February 2012 ~ Colie's Kitchen

Feb 16, 2012

How to Make a Decorative Pie Crust

Not too long ago I set out to make a pie to serve after our Sunday family dinner. I wanted to have a pretty crust on my pie but in all honestly I didn’t have a clue how to make a pretty crust. I remember my Nana always had pretty crust, and my Mom always has too. But how? You can find anything and everything online so why not a video that teaches you how to make a pretty crust? Sure enough I found one! Here is the video and a picture of my crust! What do you think?

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Wordless Wednesday: New Dryer! #Lowes

Finally our new dryer is here rain and all!! It was pouring the day it was delivered and it was soaked, but it made it.

Nope, this dryer isn’t fancy and it certainly wasn’t expensive, but it’s a huge upgrade from the dryer I had! Heck working is an upgrade. It’s much bigger, with a buzzer and a light on the inside, and it’s also brand new! My old one was 10 years old. I have a heavy blanket that would have to dry for 3 hours in my old dryer in this dryer it took 70 minutes! Wahoo!! That is awesome!!

I got a sweet deal on it. I paid $399 for it at Lowes with free delivery after price matching it from a Best Buy sale. Best Buy was sold out so Lowes gave me their sale price. It saved me $150.00… not bad! Getting it from Lowe’s was more drama than it was worth and to be honest with you I would never buy an appliance from Lowes again. They had my order so messed up. They tried to deliver it incorrectly twice, the third time it was finally right. I placed the order on a Friday and it should have been delivered on that Monday instead it took 2 weeks because they couldn’t get it right. But it’s here and I am happy to have it.

Like I said it’s not a fancy one, but it works for what I need it for. I didn’t want to spend a lot on a new dryer. Since we moved our utility room is not on the inside anymore, but on the outside. You have to go out a sliding glass door to get to the utility room. Although the room is not exposed to the outside elements it’s totally enclosed, but it’s not air conditioned so it can be warm and humid in there. Spending $900 on a dryer didn’t make sense. Plus I don’t use much on the dryer other than hot, high and on lol!

You have no idea what you have until it stops working!! Oh happy day!!

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Hasselback Potatoes

My husband is Swedish so I am always trying to find recipes I think he would like and that would be familiar to him. I decided I would make Hasselback Potatoes to go along with our dinner one night only to find out my husband had never hear of them lol.

I couldn’t find a recipe for them in my mother-in-laws recipe box which should have been clue one, but I made them anyway. Although they were good I think there is a lot you could do with this particular potato. In some ways I found it bland, but I think you could spruce it up a bit and make these fantastic. I find most Swedish food to be a bit bland so it really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me. They are certainly worth trying!! Get creative!!

Ingredients

4 (8 ounce) baking potatoes
2 tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh Romano cheese
1 tablespoon seasoned dry bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Peel the potatoes, and place in bowl of cold water to prevent browning. Place potatoes into a large wooden or metal spoon. Using a sharp knife, make slices across the potato the short way about 1/8 to 1/4 inch apart, making sure to cut down to the lip of the spoon, not all the way through the potato. The slices should stay connected at the bottom, and the spoon helps keep the depth even. Return the potato to the bowl of water, and proceed with the remaining potatoes.
When all of the potatoes are cut, place them cut side up in a shallow baking dish or small roasting pan. Drizzle with half of the butter, then season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the remaining butter. Sprinkle Romano cheese and bread crumbs onto the tops of the potatoes, and season with a little more salt and pepper. Return to the oven, and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Recipe Source

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Wordless Wednesday: Let's Get Fruity!

I have really been making a point of incorporating fruit into our daily lives. When you just need a snack fruit is an easy go to especially if you pass a big inviting bowl of fruit on the way to the kitchen.

I remember when I was a kid we always had a big bowl of fruit on the table that my parents would pick up at the farmers market. Our house now has the same thing. This is not the best time of year for fruit, so our bowl is a little simple, but I am looking forward to adding peaches, nectarines, and plums.

Someone already ate all of the pears…. ;-)

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Kittencal's Taco Seasoning Mix

I love this taco seasoning mix. I do not buy pre-packed mix anymore. I have heard from a lot of people that they can’t eat pre-packaged mix because of gluten issues, or because of other chemicals that tend to be in pre-packaged products. You don’t have to worry about any of those problems with this recipe because you control everything you put into your taco seasoning. I love Kittencal’s recipes!! Thanks Kitten you did it again!!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons mild chili powder (for the best flavor do not reduce this amount)
½-1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon paprika
2 -3 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional or to taste)

Combine all ingredients (double or triple if desired).

Store tightly sealed in a small glass jar until ready to use

**NOTE** this is only optional, if using the mix for tacos you might want to add in some flour into the seasoned cooked ground beef to thicken, I also add in about 1-1/2 cups tomato sauce and simmer, stirring for 20 minutes over low heat.

Original Recipe

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Mild and Delicious Buffalo Wings

I thought I would post my new favorite buffalo chicken wing recipe just in time for the Super Bowl! This is what we will be having for dinner tonight so I wanted to share the recipe just in case you were still searching for what to serve during the big game!

These are honestly the best wings I have ever eaten! They are mild but have the amazing buffalo flavor just without the killer heat. The great thing about this recipe is it starts off mild but you can easily adjust it to soot the needs of the person eating them.

If you want them to be hotter just add more Franks hot sauce, if the recipe is too hot just add more honey! It’s very easy to adjust based on your preference. I do highly and I mean HIGHLY recommend Franks Red Hot Sauce. It really did make this receipt phenomenal I would never use anything else again!

Ingredients:

2lbs Chicken Wings (I used boneless chicken breast cut into small pieces)
3/4 cup flour
1/2 Tsp. salt
1/2 Tsp. pepper
1 Tsp. garlic powder
Oil for frying

Scott’s Wing Sauce Ingredients: ( I double the sauce recipe)

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup Franks red hot sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons honey

Directions:

Combine the flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a large zip bag. Toss the chicken in the flour mixture, coating completely, then you back up.
Put the coated chicken in the fridge for at least 1 hour. This is very important because it will help the coating adhere to the chicken during frying, and it also helps to avoid having to dip your chicken in egg or milk before dredging it in the flour mixture.
While your chicken getting happy in the refrigerator in a medium saucepan, combine the butter, hot sauce, ketchup, and honey (I highly recommend doubling the wing sauce).
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until a nice it is nice and thick! Set aside.
Heat the oil to 350 degrees.
Remove the chicken from the fridge and fry in the oil until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through. To keep over of your chicken warm while you finish frying it up place it in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet in the over on 200 degrees.
When all chicken is cooked, toss in the sauce until completely coated, or serve it on the side as a dipping sauce!
Enjoy!

Recipe Source

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Taco Chili

This recipe is FANTASTIC! It’s super easy to make and the flavors are incredible. I can’t wait to make this again because it’s just that good. I love anything hearty because it only takes a small amount to fill you up and keep you going. The worth of this recipe is a plus too!! I highly recommend this pot of yumminess!

Ingredients: