Meet The Cooks | Recipes | Archives | Instagram Posts | Contact Us
Welcome to Blue Willow Plate!
We decided to take on a blog to share not only our pictures with you but some recipes, tips, and maybe even some kitchen gadgets and food reviews. We love cooking and baking (I’ll leave the baking to Jess) but most of you don’t get the opportunity to taste our creations. This makes us sad. So, we decided that we are going to start sharing not only or mouth-watering photographs but also our recipes, tips, and tricks so you can make the same delicious dishes at home!
The name Blue Willow Plate comes from a gorgeous set of Blue Willow china that we acquired from Dan’s Grandma Kotula. He remembers eating off of these very dishes on special occasions as a kid at Gram’s house and we are honored to be able to use the same dishes today in our home.
.
Newest Post
Creamy Tomato and Pepper Pasta
Don’t know what to do with all those cherry tomatoes growing in the garden? Here’s a quick and easy dinner recipe! Here’s what you’ll need: About 10oz of Cherry Tomatoes About 5oz of Peppers (we used shoshitos) 1.5 tbsp of olive oil – separated into 1 tbsp and 0.5 tbsp. 1/4 of an onion 1…
Meet The Cooks
Hello, we are Dan & Jess! We have been cooking together for over 10 years now. For almost 3 of those years we have also been happily married! We love to travel (when we are allowed to) around the country/world and try new foods that we could then recreate at home.
While we both love cooking we leave most of the baking to Jess. Jess, an elementary teacher, is always whipping up some sort of delicious baked good in her spare time. When she isn’t hard at work in school or in the kitchen Jess loves a good book and spending time outdoors.
Dan spent the beginning of his career as a food service manager working in different restaurants and sporting venues. Now Dan works in sales so he can spend more time focusing on the things he loves, including cooking at home! When not working Dan can be found lost in his vinyl record collection, planning his next homebrew, or playing videogames with friends online.
Recipes
One Pan Chicken Dinner
With Thanksgiving right around the corner no one wants to spend too much extra cooking now! Here’s an easy one pan roast chicken dinner. Here’s what you’ll need: 2 bone in / skin on chicken thighs 1 tbsp Olive oil – split into 2 half tbsps. About 11 ounces of potatoes 1/2 a yellow onion…
The Perfect Early Fall Breakfast
Here in the North East we are in peak tomato season! I’ve been putting tomatoes in every sandwich I’ve made now for weeks and had an idea. Move over avocado toast… it’s time for tomato toast! It’s simple. Just toast up a piece of bread (I’ve been loving Martin’s Whole Wheat Potato Bread), spread on…
Kielbasa and Tortellini Soup
Did you ever just get sick of making the same things for dinner over and over? That’s how we felt today, so I went in the freezer and found a bag of tortellini and a ring of fresh kielbasa and had an idea… Soup! Here’s what you’ll need: 1 medium onion 1 celery stock 1…
Tomato Basil Chicken Thighs
We had a ton of tomatoes in our garden so we decided to put them to work with some basil and chicken thighs. Here’s what you’ll need: Boneless skinless chicken thighs – 4 thighs (about 1.5 lbs) Olive oil – .5 tbsp Half a medium onion 1 clove of garlic 1 bay leaf Fresh thyme…
Lime & Jalapeño Chicken
We have an over abundance of jalapeños from our garden so we better start cooking with them! Here’s honey lime jalapeño chicken. Here’s what you’ll need: Honey – 2 tbsp Olive oil – 2 tbsp split in two separate tablespoons Jalapeños – 2 Lime – 1 – zest and juice Soy sauce – 1.5 tbsp…
Chocolate Popcorn
This recipe came to us through Jess’ sister! It’s definitely one of our favorite late night snacks. We don’t have exact measurements but the one great thing about this snack is the measurements really don’t matter. Here’s what you’ll need: Popcorn kernels – about 1 cup Milk chocolate – about 12 oz Cookie sheet First…
Black Pepper Chicken
One of my favorite foods to get at the Chinese buffet was black pepper chicken. I’ve never been able to find it on any menus where we live now so I learned how to make it! Here’s what you’ll need: 1 lb – Boneless skinless chicken .25 cup + 1 tbsp – Soy sauce, divided…
