wait until cooled to lick the spoon

For Christmas I got my hubs Celtics tickets for last night's game - Celtics vs Bulls. Two tickets. And called up one of his bff's to see if he could go with him.

Fab and his Christmas Gifts. Happy Man.

So that's where they were last night. He was a happy man. Unfortunately, the Celtics lost.... in overtime... by 1 point... right at the buzzer... after a bad call by the refs. Suck. (Don't tell my mom I said "suck.") But it was a great game, nonetheless.

So - back to me. While he was at the game, I had my own girls night. I went to Marshall's and picked up some bath stuff to fulfill one of my New Years Goals (more on those in another post!). While there, I browsed the sale section... danger danger. But I kept it under control and only got a recipe book stand for $3! Holla. And some Essie Nail Polish for $3. Holla again. When Fab got home and I showed him what I got he said, "What else you got in your back of tricks there?" I love him and his silly humor.

Then to the grocery store for some crackers, chocolate and butter. Grabbed a Redbox movie, "What to Expect When You're Expecting." Picked up some Barefoot Sweet Red and headed home to make myself some treats, watch my movie and have a glass of wine.

Excellent.

A few weeks ago I recorded some shows on Food Network during their "Southern Belle Weekend." (I lived in the South up until 2003 and my mama cooks Southern. I hope you said that last part with a Southern accent... I did.) One of Trisha Yearwood's episodes featured this recipe and I added it to my "to make" list then. And then this week I saw it on Pinterest - it was calling my name. Obviously.

First, I tried for a while to get the cork out of my wine bottle. That took some serious elbow grease. And reminded me what a weakling I am. Then I poured myself a glass of red. (Note to self: buy a new wine bottle opener that does more of the work for you.)

Treat time.

Saltine Crackers. Butter. Brown Sugar. Chocolate. Easy breezy.

First things first - turn on that oven. 350 degrees F.

Grab a jelly roll pan... although, in my case, it was a baking pan because my jelly roll pan is in storage, so it was a tad larger than desired. I'd def recommend the jelly roll size, if you have it, because the crackers won't move around when you're trying to spread the chocolate on top.

Line it with tinfoil - this makes for incredibly easy clean-up. Spray it with a generous amount of cooking spray, butter flavored preferably. Then lay out 40 crackers, salty side down...yep, my pic is salty side up - whoops. That's one sleeve of crackers + like 4 from another. Geesh. Couldn't just put 40 in one sleeve?

Now get a medium sized pot and put it over medium heat. Throw in two sticks of butta. Two. Mmm.

And add some brown sugar. 1 cup packed.

Heat and stir occasionally until the butter has melted completely and the mixture comes to a boil. Stir, stir, stir or that butter won't get fully incorporated into the sugar. Boil it for about 1 minute then reduce temperature to low and simmer for 3-5 minutes. It's going to thicken up and get to be a caramel color.

Now pour it over your crackers, covering them evenly. After pouring you can move the caramel over a little to get to the edges and any spots it didn't make it to. Oooooo, yum. Resist the urge to do any licking of the spoon... at least until the mixture cools off... you'll burn your tongue like I did. Ouch.

Now stick it in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until it's just bubbly. Remove from oven and pour your 2 cups of chocolate chips on top, wait a bit for them to melt then spread, spread, spread. 

Now you gotta wait. Sorry. Just be patient, it'll be worth it. Since we didn't have room in our freezer, I just left them on the counter to cool off then broke them up and put them in a ziploc to put in the fridge. BUT if you have room then stick that tray in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes and then break them up and enjoy! 

They are delicious and so incredibly easy. Enjoy!

Download the recipe here.

xo - Kem

chili... now that it's not so chilly

This is Boston, right? Where it's supposed to be cold? Not 50 degrees in the winter. So strange.

So usually I cook up this chipotle turkey chili but I wanted to go the traditional route this time around. So I did a little research and found a recipe on my trusty All Recipes that I pulled spices from and then threw in the extras... beans, meat, tomatoes, corn, etc. 

One day, I'll be able to just throw all these things together like my mama. Until then, I rely on phone calls home and the internet. Unfortunately, my mom's big on "just a little of this" and "a dash of that" and "maybe a cup...or two, of this" and that's just hard to follow. One day. One day, I'll be there. 

So cornbread. It's taken me a while to find a recipe that I love and I think I've finally got it. The only thing I changed up was to add greek yogurt to my sour cream (b/c I didn't have enough) and I used about 1/2 cup sugar b/c we like our cornbread a little sweeter. 

Chili and cornbread perfection is found here. 

Download the cornbread recipe.

Download the chili recipe.

Like a dummy, I used what was left of my sour cream for this delish cornbread and didn't have any for chili toppings. If you've never had sour cream on your chili you should try that out. So all we had this time around was some shredded cheddar cheese.

Do you have a favorite chili and cornbread combo? Or a secret  ingredient that you want to share?

a jazzy date night

One of the things that I look forward to every week is Friday night date night. That's Fab & I's set night for doing something a little different together that's focused on one another and no one else. Sure, it sometimes gets moved around a little but we rarely go with out our one-on-one date time each week. I love it.

Last night we went to a jazz bar & kitchen in the South End - Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen. They served up live jazz, great service, and delicious southern comfort food. Growing up in the South for the first half of my life, the Southern goodness made me a happy camper.

It was certainly very LOUD and we had to do a lot of yelling and stretching across the table to hear one another when the live music was playing but that's ok once in a while. The music was great. The place was fun. The manager greeted us several times, let us know how much longer we'd be waiting for our table, checked in with us during and after our meal & danced with the two birthday ladies celebrating that night.

It was small and we definitely waited a good 30-45 minutes but I think that is to be expected anywhere with live music on a Friday night and when you're listening to music and you can grab a drink at the bar, if desired, it's ok. (There's a $3 cover charge per person that's added to your final bill when there's live music, too.)

We were boring this time and both ordered the chicken & waffles after reading some good reviews about it on Yelp... Yelp is our guide to everything. Neither of us had ever had it before though so now was the time! I rarely fry food at home... so messy. 

It was DELICIOUS. Crispy and juicy chicken. Fluffy buttermilk waffle. Butter. Maple syrup. YUM. 

Look at that big hunka chicken. Never understood the chicken & waffles thing but always wanted to try it and see what all the fuss was about. Fuss understood.

And Red Velvet cake for dessert... with sweet, homemade whip cream. And layers of rich & thick cream cheese frosting & chocolate ganache between the cake layers. YUM. It wasn't my favorite red velvet ever... I prefer the fluffy to just on the verge of dense cake but it was very tasty.

Family Fun Fact: "Tasty" means bad in my family. Or at least that's the joke. Mom happened to make something that was just NOT good once, it's an extreme rarity for this to happen, and dad called it "tasty," jokingly... so now, anything that's not the greatest is deemed "tasty." Although, in this case... it was ACTUALLY tasty, the good way, not the bad.

Despite the rain outside and walking home from the blue line, in that lovely rain, instead of waiting 25 mins for the next bus, it was a fun and filling evening with my favorite man.

Do you have a date night scheduled in? How do you mix it up without spending a lot? (We don't always go to pricey restaurants on our date nights!)

blog beginning & a yummy dinner

I've been wanting to start a blog for quite a while and semi-started one before I got married in July 2011.  It's 2013. WOAH. Time flies. I mean, I know it's only been a year and a half since we got married but it certainly seems like ... well, it seems like it was forever ago but at the same time yesterday. That makes sense....right? No. Ok.

Anywho. I've wanted to start a blog since then. Always felt like I wouldn't know what to say... wouldn't know how to say it... wouldn't have enough to say... wouldn't have any readers... etc, etc. Those still all ring true but who cares... I'll start and hope I have enough to say and maybe at least one person will read my blog... even if it's just my mom... or my best friend. Gotta start somewhere, right?

Tonight we had some absolutely deliciously moist Chicken Burgers from over at Cassie Craves. I've wanted to make these ever since I pinned them quite a while ago but the few times I've put them on our menu for the week, we ended up not making them for various reasons. So tonight, they've made it onto the grill pan.

How great do those look? And that Rosemary Garlic Mayo is so yum! And they are incredibly easy.

Rosemary Garlic Mayo
1c mayonnaise
1/4 c rosemary, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix half of that mayo in with 1lb ground chicken along with 1/4 tsp ground pepper & 1/2 tsp salt. Form into 4 patties. Cook on grill pan. Melt provolone on your burgers. Almost done!

Now make those buns crispy. Add a thin layer of that delicious mayo onto your buns (hamburger buns that is... although, it'll probably end up on your buns anyway) and grill them face down for a bit until they are nice and golden. Pop your burger and bun together, add a slice of tomato and some more mayo and chow. done. You will be one happy kid. Deliciousness.

Chicken Burgers with Rosemary Garlic Mayo & a salad with leftover mustard vinaigrette from Christmas. mmmm... so good.

And this salad and vinaigrette. Delicious, as well. Just some romaine, chopped green apples, raisins, feta cheese & candied pecans. Ate about half of those candied pecans off the top of the salad while I was waiting for the burgers to finish. The vinaigrette is really what makes this baby though.

I made the vinaigrette originally for Christmas then again the following week and ate the leftovers today. We kinda like it. Pulled it from my dear friend, allrecipes.com from Roquefort Pear Salad. I used regular mustard both times because that's what I had on hand though.

Oh deliciousness. 

That's all for now. All = a lot. Sorry bout that.

Kem