Inspired Resourceful Creative

Mini Chocolate Donuts

2012-01-27T22:12:00.000-08:00

Invited a friend over early Sunday. She asked, "Will there be coffee?" I said, "Of course." Then I got to thinking wouldn't mini donuts be fun. Ever since I bought my pan from a yard sale a few months ago I've been having fun with it. This time I made chocolate donuts. These were made from a mix I got from King Arthur Flour. I was already placing an order for some bread making items and thought I'd try the mix for fun. It was VERY good. Don't know that I'd spend the money to order it again when I can whip up a batch myself using this recipe.

Chocolate Mini Donuts

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup milk

2 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325˚F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. In separate bowl mix eggs, sugar and vanilla until thick.

Combine milk and butter. Alternately combine egg mixture with flour mixture and mix until smooth and soft.

Spray pan lightly with cooking oil. Fill with batter 2/3 full. Bake 8 minutes. Cool. Carefully remove. Repeat with rest of batter.

What made these donuts extra delicious was the glaze. Not your typical powdered sugar and water coating, but a glaze made with real chocolate chips. It really had a rich chocolate taste to go with the richness of the donuts.

Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt the ingredients together over low heat or in the microwave, stirring often. Add extra corn syrup if needed to make a smooth, shiny glaze. Yield: about ½ cup glaze.

OK these were so good I probably would order the mix again all by itself! And I think what really made them special were the Valentine's Day Sprinkles.

Funny Craigslist "Free Yarn" Ad

2012-01-25T21:28:00.001-08:00

Free Yarn (Sackets Harbor)

Date: 2012-01-25, 4:38PM EST
Reply to: sale-4n2pf-2817981201@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

I have three skeins of Red Heart Baby Clouds yarn that I am never, ever, ever going to use. They can be yours for free! Two of them are in the color "Pink Lemonade," which I'm sure you can imagine, and the third is "Peaceful Dreams," which is a blend of purple and blue and pink. They look adorable together for baby items for a little girl. This yarn is size 6 (Super Bulky), 100% acrylic, and machine wash and dry. Each skein is 6 oz/140 yards.

One caveat, though: This yarn is NOT good for knitting.

These skeins are taking up space in my small home and I want them gone, as they have already given me both heartache and finger-aches and now they are also making me feel guilty because I don't want to use them for anything ever again. This yarn will tangle and split and make you crazy. Your spouse might consider hauling you to the doctor for anger issues and depression if you try to use it as Red Heart intended. Perhaps it's possible to crochet with this yarn; I don't know since I can't crochet, but I suspect you'd run into the same problems as I did with knitting.

HOWEVER, there are still many uses to which you might be able to put this yarn if you want to (I don't!). For instance, you could:
1. Give it as a gift to a knitter whom you secretly hate.
2. Let your cat play with it.
3. Give it to your kids for arts and crafts - or just give it to your kids to play with and then have them untangle it afterwards. They will be occupied for hours.
4. Use it as stuffing for some other object (it is very fluffy and soft).
5. If you are moving, use it instead of bubble wrap for cushioning delicate objects.
6. Maybe you like a challenge? Embark upon the most painful knitting project you've ever done.
7. Use it in place of ribbons for gift wrapping.
8. Play a practical joke on someone by wrapping one of their valued possessions in this yarn. This will be a great joke as it will take ages to remove whatever you put in there.

You get the idea. There's lots of opportunity here if you are creative.

If you are planning to do something extra cool with this yarn and if I like you, I will even consider knitting something (NOT with this yarn!) just for you as a thank you for taking it off my hands.

Pickup only, please.

Location: Sackets Harbor
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 2817981201

Crocheting!

2012-01-13T08:46:00.000-08:00

That's what I've been doing lately. I've been working on an afghan that has been hanging around for years now. I don't know when I'll ever finish it. I seem to bring it out in football season to work on it. Maybe that's why it's taken so long. The 49ers haven't been doing well until this year. So, I've actually gotten more done on it this year. I even watched the Steelers/Broncos game to see who would move on in the playoffs. That's how much I'm enjoying football this year.

I just spread this afghan out on my bed to measure it and it's looking SO NICE. The afghan now measures 29"X67". According to the pattern in it's finished state it's supposed to be 45"X65". So, I'm getting close. I've wondered though if I should stop at 45" or just crochet until I run out of yarn. Since it is a scrap yarn pattern I'm not relegated to stop at a certain point because of a pattern. Intellectually, I'm thinking use up the yarn so as not to waste any. Emotionally, I'm getting pretty darn tired of this project and just want it done.

This project can be viewed here.

I also made an adorable beret while I was recuperating from a cold last week. I had a day where I just didn't want to leave my bed. It required too much effort to breath. On the other hand I was losing my mind laying in bed, so out came a hat pattern to crochet. After several hours of "Anne of Green Gables" on DVD I came up with an adorable pink beret. Unfortunately it was tiny. The pattern was created by tiny Asian woman. I don't know if it was sized to fit a tiny woman or it was my crocheting. I'd bet on the latter. Anyhow it will fit a toddler probably. I don't have any around to try it on. So, tried it on my daughter's bear.

For Christmas I got a crochet book by Twinkie Chan called "Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies." This book has so many adorable food related patterns. I bought yarn to make the gingerbread man scarf for myself and the pepperoni pizza slice scarf just because it's so darn cute! I'm in the middle of the pizza scarf. I have the cheese, sauce, crust and a couple pepperonis made. Then sew it all together and I'll have a year to try and part with it at Christmas time. If you have a minute check out Twinkie's blargh. She makes some of the most adorable crocheted items. Right now she has a give away of some of her hand made items. Check it out here.

Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? Yep working on my afghan again while I see if the 49ers can move on in the playoffs. They are playing the Saints tomorrow and my dad says they don't have a prayer against Brees. I'm going to remain optimistic. Whether they win or lose my afghan will be a couple more inches wider.

Peanut Butter Pretzel Delights

2011-12-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

That's what I'm going to call them. It's a twist on an old recipe. They've been called Peanut Butter Balls in the past sans the pretzels, but these don't quite fit that shape anymore. I wanted people to know what was in them. Not that it really matters. Anyone seeing these dives right in not knowing anything else about them other than it's something covered in chocolate. I got the best compliment Saturday. A friend picked one up and I asked would you like to know what it is. She said, "Something covered in chocolate made by you? It's got to be great!" Why thank you. They are.

I got the idea to add pretzels from hungrygnomes' blog. When I saw the circular pretzels at the grocery store I knew they'd be fun to make.

You can find the recipe for the peanut butter filling in a previous post located here. Once the filling is made it's just a matter of shaping and dipping.

I did find these easier and a bit faster to make, because I didn't have to roll each and every ball by hand. They went straight from the cookie scoop to the pretzel then add top pretzel and press slightly.

Once all pretzels were used up I placed sheet of Peanut Butter filled pretzels in freezer for 15 minutes. Then I removed tray to fridge until I was ready to dip in chocolate.

This year I melted chocolate in microwave. I usually use a double boiler. I've been working out at the gym this past month. It's a good tired, but I just wanted to sit down rather than stand at the stove for an hour.

Tap off a bit of the extra chocolate.

I used the bottom of the fork I was dipping with to make the design on the top. They looked like they needed a little something.

I dipped 80 of these. That's all I had enough unbroken pretzels for. Not bad though since each one needed 2 pretzels. I have enough peanut butter filling for 20 more. I'll just make them into balls rather than buy more pretzels.

The only thing I'd do different next time is I'd use maybe have as much filling. The delicious peanut butter filling overpowers the pretzels. They are merely a crunch. Don't get me wrong these are still delightful.

Silly video my daughter made while I was making these.

Delicious Ooey Gooey Monkey Bread

2011-11-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving break and my DD wants Monkey Bread. I'm thinking we have time let's make our own. I just can't bring myself to buy that frozen one at the grocery store. I remembered years ago making something that really reminded me of Monkey Bread.

It was a recipe in my "Make A Mix" cookbook called Butterscotch Butter Balls. The "Make A Mix" part of this recipe is that you make a Hot Roll Mix. It can be used in many recipes in this book. So, first I made a batch of Hot Roll Mix.

Hot Roll Mix

5 lbs all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 teaspoons salt
1 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Stir together to distribute evenly. Pat in a large airtight container. Label. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 6 to 8 months. Makes about 22 cups of Hot Roll Mix.

I have to admit that the name of this recipe I find quite unappealing. Especially in this day and age where people like Katherine Heigl are launching websites called IHateBalls.com. All for a good cause in spaying and neutering pets and the adoption of pets that have been rescued. But come on I'm really getting sick of talking about balls in the media. My daughter and I threw a few name ideas around. Her suggestion was Butterscotch Monkey Balls, which elicited a good natured chase around the kitchen and spanking with a spatula. We still haven't come up with a name we really like, but we did really like the recipe.

Butterscotch Butter Balls

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil or 1/2 cup melted margarine
5 to 6 cups hot roll mix
1 (3 ounce) pkg regular butterscotch pudding
1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine, melted
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 (1 1/2 ounce) pkg pecans, chopped
2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a large bowl dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Blend in eggs and oil or margarine. Add 5 cups of Hot Roll Mix. Stir well. Add additional Hot Roll Mix to make a soft, but not too sticky dough. Knead about 5 minutes until dough is smooth. Lightly butter bowl. Put dough in bowl and turn to butter top. Cover dough with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. Divide dough in to 48 balls of equal size. Place balls on a cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. When frozen, transfer to plastic bags for storage in freezer. Use within 1 to 2 months. About 8 hours before serving, or the night before, place 24 frozen balls in each of 2 unbuttered bundt pans. Sprinkle half of the butterscotch pudding on each pan of frozen rolls. Combine melted butter or margarine and brown sugar in a small bowl Pour half the mixture over each pan of rolls. Sprinkle half of pecans and half of cinnamon over each pan. Cover both pans with towels and let rise about 8 hours over night. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 c) Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Makes 2 butterscotch rings.

Lynne's note: I make one. Saving the 1/2 butterscotch pudding for another day. We doubled the pecans, because we like them.

It's best eaten while warm. If you can't eat it while warm from the oven. Warm it up in the microwave.

Ed's Designer Chocolate Birthday Cake

2011-11-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

My husband's birthday is right around Thanksgiving. I couldn't get him to stick a candle in a piece of pumpkin pie and call it a birthday pie. Can't blame him. So, many years ago I asked what he'd like his birthday treat to be and he said a chocolate cake. I've been making the cake for years, but as soon as the kids got old enough I got them involved. Up till now it's been mostly helping. This year though my daughter took the project on. She asked if she could make a designer gourmet cake. After just a couple suggestions by me for instance it had to be made with things her father liked and steering her back to the fact that this had to be a chocolate cake she did well.

She got out pen and paper and drew out a sketch like she was building a skyscraper and it was her blueprint. The cake would be chocolate with peanut butter chips baked in. Then there would be 3 layers of peanut butter fudge. The whole thing would be coated with a chocolate ganache frosting and pressed into that would be toffee bits. My husband isn't a big dessert eater. His main complaint when he has dessert is "it's too sweet." I didn't know what he was going to think of this cake, but knowing his daughter made it I knew he would be a good sport.

Chocolate Ganache frosting with toffee bits pressed on.

He decided he wanted his cake a day early as to not have to eat a whole chocolate cake practically by himself. This way he could share it with all who came for Thanksgiving. This turned out to not be such a good idea for him or me. Everyone wanted a piece of his beautiful cake. No one wanted a piece of the pumpkin pie I had baked.
Everyone dove in so heartily into this cake that I barely got a picture before it was all gone!

As you can see there was only 1/4 of the cake left before I realized I wanted to get a picture.

Here you can see the peanut butter fudge layers and the peanut butter chips.

Here's the peanut butter fudge recipe. My daughter did not chill the peanut butter fudge. My daughter laid out a piece of plastic wrap and using a rolling pin rolled out some of the fudge. Using the cake pan as a pattern we then carefully cut away the excess fudge making it the size of the cake round. Being careful not to cut the plastic wrap. Picking up the plastic wrap she flipped the fudge layer down on to cake layer. Then peeled off the plastic wrap and repeated 2 more times.

For the frosting I've been using Mrs. Milman's recipe the last few years. I hesitate to share it even though delicious, but I've had problems with it every year. There is even a video where Mrs. Milman talks about how easy it is to make. My problem is getting it firm enough to frost a cake. After stirring it for hours in the fridge I ended up leaving the frosting in the fridge overnight. I figured if it got too hard to spread we'd deal with it in the morning. Turns out it was perfect spreading consistency. So, before I call it quits on this recipe I'm going to try making it the day before instead of anxiously waiting for it to firm up the day of.

My Yogurt Craze

2011-11-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

First I fell in love with Starbucks Black Cherry Parfait. I couldn't afford to buy one every day, so I started making them at home with a recipe I found online. Tweaked it slightly to my personal taste. I found using greek yogurt really adds a wonderful flavor, but regular works fine too. I use a coffee filter and in 8 hours there is 1 cup of whey drained from yogurt. Right now I throw it away, but feel a bit guilty about it. I'll have to find a use for it.

Black Cherry Yogurt Parfait

4 cups (32 ounces) reduced-fat plain yogurt
1 cup frozen pitted dark sweet cherries, thawed and quartered
1/2 cup 100% cherry juice
2 T honey
1 1/2 cups of granola

Line a strainer with four layers of cheesecloth or one coffee filter and place over a bowl. Place yogurt in prepared strainer; cover yogurt with edges of cheesecloth. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Quarter cherries before they thaw for ease of cutting.

Remove yogurt from cheesecloth and discard liquid from bowl. Place yogurt in a small bowl; stir in the cherries and cherry juice. Cover and refrigerate until serving. It will keep in the refrigerator for the week. Before serving add 1/4 cup of granola to yogurt. Yield: 3 cups. 6 Servings.

With fall being here I got a craving for something maple, cinnamon and apple. I thought the combination would make a great parfait and it did!

Maple Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Parfait

4 cups (32 ounces) reduced-fat plain yogurt
1 diced apple
1/2 cup 100% apple juice
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp maple extract
1 1/2 cups of granola

Line a strainer with four layers of cheesecloth or one coffee filter and place over a bowl. Place yogurt in prepared strainer; cover yogurt with edges of cheesecloth. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove yogurt from cheesecloth and discard liquid from bowl. Place yogurt in a small bowl; stir in apples, apple juice, maple syrup, cinnamon and extract. Cover and refrigerate until serving. It will keep in the refrigerator for the week. Before serving add 1/4 cup of granola to yogurt. Yield: 3 cups. 6 Servings.

Both are absolutely delicious and make a great start to ones day.

Where Has November Gone?

2011-11-19T22:57:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me on Friday that Thanksgiving is a week away. I've bought nothing! Not even a turkey. I like to get a turkey some where between 23-25 pounds and if I don't get it pronto it won't be defrosted in time. So, out I went on Friday to get at least a turkey.

When I found out that DH's family weren't coming to Thanksgiving this year (due to health issues of their matriarch) this cut my cooking and planning in half. I was disappointed they weren't coming, but tickled that Thanksgiving isn't going to be a 3 ring cooking circus. It's going to be my extend family and I cook a meal for them about every month. No biggie there.

I got so relaxed about it all I completely forgot that a little planning and prep was needed.

Hot Cranberry Cider
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Dressing
Brussel Sprouts
Homemade Dinner rolls
Cranberry Sauce, Jellied
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Whipped Cream

Every thing will be made by me except for the canned jellied cranberry sauce. I just love it for some strange reason.

I don't like sweet potatoes and nobody has ever complained that there aren't any. I also don't like the green bean casserole frequently pushed this time of year. Sometimes I'll make a wild rice mushroom dish if I'm feeling ambitious. Frequently, we'll have a green salad too. It's a big meal and I plan for leftovers. That's why I get a big turkey. Everyone can take some home for sandwiches the next day.

On another topic I crocheted a hat to test a pattern for a designer this week. Here is a picture of the hat. This Jester doesn't like to be called a fool. :)

FYI: This pattern is sold on Ravelry (free site to join). It is located here Silly Court Jester/ Elf hat. I found the pattern easy to follow and crocheted up fairly quickly.

Starbucks and the Free Coffee

2011-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not a Starbucks frequenter. I don't drink much coffee and I just can't see spending $3-$4 on a cup of coffee every day. I do however treat myself about once a month usually due to traveling and wanting something delicious and warm to drink. Either I'm on my way to my knitting meeting in the bay area or this month I was in Portland. My friend had JUST moved into her house and wasn't set up for any real food prep in her house. So, she asked where I wanted to go for breakfast the next day and I suggested Starbucks. They are close and I love their Maple Oat Pecan scones. Once we got there I ordered my usual a Grande Decaf Latte. Then I changed my mind and bought a Dark Cherry Yogurt Parfait to go with it.

Now I'm down at the "wait for your coffee" shelf. I'm waiting. I'm waiting. I realize that I forgot to order a Pumpkin Latte. I'm waiting. Now people who have walked in the door long after me are getting their coffee. So, I ask the Barrista, "Any Grande Decaf Lattes coming down the pike?." He says no. Then he asks me if he can make me one. I say yes and add, "Since it hasn't been made make it a Pumpkin Decaf Latte please and I'll pay the difference." He tells me don't worry about it. I'll make it for you. Then when he slides the coffee to me he slides a coupon for a free coffee and apologizes for the mix up. Wow I think that's pretty nice. I got my Pumpkin Latte and a free future Latte.

I come back home and forget all about the coupon in my purse. I had an encounter with my daughter's school front office crabby lady. It's nothing new she's always crabby, but she runs a tight ship and gets the job done. I can always count on her to help on those rare occasions I need it. This particular day she flat out tells me she's having a bad day even though her crabbiness didn't seems any worse than usual. After leaving the office I felt like I should get her a pick-me-up. I decided to anonymously give her a Starbucks gift card. Off to Starbucks I go.

I ordered myself a Pumpkin Decaf Latte, one $20 gift card and a $20 reload on my coffee card. The cashier pushes the cash button instead of ATM and now he's got a problem he can't fix. I'm smiling and joking with him and then the manager as they try and figure out how to remedy the situation. Once the manager gets it all worked out it took probably 10 minutes. He, I thought, forgot to ring up my Latte and I point that out. I like to help out cashiers; after all, I'm there to buy a cup of coffee not steal one. He says, "Oh I'm not charging you for the cup of coffee you're a really nice lady and I really appreciate your patience." Earlier in the transaction the first cashier had given me my "sorry for the trouble" coupon. I tried to give this back and the manager would not let me. So, now I've received 2 coupons from Starbucks. I leave with my free Latte and great feeling that I'm a valued customer.

Today, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I had a hard time sleeping last night. I'm just generally feeling cranky on my rounds of errands this morning. I decided to cash in one of my coupons and treat myself to a Latte. And BTW their Dark Cherry Yogurt Parfaits are so good I wanted to get another one of those for my lunch. As I walk up to the cashier the guy in front of me orders 42 $20 gift cards.

"Are you kidding me," is what I'm thinking. It's really OK though he was in line before me and I'm just going to have to wait. The manager and cashier are counting cards and asking what kind of card does he want... this picture or a generic card. Now he wants the cards rung up in 2 separate orders. I'm keeping my crabbiness to myself, but I'm thinking really they couldn't open up the 2nd cash register? The barista takes my drink order. After some more fiddling around with the 42 gift cards my barista is loosing patience that I'm having to wait. I tell her really it's OK. She tries to open the 2nd cash register, but apparently there is an ongoing problem with her employee number. They haven't been able to get it to work. The barista/cashier, assistant manager and now the manager are trying to figure out why her employee number doesn't work and she has to use the generic number when she rings anything up. The 3 of them are huddle around the cash register. The other cashier is loading 42 gift cards on the other register. Honestly, as crabby as I feel I'm very patient about this whole thing. What am I going to do? Her employee number I'm sure is an important part of doing business. 15 minutes has past. She now can ring up my order. Only my Parfait is rung up and I'm thinking that's because I used a coffee coupon. She then hands me my receipt and my coupon back saying, "Please keep the coupon for another day. I apologize for your trouble. Thank you for your patience." I can't believe it. That is 5 free Starbucks drinks in a 3 week period. Now I've only drank 3 of them. The other 2 are in my purse waiting to be enjoyed.

Lots of Baking No Pictures

2011-10-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

I've made 3 Bundt cakes in the last three days and didn't take pictures of any of them. I've discovered that bundt cakes are better when stirred together by hand rather than by the mixer. Why? I've found if I use a mixer it beats the cake batter so it's really full of air and rises really high. Sounds like a good thing right. No, not for a bundt. Once released from the pan it falls quite a bit. It still tastes great don't get me wrong it just doesn't look as nice. The sides get quite wrinkly making them the Shar Pei of the cake world. I've found a bundt needs to be a little denser. Mixing by hand still gets a good rise just not as high. The cake keeps it's beautiful bundt shape which is the whole reason for using a bundt pan.

