So, why not make Baby Burgers with Blue cheese and pear topping! Its elegant enough for the Oscars, and you can always go for the ketchup and mustard if you make extra burgers

Blue Baby Burgers

1 package dinner rolls

1lb ground beef

1TBSP Soya sauce, and Worchesisire  sauce each

1TBSP garlic Powder

3TBSP Parmasan cheese (from the can people)

1/4cup breadcrumbs

3 ripe pears, cut into slices

blue cheese

Mix together meat, spices, breadcrumbs and parmasan, and form small 1inch thick, 2inches wide burgers. Grill or fry burgers, and 5 minutes before they are finished add blue cheese to the top and let melt. Add pears and then serve everything neatly tucked into a dinner roll!

… I have no quote because the blue people scare me a little. I appreciate its cinamatic genius though.

liss

Beouf Bourguignon Tartlets

12 tartlet shells, browned in the oven

1lb stewing beef

1 carrot and one onion chopped small

4 slices bacon, chopped

2TBSP flour

1cup Small peeled Pearl onions (put then in a bowl of water, and the skins should just pull off) **half them if they are too large for the tartlet shells**

4 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped

1TBSP tomato Paste

1Cup red wine,

1TBSP butter

1Cup beef stock

Pinch Rosemary

Saute bacon and Beef with 2tbsp of Flour, cooking on high, until browned on every side. Add vegetables and saute until they are browned as well. Remember that this stew is eventually going into a tartlet shell, so all ingredients should be small enough to put into them without making a mess. When the vegetables are browned, add the Wine, beef stock and tomato paste, as well as the garlic. Add 1 TBSP butter and the pinch of rosemary, and let it cook down until the stew is thick. Serve this stew hot, in prepared tart shells.

“Bon Appetite!” -Julia Child

liss

haha just kidding. give them a kiss anyways lol

This is a spin on a Jamie Oliver recipe which I loved so much. Its definitely the sexiest of the salads, and a good way to start your love day

Sex Salad (ya thats what Im calling it)

200g Prosciutto

6-10 figs

1 cantaloup

1ball fresh Mozzerella

4TBSP Capers

1/2cup Kalamata Olives

4TBSP Balsamic vinegar and olive oil (each)

5-8 leaves of Basil, torn

salt, pepper

Begin by cutting your cantaloup, use a vegetable peeler to peel thin strips of the fruit. Using a knife, cut an x into the top of all of the figs, and push slightly on the bottom to spread the x open and reveal the sweet fleshy inside. On a platter, randomly spread the figs out on the platter and weave the Prosciutto and melon strips between all of them. Break apart your ball of mozerella into reasonable bite sized chuncks and toss randomly onto the salad. Do the same with the olives and capers, and then drizzle with the Vinegar and Oil. Top with the basil and serve with a crusty french bread.

This is a SUPER simple meal with NO cooking time, which means more time together with your sweetie

ENJOY YOUR LOVE DAY KIDDIES!

liss

You can throw this together and keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours before your party, though I keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days, because the flavors brighten up after sitting.

Holiday Bruschetta

6 plumb tomatoes, chopped into small pieces  (I suggest using these tomatoes, because they keep the bruschetta from becoming soggy, unlike other tomato varieties such as beefsteak or hot house)

3cloves chopped garlic

1/2 red onion, chopped small

1/4cup olive oil (extra virgin, because we are eating this oil raw)

1/4cup basil leaves, chopped (about 10 whole leaves)

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 Baugette, sliced in 1/2 inch thick diagonal slices

In a bowl, combine chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, olive oil, S&P and mix thoroughly. Preheat oven to 400 F, slice the baguette and lay slices on a baking sheet. Drizzle both sides of each slice, and bake for about 10 minutes, or until they are crispy and golden brown ( like little toast crackers almost). Top baguette slices with a TBSP of bruschetta mix when ready to serve.

9 more days till Christmas!

Happy 16th Day!

liss

Liss’s Veggie Parm Appetizers

*double the recipe for more company!*

1 LG Yellow Zucchini

1 Relatively Thin Eggplant

1 Can Crushed tomatos

3 cloves garlic

1TBSP Pepper, Oregano

1TSP Crushed Fennel Seeds, and Salt

1/4cup Olive Oil

about 20 leaves of Basil

1cup Grated Havarti Cheese

Italian flavored Bread Crumbs

5TBSP flour

2 eggs, beaten

In 3 separate bowls, add the flour to the first, the beaten egg to the second, and the breadcrumbs to the third. In a pot, Add crushed tomatoes, chopped garlic, oregano, pepper, salt, fennel and oil, and cook until hot. Slice the veggies about a 1/2 inch thick, then dredge in flour until fully covered. Now, roll the vegetables in the egg until fully covered, and then in the breadcrumbs. This dredging pattern will make sure that the breadcrumbs stick to their veggie friends. In a frying pan, add a layer of oil about 1/2 a cm, and begin to fry the first side, until the breadcrumbs are crispy. Transfer the fried vegetables to a baking sheet, and bake for another 10-15 minutes to keep hot and crispy. Remove after 15 minutes (or when golden brown), add a TBSP of sauce, a Basil Leaf, and Cheese to top them off. Put in the oven on Broil for another 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has browned.

This recipe looks like a lot of work, but they truly take no more than a half an hour to make. They would also make a yummy appetizer on Melba Toast crackers for easy snacking.

10 more days till Santa comes! Whose ready for Christmas dinner!

liss

These adorable little appitizers are very simple to make, and take barely any prep time. The sweetness of the fig balances out the more salty and spiced Potato and Shallots.

Liss’s Roasted Potato Fig and Shallot Skewers

6 figs, quartered length wise

24 mini red potatos

12 Shallots,halved

Spices: (1TBSP each)Dried Thyme, rosemary, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper

2 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1TBSP Balsamic vinegar

1/4cup olive oil

In a bowl, combine a pinch of salt and pepper with balsamic vinegar, half the oil and the figs. Mix until they are coated evenly and spread onto a baking sheet. In another bowl, combine rest of oil, spices and garlic with the potatos and halved shallots. Also spread on a separate baking sheet. Bake at 375 F for about 30 minutes, then check on your lovely roasted veggies. The potatos should have a crispy, golden brown edge and the shallots and figs should be soft and hot to the touch. Take out of the oven when the veggies are all cooked to your preferred done-ness *some people like them more crisp, others like them softer*. Put one fig quarter, one potato and one halved shallot on a skewer and serve hot. You can also make a dressing of Balsamic vinegar, oil, chopped garlic clove (1), 1TBSP oregano and salt and pepper for serving.

Enjoy your 9th day! Im off to work!

liss

Once again, this is a recipe that is interchangeable. A grilled cheese is technically just cheese and toasted bread, so you can omit anything you do not like and add in other ingredients. However, I do suggest trying this version first.

Mini Gourmet Grilled Cheeses

6 slices of good bread (needs to be crispy when toasted, not squishy)

1/2cup olive oil

1 lrg piece of Goats milk cheese, soft

1 clove garlic

1TBSP oregano

24 sun-dried tomatoes, whole **

24 leaves Basil

1 Bottle Capers, chopped **

Salt and pepper

** Omit if you wish.

Toast the pieces of bread in a toaster, then drizzle a small amount of olive oil on each sides of the bread, and fry until the bread is crispy.  Remove from pan, and rub the raw garlic lightly on the toast. Sprinkle each side with oregano, and then cut off the crusts of the bread. Cut the crust-less toast into 4 equal squares. Lay half of the squares on a parchment covered baking sheet, and top with a slice of goats milk cheese each. Bake until the cheese is melted and hot, then quickly remove from the oven and top with a small spoon of chopped capers, a leaf of basil and a sundried tomato. Put another small piece of goats milk cheese, and top with a second piece of toast. Bake again for 5 minutes, then remove and put a toothpick in each one for easier serving.

These tiny little sandwiches are fresh tasting and super simple! TRY THEM OUT! Let me know how it goes for ya!

Happy 8th Day!

liss

6th Day of Christmas Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
4. Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Thank you BUCHKO for your recipe!

7th Day of Christmas Greek-Style Chicken Pita Appitizers

15 mini pitas, halved and middles split open

3 Avacados

3 chicken breasts cooked and cut into thin strips

1 clove Garlic

Salt

Pepper

1/5 cup white or red wine,

2TBSP Brown sugar

1TSP oregano

1 TSP thyme

Pre-made Tzatziki sauce (Recipe for homemade: 1 SM container plain yogurt, 1 cucumber -grate and wring out water, 2cloves Garlic chopped. Mix all ingriedients together, S&P to taste.)

Add Ins: Finely chopped red onion, sliced cherry tomatos, black olives, green olives, lettuce, alfalfa, arugala, bean/ radish/ onion sprouts etc.

In a pan, begin cooking chicken. At the halfway point, add in the chopped garlic clove, brown sugar, Thyme, Oregano and Wine. Cook until the chicken is not pink in the middle anymore, then thinly slice the breasts *small enough to fit 2-3 peices in each 1/2 pita. Cut open the avacado, and thinly slice the inside. the avacado may need to be slightly green still in order to cut proper slices. Spread Tzatziki sauce on one side of the half pita, add 1 small slice of avacado, 2-3 slices of chicken and your add ins. These can be pre-made up to 10 hours in advance, otherwise the pita may go soggy because of the tzatziki sauce. Stick toothpicks through the open ends to keep all of the ingriedients inside, and to make serving easier!

Enjoy your 7th day of the festive season! 17 More Days and 17 More recipes to come!

liss

Im going to try my hardest for all of you, to find you the easiest things to bake in your student kitchens at home. Cookies that are easy to make, and bake at home, and that stimulate some sort of Christmas cheer. I say Christmas because I am Catholic, but Of course these are Holiday recipes.

Today, Instead of 3 cookie recipes to make up for my laziness, Im going to post some little Appetizer recipes that you can take with you to any parties you may go to, that are delicious, simple and always go down well with hungry friends!

Liss’s Special Cheese Ball

2pkgs Herb and Garlic Cream Cheese

9Basil leave, Chop 5 and leave 5 whole

12 Sundried tomatos (more of less depending on your taste), chopped

1 clove Garlic, chopped,

1/2 cup chopped Kalamata Olives (optional, some people dont love these as much as I do, Ive heard)

1/2cup Cashews, Chopped up small

In a mixing bowl, Mix together the cream cheese, chopped basil (setting the 4 whole leaves to the side), sun dried tomatoes and garlic until blended fully. Line a small bowl with plastic wrap, and lay the 4 leaves in the bottom. Now, spoon in the cream cheese mixture into the small bowl, wrap it tight in the plastic wrap and for a ball. Chill for 2 hour, until the cream cheese has set again. Before serving, roll in chopped cashews. Serve with crackers, pretzels and any other dip-able snacks

Liss’s Adaptation of Canadian livings Shot Glass Shrimp

From Canadian Living’s Holiday Issue 2009, in stores now.

30 Shotglasses

30 Shrimp

1/2cup Butter

4cloves garlic

1TSP Hot chili Flakes

1 jar Shrimp Sauce, spooned equally into the 30 Shot glasses to half fill them.

In a hot pan, heat up butter and garlic. Add in the shrimp, and while they are cooking, add in the hot chili flakes. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side, or until they turn pink. In each shot glass, spoon 1tsp of the shrimp sauce, and then add 1-2 shrimp per glass. Serve as is in glass.

Liss’s Bacon Wrapped Dates

*Dates may seem a little … well, like an old persons food. But when stuffed with herbed and garlic Goats cheese and wrapped in bacon, they make the most perfect little finger foods.

30 dates

30 almonds

2 small packages of goats cheese

2 chopped garlic cloves

1tsp Thyme, Rosemary, Oregano, and salt and pepper each.

15 slices of bacon, Halfed

30 toothpicks

In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, spices and goats cheese. Take the dates, and with a sharp, small pearing knife cut a slit into the middle of them. To make this easier, fill a medium sized zip lock with the cream cheese mixture, and cut off the tip, forming a make-shift piping bag. Pipe a small amount of the cheese into the date, then shove in an almond into each, and wrap in bacon. Stick on a toothpick, and bake until bacon is crispy. Serve hot or room temperature, as long as the bacon is fully cooked.

These are three recipes for the third day of the holidays! Your guests will love how everything is homemade, and tastes wonderfully like the holidays!

Happy third day of Christmas, hope all of your French Hens are well!

Liss