Category: Hacking This Life

Posted on

Comfort Food

It’s still snowy outside and I have been in a comfort food mood. I am going to share two things that I made in this post. I enjoyed them both.

I have been trying to get used to just cooking dinner for one person but it is difficult. I have gone through all the typical phases you might imagine on my journey. First and easiest, there’s the drive thru phase. It’s quick, you don’t have to make a mess just for yourself but you tire of it. Then there’s always the ever popular bowl of cereal for dinner. It’s nice once in a while but I tired of that even quicker than the drive thru food. Lastly, there’s the sandwich for dinner thing. Again, it’s ok once in a while but as a constant habit, not so much!

All of those things lead me to the current topic of comfort food. My idea of comfort food is something homemade, warm, and by definition, comforting. You must have some things like that in your mind right now. Maybe Mom made something when you lived at home or for some other reason a food evokes warm and pleasant memories. For my brother, Doug, and I one of our comfort foods is goulash. It always reminds us of Mom and home.

This week I made a (semi) homemade chicken pot pie. I say “semi” because some of the ingredients, of which there were only 4, were pre-made. I just assembled them. None the less, it was delicious and I didn’t have to admit it wasn’t all my own doing should I have shared the pot pie with anyone. How are they to know? Ha ha!

Beckie’s Chicken Pot Pie

3 baked, skinless, boneless chicken thighs

2 small cans of chicken gravy

1 can of mixed vegetables (drained)

2 pre-made pie crusts

I pre-heated my oven to 425 degrees. I lined a pie pan with one of the crusts. Then I diced my chicken up into pieces approximately the size of the vegetables. I put the chicken, the drained mixed vegetables (they included potatoes), and both cans of gravy in the pie pan. I gently mixed the ingredients up, taking care not to puncture the crust. Then I topped the pie with the other crust. I crimped the edges to seal and trimmed the excess dough from the lip of the pie pan. Lastly, I poked holes in the top crust for venting. I placed it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

*The whole process took 15 minutes for assembling and 30 for baking. As you will see from the pictures below the edges of my pie crust became too dark. This wouldn’t have happened if I had put one of the pie edge guards on. I will do that next time and advise you to do it as well. It was delicious and I don’t mind dark crust. It just might not be visually appealing in the picture.                                                                                                                         

Aren’t I brave for posting my goofs? LOL

On to the next new culinary adventure for this week. Don’t turn your nose up or scrunch your face until you read it all!! Grilled Cheese and Pickle Sandwich was on my menu for lunch today.

I had never heard of this different combination until I was watching a show on the Food Network one evening and Rocco di Spirito, a famous chef, mentioned that it was his favorite sandwich which he had been exposed to in England. I set about to do some investigation. I found out that the original sandwich uses cheese and a kind of relish made with several ingredients. The ingredients are carrots, rutabaga (swede to the British), red apples, dates, raisins, onions, malt vinegar, brown sugar, mustard powder, allspice and Worcestershire sauce. This relish can be bought through Amazon already prepared and it is called Branston Pickle. Of course, even in Britain things differ from place to place. There are some recipes with slices of tomatoes and regular pickles. The type of bread used differs also but is usually a brown bread. The pickle, when it is used rather than the relish, is usually a bread and butter pickle. I like dill and sweet so I tried both. I used rye bread and stuck with the cheddar cheese that appears to be the traditional choice “across the pond”.

Grilled Cheese and Pickle Sandwich

2 slices bread

thick slices of cheddar cheese

pickles

mayo and mustard

I spread a small amount of mayo on one side of one slice and a small amount of mustard on the other slice bread. I put cheese on each slice which is my preference since I like the melted cheese to be on both top and bottom of the sandwich. I spread pickles out to cover the cheese. I did this because when you made a sandwich you want some of each ingredient in each bite you take.  I made one sandwich with dill slices and one sandwich with bread and butter pickles. Lastly, I grilled them with butter spread on the outer sides of both slices of bread. They were both delicious! I have to say that I slightly preferred the sweet pickle sandwich over the dill. The sweet pickle appears to be the one used in England and there might be a reason for that!

Just A Little Info

I have tried many ways of booking hotel rooms when I travel. I’ve used the individual hotel’s website, motel.com, hotel.com,  Priceline,  Hotwire, etc. I have found that the site I have the best luck with is booking.com. I seem to always get the best price (I have compared the different sites) and they have free cancellation up to 24 hours. For most bookings you give your credit card to hold the reservation but don’t pay until your stay which I love! I have used booking.com at least a dozen times if not more. Check it out!

www.booking.com

Scam Alert

This is not a pleasant topic and I try to be lighthearted but I think this is important enough to share.

Recently I read an article where I was informed that scam artists use obituaries to gather information. They use that info for identity theft, deceptive debt collection, fictitious life insurance, and burglary.

The burglary I was aware of. When we had a parent pass away we always had someone stay at our house during the calling hours and funeral. Your name is listed in the obituary as well as the particulars for the calling hours and the funeral. It isn’t hard for criminals to find you and know that you will not be at home during the hours that those important events are occurring.

However, I really had not thought about the other things that were mentioned. The article recommends that when the death notice is written leave out the deceased’s age, birth date, middle name, home address, birthplace and mother’s maiden name. They further recommend not listing survivors. This is tough, I know. However, I believe this is serious and there must be some creative ways to omit these details and yet have a nice acknowledgement of a loved one’s life and passing.

Collector Extraordinaire

Now onto the lighter side. I wanted to share my latest purchase with you. I love vintage stuff and antiques and have been on the lookout for a treadle sewing machine or at least the base to one. A Singer was the brand I was hoping to get. There’s a sort of collection of sewing machines in my house. I have one in a stand from the 30’s, one in a stand from the 40’s and a Featherweight from 1952. Whoops, I almost forgot the Sew Handy for children that I have. Anyway, back to the treadle machine.

I didn’t find the machine itself but I did find a beautiful base. I brought it home and have placed it in my dining-room. Currently I am displaying some of my other sewing collectibles on it. I imagine that will change from time to time as I like to switch things up occasionally.

Isn’t she a beauty?! On the upper left is the Sew Handy and on the right is the Singer Featherweight from 1952. There are also vintage needle books and sewing thimbles on display just for fun. The little red sewing machine is an KAYanEE child’s sewing machine.

I will leave you with one thought. I love my collections and they give me joy! Do you have any? Let me know in the comments. Also, let me know if you try the sandwich. I know that I will definitely make it again.

