Author: QuiltLady

CARAMELIZED BALSAMIC ONIONS

CARAMELIZED BALSAMIC ONIONS serves 4

As the onions cook, the balsamic mixture becomes syrupy and caramelizes the onions, giving them a bronzed caramel color and a luscious, rich flavor.

2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon avocado oil
⅓ cup QUALITY balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons homemade bone chicken broth or dry white wine
1 tablespoon sugar
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper
1 1/2 pounds medium yellow onions
1 bunch FRESH thyme leaves

  • Preheat oven to 425°.
  • Combine butter and avocado oil in rectangular baking dish.
  • Whisk in vinegar, wine or broth, sugar, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Peel off papery outer layers of onions, but do not cut off either end.
  • Cut onions in half from stem through root end.
  • Place onions in dish, cut-sides up.
  • Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove foil and using tongs, carefully turn onions over to cut-sides down.
  • Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes longer or until onions are tender and balsamic mixture is thick and caramelized.
  • Serve cut-sides up.
  • Sprinkle with FRESH thyme.


NOTES: To make ahead: Prepare onions as directed. Cool, cover, and chill overnight. To reheat, preheat oven to 325°. Bake, covered, 40 minutes or until warmed through.

BLOOMING QUESADILLA

BLOOMING QUESADILLA adapted from SPACE SHIPS & LASER BEAMS

A Blooming Quesadilla Ring is PERFECT for the upcoming holidays, a tailgate or Super Bowl party or even a church potluck.

20 taco sized soft flour tortillas
4 cups FINELY shredded taco blend Colby jack cheese
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken pieces (OR PROTEIN OF CHOICE)
1 SMALL red bell pepper, seeded and FINELY diced
1/2 cup FINELY diced red onion
1/2 cup salsa your favorite brand
1 cup Taco Bell mild taco sauce
2 cups cheddar cheese finely shredded
2 tablespoons FRESH chopped cilantro

GARNISHES
FRESH chopped cilantro
Lime wedges
Sour cream
Chopped green onions
Salsa

  • Preheat oven to 375°.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Place a large, wide mouth glass jar in the center of the baking sheet.

  • Cut the tortilla’s in half.
  • Cover the halved tortilla’s with a clean dry cloth and set aside so they don’t dry out.

  • In a large mixing bowl combine the shredded cooked chicken, red pepper, 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, red onion, salsa and taco sauce.
  • Stir well until all of the ingredients are well mixed. 

  • Sprinkle each tortilla with 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons each of the shredded colby monterey jack cheese and the chicken mixture.
  • Roll each of the halved, “filled” tortillas into a cone shape. Be careful not to squish out the filling. The small pointed ends of the cones need to touch the wide mouth jar and form a ring around the jar.

  • Once you have made a complete bottom layer of about 12 to 13 “cones,” sprinkle ¾ cup of the shredded cheddar cheese on top of the ring.

  • Repeat the ring of cones for a second layer.
  • Then top with 1 cup of the colby and monterey jack cheese.

  • Repeat for the 3rd and final ring.
  • Remove the glass jar from the center of the cones.

  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges of the cones are golden brown and the cheese is melted.
  • Using the edges of the parchment paper, carefully transfer the quesadilla ring to a platter.
  • Serve the quesadilla ring with your favorite salsa or dipping sauce AND garnishes.

NOTES: If trimming off the excess parchment paper, BE VERY CAREFUL not to touch the hot cheese.


HAPPY HOMEMAKER MONDAY with MENU PLANS week 52 of 2022

Be sure to join us for Happy Homemaker Monday and link up with our host, Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

This is going to be my new motto!

How are you? I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas! I also hope you have time to just “be” this week and enjoy each other before we dive into the preparations for 2023.

I couldn’t resist! Christmas is 364 days away. BLOGMAS 2022 is over and BLOGMAS 2023 is only 327 days away.

While the rest of the country was on a blizzard watch and horrific Christmas travel weather we had an unusual “warming” trend here for Christmas weekend. Yesterday was the warmest – 55°, though still cold, Christmas we’ve had here in the Pacific North West (while we’ve been here) – no snow for us this year, but has been sooooooo foggy that it still feels cold and wet in your bones!

This week’s weather predictions have us back to actual rain and lots of it with the temperatures dropping back into our lower normal range of 30’s and 40’s.

