Turkey breast Cooking time:

Image : http://www.flickr.com

It 'easy, a turkey moist succulent making some useful suggestions for:

* Your Place turkey in a baking dish low to circulate the heat very well.

* Place one inch of water to aid in the pan for the turkey moist and tender.

* Brush the turkey lightly with oil and freely with your favorite herbs, spices, seasonings and cover.

Imagine holding a tent of aluminum foil and place over the turkey breast in heatfor cooking. you want to remove the aluminum foil during the last hours of cooking a nice golden brown.

Check the water level periodically and add water if necessary. This mixture of juice and infusion of herbs can be used to make a good sauce turkey after the turkey is done cooking.

Times typical of Turkey for the thawed turkey at 325 to 350 degrees in the oven are:

* 2 to 3 kg – 1.5 to 2Hours

* 4 to 6 pounds – 2.5 to 3 hours

* 7 to 8 kg – 3 to 4 hours

It 'absolutely safe to take the turkey directly from the freezer and bake without thawing. Just make sure that the neck and giblets removed first.

This makes the turkey breast cooking time increases by about fifty percent.

* Your Place frozen turkey in a baking dish low

* Place one inch of water in the bottom of the pot to keep the turkeymoist and tender

* Brush the turkey lightly with oil and freely with your favorite herbs, spices, seasonings and cover.

Set up a tent of aluminum foil on Turkey to maintain the heat for cooking, remove the foil during the last hours of cooking a nice golden brown.

The timing of Turkey's typical for a frozen turkey at 325 to 350 degrees in the oven are:

* 2 to 3 kg – 3-4Hours

* 4 to 6 pounds – 5 to 6 hours

* 7 to 8 pounds 6 to 8 hours

It 'important to cook the turkey at 325 to 350 degrees to ensure that does not dry out and get to a safe internal temperature of meat.

The best way to check doneness is to use a meat thermometer. The minimum safe internal temperature is 165 degrees. If the chest with a fork should penetrate the juices have priority.

If you're a hot air oven for Turkey to reduceCooking times with the breast up to about 25 percent. To use it safely, a meat thermometer to test doneness

Following these simple tips will ensure that you have a delicious meal, which may be swarming all.

My Links : accusharp-001-knife-sharpener eureka-enviro-steamer scandinavian-teak-furniture.blogspot.com dog-apparel-blog.blogspot.com

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Egg Hunt Lunch

We’ve been enjoying a streak of absolutely beautiful weather lately.  The trees are in bloom, my plants are growing, and I don’t have to wear a jacket to stay warm anymore.  I love Spring!  I tend to feel more creative during the Spring and Summer months.

This is a lunch I packed for my husband, so it not only includes foods I can’t eat, but also a lot more food than I would want to eat.  Instead of stopping for lunch, he sometimes snacks throughout the day, so I sometimes try to pack lunches that match his eating style while still ensuring he’s eating healthily.  We had just dyed eggs together for the first time, so it inspired me to make his lunch a mini-egg hunt.

Clockwise from the top left: Three silicone cups of fruit salad with dried cranberries, broccoli and grape tomatoes, wasabi dipping sauce hiding some hard candies, stacks of crab California rolls, dried mango wrapped around a hardboiled egg, chocolate and cadbury eggs hiding in broccoli, more mango with another hardboiled egg, and some baby carrots.

I liked the little tomatoes hiding in the broccoli with the candy and chocolates; they seem to be a bit egg-shaped themselves.

[Via http://ipixy.wordpress.com]

Pizza with Mushrooms and Creamed Onions

Hello there,

this pizza is quite an ugly duckling! It doesn’t look like much, but it tasted delicious. I especially liked that it’s not covered in huge amounts of melted cheese. Come to think of it, I also really liked that it’s not slathered with tomato sauce. In other words: it’s a pizza, which is generally awesome, but it’s a little different.

The recipe comes from Johanna Handschmann’s Italian Vegetarian Cooking. I followed it pretty strictly; except that I doubled it (my husband and I are both suckers for pizza, so leftovers were a must), and that I used veggie broth instead of wine (I’m not having alcohol at the moment; generally, however, I would use wine in this, and will do so next time I’m making it).

Due to a – totally unreasonable – sabotage of tomatoes on my husband’s part, I made half of the pizza without tomatoes, as you can see in the picture. Well, here we go:

Ingredients:

for one 12 inch pizza pan

for the dough:

1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 tsp. salt

1 2/3 cups flour

2 tbsps. olive oil

For the topping:

2 medium onions

2 tbsps. olive oil

3 1/2 oz. button mushrooms

6 tbsps. white or red wine

5 tbsps. cream

oregano, salt, and pepper to taste

2 medium tomatoes

1 cup freshly grated parmesan

Directions:

In a bowl, mix flour, salt, and yeast. Add olive oil and about 7 tbsps. warm water. Knead into a smooth dough (by hand or machine). If necessary, add a little more water. Let the dough rise for at least 30 mins.

In the meantime, peel the onions and slice them thinly. Wash and slice the mushrooms. Fry the onions in hot olive oil (in a large pan) for 3 to 4 mins., stirring all the time. Add the mushrooms; stir. Pour in wine and cream, stir. Add oregano (I used about 1 tsp. dry oregano), salt, and pepper to taste. Cook the mixture down over medium heat until the veggies are soft and the liquid has reduced.

Wash and slice the tomatoes.

Preheat your oven to 425° F. Grease a baking sheet and put it into your pizza pan.

Knead the risen dough very briefly, then spread it onto the baking sheet. Lay the tomato slices on the dough.

Stir the parmesan into the veggie mix, and spread this on the dough.

Bake the pizza for about 20 mins., until the topping is bubbly and the dough is crusty. Enjoy!!

I hope you have a wonderful, fun weekend. We have some good cooking planned, and some good hanging out and chilling. Those weekends are the best.

xoxo, F.

[Via http://sweetsmart.wordpress.com]

THE ART OF OVEREATING

Perhaps one of the best books of all time by Leslie Landis.  It’s hilarious however puts food in perspective & makes some valid points.  It cost $10 & you can read it in a day! She suggest not weighing yourself and I would have to agree with her %100.  The last time I was at the doctor’s I weighed 143 pounds.  I hate getting on a scale. I do not own one.  This book is a must have for anyone that loves food.  You will look at food differently.

[Via http://foreverflavor.wordpress.com]

How To Make Brown Sugar at Home

Over the years I’ve learned to make a lot of stuff here at home, not just food, but staples as well like: powdered sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, yeast, etc. Not only do you save money, you also save in packaging meaning less trash in the landfill. It’s more convenient to make them up in small batches and you have fresher products. Here’s one of them that I posted on my blog a while ago. I posted this on my blog a while ago and thought it was relevant for the Real Food Challenge.

*****

There are lots of things you can make at home for much less than you can buy them at the store. Not only does it save money, but it saves time as well. No more quick trips to the store to get brown sugar when you start baking and realize you’re out. I’ve been making my own brown sugar for quite a while, mostly because it can be difficult to find organic brown sugar when you live in a rural area and it’s pretty expensive when you do actually find it! I definitely couldn’t get organic brown sugar for less than $1.50/lb, which is about what this costs me.

To make your own brown sugar all you need is white sugar and molasses. I use organic evaporated cane juice sugar (not Sucanat) and unsulphered organic blackstrap molasses. The general recipe is 1 cup of sugar and 2 Tablespoons of molasses. You can adjust the molasses amount or use a different kind of molasses to suit your tastes. I’m partial to blackstrap or sorghum molasses. I also like to use at least 2 Tablespoons or a bit more, since I like dark brown sugar.

After adding the molasses to the sugar all you have to do is mix. This can take a while, you can use a mixer if you’re making a large amount, the whisk attachment works very well for this task. Mixing by hand is also fine, I like using a fork for this method. Don’t worry if you have small lumps of molasses in the final product, I usually don’t mix until completely combined.

Another added benefit to making brown sugar at home, is that it’s always fresh. It smells wonderful and it’s always nice and soft. It has a much deeper flavor than store-bought brown sugar, which I really appreciate!

Now you can add this to the growing list of things you can make at home. You’ll have a constant supply of fresh brown sugar for baking all kinds of delicious goodies.

Have you ever made brown sugar at home? Any other great things you make at home you’d love to share?

[Via http://notdabblinginnormal.wordpress.com]

A Pepper Problem (part 3): Made-Over Chicken Cacciatore

We now reach an occurence when I create a recipe completely on my own. This normally goes one of two ways, either Great Success (as Borat would say) or “It’s okay if you don’t make this again” (as my husband would say). This got a good reception, so it is worth sharing.

Based on the fact that I didn’t want to go to the grocery store and that we had not eaten pasta in a while, I set out to create an italian dish with some of the abudance of peppers. Chicken cacciatore came to mind because it mixes meat with tomato sauce, and sometimes can have eggplant and mushrooms. My husband insists on meat with dinner, so I decided to do a bit of investigating regarding chicken cacciatore and this is the recipe I came up with after looking at about six. Otherwise we might just have had homemade pasta sauce with peppers, which is what you would get if you amde this and left out the chicken.

Just a note on the ingredients:

The peppers are from my initial bulk purchase (see A Pepper Problem (part 1)). After this recipe there will only be one left!

