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Oven Roasted Lamb Chops
If you want tender, juicy, melt in your mouth lamb chops; this is the recipe for you. Also, if you want tender, juicy, melt in your mouth lamb chops that are super simple and quick; this is really the recipe for you. Most people think making lamb chops is too tough. That it is better to get them at a restaurant because making them at home is too much. I am here to show you that couldn’t be farther from the truth. This recipe will give you the perfect lamb chop every single time. It is also a great introduction to making lamb at home. Lastly, it is a restaurant quality recipe that…
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No Knead Bread
I have never really gotten into baking bread very much. I have played with it here or there, but never really gotten into it big time. Mainly because it is usually time consuming and technical. Meaning that you usually need to let it rise and knead and rise again and knead again. Then you need to either shape it just right and rise again. Then bake it at different temperatures throughout the process or exactly just right. Sometimes you need to spray the oven for moisture. I mean, it is a LOT of work usually. Then I heard about this bread that you do not have to knead, at all! You do not…
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Chicken Vesuvio
I was an Executive Chef at an Italian restaurant for a few years as well as we made a version of this dish at another steakhouse that I was a chef at. Since it is such an iconic Chicagoan dish, it can be found at several restaurants in the area. Needless to say, I have made countless plates of this dish. I have made it with both bone in chicken and boneless breasts. I have made it with peas and without. Here is where I stand and what I have learned. Bone in versus Boneless You can make this dish either way. I prefer to use the bone in chicken as it lends…
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M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies
Saturday all day, my oldest was asking me to make cookies. I said, “I don’t know if I have anything to make cookies?” She looked at the counter and saw a jar of M&M’s and said, “Yes, we do! We have M&M’s!” Well, I couldn’t say no after that. I checked the cabinets and we had everything else we needed to make cookies. We even had about a half a bag of chocolate chips to throw in with the M&M’s. I pulled out the butter and softened it in the microwave for about 10 second intervals, twice, I think I put it on. We were ready to go! Soft cookies vs Crunchy cookies…
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Banana Nutella Bread
We are always looking for new fun ways to use Nutella in our house. I mean, we are Italian! We also use the Nutella from Italy which is slightly different. The girls both love Nutella and so do my husband and I. It was no surprise that I figured out how to swirl it into this simple and delicious chocolate chip banana bread recipe. I mean, the chocolate chips just were not enough! Making banana bread or zucchini bread or cranberry orange bread… any kind of sweet bread is a great project to get the kiddos involved in. They are usually simple dump and mix recipes that don’t require too much skill. My…
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Italian Beef Egg Rolls
I was thinking about this as I was making these yummy bites… are these only a Midwestern thing? Do you all know about and eat Italian beef sandwiches or is it one of our delicious Chicago land treats! Let me know in the comments below if you are not from Chicago land area; have you had, do you know what they are and do you love them like we do! Why egg rolls and not just the sandwich? The story behind these yummy bites is this. We had eaten these about 6 or 7 years ago in a restaurant for an appetizer. My husband talks about them all the time. So finally after…
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Thanksgiving Leftovers
So, it is the Monday after Thanksgiving. Most likely we have already forgotten about the holiday we are onto Christmas. In full shopping mode and thinking about what cookies we are going to make! BUT, we may still be holding onto some turkey, ham and mashed potatoes. If that is the case, here are a few Thanksgiving leftover recipes for you to use up the rest of those yummy bites that we do not want to throw away! Let’s start with the Turkey 2020 of all years is probably where we have the most turkey leftover. We all celebrated with much smaller groups than normal. Even though we gave leftovers to our few…
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Homemade Hot Cocoa Bombs
Ok, so there seems to be a new trend popping up every month. Mainly I believe due to Tik Tok, but also as more and more people are home and cooking a lot more! I think it is great and these are always so fun to try. Some are better than others, but I think that hot cocoa bombs are fun and delish! A little on on the rich side, but yummy chocolaty goodness is never a bad thing in my opinion. Now, I think that many people would rather purchase an item like this than make it. Just for the sheer fact that chocolate can be tricky, who has the time and…
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Homemade Apple Cider
So, if you have been following the blog, you know that we went apple picking last weekend. We have been enjoying orchard fresh apples all week. I made apple crisp stuffed apples, a few pans of apple slices, bourbon caramel apple ice cream and the girls and I have been eating apples for snack all week. They are actually the perfect size for the snacks for the little ones without having any leftover. I was looking at the bowl on Friday and realized we still had a couple dozen apples left. I wanted to make sure that we used them all up before they went bad. While trying to think of the best…
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Apple Slices
I grew up eating apple slices at almost every major holiday event thanks to my aunt Pam. She always baked these from scratch and they were always on the dessert table. I remember the flaky crust and gooey, apple filling. The warm spices and the sweet glaze. The best thing about food is that it creates memories that you never forget. You can smell something or eat something and be transported in time. Why I love food and family so much! When I was thinking of what to do with all of the apples we picked at the orchard, my aunt Dawn and I got to talking about apple slices. I thought, “Yes,…
