Cornbread Pudding

Summer is corn season, especially in our little burg. The small city right next door to us hosts a CornFest each year. While just eating the corn right off the cob is always fun, so it adding it to various recipes. My favorite is adding it to meatloaf and cornbread, but looking around for something different I came upon this recipe.

As always I changed the recipe to my liking. For example adding a little sugar did the trick after my husband said it was missing something. And my son suggests that you don't put ketchup over the it.

Ingredients:
3 medium sized corn on the cobs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 scallions, sliced
½ pound of Black Forest ham, diced
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chili powder
3 eggs
2 cups half-and-half
½ cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 cup packaged cornbread stuffing cubes
1 tablespoon sugar


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Husk and boil corn for 10 minutes. Place cooked corn in cold water and cool off. When cool enough to handle use a sharp knife to remove corn from cobs.

Melt the butter into a frying pan over medium heat. Saute  corn, scallions, ham, garlic, and chili powder for about three minutes or until scallions are soft.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then stir in the half-and-half, cheese, basil and Mrs. Dash.

Place corn and ham mixture in a 13 inch x 9 inch glass oven safe pan. Stir the cornbread stuffing mix and sugar in with the corn and ham mixture. Pour the egg mixture over and stirring gently. Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly puffed and golden.

A pie made out a favorite candy bar

I was reading a romance book a few weeks back and the author made mention of Snickers Pie. I'd never heard of it so I decided to look up the recipe and see what it was all about. Apparently this is a Southern favorite and there were several variations of the recipe. This one was the easiest and one that everyone liked. I made a couple of changes to make it fun for us.

Snicker Pie

Ingredients:
2 9-inch chocolate graham cracker pie crust
5 king sized Snickers bars (2 in each pack on the candy isle at the grocery store)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 tablespoons dairy half and half
4 cups cool whip
caramel sauce

Directions:
In the microwave, melt together four candy bars, peanut butter, and half-and-half in a glass bowl, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool slightly. Fold in whipped topping, pour into crust, and freeze for 4 to 6 hours before serving.

When ready to serve, top with pieces of remaining Snickers bar, add cool whip and drizzle with caramel syrup. Store in refrigerator.

The quest for a great peach cobbler recipe

I love testing out new recipes and working on coming up with my own creations. They don't always turn out the way I like, but it is fun to try anyway.

Since it is summer and the stores are filled with fresh peaches my latest attempts are with peach cobbler, I've been trying out several different recipes. I've been fiddling a little with them and have come come up with some fun varieties. Here are just a few...

Here is a very simple variation and tastes great.

Peach Cobbler
 
Ingredients:
1/2  stick (1/2 cup)  unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup milk
4 cups fresh peach slices
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven at 375 degrees F.

Melt butter in a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt; add milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter over butter (do not stir).

Bring remaining 1 cup sugar, peach slices, and lemon juice to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly; pour over batter (do not stir). Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

Bake at 375° for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Serve cobbler warm or cool.

Cin-ful Peach Cobbler
by Food Networks -- Guy Fieri

This wasn't one of my favorites because it tasted more like granola than peach cobbler when it was done, but it is an interesting variation and shows what you can do when you add some different ingredients. I also saw a few that added blueberries and blackberries that looked good.

Ingredients:
For the peach filling:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 cups frozen peaches, thawed, about 3 pounds prepared
1 teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon butter

For the crumb topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup oats
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 8 pieces
Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, for serving
Special Equipment: 12 by 8-inch oval stoneware dish or 13 by 9-inch rectangular glass or stoneware dish

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

To make the peach filling: In a large bowl, stir together sugars, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add peaches and gently toss to coat. Mix together cornstarch slurry and lemon juice and stir into peaches to incorporate. Butter a 12 by 8-inch oval dish and add peach mixture.

To make the crumb topping: In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients, add in butter pieces and combine with hands until crumbly.

Top peaches with half of the crumb topping. Place in oven and immediately reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, then add remainder of the crumb topping. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake until golden and bubbling, another 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

If you have a good recipe I'd love to share. I've yet to find the perfect recipe. I'll be making another recipe tonight, maybe that one will top the list.

There are dozens of Butterbeer Recipes for Harry Potter Fans

I've never been much of a Harry Potter fan, but after hearing all the hype about the infamous Butterbeer drink that spurred from the show I decided to take a look at some recipes the fans have been coming up with and see what all the hype was about.