The only thing I'm going to try and remember to do the next time a make a bundt is to sift the cake mix. I've spent my life avoiding the extra step of sifting, but cake mixes are pretty lumpy out of the box. Lots of stirring using a wooden spoon and a whisk and there are still lumps. I've found the small lumps do seem to bake up and are not noticeable. I just think sifting the cake mix will save on stirring and whisk washing.

What cakes have a made this week... Bacardi's Rum cake an 80's favorite and still loved in the 2000's. I also made Pampered Chefs Gingerbread cake a favorite of the 90's. Then I made a beloved Chocolate Kahlua cake that was a favorite of my Grandma's and her coworkers. When they had a potluck sign up they would just put her down for the Chocolate Kahlua cake.

Oddly, I never use Bacardi. I just never have it on hand. I use Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum.

Bacardi Rum Cake

1 cup chopped pecans

1 package Duncan Hines yellow cake mix
1 (3 3/4-oz.) package Jell-O vanilla instant pudding and pie filling
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup Wesson or Criso oil
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum (80 proof )
Glaze:
1 stick butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Bacardi dark rum ( 80 proof )

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease and flour 10-inch tube or 12-cup Bundt pan.

Sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan.

Mix all cake ingredients together.

Pour batter over nuts.

Bake 1 hour.

Cool; invert onto serving plate. Prick top with fork.

Spoon and brush glaze evenly over top and sides.

Glaze:
Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly, and remove from heat. Stir in rum.

Gingerbread Cake

Source: The Pampered Chef

1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1/3 cup molasses
3 eggs
1 tablespoon Pantry Cinnamon Plus Spice Blend (or 1 tsp Cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ea. nutmeg, allspice, cloves and ginger)
1 (18.25 ounce) box German chocolate cake mix

Brush Stoneware Fluted Pan with vegetable oil using Pastry Brush. In Classic Batter Bowl, whisk pumpkin, molasses, eggs and Spice Blend until smooth, using Stainless Steel Whisk. Add cake mix; mix with Mix 'N Scraper until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute.

Pour batter into pan, spreading evenly. Microwave on HIGH 14 minutes or until Cake Tester inserted near center comes out clean. (Cake will be slightly moist on top near center.) Let stand in microwave 10 minutes. If necessary, loosen cake from sides of pan invert onto serving plate. Let cool 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping, if desired.

Yield: 12 servings

CHOCOLATE KAHLUA CAKE

1 Duncan Hines chocolate cake mix
1 pkg. chocolate or vanilla instant pudding mix
2 cups sour cream
4 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1/3 cup Kahlua
1 (6 oz.) pkg. chocolate chips

Combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, oil and Kahlua. Mix until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into well-greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour or until tests done. Sprinkle with powdered sugar when cool or not.

Frosted Pumpkin Mini Donuts

2011-10-23T16:46:00.000-07:00

There was a yard sale 2 doors down from my house Saturday. Couldn't resist taking a peek. I found a mini donut pan for 50 cents. Thought it was cute and would be fun to play with. I figured there would be mini donut recipes online. Or I could use a regular cake mix. Or my favorite fall recipe for Frosted Pumpkin Cookies came to mind.

My search on the internet didn't yield anything exciting, so thought I'd go with my Frosted Pumpkin cookie recipe. I thought it would work well for a couple of reasons. One I really love maple frosted donuts. Two the recipe makes a cake like cookie perfect for a mini donut. Recipe is below, but see my notes below the recipe for instructions on how to use the recipe with a mini donut pan.

Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly
2 Large Eggs
1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin
1/2 tsp Lemon extract
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup all purpose Flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pecans, chopped

Frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
2 T milk
3/4 tsp maple extract

Cream butter; gradually add brown sugar, beating well at medium speed of an electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Stir in pumpkin and flavorings.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Gradually add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in pecans.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 F for 12 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Frost with Maple Frosting. Makes 7 1/2 dozen.

Frosting: Cream butter; gradually add 1 cup powdered sugar, beating well at medium speed of an electric mixer. Add remaining sugar alternately with milk, beating until smooth enough to spread. Add maple extract, and beat well.

Lynne's notes for mini pumpkin donuts: I put a couple of tablespoons of milk in dough to loosen it up a little. I spooned pumpkin dough into a ziploc sandwich baggie (if you don't have a ziploc use a twist tie to close bag and keep dough in bag) and then cut the tip off enough to let the pecans pass and fill mini dough pan at least 1/2 way with one pass. This technique filled pan easily, quickly and without a mess. I buttered mini donut pan feared the donuts would stick. Last batch I sprayed pan with Pam and that worked great too.

I baked mini donuts for 8 minutes. The 10 minutes for cookies was too long for the donuts. I made a 1/2 batch and it made 36 adorable and delicious mini donuts.

For the frosting I added a tad more milk to loosen it up a little too. Don't want it too runny. Dipped top of donuts in frosting and placed on plate.

Make sure you set a few aside for yourself as your family will inhale them before you get back to the kitchen.

P.S. I make my own Pumpkin Pie Spice. I always have all the spices to make it and I don't use it often enough to have a whole jar of it alone.

3 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Stir to blend. Makes 2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Kit Kat... I think I love you!

2011-09-19T15:43:00.000-07:00

My son declared his love for Kit Kats many years ago. So, I thought it would be a perfect theme for a young man's birthday treat. Last year was the very popular Kit Kat cake. Earlier this year I hadn't even begun to think of what was next until my son and I saw this blog entry. My son marveled at it, but I thought in my head, "THAT'S IT! That is what I'm making my son for his next birthday." This was back in March. I bookmarked the entry and sent the link to my email. September rolled around and when I went back to double check how it was made the links didn't work. Minor panic set in, but it was still very clear in my mind what I needed and how I needed to do it. With some more web searching I did find the entry and photos moved to another person's blog.

So, to begin with I knew exactly where I'd buy my supplies. I went to Cost Plus World Market. I knew they'd have the wafer cookies I needed. They also have many chocolate choices. I decided upon Ghirardelli chips. They came in milk chocolate in a 2 pound bag. I bought 4 - 2 pound bags of chocolate and 4 bags of the Quadratini Chocolate Wafer Cookies.

I also owned the perfect pan. It had belonged to my mother-in-law. I've kept it for over 25 years thinking I'd bake bread in it maybe an angel food cake. Never thinking what it would finally end up using it for.

Once my son was off to school I had 6 hours to work my magic. I had thrown the pan in the dish washer the night before. I had also worked on the lettering the night before. I printed out the Kit Kat logo twice in the size I wanted it. One I used as a pattern to cut out craft foam I had in the craft room. I wasn't really sure if this sort of thing should be used with food, but since I wasn't going to be stewing it and its an item kids craft with odds were in my favor there wouldn't be any potential poisoning. You'll have to decide that for yourself.

I began melting the chocolate on very low heat. The water in a double boiler is not supposed to boil.

As the chocolate chips melted I stacked the cookies in the pan to get an idea of whether or not I had bought enough.

I then decided to stick my foam letters down with a little chocolate. I wasn't really sure how to stick them down. I was afraid they might float. I also didn't want chocolate to ooze beneath them if I used some sort of bulky tape adhesive. Notice how the letters are in the pan. One can not read them. This is so you CAN read them on the finished product. To keep me from messing this one up I pictured it as a mirror image of the original print. Having the extra printed out copy of the logo was a big help in keeping me on track with this very important detail.

I poured about a 1 inch layer of melted chocolate in the bottom of pan. I was just winging it. I wanted it to be sturdy, but leave room for the cookie center.

After chocolate had set (in the refrigerator) I began placing the cookies.

Here's where I made my only mini mistake. I didn't know it until the end when the Kit Kat was sliced. The chocolate encased the cookies on the outside holding them in place, but the cookies on the inside were glued to nothing and fell out of the slice. Don't get me wrong NO ONE said, "I don't want a slice of the Kit Kat, because the middle cookies are falling out." It was more of an aesthetic thing for me the perfectionist. If there is a next time glue cookies together with a dot of chocolate. I'd melt chocolate in a baggie in the microwave. Cut small corner of baggie. Use the hole to squeeze dot of chocolate on cookies as placed in pan. This would go the fastest. I say dot of chocolate, because this is so rich and chocolately a lot more chocolate in the middle isn't necessary. Plus you don't want a lot of chocolate getting in the way of the cookies.

Next step was to melt more and more chocolate until the cookies are covered. It took 7 pounds of chocolate to cover mine.

My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to get the Kit Kat out of the pan. My next fear would be the letters floated up and mixed in with the chocolate. I waited until my son went to school the next day and figured I'd have about 5 hours to figure out how to get it out of the pan if it didn't pop right out. I also figured I'd have time to carve a Kit Kat on the top if my lettering didn't work out. Thank my luck stars it popped right out. I was so excited to see it out of the pan. The lettering right where I wanted it.

I used an x-acto knife to lightly carve the edges of the craft foam to make sure they didn't lift away any of the chocolate as I peeled them out. Except for a few bubbles they came out perfectly and easily. I was so pleased it came out so well.

I wondered if my son would have remembered our looking at the Kit Kat online and would be expecting this. He had forgotten all about it. He was speechless!

Saturday when my son had his friends over I asked him to come get me when he unveiled the Kit Kat. Of course I had gone to run a quick errand when they decided they needed a treat. I came home to Kit Kat mayhem.

So, I just went and asked them, "So, what did you guys think about the Kit Kat?" Like my son their eyes all got as wide as saucers as they excitedly told me how cool it was. The one young lady at the party exclaim, "You're my hero! Kit Kats are my favorite."

OMGosh was this Delicious!

2011-09-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

I went to the Greek Festival a few Friday's ago at the urging of a friend who was once married to a Greek. She has 3 sons who love Greek food and she still loves it to this day. We went when admission was free and had lunch there. They had a full on cafeteria style Greek food set up. I ordered Pastitsio, but I was torn between that and Moussaka. I love eggplant.

Pastitsio as I had remembered it was like a lasagna with a cheese sauce on top. The Pastitsio at the Greek Festival was good, but I remember making it at home a few years ago and decided I would do it again. I bought what they called uncut macaroni at the Greek Festival. They had used that noodle in their dish and I thought it was really fun. It was a tube as long as spaghetti. I've looked around at the grocery stores near me and that might have been the last bag I'll see until the next Greek Festival. Or you can order some at this link. I bought this Misko brand at the Greek festival and all the writing on the package is in Greek. It made me chuckle when I went to read the instructions on how to cook it. "It's all Greek to me."

I didn't get a picture of my Pastitsio, but this blog has a great picture of their version of Pastitsio.

I looked for Pastitsio recipes online and found 3 that sort of fit the bill. I liked a little bit of each of them and decided I'd do just the parts I liked and make my own vision of Pastitsio. One noticeable thing I changed was the amount of cinnamon. 2 recipes called for 1 tsp and the other recipe called for 1 tablespoon. I recalled from the last time I made Pastitsio and the reason I haven't made it since was the cinnamon over powered the whole dish. I didn't want to leave it out entirely, but I wanted to greatly reduce it.

Another thing the recipes said it would feed 8 people. This made a giant Pastitsio that would feed at least 12 people. Maybe the Greeks have bigger appetites.

Pastitsio Lynne's Way

3 T Olive Oil
1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes in puree
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups grated Pecorino Romano
1 pound uncut macaroni (can use macaroni, ziti, penne, small shells)

Bechamel:
4 T unsalted butter
4 T all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups Parmesan
2 large eggs, beaten
2/3 cup Greek style yogurt or sour cream

For sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in large pan. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the beef and saute over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until it's no longer pink. Drain off any excess liquid. Add garlic, cinnamon, oregano, thyme and cayenne and continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper and simmer stirring occasionally for 35 minutes. Set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Don't over-cook because the pasta will later be baked. Drain and set aside.

For the Bechamel, melt butter in medium sauce pan. Add flour and cook over medium heat. Pour cold milk and cream into the butter and flour mixture whisking constantly. Continue cooking and stirring over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until smooth and thick. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Stir in 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup of tomato and meat sauce, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Stir in the eggs and yogurt and set aside.

Preheat the over to 350 degrees F.

Place a 1/4 of grated Romano cheese in a 11 X 14 inch pan and then layer with 1/3 of the pasta. Continue until both ingredients are used up. Spread on the meat sauce. Pour the Bechamel on top of the meat sauce. Sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 1 hour until golden brown and bubbly. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve hot.
Serves 12.

If You Knit Or Crochet Join Ravelry

2011-09-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

It's free and I really have a good time over there talking to other fiber lovers. Someone I discoved over there is PlanetJune. She makes the most adorable amigurumi. What is that exactly? The word is derived from a combination of the Japanese words ami, meaning crocheted or knitted, and nuigurumi, meaning stuffed doll.

My first experience with June was her Groundhog pattern. I don't know why, but he was so adorable I had to make him. I've made several of her patterns since. She did a free pattern a while back that looked fun. It was the apple. This pattern like the groundhog was so adorable that when I'd show my finished product to friends and family they'd want it! I had to keep a close eye on them or my daughter would snitch them. In fact where are they? Have I let my guard down?

Well, now June has a new pear pattern and has created a "Fruit-A-Long" on Raveley. The "Fruit-A-Long" refers to making her fruits along with other people. Sharing your experience of making them and then photos of your finished crocheted fruit.

I'm hoping you'll join Ravelry, look up PlanetJune and join in the fun.

Stick Up For Yourself As A Consumer

2011-08-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

I'll let my email speak for itself...

"My parents had your "Tagnabbit" quick release on their dog's collar. I thought how ingenious as my dogs tends to wear the same collar all their lives, because I don't want to bend those wires to take off the tags.

I ran straight out and bought one in April 2011. Less than a week later my teen said "Mom here's Little Stars tags." She was holding them in her hand. Shocked I looked at the gadget and surmised that my husband had put the leash through it. I had warned every one it was for tags only not the leash. Hubby and I got in a mini argument. He claiming he had NOT put the leash through it. I just figured he accidently did. No more arguing. I pushed the metal lever back to it's original place and went on with life. About every week or so the tags would be found laying some where in the house.

One at left possible leash damage operator error. One on right snapped right off sending tags all over floor.

Finally, in July I bought another figuring operator error on the first one. We know better. This is still a very cool dog tag holder.

Not one week later I find my dog's tags laying on the floor. This time not the Tagnabbit, but each individual tag. The Tagnabbit's bottom metal bit had broken off some how. Not the spring loaded piece, but the whole bottom piece sheared off at top puppy paw piece. I have a picture if wanted.
Now I'm wondering "hmmm maybe this isn't operator error, but a defective product." I have a middle aged, liver damaged, gimpy legged 23 pound dog hardly a candidate for rough treatment of the product.

What are your thoughts?"

I received a quick reply back from the company...

"Thank you for the product feedback regarding the Tagnabbitt. There was a "run" of this product where our supplier did not meet particular specifications. Unfortunately, there is no lot number to track the item that were affected, which leaves us to address the end-user as we receive the complaints. We are looking to receive the revised product by month end. If you will provide your mailing information, customer service will send one to your attention, when they are received.
Best regards,
On-Line consumer Services
PETMATE"

I thanked them for their quick reply and sent my address. Honestly, I thought it would be a long time or not at all that I'd receive a replacement. I wasn't really looking for a replacement as much as I wanted to let them know how their product was holding up in the real world.

On August 24th I received 2 Tagnabbits and a dog treat in the mail to my great surprise. Less than 2 weeks from my product review to the company I had 2 new dog tag holders. So, if you're looking for items for your pet I'd recommend Petmate products. Their customer service is awesome. Now to test this one out.

UPDATE 10/23/11: I started using one of the new Tagnabbits. It wasn't too long after that I found my dog's ID tag on the floor. This happen several more times where I'd find just the ID, but the dog license and rabies tag stayed on the Tagnabbit attached to my dog's collar. I had what my friend's and I call "evil ESP" about the situation. I had a feeling I should take the Tagnabbit off and secure the tags to my dog's collar the old fashioned way, but I didn't. Well, it bit me in the butt. All my dog's tags with the Tagnabbit are now gone. We can't find it any where. Is it in the house? Is it in the backyard? We've looked and can't find the tags any where. They are here some where and will show up one day. I'm starting to replace the tags as I don't have time to wait for that day to come. So, bottom line don't buy a Tagnabbit.

Chocolate Fudge Cherry Cake for the 17th time!

2011-08-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

OK it's really the 11th time, but my daughter turned 17 and again she wanted her favorite cake. My plan this year was to do something a little different like make it into an ice cream cake. She decided though that she wanted to spend time on the lake with her friends for her birthday. Sounded like fun to me, but ice cream would not do well at the lake. I didn't know if any of them were going to come back to the house, so it was time for plan B.

Left on a kayak.

Came back on a paddle board.

I got to thinking that cupcakes would be a great plan. I'd never made cupcakes out of this recipe and was a little afraid that it might be too soft of a recipe for cupcake wrappers. I hate it when you peel the wrapper off a cupcake and half of the cupcake sticks to the wrapper. You then feel the need to scrap the cake off the wrapper with your teeth eating some of the wrapper in the process. I wasn't sure if this wasn't going to turn into one of those times, BUT one doesn't know if they don't try.

The recipe made 21 cupcakes. Now what to do with the frosting. I made the frosting as the recipe said. The cupcakes did cool off by the time I got the frosting done. This turned out to be a good thing. I decided to dip the top of the cupcakes into the hot frosting. Sort of a dip, pick up and twirl keeping the frosting on the cake and not on the wrapper. It worked out great. I let the cupcakes sit and the frosting cooled to a really nice semi hard shell. Perfect for placing plastic wrap over on a tray and taking to the lake. Turned out they peeled out of their wrapper perfectly. The frosting layer was the perfect amount of frosting according to my daughter. We may have found a great new way to serve her favorite birthday treat.

All the wrappers ended up in front of Diana and they started saying "Diana save some cupcakes for the rest of us."

I took 18 cupcakes to the lake for 7 teens. I sent an easy picnic lunch with them for their trip, but knew they'd be hungry when they returned. Thirsty and starving is what they said when they returned. I had an ice chest with cold drinks and 18 cupcakes that they promptly devoured.

Chocolate Fudge Cherry Cake
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 can cherry pie filling
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond flavoring (optional) (It's not really optional you must use it.)

Frosting:
1 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup milk
6 oz package of semisweet chocolate chips

Mix cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs, and flavoring by hand. Pour batter into greased and floured 13x9x2-inch pan and bake at 350° about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. (Bundt shaped pan works great just takes a little longer to bake.)
For frosting, place sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Pour over warm cake.

Lynne's Note: Cupcakes take 1/2 the time to bake. While they are cooling prepare frosting. Holding bottom of cupcake dip just the cake part of cupcake in frosting. Pull up, twist and do a 1/2 twirl so string of frosting breaks and frosting stays only on top of cupcake. Let all cupcakes sit not touching one another. Frosting will harden to a beautiful chocolate shell that does not stick to plastic wrap.

PS. BTW they all came back to the house. Cell phone out daughter calling her dad, "Could you pretty please order 3 pizzas."

State Fair Frittata

2011-08-03T20:14:00.000-07:00

2 years ago DH and walked around the 2009 State Fair by ourselves. This hadn't happened in about 15 years. Our teens were off with their friends. We happened upon a cooking demo that smelled so good before it even began. We decided to stay and see what they were cooking. I took notes all along knowing I'd like to try this recipe at home. They were demonstrating for Del Monte canned foods particularly their canned potatoes. I've always thought canned potatoes would be terrible.

They said not to worry the recipe would be on their website soon. I checked their website for 6 months. As far as I could tell it never arrived. I was so glad I wrote down the recipe. Every now and then I can't find it though. Like tonight I had a mini panic. I finally found it in my email. Where the printed copy in my recipe file went I don't know. I might be in there as I'm not really sure how to file this recipe.... under eggs, pork (for the bacon), potatoes, breakfast, or dinner?

We eat it for dinner. It's a very easy recipe, but a bit fussy to make. I discovered that canned potatoes are very good, which was what Del Monte was trying to prove.

State Fair Frittata

1 pound of bacon, diced and cooked until crisp
½ onion, diced
1T bacon fat
8 ounces tomato sauce
1 T cilantro, coarsely chopped
a pinch of oregano
a pinch of marjoram
Salt & Pepper to Taste
2 T bacon fat
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
2 cans of Del Monte sliced potatoes drained and dried of all water
a pinch of oregano
a pinch of marjoram
Salt & Pepper to Taste
9 eggs
½ cup cream
pinch of salt
Nonstick Cooking Spray
¾ Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
¾ Cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Optional - 3 sliced avocados
Green onions, sliced

Preheat Oven to 500 degrees.

