Football Week - Divine Cheese Ball

I don't think there is a more perfect Football game day snack then 

Cheese Ball.

My Aunt Christie has been bringing this to games, Christmas, and New Years for decades. It's a staple and only because it is the best I have ever tasted. This simple but very tasty snack is out of bounds!

• 8 oz package of Cream Cheese Softened
• 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese Grated
• 1/4 Cup Mayo
• 1/4 tsp Worchestershire Sauce
• 1/8 tsp Celery Salt
• 1/8 tsp Onion Salt
• 1/8 tsp Garlic Salt
• 1 Cup Pecans, Almonds or your favorite - amount varies

1. Mix all ingredients together except nuts
2. On wax paper spread out finely chopped nuts
3. Put cheese ball mixture on the nuts spread over wax paper and form into ball or log
4. The nuts keep the cheese ball from sticking to wax paper
5. Chill and we serve with Wheat Thins

You will love this recipe. Definitely one of my favorites. Thanks to Christie for this amazing recipe.

by Kevin

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Butter cream Frosting. Happy birthday Son

My son's birthday was the beginning of the month and he requested cupcakes with blue and green swirl frosting. So I made my super easy, extra delicious 

Butter cream vanilla frosting. 

• 3 cups confections’ sugar
• 1 cup butter softened over night
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream  

In a standing mixer equipped with the whisk, mix overnight soft butter and confection’s sugar. Mix on a low speed until blended then increase to medium and whisk for 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. Add more cream according to desired consistency

- you can get clear vanilla at most cooking stores if you want pure white frosting.

-make sure and whisk for the whole 3 minutes- it does make a difference.


(recipe card at end of post) 

This year he wanted a Mario Kart Wii birthday party, and he wanted to ride his bike. Which he just learned how to ride without training wheels!!!

• The first thing I did was spray paint boxes gold and added numbers to create 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place platforms. I then found pictures on-line and printed them onto stickers and stuck them onto toothpicks and inserted into the cupcakes. 
• With the extra spray paint I covered a $1 cup I found to look like the trophy. This made a perfect holder for the markers in which the kids used to decorate their own t-shirts. This way they could "choose" which character they were going to be. 
• It was a hot day and hydration was needed. I created labels and printed them on sticker paper and wrapped them around water bottles.
• I found gold coins, mushroom looking balloons, and yellow star candy to top off the decor. 
• For give-away bags the kids got crazy straw water bottles, their decorated shirts, Mario stickers, and gold coins. 

A picture of the whole table. 

Next was the race track. It was very very windy so we had to do some heavy duty taping, which ruined the look of my decor a little.

I wanted to recreate a race track.  

• We set up a starting line, and had laminated photos of the icons you get when you run over the question marks. The kids had a blast pretending that they had run over a bullet, star, mushroom, or lighting cloud. 
• We also blew up posters of the characters on their vehicles so it looked like they were also involved in the race. 

The kids had a blast. They raced, raced, and raced some more. The cupcakes were a big hit and overall it was a great party. 

Happy 5th Birthday Son. Hope this is a great year!! 

Click to print recipe card. 

  

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Fire Roasted Salsa

My sister Tiff is not a girl to sit on the sidelines or go shopping during a game. This salsa is what she always brings to the games. Even if the game is dull, this will spice it up. She has been making it for years and it has become a staple at any family event or party. I I love to make salsas and do a lot of different kinds, but for the salsa you just want to dip a chip into, this is it!

• 3 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 3/4 or 1 bunch of cilantro
• 1 small white onion (quartered or small chunks)
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice from 1-2 lemons or limes
• pinch of sugar
• a shake or two of cumin -  Do it to taste....if not smoky enough add some more
• salt and pepper to taste
• -SECRET INGREDIENT:  I add a 1/4-1/2 cup of whatever jarred leftover salsa is in my fridge (storebought).  It just rounds out the flavors and gives a nice consistency

Directions:

1. Blend tomatoes in blender until small and little bit chunky. 
2. Pour 3/4 tomato mixture into another bowl reserving the 1/4 in the blender and add all the rest of the ingredients accept the store bought salsa. 
3.  I usually quarter the onion or smaller first.  Just throw the whole lot in together and give a good pulse.  I then add as much of the tomato mixture back in and give a quick pulse to combine all the flavors including the jarred salsa.  This will make a lot of salsa so have two good sized storage containers ready to go.  Pour salsa into containers and stir in any leftover tomatoes mixture that wouldn't fit in the blender. 

Important:  Let sit in fridge for at least 8-12 hours before serving to allow flavors to mature!

