Cheddar Smashed Potatoes

Prior to the start of my job, I had been become a regular living room guest on every morning TV show. When I was watching Rachel Ray one of those days, she made these recipes from her mom that looked absolutely delicious in every way possible. I haven't had a chance to try to the cider beef, but that night when I went to my sister's house in Maryland we made the Cheddar Smashed potatoes with our salmon filet. They were so rich and tasty but we all agreed that next time we make them we have to get a sharper block of cheddar cheese. Rachel swore by a certain kind that you can only find in a local deli in NY but suggested that Cabot's Razor Sharp works well too!

Messy yet delicious!

Individual Chocolate Soufflés

Butter and flour before baking

We hosted dinner at our house last weekend while my sister and nephew were in town so I knew I wanted to make a delicious dessert! I went right to my favorite baking blog Bakerella where Angie had an irresistible "I a Made soufflé the easy way" recipe. I was mostly intrigued by the idea that everyone could have their very own individual soufflé and it was finally a reason to break out my ruby red ramekins my Mom got me for Christmas! Warm them up before serving again and the melt-in-your-mouth fudge-y, chocolate-y, deliciousness will make it hard for you not to grab another - good thing they're proportioned out in individual containers so you know when to stop!

The batter will fill a little more than 1/4 of a 10 oz. ramekin - but a 6 oz. would probably be closer to halfway

The recipe calls for using 6 ounce ramekins but mine were 10 which is why they
look low but don't worry they were fluffy and light!

Put the lids on until guests are ready for dessert and they'll stay nice and warm

Top with Cool Whip and a sprinkle of cocoa and enjoy!

Red Velvet Cake

When the girls came over last weekend, I of course wanted to make a delicious dessert, and I automatically thought of red velvet cake! Being that red is already a girly color I added to the "theme" by coloring the icing pink and adding pearl sprinkles. The homemade cream cheese icing was delectable. At first, I was little upset because I couldn't cake on the icing as thick as I normally would like because there wasn't enough left, but it was pretty sweet so the amount was just right. This was my first time making a layered cake, so I definitely took my time. I prepped the cakes the night before and "dirty iced" them so I could leave them sit outside in the chilly PA weather. The next morning I put on the final layer of icing and pearl sprinkles and the end result was very tasty!

Chicken Fajitas

On our last day in PA for the holidays, my sister and I wanted to whip something up quick for lunch before we left. After scrounging through my parents kitchen we threw together these delicious chicken fajitas (kind of burritos too) with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, rice, peppers and onions. We didn't follow any particular recipe and to add a little flavor we threw a packet of cheese taco seasoning in with our veggies and chicken after they were sauteed. Wrapped in jalapeno cheese flour tortillas, these proved to be a mouth watering lunch!

Look for fresh salsa in your grocery store deli if you don't have time to make your own

For my guacamole, I always throw in a handful of salsa with onion power, chili powder, garlic salt & regular S&P.

Use boil-in-bag rice for quick & easy!

Had to take a bite first!

Cheesecake Ice Cream Cones

We spent New Year's Eve with a group of close friends at another couple's house. Everyone brought food, drinks and their dancing shoes and I must say it was a great night and I was happy to not be sick for the first time on New Year's Eve since Shayne & I have been together.  Shayne made a crockpot full of homemade barbeque beef for sliders - the meat came fresh from my aunt and uncle's farm in PA - and I made cheesecake ice cream cones.  My original plan was to make cheesecake bars but I wanted to come up with something different when I stumbled upon this recipe. I think this could be a fun dessert for ANY occasion, and could be decorated numerous ways to fit any party theme. Since Christmas was just a few days behind us, I wrapped my cones in red & green tissue paper with silver ribbon and sprinkles!

The recipe says to fill the cone 3/4 of the way but I filled them almost to the top to ensure a full cone!

The girl who blogged about this recipe said if you don't have jumbo cones to fill the bottom of the muffin tin, that foil was needed to keep them standing but mine stood up just fine!

