Luscious Four Layer Pumpkin Cake

Doesn't just the title make you want to drool?

{drip, drip...}

I started making this recipe several years ago after having it on my "Recipes-To-Try" list and oh, my goodness, it is ah-mazing!

No, seriously.

Of course, around here, we love anything pumpkin, so it was an immediate winner, but to make it even more amazing is the feast for the eyes that it is.

It's meant to be something rustic-looking and imperfect, which suits us perfectly, because we're pretty rustic and as far from being perfect as the east is from the west.

Are you ready?

Hold on to your hats, folks!

See what I mean about it not looking perfect?  But what about going-face-down-delicious?  Oh, yeah, baby.

Ingredients:

1 package yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice, divided
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip
1/4 cup caramel topping (or is carmel?  hmmm....)
1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

Grease and flour two round cake pans.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs, and 1 t. pumpkin pie spice on medium speed until well blended.  Pour into pans.  Bake 20-22 minutes or until done. Start dying because of the smell of goodness emanating from your oven.  Cool cakes completely.

Beat cream cheese on medium until creamy.  Add powdered sugar, remaining pumpkin, and 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; mix well.  Stir in Cool Whip.

Remove cakes from pans; cut each in half horizontally with a serrated knife.  Place bottom layer on a serving plate, spread 1/3 cream cheese mixture on top.  Repeat with two more layers.  Do not frost the top.  Lick all remaining mixture from spoon and bowl.  Drizzle with caramel and pecans.  This time, lick any syrup that may have accidentally gotten on your fingers.

If you somehow manage to not eat it all, store the leftovers in the refrigerator.

Leftovers?  What leftovers?

Exactly.

Easy-Peasy, Lemon-Squeezy Breaded Chicken Breasts

Do you ever get into a rut with cooking chicken?  We eat so much chicken around here that I'm surprised we haven't grown feathers.  And while we love chicken and it's a much healthier option than some other kinds of meat, it can get. very. boring. (zzzzzzzz....)

Oh! Pardon me.  I do apologize for that.

The other night in a last minute attempt to find something yummy and easy to do with our thawed chicken breasts I came across this recipe from Taste of Home.

(photo courtesy of Taste of Home)

Ingredients

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley (we used dried, at half the measurement)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Dash paprika

Directions

In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. In another bowl, combine the butter, lemon juice and garlic. Dip chicken in butter mixture, then roll in crumbs.

Roll-up chicken jelly-roll style; place seam side down in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. Drizzle with any remaining butter mixture; sprinkle with paprika.

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35 minutes or until juices run clear. 

**Paco cooked this up for me (what a guy) and didn't follow these directions exactly.  No surprise here.  He didn't roll the chicken up, which didn't seem to effect the cooking time or taste at all.  We also thought it needed just a little more salt and pepper.

This was a hit with all of us! It was quick and easy and tasted spectacular. I love when we find something so easy and tasty.  It will definitely be going on the menu rotation again.

More baking will be coming soon, I promise!  I have a bunch of willing taste testers around here.  

Until then, here's to more Smoochin' in the Kitchen! 

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

Oh, boy.  It's been a while since we've posted any recipes.  Our crazy busy schedule drives me nuts sometimes.  We've been trying a ton of new ones, especially since it's.... baking season!

Wait.  Did you hear that?  I know it was angels singing.

Plus, I get to bake with pumpkin.  I. Love. Pumpkin.  I would marry it, but I think that it's illegal, or something like that.

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it's shut-the-front-door!-kind-of-amazing.  It was an instant hit with my whole family and is now considered one of my favorite fall baking recipes.

This recipe originally came from the Tasty Kitchen.  Oh, my, my, my, my.