Apparently there really isn't an official recipe for the drink, or atleast one that people are willing to give the secret away about, but there are a lot of samples of what people think there should taste like.

"Why don't we go and have a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks, it's a bit cold, isn't it?"
—Hermione Granger inviting Harry Potter to the Three Broomsticks Inn.

Even the Food Network has gotten involved offering their version by Sandra Lee. That recipe includes using condensed milk and butterscotch topping. Here is what the recipe looks like.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup butterscotch topping
2 tablespoons whipped butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups vanilla cream soda
Directions:
Combine condensed milk, butterscotch topping, and butter in a glass heatproof measuring cup. Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir until butter has melted and incorporated into mixture. Meanwhile heat cream soda in another heatproof measuring cup for 1 minute 30 seconds.

Divide butterscotch mixture between 2 (10 to 12-ounce) mugs. Fill mugs with heated cream soda and stir thoroughly. Serve garnished with an old-fashioned butterscotch candy stick.

The people over at britta.com have a completely different version of the recipe. This recipe includes alcohol, but I'm not quite sure that is what J.K. Rowlings had in mind. At least the schnapps is originally from England.

Makes 2 quarts.

1 cup butterscotch schnapps
7 cups cream soda (almost one 2 liter bottle)

Carefully mix just before serving, adding the schnapps to the soda then stirring gently to mix well, or the fizz will dissipate too soon.


The site goes on to say that "You can also find butterscotch flavoring near the vanilla flavoring in the baking section of the grocery store, but it is more difficult to find, and actually the flavoring is 35% alcohol where the schnapps is only 15% alcohol by volume, so if you're making large quantities of butterbeer, I recommend just to buy the schnapps. There is not much alcohol content in the butterbeer mixture, just enough to make a house-elf tipsy and to give it the warm, buttery aftertaste to the fizzy cream soda."

In early July FOX-News reported that the Butterbeer concoction that has been made famous at Universal Orlando recipe had gotten out on the internet.

In their news report they said that they couldn't get the actual recipe from Universal Orlando, but they had made up their own recipe. Check out their version.

Butterbeer
Start to finish: 1 hour (10 minutes active)
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

Directions:
In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.

Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.

To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

So far the one that sounds the best to me was made by a fan who put her recipe on e-How. The fan goes by her e-How membership "dannyrea".

Put the Butterscotch Chips and Butter in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds. Stir and Heat for another 30 seconds.

The Chips and butter should be a thick stirable paste.

Step 2

Now add your Creamer to the bowl. I use the Original Coffee Mate Liquid Creamer.
Microwave in 30 Second increments again. Stirring each time.

I have found it usually takes about 4 times (2 minutes) to get the right consistency.

Set your mixture aside

Step 3

Heat Cream soda in the microwave for 90 seconds.
BE VERY CAREFUL!
Since microwaves vary I must add, my microwave needs about 2 minutes.

Make sure not to over heat the Cream Soda or all of the fizz will be gone.

Step 4
Pour Butterscotch mixture into heated Cream Soda. Stir & Serve!

Be sure to send me your favorite recipe for Butterbeer so I can post it for all the Harry Potter fans out there.

A Quick Pasta and Chicken Recipe

This recipe is quick to make after a long day at work or day trip. Don't skimp on the garlic it adds some great flavor. I probably add more than I listed here.

Ingredients:
1—16 oz bag of penne pasta
1/2 chicken strips
Mrs. Dash or salt substitute
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
3 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic, sliced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
3 tablespoons fresh or dried parsley, chopped

Directions:
Cook the pasta per cooking instructions on bag.

Meanwhile, saute chicken with 2 tablespoon olive oil, Mrs. Dash and Italian seasoning until fully cooked.

Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Keep warm.

Keep juices in frying pan and add remainder of olive oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and lemon juice. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes.

When pasta is ready drain and add to a large bowl. Add garlic, lemon and olive oil from the frying pan. Mix well.

Ad chicken and mix well. Add Parmesan and parsley and mix well and serve.

