Cooking Show: Day-After Thanksgiving Recipes!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it wasn't difficult to come up with a theme for our recent cooking show.

Instead of preparing traditional recipes, however, I decided to focus on leftovers.

I need to confess that I actually roast a pre-Thanksgiving turkey, and perhaps make an extra batch of mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce as well, ensuring that there will be post-Thanksgiving leftovers...can you relate?  

I find it helpful to have a fridge full of leftovers because it makes meal-planning a cinch when I'm in the midst of my decorating frenzy during the days after Thanksgiving...

I was assisted by my friend, Maureen.  We made batches of No-Stress Cranberry Sauce and Make-Ahead Gravy.  This is a cooking show after all.  We felt the need to actually cook something before we started assembling our leftovers!

If you've never made homemade cranberry sauce, please give it a try!  I would usually strongly suggest making gravy using pan drippings, but a recipe like this one that you can make ahead before you even put the bird into the oven can certainly come in handy!

(Click on the highlighted titles to be taken to the recipes.)

Cranberry/Brie Phyllo Tartlets with Pistachios

One more phyllo tart recipe to add to the repertoire. FOUR ingredients!!! 

Great way to use your leftover cranberry sauce! And so easy to whip up a batch to fortify yourself during your post-Thanksgiving decorating frenzy (hint-hint).

Loaded Leftover Mashed Potatoes

If you're wondering what to do with leftover mashed potatoes, look no further!  Soooo good.  

Simply reheat your mashed potatoes and add your favorite toppings!

Day-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Wraps

Fill them up, give them a quick sear, dip them into gravy.  A one-stop-shopping recipe for Thanksgiving leftovers!

Thank you for following along.  I hope that you have a very Happy Thanksgiving...

...and a very happy day after Thanksgiving as well!

Cooking Show: Tailgating, Part IV

My friend, Maureen, joined me for our most recent cooking show. We prepared a few dishes that are fun to dig into when you're watching the game at home, or easy to transport if you're heading out to the stadium!

It's been a few years since we last filmed a show featuring tailgating recipes.  It's only right that Maureen has been by my side for each of those shows! 

It was my pleasure to join her again recently as she packed up her minivan with provisions for pre- and post-game feasts for her family and assorted guests.

Chicken Burritos

You would think that the many bowls of toppings in this picture means that there is a lot of prep involved.

We've kept the prep to a minimum.  Use a rotisserie chicken and pre-made pico de gallo to cut down on prep time!

(Click on the title for the printable recipe.)

Let your guests assemble their own tortillas with their choice of fillings.

Or create your own salad bowls with your custom choice of ingredients!

Mexican Roasted Corn Salad

Another recipe with minimal prep!  Buy frozen roasted corn, mix in a few additional ingredients...that's it!

Ham and Cheese Sliders with Honey/Mustard Dipping Sauce

I wish I had thought to take a photo of these sliders in all their ooey-gooey goodness! They are soooo good...and disappear faster than you could possibly imagine...like you think that maybe everyone will have ONE but when you're cleaning up the empty pan you realize that next time you need to allow THREE per person.  They are THAT GOOD!!!

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting

If you like carrot cake, and you like whoopie pies...give these a try!

Berries with Limoncello and mint...no written recipe needed!  Just fill a bowl with assorted berries, stir in some WOW with about 1/4 cup of limoncello, and sprinkle some chopped fresh mint on top.

Our Latest Cooking Show: Soup's On!!

My summer cooking involves a lot of grilling!  I'll do anything to avoid spending time in the kitchen when it's hot outside.

However, now that the temperature is dropping, I've been making up for lost time by cooking all of the things I've been avoiding during the warmer weather.

Here's a dinner photo from earlier this month.  I was so excited when the temperature dipped and I was finally able to spend time in the kitchen without worrying about how hot and steamy it would get.  Three soups at once, I may have gone a little overboard...

But all that soup-making was the inspiration for our recent cooking show!

My friend, Lisa, cooked alongside me.  We started with a cocktail.  Why settle for an apple martini when you can add caramel vodka and turn it into a Caramel Apple-Tini?