(photo from Tasty Kitchen)

Ingredients:

⅓ cups Water
1 can Pureed Pumpkin (15 Oz)
2 whole Eggs
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 box Yellow Cake Mix (18 Ounce Box)
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 cup Brown Sugar, Divided
½ cups Flour
⅓ cups Walnuts, Chopped
4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
¼ cups Granulated Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¼ cups Heavy Whipping Cream

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix together the water, pumpkin, eggs, 1 Tablespoon of vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice until well combined. Add the cake mix and baking soda and mix until just combined.

Grease a 9×13 pan with butter and pour batter into pan.

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, walnuts, and melted butter. Use fingers to sprinkle over the top of the cake. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

For the glaze, combine the other 1/2 cup brown sugar, granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir until all sugar is dissolved.

When cake is finished baking, poke holes in the top with a toothpick. Pour glaze over the cake, making sure to cover all surfaces. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

*I didn't have the ingredients on-hand to make the glaze top the cake with, so I left it off.  In my mind, the cake can stand on it's own two feet, and what tasty feet those are, too.  I would love to try it with the glaze someday, but for now, with five children in the house, we try to avoid sugar comas as much as possible.  I know, crazy, right?

I also used a spice cake mix, and it was wonderful!

Until next time (which is hopefully much more frequently than the last time), here's to more Smoochin' in the Kitchen!

Grilled Peaches and Berries

With summer time still going strong here in Arizona, it's still much too hot to be heating up the oven for much. Of course, I will always heat it up for my baked goods, but I digress.

One of my favorite grill sides is Grilled Peaches and Berries that I discovered a couple of years ago.  It's easier, tidy and lest I forget, to die for in the flavor department.

(source)

This would be a great side or dessert - thinking a la mode, yeah?  It's perfect for a get together or just a family dinner.

Are you ready?

Grilled Peaches and Berries

Ingredients:

3 medium ripe peaches, halved and pitted

1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions:

Place two peach halves, cut side up, on each of three double thicknesses of heavy-duty foil (12 in. square). Sprinkle with blueberries, brown sugar, butter and lemon juice. Fold foil around mixture and seal tightly.

Grill, covered, over medium-low heat for 18-20 minutes or until tender. Open foil carefully to allow steam to escape. Yield: 3 servings.

Penne alla Vodka

It's no news around here that I love my Pinterest.  It's really too bad that it wasn't around when we got married or each time I was pregnant.  Or is it really too bad?

I do love pinning new and different treats that I find.  Sometimes I actually try them.  Seriously.  And then sometimes, I look back over them later and think, "nah. Kids just aren't going to go for that."

Then I found the penne alla vodka recipe.  I knew I was going to have to try it out and hope and pray that everyone loved it, because I had already made up my mind that I did.

(pinned from the kitchn)

Penne alla Vodka
serves 4-6




Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3-4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes (I like chef's cut)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup vodka
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 pound (16 ounces) penne pasta
Parmesan cheese, for serving
Chopped parsley, for serving

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add prosciutto and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 4-5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and cook until softened and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and garlic, stirring to combine, and sauté for 2 more minutes.

Stir the tomatoes, red pepper flakes, sugar, and salt into the onion mixure. Stir in the vodka and increase heat back to medium-high. Briskly simmer for 8 - 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the alcohol flavor has cooked off. Reduce heat to low and whisk in heavy cream.

While making the vodka sauce, bring a large stockpot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente according to package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water before draining. Gently fold the cooked penne and reserved prosciutto into the vodka sauce and continue cooking on low heat for another couple of minutes. (I actually use a little less than one pound of pasta because I like mine very saucy, but it is easier to just cook the pound and add it to the sauce to taste.) Toss with a bit of pasta water if sauce is too thick.

Season with additional salt and red pepper flakes if desired, and serve with fresh Parmesan and chopped parsley.



The results?  Oh. my. gosh.  Everyone loved this!  Even though the red pepper flakes gave it a little kick, it was promptly pronounced a "do-over", which is always a good thing.

**I didn't use any prosciutto for the simple reason that we didn't have any, but I can only imagine how terribly amazing that would make it.  However, if you're looking for a great meat-less dish, this can stand on it's own two feet.