Mmm looks like a chocolate chip ice cream cone!

Chocolate Mojitos

While we were in New Hampshire celebrating Christmas with Shayne's family we whipped up numerous drinks but my favorite was this chocolate mojito. I'm not normally a fan of mojitos because I feel like I'm drinking toothpaste but Shayne likes them and he loved this one when he went to dinner with friends at Coco Sala in DC. When I heard the words "tasted like a peppermint patty" - I decided to give the minty concoction a chance. We followed the standard mojito recipe with silver rum and made our own simple syrup, and at the end we threw in dark chocolate shavings. It was just as delicious as I hoped for and so simple to make!

We crushed some of the chocolate to have bigger chunks...

The rest we shredded so it would stir into the drink

Silver Rum

Fresh Mint Leaves

Finished Product

Lisa's Milltown Deli

Lisa's Milltown Deli in Milton, PA. Greyson is my restaurant spokesmodel.

Where I grew up in PA, we're surrounded by a lot of small towns filled with delis, restaurants, and little gems like this one, but Lisa's Milltown Deli is new to my hometown of Milton, PA and I'm so glad there's a delicious place to frequent right down the street when I come home. Everything is fresh, homemade and absolutely mouth-watering. As you can tell from some of my posts, like this and this, I'm a bit of a soup lover so when I go to Lisa's Milltown Deli, I always order one of the daily homemade soups and a sandwich (usually one of the irresistible paninis). The deli is filled with a lot of our hometown history, fresh plants, and a rustic/warm-hearted vibe that breathes comfort and makes you want to go back for seconds. Check out their facebook page here and if you're ever in or passing through central PA it's worth the stop; it's never a disappointment!

Tomato Basil... which we all know is my favorite!

Italian Panini - love the big slices of roasted red peppers!

Last Saturday's soup specials (two of three):
Cream of Asparagus & Shrimp on the left and Cream of Cauliflower on the right

Elyse's Mexican Chicken Salad!

Tomato Caprese Panini

Another view of the Tomato Caprese

They also have a kid's menu with multiple options - mac'n'cheese & pudding for G!

The decor is warm and makes it feel like home! O Christmas tree!

Fisherman's Stew

A few weeks back, I posted on facebook that I thought this recipe looked delicious and a few days after that I decided to actually try it. It was very simple (which may be why it's posted on the "Real Simple" website) and it did not disappoint. I've always been a seafood lover and Shayne of course loves seafood since he's a native New Englander - which is why we substituted clams for the mussels. Although next time, I do want to try it with mussels because it's my favorite shellfish. I threw in some asparagus, used tilapia instead of halibut (because that's what I had on hand) and opted to top mine with fresh basil instead of parsley. It was a great football Sunday meal, and will definitely go on the list of things to make in the near future.

Cranberry Almond Biscotti

When my sister and friends came down to visit for my birthday weekend, one of our good friends Jerica was in the mood for biscotti. I didn't have a chance to make any while she was here but I made a batch to take home before Thanksgiving. I found this Almond Biscotti recipe in Real Simple, added the dried cranberries to the batter, and dipped the ends in milk chocolate. They were delicious and had a good balance of sweetness with the fruit, nuts, and chocolate. The recipe was very easy to follow and I will probably try a different version closer to Christmas!

Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

Ever since I was a little kid, tomato soup has been my go-to meal with a sandwich. Classic Campbell's or homemade from Dad, it was always my first pick. The weather has been going back and forth - and can't seem to decide what season it wants to be - and we had an extra cold kick a few weeks back so I decided to make a big pot of soup to keep in the fridge throughout the week. Since I love spicy foods I was searching for a new tomato soup recipe with an extra kick. My dad has a recipe that is strictly tomato soup with an extra bite using cayenne pepper, that I usually opt to make, but I wanted something a little different. I found this one from Betty Crocker that I knew right away would be perfect. Using fire roasted tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes made this soup taste smokey and spicy. Served with gruyere grilled cheese made it the best cold weather dinner I've had in awhile.