Day 4 with the new kittens

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Last night after our older cat and our son went off to bed, we opened the door for the new kittens to explore the rest of the house. They never made it out of the bedroom. They were too busy playing with each other. The two of them are a kick together. Katie is small, slim little thing, but she can jump high and is in full attack mode when she is around Rio. They spent about hours and a half hours chasing each other around the room, jumping on each other in surprise attack and racing to see who can be faster.

These two could be natural acrabats, the way the tumble and jump all over each other. Very cute.

They tuckered each other out and by the time I was ready for bed they were both out and curled up together on the bathroom floor.

At 6 a.m. the little girl was up and crunching her dry food, but other than making the rounds she got bored and went back to sleep. Especially since Rio didn't seem to be interested in getting up at all. A few hours later I got up and Katie came running along with Rio and they were at it again chasing each other around.

After everyone was up and moving around the house we opened our door and let the kittens come out of the bedroom with the big cat in the living room. Our 9 year old, Eevee, wasn't so sure what to make of the kittens, but at least there wasn't any hissing today. He did make a few grumbles and growls, but the kittens stayed away from his space so he was fine with that.

Rio, our male kitten, watched Eevee very carefully, especially when Katie was anywhere near Eevee. We're hoping to get them together again later tonight and see what happens.

We went out for a couple of hours this afternoon so we put them back into the bedroom and let them play in there safe from the big cat.

Tex-Mex Style Salad

I'm always making up new ways to make a salad. This one isn't the most healthy one, but it does taste good. 

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion
1  can Caribbean style black beans, drained and rinsed
Mrs. Dash Garlic Seasoning
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 dash or 2 of tabasco sauce
1 cup fresh cut salsa
1 bag favorite brand lettuce
1 cup grated Monterey jack/ Colby cheese
1 cup Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
In a frying pan place onion and cook for a minute. Add ground beef, Mrs. Dash, Italian Seasoning, Tabasco, two tablespoon cilantro leaves and red pepper. Let cook through thoroughly.  

When cooked let cool a few minutes. Then in a large bowl layer the meat, beans, half lettuce Monterey Jack/Colby cheese, salsa, rest of lettuce, and cheddar cheese.


In a blender add rest of cilantro, red wine vinegar, lime juice, sour creams, garlic and olive oil. Blend well and serve as dressing over salad.

Meet our new kittens--Day 1 through 3

We lost one of our cats on April 1. We had her for 18 years. For the past couple of months we've been looking for a new cat. We attended several of the local organizations and shelters to look for the perfect one, but none jumped out at us. My husband was specifically looking for a calico cat.

My sister had a litter of kittens and we found one we liked. It was a calico, just like my husband wanted. Unfortunately most of the litter died from a cold.

My sister worked hard to save the litter, even taking one to the vet to see what problem they had. The vet prescribed medication, but it didn't work. She had a litter of six and ended up with one still alive. It wasn't the one we wanted so we went looking in other locations.

Tuesday we went to the local Animal Shelter in Martinez, CA to look. I was really set on getting a kitten because I was hoping to find a cat that didn't have a lot of history and maybe bad memories. 

We searched through dozens of kittens and cats and found two we just adored. They were in the same cage at the animal shelter.

One was a male and one a female. They were both three months old, but they were not from the same litter. The male is a week older than the female.

The female is a striped, grey and black, tabby. The male, although listed as a tabby, is actually an American Shorthaired. His body is filled with the swirling markings of the breed. Who knows their may be another breed in there as well, but he definitely is strongly American Shorthaired.

We had to wait until Thursday to pick them up, which was nice because that was my husband's birthday. They needed to have their surgeries and a wellness check up before we could take them home.

We have a 9 year old male Siamese mix at home already. Eevee (my son at 7 years old named him after a Pokemon character) hasn't taken well to the new additions yet.

We put the kittens into our bedroom with the master bath closed off at first. It has a tile floor in case of accidents.

The paperwork all said that they would be quiet and probably groggy on the first days home because they had their spay and neutering done.

Not these two. They were so excited to be out of those cages they were running all over the place and playing with the toys we got for them. We spent quite a bit of time with they. They were also both very hungry and ate up a storm.

They barely settled down the whole day.

Day 2

The second day was a little quieter. At least in the early part of the day. They quickly learned their way out of the bathroom and moved into our bedroom. They played under the bed, chasing each other about. Finally they settled in for the morning and most of the afternoon.