Heat 12 inch nonstick skillet over med. high heat. Add bacon. Cook until crisp and drain. Set aside and reserve fat.

Meanwhile, in smaller skillet prepare sauce by sauteing onion in tablespoon of bacon fat. Once translucent add tomato sauce, cilantro, pinch of oregano, pinch of marjoram and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer on low.

In 12 inch skillet add 2 tablespoons of bacon fat. Sauté red pepper and green pepper. After they have sautéed for a few minutes add dried potatoes. Continue to sauté adding pinch of oregano, pinch of marjoram and salt and pepper to taste.

Beat eggs and cream together, add pinch of salt and whisk again. Set aside and spray rimmed baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle pan with sautéed pepper/potato mixture. Sprinkle cooked bacon over top. Pour egg mixture over top. Top with cheese and place in oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted, bubbly and slightly brown. Cut into rectangles, top with tomato sauce, avocados, green onions and serve.

Hidden Valley Ranch Pretzels

2011-08-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

Had these pretzels at a potluck end of season flag football party. They were SO good. Didn't know who brought them, but with my investigative skills I was able to find a recipe online. About once a year I make up a full batch. It makes a lot of pretzels. I make them when there are going to be a lot of people around as they are so good and so not good for you.

Hidden Valley Ranch Pretzels

2 lb. of Pretzels
1 bottle of Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn Butter Oil
1 package of Hidden Valley Original Ranch Dressing Mix (milk recipe)
1 teaspoons lemon pepper (can use garlic powder and/or onion powder if one prefers)

Mix oil and seasonings together. In a large container mix pretzels and oil mixture. (I like to use 2 - 1 gallon ziploc bags.)

Allow pretzels to sit for 24 hours, tossing a few times a day. You'll see all the oil absorbing.

Every time you go into the kitchen gave the bags a flip.

The Mythical Guy Fieri's Costco Tri-Tip

2011-08-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

OK it's not exactly mythical, but the fact that I can't find it again or prove that I've had one has moved it to that category. Last month BEFORE my surgery I bought a marinated tri-tip at Costco with Guy Fieri's name on it. They were sampling it and it was delicious. We promptly threw it on the grill that night. It was SO good and so small the 3 of us ate all of it that night. It was my husband, daughter and I here that night. So, my son teases that there was some form of mass hallucinations going on regarding the delicious tri-tip we all won't stop talking about.

I figured I fix his butt and buy another one. Can't find it. Not only that I have no idea what it was called other than Guy Fieri's name was on it. Who is Guy Fieri? He's a Food Network Star. Literally! He won the first season of "The Next Food Network Star" and has been quite a character on that network ever since.

So, I did a search online thinking I could come up with a name of this mythical tri-tip and I really couldn't find too much. I did find his recipe for Santa Marie Tri-Tip that kind of seems like it might be what we had. One thing I remember vividly was in was marinating in an orange liquid in the package. This recipe calls for an orange oil called Achiote Oil.

Last night I had gathered all my ingredients. Achiote seeds from the Mexican grocery store, lots of garlic and cracked black pepper. I made the Achiote Oil per Guy's instructions on the recipe. That was easy. Then followed the recipe.

Right now the tri-tip is in the refrigerator for it's 24 hour sit. Quite honestly all the pepper and salt have me a bit frighten that it will not be edible, but I can't see Guy steering me wrong.

Update: Very tasty. Nothing like Costco tri-tip. Very salty, but not too peppery. If I were to do this again I'd cut the salt back.

Vultures, Teenagers, Oh My!

2011-07-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

DH had some leftover ground beef and didn't know what to do with it. I said to bag it up and I'd make an easy dinner of it the next night. My thought was my all time favorite "Hamburger Beanie Wienie." That's what my mom always called it even though it never involved wienies or a hot dogs... whatever one wants to call it. The recipe came from an odd source and had no name.

I was 7 when my mother told me I'd be staying with the neighbors for about half an hour as she'd be late getting home that day. "GREAT!" is what I thought sarcastically as I didn't like Clifford our neighbor's son. He was 1 year older than me and 100 times more naughty. He bullied my brother and I on our own swing set. He ran around my parents new car dragging an untwisted wire hanger leaving about 10 circular scratches on the paint. And on the day I was to STAY at their hose for 1/2 an hour he escorted me into their house like I was a prisoner of war. Thank goodness he didn't have any rope.

One very good thing came of this day though was his mother had made the most delicious after school snack. I recognized ground beef. I recognized beans, but other than that I had no idea what was in it. I just knew it was delicious. When my mother came to rescue me... err...pick me up I told her about this wonderful concoction and that she needed to get the recipe. As all good mother's she did go ask for the recipe. Ground beef and Pork N' Beans. That was the recipe. I'm not sure why, but that combo makes the most delicious taste sensation.

So, last night after a long day at the lake I made this easy and delicious recipe. My daughter and her 4 friends were going to stay and visit a while after their day at the lake. On the way home these teenagers had their own money and were so hungry they asked if I'd drive them by our local Mexican Restaurant for take out. Since I hadn't planned dinner for 5 hungry teens I thought this was a good idea. They ate and went on with their business and I made dinner for my husband and me. DH wasn't going to be home for a couple hours, but this recipe is better warmed up later.

As I was leaving the kitchen to go take my shower one of my daughter's friends came into the kitchen. I knew she hadn't purchased as dinner and she said she was looking for food. I pointed at the skillet and told her she was welcome to have some the dinner I had fixed. She had one bite and declared it delicious and prepared herself a bowl. I went to take a shower. Then I blew my hair dry. Then I watched a show on the TV in my room and I jokingly said, "I better go put DH's dinner in the fridge as I don't want to leave it unattended in a house full of teenagers." When I saw the nearly empty skillet my eyes did that thing that cartoon characters eyes do when they are surprised by what they see.

I think the sound "arooga" trumpeted in the background.

When I offered the dinner to my daughter's friend it was because I knew she ate like a bird. Now the old joke of "She eats like a bird... yeah a vulture" was coming to mind. This recipe is really good stuff. I checked the clock and quickly texted my husband that he needed to pick himself up something for dinner on the way home. He called and asked what happened and we both had a good laugh. So, seriously folks don't leave food unattended when you have teenagers in your house. It's no joke!

Here's the recipe. Over the years we've tweaked it just a little, but it's basically the same.

Hamburger Beanie Wienie
1 med onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 28 ounce can Pork N' Beans
garlic powder and season salt to taste

Saute' onion until soft. Add ground beef. Cook and break up the ground beef until cooked all the way through. No pink left. Add can of Pork N' Beans making sure to scrap all the sauce out of can. Season with garlic powder and season salt to taste.

Gallbladder Removal

2011-07-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming. 2 weeks after my first born came along I had what I call a Gallbladder attack. I had never been to an emergency room in my life and within 2 weeks I had been there twice. My son was 5 weeks early due to my water breaking this is how my first trip went down.

2 weeks after the birth I was back in with this dang gall bladder. Everyone remembered me and were happy to see my son. "Hello! Woman in great pain here!" I think is what I said in my cranky painful gallbladder stupor. This stopped the group from oogling my baby and back to me and my pain.

The attack went away as quickly as it came on. I got no pain meds as I was nursing. After an ultrasound showed I had no gallstones they said, "Lucky you only one stone." I was sent home.

I was so worried for years. I wondered when was I going to have another big attack. From then on my gall bladder ached from time to time. When I was pregnant with my daughter my only real physical concern I had was that dang gallbladder. It ached 24/7. I asked my Dr. about it and she said we'll cross that bridge when it comes. Nothing came of it thank goodness. After my daughter was born the aching let up.

Over the last 20 years I've about 4 gallbladder attacks. Each ultrasound revealed no gallstones. Each time I got the "Lucky you" response. About 4 years ago my gall bladder started back to aching every day pretty much all day. No change in diet would change it. I just learned to live with it. Waiting for "The BIG One" to come along and force the doctors to take it out.

I've felt like doing this a time or 2 myself!

I got to thinking this year I really need to get to the bottom of this as I plan on doing some traveling and I don't want to be in another country when my gall bladder finally fails.

I talked to my doctor about it. Again I got an ultrasound and no action. In June I finally put my foot down and asked my doctor, "Why do I have to live like this in pain and waiting for a full on gallbladder attack?" She said, "I'll send you to nuclear medicine and they can do a test on you to measure the functioning of your gallbladder. Hallelujah it's about time!

A nuclear medicine scan of the gallbladder is used to produce a set of images that look like x rays. The procedure uses a small amount of radioactive dye which is injected into the body. The dye accumulates in the organ, in this case, the gallbladder. A special camera called a scintillation or gamma camera produces images based on how the dye travels through the system and how the radiation is absorbed by the tissues. This whole thing took about 2 hours of laying quite still.

What they found in me is no gallstones, no blockages, but a gallbladder functioning at 10%. The Dr. called the next day and said, "Yeah that thing needs to come out." What a great relief that the Dr. believed me and to finally hear those word. All these years I've felt I had a ticking time bomb in me.

I was really surprised at how quickly they could get me in and how well it worked into my schedule. My family and I didn't need to rearrange anything to fit this in. DH took a few days off from work. My teens are home for the summer. One of my teens drives, which is REALLY handy.

The family is working really hard to make me comfortable including my poodle. I went in at 6am and was home before noon. My poodle though just knew something was up. When I got into bed upon returning home my poodle uncharacteristically sniff my torso all over and then curled up with me. If one could understand this she had this strange look of concern in her eyes. DH kept trying to remove her she didn't want to budge. He didn't want her to jump on me, so I understood his concern. I assured him I'd make sure she didn't. So, curled up next to me with her head on my belly she stayed. She's played a major part in my recovery.

PS. no cake please.

PSS. Do I need this shirt now?

PSSS. Not sure I want to snuggle with it. I'm kind of mad at it.

Chocolate Gravy!

2011-07-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

"Would you like some chocolate gravy?" my great aunt asked my brother and me. We along with our mother were visiting our Oklahoma relatives for the summer. I was 10 and my brother was 8. This particular time we stayed the night at Great Aunt Imogene's house along with a whole passel of cousins our age. Everyone at this house were strangers to us and we were there for the summer to get to know everyone. Again, she asked us, "Would you like some chocolate gravy?" My brother and I looked at each other with giant grins that said "Who wouldn't want chocolate gravy!" We said, "Yes please!" We had never heard of chocolate gravy, but it sounded glorious. My mother is a great cook and she makes terrific gravy, chicken, beef, cream, giblet, but never chocolate gravy. Not only were we getting to know our extend family, but a way of life we had never experienced.

There were probably 10 of us cousins sitting around a couple tables pushed together. We had pancakes with Chocolate gravy. It was as wonderful as we thought. The other cousins couldn't believe we had never had it. They had it every weekend.

We had a wonderful summer in Oklahoma, but when it was time for school to start back home to Michigan we went. Oddly, chocolate gravy was never spoken of ever again.

Fast forward nearly 30 years and I have kids of my own. Some how the memory of chocolate gravy came up and I knew I wanted to find a recipe. I went online and many searches and studying of recipes I decided on one I thought would make a gravy like my childhood memory. My son was having a sleep over that weekend and I thought what a perfect time to try it out.

I made the chocolate gravy and it turned out just as great as I remembered it. I then went on to make pancakes. By this time all the boys were awake and at the table. I asked them, "Would you like chocolate gravy on your pancakes?" Four little faces turned and gave me that look I knew my brother and I had to given our Great Aunt Imogene. That expression that says "what the heck are you talking about and heck yes" all in one look. It was precious.

Many pancakes and many ladels of chocolate gravy later they were all full and thought it was the greatest stuff they'd every eaten. One of the 10 year boys liked to cook. He immediately after breakfast asked if he could have the recipe. I gave him the recipe, a blank card and a pencil. I thought he might like it in his own hand writing. Later that afternoon one of the boys' mother called and said her son wanted her to get the recipe for chocolate gravy. She said "chocolate gravy" like she was asking for a unicorn. I assured her it was a real recipe.

The next day the final boy called. I asked if he wanted the recipe and he said yes. I told him I'd give it to his mom when I saw her at school. He said, "No, my mom doesn't cook, but can I give your telephone number to my grandmother?" A few minutes later Grandma called laughing saying she's supposed to get a recipe for chocolate gravy.

Great with sliced bananas too.

Chocolate Gravy

2 T butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 T unsweetened cocoa

Add butter and glour to pan on medium heat. Stir until incorporated. Add milk, sugar and cocoa. Whisk until thick. Serve with biscuits, pancakes and/or waffles.

My Fear Story

2011-06-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts "Stuff You Should Know" and the podcast was about "How Fear works." Then the host told his fear story. It reminded me of my fear story. I've been scared many times over the years, but a story of true fear doesn't happen often.

Mine begins with a move to the country in California. I'd been an Air Force Brat all my life and always lived in the city. When I was 16 my family moved to the home my parent ultimately retired to and it was in their dream spot in the country. My brother and I were city kids. It was difficult getting use to the quiet and the darkness at night. Another thing contributing to my uncomfortableness was no curtains on my bedroom windows. Never did get any. I caught my brother and his friend one night looking in and trying to scare me though one of my windows. He was 13 and so were his friends. Perfect age for "let's spy on your 16 year old sister.

I told my mom and dad what was happening and my mom suggested that while they were out and up to their shenanigans to lock the sliding glass door in his bedroom. That way he'll have to come in through the upstairs door in the living room and explain why he's out at night.

The fateful day came and I heard rustling by my bedroom window. My mom was out of town on for a nursing seminar and only my dad was home. He was a crotchety old military always yelling at us and on our cases (well he still is). I knew my brother was going to be in big trouble. My mom wasn't there to soften it.

I threw on my fluffy robe and tippy toed out of my room as not to alert my brother to the plan. I locked the downstairs garage door. Next to tippy toe into my brother's room and lock his slider. Ever so quietly and slowly I step toward his slider. Giddy with anticipation of his finally getting into trouble for peeping on me. I'm halfway to the door when suddenly my brother sits up in bed and screams bloody murder. I simultaneously scream bloody murdered at the top of my lungs and I scramble for the light switch. There is my brother wide awake, but had been sound to sleep in bed. What he saw was a big fuzzy creature creepy into his room in the middle of the night.

We stood frozen for probably 5 minutes just staring at one another and listening. We were now terrorized by the fact that our crotchety old dad was going to come running downstairs to save us and nothing was really going on. We listened intently. Our eyes rolling around in our heads. Listening for every bump. For the rapid thump thump thump on carpeted steps of someone running down the stairs. Finally we slowly let our breaths out. No dad. No dog barking. We were greatly relieved not to get a tongue lashing. Yet, our next anxious thought was "We just screamed our loudest bloody murder screams and no one heard us.

When we first moved to the country I had expressed my concern about the isolation, the quiet, the darkness, the fact that my brother and I were on ground level by ourselves. My dad just laughed and said, "All you have to do is scream and I'll come save you."

The Deep Dish Pizza That Ate Orangevale

2011-06-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

I was watching a show on the Food Network and they were making Deep Dish Pizza. I just fell in love with the idea of making my own. I saved the episode and sat down and wrote down every thing they did to make their wonderful pizza. I promptly erased the episode no longer needing it, but I don't remember what the show was called. I'll have to think on that.

Anyhow with some web research my plan and recipes were complete. So, yesterday afternoon I went to work with the below recipe. After the 2nd rise I punched it down and began shaping it to my pan. What I encountered was not a resistant dough, but a dough that reminded me more of "The Blob" from movie fame. How so you ask? Well, it kept growing and growing quickly. Rising I guess would be the term in the bread world. It was rising in such a fast fashion that I couldn't even get the dough pressed on one side when it was rising out of the pan on the other. I was literally shaping and punching it down at the same time. It was becoming a joke. Finally I decided to make sure all my toppings were ready. Punch the crust down quickly top it and throw it in the oven not to just bake it, but to kill it. Unlike "The Blob" which needed cold to stop it my blob needed heat.

After about 10 minutes the heat did the job and stopped it in it's tracks. Clearly I needed to tweak this recipe. Fortunately, I knew it was still going to be very tasty even though it had about 1 1/2 inches of crust on all sides. I topped my pizza with mozzarella, sweet Italian sausage, pepperoni, diced bell pepper, diced red onion, 1 15 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese. Yes, I did all that before the blog had time to consume me.

Not one piece of pizza is left today. DH had it for dinner. A snack after he returned from reffing and took the rest for lunch today. That's why I have no picture.

What I'll do next time is use half the amount of yeast and see how that goes. As for the rest of the dough recipe it made a very tasty dough with the right taste of Deep Dish Pizzas I've had at the restaurant. The corn meal, olive oil and lack of salt in the recipe was really in the right direction for a tasty crust. I had 2 other concerns. One is did I use the right size pan. I didn't have a 15 inch round pan. I used my 13" X 9" rectangular pan. I also wondered should I have cut the dough blob in half. Maybe I put too much dough in the pan to begin with. All things I'll consider the next time I make Deep Dish Pizza since I don't have Steve McQueen to save the day.

Deep Dish Pizza
Dough:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup corn meal
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour
4 1/2 tsp dry yeast

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl in the order listed making sure to put the flour and yeast in last. Mix on low speed with dough hook until dough forms a ball then mix on medium speed for 10 minutes.

Take the dough out of bowl and form it into a ball. Then place it back into the bowl with a damp towel over it. Let it rest until it almost doubles in volume. Takes about 30 minutes. Punch down and let rise again. It can now be shaped in pan.

Coat the bottom of a well seasoned 15" X 2" deep dish pan with regular olive oil. Place dough ball in the center of the pan and press it out until it cover the entire bottom. Then, using your fingers pull the dough up the sides of the pan.

The edge should be pinched up against the side of the pan. If the dough resists holding shape cover with a towel and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes before trying again.

Using mozzarella or provolone cover bottom of the dough.

Add desired toppings. Top with crushed tomatoes then Italian seasoning and finally Parmesan cheese.

Place pan in the center of the bottom oven rack and bake at 475 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes turning half way through until the crust is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool about 3 minutes.

Incredible Poodle Throw Rug

2011-06-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

What I especially like about this particular rug is it follows me around the house and repositions itself.

Outdoor Movies and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

2011-06-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

My brother started outdoor movies in the 90's at Halloween. He'd affix a bed sheet tautly to his porch for a screen. Then project a movie of his choosing in the Halloween genre, but G rated since is nephew and niece were quite young. "Mad Monster Party" was a particular favorite (see movie trailer at link.) After "Trick or Treating" we go back to his house for a movie. We'd bring our sleeping bags and lay down on the lawn. We'd mostly watched the movie, but sometimes we'd fall asleep. It was all apart of the fun.

Ever year at the same time I was having a Halloween party for my friends. Kids were not invited for many years, basically because they were too young to stay up that late. They would go to Grandma's and Grandpa's.

Then the year came when the kids wanted a Halloween party of their own. So, I combined the parties and invited all my adult friends to bring their kids. I asked my brother that year if he'd do an outdoor movie at my house. We showed "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It was a big hit.

We had many outdoor Halloween parties, but one year my daughter asked if we could do an outdoor movie for her birthday. Having a summer birthday it sounded like a great idea. That's how the summer outdoor movies started.

We tape a white sheet on to our garage door and project the movie on to it. We make quite a night of it. I have 2 portable fire pits we roll out for warmth and s'mores. I pop lots of popcorn. We encourage everyone to bring a chair if they like. Definitely bring a blanket and pillow. As with tradition someone always falls asleep during the movie. The blanket serves to keep one warm, because even though it's summer we get what's called "The Delta Breeze" in the evening. It takes a 100 degree summer day and brings the temps down to the 60's nearly ever night.

This years snacks included chocolate dipped strawberries and I made some peanut butter cookies with the chocolate kisses.

Chocolate dipped strawberries are simple and yet very impressive looking. Not to mention they just taste great.

What I do is I put 2 cups of chocolate chips in double boiler. A double boiler consists of a pot that holds hot water and a bowl or another pot that sits securely over this pot. The top bowl or pot holds the chocolate while it melts over the indirect heat. Do not boil the water. Keep the heat low. Also don't let the water touch the bottom of double boiler. The chocolate chips melt fast like this. Once melted I turn off the heat.

While the chocolate chips are melting I wash the strawberries. Making sure to get the dried blossom off the end and little seed flakes off of the strawberries. Don't know what else to call them, but if you rub each strawberry gentle under water you'll have a clean strawberry ready for dipping. I like to find large strawberries, but no one has ever turned their nose up at a small chocolate dipped strawberry. Make sure strawberries are completely dry. Since I don't make a lot of them I dry each strawberry individually. You don't want water in the chocolate or it will cause the chocolate to seize and makes it completely unmanageable.

