Chicken Tortellini Bake

I love to try new recipes and tried several of them over the last few days and the only problem was I forgot to take photos for the blog. This recipe was worth sharing so today I took a photo of the leftovers we had for supper...I figured if I used a pretty enough plate you wouldn't notice they were leftovers...
they tasted just as great as the day they were baked.

Chicken Tortellini Bake - recipe from the My Kitchen Cafe blog.

16 ounce package of refrigerated fresh cheese tortellini (I used the tricolor variety)
1 tablespoon oil
2 cups (about 2 chicken breasts) chicken cut up into bite size pieces
3 green onions finely chopped, white and green parts
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
8 ounces sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup sour cream
8 oz (2 cups) shredded Monterey jack cheese

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook tortellini for 2-3 minutes Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Brown the chicken for 1-2minutes and add the fresh mushrooms and green onions, cooking until chicken is done and mushrooms are golden brown. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add chicken broth and stir until thickened. Mix in sour cream until mixture is creamy and slightly thickened.

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour tortellini in bottom of 9X13 pan. Sprinkle half the cheese over tortellini. Put cooked chicken/sauce mixture on top and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.

Bake covered with tin foil at 350 for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for additional 15 minutes until bubbly and golden brown around the edges.

I am so happy to have found the Kitchen Cafe - I have bookmarked many of her recipes to try.

Marsha - Thumbs Up
Jeff - Thumbs Up

muffins...

I got a new toy this week, a muffin pan with leaves and pumpkins. Perfect for autumn gatherings so today I gave it a try making blueberry muffins from a recipe I had saved a while back.
I had fun using a the leaf shaped ones and made some lemon flowers to go with them and my tea. How do all those other blog authors get their lemon slice to float perfectly center in the cup? Impossible I say :)
I know I originally got this recipe from another blog but I am sorry I don't remember which one.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

1 stick softened butter
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 Cup sugar
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ¾ c. all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt

1/3 c. 2% milk (or cream)

1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350°. In a mixer cream the butter, cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest until well combined. Slowly beat in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. With mixer on low, add half the flour, then half milk or cream, then remaining flour, then remaining milk until just combined. Carefully fold in blueberries. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and fill with muffin batter, about ¾ full. Bake for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through. Remove and let cool.

Marsha - Thumbs Up
Jeff - Thumbs Up

a T sandwich

We are at the height of tomato season and I am sure that many of you are enjoying BLT sandwiches. My personal favorite has always been to leave off the Bacon and Lettuce and just have a plain ole piece of toast with miracle whip (after all a sandwich isn't a sandwich without the tangy taste of MW, remember that commercial?) and a slice of tomato with lots of salt and pepper.
This year I tried a heirloom variety of tomato called cherokee purple. I can't say that it is purple more of a wine-red but they really are huge tomatoes. I decided to have a T sandwich for lunch in the garden and as you can see the tomato slice is larger than the piece of bread.
Actually, I was pretty hungry so I thought I would have two sandwiches...
but my eyes were bigger than my stomach and one was more than enough to satisfy me. If you read my garden blog than you know I have a veggie loving dog, Hershey so since she was laying at my feet I decided to share.


Two bites and it was gone so she'll probably be picking tomatoes as well as cucumbers next.

a "T" sandwich
Marsha - Thumbs Up
Hershey - Paws UP

Cherries...

We spent part of our holiday weekend visiting Jayme & Scott and were treated to fresh raspberry pie using their own freshly picked raspberries, and blueberry muffins using their own fresh picked blueberries. They also have an apple tree but the resident deer eat most of them and a cherry tree which isn't J & S's favorite fruit so they usually pick and give them away. She currently has a co-worker making cherry brandy and I picked the last of their cherries to make sour cherry preserves.

Sour Cherry Preserves (adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe)
2 lbs pitted fresh cherries
2 cups of sugar
Juice of a small lemon

Boil until thickened about 15 to 30 minutes.
I knew exactly what I wanted to make with the fresh cherry preserves so I set up a simple table with cherry plates and lots of paper towels...
and fired up the grill for my friend, Carol's (There's always thyme to cook) cherry chipolte chicken wings.
I served them with grilled smashed potatoes and baby peppers.
I followed Carol's directions and used three chipolte peppers and I loved the spicy sweet heat but it was a little "hot" for Jeff's tastes. He said he prefers a honey sweet bar-b-que sauce which is great because then I get the left overs. For the complete recipe click the link above to Carol's blog post on these wings.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs down

just peachey...

There is nothing like good juicy peaches on a hot August afternoon...eaten fresh dripping down your chin or served with cream and sugar in a bowl...and they are especially good when you make them into homemade peach ice cream!


I am loving my bargain Cusinart ice cream maker and searching for fun new recipes to make with it. The peach ice cream is from a blog called Eliza Domestica and you can click HERE for her post with the recipe. Since all that cream is not very good for our waistlines or cholesterol levels I have found quite a few sorbet recipes to try next.

Marsha - Thumbs UP
Jeff - Thumbs UP

Saltine bars...

I've seen these saltine bars on several blogs in the last two weeks and since I needed a quick and easy dessert to feed those helping N & T move into their new home this weekend it was a easy choice since I had all the ingredients in the house. This is not a "new" recipe but an old one that I remember from growing up only back then we used the buttery club crackers. I found the recipe in a 1973 community cookbook. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet (with an edge) with foil and lightly butter. Then lay out your crackers on the bottom.
In a saucepan over low heat melt one cup butter and one cup brown sugar. Once the sugar has started to dissolve turn up the heat to medium and bring to a gentle (not rolling) boil. Stirring constantly, boil the mixture for 3 minutes and then pour over the crackers and spread to the edge with a spatula. Then pop into the 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle a 12 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips over the top. Let sit a few minutes until the chips are melted soft & shiny and then spread evenly with a knife.
After the pan has cooled down, chill until firm and then break apart into pieces.
I definitely didn't bring home any leftovers of these!

My notes: I spread one half of a bag of semi sweet chips on half the bars and the other half with half of a bag of milk choc chips since that is what I like ;)

Marsha - Thumbs Up to the milk choc side
Jeff - Thumbs Up to the dark choc side

let there be white....and lime

I have been absent from my blogs for a week because I have been scrubbing, painting and sewing to help my son & daughter-in-law get ready to move into their new home this weekend. But, I couldn't let down my friend, Kathleen and not participate in her second "Let there be White" event so I threw together a simple table in the satellite gazebo in the dark last night. Head over to Kathleen's blog, Cuisine Kathleen, to see all the amazing tablescapes.Like Kathleen, my hydrangeas guided me to my second color choice. The white Annabelles have turned green a sure sign of autumn approaching. Since I do not own an all white plate I also had to cheat a little and use my modern John Tams earthenware with the black words for a late night supper in the garden.
I added in some more lime color with some chopped romaine...
and some more white with grilled ciabatta garlic bread and grilled shrimp with lime flavors (marinated in margarita mix with tequila - tonight's shortcut to Susan's marvelous tequila & lime shrimp).
A simple late night supper from start to finish in less than 30 minutes...just what a tired gal needed.