Ingredients:

• 1 10-ounce package spinach
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese {we substituted cheddar cheese since we were snowed in & feta free}
• 1/2 teaspoon dried + crushed oregano
• 24 sheets phyllo dough
• 1/2 cup melted butter

The Filling:

Cook the spinach, onion and garlic is a large fry pan. Drain well once spinach has cooked down. Add in cheese and oregano. Stir stir stir.

Working with Phyllo Dough

Friends, phyllo dough is most definitely yummy scrumboes … but, it is not exactly uber-fun to work with. If the dough is too dry then it rips. If the dough is too warm then it sticks together. If the dough is too frozen it is unusable. If the dough gets too wet then it begins to congeal. So, the best plan of attack is to work in pairs and work with the dough as fast as possible once it hits that temperature sweet spot. Have your first teammate flatten out the sheets, butter them up, fill them with the filling mixture and fold them into triangley-goodies. Have a second person transfer them to the baking sheet and butter up the finished squares. Work at a factory pace – impressing Ford himself – and you should be able to make enough triangles before the phyllo dough begins to get too cranky.

Finishing Touches

You are now faced with two options. {PS> I chose option one. Yum!}

1. You can put your triangles in the oven, set to 375˚ for 15 minutes, pull them out when they are golden brown and flaky, and eat them.

2. Or, you can place the unbaked triangles – wrapped for icy temperatures - and place them into your freezer for up to 2 months, only pulling them out when you have company and need to make a splash as homemade-appetizer-queen/hostess-with-the-mostest.

{FYI: This recipe – in a more conventional format – can be found in the Better Homes and Gardens: New Cookbook – Bridal Edition.}

Now, I know this pumpkin looks like your every run of the mill pumpkin. However, don’t run outside and pick up your leftover Halloween pumpkin – this is a special sugar pumpkin. But the seeds are still yummy like normal so scoop them out save them for a yummy snack later.

The ingredients needed for this recipe are: 4 pounds pie pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch chunks, 4 large sweet-tart apples unpeeled, cored and cut into eighths, 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth, 1 tablespoon sesame oil.

Now we had to make some edits to the recipe since I am allergic to nuts – and I will be noting our version of this dish. For example, the recipe originally called for hazelnut oil – which we substituted with sesame oil so I would not die. In addition, the chicken broth could be substituted with vegetable broth – perhaps if you are a veggie girl like my bff - but since I love meat we stuck with chicken broth. If you would like to see the original, unedited recipe – that can be found here.

Since we are trying to take advantage of New Jersey’s in-season fresh fruit and vegetables, we actually made Hungarian Apple Soup a few days after this. And that was even more yummy scrumboes. So, jump on the apple bandwagon and get blending.

It is once you add the crumbled up strips of bacon that you realize these are no normal cupcakes. These are mancakes – not for the faint of heart or vegan of body.

The cupcakes are easy enough to make with only some basic words of warning. First, the batter looks incredibly watery – turns out that is normal and ok. Two, make sure to crumble the bacon bits super duper small – my pieces turned out to be a little too large and I wish they had been just slightly more mashed.

And third, make sure to cut the recipe! I was expecting 24  normal and pleasant cupcakes but, lo and behold, the recipe actually yielded 36 overflowing cupcake cups. That is a lot of bacon my friends.

Now, honestly, these cupcakes did not taste as otherworldly as I expected. It was a great little experiment and a perfect addition to my husband’s yearly meat-fest extravaganza – but would I make them again? Probably not. I have baked, I have tasted, I have conquered and I do not need to revisit this continent again.

WONDERPUG RATING: 3 Sporks. Great fun to make and a definite conversation starter – but not one of my most favorite cupcake desserts. {NOTE: You can read the whole recipe right here}

Ingredients

•  4 split chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
•  Olive oil
•  Salt
•  Freshly ground black pepper
•  Thyme
•  Rosemary
•  4 cups low sodium chicken broth
•  1 chicken bouillon cube
•  8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1stick)
•  1 large onion, chopped
•  1/2 cup all-purpose flour
•  1/3 cup heavy cream
•  2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
•  1 package frozen peas, 8-10 ounces
•  1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
•  Dash or two of nutmeg
•  4 sheets puff pastry dough
•  Special equipment: 4 individual baking dishes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice.

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken broth and dissolve the bouillon cube in the broth. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. SLOWLY, add the hot chicken broth to the sauce. Stir the mixture as you add the broth, being sure not to thin it too much. Continue to simmer over low heat for 1-2 minutes more to thicken the sauce. Add pepper to taste and heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, parsley and nutmeg. Mix well. Remove from heat.

