fondue

How did you spend your New Year's Day? We enjoyed our favorite feast with family... beef fondue. Two vats of peanut oil & butter... 6 lbs of beef... countless veggies... a big basket of garlic bread... sparkling grape juice... and 5 yummy sauces.
(yes there is an extension cord running down the middle of the table. that's just how we do it!)My parents made the basil butter and the dill dip - I made a sweet & sour (from scratch - I can never remember where the pimentos are at the grocery store. had to ask. arrgh) - a barbecue (so much better than anything from a jar!) - and a cranberry sauce (my new favorite).
We followed up the meal with some Chex Mix, football watching, hockey watching, naps, and then for dessert - this yummy cake. White-ish frosting on a yellow cake, pearl sprinkles, white sugar sprinkles, and white chocolate snowflakes.

We finally got the tree & decorations taken care of too, so I feel a little more organized & ready to face the new year. School starts again Tuesday, so we'll be back in our normal routine. It's been a busy, crazy, fun two weeks - but I'm ready for a little "normal"!!!

shishkabobs

Here they are! In all their sweet yummy ready-to-be-grilled goodness!!!I know summer's drawing to a close, but I had to share our favorite meal in case you have one last cookout left in you!

Teriyaki Marinade for Beef Shishkabobs

1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2/3 c. ketchup
2/3 c. vinegar
½ c. soy sauce
½ c. vegetable oil
5-6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 t. ground ginger
In medium bowl, combine ingredients, mix well.
Marinate the beef cubes overnight.

A full shishkabob may include:
Beef (cubed, marinated overnight & precooked)
Potatoes (cubed & precooked)
Pineapple chunks
Cherry tomatoes
Mushrooms
Red or Green Peppers
Onions

Once everything is skewered, thicken up the sauce with a little cornstarch. Now you’re ready to grill. Be sure to baste often and use as much of the sauce as you can. It’s so sweet you won’t want to miss any!!!
This is our favorite summer meal. It’s a bit labor-intensive getting everything on the skewer, but man it is worth it! It makes GREAT leftovers, too!

applesauce for dummies

OK. So I've decided it is my lot in life to reinvent the wheel... do things the hard way first... and most importantly learn from my mistakes. Yeah, something like that.

Our neighbor generously gave us a bunch of Jona-free apples from his tree. YAY! A few had worm holes, boo. We just cut out the yucky parts and got down to the business of making applesauce. I quartered them, added water and sugar, and started cooking them up.

After 20 minutes, we opened up the pot, stirred just a little and this is what we saw.It was at that point I was seriously rethinking my "easy" project. So, I guess maybe I should have peeled them first? I don't mind a little chunk to my applesauce, but it was a nice mush of apples, and a whole lot of slimy peels? No thank you. So, what's a girl to do? Try and strain it? Cut up the peels somehow? Put it in the blender? Do I cool it first? What would you have done?

Well... take a guess what I did. It looks worse in person than it does in the picture. It became this really creamy mushy stuff. I hope the kids like it. Just seems like a waste of good apples to me.(yeah, I didn't let it cool & put it in the blender. wrong choice.)

chicken fried rice

What? She cooks????? Yep, every once in a while I do cook something "really" impressive for dinner. (haha on the really impressive) This is one of my favorites... chicken fried rice. It's not really anything too amazing, a lot of diced vegetables & chicken. I just feel so creative when I'm cooking it, and I LOVE eating it. I truly eat a rainbow!

Here's the quick recipe...
1. Cook the chicken. (We usually dice about 3-4 chicken breasts.) Toss in some soy sauce and/or teriyaki sauce.
2. Start cooking up some rice on the stove top. (I usually cook up about 2c worth.)
3. Toss in the veggies with the chicken (frozen peas, frozen broccoli, diced onions first - canned corn, peppers, carrots after the frozen stuff isn't frozen).
4. Add some spices - ginger for sure, and after that - well, whatever you feel like! No specific amounts, just put in a couple shakes worth. More if you're feeling spicy!
5. The rice should be done by now, so toss that in the wok with the chicken & veggies.
6. Mix it all up in the wok, and then shove it to the sides and make a pit in the middle so you can actually see the bottom of the wok.
7. Scramble an egg or two in the bottom.
8. Mix it up and enjoy!

So easy, so fun, and I'm not really following a recipe. I will NEVER claim to be a fancy cook, but I feel great when I sit down to eat!!! Even better... there's always enough for leftover lunch. AND my kids LOVE it. All around wonderful meal.

You think that's good? We made some OH-SO-YUMMY shishkabobs for my husband's birthday. I am happy to share the recipe with you, but it's not my own recipe, and I don't have any pictures cause I just plain old forgot to snap a pic. Just comment if you're interested.