Oreo Cake - It was called "Amazing" more than once!

Ali's birthday was two weeks ago. We celebrated it over a couple of days (ok, 10, but she's 20, and not home as often as the others are). As you probably know, the kids get to choose their meals for their birthday. I try to do them all on the same day, but due to her work schedule, it took us a bit to get them all in. Her breakfast and dinner choices were the same as last year - German Pancakes and Heart Attack Chicken. Both recipes are blog posts from last year that you should check out. When I made the chicken, I also made her birthday cake. She found the recipe on Pinterest, and as usual, I tweaked it a little. I do that a lot so I can post the recipe and not feel like I am stealing it from someone. It was hands-down the most amazing cake ever!! It is easy to make, too!! It does call for a cake mix, which for some of you is the way you always roll. For me it was a bit of a "twitch inducing" experience. I think I even felt the ground tremble a little as my mother rolled over in her grave, but I did it anyway, and with all of the additions to the cake, it tasted like any other scratch cake I have ever had. Enjoy!

Oreo Cake

Cake:
Devil's Food Cake mix
small box of chocolate fudge pudding mix
1 t. salt
2 t. pure vanilla extract
1 c. sour cream
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 c. water
12 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream Filling/Topping
1 c. butter, softened
1 T. pure vanilla extract
2 lbs. powdered sugar
2-4 T. whipping cream
25 Double-Stuff Oreos, crushed

Fudge sauce or ganache

For the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper or wax paper, then spray well with non-stick spray.
In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, salt, vanilla, sour cream, oil, eggs, and water. Beat for 30 seconds on low to combine and then switch mixer to medium/medium high for 2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in the pkg. of chocolate chips.
Divide the mixture between the two pans and bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remember that you have chocolate chips in there, so it might be a little difficult to determine if it is batter or chocolate chips on the toothpick.
Remove cake pans to a cooling rack for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes invert the cakes out of the pans onto the racks and allow to cool completely before frosting them.

For the frosting:
Beat the butter and the vanilla until soft and fluffy. Gradually add in the sugar until thoroughly combined. Add cream a tablespoon at a time until the frosting reaches spreading consistency. Stir in the crushed Oreos.

Assembly:
Put a dab of frosting on the serving plate and top with the first layer. Top that with half of the filling mixture spreading just to the edge of the cake. Top with the second layer followed by the remaining cream filling. Drizzle the top with fudge sauce or chocolate ganache (1/2 c. heated cream or half and half combined with 1/2 c. chopped chocolate, stirred until smooth).

Make that and tell me it is awful. I dare you :)

Until next time, stay warm and loved, my friends!

Chicken and Dumplings

It is winter. Duh, right? I have to keep reminding myself of that fact because it has been SO warm around here lately. Yes, we had some snow at the end of last week, but we are right back to 50+ degrees. I love winter because that means soups, stews, crockpot meals that are saucy and savory. One thing that I love to do is cook a whole chicken in a pot on the stove and then make a variety of things with the meat and the broth. It could be chicken noodle soup, pot pie, a hearty stew or even chicken and dumplings.

My neice, Joanna, requested my chicken and dumplings recipe today since it is cold out in Oregon (big surprise - I bet it's even rainy, too, haha! :P) So, dearest Joanna, here you go and happy cooking! Before I post the recipe, let me say you can make this as complicated or easy as you want to. You can start in the morning with a whole chicken in a pot of water, bring it to a boil and allow it to simmer for a few hours until the chicken is practically falling off the bone, cool it down, strain out the broth and pull the meat from the bones. OR you can use leftover chicken and boxed chicken broth. Do what works for you. The photo here is a bad quality and I apologize, but I think you get the picture (no pun intended) Now...

Chicken and Dumplings

Meat from 1 whole chicken, chopped
4 c. chicken broth
1 lg. onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-4 lg. carrots, diced
2-4 celery stalks, sliced
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1 can cream of celery soup
1-2 bay leaves
1 c. frozen peas
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley

Dumplings (you can double this easily - just stir until soft dough forms and drop into soup by the spoonful)
1 c. baking mix (like Bisquick)
1/3 c. milk

In a Dutch oven, combine onion, garlic, celery and carrots with the broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are tender, stir in the chicken soup and then the meat and bring back to a boil. 30 minutes before serving add in the peas and parsley and then top with the dumpling mixture. Cover for 10 minutes and the cook uncovered 10 more minutes.

I hope you enjoy this one! Stay warm and loved!!

MEATballs - or I'm Not a Football Fan

I am so not a football fan. My dad liked sports. I remember listing to games on the radio in the car on Boston's WBZ ("Radio 1030...We hear you!"...sorry, can't hear the call letters without the song playing in my head.) I remember him watching hockey, basketball, bowling, golf, car races, boxing... you name it. He would yell at the screen with the best of 'em. Somehow his love for sports did not rub off on me. My least favorite is football. To me, it is a pointless game that takes forever. and ever. There are too many rules and "teams" within teams, cryptic play names and inflated egos. The pants, however.... anyway...

