Cookbook Review: 101 Cozy Casseroles and a give-away

It is my turn!  As Jen said last week, we’re always excited when we receive the latest Gooseberry Patch Early Reviewer book…I love getting a sneak peek at these books and trying the new recipes, and it is even more exciting to be able to give away a copy of the book.  Read through the whole post for directions on how to enter the giveaway.

Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember, and also the unofficial start of summer. And, what says summer better than state fair. I grew up in Sacramento, a child of the suburbs, but every summer we would make our annual trip to the California Exposition and State Fair. I know that we rode rides, walked through building after building of county exhibits, and saw livestock, but my favorite memories are of the fair food – funnel cakes, frozen bananas, and corn dogs. So, when I was flipping through the new book, 101 Cozy Casseroles, I knew that I just had to try Tiffani Schulte’s recipe for Blue-Ribbon Corn Dog Bake.  It was easy to make and was a tasty combination of corn bread and hot dogs — and I think it tasted even better when I reheated a piece (in the oven, not the microwave) for lunch the next day!

 

Blue-Ribbon Corn Dog Bake

 

Ingredients:

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 cup all-purpose flour

¾ Tbsp. baking powder

[Here I digress—I don’t know about you all, but I have 4 sets of measuring spoons and not a single one has a “3/4 Tbsp.” measure! But, Google http://www.google.com is my friend, and I found a great conversion chart. http://www.calcul.com/cooking-conversion I learned (I’m sure that somewhere in the deep recesses of my muddled mind I knew this, but it wasn’t rising to the top) that 1 tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons, multiply by .75, and for those of you who also do not have a ¾ Tablespoon measure, you need 2 ¼ teaspoons!.]

 

Ingredients continued:

½ tsp. salt

½ cup yellow cornmeal

½ Tbsp. butter, melted

¾ cup milk

16-oz. pkg. hot dogs, sliced into bite size pieces (warning – choking hazard – don’t leave them in round discs, cut into half-circles!)

 

 

 

 

 
Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together sugar and egg. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture. Add cornmeal, butter, and milk, stirring just to combine. Fold in hot dog pieces.

Pour into a well-greased 8” x 8” baking pan.

 

Bake, uncovered, at 375° for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Serves 6.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you want to win a copy of 101 Cozy Casseroles?

How to Enter

We will be giving away ONE copy of the cookbook to one lucky winner. If you would like a chance to win, leave us a comment in this post and tell us about your favorite summer foods. Leave your comment before June 7 at 9:59 p.m. CST.

Don’t worry about being creative in your comment, the winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Please make sure that you fill out the required fields by putting your first name in the name field and your email address in the email address field. We do not share email addresses and you will not receive emails from Threaded Together unless you win.

Winners

We will choose ONE winner randomly and announce the results here on Threaded Together sometime after June 2.

Rules

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and who are 18 years of age at time of entry. For this giveaway, entrants can enter 1 time. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology and Threaded Together assumes no responsibility for late or misdirected entries due to SPAM, technological issues or for prizes lost in transit.No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except Threaded Together reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize. Void where prohibited by law. Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state, and local taxes on the value of their prize. Relatives of Threaded Together are no eligible to win.

Because this is a family site and we get a lot of spam comments, all comments on this site are moderated. If you comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry!

Tags: casserole, cookbooks, Debbie, Gooseberry Patch, In the Kitchen, Summer

Cinnamon-Spice Popcorn – A Gooseberry Patch Recipe

*Want to win a copy of The Christmas Table? Follow this link for directions on how to enter!

Last week, I reviewed The Christmas Table, yet another lovely cookbook from A Gooseberry Patch. Today was kind of a lazy day. We got up this morning and my husband and the kids worked in the yard while I did homework. My husband left this afternoon for an event and I am home with the kids. This is a perfect time to spoil them a little with a special snack!

When I flipped through The Christmas Table, the Cinnamon-Spice Popcorn recipe caught my eye right away. We love different flavored popcorns so I was definitely going to try this. It got mixed reviews in my house. I loved it because it had just enough sweetness from the sugar and spices but was also full of buttery flavor. My son loved it, which surprised me because he very much chooses vanilla type foods! My daughter on the hand, who loves just about any food she tries, was not a big fan but ate some when her plain popcorn ran out.

Cinnamon-Spice Popcorn

Ingredients

3 T butter

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

2 T. sugar

8 cups of popped popcorn.

Pop popcorn first and put it in a heatproof bowl.

Have I mentioned how much I love my popcorn popper? If I could only choose two small appliances to keep, my popcorn popper would have to duke it out with my crockpot for second place. For the record, my food processor would be the first place winner! You can purchase a popcorn popper at the store for less than 20 dollars. Popcorn kernels are only a few dollars and a bag lasts a long time.

