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How To Make Stove Top Potpourri That Smells Like Fragrant Candles

November 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment

I got this potpourri this fall at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine... Keep your eye out for potpourris that aren't full of gross chemicals...

‘Tis the season that we all LOVE to walk into our homes and have them smelling like an apple pie has JUST come out of the oven. Right? I know that it’s what I love and brings me back to being a kid and coming in from a long day of sledding. My mom always had something yummy in the oven and/or something simmering on top of that stove that smelled just as delicious. Yes, candles are nice too, but with all of the chemicals that are inside so many of those waxes, it’s so nice and comforting to know that there is something out there that is a natural alternative. We all have that spice cabinet, or as my fiancé Nate calls it ‘The Bitchy Cabinet.” He calls it that because it’s so narrow and I try to cram every tiny spice bottle and jar I own into that one space. Every time he tries to find something, stuff falls all over the place. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? OK, so my point is that we all have I bet, at least the basic ingredients for a nice, seasonal simmering potpourri. The best part is that all of this is really inexpensive to do and I have found that Trader Joe’s has great deals on spices. Check next time you are there.

  • cinnamon sticks
  • nutmeg
  • whole cloves
  • all spice – whole
  • grated orange peel
  • water
Here is Fall [stove top] Simmering Potpourri recipe that I sometimes use as well!
  • 1 apple sliced
  • 2 tbsp. ground nutmeg
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 tbsp. whole cloves
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 tbsp. dried orange peel [or fresh peel]
  • 2 cups of water
Mix all of the ingredients in a small pan. Simmer for 1 – 2 hours. Refrigerate when done. Reheat the next day, adding more water each time it is reheated. Keep refrigerated!
Since Christmas is right around the corner, you may enjoy this recipe as you decorate your home for the holiday’s or while you have family and friends over.
Christmas Time Simmering Potpourri
  • 5 – 6 cinnamon sticks, broken
  • 1 tbsp. lemon peel
  • 1 tbsp. orange peel
  • 1/2 cup whole cloves
  • 1 tbsp. nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup whole allspice
  • 1 tbsp. bay leaf spices
  • 2 slices of dried apples, optional
Mix all of the ingredients in a small pan. Simmer for 1 – 2 hours. Refrigerate when done. Reheat the next day, adding more water each time it is reheated. Keep refrigerated!
Other simple simmering recipes that you may enjoy include:
#1
  • vanilla [a few drops]
  • orange peels
#2
  • dried lavender
  • 1 tbsp. nutmeg
  • 1 tbsp. whole cloves
  • 1 cinnamon stick
#3
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • peel from 1 lemon
  • fresh rosemary
  • whole cloves
I hope that you are able to enjoy these recipes this fall and holiday season!

 

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Stiffler’s Mom’s American Apple Pie

October 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Can you believe that it has been twelve years since the first and original American Pie was released? Well it’s true. I am also quite sure that every week since then someone has made an American Pie reference to me and the most often thing I am asked by anyone that needs to ask my name is, “Have you ever seen American Pie?”… I always want to say “Is a frogs @$$ water tight?”… Of course I’ve seen that movie!… In fact, the first time I ever watched it was with my first high school boyfriend and my parent’s… I bet I turned every shade of pink and RED there is. It’s very funny now when I think about it.

I thought it would be fun to share my mom’s… Stiffler’s Mom’s American Apple Pie recipe because what’s better in the fall than a homemade apple pie made with freshly picked apples? Not a whole lot, except maybe some vanilla ice cream! The recipe even includes a really easy pie crust recipe that I haven’t screwed up… If I can do it, You can most definitely do it!

You will need approximately 10 medium sized apples for this pie. I like to go to Orchard Hill Farm in Cumberland, Maine and pick my own McIntosh apples! Pssst! They also have cider donuts that are to die for… They are made fresh at 6AM daily!

Two- Crust Pie Recipe

  • 1 3/4- cups flour
  • 1 – teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 – cup vegetable oil
  • 2 – tablespoons COLD water

Preheat your oven to 425°F. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Blend in the oil thoroughly with a fork. Sprinkle all of the water over the mixture and mix thoroughly. Press the dough firmly into a ball. If the dough is too dry [I honestly haven't had this problem yet] but if you do, you can add another tablespoon of oil. ♦ Note from Stiffler’s Mom: If you add more water, you will make the crust tough.

