Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo

If you've been reading my posts thinking, "Geesh, she tried new recipes a lot!" No, I don't. Well, I guess I do, but not usually day after day like this. I go in spurts. It's usually this time of year where I get stir crazy and tired of everything. So it's in my cooking that I try some new things. Strong, bold flavors can do wondrous things for your spirits on a cold, gray winter day. I try to go for that instead of sitting and eating fattening comfort food all winter. It's too hard to burn those pounds off in the spring! The cilantro in this recipe is a perfect example of a bold flavor.

If you read my post a couple days ago about the pork chops, I tried my thoughts on baking instead of frying. I made these Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo for dinner, but instead of frying them, I baked them. Guess what? They were great! (Even if I do say so myself!) I was afraid they'd be really hot after being soaked in a marinade with hot sauce, but they weren't hot at all. They had a great flavor.


You know I never follow the recipe exactly, so here are my substitutions: I didn't have baked tortilla chips, so I used crushed Ritz crackers. Also, I never have fresh lemon or lime juice. I always use bottled. Once again, I didn't use egg substitute, but just eggs instead. Jim and I aren't big fans of raw onions on sandwiches, so I skipped the red onion. Thanks for stopping by!

Basic Potato Latkes

In reference to yesterday's post, while I was frying, I went all out. I tried another recipe in the pan frying article for Basic Potato Latkes. I found humorous irony in the fact that I made a traditionally Jewish dish as a side to my pork main dish. That's not meant to be nasty at all, just funny since I'm not Jewish.


Anyway, these didn't turn out too bad, and I found that frying them in peanut oil works better than vegetable oil. Jim and I decided that maybe I need to use a different oil than vegetable oil to fry things in. (I need all the help I can get when it comes to frying.) Once again, I substituted an ingredient. I used eggs instead of egg substitute. Thanks for stopping by!

Parmesan and Sage-Crusted Pork Chops

Last fall a stamping friend's daughter was selling magazine subscriptions for her girl scout troop. I purchased a subscription to Cooking Light magazine. My first issue was the December issue, and December was just so hectic I never really had a chance to look at it. My second issue is here, but I am just now going through and picking out all the recipes that I want to try from the first one. I'll catch up eventually! I thought I'd share some of the recipes that I have tried along with my thoughts on them too. Maybe you'll be inspired to try one of them.

The issue had an article on pan frying, which I have never been able to do well. I always end up burning the food on the outside, and it's not done on the inside. I quit trying long ago and decided that it was probably for the best that our family doesn't eat fried foods--unless we hit a burger joint occasionally!

The article inspired me to try it again, so I started with their recipe for Parmesan and Sage-Crusted Pork Chops. I didn't disappoint; the breading of my pork chops was over done, almost burned, but at least the pork was done the whole way through! I did really like the breading on these pork chops. I was thinking that I may try to make them again and bread them and then just bake them in the oven. If I try it, I'll try to remember to post on them again and let you know how they turn out. In the meantime, if you have any tips on pan frying for me, feel free to leave a comment!

Oh, and as usual, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I used multi-grain bread and parmesan cheese, and a large egg instead of two egg whites. My pork chops were thicker too, which probably added to the breading getting overdone by the time the pork chops were cooked through. But trust me, if you want something fried, don't ask me to do it! Thanks for stopping by!

Sylvia's Sugar Cookies

My grandmother used to make these sugar cookies, and now the recipe is one of my favorites. Someone told me these are also called Amish Sugar Cookies. I have friends who love these cookies, so if I have the occasion to make some for them, I am sure to use this recipe. I've also made them in all sorts of colors for picnics, weddings, a baby shower, etc.

You can either color the dough and roll them in granulated sugar, or let the dough uncolored and roll them in colored sanding sugar. Either way is yummy! I just made a batch of them this weekend for some friends. Instead of rolling them in sugar, I iced them with the icing from yesterday's post and some leftover buttercream icing from the birthday cake last week.

Sylvia's Sugar Cookies

1 c. granulated sugar
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. butter
1 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream the butter and sugars very well. Slowly add the oil and mix until well blended. Add eggs and mix just until blended. Add the baking soda, salt, cream of tartar, and flour one cup at a time. Sometimes I add a little extra flour if the dough doesn't seem stiff enough. It shouldn't stick to your hands if you try to roll it in balls. Roll into balls of about one tablespoon and roll in sugar. Bake at 350 degrees until light brown on the edges.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Great Icing Recipe

Two years ago while we were visiting family in PA, I got a great icing recipe from Jim's aunt, Janet. Have you ever had whipped icing on a supermarket cake instead of the buttercream? Well this is the closest recipe I've found to what that is like. I made some last week and used it both to ice some cake and also on some sugar cookies. I haven't ever tried to color it though. I'm not sure it would work very well.

Whipped Icing

1 c. butter
1 c. shortening
2 c. granulated sugar
1-12 oz. can evaporated milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Cream butter, shortening and sugar VERY well. This will take quite some time if you're using a hand mixer and not quite as long with a good stand mixer. I use my wire whisk attachment on my stand mixer when I make this recipe. It takes a long time to whip it to the point it needs to be. The sugar will just about dissolve in the butter and shortening so that it's not grainy anymore. Gradually add the evaporated milk and vanilla and mix until creamy with a smooth texture. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!

'08 Cars Birthday Cake

As promised yesterday, here's a picture of last year's Cars birthday cake. It's been so much fun to start making the boys' birthday cakes now that they're getting older and understand what all the fuss is about at birthday time. Thanks for stopping by!

'09 Cars Birthday Cake

I'll preface this by saying I am an amateur cake decorator. Here's the Cars birthday cake for this year. We picked one we found online that Birthday Boy liked, and I tried to mimic it. Mine isn't quite as wonderful as the one I copied, but it's close enough for my little guy! I'll post a picture of last year's cake tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

'09 Birthday Cupcakes

We have a special birthday at our house this week. These were the cupcakes for preschool on birthday day. No fancy cooking here. These are just a boxed strawberry cake mix with some simple buttercream icing. Thanks for stopping by!

Blueberry Buckle Muffins

I have been baking up a storm today! A special boy has a birthday this week, so I was baking cupcakes for his preschool class tomorrow and a cake for the family on Thursday. We were just about out of the boys' favorite blueberry muffins, so I made some of those too. Then, I got a call about making chocolate chip cookies for church guests this week, so I baked four dozen of those. Whew!


The boys love this blueberry muffin recipe, so I thought I'd share it with you. It's from Family Fun. You can find it on their website here. Blueberries are expensive! When Meijer runs a sale on their frozen blueberries, I buy them in large quantities! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

Have a happy, safe and healthy 2009!


Thanks for stopping by!

Peanut Butter Fudge

My dad and brother both love peanut butter, so I made them each a box of peanut butter fudge as part of their Christmas gift. I didn't have a recipe, so I did an online search and came across this easy recipe from Food Network Host Alton Brown. (I like him a lot, especially his show, "Good Eats".) Anyway, the recipe is really easy and very tasty! Be careful when microwaving the peanut butter and butter--I boiled mine over in the microwave! Here's the link to the recipe. Thanks for stopping by!

Thumb Cookies

Ok, here's the final cookie recipe that I made for the assorted cookie trays I made up for two of our pastors. This is a recipe that my aunt, Roben, gave me years ago. I had used egg whites in the peppermint divinity I posted about a few days ago and had egg yolks left over. This recipe calls for egg yolks, so I thought I would make it to use them up. Be sure to scroll to the end to see my final cookie trays!

Thumb Cookies

1 c. butter
2 egg yolks
1 c. confectioner's sugar
2 c. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
jam or maraschino cherries

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix till combined. Blend in the
flour just till combined.

Make balls the size of walnuts. Mash the center down with your thumb, or a rounded measuring spoon works well too. Fill the indent with jam (any flavor of your choosing) or a marashino cherry. Bake in a 350 oven until lightly browned.

*Use aluminum air-bake cookie sheets for best results.*

Thanks for stopping by!