Helloooooooooo blogosphere! I’m sorry I’m a bit late posting this morning. It has been one busy week! Nothing but school all week, and then last night the Duke and I attended a fabulous wine tasting with my parents. It was called Vine to Wine and it was a wine preview for the wines that will be poured at Taste of THE Beach in November. If you’ve never been to Northwest Florida’s Gulf Coast in the fall, this would be the perfect occasion! The air is crisp (a.k.a. the humidity level is not 100% like it is right now!), the water is perfectly clear, and life is good. I attended this weekend-long event of fabulous food and wine last year. Be sure to check out that link for more info.
I mentioned earlier in the week this fabulous Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad that I threw together for game day last week. We had a whole mess (if you’re not from the south, that means “a lot”) of people come over, so I thought a pasta salad would be easy and make enough for a crowd. I also happened to have some traditional buffalo fixin’s on hand, such as celery and carrots. I picked up a rotisserie chicken on the way home from the gym and voila, a new favorite was born! It was really simple to make, and it certainly scored big points with the football lovers at my house.
Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 1 box (13 oz.) whole wheat elbow macaroni
- 2-3 cups shredded chicken
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped red onion, optional (I don’t like onions, so I didn’t add, but I think they’d make a nice touch)
- ¾ cup bleu cheese crumbles, divided
- ½ cup mayo*
- ½ cup sour cream*
- ½ cup milk*
- 1 packet ranch dressing/dip mix
- ½ cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce (use a bit less if you can’t take the heat)
Instructions
- Cook and drain the macaroni according to package instructions.
- In a large bowl toss together the macaroni, shredded chicken, carrots, celery and onions, if using. Sprinkle with ¼ cup of the bleu cheese crumbles.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, sour cream, milk, ranch mix, hot sauce, and remaining ½ cup of bleu cheese crumbles.
- Pour buffalo ranch over macaroni mixture. Toss together until all ingredients are well coated with ranch.
- Transfer to a large serving bowl and dig in!
Serves 10
*I always use low fat (NOT fat free) mayo, sour cream and milk in my recipes, and I think it tastes great, especially when mixed with other flavorful ingredients. Feel free to use regular if you’d like. If I ever use regular, I’ll be sure to let you know.
You can’t have a good gathering without a sweet ending, right? These tiny little pie cups are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth. Imagine a chocolate chip cookie and a pecan pie had a baby. Got the picture now??? Since they’re so small, kids will love these, too. I adapted this recipe from Paula Deen’s version of Pecan Toffee Tassies.
Mini Chocolate Chip Pecan Pies
Ingredients
- 1 15-ounce package refrigerated pie crusts
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- 1 (10-ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Unroll the piecrusts onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into 2 (15-inch) circles. Cut out circles using a 1 3/4-inch round cookie cutter, re-rolling dough as needed (I was able to get 12 large circles (1 ¾ inch) and 9 smaller circles. I used the large circles in a regular muffin tin, and used a mini muffin tin for the smaller circles).
- Place into greased muffin pans, pressing on the bottoms and up the sides of each of the mini-muffin cups.
- Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, flour, and eggs in a large bowl, mixing well. Add the vanilla. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips. Spoon the filling evenly into the pie shells.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes for large muffins and about 16-20 for smaller muffins, or until filling is set and crust is lightly browned.
- Cool in pans on wire racks.
Hope you enjoy this spicy pasta salad and little sweetie-pies! I’m off to cheer on the Gators…BEAT TENNESSEE!!!The Duchess
I was lucky enough to be among the “mess” at the Duchess’ pad last weekend. Those mini chocolate chip pecan pies were yummy! They’re small but very satisfying. The recipe looks pretty easy, so that’s another bonus!
These mini chocolate chip pecan pies were scrumptious!!
I used a scalloped cookie cutter and had a beautiful scalloped crust to my pies. Getting the little things in the teeny pans were a challenge but well worth it!