Let's Cook

2005-11-22T22:10:00.000-05:00

Learn how to cook a turkey! A bunch of my friends and I are going to have a post Thanksgiving celebration. In doing this we are thinking about cooking a turkey! I for one have only watched my mom cook a turkey, but this year I am determined to learn. I think I might try to fry one. Here is a cool web site that shows you how to roast, fry, or bake a turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving
Turkeyfeast

2005-11-22T19:21:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is so much fun! Not only do we get to go home for a long weekend, but we get to eat some awesome traditional foods. Today I am going to talk about some sides that I absolutely love at the Thanksgiving table.

This is a lithuanian cusine that my grandmother makes every year. A lot of people are not big fans, but I absolutely love it. In reality they taste like dumplings in sour cream. I don’t know why I love them so much. Also my grandmother nick names them “sinkers” because they go straight to the bottom of your stomach.

Leistinuku sriuba (Dough pieces soup)

Ingredients: 2 cups of Flour, 1-2 eggs, salt, ½ cup milk, 1/2 cup water, butter.
Directions: Whip eggs with pinch of salt, add flour, then add some milk to reach density like sour cream. Boil milk together with water and drive dough from spoon into liquid. Boil for a few minutes. Eat flavoured with butter.

Baked Apple and Sweet Potato Casserole

INGREDIENTS:
6 sweet potatoes
3 apples
2 tablespoons melted butter-divided
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup rum
marshmallows
Directions:

Preheat to 350. Boil or steam potatoes until tender, remove skin, cut lengthwise in slices. Peel and core apples slice in rings. Butter 9x6 dish, grease with 1 tablespoon butter, alternate potato-apple layers.Add remaining ingredients with the rest of butter and pour over top. Bake 30 min. or more until liquid is mostly absorbed and top is brown and shiny. Top with marshmallows a little before done and brown

Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients
· 2 cups fresh cranberries
· 1/2 cup apple or orange juice
· 1/2 cup honey
· 1/2 grated orange rind
Directions:
· Mix cranberries, juice, and honey in a pot. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, until cranberries pop. Remove from heat
· Stir in orange rind and 1/2 cup of whatever you like (see below).
· Let cool at room temperature, then refrigerate or can.

Broccoli Cassarole

INGREDIENTS:
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped broccoli
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups instant rice
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1 (16 ounce) jar process cheese sauce
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Cook rice as directed on box.
2. Saute onions in margarine until done.
3. Cook broccoli as directed on package and drain.
4. Mix together broccoli, soup, rice, onion, butter or margarine, and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place in a 9 by 13 inch oven proof dish.
5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2005-11-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is so close! The rest of my blog is going to focus on all of the essential recipes needed for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Tell me about some of your favorite side dishes! This particular recipe is made with pumpkin. One reason I love Thanksgiving is because of all of the excuses to eat pumpkin. Some people don’t enjoy it, but I do! This recipe is really easy, and is a great dessert for Thanksgiving. I usually use gram crackers, or ginger snaps to dip with. mmmmm

Pumpkin Dip

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

PREPARATION:Cream together pumpkin and cream cheese. Add in all other ingredients until well blended. Refrigerate overnight. Serve with gingersnaps and graham crackers.

2005-11-09T17:07:00.000-05:00

When I first started this blog I promised to incorporate some ethnic recipes. I noticed that I really haven’t posted any. This week I would like to share a Greek recipe that many all know and love. My roommate is 100% Greek, and her father owns two Greek restaurants. Whenever I take a trip to her home town I always get to enjoy some yummy Greek cuisine. Before I met her, I didn’t really know much about Greek food. She has opened my eyes to grape leaves, hummus, and Gyros. However my favorite is a dessert called Baklava. I am sure many already know this dessert!

Baklava
2 cups honey
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 T. grated orange rind
1 t. cinnamon
14 phyllo (fillo) pastry sheets
1 C. butter, melted
2 cups toasted and/or roasted nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, pistachios), chopped fine

One day in advance:

Bring honey, sugar, water, orange rind, and cinnamon to a boil. Continue boiling over low heat for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and save 1 cup for later use.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a shallow baking pan and line with 4 pastry sheets*, brushing each one with butter. Extend sheets over the rims of the pan. Spread 1/2 cup mixed nuts evenly over sheets. Sprinkle them with some of the syrup and melted butter. Cover with 2 sheets, brushing each with butter. Repeat procedure 3 times. Cover the last layer of nuts, syrup and butter with the last 4 sheets brushing each with butter.
Press the pastry sheets firmly against the rim of pan and trim with a sharp knife if needed. Cut through the top layer of phyllo diagonally to make 24 equal diamond shapes. Bake for 30 minutes, then increase the heat to 400°F and bake an additional 15 minutes or until golden brown.Pour the cooled syrup on top and let cool. Slice all the way through previous cuts to make 24 diamond-shaped bars. Brush the top with the remaining butter.

