It's THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! Time for my annual Mini Thanksgiving Dinner Cupcakes!

I've just arrived for another day of unpacking and cleaning at the new house.  But first I wanted to brew a fresh pot of coffee, sit down and enjoy the kitchen for a moment before I drag out yet another moving box and fill my counters with packing papers and 'mystery' items as the movers seem to have taken great joy in packing random items together; for example I have 2 boxes in front of me right now that read "Clothes and Xmas Items".  Really?  Those don't even go together.  And to top it off they are in a box marked "Garage".

Spare time is not something I have right now as we are chest high in moving boxes.  But it's time I re-post an annual favorite anyway!  Our families traditional Mini Thanksgiving Dinner Cupcakes! 


Thanks to my website, I've shared this 'recipe' many times and I'm happy to report that I now have many, many bloggers and friends and readers that make these (or similar using the products they can find in their own grocery stores) every year for their families. What a great tradition! Are you ready to start???

Needed:
24 baked and cooled cupcakes
Brach's Maple Nut Candies
2 cans white frosting (or homemade)
Yellow gel food color (in a little tube)
Tiny round non-perils - red for cranberries and green for peas
I prefer to use the long skinny green sprinkles and call them green beans
chocolate chips or butterscotch chips to melt for 'gravy'
A package of cookies of your choice to look like a plate (a pretty edge on the cookie is a nice touch)
Yellow frosting or other color besides white for the 'plate'


Bake and cool your favorite cupcake recipe. Frost each cupcake with white or tinted frosting of your choice and top each with a cookie while the frosting is soft to 'adhere' the cookie-plate to the cupcake.

Carefully frost a circle on each cookie to be your plate.  Be sure not to frost more than 2 or 3 'plates' at  a time as you want the frosting to be soft enough to press the candy 'food' into.  Slice the maple nut candies thin and place them on the cookie plate to be 'turkey'. Dab some white frosting next to it for 'mashed potatoes' followed with a little dab of yellow gel food color as 'butter'.  Add the 'cranberries' (red colored sugar or non-perils) and little green 'peas' or 'beans'. Melt your butterscotch or chocolate chips and thin with a little vegetable oil. Drizzle over the 'turkey' as gravy.

These are always a huge hit no matter where I've taken them;  family functions, school parties or the work office.  Enjoy!

In Honor of My New Home: Southern Fried Chicken

The 320 moving boxes waiting for my attention make it official.  I'm a southerner!  And lucky for me I love good ol' southern home cooking.  As a matter of fact, on my solo trip here with the last of our things from 'up north' I stayed the night in a small town in Tennessee and the only thing I wanted for dinner?  Fried Chicken! And I got it.  And when the waiter asked me if I cared for any dessert that evening?  I said, "No, but I think I'll have another piece of fried chicken!"  (Yes, I really did!)

This is my post for Fried Chicken that I first shared with you in 2008.  It's "MOVING WEEK" for me and I'm snowed under with boxes, utility installation, packing paper and a counter full of 'stuff' that has no home in our new house.  My time is short, but in honor of my relocation to the South I give you;  Fried Chicken!



Fried Chicken

1 whole chicken, cut for frying (8 pieces or so)
1 1/2 c self rising flour
1/2 t salt
1 t black pepper
*optional:  cayenne, sage, accent, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder
oil for frying


Soak the chicken pieces in salt water for 15 minutes.  Drain.  Mix the seasonings with the flour - you really only need salt, pepper and flour, but can add a few other spices too.  Just don't get too heavy handed with them.  1/4 teaspoon is a good starting point for adding extra's and increasing from there.

Coat the chicken and let it set for about 15-30 minutes if you have time.  This helps the coating stay on through frying.  Heat about 1 1/2 cups oil or shortening in a pan over medium high.  It's important the oil is not too hot!  This is one of the mistakes I made through the first few years of our marriage.  Every time I tried to make fried chicken it would be golden brown on the outside and un-cooked on the inside.  The trick is to  have the oil be hot enough to sizzle a bit when the chicken is lowered into the pan, but not enough for the oil to splatter and jump all over the place.  If it's too hot remove the pan from the heat, let it cool down a bit and then add your chicken.  Cook half the time, turn, cook the other half.  Turning again if necessary.

The chicken will take about 20-30 minutes to cook completely.  It should be golden brown and done all the way through.  Drain for a few minutes and serve.

Here is my spices - 1 1/2 c self rising flour, 1 1/2 t pepper, 1 t Accent,
1/2 t salt, 1/4 t garlic powder, 1/4 t onion powder, a dash of sage and a dash of paprika

Ready to go into the oven~ Southern Biscuits!
I reserved about 1/4 cup of the unused seasoned flour to mix
into my biscuits.  I love them flavored this way with gravy!
PS: This is not my 'regular' biscuit recipe - you'll find the one I usually
make in the 'breads' links to the right - along with photos.  This was just a quick and simple
recipe using self rising flour, shortening and buttermilk.

