CJ's Kitchen

Easter Morning Breakfast!

Swedish Pancakes - Cooking with Jan Pancakes just make me a happy person. I have always loved breakfast foods and this is one of my favorites. Pretty easy to make and a more elegant look than your every day pancake. They are thin and have a wonderful creamy texture. We have served them with fresh fruit and whipped cream, a fruit […]

What can I say - Lemon makes me Happy!

Lemon Bundt Cake - Cooking with Jan Even though the weather is not exactly cooperating, I’m ready for Spring! And Spring to me means planting my garden and eating foods with Sunny Fresh Flavors – like Lemon. Such as the Shrimp Scampi I made a while back or tonight’s Walleye with lots of lemon on it. For dessert – a Lemon Bundt...

I love shrimp and this is one of my favorites. So easy to make and so good to eat!

Shrimp Scampi - Cooking with Jan One of my favorite meals when I go out to a good Italian Restaurant is Shrimp Scampi. Because I don’t go out to eat very often I needed to create my own. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Shrimp Scampi 2 pounds raw Shrimp, peeled and deveined 1/4 cup Butter 2 […]

Comfort Food!

Creamy Potato Soup - Cooking with Jan With the weather doing some pretty major leaps and dips it’s hard to figure out what to make for dinner. This soup fits the bill no matter what the weather is doing. Creamy Potato Soup 5 cups Red Potatoes – peeled and diced small 8 cups water Chicken Base – enough to make a strong […]

I love Breakfast food!

French Toast Bake - Cooking with Jan A fast easy Breakfast Favorite! Just prep it the night before and you are ready to bake in the morning. This French Toast Bake is super Yummy and a great crowd pleaser. It pairs well with an Egg Bake, fresh fruit, Bacon and Sausage or with just about anything else you can come up with. […]

So easy and so good!

Chicken Tetrazzini - Cooking with Jan Years ago when I had 4 kiddos at home and a Hubby who was out of town for work 4 nights a week, And I worked 40 plus hours myself, I needed help! Weeknights we were eating way too much mac and cheese, pizza and hot dogs. I found my help with a book called […]

Warm Yumminess!

Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup - Cooking with Jan My husband and I both really enjoy Broccoli, so we find a lot of ways to serve it. This soup is one of our favorites. Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup 4 T Butter 1/2 cup Onion – chopped small 2 cloves Garlic – minced 1/4 cup plus 2 T Flour 1/2 tsp Salt Dash White Pepper […]

Hey All - my HOME kitchen is currently in demo mode for a partial remodel. I won't be able to blog for a few weeks. I pray to be back to normal again by Feb 4th. Here's hoping!

So sorry for any misunderstanding. No new CJ's. Just work being done at my home so I can't post a blog. Again. So sorry for any misunderstanding.

This weekends treat.

Oatmeal Cookies - Cooking with Jan Oatmeal Cookies have become a real treat around here. While we had the restaurant we could have had one every day if we wanted, but since the closing of CJ’s we try not to have too many sweets in the house. So, if I want something sweet but not Super bad for me – Oatmeal […]

Who doesn't love Egg Rolls?

Egg Rolls - Cooking with Jan As I’ve stated before – I Love Asian Food. Therefore, I Love Egg Rolls! I love wontons, steamed dumplings, pork buns, potstickers, spring rolls – you name it and I’m pretty much loving it. We have a favorite Asian restaurant here in the Fargo area called the Jade Dragon. We have been enjoyin...

So much fun this weekend making cookies with the Grandkids.

Sugar Cookies - Cooking with Jan For any holiday or for just about any reason at all – these are my go-to sugar cookie. They have a wonderful flavor that makes everyone happy. At Christmas it becomes a family fun time for Nana to make cookies with the Grandkids. They can make some pretty silly cookies. Roll Sugar Cookies 3/4 cup ...

Enjoy!

The Best Chicken Salad - Cooking with Jan Many years ago my husband and I took a vacation to the Boston area. We both love history and old architecture. We were lucky enough to have Curt’s cousin who lived in the area give us some great advice on where to go while we were there. One of the places we went to was […]

Curt's favorite cake!

Carrot Cake - Cooking with Jan Carrot cake is my husband’s absolute favorite cake. It’s wonderfully spicey and always moist. And who doesn’t love cream cheese frosting. I hope you love it as much as we do. Carrot Cake 4 cups Flour 3 cups Sugar 4 tsp Baking Powder 3 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Salt 2 tsp Cinnamon 1/2 tsp […]

One of my Favorite Fall Tastes.

Pumpkin Butter - Cooking with Jan In the spirit of the season – Pumpkin Butter! I have made apple butter for 40 plus years and just love it. One year while we were on vacation on the east coast I discovered Pumpkin Butter. I am a real fan of just about anything pumpkin. Pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie and pumpkin […]

Very Yummy!

