I don’t really cook fancy stuff. We eat a lot soup, salad and sandwiches. We Dave grills in the summer. Occasionally I bake something chicken or fish.

I do have one fancy chicken dish. At least, I think it’s fancy!

It’s super easy too.

Prosciutto Goat Cheese Chicken (Even the name is fancy! )

Raw chicken breast tenders
Goat Cheese (or Feta)
Prosciutto
Butter

Place a slice of prosciutto on a cutting board. Put one chicken tender on top. Sprinkle (or dump if you like lots) goat cheese or feta on top of chicken. Wrap prosciutto around cheese, overlapping to make sure it stays inside. Saute chicken in butter until done. Yum!

My nephew, Dakota, is on his way to a food blog with this fancy version of Mac & Cheese.

It’s cold out so it’s soup time around here! My friend Cristie made this soup for us several times and we love it.

Italian Soup

1 lb. sausage in casing (I used chicken sausage this time but smoked beef sausage is much better!)
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil (I’ve reduced the oil to 1 tsp. without a problem…just watch to make sure the sausage browns but doesn’t burn.)
1 cup diced onion
1 cup sliced carrots
5 beef bouillon cubes
7 cups water
2 small raw zucchini, sliced
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups shredded cabbage (I usually buy a package of pre-cut up cole slaw and use 2 cups of that.)
1 tsp. basil
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
16 oz. can white beans, undrained
1 Tbsp. sugar
pepper to taste

Slice sausage in 1/2 inch rings and brown in oil in a large soup pot. Add onion through garlic powder. Heat to boiling, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. If you want your veggies done but not super soft, reduce time to 40 minutes or so. Add beans, sugar and pepper and heat through.

My mother-in-law always has fun magazines lying around her house. I catch up on all the recent news around the world when we travel up to New York. My mother-in-law recently subscribed to the Food Network Magazine. Wow, what a great magazine!

While perusing this total eye candy magazine, I found a recipe for Dumpling Soup. I wrote it down and made it a few weeks ago, with a few modifications.

I am seriously proud of this soup! It was so good that I was wishing for more room in my tummy to eat more!

Here’s my version of the recipe:

Asian Dumpling Soup
6 cups chicken broth
2 T. rice vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
2 t. sesame oil
1 T. sugar
1- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 scallions, sliced, white and green parts separated
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage (I buy the pre-cut up cole slaw in the produce department.)
24 frozen dumplings or potstickers (I used Trader Joe’s fully cooked chicken and vegetable Chinese dumplings.)

Put the chicken broth, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger and garlic in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes to combine flavors.

Add the white scallions, carrots, and mushrooms. Simmer until the carrots are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the cabbage, dumplings and green scallions. Cover and cook about 3-4 minutes or until the dumplings are soft. Avoid over-cooking the dumplings.

Today Hope and I made our Thanksgiving dishes. Hurricane Hope found plenty to play with in the kitchen. Yay, I finally got a picture of Hope sitting!

This year we are celebrating Thanksgiving with the New York grandparents. I am in charge of the Sweet Potato Casserole. I’ve been making my Aunt Sandy’s sweet potato recipe for years. Lo and behold, the Pioneer Woman posted a very similar recipe a few days ago. That’s confirmation that these sweet potatoes are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! My Aunt Sandy’s recipe calls for less sugar and butter than the Pioneer Woman’s and I decrease both even more. I mean, I love butter and sugar but I would like to actually taste the sweet potatoes!

I wanted to make something extra for Thanksgiving so I whipped up my friend Vern’s Spinach and Artichoke Dip. And I made a quick batch of Orange Cranberry Sauce. Cranberry Sauce is soooooooooo easy to make. 10 minutes and you are done.

I am taking the dishes ready for the oven so imagine the marshmallows browned and the dip hot and bubbly!

Vern’s Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 package frozen chopped spinach, drained (I let it thaw and then squeeze every bit of the water out)
1 cup mayo
1 cup Parmesan cheese (I used fresh grated)
1 clove garlic, minced

Mix and spoon into 8×8 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until hot and bubbly. Serve with crackers or bread.

Orange Cranberry Sauce

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cranberries and cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Refrigerate until ready to serve. The sauce will thicken as it cools but you can cook it a bit longer if you want a thicker sauce. And you may need to add more sugar if the sauce is too tart. I taste and adjust the sugar amount as the sauce cooks.

So, what are you cooking (or just eating if you aren’t in charge of cooking) for Thanksgiving???