At one point in the day we put them back in the bathroom behind the kid gate and brought the older cat into see them. They were curious. Eevee didn't like them. He growled and hung out by the door. At one point the little girl went in to use the box. Eevee became curious by the sound, but only got close enough to go see what was happening. He quickly moved back by the door.

Finally, after his continued hissing, we just let him back out. The whole thing probably only lasted five minutes or so. We did this again later in the day, still Eevee didn't take to them.

After Eevee went to bed with out son, we let the kittens come out of bedroom by opening the door to the rest of the house. They explored a little but eventually made their way back into the bedroom on their own.

Day 3.

We are quickly learning that these little ones enjoy waking at 6:30 a.m. Too bad it is Saturday morning.

I made sure they had some dry food and water and then went back to sleep. By the time I woke up a few hours later they were sound asleep, but once I was up and moving around they followed. When I feed them the canned food, they acted like they hadn't eaten in a week, even though I heard them crunching dry food earlier.

While they love playing together they are getting more social with us. The little girl is a wildcat. She's not going to be shy. The little boy gives as good as he gets, but he's a little more patient and just waits for her to come to him. She's more into chasing him. He is quick to come see us, while she still watches from under the bed, until he comes out to make the first move.

Once they are up and in our arms they purr away. She much louder then him. Very cute.

We did the introductions with the older cat again this afternoon which didn't go well again. Eevee hissed and growled and stayed at the door. We'll have to try again later.

Now they are back to sleeping the afternoon away under the bed.

Tonight is July 3, our city is having our annual cityhood celebration. There will be fireworks and I'm sure, since tomorrow is Independence Day, we'll have our share of kids, and adults, around the neighborhood with illegal fireworks and firecrackers. Who knows how the two will handle those. Even our older cat doesn't handle them well.

By the way, it took a while to name them but we've finally settled on Katy Purry, for the female, named for pop star Katy Perry and Del Rio (although the Del part might change) for the male, named for the Spanish name for "of the river" to correspond with the swirls on his back.

Fun lunch or dinner: Tex-Mex Pie

Step 1:

Pie crust
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour                 

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup water

1 tbsp cooking oil

Directions:
Prepare pizza pan by spraying with non-stick cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Add liquids and stir to incorporate dry ingredients. Knead dough by hand 6-8 times on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough thinly. Place rolled dough onto pizza pan.

Step 2
Topping
Ingredients:
1 pound beef cut into thin strips
1 pound pepper stir-fry, fresh or frozen thawed
½ medium onion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix
½ cup favorite salsa
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
Sour cream to taste
Guacamole, store bought, to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven at 450 degrees.

In a bowl, combine beef, peppers and onions stir-fry, oil and seasoning. Stir-fry beef and pepper mix for about 5 to 8 minutes total.

Using prepared pizza crust, top first with salsa, then add 1 cup cheese, then add beef and pepper mix. Top 1 cup cheese.

Place pie into oven for 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and crust is light brown.

Serve hot garnished with sour cream and guacamole. Cut and serve.

Taking Pictures and Having Fun

Uploading a bunch of pictures on my Divant Art page at:
http://luv2clik.deviantart.com/

New Recipe: Italian Salad

Ingredients
1 bag of your favorite lettuce mix
1 (15-ounce) can of green beans
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8-ounce) can pitted black olives
1/2 red onion, cut into slivers
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup garlic red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Mrs. Dash or salt substitute
1 teaspoon Italian blend spices
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh garlic
½ cup shaved Parmesan

Directions:
Mix all vegetables in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, spices and fresh garlic. Add dressing to vegetable mix. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and serve.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY AMERICA!

Recipe: Manhattan Fish Chowder

Our local grocery store has this great bag of seafood mix that they sell in the freezer isle. The page includes squid, shrimp, muscles and clams included. I've made it into a fish stew and a stir fry with vegetables in the past, so when I thought of making a Manhattan Clam Chowder, I decided to try to use the seafood mix instead of clams.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup finely diced onion
1 cup finely diced cored fennel bulb
2 tablespoons chopped fronds
4 minced garlic cloves
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning blend
½ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
Dash of Cayenne pepper liquid sauce to taste
2 cups precooked diced potatoes
2 14-ounce cans of crushed tomatoes
1 pound frozen seafood mix

Directions:
In a medium frying pan heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, fennel bulb, garlic, Italian seasoning, Mrs. Dash and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are just starting to brown.

