I've been making crepes since the 80's. One day, my mom showed up at my house with a crepe maker. Why on earth she randomly bought me a crepe maker has always confused me...but I'm glad she did. (That's right...sometimes moms know stuff!!) I've had so much fun with it over the years. Yes...I still use it today. I've done mostly sweet crepes with it....but I have done savory as well. But never fear!! If you don't have a mom who brings you random things like crepe makers,  you can use the old tried-and-true method of pouring the batter in a non-stick skillet and that works fine, too. Crepes are yummy! And fancy, too!

Crepes



1 ½ cups milk
2 tablespoons oil
3 eggs
1 ½ cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons sugar

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend on high until well combined. Batter should be thin.

In a greased crepe pan, pour about 3 – 4 tablespoons of batter. Swirl pan to distribute batter. Cook until very light brown then turn over to cook other side. Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining batter.

* For savory crepes...just eliminate the sugar!

Filling:

1 8-ounce package cream cheese
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup powdered sugar

Mix cream cheese and heavy cream on medium speed. Gradually add powdered sugar until well combined.

Spread about 3 tablespoons of filling onto crepe, then fold.

Top with your choice of toppings:

Fresh fruit
Caramel sauce
Chocolate sauce
Anything yummy, creamy or delicious

See all this stuff right here?

Throw it all in a blender!

Until you get this!

You want it to look like this. It's basically a very thin pancake batter.

Here's my nifty crepe maker from the 80's!

The crepes turn out nice and lacy and almost paper thin.

Here's the skillet method. Pour some batter in and swirl it around. Make sure you use some cooking spray in that pan even though it's a non-stick pan. You really want the batter to move!

These crepes are a little thicker but still good! The thickness of the pan-made ones are more like a flour tortilla.

There's hardly any difference in looks. (Pan-made on the left. Crepe maker-made on the right.) Only a little difference in texture and none in taste!

Now...see THIS stuff?

Throw it in a mixing bowl....

..until it looks like this! This stuff is the yumminess you stuff your crepes with. Then you put fruit, sauce or whatever on top of that!

Who says a casserole has to be a main dish? Not me! Here in the south...at every potluck and food gathering...someone brings a corn casserole. I don't think I'd ever had corn casserole before moving here but I found out quickly, it's a staple amongst these southern eaters! Now I see why! I made this the other night and we really enjoyed it! The recipe is a one-bowl wonder...using a boxed corn bread mix...but that doesn't make it any less delicious! Next time you need a quick side dish, think about this. It's a great recipe to have on hand!

Quick Corn Casserole

1 (15-1/4 ounces) can Whole Kernel Corn, drained
1 (14-3/4 ounces) can Cream-Style Corn
1 (8 ounces) package Cornbread Muffin Mix
1 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) Butter, melted
1 Large Egg, beaten
1 to 1-1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large 13-inch x 9-inch casserole dish.

In a large bowl, combine whole kernel corn, creamed corn, cornbread muffin mix, sour cream, melted butter and beaten egg.

Pour corn mixture into casserole dish.

Bake 45 minutes to an hour, or until golden brown.

Remove casserole from oven and top evenly with cheddar cheese.

Return to oven until cheese is melted, approximately 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

This is it! This is all you need!

 

 

Dump everything in a big bowl and give it a stir!

 

 

Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish!

 

 

Bake it up then sprinkle some cheese on top. 

Return to the oven until...

 

 

...it looks like this!

IT Guy is pretty easy to please. As long as I stay away from fish or Chinese food, he'll eat just about anything. He was raised on a farm, so he's a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy but he also loves casseroles. Leftovers? Yup...he's all over 'em. One thing that's a favorite and a guaranteed hit every time is country fried steak. He LOVES it. I don't make it that often...maybe just a few times a year...but when I do, the man is putty in my hands. The recipe is easy and delicious and if you want to please the love of YOUR life....like I do...then make this.

Country Fried Steak



6 3-ounce cube steaks
Salt & pepper
Salt and pepper cube steaks. Set aside.


½ cup milk
2 eggs

In a medium bowl or a large zip top bag, combine ½ cup milk and eggs.


1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a pie plate or a large zip top bag, crush crackers to fine crumbs then add the flour and the spices. Dredge cube steak in cracker crumb mixture, then egg mixture then cracker crumb mixture. Repeat until all cube steaks are covered. Heat 3 cups of oil in a large skillet and fry steaks for 10 minutes. Turn over and cook an additional 5 minutes. Remove steaks from oil and drain. Place steaks on a plate and keep warm in a 225 degree oven. Pour all oil off but 1 tablespoon and the cooked bits to be used for the gravy.

4 cups milk
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Combine milk, flour and salt & pepper. Stir well and pour into the skillet with the 1 tablespoon of oil and the cooked bits. Heat and stir until thickened. Serve over meat and with mashed potatoes.

Let's begin, shall we?

Season the steaks.....both sides!

Crush the crackers into fine crumbs.

Then add the flour and spices.

Combine the eggs and milk. I use gallon size 

zip top bags for the dredging and dunking process. 

I just find it easier and less messy.

Here's the meat all ready to go in the oil. Make sure 

the oil is hot before you put the meat in!

Fry it up....10 minutes on one side...

Five minutes on the other.

Transfer the meat to a plate when it's done

 then pop it in the oven to keep warm.

Here's the stuff for the gravy.

Mix it up....

..then pour it into the same skillet you fried 

with meat in. Make sure you pour off all the oil except 1 tablespoon!! And leave the crunchy bits in the pan, too!

Yummy gravy!!

I love scones. I didn't always love scones, but I love them now.I guess it took a while to educate my palate to appreciate them. I think what I love more than eating them, is making them. There are just so many different options when it comes to flavors. One of my favorite combinations of flavors is white chocolate and raspberries so I figured it would be good in a scone. Was I right? Oh yeah...I was right. These disappeared pretty quickly around here. They were delicious!

White Chocolate Scones with Raspberries

3 cups flour

2/3  cups sugar

5 teaspoons baking powder

pinch salt

2 sticks butter, chilled and cut into chunks

1 egg - beaten

3/4 cups heavy cream

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking pans with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using the paddle attachment, add the butter chunks. Combine until mixture is crumbly.

Combine the cream and beaten egg. Add slowly to the flour/butter mixture until well combined. Add white chocolate.

On a floured work surface, dump out the scone mixture. Shape into a round. Sprinkle frozen raspberries on top and gently work dough so raspberries are dispersed evenly.

Gently roll dough out into a 14 inch circle then cut into triangles. Place scones on prepared baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Drizzle with glaze.

Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons milk

Combine ingredients into a medium mixing bowl and stir until smooth. Add enough milk to make thick glaze. Drizzle over cooled scones. Allow to set.

Here's what you'll need to make these awesome scones.

 

 

Combine the dry ingredients.

 

 

Add the butter chunks until the dough is crumbly. You'll 

want to see some small butter chunks in the dough.

 

 

Combine the egg, cream and vanilla.

 

 

Pour that into the dough.

 

 

Then stir in the white chocolate chips. This is what you 

want it to look like.

 

 

Dump it onto your work surface.

 

 

Sprinkle the raspberries on top. Make sure the raspberries 

are frozen so they don't break down too much in the dough.

 

Roll out the dough into a circle...or whatever shape you want...

 

 

..then put them on parchment paper lined baking sheets.

 

 

Bake them until they are nice and golden.

 

 

Whip up your glaze them drizzle the cooled scones.

My first attempt at Cake Pops. I thought this design looked pretty harmless and easy to do. I took my time and I thought they turned out pretty good. K helped me place the candy on top and I have to say, I think she did a GREAT job! Maybe someday, when I'm not so overwhlemed with cooking, I'll try my hand at something a little more involved. Oh yeah...and I only ate one!! Go me!!

This recipe can still use some tweaking. But hey...that's what cooking's all about right? The overall concept is good, I just need to fine tune it. I decided it would be fun to use mugs to serve this dish, but of course the filling can be used in a regular 9x13 casserole, as well. In fact...this recipe is one that I've used for years but never in this way. But I think it's a unique way to serve it. Just different, I guess. I'm always searching for ways to mix things up. IT Guy loves it when I do that. Not.

The Triple "C" ~ aka Chicken Casserole in a Cup

1 sheet puff pastry or 1 can refrigerated Country Style Biscuits

3 cups cooked chicken – cut up in chunks
1 14 ounce bag frozen mixed veggies
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream sour cream
1 clove garlic
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Chunk chicken and place in a large bowl. Set aside.

Saute onion and garlic in a skillet until soft. Add the soup and sour cream, salt & pepper. Add the chicken.  Stir to combine and heat through.

Spray the insides of 5 - 6  large oven proof coffee mugs. Fill 2/3 full with chicken mixture. Cut rounds of puff pastry to fit the coffee mug or place 1 biscuit onto the top of the filling.

In a small bowl, beat one egg with a little water then brush mixture over the top crust.

Bake at 350 until bubbly and hot and pastry is puffed and golden about 20 - 30 minutes. Allow cups to cool before handling. 

To make in a 9x13 casserole dish, place chicken filling in the bottom of the dish, then place 1 sheet of puff pastry or the biscuits on top. Cook at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until topping is lightly browned.

Here's whatcha need. I used puffed pastry but canned, 

refrigerated biscuits would work well.

Saute the onion and garlic. Then add the soup and 

sour cream, salt & pepper.

Add the chicken and veggies.....

...mix well and heat through.

Okay...so a little sidenote here. The mugs I used were the Starbucks city mugs. Too big. They would have worked really well had I used only 4 mugs. I started with 6 then pared it down to 5...still not what I wanted in the end. I wanted the crust to come up to the top of the mug. I think one thing that prevented my puffed pastry from puffing as much, was the fact that I had to roll it out to get 6 crusts. I think. Everything tasted great, just not what I'd pictured for the end result.

Fill your cups 1/2 to 2/3 full with the chicken mixture, 

depending on the size of your mugs.

Cut your puffed pastry rounds. 

(Or your biscuits...whatevah.)

Place on top of the chicken mixture. Brush with egg 

mixture to ensure a nice golden crust.

Bake it up! MAKE SURE TO LET THE HANDLES 

COOL BEFORE PICKING THEM UP!!!