Strawberry Bavarian Cream Cake

The leftover-day-after-Thanksgiving dinner is over; I made turkey sloppy joes and they were great. But that's not what you are here for, so here we go!

Like I said in the last post, I saw a Strawberry Bavarian Cream Cake on $40 a Day with Rachael Ray and got the inspiration for this cake. It's sloppy but easy to make, and there are several ways that you can construct it.

You will need:

Butter cake mix

Butter cream frosting (optional, read recipe to help you decide)

2 packages of strawberries

1 can Thank You brand vanilla pudding

1 small container of Kool Whip

2 cups powdered sugar

1. Bake cake as per package directions in round cake tins (this is a layer cake). Let cool completely.

2. While cake is cooling, combine entire can of pudding, an equal portion of Kool Whip, and the 2 cups of powdered sugar. This is your Bavarian Cream.

3. Also while cake is cooling slice one container of strawberries and cut off the leaves from the other package.

4. After cake has cooled, take one of your layers and remove a shallow bowl shaped section from the top of the cake. Pour about half of the cream mixture into this section. Then top with sliced strawberries

5. Place second layer on top of first.

Here's where your options come in. At this point you can either

A. Frost cake with butter cream frosting (messy but do-able; just make sure you fill in the entire space between the two layers with frosting) and top cake with remaining strawberries. Refrigerate if not serving immediately. This will help harden the cream a bit.

B. Pour the remaining cream mixture over the cake and top with strawberries (you will have to chill this cake until the cream is harder if you aren't going to serve the cake immediately).

It is super good and drew rave reviews. My son ate close to 3/4 of the cake over the course of yesterday and today and everyone else ate the rest and was satisfied with their servings. Let me know what you think!

Cassoulet a Faux-Faux

Alright.  So this isn't really a cassoulet.  You don't bake it, it's a one-skillet dish.  And there's no duck confit; instead smoked sausage and prosciutto add depth of flavor.  BUT it utilizes classic elements of French cooking such as a mirepoix (a blend of carrot, celery, and onion), thyme, bay leaves, there are beans, and so it's a sort of faux cassoulet.  A cassoulet a faux-faux!

You will need:

One length of smoked sausage, sliced in bite sized pieces
8 oz of finely diced prosciutto
1-8 oz can of tomato sauce (NOT Italian, plain tomatoes)
1-8 oz can of cannellini or Great White Northern beans
1-8 oz can of navy beans
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 small red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp black pepper
1 TBSP dried parsley
Salt to taste

Make it:

1. Saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and prouscioutto in a dollop of olive oil until onion start to clear.

2. Add smoked sausage and continue to fry until the sausage starts to render its juices into the pan, about 5 minutes.

3.  Add everything else (except salt) to the pan, stir, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

4. Remove the bay leaves and salt to taste.

I like to serve this with naan or a similar flat bread to sop up all of the delicious tomato sauce from the bowl.  Hope you enjoy it!

Ciao bella Chicken Cacciatore

I have a confession. I really hate chicken. It tastes gamey to me, nothing like it used to. The only way I will eat it is fried, with lots of gravy, or like this, when it has stewed in a wonderful sauce and, well, doesn't taste like chicken!

Chicken cacciatore is healthy, full of vegetables and protein, and has an earthy, satisfying flavor perfect for fall. And it is surprisingly easy to make. Just give it some time and you'll have a meal even a chicken hater will love.

You will need:
2 pounds of chicken, cut any way (I prefer strips cut into chunks)
2-16 oz cans of diced tomatoes
1-16 oz can of tomato sauce
1 package baby Bella mushrooms or portobellas cut in large chunks
1 onion cut into thin slices
1 green pepper cut into slices
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3-4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil

Here's how it's done:

1. Add olive oil to hot pan
2. Brown chicken on all sides.
3. Add onion, pepper, mushrooms, and garlic and saute until onions are starting to look clear.
4. Add tomatoes and rest of seasonings.
5. Cover and let simmer for at least an hour, stirring occasionally. It can simmer longer if you like.
6. About 15 minutes before you are going to serve the sauce, uncover and let some of the water simmer off.
7. Practice your Italian accent while eating this fabulous dish.

I like to serve this atop angel hair pasta or spaghetti. To make it really hearty, use linguini. The sauce is a little thinner than canned sauces and doesn't cling as well to shaped pastas, but they can be used also.Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats

Dogs love peanut butter. We all know that. Peanut butter has a lot of fat. We know that too. So how about using banana for your "oil" to avoid adding more fat? We all need to do what we can to keep our buddies svelte and gorgeous while at the same time letting them know what good pals they are.

These treats are easy to make and received the Carlie seal of approval (in order to receive the Carlie seal of approval, Carlie must continue to look for more treats a full 30 seconds after it is eaten in an attempt to eat more. Quite scientific, I know. I rock that way.)

