Mrs. Mary's Chicken Salad

This is the best chicken salad you will ever eat. Period. This recipe comes from Mrs. Mary Garrett, a dear lady who passed away a few years ago. She was the mother of "Little Mary", a friend and co-worker of my Mom. Mrs. Mary made this chicken salad for my wedding (my one request!) and it is SO good! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have/do.

Mrs. Mary's Chicken Salad

6 skinless chicken breasts
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small red apple, chopped
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
10-12 grapes, chopped or halved
2 T. sweet pickle relish
3 T. mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
Dash of Salt and Pepper
1 teaspoon sugar

Boil chicken breasts for 45-60 minutes, or until done. In a large bowl, add chicken (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), eggs, celery, onion, apple, pecans, grapes, pickle relish, and mayonnaise. Toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with sugar and toss again. Enjoy!!

This is not only a great, flavorful salad but it is also very colorful! Especially if you use the red grapes and red apples. It is also a great salad to serve at showers, get-togethers, or Teas (I will be posting about a special Tea I attended this past weekend in the next few days). YUMMY!!

Just Wing It!!

Okay, so I have to brag...but just a little brag and just for a few seconds.

I......made.........hot wings! By myself! I mean, I made the sauce and everything. Oh, and Honey BBQ wings too!

You see, every year for Super Bowl we have a few friends over and the menu is usually the same: Chili, wings, chips/salsa/queso, and some form of dessert such as cupcakes or Chocolate Rice Krispie treats in the shape of footballs. Everything is usually homemade except for the wings and salsa. Well, this year I thought I might try my hand at making my own wings and wing sauces.

So, I bought a bag of frozen chicken drummettes from the grocery store for $6.99. All you have to do is defrost them in the fridge for a few hours (or overnight, which is what I did), then bake them or fry them. I ended up baking them, which made them kind of healthy (*wink*).

I decided to make two sauces - a sweet one and a savory one. The savory one was the hot sauce and the sweet one was a honey bbq sauce. Now, I don't have actual recipes for the two because I kind of just "eyeballed" everything. But I can tell you what I put in them (and try to estimate the amount!).

Hot Wing Sauce

Hot sauce (about 1/2 cup)

garlic powder (maybe a teaspoon)

1/2 stick butter, melted

worcestershire sauce (about a tablespoon)

ground red pepper (a few shakes)

pinch of salt

pinch of black pepper

pinch of sugar

*Like I said, I didn't really measure anything. Just use your own judgement and make changes depending on how hot you like it. :)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

Honey BBQ Sauce

Your favorite BBQ sauce (about 1/2 cup)

molasses (about a tablespoon)

brown sugar (maybe a teaspoon)

worcestershire sauce (about a teaspoon)

pinch of salt

a few dashes of cola (I used wild cherry pepsi)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cover a large sheet pan with foil and placed the drummettes in a single layer on the sheet (I seasoned my drummettes with Lawry's before baking, but you can skip this if you prefer). Bake for about 35 minutes, turning once halfway through. Once drummettes are cooked through, place however many you want of each in the sauces. Turn several times to coat each one and then place back on the foil-lined pan. Turn oven up to 400 or 425 degrees and bake for about 5-10 minutes longer or until sauce has "stuck" to the drummies (I actually turned on the broiler for a couple of minutes, too, just to crisp them up a little).

And....there you have it! Homemade hot/sweet wings! Here is a picture of the finished product:

Crescent Tartlets....and the winner of the Pillsbury Giveaway!!

My "twist" on the Crescent Bacon-Cheese Tartlets wasn't really a twist. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to substitute, so I went totally a different route. I decided to make "Pizza Bites" instead! These are yummy and super-super easy. Here is what you need:

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (or Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough)
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll the can of crescent rolls and press seams together. Using a biscuit cutter or small glass, cut out twelve circles from the dough (you will have some dough left over if you want to make a few more). Press each circle into a mini muffin pan to form a small cup-shape. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from oven. Using a spoon or this awesome little gadget from Pampered Chef, Push the middle of the crescent cups down. Put about a teaspoon of pizza sauce in each cup and top with shredded cheese. Put back in the oven for about 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted (you can also turn the broiler on for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese better). Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before popping them out of the pan. Enjoy!!


