Tuesdays At The Table - Irish Soda Bread

Happy Tuesday, ladies!  Monday was my first day back at work, post -surgery.  Um. I'll just say it was an experience. 

Alrighty, on to happier things!  St. Patrick's Day is coming soon - and to me, that means a parade, wearing green and eating a little soda bread.

Irish Soda Bread

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
3/4 cup raisins

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In a small bowl, the whisk eggs and sour cream. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in raisins.

Spoon mixture into a greased 9-in. cake pan (though the original recipe calls for a springform pan). Bake at 350° for 40-45 or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before from the pan. Cut into wedges; serve warm.

What's cooking in your kitchen?

And while I have your attention...anybody want to join my BambooPink team? I'm really excited about it!

Bamboo Pink

Earlier this week, I was contacted about a new opportunity at Bamboo Pink.  After some serious thought, and a bit of Googling, I'm taking the leap!  I promise not to pester you all with it, but did want to share the opportunity with those who may be interested.  :-)

Here's why:



*It's FREE to become a consultant! (No demo kits or mandatory start up fees)


*You don't have to host parties or distribute books.


*You don't have to buy product and sell it from your home, office, etc...


*It's all internet based using virtual trunk shows. You simply direct people who want to buy Bamboo Pink to your website and presto... it's done!


*The merchandise!!! Have you seen it!?!? We're talking about SUPER cute stuff!!! The jewelry is high quality, fashionable, AND affordable. It's price pointed from $29-$100. So it works with anyone's budget.

 *The designers behind Bamboo Pink, JudeFrances, already have an established high-end jewelry line that can be found in upscale department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.


*There is absolutely NO RISK if you sign up now to become a consultant. Because you do not have to invest $ into the company in order to become a consultant, if in the future you decide that this isn't for you, you're not out any money.

*It's already projected to be the fastest growing women's internet start-up company in HISTORY!!! And the company hasn't been officially launched yet!


So why not become apart of history with Bamboo Pink? You have nothing to lose!


If you're interested, you can sign-up by visiting me here:
http://www.bamboopink.net/allthelilstuff

Or clicking on the Bamboo Pink icon on the top right of my blog.  :-)

Tuesdays At The Table - Swiss Beer Bread

Happy Tuesday, ladies!  I hope you all got to celebrate President's Day with a long weekend.  :-)

There have been a lot of new participants of TATT lately.  Let me give you a hearty welcome!  We're a fun group, and everyone that participates have absolutely AMAZING recipes!  I hope you'll not only poke through my blog, but of those linking up as well.  Have fun!!

This week I'm sharing some beer bread.  The irony of it?  I don't like beer.  At all!  But I l-o-v-e this bread.

Swiss Beer Bread

4 ounces Jarlsberg or Swiss cheese
3 cups  flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer or nonalcoholic beer
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Divide cheese in half. Cut half of cheese into 1/4-inch cubes; shred remaining cheese. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Stir beer into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cheeses.

Transfer to a greased loaf pan. Drizzle with butter. Bake at 375° for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

What's cooking in your kitchen?

CSN Giveaway - WINNER!!

I'm so sorry for the delay, ladies!!  As I was telling the fabulous Mrs. Jones - pain pills make me dumb! 

I sincerely apologize.

Without further ado - the winner of CSN's $40 giveaway is Tiffany of Memoirs of A Munchkin Mommy!  Most of you adore dogs as much as I do, and her munchkins are so cute.  Drop on by and visit her.  :-)

Tiffany, I'll be emailing you the coupon code soon!

Tuesdays At The Table - Easy Oreo Truffles

Happy Valentine's Day!!  I hope you got lots of love from your significant other, kids, friends, pets and co-workers.  :-)

In celebration of cupid's day, here is a super easy oreo truffle recipe. 

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg.  (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed & divided

1 pkg. (14 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

Mix softened cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended. Roll into 48 (gumball size) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

Refridgerate 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

What's cooking in your kitchen?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wishing everyone a love-filled Valentine's Day!

Surgical Re-cap...

I survived surgery.  We all knew I would!!  If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that it was a bit of an ordeal though.

I got to the hospital and had the following people descend on me all at once: the pre-op nurse, the surgical nurse, the surgeon, two of his residents, the anesthesiologist and one of his residents.  I don't know what the deal was...but they had me into the surgical suite before they even put my IV in!  I've seen how smoothly things are supposed  to run while there for my mom's surgeries.

It seems that I threw up while unconscious in the surgical suite.  Luckily, I didn't aspirate anything!  However, I did throw up again in the recovery room.  Go me!!

Despite antibiotics, and a host of other meds - the surgeon was unpleasantly surprised by how bad my gallbladder was when he got in there.  I was blessed that they still did the procedure laparoscopically - but they had to open up one of the incisions a lot wider than normal to get the organ out.  That means that I am at risk for a hernia.  No shoveling or picking up anything over five pounds for a couple of months (and I have to be careful bending over), and my recovery is going to take longer than I had hoped.

I look forward to getting back to normal...but in the meantime, Percocet is my friend!

And...while I was having surgery....
My mom is in London and tripped over a cobblestone and fell.  She ended up breaking her shoulder (she swears she feels fine now) and chipped a tooth. Then, my great uncle passed away.  We all knew it was coming; I just wish that our family hadn't had such a colossally bad day!

Tuesdays At The Table - Salsa Verde Pork Stew

Happy Tuesday, gang!  Surgery is coming quickly, but I didn't want to rest on my laurels.  You get a new recipe this week. This one comes courtesy of my mom.  Sorry I don't know where she found the recipe!

Honestly, I haven't tasted it - but both my dad and picky-eater brother loved it.  So it goes in the "win" column.  :-)

For you lovelies who haven't popped by since last Monday - click here to enter my CSN giveaway!

Salsa Verde Pork Stew
1 box Rotini
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound), cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/4 cups prepared salsa verde
1 can (about 15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained

In medium bowl, stir together cumin, chili powder and 2 teaspoons oil. Add pork; stir to coat completely. Set aside.

Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add pork. Cook about 5 to 7 minutes until browned and cooked through, turning occasionally.  Remove from skillet; set aside.

Add onion and 2 tablespoons broth to skillet; cook and stir over medium-high heat (stirring up any browned bits from pan) about 3 minutes, until onions are crisp-tender. Stir in salsa, remaining broth, and beans. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Return pork to skillet. Heat through. Cook pasta according to package directions.  Portion pasta into individual serving dishes. Top with stew.

What's cooking in your kitchen?

Going Under The Knife

You got it; I need surgery.  Between pain level, doctors appointments and lab tests - I was out of work all last week.  Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday just after noon time.

On one hand - I'm NERVOUS!! I've never had to have surgery before. I've been a very lucky girl who, despite some serious asthma issues, had never had other problems.  No stiches (except when I got my wisdom teeth out), no admissions to the hospital, no major broken bones (only little ones..heeheehee).

On the other hand - I can't wait for surgery! I'm in pain, and would love to feel human again.

Many thanks to those of you who have emailed, tweeted, IM'd or otherwise checked in on me.  You are all so sweet!  Fingers crossed, the surgery is done laproscopically.  It will start that way - but I've been warned that there are a few reasons why I might have to get cut open the "old way".

In the meantime, have you entered my CSN giveaway yet?  You still have PLENTY of time!

It's A GIVEAWAY - From CSN!

Guess what?  The lovely people at CSN reached out to me, and asked if I'd be interested in hosting a giveaway or doing a product review!  And, because I love you all so much - I decided to do a giveaway!

You've all heard of CSN, right?!?!  If you haven't yet, you're missing out!  SERIOUSLY!!  With 200 stores, just jam-packed with things I (and likely you) are all coveting, you can spend all day "window shopping".  I'm a huge fan of their modern furniture right now.  The rugs are right up my alley, and the modern Disney items would subtly mix into my house.

This time around, CSN is letting me give away a $40 gift certificate* towards the item of your choice.  To keep things simple, I'm not giving everyone quite as many entry opportunities as last time.

Earn 1 entry for being a blog follower.
Earn 1 entry for following me on Twitter.
Earn 1 entry for telling me what kind of goodies you'd buy with the gift certificate.

This contest will be open through Sunday, February 13th @ midnight.  The winner will announced soon thereafter.

Good luck!

*Please note that this gift certificate is not applicable towards shipping, but many items already ship for free!

Tuesdays At The Table - Meatball Bubble Biscuits

Hi gang.  Sorry my TATT post is so late!  I know, it's completely unlike me...but I'm sick. AGAIN!!  This time, they are pretty sure that I'm either having a gallbladder "attack" or they need to take it out.  All I can say is "holy moley, I'm in pain".

Because of this, I'm having another throwback week. Back from when there weren't even a fraction of you lovelies that read and linked up to TATT.  :-)  By the way - I love, love, love reading all your recipes each week!!

Meatball Bubble Biscuits

1 can (12 oz) buttermilk or original flaky Pillsbury biscuits
10 frozen cooked meatballs that have been thawed and cut in half
2 sticks (1 oz. each) of string cheese, cut into 10 pieces
1 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp of italian seasoning
1/4 tsp of garlic
1 cup of marinara sauce, heated
Seperate the can of biscuits into 10 biscuits, then seperate each biscuit into 2 layers. Press each newly formed biscuit into a 3 inch round.

Place a meatball half and a piece of string cheese in the center of each dough round. Wrap around and press shut each dough round.
In an 8 or 9 inch cake pan, place each seam size down in a single layer.

Sprinkle evenly with garlic, italian seasoning and parmesan cheese.  Bake 20-25 minutes at 375.  Dip in marinara and enjoy. :-)

What's cooking in your kitchen?