You will need:

2 cups of crunchy peanut butter
3 mashed bananas
2 eggs
1 cup water
3 cups flour

Here's how you make them:

1. Melt peanut butter in the microwave to make it more manageable.
2. Add bananas, water, and eggs and mix well.
3. Add flour, 1 cup at a time, and mix well.
4. Turn out batter onto a well greased cookie sheet and spread evenly.
5. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and cut into 1" x 1" squares.
7. Return to oven and bake an additional 15 minutes.
8. Turn off oven and leave treats in it for an additional hour and a half.
9. Take the dogs to peanut butter nirvana.

With my cookie sheet I ended up with 144 treats

Super Delicious S'mores Bars

Before we went camping over Labor Day weekend I whipped up a batch of these super delicious cookie bars. They are really easy to make and use only a few ingredients. You might just melt into a pool of mush when you try them. They are best eaten just a little hot (or with a spoon right out of the oven, if you just can't wait).

You will need:

11 full sized graham crackers, made into crumbs in a food processor
1-1/2 cups melted butter
2 eggs
8 regular sized Hershey bars
A bag of mini marshmallows

Here's how you make them.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Combine melted butter, 3 cups of the graham cracker crumbs, and eggs in a large bowl. Mix well.
3. Spread mixture evenly into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
4. Place whole chocolate bars in a single layer over the graham cracker mixture. Cover from edge to edge.
5. Spread bag of mini marshmallows evenly over chocolate.
6. Sprinkle remaining graham cracker crumbs over marshmallows.
7. Bake for about 15 minutes, check at 10. Bake until marshmallows are as brown as you would like them to be.
8. Let cool considerably, or at least until chocolate is cool enough that it wont burn your mouth to a pulp, and then eat lots of amazing s'mores bars!

Two Easy Peasy Dog Treat Recipes

We are in the process of crate training and house training Carly and Ellie. As any dog owner knows, training always goes better with treats. I was getting store bought treats, but at the rate we are going through them, we'd have been bankrupt by the end of the week. So I took matters into my own hands and baked up some treats for my sweets. The first uses sweet potatoes and beef base and the second ground meat, after that the recipes are basically the same with a few tweaks.

Cheesy Sweet Potato Treats

You'll Need:
2 cups mashed sweet potato
1 stick butter
2-3 cups of flour
1 cup water
1 TBSP beef base
1 egg
2 cups cheddar cheese

1. Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl using your microwave.
2. Add sweet potato and egg and mix well.
3. Dissolve beef base in water then add to mixture.
4. Fold in flour one cup at a time until you form a non-sticky dough ball, similar in consistency to bread dough.
5. Fold in cheese.
6. On a well floured surface either pat or roll doug until it is approx. 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. My small dog likes them thin, my beagle, thick.
7. Using a knife, cut the dough into 1in x 2in strips.
8. Place on well greased cookie sheets. You can place them very close together.
9. Bake at 300F for 45 min to an hour. Treats should be firm to the touch.
10. Turn off the oven and keep treats in oven for another hour and a half.
11. Give Fido a homemade treat!

Cheeseburger Treats

You'll Need:
1 pound of ground meat, your choice
1 cup of hot water
1 stick butter
2 eggs
3-4 cups flour
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese

1. Melt butter as before
2. Add ground meat and hot water to a food processor and puree meat.
3. Add meat to butter, stir together.
4. Add eggs.
5. Add flour as before until you get a nice dough ball that feels like bread dough.
6. Add cheese
7. Roll, cut, and bake as before.
8. Show Fifi how much you love her!

These treats are really crunchy, so if your dog is smaller you'll want to roll them out thinner. Carly and Ellie love them, hope your best friends do, too.

Pictures are from We Heart It, but our dogs look just the same!

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Chinese Chicken and Broccoli Nirvana

Last night I was craving Chinese food, but times are tight and we can't afford a trip to the local Chinese restaurant (where the food is mediocre at best). So I thought about it and realized that I had all of the ingredients for Chicken and Broccoli. It's not difficult to make but it does take some preparation. And it tastes like you got it from a Fabulous Chinese restaurant but it's not oily!

I'm going to break the recipe down into steps to make it a little more user friendly.

You need:

2 pounds chicken, get strips if you can
1 egg white
Corn starch
Water
2 TBSP Hoisin or oyster sauce
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 head of broccoli, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

Step One: Velvet Chicken

2 pounds chicken cut into small pieces (fresh chicken strips make this easy)
1 egg white
1 TBSP corn starch
1 TBSP water

Add egg white, corn starch, and water to a medium size bowl and mix well. Add chicken and make sure it gets evenly coated with mixture. Let it rest for about a half hour.