Football season is almost over. Just a couple more weeks and all of this hoopla over Tim Tebow will be over for a while. He is just a player, on a team, who happens to be a Christian (along with a LOT of other players). Yes, he is vocal about his beliefs. But I have a problem with Christians putting other Christians up on such a public pedestal. You are inviting Satan to attack him and then turn your back on his when he has a very public fall from grace. I may sound a bit pessimistic; however, he is a young man. Fame is cruel.

Anyway - this is not about footballs, it's about MEATballs :) I made spaghetti sauce, a monthly ritual around here. Part of it goes into the freezer for future meals. Last night I decided I needed meatballs, too. They were delish - The sauce recipe was posted last year some time - go find it... it's worth the time, which is not that much, and it is very adjustable and forgiving.

MEATBALLS (makes 30-40 walnut-sized meatballs)

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork (occasionally I substitute Italian sausage)
1/2 c. dry breadcrumbs (firm meatballs - my choice) OR 1 c. fresh (softer meatballs)
1 egg
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley (or 2 T. dry)
1 t. dry basil
1 t. garlic powder (if you like onion powder, throw some of that in, too)
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper

Combine all ingredients with your hands and form into walnut-sized balls. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet at 350 for 20 minutes and then toss into the sauce and allow to simmer another 30-45 minutes. Mange!

Until next time, stay warm and loved my friends!

Korean-style Beef Ribs

It's Tuesday, and during the school year, the kids and I are gone from the house from 8 until about 5, so dinner makes a dive into the crock pot in the morning and all I need to do is make the sides (or in this case, ask Nate to text David and ask him to put the rice on the stove and cook the green beans).  The short ribs were boneless and on sale at HG Hills, so it was an easy choice to make. The result was delicious and filling, even if it was a bit spicy. I had a long day, so I'll just get right to the recipe.



Korean-style Beef Ribs in the Crock Pot

8-10 boneless short ribs (go for the bone-in ones, if you want)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. soy sauce
2 T. sesame oil
4 T. red wine vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 - 1 t. red pepper flakes
1/2 c. sliced green onion
1/2 c. grated carrot

Place the ribs in the crock pot. Combine the remaining ingredients (except onions and carrots) and whisk together until well-blended. Top ribs with the green onions and carrots and then pour the sauce over the top. Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 3-4. Remove the ribs from the sauce and pour sauce into a small pan. Thicken with 1/2 c. water combined with 1 T of cornstarch (repeat the procedure if it is not quite thick enough). Serve with rice and top with thickened sauce and additional green onions and sesame seeds.

I hope you enjoy this. My whole family ate it. I think yours might too :)
Until next time, stay full and loved, my friends!

Slaw Dogs and Sprained Ankles

Thursday was interesting. One minute I was up and the next I was on the floor with my head smashed into the metal frame of a chair and my ankle pulsating with pain... and a room full (ok, there were five, but still...) of adults staring me down. Well, not actually staring me down, two of them catapulted from their chairs and were at my side in seconds, another tossed over a bottle of ibuprofen. Two boys were dispatched to find ice packs and I sat on the floor for a good thirty minutes waiting for the pain to subside, which it never really did. I sat for 2 hours with my foot encased in ice and then headed to Baptist Sports Medicine (thanks, Cher) to let a PT look at it and decide if it was broken, torn or sprained. Thankfully it was the latter. She encased it again in ice (much colder than any ice pack I had ever had in my life), gave me a stretchy band and some exercises and sent me on my merry way... R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) and ibuprofen was her diagnosis.

Friday am I called the doctor's office and headed in for their diagnosis. They concurred and gave me a slightly (make that really really) stronger medicine and again sent me on my merry way - back to the couch, ice packs and rest.

Today I was back to teaching - thankfully able to sit for two of the three hours that I taught. Then I did the brilliant thing and went grocery shopping for an hour... but I had little choice. And now we have food :) Tonight's dinner was Slaw dogs and curly fries. I made the slaw, and Kami threw the fries in the oven and the hot dogs on the stove to cook. Slaw is something that I throw together quite often. I'm pretty sure that you have all the makings for a delicious dressing in your refrigerator and pantry. Don't by the bottled stuff - save some $$ and make a much tastier dressing at home. Here is my recipe that makes enough dressing for two small (1 lb.) bags of slaw mix from the produce section of the grocery store.

