Aloha Turkey Burgers

These are to die for.  I will never look at a burger the same.  I did make a few modifications to the recipe, such as leaving off the mayo to save a whole lot of calories.  

Ingredients

Sauce

1/4

cup mayonnaise

1

teaspoon Sriracha sauce

Burgers

1

lb ground turkey

1

teaspoon fresh grated gingerroot (or 1/4 tsp ground ginger powder)

1

clove garlic, grated (or 1/8 tsp garlic powder_

1

tablespoon soy sauce

1

teaspoon sesame oil (didn't have this, a little olive oil is fine, too)

4

slices fresh pineapple

4

hamburger buns, split

4

lettuce leaves

4

slices tomato

Sliced onion (I cooked the sliced onion with the burger to add a little flavor)

Directions

• 1Spray gas or charcoal grill rack with cooking spray. Heat grill. Mix sauce ingredients; set aside. In large bowl, mix ground turkey, gingerroot, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Shape mixture into 4 patties. (I cooked all of mine on the stove and it still turned out amazing!)
• 2Place patties and pineapple slices on grill over medium heat. Cover grill; cook patties 8 to 10 minutes, turning after 5 minutes, until meat thermometer inserted in center of patties reads 160°F. Cook pineapple slices 8 to 10 minutes or until browned and slightly charred, turning once. Place burgers on bottoms of buns; top with lettuce, grilled pineapple, onion, sauce and tops of buns.

Pictures and photos are from the Betty Crocker Website.

A Week Full of Easter Celebrations Part 2

Our festivities continued on Saturday with the Easter eggs.  I wasn't sure about the girls wanting to die eggs since they are teens, so I mentioned that when they got home in the evening, I would have eggs ready for them if they would like to die them.  They just kind of looked at each other, like "Us?  Die eggs?"  

"Whatever,"  I thought, "Let's just wait and see."

So they walk in that night and there was nothing ready for them, and the first thing they said was, "Hey!  I thought we were going to die Easter Eggs?"

Reverse psychology works every time!  Of course it was really ready, it was just in the fridge.

And just like I thought, they had fun.  They made polka-dots and stripes and put stickers on some. This one is funny- it says "CTR".  That is a phrase we use for the little children at church that means Choose The Right.  

This morning, the Easter Bunny still visited.  Instead of all the hoopla like when they were little, we just hid these cute guys.

And I couldn't resist this for some teen humor.

And of course I knew the golden egg would get their attention.  Some traditions die hard (like waking up to find candy from a bunny) and we still had a lot of fun, no matter their ages.

For Easter dinner we got together with some friends, and each of my family was in each in charge of a different item (recipes down at the bottom):

Hubby- Veggie Tray and Dip

Oldest Daughter- Homemade Rolls

Youngest Daughter- Deviled Eggs

Me- Buttermilk Custard Pie and Homemade Whipped Cream

We had a lot of fun working together in the kitchen.

They were being so silly after church and wouldn't cooperate for an Easter picture, so they were left to take their own photos.  Here is what they come up with.  That camera isn't quite as easy to use at it looks (most of them came out blurry).  

Happy Easter!!!!

Buttermilk Pie

Original recipe makes 1 - 9 inch deep dish pie

 1/2 cup margarine, softened
 2 cups white sugar
 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 3 eggs
 1 cup buttermilk
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.)  In a large bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in flour and salt. Blend in the eggs. Stir in the buttermilk and vanilla. Pour into pie shell.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and bake 45 minutes, or until filling is set.

Deviled Eggs

6 hard boiled eggs

¼ cup mayonnaise
½ tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. prepared mustard

Cut eggs in half lengthwise; remove yolks without damaging the white halves. Mash yolks with a fork. Stir together mayo, vinegar, and mustard; add salt to taste. Blend this mixture into masked yolks. Stuff egg white with yolk mixture. Garnish with paprika if desired.

Dillie Dip

1 cup cottage cheese

1/2 block fat free cream cheese

1 tsp dill

1 tsp minced onion, dried

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until nice and smooth.  Chill for an hour or so.

Rich Chocolate Mini-Cakes

This is a great idea for Valentine's Day.  Chocolate goodness.

It is a super light cake with a chocolate glaze on top.


Instead of white drizzle on top, I went with chocolate in every detail.

Simply irresistible on a vintage cake stand.

Variations:
--put the batter in a small muffin tin and it will make little bon-bon size
--double the recipe and bake it in a sheet cake pan, then use heart cookie cutters to cut out larger heart shapes.
--I baked mine in a regular muffin tin and made the shapes by cutting each muffin with a knife into the desired shape.  I cut some of the hearts in horizontally in-half because they were puffy and could make two.  You could also just use the regular cupcake size and drizzle heart shapes onto the circle to save time.

