Hey everyone!  Happy St. Patrick’s day (belated)!  Are you one of those people who likes to celebrate every holiday with themed food?  I am! I used to say that I was doing it for my kids but let’s be honest here; it’s me….all me.  You see, my dream job is to be a party planner. I love, love, love to come up with party themes and create the perfect atmosphere…right down the food.  So, holidays are a natural outlet for that kind of behavior. You see recipes that are designed around the holidays and the stores are full of the corresponding paraphanalia like table decorations and napkins and plates.  St. Patrick’s day has always been a kind of fail for me. My husband usually does the cooking of corned beef and cabbage from a recipe that he found long ago and I do make the traditional Irish Soda Bread. Some years I will make green cake with green icing to take to work.  But I feel that I don’t put enough effort into that holiday which is really crazy because I am supposedly from Irish heritage. This year I decided to add a lunch dish that was St. Patty’s-centric. A week or so ago I purchased a nice corned beef and let it cook along in the crockpot with a bit of water and the included spices all night long on low.  Then the following day for lunch I sliced that bad boy into about 1 inch slices and used it as a filling in a grilled cheese sandwich. I also caramelized some sweet onions in beer (Guinness, of course) and used a couple of kinds of creamy, white cheese. I layered all of these ingredients on some beautiful marbled rye bread and grilled it up in melted butter.  My, Oh, My! These were delicious. My boys said so and I believe everything they say…ok, maybe not but I believe them about food. They can be tough critics.

Now to start with, you have to have a nice cooked corned beef.  I bought this one this one at my local Walmart and cooked it with a little water and the included spice packet all night in my slow cooker but you can bake it if you prefer.  Once it was cooked I set the crockpot on warm and set it aside while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

Shred the Jarlsberg or Fontina cheese and set aside.  I purchased my Havarti pre-sliced but if you don’t then now would be the time to slice it up.  

Thinly slice up 2 medium sweet or yellow onions .  Melt 4 tablespoons (½ cup of butter) in a large skillet or pot.  Add the onion slices and sprinkle 1 Tablespoon of sugar over the onions.  Season with ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper.

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I agonized over what my first every posts would be for this blog.  I mean I waited for so long to get this going and everything had to be perfect.  I was quite frankly scared to death. I work all day every day with computers and technology and yet the thought of building a website was terrifying (enter my constant self-doubt).  I put every excuse that I could think of in my own way. Finally, finally, finally I whipped my big girl panties out of the courage drawer and pulled them clean up to my neck. And now, here we are.  New friends and old friends hanging out in my kitchen, eating, drinking and laughing.

So, now on to the food!  I live in central Illinois and around my neck of the woods we have a concoction called a Horseshoe.  A Horseshoe is one of my all-time favorite dishes. I frequently ask for this as my birthday dinner. My guys will willingly make these for me.  My younger son, Alex, (he’s 25 but still referred to as the younger) loves to cook too. Actually, both of my boys can cook but Alex is usually the one who helps out with the Horseshoe.  I admit that this dish is difficult with only one person but if you have a little help it is a cinch. This cheesy pile of heaven was invented in Springfield, Illinois and the recipe evolved through the years.  There are soooooo many variations on this dish. The basic recipe is toast, burger patties and french fries smothered in cheese sauce. I have seen (and eaten) versions with fish and pork tenderloins as substitutes for the burger patties…mmmmm.  The biggest difference in the versions of Horseshoes is the cheese sauce. The original version had a homemade cheese sauce that was more of a cheese white sauce if the recipes that I have seen are accurate. Some people like a basic yellow cheese sauce like you would use on nachos.  I happen to prefer the lighter sauce with several kinds of cheese and does not resemble anything that comes from a giant can at the basketball game concession stand. Today, Alex, and I want to make the traditional hamburger Horseshoe with you. And, just so you know, this is technically a ponyshoe because it only has one burger.  Horseshoes normally have two pieces of toast each topped with a burger or whatever type of meat that you are using.

This dish has a lot of components so it is best to get all of your ingredients together and do any prep work ahead of time.  Shred and cube your cheeses and set aside. You can use any types of cheese that you prefer but I recommend that you use velveeta mixed with other types.  This gives you a nice melty base to mix with the harder cheeses. Make your ground beef patties and set those aside. Start heating your cooking oil for the fries.  It takes a bit of time to get up to the right temperature for frying. Start with a hamburger patty fried in a skillet or on a griddle. I prefer to use a beef and pork mixture for my burgers.  I get this brand at Walmart.  It is less expensive and I believe produces a much juicier burger.  Alternatively, I might buy the budget burger at my local grocery store.  Make your burger patties about ¼ pound or a bit smaller if you prefer. For Horseshoes I think that it is best to make your burgers a bit flatter than maybe you would for a regular burger served on a bun.  Fry your burgers until they are no longer pink in the middle turning once or twice.

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So, I know that ya’ll don’t know me well yet but here comes a big old truth bomb.  I am addicted to chocolate, I have very little self control and I struggle with my weight.  Those three facts have a direct correlation. Shocking, I know. Now, I do a lot of baking and cooking because I loooooove it.  It is my stress release and where I find peace. To try to alleviate some of the temptation and therefore calories I will occasionally make things that I don’t particularly like because then I won’t eat them. Sounds like a good plan, right? Sometimes it does work but not always…in fact not even often. That is the case with these cookies. I always try to bake up some cookies on Sunday afternoon when/if my sons are at my house.  It is part of my master plan to make them miss me when they aren’t there. Hey, a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do. So anyway, I decided to make up some of my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough but add in some peanut butter chips and some Reese’s Pieces Baking Bits and milk chocolate chips (because why not).  I am not a fan of peanut butter chips or Reese’s Pieces. I thought I might be in the clear here. WRONG! These turned out so well. They have that wonderful buttery cookie dough flavor with melty chocolate and peanut butter and then you get the crispy little crunch of the candy coating on the Reese’s Pieces. That is why I named them Triple Threat.  Because there are three levels of dangerous going on here. Oh, well, what’s a few more calories.

Gather up all of your ingredients.  Make sure that your butter is softened a bit if not at room temperature.  I use salted butter because that is what I normally have an abundance of in my frig but you can use unsalted and then add 1 tsp. of salt.  I use the eggs that come from our own chickens so the sizes vary as you can see from my picture. I always use eggs that would be considered large when purchased from a store.  A little bit of extra moisture doesn’t hurt because of the refrigeration time but too little and you will have a dry cookie.

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