Note: This actually sounds harder than it really is. Also if you would like to cheat, you can get pre-buttered sheets!

This dessert can be a wonderful addition to the Thanksgiving table!

2005-11-02T17:46:00.000-05:00

I have prepared something a little interesting this week! Recipes don’t necessarily have to be edible…. do they? This is a really neat idea for a gift, and just for fun. This recipe is a Christmas scent. When you are finished making the scent, go outside and pick up fresh leaves, pinecones, and acorns and pour it all over. I know it sounds very “Martha Stewart”, but it was fun, and it really does smell good. Some people who are really into making scents will dehydrate the leaves and pinecones, but you don’t even have to do that.

Christmas Scent

2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. ground nutmeg
2 tbsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. anise seed
1 qt. water

Stir ingredients and simmer at low heat. This mixture can be stored in refrigerator and reused several times. This is not to be consumed.

Stay tuned for thanksgiving recipes!

2005-10-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

It sounds like you guys like the gift ideas! I have a few more I would like to share. Since Halloween is right around the corner it is always fun to do a project to get in the spirit. I am planning on making this cool recipe for the children I baby-sit for. A lot of people don’t usually give gifts on Halloween, but you can certainly give a treat. I got this recipe from the Kraft website. They have a lot of cool ideas to check out. (www.kraftfoods.com)

Graveyard Gelatin Dessert:

35 NABISCO FAMOUS Chocolate Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-3/4 cups), divided
1/4 cup sugar
5 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
1 tub (8 oz.) Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
2 cups boiling water
1 pkg. (8-serving size) or 2 pkg. (4 serving size each) JELLO Orange Flavor Gelatin
Ice cubes
1/2 cup cold water
3 Creme Sandwich Cookies
Decorating icings or gels
10 candy corn
3 pumpkin candies

MIX 1-1/2 cups of the wafer crumbs, sugar and butter in 13x9-inch pan. Press firmly onto bottom of pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
BEAT cream cheese in medium bowl until well blended. Gently stir in 1/2 of the whipped topping. Spread evenly over crust.
STIR boiling water into gelatin in medium bowl 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Add enough ice cubes to cold water to measure 1-1/2 cups. Add to gelatin, stirring until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Spoon slightly thickened gelatin over cream cheese layer.
REFRIGERATE 3 hours or until firm.
SPREAD remaining whipped topping over gelatin just before serving. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup wafer crumbs over whipped topping. Decorate sandwich cookies with icings to make "tombstones." Stand tombstones on top of dessert with candies to resemble a graveyard. Cut into 15 squares. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator

That recipe will be for the kids, but this recipe will be for my Halloween party! I did this last year and everyone thought it was cool. It is sooo easy to make too. Check it out!

Black Magic

1 ¼ black-cherry liqueur
3 oz cranberry juice
3 oz. cola

Combine ingredients with ice cubes
Note: You can always make this into a punch! Mix to your liking and throw in some maraschino cherries. Mmmmmmmmm

2005-10-18T11:03:00.000-04:00

A lot of people have said that the peanut brittle was a good gift idea. Sometimes when we give gifts we lose that sense of giving something special with a price tag. I thought that this would be a good idea for everyone because the holidays are definitely around the corner. Last Christmas I made hot fudge and put it into jars. I decorated the jars with ribbon and labeled them. It was so cheap to do, and everyone loved it. You can by food jars at A.C Moore, and it will give you instructions on how to seal them properly. This idea is wonderful for Halloween and Thanksgiving as well, and will be sure to brighten up someone’s day! I plan on putting a couple more of my holiday ideas up when I find recipes that I love.

HOT FUDGE SAUCE

2 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. cocoa (Hershey's)
4 tbsp. flour
1/4 c. butter
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla (added later)

In a saucepan - mix dry ingredients. Add butter and water. Bring to a boil, and continue boiling for 10 minutes, or slightly longer. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve over ice cream, or put in a sealed jar.

2005-10-07T21:05:00.000-04:00

This weekend is homecoming, and I think most of us are going to show are school spirit at The Bob. It is suppose to rain on Saturday, but don’t let that be an excuse not to go. This weekend I will definitely be tailgating with my favorite winter drink….. warm apple cider. The following recipe is yummy. I usually put more apple cider than what it calls for, and the alcohol is obviously optional. This is a great drink to warm anyone up on a cold football….or a warm football game =)

Hot/Cold Apple Cider
Ingredients:
5-1/3 cups water
4 orange spice tea bags
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2-2/3 cups apple cider
2 cups light rum
10-1/2 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon butter
Preparation:1. Pour water into a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and toss in the orange spice tea bags. Cover and let steep 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and stir in sugar, apple cider, rum, and 2 of the cinnamon sticks. Heat just to steaming -- do not boil. 2. Ladle hot cider into 6 mugs and drop 1/2 teaspoon butter into each. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Serves: 8

