What's for Dinner? Garlic Cheddar Biscuits with Crock Pot Chili

With the chili, I'm super lazy. I work full time, so I don't have a lot of extra time to soak beans and chop veggies etc. etc. yadda yadda. I often use the McCormick slow cooker packets, and their chili is pretty spot on. Sometimes I do add some ingredients to their recipe (like chopped green pepper and onion), but even if I don't, it's great.

Tonight I added my garlic cheddar biscuits. It's not Red Lobster's recipe (I do have that, if you'd rather), but I would say it's better. Enjoy!

Biscuits:

• 3 c. Bisquick mix
• 1 c. milk
• 1 tsp. minced garlic (I use the stuff in a jar, minced in oil)
• 3/4 c. shredded cheese
• 1/8 tsp dried basil

1. Preheat oven to 450

2. Mix all ingredients until they form a soft dough

3. Drop by large spoonful onto baking sheet

4. Bake 9 minutes (or until golden around edges and peaks) 

Garlic Butter Glaze

• 1/2 stick melted butter (1/4 cup)
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. onion powder
• 1/8 tsp. dried basil

While biscuits bake, blend garlic butter glaze in small mixing bowl. Brush baked biscuits with glaze and let cool.

Easy, and amazing. Enjoy!

What's for Dinner? Homemade Gnocchi w/ Garlic Butter Sauce, Parm, and Fresh Tomatoes

Again, this is a few different recipes I've found elsewhere, smushed, tweaked, and made my own. We had this for dinner tonight with pork chops and the gnocchi outshone the rest of the meal by a mile. Enjoy!

What you need:

Gnocchi:

• 1lb Russet Potatoes
• 1 c. all-purpose flour - keep it out for dusting and extra sprinkling
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 c. freshly grated parmesan (if you're lazy you can use the stuff in the plastic jar but I wouldn't recommend it)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Garlic Butter Sauce:

• 1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced (I use way more than this - about 2 tablespoons minced in oil)
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning (sage, oregano, etc.)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan (again...) - keep it out for sprinkling on top of finished product
• 1 fresh diced tomato

Gnocchi:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Overbake (about 45 minutes) ...Alternatively, you can peel and boil the potatoes - I do this when I need my oven for other parts of the meal.
3. Cut in half; scoop out of skin
4. Mash potatoes to smooth consistency 
5. Make mound of potatoes with a well in the middle. Add egg yolks, parmesan, salt, and pepper
6. Use hands to mix in with potatoes until well mixed
7. Sprinkle 1/2 cup flour onto potatoes. Using knuckles, press into potatoes
8. Fold the lump over, into itself, and press down again
9. Sprinkle more flour, little by little, folding - sprinkling - pressing, until dough holds together (be careful not to knead). The dough should be firm and yielding.
10. Start large pot of water with 1/2 tsp. salt boiling
11. Lightly flour workspace
12. Roll dough into 4 pieces
13. Roll each piece into rope about 1/2 - 3/4 inch diameter
14. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces
15. Lightly flour gnocchi squares or hands and then shape (roll into ball, then press lightly to leave finger top pocket)
16. Drop gnocchi into pot
17. Scoop gnocchi out of water when it floats to the top - keep in bowl until all gnocchi is ready for next step.

Garlic Butter Parm Sauce

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat
2. Stir in garlic and cook until the garlic has softened and begins to turn golden brown
3. Stir in Italian seasoning and salt 
4. Add cooked gnocchi to skillet and remove from heat
5. Coat gnocchi with sauce
6. Remove gnocchi from skillet and place in a large serving bowl
7. Toss gently with parmesan & pepper
8. Top with diced tomato
9. Serve 

Bon Appetit!

Goodbye, Uncle.

Please skip to another blog if you're looking for my usual bubbly self, because you're not going to get it here.

I wasn't going to post this, but I needed to get it out. It also might explain my recent reclusivess (if that's a word) and need to be left alone.

This loss has hit me harder than I imagined; while it was somewhat anticipated by some, it is still a shock to all. This is one that struck so many of us in the family, because he was such a large personality in the group..."the baby"...and is survived by all of his siblings and his mother. We are a very large but very close family, and I wish I could be there with all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma, brother, and especially my mother right now.

Mom is one of 7 children, #5, and due to various family situations she grew up fast and took care of her younger siblings. My uncle John was #7 and of all of the siblings he and my mother were always the closest. I don't remember ever being far away from him for very long. He lived with us off and on while I was growing up, and even when he wasn't living with us he was always at the house. He was more like a big brother to me than an uncle. I grew up with him always around, always picking on me, always protecting me. His house was where I first laid eyes on my husband.

John suffered from severe RA...I'm talking extremely severe...to the point that he was always in pain; it controlled his life. Since he'd moved into his current apartment close to my mother, she was there for him. She drove him around to run errands. She brought him anything he needed, and she was there to chat with him when he needed company. She didn't do this out of obligation - she did this because she loved him, and because they were close. Unfortunately, to dull the pain in his joints and bones, John consumed a lot of alcohol. Several weeks ago he was taken to the hospital to flush his system and get some electrolytes into his body.  He'd been doing much better recently, and he wasn't drinking as much. He wanted to take better care of himself.