Roll out the dough between two pieces of waxed paper. Then take the top layer of waxed paper off and press the crust into the pie plate and then peel off the other sheet of paper. [You could also cut the dough into strips and make a fancy pants apple pie if you'd like... I think I may take the time next time and do it that way!] The pastry should have about a 1/2 inch extra over the top of the pie plate.

Stiffler’s Mom’s American Apple Pie

  • 3/4 – cup of granulated sugar
  • 1/4 – cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 – teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 – teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 – teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 – tablespoon butter

Line the pie plate with the Two- Crust Pie that you made from the above recipe directions.

Prepare the apples by washing, peeling, paring/coring. Slice them fairly thing, but not too thin! In a large bowl mix the apple slices, sugar and spices well so that they are all covered. Put the apples into the pastry shell and dot with the butter. Cover with the top pie crust pastry or pastry slices. Pinch and flute the edges.  ♦ Tip: You could also use cookie cutters and cut out some cute designs on the top pie crust pastry before you top the pie. Sprinkle the top of the pie with some cinnamon sugar and Voilà! You have an apple pie that is ready for the oven! Bake at 425°F for 40 minutes and then reduce the heat to 325°F for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. I put a cookie sheet under the pie in the oven as it cooks to catch any spillage so that it doesn’t burn onto your oven and cause a mess.

Make sure you let the pie cool off long enough so that when you slice a piece and top it with some vanilla ice cream, the ice cream doesn’t turn to soup! ;)

Oh & if you make this recipe, I would LOVE to know how it turned out and if you loved it as much as I always have. Please post your photos of your version of Stiffler’s Mom’s America Apple Pie my Stiffler’s Social Scoop Facebook fan page!

 

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Football Widow? If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em!

September 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Well ladies, it’s the time of year when we lose our boyfriends, fiancés, & husbands to their religion AKA football! Now that the season has officially started, it is probably safe to say that you will now have plenty of time to get the things done that you may not have been able to do during your weekends during the summer. [That's one positive way to look at this ;) ] We all cherish every minute of those hot & sunny Saturday & Sunday’s… Now you can get your mani or pedi or get some early Christmas shopping done sans the hubby on those football Sunday’s. [Only if you don't have any little ones!] It’s a win, win… & if you think you’re going to “win” & he is going to suddenly not want to watch football, you’re dead wrong. It’s a guy thing & I honestly don’t REALLY believe that every guy loves football as much as they pretend to… They love the comradery & the violence. It’s all about how awesome it is to potentially knock a grown man, legally, flat out on the ground. Right?

I’ve learned that the best thing you can do for your relationship is to embrace his love for football. Suck it up ladies… Well as long as he doesn’t mind! Some guys don’t like watching the game with their ladies because all they do is chit chat and/or this is their time away from you [& that's OK too!]… So if that’s your situation… Sorry, I can’t really help ya… But, if he doesn’t mind you watching the game with him, I can help make that experience more enjoyable for you both.

Ladies, the first order of business when it comes to leaving your “Football Widow” title behind is to learn the rules… Or at least become familiar with what is going on & why it’s happening. You’ll learn something new every game you watch, but what has helped me is to read Football Rules for Women – A Cheat Sheet.

The second order of business is to dress the part! Yup, that means you get to go shopping for a cute shirt or jersey that represents your man’s favorite team. One of my favorite website’s for cute NFL stuff is Lady Fanatics. They have the cutest shirts that will help you play the part! ;)

OK, so we’ve covered the rules & what you’re going to wear… Now it’s about what you’re going to make for you all to snack on. Wings… They LOVE wings… So learn to master the art of making them… Here’s a fabulous recipe… & it involves the grill… Double points right there ;)

The grill makes these wings perfect!

Grill Master Chicken Wings [I got the recipe from Allrecipes... One of my all time favs for finding yummy dinner ideas!]

    Ingredients for the wings:

  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup Italian style salad dressing
  • 3 lbs. of chicken wings cut apart at joints, wing tips discarded
    Ingredients for the sauce:

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup hot sauce!, such as Frank’s Red Hot, or to taste

Directions:
1. Combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, Italian dressing, and chicken wings in a large, zip-top bag. Close bag and refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the 1 teaspoon soy sauce and the hot pepper sauce. Turn off heat and reserve.
3. Remove the chicken wings from the marinade and pat dry. Cook the wings on the preheated grill, turning occasionally, until the chicken is well browned and no longer pink, 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Place grilled wings in a large bowl. Pour butter sauce over wings; toss to mix well.

You also need yummy dip & chips to tie everyone over throughout the game… Every time I make this dip it is devoured!

Seven Layer Taco Dip

    Ingredients:

  • 1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
  • 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
  • 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
  • 1 large tomato, chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 bunch chopped green onions
  • 1 small head iceberg lettuce, shredded
  • 1 (6 ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
  • 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, blend the taco seasoning mix and refried beans. Spread the mixture onto a large serving platter.
2. Mix the sour cream and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Spread over the refried beans.
3. Top the layers with salsa. Place a layer of tomato, green bell pepper, green onions and lettuce over the salsa, and top with Cheddar cheese. Garnish with black olives.

So there you have it… Football widow no more! But don’t forget the beer!

Are you a football widow? Do you resent the fact that your hubby is obsessed with watching football or are you happy to embrace it & realize that it could become a Sunday Funday activity for you both?

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Stiffler’s Mom’s Whoopie Pie Recipe

March 29, 2011 by 2 Comments

This cookbook was written in 1967

For those of you who are from Maine, I am sure you have heard about the recent debate about what the state of Maine’s official dessert should be; blueberry pie or the whoopie pie? There has been some friendly competition between Pennsylvania about which state should have the right to claim the whoopie pie as their dessert [Pennsylvania says that the Amish created the whoopie pie]. However, Pennsylvania does have a Whoopie Pie Festival in September!

[We don't have that in Maine!]

This past weekend at the Maine Mall in South Portland, Jon Armond and Eva Matteson from Portland’s Coast 93.1 Morning Show put the debate to the test and teamed up with Amy Bouchard from Wicked Whoopies to beat the record. They needed to beat Pennsylvania’s record, which was 200 lbs. When this sucker was complete it was 1,067 lbs. They crushed the old record.

I have been getting some requests from a few of my Twitter followers asking if I have a favorite whoopie pie recipe that I could share and I couldn’t think of anyone in my life who is a better cook than my mom. I know some of you can agree with me on that :) Growing up, I  remember my mom made the most delicious treats that I used to trade at snack time for Twinkies, Ring Ding’s and Ho Ho’s. She also made some phenomenal whoopie pies!

I called her yesterday and she dug out her cookbook that holds the recipe…. It’s called ‘The Grange Dessert Cookbook [from the Virginia State Grange]  and it was published in 1967. So there ya go, my favorite recipe originated from Virginia.

Directions to make the chocolate dough for the ‘pie’ bottom & tops:

- 2 eggs

- 2/3 cup of butter

- 1 1/4 cup of sugar

- 1 cup of milk

- 2 1/2 cups of flour

- 1/2 cup of cocoa

- 3 teaspoons of baking powder

- 1/2 teaspoon of salt

1. Cream together eggs, butter and sugar.

2. Add milk, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

3. Beat until smooth.

4. Drop heaping tablespoon’s of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 – 15 minutes.

Directions to make the filling:

- 3/4 cup of shortening

- 1/4 jar of marshmallow fluff

- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 3/4 cup of confectioners sugar

1. Combine the shortening and  marshmallow together .

2. Blend in the vanilla and sugar and beat until fluffy!

Once  the chocolate ‘pie’ tops and bottoms  are cooled COMPLETELY you can start putting your whoopie pies together!

ENJOY! Make sure you let me know what you think about Stiffler’s Mom’s whoopie pies and don’t forget to share with your friends!

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Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

February 28, 2010 by 3 Comments

I got this recipe from a friend a couple of years ago. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin custard, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffee & well just about anything to do with pumpkins. I know that you typically hear more about pumpkins in the fall and around Halloween, but I know there are some more fellow pumpkin lovers out there that will enjoy this delicious recipe. These cookies are soft & sort of cake like, but so yummy! You will keep going back for more, telling yourself it is your last cookie each trip, but it won’t be ;) I did not double the recipe because I did not have to…I got about 50 cookies but you could most certainly double it and send your kids or husband off to school/work with some extra cookies to share. The recipe can be found here. Write it down, bake some now & tuck the recipe away for this fall. I cook them between 8 & 9 minutes & I like to cool them completely before eating (they just taste better when they are cooooooled). The recipe can be found here or under the “Yummy Recipes” tab at the top of the page.

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BBQ pulled pork sandwiches! Yummmmmm!

