Category: MISC

LUAU BENEDICTS

LUAU BENEDICTS
1 English muffin per person
2 eggs per person
enough leftover sweet and sour pulled pork
hollandaise sauce

  • Prepare Hollandaise sauce.
  • Toast English muffins.
  • Poach eggs.
  • Layer together starting with English muffin, pulled pork, poached egg and the hollandaise sauce.
  • Enjoy.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
1/2 cup butter
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne pepper or hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons hot water
finely chopped fresh parsley, if desired

•    Heat butter in a heavy saucepan until hot and foamy, but not browned.
•    In a small bowl, whisk or beat egg yolks with lemon juice, salt, and  hot sauce.
•    Gradually beat in butter, then water.
•    Return mixture to saucepan and beat over very low heat until mixture is slightly thickened.
•    Serve immediately or let stand over warm water for up to 30 minutes.
•    If desired, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley before serving.

Makes about 2/3 cup of hollandaise sauce.

APPLE RUM RAISIN NOODLE BAKE

Apple-Raisin Noodle Bake
1 pound wide egg noodles

2 teaspoons sea salt
6 tablespoons butter, softened + 1/3 cup butter, softened for topping
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar     
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
2 cups sour cream
6 eggs, separated
1 cup golden raisins
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3 tablespoons rum
11/2 cup apples, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup golden brown sugar
PURE
  • Set oven to 350 degrees.
  • Set shelf to lowest position.
  • In a small bowl pour the rum over the raisins.  Set aside.
  • Spray a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with PURE.
  • Cook noodles with 2 teaspoons salt in boiling water; drain well, and toss with the 6 tablespoons of softened butter in a large bowl while still warm.
  • In a mixer bowl, beat the cream cheese and 1 cup sugar until light.
  • Add in the cottage cheese and sour cream; blending well.
  • In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until consistent in texture and color then add to the cream mixture with the cinnamon; blending well.
  • Pour this mixture over the egg noodles in the bowl; mix to combine.
  • Mix in the chopped apples and raisins (rum and all); blend well.
  • In a bowl beat the 6 egg whites until stiff; with a spatula, fold the egg whites into the noodle mixture.
  • Pour into prepared baking dish.
  • Add a loose foil tent to prevent pasta from crisping.
  • Bake for 45 minutes.

While casserole is baking:

  • In a small bowl, mix together the 1/3 cup butter and 1/4-1/3 cup brown sugar.
  • After 45 minutes of baking, remove the casserole, and sprinkle the butter/brown sugar mix over top of casserole.
  • Return to oven and bake another 30-45 minutes.

STIR FRIED RICE – Lovin’ The Leftovers


I love Asian food, using up leftovers, and cleaning out my fridge. A wonderful and versatile dish, stir fried rice, does all three with ease and delight.


Here is my current version of this dish today using the ingredients of:
2-3 cups cooked white rice (brown rice is also delish)
1 to 1 1/2 cups of chopped fresh vegetables including broccoli, carrots, green onions. *
1/4 cup diced ham
1 egg beaten
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup toasted nuts, toasted lightly in a seasoned pan, then set aside
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil for stir frying

Sauce
Mix in measuring cup or small bowl with whisk:
4-6 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
1-2 tablespoon Ponzu sauce
1-2 tablespoons Rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Asian style salad dressing
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons brown sugar

  • Heat oil in wok or fry pan over medium high heat.
  • Cook minced garlic until translucent, approximately one minute.
  • Add vegetables, brown for 1 minute while stirring with spatula. Cover with lid to steam for 2-3 minutes.
  • Add cooked rice and mix ingredients, allow to heat through.
  • Add diced ham, stir ingredients thoroughly, and then push rice mixture to one side of pan.
  • Use this open area to scramble the beaten egg.
  • After the egg is scrambled, stir into rice mixture.
  • Add the sauce to pan, stir fry for another minute until bubbling and hot.
  • Sprinkle toasted nuts prior to serving.

