Hey Paw! What's for supper?

Delicious Easter jello with home made pudding, marshmallows and cheddar cheese

2012-02-21T23:28:00.000-05:00

Delicious Easter jello with home made pudding, marshmallows and cheddar cheese

This recipe is one of my most viewed. It's on every update reporting my Stat's for the week. Since, Easter is on it's way, I thought I'd re-post.
Oh, one more note, even though the cheese sounds like it might not be so good, it is delicious. You can not imagine how well this combination is. My Grandma is a genius!! :)

One of my most favorite deserts is my Grandma's jello salad. She made up this recipe and it is a family favorite.

I use different variations of this Jello salad, but the same technique Grandma taught me. The home made pudding is out of this world. It is very easy to make.

When my husband first saw this jello salad, he wasn't sure what to think. He told me he didn't think the cheese was such a good idea, he didn't think he'd like it. His mind was quickly changed once he took a taste. Don't write this off because you think the cheese will not be good, it is wonderful.
I found these cute, rabbit shaped, marshmallows and decided to use them since it is Easter. They are hidden a little in the cheese, but it's still a cute presentation.

This recipe makes a lot of Jello Salad. I cut it in half and I have fun with the combinations of jello and fruit. I also use the flavored marshmallows to mix things up a bit. Kids love this, and adults do too!

My Grandma makes this a lot, and she always adds different kinds of fruit with the pineapples. Her favorite type of fruit to add are bananas. I'm allergic to bananas! I went to her house and she told me she made her jello salad. I cut myself a piece then put it right back in the pan. I went back into the living room with no jello. She was just about to ask me why, when her eyes got all big and she said BANANAS! A few weeks later she made the jello again. This time she didn't add banana's and was happy to tell me that. I was so glad I could have a slice of her jello salad. I get a slice and there were some odd looking fruit pieces mixed in with the pineapple, just to be sure I asked what they were, Mango. I'm allergic to mango too. So, I had to learn how to make it myself, or I'd never get any I could eat! Ha Ha.
The first recipe is Grandma's actual Jello Salad. The ingredients I used for the salad pictured are listed below. Feel free to experiment with flavor combinations.

Grandma's Jello Salad:

1 regular package Lemon Jello
1 regular package Orange Jello
can crushed pineapple
1 bag mini marshmallows
Orange Juice
2 TB. sugar
3 TB. flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 pint whipping cream (or 8oz. Cool Whip)
Grated cheddar cheese

Prepare Jello according to package
Drain pineapple and reserve the juice
Add pineapple to jello
Pour into glass dish
Cover with mini marshmallows and refrigerate to gel

Add orange juice to pineapple juice to make 1 cup

Pour into sauce pan

Add sugar, flour, and beaten egg

Cook over medium heat until pudding like, stir constantly
Remove from heat and allow to cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally
Once room temp., refrigerate until ready to add to Jello salad

Put whipping cream in a bowl and add lemon juice

Fold in the pudding mixture, whip together (if using whipped topping, then mix into pudding mixture)

Put on top of marshmallows then grate cheese on top

Refrigerate until ready to serve

Easter Jello Pudding ingredients:

Raspberry jello

Bunny shaped Marshmallows

Fruit cocktail drained, reserve the juice to use for the pudding

Sambosay Goshti Pastry with Chickpeas and Ground Beef

2012-02-14T23:36:00.001-05:00

Shortly after I met my husband, he introduced me to Panjshir, in Falls Church Virginia. It's fairly close to Washington, DC. I was a little skeptical because I'd never had it, and I was afraid it would be very spicy. It wasn't, it was so delicious. Not too spicy, just right. We always get the appetizer, Sambosay Goshti. Followed by Kebab-E-Murgh for me, that's an order of chicken kebab served with saffron rice and fresh Afghan bread. My husband gets the Combined Kebab, with lamb, steak and chicken, saffron rice, and bread. We get the Muntoo for our little boy. It's a dumpling stuffed with ground beef and topped with seasoned yogurt and meat sauce. Our meal is then finished off with a cup, or two, of Cardamon tea and an order of honey drizzled Baklava. Can't be beat, it is so comforting. I wondered if I could replicate the recipe, my husband assured me I could. With that bit of confidence afforded me, I decided to give it a try. I didn't want to deep fry them, I wanted to make a baked version. Success, it's very good!

Sambosay Goshti Pastry with Chickpeas and Ground Beef

1 lb of ground beef

1 large onion

1 cup of chickpeas (dry or canned)

1 table spoon coriander seed

1 table spoon fresh parsley

salt

pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cans of large crescent rolls

Prepare the dried chickpeas as per instructions on bag

Heat oven to 350

In a large skillet with a lid

Place hamburger meat (don't break up, take off meat tray and place whole in the skillet)

Fill skillet about 1/2 way up the meat and put the lid on, let boil until the outside is brown, cut in half and allow to boil until the middle is brown

Pour the water out (the oil will go with it, so there's no need to strain or use a paper towel)

Retain some of the water, about 3 tablespoons,

Leave the ground beef in the skillet and break into small pieces

add oil and saute the onions

While the onions cook and the meat browns completely:

Place the chickpeas, coriander seeds and parsley into a food processor, process until it is like a paste.

You may have to add water to make it into a paste

Once the onions are clear, add the chickpea paste and mix well.

Open the crescent rolls and press until very thin, but not broken.

Then add a large spoonful of the Chickpea mixture and fold the crescent rolls around to form a pocket

Place on a baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Serve with saffron rice and saffron chicken. Very good. Very healthy.

Pink Marshmallow Cornflake Candy Heart with Cinnamon

2012-02-13T18:21:00.000-05:00

Pink Marshmallow Cornflake Candy Heart with Cinnamon

My husbands favorite Christmas treat is the Cornflake wreath, made with marshmallows and green food coloring. I've been hearing about his favorite Christmas treats for years, but never got exactly what they were called. Finally, Christmas 2010, he tells me that its the Rice Krispie treats he loves, colored green, with red cinnamon candies. My little boy and I made a big batch of Rice Krispie treats, colored green, with red cinnamon candies. We were very proud that we made Daddy's favorite Christmas treat. When Chris came home we proudly showed him our creation. To which he says, that's not like Mom makes it. Oh. Really. Just HOW does Mom make them? He informs us that she uses Cornflakes, not rice krispies. I remind him, HE said, Rice Krispie treats.

Flash forward to Christmas 2011. Again. All we hear about is the favorite, elusive, Christmas treat his Mom makes. The year before, his Mom made him some, but they were eaten before we were able to get there, in her defense; she does live 5 hours away, and they are really good......
I let him know, since he can not decide what the treats are called, the ingredients, or how they are made, he will need to produce a recipe, or there will be NO favorite treats for him unless his Mom makes them and he goes to retrieve them before they are eaten.
Finally, a few days before Christmas, I received two e-mails from him each with a recipe attached. He assured me the recipe is the one his Mom uses. I, unfortunately, did not get around to making them for him. I have felt bad about it, so I decided I would make them for him for Valentines day. A real surprise, don't you think? He better like them. Just kidding. Okay. No. I'm serious. (grin)

Here's what you will need.

Pink Marshmallow Cornflake Candy Heart with Cinnamon

2 small jars of marshmallow creme
1 stick of butter
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
Cinnamon hard candies
Pink decorating sugar crystals
red food coloring
4 1/2 cups cornflakes

In a *double boiler combine the marshmallow creme, butter, and a couple cinnamon hard candies
Melt together then add the vanilla,
2 drops of red food coloring,
shake some pink sugar crystals then
mix well until a lovely pink color
Add the Cornflakes gently stirring to mix well

Spoon into a heart shaped pan, or onto a cookie sheet and form into a heart shape
Sprinkle more pink sugar crystals and arrange the cinnamon candies into heart shapes
Let cool and serve

You could also make small heart shapes instead of one big one, pipe a frosting bow on the hearts and shake pink sugar crystals on it

*Note: If you don't have a double boiler, you can use an ovenproof or stainless steel bowl and a large pot. Place water (don't fill it up, just about 1/4 way) in the pot. Put the bowl on top (it must fit on top, and not IN the pot). Heat the water until it steams then you'll see the butter and marshmallow creme melting.

Gingerbread cookies and Pepperoni Rolls are what's for supper!

2012-02-01T23:56:00.001-05:00

Gingerbread cookies and Pepperoni Rolls are what's for supper!

Back by popular demand. This is a post I did in 2010. It's a favorite.

Today has been a "stay inside the house" day. I woke up to large fluffy snow flakes, falling in mass, covering the trees in soft blankets. Later on the flakes were replaced by ice that covered everything in a crystal clear casing. Then, as the temperature rose, the ice turned to rain. The driveway is a slushy mess, which made it easier to clear with the snow plow. I should say, made it "look" easier to clear, since I was warm in the house watching my friend use his truck & plow to push the snow out of my driveway.

