Inspiring People to Cook Again
If you are looking for a new easy dessert recipe this holiday season, bring my Holiday Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle to your Christmas party or holiday dinner. It will be everyone’s new favorite dessert recipe. And you won’t believe how fast you can make it, I […]
This beautiful cake is perfect for any holiday party or dinner. Everyone will be so surprised when they slice into it and see the amazing holiday rainbow colors. Rainbow Tie-dye Christmas Wreath Prep Time: 20 minutes Start to Finish: 2 hours 12 servings Ingredients: 1 box […]
Christmas time and the holidays are a great time to get creative for parties and get-togethers and this cocktail is the perfect fit. I love serving these pretty peppermint drinks before or after dinner. It combines the smooth taste of white chocolate with the spicy taste of the peppermint, making it the perfect holiday cocktail. Get my recipe below the video.
White Chocolate Peppermint Martini
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Start to Finish: 10 minutes
Servings: 1 martini
Ingredients:
Directions:
Coat the rim of a martini glass with some marshmallow topping and crushed peppermint candies. Drizzle some marshmallow on the inside of the glass and place in the freezer.
In a shaker with ice, add the vodka, peppermint schnapps, and the white chocolate liqueur. Shake for a minute. Remove glass from freezer. Pour mix from shaker into glass and sprinkle with crushed peppermint.
Cooking Tips:
Several glasses can be made ahead of time and the recipe can be doubled or tripled and mixed in a pitcher to serve to a crowd.
If you don’t have a measuring cup that measures ounces you can use a tablespoon.
2 tablespoons = 1 oz
Forget your normal Christmas Cookies! These shortbread cookies, that I call snowball cookies, are also called wedding cookies and vienna cookies or even powdered nutballs. No matter what you call them, these cookies are perfect for Christmas or any holiday baking and giving, but they […]
During the holidays, whether its for Christmas, Hannukah or really any holiday party, it’s nice to be invited to someone’s home for dinner or drinks. It’s also the perfect time to bring a thoughtful Hostess Gift. We all like to show up with something that […]
How about a homemade holiday gift from your kitchen that takes only minutes to make?
Most of us want to send some love from our kitchen during Christmas or Hanukkah by way of a home made gift. But the problem is usually that it takes way too much time. My Spice Rub solves that problem. This Christmas gift looks beautiful and is both easy and inexpensive to make (not to mention it’s something that people will love)!
Sugar’s Spice Rub – The Perfect Holiday Gift
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Start to Finish: 15 minutes
Ingredients:
Directions:
Layer or mix the spices and add them to the jelly jar. Seal the jar and tie with a decorative ribbon.
Cooking Tips:
The spice rub is perfect for sprinkling on meat or fish before grilling or roasting.
The rub makes a great marinade too. Simply apply the rub to meat, poultry, or fish, place in a container or plastic bag and coat with some olive oil. Marinate for at least 20 minutes before cooking.
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I shared my recipe above and it appeared first on BettyCrocker.com.
My mom Gloria has been making these cream cheese and jam Christmas cookies since I was a little girl. I think the Polish name for them is Kolaczkis. We would wait all year for the Holidays to roll around so we could enjoy these little treats. I […]
A honey baked ham with pineapple and brown sugar glaze is the perfect easy dish to make for holiday entertaining. This Christmas recipe reminds me so much of being a kid and smelling ham cooking in the oven while I played with my toys that […]
Italian Bocconotti cookies can be found in southern Italy and are made a little different depending on where you eat them. They are pretty popular at Christmas time but actually perfect for any time of the year.
They can be made coved with dough or left open like little pies. They can also be filled with jam and nuts or even Nutella works nicely. Any way you make them these “small bite” cookies are a treat.
They are traditionally made in individual mini baking cups, but can also be made in a mini cup cake pan if you don’t have the individual cups.
Italian Bocconotti Cookies with Chocolate, Jam and Nut filling
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Start to Finish: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 12-16 cookies depending on the size
For Dough
For Filling
Garnish
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350°F
Combine all the dough ingredients into a large bowl; cut in the butter with a pastry blender or fork until mixture comes together and begins to form a wet dough. (Dough can also be made in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.)
Gather dough together and shape into a ball with your hands. Wrap dough ball in plastic food wrap and refrigerate while you make the filling.
In a small bowl mix together the jam, chocolate and ground nuts, until combined well.
Take about a teaspoon of dough, with floured hands roll into a ball then flatten into a circle, press dough onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased mini muffin cup or individual mini tart cup.
Add a half teaspoon of filling to the cup. Top with another circle of flattened dough and seal to close.
Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. (If using the individual cups place them on a cookie sheet for baking)
Let cookies cool for 2-3minutes, remove cookies from cups and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Cooking Tips:
The filling for these cookies can vary so feel free to get creative. You can add different flavors of jam or marmalade.
Cinnamon is also used in some regions of Italy in this type of cookie and can be added to the dough.