The chicken floured and setting for a bit.

The camera's flash made it look a little orange colored
but here it is frying in the pan...  yum!

I've Arrived in the New State

For my regular readers, you know that I'm trying to buy a home, sell a home, update my websites and relocate 1000 miles away all at the same time.  In the middle of this, life goes on with running the busy schedules and lives of not just the three kids but my husband and I as well. 

I'm happy to say I just finished the solo trek across the country and arrived in my new home state.  I'm currently in the temporary corporate apartment my husband and daughter have been staying in but if all goes well we'll close on our home this week.

Can't wait to get moved into a new home and get back to work as an American Housewife and share some fabulous recipes and food photos with you.  Hang in there!  I'll be back soon!

Fudge Nut Truffles - Perfectly Delicious

Sleeping on an air mattress, living among chaos, mere days before the moving truck shows up to pack up our lives into boxes that we won't see again for 7-12 days and I make... truffles?

Born out of frustration and the need to do 'something' mindless to vent built up energy I opened the almost bare cupboards last night and saw a box of Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate. Thinking I would make them into brownies, I grabbed the box and opening it, saw a simple recipe for fudge.  Did I really want fudge?  No, not really.  

 

I don't like chocolate all that much and don't crave it so honestly I'd rather have a nice pile of caramelized onions or a bowl of steamed broccoli.  But... I was bugged, the semi-sweet chocolate was there and I needed something to do that wasn't moving related.

Since I always "play with my food" and view recipes as a guide for brainstorming, I looked at the recipe on the package and then did my own thing.

The first thing I changed was to half the recipe as I only had 1 box of Semi-Sweet Chocolate

I melted the chocolate with the sweetened condensed milk.

I then tasted it and decided I'd pour most of the rest of the can

of sweetened condensed milk into it.

I used about 3/4 of the can.  

(The rest I mixed with toasted chopped walnuts

and ate with a spoon).

I increased the amount of vanilla to about 3 teaspoons.

I poured the mixture onto foil and placed it in the refrigerator or freezer to set up.  I left mine all night as I went to bed after this point.  In the morning I took it back out.  It will still be soft and pliable since we used more sweetened condensed milk than fudge would have, but it sets up so you can scoop it out.

Scoop and form into balls rolled between your palms and place the balls back on foil.  Place the foil in the freezer.  Let the balls freeze for 30 minutes if you can wait that long.  At least 10-15 at minimum.  In the meantime, melt 1/2 lb. of almond bark.  I used vanilla but feel free to use chocolate as well.

 Dip each fudge nut ball into the melted almond bark.

Place on foil.  Sprinkle with jimmies if you wish or leave plain.

Let harden on the foil at room temperature.

 My Fudge Nut Truffles

1 packages of 8 squares each Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate (I only had 7 squares so that's fine!)

1 can sweetened condensed milk (use most of it, just shy of the whole can)

3 t vanilla

3/4 c chopped walnuts

1/2 lb. almond bark, melted at 50% power in the microwave and stirred smooth

Sprinkles if you wish

Melt the chocolate squares in the microwave with the milk.  Stir in nuts and vanilla and pour into a foil lined 8" square pan.  Let cool.  Scoop out heaping teaspoonfuls of chocolate mixture and roll between your hands to form balls.  Place on foil.  Place in freezer for at least 20 minutes and longer if you wish.  Melt the almond bark in the microwave at half power and stir until smooth (takes about 3-4 minutes depending on the microwave).  Use a skewer, fork or toothpick to dip the chocolate truffle balls into the melted almond bark and place on foil.  Sprinkle with jimmies if you wish.  Let stand at room temperature to set up and harden. 

*If you have leftover almond bark, don't throw it out.  Look into your cupboards to see what you have to make 'almond bark candy' out of it.  I used a cup of toasted coconut stirred into mine.  Then pour out onto foil and let harden at room temperature.  Other ideas:  M&M's, peanuts, cereal, crushed peppermint candies, chopped halloween candy corn, popcorn or chocolate chips.  When it is hard (about 20 minutes) break into pieces and enjoy!

Hot Shrimp Dip

The moving trucks come in less than a week!  I am obviously cooking to 'use up' all the food in our refrigerator and freezer, but I highly doubt there are many of you out there doing the same. Instead, this is a recipe that you could use for that Sunday football party or a great Halloween party dip!  The red bell pepper I put in there more for looks than flavor.  I love the little red pieces it adds to the visual presentation.  You could leave them out if you don't care.  Or you could substitute a bit of green pepper, some spinach or even tiny diced tomatoes.

Hot Shrimp Dip

2 lbs. cream cheese, diced
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped fine
1/2 pound chopped cooked shrimp
1/2 T  minced fresh garlic or 1/2 t garlic powder
4 banana peppers, chopped fine

Microwave the mixture and stir smooth.  Serve in a fondue pot or a warming dish. Serve with a variety of crackers and thick tortilla chips.