When he was finished, he sent me a text message informing me that I have a very large, very angry looking possum living in the backyard by the little white shed. That explains the hawk that dove into the ornamental pine tree a few days ago, also beside the shed. I was looking at the snow falling and saw something dive into the little pine tree. I stood there wondering if a cat had gone into the pine, or if perhaps, I'd had too much coffee and imagined the entire thing. Nope, there was movement in the tree, and a head popped out of the side of it. It was so fast, I couldn't make it out, what it was. Then it was there again, further up the tree. I could tell it was a bird, maybe an owl? In the day? No. The hawk finally exited the pine from the top, he sat on it for a minute looking around, to make sure he wasn't missing his meal...again, then took off. As he took flight, he turned himself so I could see his entire belly and wing span. Simply stunning, blue-gray with beautiful stripes running the length of each wing & tail. His stomach was mottled and I was completely shocked by the breadth of his wings! I looked him up on the Internet, and found out he's called a Cooper's Hawk. I wanted to get a picture, but couldn't without "infringing" on copyright laws. I did find out that these fellas make a habit of crashing into trees, shrubs and the like. They have a protective "shield", like an eyebrow, which protects their eyes as they slam into the limbs of a tree to catch their prey. This means two things to me; 1) I am glad I'm not small enough to be their prey and 2) I wonder if they view 20lb cats as dinner? Speaking of dinner, I digress.

My son and I baked gingerbread cookies and decorated them today. I will give you the recipe for the cookies.

Refrigerated gingerbread cookie dough, in the refrigerated food section of your grocery. How simple was that?

The icing is almost as simple.

Confectionery sugar and lemon juice.

In my case, it was lime juice as I didn't have lemon juice.

Basically pour a bowl full of confectionery sugar and slowly add small amounts of lemon juice until you reach your desired consistency.

You can then add food coloring if you like.

My Mom is German and a wonderful cook, as well as baker. Growing up she always made us an elaborate, home made (no refrigerator dough for her, *gasp* at the thought) gingerbread house. I can still see the post board templates she'd design herself. Cookie dough cut to her own specifications. The smell of gingerbread drifted through the house, warm and comforting. She made the windows out of colored sugar candy, with a blue ice skating rink out of the same yummy stuff. She'd make the fence using peppermint sticks with stacks of gingerbread "logs" for the gingerbread families fire. The house was covered in candies, powdered sugar snow, and complete with elves sitting in the gingerbread wheel barrow in the yard. Gingerbread shaped pine trees guarded the corners of the yard and it was all "glued" together with icing made from confectionery sugar and lemon juice. It was so good, we were always sticking our fingers in the bowl and getting fussed at. A discreet light, inserted in the house, lit it all with a warm glow surrounding the confection. Angie and I would eat gingerbread until July sometimes, course, by then it was hard as a rock and needed to be soaked in milk. I remember Mom wanting to throw one out and we went to tears begging her not to. We weren't ready to give up the candy land fantasy she'd so lovingly made for all of us!

The pepperoni rolls were a lovely epiphany. My husband says they must be a regional thing, he'd never heard of them until he moved to my small town in Virginia. Needless to say, he really enjoys them. I usually buy them from the deli in the grocery, but since today was a stay-in-the-house day I had to be creative. That's where the epiphany came in. I had a can of Pillsbury bread dough. I was going to use it to make mini baked pumpkin pie's, changed my mind. A woman's prerogative if I'm not mistaken.

Here is what you'll need:

1 can of bread dough (or frozen dough, or if you're quite industrious make your own bread dough)
Pepperoni
Mozzarella String cheese light
Oregano
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese

I rolled out the dough on a baking sheet and sprinkled with Oregano.
Then added a single slice of pepperoni against the long edge of the dough, and followed down the length to make a row. The second row I started off center of the first row. I put the second row's starting slice below and in between the first two slices of the first row. Confused? Sorry.
I left about two inches of dough with no pepperoni, so when I rolled the pepperoni roll up, that edge would be used to fold over and seal the roll shut.

I then took the string cheese and pulled it apart laying it on top of the pepperoni.

Then lifting the edge of dough with the pepperoni on it, I gently rolled the dough over and over until it was a nice neat strip of dough. Place it seam side down on the cookie sheet and brush with olive oil, finish with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese & more oregano.

Bake in a 350 oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm.

Next time I might try some pizza sauce, or maybe tomatoes, olives, mushrooms. Sort of like a rolled up pizza. Hmmm, maybe the next craze in cuisine! You heard it here first! Yum Yum!

NOTE FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2012:

The above picture shows pepperoni rolls my sister, of Clover Fields Farm and Kitchen, made for WDRB Fox 41's segment on "Money saving tips for a Super Bowl party."
Follow the WDRB link to see her in action and to see many other fantastic Super Bowl ideas, plus get a Cook Book she has for anyone interested. You can't beat that!

Easy, money saving, Healthy and Chemical Free way to make Microwave Popcorn

2012-01-27T23:25:00.000-05:00

Pop Corn evokes such wonderful memories for me. If you've read my blog Russian Tea, with reflections of how smells can bring back a memory, then you'll have seen my comment about "popcorn in a paper bag with cheese, yum".

Years ago, I let myself get a little overweight. Turns out, that eating a biscotti with a cup of hot chocolate every night, and drinking a strawberry milk shake everyday makes ones clothes shrink. A lot. Couple that with a love of popcorn covered in butter, and you've got yourself a fast track to Sumo wrestler-ville. I went on a weight loss challenge. I bought a cd-rom that would load a food, drink, calorie, and calories burned tracking program on my computer. I kept a food journal to find out where those little hidden calories were coming in to play. I wrote down everything I ate, drank and snacked on. Including a piece of candy, gum, mint, cookie, everything. I found out that a gumball has 25 calories, I found out I don't drink nearly enough water, and I found out that doing some exercise is better than not doing anything. This program even tracked housework, sweeping, dusting, and the like. It was great. By keeping the food journal, I was able to see that most of my calories were consumed at night, while I watched t.v. I noticed, that I ate even when I wasn't hungry. I ate out of boredom, or habit. My solution? I joined a health club, and walked on the stair master from 8-9 pm, every night. The club had a t.v. in front of every machine, so I plugged in my ear phones watched my favorite shows and worked out instead of eating. It took about a year to finally get down to the weight I wanted to be. This time I did it the healthy way. I was very happy with myself. Once my weight and eating were under control I had to find out how to enjoy my favorite foods in a healthy way. There's not a very healthy way of enjoying biscotti and hot chocolate. My plan, if I worked out all week, ate healthy foods, drank enough water, and didn't snack on junk, then on Saturday I could indulge in one or two treats. Generally I chose to eat a small cup of ice cream, but sometimes I would have some microwave popcorn.

One day I was reading an article about the dangers of microwave popcorn. It was so long ago, I can't place the article, but it was about the chemicals they put into the popcorn. The article stated that most people love to breathe in the steam of the popcorn when the bag is opened, and that is dangerous as they then inhale chemicals that are basically poison. If you search, "Dangers of microwave popcorn", this link to "ehow.com" comes up which relates to chemicals in microwave popcorn linked to cancer and other things. I don't like the thought of anything I eat causing cancer. Triclosan is an edocrine blocker, a carcinogen and is used in pesticides, it's also found in toothpaste and antibacterial hand soaps, along with a host of other products "safe" for humans. Once I found out about that, I cleaned the house out of anything with Triclosan or with the description of Microban. Did I stop eating microwave popcorn? Of course.

Now I was left with a problem. Popping the popcorn on the stove was too much bother and mess. Although I felt a tinge of guilt because that's how I enjoyed the popcorn my "other dad", Jonce, makes it. He then puts the popcorn in a giant paper bag, brings out a plate of cheddar cheese for us all to enjoy. Oh well, maybe there's another solution?

My kitchen, at the time, was way too small to keep a hot air popper on the counter. What to do, what to do. I wonder, will pop corn kernels pop in the microwave without all the chemicals? Only one way to find out. I got a paper lunch bag, left the bottom of the bag folded then poured some popcorn kernels in it along with a pat or two of butter. Folded the top shut, placed it in the middle of the microwave just like I did with the store bought stuff, pressed the popcorn button and held my breath. IT WORKED! Extremely messy, not a lot of butter flavor, greasy bag full of freshly popped popcorn! I poured it into a bowl, cut a serving of Colby cheese and ate with a giant smile on my face.

The next time I popped my chemical free popcorn, I didn't add butter, just plain old pop corn kernels and a brown paper lunch bag. The white ones get holes in them and tear easily, so I don't use them. I then melt a tablespoon of butter, drizzle over the top add salt and enjoy with a serving of Colby cheese, cut into bite sized squares. Handful of popcorn, bite of cheese, heaven.