Yesterday, after several unanswered phone calls and then busy signals, my mother found him in his house, deceased from what appears to be a heart attack. I will miss John very much, as the entire family will. The void left by the youngest sibling of the family with such a big personality, so full of life, shocks us all. But above everything, my heart hurts so badly for my mother right now. How very terrible it must be to find somebody you were so close to, your younger sibling, somebody you loved so very much, someone for whom you'd do absolutely anything.

L-R: Aunt Judy, Mom, Uncle John

Goodbye my crazy, silly, interesting, fun, ornery, and awesome uncle. I will miss you.

Go your way to the land of the Ancestors,

where they wait for you with open arms,

there on the edge between this world and the next.

See; there they stand.

Ancestral spirits, welcome this one

to the place where we all must go.

Off your diet? How bout some Gooey Cinnamon Rolls?

Most of my recipes are simply out of a cookbook (usually Betty Crocker or another cookbook my mom gave me something like 20 years ago), and then smushed together with another recipe to make one big dish of deliciousness. I know, that sounds a little conceited...but if I didn't think it was delicious - and have confirmation from others - I wouldn't share it.

The following, I don't even know where I got the original cinnamon roll recipe but I will say it's not an original - it did come from somewhere else. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture. I'll post one the next time I make these...

Whatcha need:

• 1 tsp. white sugar
• 1 (.25oz) pk dry yeast
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 c white sugar
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 c. all-purpose flour

and

• 3/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c brown sugar
• 3/4 c. brown sugar (it's there twice for a reason)
• 1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 c. melted butter

1.) In a small bowl, dissolve 1 tsp. sugar & yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy (about 10 minutes).

2.) Warm milk in small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat.

3.) Mix into milk 1/4 c. sugar, 1/4 c. butter, and salt. Stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.

4.) In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs, and 1 1/2 c. flour; stir well to combine. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 c. at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.

5.) Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn in bowl to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in warm room until doubled in volume (about an hour).

6.) While dough is rising, melt 3/4 c. butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 3/4 c. brown sugar, whisking until smooth. Pour into greased 9/13 inch baking pan. Set aside.

7.) Melt remaining butter, set aside.

8.) Combine remaining 3/4 c. brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

9.) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and roll into an 18x14 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tbsp melted butter, leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered. Sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture. Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 2 tbsp. melted butter.

10.) With serrated knife, cut into 15 pieces. Place cut side down in prepared pan. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume.

11.) Preheat oven to 375.

12.) Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool for 3 minutes, and invert pan onto serving platter. Scrape remaining filling from pan and drizzle onto rolls.

13.) Give them to somebody or take them to an office somewhere. Otherwise, they will scream your name until you devour the entire pan.

Sea-Doo Project: Volume I

Recently my husband and I decided to purchase a couple of Sea-Doo jet skis. I owned a little 1997 Kawasaki 750 ZXI several years ago, and have kicked myself every summer since selling it. The move to southern Florida has resulted in a lot of kicking.

Fortunately, since we're not picky and my husband is a boat mechanic (as are many of his friends) always looking for a project, we decided to buy used for an excellent price. We found 2 skis on a 4-ski trailer (which we'll sell and replace with a double trailer) that need minimal work mechanically, and the hulls are in great shape. Between my husband and his friends, the plan is to have them registered and in the water before the end of summer. Well...before the end of everybody else's summer. If not for the work schedule and the boys being underway the entire month of July, it would be much sooner.

While the boys are in charge of mechanical improvements, I'm in charge of cosmetics - and boy, do I have some awesome ideas!

I decided to blog the progress - and in doing so, I'm providing pictures from beginning to end!



This little yellow GTI will likely be mine because it's the smaller of the two. I can't even attempt to tell you what it needs mechanically, though Trever has listed a few things over and over to me. It goes right over my head; all I know is that the engine itself is in good shape, and whatever it needs won't dent the pocketbook. Cosmetically I plan to either replace the deflector or sand it down and gel-coat it. I'll also either replace the handlebar pad or Trev said there's some stuff you can use to scrub the weather and water-wear off of it. I already have a seat cover custom designed and ready to order. I'm also planning to remove all of the graphics/decals and go crazy with others of colors of my choosing. When I'm through with this ski it will be unrecognizable and most likely a royal blue and black accenting the yellow (if I decide to keep the yellow, that is...the entire ski is white so there's still a possibility that might not happen). I've also picked out some sweet diamond plated royal blue traction mats. Gorgeous!

This one is a GTX and is actually pretty much ready for the water. Trever still has a few things he wants to do with it (and I definitely want to get my hands on it and make it look better) but it's basically mechanically ready to go. It needs a seat cover ASAP, which we've already designed and it's ready to order as well. I'd also like to either replace the handlebar pad or remove it altogether. Trever would rather simply remove it so it looks "simple & badass", but I'm not sure if we'll do that or not. Obviously the deflector is in excellent shape, so I won't be touching that. I will, however, be replacing the traction mat and I also would like to go carbon fiber blacks and dark greys with the decals. Maybe something with dragons...

OK, folks...here we go!!