homemade lollipops

 

What you need:

 

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup white corn syrup

1 3 oz box of jello (flavor of your choice)

20 lollipop sticks 

Candy thermometer

Parchment paper

First step: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place lollipop sticks (you can also use lollipop molds that can be purchased at Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby)  

Next: In a small pan add sugar butter and corn syrup together. 

Tip: When measuring corn syrup spray cooking spray in measuring cup and it will slide right out!

Heat on medium until sugar has dissolved.

Slowly bring to a boil, and stir frequently.   

Add candy thermometer and cook until it reaches 300 

degrees. 

Pull off heat and add jello to pan. 

Mix until dissolved. 

Pour mixture over lollipop stick. 

CAUTION: Mixture is very hot

Place in refrigerator to cool until harden.

Wrap in plastic wrap for party favors or gift. Also to keep longer!!  

These lollipops are sure to be a big hit !

(this recipe courtesy of Paula Dean)

Italian potatoes

 

 

What you will need

1 tablespoon salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tbl Cajun seasoning
3/4 cup Italian dressing
1 tsp chopped parsley
1/4 tsp minced garlic
8 red potatoes, medium sized
4 tsp. Butter cubed

4 pickled jalapenos (optional)

 

 

line a pan with foil

 

 

Start by peeling and dicing potatoes, add to foil

 

 

Season the potatoes with dry seasonings.

 

  Pour over Italian dressing.

 

  Top with garlic and cubed butter. 

 

 

 Cover with foil, roll ends together to make a packet for the potatoes to steam.

 

 

 Bake at 350 until potatoes are tender.

 

 

 

 

 

 

buffalo chicken dip

Love parties? Tired of making the same old things? Love hot wings? Try out this spicy buffalo chicken dip recipe!

What you will need:

2 packages of cream cheese

3-5 Chicken breasts

Hot wing sauce (as much as you like, we like SPICY so I used about 1/2 of the bottle)

1/2 cup Ranch Dressing

2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

 

 

 

 Cook Chicken Breast

Chop or Shred

Add hot wing sauce

Mix room temperature cream cheese, ranch and hot sauce

stir in 1 cup cheddar cheese
 

mix in shredded/chopped chicken

cover and bake at 350 until bubbly,
 top with additional cheese and  bake an additional 10 minutes until melted

 

Dry Rub

It's that time of the year! Grills all around the country will be firing up soon! Here is my absolute FAVORITE dry rub! I've already used it multiple times this year! I use it on pretty much anything and everything when my hubbs gets in the mood for a little smoke action! If you have any left, pour into a sealed container for up to 6 months!!

 

       Erin's Dry Rub

 

2 Tablespoons Cajun seasoning

1 Teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon dried parsley

1/4 Teaspoon pepper

1/4 Teaspoon Granulated onion

1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Paprika

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar



Great on Chicken, Steaks, Ribs, Burgers and MORE!

Homemade Fries

French fries are the perfect side dish to a big juicy hamburger. They are often found in the frozen food aisle and fried within a few seconds without being given much thought; but when we try to make every other aspect of dinner perfect, why opt for something frozen when you can make them fresh just as easily??

 

 

What you will need

 

1 pound Golden Potatoes

Large bowl of Water

Oil for Frying

Salt

Thermometer

 

 

Peel and slice potatoes (I use an apple slicer)

 

Once your potatoes are peeled and sliced, place in a large bowl of water for 1 hour to get some of the excess starches off.

 

 

 

 

Drain and pat dry

 

Now for the kicker. We will Fry these TWICE.

Once to cook them and make them soft. Then again to Crisp them.

 

 

 

So Round 1 of frying

 

 Heat a pot of oil to 300 degrees, using a thermometer to monitor the temperature. Fry for 5 minutes, they should not brown in this step. Once they are soft, drain again on a new set of paper towels.

 

 

 

Round 2 of frying

 

Heat the oil to 400 degrees. (HOT HOT HOT!) Fry until golden brown and crispy!!

 

Drain, salt and serve!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love these with Fry Sauce

 

 

 

 

Fry Sauce

When we lived in Oklahoma, I loved a certain burger joint that served homemade fry sauce. Being back in Alabama, Nowhere sells it!!! Who knew it could be so easy to make though???

 

 

What You Will Need

 

1/3 cup ketchup

1/3 cup mayonnaise

 

 

Stir and serve!!! So complicated, right? Quick, Easy and Delicious!

