Lulu's Recipe Box

Green Beans with Portobello Mushrooms

Here is another one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes that would be great for your upcoming holiday dinners. I love the portobello mushrooms and bacon in this dish. They both give the green beans great flavor and anything is better with bacon as we all know. This green bean dish is more unique and tasty than your typical green bean casserole, in my opinion. A little more healthy too I would think.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. fresh green beans (cut to two inch length)

4 large portobello mushrooms (1 lb.)

3 T. vegetable oil

1/4 cup finely chopped shallots or onions

4 oz. sliced smoked bacon or more if you like (usually 1 slice = 1 oz.)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

Wash the green beans and cut to 2 inch length. Clean out the dark gills of each portobello cup with a spoon. Cut the portobellos into short strips. Steam/blanch the green beans. You want them to be tender but still a little crisp. Drain and rinse with cold water so they don't keep cooking. Set aside.

Heat oil in large skillet and cook mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Add onion and cook a few more minutes. You can remove the onion and mushrooms from the skillet and cook the bacon next or you can cook the bacon ahead of time. I like to cook the bacon ahead of time, so that it can cool and I can tear it up into bite size pieces. Whatever you choose to do, make the sure the bacon is torn into bite size pieces. Add the green beans and bacon to the mushroom and onion mixture in the skillet and warm until ready to eat.

***Recipe from my sister

 

 

 

Creamy Mashed Party Potatoes

I know, Thanksgiving is over. Why would I post about mashed potatoes when most people, like myself are sick of eating them. Don't get me wrong, I love mashed potatoes, but I can't possibly eat any more leftovers.  I'm posting this recipe because we have another holiday coming up in 4 short weeks! Can you believe it? We have our Christmas tree and decorations up but I can't seem to get over the fact that's it's the Christmas season now. Maybe it's the mild temperatures here in Pennsylvania (which I'm not complaining about at all) or the fact that there is no snow yet (again, not complaining : ) ) Anyways, I'm sure many of you are already starting to research and plan what you will be making for the holidays. You will definitely please your guests this Christmas if you make these potatoes. They are the creamiest mashed potatoes you will ever eat and even more wonderful because you can make them ahead of time! They have cream cheese and sour cream, which of course don't make them healthy, but they do make them way more delicious! Trust me, you won't want to go back to regular mashes potatoes after eating these. They are just that good. Put these on your menu for Christmas dinner!

For a 9x13 pan, Serves 12

Ingredients:

5 lbs. premium white potatoes (I use yukon gold)

3/4 stick butter/margarine

12 ounces (1 1/2 packages) cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat cream cheese)

3/4 cup sour cream (I use light)

1 egg

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Directions:

Peel potatoes, cut into smaller pieces and rinse them under cold water. Boil until tender, drain and mash. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and egg at medium speed with a hand mixer or in a big mixer, until well blended. Melt butter/margarine in a microwave safe bowl and add to the mashed potatoes. Then add the sour cream mixture to the potatoes. Beat until light and fluffy with a hand mixer. If you don't have a hand mixer, you could certainly put everything into your big mixer. Salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into a buttered 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with paprika. Brown in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until heated through.

***You could certainly make these ahead of time, refrigerate and bake the day you need them.

*** You can easily make a smaller batch of these. For about eight people, I use less potatoes, 1/2 stick margarine, 8 ounces cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 egg.

 

***Recipe from my mom

Stuffed

Well, is everyone out of their food coma yet? I was stuffed after our big meal yesterday, but it was absolutely delicious. TC and I were very happy to have visitors this year. Thanksgiving break is too short for us to travel back to Iowa, so we convinced his mom and sister to come to us this year! The past two years, it has just been TC and I, so it was wonderful to have the company!

I spent the whole morning in the kitchen whipping up my traditional Thanksgiving favorites. TC was a wonderful helper!

Before dinner, we snacked on some appetizers and sipped champagne. Becca and I went for the big bottle at the store and the four of us finished the entire thing off by the end of the night! : )

TC was the turkey master, checking the temperature, basting and carving the beautiful bird! I used the same recipe from Giada de Laurentis and it was flavorful and very moist.

My absolute favorite stuffing and the only recipe I make is my Grandma Gray's. We ate the entire pan!

These mashed potatoes are to die for! You must make them at Christmas. The cream cheese and sour cream make them the creamiest mashed potatoes! I'll post the recipe soon!

And finally the green beans with bacon, and sauteed onion and portabello mushrooms. The bacon and mushrooms really take these green beans to the next level!

Look how good it all looks on my plate with some homemade gravy on top! Thanksgiving really is one of the best meals ever.

Last but not least, the dessert. Wonderful pumpkin pie made by Ann.

Cheers to a Thanksgiving with family and good food! Lots to be thankful for! : )

I hope you all had a safe and tasty Thanksgiving! I'll be back with some of these recipes this weekend!

 

Thanksgiving & Candy Cane Cookies

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Even though we weren't able to go home to Iowa, TC and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving day. I made all of the traditional food fixings for the two of us, and we put up all of the Christmas decorations. It was nice to stay home and relax together. Here are a few pictures from our meal. If you would like the recipes from our meal, go here! For the pumpkin pie recipe, go to Martha Stewart's website. I used a different pie crust recipe but the filling is from Martha Stewart. 

 

 

 
I'm a little behind on my Christmas Cookie countdown. I didn't get around to baking last weekend so I'm going to have to post two recipes this week to catch up. Today I made one of my favorite Christmas cookies. Candy cane cookies have been a family tradition since I was little. I would always look forward to making these with my mom. They are so fun to make and taste delicious with the almond extract and the crushed candy canes on top. 

 

    

 

Printable Version

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 tsp. vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp red food coloring

1/2 cup crushed candy canes (I put the candy canes in a Ziploc bag and use a hammer to crush)

1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Mix all ingredients through vanilla. Then mix in the flour and salt. Divide dough in half. Set one dough half aside. Put the other dough half back in your mixer with the red food coloring. Mix until combined/the dough is completely red in color.

Chill the dough for at least a few hours. 

When ready, roll out both the red and white dough into thin ropes. Cut into approximately 4-5 inch ropes and place 1 red and 1 white rope side by side. Press together lightly and twist to form a candy cane shape. Don't worry about the dough breaking while you form the candy cane shape. It's easy to repair as you form them. 

 

 
Mix together the sugar and crushed candy canes in a small bowl and set aside.

Put on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for about 9-12 minutes or until set and very light brown brown. Once out of the oven, sprinkle the cookies with the sugar/peppermint mixture. Let cool on pan before moving to cooling rack, otherwise they will break easily.