Barbecue Shrimp with Creamy Cheese Grits

*from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade

Barbecue Shrimp

4 bacon slices
1 lb large fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined (tails on), or you can use frozen shrimp
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 whole cloves garlic
3 T. Tony Cachere's
1/2 t. ground black pepper
Garnish: chopped green onion

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large nonstick skillet, cook bacon until crisp, about 12 minutes. Remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving 2 T. drippings. Crumble bacon.

2. In a jelly-roll pan, place shrimp in a single layer. Drizzle with reserved 2 T. drippings and butter. Add garlic, Tony's, and pepper, tossing to coat. Bake, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, or until shrimp are pink and firm. Serve over Creamy Cheese Grits, and sprinke with crumbled bacon and green onion, if desired.

Creamy Cheese Grits

1/4 C butter
3 C whole milk
2 1/3 C chicken broth
1/2 t. hot sauce, Tobasco
1 1/3 cups instant grits (can use polenta)
1 8 oz bag shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. In a medium saucepan, bring butter, milk, borth, and hot sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Gradually whisk in grits, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, sitrring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes. Add cheese, stirring until melted.

My Take: I though the shrimp were really good. A little too spicy for me, but good. But I thought the grits were too cheesy, and that's really saying something since I love cheese! The pairing was kind of weird to me, but okay. I think when I make this again I'll use less Tony's and will just do the shrimp.

Better Homes and Gardens Muffins (with chocolate chips)

I started making these soon after we were married (my one and only cookbook was the Better Homes and Gardens one). Anyways, I added chocolate chips to make them a sweet treat, and they do the trick on a Sunday afternoon when I want to make something easy and tasty.

1 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 cup chocolate chips

1. Grease or line twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

3. In another bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Add chocolate chips (my addition).

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18 to 20 min or unitl golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers come out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.

Martha Stewart's Streusel Cupcakes

These turned out pretty well, but were too much work and too much of a mess to probably ever make again. But just in case, here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 t. baking soda

1 1/4 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1/2 cup plus 2 T. butter, room temp

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 t. vanilla

1 1/4 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Stir in vanilla by hand. Add flour mixture and sour cream; stir until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among lined cups. Sprinkle half the topping over cupcakes, gently spressing it into the batter. Sprinkle evenly with remaining topping. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To finish, place cupcakes on a wire rack set over a baking sheet; drizzle evenly with milk glaze. Glazed cupcakes can be stored up to 3 days at room temp in airtight containers.

Streusel Topping

2 1/4 cups flour

3/4 cup packed dark-brown sugar

2 1/4 t. ground cinnamon

3/4 t. coarse salt

1/2 cup plus 2 T. butter

Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt; cut in the butter using pastry blender, your fingertips, or two table kinves until combined but still crumbly. Refrigerate 30 min before using.

Milk Glaze

1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, sifted

3 T. .milk

Whisk together ingredients until smooth. Use immediately.

Easiest Whole Wheat Bread

I used to make bread as a kid. Soooo mormon, I know! :) Anyways, I'd actually never made bread since Jack and I got married. I promised him I really could, and I finally got a few wheat bread recipes from my sisters. This was the first one I tried, and it was soooo easy! It came out really well. I still remember the wheat bread I made as a kid tasting better, but usually you remember things better than they really were, right? Anyways, this recipe is definitely a keeper:

Easiest Whole Wheat Bread

2 (8x4 inch) loaves

1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. honey or ½ c. sugar
2 ¼ tsp salt
2 ¾ c. steaming hot tap water (120- 130 degrees F)
¼ c. gluten flour, sifted
1 ½ T. dough enhancer
1 ¼ T. instant yeast
7-8 c. whole wheat flour


4 (8x4inch) loaves

2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey or 1 c. sugar
1 ½ T salt
5 ½ c. steaming tap water
½ c. gluten flour, sifted
3 T dough enhancer
21/2 T. instant yeast
14-16c. whole wheat flour

Mix first four ingredients in mixer with a dough hook. Add ½ of flour and beat. Put in 1-2 more cups of flour, gluten flour, dough enhancer and yeast. Beat again. With mixer on medium speed, add remaining flour just until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. Knead 6-10 minutes on medium-high speed.

Pre-heat oven for 1 minute to LUKE WARM and turn off. Spray or oil pans. Pour dough onto oiled counter, divide and shape into loaves and put into pans. Let loaves rise for 35 minutes in warmed oven. Do not remove bread from oven; turn oven to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. Tip out of pans and onto cooling rack.
With wheat flour, always add the least amount of flour possible to keep bread moist.

