Daily Thoughts

Blue Goose Visit

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Last night, we were treated to Mexican food at Blue Goose by our son-in-law, who is in town from Phoenix for a conference. Since Eric stays with us and had told us that one night while he was here, he wanted to go have Tex-Mex, which he doesn’t get in Arizona. So last night, off we went to his favorite Mexican food place. Randy and I had never been to Blue Goose, as we always wondered how good could Tex-Mex food be, cooked by a blue goose, but we are always up for an adventure, (and knowing that Randy wasn’t going to have to pay, which always makes him agreeable to go anywhere) so off we went.

Please do not get me wrong, we so enjoyed our time with Eric and the 2 hours, that it took to get our food delivered correctly and straighten out the check, well…all I can say is that maybe they might want to think about hiring some people of Hispanic descent, instead of blue geese to cook their food.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but this one story I have to relay. We saw that on the menu was printed instructions of putting a goofy picture which you take, while there, and posting it on Facebook or Twitter, will get you a free order of sopapilla’s. Well, I am certainly game for anything if it gets me a free dessert. So I whip out the ole phone and start shooting pictures of Eric and post them. I got one bite, white Eric and Randy devoured the whole plate, while I was busy posting. But the best story of the night was that when the young man delivered the sopapillas to us, he also brought a side order of guacamole and set it down beside the dessert. We all looked at him and looked back down at the bowl of dip. At first we thought it must be a bowl of fudge sauce to dip the little sopapillas.  But we looked closer and sure enough it was a small bowl of guacamole. When we ask why he was bringing guac to us, he replied, “well, I noticed on the ticket that you had ordered a side dish of guacamole, so here you go.”

We started laughing and Eric told him that, no we never ordered that and even if we had, it was over an hour too late, as it should have been delivered with the meal.

I came home and had a piece of key lime pie. Which brings me to a second thought today. It has come to my attention that it really isn’t my fault that I have a weight problem. It is all the company that we have. Each set of company which comes to visit always has different requests for me to make, and because I am such a great host, I certainly don’t want to serve anything without first trying it out. So this week, I have HAD to sample, “pork roast, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs and key lime pie. And it is only Tues. We have more company coming in Fri, which will MAKE me have to eat the chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies that they have requested. Eric also reminded me that just in case his plane gets delayed and he is stuck out on the tarmac for hours, he needs to take snacks with him. Just took out more butter to make extra cookies, but will certainly need to sample them, heaven forbid he eat a bad cookie and get sick on the plane. Two of our grandkids have birthday parties this weekend, which means that I do NOT want to hurt their feelings by turning down birthday cake from them. What kind of grandmother would I be? We also promised our kids coming in Friday that we will have homemade peach ice cream. My daughter-in-law, Mandy requested that I make potato salad for 30 for the birthday party for the one year old. I LOVE POTATO salad. How could I not eat a huge plate of it when I am stirring in the pickle relish and chopped egg?

Randy and I figure that by the time our lease is up here in Texas in early spring, we are moving to Italy where we know no one. Our plans, Lord willing, will be to stay over there a few months so we can eventually fit into something other than our bathrobes.

We aren’t going to invite anyone to go with us or tell anyone where we are staying. No company, means no sampling. No sampling means that maybe, just maybe, I will get my cholesterol under 400. Ok, just one more complaint today.

Randy goes to get his yearly check up last week. I’m not saying that I am glad his “numbers” are all well within the normal range, but how, when we eat the same food day in and day out can his cholesterol be 207 and mine is always way above 300? When I told him that I was mad that he was so healthy, he told me that he is sorry that he is in such good shape…I’m glad we agree on something!

I just don’t understand why men don’t have cellulite or as I like to call it, “angel dimples”. How can he still wear the clothes he wore when we married and the only thing that I still fit in is my earrings?
When I get some answers to all of these “life questions” I will share them with you…until then, I have to go sample some of the cookie dough to make sure it is ok before baking it into cookies. I wouldn’t want Eric to come back after a hard day at his conference to a house with no dessert. All this sampling and cooking is wearing me out, think I will just sit for a minute with a piece of key lime pie before going to bake. You know what they say, “sugar gives you energy”, why am I not the most energetic person around?

