Thanksgiving Shepherds Pie

So at work last week we were talking about different dinner options. There are always the same easy things you make all the time and once in a while you just need something a little different. A co-worker suggested this dish which I call "Thanksgiving Shepherds Pie". Her family makes it after Thanksgiving with all the leftovers but I wanted to try it and didn't want to wait until Thanksgiving to do so. I aldo chose the easy way out and bought the mashed potatoes pre-made and added a little salt, pepper and garlic powder to them. Here are the other items you will need:

Ingredients
1lb of Turkey (boars head ovengold, cut as thick as they can)
6 large carrots (cut into sticks and cooked)
1 box cranberry stuffing (prepare following instructions on box)
Mashed potatoes (family sized stop and shop pre-made)
1 can cranberry sauce
Salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika to taste

Once all of the above is cooked and ready to go it is quite simple, just layer the items in the order that they are listed in, into a large round casserole. (I love using my temptations since they can go right into the oven, are beautiful to serve with and can be covered and stored all in the same dish, who doesn't love less cleaning?!?!?) Now I didn't add the cranberry sauce since Scott hates it but feel free to put that inbetween the stuffing and potatoes or save and serve on top once done. Once layers, as pictured below, sprinkle with salt pepper and paprika and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the potatoes look lightly browned. Serve immediately and Enjoy!

Top 5 Disney Restaurants

About a year ago this month we traveled to Disney World. I have always loved it there but this time we were lucky enough to get free dining with our package.  This allowed us to eat at some of the best restaurants Disney had to offer. We had everything from seafood, to Italian, to Irish and obviously a Mickey ice cream in between!

If you are planning a trip and want to relax with some nice sit down dinners I would definitely suggest making a reservation at one (if not all) of the following:

Fulton's Crab House (Downtown Disney)
Raglan Road Irish Pub (Downtown Disney)
Cape May Cafe (Beach Club)
Via Napoli (Epcot - Italy)
Lastly if you are traveling with kids or its your first time its always nice to start your day with a little fun, so why not try a Character Breakfast! I would suggest Chef Mickeys at the Contemporary Resort.

So now that you know my favorite places I am sure you would like to know what each offers, here is an idea below of our delicious meals we both had or you can click the links above for full menus.

 Via Napoli

 

Raglan Road

  

Snacks!

 

 Fulton's Crab House

Pumpkin Alfredo Pasta

It's pumpkin season, which means pumpkin everything, coffee, muffins, donuts, breads, m&ms and now this.....Pumpkin Alfredo! I picked up this months Food Network Magazine and flipped through quickly, this is when I came across this image,

along with "50 things to make with canned pumpkin". I quickly found No.5, Pasta with Pumpkin Alfredo. This was so simple I had to try it tonight. A quick trip to the store to grab a can of pumpkin (okay, a few cans, since I am sure I will try a few others) and I headed home to whip this up.

Ingredients
1 box veggie pasta, cooked
10 sage leaves
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups light cream
1 cup canned pumpkin
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese

Like I said, this is super simple. First saute the sage leaves in the butter. Whisk in the cream, pumpkin and nutmeg. Simmer for 5 minutes and toss with pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with grated Parmesan and you can always add a couple sage leaves to make it pretty! That's it, time to enjoy! 

 Stay tuned, I have 49 other pumpkin recipes to go through and possibly try!

Zucchini Bread

Well, September is here and with that brings the unofficial start or the Fall season. I have a love hate relationship with Fall. I love to bake so this means pumpkin and apple everything as well as another season to redecorate for. The negative, warm weather is slowly disappearing and the cold snowy season will be here before we know it.

We had a clam boil on Sunday and spent Labor Day recovering. After relaxing all day I decides to make a couple zucchini breads to start off the baking season. I came across a very very large zucchini on our garden that me and Scott both missed somehow, so it was the perfect excuse to get baking!
I went to my favorite cookbook, a gift from my brother and soon to be sister-in-law (thanks Krystal, as I know you were the one who actually picked it out), Betty Crocker COOKBOOK, Bridal Edition Here is what you will need and how to make the breads:

 Ingredients

3 cups shredded zucchini

1 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup veg. oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 cup chopped nuts

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom only of 2 8x4 loaf pans.  In a large bowl stir zucchini, sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla until well mixed.  Stir in the remaining ingredients except the nuts.  (Now at this point I completely overlooked the cinnamon and nutmeg, so I ended up just swirling it in gently after I had already placed the batter in the pans) Lastly stir in the nuts (I used walnuts since that is what I had but Pistachios or even topping it with sunflower seeds would be excellent choices as well!)  Divide batter evenly between the 2 pans.  Bake for 50-60 minutes or until lightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool loaves for 10 minutes in pan on a wire cooling rack.  Loosen the sides of the breads and remove from pans.  Place top side up on wire rack to cool completely.  Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for about 4 days or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Now, I hate my oven so of course I used the toaster oven, you can really make anything in a toaster oven. Okay okay, maybe not a baked ham or a turkey dinner, but almost anything! I let my neighbor have half a loaf, since she saved me when I didn't have enough flour, and she ate half before I even left the house! Must be good, especially since my dad said it was the best he has ever had and needs the recipe!  Enjoy


***Nutritional Info (per slice)
CAL. 95 FAT 4g CHOL. 15mg SODIUM 110mg CARBS. 13g PRO. 2g

Peach Cobbler Ice Cream Cake

Yesterday was my moms, something something, birthday.  She didn't want to have a party and just wanted to relax in the pool all day.  I had told her about a recipe I had come across in Food Network Magazine a few weeks back that she said sounded great. I had told her I would make it for her birthday, just because there is no party doesn't mean you shouldn't have a cake! What's better than an ice cream cake in August......? Well, a Peach Cobbler Ice Cream Cake! 

