She spends all day running four Kansas City haunted houses — making sure the ghouls are grotesque enough, the props are bloody enough and visitors will be sufficiently frightened.

But all Sherri Petz really wants is a great home-cooked meal. And she knows just what she wants.

Soups, stroganoffs and stews are on the menu this time of year and Sherri’s meals always get rave reviews.

Want to try a Spooky Stroganoff? Click here for Sherri’s recipe and other ghoulishly delicious dishes from her haunted kitchen. And try using this beef next time – it’s to die for!

No snakes or eyeballs necessary. Unless you really want to add them, that is.

Have a wonderful, safe and appetite-satisfying Halloween!

Photo courtesy of KansasCity.com.

Ooooo! Steak tips! Oooooo! Mushroom sauce! And what? Egg noodles?

I must have died and gone to heaven.

This is one of my absolute favorite meals. But I’ve never tried it with thyme or quite this way.

I can practically smell the onions, shallots and garlic cooking now. Can’t wait to try this one!

Little tip:  Wanna skip the cutting of the steak and ensure your beef is really, really tender? Try these already-sliced tenderloin tips.

Steak Tips with Peppered Mushroom Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light January 2010

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 3 cups uncooked egg noodles
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound top sirloin steak, cut into 3/4-inch pieces, fat trimmed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
• 1 (10-ounce) package presliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (optional)

Preparation

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain.
2. While noodles cook, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak; sauté 5 minutes, browning on all sides.
3. Remove from pan; cover.
4. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes.
5. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in Worcestershire Sauce. Sprinkle flour over mushroom mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
6. Gradually add broth, stirring constantly with a whisk.
7. Add pepper, salt, and thyme sprigs.
8. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened. Return beef to pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.
9. Discard thyme sprigs. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired.

Photo and recipe courtesy of ElizabethsEdibleExperience.Blogspot.com.

Er, I mean, what a difference a year makes.

Last year at this time, I was preparing to go on a road trip to Florida where we spent a week with family celebrating the holidays.

You can read about our adventures here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

I’m telling ya, there was lots of good food to be had. Like this . . .

Beef tenderloin tips. Good stuff.

But this year, there will be no road trip. There’s a little thing called a recession going on. I don’t know if you’ve heard about it.

But after saving up for a very long time for last year’s beachside holiday adventure, it seemed out of the question this year. And indeed it is.

We had our food shipped to our door in Florida last year. And what a treat it was to have good, quality food right there at our fingertips. We KNEW the meat would be fabulous. And it was.

I hate playing a guessing game with the meat at the local supermarket in a town I’m not too familiar with. Heck, I don’t like it in towns I AM familiar with. So, we ordered what we wanted and it all came to us when we needed it. Like magic.

The good thing is, I can get that same quality anywhere I am in the country. So now that I’m home for the holidays this year, I’m having it delivered to my house. Um, which is not beachside in Florida. Boo.

We’re going to have a turkey, ham and all the trimmings on Christmas Day — and steaks! on Christmas Eve. And I will not be standing in line at the supermarket with the rest of humanity for it all.

Merry Christmas to me!!!

And happy holidays to you. The countdown at our house has begun . . .