Desserts · Holiday Fare

Whipped Cream Pecan Pie

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2014-10-27 16.20.38

This is the first pecan pie recipe that has whipping cream in it. And trust me, it is outstanding. Made it for dinner tonight. My sister-in-law and brother -in-law came over and we all agreed that it was fantastic. A little fluffier than the normal pecan pie, not quite as sweet and simply great.

3 eggs

2 tables melted butter

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teas vanilla

1/4 teas salt

3/4 cup white karo syrup

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 cup pecans

Unbaked pie shell

Beat the eggs. Add remaining ingredients except pecans. Place pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell. Pour mixture over pecans. Bake at 450 for 15 min. Lower oven temp to 250 and finish baking, about 45 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Positive Joy

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Am writing something a little different today, but has been on my heart lately. Last week I heard a preacher on the radio talk about the things we hear day in and day out. Instead of us hearing, “we have a 70% chance of sunshine” we hear, “there is a 30% chance of cloudiness”.

Instead of hearing, “we have 85% of teens who make good grades and do well in school” we hear, “we have 15% drop out rate of troubled teens.”

We are not use to hearing that 90% of preachers keep the faith and serve, congregations for 30 plus years, we hear about the 10% of the ones that walk away from their calling. Why is this? Because the negative news gets our attention. Then we wonder why 65% of adults in our country are taking anti-depressants. We are losing our joy and we are living with a underlying fear of what all is going on around us in the world.

This morning at church, the sermon was on Joy and how we can have true joy and peace even when things are falling apart all around us.

He used the example of when Paul was in prison writing from his jail cell that “the joy of the Lord was his strength.”

During the day what are we filling our minds with? If we are continually listening to the news, we are being bombarded with negative news. I know that we need to keep up with what is going on around us, but how many hours are we sitting and listening to the same news, over and over.

What if we used some of that time on our knees before the God of the Universe?

Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things.”

Phil 4: 4-6 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is near, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God.

When we are tempted to worry or anxious about anything, take those worries to the Lord in prayer.

Mark Twain once said that as an old man, he had seen many troubles, troubles of which most of them never materialized.

Psa 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Rest, Reflect and Rejoice in the Lord, who is our strength and joy. We don’t have to live our lives in fear. We just need to ‘take it to the Lord in prayer” and trust Him for “He is our light and our salvation.”  He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.

Daily Thoughts

Peter Pumpkin Not Allowed in Walmart

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Today was the last straw. I will never EVER ask Randy if he wants to go with me to Walmart, much less on a weekend.  I have noticed that he is always a little to excited when I ask him if he would like to go, after all, what husband wants to go to Walmart with his wife.  Today I found out why. As I usually do, he pushes the cart while I dash around from aisle to aisle picking up items that come to mind. On one such trip back to the cart to throw in my grocery items because my arms were full, I cannot seem to find Mr. Congeniality.  Because I was carrying around more items than I should be, I am desperately looking for him to unload all the stuff. There in the produce aisle, he is pushing the cart and when he gets it going, he lets go to see just how far it will go by itself. It crashed into a old lady, riding on one of those motorized chairs, who was not a happy camper.  Slowly, I hid behind the baking items aisle that they had placed right by the frozen foods. When I came out from my hiding place, thinking that that incident would probably show him that he shouldn’t be racing the grocery basket, he is pushing it straight to the deli where he proceeds to buy chicken strips, because after all, “he hasn’t had a Walmart picnic in a long time”. So there I find him, people staring at him, pushing the cart with one hand, with fried chicken hanging from his mustache and looking for more people in the motorized chairs. He claimed that he actually had the right of way and she should have watched where she was going. I have told him that he should treat them with more respect because one day that might be him. His response was, “well if it is, I will drive it fast and not just stop in the middle of the aisles”.

We have a new name for Peter this season; COM: crotchety old man….so if you are ever in Walmart in Frisco, watch out. You never know who you might run into, literally. Maybe I should say, who might run into you.  If the person running into your basket has a chicken strip in one hand and a Hawaiian roll in the other hand, please get out of the way, you will be glad you did. COM escapes sometimes from the house without me knowing it.

Chocolate · Desserts

German Chocolate Fudge Pie

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We are having some friends over tonight for dinner. When I was thinking about what we would have for dessert, this recipe popped in my mind from many years ago. My sister-in-law at that time, had developed a recipe that we had hoped would be exactly like the fudge pie we always ordered at a restaurant there in Corpus. After many attempts, this is the recipe that she finally thought would give us that same flavor. We top it with whipped cream and just used a chocolate crumb pie shell to make it even easier. It is a one bowl fudgy flavored great recipe…easy and yummy….get the whipped cream ready.

