Fried Tacos are a Family Tradition

I grew up making a large batch of tacos that would last us at least a month. We browned our hamburger just like everyone else. We drained off the grease and returned it to the frying pan so we could add the taco seasoning. Next comes an ingredient we dont tell people about all the time...refried beans! At the very end we add one can of refried beans to our hamburger over a medium heat until it is mixed evenly. I think the reason is to hold the meat together for frying, but it makes them just as delicious. Then we add a heaping tablespoon to a heated tortilla shell. Fold it into a taco and set aside until we are ready to fry them. We usually make 60 tacos at one time and freeze them in ten packs.

The next step is to fry them in oil until the shells are golden brown. These tacos, minus the beans, are served all over where i come from. Every bar around has a taco tuesday. I moved 30 minutes south and no one has ever heard of them. They are still using the hard Ortega shells that fall apart when you take your first bite. I would love to corrupt everyone down here and get them to add one more fried food to the menu, but that seems doubtful.

I dont know enough about Spanish food to know if this is a traditional food made in their households. All I know is that we learned to make it from our friend who learned from her mother who is of Mexican ancestry. And that we love them! Keep the unfried shells in the fridge for snacks. Just microwave for 30 seconds and add whatever you want! Enjoy!

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My Best Cinnamon Rolls Ever

These are the best Cinnamon Rolls I have ever made. I can't say I have made many but i have finally figured them out. How? I got out my bread machine. I have only used it once or twice before, but decided this was my best option for making breads.

What about a recipe? I got it from Allrecipes.com. I tried a few, but this one is the best so far. I don't even know if I want to try another one. This one is called Cinnamon Rolls III. Yummy! The easiest part is it only takes 20 minutes to bake.

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Round Steak with Mushrooms and White Wine

What to do with Round Steak? Tonight's menu includes Round Steak, cut up and cooked all day in the crock pot with a Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup, 1/2 and onion cut in rings, a can of mushroom, 1/4 cup of White Wine or White Cooking Wine, Thyme, salt and pepper. Just dump everything in at once and let it cook on low all day long.

This dish is one of my husbands favorites. Round Steak is always a meat that is tough and not my favorite. But, I grew up eating it and so did my husband. We get it every year when we buy a side of beef. So, this is a recipe he found. I don't always add wine. If you have it, it definitely makes the dish a little better, but you can make it without it too. Serve it over mash potatoes. There is enough in there to make a meal, but don't forget your vegetables to make it a well balance meal. There will be nothing leftover tonight.

Easy New England Clam Chowder

One of my favorite meals is New England Clam Chowder. When my husband and I first got married we love to try and make it but could never quite figure it out. Then I got a simple recipe set of different soups and learned the basics of making any soup. The easiest way to explain how to make any cream soup is to first saute the chopped vegetables in butter. Then add about a quarter cup of flour to them and stir them until the flour coats the vegetables evenly. The next step is to add your broth. That is another thing I didn't know, that you added chicken broth to cream soups like Clam Chowder, Cream of Broccoli, and Potato Soup. After that you add two cans of Evaporated milk. Let everything cook over a medium heat for a while, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. While that is going on you need to boil a pan of water for potatoes. Dice the potatoes and pour them in when the what is boiling for five minute. Drain and add to soup. Add the clams to the soup. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer for at least 10 minutes and you have the easiest Clam Chowder and very tasty I might add.

Shopping list for Clam Chowder
2 cans evaporated milk
a large can of Chicken broth
1/4 cup celery
1/4 cup oinion ( but I use less)
2 cans of chopped clams ( or any clams you like )
1/4 cup flour
2 potatoes
salt
pepper

Enjoy a nice Warm Cup of Soup on a Cold Day!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cupcake

I have been relatively quiet on this blog and it is time I start getting back to posting here. I like to cook, but my favorite thing to do is to bake. I spend a lot of time on flickr getting inspiration. I had the idea to try to make chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and a Reese's Cup. I had been putting it off for months, but one day I tried it. This is what I came up with. The cupcake is a basic box mix cupcake. I topped that with a chocolate fudge icing in a can. Then peanut butter frosting, which is basically butter creme frosting with peanut butter added to it until it tastes right. I chopped up Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and added a few to each cupcake. The final decorators touch was Chocolate Syrup, which my kids decided we could do without. They loved the cupcakes, and hard to believe they were not too sweet.

