A New Chef in the Kitchen: Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños

My brother-in-law has been in my life for over half of it. He and my sister have been together for that long, and thinking about that statistic is wonderful, but it also reminds me of how old I am! He’s never been one to join in on the cooking marathons my mom, sister, and I have together, although he’s dabbled in some adventurous cooking, like brewing his own beer and making bacon.

When we gathered last weekend for my mom’s birthday, he showed up with his own contribution to our spread. He made stuffed jalapeños for the first time. While I couldn’t try them myself, the entire batch was devoured by three adults before dinner was ready. He didn’t have any parmesan cheese, and substituted with cheddar (his favorite cheese) instead. I think that I could try making these myself by substituting some sautéed veggies for the sausage. I'm looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next time!

I would like to give a shout out to my friend, Sunny. She and her twins have made it to 37 weeks - full term - with the past couple months spent on bed rest. She is a total rock star, and her mom is an angel for flying across the country to spend the past couple months with her, looking after her 2-year-old son.

Sausage Stuffed Jalapeños
(From AllRecipes)
Ingredients
1 pound ground pork sausage
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (Kate's brother-in-law used cheddar cheese)
1 pound large fresh jalapeño peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 (8 ounce) bottle Ranch dressing (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Place sausage in a skillet over medium heat, and cook until evenly brown. Drain grease.
In a bowl, mix the sausage, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Spoon about 1 tablespoon sausage mixture into each jalapeño half. Arrange stuffed halves in baking dishes.

Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve with Ranch dressing, if desired.

Ambitious or Insane: Seasoned Goldfish Crackers

I never thought I would be sharing a recipe for Goldfish Crackers. In fact, I can’t recall the last time I had one prior to making this. This recipe is a fun way to make a common cracker a little fancier, and yes, there is a reason why I did it myself!

In early December, my niece turned one-year old. My sister planned a “Brown Bear” themed birthday party for her, based on the popular children’s picture book. Per usual, I was assigned to bring the hors d'oeuvres to the party. One week ago my sister and I shared the backseat of her car, as our husbands sat up front and drove us on a mini-road trip to attend our cousin’s wedding. With cooking magazines piled on our laps, I asked for her input on what I should make for the birthday party. Understanding how busy and chaotic my job has been lately, she advised me to do whatever would be easy (as long as I brought my layered taco dip). We continued talking and looking at recipes, and an idea was born! I grabbed a scratch piece of paper, found a pen in the glove box, and we started formulating a menu. We decided that in keeping with the party theme, I could make one appetizer for each corresponding color used in the story.


The list came together easier than we thought it would. There were some items my sister recommended I just buy from the store, to make my life easier (which I, of course, didn't do). One of her suggestions was to just put out a bowl of plain Goldfish Crackers.


Once we returned home from the wedding, I had five days to plan, shop, and prepare all of the hors d'oeuvres. I did whatever I could ahead of time, and got started early on Saturday morning. I was excited about this creative approach, and felt ambitious to be trying so many new recipes (only one was a personal repeat). I was about three-quarters of the way done when I started running out of time. I realized that I was leaning more towards insane than ambitious. With the clock ticking, it was like my own Iron Chef episode, however the version where the chef is also trying to do laundry and get dressed for a party.

When my last item came out of the oven, we dashed over to my sister’s house and arrived on time (although not early like she had asked). The guests were waiting and they were hungry. (Only one person asked where my layered taco dip was, and I suspect that he may have been prompted to do so!) The hors d'oeuvres were inhaled, and I was ready for a nap! (This recipe makes a ton!)

Seasoned Goldfish Crackers
Ingredients
18 ounces cheddar cheese goldfish crackers
1 ounce powdered ranch dressing mix
3 teaspoons dill weed
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

Directions
Place crackers in a large bowl. Combine the remaining ingredients. Drizzle over crackers and toss to coat evenly. Transfer to a large baking pan. Bake at 250°F for about 15 - 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.