christmas dinner

better later than never! we had a fabulous christmas dinner at mooncrazy's house: prime rib, yorkshire puddings, mashed potatoes, green beans. it was amazing.


Photo by Avgvstvs


Photo by Avgvstvs


Photo by Avgvstvs

weekend dog blogging

better late than never, here's some christmas day snaps of pbe's hounds...


multy. Photo by Avgvstvs


max. Photo by Avgvstvs


buddy. Photo by Avgvstvs


don't forget to check out other foodies' hounds at sweetnicks' weekend dog blogging!

Brining without a refrigerator

Over the holiday with my fridge was packed with food but I needed to brine a pork loin. Hm mm, no room.

My brine bucket is pretty big so I added lots of ice to the brine and monitored it with my digital thermometer. An alert was set if the water got over 33 degrees. The kitchen wasn't very warm so it stayed that way all day; thus saving me lots of space.

The pork loin? Moist and yummy.

How creative are you? Share some of your ideas.

33 1/3% LA--100% Californio

One of our Foodie Friends, Soul Fusion Kitchen had a good New Year's Resolution: Become acquainted with some of the LA based food blogs. A January LA Times article listed some but not all. They somehow missed quite of few of us. Oh well, we'll have to wait for our fifteen minutes of fame. Sylvie does have a list so if you interested in LA, and who isn't, slide on over.

I consider PBE a LA food blog even though only one of us actually resides there. I like to think Doodles is an LA food blogger on a long-term assignment in another state. She did spend a considerable amount of time in Southern California and cooks with that flavor. I'm very close to being in LA a short trip down the 118. Our hearts are all Californian.

There is one more I'd like to add; Acme Instant Food. What a funny-quirky LA sort of blog. I'm sure there are more but this one has been my "must read" for a while. Check it out if for nothing other than the Great Vodka Experiment of 2006.

Note: Californio, not a typo.

Pork, Pork, Pork, the other white meat

Well that's what they say in the ad's. Haven't seen those in awhile. Anyway I'm at the market and see this pork butt on sale 59 cents a pound. What I say, can't be I look in the case and they are all the same price per pond. So the market got a "butt load" (pun intended) of pork butts and now are passing along the savings to us, how sweet is that. I never noticed the sale in their flyer, but then I am not always diligent about checking the sales, heck who am I kidding I hardly ever do. If I stumble on a sale it's because I was at the right place at the right time.

Which brings me back to these pork butts. There weren't very many of them in the case, probably cause they were rather massive. Big butted pigs as husband would call them, and he knows about pigs because we raised pigs once upon a time. Another story another time.
So I walk away from the meat case thinking what the heck am I gonna do with all that pork? After cruising the aisles of the market I find myself back to the meat case with the subject pork. I pick up a 9.8 pound piece and off I go.

I get home, unload and stash said stuff, then look at this piece of meat, reach over pick up the phone and call sister moon. "What the heck have I done? It's later in the afternoon, I wanna cook this thing. How should I do that, slow roast, cover it, braising method, OK times wasting I don't wanna freeze it". And all sister moon could say is "nothing is 59 cent a pound any more".
I know I comment - "think it was a mistake so I gotta get this thing in the oven before they come to repo my pork butt".

We came to the collective decision of heat the oven to 425 put the pork in after I thoroughly salted and pepper the piece, put it in uncovered. I cooked it at the 425 mark for half hour forty five minutes then turned it down to 275 and slow roasted it for five ish hours. I didn't cook it till done because whatever I was going to do with this piece cooking was going to be involved.

Let it cool, divided the piece into three indiviual packages and put two in the freezer. The other I left in the fridge for dinner the next nite, and the next nite, and the next nite. No not really but you get the picture.

Stay tuna'd for all of my pork meal ideas...OR if you would have any suggestions bring em on!!!

Building a turkey; one leg at a time

Thanksgiving was celebrated at relatives so didn't get to snack on leftover turkey. Christmas, well that was prime rib and we are still waiting on the pix, lil birdy. New Year's Eve, nope no turkey there. Where is my turkey?

I had to search three local markets for find a fresh one and all they had were 1/2 breasts and legs. Well, darling husband had a turkey-jones so I snapped it up. I was more in the mood for dressing.

Since poultry loves the brine I started adding stuff. Salt, of course, into ample water and some almost-too-old citrus. Waste not; want not. I was close to pouring in some flat rootbeer, go with it--it needed sugar to make the skin brown--passed on that idea and tossed in some honey. Old Bay Seasonings will never let you down. Not Old Spice, that is a totally different product. Into the fridge overnight. Goodnight dear bird.

The dressing: New Year's Eve I served hunks French bread to dip in Italian Butter (olive oil, garlic and course ground black pepper) so that leftover bread on a cookie sheet with some drizzled olive oil, dressing friendly herbs and bit of salt. Baked until it was nice and crisp short of burned. Cooled then into a plastic bag and beat it into smaller pieces with the end of a champagne bottle. A very fine multi-tasker that Alton Brown has failed to mention.

Chopped celery, onions in butter, (I know I promised to diet, soon, Dr, very soon) and then poured that over the cooled bread. I added some chicken broth and tasted to adjusted the seasonings now because I'm going to add raw eggs. My mom always tasted after the eggs but I can't get by the raw egg. Don't be afraid of the seasoning because with the roasting they will mellow out. Add a bit more sage and such than you think and no broth; add milk.

The eggs, this is where my mom's dressing is different from most. The eggs give it the cohesiveness it needs and also a lovely soft rich texture. How many? One in you stuff a chicken and two for a bigger bird. Remember, eggs are fat, the more you use the richer it will be. Also more calories.

I was out of wild rice so skipped it. Now my sister, doodles reminded me not to be adding a bunch of other stuff and she was right. At times, mom added oysters or water chestnuts and maybe pecans but she didn't add anything else. She was a plain basic cook and I go back to her methods more often than not.

No whole bird to stuff so I piled the dressing on a cookie sheet and put the half breast on top and laid the legs beside. I wrapped it all in foil and high heat for about 20 minutes until it sizzled then down to 325 until almost done. Off with the foil and remove the drippings and back into a 350 oven to brown up the skin. Let it rest of a few minutes and make a bit of gravy with the drippings. I know, diet but I only made enough to drizzle over the turkey and dressing.

It was so satisfying but it doesn't cook long enough to get the whole house smelling like Thanksgiving. I do like the flavor of a big bird because it roasts for a long time but for the two of us; I didn't think we needed a ton of leftovers. Next Thanksgiving, I'm doing the bird!

weekend afternoon lunch

one of my favorite weekend afternoon lunches is a simple plate of hummus and pita. i like to make my own hummus and it's really easy to buzz up a batch in a few minutes in the food processor. and, as luck would have it, i got a new one from santa for christmas! here's my first batch using the new food processor...



here's the recipe that i've come up with. it's by no means authentic, but i like it quite a lot.

