Oven Baked Spareribs! YUMMO!

It's been so nice outside the past several days, and I'm enjoying this time of year.  The yard is all cleaned up, the pool is open, the water is crystal clear, and we even swam today! Going to get some flowers tomorrow to start planting, I love it when the yard is looking great.  I am so excited for Summer, the kids only have three weeks of school left, bring on SUMMER!

Spareribs, I just love them, but they have to be cooked the right way.  They have to be tender, with the meat just falling off the bone, and I have this easy recipe that I came up with years ago.  It's easy, you will love them, try this recipe, you'll never go back to grilling Spareribs again..... I promise!

Oven Baked Pork Spareribs

1 Rack of Pork Spareribs about 3lbs

1 bottle BBQ sauce (or make your own if you wish)

Water covering the Spareribs to the top

Cut the Spareribs up into separated ribs, and put them in a roaster COVERED. Add the water and bake in a 350 oven for 1 1/2 hours. Drain all the water, and all the fat will go with it! To the roaster pan add the BBQ sauce making sure all the ribs are covered. Cook in the oven for another HOUR covered, the last 20 minutes UNCOVERED, this will add color, and everything will get all caramelized.  Serve with your favorite cornbread, and a big salad!  YUMMO!

Cinnamon Bun Cake

Well it's another rainy day here in Northern New Jersey.  It's all good, I have things to do inside the house today, and when I'm outside gardening, I feel my house suffers!  I found this really delicious cake on Pinterest the other day, yes.... I love searching for new recipes and ideas on there, if you want you can follow me at LizSomma.  

 

So I came across this Cinnamon Bun Cake, it looked really delicious, and easy. I made it last week for coffee at my friends house, and everyone LOVED it. It calls for a 9x13 pan, but I made it in 2 small square pans, one for my friends house, and of course one for home, and my family LOVED it as well.   Here's the recipe.

 

Cinnamon Bun Cake

 

CAKE:

3 cups Flour

1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 1/2 cups Milk
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 cup ( 1 stick) Butter, melted

TOPPING:

1 cup ( 2 sticks) Butter, softened

1 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Flour
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

GLAZE:

2 cups Powdered Sugar

5 Tablespoons Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 glass baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

In an electric or stand mixer add the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Once combined well , slowly stir in the melted butter. Pour into the prepared 9×13 baking pan.

For topping, In a large bowl mix the 2 sticks of butter, brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together until well combined and creamy. Drop evenly over the batter by the tablespoonfuls and use a knife to marble/swirl through the cake.

Swirling the batter!

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out nearly clean.

FOR GLAZE: In a medium bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla together with a whisk. Drizzle evenly over the warm cake. Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

 

So YUMMO!

 

Growing Celery.......So EASY!!!

I was on PInterest the other day, and found this really neat trick in growing Celery, in your own home. I love celery, I use it in many different recipes, soups, salads, or just eating it raw with a little salt.  Even our dog Perdie enjoys it.

 I tried growing Celery last year in our veggie garden, and the stalks grew, but were skinny, and very bitter in taste.  So this trick is a simple, CHEAP, and plain interesting.

The Stem or base of the Celery!

 Cut off the stem of the celery, and place it in a shallow bowl, with warm water, and watch it grow!

After a few weeks, I'll plant them in my garden, and HOPEFULLY I'll have Celery that we all can enjoy!  It's fun, and the kids are getting a kick out of the whole thing.

Celery planted in the garden, or in a container!

I tried this with Romain Lettuce, and look already just after a couple of days..........

Romain Lettuce! 

See the little green coming up....that wasn't there a couple of days ago! I'll plant this along with the Celery, and we'll see what I get.

Homemade Pizza!

There is nothing like homemade Pizza,  I've been making it for years.  My Mom always made us homemade Pizza, usually on Saturday nights, and she would make four big rectangle pans, and we NEVER had any leftovers!   Back then Mom bought the pizza dough, and it was really good.  I use to use store-bought pizza dough too, until about 10 years ago, when I got my Kitchen Aid Mixer, it's so easy to make all kinds of bread doughs in a Kitchen Aid Mixer, and this Pizza dough is one of the easiest!

