Chive and Cheddar Biscuits

Imagine my surprise when I found a package of washed chives in the fridge from a couple of nights ago that I had forgotten about.  I couldn't let these babies go to waste so I put them on the counter and thought about what to do with them.  Something easy, something that wouldn't  require a huge commitment.

 Remember my Favorite Biscuits?  A couple of additions and talk about awesome!  So now you know how versatile these biscuits are.

2 cups self rising flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1 tablespoon chopped Italian Parsley (optional)
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1½ cups heavy whipping cream

Don't have have self-rising flour, no problem!  You can turn your AP flour into self-rising flour in a snap! For each cup of self-rising flour, use one cup of all-purpose flour and add 1-1/4 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/8 teaspoon of salt.


Mix all of the ingredients together until dough forms a ball using a fork or your hands. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for about 1 minute. Roll dough out to ½ inch thickness and cut biscuits with a biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Siplat and bake at 425F for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.

Have a great weekend and use sun block!

Sausage and Cheese Bread

The pool is open so the never-ending task of drying large towels and juggling vehicles so the homegirlz can get to work have kept me away.  Yes, both of the homegirlz are now gainfully employed!

Emeril Lagasse made Andouille Cheese Bread on a recent episode of Emeril Live and I was totally captivated.  Then he fried the bread and well let's just say the trance was broken.  I couldn't get the idea of sausage, cheese and bread out of my mind.  Over and over, I thought. Seriously, what's life without sausage, cheese and bread?

I really like this dough recipe.  It's one of the easiest dough recipes to work.  It's not sticky and very easy to roll out.  It can be used to make rolls, bread sticks or just some great sandwich bread.

So here's my version:

Sausage and Cheese Bread -

1 envelope dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons plus a litt5le extra Canola or vegetable oil
2 cups warm water (about 110 - 115 degrees F)
6 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 pound ground  Polish Kielbasa (Andouille is the sausage of choice if you can get it and I bet hot Italian sausage would be phenomenal too!)
8 ounces grated white sharp cheddar cheese


Combine the yeast, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of the oil in the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook. Add the warm water. On stir or low, stir the mixture for about 4 minutes to dissolve the yeast. The yeast is supposed to foam at this point.  If you are sure your yeast isn't old and the mixture doesn't foam, don't  worry about it too much.  The mixture didn't foam for me and I've made this dough several times.  Each time, the dough has risen beautifully. 

While the yeast, water and sugar are making friends, get out a large mixing bowl and combine the flour, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the cornmeal, and the salt. Once the yeast mixture has been stirred, SLOWLY add the mixed dry ingredients to the yeast mixture. Mix on the lowest speed until it the dry ingredients are blended in and then increase the speed to medium and mix and the dough starts to climby up the dough hook. This will happen very fast.

Coat another large mixing bowl the remaining oil.  Add the dough to the bowl  and turn the dough to coat it on all sides with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, set in a warm, draft-free place, and let rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.

Cut up the sausage in very small pieces and brown it in a skillet over medium heat. Once the sausage has browned, remove from skillet using a slotted spoon and allow the sausage to drain and cool on a paper towel-lined platter.  Grate the cheese.

Prepare a 9x12 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Remove the dough from the bowl and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Using your hands or a floured rolling pin, gently roll out the dough to a  rectangle, approximately 10" x 24". Sprinkle the cooked sausage over the dough, leaving about a 3/4" to 1" border on all sides.  Sprinkle the grated cheese over the sausage, the sprinkle with your favorite Creole or Cajun seasoning.

Carefully "jelly roll" the dough from the longest side and pinch the ends together.  Using a serrated knife, cut the ends off to where you can feel the sausage and cheese begins and discard or eat if you like raw dough.  Begin slicing the roll in to approximately 1/2" slices and place in prepared baking dish.

Cover the rolls once again with plastic wrap, place in a warm, draft-free place and allow to rise for 30 minutes.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown.  You and anyone else in your home will begin pacing and tapping their finger tips waiting for this to come out of the oven because your house will be filled with a wonderful baked bread aroma.



The only thing I would add or change would be add more cheese and probably mix with a gooier cheese like fontina, Gruyere or mozzarella.  This just straight-up needs more cheese.

If you need to feel loved, make these soon.  By the way, one of these is a meal all by itself.

Minestrone di Cipolline (Country Onion Soup)

Sometimes Spring likes to tease us.  We think, "Yay, warm weather; no more bulky coats!".  Then a cold front blows through behind a terrible storm and it's cold, gray and windy outside.

The upside, yes, there is an upside; is you get to make and eat some delicious soup!

I found this amazing soup recipe in Ciao Tuscany by Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola, the owner and head chef, respectively of Carrabba's Restuarant.


This was a very simple soup to prepare and I loved the Italian version of an onion soup (and pasta) and its  departure from a typical minestrone.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomator puree'
6 cups beef broth (vegetable broth can be substituted)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar (optional)
8 ounces spaghetti, vermicelli or angel hair pasta
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano

In a large pot or Dutch oven, saute the onions over medium-high heat in the olive oil until they start to carmelize, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook one more minute.  Stir in the tomato puree' and cook for about 5 minutes.  Slowly add in the broth, stirring to thoroughly blend.  Bring soup up to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the soup is simmering,  break the pasta in half and reserve.  Once the soup has simmered for 30 minutes, uncover and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the sugar 1 teaspoon at time and taste.  The sugar will neutralize the acid taste of the tomato puree'.  It's important to taste in between so you don't change to flavor of the soup.

Bring soup back up to a boil and stir in the pasta. Cook until al dente.  Add more broth if necessary to achieve desired consistancy.

Serve with some crusty bread and have plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano to pass around.

