Month: September 2013

Vegetables

Oven-Fried Cauliflower

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Everywhere I go, friends are substituting cauliflower for potatoes. I have to admit, that I have actually mashed cauliflower and seasoned it as you would potatoes and served it without really missing the mashed potato taste too much. Of course, with enough cheese in anything, it taste good, right? But this caught by eye and indeed, when you are cutting back on starches, this one will give you that rich deep flavor that you expect sitting down to a great dinner, without all the starch. Taken from yet, another SLM, what would I do without you?

1 cup light mayonnaise

1 medium cauliflower, broken into flowerets

1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs

Place mayo in a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Add cauliflower; seal and shake to coat.

Place breadcrumbs in a large heavy-duty plastic bag. Add half of cauliflower mixture. Seal and shake to coat. Spread in a single layer onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cauliflower mixture and breadcrumbs.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

Makes 6-8 servings

appetizers · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Pumpkin Fruit Dip

Chocolate Castles9 Comments

Peter Pumpkin and Penelope were in charge of treats at church today. Knowing that I wanted to take a tray of green/red sliced apples on a platter around a bowl of fruit dip, I went in search of a new dip. When I came across this one, I decided that it was the one that would sit in the middle of the apples. This one  sounded intriguing, combining a can of pumpkin puree with just a couple of other ingredients. The crowd went wild…I saw several of the hubbies going back and getting a huge spoonful on their plates, several even came up to me and ask me what was in it. Simple put, it was a success. It looked so pretty, with it’s light creamy pumpkin color, very complimentary to the apples which surrounded it. I think you will agree, this one makes a great Fall dip. As I was sitting in class, watching several going back to get more, my mind started racing. If the dip was this good with sliced apples, what else would it go with? I began to imagine it spread between thin slices of pumpkin bread, making pretty tea sandwiches. Or between sliced date-nut bread. Celery stuffed with it or stuffed dates. The possibilities are endless. But before I really get carried away, I think I will just post the recipe and let you come up with how you would like to use it.

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

1 (16 oz) container Cool Whip

1 package (3 oz size) of French vanilla instant pudding

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 teas pumpkin pie spice

Mix all ingredient, except Cool Whip together. After ingredients are well bended, add the Cool Whip and stir just until it is well blended with other ingredients; keep covered in the refrigerator at least 8 hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.  

Breads · Breakfast · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

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Windows are open, the Tunnel of Fudge cake I made yesterday is long gone (no I didn’t eat it by myself, I had a little help from my friends, which reminds me of a little song..although if they were truly my friends, they wouldn’t have eaten so much and left more for me.) so today am trying this new recipe. Was just a little blurb inserted at the bottom of a page in my new SL, advertising Domino Sugar. Will make it and let you know how good it is. Sounds really delish and fallish!

Serves 8 to 10, depending on serving size

4 cups white bread, cut into cubes

4 eggs (FYI, unless a recipe specifies differently, use large eggs in recipes, as the recipes are written with that size in mind)

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teas salt

1 tables rum or brandy or vanilla

1/4 teas nutmeg

1 teas cinnamon

1/4 teas cloves, ground

2 tables butter; cold, cut into pieces ( I can tell you right now, that I will be using probably 4-5 tables)

1/2 cup nuts, if desired

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 13x9x2 baking pan. Dry bread cubes on cookie sheet in oven 10-15 minutes. Place bread cubes in pan; in large mixing bowl, whisk together all pudding ingredients except butter. Pour mixture over bread cubes. Let sit 10 minutes until bread is fully soaked. Dab butter over top. Bake 40-50 minutes. Pudding should be set in center by not dry. Serve with warm Crème Anglaise sauce. Recipe for that below.

Crème Anglaise

Whisk together 1 cup heavy cream, 2 large egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar in a 2 qt saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly so mixture doesn’t scorch or scramble, 8 to 10 minutes or until mixture thinly coats back of a wooden spoon. Add 1 teas vanilla and  1 cinnamon stick, if desired. Pour mixture into a bowl. Fill a large bowl with ice. Place bowl containing cream mixture over ice and let stand. Stirring constantly. 30 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick. Cover and chill 1 hour to 3 days.

