A Dinner Built By Two

Hello Sweets,

Only one more day to the weekend, for me that means absolutely nothing as I have been off work for some time, but I do realize to the rest of the world it is something we all count down to.  I was so excited to have my hair cut (much needed too) today, but our dang alarm didn't go off and thankfully the salon was very understanding and was able to reschedule me for tomorrow.  We are setting multiple alarms tonight to ensure this does not happen again, not to mention Nathan is going to use the time to get his haircut too!

So as I mentioned yesterday, Nathan was grilling steaks for dinner tonight and it would be the topic of tonight's post, but then we decided to make it a joint meal.  Now I'm not crazy which means he was still in charge of the meat but I wanted to make some killer mash potatoes, and since they taught me how to make sweet corn, I decided that would also be part of the meal.  I was even daring enough to whip up a new dessert while cooking everything (now maybe that's a little crazy), but you'll have to come back tomorrow for that one since I'm giving you three tonight (spoiled) lol.  Now tonight's recipes are the kind that don't have precise measurements, they're the type of recipes that use all of your senses and force you to taste as you create, making the appropriate adjustments as needed.  Since there are so many recipes going on here tonight I'll keep the chatter short and get to the "meat and potatoes" of the post ;), do you see what I did there lol?

Nathan's Amazing Steaks

Ingredients

3 rib eye's

1 btl steak and chop marinade

coarse black pepper

garlic, minced

meat tenderizer

Worcestershire sauce

seasoning salt

Directions:

1)  Start by piercing the meat with a fork evenly and then seasoning the meat with the tenderizer, lightly coating each side of the steak.   Apply a coat of seasoning salt, then pepper, then place the steaks in a large freezer bag.  In between each steak and the side of the bag place a dollop of the minced garlic and add a little more coarse pepper, then pour an entire bottle of the steak and chop marinade into the bag (add a small amount of water to the empty bottle, shake and empty into the zip lock bag).  Finally add a few dashes of the Worcestershire sauce and place in the fridge overnight (flipping once when you get up).

2)  Grill them on medium low, while they are on the grill apply the remaining marinade over top of the steaks as needed and reapply the same seasonings as the night before as preferred.  Grill to your preference (medium rare takes about 12 minutes).

Canuckette's Crazy Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

3 large potatoes

milk

fresh chives, chopped

roasted garlic, minced

 butter

sea salt

coarse black pepper

red pepper flakes

sorry potatoes were already in the pot :/

Directions:

1)  Boil your potatoes until a fork can pierce them with ease, the smaller you cut them up the faster it will happen.  Once they're soft drain all the water from the pot, add all remaining ingredients and mash away! (I always hold back on the milk, it's easier to add than remove right)

 

Sweet Corn

Ingredients

1 can corn

1 Tbs (approx) sugar

salt

pepper

butter

Directions:

1)  Combine all ingredients in a microwave safe dish, and microwave for 5 minutes.  Stir once done (careful as it will be very hot), and serve.

And here is what your dinner will look like if you choose to make it :)

Nathan and I are both super stuffed, but at the same time wanted to go back for more because it was just so dang good lol.  You can play with different spices and make the boring into something exciting, I bet if you serve these mashed potatoes people will be asking what your secrets are.

Well I think three recipes is enough for you to read and me to write in one night, but make sure you come back tomorrow to see what new dessert I made.  I'll give you a hint, it's a cleverly modified chocolate treat you can buy at any convenience store.  Until next time...........................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Small In Stature, Big In Taste!

Hello Sweets,

I feel absolutely awful with my sporadic posts lately :(, but when my health gets me down it really shuts down anything that is nonessential.  However I saw my doctor today and am now feeling a little better (probably because I literally cannot feel my head), so I thought I would try and get some things done today like grocery shopping, unpacking (lol ya I know), and of course a little post for all my wonderful readers :)

As I mentioned above, I went grocery shopping today (it was badly needed from being away), and I bought some fresh ingredients to create with, but thank heavens I still have a recipe that has yet to be written about because I have been craving pizza for four days straight!!  I am happy to report that it was just as good as expected ;).  Okay so I bet you're all wondering what today's post is about, well it is one of my favorite crustaceans, and I love seafood, so that may not be as helpful as I originally thought lol.  It's shrimp, and I could eat them any way; raw, battered, cooked in garlic mmmm.  However Nathan likes shrimp a few ways, but the way he likes it the best is grilled!  So for one of our last meals he made me two different types of grilled shrimp; BBQ and Caribbean jerk!  So this is a Nathan original recipe, I only consumed them lol ;)