Delicious, Healthy and Chemical Free Popcorn:

Purchase 1 pack of brown paper lunch bags (about $3)

Purchase 1 jar of popcorn kernels (about $4)

3 Tablespoons of popcorn kernels

1 Brown paper lunch bag

1 tablespoon of unsalted butter, melted

Kosher salt

1 serving of Colby cheese squares

Keep the lunch bag folded at the bottom

Pour in 3 tablespoons of popcorn (any more than that and it wastes the kernels as they will not all pop)

Seal the top with one fold and use fingernail to seal it very well

Place folded side down in middle of microwave

Press the "popcorn" button (or 3 minutes) on your microwave (all are different test to find your microwaves perfect popcorn time)

As with the store bought kind, listen until the popping is less than 3 seconds between pops so it doesn't burn.

Melt the butter and pour over top, shake well then add salt, shaking to evenly coat.

Serve with your choice of beverage and the cheese, it's a treat plus you've saved money and are not breathing nor eating dangerous chemicals.

Another good idea is to hold off on the butter, and cheese. Instead use your favorite bite sized candy or sweet cereal with the popcorn. In church camp, we watched a movie late one night and decided it would be fun to add candy to our popcorn. We were right, fun and fantastically pleasing to the taste buds including the sweet tooth.

Skittles

Mini Chocolate chips

M&M's

Mini boxes of cereal

I chose Fruit Loops and skittles, I can't say I've ever had better popcorn. The combinations are endless, just remember two words; "Serving Size". You'll do fine, if not, take an extra workout to burn off those calories!

Slow Cooked Burgundy Beef Meatballs

2012-01-24T00:38:00.000-05:00

Several years ago I discovered Rachel Ray. Not literally, as in, I'm who found her and made her famous. I mean, I found her show, "30 Minute Meals", on the Food Network. I learned how to cook from her, mostly. I did learn some things from my Mom and Sister, but at a young age I was not interested in cooking, so foolishly, I didn't seek to learn from them. Now, I want to learn from them, from Rachel Ray and from anyone who is willing to give me recipes along with some instructions as needed. One of my favorite, "30 Minute Meal" recipes is the Beef Burgundy, or Beef Bourguignonne, as is the official title.
Recently I was looking through a cook book and found a lovely slow cooker recipe for Meatballs in red wine. That started the wheels turning, and I have combined the two recipes to come up with Burgundy Beef Meatballs. My son liked the egg noodles, but not the meatballs. He likes the regular meatballs with spaghetti sauce, but not so much the burgundy meatballs. He is, after all, just 4 so I wasn't too surprised the flavor's didn't appeal to him. My husband and I, however, devoured them, last night as well as tonight. They taste even better when allowed to sit over night. The meatball recipe I will give makes a lot of meatballs, so I used some for the spaghetti dinner one night then froze the remainder of them.
For the slow cooker, or crock pot, recipe you'll have to plan on eating this the next day. The reason being, the meatballs need to be frozen in order to be able to cook them all day without turning them into golf balls. It's worth it, trust me, I'm the queen of not wanting to take more than a few minutes or an hour to cook, much less one whole day, but you'll be glad you did! Apparently, I'm also the queen of run-on sentences.

I'll give an alternative at the bottom though, if you don't want to wait.

Meatballs:

2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups regular bread crumbs
11/2 teaspoon cilantro leaves
1 large shallot finely diced
1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 strips thick cut bacon
2 tablespoons flour
Beef stock

Mix the all the ingredients together (except bacon, flour and stock)
Line a baking dish with foil
Shape into 'golf ball' sized balls, you'll want about 30 meatballs for the slow cooker
Place in prepared pan (no need to grease or use oil)
Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes or until the meatballs are no longer pink in the middle

While the meatballs are baking:

Fry the bacon in a skillet until crispy
Remove and place on paper towel lined plate
Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease
Keep heat on medium, add the flour and stir until combined and a lovely shade of light brown being careful not to burn
Add the beef stock 1/2 a cup at a time and stir with whisk until there are no lumps and the gravy starts to thin a bit
You don't want a very thick gravy
Crumble the bacon into the gravy
After the meatballs are cooked through, add them to the gravy and let them cool
Once cool, place the meatballs AND gravy in a zip lock baggie, or freezer safe container and place in the freezer overnight

The next day, or whenever you are ready to make the Burgundy Beef Meatballs, place the frozen meatballs with the gravy in your slow cooker and add the following:

1 bag Pearl Onions
4 sprigs of Thyme or 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 Bay leaves
2 1/2 cups red wine
1 1/2 tsp dried Oregano
1 cup Sliced mushrooms (preferably not from a can)
2 cups of beef stock
1 cup water

Cook on high for 4 -5 hours or on low for 8 hours
Serve with egg noodles

If you don't want to wait overnight then simply add the above ingredients into the skillet with, a very thin, gravy. Add the meatballs, allow to simmer together for about 30 minutes, watching carefully that the gravy doesn't burn, or thicken too much. Serve over egg noodles.

Store left overs together with the egg noodles, overnight in the fridge, you will love the way the flavors melt into each other. Divine!

Classic Swiss Fondue with Kirschwasser

2012-01-21T00:13:00.001-05:00

Classic Swiss Fondue with Kirschwasser

My sister, as I've stated before, is a wonderful cook as well as a contributor to this blog at times. She creates many of her own recipes and re-creates many other recipes. She is featured on WDRB Fox News a lot during the Holiday's and various other times because of her expertise. Click on the above link to see the segment.
I happen to enjoy going to the Melting Pot to eat, one of my most favorite fondue is their Kirschwasser Fondue. I never thought to ask my sister if she knew how to make that fondue. In fact, it never occurred to me to make it at home, at all. I was pleasantly surprised when she shared this recipe on one of her segments titled, "Hosting a fondue party with Cloverfields Farm and Kitchen. Of course I made it, of course I loved it and of course I've made it again to take to a dinner party, where everyone loved it as well.

Classic Swiss Fondue:

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 garlic clove, peeled, crushed

2 cups dry white wine, Chablis, Sauvignon Blanc, or my sisters favorite Halbtrocken Reisling

6 cups grated Swiss cheese; suggested 3 cups Jarlsberg and 3 cups of either Gruyere or Emmentaler

1-1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 Tablespoon Kirsch

Nutmeg

Prep:

Rub garlic clove over sides and bottom of a large saucepan. Pour in white wine and heat over medium high until small bubbles are visible (do not simmer or boil).

Meanwhile, toss cheese with cornstarch

Add handfuls of cheese to warm wine

Stir constantly to melt the cheese

When cheese is fully melted, add the next handful

Continue until all the cheese is added and melted

Never let the cheese boil

You may have to adjust the burner Temp during this process to prevent boiling

Add Kirsch to melted cheese

Stir to incorporate

Grate a light dusting of nutmeg over the top then stir in

Pour into fondue pot

If mixture thickens, stir in a small amount of warmed wine

Serve with a variety of fresh veggies cut into bite sized pieces

Toasted French bread

Apples, grapes

Roasted beef or pork tenderloin cut into cubes

If you have any fondue left, my sister advises to pour it into a square container and place in the fridge. The next day the cheese can be sliced and placed on bread for a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich. Try placing sliced apples with the sliced Kirsch cheese and melt. Delicious.

Are you wondering what Kirschwasser is? Please see the link below for an in depth definition and history.

Wikipedia Kirschwasser

Australian Hamburger with pineapple and beets....

2012-01-16T23:51:00.001-05:00

Australian Hamburger Picture

When I graduated from college, I moved to the beach. I had a lot of fun and met a whole bunch of people from all over the world. One person I met was from Australia, his name is Paul. We were room mates with 3 other people. Paul was an amazing fellow, very nice, although we had our moments where we didn't quite see eye to eye. Isn't that the way it is with room mates? One thing Paul could do was cook. He introduced me to the Australian Hamburger. I will never forget him working in the kitchen, then laying newspaper all over the floor (we didn't have any furniture, we were young!!). He brought in a roll of paper towels and instructed me to sit on the newspapers. He tucked several paper towels in my collar and brought me out the biggest hamburger I had ever seen. He wouldn't tell me what was on it, until I had taken a bite. Once convinced it was the greatest hamburger I'd ever tasted, which wasn't hard because it WAS and IS the greatest hamburger I'd ever tasted, he then told me the ingredients. The ingredients included, pickled beets, cheese and an egg, over easy. No, I am not kidding. Yes, it was messy. My Mom called midway through the burger. Paul, who was seated on the floor laughing his head off at the sight of me covered in beet juice with egg yolk running down my elbows, answered the phone and told her I'd have to call her back since I was covered up, literally with dinner. That is one of my best memories of Paul. I never had another Australian Hamburger, but thought of them often. I finally decided it was time. I invited my friends John and Leslie over to try them with us. The verdict, wonderful, fantastic, delicious, messy, awesome......you get the idea. Next time I make them, I will use a "press" to keep the burger meat flat. It balled up and made the burger so hard to eat that we all ended up eating it with a fork and knife. Still delicious, but not the result I was actually looking for. A meat press is cast iron, it is placed on top of bacon, hamburger patty's to keep them flat. My son even enjoyed his version of the burger, which was basically bun, mayo, tomato and cheese with a little bit of meat. He's not much of a meat eater, must be a recessive gene .

Australian Hamburger:

1 lb Hamburger meat
1 package pork sausage
2 tablespoons butter
1 Large onion
4 eggs
4 pieces Canadian bacon
4 pineapple rings
8 slices Cheddar Cheese
1 large tomato
1 jar beet root, sliced
4 large pieces of Romain lettuce
Mayonnaise
Mustard

In a large mixing bowl, mix the hamburger and sausage until well blended
Pat into nice round hamburger patty's
Cook until well done
use a "meat press" to keep the burger from becoming a big lump

Slice the beets, tomato, and prepare your lettuce

Use the same skillet for each of the following steps:

1) Slice the onion into round slices, then separate each ring so you have a nice pile of individual onion rings

Melt the butter in a large skillet and caramelize the onions in the butter

Remove the onions and place on a paper towel, cover with foil to keep warm

2) Fry Canadian bacon

remove and place on top of onions

3) Fry the eggs

remove and place on top of bacon

4) Fry the pineapple ring

while the pineapple rings are frying, toast the buns and put mayo, mustard on them.

When the pineapple rings are warm and look a little golden brown, remove and put them on the bun along with the sliced beets.

Place the eggs, then bacon, then onions a slice of cheese, the hamburger patty and another slice of cheese and lettuce.

Have plenty of napkins at hand, a large plate, a knife and fork in case the bun can't hold the burger. ENJOY!!

Picture borrowed from "Burger Edge": "Burger Edge is one of Australia's fastest growing gourmet burger franchises." The recipe is not from them. It's personal.

One Pot Chicken Pot Pie

2012-01-15T22:48:00.001-05:00

I love this recipe for Chicken Pot Pie. I use to hate pot pies, with all the crust and meat, it was all too much for me. When I was a kid, I hated pot pie. I didn't think there was anything good about serving a kid a pie crust filled with meat and vegetables. I hadn't eaten a pot pie since my Mom had served me the last one when I was a kid. Here I am, several (cough) years later and I am in love with Chicken Pot Pie. Another cook book received last Christmas, gave me the idea for this super easy, super fast recipe. I modified it, of course. My whole family adores this recipe, the Chicken pot pie does not last long in this house.

I have a 10" enameled cast iron pan that I cook/bake my pot pie in. I posted a recipe for,Slow Cooked Lemon Chicken and this is what I did with the left over chicken. There are only "so many days" one can eat the same thing. Chef Michael Symon was commenting on his FB page about food waste, so I'm trying to keep my food waste down and join the Food Network tackles food waste. In that spirit, I chopped up the remainder of the Lemon Chicken and added it to the pot pie recipe. YUM!

Chicken Pot Pie:

1 Can Chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
Reduced fat milk
3 tbl spoons butter
2 shallots chopped
3 Carrotts chopped
3 celery stalks chopped
2 cups left over veggies you would like to use
1/3 cup flour
2 cups cooked chicken
1/2 tsp thyme leaves
1 tbl spoon cilantro chopped
1 frozen pastry pie crust

Melt butter in the same pan you will be baking the pot pie in and sautee the veggies until soft, sprinkle the salt.
Add the flour and slightly brown

In a measuring cup pour chicken broth and milk to make 2 cups add to the veggies and cook until the mixture boils and thickens.
Take the pie crust out of the tin and place on top of the pot pie.
I invert the tin and push it onto the mixture. I don't smooth it out because once it gets into the hot oven it will form to the pie.
With a sharp knife slice some steam vents in the crust.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown

http://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Brand-Name-Best-Loved-Casseroles/dp/0785334238

Slow Cooked, Lemon Chicken

2012-01-15T22:02:00.000-05:00

Last year I was given a large Crock Pot for Christmas, or slow cooker. This year, I was given a fantastic cook book to go along with it. It's called "Fix-It and Forget-It, Christmas Cookbook, 600 Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes." I am really enjoying this cookbook. There is nothing better than the smell of slow cooked meals permeating the house.
My husband picked out the Lemon Chicken recipe and I modified it a bit to suit how I like to cook. I don't like to cook things before I, well, cook them. So if a recipe calls for braising, or browning, I usually won't. Such is the case with this recipe.

MY NOTES: I did not brown the chicken pieces. I used about 7 lbs of pre-cut thighs with the skin on. I also didn't thaw the lemonade I just put it on top of the chicken and I added lots of pepper. I love lemon pepper chicken. I also added the cornstarch to the slow cooker at the beginning. I got a little ahead of myself, as I just realized I was suppose to add it at the end. While I was typing it into this blog to be exact. It didn't make too much of a difference. This recipe is delicious and could even be used as a BBQ for the summer. The chicken is so tender it falls off the bone and most of the above ingredients are found in sweet BBQ sauce. I suggest adding some "red pepper flakes" for some kick and serving with baked beans and cole slaw. A very versatile and delicious dinner!

"Lemon Chicken
Judy Newman
St. Mary's Ontario Canada
Fix-It and Forget-It by Phyllis Pellman Good
Good Books, Intercourse, PA 17534

Makes 10-12 servings

Prep. Time: 25 minutes
Cooking Time: 3-4 hours
Ideal slow cooker size: 5 qt.

1/4-1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
5-6 lbs. chicken, cut into pieces
2-4 Tbsp. oil, divided
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ketchup
1 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. cold water
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Combine flour and salt in a shallow bowl. Dredge chicken pieces in it, one at a time.
Place 2 Tbsp. oil in large skillet. Brown several pieces of chicken in oil at a time. Be careful not to crowd the skillet, or the chicken will steam and not brown. Continue until all pieces are browned on both sides, adding more oil as necessary.
As you finish browning pieces of chicken, place them in slow cooker.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together lemonade concentrate, brown sugar, ketchup and vinegar. Pour over chicken
Cover. Cook on High 3-4 hours.
Remove chicken, place on platter, cover with foil and keep warm.
In a small bowl blend cold water into cornstarch.
Stir into juices in slow cooker until well blended. Cover and continue cooking juices several minutes, until thickened and bubbly.
Spoon some of thickened juice over chicken to serve.
Place remaining juices in serving bowl and pass as topping for chicken and cooked rice....."

Handmade Alpaca Wool winter hat & scarf, and a beaded faux collar

2012-01-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

I found this beautiful beaded necklace in a box of my Omi's jewelry. Mom had passed it on to me after Omi died. I wasn't able to look through everything, it was just too hard. I decided to make myself sit down and look, Omi's been in Heaven since December of 2006. It was full of the lovely pins and things Omi loved. As a young woman in Germany she had been a costume jewelry designer. She loved to work with beads, needle point, cross-stitch, knitting so many creative ways to use her hands. She still did her needle work until just before her death when her shaking hands made it difficult to yield a needle accurately. It turns out, this beaded necklace belongs to my Mom but she never used it. I took one look and knew that I would put it to use. What a creative way to dress up a plain sweater. It's a necklace, but looks like a lace collar. I just love it.

Growing up I learned to crochet, cross-stitch and sew. I really enjoy making things, but mostly in the winter time. I'm not very "crafty" in the spring or summer for some reason. To me, there is nothing better than sitting in my recliner in front of a fire, with a nice cup of coffee reading or creating something. I also like to see results pretty quickly, so crocheting was fun but it took so much time to make anything that it is a little frustrating for me. It took me about 3-4 weeks to crochet my little boy a hat and scarf out of Baby Alpaca wool, a little longer for the hat. I wasn't very happy with the scarf but the hat I really like.

I have also made many Patchwork Stockings. I usually sew them by hand, but more recently I've gone to sewing them on the sewing machine. I enjoy sewing, but with a small child it's nearly impossible to sit for any length of time in order to get anything done. Sewing things together requires lining up the material and sewing in a straight line. It's very hard to accomplish this when you pick it up, the put it down to do something, then pick it back up again. Most of my time would be spent straightening it up, as well as, disentangling the thread. Not fun. Here are some examples of the stockings I've made. The two on the sides I used a photo material to print off pictures and sew them into the stockings. The middle stocking I started cross-stitching but realized 1/4 of the way through that it was off center. My German grandmother, Omi, was the only person I knew that could fix it and enjoy the challenge of it. Omi finished it, them my Mom completed it by sewing in a liner and the cuff. It's very special to me, as you can imagine.

I decided to try knitting. My friend Ana knits and makes a lot of things, quicker than I ever could crocheting. While Mom was here, Ana came over and to everyone's surprise, Ana and Mom knit the same way. What's so surprising about that? Apparently there are different knitting methods, Mom referred to hers as "The German way", when she showed us, Ana told us that's the same way she knits. The lady I now buy my Alpaca wool from knits the "American way", which looks much to complicated to me. Between my Mom, Ana and a couple other sources, I have learned to knit. Their method is relatively quick and easy. I love it. Here is one of the hats I've knitted. I can knock out a hat in 2 to 3 days of knitting an hour or so a day. I have found that Alpaca wool is very nice to knit with. It seems to be easier and not so prone to knots as synthetic or blended yarns. I have been knitting a scarf out of polyester and wool, it is taking me forever, it knots easily and doesn't seem to "flow" as nicely as the Alpaca wool. I used a worsted weight (tan) and a sport weight (black) in this hat. The sport weight was too fine for me to knit a hat for a man. It would have been good for a woman, but to dainty for a man's hat. So I used them both. It's a very soft and warm hat. My husband has a tan one, and this one is for his co-worker who asked me to knit him one also. They are outside a lot and these hats are so warm without being itchy.

I used circular needles to knit this hat. A key to knitting with circular needles, use small needles with a circumference smaller than you want the hat to be. Otherwise the yarn will stretch and the hat will be misshapen. I wasn't sure how to finish the top of the hat, so while at the Alpaca farm I asked Mary how she did it. She told me to use "double-pointed" needles. I didn't want to take up any more of her time, so I went to the craft store, bought a small "learn to knit" guide, some double-pointed needles and went home. The instructions were a little confusing, so I figured it out myself. I kept dropping stitches trying to knit with the end of each double-pointed needle. I found using an empty needle to knit onto is easier. I knit this hat to the very last stitch on top then tied it off, using a crochet hook to work the tail of yarn into the hat.

No recipes today, maybe some advice. If you feel like you don't have anything to do, find something. Knitting, sewing, cross-stitch, puzzles.....just keep your mind active in a positive way. If you don't know how to knit, look on "you tube" there are many very nice instructional videos to be found on there. I found a site that shows, step-by-step, how to crochet lovely flowers....I can't wait to get started!

Slow Cooked, White wine & Plum Chicken Breasts

2012-01-06T14:34:00.000-05:00

I got a Slow-cooker cook book for Christmas. It is super! I found a delicious recipe for slow cooking chicken breasts. The only problem, I didn't have some of the ingredients. I didn't want to go back out to get them so I created my own recipe with the help of my Mother-in-law, Susan. When I was listing the ingredients I would be using, she suggested using the dried plums, or prunes. It added a really nice flavor undertone.

Slow Cooked, White wine & Plum Chicken Breasts:

4 large frozen Chicken Breast (skinless)
Fresh Ginger root
10 dried plums (prunes) *see note
2 cups White Wine
1 can of Chicken Stock
1 package of French Onion Soup mix
3 crushed garlic cloves
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a slow cooker, place the frozen chicken breasts
Pour wine & Chicken stock over the chicken
Sprinkle the dry soup mix on the moistened chicken so it sticks a little
Peel the ginger-root then cut about 10 thin slices of ginger and place in the cooker
Add the remaining ingredients
Cook on Low for 3-4 hours

*Note: I must say it turned out very well, just one note of caution. The fruit absorbed the taste of the alcohol and ginger, so I wouldn't recommend eating it.

A new spin on Black Eyed Peas: Spicy Black Eyed Peas Salsa

2011-12-29T23:22:00.001-05:00

Black Eyed Peas for Luck in the New Year 2012

We've always had black eyed peas for our New Years dinner, that and Cherries Jubilee. I always thought it was for luck and money. Well, I was right about the luck part anyway. Turns out, that:

"The Tradition dates back tot he Civil War. Black-eyed peas were considered animal food. The peas were not worthy of General Sherman's Union troops. When Union soldiers raided the Confederates food supplies, legend says they took everything except the peas and salted pork. The Confederates considered themselves lucky to be left with those meager supplies, and survived the winter. Peas became symbolic of good luck and prosperity."

There are several more reasons people eat Black eyed peas on New Years, look for the link below if you want to find out more information.

One year, I waited too long and was unable to find a single can of black eyed peas. I was not a happy girl, so I got a bag of them and proceeded to fix them like any other dried bean. Nice idea, except they tasted like cardboard. Maybe that's even an insult to cardboard. This year, I have found a recipe my sister sent to my Mom and me an unknown-amount-of-time-ago. Guess what we are having for New Years this year? Black eyed Peas made like this!

12/30/2011: Update. I made this tonight and did not have canned tomatoes, I forgot we had used them for Christmas dinner. I did have a jar of tomato/basil spaghetti sauce so I poured the whole jar in. This recipe is really good, I got a lot of rave reviews at the New Year dinner tonight.

Spicy Black Eyed Peas Salsa:

1 cup chopped green bell peppers

1 1/4 cup chopped celery

1 1/3 cup chopped onion

2 cans Garlic, basil tomatoes

6 Chopped Jalapenos (can omit if spicy is not for you)

1 tsp salt (optional)

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of allspice

1 TB Tabasco (give or take, or leave out)

3 chicken low sodium bullion cubes

2 16oz cans black eyed peas drained and rinsed (rinse to get the excess salt & preservatives off)

1 tsp garlic powder or 3 minced cloves

2 TB flour (if Salsa is too runny)

1/2 cup water (if it's not runny enough. grin)

Saute the first 3 ingredients with a little oil until onions are transparent.

Combine tomatoes, and the next 8 ingredients and bring to a simmer

Add the onion mixture, stir simmer until mixture thickens (about 20-30 minutes)

Mixture should have a "sauce"

Add some water if it doesn't

Add the black eyed peas and garlic

Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until peas are softened

Serve with Chips, corn chips or tortilla scoops

Credits:
Picture taken from:
http://www.gardeningblog.net/how-to-grow/black-eyed-peas/
Black eyed peas history:
Household tips Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/household-tips-in-national/why-eat-black-eyed-peas-on-new-year-s-day

Mississippi Kitchen: Cranberry-Orange Butter

2011-12-29T15:09:00.003-05:00

Mississippi Kitchen: Cranberry-Orange Butter

I made a batch of this tonight to take to my friends New Year dinner. I put it on the table with the deserts and later found it had been moved to the kitchen table where everyone was gathering. My friend John asked me what it was, and exclaimed how delicious it is. I told him it was Cranberry-Orange butter. All eyes got very big, then lots of laughter amid explanations that they had been eating it with a spoon it was so good! They did not realize it was butter. It really is THAT good! Thanks again for the recipe, "Lories Mississippi Kitchen."

Another winner of a recipe my sister found. This sounds delish, and since I have cranberry, and butter, looks like I'm picking up Orange marmalade at the store tomorrow. I am serious when I say, these food blogs are making me gain weight! All these fantastic recipes!

Link to Mississippi Kitchen

Dangelas Manjar with La Lechera or Sweetened Condensed milk

2011-12-28T15:55:00.001-05:00

Delicious Sweet and Savory Treat

My little boys best friend, has an older sister, who is just a sweetheart. Her name is Dangela and she is so good with Alex and Ben. She's a lot of fun to hang around, and she has made a delicious treat which she brought me for Christmas. My favorite things to receive on Christmas are always homemade. This was a most special gift because Dangela had created it on her own. I wanted to share this recipe because it is sweet and savory, a lovely combination.

Dangela is from Chile, but has lived here since she was a little girl. Her mother, Ana, is a fabulous cook and decorator. So the apple didn't fall far from the tree where cooking is concerned. The ingredient in the Manjar is La Lechera. If you can't find La Lechera, you can use *sweetened condensed milk.

Dangelas Manjar:

1 can *La Lechera

2 bags unsalted crackers (like Saltines)

Pour La Lechera into a bowl

Crush the crackers very well and add to the bowl

Stir to combine and then shape into balls

Put in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator

*If you don't have La Lechera, then use 1 can sweetened condensed milk,

Place unopened can in hot water and boil for 3-4 hours until it turns a caramel color.

Don't use the easy open can, use the can that you have to use a can opener for, or it will open itself and boil over causing a mess.

Sauteed Brussel sprouts with crispy bacon

2011-12-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

Growing up my Mom made Brussel sprouts with a white cream sauce. They were very good, but I don't know the recipe for those. I don't think my little boy would enjoy them though, he doesn't like gravy or sauce that much. Unless of course it's spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce. I've tried a really good recipe for roasting Brussel sprouts and tried it a couple of times. The only problem is, like broccoli, if the recipe is overcooked or burned then the smell is awful and hard to get out of the house. I burned the Brussel sprouts and haven't been able to get past that awful stench. I've had a carton of Brussel sprouts in the fridge with the intention of trying to roast them again, I just hadn't worked up the nerve yet. My Mother-in-Law, Sharon, was here with Pop Pop for Christmas. She is a fantastic cook who is not intimidated by any food. She created this recipe, on the spot, and there weren't any Brussel sprouts left. My son didn't like them, but what kid does? The rest of the adults loved them.

Sautéed Brussel Sprouts with Crispy Bacon:

I package of Brussel Sprouts

4 slices crispy thick cut bacon

1 can chicken stock

Fresh ground Pepper

Fry the bacon in a skillet until crispy
Take out the bacon and drain on a paper towel
Retain 2 tablespoons bacon grease
Wash the Brussel sprouts and cut off the bottom, peel off any soft wilted leaves then cut in half
Sautee the Brussel sprouts in the bacon grease and add pepper to taste
Once they are a little soft, add the chicken stock
Don't pour in the whole can, add a little at a time as the liquid is absorbed.
You don't want the sprouts soggy
We used about 1/4 of the can of chicken stock
Taste before you add salt, because bacon generally is salted and it might be too much salt if you add
Crumple bacon into the sprouts and serve warm

Credits:

Picture taken from:

http://www.virginmedia.com/homefamily/fooddrink/ten-xmas-foods.php?ssid=6

At the end of the "10 things you only eat at Christmas Time" picture show, there is another article on "Christmas Leftovers". The Turkey Curry looks delish!

Homemade Nutella Delicious Hazelnut and Chocolate delight!

2011-12-28T00:29:00.000-05:00

Growing up as a child of a German mother, we received many treats from Germany from my Omi. She would send us a box filled with candies, gum and gummy bears. My brother, sister and I waited excitedly for this box to arrive, wrapped in brown paper and tied shut with white twine. Once opened the heavenly aroma of German candies wafted out to spark an instant mouth watering experience. Mom would hand us a few little candies to taste and then keep the rest to give as treats through out the next few months. While I was in middle school, my Omi got very ill and my Mom took me with her to Germany to take care of Omi. She recovered nicely, thank the Lord. While we were there, I rode a bike into town every morning, to get our breakfast. During the day I would explore on the bike and soon learned that when I went into a store, I was rewarded with a treat. Soon my lunch consisted of a ride to Frau Nett's bakery to get some stale bread to feed the ducks with, and also a roll for myself. Down the street I would be given a small bag of Gummy Bears or Mamba candy. Around the corner and to the butchers, I would be given a piece of freshly cut deli meat. On to the lake to eat my lunch while feeding the swans and ducks. Then one day, I was given a Kinderschokolade (Kinder = children, Schokolade = Chocolate) by my Omi. Oh my goodness, it was delicious. Since it was made with milk and Hazelnut spread, my mom let me have it almost everyday. It was delicious. I remember this chocolate always, especially now that I have a child who has a sweet tooth, just like me! Once back in the states there would be no more until that Christmas box arrived with our bounty of sweets.
Now days, we can purchase a delicious Hazelnut spread called Nutella. It is made with natural ingredients, but still needs to have some form of preservative to keep it from spoiling. It's quite good but I have a hard time eating it because of the preservative factor. Imagine how delighted I was to find a blogger who gave the recipe for HOMEMADE NUTELLA!!! Could it be? Only one way to find out, try it. I did, and 2 batches later I am thrilled. Csilla, The eccentric cook, has given me permission to re-post her recipe. She is from Hungary and writes a lovely blog about cooking with recipes. You really should look her up, I've included a link to her blog in this one.

The recipe is quite simple and well written, I did add some things that I thought would be helpful to know, as well as giving the conversions from Grams to Ounces. I've used two of her pictures (how can one improve on a good thing and her pictures are very nice) as shown below. The one at the top is a picture of my first batch of this fantastic stuff!!!

Homemade Nutella

200 g (7.05 oz) Hazelnuts
1 can condensed milk
255 g (9 oz) Chocolate-the darker the better
1/2 cup hot milk

Roast the Hazelnuts for 10-15 minutes either in the oven or in a dry pan on the stove top. I roasted them in a 325 oven, if you start to smell them, they are about to burn get them out quick!!!

If the nuts have the skin still on them, after you roast them, it will come off easily

Take the nuts out of the oven, or off the stove and let them cool down a little while

When they are no longer hot, (take off the skin) and put in the food processor and start processing them into Hazelnut butter

Depending on the size of your food processor, it could take a while. If you have a large one (like I did) I put it on high and it only took a few minutes. I would scrape around the sides and off the bottom from time to time just to make sure it all processed smoothly.

Your Hazelnut butter should look like this:

When you are finished with the Hazelnut butter, leave it in the processor and move on to melting the chocolate.

Using a double boiler melt the chocolate. If you don't have a double boiler, you could put water in a sauce pan and place a stainless steel bowl on top to melt the chocolate.

Once the chocolate has melted, pour in the condensed milk (it will get thick but don't worry)

Mix them together

Add the mixture to the Hazelnut butter and process until combined.

If the Nutella is too thick, as Csilla's and mine was, add the milk while processing to combine well.

You may also choose to leave the milk out if you would rather have a thicker spread.

Ta da, Ci si va

This recipe made 4 small Jelly Jars of Nutella. Anyone who tasted it wanted to take a jar home. I've made two batches and have only my original jar, and one extra all the others are gone. This is very easy but tastes like you've slaved in the kitchen all day. You won't have to tell anyone any different. Let them be impressed by your kitchen skills. :)

Thank you to Csilla, The eccentric Cook http://theeccentriccook.blogspot.com for allowing me to share this with my readers.

Be sure to refrigerate this homemade Nutella since it has milk products in it.

Fresh Picked Beauty: All-Natural Peppermint Kissed Lip Tint

2011-12-17T11:19:00.002-05:00

Fresh Picked Beauty: All-Natural Peppermint Kissed Lip Tint

This recipe for All Natural Peppermint lip tint is shared by my sister Janine Washle. You can visit her website for more interesting ideas and gift suggestions.
www.cloverfields-ky.com

Handmade Cinnamon Broken Glass Christmas Candy

2011-12-13T22:27:00.003-05:00

I enjoy watching the Cupcake and Cake wars on Food Network. I find it fascinating when the chefs make their own candy and spin them into fabulous designs. I may not be able to craft a candy cane, or fantastic flowers or spinning fairies with candy wings, but I can make some delicious cinnamon candy. I got the recipe off a friend and co-worker who called it Rock Candy. He would bring bags of it around Christmas and we would all go crazy for it. He wrote the recipe on a torn piece of paper, that is much stained from years of use. I suppose I'll print off a new one after I blog it to you all.

I do have some warnings to go with this candy, I learned the hard way.

Warning 1: Try as hard as you can not to have your face or any other body parts close to the hot sugar when you add the cinnamon oil. A facial is nice, but having pure cinnamon oil infused into your open pores is miserable. It's much worse if it goes up your nose, much worse. Trust me, I tried to stay away from it tonight and a little got on my face. My cheek is a little hot, and my hand is red and tingling a bit. I smell very nicely of cinnamon though.

Warning 2: Try to use a very deep pot, or make sure you have on a shirt you don't mind to ruin with the food color. Once you drop the food coloring into the hot sugar, it will start sputtering and erupt like a volcano of red dye.

NOTES:
The past few years I used a wooden spoon and was so disappointed that my candy didn't have a nice cinnamon, well honestly, any cinnamon taste to it. This year I used a stainless steel spoon, and my candy is so nice and Cinnamon flavored.

Ok, with the warnings out of the way, lets move on to the good part. Making candy! YUMMY.

Rock Candy or Broken Glass Candy

3 3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup white corn syrup
1 cup water
1 small bottle of Cinnamon oil (find in Pharmacy or bulk food store)
Red Food Coloring
Candy thermometer
Sheet pan with sides
aluminum foil (optional)
butter/oil
Powdered sugar

Have the sheet pan prepared before you start boiling the sugar, also have the cinnamon oil bottle opened and close by as well as the bottle of food coloring. Things move quickly once hard crack stage is reached, be prepared.

Mix sugar, corn syrup and water and bring to a boil
Stir constantly until thermometer reaches 300-310 degrees

Remove from heat
Immediately stir in cinnamon and food coloring
Pour into sheet pan that has been oiled (or place a piece of aluminum foil on sheet pan and butter it)

Let cool
Once cool take the handle of a butter knife, or case knife and crack the candy into pieces

Place in a bowl or zip lock baggy and Roll in powdered sugar

This recipe is very versatile, you can use any sort of flavored oil you like. Peppermint, wintergreen, anise....likewise, you can use any color food coloring you like as well.

If you are making a Gingerbread house, you can pour the candy into pre-made little molds to make the window glass and "glue" it in with royal icing. Place a light inside the house (single corded lights can be found at craft shops all around. They have one socket for a Christmas light bulb) and you've made a magical gingerbread house for Christmas.

You can also form foil into a circle and pour the candy into it to make a lovely pond for skaters to skate upon in front of your gingerbread house or Christmas village. Simply tint the candy blue instead of red, once cool dust lightly with powdered sugar to look like snow covered ice. My Mom always did those things when she made our Gingerbread houses. She really is creative.

Dance of the Sugar Plum candies!!

2011-12-02T18:01:00.004-05:00

Often I've heard the song, "Twas the Night Before Christmas", with the lyrics;

"The children were nestled
All safe in their beds
While visions of sugarplums
Danced in their heads"

I love that old song, it always creates an image of Christmas magic with elves, candy, stars and Santa dancing in the dreams of sleeping children. I've often wondered what a sugar plum was and how delicious it must be, if the children dream of them the night before Christmas.
Children love cartoons, and I have not grown out of that love myself. I do enjoy cartoons, and don't mind the least that my child wants to watch them all the time. One of my favorite cartoons is "Max and Ruby", a story of a little boy bunny and his perfectionist sister. In one episode, Ruby and her friend Louise are giving a "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies", ballet recital to Grandma and Max. The refreshments include, you guessed it, sugar plums. I was kind of disappointed to see that they were sugar coated plums. What a bummer.
One day, while shopping in Whole Foods (my favorite grocery store ever), I saw a display of Christmas treats. I noticed a box of sugar plums. Now the moment of truth. I turned the box around to read the ingredients, to my pleasant surprise, it was not a box of sugar coated plums. Score. I purchased them and went to the car to see if the sugar plums held up to the Christmas song hype. They did and then some. Now, I wasn't going to spend a ton of money buying these sugar plums, so I would have to learn to make them. I searched the web for a recipe that was similar to the ones I had finally found. There were many recipes, but the one I am posting, with a few minor changes, is the one that included all the ingredients I really liked.

The base recipe is by Treva Bedinghaus, About.com Guide.
http://dance.about.com/od/famousballets/r/Sugar_Plums.htm?p=1

I added a couple things which I will include under the original ingredients, and italicized.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole almonds
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp. grated orange zest
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1 cup finely chopped pitted dates
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cardamon
1 bag semi-sweet chocolates
Whole cloves

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400. Arrange almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast in oven for 10 minutes. Set aside to cool, then finely chop.
Meanwhile, combine honey, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg (ginger, cardamon) in a medium mixing bowl. Add almonds, apricots and dates and mix well.
Pinch off rounded teaspoon size pieces of mixture and roll into the shape of a plum and add a clove to the top as the stem. (Rinse hands often, as mixture is very sticky.) Roll in sugar, then refrigerate in single layers between sheets of waxed paper in airtight containers for up to 1 month. Their flavor improves after ripening for several days.

I actually rubbed my hands with a little butter and that helped keep the mixture from sticking. Before I formed the sugar plums, I used a double boiler and melted the bag of semi-sweet chocolates. Then as I formed the mixture into balls, I dropped in the melted chocolate and covered them. I dropped the chocolate coated balls onto a lined cookie sheet and my little boy took a spoon and sprinkled (dumped....whichever you choose) colored sugar on the chocolate (purple would be ideal). I didn't use the confectioners sugar.
A few notes for those who can learn from my mistakes. I, mistakenly, thought I could take a cup of dried apricots and when they were finely chopped by the food processor, that it would still be one cup. duh, not so. As my Mom told me, it will vary, best is to finely chop and measure appropriately. Same with the dates. If I had chopped the dried fruits first, thereby getting the correct amount added to the mixture, it would have tasted better. Don't get me wrong, they taste good, but a little too much nut flavor for my taste.
My Mom also had a great idea, take a pitted prune (dried plum) and use a melon baller and scoop out the middle, then stuff the sugar plum mixture into the prune shell and THEN dip in chocolate. Too much detail work for me. I like short and sweet recipes, not complications....but, for those of you who don't mind I think it's a great idea. Let me know how it turns out!!!

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/christmas_songs/#share

Authentic LEBKUCHEN, Gingerbread recipe from scratch. Wonderfully simple.

2011-12-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

Here we go, as promised, my Mom's recipe for home made gingerbread. Mom is German and in Germany, or Deutschland, gingerbread is called Lebkuchen. I found a recipe for Lebkuchen in an cook book called, "My Favorite Cookies from the old Country." They called for allowing the dough to sit in a covered bowl for 10 days before using it. That's more time than I'm willing to wait for cookies, I'd just head right back to the store and get the refrigerated kind. Well, I really wanted to know an easy recipe for gingerbread, so I called Mom. As always, she came through with flying colors. I believe I will make some homemade gingerbread cookies this week. Let me know how yours turn out, ok? (P.S. The picture is not one of Mom's gingerbread houses, it's one we did with the baby a couple years ago.)
A little note on the cookbook I was reading, they did suggest to leave the cookies out over night to harden and then bake them. Of course, cover them up first. I'm not sure why, but it was an interesting step to take. Well, if you've waited 10 days to make cookies, what's one more night? Ahhh, but there's nothing better than a house filled with the warm scents of freshly made, freshly baked and decorated, Lebkuchen cookies.

LEBKUCHEN (Gingerbread)

½ cup unsalted butter
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup dark corn syrup
1 egg
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. salt

Combine butter and brown sugar in a large bowl; beat until well blended. Add corn syrup and egg; beat until smooth. Combine remaining ingredients in another bowl; stir to mix well then add to butter mixture, a third at a time, mixing after each addition until smooth. Divide dough into thirds; wrap each third in foil and chill at least one hour to make rolling easier. On a well-floured surface roll out one-third of the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, cut out cookie shapes, placing them on ungreased baking sheets, 1 inch apart. Bake at 400 deg. F, for 8 minutes or until lightly browned; remove from baking sheet at once onto a cooling rack. While still warm brush with LEMON GLAZE.

LEMON GLAZE: In a small bowl 2 cups confectionery sugar add 1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice, stirring with a fork to combine. If too thick add a little at a time more lemon juice until glaze is of spreading consistency. Immediately decorate with sprinkles etc. (I use this same dough and glaze to make gingerbread houses)

2011-11-27T22:20:00.001-05:00

I have always loved bananas. They are so good for you and they taste delicious. I especially love fried bananas with a fried egg, or banana bread on a cold snowy day with hot chocolate. Alas, I can no longer enjoy a banana. Several years ago, I noticed an itchy sensation in my throat when I ate bananas. My tongue felt thick and tingled, an overall unpleasant experience. I brought it up to my doctor who informed me it was a food allergy. I had, to date, never had any kind of allergy to food. How could this be? He advised me that some people acquire food allergies as they get older. He was right, that was the start of several food allergies. Hopefully, I have stopped developing food allergies, it really is difficult to deal with at times. When we go to restaurants I have to go down the list of food I am allergic to. If we are in a seafood restaurant, I have to specify that they cook my food on a clean grill, or in a clean skillet and it can't be touched by anything that has touched seafood, shellfish, spinach, etc. I was recently in a seafood restaurant and they advised me that they only had a small grill and could not guarantee that anything they grill for me would not be contaminated by an allergen. My husband really wanted to eat there, so I ordered something that was "safe", how badly could nachos get messed up? Extremely badly as it turns out. I took one bite and tasted shrimp. Shrimp is one of my more severe allergies. I asked the waiter to come over to tell him that the chips tasted of shrimp. His answer not only shocked me, but caused great concern at the ignorance of a person who serves food to patrons who may have food allergies. He nodded his head as I told him my discovery and advised me that they, do, fry the chips in the shrimp oil. He also helpfully added, that the heat of the oil kills all the allergens in the shrimp and renders the food completely safe for those of us who are allergic. Wow. Sadly, this is the attitude of many wait staff. They are not educated, the cooks are not educated, and food allergies are not taken seriously. People die every day from anaphylactic shock brought on by food allergies. Restaurants really need to take those extra steps to insure the safety of their food served to the public. Some people have such severe allergies that even the smell of a food they are allergic to can send them into a severe health emergency. Thankfully, none of my allergies are so extreme.
My husband and son love bananas, we have them in the house but I don't cook with them as the steam from the cooking bananas can cause a mild irritation to my throat. We also don't eat several other things because I can not cook them, due to my allergies. My mother-in-law came for a visit and she made some banana nut muffins. We had several left over bananas that I did not want to waste, after she left. I decided to bake some Banana Bread. My Dad sent over the recipe they use and I tried my very first Banana Bread. It smelled really good, and yes, it did cause me a little discomfort, I just took an antihistamine which seemed to ease the symptoms some.
Sometimes having food allergies makes me sad. My Mom and I have taken several cruises and most of the time the food on the menu has some sort of allergen. The wait staff are very good about making sure the food is safe. It's important to tell them prior to your sail date of allergies and then to discuss with both the Maitre dee and your waiter, your allergies. They are, however, unable to change the menu. After several nights of eating a small variety of things, I was so upset to discover that there was nothing on the third nights menu that I could eat. I broke down in tears and left the dining room. The waiter followed me out to the elevator to ask what was wrong. I told him that there was nothing on the menu I could eat. He was so nice, he offered to get me a hot dog from the Lido deck. I laughed and motioned to the evening gown I had on and said no thank you. He coaxed me back to the table and made it his mission to bring me a grilled chicken breast with other things I could eat. Of course, his kindness and concern again had me in tears, but that is what should happen. None of us asked to have food allergies, it's annoying to the people who go out with us, it's annoying to the waiters and chefs/cooks, it's annoying to us. The fact is, people have food allergies. They are dangerous, and they can kill.
That said, please try this wonderful recipe, unless you are allergic of course . The Banana Bread came out of the oven and between my son and husband was devoured shortly thereafter. This recipe is for muffins, however the bread recipe is at the bottom. I don't like nuts in my food, as a general rule. So I left the pecans out.