Billionaire Bars - Cooking with Jan This one is a bit putzy but so worth the time in the end. My husbands take on this bar is that it is “Ridiculous – but in a very good way”. I just love shortbread and caramel – so it’s a win win for me. Billionaire Bars Crust 1cup Butter – soft 1/2 cup […]

Love this pie! So easy and so very good.

Lemon Cream Icebox Pie - Cooking with Jan I’m a sucker for just about anything lemon. This pie is so good and so easy to make, you’ll want to make it all the time. It’s got a no-bake cookie crust and a really yummy no-bake cream cheese filling. What’s not to love! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I do. […]

Just Yumm....

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup - Cooking with Jan I am a soup lover. However – a very picky one. I tried many different versions of chicken tortilla, and I always felt they were missing something. So – I went home and played with my own recipe until I LOVED it. This one is my all time favorite soup. I hope you enjoy it […]

A really wonderful cookie with lots of flavor!

Neumann Marcus Cookies - Cooking with Jan Years ago I was looking for a different more unique chocolate chip cookie option. I went on line and up popped this recipe. It was truly made by Neumann Marcus bakers in their stores. Whoever had placed the recipe online said that they had to pay a lot of money for this recipe and wanted […]

A Wonderful late Summer/early Fall treat.

Pear or Apple Tart - Cooking with Jan I think that one of the prettiest desserts you can make is a tart. Most likely due to the fluted edge of the crust and the pretty layer of fruit. Plus, I love pears. Each year I can’t wait for the late Summer delivery of the Youth for Christ’s lugs of pears. They come directly […]

Fast and Easy! Super Yummy!

Classic Almond Cream - Cooking with Jan I’ve been making this for years and years. Not sure where it came from but it was listed as a salad in my recipe box. I have served that way, but for sure it is a dessert. And it’s a really yummy, light and fluffy, easy dessert. It takes just minutes to make, then about […]

Who doesn't like Salsa?

Canning Salsa - Cooking with Jan I love fresh Salsa – but I don’t always like the work. Sometimes I just want to open up a jar and dig in. This recipe is my go to for canned Salsa. I have tried lots of different store bought brands, but this one beats them all in my opinion. It is a bit […]

Yummy No-Bake Treat!

Special K Bars - Cooking with Jan Who doesn’t like Special K Bars? These are a definite Ness Family Favorite. Kiddos ask for them whenever we plan get togethers and Nana and Papa love them too. They make a wonderful no-bake treat when you want something but you don’t want to turn on the oven. Like right now when it’s in the [....

Relish!

My Favorite Relish - Cooking with Jan I think everyone has their favorite – this one is mine. Some of my family love it and some prefer a Dill Pickle Relish. Maybe it’s the green pepper in it. I’m not sure what it is, but this is by far my favorite. If you have a garden like ours, now is when you […]

It's what's for dinner.

Pulled Pork - the many ways - Cooking with Jan Over the years I have made massive amounts of Pulled Pork. It was on our menu at the Kitchen and we had a tried and true method cooking it in an Electric Roaster. It came out super juicy and we all Loved it. My newest method is on the Smoker. It turns out just as […]

Something light today.

Fresh Cucumber Salad - Cooking with Jan Every year I can’t wait for Garden Fresh Veggies. Prior to opening the restaurant I grew just about every veggie you could name. I love working in the dirt and even more, I love the fresh food. But, with all the hours spent at the restaurant I gave up growing my own and started going […]

Mandarin Chicken Salad - My go to salad

Mandarin Chicken Salad - Cooking with Jan Oriental Sesame Dressing and Mandarin Chicken Salad

GORP - ready to take on our family vacation!

GORP (or Trail Mix) - Cooking with Jan Growing up, I never knew what GORP meant. I just knew it was good. As an adult I learned from my sister that it meant “Good Old Raisins and Peanuts”. Which – made me laugh because for us, it was never just that, we had always added more. I believe that GORP should be all […]

Just Yum!

Buttered Toffee Shortbread - Cooking with Jan I am a Major Fan of Shortbread – all kinds and flavors. I just Love Shortbread. However, I have had a few that were just not buttery enough, or too course. I feel a really good shortbread should just melt in your mouth. This Toffee Shortbread is smooth, buttery and definitely melts in your mouth. ...

A New Fav!

Baby Back Ribs - Cooking with Jan I have never been much of a Rib eater. I just never found them to be very tasty. Most of the ones I had eaten were a bit dry or sometimes rubbery to chew. It just wasn’t a meal I liked very much, so I rarely ever ate them. Well, now that has changed. I […]