Slaw Dressing
1 c. mayonnaise (NOT miracle whip/salad dressing)
4 T. red wine vinegar
6 T. honey
1/2 - 1 t. salt
1/2 - 1 t. fresh cracked pepper
(if you want to play with the flavors, you can add 1/2 t. celery seed or garlic powder, possibly some brown or Dijon mustard. You could add some fresh herbs like cilantro and replace the vinegar for lime juice and make a Mexican slaw... or just keep it simple. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl until well-combined, then pour over the cabbage and combine well. I always allow mine to sit for a little while before serving. Some of the liquid from the cabbage will come out and make the dressing a little more wet, so give it a good stir before serving. Tonight I piled mine on hot dogs, but it is good with barbecue, burgers, ham, pork, fried or grilled chicken.

I hope you enjoy it. Until next time, stay warm (or cool - the weather is so fickle in the fall) and full and loved, my friends!!

Steak Wrapped Asparagus

I can often find thin sliced steaks on sale - Milenese-style, or so they are called. I love them because they absorb the marinade easily and quickly. They cook up fast and they are juicy and delicious! I had these done in about 15 minutes tonight. That is quick for a steak dinner!

Steak Wrapped Asparagus

5-10 thin sliced sirloin steaks
1-2 bunches thin asparagus, washed and ends snapped
2 T olive oil
2 T vegetable oil
4 T pomegranate infused red wine vinegar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1-2 T. steak seasoning

In a large bowl whisk together all of the marinade ingredients. Add the steaks and allow to marinate for an hour or two. In a microwave safe bowl, put the prepped asparagus along with 1/4 cup of water and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave for 5 minutes until crisp but tender.

Remove steak from marinade and lay flat. Put 4-5 stalks of asparagus on one end and roll up. You can secure with a toothpick, if you'd like to, or just lay seam side down. Repeat with all steaks and asparagus. Grill for a few minutes on each side until steak is cooked through to desired doneness.

Serve with those crispy potatoes, from my earlier post.

It's a long week. Somehow I need to fit grocery shopping in so I can continue to feed this crew. For some reason I can't just cook one meal a week and expect them to be happy. I must have done something wrong!

Until next time, stay full and loved!!

Crispy Baked Potatoes

This is a simple and very tasty baked potato dish. You can pump up the volume by adding some garlic or any other seasoning. It is delicious with a sour cream cilantro sauce. Both recipes follow.

Crispy Baked Potatoes

6 large baking potatoes
6 T butter
salt
pepper
olive oil

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. Scrub the potatoes thoroughly. Lay them on the counter between the handles of two wooden spoons. Slice the potato into 1/8-inch slices, stopping when the knife hits the handles of the spoon, so you don't cut all the way through the potato.

Lay the potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Dot each potato with 1 T butter.

Bake at 425 for 45 minutes until potatoes are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

Drizzle with sour cream cilantro sauce.
1 c. sour cream
juice of 1 lime
1 bunch cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine all in a food processor. Chill before serving.

Apple Pancakes and Childhood

Today is Tuesday. In my world it is one of my busiest days. I teach at four homeschool co-op programs throughout the week and Tuesday is CHET day. We have classes from 9am to 4:30 and I am teaching all of that time except for a 30 minutes lunch break. I then have to come home and make dinner and be sure that Kami gets off to cheer practice. Normally I am pretty smart and I take something out of the freezer a day or two before so it is thawed and ready on Tuesday morning, so I can just toss it into the crockpot. It might be a beef or pork roast, a chicken dish or some kind of soup or stew. I was not so smart this week. It was that and the fact that I was out of town Saturday and Sunday celebrating with my siblings. My older sisters, twins, turned 50 on Sunday. I am sure that is some kind of mistake because they are 4 years older than I am and I KNOW I am not just 4 years away from fifty... but I digress. Dinner... that is what I was talking about.

I realized too late that I had not remembered to thaw the requisite roast and therefore the crock remained under the cupboard and dinner was a mystery - for everyone. When in doubt, make breakfast, right? So, bacon is quickly thawed in a sink full of warm water (thanks, Ali) and a box of Bisquick (shoot me, I didn't do them from scratch this time) made quick work of supper. But I am not such a slouch. I grabbed the bag of chocolate chips and created chocolate chip pancakes from half of the batter and then in the other half, I made some very yummy apple pancakes. No recipe, just what sounded good to me, and I have a bunch of apples on my kitchen table, so it was an easy decision. Try them!

Apple Pancakes

2 cups Bisquick (or whatever pancake mix)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 small apple, peeled and grated with the box grater
1/2 t. cinnamon
dash nutmeg

Mix all the ingredients together and cook on a greased griddle. Serve with butter and real maple syrup (and bacon).