The chicken I used was a package of 6 deboned thighs because it was on meat manager special. (To me, meat manager sounds like a very funny thing to list on ones resume. However, the meat manager is one of my favorite people at the grocery store.) Because the price was so good, I bought two packs at the time, one for gumbo and the other for the freezer. So, when I needed meat, that’s what was available. This would probably be fine with leg quarters or even breasts. Bone in normally holds taste better, but thigh meat is pretty delicious, even de-boned.

Made-Over Chicken Cacciatore

Ingredients:

1.5 lb chicken pieces

3 bell peppers (red and green) sliced into strips

1 can of V8 (12oz)

1 can tomato sauce (plain)

1 cup wine (white or red. I used white.)

2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1 tbsp crushed garlic

1 bay leaf

I preheated the oven to 375. and then combined all ingredients in a casserole. Then, I baked for 1 hour with the lid on and 20 minutes with the lid off so that the top got nice and toasty.

I served it over egg noodles and slices of sour-dough baguette because that is what I happened to have available at the time, but any pasta or bread would do.

Also, always drink the wine you cook with to complement the meal. Plus, it ensures that you cook with good wine!

This was really good and would be great with some mozzarella or parmesan. It would have been nice to add some sauteed mushrooms and onions to the mix, but I didn’t have any at the time.

There was very little left-over, so it probably made about 5 servings.

[Via http://cookscache.wordpress.com]

Life in the Raw: A week in the life on a new raw eater.

Looking up for Uma Thurman’s diet (She’s also into Raw) I found this really interesting article. It elaborates on the way I’ve been feeling after (and during) my first Raw week.

The article is Life in the Raw and it documents the experience of a Girl during her first week on Raw

I feel my will for raw slipping as I look at a mouth-watering menu – lobster, fish bisque, steak. Will one small deviation count? My friends are choosing what to eat with the light-hearted joy of normal diners. Going out for dinner is about so much more than food, but the restrictions are not making me feel sociable. I stay strong and stick to salad.

In General Raw Guru is a pretty good and helpful site for the new Raw eater. The article I liked the most revolves around making the transition from a cooked to a raw life. This is what I find more interesting:

Most people can switch to the transition diet quite easily and many stay with it on an ongoing basis. The transition stage consists of 80% raw and 20% cooked foods. The primary raw foods to eat on this diet include: fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh juices, avocado, raw nuts, and seeds. This should comprise at least 80% of your diet. [...] The remaining 20% of your diet can be cooked. That means 1 or 2 cooked meals a week, or up to 20% of individual meals. In order to be considered on the transition diet, you should not eat more cooked food than this.

It’s so great to read this! Based on this I can say that my past week (let’s not look at the current weekend, please) was 80% raw, which gets me on the right path and motivates me to keep working on this!

This Week I have a date during the week, for which I am already planning on cooking something my grandmother used to cook for me as a child, at least now I can feel a little less guilty for this. Now, the only thing I have to focus on, is staying RAW for at least 80% of my week.

I’m feeling very excited, very.

-Kou

[Via http://kougoesraw.wordpress.com]

essex&jamaica in one day

when i got in two hours ago i cast my eyes over the pitch that i spent so long on yesterday and realised that the tone in which i had written was completely inappropriate. i don’t know whether it was my lack of tiredness or my general frustration and missing out on the stereophonics but to describe it in one word, lets say ‘awful’ would do it complete justice. i put my current contentment down to a tummy full of reggae reggae chicken as well as rice and peas, and paired with the pressure of a deadline of what i assume to be first thing tomorrow morning i sat down and the words instantaneously travelled to my finger tips and appeared on the screen in front of me. i love it when that happens.

the geography field trip was as strange as i predicted it would be. i knew it was going to be a bad day as soon as we discovered that we couldn’t even manage to get ourselves on the right train from east croydon (despite being with two teachers), ending up at city thames link opposed to london bridge, resulting in around a one and a half mile walk to fenchurch street. just what we needed. we were all exhausted before we’d even started to walk collecting our data. despite this negativity, the ominous purple grey sky swollen with rain that bulged above us never did burst, so despite us being freezing and thoroughly windswept, we remained dry. 

fact # 89

the laptop battery light flashing threateningly at me to turn it off before it decides to itself has decided that it is bed time for me. i really do not feel like sleeping.

fact # 89 1/2

… the laptop turned itself just as i was about to post this yesterday.

[Via http://kittylikescake.wordpress.com]

Weekend trip to Toubacouta

The weekend of March 5-7, my program went on a fieldtrip to Toubacouta, Senegal.

Dakar is located at the westernmost point of Senegal. Toubacouta is farther south along the coast but a little inland, almost near the Gambia.

The weekend was filled with lots of dancing and Senegalese food, but the highlight was spending the day and night in a Senegalese village. Keur Moussa Siny is the birthplace of one of our program directors and that is where we spent the night. The purpose of the visit was to experience life in a Senegalese village. As a female, I was to spend a day in the life of a Senegalese woman living in a village. I cooked, took care of children, carried water, had my hair braided, and danced. It was an amazing twenty four hours, the villagers are so content to live their lives and share their culture. It was a really pleasant and rewarding experience in every way possible. Some pictures of my Senegalese domesticity:

This was the baby of my host mom in the village. I was holding another child when she strapped this one on my back. It was amazingly comfortable. The Senegalese women do everything with the baby tied to their backs, including cooking, cleaning, dancing...everything.

My host mom with the dish we prepared, Yassa Ginaar. The preparation included chasing and catching two chickens, ringing their necks, boiling them, plucking their feathers, cutting up the meat and rubbing it with salt, cooking the chicken over fire, boiling rice, cutting up and cooking vegetables, and pounding spices and garlic to make the onion sauce. We then distributed the rice, chicken, and sauce into many bowls to feed the entire compound.

One of the ladies in the compound asked to braid my hair. This is near the end...when she was pulling at my scalp and my neck was very sore.

Along with my host sisters, we made about six trips between the well and the house to refill the water containers. I was given a small bucket to carry and managed to get most of it to where it was supposed to be.

When I returned to the house after carrying a water bucket, one of my male American friends was hanging around. He had been watching wrestling on the television while the women were carrying water. A perfect example of the role of women in Senegalese society...

[Via http://kellidakar.wordpress.com]

Dr. Smoothie Launches a Brand New Smoothie Line Called “Classic”

Keeping it fresh, Dr. Smoothie Brands continues to lead the way by developing new products with the consumer’s good health in mind first. Creating a brand new smoothie line called “Classic” will provide businesses the opportunity to offer a great new smoothie without having to sacrifice quality, price or taste. The hallmark of the Classic line is its extremely fresh and vibrant natural fruit taste as compared to the competitions cooked and overly sweet profiles.

Classic will be available in nine delicious flavors, are made from real vine ripened fruit. They feature NO high fructose corn syrup, No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Enriched with an assortment of vitamins and minerals, Classic flavors are all natural, lactose free, fat free and shelf stable.

100% Crushed, manufactured by Dr. Smoothie is a premium line of100% natural, 100% whole fruit purees that provide over three servings of fruit per 16 oz. beverage and meet the FDA 100% fruit guidelines. These 15+ flavors of functional smoothies have a superior anti-oxidant based vitamin & mineral package in each smoothie to maximize the benefits to the mind and body.

Dr. Smoothie Brands "Classic" smoothie puree

[Via http://drsmoothieusa.wordpress.com]

So good to be a carnivore in the winter

Tonight’s theme for dindins? Bacon.

Everyone loves bacon! I bet even vegetarian enjoy the smell of cooking bacon. Mmmmm mmmm piggies. So tonight, we’re “celebrating” my husband being through with his exams for promotion. We’re really hoping he gets it, as the extra money will fund my cooking madness…err our family. OK, so what’s on the menu tonight?

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy

Macaroni and Cheese with a bacon and panko breadcrumbs topping

Sauteed green beans with crumbled bacon

And Sweet Potato-Bacon biscuits

Yah, bacon overload for a health conscious lady like me. But, I this is a every now and then thing. I do not and will not cook like this everyday! M0derati0n is key!!! So IF everything turns out nicely, I will report back with pictures to share with you all my baconfestivities.

[Via http://yumyumsommom.wordpress.com]

Granola bar FAIL

I found this fine, non-fail recipe for homemade granola bars and decided to try it. So I picked up some lovely dried cranberries and bittersweet chocolate chips (mmmmm, tasty).

Then, I got out the other ingredients from my pantry — brown sugar, rolled oats. Hmmm, that box feels awfully light.

And I discovered that I had about a quarter-cup of rolled oats. That expired in 2008.

FAIL.

Fast-forward to two weeks later, and we are going to try again…this time I discover that I don’t have wheat germ. And don’t want to use whole-wheat flour. Left out the wheat germ, increased the flour and the rolled oats slightly to compensate.

The result smelled good, but:

2x FAIL.

