Sloppy Joes

Trouble LOVES sloppy joes! I guess I do too. What I don't like is the instant stuff in the can. Yuck! So instead of using that yuck stuff, I make my own. It's easy and I usually have all of the ingredients.

What you need:

• 1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained of grease
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 cup salsa
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon mustard (I use Dijon)
• ¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
• sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 6 buns

What you do:

Saute ground beef with onion, celery and garlic, until onion is soft. (5-8 minutes)

Stir in ketchup, salsa, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard and liquid smoke.

Bring mixture to a simmer and cook at low heat for 25 minutes.

Serve on toasted buns topped with cheese.

Confession: Whenever I say sloppy joe, in my head I'm singing the Chris Farley/Adam Sandler 'Lunch Lady Land' song. Enjoy the Sloppy Joe, Sloppy, Sloppy Joe!

Drunk Dunked Cherries

I'm always a sucker for fruit soaked in alcohol. It's fun, it's festive, it's delicious! When I saw a picture on Pinterest of soaked cherries dipped in chocolate, I knew I had to give it a try.

 What you need:

• fresh cherries
• amaretto liqueur
• almond bark, melted

What you do:
Cover cherries in amaretto. Allow them to soak for a few days. I soaked mine for 2 days.

Dry off the drunk cherries.

Dunk each cherry in melted almond bark.

Allow cherries to harden on wax paper.

 Done! Yep, it's quite easy.

Pssst- Do yourself a favor and make a drink with any leftover amaretto that the cherries didn't 'drink'. It's really good in hot chocolate.