As a child I remember Saturday morning breakfasts. Sometimes we had "sugar cereal," which was a real treat. We only got it on the weekends. In those days the boxes had some sort of toy inside. My mom would remove all the toys and on the days when we would have cereal, or when she had an abundance of the toys (I can't remember which), she would distribute the toys. Lani swears my mom would intentionally give her the bad ones. In retrospect, they were probably all pretty bad. Sometimes she would make doughnuts...chocolate, plain, and molasses. They would fry in lard on the kitchen stove. I wish someone had written down her recipe. This weekend Lani brought her Le Creuset enormous dutch oven (totally jealous and REALLY NEEEEEEEED one of those, btw) and a bucket of lard and fried up some doughnuts for HER birthday (and Lori's). The smell in Mark's kitchen brought back some amazing memories. I felt like my mom or even my grandmother must have been in the kitchen - the smell was haunting. Another breakfast memory is of the waffles and my mother's waffle iron. I lucked out and found one exactly like it several years ago, thanks to my friend Lacey. It makes me happy every time I use it. Breakfast holds many happy memories. I hope it does for you too.

Until next time, stay full and loved, my friends
ps. Yes, Grandmother, I licked my plate. I know you are smiling from Heaven.

Beef Enchiladas... and anticipating the great reunion

Nate has a craving for Mexican food - at least he knew better than to ask me to stop at Taco Bell. The easy way out is to make tacos - you know, brown some meat, throw in a packet of taco seasoning, toss a bag of lettuce and a bag of shredded cheese on the counter and let them make their own. Not tonight. I am making enchiladas, which takes a little more time, but not that much. I am throwing some yellow rice on the stove and hopefully Nate will be satisfied. I snuck a few vegetables in here, so if you have picky eaters, this might be a good way to get in a few veggies. My crew is not picky for the most part - a trait for which I am eternally grateful.

Beef Enchiladas

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, grated
2 medium carrots, grated
1 T olive oil
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1 t. cumin
1 can corn kernels
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. salsa verde or 1 small can diced green chilies
1 1/2 c. shredded cheese
1 lg. can enchilada sauce
12 8-inch flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet heat the oil over medium high heat. Saute the onion and carrot until it is tender. Add in the ground beef and brown until no longer pink. In a large bowl, place the corn, salsa or chilies, and beef mixture, stirring well. Stir in the sour cream and then stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese.

Pour 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. In a cake pan, pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce. Place one tortilla in the cake pan and coat both sides with sauce. While it is still in the pan, place 1/3 cup of the filling in the tortilla and roll up. Place it seam side down in the baking dish and repeat with all of the tortillas. I can fit 10 along the pan and the other two I fit in the sides. Top with the remaining sauce and 1 cup of cheese. Spray a sheet of foil with non-stick spray and cover the dish tightly with the foil. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until thoroughly heated.

If you read my blog, consider subscribing, or sharing it on Facebook. I have had pretty low blog views lately, which is a bit discouraging. Hopefully if I start writing more again, the numbers will go back up. If you have questions or meal ideas, something you want me to come up with a recipe for, give me a holler. I love to try new things.

This weekend I am heading to South Carolina for exactly 24 hours. That is 24 hours with my amazing siblings. We are going to "Eat, Drink & Be Merry" as much as we possibly can in 24 hours. Not sure how much sleep it going to be done, but we can do that on the plane. We have not all been together for 10 years. Two more sleeps!!

Until next time, be filled and loved :)

fantastically famished: Seriously Good Vegetable Soup

fantastically famished: Seriously Good Vegetable Soup: I am going to attempt a blog post in under 10 minutes. That's the story of my life. I never seem to be able to stay in one place for very lo...

Caramel Brownie Cheesecake

Labor Day Weekend I made this dessert. I meant to post the recipe and never really got around to it. Now seemed like a good time :) It was definitely enjoyed.

 

Caramel Brownie Cheesecake

 

Ingredients:
1 box brownie mix, baked according to package directions and cooled completely
 

Chocolate Crust:

45 vanilla wafers

1/3 c. cocoa powder

1/3 c. powdered sugar

1 stick butter, melted

 

Cheesecake:

4 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 c. sugar

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 jar caramel sauce

Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350. In your food processor with the blade attachment, crush the cookies and pulse in the sugar and cocoa powder until well-combined. Drizzle in the melted butter while the processor is running and combine. Dump the crumb mixture into a 9" springform pan and push the crumbs firmly into the bottom and 1-2 inches up the sides. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes and allow to cool while you are making the cheesecake filling.

In a mixer bowl, add the cream cheese and the sugar and beat until fluffy and well-combined. Add eggs one at a time, then add in the vanilla. Pour the mixture into the cooled crust. 

Cut 1/2 of the pan of brownies into small pieces and place them on top of the cheesecake mixture, pushing them down into the filling. Drizzle about 1/2 - 1 cup of caramel sauce over the top of the cheesecake. Bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour or until completely cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool about 30 minutes. Loosen the cheesecake from the pan by running a sharp knife around the edge. Let it finish cooling to room temperature before covering in plastic wrap and putting in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

I may get around to another post tonight. I am making a yummy chicken dish. Don't forget to check out the soup I posted yesterday!! It's that time of year again!

Until next time, stay warm and filled, my friends!!

