Thursday, March 29, 2012

Picky

People come in all shapes and sizes, personalities and quirks.  That is what makes us individuals.  Unique. Special. We all have something wonderful that makes us, well, US.  I could list qualities in regard to how similar our children are as well as how different they are.  It’s those differences that make them special in their own personal way.  Even If I could, I definitely would not change them.  I love them as they are and I enjoy watching them develop into the person they will eventually become.  Or continue to become, because I don’t think you ever stop growing, emotionally that is.  I believe life, with its trials and celebrations that everyone experiences,  continues to shape and mold an individual as they age.   Could that be the road to wisdom?

So because of our differences, what gets prepared for the dinner table can be met with conflicting responses.  Groans and “I hate this food” to this is my favorite.  Regardless, they eat what is served. We don’t make separate meals.  We make one meal.  I know if they help me prepare it, that can ease them into trying it with an open mind.  I also know, sometimes it is better if I prepare a recipe alone.  What they don’t know won’t hurt them.  I am sure I have eaten things over the years that I wouldn’t want to know.  Like gizzards – I am sure I have eaten stuffing with gizzards because I did not know they were an ingredient in the stuffing.  Mom, have I eaten gizzards? 

So all this just to tell you about a hummus recipe that I recently made.  Quick and simple.  Delicious. Great for dipping the vegetables in or spreading on a wrap with chicken and spinach.  My kids don’t ever want to try my wraps.  I also love red pepper hummus on a wrap with one slice of turkey, cucumber slices and spinach.  So I tried this particular hummus recipe because it did not include tahini, which I would have to go buy.  It is an Italian hummus. Personally, anything with chickpeas (garbanzo beans), it has to be good.  I add chickpeas to my salad all the time, while my kids tell me that is disgusting. 

Creamy Italian Hummus
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained*
¼ cup olive oil
1 tsp. garlic (fresh or granulated)
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. basil
Salt and pepper to taste

Put all ingredients into a food process and process until smooth. You might have to add a little more olive oil to make it creamier as I found it was dry with just ¼ cup.  I used two garlic cloves, crushed.  The thought of using granular garlic – yuk!  That would be a good way to ruin this recipe.  (*For creamier hummus, remove the skin from each chickpea).

Now, since I am the only bean lover in the house – kidney, black, red, chickpea – doesn’t matter, I thought this hummus would be all mine!  I knew the kids wouldn’t touch it. I was doubtful John would as I gave him a small sample on a saltine cracker and he said it “was all right”.  So every morning I put some in a container, bagged some carrots and they went to work with me.   Well, two days later, I noticed the container was almost empty. I asked John about it and he said “Elliott has been eating it with pretzels”. What?  My tasty hummus.  Then the real story came about. They both had been eating it with pretzels.  Those boys.  I’ll make another batch this weekend because I ate the rest of it up for lunch yesterday.  Well, the pretzels were gone and I knew they wouldn’t think of eating it with vegetables!!!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Filberts

I love filberts!
Filberts are more commonly known as hazelnuts. I remember my grandparents having a bowl of mixed nuts around Christmas. I would pick out the small hazelnuts and crack them open. I wouldn’t eat them until I had a handful. They were delicious! Our kids are not nut lovers. Many times, I’ll put aside a recipe because it has nuts or I’ll make it without the nuts. I look forward to the day when I can include the nuts in various recipes. However, they do like Nutella. What is Nutella made from? The adorable little filbert. And it is with this yummy, chocolately, nutty cream that I made my “N” recipe with.

Nutella Butter Cake (although the recipe was for a cake but baked in a loaf pan so it is a loaf)

That was my thought when I read the title! So I chipped away at that baking project this weekend. I baked yesterday. I cleaned. I washed bedding and folded laundry. I mopped. I tended the fire. I baked. That was my first project after making breakfast and cleaning up.

It’s a simple recipe. I had to make a few conversions – grams to ounces, Celsius to Fahrenheit. This recipe mixed up fast and baked to perfection. We tried it warm out of the oven and it was deemed a keeper.

Nutella Butter Cake Loaf
150g churned, salted butter (5.3 ounces)
1 cup caster sugar (super fine sugar)
3 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup milk
2 Tbsp. Nutella **

Preheat oven to 320˚F (160˚C). Grease and line an 8-inch round or a 10x4-inch loaf pan. I just greased and floured my pan and the loaf slipped right out! Combine all ingredients except the Nutella, in a large mixing bowl and beat for approximately 4 minutes until all ingredients are combined and smooth.

