Confetti Rice

Sometimes when you are making a recipe, you just need something to put on the side. This Confetti Rice recipe is the way to go. It is easy, cheap and so quick to make. It goes well with chicken, beef or even pork. For vegetarians its great because it is all vegetables.

When boiling the water for the rice, the chicken broth is optional. You can use all water instead. The chicken broth will just add some more flavor to the recipe.

I went out of the cookbook for our dinner the other night, but just for the main dish. Due to us going out of town this weekend I wanted to use what I had in the fridge instead of going out for a whole new recipe. You do not have to use the recipes in the book for every little entree and side for everything. It is nice to use a recipe along with either a family favorite you may already have or even just something last minute you want to throw together.

There is a recipe in "A Stir in the Mist" for Pork Chops. I was missing two of the main ingredients to make the delicious dish so instead I went ahead with just an ordinary but tasty pork chop dinner.

As a side dish Confetti Rice was to the rescue.

You will notice when you purchase your cookbook that there are side bars that will allow you to get ideas on maybe what dish is good with what or even a tip on how to make baking or cooking the recipe easier. Confetti Rice can go with almost anything. The nice thing with a rice dish like this one, you can add an ingredient, like mushrooms are good. Or like I said earlier you can take out an ingredient. Instead of using some chicken broth and some water to cook rice in, you can just use water.

Once the rice and vegetable mix has soaked up all the liquid, I would just sample the rice to make sure it is nice and tender.

One trick I did learn about cooking rice is that instead of using the exact measurments of liquid to rice, just boil water and add rice the same way you would do for pasta. You will find that your rice will turn out nice and "fluffy"(if that is even a term to be used in the kitchen)

I suggest trying it, maybe not with this recipe. I promise you, you will most likely cook your rice the same as pasta from now on.

Well I hope you find an entree that this Confetti Rice dish will go along with well.

Enjoy!!

Chicken Scaloppini

Chicken Scaloppini is in the entree section of "A Stir in the Mist" and you will love it!

This recipe can be made one of two ways, you can cook it all on the stove or to make it easier especially if you are working all day or just busy throughout the day you can cook it all day in the slow cooker on low.

I have to apologize for the limited amount of pictures that I took for this recipe. I was in a little bit of a rush to get things put together before work yesterday so I was not able to spoil you with pictures.

This recipe does call for white wine, quite a bit too ha..ha.. as you are pouring the wine into the pot you may think it is quite a bit, but ohh its tasty.

Make sure you are using Golden Mushroom Soup and not Cream of Mushroom Soup in this recipe. The two soups have quite a different taste so I would not mix that up.

I did cook this recipe in my slow cooker on low for 6 hours. Before I put all my ingredients into the slow cooker I did season my chicken on the stove a little with salt and pepper and a little garlic powder before adding to the rest of the ingredients.

As this recipe is cooking your mouth is sure to water from the aroma that fills your kitchen, it is a guarentee!

Once the chicken and the rest of the tasty ingredients are all cooked, you can then boil your choice of macaroni. Bow Tie Pasta goes great with this dish. I was out so I used Rigatoni(Marcos Favorite) Once you have boiled your macaroni you can then add it either to your pot or slow cooker that has the chicken mixture in it.

This dish is good all on its own. There is no need for a side dish, if anything a nice salad and if you can get your hands on some DiCamillos fresh italian bread, Go for it!!

Enjoy and even though there is wine in the recipe, do not be afraid to enjoy this meal with a nice glass of white wine.

“Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.”

Bruschetta Bread

Bruschetta is from the Italian word 'bruscare' meaning ‘to roast over coals‘. The thin slices of bread are toasted, rubbed with garlic, then drizzled with olive oil and served warm.

Bruschetta Bread is such an easy appetizer to make for any event. Your guests will be begging for more. Once you bring this recipe somewhere, your friends and family will be asking you for the ingredients, it is that good.

This recipe calls for a few different seasonings, green pepper and tomatoes of course. If you are not a tomato lover, no need to worry you will forget about your dislike for tomatoes as soon as you bite into this recipe. The nice thing about this recipe is that you can mix all your ingredients together and set in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve. You can prepare the night before or even two nights before. It sits well in the fridge until you are ready.

Once you have combined all your ingredients in the recipe, be sure to stir it very well! There are two different types of cheeses you will use. One. you will use Asiago and Two. you will use Parmesan. Try and use a good brand cheese. They both have such a strong taste in this recipe that you do not want to use something cheap that will take away from the delicious taste.

I made this recipe yesterday for a labor day party that we enjoyed with our friends here in Ohio!!

They loved the Bruschetta Bread and along with the bruschetta I brought a bottle of the Lemoncello that I blogged about earlier this week. It was a hit!!

(This week I have Orange zest sitting in vodka, so I will let you know how it turns out, Orangcello?)

The Bruschetta recipe in "A Stir in the Mist", is enough to use three baguettes. I made a double recipe for the party. Therefore I used three baguettes and I still had leftover bruschetta mix. With the remaining mix you can do a few other meals with it. You can serve it over chicken or even over chicken with a little angel hair pasta. Mmmm...

Once you have your baguettes all cut into little slices you will then put them on your baking sheets and toast under the broiler for just a little bit, just enough to toast. Once you have toasted the baguette you can now put the bruschetta mix onto each individual baguette slice. Once you have each slice covered you will put the baking sheet back under the broiler until it starts to sizzle and you see the baguette toasting some more.

Keep and eye as it heats up! 

If you are traveling to a party with this recipe and you are looking for it to be fresh when you arrive. Just put in the oven and toast everything 10 min before you leave then put on your platter and cover with tin foil and when you arrive unwrap and Bon Appetit!

Party Chicken

Party Chicken is a great dish to make, especially if you are in a hurry or have to work late. It is such an easy dish. You can prepare it earlier in the day and put in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook. The dish only takes 35 min in the oven. With this dish I chose to use my convection oven. Wow... I have never had the privilege to experience a convection oven until we moved into our new house. Chicken cooks great in a regular oven, but in the convection oven it cooks every part of the chicken equally. So the top is not to crispy and the bottom is just as tender as everywhere else.

This recipe calls for Swiss cheese. You can use any brand and any style Swiss cheese. If you really want to taste the Swiss cheese once everything is complete. I would use Lorraine Swiss or Heidi Ann if they do not have Lorraine. It has a stronger taste then regular Swiss. You can use either one. You will not be disappointed.

The stuffing mix, you do not have to cook before putting on the chicken. Some recipes ask you to cook prior to putting on the chicken, this recipe once it is in the oven with the other mixtures on top the stuffing will cook all on its own with great flavors.

Once everything is layered on top of the chicken you are set to bake!

While baking you can prepare either a rice dish or even fix up a nice vegetable to serve. Once you purchase your very own cookbook. You will find in our sides section, a variety of dishes you can make that will go along nicely with these entrees.

Once the chicken is done baking let it sit just for a little bit to cool down and calm down the sizzle.

I served a nice fresh salad with my Party Chicken dinner, it is totally up to you to choose your side.

I hope you enjoy and remember when serving each piece, be sure to include the cheesy crispy outside it is the best part. YUM!.

Lemoncello

Lemoncello is is an Italian lemon liqueur. This special drink is usually enjoyed as an after dinner liqueur. When I first tasted this recipe, I thought "Holy alcohol!" But then the after taste set in and wow what an amazing refreshing cocktail.

The ingredients for this recipe will shock you. First off the little ingredients you will be using to make such an outstanding drink, and second, the amount of vodka may frighten you a little bit but its not like you are going to drink the whole recipe. Well......Maybe.....you will enjoy a few. This drink is very very deceiving. It has such an amazing taste but it is very very strong!

Before you remove the zest from the lemons, you can either get your paring knife ready or your zester. You want to use whatever of the two are sharper. When you remove the zest from your fruit, be sure you remove as little of the white underside of the peel as possible, this will cause your lemoncello to be bitter.

After you have removed all the zest from the lemons, you can now add all your ingredients together into a large bowl. Make sure you you stir the sugar and water very well to blend together. This recipe is nice because there is absolutley no need for boiling.

The lemons you have used for this recipe can be used again. Even though you have used the outside, you can put the remainder of the lemons in the freezer and save for another recipe.

Once you have mixed all the ingredients together you will cover the bowl with saran wrap and then place the bowl in room temp. for 5 days! You do not need to stir or touch until day 5. This recipe, you will find to be very easy compared to recipes that are on the internet. Most recipes call for your lemoncello to sit for a month or forty days! Who has time for that, or better yet who has patients for that. Not I! So when you try this recipe it will give you enough time to get friends or family together a week from when you make it to plan a get together and enjoy Lemoncello.

After day five, you will then pour the lemoncello through a strainer into another bowl so you can seperate the zest from the liquid. The best thing to add to this recipe is a cheese cloth. This will make the seperation of the two a lot smoother. You can find this cloth at any kitchen store nearby.

Once you have removed the zest you can now begin to pour this lemon liqueur into your bottles or if you still have your vodka bottle around, you can pour back into that bottle. Just remember water was added to this recipe so you will have more than a liter. You will need another bottle for the remainder of the liquid.

I hope you enjoy Lemoncello!

Chili

Well it is officially football season. The NFL has started their preseason games and today is the home opener here in

Poland, Ohio! Go Bulldogs!

What better way to kick off the football season then with Chili!

Marco and the guys have there tickets for the game ready and we have our bulldog t-shirts ready to go. To give them a little taste for the season I will be making an amazing chili meal that the cookbook will be able to share with you.

Chili is the dish of choice this evening. When you think of chili or when you taste it, I don't know about you, but I think about the fall season more than anything. Fall is my favorite time of year. So when I get the urge to make some chili I know it is just around the corner.

When you make this recipe you can do it one of two ways. You can either cook it all on the stove in a big pot or you can cook it in a slow cooker on low for about 4 hours.

If you cook it in your slow cooker, I would suggest cooking the meat on the stove first with your onion and garlic just to brown the meat a little and season it. Then I would transfer the meat mixture to your slow cooker along with all the beans and sauces that it calls for.