Seriously Good Vegetable Soup

I am going to attempt a blog post in under 10 minutes. That's the story of my life. I never seem to be able to stay in one place for very long. I always have to be somewhere doing something other than what I would really like to be doing, which would be sitting on the couch like a vegetable ... or a potato... but I digress. I am going to write this recipe for seriously good vegetable soup (or so Ali called it today) so I can remember it again. Try it!

Seriously Good Vegetable Soup

1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
4-5 med. carrots, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lb. fresh green beans, cut in 1-2 inch pieces
2 handfuls of baby spinach/arugala mix
1 can cannellini beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can garbanzo beans
2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes
4 cups beef broth
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper

In a large pot, brown the ground beef until no longer pink. Add in the onions, carrots and garlic and saute until the onion is tender. Add in the green beans, tomatoes, beef broth and 2 tomato cans of water (about 3-4 cups), salt and pepper and cook until the carrots are tender. Add the beans and the greens and cook until everything is heated through. I cooked some ditalini pasta and served the soup over the pasta, so it was like minestrone.

Trust me, it's good. 8 minutes down, I gotta run!
Until next time, stay cool/warm, well-fed and loved, my friends!

Chili - With No Problems!

I made chili on Friday night (to go with the cornbread) and I actually ate it without any problems. I am one of those freaks of nature that can make gallstones with no gallbladder. Chili always seemed to complicate issues. I don't know what it was about it. I would be in excruciating pain about an hour after a bowl of the stuff. A year and a half ago I had a procedure to remove a couple of stones and the surgeon made a little incision to hopefully allow future stones to pass along through - and so far, it seems it has been a success. I was a little unsure until I ate that chili and passed the rest of the evening is satisfied peace.

Chili is chili is chili (don't shoot me) - even though we all have different recipes and different levels of heat we enjoy, and we all think that OUR RECIPE is the best, when all is said and done, they have similar ingredients and taste pretty much the same. I am a non-measurer. I don't think I ever make my chili the same way twice, and Friday night was no exception. It tasted delicious to me and to four teenagers and one husband, on Friday night, and I think I even got Savannah Tawater (The Queen of Picky Eaters - really, the kid lives on buttered spaghetti noodles and french fries) to eat a little bit of it yesterday, so it must be pretty good. So I will do my best to recreate the recipe in writing here. You give it a try and let me know how yours comes out.

Painless Chili

Ingredients:
3 lbs. ground beef
2 large onions
3 stalks celery
3 medium carrots
3 cloves garlic
1 28 oz. can tomato puree
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 14 oz. cans fire-roasted tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 T. salt
1 t. fresh ground black pepper
2 t. ground cumin
1 t. adobo seasoning
1 T. cowboy rub (this is a McCormick seasoning blend I found and LOVE)
4 T. chili powder
2 T. olive oil

In a food processor, finely chop the onion, celery, carrot and garlic. Heat olive oil in a VERY large pot. Add in the chopped vegetables and sauteed about 5 minutes just until they begin to soften. Add in the ground beef and cook thoroughly, until the meat is no longer pink. Drain the grease off of the meat and return to the pot. Add all remaining ingredients except the beans and stir well. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer and let it go. Mine simmered about 2 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the beans and heat through. Serve with that cornbread I posted on Friday night :)

Tonight we are going to attempt a trip to the Franklin Drive-in. The remnant of Tropical Storm Lee is rolling though town, so we will see if we actually make it. Tomorrow is a day of either fun in the sun or fun inside... and cheesecake :)

Until next time, stay dry and loved, my friends!

Yankee-fied Southern Cornbread

Necessity is the Mother of Invention, right? Tonight is one of those make-do-with-what-you-have kind of meals. I will post the recipes as separate blog posts, just because I haven't posted in FOREVER!! Think I will even hold off a little bit and post the other one in the morning. Also, I have a yummy dessert to post, which will have to wait until Sunday.

Have you noticed how your cooking changes in the summer? In the winter we make lots of soups and stews and casseroles and roasts and things in the crockpot - soothing, comforting, warm, and full of flavor. Summer is just so darn hot! I don't feel inspired to cook much in the summer. We make salad, grill chicken, the occasional burger and macaroni and cheese (yes, from scratch, are you kidding??) and lots of veggies. I still make spaghetti sauce in the summer. Otherwise we eat differently.

School started back for my kiddos this week, and despite the fact that it was 100 degrees outside today, I felt the urge to make something warm and comforting. So a pot of chili is simmering on the stove and 2 loaves of a Yankee-fied cornbread are in the oven baking away happily. I am not the Queen of Cornbread. I have one recipe that I love, but didn't have the ingredients for it. So, off I went to find one that I could make with what I have. First of all, I have self-rising cornmeal... I feel a bit ashamed of myself. It seems like a cheater's way of baking - the whole self-rising flour thing. I grew up where everything was made from scratch and this seems kind of half-way between scratch and a mix. I think I have blogged about my feelings for self-rising flour before, so I will just leave it at that and say that I have it because my husband bought it :) Yeah, I'll just blame it on him and move on. I like sweet cornbread that is more like a cake and this fits the bill. I have made cornbread in a skillet in the oven, in a square baking dish, in a glass pie plate (my favorite recipe is done this way) and in muffin tins. This is a first in loaf pans. This is Yankee-fied because I made it sweet and did not make it in the skillet like my southern friends would do. I think I finally hit on a winner.