Turkey Salisbury Steaks with Onion Gravy
Is there anything more nostalgic than a Salisbury Steak? We gave the old school classic a new school twist – ground turkey! Here’s what you’ll need: For steaks: 1.2lbs ground turkey 1/3 cup Italian bread crumbs 1 large egg .25 medium onion – diced 1 tbsp ketchup 2 tsp worcestershire sauce 1 tsp mustard powder…
Celery Gimlet
Wondering what to do with all that left over celery from Thanksgiving? Why not make a drink! Here is one of our new favorite drinks, Celery Gimlet Here’s what you’ll need (this makes 2): 2-3 Celery Stocks 1oz Simple Syrup 1oz Dry Vermouth Juice from 1/2 a Lime 4oz Gin 5 dashes Orange Bitters Ice…
Dan’s Favorite Martini
With the holidays coming up and 2020 fighting back in full swing I thought I’d share with you my favorite but simple martini recipe! Here’s what you’ll need: 2.5oz Vodka 0.5oz Extra Dry Vermouth 5 dashes Orange Bitters Lemon Zest If I’m having a vodka martini I always go for Grey Goose but you can…
Pineapple Cheese Mold
I found an old church cookbook while unpacking and realized it had some old family recipes in it so I had to try one! We lost Gram Kotula earlier this year and the minute I saw her Pineapple Cheese Mold recipe I knew I had to try it. As you can see there are no…
Our New Kitchen! (Can you spot the Blue Willow?)
This isn’t going to be a recipe post but we’re too excited to not share our new kitchen. If you didn’t know we bought our first home! And within the walls is an amazing kitchen! So, that being said… here it is!
Soft Pretzels
One of our favorite snacks, whether it be a sporting event or a trip to the mall, is a soft pretzel! Since we’re all staying safe and staying home we thought we’d try out a recipe from one of our favorite TV cooks, Alton Brown. This may seem like quite the process but it was…
My Favorite Pizza Dough
I’m going to come right out and say it- this pizza dough is made for one thing and one thing only: thin, crispy, chewy pizza (or flatbread). It holds its shape when cut, it crunches when you get down to the crust, and it ALMOST tastes like a wood-fired pizza. If you read Dan’s post…
Odor Neutralizer
Did you ever cook something and it was so delicious but two hours later your house smells like a stale diner? Did you ever cook fish and 2 days later your house still smelled like you were stuck at sea? Here is something that I like to do when I’m cooking to help with those…
Orange Chicken
One of my favorite dishes at Chinese restaurants is Orange Chicken! I thought I’d try my hand at making my own recipe of this dish and it turned out amazing! Not to mention, its extremely easy. Here’s what you’ll need: For the Chicken 1 lb Chicken .5 cup Soy Sauce .5 cup Corn Starch 1…
Baked Oatmeal: A Breakfast Hero
If you know me, you know that I am a planner. And when it comes to my mornings, I have a few steps that I take to ensure that I have a smooth, stress-free start to my day. In a perfect world, this would be everyday. In reality, it is MOST days, if I do…
Veggie Flatbread
If you’re like us you often aren’t sure what you are going to make for dinner and end up just winging it. We had some left over pizza dough and have a fridge full of veggies so we made a delicious veggie flatbread! Here’s what you’ll need: Your favorite pizza dough 2 cups chopped broccoli…
Simple Turkey Chili
It’s chili season! Well….at least it was, and then it climbed to 60 degrees here in Lancaster. However, I will eat chili any time, anywhere, so here is a flexible, forgiving, easy weeknight recipe that will please every chili fan! Turkey Chili Serves 4 olive oil, for sautéing 1 lb. ground turkey (white and dark…
Turkey Stock
Thanksgiving is right around the corner! If you want to add that extra bit of oomph to your meal you can make your own turkey stock. Use homemade stock in your stuffing and/or your gravy and you won’t be disappointed! Here’s what you’ll need: 2 Turkey backs – you can find these in the poultry…
Post Archives:
- August 2022 (1)
- November 2021 (1)
- September 2021 (4)
- June 2021 (1)
- May 2021 (1)
- February 2021 (1)
- December 2020 (1)
- November 2020 (3)
- May 2020 (1)
- April 2020 (1)
- March 2020 (3)
- February 2020 (1)
- January 2020 (1)
- November 2019 (1)
- October 2019 (3)
- September 2019 (2)
- August 2019 (5)
- July 2019 (7)
