Kristina's Creation

A couple of Sunday's ago I answered a phone call from my Daughter-in-Law Kristina. She asked me what I was doing and I told her I was just sitting around the house being lazy and had macaroni & cheese in the oven. She then proceeded to excitedly tell me that I had to come right over and try something she was making. I left Grumpy in charge of the mac & cheese and headed right over to see what Kristina had to share with me that she was so excited about.

When I walked into the house I was happily greeted by Isabelle & Maggie - their beautiful puppies that really aren't so much puppies anymore! Justin had me head right into the kitchen where Kristina was ready to proudly show me her yummy treat! Kristina had created a recipe for Apple Cheesecake Empanadas! I was wise enough to bring my camera so I snapped a few shots - after I enjoyed one of course! Kristina thought I might like to share this with you on my blog for our Family Recipes event - and of course she was right! She knows me well ;-)

This is my second submission this month. My first submission was my mom's Vegetarian (aka Cottage Cheese) Loaf. The deadline is this weekend for Family Recipes so you still have time! If your interested in submitting you can check out the guidelines by clicking HERE.

Kristina's Apple Cheesecake Empanadas

Cheesecake Filling:
1 package (8 oz) Philly Cream Cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla

Apples:
2 Macintosh Apples
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon brown sugar

Eggroll wrappers

Directions:
Blend together Cheesecake filling and set aside. Cook apples with butter until soft. Stir in brown sugar and cook until sugar has dissolved. Cool slightly.

To assemble:
Place eggroll wrapper on empanada maker (if you don't have one of these you can cut eggroll wrapper into large circles and use a small amount of water when sealing), place approximately 2 tablespoons of filling on one side of wrapper and fold to cover filling. Deep fry in vegetable oil heated to 380 degrees until brown. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

**Note: These cook quickly so keep a close eye on them while frying.

Thank you Kristina :0)
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Old El Paso Tackle the Taste Giveaway

I’ve recently been asked by MyBlogSpark to let my readers know about Old El Paso Green Chiles! I was supplied with a wonderful “Tackle the Taste” gift pack provided by Old El Paso through MyBlogSpark that included two free cans of Green Chiles, as well as a football-shaped ceramic serving platter, two sets of football-themed plates, cocktail napkins, and a themed table runner.

A recent survey conducted for Old El Paso Green Chiles found that the majority of Americans will be gathering around the TV to watch the Super Bowl Big Game at home with friends and family on February 7, 2010.

Approximately 61% of adults plan to watch the Big Game. Whether you´re planning a huge party in front of that new plasma TV that you just got as a gift, or you´re just looking forward to kicking back at home with your friends and family, Old El Paso Green Chiles can help you spice up the festivities!

Old El Paso Green Chiles, are available in 4.5 and 7 oz cans.

Are you looking for recipes that will add a unique flavor to your dishes that the whole crowd will love?

Perfect for your dips and salsas, as well as your nachos and chili, Old El Paso Green Chiles can help you score a mealtime touchdown with your guests this year. For more ideas, check out these quick (with a prep time of less than 30 minutes each!) and delicious recipes that incorporate Old El Paso Green Chiles and will have your fans cheering for more!

Nachos

Green Chile Dip

Green Chile Cornbread

Taco Nachos

Black Bean Dip

Slow Cooker Salsa Chili

Seven-Layer Bean Dip

Skillet Nacho Chili

Southwestern Dip

These quick and easy recipes each have a prep time of less than 30 minutes each, incorporate Old El Paso Green Chiles and will have your football fans cheering for more! They’re perfect for making dips and salsas, as well as nachos and chili.

You also can save $0.55 on one can of Old El Paso Green Chiles today and get ready for hosting your own Super Bowl Party, or any time you’re entertaining! You can find a the coupon by clicking on the photo below.

For a chance to win, there will be one (1) winner of a Tackle the Taste” gift pack that include two free cans of Green Chiles, a football-shaped ceramic serving platter, two sets of football-themed plates, cocktail napkins, and a themed table runner.

Please include a way of contacting you. To enter this giveaway you must do the following:

1. Main Rule: (remember if this rule is not followed then no others will count)
   Sign up for my free e-recipe club newsletter to my blog by filling out the form on the upper right column. If you are a subscriber already let me know in your comment.
2. 
   AND



3. Leave a comment about what what recipes you liked best from the above site and if you’re having a party what you’ll be making!
   
   This contest will run until January 28, 2010 at 6:00 pm EST.
   Giveaway open to residents from U.S. and Canada only

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Baked Potato Patties

Not too long ago a reader sent me an email requesting I post some side dishes. Shortly after that, Jill of Simple Daily Recipes put out a message that she would be willing to guest post. Who better to ask to do a side for me! Jill has an awesome site with a lot of recipes. If you haven't been to her site then I encourage you to go over to check her out!