Yankee-fied Southern Cornbread

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 2/3 cups self-rising white cornmeal
2 cups self-rising flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar (I used light, either way I think it would work)
2 cups milk
4 large eggs, beaten
Honey to top with
* Recipe makes two 9-by-4 1/2-inch loaves.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9x4 ½ inch loaf pans  and line with parchment paper, set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal and flour, set aside. Melt the butter in the microwave for 2 minutes, stir in the brown sugar, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Whisk in milk and then eggs. Pour into the dry mixture and stir until blended. Evenly pour batter into loaf pans, making sure the tops are smoothed. Bake until loaves are golden, about 30-35 minutes. Let cornbread loaves cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold with butter, honey, jam...

Ps. When I go to Cracker Barrel, I like to ask for corn muffins and a bottle of maple syrup (one of the only places you can get the REAL THING) and I make that my dessert. I see something like that in my future this evening!

Until next time, stay cool and loved, my friends!

Watermelon-Mint Granita

The other day Ali posted on her status that she wanted watermelon. Hopefully she found one somewhere at a market. I look forward to hearing how they will celebrate the 4th of July in the Dominican Republic. I am not a huge fan of watermelon... it's not that I don't like it, I just prefer other melons, plus I never understood why someone would actually want to eat something that you have to pick the seeds out of while you eat it! I know they make seedless versions and this recipe is best with one of those small, seedless varieties. It is perfect for a hot summer day. I think it would be a great addition to your Independence Day celebration this weekend. It is ultra-simple to make!

Watermelon-Mint Granita

1 small seedless watermelon
1 large bunch fresh mint
1 large lemon
2 cups water
2 cups sugar

In a saucepan, heat the water until it is just simmering. Pour in the sugar and stir on the heat until all of the sugar dissolves. Toss in 1/2 of the mint, stems and all, remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. While the simple syrup cools, cut the watermelon up into chunks. You should have about 8 cups (roughly). Remove the mint leaves from the remainder of the bunch discarding the stems. Zest and juice the lemon. Place the melon, mint, lemon juice/zest and cooled simple syrup (remove the mint leaves/stems that have been steeping in it) into a blender container and blend until smooth. Pour into a 9x13 glass baking dish and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours. You can scrape it with a fork every hour to create fluffy ice crystals or you can be lazy and cut it up after it is frozen through.

This works well with any melon, so try it with cantaloupe or honeydew, or all three and serve them together - that would be pretty!!

Keep cool this weekend! It's gonna be a scorcher!

Lemon-Caper Chicken, Mashed Potato Cakes and Missing Children

Okay, so my kids are not missing and this blog is not about children who have disappeared or been kidnapped. It is about me - missing my children. I can understand now why parents have children later in life. Don't worry, I have no plans for more children. That last one just about killed me... literally.

Ali left on June 1 very early in the morning. She got on a plane all by herself and flew roughly 1500 miles away to stay 2 months in Dajabon, Dominican Republic while helping an old high school friend of mine whose family is ministering in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Glen Clementi and his wife Debbie are in the process of building an orphanage in Haiti. Ali has been learning Spanish and Haitian Creole, playing with and teaching the children, helping out in the Clementi home and obviously growing closer to God as she is used however He sees fit to use her. It has been 3 weeks and she has 5 more to go. She is settling in to a routine and really seems to be flourishing there. I miss talking to her, hearing her voice and seeing her laughter. She is doing some great things and I know she is being forever changed by this opportunity.

Nate and Kami got on several vans carrying 32 students and adults to Orlando, Florida to go to Lifeway's SonPower. It is a choir/mission camp that the youth choir, 4:12 has been to for the last several years. It is an amazing opportunity and this year there are 1400 students there. They will make a recording on Friday of all of the music they have been working on, 13 songs in all. I wish I could be there with them :)

Needless to say, I am missing the kiddos. But they will be home soon and once again noise, laughter, fighting, complaining and more noise will again fill the house. This silence is KILLING me!

The other night I made Lemon-Caper Chicken and had a good bit of mashed potatoes that needed to be used up. I am not a fan of leftover potatoes because they tend to be mealy. I decided to try my hand at making them into pancakes and came up with this recipe. They came out really tasty. As I was eating them, I thought how much better they would be with some crumbled up bacon and green onions stirred in - like stuffed potato skins...maybe even with a sour cream sauce drizzled on the top... I'll get right on the re-make of this recipe.


