Garden update and a recipe!

Hi! I didn't realize until today that I didn't update or post anything here since June. I'm so sorry! Our garden is in full swing now. I'm gathering more cucumbers that I can pickle, a ton of sweet corn and I will soon be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes! It's all a very good thing! I love watching my pantry and freezer fill up with the fresh fruits and veggies that we preserve for winter use. It's a ton of work, but there's nothing like toast in the middle of winter with jam that tastes like fresh strawberries or having some juicy sweet corn with our dinners!

The recipe I'm going to leave you with today is kind of a cowboy/Texas caviar, but super simple. I made this today using mostly garden produce! (* denotes that it came from my garden)

*3-6 roma tomatoes, depending on size and preference, chopped
*1/2 red onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
*3-6 tbsp cilantro, chopped
*2 ears sweet corn, cut off the cob and blanched
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 lime, juice and zest

Mix together and serve with pita or tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Frosted Rhubarb Cookies

I know! Right?! Totally yummy rhubarb in a cookie! Don't have much time right now, but know that these do freeze well so you can make a ton of them and pop them in the freezer. How easy is that?! Enjoy!

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups diced fresh rhubarb

3/4 cup flaked coconut

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and brown sugar. Beat in eggs. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture.

Stir in rhubarb and coconut. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool.

Top with Brown Butter Icing found here or even a cream cheese icing would be good!

Rhubarb Slush

Tim made some rhubarb slush while I was in the hospital with Rugby. It was good, but super tart. Good thing it was a small batch. He tweaked his recipe and made one that is super good! Enjoy!


Tim's Rhubarb Slush

2 quarts rhubarb sauce (if you don't have that, see the note at the end)
1 envelope sugar free raspberry jello
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate

Blend together in a blender or food processor and freeze in an ice cream pail. Serve with some Sprite or Sundrop like you would for an alcoholic slush.

**Don't have rhubarb sauce? It's super easy to make! For this recipe, put 6 cups chopped rhubarb in a saucepan with 2 cups water and 2/3 cup sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until rhubarb is tender. COOL COMPLETELY before using it to make this recipe.

Coming soon!

New recipes!

It was brought to my attention that I never posted the recipe for the rhubarb cookies that I made last year, so I'll post that soon. Also, we made two different kinds of rhubarb slush this weekend and I'll post at least one of them, too!

We're going to try out a new recipe or two for chicken wings today, also, so be on the look out for LOTS of new recipes soon!!

Rhubarb

Last night we had family here for cake and ice cream to celebrate my oldest sons birthday that was earlier this week. I made an old favorite recipe and wanted to post the link again as a reminder for my mom and for all of you new readers of Cafe Jessica! So here it is: Chocolate Chip Rhubarb Cake. It's Soooooooooooooooooooooo good!! Enjoy!

Construction Zone

Hello all, please excuse my dust while I'm remodeling Cafe Jessica.

I hope things don't get too wonky around here, but you never know. I really need to redo the header or find a way to center it. But, I'm working on that and hope to be back with some great new recipes for you soon!!

Giveaway winner

The winner of the planner giveaway is


#3...Suzy Neal

Congratulations!!

(Please contact me with your address and I'll get that mailed out right away!!)

Hello Lovelies!

Good morning! It's so nice that you could stop on over and say hello! Cha Cha was kind enough to send you all over, so please make yourselves comfortable and look around. I love to play hostess, though I am very much the shy and quiet type (until you get to know me, anyway!).

I found her blog through the Pioneer Woman and I love checking in to see all the fabulous projects she whips up on top of being a super busy homeschooling mom! She's amazing!

If you are a regular Cafe Jessica reader, please pop on over to Sit Relax and Read....I'm featured there today! Very exciting!!

Giveaway!

Good morning! We've got some friends coming from out of town today to spend the night, so I was doing some cleaning and found a planner calendar like I use for menu planning, so to tie in with my last post, I'm giving it away!! The planner is December 09 until January 2011, so there's LOTS of time to still use it.

If you are interested, please leave a comment letting me know your favorite thing to bake. That's it!

For an extra entry, post to your facebook or blog about the giveaway and come back and leave another separate comment for that.

For a third entry, post my button to your sidebar and leave a separate comment for that. Simple!

I'll let this post run until midnight, March 31st and on April 1st, I'll announce a winner! Good luck!!

