Dining in the Northwoods

If you've been paying any attention, you probably noticed that I am very much into “serene green” when it comes to table settings. Both my Halloween and Thanksgiving tables were in calming tones of neutrals and greens.

My interest in these colors, and the feelings they evoke, have continued into December.

I am absolutely in love with the Northwoods look, and the associated colors, and I'm getting on board with the whole antlers thing that seems to be very popular these days. This table is the result of all of my new likes and interests.

I absolutely love this table because it works not only for the entire month of December and Christmas, but will also carry me through until spring. I love the image of greenery and pine cones, and had a great time gathering things to create this table.

Now I did treat myself to a number of new things this year, including the darling pine cone salt-and-pepper shakers, and this wonderful set of pine cone flatware from Cabelas.

Old favorites also made the cut. The Moose Lodge cookie jar centerpiece and wooden pine trees belonged to my mother, and I think of her every time I use them. My fellow diners also seem to get a kick out of this cookie jar, because every side seems to offer up something interesting and different to look at.

I paired this with some of my old favorite reindeer candle holders that I got from Pier One quite a few years ago and love to this day.

I’ve also used a new Pottery Barn addition this year in the form of antler napkin rings. Aren't these the cutest? Pottery Barn was again my source for the “Fa-la-la” napkins for this table. If I decide to add a bit of color, I also have a set of red napkins with white polka dots that look equally nice. They'll be making an appearance on my Boxing Day table this year.

The Villeroy & Boch glassware is a summer acquisition that works well here; mugs are from Williams-Sonoma.

I decided to use my Christmas tree treat jar in a different way this year, filling it with spearmint green leaves and using it as a table decoration. It really helps get the little ones to eat their dinner, when they see what awaits them for dessert. It's also fun for the adults as well, who seem to enjoy the spearmint leaves as much as the kids do.

The plates with the pine cones and greenery are from Pottery Barn last year.

The salad plates with the raised pine cone image are from Amazon this year. I really love these because they go with pretty much everything.

I'll be doing variations on this theme throughout the month of December as I host different people for coffee, breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea.Stay tuned to see how this table evolves.

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Happiness is Homemade Monday

Inspiration Monday

Art of Homemaking Monday
Make it Pretty Monday
Inspire Me Tuesday
 Homestead Wednesday

Home Sweet Home
Weekend Linky Party
Grace at Home
Simple & Sweet Friday
Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Creative Ways Party
Share Your Style
Simple Saturday Blog Hop

Pasta Florentine

No matter what or how you celebrate, I think we can all agree that this is an exceptionally busy time of the year. During the entire month of December, I want to make cooking as easy for myself as possible. Yes, I will admit, Marie Calender is going to pay a visit one night, perhaps two, this week. And, I may end up carrying out from my favorite Chinese restaurant, but largely I intend to cook. During busy times, the crockpot gets put to good use, and pasta makes many an appearance.

 There is a lot to like about pasta. It's often a one-pot meal, it can be paired with both meat and meatless ingredients, and it goes together in a flash.  Tonight's dinner is going to be meatless, but will get protein from the inclusion of a healthy amount of walnuts. This is a great recipe to have at hand because it can double as both a main or side dish. I spotted it on the 12 Tomatoes blog and have made it numerous times since.  Use what you have on hand.  For example, I have swapped out the spinach for both leeks and kale, I have made it heartier by browning ground Italian sausage or slices of kielbasa to add to the dish, and have used everything from walnuts to pecans to even peanuts in the preparation.

Pasta Florentine

8-10 oz. penne pasta

3 cups crimini mushrooms, stems removed, sliced

3 cups fresh spinach

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of generously salted water to boil.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pan or skillet over medium heat and sauté mushrooms, seasoned with salt and covered, for 15-20 minutes, or until softened.

Stir occasionally and reduce heat if mushrooms start to burn.

Add spinach to mushrooms and pour in lemon juice. Cook until wilted, then add walnuts.

Cook pasta according to packaging directions, or until al dente. Drain (reserving 1/2 cup pasta water) and set aside.

Add heavy cream to the spinach and mushrooms, stirring well, and mix in Parmesan cheese. If sauce is too thick, add pasta water one tablespoon at a time.

Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.

Pour drained pasta into the sauce and toss well to coat thoroughly. Cook on low heat for 5 minutes, or until sauce thickens and sticks to pasta.

Transfer to serving plates, garnish with more Parmesan and serve hot.

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

Foodie Friday & Everything Else
Creative Ways Party
Share Your Style
Simple Saturday Blog Hop

Glazed Pearl Onions and Grapes

When I saw the recipe for this dish on epicurious.com I had to laugh to myself. The creator of this recipe said that she did so out of laziness. She found peeling so many pearl onions to be tedious, so decided to mix them with grapes. Obviously, she doesn't know my simple method for peeling pearl onions, nevertheless this dish is genius. It is unique, delicious, and an excellent side dish for beef, chicken, pork, or a great addition to your deli platter or cheese tray. It goes together in a snap, it keeps in the fridge for 3 to 5 days, and can be served warm or at room temperature. I tried it out of curiosity, and I'm really glad that I did. You need to give this a try too. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Glazed Pearl Onions and Grapes

20 ounces Melissa’s red pearl onions
1/3 cup Sherry vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 1/2 cups Melissa’s Christmas Crunch Grapes (about 1/2 pound)

 
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle or lower third.

Blanch unpeeled pearl onions in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and transfer to an ice bath to stop cooking. Peel onions and trim off root ends.

Bring onions, vinegar, and water to a simmer in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet with sugar, butter, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Cover and simmer 3 minutes.