What is wrong with these granola bars? I’m going to need a list:

• When I tried to poke them in the pan for doneness, I hit a chocolate chip instead of the granola area. You know what happens when you stick your finger into hot melted chocolate? It HURTS. Then, you stick your finger in your mouth to get the chocolate off and burn your mouth. So now I have a burned finger and a burned lip.
• I tried to cut the granola bars up, but the binding didn’t quite work, so I have quite a bit of deconstructed granola bar. Hmmm…what do you call it when you have granola ingredients not in a bar…maybe…”granola”? Lesson: Follow the recipe, which says to cut them up when they are “warm”. Not hot, warm. (I was still mad about the burned finger and wanted to take my revenge with a knife.)
• Taste. Oh, the taste. Did I mention that I baked the granola bars at the same time as a lovely batch of non-fail brownies? I neglected to increase cooking time to compensate for multiple pans in the oven, and so my granola “bars” have a slight raw flour taste. Which is not good. Also, I think I didn’t use enough sweetener, so in addition to the raw-flour note, there’s also an unsweetened oats feature. This may work for horses, but not for me. Neigh, not at all.

Lessons learned:

• Avoid melted chocolate chips in the oven.
• Do not “wing it” when assembling ingredients on a new recipe. The major reason that this recipe fell apart is probably that I was eyeballing the ingredients instead of measuring them. “What could possibly go wrong, other than a second-degree burn?” I thought blithely.
• When in doubt, add more sugar.
• When in doubt, follow instructions closely.
• “Wing it” is for recipes you know well, and maybe hockey.

[Via http://sarahokeefe.wordpress.com]

Zing

Last week was one of those weeks when you’re constantly running around being busy, but when you look back you can’t see any result, and can’t actually remember what you were doing (apart from playing with microfibre cloths ).

We had friends in for supper on Saturday, and I was badly prepared. In fact I wasn’t prepared at all and at mid-day hadn’t even decided what we were going to eat. So I set myself the challenge of putting together a three-course meal using only ingredients that I had in the house, and it worked pretty well, if I say so myself.

For a starter we had goat cheese and mint tart, followed by Glamorgan sausages with red pepper jelly and parsnip and potato mash.

I don’t know about you, but regardless of how large or splendid a meal, I never feel that it’s complete without a dessert of some kind, and I always serve one. Didn’t have any eggs or fruit, so after a bit of head-scratching I settled on crazy chocolate cake. Just to give it a little something extra, I added 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to the mix. The result was a deliciously sticky, rich chocolate cake, served with some double cream, and a fleeting, tantalising zing that followed every mouthful. We all had a very small slice to begin, having declared that we were too full to eat more, but all ended up having two more large slices each. So I think we can say that it was a success.

[Via http://nodamnblog.wordpress.com]

The Perfect Oscar Pairing

 

courtesy: google images

Since I give up popcorn and lemonade for Lent, I can never have my FAVORITE festive favorite…but you can have it for me.  Popcorn and champagne!  Well, Prosecco, an Italian sparkling wine.  Not very expensive, yet extremely lavish and yummy.

[Via http://kymx.radio.com]

Success with own business...why not??

2 days ago, i told with my friend (call Mrs. Tiur) that i want to be an entrepreneur. i see my self that i can success with my own company beside my main job. i like cooking and one day i want to have a cake shop. after i told Mrs. Tiur, she was really excited. why? because she saw my passion and spirit on my eyes (actually i didn’t know how she saw me like that ). she has a friend who success with her own business in cooking. her name is Fatmah Bahalwan . she is great in cooking. she has cooking mailing list (milis) and its member is more than 1000. why she can success in her business?? Mrs. Tiur explained me the key of her success:

1. She is good in internet. she built a community, its name is natural cooking club. you can see her community on her milis. every member of its community always help each other.

2. She usually give a secret recipe for her member ‘cooking club’ community.

3. Not only how to make a good food that she usually give for member, but also she usually give her knowledge how to build business in cooking. ‘from kitchen be money’.

4.She usually hold food festival periodically

5. She is so nice, that’s why everybody love her.

after Mrs. Tiur talking about Mrs. Fatmah, she wanted me to join Fatmah’s milis. based on fact, more than 1000 people are succes join her milis. because Mrs. Fatmah usually give the key of running own company. Mrs Tiur also wanted me to join Fatmah’s course. everyday, Mrs. Fatmah usually give course with different theme. and, after i got information about Fatmah, i see her website. and i decided to join her milis. Sunday, March 26 2010, i have cheese cake course on it. n i hope, after i take a cooking course, i can be an expert in cake. and i trust with my self that one day, i can be a successfull woman with own business. i hope

[Via http://flatshoe.wordpress.com]

Mariah Stewart's new book trailer COMING HOME - Chesapeake Diaries series

Coming Home Book Cover - Mariah Stewart

I have to share a little story with you.

I noticed this book trailer so I wanted to find a picture of the book cover.

So I went to Martha Stewart’s website and searched for ten minutes.

Frustrated, I couldn’t believe she didn’t have the book on there?

That’s when I took a SECOND look and it’s not a Martha Stewart book — it’s MARIAH Stewart! LOL

[Via http://theideagirlsays.wordpress.com]

Coriander

Getting on a coriander tip, researching the best ways to grow it and experimenting with recipes forthe leaves, stalk / root, and seeds. In a grow bag, I’ve got a strip of both coriander and chervil popping up, sowing a few seeds each week for a continuous supply.

For recipes for coriander leaves and stalk, had a go at a coriander-heavy chutney, inspired by a recipe in The London Cookbook. Actually, it felt more like a pesto to me – thicker paste, very delicious, good hit of green chilli.

To make it, you dry roast a spoonful of cumin seeds then a handful of peanuts in a heavy frying pan, then grind them up. Then, in a blender, whizz garlic and green chillies, add the peanuts and cumin, sugar (jaggery), salt, lemon juice and then bunches of coriander, chopped down to just above their root.

I deliberately haven’t included exact quantities. This is the kind of recipe that needs a bit of instinct to balance the flavours how you like it.

Coriander chutney

_____________

Gardening: chillies and tomatoes germinating in heated propagator, earlies chitting, peas and broad beans in cold frame, garlic okey dokey.

[Via http://cityleaf.wordpress.com]

Menu Plan Monday - March 1st, 2010

As you may or may not know, I have some medical things going on.  I’d rather not broadcast what those are, so just use your imagination (it’s not Lupus).  Rather than post my menu of nothing but liquid for the week (yes, it’s awful), I’ve decided to just point you back to Org Junkie’s MPM.  Go there and see all the lovely menus people who are able to eat solid food can have.  Don’t expect menus for at least a month from me.

On a more positive side, I went to Stitches West over the weekend.  Details and photos of goodies to come.

[Via http://yarngeek.wordpress.com]

Winter Plum Cake

I cooked this cake last winter and have been thinking about it since December, but in true fashion I have waited until what I hope is the end of winter to make it.  I am so pleased that I did make it again.  The recipe is from Nigella Lawson, and I can’t remember how I got my hands on the recipe but I am so grateful that I did.  If you have time, before spring arrives, I urge you to make this cake:

 

Adapted from Nigella

• 300g of drained tinned plums (mine came in a 560g tin before being drained)
• 125g self raising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 75g ground almonds
• 125g unsalted butter, softened
• 125g soft brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1tsp almond essence
• 160g unrefined icing sugar

 

Preheat oven to 170C. 

Drain plums, then chop and drain again. 

Mix flour, baking powder and almonds in a bowl.  In another bowl cream the butter and sugar together.  Add the eggs and then 3tbs of the flour mixture.  Beat in the almond essence.  Add the rest of the flour mixture and fold in.  Then fold in the plums.

Tip into the prepared tin and bake for an hour and a bit maybe, quarter of an hour more.  Mine took just over an hour. 

In the meantime (and this is where I change the recipe) heat the leftover syrup with 2tbs sugar.  Reduce until you are left with a thick syrup.  When the cake is slightly cool brush on some of the syrup.  I only did a thin coating. 

When the cake is completly cool ice with the unrefined icing sugar mixed with 2tbs hot water. 

The first time I made the cake I was skeptical about using unrefined icing sugar, but the taste is completely different to normal icing sugar, and gives it a more caramel flavour. 

We ate the cake when it was still warm (and then had a bit more when it was cold).  There is just over half the cake left and I assume that it will be gone by lunchtime tomorrow, which is a testament to how good this cake is. 

[Via http://perfectingpru.wordpress.com]

Patience is a Virtue

It’s so hard not knowing the future for us.  What I mean is it’s hard not knowing where we will be physically located.  I’m dying to know because without having an idea I’m unable to start planning!  And, I’m a planner!  =)  Unfortunately we have to wait.  That’s the way of the military sometimes – get busy waiting!

If I knew I could start to plan out my life for the rest of the year and that would keep me really busy and I would welcome that!  I love being busy now because it passes the time until I get to see him again!  I can’t wait for that day!!  It’s the most important thing I’ve ever had to look forward to in my life so far.  To be separated from the one thing in your life you feel most connected to who is in a place that is filled with danger is the hardest challenged I’ve faced.

I can’t wait to know where we will be going.  I am excited without even knowing where that may be!  I’ve started researching jobs and homes in one area where we might be going and homes in another and I’m really interested in continuing to explore my opportunities in these new places!

Once I know I can also start to tailor my business to the new region to that I can start getting customers there excited about my presence to come!  It’s going to be a challenge to start the business in a new place but with a little dedication and perseverance I know I can make it work!  I am up for the challenge in my life!  When you’re excited and happy about your life – anything is possible!!  That I know for sure!