Add broth and potatoes; bring to a boil. Stir in tomatoes, Cayenne pepper sauce, seafood and fennel fronds. Return to a boil. Seafood will cook up quickly. When seafood is cooked remove from heat and serve.

Serve with French bread or crackers.

Don't need to be an artist to add a little fun to your walls

I like arts and crafts, but I am far from an expert when it comes to them. There is a lot of trial and error in all my projects. This last week I finally got a chance to paint one of my bathroom's walls. This bathroom has no windows, so of course the first thing I thought was it needed light paint. It is the bathroom my son uses so light paint always gets dirty fast. That left me wondering what to do.

A few years ago I did faux painting in the living room. I got all the expensive faux paint products and went to town. I liked the way it came out, so I thought that was the answer in my bathroom. The only problem was that the room is so small I didn't think I would even uses a quart much less the gallon you need to buy the faux paint in at the hardware store.

After speaking with the sales clerk I found that you don't need to use the special faux paint to give you the faux paint look. The steps are simple and everyone can do it, even the kids, and have fun with it.

For this project you need:
Two complimentary shades of paint.
This can be very easy as the hardware store has paint sample cards in complimentary colors. Pick one color dark and another two shades lighter. I used a gloss paint for the bathroom. Semi-gloss paint or gloss is apparently the best for this project.
Paint roller and brushes
One natural sea sponge—These can be found in the hardware paint department
One brown grocery paper bag
One plastic grocery bag

Step 1:
All the normal rules of painting a wall apply. Make sure the wall is clean of grease and dirt, etc. Then plaster any holes as desired. Wait for the plaster to dry. Apply the base or darker coat of paint to the wall first. Allow the base coat to completely dry. Depending on the the weather this can take up to 24 hours.

Step 2:
Completely wet the sea sponge with water. Ring out the excess water. Using the lighter color of paint, dip the sponge into the light colored paint. Pat the excess paint on the paper bag then lightly sponge onto the wall in a 2 feet by 2 feet area, rotating the directions of the sponge to create a random effect. Scrunch up the plastic bag in your hand and go over the sponge painted area lightly to press in the paint. Reload the sponge until the walls are completely sponged, again using the paper bag and the plastic bag as described.

Step 3: 
Let the wall dry at least 24 hours before putting anything on the walls.

That is all there is too it. There really isn't any artist talent needed and it will spruce up your plain walls.

Rainbow Bridge Poem

 Princess Ariel

April 1992 - April 1, 2010

RIP Sweet Girl

There is a bridge connecting heaven and earth. It is called Rainbow Bridge because of its many colours.

Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge there is a land of meadows, hills, valleys with lush green grass.

When a beloved pet dies , the pet goes to this special place. There is always food and water and warm spring weather.

The old and frail are young again. Those who are maimed are made whole again.

They play all day with each other. There is only one thing missing.

They are not with their special person who loved them on Earth.

So each day they run and play until the day comes when one suddenly stops playing and looks up!

The nose twitches!

The ears are up!

The eyes are staring!

And this one suddenly runs from the group!

You have been seen, and when you and your special friend meet, you take him or her into your arms and embrace.

Your face is kissed again and again, and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be separated.

~Author Unknown

Spicy Hot Hamburgers

How hot can you eat it? Last week watching a marathon of Man v. Food, my husband decided he wanted to try one of the contests that the show's host Adam tried. The contest had Adam eating a really hot hamburger. The burger had a couple of different chilis on it, plus some hot sauces.

I couldn't find the exact recipe or even the name of the burger, but we tried to find all the ingredients we thought they put on it. Unfortunately we couldn't find the hottest chili, the ghost chili, so we didn't get a fair test. Here is the recipe anyway.

Ingredients:
2 jalepeno chili peppers
1 ghost chili pepper
Cayenne pepper sauce (to desired taste)
Habanero pepper sauce (to desired taste)
4 hamburger patties
4 slices of cheese (your choice of cheese)
4 hamburger buns
10 button mushrooms

Directions:
Grill or fry hamburgers to taste. In the meantime, saute jalepeno and ghost chillis in a frying pan until lightly browned. Place hamburger on bun top with cheese, chilis. Dash on Cayenne and Habanero pepper sauces. Place mushrooms on top and then top with bun.