1 clove garlic
1 can chick peas, drained
1 - 2 tbsp. tahini (sesame paste)
juice of one lemon
salt to taste
olive oil

start food processor, and keep it running the whole time. drop in garlic clove and process till minced. add chick peas and process till chopped. pour in tahini, lemon juice and salt. pour olive oil in a thin stream (like you're making an emulsion) and process until smooth. serve on a plate with some olive oil drizzled on top and a little paprika.

A bright little Christmas for friends of Moon

Well actually it was a bright little calorie filled Christmas but hey, once a year.

Peanut Brittle, my recipe. I didn't make enough but I don't know if I ever could.
Fantasy Fudge, recipe on the back of the marshmallow cream jar. This is the easiest I've ever found and it has NEVER failed.
Vanilla Pecan Fudge, from my mom's ancient-falling-apart cookbook. They call it Panocha.
Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies dipped in chocolate and salted peanuts
Mexican Wedding Rings, La Vida Dulce's recipe.
Cranberry-Nut Jumbles, a tasty new cookie. Who doesn't like something called a "jumble". (recipe below)
Decorated Sugar Cookies, Soul Fusion Kitchen's recipe and now my favorite. It is the most flavorful tender cookie that will hold up to some serious Royal Icing.


Everything was well recieved and even though I'd spent a lot of time in the kitchen I'd do it all over again. So much fun to wrap it all up and deliver.

Ok, here's a dud of a recipe. I was very, VERY, dissapointed with America's Test Kitchen's Deep Dish Apple Pie. I tried they're version because when you make a deep dish pie, sometimes, the filling shrinks and the crust stays high leaving you with a whole lot of nothing when you cut the pie. Who likes nothing in a pie, we all want oceans of filling.

I have to say it did fill up the pie but the recipe did not have any flour and it calls to drain the apples before baking. You guessed it, no sauce, just dry apples. It tasted ok but all fell apart with no sauce to hold the apples together. No luscious, gooey, wonderful sauce. Will go back to my good old award winning recipe next time. Can't blame a girl for trying something new.


Cranberry-nut Jumbles

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
5 oz. dried cranberries

Drizzle
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons orange juice

Oven 375

Beat brown sugar and butter until creamy (2-3 minutes) Add sour cream, egg and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed (1-2 minutes). Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and baking soda. Beat another 1-2 minutes. Stir in nuts and cranberries.

Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned.

Stir together powdered sugar and orange juice in small bowl. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Makes 4 dozen.

The Amazing Avocado

Glancing thru a magazine, came acrossed a photo of a big, fat, gorgeous avocado, one of doodles favorite food items. Ad was for the California Avocado Commission . Let me tell you from experience Florida avocados don't even come close to having the flavor.

Now let me say that years ago when we moved from California to Connecticut For a few short years we were deprived of avocados. I know shocking to me to. But it took awhile for the Constitution state to step in to the 20th Century, (1976). We were also mexican food deprived. For several years it seemed to husband and I that we were in prison doing penance.

So I toddle on over to the avocado site, my my, my what wonderful recipes they have. Go take a look if you haven't already.

Y'all know my passion for brunch, so I found a frittata that would make a terrific dinner meal.

I'll let ya know, stay tuna'd...

no fancy new year's day meal at mp's place

i celebrated national hangover day, so there was no fancy new year's day meal happening unless i got off the couch to cook it...and i did not. i did pass by mc d's for a big mac, fries and a coke, though. woo hoo! gourmet! in my opinion it's the greatest hangover cure; forget your bloody marys and your menudo and whatever else. mc d's should just name it the hangover combo meal and get it over with!

new year's eve was a different story, though. to start, we nibbled on olives, salami, cheese, crostini, hummus (not italian, but i love it) and a yummy cannelini-garlic-artichoke spread and sipped prosecco with frozen raspberries. i did up a huge pot of marinara sauce from scratch and made a mountain of meatballs. served over rotini with loads of grated peccorino romano, crusty italian bread and a green salad, it really hit the spot. for dessert, we had a "fancy" trader joe's tira misu, some cheesecake and chocolate and almond biscotti with grand marnier whipped cream for dipping. at midnight, we popped a bottle of blanc de blancs from schramsburg, one of my favorite california wineries for sparkling wine.

so, happy new year to all of our foodie friends! we wish you all success, health and happiness...and many great meals!

2007 in without too much fuss

Happy New Year to you all!

The Eve was a success with four houses being involved in a progressive dinner for about 25 so darling husband and I didn't feel like much of a fuss for New Year's day. After reading about Doodle's potato soup I felt that would be a good calm dinner for us and it was tasty. It's been a bit cold here in Southern California and a tummy-warming bowl of soup hit the spot.

My resolution is to get back to regular posting and develop some good low-calorie recipes. I was way too good to myself.

Happy 2007!!!

Now let's see if the other two thirds of PBE can jump in and post their New Years day meal.

Mine is always Posole ........and it is simmering on the stove as I type. I am not taking a snap because soups just do not photograph well, kinda like me.

AND speaking of snaps, the post little bird made about her puppy in his new sweater just below this post, there, click on that photo and you will see many more snaps of this fashionable pup Max and his big brother Multy.

OK I'm gonna leave room for the other two. Happy New Year to y'all

stay tuna'd...........

knitting instead of cooking

i've been knitting instead of cooking recently, so i'll admit that i haven't been posting too often. i've made a sweater for max, though, so it's perfect for sweetnicks' weekend dog blogging:



do be sure to stop by sweetnicks' to check out all the other food hounds.

there are pictures in the works from christmas dinner (can you say 12 pound prime rib?), so, as doodles would say, stay tuna'd...

Christmas Eve lite

Not the best photo I have ever taken ;~(

Soup is a good thing to have for a Christmas Eve, meal because you know darn well you are gonna eat a ton the next day.

So for Christmas Eve I made for the two of us the family Potato Soup recipe that has been around for quite sometime now.

As usual I put a twist to the Creamy Potato soup. I made the basic recipe that sister moon found ages ago.

BUT I kept a few of the bite size pieces of potatoes out, sauteed them in a bit of butter and a dash or three of smoky paprika, then added them at the last minute.
Tasty if I say so myself. And served with fresh sourdough rolls and a glass of wine you are good to go for that Christmas meal that you know you will over indulge.

This recipe my sister printed up in a small cookbook that was amongst many of her other favorites that she compiled and sent out for Christmas gifts. I think it was about 15 +/- years ago because of a particular reference.

