Oven Fries

This is SO simple and SO yummy and SO much better than pre-fab french fries!!

8 or so medium potatoes
Olive Oil
Seasoned Salt

Chop the potatoes in whatever shape you wish! I've done them in 'circles', or 'moons', french fry shape, or just large 'wedges'. Sometimes it's fun to use those apple corer/slicer things! Then you have the fry shape and a cool cylinder shape! Place all potatoes in a large bowl. Sprinkle Seasoned salt over to coat, then pour on some olive oil to taste. Toss so all the potatoes are covered with salt and oil. Spread potatoes out on a GREASED (DON'T forget to grease, as these will stick mercilessly!!!!) cookie sheet and bake in a 400F/200C oven for about 40 minutes. You can turn them halfway, but I usually forget to do that, and they still turn out fine!! :) My kids LOVE these! (And so do I!)

Brussel Sprouts and Mushrooms

I should give this a cooler name...like 'Green Fun Guys' or something like that. Would that make it sound more appetizing? :) It was an experiment, and was YUMMY!!!

1 lb brussel sprouts, halved
1 lb white button mushrooms, sliced
1 small onion, finely chopped
3-4 Tbsp butter (yes, I don't do low-fat)
Garlic salt, to taste

Melt butter in large sauce pan. Saute onions for 5 minutes (until transparent). Add brussel sprouts and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until all the color has changed (wilted?). Add garlic salt. Serve! It's a great side dish! I served these with mashed potatoes and these italian hamburger 'steaks' that I created, and it was SUPER yummy!! :)

Beef Stew

Oh so yummy...and the perfect Sunday afternoon crock pot delicacy! :)

Beef (Here, you can do what you like. You can have already pre-cut stew beef, you can just chop it yourself, you can throw in a huge hunk of some beef--and since it's in the crockpot, it doesn't matter whether it's tough or not, as it will become fall apart because of the crockpot! :) I personally like to throw in a nice tough bone-in full-o-fat hunk of meat for fantastic flavor! Of course, you shred the meat and throw out the bone/fat just before serving!)
4-5 carrots, sliced
4-5 medium potatoes, with skins, cubed
2-3 stalks celery, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
dash ground cloves
8-10 c Water
1-2 tbsp Beef bouillon
1 tsp oregano
1/4 c fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in the crockpot on high for 5-6 hours. Who doesn't like 'fast' food made slowly? :) Serve with some fresh crusty french bread, fresh rolls, or Italian breadsticks! :)

Thanksgiving Candied Sweet Potatoes

One of my favorites. A good way to get kids to eat a LOT of sweet potatoes...unless they're smart and eat only the marshmallows on top. :)

4 x-large sweet potatoes
**peeled, chopped, boiled until soft, and placed in a greased 9x13 glass baking dish,



then make the sauce:

1 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4-6oz orange juice
**Place all together in a sauce pan over med-lo heat until all melted together. Pour over sweet potatoes. Place 1 bag marshmallows (or two if you're in Finland) on top (big or small, it doesn't matter).



Bake at 350F/180C until marshmallows are browned--about 10 minutes. Mmmmm....

Thanksgiving Turkey

Another of my favorite dishes... Turkey! This year, we were lucky enough to actually have found one here at a local supermarket! Wow! So, we had a wild Finnish turkey! Very Thanksgiving-y! :) It was SO good, though! And so easy to make!

1 Turkey
Olive Oil
Seasoned Salt (I make my own! Better than Lawry's! Click here for the recipe)
Herbs: I use parsley, basil, rosemary, oregano, and thyme. I like to use fresh. Probably about 1-2 Tbsp of each!
3-4 c Water

Place defrosted and washed turkey in roasting pan. (To clean, run under cool water. Rub the thing clean! Flush the inside out with water as well until it runs clear.) Pour in water. (With the water, I'm only guessing on the amount. This depends on if you're planning to make gravy with it after it's been cooked! And how much gravy you want! :) I am a gravy FIEND, so I usually use a lot of water! :) As a rule of thumb, I usually fill my roasting pan until it's about an inch or so deep with water on the bottom. More or less.) Pour olive oil on the turkey. I also pour a bit into the water! Add salt as desired on top (and to the water!) and rub it in. Sprinkle the herbs ALL over. If the lid can go on your roasting pan with the turkey inside, place the lid on top. If it doesn't fit, make a tent out of kitchen (aluminum) foil. Bake at about 300F/150C until done. It should be golden brown, and the juices will run clear with no pink in the meat. Usually around 3-4 hours, depending on the size of your turkey. However, if you happen to overcook it a bit, the gravy will mask it pretty well! :)

