Last Week for Fall Into Flavor

As Michael Jackson once said, "This is it." This is the final curtain call for Fall Into Flavor 2009.










If you participated all five weeks and would like a chance to win a brand new APRON! just let me know in the comments that you did participate each and every time and would like to be in the drawing.

Here is my final installation for Fall Into Flavor:

This is an old, old recipe called "Husband's Delight." I have no idea why, because there are no remote controls or skimpy outfits involved, unless you want to wear one, of course. Personally, I have found that wearing remote controls can be pretty darn uncomfortable, but suit yourself.

Ingredients:

(warning: this is kind of salty)

8 boneless chicken breasts
8 slices of bacon
1 4oz. pkg. dried beef
1 can mushroom soup
1 c. sour cream
optional ~ slivered almonds

Directions:

Line flat baking dish with dried beef. Wrap each breast with a piece of bacon. Arrange chicken on beef. Mix soup and sour cream well. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered at 325* for 2 hours or until chicken is done. Sprinkle almonds last 30 minutes if desired.

Thanks for making this a fun little meme again this year. Happy Cooking! Good luck to the apron contestants!

Fall Into Flavor Week #4-One Week Left!

I can hear her now: "Look at this. Mmm--MM! Sweet Po-tay-ta Cassa-rohl! HAHAAHHA!"

That's my Paula Deen impression in text. Kind of loses something in translation, doesn't it.

Anyway, this is not a PD recipe, but it's so good it would make her launch into that attestation above.

If you've always made candied yams or sweet potatoes one way, you might consider this recipe for Thanksgiving. Then again, your family might shoot you if you've got a traditional recipe that must not be tainted.

So try this at your own risk, but it's the best way I've ever had them, including those of my growing up years. And wait until you see how simple it is!

Ingredients:
40 oz canned yams, mashed
3/4 stick butter or marg.
2 eggs, beaten
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 T. cornstarch

Topping:
1 c. crushed cornflakes
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. coconut
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. chopped pecans

Directions:
Mix all ingredients for the casserole. Spread in 9 x 13" pan and baked at 400* for 15 mins. or until thickened.
Meanwhile, melt butter over low heat in a saucepan. Mix all topping ingredients, add to butter and mix again.
After the casserole bakes 15 mins, spread topping over and bake another 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on the topping so that it doesn't burn.

So ... whatcha got cookin' for us this week?

Pepper & Fall Into Flavor

Recently a friend shared about her toddler grandson who stuck part of a crayon up his nose.

(To the mom of this toddler I say, "Be of good courage; this stage lasts but a short time, and then in the blink of an eye, he will wreck your car.")

A quick-thinking relative told them to put pepper under his nose so that he would sneeze the crayon out.

To be honest, when she got to that part of the story, I was a nay-sayer because pepper never makes me sneeze when I cook, but it worked, and they avoided a trip to the ER.

So I was telling Kristin about this as I was cooking, and we decided to try it.

She sniffed first and had quite a sneezy facial expression but never sneezed.

Then I sniffed it, still talking about how it never makes me sneeze.

About the time I finished that sentence, I cut loose a sneeze that felt like it had drilled a hole through the earth from China, shot up into my feet and slammed into my nasal passages.

And then, you know what happened next.

So I RAN to the bathroom, tripping over Zoe who was barking and going crazy because I was sort of "barking" and going crazy myself.

Yeah, so after a few moments I returned and began the whole seasoning process again, a humbled and cranky middle aged woman, victim of her own pepper assault.

And so now we're all in the mood to cook. Let's Fall Into Flavor.



The holidays often mean carry-ins. A co-worker brings these Wonton Sausage Flowers to our carry-ins, and we snarf them down like only a church staff can.

Wonton Sausage Flowers

Ingredients:
24 wonton wrappers
1 pkg of bulk pork sausage
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/4 c. chopped celery
1/4 c. green pepper
1 clove garlic
1 3oz pkg cream cheese, softened
2 T. Chopped green onions.
Cheddar cheese for sprinkling

How to:

1. Oven 350*. Lightly grease miniature muffin pan.
2. Cook sausage, onion, green pepper, celery and garlic. Drain. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in cream cheese.
4. Press wontons into muffin pan so that edges extend over top of well.
5. Place 1 T. of sausage mixture into each wonton.
6. Bake 10 minutes or until edges begin to brown.
7. Transfer to platter and dollop each with cheddar cheese.

Let's link up!

I Gotta Feelin' : Monday Morning Fun & Fall Into Flavor

Yeah, I'm all excited. Yesterday was Hall & Oates' appearance on Private Sessions on A&E. I liked it a lot, except in one interview session, the host, Lynn Hoffman, brought up the moniker "Blue Eyed Soul," and Daryl Hall talked about how terribly racist it is and how he hates it.

Oops.

I had no idea that was a racist remark. I can only say that when I first heard it, I thought it was a very cool and descriptive phrase. So if I offended anybody who reads here, I apologize. The racist implication went totally over my head. Sorry, Daryl Hall and John Oates and all soul artists everywhere, although I'm sure you're not waiting for an apology from a blogger mom in a small town in Indiana. But I wanted to get that off my chest.

Now I suppose Donny Osmond is going to tell us he hates purple.

Anyway.

It's the 2nd installation of Fall Into Flavor PLUS this amazing video.

Little tangent: One of the fun things about my girls is their playfulness when it comes to music. Yes, the one who hates musicals, me, happened to birth daughters who have a penchant for bursting into song and dance without warning.


















So the other day, Kristin, the high schooler, pulled into the drive and sat there. Immediately, her older sister, Katie, pulled in, observed Kristin and realized that she was listening and singing to the same song as she was (the song in the video below).

So the song ends, each girl gets out of her car, and they continue dancing and singing on the driveway.

Insert Mom-smile here.

Their favorite part to sing is "Fill up my cup--draaaaaaank!" No, not drink, but draaaaaaaank.

How I love my two brunette musical stylists. "Brunette soul?" Oh no. I shouldn't have gone there.



Here are 20,00 people dancing in syncopated waves. Amazing.





Here's my submission for this week. I Gotta Feelin' you'll like it:

Butter Pecan Cake

1 butter pecan cake mix
4 eggs
1 c. milk
3/4 c. oil
1 can coconut-pecan frosting (or you could make from scratch, you show-off)

Oven 350*. Grease bundt pan well.
Mix cake mix, eggs, oil & milk for 2 minutes.
By hand, stir in the can of frosting into the mix.
Pour, bake for 45-55 minutes.
You can toothpick test, but this is a very moist, dense cake due to the frosting in the mix.
Cool 10 mins. in pan, then remove.