Red Velvet Whoopie Pies and Cookbook Giveaway

Am I the only person on earth that never had a homemade whoopie pie? I've had the store bought kind with the chocolate coated cookie and marshmallow filling. Not a fan of those, so I never thought to try any others! Well, I'm now in love with the homemade variety! It is so much better than those marshmallow ones! It actually can't even compare!

Easy Lasagna Soup

These few simple ingredients are all you need to make this quick, easy, delicious, hearty, satisfying, Italian style, soup! Did I forget any descriptive words?

Orzo Veggie Bake

 

I've been eating way too much meat lately, so I started hunting for recipes that only contained vegetables. Well, in this case, vegetables and pasta. I knew that I also wanted an easy recipe. This was all of those things! I love that I didn't need to pre-cook the pasta. I was able to make this main dish using only a large oven safe nonstick skillet and a baking sheet to roast the veggies.

Game Day Small Bites!

This year the big game is all about New York because it's taking place in the home stadium of 2 New York teams. I'm a New Yorker, so this is a huge deal! I don't know about you, but to me, the food served during these football games is just as important as the game! So today I'm sharing some tried and true small bite snack recipes that have a New York theme. The recipes also have a RITZ cracker theme because some of my fellow food blogger friends have created these recipes for RITZ. So these recipes have not only been tried by the creator but also by the people at Ritz! The Ritz company loved the recipes so much that they posted them on Allrecipes.com.

Kitchen-Aid Mixer Giveaway

I'm so happy to have joined forces with some blogging friends to be able to bring my readers a chance to win a KitchenAid mixer! I've been trying to win one of these mixers myself for the past few years! This lovely prize still eludes me! But that doesn't mean you can't win one! 

Meatball Parmesan Dip

This is the kind of dip that makes you want to just keeping eating it until it's all gone! But at parties that is frowned upon! And if you love meatball hero's but hate how messy they are to eat, you're going to love this dip! The only messy part is when you start licking the plate clean after it's all gone...another thing that is frowned upon at parties!

I served this with very thinly sliced, toasted, italian bread. Just lay out all the slices on a cookie sheet and put it under the broiler for about 3 minutes. Keep an eye on it because the bread browns quickly during the last 30 seconds. This recipe is perfect for 4 people but can easily be doubled.

New York City Style Game Day Food!

Photo taken from the top of the Empire State Building

Okay, let me start by saying I'm not a sports fan at all...gasp! But I do love going to those game day parties to munch on great finger foods! My hubby is a huge sports fan and he told me that this year the football game is all about New York! YAY...I'm a New Yorker, so now I have two things in common with 'The Big Day'...great food and my state! I currently live in the suburbs of NY, but it's only a one hour drive to the city. We go there often and love all the fun things to do in NYC. But the best part for me is the amazing food! One of my favorite New York City foods is a push-cart hot dog with onions from the hot dog vendors on the streets of Manhattan. You can find them on just about every corner! I decided to re-create those hot dog onions in my own kitchen! I tried many different ingredients until I was able to get the exact taste of the NYC hot dog onions that I crave and love!

Buffalo Style Oven Baked Ribs

I'm sure you've heard of Buffalo Chicken Wings. Well, I decided to use the same recipe to make my Buffalo Ribs! It worked perfectly! As a matter of fact, I like these Buffalo Ribs more than the chicken wing version!

I used country ribs, which are much more meaty, but you can use any cut of ribs you want. My recipe has a mild to medium amount of spiciness because my kids can't handle too much heat! But just add more hot pepper sauce to kick up the heat level. You can even dip these ribs in a creamy blue cheese dressing just like you do with the chicken wings. I dipped mine in creamy ranch dressing! And don't forget the celery sticks like I did! Give these Buffalo Ribs a try! I know I'll be making these many more times!

Mexican Meatloaf

I love to take a classic meal and give it a slight twist! And since Mexican food is one of my favorites I decided to give plain old meatloaf some south of the border flair! I even topped it with a Mexican style gravy that I call Mexican Pink Sauce.

$50 Cooking.com Gift Certificate Giveaway!

Welcome to the Happy New Year $50 Cooking.com Gift Certificate Giveaway sponsored by the USA Herald and hosted by The Parenting Patch! Two (2) lucky readers will each win one (1) $50 gift certificate to Cooking.com. To enter for your chance to win the Happy New Year $50 Cooking.com Gift Certificate, simply use the following Rafflecopter form. Good luck! Happy New Year! a Rafflecopter giveaway The Happy New Year $50 Cooking.com Gift Certificate is open worldwide. An international winner will receive $50 via PayPal in lieu of the specified prize. The Happy New Year $50 Cooking.com Gift Certificate ends at midnight CST on January 16, 2014. Two winners will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter. The winners will be sent an email and will have forty-eight hours to respond. If no response is received within forty-eight hours, another winner will be chosen. The Parenting Patch and other participating blogs are not responsible for prize fulfillment. Good Luck to all who enter!

Prosciutto Pear Cups Appetizer

I went searching for a new appetizer to serve to my guests on New Year's Eve and I stumbled upon this little gem! I love that it's easy to make but looks very gourmet!  I also love that the prosciutto is cooked because I'm just not a fan of raw prosciutto! The flavors are perfect...slightly sweet with a touch of saltiness!

4 Ingredient Stove Top Pizza

I never knew that making pizza could be so easy! The way I usually make it takes A LOT more time and effort! But this recipe was ready in about 20 minutes from start to finish!

Champagne Cookies

Got Champagne? Then make some cookies! That's what I did with some leftover pink champagne from New Years Eve! These cookies taste very similar to a sweet bread...not too sweet, nice and soft with slightly crunchy edges. And I love how pretty they look! These cookies taste great when eaten with a glass of champagne...or a cup of coffee! You can use any champagne, but I suggest using a not so dry one so that the cookies have some sweetness.

Cream Cheese Penguins

These are almost too cute too eat! But they're delicious so eat them! I've made these many times for parties and they are always a huge hit! I've even made them in a Super Bowl theme with a football shaped cheese ball surrounded by these penguins. Also a huge hit especially with the men! I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com.  I added the dry ranch dressing to the cream cheese for more flavor.

Alfredo...yum!

Doesn't this look like a big bowl of creamy pasta goodness?

 

Roasted Squash Seeds

Well it sort of is...except it's not pasta!

Cannoli Crumb Pie

I can never say 'no' to a new way to make cannoli. I've made Cannoli Dip and a parfait called Cannoli Cream Dessert. So why not make a Cannoli Crumb Pie? This pie got rave reviews from a food friend of mine, so that was even more incentive for me to try it!

Werther's Caramel Apple Tart

My Werther's Prize Pack!

I won that prize from the Werther's Caramel website! The Werther's company was asking folks to upload their favorite caramel recipes to their website. I had a few recipes, so that's exactly what I did! Well, Werther's kindly chose me as the recipient of that generous prize! I was so thrilled! Check out their site and see some of the deliciously creative caramel recipes posted by other home cooks including myself. 

Cauliflower Breadsticks

I've seen this recipe and similar recipes like this one, floating around the Internet for quite a while now! It has been on just about every food page I've visited. I took it as a sign that I need to try it...and so I did!

Amazing 3 Ingredient Crock-Pot Pork

Don't you just love delicious recipes that only contain a few simple ingredients? I purposely search out these kinds of recipes lately! They're so much fun to try and always a great surprise when they taste so darn good! I found this cool recipe on a website called
Average Mom's Wear Capes by Christie O.

Classic Stuffing

I know Thanksgiving has come and gone but stuffing is great any day of the year! I make this as a side dish to chicken, pork chops, ham and even fish! This can also be used as a layer for so many different kinds of savory casseroles! So don't just think of stuffing as a Thanksgiving food! Try it for your everyday meals also!