Over medium heat, melt butter. Mix in the spices and sugar and stir until dissolved and smooth. Pour over popcorn and mix until pieces are coated evenly.

Winner – Gooseberry Patch Early Review: Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition

 

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Gooseberry Patch cookbook giveaway.  It was so fun to read about everyone’s favorite soups, salads, and sandwiches…so many tasty choices!

The winner, selected randomly by a random number generator, was comment #83 Debra V. who said “I love Cream of Potato!!! Homemade of course.”

Congratulations Debra!  Please email me at jennifer at twokidsandamap dot com or use the contact form as soon as possible (within three days) with your contact information to confirm the prize!  I wonder if we could talk you into sharing your curried chicken salad on our site!?!

Stay tuned!  I will be sharing some more recipes from the cookbook and we will have another early review for you soon!

Colorful Couscous Salad — One More Gooseberry Patch Cookbook Recipe Early Review (plus a Giveaway!)

Today was a rainy, nap-taking kind of day here in NW Florida … only I don’t take naps, so I got myself into the kitchen and made recipe #3 from Gooseberry Patch’s new Meals in Minutes – 10^th Anniversary Edition.

 

 

If you follow all of us here at Threaded Together then you already know that we are all trying to eat healthier.  Without knowing what I would do with it, I picked up some couscous a few weeks ago when I was on the shopping aisle looking for some alternatives to plain white rice (I LOVE plain white rice, but I’m trying to LOVE brown rice, too!).  So, when I saw this recipe in the new cookbook, I knew I had to try it … I loved it!  I think it is my new favorite salad recipe! Yum!!! The couscous was unbelievably easy to make (bring water to a boil, toss in the couscous, cover and remove from heat…wait 5 minutes and then fluff!).  The dressing is an exotic blend of flavors … sweet, tart, spicy.  This salad was so good that I called Jen and told her I was on my way down to her house to bring her lunch – a small container of this salad!

I did make a couple of minor ingredient substitutions … I did mention that it was rainy, right?  Not only did I not want to spend the money, but I also didn’t want to get wet!

 

Colorful Couscous Salad

Donna Cash

Dexter, MI

 (Page 41)

 

Ingredients:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salad:

10-oz. box couscous

1 green pepper, diced

1 bunch green onions, diced

4 carrots, shredded

15 ¼ oz. can corn, drained

15 ½ oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

 

Dressing:

¾ cup olive oil

¼ cup lemon juice

1/8 cup white wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 T. garlic, minced

3 drops hot pepper sauce

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. lemon pepper

½ tsp. seasoned salt

¼ tsp. turmeric

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

 

Directions:

Prepare couscous according to package directions; drain and set aside.  In a large serving bowl, whisk olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, sugar and seasonings; stir in vegetables and beans.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add couscous, mixing well.  Cover and refrigerate until serving.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

 

Things I did a bit different:

*I didn’t have any white wine vinegar so I substituted red wine vinegar.

*I used 2 large cloves of fresh garlic, minced

*I used Tabasco for the hot pepper sauce

*I didn’t have any turmeric.  After doing a bit of online research (Google is my friend!), I decided since it seemed to be mainly for color, to just leave it out.  No harm, no foul!

*Don’t look too hard in the pictures for the diced green pepper … I’m not a huge fan, so left it out. I increased the amount of carrots and green onions to make up for the “bulk”.

*I don’t have a 1/8 tsp. measuring spoon, but I have these to meaure a smidgen, a pinch, and a dash … aren’t they cute??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I used a smidgen each of cinnamon and ground ginger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is not too late … Do you want a copy of Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition before it hits the bookstores?  Be sure to enter by clicking here!

 

 

Tags: Debbie, Giveaways, Gooseberry Patch, In the Kitchen, Salad

Zucchini Pie — Another Early Gooseberry Patch Cookbook Recipe Review (plus a giveaway!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of days ago I shared a yummy dessert recipe from Gooseberry Patch’s new-not-yet-in-stores-near-you cookbook, Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition.  This cookbook is full of yummy, quick and easy recipes — I had a hard time selecting just a couple to make for review purposes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love zucchini, year round, and had all of the ingredients necessary for this recipe right on hand.  It was delicious!  Most of the time I am cooking for one (which is not a whole lot of fun).  I try to make at least one dish on the weekend which will make a good Sunday dinner, lunch on Monday, and then provide some leftover which can be frozen for the future (because two days in a row is about all I can take any meal — this way I’m not throwing out food, and I have a variety stocked up in the freezer, especially for the working-through-lunch days, and I’m-tired-of-cold-cereal-after-a-long-day-in-the-office days).