I have tons of things going through my mind on what I want 2023 to look like. I’ve also been helping a friend get her side business going and wondering how much time I want to devote to that. After the 1st I’ll be getting back to my sorting and downsizing in preparation of the spring garage sale.

Doing Happy Homemaker Monday, EVERY MONDAY, loyally for all these years and so extensively helps keep me on track of my daily life as it summarizes the past week and lays out a fairly concise plan for the current week. This now coupled with the yearly and quarterly lists I’m doing along with Jean have REALLY is helping get me back to my organized self.

THIS WEEK’S TO DO LIST, PROJECTS & APPOINTMENTS
  • LAUNDRY & CLEANING I’ll be getting back on schedule today with laundry especially – bedding, towels and outerwear. I deep cleaned just before Christmas so not much to be done except picking up the clutter.
  • GROCERIES & ERRANDS We’re I’ll figure out my list and go shopping on Friday.e supposed to get a couple inches of rain today so I plan to go nowhere! No real appointments or errands until 2023!
  • RECIPE RESEARCH & MENU PLANNING My girlfriend gave me and old Oregon State Fair recipe book from 1983 AND one of those antique recipe boxes full of OLD vintage recipes that I like to collect. I’ve selected SEVERAL recipes from each and will create the next couple week’s menu around them.

WHAT’S ON THE DVR/TV
 Not much until next year when the network shows resume. I’ll finish up the Hallmark and Christmas movies over this next week.

12/26 MONDAY
12/27 TUESDAY
12/28 WEDNESDAY
12/29 THURSDAY
12/30 FRIDAY
12/31 SATURDAY
1/1 SUNDAY
DINNER
 JET TILA BEEF PHO
 DUTCH HASH
 SICILIAN SPAGHETTI with CARAMELIZED BALSAMIC ONIONS
BEEF & BEAN BAKE
 SALSA  VERDE CHICKEN SOUP
 BLACK EYED PEA CHILI our traditional New Year’s meal
 HAMBURGER STEAKS with CREAM HASHED POTATOES
DESSERT
 
CRANBERRY POUND CAKE
 
COFFEE CAKE KNOTS

All my pictures need editing, but I LOVE this fun one of my girlfriend’s front door where I left some goodies for her on Christmas Eve.

OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST

There are dozens of recipes all over the internet for overnight French toast – every mom and family has one! French Toast casserole has been a staple in large families for many, many years long before the internet, especially at Christmas and Easter. What better way to use up stale bread, feed a crowd on a busy morning? Whether you are busy opening Christmas presents under the tree or trying to get the crowd out the door for church services this recipe is a winner!

Just pop it in the oven when you get up and then it’s ready when you are. The aroma while baking is only topped by the puffy, golden slice of goodness as you top it with fresh butter and maple syrup and then enjoying that first mouth watering sweet bite.

A dense thick Brioche works well as does leftover panettone or even a plump sourdough, but I LOVE to splurge for Christmas with Thomas’ Cinnamon Raisin swirl bread. This french toast turns out so sweet and yummy that you can slice it and skip the syrup if you want – just eat it like a sweet roll. When we have a crowd I often add some crisp bacon to the side.

OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST serves 6-8

2tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for baking dish
1 pound bread of choice, sliced ¾-inch thick (sourdough, brioche, panettone)
¼ cup golden raisins (optional if using a bread already filled with them)
6 LARGE eggs
2½ cups WHOLE milk
½ cup heavy cream
⅓ cup PACKED brown sugar
½ teaspoon QUALITY ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon FRESH ground nutmeg
½teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
⅓ cup pecans, chopped (optional)
PURE Maple syrup, for serving
FRESH blueberries or raspberries, for serving (optional

  • Butter a 2-quart baking dish.
  • LIGHTLY Butter the front sides of the slices of bread and shingle the slices upright in the dish, overlapping as necessary.
  • Nestle the raisins evenly between the slices of bread.
  • Whisk together eggs, milk, heavy cream, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and salt in a large bowl until well combined.
  • Pour the egg mixture over the bread and press the bread gently to absorb.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

NEXT morning.

  • Heat oven to 350.
  • Remove plastic wrap.
  • Sprinkle with pecans evenly if using.
  • Tent with foil.
  • Bake 30 minutes.
  • Remove foil and bake another 20-30 until puffed, golden and set in the center.
  • Let stand 10 minutes.
  • Serve with maple syrup.