BBQ and Caribbean Grilled Shrimp

Ingredients

1 bottle Stubbs BBQ sauce (we used spicy)

dash cayenne pepper

splash orange juice

pinch salt

dash pepper

1 bottle of Lawry's Caribbean jerk marinade

dollop fresh garlic

fresh cilantro

extra virgin olive oil for basting

 Now Nathan cooks like I do so that is why there are no precise measurements.  Basically you will want to combine your marinade in two separate bowls (I think one was: orange juice, salt, pepper, Caribbean jerk, garlic, and cayenne and the other being; BBQ sauce, pepper, salt, garlic, cilantro) tasting as you go along until you have reached your desired flavors.

Completely cover the shrimp in the marinades and let sit for about 15 minutes.  Place the shrimp on skewers to make grilling easier, then grill on the BBQ for about 15 minutes.

There you have it a simple yet very flavorful dinner, we made a side of white rice to go with the shrimp and even though it looked small we were both very full and satisfied!

I know this is a shorter post but with the needles I get I become more sore as the freezing wears off :(  but on the bright side, I received a free cookbook in the mail today woohoo!  Until next time.............


Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxoxo

Piping Bags: A Thing of the Past?

Hello Sweets,

So I know yesterday I promised I'd be back at the oven with a new baked good for all of you, however we went on such a wild goose chase today it was too late to start anything when I got home.  I can say with certainty that I will have a recipe for you tomorrow.  You may be thinking 'How do you know?' Well tomorrow is Nathans birthday (actually it was a week ago, but I wasn't here, so it doesn't count lol).  So be on the lookout tomorrow for a yummy old fashion chocolate cake recipe, complete with homemade icing :)

So let me tell you all about this wild goose chase Nathan I went on, literally all day and all over town.  In preparation for all the holiday baking this season, we went to pick up all of the decorative ingredients I would need to make traditional Christmas cookies, amongst other things.  I had the bright idea to get a piping bag complete with multiple tips, because I'm baking all the time anyway, and I want to start working on the professional finished look of my treats.  Since we also had to find some twinkle lights for outside, and a stocking for myself (officially part of the McWhorter family!!), we figured Target and Walmart would have everything we would be need.  Well we couldn't have been more wrong.  At Target we found a disposable set, but I preferred a permanent bag in case we couldn't find the replacements, so we thought we'd check the house wares section, nada.  So we thought surly Walmart will have them, lol they didn't even have the disposable ones, and this was really starting to frustrate me.  On our way home we decided to check at Khol's because surely a department with an extensive kitchen section would have them.  Well they only had the tips, no bags (weird right?).  At this point it was dinner time so we decided it would be best to go home and eat something.  Then we started talking about making steaks tomorrow for dinner, and decided to go to Tom Thumb and grab some rib eyes to marinade overnight (it's Nathan's secret recipe but I'll give you a small insight later in the post).  Since we were at the grocery store, I thought I would pick up some more colored sugar and other Christmas themed decor.  Now at the grocery store they have a tiny section of cookware, in which we didn't think they would have the piping bags but decided to check anyways.  Well wouldn't you know it, they did!!  I was so excited, it was like an early Christmas gift.  Nathan thought my reaction was just too cute lol.

 

Check out my haul, and yes I make my own icing lol

Now I don't know if I had mentioned it before, but Nathan is a fantastic cook, especially when it comes to barbecuing, mmmmm my mouth is watering just thinking about.  So I let him take the reigns in that department, but it's always delicious :) I cannot wait for dinner tomorrow night.  Now I won't give out his recipe because it's not mine to share but I can give a glimpse into his kitchen so you can have an idea about what the flavors are like.

 

All the fixin's

Nathan starts by puncturing the rib eyes with a fork and rubbing with meat tenderizer, black pepper, seasoning salt, and garlic.  He then places them into a freezer bag (usually only 2 per bag) and douses them with Worcestershire sauce and steak marinade and carefully squeezes all of the air out to ensure the steaks really soak everything up.

