Braised Short Ribs Stout Pie

Sunday was our sixth anniversary and Lee told me he had a special dinner planned.  I was supposed to fly in from a conference I was at over the weekend at 5:30, but had the worst delay in Houston and didn't get home until 10:30.  I totally missed dinner.  

Luckily this tasty pile of meat and potatoes is even better after its had time to meld together even more.  The meat just dripped off of the fork and into my mouth and the potatoes melted.  It was absolutely amazing. I really love short ribs. I'm crushed that I didn't discover how much I love them until I was 30.  Look at what I missed over the years!

I'll admit, I don't know why this is called pie. It's not pie.  I couldn't find any bread or crust, but it is nonetheless delicious.  Probably more delicious since I'm not a fan of savory pie crust anyway. 

So overall, this is an awesome dish and the best part is that since I missed our original dinner, I'm pretty sure that Lee owes me another anniversary dinner! Look for that soon!

Sausage and Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

My Uncle Bill would hate this recipe.  Uncle Bill hates mushrooms... the texture, the taste, all of it.  My Uncle Bill is about the last person you would expect to have a nemesis, but mushrooms are truly his.  When we were kids and we would get pizza with him, he always got sausage and onion instead of our family's usual sausage and mushroom. I thought he and my aunt were exotic. 

I figured out later that they were not exotic, they were crazy.  Mushrooms are the best. 

One of Lee's first dinners for me included stuffed mushrooms and that pretty much sealed the deal for me.  This recipe is a little different from the original, but no less delicious.  It's a little lighter than the traditional all sausage or my favorite cream cheese and crab.

When mixed together, the crab and sausage are a powerhouse of tastiness.  


This is a great make ahead dish,  Lee was making sausage for breakfast and saved a portion of that cooked sausage for this recipe. He also mixed everything and stuffed my mushrooms early in the afternoon and refrigerated them until I was ready for dinner.

Mini Deep Dish Pizzas

Growing up, my family would get pizza most Friday nights. None of us could resist just one more slice until the box was empty.  Twenty years later, I'm still the same way. I just can't say no to just one more slice of ooey gooey pizza pie.  

That's why these little guys are perfect, they're built in portion control!  

Unlike frozen mini pizzas, these are just as satisfying as the same thing... and ALMOST as easy as microwaving a frozen one.  

What I really love about these is that you can personalize each one.  You can put just about anything in each one in any combination.  The options are endless! We put turkey pepperoni, onion and olives in ours, I'm angling for my favorite- sausage, mushroom, green pepper, and onion next time.  

Veggie Sandwich with Dill Mayo

So if you're still on a sugar high from the Butterfinger cake, here's a cure!

Okay so I know this is just a sandwich and everyone can make one, but seeing as it's garden season and ours will be ready soon, we wanted to share this deliciousness with you.

We did a trial run today to see what we can make with all our delicious veggies.  Sure unless you live in California, you will still have to buy Avocados and cheese but believe me it's worth it.

This is so tasty that you won't even miss the meat and we are a meat eating couple. If we didn't miss it, you won't either.

Butterfinger Cake

Lee likes to make a crazy dessert every week or so.  More and more often, it's been a pintrest find.  This one was too, kind of.  Most of the Butterfinger cakes online call for devil's food cake, but he opted for a yellow cake.  It was delicious.

This is definitely one of those things you should make for more than 2 people.  It's rich and gooey and delicious and almost a week since he made it, the two of us are still working on eating through that pan.

I'm usually like my cake, brownies and pizza cut from the middle of the pan. I don't know why, I guess I just like the soft middle of the cake better than the chewier outside crusts.  This cake is a huge exception. Don't get me wrong, the middle's awesome too, but the caramel makes a delicious crust.  Don't tell the family, my baking friends, the corners are the best part of this cake!

Aside from having delicious butterfingers on top (and seriously, if you don't like butterfingers, throw some snickers or M&M's on top, the candy doesn't really matter,) the caramel oozes through this cake without making it messy sticky, just tasty sticky.  It reminds me of those pieces of pancake that get totally drenched with syrup, the cake holds up, but the caramel stands out.

You're going to love this cake.  Make it this weekend!

Crab Rangoon Pop Tarts with Sweet and Sour Sriracha Frosting

This recipe was inspired by a friend of mine's daughter Audri Schramm.  A couple days ago she told her mom that they should make crab rangoon pop tarts. Her mom posted this on Facebook, and I immediately starting thinking about how I could make this happen.  I told her mom that I would create this and blog about it because that's what I do.  This weekend I decided to get some things to test out on making these and nailed it on the first test batch.

I call these pop tarts because they look and taste like pop tarts, but I fixed them in the oven.  I suppose you could half bake them and then finish in the toaster. I might try this for testing purposes but not sure if it would work so if you do try it that way be careful.

These would be perfect for parties because they taste a lot like crab dip on crackers, but way better and portable...like a poptart!   The frosting is a perfect blend of sweet and spicy.  Don't let the sriracha scare you, it just adds a little heat, no burning.

DIY Standing Herb Garden