Patience is key here!

[Via http://loveknowsnodistance.wordpress.com]

Planning and cooking overwhelming? Try this.

So the Week of Eating in was going great (I’ll post photos!) until today. I got home last night and made pancakes, and when I woke up this morning, I realized I didn’t have any leftover left. I didn’t even have stuff for a salad or sandwich! I also didn’t have time. So today I ate from the cafeteria. Boo.

Well, cooking all your meals takes planning! In that spirit, I’ll post this great website I found via Grist:

NoTakeout.com offers a complete menu, shopping list and detailed game plan—from the time you walk in the door after work—each day for that night’s dinner (big fan of last week’s mushroom penne). I think its tool list is marvelous—from bare essentials to well-equipped—so you can make sure you have the necessary pots, pans, knives, bells, and whistles. If you don’t, no need to go out and buy tons of new stuff. Ask a friend about borrowing an item like a hand blender that you may not use often enough to own one yourself (I did this for the butternut squash soup—thanks, neighbor!). Or scour your local second-hand store for some cool, vintage-y measuring cups to cut cost and new materials.

I have yet to try it, but believe me, I plan to!

[Via http://cleanhippie.wordpress.com]

Dedicated Biker

Bikers. They can always tell you the weather. They tell you if the roads are wet or dry. Some bikers only drive a motorcycle.

My Uncle Jack volunteered to pick up dinner, he told us he was going to pick up ribs. Yum! I love ribs. While we waited for him to arrive we prepared side dishes and fixed up the table. It was a nice summer day so we waited for him out side on the patio. It was getting a bit late and we wondered where he could be.

If you know someone with a motorcycle that drives it often to see you you, you start to know the sound of their bike. As I took a swig of my beer I could slightly hear the rumbles of a Police special Road King. I look at my brother confused. “Wait…who was getting the food?” I asked. Surely Uncle Jack didn’t pick up ribs for 7 people with the bike…Yeah I was incorrect about that one.

I took him a little long to get to the house because he was driving extra careful…that’s understood. Between the careful driving, the secured lid and the bungee cords, the food made it to us very safely. I’m don’t ride a motorcycle(well not yet) but if I did I’m not sure if I would have attempted this one.

[Via http://toiletblogs.com]

MOTHER’S DAY RECIPES: TENDER LOVING CREPES

From More Sensible Cuisine by Victoria Banksley, OBE

In keeping with the modern tradition of bestowing frivolous names upon themed recipes, my editors have encouraged me to imbue this crepe recipe with a motherly theme.  It can be sensibly enjoyed at any time of the year, by non-mothers and even non-females.  It is best enjoyed alongside the French-Kissed Vanilla Ice Cream (page 158), or possibly the Strawberry Confit (page 162).  As always, beware of the clown.

-½ cup whole milk

-1 large eggs

-1 tablespoon sugar

-1 teaspoon salt

-a scant 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

-½ teaspoon vanilla extract

-1 cup flour, divided into ½ cup portions

-¼ cup brandy

Firstly, mix the milk and eggs in a blender at a high setting.  Once foamy, reduce the setting and add the sugar and salt to the mixture.  After another intense pulse, add the butter and vanilla extract, and process at low speed until the mixture is uniform.

At this point, the sound of the blender will have attracted the clown’s attention.  Prevent the clown from physically upsetting the blender, and keep the cover top on to prevent it from spraying seltzer into the mixture.  Do not laugh at the clown, as it will only encourage it further.

Once the clown’s initial enthusiasm has subsided, remove the cover top and add one portion of the flour to the mixture.  The clown, now turned away, will almost certainly swing its leg backwards and attempt to kick the flour from your hands, all over the kitchen.  Remain stoic, and do not laugh at its acting-out.  Wait for the honking of its horn to subside, then emotionlessly stir the reserve flour in to the mixture.

Place your crepe pan over medium heat and brush with butter.  When the butter begins to smoke, pour 1/3rd of a cup of batter onto the pan, tilting to evenly spread it around.  Do not allow the clown to distract you with juggling, as it will surely result in your crepes being lopsided and undercooked in parts.

Cook the crepe until the underside is nicely browned, then flip it over, re-greasing the pan as you do.  The clown should be allowed nowhere near the element or flame, as it will attempt to use the heat to scorch its buttocks for comedic effect.  Failing to prevent it from this action will result in it running around your cooking area haphazardly, disturbing and knocking over as many instruments as are at hand, and distracting you from further crepe cookery.

Continue until all the batter is used.  Should the clown release a swarm of bees into your kitchen, reduce the heat of the element and vacate until they have become less agitated.  Should the crepe you were cooking burn during your absence, scrape off the char carefully and re-grease it.

Place completed crepes on a tray in the oven, set to a low heat.  When you have completed cooking the crepes, remove the tray, place the crepes on a tray and begin transporting them to the table where your expectant mother waits.  The clown will knock them to the ground.  This cannot be avoided.  Wordlessly return to the kitchen and pour the brandy into a tumbler.  Consume quickly, without ice, then hurl the empty tumbler at the clown as it awaits your applause.  Glower.  The clown will depart, defeated and visibly forlorn.  You are now free to begin the recipe anew, free from its torment.  Serves 2 humans and no clowns.

[Via http://terminallaughter.wordpress.com]

mini? check. oreos? check. cheesecake? check

Those that know me know that I have a love for all things miniature, especially when it comes to food, and so when I stumbled upon a recipe for mini oreo cheesecake (which itself was from Martha Stewart’s cupcake book), you could say I was excited. Now on further reading of the recipe I realised the oreos themselves weren’t miniature, but rather the  mini was in reference to the cheesecake, slightly less excited but not enough to put me off creating them. So after work I headed off to the shops to buy the whopping 4 eggs I needed for the recipe. After some imperial to metric conversions I decided that 1 kilo of cream cheese was a tad too much for me to purchase, so I halved the recipe. Below is my interpretation of the linked recipe above:

Ingredients

18 Oreos (just short of a whole pack – the one with two rows inside)

500g of cream cheese

1/2 cup of sugar

Splash of vanilla extract

2 eggs

(the original recipe had sour cream, however after some searching, other recipes didn’t include it – so I felt I could leave one fatty ingredient out)

Preheat oven to 135 degrees Celsius. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners or grease well with non-stick baking spray. Place 1 whole Oreo in the bottom of each cup.

With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, until filling is set, about 22 minutes.

Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Finished product – may have got it out the fridge a few hours too early, but it was tasty none the less.

[Via http://adventuresoftheordinary.wordpress.com]

Chicken Tomato Bisque

One thing that I always turn to when the weather gets cold is soup. A good soup could warm the soul. This soup is pureed and creamy with small bits of carrots and onions that gave it a nice bit of texture. It was light, healthy, and would have been perfect if I had a grilled cheese sandwich to accompany it…alas I only had the Cheddar Cheese Biscuits (which were still very good).

Chicken Tomato Bisque

Adapted from Ladies’ Home Journal

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 carrot (chopped)

1 medium onion (chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1/2 cup flour

1 can whole tomatoes with juice (28 ounce)

1 1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups chicken (cooked and shredded)

In a 6 quart pot over medium-high heat, combine olive oil, carrot, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until onion is soft (about 6 to 8 minutes). Stir in flour until vegetables are coated, then add tomatoes.

Add broth and 1/2 teaspoon oregano and stir, breaking up tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook 8 to 10 minutes.

If you have an immersion blender just blend right in pot. If not working in small batches, puree soup in a blender or food processor and transfer back to pot. Stir in cream, salt and chicken and heat through. Season to taste and serve garnished with remaining oregano.

[Via http://delightfullysweet.wordpress.com]

Scavenging for a Quick Meal - WildTree Scampi Blend To the Rescue

Hello again culinary fans,

OK, it was Monday night and we had worked all day.  We had to take the puppy to obedience class at 6:15pm and there was nothing for dinner.  We didn’t have a lot of time and I hadn’t been to the grocery store so all we had in the freezer was a chicken breast and some frozen sweet corn.  In the fridge we had a tomato and there was one onion.

Hmm… What to do with this…  Here’s what I did.

I defrosted the chicken breast, cut it into thin strips and put it in a mixing bowl.  To that I added some WildTree Garlic Grapeseed Oil, a bit of sea salt, some fresh ground pepper and a teaspoon (sort of heaping) of WildTree Scampi Blend seasoning.  I chopped the onion and the tomato and grabbed the frozen corn from the freezer.

I sautéed the chicken until it was almost cooked through and then added the chopped onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic and two tablespoons of butter.  I let that cook for about 5 minutes while I boiled some water.  I put a couple of tablespoons of kosher salt in the water and about 8 ounces of linguine (luckily we had some in the pantry).  When the pasta was el dente, I reserved some of the pasta water and drained the rest.  I added the frozen corn to the pan, the zest and the juice of half a lemon, some of the reserved pasta water and one more teaspoon of the WildTree Scampi Blend.  I mixed that all up and added the pasta.  When that was combined and bubbly, I added the chopped tomato and about a tablespoon of parsley.  After a few gentle stirs to combine everything, we were ready to eat.