Homemade Pizza

The Dough - for 2 Pizza Pies!
1 1/4 cups warm water (warm water, NOT HOT)
2 TBS sugar
2 Tsp. Active Dry Yeast

In a bowl add the water, then the sugar and yeast...mix with a fork and let sit for 5 minutes until it gets all foamy, this is called "Proofing the Yeast".

Yeast all foamy

To the Kitchen Aid Mixing bowl add:
4 1/2 Cups Bread Flour (I use Bread Flour, but you could use Regular too)
2 TBS oil (I use olive)
1 tsp salt
Yeast Mixture already foamy

With the Dough Hook attached, mix on low. Increase speed, and mix until all the mixture forms a ball around the dough hook, you may have to scrap the sides of the bowl down with a spatula.

Dough hook with dough around it

Now look is the dough forming a ball around the dough hook like the picture above? Or does it look like a "cake batter" in the bowl? If it looks like a batter, add 1/4 cup more flour, you want all the dough mixture to be wrapped around the dough hook, that means it's done kneading. Or, there may be extra flour on the bottom of the bowl, then you need to add a little more water. Take the dough out of the bowl, and work it a little with your hands, if sticky add some more flour to your hands. Put in a well oiled large bowl, let rise for one hour.

Dough all risen and ready to spread!

These are the tricks to bread making, if you don't have a Kitchen Aid Mixer, you can use this same method, just the OLD FASHIONED way.....knead with your HANDS!!!!

When the dough is done rising, it will double in size, punch down. Divide it into 2, and let sit for about 5 minutes, will be elastic and easy to spread. Spread each loaf onto a greased pizza pan or stone. You don't need a rolling pin, use your hands. Now it's all ready to be TOPPED!

Toppings for the Pizza - makes 2 pizza pies!

About 1 cup or more Tomato Sauce - sometimes I even use jar Tomato Sauce! Now don't faint!!!!
4 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parm cheese
Italian seasoning to taste
Garlic powder to taste

After spreading the dough onto your pizza pan or stone, top each pizza with 1/2 cup sauce (if you like more, use more), then top each with 2 cups of the shredded Mozzarella cheese, then sprinkle on the Parm cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder to taste. Use your imagination, do you want meatballs or pepperoni, mushrooms on your pizza? Go for it!

Bake in a preheated 450 oven. Put one pie on the top rack and the other one on the bottom rack, the top rack pizza will brown lightly on the top and melt the cheese, and the bottom rack pizza pie will brown the bottom crust, so you need to switch them around during the baking time, get a long spatula, and look at the bottom crust, is it browning to your liking? Yes, then switch them around so the top racked pizza pie bottom crust gets brown, nothing like a soggy pizza bottom crust!!!!

YUMMO!

Take out, and cut and ENJOY!

Quiche....it's not just for Breakfast anymore!

What a beautiful weekend we are having here in Northern, New Jersey, but it's chilly!  I am looking forward to the warmer weather, and yes, even Summer!  It's been a busy couple of days around here.  We went to visit my Mom yesterday, she's doing great, just a week after open-heart surgery!  She's a trooper, and I sure hope I follow in her footsteps when I'm 80 years old!

Since we have chickens, we get a lot of eggs.  I use our "farm fresh eggs" in cooking, and baking, they are delicious!  I'm so thankful we have our ladies laying such beautiful eggs!  So, to use up these eggs, I like to make Quiche for dinner now and then.  Now I know, "real men don't eat Quiche...."  but in my house they do!  It took a while for my Hubby to get use to eating Quiche, but these days, he enjoys it, as long as there's some kind of MEAT in it.....and of course a squeeze of ketchup on top!