 

 

Zucchini Pie

(page 35)

Ginny Paccioretti

Oak Ridge, NJ

 

Ingredients:

1 cup biscuit baking mix

4 eggs, beaten

¼ cup oil

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 cups zucchini, sliced and quarters

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

 
Directions:

In a bowl, combine baking mix, eggs, oil, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; Stir in vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spread into a lightly greased 13”x9” baking pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45 minutes.  Serves 6 to 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is not too late … Do you want a copy of Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition before it hits the bookstores?  Be sure to enter by clicking here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Baking, cross-stitch, Debbie, family, Giveaways, Gooseberry Patch, vegetable, zucchinni

Gooseberry Patch Early Review: Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition — Butterscotch Brownies (Plus a giveaway!)

I echo Jen’s earlier post on how excited we were to be asked to be Early Bird Reviewers for new Gooseberry Patch books.  I collect cookbooks, and have been a fan of Gooseberry Patch since my sister-in-law, Rhonda, gave me my first as a gift many years ago (I think it was Celebrate Autumn).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love their cookbooks (I’ve got 14, and can’t begin to tell you how many I’ve purchased as gifts!) and “cook booklets” (too many to count!).  Unlike most of the cookbooks in my collection (many of which are purchased during our many family travels as souvenirs, and to be honest, contain ingredients I would never purchase and include directions I would never take the time to tackle), the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks are put to good use. I think it is because most of the recipes come from people much like you and I — busy and trying to eat well on a budget! So, Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition was perfect for my turn to be a reviewer!  I’ll be posting several recipes this week which are the result of the sneak peek we’ve been privileged to have for this new book which will be hitting the bookstores soon, and we will even have a copy to give away!  Read through this post to find out how to enter to win a Gooseberry Patch cookbook before it hits the stores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As soon as I heard from Jen that the books had arrived I started bugging her to get them to me so I could start my review process.  As you can see from the picture below, I didn’t have any trouble finding 2-3 recipes to try-out … the problem was actually deciding what to try!  Best of all, I already had all of the ingredients on hand to try every single recipe I tagged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, because life is short, I started with dessert first!  These things were so good that I proceeded to make a second batch to take into the office – I doubled all ingredients and baked in a 9″ x 13″ pan which made the bars just a little bit thicker.

Butterscotch Brownies

(page 197)

Alice Flood

Dallas, TX

 

Ingredients:

 

 

¼ cup butter

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg, beaten

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. vanilla extract

½ cup chopped nuts (I used pecans purchased at Priester’s, one of our favorite stops when roadtripping north on I-65)

Directions:

Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat; remove from heat.  Stir in brown sugar until dissolved; set aside to cool to room temperature (cool enough that the eggs don’t start to cook when you add them!).  Blend in egg; add flour, baking powder and salt, mixing well.  Stir in vanilla and nuts; spread in a greased 8”x8” baking pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes; let cool.  Makes 9.

Note:  I melted the butter in a small glass mixing bowl in the microwave oven, and then mixed all ingredients with my Kitchen Aid mixer.

 

Do you want a copy of Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition before it hits the bookstores?

How to Enter

We will be giving away ONE copy of the cookbook.  If you would like a chance to win, leave us a comment in this post and tell us what your favorite soup, salad or sandwich is.  Leave your comment before March 10 at 9:59 CST.  Don’t worry about being creative in your comment, the winner will be chosen by a random number generator.  Please make sure that you fill out the required fields by putting your first name in the name field and your email address in the email address field.  We do not share email addresses and you will not receive emails from Threaded Together unless you win.

Winners

We will choose ONE winner randomly and announce the results here on Threaded Together on March 11, 2012.

Rules

One comment per person per giveaway post.  Duplicate comments and anonymous comments will be discarded.  Please make sure that the email address in your comment form is valid so that we can contact you (email addresses are never made public).  Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize.  We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology.  No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except that Threaded Together reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize.  Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state, and local taxes on the value of their prize.  Relatives of Threaded Together are not eligible to win.

Because this is a family site and we get a lot of spam comments, all comments on this site are moderated.  If you comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry!

Enjoy!!

 

Tags: Baking, brownies, Debbie, Giveaways, Gooseberry Patch

Gooseberry Patch 101 Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Gooseberry Patch cookbook giveaway.  It was so fun to read about everyone’s favorite soups, salads, and sandwiches…so many tasty choices!

The winner, selected randomly by a random number generator, was Sandra W. who said that her favorite was “Potato soup and my own recipe for Curried Chicken Salad. MMMMM!!!”

Congratulations Sandra!  Please email me at jennifer at twokidsandamap dot com or use the contact form as soon as possible (within three days) with your contact information to confirm the prize!  I wonder if we could talk you into sharing your curried chicken salad on our site!?!

Stay tuned!  I will be sharing some more recipes from the cookbook and we will have another early review for you soon!

Tags: Giveaways, Gooseberry Patch

Gooseberry Patch Early Review: 101 Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches (Plus a GIVEAWAY!)