By Kevin

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Our fancy night at The Restaurant at Meadowood.

This is a thank you post to all our new wonderful friends at

  The Restaurant at Meadowood

for a fabulous dinner last night. We had the Chef's tasting menu in which Chef Christopher Kostow didn't let us down. He took us on a wonderful food adventure. Mine and Kevin's pallet were challenged. Some of the dishes we ate were: cured horse Mackerel with green grapes, cherry tomatoes, sorbet of our verjus; foie grad "stump" with pear, parsnip, pistachio moss; squab lacquered in sorghum with garden carrots, coffee and dried habanero. Along with many others. There were also chefs bites at the beginning of the meal which were a great surprise. My favorite was the pre-dessert, dessert, then after dessert bites. mmmmmm :) Did I mention the lobster. I was never a fan, but I'll eat the lobster by Chef Chris any time I get a chance!

It was a wonderful night, with no kids, a great husband, delicious food, friendly servers, soothing atmosphere, impeccable attention to detail, and making us feel VIP.

This is kevin and I on our 5th course, the Squab. The bartender was even so kind to make us our own drinks because we don't drink alcohol. This one was my favorite. It was ginger ale, sparkling water, and lemon with apple.

Our menu is below. They gave me a copy when we left. I think because I had mentioned something about how was  I going to remember and brag about all the wonderful food I had tonight. You know - prego mind. Plus all this food!

 I felt a little silly taking pictures of all our beautiful food. Honestly, it  was the most beautiful presentation I have ever seen!! So, I "borrowed" some pictures off their web sight to show you.

See I told you.
Once again thank you Nathaniel for the invite and everyone else at Meadowood for an amazing night to remember! If you are ever in the Napa Valley keep The Restaurant at Meadowood on your list. 

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Football Week Continued Next Week

We send out our apologies for the Football Week delay.

Next week we will continue Football Week with homemade Salsa, Cheese Ball, and some other amazing snacks. Both of the recipes are family ones from my Sister Tiff and my Aunt Christie. Family staples for years and they were gracious enough to let me post them here.

Look forward to posting more next week and hearing how you liked them. Have a great weekend and go Seahawks!!!

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Football Week- Spinach artichoke dip

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL ???

This week we are featuring TOUCHDOWN dishes that you can bring to your next game day celebration. 

Spinach artichoke drip is always on our game day list. 

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Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my 5 year old. We had a great day yesterday, and today is birthday party time. Mario Kart Wii racing with 5 year olds. Yikes. Look forward to some great pics, ideas, and the best frosting ever. 

Happy birthday Buddy 

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Farm Fresh Fridays - Watermelon

Since Alix wanted to find something cool, but not ice cream, to cure her late night pregnancy craving I thought I would concoct some

 watermelon drinks. 

A watermelon slush and watermelon sherbet smoothie 

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pesto pasta with cherry tomatoes

Since we bought pesto for the pizza we now have left over pesto. What to do with it? 

Pesto Pasta. 

When you have left over pesto, the best thing to do is freeze the extra. Who wants to waste good pesto?

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Farm Fresh Friday- Grilled Zuchinni Boats FIlled with Spanish Rice

Growing up, my Mom always made Spanish Rice and then hollowed out Zuchinni and roasted in the oven. I was always a fan of the Spanish Rice, but at that age not so much of the Zuchinni. Now, I love Zuchinni and while visiting my parents, my Dad pulled a massive Zuchinni out of the garden and a small one. I told him lets do the traditional one, but I wanted to gourmet one up on the grill. Try this, it's amazing!

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Chi chi studios winner

Our first giveaway has a winner. Congrats Bridgit. Please let us know if you didn't receive your e-mail. Pin It

Farm Fresh Fridays- moved to Monday

Our farm fresh fridays has been moved this week only to Monday 

due to a last minute trip. Kevin's sweet and wonderful mom has Multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. She is in her last stages and we are going to give  her some grandkid cheer. Wish us luck on our long drive with 2 kids and one pregnant mama. Sending grandma happy wishes and thoughts right now.  Thank you for understanding. 

We are though still doing our giveaway and you have a few hours left.  

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Chicken Pesto Pizza with Red Grapes

My good girlfriend, April Kennedy and I were chatting the other day about cooking and blogging. She has  a wonderful blog, funky vintage lovely . She wanted a quick 5 ingredient, 30 minute back to school meal and I needed some blogging tips. So, we teamed up. I knew right away I HAD to teach her how to make our  Chicken Pesto Pizza with Red Grapes - to add a little Napa flair. And yes I said grapes, and they are so good!!  Check out our video below. 

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