flower power!

Since next week is our last class for Course II, we are supposed to bring flowers to decorate our final cake.

I was not happy with the look of the violets I did in class, and since I had frosting to "play" with, I decided to change the color from what I used for pansies to a deeper shade and make some more violets.

I think these look pretty good.



And then there was the issue of single color roses. The ones we did in class were all just yellow.



Peace roses have always been one of my favorites (my grandmother had a hugh peace rose bush that my grandfather would cut way back every fall and by this time in the summer it would be up taller than the porch and loaded with beautiful blooms)



Since I already had pink frosting and yellow frosting, I figured I could at least experiment with the idea of putting both colors in the piping bag and give it a shot.

These, I think, are neat!



As we were headed off to the grocery store yesterday morning, we drove past a house in our neighborhood that had a whole corner covered in poppies, all in full bloom. There weren't any instructions in our class book for poppies, in fact there aren't any templates for them either, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

I used the rest of the pink frosting and added a lot of orange color to get a deep orangy shade (if I do these again I will put in a little more red too). Then I took the rest of the violet and added a lot of black.

I did these on the flower nail, used the basic petal tip upside down! Pretty neat!!

poppies, poppies will put them to sleep....sleeeeep.....sllllleeeeeeeppppppp

by jove, I think she's got it!

Third night of Class II in cake decorating was last night.

After being totally disappointed by my failure to "get it right" on last week's frosting, I was a little apprehensive about yesterday's batch.

But, SUCCESS IS MINE!!

That one little tip in the book about the stand mixer and the amount of water made all the difference.

So, these are what I did in class:

I can tell you that I'm really happy my daughter doesn't want daffodills on her cake...these are a total pain to do....

first off you need 3 (!!) bags with different tips even for the ones that are all one color and then after you get done piping, you have to "pinch" each of the petals to give it the proper "daffodilly" look....

No wonder my mom said if you can do these you can do anything!




The pansy, on the other hand, was a joy.....

The pretty purple and yellow color combo is pretty nice





These are the really important flower (along with the daisy) for me to master.

My teacher says I've got these nailed! (she used my frosting to do her demonstration at the beginning of this section of the class, then when she came by later to look at what else I had done, she couldn't pick hers out of the bunch!)

Because Royal Icing can be made up to 6 months (or a year even) ahead of time, I can start making the roses for the wedding cake as soon as I want to. (and probably will!)



and these are the daisies.

I think I will be practicing a few more of these before I start in on the ones for the cake.

They make this really neat edible glitter for cake decorating and I think for the wedding cake I'll get some of the white one to use just on the flowers.

Next week's class is the last one, and we get to put all of the flowers we've made onto an oval cake and learn how to do basket weave piping with butter cream frosting.

Yumm!

Royal (PAIN!) Icing....

This week in our cake decorating class we had to do our first batch of Royal Icing.

I carefully followed the instructions in the book (and from class)

One little detail was missing however (as I found out AFTER class from the new book on wedding cakes I just got).....when you make Royal Icing in a big stand mixer like my KitchenAide, you are supposed to use a tablespoon LESS water...

So as you can see, my apple blossoms and violets and leaves were much too soft, and they look a little "blurry" and out of focus (no, it was NOT my camera)

{sigh}

I get to try again next week





The color flow icing, on the other hand, worked pretty well.....I still need to finish these up, but this is the beginning of my bluebirds.....

not bad

trial cake.....

Since I had a batch of buttercream frosting all made up from class on Tuesday and we won't be using it in class again for 3 weeks,I decided to make a cake and try out some of the ideas that I have for edging the wedding cake.
These pictures are of the 3 different attempts I made at doing straight lines down the sides of the cake either with an arc from the top, or from the bottom.
Also a new rosette edging which I actually like better than the shell thing. (the shell is at the base of the cake, the rosettes are on top)

My conclusion on the lines down the side is that if we're going to do that I need to add the piping gel to the frosting because those long "drops" tend to "break".

I've also decided that I may need a pair of those support gloves to get through a whole wedding cake....after working with the frosting bags two days in a row, my hands were pretty sore.

Summer Salad Time

In the summer there are a lot of days when I just don't want to cook.

One of the easiest ways to handle this for us is a pasta salad. On a recent weekend I used it as a side dish the first night with bar-b-que, then put in the protein additions the next day for a full meal salad. It is also one of those things that you can use to clear out little bits and pieces of fresh veggies that are hanging out in your crisper since you can toss in a lot of different veggies.

This is also a great thing to make and take to an outdoor event in the summer as there is no mayonnaise (so you won't be killing the guests!)

Here's the way I do it:

Required Ingredients:
1 pound of shaped pasta -- fusilli (twisted), farfalli (bowties), shells -- I like the ones made with veggie paste because they are pretty too, but just plain is fine

1 small bottle of Italian dressing (I like the low fat variety best)

Cook the pasta to slightly more than al dente, and use some salt in the water or the pasta will taste "flat", when its done, rinse with cold water until its all room temperature or cooler

Add in veggies:
carrots
celery
mushrooms
pepper
olives
broccoli
zucchini
peas (fresh are great, but defrosted frozen ones work good too)
radishes
green onions

Cut the veggies in small pieces. Try to use a variety of shapes and colors for visual interest too.