 

final product

That's as much information as I can give you about the masterpieces that are Nathans steaks, but tomorrow I can show you how they turn out, along with a piece of yummy chocolate cake.  Just an FYI, this is my first post done completely on my new laptop, and I am officially in love with it (even when I get frustrated with windows 8 lol).  Until next time.......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Mini weekend catch-up :)

Hello Sweets,

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekends.  Nathan and I are having a great time down at the Texas Motor Speedway!  Did any of you have something special going on this weekend?  I would love to hear all about it. :)  I wanted to write a quick filler blog since I am not baking or cooking this weekend, besides the batch of Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes I whipped up yesterday before the race, I wanted to give all my lovely readers an update.

Well we just finished day two of three of our race weekend, which means the longest race is tomorrow, which also means it's the most exciting day. :)  Now I know not everyone likes racing, or maybe you don't know much about it either.  I was that person (both ways) up until April of this year.  Nathan, his dad, cousin, and uncle all get season tickets every year out at the Texas Motor Speedway, and for 3 weekends a year, they are next to unreachable lol.

Last year at Christmas time, Nathan had asked me if I liked racing, or if I'd be willing to go to a race and see what it was all about.  Now I was one of those people who always thought there really wasn't anything interesting about racing (ask me to go to a hockey game and I'm in!).  But I love him, and love sharing past times with him almost as much, so of course I said yes, and for the April races his dad told me I could have his ticket :) (so sweet of him, since I was a newb and all).  First, and really only concern of mine, was the noise.  Now anyone who knows me, knows I suffer from daily migraines (it's a really good day if I DON'T get one :( ), but they reassured me I wouldn't have an issue since they had noise cancelling headsets.  I was a little weary as to how well they would work, but I'll be damned, they work wonders, and made it extremely easy for me to enjoy the races!  Not to mention they have scanners that allow you to listen to the drivers and their crew.  This is one aspect I REALLY enjoy, but once Nathan explained all the science that goes into the whole ordeal, I was officially a NASCAR girl!  I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience with NASCAR, and ever since April I have been given a ticket to go with them :) (they love me lol).

Really the best part of a NASCAR weekend, is the tailgating you do before and after!  You and your friends arrive at the speedway at least a few hours before the race to sit, chat, grill a few hot dogs, and maybe make some friendly wagers in the parking lot before heading in.  Just about thirty minutes before the race is set to start, we make our way to the seats (which by the way have a COMPLETE view of the track!), get all settled with the headsets and scanners just in time for the famous "Drivers, start your engines!".  Because we have two sets of radios, one a scanner for the drivers/broadcast, and one to talk to each other, we can listen to the drivers talk smack, and of course, smack talk each other lol, all in good sport of course.  Once the race is over, the driver does his victory lap complete with a "smoke show" burnout, the fireworks adorn the backstretch, then it's back out to the the parking lot to wait at our little tailgate party/BBQ while the traffic thins out.  The best part of tailgating at NASCAR is really two things; 1) meeting new people and 2) seeing that complete strangers will help you out even if you didn't ask, they really are super sweet people.

While I was packing up all the baked goods I made (officially the popular baker of NASCAR now lol), and all the other miscellaneous items we needed, I grabbed a tin of Altoids.  Now I'm not sure if any of you have had Altoids before, but I never buy them so I did not know about their "curiously strong facts".  Well this particular tin had a "fact" that had me in tears because I was laughing so hard that I just had to share it with all of you in my blog world :p

I hope you all find this as funny as I did

Of course Nathan, being raised a proper southern gentlemen, walked with me for a little while to check out the vendors and what they were peddling to the public.  We came across a cute little vendor called "Race Angels".  They're geared strictly towards women and sell really cute racing related items.  I thought we were just window shopping but when I said "are you ready to go back?", Nathan replied "well did you see something you liked?", and of course, I did.  Needless to say, Nathan bought me a cute little "racing princess" t-shirt.  I absolutely love it, and will be wearing it tomorrow!  The sales girl mentioned a shirt that was on sale for $10, but after he had already paid with his card (I'm sure she didn't make that mistake again tonight lol).  Needless to say, we're going to wander back down tomorrow, and if it's still there, we're going to make them an offer they cannot refuse!  