What can I say?  This was not your classic Chicken Scampi recipe but it tasted great.  It had all the components that I like; Meat, Vegetables, Pasta, and a great taste.  The WildTree Scampi Blend saved the day.  This meal was short, sweet and delicious.  It took all of 20 minutes from start to finish and we made it to puppy class on time.

Until next time,

Thanks for listening

My Virtual Project

[Via http://lvtocook.wordpress.com]

Still here, some cookies and a blog

It’s been crazy lately, which is why I haven’t posted, or worked on my new bolero, or cleaned my apartment, for that matter.  Between consulate visits in Frankfurt and avoiding carnival I haven’t done much worth reporting. Also, for any Americans in Rheinland or Hessen, the consulate really does mean no electronics. They don’t have lockers anymore where you can keep your things!

I do want to write a bit about carnival here, which would be a much more exciting party if I didn’t live directly in the middle of it, but I’ll do that tomorrow. Today I’ll leave you with a recipe and an interesting blog I’ve just stumbled across.

The recipe:  Kouroumbiedes (thanks Kathy!), which are Greek sugar cookies, basically.

1000 grams of Butter

2 packages of confectioners sugar

2 egg yolks

6 cups of cake flour

1 tsp of baking powder

1 cup of chopped almonds

1 shot of brandy or whiskey

Soften the butter till very soft.  Add 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar and beat until fluffy and light-colored.  Add the egg yolks and beat.  Sift the cake flour and baking powder into the butter mix.

Toast the almonds for 2-3 minutes and add to the mix, then sprinkle the dough with brandy/whiskey and knead thoroughly.  The dough should not be sticky, but not dry either! Make cookies into half-moon or round shapes and bake on a cookie sheet  until light golden brown.  Take out of oven and cool, then sift the rest of the confectioner’s sugar over them (or put sugar and cookies into a ziploc and shake till they’re coated).

And the blog: http://hasidic-feminist.blogspot.com/ , which she has just moved to http://exhasid.blogspot.com

I stumbled across it today totally on accident. I love teh internets!

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

[Via http://youngjeninspats.wordpress.com]

When Taco Bell Doesn't Cut It.

“I’m hungry.” I told my mom.

She didn’t respond.

“But not for fast food. I’m sick of fast food. I want a really fine-cooked meal.”

She laughed. In my family, we all love to cook, but no one has oodles of time to spare for that particular hobby. So we often subsist on leftovers, or fast ‘n’ easy’s. Nothin’ wrong with that.

But tonight… because it’s Friday… because I saw When in Rome with my mom and sis… and because I’m inspired…

…I’m going to bust up in the kitchen like it hasn’t seen in a good 2 months.

Even though I should be doing noble things, like cleaning and school and all that jazz, I’m going to put it all aside and make some delicious, gourmet food. Because I want to.

So we’ll see how things turn out. If it all turns into one very large cooking flop, I will notify you and post pictures. If not… I will still notify you and post pictures.

Ciao!

[Via http://abbiewrote.wordpress.com]

Are we doing enough?

I just watched Jamie Oliver’s TED Talk about food and the responsibility that educators have in reversing the terrifying trends that are causing so much poor health and even premature death. I was incredibly moved by Jamie’s passion and powerful arguments. We all know he’s passionate about food, many of us have his cookbooks and many of us have changed the way we cook and eat because of him. But, are we ready to be scared enough by his message to change the way we educate?

I am.

As a PYP Teacher and Workshop Leader, I constantly find myself talking to students and fellow teachers about how we are “preparing our students for the world”. I elaborate on that by echoing the words of Sir Ken Robinson who reminds us that we know very little about the world that our students will inhabit. One thing we do know for sure is… they will need to eat, and Jamie Oliver’s message is that they are going to need to develop very different eating habits to the ones currently in fashion. But, when did I last teach my 11/11 year old students to cook? When did I last do any food-related teaching that truly had an impact on my students and was so internalized by them that it changed the way they eat? Am I really preparing them for the future?

Why not?

I’d like to try and reverse this situation in much the same way as Jamie Oliver is. I’d like to be a part of a movement,in my school and in the IBPYP, towards more teaching and learning about food, food preparation and cooking.

I’m actually pretty lucky. Early Years students in my school do cooking on a regular basis. And Middle Years students do food technology for a term. So, the process has started. But there’s a big gap… I’d like to fill it.

[Via http://samworkshops.wordpress.com]

A tale of two chickens

I am the sort of person who entertains fantasies about being the sort of person who has endless supplies of home roasted cold chicken in the fridge; partially because I watch / read too much Nigel Slater, he of “Ohh I’ll just look in my fridge, ooh look there’s some of Saturday’s roast chicken left, one courgette and a lump of parmesan” and he goes and makes the most divinely gorgeous meal out of it but principally because I love proper cold chicken. I say ‘proper’ cold chicken because the little lumps of cold roasted chicken, you get in trays in the supermarket, neatly sliced into suspicious looking fatty lumps covered in a coating that you don’t particularly want, don’t really count. I feel almost the same about cold turkey (yet don’t particularly like hot turkey) and one of the highlights for me, of a post Christmas party on Mr. Lacer’s side of the family, is a ready supply of the stuff. I am of course, also aware that buying a whole chicken is a lot cheaper than constantly buying chicken breasts.

Anyway, so, I just happened to be sitting on my sofa, about a week and a half ago, on a Monday, laptop on lap, midway into doing my Ocado shop, when the postman just happened to deliver my copy of this month’s Delicious magazine, I put down the laptop and had a flick through the magazine for some timely grocery shopping inspiration and came across a couple of recipes that involved chicken, the sort of recipes where you buy a whole chicken, cook it and then divide the meat up into two or three dishes, thus making the purchase of a chicken a rather cheap option. So, I picked my laptop back up, searched for chicken and there was a special offer, two chickens, so I ordered two.

The chickens arrived on the Wednesday, I had to hurriedly rearrange my fridge to fit them in and there they sat, on the bottom shelf, starring at me every time I opened the fridge door, going “Are you going to cook us then, use by date of the 9th you know!”. Unfortunately, for the very reason I hate menu planning, the latter half of last week involved me coming down with a heavy cold, again and as usual my idea of the most strenuous time consuming cooking I could do, involved opening the freezer door and getting out the packet of Birds Eye chicken dippers. So I had two dead birds in my fridge, taunting me. It wasn’t until early Sunday evening, did I feel up to cooking at least one of them and even then I didn’t really want to. So I dug out the now cursed magazine (which was making me feel even more enthusiastic about cancelling the subscription for, for daring to give me ideas above my time and energy levels*) and stuck chicken number one in my stock pot and then went and did bed time for the kids.

Now, I’ve never poached a whole chicken before, I normally roast them, but that is what the recipe called for and I was actually quite pleased with the result, as when it came to removing the meat from the chicken, it was a lot easier and I feel I got far more meat off it than I would if I had roasted it first. And of course I was left with the water the chicken had cooked in. The recipe also required stock, so as instructed I had also bunged some carrot, onion, leek and bay leaves in with the chicken originally, however not according to the recipe, but using an extra step I remember reading from Jamie Oliver, before adding the water and the chicken, I had browned the vegetables off first, as I’ve only made stock once before and I remember not browning the vegetables off first and being distinctly unimpressed with the results. So,  by the end of poaching the chicken, I was left with a chicken which was easy to get the meat off and a stock that had the weirdly pleasant smell, exactly like that of Walker’s Roast Chicken flavoured crisps.

After getting the meat off the bones, I stuck the bones back in the pot with the stock and continued cooking for a few hours whilst I made the first of the magazine recipes; chicken enchiladas (which in my opinion were a bit stodgy, Mr. Lacer liked them though) and caught up with Being Human. I then went back to my stock (it was about 10.30pm by this point), drained off the stock and started cooking the next recipe, chicken and butternut squash gratin (which required the stock, which meant I couldn’t start cooking it earlier). By the time I had made up three dishes of the stuff, ready to go in the freezer, unbaked, it was nearing one o’clock in the morning and I still couldn’t go to sleep, much as I desperately wanted to, as I had to wait for the rest of the stock I had made and decanted into freezable containers, to cool enough to put in the freezer. I got to bed at 2am, exhausted and in the way how sometimes if you’re so tired and with no chance to properly wind down, before going to bed, I slept badly and consequently had to go through Monday on two and a half hours sleep. Needless to say, those three dishes of gratin, taking up space in my freezer, right now I don’t really fancy them.

I was curious however to try out one of the containers of my plentiful supply of stock, so last night, for the kids’ tea, I made the best test of a good stock I know, risotto. I made a fairly plain risotto, so that the flavour I was convinced was there, would shine through. So, I defrosted some stock, used it, came to taste the risotto, about twenty minutes into making it and it was the most dish water dreary risotto I had ever tasted! I quickly made up some stock cube stock and added that for the last five minutes, but oh dear, it wasn’t the nicest risotto I’ve ever given to the kids (not that Boy Lacer ate it anyway) and to compensate I had to smother it in more parmesan than usual, which is probably why Girl Lacer said she liked it more the normal. The only good thing about my home made stock, was that the colour of the risotto was a little more darker than normal.

