Jammin’

Technorati Tags: House Beautiful,Ultimate Strawberry Jam Contest,Strawberry Jam,Texas State Fair Biscuits,State Fair Yeast Biscuits,House Beautiful Magazine,Ball Jam recipe,Ball Fruit Pectin

(From cirquedusweet.com)

Just found out my Strawberry Banana Jam recipe is a finalist in the House Beautiful Ultimate Strawberry Jam Contest!!!  I’m so excited, charmed, happy, etc.!

 

Here’s some photos of how all that went down.

I spent a lot of hours making jam , remaking jam and then making more jam.  I was jam tired! 

Ever tried making your own jam?  Homemade jam is Made in the USA, nostalgic goodness.  Your reward is that nostalgia tastes good!  I’m supporting you to tie on a vintage apron and give Strawberry jam a try.

Pick up a box of fruit pectin and use the tried and true recipes inside.  Search out the best fruit and follow the directions EXACTLY.  Your house will smell so sweet. 

You’ll appreciate a strawberry huller (little metal tools amongst the berries) when preparing strawberries for jam.  I purchased these at World Market.  Purchase several and enlist the kiddos to help. 

A potato masher will  mash your berries quickly into consistently sized pieces.

Premeasure all your ingredients as you’ll need to add them quickly while cooking. Measure carefully and try not to be distracted by children, pets, or renegade cicadas that sneak in and demand attention that should be elsewhere. Too much sugar and you’ll have syrup.  Which is fine… if that’s what you wanted instead of jam.  I’m just saying.

Stir your jam constantly in a quality, heavy duty pot.

Give your jam a hot water bath! This simply means boiling in a large pot to safely preserve and seal your filled jam jars.  This is a canning pot with a wire rack that helps to safely lower your filled jars into the boiling water.  These pots are fairly inexpensive and available at hardware stores (who knew?) and your local stuff-mart.

And you gotta have biscuits!  This recipe is the yummy butter biscuits you can sample at the State Fair of Texas.  Had to use the ridged biscuit cutter because I couldn’t find my normal one.  It was kismet!  They looked extra prettified in the photo.
That’s it!  Wish me luck.  My recipe will be taste tested on Thursday, the 19th in New York City!  Yowwee kazowee!

So go get your apron on already!

Ever feel like Rip Van Winkle?

Geez Louise!  Well, something like that happened minus the idleness, nine-pins and liquor.

Let’s see…

Somewhere back yonder, in a different life, there was a girl who had a blog.  And apparently I still do and I’m here to say I’m back!  Back to blogging, creating, making, thrifting, baking and playing.  And sharing too! 

Let’s jump right in.

Got a call today from a family friend requesting the infamous Banana Pudding recipe.  The last one I made met the floor in an unfortunate incident that is rumored to be preserved in photos somewhere.  I really don’t need to see 4 lbs. of “pudding love” memorialized on a Facebook page and so we’ll just pass on the recipe here  and save the world one bowl of Banana Pudding at a time!  Prepare to be raptured in a fluffy cloud of pudding goodness.  Just be sure to use a sturdy bowl!

Very Good Banana Pudding

1 can sweetened condensed milk

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 cups cold milk

1 large box Instant Vanilla Pudding

1 large tub (the big one!) Cool Whip, thawed in fridge

3-4 bananas, sliced

1 box Nilla Wafers

Freshly grated Nutmeg

Use a mixer to thoroughly combine the sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese.  Add the cold milk one cup at at time and mix after each addition.  Add instant pudding and mix thoroughly.  With a spoon, fold in most of the Cool Whip.  Reserve a small amount to decorate the finished pudding with, if desired. 

Line a large bowl with wafers and place a layer of bananas on top of the wafers.  Top with 1/3 of the pudding mix.  Repeat 2 more times and finish with the pudding mix.  Line the edge of the bowl with wafers to decorate.  Top with the reserved Cool whip and sprinkle with a light dusting of nutmeg. 

Oh, and one more thing...  a big THANK YOU to Monroe and Nanny Maz  for providing us fine company and accommodations and feeding us good food  on our East Texas visit!  It was a beautiful weekend. 

Weekend Field Trip

I remember one of my first fieldtrips in kindergarten.  We went to the fire station. It must have been close to the school as we walked there.  Every one had a “buddy” that we were partnered with.  We all held hands with our buddy and walked down the sidewalk two by two. 

