Confession Time....

It's been 6 years since our last family portrait. Not that this even constitutes as a family portrait. I had to have my dad come over and take a quick picture for my grandmother's memorial this coming Monday. My aunt is making a pictorial family tree and needed pictures of all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Talk about feeling guilty. The worst part is that I've had a child since our last picture....and he's now 4 1/2. Not to mention the fact that a dear friend, who is trying to jump start a little photography gig on the side, offered to photograph the family for free. All I had to do was name a day and round up my crew. I'm a bad mom.

Recipe gets an A-

I told you I would fill you in on how the Sausage and Broccoli Fettuccine Parmesan went...ahem, 3 days ago. Sorry, I'm really bad at keeping up with things.

The recipe was good. Not great, nothing to write home about, but good. Definitely something I would make again with modifications. I think it was the cream sauce that turned me off of this dish. It was way to complicated for the end process. White sauces are way easier, and better tasting in my opinion, than the one they wrote. I'll write out the recipe as written in the book, then give you my take on a white sauce.

From the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook

Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage
(I named it Sausage and Broccoli Fettuccine Parmesan....has a better ring to it!)

1 pound fresh broccoli, cut into florets
1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fettuccine
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (I omitted these)
1 garlic clove, minced
3 large eggs
3/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook broccoli and fettuccine in boiling water to cover in a Dutch oven 4 minutes or until broccoli is crisp-tender; drain. Rinse with cold water; drain. Place in a large bowl.

Melt butter in a large heavy skillet; add mushrooms and garlic, and saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add to fettuccine mixture.

Cook sausage in skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until done; drain and add to fettuccine mixture. Wipe skillet clean with a paper towel.

*Stir together eggs, whipping cream, and pepper in skillet until blended. Add fettuccine mixture; toss well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and toss. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

My cream sauce:
Melt 2 tbsp. butter in sauce pan on med-high heat. Add 2 tbsp. flour, and whisk together briskly for 1-2 minutes cooking the flour. Add 2 cups milk while whisking continuously. When all the flour has smoothed out and the sauce starts to thicken, add pepper and Parmesan cheese. Done.

*Their sauce becomes tricky with the addition of the eggs and heavy cream. If not cooked at just he right temperature with the right amount of whisking, you'll end up with scrambled egg cream. Yuck! It can be done, but for the average cook, my sauce is much easier and just as good. (It's really not "my" sauce, I realize that....but it's my blog, and I can own it if I want to!!) Anyway, if you want to make the sauce a little more rich, do 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup cream.

The kids really liked this recipe. The creamy cheese sauce was enough to get my daughter to eat the broccoli which is always a plus. I hope the new parents enjoyed, I sure enjoyed holding their new baby girl. What a sweetie!

A Busy Day Cooking

Starting around 6am this morning, I've spent most of day in the kitchen. Our Sunday School class has set up a rotation schedule for regular attenders to provide breakfast. Some mornings, it's all I can do to get myself out the door, much less worry about eating, so I really appreciate the breakfast waiting for me at Sunday School. It varies each week from donuts to a wide variety of casseroles.

This morning was our scheduled Sunday for breakfast (actually just mine...let's face it my husband can't boil water) and I've brought donuts the last few times, so I thought I'd better cook today. Now, don't get me wrong...I don't think anyone has taken offense to my store bought, rather than home-cooked, breakfast. I'm the one with the hang-up. It would really bother me to buy something month after month instead of cooking it myself....I am a stay-at-home mom, after all. People might start to wonder what I do all day!

In addition to our morning fare, I also agreed to bring dinner to a couple in our class who was recently blessed with a new baby girl. This arrangement was made complete with ulterior motives, however. I get to hold a baby! I can't wait for them to meet me at the door, take the food out of my hands, and hand over the baby. That is, of course, unless she's one of those new moms who doesn't let anyone hold the baby for the first month or something crazy like that. I have 4 kids for Pete's sake...that should grant me holding rights on newborns. Right??

Anyway...here are the recipes of what I've been cooking up today. Hope you like them!

(Both of the following recipes are variations of recipes found on allrecipes.com.)
Breakfast:

Cream Cheese Danish Squares

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
2 (8oz) pkgs. cream cheese - softened
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Press one can of the crescent rolls into the bottom of the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Spread over the crescent rolls in pan. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and lay them on top of the cream cheese layer. Do not press down. Pour the melted butter over the entire pan. (It looks like too much, just trust me!) Combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and all butter is absorbed. Top will be crispy.

Variation - Before adding the final layer of crescent rolls, spoon on a layer of your favorite fruit preserves. Also, you could skip the butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture all together. Instead bake without, and make a glaze using powdered sugar and milk. Drizzle on glaze after they have slightly cooled.

(These things are sooo delicious, you need to go to church because the guilt will be more than you can handle.)