Potato Soup

1/4 C butter

1 C celery, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 C parsley (I forgot the parsley)

3 - 4 white potatoes chopped (about 4 cups)

1 qt milk (I used half milk and the other half was half & half)

1 qt low sodium chicken broth

3 Tbls cornstarch

salt & pepper to taste

In a kettle melt butter, add onion & celery cook till limp. Add all but about a cup of the potatoes, parsley and broth. Cook until tender. Stir in milk and cook til soup is hot, DO NOT BOIL. ***This is where I get out my mini boat motor AKA hand held blender to blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Once smooth blend cornstarch with a little water to make a slurry and stir into soup, continue to heat until soup thickens. If you find it a bit thick to your liking add a bit more broth. Add the parsley at the last minute. This is where I steamed a few of the potatoes and sauteed them in a bit of butter and a few sprinkles of smoky paprika. Love the flavor it adds.

***not a necessary part of the method but something that I do.

It has been awhile BUT

Like all of you it's a busy, busy time.

Just wanted to share with you something that we received yesterday from a friend. Now this friend is spending the winter in Telluride or they would probably be here with us. Glad they are in Telluride cause they are having a wicked White Christmas.

Anyway they sent a care package of fruit. My husband says that's like sending coal to West Virginia! But after opening the box and seeing the contents we were quite excited. Among other unusual fruit there were six pommelo fruit I did not mis spell the name it seems it is spelled a variety of ways.
Think I'll make a salad plate with the various goodies take pictures.

Wanted to say Hey!!! and share this information with y'all ~ stay tuna'd.....

Merry Christmas!!!

weekend dog blogging

i haven't posted a weekend dog blogging a while. heck, i haven't posted on pbe at all in a while. chalk it up to being busy celebrating the ucla bruins' upset victory over our crosstown rivals, u$c...or, as we like to call it, fairfax high. check out a celebratory photo of four very happy bruins in front of the scoreboard here.

anyway, here's a cute little snap that mooncrazy and doodles took of my pup multy when they visited over the summer. i'm not sure if they put multy in the basket for the picture or if he just hopped right on in there hisownself (which is actually quite likely). either way, it's cute and since multy has not been feeling well recently (ear infection), i thought i'd put this up and ask people to send some good vibes his way...



don't forget to check out the other cute foodie dogs on weekend dog blogging over at sweetnick's place.

Lemoney

This recipe I found in Cook's Illustrated last year and it's been a favorite. It should be called Ya Gotta Like Lemon Pound Cake but I've never had leftovers so it must be good. Melting the butter and adding it with the food processor is a neat shortcut and I want to try different flavoring but so far have always used the lemon.


Lemon Pound Cake
2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter plus some to grease pan
1 1/2 cups ( 6 ounces) cake flour plus some for the pans
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons grated zest plus 2 teaspoons juice from 2 medium lemons
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Grease 9x5 loaf pan and dust with cake flour.

Melt butter, stir to incorporate separated milk solids.

In food processor, process sugar and zest until combined. Add lemon juice, eggs and vanilla; process until combined, about 5 seconds. With machine running, add melted butter through feed tube in a steady stream (about 20 seconds). Transfer mixture to large bowl. Sift flour mixture over eggs in three steps, whisking gently after each addition until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 325 and continue to bake until deep golden brown and skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes; rotating pan half way through baking time. Cool in pan for ten minutes, then turn onto wire rack and brush with glaze. Cool to room temp. Cooled cake can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temp for up to five days.

Lemon Glaze
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
1/4 cup juice from medium lemon
Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened slightly for about two minutes. Poke holes in baked cake and brush top and sides of hot cake.

It wouldn't be Christmas without …

Before Jimmy Carter was pounding nails for Habitat or sitting in the oval office he was a peanut farmer. After he became a little more famous by getting that seat in the oval office his mother was asked for a favorite recipe for peanut brittle. I've been making this just about every Christmas since and sometimes, like candy is apt to do, it has been a disaster.

Once the whole batch was green, not pale green but a bright St. Patrick's Day green. My father had a friend in the candy business and asked him about this phenomenon. Seems if you don't cook the peanuts long enough that's what happens. Lucky it was only one batch.

Another time I used a glass candy thermometer and when cleaning up I noticed it was broken. Now did it break after I took it out? Don't know, had to toss that whole batch in the trash. I now use a digital thermometer and you have to watch them too. One year it seemed to come to temperature very quickly and I didn't bother to check it with anything else, that year it wouldn't set up. Yeah, trash.

Helpful Hint: You should always test your thermometer by taking the temperature of boiling water, it should be somewhere close to 212 depending on your altitude. My darling air-conditioner mechanic told me that one.

Yikes, why do I go through all this? This is the best you've ever eaten, bar none. It has a honeycomb texture that makes it kind to all dental work and if you follow the directions it will be a holiday favorite of yours too.

If you've never made candy this isn't too difficult but watch that hot syrup--it burns. It just doesn't burn it sticks to you and burns until you can get it off--so be very careful.

Miss Lillian's Peanut Brittle
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup white corn syrup
3 cups raw peanuts

1/2 stick butter, cut in about 8 pieces.
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons baking soda, yup, that right two TABLESPOONS

Please read the entire recipe before attempting this candy.
Grease two large cookie sheets and sit them on trivets or rack as they will get very hot when you put in the cooked brittle.

Boil sugar, water, and syrup in a pan three times the volume until it spins a thread (234 degrees). Once the sugar is melted you don't have to stir it. It has to boil a while to get to temperature, I think about ten minutes or more.

Add peanuts and stir continuously until syrup turns a light golden brown. Think a nice medium lager and if it isn't golden brown, the peanuts will turn green when they cool.

Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir until it melts. Add the soda all at once and stir for about 30 seconds. The mixture will foam up quicker than you can imagine but don't be scared--this is what creates the honeycomb texture--stir it down but don't beat out all the bubbles.


Quickly pour into prepared pans and spread out the mixture with the back of a spoon. Don't flatten too much.

Cool and break into pieces. Store in an air-tight container.

another odd pairing

Where I live we are still running the air conditioner. The electric company loves those sun gods and then the humidity is bad so the A/C is a must if you care to get sleep at nite.

So I am standing in my kitchen contemplating a healthy lunch and I see in my fruit bowl the following granny smith apples, a couple of banana's and some perfectly ripe Haas avacado's.

Doesn't that make an attractive picture. So being the odd duck that I am or can be I'm thinking how would they taste together??? Now I peel and chop, place said ingredients on a plate. OK dressing, they need something, yep something lite. Aha ha how bout that lime I have, squish the lime juice out and I have a tasty lunch. After a couple of bites I added some fresh gound pepper and a tad shake of salt. I also could have added some cilantro.

Let me know what y'all think, and try it if you dare.

Pumpkin Pie

Don't ask me why I made these little gems but a creative moment ascended upon me and for a split second I had no idea how these little gems were going to pop out of these small tart pans.
But persistence ruled and out they popped. The pumpkin part is just your ordinary Libby's canned pie stuff. I did create a bit of decor with the leftover bits of pastry dough.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Adventurous sauce

First, the back story. I love cranberry juice, cranberry bread, and cosmopolitans, but I've never, much to lil bird's amazement, eaten cranberry sauce.

Our Thanksgiving celebration will be at someone else's house so when given the task of bringing the cranberry sauce I said yes, I'll give it a try. I do fancy myself a cook.

Now, fast forward to last night, just a few days from the celebration. I researched many recipes and found Ming Tsai's to be the most interesting. It starts with a saute of red onion and orange zest and ginger; not traditional but I'm adventurous. Then add the cranberries with two tablespoons of brown sugar, orange juice, and some salt and pepper. Salt and pepper? This is getting odd.

Taste. For me it had way to much of an onion flavor so I'm gonna fix it up. Yeah, right.

To this I added some more sugar and ground chipotle and some more ginger. I'm going to get some flavor out of this if it kills me. Getting better but still not certain. Oops, lost the cranberry tartness, how about some dried cranberries, yeah. Taste?

So like a coward, I went back to the market and made the recipe on the back of the package.


What will I do with the other? Surprisingly when it cooled it had enough flavor for me to keep so there will be two sauces this Thanksgiving. If I were to attempt that recipe again I'd caramelize the onions first add more sugar but I'd leave in the chipotle. It does add a brief hint of heat which in my opinion says California.

Hope everyone enjoys their holiday.

Ham and beans with kale

Nothing smells better than a pot of something cooking on the stove all day. A ham bone, some beans, seasonings--heaven in a little red bowl. Don't forget something green.

Can't post anymore, gotta dig in.

Not your ordinary Quiche

This is probably, in my humble opinion, one of the very best quiche recipe I have ever made. I have tried others and I keep coming back to this one.

Even sister moon can't remember where this recipe came from. But it is one of my all time favorite go to recipes to fix for company, pot lucks or just a lunch or brunch at home.


Green Chile Quiche

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
6 eggs beaten
3/4 cup low fat milk
3/4 cup half & half
1 4 oz can of chopped green chiles
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1 1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
unbake 10" pie crust

Slice cream cheese and place on the bottom of the crust. Beat eggs, add , chiles and mustard. Fold in the shredded cheese and pour over cream cheese in the crust. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour 15 minutes or until done in center. Check after one hour. If your edges of pie crust get too brown protect them with foil.

This quiche I added a taste of smoky paprika and a pinch of red pepper flakes and left out the dry mustard. I forgot that I add a spoon ful of salsa on the side. Also different times of the year you would be able to use a fresh chile when available. Right now in my area green chiles are not the best.
If you like quiche, try this you will not be sorry. And if you do try it let me know how you adjusted it to fit your taste. I would like to make it a little lower in calories but I am not a chemist.

Some serious bbq competition winners

Congratulations are in order for one of our foodie friends, Sylvie at Soul Fusion Kitchen. Trot on over to see how they faired at the BBQ event this past weekend. Those bbq beauty shots are some hardcore food porn . This might make me think twice about posting anything bbq for a long time. Great job, Sylvie!

A little something to cheer up our Red state friends

When I was a child I'd heard the legend of the Red Velvet Cake. A woman is served this delicious red cake in a fancy hotel restaurant and asks the waiter for the recipe only to find $100 was added to her bill. Her attorney advises to pay, I don't know, maybe he was eating lunch with her, any way, she pays and then to get even sends a chain letter to friends with the recipe. That is the long reason why I decided to make the cake.

Cook's Country has a red velvet cake recipe so I decided why not give it a try. First, this is not a difficult one to follow but as some know, I'm not a baker of cakes. I can throw together a pie in my sleep but cakes, I do have to follow the directions.

First odd thing, it calls for a one ounce bottle of red food coloring, next some buttermilk, now that's not too odd but it seems like I get stuck with the remainder of the quart and hate to waste. Cook's had an answer for my thriftiness, freeze the left over buttermilk in cup increments. Cool.


You mix the food coloring with two tablespoons of cocoa, I use Dutch process. When you add it to the cake batter you can see just how lacking your mixer is. There is a little divot at the bottom that needs a little hand mixing.

Mine did not raise as much as I thought it should. Maybe more mixing though I was diligent with the directions. I used 7-inch square pans to their 8-inch round so I'm thinking they should have been higher. Because I just can't leave well enough alone I sliced each layer in two. I thought it would look more dramatic. Who couldn't use more drama in their life.

As for the flavor I think it is suppose to have just a hint of chocolate, which it does. Some friends were afraid of the red food coloring turning their teeth ghoulish but that didn't happen. The frosting is delish, not too sweet nor cream cheesy, nice blend of flavors.

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 oz red food coloring
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

Whisk buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla, and eggs in large measuring cup. Whisk flour, baking soada, and salt in medium bowl.Cream butter; beat in sugar gradually.
Add flour mixure alternately with egg mixture, beating well after each addition.
Make paste of cocoa and food coloring; add to creamed mixture.
Stir until thoroughly mixed. Bake in 2 9-inch pans for 25 minutes at 350°.

Frosting
2 sticks of unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
16 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt.

Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add cream cheese, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated. Beat in vanilla and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Frost the cooled cakes, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 3 days.

Another roast chicken

I noticed that whole roasters are on sale at my local market. I pick up a couple the other day. Found a recipe at America's Test Kitchen. I happened to see the actual cooking on PBS and it just stuck in my mind. For one thing I had never brined anything. I didn't even know if I had anything large enough to brine a chicken. I did have a rubbermaid container that would work woo hoo!!!

Crisp-Skin High-Roast Butterflied Chicken with Potatoes

If you prefer not to brine, use a kosher chicken - it is salted and has a taste and texture similar to a brined bird. For extracrisp skin, after applying the flavored butter let the chicken dry uncovered in the refrigerator 8 to 24 hours. Russet potatoes have the best potato flavor, but Yukon Golds have beautiful color and better retain their shape after cooking. Either works well in this recipe. A food processor makes quick and easy work of slicing the potatoes.Serves 4

1 cup kosher salt (or 1/2 cup table salt), for brine
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 whole chicken , 3 1/2 to 4 lbs, preferably free-range or other high-quality chicken such as Bell and Evans, giblets removed and reserved for another use, fat around cavity removed and discarded
2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (4 to 5 medium), or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickVegetable cooking spray (nonstick)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon table salt (for potatoes)
Ground black pepper
1. Dissolve salt and sugar in 2 quarts cold water in large container. Immerse chicken and refrigerate until fully seasoned, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Line bottom of broiler pan with foil and spray with nonstick vegetable cooking spray. Remove chicken from brine and rinse thoroughly under cold running water.

1. Butterfly chicken, flatten breastbone, apply flavored butter (if using), and position chicken on broiler pan rack; thoroughly pat dry with paper towels.
2. Toss potatoes with 1 tablespoon oil, salt, and pepper to taste in medium bowl. Spread potatoes in even layer in foil-lined broiler pan bottom. Place broiler pan rack with chicken on top. Rub chicken with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and sprinkle with pepper.
3. Roast chicken until spotty brown, about 20 minutes. Rotate pan and continue to roast until skin has crisped and turned a deep brown and an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees in thickest part of breast, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to cutting board. With potholders, remove broiler pan rack; soak up excess grease from potatoes with several sheets paper towels. Remove foil liner with potatoes from broiler pan bottom and invert foil and potatoes onto cookie sheet or second cutting board. Carefully peel back foil, using a metal spatula to help scrape potatoes off foil as needed. With additional paper towels, pat off remaining grease. Cut chicken into serving pieces and serve with potatoes.

Lesson learned: This chicken was very tender, moist and quite tasty. I will definnitely do this again because the brining makes it so good.
BUT the potatoes were another story. Because of the compound butter used on the chicken and also calls for oil on the potatoes, the potatoes get rather greasy, quite bit more than described in the above recipe. I supplied the link to the recipe but their site and photos can be a bit wonky so don't be surprised if the photos don't show up.

Good bye good buys

This Friday is our last Farmer's Market until March.
Good bye sweet corn. So long tree ripe fruit. Adios artisan cheeses.

Yes, I know, I could travel into Santa Monica on Wednesdays but this place is less than five minutes away and I've gotten used to my Friday afternoon trip.

I'll be wearing black all day.

happy halloween

a jack-o-latern is technically not food, but the pumpkin conceivably could've been a pie, had i not hacked it to pieces...



i did sprinkle the lid with cinnamon and cloves, though.

happy halloween, everyone!

Cider question???

It's fall weather, folks are cooking fall food, soups, stews, cider.
Our blogger friend Jeff over at cforcooking posted a blog about cooking with cider.
Never heard of the cider he used, thought probably an east coast product.
Lo and behold while shopping at Cost Plus/World Market guess what I found?
Yes the light green bottle is granny smith apple and the other is the standard dark. Having never cooked with cider, what do I do with these ciders? Send any and all ideas my way please.

solace in cake form

when your team sucks and lets you down two weeks in a row, make chocolate cake...



[yes, you can make a box chocolate cake with canned chocolate frosting look good with the right accessories.]

Holiday shipping???

on a food blog you say!!! Well I posted this on my personal blog awhile back. And it was suggested that I post it here as well. Since we are all avid cookers and bakers, but probably not adept in mailing cookies, maybe this might help your cookie gems arrive safely and intact.

Oh, also the fact that blogger friend, LaVidaDulce is about to complete her series on cookies for the holidays. Check out her site there are some dang good ones that she has posted.

Once upon a time husband and I owned a pack and ship store. We mailed a variety of items, some of which I cannot go into. But cookies were a big mailing item. I remember our mom would always mail Valentine cookies to “little bird”. Mom would call husband to consult on packaging. So we came up with the idea that we would put an article in the paper to help people pack the holiday baking items that they may be shipping off. And praying they get their safely


Mailing Cookies
Everyone loves to receive packages in the mail, especially the edible variety. Make sure you get cheers, not jeers, when you mail your elegant eatables.

A big NO NO!
Some cookies tend to ship better than others do. We recommend that you do not mail cookies with custard or custard-like fillings or toppings. The custard could spoil, making a very unwelcome gift. For that matter, any cookie that requires refrigeration is not a good candidate for the shipping. Another type of cookie that doesn't hold up well for mailing is one with a delicate, cake-like texture type cookies.

Yes, yes, yes!
Cookies that have a crunchy or hard texture such as Biscotti, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Crisps, and Shortbreads make excellent choices for shipping. They tend to be fairly sturdy, so you don't have to worry too much about breakage. And since they already have a fairly dry texture, drying out isn't much of an issue.
Cookies that have a slightly chewy texture, like Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal-Raisin, Snickerdoodles, and White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies also ship well. These cookies will tend to dry out if they are in the mail for more than a week, so if their destination is a long way off, you might want to ship them by express to ensure that they arrive just as tasty as when they left.
Macaroons ship beautifully. Their chewy, moist textures only seem to improve after they've aged a few days. Who wouldn't want to receive a single, perfect chocolate-dipped coconut macaroon as a special treat?
Dense bar cookies such as Fudge Brownies, Lemon Bars, or Peanut Butter Bars are delightful to receive in the mail. Just be sure to individually wrap each one with plastic wrap to keep that moist, gooey, dense texture from drying out.

Good things come in secure packages
Once you've baked and cooled your cookies, you're ready for the next step: packing them. There are a few guidelines you should follow when it comes to preparing cookies to be mailed. Follow these and your special packages should arrive fresh, in one piece, and great tasting.
Don't pack crisp and soft cookies together. The moisture from the soft cookies will seep into the crisp cookies, making them lose their delightful crunch.
Don't overstuff your container. Your cookies may be damaged. Likewise, don't under-pack your container. The cookies should fit snugly. If you have too much space, crumple up a bit of newspaper or towels to fill the holes.
Pack cookies in a sturdy tin or airtight container. On the bottom of the container place a piece of bubble wrap, then line the container with parchment paper or cellophane, leaving enough to tuck over the top once the container is fully packed. Place one layer of cookies in the container. Cover with parchment paper. Arrange another layer of cookies, followed with more parchment paper, and continue this layering until the container is full. Tuck the cellophane or parchment paper over the top, then place another piece of bubble wrap on top, and seal your container.
You now need to pack your tin or container in a heavy-duty cardboard box that's large enough to allow a two- to three-inch cushion between the tin and the wall of the outside box. Place a layer of shipping peanuts, crumpled paper on the bottom of your shipping box. Set your cookie tin on this bottom layer. Then fill in the sides and top with more shipping materials. Seal the shipping box with two-inch-wide shipping tape. Place a mailing label on the box, and you're ready to send those treats on their way. Rest assured that you will surely be receiving a call of gratitude.

Someday I’ll tell y’all bout the Key Lime pie that we shipped.

Happy Halloween - Pumpkin Bread

I have never admitted to being a baker, sister moon is the baker in the family. But when I saw this cake on the front of a magazine awhile back I thought how cute I could do that.

I volunteer at the library from time to time when they need readers for the childrens group. Well this Saturday is the Halloween reading and the library was going to provided treats for the little darlings. I thought I would make these cake/bread thingies and the adults could have a treat as well.

Cakes are made in a six inch mini bundt pan. I put two cakes together with some pumpkin butter I just happened to have, but you could use any frosting to adhere the two pieces. The orange drippy stuff is confectioners sugar and lemon juice dyed orange.The green leaves are marzipan and the stem is made of marzipan rolled in cocoa. The flash made it appear (LOL) much lighter in color than it really is. The remaining batter I made in a loaf pan and froze after cooling.