Icing for Sugar Cookies!

I have been busy starting a cookie decorating business on the side. I love to bake and decorate cookies. For the past 7 years I had been making these wonderful cookies, but was not happy with any of the icing I had been using to decorate them. I wanted something that tasted great, looked shiny, and would not smudge when you stacked them. I tried many recipes and many different consistency. Finally I changed everything around and came up with a recipe that works for me. I hope you try this recipe and let me know what you think.

Ingredients
2 lbs powdered sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup warm water
1 tbsp. meringue powder (substitute 1 egg white if you don't want to buy it)
2 tbsp. corn syrup

I recommend using a heavy duty mixer if you have it as this recipe can be very stiff. In mixing bowl combine powdered sugar and meringue powder and combine so meringue is evenly distributed. (If you substitute an egg white add it after you add the water) Then slowly add the water a tbsp at a time until you get the right consistency. Add 2 tbsp of corn syrup and continue to mix for 4 minutes. The consistency you are looking for is Elmer's Glue. Seperate and add gel or paste food coloring. You can spread with a knife or a use cake decorating bags to decorate your cookies. Leave the cookies sit out about 12 hours and they should be hard enough to stack. Even though this will dry hard, it is not hard to bite into. It just forms a nice crust on the outside.

Another Blog Carnival

Christine presents http://memykidandlife.com/recipes110407.html">All Natural Honey Mustard Dressing: No Sugar Added posted at http://memykidandlife.com/">Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France, saying, "Spicing up your green salad with a fabulous all natural sugar-free Honey Mustard Dressing! It also makes a great dip for vegatables."

Kalyn presents http://blog.lifeedit.net/2007/11/easy-savoury-party-food-ideas.html">Easy Savoury Party Food Ideas posted at http://blog.lifeedit.net/">LifeEdit.net.

Sagar presents http://www.airlinecreditcards.com/travelhacker/top-50-vegan-and-vegetarian-restaurants-in-the-world/">Top 50 Vegan and Vegetarian Restaurants in the World posted at http://www.airlinecreditcards.com/travelhacker">Travelhacker.

Christine presents http://memykidandlife.com/orange-juice-and-honey.html">Hot Orange Juice and Honey for the Holidays! posted at http://memykidandlife.com/">Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France, saying, "This is a great, simple, sugar-free, all natural recipe that is perfect for the holidays! It'll put a smile on the kid's faces and warm your soul!. The perfect holiday dessert drink for you, your kids and your friends refraining from alcohol."

Chef Andrew presents http://therecipebank.blogspot.com/2007/11/black-eyed-pea-dip.html">Black Eyed Pea Dip posted at http://therecipebank.blogspot.com/">The Recipe Bank, saying, "Great Recipes to Share with Our Friends!"

Lucynda Riley presents http://quietlyintothenight.com/?p=576">Roasted figs with honey and Rosemary posted at http://quietlyintothenight.com">Quietly Into the Night.

The Career Counselor presents http://askthecareercounselor.com/blog/archives/208">Holiday Season: Simple Ways to Increase Morale and Happiness at Your Office posted at http://askthecareercounselor.com/blog">ask the CareerCounselor.

Sagar presents http://www.airlinecreditcards.com/travelhacker/worlds-best-chocolate-a-chocoholics-travel-guide/">World?s Best Chocolate: A Chocoholics Travel Guide posted at http://www.airlinecreditcards.com/travelhacker">Travelhacker.

The Columbia Foodie presents http://columbiafoodie.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html#6930940364577061768">Mascarpone and Pecan Stuffed Dates posted at http://columbiafoodie.blogspot.com/">The Columbia Foodie, saying, "Elegant, easy, and in season dates make for a delicious creation."

Lucynda Riley presents http://a-public-diet.com/?p=30">Sugar Free Fat Free Jello Pudding. posted at http://a-public-diet.com">A Public Diet.

James D. Brausch presents http://weightlossdude.com/?p=190">My Crab Cake Recipe posted at http://weightlossdude.com">Weight Loss Dude.

Roger Haeske presents http://rogerhaeske.com/?p=100">Having Trouble Staying Raw, It May Not Be Your Fault posted at http://rogerhaeske.com">Raw Food Diet, Bodyweight Fitness and Peak Performance Living.

WhatWorksForUs presents http://whatworksforus.blogspot.com/2007/12/holiday-slush-no-not-me.html">The Holiday Slush. No, NOT Me. posted at http://whatworksforus.blogspot.com/">What Works For Us.

Appetizers

Jami Leigh presents http://jamileigh.com/blog/2007/12/10/festive-foods/">festive foods posted at http://jamileigh.com/blog">Jami Leigh.

Chef Andrew presents http://therecipebank.blogspot.com/2007/12/remoulade-sauce-recipe.html">Remoulade Sauce Recipe posted at http://therecipebank.blogspot.com/">The Recipe Bank, saying, "a great sauce recipe for your party - try this with shrimp"

Dessert

Carol Bentley presents http://www.copywriting4b2b.com/archives/54">An enjoyable experience. . . posted at http://www.copywriting4b2b.com">Carol Bentley.

Chickens in the Road presents http://suzannemcminn.com/blog/2007/12/16/clotted-cream-fudge/">Clotted Cream Fudge posted at http://suzannemcminn.com/blog">Suzanne McMinn, saying, "I fell in complete, enamored, adoring love with castles, old rocks, sheep, and clotted cream during my trip to England. I couldn’t bring the castles, rocks, or sheep back with me, but I did bring back some clotted cream fudge. My kids loved it and we had to have more!"

Drinks

Priya Jestin presents http://www.airlinecreditcards.com/travelhacker/drinking-across-america-a-look-at-the-25-best-microbreweries-in-the-country/">Drinking Across America: A Look at the 25 Best Microbreweries in the Country posted at http://www.airlinecreditcards.com/travelhacker">Travelhacker.

Main Dish

blue skelton presents http://blueskeltonproductions.blogspot.com/2007/10/its-spiderman-pizza-delivery.html">It’s Spiderman Pizza Delivery posted at http://blueskeltonproductions.blogspot.com/">Blue Skelton Publications, saying, "Well Peter Parker is delivering pizza again and this time as Spiderman. No its not that superhero work doesn’t pay the bills anymore. Spiderman man will descend upon the Nasdaq Spider-Man will descend upon the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square today. He is not there to save lives but to deliver pizza, one hero to another."

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition ofcarnival of party foodusing ourhttp://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_1738.html">carnival submission form.Past posts and future hosts can be found on ourhttp://blogcarnival.com/bc/cprof_1738.html">blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of party food, blog carnival.

The Cupcake Courier

I found a new product on the market for transporting cupcakes, 'The Cupcake Courier'. What a great find. What I like best is that is actually holds 3 dozen cupcakes. I don't know about anyone else, but it is very rare that I can send only 2 dozen cupcakes anywhere. My kids are required to have either 25 or 30 treats when sent to school and this is the perfect solution. It is stylish and doesn't take up a lot of room.

Unfortunately, I can't get a photo to copy to my site. Here is a link to the product Cupcake Courier. This has definitely been added to my wish list.

Christmas Tree Cookies

Christmas Tree Cookies
Originally uploaded by gensler97

Normally I like to cook, but at Christmas time, my focus tends to be on cookies and candies. These cookies were created for a family party last week, but never made it. These accidentally ended up at class with my son because he told my hubby mom had promised to make treats for them. I did promise, but I ran out of time.

So, 9 kids and one adult enjoyed 4 1/2 dozen cookies. That is a lot of cookies. Sorry mom and dad! I hurried up and remade the cookies and then we had an ice storm. No party. Oh well, they will keep another few days.

Red and White Christmas Cookies

Red and White Christmas Cookies
Originally uploaded by gensler97

Just some Cookies I created last night. I really like the modern look to the snowflake.