National Slow Cooking Month

January is National Slow Cooking Month.  Although I use my slow cooker several times a month, I haven't posted many slow cooker recipes.  I'm working to rectify that oversight.  In the meantime, here are slow cooker recipes I've previously shared.

Chili:  What's better on a cold day than a bowl of piping hot chili?  Brown the ground beef, onion and celery and then let the slow cooker do the rest of the work.

Queso Dip:  Dump the ingredients in a 1 1/2-quart slow cooker, cover and heat for one hour.  Great for the big game, Cinco de Mayo or anytime you want something spicy.

Barbecue Chicken:  Barbecue sauce and chicken.  It doesn't get much easier than that!

French Dip Sandwiches:  My favorite slow cooker recipe of all time!  If you don't have a beef bouillon cube, omit the water and add 2 cups of beef broth instead.

Pot Roast:  A complete meal -- meat, veggies, gravy -- made in a slow cooker.  The only thing missing is a pan of cornbread!

© Margaret's Morsels

Ghoulish Goodies: The Tricks

Halloween was never a favorite holiday of mine until I became a mother. When our son was two, my husband came home from work to find decorations in the yard, window clings on the front door and Halloween decor inside the house.  The holiday spirit extended into the kitchen with a variety of Halloween themed foods.

Last year, I posted Halloween ideas and recipes for young kids or the young at heart.  Today, I want to share some ideas that work for the older crowd too.  This isn't a menu, but rather ideas you can mix and match for your own holiday feast.

Although I like to alter the holiday menu from year to year, I always serve Halloween shaped sandwiches as the entree.  People, young and old alike, get a kick out of them.  This year, I'm using skull, tombstone and Jack O'Lantern cookie cutters.  It's easy to add features to the skull making it go from this:

to this:

For best results, use bread that's a few days old; fresh bread tears too easily.  The Jack O'Lantern cookie cutter came with a small triangle that is wonderful for the nose.  If you don't have anything that small, cut a triangle shape in the bread with a knife.

After you cut out the nose, make the eyes.  The easiest way to do this is to use a clean small bottle top as a cookie cutter.  If you don't have one available, cut two circles for the eyes with a knife.

Finally, use a knife to draw a straight line for the mouth.  Remove some of the excess crumbs so the mouth will be visible.

Instead of regular chips and dip, serve Halloween shaped tortilla chips with Zombie Bits.  The chips are flour tortillas that have been cut with Halloween cookie cutters before being baked.  The dip may sound disgusting, but it's actually queso dip.  

Cut the tortillas with 3-inch cookie cutters.  Place the pieces on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.  Bake at 400° for 6 to 10 minutes.  The time depends on the thickness of the tortillas as well as the shape of the chips. Don't underbake the chips or they'll be chewy instead of crispy.  If some chips bake faster than others, remove them to a cooling rack while the other chips finish baking.

Over the last few years, Halloween molds -- especially ones that resemble body parts -- have become more commonplace.  I fill a brain mold with two packages of gelatin for a disgusting looking congealed salad.  Once the gelatin is firm and transferred to a serving platter, decorate the brain and platter with gummy words for an extra dose of disgust.

In addition to food, I like to include some whimsical touches.  Instead of regular ice cubes, I make ice cubes using Halloween themed silicone ice cube trays.

If I'm serving soft drinks, I make the ice cubes out of water.  If I'm serving punch, I make extra punch and freeze it as ice cubes.  This keeps the punch from getting diluted when served.

One of my favorite things to do is coat drinking glasses with fake blood. Combine corn syrup and red food coloring in a small bowl.  Dip the rims of the glasses in the mixture and stand them upright letting the "blood" ooze down the glasses.  Put the glasses on paper towels or a baking sheet to catch any drips.  This needs to be done eight hours ahead of time so the blood has time to dry.

Got a bone to pick because I'm not including any dessert ideas?  Check back later this week for the treats!

© Margaret's Morsels

Cinco de Mayo: Parte Dos

A couple of days ago, I shared recipes for Mexican Deep-Dish Pizza and Spanish Rice.  Today, I'm going to share two more recipes; one to serve at the beginning of the meal, the other at the end.