It's been a while. I am teaching writing seminars this summer and this week I have a "Parent Seminar" and one of the parents inspired me to write today. Apparently I have readers that I don't even know about :) That made me smile and realize that I really have no excuse for not getting back at this. Enjoy your chicken and potatoes!! I love to hear comments so let me know you are reading!

Lemon-Caper Chicken Breasts

4-6 boneless chicken breasts
1-2 large lemons
2-3 cloves of garlic (1 per every 2 chicken pieces)
2 T. capers, drained
kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle olive oil in a 9x13 baking dish. Lay the chicken in the pan and grate the garlic using a microplane over the pieces. Zest the lemons using the same microplane then juice the lemons letting the zest and the juice cover the chicken pieces. Sprinkle the capers over all and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Mashed Potato Cakes

2-3 cups leftover real mashed potatoes (don't use the fake stuff PLEASE!!)
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup shredded cheddar (or any cheese you like)
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
3T butter
3T olive oil

Thoroughly mix the eggs into the potatoes. Stir in the cheese, salt and pepper (here is where one MIGHT have added in 1/2 c. crumbled bacon and 1/4 c. finely chopped green onion IF one was thinking straight the other night). In a large nonstick skillet, heat butter and oil. Take approximately 1/2 cup of the potato mixture and pat into a 1/2-thick circle. Coat both sides with bread crumbs and lay gently in the hot oil. Repeat and put as many as will fit the pan with a little space between. I did this in 2 batches in a 12-inch skillet. Let them sit undisturbed for at least 12 minutes until the bottom side is golden brown. Turn gently and allow the other side to cook completely. Don't be tempted to turn them too early or they will fall apart! Don't make them wider than your spatula or you will have difficulty turning them.

Until next time - stay COOL and loved, my friends!

Lasagna - Garfield knew what he was talking about!

Comfort food - why is it that MOST of the things that we love so much, that make us happy, that remind us of home, of love, of comfort, of true joy, are horribly bad for us?? Lasagna is one of those things that is full of the stuff that we are supposed to avoid. I absolutely refuse to make it with turkey sausage or soy cheese or fat free ricotta... that would just ruin it! Some things need to be done RIGHT :)

That brings to the table the other challenge for this particular lasagna. David and Nate did my grocery shopping for me. I was very specific about the brand of toilet paper and the conditioner that Kami needed for her hair. I guess I thought some things just go without saying. We eat out of the same refrigerator, right? I typically buy the same brands, the same things week in and week out. When I buy shredded cheese, it is always in the biggest bag I can find. Parmesan is almost always a hard wedge that I grate myself as I need it. And while we are on the subject - if I put hard taco shells on the shopping list, get hard taco shells. Don't leave them out because I am the only one that wants them... there... I feel better now!

Cindi told me that if I am making lasagna tonight, I need to post the recipe. So that is what I am doing. I will say that I use my own homemade sauce (recipe posted a while ago. look it up, make it and freeze it in 4-6 cup containers for nights such as this). So Cindi - here you go. I will try and remember to bring you a piece tomorrow night :)

Lasagna

1 box lasagna noodles - UNcooked (trust me - it works every time)
4-6 cups of meat spaghetti sauce
2 cups ricotta cheese
1 1/2 c. Parmesan cheese (freshly grated, of course)
2 eggs
1/4 c. parsley
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
4 cups shredded mozzarella (or apparently colby-jack works, too)
1 1/2 c. water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your lasagna dish with extra long pieces of aluminum foil. It makes clean-up much easier! In a large bowl thoroughly mix the ricotta, 1 c. of the Parmesan, 2 eggs, the parsley, garlic powder, salt and pepper. In the bottom of the baking dish spoon 1/2 c. spaghetti sauce and 1/2 c. water. Layer one layer of lasagna noodles (about 5-7 depending on the size of your dish). Top with 1/3 of the ricotta mixture. Spread over the noodles. Top with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and 1 cup of spaghetti sauce. Drizzle over 1/2 cup of water. Layer 2nd layer of noodles, top with 1/2 of remaining ricotta mixture, 1 cup mozzarella, then another cup of sauce and then the remaining ricotta mixture. Top with third layer of noodles, remaining sauce and final 1/2 cup of water. Wrap tightly with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees. Remove the foil wrapping and top with remaining 1 cup shredded cheese and 1/2 c. Parmesan. Return to the oven uncovered for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes before serving.

In this particular lasagna I added 6 Italian sausages that I baked last night and sliced in thin slices between the layers of pasta.

I'm off to eat, now that I have blogged about it :)

Enjoy your dinner. Until next time, stay warm (it's freezing in Tennessee) and safe, my friends!