I remember my kindergarten teacher too.  She wore frosted lipstick and had a platinum, perfectly coiffed, beehive up do.  She was so shiny.  She wore dresses and sensible heels and looked like she stepped right off the “Cakes and Pies” page of a 70’s Betty Crocker cookbook. 

It was probably a great fieldtrip.   There’s this one thing, though, which I remember more than the red fire trucks, awesome fire pole and real life firemen.  That “one thing” was the kid who was my buddy.  He was the boy in our class known for nose picking.  This boy was also my hand holding buddy.   Icky.

I still love field trips and these days, since I’m all grown up, I get to pick my buddy.  Me and my buddy’s (Lovey and the youngest and eldest Chilie) took a fieldtrip into Dallas last weekend and found ourselves at  FM 1410 B.  Tommy “Spiceman” Spicer sells an eclectic assortment of veggies and herbs to local restaurants.  He even grows some of them himself in a garden out back in the shadow of downtown Big D.   He’s a Delta swamp musician too and impromptu melodies from his custom, self-made “guitar” are an additional treat. 

He’ll sell you a bag, half a pound or so, of a beautiful  assortment of mushrooms for $10 cash.  He’ll also give you some ideas for preparing them if you ask. 

                                            ******

(I’m back from a brief interlude to catch and liberate the cicada that was bouncing off everything in the kitchen.  Momma Cat brought it in and you could hear it pinging off the hanging copper pots and ricocheting off the ceiling fan.  It was like magic gone mad in a scene from Nanny McPhee.  Whew!)

                                           ******

Here are the beautiful mushrooms, haricots verts (French green beans), fettuccine and tomatoes.

We like the mushrooms prepared simply. 

Sauté sliced garlic in olive oil just till fragrant.  Add  a couple tbsp.’s  of butter and heat till melted.  Add a glug of white wine.  Add the mushrooms and sauté momentarily.  Add the sliced tomatoes and sauté just till heated through.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over prepared fettuccine.  Serve good bread to sop up the sauce.

The verts were sautéed in butter with orange slices (orange zested and pith cut off), zest and toasted pine nuts. Salt and pepper to taste.

Beautiful food - simply.

Do you want to go on a fieldtrip to see Tommy?  Look for this place, FM 1410 B, in the corner shopping center of 4901 Bryan at Fitzhugh in Dallas.

The boys will greet you at the door.

That’s just the kind of place it is.

And make sure you go hungry.  I’ll tell you why later…

Technorati Tags: field trips,mushrooms,FM 1410 B

Fun in a box

Fun, fun,fun!  Don’t you just love boxes on the doorstep? 

I was skipping around on the internet and saw something too cute. 

It was OUT OF STOCK!  Ugh.

I ordered it anyway.  Backordered actually.  In the era of instant gratification, backordered is a naughty word.

So I waited.

And then, it came!

A rather big, and plain, brown box. 

Open, open, open!

Surprise!  A small, beautiful, red box!

Filled with the cutest set of nesting Babushka measuring cups you’ve ever seen!  Will my cookies and muffins taste better because of them?  We’ll see.

Do you want some too?  You can see them here and here. 

Technorati Tags: Matryoshkas Measuring cups by Fred

Spaghetti Tacos?

Other things that might be eaten at our table…

This is one of my better parenting moments and it is what it appears to be… a spaghetti taco.  One little chillie begged and pleaded because “They made them on icarly!”… and we were having spaghetti for dinner anyway… and we did have taco shells… and as a parent, when you’re given the opportunity to be the best parent on the block and it’s this easy, you take it.  :)

Technorati Tags: icarly spaghetti taco

Elmer Fudd, Clear as Mud

I have so much to say and share and yet, AND YET, I have the hardest time sitting down to write.  Argh!  So, I’m making a list of things I’m going to blog.  This way, I can remind me and you can remind me and things will get done and shared and recorded for future generations.  A little drama helps.  So, here’s the list:

What we really eat for dinner

New Year thoughts or chosen things to be resolute about

Another fun trip into Dallas and yummy things

Houston happenings

The boy who begins his name with “D”

A few fun things picked up along the way

Garden hopes and dreams

and perhaps, What I actually accomplished last year

Let’s start with what we really eat for dinner.  From time to time friends have commented that we eat “strange stuff”.   I’m sure they  mean this as a compliment…   The recipes I’ve shared here have been very “normal” so today we’ll try something different!  How about some  Pho?  Pho is a delicious anise infused Vietnamese broth and noodle soup served with thinly sliced beef and topped with basil, jalapenos, bean sprouts, cilantro and lime wedges.  Here’s a picture of dinner last week:

Who wouldn’t want to eat this?!  It’s absotively delish and a dish my family craves.  It has started a cult following and Pho restaurants are popping up everywhere.  Even little cities like mine.  Which brings to mind, I’ll explain in a bit, why correct pronunciation of the word “Pho” is so relevant.  Years ago when we happened upon our inaugural bowl of Pho, we pronounced it Fo with a long “o”.  We were newbies.  We have since learned that it is pronounced Phu, like Elmer Fudd, without the “Elmer” part or the stuttering  “d’s”.  Is that clear as mud? 

Proper pronunciation became fascinatingly relevant when a Pho restaurant opened nearby, named Pho King Way.  Pronounced correctly, I’ll pause whilst (there’s an innocent and fun word) you sound this out…   See, this kind of talk causes the “under things” of the Grammy Awards producers to go catawampus every year and makes necessary the “5 second delay”.  And it necessitates, that I as a parent and quasi semi-pro Hamster Handler,  ensure when I mention the restaurant that an adequate amount of pause be left between the “Pho” and the “King”. 

On the drive to and from school , as we pass Pho King Way, the teens will mention perhaps a Bubble Tea  stop after school.  The name always leads to a discussion of the pause.  We’ve decided that a proper amount of pause is probably a mile or two.  Makes for long conversation.

Anywho… here is a Pho recipe I adapted for my family that suits us just fine.   I hope you’ll try it and give your friends something to talk about!

Beef Pho      (serves 4)

2 cups sliced onion

4 (1/8 inch) slices unpeeled fresh ginger

5 cups beef broth

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons fish sauce

5 star anise

3 whole cloves

1 (16 ounce) package dried, flat, rice noodles

4 (4 ounce) sirloin steaks, frozen or partially frozen

1 cup fresh bean sprouts

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1 bunch of of fresh basil leaves (12 to 15 leaves)

1 lime, cut in 4 wedges

1 jalapeno, sliced thin

1 small bunch cilantro, washed and stems removed

1.  Place steaks in freezer  so that they will be frozen or partially frozen when needed in step 3.  Freezing allows the steaks to be easily sliced very thinly.  The steaks need to be sliced very thin to allow the boiling broth to “cook” them when ladled over the steak.

2.  Combine the 2 cups onion and ginger in a heavy skillet over high heat.  Cook 4 minutes or until charred, stirring often.  Charring the onion and ginger in a dry skillet gives the broth a deep flavor.  Remove from heat.  Combine onion mixture, broth, sugar, fish sauce, star anise and the whole cloves in a large pot.  Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove onions, ginger, star anise and cloves with a slotted spoon, reserving liquid.  Set aside.

3.  While broth is simmering, boil a large pot of lightly salted water.  When it comes to a boil, remove from heat and drop in dried, flat rice noodles.  Let noodles soak for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the brand.  The noodles should be soft but not mushy.Remove noodles from water and divide them into 4 large serving bowls.  Also, while broth is simmering, remove steaks from freezer and use a very sharp knife to cut the steaks against the grain very thinly.  Place sliced steak on top of noodles in each bowl.  (If you would like your steak more “done”, sear them quickly in a very hot skillet coated with cooking spray.)

4.  Bring broth to a boil.  Spoon boiling broth over steak and noodles in each bowl. 

5.  Top with vegetable toppings (bean sprouts through cilantro) to your liking.

  Let me know if you try it!

A little more info:

Ginger root is readily found in most super markets in the produce section.  If the piece in the store is too big for your use, simply break off the size of ginger you need at one of the small “knobs”. 

Star anise can be purchased in packages at Asian markets or in spice, bulk bins at stores like Central Market. 

Rice noodles can be found at some supermarkets in the Asian section.  It’s worth the trip to go to an Asian market to purchase them though.  Make sure to take your kids as Asian markets make  an interesting field trip.  Pick up some fresh steamed buns, standing soup spoons and chop sticks while you’re there!  Here is a brand of rice noodles I purchased at an Asian market.

You’ll notice that the ingredients are listed as flour and water.  I think they mean rice flour but some things are lost in translation.

