Big Sandwich ( A.K.A. Rambler Sandwich)

  Back in my home town of Winthrop, ME, the people are proud, much like any other small town. The people are especially proud of  their football, and their mascot. 

                                                                           The Rambler.

Winthrop Rambler, a school bus

Every Friday in the fall you will find most of the residents of Winthrop gathering at the football field, dressed in  green and white, rooting for their favorite school bus.  The idea came from  when Winthrop did not have sports fields of their own, and they would travel around in a frumpy old school bus. Since then the bus has has some upgrades, and stands tall. 

           But what does this have to do with a sandwich?  Well there was a local restaurant called Ned's, who  dedicated a sandwich in name of the Rambler.  A massive sandwich enough to feed a small team of people, loaded with  protein to keep them going.

It's salty, it's cheesy, it's delicious.



Ingredients:
1 Loaf Italian bread, sliced down the middle
1/4 lb Genoa Salami*
1/4 lb Hard Salami*
1/4 lb Cooked Ham*
1/4  lb Provolone*
1/4  lb American Cheese*
1/2 lb Bacon, cooked
2 Tomatoes, sliced.
1/4 Sweet onion, thin sliced.
Pickle slices.
Mustard
Mayonnaise

*All of these are sliced to standard sandwich thickness

Directions:


1. Spread mustard onto bottom half of bread,  place meats one type at a time across the bread, stack remaining meats, making sure there is even distribution.


2.   Place bacon either in strips, or crumble on top of the meats,  place cheese on top of bacon.




3.  Cook lower half of the sandwich in an oven at 350º  until the cheese has just melted. Remove from oven and place pickles onto  sandwich.


4. Spread mayonnaise onto upper half of the bread, evenly distribute tomato, and onion slices.




5. Combine halves, using a large knife, slice sandwich  accordingly.



Serves 4 - 6

Fried Bacon

I had done enough cooking for Thanksgiving,  wanted breakfast, so we went to the Golden Corral. I  do as I always do when I go there, and feast upon every last bit of bacon I can cram down my throat until I hate myself.

My husband usually only eats one plate, so I feel like I have to make up for it.

The kids get to eat eggs, cookies, donuts, cotton candy. I don't care. We don't go often.

I was looking around the buffet, getting my normal stuff. When my eyes laid upon it....

 Fried Bacon.

That is  correct.  I stood in near disgust, because bacon by itself is fairly bad for your health.

My curiosity got the best of me, and I put a piece on my plate.




I took a bite, and it  was crunchy, and I do enjoy crunchy bacon. The breading for it was decent as well, the pepper giving it a little kick.


It was surprisingly good, I feel guilty for  saying it. I enjoyed it.  

Definitely, it is not good for you, there is no debate about it, but it was enjoyable, I ate a few more pieces.

Nutella Hot Cocoa

Do you like Nutella?  It's a chocolate hazelnut spread in a jar. Mostly I eat it with a spoon, but recently my husband has been dipping Nilla wafers into it, it's pretty good. 


 I wanted to drink it. So I did.

Two ingredients, you can't go wrong, right?


Ingredients:

2 spoonfuls Nutella
1 Cup Milk, hot.

x2

Make sure it's hot. :P

Directions:

1. Stir Nutella in milk until Nutella has melted into the milk, and has become a delicious Nutella Hot Cocoa.

Add  Marshmallows if desired.

And I do so desire. 

Pizza Enchiladas

        This was another recipe of mine that sort of just came to me.   The idea had brewed in my head for a bit before I decided to make it. You can add vegetables if you want, or make it a meat lovers.  It's pretty simple, and very tasty.


Serves 4 -6

Ingredients:
1 Package Burrito-sized  Flour Tortillas
1 Can Pasta Sauce
1 Package Sliced Pepperoni
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
Oil for brushing
1 Tsp Garlic Powder
Parmesan Cheese



Directions:

Preheat oven to 375º

1. In a bowl, add pepperoni, mozzarella cheese, and sauce, mix until  pepperonis are evenly distributed.

2. Scoop portion of the mixture into the middle of tortilla, roll tortilla  and place into a  grease 13 x 9" pan. Repeat until pan is full , and ingredients are used up.

Cram em all in >8D

3.  Brush tops with oil, sprinkle garlic, and  cheese on top. Cover pan with tin foil.
4. Bake at 375º  for 20 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. 


Allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes. Serve with a salad. I like to drizzle a little ranch on mine.

Gingerbread Syrup

Making my own stuff for coffee concoctions again, and just in  time for the winter holidays!


Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Water
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Ginger
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1/8 Tsp Cloves


Directions:

1. Add spices to sugar, mix thoroughly.

2. Place mixture into small pot, add water.

3. Heat until sugar is melted, and just begins to boil.

4. Using a  small mesh strainer, place over desired glass holding container for the syrup. If you keep the spices in it, you will have these....slimy......globs... at the bottom of your coffee. Gross.

I used a frappucino bottle that's been cleaned.

5. Add vanilla to syrup in the container. Store in the refrigerator.

  Add to coffee  as you please.

Alfredo Sauce

         I love cheese, and any time I go to  Olive Garden, I always get Alfredo. I dip my bread sticks in it, I have it on my chicken, I drink it out of the bowl.  Mostly, I make it at home, and I have been for years. I don't have to wait 20 minutes to sit down, just to wait another 40 minutes to get my food, and it's much more cost effective.



Ingredients:

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded. Don't be lazy, buy a wedge and grate it yourself.
1/2 Stick Butter
4 Tbsp Flour
3+ Cups Milk
2 Tsp Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper, if desired.

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, melt butter on medium heat until slightly browned.



2. Add flour and garlic, whisk until incorporated.




3. Add 1/4 of the cheese , slowly add in 1/2 the milk


4.  Add remainder of cheese , and slowly  add the rest of the milk, whisk until  cheese has melted, you may need to add additonal milk if you see fit.

Saaaaaaauce.

Serve on top of noodles with  seasoned chicken, and bread sticks.



Serves 4 - 6

Peppermint Mocha Iced Coffee

       Wow, it has been a while, yet again, since we have posted anything on  here, guess it's been busy.   I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving? I'm still eating leftovers.   My son was sick yesterday,  and I hadn't cleaned all weekend, so my house is a disaster.  I needed to energize, and I was feeling festive, so I made a peppermint mocha iced coffee. I'm too lazy, and too broke to run to Starbucks every five minutes, so I try to make most of my coffee at home.

Ingredients:

4 Cups hot  brewed coffee
Ice
2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 Tsp Dark cocoa powder
2 Tbsp York Sundae Syrup
1 Tbsp Heavy Cream ( or 1/4 cup milk) (Optional)
Whipped Cream (Optional)


Directions:

1. In a large mason jar, fill 3/4 of the way  with ice, put syrup, sugar, and cocoa powder on top of ice.
2. Slowly  pour in the  coffee, stirring with a long spoon. Stir until most of ice is melted, and coffee is cold.
3. Add cream or milk if desired.
4. Pour into a glass , top with whipped cream, and drizzle additional syrup if desired.

Serves 3 - 4, or just one, if you're really into coffee.

Yum.

Happy Halloween!

I know this isn't a food post, but it's definitely a treat for your entertainment.

This is the Disney short film "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" I always watched it when I was a little girl, and am delighted it's to be found on youtube.

Check it out, show it to your kiddos. I know I am.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Chocolate, and Vanilla Cupcakes.

          Halloween is approaching, and it's not a holiday without succulent treats , right?  I had asked my husband what he would like to have for a Halloween treat, he said cupcakes, I was a bit surprised, since he claims to not be a fan of sweets.  Speaking of my husband, he has been cooking with me lately, and I kind of love it! Usually if someone is in my kitchen, and all they do is loom around, looking at what I'm doing, they're usually just in my war path at that point. People often get kicked out of my kitchen, haha.
         Cakes don't happen often around here, usually just birthdays, the rest of the time,  we make cookies or brownies around here. I had to look up a vanilla cake recipe, and adjust it to the way I would like it.


Makes 2 Dozen






Ingredients :

3 Cups Flour
2 Cups Sugar
5.1 Oz Package Instant Vanilla Pudding, dry -one tablespoon  set aside for frosting*
3 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Salt
4 Eggs
1 1/4 Cup Milk
3 Tsp Vanilla
3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup Dark Cocoa Powder

Cupcake Papers
Frosting*

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 350º

1. In a Large bowl, put in flour, sugar, instant pudding mix, baking powder, and salt, mix thoroughly.

2. In a small bowl, add the the eggs, milk, vanilla, and oil, whisk until blended.

3. Slowly add wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients, whisk until they have all just come together, if you  over-beat the batter, it will result in a chewy, less delicious cupcake. Batter will be very thick.

4. Line muffin tin with papers, fill each paper about 3/4 full with vanilla batter. At least 12 of them.

5.  Put  cocoa powder in bowl, and stir into remaining batter.

6. Bake Cupcakes for 20 minutes, or until toothpick is inserted, and comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.  These freeze really well.

