Shut the door, I'm dressing!

One of my favorite cookbooks is The Junior League of Pasadena California Heritage Cookbook. I've had it since 1976. My dog, as a puppy, chewed the corner and many of the pages have stains. I love this cookbook. One of my favorite recipes is something they call Mexican White Dressing. Reading the recipe you might also wonder why it's called this, it's puzzled me forever.

This is one of those sweet dressings that goes well with avocado and citrus salads but the following is an old standby of mine. First, the dressing.

Mexican White Dressing
1 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 tablespoon of powdered onion
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt

Mix all the ingredients in a 1-quart covered jar and allow to stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. Shake well just before using. This dressing will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator.

Now, the salad. It couldn't be easier. You can add candied nuts or Gorgonzola, whatever you enjoy. The sweet dressing is a wonderful compliment to the strong cheese.

Napa Cabbage Salad
Chop into bite-sized pieces a medium head of Napa cabbage.
To this add walnuts and crumbled blue cheese and toss with dressing.

Artichokes and cream: what's not to love

If life were perfect I would have created this dish but nope, it wasn't me. It was another food blogger, Ree Drummond at Pioneer Woman. She's just come out with a cookbook but I've been reading her blog all along. She takes a million photos of the process for each recipe and has fun doing it. She has a handful of home schooled kids and a working cattle ranch. She is way too organized but has an honest blog that is fun to read and is a damn fine cook.

Spaghetti with artichokes and tomatoes

She touts this as almost entirely made from the pantry and I did use canned artichoke hearts but I had enough fresh Roma tomatoes so I blanched and pealed them. I had thought frozen artichokes but they might be to watery and Trader Joe's has a very nice canned product. It is easy, quick and very filling. I like to have a meatless dinner ever so often and this fits the bill.

Ree added the cheese a bit differently. Hot pasta into a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and then sprinkle a fair amount of grated Parmesan. Then top with the hot sauce. I think that helped to incorporate the cheese better. And like her, I use tongs to help mix this all together. Where ever would I be without tongs. They are on my family crest.

Editor's note: I got so wound up about this dish I missed one thing. It was delicious! My beloved enjoyed it and didn't even miss the meat. I could have eaten the whole bowl but held myself in check. Red sauce is on for me but I really have trouble with the acid. This had a yummy tomato flavor without the acid-reflux I usually experience. Do make this. Go to the store right now.

Hot Fudge

Sometimes hot fudge sundaes for dinner is just what you need. I mean, really, let's throw caution to the wind and enjoy what we want. Life is stressful enough these days, but I'm an optimist; I feel we are getting better.

When my beloved decided he wasn't hungry for dinner I asked if he had room for dessert. He quickly agreed he had room for a hot fudge sundae. Friday we had friends over for dinner and since I don't bake much in the summer, we had a simple dish of ice cream with peach sauce for dessert. That meant there was ice cream left in the freezer.

A few days ago, in an unusual fit of cleaning, I ran across a recipe for my mom's hot fudge. This was not your usual chocolate syrup this was something divine. I had never made it but had asked mom quite a few years ago how she concocted this delightful pleasure. It is way too easy.

Hot Fudge
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (try some of the La Lechera that Doodles posted about)
powdered cocoa
milk
pinch of salt (optional)

In a small sauce pan heat the condensed milk slowly and whisk in enough cocoa powder to taste. Some people like it more chocolaty than others. As it heats, thin it to the right consistency with milk. You want to be able to pour the syrup. Add a pinch of salt. Heat and stir until it's smooth, no need to come close to a boil.

Pour over your favorite ice cream but pour enough you want a bite of that tasty fudgy syrup with each bite of ice cream.

It's September

Some areas of the country are beginning to feel some coolness to their weather, not where we are but hey Southern California always has to be different.

I read somewhere that September is National Fruits & Vegetable month. Well I know for a fact that there are some tasty fruits around this time of the year. Farmer's Markets have an abundance of fruits and veggies and for that I am so thankful.

But have you noticed in your market the vast supply of avocados, my word this must be a bumper crop year. Oh and where we are right now the price is very good thank you very much.