Creamy Chicken Soup

This soup would be right at the top of my list of comfort foods.

Loaded with shredded veggies & chicken, a touch of cream and an assortment of herbs, I suggest making a double batch so that you have lots of leftovers.  This is one of those soups that is even better the next day!  Sitting in your fridge overnight gives the herbs (and fennel seed!) time to infuse even more flavor.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Roasting the tomatoes really deepens their flavor.  There's really not a lot of work involved with this recipe! After halving and roasting the tomatoes along with onions & garlic, you throw everything into your blender and then simmer it with herbs.

These Ham and Cheese Puff Pinwheels were a big hit.

The contrast between the flaky puff pastry, the crispy ham and melting cheese make them a perfect accompaniment for tomato soup!

Cooking with Kids! Taco Boats, Muffin Tin Pizzas, Apple Faux-nuts, and Mason Jar Lid Blueberry Pies

Our most recent cooking show featured kid-friendly recipes.  Recipes that were fun to prepare, and fun to eat!

I was joined by Emily and Lily, two 10-year-olds who happily assembled our recipes with very little assistance.

We started with Taco Boats.  We layered cooked rice and seasoned chicken into tortilla "boats," then popped them into the oven for a few minutes to heat them up.   After removing them from the oven we topped them with chopped avocado, tomatoes and a sprinkling of cilantro.

Hmm...I wrote "we" but it would have been more truthful to say "Emily and Lily."  I stood and watched while they did all of the assembling! 

The only prep that I did was to cook the rice in advance and prep the chicken (which means I removed and chopped up the meat from a cooked rotisserie chicken).  So easy!

Next up were Muffin Tin Mini Pizzas.  

I used a cookie cutter to cut mini "crusts" from flour tortillas, then placed them into a muffin tin.  

I then took a step back and watched as Lily and Emily took over and filled them up with their favorite toppings!

Football season is finally here, and these mini-pizzas are a great appetizer to serve when you're watching the game.  Go Patriots!

Mason Jar Lid Blueberry Pies

Yes, we baked these pies inside mason jar lids!  Emily and Lily cut the mini-crusts from ready-made pie crusts. 

I'm glad I remembered to snap a few photos because after they cooled down they were the first thing to disappear!

Apple Faux-Nuts

I sliced a few apples into rings, and then Lily and Emily took over and frosted and decorated the "donuts." This was my favorite recipe of the night...I managed to snag one that had berry cream cheese topped with blueberries and coconut chips.  A winning combo!

It also gave us the chance to use marshmallows, which are always a hit when cooking with kids!

Cooking Show: Party-Worthy Recipes

I would describe the recipes we prepared on our latest episode of the cooking show as party-worthy dishes to fill in your menu during this busy season.

If you're looking to add another cocktail, appetizer, salad or sweet treat to your soirée, we've got you covered.

Click on the titles to be taken to the printable recipes!

White Chocolate Peppermint Stick Martini

SOOOOOOO GOOD!!  

Creamy, chocolatey, pepperminty...just shake it and serve it.  Everyone who tasted this exclaimed YUM!!

Crunchy No-Bake Chocolate Bars

Another recipe that is so easy to make!   Two minutes to melt ingredients in your microwave, then stir and spread into a baking pan and chill.

Tomato & Pesto Phyllo Tarts

Another quick and easy recipe.  Buy already-made frozen phyllo tarts, fill them with pesto, chopped tomato and mozzarella and bake until the cheese melts.

 Chunky Salad with Avocado and Cilantro

Very easy to prepare!  

Mini-Croissant Croques Monsieur

Okay, up until this point all of the recipes have been of the easy, throw-all-of-the-ingredients-together type of recipes.

These mini-croissants are still easy to make!  They just take a bit more prep...but they are so worth it!!

And finally...

Bang Bang Shrimp Copycat Recipe

Because.  Just because this is so good!   