In the contest Adam had to eat the whole hamburger in 15 minutes and not drink anything until 5 minutes after he was done with the food. The ghost chilis are what really makes it hot. I'll be watching to see if I can find them anywhere and try this again.

The Elvis Sandwich

Last week my husband found a blog that listed a peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich which they referred to as The Elvis sandwich. I have no idea wether Elvis really liked this sandwich at all or if some cafe just thought it was a good idea to name a sandwich after the King of Rock and Roll.

I found several references to the sandwich online. Generally this is how the recipe goes.

Ingredients:
Butter or margarine
White bread, 2 slices sandwich
Peanut butter
1/2 large, ripe banana, sliced per sandwich
Honey
3 slices of crispy cooked bacon, per sandwich

Directions:
Spread the butter/margarine on 1 side of each slice of bread. Turn over each slice and spread peanut butter. Place banana slices on top of peanut butter. Drizzle honey over bananas. Place the 3 bacon slices on top of the banana. Cover with remaining bread slices, butter-side-out.

Place sandwiches on a preheated frying pan. Flip them over when they become golden brown. This makes one sandwich, but you can make as many as you like.

Juicy Lucy or is Jucy Lucy

This past weekend watching a marathon on Man v. Food, the host Adam visited Minneapolis, Minnesota and took the Jucy Lucy/Juicy Lucy challenge. In the South area of Minneapolis there are two restaurants competing for the best specially made Jucy Lucy/Juicy Lucy cheeseburger. The two restaurants are Matt's Bar and just down the street is The 5-8 Club. The difference in the burgers is the way the two establishments spell the name and one offers more of a variety of cheese.

The burgers looked great, so we decided to try our own version of the cheese stuffed burgers.

Ingredients:
8 pre-made packaged hamburger patties
2 T. olive oil
8 slices of cheese—cut in fours (we used Monterey Pepper Jack cheese)
1/2 chopped onion
Mrs. Dash to taste (or salt and pepper your choice)
4 Hamburger buns

Directions:
Place 8 of the quarter slices of cheese and place it into the middle of 2 of the hamburger patties. Press the edges of the patties tightly together to keep the cheese inside. Do the same for three more patties to make a total of four hamburger.

Add olive oil to frying pan and heat. Add chopped onions. Place all four hamburgers into pan and cook to taste. I covered the pan to make sure that it cooked all the way through. Important to cook until the cheese melts.

Place patties in hamburger buns, top with cooked onions and add your favorite dressing i.e. catsup, mustard, mayo, pickles, etc.

Mother-In-Law Sandwich

My husband saw this blog that had some sandwiches from famous restaurants from around the country, but they didn't have any recipes so we thought we'd try to figure it out and make our own.

The Mother-In-Law Sandwich was apparently from this famous restaurant in Chicago. Here's what we came up with, but it you have another idea of what goes inside let me know.

Ingredients:
4 prepackaged frozen tamales
1 14 oz can of chili
diced onion (if desired)
shredded Mexican cheese (as desired)
4 hot dog buns

Direction:
Cook tamales as instructed on package. Meanwhile heat chili on stove. Set hot dog buns on a plate and fill with tamales, top with chili, onion and cheese. Enjoy.

My Meatball Sub Recipe

This weekend we watch a marathon of the Man v. Food television show and decided to try and make up our own versions of the food items that the host Adam got to taste test.

Here is an old fashioned meatball sub sandwich.
We cheated a little so that we wouldn't have to make a lot of food ahead of time.

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground chuck or beef (lowfat content of course)

1/2 chopped onion
1 T Italian seasoning
1 T Mrs. Dash (or salt and pepper if you prefer)
2 T olive oil
1 jar of pre-prepared tomato sauce (Classico was the kind we used)
4 large sandwich buns (we used Italian subs style)
Shredded Mozzarella cheese as desired

Directions:
In a large bowl combine ground meat, onions and seasoning. Roll meat into 1-2 inch balls. Heat olive oil in a skillet carefully add meatballs into skillet, cover and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes over medium heat. Then turn over meatballs. This time varies depending on how you like your ground beef cooked.

When meat is done add tomato sauce over top and cook for 3 more minutes.

Place opened breads on individual plates and spoon in meatballs. Top with Mozzarella cheese.