Meal Ideas

I came across this blog and appreciate the simplicity that she uses when she approaches meal planning . . . reminded me of some foods that I just don't make any more and I picked up a couple of ideas.

SuperHealthyKids

Beating the Cold--Baking Style

My house is awesomely cold. Probably not an issue in a regular winter, but it is during this one. They just don't make homes in Texas to withstand cold weather. I am colder here in my home built in the 90s than I was in my townhome in the DC area built in the 70s.

I had a terribly hard time with some dough this afternoon; it would just not rise. I tried to start it early enough to shape it for cinnamon rolls to allow them to rise a second time in the fridge for a party tomorrow. But, it was too cold for the dough to work.

After 4 hours of nonrising, I put a heating pad above and below the bowl, and it is working beautifully! And, so I go out on the internet and other people do the same thing like on a regular basis. Who knew? It is working so nicely, I think I'll do it from here on out.

Our Holiday Treats

Here are two of the recipes we used this holiday season . . .

Sugar n Spiced Nuts (from allrecipes.com)
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons water
3 cups walnut halves
2 cups pecan halves
1 cup whole unblanched almonds
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites and water until frothy. Add nuts; stir gently to coat. Combine the remaining ingredients. Add to nut mixture and stir gently to coat. Spread into two greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pans. Bake, uncovered, at 300 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring every 10 minutes. Cool. Store in an airtight container.

These smelled heavenly . . . some parts were a bit sticky after baking. I just let them set out the rest of the day and overnight. No stickiness in the morning. I only used pecans, pistachios, and almonds cause I don't like walnuts . . . but after tasting this, I do think that the walnuts would add another nice dimension.

Orange Cranberry Drops (from allrecipes.com)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg
3 tablespoons orange juice
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F(190 degrees C). Lightly grease cookie sheets, or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, cream together the white sugar, brown sugar, and butter. Stir in the egg, orange juice, orange extract, and orange zest. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix into the orange mixture. Stir in the dried cranberries.

Drop cookie dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart, on the prepared cookie sheets.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until edges are starting to brown. Cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Only made about 20 cookies, not 36. I didn't use the orange extract, I just added more orange zest and a little more juice (but not very much).

Potato Soup

In what will probably the last flash of energy for awhile, I made soup last week. It was tasty!

Potato Soup with Ham and Dill
From Eastside Cafe

5 tablespoons butter, margarine, or vegetable oil
2 cups onions, diced
1 tablespoon carrots, grated
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup smoked, lean ham, minced
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
4 cups whipping cream, half/half, or milk
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and pepper

In a large soup pot, sauté onions over medium heat in 2 tablespoons butter, margarine, or vegetable oil for 10 minutes. Add carrots and garlic, and sauté for an additional 3 minutes. Add potatoes, stock or water, ham*, and dill. Cook over low heat 20 minutes until potatoes are tender.

In a separate saucepan, make a roux by melting 3 tablespoons butter, margarine, or vegetable oil and whisking in 2 tablespoons flour. Cook roux over low heat, whisking constantly for 3 minutes. Set aside. When the potatoes are tender**, add the whipping cream, half/half, or milk and heat thoroughly, but do not boil. Whisk roux into the soup and continue whisking over medium heat until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.

Sheila’s Notes:
*I add in another cup to 1 ½ cups of ham cut into chunky pieces.
**Before adding in the whipping cream, half/half, or milk—I pull out most of the potatoes and either blend them until they are creamed or I cream them in a ricer. (I recommend the ricer if you want to minimize cleaning.) I do this because I prefer a creamier soup to the chunkier soup. The chunky version is just as tasty.

It is very easy to burn the soup once the milk product is added. Be sure to keep it from boiling and be on hand to stir frequently.

What is roux? roux (roo), noun, a cooked mixture of melted butter (or other fat) and flour, used for thickening sauces, soups, gravies, etc.

What is a ricer?

Cool Stuff . . . The Sweet Stuff

I enjoy creating desserts the most out of all the cooking options.

When I need some inspiration--

In cyberspace, I start here:

Bakerella

Build a Cake--

I just love this application. So creative!

A Year of Crockpotting

Cupcake Bake Shop

Pimp My Dinner

Cupcakes Takes the Cake

Epicurious

Dessert First
KimVallee--

Much more than desserts

In person:

Amphora

And, my newest love for desserts and all things sweet

my bread maker--

I never cook the bread in the machine;

I just use it to make the more complicated yeast doughs.

2 Cool Things to Share

First: A recipe (Thanks, Lala!)

Gulf Coast Shrimp Dip

Ingredients:

1 pound boiled and peeled shrimp
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chili sauce
1 cup minced green onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper

Directions:
Finely chop shrimp and set aside. Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise and chili sauce in a medium bowl, add green onions and next five ingredients. Stir in shrimp. Chill several hours.

Second: A great blog, especially if you are a mom or love to share ideas

Rocks In My Dryer

Valentine Thoughts

Brian Andreas, Traveling Light

Banana Chocolate Delight

1 pint chocolate chip ice cream

2 ripe bananas, cut into small chunks

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup light corn syrup

ground cinnamon to serve

mint leaves to decorate

Place ice cream, bananas, milk, and corn syrup in blender container and process until well combined. Pour into chilled glasses, sprinkle with cinnamon and decorate with fresh mint leaves.

Serves 4

Poached Pears with Hot Fudge Sauce

6 firm pears

1 stick cinnamon

4 whole cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

vanilla ice cream

Hot Fudge Sauce Supreme (see below)

Peel pears, cut in half, and core. Place 2 cups water, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg in saucepan. Bring to a simmer, add pears and water to cover it necessary. Cook just until pears are fork-tender. Drain and cool. Cover and refrigerate. To serve, arrange 2 pear halves, cut side up, on serving place. Place scoop of vanilla ice cream in center of each pear half. Spoon Hot Fudge Sauce Supreme over.

6 servings

Hot Fudge Sauce Supreme

3/4 cup half-and-half

1 & 3/4 cups sugar

1 Tbs light corn syrup

3 oz unsweetened chocolate

3 Tbs unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Combine half-and-half, sugar, and syrup in saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, add chocolate, and stir until melted. Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt. Serve warm over dessert.

About 2 cups

You're the strangest person I ever met, she said & I said you too & we decided we'd know each other a long time.

Brian Andreas

Cool Stuff . . . Food Focused

I love food. And I love to cook. I am best at baking and soups. Bit by bit I am attempting to master cuisines other than Texan. Being in DC allows me the chance to obtain all the ingredients quickly and afford-ably so that I can play with my food without hesitation.

When I across the Play with Your Food books by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers . . . I was hooked and enjoy using food, imagination, and toothpicks to replicate the humanlike faces in our inanimate veggies and fruits.

Here are a couple of websites I wander through:

Cupcakes--I really love them. More than the eating, I enjoy the design of them. A small working space creates just the right amount of challenge.

The first website I go to in order to search for the perfect recipe is epicurious.com. (I only use those recipes that have a four fork rating.) RecipeZaar is also a really great place.

For those dishes I come across and enjoy at those [gasp] chain restaurants, I check out Top Secret Recipes to see if it is listed for free (I am really cheap).

America's Test Kitchen is a TV show *and* a place online. There are some free recipes and videos. I like this particular show because they get to explaining the science behind the recipe which gives you information that you can generalize to other recipes.

Here is the host of America's Test Kitchen, Christopher Kimball, showing you the parts of the pig with their cool pig model. Why wasn't this part of my zoology class in college when we dissected pigs?

Here are a couple of the recipes that people most commonly ask to have:

Crepes

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

2 TBSP melted butter

1/4 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients in a blender. Let stand about 30 minutes. (I also add a bit of vanilla if I am going to be using the crepes to make sweet crepes.)

Source: Hughes' Family

Chicken Enchilada Soup

2 tablespoons butter, margarine, or oil

1 cup onions, diced

¾ cup celery, diced

½ cup bell peppers, diced

1 ½ tablespoon of garlic, minced

8 cups of chicken stock

3 cups of cooked chicken, diced

2 14 ½ ounce cans whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped

¼ fresh lime juice

¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced

1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced

½ teaspoon cumin, ground

salt and pepper

Garnish: fried tortilla strips and grated jack cheese

Heat butter, margarine, or vegetable oil in a large soup pot. Sauté onions, celery, bell peppers, and garlic for 15 minutes over medium heat. Add stock and remaining ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with fried tortilla strips and cheese.

Sheila’s Notes:

• I add a can of corn to the pot. Also, I cook the soup for a couple of hours.
• I find that you often need more cumin. Just taste the soup to see if you need more.
• If you season the chicken with salt and pepper when the chicken is cooked, you do not need to add it to the soup.

Apple Pear Compote (from RecipeZaar)

4 ounces dry white wine

1 teaspoon honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 Granny Smith apple peeled, pared, and chopped

1 Macintosh apple peeled, pared, and chopped

10 ounces of pear peeled, pared, and chopped

frozen non-dairy whipped topping, thawed

In a large saucepan, combine wine, honey, vanilla, and spices. Cook over high heat until mixture boils. Add Granny Smith apple. Reduce heat and cook until liquid is reduced by half, about ten minutes. Add McIntosh apple and pear. Cook until fruit is tender and liquid is mostly evaporated and syrupy. Top with whipped topping and serve.

Sheila’s Notes:

• I use one pear instead of worrying about 10 ounces of pear.
• When I "chop" the fruit, I actually just slice it because I don't like it too mushy.
• I don't serve it with whipped topping. It is great to eat by itself or on pancakes or waffles.