Recipe from Hershey's Recipe Collection
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

1. heat oven to 350.  Lightly grease whatever pan or tin you will put them in.
2. Stir together dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients; stir until smooth.  Batter will be thin.  Spoon batter into prepared cups or pan.
3. Bake 12-14 minutes.  You'll need to watch the time according to whichever pan you use.  Check them after 10 minutes and adjust accordingly.  Cool in pan for 3 min, then invert onto racks.  Cool completely.
4. Dip rounded portion into glaze or spread glaze on tops.  Place on wax paper.  After glaze is set, drizzle white or brown chocolate on top.

Chocolate Glaze
Melt 2 tablespoons butter or margarine in saucepan over low heat; add 2 tbls cocoa and 2 tbls water until smooth and slightly thickened; do not boil.  Remove from heat; cool slightly.  Gradually blend in 1 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; stir or beat until smooth.  Mine actually required adding a little bit more water to achieve the glaze consistency.

Drizzle
Using almond or chocolate bark, follow directions on package for melting.  Place in a little zip-loc bag once melted.  Squeeze it to the bottom and zip it.  Then with scissors, cut a teeny-tiny whole in the end and drizzle or decorate desired pattern.

Choro's and Extra Rich Hot Chocolate Dipping Sauce

I am calling it a "sauce" but I tell you it is a drink, as well.  And if you can call this drink a "sauce", then you know it is rich and amazing.

Here is another hint about how amazing it is:  Think "one block of Ghiradelli dark chocolate bar."  Now think of drinking it.  Like I said, amazing.  If it were liquor, I'd be drunk.  But I don't drink, so I have this in my life now.   Marry me, dark chocolate bar?

Back to the story.

First, the hot chocolate, then the chorro's.

One bar of Ghiradelli dark chocolate bar
one cup milk
about 1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
hershey's syrup (optional)

Put the first 3 sinful ingredients together in a little pot.  Stir constantly until it melts.  Don't let it boil, but let it begin to froth or simmer, so it has those little tiny bubbles just on the side of the pan.  That is when it is done.  This was about 6 servings, maybe 1/2 cup in each cup that we used.

The second batch we made didn't have quite enough sweetened condensed milk (so we must have used more than half a can the first time), so we squeezed some Hershey's syrup in to make it a little sweeter.  Yup, that was out of this world, too.  But if less sweet is what you are going for, you don't have to put the Hershey's in.

Elsa adapted this from Marth Stewart, but had a couple of recipes out and then we just started doing our own thing.  So I don't know who to credit, but I do thank the Gods for creating chocolate.

Chorro's
Make a chorro batter (just google it).  Put it in a pastry bag with a big star tip, so that it comes out with the nice design you see picured.  It doesn't take long to fry, maybe a minute just as the edges start to get brown.  Drop in a bowl of cinnamon sugar and toss lightly.  Elsa kept getting after me for putting too much on- so toss lightly- or Elsa won't be happy.  When you fry them, you need enough like when you make donuts.  But like I always say, DON'T GET BURNED!  Hot grease is dangerous.

Now serve on a plate like Elsa did for pretty presentation.  Dip the chorros, then drink up the Hot Chocolate.  And then your Christmas will be merry and bright!

Cafe' Latte

One our favorite places on earth is Summit and Grand Ave. in St. Paul.

First we had a fun family activity on Sat. in St. Paul.

Then we drove along the streets on Summit and Grand and looked at the beautiful old mansions.  And any time we get in a 10-15 mile radius of Cafe Latte, we're going to say "Since we are so close, we just have to stop by!"

We each ordered a piece of cake from their many cases of cakes and desserts to choose from.

Then when the storm hit yesterday, I said, "I am gonna make me some Cafe Latte Chicken Salsa Chili."

And then I did.

And then my kids did this:

And here is the recipe which is posted right on their website (do I hear an Amen! to that?!)
Cafe Latte Chicken Salsa Chili

Or if you don't want to click it, here it is:

Café Latte’s Chicken Salsa Chili

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces

• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions

• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili pepper flakes

• 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

• 2 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeno chili peppers

• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock

• 3 tablespoons chili powder

• 1 can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes, undrained and broken up

• 1 can (29 ounces) tomato puree

• 2 cans (15 ounces each) dark red kidney beans drained

• 1 can (15 ounces) hominy

• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

To make chili: Warm olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Sauté chicken

until cooked. Add onions and reduce heat. Cook for 3 minutes or until onions are tender.

Add pepper flakes, garlic, jalapenos, chicken stock, chili powder, tomatoes and tomato

puree, kidney beans and hominy. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

To serve: Add chopped cilantro and limejuice just prior to serving. Adjust seasoning to

taste. Top with sour cream, chopped red onions, grated cheddar cheese and tortilla chips