Step 2 Make the sauce

2 TBSP Hoisin or Oyster sauce
2 TBSP soy sauce
1 tsp water

Mix all this together in a small bowl
In another bowl, mix together

1 tsp corn starch
1 TBSP water

Step 3 Fry the Chicken

Into a hot wok or skillet on high place 2 tsp vegetable oil. Fry chicken in small batches until the outside is slightly brown. Place chicken on a towel to drain

Step 4 Prepare the Broccoli

1 head of broccoli, chopped
2 cloves of/garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water

Add 2 tsp oil two wok over med high heat. Add broccoli, garlic, salt, and sugar and stir around for around 2 minutes, or until it starts to look shiny and bright green. Add water, cover pot, and let steam until tender crisp, about 3 min. Remove broccoli and dump out water

Step 5 Now the Magic Happens

Put wok back up on high, add 2 tsp oil, add chicken and broccoli together and toss until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Add sauce mix and cornstarch/water mix to middle of wok and stir for a few seconds until sauce thickens. Stir the whole mixture together. Serve hot with rice.

Enjoy!

It looks like a lot, but it actually all cooks up pretty quickly. And it's super tasty and as far as chinese food goes pretty good for you. Try it tonight and let me know what you think!

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Easy Iced Mocha

I've been living off of iced mochas the last few weeks and have been a bit on the jittery side as a result. But they are so yummy and super easy to make! Here's how I do it:

I have one of those 24 ounce Tupperware beverage shakers that I make my coffees in. You'll need:

A packet of Starbucks Via or Nescafe coffee OR 2 tsp of instant coffee
Sugar to taste (I use 2 tsp)
Water
Chocolate milk OR chocolate syrup and white milk
Ice

Here's how easy it is:
Put packet of coffee and sugar to taste in shaker.
Add about 5 ounces of water and stir in coffee and sugar.
Add about 6 ice cubes.
Fill the remainder of the container with chocolate milk (or you could substitute a large dollop of chocolate syrup and skim milk to save calories-it's just as good).
Put lid on container and Shake it Like a Polaroid Picture.
Enjoy!

The recipe is easily tweaked to your tastes-you could use only white milk, more or less sugar, etc. Let me know what you think!

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Amazing Caramel Icing

Kendall had her 18th (!!!!!!) birthday this weekend and I made a devil's food cake with caramel. Icing. It. Was. Amazing. I found the devil's food cake recipe online; I just made sure that I found a recipe that used cocoa instead of chocolate that had to be melted as I've had better luck with these recipes.

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Icing is Incredibly easy to make and once you make your own, you'll never go back to those pasty tubs that you find in the grocery store. Just try this Amazing Caramel Icing recipe and you will be a convert forever.

Amazing Caramel Icing

You'll need

1 stick butter

2 cups (packed) of brown sugar, light or dark.

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

a bag of powdered sugar

To make it:

1. In a heavy saucepan, melt the stick of butter.

2. Add the brown sugar, milk, and vanilla to the butter and mix well.

3. Bring the mixture to a boil over Medium High heat. Stir continuously while mixture is at a boil for 3 - 5 minutes (for those of you that are candy makers, you do not want to take the caramel to the soft ball stage, but just below it.)

4. Take caramel off of heat. Let it cool for a minute or so, it will be very hot. (Resist the temptation to lick the spoon unless you'd like to eradicate your taste buds).

5. In this stage I can't be incredibly exact. I generally start with 2 cups of powdered sugar and using a low hand mixer add it to the caramel. The mixture will be very runny, but remember, it's still hot. Give it around an hour to cool and check it again. I've had to add upwards or 5 total cups of powdered sugar to the caramel to give the icing the consistency I want. I suppose you could also halve the caramel ingredients, but I'd rather have too much icing than too little.

6. Let the icing cool almost completely. Ice your Totally cool cake (if you put this on a hot cake, the butter will separate from the sugar and cause a big mess).

7. Cut yourself a Little Piece of cake - this icing is RICH!

Interestingly enough, my mom told me that my great grandmother Margery used to make this same cake as a signature cake which was what I was thinking of doing with mine. Good taste must run in the family! Enjoy!

New Recipe! Lightened Up Cream of Broccoli and Mushroom Chowder a la Lazarus

Today I had a hankering for Cream of Broccoli Soup, which, as we all know, is where calories go to spend the winter. All of the calories in all of the world. I was also daydreaming about the Amazing Cream of Broccoli and Mushroom Chowder that was made by a now gone piece of Columbus history, Lazarus Department Store. This store had the most incredible food. (Lucy, this one is for you!) However, like most cream soups, a serving of this has about 1000 calories, meaning that I'd get half of a cup on my current diet plan.