 

Posted on

Here a Banana, There a Banana…………

Do you ever buy bananas and fail to eat them all before they start to get just a little too ripe for you? I think we all do. I imagine banana bread was invented just for that reason.

My problem is that I have a very narrow “banana window” to deal with. In the store I always pick out the banana bunch with the most green peels. I have to wait a day or two for them to be ripe enough that they suit me. Then I barely get 2 to 3 eaten and they are too ripe for me. I like just the certain sweet spot where they are sweet, firm and ready to eat. Since, as you might guess, I hate to waste money I will eat at least 1 banana when it is a hair too ripe. However, I often end up with 2 or 3 left over, no matter how few I purchase.

Of course, it happened again and although I love banana bread I felt like trying something else. I found a recipe for banana coffee cake and I love coffee cake!

Banana Coffee Cake

(Recipe from the blog, A Latte Food)

  • 3-4 medium or large bananas
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 6 Tbsp butter, cold.
  • Preheat the oven to 350. Grease two 8×4 pans.
  1.  In a small bowl, mash bananas, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and ground cinnamon.
  2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add in eggs and beat until mixed.
  4. To the wet ingredients, sift in flour, baking soda, and salt.
  5. Stir until just combined. Add in sour cream and stir.
  6. Pour in mashed bananas, and mix until combined.
Crumb Topping
  1. Combine cinnamon, flour, and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter, and mix until the topping looks like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle coating evenly over the batter in both pans.
  2. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs stuck to it.
  3. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Move to a wire cooling rack.

  • Note;This came out beautifully. I had 3 large bananas that I used. The baking time was right on the money for me. If you would like to try it but don’t have the time when your bananas are begging for some baking, just pop them in the freezer to keep until you’re ready. That works really well.

Quick without looking guess, in your head, how many times I said  the word “banana”.

Ok, got it in your head? Look below for the answer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

13! That’s a whole lot of banana talking right there.

Warning: Handy Tips Coming Ahead!

Did you notice as you read through the recipe that you are to use a pastry cutter to do the crumb topping? Of course, I use a pastry cutter for that and all other pastry such as pie crusts. This is so the butter doesn’t get too warm if you used your hands. You also get more uniformity using the pastry cutter.

I have another use for the pastry cutter and I learned it from my Mom. She always used a pastry cutter to chop up eggs for egg salad. It works like a dream! You should try it some time.

Above you see the unassuming lint roller. I have pets so I keep one in my bedroom, one in the dining-room and one in the car (for those last-minute occasions).

For 3 days I went on a cleaning frenzy here at my house! The lint roller is part of my cleaning tool box. My most favorite use for it is to clean the cloth lampshades in my living-room. The lampshades get, as you might imagine, a lot of dust on them and, in my case and probably other homes, some pet hair too. The lint roller is just the tool to clean them! I used to take them off the lamps and put them in the shower for a wash. That is more time-consuming and you have to wait for them to dry before putting them back where they belong. The lint roller allows you to work in place, is quick and I believe gets them cleaner.

Project Time

I was reading one of my magazines and saw how someone had made a lazy Susan for their table with a vintage dart board. Of course, I had to make one. The only thing is I didn’t have a dart board any more. You know how you get rid of things and then see a neat idea where you could have used it! Geesh, I hate that!

I made up my mind that I would look on eBay or wait until yard sale and flea market season and look for one then. Just about then I went into my 3 day cleaning frenzy. I was dusting and sweeping in my craft room when I happened to pick up  one of my vintage toys I have displayed there. It was a Chinese checker game. Remember those? Yep, that light bulb when on over my head just like you see in the cartoons and here is the result.

 The game that lit the light bulb.

 I had lazy susan bearings that were already on a wooden disk for cake decorating but you can purchase them also. I used Gorilla Glue to attach the metal plate that contains the bearings to the game.

 Bearings

  VIOLA!

It is my hope you found some inspiration here. Have a wonderful upcoming weekend! See you next week.

 

 

Posted on

80 Degrees and Sunny

I recently had an opportunity to go to Jacksonville, Florida for a few days. It was wonderful! I was able to visit with great people, shop, eat out, put my toes in the ocean, and just enjoy some relaxation. I wanted to share a couple of things that I learned during this trip that might be helpful.

The big thing was that I flew on an airline that I have never been on before. It is Allegiant Air.  This airline has been around since 1997 but I hadn’t heard about it until the last couple of years. It had been a west coast thing before that and even had a different name to begin with. They are billed as a budget airline and are the 9th largest airline in the United States. The headquarters are in Nevada.

I live near Buffalo, New York and normally fly from the Buffalo Niagara airport. Allegiant, unfortunately doesn’t come to Buffalo. They do go the Cleveland and that is a two and a half hour drive for me all on Interstate 90. I decided to book the flight last October.

I had flown out of Cleveland before but had never driven there myself so I really hadn’t noticed anything about the drive. I asked a couple of people and looked at the directions online and it seemed doable.

Having flown out of Buffalo, I have gotten in the habit of parking in The Parking Spot near the airport and then being shuttled over. There are always coupons in the booklets you see in the airplane or online which makes it cheaper. I end up paying about $44 or so for a week. It isn’t a bad deal since if I give someone gas money to drop me off and pick me up that is half of the parking cost, at least. Also, it is pretty nice to be dropped off by the shuttle at the front door of the airport near your chosen airline desk.

Of course, right away I checked to see if the same parking chain was near the Cleveland airport and it wasn’t. I checked online for parking lots and there were a few. However, getting a head’s up from someone who flies out of the airport is much better (insider tip, totally legal and totally unlike insider trading, LOL). A friend of mine is from Cleveland and her sister travels a lot for work. She clued me into Fast Park. I went online and made a reservation. The cost was estimated to be slightly under $50 and the same type of shuttle to the airport. I made a mental note to look for promo codes, coupons, etc. online and/or coupons in the airport or airline.

All right, so back to Allegiant. It is a budget airline so you pay for your checked bag and for any carry on which is in addition to your purse. I did this early and got a deal. I was charged $20 for my carry on. The checked bag limit is 40 pounds which is less than most airlines. They explain this difference by saying less weight on the plane, less gas usage and they pass the savings on to you. Okay, I can live with 40 pounds. I also could have reconfigured things so that I didn’t have a carry on to pay for too but I will do that next time.