Banana-Nut Muffins:
author: unknown

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl' make a well in center of mixture. Combine egg, mashed banana, milk and oil; add mixture to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Stir in pecans.
Spoon batter into greased muffin pans, filling three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans immediately. Yield: 1 dozen
Per muffin: Calories 217 Fat 10.6g Cholesterol 20 mg Sodium 184 mg

Banana-Nut Bread:

Spoon batter into a greased 81/2 X 41/2 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Yield: 1 loaf.

Caprese Bread or Tomato Basil Bread

2011-11-09T23:38:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is around the corner and I want to make something different this year. I made pies for Thanksgiving up until a year or so ago; we nicknamed them "drop pies", because I managed to drop everyone of them before I got them into my Dad's house. I'm very glad that I always had a lid on the pies, which is what saved them from being total disasters. Of course they looked terrible, but they still tasted good. I'm over the whole pie making thing. What's new and different? I am on a quest to find something that will knock my family’s socks off.

During October I purchased a magazine called, "Taste of Home", I found so many neat and delicious recipes. I really enjoyed the Halloween Edition. I decided I would purchase one of the Christmas Editions. I purchased the Edition titled, “Best Holiday Recipes 2011". It is chalk full of delicious recipes, I am going to try several of them.

I found one recipe in particular that I could not wait to try. As I posted in my last blog, I am enjoying learning to bake bread, so naturally it is a bread recipe. The recipe I found looks beautiful and sound divine, except for one thing. I'm allergic to one of the ingredients. If I made this recipe I would have to modify it and how would I do so since I'm new to the whole bread making world. I understand the yeast is tricky, there can't be too much flour or too little flour, the ingredients have to be exact and room temperature or the yeast won't rise, careful not to over-mix. What was I going to do? One word, try. So I did try, and I'm glad that I did. The bread is so good, the recipe made two large loaves, allowing me to share with my family, friends and the Chef at our favorite restaurant. I had to leave Chef Ricks with one of the waitresses, who complimented me on the beauty and festive look of the bread. A deft poke with her finger and she exclaimed how soft the bread is too, and smelled wonderfully. I hoped the bread made it to Chef Rick's office, intact. So far, everyone has raved about the bread. So what is this fabulous recipe? Drum roll please.....

"Tomato Spinach Bread" by Avanell Hewitt

Featured on page 71 of the "Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes 2011"

Instead of using Spinach, which I am allergic to, I substituted Basil so the bread I made is Tomato Basil Bread, or Caprese Bread. One of my most favorite salads in the world is the Caprese Salad. Its taste cannot be beaten. It is also so simple and easy to make, the flavors just go together. Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella sprinkled with Olive oil. Fantastic. I was hoping this bread would be a wonderful compliment to the salad, it did not disappoint.

This is the modified recipe:

Tomato Basil Bread or Caprese Bread:

Yield: 2 loaves (10 slices each)

Bread (plain) Dough:

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110 - 115 degrees)

4 teaspoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 to 3 cups bread flour

Basil Dough:

1/4 cup cold water

6 ounces of Basil paste (found in cold veggie section)

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

4 teaspoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour

Tomato Dough:

1/4 cup cold water

6 ounces of tomato paste

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

4 teaspoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cold water

Parchment paper

For plain dough, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add butter, salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a firm dough.

Turn on to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a wet towel. Allow to rise 2 hours.

For basil dough, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add butter, salt and 2 cups flour, and basil paste; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form firm dough.

Turn on to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a wet towel. Allow to rise 2 hours.

For tomato dough, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add butter, salt and 2 cups flour, and tomato paste; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form firm dough.

Turn on to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a wet towel. Allow to rise 2 hours.

Punch down each dough and divide in half; cover.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out on e portion of each dough into a 10in X 8 in rectangle. Place a rectangle of basil dough on top of the rectangle for plain dough, and then place the rectangle for tomato dough on top of the basil dough. You'll have 3 layer dough. Roll into a 12in X 10in rectangle. Roll up, jelly roll style, starting with a long side, pinch seams to seal and tuck ends under.

Place seam side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Repeat with remaining dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

With a sharp knife, make three shallow diagonal slashes across the top of each loaf.

Beat egg white and cold water; brush over loaves.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

The original recipe:

For the spinach dough: same as basil dough except substitute basil for 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.

for all of the dough: Instead of letting it rise for 2 hours on the counter, the original recipe calls for it to be covered and placed in the refrigerator overnight.

This bread is delicious with spaghetti, toasted with butter and mozzarella melted on top. There are many ways to enjoy this bread. Share some of your ideas with me; I'd love to hear them.

German Broetchen or German Hard Rolls

2011-11-07T00:33:00.000-05:00

My Mom is German, as I've said before, and she brought a bag of German Hard Rolls home one day when I was little. She was very happy she found them at our local grocery store. I remember looking at them, thinking they didn't look that special. I poked one, sure enough hard as a brick, I thought Mom was crazy. Why in the world would anyone want to eat a roll with a crust like that. Surely it would break your teeth out. Was I ever wrong. Crusty on the outside, soft and delicious on the inside. A true breakfast treat. I never thought I would bake them myself. I'm trying to branch out my kitchen skills. I am finding that I do love to bake bread. Good for my family, bad for my figure.

These were so much fun to bake, even more fun to eat.

You will need two days to make this recipe so make sure you plan your time accordingly.

This recipe was e-mailed to me, so I do not know to whom credit should be given. Whomever you are, thank you, simply delicious!

Ingredients:

Note: you will need a spray bottle with water for this recipe. This is what makes the crust crunchy.

Day 1:

2 cups Bread Flour

1 1/3 cup water

1/2 tsp instant yeast

Day 2:

5 1/2 cup bread flour

1 1/3 cup water (extra if needed)

1 tsp instant yeast

1 to 1 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:

Day 1:

Mix all the ingredients, for Day 1, in a bowl until smooth and lump free

Cover loosely with plastic wrap

Leave on counter overnight (this makes the "sponge")

Day 2:

Mix the sponge with 5 cups of flour, water and yeast

Knead for 8 minutes, preferably with a stand mixer

Add up to another half cup of flour until dough barely sticks to the bowl

Sprinkle salt over the dough and mix for 4 minutes

The dough should be smooth but still tacky, adjust with water, a teaspoon at a time, or flour, a tablespoon at a time

Form dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl turning once to coat

Place a damp towel or plastic wrap over the top and let the dough rest for 2 hours

Turn dough out on lightly floured work surface and cut into pieces the size of a small orange

Let dough rest for a few minutes then form into small balls or any other shape you like

Coat in flour and place on parchment paper about 2 inches apart

Cover with a damp cloth and let them rise for another hour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Place an old pan on the bottom rack

Lightly score rolls with a serrated knife or blade

Place rolls on cookie sheet and place in the oven on the next shelf above the pan

Pour 1 cup water into the old baking pan and close the door quickly

Spray sides of the oven with water 2 or 3 times in the first 5 minutes of baking

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes

Cool rolls on wire rack so that the bottom will not get soggy

Rolls should be eaten warm and crispy

Place in the fridge then re-crisp in the oven or toaster if you are not eating them the same day

They can even be frozen

I didn't have a spray bottle so I used a basting brush and a cup of water to splash on the sides of the oven, it worked nicely.

Go Nuts (or Ape) for my Chocolaty Pumpkin Monkey Bread

2011-10-27T14:57:00.000-04:00

Go Ape for my chocolaty pumpkin Monkey Bread

I had Monkey bread many years ago and it was so good. A while ago I tried to replicate it, but failed miserably. I ended up with a pile of dry bread covered in burned cinnamon. Yuck! I learned from that mistake and went on to discover the most delicious combination of monkey bread ingredients I ever tasted.

Ingredients:

2 cans biscuit dough
1 cup cinnamon sugar
Nutella Hazelnut spread
Pumpkin Pie dip
5 pats of unsalted butter

1 bread pan greased and set aside

Tear biscuit dough into small chunks and place into a large bowl as you tear them apart.
After all your dough is in small chunks pour cinnamon sugar over them and toss until every piece is coated in the mixture
Drop coated bread chunks into greased bread pan
Do not overlap, make one layer
Drizzle Nutella over this layer and then the pumpkin pie dip
Make another layer of dough, drizzle again with Nutella and Pumpkin pie dip
Make last layer of dough and place pats of butter on top
Place in oven and bake until dough is done, according to directions on biscuit dough can
WATCH carefully dough may bake faster, depending how big or small the dough pieces are.
Don't over bake!

Serve warm with scrambled eggs. It is so good!

You can find Pumpkin Pie dip in most specialty kitchen stores.