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Hi everyone!

I've decided to incorporate my blogs.  It's too confusing to keep three going at once.  I'm combining my cooking blog, Recipe Soiree, with my main blog, Outside the Juice Box.  I hope you'll join me there.  You'll get all the great recipes that you get here daily, and weekly cooking tutorials; Also, weekly craft projects, frugal living tips and much more.  So, hop on over to http://outsidethejuicebox.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for being part of this blog.  With so many blogs available, I'm so glad you decided to follow this one and I hope to see you at Outside the Juice Box

Erin Go Bragh! Lucky Charms Cupcakes

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  I found the most adorable recipe on Betty Crocker's website. It was for Lucky Charms Cupcakes .  Mashmallow cereal, cake and frosting...oh, yeah baby, that's my kind of recipe!  So, of course I had to try it out and of course put my own twist on it.  The end result: super cute, super easy to make.  Here we go:

Ingredients

1 box of yellow cake mix (bake according to box directions.  Mine needed water, eggs and oil)
Lucky Charms
green colored sugar or white sugar and green food coloring
green food coloring
cupcake liners
1 can white frosting

Line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners. Mix your cake mix according to box directions.  

I added some green food coloring to make my batter more festive.

Mix until your color is completely blended.

 Bake cupcakes according to box directions. 

 Cool completely before you decorate.

While your cupcakes are cooling, make your green sugar, if you weren't able to buy green colored sugar. To do that, in a small bowl, pour about a 1/2 cup white sugar.  Add drops of green food coloring.  5-10-drops depending on how dark of a green color you want your sugar to be.  I added about 10 to mine.  Mix thoroughly and completely.  You will want the food coloring completely mixed in the sugar.

When your cupcakes have cooled,  frost with white frosting. Sprinkle with colored green sugar.  Then sprinkle with Lucky Charms cereal, be sure to include the marshmallows. Mine kept bouncing off, so I took a few at a time and pressed them lightly in the frosting.  It stayed just fine.  Sprinkle again lightly with green sugar.  Add a cute little St. Patrick's Day cupcake topper for added cuteness.   The ones I used on my cupcake are available at

Outside The Juice Box , my other blog. 

I hope you try making these.  They were alot of fun and very yummy, as you can see by the frosting covered faces of my little ones.

Irish Beef Stew

1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/4 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
6 large garlic cloves, minced
6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
I cup of Guinness beer
1 cup of fine red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7
cups)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add beef
and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and
sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste,
sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine.
Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and
simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2 While the meet and stock is simmering, melt butter in another
large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté
vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and
beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan
and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Sprinkle with
parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Salt and
pepper to taste. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold,
then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Irish Oatmeal Soda Bread

2 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Flour for dusting
1/2 teaspoon butter

In a mini-food processor, fitted with a metal blade, pulse the oatmeal until the meal is very fine. Remove from the processor and turn into a mixing bowl. Stir the buttermilk into the oats and cover with plastic wrap. Let the oatmeal steep in the buttermilk for 12 hours.

In a mixing bowl, sift the other ingredients together. Stir in the steeped oatmeal and mix well. If the mixture is too wet add a little More flour.

Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with the butter.

Lightly dust the work surface with some flour. Turn the dough out onto the surface and knead the dough a couple of times to form a soft ball like shape. Press the dough into a round about 2 inches thick. Using a sharp knife, make a criss-cross cut into the bread. Place the bread in the prepared pan.

Bake until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Serve the bread warm with butter.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Butterscotch Fondue

2 cans sweetened condensed milk, 14 oz each

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup butter, melted

2/3 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 cup rum or milk

1/4 cup milk

Assorted dippers, such as apple slices, strawberries, orange sections, cookies and/or cubed brownies

 

In 4 quart slow cooker, stir together sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, melted butter, corn syrup, and vanilla. Cover and cook on low setting (do not use high setting) for 1 to 2 hours.Whisk in rum and milk until smooth. Serve at once or keep warm, covered, on warm setting for up to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to keep from scorching. Serve fondue with dippers, swirling pieces as you dip. Makes about 20 servings

Chicken Stuffed Shells

1 box large pasta shells, cooked and drained
2 c. cooked, diced chicken
1 box chicken stuffing mix
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 soup can milk

Prepare stuffing mix. Mix in chicken and one can of cream of chicken soup. Stuff into shells. Place in casserole dish. Mix soup and milk together, pour on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, covered

Delmonico Potato Casserole

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 onion, chopped fine

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth

2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

1 tsp. grated zest and 2 tsp. juice from 1 lemon

5 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed and patted dry with paper towels

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives

 

Adjust oven rack to upper middle position and heat oven to 450. Melt 1 Tbsp. butter in Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook onion until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 2 cups cream,1  cup broth, Yukon Golds, nutmeg, 2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are translucent at edges and mixture is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in lemon zest and juice. Transfer potato mixture to 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Bake until bubbling around edges and surface is just golden, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt remaining butter in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cook shredded potatoes until beginning to brown,a bout 2 minutes. Add remaining cream, remaining broth and 1/2 t. pepper to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Off heat, stir in 1/2 cup cheese and 2 Tbsp. chives. Remove baking dish from oven and top with shredded potato mixture. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and continue to bake until top is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining chives. Serve. Serves 8 to 10