1 lb. raw almonds
3 tbls. vegetable oil
1/4 cup Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa Mix (sweetened)

Place the raw almonds on a sheet pan, drizzle the vegetable oil over the almonds and toss so they are well coated.  Then dust with hot cocoa mix (dry do not actually make the hot cocoa).  Toss more until almonds are well coated.  Make sure almonds are spread evenly in one layer on sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  You will want to stir after 5 minutes and 8 minutes.  You’ll know they are done when you can smell the cocoa and the nuttyness of the almonds strongly but not burnt.  Remove from oven and place almonds on paper towels to cool.

Enjoy!

This was a fast and furious throw together for a last minute dinner guest last week. I was so nervous about how it would turn out that I even phoned up my dad and asked, “do you think that a marinade with orange and cinnamon would taste good?” He confirmed that he thought it would be ok, so I crossed my fingers and grilled it up. Low and behold it was actually quite fantastic so I thought I’d share it with you.

Orange Cinnamon Marinade for Chicken

1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vinager
2 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Zest and Juice of 3 oranges

Place 4 chicken breasts in a plastic zip bag and pour marinade over the chicken.  Let sit about 4-6 hours in the fridge. Cook as usual (grilled was amazing).

Enjoy this cinnamon delight with a splash of fresh orange.

Christopher

I threw this together last minute when heading off for Shabbat dinner with my roommates family.  That was quite the treat and an incredibly fun experience. Inspired by my hero Ina Garten’s Plum Crumble, I’m giving this a little added pizzaz as Ina would say – we’re turning up the volume on a classic.

Apple Crumble

Topping:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup toffee chips
1/4 cup walnuts chopped
1/2 lb. Cold butter cubed

Mix in stand mixer till mixture starts to come together (about the size of small peas)

Filling:
3 lbs cubed washington or fiji apples (pick your favorite)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 cup caramel liqueur (varies depending of moisture content of apples)

Mix together and spread out in a ceramic baking dish.  Spread crumble topping over.  Bake 40 to 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Enjoy this with some vanilla ice cream and your favorite guests.

Christopher!

I know – this is supposed to be a business strategist giving you ideas about how to grow the bottom line. Well as it turns out I’m also an obsessive compulsive when it comes to trying new things in the kitchen.  This recipe is from a few weeks ago.  I’d just moved to Minneapolis and the new roommate was throwing a game night party.  So of course, naturally, my host skills went into overdrive and I decided to whip up a few delights for the guests.

Here’s one of them. Literally this was just thrown together and it turned out so well that I just had to share. Watch for it in the next version of mom’s famous favorite recipes cookbook.

Stuffed Mushrooms

1 pkg mushrooms
1/2 lb ground pork
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
2 tsp chili powder
1 tbs seasoned salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup bread crumbs
1 pkg cream cheese

Remove stems from mushrooms and chop finely, place mushroom heads upside down on baking sheet.

FILLING:  Brown pork with celery, onion, and chopped mushrooms.  Season with chili powder, seasoned salt, garlic powder.  Add in bread crumbs at end.  Let cool.

Place 1 tbs of cream cheese in each mushroom head and fill with heaping mounds of the filling.  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until done.

Serve! This is a party favorite for sure.  Just make sure to get those mushrooms stuffed, we found ourselves sampling a bit too much of the stuffing mixture before we even got them into the oven. So delicious!

And for those wondering – there isn’t a better way to bring friends together then great food, a couple innovative board games and amazing company around the living room fire. A little good wine goes a long way too.

Christopher