So, I’ve got a lot of vaguely tasteless stock in my freezer and there I was looking forward to endless runs of gorgeous risottos and maybe some chicken noodle soup. I will still use it, but probably for home made soups instead.

So, you may possibly be thinking (if you’ve read all this way far down), what about chicken number 2? Well that was going out of date yesterday, so I had to cook it, despite not really wanting it, after trying a few spoonfuls earlier of the kids’ leaden risotto. Unfortunately it was the day before my next Ocado delivery and I had virtually nothing in the house to go with it. But looking through (of course) Nigel Slater, I found a simple roast chicken recipe that involved massaging it with butter and ramping up the temperature of the oven for the first fifteen minutes, so I tried that. The recipe called for potatoes to roast with the bird and it sounded so nice, the way how the potatoes roasted in the chicken-y, buttery juices, but I had no potatoes, not even a potato waffle to my name, so I cooked it without. Taking that chicken out of the pan without potatoes to toss in the lovely juices was almost criminal, so I will do that recipe again, properly this time, next time I can bring myself to order chicken.

* Actually, I was thinking of cancelling it anyway, I’ve done well over the last year or so, reducing the number of magazines I read and only still read Delicious because it was the one magazine I had on subscription and I’ve been too lazy about finding out how to cancel it.

[Via http://lacer.wordpress.com]

Cooking Videos: unforgettable recipes

Who can forget his mother and grandmother's biscuits or sweet bread? We the members of our entire lives eating, and video projects have also been coveted recipes and who manufactured attractions and personal voice.

The purpose of the video to a friend or family member in accordance with recipes, because of his or her favorite recipe to make – food preparation and measurement of the human personality procedure.

Recipe is the script. Each step taken in order, because it is执行. As a bonus feature, I will include a cook, on the history of cuisine, who taught in the history of the family members or friends of his or her recipe and place of the interview.

Here is the "recipe video":

Welcome to the Kitchen – Recipes Introduction

The list of required materials

List of ingredients added to the cover

Preparing food step by step

Including the preparations for the window close

HighlightTools and techniques

"Greenman shooting 'dishInterview to complete the boss

Through careful planning, you can come up with the exact order you want to shoot – including editing and all this in front of the camera end of the project. However, this is a project that will really benefit from editing. If you plan to edit, shoot, extra food preparation on the end of ups and downs, choose the best angle and time to prove the process.

Tip:

If your questionComfortable speaking in front of the camera, there is a "side-kick in the kitchen." This person could question what happened, chefs will be more comfortable than others about the implementation of the camera.

Grandparents teaching grandson is a wonderful dimension to the project.

Creativity and your books. Spelling cookie dough on the counter and write them in the kitchen table, chalk board, or write it in the icing on the cake. Use your imagination娱乐.

Allow 4-5 hours of shooting, and to ensure that your boss know that there is more formula, they are ready to shoot.

Preparation and measures, and the number of possible ingredients, and then start. You need to peel potatoes, only one everone understand the process. To attract workers, the remaining 20 will be the cook and Shell love you.

Using a wireless microphone to record audio. If you need to use the camera microphone, you are using in the vicinity, and talk about your bossLoud.

Recipes make great gifts film. You can buy cases and trademarks online or save to your computer. Handwritten recipe card is a perfect case of the final sum!

I wish you good luck volume history of the project!

[Via http://pancakesfromscratch.wordpress.com]

365-66 Caramel Dip (recipe included)

I learned this recipe ten years ago and get rave reviews every time I make it. The ingredients and steps are super easy and it is DELICIOUS!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 block of cream cheese
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Let cream cheese soften on counter for about 30 minutes
• Whip the cream cheese in a small or medium size bowl
• Add in brown sugar and whip some more
• Stir in vanilla
• Keep covered in refrigerator

Serve with apples or other suitable fruit.

[Via http://justmovingforward.wordpress.com]

My Kitchen

For any of those who are thinking that in order to cook and bake you need a large kitchen, you don’t. This is my kitchen, I know it is bigger than some and smaller than most. If I had three arms I could touch the cooktop, sink and refrigerator all at the same time. I am lacking on counter space, as well as storage.

My point is….that even if you have a small kitchen you can still do wonderful things in it. Sometimes you have to get creative with your work space (think cookie cutter cookies). The one benefit to having such a small space is that you can’t make a mess and go to the next station, you only have one station so you have to clean up before your next move, though that is also a drawback.

[Via http://muddycreekcreations.wordpress.com]

One lump or two...?

Now, there’s nothing quite like a lovely hot, steaming cuppa and maybe a couple of Ginger Nuts and/or Jaffa Cakes  surreptitiously dunked in for 5 seconds and shoved in one’s gob post haste – well, gotta watch the drips…Earl Grey is my tea of choice first thing in the morning, splash of milk, no sugar – lovely! I have a couple more cups throughout the day and maybe a coffee or two (can you tell I’m being guarded about how many I really drink!!) Anyhoo, whilst I was surfing on t’internet and thought I’d check out how much High Tea/Cream Teas were at more salubrious establishments, like Afternoon Tea at Claridges. You’ll be seated in the one of the finest and most luxurious tea rooms in world and be offered a choice of 30 teas from all over the world; a delicious selection of ‘finger’ sandwiches; a tempting selection of sweet pastries; freshly baked raisin & apple scones with tea-infused jam and Devonshire clotted cream – all this for £35 per person *chokes on PG Tips brew*.

I’ll put the kettle on…

[Via http://nickynackynoo.wordpress.com]

Enchiladas

I recently tasted real homemade enchiladas – not the type where you buy the red or green sauce, but real honest to goodness homemade enchilada sauce that took hours to make. I have to say, I don’t think that I have ever really eaten enchiladas but this sauce was delicious. So I decided to try and see if I could make something similar. First, I will let you know that these enchiladas were my own short cut version, but, I do have to say that they came out pretty well. I would definitely make them again.  The next time that I make the sauce though, I would try using fresh chili peppers. I also think that making enchiladas at home make them more healthy than if you were to go out to dinner and get them.

I made chicken enchiladas but you could use any type of meat or even make vegetarian ones.  Good luck!

Enchiladas

Ingredients

2 Chicken Breast

1/4 medium onion

1/2 Can of diced tomatoes (from 14 ounce can)

2 Garlic Cloves

1/8 teaspoon Chili Powder

1/8 teaspoon Cumin

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

———-

8 dried chilies (I used 4 ancho chilis and 4 cascabel chilis)

1/4 Onion Sliced

2 garlic Cloves

1/2 can of diced tomatoes

Unsweetened chocolate

Pinch of Cinnamon

Water

Corn tortillas

Grated cheddar cheese

Pam

To Make the Chicken Filling

Put the first eight ingredients into a slow cooker and let it cook together until the chicken is soft enough to shred. If there isn’t enough liquid for the slow cooker, add an 1/8 of a cup of chicken stock or water.  Finally, shred the chicken and mix all of the ingredients together. Set the chicken aside. (You can probably cook this on the stove, I just felt the slow cooker was easier)

To make the enchilada sauce

Add the chilis, onion and garlic to 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes to ensure that everything is very soft. Add the tomatoes, a pinch of unsweetened chocolate and a pinch of the cinnamon. Not too much on either or your red sauce will start tasting more like a mole. Cook for another 5 minutes. Remove the vegetables and put them into a blender. Or you can use an immersion blender which is what I did. Blend everything adding the same chili, garlic water slowly until you get the right consistency. Also make sure there are no lumps – biting into a chili pepper would not be fun.  That’s it. It’s surprisingly easy and you can adjust the chili types for more or less heat and the tomatoes for more or less tomato flavor. The chocolate and cinnamon are optional.

Making the enchiladas

Spray a baking dish with Pam so the enchiladas don’t stick. Spoon two to three spoon fulls of the red sauce into the dish and spread it around so the bottom is covered.  Now take one of the corn tortillas (I used the small ones), fill it with 1-2 spoonfuls of the chicken mixture, wrap it up and put it seem down in the dish. (Technically you are supposed to fry the enchiladas to make them more malleable. You could also stick them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Honestly, I didn’t do anything. I just started rolling them) Repeat until your baking dish is full – mine took about 6 enchiladas. Spoon more red sauce over the enchiladas and then cover with cheese. Bake at 350-375 for about 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the insides warm.

I ate mine with a bit of extra sauce and leftover guacamole the first day and with plain avocado the next day. They were great both times! I would love to know how yours turns out.

[Via http://cook4one.wordpress.com]

Baking a cake standing up

Last year I was still somewhat out of commission after knee surgery when Susanne’s birthday rolled around, and by “out of commission,” I really mean, “still taking sponge baths.” This year I’m mostly back to my old form—I’ve returned to a bowling league, have kept up my routine at the gym, and can squat again when I need something from a low cabinet, which is pretty much the only time I squat—so I figured cake making would go easier this time around.

I should know by now not to make assumptions regarding the ease of anything. And still, I persist in my idiocy.

For her part, Susanne had requested a Schwartzwald Kirschtorte (say that 10 times fast), a.k.a. a Black Forest cake, but she’d thrown in a couple of twists: she wanted a layer of chocolate ganache in the middle of the cake layers, instead of the usual whipped cream and cherries, and she wanted, on advice from her mother, the cherries that go atop the cake to be dipped in chocolate. In the spirit of the upcoming Vancouver Olympics, I’ll explain the level of difficulty this entailed. Now your standard Black Forest cake, with its spongy chocolate cake layers, has a rating, under the old figure skating scale, of 3.2 out of 6 total, but because it also calls for whipped cream and systematic pricking with a fork so that it will uptake the kirschwasser liquor, has a final technical difficulty of 4.1, or in the new International Judging System, 8,237 points. Because I also had to make a ganache, dip cherries previously cured in liquor, and use that liquor as the base for a homemade liquored syrup, my new difficulty rating was a 5.8, or in the IJS, let’s see. . . carry the one . . . computing . . . 13,482 points.

But I was up to the task. I was certain of this.

While the recipe called for 7″ cake pans, presumably because the Germans enjoy smaller-sized desserts, I only had one 8″ cake pan and 3 9″ pans. What was a baker to do? I went for the 9-inchers, because 9, being a greater integer than 7, must be better. I whipped up 6 eggs, my arteries screaming no at me, blending in sugar and cocoa, and arrived at a splendidly smooth batter, which, upon pouring into the pans I could see rose to a withering height of . . . three-quarters of an inch. Hmm. I crossed my fingers and hoped that the cakes would rise in the oven.

After dutifully rotating the cake pans at the halfway mark of baking, I answered the timer’s bell and saw that indeed, they had risen. They were now one inch tall. I considered marking their progress on the kitchen wall, but instead I grabbed my car keys, wallet, and phone, and headed to the grocery store, as I was now out of eggs. And I figured I should pick up some extra whipping cream just in case.

Twenty minutes later I was the proud owner of assorted dairy products, and ready for round two of cake madness. I quickly washed out the cake pans, re-buttering and flouring them, in something like double speed for this redux. I started cracking eggs again and was dismayed that I’d bought some kind of weird-shelled eggs—each insisted on leaving a little bit of itself in the bowl, so I had to fish out chips every single time.

One mixer made a new batch of chocolate cake, the other started the cream whipping process, while I melted 72 percent dark chocolate in a double boiler and made a simple syrup on another burner. Pant, pant! I was a whirlwind of confectionery! A force of baking nature!

Two more cakes popped into the oven. Chocolate was melted carefully, while the syrup boiled and oh no, started to smoke. The kitchen quickly filled with the acrid, eye-stinging fog, so I tossed the offending concoction and started again. Again. Opening the back door helped a bit, though it was mighty chilly outside.

Okay, the chocolate was ready, so I dipped cherries in the double boiler, thinking to myself that since we picked these cherries ourselves last summer, this cake was officially six months in the making. They looked cute lined up on the wax paper, drying slowly as if there weren’t a flurry of activity just a few inches away from them. I added some cream to the rest of the melted chocolate, to start the ganache portion of the program.

Finally, the layering and stacking and glazing and frosting were finished. I looked at the creation. Four hours, a dozen eggs, 20 tablespoons of butter, 3 cups of cream, 4 cakes layers, 12 ounces of dark chocolate, and many cherries later, I had this:

I was so tired and hungry from all of the cooking, I almost dropped my face into the thing and ate it all, but figured it wasn’t worth the effort to make it all over again. A few hours later, several of Susanne’s friends came over to share cake and wine in front of the fire. We oohed and ahhed over the creation and by the end of the evening, it had disappeared into our collective stomachs. Susanne enjoyed the cake but noted twice to various people, including my mother-in-law, that she only got one piece of cake out of the whole thing. So it looks like I’ll be performing again, but this time it will be the short program. A tasty, short little program.

[Via http://evmaroon.wordpress.com]

Know your strengths.

I just attempted to cook chicken adobo for dinner. It’s a fairly simple meal and I’ve seen my mom cook it a thousand times. I was pretty confident I could work it out. Just garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and chicken… how difficult could it be? Apparently pretty difficult. I don’t know where I went wrong, but it tasted like rubber. So cooking is not a strength of mine, it never has been. I’ve been trying to practice so that I can at least make edible concoctions (for my fiance and future children’s sake), but I’m never going to be a Rachael Ray and I think I’m finally okay with that. I never like accepting defeat, but in this case it’s the smartest, and safest, thing to do. Who knows, maybe every now and then I’ll surprise myself and come up with something fabulous, but for the most part I think I’m gonna have to stick with the basics. Instead of repeatedly trying and failing in an area that I’m clearly not cut out for, I’m going to start focusing that energy into things that I am good at. This doesn’t mean I’m giving up all together. I’m just accepting that I can’t be good at everything. :/

[Via http://ashleybowman.wordpress.com]

Pork Tenderloin - I Did It My Way

Hello again culinary fans,

Since my first blog, I couldn’t wait to take another WildTree voyage and experiment with some more products.  There are some great recipes in the catalog I got from Brenda and I will try some of them soon, but after you get to know me a little better you’ll find that I like to “wing it” and come up with my own ways to make things taste good (is that a little self-serving?  I don’t mean it to be).  I just like to try new and different things.

In this episode, before we get to the food part, I’d like to touch on cookware (the right tools make the job easier).  I use All-Clad most of the time but my favorite sauté pan is an 11” non-stick ScanPan w/glass cover.  This puppy is almost indestructible.  You can use metal utensils on it, you can put it in the dishwasher (although I don’t… call me anal) and you can bake with it in the oven up to 500 degrees (which is really why it’s my favorite).  I say it’s almost indestructible because I was baking pork chops in it once (with a nice mushroom sauce) and I pulled the pan out of the oven and put it on the stovetop.  I was multi-tasking at the time, and having many things going at once I (sort of) forgot that I had just pulled the pan from the oven.  I picked it up with my bare hand and YIKES…. You know what most of us do when faced with holding something that’s 400 degrees in our bare hand right?  Yup… It went flying, chops and all.  It hit the floor, made a huge mess (that’s an understatement) but the pan came through the incident with only a very small dent (not so for the contents, which littered the floor and the surrounding cabinetry).  Needless to say, I haven’t made that mistake again (the brain remembers pain, not to mention the mess).

OK, now that you know I can be a Klutz at times, here’s what I made next:

I took pork tenderloin (about 1.3 lbs), washed it and patted it dry.  I made a marinade with WildTree Garlic Grapeseed Oil and WildTree Opa Greek Seasoning Blend.  I must confess that I also added an extra clove of minced fresh garlic because…, well because I like garlic.  I also added a couple of tablespoons of juice from a jar of jalapeño peppers (I told you I like to experiment).  I marinated the pork in this mixture for about 30 minutes in the fridge.

I seared the pork on all sides in my trusty ScanPan and slid it in the oven at 350 degrees.  After 10 minutes, I turned it over and baked it until the internal temperature reached 160 degrees (years ago, cookbooks instructed us to cook pork until it reached a scorching internal temperature of 180 degrees.  Back then, the pork that landed on our plates was dry and leathery, and we often used lubricants like applesauce or sauerkraut to help get it down.  After more careful research, food scientists now tell us that pork is safe to eat after it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees.  At that temperature, pork can be juicy, tender, and flavorful).  The pork also continues to cook slightly while resting.

While the pork was resting, I made whole green beans with a touch of butter and a teaspoon of the WildTree Opa Greek Seasoning Blend, just to carry the basic flavor to the veggies.  That, along with a nice mixed green salad and light raspberry vinaigrette dressing made for a super meal.  The pork was tender, juicy and had a tremendous flavor.  The extra garlic and the little bit of jalapeño juice kicked it up just a bit.  In a word, this meal was AWESOME.

Thanks for visiting, see you next time.

http://www.myvirtualproject.com

[Via http://lvtocook.wordpress.com]

Comforting Kale and Great Northern Beans

There are certain kitchen staples that I simply cannot be without.  They’re the items that I reach for again and again to enhance and brighten flavor or to awaken a dish.  Those things are garlic, red onions, lemons, and olives.  Their presence adds a certain completeness to an entree, and they’re useful for a wide variety of meals, from Mediterranean to Mexican, from stew to salad.  In addition to their added flavor, they are also nutritional powerhouses.  Onions and garlic have been shown to lower high cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.  Onions and olives have been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer, and the vitamin C in lemons makes the iron in kale more bioavailable.  Add those other pantry-staples, beans, dry pasta, and nuts, and you’re practically there for this lunch and dinner favorite.

Comforting Kale and Great Northern Beans

Serves 2 as an entrée, 4 as a side

• 1/3 cup whole-wheat fusilli pasta
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch kale, remove tough stems and then coarsely chop
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 cremini mushrooms, sliced
• ½ small red onion, chopped
• 1 lemon, half juiced and half cut into slices and served with entree
• 1 15 oz. can Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp rubbed sage
• 5 Greek olives, pitted and chopped
• Handful of pine nuts
• Salt, to taste

In a steamer pot, put a few inches of water to boil.  Once boiling, add pasta to water for 10 minutes.  Put chopped kale into steamer basket on top of pot with a cocked lid.  Allow the kale to steam 3-4 minutes, until it is bright green.  Then remove it from the pot and set it aside while the pasta continues to cook.  While the pasta is boiling, put a small amount of extra virgin olive oil into a sauté pan on a medium heat.  Sauté the garlic, mushrooms, and onion for a few minutes, until the onion and garlic are translucent.  Add the kale to the pan with the juice of half of the lemon.  Use the kale leaves to sop up any glazing of the onions or garlic on the pan.  Add the beans and sage.  Fully combine until the beans are heated through.  If it begins to stick, add a splash of water into the pan.  Drain the pasta and add it to the pan, combine.  Top with a handful of pine nuts and olives and salt to taste.

