Easter Dinner ::: Your Menu for Sunday

Are you hosting Easter this year?

The last 3 years I’ve hosted Easter dinner at our house. Last year my Mom and her boyfriend were in town and before that we had a group of friends over in Manhattan Beach.

This year I am getting out of the day long ordeal {though I love cooking for loved ones} and heading to Orlando for my sister’s birthday. We’ll probably attend mass with the family and go out to brunch.

My menu from the last few years is below, if you need some inspiration!

Continue reading “Easter Dinner ::: Your Menu for Sunday”

Boneless Baked Daytona Bites

Recipe for Copycat Hooter's Daytona Wings by Keely Marie

This post is a bit more like a confessional.

Yes, I have been to Hooters.

And yes, I have been there enough to find out they have a secret wing sauce that is not on the menu.

Tell me I’m not alone?

Continue reading “Boneless Baked Daytona Bites”

Cocktail Meatballs ::: Party Hors d’oeuvre Series

These are great cocktail meatballs! I was on the hunt for a fantastic cocktail meatball for our News Year’s party. Criteria: one bite so you can stick with a toothpick, sweet & savory, with some sort of glaze.

Emeril came through when I found his recipe on FoodNetwork.com. To be honest, it was one of the few recipes I found quickly that sounded really appetizing. I did though, just find out that my Kitchen Aid mixer has a recipe in its recipe booklet that is similar, but calls for a cup of strong coffee in the sauce.

I tripled the below recipe since this was for a big group (yes I had 60+ meatballs) and used 1/3 ground pork for flavor. In terms of seasonings, everything from your cabinet is pretty much in here, but it’s because he wants you to use his “Emeril’s Essence.” Rather than have you make this essence (to set aside and only use 1/2 teaspoon of),  I’ve just added a bit of each in my recipe.  I also baked the meatballs and then put them in the crock pot with the sauce for a few hours instead of frying with oil and butter as he would.

{Adapted from Emeril Lagasse’s Cocktail Meatballs}

Cocktail Meatballs  yields 24- 30 meatballs

  • 1/2 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 pound ground pork {You can use all beef just as easily}
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
  • 1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs {I used Italian because they were on hand}
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 2 teaspoons Creole mustard
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • a few pinches cayenne {more or less depending if you want heat}
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce {hot sauce}
  • non-stick olive oil spray

Sauce

  • 1 cup ketchup
  • 1/2 cup grated yellow onion
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375 ° F.

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs, except the non-stick spray…obviously. ; )

Mix well with your hands. Form into individual meatballs, about 1-inch in diameter. Spray a baking sheet covered in tinfoil with olive oil spray and place meatballs on the sheet. Spray the meatballs with some olive oil so they crisp up just a  little (without drying out) while in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Put on low broil at the end if needed. {The meatballs should brown on the tops so they stay together in the crock pot.} You may have some grease to drain from the pan once they finish cooking in the oven.

Make the sauce by combining all the ingredients in a medium bowl, whisking to dissolve the sugar and combine. Adjust the seasoning, to taste. While the meatballs are baking, heat the sauce on medium-low heat in a sauce pan on the stove for at least 10 minutes. Pour the sauce over the meatballs in a crock pot on low and let cook for 2-3 hours, stirring carefully occasionally.

* Time saving method: If you don’t have time for the crock pot, pour the sauce over the meatballs on the baking sheet after the first 20 minutes. Bake for 15 more minutes until they have a nice glaze from the sauce.

Do you have a great family cocktail meatball recipe?

This is the first I’ve tried!

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keely marie

New Year’s Eve Balcony Bash ::: Party Menu

I’m back! And don’t worry, I have a New Year’s Resolution to blog as-often-as-possible and I am going to do everything I can to stick to it.

Since my last post I traveled to Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, and San Diego for work. It’s so great to see such fantastic cities for my job, but of course it doesn’t always leave time for my own passions like photography, cooking, and blogging. On top of this Peter and I traveled to Fort Myers and  Orlando for Thanksgiving  and Christmas to see our families.

I finally had a week off last week and I had some time to myself to get back to this lovely blog of mine.

So how did we kiss 2011 goodbye? Jelena and I hosted a small party for New Years Eve at my house. Living in Miami means lots of options for parties on South Beach, but we didn’t want to deal with the crowds and chaos.

We had an amazing time partying out on the balcony in crisp 70 degree weather with lots of champagne and great music (play list à la Peter). It was a “finger food” type menu and of course all homemade. {The Merritt boys even made me substitute the canned chicken in the buffalo chicken dip!}

I actually had a whole crew helping me Saturday. Thanks Jelena, Jennifer, Peter + Justin! The Southwestern Egg Rolls and Champagne Cream Puffs were the biggest hits.

And yes you read that right…the cream puffs had champagne in them! I am obsessed in a sick way with champagne and sparkling wine (so much that I have kept myself up at night thinking of names for this blog including the word champagne), so this was an obvious pick when I saw it on TasteSpotting.

Click below each picture for the recipes.

::: Cocktail Meatballs :::

::: Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls w/ Avocado & Spicy Sour Cream :::

::: Baked & Boneless “Daytona” Wings :::

::: Buffalo Chicken Dip :::

::: Roasted Chickpeas :::

::: Champagne Cream Puffs :::

Happy New Year!

I have a feeling it will be a good one…

::: keelymarie :::

*** On a side note, my Shumai recipe is featured on Yummly.com! Check it out: 10 Darling Dumpling Recipes