Now, here’s where it gets really good! The flight was non-stop! I paid less than $200 round trip (plus the bags) It was 1 hour and 45 minutes. So, it might not be the cushiest airline but…………….let’s face it. I am a mother of five and I can pretty much do anything for 105 minutes! In reality, it wasn’t that bad at all. The flight attendants were wonderful! The flight was quick. I had a nice friendly person sitting next to me on the flight down and on the flight back. What’s not to like?

When I returned to Cleveland I looked for a promo code online for the parking and promptly found one for a percentage off. I paid $43 and some change so it was on par with The Parking Spot in Buffalo.

All in all I was very pleased with the whole experience and would recommend flying on Allegiant to anyone!

Just before writing this I checked the Allegiant website. Some of the deals they have listed are fantastic! Fort Lauderdale and Myrtle Beach for $29 one way and New Orleans for $40. I am definitely doing this again! If you would like to check out some of the deals and steals at Allegiant use the following link.

https://www.allegiantair.com/

*Just an added little note……………..you know how you can’t take a water bottle through TSA screening? Well, you just can’t take a full one through. I took an empty water bottle in the side pocket of my backpack and just filled it at a water fountain once I got through security. I bet I saved $8 on water if you look at the round trip. I love that kind of stuff! I am just slightly embarrassed that I didn’t do it sooner. Oh well. I will from now on.

Happy trails people. Get out there and travel!

Posted on

What’s Going On In The Kitchen?

Hi! I hope everyone is well. I think we all are anticipating Spring at this point in the year. We have had some unseasonably warm temps lately in my area and for the most part the snow has melted away. I am not foolish enough to think it won’t be back before we are done with Winter.

I have tried a couple of new recipes this past week. The first one I saw on Pinterest multiple times and was just captivated by the name. The second one is simply because I love vintage recipes. I particularly have an affinity for recipes that were invented by resourceful homemakers during the Depression when some ingredients were hard to come by. In a previous post I featured the Mayonnaise Cake which is one such recipe.

Million Dollar Spaghetti

  • 16 Ounces Dried Spaghetti Noodles
  • 1 Large Yellow Onion , Chopped
  • 4-6 Cloves Garlic , Minced
  • 1 1/2 Pounds Sweet Italian Sausage , Casing Removed
  • 3 teaspoons Dried Italian Seasoning , divided
  • 2–24 Ounce Jars Spaghetti Sauce-Divided
  • 8 Ounces Cottage Cheese or Ricotta Cheese
  • 8 Ounces Cream Cheese , At Room Temperature
  • 1/4 Cup Sour Cream
  • 3 Cups Mozzarella , Shredded-Divided
  • 1/2 Cup Butter , Cut Into Slices-Divided
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package, drain well and return pasta to original pot. Add 1 jar of prepared spaghetti sauce and combine. Set aside.
  3. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add sausage and 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning to skillet, and cook until no pink remains. Drain well. Add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce to skillet. Set aside.
  4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine Cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 cup mozzarella, and 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Set aside.
  5. Place half the slices of butter in a 9×13 baking dish. Spread half the spaghetti in dish, then spread cheese mixture evenly over spaghetti. Spread remaining spaghetti over cheese mixture. Top with the remaining butter slices.Pour tomato meat sauce evenly over top layer of spaghetti.
  6. Top with remaining mozzarella and bake in preheated oven until casserole is heated through, about 35-45 minutes.

            

*from the Spend With Pennies blog by Holly

Notes: I used hamburger for this instead of Italian sausage. I love Italian sausage but burger is what I had on hand. Also, some of the children in my family prefer it and I planned on sharing with them. The overall response to this was great! Everyone loved it! It is sort of play on lasagna but with spaghetti noodles. I think your family would love it.

Tomato Soup Cake

Now, before you say YUCK, I want you to think of zucchini bread, carrot cake, etc. The fact of the matter is that this comes out very much like a spice cake. Everyone I served it to was asked what they thought it was when they tasted it. The answers varied with spice cake, zucchini bread, and carrot cake being popular guesses. It really is great tasting and attractive looking. Super moist!

  • 1/4 cup shortening or butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 10.75 oz. can condensed tomato soup
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 cups raisins (optional)
  • 1/3 cup nuts (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of a loaf pan.

Cream together the shortening or butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and combine.

While the butter and sugar cream, add the baking soda to the tomato soup and stir. Add to the creamed mixture and combine.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder.  Add to creamed mixture and stir until just combined. Do not over mix.  Fold in the raisins and nuts.

Fill the greased loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Additional Notes:

If you like, top with cream cheese frosting. Just beat together 2 oz. cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of butter (both room temperature), then add 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar and a few drops of vanilla extract. Beat until smooth, then spread on top!

      

*This recipe was taken from the New England Today magazine.
*Notes; I wouldn’t change a thing about this recipe. It is the old recipe but with a few tweaks.
I found a copy of an early recipe for Tomato Soup Cake on Pinterest from clickamericana.com.
Here is a link to the history of this recipe;
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and following week! We will meet again! Same Bat channel, same Bat time! Ha Ha!
Posted on

Teetotalers Unite!

Hello everyone! Do you like tea? Do you like regular orange or black pekoe? Or do your tastes run toward herbal or flavored teas? I like regular old tea that I drank as a child. My Mom would give us tea and toast when we were sick. I associate it with comfort and Mom. As a grown up a friend of mine, Rody, and I would get together for a cup of tea here and there. I learned to love Earl Grey and Constant Comment teas. I favor the ones made by Bigelow’s.

A couple of weeks ago I went to visit my son in Ithaca, NY. I wanted to have a cup of tea in the evening. (I have recently started doing that as a comforting little end to my evening.) He didn’t happen to have any flavors that I liked and didn’t have regular tea so when we were in the grocery store I picked up some Constant Comment. He asked what the flavor was. I told him I knew there was an orange flavor and some spices but that I wasn’t sure what spices were used.

