Skyline Enchiladas and First Day of Culinary School

So, we had some leftover Skyline Chili in the fridge after making some coneys the other night for dinner. None of us ever complain about having too much Skyline around, but I felt like making something other than the classic Skyline baked potato or Skyline dip.

I thought and I thought and I thought about the endless combination of combinations that would be delicious with Skyline Chili as one of the components. The lightbulb- I also remembered that I had about 3/4 of a package of egg roll wrappers that were in the fridge and needed to be used up. (I now constantly have egg roll wrappers on hand because they are just so useful when needing to make lasagna, crazy egg rolls, or a number of other things.)

The concept: Skyline Enchiladas- the perfect little appetizer for the Cincinnati inclined
The recipe:

egg roll wrappers
cream cheese
Skyline chili
finely shredded cheddar cheese
(all proportions are according to how much you want to make, how thick, etc)

Slice egg roll wrappers in half (by width). Spread cream cheese across the center of one side of the wrapper, leaving about 1/4 in. border on all sides. Spread a small amount of the chili down the center as well (less wide than the cream cheese). Fold in the sides and roll jelly-roll style. Wet the end with a very little bit of water to seal. Place all rolls in a casserole dish. Bake for about 20 min at 350 F. Take it out and spread the cheddar cheese evenly. Increase the oven to 400 F for about 5 min.

The perfect meal for a skyline lover who wants a change.


Today was also my first day of culinary school. Mostly it was introductions and then we had an overview of some food safety techniques and things to keep in mind. I didn't learn a lot in this one and the teacher even asked me for the real names of the pathogens and such. I guess chefs are more concerned with how to keep them away rather than naming them. :-) It was a lot of fun, though and I really think that I am going to learn a lot. There is an interesting mish mosh of people in the class that will certainly result in an interesting atmosphere. Next class is on Thursday!

Wonderland Cookies...Wookies

Friday night we all decided to go out for Halloween. After much consideration, we came up with the idea of being the characters from Alice and Wonderland (I was chosen to be Alice). As a fun little evening activity it was decided that there was to be a tea party. We all love tea and of course all of the fun little foods that accompany tea parties.
Tea sandwiches were an obvious first on the list. I decided to make some very similar to ones that I had on my birthday this year- cucumber, cream cheese, and dill on wheat. So simple and yet so delicious. We also had some extra roasted chicken lying around, so I thought that chicken salad would be a nice complement. Curry makes everything amazing...especially in conjunction with grapes and pecans...delicious!
And then..... the idea of little tea cookies was brought up. My mom had made some delicious cookies the last time she visited that I was hoping to be able to duplicate that involved banana muffin mix and mascarpone cheese. Unfortunately I couldn't get ahold of her for the recipe...so my love of improvisation with food as my material came into play. What was born? Alice in Wonderland cookies...WOOKIES! So easy and so life-changingly delicious!

The recipe:

1 box yellow cake mix
2 ripe bananas (medium size)
1 egg
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t allspice
1/2 t chili powder (trust me)
chocolate chips, walnuts if desired
mascarpone cheese

Mash the bananas in the bottom of a mixer. Add the yellow cake mix until it is all incorporated. Add the egg and spices and beat until the mixture is uniform. Drop onto a sheet pan in very small circles (1- 1 1/2 in diameter). Add chocolate chips and/or nuts to the tops of half the cookies. Bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes. Let cool and then stack a plain cookie, a bit of mascarpone cheese, and then the decorated cookie.

Enjoy!
You will love these!