Recipes

Margarita Night!

Well, not really. We were really just having a game night with another couple. But I decided to make club-style turkey enchiladas, so Andrew made margaritas to go with. I’m not really sure how the margaritas are made, only that Andrew refuses to use a mix since freshly squeezed fruit juice tastes better! So you’ll have to go to him if you want that recipe. But here’s the recipe for the enchiladas. The recipe says it serves 4 (which it did), but I know Andrew could have (and would have) eaten more.

Margarita optional, but generally necessary πŸ™‚

Prep time: 20 minutes
Bake time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

8 bacon strips, chopped
1/2 c. chopped sweet red pepper
1/3 c. chopped onion
10 oz. thinly sliced cooked turkey, shredded (I used sandwich meatΒ  in a container)
1-1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
8 yellow corn tortillas (6″), warmed (I opted for flour tortillas instead)
1 carton (10 oz) refrigerated Alfredo sauce
1/4 c. milk
2 c. shredded lettuce
1 can (14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, well drained

1. In a large skillet, saute the bacon, red pepper, and onion until bacon is crisp and vegetables are tender; drain. Cool slightly.
2. In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bacon mixture, 1 cup cheese, salt, and pepper.Β  Place 1/2 cup turkey mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a greased 9″x13″ pan or baking dish. In a small bowl, combine Alfredo sauce and milk; pour over top.
3. Cover and bake at 350F/180C for 25 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Garnish with lettuce and tomatoes.

Daily living · Recipes

Starting Christmas Traditions

True to form, I could fall asleep the night before Christmas. I told you, I get really excited about this holiday! I was exhausted from baking Christmas Eve, but that didn’t seem to help me fall asleep any faster. Christmas seems to make me 8 years old again, every single year!

My mom always made some sort of Christmas breakfast for us. Obviously, my mom wasn’t around to do that this year, so I had picked out a yummy frittata to try. I had already torn up bread for the soft bread crumbs, and I had chopped the vegetables the night before, so this was pretty quick and easy to throw together. We opened presents while it was baking.

A present from my parents

While I was getting the frittata out of the oven and on plates, Andrew made mimosas!

Frittata & mimosa... that hits the spot!

I told Andrew that this is what I wanted for one of our traditions: Christmas morning brunch with mimosas (orange juice for future kids!) and coffee and…

He's a mean one... Mr. Grinch!

…watching one of my favorite Christmas movies! It was such a great Christmas morning, I really couldn’t complain about being away from home. After we relaxed together for awhile, I went to finish that gingerbread cheesecake, and Andrew did some cleaning for me.

Another tradition I hope we continue? Always having a full table for Christmas dinner. Being in a different country, we weren’t going to have our family with us for the holiday. But neither were a lot of our friends here. So we had two other couples over for dinner. Andrew did most of the meal: he grilled prime rib and roasted vegetables for a side dish. So I decided I was making an appetizer:

These are called Caprese Skewers, and I found the recipe on Pinterest. Appetizers are often kind of tedious to make, but these came together fairly quickly! I thought they were absolutely delicious, and we only had a few left over. Plus they’re in Christmas colors — what more could you want? πŸ™‚

Andrew’s dinner was fantastic! Everything tasted wonderful, and I’m pretty sure no one left hungry!

If you would like the recipe for the grilled ratatouille that we had, let me know, but here is a very similar one from Bobby Flay. The only big difference in ours was some sherry vinegar. See all of those rolls in the picture? Yeah, they ALL got eaten! Who knew 6 people could eat so much bread?! πŸ™‚

After dinner, I almost forgot about my most anticipated tradition: the pickle ornament! I don’t remember when I heard about the custom of finding the pickle ornament on the tree, but I wanted a pickle ornament since then! Andrew’s mom sent us one this year, and I was thrilled to be able to start the tradition! Since we don’t have kids yet, I made our unsuspecting dinner guests play the game.

Our pickle ornament-finders got a special gift: a gingerbread cookie making set. I’m excited to keep that tradition going as well as the others we started this year!

Our guests left fairly early so they could do what we did: call home! We spent several hours on the phone calling our parents and grandparents. A perfect Christmas? No, but it was a great Christmas, and it was our first Christmas as a married couple!

Merry Christmas 2011!
Recipes

Holiday Butter Cookies

I think I actually made these cookies by accident one year. I was looking for a sugar cookie recipe (I always managed to lose the one I had used the year before), and I found this one. I didn’t even realize it said “butter” cookies instead of sugar cookies. It was probably my favorite mistake I’ve made! I realized how I love these butter cookies so much more than sugar cookies. I have always gotten compliments on these, and they’re so pretty when topped with Royal Icing!

Makes: 6-7 dozen, depending on size of cookie cutters used

2 c. butter (4 sticks), softened
2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 t. baking soda
1 t. lemon juice
1 T. milk
5-1/2 c. flour

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. In a large mixing bowl, blend together butter, powdered sugar, and eggs; set aside.
2. Dissolve baking soda in lemon juice; add to butter mixture. Stir in milk and flour gradually.
3. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters. Arrange on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Remove immediately to wire racks to cool. Decorate with icing, sprinkles, or as desired.