Menu Planning

Good morning! Lately, it seems that I'm crazy busy. Between meeting friends for walks and hauling kids around and grocery shopping and everything else, I don't feel like I've gotten much accomplished. My house shows it, too. We had unexpected guests for dinner last night and it was fun, but my bedroom door was securely closed and that room was not part of the tour. :) We all do that, right? I certainly hope I'm not the only one that throws the mess into another room so that it APPEARS that I'm an awesome housekeeper and that my house is company ready in 20 minutes or less. lol! But, nights like last night are why I LOVE menu planning. I had most of the stuff in the house for a nice meal and just had to pick up a few veggies for the salsa and salad. I made Corn and Black Bean Salsa, grilled steaks, sauteed mushrooms and onions in plenty of butter, and made custom salads for all four adults and even TJ asked for a salad. The adults had romaine, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, green onions, Parmesan, sunflower nuts, and/or bacon bits. One even added cottage cheese to his. (I think it's a little weird, but he swears it's good....I'm not sure I'm curious enough to try it, though.) So, anyway, back to the menu planning. Everything was here. It was so nice to have a meal that I could fancy up a bit to be fit for company.

I know not everyone does menu planning and those who do, all do it differently, but I'll tell you what works for me. I use a purse sized calendar planner. You know the kind. JCPenney's gives them away in the salon at Christmas time, banks have given them out. I got mine as a package deal with my yearly appointment planner. I know I shop on Tuesday afternoons, so I plan Tuesday through Monday each week unless there's a reason I know I'm going to go to town a different day, then I can plan accordingly. I also only plan our evening meals. I make sure that there is cereal, eggs and sausage/bacon, flour, etc in the house so we can make breakfasts. Tim loves to make pancakes on the weekends and I make our own syrup (it's just a simple syrup of 1 part water to 2 parts sugar with a little maple flavoring). The little ones and I are the only ones home for lunch and we have sandwiches or leftovers depending on what's here. Sometimes I'll make corn dogs or chicken nuggets if I have them. Weekend lunches are cardboard pizzas or leftovers. Every Sunday I ask what everyone wants for the next week and try to plan accordingly.

So, that's how I do it. It's nice that I can look back at the past weeks and see what we ate and get ideas that way and to not repeat things to often, too.

Here's our menu for the next week:

Tator tot hotdish
Pheasant casserole
Venison steaks with salad
Hamburgers
Grilled Italian Chicken Breasts

That gets us to Monday and Sunday we'll plan for the next week. I also plan to have things in the house for unexpected meals. There's always the fixings for pizza in the house, I have baking supplies so I can make bread or buns or cakes, etc.

So, that's what's on my mind today. Our weather is turning warmer so I'm trying to remember all the warmer weather, lighter foods that I make and getting the heavier, comfort foods out. Happy Thursday!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Last week, I had my oldest two boys help me plan the dinner menu for the week. I don't let them get away with chicken nuggets, hot dogs, etc so they knew they had to choose "real" food. Rugby asked for Chicken Enchiladas and I have this great recipe that was in my Gramma Carol's church cookbook (I think) and it's become a family favorite over the years. When Tim was working over the road, I'd make it in two smaller pans instead of the one bigger pan and take half to my grandparents because they like it, but the two of them can't eat a whole pan of it and R&R were small enough then that the three of us couldn't eat a whole pan, either so it was win-win! This week when I had Rugby and Riley help plan meals, Rugby asked for this again! Enjoy!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

12ish tortillas (I use whole wheat ones)
1 1/2-2 pounds cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup sour cream (I use light with no trouble)
2 cans cream of chicken (do not substitute cream of mushroom, trust me. But, feel free to use a lower sodium version if you wish.)
2 oz can chopped green chilies
Shredded cheese...cheddar or a blend of orange and white cheeses


Preheat oven to 350.

In a small pan, heat the soup, sour cream and chilies until warmed through.

In the center of each tortilla, place 1/4 cup (ish) chicken and 2 tbsp of the soup mixture. Roll up and place in greased 9x13 pan. Continue until your pan is full. Top with remaining soup mixture doing your best to cover all the tortillas with the mixture because any area left exposed will get dry and hard. Top with cheese. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Almost BBQ venison

I'm LOVING having this fresh venison in my freezer! We took the two front quarters and made burger with it. It only made 5 pounds, but since I mix it half and half with ground turkey, it goes a long way. Last night, though, I sliced one of the roasts (while still partially frozen to make that job TONS easier) and did this Venison Hurry deal that I found on allrecipes. It's SUPER easy and ALL of my kids ate it. Out of a 4 pound roast, there was NOTHING left...just the juice it cooked in! I love making suppers like that!! So, here's the recipe. Enjoy!

Venison Hurry

2# venison chops (I have also made this with a whole roast and that's been good, too)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 packet onion soup mix
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water (if I empty out a ketchup bottle to make this, which I usually do, then I put the water in the ketchup bottle and shake it to get all the ketchupy goodness out of the bottle, then pour that over the meat)

Put the venison in the crockpot, put the rest of the ingredients over the top and cook on low for 6-8 hours and your meat will fall apart! YUM!

I served this last night with mashed potatoes, but buttered noodles would be good, too.

Linked up with The Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap! Go there for more great recipes!

Tex Mex Lasagna

Good Morning! Last night was a long one for us over here. My in-laws called on their way home from Indiana that they were about 20 miles south of our house and had hit a deer. Thankfully, they were fine and their van was still driveable, but what were they going to do with that meat?! They didn't have time to take care of that and they knew my hubby hadn't gotten a deer in a couple years, so we were running dangerously low on venison. We took it. My dad came over to help cut it up enough to get it in the house where it was warm and we cut up what meat was still good into steaks and roasts. WOOHOO!! They called right after we finished dinner, so the timing was pretty good, too! I made this tex-mex lasagna thing that was pretty good, but a 9x13 pan of it was too much for the 6 of us, especially since 3 of the boys decided they didn't like it before they even tried it! So I sent some home with dad for their lunches today and kept some for my lunch today and still have leftovers. Tim is convinced that since he liked it, I'll never make it again since I have a tendency to make so many new things and rarely get back to making something we liked. Maybe I'll surprise him (it was from the TOH Guilt Free Cookbook my MIL got for me, so it's pretty good for you, too!) with it again sometime soon! Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Lasagna
(As usual, there are a few modifications that I made....you can ignore them if you like.)

1 pound lean ground beef**(See note below)
1 can (16 oz) refried black beans (I skipped this, I can. not. stand. refried beans!)
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup frozen corn (totally not enough! Use 1 full cup or maybe a little more)
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (I skipped this since I used homemade salsa and there's enough jalapenos in there to make it have some zip)
1 envelope taco seasoning (I make my own, here's the recipe for that!)
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce (I made the mistake of not writing down what size can I needed when I went to the store, so I bought too small of a can. Oops! I mixed in the 8 oz can that I bought with a 15 oz can of tomato soup and it worked fine. Use the whole can of tomato soup if you do it this way, it won't hurt anything and then what's left isn't going to waste.)
2 1/2 cups salsa (I used homemade and used 2 pints{equivalent of 4 cups}...2 1/2 cups just wasn't saucy enough for me!)
12 no cook lasagna noodles (took me 15, 5 on each layer)
1 1/2 cups reduced fat shredded monterey jack or fiesta blend cheese
1 1/2 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup fat free sour cream (optional)
1 medium avocado, peeled and cubed (optional)
4 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

In a large skillet, brown the hamburger until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the beans, corn, jalapeno, taco seasoning and 3/4 cup tomato sauce. Set aside.

Combine salsa and remaining tomato sauce. Spread 1/4 cup (I used about 1/2 cup) into a greased 9x13 pan. Lay down one set of lasagna noodles, top with half of the meat, 1 cup salsa mixture, 1/2 cup of each of the cheeses. Repeat. Top that with the remaining noodles, salsa mixture and cheeses.

Cover and bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until edges are golden and bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with sour cream, avocado, and onion, if desired.

**A note about ground beef....I was listening to something on public radio and they said that if you buy the cheaper ground beef (73/27 or whatever) and drain it, then rinse it with hot water, the fat content is similar to if you buy the more expensive lean ground beef. Just a tip for you. Or, you can use half a pound of lean ground beef and half a pound of ground turkey to save more fat.

One serving= 1 piece (12 servings per pan): 381 calories, 13g fat, 5g fiber, 25g protein. You can use no salt added tomato sauce and beans to lower the sodium, too.

Garlic Beef Stroganoff

When my mom and dad got their new kitchen table a few years ago, I had to be there when they delivered it since mom and dad were both working. As a surprise for them, I made dinner and had it in the crockpot for them when they got home. I think that actually started the whole "Jess brings dinner over several nights a week" thing that we enjoyed for several years until my hubby quit his job to go back to school and we moved across the state. It was great while it lasted...for all of us! Anyway, I was digging around in a cookbook and found this. We tried it and we loved it! It's super simple and totally tasty! Enjoy!


In your slow cooker, dissolve 2 tsp beef bouillon in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 2-4oz cans drained mushrooms(opt), 1 large chopped onion, 3 cloves minced garlic (I use more), and 1 Tbsp Worcestershire. In a skillet, brown 1 1/2-2 pounds cubed round steak. Add the meat to your slow cooker and cook on low 7-8 hours. Stir in 8 oz cream cheese before serving and stir until smooth. I like to serve over buttered noodles.