The four of us here at Thread Together LOVE Gooseberry Patch books.  Debbie has even had a recipe featured in one of the books.  We could barely contain our excitement when we were offered the chance to become an Early Bird Reviewer for their upcoming cookbooks.  Over the next few months, we get a sneak peek at the books that will be hitting the bookstores soon and we will even have a copy to give away!  It is a match made in heaven!  Read through this post to find out how to enter to win a Gooseberry Patch cookbook before it hits the stores.

The first book that we reviewed is 101 Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches.  I was excited when I pulled the first review because my favorite thing to eat is soup and salad.  To me, it is comfort food.  If I can’t think of anything to make for dinner, I throw a pot of soup on the stove and make some grilled cheese sandwiches.  It always hits the spot.

This book, 101 Soups, Salads, & Sandwiches, is pages and pages of savory soups, tasty sandwiches, salads and toppings that compliment all of the above.  When the book arrived, I immediately started going through it and marking recipes I wanted to try.  The recipes are easy to prepare and each one that I tried turned out perfectly.  I am watching what I eat right now, so I paid attention to the ingredients as I flipped through the book.  I think that the recipes that call for not so healthy ingredients could easily be substituted.

The first recipe that I chose to try was Seafood Salad for a Crowd.  We have this little local restaurant that serves the most delicious seafood salad.  I have tried to duplicate it but haven’t had much luck.  This recipe comes pretty close!  The recipe is for a crowd and they aren’t kidding.  This would be perfect to take to a potluck or a big family dinner.  Since I was just making the salad for myself, I cut the recipe to almost one third of what each ingredient called for.  I still have enough salad leftover for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.  My changes to the recipe are italicized in the parenthesis.

Seafood Salad for a Crowd  (Seafood Salad NOT for a Crowd!)

3 8oz pkgs cooked frozen shrimp, thawed (1/2 8oz pkgs of cooked frozen shrimp, thawed)

2 lbs imitation crabmeat, cut into bite-sized pieces (1/2 lb imitation crabmeat, cut into pieces)

4 cucumbers, peeled and diced (1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced)

6 tomatoes, diced (1 tomato, diced)

1 bunch green onions, chopped (2 green onion pieces, chopped)

1 head lettuce (one heart of romaine, chopped)

4 avocados, halved, pitted and diced (1/2 avocado, diced)

Seasoned salt with onion and garlic to taste (season salt to taste)

2 16oz pkgs shredded Colby Jack cheese (sprinkle of cheese on finished salad)

Ranch dressing

Toss together all chopped, diced and cut vegetables.  Add shrimp and crabmeat.  Divide salad into individual bowls.  Top with Colby Jack cheese and dressing.

This salad was full of bright colors that put me in a much better mood than the cloudy gray skies outside.  The seasoned salt (I used my Tastefully Simple seasoned salt) gave the salad a little kick.

Stay tuned this week for a few other recipe reviews from the book!  Tonight we are having grilled chicken and zucchini wraps for dinner!

Do you want a copy of 101 Soups, Salads, and Sandwiches before it hits the bookstores?

How to Enter

We will be giving away ONE copy of the cookbook.  If you would like a chance to win, leave us a comment in this post and tell us what your favorite soup, salad or sandwich is.  Leave your comment before December 20 at 9:59 CST.  Don’t worry about being creative in your comment, the winner will be chosen by a random number generator.  Please make sure that you fill out the required fields by putting your first name in the name field and your email address in the email address field.  We do not share email addresses and you will not receive emails from Threaded Together unless you win.

Winners

We will choose ONE winner randomly and announce the results here on Threaded Together on December 20, 2011.

Rules

One comment per person per giveaway post.  Duplicate comments and anonymous comments will be discarded.  Please make sure that the email address in your comment form is valid so that we can contact you (email addresses are never made public).  Winners must claim their prize within three business days after the date of notification of such prize.  We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology.  No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except that Threaded Together reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize.  Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state, and local taxes on the value of their prize.  Relatives of Threaded Together are not eligible to win.

Because this is a family site and we get a lot of spam comments, all comments on this site are moderated.  If you comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry!

Tags: Giveaways, Gooseberry Patch, Salad

Winner of the Cookbook Giveaway

Thanks to all who participated in the Learn, Laugh, Cook book giveaway.  The winner, selected randomly via random number generator, was Chris C (Comment #6) who said:

Our family favorite is probably chicken pot pie…the easy one made with refrigerated pie crust and frozen veggies.

My kids don’t love chicken pot pie but I would eat it every week…and we make the easy version too!  Congratulations, Chris!  I hope you enjoy trying some of the recipes from Learn, Laugh, Cook! 

Please email me your address at threadedtogether at gmail dot com to claim your prize!

Thank you so much to Mandy for your generous donation!

Have you entered the Cookbook Giveaway?

Don’t forget to enter our cookbook giveaway!  You must enter by tonight!  Follow the link to enter!