Holiday Corn

 

I saw this fun idea on Pintrist and I just had to run with it.  It's so much fun to alter for each hoiday and add different crunchy treats too!

 

Popcorn

1/3 c. white chocolate chips

holiday sprinkles

It's just that easy, pop some corn, melt 1/3 cup of white chocolate chips in the microwave, starting with 20 second intervals and stir. Don't over heat it or it ruins the chocolate. Once it's smooth, pour it over the popcorn and toss to coat. Add the holiday sprinkles of choice, spread out on waxed paper lined baking sheets (at this point you can add a touch of salt if you wish to make it sweet and salty!) and let completely cool and harden. I placed my sheets in the garage to cool more quickly.

Break apart and enjoy!

For the Valentine Corn I added Rice Chex cereal, pretzels and some mnms.

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

This is an incredible recipe!  Perfect for parties.
This is courtesy of my Uncle Mitch in Michigan

1/3 cup favorite flavored dipping oil (I just used olive oil)
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 (16 ounce) pkgs pre-made pizza dough or homemade pizza dough
1 (7 oz) pkg sliced pepperoni
1 (8 oz) pkg shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Separate pizza dough into small bite sized pieces.
3. In a bowl add your favorite flavored dipping oil. Toss dough pieces in dipping oil to lightly coat.
4. Layer dough pieces in bottom of bundt or fluted tube pan, next layer sliced pepperoni, shredded cheese and sprinkle with garlic powder. (I also added some dried oregano)
Repeat layers again, and end with final layer of dough pieces.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until the bread is browned and cooked through in the center, 30-40 min
6. Remove from oven, and invert the pan on a cutting board; the bread will fall out of the pan in one piece.
7. Serve by pulling the bread apart into individual servings with optional marinara dipping sauce on the side.

Honey Goat Cheese Toast

This is a simple, delightful, easy appetizer that will wow the crowd!

Ingredients:
Trader Joe's cinnamon raisin bread
Trader Joe's honey goat cheese
fresh rosemary

Toast the bread, spread with the cheese, top with rosemary and that's it!  You'll love it!

What Does Joe Know? - Mini Cones

Hold the cone is right!  These are tiny cones of love that come in chocolate or vanilla and would be amazing piled up on a platter for a party!  Run out to Trader Joe's and grab a box!!

Sweet & Spicy Peacans

What Does Joe Know?  He knows these yummy peacans!
They are awesome on salads or snacking or in this delicious carrot slaw:
shredded carrots
dried cranberries
plain Greek yogurt
juice from an orange
Trader Joe's Sweet & Spicy Peacans

Amounts will vary according to how much you want to make - but for the dressing, combine about 1/2 c. yogurt with 1/4 c. juice from an orange.  Wisk together and pour over carrots, cranberries and peacans.  I like to add a little orange zest too.  A wonderful new take on an old time slaw!

What Does Joe Know?

I'm doing a little project for a few weeks where I try new products and recipes from Trader Joe's and let you know what I think!!  The project is called, "What Does Joe Know?" 

If you have some fabulous Trader Joe's finds, please share!!

Joe Knows Nuts!
Super Crunchy Chocolate Covered Peanuts
No messing around!  These are super crunchy and very chocolaty.  They are addicting.  Go grab yourself a tub and enjoy!!

Favorite Zucchini Bread

This is my favorite Zucchini Bread recipe.  I love the lemon zest that just adds something special to the traditional bread.

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 cup chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes (I always set my timer for less time and then check the bread - I can always put it back in for a few minutes but if it gets overdone, it's too late!)

Balsamic Watermelon Skewers

These are so pretty, refreshing, and delicious!  I made a pretty picnic for my husband the other night and these were on the menu.  We both loved the cool, crisp watermelon with the creamy mozzarella and fragarant basil with the sweetness of the balsamic reduction. 
What you’ll need:
Watermelon cubed
Mini fresh mozzarella balls
Fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar

In a small sauce pan, heat the balsamic vinegar and sugar over medium heat. Don’t boil, simply simmer until the sugar is dissolved and remove from the heat to let cool completely. The reduction will become thick and yummy!
Skewer your watermelon, basil leaves and mozzarella alternately. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Drizzle the reduction over the skewers just before serving.

Herb Goat Cheese

This is delicious on any cheese plate for a summer party. The recipe comes from Everyday Food Magazine

1 log (8 oz) fresh goat cheese, cut into ½ inch slices
2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Crostini or crackers for serving

Arrange cheese on a small plate. Sprinkle with oregano, red pepper flakes and lemon zest. Season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to sit out for about an hour before serving. Serve at room temperature.