Of course, I went right to Google to be able to answer the question. I didn’t find the answer because Bigelow’s only will say that “sweet spices” are used. However, I made a great discovery while researching. There is a “Constant Comment Cake”! Well, now, you know I had to try it! The result of my baking this cake can be summed up in one word; DELICIOUS! You would like it even if you don’t like tea. It is similar to a spice cake. See below for the recipe which also can be found at: https://www.bigelowtea.com/Tea-Tips/For-Entertaining/Recipes/Dessert/Constant-Comment-Spice-Cake#.WntBlainGM8

Constant Comment Cake

Ingredients

  • ½ cup milk
  • 5 Bigelow Constant Comment® Tea Bags
  • ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • 1-⅔ cups flour
  • 2-½ teaspoons baking powder
  • Confectioners sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9″” round cake pan. Combine milk and tea bags in a small saucepan. Heat over medium/low heat until bubbles form around the edge, stirring occasionally. (DO NOT BOIL.) Remove from heat and let cool (15-20 minutes); remove tea bags squeezing out liquid. Set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and whisk to blend. Add the cooled milk; continue to whisk until thoroughly combined. Add flour and baking powder; mix until a smooth batter forms. Pour batter into pan. Bake approximately 35 minutes, or until center of cake springs back when touched. Cool on wire rack before removing from pan. Let cool completely before serving. Dust top with confectioners sugar.

Notes: They recommend using the decaffeinated version for the recipe but I used “the leaded version” (That’s what my brother and I call the caffeinated version of coffee or tea) Constant Comment. I wouldn’t change another thing about the recipe. My oven took the full 20 minutes to completely bake the cake.

There are also shortbread cookies, cupcakes and banana bread made using Constant Comment tea. If you have been reading my blog you know that I am bound to try one or all of the other recipes. Ahhhhhhhhhh, Pinterest is a wonderful thing!

It has been kind of busy for me this week as far as little projects. I wanted to tell you about what’s new at my little bungalow!

I have been decorating for Valentine’s Day. I set up some of my vintage Valentine’s Day cards, as I usually do every year. These cards are from the 1930’s and 1940’s. A couple of them aren’t politically correct but it is fun to get a window into those decades by these mementos. I have collected them from household sales over the years and most have little messages to someone’s Valentine written on them. I display them on an old wire card display that I have painted gold with spray paint. The old finish was not visually appealing.

One new item to my Valentine’s decorations was a conversation heart “tree”. I made this using a Styrofoam cone. I painted the cone red. Then I hot glued conversation hearts onto the cone. It is displayed on an upside down, pink, depression glass as the tree trunk.

  

The only thing I would do differently is that I would paint the cone a pale pink if I did another one. There are bound to be small gaps between hearts here and there and I think the pink would blend better than the red.

Recently, I had an occasion to go to a new doctor. You know how you have to fill out the reams of paperwork when you first go to a doctor? Always included in that paperwork is a list of medications and surgeries. For a few years now I have carried a list with me in my wallet of medications of which most of mine are vitamins and supplements. It doesn’t matter, you still need to list them and the dosage (which is the part I don’t remember off the top of my head). The paper list always gets crumpled and worn. I decided this week to fix that. I used a spreadsheet to list medicines, dosage and frequency. Next to that I made a list of surgeries and the year. When I printed it out, I simply folded it in half so that now it was the size of an insurance card and two-sided. I then laminated it and it fits right in my wallet with my insurance cards! If you don’t have a small laminator at home you can use clear package tape to coat yours so that it doesn’t get worn. I was going to post a picture of my card but then decided that it might be a little to personal for me to show you my lists! LOL

I have 3 dogs. Now, don’t get excited.  I am not a “crazy dog lady”. Well, I might be………….. However, my dogs are all little. Together they only weigh  in at about 41 pounds. I am not even sure that counts as a good-sized medium dog. Anyway, there names are Duffy, Missy and Rudy. Like many pet owners, I worry about them when I am gone. I started leaving the radio on for them when I left but sometimes reception isn’t great. On Amazon (which has every darn little thing anyone could want or even conceive of) I ordered 3 music Cd’s to keep them calm when I am gone. Get this! There is even a holiday version! What a hoot! I put one in my stereo and press repeat so that it will play until I get home and turn it off. Before you even form the words to ask I will tell you, yes, I rotate through the Cd’s. We don’t want these little darlings getting tired of their music, do we?

Have a fantastic week! Trust me! Spring will come.

  Whoops! Forgot to mention Yoda, the cat who thinks he’s a dog!

 

Posted on

Potpourri

Hello! We had an unseasonably warm few days and some sunshine in my neck of the woods but Winter has returned.

We had our monster birthday bash on Sunday. My oldest daughter’s birthday was January 3 and my twin sons had their special day on January 25. My compadre in crime, Linda, celebrated on January 26. We rolled all those birthdays into one and had a party.

As I mentioned in a previous post,  each celebrant picks their own treat. Therefore, it was a busy day for me in the kitchen. Melanie picked angel food cakes, as she always does, with the fluffy cooked frosting. I say cakes because she always expects at least 2 cakes. One year she request three!! She likes the leftovers. Josh selected baked New York style cheesecake. I chose an easier recipe than the one I usually use. He liked it but told me he likes the old recipe better. Although everyone enjoyed the cheesecake. Jacob wanted an ice cream cake. Linda wanted Rick Krispie treats. I will share recipes below. Well, except for the angel food cake. I buy mixes for those. I’m not nuts enough to make those homemade. Well, at least not yet! Oh, and everyone knows how to make Rice Krispie treats. The only thing I did differently was to cut the treats up and stack them like a layer cake.

Money Savers

  1. Save your wrappers from butter and margarine in a container in the frig. Whenever you need to grease a pan just use the wrapper. Rub it around the pan using the side that was next to the butter or margarine. My Mom always did this and I started right off the bat when I had my own home!
  2. I get many things in the mail that have an envelope enclosed that I don’t use. I save those envelopes and use them rather than purchasing envelopes.I use them to do night deposits at the bank and pay the in town bills that I just drop off. Basically anytime I need an envelope for something and it doesn’t matter what kind of envelope I use.
  3. When you are making something that only requires egg whites save the yolks. Put them into a pan of boiling water and cook them until they are no longer runny. Cool. Crumble them for salads.
  4. If you need a knife or pair of scissors sharpened and don’t own a knife sharpener you can still get the job done. Turn a ceramic mug upside down. There is almost always an un-glazed ring around the bottom. Hold your knife blade at a 45 degree angle against the ring and pull it firmly along the ceramic edge from base to tip a few times on each side.
  5. Here’s another tip for eggs. You can freeze them! Of course you have to take them out of the shell first. Crack 2 eggs at a time in a bowl. Beat them until well blended. Freeze them in muffin tins. Once frozen, remove them from the tin and store in a freezer bag in the freezer. Each time a recipe calls for 2 eggs get your bag out and you will be able to select a perfect portion. If you have a recipe you use frequently for say 3 eggs, you can do those too.
  6. Muffin tins can be used for many things. If you turn a muffin pan upside down you can use it to bake tortillas for tacos or edible bowls for salads.

