Hambuger cupcakes

My co-worker and her sister made these totally adorable cupcakes for a party last summer. They brought in a few to work as well.

I thought they were the sweetest thing, and after reading the directions, I knew they would be a perfect birthday dessert for my mother in law, as a follow up to the cake balls I made her for her birthday in 2010.

So last summer, I baked the cupcakes and brownies at home, sliced the cupcakes, cut out the brownie patties, and dyed the icing red, yellow and green.  I placed them in a cooler, and we went to the lake to my mother in laws trailer to celebrate her birthday.

I had planned to take the icings out of the cooler after dinner and let them soften a bit before assembling.  However, while we were eating dinner some of the family members announced that they were leaving right after we finished eating.  This was unexpected, and my sister in law and I had been hoping to have all the family there for dessert, so I ran into the trailer to start decorating while my sister in law asked the people leaving to hold on for a few more minutes. 

It was more difficult to try to decorate with the very cold and firm icing, and the time restrictions.  So they were not as cute as I'd hoped.  And I forgot the sesame seeds on the buns.  And this is the only picture I took.

But there were still cute, and delicious, and everyone loved them.

My sister in law said I beat the cake balls by a mile. But then she liked THIS years birthday dessert even better than the cupcakes.....

Chicken breasts stuffed with asparagus

At one of our work potlucks one of my co-workers made the most amazing chicken dish that she said came from a Best of Bridge cookbook, but she couldn't remember which one. I have one at home - Aces - so I scanned thru it to see if mine had that recipe. Sadly it did not, but I did find another delicious sounding recipe - Chicken Breasts stuffed with Asparagus.

I made this for a family dinner and while it was a little time consuming it didn't take too long to prepare for baking.  Chicken breasts are dipped into a mouthwatering marinade, then rolled around lightly steamed asparagus.  Yum!

The recipe says you will get raves - and we did. Especially when we brought out the hollandaise sauce for drizzling.

Recipe: Chicken Breast Stuffed with Asparagus

Kale Chips

In the summer I bought a package of seaweed snacks - I'd heard people raving about them, and I thought they could be a healthy snack when I was craving something crunchy. I took them to work to share with my co-workers and.....blech. Most of us couldn't even swallow a bite. One wouldn't even try, but one just loved them. So I gave the bag to her and drank some water to get rid of the taste.

I don't feel the same about kale chips though, YUM!

There are a billion recipes out there for them. I prefer to keep the oven temperature lower, but I start checking them and watching closely around the 10 minute mark.

I also make up my own seasoned salt to sprinkle on - salt, pepper and garlic powder, or salt and chile powder and cumin. Whatever tastes good to you.   So good and good for you.

Recipes lately

I have either not been taking pictures or taking bad pictures with my phone.  Here's some stuff I've made recently:

Portobello prosciutto burgers  I LOVE portobello sandwiches.  The basil mayo in this was a super addition.

Spanish Tortilla  I made one a few months ago that was just a little better, but this is a good recipe, and it gives you nutritional information, which I love.

Meatzza  I follow Nigella Lawson on Twitter, and I was happy to see she has a new book coming out next year.  She linked to this recipe which was fun and delicious.  I used some marble cheese instead of the fresh mozza, and added fresh basil in the 'za.

Spiced shredded pork  I have mentioned this one before, very delicious.

Chinese Pork Chops Very, VERY delicious.

Gyoza stir fry This was fun and I got to use up some odds and ends in the freezer and fridge.

Souper Spaghetti It cooled down here for a week and I made this during that time.  So comforting and homey.  PS- Paula, you have not posted in 2 months.  Please come back.

Vegetarian chili with fries I have made this before as well.  OMG, so good.

Beef noodle salad bowl I added sauteed onions, pepper and zucchini to this.  I would make it, my way, again.

Salted peanut butter chocolate chip cookies Yes.

Barriere Fall Fair

We had a blast at the Barriere Fall Fair today. If you go tomorrow, please fill me in on how the Zucchini Races went.