Daily Thoughts

Gas Station Blues

Chocolate Castles3 Comments

The windows are open today and Fall is in the air. I came home before finishing errands, as I was just to embarrassed to even be seen on the street. I was afraid someone would recognize me from the gas station. Now, before you laugh or think, “how in the world could she be that (I prefer the word scatterbrained instead of stupid) well, scatterbrained, you need to know that my mind was already on going to eat Italian food tonight with friends and on hurrying home to cut a big chunk of the Tunnel of Fudge Cake that was just waiting for me to walk in the door. So I pull into the station, but there are about 12 cars there waiting to pull up to a pump. I decide that I am going to do what I see other people do; not concern myself with which side of the car the gas tank is on. I will just make it work. People stretch that gas arm all the time. After 15 minutes, it is finally my turn. Well, the gas tank was on the other side, but no problem, I can do this. I try to insert the credit card in the island pay machine, but there is something blocking it and the card won’t go in. Luckily an attendant was out emptying the trash so I tell him that the machine won’t take my credit card. He comes over, takes my card and puts it in the machine. I am already embarrassed. I select #8 pump and go back to select the grade of gas and swing the gas hose over the back of my car. It won’t go. The attendant comes over and tells me that it is not going to reach; to just pull out and back into this side. I put the gas hose back and proceed to try and back up, but another car has already pulled in behind me, making it impossible for me to back up. Well, as luck would have it, the car in front of me is pulling out, so I tell the young man, let’s cancel this pump (why did I tell him that, like he is responsible for cancelling my card) and I will just pull up to the front one. He stares at me and shakes his head, like, “I don’t care what you do and why are you telling me all this? Why does he keep looking at me? Driving the car to the front gas tank, I quickly get out of the car, look up to find the number of the pump, ‘ah, #6, insert the credit card (all by myself this time) into the slot and the machine rejects my card. There are two people waiting behind me to pay, watching all this, when I realize I never cancelled the first pump station. All of a sudden, it dawns on me that I am still on the wrong side of the pump, the hose is still not going to reach my car. I quickly jump in my car, pull around to the side of the station and park. I now have to go in to be sure Pump #8 (the first pump is cancelled and there is a man in front of me that is giving the attendant his money for pump #8. The attendant says, “no sir, it shows that there is already someone at that one.” The customer says, ‘no, I am at pump #8″ So that was why my card didn’t work, it was still on the first pump I tried. This is when I move ahead of the 4 people in line, all the time trying to explain what happened. Why did I just make my hair red, why didn’t I leave it blond so I would have an excuse for all this? I go back to my car and wait in a different line, the line with the pumps on the right side of my car this time. After another 15 minutes, I finally fill up with gas. It was all worth it, I saved 3 cents a gallon. I ate 2 pieces of the chocolate cake the minute I walked in the door. I deserved it today. It will be awhile before I return to that station. Or that part of town.

Chicken · Holiday Fare · Meats

Dressed Up Chicken

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In an old SLM, Oct 2003, there was a recipe that has caught my eye, 10 years later. Using canned biscuits as the bread bowl that holds the chicken mixture that makes a very simple dinner, the individual little bowls make dinner personal and elegant. Substitute turkey for the chicken to use leftover turkey in November.
To make the bread bowls:
1 (16.3 oz) can refrigerated jumbo flaky biscuits
Vegetable cooking spray
Roll each biscuit to a 5″ circle.
Invert 8 custard cups or ramekins, several inches apart on a lightly greased baking dish. Coat the outside of the cups/ramekins with cooking spray.
Mold flattened biscuits around outside of custard cups and bake at 350 for 14 minutes, until golden brown.
Cool slightly and remove biscuits bowls from the ramekins/cups.
Note: frozen biscuits may be substituted. Let thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes or overnight in fridge.
Biscuits may be slightly sticky; lightly flour before rolling out. Bake at 350 for 16-19 minutes.

Fill with Dressy Chicken
2 tables butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teas dried tarragon
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 package (16 oz package) frozen peas and carrots, thawed
1 (2 oz) jar diced pimiento, drained
1/4 teas salt
1/2 teas pepper

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and mushrooms. Saute 2-3 minutes or until tender.
Whisk soup, 1/2 cup milk, sour cream, and tarragon together. Cook over medium heat 3-5 minutes. Add 1 cup Cheddar Cheese, stirring constantly until cheese melts. Stir in cooked chicken, carrots and peas, pimiento, salt and pepper.
Cook over low heat, stirring often for about 10 minutes.
Spoon hot mixture into biscuit bowls. Serve immediately.

Cakes · Chocolate · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Holiday Fare

Paula Deen’s Tunnel Of Love Fudge Cake

Chocolate Castles4 Comments

During the dinosaur age, known as the 70’s and 80’s, there was a cake that became so popular that you couldn’t go to any social gathering without being served a piece of Tunnel of Fudge cake. It was all the rave and people just couldn’t get enough of this gooey and yummy cake. I like to think that it was this cake’s fault that contributed to my “baby fat” look, that I still am so proud to sport even today, in my “golden years”. When Duncan Hines did away with the frosting mix that you added to one of their cake mixes, that made this cake possible, America cried. What would we do without our Tunnel of Fudge cake? What would we serve for company, holidays and birthday’s? What was happening to the world? Why would Duncan Hines do this to us when we were just getting over having to wear tie dyed shirts, clogs and bell bottom jeans?

In came Paula Deen with her version of our most beloved cake. Once again, we can get those pretty cake plates out and proudly serve America’s Cake.  Thanks to Paula, we can go back to the kitchen and whip up this miracle of a cake. Who knew that Paula would be our cake hero? Not only do we love her for her southern fried everything, her southern drawl, her recipe for bread pudding made with Krispy Kreme donuts, but now, the Tunnel of Fudge Cake. Gather your friends, family, your Bible study group, your bridge and bunco groups and present them with this wonderful treasure from days gone by….

Tunnel of Fudge Cake

Serves 16

3/4 pound (3 sticks) butter

6 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 (12 1/2 oz) can creamy double Dutch frosting

2 cups all -purpose flour

2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts (the nuts really are necessary in this recipe to give it the right texture)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream room temperature butter in a large bowl on high speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add sugar gradually, creaming at high speed until light and fluffy (goodbye light and fluffy rear end, hello saggy and droopy butt)

Gradually add flour. By hand, stir in frosting mix and nuts until well blended. Pour batter in well-greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes. Cool 2 hours before removing from pan. Cake will have a dry brownie-type crust and a most center with a tunnel of fudge running through it.

 

Breads

Meatless Monday

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

Since I have been busy putting up fall trees around the house today, I warned hubby that dinner would be very simple tonight because I just can’t quit until all the decorations are out of the storage tub and out in their proper places around the house. Decided to put a veggie soup in the oven and make popovers since he had given me a new popover tin for my birthday. The popovers were so good. I found a easy recipe that has black pepper and  cheese in them, so topped of our soup with great popovers.  Here is the recipe. Use ramekins or muffin tins if you don’t have a popover muffin pan. But next run to Williams Sonoma, get one, they make all the difference in the world.

4 eggs

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons veggie oil

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teas salt

6 cubes of Havarti cheese

Whisk the eggs, oil, milk until well blended. Add the cup of flour, pepper and salt and whisk until batter is smooth. Pour into greased tins. This makes 6 large popovers. Before “popping” in the preheated 450 oven, drop a cube of cheese on the top of each popover. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Take out of oven and turn off the heat and pierce 2-3 times with a fork. Place back in turned off oven for 5 minutes to allow some of the steam to escape.

Serve with butter.

Desserts · Fruit · Holiday Fare

Pennsylvania Dutch Apple Pie

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Looking up a recipe for a friend, I came across this pie recipe that I had forgotten. It is so simple and it will make you the star of the show when you bring it to any holiday dinner. BTW, I want to pass along a tip. A friend came to dinner the other night, bringing with her a great cherry pie. Between she, her husband, Randy and I, we each ate 1/4 of the entire pie. The crust was delicious and until yesterday, I didn’t realize that the crust was a box mix from Betty Crocker. She said that is all she uses and all you do is add water and roll. The reason I have never liked bought pie crusts is they taste so salty and just never had that homemade taste, but this one, oh my, this one was truly a great crust and I really didn’t guess that it wasn’t home made. So look for it on your grocer’s shelves. (Do I sound like a commercial or what)? Anyway, back to the recipe. Using a unbaked pie crust, place 7-10 apples, (cored, peeled and sliced) into a 9″ unbaked pie crust. If using a frozen pie crust, get the deep dish and be sure you place on a rimmed baking tray to bake as it will bubbly over.

Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 teas cinnamon, 1/8 teas cloves. Sprinkle over apples.

Sprinkle 1 tables water or fresh lemon juice if you prefer over the top of apples.

Crumb Crust:

1/2 sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 stick butter

(I added another teaspoon of cinnamon to this crumb mixture as we love cinnamon)

Mix together the sugar and flour. Cut the butter into the sugar and flour using a pastry blended or 2 forks or food processor until mixture resembles crumbs. Sprinkle over pie.

Bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes. If pie begins to brown to much, cover lightly with foil.

This pie is served every Fall in Pennsylvania  Dutch country. A combination of Granny Smith and red, such as Cortland or Mcintosh works best.

Serve warm with cinnamon ice cream.

Once you serve this, it will become a holiday tradition at your house.

Uncategorized

Frosty Goes to Steinmart

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I can’t believe it! Today, after we had 12 people for breakfast, Mr. Peter Pumpkin said, and I quote, “do you want to make a quick trip to Steinmart?” Well, you don’t have to ask me twice….so off we go. What is he thinking? Doesn’t he know that to take me to Steinmart is dangerous? But, wanting to be the obedient, giving wife that I always am, I tell him that darn, I was wishing we could stay home and watch the USC game, but if he really wants to go to shopping, I will go along with him. We arrive and I look to see what new goodies they have brought in when “what should appear” but Christmas bedspreads!!!!I have been searching the web for one and had not been able to find one, well I did find one but it was $279. Knowing Frosty would melt if I even mentioned getting that one, I kept looking. Now, here it is in front of me, and only $49.00.

There are 3 patterns and their not flannel. So if you are looking for Christmas linens, Steinmart is the place to go. Just thought I would pass this info along. Their Christmas decorative pillows are absolutely gorgeous, $16-$19.  I’m still trying to figure out why he wanted to go to Steinmart. Oh, I just remembered, there at the bottom of our sack were two new shirts for him. 

So if your hubby is getting in the Christmas spirit already, be sure he has the address to Steinmart!