Oatmeal Toffee Cookies - excellent

The other night I had this urge, the urge to bake. I just had to bake something, but what? I looked in the cupboard and found that I had half a bag of Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits. On the back of the bag was the recipe for Oatmeal Toffee Cookies. I had all the other ingredients in the house (bonus). I only made half the recipe and boy were these cookies good. The next morning, we took half of them to work so they all wouldn't be in the house. Yes, they are dangerous. In case you want to make them and need to check the ingredients before going to the store, here is the recipe I made:
Oatmeal Toffee Cookies
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 egg
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teas. vanilla extract
3/4 + 1/8 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teas. baking soda
1/2 teas. ground cinnamon
1/4 teas. salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup (4 ounces) Heath Bits 'O Brickle Toffee Bits

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Beat butter, egg, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until well blended. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; beat until blended. Stir in oatmeal and toffee bits with spoon. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart onto prepared sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove to wire rack. Cool completely.

p.s. The recipe called for optional coconut flakes but I thought it sounded better without the coconut so I didn't use it.

My Favorite Brie Recipe

Brie is a soft ripened cheese. It is sometimes called the "Queen of Cheeses" and is a wonderful dessert cheese, being served at room temperature or slightly warmed. The rind of Brie is meant to be consumed, but, many people find the flavor to be too strong for them. Brie is traditionally a French cheese but is now made all over the world with the highest quality Bries still coming from France. My favorite Brie is called Fromage D'Affinois. It is a double creme Brie and tastes like butter and whipped cream mixed together.
For parties, I use a less expensive wheel of Brie and make Kahlua Pecan Brie. This is a recipe that I found in "Colorado Collage", which is a cookbook put out by The Junior League of Denver.
I have made a few, very slight, modifications. It is easy to make and very delicious. I hope you enjoy it!

Kahlua Pecan Brie
3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Kahlua
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 (16 ounce) wheel of Brie

In a medium skillet, combine brown sugar and Kahlua. Heat, stirring constantly until blended. Add pecans, simmer until hot, but not runny. Remove from heat. Place Brie on a microwave-safe serving plate and spoon warm pecan mixture on top. Microwave on high for approximately 1 minute, or until cheese softens. WATCH CAREFULLY, the cheese will melt quickly.
Serve with crackers and fresh fruit.

Sweet and Sour Sausage - a great go-to party dish

This is an all-time favorite of mine. I make this everytime we have a party with a large number of people. It is quick and easy although, the vinegar smell lasts awhile in the house. I always make it at least a day ahead and the day of the party, throw it in the crockpot.

Sweet and Sour Sausage
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 cans (13.25 oz. each) pineapple tidbits
2/3 cup vinegar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1.5 - 2 pounds turkey kielbasa (or whatever kind of precooked sausage your store has) sliced into 3/4 inch rounds.

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in a dutch oven. Stir in pineapple (with juice), vinegar and soy sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly until slightly thickened. Reduce heat, add sausage and simmer, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Cool, cover and store in refrigerator until you are ready to transfer it to a crockpot to heat up and keep warm.

p.s. The original recipe was for a dinner entree with meatballs instead of sausage. If you want to make this for a dinner, cut the recipe in half, use homemade or those meatballs you can buy frozen and serve it over rice.

The Lull Between Festivals

I'm back. Oktoberfest is over for this year and we have a few weeks before the holiday festivals begin (Christkindlmarkt, and 3 weekends of Christmas Lightings).
It seems that around this time of year I start thinking about our open house holiday parties of years past.
I have a love/hate relationship with entertaining. I love having people over and I love cooking/baking all sorts of things for those people to eat. I also get very anxious that everything won't turn out perfectly (I only feel this way until the party begins) and I always feel pressure to ensure that everyone is having a good time. Yes, believe it or not, I am somewhat of a perfectionist but only for myself, not as much for others.
Every year, the Big Cheese and I would throw a big holiday party for our friends and family. People could come and go as they pleased. People would start asking us in October when the party would be. We would cook and bake for a week before the party and try to make it look effortless the day of the party. Typically we would have 100+ people through the house. I don't even think I know 100 people here. It is things like this that I really miss about my old life but I love our lifestyle here.
Over the next few days, I will post some of my favorite recipes of things that we would make for the party.

I am sorry!

I apologize for not having any new posts lately. In the next few weeks, I promise I will. We are smack dab in the middle of Oktoberfest here in the Bavarian village of Leavenworth, Washington. Each weekend for the first 3 weekends of October we get between 25,000 - 30,000 people coming to town to celebrate. Everyone works extra hard (we all know that the slow months, January through March, will be here soon). I love fall and I love all the people coming over for a good time even though my personal life takes a back seat for a few weeks.
Talk to you soon,
The Cheeselady

Ebay - The Excitement and Heartache

I have found Ebay. This could be dangerous. No, not really. I am a pretty frugal person. In the last 3 days, I have bid on 3 things and have not won any of the bids. I do have to say though, I have felt that adrenaline rush, I get all stressed during the last couple of minutes, I don't want anyone speaking to me, I am thoroughly engrossed in the bidding process. On one of the items, I just wasn't willing to go as high as the bidding had gotten. On one item, I goofed and forgot I had to confirm my bid and by the time I did, the auction had ended. Did you hear the "NOOOOO"? The third item, time just ran out and I did not win. So, I have now felt the heartache of having my hopes dashed.
My DH's comment, "What are you going to do with this stuff anyhow?". Isn't it in the marriage vows that husbands are supposed to console wives when things don't go their way? It isn't? Oh well. I am sure that my hope will be restored and I will be ready to try again the next time one of these items shows up for auction and there are so many other items that I may not have even found (YET).

Blarney Castle Cheese and Hominy Casserole

Just outside the medieval city of Cork, in Ireland, is the world famous Blarney Castle which is well known for its famous stone, said to impart the gift of eloquence on those who kiss it. From the lush pastures and pristine waters of Cork comes Blarney Castle Cheese. Blarney is a semi-soft, part skim, subtley flavored cheese which is reminiscent of a young gouda. Try it in a grilled cheese chutney sandwich.
I love reading other people's blogs and I am a huge fan of The Pioneer Woman's blog (http://thepioneerwoman.com). I especially enjoy trying her recipes. Of course, having access to all different kinds of cheese, I have to try different things. I used her recipe for Hominy Casserole but tried it with the Blarney Castle Cheese. It was absolutely delicious and very easy. Here is the recipe:

Hominy Casserole - serves 4-6 as a side dish or 3-4 as a main dish
4 slices thick bacon
1/2 large onion, finely diced
2 14.5-ounce cans white hominy, drained
1 4-ounce cans diced green chilies, drained
1 cup grated Blarney Castle Cheese (or a sharp cheddar)
4 slices pickled jalapeno (optional, for heat)
Extra cheddar, bacon, and chilies for sprinkling

Fry the bacon until almost crisp; remove from skillet and drain all but a couple of tablespoons bacon grease. Crumble the bacon and set aside.
Add onion to skillet and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour in hominy and stir for a couple of minutes until warm. Add chilies, jalapenos (if using), bacon, and cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Remove from heat.
Pour mixture into a greased 10x6x2" pan and sprinkle with a little more cheese, bacon, and green chilies, if desired.
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, or until hot and heated through.

The next time I make this, I think I am going to try adding some sliced kielbasa (instead of the bacon, although I did love it with the bacon) and maybe a little bit of mustard. You never know how crazy I will go.