I love me a good avocado salad with red onion, chick peas, chopped tomatoes and for a dressing just fresh lime juice and good extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. I add chopped cilantro but not everyone likes this herb so leave it out if you want. If I have some red cabbage or even savoy cabbage, I slice that thin and add it, gives it a crispness Maybe add some fried/baked tortilla strips to use instead of croutons.

But one of my favorite ways to eat an avocado is to mash it with a little lime and salt and add just about a nickel size dollop of some pepper paste, you know that stuff you get in a tube, add that, then spread it on a piece of sourdough bread that has been under the broiler for a few seconds.

Well since it's still September I'm gonna go think of some fruits and veggies to share that is a bit out of the ordinary.................do you have some to share?..................email and I'll post them as well................stay tuna'd

Sweet

We had company the other nite for dinner...........friends were leaving so I made a pork roast with all the trimmings, nothing special just the carrots, onions and potatoes. What I liked the best was the gravy I made from the juice, quite tasty with the addition of the smokey paprika I rubbed on the roast.

But this post is not about the main meal it's about my new favorite desert or should I say desert addition. It was a bit too warm to bake a pie or a cake. And given the time of year and the great fruit that abounds in this area at
least.

Peaches are at the top of my list with a few blueberries and raspberries added as well as some toasted pecan pieces added after a drizzle of this delectable sweetened condensed milk. I just recently found this product and was quite pleased with the fact it is not as heavy sweet like the sweetened condensed milk I have been using for many, many years.
The wonderful locally grown peaches are spectacular, added to the peaches were some dried cranberries and some toasted sliced almonds.


Next up using this to make my key lime pie recipe..............that will be the real test I'm thinking.

Not enough butter in your diet? We have the answer

Buttercream Frosting! I was feeling like the blood through my arteries was moving much to fast so I decided to make honest to goodness buttercream frosting. This is a Cook's Country recipe and it's pretty easy though I'm sure very high in cholesterol. This recipe makes enough for a small cake or about 24 cupcakes. I cut it in half for 15 and I still had a bit left. What ever to do with a 1/4 cup of frosting?

Buttercream Frosting
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch table salt
1 pound unsalted butter, softened and each stick cut into eights

Combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in bowl of standing mixer, place bowl over pan of simmering water. Whisking gently but constantly, heat mixture until thin and foamy and registers 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer.

Beat egg mixture on medium-high speed with whisk attachment until light, airy, and cooled to room temperature, about five minutes. (I put an ice pack around the outside of the bowl because it was pretty hot in my kitchen.) Reduce speed to medium and add butter, one piece at a time. (After adding half the butter, buttercream may look curdled; it will smooth with additional butter.) Once all butter is added, increase speed to high and beat 1 minute until light, fluffy, and thoroughly combined. (Can be covered and refrigerated up to 5 days.) Do let it warm up and restir to make it fluffy and spreadable again.

I frosted the cupcakes and sprinkled some toasted sugared slice almonds. Just perfect. I kept them refrigerated until a few minutes before serving because that butter sets up solid when cold, just like it does in your arteries.

a new find.............goat cheese

Not a new find to me but to my dear husband. While checking out the local farmers market Mr Doodles found the goat cheese vendor. My word you would have thought he had found the hope diamond but he did find some killer goat cheese.

What Mr liked was the creaminess of the cheese with the additions of dried cranberries. Then there was a variety with the cheese in a jar with lemon juice,good olive oil, a sprig of fresh rosemary and some black peppercorns. Another variety was plain cheese rolled in a variety of items, one was cilantro very finely chopped. So because Mr was enthralled with the cheese he had to have a very long chat with the fellow who was also the owner,he and his wife are the owners actually, wife happened to be at another farmers market.

We went to lunch later and I was telling Mr about 'lil bird', my sweet niece, wanting to have a few goats and make some cheese. Well he laughed hysterically and said if only we were younger we would do that. We had one goat once upon a time, Doone was a very sweet goat. Mr reminded me a a cute photo of sweet niece feeding Doone but Doone decided he liked niece's dress she was wearing and started chewing on the hem. As I remember it was Easter and 'lil bird' was dressed in all her Easter finery. I think I'm gonna look for that photo.

Anyway back to the goat cheese,
one of the cheeses I purchased was the creamy goat cheese rolled in some wonderfully sweet and moist dried cranberries.

Gonna go look for some recipes that uses goat cheese............stay tuna'd.