Peppermint says that it’s holiday time and Pillsbury’s Peppermint Sugar Cookie Dough makes it so easy to get that wonderful flavor into some of your favorite recipes. I recently used the sugar cookie dough to create the crust for one of my traditional tarts. This […]
Mom’s Italian Ribbon Cookies – Your New Favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe Many thanks to my mom for helping bring this holiday recipe for “Mom’s Italian Ribbon Christmas Cookies” to see the light of Christmas day. Throw a log on the fire, turn on the Christmas music, connect […]
Ingredients
My grandma and my mom made homemade Italian Sunday Sauce (some call it Sunday Gravy) almost every Sunday when I was growing up. For me, this is the best recipe for Sunday Sauce on the planet. It reminds me of growing up in a big Italian family in New Jersey and smelling the garlic hit the olive oil in the pan and all of the delicious flavors with pork, beef and Italian meatballs in San Marzano tomatoes. Just delicious. Watch the video below on how to make your own Italian Sunday Sauce. Whether you call her Grandma or Nonna, or call it sauce or gravy, this recipe is the best you’ll ever have. Enjoy!
A big drizzle of Olive oil
4 Pork spareribs –I prefer boneless or 2 boneless pork chop cut in half.
4 Beef short ribs or any cut of steak you prefer cut into two or three pieces.
Salt and pepper
6 Italian sausages cut in half – Spicy or mild, or both, your preference.
5 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium size yellow onion chopped
1 cup good red wine (optional) can use beef stock too or leave this step out
1 6 oz can of Tomato paste
4 (28oz) cans Crushed tomatoes – or whole tomatoes (San Marzano tomatoes are best).
2 bay leafs
Several Fresh Basil leafs, julienned
Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
1 peeled carrot cut in half
1-2 tablespoon of sugar at the end when the sauce is finally cooked, if needed
I taste the sauce at the end and add more salt and pepper if needed too.
Directions
Season meat on both sides well with salt and pepper.
Add olive oil to a large heavy sauce pot.
Turn heat to medium high but not too hot add a big enough drizzle of olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan well.
Place the meat in the pan making sure to not crowd it and brown on both sides in batches and remove as you go.
Once meat is cooked and removed, add you sausage and brown for a few minutes. Turn down the heat then add the onions and the garlic along with some salt and pepper and sauté making sure not to burn the garlic and the onions.
Add the tomato paste and saute once more for a minute or two.
Add the red wine and deglaze the pan by letting the wine loosen the bits on the bottom of the pot.
Add your tomatoes along with about 1/2-1 cup of water that you use to rinse the each can out with. Season again with some salt and pepper.
Add the meat back to the sauce along with your browned meatballs.
Add the bay leaf, the carrot and the basil, mix well, turn heat to a low simmer.
Cook low a slow string occasionally making sure to not break the meatballs. Cook for 4-5 hours, or all day until the beef and pork are fork tender and the sauce has thickened.
Cook your pasta al dente,
Add some of the sauce to a large pasta bowl add the pasta and top with more sauce and mix to coat the pasta. I even add a little reserved pasta water as well. Top with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano or both.
I like to allow everyone to make their own dishes and add pasta, sauce and any meat from the pot they like. I also serve this with some ricotta cheese and crushed red pepper along with extra cheese for topping.
Watch me make Homemade Italian Sunday Sauce with Grandma . . .
Everyone loves barbecued ribs but few people want to make them because they think they’re difficult to make or they don’t have a barbecue grill. Today, I’m going to show you how to make barbecued ribs in the oven it’s super simple with a yummy […]
Everyone likes brie at a party. It’s so creamy and delicious with crackers and honey and grapes. It also plays nice with salty meats if you’ve got a full platter of appetizers to accompany it. But what about a combination in one easy dish where […]
Ingredients:
Makes approximately 6 servings
4 cups diced cooked chicken breast
2 stalks celery diced
1/2 of a small white onion, diced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1-2 green onions, sliced thin
1 cup full fat mayonnaise
2 tablesopoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
How to Make it:
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until well combined. Refrigerate for an hour or more and serve. For best results make a day before.
If you want to get creative you can add some of these other ingredients to this recipe like…
Sliced almonds
Dried cranberries
Green or red grapes cut in half
Chopped carrots
Chopped chives
Chopped green apple
Creamy spicy garlic butter tuscan shrimp in a light and creamy garlic parmesan sauce with sun dried tomatoes. Hold the pasta for a low carb keto approved / keto friendly meal! Everyone loves shrimp and garlic. Shrimp scampi, spicy garlic shrimp and other shrimp recipes are […]
Lemon pound is a classic dessert recipe that is a no brainer for any party, picnic, dinner or other gathering. I wanted to make a twist on the basic lemon pound cake by adding ricotta cheese and making it even more delicious. And for a […]
Ingredients
1 oz Limoncello
2 oz’s Aperol
3-4 oz Prosecco
1-2 oz Pellegrino
1 lemon slice
1 orange slice
Ice cubes
How to Make It:
Pour the Limoncello, Aperol, Prosecco and the Pellegrino into a Wine glass. Add the orange and lemon and top with plenty of ice cubes. Give a stir and add a straw.
If needed adjust the ingredients to suit your taste.
Get on a raft. Enjoy
Cupcakes always mean it’s time for a party. Birthday party, shower, holiday parties. If you’re looking for an easy, fun party dessert idea, cupcakes are always in order. And this Cream Cheese Frosting Coconut Cupcakes recipe is not only delicious, it’s easy to make. These are […]