I got this recipe from my sister, Lois years ago, it's easy, and you can put whatever you want in the batter, just use your imagination! My sister like's to use heavy cream, but I use whole milk instead, yes heavy cream is better, but I like to use whatever I have in the frig, and I usually don't have heavy cream sitting in the frig on a regular week night.  You have to let the Quiche sit for at least 15 minutes after baking, or it will be watery.....this is a MUST!

YUMMO, with my own Pie Crust!

Bacon & Cheese Quiche

This recipe makes 1 Quiche - I always double this recipe, one Quiche is never enough!
2 cups Whole Milk (or Heavy Cream)
4 Eggs
4 slices of cooked bacon crumbled
1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese (or whatever cheese you have on hand)
1 unbaked pie pastry shell (I make my own, would never spend extra money on a store-bought pie shell, try my recipe)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

I usually bake bacon in the oven, put the slices on a foiled cookie sheet, and bake at 375 for 15 minutes until crisp.  Drain on paper towels.

In a bowl whip up the eggs with a fork, add the milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, whisk with a fork until well combined.  Put the cooked and crumbled bacon on the bottom of the pie shell, add the cheese on top, and pour in the egg and milk mixture.  Bake in a 350 oven for 50 minutes, or until the top is set and nicely puffed.  Remove from oven, and cool for 15 minutes before eating. ENJOY!

Variations - add frozen broccoli or whatever kind of veggies you want.  When I make this, I usually make one bacon and cheese, and one broccoli and cheese, or sometimes I substitute the bacon for sausage. YUMMO!

The Quiche has grape tomatoes and cheese!

This one has broccoli and cheese!

Most Delicious Biscuits EVER!

I'm linking this recipe up with Walking On Sunshine, and Foodie Friends Friday. Go take a look-see!

I've been away from my blog the last several days.  My Mom had open heart surgery this past Wednesday, so things have been crazy!

 Mom is doing so well, and I am so relieved!  I am here with her in the hospital, she is walking, and looking GREAT!  She'll go home on Monday, whew...it was some week!

Us girls on Thanksgiving!

What would a post be without food?  I made this delicious and easy biscuits the other day for dinner.  They are so good, just a few ingredients, and you don't have to cut the butter in with the flour, the butter is melted.  This recipe calls for bacon, but I omitted the bacon, and they came out great! These will be my "go to" biscuit recipe from now on.  The best part, my family LOVED them, and that's worth repeating!  Try this recipe, you will love them.


Quick Bacon-Cheese Biscuits

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 8 strips bacon, cooked until crispy and crumbled (optional -  I didn't add the bacon this time around, perhaps next time I will)
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl add the flour, baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, and onion powder. Mix to blend then make a well in the center of the bowl and add the milk, butter, bacon and cheese. Mix gently with a wooden spoon. The dough will be wet and sticky. Using a 1/4 cup measure or ice cream scoop, portion the batter onto a baking sheet, leaving an inch or so around each biscuit.
Bake in the oven until the biscuits are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. YUMMO!

Breakfast Crescent Ring!

I hope you all are enjoying your Spring Recess,  I sure am!  Just not having to wake up early and get my kids to school is pure bliss!

I made this really delicious Breakfast Crescent Ring this week for one of our lazy breakfast's.  It's made with Crescent Rolls, and is so easy!  This is a recipe where you can use your imagination, and put anything you want in it, change it up for lunch, dinner, and even a snack.

I hope you make this delicious and easy Breakfast Crescent Ring, it's perfect for a lazy morning! 

Breakfast Crescent Ring

1 tube Crescent Rolls
6 eggs scrambled
6 pieces cheese, whatever you like or shredded whatever you have available
8 pieces of bacon cooked and drained well

HINT: I cook bacon in a preheated 350 oven on a foil lined cookie sheet, doesn't mess up your stove, and easy clean-up.  Drain on paper towels.

Bacon, bacon, bacon!

Scrambled Eggs!

Unroll the Crescent Rolls, and on a large cookie sheet, lined with foil, spray with veggie spray.  Arrange your crescent evenly in a circle with the points pointing outward, looks like a SUN!