Test your knowledge and WIN!

Test your Whole Grain knowledge and win a really cool prize pack from General Mills over on It's A Boys Life: Reviews. Check it out, contest ends February 28th!

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A Twist on regular Lemon Bars

This weekend, I was on a baking mission! I made brownies (from a mix), Very Berry Pie (recipe coming soon), and these lemon bars. I had some macadamia nuts in the freezer that I wanted to use up and Timmy LOVES lemon bars. The only thing missing was the lemon zest, but even without that, they were the BEST ones I've made yet! Enjoy!

Macadamia Lemon Bars

Crust:
1/2 cup finely chopped macadamia nuts
2 cups flour
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup melted butter

Mix together dry ingredients, then stir in the butter and mix until evenly moist. Press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Top with filling.

Filling:
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/3 cup lemon juice
1 tsp lemon extract (optional, but I added and could have used more)
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest (use this, please, it'll really make a difference, but if you don't have it, I understand.)

Mix together dry ingredients, then stir in wet ingredients until light and fluffy. Pour into hot crust and bake another 15-20 minutes. Check it. You should be able to tell if it's set. Keep going at 1-2 minute intervals until it's set. Cool 5 minutes, then run a knife around the outside of the pan. Cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar before cutting into pieces. Serve cold.

Turkey Tetrazzini

The cooking from the Guilt Free TOH book continues! Riley, my 7 year old, picked this recipe....there was no picture, but he thought it sounded good. Since it said it made 6 servings and there are 6 of us, I doubled it to ensure we'd have enough for the meal. Riley was not thrilled. JoJo and Tucker ate it, but I think that was only because they were HUNGRY...like "I GOTTA EAT RIGHT NOW, MOM, YOU'RE STARVING ME OVER HERE! ALL I'VE HAD TODAY IS 40,000 GRANOLA BARS AND 100 APPLES AND A GALLON OF MILK AND A JUG OF JUICE. YOU GOTTA FEED ME, LADY." Rugby liked it and TIm and I thought it was alright, but not something I'd make again, probably. It was a bit on the bland side, but I kind of expected that. There really isn't much for seasoning, but if that's your thing, then this is good for you! We just like a bit more zip. Enjoy!

Turkey Tetrazzini

1/2 pound uncooked spaghetti
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 can reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can fat free evaporated milk
2 1/2 cups cooked, cubed turkey breast (A 3# turkey breast is enough to make a double batch)
1-4 oz can mushroom stems and pieces, drained (or do yourself a favor and use fresh...just saute them up with the onion and garlic)
1/2 tsp Lawry's season salt
Black pepper, to taste (I used about 1 tsp for a double batch, but I we like a lot of black pepper)
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese (I like to use the fresh kind rather than the powdered)
1/4 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the spaghetti according to pkg directions, drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan, saute onion and garlic (and fresh mushrooms if you choose that) in the butter until tender. Combine cornstarch and broth until smooth and add this to the saute pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the milk. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the spaghetti, turkey, canned mushrooms, season salt and pepper.

Transfer to an 8x8 pan that you've sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with Parmesan and paprika and bake another 5-10 minutes or until heated through and cheese is nice and melty.

1 serving = 1 1/4 cup. 331 calories, 5 g fat, 1 g fiber, 28 g protein.

Chuck Wagon Wraps

We're turning over new leaves left and right over here! First, I got bitten by the running bug, now I've got Timmy working out with me in the morning....and to go with that, we need to start watching what we eat. Here's the challenge...we have 4 boys that need to eat fat. They have boundless energy and need the fat and calories to keep them from losing weight. And they can be a bit fussy sometimes. Well, I've been struggling to find recipes online. I don't make too much time for that, honestly. But, my FABULOUS MIL, bought me a book that, so far, we are enjoying! It's from Taste of Home and it's called Guilt Free Cooking. When I was looking through the book the first time, I said that one recipe sounded interesting....Timmy wasn't real sure...it was a veggie "burger" that was carrots and onions and zucchini and not a speck of meat. He told me not to bother making them. So, when he saw the book out tonight he was leery about what I was making and he thought I was trying to sneak something past him until I let him read the recipe...it's simple and tastes good and appeals to his "meat and potatoes" side, and it's so fast to make!! 5 of the 6 of us enjoyed this, so I'd say it's a winner! Enjoy!