2005-10-02T15:17:00.000-04:00

I think a lot of college kids live off of hamburger helper and easy mac. This recipe is so easy, quick, and yummy….. and it doesn’t taste like it is from a box. I like this recipe, because there are not really a lot of ingredients, and is consists of stuff I usually already have. Most people have some ground beef, milk, and cheese in their fridge! Next time you are at the store just pick up some soups and bisquick. You don’t necessarily have to use the vegetables. Also, if you are watching your calorie intake you could use ground turkey, and reduced fat cheese and milk.

Quick Cheeseburger Bake
PREP: 15 min BAKE: 30 min Makes 8 to 10 servings
1 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 can (11 ounces) condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, if desired
1/4 cup milk
2 cups Bisquick Original baking mix
3/4 cup water
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

1. Heat oven to 400°. Generously grease bottom and sides of rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches. Cook ground beef and onion in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Stir in soup, vegetables and milk.
2. Stir together baking mix and water in baking dish until moistened; spread evenly. Spread beef mixture over batter. Sprinkle with cheese.
3. Bake 30 minutes.

Want some dessert? Use some of the bisquick!!! If you like your cobbler really sweet you can buy pie filling in a can (which can be found in the baking isle of a grocery store), and replace it with the fruit.

Bisquick Dessert
2 tbsp. butter
1 c. Bisquick
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
3 c. cut up peaches or other fruit of your choice (can be fresh, frozen, or thawed)

Turn oven to 375 degrees. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Mix Bisquick, sugar, and milk. Pour over melted butter. Spoon fruit over. If using canned peaches, pour on some of the juice also. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Can double the recipe. Bake in 9 x 13 inch pan.

2005-09-18T13:36:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to my blog! I would like to begin by saying that I currently have fifteen dollars to my name. As pathetic as that sounds, this week I have been a scavenger in my own house for food. On Thursday at about 1 AM I had a huge craving for something sweet. After looking around I came to the conclusion that the only thing in my house that was sweet was a pound of sugar. My roommate comes down into the kitchen and is looking at me salivating at the sugar. It was really sad……. Anyway she goes back up to her room, and I decided to make something. I looked in the pantry and saw some peanuts and a light bulb clicked in my head. I ended up make peanut brittle at 1 AM, it was awesome, and all my friends were stealing it throughout the week. It was pretty cool because you can make peanut brittle out of two ingredients (sugar and peanuts), it is cheap, and it took me 5 minutes to make. This recipe is also cool because you don’t really have to measure anything. Here is what you do:

Peanut Brittle:
Put a little butter on a pan (unless you have a non-stick pan) and pour as much sugar as you want in the pan and heat until sugar is all melted. (Caution: sugar is extremely hot) Throw in as many peanuts as you want and pour mixture onto a greased cookie sheet, or any kind of metal baking dish. The mixture should harden in about 5 min. Make sure when you are heating the sugar that it doesn’t boil, because that mean it is burning. If you have a candy bar lying around the house, break it up and put it in with the peanuts for an awesome treat……. Pretty easy huh?

2005-09-09T22:24:00.000-04:00

My name is Kristin, and it is my senior year here at the University (although I could be here for longer….) It was hard for me to pick a topic that I was “passionate” about, and also interesting enough to talk about each week. I chose cooking because everyone eats, and most people cook weather they like it or not. Cooking has been somewhat of a given in my family. My grandmother is 100% Lithuanian and has been teaching me all of her techniques and recipes ever since I was a little girl. I like to cook Lithuanian food, however, I also enjoy cooking a wide variety of foods. I have recently been interested in trying some Greek recipes which include grape leaves, and hummus. Many people think of cooking as a talent, or time consuming, but I hope to share a lot of my cheap and easy recipes for us poor college students as well as some very elegant dishes.

This first recipe is a mango salsa. I have made this a lot this summer, and since the summer is almost over I figured I would share it with everyone. This recipe can be served over chicken, or over a nice white fish. Since I am poor I like to use tilapia fish, which can be as cheap as $2.50 a pound, or if you would like to impress your girlfriend or boyfriend you could do a flounder or a swordfish. I have also found that adding a can of diced tomatoes in the recipe can turn into a nice dipping salsa that we all know and love with tortillas chips…..mmmmmmmm

Mango Salsa:
1 mango chopped
½ red onion chopped
Fresh (or dried) Basil
Lime Juice
1 jalapeno pepper chopped

Mix all ingredients together and add lime juice and basil to your liking.http://www.cheapcooking.com

2005-09-08T15:40:00.000-04:00

2005-09-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog