A Little Bit Frenchy

~Perfect for Fall JP Style Spicy Curry with Beef, Potatoes and, Carrots~

2018-09-15T19:10:00.003-05:00

I like to eat curry best in the Fall and Winter time when temperatures start to drop. Nothing is as good as curry beef and vegetables on a bed of rice in a bowl.

Out of all the curries in the world, I find that I love Japanese Curry the best. It's just something about the spices they use: Turmeric, Coriander, Fenugreek, Cumin, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Star Anise, Cloves, Cardamo, Fennel, Nutmeg, Laurel Leaves, Allspice and Garlic.

You must be thinking, "Oh my God, all those spices just to make Curry! I just don't have time for that. I don't want to buy all of those spices." Let's face it, good quality spices are not cheap.

Well I cheat! And you can, too! I use S & B Golden Curry blocks or Vermont Curry blocks. I get them from my local grocer.

I also go to my local Japanese Grocery store and get my curry, too! I love the flavor of these and I know I could not even come close to recreating the flavor and aroma.

So, I will show you the shortcut to great Japanese curry that you can get on almost every street corner restaurant in Northern Japan.

The Ingredients

4 oz (1 four piece block) of S & B Hot Curry (8.4 oz box)
*This recipe uses half the box of curry.

1 1/2 lb ground beef (80/20 fat percentage)

1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped

2 large fresh carrots, sliced

2 medium sized par-boiled russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup frozen peas

2 tbsp of cooking oil
2 tbsp of butter

3 1/3 cups filtered water

2 cups dry rice

Makes 6 servings.

Putting it all Together

1. You will want to par-boil your potatoes, whole, ahead of time. I usually do mine the day before and put them in the fridge. I par-boil them for 5 to 8 minutes. Note: If you don't want to par-boil your potatoes, you can steam them with the carrots, see below #3.

2. When you are ready to start your curry, first, start cooking your rice according to the directions on your Rice box. I use a rice cooker for convenience.

3. While the rice is steaming, cut up your carrots into 1/4" slices, then steam or boil them until partially cooked. Crunchy, but doesn't break easily. Note: Steam your vegetable in a steamer pot. Get your water hot, place the vegetables into the steamer basket and steam until vegetables are firm. You don't want mushy vegetables, because they will be cooking more once added to the beef curry.

4. While the rice is cooking you can heat up your dutch oven on the stove top, and chop the potatoes, onions, and celery. Once your oil and butter is hot, saute on medium heat until onions are clear and celery is flexible.

5. Add your ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain off 80% of the fat. Put back on burner, turn to med-low heat. Add your carrots, potatoes, and peas to your ground beef. Cover.

6. Now you will add water so that you can add the curry block to that.

Boil gently and let curry dissolve. Cover and let simmer for 15 more minutes on low heat.

Serve over rice.

Quick Cherry ChiaSeed & Coconut Yogurt

2018-07-10T17:56:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! A real quick and easy recipe here. This has become my new breakfast favorite this week.

I love plain whole fat yogurt

I love cherries

I love unsweet coconut

I love chia seeds

This takes about 10 minutes to make. You can put it together while your coffee is brewing.

I hope you enjoy this and comment below!

Quick Cherry Chia Coconut Yogurt

3/4 cup of plain full fat greek yogurt

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut

6 to 8 fresh cherries

1/2 tablspoon chia seeds

1/2 tsp agave syrup

Preparation

Add your full fat yogurt to your favorite bowl. (non-fat yogurt has more sugar and carbs)

Cut and pit your cherries. Toss on top of the yogurt.

Add your agave syrup.

Toss in the chia seeds.

Top with coconut.

Done!

Crockpot Refried Beans

2018-06-25T11:45:00.000-05:00

You'll be ever so picky with your refried beans after you learn to make these! Even Mama Rosito will ask you for the recipe!

Impress your family on your next Mexican themed dinner night.

Impress your friends at the next social gathering.

Make the church ladies say "Mmmm mmmm, Good God!" at the church potluck!

About the Ingredients:

I like to buy my pinto beans that are in the mid price range at the store. Not all beans are alike. If you compare a bag of the cheapest beans with a bag say that is $1 more, you can see a difference in the size of the beans. The cheaper ones usually are smaller. Also, the color is different. The small beans usually are darker in color. This, of course, are just my observations.

I used a yellow onion in this recipe. Yellow onions cause less crying when cut, do not become mushy when saute'd, and they have the sweetest taste.

These spices, cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, salt n pepper are a must. You probably think, that is all?! Well, it's how much you spice in this recipe, not the variety. I always keep my chili powder in the freezer, to retain the flavor and color. I use Sea Salt. I use ground pepper from my pepper grinder. If you decide to use Garlic Salt, omit the Sea Salt.

~~~~

I like to use my refried beans for breakfast tacos, so I start the beans in the crock pot the night before.

A simple recipe for delicious, hearty refried pinto beans. With just some simple planning you can have delicious beans in 1/2 a day. Your crock pot does most of the work.

Crockpot Refried Beans

Ingredients

A 1 lb (16 oz) bag of dried pinto beans
6 cups of water
2 - 3 tbsp of bacon grease
1 medium sized yellow onion
2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
sea salt
ground pepper

Putting it All Together

Sort the beans, taking out anything that doesn't belong. Rinse. Add the beans and 6 cups of water to the crock pot. Set on low heat and leave overnight, 8 to 10 hours.

After the beans have cooked and are fork tender you must prepare for the final steps.

1. Heat your bacon grease, on low, in a large 5 1/2 quart pot on the stove. I like to use an enameled cast iron pot like Le Creuset or Lodge.

2. While grease is heating, dice your onion.

Cut your onion in half, then cut the half into a quarter. Make sure you cut through the core, keeping your onion together. Then make cuts in the quarter, not cutting into the core. (see above photo)

The make slices going in the opposite direction of the cuts you just made. (see above photo)

Voila. Nice coarse cut onions. Throw them into the bacon grease and get those babies saute'd! (see photo below)

3. Saute the diced onion for 5 minutes, covered on medium heat.

4. While onions are cooking, get part your spices together in a bowl. Add 1 tbsp cumin, 1/2 tbsp garlic, 1/2 tsp of chili powder, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 1/2 tsp pepper.

5. After 5 minutes, take the lid off the pot, stir your onions, add your spices. Stir and continue sauteing for 5 more minutes. Adjust heat as needed.

6. Get your cooked pinto beans and strain them. Reserve 1/2 cup or so of bean juice. Add them to the pot and mash them.

7. Keep mashing! You may want to add some bean juice if they are too thick. Once you have your texture, add the rest of the spices. 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 tbsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder. Mix, stir, taste!

I don't over spice mine, because I may want to use them for a specific dish later. That way I can add my preferred flavors later. i.e. jalapenos, pablanos, etc...

8. Cover, put on low, and simmer for 20 minutes. The spices need to get heated up to release their flavor.

Raspberries and Yogurt Summer Cake

2018-05-20T17:17:00.001-05:00

Summer is just around the corner. Here in South Texas it gets blistering hot!!! The last thing I want to eat is a heavy cake with sticky sweet buttercream frosting. It makes me so thirsty and feeling unsatisfied.

Also, here in South Texas in the summer it is so hot that your buttercream frosting will run off your cake in between the time you get it in your hot car to the time you get to that social event. No good!

This Raspberries and Cream cake is light, refreshing, tangy, and sweet.

It's very easy to make. If you have greek yogurt that is about to expire, this is a great way to use it! I used plain Kirkland Greek yogurt. You could use raspberry greek yogurt, it just may make your batter a bit on the pink side.

My recipe uses frozen raspberries that I strained while making the batter. You can use fresh, too.

Baking tools needed

8" or 10" spring form pan ( I used a 10" pan)
parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan
mixer, bowl, rubber spatula, measuring cups, and spoons

Raspberries & Yogurt Summer Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup or 113 grams of room temperature butter

1 cup or 201 grams of granulated sugar

2 tbsp of granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups or 16 oz of plain greek yogurt (I do not use fat free)

1 tsp almond extract

2 cups or 256 grams of all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups frozen raspberries (or 2 1/2 cups fresh raspberries)

shortening

Baking Times

For aluminum pans, set oven to 350 degrees. Bake 40 to 50 minutes.

For dark or glass pans set oven at 325 degrees. Bake 30 to 40 minutes.

Putting it All Together

1. Strain your frozen raspberries. Put in a sieve and place over a bowl. Set aside. (see photo below)

2. Grease the bottom and sides of your spring form pan with a light layer of shortening.

3. Line the bottom of your pan with parchment paper. Trace around the pan and cut out your paper. (see photo above)

4. Into a large glass, plastic, or metal mixing bowl combine butter, 1 cup of granulated sugar, eggs, greek yogurt, and alomond extract. Mix well until smooth. Scrape side of bowl with a rubber spatula to get everything mixed well.

5. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the yogurt mix. Gently mix on a low speed, or by hand with a mixing spoon. Scrape sides with a rubber spatula to get all mixed well. Mix until combined. Let batter rest 5 minutes.

6. Get your raspberries and add 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar. Mix. Set aside.

7. After batter has rested for 5 minutes, spoon it into the pan. It should be thick and full of air bubbles. Gently even out the batter.

8. By spoonfuls, put the sugared raspberries onto the top of the batter.

9. Put into the center of your preheated oven, carefully. Bake the alloted amount of time.

10. bake until toothpick comes out clean.

11. Take cake out of oven and cool on a baking rack for 15 minutes. Undo hinge on side of pan to open up ring. Remove cake and place on a cake stand.

12. Serve with vanilla ice cream. You can also sprinkle some powdered sugar on each piece of cake as you serve it.

Make it today!!! FABULOUS!!

Pan Fried Panko Chicken Drum Sticks

2018-05-15T20:05:00.001-05:00

Who can resist pan fried chicken?!

1. Mix together equal amounts of Panko Crumbs and Parmesan Cheese. Add Italian Spice Mix to your taste. Mix in a shallow bowl.

2. Fill a Shallow bowl with 1 egg and 1/4 to 1/2 cup of whole milk, or half n half. Dip your chicken drumsticks into the egg and milk.

3. Coat the dipped chicken drum stick into the panko mixture. Set aside onto a seperate plate.

4. Pour 1 to 1 1/2 inches of oil into a heavy bottomed, high sided pan that has a lid.

5. Heat your oil to 375 degrees.

6. When oil is ready, carefully place as much chicken as you can into your oil. Cover and cook for 5 to 8 minutes per side. Be sure to keep your oil temperature around 375 degrees.

7. Cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Delicious Cake Gallery

2018-05-03T13:20:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks I have been down with some kind of cold, sinus infection, or fever. On top of that, I drowned my phone this past Monday and am still waiting on my new Motorola Moto Z Force phone to drop on my doorstep.

So, I thought I would just entertain you with some photos of cakes I made while I had my cake business in Japan. I lived there from 2007 to 2011. I started my cake business in January of 2008.

The first name of my business was Ellabaloo Cakes. A take on the word hullabaloo. The main request was birthday cakes, of course. Birthday cakes in Japan are small and expensive! A 4" round cake can start at the equivalent of $20!

So you can imagine my business boomed and I had plenty of American and Japanese customers. In 2010 I renamed my business American Treats. That went over well and described by business a little better and allowed me to start making large cookies, frosting shots, and cake pops.

I enjoyed my time baking cakes in Japan and all the wonderful people I met. I would do it all over again.

Do I still bake and sell to customers?

Not too often. I work 30 hours a week in a kitchen, so not much time to do so.

Pigs in a blanket on baked beans

2018-04-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

Where do you go when you wrap Spicy sausages in crescent rolls , place them on a cloud of baked beans, and put them into the oven?

Hog heaven!!!

Check out this throw back recipe from one of my earlier blog posts....

Crescent Pig and Beans Casserole

Enjoy!!

Quick Banana Wafer Pudding BAM!!

2018-04-02T17:13:00.001-05:00

Do you only have 2 to 4 hours to get a quick desert put together? Are the In-Laws coming at 5 pm and it's already noon? Did a cake you were making for desert fail?

Well, this can be whipped up in under 30 minutes. Most people have these pantry staple ingredients in their kitchen.

Ingredients

1 Large Box Jell-O Cook & Serve Banana Cream Pudding (NOT INSTANT)

3 Cups Cold Whole Milk (using fat free,reduced fat milk, or skim milk will cause a soft set, or no set at all)

4 to 5 average sized bananas, not too ripe

1 Box of vanilla wafers

1 tub of non-dairy whipped topping

Utensils Needed

1 stainless steel pot

1 clear glass bowl or trifle dish (make sure dish as very vertical sides)

1 whisk

1 large spoon

glass liquid measuring cups

1 Banana Monkey Tree (Just kidding!!)

Putting it All Together

1. Pour your 3 cups of cold milk into a pot set on medium heat. Add your box of banana pudding. Whisk and watch, whisk and watch until you get a medium boil.

Once pudding had come to a boil, let it boil and thicken for just 30 to 45 seconds. It will continue to thicken once off the heat. Set pan aside, off of the heat.

2. Cut up your bananas into slices. I like to take about 3/4 of a banana and coarsely chop it and add it to the cooling pudding, for a little more texture. Set sliced bananas aside.

3. Take your bowl and start lining the bottom with a layer of wafers, a layer of sliced bananas, and then a layer of 1/2 of the pudding.

4. Next start putting your wafers along the side of your bowl. Use the pudding layer to prop them up. See photo above.

5. Then add the flat layer of cookies, then sliced bananas, and then the rest of the banana pudding.

6. Finish the top of the pudding off with whipped topping. As much as you want to use.

7. Garnish with a few wafers and banana slices. Chill for 1 to 2 hours.

Cherry Bomb Jello

2018-03-28T17:56:00.000-05:00

It's here! It's the best! It's Da....Bomb!!!!

Hands down THEE BEST Jello I've ever made! My boyfriend who is not a huge jello fanatic could not get enough of this Cherry Bomb Jello.

It's so easy! It's so quick to put together. It's worth the wait for it to set! Your friends, family, and dinner guests will be amazed at your talent! Amazed at how well you "jello".

Only 3 ingredients! That's right, 3 ingredients!

You will need:

an aluminum, glass, or melamine bowl (a plastic bowl such as from Tupperware will get stained red)

a water cooker or a pot

an aluminum spoon (do not use plastic or bamboo as it will get stained)

measuring cups

a jello mold (you can also use a bundt pan)

Ingredients

2 boxes (3 oz each) of Cherry Jell-o

2 cups boiling water

15 oz of cherry pie filling

Putting it all together

1. Heat 2 cups of water in the water cooker or pot until boiling. Carefully pour your hot water into your bowl.

2. Stir your 6 oz of jello mix into the hot water. Stir for 2 minutes. Make sure you get the Jell-o that sinks to the bottom of the bowl. Keep stirring until all is dissolved.

3. Add your pie filling into the liquid jell-o. Stir carefully until the cherry syrup is dissolved.

4. Make sure you have a spot clear in your refrigerator at this point.

5. Pour it into your mold. If your mold isn't full, carefully add some cold water to your jell-o mix to get the amount you need to fill your mold. ONLY up to 1 Cup, though!!

6. Chill at least 4 hours! No moving it!

7. To release the jello from the mold easily, hold it in a bath of hot water for 10 to 20 seconds before unmolding it.

Seasonal Tips:

Halloween: Add some red, black and orange gummy worms, skulls, and plastic spiders to creep it up!

Valentines Day: Add red and pink gummy bears and hearts

Christmas: Add green and red gummy bears

Thanks to Just a Pinch Recipes for inspiring me to make this recipe.

Make a Black Bean Burger now! It's so easy.

2018-03-14T15:02:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I found myself in a peculiar situation. I had no meat ready for dinner. Oh I had meat, but it was frozen. So, what's a girl to do for dinner???

Pantry shopping! I went pantry shopping. I found black beans. I always buy them in bulk at Costco. I love black beans. I love black bean burgers. So why not make them?!

And so..... I did!

Time to make the burgers!

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PRINT THE BLACK BEAN BURGER RECIPE HERE

Ingredients

2 cans of black beans (15 oz each) (425 grams)

1/2 to 1 cup bread crumbs (113 to 225 grams)

1 large egg

1/4 cup diced or minced white onions (56.7 grams)

Spices

1 tablespoon cumin

1/2 tablespoon parsley

1/2 tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon pepper

salt to taste

hot sauce to taste

5 hamburger buns

4 tablespoons soft butter

2 tablespoons avocado oil/canola oil/olive oil

cheddar cheese

Preparation

1. Open your cans of beans and drain them, BUT don't Rinse! The starch will help keep the beans together when forming the patties. Put them into a bowel.

2. Mash the beans by hand with a fork. This way you will have mashed beans, but also you will have some whole beans, which will give the burger texture.

3. Once your beans are mashed add your egg, onions, spices, hot sauce, and 1/2 cup of the bread crumbs. I used Ranch Flavored. Mix together with a spoon or by hand.

4. Check the consistency of your mix. It needs to stick together, but not be wet. Keep adding bread crumbs until you can work the beans into a somewhat sticky dry patty.

5. Using a kitchen scale, measure out 4 ounces of beans. Shape your patties. Set aside on a plate.

6. Butter the inside of your buns with 3 tablespoons of soft butter.

Note:

When cooking beef patties, they tend to shrink from their original size. With bean patties, this will not happen. What you put in the pan in the beginning is what your will take out at the end, size wise. Make sure your patties fit your buns. Make sure your buns fit your patties.

6. Add the oil and 1 tablespoon of butter in your skillet (I used cast iron) on medium-low heat. You will want to warm them up all the way through, but not burn the outside. This takes time.

7. At the same time heat up a comal or skillet to toast the buns, on medium-low heat. You will brown the insides of your buns to a golden brown. Keep warm in oven at 185 degrees.

8. Place your patties in your skillet. Fry each side 4 to 6 minutes or longer on medium-low heat. You can use a food thermometer and look for 135 degrees or higher.

You should get abut 5 patties.

If you want to melt the cheese, just put all of your patties on a plate, top with cheese slices, and pop into the microwave for 30 seconds or so.

Bon appetit!

Shrimp Fry w/ Louisiana brand

2018-03-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year where most people can go outside and enjoy the nice weather. We had such weather last weekend here in South Texas. It was also my Birthday , so wanted to do something special.

My boyfriend had been wanting to buy a fryer he had seen at our local grocery store. Well, lit finally came on sale, so he went and bought it. We also bough frozen cod and fresh shrimp.

We used grape seed oil in the fryer.

I am going to focus on the shrimp for this blog post.

I used Louisiana Seasoned Crispy Shrimp fry.

First you make a wet mix for dipping the shrimp into, then you roll the dipped shrimp into dry shrimp fry mix.

I let them sit for about 10 minutes before putting them in the fryer. This lets the shrimp coating bind together and stick to the shrimp.

Fry them at 350 degrees and fry about 3 minutes...just until golden brown. This time will depend on the size of your shrimp. We had about a pound of shrimp with 16 to 20 shrimp.

Wilton 5 layer cake kit results

2018-01-18T21:56:00.000-06:00

This last Christmas I received Wilton's Easy Layers Cake Pan Set. It is a 5 layer cake mix set! My brother knows I love to bake so this was a great gift to receive from him.

This past Tuesday we had an Ice Day at my school, so no work for me! I decided to give this cake pan set a try. * I found a few videos on you tube, but not enough to know much about it.

So I just used a Betty Crocker white cake mix. There are recipes that came with the set, but I chose the easy way since it is called Easy Layers!

The directions say that if you are using a cake mix that you will put approximately 3/4 cups of batter into each greased pan. It ended up being 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons into each pan. I greased my pans with Crisco Butter Flavor shortening.

Below are photos of the process I went through.

After mixing the batter, I measured out 5 bowls with 4/3 cup and 2 tablespoons of cake batter.

I added my food coloring to each bowl of batter.

I baked the cakes at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes.

This is how they looked after baking. Not bad.

The release wasn't so good. Each layer stuck,somewhat, even though I had greased the layers.

This is said to be a "non-stick" cake pan set. I've been baking cakes for years and I have

never had a cake stick so badly in a greased pan.

So, on to the decorating part of this adventure. I used a Marshmallow Buttercream Frosting. I needed some part of this cake to be from scratch.

I had to do a crumb coat due to most of my layers having to be pieces together a bit due to sticking in the pans.

This is the final result.

The colors came out very nicely. It's hard to see the frosting in between.

It had slight "Leaning Tower of Pisa" syndrome.

Not so bad. My bottom layer was the worst with sticking, as you can see.

I hope you enjoyed this demonstration.

*I am in no way affiliated with Wilton.com or Wilton products. I am not being paid for this demonstration.

Roasted Cauliflower Chicken and White Wine Soup

2018-01-15T13:00:00.000-06:00

Updated 03/14/2018

It's now very cold around most of the United States, so it is officially "soup season"!! Here is one that is for all cauliflower lovers out there. For those who lead a keto lifestyle, a vegetarian lifestyle, or a eatatarian lifestyle.

It is easy to do. You just need a head of cauliflower, some chicken or vegetable broth, some milk or non-dairy milk, and some sherry or white wine.

You can also choose the type of oil you want to use. You could use sesame oil, to give it that roasted sesame seed taste, or you could go with olive oil, to make it a bit Italian style. I chose avocado oil because I get a good price on it at Costco, and it has no flavor at all and a high heat index.

Ingredients

1 head fresh cauliflower, cut into small florets

2 tbsp of cooking oil of your choice

1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

2 tbsp sherry or white wine

a tsp of sea salt or kosher salt

black pepper to your taste

1/4 cup to 3/4 cup whole milk, half n half, or non-dairy milk

Putting it all together

Oven: 350 degrees Prep time: 20 minutes Roasting time: 20 to 30 minutes

1. Cut your cauliflower with a sharp vegetable knife. Cut Close to the stock, first cutting off large florets, then cutting those down into smaller florets. (You can put aside the leaves for vegetable broth or sauteed cauliflower leaves.)

2. Then cut those big florets down into smaller florets.

(You can put aside the leaves for vegetable broth or sauteed cauliflower leaves.)

3. Toss cauliflower in your oil, then place it all on a baking sheet.

4. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes. Checking every 10 minutes to make sure it doesn't over roast. Allow to cool slightly.

5. Using a food processor and then an immersion blender, pulse your roasted cauliflower with the chicken or vegetable broth, sherry or white wine, salt and pepper and milk or non-diary milk. Note: add milk while blending so you can get the consistency that your want.

5. Once blended in food processor, pour soup into a pot and put on your stove over low heat. Continue to blend with your immersion blender, adding milk as needed, or more broth. Heat until hot. Serve.

Chocolate Chip & Fruit Cookie Treasures

2018-01-05T12:08:00.000-06:00

Egg free and nut free.

These cookies are a delicious twist on the tradition chocolate chip cookie. There are no nuts or eggs in my adapted recipe. Your children (young and old) will just love these. Mine went head over heels and ate 3 dozen in a few days. You can also make these for social events and for your local bake sale.

The main ingredient in this recipe is sweetened condensed milk. So here is a bit on the American history of Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Sweetened condensed milk has been around since 1856. It's creator, Gail Borden, wanted to reduce food poisoning and other illnesses due to lack of refrigeration. The Civil War made Borden a household name.

In 1931 Borden had a contest offering housewives $25 for their original recipes using sweetened condensed milk. Today that is the equivalent of $375!!! Wow!!!

For more on the history of Sweetened Condensed milk follow this link!

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Ingredients

2 cups (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 tsp baking powder

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup dried cranberries

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 ^1/3 cup sweet coconut flakes

1 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs

½ cup flour

Prep time: 10 minutes Bake time: 10 minutes Yield: 3 dozen

Heat oven to 375

Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper or do not grease and leave off paper.

1. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, flour, and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Beat the sweetened condensed milk and butter in a large bowl until smooth.

3. Add the flour crumb mixture until well combined.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips, cranberries, and coconut. Batter will be

very thick and stick to beaters.

5. Drop by slightly rounded teaspoons, about 1 ½ inches apart, onto your cookie sheet.

6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

Recipe adapted from eaglebrand.com

Olive and Tomato Tortilla Pinwheels

2017-12-31T11:40:00.005-06:00

A quick appetizer for the On the Go Host

It seems another year has come and almost gone! It's been a year of joy, happiness, a new job, and comfort. Not so happy thingsalso happened, but out of the sadness I enjoy the happiness even more.

I haven't posted since early November due to a 3 week dance with Bronchitis and then a 2 week dance with bursitis. I use my hands, arms, and shoulders daily as a food prep person, so it is repeated use. I guess my shoulder got overused and flipped me off"! LOL!

In an attempt to end 2017 on a foody note, I made up this recipe of Olive and Tomato Tortilla Pinwheels on the fly for our Christmas Day Buffet. I wanted simple delicious finger foods for my guests and easy clean up for us.

Our other buffet items were:

Laura's Meatballs*
Crock pot BBQ Pulled Pork* with Rhodes Yeast Rolls
Trader Joe's mixed crackers
Honeyed Goat cheese mixed with sour cream topped with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce*
Cheese and mini crostini
Olives, green olives, and marinated cauliflower
Vegetable plate with homemade ranch dip*
Ciabatta bread
Hot Artichoke Dip*
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie*
Soft Sugar Cookies*

*Recipes I can post in 2018.

It was a simple buffet and enjoyed by all.

So I give this to you to use as a New Year's Eve appetizer and then in 2018 as a quick on the fly, guests coming at the last minute, Sunday football appetizer.

Olive and Tomato Tortilla Pinwheels

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp sundried tomato paste or pesto
2 to 3 tbsp of parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped black olives

2 small Roma tomatoes, chopped and seeds removed
1 tsp fresh basil
5 burrito sized tortillas ( mine are 9")

Putting it all together:

1. Mix all ingredients, except the tortillas, together in a bowl.

2. Using a thin spatula, or cake frosting spatula, spread about 1 to 2 ounces of cream cheese mix onto the tortilla. Spread all the way to the edges.

3. Firmly roll up the tortilla. Set aside.

4. Do this for the remaining 4 tortillas.

5. Once you have rolled all 5 tortillas, put them in a large plastic zipper bag and put in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. This will firm up the cream cheese so they cut better and don't get squished.

6. When chilled, cut slices from each tortilla using a Serrated Knife. Cut in a sawing motion so that you don't squish the tortilla, thus getting your round pinwheel shape. I usually do a finger and a half width.

Happy New Year 2018!!!

Chocolate Red Chili Zucchini Cake

2017-11-18T09:19:00.000-06:00

In the beginning of October, my boyfriend and I travelled to Las Cruces, NM from Texas. We fell in love with the area. The beautiful buttes, the blue skies, the colorful sunsets, and the famous NM red and green chilis.

When I got home I found a great site called I am New Mexico. I found this most excellent chocolate cake recipe and decided to give it a try.

You may want to make this for the upcoming holidays. Thanksgiving and Christmas can be a fun time to experiment. And a way to make new recipes become part of your cherished recipe traditions.

Chocolate Red Chili Zucchini Cake
Find Printable Recipe Here

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with shortening or butter. Also line with parchment paper if you are removing the cake from the pan.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups sifted flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup vegetable/canola oil

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp NM red chili powder/or chili powder (add more to taste)

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups grated zucchini

6 ounces chopped white bark

Putting it all together

Grate your zucchini and set aside.

Sift together, into a medium bowl, the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter, vegetable oil, and sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Next, beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is mixed in well each time.

Next, add the vanilla and the chili powder. Stir until incorporated.

Mix in the dry ingredients, while alternating with the buttermilk. Start with the dry and end with the dry.

Add your grated zucchini. Gently stir just until mixed.

Pour into your 9 x 13 pan.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes.

Cool on wire rack. Add chopped white bark to top of cake. Let melt, then spread.

Recipe adapted from I am New Mexico.com

Baked Apple Brown Sugar Crisps

2017-11-04T12:07:00.001-05:00

Autumn means a new harvest of apples!!! What better way to enjoy them then in a crispy, sweet crunchy sort of way. Today I will show you the way I like to do them. Then you can make them and enjoy them with you and your family.

Look at those beautifully sliced apples!!! I used Gala apples. They are my favorite. I suggest visiting The Farmer's Almanac Best Apple Baking Guide to learn more about baking with apples. That way you can get a better, firmer, crispier apple crisp as the end result.

To Start: Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Ingredients
Apples
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg (ground or fresh)

Tools
Mandolin
Small grater (if using fresh nutmeg)
Baking Sheets
Parchment Paper
Mixing Bowl

Putting it All Together

1. Rinse and dry your apples and cut out any brown spots.

2. Slice your apples with your mandolin cutter. Slice them carefully and thinly. If the slices are too thick you will not get the required crunch. Remove any seeds that you see. (DO NOT CORE YOUR APPLES)

3. Mix together enough brown sugar for the amount of apples that you sliced. Add cinnamon and nutmeg to your taste.

I like to use fresh nutmeg and use a small grater to get finely ground nutmeg.

4. Gently coat apple slices in the brown sugar spice mixture. Be careful when coating, if you are too rough you will break your apples slices. I know,this happened to me more than a few times

5. Now prepare your pans and oven. Your oven should be heated to 300 degrees by now so prepare your pans by lining them with parchment paper. Also, if you have 3 oven racks, use them all.

6. Place your spiced sugared apple slices on your baking sheets. Prepare them all at the same time.

7. Put them all into your 300 degree oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then flip apple slices over. At this point keep baking, but check them every 10 minutes until you get your desired doneness. Let cool.

Then You're DONE!!!!

Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge and Peanut Butter Brownies

2017-10-25T18:00:00.000-05:00

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

Only three words need to be used to describe these brownies:

Easy
Chocolate
Peanut Butter

This is a quick way to upgrade brownies using a Ghirardelli Brownie mix. Each box has a pouch of prepared fudge that you spread over your baked brownies. I buy these from Amazon Prime Now. But, I know you can find this at your local grocer, also. With Prime Now, I get them in two hours and I am off and running making these quick, yet delicious brownies. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to prepare and another 45 minutes to bake. So 1 hour!!!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 39 to 48 minutes

Pan Size and Preparation: 8" x 8" lightly grease with cooking spray, butter, or shortening

Oven Temperature: 350 degrees

INGREDIENTS

1 Box Ghirardelli Chocolate Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix with fudge packet - 18 oz box

1/4 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 tbsp instant espresso powder
Reese's Peanut Butter Chips - as needed to decorate top

Turn on your oven, prepare your pan and set it aside. Next place water, oil, egg, and the instant espresso powder in a medium bowl and stir until fully mixed. I use my Kitchen aide mixer on speed 5 and let it mix for about 90 seconds. Add the brownie mix and stir until well blended. Do not overmix!!! 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on speed 4 is fine. Spread into your prepared 8" x 8" pan. Make sure it is level and push a little extra into each corner so it doesn't burn. Set aside.

Next, prepare the peanut butter by putting 1/2 cup into a small bowl or ramiken. Put it in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time. You want to get it warm enough so that it runs off a spoon smoothly in a rippling way. (see photo)

Take your warm peanut butter and put 5 spoonfuls (1 in each corner and one in the middle) into the brownie mix in your 8x8 pan. Then make streaks using a fork with the peanut butter into the brownie mix. (see photo). Put pan into hot oven and bake.

Bake Time: For a metal pan bake 39 to 43 minutes. For a glass pan bake 44 - 48 minutes. Bake on the middle rack of your oven for best results. Do not overbake! Inserted toothpick should have a few bits of brownies clinging to it. This is done!!! Fresh-baked brownies will appear underbaked, but while cooling on rack, will finish baking.

The Final Touches: Once the brownies come out of the oven, let cool for 10 to 20 minutes. The cake needs to be warm, not hot. When you drizzle the packet of fudge over the top, you don't want it to melt too much, so you can get a good drizzle pattern. Place the Reese's Peanut Butter chips on top of the fudge drizzle. EAT!!!

Halloween Decorating

2017-10-11T15:50:00.002-05:00

Hello all! Just a few photos of my Halloween Decorations in my dining room.

These are my TY kitties! I love them! In the background is artwork by Amy Brown. The goblets on each side were given to me from my mom. They are from the 1970's.

These two photos are of our mini-bar.

The mini-bar is a Beautility, circa late 1950's. It is made in the shape of a triangle so that it fits into a corner. Genius!!

I topped it with our favorite liquours for Halloween drinks. L to R: Kahlua Salted Caramel, Frangelico, DeKuypers Apricot Schnapps, and DeKuypers Creme Cocoa!

The blue candle holder is also mid-century.

These next four photos are of the dining table. I've chosen two of my favorite Halloween likes; Ravens and Skulls.

Here I have Jack Skellington hanging out with my Kitty and Ghost playing with pumpkin snow globe. No joke, I got it at Dollar Tree a couple years back! I've placed them on a mirror to give them an illusion of floating.

Here is my raven hanging out with Black Cat guarding her pumpkin. This is a Jim Shore snow globe that I got at a local Christmas Shoppe. I found it in summer and paid half price!

This is my Raven in a Tree candelabra. It holds three candles. A Raven hangs out on branch, looking for Edgar. I put skulls at the base.

A close-up of my Raven.

This is my wood and metal cat. He sits at the bottom of the stairs keeping watch for ghosts and ghouls that may try creep up.

Below is my Halloween collection by Hamilton Collection

Japanese Style Easy Golden Curry

2017-10-03T13:34:00.003-05:00

I lived in Northern Japan for four years. While I was there I discovered Japanese Curry. I've had German Curry and Indian Curry, also. I find that I love Japanese Curry the best. It's just something about the spices they use;

Turmeric, Coriander, Fenugreek, Cumin, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Star Anise, Cloves, Cardamon, Fennel, Nutmeg, Laurel Leaves, Allspice and Garlic.

I like to eat curry best in the Fall and Winter time when temperatures start to drop. Nothing is so good as curry beef and vegetables on a bed of rice in a bowel.

I confess, though that I don't make my curry from scratch. I use S&B Golden Curry, mild, blocks. I love the flavor of these and I know I could not even come close to recreating the flavor and aroma.

So, I will show you the shortcut to great Japanese curry that you can get on almost every street corner restaurant in Northern Japan.

The Ingredients

(For the Curry)

8.5 oz (1 four piece block) of S&B Golden Curry Sauce

2 1/4 lb ground beef (80/20 fat percentage)

4 medium yellow onions, chopped

2 large carrots, sliced

3 medium sized golden potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 tbsp cooking oil or butter

6 cups water

(For the Rice)

2 cups dry rice

4 cups water

Putting it all together

1. Start cooking your rice first by putting your rice and water into a rice maker and cooking until finished. Set aside, keep warm.

2. Cut your carrots and potatoes, then start steaming them. Steam your vegetable in a steamer pot. Get your water hot, place the vegetables into the steamer basket and steam until vegetables are firm. You don't want mushy vegetables, because they will be cooking more once added to the beef curry. Set aside all your vegetables.

3. Cut up your onions into bite size cubes, set aside.
4. Heat up a large dutch oven or high sided pan on medium heat and add your cooking oil or butter.
5. When oil starts to shimmer, or butter is melted add your onions. Cook until onions are transparent.
6. Add the ground beef, cook on medium high until browned.

7. Drain off 75% of the fat from the beef.
8. Add your steamed vegetables.

9. Add the 6 cups of water.
10. Add your block of curry (break into the four pieces)

11. Stir until curry is completely melted. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes, covered. 12. Serve over rice.

Cherry Chocolate Blondies

2017-09-01T11:26:00.001-05:00

These are DA Bomb!!

Notes
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Bake Time: 25 to 35 minutes
Tools: 9" x 13" baking pan
Oven 350 degrees

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup (8 oz) of dark chocolate pieces
1 cup, pitted whole fresh or canned cherries (do not chop)

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

1. Line your 9 X 13 pan with aluminum foil. Make sure it goes up the sides and over the edges. Grease the foil with shortening or butter. Set aside. In a medium saucepan heat brown sugar and butter over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Take off of burner and cool slightly ( 5 minutes).

2. Stir in eggs, one at a time, to the butter and sugar. Add vanilla.

3. In a small bowel mix together flour, baking powder and the baking soda. Stir into sugar mix.

4. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Spread the batter in to your prepared pan and make level.

6. Place your pitted cherries gently onto the top batter. They will stick out a bit.

7. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out 95% clean.

Cool on wire rack. Makes 36 bars.

Pauls Pumpkin Bars

2017-09-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

The best pumpkin bars ever for chilly Autumn days, Fall Festivals, bake sales, and Halloween parties!
by allrecipes.com user Deb Martin

Bar Ingredients

4 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
1 can plain pumpkin puree (or fresh)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg (fresh grated if possible)
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Frosting Ingredients

2 cups confectioners sugar
3 ounces of softened cream cheese (no low fat pls)
1/2 cup softened butter
1 tsp. vanilla, butter, or maple extract

Putting it All Together

Preheat oven to 350 F
Grease a 9x13 or 10x15 pan with shortening or Pam (the spray, not your neighbor)

Mix all together eggs, sugar, oil, pumpkin and
vanilla until quite fluffy and very orange.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking
soda, salt, and spices.

Grate your own fresh Nutmeg, if possible.
I get mine at World Market. It is so worth
the price of a few dollars.

Sift together all your beautiful spices and
baking agents with your all-purpose flour.

Stir your sifted flour into your
very orange pumpkin mix. Beautiful!

Pour into greased pan.
I used a glass 9x13 this time.

Bake 20 - 30 minutes (this will depend on the pan you use)

Cool on wire rack on counter until completely room temp.

In the mean time, make Paul's buttercream frosting.

2 cups confectioners sugar
3 ounces of softened reg cream cheese (NO low fat )
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1 tbsp. milk*
1 tsp. vanilla, butter, or maple extract

Cream butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar, milk, and extract. Beat until smooth and spreadable. Add milk if too thick.

*You can also use a yummy seasonal alcohol like caramel salted vodka in place of milk to add a kick to the frosting.

Enjoy!

Lemon Jello Cake with Lime Glaze

2017-08-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

This is my Grandma Roselle Grunewald's Lemon Jello Cake. I've updated the recipe with a modern twist of Lime glaze made with Luchhador Lime Margarita Mix.

