Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

No story...no prelude...just an awesome super simple recipe with pictures! Happy Friday! :)

BACON WRAPPED JALAPENO POPPERS
15 Jalapeno's
8 oz pkg cream cheese, room temp
2 green onions, sliced, just the green tops
1lb thick slice bacon


Cut each pepper in half, lengthwise. And we like it spicy, so we leave the seeds inside, but if you don't like it hot, so ahead and remove the seeds and the white membranes inside the peppers. HINT #1 When handling the jalapeno's you probably want to wear rubber gloves or if you don't have any, put your hands in a couple plastic baggies.
Mix together the cream cheese and green onions. Scoop into each pepper half. HINT #2 I put the cream cheese mixture into a baggie and pipe it into the peppers.
Cut each piece of bacon into thirds and wrap each pepper. HINT #3 the Thick Sliced Bacon that we buy has 10 slices, I just cut through the whole slab of bacon twice to get 30 even pieces. HINT #4 I wrap the bacon so that the end piece will be on the under side when it bakes it won't curl up.
Heat grill on low or oven on 350. Grill or bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the bacon is done to your likeness. HINT #5 We cook on the grill outside...the oils from the peppers get in the air and can burn your eyes and even hurt to breathe if you cook them inside.


Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Did I ever proclaim my love for football to you? Particularly Big Red Football...Nebraska Football! Really any football will do, but nothing compares to the love and dedication of the team that you've been watching since you were a tiny little girl. I have 3 brothers and my dad and I remember many days growing up with the game on. And if you're not from Nebraska then I don't think you'd understand, but to be honest, that's about all we have here. There are no pro-teams, so we put all our time and energy and enthusiasm in backing up the legacy that we have in the Huskers! And if you've never been to a game...oh, you're missing out! Even if you're not a fan of football...it's an experience! Over 100,000 people downtown wearing red. The sea of RED! Nearly 90,000 fans in the stadium! We've had more consecutive sell outs than any other team. Friends of ours who played college ball for Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Colorado have all said that there is nothing like playing at Memorial Stadium, even as the opposing team! I have to agree...it's quite the experience. Did I tell you that in my Senior Book from High school I was named as "most likely to marry an NFL player". I kid you not! I just ran across that book the other day! Funny! Anyway, our season is over but there's still a little NFL action going on and to gear up for the Super Bowl I'm going to share with you some of our favorite Football Snacks, first up Buffalo Chicken Dip.

BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

1 lb chicken breast, cooked and shredded or chopped
1 pkg cream cheese
1 8 oz pkg sour cream
1 5oz pkg blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup hot sauce, I use Franks
1/2 cup ranch dressing
4 green onions, sliced

Dump everything into a crock pot or slow cooker and set to low. Stir every once in a while to get things all happy together. Once it's hot, it's ready!

Serve with tortilla chips and Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Turtle Bars

I am sitting here laughing at myself! Oh wait, first things first! Happy New Year! So, I have a blog and I normally post food on my blog. And I take tons of pictures, in fact I got a sweet new camera for Christmas, Woo hoo! I especially take lots of pictures of food, because I'm constantly making good food and trying new recipes and have an awful memory because of all the other things that I'm trying to remember every day, so I take pictures to remember what I've made and hope that one day I'll get a chance to share it with you on my blog and *pause to breathe* last night we had a some friends over for a New Years Eve party and I had been out of town for a couple of days and got back into town just 2 1/2 hrs before our guests were to arrive (for the kids pre-party part of the party). I had some fast cooking to do! I normally spend 4-5 hrs the day before doing party prep and all day the day of the party doing party prep (yes, I take my parties seriously!). Yesterday I had 2 hours. So I made my tried and true favorites! In all the chaos I took not one picture of the dishes I prepared! NOT ONE! Oh, I have some great pictures of friends dancing their little tails off! And cute little ones shaking a tail feather too! Speaking of little ones...my little princess is friends with my dear friends little boy who is just a couple weeks older than the princess...and let me tell you...dare I say...I want her to marry this sweet little brown eyed boy! He's got some moves too! Ok, back to my story. No pictures! But I really want to share this awesome recipe with you. So, just now I went to the kitchen to snap pictures of the turtle bars. GONE! The entire pan is GONE! I think I cut 30 bars. Oh wait...there was this one sad little corner piece left. The rest. GONE! So, here is an amazing Turtle Bar recipe and a pitiful little corner bar pictures to show for it!

