Sorry about that....

 Sorry about being gone for quite some time. We had a baby then we moved then we moved again and we're going to move again in a few days so I thought I would get this blog going again. And to celebrate me coming back, we're doing Thanksgiving! And, of course, you can't have Thanksgiving without turkey! Today is part 1 of my 2 part series. So I hope this blog can get some more viewers again!

We defrosted this turkey by placing it in cold water. We changed the water to fresh water about every hour or so.

 

Here is the recipe we used for the brine.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe.html

We changed it slightly, as we didn't have the allspice berries.

 

We took this picture and added it in because I liked how the brown sugar started to dissolve so I thought this picture would look cool. 

 

The turkey is sitting in the brine, in the fridge, as I type this.

 

This is the stuffing.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Awesome-Sausage-Apple-and-Cranberry-Stuffing/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=stuffing&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i1

This picture shows me chopping celery.

 

This shows the celery and onion. We don't always follow the recipe exactly, so this is more onion and celery than called for. We also doubled the recipe.

And this is me stirring the sausage. I think there was onion in there too.

 The stuffing will be finished tomorrow!

This is the cranberry sauce which, as the picture shows, is me pouring the orange juice in. We also doubled this recipe because my dad really likes it!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cranberry-Sauce/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=cranberry%20sauce&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe&soid=sr_results_p1i1

 

 

Beginning of cranberry sauce.

 

Middle. This is when they started popping!

 

Still middle, nearly done.

 

Just about done. All you need to do is chill it in the fridge overnight and you're done!

 End of part one. Check back tomorrow night for part 2!

Hot in the Mexican Night

My father had a friend over from his work. She's one of the sous chefs for this post. Her name is Laura Acosta and she is from Juarez, Mexico. She showed us how to make lots of delicious foods.

Salsa
2-3 roma tomatoes
1-4 jalapenos (however spicy you like it)
1 onion
salt

Place tomatoes, jalapenos and quartered onion in a pan over medium heat. Move them around until browned. Remover and cut stem off jalapenos and tomatoes. Place all ingredients in a blender and pulse until desired consistency. Add salt to your taste.

*Optional- we also added a little fresh cilantro from our garden*

 

 

 

 

Guacamole
1 avocado
tomato
onion
jalapeno
salt

Remove avocado from shell. Mix with tomato, onion, jalapeno and salt to taste. (we used the same tomato, onion and jalapeno that we cooked for the salsa).

 

Vegetable Taco Filling
bell peppers (any color)
onion
mushrooms
garlic salt

Slice peppers, onion and mushrooms. Cook in medium heat pan for a few minutes until cooked but still crispy. Season with garlic salt.

 

Beef Taco Filling
ground beef
onion
garlic
ancho chili powder
cayenne pepper
black pepper

Dice onion and mince garlic. Cook in skillet with beef until beef is cooked all the way. Season to your liking.

Churros
We used this recipe from all recipes.

Laura brought us some dulce de leche which we had with the churros. Yum!

 

Here is one veggie taco and one beef taco. 

 

Here are the churros with the dulce de leche sauce on them.

Shrimp Scampi with Seasoned Steak and Grilled Potatoes

I've actually ate these potatoes for a long time, and I don't know why I haven't posted them on my blog sooner. Anyway, I paired them with steak and shrimp and we've got a great meal! Here's how to make it.

For the shrimp I marinaded it in fresh lemon juice, butter and chesapeake bay seasoning. I grilled it for about 10-12 minutes until the shrimp were cooked through.

For the steak I marinaded it in a montreal steak seasoning and worchestire sauce. I grilled it at 500 degrees for 4 minutes, flipped, 4 more minutes, flipped and then 1 last minute.

For the potatoes I washed them and cooked them in the microwave for just a couple minutes. Then I sliced them and brushed them with a mixture of melted butter and garlic salt. I grilled them for a couple minutes then flipped then grilled for a couple more minutes until they were browned and cooked.

Chinese in the making

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a very long time. I haven't been feeling good a lot, so that's the reason why. But I'm feeling better now and ready to get back to cooking. 

Today I made chicken, rice, asparagus and pineapple with cream sauce. I don't really have a recipe for it because I made it up as I went.

For the chicken I breaded it in flour (seasoned with salt and pepper) then egg and then panko bread crumbs. I fried it in some hot oil and then finished cooking it in the oven.

For the asparagus I sauteed it in a hot pan with some spicy sauce we had in the fridge. I tasted it and it was really spicy so I put a little bit of sour cream in it. I also added some chopped fresh pineapple.

For the rice I put the rice and water in the rice cooker.

For the cream sauce I put some sour cream and pineapple with a tiny bit of milk in a blender until it was mostly smooth.

Apple Pie

Happy Pi Day! To celebrate the mathematical symbol Pi, I made an apple pie today. This is my first apple pie I've ever made.  

I used this recipe for the pie crust. I used this recipe for the apple pie.

 

Owen vs. Mom 2. Ingredient- Bananas

So, this episode was bananas and I had a pretty good time. For once, mom made a very good dish and it came down to just one thing. It came down to the creativity. Mom made a crepe, which is very hard to do. And I made something that nobody's made before- a stuffed pancake. We both made a side- me eggs and sausage. Her- a hash brown. I won.

Peanut Butter Cookies

So, this is one of my very favorite posts because this has been going on for generations in my family. I'm the 5th generation to make this recipe. It is my great great grandmothers recipe. Now it's going to be even more famous because it's on my blog. Now more people are going to make it. Now, let's go to the recipe.

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup sugar 
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda mixed in a small amount of warm water
1 tsp baking powder 
3 cups flour





Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In mixer, beat sugar, brown sugar, shortening and peanut butter, scraping down the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla and beat. Add salt, baking soda (in warm water), baking powder and flour and mix just until combined. Finish by hand if necessary. Using a 1/4 cup, roll dough into ball. Flatten slightly with a fork. Bake in oven for 12-18 minutes, depending on size of cookie and your oven.