Sooo, I used a few lower fat cooking tricks I've picked up along the way to produce a soup that has 490 calories a serving and is rich, creamy, and really, really yummy. So you can have a grilled cheese with your soup and not fate yourself to a heart attack!

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Lightened Up Cream of Broccoli and Mushroom Chowder, a la Lazarus

1 pound fresh chopped broccoli

8 oz mushrooms

4 oz butter

1/2 cup flour

1 quart chicken stock

1 cup 2% milk

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon tarragon

1. Steam broccoli in 1 cup water until tender, about 7 minutes. Put to the side without draining.

2. Melt butter, then slowly add flour to make a roux. Cook the roux 2 - 4 minutes.

3. Add chicken stock slowly with a whisk. Bring to a boil for a few minutes to start to thicken chowder.

4. Lower heat and add the rest of the ingredients, including the undrained broccoli. You may bring the chowder to a slow simmer to further thicken the chowder if desired.

5. Get out a spoon and enjoy!

8 servings, approx. 490 calories each.

***

The trick is to cut the roux in half (the original recipe called for 8 oz of butter and 1 cup flour) and to use less half and half by replacing it with milk and sour cream. Because you are using sour cream, it will thicken the chowder, thus decreasing the amount of roux you need. If you want to further decrease calories, you can use skim milk and fat free sour cream, but this will take away some of the richness of the dish.

Magical Pulled Pork (aka, I Love: My Pressure Cooker)

When my grandparents died, I inherited a lot of their kitchen do-dads, pots, and pans, including their Presto Pressure Cooker from the 1950s. While they were alive, I helped them can with it many, many times. But after their death, it sat under my sink for about two year because, quite frankly, I was afraid of it.

If you look up "pressure cooker" on the net, you'll find all of these articles about how it is incredibly dangerous to use a vintage pressure cooker. They will split in two, they wont stay closed, they'll explode and shower you with shrapnel, give you a fatal concussion, and you'll bleed to death (okay, I made that last part up). The truth of the matter is that if the cooker has none to very minimal pitting, no cracks, a seal that isn't brittle with no cracks, and closes securely, you'll most likely be okay. OR, you could buy a new one, as it probably wouldn't cost much more than an old one. To compare different cookers, you can go here. My cooker is an 8 quart, and I can't imagine having anything smaller.

So I got brave. So far, I've made beef tips, Swiss steak, carnitas, chipotle beef, and my latest creation: Magical Pulled Pork (sorry Barbara, it's meat). I didn't really follow a particular recipe, instead, I combined ingredients from Carolina pulled pork and, of all things, Bourbon chicken.

Magical Pulled Pork

4 - 5 pounds pork butt
1 extremely large red onion (half minced and the other half cut in two)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1-1/2 cup Coca-cola
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flake
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cayanne seasoning
2 teaspoons cracked red pepper
1 cup ketchup

Heat the pressure cooker on high until it's lip is hot to the touch.

Add around 1/4 cup oil so that the food wont stick.

Add pork, brown on all sides.

Place the two quarters of red onion on the bottom of the pan. Arrange the pork on top.

Add everything else to the cooker.

Place lid, watch for a steady stream of steam to escape from the cooker. Then place the pressure indicator. Once the indicator has reached the cook position, turn the burner down as low as you can while maintaining the indicator at the cook position (this varies from stove to stove).

Cook the pork 15 minutes per pound.

Once cook time is complete, remove cooker from stove, wait for pressure indicator to drop, and remove it. BE CAREFUL. A JET OF STEAM WILL ESCAPE AND COULD SCALD YOU.

Once all steam is released, remove the lid (don't force it - if it doesn't come off easily, there is still too much pressure in the cooker.)

Stir up everything in the cooker - there will be a lot of juice.

Remove the pork butt and onions and chop up and tease apart with forks to shred it. Add in juice until the pork is as sloppy juicy as you want it.

You can add bbq sauce if you like, but it's pretty magical just like this!

Note: If you do this in a slow cooker, it should be cooked for approximately 11 hours at the medium setting. Before putting the lid on the cooker, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the opening to hold in all of the juices. The pork butt should measure 160 F when checked with a meat thermometer.

My picky 11 year old thought this was amazing. He told me all night long that he couldn't stop thinking about that pulled pork. I took some to a friend who had just gotten home from the hospital and got a facebook message that it was awesome. Hopefully, you'll think so, too!

I Love: Dessert

WARNING: The following blog post may cause uncontrollable cravings. Proceed with caution!



I am one of those people who believe that dessert is the best part of a meal. When I was growing up, we had dessert with every meal (which could explain my robust appearance). It wasn't until I met Tim that I learned (and this was at 32!) that not everyone eats dessert with dinner.