Lesson learned: Don't fill the pans all the way up because then they will look like cupcakes and you will have to cut the tops off. Wear gloves when making leaves cause food coloring does dye the finger nails.

I used the following recipe, but you could use anything, even a cake mix of your liking.

This recipe is adapted from Gourmet magazine of several years ago.
You'll need 2 loaf pans for this recipe, or 6 of the mini onesI use the disposable ones. I also use small bundt pans.

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups chopped nuts, walnuts or pecans (reserve some for on top)
3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 cups canned pure pumpkin (I believe the can is 29 ounces I just use the whole can)
1 cup sugar
1 cup (packed) lite brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil pans to prevent sticking

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice in medium bowl; whisk to blend. Mix in nuts. Using electric mixer, beat pure pumpkin and both sugars in large bowl until blended. Gradually beat in oil, then eggs 1 at a time.Stir in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, little dry little buttermilk. Divide batter among prepared pans. Sprinkle with reserved nuts. A friend made this recipe and garnished it with toasted pumpkin seeds
Bake breads until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in pans.
(Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; store at room temperature.)

What I like about this bread is that it is not sweet, add raisins if you care to, plus this bread freezes well.

Don't serve ravioli to an Italian

Two of my women guests were put to work on the antipasti while I got the bread in the oven. Doesn't it look good? Unfortunately it was the second course that started the downhill slide. What was so slippery? Homemade ravioli. I have a pasta press and have made noodles but ravioli has always been a favorite of mine so here was my chance.

Yikes, not as easy as it looks on TV. A few exploded but I did manage three for each serving. Oh, and it's back to school for me to learn how to make a browned butter sauce. It was more of a burnt butter sauce by the time it was served. Sage leaves were tossed in and they were actually quite good, the crunch was relief to the slippery little pillows. Pix? No way. By this time I couldn't bear to get the camera.

Michael Chiarello lied when he said make the dough as thin as you can. They looked more like dimsum than ravioli and an Italian at the table said his mother would use a fork to crimp the sides closed. Good suggestion because I will try this again. Our mother didn't raise quitters--no matter how many friends I have to go through--I will get this right.

Next post: pink gravy?

Recipe by the book

I like many of you who enjoy cooking, I like to experiment. This is one recipe I can honestly say I did not deviate one bit.

Creme Brulee is a favorite of mine, not so much husbands. In our past life we frequented one restaurant quite often. We knew the owner quite well and he introduced us to the chef. Come to find out he was a neighbor and we became fast friends. His creme brulee was very close to this recipe. Mark always said I was his best customer for his creme brulee.


Creme Brulee Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks
2 quarts hot water
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes.
Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days. Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Guinea Pigs love cookies

I invited friends over to test some recipes on Sunday and I served Grandma's Butterscotch Cookies and La Vida Dulce's Chocolate Shortbread with vanilla ice cream and Michael Chiarello's Balsamic Caramel Sauce. We didn't start with dessert but this might have been the best course. Remember, these friends were guinea pigs and I'm not so sure the main course came together like I planned so I'm going to leave the rest of the menu for a later post.

First, if you only make one cookie this holiday season make it the Chocolate Shortbread. It is so incredibly melt-in-your-mouth rich and quite easy. Too easy if you ask me because you can throw this together in a moment's notice and who needs that sort of temptation.

Now if you really want something different do try the Balsamic Caramel Sauce. I wasn't too sure but the sweet of the ice cream balances the balsamic vinegar. I had a little push back from a few of the guests but won over one of them. Hey, I surprised myself, too. It was good.

So, what did I learn? Sometimes you need to step outside your apron and try something you've never cooked before. Now Doodles says she has a Roasted Pears with Caramel sauce recipe on her del.icio.us ... and I have all this leftover sauce, hmmmm, sounds like something new.

My version of Tortilla Soup

Dang this was good. Although a few zantacs were passed around at the completion on the meal.

My love for Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes is well known, I had some leftover chicken breast that I diced up and some of that mean green sauce that moon posted a few days ago.

I chopped up a small onion, added the chicken once the onion was sauted, poured the mean green sauce over the chicken and added a half a container box of low sodium chicken broth.Let that simmer for a bit and added my can of fire roasted tomatoes, added the remainder of the chicken broth and let simmer for about half hour. Had a can of white hominy, rinsed it well and added that to the pot. Now remember the mean green sauce already has a lot of seasoning so extra is not need. Taste as you go.

Once the hominy is heated thru it tends to thinken the soup, so I added another box of chicken broth. Finished it off with tortilla strips lots of em as husband says, slices of avacado, and some fresh cilantro.I had made corn muffins earlier and added a can of chopped green chiles to the batter.Find the similar recipe here at the Muir Glen site. Try it if you like spice, adjust it if you don't.

A new addition to the family

Well it's a new addition to my appliance family. I have been wanting a new food processor for a very long time. I am blaming this purchase on Jeff because when I saw the one he got I was in a state of envy.

It matches my car, although it was not a priority. Husband said that the lawnmower doesn't have as powerful motor ;)It's a Kitchen Aid 12 cup, 750, with a mini bowl. I have not used it yet, and I don't know what I'm waiting for, BUT it sure does look nice in my appliance garage.
stay tuna'd

Mmmmm; pepperoni

If you will remember when I got back from New Jersey I spoke fondly of a local treat, Pepperoni Bread. I needed to make it before it was just a memory so this week I bought some Bridgeford frozen bread dough, sliced pepperoni along with mozzarella, parmesan, and fontina cheeses.

This was too easy but sooooo good.

Defrost the bread dough and roll into a rectangle.
Shred the cheeses and layer with lots of pepperoni slices.

Roll this up like a jelly roll but don't cut, leave whole, tuck under the ends
Brush with olive oil and let rise in a warm place, about 30 minutes.

Bake 375 for twenty minutes. It should be nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped. Brush crust with melted butter.

Eat as soon as it is cool enough, I burnt my mouth but it's up to you if you want to wait that long. It will smell like pepperoni and what could be wrong with that.

Bridgeford makes pretty decent bread. I've used it before for cinnamon rolls but this was the first loaf. If it turned out I was going to make my bread from scratch but this was too easy and was quite tasty, just like the original in Jersey.

chocaholics click here

after visiting the kitchen wench site where she mentions that her breath smells, smells of chocolate, geeesh how bad could that be.

I remebered I had come acrossed this site about truffles. Now I have never mad a truffle in my entire life, but I have eaten a few, some good, some OK and some to die for. Like that one moon and I had in Indiana, remember.
Anyway for you adventurous sould that would like to partake in making a truffle, please let me know how you did. I try this. But I would love to hear experiences and lessons learned so stay tuna'd...

And that's how it was in the 1940's

Laura Rebecca has always been able to come up with some great fun challenges.
LR's Retro Recipe Challenge has been very educational and a trip down memory lane.

The 1940s were all about rationing, protein stretching, substitutions, and making do with less. Home cooks made sugarless cookies and meatless meals. Cookbooks, magazines, government pamphlets, and food company brochures were full of creative ideas for stretching food supplies. Why the shortage? Food was needed to feed soldiers fighting World War II. Farmers and food manufacturers were tapped to supply growing military needs, thus creating a shortage of foods available for domestic civilian consumers.
Rationing was introduced in the United States by the Office of Price Administration in 1942 as a way to equitably distribute diminishing food supplies. The American government encouraged homeowners to create Victory Gardens, small plots of fruits and vegetables to supplement personal and community food supplies. Nutrition information was also widely disseminated to help home cooks create balanced meals for their families. The National School Lunch Act was passed in 1945, extending Roosevelt's New Deal WPA commitment to feeding America's hungry children. After the war, many new products were introduced to the American public. These "convenience foods" (dehydrated juice, instant coffee, cake mixes, etc.) were the result of military research. Not all of these were embraced enthusiastically, as traditional homemakers preferred to cook "the old fashioned" way once rationed ingredients were readily available.

During WWII, approx. 1942-1945, butter, fats, sugar and meat were rationed. I have read you were only allowed to buy 1 pound of meat per person, per week. Recipes for cakes and other 'goodies' using honey and sugar substitutes were popular. It was very common for even city dwellers to have patriotic "Victory Gardens" where they raised their own vegetables, including beans and tomatoes. This reduced the number of people who had to be employed in agriculture, so they could produce weapons or fight the war.

the above information was taken off the internet when 1940 recipes were googled.

My food of choice for Retro Recipe Challenge would be tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Now back in the 40's it wouldn't have been a cream of tomato and probably not an abundance of cheese that the photo depicts, remember they were all in the ration mode at the time. The soup was probably Campbell's with a can of water added, eeek! And the grilled cheese was probably made with white bread, two eeeks!! But in those days it was made with love just like today. And if we were really good we probably got a pickle to accompany our sandwich.

cue balls arrive in florida

Sister moon wrote about these a few blogs ago
http://pbetouffee.blogspot.com/2006/09/rack-em-up-cue-balls-on-grill.html

After much prodding, my little farmers market guy finally was able to secure some cueball zucchini. Green and yellow zucchini on the indoor grill cause the outdoor grill was getting rained on. The green round guys are more dense and less watery, creating a sweeter flavor in my opinion.

Anyway brushed them with olive oil, crushed garlic, lots of fresh ground pepper. Prior to brushing them with the herbs I squeeze some lime juice on them. Finished them off with a sprinkle of kosher salt and some cilantro. Great side dish.

basil coming out my @$#

so the crop share featured an abundant amount of basil this week (three huge bunches). check it out...



other than the temporary home decoration use, what am i going to do with all of this freakin' basil? we're getting a little sick of pesto and i made basil oil last week. i'm running out of ideas. help a sister out, people.

p.s. kalyn, you don't need to answer! i've already got one bunch set aside for your brilliant freezing technique. :)

Chilly weather is finally here

About August I didn't think I'd be saying this but it's time to cook chili! Damn us Californios had us some hot weather this summer, not unlike the rest of the country. So now all the ugly electric bills are behind us let's get cookin' some tummy-warmin', not to mention soul burnin' chili.

I have this burning question, how do you make chili? From a recipe or just start throwing chili-like ingredients in a pot and hope for the best? This isn't really a challenge just something informal from our readers. Add a comment, long or short or send an e-mail and share your chili favorites or your own secrets.

My chili? I slow cook some beef shanks or ribs or any other bony beefy thing with some dried and fresh chilies and garlic and onions and tomatoes. Somehow in the end it becomes chili good enough to eat. I'm always a bit amazed it comes together.

Vanished!!!

I made four yes FOUR dozen chocolate chip cookies and this is what I have left!

We had a real estate open house today. When I saw La Vida Dulce's Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe I thought that could be the cookie that sells this place.

this is the plate I found when we returned home, holy cow all had vanished, three little cookies remained.

Have yet to hear from our realtor.

Next open house if required, will the the famous "scutterbotch" cookies...stay tuna'd

Here's a crock

This crock, my now cookie jar, was my grandmother, Emily Prucilla's and it served her well for decades. I inherited it when my mom passed away because it was always my favorite. I nearly had a breakdown when I dropped the lid and it broke in two pieces but darling husband, to the rescue, patched it up.

I try to keep it full of cookies, these are Alton Browns chocolate chip (just for you, Jeff) but what I really want to make is a recipe of Grandma's that I recently rediscovered. She called them "scutterbotch" and each generation loved them. Along with the recipe was the following letter my mom sent to her family and friends after her mother's passing in 1991.

The time is fall of 1931. The people knew by then that the country was in serious trouble. Unemployment, failed banks, and closed factories plagued he towns and cities but in Monroeville, Indiana a small farming community close to the Ohio border, poor farmers were still poor farmers. My father, an engineer, moved his family to a farm to soften the blow of the depression. I was nine, my sisters Mary Alice and Marcella were seven and five. Our little brother Tom was two; Joseph was yet to be born.

As was typical of the day the big white farm house had a large kitchen with a wood burning cook stove. Here mother Emily would bake the most wonderful butterscotch cookies. At night she would mix up a batch and then early in the morning she would bake them. The smell of those cookies would walk us girls up and on those mornings we would waste no time getting ready. The smell always meant there would be cookies for breakfast and some in our lunch.

As time went by we sold the farm and moved to the city. Our brother Joseph was born and six weeks later, Daddy Tom died. He left Emily to raise the five children alone. Times were hard. Emily had to work to support her family but she always found time to make us a batch of butterscotch cookies. Mother died May 13, 1991. At that time I had two dozen cookies in the freezer. I had made them under her directions some weeks before her passing.

This morning, as I write you this letter, I am having butterscotch cookies with my coffee; the smell of cookies still lingers on.

Love, Lorna

Butterscotch Cookies
1 cup oleo,* that's shortening for you young uns.
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 cup chopped nuts

*you could use butter and they would be delicious; they just wouldn't taste like Grandma's.

Mix sugar, eggs, and oleo. Add flour salt and soda; mix well. Add nuts. Divide into two rolls and wrap in wax paper (plastic wrap is fine). Chill overnight. Cut 1/4 inch and bake 8-10 minutes at 375 until lightly browned. Do not overbake.

Note: Her rolls were never round they were flat on the sides producing an oblong cookie but I always made them that way, too.

No more calls, we have a winner

We've posted a few references to an L.A. landmark, Olvera Street and our favorite taquito stand, Cielito Lindo. See posts one and two. I was real surprised to get a few request for the sauce recipe. I've tried many times to replicate and finally gave up, jeeze, it's only about forty miles to LA.

The request saying they'd take anything close so I thought I'd give it one more try. I mean I do fancy myself a pretty good cook and I've eaten enough of their guacamole--I should be able to get closer. I'd even seen a recipe in a cook book, god only knows where, that says cook the sauce to change the raw taste.

This is not your typical guacamole, it is thin and strained of any seeds. You really don't even taste the avocado there is so little.

Taquito sauce

1 can of Herdez Salsa Verde, or something that has tomatillos, onions, serrano peppers, salt, and cilantro.
1/2 ripe avocado
about 1/2 cup cilantro, packed
one serrano pepper, no seeds

Blend this in a food processor until smooth. Add salt to taste or extra serrano peppers if you like it hotter. Strain out all the seed.

Now here's the odd part, bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook for about five minutes. Don't boil, just simmer, this isn't a reduction. Thin with a bit of water or chicken broth. This is a real thin sauce. Maybe as thin as tomato juice. Cool and refrigerate.


So I made this a few days ago and damn, if I didn't come closer than I'd even hoped. It is lacking something I can't put my finger on, maybe thinning with chicken broth would be it. If you make it and you've eaten at Cielito Lindo's you tell me. For now, I think I'm satisfied.

another breakfast for dinner

Fellow blogger at Mixed Salad Annie brought up an interesting question what is your favorite breakfast for dinner?I mentioned in the comments that her choice happened to be my second choice.

My first choice would be Migas……………

Our Dad made, what he called, tortilla and eggs. The first time I had them I fell in love with them. But for some reason husband is not fond of this dish, so I fix them for myself when I know he is not gonna be home for dinner.I have never used a recipe but I did find several on line. Migas (pronounced MEE gas) is eggs, bits of corn tortilla, and a host of savory ingredients, from black beans, chorizo and cheese to salsa, avocado and chiles. The word, migas, in fact, is derived from the Spanish word for crumbs.


Migas with Fresh Tortillas
4 large eggs
a few tablespoons salsa (your favorite, it can be the chunky variety)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon oil3
6-inch corn tortillas, cut in to strips
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
2 tablespoons chopped green chiles (I use the canned)
1/2 cup chopped avocado, sprinkled with a little lime juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro
2/3 cup grated Monterrey jack cheese
sour cream
In a small bowl, lightly beat together the eggs and set aside.Warm the butter and oil in a heavy skillet. Add the chopped onion and sauté until it is transparent. Add the tortilla strips and sauté until just a bit crisp Stir in the chopped green chiles and the salsa.Pour the eggs into the skillet, and "scramble" until eggs are done. Remove the skillet from heat, and sprinkle the chopped avocado, cilantro and cheese into the eggs, again stirring well.Serve at once with warm flour tortillas like you would eat toast. Garnish with additional salsa and sour cream

Note: This recipe makes two servings, but it can easily be doubled or tripled or more for a larger crowd. Migas are a terrific brunch dish. Chop the onion, green chiles, tomato, avocado and cilantro before you start the migas so they'll be ready when you need them.

In addition to the ingredients called for in this recipe, some additional possibilities for enhancing your migas are:
crisply cooked and crumbled bacon · Salsa verde· chopped ham · crumbled chorizo (browned before you add the eggs) · cooked, shredded chicken or turkey · grated or diced potato (sautéed until tender before adding the eggs) · poblano chiles · green Bell pepper · green onion · crushed red pepper flakes

parsi dhansak

i am a big fan of indian food, but it's never been really accessible for me in terms of cooking at home. trader joes has a few jarred sauces that aren't too bad, but not exactly authentic. i've purchased a few cookbooks in the past, but never really been able to produce anything that was quite authentic. unfortunately, i just don't have access to an indian grandmother. i really love dal (lentils) and i've tried to cook them before, but i've never been able to get that indian restaurant consistency to my end product. i almost gave up...

enter, the internet. i've been lurking on some very cool indian cooking blogs for some time now, religiously delicio.us-ing recipes. some of my favorite sites are saffron trail and sailu's food. i came across a great recipe the other day on saffron trail, for parsi dhansak, which uses pumpkin and dal. i was very excited to try this, because i received some pumpkin (well, kabocha squash) in my crop share the other day and wasn't quite sure what i was going to do with it. you can check out the recipe here.

simply put, this dish was just plain rad. it had the right consistency and the right flavor. it actually seemed like something i would get at a restaurant. my bunky really liked it, too, and actually ate a vegetarian meal without asking why he was being served just a side dish. i have to thank nandita at saffron trail for sharing this recipe and helping me along the road to learning how to make home cooked indian food. now that i have my feet wet, i'm really looking forward to trying out some more recipes.

even better, this dish is good and good for you: there's only about two tablespoons of oil in the whole thing; lentils are a great source of vegetarian protein; and pumpkins are rich in vitamin c, beta carotene and fiber. in fact, pumpkins are an anti-oxidant rich food, which makes this a perfect entry for sweetnicks' arf/5-a-day tuesday!

A nip in the air............

Everywhere you go there is mention of fall. Wish someone would tell the “weather gods” that are in charge of Florida.
All the magazines have a fall cover from food to decorating.So the temperature dropped four degrees, I made soup…………..I look for any excuse to make soup, especially the creamed variety.
Our mom was a terrific soup maker. I remember she was the first to introduce me to creamed asparagus soup as well as creamed broccoli soup. One of my husband’s favorite cream soups is roasted red pepper and tomato.This recipe is one that I concocted from an assortment of recipes. You know take a bit of this recipe and add it to that recipe……tada there now it’s our own. We all do it!

Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
2 large red peppers*
2 cans of Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes (14 oz.)
3 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1/4 - 1/2 cup cream
1 tbls olive oil
1 medium onion about ½ cup
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp smoked sweet paprika
salt and pepper to taste1.

Roast peppers in a 400F oven until skin is blackened. Let rest in a sealed paper or plastic bag for about 15 minutes, then peel off the skin, seed, remove membrane and chop into chunks.
2. Briefly sautee (5 minutes) in olive oil onions and garlic in a medium pot. Add tomatoes (with juice) and chopped peppers and cook on high to reach a boil then reduce to simmer for 15 minutes, or until tender.
3. Add stock and spices. Feel free to add some red pepper flakes or chipotle powder for spicy kick. Add cream and bring to a boil, then slow simmer for 15 minutes. I use an immersion type/boat motor blender to puree the soup to a desired consistency.
4. For a finishing touch, when plating, add a dollop of sour cream and some chopped cilantro. Or croutons spread with a pesto. I also like a splash of sherry at the very end. This version I put a thin slice of asiago cheese and popped it under the broiler till cheese melted

*you could use the jar variety of red peppers but remember to get the roasted red peppers packed in water not vinegar.

Lesson learned………….as jeff would say!! If you use a regular blender cool the contents down somewhat prior to pureeing and leave the lid ajar a tad cause if not you’ll have a mess.

Do you have a favorite cream soup?