Cranberry Orange Cheese Spread

My husband's holiday favorite! Even if I have someone else bringing appetizers, I still make this. It's fast, easy, make-ahead, and most of all, delicious!

2-8oz. packages cream cheese, softened
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
few dashes hot sauce
pinch of kosher salt
8 oz. sharp cheddar, grated
2 T. orange marmalade
1/2 t. garam masala or curry powder
3/4 C. Craisins

Combine all ingredients except Craisins, mix thoroughly (I use my KitchenAid). Spread into shallow dish, top with Craisins (pressing in lightly), cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with crackers.

*Note- I just discovered this stuff is brilliant on a leftover turkey sandwich!!

Most delicious vegetarian-friendly stuffing

My sister-in-law is vegetarian. Even though my Thanksgiving dinner has always been vegetarian-friendly, I have tried to come up with dishes that she can eat while also satisfying the rest of us carnivores. This year, I think I have come up with the ultimate stuffing recipe that EVERYONE loved. The guys were shocked when I said it was completely vegetarian!

1 large bag stuffing cubes with seasoning packet
1 small onion, chopped
2 large stalks celery, chopped
1 C chopped crimini mushrooms
2 T. butter
1 C cooked wild rice
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 large apple, diced (I peeled the apple because Brian doesn't like the peel, but you don't have to)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 C vegetable broth
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Saute onion, celery, and mushrooms in butter until tender. In a LARGE mixing bowl, combine stuffing cubes, sauteed vegetables, wild rice, cranberries, pecans, and apple. In in a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together mushroom soup, vegetable broth, stuffing seasoning packet, and pepper. Combine soup mixture with stuffing; mix thoroughly and let stand for about an hour. Scoop stuffing into a large greased baking dish. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes.

Chicken and Snow Pea Stir-fry

I came up with this recipe back when I had a garden containing an abundance of snow peas. It is both fresh and hearty, and one of my favorite things to eat.



Chicken and Snow Pea Stir-fry

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast halves, sliced or cubed
3/4 lb. fresh snow peas
2 t. fresh ginger, grated
1/2 lb. fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 can sliced waterchestnuts, drained
2 T. oil (give or take)

sauce-
1 C. chicken broth
1/4 C. soy sauce
1 1/2 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. Mekong seasoning sauce
1 t. sesame oil
1/2 t. chili flakes
1/2 t. garlic powder

hot cooked Calrose rice


In a small mixing bowl, whisk together sauce ingredients. Set aside.

Heat wok over high heat until almost smoking. Add oil and quickly stir-fry chicken until just cooked (a little pink is okay at this point); remove to plate. Reheat wok, adding more oil if necessary.
Stir-fry onion for 1 minute; add ginger and mushrooms, stir-fry 1 minute. Add snow peas; stir-fry 1 minute; add water chestnuts, stir-fry 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium, return chicken to wok and add sauce mix. Stir-fry until sauce is thickened and bubbly. Serve over hot cooked rice.

Linguine and Clams

I belong to a cooking group on Facebook (big surprise, I know). Recently, one of the members suggested we have a weekly contest. Every Wednesday, we take photos and post what we made for dinner that night. Everyone votes by "like", and whichever photo gets the most votes by the next day is used as the cover photo for the week.

Last week, I was wracking my brain to come up with something. Something beautiful. I had a couple ideas in mind when I happened to drive past one of our local fish shops. The reader board said they had Manila clams. BINGO!! Of course, it was as tasty as it is pretty!!

And yes, this dish won.

Linguine and Clams

1 lb. linguine
2 T. olive oil
3 lbs. Manila clams (steamers)
3/4 C. white wine
4 T. butter
8 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 pinch red chile flakes, or more to taste
few sprigs of parsley (stems and all)
1/2 C. minced parsley, reserving some for garnish
Grated Parmesan

Cook linguine for minimum time according to package directions (you want it to be al dente); drain. Toss with olive oil and set aside.

Meanwhile, scrub the clams and place in a large pot with the wine and parsley sprigs. Cover with a lid, bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes or until all of the clams are open (mine were done just about the time they came to a boil... try to not overcook them). Remove clams to a bowl. Strain the cooking liquid through a sieve lined with several layers of dampened cheesecloth, to remove any debris. Remove clam meat from shells, reserving a few in shell for garnish.

Melt butter in the same pot you cooked the clams in. Add garlic, chile flakes, and parsley. Sauté for a couple minutes, then add the strained cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Add the clams and pasta. Toss everything together to heat through, allowing the noodles to soak up most of the liquid. Garnish with clams in shells, reserved minced parsley, and Parmesan.