Dinner: Beef with Broccoli and Dessert: Pecan Tassies

I made dinner and dessert last night while blaring music over my iPod at high volume, because the fire alarm in our bedroom was going off. The past two days, I have arrived home to five blaring fire alarms. No fire, no smoke, just annoying beeping. The only way to stop the noise is to physically remove the fire alarms. I can't figure out what is setting them off. Perhaps the cold weather has something to do with it, but I'm not sure. Of course, as my luck would have it, the fire alarm in our bedroom is too high for me to reach, even with a ladder. Luckily I could tune it out with music. But it was a long few hours until Scott got home.

Here are recipes from last night's dinner and dessert (belated Christmas baking):

Beef With Broccoli Stir-Fry from www.recipezaar.com

25 min | 15 min prep

SERVES 4

3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1/2 cup water, plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 lb boneless top sirloin steak, sliced thin
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
4 cups broccoli florets
1 small onion, sliced thin
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
hot cooked rice

1. In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth. Add beef and toss.
2. In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.
3. Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes. Return beef to pan.
4. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Serve over rice.

Pecan Tassies

Makes 24

3 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup flour
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tspn vanilla

1. Mix cream cheese, butter, and flour until it forms a dough. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
2. Mix remaining ingredients.
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
4. Form dough into 24 small balls and shape into small muffin tins.
5. Spoon filling into dough.
6. Bake 25-30 minutes.