I cover a cookie sheet with wax paper and begin dipping. I pinch all the stem leaves in my fingers to use as sort of a dipping handle and to keep them out of the chocolate. Then I lay the strawberry on it's side in the chocolate (probably a 45 degree angle) and twist it until strawberry is coated to my liking. I've found you don't need the chocolate really close to the stem as it's a part of the strawberry one does not eat. Lay dipped strawberry on wax paper. When all are dipped I find a flat spot (or make one) in my fridge to let the chocolate set. If you don't get the sheet flat all the dipped strawberries will slide off cookie sheet if there is no rim or slide to rim and set in one giant aggravating clump. So, flat is the key. Once set peel off wax paper and put on serving dish.

Our New Favorite Salad Dressing

2011-06-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

Costco had an El Torito Chicken Caesar Salad kit that was outstanding. I was telling a friend about it and she said that her husband made the El Torito dressing from scratch a lot in the 90's. She said it was SO good and that the recipe was on the internet. Sure enough it was very easy to find. The recipe looked like it was a little bit of a pain in the butt. I was up to the challenge for a delicious salad dressing though.

I read the comments that came with the dressing recipe to make sure nothing negative was said. The only comment I read that caught my eye was it made too much dressing. The recipe makes a quart. I make Ranch dressing quite a bit and that recipe makes 2 cups, which is the perfect amount. I decided to halve the recipe from the get go.

My Notes: Roasting a pepper at my house is kind of a pain. My oven sets off the smoke alarm. So, can't broil it. I have a portable roaster, so I set it up under my exhaust fan above stove. It took an hour to roast the pepper. Next batch I started the BBQ and again it took about an hour to roast one stinkin pepper. Next I put my comal (cast iron plate) on the stove and roasted the pepper. It worked the best of all my attempts. I suspect if you can use your broiler in the oven that might be the fastest.

Finding roasted pumpkin seeds out of the shell have been a challenge. Still haven't found any. Maybe the health food store? In it's place I used roasted sunflower seeds. That worked great. I just recently sat a shelled some roasted pumpkin seeds I'll let you known if I notice a big difference.

Cotija cheese tastes to me like just very salty kind of flavorless cheese. I did buy some and use it, but in the future I always have Parmesan on hand I will try that and let you know how that works out.

Cilantro is what really makes this dressing in my opinion. Yes, take the time to wash and stem one whole bunch. This is what gives the dressing its beautiful green color too. The pepper does not make it that pretty green color. My dad doesn't like cilantro and I was worried he wouldn't like the dressing. We went camping and it was the only dressing choice. He asked me what made the dressing green. I lied like a rug and said it was the roasted pepper. After I talked him down from a minor freak out that anaheim peppers were not "spicy hot" he enjoyed the dressing. He didn't even mention it had cilantro in it.

So, all and all is this a healthy dressing no, but every now and then it's a great delicious choice. I've found 2 cups serves about 12 people. Now on to the dressing recipe. The recipe I have below is already scaled down to the 2 cup proportion. BTW it fits into my Ranch Dressing container perfect for pouring and keeping dressing mixed. I see it every now and then at the grocery store by the Hidden Valley Ranch packets. Tupperware also sells a similar container.

El Torito Cilantro and Pepita Salad Dressing

1 medium anaheim chilies, roasted, peeled and seeded
1/4 cup roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1 garlic cloves, peeled
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces salad oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons grated Cotija cheese (you can also use Parmesan cheese if you cannot find Cotija)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, stemmed
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup water

Place all dressing ingredients except cilantro, mayonnaise and water in a blender of food processor.

Blend approximately 10 seconds, and then add cilantro little by little until blended smooth.

Depending on size of blender, it may be necessary to do in batches.

Place mayonnaise and water in a large stainless steel bowl, and mix with a wire whip until smooth.

Add the blended ingredients to the mayonnaise mixture, and mix thoroughly.

Place in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Will keep for three days.

Camera Shy and Hopeful

2011-05-22T10:24:00.000-07:00

Happiness is a fresh clean poodle. Yes, I'm kissing my poodle.

Little Star Miles or Piddle Star Miles as we like to call her these days is being camera shy. Thought I'd let you see how well she doing. Considering she's had a rough few months. She's been poked, prodded, medicated, fed unusual foods, and sprayed by a skunk.

Today was the ultimate insult though... she got another bath. She's been drinking so much water lately (side effect of one of her meds) she sleep pees occasionally; hence, early morning bath. We've been picking her water up around 10 pm, but she seems to already be full of water by then. New plan is the Vet told me back in January (when she wouldn't drink water and I had to force/trick/bribe her) that a poodle her size should drink 25 ounces of water a day. The plan is we measured out 25 ounces of water into her bowl and that is all she gets today. We'll see how that goes. I wonder how long it will take her to drink that much. My first instinct is I would hate it if someone told me I couldn't have a drink if I was thirsty. On the other hand if I were peeing the bed I guess I would rather have my water cut back than be kicked out of the bed.

Update: Spoke to Vet office today about a towel donation and thought I'd ask about my water plan. They said an hour after dinner just pick up the water dish. That no she doesn't need more than the normal amount of water. The 25 ounces that I gave her lasted just until after dinner. So, that worked out well.

Despite having been bathed she's in very good spirits. She's eating well. She's put on some weight slowly inching up to the 23 pounds that she should be. We are hopeful she has many more years with us. We go for a car ride every day. We go for a walk every day. We're enjoying our poodle every day.

Beef and Bean Enchiladas Will Make You Cry

2011-05-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

DH found this recipe I don't know where about 20 years ago. It's been a family favorite ever since.

Last night my DD asked to have enchiladas for dinner. I said sure if you make them. They really aren't hard to make, but they take a bit of time.

First thing one does with this recipe is chop the onions.

Using the Pampered Chef Food Chopper doesn't seem to help with the onion fumes. It does chop the onions quickly; therefore, less crying.

OK maybe she was hamming it up a little and she was cracking me up. It brought back to my attention what can one do to avoid the onion fumes. I wear contacts and I have zero problem with chopping onions. Nobody else in my family needs eye correction and has that option.

My mother said that she felt her glasses helped protect her. I've also read to lean back. Don't lean over the onions while chopping. Years ago I even bought the onion goggles for my kids. What my kids have told me is none of the above have helped them. They just chop, power through the crying and get on to the cooking.

DD likes to skip the frying of tortillas to save time. In the end the enchiladas turn out about the same like a casserole.

Beef and Bean Enchiladas

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 (1 lb.) can refried beans
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 c. taco sauce
1 c. ripe olives, quartered
2 (10 oz.) cans enchilada sauce
Salad oil for frying tortillas
12 corn tortillas
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Crumble ground beef in a frying pan; add onions. Saute until meat is browned and onions are tender. Drain off excess fat. Stir in beans, salt, garlic powder, taco sauce and olives; heat until bubbly. Heat enchilada sauce; pour half the sauce into an ungreased shallow 3 quart baking dish.

In small frying pan, heat salad oil about 1/4" deep. Dip tortillas, individually, in hot oil to soften; drain quickly. Place 1/3 cup beef filling on each tortilla; roll to enclose filling. Place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas. Cover with shredded cheese. Bake, uncovered 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

To Serve: Top each serving with sour cream combined with green chili salsa. May garnish with sliced, pitted ripe olives. Serves 4 to 6.

Lynne's note: I have microwaved and warmed tortillas up in the enchilada sauce in an effort to skip frying. Both methods lead to fragile tortillas and frustration. I stick with frying. How often does one have enchiladas? I have found frying them all up and draining them allows them to cool off. Enough so as to not burn my fingers and they stay flexible enough to roll.

Stop it DD you're making me laugh.

What's Next? We've Been Skunked!

2011-05-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'm telling you the last few months have been the most challenging in the world of pet ownership and it hasn't stopped yet.

The Prednisone is making my dog drink a lot. So, she needs to go out a lot. I noticed Wednesday morning she had had an accident in the night. Fortunately, it was on the easily cleanable vinyl flooring. So, Thursday night when she wanted out at 2am I thought "thank goodness she woke me up." I got up and let her out. She shot out like a rocket. I thought she went after a cat. I was hoping the cat had gotten away, but there was still some scuffling. Then there was a poodle sneeze. The poodle trotted away and out from the fence into the porch light as proud as a peacock came strutting a skunk with it's white and black tail standing tall.

My poodle was heading for my door. I slammed it shut. I wasn't sure if she got sprayed, but I was pretty sure she had, because of the sneeze. It's 2 am and I really don't want to wake up dear hubby, but I don't think I can handle this myself. OK I don't WANT to handle this myself. So, I wake up dear hubby and tell him "I think the poodle has been sprayed by a skunk." He groggily says, "Are you sure?" I walked back to the French back doors and I can see the poodle patticaking at the door for me to let her in. What she was doing was forcing skunk smell in through the crack in the doors. I walk back to the bedroom and say, "Yep, I'm sure!"

Dear Hubby doesn't get near enough sleep mostly by his choice, so when he's a sleep I don't like to wake him willy nilly. When there is a mini crisis though he gets right up and can be counted on to help calmly and surprisingly uncrankily. Is that a word?

First thing I did was turn on my computer before I woke him up. I remember seeing a formula for getting rid of skunk smell on a PBS Skunk show about 5 years ago that was guaranteed to work well. I remembering saying, "I should write that down" back then. I thought when will I ever come in contact with a skunk? Talk about famous last words. Want to hear some more famous last words? Because my poodle had surgery a few weeks ago I asked my husband THAT night "Would it be safe for her incision to give her a bath tomorrow? She's kind of stinky." I didn't know the half of what I was saying.

Krebaum’s Formula to De-Skunk Pets
Items Needed:
1 quart of fresh (not old or out-dated) 3% hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) – to act as a buffer
1 to 2 teaspoons of liquid soap – to alkalize the peroxide (don’t use shampoo)
If it’s for a larger pet, 1 quart of lukewarm water can be added.
Directions:
Be careful to keep this formula out of your pet’s ears, eyes and mouth. Lather thoroughly and deeply into pet fur. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse well with water.

Do this cleaning procedure outside, and if you have plastic goggles–wear them. Dogs especially are notorious for shaking their fur out when wet, you don’t want this stuff spraying in your eyes.

This recipe can be used on people, pets, clothing, or outdoors where needed. Be careful when applying and don’t let it get into eyes, ears or mouths.

Skunks can carry rabies, take to vet immediately if you find any bleeding or open wounds while washing your pet.

Amazingly, I had ALL the ingredients. I got a plastic tub from the garage. I wasn't sure how much would be needed to wash her. I wanted to catch the formula in the tub and reuse if needed. Armed with the formula and tub we headed to the backyard hubby in shorts me in my pajamas.

The hose I needed was coiled up right where the skunk was last sighted. I decided to use the hose by the other back door only the teenagers had disconnected it. I wondered why as I screwed it back on the hose bib and turned it on. Next thing I knew a 6 foot tall rooster tail stream of ice cold water is spraying my backside through a giant hole in the hose. OK now I know why it was disconnected! I scream. Dear hubby thinks the skunk is attacking me. I quiet down and quickly tell him I was hosed down with cold water. He sees me me fighting the hose like a water wiggle. He's now fighting to hold the dog in the tub who wants to come to my rescue. Now we're laughing, but trying to be quiet at 2 am in the morning not wanting to wake the neighbors or the kids.

We wetted her down with the ice cold water from the hose and she's looking at us with eyes that are saying, "Why are you being so mean to me?" Dear hubby is scrubbing her face and neck I'm scrubbing the rest of her. I am getting worried that she's going to get too cold since she's got some health issue and recovering from surgery. Dear hubby says I'll rinse her in a warm shower. That made me feel better to get her in a warm shower. As he rinsed her in the shower I got towels from the rag cabinet. I pull back the shower curtain and there she is in his arms like he use to bathe our babies when they were itty bitty. Poodle is looking itty bitty and sad. I took her from his arms and I could tell she was relieved it was all over.

Remarkably this all took less than half an hour. We were back in bed at 2:30 am with a dog who smelled nice enough to be welcomed back in the bed. Considering 30 minutes earlier she stunk so bad we didn't even want her in our backyard. The formula worked GREAT!

Next day I got many recommendations of tomato juice, but I've been told it really doesn't work that well. Plus I never have tomato juice in my house. The formula worked great. Yeah if you stick your nose in the hair on her neck there is a faint smell of skunk, but how often does one do that. We used about half of the formula and she was soaked through and through and suds up. So, for a 23 pound dog it was more than enough.

Living With a Roomba?

2011-05-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

Since my poodle's increase hunger began with the taking of Prednisone I've started to get the feeling people must have that own a Roomba. "The Roomba is an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner sold by iRobot. Under normal operating conditions, it is able to navigate a living space and its obstacles while vacuuming the floor."

The last few nights I sat down in the living room to enjoy a few programs on my DVR and in walked my shadow (the poodle). She begins systematically sniffing every inch of the living room floor. She walks around in no particular pattern. Bumping into things and going in new directions. Hoping I'm sure that a tortilla chip or the like has fallen to the floor. After sniffing every square inch of the living room floor she jumps up and lays down beside me.

She does this for every room. If I'm cooking she comes into the kitchen and again runs her nose over every inch of the kitchen floor. My original thought was she was looking more like a blood hound, but last night I realized that she is vacuuming. She's my Roomba!

So, now I'm getting a little feeling of "I hope she doesn't find any food on the floor I'll feel like such a slob." Like I'm not doing my job or my family isn't doing their job of picking up after themselves. I know my poodle isn't judging me. In fact if she found food on the floor it would be a good thing in her eyes. I can't help, but feel like I'm being give the white glove treatment about ten times a day.

YOUR DOG IS GOING TO EAT MORE THAN NORMAL

2011-05-07T16:30:00.000-07:00

In the continuing saga of "How the Poodle Turns" last week my poodle had a liver biopsy. I thought they'd just stick a needle in her and take a plug out. The Vet explained oh no we'll need to cut her open and take a sterile sliver of her liver. We've tried everything since January when this all began to figure out why her liver isn't functioning properly. I consented to this final test.

When the results came back it was about the same as every test. No real reason why it's not functioning properly. They said there are signs of a "toxic event" (Vet words.) The Vet goes on to tell me her liver seems to be struggling to recover from this. To help the healing along we'll need to put her on Prednisone. On Prednisone she may notice her become more hungry and thirsty. I asked the Vet, "Do I need to feed her more?" He said, "No, you may just have to watch out for her nipping things off the counter and getting into the trash." I said, "Oh she already does that. We have a whole plan to keep her out of the trash and off of the counters." He laughed and we concluded our conversation.

Flash forward about a week that my poodle has been on Prednisone suddenly she's drinking 2 bowls of water a day and she's asking me for food all day long. When I don't give her food she goes outside and grazes. We now have to go out with her, because she's eating things that we have no idea what it is and she's eating her own poop. No more leisurely going out and picking it up. We have to pick it up immediately. I'll be walking along with her and suddenly she's crunching on something. I've watched her like a hawk and don't know what she's eating. She knows to swallow quickly or I'll drag it out of her. I'm hoping they are acorns or some other nonlethal plant substance.

She asks to go out about every hour. I don't know if it's to eat or to pee the 2 bowls of water. This afternoon she asked to go out and I told her no. Next thing we find out she's peed on the carpet. I felt SO badly. I told the family every time she asks we just need to walk her out. The Prednisone is supposed to be a 3 month treatment. In fact after about a month we start backing down the dose and I'm hoping her hunger will back down to a normal poodle level.

Today I was cleaning off my dresser and came across this cartoon one of my favorites and it just seem so apropos for our life right now.

Beware of Guacammus!

2011-05-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I made this recipe a few weeks ago. After we made it my daughter said, "Mom you need to blog about this.... to warn everyone!" I had to laugh. She was absolutely right. When I came across this recipe I thought it sounded delicious. We love guacamole. We love hummus. What a great idea! NOT!

I bought the ingredients and thought we'll make it and take it to a friend get together of my daughter's that I was also invited to. As we started to make this I told my daughter that really one should never try a new recipe when going to someone else's house. I said it tongue in cheek as I had full confidence this would be good.

Recipe for Guacamole Hummus

(my life saving additions in parenthesis)

1 can chickpeas

3 cups fresh cilantro (3 more cups of cilantro)

1 garlic clove (1 more clove of garlic)

1 ripe avocado (1 more avocado)

3 T extra virgin olive oil (2 more T of olive oil

1 tsp fresh lemon juice (juice of one whole lemon and one whole lime)

water

salt and pepper to taste (lots of salt, pepper and some cumin)

I made the recipe just as it said to do with the ingredients asked for. My daughter took the first taste. She said, "Mom, you need to taste this some thing's wrong." I told her sometimes recipes need a little tweaking to account for personal tastes. I took a taste and was alarmed by how terrible it was. LOL Oh my we're on "emergency fix it" mode now. We can't take this bowl of ... of.... gluck to a party! Yet, I didn't want to waste all these ingredients and throw them away.

First thought was it desperately need a perk up. It was very bland. The recipe called for 1 tsp of lemon juice I added the rest of the lemon I had juiced. Adding about 2 T of lemon juice. Tasted dip and it was still bland. No more lemons. I had a lime juiced it and added the whole thing. This improved the taste quite a bit. I threw the rest of the bundle of cilantro in. I added quite a bit more salt and pepper and even some cumin. We both tasted the dip and thought it tastes pretty good now, but the texture is kind of unpleasant. Not the texture of guacamole and not the texture of hummus something in the middle that wasn't good. I suggested we add another avocado to lighten up the texture. The addition of another avocado did improve the texture. We were now at the stage I wouldn't be embarrassed to take it to a party.

Since this was a party of mostly teenagers it didn't go over well. The 3 adults found it OK. Would I make it again? No. I had to add so much to make it acceptable I'd rather try something else next time. We started referring to it as Guacammus. We thought it was as appetizing as it's name.

Cupcakes!!

2011-04-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

My son is a great cook. Sometimes I find a recipe that seems right up his alley and he'll make it. That was the case for these cupcakes. I found this recipe called Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes. He loves cookie dough ice cream. He's made Cookie Dough Cheesecake. I thought he might want to try and make these and he did.

These almost don't qualify as cupcakes. They are so delicious they could easily fall into the addictive substance catagory. Definitely, when you make these 24 cupcakes make sure there are 24 people around (including yourself of course) to eat them. Otherwise you will eat more than one. No doubt about it.

The recipe can be found here at "Young Married Chick's" blog.

I found Young Married Chick's blog through a site called Food Gawker. I was turned on to that site by a friend who was helping me find a foodie blog I'd enjoy. I really like Food Gawker, because you get to see recipes from many different blogs. It changes every day.

Packing Peanuts A Thing Of The Past

2011-03-31T11:03:00.000-07:00

I bought some bowls off of eBay and when I opened the box I was greeted with a surprise. A box full of Swiss cheese triangles. OK they are made out of recycled cardboard not cheese. What a clever idea. I wondered if this seller had to put together all these triangles? I suppose one could just sit and watch a good movie and mindless fold these together. I liked that they are recyclable it I don't want to keep them.

Only one drawback.... you can't really dig around in the box or these triangles will cut up your knuckles. So, I slowly scooped and slid my hands around in the box. Honestly, there could be more in the box and I wouldn't know as one can't swirl their hands around to find out. With soft non-recyclable environment destroying packing peanuts one could dive in head first and be just fine. I'll have to empty them out into another box to double check the contents of the box. Why would I need to go to this trouble? Shouldn't the box contain what I ordered? Well, the seller sent me something I didn't buy, so who knows what else is in the box. That's whole nother story.

The Dutch Baby

2011-03-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

My mom introduced me to the Dutch Baby when I was a teen. It's a German pancake. It is usually served sweet like American pancakes. It can be season with vanilla and cinnamon. It can be sprinkled with powdered sugar or a fruit topping. We would just drizzled with maple syrup. One impressive characteristic of the Dutch Baby is how it looks when it's baked. One bakes it in a metal pan in the oven. When it comes out of the oven the batter has grown up the sides of the pan to probably 5 times the size it originated. Like a Soufflé though it quickly shrinks down to less than half it's former state. That is why mom always made sure we were seated around the table before the Dutch Baby came out of the oven.

The sweet Dutch Baby was never our favorite when we discovered the savory type. I found a recipe call a Meaty Dutch Baby back in the 1980's. I don't know where I got it and a search on the Internet provided no Meaty Dutch Baby recipes to my surprise. It came from a magazine and I'm guessing it might have been Sunset. As it was my favorite magazine at the time.

