How about the BEST appetizer to bring to a party?

I have a great recipe to share with you. I’ve making this dish for years and it’s usually gone in a flash. Serve with crackers or chips. It is a hit!

Cheesy Artichoke Dip

Ingredients
1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (6 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (4 ounce) can Ortega Original Fire Roasted Diced Green Chiles, drained
1 cup Hellman’s mayonnaise
1 (4 ounce) package grated Parmesan cheese
1 (8 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

In a medium bowl, mix artichoke hearts, marinated artichoke hearts, green chile peppers, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.

Spread the mixture in a small baking dish. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly.

Thyme Lemon Sugar Cookies with Cardamom

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• Coarse sugar or granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the butter in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar until combined. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in thyme, lemon peel, lemon juice, and cardamom. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Knead until smooth; form mixture into a ball.

2. Divide dough into three equal portions. Roll each portion into a 6x4 1/2-inch rectangle (about 1/4 inch thick) on a lightly floured surface. Cut dough into 1 1/2-inch squares with a scalloped-edge pastry wheel. Sprinkle cutouts with coarse sugar. Place cutouts on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are just lightly brown. Transfer to wire racks and let cool. Makes 36 cookies.

4. To store: Place cookies in layers separated by pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw cookies, if frozen, before serving.

Sugar Cookies and Decorator's Icing

Sugar Cookie Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
  
• 2 sticks butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• zest of 1 lemon (optional)
  
• Heart-shaped cookie cutters

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the sugar and butter until smooth. Add the egg and the vanilla extract. Mix in the flour and lemon zest. Remove the dough from the mixer and press into a rectangular shape. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Remove from the refrigerator and cut dough into 1/3. Roll out dough, 1 piece at a time to a 3/16-inch thickness. Cut out as many large hearts as possible. Repeat with all of the dough. Cut a small heart out each of them.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

Optional: Use adornments such as sprinkles and frosting or different color dough to send that “special message” to your loved one.

Decorator's Icing

Ingredients

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup shortening (at room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons water

Directions

In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and water and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more water if needed for spreading consistency.

Christmas Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Steps
Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again, to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl.

Add one peastoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still ok, try another cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy.

Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit.

Pick the fruit off the floor.

Mix on the turner.

If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaters just pry it loose with a drewscriver..

Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who cares. Check the Jose Cuervo . Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts.

Add one table.

Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven..

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over.

Don't forget to beat off the turner.

Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the wishdasher.

Cherry Mistmas !

Macadamia Nut and Almond CuppyCakes

The recipe:

Macadamia Nut and Almond CuppyCake batter point your web browser here.

I would make one change to the recipe: use 1/4 cup almonds and a 1/4 cup macadamia nuts or hazelnuts. (I choose not to do the hazelnuts since the ones I picked up smelled musty.) I feel using less nuts will lighten up the batter and cupcakes won't feel so "bottom heavy".

Caramel Buttercream Frosting with Maple Sugar

Recipe 1 - here. It's a bit technical, maybe too involved, I doubt I'll use it again. Use maple sugar with the egg whites. This recipe provides instruction on how to make caramel.

Recipe 2. This recipe comes from one of my classes. It's much easier to do. I've made some changes to it and this is what I'll do the next time I want to make this type of flavoring.

Venison

Getting down to business. Here's the best venison recipe I have found. It comes from my Betty Crocker cookbook. You can find it here on the Internet.



Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry red wine or nonalcoholic red wine


• 1 T Dijon mustard


• 4 venison tenderloin steaks, about an inch thick


• 1/4 t salt


• 1/4 t course ground pepper


• 1 T olive or vegetable oil


• 1/2 cup beef broth


• 1/2 cup dried cranberries


• 2 T currant or apple jelly


• 1 T butter


• 2 medium green onions, sliced to equal 2 T

1. Mix wine and mustard until will blended. Place venison in a resealable plastic food-storage bag. Pour wine mixture over venison, turn and coat. Seal bag and refrigerate for 2 hour but no longer than 4 hours. Turn occasionally.


2. Remove venison from marinade, reserve marinade. Sprinkle venison with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12" nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook venison for 4 minutes, turning once, until brown.


3. Add broth to skillet and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, turning venison once until venison is tender and desired doneness. (Do not overcook or venison will become tough)


4. Remove venison from skillet, keep warm. Stir marinade into skillet. Heat to boiling and scrapping up bottom bits, reduce heat to warm. Cook for 5 minutes until mixture is slightly reduced. Stir in cranberries, jelly, butter and onions. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture is hot. Serve sauce with venison.

I like to serve this dish with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans. A nice red wine, say from the Hudson Chatham Winery, goes well.

Bison on Bicycles

Well, no, not really. I just thought that would be a really cool name for a sandwich shop in Gardiner, Montana. That’s where I have been for the past ten days. Yellowstone National Park. What a wonderful place it is and I am thankful I had the wherewithal to experience it.

I have seen a lot of bison this trip. They're all over the place. They're in the fields, on the side of the roads, in the roads. On the menu and on my plate!

Bison is a lovely meat that is high in protein and iron, yet low in fat, cholesterol and calories. Cook it, as they say, low and slow. Rare to medium rare. Well done is not recommended due to the leanness of the meat, bison has a tendency to become dry when overcooked.

If you travel to Gardiner, MT, you can try a bison tenderloin dinner at Rosie's Cafe, located next door to Red's Blue Goose Saloon. Rosie's is a newer restaurant located on the main strip in town facing Yellowstone National Park with magnificent views if you can imagine. Click here to view the menu. You can also find bison at your local grocer. You may have to ask them to special order it, but I've seen it in stores in upstate New York. You can also order it from online grocers like here.

Here's a recipe that I have found for bison meatloaf. I'm eager to try this when I get back home.

Buffalo Meat Loaf

2 Ibs ground buffalo
1 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup Hickory flavored BBQ Sauce
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded carrots 1 cup minced celery
1 cup minced onion

Beat eggs and milk together. add bread crumbs and seasonings. Mix well and let stand a few minutes. Add the meat and vegetables, blend thoroughly. Spread evenly in a 9 x 1 3 inch pan. Spread BBQ sauce over meat mixture. Bake at 350 F for 1 hr. Let stand 5 minutes before cuttinq.

Now, back to my bison on bicycles. I hope they can better share the road with motorists than their human counterparts on two wheeled vehicles!