We have been in California for almost a year and a half now. People have told me that it takes about 3 years for you to begin to feel at home in a new city and I’m sure that is true. This past week, we have had several things that have just made us stop and realize that this is really beginning to feel like home. Our church Sunday School class went as a group to the Getty Museum on Saturday and it was just a gorgeous day. As most of the group left, there were 6 of us still hanging around, trying to muster up enough strength after touring the grounds of 750 acres just to walk back to the car, so we just sat under the shade of the most beautiful pepper trees (I don’t know why they are called pepper trees, I didn’t see any peppers or salt,)and drank coffee or tea having a great time of laughter and fellowship. All 3 couples ended up going shopping and out to eat mexican food that night. Driving home, Randy and I began to talk about how that was just such a sweet blessing to us. Something unplanned and spontaneous as shopping and dinner, made the whole day. Just sitting and talking and laughing like we didn’t have a care in the world was such a great time. We don’t do that enough. It seems that we are always in such a hurry to get someplace or get something done. Last night, we ended up walking about 6 blocks to some friends house to deliver a cake and ended up sitting on their front porch for over an hour, once again, just talking and had a marvelous time. We talked about it on the way back home, (well, in-between me stopping every block to loosen my tennis shoes and complaining about my foot) that those are the things that make us feel at home. The time spent visiting with others and sharing laughter and yes, chocolate cake, help create that feeling of “home” . We look back over this past year and 5 months and acknowledge that yes, we do miss family and friends who mean so much to us and who we can’t wait to see on visits back to Texas, but we are so blessed to have new friends who have truly allowed us into their hearts. If you are new to a city or area, give it time. God will use you where He plants you. Just look and expect the “day” to come when you wake up and realize that it is good and sweet to feel “at home”. Just give it a Day…..it will make a difference!
Ginger-Marinated Flank Steak
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tables brown sugar
2 tables lime juice
2 teas ground ginger
1 teas dried crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 (2 lb) beef flank steak
Combine vegetable oil and next 6 ingredients in a shallow baking dish or large zip top plastic bag; add steak, turning to coat. Cover or seal and chill 8 hours, turning occasionally.
Remove steak from marinade, discarding marinade.
Grill covered with grill lid, over medium high heat (350-400 degrees) 8 to 10 min. on each side or to desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 min; cut into thin slices diagonally across the grain.
Tea Cakes
I wish you could have seen Randy when he came home from work two days ago. I had made these wonderful little tea cakes for him to take to a friend of ours that always request them when he knows that Randy is coming to his office. I had saved several for Randy and had them on a plate (you will see them in the picture on the plate before RC got to them) and I looked over and they were totally gone. All 5 of them. He said, “these are absolutely addicting and I want a bag of them to take to the office for coffee tomorrow”. So try them, they are just the perfect little cookie when you don’t want something very sweet…
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon (yes a tablespoon) of baking powder
1/4 teas salt
1 tablespoon (yes one tablespoon) of vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each addition. Add vanilla and mix well.
Stir flour, baking powder and salt. Pour gradually into creamed mixture until all is mixed.
Place 2 to 3 in apart on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 7-8 min or until lightly browned on bottom. Cook and eat as many as you want.
Corn Salad
A very light and tasteful salad for the summer.
2 (15 oz) cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 cup mayo
1 cup green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped very fine and small
1 (10.5 oz) bag coarsely crushed chile-cheese flavored corn chips (I used Frito Brand_
Mix first 5 ingredients and chill. Stir in corn chips just before serving.
Banana Split Salad
This salad is just perfect for those hot summer days when you are looking for a great cool salad that not only looks pretty, but tastes equally delishes.
Straight from a Paula Deen magazine, this comes from one in 2007 and I first made this for a group of ministers wives who thought it was grand.
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling
3 medium bananas, sliced
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup shredded sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup slices fresh strawberries
Garnish: chopped pecans, shredded coconut, sliced strawberries
In a large bowl, combine milk and whipped topping until well blended. Fold in next 6 ingredients and chill until ready to serve. Garnish as desired with above ingredients.
* I head a quote today from two ladies who have a great blog called Twochums that, “you should always treat your family like guests and your guests like family.” Isn’t that a great way to make family and friends equally feel so welcome and wanted in your home. Thank you Jackie and Robin for sharing that. It is worth quoting over and over.
Kitchen Hints Straight from Paula Deen
When you are in the kitchen and you are in the middle of making something and find yourself out of one of the ingredients, the list below will help you find a substitution and allow you to go right ahead and bake what ever your little heart is craving. I found this on her web site and thought it most worthy of sharing with you. Print it out and tape it inside one of your kitchen cabinets so it is handy when you need it. Don’t ever open the cabinet where all my spices are. You will find a whole magazine taped to the inside door. Measurements, pound cake recipes that I use almost weekend, and yes, you would think that I should have them memorized by now, but I am old, memory is fading and I do everything in a hurry, so I don’t trust myself to remember amounts of oil/water or whether it is Baking powder or soda. The only cookie recipe that I can make without even glancing at the written word is chocolate chip cookies, which I have made more times than I care to admit. Of course, once you look at my backside, you might have a pretty good idea how many times I have made them.
Buttermilk
Add 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar to 1 cup fresh milk; let sour for 5 minutes.
Cake Flour
Substitute 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour for 2 cups cake flour.
Corn Meal Mix
Having trouble finding corn meal mix in your grocery store? You can make your own by combining 1 cup corn meal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt and 4 teaspoons baking powder. You can store it in a tightly covered container for up to 6 months.
Corn Syrup
1 cup of sugar dissolved in ½ cup water equals 1 ½ cups corn syrup.
House Seasoning
1 cup salt, ¼ cup black pepper, and ¼ cup garlic powder.
Lemon Juice
½ teaspoon of vinegar can be substituted for each teaspoon of lemon juice.
Liquids
Instead of the water your recipe calls for, try juices, bouillon, or water you’ve cooked vegetables in. Instead of milk, try buttermilk, yogurt or sour cream. It can add a whole new flavor and improve nutrition.
Self-Rising Flour
To make your own self-rising flour, add 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt to each cup of all-purpose flour.
Sour Cream
Use 1 cup of plain yogurt, OR 1 cup cottage cheese blended until smooth with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 1/3 cup buttermilk for each cup of sour cream
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Mix 6 cups whole milk with 4 ½ cups sugar, 1 stick of butter, and 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tablespoon vanilla). Cook over medium heat, reducing liquid, for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Cool. Yields 4 ½ cups. This can be stored and covered in the refrigerator for several weeks. Cut recipe in half for immediate use.
Lemon-Blueberry Layered Dessert
From a 2005 SL magazine comes a wonderful summer cool and refreshing dessert. The combination of blueberries and lemon just cannot be beat (unless you have a chocolate frappe to wash it down with)
15 lemon cookies, coarsely crushed (about 2 cups) (lemon cookies without icing between them, Just lemon wafer or lemon flavored sugar cookie type)* Mothers brand makes a good little lemon cookie that you could use.
1 (21 oz) can blueberry pie filling
1 (8 oz) container frozen whipped topping, such as Cool Whip, thawed
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (such as Eagle Brand)
1 (6 oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
Sprinkle 1 tables crushed cookies into each of 8 (8 oz) parfait glasses or all of crushed cookies reserving about 1/2 cup for topping into a 9×13 pyrex dish. Spoon 1 1/2 tables pie filling over cookies in glasses are all of can over the cookies in the pyrex dish.
Spoon whipped topping into a bowl; fold in condensed milk and lemonade concentrate. Spoon 2 tables into each glass or over the pie filling in pyrex if not using the individual glasses.
If using individual glasses, repeat these layers once again. Top evenly with remaining crushed cookies. Cover and chill 4 hours.
Spring Luncheon
I am back in my cooking mood. Getting ready to have some ladies over tomorrow and so you know how excited I get to cook when people are coming over. I decided to use the old fashion layered salad which I have not made in years. But since we have a meeting before and I needed something that I could pull out of the fridge, I went with this because I could prepare it today. It is just layers of different types of veggies, topped with a well…why don’t I just go ahead a give you the recipe..
1 head of lettuce
1 head of cauliflower
1 bunch of green onions (use only the green top)
2 eggs, boiled and chopped
1 package bacon, fried, cooled and crumbled
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
*You can add yellow squash, radishes, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers; whatever veggies you like
Layer all of the above and then make your dressing: 1 cup mayo, 1 cup sour cream, 1 tables sugar, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese. Mix altogether and spread over top layer of salad. Cover tightly and serve 8-24 hours later, giving flavors time to blend.
Shrimp in Cucumber Cups
It is really good to be home, after being gone 2 weeks, it is wonderful to be back in my kitchen, looking through new magazines and trying new recipes. I have come from Phoenix where the order of the day was Wendy’s, McDonalds or Taco Bell, as little children under the age of 12 just don’t get in to trying “Nana’s” newfound recipes which she is dying to make, so…am home now and ready to cook. This recipe is from Southern Living and will be on the plate come Wed as ladies are coming for lunch. This just looked and sounded too good now to try. Hope you give it a try, anything with shrimp, cream cheese and dill has got to be a winner. Am serving this with chicken salad sandwiches, fruit salad and 7 layered salad. Dessert will be Lemon fling, which is really a winner with everyone. It is on the blog.
Stir together 1 8 oz package softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream; 1 tables fresh dill, 1 tables chopped fresh chives, 1 tables fresh lemon juice and 1/4 teas salt.
Cut 2 English cucumbers into 30 (3/4 iz) rounds. Scoop seeds from centers of cucumber rounds, using a melon baller or small spoon and leave a 1/4″ thick shell. Fill cucumber cups with cream cheese mixture; top each with 1 peeled boiled shrimp. Garnish with fresh dill if desired.
WaterMelon Tacos
While in the store two days ago, I was buying lettuce when couple walk up and are standing by me buying lettuce. They begin to talk of getting everything they need to make Watermelon Tacos. I asked them what in the world that was and they told me that, “oh they are wonderful, you have to make them.” So they told me what they were. They said their kids loved them and they were the perfect dinner in the heat of the summer. So here it is:
1 pork tenderloin, baked according to directions and cooled and cubed
1 watermelon, seedless, cubed
1 cucumber, cubed
1 avoacado, cut into bite size pieces
2 tomatoes, cubed
Combine the above ingredients and toss with your favorite olive oil dressing. Serve inside romain leaves or flour tortillas
Chocolate Castles 