Like the original Dutch Baby it does puff up in the oven, but not nearly as high. I have baked it in a glass pan and a metal pan and it does puff higher in a metal pan. The puffing does really nothing to the flavor it's just very appealing to the eye. I have made this more and transported it than eaten it at home. It's a favorite wherever I take it.

Another characteristic of making a Dutch Baby is you can't... let me put this delicately... fart around once you get to the mixing of the batter. Have your eggs, milk and flour already measured and ready to blend. You mix up the batter in order stated, pull hot pan from oven, pour into hot pan, throw on cheese... don't take a lot of time here to sprinkle too neatly.... and return pan to oven. The pan and filling being hot is what makes the pancake rise. Too much dilly dallying or not mixing batter in proper order results in a flat pancake. Now don't get all nervous and burn yourself trying to be fast. Just remember to not take the time to pour batter in neat concentric circles or scrape every drop of batter from blender or try and sprinkle the cheese on evenly and consistently. It doesn't matter. Keeping it hot does.

Meaty Dutch Baby
Prepare filling (recipe below)

4T butter
1 cup cheddar cheese or 1/3 cup Parmesan
4 eggs
1 cup each milk and flour

In same frying pan, make sure there is at least 5T of fat, add butter to make up difference. Place pan with filling in 425°F oven until butter melts and bubbles. Quickly, in blender break eggs, whirl for a minute, with motor running add milk then add flour whirl 30 seconds. Quickly pour into hot pan and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake about 20 minutes.

Sausage Filling - Crumble 1/2 pound jimmy Dean regular sausage into frying pan. Stir over medium heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add chopped green chiles (1 small can California green chiles), 1 small onion (chopped), 1 minced garlic clove, and 1/2 tsp each dry basil and thyme leave. Brown slightly.

Return above for instructions.

My daughter likes it with Tapatio hot sauce. Lots of Tapatio hot sauce. Youch!

Return of the Giant Cookie

2011-03-27T13:04:00.000-07:00

Thursday was yet another rainy day. Probably the 14th one in a row and I'm not exaggerating. I'm not going to complain as we need the snow in the mountains even if it means the valley gets water logged. After school on Thursday as we fought the wind and the rain to get home my daughter says I really want some chocolate. We were already home by then and I wasn't about to go back out in the storm. I checked around in my pantry and I had all the makings for chocolate chip cookies. My daughter asked if I could make a giant cookie. I said yes. Then I checked my pantry again and I had a bag of Special Dark Hershey Kisses. I love making my giant cookies with chocolate chips that look to scale of a cookie that big. Plus the chocolate would impress 3 teenagers with cabin fever.

I used 1 1/2 times my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, one bag of Special Dark Kisses unwrapped (instead of chocolate chips), one round piece of baking parchment (trimmed to round shape) and my round Pampered Chef baking stone. Use baking parchment I think it's what keeps cookie dough from running off of stone as per my Pampered Chef consultant. Smooth cookie dough out to within 1 inch of edge NO CLOSER.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 stick Crisco® Baking Sticks Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

PREPARATION DIRECTIONS:

1. HEAT oven to 375ºF.

2. COMBINE shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

3. DROP by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

4. BAKE 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

TIP* If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Have You Ever Thought You'd Been Accosted!

2011-02-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

Mary Anne Oger from one of my favorite machine knitting blogs was accosted in a grocery or so she thought. A strange person grabbed her to get her attention, because she liked her scarf. The story reminded me of the time my mom and I were accosted in a fabric store.

Oh it's one of those funny stories that gets told every so often, but at the time we thought we were in mortal danger.

My crafting gene was in full swing by the time I was 14. My mother and I were on one of our many trips to the fabric store to feed my sewing habit. I made a lot of my own clothes. My secret loop hole to the clothing budget. My parents bought me all the fabric I wanted, because I was of course learning a valuable skill. Anyhow we were at the sewing store. Perusing the fabrics. Chatting about my pattern and what color of fabric I was looking for. Enjoying a shopping trip... enjoying some mother/daughter time when all of a sudden a creepy old man lunges at us. His hands are held in front of him fingers curled in a menacing claw like manner. He was yelling, "Raaaaarrrrrrrrrr!!!!" My mother and I screamed bloody murder and grab each other in a tight hug. I had my eyes closed convinced the man was going to strike us or something worse.

Suddenly, it was quiet. I opened my eyes to see what was coming next and the man was standing in front of us with a smile on his face. Now my mom and I are puzzled. He asks, "Well?" My mom and I look at one another and back at the man trying to understand what the heck was going on. He asked me directly, "Well, do you still have the hiccups?" We both suddenly relax and realize he was trying to scare the hiccups out of me. Yes, he did scare the hiccups out of me and nearly a few other things.

My mom and I gave him a forced smile and went on our way. We weren't nearly as thankful as I think he thought we should be. Instead we walked around the corner away from his sight and grabbed our chests and breathed several great sighs of relief. It was only then we could chuckle at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. Poor guy thought he was doing a good deed and we just thought he was creepy.

Red Velvet for Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T18:58:00.000-08:00

I decided to make Red Velvet cupcakes, so my kids and I could treat our friends for Valentine's Day. I don't have a recipe for this and did a search coming up with Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cupcakes.

It looked fairly simple. I had all the ingredients, but buttermilk. The recipe surprised me that it only had 1 tsp of cocoa powder. The batter mixed up easily.

My handy dandy cookie scoop always makes filling cupcake tins so easy.

Into the convection oven they went for 20 minutes.

They baked up perfectly. No mushroom top to fight with when frosting.

I was told to not beat the batter too much and do not fill the cupcake tins too much for that nice flat top to frost.

I used a large star shaped icing tip to swirl on the frosting.

I figured out that I liked starting from the center and working out in a circular pattern. Better than starting on the outside and working my way in. Personal preference. I thought they looked kind of rose like when I started from the center.

To top things off I used a Wilton heart shaped plastic candy tray to form the chocolate hearts. So, simple. Melt Wilton red chocolate in microwave in a plastic bag. Cut tip off corner of bag. Pipe melted chocolate into plastic heart shape molds. Stick tray in freezer for about 15 minutes. The hearts pop right out.

Everyone has cupcakes to treat their friends tomorrow.

Winston the Bionic Dog is Doing Great

2011-02-06T22:43:00.000-08:00

He has just one problem... he doesn't look when you call him. He also doesn't come when you call him either. I've never met a dog I couldn't get to look at the camera with a number of different word tricks. He didn't fall for a single one. Never does. After he's healed my SIL plans in putting him in obedience lessons to find out how to get his attention from a professional.

Anyhow his pacemaker is working great. His appetite is better than before the surgery. His energy is better also. Although we would have never known his energy was down. He was always a perky pup. This type of surgery is done once a week at UCD and is very successful. My SIL said the scariest part of the whole ordeal was the 3 days they had to wait before the surgery could be done. They just prayed he didn't die before they surgery.

Here is Winston and his full body Mohawk. The stitches on his side are where the pacemaker is. You can feel the wire just under the skin going from it up to the front of the neck where it attaches to his heart.

Huh?!

2011-02-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

People keep telling me Raley's is more expensive than other grocery stores and I didn't believe them.

The Bionic Man Series Came To Mind

2011-02-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

When talking about Winston yesterday my son said it reminded him of the intro to the "Bionic Man" TV show and he said, "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic dog. Winston will be that dog. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster."

Winston is home. My brother says the pacemaker is about the size of a ipod nano. Though it sounds small on his 8 pound dog it is huge. Winston is eating and wants to be a dog. Although from the descriptions of his after surgery condition he sounded like he might resemble Frankenweenie. Very cute movie by the way.

He says the pacemaker is so computerized it is really quite amazing. One can get a printed report whenever they want to check on the viability of the pacemaker and the recipient. His dog is starting to sound like a new toy rather than a pet.

Can't wait to see Winston and give him a chuck under the chin.

Winston Is Hooked Up

2011-02-01T20:15:00.000-08:00

Our little Pomapoo Winston got his pacemaker today. He's being held over night to make sure the surgery went well and that the pacemaker is working properly. The Dr. said that his heart was probably not working properly for several months as the bottom portion and only working part of his heart was enlarged. Now with the pacemaker all of his heart is beating as it should. Of course the Vet said they've never seen anything like this in a dog so young. They are not sure if it's the signal from the brain that's not being transmitted or if the heart is not receiving the signal.

What Winston received was a used human pacemaker with a new battery. This kept the costs down by several thousand dollars. They also have doggie medical insurance and it's supposed to be covered. The pacemaker was placed on his back up by his shoulders. My brother has no idea how big it's going to be. He talked about redesigning and sewing a new halter for him so the strap wouldn't rest on the pacemaker.

I asked if Winston was going to have any restrictions and my brother said the Vet wasn't really very clear on that. That there seemed to be none, but they'd quiz the Vet further on this subject. My brother said that his wife was probably going to have a heart attack before Winston from her worrying about him all the time. So, they want to make sure they know what Winston can and cannot do to ease her fears.

One Bowl Chocolate Brownie Cookies

2011-01-30T12:11:00.000-08:00

It was movie night last night and I wanted to try something new and something fast. This fit the bill.

One Bowl Chocolate Brownie Cookies

6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped toasted walnuts -- optional

Oven to 325 degrees.

Microwave chocolates and butter in a large microwave bowl on HIGH, 1 1/2-2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through heating time. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

Stir sugar into chocolate until blended. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in nuts.

Drop by rounded tablespoons, 1 1/2" apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 12 minutes or until set. Do Not Overbake. Cool 5 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely on wire racks.

Store in airtight container.

Lynne's Note: I used toasted pecans, because I prefer them. I only had semisweet chocolate and cut the sugar back by 2 tablespoons. They were still very sweet. I baked my cookies on a Silpat. When I let the cookies cool the 5 minutes stated in recipe they were glued to the Silpat. When I let the cookies cool for about 1 minute or so I could get the cookies off in one piece and looking nice. Great quick recipe when you want something sweet now.

Cookie on far right is the one I waited only a minute or 2 for the cookie to firm up enough that I could take it off the Silpat. The bottom of cookie stayed intacted for a nice cookie cookie. The cookies on the left I waited the 5 minutes and they were stuck. Cookie at the bottom left is an example of most of that batch looked like. I would scrap what was left of the cookie and squish it to the bottom. Don't get me wrong nobody poo pooed the cookies whatever shape they were in. They were very good.

Winston

2011-01-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

An email from my brother today... "Well it looks like we're going to have a bionic dog. Winston passed the tests for a pacemaker."

Another Chapter in the Dog Saga of my Family

2011-01-26T20:29:00.000-08:00

I told my brother when we went out to eat for my dad's birthday a week or so ago not to mention that my poodle has been sick. My dad and mom lost their poodle 1 year ago to liver cancer. It's a very tender subject. My poodle seems to be mending well. We'll go in next week for a follow up check up to be sure. Why sadden them unnecessarily.

Well, my brother calls today to say that his new pup has a serious health issue. There is something wrong with his heart. The beating of it is slowing down day by day. What should be beating around 100 times a minute is beating at 30. Like a typical dog you'd never know anything was wrong with him. This was found out accidentally with a check up regarding the dog's teeth. The Vet said the teeth are fine, but there is something else we need to talk about.

My brother and his wife have set up an appointment for a 2nd opinion. The only treatment for something like this that has been discussed is a pacemaker. I can't believe it! My husband's cousin is a Vet he's in his 60's, so has been doing this for a long time. He told me a few years ago that if you have the money we can do just about anything to fix your dog.

My brother and his wife are DINKs (double income no children). Not that they have all the money in the world, but their dog is their child. They are prepared to pay some money out to help their dog live a longer life. My brother and I had a pretty lengthy talk about what's reasonable and what's not. We also talked about the quality of life of a pet. If they were to put a pacemaker in they'd need to let him live a full life. Not a sheltered life. Well, sheltered within reason.

Winston (Poodle/Pomeranian... Pomapoo?)

We also talked about why us... why are our dogs having serious health issues this past year? We realized that up until now we have been very fortunate to have dogs that have lived full healthy lives. We go the extra mile to make sure our dogs are fed well and healthy. That's 40 years of dog ownership. We figured sadly that it's just our turn.

Hanging In There

2011-01-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

Quick webcam picture of my beautiful girl. As you can see we're hanging in there. She's actually doing great as far as the eye can tell. Doing all the healthy things a dog should do. She'll go in for a recheck here soon. Hoping all the problems she was having in her blood samples have resolved themselves.

She's back on regular dog food except that it has 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese, a sprinkle of chopped chicken and some chicken broth. Why the big hoopla with the food now? Well, she's spoiled that's why! Turns out she also loves my home cooking. I feel pretty lucky to have gotten it down to that little bit of hoopla. I was cooking a whole chicken for the family once a week. I then would take the chicken carcuss and make chicken broth with it. Then I'd also cook up a batch of rice. I would take all the leftover chicken from the family dinner and pick it from the bones and chop up finely. I would put the chicken broth sans any salt and put in the fridge to skim off all fat. The Vet had said low fat low salt diet. For her dinner I would take chicken, lowfat cottage cheese, rice and chicken broth. My dog was in hog heaven. For a sick girl she was eating like champ.

My brother and mom and dad doctor up their dogs food everyday. I've always been one to give my dogs straight dry dog food. The Vet said that was the healthiest way to feed them. It's such an easy way too. When we travel my folks have all these containers and cans of things for the dog. I have a bag of dry food and a measuring cup. I may have joined their ranks. As it turns out it's not such a bother. I always thought that dry dog food looked and sounded a bit boring myself.

Sick Little Poodle

2011-01-17T23:03:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010

Little Star is front row center. She is my dog... errrr.... I guess I should say our dog. She thinks she's my baby. Much the same way my kids know they are my babies. I have this thing I do when I get a new dog I find out how long a dog of that size is supposed to live and I expect it to live that long with my good care and love. My 100 pound dog was said to live 10-12 years. He lived for 13 1/2. I was told my 10 pound dog might make it 10 years, because she had a heart murmur. She lived to 16 1/2. My Little Star is a miniature poodle and I was told she'd live 12-14 years. Her sister Twinkle died last January of liver cancer at the age of 8. I wrapped my mind around that tragedy by the fact that Twinkle survived a rattlesnake bite and that her liver was probably damaged. In the back of my mind though I've had a nagging worry that my dog might get sick.

13 days ago it was a regular day and I fed my poodle breakfast. She's always eager for a meal. She even had a little running twirl and flip she does to let me know "yes, please I'd like breakfast." Very cute. I set the bowl down and instead of diving straight in she stared at me. How odd I thought. Again I gave her the command to dive right in. Again she looked at me. In the 8 years we've had her she's never turned down a meal. I left the bowl out and she ate a few piece through the day, but it was still there at dinner. The next day was did the same thing. Eager to eat and yet wouldn't eat. I picked the bowl up this time and gave it back to her at dinner. Friday morning she flatly refused to eat. Didn't even eat a morsel or 2.

I had a coffee date and expressed my worry that my dog wasn't eating. My friend suggested maybe she was bored with eating the same food for 8 years. I've often wondered myself how she does it. My friend gave me a baggie of her dogs food. I brought it home and she scarfed it down. She scarfed down a dinner meal too. Saturday we bought a big bag of the same food and she refused to eat it. Sunday she refused to eat. I was so puzzled. Again, I palpated her stomach. I wiggled each tooth. I checked her over for ticks or fleas. Her energy level was the same. She was still running and playing. She wasn't sleeping any more than usual. She seemed healthy in every way, but she wouldn't eat. I made an appointment with the Vet.

First thing Monday the Vet Tech took her history of what was wrong and then took her temperature. She says, "Poor puppy you have a temperature." Now I'm suddenly alarmed! What she really is sick! My heart thought she was being finicky, but my brain I knew that wasn't the case. They took blood, urine and fecal samples. Tests came back that she indeed has an infection of some kind. They're not sure if her liver if functioning properly. Her urine is dark and cloudy, but no urinary tract infection. So, they think she wasn't drinking either. An x-ray showed that all her organs were the right size and in the right place and looking healthy. Ultrasound also showed nothing out of the normal. The Vet was puzzled.

They gave me antibiotics to give her and told me to put her on a low fat diet. By Wednesday I noticed that she wasn't drinking. Now I'm really worried that my poodle is going to die. When I started her on my home cooked lowfat diet she began eating again with gusto. So, I decided to see if I could trick her into drinking. I used my homemade chicken broth. At first I gave her 4 ounces of chicken broth. Over the couple days before her next check up I reduced it to 1 to 4 ratio with water. She drank it gladly.

I took her in for a recheck and the Vet checked her temp and said it's almost normal. I feel better, but uncomfortable with the "almost normal." She still is only drinking my broth water and hasn't touched her water bowl for 1 week. I wonder if it's because I'm keeping her hydrated and she feels no need to drink or what. I asked the Vet how long can a dog go without water. He said 24 to 36 hours. So, Wednesday I'm to slowly introduce her to dog food and I think I'll slowly stop spiking her water.

For now she's still hippy skipping around and being her fluffy cute self. We enjoy having her around so much.

I've been a little teary over the week. The thought of losing my Little Star long before I thought I would is difficult to comprehend. I know it does happen. I know it could happen. We're just doing the best we can. I've comforted myself knowing she is well loved and well taken care of and whatever will be is out of my control.

Crocheting For A Cause

2011-01-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

I found out that the Special Olympics needed crocheted scarves for this year's event. The California chapter had only 45 and needed at 1000. So, I thought why not help out. I went on my quest of the 2 specific colors of yarn needed for the project. Red Heart yarn is not hard to find. What I found out though is Red Heart Supersaver Blue 886 is hard to find. I looked at 3 Michaels, 2 Walmarts, 2 Joanns and 1 Beverlys when I decided that I wasn't going to do the project afterall. I couldn't fine the blue yarn. I really struggled with myself. I could order 2 skeins of yarn from Red Heart and pay shipping. Hopefully, they'd get here in a timely manner. I decided I wasn't going to order yarn. I have other charity projects to work on and I shouldn't beat myself up about not wanting to order a special color of blue yarn. It still weighed heavy on my mind.

Today after my machine knitting class I decided that there was one more Beverlys kind of out of the way, but not that far. I drove over and low and behold they had Blue 886. I was so excited! I will be working on making some scarves for the California Chapter of the Special Olympics.

YOU: On A Diet

2010-12-31T12:29:00.000-08:00

Anyone ever read this book. I did a couple years ago and it completely made sense to me and my weight problem. Problem was I wasn't ready to do anything about it then. Am I now? I don't know. It's difficult to be so successful in most areas of one's life, but to have one that is so out of control. It really makes me wonder why do I let it be out of control? When there is something in my life I want to change I take the bull by the horns and make it work. I've taken the weight issue on SO many times and failed every time. Not failed at losing weight. I always lose weight. I fail in keeping it off. Ten years ago I struggled for 2 years in keeping it off. Then slowly it started to creep up on me. I felt like I had locked myself in a room and it was filling with water. Very slowly week by week a little more water seeped in. Until one day I was at the ceiling gasping for breath and I finally unlocked the door and let myself out. I was so overwhelmed with disappointment. I felt like watching what I ate had became so oppressive. I was following the Weight Watcher plan. I vowed about 5 years ago that I would never sign up with Weight Watchers again. Not that their plan doesn't work, but that it doesn't work for me.

So, I've spent the last 5 years doing absolutely nothing about my weight. I've just been living fat, dumb and basically happy. What has happened to make me want to change my status yet again? I'm going to be doing some flying in the next couple years. I swore last time I flew I wouldn't be so big.

I took a flight to visit some friends a couple years ago. I'm sitting in coach on the aisle and I barely fit in my seat. I wasn't lapping over into another's seat, but I was one piece of cheesecake away from it. I felt like I had to fold my arms the entire flight to keep myself in my seat. I literally had to hug myself to keep me in my seat.

Even though the 6'4" man to my left felt no qualms about lapping over into my seat. He was a normal weight for his size. Just a big man. I felt sorry for him having to sit next to me. Had I been a normal weight he'd have been more comfortable. Well, as more comfortable as a man can who has 6 foot long legs stuffed into coach seating.

I've never given up on myself. I always had hope that I'll one day gain control of my weight problem. And when I say I'll gain control I mean me, myself and I. No one is going to help me. I've talked to the doctor in depth about this issue and basically being overweight is looked at as easy as putting on a cast for a broken leg. I get the "just don't eat so much" look all the time. If only it were that easy! I heard the other day that 1/3rd of the population is overweight. So, if it were that easy don't you think it would be done.