To make this dish gluten-free, omit the pasta.  This dish is also delicious with collard greens instead of kale, served over creamy polenta, or with chopped sun-dried tomatoes in place of or in addition to olives.  If you’re not a fan of sage, swap it out with a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar instead.

[Via http://cadryskitchen.com]

Whimsical Cupcakes

Makes 6

Ingredients:

115g Caster Sugar

115g Butter

2 Eggs

2 Tablespoons Milk

115g Self Raising Flour

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Icing:

Ready to Roll White Fondant Icing

Dr Oetker Ready to Roll Coloured Icing

Baking Cases:

Gold and Silver Standard Baking Cases by PME Arts & Crafts

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius (350 degrees farenheit). Combine the butter and sugar in a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, milk and vanilla extract whilst continuing to whisk.

Then fold in the flour and place the mixture in baking cases, filling them 2/3 full. Bake for 17 minutes or until a skewer placed into the cake comes out clean. Then take out of the oven and place on a cooling rack until completely cool, before cutting the tops off to create a flat surface.

Next, scatter a small amount of icing sugar over a clean surface and roll the white icing out into a large square. Then, cut six white circles the same size as the cupcakes using a circular cutter.

Next, use the coloured icing to create designs by tearing off small pieces and molding it with your hands or rolling it out and cutting shapes with a sharp knife.

Then, place the designs onto the circles, pushing them down to join the design to the white icing base, and finally transfer the circles onto the top of the cupcakes.

This is a great one to try with your kids, since it’s very creative and easy to do, but it’s just as much fun for grown ups and you can create some wonderful designs!

[Via http://sparklescupcakesupplies.wordpress.com]

Coping with the work week...

Cooking dinner has been the hardest challenge with returning back to work. I have been back to work fulltime 5 years now, and still, it can be a struggle. Finding the right balance is tough. I often get home right about 4:45 – 5:00 and sometimes the boys have scout meetings, ball practices etc that must take them right out again. No time for making a lasagna from scratch, or a stew.

Currently, I am on a kick of making several large meals on the weekend. This is when I have the time for multi-part meals, slow cooking of a stew or soup.. so I can make things like chicken enchiladas from scratch, or a veggie lasagna, and we can eat them for a couple of night during the week.

Today, it was a shepherds pie…

Making giant batch of mashed potatoes

The sauce is bubbling up and over the potatoes.. but yummm!

I made enough to make 2 large casseroles.. one went into the freezer, the other is ready to be heated for a weeknight meal. Each week I plan 2 such large meals, and several easy/quick meals, and one night of clearing out the leftovers. In addition, we can pull a meal from the freezer based on earlier efforts. We currently have one batch of enchiladas, one batch of stew, and one batch of meat and vegetable soup sitting in the freezer for this weeks freezer meal if needed. Planning ahead like this  means less stress on me during the week.

This shepherds pie recipe is a Martha Stewart version. When I plan my week, I like to look at a couple of favorite places on line.

Everyday Food is a good place for balanced meals requiring less effort but big taste.

Tasty Kitchen is the brainchild of Pioneer Woman and provides lots of time tested family favorite meals from families around the country. We have enjoyed many of the meals we have eaten from those recipes: Apple Cranberry Pot roast; Healthy Macaroni and Cheese; Great Northern Corn Soup, etc. It is like having a collection of church cookbooks from all over the world at my fingertips.

Mennonite Girls Can cook always has no-fail recipes that are similar to what I ate growing up. Last week we enjoyed these Pulled Pork Sandwiches which are not a meal I would have had in my German Lutheran Texan past, but is part of my current North Carolina heritage. They were eaten quickly.

I love being able to look up recipes on line, make my plans, try new things… and food blogs are always inspiring too. What a world the internet opens up!

[Via http://willowcaroline.wordpress.com]

Last Night's Dinner

I wasn’t feeling up to cooking much last night (and we didn’t have much in the house), so I decided to try a new but very easy looking recipe.

Tomato sauce with butter and onions

I didn’t believe it could be as good as Smitten Kitchen said with so little effort.  I was wrong.  It was really good.  I put it over a filled pasta.  The recipe made lots extra to freeze or use as the base for another meal this week.

My only adaptation is that a few bits of the onion came off of the main pieces (and I used chopped tomatoes), so I pulled out the hand blender and gave it all a little whir.

Yum!

[Via http://livingwithjoy.wordpress.com]

Mini Quiches

Time for another bridal shower recipe! I’ve had this recipe for ages but I think it originally came from Bisquick. These are relatively easy to make and you can swap out the main ingredients for any of your choosing (I made a set as follows below and a vegetarian version with sundried tomatoes in place of bacon).

Mini Quiches

Makes 24 mini quiches.

1 1/4 cups baking mix (I use Bisquick)

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup half and half

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons boiling water

6 slices bacon, fried and crumbled

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Grease mini muffin tins. Mix baking mix and butter. Add water, stir until becomes dough. Press dough on bottom and sides of muffin cups. Divide bacon evenly into cups. Beat half and half and egg together. Stir in onions, salt and cayenne. Spoon into cups. Sprinkle cheese on tops.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

[Via http://spontaneoustruth.wordpress.com]

Great Uses for Olive Oil

I happened to shave tonight and as I rubbed olive oil on my legs it donned on me how many times a day I use olive oil… Then I realized, how many people really know about the many uses of this miracle fluid?

I’m excited to share with you this neato information that I hope will help you in your every day-to-day lives.

(If I missed anything or you know of another use, feel free to leave a comment! And do keep in mind that I welcome all kinds of comments.)

1.    After Shave

This is great for men and women both. Just use the olive oil raw on the damp/wet skin.

2.    Enhances Conditioner

If your hair is dry and frizzy, or has been damaged by color treatments, hair products, or styling then mix your condition with olive oil. You would want to only mix in 1/3 the amount of oil to your usual amount of conditioner. It doesn’t take much. Let the conditioner sit in your hair the usual amount of time that you do every other day. But make sure that you get the most of it out. You will definitely see a difference in your hair within the first few days. Will also get out the worst of tangles!

3.    Acne Controller

Every other day before you go to bed, wash all the make up and grime from your face and do a second “wash” with a mix of olive oil and salt. I only use a quarter size amount of both… It won’t remove the acne completely but there will be a noticeable difference.

4.     Oiling Hinges

Whether it’s a hinge on your front door or the hinge on your pocket knife, olive oil will help the part glide smoothly against each other. It doesn’t take much and you can even use a little water with it too. Just apply the oil onto the hinge and work it in.

5.     Knife Sharpening

Some people use soap, I use oil… The sharpening stone seems to hold onto the oil better than the water. If the stone is really dry, I will mix in a little water so I’m not using so much oil… Then when you’re done sharpening, a nice piece of veg. tan hide (or cow hide) will put a nice finishing edge on the blade! Barbers use the hide on their straight razors…

6.     Massage Oil

I don’t know about you, but I am the masseuse of the family and sometimes lotion doesn’t work the way you would like… I keep a small bottle of oil with me and a glass/bowl of water. I will put the oil on my hands, work them together a little, then dip my fingers in the water… It won’t clog pores, moisturizer the skin, and your hands glide beautifully over the skin!

7.     MakeUp Remover

I’m starting to hear this more often as I make my way through the day… It’s amazing really how well this works! Keep in mind ladies that if you don’t get your mascara off all the way, you can actually get microscopic bugs on your lashes that will eat away at them… Icky right! Olive oil will help get even those waterproof makeups off. Just apply it on a cotton pad and wipe away the makeup. Doesn’t hurt, won’t dry out the skin (will do the opposite), won’t pull out lashes, and doesn’t burn the eyes.

8.     Condition Leather

Women, do you have a leather purse? Men, do you have a leather jacket? How about cowboy boots? Or leather shoes? These wonderful leather items will sooner or later begin to dry out and crack… To prevent that from happening, just give the leather a light rub of olive oil with an old cloth. Those old wash cloths or dish towels work great! Just make sure that you give it a couple days to absorb.

9.     Oiling Wood

Instead of using those processed and chemically enhanced wood polishes, just use olive oil! Works just as good!

10.     Ease Tough Zippers

Have a stubborn zipper? Use a the littlest amount on the zipper and then work the zipper to distribute the oil. Bar soap works well too!

11.     Care for your dog or cat

I don’t know about you, but during the weather changes, my dogs get some nasty dry skin. Just add in a small amount of olive oil and it will not only give them good skin, but also a wonderful coat! And they will eat up their food like they are being timed.

12.     Cooking

I know that this is a given… But it will work great for oiling a pan for a dinner dish or if you are making those yummy grill cheese or quesidillas. Just add a little in, instead of butter or margarine, and your off!

[Via http://gypsyrosefootprints.wordpress.com]