Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix together the Neufchâtel cheese, sour cream and ranch dip mix.

   

2. Mix in the chopped artichoke hearts.

   

3. Add half the chopped parsley, half the mozzarella cheese and some kosher salt and pepper to taste. Combine and spread evenly into an oven safe baking dish.

   

4. Evenly sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Add the rest of the parsley. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

   

5. To serve with crostini, turn the oven up to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet lay out your bread slices and drizzle with some olive oil. Bake for 5-8 minutes until the crostini is golden brown. Enjoy!!!  😀

   

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Butter your favorite bread, laying one buttered side down on a baking sheet.
2. Top the buttered sided down with a piece of your desired cheese. Add your favorite filling, caramelized onions for example, on top of the cheese. Top the filling with another piece of cheese and put the other piece of buttered bread on top, buttered side up.

   

   

3. Bake on one side for 8-10 minutes, flip and bake for another 8 or so more minutes.

   

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   I know 20 minutes may seem long for a prep time for grilled cheese but believe me once you try this for the first time it will become your “go to” preparation method every time!  🙂

   

Whoopie Pies

I will not take credit for this original recipe but will take credit for searching endlessly and trying at least a dozen different recipes before I found and tried and fell in love with this one, Whoopie Pies VIII. Allow me to provide to you my adaptations and tips on this recipe so your next Whoopie experience will be “Whoopie”  😛

1. This recipe calls for sour milk. It is the easiest thing about this recipe. To sour milk: Measure 1 cup milk, either whole or 2 percent; Add 1 tsp plain vinegar and stir; let it stand for 10-15 minutes and Voilà there you have sour milk for your recipe.

   

2. My next tip is use a stand mixer if you have one with the paddle attachment, makes things super convenient.

   

3. Next–Be VERY careful about the types of pans you use. Because I make my pies double the scoop size of the recipe I have to watch them closely so they bake all the way through but don’t burn on the bottom. If you use non-stick baking sheets I suggest you don’t grease the cookie sheets as the recipe calls for. In my opinion if you do butter them, the bottoms tend to burn faster.

   

4. Cool those sweet babies thoroughly before stuffing them with the most delicious filling which I will talk about in tip 5.

   

5. Ok here is where I totally deviated from the original recipe, for the filling. I just could not fathom putting shortening into the cake and then into the filling so I went on a quest to find a suitable substitute and believe me I found it with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting! I actually make a little extra and keep it in a jar in the fridge (don’t judge me)  😆
6. To make them Holiday Whoopies I took 3-4 candy canes, put them in a sealed plastic bag and crushed them up with a rolling pin. Then just simply sprinkled the crushed cane pieces into the filling along the edges.

   

7. Lastly individually wrap your Whoopies and display on a Holiday plate and play the game “Seriously how long will these last”  🙂 Enjoy!

   

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   I encourage you to leave a comment or a success experience you have had!! The Leave a Reply fields are optional, if you want to remain anonymous just fill in the comment section and hit post! Thank you for sharing your experiences and remember “no [wo]man is an island.”