I do a lot of difficult things in my life. Why should this be any easier? My doctor did say that I'm almost over weight enough to qualify to have my stomach stapled. I looked at her quizzically... and said, "Are you saying I need to gain more weight to qualify to have my stomach stapled?!" Wow is that the easy out? I was shocked, dumbfounded and grateful that I didn't qualify. I have 2 people close to me that have had their stomachs stapled. One sailed through the surgery and weight loss. She vomits a lot to this day though. She actually looks great and feels great. The other friend nearly died more than once after the surgery, because of the surgery. He looks terrible. He's my husband's friend and a man, so I don't feel like I can quiz him on why he looks terrible. Some of it may have nothing to do with stomach stapling and other health issues.

I just feel like for myself stomach stapling is just not an option. Not that I don't think I'll escape the melted candle look, but because I feel like why chance surgery and a possible life time of vomiting. Yet, if I don't do something complications from being overweight may very well kill me.

Last summer I bought the new revised "You: On A Diet." I haven't even cracked it open. I've wanted to many times, but just haven't. So, I've decided to challenge myself to read the book every day for 30 minutes until it's finished. I can read more if I feel like it, but a minimum of 30 minutes is required. I will start today.

I'm not saying I'm going ON a diet. I'm just going to read the book and see what happens from there.

Meet George Jetson!

2010-12-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

That is my text message ring tone. I seldom hear it as I have my phone set up to vibrate twice before ringing. It gives me a chance to pull my phone out and answer it before it makes a sound. That all goes out the window if I'm asleep though.

Usually I turn my cell phone off at night. I figure if anyone has an emergency in the middle of the night they can call my land line. BUT if I have a family member, mainly my child, out of town I'll leave on the cell so they can call me... well you know teenagers... text me.

I didn't sleep well last night due to a creepy incident involving a light turning off by itself. That's another story. So, I was trying to sleep in today. When at 7:30am I hear "Meet George Jetson!" I roll over fumble around and look at my phone. My dear daughter away on a skiing trip with friends has texted me "Are my snow pants in my room?" I roll out of bed take a look and sure enough they are. I also see her medical card laying on her bed I'm sure there to remind her to put it in her wallet. Why was it out of her wallet?! I just roll my eyes stumble back to bed and begin to text her back. "Yes, you're snow pants are here." I get a "Oh no!" response. I don't respond with any solutions. Why... I'm tired and really just want to go back to sleep. Also she's on a trip with 6 friends and 2 grandparents. I think they should figure this out themselves. Really what can I do I'm 2 hours away if the weather is good. 4 if it isn't. I get about 3 separate texts saying, "NOOOOOOO!!!" "I LAID THEM OUT AND EVERYTHING!" "I can't believe this!" I figure she's fishing for a solution from me. I finally text back "You'll figure something out." I'm sure not what she wanted to hear.

Life is really about solving problems. Staying calm and figuring out solutions. This particular problem isn't serious. Worst thing that can happen is she doesn't go skiing. Or she does go and is cold. Very very cold. As a mother I'm good with that. Lots of learning can come from this. Learn how to pack. She's always been a bad packer. Leaves things behind nearly every trip. Usually mundane things like PJs, underwear, tooth brush or hair brush to name a few. This time she was going to have to solve a problem that could end her fun.

I remember being young and with a group of friends and having a problems. Half the group thinks and says, "Sucks for you" and goes on with their day. The other half helps to brain storm and we get it figured out. That's exactly what happened with Dear Daughter.

I got a text "I'm going to have to rent some snow pants." I sent her with plenty of money for contingencies. A while later I receive a text "They don't rent snow pants." 30 minutes later "Snow pants are expensive here." All the while I'm not answering. I'm just imagining their brains ticking. Thinking of solutions. Then I get the final text "Found a pair of cheap snow pants." I text back "That's my Deal Queen." She's had a gift of getting things on sale for prices I'll never see ever since she made her first purchases at age 5. I don't have the luck of the Deal Queen.

I figure she'll get some Christmas money and I'll have her reimburse me for the pants. Another learning experience. Mom will buy you only one pair of snow pants. You pay for the rest.

At 10am I get this picture. All must be right in the world again. Now I can get some sleep!

My Friend Kelli's Peanut Butter Balls

2010-12-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

When Kelli and I first met online we decided to have a cookie exchange for Christmas that year. That was about 15 years ago. Everything she sent was good, but one item was a stand out and I had never had anything like it. It was the Peanut Butter Ball. So, creamy, so peanutty, with a slight crunch from the peanut pieces. I loved them and had to have the recipe. She gladly sent it. I've been making them for 15 years. I've made them for friends and also passed the recipe on to delighted recipients on the West Coast.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Balls

1 cup butter
1 pound crunchy peanut butter
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 pound box of graham crackers, crushed (approx. 3 cups of crumbs)
dipping chocolate (milk or semi-sweet)

Combine butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and graham crackers until well mixed. Shape into balls. Melt chocolate and dip balls. Cool on waxed paper. Makes about 80.

Lynne's note: I used 3 cups of semi sweet chocolate that is what I always have on hand. I add some grated paraffin wax to chocolate. About 1/8 of a stick. It's edible and smooths out the chocolate giving it a nice thin shiny coating. If that freaks you out try adding 1 T or so of shortening. Does a similar thing. I found not thinning out the chocolate gives the balls a thicker chocolate coating that overwhelms the flavor of the peanut butter filling. If you love chocolate and are thinking "thicker coating is a bad thing?!" Then leave it out and go for it.

Used cookie scoop for 1 inch ball size and rolled balls by hand to smooth out.

Dipped in chocolate that was melted in a double boiler. If you don't have one melt chocolate in microwave 30 seconds at a time stirring after each 30 seconds until all chocolate is melted. Reheat chocolate when it cools and doesn't cover peanut butter balls well.

Left over chocolate no problem throw in some pretzels, maraschino cherries, dried fruit. Stir around until coated pour out on waxed paper to set. Break up for another holiday treat.

Where Am I?

2010-12-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

I've been busy machine knitting. You can find me over at my machine knitting blog. I did take the time last night to make up one of our favorite Christmas snacks. It's very rich and sweet, so I like to make it when there are going to be a lot of people around to eat it. That way we won't eat ourselves sick. Yes, it's that good.

White Christmas Snack Mix

2 cups Chex® wheat, corn or rice cereal
2 cups broken graham crackers
2 cups pretzel sticks
2 cups broken rice cakes
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup craisins
1 cup slivered almonds
1 pound white chocolate baking pieces or baking bars, chopped
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In a very large mixing bowl, mix together cereal, graham crackers, pretzels, rice cakes, marshmallows, raisins and nuts; set aside. Line a very large baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper; set aside. Place white chocolate, whipping cream and corn syrup in medium saucepan. Heat over low heat until melted; remove from heat and stir gently until smooth. Stir in extract.

Pour warm chocolate mixture over cereal mixture. Toss gently until cereal mixture is coated. Immediately spread onto prepared baking sheet. Cool about 60 minutes or until chocolate is set. Let stand up to 12 hours. Seal in plastic bags for longer storage.

Lynne's note: This I believe was a Chex recipe from the 90's. This time though *looking over shoulder* I used Crispix cereal. It has rice on one side and corn on the other. I never can decided between corn or rice Chex. The wheat is just too healthy for this mix. I like to use Teddy Grahams instead of breaking up graham crackers. When I bought the white chocolate it came in a 12 oz. bag, 4 oz. shy of what the recipe calls for. I put a tad less cream in. It worked out fine. Just as rich and tasty.

Crocheting My Little Heart Out

2010-12-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

It's like I'm possessed. My daughter asked if I could make her a beanie with a brim. I said sure. I asked her to go on Ravelry and "favorite" hats she liked. I then looked over the ones she picked and started with the one that had a free pattern. Why not. Well, I need a lot of hand holding while following a pattern and this patterns lacked some important details like stitch counts. How many stitches are supposed to be in that row. So, I returned to Ravelry to look for a pattern to buy that would have more details. I found one. Problem is my daughter and I really liked the colors from the first pattern. It had a yarn that was doubled. Black yarn with red to get a kind of tweedy look.

Using my purchased pattern I finally reduced my hook from a J to a G to get a hat that would fit on my head. After all was said and done it still was a bit big.

After she wore it a few times it got bigger and bigger. Finally, I asked her if I could have it and use it for my felting experiments? She said yes. I said I'd make her another hat. I threw the hat into the washer on hot and out came a felted hat. I shaped it back into a hat shape and put it on my head. To my amazment it had shrunk down to the perfect size to fit a head, but now it didn't cover the ears. So, the experiments continue. I want to make one big enough to cover the ears after it's felted.

Pulled In Many Directions

2010-11-30T15:36:00.000-08:00

I have so many projects I want to finish, I want to start, I want to learn. I'm just not a person to sit still and veg. I have to have a project to do. When I see friends and family state on facebook "I'm bored." I don't even know what they are talking about. I can always find something to do. Boredom isn't in my realm of possibilities.

Right now I'm finishing up an afghan in a CAL on Ravelry. I have a pattern for a hat that my daughter wants to learn how to crochet. I have a pattern for some fingerless gloves I would love to start for myself since it's fricking cold out. I've also challenged myself to learn some new techniques and patterns on my knitting machine. Mainly socks since it's fricking cold out. Yesterday, I was picking out cookie recipes to teach my young protégé. Today I'm juggling finances so every thing is paid on time while I'm doing laundry.

When does someone have time to be bored? I welcome a few minutes when I give myself permission to just sit and do absolutely nothing.

Thanksgiving With All The Trimmings

2010-11-28T19:51:00.000-08:00

I've come to realize that "all the trimmings" means something different to everyone. My daughter asked, "Would it be too weird to have Cheddar Potatoes Slices for Thanksgiving this year?" My answer, "YES!" It's going to be mashed potatoes. What would one put the gravy on? I, by the way, made the best turkey gravy I've every made this year. Then I was watching the Thanksgiving episode of "Mike & Molly," as he described the crispy cheddar cheese on scalloped potatoes for Thanksgiving. I told my daughter, "Mike's got your back."

My daughter asked why would it be weird. I said it really wouldn't be weird it just wouldn't be the Thanksgiving I look forward to every year. I told her when she cooks Thanksgiving dinner she can serve whatever she wants. I did say keep in mind you don't want a riot on that day, so you might want to have a few traditional foods.

Lynne's Thanksgiving with all the Trimmings
Turkey (big enough for leftovers for everyone)
Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Oven Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Big Green Salad
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Pecan Tassies

Lynne's note:

Best Turkey Gravy Ever

In the pan under a 25 pound turkey place roughly chopped celery, carrots and onions. Add one quart of chicken broth. Bake turkey covered with foil for half of it's baking time. Remove foil and bake until turkey is done. Strain vegetables out of broth in bottom of turkey pan. Skim fat off of broth. Measure broth. I had 6 cups. To skillet add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour per cup of broth reserved. When butter is melted and flour incorporated add turkey broth. Stir until thickened. Add garlic powdered and Lawry's Season Salt to taste.

Sniff Sniff Tear!

2010-11-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

I received this email tonight thinking the train was back on. I was sadly disappointed.

Dear Stitch ‘n Rider:

We regretfully announce that we will not hold Capitol Corridor’s annual “Stitch ‘n Ride” on-board event to Stitches West in 2011. In the five years that the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) staff ran this event, we have truly enjoyed accommodating the knitting/crocheting community and appreciate the support and loyalty you’ve shown us.

As you are well aware, state-funded services have taken quite a hit in the past two years and Capitol Corridor is not immune to the state’s economic crisis. As a result, our marketing dollars have to work harder for all of our promotions and we do not feel that we can create a quality experience with the limited budget we have for this event. Costs to charter a special, dedicated train, have also increased significantly, and we are unable to offer a reasonably-priced ticket as in the past. Another determining factor to consider was that many of the knitting businesses, which helped fill our Stitch ‘n Ride bags with the goodies you have come to expect, had to cut back on their donations due to the poor economy. In fact, many of those small businesses are now closed.

The CCJPA marketing team carefully considered many options to hold a Stitch ‘n Ride event, but none of these options would allow us the chance to bring you the caliber of event you’ve come to know and expect. Therefore, with heavy hearts we made the decision not to run a special train to the 2011 Stitches West conference. We are working on a possible discounted fare offer for our stitch ‘n riders and will post that information once the details are confirmed.

For those of you who rode our trains to Stitches West in years past, we hope you continue to use the Capitol Corridor as your travel option when traveling to the Santa Clara Convention Center or any other destination along our corridor. Knitters and crocheters are always welcome onboard our trains. We still offer regularly scheduled service to Great America Station in Santa Clara for Stitches West, although we will not have a special shuttle between the station and the convention center. We appreciate your support, your love of the Stitch ‘n Ride train and thank you for your loyalty and your understanding.

Sincerely,

The CCJPA Marketing Team

The Pepper Report

2010-11-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

Pepper is the new puppy my parents got back in June. He's doing well and as cute as ever. My mom was a bit worried that he was so unruly. Next to my grand dame Little Star, who is 8 years old he was quite the heathen. I reminded my mom he's still a baby. Don't worry about him. He's right on track. He still needs training, which she's doing. Just keep it up and when we're here we'll help with the "don't nip my nose," "don't lick my eyeball," "stop scratching by neck," and my brother's favorite "stop punching me in the crotch." He's learning more with every trip up there.

Pepper is learning to get along with my Little Star. As you can see from this photo he's getting a healthy respect for her as he leans away from her.

He had to be held in the photo and with the quick jump out as with all babies.

They aren't the best of buds, but they do pal around in the yard. Every now and then Pepper can't stand it and tries to jump on Little Star. She gives him a gentle, but firm growl down. He goes right into a submissive pose, which meets with Little Star's approval. Then they continue their tour of the 2 1/2 acres.

Which way did she go? Caught Pepper's ears in mid flight as she looked around for which way Little Star had gone through the garden.

A Day That Warms A Mother's Heart

2010-11-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

I get my heart warmed a lot with my kids, but Sunday was a particularly heart warming day. My daughter belongs to a group at school called "Caring for Cancer Patients." I thought it would be great to host a machine knitting day, so they could make Chemo Caps for donation.

My plan was to teach them to machine knit and to feed them. Both went off without a hitch. They all really enjoyed learning to machine knit. They were very excited to have knitted hats themselves.

While they were machine knitting I tried a new appetizer call Chile Relleno Bites. Excellent Recipe. The recipe is not kidding when it says "cool and cut into squares." When fresh out of the oven my daughter couldn't wait and asked to dip in. I said sure. It was a gooey mess. I suggested she scoop some out and eat it with tortilla chips. She made a bowl for all her friends and it was great. What was left in the pan actually cooled. It cut up into beautiful squares that one could pick up and eat as the recipe intended.

Chile Relleno Bites

2 small cans diced green chiles
5 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
6 eggs, beaten well
1 dash Tabasco sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Spread the green chiles on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Sprinkle cheese on top. Add the Tabasco sauce to the beaten eggs, and pour over the chiles and cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

I also had dinner plans. Thank goodness my son came home as I found out I couldn't make dinner and machine knit. I had started dinner, but couldn't finish. My son came home and asked, "Anything you need help with?" What a nice son. I said, "Yes, could you finish dinner?" He jumped right in.

We were knitting and dinner smelled so good. The teenagers couldn't wait to eat. My friend that was over helping with the knitting couldn't wait to eat. Next thing I knew Diana was back from Pennsylvania. She is the leader of the CCP group. She lives next door and she and her older brother (who picked her up at the airport) stopped in to see the progress of the knitted hats. Allison announced, "Diana's here to see the hats! Andy's here to raid the fridge!" Allison laughs. Andy laughs. I laugh. Then Allison says, "No really Andy here's looking for food." I laughed again and told Andy to get a plate and help himself.

We all ate and knitted and it was just a really fun day.

Bean Pot Pizza

2010-11-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

How many of you out there own a Home & Garden Bean Pot? They were sold at Home & Garden shows, which were run like Pampered Chef or Avon shows. It was so adorable I had to have one. Ten years ago! Now what to do with it other than collect dust. I decided to drag mine out and try this recipe. It could be cooked in something other than a Bean Pot. Maybe 2 layers in a 9X13 inch pan with aluminum foil. It's that good you'd want to make it.

Home & Garden Party Bean Pot Pizza

By Nancy Westbay, OH

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

16 oz. box rotini, (spiral pasta), cooked

1 small can mushrooms stems and pieces, drained

32 oz. pizza sauce

16 oz. mozzarella shredded cheese

3 oz. pkg. pepperoni

Brown ground beef and onion together. Drain and combine with cooked macaroni, mushrooms and pizza sauce.

Prepare your Home & Garden Party Bean Pot with a vegetable oil spray and then layer ingredients as follows:

Approximately 1/3 of the rotini and beef mixture, then 1/3 of the sliced pepperoni, and 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Repeat the layers, ending with a layer of pepperoni and reserving about 1/3 of the shredded cheese.

Cover with lid, place in oven and bake for 1 hour at 325 degrees F.

After baking, remove from oven and top with reserved cheese. Cover with lid and let it set until the cheese is melted.

Serve with salad and garlic bread.

Lynne's note: After it was baked I couldn't add the cheese AND replace the lid. The rotini had puffed up to the very top of Bean Pot. So, I threw on the cheese and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Worked out great. Everyone raved about it and said it should be made again. I fed 6 people generously and had enough leftover for 2 lunchs today.

Menu Planning Continues

2010-11-01T13:30:00.000-07:00

This is month number 2. Decided to do it again. It worked out fairly well. Having nearly all ingredients readily at hand was such a time saver. Having all the meals written out and on the fridge made for a great work sheet for the month. No wondering what's for dinner tonight. Check the list. When the kids would ask what's for dinner I had have them refer to the list. If I hadn't picked out something I'd have them choose. Once something was made I found it handy to write the date next to it and cross it out. This worked out well for leftover questions. Is this still good? Check the date next to the recipe. "Why yes it is still good, but today's the last day for it better eat it."

As the list was getting many crossed out items I found it more handy to highlight them. I knew what was done and what wasn't at a quick glance. It turned into a great work sheet. Some things added. A thing or 2 not made. Some meals tweaked a little different, but all in all a big help to my daily cooking duty. Next month's list will be further down from top of page as the magnetic clip covered a few meals and for some reason it really bothered me.

We still used the same rules as last month. One meal veto. Can't veto the same meal 2 months in a row. Chicken Curry seems to be my son's least favorite meal. He vetoed it last month and couldn't this month. So, he paid his sister $1 dollar to veto it this month. She took him up on the offer. Dear Hubby laughingly said, "That's not right!" It's his favorite meal. I told him I'd sneak it in some night when both kids are off doing their own thing. It will be our special "parents only" meal. No kids allowed.

This month's menu plan as worked on by the whole family is...

Turkey and Trimmings
Hot Turkey Sandwiches
Turkey and Dumplings
Beanpot Pizza (attached)
Beanpot Enchiladas (attached)
*Beef & Barley Soup
*Chinese Simmered Chicken
*Deviled Short Ribs
Burgers & Mac Salad
*Slow Cooker Meatball Subs
*Artichoke, Spinach & Feta Shells
*Bierox Casserole
*DeAnn's Basil Sauce and Meatballs
Steak with *Cheddar Potato slices (hot links)
*Polka Dotted Macaroni and Cheese
Country Fried Steak
Eggplant Parmesan
Nachos w/Refried Crack
*Western Meal In One
*Biram Ruzz
Chicken Delish
*The Best White Chicken Chili
*Hidden Valley Ranch Chicken
Paninis and Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup
Tipsy Chicken with rice pilaf
Make your own pizza night
*Cheddar Waffles w/scrambled eggs & bacon

The star before the meal reminds me that I already have the recipe written down in the recipe box.

Here is one of the recipes from this month's plan. It's been a family favorite for many years. Please see the notes at the end as I make it slightly different for our tastes.

HIDDEN VALLEY RANCH CHICKEN

1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. corn flake crumbs
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 pkg. of Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix (powder)

Combine corn flake crumbs, Parmesan cheese and dressing mix, set aside. Melt butter. Dip chicken in melted butter and then coat chicken with crumb mixture. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Lynne's note: I did not like the flavor of the corn flake crumbs. They has a strong distinct flavor of their own. I use bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, Panko crumbs anything on hand instead. This way the great flavor of the ranch and Parmesan shines through. I also use half as much butter. I brush it on and then roll in dry mixture. Otherwise... err I never thought I'd hear myself say this ... it becomes too buttery.

Halloween Cake Pops

2010-10-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

Or Cake Pops Redux. My first cake pops were successful in that everyone enjoyed them. I on the other hand felt there were a few tweaks that could be done to make them more successful in my eyes. Last time the cake pop dough was very moist and keeping them on the stick was difficult. Good thing I didn't have any Styrofoam and stood them up as they probably would have all slide down the stick. This time I decided on a less gooey dough and a smaller dough ball. I call it dough, because it reminds me of cookie dough in it's consistency.