Set the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut circles in the dough, 1/2″ larger than the rim of the baking dishes. Line the bottoms of the baking dishes with the cut dough and brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbl. water). Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove the bowls from the oven.

Divide the filling equally among the four bowls. For the top pastry, take the remaining dough and cut 1/2″ wide strips the length of the bowls, weave these strips into a lattice, place on top of the bowls and trim the edges, leaving enough overhang to crimp along the edges and seal the top.

Return bowls to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops begin to brown.

WONDERPUG RATING: 5 very enthusiastic sporks! I have eaten pot pie leftovers four days straight in a row and I am STILL not sick of it. Nom nom nom. {NOTE: This recipe was originally from Ina Garten, but heavily modified by Mr. DeMatos.}

Now, whereas I personally make the best grilled cheeses on the planet, my husband makes the most delicious and fabulous banana bread on earth. Really. It is delicious. He has honed his recipe and added in some secret ingredients to make on delicious little any-time treat.

INGREDIENTS: 3 or 4 ripe bananas; 1 cup sugar; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour; pinch salt.

SECRET INGREDIENTS REVEALED: 1/3 cup melted butter + applesauce blend; pinch orange zest; pinch brown sugar.

Mix ALL the ingredients together. Mix, Mix, Mix. Place in a greased bread pan. I like this one.

CAROL’S SUPER SPECIAL SECRET INGREDIENT: handful white chocolate chips. PS> My husband prefers regular semi-sweet chocolate chips. Both are scrumboes choices.

Put the bread in the oven at 350 degrees for about one hour. Watch the bread closely to make sure the top browns but does not burn. Or if you are lucky like us, you will have one very dedicated pug who loves to guard the banana-bready goodness until it is all baked perfectly.

WONDERPUG RATING: 5 Sporks. YUMMMMMM!

Luckily deviled eggs are incredibly easy to make. The real skill comes in boiling the perfect egg.  My mother says the way to assure that is to 1.) place the eggs is water a similar temperature to the eggs temperature; 2.) boil the eggs for 13 minutes – no more, no less; and 3.) after the eggs are boiled and happy, run cold water over them for four minutes. This will yield hard-boiled eggs that crack in a perfectly egg-ceptional way. Hint number two – there is no such thing as too much paprika! Layer it on – especially if it is authentic paprika from your super sweet sister-in-law.

PS> Since I am a hug fan of Ms. Paula, and I have never been able to get my hands on my Aunt Helen’s recipe, I used this recipe instead.

WONDERPUG RATING: 4 sporks – because only Aunt Helen’s eggs could ever be 5-spork worthy.

I mixed strawberry heart marshmallows, normal white mini-mallows, butter, rice krispies cereal and trix cereal. In order to make these extra marshmallowy-good I added some whole mini-mallows near the end of the mix process and not into the hot saucepan – this way those babies stayed whole and extra special like a little surprise bag of gold.

Don’t they just look like a festive, happy Friday??!? They make me feel happy! Speaking of happy – happy birthday to one of the BEST FRIENDS a girl could ever ask for. Jennie, you are a friend among gods, or a god among friends – however you say it.

WONDERPUG RATING: 4 Sporks. I think they are amazing with an amazing color and flair. However, M thinks they are too sweet and a dish of diabetes ready to happen – which in fact they kind of are – so they lost one Wonderpug spork for that petite negative.

I know, I know – my latest concoction does look a bit ominous. But believe me, it is harmless {and chocolate to boot}.

Even Frank the Wonderpug agrees – he was licking his little puggy lips the whole time I was baking. Sadly, it wasn’t safe to share with him but I did give him a milkbone as a substitute.

Here’s what you need:

Mix all of this in a bowl until a paste forms and then spread on bread. Squeeze lemon on top – yes, I said lemon. Believe me … this is the secret ingredient that will change your garlic bread from ghetto to fabo. Take the plunge, do it, squeeze that lemon. Then just bake on a dark cooking sheet at 350 until crispy brown.

WONDERPUG RATING: 5 Enthusiastic Sporks; Yummm yumm.

PS> I bet you are all noticing how incredibly inticing the photography is looking. Well, not only is the food yummy scrumboes and that helps signifigantly … but let’s take a moment to welcome Lola {!!} my brand new Canon cam! {Don’t tell me you don’t name your favorite inanimate objects? My VW bunny is Sophie; my farting hippo is Bert; my original film camera is Penny, etc. etc.} Welcome home Lola-girl, welcome home.

PPS> Remember GARLIC is bad bad bad for doggies. No matter how much your little Frank whines and charms you with his wrinkles, just say no.

For the brine:

1 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 gallon vegetable stock
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice berries
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped candied ginger
1 gallon heavily iced water

PS> Next year, brine that bird! And cook it breast down … xoxo: Carolann