On the Menu: Super Bowl Wings

Let's just make this clear. I don't watch professional football. I don't watch the Super Bowl. I don't get involved in all the hype. But...I do get involved in two things: food and commercials.  Since I will more than likely have hungry men at my house that Sunday, I've got to prepare. I made these wings this week and, although Jason was skeptical, he cleaned his plate. They're a great sweet heat blend.

I found this recipe for Raspberry Jalapeno Wings on Tasty Kitchen

The ingredients:

• 20 whole Chicken Mini Drummettes -or- about 2 pounds of wings
• 1 cup Seedless Raspberry Jam
• 1 Tablespoon Honey
• 4 ounces Can Diced Jalapenos
• 4 Tablespoons Butter (1/2 Stick)
• 1 Tablespoon Worcerstershire Sauce

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a small saucepan, combine the raspberry jam, honey, and jalapenos over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Turn down to simmer while you get the wings ready.

Get a large pot and melt the butter and Worcerstershire sauce (I can never pronouce that correctly so I just call it W. sauce...lol) on high heat (actually just the setting below the highest you have...mine is 8). Using tongs, put in half of your wings and saute for 5 minutes. You want to make sure they get evenly coated in the butter mixture. Move them to a large bowl and repeat the process for the other wings.

Pour the raspberry sauce over the wings and coat. Line a large pan with foil (you'll thank me later when you aren't scrubbing sticky sauce off your nice pan) and cook for 35 minutes, turning halfway through cooking.  Let them sit 15 minutes after removing them from the oven and the sauce gets thicker and more wonderful.

Note: I don't like spicy hot food, but this has enough heat to make your mouth warm and the raspberry complements it well.

Kid Craft: Homemade Bird Feeders

Last week, we were cooped up in the house for days.  On day one, I normally clean, do laundry, organize, etc.  Then day two hits and I read or watch movies.  Two days is all I can stand. By day three, I want out.  And so does Jason and Ella. Luckily, I remembered this craft from a Special Agent Oso episode. No joke! Ella had a lot of fun making these and the birds enjoyed not having to find food under 4 inches of snow. We have two gorgeous cardinals that frequent the house and I want to keep them coming back.

All of my pictures of this craft are on my home computer, so I'll upload them later.

This is so easy. You don't have to be Martha Stewart to pull it off.

You'll need:
pine cones
twine, yarn, etc. (I used leftover Christmas string)
hot glue
peanut butter
bird seed (You can get a large bag at the Dollar Store for around $4)

Cut enough string for your liking, double it up and hot glue it to the pine cone. Let it cool. Using a butter knife, let your kid heavily smear PB all over the pine cone.  Roll the pine cone in bird seed.  I used a throw away pie pan to hold the bird seed. Hang it up outside!

My crafty moments come and go but I hope to have more of them this year. A friend shared this site with me and I love it! I wish my blog looked like this. http://www.make-it-do.com/

On the Menu: Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip

I made this just this past Saturday for Ella's birthday party. I think it made people nervous because it didn't disappear like the cheese dip, but that's okay because I'm still snacking on it.

Birthday details will be another post with pics. :-)

The ingredients:
12 oz can of artichokes, drained and chopped (but I only use about 6-10 ounces because they tend to be sour)
1 box of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of its juices
1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cubed mozzarella
1/2 cup grated parmesan (and I'm not talking the dried kind...be proactive here and buy some real cheese!)

What to do:
Mix all ingredients in a 13 x 9 dish and bake for 15-20 minutes. This will be enough for 5-6 people.