bacon cheese burgers

oh my gosh. i just ate THE best bacon cheese burger. and anyone who knows me, knows that when i REALLY like some food item...i make a lot of noise while i eat it! we cooked the bacon on our Monarch wood stove. and we grilled the burgers outside...in the blowing snow. they tasted great. its another cold nite with snow. the fire feels good. bug just got home from cheerleading practice...soph drove up the lane to pick her up. we are all now home together. ready to hunker down for another cold nite. i am pooped. again. maybe its my age. maybe it having 2 teenagers and one on almost there. maybe its just life. i am off to put my feet up. bon appetite~

weekend fare

i have cooked all kinds of things this weekend. sub zero weather and blizzareds will do that to a girl.

friday nite we made the infamous lamb kabobs with greek yogurt sauce. we found nan bread at our local good earth market (in billings) and served our kabobs in the nan. it was soo good. drizzled with yogurt sauce...mmmm...

saturday morning i started off making bacon chili. this is so damn good. even if you dont think salsa and eggs go together(and some people dont)...you will like this. trust me. i am including my recipe. also, i made a chocolate cream pie and a killer pasta dish with artichokes, lemon, olives, tomatoes...wow....

so, on sunday i was hungry for a kale and sausage soup with white beans. i have made this dish before. it's great....but today....i bombed! i just didnt turn out. i finally succumb to just throwing it out to the dogs. isabelle looked shocked. and concerned. i said, 'izzy, sometimes you just bomb trying to make something, it happens to everyone once in awhile" and out to the dogs it went.

so i decided to make pizza. isabelle and i made the crust and used tid bits from the fridge...one pizza had goat milk aged cheddar and sun dried tomatoes, one had mozarella, pesto, and tomato, one had aged cheddar and thyme. we made 4 all together. this is a great time to use up the cheeses, pestos, olives, etc...in your fridge.

BACON CHILI

cook one package of bacon. remove and cut into bite size pieces when cool.

in same skillet (leave some of the bacon grease) add:

1/4 to 1/2 onion diced

2 ribs celery diced

saute until tender

add one can ROTEL brand tomatoes and chilies

add the cut up bacon.

simmer few minutes and turn off heat.

serve with eggs over easy and warmed tortillas. Yum!!!

cook and be happy. spring is around the corner.

~bon appetite

Indian Tacos

well, we woke this morning to no electricity and a full on blizzard. its been in the 50's for the past three days, sunny, folks barbequeing, and then.....

so i dressed by candle light, brushed my teeth from a glass of water, and put my makeup on and did my hair in the dark....then i drove to work in a ground blizzard. there were times i couldnt see. got a little tense. by the time i left work at 4:30 the snow was nearly gone and it was sunny out!

justy called me at work to tell me he had some fry bread from his mom. so we had a glass of vino, ate goat cheese and pesto, and olives while we cooked up some burger.

the fry bread was DELICIOUS! mine is never that tender. now we are watching 'american idol' and relaxing.

~bon appetite!

french dip

a roast slow cooked, sliced, on bread with sliced horseradish cheese, and au jus really hits the spot. i made this one nite last week. i always make my au jus...never have it out of a package.

here it is:

one whole onion sliced. place in pot with 4 tbsp butter and saute until the onions start to brown. add 2 tbsp beef base boulion and 2 cups of water and a generous splash of soy sauce. simmer 5 minutes. when my kids were little i strained the au jus so they couldnt see the onions....now i serve it as is. they love it.

today i made killer brownies. they were from scratch. this is a phenomenal recipe. it is in the february issue of bon appetite magazine. it is easy. its a must have recipe. its on page 91. i will try and post it some time....right now i am watching the grammy's!

~bon appetite!

justy's 41st

time flies...don't it. my hunny is 41 today. he is currently on the phone with his grandma tudy. a wonderful woman...helped raise justy. tonite just me and is and justy were home. bug was selected to play in an honor band with rocky moutain college....she left today...wont be home till friday. on friday nite she plays in a concert at the alberta bair...we will be attending. soph just got home tonite after a field trip to helena...they toured the capital building and attended church at the cathedral. so...me and is made justy a free form pear and apple tart. justy and i celebrated his birthday drinking a couple glasses of wine and reminiscing about our 'younger' years. it was a great nite.

here's the tart recipe:

one thawed puff pastry rolled out a little bit!

one pear peeled and cut into sliver wedges

one apple peeled and cut into sliver wedges

about 1/2 c brown sugar

about 1/4 c oatmeal

about 1/4 flour

about 3 tbsp butter

place the pastry on a cookie sheet. layer the apple and pear on the center of the pastry leaving about 1" around the edge. in a bowl mix the sugar, oatmeal, flour, and butter. sprinkle over the fruit. roll up the 1" edge. place in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. let cool 10 minutes. serve with vanilla ice cream.

happy birthday, hunny. bon appetite