A pity party dinner..

For 3 months I have been going through the hiring process for the police department where I live.  I passed all the panel interviews, background, lie detector test everything.  Yesterday the investigator said I had a 97% and would be getting an offered this week of employment.  Today I got a generic generated email letting me know they filled the position with an in-house volunteer.  I'm angry!  My husband tells me it must have been gods will and ptl (ptl- is our verison of praise the lord).  Well I have mentally railed at god all day and I know this is wrong.  I have 3 wonderful babies to concentrate on.  This job is not needed- I applied for selfish reasons.  I wanted to paint the exterior of the house, get a boat, re-pave the driveway.  All things that we can do on my husbands salary just not immediately.  I cooked and i'm over it.  So heres my pity party meal.

Starting with home made cream of mushroom soup..

Ingredients

• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons onions, chopped
• 1 -2 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 -3 tablespoons flour (seperated)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup light cream or 1 cup evaporated milk 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
•  Cut the mushrooms into slices.

1.  Melt butter in large frying pan. Add in onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until onions are soft.
2.  Blend in 2 T. flour and stir.
3. Add in the chicken broth and heat until slightly thickened while stirring frequently.
4. Stir cream with additional 1 T. flour and seasonings. Add in cream to soup. Heat to thicken while stirring frequently.

Dumped over chicken in a baking dished cooking on 350 for 40 minutes. Served with rice and peas.

A good dinner guest always brings dessert

My parents are having us over for dinner tonight.  So My oldest daughter (who's 4) and I made strawberry short cake! We had a flat of strawberries from the farmers market.

Ingredients

• 3 pints fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 cups whipped heavy cream

Directions

1. Slice the strawberries and toss them with 1/2 cup of white sugar. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F Grease and flour one 8 inch round cake pan.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, 2 tablespoons white sugar and the salt. With a pastry blender cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the beaten egg and milk. Stir until just combined.
4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool partially in pan on wire rack.
5. Slice partially cooled cake in half, making two layers. Place half of the strawberries on one layer and top with the other layer. Top with remaining strawberries and cover with the whipped cream.

Lack of Posting

Sorry we've been MIA I promise i'll be back to cooking by Wednesday.  My parents live 2900 miles away and are here visiting so we've been on the move constantly!  Grandparents seeing grand babies trump cooking!

Creamed Corn (stock piled)

Creamed Corn

• Husk 5 dozen corn.
• Wipe off the hair with a tea towel.
• Then cut it directly off the cob. (no blanching)
• Put the corn kernels into a large turkey roaster.
• Add one pound butter.
• Add 2 cups half and half cream.
• Cook at 350 degrees for one hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
• Keep covered.
• Then cool the roaster which is full of corn in an ice water bath. I cool it in my bath tub with lots of ice.
• Then bag it and store in your freezer.

Spaetzle

 In Germany spaetzle it is served alongside pork and schnitzel.

Spaetzle is wonderful served plain but is often served up smothered in mushroom gravy or fried with onions and bacon.

 

This is a Spaetzle maker. Prior to getting it as a gift from, I placed a flat grater over my pot of boiling water and used a spatula to "wipe" the batter over the grater. You could also use a colander with large holes.

However the Spaetzle maker makes it much easier to do. You can find them at many kitchen stores. The idea is to place the spaetzle maker over a large pot of boiling water. You fill the little square box with batter and then push the box back and forth over the grater holes allowing the batter to drop by little globs into the boiling water.

When the batter is gone, you let the spaetzle cook a few minutes longer and then drain and serve.

For the batter you will need:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 3/4 cup milk

1. Place flour and salt in mixing bowl.
2. Add eggs to milk and stir into flour until a sticky batter is formed.
3. Bring water to a boil in a large pot, add salt.
4. Place batter by spoonfuls in spaeztle maker or colander and push batter back and forth allowing it to fall in small globs into the boiling water.
5. Stir spaetzle in pot occasionally to keep them from sticking together.(I often add a little vegetable oil to the pot)
6. After the batter is used up, cook a minute or two longer.
7. Using a large colander, drain the water off and return spaetzle to pot.
8. Add 3 large Tbsp. of butter and stir.
9. Serve.
10. If you like, you can carmelize a chopped onion slowly in a Tbsp. or two of butter and stir these into the spaetzle before serving.

Julia Childs Basic Omelette and Oven Bacon

 

You can click here to watch Julia Child make an omelette

Ingredients

• 2 Eggs
• 1 Pinch of salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp of Water
• 2 Tsp of butter

Instructions

Place a non-stick omelette pan over high heat.

Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, salt, and pepper until whites and yolks are nicely blended. Add water and whisk again briefly.

Melt butter in the hot pan, tilting to coat sides. Before the butter starts to brown, dump in the eggs.

Holding the pan by its handle, move it in a swirling motion to shake the eggs loose from the sides and into a central pile. Then, as it firms up, use jerky movements to get it to sort of roll over onto itself.

Cooking should only take a 20 seconds. Dump the just-cooked omelette onto a plate, garnish, and enjoy!

 

 

1. Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.
2. Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away.
3. Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.
4. Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. You can pour the liquid fat into a heat-resistant container to save for other uses. I like to pour it through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to filter out any crunchy bits.

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup pastina pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
• 1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.
Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Irish Meatball Stew for a crod

  Don't be put off by the task of making a large amount of meatballs.  They can be made a day or two in advance and refrigerated until you are ready to use them.

It will serve 25 - 30 with a salad and some crusty buns.

Meatball Ingredients

• 5 pounds ground beef
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups panko crumbs
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese or other hard cheese
• 1 large onion, minced fine
• 3/4 cup whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon rosemary
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 F
2. Combine all the meatball ingredients in a large bowl or a large pot if necessary using your hands.
3. Line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper.
4. Roll meatballs about 1 1/2 inches and lay side by side onto the cookie sheets.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until browned.

Stew Ingredients

• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
• 24 ounces button mushrooms, quartered
• 5 pounds small potatoes cut into chunks
• 10 large carrots peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 head of celery cut into chunks
• 2 pounds green beans cut into chunks
• 2 cartons beef broth 900 ml size
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon worchestire sauce
• 1 can Guinness beer (you could substitute additional beef broth for the wine and beer but these ingredients make a difference in the complexity of the flavour)
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• fresh ground salt and pepper to taste after it has finished roasting

1. In a very large roaster, layer the vegetables and meatballs.  If you do not have one roaster large enough you can divide it all between two and adjust the roasting time as it will cook faster.
2. Combine the red wine and the cornstarch and set aside until 1 hour before the stew is finished.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over the top.
4. Bake at 350 covered for about 3 hours. Stir in the cornstarch and red wine and cook one more hour. (Stir it once each hour to  ensure that it roasts evenly.)

Maple Glazed Cornish Game Hens

*I got this reciepe out of a Paula Deen Magazine but can find it on line to link you

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 Cornish game hens (about 1 3/4 pounds each)
• 3 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths
• 1 medium red onion, quartered
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Stir together maple syrup and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Using kitchen twine, tie hen legs together, then tuck wing tips underneath. Place hens on a rimmed baking sheet and rub with 1 teaspoon oil; season with salt and pepper.
2. Roast 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and add carrots, onion, garlic, and thyme. Toss vegetables with 2 teaspoons oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes.
3. Brush hens with maple mixture. Continue to roast, brushing twice more, until juices run clear when hens are pierced between breast and leg or an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, about 15 minutes. Transfer hens to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile, toss vegetables with lemon juice. Carve hens and serve with vegetables.

Whatchagot Soup

Crumble up 1/2 a link of smoked farmer sausage

or

brown 1 lb. hamburger

Get out your soup pot or dutch oven and put in:

1 tbsp. oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion chopped

1 large stalk celery, chopped

1/2 each green pepper and red pepper, chopped

(or a yellow or orange pepper)

1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely shredded

Saute' about 7 minutes.

Add:

the farmer sausage or hamburger

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans, drained or lentils

1 can baked beans

1 can corn

1 can tomato soup or tomato sauce

3-4 cups water

Stir well and add your spices. I added:

1 Tbsp. Chili powder

2 tsp. Basil

1 - 2 tsp. Montreal Steak Spice

1 tsp. Paprika

 

Cook until vegetables are cooked and flavours are blended - about 45 minutes, adding 1 small zucchini coarsely shredded about 10 minutes before it's done.

Garnish with cheddar cheese if desired.

Spinach with black-eyed beans

A complete meal, this spinach and legume dish is nourishing and delightfully simple. Serve hot or cold. I will be serving it cold tonight with Cajun snapper and a crisp salad with fresh basil, tomatoes and goat cheese.
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups black-eyed beans, soaked for 1 hour
• 5 tbsp olive oil 
• 1 large onion peeled and finely chopped
• 2 bunches fresh spinach chopped or 1 bag/container frozen chopped spinach, thawed.
• fresh ground pepper

Soak the beans for 1 hour. Then put in pot, cover with water and bring it to boil. Simmer about 20 minutes but be careful....they should not turn to 'mush' for this dish. Drain.

Meanwhile heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the onions until they are translucent. Add the spinach and continue to fry stirring continuously until cooked...Add salt and pepper to taste and then stir in the drained black eyed beans. I love this served cold as a side dish.

Rollkuchen

Ingredients:
2 eggs
¾ c milk
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp oil
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 generous tsp baking powder

Filling:
left over sloppy joe sauce or chili


Method:

1. In small bowl, mix eggs with fork and then mix in the rest of the wet ingredients.
2. In another larger bowl, mix flour, salt and baking powder, make a well and stir in the wet ingredients. Stir with wooden spoon until all ingredients are mixed well.
3. Knead slightly with hands to smooth, adding milk or flour if needed and roll out thinly on floured board or counter.
4. Place a tsp of filling about one to one and half inches apart in a row, along one end.
5. Fold dough over top of filling and press with a cup to form a perogie like crescent.No need to pinch. Lay on floured cookie sheet until all done before proceeding to fry.
6. Heat about 2 - 3 cups of canola oil – test with a little dough to make sure it fries quickly. The trick to not having deep fried food soak up too much oil is to fry it quickly in very hot fat. Use 2 forks and have a pan lined with paper towel ready.

Nachos

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 package taco season
• 1 small onion chopped fine
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 2 small tomatoes diced small
• 1 jalapeno sliced.
• 1 package Tex Mex or use 2 cups medium cheddar cheese.
• 1 large bag Nachos
• Salsa & sour cream

1. Brown the ground beef with taco seasoning. Set aside
2. On a round deep pie plate, start to build and layer all the ingredients in the following order:
3. Nachos
4. Cheese
5. Beef
6. Tomatoes
7. Black Olives
8. Onions
9. Jalapenos
10. Chili Powder
11. Sprinkle cheese on top
12. Your deep plate will be heaped. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, waiting till the cheese has melted.
13. Serve with side dish of Salsa and sour cream.
14. You can vary or adjust your amounts and make a large batch on a cookie sheet.

Nalesniki with Cheese and Raisins

Ingredients for crepes:½ cup lukewarm water
1 cup milk
4 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted. Plus more to sauté.
1 cup all-purpose flour (you can use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose)
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of Salt

Ingredients for cheese filling:  8 oz package cream cheese, at room temperature
16 oz small curd cottage cheese
1/3 cup sugar
¾ cup raisins
Powdered sugar for serving (optional)

How to Make Crepes:

1. Put all of the ingredients for the crepes (in the order that they are listed) in a blender and blend until well combined.
2. Melt a dab of butter in 2 non-stick skillets over medium heat. (2 skillets make the process go faster).
3. Pour about 2 to 3 tablespoons of batter into the skillet.  I use a 1-ounce measuring cup.

4. As you are pouring into the skillet, swirl the batter to evenly coat the bottom. If you get any small gaps, you can fill them with more batter.
5. Once the bottom is golden, flip the crepe using a sharp edged spatula to easily get under the crepe. Let the other side get golden and plop the crepe out onto a cutting board.
Repeat with all of the batter, using a dot of butter each time. Don’t stack hot crepes on top of each other. Once they are just luke-warm or room temp, they can be stacked.
Don’t panic, the first crepe in the pan never turns out nice!

How to make Cheese filling and complete Blinchiki:1. In a colander, rinse the cottage cheese with cold water and DRAIN WELL. A cheese cloth also works well.
2. Mash the cream cheese, cottage cheese and sugar with a potato masher until well combined and creamy. Cottage cheese will still be a little lumpy.
3.  Using a spatula, spread 2 generous tablespoons of cheese filling on each crepe.

4. Sprinkle with 15 raisins.
5. Roll the crepe into a log and cut in half.
6. Refrigerate crepes that aren’t being served. It keeps in the fridge for almost one week.

To Serve:
Melt about 1 tablespoon of butter in a skillet and sauté the rolled cheese crepes on medium heat until golden brown on both sides. They don’t take long to sauté. Be careful not to burn them.
Dust with powered sugar (optional) and serve with sour cream or jam on the side.

Sick, tired, having a crappy week- not cooking today!

Last Wednesday my husbands VW engine exploded.  So Friday he had my car at work.  Well when he went to come home the mini (what we call our van) wouldn't start.  It would crank over but there was no spark.  So we worked on it all weekend.  During which we all were sick.  Finally Monday came around and we sent mini the a mechanic.  After a frustrating day the mechanic called to inform us it was our security system and its locking down the system.  To have it replaced is $500-600.  So we ok'd it (thank god we have the cash to pay for it but its still sad).  The next day the mechanic called to tell us its a part that has to be order direct so he's over nighting it from Michigan.  Needless to say husband has been walking to work and the kids and I have been home bound.  We are hoping to have mini home tomorrow for Emmas t-ball practice other wise dh will be pushing her in a stroller the 3 miles to t-ball and back.

I'm sick, cranky, without a voice, pounding head and declaring it left over day!

Crispy Breadsticks

Another food network idea you can click here to view their site and their photos, which kick my photos booty.

Directions

Mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon each fennel seeds, poppy seeds and sesame seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Roll out an 11-ounce package refrigerated breadstick dough into a 16-by-8-inch rectangle. Cut into twelve 16-inch strips and twist into breadsticks. Brush with the oil mixture. Place on 2 parchment-lined baking sheets and bake in a 400 degrees F oven until golden, about 12 minutes

Eggs in Purgatory

I got this reciepe from the food network you can click here to see there photos.  Much more attractive than mine.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed
• 4 ounces deli-sliced salami, roughly chopped
• 1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 Italian green frying pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 cup tomato puree or marinara sauce
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 8 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
• Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and discard. Increase the heat to high and add the salami, onion, peppers and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until the salami starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and 1/2 cup water and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium. Scatter the parsley leaves into the skillet. Make 4 indentations in the pepper mixture for the eggs. Break 2 eggs into a small bowl, then pour both into one of the indentations. Repeat with the remaining eggs. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. Cover and cook until the whites are set and the yolks are cooked to desired doneness. Serve with the bread

Ham and Cheese Loaf

Ham and Cheese Loaf

31/2 cups flour
2 tbsp yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup prepared mustard(I used half regular and half bold n spicy)
2 tbsp butter

Filling:
3 cups chopped cooked ham
1 cup grated swiss cheese
3/4 cup diced dill pickles

1 egg lightly beaten, to brush on loaf just before baking

Reserve 1 cup flour. Mix remaining flour, yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl. In separate bowl microwave water, mustard and butter until very warm. Stir warm liquid into dry ingredients. Mix in enough of the reserved 1 cup flour to make a soft dough that does not stick to bowl. Knead until smooth and elastic approx 4 to 5 min.
Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

To fill and shape dough...roll dough to approx 15 by 10" rectangle. Place on greased baking sheet.
Sprinkle ham, cheese and pickles over the centre third of rectangle. With a sharp knife make 1" cuts from filling to dough edges on each side of the filling. Alternate sides, fold strips of dough at an angle across filling.Cover and let rise in warm place until double in size, approx 30 min. Brush loaf with beaten egg.
Bake at 375 for 35 min.

Grilled Summer Ribs

Grilled Summer Ribs

• enough pork side ribs of your choice to fill your crock pot.
• 2 cups ketchup
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons celery salt
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• water enough to barely cover the ribs once the sauce has been poured over the ribs and onions
• 2 large onions
• purchased BBQ sauce of your choice

1. Cut the ribs into individual serving pieces.
2. Dice the onions
3. Put the ribs and onions in the crock pot. . . it can be quite full . . the sauce will fill in the spaces.
4. Combine all the sauce ingredients except the BBQ sauce.
5. Pour over the ribs and turn to high. .. .and turn down to low once it is simmering.
6. Turn off at the end of the day .. . .allow to cool. . .and refrigerate.
7. The next day. . .remove from the refrigerate. . .and remove all the fat that has solidified at the top of the ribs.
8. Turn the crock pot back on .. .and simmer until you are ready to grill them
9. The grilling only takes 20 minutes. . .long enough to baste with BBQ sauce and allow to brown.
10. The sauce in the crock pot. . .can be heated in a sauce pan and thickened with 2 tablespoons flour to a cup of cold water. Bring to boil .. .and stir until thick.
11. If you want to freeze some. . . only grill enough for the first day. . .allow the rest to come to room temperature. Put in freezer bags and freeze.

Amish Starter

Ingredients:

1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
3 cups all purpose flour divided
3 cups white sugar, divided
3 cups warm milk (110 degrees F), divided

Before starting, remember: Do not use metal bowls or utensils. Do not refrigerate. The starter will take 10 days to ferment.

Day 1: In a small bowl, soften yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well. In a 2-quart glass or ceramic bowl, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added.  Slowly stir in 1 cup warm milk and the dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely with lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle.

Days 2 through 4: Stir mixture with a wooden or plastic spoon once a day.

Day 5: Stir with wooden or plastic spoon. Then add 1 cup sifted flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup warm milk and stir.

Days 6 through 9: Stir mixture with a wooden or plastic spoon once a day.

Day 10: Stir with wooden or plastic spoon. Then add 1 cup sifted flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup warm milk and stir. Remove 1 cup of batter to make your first friendship bread. Reserve another cup to begin the 10-day process all over again. Then give 1-cup portions of starter to your friends in 1-gallon Ziploc bags, along with copies of the recipes for starter and friendship bread

Orange Julius

1/2 a can of frozen orange juice concentrate

1 cup milk

1 cup water

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar (I half the sugar)

10-15 ice cubes

Place all ingredients in blender and blend together until is crushed.

Very refreshing drink with a foamy head.

Lunch and Meals to-go for the week- Ham and Cheese Pinwheels!

Refrigerator Rolls

2 cups warm milk or water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup margarine softened

2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. instant yeast

2 eggs beaten

about 6 cups flour - can include 1 or 2 cups whole wheat flour

-Place 4 cups flour into bowl of stand mixer. Add sugar, salt, yeast and margarine.
-Beat eggs and add to bowl.

-Add milk or water (I often use half milk and half water) and let mix until dough is sticky. -Add remaining flour until dough forms a medium soft ball and then and leave mixer run or knead for about 5 minutes.
-Place in greased bowl. Cover bowl and place in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Ham Cheese Pinwheels
-Before taking dough out of the refrigerator in the morning, prepare ham and cheese.
-I ask the deli for Old fashioned ham sliced slightly thicker than usual and cut into 1 1/2 - 2 inch squares .
-I also use old cheddar cheese sliced and cut into 1/2 - 1 inch squares.
-You will need one square of sliced ham and 2 squares of cheese for each pinwheel.
-Poppy seed or sesame seed add a finishing touch

-Divide dough into 4 equal portions and roll each portion into a square about 12-14 inches.
-Using a pizza cutter, cut dough into 12 3 inch squares.
-From the corner of each square, make a 1 inch diagonal cut towards the centre. Do not cut right through the centre.








-Place a square of cheddar cheese in the centre uncut portion of each square.
-Top each with a square of ham and then top the ham with another square of cheese.










Pull the left point of each triangular cut section toward the middle forming a pinwheeel (like those the children carry in the wind). The trick is to use the same corner on each side of the square. Secure the points in the centre with a toothpick.

-Place on parchment covered baking sheets and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk.

-Just before baking, brush each pinwheel with milk and sprinkle with either seasame seed or poppy seed.

-Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until nicely browned.
-Remove to racks, take the toothpicks out and let cool. Some of the cheese will ooze out and you can remove the cheese "puddles" before serving if you like.

Hi my name is Nicole and I'm an addict....

To dishware!   Currently I have about 6 sets.  Most antique some new and my collection is growing.  First off Id like to say I blame my mother! lol!  She has probably 20 sets of china so this is all her fault.  She called my last night to say she is shipping the first set of "boxes" of china that was left to me from my Grandmother to me today and she'll have my father ship the rest tomorrow!  Then she added that she was cleaning out one of her china hutches and is shipping me some of her stuff tomorrow as well. 

My house is as large as my mothers kitchen.  I have no room for all this stuff..  So between teething twins, a cranky 4 year old and cooking I am going to try to make room for my new china.  I think we will be hitting the flea markets this weekend and see what we can come up with.  Maybe an old pie safe?

Potato and Farmer Sausage Casserole

Ingredients:
6 small – med. potatoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 - 3/4 link farmer sausage, peeled and sliced

Sauce:
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
½ cup milk
½ - 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup

Arrange potatoes and farmer sausage in layers in greased 8 cup casserole dish. Melt butter; blend in flour, salt and milk gradually, stirring constantly. Add cheese and soup, stirring until sauce cooks. Pour over potatoes and sausage. Bake at 350F for 1 1/4 – 1 1/2 hours.

Chocolate Meringe Pie

I used pastry from the banana cream pie batch


Chocolate Pudding filling:
2 1/4 cups milk, divided
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup Nestle Nesquik chocolate milk mix powder
1 rounded Tbsp unsweetened baking cocoa
2 Tbsp sugar
3 egg yolks

In a small pot, heat 1 1/4 cup of the milk (med heat) and bring to boil.
As you’re watching this, mix the cornstarch, chocolate and sugar in a small bowl.
Add a little of the 1 c milk, stir in the egg yolks and then the rest of the milk.
With whisk, add this mixture to the milk just as it comes to a boil and stir until it thickens and begins to bubble. It may get lumps, but just keep stirring; it gets smooth after a minute.

Pour into baked pie shell. Beat 3 egg whites with 4 Tbsp sugar, until shiny and thick.
If you overbeat it, it will be harder to get a nice finish. Spread over pudding. To get little peaks, just touch the top with a spoon and lift. Bake at 400F for 7 min or until golden. Cool before serving. Keeps well in fridge for several days.

Banana Cream Pie

Pastry

• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/2 pound of lard
• In a one cup measuring cup
• Beat one small farm fresh egg
• add 2 teaspoons of vinegar
• and fill to the 1/2 cup line with ice cold water.

1. In the food processor, put all the dry ingredients.
2. Add the cut up lard, pulse this until the big pieces are all gone.
3. Add the liquid quickly while the machine is going.
4. Stop it as soon as it starts to come together.
5. Dump it out and form it into a ball and knead it a few times until it has no more loose flour bits.
6. Flatten into a 3 discs and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use or at least 30 minutes.
7. Roll on a floured surface .. .roll onto your rolling pin and lay gently in your pie plate.
8. Preheat your oven to 425 F.
9. Trim the edges of your pastry and prick the pastry sides and bottom.
10. Press foil against the pastry. . gently but so all the pastry has foil against. This keeps it from shrinking down onto the bottom of the pan.
11. Bake 10 minutes, remove the foil and bake until browned. Cool.

1. OR. . .by hand. . .put dry ingredients in a large bowl .. .add the cubed lard. . cut in with a pastry blender until the bits look like oatmeal.
2. Add the wet ingredients all at once. . .and stir with fork until combined.
3. Go to step step 5 above.

The remaining pastry can be kept in the refrigerator for several days or wrap well and freeze.

Custard enough for 9 inch pie

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 bananas

1. Blend the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan.
2. Gradually add the milk and beaten egg yolks.
3. Stir over medium high heat until it begins to bubble and thicken.
4. Stir one more minute.
5. Remove from heat and add the butter.
6. Allow to cool 5 minutes and pour HALF into cooled pie shell.
7. Slice 2 bananas and arrange over the custard.
8. Pour the remaining custard over the bananas.
9. Refrigerate.
10. Slice each piece. . .plate and garnish with whipped cream. . .( whip 1 cup and 1 tablespoon sugar). . .and add a few banana slices on top.

The Perfect T-Bone

 
In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, pepper, and garlic. Place the steaks on a shallow dish and rub the garlic mixture all over the meat. Marinate at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours or, better still, covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Turn the meat from time to time to coat both sides evenly.
 
Remove the steaks from the refrigerator an hour before cooking.
 
Do not salt your steaks just before cooking. Salt brings moisture (water) to the surface of the steak, and the water sits on the surface as you cook the steak. Thus, you are again basically steaming the steak. I know that some people do salt their steaks before cooking, but trust me and don't salt - the result will be juicy, delicious steaks to serve your family and guests! Salt after the steak is cooked to your liking, has rested the required time, and just before serving.
When you are ready to grill, preheat barbecue grill. Place steaks onto hot grill. Cover barbecue with lid, open any vents, and sear for approximately 3 to 4 minutes per side or until done to your preference