Machaca Beef Goodness

One of the big disappointments in being only half-Mexican is that you get to taste all the amazing homemade food your extended family makes, but no one teaches you.  Dang.  Well, that is if your dad is the Mexican one and is the non-cooker.  So that means I get to learn a lot by trial and error.  And the Internet.  Thank heaven's for the Internet!

For a long time, I've really been wanting to try to make authentic machaca beef.  I found this awesome recipe over at food.com.

(photo courtesy of food.com)

Ingredients:


1 1/2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast
1 large onion, sliced
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon seasoned adobo seasoning (note that this Latino seasoning is made with salt, cumin and garlic and is not the Phillipine versio) or 1 teaspoon salt
6 -8 peppercorns
1 cup salsa

Directions:

1. Place beef in crockpot.
2. Cover roast with remaining ingredients except salsa.
3. Cover crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until roast is tender and can be pulled with a fork.
4. Remove the beef from the crockpot and set the cooking liquid aside.
5. Using two forks, shred beef.
6. Mix beef with salsa, and if you like it a little moister, add some of the cooking liquid to the meat.
7. Adjust the seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary.
8. Use as a filling for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, chimis, etc.

***Here's our review on it:  Oh.My.Stinkin'.Gosh.  Awesome!!  This was incredibly easy and yummy.  We made into burros last night and since I doubled the recipe, there was enough for tacos tonight.  My belly is already growling.

Did you try it?  Let me know how you like it.  In the mean time, here's to more Smoochin' in the Kitchen!

Caramel Banana Muffins

Are you looking for a way to bribe your family one Saturday morning?

Do you find yourself wishing that you had that perfect muffin recipe to make your overnight guests feel like they've stepped into a b&b?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be everyone's muffin-making hero (or heroine, whatever the case may be)?

Are you ready for me to stop asking you nonsensical questions?

Then, have I got a deal for you!

Reverting yet again to my good old trusty Taste of Home recipe collection, a couple of weeks ago, I came across this recipe.  I made them for my family in order to bribe them into doing their chores and within about twenty seconds it looked like the Tasmanian Devil had devoured the whole plate of them.

They really are that good.

(source)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• CARAMEL ICING:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon 2% milk
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Beat in bananas and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture just until moistened.
• Fill paper-lined jumbo muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 23-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For icing, in a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk; bring to a boil. Cool slightly. Beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth. Transfer to a small resealable plastic bag; cut a small hole in a corner of bag and drizzle over muffins. 

*Jamie's notes:

  - I don't have a jumbo-sized muffin tin, so I just used my regular sized, which worked out just fine.  The baking time will be a little shorter, about 18-20 minutes.  

  - Don't forget to drop the pan on the counted a few times after filling them with the batter to get any air pockets out of them.

  - Don't be fooled by the picture of the muffin up there.  The recipe for the icing makes quite a bit and so I just spread it on with a knife rather than the whole messy bag process.  But don't skip the icing, though!  It makes the whole muffin incredible!

This of course is a perfect way to use up those bananas that you're children won't eat because they have spots on them and heaven knows no child (or this mama) will eat a banana with spots on them.  Ew.

Pizza Margherita

Friday night around here is pizza night.  Always.  We love pizza and usually make our own, unless Paco pleads with those big brown eyes of his and I give in.

We usually make just a basic pizza dough and then the regular toppings.  Good, but not anything terribly special.

That is, until I found this recipe from (wait.  can you guess?)...  Yes, Taste of Home.  

I've had the recipe cut out and ready to try for um, a couple of years now.  Well, I finally got around to trying it and it is now our family's most favorite pizza ever.  No, seriously.  You should have seen us inhaling it.  It was enough to bring tears of joy to my eyes.