Oh, look at that teeny, corner piece. But it still looks good!

mmm...the caramelly goodness!

TURTLE BARS

2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup butter, room temp
1 cup brown sugar
1 pkg caramels, I use the little caramel bits this time
1/3 c heavy cream
1 cup pecan halves
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350. Line 9x13 baking dish with foil or parchment paper. In a food processor combine butter, flour and brown sugar. Mix until crumbly and press into the bottom of the lined pan.
In a microwaveable bowl add caramels and cream and microwave for 1 minute. Stir and microwave for another minute. Continue until the caramel is smooth. Pour over the crust. Sprinkle with the pecans and bake for about 25 - 35 minutes or until the caramel is bubbly and the crust looks done. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips and place in a cool place until set.

Cut, serve, eat and enjoy!


Warmly,
Mary

Cherry Coffee Cake

What is your Christmas morning tradition? When I was a little girl we used to all go to my Grandma "P''s house...she had a huge farm house. Us kids would some times sleep right next to the fully lit and decorated Christmas tree, even though there were enough rooms and beds for all of us I remember waking up in the middle of the night staring at the pretty colorful  lights. Grandma always had the multicolored lights - the more colorful, the better. If we didn't wake up first, my Aunt D would come in checking on us kids to see if we were up yet. I think she was just as excited about the days festivities as us kids were! She's fun and super cool like that...still is! So, once Aunt D and us kids were up at around 5 am, we ran around the house gathering everyone else from bed. Still in our jammies we'd all pile into the living room around the tree and start opening gifts. Aunt D delivering the gifts to the kids and Uncle F with his camera. As soon as we were done, Grandma would head to the kitchen and begin her baking and cooking breakfast...well, as soon as coffee was on! We'd get to play with our toys and Aunts and Uncles until someone grab a bite to eat.

I love this tradition and we carry it on as much as we can in my home. One small difference. I want to spend the morning playing and not in the kitchen, so I usually make my well known cinnamon rolls ahead of time and then warm them up or made this Christmas Coffee Cake the night before. This year I'm making Cherry Coffee Cake. My mom used to make a Cherry Coffee Cake similar to this when I as a kid. It was a hit then and it's a hit today!

CHERRY COFFEE CAKE
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 Tbl butter, frozen
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1 can cherry pie filling
1 tsp vanilla
Topping:
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
5 Tbl butter, frozen
2 tsp cinnamon

Heat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Grate in butter and mix until it looks kinda crumbly. In a small bowl beat buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. It will be lumpy. Spread into the pan. Spoon the cherry pie filling evenly over the top.

Mix brown sugar, flour, oatmeal and cinnamon in a bowl. Grate butter into the mixture and toss until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in walnuts and sprinkle over the cherries. Bake for about 30 minutes.
Serve warm and enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Chocolate Peppermint Bark

Have you ever made a gingerbread house? It's kind of a tradition around here to decorate a gingerbread house. It's super fun for the kids and oddly stressful for me. I'm a little impatient and I very meticulously align the walls and roof so that the kids can start slopping frosting and candies on the house only to have pieces sliding around everywhere. This year, I did it the right way. I built the house and we're letting it sit over night to solidify so that the kids can have at it with their confectionery creativity without me trying to rig things up just to hold the poor little crooked thing together! So what do you do with your 5 year old after breaking the news that he has to wait yet another day to adorn his creation? Make candy!
I have never made Christmas bark or any bark for that matter. I can't believe how easy this is. And super duper good too!

CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT BARK
2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 pkg milk chocolate chips
4ish candy canes, crushed

Line a jelly roll pan with waxed paper or parchment paper. Evenly spread cookie pieces in the pan. Pour chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for 1 minute, stir. Continue to microwave in 30 second increments (stirring in between) until the chocolate is all melted. Evenly pour over the cookie pieces. Sprinkle with candy pieces. Let sit until set - in the fridge or somewhere cool. Break into pieces and munch away! Or better yet....gift away!

Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary

Heath Cheesecake

If you know me...like really know me, you know that I'm a party girl! Not THAT kind of party girl, but in our home...we find every excuse that we can to have a party and have people over for food and fun! My friends have come to expect a lot of goodness at these parties too. I am by the way...flattered! The latest party was Superman's Birthday and ummm ahem *clears throat* Superman is not a big fan of cake or cupcakes *clears throats*tear*. I KNOW! Rude huh...whatever to each his own. Whatever. Superman is however a huge fan of cheesecake and brownie sundaes. So, being the good wife that I am, I put all my dreams and desires for this birthday party aside for him. And I was pretty pleased by my choice to make Heath Cheesecake. Just so you know, this is super rich and sweet and NOT for the lightweight dessert connoisseurs!

HEATH CHEESECAKE
Ingredients
2  cups Graham Cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar (for crust)
3-8oz pkg cream cheese, room temp
3 eggs, room temp
3/4 cup sugar (for cheesecake filling)
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup heath bits, divided
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbl butter

Heat oven to 350.  Combine graham cracker crumbs (I grind them in a blender), 1/4 cup sugar and butter. Mix well and press into the sides and bottom of a 10" spring-form pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until completely smooth, but do not over mix. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Again, mix well but do NOT over mix. Stir in 3/4 cup of the heath bar bits. Pour over the crust and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 and keep baking for an additional 45 minutes  or until filling is almost set. Turn the oven off but keep the cheesecake in there for 2- 3 hrs. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN WHILE BAKING!
Remove from the oven and allow to continue to cool at room temperature.
Let's make the ganache topping. Add chocolate chips and cream to a small microwaveable mixing bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir until melted. Add butter, cut in chunks. Stir until everything is melted and shiny. Drizzle over the top and sprinkle with the remaining heath bar bits.
Chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours!

Enjoy!


Warmly,
Mary

Christmas Breakfast Wreath

Hello! Just so you know, I do feel really bad about not posting delicious and amazing recipes as often as I should!

Ok, now that is out of the way... Christmas is coming! You know what I realized today? If I was in charge, I would give kids one week off of school BEFORE Christmas and one or two weeks (take your pick) after Christmas. Why? Well, because it's no fun doing all this holiday baking and eating by myself! It would be much more fun dancing and singing and baking and eating and decorating with my four kids. Don't ya think?

I whipped up this little, ok, it wasn't so little but this fun sausage crescent breakfast wreath for my MOPs (Mother Of Preschoolers) Leadership Christmas Party. It was a big hit! It was super duper easy and very few ingredients, I didn't even write down the recipe. Today one of my dear sweet besties requested the recipe, she's good at that..requesting recipes from me and complimenting me...she totally speaks my love language in that way! It makes me happy! Anyway, if you want something festive, flavorful, simple and fun for Christmas morning or a Christmas brunch, this is it!

CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST WREATH

2 pkg refrigerated crescent rolls
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 lb breakfast sausage
3 green onions, sliced greens and whites
1/2 sweet red pepper, diced
1 cup shredded cheese, I used cheddar

Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet brown the sausage then drain the grease. Stir in the cream cheese, onions, peppers and cheese. On a large round pizza pan lay the wide end of the crescent triangles around the edge of the pan making a large sun burst shape. Line with the sausage mixture and fold the shorter end of the crescent triangles over to seal. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown. Slice and serve!

Enjoy!

Warmly,
Mary