Thursday, December 30, 2010

Countdown to 2011..

Santa spoiled me this year.. He always does!
I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating with your loved ones.
This year I had Christmas Eve at our place and then we went over to the King's for Christmas Day.
 I ate SO MUCH food!
You would think I would have taken more pictures but I was still trying to figure out my camera :/

Thanks babe! 


My tree after opening up all our presents!


Santa stopped by! He was hungry:)
Christmas day at the King's! (pictured below)





I was in charge of bringing dessert.. I made Paula Dean's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake


Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Cake:
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 egg
8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
8 tbsp. butter, melted
1 (16 ounce) box powdered sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Combine cake mix, egg and butter and mix well with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom of a lightly greased 13 x 9 baking pan.
To make filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter and beat together. Next, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Make sure not to over bake as the center should be a little gooey.
Serve with fresh whipped cream. (A MUST!)







Hope you have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!


Friday, December 17, 2010

My Birthday is here..

Tomorrow I will have lived 1/4 a century..
I am a very lucky girl..
I have a wonderful boyfriend that loves me to death.. the best family and friends a girl could ask for... a cozy little place to come home to everyday.. and one adorable (pain in the butt) dog. I can't ask for more.
Thank you to everyone in my life that makes this all possible.

My dream cake by Sweet and Saucy 

P.S-  I am working with a web designer to recreate my blog. I think I did a pretty good job myself but there are some things I'll leave up to a professional :) Bobby bought me Yvette loves pink but I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. Now that I've turned it into a food blog I think MY CROWNED CREATIONS "Adventures in my cozy kitchen"
is more suitable. Excited to see the transformation soon!

Jessica from The Frilly Coconut my designer
Check her out!


The Frilly Coconut





Thursday, December 9, 2010

Shrimp Scampi


I surprised Bobby with this right when he got home from work yesterday. I couldn't believe I had everything ready on time. 
That never happens. 


The only thing that's not pictured is my HUGE tub of garlic. It would have taken up the whole picture. That's what happens when you go to Costco hungry. You buy everything in bulk haha
I had leftover chardonnay in the fridge from girls night with Jessica. We giggled at the brand name "Menage a Trios" :) She was obviously feeling frisky when she went shopping.
The recipe is from How Sweet It is

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:
1 pound raw, peeled and deveined shrimp
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper 
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of dry white wine, like Chardonnay
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 - 3/4 pound whole wheat linguine
1/3 cup parmesan or asiago cheese (or maybe more:)
2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley



Make sure shrimp is cleaned and dried off completely, then season with salt and pepper.
Boil your water for pasta and cook pasta according to directions.
Heat large skillet over medium-high heat, adding olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. 
Add minced garlic, then immediately add shrimp (this prevents garlic from burning) in one layer so each side can cook. Cook for only 60 seconds, then flip shrimp and cook for 60 seconds more. Pour in white wine and let mixture simmer for about 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in last tablespoon of butter.
Add all pasta to a large bowl and pour entire shrimp and wine mixture over top. Add red pepper and cheese and toss until everything is combined. Add additional olive oil or salt and pepper to taste if desired. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with garlic bread.

What's the only thing that can make this dish even better?????????


A glass of wine, olive oil and balsamic vinegar we brought home from Italy!!
Enjoy :)




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Tater Tot Casserole


If you haven't figured it out yet my boyfriend is a meat and potato kind of guy. 
When we first started dating he mentioned that his Grandma Nema used to make him Tater Tot Casserole as a kid. I called Aunt Linda and she gave me the recipe. It's super simple and only has four ingredients!


Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
2 lbs Extra lean ground beef
1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 (2 lb) package of frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Put ground beef in the bottom of 13 x 9 pan.
Spread cream of mushroom on top of ground beef (you can thin it out with a little bit of milk so it spreads easier)
Cover with grated cheese. Top with tater tots (At first I thought Bobby was being anal but he said that his Grandma perfectly aligned them in the pan when he was little :)
Cover with foil and bake until meat is thoroughly cooked. About 30-40 minutes.
Uncover and bake another 15 minutes.

Bobby always mentions that he wishes I could have met his grandparents. They sound like they were lots of fun! I hope to meet them in heaven one day.



 
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