Old Fashion

A winter staple at my parent's house. This drink is super refreshing, sweet, and will warm you up inside!!

You will need:

1 tsp powdered sugar

Maraschino cherries and juice

1 orange Orange slice

1 splash of Club soda or water

2 dashes of Bitters

2 oz of bourbon

Ice

Put sugar in the bottom of an old-fashion glass. Add one cherry and the bitters. Muddle until the cherries are mashed and the juices are flowing. Add ice. Pour in bourbon, a splash of cherry juice and water or club soda. Stir from the bottom so the flavors are mixed well.  Add orange slice and a cherry for garnish. Enjoy!!

** My dad likes to pour a little splash of bourbon on top, so your first sip is amazing!

Chicken Piccata

Sweet Joseph came to my hang over rescue Saturday night by making a home cooked meal.  Chicken Piccata is a dish which is usually prepared by Joe's closest and dearest family friend, so we decided to try it out ourselves.  Yes, the chicken is fried (hence the perfect hangover cure), but this is worth the calories.

You will need:

3 chicken breasts

Flour

1/2 cup Chicken broth

Olive Oil

Capers

Lemon

Fresh Parsley, chopped

4 tbsp Butter

Salt and Pepper

Butterfly your chicken breasts and pound flat so they are easier to fry in a skillet. Mix together flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Rinse chicken in water and dip in the flour mixture until chicken is completely covered.  Heat half of the butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Place two chicken pieces at a time so you don't crowd the pan. Brown on each side for a few minutes. Cover cooked chicken with tinfoil on a plate until all pieces are cooked.  

Now for the sauce: use the same butter and olive oil which you used to fry the chicken. Add chicken broth, 1/4 cup capers, and the juice from one lemon. Be sure to scrape up the brown bits from the fried chicken to add some extra flavor. Whisk in the rest of the butter until melted. Plate the chicken, pour sauce on top, and sprinkle with parsley! We ate ours with whole wheat orzo pasta.

**Use as much or as lemon as you prefer. We don't like our food too lemon-y so we just used one lemon. We probably could have only used 1/2.  

Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

This pie is one of my all time favorites. I used to request this instead of birthday cake as a child. My girlfriends and I devoured this at Supper Club last week.  We may, or may not, have eaten two slices each.  The original recipe for this is posted in my family's cookbook. It honestly can't get much better than this. And the recipe makes 2 pies!!

You will need:

One bag of semisweet chocolate chips

One bag of chopped pecans

3 tbsp of your favorite bourbon

1 stick of butter

1 cup of light corn syrup

1 cup of sugar

4 eggs

Two aluminum 9 inch pie pans

One package of pie crust (in the refrigerator section, contains two crusts)

Stir together the first seven ingredients in a large bowl, stirring after each addition.  Line the pie pan with the crust and pour in the mixture evenly so both pies get the same amount. Bake on 400 for 45 minutes or until pie is set. Top with your favorite whipped cream!

 **Ladies, you might find that this a wonderful thing to make once a month....

Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

My girlfriends and I started a Supper Club. We meet once a month in the middle of the week. Each meeting is a different theme. We've done Chinese and Mexican. For November, it seemed fitting to make Thanksgiving dinner! Our wonderful host Tiffany made a delicious chicken in the crockpot. Leslie brought stuffing, Rebecca brought the macaroni, Britney brought the gravy, cranberry sauce, more stuffing and rolls, and I brought Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie and Bacon Wrapped Asparagus.  A friend of mine posted a picture of her asparagus on Instagram, and I was instantly inspired to try it myself.  I also whipped up a Chili-Garlic-Mayo dipping sauce for the asparagus. Not only was it a huge hit, it looks really pretty!! This recipe made about 8 bundles.

You will need:

One pack of regular bacon

Two bundles of asparagus

Olive Oil

Garlic Salt

Pepper

Wash the asparagus and trim the ends off. Line the asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil over it. Then sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper, and whatever other seasoning you prefer! Wrap about 7 asparagus tightly in a piece of bacon. Place on a broiler pan and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, or until the bacon is crispy.  

**I did not have a broiler pan so I placed my drying rack on the rimmed baking sheet. It needs to be elevated because of the bacon fat. 

Here is my plate. Of course it's loaded up in Carbs, but you can see the CHILI-GARLIC-MAYO DIPPING SAUCE

You will need:

1 cup mayo

1/3 cup chili garlic sauce 

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tbsp water

1 tsp ground pepper

4 tsp Worcestershire

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 medium onion, chopped (I used dried minced)

1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk together all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill for at least one hour.

**This is super yummy and very similar to some restaurant's "secret sauce"

Slow Cooker Italian Noodle Soup

Fall means soup weather, so I decided to join in on the fun.  There is nothing better than cooking in a slow cooker. Not only is it super easy, but the flavor after cooking something for five hours is incredible.  I'm told this recipe is similar to Pasta E Fagioli Soup at the Olive Garden.

You will need:

2 pounds of ground beef or turkey

One 28oz can of diced tomatoes, do not drain

One 16oz can of red kidney beans, drained

One 16 ox can of white kidney beans, drained

4 cups of beef stock

3 carrots, shredded

1 cup of chopped celery

1 onion, chopped

One jar of traditional spaghetti sauce. 

A few shakes of ground parsley

A few shakes of ground pepper

Even more shakes of ground oregano

A few squirts of tabasco or other hot sauce

8 oz of short pasta, like ditali 

Brown the beef and then combine all ingredients expect pasta in the slow cooker. Cook on High for 4-5 hours, or on low for 7-8 hours.  Once it's almost ready, cook pasta according to directions, drain, and add to the soup. Stir everything together and you're finished!

** This reminded us of chili.  Add some of your favorite shredded cheese on top, if you dare!