Two Chicks Who Like To Cook

I love sporting events. I love cooking and planning meals for them as much as I love watching them.  This game day, I made sweet and spicy pulled pork sliders, cole slaw and baked potato skins.   SWEET AND SPICY PULLED PORK SLIDERS   Moist, delicious, smokey and flavorful pork, um um good.     Ingredients: 5 pound pork butt 2 medium onions chopped 4 garlic cloves chopped 1 cup water or stock 2  - 4 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce 1 teaspoon adobo sauce (from can of chipotle peppers) 2  18  ounce bottles BBQ Sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's) 1/4 cup honey 1/2 cup brown sugar Salt Pepper   Directions: Preheat oven (or slow cooker) to 300 degrees.  Spray large roasting pan (or slow cooker) with non-stick cooking spray.  Chop onions into large chunks and layer in bottom of pan.  Liberally season pork butt with salt and pepper.  Place on top of onions.  Slice garlic and place on top of pork butt.  ...

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 ma...

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 bi...

This past Sunday, my mom, some friends and I got together for our second annual cookie exchange.  We love the cookie exchange.  It's a great time for us ladies to get together and hang out.  We enjoyed some great food, wine, conversation, games and of course we exchanged cookies.  The rules of our cookie exchange are simple. We each bring a different type of cookie and we all bring our cookies already separated and bagged up based on the number of participants. The cookie exchange is a great way to get a nice variety of cookies for your family without baking yourself into a coma. This year, we have layered bars, turtles, chocolate tortes, white chocolate covered pretzels and some old standards like rice crispy treats, chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. The ladies were all kind enough to allow me to post their cookie recipes on the blog.  I hope you enjoy these recipes and are inspired to host your very own cookie exchange. LORINDA'S L...

Last summer, I went to visit my sister in Chicago and I tried the Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake at the Cheesecake Factory and it was so awesome.   We all fell in love with that cake so I came home and decided I would try to create my version of the cake so take a look.  CHEESECAKE 20 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 3/4 Cup Sugar + 2 Tablespoons Sugar 1 Teaspoon Almond Extract 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract 1/4 Teaspoon Salt 2 Large Eggs, at room temperature 1/2 Cup Sour Cream, at room temperature Set a kettle of water to boil. Make filling: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium until fluffy, scraping down side of bowl. Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy. Beat in the extracts and salt. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down side of bowl after each addition. Beat in the sour cream. Wrap bottom half of pan in foil. Pour in filling; place in a roasting pan. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up side of springform. The foil ...

We all know and love Thanksgiving food, the turkey, dressing, macaroni and cheese yum, but by like Friday afternoon, you kinda want something different. We've all had (or maybe even made) turkey soup or maybe even turkey and dressing hash. There's nothing wrong with these dishes but here are some of my tips for creatively using Thanksgiving leftovers to create totally new and exciting dishes.  Enjoy! Lorinda TURKEY QUESADILLAS AND TURKEY ENCHILADAS These are staples in my family the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Here's what I do.  Mince 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 1/2 of a bell pepper.  Saute in 2 tablespoons of oil for 5 minutes. Shred 8 cups of turkey.  Add turkey to a pan, then add 1/2 cup of water.  Season liberally with cumin, paprika and Lawry's seasoned salt.  Heat through.  Remove half of turkey and get 8 flour shells.  Scoop 2 - 3 tbs of turkey on half of shell, cover with cheese and fold over.  Br...