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Showing posts from January, 2012

MY FAVORITE ITALIAN MEALS

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One of my favorite Italian style meals to cook are stuffed shells.  I love lasagna, spaghetti, ravioli and a great carbonara sauce as much as the next person but my family and friends love my stuffed shells.  They have a beautiful presentation, great flavors and this recipe feeds a crowd.  I serve it with a Caesar salad made with romaine and baby spinach and a slice of cheesy garlic toast.  This is definitely a crowd pleaser. CHEESY BEEFY STUFFED SHELLS Adapted from Paula Deen's Northern Italian Pasta Shell Stuffing This is a great recipe and makes a huge serving. Ingredients 3 packages frozen, chopped spinach 3 pounds ground round 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 2 large onions, chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced 16 ounces, monterey jack cheese 1/2 cup grated parmesan Salt and pepper 1 1/2 tablespoon Italian Seasoning 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 2 jumbo eggs 1 (1-pound) package jumbo pasta shells (Recipe makes about 32 sh

THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS MEAL

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We all know that for Thanksgiving, turkey is the star of the show so for us we typically do something else for Christmas.  In the past, it's normally been a ham.  Last year, I made a prime rib for the first time and it was okay but just okay. Well one of the reasons, we created this blog was to challenge ourselves to succesfully prepare foods most home cooks are intimidated to try.  So this year, I attempted prime rib again and boy was it delicious, moist, flavorful and gorgeous!  I also made garlic and cream cheese mashed potates, fresh green beans, chorizo dressing, southwest seasoned baked chicken and of course mac and cheese. TEN TIPS FOR MAKING THE PERFECT PRIME RIB On my quest for the perfect prime rib, I read recipe after recipe and here are some things I learned. These are my top ten tips for making the perfect prime rib.  First, get your materials out, you need a pan just slightly bigger than the roast (If the pan is too big, all your juices will evaporate.) And of co