Tag Archives: cheese

Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here?  It’s been an interesting year (to say the least), so I’m looking forward to the holidays.  Although, the holidays might look a little different this year.  We still plan on seeing our immediate families for a nice Thanksgiving meal but will keep our gathering to 4-6 people.  We will miss traveling, seeing extended family, participating in some Black Friday shopping, and more this Thanksgiving, but will savor the time we do have with the few we choose to celebrate with…socially distanced with some delicious food 🙂 We are going to start our day with a nice fall-themed charcuterie board.  You need something to snack on while you cook, right?  If you’ve never made a charcuterie board before, you are in for a treat.  They are very simple to make, can include as many or as few ingredients as you choose, and make a … Continue reading

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Halloween is fast approaching. For some, Halloween is a lifestyle and obsession, for others, it’s a day to be someone or something else.  I personally love decorating the house, buying candy to pass out to trick-or-treaters, dressing up the dog…. but mostly, I love the food!  I like to take a traditional dish and “dress it up” for Halloween.  For example, a pepperoni pizza might have the pepperoni in the shape of a jack-o-lantern.  You get the picture 🙂   This year, I have quite the spread.  It’s going to be one big Halloween celebration at our house, starting with breakfast, and ending with dinner.  Here’s what’s on the menu: Eyeball Donuts Spider Web Donuts Candy “Charcuterie” Board Eyeball Asparagus and Gruyere Tart Spider Web Loaded Potatoes Festival Feetloaf Mini Skeleton Cheesecakes   Halloween is full of candy and treats so why not start the day with something sugary?  Eyeball … Continue reading

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Do you ever ask your family what they want to for dinner and no one can agree on the perfect meal?  That’s a common occurrence at my house too but recently I received a request for lasagna and thought it was a great suggestion…but what kind should I make?  Andrew is more of a meat eater so I knew he would want a traditional lasagna, but I would prefer something more veggie based.  Luckily, I have the perfect pan for the job, so I was able to accommodate both! ***Disclaimer – if you click on the link to any of the recipes listed in this post you will be directed to the full recipe.  The recipes posted are for use in a 9×13 pan.  Please reduce the recipe to 1/3 if you are using a similar 3-lasagna pan*** All of the recipes I’m going to share with you are delicious!  … Continue reading

Posted in Pasta, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Lasagna 3 Ways

Summer is finally here and now it’s time to look ahead to the 4th of July.  Can you believe it’s only a week away?  We plan on celebrating with family and friends – backyard bash, BBQ, yard games, drinks, the whole shebang!  If you are as unprepared as I am, you are probably in need of a few quick and easy food options 🙂 First up is Buffalo Chicken Firecrackers.  These are fun to assemble and a great themed food for your spread.  Feel free to use your favorite homemade Buffalo Chicken Dip if you prefer but I like to order fresh from the deli.  Saves me some time and effort, and it’s delicious!  Plus, any leftovers can be set out to enjoy with the rest of the food. Start by laying out wonton wrappers on the counter.  Place a spoonful of the Buffalo Chicken Dip on each wonton wrapper.  Then … Continue reading

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Friends and family will be coming together with Christmas right around the corner.  Are you ready for all the festivities?  Are you hosting a party?  It can be stressful preparing for a get-together with a house full of guests, but it doesn’t need to be.  Some people have multiple places to stop in one night while others have one stop to make.  Whether your guest are coming and going or staying for the evening, you can serve a simple menu of appetizers. I think this is a great idea because 1) your guests can eat as much or as little as they like, 2) you can have a large variety of options to choose from, and 3) you spend more time socializing with your guests than you do in the kitchen. Here’s what I plan on serving: Burrata with Cranberries and Ciabatta Bacon Wrapped Asparagus Gruyere Scalloped Potatoes Chicken Parmesan … Continue reading

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Christmas is my favorite holiday to host.  I think it’s due to my love of Christmas lights and decorations, so our house is always over the top!  Plus, there are so many festive serveware options available that you can change up your table display as often as you like.  (New Christmas plates…hint hint, Andrew 😊) Sometimes I like to go all out with appetizers and the main course but there isn’t anything wrong with keeping it simple if you prefer.  I truly enjoy cooking for others and putting on a big spread but also want to enjoy the holiday with family and friends.  So, I decided to keep my menu simple this year.  I’ll be serving a few appetizers with some of the drinks from my Christmas Cocktails blog post. The first appetizer I’m going to make is Ricotta and Prosciutto Crackers.  This is a light appetizer because it’s not … Continue reading

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Hello there! I have a secret:  I love cheese.  I didn’t say it was a good secret, but it’s one of the few things I cannot go without.  Cheese makes just about everything taste better.  Lucky for me (and you) it’s the Holiday Season and we’ve got our Big Cheese Sale going on now through Christmas and New Year’s!  Click through to our ad wrap (12/6/17 through 1/3/17) to check out over 300 varieties of cheese for cooking, sharing and simply enjoying!  Below I will go over some fun recipes using cheese a major ingredient.  Warning:  You may get very hungry reading this blog.   Our Beer Battered Cheese Curd Recipe using Ellsworth Creamery® Fresh Bulk Cheese Curds.  Perfection combination with another of my favorite things: Beer.  We’ve even talked about these before in our Small Bites Blog Post Tickler Bacon Burger with delicious Tickler English Cheddar Cheese.   Baked Brie with Hot … Continue reading

Posted in Holidays, Party, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Say Cheese!

Halloween might be Andrew’s favorite holiday and it’s a close second for me. Temperatures are dropping, you have to pick out your Halloween costume, decorate your house, get ready for trick-or-treaters, and the list goes on. I particularly like all the spooky food you can make for a Halloween party or just for fun! Below are a few new recipes and ideas you can try out to make the most of Halloween. Cutout Cheese and Crackers This is probably the easiest snack you can make. All you need is sliced cheese, crackers, and Halloween shaped cookie cutters. Use cookie cutters to cut different shapes out of the cheese slices. I picked Colby Jack and Cheddar cheese but you can use any flavor of sliced cheese. Pair with crackers and you have a quick snack that is still Halloween themed. Cheesy Breadstick Bones Find the recipe here! I had fun making … Continue reading

Posted in Halloween, Holidays, Party, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Frightful Eats and Spooky Treats

I’ve been excited to write this post since I originally had the idea! Most of my posts so far have been about food but why stop there? I thought I could write about wine…delicious wine 🙂 For the winos and fitness enthusiasts out there, this is something you’ll want to try! It’s called FitVine and is considered “clean wine”. Don’t worry; I’ll explain what I mean by “clean wine” later. It started with 3 friends that wanted to create a wine that fit their very athletic and constant moving lifestyles…so they created FitVine. There are 5 kinds of FitVine available, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc. These wines are very clean tasting and have a lot of flavor but still have the alcohol content you would expect from a glass of wine. They are low in sugar and low in carbs so you don’t feel as … Continue reading

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One thing I’ve always been curious to try is a Juicy Lucy. I’ve never had the opportunity because I don’t eat red meat so I decided to create my own version using ground chicken. It took some tweaking to get the texture and size of the patty right but the result was yummy! The recipe can be found here. I didn’t want to use plain ground chicken without any seasoning because the burger wouldn’t have much flavor then. I followed the seasoning recipe from the Buffalo Chicken Penne recipe. I use this seasoning mix all the time at home. It’s great on a grilled chicken breast or veggies because it adds a salty flavor with a bit of spice, but now I’m getting off topic! I thought this seasoning would complement the cheese inside the burger nicely. I mean, I had to start somewhere and this was my best option! … Continue reading

Posted in 4th of July, Labor Day Weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, Poultry, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Seasoned Chicken Juicy Lucy