The Easiest Risotto

1. Saute about 4 cups of vegetables in two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a good size pasta pan for about 5 minutes to soften. For this post I used yellow squash and mushrooms (always mushrooms, love them). Season with pepper to taste. Use whatever vegetables you like, I have used all colors of bell peppers. I think the squash just adds a bit of sweetness and makes it extra tasty. Experiment with your favorite veggies, you really can’t mess this up.
2. In the meantime, take 4 nice size cloves of garlic and use the smash method to remove them from their skins and then mince.
3. Get your Arborio rice ready, this is how many times I have made this recipe I just fill it to the top of my measuring cup, so I assume this is about a cup and a half.  😉
4. Make a little hole in the middle of your pot, add another tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and then add your garlic to the hole you made. Let it sizzle for a few seconds to release that gorgeous garlic essence then mix and coat all of the veggies.
5. Add your rice to the veggies and garlic. Toast the rice for about 3-4 minutes stirring often. I have done this and not done it but have found the rice cooks a little better when you toast it first before adding your liquid. There are many theories out there that when you toast it the starch breaks down better, not sure about that just know it doesn’t hurt if you have the extra 3-4 minutes.
6. Add your liquids! ALL AT ONCE! I used 4 cups of no salt added chicken stock and 1 cup of water. Add about a tablespoon or 2 of ground sage to taste. Add about a palm full of kosher salt to taste and bring to a boil. Boil for 6 minutes or so, stirring often.
7. Reduce heat to low, add a splash or two of white or red wine if you want, you can skip this step. It just adds a nice floral taste. Put the lid on and simmer for another 4-5 minutes, WATCH IT CAREFULLY and stir often, picking all those tasty bits off the bottom of the pan with your spoon.
8. After the 4-5 minutes are up, take your pot off the heat. Add parmesan cheese, about 3/4 cup and butter to your liking. Stir that gorgeous salty goodness into your rice and veggies. Put the lid back on and let the rice set up even more for 5 minutes.
9. In the meantime, get out your favorite Italian dish if you have one, after all we eat with our eyes first. Serve just the way it is or add another sprinkle of parmesan and some pepper (ok, I like a lot of pepper it seems) to taste. Enjoy! 🙂

]]> https://kimberlyboutin.com/the-easiest-risotto/feed/ 6 580 https://kimberlyboutin.com/ladies-grilled-cheese-martini-night/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ladies-grilled-cheese-martini-night Wed, 27 May 2020 11:00:11 +0000 https://kimberlyboutin.com/?p=1803 “There are exactly as many special occasions in life as we choose to celebrate.”~R.B.

Friends, Grilled Cheese & Martinis are the Trifecta of Perfection! In this day and age when our lives are so centered around work, kids, home and whatever else life throws at us, a night in with the ladies—sharing stories, providing guidance and most importantly supporting each other, is a reason to really celebrate and go all out for. As with planning any gathering it all starts with the master list: Who, What, When & Where.

1. Who-is your Ladies VIP guest list of course.
2. What-is the deliciousness you will have on your menu.
3. When-will determine what you serve on your menu. For example, an evening gathering, after dinner time might lend itself to a more casual tapas style menu. On this occasion that was different grilled cheeses’ & martinis. 
4. Where-“in” of course to create an atmosphere of cozy togetherness and camaraderie. Maybe you can rotate or take turns hosting to truly let your hosting style shine.

Ok, so let’s get back to the “what“, from number 2, this article is dedicated to: Grilled Cheese & Martinis. At the end of this article I have included my recipe for The Perfect “Grilled Cheese”. The beauty of this recipe is it can really be customized to so many individual tastes. I am going to let the visuals do the talking for me.

Recipe Note: The Grilled Cheese Pound Cake with Cheesecake Filling is prepared by buttering the sliced poundcake, adding softened cheesecake between two slices and broiling on high for 1-2 minutes per side, watching them closely so they don’t burn.

Martini Note: Martinis come in all different varieties. For this occasion I made my version of the Lemondrop Martini: 2-4 ounces of citrus vodka; 2-4 ounces of fresh squeezed lemon juice; a splash of gingerale or sprite. Yellow sprinkles and lemon wedge to garnish. This is another way to really be able to customize to your guest’s tastes. Have fun with it! I love to make my own homemade flavored vodkas, click on hyperlink for my how to’s.

Well there you have it! A great time was had by all on this Ladies Grilled Cheese & Martini Night and we all agreed what was talked about at Ladies Grilled Cheese & Martini Night stays at Ladies Grilled Cheese & Martini Night. Trifecta of Perfection.  😉

My original batch did not have the “sweet” element to it, just the “tangy”, this recipe includes them both! Enjoy!  😛

I use a classic meatball recipe to make 2 batches of meatballs-24 meatballs in a batch. One to freeze for another quick, easy to go to meal and the other one to use for soups, appetizers, this recipe and many more go to meals. They freeze well, can be made ahead of time and one multiple prep session can yield many great dishes. This recipe makes 48 small to medium meatballs (I am usually tired of rolling in the end so the meatballs tend to get bigger).  😉 Double up the recipe ingredients for crockpot meatballs or the like and now you have a party!  😀