Recipes Master 13

 You can use this basic recipe to make homemade Panini's that are as good as any fancy sandwich shop or restaurant.  I used fresh Mozzarella, Pesto and Roasted Red Peppers for a Caprese style Panini.    I substituted  Roasted Red Peppers instead of traditional tomato because I think it adds a lot more flavor and tomato's can make  your sammie mushy.  If you use tomatoes, be sure to deseed or chop in pieces before grilling. This is more of a technique than a recipe.  You don't need a fancy Panini press to make these.  All you need is a non-stick grill pan, a heavy pan to weight it down. (like cast iron or even a dutch oven will work) and a piece of foil.  Bread - oh so important when making the perfect Panini.  I have tried several, but my favorite is sourdough.  It is crunchy, but soft enough to eat. The grill marks show up nicely too.  Some of the Artesional breads like are so tough tha...

This was one of my first posts....I thought I would republish.  It's a perfect use of leftover turkey and my original photo was just terrible!  This recipe is totally worth a face lift! I'll bet most people have a 'go to' casserole in their family recipe box...they almost all include a can of cream of ka-ka (cream style soup), and this one is not much different, but every time I make this, I get asked for the recipe! It feeds a crowd and has a fresh flavor that not all creamy casseroles have. Eula was my mother-in-law, probably one of the nicest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing...she had a true heart of gold. She was a wonderful cook, and I'm not so sure she would be thrilled to know that her name is attached to one of the simplest dishes she made, but we started calling it Eula's Casserole years ago and it's too late to change now! This feeds about 6 people and is delicious with a side of french bread. Ingredients 2 cups cooked turkey or...

Now how cute are these?  Easy, no cook, impressive little appetizers. I put them in a pot of plastic grass...I thought it sounded cute...jury is still out on that one.  If you don't have a pot of plastic grass hanging around..you could stick the skewers in just about anything... get me started! Ingredients and Directions Cherry tomatoes Mini Mozzarella (Ciliengine) Olive oil Basil or Pesto Skewers Slice tomatoes in half.  Remove seeds and pulp.   If you have a handy little tool like this great!  If not, a melon baller will work just fine. Toss fresh mozzarella balls in olive oil, pesto (or basil), salt and pepper. Skewer tomato's, add mozza balls...walla!  You got Caprese Pops!

The top 4 favorite soups of the last year!            

This will soon become your favorite weeknight winter meal.  It is so hearty you will forget that it's lean ground turkey!  The meat and potato lovers in your house are soooo gonna love you! I can see the meat statue they will be erecting in your honor.  Post pics!  I love meat statues!  Who doesn't? I adapted this from a Cooking Light recipe from 2001. (big surprise, love their stuff).  They use canned French Onion Soup in lieu of fresh sliced onion and beef broth. It doesn't have nearly the depth of flavor a fresh onion will bring you....and the sodium, holy cow I get puffy just thinking of it! I encourage (and I use that term lightly), to serve this dish with mashed potatoes. It makes this dish.  My husband makes the best mashed potatoes ever! I am not sure what he does or how he does it, and I am never going to ask . It's his little corner of the kitchen...you ...

    I know, another soup recipe!  But I got a hankerin' for some soup. It's fall and we had a longer than normal summer and I'm ready for winter food!   I've been making this soup for years, it's adapted from an old Cooking Light recipe.  ( FYI: old Cooking Light recipes are the bomb...new ones?... not so much).   The secret ingredient...are you ready?  It's Light Velveeta cheese...oh you shut up you cheese snob, you know you love Velveeta! Who doesn't?...and it's LIGHT cheese, yup, it's healthy. Who knew?  :)    (secret: if you can't find Velveeta Light Cheese or the $7.00 per block price tag is a bit high.  You can either: a.) use the full blown fatty stuff or, b.)  substitute 12 slices of American light cheese.  (ie: 2% American cheese slices). My husband says he can tell when I cheat and use the slices...so be warned.  He has a cheezy palate so he might be right. (who c...

I know, this looks like every other soup I love to make...but this one is different.  It' has a secret....a yummy, gooey secret.  Shhhh, come closer, let me whisper in your ear...it's called YUM!  A scoop of yummy, gooey goodness lies underneath the quiet tomatoey exterior and it is heaven my friends. I can hardly wait wait for my fellow soupateer Jamie to try it.  She is hooked on my Gnocchi "crack soup" but I this might just become her new addiction!  Let me know Jamie! So what exactly is this secret yum you ask?  It is a scoop of ricotta cheese that has been mixed with parmesean,  a bit of oregano, salt and pepper. (make your own  ricotta if you have an extra 10 minutes).  You add a dollop to the bowl, ladle the soup over and top with mozzarella!  What kind of pasta?  For this photo I used broken up lasagna noodles and it worked pretty good but you might find it easier to use a rotini type pasta...up to you, you still get ...