dish : french onion soup

I'm gonna start this off by saying "I really love soup"..of all varieties. I'll never forget my 15 year old self serving up chilled carrot soup to my pizza/fast food loving family. They weren't as thrilled as I anticipated, not my audience I guess haha. I've tried a few different french onion versions in my time..and never really liked them. I'm not a huge fan of brown gravy beefy type things. I'm more into delicate flavors, and I always try to make my food more "fancy." With that said, I'm obsessed with this soup now! Definitely a favorite comfort food at the moment. I'm the worst at measuring and following directions, I usually just toss things in all willy nilly. It drives Luke crazy haha, but I finally wrote down my steps and ingredients so I don't wing it every time. He can't really complain, somehow it always turns out delicious. Luke request this soup at least a few times a month, hopefully you'll love it too!

makings:

3 tbsp butter, 3 tbsp olive oil
4-6 onions(medium) or 3 large - slivered
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2-4 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp each salt and pepper
6 beef bouillon cubes and 6-8 cups water(or 8 cups vegetable broth)

Topping- french bread, swiss cheese or muenster! I'd put muenster on anything.

 prep:

rinse onions in cold water to reduce tears 

cut in half and slice into thinnish slivers

steps:

Melt butter/olive oil and garlic in a large pot. Add slivered onions and set to low, leaving them to cook for 20 minutes. Stir and sprinkle in brown sugar. Increase heat to medium and brown for 20 more, stirring occasionally. Add everything else,  pour in the broth and combine. Throw on a lid, switch to medium low and let simmer for 15 minutes.

push onions up around sides to get a nice crust

Toast sliced french bread topped with cheese in the oven, serve on top of soup. Enjoy!

The perfect cheery comfort on a cold day!

dish: eggnog crepes & sugarplum syrup

Luke loves eggnog and always brings home a little carton every holiday..he ends up only drinking a tiny bit. It's a little too rich for me on it's own so I wanted to make something that just has some of that delicious flavor, these crepes are perfect for Christmas morning!

eggnog crepes

makings:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup eggnog

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons butter, melted

steps:

In a medium mixing bowl, stir above ingredients together until combined and smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter into the pan, using about 1/4 cup for each crepe. Quickly tilt the pan in a circle so the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown/slightly crispy. Shake it loose and flip it over in the air if you've got the wrist skills. If not, turn it over with a spatula and cook the other side.

 Pour a bit of the sugarplum syrup in the center and fold adding a line on top,sprinkle with powdered sugar. Yum!


sugarplum syrup

Makings:

1 cup fruit(I used canned plums)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

Steps:

Cook fruit with sugar and water until thick. Smash fruit while cooking.

For a thin syrup - press through a strainer.

Serve warm. Store in the refrigerator.

Great on eggnog pancakes too!

Merry Christmas Eve!

dish: hearty chili & corn cakes

Chili is one of my favorite cold weather foods and this one is delicious and super easy. With the corn cakes it's the best blend of slightly sweet/ spicy and the perfect cozy dish. I hope you love it too!

 Chili

Makings:

1 tsp. olive oil

1 pound ground turkey(or meatless!)

1 hot (or mild) chili seasoning packet*

1 (28 ounce) can stewed(or crushed) tomatoes

1 (16 ounce) can light red kidney beans - drained

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans

2 (10  ounce ) cans diced tomatoes(with green chillies)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. sugar

Steps:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the turkey and cook until evenly browned.

Mix in all of the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes.

*or make your own chili seasoning!

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Meanwhile get to work on these!

Corn Cakes

Makings:

1 package corn muffin mix(prepare as shown on box)

1 (10 oz) can sweet corn

1/4 cup chopped jalapenos

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 375

1. Prepare the corn muffin mix as shown on the box(mine took 1 egg/1/3 cup milk) Add the can of corn and jalapenos. Grease mini loaf pans or a muffin tin/use liners,fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and then turn out on a rack.

We found our mini loaf pan set at a thrift store for a few dollars and I use it for everything..banana bread,meatloaf,all things loaf really. I love them!

Serve the chili with the corn cake on the side or eat them together in the bowl like we do, so good!



dish : pecan n' pumpkin pie recipe



I had a slice for breakfast,it's that good. Pie is appropriate at any time of day..the perfect food.

Makings:

2 pie crusts

(Filling)

1 29oz can of pumpkin

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

3 eggs

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup brown sugar

(Topping)

2 tbsp. flour

4 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbsp. cold butter cut into small pieces

1 bag(2 cups) chopped pecans

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 425

Mix filling ingredients together until smooth, pour into the 2 pie crusts. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile combine the topping ingredients to create the streusel, stirring in the nuts last.  Remove the pies and reduce the heat to 350. Sprinkle each with the topping and continue baking 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center of each pie comes out clean. Cool.

The result is a creamy pumpkin pie topped with buttery caramelized pecans..so good! I've nicknamed it the flea market pie, the topping reminds me of those heavenly Cinnamon sugar roasted pecan stands. Baking in the fall/winter is one of my favorites things, along with watching Pushing Daisies. I'm going to attempt to make a Pear/Gruyere pie next!