Add in proteins:
cheese -- cubed or shredded
ham pieces
salmon
tuna
grilled chicken pieces

When all of the ingredients are in the bowl, pour the bottle of dressing over the salad and mix well.

This gets better the longer it marinates together, so having some left to take in a lunch the next day is a good thing.

If you think of something that makes a good addition, let me know what it is in the comments!

I finished the class!

Last night was the last class of course I, so we were given our certificates.

This actually was a lot of fun, and I learned an amazing amount of useful things in just 4 weeks.

I hadn't originally planned to do the next two classes, but since they are still doing a half off the tuition deal, I am going to do the next one where we learn to work with royal icing and do all kinds of flowers....including daisys.

This is the cake we did last night.

The top has a whole cluster of roses, then there are little sweet peas and a shell border around the bottom.

While I was working on it in class, the teacher showed me that the tip for doing flower petals has changed over the 20-some years since I got my set.


While the new tip is actually easier to learn how to do a rose with, the tip I have makes more realistic looking flowers, it just takes a bit more work.

I think I'm glad to have that old tip, but I may actually buy one of the new ones too.

A few thoughts about smart shopping

I used to think those ladies that said they could cut one quarter of their grocery bill off by smart shopping were nuts. But that was back in the day when we had two good paying jobs (and worked the hours to go with them), so a trip to the grocery store did not constitute the most important chore in our weekend.

Now days we must pay a lot closer attention to where every penny goes, and it has become a sort of "can I beat them" game.

Since I'm armed with a list of what's in my freezer and my pantry (you did do that this week didn't you?), shopping is a sort of five part exercise in beating the system.

Part 1: The List
If you are trying to save your pennies, never, NEVER go to the store without a list (never go when you are hungry either.....its deadly to your health and your finances!)

The List begins with a sort of running note during the week of those things that we are out of or we're close to out of.....milk, bread, etc., are the basis of this part of The List.

Additions to The List really grow when the weekly ads arrive (see Part 2)

Part 2: Weekly Grocery Ads
You may have thought of this part of the newspaper or the bulk mail as just something else to recycle. If so, you need to revise your thinking.

I start out with a sheet of notebook paper and the ads for the three stores that are in our area (close enough that we can do all of them in one day without having to take a cooler with us).

I go through each ad and write down the items that I might be interested in and what the price is at each store. You'll discover that more than one store may have the same item on a sale. This is where it gets tricky and it becomes more important to write this all down before you go.

Just because two stores have romaine lettuce on a BOGO (buy one get one) free special, it does not mean it makes no difference which store you get them at. This week at two stores in our area they had just such a special running. At one store I would have paid $3.69 for two packages under the BOGO, at the other store it was only $3.29 ... its all good! Read all that fine print and choose the store that saves you that extra $0.40 on top of getting that free package!

After I know what all the specials are I go through the whole list and highlight which price is the best on items that are available in more than one store.

All of this data gets transfered to a new sheet of paper with sections for each store. I write down what the items are at each of the stores and what the prices advertised are (it pays to make sure you actually get the price that was advertised).

Part 3: Coupons
Now when you get that Sunday paper, there are usually some little packets of coupons in there. Once again, these are not just to go in the recycle bin! Read those sections with a pair of scissors in hand. Clip out the ones that are for stuff you actually use (don't bother with the rest of them, there's no point saving coupons for baby food if your youngest child is 24--unless they have a baby of their own!)

After you have created your master list in Part 2, go through the coupons you have and see what coupons you have that can be used for anything that's on your list. My favorite thing is to find something that's on a great sale that I also have a great coupon for....its like found money!! And a lot of stores in our are will double your coupon up to $1.00, so it can be like getting free food.

Make a note on your list if you have a coupon to use for something. If there is a particular store that you know has a better deal on something that was on your list in Part 1, make a note of that too.

Remember, The List is your roadmap to saving $$$!

Part 4: The shopping
Do this part right after breakfast in the middle of the week if you possibly can. You don't want to shop when you're hungry (your brain doesn't function well, and everything looks good so you'll overspend every time). In the middle of the week you will get the best selection on the items that are on sale and might be limited in quantity.

Take your own cloth bags with you! The grocery stores in our area give us $0.05 per bag that we bring in because they aren't using the ones they have to pay for. Besides, why do you need all those plastic bags.....adding to the landfil is not what I have in mind when I do my shopping. I even take my cloth bags with me when I go to Walmart....they may grumble, but they will use them (they won't give you any kind of $$ off tho').

Stick to your list! Buy what you know you need. Don't buy 6 cans or packages of something you've never tried just because its on sale, that doesn't save you anything if no one in the house will eat it. And watch for expiration dates on EVERYTHING that you buy.

When you're picking up the things on your list, compare the prices of different sizes, watch for the coupons that are right there in the store in those little dispenser things on the shelves and the ones that are right on the packages (I bought a bigger jar of pickles for less than the smallest jar by picking up the size that was on sale and using the coupon that was with the display).

Usually our only departure from our list is a trip through the markdowns. My mother (who has been doing this for years!) calls this "used meat" when it is at the butcher counter. Since we usually will not buy pre-ground hamburger (who knows what's in there!), we look for quality pieces of beef that are marked down. A chuck roast that is well aged makes some of the best hamburger you'll ever eat, so if you have the ability to grind your own, consider this option.

Part 5: The Reward
The reward is more money in your pocket and eating well. As we have shopped over the last two weeks, I have gotten $211 of groceries for $136.14 -- we saved 35.5%!! over the three stores. In one store I saved 46.4%. We have also earned two $0.10 per gallon off on a gas fill up, which will save us another $5 or so.

My favorite "save" for this week was this one: we needed coffee, and one store had a particular brand of bulk whole bean coffee on sale for $8.99 a pound. I also had a coupon for a FREE 12 ounce package of the same brand of coffee if you bought either a pound of bulk or 2 12 ounce packages. I bought a pound and a quarter of bulk beans and got the 12 ounce package for free.....total savings of $8.20!

Yes this all takes some time, but its worth the effort, and it makes me feel like I'm winning somewhere!

its a flower cake.....

and I'm pleased with the results of last night's class work....the cake looks pretty nice....white frosting, pale pink flowers with yellow centers....

I used a little almond in the frosting, so it really tastes nice too......

Only one more class to go. Next week we do roses, so we're supposed to practice that this week.....

No more bad leftovers.....

I can just hear the chorus out there saying "leftovers, EWWWWWWHHH!"

Trust me here, there is a major difference between what I'm talking about and those 3 week old containers of stuff from the restaurant meal that are turning into a science project at the back of your fridge (yes, I know they're there, I'm a mom after all!)

What I'm talking about here is leftovers that are PLANNED!

When the weather gets hot I just hate to heat up the kitchen every single day to cook something, so we shift into "batch mode". One of our favorites is to cook extra chicken. Depending on what the other meal plans for the week are, it may be worth while to cook a whole extra chicken just to make up chicken salads later in the week.

Here then are two recipes to use left over chicken in:

Chinese Chicken Salad

1 small head of cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 red onion thinly sliced (or use 1 bunch of green onions)
1 large chicken breast, cooked, deboned and shredded (I use a fork to do the shredding)
1 package Ramen noodles, broken into pieces (throw the seasoning packet away)

Toss these items together until well mixed

Dressing
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp chicken bullion base
1 cup sesame oil
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup sesame seeds

In a small skillet toast the sesame seeds until they are golden brown.

Blend together all of the other ingredients, then add sesame seeds

Pour dressing over salad and top with 1/4 cup sliced (or slivered) almonds


Any left over salad makes a great lunch the next day!




Chicken Waldorf Salad

1 large chicken breast, cooked, deboned and cut into small cubes
2 inner ribs of celery, chopped into small dice
1 medium red apple (braeburn or gala taste best), seeded and diced
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/4 to 1/3 cup mayonnaise

Mix chicken, celery, apple and pecans.

Begin with 1/4 cup of the mayonnaise. If the mixture seems dry, add the rest of the mayonnaise.

This is really attractive if arranged on a lettuce leaf with tomato wedges, pecan halves and black olives as garnish.


See, if you plan for those leftovers, there are no bad ones!

Taking inventory

As most anyone with a freezer other than the one in their refridgerator knows, its easy to loose track of what's in there.

Over the years we've gotten better at using up everything, but about every 6 months or so we need to take inventory.

Yesterday, since our dog is off at "sleep over camp" with our daughter, we decided to take that inventory.

I make up a list that we keep posted on the door, and it helps us with planning meals and making sure that nothing ends up as a science project gone bad.

Since we had been so good doing that, this morning I did an inventory in our other food storage area--the basement.

This is where I keep everything from paper goods to home canned tomatoes, and what's in this area helps us with meal planning and saving on groceries too.

A lot of people envision 50 pound bags of wheat when you say the words "Food Storage", but for us, its more about having on hand those things that you actually will eat.

On the whole, if we had to, we could probably go 2 or 3 weeks without buying anything other than fresh fruits and veggies, which isn't ideal (longer would be better), but it does mean if I needed to I could produce a decent meal on very short notice.

So my challenge to all of you today is: do you know what you actually have in your freezer? How about your pantry?

Its time to find out!

Cakes and living "green"

As I've been doing the practicing for the baking of "The" cake, I'd been thinking about how much I hated using those spray cans of no-stick stuff, but I'd not been happy with the mess of rubbing on the shortening and then spreading flour everywhere except exactly where I wanted it on the cake pan.

The solution is at hand!

In my cake decorating class I was given a recipe for pan release that I have used and I highly recommend. Not only is it earth friendly, not being in another container that's going to be in the landfill forever, but it is amazingly easy to make and inexpensive too!

I mixed up my batch and put it in a cottage cheese container (the tall one) that I had saved, wrote "Cake Release" in big red letters on the lid with a Sharpie marker and I'm set for quite a while. The container now sits in the cabinet where all those spray cans would live temporarily, but this container is probably going to last a LONG time!

You should try this stuff!


Cake Release

1 cup shortening (I used some butter flavor Crisco that I had on hand)
3/4 cup oil (canola is great, anything will work, just not olive oil unless you like that flavor with your cakes)
1 cup flour

Mix all of these together with a mixer until well blended

I use a small piece of an old tea towel to apply this stuff to the bottom and sides of the pan, then put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and apply more cake release on top of the paper. The parchment is really only necessary if you want to be totally secure that there will be no problems getting the cake out of the pan.....

Sunday's cake

Thanks to my sister who had her new digital camera with her, I have these pictures of the cake I did over the weekend to show off.

This was a strawberry cake with a plain white vanilla frosting, then I put the cut fresh strawberries on top.



I can tell you that the bunch of us made pretty short work of eating it too!

Cake Decorating, class 2

This is the cake I did in class last night.

I had a lot of trouble with the purple frosting because it was too stiff to do stars with, especially toward the end of the class.

The green ones on the bottom edge of the cake and the "hill" on top are all very neat and almost all the same size, so I feel pretty good about having mastered that technique.


During class I am also picking the teacher's brain about roses and daisies for wedding cakes. I'll be doing some practicing on rose centers this week as we move to the next step on that in next week's class.

Since we're going to be gone over the weekend, I will be experimenting with baking a cake and freezing it for next week's class. Actually this is a good thing for me to try out since we'll probably need to do that for wedding cake pieces.

Let them eat cake!!

Stinky's Chocolate Chip Cookies

By popular demand (ok, my daughter asked for this recipe so she can make some today), today's recipe is for Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The wonderful woman that took care of my daughter when she was little has a son that my daughter nicknamed Stinky. The two of them would make these cookies together (it was a great math lesson for a pre-school kid!)

And so, without further explanation, the recipe:


Stinky’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 ½ cups shortening (butter flavored Crisco is good)
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
3 eggs (or equivalent egg substitute)
1 tsp vanilla (we like the taste of Mexican vanilla with chocolate)
2 ¼ cups flour
1 ½ tsp soda
1 ½ tsp salt
3 cups oatmeal (old fashion rolled oats)
4 cups chocolate chips

Cream shortening and sugars until smooth

Add eggs and vanilla, mix well

Combine flour soda and salt and add gradually to mixture

Stir in oatmeal

Fold in chips

Drop on greased cookie sheets

Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, or to desired doneness

This makes about 6 dozen medium sized cookies


Great served warm with a big glass of cold milk!

cake again, and something else too.....

It's been brought to my attention that we seem to be in a cake rut (ok, its a lovely rut, but still....)


So, here's the latest cake (look, it actually came out of the pans and could be stacked and frosted!!) This one is orange cake with chocolate frosting. Yummy!

I went to the local store that sells Wilton supplies and found a book that I could copy information into a notebook from. Discovered that I already have the right size tips for the daisy flowers, just needed to purchase a larger flower nail (and for $0.99, how could I go wrong?) So, the next cake experiments need to be in playing with some royal icing to make daisies....

On the "something else" front, I'm giving you today a recipe for Snickerdoodles. These are great cookies with coffee, cocoa, milk, or just about anything! This recipe is my friend Lori's version, and I've never tasted any that I like as well.

When Lori makes them, she usually doubles or triples the recipe, so I've given you here the basic recipe with the numbers for (doubling) and {tripling}

Snickerdoodles

1 (2) {3} cup shortening
2 (4) {6} eggs
2 3/4 (5 1/2) {8 1/4} cups flour
2 (4) {6} teaspoons cream of tartar
1 1/2 (3) {4 1/2} cups sugar
1 (2) {3} teaspoons vanilla
1 (2) {3} teaspoons soda
1/2 (1) {1 1/2} teaspoon salt
cinnamon and sugar mixture for rolling dough in

Cream the shortening and sugar until smooth

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until completely combined

Sift together the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt and add mixture a little at a time, blending well each time

Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture

Place on greased cookie sheet and flatten with the bottom of a glass

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes

These freeze really well too!

disaster.......

I decided this week to try baking a cake from scratch.

Well, SCRATCH that idea!!



The mixing went well, it seemed to be the right amount of batter for the two pans...but this is what it looked like when it came out of the oven.

My best guess is that it rose up over the edge of the pan then didn't have enough substance to support itself so it collapsed.

I'm wondering if this is more of the "baking at high altitude" issue.



Then, to make matters even more interesting, it stuck to the pan (even though I had prepared them exactly the same way I have been) and had to be scrapped out with a spatula



I stacked it up so it "resembles" a cake, but I didn't even bother with frosting, knowing that with all those cut edges I might just as well crumble the whole thing into the bowl with the frosting and stir for the way it would look.

It doesn't taste bad (its chocolate with coffee in it), but the texture is WAY off.

Anybody got a recipe to use pieces of unfrosted cake in anything?

{sigh} definately back to the drawing board.....

Its a cake, version 3.....

notice the improvingly smooth sides....and the nice "swirlly" design on the top....

we're not ready for prime time yet, but its definately improving.

This week I'm going to try to find someone that knows about the Wilton tips and find out if there actually is a "daisy" tip, or some information somewhere on how to do that....probably means royal icing is in our future.....

oh, and BTW, this week's cake is spice with cream cheese frosting.....

its a cake, version 2.....

Ta Da!

Now doesn't this look much better? (aside from the fact that its chocolate, that is!)

This was amazingly easier....

I used the newly purchased 9 inch round pans (although a standard cake mix doesn't quite fill these as much as I'd like), and I didn't have to trim off the sides to put it together, which definately made the icing easier.

The new spatula for spreading also helped a lot.



And then there is this nifty item!

My mother gave me this. It was intended actually as a pancake turner, but it worked really well to move the cake layers from the cooling racks to the cake plate (or the top of the first layer). Its sturdy enough and stiff enough to make that journey without letting the cake break.

I'd say that lesson 2 went quite well!

...oh, its a CAKE!

Those of you that read my studio blog yesterday saw this picture with a "what is it" tag line.

Just as a reminder to anyone that's not keeping up, my daughter is getting married this summer, and we are playing with different ideas for the cake.

The purchase of all of that cake mix was strickly one of economics....when the store puts them on sale for $0.69 each, we stock up.

So the answer to "what is it?" is....wedding cake!



....and yes, this is a cake too.

What you need to know is that I've probably made all of half a dozen (including this one) cakes that I actually took out of the pan and frosted, etc., etc., preferring instead the ease of baking in a 9x13 pan and just frosting over the top

Wedding cake can't be done that way....so, some practice is required here just to test all of our theories, ie:

Theory 1: Can we use liquid egg whites that come in the little boxes at the supermarket instead of wasting all those yolks from whole eggs.

Answer: yup, that's what I used in the test cake and it rose just fine

Theory 2: Can we bake cakes from a standard box at this altitude (over 6000 feet) and have them come out right (remembering with horror our escapades with the angel cake before Christmas)?

Answer: yup, they rose okay, came out of the pan fine, just needed a wee bit more time to be done than the box said (which is probably a function of oven rather than altitude)

Theory 3: Can I actually do the base frosting?

Answer: uh, well, maybe.....here's the problems encountered with this little experiment....

first off, I don't have a pair of round cake pans that are actually the same size (I told you, this hasn't been done much!) But I did have 2 square ones, so I decided to go with those.

The problem here is that square pans don't have straight sides and so to frost the cake I had to trim off the edges (think of this as cutting the crusts off the bread on a peanut butter sandwich ... BEFORE you try to spread the peanut butter!) Bad idea!

The second issue was that I used a commercial (from a tub) frosting, and because it didn't taste like anything (as in it was just sweet), I added some flavoring (almond), but that changed the spreading texture.

The third issue also had to do with the frosting....I also didn't have any paste food color on hand (I seem to remember giving what was left of the good containers of this stuff to my daughter....maybe not), so I had to use liquid, and...... you guessed it, more texture issues

So, here are today's conclusions:

1. We can bake cakes and even have them taste good (I did add a little almond flavoring to the cake mix too, and that worked out just fine)

2. If I'm truly going to test this frosting thing, I need to bake some cakes that I don't have to trim off the edges of. (I found 2 heart shaped pans in the cabinet this morning.....guess what we'll be baking for next week!)

3. I need to get some proper colors to play with .... oh goodie, an excuse to go to either Michaels or Joanns (evil den's of eniquity!!)

4. I was told last night by our cake guru in California that there actually is a daisy tip that Wilton puts out....guess we better look into that too.

Our excursions into making daisies out of marzipan will be fun too.....

so, watch this space!

By popular demand....Chicken Tenders -- Homestyle

My daughter mentioned (rather pointedly, I might add) that I hadn't posted here for a while, and asked if I could post the recipe for the Chicken Tenders I make that she and her dad both love.

The recipe is so simple I'm almost embarrased to write it out, but since she asked, here it is:

Mom's Chicken Tenders

white meat chicken (I use boneless chicken breast pieces) -- the equivalent of one chicken breast piece per person
flour to dredge in (Wondra Flour works real well, but all purpose is fine)
sesame oil (peanut oil will work too)

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces (this is easiest if the chicken is still slightly firm from being frozen)

Lightly flour the chicken

Heat the skillet (HOT!), put a little oil in the pan, fry the chicken pieces until nicely browned and the chicken is done all the way through.

Salt lightly and enjoy!

NOTE: these are really good on top of a Ceasar salad

Peachy BBQ Ribs

These yummies are a recipe that my mother used to make when I was a kid.

For a long time, I never knew any kind of BBQ but this kind of slow, moist, torture it in the oven, kind. I really like the combination of the pork with the peaches and the little hint of cloves gives it a little zip.

I cooked up this batch last night after we had gotten some really good lean boneless ribs during our Costco run.

The original recipe was designed to feed 4, so I just cut it in half -- more or less (more about that below) and made this great dinner.

So, here's the original recipe with the reduced for [2] in the parenthesis.

Peachy BBQ Ribs

3 pounds [1 1/2 pounds] lean, boneless pork ribs
1 large can of peaches [1 small can of peaches]
2 Tbls [1 Tbls] worchestershire sauce
2 Tbls [1 Tbls] flour
2 Tbls [1 Tbls] prepared yellow mustard
1 cup [1/2 cup] ketchup
1 Tbls [1 1/2 tsp] dry onion flakes
1/2 tsp [1/4 tsp] ground cloves
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 375 degrees

Spray the baking pan with cooking spray for easy clean up afterwards. A full recipe needs an 11 by 9 inch pan, a half recipe can be done in an 8 by 8 inch pan, and I usually use glass.

Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper and place in the prepared baking pan.

Drain the peaches, save the juice, set the peaches aside.

In a small sauce pan, combine 1 cup of the juice from the peaches, and the other ingredients. [If there is not enough juice from a small can of peaches, add water to bring it up to 1 cup. This is the part that you really don't cut in half because you need the liquid to do the cooking in the oven]

Bring the sauce mixture to a boil, stirring with a whisk to remove any lumps.

Pour sauce over ribs. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. About half way through either turn each rib over or baste (I prefer the turning method).

When ribs are tender, arrange peaches on top of ribs, baste with sauce and return to the oven for another 5 minutes to heat peaches.

YUM!

Potato Soup

I like potato soup. There's something soothing about that warm, creamy potatoey goodness.

I remember eating potato soup as a kid. My dad will eat potatos 9 times a day (must be his Irish genetics!), and I must have gotten that fondness for the stuff from him.

Besides all that, its pretty easy to make. And its pretty forgiving of little variations in ingredients too.

So, here is the recipe:


Potato Soup

2 pieces of bacon, cut in fine dice (I've also used little pieces of ham for this)
2 ribs of celery, cut in fine dice (the idea is for a little texture, not big chunks)
1 bunch green onions -OR- 1 medium onion, cut in fine dice
1 tsp salt (or to your taste)
8 to 10 small to medium red potatoes, scrubbed and diced (I've also used other potatoes, and they work okay too)
1 to 2 cups chicken broth (homemade is great, out of a can is fine)
4 to 5 cups water
1 can evaporated milk (or whatever milk you have on hand, half and half is really good)

In a LARGE pan, brown the bacon.

Add the onion and celery and saute until transparent

Add broth, water and potatoes and cook until potatoes are soft.

Blend soup to desired consistancy. Use an immersion blender, a blender (in small amounts at a time) or a masher to do this step.

Add milk to the soup and heat to just below a boil (boiling the milk gives it a funny taste)

Serve with a dab of butter, or sour cream, or shredded cheddar cheese or whatever other garnish you like on potatoes.

This also reheats well in the microwave, so it makes a great carry along for lunch in the office the day after.

Hot Pads

Now I know that this is not edible. However, it you're going to cook, you're going to need hot pads.....more than one, and more than one size, and they need to be washable.

I know that lots of stores have hot pads, but it seems to me they are all stamped out of the same mold (so to speak), and most of them just don't suit.

So, what's an enterprising cook to do? Well, if you have other skills (in this case, crochet), you just build what ever it is you need. (And, I might add here that this particular item was made out the yarn from a sweater that had become too worn to wear, so I unraveled it and have been using the yarn for other things!)


The nice thing about this pattern is that there isn't much to it. Select whatever yarn (remember, WASHABLE!) you have available -- okay, if you must, buy some.

And use whatever size crochet hook you have on hand that works well with the yarn. As I said, I used some cotton yarn I unraveled from a sweater, and a size "H" (U.S.) hook.

You begin be deciding how big a hot pad you want to make. This one measures 6 1/4 inches by 7 inches, but the important measurement is the diagonal one through the middle. This one measures 9 inches diagonally.



To make your hot pad:

Chain for the desired length of the diagonal measurement.





Turn and work one single crochet in each chain stitch to the next to last chain, work 3 single crochet stitches in the end chain,




continue working one single crochet in the other side of each chain to the end chain, work 2 more single crochet in that end. (Foundation made.)




Continue round and round working 1 single crochet in each single crochet below. DO NOT Increase at the ends, you want it to “curl”.







As you go, it will begin to slowly create a square.

You can add stripes by working alternating colors for each round.






When your edges meet, use a yarn needle to stitch the two edges together and then run the yarn end inside.



That's it!

When you make the first one, you'll be sure that it isn't going to work (even tho' you've seen the pictures), but it just happens like magic!!

Enjoy making a whole variety to match your kitchen decor, or to be your favorite color, or to use up your odds and ends of yarn pieces.

A New Year's Tradition

The taper candle on the right is older than my daughter. Now I know that is not a common age for a candle, but this one is the last bayberry candle that my grandmother gave me in 1972.

The votive candle on the left is going to be part of a very important ritual that we do every year on New Year's Eve.

My grandmother used to give me a bayberry candle to burn on New Year's Eve. You have to burn the candle continuously from when you light it on New Year's Eve at sunset until it burns itself out.

The candle came with the following poem:

A bayberry candle
When burned to the socket
Brings joy to the house
And gold to the pocket

We can't say we'ver ever gotten all that much "gold", but it is a fun tradition to continue. Now days its hard to get bayberry candles, but I maintain its worth the effort for this.

And of course there is the need for ham, greens, black eyed peas and grits for the New Year's Day dinner......


Happy New Year 'yall!

Doggie Biscuits

and just why should the humans in the house be the only ones that get goodies at Christmas?

We think that the dogs in the house should get a treat too!

This is a really simple recipe, fun to do and our dog (and our daughter's dog too) just loves them.

A single recipe makes 16 LARGE dog bone shaped biscuits (we have big dogs!), and its totally safe for small children too, being all "normal" pantry staples (no bone meal, etc.)

Why not bake up a batch for your dog?

Dog Biscuits

2 1/2 cups flour (I use a combination of whole wheat flour, white flour, corn meal and oatmeal -- as long as it totals this amount -- I've even ground up rice to make flour for these)

1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

6 Tbls oleo (Crisco is better, peanut butter is better still!)

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1/2 to 2/3 cup water

Mix all the ingredients to form a stiff dough (start with 1/2 cup water, add whatever you need to make the dough come together)

Roll out the dough 1/2 inch thick and cut into desired size pieces (dog bone shaped cookie cutters are available, but if you don't have one, and cookie cutter that makes the right size for your dog will work)

Place biscuits on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Cool completely, store in a dry place.

NOTE: you can also add shredded carrots and parsley flakes to this and use a beef or chicken flavored broth instead of water for the liquid

Fallen Angels -- OR -- the perils of baking at over 6000 feet

Its sad but true.....its a fallen angel.....

Now I have to tell you that when it came out of the oven, it was standing tall and proud, way over the top of the pan ..... but alas, it was not to be

This little disaster was really quite funny too as we could watch it "roll" out of the pan like a ball of jello running downhill

It set off a chorus of "what did I do wrong?" to which I went down the whole check list of dos and don'ts for angel food cake:


grease free bowl -- check
grease free beaters -- check
grease free spatulas -- check
grease free pan -- check
oven at listed temperature -- check
using the high altitude instruction on the package -- check

This is the fifth time since we've lived here that I have tried to make an angel food cake. I've tried from scratch (that was a whole other disaster, best not described!); and from a box, and I have now concluded that at this altitude (as I said, over 6000 feet above sea level) that it just isn't going to happen......{sigh, whimper!}

I can report tho', that it tasted really good as we ate it anyway!

Oh Fudge!

My dad was always the fudge maker when I was a kid. Its one of the few things I remember him cooking.

I also remember that it ALWAYS got poured in a specific pan to cool.

A few years ago, he gave me the pan. I guess its one of the perks of being the oldest child, but I admit I accepted it with mixed feelings -- its not always easy feeling like the mantle of being the oldest generation is being passed to you.

Anyway, I don't always make my dad's recipe for the original fudge, but ever since I've had it, this is the pan the fudge gets poured into.

So, for today's recipe, I give you 3 different recipes for fudge, 2 of which came from my dad. You can try them all!


Gpa's Original Fudge

4 cups sugar
1 12 ounce can evaporated milk
3 Tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbls butter

In a heavy sauce pan, combine sugar, milk and cocoa powder.
Bring to a boil and cook to soft ball stage (234 degrees), stirring constantly
Add the butter to the pan and boil hard for 1 minute
Remove from heat, beat in vanilla and continue to beat until candy starts to set
Spread candy in pan and let cool
Cut into small squares and store in a dry place

NOTE: dad also did this as vanilla fudge (just leave out the cocoa), and peanut butter (add the peanut butter with the butter)



Gpa's Quick Fudge

2 packages (6 ounce each) chocolate chips (dad likes milk chocolate, I prefer dark)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 1/2 Tbls vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

In the top of a double boiler melt the chocolate chips.
When melted add the milk and blend completely.
Remove from heat, beat in vanilla
Fold in nuts and pour into pan, chill for 2 hoursl
When cool, cut into squares and store in a dry place



Marshmallow Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
12 ounces semi sweet chocolate (baking squares or chips)
7 ounces marshmallow creme
1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, butter and milk in a heavy pan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly
Continue stirring and simmering until mixture reaches 234 degrees (soft ball stage)
Remove from heat, stir in chocolate and stir until melted
Add vanilla and marshmallow creme, mix until smooth
Pour into pan, cool
Cut into squares and store in a dry place

Pariserwafier

I know, I've been remiss about posting here the past week. I've been busy getting ready for Christmas, etc., etc., and well, I just haven't gotten here!

Before I posted the recipe for the Cottage Cheese Cookies a bit ago, I made a call to my mother because I was confused.

Back when we were doing all this lovely baking, I remembered the Cottage Cheese Cookies, but I also remembered this recipe, which involves frosting, and I had the two combined in my mind....just shows you what time does to the brain!!

Anyway, it turned out that I didn't even have a copy of this recipe, so my mother obligingly copied it (and several others, to be discussed later) and mailed it to me. Yeah mom!

Anyway, this is a Swedish recipe that translates (loosely) to "Cream Wafers", and since it has egg yolks and heavy cream, you might as well go "whole hog" and use butter in them too!


Pariserwafier (Cream Wafers)

For the Wafers:
1 cup soft butter or oleo
1/3 cup cream (35% butterfat) -- don't skimp!
2 cups flour
granulated sugar for 'coating'

For the Filling:
1/4 cup soft butter or oleo
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
red and green food color

To make wafers:
Mix 1 cup butter, the cream and the flour until well blended.
Chill for 30 to 60 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Roll out 1/3 of the dough 1/8 inch thick on floured board (keep the rest of the dough refridgerated as you work with each section).
Cut rounds of 1 1/2 inches (or smaller!)
Coat each round in granulated sugar and place on ungreased cookie sheet, prick tops with a fork.
Bake for 7 to 9 minutes -- don't overbrown.
Cool and fill.

To make filling:
Beat together 1/4 cup butter, the sifted powdered sugar, the egg yolk and the vanilla until smooth.
Divide filling in half and color each half (one red, one green)
Place a small amount of filling on half of the wafers and top with the other half.

This recipe makes about 5 dozen 1 1/2 inch round "sandwich" cookies.

Yumm!

Mom's Fruit Cake

No, I didn't say mom IS a fruit cake! For the most part, I don't like fruit cake. There's just something wrong about eating the peel of the fruit to me (you know, candied orange peel and all that).

This fruit cake, however is full of wonderful stuff. Its really easy to make (once you get through papering the pans). In fact, the only down side to it is the cost of the ingredients. But just once in your life you should taste really good fruit cake, and this is it!

Note: Read through the entire recipe before beginning. This works best if the ingredients have be allowed to stand at room temperature for an hour before you start.

Added note:  this recipe makes a lot of fruit cake --- one large loaf and 5 small ones --- the adjustments to make half a recipe are included below in red

1 1/2 (3/4) pounds pitted dates
1 (1/2) pound candied pineapple
1 (1/2) pound whole candied cherries (some for garnish)
2 (1)cups sifted flour
2 (1) tsp baking powder
1/2 (1/4) tsp salt
4 (2) eggs (1 (1/2) cup egg substitute)
1 (1/2) cup sugar
2 (1) pounds pecan halves (some for garnish)
white corn syrup

Use two 9 inch by 5 inch by 3 inch loaf pans OR two 9 inch spring form pans OR one of each size OR four small loaf pans.

Grease pans well with butter or shortening, line bottoms and sides with brown paper (or parchment paper) cut to fit, then grease the paper.

Set oven to 275 degrees

Cut the dates and pineapple into coarse pieces.

In a large bowl (I use a BIG stainless steel one), mix dates, pineapple and cherries (reserve a few cherries for garnish).

Sift salt, baking powder and flour together. Sift flour mixture onto fruit mixture.

Using your hands, mix flour mixture into fruit to coat each piece of fruit with the flour.

Beat eggs until frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar until well mixed.

Add eggs to fruit mixture, mix well with large spoon (I use a wood one).

Add nuts (reserve a few for garnish) and mix until nuts are evenly distributed and coated with batter.

Pack mixture into pans, press it down firmly to make sure there are no empty spaces.

Decorate the tops with cherries and pecan halves.

Bake: loaf pan for 1 1/2 hours, springform for 1 1/4 hours, little loaves for 1 hour. Tops of cakes, where batter is visible should look dry but not be brown. If you aren't sure its done, give it a little more time, a little over baking will not hurt.

Remove from oven and let cool on rake for about 5 minutes. Turn out of pans and remove the paper.

Turn loaves right side up and brush with corn syrup to glaze. Cool completely.

To store, wrap loosely in foil and store airtight in a cool place. Stored this way, the cakes will last several weeks. If well wrapped and frozen they will keep indefinitely.


Have fun! Remember, fruit cake is a Christmas tradition, but you won't want to throw this one.

Cottage Cheese Sandwich Cookies

I can just see all of you know thinking, "cottage cheese? in cookies?"

Consider this idea -- cream cheese is sort of the same thing, only firmer and all in one block!

And so, keep an open mind and give these a try, I promise you'll be glad you did.


Cottage Cheese Sandwich Cookies

2 cup cottage cheese
3/4 cup oleo/butter (Crisco sticks)
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup thick preserves (flavor of your choice)
powdered sugar for "dusting"

Put cottage cheese through a sieve.

Cream oleo and cheese together.

Mix flour and salt together and add to creamed mixture a little at a time, mixing thoroughly.

Roll dough out (use a lightly floured surface) to 1/4 inch thick.

Cut into 2 inch rounds. Place half of the rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet at least 1/2 inch apart. Put 1/2 tsp of preserves in the center of each cookie. Cover with additional cookie rounds and seal the edges with your fingers or a fork.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove to racks, sprinkle with powdered sugar while still warm.

Makes 4 dozen.

NOTE: these are even prettier if the top rounds have a smaller opening cut in the center to let the preserves show through. If you do them this way there will probably be enough dough to make a few extras.

Ragalach

These little gems are wonderful. There's only one really important thing to note before you start mixing.....there doesn't seem to be any sort of substitution for anything that is satisfactory, so just know these are the "high test" stuff, real butter, high fat cream cheese. But the are amazing on the tongue.

These are a 2 day do---mix up the dough the night before and do the baking the next day.

Ragalach

1 cup butter (2 sticks)
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sifted flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbls cinnamon

Day one:
Cream butter, cream cheese and salt until smooth and light. Mix in flour.

Shape the dough into 14 balls. Cover and chill overnight.

Day two:
Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix nuts, sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball out into a 6 inch circle. Cut the circle into quarters.

Drop a teaspoon full of the nut mixture on each quarter circle. Pinch edges together and form into cresents on ungreased cookie sheets (parchment paper works great).

Bake for 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

Gma's Stocking Cookies

Continuing on with some of my mom's classic Christmas cookie recipes.

I remember making these at the same time we made the Candy Cane ones, since the whole process was like playing with clay.

This is another of those recipes that doubles nicely.


Christmas Stockings

1 cup shortening
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond
1/4 to 1/2 tsp red or green food color (or both)
2 1/4 cups flour
candied cherries, quartered
1/4 cup nut pieces
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Cream shortening, sugar, vanilla and almond. If you are doing only one color socks, mix in food color here too.

Blend in flour and salt.

If you want 2 color socks, divide dough in half and mix each food color into half of the dough.

Chill the dough for 1 hour.

To make cookies: use 1 tbls of dough and pat out into a rectangle about 3 inches by 1 1/2 inches. Down the center of the dough place cherries or nuts or chocolate chips. Roll dough into log shape.

Place cookies on ungreased pan and shape into sock shape.

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Cool on racks.

If desired, frost tops and toes with Easy Icing (see gingerbread post for recipe).

Makes about 3 dozen.