Gourmet Food on a Budget — Ever Forward, Ever Flavorful
Barbecued Potato Chip Tuna Casserole may not by the prettiest casserole in the world, but it tastes very good. My mother would make this if we had leftover potato chips. My mother wasn’t much into snack food, so this was not something we had a lot, but it is one of those comfort foods that I remember fondly.
For my birthday, I wanted to make myself a special cake. I love chocolate, and I love sour cherries. The combination is fabulous.
This is my favorite cake in the world. It’s a very rich cake, and takes time and effort to prepare, but well worth it. My only suggestion to you is not to make it when you have a lot of other intense dishes to make, you’ll look like me when you’re done! Don’t let that deter you – you and your guests will be impressed with this luscious cake.
Yesterday, I made Rose Fudge Truffles and Black Forest Fudge for Founder’s Night at Spane’s school, prepped Rose Petal and Lobster Salad for my birthday, and made this cake. By the time we got back from Founder’s Night, I was so pooped that we decided to have the cake tonight. Amber and Noelle came by, and the four of us enjoyed cake together. A good time was had by all.
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When I was a little girl, my mother used to go on about how she loved going to her grandmother’s house when she would serve Lobster and Rose salad. I was always hoping that my mother would recreate the recipe, but she never did.
When my great-grandmother was making this salad, lobster was a lot less expensive. I decided that for my birthday, despite to cost, I would recreate Christina Jacobsen’s recipe myself.
Immerse yourself in the floral elegance of rose-infused sweetness of Rose Fudge or surrender to the rich depths of dark chocolate and cherry in the iconic Black Forest Fudge.
Cream of tomato soup is wonderful any time of year, and so easy you will want to make it frequently.
Powdered sugar cookies are easy to make, delicious, crisp, melt in your mouth sugar cookies. You can decorate them or enjoy them plain.
Every year, I have made cookies for Spane’s class for Valentines day. When Spane was in preschool, I bought bags at Michael’s to put the cookies in. When he got to Kindergarten, there were more kids, so I put the cookies on a plate, and Spane gave out the standard Valentine cards you get at the Dollar store. I didn’t really like the cards, they just didn’t go with my homemade cookies, so I decided to start making my own cards to go with the cookies. I did that in 2010, and again this year.
These cards are very simple to make and really make a great presentation. You might already have everything you need, or can pick up what you don’t have at the local dollar store.
I had a dream, yes I had a dream. I dreamed of cupcakes with blue buttercream frosting.
I’m not much of a cupcake person, but they are nice if you’ve got a lot of kids. They are easy because you don’t really need a plate, and you don’t need a knife, and you don’t have to worry about someone saying their piece of cake is too small or too big. All the cupcakes are the same size.
Usually, I make a butter cake, similar to a 1234 cake, but it makes a three-layer cake, and that was just too much for cupcakes. I know that a regular box of cake mix makes enough for cupcakes, but I don’t like things that come in a box. So I made my own box cake with fresh ingredients.
I love it when the supermarket puts a large box of whole mushrooms on Manager’s Special. I take them home and make something out of them, this time Manicotti Stuffed with Cream Cheese, Spinach and Pine-nuts. When I opened my refrigerator this afternoon, I realized I had a lot of mushrooms left over, and what could I do with an almost whole box of mushrooms? Mushroom soup seemed like the perfect thing on a cold, winter day.
Some of you are probably saying “Ew! That’s the stuff you make casseroles out of, you don’t actually EAT that!” Well, that’s true. I would never have a bowl of that canned stuff, it’s only good for a few casserole dishes, and then that’s doubtful, too – now that I made this glorious mushroom soup.
This is probably one of the easiest soups you will ever make. When mushrooms go on sale at your grocery store, get a whole bunch of them, and share this wonderful soup.
Manicotti is a child-friendly food. Most kids love spaghetti and pasta. What could be more fun than stuffing tubes and then eating them? Kids can get a little messy, but that’s their job, right?
My friend, Chef John Farion, came over and brought me a large container of cottage cheese. I did not think that Spane and I could eat if fast enough for it not to go bad, so I decided to stuff something with it. Quite frequently, cottage cheese is used for lasagna, but I don’t like meatless lasagna, and I wanted it for Friday. Oddly enough, I had everything I needed already at home, so I bought some manicotti and brought it home.