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

One of my favorite seasonings is Everything Spice. It’s a combination of toasty, salty, and savory that makes every bite that much more delicious. And it goes on, well, everything! We like to make soft pretzel bites to have as an appetizer at holidays, a family get-together, game night, etc. They are a crowd favorite and usually don’t last long…but that’s probably because we tend to pair them with alcohol (who’s keeping track?) 🙂 This time we were feeling adventurous and wanted something a little different from traditional soft pretzel bites so we made Buffalo Cheddar Soft Pretzel Twists with, you guessed it, EVERYTHING SPICE!!! I understand this recipe can be daunting but trust me…it’s delicious! The cheese oozes out as you take your first bite, the buffalo sauce adds the perfect amount of heat, and the everything spice adds a salty flavor. You really can’t go wrong with these … Continue reading

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Anyone that knows Andrew and I know how much we love dogs. We have a Chihuahua/Terrier mix named Bear that is the love of our lives, but it doesn’t stop there. Andrew’s mom, Lauri, has three Old English Sheepdogs that are a big part of our lives too, DeNiro, Bagheera, and Merida. I understand the ease and convenience of buying dog treats at the store but there is something satisfying about making homemade treats. You know the ingredients, they are fresh, and your pup will paw-sitively love them! I made 3 different types of dog treats, Frozen Dog Treats, Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats, and Candy Cane Dog Treats. The Frozen Dog Treats were the most simple to make and let me tell you, the dogs LOVED them! I think DeNiro even swallowed his whole! Bear was a bit daintier with his and had to lick the treat instead of … Continue reading

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Every time I shop at Festival Foods I have to checkout the Meat Department because they always have a large assortment of prepackaged meal options. You can find bratwurst, burger patties, marinated chicken, pork chops, and much more. One of my favorite things to buy is Crusted Chicken Breasts. They are available in a variety of flavors and are easy to make for dinner because all you have to do is bake them. I bought 2 different flavors during my last trip to the store, Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Tortilla with Cheese Crusted Chicken. I thought it would be fun to do a taste test to see which one we liked better. The first night we had the Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast with a Caesar salad and corn bread (from the Festival Foods Bakery). To make the chicken I preheated the oven to 375 degrees. Then placed both chicken breasts … Continue reading

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I have a secret to share. Andrew and I both love fish but have never made it at home before. Can you believe it? Well, we were feeling ambitious last night and decided to try making grilled salmon. Turns out it was super simple to make! A friend recommended we use a grilling plank because it gives the fish great flavor so we bought Fire & Flavor Cedar Wood Grilling Planks. You can find these by the meat counter at Festival Foods. They are sold in a pack of 2 and you can use each one about 2-3 times before throwing away so you get a few meals out of them. They are perfect for cooking beef, pork, chicken, salmon, and other seafood so you aren’t limited to any one item. The tricky part is planning ahead. You need to soak the plank in water for about 1-2 hours before … Continue reading

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It’s a busy time of year with summer coming to an end, school starting, preparing for fall and all the delicious food that comes with it (more on that later) but we were able to squeeze in one more weekend at the cabin!  We opted for a fairly simple menu because the weather was perfect and we wanted to make the most of the holiday weekend by spending as much time outside as possible. Let’s be honest, no one is up early at the lake, but when we do get up we are ready for some Bloody Mary’s and breakfast.  Our favorite is Tito’s Vodka with equal parts Tomato Juice and Clamato plus all the fixings!  We used Ellsworth, WI Cheese Curds, pickles, and summer sausage for our skewers.  Refreshing and a great way to start the day! While enjoying our Bloody’s we whipped up a delicious breakfast of Belgian … Continue reading

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Time to break out our favorite summer recipes and begin shopping for Memorial Day weekend groceries for the unofficial beginning of summer. Most likely the weather won’t feel like summer but we won’t care because we will have some great food to enjoy. And there must be guacamole, right? One meal of the weekend will be a slow roasted beef brisket, simple to prepare and provides a great atmosphere to relax with some beer and wine while it’s roasting. To roast it slow and low heat you want to order an untrimmed whole beef brisket from our meat counter, trimming the fat would cause you to lose the moist and tender texture of the beef. A simple dry rub of equal portions of Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and a small amount of paprika over the entire brisket. We’re going to roast in a roasting box but the … Continue reading

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Spring has finally arrived and with the good weather comes lots of outdoor weekend activities and not as much time to cook on the weekends, opening cabins for the summer and yard work leave little time to spend in the kitchen. Burgers are delicious and a simple solution, my favorite is our 1/3 lb. ground beef 85% lean patties, cooked on the grill with a slice of melted cheddar cheese and served on the cheddar onion buns from our bakery. Bubbies bread and butter pickle chips are a staple in our house and add a sweet and crunchy contrast to the burgers. Lucky’s mustards are another condiment that will add extra special touch to your burgers and brats! Our Homestyle Potato Salad is so delicious I don’t waste my time making it, and you can conveniently order ahead on line in a 1 gallon bowl (26-30 servings) for gatherings, parties, … Continue reading

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We’ve got Easter Ham on the brain, so we thought we’d offer up some fun recipes for the holiday or ideas of what to use your leftovers for!  Before we look at recipes, don’t forget to reserve your ham!  Our Own Premium Quality Bone-in Double Smoked Hams are ready to order for Easter! http://bit.ly/HamReserve   A classic Easter meal of ham doesn’t mean you have to stick with the basics, try our Root Beer Glazed Ham recipe. Perhaps Cranberry Maple Glazed Ham is more your style. Sides to go with your ham: An excellent twist on traditional mashed potatoes, this Smashed Potatoes recipe is a must try! Perfect for any gathering!    We have Fresh Green Asparagus and an exquisite recipe to go with: Lemon Parmesan Asparagus. Leftovers (or just for fun): Scalloped Potatoes with Ham   Ham Carbonara: Angel hair pasta mixed with ham, fresh parsley, and topped with parmesan!  Perfect for leftovers! … Continue reading

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It’s that time of year and we’ve got a handful of corned beef recipes for you to try out leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, and a few other goodies thrown in as well!   We’ll start things off with this Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe.  This is a pretty simple recipe to do with your crock pot, and can be finished in 4 to 6 hours on high, or 8 to 10 hours on low. Next up is our traditional recipe for Reuben Sandwiches!  For this we just need Pumpernickel Rye Bread, Swiss cheese, corned beef brisket (thinly sliced), sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing, and butter. Following up the sandwich, we’re going to throw a fun twist on the traditional Reuben and look at our Reuben Casserole recipe!  Fairly similar to the previous recipe, but now we’ll add sour cream, evaporated milk, hash browns, onion, and garlic powder.   Same … Continue reading

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