Cheeseburger Pie from Simply Suppers and Yes, A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

Okay, to be honest when Kaitlin picked this one, let's just say, it's not one I would have picked but I had to humor the kid.  She saw something I didn't and I was very pleasantly surprised to say the least with this supper from Simply Suppers by Jennifer Chandler.  I did have to make a few "adjustments", just being me.
This is an amazing supper if you have to make dinner on the fly and not cheat your family out of flavor and nutrition and make sure you have plenty of leisure time afterward.

What you need:

1 unbaked pie crust (9-inch), homemade or store-bought
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound lean gorund beef
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly fround black pepper
2 large eggs
1 cup small curd cottage cheese (I substituted 1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese)
2 medium tomatoes
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Before we start, I have to confess, I can't stand tomatoes unless they are cooked, roasted or in a sauce.  If they are raw, forget it. 

Slice the tomatoes, drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and two cloves of inced garlic.  Roast them in a 375 degree oven for about 40 to 45 minutes.  Set them aside and allow them to cool.

Ok even though I'm not a tomato fan, these make me drool...talk about make your house smell wonderful also!

Preheat the oven to 395 degrees.

Place pice crust in a deep-dish pie plate.  Flue the edges if you want.  Place the prepared pie crust in the fridge until you're ready to fill.  Margie, you probably need about eight of these .

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm the oil and add the gound beef and onion.  Cook, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon until all of the meat is cooked through. 

Drain all excess fat, return the meat in the skillet to the stove and stir in the flour and Worchestershore sauce.  Spoon the mixture into the pie crust.



In a small bowl stir together the eggs and cottage cheese (I substituted ricotta cheese and a spinkle of salt and pepper).

Spoon the cheese mixture evenly over the beef.

Arrange the tomatoes over the cheese mixture.

Sprinkle the sharp cheddar cheese evenly over the top.

Bake until set, about 30 minutes.

Serve and watch your family kiss the ground you walk on.

Leave a comment, and if you're a follower, leave two comments.  Okay, I'm a comment junkie...NOT!!!  If you're a Duck that's a pie fiend and talented writer leave three.  I have three, yep, count them three Simply Suppers cookbooks to give away.  Drawing is Tuesaday, April 12th, my oldest baby's 17 birthday!!!  The birthday girl will randomly pick the winner. Believe me, I don't look old enough to be the mother of a 17 year-old.

Cheese Soup and Breadsticks, Awards!

We've had a little blast of colder weather in the Smokies this past weekend. Just another excuse for me to make soup. Even though it's Spring, I still love soup.

This is a basic cheese soup that I've tweaked it beyond recognition, except that there's cheese in it. The calories and sodium have been lightened up considerably. Despite removing all the fun stuff, the replacements are packed full of flavor and guess what? This soup can be ready in under one hour!

I borrowed the bread stick recipe from Priscilla at Priscilla Bakes. I tweaked this just a tad too. The bread sticks were the perfect partner for the cheese soup. The homegirlz were filling up on breadsticks and dough.

Chop one medium onion, 2 carrots and 2 stalks of celery. Melt 1 tablespoon of margarine or lowfat margarine in a stock pot over medium heat. Saute the onions, carrots and celery for about 5 minutes. Blend in 1 tablespoon of flour with the veggies and cook for one minute. Be careful because depending on your pot, the veggies will start sticking when you add the flour, add in a dash of nutmeg, a dash of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard and 1/4 teaspoon of white and black pepper.

Stir in one 12 oz. can of skim evaporated milk and 2-1/2 cups of 1% milk. Add in 2 low sodium beef boullion cubes, 2 cups of water and about 3/4 of a cup to 1 cup of frozen green beans or broccoli. Let soup simmer for 30 minutes; don't let it boil. Stir in one 8 ounce package of light velveeta cheese, cubed. Simmer soup until cheese has melted and serve.

Bread Sticks -


2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup Sugar, divided
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic smashed.


In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water. Add the oil, egg, salt, 2 cups flour, and remaining sugar and water. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a small sauce pan. Turn heat on lowest setting. Place 2 cloves of smashed garlic into pan and let them hang out for about 30 minutes so the garlic can infuse the olive oil.

Punch the dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a 6-in. rope. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets, sprinkled with cornmeal. Lightly brush garlic infused olive oil each bread stick. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes. Bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly brown. Makes about 3 dozen breadsticks.


Ok, I guess this is an oxy-moron, low cal soup and bread sticks. I promise you this, as long as I was feeding the homegirlz baked goods, they were walking the dog, folding laundry, setting the table...


Kaylee from Not Another Omnivore gave me The Adorable Blog Award. It is my honor to pass this award on to 5 of my fellow bloggers. It is very hard for me to pick only 5 bloggers there are too many adorable blogs!




1. Priscilla from Priscilla Bakes
2. JenJen from Tater Tots and Jello
3. Debbie form Suburb Sanity
4. Sam from My Carolina Kitchen
5. Selba from Selby's Food Corner


I received the Sisterhood Award from Sam at My carolina Kitchen and from Selby from Selby's Food Corner. In keeping with the tradition of passing this award forward, here are the rules. The Sisterhood Award is an award from bloggers to bloggers in recognition of a blog spot which shows attitude and/or gratitude.




1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog, or sending them an email.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

1. The Blond Duck from A Duck in Her Pond
2. Kaylee from Not Another Omnivore
3. Gigi from Afterthoughts
4. Reeni from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
5. Marjie from Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet
6. Tamilyn from Butter My Kitchen
7. Cathy from The Tortefeaser
8. Natasha from 5 Star Foodie
9. Donna from My Tasty Treasures
10. Debbie from Mocha Me

This is my gift to you for taking the time to visit my kitchen and leave your comments. Enjoy the Sisterhood Award, post it on your blog and pass it on to your blogger friends.