My grandma was a great cook, she used her hands to mix almost everything! She was featured in the local Corpus Christi, TX newspaper in the 1950's for her advanced homemaking and baking skills.

She cooked from scratch, but she also took shortcuts.

Cake mixes were one of those shortcuts. Plus, it was the newest greatest invention for the busy housewife back in mid-century America.

The original recipe that I am playing off of is called Lemon Jello Cake.

So, I present to you my version: Lemon Jello Cake with Lime Glaze...............

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 25 minutes
Baking Temperature: 350 degrees

Ingredients for the cake

1 box White Cake Mix (any brand)
1 package Lemon Jello (small box)
1/2 Cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
1 Cup water
4 large eggs

Ingredients for the Glaze

3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp lime margarita mix
powdered (confectioners) sugar

Putting it All Together

The Cake

Grease a 9 x 13 pan with shortening.

Mix all the cake ingredients together: cake mix,
lemon jello, oil, water, and eggs. Mix on medium speed for 3 to 4 minutes.

Pour into your greased pan. Bake.

Let cake cool completely before making the glaze.

The Glaze

Put butter and margarita mix in a small pot on medium heat.
Melt together. Once melted add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at
a time. You should have a thin to medium consistency.

Let heat through on a very low boil for 1 minute.

Immediately glaze cake as it will harden quickly when cooled.

I know you will enjoy baking this cake.

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Please post your comments and photos of this cake below!

Skinny Cottage Pie

2017-08-15T15:08:00.000-05:00

The French call the Cottage or Shepherd's Pie the Hachis Parmentier. It was named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier who was a French pharmacist, an inventor, and a nutritionist.

He lived during the late 18th century. He promoted the Hachis Parmentier pie to make the Potato become known as an edible crop in France.

The Cottage Pie is related to the Shepherd's Pie. While the Shepherd's Pie contains Lamb, the Cottage Pie contains Beef.

INGREDIENTS

1.5 pounds of Ground Beef (80/20)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of salted butter
1/2 onion coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup carrots, coarsely chopped
2 - 3 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper, seasoning of choice
1 small bag Idahoan instant potatoes
cooked peas

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

1. Saute the vegetables - Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a large pan over medium/high heat. Add the chopped onions, carrots, and bell peppers. Saute about 6 to 10 minutes. Put aside in a bowel.

2. Cook the ground beef - Add remaining butter and fry beef in a large pan on medium/high heat, add seasonings. When beef is half-way cooked (still some pink showing), add the saute'd veggies. Add Worcestershire sauce at this time. Finish cooking until no pink is showing.

3. Baking the Pie - Set oven to 375 degrees. Put beef mix into a pie pan. Bake until juices run clear. 25 to 35 minutes.

4. Preparing the potatoes - Prepare the Idahoan Instand Mashed potatoes according to the directions on the package. Set aside.

5. Topping the Cottage Pie - Once you have taken the beef pie out of the oven set the oven to BROIL. Top your beef pie with the mashed potatoes. Make them swirly and cloudy looking! Add some cooked peas onto the top of the mashed potatoes.

6. Broil - Put the pie back into the oven and broil until the edges of the potatoes become golden brown.

7. Serve with a side of peas! Friggen' enjoy!

Caramel Popcorn

2017-08-12T18:59:00.000-05:00

....because it's only 40 days until Autumn, Fall, colored leaves, apples, pumpkins, and crisp fresh air.

Caramel popcorn is one of my favorite Fall comfort foods. I always have the ingredients in my pantry.

Make Caramel Popcorn for:

Fall bakes sales
Harvest fests
Halloween parties
Movie night
Christmas Gifts
School Lunches
Sleepovers

OK, so let's get this Caramel Popcorn making party going!

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Oven Temp: 250 degrees

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter

1 cups light brown sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp real vanilla extract

2 1/2 quarts popped popcorn (about 10 cups popped)

( 1 tablespoon of popcorn kernels equals 1 cup popped popcorn)

(you will need to pop 10 tablespoons of popcorn kernels)

Enough oil to cover popcorn kernels in a single layer in your heavy kettle.

LET'S GET POPPING!

If you have a large heavy kettle with a lid, use that! I prefer to use my Le Crueset dutch oven. You will see why in a bit.

Put your large lidded pot on the stove and have your temperature at medium/high to start. Put your 10 tablespoons of popcorn kernels into the bottom of the pot. Make sure it is in a single layer.

Pour in enough oil just to cover the tops of the kernels. (see left)

As you begin to hear the kernels popping, shake your
pot.

Keep listening. Leave the lid
a bit open (see right).

Keep listening and shaking.

Lower your heat to medium so that you do not burn
the popped corn.

Once the popping has stopped, take off heat and leave lid on. This will keep the corn warm.

Heat your oven to 250 degrees.

TIME TO MAKE THE CARAMEL COATING!

Step 1. In a small sauce pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Then stir in the light brown sugar, the light corn syrup, and the sea salt. Stir until dissolved.

Step 2. Turn heat up to medium/high. Stirring constantly, bring sugar mix to a boil. Stop stirring! Let boil for 4 minutes. Make sure it does NOT boil over.

STEP 3. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and the vanilla. Remove the lid that is covering your popped corn and pour the caramel mixture into the warm popped corn. (You should keep the popcorn warm for best results when adding the hot caramel mix).

STEP 4. Mix caramel coating with the popcorn using a rubber spatula. This will keep from breaking your popcorn into tiny pieces. Mix until all of the popcorn is coated.

STEP 5. Transfer caramel corn to a
9 x 13 cake pan or roasting pan. Put in preheated 250 degree oven on center rack.

STEP 6. Stir mixture every 15 minutes. Bake 1 hour for crispy popcorn. Bake 45 minutes for chewy popcorn.

STEP 7. Once fairly cool, you can begin to put popcorn into a tin for storage or a bowel for serving.

Store in a cool dry place with a tight lid.

This recipe adapted from allrecipes.com (user: BS4U2C)