Whenever I fix Mexican food, I serve tortilla chips and salsa.  On Cinco de Mayo, I like to spice things up a bit and serve queso dip.  Queso may sound exotic, but it's actually the Spanish word for cheese.


The cheese dip I make only uses three ingredients -- Velveeta cheese, Ro-Tel, cream cheese -- and is heated in a crock-pot.  Not only does the crock-pot do all the work, it keeps the dip warm during the meal.  If the dip gets too hot, turn the crock-pot off.


Ro-Tel is a canned tomato product that also contains green chilies.  I use mild Ro-Tel, but it also comes in hot.  If you want the dip to have more texture, use chunky Ro-Tel.  I use Neufchatel cream cheese which has 1/3 less fat, but you can use regular cream cheese instead.  You can leave the cream cheese out, but it makes the dip richer and creamier than using Velveeta alone.  


Cube the Velveeta and cream cheese and put in a 1 1/2-quart crock-pot. Add the Ro-Tel, stirring to combine the ingredients.

The dip starts out looking like this.

Cover the crock-pot with the lid and heat on low.  Stir the ingredients periodically as the cheeses melt.  It doesn't take the dip long to heat so start it about an hour before you're ready to eat.

The dip ends up looking like this.

To end the meal, I serve a batch of Mexican Sugar Cookies.  Normally, I use margarine in recipes, but this is one time I use real butter.


Butter comes in salted and unsalted varieties.  I use unsalted butter for two reasons.  One, it has a fresher flavor.  Two, salted butter has more salt than a recipe needs.  It's easier to control the amount of salt when you use unsalted butter.


The recipe makes a very soft cookie dough.  Even when I've added the additional 1/4 cup flour, the dough has been too soft and sticky to form into balls.  I refrigerate the dough about an hour until it's firmer.  To make sure the dough stays firm, put it back in the refrigerator when it's not in use .


Shape the mixture into balls -- I use a small cookie scoop -- using 1 tablespoon of dough for each.  Place the balls on a greased cookie sheet. The cookies spread during baking so make sure to place them 3-inches apart.

Flatten each cookie with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.  If the glass sticks to the dough, lightly spray the bottom of the glass with Pam before dipping it into the sugar.  Be sure to dip the glass in sugar before flattening each cookie.  If the glass starts sticking, lightly spray it again with Pam.


It's always best to make cookies the same size to ensure even baking.  To do this, I use the bottom of the glass as a guide and press the dough until it reaches the edge of the glass.

Use the bottom of the glass to flatten the dough.

While the cookies are baking, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl and set aside.

When the cookies are done, remove the pan from the oven.  The cookies are extremely delicate, so make sure to leave them on the cookie sheet three to four minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Coat the cookies while they're still warm with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Put one cookie at a time in the bowl and use a spoon to cover the top of the cookie with the mixture.

After the cookie is thoroughly coated, turn the cookie over and coat the other side the same way.  Place the cookie back on the cooling rack to cool completely.

Cinco de Mayo is about more than drinking margaritas and eating Mexican food.  It's a day to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride.  The fifth of May commemorates the Mexican victory over France at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.  It's also a great time to enjoy the wonderful cuisine from South of the border.

Queso Dip

1 (1 lb.) box Velveeta cheese, cubed

4 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1 (10 oz.) can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes and green chilies (undrained)

Place ingredients in a 1 1/2-quart crock-pot.  Cover and heat on low 60 minutes to combine flavors. 

Mexican Sugar Cookies

39 Servings

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 cup granulated sugar  (plus extra for flattening cookies)

Beat butter, powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a large bowl at medium speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping down side of bowl once.  Gradually add 1 1/2 cups flour and baking powder.  Beat at low speed until well blended, scraping down side of bowl.  Stir in additional flour with spoon if dough is too soft to shape. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour until it's firmer.

Preheat oven to 325°.  Grease cookie sheets and set aside.

Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball.  Place balls 3-inches apart on prepared cookie sheets.   Flatten each ball into a 2-inch round with bottom of glass dipped in granulated sugar.  Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden.  Let stand on cookie sheets 3 to 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine granulated sugar with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl.  Transfer cookies, one at a time, to sugar mixture; coat both sides.  Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

© Margaret's Morsels