Uncategorized

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

1 cup butter

8 -1 oz squares semi sweet chocolate

1 cup sugar

5 large eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream. Soften

6 (2.07 oz) Snickers candy bars,chopped and divided

3/4 cup chocolate sauce

garnish: chocolate sauce and caramel sauce

In a large bowl, combine butter and chocolate. Microwave at high in 32nd intervals, stirring after each, until chocolate is melted and smooth.

Whisk in sugar. Add eggs, what time whisking well after each addition.

Whisk in flour until smooth. Pour batter into greased 10 inch spring form pan.

Place pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool completely.

In a large bowl combine ice cream and half of chopped snicker bars. Spread chocolate sauce evenly over cake layer.

Spread ice cream mixture over chocolate sauce. Cover and freeze for four hours or until firm. Drizzle cake with chocolate sauce and caramel sauce if desired. Sprinkle with remaining chopped snicker bars

Thank you Paladine for yet another great summer delicious ice cream treat.

.

Cakes · Chocolate · Desserts · Fruit

Neapolitan Cheesecake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Leave it to Taste of Home to publish a great and different cheesecake. I had never seen a recipe for this and it sounds quite good. Will be the next cheesecake I make. The recipe has won several first place ribbons at fairs and is from a lady who lives in Canada.

1 cup chocolate wafer crumbs

5 tables butter, melted and divided

3 packages ( 8 oz ea) cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teas vanilla

5 squares (1 oz ea) semisweet chocolate, divided

2-1/2 (which will be equal to 2 1/2 oz) white baking chocolate, divided

1/3 cup mashed sweetened strawberries

2 teas shortening, divided

Combine crumbs, 3 tables melted butter; press onto the bottom of an ungreased 9″ spring form pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree  preheated oven for 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Add vanilla. Divide into 3 portions, about 1 2/3 cup each.

Melt 2 squares semisweet chocolate; stir into one portion of batter. Melt 2 squares of white chocolate; stir into second portion. Stir strawberries into the 3rd portion. Spread semisweet mixture evenly over crust. Carefully spread with white chocolate batter, then the strawberry mixture on top of that. Place on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated 425 oven for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300. Bake about 50 minutes or until center is nearly set. You want it to jiggle slightly. Remove from the oven; immediately run a knife around the edge. Cool then remove from pan.

Melt remaining semisweet chocolate, remaining butter and 1 teas shortening; cool for 2 minutes. Pour over cake. Melt remaining white chocolate and rest of shortening; drizzle over the chocolate glaze. Cool in fridge at least 4-6 hours.

Serves: 12-14

Casseroles · Starches

Zesty Corn Macaroni Casserole

Chocolate Castles1 Comment

Last night some friends came to our house for dinner. Since we were gone all day, I decided to just pick up a baked chicken from Costco and then make some homemade rolls, green beans and this side dish. If you have Princess on the Porch, you will find it on page 103. When we sat down to eat, Gary took a spoonful and after he ate it all, he commented that he normally didn’t like mac and cheese, but this one looked different so he thought he would try it. He ask for more. When Janet looked at him, she couldn’t believe that he liked it, much less ask for a second helping. She told us that he never even tries to eat mac and cheese, because he doesn’t like pasta. I would hate to think how much he would have eaten if he “did like it”. HA

Anyway, when I told them the story of where I got this recipe, I decided to post it. When Randy’s parents were alive, they spent the summers in Colorado at a camp ground, where the people there became a second family to them. We would take Cameron with us and head up to South Fork, CO. Besides the biscuit bakes that were popular, so were the evenings that people brought a dish and we would all have dinner together. Sometimes there were as many as 30 people, all sharing dishes. This casserole was one of those dishes that I immediately fell in love with. I never serve it without people telling me how good it is. It is just one of those recipes that would be in any “Comfort Food” cookbooks.