Traditionally, pizza margherita is meatless, which is fine by me, but not my carniverous hubby.  So I added 1 pound of italian sausage and it was awesome, although it would have retained the same level of awesomeness without it.

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups bread flour
• TOPPINGS:
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes, drained
• 20 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 8 cups (2 pounds) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine the oil, sugar, salt and 1 cup flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 13-in. circle. Transfer to two greased 14-in. pizza pans; build up edges slightly. Cover with a clean kitchen towel; let rest for 10 minutes.
• Spoon tomatoes over dough. Top with basil (savor the fresh smell of that basil!), oregano, cheese (make sure you grate enough for little fingers to grab as they run by), pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil. Bake at 450° for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

*Because I'm having a love affair with my bread machine, I made the dough in the bread machine and I added a little bit of italian seasoning.  Super yummy and easy!

You could also use fresh tomatoes from your garden if you have one rather than the diced tomatoes.  Of course, if, like me, you have a black thumb and you live two miles away from the surface of the sun, you would understand how completely laughable that is for us.

Classic Macaroni Salad

Happy Independence Day, y'all!

(No, we're not Texans, but I still love saying it.)

We are celebrating today the "right" way.  Swimming, fireworks, hot dogs and hamburgers (with homemade hamburger buns), homemade ice cream and my favorite macaroni salad.  How could it get any better than that, y'all?  (Oops, sorry.  It just kind of slipped right in there.)

Ours is chilling in the fridge as I'm writing this and I can't wait to dig right into it.  I might have to take a nibble or two while Paco and the kids are in the pool.  I totally will, too.

I love macaroni salad.  I like it simple and traditional, thankyouverymuch.  I know alot of foodies out there like to jazz it up and change it all up, but to me that's just downright un-American.  Macaroni salad isn't supposed to be all fancy-schmancy where you can't even recognize it.  I know, that makes me way not cool, but I'm okay with that.

So without further ado, here's our family's favorite macaroni salad that I found last summer over at allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 4 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup grated carrot 
• 2 tablespoons chopped pimento peppers (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Rinse under cold water and drain.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, mustard, salt and pepper. Stir in the onion, celery, green pepper, carrot, pimentos and macaroni. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving, but preferably overnight.                

*Um, yeah, we don't add the pimentos.  Sorry, but I just like to keep it as simple as possible.  Plus the thought of trying to sneak those past the kids makes me want to cry.  

I hope your day is filled to the brim and then overflowing with love for our country and the wonderful blessings it's given us... especially macaroni salad!

What are some of your favorite 4th of July recipes?

Breakfast Quiche

Paco loves Jamie, especially when I make him things like Breakfast Quiche.  He is a quiche-loving manly-man.

Last Father's Day, I made him this particular quiche for breakfast and he cried tears of joy.  Tears of joy, I promise.

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
• 12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 cup shredded pepper Jack or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

• Line unpricked pastry shell with a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Bake at 450° for 5 minutes; remove foil. Bake 5 minutes longer; remove from the oven and let cool.
• Sprinkle bacon, cheeses and onion over the crust. In a bowl, beat eggs, cream, salt, sugar and cayenne; pour into the crust. Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

*Of course, for ease and convenience, you could use a prepared pie crust.  But where's the fun in that?  So if you have the time, try it with a homemade pie crust.  

Notice the lack of veggies.  Perfect for Father's Day around here. 

Yup, I'm married to a quiche-lovin' manly-man. 

P-Dub's Cinnamon Bread

Remember last week when I was aghast that I hadn't shared the famous Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond's Cinnamon Swirl Bread with you?

I'm still aghast, I tell you.  Simply aghast.

I made five of these loaves last week.  Five.  I made them to sell at a local homeschool sale and even though I had made it five times and should be absolutely sick at the sight of them, they stilled smelled wonderful and made my tummy growl.  Thank goodness I sold all of them!

This is definitely a staple around our home, especially since breads like these are so stinkin' expensive at the grocery store.

