CHeeRS To THe HoLiDaYS!

I got this recipe from a friend of mine. She prepared it at the best Pampered Chef show I ever went to (and I have been to my fair share!).

It's called HoLiDaY oR SPiCeD Tea from the BLue WiLLoW Inn BiBLe oF SouTHeRN CooKiNG and it makes a LOT!

Here are the ingredients:

8 cups of water
2 family size tea bags ( I prefer Luzianne)
2 cups of sugar.

Bring to boil, stir sugar until dissolved and allow to steep for 20 min. or so.

In a separate pan, combine:

2 cups of water
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
4 cinnamon sticks

Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. You are NOT going to believe how good the house smells when you do this. After 10 minutes, remove the cinnamon sticks and add to the tea mixture.

Meanwhile, prepare one frozen can of lemonade(per instructions) and one can of orange juice (also per instructions) and add this to the tea along with a large can of pinapple juice. You need a very large bowl or pot to stir this in as it makes about 2 gallons of spiced tea. Serve hot or cold, depending on your own tastes.

I'm very grateful to my willing tea testers this evening! I hope this becomes as much a family tradition for you as it has for us. Bring on the season and CHeeRS!

BeRGie'S ReiNVeNTeD

Recently I got together with a couple of friends and we visited the new Bergie's Breadbasket on Mt. Pleasant Road in Chesapeake. I was very disappointed when they closed for business before and when I'd heard they re-opened, it was at the top of my list of places to visit. I'd been wanting very badly to make a trip out there and luckily the girls humored me. (Thanks girls :o) !)

What a great little place to stop for coffee and some freshly baked goodies. They had some delicious cinnamon rolls which I couldn't pass up. I was told that the cinnamon roll recipe was 50 years in the making! I believe it! Not too sweet and extremely fluffy :o) They have some very delicious looking apple crumb muffins, if that strikes your fancy. You could definitely tell they loved what they do :oP



Wanting something savory? Try the sandwhiches with freshly baked bread! You can also get some farm fresh milk there. These people had my heart in mind when they reopened and believe me...THEY'RE BACK! There's a nice selection of ice cream too :o)

I remembered they had cookies we used to always get when we visited it as a dairy farm. They were those pan type cookies and they are so soft and chewy. I had definitely been missing these so I picked up a couple today, chocolate chip(of course) and oatmeal raisin. YUMM!!!


I couldn't resist bringing some different kinds of cinnamon rolls home for the troops. They were very excited about the rolls and cookies in the 'take home' bag. I also picked up some 'Indian Candy Corn'. My favorite kind of candy corn :o) They had a great selection of candy classics, something for everyone in the family!


If you are heading down Mt. Pleasant Road, whether you're travelling from Virginia Beach to Chesapeake or vice versa, this is a great place for a short pause along the way. Say 'hello' and welcome them back! I for one am glad they returned :o) It was one long lonely road without them!

WHo'S YouR DaDDY!

Today I got an absolute deal on an eye of rib roast. This boneless version of a rib roast was on the menu before I even left the store :o) I love prime rib, it's my absolute favorite steak dinner, beef tenderloin coming in as a close second. I am always playing with different cooking methods for this cut of meat and believe me...there are many recipes for this!

An interesting site that I often find myself browsing different recipes for this is an engineer's take on the rib roast. These guys really get into it but I find their input very interesting :o) Well worth a mention! It has an Alton Brown-ish style about it, maybe even more so than the man himself! http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/38/Prime-Rib-or-Standing-Rib-Roast Check it out, see what you think :o)

For roasted meat I always use Hawaiian Sea Salt. This was introduced to me by Pina and I am ETERNALLY grateful :o) The difference is night and day. I also used a little thyme and some freshly cracked peppercorns to help form a flavorful crust.

First things first, you must bring the roast to room temperature. If you skip this step it will not cook as evenly. I would leave it out for at least 45 min. After it has been coming to room temperature, preheat the oven to 450 deg. and roasted the meat for 25 min. then dropped the temperature to 325 deg. until the internal temperature is 130 deg. The meat will continue to cook as you let it rest and REST IT MUST! Do not start carving into this baby or you will regret it. All the juices will flow out and it will be quite dry and then you have wasted a pretty penny on the better cut of meat. I also believe, if you overcook it, you may as well have just bought a round roast instead and saved your money!

I usually make yorkshire puddings and today was no exception. I'm not going to include a recipe for this as there are as many as the day is long and the differences are few. As I was baking the roast, I prepared a couple of sweet potatoes for baking and baked them alongside the roast in the oven. They were perfect 2 hours later. Sprinkle a little brown sugar and a dollop or two of butter and it's like dessert!

I hope you try to make this roast, cheaper than dining out and much tastier imho. To reheat any remaining roast I use my GE Advantium oven on 'warm/moist' but there are many other recommendations for reheating prime rib and if you google it you'll see what I mean :o) The key here is SLOOOOOOWWWW!