 

     

Have you ever had or do you currently have a cupboard that is difficult to get to? I do! It is right beside my stove and I keep spices and other related things in there. It is just a little too high for me to be able to see things in it. I have tried those spice shelves made out of bamboo that have steps and that didn’t work for me to see into the cupboard. I tried long skinny plastic containers that would hold a row of spice jars. That didn’t work that well either. The other day I had an epiphany! I needed a tray or container that would hold many things from the cupboard so that I could simply pull it out and see everything. Luckily I collect tins from various products. My daughter gave me two Moon Pie tins filled with, what else?, Moon Pies! The Moon Pies are long gone but the tins were here.

My friend Linda decided she needed to make a lighted fabric garland for Valentine’s Day. She shared the thought with me and we were both off and running! I am a little obsessive so I must have one for each holiday that I am decorating my antique Hoosier cabinet with.

We cut fabric strips in the colors of whatever holiday we were working on. The strips of fabric were roughly 5 to 6 inches long and about and inch to an inch and a half wide. We both were able to find or collect fabric scraps that we could use for the project. However, when we did need certain colors we bought quilting squares for 94 cents at Walmart in the colors we needed.  I used pinking shearers for mine. Linda simply tore some of her strips. You can also use regular shearers. It is all up to you and the look you want to have. Then you simply tie the strips onto the a light cord. We used discounted 20 light strings that we bought after Christmas for 47 cents each!

Valentine’s Day    

St. Patty’s               

Easter                       

Summer                  

I will be doing one for Fall and of course Christmas. Also, I just realized I need one for Cinco de Mayo! I told you I was a little obsessive! That’s with the emphasis on obsessive, not on little!

Recipes

Cooked Frosting

 

  • 5 Tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature 
  • 1 cup granulated white sugar

 

  • In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens. This might take 5 minutes, give or take.  Keep stirring so as not to burn the mixture.  Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Add the vanilla.
  • While the mixture is cooling, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add the cooled mixture from step 1 and beat until it all combines and looks like whipped cream. Scrape the sides of the bowl so that you are sure to incorporate everything.

 

Easy Baked Cheesecake

  • 2 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs, whisked
  • 2 tsp. vanilla
  • graham cracker crust
  1. Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla with mixer until smooth.
  2. Pour into a ready graham cracker pie crust.
  3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes at 350F.
  4. Remove cheesecake and cool for 5 minutes.
  5. Cool and refrigerate.
  6. Serve cold!

This recipe was saved from simple.net.

Notes: I had to leave it in the oven the full 25 minutes. I then turned the oven off and allowed it to cool in the oven and then refrigerated it. Allowing a cheesecake to cool in the oven is a normal practice. I used a spring form pan for the cheesecake and made my own grahan cracker crust using graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter.

Ice Cream Cake

1 brownie mix baked as directed

1 half gallon of ice cream (softened)

1 tub of pre-made frosting

8 oz. container of whipped topping

sprinkles

I baked the brownies in a 9 X 11 pan as per directions. Once the brownies cooled I spread the frosting on top. The next layer is the softened ice cream. To top it off you spread the whipped topping on and decorate with sprinkles. The ice cream and frosting flavor are up to you. I used chocolate frosting and fudge ripple ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap (I always use Press and Seal. It is the best!) and store in freezer until serving.

Have a great week! Hope you enjoyed this post. I love to hear from you!

 

Posted on

My Winter Top Ten

Top ten ways I know it is the Dead of Winter in Western New York!

  1. I have set up the card table with a puzzle.
  2. Starlings are coming down my chimney and ending up in the basement flying frantically around trying to get out.
  3. I am drinking even more coffee than usual.
  4. I may or may not have more than 1 pajama day a week.
  5. Hot soup is on the menu on most days.
  6. Baking to warm up the house is a real thing.
  7. I feel sorry for my dogs because they have to go outside to go to the bathroom.
  8. The county highway plows deliberately pack a mound of ice and snow at the end of my driveway.
  9. How did I ever live without heated seats in my car?!!
  10. I have a comforter and two blankets on my bed and have the fan on!

Such is the life here by Lake Erie, in the  snow belt, by Chautauqua Ridge!

I taught computers for 17 years. I love technology which includes my Google Home,  tablet, smart phone and laptop. However, I have resisted a couple of things that I have now decided to commit to. The first one is the calendar on my smart phone. Holding a hard copy in my hand and entering my appointments was such a secure feeling! I kept one on my phone too but just couldn’t let my appointment book go! Now, I have finally done it! I am free!

Do you want to know what made me give up the hard copy and go with the calendar on my phone only? I have hurt my shoulder in some way and I wanted to cut the weight down of my purse. Anyone who knows me, knows that I carry everything I think I might need if I should go on “Let’s Make A Deal” in my purse. The calendar was one item I let go.

The second technological thing that I have been resisting is getting rid of, as many as possible, the paper copies of recipes that I have saved over the years. I have been heading toward keeping all of my recipes on boards in Pinterest for quite some time. Every time I would find a recipe in a magazine or someone would tell me about one, I would check to see if it was on Pinterest and save it to the appropriate board. So, that meant I wasn’t adding to the stock of paper recipes I had filed but I still had two vintage, metal, picnic, baskets full of recipes.

For the past 3 or 4 weeks I have been slowly going through a folder at a time and finding the recipes on Pinterest. Once found I throw my paper copy in the recycle bin. It is amazing that even vintage recipes like the feather nutmeg cake and the tomato soup cake can be found online! I am about to finish the first vintage picnic basket of recipes today. This basket included cakes, casseroles, breakfast, bread, appetizers, cookies, candy, and miscellaneous desserts. (The first part of the alphabet!) It hasn’t seemed like work either. I just do a few when I pass by my computer and have the time. One thing I discovered was that I saved the same recipe multiple times! I guess when I like something, I really like it!

Tips

There are secrets to making a really good cookie! Some of them include:

Don’t overload your oven. If you try to cram too many cookie sheets in there you aren’t getting the air circulation you need to properly bake your cookies.

Always use parchment paper. A roll might seem expensive but you can buy 10 sheets in a package at Dollar Tree and that’s a deal! As I mentioned in a previous post, sheets of parchment paper lay on a cookie sheet better than a sheet you rip off a roll.

The first time you try a recipe, set your oven timer for 5 minutes earlier than the time the recipe gives. Each oven is a little different. After you check them you can always let them bake longer but you can’t undo it if they burn! (If the baking time is different from the recipe states, remember to mark it on the recipe for the next time.)

Never put cookie dough on a hot/warm cookie sheet. For a cookie baking marathon you need one cookie sheet baking, one cooling off and one ready to go in the oven.

Preheat your oven! I used to never do this but I have learned that your baked goods come out so much better when you do pre-heat.

If you are rolling out dough for cutouts or some other cookie, roll the dough out between sheets of waxed paper, This is to prevent sticking and the need for flouring your counter or board. Getting too much flour into the dough changes the texture of the cookie. They can become dry and crumbly with the addition of just a little extra flour.

Recipe

Orange Cream Cheese Bread

1-8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. shortening
1 2/3 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 c. milk
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp. grated orange peel
1/4 c. orange juice
1. Combine cream cheese and shortening, creaming well.
2. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, beating well after each addition.
4. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix well after each addition.
5. Stir in walnuts and orange peel.
6. Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 3 inch loaf pans.
7. Bake at 375 degrees F for 55 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
8. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then sprinkle orange juice over loaves. Remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Notes: Following my own advice, I set my oven timer for 50 minutes instead of the 55 recommended in the recipe. It was still a tad too done on the bottom of the loaves for my liking. I made note to set the timer for 45 minutes the next time I bake the bread. The bread is moist and really soft. It has a nice orange flavor. Also, instead of sprinkling orange juice on top of the loaves I think I will make a glaze with orange juice and powdered sugar next time. Although just the orange juice on top was okay, I think that a glaze would just make the bread much better.
Have a fantastic week! Be sure to let me know if you try any of the recipes that I post. I would love to know.

 

 

 

Posted on

SOS and All That Jazz

In my family January is a BIG birthday month. My oldest daughter’s birthday is January 3 and my twins’ birthday is January 25. That’s 3 right there but I have 3 friends who have birthdays in this month as well. PARTY!!!

Now, this always means plenty of cakes or the birthday person’s chosen dessert. Sometimes the celebrant doesn’t choose to have a cake. Some of the other desserts have been Boston Creme Pie, Slush Pie, Cheesecake, and well, you get the idea.

We also have the birthday person choose their  special dinner if their schedule allows a dinner. Melanie, my oldest always picks Dried Beef Gravy (aka SOS) over toast for her dinner. This year she told me she only gets it once a year. I asked her why because she could just make it. Her answer was that when she makes it that it never turns out the same. That’s a nice complement to me but I suspect that it is just that it always tastes better if someone else makes it. Any person who cooks for a family will agree with that!

I make Dried Beef Gravy the way my Mom always did and I think of it as comfort food and serve it on toast (although mashed potatoes are good with it too) and peas as the veggie.

Mom’s Dried Beef Gravy (SOS = military men called it this in the mess hall. I am assuming you know what it stands for.)

1/2 gallon of milk

1 stick of margarine or butter (your preference)

salt and pepper to taste

1 large jar of dried beef (tore or cut into smallish pieces)

flour

Prepare a roux to make the gravy by putting about a cup of flour into about 1 cup and a half of water and shaking (if using a jar) or whisking until smooth in a bowl. Pour the milk into a sauce pan and add the margarine/butter and the salt and pepper. Heat until it just begins to come to a boil stirring frequently. Using a whisk slowly add the roux until the gravy is the thickness you desire. Add your dried beef and turn burner to its lowest setting until beef is warmed. This doesn’t take long. Serve over toast.

Variations:

Hamburg Gravy (best served over mashed potatoes)

For this version you just brown a pound of hamburg and saute one onion. Drain. You use water instead of the milk as the base. We always darken the gravy with Gravy Master and a cup of coffee. You will use salt and pepper but also garlic powder and any other spice you would like until it tastes good to you.

Sausage Gravy (best served over biscuits)

Brown a pound of pork breakfast sausage. You’re back to using milk as the base for this gravy. The only addition in spice that I do is adding some paprika but you may want to add onion and garlic powder too. It just depends on your taste.

Organization

How many of you cut recipes out of magazines and save them? I have two vintage metal picnic baskets filled with them! I am in the process of going through them. I find that I have liked a recipe I’ve seen so much that I have cut it out 2, 3 and sometimes 4 times! Geesh! As I am going through them I am looking on Pinterest to see if they are there. If they are, I then save them on one of my boards and get rid of the recipe I clipped. The only exceptions to this are when I was given a handwritten recipe from a friend or an old family recipe. Those I save in hard copy! If you would like to check out my Pinterest boards here is the link: https://www.pinterest.com/rhuberross/

I have boards for holidays, certain food groups or meals (breakfast, etc.), craft projects, repurposing ideas, and just things I want to remember. If you haven’t explored Pinterest you just have to!

Things You Should Know

So, this may seem like a personal question but I am going to ask anyway. How often do you get rid of your underwear and buy new? It turns out that you should do it once a year. Even though you wash your underwear there are bacteria that remain in them even after the washer and the dryer! These bacteria are not nice and can cause disease. As a matter of fact, the bacteria can number in the 10,000 range. There are many articles and much research on this topic. If you would like to read more about it here is a link to the Good Housekeeping article on the subject:

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/throw-out-your-underwear-every-year-for-health-reasons-experts-say/news-story/ec81620a19bad5155c5889992c2064ab

The article is from Australia but still Good Housekeeping and there are many other articles including one from Essence magazine. Consider yourself informed!

Cleaning

I am sure I didn’t invent my cleaning system which is “a room a day” system and that it is out there on the Internet somewhere. However, I thought of it and I put it into practice as much as is possible. I am retired now but especially when I was working some system for cleaning the house had to be in place because I just didn’t have the time. Actually, I am pretty busy in retirement too so it still comes in handy.

The system is very simple. I just do a roughly a room a day. That way each room gets cleaned once a week (it never gets bad because it is cleaned regularly) and the house doesn’t take too much sprucing up if company is coming or something like that. Here is the method that has worked for me. You can set up a system that suits your lifestyle and your time constraints too.

Monday – clean the bathroom and upstairs hallway

Tuesday – craft room and guest room (I lump the two together because neither are used daily and therefore don’t get as dirty)

Wednesday – my bedroom and the stairs

Thursday – foyer and livingroom

Friday – diningroom

Saturday – kitchen

Sunday – day of relaxation

Notes:

Since each room is getting done once a week it never takes long to clean it. I spend not even an hour a day with this system. Also, there are things I add to it occasionally such as going through a closet or a drawer, etc. so that those things get done too.

On Saturdays I also add in doing my wash, changing my bed and watering the plants so that each of those items get done once a week as well. When I was working and my kids were home it was slightly different. I did a load of wash a day and then on Saturday did what was left. I also changed all beds when I did that room.

If you have a system or trick that works for you please share in the comments. I know I don’t have the only answers to the cleaning of the house. I just do what works for me.

See you next week! Set aside some time to be good to you this week! Read, take a nap, whatever makes your life delicious!!!

 

 

Posted on

Happy 2018

I took a holiday break for a bit but I’m back! I am sure we all had a busy couple of weeks with baking, cooking, visiting with friends, wrapping and giving gifts, etc. The funny thing that has always struck me is how much time and preparation go into the holidays and how quickly they fly by. Are you picking up what I’m laying down? LOL

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have some tips for you and a recipe and an assortment of other finds, observations and “check this out!” things.

Handy Tips

  1. You know how sometimes wooden furniture gets a dent in it when something is dropped on it? There is a way to bring it back where it should be or near there if the ding is deep. Take out your steam iron and get to work! Put a piece of cloth ( I use something without any nap so that fibers don’t leave little indents) on the dent. With your steam iron onto a hotter setting and filled with water iron the spot where the dent is. You can’t just leave the iron sit on there since you don’t want to do more damage to the furniture. The moisture from the steam iron will put moisture into the wood and the result is that the dent lifts up. I have done this countless times. It works!
  2. Sticking with the furniture theme, I have a fix for the white water rings that you get from cups and glasses. This works best when the ring is fresh and to varying degrees if it is not. Put some mayonnaise on the ring and let it set for a good while. Then take a soft cloth and wipe the area. Presto!  Chango! Water ring has left the building!
  3. I put my Christmas cards and some decorations up with a ring of masking tape. A handy trick is to take a little piece of painter’s tape and put it up before you put your masking tape ring up. Painter’s tape is meant to come off without damaging the surface it is on. Your decorations, or other items you may put up, come off without a hitch and the painter’s tape saves the day.
  4. This year I finally did something that I had seen long ago but never remembered. All of my rolls of wrapping paper that I had opened are now safely tucked away with an empty toilet paper roll or empty paper towel roll keeping them from coming open and getting messed up. There also is no damage done from scotch tape if that is what you used to use to keep your wrapping paper in line like I did. Just take an empty roll and using scissors cut a slit the length of the tube. You then slip it on your roll of wrapping paper like a cuff. It works like a charm to keep those pesky rolls from unwinding and ruining the paper.

Is anyone suffering from dry and/or cracked fingers due to the cold weather? I know I am. My son, who is a UPS driver and handles cardboard packages all day, taught me a trick. Put some oatmeal in an old foot from the pair of panty hose or a knee high. Then you tie it shut and rub your hands or any other dry area. He swears by this method.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              This Makes Sense 

You know how eggs or really egg yolks had a really bad reputation for years, like decades? Now, current thinking is they are good for you and Healthline website says that up to 3 whole eggs a day is fine and they have studies that have been done to prove this.  It turns out that eggs do have a lot of cholesterol in them but the more you consume, the less your liver makes. Anyway, eggs have protein and B vitamins in them. You absorb protein slowly so it keeps you fuller, longer and B vitamins are used by your body to make energy. One egg has 6 grams of protein in it and about 15% of your daily requirement of B vitamins.  I call that a WIN/WIN!

Attention All Cat and Dog Owners!   

My Mom used to put on a classical radio station for her dog when she left the house. The rest of the family and I called it BOW WOW music. Well, as with most things, Mom was right! The doggies and even your fine feline friends enjoy and are calmed by music. You can find a classical music station or there are other more specifically targeted sources for music. There are at least 2 volumes of Canine Lullabies available for purchase on Amazon. I am sure they would be great for cats too. Turns out that shelters, boarding kennels and vet offices use this music to “calm the savage beast” too! If you want to spend more money there is something called, iCalmDog for about $90. These are mini speakers with pre-loaded music which feature, and I quote from a techy article in the latest AARP magazine, “psychoacoutstically designed” sounds for dogs. The music is called Through A Dog’s Ear and features classical piano in versions that are slower, simplified and in a lower key just for Fido.   Not to be out done by the dogs, cats have the iCalmCats for $70 which has the feline version of the piano music. If you would like to learn more the website is; https://icalmpet.com/

 

Recipe

Cinnamon and Spice Sweet Potato Bread

YIELD: 1-9X5 LOAF, 2-8X4 LOAVES OR BUNDT

TOTAL TIME: ABOUT 80 MINUTES

PREP TIME: 20 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 60 MINUTES

Sweet potatoes do a wonderful job of keeping the bread extremely soft and moist. It’s almost like cake it’s so soft, springy, and bouncey. The interior is tender with a dense, moist crumb, and the crust is firmer and slightly chewy. The sweet potatoes are complimented by a variety of comforting and warming spices including, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. The bread is robustly spiced and full of hearty flavor. If you like sweet potatoes, carrot cake, or pumpkin-based recipes, you’ll love this bread.

INGREDIENTS:

about 1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes (2 medium or 1 very large)
3 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup buttermilk (or yogurt, Greek yogurt, sour cream, or buttermilk powder)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch salt, optional and to taste

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray one 9-by-5-inch loaf pan (what I used), or two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans, or a 10-cup Bundt pan, or a muffin pan with floured cooking spray or grease and flour the pan(s); set aside.
  2. Peel the sweet potatoes and chop them into 1-inch sized chunks. Place chunks in a large, shallow microwave-safe bowl. Add 3 tablespoons water, cover with plastic wrap, and cook on high power for 15 to 17 minutes, or until potatoes are very fork-tender. Pour off any water. Mash sweet potatoes with a fork. Allow them to cool momentarily so you don’t scramble the eggs.
  3. To the sweet potatoes, add the eggs, oil, buttermilk, vanilla and whisk until combined; set aside. (I used buttermilk powder and added 1 tablespoon powder to the dry ingredients and 1/4 cup water to this wet mixture)
  4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients – flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, optional salt, and whisk to combine. Pour the wet sweet potato mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir to incorporate. Take your time stirring until no stray bits of dry ingredients are visible, folding and scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula as necessary because it’s very easy to miss dry ingredients hiding at the bottom of the bowl in this batter. Stir and fold with a gentle hand as to not over-mix and over-develop the gluten, which results in tougher bread.
  5. Turn batter out into prepared pan(s), smoothing the top lightly with a spatula. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes for a 9×5 pan, or until top is domed, golden, loaf is springy to the touch, and cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Tent pan with foil in the last 15 minutes of cooking if top is browning a bit fast before interior has cooked through. I estimate that 8×4 loaves will take about 40 to 45 minutes, a Bundt about 1 hour, muffins about 18-20 minutes, but I haven’t tried those versions and they are just guesstimates.
  6. Allow bread to cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Bread will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week. I store my bread by wrapping the completely cooled loaf in plastic wrap, and then placing loaf inside a gallon-sized Ziplock.

  

* This recipe turned out fantastic! It was super moist and delicious! I doubled the recipe because I knew one loaf would never do for my family. I wasn’t mistaken!

*This recipe is courtesy of averiecooks.com .

 

One last thing I wanted to share with you is my cookie board from our Christmas Eve celebration. I could have made it prettier with some candy canes and other accoutrements but my troops are interested in easy access to the goodies. With that in mind I used my chartcuterie board and set up a cookie board. If you remember from an earlier post, I made this board last year.

Thanks for reading my blog! Have a wonderful week! See you next Sunday.

 

Posted on

Tis The Baking Season

Hello all! I hope that your plans, lists, ideas, etc. for the holiday season are moving along as you would like them to be. I am doing pretty well and I have a calendar set up with days to accomplish the tasks that are left. Yes, I have a few elements of OCD but they work for me so I am okay with it.

In my family we always have our big celebration on Christmas Eve. We gather for food and gift exchange and general merriment. On the menu is always lasagna or at least it has been that way for nearly 20 years. Prior to that we did have pizza at times and other food stuffs but we landed firmly on lasagna and have stayed there. Of course, we always have the usual assortment of cookies and candy. I shared one recipe with you last week which was for Peanut Butter Logs. There would be a mutiny if we didn’t have cutouts and there was great disappointment when I didn’t make my Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Fudge last year. It is back on the list this year and I will share the recipe with you in this post.

Let’s get right to it, shall we?

Handy Tips

  1. If you want a light taste of garlic in whatever you are cooking, add it at the beginning. If you want a stronger garlic presence add it near the end of your cooking time.
  2. A cup of coffee before a workout speeds up the fat burning process.
  3. If your microwave has cooked on food inside heating a cup of water for 3 to 4 minutes will disperse moisture and allow you easy clean up.
  4. If you are juicing a lemon, lime, etc and want to make it easier and get more juice from it then you need to cut it in half and microwave it for 10 to 20 seconds before juicing.
  5. If a recipe calls for spices or fruit zest beat them in when you do the sugar and butter. It allows for better distribution in your recipe.

Recipes

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Muffins

( I am quite sure the recipe I found is for homemade cranberry sauce but my family likes the canned variety and that is what I used since I had a lot of it.)

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 cups cranberry sauce (I took the cranberry sauce out of the can and cut it into roughly 1/2 inch chunks.

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly grease a muffin pan or line with paper liners.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Set aside.

In a standing electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each one.  Add vanilla and sour cream and mix until well incorporated.

On a low setting, add dry ingredients in three parts until batter is smooth.

Remove bowl from mixer.  Gently fold in cranberry sauce.

I used my large cookie scoop to fill the muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 17 to 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe was adapted from one by deniseisrundmc.com.

    

Ritz PB Treats

I am sure this little goody is online somewhere but I made it up in my head so here goes!

I spread 4 dozen Ritz crackers with peanut butter.

Then I put milk chocolate candy melts in a bowl and put them in the microwave. I always start melting chocolate first with a one minute setting and then I stir to see how melted it is. After that I microwave at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is just nicely melted and smooth when stirred. You don’t want to over heat your chocolate. It becomes a grainy, thick mess if you do.

I prepared parchment paper on a tray. One by one I put the peanut butter spread crackers in the melted chocolate bowl. I always put them in with the peanut butter side down and then using a fork flipped them over. I lifted the covered crackers from the chocolate with a fork and allowed excess chocolate to drip off. Finally, I placed them on the parchment paper to set.

   

Of course, I had to sample one and they are yummy! I am excited for my kids and grand-kids to try them.

Cool Whip Cookies

1 box vanilla (white) cake mix

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tub (3 cups) Cool Whip

1 teaspoon vanilla

Red & green gel food coloring (liquid will work too)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees . Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cake mix, egg, cool whip and vanilla. The dough will be thick and sticky.

Divide the dough in half and place one half in a second bowl. Add drops of red food coloring to one bowl and drops of green to the other. Start with two to three drops for each bowl and then add more, if needed, to get your desired color. A little note here. You could make these for any other holiday. Pastel colors for Easter. Red, white and blue for the 4th of July, etc.

Put the powdered sugar into a small bowl.

I used my smallest cookie scoop to portion the dough into the bowl of sugar. One scoop at a time, place the dough into the sugar and roll it around until it is completely coated. I then held the ball loosely in my fingers and shook a little to remove excess powdered sugar. Place the dough ball on your prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. These cookies do expand so be sure to leave a couple of inches between each cookie.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are set. The first time I try a recipe I always check it before the time indicated. In this case I checked them at 10 minutes and determined they needed just a hair more time in the oven. I ended up baking each tray for 11 minutes and got 3.5 dozen cookies from the recipe.

Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

The original recipe came from Julie| Bread Booze and Bacon

      

Peanut Butter Ripple Fudge

3 c. (pure cane) sugar

3/4 c. butter

2/3 c. evaporated milk

1 c. peanut butter ( I use smooth but you can use crunchy if desired)

1 t. vanilla

1  – 7 oz. jar of marshmallow fluff

1 – 6 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine sugar, butter and milk in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil stirring constantly. Continue boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until incorporated. Then add the fluff and vanilla until completely blended. Pour into a greased 9 X 11 pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Allow them to sit there a couple of minutes and then with a knife cut through the fudge to swirl the melted chocolate chips. I go lengthwise cutting in one direction and then across cutting in one direction. That method creates a nice look which isn’t messy.

I haven’t made the fudge yet this year so I can’t give you any pictures. Rest assured that it is on my calendar to do this week!

Have a great holiday season! Enjoy your loved ones and take a moment to breath after all the preparation.

See you soon!

 

 

Verified by MonsterInsights