Spoon half the mixture in the prepared pan. Place one tablespoon of Nutella over the mixture and swirl into the batter using a fork. (**I used more Nutella. Also found the Nutella to be heavy and hard to swirl so I warmed it in the microwave and it swirled better).


Top with the remaining batter and add more Nutella. Swirl.

Place in oven and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until cake tester inserted in middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.


This will keep in the refrigerator for 4-5 days – if there is any left!

I had extra batter so I let the kids make their own Nutella Swirl Butter Cupcakes and they turned out perfect.


The flavor of this butter cake is delicious and very moist. I was a little disappointed that the first layer of Nutella sank to the bottom of the cake and it did not mix or swirl very well. Warming the Nutella helped is swirl better so I will make note of that. I also would cover the top layer of Nutella with a little batter as it baked and flaked off when the loaf was cut.

Monday, March 19, 2012

March Madness

March is half over and it has been crazy. The weather has been incredible. Unbelievable. The weekend temperatures were in the 70˚s both days! Usually there would still be snow on the ground. We’d be spending our weekends inside. Not so this weekend.

Would you look at this? I took this picture yesterday, March 18 and our first daffodil blossomed. The larger bunches will soon blossom as well. Spring is here – spring is here! (Although, I really am expecting more snow. Is that bad?)

The hillside is signaling spring as well. See that red haze? The maples have a red flower that opens then falls to the ground before their leaves open. I love that red haze. Soon the leaves will burst forth and the hillside with be bright green. Spring-green! In another week, that hillside will look so different. I enjoy watching how it changes with each season.


I worked in the front flower beds. I took down the pool. I enjoyed the sunshine. I opened the windows throughout the house and let the fresh air in.

John worked in the garage and the dumpster needs to be hauled away.

Olivia spent time” tanning” on the deck.

The boys – well, one spent time swimming in the upper and the lower pond and running through the yard and field. Do you see Ruddie?

The other, spent time netting fish, salamanders and tadpoles.

I didn’t get as much yard work done as planned (figures) but would you look at this:

Our little squirrels have piled pinecones under the four pine trees between the yard and field. This will help me with the lawn work!

Yesterday I took the kids to play tennis at the middle school. It was hot in the sun. They had fun and were glad they brought full-water bottles.


And when the mornings start out looking like this...look at that cotton-candy sky.

How can you have a bad day...or not be thankful for what the Lord has given us!

Enjoy - enjoy!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Oven was on

This post is a double-hit. I made two new recipes and both were keepers. I was a little surprised at that outcome. So for L I made Lemon Coconut Twists.

This is a dough recipe and I know many people tend to avoid making dough. I really don’t understand why. Dough is nothing to fear. It is easy.

1. Follow the directions.
2. Make sure your water temperature is correct.
3.Grease the bowl lightly. When you put the dough in the bowl, I always use glass, swirl it around and then flip it and swirl again. I cover my bowl with a towel and place in a warm oven. The dough always rises and I get a nice, doubled-in-size amount.

Just don’t give up on making dough. Fresh bread and sweet breads are a real treat. I make all sorts of bread and dough for pizza and Stromboli. We definitely love our homemade breads!

I found the recipe on a website, National Festival of Breads. This site has a quite a few recipes, all winners in various categories, so check it out.

Lemon Coconut Twists
1/2 cup warm water (100°-110°F)
4 teaspoons Fleischmann’s® Active Dry Yeast
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour
2 – 2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 (3.4 - ounce) package instant lemon pudding and pie mix
1 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Frosting
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon lemon extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
2-3 tablespoons cream

In electric mixer bowl, combine water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in sour cream, dry milk, eggs, butter, sugar, salt, white whole wheat flour and bread flour.

With dough hook, knead on low speed 5 minutes. Put dough into a greased bowl:

Cover, let rise till double.

Punch down dough.

Roll dough into rectangle, 18 x 10 inches; cut into eighteen 1-inch strips. I had 15 strips!


In a 9-inch glass pie plate melt butter. In a second pie plate, combine pudding and pie mix and coconut.


Dip each strip in melted butter, then into coconut mixture. Twist and hold one end of strip down on greased baking sheet for the center of the roll and curl the strip around center, tucking end under. Place remaining butter or coconut mixture on top of twists. Cover twists, let rise in warm place until double.


Bake in preheated 350°F oven 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove rolls to a wire rack.


**I found this time was too long. I think my first batch baked for 8 minutes and I removed them so watch these carefully.**

For frosting, combine confectioners’ sugar, lemon extract, almond extract and cream until frosting is smooth and of spreadable consistency. Frost rolls while still warm. Yield: 18 rolls.

**I also thought 10-inches was too long so I cut the strips in half and was happy I did so. You can see the size difference in the long strip versus a half-strip.** However, ran out of coconut/lemon pie mix so I used cinnamon/sugar on what dough was left over.

I think next time I make these I will roll the dough into little balls, indent the center, coat in butter then coat with the mixture. This will be a little easier and take less time. If I should have a helper though, we'll use the strip method.

These do have a great flavor and are best when eaten the same day. These would be perfect for an Easter brunch!


One bit of advice (for myself and as a reminder for any bakers): Always, ALWAYS, read the whole recipe before you begin. You’ll understand as you read. You want to make sure you have all the ingredients, an approximate time frame (some cookie doughs have to be refrigerated for an hour or overnight), and proper tools.

M was Maple Shortbread Cookies. I figured in our home, if I made something with maple, it would be a hit. I had ripped the recipe out of an old King Arthur Flour catalog.

I started mixing up the ingredients and then I read pure maple sugar. Wait – sugar NOT syrup. What? Sugar. Yes maple sugar. Printed in black type: ½ cup pure maple sugar. I have no maple sugar. So I improvised. I used white sugar and 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup. Guess I was hell-bent on using syrup. The dough came together nicely so I wasn’t worried and it tasted good. Yes, I tried the dough. I’m not a dough eater unless it is my sugar cookie dough. But this, I had to try and I liked it. Maple-y! Yum.

Maple shortbread cookies
1 cup unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
1/2 c pure maple sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon maple flavor, optional
2 1/2 c. King Arthur unbleached all-purpose flour

Topping:
2 Tbsp. pure maple sugar

Beat the butter with the sugars, salt, vanilla, and maple flavor until well blended. Beat in the flour to form a smooth dough. The dough will be crumbly at first, but will come together as it's mixed. Divide the dough in half, pat each half into a disk, wrap well, and chill for an hour.


This dough was a little crumbly but I managed to get it all rolled out, cut and baked. What little hassle I had was worth the effort. If you like maple as well as shortbread, this cookie is for you. (Shortbread is one of my favorites – all that butter!)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. Sprinkle dough and work surface lightly with flour. Roll the dough till it's a scant 1/4" thick. Cut cookies and place cookies on baking sheets, and sprinkle with maple sugar.
**No maple sugar = no sprinkling the cookies before they go into the oven.


Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until they are very lightly browned. Let sit on the baking sheet for several minutes before moving to a rack to cool completely. Yield: 2 - 21/2 dozen (depends on size of cookie cutter).

I was two cookies short of 4 dozen. Aren't these lovely? I think I need to shop for leaf cookie cutters.


I was a little worried that the family would not like these because of the shortbread texture but apparently the maple flavoring hid that. These could be decorated with a little maple-flavored icing for the dessert table at Thanksgiving!

The good news is I will be ordering pure maple sugar soon. I recently placed an order with King Arthur for some items on February 29 because they had a 29¢ shipping deal. And yesterday I took a survey so I now have a $10.00 coupon to be used on any order over $40.00. I’ll be ordering a donut pan (baked doughnuts sound good and they are healthier for you) and of course, pure maple sugar. My want list from KAF is always long. I’m chipping away at it slowly. Kind of like my ABC baking project!

Now on to N and O and P and…

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Time for Action

I’m a planner. I am guilty of making long to-do lists. Things I want to get done after work. Things I want to accomplish over the weekend. I’m guilty of creating and using a typed grocery list that I can check off what I need to buy. I make lists when we plan a vacation. What to pack. What foods to pack, salads to make, goodies to bake. What items I need to buy.

List after list.

This seems to work for me but then there are some things that I need to tackle and they sit. Untouched. When I make a list, it is usually long and I don’t expect to cross every item off but when the same item never gets crossed off, it can become a problem. Usually a bigger problem than it was when it first was put on the list. I admit, I have a problem. A larger one that it was months ago. Yes, months ago. Procrastination on my part. No way! Ha - just kidding. I am laughing at myself because I have been ignoring the glaringly, obvious item that stays unchecked on my list – week after week.

There are piles of magazines, school papers, recipes, books, junk mail. Just piles of them. I kid you not.


So this coming weekend, I have decided not to make any lists. I am going to focus on one thing. One big thing. My focus will be our spare bedroom. It has, once again, become a place to deposit items, with the intention to take care of them later. Well, this room has really started to bother me. I can feel my blood pressure rise when I step in there.


This makes me want to scream!
So does this:


We moved Olivia into this room when we remodeled the kitchen and dining room. It still houses the china cabinet that I need to empty. We were thinking of giving this away but it is beautiful – it just needs some love. I don’t have love to shower it with so I’ll ask John to help me move it downstairs. If we had wall space in the new dining room, I would place it there but we don’t. I even considered cutting it in half, well, actually, just cutting the legs off and attaching it to a wall in the dining room but John didn’t like that idea. So, instead of giving it away, it’ll be moved downstairs (this weekend?) and it’ll house various things. As long as it is out of this bedroom.

The closet is another eye sore. I moved my bookcase in there a year ago to store books , DVD’s and VHS’s (yes we still have a VCR). But I have all my scrapbooking items boxed up and in there, as well as my sewing machine (I am sure it’s under the pillows and blankets and whatnot) so I need to haul it all out and organize. What I really need is a craft corner in the basement but that isn’t happening any time soon so…I’ll have to organize. The closet (a dark photo but it really is packed full):


Do you slide things under your bed? Well, the bed in the guest/spare room has lots of stuff under it. No picture of this because I was afraid of all the dust bunnies hopping around. So I’ll have to pull that out to and tackle it. Either it is junk or needs to find a permanent home. I have boxes of pictures, school papers, recipes, etc. That will be the death of me – my little collection of “must keep” items that I plan to do something with – some day!

Wish me luck with this project. I think I have lofty goals but we’ll see what does and doesn’t get accomplished.

Here’s to a good, productive weekend!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

ABC Baking Adventures

Remember this post - Alphabet Baking and what a great, fun project I thought this would be. Don’t get me wrong, it has been fun. We are trying new recipes. I am just tackling it at a snails’ pace. A. snails. pace.

Two Sundays ago, I made a Key Lime Pie. I have never made one and why, I am not so sure. They are easy, very tasty and refreshing. I made homemade whipped topping also. Yum! This pie would perfectly compliment a BBQ on a hot summer day. Top it with fresh whipped cream and sprinkle with fresh raspberries, I think it’d impress those eating.

Olivia was so anxious to try this pie. I wasn’t sure she’d like it but she did. It has been added to her favorites list. She even said she hoped her dad didn’t like it so she could have it all to herself. I had to break it to her. I like the pie. She’d have to share it with me, at least. Her father did like it. He wasn’t crazy about it and agreed with me that it would be a nice summer pie. So this recipe gets a spot in our collection; however, it doesn't get a photo as I did not take any.

You cannot fail at making this pie. No pie crust to make and roll out. It’s a mix, press, bake, mix, pour and bake pie. Simple and delicious! And it came from my favorite place: King Arthur Flour - 'nough said.

Key Lime Pie

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter

*While it isn't traditional, add 1/3 to 1/2 cup (1 1/4 to 1 7/8 ounces) toasted coconut to the crushed cracker crumbs, if desired. *I did not add this but I will next time as I think it’ll compliment the lime.

Filling:

Grated rind of 1 medium lime, about 3 tablespoons, not packed
3 large egg yolks
14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk (1 1/4 cups)
2/3 cup bottled Key Lime juice OR freshly squeezed lime juice
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon lime oil, optional

Select a pie pan with an inside top dimension is at least 9”, and with a height at least 1-1/4”. Preheat the oven to 325˚F.
Make the crust by stirring together all of the crust ingredients, mixing till thoroughly combined.

Press the crumbs into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan. Bake the pie crust for 15 minutes; it’ll start to darken in color a bit. Remove it from the oven and place on a rack to cool while you make the filling.

Whisk the grated lime rind and egg yolks at high speed of an electric mixer for about 4 minutes. The mixture will lighten in color and thicken somewhat, looking kind of like Hollandaise sauce.

Stir in the sweetened condensed milk, mixing till smooth. Beat at high speed for 3 minutes; the filling will become slightly thicker, and gain a bit of volume.
Add the lime juice, stirring just to combine. The mixture will thicken. Add lime oil to taste.

Pour the mixture into the crust, and return the pie to the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, till it appears set around the edges, though still a bit wobbly in the center. The center should read about 145°F.

Remove the pie from the oven, and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for several hours before serving. Slice and serve each piece with a lightly sweetened dollop of whipped cream, if desired.