Uncover skillet and transfer to oven. Roast, stirring once or twice, until most of liquid has evaporated, 15 to 18 minutes. Stir in grapes and roast, stirring once or twice, until liquid glazes onions and grapes, 5 to 8 minutes. Discard bay leaf.

This post is linked to: Inspire Me Tuesday, Tuesdays At Our Home, Two Cup Tuesday, Celebrate Your Story, Homemaking Party Tuesday, Wow Us Wednesday, Work It Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Wake up Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Share Your Style, Coffee and Conversation, and Foodie Friday & Everything Else

Chocolate Cherry Fudge

The "special" candies always made an appearance at Christmas time. When I was a small child, my favorite of these candies were the chocolate-covered cherries. Somehow, Christmas didn't seem like Christmas without chocolate-covered cherries. With that in mind, I created this fudge, reminiscent of that wonderful time. This is the easiest fudge you're ever going to make, and the most delicious, particularly if you're a chocolate and cherry fan like I am. The next time I make it, and that could be mere days from now, I'm going to up my game a bit with an adult version, made with cherries soaked in brandy. Doesn't that sound delectable? Give this a try, it's easy, and I have no doubt that you'll enjoy it.

Chocolate Cherry Fudge
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1-1/4 teaspoons almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 3-oz. package Melissa's Dried Tart Cherries
Line an 8" x 8" pan with foil, allowing a 2" tail on either end for easy lifting.
In a large microwave-safe bowl combine sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips. Microwave on high for 1-1/2 minutes. Remove and stir until smooth. Stir in extracts, almonds, and cherries.
Pour into pan and spread evenly.  Cover and refrigerate until firm, 1-1/2 - 2 hours. Remove from pan, slice into 1" squares and serve.

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Busy Mondays

Inspiration Monday

Art of Homemaking Monday
Make it Pretty Monday

Celebrate National Brownie Day!

It’s National Brownie Day! Is that a holiday that you can sink your teeth into, or what? Time to satisfy your cravings while celebrating the day with one of these delicious chocolaty treats. Simply click on the name of the brownie under the photo to be taken right to the recipe.

Peanut Butter Cup Crack Brownies

Creole Brownies

Tri-Level Brownies

Whopping Malted Milk Ball Brownies

Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

Mounds Bar Brownies

Lethal Layers

Chewy Delicious Brownies

Guinness Brownies

Toffee Almond Sandies

Just between you and me, I've eaten so much chicken the past couple days that I'm starting to cackle. So I thought I'd change things up a bit today, and share a cookie recipe. If you like pecan sandies as much as I do, you are going to go crazy over this toffee version. I mean what's not to like? You've got the cookie, you've got chopped almonds, and you have those decadent, can't-stop-eating-them, chocolate-covered toffee bits.

 

This is an easy recipe to make, it makes a lot of cookies, and the dough freezes beautifully. I baked up 1/3 of the batch, rolled the rest into balls, bagged them, labeled them, and put them in the freezer. These are going to fly off of your cookie tray this holiday season.

Toffee Almond Sandies

Slightly adapted from Taste of Home

 

 1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups chopped almonds

1-8 oz. package milk chocolate English toffee bits

Additional sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in oil, eggs, and extract. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in almonds and toffee bits.

Shape into 1-in. balls; roll in sugar. Place on ungreased baking sheets and flatten with a fork or the bottom of a glass (which is what I did). Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Yield: about 12 dozen.

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to:

What’s for Dinner Sunday

 Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

  Amaze Me Monday

 Busy Mondays

 Inspiration Monday

Art of Homemaking Monday
Make it Pretty Monday
Inspire Me Tuesday
Simple & Sweet Friday
Foodie Friday & Everything Else
 

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

You're probably reading this blog post, shaking your head, and saying to yourself, what is this, Slow-Cooker Week, or what? Well, I hadn't intended for it to be, but it looks as though it is. I have been using the heck out of my slow cooker this week, and with incredible results. I don't think I really ever realized just how much I used it, until I started writing blog posts. Today I have another wonderful, easy, and delicious recipe for your slow cooker.

I like spicy foods of all kinds, so this was something that I have long wanted to try. I haven't done a lot of Indian food in the crockpot, but I hope to remedy that very soon. My first effort was the butter chicken that was absolutely incredible; this dish is a little spicier, but equally as flavorful. I like my food extra spicy so I added a couple of pinches of cayenne pepper. You may not want to do that, because that does turn up the heat quite a bit.

 

This is a great warming winter recipe for those of you whose tastes lean toward the more exotic side. As with all crockpot recipes, this one is very forgiving, just use what you have. In fact, just between you and me, I didn't really have plain yogurt, but I did have some Chobani peach yogurt with the fruit on the bottom, so I just scraped off the plain yogurt on top leaving the fruit in the container and dumped that into the crockpot. No one was the wiser, and it tasted just the same. It pays to get creative.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

 

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes

1 teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2½ teaspoons garam masala

1-2½" piece ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ medium yellow onion, diced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1½ teaspoons turmeric

1 (14-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes

1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas

1½ cups plain yogurt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Spray interior of crockpot with Pam.

Toss chicken with salt, pepper, and garam masala in a medium bowl. Place in crockpot.

Mix next 8 ingredients together in a small bowl.  Pour over Chicken.  Cook on low for 6 hours. Stir in peas, cook for 30 minutes. Turn off crockpot and stir in yogurt and lemon juice. Serve atop our favorite rice and garnish with cilantro.

PRINT RECIPE

This post is linked to: Wow Us Wednesday, Wine’d Down Wednesday, Wake up Wednesday, Share Your Style, and Foodie Friday & Everything Else