July 17, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Granola Bars

Granola Bars

These are the very best. I used to be an event planner and we would have events at the Monona Terrace. I asked the catering for the recipe (more like begged them) and here it is. I have made this so many times and still love it.

Ingredients
3 cups Rice Krispie cereal
2 1/2 cups Old Fashioned oatmeal
1/4 cup golden raisins (sub dried cranberries, cherries, blueberries, apricots etc.)
1/3 cup pecan pieces (sub hazelnuts, walnuts, chopped almonds or pistachios)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 tbsp vanilla

Lightly grease a 13″x9″ cake pan.

Mix first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.

In a sauce pan, bring the brown sugar and corn syrup to a boil. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the dry mix in the large bowl. Stir well to combine and pat into prepared pan. Press with a plastic spatula, plastic wrap or wet hands to keep them from sticking. Let cool at room temperature and cut into bars. Keep them well covered but do not refrigerate.

July 17, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Bacon Wrapped New Potatoes

Bacon Wrapped New Potatoes

These are a lot fancier, and wonderful little bites. Great as an appetizer or a side dish.

Ingredients
1 lb baby red potatoes
1 lb bacon, cut into thirds
Freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
Rosemary

Preheat the oven to 400^oF.

Grease a baking sheet with a little olive oil.

In a 4 quart sauce pan, fill with water and bring the potatoes to a boil until just fork tender. This will take about 4 -5 minutes.

Drain the water off of the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with pepper and rosemary. Wrap each potato in a third piece of bacon. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until bacon has been cooked through.

July 17, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Fajitas on the Blackstone

Fajitas on the Blackstone

We recently went to my brother and sister-in-law’s cabin and made fajita’s on the blackstone. These were amazing, great for a crowd and easy.

Ingredients

Marinade
1/2 cup avocado oil
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken OR pork tenderloin OR beef

2 yellow onions, sliced
2 bell peppers, strips
8 tortillas

For serving – shredded cheddar, black olives, sour cream, limes, tomatoes, cilantro, salsa

Combine the marinade in a plastic bag and add the strips of meat. You may combine the meat in the bag, as you can separate out on the blackstone when cooking. Shake the meat around in the bag to make sure the marinade its all of it. Let rest in the fridge for 2 hours.

Remove the meat from the marinade and discard liquid. Brush with avocado oil and cook for about 6 – 9 minutes, until cooked through.

Meanwhile, add the onions and peppers to the griddle as well. Also cook these until lightly charred.

Remove from heat and serve with the optional toppings and tortillas.

July 17, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake

Ingredients

6 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fruit -(any type that sounds good – raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples etc)

Optional cake seasonings – poppy seeds, cinnamon, sliced almonds.

Streusel topping
5 tbsp brown sugar
4 tbsp cold/frozen butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350^oF. Soften the 6 tbsp butter. Add the butter and sugar and beat until it is well combined and fluffy.

Stir in the vanilla and egg and beat until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder together. Add into the butter mixture, in small portions alternatively with the milk. Repeat until well combined. Pour into a greased 9 inch spring form pan.

Sprinkle the fruit over the top of the cake batter. At this point you can sprinkle with 3 tbsp of white sugar and bake OR make the streusel topping.

To make the streusel topping, grate the butter into the flour and sugar. Combine and toss with your hands. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the cake and bake the cake 350^oF for about an hour or until golden brown. Allow the cake to cool before enjoying.

July 8, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Chicken Shawarma

Chicken Shawarma

Makes 10 sandwiches

3# boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground all spice
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 large cucumber, thinly sliced
2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 large bag shredded lettuce (or a head of iceberg)
red onion, thinly sliced

tahini sauce
1/2 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp kosher salt

Combine all and add water to thin to spreadable consistency

Lavash bread (2 bags Astoria’s full size lavash, 10 total pieces)

Trim thighs of fat and connective tissue
Pound chicken ~1/8in thin and cut into pieces 5 inches across to fit skewer pan

Whisk yogurt with lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, and spices together. Marinade chicken with yogurt mixture overnight.

