Simple Yet Gourmet

I have always had a soft spot for warm, soft, salty, chewy pretzels with cheese sauce.  I mean,  there is something so comforting about eating a freshly baked pretzel.  And the cheese sauce just puts it over the top.  Do you have to make the cheese sauce? No.  Will you be sad you didn't? Probably.  It seriously only takes about 5-10 minutes so you can make it while the pretzels are baking.   Speaking of baking/ making the pretzel... It starts out like any other roll recipe.  You add in your water, sugar, and yeast then let it sit for a bit.  Add a bit of melted butter, salt, and flour and keep mixing it up till it forms a nice, soft dough.  Tacky, but not so much that it sticks to your finger.  Here's where it takes a different path from traditional rolls.  Instead of waiting for the bread dough to double, you only need to let it rest for 10-20 min.  Meanwhile, get the soda and water boiling.  After they dough ha...

We were invited to a Halloween party and asked to bring a finger food to share.  Normally I would go the sweet route but this time I decided to make a savory snack.  I created this cheese ball out of a memory of one I sampled a year or so ago.  The recipe is simple but was a big hit with the adults at the party!

     Ok, so we need to balance out the sweet stuff with a little healthy stuff!  I know it sounds strange, but my kids love hummus.  In fact it is one of their favorite snacks, besides just eating the beans from the can.  They love it with crackers, pretzel thins and pita bread.  It is a little expensive to buy so I thought I would give it a shot and make my own.  All you do it but all of the ingredients in a food processor and hit start, now that's easy!  The next combination I try will be using  garlic and roasted red pepper, or artichoke hearts and spinach  yum!      I like hint, save the juice from the canned beans to use to thin the hummus out.  I thought the recipe made it a little to thick, but adding some of the juice helped a lot!  I hope your family enjoys this as much as mine did!    

This wonderful recipe was passed onto me by my sister in law Summer.  After hearing all about it, I knew I had to give it a try.  With all the abundance of garden tomatoes and basil this was a wonderful side dish to my pesto dinner.  The kids and I said we could just eat this for dinner with a little salad and be happy, but Mike needs a little more.  You do need to play ahead because the tomatoes need time to marinate before you add it to the toasted baguette, but other than that, super easy.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!  Thanks Summer!

It's no secret that we LOVE Mexican food, OK so I love it more than Mike. But since I'm the chef, Mike has to eat a lot of Mexican. Before we were married Mike's idea of Mexican food was Taco Bell, poor boy! I have since opened his eyes to all kinds of Mexican food, and he actually likes it. We love to make breakfast burritos, Cafe Rio Salads and Honey Lime Enchiladas, but something was always missing. I would always serve diced tomatoes, but Mike always asked for some homemade Pico. Well, I found a recipe that I love and so does the rest of the family. I served this with a new soup recipe that I made, which was to die for, and they ended up eating the whole bowl of Pico with tortilla chips along with their soup. It works well as a garnish as well as a side with any Mexican dish you serve. With the garden tomatoes just about ready, what more could you ask for that homemade Pico de Gallo. Our family is not much into spicy things so I omitted the jalapeno and Tabasco sauce a...

Mike and I were invited to a Christmas party a few weeks back.  I was asked to bring an appetizer, which is not one of my specialties.  Not that I can make them, I just don't have a lot of recipes to pull from.  As I took my handy recipe book out I came across these fun and different appetizers.  They can be made ahead of time and are super easy to make.

For a fun twist on the usual classic chips and salsa, try this recipe out!  It is fresh, delicious, and comes together quickly.  The nice thing about this salsa is that it is very versatile.  You can use a variety of fruits, and berries- whatever you have on hand.  I used peaches, kiwis, strawberries, and canned pineapple.  Fresh pineapple would be amazing, but if you have a sensitive stomach like me, or if you are just in a bind, the canned stuff works just fine.  The salsa is great for dipping with these crispy cinnamon chips ,

This delicious dip is appropriately named since the first time I had this dip was indeed in Texas. I think this dip is perfect for summer!  It is served cold and it filled with good for you ingredients like black eye peas, shoe-peg corn, roma tomatoes, and avocados. You'll want to plan ahead with this dip because, while it comes together quickly, it is best after it has had time to marinate and chill in the fridge.  Enjoy!

One of my favorite restaurants is a placed called Rubio's. They serve warm refried beans with fresh chips along side their wonderful soft chicken tacos. The only problem I have, is it takes me about an hour to get there! So I found a recipe that I can make at home when I am craving those yummy beans

I love pesto in any form!  My other love is cheese.  When we had a Fondue party for a church function and this yummy dish was served, I was in heaven.  My friend Kristine was willing to share this gem with me, so I in turn will share it with you.  Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest, but the recipe is divine!  Instead of making my own pesto, I buy the fresh kind in the cheese section (right next to the Brie) at Sam's or Costco, easy, easy!  I serve it with bread, broccoli, carrots, pears and apples, but use your imagination and see what combinations you come up with!  It is a quick and easy recipe that your family and friends will love!

Pam and I had a wonderful time cooking together over Thanksgiving, so you will benefit from all the new recipes we decided to inflict upon our families! Our family tradition is to always have a bunch of appetizers in the early afternoon to hold us over until the turkey is done. Pam found this yummy cheese ball recipe to share, which was a hit! With all the holiday parties coming up I thought many of you might like to give this a try. This was a hit with everyone that day and my kids continued to eat it the next few days until it was gone. Enjoy, we did!

I was privileged to attend a fun 40th birthday party this past weekend for a good friend of mine. The party was held at a restaurant called Biaggi's. Before dinner was served they came around with some very tasty appetizers. They all were good, but the one I REALLY like was their Bruschetta. The tomato mixture was divine and they drizzles a balsamic glaze over the top! So of course I had to try and find the recipe and make it here at home, which I did! We had an Italian feast last night with this recipe as our appetizer. A lot of the ingredients you make ahead so when it com times to serve the dish it is very quick. For Pam and Summer I will be making this as one of our Thanksgiving appetizers, so don't make it! Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

As the summer comes to an end I leave you with one of my favorite summer treats. I have had this recipe for over 10 years and love it. It uses fresh tomatoes, peppers, cilantro and banana peppers. My kids love to eat this as an after school snack, with chips or cheese quesidillas . It makes me happy to see my kids eat fresh veggies out of the garden and enjoy it! Give it a try, you may never go back to the jar again.

Football season is right around the corner, and what's a football game without some yummy food to eat while you watch? Mexican Layered Dip is a tradition in our house and it never fails to please! Make it several hours in advance or up to a day ahead and enjoy with a bag of Tortilla chips!

I try really hard to add different categories of recipes to the blog each week. I have not really added any appetizers or drink, which I have many to share. So to make up for that here is one of our favorite appetizer/dip. It comes from a great recipe book, "The Essential Morman Cookbook, by Julie Badger Jensen. If you like the chili con queso at Chili's then you will love this! It is extremely easy and very tasty!

I love fruit by itself, but this is a very easy, yet yummy dip to add to your fruit platter. You may add any flavor of yogurt to the coolwhip that would taste best with the fruit you have. My favorite yogurt to use is the strawberry kiwi, tasty with cut bananas. Simple, pretty and yummy!