Summer Bruschetta

The tomatoes are ripe and the basil is bountiful! It’s time for bruschetta.
Ingredients:
Fresh, crusty, French baguette
Tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves
Good balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Garlic
Salt & pepper

Dice your tomatoes. I prefer to cut mine in half and remove all the seeds first. I also love to use different varities of tomatoes – these are yellow boy tomatoes from my garden and delicious! Place diced tomatoes in a bowl and julienne your basil. I prefer to use a lot of basil! Crush a clove or garlic or two, drizzle olive oil and balsamic on to your taste, and finish with some sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. The quantities are up to you and your taste. I love to serve this on a fresh French baguette. Sometime I lightly toast the bread with some olive oil. A summer favorite!

Goat Cheese & Olive Flatbread

I’ve recently found that on our Friday night pizza nights, I’m stuck with some leftover dough. I’ve tried to create some fun desserts like this and that, but now I’ve just been putting the extra dough in a zip lock and putting it in the fridge. You know what I’ve discovered? A day or two later, the dough looses some yeast power and makes great flat bread that gets really crispy! It’s awesome!




Here is our latest creation:
left over pizza dough
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 Tbsp. goat cheese
1/4 c. kalamata olives, chopped
fresh basil leaves, torn (about 5 large leaves)
freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Roll out your dough, brush with olive oil and spread the crushed garlic over it.  Crumble the goat cheese on the pizza, followed by the olives, basil and parmesan cheese.  Finish with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and bake at 450 for about 10 minutes until brown and crispy.  Great as a snack or appetizer!

Roasted Chick Peas with Rosemary

a simple little snack for parties or anytime!

1 can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
olive oil
chopped fresh rosemary
sea salt

Place the chick peas in a bowl and toss with about 1 Tbs. of olive oil. Spread out on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with chopped rosemary and sea salt. Roast at 425 for about 15 minutes or until golden. Let cool on cookie sheet and serve in a bowl.

Great Aunt Suzie's Salsa

8 plum tomatoes (hard)
4-5 tomatillos
1 bunch of cilantro
1 red onion
Juice from 1 large lemon
Suzie Q Seasoning (sorry folks, this might just be a California thing!)
A splash of Tobasco (or as much as you like!)
Chop it all up in equal size, add lemon juice and seasoning and enjoy!
And, if there is any left over, cover it, put it in the refrigerator and enjoy it the next day – it gets even better!

Mini Cinnamon Rolls

*I made a mini version of the following recipe from EDFM. I only put butter, brown sugar and cinnamon on the rolls and placed them in a greases mini muffin pan to make mini cinnamon rolls!

All-purpose flour, for work surface

1 recipe Basic Pizza Dough, or 2 pounds store-bought pizza dough, thawed if frozen

1 cup plus 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 3/4 sticks), room temperature

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

1.On a floured work surface, roll dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle. Dot upper two-thirds of dough with 1 cup butter and fold dough like a letter. Roll dough to a 10-by-18-inch rectangle. Refrigerate on a baking sheet until firm, 1 hour (or up to 1 day).

2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine sugar, pecans, and salt. Leaving a 1/2-inch border, dot dough with 6 tablespoons butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Starting at a long end, roll up dough like a jelly roll. Cut crosswise into 12 pieces. Place each piece, cut side down, into two jumbo muffin pans or a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

3.Bake until golden brown and cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating pans halfway through. Immediately invert buns onto a serving platter or baking sheet. Serve warm.

Soft Pretzels

Once again Every Day Food Magazine doesn’t disappoint! They suggested making soft pretzels out of pizza dough and we did – they were amazing!
To my favorite pizza dough recipe, we added cinnamon and raisins to one batch – topped with Turbinado sugar and the other batch was plain with kosher salt on top (served with mustard of course). I recommend eating them out of the oven or the same day. They got a little tough the day after. But this would wow a crowd at a party and my girls had a blast rolling out the dough and twisting it up!!

Here are the directions

Snack Dinner

This is one of my favorites! As a child, I remember coming home from the beach exhausted and sandy. We’d jump in the showers and when we got out, my mom would have “finger foods” made and we’d watch The Muppet Show before crashing! I loved the frozen egg rolls, mini pizzas… Now as an adult, I love to have what we call “Snack Dinner.” Trader Joe’s provides some delicious frozen snacks, I make a few myself to add to the mix and we’re good to go!