Preheat oven with shelf at appropriate height to fit skewer pan to 400F degrees. Load skewer pan by alternating pieces to make one big composite piece. Put loaded skewer plate into oven until middle of meat reaches 165F (1.5-2 hours), basting every 20-30 minutes.
*If drippings start to look dry add some water- you will probably need to do this a couple of times
*If top starts to burn place a tin foil hat on top of pieces getting too much color.

Remove from oven and cut thin slices from the top down, mixing with drippings in a separate bowl.

**You can pull out and cut one (crispy bits) layer all the way around when the middle gets to 145 degrees and put the rest back in, basting occasionally, until it hits 165 in the middle.

Make sandwich by spreading tahini sauce followed by chicken, cucumber and rest of veggies. Roll into a cylinder and wrap in foil. Cut in half and serve.

May 20, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Coleslaw

Coleslaw

1 bag (14 oz) coleslaw mix
1/2cup mayo
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp apple cider cider vinegar
1.5 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp celery salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Mix everything together well. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

May 20, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Miso Lemon Butter Tilapia

Miso Lemon Butter Tilapia

4 tilapia fillets
1 Tbl white or yellow miso
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
dash black pepper
2 Tbl butter, softened
1 Tbl minced chives

Sprinkle both sides of tilpia with salt and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Make the miso butter by combining miso, lemon zest, lemon juice, and pepper in small bowl. Add butter and stir until fully incorporated. Stir in chives and set aside.
Pat tilapia dry with paper towels. Using seam that runs down middle of fillet as guide, cut each fillet in half lengthwise to create 1 thick half and 1 thin half.
Heat 2 Tbl oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add thick halves of fillets to skillet. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown. Flip fillets and cook until golden brown and tilapia registers 130-135 degrees, about 2 minutes. Transfer tilapia to serving platter. Dot tilapia with two-thirds of miso butter. Cover with foil.
Return skillet to high heat. When oil is just smoking, add thin halves of fillets and cook until undersides are golden brown, about 1 minute. Flip and cook until second sides are golden brown, about 1 minute. Transfer to the serving platter and top thin halves with remaining miso butter. Serve immediately.

February 23, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Udon with Kimchi

Udon with Kimchi

2 tbsp butter
1 cup kimchi, finely chopped
1/4 cup kimchi juice (can be squeezed from kimchi)
2 tbsp gochujang
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 packs udon
2 egg yolks
3-5 green onions
toasted sesame seeds

Heat butter in large skillet over med-high. Add kimchi and gochujang and cook until kimchi is softened, about 4 mins. Add 1/2 cup broth and kimchi juice, simmer until slightly reduced, about 3 mins.

Meanwhile, boil frozen udon noodles (usually 1-2 mins).

Transfer noodles to skillet and stir to coat noodles, stir green onions, turn off heat, stir in egg yolks.

Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

You an also add cubed and freshly crisped meat (leftovers) when you add the green onions.

February 23, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Mezcalita

Mezcalita

1.5 oz white tequila
1 bar spoon mezcal
2 oz reconstituted passion fruit juice (see below)
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz simple syrup

Prep the rocks glass with a tajin rim. Shake. Pour into prepped glass over ice.

To make the passion fruit juice- Mix 14 oz frozen passion fruit pulp, 5 cups water and a 1/4 cup sugar. Stir well until combined.

February 7, 2026
by Ashley
Comments Off on Steamed Coconut Buns

Steamed Coconut Buns

1 can coconut milk
2 cans all purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
pinch Kosher salt

In a food processor, pour in all of the ingredients and process until it comes together as a dough. Transfer onto a board and sprinkle with flour to knead a few time. Cut into 8 equal parts and place dough into muffin liners.

Bring the steamer to a boil, and place the dough into the steamer basket. Let steam for 14 minutes and check to see if they are up to temp. Turn off the heat and let them sit for a few minutes.