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!