Month: January 2013

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Valentines Day Prep

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

It has begun. The days before Valentines Day when I search out little “wifey” things that I should have been doing all year long, but I just didn’t want to. But knowing that Valentines day will be here in 16 days, I am frantically looking around to see what things will earn me really nice presents. Today, I noticed him searching through his little box of collar stays, so in the sweetest tone I could muster up at 7:00 a.m. I said, “honey, I notice that you are getting frustrated at not finding the right sizes of collar stays that you need, how about if I go through them today, between organizing your sock drawer and washing your brush and comb, and then stack the stays according to their sizes”? You should have seen the look he flashed my way. You would have thought that I never did anything for him, although I have to admit that it has been several months, wait…make that this time last year, since I have organized anything for him. But tonight when he comes home, he will see clear plastic bags marked, “short fat” (no I didn’t use my body size to compare), short skinny, (wait, yes, I did), long skinny and long fat……I cannot wait to see the shock on his face. Surely that will at least get me some pink tulips and maybe even Ethel M Chocolates.

Tomorrow, I am going to clean out and arrange all his shoe polish drawer and sew on the missing buttons that he had asked me about doing, months ago. I try to wait close to a holiday to do these little honey do’s because it assures me that great little presents await me on holiday mornings. This is my own way of getting presents without having to remind him that there are so many days left to shop. I wonder when he will start to notice that I only do the things that I don’t like to do, close to gift giving holidays? 

Yesterday I even made tapioca, which I really don’t like, but anything for my little poopsie.

Tomorrow, yellow cake with chocolate frosting will be a most fitting end to his favorite meal, chicken fried steak. He knows that I really don’t like yellow cake with chocolate frosting, so this will most assuredly get me a great Valentines card. I am closing now to go arrange his ties by colors…..this year should be the best year of gifts, ever! Will keep you posted.

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Fudge Ribbon Cake

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If you are like me, one of the best combo’s is chocolate and cream cheese. This cake combines both. It is out of my old cookbook I told you about several weeks ago.

Cheese Mixture:

2 tables butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 table cornstarch

1 8 oz pkg of softened cream cheese

1 egg

2 tables milk

1 teas vanilla (sometimes I use almond extract instead of vanilla)

Cream butter, sugar and cornstarch. Add cream cheese, beat until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients; beat well and set aside.

Cake Batter
2 cups sifted flour

2 cups sugar

1 teas salt

1 teas baking powder

1 teas baking soda

1/2 cup soft shortening (you will have more flavor if you use half butter and half shortening)

1 1/2 cups milk

2 eggs

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted

1 teas vanilla

Combine dry ingredients; cut in shortening. Add 1 cup milk; beat for 1 or minute and a half. Add remaining milk and other ingredients; beat for another minute and a half. Put one half of the batter in a well-greased and floured 13×9 pan. Spoon on cheese mixture and spread over cake batter; top with remaining cake batter. Bake at 350 for about 45-50 min, depending on your oven. Be sure and test to see when toothpick comes out clean. You do not want to over bake a chocolate cake as it will be dry. Cool

Frosting:

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1 teas vanilla

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar.
Combine milk and butter and bring to a boil. Blend in remaining ingredients and beat well. Frost the cake. Store covered in fridge, but take out an hour or so before serving. 

Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Lemon Curd Uses

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On this cold wet January Saturday, the warm lemony flavor is what is sounding good. Upon leafing through my new Southern Living Magazine, it has a few pages with recipes using lemon curd. If you love Lemon, I suggest you run to then store and purchase SL for Feburary. It is just full on great exciting lemon recipes, ranging from lemon curd cheesecake to Lemon Souffles and more. It has suggestions of different ways to use lemon curd, which they give the recipe for, but if you are so inclined, you can buy lemon curd in a jar that is almost (almost, but not quite) as good as homemade. Some of these uses include: All these were taken from Feb SL magazine.

Cake Drizzle

Top warm gingerbread or toasted pound cake with schools of ice cream and lemon-curd. I also like it between layers of coconut cake.