But I love dessert. I prefer things that are creamy and pudding like, but you'll see that there are many exceptions to this rule.

I Love:


creme brulee


ice cream


devil's food cake


banana pudding

Banana pudding was my favorite when I was a kid. I still feel like a little girl when I eat it.


Spotted Dick

Now I know what you are thinking and that giggling is going on. But spotted dick is really really good! If you ever get the chance to taste it, please do!


chocolate dipped strawberries


peach cobbler a la mode


cheesecake


pineapple upside down cake


chocolate mousse

These last two are my husband's favorite. Pineapple upside down cake is easy enough, but real chocolate mousse, since the 1970's, I've only had it in France.

MMMmmmmm. I've made you hungry, haven't I? I Love Dessert

Watch out, Paula Dean!

So I now have a header, and a beautiful one that I will be marrying this summer. It will be an outside wedding. K.

On to other news, my mom gave me an early Easter gift of a deep fryer. I've wanted a deep fryer for some time. We are trying to spend less money and I am cooking more and more. But we crave french fried, nuggets, fried fish, etc. So today what deep fryer madness day, and it was ALL GOOD.

Oster 2.5L Cool Touch Deep Fryer = Where have you Been All of My Life?

Tonight, I cut fries for french fries (didn't rinse them first, which I've learned makes crispier fries - they were still amazing). I bought some breaded perch, clams, and butterfly shrimp with a gift certificate I had from Barry's Perch and More here in Marysville and we has a Fisherman's Feast. It was SO SO good. I love fish. I am 3/4 Irish - doesn't fish course through Irish blood?

I was on recipezaar today looking at all of the fried food recipes. Deep fried Oreos, Mars bars, mushrooms, not to mention funnel cake, elephant ears, onion rings, I could go on. I just lost 15 pounds - I think my family might be 400# by the end of the year.

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Not really, but we will have to be careful. Paula Dean is right - everything is better deep fried. There's just no way around it. All of us children of the 60's through the 80's grew up on fried food, it's ingrained into us. It's part of our cellular memory. (I just made that up, but it does sound good.)

So that's the news today. Am going to have to think of something that isn't fried to eat tomorrow!

Swiss Steak Deliciousness

According to my grandfather, Swiss Steak is one of those old-timey recipes that just aren't made correctly anymore. I have been surprised at the number of people who have never heard of it (except that I wasn't surprised when Swiss people didn't know about it, or Scandinavian people in general, as it is an American name for a dish that is actually more Italian in flavor). As I've said before, it's a tradition in my family; almost everyone requested it for their birthday dinner, which was why I was so thrilled to serve it on Will's birthday.

In reading about Swiss Steak on the good old Internet, I found this vintage advertisement eschewing the virtues of meat with this to say about said dish:

"Swiss Steak . . . put it in the pan . . . turn on the heat and sniff its steaming fragrance as it simmers, bubbles, and browns . . . smothered in its own gravy . . . That's hearty flavor for you."

So here's to an old-fashioned dish that's high in flavor, full of good-for-you ingredients, and that the kids will actually eat. It does take a bit of prep work and more time that your average weeknight meal, but the efforts are well worth it. Enjoy!

Swiss Steak

Prep time: 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes for pressure cooker, 5 - 6 hours for crock pot or slow cooker

You will need:

At least two pounds of higher quality beef steak or roast, at least 1 inch thick, cut into thick strips

vegetable oil*
1 tbsp salt
approximately 1 cup flour
4 carrots
2 green peppers
1 onion
3 or 4 ribs celery
4 small (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
a lot of oregano
1 tsp pepper
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp Steak Sauce

* Note: This recipe cooks up best in a pressure cooker. If you don't have one, though, you can use a slow cooker or crock pot (I'll give directions for both).

1. As noted above, cut beef into thick strips. Place into a bowl, and add 1 TBSP salt, coating beef thoroughly.

2. Flour beef lightly and brown on all sides.

3. To the pan containing the beef and the drippings, add all vegetables, peeled and coarsely chopped. Mix well.

4. Add all sauces, pepper, and a very liberal sprinkling of oregano.

5. Place all ingredients in the pressure cooker. Bring cooker up to cooking stage and let cook for 45 minutes. (If using a slow cooker or crock pot, you will need to cook on High for at least 5 - 6 hours. When the meat easily falls apart, the dish is done.)

6. This dinner is traditionally served over mashed potatoes, although my mom says that it's also good over a baked potatoe.

*The vegetable oil is for browning the meat. Add it to your already hot pressure cooker and this will keep the swiss steak from sticking to the pan at clean-up.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

Tidbit Madness

Here's what's going on:

The hard drive is still on the fritz. Will get all of you the Swiss Steak recipe when my computer has a new hard drive (so I can share a few photos).