Chuck Wagon Wraps

1# ground beef (I use the cheapest stuff and make sure that I drain it)
1-28 oz can BBQ baked beans (I used the new Bush's Grillin' ones...Southern Pit BBQ and added some Sweet Baby Rays original since it wasn't a big enough can)
2 cups frozen corn (use the frozen, not canned here, pretty please.)
4 1/2 tsp Worcestershire
1 cup (4 oz) reduced fat shredded Cheddar cheese
12 tortillas, warmed (I use Chi-Chi's whole wheat and no one complains)
3 cups shredded lettuce (please use leaf lettuce or something other than iceberg, though that would work too it just isn't as good)
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
3/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

Brown the hamburger in a large skillet. Drain. Stir in baked beans, corn, and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Allow to simmer 4-5 minutes, uncovered. Sprinkle with cheese and simmer another 1-2 minutes.

Spoon 1/2 cup meat mixture for each tortilla and top with choice of toppings.

1 wrap = 1 serving. 373 calories, 11 g fat, 4 g fiber, 20 g protien.

Check out other great recipes today at The Grocery Cart Challenge!

'Nola Bars

Yesterday I wanted to make a treat that was going to a) warm up the house, b)taste yummy, and c)be healthy-ish. I asked for ideas on my facebook page. I LOVE my friends, they always have great ideas and suggestions. Someone suggested Caramel Cookies....it's a weight watchers recipe and sounds awesome...but the kids didn't want them this time. I will make them and post about it, though another time. I'm hoping to have time to make them today or tomorrow. Someone else suggested granola. Well, every time I make granola, I'm the only one that eats it unless it's granola bars, then I barely get one before my vultures kids have them gone. I found a recipe on allrecipes that sounded good and I bought some wheat germ a while back to make granola bars and lost the recipe that called for it. The one I made yesterday was really good! I cut back on the sugar, skipped the raisins, and trimmed the salt just a tad and they were so good! Oh, I added chocolate chips, too. I made a double batch and put them in an 11x17 pan which they filled nicely. Reviews for this one said that a single batch doesn't quite fill a 9x13 pan. Enjoy!

'Nola Bars

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar (1/2 cup is plenty)
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup ap flour
3/4 cup raisins (opt)
3/4 tsp salt (again, about 1/2 tsp is plenty)
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp vanilla
chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, sunflower seeds(opt)

Preheat oven to 350. Line a pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, sugar, flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, raisins and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the honey, egg, oil, and vanilla. Mix well with your hands (I used my big KitchenAid mixer.) Stir in any extras that you like. I used a whole bag of chocolate chips for a double batch. Pat the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 18-30 minutes, depending on your oven. The edges should just start to brown. This will give you a nice chewy granola bar. Bake a bit longer for crunchy ones. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars and allow to cool completely.

A single batch makes 24 servings. Each serving is: 161 calories, 5.5 g fat, 1.4 g fiber, 2.4 g protien

New Years

Long time, no see! We have just been UBER busy over the holidays. We had 6 Christmas parties that we attended and lots of visiting here, there and everywhere. You know the drill. :) For New Years this year, we had both of Tim's brothers, one of their girlfriends, and one of Tim's sisters over for dinner. We're the only ones (of those) that have kids, so it was just easier to be here. Anyway, I made a prime rib that I got on sale for $4.75 a pound, Windsor glazed carrots, twice baked potatoes in a casserole dish, and two dips (beer and bagel). Tom's fiance, Dawn, brought stuffed mushrooms, veggie pizza, and turtle cheesecake. It was quite the feast. We had a few unexpected visitors which was interesting and we had all the kids in the car with us as we rang in the New Year...that's a long story I'm not going to be sharing. Sorry. Anyway, it was super nice.

Back to the food, afterall, that's why you're here, right?! The Windsor glazed carrots. My BIL left some Windsor here this summer, so I wanted to use that up. PW posted a recipe for whiskey glazed carrots that fit the bill....plus I got to use my NEW cast iron skillet!! Enjoy!

Copy and pasted from PW's website...

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (to 3 Pounds) Carrots, Peeled And Cut Into Thick Circles
• 1 stick Butter
• ½ cups Jack Daniels Or Other Whiskey (We used Windsor)
  
• ¾ cups (to 1 Cup) Brown Sugar
• ½ teaspoons (to 1 Teaspoon) Salt
• Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over high heat. Add carrots in two batches., cooking for 60-90 seconds each batch. Remove from skillet.

Pour in whiskey and allow to evaporate 30 seconds. Reduce heat to medium, and add remaining butter. When butter melts, sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Stir together, then add carrots to skillet. Cover, and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Remove lid and add salt and pepper. Continue cooking until carrots are done and glaze is thick, about 5 more minutes.

Pour onto a platter and serve immediately. Sprinkle with chopped chives if desired.