Today I am going to use my slow cooker. This way I can have it all ready for later and while it is cooking I can do some other things I need to do.

Using a slow cooker for me is the best. Especially on my nights I have to work.

You can use all the beans that the recipe calls for or you can take some out or even add some if you would like.

Remember the only can of beans that you do not drain out are the Chili Beans!!

To add a little more hotness to your chili you can use Hungarian hot peppers.

MAKE SURE YOU WASH YOUR HANDS RIGHT AFTER YOU WORK WITH THE HOT PEPPERS-THE SEEDS ARE HOT!!

Once everything is all combined in one large pot or your slow cooker, let it simmer.

Once the chili is complete you can get your shredded cheddar ready and top each dish with some cheese and if you like you can throw some oyster crackers on as well to top it off!

Just a little advice:

Grilled Cheese is a great add on with Chili!

I hope you enjoy and Go Bulldogs!!

and Dolphins of course!!!

Rummage Sale!!

I have taken a few days off in the kitchen. I will be back on Thursday, due to traveling back and forth to the Falls! I hope you are all enjoying the sneak peak to the cookbook and we are getting really excited for the soon to be release date!

Did you see the Newspaper!!!

Thanks to the Niagara Gazette, they have done a lot of advertising for A Stir in the Mist!

Taste-testing the new Niagara Falls Cookbook

NIAGARA FALLS GAZETTE ARTICLE—
     The ladies helping to create the newest Niagara Falls cookbook had to try hundreds of recipes.At every meeting volunteers each brought many of the recipes being considered for the book and everybody tasted and critiqued. It was, as they say, a hard job, but someone had to do it.
    “I just didn’t want it to end,” said Maria Brown, city comptroller, who is volunteering her accounting skills to the committee and attended the many food tastings.
“The food was outstanding,” she said. “It was so much fun I’m going to miss seeing the other members on a regular basis.”
Well, it had to end sooner or later. The final 350 recipes have been selected from nearly 800 contributions and those involved say these are the very best offerings from the cooks and chefs in the region.“It’s beyond our expectations,” said Rita Majka, Boys and Girls Club director of development who has been leading the effort to immortalize some of the area’s best recipes.“We want people to know the book will be ready for the holidays,” she said. The cost, with taxes, is $25 and the committee plans to print about 3,000 copies in the first run.The book is a hardcover and embellished with the Niagara Falls based art by local artist Kath Schifano of Grand Island. It includes recipes from many local cultures as well as favorites from local restaurants. Many of the pages include history of the region.The committee has raised over $20,000 for the first run of the book. They will need about $29,000 to go to press, she said, and the hope is that once the initial costs of the first printing are paid, reprinting will be much less costly and the book can raise money for the club for many years to come.
The cookbook committee is having a rummage sale to collect the final few thousand required for the first printing of the book. The sale is being held at the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara Falls from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Aug. 28 and 29.When the book is printed it will be sold in area tourist shops and at the Boys and Girls Club.Committee members are currently meeting with major retailers such as Wegmans in hopes of getting more exposure in the community. Those who would like to pre-order can send a check for $25 to the Boys and Girls Club of Niagara Falls, 725 17th St., Niagara Falls, NY 14301.

What a great article they put in! Please keep following for more information.

August 28-29th from 8am-1pm at the Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club(725 17th Street)

We will be having a Giant Community Rummage Sale!

All Items Donated to Sell are Welcome!

Stop by and check out the selection, and be sure to tell friends!

Hope to See you there!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Well since the last couple recipes that I "stirred" my way through were entrees, I am going to go back to my sweet tooth!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, do I have to say anymore. Two for the price of one!

Most of the recipes in the cookbook are perfect for something you may need last minute or just to make to have something in your kitchen in case someone may stop over or for the family to pick on. This recipe for the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies is ideal for something to make last minute. More than likely you will have all the ingredients right in your cupboard waiting to be used!

This recipe you will need a few mixing bowls, because everything will not be mixed at first all together. You will add the dry mixture that you have put together into the other ingredients.

Once you get everything mixing in one bowl, you will notice that it will get a little tougher to blend together. I guess I could have used my Kitchen Aid mixer for this recipe, but I think after my little episode with it last time I will stick to the hand mixer. Make sure the bigger out of the two bowls has the margerine and peanut butter mixtures inside of it. This way once you add your dry mix to the other ingredients you will have everything in a bigger mixing bowl. Before adding the dry mix in, make sure the peanut butter and all the ingredients are blended first and nice and fluffy!

Get your baking sheets ready and pre-heat your oven.

I used a little tablespoon scoop to form my cookies into little balls. You can use your hands, it is totally up to  you.

When you bake them, the recipe calls for 10 minutes. I would do a little less just to make sure if your oven is a little bit hotter than the owner of this recipe. Try and get the top of the cookies a little golden but not real well done. This way when they sit out to cool down they will harden just a little bit more on there own.

This recipe for me made about 4 dozen cookies.

They are perfect little bite size cookies that everyone will love.

I let them sit out a little after baking them for 9 minutes and they are nice and chewy with a little bit golden on top!

You must try these and I hope you have a glass of milk ready because they are good!

Enjoy!