I told Jill what I was looking for and today she is delivering. Thanks you Jill - for the guest post and for the delicious Baked Potato Patties!

Baked Potato Patties are my version of the potato cakes my grandmother would have fried. I have made them with freshly boiled mashed potatoes and with leftover mashed potatoes. They make a wonderful side veggie to any meal. But that's not all they're good for.

Oh yes! There's more! I can also turn them into appetizers for parties. Such as they are shown in the photo. They can be eaten hot or at room temperature, too. Amazing, huh? This recipe could turn out to be your next family family.

HERE'S ALL IT TAKES

6 garlic cloves
1/4 cup yellow onion, sliced
oil for light frying

3 cups mashed potatoes (freshly boiled or leftover)
2 to 3 tablespoons cream or milk
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 small egg, well beaten

Heat oven to 425ºF.

In a small fry pan, over medium-low heat, heat just enough oil to coat garlic cloves and onion slices. Cook garlic and onions slowly until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.

To the 3 cups of mashed potatoes, add the garlic cloves and mash them together, stirring well. Add cream if the potato mixture is thick, one tablespoon at a time. But not so much as to make it loose. Think cookie dough consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Finally, stir in beaten egg.

Using a 1-inch cookie dough scoop, scoop out potato mixture onto a well-greased cookie sheet. Use a wet fork to press potato balls flat to 1/4-inch thickness. Add a sliver of cooked onion to top the potato patty.

Bake until lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes.

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Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

I found this recipe in my Cooking Light Healthy Cooking book and a couple weeks ago I made it for the first time. If you can't tell....I love making dishes with shrimp. :-)

For a dish with very simple flavors it is super delicious! It has to be for me to have made it twice in the same month!! If you would like to try it for yourself you can find the recipe from Cooking Light by clicking HERE.

To update those of you on my sweet son Chris, he is taking it a day at a time. Its not easy being an active person and being forced to be inactive. He was told he has better than 50/50 chance of healing without surgery now - which was better than 50/50 of needing it! All I can say is each day is one day closer to healing and I keep hoping and praying that things just continue to look up from this point on. I think this family has had enough and its time to have some good luck for a change. Thanks for all your concern and well wishes for him!
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I need your help!

I trust my readers judgement! That's why I'm coming to you for your valued opinion about my new blog layout. We've been working feverishly with a designer, and he wants a decision. We've got two layout choices, and Grumpy said either one works for him. I like them both too, but we can only choose one! Would you do me favor?

I've posted pictures of both layouts for you to look at,and I would LOVE to have your opinion about which one you like the best. It's a big deal to me that my readers have what they want so I'm going to leave the majority vote with my email subscribers and they will be the first to know when I announce the winning layout in my e-recipe club newsletter this Sunday!

Here's what to do:
1. Go view the pictures of both layouts at: http://grumpystest.blogspot.com/
2. View both layouts.
3. Click the survey link.
4. Vote for your favorite.

The deadline to fill out the survey is 6 PM TODAY. Thanks so much for your help!
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Cooking Light's Blueberry Pound Cake

Pretty much every night a couple hours after dinner is over and done with I will hear "what do we have for dessert?" So, knowing this question is going to pop up, I make something about 2-3 times a week - depending on my time constraints and my cravings. :-)

I had been thinking about this pound cake for some time now. I have had blueberries in the freezer and I have been thinking I need to use them up. Grumpy isn't the biggest blueberry fan but I love them and so do my children. I made this recipe about 5 years ago for the first time. I cannot believe that this is the first time I have made it since then. This is an awesome cake. The recipe is in the Cooking Light Complete Cookbook but you can also find it by clicking HERE. I went with the suggestion to use some almond extract along with vanilla. The cake smelled and tasted awesome. It had great texture and I remembered all over again why I loved it the first time I made it. This is a definite keeper recipe - and it sure is nice to have it be a healthier one too!