Crescents arranged on pan!

Spoon all the eggs around the widest part of the crescent, then top with the bacon.....

Eggs, Bacon........

And top with the cheese!

Top it off with the cheese.  Simple fold each point over the eggs, bacon, and cheese, and tuck underneath.

Not the neatest, but it will do the job!

Bake in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes, cut into nice size pieces, and YUMMO!

Right out of the oven! YUMMO!

Banana Pudding Trifle!

I make this really delicious Banana Pudding Trifle, dessert.  It has homemade pudding, banana's, real whipped cream, and those Nilla Wafer cookies, layered into a big trifle bowl.  I want some now!

This recipe is so easy, and such a crowd pleaser. If you don't have a trifle bowl, just use a big clear bowl so you can see all the layers, but I have also used a 9x13 casserole dish as well. Try this recipe, you will love it!  YUMMO!











Banana Pudding Trifle

Vanilla Pudding Filling

1 2/3 cups water
3 TBS cornstarch
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
2 TBS butter
1 tsp. vanilla

In a medium pot, add the water and cornstarch, whisk until combined, add the sweetened condensed milk, whisk. Separate the yolks from the eggs, be careful not to get any egg white into the yolks, it's very simple, break the egg and use your fingers to separate the eggs. Pour 1/4 cup of the water/cornstarch sweetened condensed milk mixture in the bowl of egg yolks, this is called tempering the yolks so the heat doesn't scramble the eggs, mix with a fork, and add them into the pot of water/cornstarch and sweetened condensed milk, and whisk, whisk, whisk until it thickens about 5 minutes or so, you will see it bubble up and get thick, don't let it burn, nothing like burnt pudding, keep whisking!!! Now when it's all thick and delicious looking take the pot off the heat, and add 2 TBS butter and 1 tsp vanilla. Whisk it again, until the butter is melted and let cool. I usually put a piece of plastic wrap directly on top touching the pudding so a "skin" doesn't form, put in the fridge to cool, or overnight.

Whipped Cream
1/2 pint COLD Whipping Cream or Heavy Whipping Cream (they are the same thing, but the "Whipping Cream" is CHEAPER!
1/4 cup sugar

In a mixer bowl pour the cream and put your mixer on high, add the sugar, and start mixing, I use my Kitchen Aid mixer for this, and I put a towel over the bowl so the cream doesn't splash everywhere.  Start mixing until you see soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. 

Start putting the Trifle together

You will need the Pudding, Whipped Cream, 4 Banana's, and the Nilla Wafer Cookies

On the bottom of your trifle bowl, add a heaping of the pudding, make sure to spread it out, then the whipped cream, banana's, and layer the cookies evenly.  Keep layering about 3 more times, until all the ingredients are gone, finishing with the whipped cream.  Then top the whipped cream with crushed Nilla Wafer Cookies, just crush them up in your hands over the Trifle bowl.  Refrigerate for 3 hours, or overnight.  YUMMO! 

Taco Bowls......So Easy!

I've been making these Taco Bowls for years.  They are so easy, all you need is a package of medium size floured Tortilla's, and a cereal bowl. 

Simply line a cereal bowl with a flour tortilla, no greasing, no veggie spray.  Make sure its really in the bowl, and the edges are up around the rim of the bowl.  Put the bowls on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown.  The bottoms still may be a little soggy, carefully remove the "Tortilla Bowls" out of the bowls, and put them on the cookie sheet.  Bake for an additional 5 minutes, this will firm up the soggy bottoms.

This is what you will have when they are done!

All ready to be filled with all the Fixings!

Fillings for the Tortilla Bowl

2 lbs of chop meat, I use 85% - Serves 4 hungry people
1 small onion minced
1 packet Taco Seasoning
2 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup water
1 can rinsed black beans or red kidney beans
2 TBS Cilantro finely minced
1 TBS fresh lime juice

Brown the meat in a skillet, drain all the fat.  Add the onion and saute until soft.  Add the water, seasoning mix, cumin, cilantro and lime juice.  Cook on simmer for 10 minutes. At this point you can add a can of  black beans or red kidney beans, make sure they are well drained and rinsed!