I baked a Duncan Hines Devil Foods cake in a 9X13 inch pan. I then crumbled the cake into tiny little bits in a large bowl. I had bought some store bought chocolate frosting. I added 1/2 the plastic container to the crumbled up cake bits. I found no easier way than just sticking my freshly washed hands in the bowl and squishing away. The amount of frosting I thought was just right. Not too gooey this time.

After washing the chocolate goo off my hands I got out my cookie scoop and portioned out the dough. This time I made balls that were more quarter size as Bakerella suggested and I ignored the first time. I rolled each ball by hand to create a nice smooth round ball. I thought the smaller ball wouldn't be much of a treat, but it takes me 3 bites to eat one. So, even someone who put the whole thing in their mouth would find it to be a delicious mouthful.

This time I had the chocolate melted in a double boiler and ready to go when it was time to put the candy sticks in the cake balls. I dipped the stick in chocolate and then into ball. The chocolate did pool up around the bottom of stick. This concerned me that there would be a lump on the bottom of each Cake Pop. Once I started coating the Cake Pops with melted chocolate I quickly found out it wasn't a concern and covered up quite nicely.

When I dipped Cake Pop in melted chocolate one wants it in the hot chocolate as little time as possible. I found it faster to use a spoon. I would dip the pop into the chocolate. I then rotated it quickly as I pushed the chocolate up on the Cake Pop. I then pulled the Cake Pop out of the chocolate shook it gently to remove any excess chocolate that might drip down the stick once standing in Styrofoam. Next I quickly pushed a small piece of pretzel stick into the top of my Cake Pop.

To get a smoother look to the chocolate I ended up adding a small about of Crisco. This made the chocolate smoother and shinier on my Cake Pops. When I say small amount I used about 2 T to 1/2 a big of Wilton's Candy Melts. I find the candy melts in the Wilton section of either Michaels or Joanns.

I had precut the pretzel stick bits to have ready when it came time to push them on top of Cake Pops. Bakerella had used green Tic Tacs for the top of hers. For some reason I got it into my head that lime, spearmint whatever flavor green Tic Tacs would be just didn't appeal to me with a chocolate cake pop. Now pretzels and chocolate is a great combo.

(Only one casualty this year slid down the stick)

I had wanted to draw Jack O Lantern faces on the pumpkins, but the Wilton's FoodWriter Edible Color Makers Fine Tip totally suck. Suck suck suck. I know you're saying, "Come on Lynne don't sugar coat this tell us how you really feel." They did not work at all. This was all that was available in the stores around me. I will find my receipt and return these as we found them to be a complete waste of time. I really don't know what they could be used for.

Fortunately, the pumpkin look of these Cake Pops was good enough to amaze and treat all our friends to some Halloween fun.

(Do we really need to show the empty stick? Yum!)

Barbecued Pork Buns... in your spare time

2010-10-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

OK I jest about making these in your spare time. I won't lie these take some time to make. What I do is get the whole family to help. They are made up and ready to bake in no time. Totally worth the effort they are SO good.

I usually make these for Chinese New Year. When we were writing up this month's menu plan though my daughter asked if we could make them to go with Hot and Sour soup. I thought why not.

As my son and daughter were preparing the filling I was getting a little bit of guff. First comment was from my son, "Black mushrooms! I don't like black mushrooms in my Bao (pronounced wow with a 'b' the word bao simply means 'bun' in Chinese)." My daughter's comment, "Chopping why all this chopping?!" My son, "Hoisin sauce? Why Hoisin sauce it tastes nasty." My comment, "This is the recipe we eat every year and you guys love it. Keep chopping and stop the kibitzing."

(2 ounces of dough, 1 T of filling)

We like the baked bao better than the steamed bao. My only problem is probably half of mine usually burst open during the baking. Not badly, but enough I'd like it to stop. No one has ever said, "My bun is broken I'm not going to eat it." I was watching a cooking show with Ming Tsai. I've always enjoyed him. He was making bao and said to not only pinch the bottom of the bun, but twist it. My son sealed the first batch of bao I sealed the 2nd. I not only pinched and twisted, but I put a smidgen of water to help seal them too. End result more of my son's buns stayed sealed than mine. He kind on pinched and folded his quickly. I put a lot of effort into making mine seal. Geeze! So, I'd say from now on I'm not going to spend as much time sealing it's a waste of time.

(my son's folded seal was better than my pinch and twisted)

I got this recipe at a community center class back in 1989. It was a class on how to make Chinese Appetizers. It was a great class. I got several great recipes. This being one of them.

(pinch and twisted baked bao and this is as much as they leak if they are going to)

Barbecued Pork Buns

3/4 cup Bar B Q pork (chopped)
2 T green onions (chopped)
3 dried black mushrooms (Soak in warm water for 30 mins.)
2 T Hoisin Sauce
3/4 T Soy Sauce
1/2 med. onion (chopped)
2 1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 T cornstarch
1 T water
1/2 tsp Oyster Sauce
1 T peanut oil

Squeeze excess water out of black mushrooms and mince. Combine pork, green onions, mushrooms, Hoisin Sauce, soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar and oyster sauce in bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Heat wok or skillet; add oil and stir fry onions for about 4 minutes until soft. Add chicken broth, water cornstarch and remaining sugar (1 1/2 tsp). Cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add pork mixture; mix well.

Cool meat mixture. Using Bridgeford bread dough, cut and flatten dough to make 2 1/2 inch diameter shells. Place 1 T filling into shells and seal by gathering.

Place on small wax paper squares on baking sheet gathered side down. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 -13 minutes. Can steam 20 to 25 minutes.

(We made about 32 and after 2 days there were none to freeze)

Lynne's notes: I buy the BBQed pork premade from local grocery store with a Chinese food section. Dried Black Mushrooms are easy to find in most grocery stores in the Asian food section. Same with Hoisin Sauce and Oyster Sauce. I seldom have peanut oil in my house and vegetable always works fine. Bridgeford bread is frozen bread at the grocery store. I usually whip up a batch of white bread in my bread maker. This time I grabbed a bag of pizza dough at the grocery store. It worked well. About 2 ounces of dough per bao. I usually make a double batch of bao. While you're doing all this chopping may as well. If they are not all eaten they freeze well and heat up in the microwave well. I bake mine now on a Silpat and skip the wax paper.

Cookie Fail

2010-10-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Upper right cookie is the cookie fail, bottom right cookie is what color it should have been, cookie on left is my famous Gingersnap.

That's what my kids called the cookie dough my husband made last night. DH needed to make a dessert for a potluck at work. I suggested the very easy Chocolate Chip Cookie. He liked that idea. I suggested he use a large cookie scoop, so the cookies look real impressive.

He used my Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but I was shocked by the color of his cookie dough when he asked me to come in and help him get them baking. The dough was a chocolate brown. I started questioning his ingredients. Which I got a snarky reply "I know how to read." I said, "I know you know how to read, but clearly there is something drastically wrong with your cookie dough. It should look like this!" I held up the rubber spatula he had used early on before things went terribly wrong with the proper colored cookie dough clinging to it. The dough tasted fine. OK it wasn't so terrible, but it wasn't very appetizing and with food things need to look good as well and taste good. I could see this sad look come across his face. The one my children get when they feel like they've made a big cooking mistake and think everything is ruined.

I found out he had put the chocolate chips and pecans in the mixer turned it to high and let it go for a few minutes. When I went to make the Gingersnaps 30 minutes later the mixer was still hot to the touch. I said, "Chocolate chips and pecans should be hand stirred in at the end." He said, "The recipe should say that." I replied dryly, "It does." At this point I knew there was no reason for continuing this line of conversation. He was looking defeated. I took another tack and said, "The cookies will be fine they're just extra chocolaty. If anyone says 'what's wrong with this cookie' snatch it away from them and say, 'thank you more for me.'" He chuckled and we starting scooping the dough on to the cookie sheets.

I have to say they did taste fine. They were a bit tough and they did look oddly colored. BUT I sent him to work with 30 good sized Chocolate Chip Cookies and 20 good sized Gingersnaps. There were only 3 cookies left. Chocolate Chip of course.

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
3/4 stick Crisco® Baking Sticks Butter Flavor All-Vegetable Shortening
1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (optional)

PREPARATION DIRECTIONS:

1. HEAT oven to 375ºF.

2. COMBINE shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

3. DROP by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.

4. BAKE 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

TIP* If nuts are omitted, add an additional 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Make Your Own Pizza Night

2010-10-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Always popular at my house. For years I made my own dough in my breadmaker. I've had a breadmaker since 1991. Now at my local market they sell pizza dough for about a buck. Can't hardly beat that. So, for "make your own pizza" night I got 3 bags of dough, Boboli Pizza sauce (I like the flavor and that it's packaged in small servings if you don't use it all it saves for next time), and all the various toppings my family likes. Tonight we had pepperoni, salami, mozzarella, green pepper, purple onion, mushrooms, black olives, and green onions. My daughter also wanted an avocado, which she slice and put on her pizza after it was baked.

(Sure love my convection oven. I can bake multiple racks at the same time without having to shift things around.)

We were SO hungry I barely got any pictures of this adventure. The kids helped slice and grate the cheese while I rolled the dough out on the Silpats. I love rolling pizza dough on Silpats. When it is dough it sticks to the Silpat. You don't have to fight with it shrinking back quite so much. When it's baked it doesn't stick and slides right off on to a cutting board. Do not cut on a Silpat!

Next each kid got to top their own pizza. I topped one for my husband and me. Because the husband I generally share a pizza each kid has to give their dad a slice of the theirs. That way he gets to sample their pizza and he gets enough to eat. He even ate my daughter's slice with avocado on it. Even though he doesn't particularly like avocado. He said it was a pretty good combo though.

Gingersnaps

2010-10-20T22:42:00.000-07:00

I discovered this recipe when I was a teenager. My mom bought me a cookbook from a used book store. This purchase combined our 2 loves. Mine of cooking and hers of used book stores. The cookbook was called "Spices of the World by McCormick." It was copyrighted in 1964, but still had recipes that sounded great. I loved the book, because it pushed one into the spice rack with both feet. Of course their purpose was to sell spices and herbs.

From this book came the most beloved recipe of all. The recipe for Gingersnaps. I always thought it was good. During my poor years I used it quite a bit as a gift. Buy a cheap nice looking plate or container and fill it with Gingersnaps. It was ALWAYS a hit.

It wasn't until my kids were in Elementary school that it's greatness was truly felt. For the yearly carnival I was toying with what I'd make for the bake sale. There were always a lot of chocolate chip cookies and brownies. I decided to do something different to offer some variety. I made the Gingersnaps.

My job at the carnival was to run the Silent Auction. That's where I was the whole night pretty much. Someone came up to me and had a question. About the Silent Auction of course.... no the question was "Are you the lady who made the wonderful Gingersnap cookies?" At that point I wasn't sure how many people made Gingersnaps and said so. They said, "Oh no there is only one Gingersnap and they are great. I was told to come ask you for the recipe." At this point I was shocked how did anyone know I had donated the Gingersnaps. I was happy to take their email with a promise to send the recipe. I walked out to the bake sale and behind the table was a friend of mine. She's standing there with about 6 people around her purchasing goodies. She looks up, points and joyfully yells, "THAT'S THE LADY WHO MADE THE GINGERSNAPS!" The 6 people turn and coming running at me! I knew my recipe was good great even. I just didn't know how great until I turned into a Gingersnap Celebrity at my kids' carnival.

This went on for about 4 hours. At the 3 hour mark I said to the person who was asking me for the recipe, "Haven't they run out of Gingersnaps by now?" She said, "Oh yes they ran out a long time ago, but I was told I could get the recipe from you." Fortunately, I'm not one of those people who believe in secret recipes. I like to share. I want everyone to go home and make something delicious for themselves.

Gingersnaps

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground ginger

Cream shortening and sugar together. Add molasses and egg, beat well. Sift flour, measure and sift again with remaining ingredients. Add to creamed mixture and mix thoroughly. Roll into small balls and dip into additional granulated sugar or leave plain. Place 2 inches a part on greased baking sheet. Bake in 375 degree F oven 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 6 to 7 dozen.

Lynne's note: This recipe doubles and triples well for making larger cookies. They are beautiful rolled in sugar and just as good if you're in a hurry not sugared. I don't sift. I put all ingredients to be sifted in a big bowl and stir them with a wire whisk. Use a cookie scoop. It saves a lot of time and everyone is so impressed when your cookies are all the same size. When I don't sugar them I don't roll them into a ball either. Just cookie scoop them right onto cookie sheet. If you're going to sugar them. Use cookie scoop to measure all the dough. Then roll into ball and roll in sugar. I found it faster to use my good sized flat bottomed round plastic bowl. I put a few tablespoons of sugar in plastic bowl. Then I throw in 3 or 4 balls and swirl the bowl like I'm panning for gold. Make sure to keep balls from sticking together. Separate and swirl if needed.

Grandma Parker's Macaroni Salad

2010-10-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big macaroni salad person. In fact until my Grandma started making this recipe I didn't like it at all. She brought it to nearly every family get together. Finally when she was 70 years old and I was 27 years old I got to thinking I better get that recipe while the gettins' good. I asked her for the recipe and she said she really didn't have one. I asked if I could watch her make it some day and she said yes. Next family party she called and asked if I wanted to come over and help her make the macaroni salad. I jumped in my car and came right over. As we made it I wrote down the measurements of all the ingredients. I don't cook much without a recipe. If a dish is delicious I want it to turn out that way every time. I don't want it to be kind of sort of like the original. I think that is why my friends turn to me for recipes. They know it's good and they know I'll have a recipe!

There has only been one wrinkle with this recipe. There is one ingredient it has to have in order to have the right taste. That ingredient is McCormick's Vegetable Delight. Well, the wrinkle is they stopped making Vegetable Delight about 5 years ago. Fortunately, they made something called Vegetable Supreme. It was very similar to Vegetable Delight. Only difference I could tell was it wasn't quite as buttery in flavor and they added sesame seeds.

Now I've found out from an urgent call from Portland, OR they don't make Vegetable Supreme any more. On the McCormick website it is listed in the Discontinued Product list under Seasoning Blends. Be still my heart! I was told by my friend's in Portland that they wanted to make my Mac Salad and couldn't find the seasoning at any store or on the internet. They instructed me to quickly search the stores in my area for it. I went to Raley's today and McCormick had a whole new display system. It was clear that Vegetable Supreme had long been squeezed out.

This recipe is even more precious to me as my Grandma passed away last year at the ripe ole age of 92. It seems so sad that McCormick feels there is no market for this Seasoning blend. I've contacted them and hope to find out how I can make this seasoning on my own. I have a precious 2 tablespoons left. Just one recipe of my Grandma's Macaroni Salad. I may have to sniff and taste and figure it out on my own, because I refuse to let this recipe die. I have many friends and family that love this recipe and make it themselves. Without further adieu...

Grandma Parker's Macaroni Salad

Over the years friends have made the salad and on occasion I'll be at the event. Certain liberties have been taken with the ingredients over the year, but not so extremely as this one occasion. I got to the party and was quickly grabbed by the elbow and whisked into the kitchen. My friend says hurriedly, "I made your mac salad and it doesn't taste quite right could you take a look at it and give me some pointers." I said, "Sure." I took one look at the salad and wondered why she would need my help. It was obvious what was wrong. The salad was made with bowtie pasta, red onion, no pimento and sliced dill pickle. She's looking at me with that "Well?" look and I said, "You used bowtie pasta instead of salad macaroni. She says defensively, "Well, I didn't have any and I wasn't going to make a special trip to the store." Again, she gives the the "Well?" look. I said, "My recipe calls for green onion." She says again defensively, "I didn't have any green onion and I wasn't going to make a special trip to the store." Now I don't want to say anything else, because she purposely didn't follow the recipe. BUT she continues to look pleadingly at me for help. I say, "What's with the sliced pickle?" She say excitedly, "I like sliced pickle so I threw it in." In my head I threw my hands up in the air and then I said, "I'm sure it's going to be a wonderful salad it's just not going to be my salad," and I walked away. Everyone enjoyed the salad.

She likes me. She really really likes me!

2010-10-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

One of my daily blessings is my adorable poodle Little Star. As you can tell she's my bud. Last night I was working on Clue #3 in the Bernat Crochet Along and there she was keeping me company. I kept thinking the yarn would tickle her nose and she would get up. She actually stayed there quite a while. Probably because I thought she was absolutely adorable and she loves it when I notice that fact.

Truth be told her 5 O'Clock shadow was poking threw my pajama bottoms and was a bit prickly for me. I wasn't about to shoo her away though. I could endure it to enjoy such cuteness.

Western Meal-in-One

2010-10-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Monthly meal plan going well. Only one hitch I was looking at the September calendar when I made my plan, so I wasn't so far behind when I made it. Added 2 more meals to the plan to compensate for flipping calendar to new month 3 days late. :)

This meal was already on the list though. I got this meal from my MIL's stash of recipes. I don't know where she got it. My MIL passed away about 6 months into our marriage. My FIL has passed 6 month before we got married. There was DH and I newlyweds living 2 1/2 hours away in an apartment and a whole house and garage of stuff to tend too. I felt so bad for my husband. He's an only child and I know he was feeling like an orphan at this time.

He put me in charge of sorting the kitchen. I got to thinking what reminds one of home? Mom's favorite recipes! Only problem was DH and his family ate breakfast, lunch and dinner out everyday most of his childhood. I know weird huh? Or maybe I think that, because my family ate every meal in. The amount of times I ate "out" as I child I can count on one hand.

DMIL did start cooking when she retired, which had only been one year. She also cooked sporadically over the years for special occasions. It was a challenge finding recipes. I found a few written recipes and then I looked through the few cookbooks she had for pages with splatters on them. Always the sign of a recipe that's been used and could potentially be a good one.

Some where in there I found "Western Meal-in-One." DH remembered liking it. I made it a few times as newlyweds and we liked it. The recipe however had languished in my recipe box for years when I came across it again on meal planning night. DH and I wondered why hadn't this been made in years? It was in a category called "Casseroles" in the recipe box. There were only 2 recipes in that catagory and neither had been made in years. I mostly look under the type of meat or style of cooking when needing a recipe. So, this recipe has been refiled under "Beef." It was very good and hope to make it again in the near future.

Western Meal-in-One

(The colors in this dish were just beautiful.)

1 pound ground beef

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 can petite cut tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, undrained
3/4 cup uncooked rice
1/4 cup chopped ripe olives
3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Brown ground meat in oil until crumbly. Add garlic, salt, onion, green bell pepper and chili powder. Saute for 5 minutes or until vegetables are limp. Mix in tomatoes, kidney beans and rice. Add a little water or tomato juice as needed. Turn into a greased 2-quart casserole. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes.

Sprinkle with olives and cheese. Uncover. Bake 15 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Serves 8.

Lynne's note: I worried there wouldn't be enough liquid to soften the rice, but there was.

(Recipe calls for 2 quart dish. I only had a 3 quart (9X13). It worked fine.)

Check out Mommy's Kitchen for some more delicious recipes.

Menu Planning not a new concept

2010-10-03T17:33:00.000-07:00

I've tried menu planning in the past and it never works out too well for me. Seems like a great idea. I think I've figured out that I've been too rigid in my planning. I found a gal who does a list of meals mainly dinner and they eat from the list. She has a blog called "Mommy's Kitchen." The meals are not assigned a day. That was our problem. We may not be in the mood for or have the time for say Chicken and Dumplings the assigned meal of the day. Something so simple and yet it made me smack my forehead "Of course" when I was reading her description on how she creates her menu plan.

This way I can pick a meal that suits the schedule and mood of the family. She also made the suggestion to not to plan all 30 or 31 days of the month. (yes I know one month has 28 or 29 days) She plans for 25 of 30 days. Things happen. Sometimes we eat out. Sometimes not everyone is home. Life of having teenagers and a husband who refs soccer. One can grab something simple maybe even eat some leftovers rather than cook a whole meal. Since I was getting a late start on the month I planned 17 meals for the remaining 25 days.

I quizzed the family as to what they'd like to eat this month. I also looked through my recipes and recipes I'd like to try. Made a list and an accompanying grocery list.

Here's what we're having...

*Uncle Brad's Spaghetti Sauce, Green Salad and garlic bread
Baked Chicken, mashed potatoes
*Chicken and Dumplings
Pot Roast
Paninis and Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup
Cheeseburger Casserole (Paula Deen Recipe)
*Hamhocks and Chili Beans, cornbread
*Beef & Bean Enchiladas
*Hot & Sour Soup, *BBQ Pork Buns
Nachos
Make your own pizza night
Marinated Tritip, Cheddar Potato Slices
Chicken Caesar Salad
Hot dogs and Hot Links, Coleslaw, Ranch Beans
*Western Meal In One
*Mexican Lasagna
*Fideo

Once I started making my grocery list I realized I may need to adjust the menu next month for more variety. We are going to eat an awful lot of ground beef and cheddar cheese this month. Not that anyone will complain, but just doesn't sound too healthy on a regular basis. Since the family was excited to be a part of the process I decided to leave it as is this month.