NOTE: When I make this for just the two of us I use my small enameled cast iron sauce pan as a baking vessel. I halve the slices and arrange them standing up. Adjust the other ingredients accordingly.

BLOGMAS 2022 ~ DAY 30 ~ CHRISTMAS EVE, NORAD & the 12 DAYS of CHRISTMAS

We’re on winter storm watch here (like always 😀 at this time of year) and just like so much of the country this Christmas, but there is no need to worry ~ NORAD will be watching to track Santa’s progress for all the kiddos out there.

Every day of the year, Cheyenne’s Mountain (AKA Stargate to many SYFY fans 😀 ) NORAD defends North America using an all-domain and globally integrated approach to track everything that flies in and around Canada and the United States. But, on Dec. 24, NORAD adds a VERY special mission ~ tracking Santa Claus. 

Like so many origin stories, NORAD’s mission to track Santa truly began with an accident when in 1955 a young child, trying to reach Santa, dialed a misprinted phone number from a department store ad in the local newspaper and instead of calling Santa, the child reached the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Operations Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  

Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, the commander on duty that night who answered the child’s phone call, was quick to realize a mistake had been made and assured the child he was Santa. After more incoming calls, Shoup assigned a duty officer to continue answering calls and a tradition was born, that continued when NORAD was formed in 1958.  

Each year since, NORAD has dutifully reported Santa’s location on Dec. 24 to millions of children and families across the world. Because of the support, services and resources generously provided by volunteers and our government and corporate contributors, NORAD Tracks Santa has persevered for more than 65 years.  

In fact, what started because of a typo has flourished and is recognized as one of the Department of Defense’s largest community outreach programs. 

Each year, the NORAD Tracks Santa Web Site receives several million unique visitors from more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Volunteers typically answer more than 130,000 calls to the NORAD Tracks Santa hotline from children across the globe. 

In addition to the phone line and website, children and the young-at-heart can track Santa through our mobile apps and social media platforms:  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noradsanta 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoradSanta 

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/NORADTracksSanta  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noradtrackssanta_official 

NORAD Tracks Santa Website: https://www.noradsanta.org 

NORAD Tracks Santa Newsroom: https://noradsantanews.com/newsroom

Several contributors such as OnStar and Amazon Alexa also provide convenient ways to keep tabs of Santa’s location. 

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly.  Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.

It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

  • The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
  • Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
  • Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.
  • The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
  • The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
  • The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
  • Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit–Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
  • The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
  • Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit–Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
  • The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
  • The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
  • The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

So that is your history lesson for today. Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone – and, remember, the Twelve Days of Christmas are the 12 days starting December 25th and the Christmas Season runs until Epiphany, January 6.

BLOGMAS 2022 ~ DAY 29 ~ MENU

While there are family and even cultural traditions for Christmas menus around the world, we try and vary our menu to OUR own tastes each year. Sometimes that is also dependent on regional availability of the specialty items needed to create those menus.

This year with it just being the 2 of us, we were planning a “trimmed” down menu with an Italian theme. At the last minute I found a FANTASTIC deal on prime rib and a butcher willing to cut a very small portion for me. We use the leftovers in our “lucky” New Year’s Black Eyed pea chili.

OAT NUT CARAMEL BARS aka CARMELITAS

OAT NUT CARAMEL BARS aka CARMELITAS adapted from Donuts 2 Crumpets

OMG these are the BEST cookie bars EVER! It has layers of buttery oats, rich chocolate and creamy caramel which make them a SUPER delicious gooey treat.

Prep Time 25 mins Cook Time 25 mins Total Time 50 mins

2 (11 ounce) bags Kraft caramel bits
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, melted
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup FINELY chopped walnuts

  • Preheat oven to 350°.
  • Melt the caramel bits and whipping cream together in a large saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl mix the oats, brown sugar, flour and baking soda until combined well.
  • Stir in the meted butter until you have a crumbly mixture.
  • Put half the oat mixture in a greased 9×13 pan.
  • Bake 10 minutes.
  • Sprinkle the chocolate chips and walnuts over the baked base.
  • Drizzle the caramel over the chocolate chips (they will be swimming in it.)
  • Crumble up the remaining oat mixture into small chunks and gently cover the caramel in as even a layer as possible.
  • Bake 15 minutes more.
  • Let cool at least 4 hours!

