Pumpkin Seeds

Several years back, I decided to roast the pumpkin seeds that we scooped out of the pumpkins we had bought in October. I was amazed at how awesome they were. There's not much to it. All you need is the pumpkin seeds, olive oil, salt, and aluminum foil. So, I'll do this post just a little differently, and just show the photos and tell you some tips that I do in preparing mine.

Start by scooping the innards together and loosening the seeds up. Carefully separate the seeds from the pumpkin.

I do a heavy wash on my seeds. I put them in a colander and rest that on a larger bowl. Fill it up and let them rest in the water occasionally agitating the seeds. Dump the water and do it again. This will help separate the pumpkin guts that are stuck to the seeds. I usually do this at least overnight. When I'm in a hurry, I will still do this at least three times.

Layer the seeds in a shallow pan. Normally I use a 9X13, but this year I had more seeds and ended up using and 11X17 (I think it is anyway). Just make sure you have enough side so that when you stir the seeds you're not knocking them out of the pan. Lightly drizzle them with oil and sprinkle with salt. Stir them to make sure they are all evenly coated. I bake mine at 300 degrees F, stirring every 10 minutes or so. I scrape the the edge in when stirring to make sure they cook evenly. And I taste test them for doneness. They need to have a little crack to them when tasted. 

I've had a lot of compliments on these, and my daughter and I both love them. If you try them, please let me know how you like them!

Corn Casserole

I've found quite a few good looking recipes in the newspaper's Parade section from each Sunday. Some I've tried, and some I'm still waiting for the opportunity. This is one, Dynasty Corn Pudding, I tried for a dinner for my mom a year or two ago, and it was such a hit, that I've made it several times since. In fact, I prepped it the other night for Thanksgiving dinner! It's not a terribly difficult recipe, and has a very good texture and flavor - one hint though, use a bigger casserole dish. If you use too small of one, the top cooks too much but the insides aren't set. I use a 9X13 pan for mine and it works great!

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted, melted butter

3 cups corn kernels (they call for fresh from 4-5 ears of corn, but I just buy the frozen bag)

2 eggs

8 oz (1 cup) sour cream

9 oz Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (again, most cheese comes in 8 ounce packs, so I use that and add about an ounce of whatever I've got in the fridge.)

1/2 cup cornmeal

4 ounce can of chopped green chilies

1/2 tsp salt (and I also add some pepper)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or Parmigiano-Reggiano)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. The recipe calls for buttering your dish, but I just use Pam and it works. Also, they call for a 2-quart casserole dish, and as I mentioned above, I couldn't get mine to set right, so I use a 9X13 pan).

In a blender or food processor, puree 1 cup corn kernels, eggs and melted butter.

In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients except Parmesan. Add pureed corn and mix well. 

Pour into dish and top with Parmesan. 

Bake for 30 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Cucumber Salad

Growing up many of my years in Germany, this was something I was exposed to quite frequently... but I wouldn't eat it. I didn't like cucumbers back then. So when I finally expanded my taste buds and added cucumbers, I started growing them in my garden - and then had to find new recipes to use them all! So I found this one German Cucumber Salad. It's very easy to make and is quite tasty. I added some parsley to my version as well.

2 large cucumbers

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp dill

1 tsp paprika

1-2 tsp parsley

Peel cucumbers and slice very thin. Place cucumbers in colander and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 15-30 minutes. Squeeze liquid out of cucumbers. Whisk remaining ingredients and pour over cucumbers. Set in fridge and marinate for at least an hour.

Focaccia

Mmmmmmmm bread... I couldn't imagine life without bread. But crazy enough, I really don't eat a lot of sandwiches. I like rolls and side breads rather than sandwiches. Enter focaccia. Made this lovely recipe with dinner the other night. OMG it was so good. I think I could have just eaten the bread and nothing else. I found this recipe on Pinterest: One Hour Skillet Focaccia. This recipe is quick and quite easy. If you are interested in trying your hand at some homemade bread, then this is a recipe you should try.

Bread
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp yeast
2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt

Topping
4 Tbsp butter, melted (3 Tbsp)
1.5 Tbsp parmesan (1 Tbsp)

1 tsp Italian seasoning (1/2 tsp)

Place water, sugar and yeast in bowl. Allow to rest until yeast proofs. This usually takes 5-10 minutes.

Add 1 cup of flour and salt and mix well.

Add oil (I use olive oil) and remaining flour slowly until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Heat oven to 220 degrees. When warmed up, turn it off and leave door closed.

Turn dough onto floured surface and turn several times until dough is smooth and not sticky anymore. Roll out dough to the size of your skillet.

Grease skillet, and place dough in it and stretch dough up the side.

Cover skillet with towel and place in warmed over for 20 minutes.

Remove skillet from the oven. Turn oven on to 400 degrees. Make indentions in dough using finger. Prepare topping while oven heats up. Melt butter in microwave in 10 or 15 second increments until melted. Let cool just a little and then add parmesan and seasoning. If you add the parmesan too quickly, it will melt and clump. I like my food a little bolder and a little spicier, so I increased the topping mixture. The number in parentheses above indicates original recipe amounts. Brush topping onto dough. If you want, you can also save some for when the bread comes out.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. With my crazy oven, I think it only took about 15 minutes. Serve, and trust me... ENJOY!!!!

Fried Chicken Tenders

While I am an Army brat, and did not grow up in the South, both of my parents were from the South, so you could definitely say my roots are Southern. That being said, what is more Southern than fried foods??? My dad always prepared the fried chicken when I was growing up, and I took his recipe and tweaked it a little, and now I use the same batter to make my fried chicken tenders. And they are sooooo good. I guess I'm partial, but I have had plenty of compliments on it, so I'm going with yummy! 

