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Cooking for a Crowd A few weeks ago I was asked to prepare a luncheon for my church after one of our services.  Instead of having a sit down lunch we were going to have it in the lobby to...

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Mini Loaded Potato Skins I know there are many recipes for potato skins out there. I needed to re-make the recipe to be an easy and affordable appetizer to make in bulk Instead of using really big...

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Mango Salsa This is one of the appetizers I make just because it looks pretty and is unique.  It doesn't make much sense that I make it considering that I am allergic to mangoes and...

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Italian Skewers Simple simple simple! Yet so very tasty!  This is also a very versatile recipe, you can add just about anything you want.  I needed to make this as a vegetarian option so...

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Danielle's Famous Chicken Salad I know my mom hates when I explain how my chicken salad came about, but I feel like it needs explanation!  Since I do something that's not normal with chicken salad...I completely...

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Cooking for a Crowd

Posted by danielle | Posted on 15-04-2013

Category : Helping Others, Small Bites

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A few weeks ago I was asked to prepare a luncheon for my church after one of our services.  Instead of having a sit down lunch we were going to have it in the lobby to allow everyone to mingle and meet.  I decided the best route to go for a feast like this is to go with appetizers.  Not to mention i’m a sucker for appetizers and will go that route whenever I can!  I wanted to share my menu since I know when I am planning a party for a large crowd I love to know some recipes that can be made ahead and can be easily assembled to conserve time.

I will take the time here to thank my church profusely for always being there for me.  I have been attending the Chapel for a little over a year now and I have become a better person because of them.  I kept getting thanked for taking the time to make this meal for them.  I feel I should be the one thanking all of them.  They have been an amazing church family to me and I feel like this is my way to show them thanks.  Thank you Chapel family!

Simple make ahead appetizers

Mango Salsa -

Made this 2 days ahead of time and let the flavors blend together!

Recipe found here

mango salsa

Loaded Potato Skins

Made the potatoes a day ahead of time and layered with paper towels and topped these gems the day of the event

Recipe found here

potato tier

Italian Skewers

I made these a day ahead of time and let them get super tasty in pesto overnight

Recipe found here

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Roast Beef & Brie Bites

All I did was make garlic crostini, added a slice of roast beef, a sliver of brie and topped with a julienne of roasted red pepper.  Simple & Delicious!

beef crostini

Chicken Salad Crostini

On the same crostini used for roast beef I used my famous chicken salad recipe and topped the crostinis with creamy chicken salad!

Recipe Found Here

Mac & Cheese Bites

I used a basic homemade mac and cheese recipe.  I have never really measured mine but Alton Brown’s recipe is pretty similar and a rock solid recipe!  Do not bake the recipe in a regular baking dish!  I  added the finished mac and cheese to mini muffin tins and baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Let them cool a little bit before popping them out gently with a butter knife.  If you take them out piping hot they may fall apart!

mac and cheese bites

Fruit & Crudite with Hummus

A simple go-to option for any get together!

fruit and crudite

Mini Dessert Bites

dessert display

Cinnamon Donut Muffins – Recipe Found Here

Chocolate Chip Quick Bread – Recipe Found Here

Maui Wowie Blondies – I used this blondie recipe but only used white chocolate chips and shredded coconut

The Feast!

chapel buffetbuffet line

The Crowd

chapel crowd

Just a thing to think about…

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Thank you everyone who helped me this Sunday! Andre, Brigit, Mark and my mom are rock stars!

In loving memory of our Sister in Christ Heidi Walsh

Mini Loaded Potato Skins

Posted by danielle | Posted on 15-04-2013

Category : Small Bites

I know there are many recipes for potato skins out there.

I needed to re-make the recipe to be an easy and affordable appetizer to make in bulk

Instead of using really big potatoes, or the tiny ones cut in half, I used red potatoes and cut them into thick chips.

I thought they turned out great!

Mini Roasted Potato Skins -

  • 1 bag of small red potatoes, cut into thin coins
  • Olive oil
  • Salt, Pepper, Rosemary, Garlic Powder
  • Toppings I used – Bacon bits, cheddar, sour cream, chives

Cut the red potatoes into small coins.  Brush olive oil onto a baking pan and line up potatoes.  Brush olive oil on tops awell.  Top with salt, pepper, garlic powder and rosemary.  Bake in a 425 degree oven until they are tender.

I lined mine up in a container lined with paper towel to make sure they were not too greasy and chilled in the fridge.

potato skins

When you’re ready to assemble the potatoes, you can reheat if desired but it’s not needed.  Add sour cream to a piping bag for easy assembly.  Pipe a dollop of sour cream into the center of each potato, top with bacon, cheddar and sour cream.  Serve and enjoy!

potato skins loaded

Mango Salsa

Posted by danielle | Posted on 15-04-2013

Category : Healthy, Small Bites

This is one of the appetizers I make just because it looks pretty and is unique.  It doesn’t make much sense that I make it considering that I am allergic to mangoes and lime juice, but hey, others like it!  This is another one of those simple throw-together appetizers that is very colorful and more impressive than just regular salsa and chips.  I will admit the cutting of mangoes is a dreaded task, but it is also worth it! (so i’m told, i haven’t tasted it!)

Mango Salsa

  • 3-4 Mangoes depending on size
  • 1 cucumber, diced small
  • 1 red pepper, diced small
  • 1 lime, zested and juiced
  • 1 small red onion, diced small
  • small bunch of cilantro, chopped

First off – be careful when cutting mangoes!! They are extra juicy and can cause your hands to be super slippery when peeling and cutting.  I used a paper towel to hold it into place and avoided touching it with the hand I cut with to avoid it getting slippery.  Also..say a little prayer everytime you go to cut, it helps..

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Mangoes also have huge pits which can be a pain to cut.  I just cut the sides off leaving the middle as a huge cube like shape.  I just kept cutting slices until I reached the pit.  I cut those slices into strips and diced those up.

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For the onion, red pepper and cucumber – I diced those small.  I did peel my cucumber because I felt the texture of the red pepper was good enough and may end up being too crunchy.

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Mix all chopped ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Add the zest of the lime & juice and then the cilantro.  Toss together and chill.  Serve with chips or cinnamon pita chips!

mango salsa

Italian Skewers

Posted by danielle | Posted on 15-04-2013

Category : Healthy, Small Bites, Welcome

Simple simple simple! Yet so very tasty!  This is also a very versatile recipe, you can add just about anything you want.  I needed to make this as a vegetarian option so mine was pretty basic.  Just skewer your desired ingredients, make a basic pesto sauce, pour over the skewers and chill overnight.  Its a very beautiful appetizer and sure to wow any crowd!

Italian Skewers -

  • Tri Color Tortellini (boiled and drained)
  • Container of Cherry Tomatoes
  • Fresh Miniature Mozzarella Balls

Fresh Pesto -

  • 1 Package (or bunch) of basil, stems removed
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan
  • Olive Oil, to drizzle in processor
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Lemon Juice (optional)

Skewer on desired ingredients.  I used tomatoes, mozzarella and tri color tortellini.  You can certainly add other items like artichokes, salami (or other meats) etc.

To make the pesto add all ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor.  Start the processor and drizzle olive oil in a steady stream.  Keep adding olive oil and checking texture to assure it doesn’t get too oily.  It should not be a thick paste, but shouldn’t be too liquidy either.  Taste pesto to assure theres enough seasoning.  You can add lemon juice if desired.  It does help the pesto from turning color.  I did not add any since I have an allergy to citrus.  Be careful with salt since the parmesan will also add saltyness.  Pour pesto over skewers.  Cover and chill overnight.  All you have to do next is place on a pretty platter and serve!

DSCN3174

 

Danielle’s Famous Chicken Salad

Posted by danielle | Posted on 15-04-2013

Category : Small Bites

I know my mom hates when I explain how my chicken salad came about, but I feel like it needs explanation!  Since I do something that’s not normal with chicken salad…I completely grind it up in a food processor.  Normally when people see the texture of it they raise an eyebrow as to why I would do such a thing.  Here is why..

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My mom has always had family meals ready for us.  I give her mad credit for that..However! She admittedly says she cooks because she has to, not because she loves to.  This usually results in dry meats, crispy bottomed rice, and black dinner rolls.  Not to say she is a bad cook – she isn’t..she would just rather start cooking and walk away that hover over it like a hawk.  So one day she started some chicken breast..and walked away.  This resulted in chicken that was pretty close to the texture of the turkey made in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.  She comes to me with this sad pan of chicken and says “can you save this somehow?!”.  I know I am good at cooking – but this was a test.  I took the pan and felt like a surgeon bringing a patient back to life.

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I decided that If I completely ground up the chicken and added enough liquids to it maybe I can salvage this.  It worked!  My famous chicken salad was born.  I do however avoid using dry chicken in re-creating this recipe now.  I feel like the secret ingredient I use is cream.  It gives a fantastic mouth feel and totally amps up the flavor.

DSCN3012

Danielle’s Famous Chicken Salad

  • 1 lb cooked chicken
  • 1 1/2 cups mayo (real deal here)
  • 1 medium onion
  • 3 stalks celery
  • Dill (to taste)
  • Salt & Pepper (to taste)
  • Garlic Powder (to taste)
  • Cream or 1/2 & 1/2 – About 1/4 cup, enough to make salad creamy

The first step in making the chicken salad is to properly cook the chicken.  You can dry it out if you like, clearly this recipe brings it back to life, I do not recommend it though!  What I do is avoid getting any color on the chicken.  Which I know is completely the opposite in what you’re taught when cooking meat.  I sear the chicken lightly in the pan with salt and pepper and then add just a little bit of water to the bottom of the pan so color doesn’t happen.  Do not drown the chicken because then all the flavor will go into the water.  You’ll make a fantastic chicken broth! But a lousy chicken salad.

DSCN3003

Next dice up the onion and celery, not in any particular size because it will be added to a food processor anyhow.  Pulse the onion and celery until you get a very small dice on them.  Do not blend the onion too long or youll just get a mushy onion paste.  Next dice up the fully cooked chicken and also pulse in a food processor until it almost resembles canned tuna.  In a large mixing bowl add the onion, celery and chicken ground up.  Mix well.  Add your seasonings and mayo.  Mix up and taste test for seasoning.  Add the cream slowly until you get a desired texture.

I normally serve this as a dip which easily can justify the texture.  My family goes nutty for this recipe and even serves it as a sandwich.  The texture may not be for everybody but I absolutely love it!  My favorite thing to serve with is Club crackers or garlic crostini toasts.

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Enjoy!

Chocolate Strawberry Bombs

Posted by danielle | Posted on 26-03-2013

Category : Desserts

Don’t you just love when ideas work out??  This was my success for the day!

I saw a link recently on my blogroll for these cheesecake filled strawberries – Cheesecake Strawberries and I fell in love with how simple yet beautiful they looked.  I was in love with the flavor combination idea.  I know that this isn’t a new concept considering there’s plenty of fruit dips but this makes it simple and looks pretty on the table.  I was put in charge of making the Easter menu for my family (shocking right?) and I wanted to do a different dessert rather than just cakes and cookies.  I wanted something refreshing and made you think of Spring!  Even though the Chicago weather is terribly confused right now I felt I can bring the Spring feeling in doors!

I decided I wanted to take the cheesecake filled strawberries a bit further.  I wanted to dip them in chocolate and then have the tasty cheesecake filling inside as a special surprise!  I looked online hoping for tips on making this work.  To my surprise I could not find any postings for exactly what I was looking for.  I’ll admit I got a bit nervous thinking if it isn’t out there – there’s a reason!  But im stubborn…

Chocolate Strawberry Bombs

  • Strawberries, rinsed and dried (I bought a few packs to assure I got alot of big berries)
  • 2 Packages dark chocolate chips
  • 1 8oz package cream cheese
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • Splash of heavy cream
  • Graham Cracker Crumbs
  • Candy melts in desired color

Helpful equipment -

  • Double boiler
  • Piping bag
  • Rubber Spatula
  • Paring Knife
  • Silicone Pad
  • Patience

So first thing I knew I wanted to do was to hollow out the strawberry from the bottom.  Theres tons of postings of cutting off from the top, which clearly makes more sense for making this task easier.  I am never about the easy way because like I said, Im stubborn.  I like having the leafy green part on the top!  I cut off the bottom of strawberry and gently sliced in circle being careful to not break the berry..then when I was able to see the middle of the berry I put the knife in as far as I could and twisted.  There were a few casualties but I bought more than enough berries.

Next I made the cheesecake filling.  Combine the cream cheese, white sugar, and vanilla and beat on high.  Add heavy cream until you get the desired texture which is a fairly thick frosting texture.  Add the cream VERY SLOWLY you do not want a lot.  I only did about 2 splashes, you definitely do not want this to be too thin or coating them in chocolate will be a pain!  The mixture should be stiff enough to stand up on its own when its piped into the strawberries.  Add mixture to a piping bag, no tip needed since nobody will see your pretty design inside.

I chilled the berries on a cookie sheet in the fridge to let it set a little bit before dipping them in chocolate.  I hate working with chocolate since it’s so picky.   I wanted to take any precautions to avoid making the chocolate seize up on me.  I don’t know if this helped, but in my mind it did! You are more than welcome to skip this!

Using a double boiler, I melted the dark chocolate chips.  I only did one bag at a time just incase I had to start over if the chocolate got all lumpy and weird on me.  I am glad I did this…because it did…

I dipped each berry in to the stem and wiped the excess chocolate off to avoid getting a “foot” on the bottom of the berry.  I then dipped only the bottom of the strawberry in graham cracker crumbs and set them on a sheet pan with a silicone pad.  Once they dried I used pink candy melted and decorated them.

I think they turned out beautifully.  And the flavor…

O . M . G

Just try them.

HAPPY EASTER!

(Oh and here is a peep centerpiece)

Life’s Too Short to Not be Irish!

Posted by danielle | Posted on 15-03-2013

Category : Dinner, Themed Meals

Since I had to celebrate St Patricks Day early with my family I took this as an opportunity to share what we had for dinner in case you needed some ideas!  Even people who aren’t Irish pretend they are on St Patricks day!  Before you go out drinking eat some of these delicious dishes to sop up that alcohol!

St Patricks Day Menu -

Pea & Cheddar Salad

Ginger & Honey Glazed Carrots

Irish Flag Potatoes

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Guinness Lamb Stew

Baileys Cake

I will give a short description of each the item since most of the recipes were pretty darn simple and don’t require much explanation.

Pea & Cheddar Salad – 1 Bag of Frozen peas, 1 package of cheddar cubed, about 1 cup mayo, 1 cup sour cream, splash of mayo, salt/pepper/onion powder.  Mix together and chill overnight.

Ginger & Honey Glazed Carrots – melt butter in a saute pan and add carrots stirring frequently.  Add desired amount of honey and a few shakes of ground ginger.  Saute until caramelized.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Irish Flag Potatoes – Sweet Potatoes – Regular Mashed Potatoes – Champ Potatoes

Boil and mash sweet potatoes, add a little bit of butter, salt & pepper.  I added a layer of marshmallows in the middle since that’s how my family likes them.  The white layer of potatoes is just regular mashed potatoes.  I added sour cream, butter, white pepper and salt.  For the green potatoes I sauteed cabbage and chopped up chives and green food coloring.

Corned Beef & Cabbage – I cooked about 9lbs of corned beef in a roaster all day long.  I added the cabbage about 2 hours before serving so that it didnt get too soggy.  I served it with Champagne Shallot Mustard and Horseradish.

Guinness Lamb Strew – My brother made this dish with my assistance.  He wanted to make it just like the one he ate in Boston.  It was just carrots, onion, celery, garlic sauteed in butter.  About 3 lbs of lamb, 1 bottle of guinness, beef stock, rosemary, salt & pepper.  We served it over the mashed potatoes instead of adding cubed potatoes to the stew. Barley was also added per his preference.

Wherever you go and whatever you do, may the luck of the Irish be there with you.

The cake is a miracle

Posted by danielle | Posted on 15-03-2013

Category : Desserts, Themed Meals

Hello everyone!!! It’s been forever since I blogged last.  After Foodbuzz disappeared I didn’t know what to do with myself anymore! I missed blogging so much that I had to just come back.  I will find a new blogging community to be a part of in time, but until then I just needed to start posting my foodie creations again!

My family enjoyed a St Patricks dinner early since other weekend plans would have interfered with us getting together.  I felt it was good timing in case anyone was looking for some St Pats dinner ideas.  This post will be about the delicious cake I made, along with the many hiccups I had while making it.  I always say I hate baking, this cake definitely explains why…

 

While looking at this picture I am sure people are thinking this went so very smoothly and turned out beautifully!  I have fooled you…

First, I looked up recipes strictly using Bailey’s Irish Cream since I already had 3 bottles in the fridge (don’t judge me).  I found a mousse recipe that didn’t require a billion steps.  There’s certain crowds I cook for where I will take the time to make a proper mousse and do all the crazy steps to make something magnificent.  My family…is not one of those crowds (no offense I love you all..) it just wont get  appreciated.  So I went with this recipe Bailey’s Chocolate Mousse.  I made the recipe early in the day so it would have time to set before I made the cake.  In the recipe description it says after cooking the ingredients in a sauce pot to let it cool until soft peaks form.  Well..I was not getting soft peaks.  I started to doubt myself and thought maybe I measured my liquids wrong and added too much.  Thinking that I had a brilliant idea, I heated it back up and added more gelatin.  I was even proud of myself thinking “now don’t add a whole packet, that would be too much! Just add a little”.  As I patted myself on the back I was pleased with my decision.  I added the mixture to the fridge to cool and I went off to have lunch with a friend.

I got home and checked on the mousse.  The bowl was one big glob of what seemed like one giant tough marshmallow.  I had guests coming in just a few hours.  This was not enough time to make a new dessert idea and I didnt want my Baileys mousse to go to waste.  I had the genius idea to add hot water and use a hand mixer until it got smooth again.  This seemed to work!

I started my cake mix which I used this recipe Bailey’s Chocolate Cake

I noticed there wasn’t any baileys in the cake so I did add a small splash of that.  I sure had enough in my fridge to go around anyway!  The cakes turned out beautifully.  I let them cool before adding the mousse to the middle of the two cakes.  I go to scoop out my mousse..and its a giant tough marshmallow again.  I sighed thinking of my brilliant idea earlier to add more gelatin.  I did the hot water and hand mixer trick again.  But this time before I would let it solidify again I decided to put it between the cakes again in hopes that it wont happen again.  This is when I learned that patience is a virtue.  My cakes were sliding around like crazy and I tried to ice them.  I stuck lollipop sticks into the cakes to have them sit still and put it back into the fridge to set.

Finally my cake was ready to frost.  Everything seemed great now.  As usual my favorite icing is the Wiltons Buttercream which I have posted before.  My cake was finally iced and beautiful and nobody has to know about how much of a pain in the butt it was.  Unless they are reading this of course….

Don’t ask me where the mousse went.  Its a mystery.

July Foodie Pen Pals

Posted by danielle | Posted on 31-07-2012

Category : Gifts

I just noticed that I havent posted since last foodie pen pals.  Sigh! That means I really need to get into gear and start cooking again! Its been too darn hot to even consider turning on any grill or stove though.  Anyhoo! Back to the real topic…FOODIE PEN PALS!  I am so glad I stumbled upon this program because its so much fun, you connect with other foodies, and try foods youd otherwise probably pass by.  My Foodie Pen Pal this month was Madisen Trueg.

I received a spice grinder with vanilla sugar and cinnamon (Love! very strong cinnamon flavor, not all sugar taste!)

Edamame Snack Mix, Ive never seen this before, am I sheltered??

Snackle Mix (my favorite..a-d-d-i-c-t-e-d)

and a Fusion Rice Blend that I still have yet to try out!

I loved the snacks as an easy after-workout thing to munch on.  I keep forgetting that with the Snackle Mix that everything has to be in moderation, but I really love it and Im going to be terribly sad when I run out.  Note to self – find who sells this stuff!

Even the box is fun!

Haha well thank you Madisen for another successfully fun run of foodie pen pals and thank you Lindsey at the Lean Green Bean for coordinating foodie pen pals each month!

__________________________________________________________________

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for August, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by August 4th as pairings will be emailed on August 5th!

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

June Foodie Pen Pals

Posted by danielle | Posted on 30-06-2012

Category : Gifts

Another successful round of foodie pen pals!

Kiersten from Testing Taste Buds sent me a fantastic healthy care package!  I have made a ‘lifestyle change’ to start eating right.  Hence why you havent seen many blog posts from me lately, haha!  And by lifestyle change I mean I’ve been craving pizza and cupcakes for weeks now! It has all paid off though, 32 pounds down!  Anyhoo back on topic…

Kiersten stuck to my request of healthy goodies so I didn’t open up my little gifty box and sigh as I gave it away to family members since it wasn’t in my little diet plan.  I got to keep it all to myself.  Hooray for not sharing!

Im so excited for the ‘snacky’ items I got.  I never really buy myself snack stuff so I was probably over excited about that…

My favorite were the homemade granola bars! They were very cakey and soft and deeeelicious!  This was the first time I got a homemade snack and I really felt it added a nice touch for a foodie pen pal box.  I really want to strive to do the same for others!  Getting something homemade just made it seem more personal.  A stranger made a tasty treat just for me :)

I wish I could share more reviews on my treats but unfortunately a day after I got my box I had an infected wisdom tooth :( Followed by an allergic reaction to the rinse for after it got pulled…sooooo its been about 9 days since Ive been able to eat anything other than jell-o and soup! I assure you I will be attacking these treats as soon as I can!  Im so glad I was able to dig into the home made goodies before things went south.  Thank you thank you!

______________________________________________________________________

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for July, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by July 4th as pairings will be emailed on July 5th!

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

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