MISC – Page 266 – Chasing MY Life WHEREVER it Leads ME

TOMATO SPINACH SOUP

TOMATO SPINACH SOUP
1/2 (+/- to taste) pound baby spinach, washed
1/3 bag baby carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
2 cans diced tomatoes with herbs
1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon basil

Toss all ingredients together in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours.

CINNAMON RAISIN LOAF doubles as awesome french toast!

CINNAMON RAISIN LOAF
2 cups + 2 teaspoons warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
5 3/4 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons cultured Buttermilk powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 cups golden raisins
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 Jumbo egg, beaten
1 egg white, beaten

Combine 1/4 cup of the warm water and yeast in your mixer’s bowl.
Let sit until creamy, about 10 minutes.
Add the flour, buttermilk powder, 1/4 cup of the sugar, salt, 3 tablespoons of the butter and the remaining water.
Mix on low just until combined.
With dough hook mix on medium 5 minutes.
Add raisins and mix until firm.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball.
Oil a large bowl, place dough inside, cover and let rise in warm place until double in size – about 1 1/2 hours.
Generously spray 2 loaf pans with PURE.
In a small bowl combine the remaining sugar and cinnamon, setting aside a tablespoon as topping.
Split dough in half re-wrapping 1/2 in the oiled bowl.
Press the other piece of dough into a 10×12 rectangle.
Brush with 1/2 the whole beaten egg.
Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar.
Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter.
With the back of a spoon lightly rub over the butter and cinnamon blending the butter and sugar mix.
Starting with the short end roll up the dough gently.
Pinch the ends together.
Transfer to pan, seam side down.
Cover with greased plastic and allow to rise 1 hour.
Repeat with other loaf.
At 45 minutes pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.
Brush each with the egg white.
Top with 1/2 the reserve sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Bake 15 minutes and then lower temperature to 400 degrees.
Bake 15 minutes more and lower temperature to 350 degrees and bake 15 minutes more.

TO CRUMBLE, GRUNT OR CRISP?

While I was looking up the definition of pandowdy I ran across this site that had a list that helped clarify many terms – I thought I’d share…

Betty — a baked pudding made of layers of spiced and sugared fruit and buttered bread crumbs.
Clafoutis — a French cobbler, with fruit (usually cherries) on the bottom, custard, and a rough batter crust baked on top.
Cobbler — a spoon pie (more like a fruit stew with dumplings), in which biscuit dough is dropped onto the fruit before baking. The consensus is that the dish got its name because the lumps of cooked dough resembled cobblestones.
Crisp — a deep-dish fruit dessert made with a crumb or streusel topping and baked.
Crumble — a British dessert in which raw fruit is topped with a crumbly pastry mixture and baked. One reference says a crumble is like a crisp, but not as rich.
Grunt — a spoon pie, with biscuit dough on top of stewed fruit, which is steamed, not baked.
Pandowdy — a spoon pie, with fruit on the bottom and a rolled crust on top, which is broken up to allow the juices to come through.
Slump — a spoon pie, including cooked or uncooked fruit topped with biscuit dough or piecrust, which can be baked or steamed, and can be made upside down

Peanut Butter Strawberry Pancakes aka Peanut Butter & Jelly Pancakes

The following recipes were inspired by a recent impulse purchase by hubby of Strawberry Peanut Butter M&M’s which were actually pretty good. I figured with Strawberry season is on the way, it would be a good time to try these out.

Peanut Butter Feather Pancakes

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder (this is what makes them feathery)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/3 cup JIF Peanut Butter

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl, beat egg with Jif until blended. Stir in milk and melted butter.
Add all at once to the dry ingredients, beating until blended. Add more milk to thin batter if necessary.
Bake on a hot, lightly greased griddle until bubbles break on the surface. Turn and brown the other side.

Maple Syrup
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
scant 1 cup water
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a slow boil.
Simmer gently 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.
Store in refrigerator.

Peanut Butter Pancakes
1¼ cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups milk
1 egg
¼ cup peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Beat milk with egg.
Add peanut butter and butter until smooth.
Add to dry ingredients and beat just until well moistened. Add more milk to thin batter if necessary.
Lightly butter hot griddle.
Spoon by ¼ cupfuls onto griddle.
Cook until golden brown on both sides.

Peanut Butter Strawberry Pancakes
aka Peanut Butter & Jelly Pancakes

1¼ cups Flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup JIF Creamy Peanut Butter
2 tablespoon sugar
2 large eggs
1¼ cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup Strawberry Jam

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl.
In separate bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and vanilla.
Stir wet mixture into dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
Heat non-stick skillet over medium heat; brush with oil. Swirl half of jam into pancake batter.
Pour about ¼ cup of batter for each pancake into skillet.
Cook for 1½ to 2½ minutes or until underside is golden and bubbles break out on top. Turn and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until underside is golden.
Repeat with remaining batter, spooning remaining jam into batter, and brushing skillet with more oil as necessary.

TASTE & CREATE ~ One Little Corner of the World & POULET SAUTE AUX HERBES de PROVENCE and SOUPE A L’OIGNON AU FROMAGE

I stumbled upon TATSE & CREATE last month and couldn’t wait to participate this month. I was paired with Katie from One Little Corner of the World. The object is to scour their blog and find an appealing recipe to try. While reading Katie’s blog I ran across her fun group effort to create a Julia Child evening. I’m trying her POULET SAUTE AUX HERBES de PROVENCE and SOUPE A L’OIGNON AU FROMAGE from her post Julia Child, Dinner and friends. Her description of the meal reminded me of the progressive dinners we did as girl scouts – I always loved those meals sooooooooooo much. I also enjoyed Katie’s description of their trials and tribulations as they pain stakingly worked through Julia’s recipes.

Being a foodie I wanted to see the Julie & Julia movie really bad. Hubby took me to see it for my birthday last year. I really enjoyed it, Meryl Strep especially. Meryl played a fantastic Julia. I laughed until I cried.

Meryl Streep as Julia Child in “Julie & Julia”. (Photo~Sony Pictures)

“Fat gives things flavor”–Julia Child.

SOUPE A L’OIGNON AU FROMAGE (French Onion Soup)
6 large onions (about 5 pounds), sliced thin
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 quarts beef broth (preferably homemade)
1 cup white wine
twelve 1/2-inch-thick slices of French bread, toasted
3/4 pound coarsely grated Gruyère
8 slices French bread (about 1 inch thick)
**Out of habit I grabbed some garlic which was not in the original recipe, but made a superb addition!

In a large kettle cook the onions in the butter over moderate heat, stirring frequently, for 40 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
Sprinkle the onions with the flour and sugar and cook the mixture, stirring, for 3 minutes.
Add the broth slowly, stir the soup constantly until it comes to a boil, and simmer it, covered, for 20 minutes.
Season the soup with salt and pepper.
Put 2 slices of the toast in each of 6 heated soup bowls, top each toast with 1 tablespoon of the Gruyère, and pour the soup over the toasts.

POULET SAUTE’ AUX HERBES DE PROVENCE
Chicken:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 3 to 3 1/2-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces, rinsed, patted dry
1 teaspoon dried thyme or savory
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground in spice mill or with mortar and pestle
3 unpeeled garlic cloves
2/3 cup dry white wine or 1/2 cup dry white vermouth

Sauce:
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon dry white wine or dry white vermouth
2 to 3 tablespoons butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, fresh fennel fronds, or fresh parsley (optional)

For chicken:

Melt butter in large wide pot over medium-high heat.
Working in batches, if necessary, add chicken pieces and cook only until golden, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes per batch.
Transfer chicken breast pieces to plate.
Sprinkle remaining chicken pieces in pot with half each of thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper.
Add garlic to pot.
Cover pot; reduce heat to medium and cook 8 to 9 minutes.
Sprinkle chicken breasts with remaining thyme, basil, and fennel seeds, then salt and pepper.
Return breast pieces to pot; baste chicken with butter in pot.
Cover and cook until chicken is cooked through, turning and basting occasionally, about 15 minutes.
Transfer to hot platter; cover.
Remove peel from garlic cloves; mash garlic with spoon or fork in same pot.
Add 2/3 cup wine to juices in pot; boil until liquid is reduced to 3/4 cup, occasionally scraping bottom of pan, about 8 minutes.
Pour reduced pan juices into measuring cup and reserve for sauce.

For sauce:

Off heat, whisk egg yolks in heavy small saucepan until beginning to thicken.
Whisk in lemon juice and 1 tablespoon wine.
Gradually whisk reserved pan juices into eggs, 1 teaspoon at a time.
Set sauce over very low heat and whisk constantly until warm and slightly thickened, 3 to 4 minutes.
If desired, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time.
Remove from heat.
Stir in herbs, if desired.
Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

PEANUT BUTTER FEATHER PANCAKES & HOMEMADE MAPLE SYRUP

Peanut Butter Feather Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/3 cup JIF Peanut Butter
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter, melted

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl, beat egg with Jif until blended. Stir in milk and melted butter.
Add all at once to the dry ingredients, beating until blended. Add more milk to thin batter if necessary.
Bake on a hot, lightly greased griddle until bubbles break on the surface. Turn and brown the other side.

Maple Syrup
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
scant 1 cup water
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan.
Bring to a slow boil.
Simmer gently 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes.
Store in refrigerator.

Simple Saturday – Garlic Rolls

Welcome to Simple Saturday!

Basic Dinner Roll Recipe
In bread maker (or you can do it the “old” way 😉
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons yeast
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups water

Set bread maker on dough setting and press start. Grease 9×13 pan. When bread maker is done shape rolls, cover with a cloth and let rest (rolls should double in size). Bake 350 degrees for about 20-25 min.

Have leftovers? Stick them in the freezer and take them out on pasta night for Garlic Rolls.

Garlic Rolls

After defrosting, liberally brush with olive oil, sprinkle with lots of finely minced garlic, oregano, and finely grated Parmesan cheese bake until warm and crisp. Serve with pasta and salad – Yum!

Be sure to visit me over at Seaside Simplicity for more simple delicious recipes.

Have a great weekend!

PRETTY BOWLS & CRYSTAL GLASSES

I originally ran this post back on July 18th, 2008 over at 3 Sides of Crazy. I run it again here to remind myself why I named this blog what I did and that I always have something to look forward to.

When I asked Am to unload the dishwasher today, she told me how pretty a glass she was unloading was.

I told her it was a Princess House Heritage Crystal Glass and she immediately put it down and backed away from it like it was Uranium or something. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was afraid she’d break it, so she better not touch it. I laughed and said don’t worry about it, we use them every day. We even break them now and again.

Then I asked her to put the beans in the oven and she looked at the bowl and said, “You really want this pretty bowl in the oven”? Again I laughed and said yes.

So I asked her if she had ever heard of Erma Bombeck and she said no. I had to share this with her.

See many, no, most of you know me as just a fellow blogger with a positive attitude and generally friendly demeanor. What you don’t know is that I too suffer from a terrible debilitating disease that requires constant maintenance, positive attitude and a stress free life as well as a preservative free diet to stay even close to healthy. To look at me you would never know I was sick, but for that all I can say is thank you as I have worked hard to maintain that appearance and attitude, because it wasn’t always that way and it was hard work to get this healthy. I also know though how tenuous life is and how quickly it can change so for that reason I post this tribute to Erma Bombeck as a reminder to us all to burn the pink candle, use the pretty bowl and crystal glasses for everyday.

If I Had My Life To Live Over by Erma BombeckThe following was written by the late Erma Bombeck after she found out she had a fatal disease.

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the ‘good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television – and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more “I love you’s”.. More “I’m sorrys” …

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute… look at it and really see it … live it…and never give it back.

Menu Plans for 3 Sides of Crazy

Menu Plan Monday hosted by Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie

DATE	BREAKFAST	DINNER	DESSERTS
MON 3/22		Hawaiian Chicken & Rice Sauteed Green Beans & Onions
TUES 3/23		Braised Chicken & roasted onions
WED 3/24		Slow Cooked Country Meatballs & Noodles
FRI 3/25		Brown Sugar Chicken & Salad
SAT 3/26		Crab Casserole & Salad
SAT 3/27 & SUN 3/28	BLT Egg Bake Crab & Onion Bake	Frijole Chili & Salad Taco Melts & Salad	Chocolate Almond Crescent Braid

Just a bit of trivia history…

I found this neat old Burma Shave sign at an auction last week:

According to Wikipedia:

Burma-Shave was introduced in 1925 by the Burma-Vita company, owned by Clinton Odell. The company’s original product was a liniment made of ingredients described as coming “from the Malay Peninsula and Burma.”^[1] Demand was sparse, and the company sought to expand sales by introducing a product with wider appeal.

The result was the famous Burma-Shave advertising sign program, and sales took off. At its peak, Burma-Shave was the second-highest selling brushless shaving cream in the United States. Sales declined in the 1950s, and in 1963 the company was sold to Phillip Morris. The signs were removed at that time. The brand decreased in visibility and eventually became the property of the American Safety Razor Company.

In 1997, the American Safety Razor Company reintroduced the Burma-Shave brand, including a nostalgic shaving soap and brush kit. In fact, the original Burma-Shave was a brushless shaving cream, and Burma-Shave’s own roadside signs frequently ridiculed “Grandpa’s old-fashioned shaving brush.”

BEEF & BROCCOLI

BEEF & BROCCOLI
1 pound flank or round steak cut into thin strips
3 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cup snap pea pieces
1 Jumbo egg, white only
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons minced garlic, jar
1 small bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 teaspoon Better than Beef Bouillon

Slice meat into thin strips.
Whisk together the egg white and cornstarch.
Pour over meat and toss to coat well.
Marinate in the refrigerator for an hour or so before preparing the meal.

Heat sesame oil in a large skillet or wok.
Saute’ broccoli pieces for several minutes until crisp, but tender and then add garlic and onion slices.
Remove with a slotted spoon and add more oil if necessary.
Stir fry meat pieces for several minutes until cooked through.
Whisk together the hot water, bouillon, soy sauce, sugar, ginger and red pepper flakes until well blended.
Add broth mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until glaze forms/
Add vegetables back in and heat through.

CHEESEBURGER CUPS

CHEESEBURGER CUPS
1 pound ground beef
1 small bunch green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
12 ounce tube buttermilk biscuits
12 2×2 slices of sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large skillet brown ground beef and green onions.
Drain off fat.
Stir in ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.
Grease a each cup of a muffin tin.
Press a biscuit into each muffin hole and upp the sides.
Spoon beef mixture into each cup.
Top with a slice of cheese.
Bake 14-16 minutes or until golden brown and done.

Category: MISC