Chicken

Season all salt

Poultry seasoning

Black pepper

Tabasco sauce

Flour

Egg

Milk

I usually buy my chicken in the large bag of frozen breasts from Walmart, and then cut them when I want tenders. However your chicken starts, place the tenders in a Tupperware container side-by-side and evenly lightly coat one side with season all salt, black pepper and poultry seasoning. Take the Tabasco and dash liberally over the chicken ensuring that you hit each piece with a little. Put on the lid and SHAKE so that everything spreads out evenly all over the chicken. I then let mine marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours when possible before I cook them.

Next, prep your flour and egg mixture. I liberally salt and pepper my flour with season all salt and black pepper. Stir the flour to make sure everything disperses. The egg mixture is usually 2-3 eggs and a dash of milk.

Get your oil hot. You can use a deep frying pan or a deep fryer. Just make sure if you use a pan that it has sides high enough so that you don't splash oil and that the oil can be deep enough to reach about halfway up the chicken slices. I start my oil on med-high, and then usually turn it down to close to medium to make sure that the chicken cooks completely but the breading doesn't burn. Take each slice of chicken and dredge in flour. Then cover each slice completely with egg mixture, and then dredge with flour again.

Fry the chicken on each side for several minutes, until a nice golden brown.

Place chicken on paper towel to drain. Serve!

Carrot Cake

Growing up I always liked carrot cake, but I honestly never knew how good it could be until I found this recipe in Favorite Brand Name Bake Sale Cookbook and gave it a try. This recipe is soooo moist. Everyone who's tried it has loved it. I think one of the secrets to it is that I use about double the cinnamon that the recipe calls for.

Cake

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

3 cups shredded carrots

1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Icing

8 ozs cream cheese

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour bottom and sides of pan. Please note, if you use one 9X13, it makes the cake VERY thick, especially once you add the icing. I've made this cake with three 8- or 9-inch rounds, and this last time I made it with a 9X13 and an 8X8 and it came out rather perfectly. Next, shred the carrots.

Beat eggs and oil in large bowl.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

Gradually add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir until combined.

Add carrots and nuts and mix well.

Pour into prepared pans and bake 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

While cake is baking, start icing by placing butter and cream cheese into bowl to soften. Once cake is baked, let cool completely before icing. While cake is cooling, cream butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add powdered sugar and mix well after each addition. Frost the cake, and enjoy your first amazing bite of from scratch carrot cake!

Jeweled Grape Salad

Every once in a while, I'm able to talk my kiddo into joining me in the kitchen and helping with some recipes. There are a few items she's getting to the point of taking over - prepping our manicotti/stuffed shells, orange salad, and now we can add Jeweled Grape Salad. I actually didn't FIND this recipe to try on Pinterest. My mom made this several years ago and has made it a few times since, and my daughter LOVES it. But I couldn't find the recipe in my recipes, so I searched on Pinterest and found this one for Grape Salad. My daughter helped me with this last weekend for my mom's birthday party. I love when the kid joins me. It's so easy to make, and makes a nice addition to a dinner party.

2 lbs red grapes

2 lbs green grapes

8 oz cream cheese

8 oz sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup pecans or walnuts

First thing you have to do is separate the grapes. We used a colander to hold them. Wash them thoroughly.

We let them drip dry while she mixed up the creamy mixture. Initially, we just put all the main ingredients - cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla - together. Lesson learned... for a creamier mixture, use an electric mixer and cream the cream cheese. Then add the sour cream, vanilla and sugar, mix completely.

Once the mixture is prepared, take some paper towels and carefully dry the grapes and put in a bowl large enough to hold the grapes and allows room to stir them.

Add the cream mixture to the grapes and stir them gently, but completely, making sure all grapes are covered.

Finally, mix the topping together - brown sugar and the nuts. We transferred in layers the grape mixture with a thin layer of the topping to a bowl that we could seal, finishing with a slightly thicker layer on the top. Chill for an hour or two and serve!

Chili

While I do fix my chili year round, there is nothing quite as wonderful as a steaming bowl of chili on a cold winter day. It's taken my daughter a number of years to be able to tolerate the heat of my chili, but I suppose I've finally numbed her taste buds sufficiently because she no longer complains of it being "hot." lol I love this chili not only as just a bowl of chili, but it is a wonderful consistency to use for chili dogs or chili, chips, and cheese or Frito chili pie. You can use any type of peppers that you like, and I'm usually of the mind that the more the merrier.

2 lbs ground beef

3 15-ounce cans chili beans

3 15-ounce cans tomato sauce

2 packages Chili-O

Fresh peppers - jalapeno, Anaheim, cowhorn, cayenne, etc.

Chili seasoning, seasonall salt, cumin

I do all of the chili in the same pot. Brown the meat in your soup pot over medium-high. I season the ground beef with both seasonall salt and some chili powder.

Cut and de-seed the peppers while be meat is cooking. When there is only a bit of pink left in the meat, add the peppers. Please note, I use lean ground beef, so I do not drain the little bit of fat the remains. I believe that it adds great flavor back to the chili. If you are using a less lean meat selection, then you might want to drain at least some of the fat. Once the meat is fully cooked, add the Chili-O, chili beans, and tomato sauce. Add several dashes of cumin and additional chili powder. I do this to taste. The cumin adds a nice smoky flavor to the chili. 

Blend thoroughly and cook over medium-low heat for at least 20-30 minutes. If you have time to let it simmer longer, let it. The longer it simmers, the more the seasonings infuse the chili. Serve as desired!