1/2 chopped onion (medium size)

1 can Rotel Tomatoes with Chiles

! can Creamed Corn (normal size, 14.5 oz)

1 can Whole kernel corn, DO NOT DRAIN (I think the size is about 14.5 oz, just the regular size)

1 cup uncooked macaroni, as it cooks as it bakes

1 cup of Velveta, cubed *(I didn’t have any Velveta, so I used the American cheese I had on hand, ended up super)

1/4 cup melted butter

Combine all ingredients and stir until well mixed. Pour into a well greased baking dish, such as a 9×13. Bake, covered in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 30 more minutes. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving. If you are a real cheese lover, sprinkle more cheese over the top the last 5 minutes of baking.84

Made the Chocolate Almond Ice Box Pie( which is on page 184 in the cookbook), which is a great ending to a summer time meal. Very rich, but light and so yummy, topped with whipped cream.

Breakfast · Desserts · Fruit

Wonders Never Cease

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

By glancing at the title, you might be thinking, ‘wow, this must be a post of something really important”…and it is, if you like chicken salad like I do…and individual desserts. I learned a couple of things this week. (Besides the fact that I cannot eat a donut for breakfast, cookies with ice tea in the afternoon and a huge slice of pie after dinner and not expect to be able to fit in anything but a MuMu)

On Tues, I was at a friends house for a lunch and she served chicken salad. As we commented that it was really so very good, she told us to try to guess what was in it. Usually I’m pretty good at guessing different spices..(.yes, that is one of my talents, spice clarification!) but couldn’t figure out what made this salad taste so different. When no one could guess, she told us that besides the combo of using Greek yogurt, sour cream and mayo, she sprinkles in Lemon Pepper and dry Ranch Dressing. I just made it for Randy and take my word for it, it was so great!

Also, this week on Facebook I saw that someone posted individual apple pies, made with crescent rolls. So I immediately bought what was needed and that was out lunch dessert today.

I found a little can that has 4 crescent’s in them, (which yea, gives us two each) bought an apple and came home and put them together. Took 5 min of prep time and baking time of about 12 minutes. If you are looking for a simple yummy dessert, try this.

Just unroll the crescents and tear them apart where they are perforated. Spread softened butter on each roll. Sprinkle some cinnamon and brown sugar over the butter. Peal and slice an apple and cut into 4 wedges. Place a wedge on each roll and roll up, placing the large side up. Sprinkle a little more butter, cinnamon and brown sugar on top. Bake at 375 for about 12-14 min. or until tops are golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream or just plain. Individual Apple Tart

Daily Thoughts

Retirement Isn’t For Sissies

Chocolate Castles3 Comments

Twenty years ago, I remember Randy and I talking about when he retired, all the wonderful things we would do. We would travel to far away lands. We would adventure out while at home, going to all the restaurants that we hadn’t had time to explore. We would have time to get up early and go walking to keep our cholesterol down from all the wonderful foods we would be sampling. There would be no store to far for us to go to find just the perfect little item that we just knew we couldn’t live without.

Fast forward to reality. Yes, we are retired and yes we still talk about all those wonderful bucket lists of “wants”. But we find ourselves frequenting the same 2 Walmarts that is within a 5 mile radius of our home. All those great new little restaurants? Well, we did venture out to a new Costco to see if their $1.50 hot dogs were as good as the Costco by our house.

Last night, we ran to Walmart (for the second time that day) to pick up some prescriptions. We received a phone call about 6:30 p.m. and were told that if we didn’t pick them up, they would be put back, as they had been there for 6 days already. If we had known they were ready, we would have picked them up, but either we received a phone call and forgot, as is probably the case, or they were old and forgot to call us. Either way, if we had known, we would have gone to that particular store in the first place that morning, instead of getting out of our comfort zone and venturing out to the Wally World that is a little further away. But, seeing that we are “retired” and have lots of time, we hustled over after dinner to pick the meds that promise to keep us younger, longer.

When pulling into the parking lot, I remembered a few items that I had forgot earlier in the day, so I told Randy that I would go in with him. He went over to the Pharmacy while I went to buy some cards.  We met over by the candy aisle, where he told me that he had found a shirt that he thought would go with his new red shorts that we found at Macy’s. ( I tell you that so you will know that not all our clothes do not come from Walmart). So off we go over to look at the shirts. He shows me the shirt and I had to agree it was actually pretty cute. So we find his size and off to the checkout counter we go. I am telling him all the way there that if our kids comment on his new shirt, what ever he does, DO NOT TELL THEM it came from Walmart. They will never invite us out to eat, for fear we might be wearing a Walmart outfit. Ok, back to the story. We stand in line behind 3 other customers, when Randy remembers that he forgot something. He tells me that he will be right back and I suddenly feel something on the back of me. He has hung his shirt that he is buying, which Is still on the plastic hanger, on the back of my shirt, for me to “hold”, while he goes off to get the forgotten item. I am quickly trying to get the hanger out of my shirt, but it gets caught on my collar. People who are inline behind me begin to giggle as I have my arms up in the air trying to unhook the stupid hanger from inside my shirt.

By the time, Mr. Retiree returns, I am not a happy camper! He walks up grinning and I am wanting to throw his cute little shirt at him, but just smile, so the people in line will just think, “oh how cute, look how much fun they have”.

I tell him to walk quickly out after paying for our goods. After this, I think we will have to get out of our routine and find us a new store for awhile. It seems to me that in retirement, there are less and less stores that we are able to return to. What happened to the man I married, that hardly went anywhere without a 3 piece suit or briefcase? Oh, I remember, he is retired and has found that he likes red shorts and Walmart shirts.

I guess all the trips to the store yesterday wore him out. I’m not saying he slept late, but when the first thing he says when coming downstairs is, “what’s for lunch?” it tells me that we might need to go back to the pharmacy to get some energy vitamins. Might wait a few days just in case they remember us from last night. Retirement is wearing us out. Think we might need to look for a part time job to rest up.

Salads

Veggie Lovers Combo Salad

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Summer time, summer time, sum sum summertime! Salads are made for the summer!

This is taken from Taste of Home and is a great way to use the summer bounty of fresh veggies.

2 cups cut fresh green beans

2 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed

2 medium sweet red or yellow peppers, chopped

2 plum tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil or (Italian parsley leaves)

2 tables red wine vinegar

1 garlic clove, quartered

Optional toppings; chopped cashews, chopped pecans, toasted sesame seeds and cooked and crumbled bacon

In a saucepan, bring 4 cups water to a boil. Add green beans; cook, uncovered 2-3 minutes or just until crisp-tender.

Remove beans and immediately drop into ice water. Drain beans and pat dry; place in a large bowl. Add peas, peppers, tomatoes and onion.

Place mayo, basil, vinegar and garlic in a food processor; process until blended. Add to veggies and toss to coat.

Refrigerate,covered for at least 1 hour before serving.

just before serving sprinkle with additional toppings as desired.

Serves about 8-10

Beef · Daily Thoughts · Meats · Soups

Cincinnati Chili

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Why am I looking at a soup cookbook and for some reason thinking that chile sound good? I’m not really a chile person, but when I saw this recipe it reminded me of a really great day when Randy & I went to a chile place in Burbank, CA that everyone out there had told us we needed to go. It was called Chile John’s. and the only reason I agreed to go was that I figured that if I went there for him, he would go to Stein Mart for me. So we found Chile Johns, which has been there since 1946, and waited for a place at the counter to await the famous chile. You can get it served over spaghetti, which is something that was so foreign to me. But thinking that anything served on spaghetti must be good, I ordered the mild and ate every bite. It was simply delicious. When I saw this recipe for Cincinnati Chile, it brought back a great memory of that day. It is always so much fun to go out and experience some of the places that towns are known for and this was no exception. The chile was really good and it was fun sitting on stools around the counter, talking to the guys dishing up different types of chile.

I know it is summer, but some nights are just meant for “comfort” foods, no matter what temperature it is outside. Just turn down the thermostat and dig in.

FYI….he did take me to Stein Mart but after eating all the chile, I wasn’t in much of a mood to buy clothes…found that I would be needing a little larger size after that lunch. Does he know how to plan our my shopping days or what?

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

4 medium onions, chopped

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans (16 oz each) kidney bens, rinsed and drained (I will use pinto because I simply don’t like kidney)

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup baking cocoa

2 tables chile powder

2 tables Worcestershire sauce

4 teas ground cinnamon

3 teas dried oregano

2 teas ground cumin

2 teas ground allspice

2 teas hot pepper sauce

3 bay leaves

1 teas sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Hot cooked spaghetti

Shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped onions for topping as desired

In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, cook beef, pork, onions and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain. Add the beans, tomatoes, vinegar, cocoa and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours.

Discard bay leaves. Serve over spaghetti or in bowls. Garnish with toppings to your liking.

Serves 6 to 8

Daily Thoughts

Dishwasher Madness

Chocolate Castles1 Comment
(I know in the scheme of things  this certainly does not rank up in the top 1000 of things that I should be writing about or even admitting that emptying the dishwasher is just one of the things that drives me crazy. But it does. I don’t mind loading it, but I put off emptying until I don’t have any more room in the sink to stack dirty ones; leaving me no choice but to empty one of man’s greatest inventions. But…here comes the good part, I have devised a plan that makes me not dread opening the door, seeing all those sparkly glasses shining back at me, just begging to be put up. Maybe you have already been doing this, but smart moves have taken me a little longer than most to learn. I have to interject something here about one of my son-in-laws, who I won’t name, but lives in Arizona. This sweet man, who leaves his socks, shoes and empty glasses all over the living room floor, is the same man who comes unglued if I don’t load the silverware in the dishwasher at their house with all the spoons together in the same little divider, the forks all together and the knives all together. But being that I pride myself on being a “wonderful MIL, (mother in law) I play his little game while visiting. But sometimes, I rebel and when he isn’t looking, I put a fork in with the knives. .

1. I pull out all of the top rack and just place them on the counter where they go, then I empty out the bottom rack, repeating the same procedure. Then the worst part, the silverware .ugh…do not get me started. Why do I let the small things like this get me so down, I have to just jump in the car and head to the mall and buy myself a little something? Because, yes, in my way of thinking, I deserve a gift. After all, I just emptied the dishwasher.

2. Back to the chore at hand. The silverware.  I have found that laying out a clean dish towel on the counter and just turning the silverware holder upside down, allowing them all to empty out on the towel is my “go to” method. That way, I make a game of picking out all the knives first and putting them in the drawer. Then next the forks, then last,,,,my favorite utensil because it is what I use to eat ice cream and chocolate cream pie with a 2″ layer of whipping cream.

So there you have it, my tip for the day. Try it and see if you don’t think it helps alleviate the depression that comes with a most dreaded chore.

Will be thinking of a spiffy way to clean toilets, that won’t send me running to catch a cruise ship. Oh…I just thought of one; let Randy handle that one.

Cakes · Desserts

Summer Fruit Cake

Chocolate CastlesLeave a comment

Going through a old spiral notebook that I began when I married in 1973, I found this recipe which my neighbor gave me when she moved in a few houses down from me. She was from Lampasas, Tx and was a really good cook. We would sit in the yard watching the kids play and talk about recipes we loved and what our kids would eat. This recipe was handed down to her from her grandmother and her family had been making it ever since. I am not a big fruit cake lover, but this one sounded like something that I would enjoy, with a big scoop of whipping cream or ice cream during the summer. Give it a try. It is so different from a traditional fruit cake. Here’s hoping you like it also.

2 sticks butter, softened

2 cups sugar

6 eggs, at room temp

1 can flaked coconut

1/2 cup milk

1 large box vanilla wafers, crushed in a plastic bag or blender

1 cup of chopped pecans

8 oz candied cherries, or dried apricots, cut up, or 1 cup of golden raisins

In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add coconut and blend. Add the milk. With a spoon, add the crushed vanilla wafers, 1/3 at a time until all is incorporated.

Add the nuts and fruit (cherries or raisins or apricots). Put in a greased and floured tube pan. Bake in a preheated 250 oven for about 2 hours. Cake can be frozen.

*Depending on your oven, Jo told me that she usually baked hers about 2 1/2 hours, although her directions said 2 hours. When cake tests done, remove from oven and allow to cool before transferring out of pan onto a platter to serve.