Have designed one mitt (almost went the mitten route, but fingerless mitts are SO popular!) and am knitting the other so I can share the pattern with you. Am using Lion Brand Wool-Ease, which is not my favorite yarn, but, as I have no fancy yarn company sponsoring me (anyone from Rowan, Skacel, Karabella, etc, reading?) I have to use what is in the stash. I enjoy using my recycled fibers but I didn't have anything appropriate for this project. So Wool-Ease it was.

Speaking of recycled yarn, did some fierce sweater shopping today for prime yarn recycling material. Found some great fibers!

Am going to try chicken fricassee tonight - have never made it and it sounds intriguing; if it turns out good, I'll have another recipe to share with you!

And I guess that's that. Am feeling a bit scatterbrained and buggy today, so am going to sign off before I descend into babbling land. Will talk some more tomorrow!

Easy Peasy Pizza

I've always been intimidated by pizza crust. Anything with yeast in it just always seemed like much more work than I was prepared for. I don't know what I was thinking! This week, I decided to tackle my fear of pizza crust and found that pizza is deliciously easy!

I grew up eating at a mom and pop pizza shop called Minelli's. Do you find that the pizza you grew up on is the best pizza in the world? Well, I feel that way about Minelli's. The most pleasing thing about this recipe is that it has the crust that I grew up on. The toppings are totally up to you.

Pizza Crust

1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2-1/2 to 3 cups of white flour (if you want whole wheat crust, substitute 1 cup wheat flour for 1 cup of the white four)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil (I used garlic infused oil)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons garlic powder
cornmeal for sprinkling

1. Add sugar to the warm water, then the yeast. Put aside for about 10 minutes, or until the water mixture becomes foamy.

2. In the meantime, combine 2-1/2 cups flour, salt, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder in a large bowl.

3. Put olive oil into the water/yeast mixture, then pour into dough.

4. Flour your hands, then combine all ingredients with your hands. Knead dough for 6 to 8 minutes, until it forms a nice dough ball. If this mixture is too wet, add more flour until the dough ball is no longer sticky.

5. Place dough ball into a bowl that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes (until dough has doubled in size.

6. When the dough has risen, divide in half.

7. Place half of dough on a liberally f1oured surface and work with your hands or with a floured rolling pin until it is the size of a 12 inch pie (or the size of your baking sheet). Sprinkle cornmeal onto baking pan, then place the dough on the pan.

8. Place dough on the top rack of your oven at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes.

9. Remove dough, then top with whatever topping you want.

10. Put back into the oven for about 10 minutes more, or until cheese is golden brown and fully melted. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting.

Eat your yummy homemade pizzas!

I made a pepperoni and cheese pizza and a traditional tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese pizza. I used marinara spaghetti sauce for the pizza sauce, but I used only about 2 - 3 tablespoons of sauce for each pizza. Of course, the beauty of pizza is that you can load it with whatever toppings you like. Want a whole wheat broccoli, garlic, and cheese pizza? Make it! I like onions, tomatoes, and basil, but I have to warn you that it smells like an old shoe! Soon, you too will be a pizza baking fool!

The Thanksgiving Menu, a.k.a., A Cornucopia of Recipes

I'll have 9 people to feed (and maybe more) this Thanksgiving. I serve a pretty traditional menu; we have no ethnic or regional specialties that go on the Thanksgiving buffet. I thought I'd share the menu with you.


michellepaints, photobucket

* Turkey - of course! The thing with turkey is figuring out how big of a turkey to buy. I read in a long forgotten magazine that you want 1-1/2 pounds of turkey per person. Seems like a lot, until you figure that they turkey has a carcass and you won't get all of the meat off of that carcass. So we have been gifted with a 15 pound turkey from the in-laws. The only way to bake a turkey is in a roaster bag at 325 F, and you can refer to this handy USDA chart for cooking times:

Unstuffed
4 to 8 pounds (breast) 1½ to 3¼ hours
8 to 12 pounds 2¾ to 3 hours
12 to 14 pounds 3 to 3¾ hours
14 to 18 pounds 3¾ to 4¼ hours
18 to 20 pounds 4¼ to 4½ hours
20 to 24 pounds 4½ to 5 hours

Stuffed
4 to 6 pounds (breast) Not usually applicable
6 to 8 pounds (breast) 2½ to 3½ hours
8 to 12 pounds 3 to 3½ hours
12 to 14 pounds 3½ to 4 hours
14 to 18 pounds 4 to 4¼ hours
18 to 20 pounds 4¼ to 4¾ hours
20 to 24 pounds 4¾ to 5¼ hours



* Stuffing

I've always made stuffing the same way. Here's how I do it.

You'll need:
1 bag of cornbread stuffing mix.
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
enough chicken broth (we'll address this later)
2 eggs

Sautee the carrots, celery, and onion until the carrots start to get soft. Take off of the heat, add the stuffing mix. In a seperate bowl, add some chicken broth and the eggs, whisk. Add to the stuffing mix. Add more chicken broth until the stuffing is moist. Put in a greased baking dish and cook at 325 (see how that works - you can cook it with the turkey!) for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the stuffing is done in the middle.


vib8022, photobucket

* Green Bean Casserole

I use Campbell's Classic Green Bean Casserole recipe. I think that's all I have to say about that.


HannahBear105, photobucket

* Sweet Potato Casserole

I have bought frozen sweet potato casserole from Honey Baked Ham and it's really, really good. But it's also not too difficult to make it on your own.
Kim's Sweet Potato Casserole recipe on Recipezaar.com is exactly like the recipe I've been using for years (except I don't use marshmellows. You can make up your own mind about this addition). It's the one thing that my mom requests.



* Glazed Carrots

Glazed Carrots are so easy to make. They are so yummy. Once you figure out how easy they are to make, you'll find yourself making them for everyday meals.

You need:
1 pound carrots
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Peel and cut the carrots into bite-sized coins. Boil for 10 minutes or until just tender. Drain.

Melt butter in pan. Once melted, add brown sugar and stir until dissolved.

Add carrots and stir around to coat with glaze. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.


droidman, photobucket

* Potato Rolls

Save yourself some time, and buy them from the grocery store. Heat them in the microwave right before dinner for 10 seconds. Your guests will never know (as long as you hide the bag!).


pixiebones, photobucket

* Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

I'm not going to insult your intellegence here. I've been peeling and boiling and mashing potatoes for as long as I can remember. I think I'll do it this way, but I'm not sure. Of course, now there are many varieties of pre-made mashed potatoes that are just as great as home made. PLEASE don't used potato flakes! Oh, and I'm going to buy the gravy too.


lileuripop, photobucket

* PIE!!!

I'm thinking of baking my own this year, but I could just buy them, too. The menu calls for Pecan, Pumpkin, and Apple pie, lots of Redi-Whip, and Vanilla ice cream.

So are you loosening your belt just reading this? I hope you are.

Fast and Easy = Grigsley Koogsley, aka Johnny Marzetti (and other stuff)

Fast and Easy

I had another migraine yesterday. I get them when the barometric pressure changes drastically, and it dropped lots yesterday. I had to survive it without brownies. My husband was in charge of dinner, which was Chef Boyardee ravioli. O.K. Chef Boyardee makes me feel younger, as it was a staple of my childhood. But it is also soft and a little flavorless. To say the least.


Where did this man get his culinary degree? I can tell you one thing - when Chef Gordon Ramsey found out his noodles weren't al dente he would have ground him into a soft roux and made an extremely tasty jambalaya out of him.

Remember, I am post-migraine. I am goofed up on pain medication. Continue this post at your own risk.

So getting back on topic, the mushy ravioli got me thinking: there have to be good tasting recipes out there that are super easy to make AND kid friendly. Easy enough to make when I am only partially with the earth. Or for my husband. I thought of one and I will share it with you.

Grigsley Koogsley (aka Johnny Marzetti)

My dad is from Youngstown, Ohio, very close to Pennsylvania Dutch country. Up there, Johnny Marzetti is Grigsley Koogsley. It's a better name, I think. So that's what I call it. My daughter has taken to calling it goulash and does not care that goulash is actually a Hungarian/German/etc stew. She likes that name. What I will tell you is that with the relative simplicity of this dish it is well loved by my family. The leftovers taste even better.

Before we begin, I have to give a diclaimer. I learned this recipe from my grandmother who had been cooking it since the Depression. It has no spaghetti sauce in it. You don't bake it. It is most likely very different than you are used to. But it is so good. So good.

You will need:

Macaroni noodles
1 lb. of ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 or 2 cans of diced tomatoes
garlic salt
Italian seasons of your choosing
salt

Prepare the macaroni noodles as directed. Make as much as you think your family will eat.

Add the ground beef and onion to a large skillet and thoroughly cook the ground beef.

I usually add the seasonings here. This is all highly subjective and can be done according to your family's tastes. If you like things bland, don't add a lot of seasoning. If you like things very savory, add to your taste. You could add an Italian seasoning mix, or just oregeno or basil. Just remember that this is the step that takes the dish from ho-hum to delish.

Add tomatoes to the meat mixture. let he mixture come to a boil to cook off some of the liquid. My grandfather liked his grigsley koogsley juicy so there wasn't a lot of boiling to be done. I like it drier, so I boil until it gets a little thicker.

Add noodles to the sauce. Mix well. Eat up!


With summer approaching, one could certainly use fresh tomatoes. Just remember to par boil them and remove the skin.

Fa, Fa, Fa, Fa Fashion!

Regular readers know that I love fashion. When I am wearing my perfectly respectable Target maxi dress, I make believe that I am wearing Etro in Capri and that my 32 oz. mug from Riverside Hospital is actually the most glorious sangria I've ever tasted. I also pretend that I am a Food Network star when I am cooking. Yes, I have an active alternate imaginary world. And I am a little insane.

But I digress. The process of designing clothes is fascinating to me. I came upon this wonderful site by Kathryn Elyse Rodgers who is an apparel design apprentice in Boston, MA. She does the most amazing fashion illustrations and publishes them on her blog paper fashion.



Also in the fashion realm is Tokyo Street Style which features the amazing, sometimes outlandish, and always inventive underground street fashions in Tokyo. FYI - the site is in Japanese, but if you click on the pics, you can get better looks at the outfits. Check out the various "cliques" in the fashion culture of Tokyo.

We Love Cake!

This post is dedicated to cake. Originally I was going to post one cake recipe then do my this-is-what's-happening-in-my-life deal, but I found all of these amazing pictures of cakes on Photobucket that I had to share. Also, you get two recipes for the price of one in this post. Both are my late grandmother's well-loved, often requested recipes. I hope you love them, too.

Watergate Cake

I must admit, when I was a kid, I wouldn't go near this cake. Pistachios? And the dang thing is green! But this is by far my favorite cake and has been since the first moment I got brave enough to try it. It reminds me of spring (probably because it was my grandmother's traditional Easter cake) and is light with a yummy, creamy frosting.



You will need:

2 boxes of pistachio instant pudding
1 box white cake mix
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 cup of a carbonated lemon-lime beverage
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 envelopes of Dream Whip
1-1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine 1 package pudding, cake mix, oil, eggs, and lemon-lime drink and beat according to cake box directions.

Fold in Walnuts.

Bake in a greased 9x13 pan for 35 - 40 minutes.

Let cool thoroughly.

Beat together 2nd package pudding, Dream Whip, and milk until of spreading consistancy. Frost cake.

Enjoy!

My grandmother was all about the sheet cake. I'm sure that if you wanted to, you could make this as a layer cake; refer to the cake package directions and adjust baking times accordingly.

Feast for the Eyes

Now, let's admire some beautiful cakes. All pictures are from Photobucket, the names below the pictures are the photographers.

I love robins. I love the fuzzy, huge hatchlings, the way they hop around looking for insects, their orange breasts, and their beautiful call. That is why I love this cake!


photo by katmin_album

I also love butterflies. I have plants all over my garden to attract them and am always adding more (perhaps I should write a blog about this - hmmmm . . .). These cupcakes make me happy.


photo by lovelyandfierce

Don't you admire bakers who can make beautiful sugar flowers? This cake is amazing and incredibly beautiful.


photo by Misha_Wolf

Wedding cakes. Us girls dream about them. We want ours to be beautiful and the best tasting cake that we ever had. I don't know what these taste like, but they sure are beautiful.


photo by mchper21

I love this cake. I really, really love it. Love it. Really.


photo by katmu_album (who must be an awesome baker)

This is so pretty. It makes me feel like a total girl.



This is our wedding cake. It's not the greatest picture (taken by a disposable left on one of the tables) but it was (really) the best tasting, most beautiful cake ever. Some advice: if you know anyone that is good at cake, have them bake it for you. We spent $100 on this cake baked by a lady who lives the next street over and used to cater. We bought the flowers and greenery at Kroger for $65. It was a Christmas wedding, thus the evergreens, and I had always wanted red roses on my wedding cake, so I bought 2 dozen and let Karen do her thing with them. I couldn't have been happier with this wonderful cake.



Pina Colada Cake

Who doesn't love a pina colada? O.K., I'm sure there are plenty of people, but I'm not one of them. Been drinking virgin coladas since I was a wee one. This cake that my grandmother often made always draws rave reviews. My family eats it up like there will never be another cake baked in the world again. And it is super easy. What more could you want from a cake?



You will need:

1 yellow cake mix
1 can Eagle Brand milk
Pina Colada mix (the same amount as the Eagle Brand milk)
8 oz. of Kool Whip
Coconut (enough to cover the cake

Bake cake in a 9x13 pan according to cake directions.

While still hot, punch full of holes with a fork.

Mix Eagle Brand milk and pina colada mix together and pour over the cake, making sure to cover the entire cake.

Let cool.

Frost with Kool Whip and sprinkle with coconut.

Keep refridgerated.

Eat a delicious piece keeping in mind that this cake is very rich; warn your friends before they take a monster piece.