P-Dub's recipe is the hand-kneadin' way, which I love doing.  I love the rhythm of it, the feeling of solidarity with our pioneer mothers.  Truly, I do.  When I have time.

When I don't, however, I cheat and use the bread machine.  I would have made a lousy pioneer woman.

(this is her picture, of course.  I'm not a pioneer, nor am I a photographer.)

I will give you her recipe and then note the bread machine modifications afterwards.

Get ready for your life to be changed.  Oh, yes.  Your life will be changed.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Milk
• 6 Tablespoons Butter
• 2-1/2 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 3-1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
• Egg And Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
• Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don't boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it's warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you're going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool. Slice and serve, or make cinnamon toast or French toast with it.

**Bread Machine Modifications**

*I usually have softened butter on hand, so I don't worry about melting it.  I do however warm up the milk.

*Make sure when using a bread machine that you add the wet ingredients in the machine before all the dry ingredients.  The order of the ingredients will have to be moved around.

*Add the yeast to the bread machine last, as recommended by all bread machine manufacturers.  I'm not sure if that's the case for just dough, though.  At any rate, I add the yeast last and that works out just fine.

Other than that, I do everything else after the dough making just the same.  And oh.my.goodness., my life is so much better because of it.

The End.

Morning Mix-Up

We love the grand American tradition called "breakfast for dinner".  Really, who doesn't?    I've started putting it on our menu every couple of weeks or so because:

a)  It's so completely, utterly, and beautifully easy.
b) My kids call it opposite day when we do that and sometimes it's all about making those little things into big things, ya know?
c) You can't get too much cheaper than a dozen eggs.

Ding, ding, ding!  We have a winner folks.

This time when I made it, I also served fruit salad (oh, be still my heart. how I love thee, the wonderful concoction dubbed the summer fruit salad.) and The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Swirl Bread.

Wait.

You say I haven't shared that recipe here yet?  Ack!  I much remedy that within the next few days!  It's an absolute staple around here.  That will be shared here soon, you can depend upon it.

Back to our Morning Mix-Up recipe.  This was another one of those recipes I found from The Taste of Home when we were first married and I was more of a fledgling cook.  (Not that I'm super great now, but I do know a wee bit more now than then, thank goodness.)

recipe courtesy of Taste of Home

Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
• 1 cup chopped fully cooked ham
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil  (I used EVOO)
• 6 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• Minced chives

Directions

• In a large skillet, saute potatoes, ham and onion in oil for 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. In a small bowl, beat eggs, salt and pepper. Add to the skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, until eggs are set. Remove from the heat and gently stir in cheese.
• Spoon onto a serving platter; sprinkle with chives. 

Yield: 4 servings.

*Of course, for our family, we had to double it.  We don't eat like a family of four anymore.  What  did that even look like anyway?  I can't remember.  This would also be awesome with bacon or sausage - breakfast or Italian, or Mexican chorizo.  Oh, man.  My mouth is watering.  

Peachy White Sangria

Even though we're not really big drinkers, Paco saw this recipe in his Food Network and knew we had to try it, for Mother's Day, no less.  Should I be concerned that he wanted alcohol on Mother's Day?  Hmmm, I must think this through.

Isn't it so pretty?  Really, it's just a pretty as it tastes.

Peachy White Sangrias

Ingredients:

1 part Peach Schnapps
3 parts white wine
1 part carbonated water
Chopped peaches (and/or other seasonal fruit)

Directions:

Mix schnapps and wine in a glass or pitcher.  Add ice and stir gently.  Top with chopped fruit and carbonated water.  Kiss your hubby sweetly for making you such a treat on a holiday and contemplate now what you have to make for him for Father's Day...

Easy, huh?

(Paco's mom~Rosie, Jamie's mom~Robin,

Jamie's~G-ma Shirley, Jamie, Jamie's sister~Jackie)

The result?  Five happy mamas!

Happy Mother's Day to us!!