Delish Mac’n’Cheese

Mac and cheese is a staple comfort food in our house. It is easy and really yummy. There are lots of different variations of this beautiful dish, but my mom’s mac and cheese is my favorite.

What you will need is

2 Cups of Penne pasta
1 quart of whipping cream
2 cups of cheddar cheese ( 1 1/2 cup shredded and 1/2 cup chopped into cubes for the top of the mac and cheese)
2 tablespoons of butter
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon of flour
salt and pepper

First you want to make a quick roux, melt the butter in a pan add finely chopped garlic and flour over a medium heat. Next bring water to a boil and add pasta. Cook until Al Dente. Once the butter has been melted and you can smell the garlic add your cream. you want to reduce this to half, which means bring it to a boil over a medium low heat, whisking constantly to make sure it doesn’t burn. Preheat the oven to 325. Once you have reduced the cream to half add 1 and a half cups of cheese and whisk in for a couple of minutes until you have a smooth sauce. Pour the pasta into a casserole dish, next pour the cheese sauce over top and finally add the cubes of cheese. Pop it into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling. This dish is perfect with a yummy garlic bread, or Caesar salad.

Enjoy! xo

Pictures from the last month

Sometimes we get too busy with real life to actual enjoy the pleasures of life.

Enjoy a preview of our last month!!

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Thanksgiving prep

So I am excited to say that the twins will be together for Thanksgiving. As a result we will be doing a huge post after the feast.

We are both so excited about this. And scared actually. Any holiday meal can be scary. But I think it will mostly be fun.

Looking forward to sharing the experience

Beer Butt Chicken

This is one of the easiest and yummiest ways I can think of making chicken. And it is great because you can you do it on the bbq or oven and it is really simple.

Ingredients

1 whole Chicken
1 can of your favorite beer
1 teaspoon of each Fennel seed, cumin powder, paprika, brown sugar, chilli powder, olive oil.
Salt and Pepper

Add all of the seasonings together in a mortar and pestle with the olive oil and make a rub, drink half of the beer and then put it in your beer butt chicken holder, you can get them at Home Depot for about 1.75. if you don’t have one it is a bit more difficult to balance the chicken but not impossible. put the chicken over your beer, and rub the rub all over your chicken in every nook and cranny, preheat your bbq or your oven to 400. cook for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 30 minutes, you want to be able to poke the breast of the chicken and only have clear liquid come out.

This is really simple and is just the best way to  cook chicken, because all of the fat falls off the chicken rather than cooking it into the chicken and it is still really moist and beautiful.

Enjoy

The Cheesiest Hot Dog ever!

This is a hot dog that was developed in Brooklyn for an extreme hot dog competition, and trust me it is a must try!!! this makes 4-5 hot dogs, this recipe can be doubled.

It was one of the best things I have ever had!And I love hot dogs so to change it from plain with ketchup and mustard is a big deal for me. But this was killer!!!

Ingredients

• You need 4 hot dog’s and 4 buns, (hot dogs with natural casing work best and buns that are split at the top are better)
• 4 slices bacon, sliced
• a glug olive oil
• 1 Leek  remove the dark green bits and chop into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter for a roux, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing on rolls
• 3 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 8 ounces Gruyere, grated
• 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Pinch ground nutmeg
• 1/4 pound pasta (anything that is a long noodle like penne, so it is able to lay flat on that hot dog)
• 4 hot dog buns, top sliced
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce

In a medium-sized saucepan, over medium heat, saute the l bacon until brown and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain on paper towels. Wash the chopped leeks thoroughly to remove any grit, and then drain. Put them into the pan with the bacon fat and saute until soft and wilted. Remove the leeks from the pan and set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in the same pan and then sprinkle with the flour, stirring to incorporate. Cook the roux over medium heat for a few minutes. Whisk the  milk into the roux add 1/2 tablespoon of flour and continue to whisk and cook until it thickens. Fold in the grated Gruyere and grated Parmigiano and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of nutmeg. Set the sauce aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over medium heat for the pasta.

Preheat the grill to medium.

Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to directions. Drain and gently stir in the cooked pasta, Leeks, and Bacon into the cheese sauce and keep warm.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter and brush it on the cut sides of the buns (if you wish to grill the buns). Grill the hot dogs until they are brown, if you decide to toast the buns now is the time to throw them on the BBQ, until you have light golden grill marks. When the hot dogs are almost dong brush each one with the hot sauce of your choice. place the hot dogs in the buns and top each hot dog with a generous portion of the pasta and cheese sauce.

This is an amazing dog!!! please enjoy!

Liguine with a quick Tomato sauce

This is such a simple easy meal, that is always good in a pinch whether friends are stopping by, or it has been busy week, this is perfect .

All you need is a can of chopped or crushed tomatoes, try to get a good quality can because there are so few ingredients it is ok to splurge on them and even with better quality pasta and tomatoes you can still feed a family of 4 for about 25 dollars.

Heat a a pan on your stove over medium heat, and a nice glug of olive oil, after letting it heat for about a minute or 2 add 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic. then add some fresh basil and let it cook for about a minute and a half, next add your tomatoes and salt and pepper, stir and simmer for 20 minutes.

For the pasta you can use dry, or fresh. Cook this according to the package, just make sure to watch if you are cooking fresh pasta it usually only takes 2-3 minutes and you need to stop the cooking after you drain it so a quick shot of cold water will do the trick.

Top pasta with tomato sauce and then with some fresh parm.

Chocolate Cake in need of a good Icing!!!

We have spent years trying to find a white icing recipe that works every time and so far have not been able to come up with one. We do however have the perfect Chocolate cake. So we really need an icing to match.

Chocolate Cake

You will need 1/2 Cup Shortening, 2 cups of sugar blend this until smooth. Preheat oven to 350. Then add 2 eggs one at a time until completely mixed in, then add 1 teaspoon of Vanilla. For your dry ingredients take a bowl and whisk together 2 2/3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of Baking soda, 1/2 cup of cocoa and 1 teaspoon of salt. Then add to the sugar mixture alternatively with 2 cups of sour milk (if you don’t have any let your milk sit out for 15 minutes with 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in it and it will start to curdle.) put into a 9 inch baking pan and bake for 45 minutes. I promise this cake will always leave your family or guests wanting more.

Now our problem is the icing my grandmother makes an amazing boiled icing recipe but it takes a bit more effort that If I just want to make a quick butter icing. on the cake below I tried something different a shortening icing, now this I will never do again. We need your help to find the perfect icing for this cake! So explore and let us know!!

Enjoy this family recipe! xo

Avocado Cod

This is a quick and easy meal that will always impress and in great when you are in a pinch. It is so easy to make and you only need a few ingredients which I like.

You will need

2 Cod Fillets
1 avocado
1/2 cup of heavy cream
fresh basil leaves
a good handful of pram cheese
a handful of cooked shrimp

First give your cod a nice rinse to make sure you don’t get an ammonia taste to the fish, then put a little olive oil  on a baking sheet. Next take your cod and lay them on your baking sheet. Preheat your oven to  425, slice up your avocado and lay gently on top of your cod next add some basil leaves, and then sprinkle your cooked shrimp onto your cod. to top it off pour your cream over the fish and then a nice amount of pram and salt and pepper to taste. Cook this for between 15-20 minutes and you will have a meal fit for a king!

Trust me I never get complaints with this yummy dish. Enjoy

Chocolate Chip Cookies

There is nothing like a yummy chocolate chip cooking with a big glass of milk. I love them most on Sunday night when I am relaxing on the couch and watching a movie. Watch out fro crumbs though!!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) softened butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease cookie sheet.(I use a silpat) Cream butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Sift dry ingredients together and stir in, mixing thoroughly. Add chocolate chips to batter and form cookies by using a scoop or spoon…these cookies spread out a lot! Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or just until outside edges are brown. Cool on sheet for 5 minutes and transfer cookies to cooling racks. 

Pesto Cream sauce with Caesar Salad

This is an easy dish that will always impress.

First lets get the lettuce ready, I like to use romaine lettuce, and I like to rip it not cut it, you do this because you don’t want any of the crunchy bits from the middle of the lettuce, they change the flavor of the salad and make it more bitter, it may seem like a waste but trust me it is worth it. so rip the head of lettuce and let it soak in the sink with water.

Then add 2 cloves of garlic to some olive oil in a processor, let stand.

Next make your pesto, this is easy easy to do, using a pestle and mortar smash 1/2 clove of garlic and a bunch of basil, then add pine nuts, walnuts work too, after you bash them up add a nice glug of olive oil. and set aside.

For your cream sauce melt some butter in the bottom of a sauce pan, add a clove of garlic chopped, you want to reduce the sauce to half so whisk constantly on a medium heat and let it boil. Once it boils take it off the heat and let stand.

Put your pasta on to boil and cook as directed on package. once that is cooked in a nice serving boil put strained pasta in the boil and toss with first the cream sauce and then the pesto.

Dry lettuce in a lettuce spinner, rip into bite size pieces. To your food processor, with the garlic add, one egg, 1/2 cup of pram, juice of a 1/4 of a lemon, salt and pepper, and 1/4 t of anchovy paste. process this and add to the lettuce and toss, then add 1/2 cup of croutons and 4 anchovies chopped. toss again.

Enjoy this is an easy and beautiful meal.