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Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Grinch Cookies

Notes

Recipe taken from TastyEverAfter.com

Serving size is 1 cookie

These raspberry filled Grinch Cookies are perfect for Christmas and so easy to make with an easy homemade sugar cookie dough. Can use store bought dough for a time saver!

If you don’t have a heart cookie cutter, use a small paring knife to make the heart shaped center of the cookie.

Store leftover baked and filled cookies in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in tightly covered container.

Unfilled cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months after baking in a freezer proof container or bag.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 egg , at room temperature
  • 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3–4 drops green food coloring
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup all-natural seedless raspberry preserves, jam, or jelly
  • green sugar sprinkles

Instructions

  1. Place butter, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Using a stand-up mixer with a paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, cream ingredients together at medium speed until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes).
  2. Scrape down sides, add egg and vanilla, Beat for another 2–3 minutes, scraping down sides as necessary, until well combined. Add 3–4 drops of green food coloring and mix for another minute or until the green coloring is evenly distributed throughout dough and there are no streaks of color.
  3. Slowly add flour, ½ cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Dough should be firm, not sticky, but still be soft. Divide dough in half and put each half between two pieces of heavy-duty freezer plastic wrap or parchment paper. Roll each piece of dough to ¼″ thick and place in refrigerator on flat surface for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
  5. Remove one prepared dough sheet at a time from refrigerator. Remove top layer of parchment paper or plastic wrap and cut out 30 cookies using a round shaped cutter with a heart insert. Place on baking sheet and coat the top of each cookie with green sprinkles, if using. Take out other cookie dough sheet and cut out 30 cookies using just a round shaped cutter. Place on baking sheet.
  6. Bake 8–10 minutes, or until lightly brown on edges. Let cool for minute or two on baking sheet, then transfer to wire rack to cool.
  7. When cookies are completely cooled, take the round cookies and spread a little of the raspberry preserves on each one. At this point, if you haven’t used the green sprinkles, sift powdered sugar on top of each heart cut-out cookie. Lightly press it on top of jelled cookie.
Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Casey’s General Store Breakfast Pizza

Notes

Recipe taken from TheKitchn.com

Serves 6–8.

This recipe reads long, but you can make the cheese sauce, cook the sausage and eggs, and grate the cheese the night before and just assemble the pizza the next day.

Storage: Leftover pizza can be stored tightly wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in an oven or toaster oven for best results.

Topping Shortcuts

  • Cheese sauce: You can make the cheese sauce the night before and store it in an airtight container. Or feel free to use a prepared product such as Cheese-Wiz instead.
  • Sausage: Bulk breakfast sausage is the way to go here. Cook it up the night before.
  • Eggs: I’m usually not an advocate for cooking scrambled eggs in advance, but between the cheese sauce and the cheese on top, the pre-cooked eggs will steam to reheat and won’t dry out in the oven. These can be cooked the night before as well.
  • Frozen hash browns: While homemade hash browns are tastier, using frozen hash brown potatoes and thawing them in the fridge overnight will save considerable prep time.

Ingredients

  • Cooking spray
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ cups whole milk, divided
  • ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
  • ½ teaspoonkosher salt, divided
  • 8 ounces uncooked breakfast sausage, casings removed
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 pound pizza dough, at room temperature
  • 1 cup frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Equipment

  • Medium non-stick frying pan
  • Paper towel

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven. Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and heat to 375°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.
  2. Make the cheese sauce. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until the butter-flour mixture loses its sheen, about 1 minute. Whisk in 1 cup of the milk and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in ½ cup of the cheddar cheese and ¼ teaspoon of the salt. Set aside to cool slightly while you make the rest of the toppings.
  3. Cook the sausage and eggs. Heat a medium nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Crumble the sausage into the pan and cook until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. While the sausage cooks, whisk together the eggs, remaining ¼ cup of milk, and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked sausage to a paper towel-lined plate. Leave the sausage’s fat in the pan and pour in the egg mixture. Scramble the eggs until almost cooked through but still moist, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
  4. Roll and dock the pizza dough. Roll or stretch the pizza dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet. Use the tines of a fork to “dock” (poke holes in) the pizza dough, working from the middle out to within 1 inch of the edge. This will prevent the dough from getting soggy from the steaming cheese sauce.
  5. Sauce the pizza. Spread on the cheese sauce in a thin, even layer as you would pizza sauce. You might not use all the cheese sauce.
  6. Top the pizza. Sprinkle the sausage onto the cheese sauce, followed by the hash browns, and finally the scrambled eggs. Sprinkle the pizza with the mozzarella cheese, remaining ¼ cup of cheddar cheese, and scallions.
  7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Bake until the cheese is melted and and the crust is golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
  8. Cool and slice. Let the pizza cool for 10 minutes; this gives the cheese sauce time to set and prevent it from oozing out. Transfer to a cutting board, slice, and serve.
Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Italian Wedding Soup

 

The BEST Italian Wedding Soup! Filled with homemade browned meatballs, fresh veggies and tiny bits of pasta. Total comfort food any day of the year!

Servings: 6
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time45 minutes

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 8 oz lean ground beef
  • 8 oz ground pork
  • 1/2 cup fresh hearty white bread crumbs*
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh oregano
  • 1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan
  • 1 large egg
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

Soup

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/4 cups 1/4-inch diced carrots
  • 1 1/4 cups diced yellow onion
  • 3/4 cup 1/4-inch diced celery
  • 4 cloves garlic , minced (1 1/2 Tbsp)
  • 5 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup dry acini de pepe or orzo pasta**
  • 6 oz fresh spinach , chopped
  • Finely shredded parmesan , for serving

Instructions

For the meatballs:
  1. Add beef and pork to a large mixing bowl. Add in bread crumbs, parsley, oregano, parmesan, egg, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Gently toss and break up mixture with hands to evenly coat and distribute. Shape mixture into very small meatballs, about 3/4 inch to 1 inch and transfer to a large plate.
  2. Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs and cook until browned, turning occasionally (to brown on 2 or 3 sides), about 4 minutes total. Transfer meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels while leaving oil in skillet. Repeat process with remaining meatballs (note that meatballs won’t be cooked through at this point, they’ll continue to cook through in the soup).\
For the soup:
  1. While meatballs are browning, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, onions and celery and saute until veggies have softened about 6 – 8 minutes, add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. Pour in chicken broth, season soup with salt and pepper to taste and bring mixture to a boil. Add in pasta and meatballs, reduce heat to light boil (about medium or medium-low). Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until pasta is tender and meatballs have cooked through, about 10 minutes, while adding in spinach during the last minute of cooking. Serve warm, sprinkle each serving with parmesan cheese.
*I recommend using bread such as a La Brea french loaf. Just grind up a slice in a food processor to find crumbs. Save the remaining bread for serving (slathered with butter of course) or freeze for another later use.
**If you like a more brothier soup you can reduce pasta to 3/4 cup. Note that as the soup sits the pasta will absorb more broth so you can add more broth to thin the soup as desired.
  1. Recipe source: inspired by Ina Garten’s and Giada’s recipes
Nutrition Facts
Italian Wedding Soup
Amount Per Serving
Calories 396Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 6g38%
Cholesterol 85mg28%
Sodium 362mg16%
Potassium 911mg26%
Carbohydrates 25g8%
Fiber 3g13%
Sugar 4g4%
Protein 29g58%
Vitamin A 7490IU150%
Vitamin C 16.6mg20%
Calcium 190mg19%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition Disclaimer
COURSE: SOUP
CUISINE: ITALIAN
KEYWORD: ITALIAN WEDDING SOUP