Spinach and Carmelized Onion Dip

This was so good, I didn't even get a photo of it. I took it to a potluck, it was delicious with crackers. What we had left that didn't fit in my serving dish, Hubby spread on toast with a fried egg for breakfast this morning. Next time you need a dip, try this one. It would go great with veggies too, I might just make some more to go with the carrot sticks and bell pepper slices in my fridge.

1 TBS Olive Oil
1/2 stick Butter
1 1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 block Cream Cheese, softened
1 TBS Dijon Mustard
1 Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
10 large basil leaves, minced
1 pkg frozen chopped Spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry

Heat butter and oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Finely mince onion, I shredded mine with my cheese grater. Mince garlic, I grated mine with a microplane zester. Add onion and garlic to skillet after butter has melted. Allow to cook over low heat until caramel in color, stirring occasionally. This took about an hour.

In the meantime, get out a large bowl, add mayo, cream cheese, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and basil. Stir to combine, try to get it nice and smooth. When onions are brown and delicious, add them to the bowl, stir to combine. When all water has been removed from spinach, mix it into the dip. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

Restaurant Style Bread Sticks

These breadsticks are delicious. It's just a basic dinner roll recipe, rolled into sticks instead of rolls. I also topped them with plenty of melted garlic butter. Delicious. They taste very similar to those served at a popular Italian chain restaurant. I rolled this batch a little short and thick, but they still taste great. They were soo good that I din't ge tto take a picture of them fully baked, they were gone too quickly.

Dough:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs yeast
1 Tbs salt (yes, the recipe calls for 1 Tablespoon, which I use every time and they turn out great.)
2 Tbs butter, softened
4-5 Cups flour

Topping:
3 Tbs butter melted
sea salt
1 tsp garlic powder



For the dough, pour the water into a stand mixer with the sugar and yeast, let that sit and froth for about 10 minutes. Add salt, butter, and 2 cups of flour. Mix the dough on low. Add the rest of the flour a half cup at a time, until dough scrapes the sides of the bowl clean. Mix the dough about 5 minutes on medium speed, until its soft and easy to work with.
Let the dough rest in the bowl until doubled in size, about 1 hour and then roll it out. Roll the dough out into a long log, spray a knife with cooking spray and cut the dough into 12-14 pieces. Roll those pieces into about 6 inch long snakes. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray, ( I usually only use one) and lay the breadsticks out leaving about 2 inches between each one.
Place them in the oven with the temperature turned to 170 degrees. Let them rise for about 15 minutes, or until doubled in size.( I have also let them sit at room temp until they are doubled in size and then bake them in the oven)
Once risen, brush them with the 1 1/2 T of melted butter and sprinkle them with salt. Now preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake them for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. While they are baking combine the rest of the melted butter with 1 tsp garlic powder. When the breadsticks are golden brown, remove them from the oven and brush them with the butter/garlic mixture.

Mom's Recipes: Chicken Salad

My Mom often made this salad and seved it with crackers for lunch on Saturday afternoons. It's simple and delicious.

1 - 3-4 lb chicken. Since this is a quick, no fuss meal, I usually buy one at Costco, but you could make your own

2 - Stalks Celery, diced

1/2 cup Mayo

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste (we like a lot)

Old Bay Seasoning - a few dashes

Debone the chicken and shred or chop into smaller pieces. Mix everything together in a large bowl. Serve with crackers, bread, or tortillas for a nice wrap.

Biscuits and Gravy

Buscuits and Gravy is definitely my favorite breakfast. I don't make it often because it's so full of fatty goodness. This post is just my recipe for the gravy. I've yet to find or come up with a homemade biscuit recipe that I like well enough, so I usually save myself the trouble and use the kind in the can. We smother them in so much gravy, you can't really taste the biscuits anyway. This recipe makes a lot of gravy, you may want to halve the recipe. These pictures were taken when I made Father's Day breakfast for my husband, who likes a ton of sausage in his gravy, since I was only making it for him, I used half the milk, but kept the sausage the same. Most people prefer the proportions listed in the recipe.

You will need:

1 chub regular pork breakfast sausage. My person preference is Jimmy Dean.
4 TBS Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 TBS Pepper
4 Cups Milk
Optional:  A pinch of garlic powder and nutmeg.

Brown sausage in a large skillet over medium heat.

Sprinkle with flour

Meausre 4 cups milk into a large measuring cup. Microwave the milk for about 1 minute, just to take the chill off. This will help keep the flour from clumping when the milk is added.

Pour the milk into the pan with the sausage, stirring to prevent clumps.

Sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Allow to simmer until thickened. Taste to check the seasoning. Adjust to your liking. The saltiness of sausage can vary from package to package, so it is important to taste prior to and after adding seasonings, so you can adjust them properly. I almost always add more of both, but sometimes just pepper is needed. Add the garlic powder and/or nutmeg, if you like. I love the flavor they bring to to gravy.

Ladle over hot biscuits and enjoy.