CEiMB - Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs (better late than never)

I'm late with this post. It's Christmas season. Give me a break. I'm stressed like the rest of you! It's what. . .three days until Christmas and I'm not ready.

Today I went to Walmart. Not Walmark. Not Walmarts. Just Walmart. (You might have to be southern to know what that comment actually means). Traffic was backed up for miles. Everyone is out shopping and they are driving crazy!! My grocery list was two arms long. Walmart did not have everything I needed of course, so tomorrow will be another trip to Publix for more supplies. You would think a big snow is headed my way if you saw my list of food. But it is just Christmas fixins!

On top of all that, I need rehab. I am totally addicted to homemade chex mix. Addicted I tell you! I started eating it this morning with my pumpkin spice coffee before I ate my cereal. Then the hand continued to go into the chex mix every half hour or so the rest of the day. I'm making more tomorrow.

The maple mustard thighs were so easy to prepare. Very tender. But I'm not a big mustard fan so these were not my favorite. The darling yankee loved it of course. Bless his heart, there isn't much he doesn't like! So easy to please. I'm lucky. If you like mustard, you definitely should try these. As you can see, mine did not brown well either.

Tessa of Handle The Heat chose this recipe.

I watched Julie and Julia last night and was so inspired. I give it a thumbs up. I actually liked the "Julie" part better than the "Julia" part of the movie however.

Ingredients
4 large bone-in chicken thighs, skins removed (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons grainy French mustard
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 tablespoons maple syrup
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Rinse chicken and pat dry. Combine mustard, garlic, marjoram and maple syrup in a small bowl. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons mustard mixture evenly on top of each chicken thigh, being careful to cover as much of the surface as possible to form a "crust." Arrange chicken in a glass baking dish. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until mustard mixture has formed a crust and is slightly hardened, and juices run clear when the chicken is pierced.

Barefoot Bloggers - Croissant Bread Pudding

Happy Holidays and a big thank you to all of you who cooked with me this week!

I am the hostess this week for our Barefoot Bloggers group. We cook with the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten, enjoying every delicious morsel her foods provide for us. After much deliberation, I chose Ina's Croissant Bread Pudding. I chose it for three reasons. First, because I love bread pudding, second, it seemed a festive thing to make here in December, and third, since we are in the midst of the busiest season of the year, I knew it would not be too time consuming.

I made two additions to the recipe. I added about a teaspoon of cinnamon and about 1/2 cup of pecans, for the simple reason that I love cinnamon and pecans. If you are having guests over this month, don't hesitate to prepare and serve this. You cannot go wrong with this bread pudding. It is the yankee's favorite dessert and he complimented me not once, not twice, but after each bite.

He did say, however, that the pecans did not add anything to it.

You know bread pudding started I think as a way of salvaging stale bread. My family had it a lot as I was growing up so it is comfort food for me. We never had it at Christmas time however. Christmas brought fresh coconut cakes, red velvet cakes, pecan pies, mincemeat pies, and Italian Creme cakes. And let's not forget the fruitcake. Yes, I've heard all the fruitcake jokes, but I actually loved the ones my mother baked every year. They were chocked full of nuts and candied cherries. I think bread pudding will become my new Christmas tradition!

In keeping with my movie quotes this month, does anyone remember in what movie Christmas dinner is highlighted by the presentation of plum pudding, which Bob Cratchit proclaimed "the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage." If you guessed Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, of course you are right! While I cannot guarantee that this bread pudding will be the greatest achievement of your life, I can promise it will delight your tummy and bring a smile to your face. Enjoy!

Croissant Bread Pudding
1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, All rights reserved
Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients
3 extra-large whole eggs
8 extra-large egg yolks
5 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 croissants, preferably stale, sliced horizontally
1 cup raisins
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside. Slice the croissants in half horizontally. In a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish, distribute the bottoms of the sliced croissants, then add the raisins, then the tops of the croissants (brown side up), being sure the raisins are between the layers of croissants or they will burn while baking. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently.
Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

TWD - All in One Holiday Bundt Cake

It's my favorite time of the year! This week especially. My birthday is Wednesday and Thanksgiving is Thursday and all that food we can consume!! Happy Birthday to Me!

On our Tuesdays with Dorie group, we had the option of posting our recipes this month in any order we chose. This week I am posting the All in One Holiday Bundt Cake chosen by Britin of The Nitty Britty. Use this link to jump over to her website to get the recipe. This is one you do not want to miss. It is called all in one for a good reason - it has everything but the kitchen sink in it! While I thought the cake would taste more pumpkiney (is that a word?), it really tasted more like an apple cake to me. It is filled with pumpkin, apples, cranberries, pecans, and lots of yummy spices.

I took it Saturday night to my birthday bash at our dance club and everyone really enjoyed it. The comment I heard the most was how moist it was. My DH ate a big hunk of it this morning for breakfast with our Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes. You gotta love those! It was a huge hit at my house and with my friends. My good friend Janet made her famous brownies for me and they are always a hit as well.

the cake was NOT responsible for this behaviour however!! Just Matt and Nathan messing around. . . .

MOVIE NEWS: I can't end this blog without reporting on seeing New Moon. While I thought it was way better than the first Twilight movie, it still was a bit slow. The special effects however were awesome. And so were Edward and Jacob. . . .oh to be a teenager again! I can't wait for the third movie to come out in June.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

BAREFOOT BLOGGERS - Company Pot Roast

Lisa of Lime in the Coconut chose Ina Garten's company pot roast for our November pick. The recipe can be found in Back to Basics on page 117. On first glance, it seems to have a ton of ingredients, but really it is pretty quick to prepare other than the cooking time (which would be long for any meat this size). The only change I made was I left out the leeks. I made this on a Sunday afternoon while I laid on the sofa and watched movies and let the wonderful aroma of the roast in the oven tempt me all afternoon. I could not wait to taste it. We paired it with some mashed red potatoes and carrot salad. It all was delicious!

In keeping with my November famous movie quotes, see if you can get this one!

“It's Mrs. Danvers. She's gone mad. She said she'd rather destroy Manderley than see us happy here.”

Thanks Lisa for a great pick this month! I think it will make a wonderful company dish that I will definitely prepare again.

The movie quote was from "Rebecca" one of my favorite books and movies!!

Also remember November is novel writing month if you think you have it in you to write one that quick!

TWD - Cran Apple Crisps

Here's a movie quote. One of my favorite movies of all time. Do you know what movie it is from? I'll have the answer down below in case you don't.

"As God is my witness, as God is my witness, they're not going to lick me! I'm going to live through this, and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again - no, nor any of my folks! If I have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill! As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again."

Em of the Repressed Pastry Chef chose Cran Apple Crisps for the month of November and what a great choice that was. It filled my home with the most wonderful fall smells. One might think Thanksgiving has already come!

I am not really sure I did the crisp part right. I just sort of blobbed it on there. I'm writing this before I taste it, but I'm sure it tastes superb if it is anything like the smell. Yum.

Check out the recipe at Em's blog and while you are there browse around. Em has some wonderful foods to share with you!

If you guessed Gone With the Wind you would be correct! Thanks for playing along.

TWD below - CEiMB - Carrot, Green Apple, and Mint Salad

This week's Ellie recipe was chosen by Jessica of Singleton in the Kitchen. Check out her blog. I always enjoy reading Jessica's adventures.

I have to admit, this week's recipe, however, did not excite me initially. However, I changed my mind after making it. We loved it. I think the only change I would make next time is I would like to have raisens in it. Also, the mint did not thrill me so I might leave it off. The dressing, however, was delicious! I am not sure what the difference is in regular yogurt and greek yogurt, but I loved the taste of this.

We enjoyed it with some rotisserie chicken and a vegetable concoction I came up with at the last minute consisting of corn, peas, turnip greens, and pinto beans. I mixed all those together and heated it up and it was very tasty. The carrot salad was a crisp and delicious side.

Thanks Jessica for choosing this! I felt I had made a very healthy dish.

I'll leave you with a favorite quote, "The sooner you fall behind the more time you'll have to catch up. " Ain't it so.

TWD - Sugar Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

It hasn’t been my best day and yet here I am blogging. You know what they say, some days you are the bug and others you are the windshield. Well you guessed it - today I’m the windshield!

And sometimes it only takes a good cookie to turn your entire day around. Or a good laugh at Walmart. Have you ever really looked at the people walking around Walmart? Some of them need to ask Scottie to beam them back their clothes! Half naked is never a good look for shopping. But then, maybe their gene pool could use a little chlorine if you know what I mean!

This week in our Tuesdays with Dorie group, one of my favorite bloggers, Pamela of Cookies With Boys chose Sugar Topped Molasses and Spice Cookies. I was not excited about making these cookies, but I did like the way they turned out. I thought they could do with more spice though. I also plan to use them as a topping for the Apple Cranberry Crisp that I will be making tomorrow night which is another TWD dessert. Check out Pam's blog because she is super creative AND the recipe for these great cookies will be there.

Okay, mine are small. I made very tiny balls. And yes, they are a bit burned around the edges. What can I say. I also forgot to dip the glass in sugar when I pressed them out. Put on your big girl pants and deal with it!