NOTES:

  • Let cool for at least 4 hours on a wire rack, but the longer the better, over night is best. Eating it any earlier results in a gooey mess, not bars!
  • At holiday time I use disposable pans that can be easily cut away from the cooled bars for quicker assembly of dessert plates.

When I cut off the edges I mush all the leftovers together and roll it into balls that I then coat with chocolate for a little extra treat.

BLOGMAS 2022 ~ DAY 28 ~ PRESENTS

Life does have a way of taking over at times. I’m so sorry I’m running behind these past few days!

When does your family open their presents?

This category has changed a lot over the years for me as I have gotten older and had my own family. Being a military family on a tight budget I’ve always  in the past started shopping early (like in January) to work everything in that we wanted to do so that it fit into our tight budget. It became a habit 😀

My family traditions as a kid were of a BIG Christmas eve open with lots of family and that carried on through college, but as we (cousins) all got older and began getting married with families of our own, our grandparents passed on, some of us moved away, blended families (each with their own traditions) were formed, etc… getting together for both Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day became harder and harder to do. 

Eventually Christmas eve became a MUCH smaller event for mainly immediate family. We would have a small dinner and open our gifts to each other that night.  Christmas morning was for being at our respective homes with our own kids opening presents and then the larger family get together much later on Christmas day for dinner at just one place, usually my grandparent’s or parent’s house and then eventually it was at our house after my dad passed away.

These days with everyone all over the country, both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are mainly just hubby and I with LOTS of phone calls to family and friends and we open our gifts on Christmas morning.

In years past we would attend the Christmas party at the Eagles and then deliver the neighbor plates and gifts to friends on Christmas Eve. 😀

FALL UPDATE and WINTER 2022 TO DO LIST

I’d been doing a quarterly update of the MAIN list I made last January to participate with Jean and I’d never thought about making one that was seasonally specific to holiday menus and events, but I really like the idea that Jean got from her friend, Rebecca at Rebecca’s Hearth and Home. So I started with a Fall 2022 list. Here’s that update with a follow up of a Winter 2022 list. I’ll still do a BIG MAIN list again for 2023, but also include the seasonal ones as we move through the year.

FALL LIST

  • Plant the mums that my friend gave me for my birthday and clean out whiskey barrel planters in prep for winter. DONE and the mums are looking really colorful. They LOVE their new home.
  • Prep outside patio furniture and BBQ for winter months. DONE and no maintenance until the spring power washing is a real plus!
  • Deep clean oven and refrigerators. DONE but of course this is an EVERY season thing! I’ve been using the indoor NINJA grill so that has helped tremendously.
  • Fall trip to coast with hubby for my birthday. We had a WONDERFUL time! We went to the Oregon coast for 4 days. Our room had a balcony and was seaside with a great view for sunsets. Lounging around was perfect on a rainy day and when the weather was good we combed the beach and antiqued looking for winter projects is what I wanted to say, but REALITY was an early October trip to a small town that hosts a Christmas light/German market to plan a Christmas trip… but, that was also canceled and we’ve been looking for a new option.
  • Go to the Harvest Festival at the fairgrounds. DONE and I had a GREAT time. Most of my Christmas shopping was accomplished here.
  • Go to the Christmas Craft Fair at the fairgrounds. DONE and I had a GREAT time.
  • Deep clean bird bath and hummingbird feeders. DONE! Hummingbirds are year round here so this is also an EVERY season thing around here.
  • Sort through ALL clothes and donate EVERYTHING that doesn’t fit or I just don’t care for anymore.WHEW this was larger category than I thought, but I am almost done.
  • Finish cleaning out pantry, freezer and seasonings to start fresh in the new year. DONE
  • Clean out and cover garden beds as soon as zucchini and tomato plants are done – probably in about 2 weeks. DONE
  • Bake something once a week from my new cookbook. MOSTLY DONE I did miss a couple weeks, but have been working my way through the tagged and starred recipes.
  • Try a new and challenging cooking or baking technique every week. EVERY week might be too much as there really are very few things I haven’t tried to do, so I’ll change this to once a month 😀
  • Start indoor herb garden so I have them for the winter. DONE
  • Learn YOGA. I’m just not sure I have the patience for this as my list is always so long to get done, but I’m trying.
  • Take ALL Sundays completely off to watch football, NASCAR, snuggle up and read or WHATEVER I want for that 1 day a week.

