Carrot Cake

I LOVE estate sales....I find all sorts of fun things there, like old cook books! This recipe comes from one of those finds. It was found in the "Centennial 1888-1988 Recipe Book" From the First Presbyterian Church Florence, Arizona.

I made it sans raisins to see how it would be with substitutions for the raisins. I used half of the batter  and added diced apples, the other half I added shredded zucchini! I liked BOTH very much! So, here it is:

2 C. Sugar
1 C. Oil
3 eggs
2 C. Flour plus 2 Tbsp.
1/2 t. Salt
1 level t. soda
1 t. Cinnamon
1 C. Chopped nuts
1 C. or one small can of Crushed Pineapple (I didn't drain it...but it doesn't specify)

Beat all together thoroughly.
Fold in 2 C. Shredded Carrots
1 C. Raisins (or shredded zucchini or diced apples)

Bake at 350 for 1 hour in Loaf pan-9x12 (I don't think they meant a bread loaf pan but a 9x13 pan)
I made mine into muffins, so that I could keep the two varieties separate. I cooked 20 min to start and I think I had to add a few more minutes.

Results (sorry! I will add pics later!) These were amazing!! They stayed moist for days!!

Cream Cheese Icing:

1 8oz pkg. Cream Cheese room temp
1/4 C. of butter room temp
1/2 Box Powdered Sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
Beat till smooth and spread over cake.

Lila's Pizza Sauce

This recipe is from my mother in law Lila Bates. I made it tonight for the first time and used it with our Calzones. It worked great!!

In a 3 qt. sauce pan heat  2 T. Olive Oil and add:
1 yellow onion Chopped fine
Cook till translucent then add 3-4 lg. cloves of  garlic minced.
Cook for 30 seconds and add:
1 can of tomato puree or diced tomatoes with liquid (15oz)
1 can of tomato sauce (15oz)
1 can of tomato Paste (6oz)
2 t. sugar (can substitute some balsamic vinegar to sweeten if desired)
2 t. salt
2 t. pepper
2 t. Dried Oregano
1/2 t. finely chopped rosemary (or dried)
2 t. dried basil
dash of Cayenne Pepper
1 bay leaf
Simmer uncovered for an hour stirring occasionally, remove bay leaf when done and store in fridge or freezer till needed.

My notes: I forgot the Cayenne, but I will add it next time! I used 2 t.  Balsamic and the sweetness was fine, when I make it again I might use my immersion blender, the diced tomatoes were a little too big for the calzones! The thickness of the sauce was perfect!!!

Salmon foil Pack dinner

 Salmon Foil Pack Dinner:

This is our first time attempting Fish or Rice with our foil packs,
We started with criss cross foil in 4 layers. I added 3/4 C. of minute
rice to the bottom with a sprinkle of salt and a teaspoon of butter.
Then I layered
Asparagus spears
julienned bell peppers and carrots
2 green onions
We added salt and pepper to the veggies and another small amount
of butter.
I then added the salmon with salt, pepper, thyme, herbs de provance
and about 2 teaspoons of butter.
We put lemon slices over the top and sealed up all but one side.
We added 3/4 cup of water to the pouch and sealed up the last side!

Kent cooked it on the coals for 20 Min. he did NOT turn it, the sealing of the pouch was able to steam the fish perfectly!

Best foil pack dinner ever!!

Touchdown Taco Dip

I believe this is a Pampered Chef Recipe! I have to double it ALWAYS!!

1 can (16 oz) refried beans
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese room temp
1 C. sour Cream
2 Tbsp. Taco Seasoning Mix
2 oz. Cheddar Cheese Shredded (1/2 C.)
1 sm. can sliced black olives
1 med tomato, diced
1/4 C. sliced green onions
2 Tbsp. fresh Cilantro
(I make Guacamole from a package mix with a little lemon juice added to retain color)

Warm beans and spread in bottom of 8x8 or 9x9 dish (or equivalent oval or round ...)
While that is warming up mix together Cream Cheese, Sour Cream and Taco Seasoning

Layers:
Beans (cooled to just warm)
Guacamole
Sour cream mixture
Cheese
Olives
Onions
Tomatoes
Cilantro
Store in refrigerator till party time!!

My Take on Candied Yams

My take on Candied Yams

5 med. yams chopped and boiled 20 min
1 can (20oz) Pineapple chunks
3/4 C. brown sugar
1 T.  cornstarch
mini marshmallows


Prepare yams and place in 9x13 pan
Strain pineapple chunks reserving liquid
Add pineapple chunks to the yams

Whisk together cornstarch and brown sugar and add to reserved pineapple juice.
Microwave or cook on the stove till thickened and add to the pan and stir to combine.
top with marshmallows.
Bake till heated through and marshmallows have a nice color!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Other Costumes for 2012

I had some other fun costumes I was able to be part of this year!
My granddaughters for 2....

 Allison was Rapunzel......pictures inc when I get them!

Amelia was Pasqual

 Then my good friend Diane asked me to Make an Alvin costume for her husband!! So fun!!

Haunted Ladies

Kat and I were Ally Gal and Widow Constance from the Haunted Mansion stretching room!

I loved my costume!! It was completely comfortable!

Kat's costume this year was my masterpiece!

I love every last detail!! I just wish I had a poofier slip to make it perfect!

Halloween Parade and Sully!

They say Opposites attract and they are NOT wrong! My husband is a HAM with capital Letters....He should be an actor or a politician I do not know how he ended up being an Accountant!! I am quite terrified of standing out, I am perfectly happy hiding in the kitchen or watching from the sidelines but not Kent! Not 15 min after entering into the fray of the trick or treaters at Disneyland he already caught the attention of the "patrol" they were on the lookout for people to ask to be in the Parade!! We ran into friends from home and by the time we said goodbye, we all (8 of us!) had an invitation to ride on the Grand Marshall Float in the Parade that night! I like to think it was my outrageous costuming genius.....but I know, that it was the over the top antics of my costumed Minions that ended me just where I didn't want to be!

Can you see their smiles! They enjoyed every last minute of that long long ride that took us from the backstage area by town square to the backstage area next to It's a Small World.  My Minions look good don't they!

This one was over the top happy seeing as how this is his SECOND time in a Disneyland parade!!

Last time he was Jafar and Melannie was Iago and she rode around on his shoulders saying "Why am I NOT suprised!"

I wish we had pictures from that last parade, but that is purely my fault! :(.....

I made this "Monster's Inc" costume a few years ago, must be like 5 or more.... The feet are the funnest part and I'm sorry we can't see them in any of the pictures !! It's still a huge Favorite and someone puts in on every year even if they don't wear it on Halloween!

Kevin and Kevin and Halloween 2012!

For Halloween this year we planned to meet up with Cousins Renee and BrieAnn at Disneyland and do the special "Trick or Treat" after hours event. We didn't all dress up in theme but a few of us were coordinating!

(Cousin Renee as Mrs. Potato head and Brie as Little Dead Riding Hood....lol

Emma decided she wanted to be "Kevin" from the Pixar movie "UP". This presented many, many challenges, for one she is only 9 and not even close to having a 3 foot neck....So, I got out my bag of tricks and started to work on her costume.

I found a good number of Feather Boa's at Gator Bob's warehouse store in Concord for only $1 ea!!! Score! I had to pay $7 for the ONE that I got in the light blue color...bah!

I made the head from Yellow Felt and had Katherine paint the end of the beak to match the photo. I then attached the head to a dollar store alligator foam costume head/hat thing! I cut off the teeth though....There is a good bit of hand sewing to get the blue felt and beak part onto the hat but it worked PERFECTLY!

I made the body of the costume by altering the Penguin costume pattern I had. It's done in Felt because it holds its shape the best. Then I meticulously hand stitched on the feather boas! Thank goodness for NCIS which I watched and watched as I sewed....
TADA!! (Brother Kevin is Russel from UP and we made him take care of Emma all night! haha)

 Her sister Avril wanted to be a Peacock, here are their costumes from the back!

Avril's costume was adorable too! I used an Lyrical Ballet costume I had in my stash and added Tule and peacock feathers that I ordered online from Hancocks Fabrics (Way Cheaper than Joanne's!)

We had her face painted at Disney's California Adventure the afternoon before! So cute!

mega danish pastry

Friday, March 18, 2011

From the Kitchen of Pat Nieman

Mega Danish Pastry

This is Mega Danish because this recipe makes three good sized pastries....enough to share and still have some for the home team (Do you feel bad when you cook something yummy and your family asks, "Who's that for?")

First make this easy dough:

2 cubes butter, softened
2 pkg (or 2 T) yeast...I use SAF yeast
2 C warm milk
2 eggs
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp salt
6 C flour
Mix and knead about 5 minutes. Don't add much additional flour...you want a soft dough. Let rise while you make the fillings.


Custard:
(I usually make about 1 1/2 times this amount because I love lots of filling)

1 C milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 C sugar
3 T flour (I use Wondra)
1 tsp vanilla
Stir together and cook in microwave...let cool...I actually put this in the freezer to really cool it down. If it's warm you'll melt the almond/oat filling

Next...make the Almond/Oat filling:
(again, I usually make 1 1/2 times this amount)

Almond Filling:
3/4 C sugar
1 cube butter
1/3 C oats
2 tsp almond flavoring
Mix until crumbly.


When dough has risen, divide into three pieces and pat each into a large rectangle on a baking sheet.


Slice along each side at about 1 inch intervals. Then spread 1/3 of the custard down the center. Next crumble 1/3 the almond mixture on top of the custard.




Finally, braid the strips over the fillings, tucking the ends in so the fillings doesn't leak out while baking.

Let rise again; bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until slightly browned.

Frost with a powdered sugar glaze or thin cream cheese frosting.

These also freeze well and are great to make during the holidays when you want a nice breakfast treat that doesn't have to be made at the last minute.

Roasted Pepper Salsa

2 Anaheim peppers
2  Jalapeno peppers
1 Serrano pepper
2-4 cloves of garlic
2 Tomatillos
3 green onions chopped small (mostly the white part just a bit of the green)
salt
pepper
Diced tomatoes fresh or canned to equal about 3 cups with liquid (that is how I do it,  you can discard liquid if you prefer)
1-2 Tbsp Lime juice
Cilantro (I use a good handful roughly chopped)


Roast the peppers, tomatillos and garlic cloves in the oven turning the peppers as needed to get a nice roast on each side. You should see black and brown spots on the skin which you will peel later. 400 for 10 min per side to start, you can roast longer if needed.

When they are out of the oven pop the peppers in a brown bag and seal it up and let them sit till cooled then peel them (they should peel fairly easily by doing this) it's OK if some of the skin does not come off, I promise!

now, put on some food gloves and peel then dice the peppers small. I remove most of the seeds! If you like it hot and spicy feel free to leave some in....
DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE OR ANYTHING ELSE WITH PEPPER JUICE ON YOUR HANDS OR GLOVES.  That's in Caps to stress how important it is to NOT get pepper juice in your eyes or on your lips etc. It will hurt...this I can promise!

Mince up the garlic and toss in a medium bowl. (the roasted garlic will be very soft and yummy)
Add the finely diced peppers (you can also puree in a blender)
add the tomatoes and lime juice
add the green onions
season with salt and pepper
toss in the chopped cilantro
It always seemed to us that the salsa got spicier the longer it sat...

I used to puree the garlic,peppers and half the tomatoes then add the rest of the tomatoes but it turned out very green in color and we preferred the red. If you want to do a lot less mincing/chopping etc. you can do this it still tastes great!

OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

I have added in the past some grated zucchini, Poblano Peppers and a few other things I can't remember now, but all worked fine!

Dutch Oven Cooking in your Backyard

My Cousin Renee and her husband Roland are amazing! I don't know which one of them came up with this awesome idea but I was VERY impressed!

They purchased a 2 drawer Metal file Cabinet at a local thrift store.
They created a tin foil layer on top (not sure what they have under it maybe a cookie sheet?) I will ask!
She purchased a charcoal starter :

This gets the coals hot then you put the desired amount under the Dutch Oven
The lid on then the coals on top and cook the desired time depending on what you are cooking.
Then store the dutch ovens in the drawers when done!

No heating up the house to do your Sunday Roast!

Foolproof Fudge

This recipe is from my Mother in Law Lila, I have not tried it yet, but I want to put it in my blog before it gets lost....it's on a small square piece of paper that keeps falling off  the desk!!

FOOLPROOF FUDGE

3 C. (18 oz) semi sweet chocolate chips
14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
dash of salt
1.5 t. Vanilla Extract
Optional:
1/2 C. Chopped Nuts
OR
2 C. minature Marshmallows

Line a 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil. Butter the foil. Set aside.

In a Heavy Saucepan melt the chips with the milk and salt
remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and the Nuts
or
2  Tablespoons of Butter and the marshmallows.

Spread evenly in prepared pan and chill for 2 hours or till firm.

Turn out onto a clean cutting board and peel off the foil.
Cut into squares.
Store covered in the refrigerator.

Baked Meatballs

My husband loves Meatballs! He keeps buying them from the store...ug! Who knows what could be in those! My early attempts at meatballs were tasty but decidedly lacking in execution, the fry in oil method was NOT working for me and we certainly did not need the added oil in our diets!

When we were on Vacation at a cabin in Montana we decided to try to make our own. Here is the recipe we came up with and the resulting pictures!

Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with foil

Mix together
1/2 C. Milk (or water)
2 eggs
1 t. Salt
1/2. t. Pepper
1/2 t.Garlic Powder
1 t. Italian spices
1 T. Parsley (fresh if you have it all chopped up)
Add:
1/4 C. canned or fresh breadcrumbs and soak for a few min till the crumbs are soft
ADD:
1/2 C. Parmesan Cheese
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground bison (you can use any other lean meat like chicken or turkey)

Now,  mix this well and get out a cookie scoop. I use a 18/9 (whatever that means!) it makes a good sized meatball. If you do a smaller meatball you may need to adjust cooking time.
Scoop the meat and pop out onto a cookie sheet lined with foil. Roll the meatball in your hands to get it as round as possible. It's important to get them close to the same size so that they cook evenly.
Put them on the cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 20 min.

When they are done, they will not be beautiful till you clean off the drippings. At this point you can eat them, refrigerate them, freeze them or do what we did and pop them into some spaghetti sauce and let them get all nice and toasty and saucy then serve them for dinner!

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

I need more recipes like this! Flavorful, Fresh and Fabulous!

I am trying to cook in a way that will help my husband get more control over his diabetes.
So, Paring a yummy Prime Rib with a giant baked potato was out.....(cry!) So, I took to the web and found a few different variations on a tomato salad, and found that while they looked and sounded good, I already had in mind what I wanted to do...I wanted the flavor of my favorite Bruchetta....in a Salad form!
Recipe,
Sliced Heirloom Tomatoes
Basil Chiffanaud (sp? it means to roll up a bunch of basil leaves and slice thin strips!)
Fresh Mozzarella sliced (If I had any good Parmesan in the fridge I probably would have used that instead)
Green onion slices, or Red onion diced fine (about 2 T. total I did mine with Green onions)

Slice the tomatoes and add salt and set in a colander over a bowl for 15 to 20 min. While they sit
Make the dressing!

Dressing:
1/4 C. Olive oil
1 T. fresh lemon juice.
1 T Balsamic Vinegar (more if you like it tangy!)
Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder or chopped fresh garlic to taste
Whisk together

Discard the drippings and add tomatoes into the bowl. Add, Cheese and Basil and dressing.

 Let sit in Fridge for a bit before you taste.
The Salt from the Tomatoes should be enough but taste before you serve.

I am excited to try some new things from the Farmers Market soon!! I hope he likes Beets...

Enchilada Casserole-Tupperwave Cookbook

This is an OLD family favorite from back when I sold Tupperware. It's in the Tupperwave Stacked Cooked recipe book. My Hubby recently asked me to find it....lol I think he's missing some of the old favs... I am thinking of trying this one in the oven, I will post pics and let you know how it works out!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 Med. Onion
1 can (10 oz ish) Enchilada Sauce (get whatever heat rating your family likes I do mild for me)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 corn tortillas cut into 8 wedges
1 1/4 cup shredded Cheese (cheddar/jack preferably)

Brown Meat and Onion in skillet then transfer to 2 qt. microwavable casserole dish.
Stir in Sauce, garlic powder, pepper.
Gently fold in Tortilla Wedges and  1 cup of  Cheese
Cook in Microwave on High for 6 to 8 min till heated through.

Serve with a little extra cheese on top and some sliced green onions.

TIP: Buy a LARGE package of ground beef at Costco, Sam's or your favorite grocery store and cook it up when you get home. Divide into 1 lb approx. freezer containers and Freeze! For recipes like this one I just pull out one of those containers from the freezer and defrost it in the microwave and use in the recipe. If I am thinking ahead I actually pull it out the night before and let it defrost in the fridge!

TIP 2- If you do a lot of recipes that call for Beef and Onions....Cook the onions with your ground beef and you have 2 steps done!!

TIP 3- Corn Tortillas freeze really well!!

Cooking Chicken for use later

One method I have found to work Beautifully for preparing Chicken for use in such things as, Enchiladas or Chicken Salad or Chicken Broccoli Casserole etc. Is the Following:

Put your chicken fresh or frozen into a crock pot.

Cover with Water (or Water and Chicken Stock, or Water and Veg. stock.)

Cook 6 hours on High or 8 hours on Low

The chicken will be so moist!! And, with the addition of Stock, nicely seasoned and yummy.

If you need your chicken done much faster you can boil on the stove for about 20 min for Chicken Tenders and longer (check for doneness) for full or half breasts.

My girls would not eat the Enchiladas I made the other night using this method, so I just pulled out 4 of the chicken Tenders (I use those most!) and put them on plates for the girls with some rice, and they had their dinner without me having to make an entirely separate meal for them!

I really prefer these methods over Microwave or baking when using Chicken in something else just to avoid the hard spots and dryness.

One Dish Chicken and Stuffing Bake

This one came from someone in San Jose! (it's probably also a Campbell's soup recipe!)

Pre-heat oven to 375

1 pkg of stove top stuffing mix for chicken

Stir: Stuffing Crumbs with packet and 1 1/2 C. hot water and 1/4 C. butter cut up and set aside

Place 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves in a square baking dish

mix 1 can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup with 1/3 Cup sour cream

Pour mixture over chicken and top all with stuffing mixture

Bake for 35 to 45 min or until chicken is done.

One Dish Chicken and Rice Bake

Campbells Soup Recipe

Pre-heat oven to 375

1 Can campbells cream of mushroom soup

1 cup Water

3/4 Cup uncooked regular white rice

1/4 t. paprika

1/4 t. pepper

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves

in a 2 Qt. shallow baking dish combine soup, water, rice, paprika and pepper.

Place chicken on top of rice mixture and sprinkle on additional paprika and pepper.

COVER

Bake for 45 min or until done.

Crock Pot Coq au Vin

I got this recipe out of a magazine a few years ago. I wish I would have written down when and where so that I could give them credit, because they deserve it! It's soooooo good!!

FYI, for my large crock pot and equally large family I usually double this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 slices thick-cut bacon chopped

4 oz sliced mushrooms

1/2 C. frozen white pearl onions (I have substituted fresh and it works too)

2 chicken legs

2 chicken thighs (I have done this with bone in, and bone out, skin on and skin off all work)

1/4 t. Salt

1/2 C. coarsely chopped carrots

1/2 C. coarsely chopped celery

2 T. flour

1 t. thyme

1 C. dry white wine. (I substitute Chicken stock)

Proceedure:

Cook bacon in a large skillet till crisp.

(while the bacon is cooking add salt and pepper to the chicken and set aside)

with a slotted spoon remove bacon to the crock pot.

add the mushrooms and onions to the crock pot

Cook the chicken in the bacon drippings till brown on both sides and add to pot.

Add the carrots and Celery to the skillet with the drippings and cook for 4 to 5 min

until crisp tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir in Flour and Thyme and cook 2 min stirring constantly.

remove from heat and add the wine stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet.

Add all to the crock pot.

cover and cook on Low for 6 hours.

NOTES: I find that if I use skin on chicken there is too much fat in the pot and I have to scoop it out before i can eat it. So, generally, I get skinned pieces or pull it off myself. I also dislike pulling out the bones....so I get boneless and skinless....yes, I know, it sounds lazy but I have better things to do really!

This is good served with mashed potatoes or rice or noodles!

I brought home some Herbs de Provence from Paris and I usually add a teaspoon of that with the Thyme from the garden.