(I made the 2-loaf recipe and substituted 1/4 cup potato flakes and 1 1/4 T. vinegar for the dough enhancer.)

Brio Tuscan Grille

(pic from Vegas.com)

A few weeks ago, Jack and I ate at the Brio Tuscan Grille at Town Square Mall. It was so good! I got the Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair, and Jack got the Pasta Fra Diavolo with chicken. My shrimp was so good! Maybe the best shrimp I've ever had. The actual pasta paled in comparison with the shrimp, but it was still good. And the creamy tomato sauce on Jack's pasta was different than anything I've had before, but really good. The inside of this restaurant is super nice and fancy, too. They have some outdoor seating around fires that would be nice in the winter, not so much in this 100+ degree heat. And our waiter was great. All around a great dining experience.

Food: 4.5 stars

Atmosphere: 5 stars

Would I go back? Yes, but not often (it's a bit pricey)

King Cake

So I actually haven't even tried this recipe yet. But it's from Sharon, and when she's made it it's turned out really good. And if I post it here, I'll be able to find it easily. :) I'm hoping to make it for Mardi Gras this year (Feb 16th), and if so I'll post pictures. But in the meantime, here's a great King Cake recipe:


King Cake


1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 (16-oz.) carton sour cream

1/3 c. sugar

1 t. salt

1 pkgs. dry yeast

1 T. sugar

1/2 c. warm water (105 º to 115 º)

2 eggs

6 to 6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

Also:

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened

Colored frostings

Colored Sugars



Combine the first 4 ingredients in a saucepan; heat until butter melts, stirring occasionally. Let mixture cool to 105 º to 115 º.

Dissolve yeast and 1 T. sugar in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add butter mixture, eggs, and 2 cups of flour; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes or by hand until smooth. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes). Place in a well-greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place free from drafts, for 1 hour or until dough is doubled in bulk.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

Pinch dough down and it divide in half. Turn one portion of dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll to a 28" X 10" rectangle. Spread half of the butter and half of the cinnamon mixture on the rolled out dough. Roll dough, jelly roll fashion, starting at the long side. Gently place dough roll, seam side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bring ends of dough together and form an oval ring. If you have access to a tiny plastic baby, tuck it into the seam before you seal it. If not, use a large, dried bean. Moisten and pinch the edges together to seal.

Repeat this procedure with the second half of the dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 20 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 375 º for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Decorate each cake with bands of colored frostings, and sprinkle with colored sugars.

Makes 2 cakes.



Cream Cheese Filling

1 8-oz. package cream cheese

1 c. confectioners sugar

2 T. flour

1 t. vanilla

drop or two of milk

Cream all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Spread on the rolled-out rectangle before rolling it into a ring. You can use cream cheese and a fruit filling if you so desire.



Colored Frostings

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

3 T. butter of margarine, melted

3 to 5 T. milk

1/4 t. vanilla extract

1 to 2 drops each green, yellow, red, and blue food coloring

Combine powdered sugar and melted butter. Add milk (room temperature) to reach desired consistency for drizzling; stir in vanilla. Divide frosting into 3 batches, tinting one with green, one with yellow, and combining blue and red for purple frosting. Makes about 1 - 1/2 cups.


Colored Sugars - sprinkle over frosting, if desired.

Chicken Thighs Provencal

Here's another new recipe I've tried recently from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade. It was easy, yummy, and healthy, too! Can't wait to start getting my subscription to the magazine!

Chick Thighs Provencal

1 (20 oz) bag red potato wedges, Simply Potatoes

1 (16-oz) bag baby carrots

2 TB olive oil, divided

3 tsp dried rosemary, divided

2 tsp dried thyme, divided

2 tsp garlic salt, divided

2 tsp ground black pepper, divided

8 (6-oz) chicken thighs

4 plum tomatoes, seeded and cut into 4 wedges

20 nicoise or kalamata olives, pitted

Garnish: fresh rosemary sprigs

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a roasting pan, place potatoes and carrots. Drizzle with 1 TB olive oil. Sprinkle with 1 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp garlic salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Toss gently, and spread in a single layer in pan. Bake for 15 min.

2. In a large bowl, combine remaining 1 TB oil, 2 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp garlic salt, and 1 tsp pepper. Add chicken, tossing to coat. In a large nonstick skillet, cook thighs for 3 min per side, or until browned.

3. Add chicken thigh mixture, tomatoes, and olives to roasting pan. Return to oven, and bake for 30 min longer, or until chicken is done. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired.