ribbon wreath

Attention packrats! Do you keep Christmas ribbon and pretty gifts tags from year to year? Do you find yourself saying, "I can't bare to throw this stuff away yet i can't think of anything to do with it!" JenRosie Designs has the answer! A friend gave me a great idea for that Christmas ribbon and those gift tags that you just can't seem to part with.
Buy a green wreath from Hobby Lobby or Garden Ridge (I paid $1.99). As you unwrap gifts throughout the holiday season, keep the ribbon, cut it into strips and tie it onto the wreath. In no time you will have a bright,fun Christmas wreath made with recycled materials!!! We would love to hear your suggestions on what to do with leftover ribbon, wrap, pretty gift tags, etc!

Marinated Ham Buns

These are super good and are great when you have a house full of people! Serve them as an appetizer or as a meal with a side green salad. My friend Carol made them for her book club and they were a huge hit. Carol's daughter, on the right, loves to help her mom in the kitchen.

* Marinade:
* 1 cup (2 sticks or 16 Tablespoons) butter
* 1/4 cup sweet onion, minced
* 2 Tablespoon poppy seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 2 Tablespoons hot or spicy mustard
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
* Sandwiches:
* 24 (about 2 x 2-Inches each) small dinner rolls (see Note)
* Horseradish mayonnaise (see Note)
* 24 (about 3/4 pound) thin slices of deli ham (see Note)
* 24 (about 1/2 pound) thin slices of Swiss cheese

Preparation:
Put on your favorite HOT MAMA APRON
Line two 9 x 13-inch baking pans with non-stick foil or butter traditional pans.

To prepare marinade, saute minced sweet onion in butter over low heat until onion is soft and translucent. Add poppy seeds, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and brown sugar. Stir until brown sugar is melted into the sauce. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Set marinade aside.

Slice the buns in half. Spread bottoms of buns with a thin layer of horseradish mayonnaise. Fold ham slices to fit the bottom of each bun. Repeat with Swiss cheese slices, folding to fit buns. Replace bun tops. Place ham and cheese buns into prepared baking pans. Pour marinade evenly over both pans of buns. Cover tightly with foil. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake marinated buns covered for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Happy Holidays!
We have had a great and very busy fall. A special thanks to Susie Butler and her daughter Sarah Cavett for running the Plano Junior League show in November.
If you did not catch us at one of our many shows, don't forget you can always order online or, if you are in the Dallas area, email us and make an appointment to come by and shop! jen@jenrosiedesigns.com

Chili cookoff!

It's that time of year, Fall is in the air, football is on the TV, and we've got a craving for chili! Thanks to Gretchen Carr for this delicious chili recipe. Gretchen's enthusiastic little helper, pictured on the right, is wearing our Little Man Apron.

CHILI

2-3 lbs top sirloin, remove fat, cut into pieces
2 lbs ground sirloin
3 cups bell pepper, chopped
3 cups onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, snipped
3 large cans diced tomatoes, (next size lgr. than normal size
1/4 cup chili powder (we did 1/2 cup..depends on taste preference)
2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 stick butter

Directions:

Put on your favorite HOT MAMA APRON. Brown meat in butter, drain off 1/3 cup of liquid. Sautee garlic, peppers,
onion and parsley in liquid that is saved.
Mix meat and veggies together,add chili powder, salt, pepper, cumin and add tomatoes.
You can add tobasco. Cover, simmer.

*Are you looking for a place to store all of theses delicious recipes you have been printing from our blog? Try the Recipe Nest, found at www.reciperelish.com
It's the best recipe organizer we have ever seen!!*

it's a generational thing

October 2009.
My brother is in from out of town and we are all gathered at my parent’s house for dinner. My mom, who is wearing an adorable HOT MAMA APRON has prepared a family favorite, roast chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and green beans.
As we sit down to eat,
my mom asks if anyone would like some cranberry relish.
"It goes great with chicken". She says.
Yum, that does sound good. I LOVE cranberry relish, especially the kind my dad makes every November, right before Thanksgiving.
"I would love some. Is it as good as Dad's?" I ask
"It is Dad's" says my mom
"When did he make it? He usually makes some for me." I say.
(long pause)
UH OH.
OH NO.
Surely it isn't, do I dare ask? Could it possibly be the cranberry relish my dad made LAST Thanksgiving? Eleven months ago?
I cross my fingers and ask "Mom this isn't last year's relish is it?"

"Yes it is and there is NOTHING wrong with it; your Dad and I eat it all the time."
Oh dear God. Here we go again. The ongoing argument over the contents of my parent’s pantry and fridge. Milk two weeks past the sell by date, Tabasco sauce that is not refrigerated and has turned brown, leftovers from dinner last week...I could go on and on.
My mother, sensing that I am completely disgusted, tells me "It's a generational thing. You are part of the disposable generation; you all throw everything away and are so wasteful. You don't know what it was like to grow up in the shadows of the great depression. When we were growing up there were no dates on food. Food didn't go bad. The date on the milk is the SELL by date not the DRINK by date."
Maybe we are wasteful but if I were to eat eleven month old cranberry relish surely my stomach would explode.
I politely pass on the Cranberry Relish.
My mom plopped a heaping spoonful, onto her plate, right between the chicken breast and green beans.
My Dad had some too and, when dinner was over, the cranberry relish went back into the fridge.
Amazingly, my parents were totally fine after eating the ancient relish. There were no stomach explosions, not even the slightest grunt, groan or rumble.
So was the relish really okay to eat? Certainly not but how can we know for sure?
Here is a great website dedicated to answering such questions and solving this type of family dispute.
http://www.stilltasty.com/
May your family dine in peace!
And, as always, while preparing a meal or cleaning out that fridge, make sure you have on your favorite HOT MAMA APRON!

homemade salsa

This is by far the best homemade salsa we have ever tasted and it is REALLY easy to make. Thanks to Mandy Brendel from Pleasanton, Texas for sharing the recipe!

Homemade Salsa
Large can Hunts whole tomatoes (28 0z)
Handful of cilantro, you can add as much or as little as you want depending on personal taste
1 clove garlic
10-15 slices canned jalapenos
Generous amount of garlic salt. I cover the top of the mixture with garlic salt so that it has a thin white layer.
Put on you Hot Mama Apron
Pulse all ingredients in blender
serve with chips!

christmas in cowtown

Christmas in Cowtown was totally awesome! Thanks so much to everyone who came out to shop!
If you missed us last weekend, we will be in Dallas Saturday, October 10th and Sunday, October 11th at the Market in the Meadow. Don't miss out!

Recipe: Hot Wing Dip

hot wing dip

Do you LOVE chicken wings but hate the mess? This AMAZING dip is perfect for football watching.

Super Awesome Hot Wing Dip
Recipe stolen from Teri Nurre. Teri's daughter, on the right, loves her Little Mama Apron and is one of our biggest fans!

1 whole chicken (I buy a rotisserie chicken, already cooked)
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 to 3/4 bottle Marie's Blue Cheese Dressing (found in refrigerated section)
12 oz bottle Franks Buffalo Wing Hot Sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Put on your favorite Hot Mama Apron.
Spread cream cheese on bottom of greased pan (9x9)
Remove skin from chicken and discard. Remove chicken from bones and shred. Pour hot sauce over chicken and mix well.
Spread chicken/hot sauce mixture over cream cheese
Pour blue cheese dressing over chicken mixture
Top with Mozzarella cheese
Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes
Serve with celery stalks and tortilla chips.

*NOTE: do not use substitutes! Only use Marie's and Franks! I made this mistake once and got a not so good hot wing dip!

Apron Sale Tomorrow!

Apron Sale tomorrow!!!
10548 Countess Drive
Dallas, Texas 75229
6-9 p.m.
Wine Served!!

Recipe: Old Fashoned Caramel Cake

My mom and I are reading the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Great read. There is a woman in the book who makes caramel cake; a simple white sheet cake with a caramel glaze on top. My mom remembers eating this cake as a child growing up in East Texas. We have been searching for an old fashioned caramel cake recipe and I finally found one that was published in the Dallas paper a few years ago. I made the cake last night and it is super good. Actually, it WAS super good; it is already gone!

Old Fashoned Caramel Cake
1 package (box) white cake mix
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp almond extract
Put on your favorite Hot Mama Apron. Beat together first 5 ingredients at low speed. Pour into a 15x10 jelly roll pan. Bake 1t 350 for 15-20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 2 hours.
Caramel Icing
1/2 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

I hope you haven't taken that adorable apron off; this icing gets messy and you will want to wipe your hands on that towel you conveniently have tied around your waist! By the way, you look so super cute wearing it!
Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in buttermilk. Return mixture to heat, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and place in a mixer. Gradually add powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extracts beating at medium to high speed until smooth. Immediately pour over cake and serve.

Apron Sale!

Huge apron sale! Thursday September 17th.

Stock up on holiday and birthday gifts!

10548 Countess Drive, Dallas, Texas 75229.

6-9 p.m. WINE served!!!!

Recipe: Shrimp Quesadillas and Pico de Gallo

We just got back from Port Aransas, Texas where we bought fresh shrimp, right off the Poly Anna shrimp boat! We took those babies back to the beach house, cleaned them, and made shrimp quesadillas with homemade pico de gallo. Delish!! Check out recipes below.

Shrimp Quesadillas
1 pound fresh shrimp cleaned, and deveined (actually, to be totally honest here, frozen shrimp from the grocery store is easier and tastes the SAME! No offense to the Poly Anna shrinpers)
1/2 stick butter
1 clove garlic
chopped chives
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup grated monterrey jack cheese
mayonaise
*use more cheese if needed
flour tortillas (fresh are the best, some groceries are now making their own flour tortillas on site. You can also drive through Taco Cabana and order them by the dozen)

Put on your favorite Hot Mama Apron. Saute shrimp in butter, garlic, and chives, and some salt and pepper. Set aside.
Spread mayo(sounds weird but it doesn't burn as fast as butter) on one side of flour tortilla, place tortilla, mayo side down, in hot skillet. Place a few shrimp, and some of both cheeses on top of tortilla, fold in half, and grill until cheese is melted. Serve with fresh pico and a dollop of sour cream.

Pico De gallo
cherry tomatoes cut in half
lots of fresh cilantro
chopped onion
chopped jalepenos (fresh or canned...fresh tend to be really hot)
avocado cut into small pieces
lime juice
Put on you favorite Hot Mama Apron. Combine as little or as much of the above ingredients in a bowl. Squeeze fresh lime juice over mixture and sprinkle with salt and pepper




Isn't this nice? This guy camped right next to us on the beach. Sooo delightful! We think he needs a Hot Mama Apron!

Welcome to our blog!

Greetings Hot Mama's and welcome to the Hot Mama Aprons Blog!
I plan to post upcoming Hot Mama info, tasty recipes, funny stories and other tips and tidbits.
Enjoy reading and check out my Hot Mama Aprons at www.jenrosiedesigns.com