February 21, 2010 by 3 Comments

This is a really easy & super yummy recipe that is great on bulkie or kaiser rolls. You do need a slow cooker & about 4 hours for the meat to cook. My boyfriend, Nate absolutely loved it, as well as my Mom & Dad. One sandwich is really filling! If you don’t want to use the beer broth, you can use a can of your favorite beer instead. I am going to do that next time and see how it is. Also, you can pick any kind of BBQ sauce that you want (I chose Sweet Baby Ray’s because it said “Award Winning!”). Try to keep in mind that you my not want something that is very sweet…it will be too much! I did not have a oven safe skillet, so after I drained out the beef broth & added the BBQ sauce, I put it all back into the slow cooker & let it cook together for another half hour or so.  There aren’t too many guys out there that won’t love this if you make it for them, so give it a shot. He will probably be pleasantly surprised & will wonder how the heck you made such a scrumptious sandwich! :) The recipe can be found here or under the “Yummy Recipes” tab. Please comment & let me know how you liked it! :)

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Simple Turkey Chili! & it really is simple!

February 8, 2010 by 2 Comments

I have been on a mission to find a healthy, hearty & tasty turkey chili. I found the most perfect recipe at Allrecipes.com (I absolutely love this site)!  & the best part about this recipe is that it will be ready in just ONE hour, which is so convenient for week days. It has the perfect amount of spice & only has about 198 calories per serving & 7.2 grams of fat. Nate really loved it & I know he will want me to make it again sometime soon. You can find the recipe here. It is a wonderful dish to make for a cool Fall night or a chilly Winter night. I recommend pairing it with some corn bread or crackers & sprinkle some mild cheddar cheese on top. Depending on how spicy you like your food (I am a mild type of girl), you could play around with the spices & add more to taste. This dish is excellent the next day to bring with you to work for lunch. Don’t be scared, give it a shot…it really is simple, yummy & healthy choice for lunch or dinner.  :)

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Best Ever Oatmeal Cookies? Yes please!

January 30, 2010 by 2 Comments

Well, since it is quite cold outside and I had no interest in being outside tonight, including getting in and out of  a vehicle and going into a heated establishment. I thought that watching Law and Order & making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies would be a nice, easy going evening. I found a recipe in the cookbook that my mom put together for me. It is from my Aunt Kathy and they are called “Best Ever Oatmeal Cookies”, and they are pretty much the best ever oatmeal cookies. I substituted mini chocolate chips for the raisins because I have to be in the mood for raisins and given the choice, I choose chocolate over raisins any day of the week. The cookies come out quite thin, so make sure to let them sit on the cookie sheet to settle together before putting them on a cooling rack, but not for too long because they are the best when they are still warm. Enjoy!

*You can find the recipe here, or at in the “Yummy Recipes” tab at the top of the page.

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Another yummy recipe for dinner!

January 30, 2010 by 2 Comments

I got this great cookbook for Christmas, titled, “Cook Yourself  Thin – A Delicious Way to Drop a Dress Size.” It is on the New York Times Bestseller list and is full of tasty & easy recipes. My favorite so far is this spaghetti & meatballs recipe. And I have to be honest, I have never been a fan of spaghetti & meatballs unless it is my mom’s recipe because I think she makes the best, ever EVER! This is healthy & yummy recipe that doesn’t take too long to prepare and have on the table within a reasonable amount of time. Next time I make it I will post a picture! Give it a try & let me know how you liked it. What the heck else are you going to do considering it is about 2 degrees outside right now…if that? ;-)

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Hobnail cookies…Wait! Are those edible?

January 28, 2010 by 2 Comments

I remember when I was really little and my mom made these Hobnail, better known as, chocolate chip cookies. She made sure to specify and let me know that they were not the regular Toll House cookies that she would normally make. These cookies do not have any regular sugar or any butter (just shortening). The recipe came from Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts from the Colonial times. My parents brought my brother and I there when we were younger. My mom had a tiny little cookbook that she got from the gift shop and inside was the recipe that I have shared with you all. In a compilation cookbook that my mom made for me a couple of years ago is this recipe that she dated September 4, 1986. I believe that is the date that she first made the cookies.

I tried to do a little investigating via Google to find out why the heck they are called “Hobnail” cookies. I did not have any luck :(

Click here to check out this recipe & also find it under the “Yummy Recipes!” section.

Here are my cookies! Oh, & I added some walnuts for a little extra crunch ;)

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