Isn't it pretty? :)  He spoils me so much!

Well we are both exhausted and have to try and get to bed at a half decent time as tomorrows race is a day race, so that means I need to get some beauty sleep or strong coffee in the morning lol.  Until we do though, this is what we're doing/ where we'll be;

Best feeling in the world, relaxing with your feet up!

I promise a full NASCAR dedicated post, probably Tuesday, as I forgot to pack my computer adapter for my camera, lol figures, but I'll do a couple mini ones tomorrow and Monday.  Until next time......

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo 

Good Ol' Down Home (Texas) Cookin'

Hello sweets,

I hope ya'll (the Texan in me is definitely coming out for this post hehe) had a wonderful weekend.   The last few days have not been good for me health wise, but it just means I've got to take it slower than normal.  Did ya'll do anything exciting?  Go out to a pumpkin patch, or finalize your costumes?  I'd love to hear all about what ya'll are doing for this all hallows eve... muahahaha.

Since I haven't been feeling too well, I haven't been cooking a lot, and when I have it's been pretty simple.  So tonight I have a couple of little recipes courtesy of my love Nathan ;)  Nothin' fancy at all, actually I think these recipes would be great for tailgatin', campin', kids, and summer family get togethers.  Both of the following recipes remind me of when I was little; although one is spicier now then it used to be, but none the less give you that nostalgic feeling :)

Now let us get to the "meat" of this blog!  I will be giving you a recipe for; "spicier weenies and beans", and one for "in husk BBQ corn on the cob".  Now remember my primary rule of thumb for cooking, these are only guidelines and I encourage you to use the spices your pallet enjoys and don't be afraid to venture outside them as well!

"Spicier" Weenies and Beans

Ingredients

5-6 hot dogs (use any type you like and more of less if you prefer)

1tbs French's Yellow Mustard

1 jar of Stubb's Spicy BBQ sauce

1 large can of Bush's Best Beans (any style you prefer)

1/3 of a yellow onion

1tbs Imperial Light Brown Sugar (1-1 1/2tsp of dark brown sugar)

Directions:
1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  In a 2.5L casserole dish; put the beans and full bottle of Stubbs.  I don't measure the mustard I like to do a figure 8 length wise on the top, add brown sugar, and mix in thoroughly.  

2)  Dice onion, add to mix.  Cut the hot dogs into small pieces and mix in. 

3)  Sprinkle a little bit of brown sugar on top, not too much but just enough to caramelize the top.

Easy one dish meal!

4)  Bake for 1 hour, the dish is very heavy and hot so please be careful :)

5)  Serve in a bowl with a side of shoestring french fries and enjoy!

Now hold on to your spatulas here comes recipe number 2 :p

In Husk BBQ Corn on the Cob

Ingredients

Ears of Corn in husk (as many as you need)

Land O Lakes Butter

Pepper

Salt

White Sugar

Directions:

1)  Carefully peel back husks (its okay if they tear just don't pull them off), remove all the corn silk (tiny hairs) and wash.

Yum! Fresh corn

2)  Rub the cob with completely with butter (or you can use olive oil for a healthier option), season the corn with salt, pepper, and a little bit of sugar (be careful too much sugar = too sweet).  Pull the husks back over the corn, they don't need to be perfect but be sure they are covered as to not burn the corn.

3)  Place on the grill, low to medium heat; 30 minutes for low and 15 minutes for medium.  Every grill is different so be sure to monitor throughout the process.  The husks themselves will darken and may burn but this is okay.

Be careful when peeling the husks back as they will be very hot! Use a decent sized knife, and cut the husk about 1-2 inches from the bottom, and the layers fall away easily. Enjoy with a delicious steak, chicken, or salmon, and since you grilled it with the butter and seasonings, it's plate ready right off the grill!

Doesn't this look delicious!! Mmmm

Try the recipes out for yourselves and give them your own little twists ;)  Let me know what dishes are nostalgic to you, and what recipes were passed on to you from family.

Well there is a little Texas rain starting to form here, and that means much more thunder and lighting than where I come from in Canadia ;)

Can't tell but it shouldn't be this dark this early

Until next time my friends :)

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo