Holiday Treat! Chocolate filled Cresent roll Pillows

Chocolate-Filled Pillows with Chocolate Sauce ...
So luscious and decadent...and easy! Flaky pastry squares hold a yummy, warm chocolate surprise.

from http://www.pillsbury.com/

INGREDIENTS
Pillows
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
18 milk chocolate candy drops
1 tablespoon whipping cream
1 teaspoon sugar

Chocolate Sauce
1/2 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup milk chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Unroll dough on work surface; press dough into 12x8-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 squares. Place on cookie sheet.
2. Place 3 chocolate candy drops in center of each dough square. Bring 4 corners of dough to center of candies; twist firmly. Pinch edges to seal. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon whipping cream; sprinkle with sugar.
3. Bake 14 to 19 minutes or until deep golden brown.
4. Meanwhile, in 1-quart saucepan, heat sauce ingredients over low heat 1 to 2 minutes or until melted and smooth. Spoon 2 tablespoons sauce onto each serving plate. Top each with 1 pillow; drizzle with remaining sauce.

Holiday Party Appetizer tips

This Time of year... you can find GREAT frozen appetizers at Sam's Club!

Put on your Apron from http://www.apronmadness.com/ & get ready to "cook".

I just picked up mini Beef Wellingtons, bacon wrapped Scallops, various dips, meat & cheese trays & a variety of flavors of Chicken wings.

Put them on your own trays & in your bowls.... Make it look like you slaved all day!

(Make sure to take out the garbage with all the boxes before the guests arrive.

The Best recipe Magazine ever

From http://www.apronmadness.com/

I have gotten a Taste of Home subscription from a dear friend as a Christmas gift for the last few years now. I tell ya, first... every time my Taste of Home Magazine comes in the mail & I delve through all the fabulous recipes, I think of my friend. Isn't that what you want a Christmas gift to do?
Also.... I don't think I've ever seen a bad recipe or thought "yuck... that sounds aweful". When I saw a stack of old issues at a Cabin we stayed at, I thought I would cut out a few recipes. Well I discovered I would have cut the entire book up. So I asked our manager if I could just have them. (he said... no problem... BTW)

So I just want to "Brag" on Taste of Home Magazine for ANY home cook! The recipes are all tasty & EASY!

Queen of the Crockpot

Queen of the crockpot

Stephanie O'Dea loves her crockpots.
It is possible to make cheesecake in a crockpot, and it's one of O'Dea's favorites.

A Year of CrockPotting Blog
Favorite recipes

33 crockpot recipies Ebook

(By Darren Brown, News9.com INsite Team Posted:"Oct 29, 2008 12:07 PM EST";)

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco, California is home to the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the famous Pier 39. Fresh seafood is plentiful here, but just outside the city, there's a woman who provides her own catch of the day, with a crockpot.

"I'm a lazy cook. I don't like stirring, or standing over the stove, or checking on things in the oven," Stephanie O'Dea said. "My goal usually is to be out of the kitchen by noon every day."
Watch O'Dea's tip on what size crockpots to buy, depending on the size of your family.

O'Dea admits she's not the world's greatest cook. She's fine with that, but she definitely knows her way around a crockpot. She has been cooking with one for years.
"I started reading a bunch of food blogs for blog-her, and realized there wasn't one on crockpot cooking, and that was the only way I know how to cook," O'Dea said. "I joked around with Adam (her husband) that I would start one and he didn't laugh. And he got out the camera and the crockpot and we took some pictures."

In January, Stephanie O'Dea became the ‘Crockpot Queen' and her daily blog was born to share her crockpot passion with the rest of the world.

"Within a few days, I was featured on a pretty popular blog called ‘Today's Creative Blog,' and I went from getting three visits a day, two of which were me, to 400 in a few hours," O'Dea said.
Stephanie's daily blog visits are up to around 15,000, and while the blog takes up quite a bit of her time, it doesn't take away from her daily crockpot adventures.

Watch O'Dea's tip on how to make quick easy meals in a crockpot.

"I'm going to have a whole chicken and I'm going to put a quartered onion inside the cavity with four cloves of garlic. It's like Thanksgiving. I'm actually looking forward to doing a whole Thanksgiving dinner in the crockpot. I have six right now, so I figure I can just kind of line them up on the counter and have all the different side dishes," O'Dea said.
Of course with 365 recipes comes the possibility of 365 crash and burns. O'Dea claims she's had her share.
"You cannot make bacon-wrapped scallops in the crockpot. It doesn't work and it's gross. And you've wasted $65 on fresh scallops," O'Dea said.

She's also had recipes emailed to her that don't turn out as tasty as she'd hoped.
"I posted a recipe today that quite a few people emailed me to test out, and it's pumpkin black bean soup. It was gross. It was absolutely disgusting," O'Dea said.

Many readers thank her for her honesty though and willingness to test out recipes so they don't have to.
Watch and learn how to make cheesecake in a crockpot, which is one of O'Dea's favorites.

But Stephanie's success is measured not by the number of visits to her blog, recipes failures or recipe successes, it's measured by the amount of time she saves. All the extra time goes toward her family.

"I will not do this every day for a year again. I've promised my husband I will not. I've promised the children I will not, but the blog won't die and I'll probably add every week or so," O'Dea said.
Her crockpot tips have also saved her family, and many others plenty of money. From cooking extra food for leftover lunches to making homemade broths, the ways to save are endless.

Watch O'Dea's tip on how to save money and eat healthier.

"Most of the recipes I get, I get from reading cookbooks or food blogs. And they're tried and true recipes from the stovetop or oven, and I just find a way to make them in the crockpot," O'Dea said.
To try out some crockpot recipes, click on Stephanie O'Dea's favorite recipes, or visit her daily blog 'A Year of CrockPotting.'

Stuffing Recipes

The Holidays with Turkey are just not complete without the perfect stuffing!
Whether you Stuff your bird or cook the stuffing on the side... it has to be good!

#1... Quick & easy...

3-4 boxes of turkey or chicken Stove Top Stuffing
1 lb bulk breakfast sausage
1 lb fresh mushrooms... chopped
1 stalk celery... finely chopped
a quarter onion.. finely chopped
1 T butter
Poultry seasoning (to taste... about 1 Tblsp)

Fry sausage till done. remove sausage & in sausage grease, add butter... saute celery & onion till transparent. Add mushrooms & poultry seasoning & cook only a few min. (till cooked down).
In a pot.... cook stuffing as directed on box but add the veggies & sausage to water before adding the croutons in box. Mix all together & let sit till water is absorbed.


#2: Apple-Sourdough Bread Stuffing

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced (preferably Macintosh)
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon dried sage
2 teaspoons dried thyme
4 cups sourdough bread cubes
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, apples and celery and saute 5 minutes, until soft. Add parsley, sage, dried thyme, and remaining 2 teaspoons of oregano. Stir to coat apples and vegetables with herbs and spices. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add cubed bread and chicken broth. Toss to combine. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Transfer the stuffing mixture to a baking dish and bake in oven at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Funny Cooking Stories

Forget to take out the giblet bag? Used Salt instead of Sugar? Dog ate the roast?

Tell us your funny cooking story!

Thanksgiving Day Turkey

Put on your Apron & get ready to cook that bird!
To brine or not to brine ..... roast ... smoke .... deepfry... stuffed or not ....
Soooooo many choices & everyone says theirs is the juiciest.
Share YOUR Juicy Turkey recipies with us!!!