We're So Crabby

Crab legs make me happy. The cracking, the butter, the deliciousness... I smile just thinking about them. While thinking about how I'd like to make my own, I started searching for somewhere to buy my live crabs. I found this...Ms. Apple's Crab Shack. I immediately asked Rocket Man if we could try this out sometime. He was so excited that we decided to have a little seafood boil that night! 

I stopped at the store and picked up some extra items to throw in the pot while Rocket Man and cousin went to see Ms. Apple and get the crabs. They also picked up some of the garlic crab dip that Ms. Apples makes. That was AMAZING. 

Once home, we got out our big pot and threw in the following items:

• Zatarains spicy crab/shrimp boil bag
• Half a bag of petite red potatoes
• One package of corn on the cob (cut in half)
• Half of a sweet onion
• Half of a polish kielbasa sausage

We let that boil for about 10 minutes and then threw in a pound of shrimp. While that was cooking, I added in our beautiful crabs. As soon as their little blue bodies turned pink, it was time to take them out. 

We sat down to eat and made a huge, beautiful, crabby mess. I cannot wait to try this again. 

P.S. - My photos are taken with an iPhone and I am by NO MEANS a food stylist. Sorry for their poor quality. 

New Year's Day Dinner

In my family we have a tradition - eating black eyed peas for luck in the coming year. I have always gagged (and I don't mean just turned up my nose, I mean GAGGED) when those peas came my way. I managed to stomach one black eyed pea just to go with tradition. Ew. Sorry Dad....


This year - I'm bucking traditions! No more gagging. I had a hankerin' for some pierogies and a really yummy roasted chicken. And I wanted to spend some time cooking.


Rocket Man introduced me to pierogies of the frozen variety. I thought I could make them better and tastier - from scratch. Why not try? I also love to make a yummy roasted chicken - herbs, lemon, garlic, carrots, etc. Makes my stomach warm and my heart happy. Success! I can't wait to try making this dinner or a variation again!! Maybe salmon or steak as the meat next time? 


Pierogies

Dough

• 2 cups flour, plus more for rolling dough
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into small pieces
• Filling of your choice- Loaded Potato Filling recipe below
• Egg wash for sealing 
• Olive Oil for sauteing

Mix together flour and salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl beat the egg and add it to flour mixture. Mix in butter and sour cream and combine well until the dough is no longer sticky. I mixed this by hand with no problem - using my hands to really get the consistency I wanted.  Form a ball with the dough, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes  to overnight. Refrigerate for a maximum of 2 days. I could only wait 30 minutes. I was too excited. Okay, maybe 29 minutes.


Filling

• 8 to 10 petite red potatoes (leave the skin - it adds flavor!)
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic (whole and peeled)
• 1/4 cup cold milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream 
• 1/8 cup butter
• 1 package of bacon bit (I cheated... but they were real bacon!)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash and then boil potatoes with whole garlic cloves until tender.  Remove from heat and drain. Add in milk, sour cream, bacon, butter, cheese. Mash until creamy and season with salt and pepper as desired. You may wish to add more milk or sour cream to achieve correct consistency. This made a large batch - set it aside to eat later in the week. Who doesn't love some comfort food during a hectic week?


Assemble 
Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap until 1/16" thick. Cut circles of dough using a circle cookie cutter, biscuit cutter, or drinking glass. I used a Tupperware dumpling maker, and it gave me good sized pierogi. Place a tablespoon of filling (or less, depending on the size of your dough) on each circle, brush edges with egg wash and fold dough over to create a semi-circle. Press edges of dough together using a fork, and a bit more of egg wash to really stick. 


Cook
Boil a large pot of water. When at a full boil, drop in a handful of pierogi at a time. Boil for 7-8 minutes. Watch for pierogi to float and then remove from water and pat dry. Repeat with desired amount of pierogi as you make room removing each finished piece. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add pierogi in a single layer, and turn when nicely browned and crispy.




To tell you the truth, I was a little scared as I went to make these - they seemed so involved. They weren't. They were time consuming. And took a little patience. But they turned out really, really tasty. Rocket Man loved them. He loved my chicken, too. You really can't go wrong with a great roast. 

Keep it cool... Or...warm.

Tonight I completed another of my pinterest pins and I'm very excited and pleased with the way it turned out! It's adorable! What is it, you ask? It's my handy, dandy ear warmer headband!

Old Kentucky Bombardier Cookies

It's been a banner day for great recipes! Rocket Man's roommate (we'll call him... Odin, not sure why) was super excited to share his family recipe for Bombardier Cookies (AKA No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies). 


The last time Odin's daughter was visiting they made the Bombardier cookies together and I got to sample them. These cookies are legit. They come from a book that Odin's family (the Lewis Clan) printed to share their recipes. 


While we were making the Hallo-WING-ies we also made our batch of cookies. Try them! They take all of 10 minutes to make. 


Bombardier Cookies


Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 c. sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 c. cocoa
• 3 cups oats
• 1/2 c. peanut butter
• 1 tsp butter (in addition to the stick above)

1. Mix the first stick of butter, sugar, sweetened condensed milk and cocoa in a saucepan. 
2. Bring to a boil and boil for one minute - stirring all the while to prevent burning. 
3. Remove from heat and stir in oats, peanut butter and 1 tsp of butter. 
4. Drop by large spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Allow to cool until hardened. 

Happy Hallo-WING-ie

Happy Halloween Weekend! 

It's also Florida vs. Georgia weekend. Rocket Man is a huge Gator fan and wanted to make a run down to the local produce/salsa store. On the way there we were talking about what to do for the game and if we wanted to go grab wings at the sports bar.  Since I'm on a new workout kick thanks to my fun co-workers, I'm trying not to eat fried food (my candy). So, I suggested we just run to the grocery and buy a bag of frozen wings and I'll make some "heathier" wings? I can even make a delicious blue cheese dip (not healthier, though). He sounded hesitant but agreed. And off we went. 


We got home and I started defrosting the wings while I made our blue cheese dip. The boys were playing around with changing the oil in the cars and the dog was following me around like he was lost. I gave up for a few and watched the Florida State game. 


Soon after the oil was changed and the dog was happy and the Seminoles beat the Wolfpack, Rocket Man decided to take one of the bags of wings (we'd bought two) and grill his own wings (with a little nudging from yours truly). 


Our little football meal turned out really yummy. Below are the recipes we used. Hope you like them!


Blue Cheese Dip
Ingredients:

• Blue Cheese Chunks
• 1 to 2 Tbsp green onions
• Sour Cream (buy the Fat FREE!!!)
• Mayonnaise (I like the olive oil version of this)
• 1 tsp white vinegar (or whatever you have in the cabinet)

The key to this dip is to use your judgement. I usually throw in a scoop of mayo and two scoops of sour cream. Then throw in the blue cheese and green onions. Mix it up and add in the vinegar. Mix again. Adjust the sour cream and mayo to your liking. 

The boys sat here and ate the dip with their fingers. No wings, no celery. Straight. 

On to the wings: 

"Healthier" Buffalo Chicken Wings

Ingredients: 

• Frozen chicken wings (no breading, no flavoring, etc)
• Franks Wings Buffalo Hot Sauce

1. Make sure the wings are nice and defrosted. Pour 1/4 of the Franks Hot Sauce in the bag. Set them in the fridge to marinate for about the length of one Florida State football game. 
2. Pull these babies out of the fridge. Turn your oven on to broil and move the rack down to the second to lowest rung (but not the lowest). Line the wings up on a pan (preferably one with sides). 
3. Broil the wings for 6 minutes on the first side. Pull them out and turn them over. Broil for another 5-6 minutes or until they are nice and crispy. Take 'em out and put on a plate. 
4. Take more of that Franks Hot Sauce and drizzle it over the wings to your satisfaction. 
5. Eat. Put some of the blue cheese dip on the wings. Eat more. 

"Healthier" Buffalo Grilled Wings

Ingredients: 

• Franks Hot Sauce
• Sweet 'n Spicy BBQ Sauce
• Garlic Salt
• Montreal Steak Seasoning

1. Make sure the wings are nice and defrosted. Pour 1/4 of the Franks Hot Sauce in the bag. Set them in the fridge to marinate for about the length of one Florida State football game. 
2. Pull these babies out of the fridge. Turn your grill to medium (you don't want to put them directly on the flame).
3. Grill these babies for 20-30 minutes (depending upon how hot your grill is). Turning every 5 to get them nice and crispy. 
4. Pull them off, serve with the blue cheese dip. 
5. Smile. They are delish.