Brussel Sprouts and Bacon

Recently, a couple of friends and I got to talking about how one either loves a brussel sprout or hates them. I have to say that The Bubs love us some brussel sprouts and bacon. One of the ladies said that she was willing to try eating brussel sprouts again if she had a good recipe.

So, this week I made it a point to have us put brussels sprouts and bacon on our menu. We've been cooking this dish for years but never had a formal recipe.

Brussel Sprouts and Bacon

Ingredients:

• A little over 1 pound of Brussel Sprouts
• 2 pieces of slab bacon
• salt and pepper

Instructions:
Cut the tip of the brussel sprout steam off, and then peel the loose dark green leaves. Usually 3 to 4 leaves will fall off or will need to be taken off.
Next cut each brussel sprout in half. By leaving a little bit of the steam on this will keep the sprouts in tact.
In a non stick pan boil some water. This will be the pan you use to saute the brussel sprouts in. Once the water comes to a boil, add the brussel sprouts and boil for 4 minutes. Once the time is up rinse the vegetables with cold water to stop the cooking and set aside.
While the brussel sprouts are cooking I typically cut the bacon into small pieces. Then when the vegetables are cooling, cook the bacon on a medium heat and render the fat. Once the bacon is crisp pull the pieces out of the fat and set it aside.
Heat the bacon fat on a medium high heat and put the brussel sprouts in. (If you are feeling adventurous try adding a little shallot or finely chopped red onion for a little flair.) Salt and pepper to taste. Cook the vegetables at this heat for about 10 minutes. You want to cook them until they brown a bit.

Once the are browned to your liking then put them on a plate and sprinkle with the bacon that had been set aside. Enjoy.

Red Velvet Cupcakes and Squirrel

This afternoon I found myself in the kitchen with Squirrel, not a squirrel but Squirrel. She is a long time friend of ours better known as Carey, but we prefer to call her by her nickname.

This after noon Squirrel came over and we tried our hand at making Red Velvet Cupcakes. Since The Bubs' wedding (in which Squirrel married us) I have been obsessed with cupcakes. Let me recap by saying that at our wedding I had the best cupcake I've ever had in my life (this thought is shared by many people). The wonderful baker at Tiers for Two in Modesto, CA produced some red velvet cupcakes with chocolate chips with a cheesecake frosting. Yum, I drool just thinking about them.

Well today I decided it was time I stop fearing the red velvet and try my hand at it. Squirrel showed up just in time to bake. So we gabbed about life and got down to business. It was a lot of fun to share the kitchen with someone who loves baking as much as I do.

After doing weeks and weeks of research, I made up my own recipe. I ended up looking at probably 15 recipes, a billion blogs and my bosses red velvet recipe. It's hard to say where I got what ideas. I think it might need a little tweaking but that's ok!

Overall the cupcakes came out very enjoyable. I would have liked them to have been a bit more red, Squirrel suggested a little moister, and Mario said "this is delicious". I also invited a friend and her son over to have some cupcakes and they seemed to really enjoy them. I'm going to say that this recipe was a success, and with some minor tweeking I think we have a winner on our hands.

Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes about 20 cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• .50 fluid ounces red food coloring (we used 1.5 of the little red food coloring bottles you buy at Easter)
  
• 1 stick butter (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. milk chocolate chips
• 2 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 c. buttermilk (room temperature)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp white vinegar

Instructions:
Line cupcake pan with cupcake wrappers.

Sift the first three ingredients together and set aside. In a small bowl mix together the cocoa powder and red food coloring and set aside.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Next add in an egg and thoroughly beat, then do the same with the second egg. Next add in vanilla extract and half of buttermilk, mix. Add half of the flour mixture and beat. Add cocoa powder mixture. Repeat second half of buttermilk, then beat in remaining flour mixture.

With a spoon mix in chocolate chips. In a small bowl mix vinegar and baking soda together, then add to batter, stir well.

Fill cupcake wrappers 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cupcakes cool then frost.

The cream cheese frosting comes from Jacki's Bento Blog. It was perfect!

The Secret of The Spinach Dip Queen

Here's hoping that everyone had a sane and joyful holiday! We sure did. This year's Christmas for us seemed to fly by. We were lucky enough to spend the holiday with both sides of our family on Christmas Eve.

It's funny because the holidays bring out a lot of love and warm feelings, but it also means a lot of food and traditions. This year I decided that it was time that I give out my beloved spinach dip recipe. In my family whenever there is a holiday or event I am always asked to bring a spinach dip, thus dubbing me "The Spinach Dip Queen". But I have a small confession to make, my recipe comes off the back of a Knorr Vegetable soup mix *gasp* I know, my secret is now out, I sure hope I don't lose my title.

I believe that it is not always the recipe that makes it the best of something but more about the love and thought put into it. Therefore, I have no shame in sharing my spinach dip secret.So without further adieu The Spinach Dip Queen's version of Knorr Spinach Dip:
Ingredients:

1 (16 ounce) container low fat sour cream

1 cup low fat Best Foods Mayo

1 (8 ounce) package vegetable soup mix

1 (10 ounce) package chopped baby spinach, thawed and squeezed dry. Then I re-cut the spinach again to insure that it is cut nice and small.

1 (8 ounce) can of water chestnuts, drained and cut very small, almost minced (I tend to use more like 6-7 ounces. I rarely use the entire can of chestnuts)

4 green onions, chopped

Instructions:
Mix all of the ingredients together in a medium bowl. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours allowing the veggie soup to rehydrate.

Then serve in your preferred method. I don't usually make a bread bowl. I like to take the bowl the dip is in and put it on a plate and then surround it by cut sourdough bread.

Clams Casino and Christmas Crabs

This weekend was our 3rd annual Christmas Crabs night. Christmas Crabs night usually consists of us getting seafood from Race Street Fish and Poultry. We eat up some yummy crabs and then decorate our house for the holidays. Except, this year we skipped the Christmas decorating (because we will be moving soon).

As always the crabs were delicious and the Pinot Grigio was paired perfectly! In addition to our tradition we decided that it was time we made our own Clams Casino Recipe. Oh my, they were delicious. If you love seafood and love bacon then you will adore Clams Casino.

Unfortunately, while we were cooking we realized that our stove's bottom element went out. So we had to alter our cooking method just a little bit. Instead of cooking it for 10 minutes we had to used the broiler. Luckily, it was still tasty and wonderful.

The Bubs Clams Casino Recipe:

Ingredients:
* 12 Little Neck Clams
* 4 cloves Garlic, minced
* 1⁄2 c Shallots, minced
* 1⁄2 c Red Bell Pepper, minced
* 3 slices Bacon, raw and minced
* 1 tbsp Bread Crumbs
* 2 c Kosher Salt

Instructions:
Line a cookie sheet with 1/2inch of Kosher Salt. Shuck and clean clams. Place on salted cookie sheet.

Cook bacon and reserve fat, set cooked bacon aside. Sauté remaining vegetable mixture in rendered fat until soften and slightly browned.

In a medium bowl mix together bacon, vegetables and bread crumbs. Salt and Pepper to taste.

Fill each clam shell with mixture (it will likely be about 1/2 tsp. to 1 tsp. per clam).

Cook in oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes.