Evergreen

Beef Stew

This recipe is one of our favorites. This time I made it for New Year's Eve dinner. Turned out amazing as usual. I don't follow any particular recipe on this one and am not sure if I do something different than anyone else. It is truly delicious and I wanted to share it with you! So, I hope you will enjoy it :) here it is...

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 1/2 lb of beef
1 Onion
2 Small carrots
10 Small potatoes
2 Cloves of garlic
1 1/2 cup of mushrooms
2 cups of beef stock
1 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 Teasp of Cajun spice
Bay leaves, Salt, Pepper



Directions:
Set slow cooker on low setting or put deep pot with thick bottom on to slow heat. Chop onions and fry them in frying pan with olive oil until golden brown. Spruce olive oil on the bottom of the slow cooker or pot, add fried onions. Chop carrots and garlic roughly and add to the onions. Season beef with salt and pepper and fry on the pan until all redness is gone about 1 1/2 minutes. Add beef to the slow cooker. Slice mushrooms into big chunks and add to the stew. Add cajun spice, worcestershire sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat 2 cups of ready beef stock or use 2 beef stock cubes and two cups of hot water to dissolve them; add stock to the beef stew; add bay leaves (2 or 3); leave to cook on high in slow cooker, or low heat in the pot, for about 2 hours. Cut potatoes into halves or quarters, depending on size, making around 2 by 2 inch pieces. Add potatoes to the stew and let it cook for about 3-4 hours on high. After that keep on low setting in the slow cooker and keep warm until serving. When serving garnish with your choice of herb and enjoy!

Peppermint popcorn

This season I've tried to make some peppermint popcorn. The first batch turned out to be such a success that I kept making it throughout the entire holidays season.
I didn't follow any specific recipe but rather measured everything by eye. I used a popcorn air popper to pop some fresh yummy popcorn (used 1/2 cup of kernels). Then I got a big bowl and transferred whole pieces of popcorn there, getting rid of leftover kernels. Then I took one candy cane and mashed it into a powder using mortar and pestle (you can also use processor).
Now the almond bark, I had a difficulty finding it in the grocery stores and eventually ended up getting it at Walmart. I used three pieces of the almond bark (melting directions are on the back of the package; 90 seconds was enough to melt three pieces). Use baking spatula to stir melted bark to melt any non-melted pieces until its all smooth.
Next step is simply to pour melted almond bark over your popcorn, add peppermint, pinch of salt and, if you want a little bit of color, sprinkles. Gently mix popcorn until its all covered evenly. Transfer popcorn into a tray and let it cool for about 15-20 minutes. After it cooled down and almond bark hardened it is ready to eat!
So simple to make and so tasty to snack on :) ENJOY!!!

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus

My husband came across a great recipe on weight watchers. We decided to try it right away and make it for tonight's dinner. If you are looking for the perfect blend of crunchy and salty, spicy and tangy, meaty and veggie...you would love this one. Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto with cream cheese. This is one of the tastiest apps I've ever had. There is a bit of a hassle while you make it because you need to carefully wrap every asparagus stem in prosciutto, and those who worked with this type of meat know how thin and fragile those slices are, oh and did I mention you also spread cream cheese on them; but I have to say that the prep work absolutely worth it.

Mandala Art

I created this mandala for a gift and was very pleased with the result. According to Wikipedia Mandala is a sanskrit word that means 'circle'. To read more about Mandalas click here. 

Typically Mandalas are created by using a basic geometric pattern. Using a pencil divide your canvas into concentric circles with the center in the middle. 

After you're done you can start drawing the contours using darker pensil or marker (anything in darker tones will work depending on your vision; I used black marker). Start in the center and draw objects one after the other filling the concentric circles evenly from each angle (you can draw anything you want). I went with very simple flowerish/ raindrop elements. 

Then when the contours are done and the pattern is ready, erase your pencil lines and start coloring. I filled in my mandala with crayons (coloring mandala is a lot of fun!). 

I hope you liked this project, its very creative and a great activity to do with you kids.

Blue Cheese and red potato tart

This is a must try recipe! Delicious small red potatoes with blue cheese crumbles on a savory tart. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. I am a big fan of a blue cheese and OMG this recipe is something I'll be making not once :)

For the recipe click here

Crispy Prosciutto Cups with Pear

The holiday season is here! It is time to think about tasty things I want to make. I came across this recipe at Martha Stewart's website; it is easy to make and sounds so tasty. An unusual combination of smoky and salty prosciutto with sweet pear...yum! I really like the idea of crisping prosciutto and making it into a cup. This appetizer recipe is on the top of my list for this season :)

I made this appetizer for New Year's Eve. Instead of the Bartlett pear from the original recipe I used Red pear (very similar in taste); in addition to lemon juice I used some maple syrup and a sprinkle of poppy flower seeds. Even though making the prosciutto cups was challenging, this appetizer turned out really delicious. I would recommend to use more meaty pieces of prosciutto to form the cups. The ones that had fat strings kind of bubbled up and were difficult to fill with diced pear. I also baked it for 10 minutes instead of 15 as they started getting brown very fast and I didn't want them to burn.

Here is the original recipe from Martha Stewart's website; below my version of it. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:

• Prosciutto, thinly sliced
• 1 ripe Red pear, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup or honey
• Sprinkle of poppy flower seed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut prosciutto into 24 two-inch squares.
Place one square (overlapping any tears) in each cup of a mini cupcake tin.
Bake until fat turnes golden, about 10 to 12 minutes. Using a fork, immediately transfer to a paper towel to drain; cool completely.
In a small bowl, combine diced pear and lemon juice, maple syrup or honey and poppy seeds. Fill each cup with pear mixture just before serving.