                                      **************

“Do not dismiss the dish by saying that it is just simple food.  The blessed thing is an entire civilization in itself.”      Atdulhak Sinasi

Technorati Tags: Beef Pho,rice noodles,star anise,ginger root,Pho King Way

A Cookie Tour Vol.3

Here’s what it looks like when teenagers make the Christmas cookies:

Kind of like Tokidoki.  I don’t know why Mr. Gingerbread Man is nothing but bones.  Love the Spongebob looking eyeballs.

On to one of my favorite Christmas cookies, Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints.  What a long name.  I think I’ll just call them Raspberry Thumbprints.  The combination of crisp, almond flavored shortbread hooked up with Raspberry jam is perfect to me.  There’s a reason I only make these at Christmas and that is because I want to eat a lot of them!  Part of my recipe is planning ahead for friends to give them away to so that only a respectable amount are left within “gettin’ range”.  I haven’t made them yet (made something else yummy this weekend…) but I looked up the Land O’ Lakes site for you with the recipe.  So, I also have to borrow their picture:

Pretty, aren’t they?  Click on, Raspberry Thumbprints, if you want to make some of this goodness. 

This weekend I made Ina’s Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Butter Cream.  Another really long name!  It’s basically a jazzier version of Libby’s Pumpkin Roll found on the back of their label.  Here’s the recipe. 

It really is easy to make even if it looks fancy and difficult.  I’m going to encourage you to try it if you’re looking for a new pumpkin dessert.  Here are a few hints: 

My local grocer only had an 8 oz. container of mascarpone cheese and it’s a little pricey, so I substituted cream cheese for the other 4 oz.

I didn’t have heavy cream handy either (used it for the mashed potatoes for dinner the night before…) so I substituted regular milk.

I buy crystallized ginger at Central Market in the bulk bins.  It looks like this:

One last thing. I’ll admit I stopped to think about flipping the cake out of the pan onto the heavily powder sugar dusted towel.  All I could picture was a  Krakatau type of event.  But the flip out was happily uneventful!

I have to go!  I have just a few more things to pick up and there are only 10 more shopping days till the big day!

Happy Baking!                             

“C is for cookie, it's good enough for me; oh cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C.”                - Cookie Monster

Technorati Tags: Gingerbread Man,Raspberry Almond Shortbread Thumbprints,Pumpkin Roulade With Ginger Butter Cream,Krakatua,crystallized ginger

A Cookie Tour Vol. 2

My friend and faithful blog follower, Mary, shared one of her favorite Christmas cookies with me.

They’re called Pizzelles.  Very dainty and fancy, aren’t they?  I frosted mine with powdered sugar.  They’re so nice and light with tea.  Here’s Mary’s Cookie Tour memory:

“When I was a kid growing up in Ohio , my Mom and her sisters loved anise pizzelles. Although at the time I thought they were “okay”, as I have aged so have my taste buds. Now I really appreciate the licorice flavor and the delicate crispy texture. I think what I liked best about the pizzelles was when they appeared I knew Christmas was soon to follow. Merry Christmas 2009!”  -Mary 

I have a favorite Christmas cookie that I’ll post in the Cookie Tour Vol. 3, but first, here’s the promised everyday cookie:

Our family has a favorite “everyday” cookie.  You probably thought that by “everyday” I meant a common, ho hum cookie.  That’s not it.  I mean, a cookie you must eat everyday.  See?  There’s a difference. 

We love these cookies.  If you are sitting on the edge of your seat, I apologize in advance for what may seem anti-climatic in their name.  But, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are just great cookies!  With six people in the house they don’t last long.  We kind of have a rule about the cookies which is followed, I now realize, very loosely and interpreted very differently by each family member. 

It goes like this: on the first day I make the cookies, we all have some with milk.  It’s a little cookie dunking “par-tay”! 

Then, (this is the loosely followed and misinterpreted for personal gain part), I put the remainder of the cookies, by three’s, into snack bags which then get frozen. 

These little, snack “grab bags” are supposed to be (in an ideal world) packed into lunches all week.  The reality of the situation is that somebody, at some point in the day, grabs one of those bags (we eat them frozen, warmed, whatever) and then another somebody sees them eating those cookies and they grab a bag and so on and so forth until 3 days later there are no more cookies for lunches.  Then, you hear mumblings and grumblings as those who weren’t “in” on this little snatch and grab job realize, as they peek into the freezer, the current cookie state of affairs.