Not sure how close it is to the real recipe, but these shrimp are addicting. The first time I made them, my husband remarked, "These are really good! I don't care for seafood, but I've already eaten five of them and there are more to follow..."

We skewered the shrimp with cocktail toothpicks to serve as an appetizer, but they would be fabulous in tacos or quesadillas. Or make a double batch of the sauce, thin it down a bit and serve with pasta!

Cooking Show: Deep-Frying vs. Air Frying!

On our latest cooking show, we decided to prepare a few recipes and compare cooking methods.  Deep-fried versus air fried?  Which tastes better?  Is there truly a difference?

My friend, Trish, has an unabashed love of deep-fried food so it only seemed fair that she be the judge!  We decided on a menu of onion strings, chicken tenderloins, and apple pie egg rolls.

(Click on the following titles to be taken to the printable recipes.)

As we were waiting for the oil to heat up, we made a pitcher of Cranberry-Apple Sangria.

Once we got the oil in the deep fryer at our desired temperature we were ready to go.

First course: Onion Strings.  

The air-fried onion strings are on the left and the oil-fried ones are on the right.  

The air friend ones were crispy, but retained a powdery coating of flour. They tasted okay, but the flour residue was not a pleasant effect.  

The oil-fried onion strings only took 2 minutes per batch, the air-fried ones took about 4 1/2 minutes. Due to the longer cooking time required (and not being able to place as many onion strings per batch) in the air fryer, we were able to deep fry about triple the amount in the same amount of time.

Trish and I agreed that the oil-fried onion strings were the best, hands-down.

 Next: Crispy Chicken Tenderloins with honey mustard dip.

Similar to the onion strings, the air-fried chicken took about twice as long to cook as the deep-fried chicken (14 minutes for the air-fried versus 6 to 7 minutes for the deep-fried).

However, Trish and I both agreed that they both tasted fabulous!  Both were crispy and very flavorful.  The only drawback was the time difference...we were able to prepare two batches of the deep-fried tenderloins in less time than it took for one batch in the air fryer, AND the air fryer does not hold as many per batch.  If I were preparing these for my family of five, I would need to make three batches in the air fryer, or two batches in the deep fryer--45 minutes vs. 15 minutes.

Trish and I both concluded that if we were preparing one batch, for two servings, the air fryer wins.  The additional half-hour needed for three batches, while keeping the early batches warm in the oven (and hope that they don't dry out!) makes the air fryer a very inconvenient choice for more than two servings.

Finally:  Egg Roll Apple Pies!!

The deep-fried egg rolls are on the left in the above photo, the air-fried ones are on the right.

Can you guess which ones were the winner of the taste test?  I will tell you this...the winner was so good that I'm not even going to bother you with the boring analysis details.  

I'll just say that we cut one of each type of egg roll in half, and our plan was that I would try the air-fried egg roll as Trish tried the deep-fried one, and then we would switch and try the remaining half of the other egg roll which we hadn't yet sampled.  As I was attempting to switch halves, my sweet, lovely, mild-mannered friend showed a bit of food aggression!  She wanted it all to herself.  

The deep-fried one was absolutely delicious, with a perfect, flaky-yet-chewy crust...the air-fried one had a dry, tasteless, crackly crust reminiscent of a saltine.  Trish and I both agreed: when it comes to egg roll apple pies, air frying is a waste of time!

Cooking Show: Recipes for Halloween!

Our recent episode of the cooking show featured kid-friendly recipes for Halloween.

Thanks to the assistance of my nine-year-old sous chef, Lily, my counters were covered with spooktacular treats!

We mixed up a cauldron of Eyeball Punch.

Can you spot the eyeball ice cubes?

We then moved onto appetizers, beginning with Pretzel Broomsticks.  This turned out to be Lily's favorite recipe of the night!

Here's the printable recipe.

Next, we made Skeleton Veggies & Dip.  

Lily and I decided which veggies would best represent the bones from shoulders to toes!

Lily diligently went to work shredding string cheese for our Mummy Pizzas!

 Finally, for a sweet treat, we made Frozen Banana Ghost Pops.

Happy Halloween!!