I also served the following:

Grits and Sausage Casserole

1 lb bulk sausage (I used turkey)
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1 cup quick cooking grits
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese ( I used a blend of cheddar and M. Jack)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup half & half
1/4 cup butter

Crumble sausage into a large skillet. Cook over medium heat until no longer pink; drain and set aside. In a saucepan, bring water and salt to a boil. Slowly stir in grits. Reduce heat and cook 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste to adjust salt. Remove from heat when grits are tender. Stir a small amount of hot grits into the eggs to temper them; return to saucepan, stirring constantly. Add the sausage, cheese, milk and butter, stirring until all is well blended. Pour into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle top with additional cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until the top begins to turn brown.


Dinner for the new parents:
Mixed Green Salad
Sausage and Broccoli Fettuccine Parmesan
Garlic Bread
Banana Pudding

The Sausage and Broccoli Fettuccine Parmesan is a new recipe from a cookbook I got for Christmas. If it's a hit, I'll post that tomorrow. I've already prepared the salad, and banana pudding; now I need to make the bread and pasta. Oh yeah, and clean the royal mess I've made in the kitchen.

Wish me luck!

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year. I pray that you all have a prosperous and blessed 2009. I'm really not sure about the direction this blog is going to take...if I continue it at all. I'm thinking of just posting weekly meal plans and recipes that our family is eating with the occasional random peeks into our lives. I don't know...we'll see what tomorrow holds.

As for now, sorry I haven't been writing as much as usual. Christmas time is usually very busy in our home and this year was no different. The Christmas season ushers in my birthday as well, and this year, unfortunately, the death of my grandmother. She was well loved and will be very missed by her friends and family. She lived a long, happy, 89 years, and has gone on to be with the Lord. I was very sad that she didn't get to have one last Christmas, but the truth is, she probably had the best Christmas ever. What could be better than celebrating Christmas at the feet of Jesus?

I love you Gramma!!

Hmmmm???

Well, I wouldn't want to leave anyone out. I keep it simple on purpose, really!

Creamy Carrot and Potato Soup

The weather we've been having lately is perfect for soup. Unfortunately, I feel like death warmed over. I'd post a picture to prove it, but I wouldn't want to discourage you from returning to my blog in the future. I did, however, muster up enough energy to prepare a nice soup for supper tonight. It's one that I don't really have a recipe for, I just add stuff and taste...but I'll do my best to walk you through it.

Warning....this makes ALOT of soup!!!

Ingredients

5lbs russet potatoes
3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
4 large carrots
2 garlic cloves
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
10 cups water
3 chicken bouillion cubes (I use Knorr)
2 cups milk, half & half, or heavy cream....whatever you like
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions....Okay, here we go. First, rough chop the carrots, onion, and celery and put them in the food processor. Using the pulse button, chop the vegetables to very small pieces. Don't over chop, you don't want juice. In a hot soup pot, add the olive oil and butter (yes, both)..then add your veggies you just chopped. Stir that around and add a pinch of salt to sweat the veggies a bit. While that is going, peel and chop the potatoes into bite size pieces. When the veggies have begun to cook down, add the chopped garlic and stir. Your house should smell heavenly by this point!! Add the chopped potatoes, water, and bouillon cubes, another heavy pinch of salt and some pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Just when you can't stand it any longer, test the potatoes. They should be really mushy before we proceed. When they are nice and mushy, drain off some of the liquid. Ladle out big chunks of the potatoes and return them to your food processor. (You could blend them in your pot if you had one of those fancy hand held thingies...I don't.) Blend the potatoes until creamy and return them to the pot. Add the milk or cream and adjust seasonings to your taste. Heat the soup through and enjoy. Sometimes I like to add crushed red pepper flakes and hot sauce (after I take some out for the kids.) Also sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese are really good toppings.

I hope you can decipher through my babbling and attempt this soup...it's really good and hearty on a cold night. Some crusty bread and a salad make it a perfect meal. Or....skip the bread and salad and have it with grilled cheese sandwiches....that's what I did!

I'm still here!!!

Don't hit the panic button, yet...I'm still here!! It's been a very busy month for us in the Bonini house, and unfortunately the holidays won't give us a chance to slow down anytime soon, either. Josh has started basketball and the girls are going full force with cheerleading. They have their first competition this Saturday in Sarasota. Ty is doing well, too. He's having a great time in preschool. They recently brought horses to the school as part of their farm unit. Ever since, Ty has been reminding me daily that we don't have a horse.




My brain has been so foggy lately, I don't really have anything to write about....so how about some recent pictures??

Ty as Thomas the Train......he's so cute!

Katelyne as Sharpay (High School Musical)....what a stretch that was!!

Erin as a cat.....quiet and playful!!

Joshua as Indiana Jones....whew, is he handsome or what??

Erin at Cypress Gardens....she was the only one who wanted to pet the goat.

The big kids and I took an afternoon and went to Cypress Gardens, we had a great time.

This is what happens when you let your daughters do your hair.....scary isn't it???

And this is just too cute for words!!!!