It’s kind of sad and I do feel bad, as the mother figure, for the grumblers but you can bet your favorite Christmas sweater that I do my best to be “in” on the “loosely followed and misinterpreted for personal gain” part. 

But, any who…  here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal  Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups uncooked regular oats (Quick,1 minute cooking type)

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup pecan pieces, optional

Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and creamy.  This takes a minute or two.  You want the sugar to be less gritty in the butter.  You’ll see the difference as the butter and sugar turn a lighter color.  Add eggs and vanilla, mixing in well.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  I do this on a paper plate which makes it easy to then pour into my butter mixture.  Add flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing well.  Stir in oats.  You’ll probably have to do this by hand unless you have a super, duper mixer.  Stir in chocolate chips and (if you want) pecans.  Drop by rounded tablespoons on to ungreased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes or until lightly golden.  Cool slightly on baking sheets (just long enough so they don’t fall apart when you remove them) and transfer to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 5 dozen

Last of the summer flowers and the chocolate chips and oats.

Christmas time diet tip o’ the day:

“When I buy cookies, I eat just four and throw the rest away. But first I spray them with Raid so I won't dig them out of the garbage later. Be careful, though, because that Raid really doesn't taste that bad.”      -Janette Barber (comedian)

Technorati Tags: Pizzelles,Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies,Oatmeal

Bananarama Cupcakes

Remember Bananrama?  Well, I still have “it”, but “it” is now Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!  Macarena cool. 

 "Almost Heaven", West Virginia… that’s what they are! 

(I’m just gonna see how many fieldtrips I can take us on while describing these cupcakes.)

Any who… So the men folk went off to the football game last Friday and left me and my friend to fend for ourselves with nothing but  too much time on our hands and a hankering for cupcakes. 

My favorite cupcake, at the moment, is the Banana cupcake at the naughty Sprinkles in Dallas.  Do check their menu if you plan to make a pilgrimage as the Banana cupcakes are only served on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.  And bring your piggy bank…  nibbling at Sprinkles doesn’t always make sound financial sense.  It’s a good thing that a lot of road separates me from this place. 

Haute cupcakes!  I’m lovin’ everything about them.  The box, the sticker and the little wooden forks you eat them with.   Good times, good times.

All that road got me to thinking about how I could bring all that Banana cupcake goodness a little closer to my home. 

Things are now under recipe control and I’m going to share the Bananarama cupcakes with you.  This recipe is easy and moist with “made from scratch” taste.  Banana cupcake goodness is headed your way.  You got it!

Bananrama Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frostingness

Adapted from Cupcakes! From the Cake Mix Doctor

(Monster Monkeys Cupcakes and Chocolate Buttercream)

Cupcakes:

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas, from 3 medium bananas

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Put 24 cupcake liners into 2 cupcake pans.

2. Put all ingredients into a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds.  Stop the mixer and scrap down the sides of the bowl.  Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed.  The batter should look thick and well combined.  Spoon or scoop batter equally into 24 cupcake liners.  Place the pans in the oven.

3. Bake the cupcakes until they are golden and spring  back when lightly pressed with your finger, 16-20 minutes.  Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes.  ***Do not overcook your cupcakes!  16 to 20 minutes is a guideline, akin to the Pirate code, and not a rule.  When you smell them, they’re done.  In my oven this takes about 16 minutes.  Overcooked cupcakes make people cranky.***  Then remove cupcakes from pans and place on wire racks to cool before frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted

3 to 5 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place the butter and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until the mixture is soft and well combined, 30 seconds.  Stop the mixer and add the confectioners’ sugar., 3 tablespoons of the milk, and the vanilla.  Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute.  Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons more milk if the frosting is too stiff.

2. Frost the Bananarama cupcakes. 

3. Gather friends and enjoy.

    

Technorati Tags: Bananarama,Macarena,Sprinkles,Cupcakes from the Cake Doctor,Banana Cupcakes,Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

The Promised Beef Stew

This is my own recipe adapted from others over time.  I hope you enjoy it!

Julie’s Beef Stew

1 1/2 – 2 lbs. Sirloin Tip Roast, cut up or Stew Meat

4- 6 tbsp. flour

1 tsp. salt

2 - 4 tbsp. butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup parsley, chopped up

3 - 8 oz. cans tomato sauce

3 cups beef broth

1/8 tsp. cloves

1/2 – 1 tsp. coarse ground black pepper

1 small bay leaf

1/2 tsp. dried thyme, or 1 1/2 tsp. fresh, chopped

dash of Tabasco sauce

1/2 cup red wine, or red cooking wine

6 potatoes, cut up

6 carrots, cut up or a couple handfuls of peeled mini carrots

1 stalk of celery cut up, optional

1. (Stew meat, flour and salt will be divided into 2 parts to dredge meat with flour and sauté.)  In a large, Ziploc bag, combine 2 - 3 tbsp. flour and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Shake to combine flour and salt and then add stew meat to bag.  Shake to coat meat with flour. 

2.  Melt 1 – 2 tbsp. butter in large pan and sauté flour dredged stew meat at medium high until browned on all sides.  Repeat step 1 with second portion of stew meat.

3.  While the meat is browning, you need to get out your Crockpot. (Stove top directions are at the end of the recipe.)  Put these things in it: cut up onion and garlic, chopped parsley, tomato sauce, beef broth, cloves , black pepper, bay leaf, thyme and Tabasco.   

Add all the browned stew meat to the crock pot. 

4.  Set the timer on low for 5 -6 hours.

5.  Now you need to prepare the vegetables.  In a glass 9 x 13 dish, add the cut up potatoes, carrots and celery.  Add a little bit of water, 1/2 – 3/4 cup, to cover the bottom of the dish.  Cover vegetables and dish with plastic wrap.  Cook in the microwave for 5 – 7 minutes (depending on your microwave).  Turning, if necessary, halfway through if your microwave doesn’t have a turntable.  I like to cook my vegetables to where they still are a bit firm and not completely soft as they will cook more when added to the pot.  BE VERY CAREFUL when lifting the plastic wrap as serious steam burns happen to those who aren’t!  Ouchy, ouchy!

I leave my vegetables in the microwave and go do a lot of other things for the rest of the day…

6.  Add the wine the last hour of cooking. 

7.  Add the cooked vegetables the last half hour of cooking. 

Serve with your favorite bread.  Here is the finished Boule from the dough I showed you yesterday.  Absotively delish!  The recipe is in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  See how the one on the right is shaped like a heart?  It was made with love.  Or maybe I just love bread. 

Dinner is served for some very happy people.

Other cooking tips:

This recipe doubles nicely if you’re feeding a crew.

For the beef broth, I use, McCormick’s Beef Base purchased at Costco.  1 tsp. beef base plus 1 cup water = 1 cup broth.

Stove top instructions:

Follow steps 1 and 2 to brown your meat.  Add step 3 ingredients and cooked meat to a big pot.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 2 - 3 hours or until meat is tender.  Add wine the last hour and add the cooked vegetables the last half hour.

Technorati Tags: beef stew,crockpot,Boule,Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Thyme in a Bottle

Guess what I found out today? 

You can save thyme in a bottle.  This makes me smile.

Momma Kitty wants to see how this is done.  Perhaps I, too, will figure it out.

Here’s another “guess what?”. 

Guess what’s for dinner? 

With fresh picked thyme in it.  Simmering in the crock pot to save me… time! 

This is the dough that I mixed this morning.  This is the book with the recipe and lots of others to try.

(Many events and hours later…)

Dinner is ready!  I love coming home, on a cool and overcast day, to a well seasoned crock pot full of homemade stew and fresh, homemade bread. 

My favorite recipe for stew… tomorrow!

Till then, a poem, somewhat about time…

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks

Technorati Tags: Thyme,beef stew,boule,homemade bread,Rumi

This post goes out to the Stay at Home Dad’s

So, our friend, we’ll call him Cliff (because that’s what he answers to), recently became a stay at home Dad. 

Private note to Cliff:

(Everybody else do something else for a sec.)

Do you mind me sharing your life with a few of my closest friends?  

He’s changing a diaper right now and will get back to me when I’m about through with this.

He just survived his first few weeks of Back–to-School, Stay-at-Home-Dad-ness.  Don’t get anything done-ness.  Eat your fish stick dinner and be happy-ness.  But, oh the joy and fulfillment he’ll find buried deep under piles of laundry.  It’s there.  Keep looking and make sure you separate those lights and darks. 

During a recent visit, and because we care, we were offering suggestions of things he could do to entertain himself and the preschooler who will be his constant potty companion from here on out.  The park was suggested.  Pre-schoolers love the park.  The grocery store and Wal-Mart  are also often overlooked entertainment venues.  And play groups.  They’re both going to need support and friends.  Playgroups are generally made up of available, on occasions underappreciated and lonely, attractive, stay-at-home mom types.  But that’s just my experience.  The attractive part, that is.

So we scratched playgroups, Wal-Mart, the grocery store and parks.  Now, he’s been relegated to auto part stores, oil change facilities and the proctologist.   These are all fine substitutions that when approached with the right attitude will be fondly remembered with misty eyed-ness.

Because, see, what we’ve decided is that he is now a “babe magnet”.  Follow me on this.  When a man shows up at the park with a small child or dog, the women gathered there (in their “playgroup”) just assume he is attentive, emotional, family centered and thus, good mating material.  No matter that they already have a perfectly good husband holed up somewhere and his offspring nearby eating the sand meant for castles.  This park guy, this “emoter”, would produce better offspring.  Offspring that wouldn’t eat sand and more importantly not feed it to their younger sibling.

This “Man with child and/or dog will surely make a good mate” business is what the internet refers to as an “Urban Legend”. 

And here I will offer my proof.  We have another friend, who we’ll call… Bernie (not his real name) who often used the “My dog is a babe magnet and I am surely good mating material” method.  He believed that walking his dog at parks, the apartment complex, etc.  would magnetize the babes to him.  The dog was somehow going to negate his “less than stellar, stinky, bachelor ways”.  He was not good mating material.  Once, he left that same dog in his apartment for a long weekend…  during the Texas winter.  He, thoughtfully, left the balcony door ajar so the dog could come and go and do her business.  You would never do this with a child, which he considered his dog to be. 

He asked us (who are not dog people) to “peek in” on the dog while he was gone.  “Peek” we did!  It was Hiroshima bad news.  The dog, of course, did not use the “opportunities” that the “ajar” balcony door presented her.  Apparently, our friend, didn’t foresee dog-proofing to be much of a necessity either.  The dog had returned the favor by tearing apart most everything that wasn’t securely bolted down.  There was a large fish tank which I presumed, on Friday, housed live fish.  She took care of that.  It was a Kevorkian, mercy killing.  The icy,Texas air freely flowing through the apartment would have sent their tropical souls to fishy heaven if she hadn’t.  Luckily, at some point she found some brief entertainment in a ball point pen and left “Daddy” a message all over the carpet.  I can’t say for certain but I’m sure he never had the pleasure of spending his apartment deposit. 

Is he a real “Daddy” today?  Yes.  Is he doing it well?  I don’t know.  It’s Lovey who talks to him most and it’s not a topic they, being of the male persuasion, discuss.  But it comforts me to know he lives in a milder climate with  warmer winters. 

Oh gosh.  I meant this to be some kind of positive, dedication type of happy note to our good friend who’s been blessed to be a stay-at-home Dad.  Can I dedicate a good recipe to you that will warm your soul?  Are you finished with that diaper yet?  It’s time to start dinner.   

Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

(This recipe is adapted from Reames Classic Chicken Noodle Soup)

1 Cooked Rotisserie Chicken, meat removed and chopped up

10 cups water

4 tsp. dried parsley flakes

2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed

1/2 tsp. pepper

6 –10 tsp. chicken base or bullion granules, to your taste

2 bay leaves

1 pkg. (24 oz.) Reames Homestyle Egg Noodles

4 cups sliced carrots

2 cups sliced celery

2 cups chopped onion

1 cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)

1/2 cup flour

4 cups milk, divided

salt to taste

In a large pot, add water, parsley, thyme, pepper, chicken base and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add noodles, carrots, celery and onion; return to a boil.  Reduce heat and cover, simmer 20 to 30 minutes or until done.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1 cup of the milk and the flour until smooth.  Add to the noodle mixture with remaining 3 cups milk.  Add the chopped chicken and the thawed peas.  Continue cooking over medium heat until thickened and heated through.  Salt to taste.

                                       Enjoy!

Cooking Hints:

I use McCormick Chicken Base purchased at Costco instead of bullion granules.

Reames Egg Noodles are in the freezer section of the store.

Change the vegetable amounts to your families taste.  I like 1 cup of celery and 1 cup of peas. 

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