Life in the Middle Age Lane

This year I had my Spooky Gals Night on a Friday night so that I could have two days to recuperate from the cooking, cleaning, decorating, socializing, drinking that this evening brings forth.  A lot of fun with some great ladies! I kept the menu simple but delicious.  We had deviled eggs, meatballs, a vegetable tray and Buffalo Chicken Sliders.  Dessert consisted of a Cranberry-Apple Pumpkin Bundt Cake that was to die for. You can find the recipe for this here.  It took me about two hours to make this because there were several steps for the topping, the glaze, the filling and the cake.  But I have to tell you it is the best fall cake around and it looks very festive for the holidays. My appetizers were kept simple but delicious.  I did not use olives for the meatballs since I am not a big fan of the taste unless they are in a Bloody Mary. This appetizer is so easy that it consist of only 3 ingredients.  Recipe can be found here . ...

We love Sushi.  We don't love the price tag of sushi.  I recently used my computer talents to search YouTube and various other internet sites on how to make sushi.  John brought home some great Grade A Salmon from Alaska.    Well, you can eat Smoked Salmon only for so long and thought I would surprise my honey with Salmon Sushi Rolls. I found the following website to help me through the process. Sushi Rice:     Food Network   click on it to get directed to link Salmon Roll:   YouTube  click on it to get directed to link I love the guys little hand gesture for sushi rice recipes. Anyway, I had cucumbers and avocado on hand, picked up the seaweed paper and made the rice. In 10 minutes John and I assembled our rolls and enjoyed our dinner together.  We loved it so much that we did it again the next night except I picked up some prawns and I found a recipe online again for Tempura Shrimp. Tempura Shrimp:   http://...

This weekend was a birthday weekend.  And another very hectic weekend especially for my lovely husband.  After spending an entire week in Vermont he arrived at 10:30 am which meant he  had to be at the airport at 3 AM!! Add the fact that he came home to a small dinner party for Emilio.  He grilled our food and enjoyed our family without a complaint.  Thank you honey for being the best husband and father! One of our favorite cake recipes is the Scotch Cake.  The recipe comes from Tell Me More by the Junior League of Lafayette, Inc. cook book.  If you ever come across this book, buy it!!  It has really some amazing recipes.   I highly recommend this super moist, chocolate cake, with the perfect amount of sweetness that does not overpower the chocolate flavor. Sift the following ingrediants: 2 cups flour 2 cups sugar 4 tablespoons cocoa Mix by hand: 1 cup water 1 stick margarine 1 stick butter Heat until the ...

I hosted a Gals Night out for friends and neighbors last night and here are the recipes to some of what we had.  Bacon wrapped dates stuffed with almonds were easy and can be done a day in advance.  I did use the reviews recommendations and used thick bacon and baked them at 400 for 25 minutes. Another huge hit at the party was the Blue Cheese-Bacon Dip and I made this in the morning and just placed the ramekins in the oven 25 minutes before the party. My good friend and neighbor, Paige, made Apple-tini's for the girls.  They were delicious! The next recipe is from Southern Living. The Guacamole-Goat Cheese Toasts with diced tomatoes and tomatillos.  One more thing I made and I prepared this on Thursday and chilled until the party was a Green Goddess Dipping Sauce . I was going to present them in shot glasses but opted to just tray them due to unexpected house guest over the weekend.  (I loved having John's family over.) I was s...