Christmas Menu Planning

Every 4 years I get the rotation for the Wheeler family Christmas. It's always painful for me because I hate cooking, baking, etc. Not to mention that I burn things and have my Lucy Episode Kitchen Catastrophes!

Well this year on the menu is Turkey (of course), Honey Spiral Ham, Sausage Stuffing, Scalloped Corn,  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Biscuits, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, Brownies, Rum Cake and pie. So what do you think My son is bringing another pie.  My daughter is bringing a sweet potato casserole. My sister in laws are bringing pie and a vegetable casserole and my brother in law is bringing mashed potatoes. You might laugh but my mashed potatoes are called Mashed Potato Surprise in my house. I just cannot make them from the real thing. It's either burned, watery, lumpy, or too thick. It's better left to someone else.

I generally make kielbasa and sauerkraut but the place I get my polish sausage from went out of business and I don't feel like driving to Baltimore to get it from Ostrowski's. I really need to find a place locally that has it. All sausage is not the same. I cannot stand the stuff from the grocery stores with the thick casings! Yuck!

I cannot wait to do the muffins. Here's the recipe...so easy:

1 box yellow cake mix
15 oz pumpkin pie filling
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Fill ups 1/2 way, Bake 350 for 12 min. Drizzle chocolate on the top. The blog I got it from gave a good tip. Melt the chocolate in a baggie, cut off the tip and then use it to drizzle the chocolate!   Here's the link to the blog: http://cheatdaycafe.blogspot.com/2009/06/chocolate-chip-pumpkin-muffins.html

Hope your menu planning is going well!

Easter Memories

So I was looking for a recipe for something and I came across this recipe and photo....boy did it bring back memories of Easter's gone by. I can remember going to my Father's Mother's house in Little Italy, Baltimore at Easter and seeing a bread similar to this one on my grandmother's kitchen table.

There would also be a lamb shaped cake as well. I used to love going to her house. The smells were incredible in that kitchen where her and my Aunt Nat would make the most wonderful meals. I can almost smell that spaghetti gravy (as we called sauce) which would cook for almost the entire day to make it that wonderful thick consistency. There was no Ragu in those days.  Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.  Here's the recipe just in case someone wants to make this bread. It's from AllRecipes website. Click Here

It's funny I should come across this today. Today is the clean up of an abandoned cemetery, St. Vincent's in Baltimore. There was a number of descrecrations to the point the tombstones were bulldozed to hide the dead and then the place was left to grow up into a jungle. I'm in a group trying to restore that cemetery were two children of my Grandmom, Beatrice Iori lie buried as babies, Angelo and Giovanni Iori, one died at 6 weeks and one died at birth. I guess Grandmom is letting me know she'll be there today with us. Pray for us and our work....here's a website about the cemetery that I put together for the group:
http://stvincentcemetery.tripod.com

Nothing Better than Chocolate!

You've probably all seen that email that circulates that chocolate is a vegetable and laughed I'm sure. But you know what, it is made from plants so it has the same benefits as vegetables...or am I dilusional?  No there are lots of antioxidants (8 times the amount of strawberries I read!) in it from flavinoids!  Dark chocolate is good for the heart! Those little flavoids are good for easing that high blood pressure and reduces your bad cholesterol! 

Soooooooooooo grab a piece of dark chocolate everyday....and while you are at it, you can make some oreo truffles...however....the truffles are not heart healthy....lots of fat, but awlfully tasty!

Oreo Truffles
1 bag of oreos ground up in food processor until powdery
12 oz of cream cheese
Dark chocolate melted

mix the oreo powder & cream cheese with a beater until you can't see the white oreo filling anymore. Form into round balls (it helps to refrigerate it or it gets a little sticky) and then drop them into melted chocolate and put them onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

February Fun Facts & Recipe

Taking a break from my features today to talk about February. I was just thinking this morning that it seems like it was just Christmas but here we are a few days away from February.

I like February for a number of reasons....chocolate involves one of reason and love the other.  In fact my wedding anniversary is in February on the 28th. We will be married 34 years! 

So what do you know about February....here are some facts:

• The Romans and Christians believed it was the start of spring. (guess they disliked winter as much as me!)
• The early Roman calendar was once only 10 months long. February (and January) were added by Numa Pompilius.
• It comes from the word Februa which means cleansing which was a ritual before spring.
• Anglo Saxtons called it Sol Monath which means Cake Month because cakes were offered to the Gods during that month (Thank GOD someone got smart & changed that to Chocolate to your loved one)
• During Shakespeare's time it was called Feverell  and 100 yrs later during Issac Newton's time it was Februeer.
• Valentine's Day was not celebrated in England until the 15th century and not until the Civil War in the USA.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

-- 1 Corinthians 13:13

About St. Valentine.   The Golden Legend, a medieval book of stories about saints, says that Valentine, a priest, was imprisioned by the emperor Claudius II for leading people to Christ. While Valentine was being interrogated by a Roman officer, the priest preached Christ as the "one and only Light". The officer, who had a blind daughter, challenged Valentine to pray to Christ for her cure. The girl was cured, and the entire family were converted to Christianity.   According to legend, while awaiting execution, he wrote notes of instruction, affection and encouragement to the Christian community in Rome, which were secretly delivered by a boy who visited him in prison. 

Most Gracious Heavenly Father, You gave Saint Valentine the courage to witness to the gospel of Christ, even to the point of giving his life for it. Help us to endure all suffering for love of you, and to seek you with all our hearts; for you alone are the source of life and love. Grant that we may have the courage and love to be strong witnesses of your truth to our friends and family and to the whole world. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Recipe - Love Knots
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
a few drops yellow food coloring
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Yellow sugar sprinkles
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk, the eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract and yellow food coloring (to make the dough more "golden"). Sift and stir in the flour; add the lemon rind.
Chill the dough for several hours and only remove it from the refrigerator a little at a time: this will make it easier to handle.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Shape the dough into ropes about 1/2 inch in diameter and 12 inches long, and twist these into figure 8s. Place the twists on a greased baking sheet, and bake for about 15 minutes. About halfway through the cooking, "gild" with yellow sprinkles.
Yield: 12 to 14 "love knots".