Hamburger Mix

I don't know about you, but burgers just scream summer to me! I love to kick them up a notch each time I make them because I don't think you can ever stop making something better. I usually use the same burger mix and experiment with different toppings. Yesterday, we made bacon cheese burgers and they were DELISH!!!  The kicker? I fried my burgers in BACON FAT! oh yes, I went there and I'd do it again. Here is what I use in the meat mixture. I use 80/20 ground beef

 

What  You Will Need

 

Ground Beef (3 pounds)

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/2 Tsp fresh minced garlic

1/2 Tablespoon salt

1 Tablespoon Cajun Seasoning

1/2 Tablespoon Pepper

1 Tsp Onion Powder

 

 

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, form into six 1/2 pound burgers.

Fry in bacon fat

 

 

I topped with my special Fry Sauce, fresh tomatoes, shredded lettuce, bacon and cheese. Served on a freshly toasted potato roll

 

 

 

Ultimate garlic bread

What you will need

 

6 cloves roasted garlic, mashed into a paste (I made garlic oil earlier today, so I used the poached garlic that I saved from that)

1 cup shredded Italian cheese
1 stick of butter, room temperature

 

 

 

 

I go heavy on the garlic but cut back if you aren't a big fan. (and don't try to kiss any vampires afterwards, well or anyone) I actually used garlic confit instead of roasting in the oven. I made a large batch of garlic infused oil and saved the poached garlic for this recipe and it was fantastic!

 

Mash the roasted garlic into a fine paste.

Stir in to 1 stick of room temperature butter
Add in cheese

Slather over a french loaf that has been cut lengthwise in half

Bake at 400 degrees until the bread is crusty and topping is gooey and melted

 

Slice and Serve 

Stuffed Zucchini

Our garden has been over producing like crazy here lately with the amount of rain we have been getting here in the south. Not only do I already have a freezer FULL of squash and zucchini to last half of a century, but I have also been playing around with different cooking techniques. This one was delicious. Stuffed Zucchini. oh yes. I went there

 

 

What you will need

 

3 zucchini, cleaned and cut lengthwise. center scooped out

1 pound ground beef

6 cherry tomatoes

1 cup of Italian breadcrumbs

1 cup Italian blend cheese

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp onion powder

2 cloves garlic, minced

 

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

 

After washing your zucchini, cut lengthwise and scoop the center out. I went fairly deep and packed them as full as I could with the delicious filling.

 

For the filling start by browning your ground beef

 

Season with salt, pepper and onion powder

 

Once it is about halfway cooked, drain the excess grease off

 

Add in chopped cherry tomatoes and garlic to your ground beef and cook until the tomatoes start to get soft.

 

 

Remove from heat

 

In a large bowl combine meat mixture with breadcrumbs and cheese

 

stuff zucchini and pack in the filling

 

bake at 450 until the zucchini is soft. (This does not take long since the zucchini is hulled out so keep an eye on them.) Remember that your filling is already cooked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove from oven and drizzle sauce of your choice over them

 

I covered with my easy homemade pasta sauce. GET THE RECIPE HERE

 

 

These made 6 stuffed zucchini and they are so delicious and filling! My husband has asked for me to make this again this week!

Homemade Biscuits

What you will need:

2 Cups All purpose Flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 pinch of salt

8 tablespoons of butter

3/4 cup milk

Stir together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder

Cut in butter

YES BUTTER!

Why??

Because Butter has FLAVOR!

It should start to look like Cornmeal

Make a well in your mixture

add milk

mix

add mixture on floured surface

flatten about an inch thick

use a glass or biscuit cutter

 to cut biscuits to ensure they are the same size

 

Bake 425 for 10-13 minutes

add some extra butter over hot biscuits

Yellow Cornbread

Love Cornbread?? Hate when it comes out flat dry and crumbly? Try out this yummy sweet cake like cornbread. It's sure to knock your socks off!!

What you will need:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

3 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup of oil

Stir together cornmeal,sugar,salt and baking powder

Add Flour

Stir in one egg

Add Milk

Then Oil

Stir until smooth and looks like cake batter

Bake at 400 until golden

(depending on oven, 18-22 minutes)

Make sure to coat pan with nonstick cooking spray

or a little extra oil

WARNING: This is NOT your moms cornbread

THIS IS ADDICTIVE