**For variation, you can add pepperoni, bacon, sausage, or veggies to these and they would be even better!

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Okay, for the moment you have been waiting for....the winner of the Pillsbury Giveaway!! Thank you to all who left comments and recipes, I am definitely going to have to try them all! :) And now, the winner of the Pillsbury Crescent Creations Gift Pack (selected by random integer) is...

#4 -- Jessica Risner

Congratulations Jessica! You will be receiving the giveaway package from Pillsbury soon! Just email me with your address so I can send it on to MyBlogSpark and you can receive your goodies!!

Thanks to all who participated in the giveaway. There will be another awesome giveaway in the near future so be on the lookout!!

Pillsbury Giveaway!

So I decided to put my "twist" on the Crescent Bacon-Cheese Tartlets. I think I may serve these as an appetizer for our Super Bowl Party this year. So easy, yet so delicious! I will post the recipe in the next couple of days, but for now.....a GiVeAwAy!!

Pillsbury, in conjunction with MyBlogSpark, has made this giveaway possible. Thanks to both!! I think you will enjoy the prize. All you have to do is leave me a comment with your favorite appetizer using Pillsbury crescent rolls/dough and even the recipe, if you'd like. I love getting your recipes! Here is the Crescent Creations Gift Package that one winner will receive: Good luck! I look forward to your recipes!

*2 free coupons for Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dough
*3 white oval-shaped platters to serve your favorite

appetizers to your guests

Good luck! I look forward to your recipes!

Merry...uh...Happy....uh...GO TEAM!!

Okay, so I have been a lazy blogger lately. The truth is I have not been lazy at all, but eXtReMely busy. Amidst the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, parties, traveling to see relatives, and celebrating the birth of Christ Himself; I have been busy packing boxes and moving, unpacking boxes and cleaning. Oh yeah, I did take a little break to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve, but that's about it.

Anyway....since I have been so busy I have not even had the chance to open up my blog, much less write anything in this open space. But today, I have finally cleared a path in my house and have found the sofa, so I decided to sit down and write a few words. Actually, I think you may like these words because they will eventually lead to a giveaway. :)

The day before we left to visit our family for Christmas, I received another "goodie box" from MyBlogSpark. (You will get to see what is in the box in the next "giveaway" post.) For this "spark" I am supposed to put my own twist on one of three holiday treats using crescent roll dough. The only problem is that the holidays are over (hence the Merry..uh...Happy...uh. title). So the next best occasion would be the Super Bowl of course! It is a tradition at our house to host a Super Bowl party every year, so I am excited to be able to make some new snacks. :) I do need your help, though. I would like for you to choose which one of the following recipes you would like me to make. The recipe with the most votes will be the one I put my personal twist on. Here are the recipes:

1) Crescent-Wrapped Brie

2) Crescent Bacon-Cheese Tartlets

3) Crescent Holiday Tree (or in this case, I could make a football! )

Don't these look/sound yummy? Oh, another thing about these recipes....they only take 20 minutes to prepare! Now is that easy or what? I am very thankful to Pillsbury for providing the coupons for free crescent rolls, the recipe information, and the free gifts through MyBlogSpark. I cannot wait to recreate whichever one you choose!

Stay tuned for the next post....that's where you will find out what is inside the "goody box" you could receive if you are the giveaway winner!

Menu #3 will be here soon, but until then...

I would like to post some recipes from my dear friends. I will give a "shout-out" to one or more of my friends each day by posting some of their recipes right here on my blog. So....if you have a recipe you would like me to post, send me an email or leave a comment and I would love to post it for you! Can't wait to see all of the new recipes! :)

Recipe for Today: White Bean Dip (hummus wanna-be)
Shout-out: My friend, Kim Davidson (whom I also work with at SBTS)

White Bean Dip (hummus wanna-be)
19 oz white beans, drained and rinsed
1 T tahini
1 T olive oil
2 green onions (only the white and light green parts)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 large lemon - juiced - should be at least 3 tablespoons
Garlic (optional)

Mix in a food processor and eat with pita or veggies. Notice there is definitely not as much tahini or olive oil which makes this recipe healthier and it still has tons of protein. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for more "guest recipes" coming your way over the next few days!