Crockpot Corned Beef and Vegetables

I make this every St. Patricks Day. I love Corned Beef and I should make it more often, but I don't. Its relatively easy.



Ingredients
3 lb. Corned Beef Brisket
4 potatoes
4 carrots
1/2 cabbage
fresh cracked pepper
2 cups of water


1. Wash and quarter the carrots and potatoes
2. Cut the cabbage into bite sized bits
3. Put the water in the slow cooker
4. Put half the potatoes on the bottom
5. Put the corned beef brisket on top, cover with the seasoning packet
6. Put the rest of the potatoes and carrots in
7. Sprinkle some pepper on top
8. Cover and turn on low for 4-5 hours
9. Make sure to watch the water level, it should at least cover 1/2 the brisket.
10. About 30 minutes to go, add the cabbage
11. When the brisket is fork tender and just falls apart with a slight nudge of a spoon, its ready.
12. Take out and place on a platter, serve while hot.

Fabulous Sugar Cookies

I found this recipe online. The original recipe called for almond extract - which I didn't have - so I doubled the vanilla extract. I wonder if the almond extract would have made it sweeter? Either way, my husband didn't think the cookies were sweet enough. They didn't roll out very easily either. The dough was super sticky and kept sticking to my rolling pin and my counter. After awhile I gave up and just made cookie balls. My husband preferred the cookie balls to the cutouts because they were softer. The cutouts were crisp... but they held their shape really well.

Either way - here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. powdered sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

5 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

* Preheat oven to 400 degrees

* Cream butter and sugar with mixer until light

* Add eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly after each egg

* Add vanilla and almond extract

* Sift flour, baking powder and salt into mixture a little at a time

* do not overmix
*Chill dough for up to 1 week. (I chilled it for about 4 hours)
* Roll out on a floured surface and cut into your favorite shapes (all I had was the men cutout, butterflies, ladybugs and hearts..)

*Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes and cool on a wire rack

*I tried to make red frosting by adding what was left of my red food coloring to the white frosting. I guess I didnt have enough left because all it did was make hot pink. It turned out okay for the heart cutouts I made. I was just making the heart cut outs for my husband anyways, so no one really cared or saw them anyways. A few of my gingerbread men had pink scarves though. :)

Gingerbread People

One of the cookies I made this year for christmas was Gingerbread Men People.

This was a relatively easy recipe. I think I rolled them too thin because they were pretty fragile. My platter looked like a battlefield - broken heads, legs, arms, people broken in half... but they were pretty tasty anyways.

An important lesson I learned was do not frost when you are tired. Seriously.. some of them just looked ragged or messy... and I had a failed attempt at red frosting that turned out hot pink.. lol..

Oh and I didnt take much pictures because i forgot..

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup butter at room temp

1/2 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350
• sift together flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cinnamon and set aside
• cream butter and sugar until smooth
• Beat in the molasses, water and vanilla
• Gradually mix in the flour mixture a little at a time
• Cover with plastic wrap and refridgerate 2 hours or until firm.
  (I left mine in for about half a day)
• On a lightly floured surface - roll out dough just under 1/4" thick.
• Use cookie cutters of your choice
  

• Place cookies on a greased cookie sheet
• Bake 9 - 12 minutes
• Let cool five minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool
  
  

  

• Frost (or not) and enjoy!
  
  

Amazing Artichoke Stuffing

My brother in law is a really good cook. He would have to be... my sister can barely cook.

He made this stuffing for thanksgiving and it was really really good.

Ingredients
15 cups 1-inch cubes crustless sourdough bread (from two 1-pound loaves or sourdough rolls)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups chopped onions
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 8-ounce packages frozen artichoke hearts, thawed, coarsely chopped
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth (or vegetable stock to make it vegetarian)

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Divide bread between 2 baking sheets.
• Bake until cubes are dry but not hard, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
• Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Add onions, celery, and garlic.
• Sauté until celery is soft, about 10 minutes.
• Mix in artichokes, thyme, and mint; sauté 2 minutes longer.
• Transfer artichoke mixture to large bowl. (Bread and artichoke mixture can be made 1 day ahead.
• Cover separately. Store bread at room temperature. Refrigerate artichoke mixture and reheat to lukewarm before continuing.)
• Add bread to artichoke mixture; toss to blend well. Mix in cheese, then 1 cup broth. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake seperately from turkey:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Generously butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.
• Add enough extra broth to stuffing to moisten (3/4 cup to 1 1/4 cups).
• Transfer stuffing to prepared dish. Cover with buttered foil, buttered side down.
• Bake until heated through, about 40 minutes.
• Uncover and bake until top is slightly crisp and golden, about 20 minutes longer