Fixings

1 can Refried Beans - warm them in the microwave
your favorite salsa
shredded cheddar cheese
Sour cream
Big large salad, with tomatoes, olives, mixed with Italian Dressing!

Use your imagination, whatever you want to go with this delicious Taco Bowl, go for it!  Enjoy!

Christ the Lord is Risen Today!!!! Homemade Lasagna!



Our Easter was wonderful! We had Easter here this year, and it was an Italian feast! I made a  big pot of sauce, with meatballs, sausage, and braciole, along with Lasagna, and a most delicious salad. 

 I prepared the meal the day before, since I had to be in church by 7:40 am, on Easter Sunday morning.  We didn't get home until 12 noon, and my family all came by 1pm, whew!

It was a busy morning, but so worth it, being organized,  getting all the cooking, cleaning, and even the table set the day before, made life so much easier for me.  Doing all this the day before helped me to enjoy our Easter Sunday morning at church, without the stress of running home to cook.  Our church has a beautiful festive Easter Sunday morning service, with all the Easter hymns, it was truly wonderful!

Here are a few pictures from our Easter Sunday!

My family all dressed for church!

Hubby and Me!

Davey and me, and my Easter table all set!

My new Rooster dinner dishes, I found at a garage sale....so cheap!

My Lasagna......so YUMMO!

My sister-in-law Beth's cake pops!  So YUMMO!

My Mom's pound cake...aka Aunt Betty's Pound cake!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, it really was a most wonderful Easter celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord, and spending time with my family! 

Here's a recipe for my Lasagna, I encourage you to make your own sauce, if your going to take the time to make Lasagna, take the extra time to make homemade sauce too, here's my recipe. Just put a pot on in the morning, by the afternoon it will be ready for you to make the Lasagna.

Lasagna

1 box Lasagna noodles
1 32 oz container of Ricotta Cheese with 1 TBS parsley mixed in
1 cup Parm cheese
1 lb Mozzarella cheese shredded or more and reserve about 1 cup for topping after baking
About 5 cups of homemade sauce or jar sauce, whatever is easier for you!

HINT:  I don't boil my noodles.  I use very hot tap water instead.  Follow these simple directions: In your very clean kitchen sink, put the noodles in a 9x13 casserole dish, and run very hot tap water to fill the dish.  Let the noodles sit for 10 minutes.  After 10 mins, drain the water, the noodles will still be hard, it's ok, because the sauce, and cooking in the oven will soften the noodles.

After your noodles are soaked, drain, and spray a 9x13 dish with veggie spray, spread about 1 cup of sauce on the bottom of the dish, add 4 or 3 noodles going across the dish, and one noodle going down to fill in the gap.

All depends on how wide and long your dish is, but this is how I do it.

Spread about 1 cup of ricotta cheese, and then about 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese a sprinkling of parm cheese, and top it off with about 1/2 cup of sauce. Do about 3 more layers, until all the noodles are used up, ending with noodles, and then sauce for the topping.

If you're going to eat this right away for dinner, then cook in a preheated 350 covered oven for 1 hour. After the hour, sprinkle about 1 more cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, and put back in the oven to melt the cheese, I like to put it on boil for 2 minutes to get the cheese all melted, but you'll have to watch it, and don't let it burn! Take out of the oven, and let sit for 40 minutes, you want it to firm up!

If you're going to eat it the next day when your company comes, right after putting the lasagna together put it in a preheated 350 oven covered for 20 minutes, then take out and let cool.  Put it in the fridge.  The next day, cook it for 45 mins to 1 hour. Top it with the shredded mozzarella cheese, and put back in the oven to melt the cheese.  Take out of the oven  and let sit for 40 minutes again.  Lasagna has to sit to firm up, if you eat it right out of the oven you will have a big soupy mess!!!!  Enjoy!