Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/28

This week's creation comes from my mom's kitchen. 

Fiesta Cheesecake

Beat till fluffy 2 – 8oz. pkgs softened, cream cheese and 1 pkg taco seasoning mix

Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating after each.

Fold in 2 cups shredded cheese (I used mild cheddar, but it's supposed to be Monterrey Jack) and 1 small can diced green chiles.  

Spray 9” spring form pan, sides and bottom, and pour cheese mixture in. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, until knife inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and spread top with 1 cup sour cream. Return to oven and bake 5 more minutes. Cool 15 minutes, then refrigerate at least 8 hours. To serve, remove side of spring form pan, and top with salsa.  Serve in wedges (20) with tortilla chips.

Now it's time to link up all of your creations!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. The post has to be made from scratch.
3. The post you link up MUST CONTAIN A RECIPE! 
4. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.  

Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/21

It's time for another Iron Chef Challenge from Ott,A! Maple Leaf Farms is sponsoring another round of Iron Chef with the theme ingredient Duck.

Last year, I did several duck recipes. So while searching for some inspiration, I came across their sausage recipe and I was intrigued. I set off to make duck sausage! My local grocery store doesn't sell ground duck, so I started with a whole duck, cut it up and did a fresh grind. (I saved some of the skin so I could render the fat and used the carcass to make stock)

To the fresh ground duck, I added 2 1/2 T onion flakes, 1 T toasted fennel seeds, 1 T sage, 2 cloves of garlic (chopped fine), 1 T breadcrumbs, 2 T rendered fat, and salt and pepper. 

Mix well and shape into patties on parchment paper. Wrap tightly and freeze about 4 hours. 

To cook, place sausages on baking sheet in a cold oven and turn the oven to 325. Bake about 30 minutes, or until cooked through. 

We enjoyed our duck sausage with english muffins and scrambled eggs with feta cheese and green onions!

Make sure to enter your duck recipes over with Ott,A. And check out Maple Leaf Farms for your duck needs!

Now it's time to link up all of your creations!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. The post has to be made from scratch.
3. The post you link up MUST CONTAIN A RECIPE! 
4. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.  

Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/14

For our pre-Valentine's Day dinner, the husband and I had a wonderful lobster dinner. I have to admit, I was scared of the lobster. I always look at the tank at the store and think maybe that will be the day I finally conquer the fear. I finally decided to just do it. So, off to the store we go and I picked out two feisty lobsters. Unfortunately, I was freaked out by the bag moving and made the husband carry it. I figured I would have to work up the nerve to pick them up, so I decided to make some butter while I gathered my nerves.

For the butter, pour some cream into the bowl of your stand mixer and turn on high. Add salt to taste.

Mix until it gets fluffy

Then keep mixing until it looks like scrambled eggs and milk

At this point, gather all the butter together and squeeze into a ball (or three). Pour the buttermilk into a container and save for pancakes, biscuits, or my favorite-red velvet cake! 

At this point, the butter is ready to use. If you want to keep it around for a few days, rinse the butter  under cold water, squeezing as you go until the liquid coming out of the butter is clear. Now your butter is ready to go! And the possibilities are endless with your fresh butter! Add in some honey, cinnamon, or whatever else you can think of! For us, that meant adding garlic. I roasted a clove of garlic and squeezed it out into a bowl of melted butter with the juice of a lemon.

It was perfect with our lobsters!

Now it's time to link up all of your creations!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. The post has to be made from scratch.
3. The post you link up MUST CONTAIN A RECIPE! 
4. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar.  

Made From Scratch Tuesday 2/7/12

With the Super Bowl festivities all around Indy the last few days, we had to have some super munchies for Sunday. I'm going to warn you now...these are not diet friendly! But they're super delicious!

Source: thecurvycarrot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I found these yummy bites on Pinterest and couldn't wait to make my own. For the recipe, click on the pic above!
Now it's time to link up all of your creations!
Here are the rules:
1. You can link up as many posts as you'd like.
2. The post has to be made from scratch.
3. The post you link up MUST CONTAIN A RECIPE! 
4. If you want to put my button somewhere, that'd be cool. You can grab the code for the Made From Scratch Tuesday button on the top right of my sidebar. 

Wordless Wednesday-Super Bowl Festivities

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!