Cloud Cake

Bake your fav white cake batter in a 13,9 in pan. Cool in pan and then pierce top of cake using the handle of a wooden spoon every 2″ or so. Spread 2 cups lemon curd over cake and cool completely, cover and chill 4 hours. Frost topo with sweetened whipped cream, notice I didn’t say Cool Whip.

Lemon Eton Mess

Layer lemon curd, coarsely crushed meringue cookies, fresh berries and sweetened whipped cream in vintage parfait glasses

Please let me know your favorite way to use lemon curd and we will post it.

Daily Thoughts

Grandson’s Imagination Leads to a New Blog

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This past weekend, our kids from Phoenix came to visit since they had a holiday on Monday. Jaden, the 11 yr old came with a story he had written for school. That was our dinner entertainment one night, listening to his story, which was absolutely great. The imagination of this young man amazed us all and humor, well, let’s just say that we were all loving the laughter and smiles that the story brought. He wanted to know if he could post it on my blog, when I suggested that he form his own blog. That way, he could put the story or if he decided to make it a series, he would be able to post them whenever he wanted. Thus, http://www.myfictionallife.com was born……He ask me if I would post and share this new blog site and of course, being the cool, great grandmother I am, I am doing just that. Where did the years of Sesame Street and Pippa Pig go and when did Jaden get old enough to be able to write about a time machine which takes him back to Roman days, with gladiators; which is where the time machine took him. As I pondered this question, I thought to myself, “self, where does the time go such as when I didn’t need support bras or pantyhose, or “did I really live during a time when there was no QVC or microwave ovens?”The answer; time just goes. No one exactly how or  when it happens, but it does. The times that we think will be there forever, they go faster and faster. My point today is this…..write down special memories because even though you might think you will remember everything special, with that wonderful memory of yours, that also goes….trust me on this. So take note of special times that come along. Enjoy it when that 3 yr old grandson sleeps between you and lays his feet and legs over your face. Listen, really listen to the stories that your grandchildren  and children make up, (unless they are in their 30’s, then you might seriously think about getting help for them) it is just so incredible to listen to their imagination.  At our age, our imagination only involves thinking about a whole night sleeping without having to get up to go to the bathroom, or trying to imagine what I use to look like before I had to use 3 layers of makeup to cover up lines. On crazy days, I do imagine winning the grand prize on Wheel of Fortune, but that is only when I feel really bold and “out there”.

So if you are so inclined to “go wild” and show those grandkids they are not the only ones with an imagination, write a story about something crazy you did when you were their age, or get out pictures of the “younger years” and share memories with them. They might just surprise you and ask a question or two before running off to the computer or TV, well…..at least you can “imagine” them being interested……

Use one night a month for you and your spouse to sit and write down some dreams and talk about things that you both enjoyed before you had to be home to catch the 6:00 news. Randy and I make a special night each January to have special snacks and make a bucket list of things that we want to do in the new year. We do NOT, not EVER, list “get more exercise” or “eat healthier” as those don’t sound like fun, so we don’t list them, plus we know that the next year, we would not be able to check them off our list. So we plan day trips, or vacation places, or name something that we would like to begin. We are taking our Omega 3’s religiously so we will be able to remember the fun plans that we have made, but just in case we do forget, we have written them down….we don’t want our imaginations to get bored this year. We are determined to let 2013 be a year of at least completing half of our yearly bucket list. If we don’t make that goal, we will just change the yearly list to say 2014 and start over. After all, at our age, we will probably forget what or where our imaginations took us.

Chicken · Meats · Starches

Chicken Cacciatore

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This is one of my favorite spaghetti recipes. I love making it and I love eating it. It makes me feel so gourmet when I am chopping all the celery, onions, bell peppers and mushrooms, so I put on my pearls, apron and music and chop away. It is low fat but tastes great. One of the great things about it is that you don’t have to have exact measurements, so you can adjust it to your liking and it will always be delicious.

1 can of Hunts Italian Original Spaghetti Sauce (24 oz can)

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes (1 lb, 12 oz can)

1 c chicken broth

2 cups chicken, chopped

1 (14 oz) package of white mushrooms

1 cup each of chopping celery and onion

1 cup of green bell pepper

2 cups cooked spaghetti noodles

Italian seasoning, garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper and dried parsley (I put about a table of each in, except for the pepper, about 1 teas of that)

In hot oil, sauté the bell pepper, onion and celery. If you like, you can also add chopped carrots to this veggie mixture. Add 1 cup chicken broth and cook until veggies are tender.

Add all the seasonings and then the Hunts spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes.  Add the chopped chicken and then cook for at least 2 hours over low heat or at 325 in the oven for about 1 1/2 hrs to 2 hours in heavy pot, covered.

Serve over warm spaghetti and then sprinkle flaked parmesan cheese with lots of buttery, garlic bread. Since the sauce is low cal, you can save the calories for the yummy bread that you will want to dip into the sauce.

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Valentine Yummies

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These are truly addicting. I was making them for the kids who are driving in from Phoenix tonight, but half of them are already gone. So so easy and so so good.

Pretzel squares

M&M’s

Wilton Candy Melts

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place a candy melt (I used pink and red for valentine colors) on each square. Place in oven just until candy begins to melt, about 2-4 minutes, depending on your oven. Take out immediately and place a M&M on top of candy melt. Let cool and set someplace where you cannot find them or they will be gone in about 30 minutes.. Change the color of candy melts and M&M’s depending on what holiday color you are wanting. Image

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Candy Pie

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OMGosh, I had totally forgotten about a worn recipe book that I received as part of a collection of cookbooks, back in the 60’s from my Aunt Gladys, (who I will need to tell you about after this recipe. When I was searching for a cooked chocolate frosting recipe two days ago, I went to the source of the oldies to find one. This was one that I had made so many times when I use to make a very easy one bowl chocolate cake and then would pour this frosting over it. It was quick, easy and didn’t need powdered sugar. Years ago, when I had 3 little ones and with no car, I would find myself wanting to bake but no energy to dress 3 little kids and walk to the store for powdered sugar. Isn’t it amazing the things we come up with out of necessity? And look, 40 some years later, I am still using this frosting recipe. But will wait to post that in February when I am going to post nothing by chocolate recipes each day since Feb is known as the “love & chocolate” month. But this recipe has always been a  “go to”, since it is gooey and yummy and I promise you, you won’t be “chopped” when you bake it. (I guess that only made sense if you watch “Chopped” on the Food Network, right? Here is a recipe for a unique version of pie, taken from this old book.

Candy Pie

1 unbaked pie shell (9″)

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup light corn syrup

1 teas vanilla

1/4 teas salt

1/2 cup peanut putter

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1/4 cup flaked coconut

Gradually beat sugar into eggs. Mix in remaining ingredients except chocolate pieces andy coconut in order given, blending thoroughly. Pour into pasty shell. Bake at 300 for 45 min. Place chocolate pieces in circle in the center of hot pie; spindle remaining chocolate pieces around edge of pie. Fill remainder of top with coconut and bake for about 5 more minutes to set this into pie. Cool and serve with whipping cream.

Since I brought up my Aunt Gladys, or as we knew her, Aunt Gladie, I feel the need to share this story with you. My aunt was as wide as she was tall, bless her heart. (guess she ate too much Candy Pie, after all, she did give me these cookbooks.)

She used to drive down from Ardmore, OK to see us in Corpus Christi after her husband passed away. My mom and I would usually meet her halfway and then I would ride with her on in to Corpus. One year, she decided that my mom , Hope, and I should drive to meet her in Dallas where she would treat us to lunch and go see the “Neiman Marcus” store. We were so not Neiman ladies, as my aunt made all her clothes as back then they didn’t have “Pretty Plus” size stores and her dresses were made out of sometimes flour sacks or very inexpensive material that usually consisted of lots of little flowers all over the material. Aunt Gladie was a fabulous lady, always laughing and could always bring a smile to others. She had a heart of gold and everyone loved her. But……she wasn’t a very pretty lady, on the outside, so she would get quite a few stares from people that didn’t know her because of her size. I am telling you this so you can get the picture in your mind. 

My mom and I (I am about 5 at this time) drive to Dallas and we meet her at the Neiman’s downtown Dallas. My mom is absolutely amazed at all the gorgeous dresses and displays that we were not use to seeing in the Sears Depart store in Corpus.

While she and Aunt Gladys were oohing and aahing over all the pretties, I managed to slip away and I found a gorgeous little stuffed animal. I came to show it to them and carried it around the store while they looked at all the pretties. When it was time to leave, my mom told me that I would have to put it back as we could not afford to buy the stuffed toy. I stomped my precious little foot and said, “no” I want it and I ran off through the store determined not to give it up. Well, my mother was so embarrassed by my fit that it was Aunt Gladie who began to run all over Neiman’s chasing me and trying to get me to give it back. When my aunt became so winded from chasing me and tired from getting lots of stares from all the “pretty people” she just stopped. Seeing that she wasn’t getting anywhere with talking me into giving the toy back, she went back to my mom and said, “you know, Hope, she will be 5 only once, I say, let’s give in and get her the stuffed dog.” I will pay for it…..well, as you can see, I learned something that day.

If you really want something, cause a scene, run and cry, you usually get what you want. It is a lesson I have carried into my marriage today and it still works. Gotta run….Randy is taking me shopping! 

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Baking, Math & Grandkids

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It finally happened. Last night, I was sitting there watching Wheel of Fortune (oops, I mean Extra,makes me sound much more hip)) when my phone rings and my grandson is FaceTiming me. I answered and out popped out of his mouth, “Nana, can you help me, I have a problem” Well, you can imagine the feeling that set in. It was finally happening; grandchildren, running to their Nana for problem solving. Before he could actually state what he needed, I had visions of questions that I thought might pop out of his precious little mouth, such as, “Nana, there is a pretty girl in my class who I want to impress, what should I do, or Nana, my parents don’t understand me, can I talk to you,” well, I was preparing to pour out my heart to him when I hear, “nana, what is 1/2 of 3/4 cup”. It wasn’t quite the problem that I thought might be coming for me to solve, but when he started talking, I discovered that if he were making cookies that called for 3/4 cup flour, he thought, he would go to the baker in the family, Nana. Still, it was enough to swell my heart with pride that he thought of me as the baker of the family. Immediately I began to ask questions such as, what kind of cookies are they and if the recipe makes 2 dozen, 3/4 cup flour will most assuredly not be near enough flour and what are you baking the cookies for. All these questions I began to throw his direction when I thought, “I should just answer his little question so I began to throw out there how I divided 3/4 cup anything. I fill up the cup with 3/4 cup of whatever ingredient it calls for and then spoon out what is needed to make it look like I finally have what looks like 1/2 of 3/4…when I saw the “rolling of his eyes”. I thought, oops, that didn’t sound very cool, so I threw in, “well, I sometimes just google the question to get the answer” that’s when his dad grabbed the iPad away from him and looked me straight in the eye and said, “MIL (mother in law) he is trying to do a math equation, there are really no cookies, he cannot use google and we have no measuring cups, as we live on boxed macaroni and cheese and frozen pizzas”.  Well…..i couldn’t believe that they really were not baking. I was so disappointed. A nana’s dreams shattered once again. I am signing off the blog to go online and take a refresher course in general math…..just in case I get another chance to redeem myself. But seriously, wouldn’t it really be easier to just google the question? 

Casseroles · Daily Thoughts · Vegetables

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms With Crispy Prosciutto

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Over the last 3 days I have been in such a baking mood. I have made 2 cakes, a big batch of chocolate/pistachio biscotti and a pecan pie. Over the holidays, the only dessert that I did not make, even though I couldn’t get the picture of it out of my head, was pecan pie. So I finally got a piece of homemade pecan pie. It was about 7 p.m. last night and because it was Fri night and we think that we cannot watch Shark Tank without sitting with a plate of a great dessert on our laps, I jumped up and knew that this was the night. I was not going to let another day go by without having my “once a year” piece of pecan pie. I don’t like it because of the pecans, in fact, I don’t put but about 1/2 cup of finely crushed pecans. I love it because of the gooey middle. I only put the small amount of pecans on it because I don’t want people to think that I’m crazy for saying I love pecan pie, when actually there would be no pecans in it. Last night was amazing….Shark Tank and pecan pie…..Randy reminded me that years ago, we described our nights as “amazing” because of something else, now it’s the dessert and fav tv shows that dictate how we rate the nights….Hum……well, maybe we will talk about that at another time. Now, for the recipe that I began to post. Pecan Pie is not my only love, I have come to truly appreciate and love Prosciutto..Because my oldest, Jason, taught me that fresh brussels sprouts were totally different than frozen ones, I use only the fresh now. This is a great accompaniment to any meat dish, or as a main dish with a salad and bread..

4 tables olive oil, divided

2 (3.5 oz) packages prosciutto, chopped

2 1/2 lbs fresh brussels sprouts, halved

2 (8 oz) packages baby portobello mushrooms

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tables minced garlic

1 tables sugar

1 teas onion powder

1 1/4 teas salt

1/2 teas pepper

In a large skillet, heat 2 tables olive oil over medium heat. Add prosciutto, cook for 12-14 min, stirring constantly, until browned and crispy. Remove from skillet and set aside, reserving drippings.

Increase heat to medium-high. To skillet, add remaining olive oil, sprouts, mushrooms, vinegar, garlic sugar, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cover and cook for 5 min. Remove cover and continue cooking for 10 min, stirring frequently. Stir in prosciutto. Serve hot.

*Recipe is taken from Southern Lady Magazine

Meats · Soups

Green Chile Stew

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Since I have overdosed on chocolate biscotti and chocolate cookies yesterday, I thought today I would eat something a little more healthy and something that does not have chocolate in it. When I saw this in my new FoodNetwork magazine, I knew I had to make it. Makes those cold evenings in the kitchen smell so good and it is one of my hubbies favorite soups.

2 tables veggie oil

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, diced (or you can use cup up pork chops)

1 large white onion, diced

1 1/2 cups diced Hatch or Anaheim chile peppers

1 small green bell pepper, diced

1 small red bell pepper, diced (have you ever noticed that some recipes always say, “diced” while others always say “chopped finely” But…..I think you can take your pick of whether you want to dice or chop.)

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups chicken broth

1 pound yukon gold potatoes, peeled and…..you guessed it, “diced”

2 (15 oz) cans white hominy, drained and rinsed

1 large bunch cilantro leaves, chopped (hum…guess they decided they were tired of dicing)

2 tables cornstarch

Flour tortillas, warmed for serving

Heat 1 tables veggie oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork with 1 teas salt. Working in batches, cook the pork, stirring, until browned about 5 minutes.

Transfer to a plate and discard the fat from the pot.

Heat the remaining 1 table oil in the pot. Add the onion, chile peppers, bell peppers and garlic and cook, stirring until softened which will be about 7 minutes.

Return the pork to the pot along with the chicken broth; cover and bring to a boil. Stir the stew and reduce the heat to medium low; simmer, covered until the pork is tender. About 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Increase the heat to medium high and bring the stew to a low boil. Add potatoes and hominy and enough water to cover the pork and potatoes. Add half of the cilantro and 1 teas salt. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender and the stew is slightly thickened. About 30 minutes.

Whisk the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water in a small bowl until smooth. Stir into the stew along with the remaining cilantro and continue cooking, stirring, occasionally, until the liquid thickens. About 5 more mins. Serve with tortillas.