Oven Baked Talapia

I keep wondering if I will ever get back to this on a consistent basis. I hope that I will this summer. For now, I made Talapia tonight with corn and a pasta salad. Kami started the salad... she cooked the pasta, made vinaigrette and tossed in some black olives. She was happy to leave it at that. I, on the other hand, had to take half of it out and add in marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, green peas and cooked diced carrot. It was much tastier that way :)

I love my "job", if you can call being a self-employed writing teacher a job. I have great students that may not always want to be there, but they engage (most of the time) and at least they do their work (most of the time). I will miss them during the summer, but to tell you the truth, I need a break - and they do too!

Baked Talapia

Talapia fillets
olive oil
lemons
dill
parsley
paprika
bread crumbs
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 and lightly oil a baking sheet with olive oil. Lay the fish fillets in an even layer. Sprinkle with dill, parsley, salt, pepper, zest of lemon (save lemons for juicing over the fish when cooked), and bread crumbs. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and toss in the oven. Bake until cooked through - around 15 minutes.

ps. I was gifted with some delicious coarse sea salt (some from Sicily and some from Spain), Hungarian paprika and several other spices/seasonings from some of my students. I used the Hungarian paprika and the Sicilian sea salt to make this dish. Thanks Lilly, Abigail and Tyler!

Until next time (I'm thinking lasagna??)
Stay warm and dry, my friends!

Croissant French Toast - Ali's Last Trip Home from College

Now don't freak out by the title. She is moving home on Wednesday at the end of her first year of college. Next year she is going to live at home, so she will no longer be "coming home" from college :) I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. She is one-quarter of the way through college - at least her undergraduate degree. Knowing this typical first child, she will not stop with an undergrad degree. Anyway, she came home for breakfast yesterday and spent a little time at home relaxing before heading off for her last 4 days on campus. A couple of weeks ago, Ronda and I went to Mache is East Nashville and I had the most AMAZING french toast made with croissants. That was the inspiration for breakfast yesterday morning.

Speaking of french toast... When I was a senior in high school my mom and dad took my sister Marcy and me (yes, "me" not "I") to Disney World and Epcot Center. It had just been open for a few months, so there are a lot of exhibits there now that were not there or were not yet opened. We made some amazing memories that holiday. I remember eating breakfast one morning in one of the park restaurants. My mother ordered french toast (she lived on bread, practically) and a woman with a foreign accent asked my mother what she was eating. Turns out the woman was from France and she had never heard of french toast :) I know now they call it something different there - Pain Perdue, or something like that. I also remember one of the "cast members" from Germany flirting with my dad, but that is a  story for another day.

Croissant French Toast

12 croissants
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla
dash salt

In a bowl whisk the eggs, cream, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Butter a hot griddle. Cut the croissants in half horizontally and dip in egg custard. Grill until lightly browned. Serve with butter, REAL maple syrup, powdered sugar, berries, or whatever your favorite french toast toppings are. It couldn't be simpler. Do me a favor, though, buy croissants from the bakery or bakery section - DO NOT use the Pillsbury crescent rolls. That would just be a travesty!

Got to get ready for church and a full rainy day.
Until next time, stay DRY and loved, my friends!

Sour Cream Lemon Pie - It's Raining Again!

Around this time last year Nashville experienced one of those so-called "200 year floods". I hope we are not about to get another one. Isn't it supposed to wait 200 years before it does that again? Thankfully we live in a place that stays pretty "flood free", but so many friends experienced damage. My sister-in-law's hill behind her house slid and damaged their garage. The contractor was supposed to have the hill fixed by May 6. Let's hope the hill does not slide again before he finishes the job!

Easter Sunday was the first holiday that one of my children was not around to be with the family. Ali had to work and so did David. Nate, Kami and I went to Sandy's for traditional Easter dinner. I made lemon pies, one of my dad's favorites as well as David's dad's favorites. My mom made a sour cream lemon pie that I remember so fondly. I have made it a few times, so this year I made a regular one (Alton Brown's recipe) and one of her sour cream ones. I don't know if I have said this before, but I do NOT make my own pie crust. I don't pretend or even try to make people think that I do it myself... I do buy the Pillsbury refrigerated kind so that if someone is polite enough to not ask (just kidding - you can ask), they MIGHT think that I made it since I did crimp the crust!

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

1 c. white sugar
1/3 c. corn starch
1/2 t. salt
2 c. milk
1/2 c. sour cream
3 egg yolks
1/4 c. butter
1 1/2 t. finely shredded lemon peel
1/4 c. lemon juice
whipped cream (fresh, of course)
9-inch pie shell, baked


In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir on medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat and cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks slightly. Gradually whisk in 1 cup of thickened mixture into yolks. Return egg mixture to the saucepan and whisk completely. Return pan to heat and bring to a gentle boil. cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter, peel and lemon juice. Stir in sour cream. Pour filling into baked pie shell and cool completely. Serve with fresh whipped cream.