Gravy:

Turkey drippings
Flour
1/2 c Water

Pour all the turkey drippings into a sauce pan and place on medium heat on the stove. Take out about 1/2 cup from the turkey drippings, add another 1/2 c cool water, then add flour (1 Tbsp at a time) until you can make a thick yet runny paste. Add this concoction to the remaining drippings in the sauce pan using a wire whisk. Cook until thick and bubbly! (If it's not thick enough for you, repeat the above steps until at desired thickness! If it's too thick, just add water.)

Mmmmmmmm....

Thanksgiving Stuffing

I LOVE stuffing. LOVE it. Thanksgiving is NOTHING without stuffing. I used to use the old StoveTop standby, but then I began making it myself, and let me tell you-it's SOOOOOOOOOO much better!!!!!! So, here's a basic idea of what I do to make this traditional Thanksgiving side dish:

Lots of bread broken into small pieces (I use many different kinds--white, whole wheat, oat, rye--and mix them all together)
1/4 c Fresh Parsley (about 3 bunches)
2 tsp Thyme (dry--OR 1 Tbsp fresh)
3-4 stalks Celery (including leaves!), finely chopped
1 small Onion, finely chopped
3 c Chicken broth (3c water+3tsp chicken bouillon)
1/2 c Butter (as needed....probably quite a bit unless you like it lighter...but I like it buttery!!)

Break bread into small pieces and save in a super large mixing bowl.


(The kids love to help with this part!)

In a sauce pan, saute celery and onions in butter until slightly transparent. Add everything else (except bread). Bring to a boil. Add more butter! Ha! Pour over bread a little at a time until all the bread is moist. Not TOO soggy, but not TOO dry. :) Taste it to make sure it's good! (Yes, that sounds weird, but it really should taste good!!)



Pour into 9x13 baking dish (um, coated with butter...) and bake at 375F for about 15 minutes. Stir, then bake again until the top is slightly crisp and the bottom is slightly browned--about 15-20 min (unless you have the option of a fan assisted oven...then it's only 10 more minutes). Serve! Top with lots of homemade gravy and you have a gourmet dish!




I've also in the past added sausage. It is SO good! I don't do it anymore because I don't have any sausage available to me. If you want to use sausage, cook it with the celery and onions. :)

Chocolate Almond Zuchinni Brownies

These turned out to be the YUMMIEST brownies I've ever made. I suppose that really isn't saying much, though, because I don't often make brownies. But, they were GOOD! Interestingly, as I was researching Zucchini Brownies on the web, trying to find recipes/hints/ideas, I came across something very interesting! Did you know, that you should NOT add eggs to zucchini brownies? Eggs make them more cake-like. Instead, you leave out the egg. There really is very little liquid in the recipe--only 1/2 c of oil and a little flavoring of some sort (vanilla--or I like to use almond)--in addition to the zucchini itself. So it looks like a nasty mass. But the natural moisture of the zucchini is what moistens the batter as it cooks, and makes the most wonderful moist brownie texture you can imagine! AND, since I use whole wheat, added with the zucchini, I felt pretty good about letting even my kids chow down! :P

1 1/2 c Sugar (I actually used just a little less...)
1/2 c cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 c oil
3 med zucchini, shredded (ends up being a little over 2 cups or so)

Sift all dry ingredients. Add extracts and oil. It will be SUPER dry. Add zucchini and fold in. This will be very thick and pretty dry. Don't worry, though!!! It's supposed to be!!! Pour into a 9x13 greased pan. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350F/180C. Let cool a bit...Frost!

**Frosting:

6 Tbsp Cocoa
1/4 c Butter
2 c Powdered Sugar
1/4 c (+/-) water (or milk)
1/2 tsp almond extract

Melt butter with the cocoa in the microwave! Put sugar in a bowl, add water and extract and mix. Add the butter/cocoa mixture. Mix using a hand mixer. This is AMAZING chocolate almond frosting!!! :) You can even sprinkle slivered almonds on top. Heavenly!!

These brownies are chewy and gooey and absolutely delicious!