Vanilla!

Chocolate!

I made my own  butter cream frosting, for that you need

2 Sticks unsalted butter, softened.
3 - 4 Tablespoons Milk
1 Pound powdered sugar.
1 Tbsp Instant pudding.
3 Tsp Vanilla
Food Coloring if desired.

1. In a large bowl, place butter, pudding mix, milk, (coloring), and vanilla, whisk  until incorporated.
2. Slowly add powdered sugar, stirring gently, powdered sugar easily makes a mess.
3.  Take an electric hand mixer, and begin to further mix the frosting, turn to highest setting, mix until fluffy!

Use  a knife to  frost, or  get all fancy, and  place into a piping bag with a decorative tip.

Strawberry sauce to make it more spooky for Halloween.

We had cupcakes for breakfast.

Halloween Cookies

I made these bad boys last year for Halloween. They're based off of a "Lofthouse" cookie knock off recipe, but I used a ganache to top the cookies, because it's more fitting for Halloween. My kids couldn't get enough of them.

Ingredients:

Cookies:
6 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Cup (2 Sticks) Butter, softened.
2 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
3 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 Cups Sour Cream
Food Coloring ( I used neon purple, and neon orange gel food coloring)

Ganache:
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
3 Tbsp Heavy Cream


Directions:

 1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs, sour cream, and vanilla, mixed until well blended.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients  into the  bowl, mixed until incorporated.
4.Divide dough in half, and mix a singular color into  dough. Such as adding purple into one mound of  dough, and orange into the other mound of dough .  Cover doughs in plastic wrap.
5. Refrigerate doughs for two hours .
6. Remove plastic wrap, and individually roll dough into 13x9 rectangle, place one sheet of dough onto the other, and roll length wise.
7.  Refrigerate rolled dough covered in plastic wrap  while oven preheats to 425º
8. Slice cookies to 1/4" thickness, you may need to reshape them back to circles, place on greased cookie sheets , make sure cookies are about  2 inches apart from each other.
9. Bake for 7 -9 minutes, until bottoms are slightly golden. You don't want to over cook these.  Let cookies cool completely.
10. Once Cookies are cooled, make the ganache, you do that by microwaving chips and cream in a glass bowl until smooth.
11. Spoon and smooth ganache over the cookies, allow to cool, and serve. 

Enjoy! I know I did.

Peanut Butter Cookies

I really wanted to make some cookies, but I was out of chocolate chips - a true tragedy. But alas, my children's addiction saved me. Peanut Butter!





Ingredients:

1 Stick Margarine, softened.
1/2 Cup  Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup  Sugar
1/2 Cup Peanut Butter
1 Egg
1 1/4 Cup Flour
3/4 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt.


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375º

1. In a bowl, mix butter, and sugar until creamy. Add peanut butter and egg until smooth.
2. Slowly add dry ingredients into wet ingredients until incorporated.
3.  Spoon dough (tablespoon sized)  onto cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart from each other.
4. Using a fork, press dough balls down,  criss-crossing in the center to give the signature peanut butter cookie look.



5. Bake cookies 10 minutes, until slightly golden on the edges.



Enjoy!

Cheerio Chicken

I came up with this recipe a few years ago, and my husband loves it. Chicken coated in cheerios, it may seem weird, buuut....
It's crunchy.
It's saucy.
It's sweet.
It's delicious.





Serves 4

Helping crush the cheerios. Takes forever.

Ingredients:
1 Pound boneless skinless chicken, cut into strips
1/2 Cup Flour
2 Tsp Seasoned Salt
1 Egg, beaten
2 Cups Honey Nut Cheerios
1/2 cup BBQ sauce ( or any kind of sauce you would like)
Oil for frying





Directions:
1. In a  deep edged pan, or fryer, heat oil to 350º
2. Place cheerios in a bowl, crush until it's in course pieces.

About how they should look.

3. Dredge chicken in flour, tap off excess.
4.  Dip chicken pieces into egg
5. Transfer chicken into bowl with  crushed up cheerios, shake until all pieces are coated with cheerios.
6. Place chicken into heated oil, fry for  about 7 minutes each side.(keep an eye on it, you don't want to start a fire) * place chicken onto a cookie sheet, and keep in a warm oven until all the chicken is cooked.

I love my cast iron skillet for pretty much anything.

Chicken should be golden on each side.

7. In another bowl,  place BBQ sauce,  add cooked chicken  to it, and gently toss until chicken is coated.

 

Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ

So Good!

 Enjoy!