I have been scarce on the internet since my laptop bit the dust. I have missed having the chance to visit all my favorite blogs, but I am getting there sporadically as I have computer time. I received the word from Justin tonight that it is my hard drive that went kaput. He will be replacing it for me and I should be back up and running in the near future. Until then Grumpy still has to share (and he doesn't like sharing either!). I'll be back in a few days with a great giveaway just in time for Superbowl!
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Soups & Stews with the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club: January

The winner of my 2 year blog anniversary giveaway is Linda of The Weekend Cook! Congrats Linda, your name was pulled out of the basket! I will email you for details :-)

This month the Cooking Light Virtual Supper club decided to share Soups & Stews. The Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club consists of 5 bloggers who love to cook and eat healthy and they all love Cooking Light! To read more about the bloggers, click HERE. I wanted to do something I had never done before - meaning I didn't want to make chili and I didn't want to do a beef/venison stew. I was browsing through one of my Cooking Light catalogs when I came across this recipe for Shrimp and Butternut Squash in Coconut Milk Broth. They were magic words to me. I love shrimp, I love Butternut Squash and I love coconut! It was settled that I was making this dish!

This was a very delicious meal.....for me. Grumpy ate it, but didn't care for it so unless I'm feeding someone else besides Grumpy, I won't be making it again. What on earth can I do to change this man's palate?! I have to say at least he eats what I make even if it isn't his favorite. However, he will tend to get "grumpy" if I do this to him all the time! ;-)

I loved the creaminess of the dish the sweetness of the squash and coconut milk and the heat from the red pepper flakes. Some fresh cilantro mixed in and then sprinkled on to garnish only made even more appetizing to me!

What did the other Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club bring to the table? Check out their links below to find out!

Val of More than Burnt Toast: Spicy Chicken Stew
Helene of La Cuisine de Helene: Spicy Tomato and White Bean Soup
Aggie of Aggie's Kitchen: Orange-Saffron Shrimp and Snapper Stew
Jamie of Mom's Cooking Club: Spicy Sausage Chili
Shelby of The Life & Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch: Shrimp and Butternut Squash in Coconut Milk Broth

**For my recipe: I found my recipe in one of the many Cooking Light Magazines that I own however it was nowhere to be found on the website. It was found on Recipazaar. You can view the recipe by clicking HERE.



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Oh no!

My computer crashed. I am stealing Grumpy's laptop to use one right now. I printed off the entries for my giveaway and I will announce the winner soon. I will have Chris help by pulling a name out of the basket.

Speaking of Chris he had a not so fun beginning to the weekend. Friday night my son had a snowboarding accident and broke his collarbone. I feel very lucky that is all that is wrong with him. It will be a little while healing but thankfully he's not suffering too much pain from it. The most pain he seems to have is having to get out of bed in the morning.

I haven't had much time to make anything to blog about but I will be back and blogging as soon as I can! Hopefully my other son will be able to help me with my laptop issue and hopefully it doesn't mean I need to replace it...not really ready to do that yet! Until then, Grumpy has to share!
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Project 365: Jan 1 - 7, 2010

Have you heard of Project 365? I hadn't but when I saw that Elle of Elle's Kitchen was doing this I decided it was a good idea so I am now taking a photo a day for the year 2010. To find out more about Project 365 click HERE. There is also a Flickr group for this project which can be found HERE.

I also am joining Elle in cooking through the book Vegan Yum Yum. Check out her post if you are interested in joining by clicking HERE.

PROJECT 365: Week 1 round up of photos

I started my year out visiting my Uncle Lyle & Aunt Thea. Dad drove mom & I up to visit and we spend a couple hours there. Uncle Lyle got is fiddle out and played around a little bit, they had muffins I took to them along with coffee and then headed home.

January 2 we spent the entire day inside. It was very dreary out and Grumpy & I spent the day playing with the Wii! Can you believe it Justin & Chris? Your mom actually played games all day long??!! By the way, the photo is of our back yard. That bench out there is Grumpy's shooting bench for target practice.

The snow had accumulated quite a bit by Sunday night and Grumpy went out to snow blow the driveway so I would be able to get out of the driveway the next morning to go to work!

It continued to snow all day Monday. The evergreens outside my office window were so pretty all covered in snow.

Before I went home on Tuesday Prof. Ackermann was "honored" to have his photo taken with me for my photo of the day. This is the night I ended up with major congestion and headache.

I barely slept all night and on day 6 I ended up staying home from work. I couldn't breathe, my nose was running, I was sneezing and just plain miserable. The best part of the day was getting this photo and having it turn out like it did. It almost looks like a painting with the tip of a boat in front of it. I love the color the sky turned out with the snow falling and the green glow on the snow and tree trunk reflected from the green boat cover! The photo is at the angle it is because our property slopes UP on the left side of our home. I had to aim up at the tree to take the photo. :-)

Day 7 I was home again. A lot of coughing, sneezing and not much of a voice. By the end of the day I was able to breathe better than I had been! Chubby (black kitty) was stretched out and relaxing on the floor when Rudy decided that Chubby needed his ears washed!

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Vegetarian Loaf and Family Recipes

If you haven't entered my 2 year blog anniversary giveaway you can click HERE to do so!

Growing up I was surrounded by vegetarianism. Mom tended to make vegetarian meals often although she still made the basic meat/potato/veggie meal. Back then Dad wasn't too keen on eating vegetarian however now, he basically eats vegetarian when at home. This loaf pictured above is a loaf that I always looked forward to eating. Sometimes mom would even put chopped walnuts in it. I totally forgot about doing that or I would have done it when I made this recipe because I really love it with the nuts!

Like many of the other recipe cards there are no directions. Apparently everyone just "knew" how to mix and bake. lol. What I do:

• I don't use grapenuts. Never have. I always use Special K or Wheaties
• I only use evaporated milk if I have it and I use fat free. Otherwise I just use regular skim milk.
• You can substitute egg replacement (like the Morningstar farm egg substitute) for the eggs. This time I didn't because I didn't have any.
• If you don't have George Washington Broth which is a meat free mix, you can substitute the Better than Bouillon (which is what I have in my fridge all the time). This however is not meat free unless you get the vegetable one. I keep vegetarian, chicken and beef in my fridge at all times.
  
• I don't use oleo. I am a butter girl all the way. I use unsalted butter whenever I make anything unless a recipe calls for salted butter.
• I bake at 350 until browned on top and crispy on the edges. Anywhere between 45-60 minutes. It took about 40 minutes for half the recipe.
  

I knew Grumpy would not touch this for two reason. It is called Cottage Cheese Loaf and its "vegetarian". Even if I called it vegetarian loaf he wouldn't eat it. He's all about meat and potatoes!
I am submitting this to the Family Recipes Event. This event is hosted by myself, Laura of The Spiced Life and Lynda of Lynda's Recipe Box. Please send your recipes to me at grumpyshoneybunch at yahoo dot com. To view the guidelines for this event click HERE.
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Celebrating the 2 year mark with a giveaway!

How would you like to win a box of these chocolates? St. Lawrence Chocolates are so very yummy - and they are handmade right in the shop in Potsdam, NY! I am addicted to the sugar shack, I love the dark chocolate peppermint and the cranberry filled dark chocolate. I also love the merlot truffle. I could eat a whole box of 12 all by myself easily.

.... a pound of Jernabi Coffee!! Jernabi Coffee my favorite place to go for coffee in Potsdam, NY. Chris and I have gone there for lunch before and had coffee (he gets smoothies) for lunch. I love it so much and proclaim that I love it so often that my friends have bought it for me as a gift and have given me gift certificates to get my lattes at the shop.

and....this book on napkins and napkin folding (a really awesome book by the way!)

My 2 year blog anniversary was on December 28, 2009. So hard to believe its been two years already!

To enter the giveaway you need to do the following:

• Subscribe to my e-mail recipe club by filling out the form to the right. There are perks to being in my recipe club. You can read about them by clicking HERE.
  
• Leave me a comment telling me what chocolate/truffle flavors would be your choice. Click HERE for their website.
  
• Also tell me what you would like to try for coffee. Click HERE to see what they have to offer.
• I will give you an extra entry if you tweet (make sure to include @GrumpysHoneyB), post the giveaway on Facebook, or put a link on your blog to this giveaway and let me know you have done so.
  

Deadline to enter giveaway will be Saturday, January 9, 2009 by 6 PM EST.

St. Lawrence Chocolates and Jernabi Coffee are not giving me anything for sending you to their sites. I am sending you to their sites because in my opinion they are excellent quality products and I want to share a piece of them with you.

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Clone of a Cinnabon

Just a reminder that you still can sign up for my Recipe E-club and enter the first contest (deadline is Jan 21, 2010) by filling out the form on the right. To read about what you will get from this club click HERE.

Sunday's are normally pancake days in our home. My favorite pancake recipe to follow is on allrecipes.com and is called Fluffy Pancakes. I ended up making these on Saturday this last weekend and Sunday I made these cinnamon rolls in the photos. I have always loved homemade cinnamon rolls and the craving hits after I saw Mindi's post on her blog Mindika Moments of her Grandmother's cinnamon rolls. Once I saw those rolls, I knew I had to make some.

Grumpy was still sleeping when I threw this in the bread machine to start the dough. By the time he was out of bed I had the rolls in the oven. It takes about 3 hours from start to finish to make these (yes, I was up at 5 AM on a Sunday morning). I halved the recipe because I didn't want a huge amount of cinnamon rolls in the house calling my name. Right now there are only 6 left. Grumpy had two while I had one. These rolls had great reviews on allrecipes.com - 5 stars with over 3,000 reviews. Can't go wrong there. For the recipe click HERE.

Oh! Make sure you come back tomorrow. I will be announcing my 2 year blog anniversary giveaway and will have some special gifts!
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Spaghetti & Meatballs and E-recipe Club!

My first email is going out today for my E-recipe Club! There will be some very special features to my e-recipe club that you will only be able to get there. If you subscribe to my E-recipe club you will be able to enjoy the following features:

• Ask Grumpy! Each newsletter I will choose one of your questions to ask Grumpy and will give you his response! (questions must be in relation to the theme of my blog)
  

• I will include some subscriber exclusive recipes or reviews of recipes on a monthly basis.

• There will be subscriber exclusive contest and special prizes on a regular basis.

We are starting out with a really great contest and super special prize so I hope you will sign up to join us! You can sign up by filling out the form to the right of this post!

Now, lets talk about last night's dinner.....

Growing up I did not like pasta. I don't know if it was the pasta or the sauce, but I wanted nothing to do with it. Meatballs were ok, but I wanted them by themselves or not at all. Over the last 5 years I have changed. Pasta has become something I love and pasta sauce? I can't get enough. I love all kinds of sauces, tomato, cream, peanut, butter garlic? I'll take it please!

I had decided it was time to make spaghetti and meatballs. Since I have never made a Rachel Ray recipe I decided I would try hers. The reviews were really great so I figured I had a super winner. I hate to say I was disappointed. While it was good it was not the best I have ever had and I don't get how it has a 5 star rating. The pasta sauce I was not happy with. I immediately knew it was going to be "runny" and Grumpy would not like it. I was going to use tomato paste to thicken it up but was out so I added a can of tomato sauce and simmered the sauce until it had thickened some. Also, I knew the chunks of tomato were too big for Grumpy so I used my immersion blender and smoothed the sauce out some.

As it stands, right now, my favorite meatball and pasta sauce recipe is Pam's recipe from For the Love of Cooking and I will stick to that one for now. If you try Rachel's recipe out, let me know what you thought! You can find her recipe by clicking HERE.

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A New Year

My Uncle Lyle and me Jan. 1, 2010

Most of my life on Christmas Eve our family would go to my Grandma and Grandpa Law's home to see my dad's family. My dad had a big family. He had 5 sisters and 1 brother - and we would see most all of them on Christmas Eve. Most of the time we had snow - and lots of it! Us kids would go outside and goof off in the snow throwing snowballs at each other then come back in to warm up and eat the goodies that everyone had brought.

Aunt Thea and me, Jan 1. 2010

After both grandma & grandpa were gone it dwindled out. I remember going to my cousin Shirley's home when the kids were about 9 & 10 and that was the last Christmas Eve I spent with the Law family. Now, every year when we get to this time of year I have this deep heartache because things aren't the way they used to be. I miss my Christmas Eve visits with my dad's family. I know things change, but sometimes you don't want it to. If I could freeze time I would have my grandparents back and I would be spending Christmas Eve with them again along with the rest of my family.

One very special man - my Uncle Lyle

I decided it was time to visit my Uncle Lyle & Aunt Thea. The last time I saw them was at their 50th Wedding Anniversary party which I think was almost 3 years ago. I've been thinking about my Uncle Lyle a lot lately. He has the kindest heart and he would do anything he could to help you out. I will never forget him bringing firewood to our home when my first husband and I were married and I was pregnat with Justin. He was working on my Dad's farm with him and on his way home he brought wood with him on the back of his truck and unloaded it all into our garage so we would have heat in our home. Dana was working the afternoon shift, so Uncle Lyle unloaded that whole truckload of wood for me and then proceeded to check my fire to make sure I would be warm while I waited for Dana to get home.


I wanted to take some kind of treat when I visited. I had bananas that were needing to be used so I made some Banana Crumb Muffins to give to my Aunt & Uncle. You know, us foodies, we don't like to go anywhere without taking food with us to give to other people! They enjoyed the muffins while we were there visiting. Uncle Lyle got his fiddle out and played with it some. It reminded me of Christmas Eve when Grandpa would pull his fiddle out to play and I enjoyed every second I was there. This visit helped me some, but it doesn't mean I'm over it. It just makes me want to go see them and my other aunts & uncles more often.

The Banana Crumb Muffin is a recipe I found on Allrecipes.com. When I make banana muffins, this is the only recipe I ever use. I love how it is a light muffin - not dense in any way. Also, the crumb topping is so good that I secretly think about taking the top of the muffin off and leaving the rest! ;o) Aunt Thea told me it was the best muffin she ever ate. Of course, that pleased me right to pieces!

If you want to make these muffins, you can find the recipe by clicking HERE.
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