This is not a cake you should attempt to make last minute and expect to just throw it together, there are many many steps involved.  I would have to say this is the most time consuming cake I have ever made. Not so much actual work but waiting. You get to wait anywhere from 15 minutes to 6 hours through the entire, I'd say, 10 hour process. Now don't get me wrong, it is TOTALLY worth it and easy, just time consuming. 

Like I said, this one came from a magazine and I followed the recipe exactly, see below for ingredients and directions:

 

 Now mine didn't quite look exactly like the original but I would say it came pretty close and the flavor was amazing!  Happy Birthday Mother, I love you! Enjoy!

 

 

Blackberry Tarts with Homegrown Blackberries

Today when I arrived home I took a walk through the garden as I do every night. As I took a look at the progress of our fruit and vegetable plants I noticed that it was finally time to harvest some blackberries! I began to pick them and soon realized I needed a bowl! I filled it up and started to think about what I should make with them. 

 

I had bought some pre-made mini graham cracker crusts and also had a tub of cool whip.....that was all I needed!  I began to smash the blackberries with a fork in a large bowl, being careful not to burst all over, blackberry stains are not something I want to have to deal with!  I then began to fill my shells half way with just the berry pieces, reserving the juice.  Once filled I added about a third of the tub of cool whip to the liquid and mixed thoroughly.  I then topped the tarts with the blackberry infused cool whip and topped with a single fresh picked blackberry!  Super easy for a last minute dessert for two or an intimate gathering.  Enjoy!

 

Bridal Shower Tea Party

Now this post is way overdue, but with summer comes long days and jam packed weekends. With summer also comes wedding season which means showers, bachelorette parties and the actual weddings. I was not expecting to be in one of my best friends weddings but when she asked me I was so excited and honored, this was my first time being a bridesmaid and I knew exactly what to expect. I have planned enough weddings in the past few years which is why I was probably more excited about being a bridesmaid then the normal girl.  Part of a bridesmaids job is throwing the bridal shower. The bride knew exactly what she wanted, so there was no issue with choosing a theme, it was a tea party. Floral dresses, big floppy hats, tea cups, honey favors, tea sandwiches and desserts, which brings me to this post. 

Baking is my thing, yes I like to cook, but baking is what I love. The bride is on pinterest, obviously, so I started there for inspiration, and she gave us plenty to work with!  To me the final details of baking is what makes a dessert, you know, the pretty part, not the technical. When you are hosting an event with lots of food, your guests will first judge what they choose by sight. If it doesn't look pretty to the eye, then chances are they won't choose it and move on to what looks nice. My main project was a tea party Barbie cake.

The bride and I did not meet until high school but learned that we were both obsessed with Barbie growing up. (To think if we were friends in our younger days!) I got to work with the technical part, baking and shaping her gown, and the MOB made the most beautiful floppy hat to finish her off (details!). I then started with the pretty part, frosting! Hand-piped mini flowers, round and round and round until she was perfect! What a hit, everyone loved her and asked when to cut it....hahaha obviously she wasn't going to be cut up until later that night when the shower was over, silly people! Sometimes when things are too pretty you just can't break down and ruin it to soon!

Next I got to work on three different mini desserts served in their own little individual "shot glass". Three flavors, banana cream pie, chocolate Oreo and cherry cheesecake, all with their own little silver spoon. These were quite simple ans they had to be, I made about 100 of them! The secret, pudding! So simple yet so pretty and delicious. The banana cream pie was made with banana pudding, mini vanilla wafers and fresh sliced banana. The chocolate Oreo was Oreo pudding and mini Oreos and lastly the cherry cheesecake was cheesecake pudding and cherry pie filling. The key, serving in cute little individual glasses, neatly layered and finished with a mini silver spoon. Who can resist a cute, little, easy individual dessert. This makes it easy to grab and enjoy. The small portion also allows you to try one of each and not feel as guilty! I'll say it once more, presentation, finishing details to make food beautiful is key. 

So you may be thinking that I was done, well I wasn't. What's a tea party, or any party for that matter, without cupcakes! I decided to make two types, white chocolate raspberry chocolate and also Strawberry Pineapple.  I used basic boxed cake mixes for both cupcakes, chocolate and strawberry.  On the chocolate I then used the white chocolate raspberry frosting flavoring and added that to pre-made butter-cream frosting, topped it with a fresh raspberry and beautiful! On the strawberry I substituted the water in the cake instructions with pineapple juice and reserved the actual crushed pineapple (from 1 large can of crushed pineapple) to add to butter-cream frosting.  Lastly, I picked up some cute little floral cupcake pan liners at Michael's just to make them stand out and go along with our theme.  One last time, making things pretty is the best part of baking! Enjoy!