Other ingredient suggestions include tofu, pineapple, leftover pork, chicken, or steak, peas, corn, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and whatever else you have in your pantry, freezer, or refrigerator.


*Drained and defrosted frozen vegetables can also be used. 
Thank you so much and what variations and ingredients do you enjoy?

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Here’s a simple casserole made using leftovers! It’s so good that when I’m making mashed potatoes for a meal I intentionally double the batch so I can make this with the leftovers the next day. You can use fresh mashed potatoes or boxed in a pinch.

What you will need: mashed potatoes, sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions (not shown).

Just mix the sour cream with the mashed potatoes (use a little sour cream or a lot, that’s up to you). Spread in a casserole dish and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until heated thoroughly. Top with cheddar cheese, cooked crumbled bacon. Pop back in the oven until cheese is bubbly. If desired add thinly sliced green onions for extra flavor and garnish.

If simple cooking is your style be sure to visit me at Seaside Simplicity for lots of quick and easy ideas!

LUAU BENEDICTS

LUAU BENEDICTS
1 English muffin per person
2 eggs per person
enough leftover sweet and sour pulled pork
hollandaise sauce

  • Prepare Hollandaise sauce.
  • Toast English muffins.
  • Poach eggs.
  • Layer together starting with English muffin, pulled pork, poached egg and the hollandaise sauce.
  • Enjoy.

HOLLANDAISE SAUCE
1/2 cup butter
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne pepper or hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons hot water
finely chopped fresh parsley, if desired

•    Heat butter in a heavy saucepan until hot and foamy, but not browned.
•    In a small bowl, whisk or beat egg yolks with lemon juice, salt, and  hot sauce.
•    Gradually beat in butter, then water.
•    Return mixture to saucepan and beat over very low heat until mixture is slightly thickened.
•    Serve immediately or let stand over warm water for up to 30 minutes.
•    If desired, sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley before serving.

Makes about 2/3 cup of hollandaise sauce.

 Submitted to:

Worth sharing – LET US PAUSE TO REMEMBER THOSE WHO DIED FOR FREEDOM

LET US PAUSE TO REMEMBER THOSE WHO DIED FOR FREEDOM

DEAR ABBY: Memorial Day is not about war; it’s about people. It’s about those dedicated individuals — most of them young — who died serving their country and their fellow Americans as well as future generations. In other words, all of us.

We Americans are at our best when we come together bonded by a noble purpose. And that’s the reason for the National Moment of Remembrance on Memorial Day.
Abby, your patriotism and compassion have helped us in our effort to unite the more than 311 million Americans who live in this land of the free and home of the brave. Please remind your millions of readers to come together by pausing for a moment at 3 p.m. local time, wherever they are, to acknowledge the sacrifice of our fallen.
Unfortunately, too many of our citizens forget to remember. I am determined to find ways to help America continue to pay tribute to the nearly 2 million men and women who have died for us. Our freedoms should remind us of their sacrifice and our debt to them.
It is our duty to never forget them, to keep them in our hearts and in our actions. They were the best of the best — the pride of the USA. We owe them the commitment to reflect on what they did and to put remembrance into action. This means to give back to our country and to live honoring them every day, not just on Memorial Day.
Thank you for all you do to honor America’s heroes. — CARMELLA LASPADA, FOUNDER, NO GREATER LOVE
DEAR CARMELLA: You’re welcome. I hope readers will heed your request to offer a silent tribute this afternoon to the men and women who have given their lives in the service of this country. Considering the magnitude of their sacrifice, it’s the least we can do.
To all of my friends out there — please join me, as well as the iron workers, sheet metal workers, firefighters and painters unions and thousands of AFL-CIO members who have supported the Moment since its inception, in a moment of silence at 3 p.m. Today, as in the past, major league baseball games will stop, customers and staff will pause in more than 30,000 grocery stores throughout the country, and, of course, personnel serving in the military around the world will observe it, too. To learn what others are doing today, visit www.ngl.org.
May our fallen rest in peace; may our country once again live in peace as well.

BANANA BUNDT CAKE with PEANUT BUTTER BUTTERCREAM GLAZE ~ Save Room for Dessert

I brought this cake to work for a meeting, a breakfast meeting, and it was gone in moments.  To me peanut butter and banana have a wonderful affinity for each other.  If you want to really pump it up, toss in some chocolate chips to the cake batter…whatever you choose to do, be sure to save room for dessert, even if it’s 9:30 am…
Banana Bundt Cake with Peanut Butter Buttercream Glaze
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature.
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 very ripe bananas, mashed, about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups
1 cup sour cream
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray or generously butter a 12-cup Bundt pan (After a disastrous cake inversion, I now use this)
  • Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  • Beat butter until creamy; add sugar and vanilla, beating until fluffy.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after you plop in each egg
  • Unless you want to be splattered with batter, reduce the speed to low and add the bananas.
  • Then, add in half of the dry ingredients, the entire cup of sour cream, and then the rest of the dry ingredients.
  • Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top.
  • Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. During the baking time, check after about 30 minutes, and if it is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with foil.
  • Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before inverting to cool completely.
  • Pour on Peanut Butter Buttercream Glaze or just dust with powdered sugar.

Peanut Butter Buttercream Glaze
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk, or more
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 cups powdered sugar
Pinch of salt

  • In a microwave safe bowl, heat butter and milk until butter melts.  Add peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until mixture is smooth.
  • Add 1 cup powdered sugar, mix well.  Add more powdered sugar or milk to achieve desired consistency.

Cake recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

WHAT HAPPENS AT THE BEACH STAYS AT THE BEACH

A while back Martha over at Menagerie hosted virtual blog parties every Friday night,  It was BYOB (you fill in the blank, you know booze, blog, bbq, etc…)  and link up to say hello to old friends and make some new ones also.  She has started them again with a fun theme:

She made a pizza for us tonight and I’m bringing the Strawberry Margaritas.

STRAWBERRY MARGARITAS  
2 cups crushed ice 
1/2 cup fresh strawberry puree
1 cup tequila 
2 limes, juiced 
Splash Triple Sec 
Splash simple syrup (equal amounts sugar and water heated until sugar dissolves completely and then cooled)
  • Combine in a blender, ice, strawberry water, tequila, lime juice, Triple Sec and simple syrup. 
  • Puree until smooth. 
  • Pour into rocks glasses, garnish and serve.

What will you bring?  Stop by and meet everyone over this holiday weekend.

STORY OF MY LIFE!

An old man, a boy & a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey & the old man walked.

As they went along they passed some people who remarked “What a shame the old man is walking and the boy is riding.”

The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later they passed some people who remarked “What a shame…. he makes that little boy walk.” So they then decided they’d both walk!

Soon they passed some more people who remarked “They’re really stupid to walk when they have a decent donkey to ride.”

So, they both rode the donkey.  Now they passed some people who shamed them by saying “How awful to put such a load on a poor donkey.”

The boy and man figured they were probably right, so they decide to carry the donkey.

As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well… Kiss your ass goodbye!

 ~ Have A Nice Day ~

UNCONSCIOUS MUTTERINGS

I say … and you think … ?

  1. Decoder :: Ring from a cracker Jacks box
  2. Cake :: and Ice Cream
  3. Sense :: and Sensibility
  4. Geek :: Nerd
  5. Cousin :: Friend
  6. Goggles :: Ear Flaps
  7. Social media:: time consuming
  8. Butterfly :: pretty
  9. Search :: and Rescue
  10. Manicure :: Pedicure

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

By Mike Elder of Black Sheep Custom Cakes
“I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them.” – Ronald Reagan
And in honor of Memorial Day all you foodies go check out all the tribute cakes at CAKE WRECKS MEMORIAL TRIBUTE POST.