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tables flour

2 tables cornstarch

3 teas unsweetened cocoa

2 tables water

1 1/2 tables melted butter

2 eggs

1 (12 oz) can of evaporated milk

1/2 cup coconut

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 teas vanilla

1 unbaked pie shell (I use the Keebler Chocolate Crumb shell)

Preheat oven to 375.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch and cocoa. Add water, melted butter and whisk until mixed well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk, vanilla, coconut and nuts. Mix until combined. Pour into pastry shell and bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until firm to the touch.  Cool completely and top with whipped cream.

Casseroles · Daily Thoughts · Starches

Rice & Lentil Casserole

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After scraping the pan this afternoon of the caramel banana pudding that I made for dessert tonight, I thought the least I could do would be to post something healthy to make myself feel like I have not completely gone to the dark side of life…..an all sugar diet.  This is one of the recipes that I told you about that I found while waiting in the Dr’s office in California. When you read the ingredients….well, even just the title, you can tell that it would come from a Dr’s office magazine and not a Southern Living Magazine, I think Lentil and Southern comfort food might even be an oxymoron. Anyway…for all you folks out there that  are on restricted  diets of no meat, no gluten or diary, this one is for you. But please at least end your meal with a cookie or Red Delicious apple, you can only go so long without sugar. At least that is what I tell myself around 4 every afternoon.

1 cup uncooked basmati rice

1 cup dried split green lentils

1 (10 oz) package chopped spinach (thawed and squeeze as much moisture as possible out of spinach)

1 teas salt

1/2 teas pepper

1 teas turmeric

1 teas ground cumin

1 Tables grated fresh ginger

Be sure to rinse lemtils before cooking.  In a large saucepan, add rice, lentils, salt & pepper, turmeric, cumin and ginger.

Bring mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, covered, cooking for 45 min, stirring occasionally. Cover the saucepan, continue cooking over low heat until all liquid is absorbed. Add more water if needed to be sure rice and lentils are completely done.

Makes 6 servings

Desserts

Caramelized Banana Pudding

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NYMother's Banana Pudding
NYMother’s Banana Pudding

Taken From Southern Living Comfort Food Recipes.

Am making this for dinner tomorrow night for dinner. Love the combination of bananas and caramel.

1/2 cup firmly light brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/4 teas ground cinnamon

4 large ripe bananas, sliced

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/3 cup four

2 large eggs

2 cups milk

4 large eggs, separated

2 teas vanilla

48 vanilla wafers (I am using a package of Keebler Shortbread cookies, crushed)

Cook first 3 ingredients in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir constantly for 2-3 min or until bubbly. Add bananas; cook 2-3 min or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and set aside.

whisk together 1/4 cup granulated sugar and next 3 ingredients and 4 egg yolks in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly 8-10 min or until a pudding-like thickness. Mixture will just begin to bubble and will hold soft peaks when whisk is lifted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Divide half of banana mixture, pudding and wafers among 8 (1 cup) ramekins or ovenproof glass dishes. Layer with remaining banana mixture, pudding and wafers (or crushed cookies)

If topping with meringue, beat the 4 egg whites at high speed with mixer until foamy. Add remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tables at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved (2-4 min). Spread meringue over ramekins. Place ramekins on a baking sheet.

Bake at 325 for 15-20 min or until meringue is golden. Let cool on a wire rack 30 min before serving.

*I will use whipped cream instead of the meringue….we need all the fat content and calories we can get. We haven’t had our quota of cholesterol yet this week, as we substituted sliced tomatoes tonight for our normal fat-laden dressing soaked salad.

Breakfast · Daily Thoughts · Desserts

Pumpkin Poppers

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I know I posted these last Fall, but I wanted to remind you how good these are. Am taking a platter of them in the morning to a group of ladies who are getting together to cut out blue jeans to make shoes for an organization called Sole Hope. The shoes are used to keep children from getting infections in their feet in countries that struggle with disease from children and adults who have no shoes. The poppers will be the perfect snack to “pop” in our mouths as we cut, talk and fellowship together.

Just use any pumpkin bread mix and follow directions on box for baking. Use a miniature muffin pan to make them. When they come out of the oven, while still hot, roll them in a sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Because I have a little left over cream cheese frosting, I am going to drizzle some of the frosting over the poppers.  Whistle (and eat) while you work….my motto! Happy Fall Yall

Casseroles · Starches · Vegetables

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

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While on the road the past 3 weeks going between California and Arizona, we discovered quite a few mom & pop joints (and yes they were joints, as they are the type of places that you would probably drive right past, but being married to Mr. Adventure, we usually don’t just drive by, we stop and eat), we had a ball talking with people that we would not come across in our normal daily routine. It was exciting to hear people’s stories and to learn different recipes that we had not yet tasted. Since we were in our adventure mode, I even thumbed through magazines at the doctor’s office while in California.  One of the recipes that I found was this lasagna. Since we are trying to be good and not eat as much meat, this one caught my eye.

2 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 cups whole milk, divided

2 tables butter

2 tables flour

4 oz Fontina cheese, shredded

1 (15 oz) container whole milk ricotta

1 large egg white

2 teas fresh sage, minced

1/2 teas black pepper

2 cups shredded fresh spinach

1/2 cup scallions, minced

9 lasagna noodles

2 oz mozzarella cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add squash and cook until tender, about 12-15 min. Drain and puree in a food processor.

Preheat oven to 375. In a pot, heat butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook one min more. Whisk in 1 cup milk,  stirring constantly to avoid lumping and starts to thicken.

Add the butternut squash puree and continue to cook until mixture has thickened and then stir in Fontina cheese, to complete the béchamel sauce. Whip together ricotta, egg white, sage and black pepper in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix spinach and scallions. Cook noodles according to directions on box or use no-boil noodles.

To assemble lasagna layers, pour 1/4 of the béchamel sauce into bottom of a 9×9 baking dish, which has been lightly greased. Layer 3 noodles in the bottom and top with spinach mixture, then another 1/4 sauce. Repeat once more and finish with the 3 remaining noodles and pour remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over top and bake until the cheese is completely melted and lightly golden. About 30-35 min.k

Breakfast · Holiday Fare · Meats

Italian Sausage & Egg Casserole With Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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While staying with some dear friends in California, Randy and I woke up one morning to the smell of this great dish baking in the oven. Bonnie had  found this in a paper and decided to use us as guinea pigs before making it for her MOPS gals.  I think maybe people use us to try out new recipes because they know we are like Mikey in the old advertisements that would eat anything. But we are glad she did. It is different from the normal sausage-egg casserole since you have the Italian sausage and Mozzarella. It was great and we will be making it for the holidays.

1 lb Italian sweet sausage, casings removed

1/2 cup shallots

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped drained oil packed sun dried tomatoes

4 tables chopped fresh parsley

5 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

1 cup of half & half

1 cup whipping cream

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1/2 teas salt and 1/2 teas pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9×13 glass dish. Saute sausage over medium heat in a skillet. Cook until sausage is no longer pink and cooked through. Break up into small pieces as it cooks.

Add shallots, garlic and sauté 3 minutes. Add the sundried tomatoes and  2 T parsley, stir 2 minutes. Spread sausage mixture in prepared dish.

*This can be done 1 day ahead.

Cover and refrigerated.

Whisk eggs, egg yolks, 1/2 & 1/2 and whipping cream. Add cheese and seasonings in large bowl; blend well. Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese and 2 T parsley over top. Bake until top of casserole is golden brown and tests done. About 30-35 minutes. Let stand for 5 min before cutting into squares to serve.

 

Uncategorized

Land of Enchantment

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20141016_131058New Mexico! We are just arriving in one of our favorite places, Albuquerque. Seeing the sun rise over the mountains to the east and then again setting over another set of mountains to the west never gets old. Upon crossing over into NM, we looked at the car in front of us and noticed something in the back windshield of their car; a couple rolls of toilet paper. Randy said, “now there is something we don’t see often in Dallas”. We had beautiful scenery coming in from Arizona but just couldn’t leave there without finding one of those ole mom and pop restaurants that we love so much. And finally there in Holbrook we drove into town where we found just the place; Joe and Aggies. Truly some of the best Mexican food we have had. Randy ordered their green Chile chile which he said was over the top good. I ordered a Cheese Crisp. A deep fried flour tortilla with beans, green Chile sauce and cheddar cheese which was baked on the fried tortilla. Driving around this great country has allowed us to meet ladies who have served us great food, with the biggest smiles and men who manned registers who have shared some of their life stories of going off to college trying to get out of the small towns, only to find themselves back in these small towns after 30 years, running the restaurants that was started by their grandparents in the 40’s. Yes, I love the adventure of meeting people who show us that there are sweet kind folks everywhere. We just need to remember that we need to get off the interstate, leaving Burger King in the rear view mirror to experience what America is about…beauty not only in the scenery but in the hearts of people.