "Mom, don't you remember me asking you about that a few months ago, (I didn't), Kellie and Anderson (her friends from NCSU) rave about it all the time". Gee...... then later tonight Ragan calls and of course, I have to explain my new obsession to her too. When I say Conundrum, she gasp. Wouldn't you know she had it at a wine tasting last week and loved it!!! I am always to last to find out all the good stuff!!!

Let me assure that before this week is out I WILL have found Conundrum. It is now a mission. I will let you know if it is as good as my beloved Nobilo Sauvignon Blanc ($12). It is a bit pricier at around $22 but still less than my all time favorite Cakebread.

What is your Conundrum?

So, until tomorrow........,
S~~~

It's A Super Sunday

Weather you are a Saints or Colts fan, it is a Super Sunday. I really don't have a dog in this fight, I will be fine with either team winning. The Saints are the southern team, plus they deserve the win after Katrina, but then the Colts have Payton Manning..........


Truthfully, the Super Bowl is really all about the food anyway, isn't it? This is the day we get to eat "junque" food" all day and justify it. Pretty sweet if you ask me.


A multitude of circumstances have come together this year that have Ronnie and I celebrating Super Bowl Sunday here at home, just the two of us. I wanted to have some people over but after this lovely winter we have experienced no one in there right mind wants to traverse our driveway, so I didn't even ask. We had a couple of invitations, but Ronnie has put in a lot of hours this week and I knew he wouldn't be up for much. So, we are having out own Super Bowl party.



This afternoon I made the Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake. I haven't cut it just yet, but it smells wonderful.

Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever

FOR THE CAKE:
2 cups Flour
2 cups Sugar
¼ teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
2 sticks Butter
1 cup Boiling Water
½ cups Buttermilk
2 whole Beaten Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Vanilla
_____
FOR THE FROSTING:
½ cups Finely Chopped Pecans
1-¾ stick Butter
4 Tablespoons (heaping) Cocoa
6 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 pound (minus 1/2 Cup) Powdered Sugar

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt.
In a saucepan, melt butter. Add cocoa. Stir together.Add boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.
In a measuring cup, pour the buttermilk and add beaten eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.
While cake is baking, make the icing. Chop pecans finely. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat. Add the milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Stir together. Add the pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.
Cut into squares, eat, and totally freak out over the fact that you’ve just made the best chocolate sheet cake. Ever.

The rest of our spread looked something like this:

Union Square Bar Nuts*
Guacamole and Pita Chips
Sticky Chicken Bites
Creamy Beef Dip with Veggie Crackers
Oprah's Favorite Pomegranate Martinis*

Union Square Bar Nuts

2 1/4 cups assorted unsalted nuts
2 Tbsp. coarsely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. course sea salt
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter -melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spread nuts on a baking sheet. Toast in the oven until light golden brown, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the rosemary, cayenne, sugar, salt and melted butter.
Thoroughly toss the toasted nuts in the spiced butter and serve warm.

Oprah's Favorite Pomegranate Martinis

1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice
2 oz. Absolute Citron vodka
1 oz. Cointreau
Cup of ice
Splash of tonic water

Squeeze of lemon (optional)

Shake pomegranate juice, vodka and Cointreau in a shaker with ice, pour into chilled, sugar rimmed martini glasses. Top with a splash of tonic water and a lemon wedge.

Serves 2

So, until tomorrow.........

S~~~

Once A Month Cooking

Ronnie had to work today so I had a bit more time to piddle in the kitchen. I cleaned out my freezer and did some chores I had been putting off for a while. I found myself throwing away money from my freezer. I had let it get so full that I had forgotten what I had. That said,
I have a bit on an interest in the popular Once a Month Cooking method (OAMC).
I love to cook, but I hate to spend all night in the kitchen after working all day. Especially now that Lost and American Idol are back on. While the OAMC concept appeals to me, I also don't want to use an entire Saturday cooking and freezing portions. So, I asked my sweet sister in law, Karen, if she would be willing to take a vacation day off work and we could cook double batches all day and have plenty for both families meals for a month. So, we plan to take a leave day and cook sometime this month.
I have been researching OAMC recipes and have found some that I know would work well for us. I just need to make sure I have the proper type containers available. Any hint of freezer burn and it goes in the garbage here.

So, it you have any recipes for OAMC or suggestions for storage please, please share. I will let you know how our "cooking day" goes. Just to get you thinking along OAMC lines I am posting on of the recipes Karen and I will be making.

Zesty Pineapple Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Zesty Pineapple Glaze:
1 medium can pineapple tidbits
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. soy sauce

Preheat oven to 375F. Place chicken breast in freezer safe container. Brush each piece of chicken with melted butter, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Make glaze. Pour glaze over chicken. Freeze.
Remove chicken from freezer and place in refrigerator the day before to thaw.
On cooking day, bake in preheated 375* for 50-60 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and glaze is dark brown.

So, until tomorrow..........

S~~~

Getting Lost

Need I say more ????

What a perfect night for television, Lost and American Idol!!!

We will be snuggled up on the couch if you need us..............

So, Until Tomorrow..........
S~~~