Did you accomplish what you wanted to for the FALL? Now it’s time to move onto winter. 😀

WINTER 2022/2023 TO DO LIST – a much shorter list than the other seasons because of the holidays 😀

  • Prep the “neighbor plates” for Christmas. This year I’m making candied Jalapenos, Snickers Brownies, the normal sugar cookies and candies. Many of my neighbors are elderly and two different ones that we’re fairly close to have both had COVID recently and one had shingles at the same time! I also made them each BIG pots of soup and bread so they didn’t need to cook.
  • Continue to bake something once a week from my new cookbook.
  • Finish sorting, condensing and prepping for the spring garage sale. This category is going REALLY well and I can’t wait to finish.
  • Take ALL Sundays completely off per hubby’s rul snuggle up and read or WHATEVER I want for that 1 day a week.

BLOGMAS 2022 ~ DAY 27 ~ CHRISTMAS PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

This category sounds a bit like Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. That was intentional on my part. I believe there are truly lessons to be learned from that story! I don’t believe that we have to be the mean spirited, unkind Ebeneezer Scrooge with a life gone wrong though LOL 😀 in order to benefit from the lessons. We can CHOOSE to live a better life and be PRESENT in order to make a better FUTURE. There is ALWAYS room to BE BETTER and MORE loving and MORE giving!

Christmas Past truly is a COMPLETELY subjective category. The older I get the more I realize that it’s the traditions and the memories that weave our holidays together. It’s little things like the who puts the lights on the tree or the angel on top of it. It’s the favorite recipes that you only make at Christmas time. It’s the laughter of the munchkins each morning as they discover what mischief AnnaBelle has gotten into. It’s a baking day with the munchkins making your favorite traditional recipes to share on Giving plates to the neighbors…

This category for me is also subjective based on where we are living at the time. Again this year being back in the cold of the Pacific Northwest is actually making me remember Snowy Christmases for some reason. A couple of my favorite Christmases were when we were in Upper Peninsula Michigan.  Maybe it was the trees, water and snow, but for me it was also the old churches. There was so much history there. These are 2 of my favorite country churches from Michigan.  I took these pictures in 2011 at Christmas time, on the same day. That’s just how fast weather changes with lake effect snow!

I JUST LOVE OLD CHURCHES! The bottom 3 pictures are from a REALLY neat stone church in the middle of Iron River, Michigan.
But, my favorite country church is from a teeny tiny little town in Michigan called Mansfield. It was once a growing little town until there was a mine disaster. Now all that exists is the monument to the disaster, the church and a few random homes.
These OLD Christmas pictures from a million years ago that I found in some old files bring back so many memories of the past!  Just goes to show you how subjective your memories of the past can be. The little boy with his back to you is my brother who in the last picture though much younger is much bigger than I am. I have NO idea what that look is all about, but it doesn’t look like I was very happy 😀 And it seems like there are a bunch of pictures with us sitting on that same step over the years 😀

FUTURE
While none of us actually know what the future holds, I pray that my friends and family have a WONDERFUL holiday and Happy New Year that looks even more “normal” than this past year has. May 2023 hold wonder, love, health and happiness for us all!

SALISBURY STEAK & POTATO SKILLET

SALISBURY STEAK & POTATO SKILLET
2 tablespoons butter or avocado oil
1 pound ground beef
1 small Vidalia onion, halved and diced
1 shallot, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon FRESH thyme leaves
10-12 small gold potatoes, quartered
3 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, divided
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 1/2-3 tablespoons cornstarch
FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste

  • Combine the ground beef, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, garlic, minced shallot, FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Form meat into several “flat meatballs”.
  • Heat the butter or avocado oil in a large skillet.
  • Brown “meatballs” on each side. Remove from skillet and set aside.
  • Microwave halved potatoes 3-5 minutes. Set aside. Do not wipe out skillet.
  • Add onions to skillet, sprinkle with FRESH ground sea salt and black pepper.
  • Saute 5 minutes until starting to caramelize.
  • Add 2 cups of beef broth to onions and simmer 5 minutes.
  • Add potatoes and simmer another 5 minutes until potatoes are tender.
  • Whisk ketchup, remaining Worcestershire sauce, thyme leaves and cornstarch together. If you want a really thick gravy use the entire 3 tablespoons. Stir the mixture into the skillet and cook, stirring frequently until gravy thickens to desired consistency.
  • Add the meat patties back into the pan and simmer on low until heated through.
  • Season to taste.