St. Patrick's Day Recipes

Okay ladies, I need your help. My daughter is SUPER excited about St. Patrick's Day. I have never done much for this holiday, but this year I was thinking about making a special dinner. Does anyone have suggestions for Irish or green food? Thanks!

Blueberry Lemon Scones

I am in love with these scones! I got this recipe from here. My mother-in-law gave me some dried blueberries so I used those instead of cherries. Also, I do not have a zester in my life yet, so I just used a potato peeler to peel the lemon and then chopped it up really small. I love the glaze on it.

Preheat oven to 400. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix together:
2 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in 1/2 c. butter to flour mixture until it looks crumbly. Then stir in:
zest of 2 lemons
1/2 c. (or more) of dried blueberries

Add 2/3 c. buttermilk (I just used 1 tbsp of lemon juice in 1 c. milk) and just stir till dough barely comes together. Don't overmix.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle about 7 inches round and 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut this circle into 3-6 pie shaped wedges (or more).

Place scones on the baking sheet and brush tops with an egg wash (1 egg mixed with 1 Tbsp milk). Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Drizzle with glaze:
juice of one lemon and 1/2 - 1 c. of powdered sugar; should be kind of runny.

I made 12 scones but they weren't big. And next time I'm definitely doubling the recipe since it's just not enough for us.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache Frosting

One more recipe for Lorien...

3.5 ounces good quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (chocolate chips are fine)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup (optional)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Microwave the chocolate until melted. (microwave in 1 minute increments and stir between - the chocolate won't look melted until you stir it, and it is easy to burn if you heat for more than 1 minute at a a time) Pour the cream over the chocolate and stir using a small rubber spatula or whisk, starting from the center of the bowl and working your way out till combined and smooth. Add the corn syrup (if using) and vanilla. Stir into the chocolate mixture well. Using a hand mixer, beat the chocolate mixture for 2-3 minutes until it becomes softer and light and fluffy.

You can also just allow the chocolate mixture to cool for a few minutes and then pour it over the cake as a glaze.

Sugar Cookie Bars

Lorien....this one is for you! Truthfully it's for anyone who wants to make sugar cookies but doesn't want all the work.

This cookie is spread out into a baking sheet to cook - so no rolling it our or cutting different shapes.

Sugar Cookie Bars

1 cup butter; room temp.
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp soda

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each egg. Add vanilla & mix well. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt & soda & stir with a whisk to combine. (or, if you are lazy, like me, just add the dry ingredients and sprinkle the soda and salt all around before mixing!) Add to wet mixture and mix just until combined. Spread on a greased 13 x 18 pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min, until light golden brown or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely and then frost.

Frosting

1/2 cup butter; room temp
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
4 cups powdered sugar
5 Tbsp milk
food coloring (if desired)

For frosting combine butter and shortening until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and salt. Add powdered sugar in 1-2 cup increments until combined, then add milk & mix until smooth and spreading consistency. Spread over cooled cookie.

Chicken and Dumplings

This is a recipe that I got from The Sisters Cafe. It is fast (if you have cooked chicken on hand) and fabulous. I have tried dumplings before and they are always a little too mushy for me. I liked the flavor of these and they were cooked all the way through. My kids commented that it was a little like chicken pot pie, only better.

Chicken and Dumplings

3 c. cooked chicken, cut into large pieces

½ c. butter

1/3 c. flour

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3 c. chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat free variety works great)

Dumplings:

2 c. flour

3 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp celery seed

¼ c. oil

1 c. milk

Blend butter, flour, salt and pepper in saucepan. Add chicken broth and cook until thick. Stir in cream of chicken soup and add cooked chicken. Put in a 9x13 pan. To prepare dumplings, mix all ingredients together and stir until moistened. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto chicken and gravy. Bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes.

Yesterday marked the 100th day of school, making the year about half way over. Sometimes in the doldrums of winter I will celebrate just about anything.
My eldest was a little sad that in fourth grade they weren't celebrating this milestone, while his younger sister's class was. So I promised to plan something. This is all I did, but it made him happy. After he guessed which one had 100, and how much was in the other containers, we had to do something with those chocolate chips; so I made some cookies. It's fun being the mom.

Menu Planning

Here is my new menu plan for the year. I asked the kids to create their "fantasy" menu. Then I averaged what they wanted and created what would work for us on our time schedule. (by the way mashed potatoes and gravy is apparently a meal by itself)

Sunday: Big Meat (usually with taters and good for leftovers all week)
Monday: Mom's choice (I want to try new stuff; at least they're warned)
Tuesday: Non-Meat/Soup (beans, lentils, food storage stuff)
Wednesday: Leftovers/Sandwiches (Dad is gone this night)
Thursday: Crockpot/Easy (scouts, activity days, etc.)
Friday: Pizza/Tacos (we have a child that was dismayed that we might eat the same thing every night!)
Saturday: Dad's Choice (we all know he's a better cook than me)

This makes my menu planning/grocery shopping so much easier now. Next, I'll have to post some of the yummy recipes I've been finding on-line.