As we were making suggestions we came up with a couple ideas one was the power of one veto. I suggested one veto, because we'd never get enough recipes if we let everyone veto anything they didn't like. I also said one can not veto the same meal 2 months in a row.  Some meals most of us love and would hate to never have them again.

This month DS vetoed Chinese Simmered Chicken (one of my personal favorites that hurt), DH vetoed One Dish Chicken and Rice, DD vetoed Curry (DH's favorite). My son jokingly suggested BBQed poodle ribs and I vetoed it.  Not that I didn't think they wouldn't be delicious and tender, but my DPoodle looked up at me with adoring eyes and I vetoed for her. :)

Here is one of this month's recipes. Been a family favorite for years.

Beef and Bean Enchiladas

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 (1 lb.) can refried beans
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 c. taco sauce
1 c. ripe olives, quartered
2 (10 oz.) cans enchilada sauce
Salad oil for frying tortillas
12 corn tortillas
3 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Crumble ground beef in a frying pan; add onions. Saute until meat is browned and onions are tender. Drain off excess fat. Stir in beans, salt, garlic powder, taco sauce and olives; heat until bubbly. Heat enchilada sauce; pour half the sauce into an ungreased shallow 3 quart baking dish.

In small frying pan, heat salad oil about 1/4" deep. Dip tortillas, individually, in hot oil to soften; drain quickly. Place 1/3 cup beef filling on each tortilla; roll to enclose filling. Place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the filled tortillas. Cover with shredded cheese. Bake, uncovered 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

To Serve: Top each serving with sour cream combined with green chili salsa. May garnish with sliced, pitted ripe olives. Serves 4 to 6.

Lynne's note: I have microwaved and warmed tortillas up in the enchilada sauce in an effort to skip frying.  Both methods lead to fragile tortillas and frustration. I stick with frying. How often does one have enchiladas? I have found frying them all up and draining them allows them to cool off. Enough so as to not burn my fingers and they stay flexible enough to roll.

Eating Out... Overwhelming?

2010-09-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Boy that is sure what happened to me when DH and I decided to go to a new restaurant in town. Now that the kids are teenagers we like to go out occasionally by ourselves... you know like a date. Remember those. They are usually very relaxing enjoyable times.

We went to Buffalo Wild Wings. DH hubby loves wings and I enjoy them too on occasion. Thought I'd surprise him and suggest going some where he wouldn't think I'd like to go. He was surprised and looked forward to going.

We walk through Buffalo Wild Wings doors and the first thing that hits you is the noise. OK this isn't going to be a quiet experience. One can barely talk to their companion it's so loud. They wanted to seat us at a 2 person table right by the entrance and hostess stand. Really?! Do we need a little more noise added to our experience? We asked for another table. Hostess then points to the next table. How about this one? It's a big round table for 8 people. Really?! You want 2 people taking an 8 person table when there are plenty of 2 and 4 person empty tables in this room. Now I'm starting to sound like a pill when my hostess really doesn't have any common sense.

OK we're seated at a 4 person. Our waiter comes over immediately and gives us a game controller and wants our drink orders. "Want me to show you how to operate the game controller" he asks? What do you want to drink? Controller? Drinks? Controller? Drinks? With the noise, lights, TV screens, choices and decisions to make so suddenly we are totally overwhelm. Then we get the menu. I should have turned and left before the menu came, because DH doesn't do well at making food choices in a new restaurant when things are calm and quiet.

He is clearly ready to throw one of his "I'm overwhelmed tizzy fits." I remain calm and do the things girlfriends do. Give him a squeeze, a wink, hold his hand. He's distracted enough to look at the menu calmly. BUT he snatches his hand back as I see the wheels in his head start whirling. I can't blame him I'm totally confused too. They don't serve just wings. They serve all sort of things like burgers, wraps, salads, flat breads and ribs to name few. How I deal with a new menu is I simplify. I pick the first thing that appeals to me and I close the menu. I know there are many choices I want, but I can't have them all so why agonize. It's a wing joint I'm having wings. DH on the other hand has all the choices whirling around in his head. If I hadn't put a stop to it he might have gotten a nose bleed.

I asked him, "Anything appeal to you?" He says, "I DON'T KNOW. THERE ARE SO MANY CHOICES. EVERYTHING APPEALS TO ME." I ask in my loving syrupy girlfriend voice, "Why don't we share a wing platter." He says, "I DON'T KNOW THERE ARE SO MANY WING PLATTERS AND WING SAUCES!" I suggest we try a traditional wing sauce. We'll get one platter with bone in wings and one with boneless wings and we'll share. We'll get a side of hot sauce for him and blue cheese for me. Crisis dialed down no one's head is going to explode.

We order. First thing we are told is there are no french fries. We can have potato chips or potato wedges at no extra charge. I love crispy freshly made potato chips and DH loves potato wedges. No problem. Out comes our order. We have 2 cups of blue cheese dressing, and 2 cups of ranch dressing. Wings were your typical hot wings. Nothing special, but good. My potato chips were very thick and squishy. They were just chip shaped potato wedges, which I don't like. The potato wedges were at least seasoned and had a flavor. DH offer to share his wedges. When out of the corner of my eye I see 2 kids eating french fries. WHAT?! I was told no how no way was I getting french fries. I grab one of my husband potato wedges and what do I get a lone french fry. You know one of the non existent french fries.

The mild sauce was starting to get a little hot for me so I looked around for my celery. No celery. My platter was clearly pictured with celery. What did they run out of celery too? I stop the waiter and ask? He tells me that since I have 2 different flavors of sauce I get no celery. I didn't order 2 different kinds of sauces. DH doesn't like ranch and I only like the blue cheese. Sorry you have 2 sauces no celery for you. WHAT?! I didn't want to push it at this point. I just wanted to go home. The noise level and the disappointment of this meal was just at its apex for me. I don't throw tizzies in restaurants, but I sure wanted to at this point. I just remembered I was enjoying lunch with DH on a rare day off that he had during the week.

Before I left though I took a quick movie of a quarter of the restaurant. I counted 32 TV screens in the whole restaurant. Some might think that's a good thing, but with each one on a loud different channel... it's not.

In Limbo

2010-09-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

My 18 now 19 year old son is having a rough time deciding what he wants to do in life. After a lack luster year at the Junior College he was put on academic suspension. He missed the cut off to appeal and found himself without a school to go to this semester.

He has also been looking for a job for about a year. He can't seem to get arrested in this economy. When I found out he wasn't going to be in school and he had no job. I asked my brother to put him to work. I'm thinking volunteer work something to get him out of the house maybe get him some experience. My brother says, "No, I'd have to show him how to do everything. I'd rather just do it myself." GEEZE!!   His own uncle won't hire him.

After my husband and I hit the roof and lengthy discussion we decided not to kick him out of the house.   We haven't given up on him. We just need to convince him not to give up on himself. The men in the family have all put a piss poor effort into High School. Then gave college a sniff and joined the military. All the men have done great and some even graduated from college later. My son is dead set against going into the military. We discussed with him that his options are getting narrower and narrower.

Anyhow his plan he proposed to us was to keep looking for a job this semester. Get back into school in January. With the job he's going to get pay us back for all the money we paid for him to go to school last semester and fail. Until he gets a job he said he'll be my "man servant." I prefer to call him my "house elf."

One morning he asked me if I'd like waffles for breakfast. Wow that sounded great. Yes please. He was dressed to go out to an interview. So, he threw on my apron to protect his clothes. I had to chuckle and take a picture.  He was truly looking like my man servant.

Never Thought It Would Happen

2010-09-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

My poodle Little Star is 7 years old. Will be 8 in a month. She's the most darling thing until you get her in a car. She's just never been a good car rider. She whines, pants, barks, patty cakes, occasionally sits, but never lays down and goes to sleep. All my other dogs would get in the car find a comfortable spot and go to sleep. Some how they'd sense we were near our destination and they'd wake up and be ready to get out of the car.

The first few years I think Little Star would know we were close to our destination by the sheer desperation sweat coming from our every pour. We would be so stressed out from her anxiousness. Didn't matter if the trip was 30 minutes or 3 hours. She's barking the kids are yelling. We're yelling and the dog is SO whiney. Not her fault I'm sure, but what did we do wrong this time around?

She sits in the back seat with the kids, so it's been their job to keep her at least quiet. Also their job to keep her from patty caking the back of my driving arm with her dagger sharp poodle nails. I'm the driver for the most part. Years ago I had a neck injury and the pain from it coupled with my already in place motion sickness just made it easier on me if I did all the driving.

Little Star hasn't experienced riding with me in a car when I'm not driving. A couple years ago I tried riding in the back seat and about 30 minutes later I cried UNCLE. Dear hubby pulled over and let me drive. I was SO sick I just felt awful the whole rest of the 3 hour trip.

Well, this past labor day weekend I don't know what got into me, but I decided to give it another try. This time around I swore I'd make sure I did no reading and look out the front window as much as I could. I don't know what was different this time, but I felt great.

Then something happened that made us all relax. Little Star did a few scratching nest building twirls and laid down and went to sleep. I guess I didn't dare get sick and disturb this freakish event. She slept all the way to our destination. Then she slept all the way back. I was in the back seat both times. I am her alpha dog. Was she afraid to disobey me? Or was she able to relax and lay down next to me like she does at home? I'm not sure what it was, but I'm going to try riding in the back seat and do some car training. Maybe we can stop her anxious behavior.

I've felt so bad for her in the past. In fact after our Memorial day trip this year I thought maybe I should consider getting her a sedative. I hate having her so upset, but I hate the idea of drugging her more. I didn't get her a sedative for this trip, because I figured she's been doing this for years and it hasn't killed her. I did though get in the back seat to see if it would help. Surprisingly, it worked GREAT! To coin and old phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words.

The Famous Kit Kat Cake

2010-09-15T11:19:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not there is a cake under all that candy. Erik's favorite candy is Kit Kats. I asked what he wanted for his birthday treat and he said surprise me. He's been teasing me all summer to make him a Kit Kat salad. So, I did a search and found this Kit Kat Cake. It was so adorable I knew I had to make one for Erik.

I baked a Devil's Food cake in 2 eight inch cake pans. Then I made the chocolate frosting in the below recipe. Once cake was cooled I sliced the hump off one layer and placed it on my plate. I put a layer of frosting on it. Then I placed the 2nd layer hump up on top of first layer. I thought the hump would help with the shaping of the M&M top. I then frosted the whole cake. Next I began unwrapping and breaking the Kit Kats into 2 piece sections. Someone on the internet suggested putting the Kit Kats in the freezer for cleaner breaks and less finger prints on the candy. I think this would be a good thing to do. Well, for me next time. I bought 2_6 packs of regular sized Kit Kats. Had to open 11 of the packs due to some breakage in the package. I didn't break any they came that way. Normally not a problem as they'd be very tasty. They just weren't pretty.

After placing all Kit Kats on the cake I dipped into my scrapbook stash for a piece of ribbon. I tied a ribbon on which snugged up the Kit Kats, but they didn't seem like they'd have fallen off. Maybe the M&M might force them off. So, I wouldn't skip the ribbon. After ribbon was on I took my 19 oz bag of M&Ms and starting pouring them on. They were sliding to the Kit Kat edge, so I started to press them on all over. Then poured more M&Ms on to hide the frosting. It took about 2/3s of the bag.

I started baking the cake at 7am. Took a shower while it baked. Pulled it out to cool while I went to store for cake decorating supplies and dinner fixings. Made frosting, decorated cake and was done by 10am.

Fast and gorgeous cake. When Erik saw the cake his face just lit up with a giant smile. He started laughing and then said, "You sure did surprise me. That cake is GREAT!"

Erik was VERY pleased with the cake I surprised him with.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

4 ounces (120 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups (160 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting: Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy (about 2 -3 minutes). Frosts about 16 cupcakes

Lynne's Note: I melted chocolate in microwave. This frosting was very soft great for a cupcake. I wanted to frost a cake and added more powdered sugar to make frosting a bit stiffer. DELICIOUS

Zingy Zig-Zags Earns Respect

2010-09-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

Zingy Zig-Zags, yep that's what the pattern is called for this delightful afghan. I have to admit I don't like it. I call my afghan Autumn Zigs. I saw this pattern on the front cover of Leisure Arts book #3818 called "Scrap Afghans for all." I thought it was just gorgeous. I never have a bunch of scraps laying around that are of the same weight and size enough to make an afghan. I just bought some yarn.

I wanted to make mine in colors that would look good in my living room. My living room is very fallish in theme and color. Lots of fall colors and leaves every where. I found some Soft Red Heart yarn in the perfect colors to with the pattern. I wrote out a list of the colors the afghan called for and the colors I was replacing them with. Orange with Tangerine, black with chocolate, white with off white, green with leaf, red with paprika, blue with mid blue, pink with grape and yellow with toast. Yes, that's lots of colors to keep track of and more colors with which I've ever worked.

I needed to devise an organizing system to keep my yarn from turning into a tangled mess and from me losing my mind. When all of a sudden a box that had come into the house went DING in my head. I ran out to the garage to grab it before it got recycled. Once I used my ball winder to turn my skeins into what they call cakes it was perfect. I keep my size I crochet needle, scissor and reading glasses in the box. I've also added a copy of the pattern for my own use. The book was getting beaten up in the box. I wanted to keep it in good condition in case I wanted to do another pattern later on.

The project is ready to work at a moments notice. While it seems very organized and convenient. It doesn't travel well. So, I do most of the work at home. I have taken it into my car while watching and waiting at Cross Country practices. It is too cumbersome to really say drag into a coffee shop or my guild meetings.

I began the project last fall. My then 15 year old daughter asked in the beginning stages what I was making. I told her an afghan. Her eyebrows shot up and she said, "Wow you've got a long ways to go." Once I had gotten to the 2 inches wide stage. Dear Daughter said, "Wow mom your belt is looking great." I began to explain to her it was an afghan not a belt when I noticed the smirk on her face and knew she was teasing me. HEY! I said.

When I got to the 8 inched wide stage Dear Daughter said, "That's a great looking scarf mom." It had been about month since it was 2 inches wide. I began to explain to her it was an afghan not a scarf when I noticed the smirk on her face. HEY! She got me again.

Now it's about 1 1/2 feet wide and covers my legs. I haven't heard any more comments from the peanut gallery. I think it's gained some respect in the afghan world.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints

2010-08-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints a winner! 2 thumbs up to this recipe. Fairly easy to make. They did have to be chilled for an hour, so need to plan for that. I used some of my Sour Cherry jelly I made in June; therefore, I didn't need to use the lemon juice in my jelly prep for the cookies. One could use any type of jam or jelly they wanted I suspect.

Recipe also said to get 36 cookie use 2 1/2 tsp of dough. To get 36 cookies I needed to use 4 teaspoons of dough. I used my cookie scoops to scoop out the 36 cookie balls. Dough was fairly oily and my hands didn't need oiling to shape them into balls. Refrigerated all 36 cookies on one cookie sheet to save space. I used a silpat instead of parchment paper.. They peeled off intact to place on other cookie sheets for baking.

2 pictures of the cookies. I just never know which looks best flash or no flash.

Instructions said to press each cookie with your thumb prior to refrigeration. BUT after baking my thumbprints were nearly gone. With the back of a spoon I gave each hot cookie another press. This worked out well to reestablish the thumbprint to hold the jelly.

Another thing to mention this is a Cooking Light recipe. It's still a cookie and not really that much lower in calories. I figure any calorie saving in my day is always a plus.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprints

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
7 tablespoons seedless raspberry preserves
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt, stirring well with a whisk; set aside.

Place sugars, peanut butter, and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating on low speed just until combined.

Lightly coat hands with cooking spray. Shape dough into 36 balls (about 2 1/2 teaspoons each). Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Press thumb into center of each dough ball, leaving an indentation. Cover and chill 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Uncover dough. Bake at 350° for 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove cookies from pans, and cool on a wire rack.

Place preserves in a small microwave-safe bowl, and microwave at HIGH 20 seconds, stirring once. Add juice, stirring until smooth. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon preserves mixture into the center of each cookie. Yield: 3 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)

CALORIES 103 (30% from fat); FAT 3.4g (sat 1.2g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.6g); IRON 0.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 15mg; CALCIUM 8mg; CARBOHYDRATE 16.9g; SODIUM 48mg; PROTEIN 1.9g; FIBER 0.5g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2007

Unchained Circles Vest

2010-08-27T23:46:00.000-07:00

I crocheted this vest in about 10 hours. I thought it turned out so pretty. I've shone it around to my friends and they all think it's fabulous. One is even going to make one.

I wanted to make it for my daughter originally. She is modeling it here. She told me before I started she wouldn't wear such a thing. Well pooh!

So, decided my SILs birthday was coming up I'd make one for her. Since she is a tad smaller than my daughter I used my daughter as a model. When I got it done I asked her to wear it so I could get photos of it. As she was wearing it she said, "Why would anyone wear such a thing?!" I told her one would wear it like jewelry. It doesn't have a function other than just looking pretty.

I wanted to show a picture of the front and what it looks like off a person. The original pattern only had a picture from the back. When I hit a snag and didn't know how to shape the arm opening I really needed a picture. I finally figured it out, but here's a picture if anyone else wants to make one.

Unchained Circles Vest by Thanh Nguyen. Pattern can be found at the Universal Yarn website for free. I couldn't find their yarn, so I went with Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Cotton yarn. I found it at this cute little shop in mid town called Fig Tree Alley. Gorgeous yarn and so easy to work with.

Curry The Easy Way

2010-08-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

I don't like curry. I don't like the spice. I don't like the smell or the taste unless in very small quantities. If a recipe I have calls for it I won't avoid it, but I'll reduce the amount by about 1/3 to 1/4 depending on my mood. I've been known to just add a pinch.

That's why many years ago about 25 I was very surprised to find I really liked this curry dish. A friend had made it and I just happened to come over for a visit. She invited me to sit down for dinner. I hate curry, but when someone is being so thoughtful and generous I put my juvenile dislikes aside and partake. (That's how I ended up eating a tuna fish sandwich 30 years ago. Another story.)

I took the smallest serving I could without hurting any one's feelings. Then I began to eat. To my great surprise it was good. Even great! It didn't taste like the curry spice I loathe and despise. It tasted like it had a pinch of curry the way I would season a curry dish. It was savory and delicious. I asked my friend for the recipe and she snickered and held up the Vermont Curry Sauce Mix box. "I just buy it at the grocery store and follow the directions," she said. Even better how easy can that be. I knew some day I'd make some at my house. Being single at the time though I really didn't do any big cooking.

Shortly there after I got a boyfriend. Wanting to impress him I invited him over for dinner and made the curry dish. He loved it and to this day he's my husband. Not saying making this dish will get you a husband, but hey it wouldn't hurt to try.

Over the years I've found it hard to find Vermont Curry. The grocery stores generally carry the S&B Golden Curry Sauce Mix. It's not bad and I'd even say it's good, BUT the Vermont Curry is REALLY GOOD. I have found if you can find an Asian Market you will find Vermont Curry Sauce Mix. The Asian market I frequent is about 30 miles away. I really need to find one closer. So, I actually don't go much. I'll buy 3 sauce mixes and sometimes I'll just throw them in the freezer if I'm not going to use them any time soon.

It's simple to make the recipe it is right on the back of the box.

1 box Vermont Curry Sauce Mix
Meat (beef or pork) or chicken (1 1/8 lbs.)
4 Medium onions (1 3/4 lbs.)
4 Medium potatoes (1 1/2 lbs.)
1 Medium carrot (1/2 lb.)
5 3/4 cups water

I have made a few small changes over the years. I always use chicken breast. That's our favorite, but beef is good too. Recipe asks for 1 carrot, but we like almost as much carrots as potatoes. I usually use 4 or more carrots. Also when it calls for water I put in chicken broth. I use to make my own chicken broth, but I use canned now days and it's still great. Also the recipe calls for 4 med. onions. That seemed like an awful lot from the very beginning. I've always used 1 to 2 onions. This recipe is for the 8.8 ounce bar which makes 12 servings. The package does talk about using half for 6 servings. The curry bar as I like to call it, because it looks just like a large chocolate bar. The curry bar in the 8.8 ounce size comes sealed in 2 packages if you only want to use half. I make the 12 servings, because I have teenagers right now and a hubby who likes to take leftovers for lunch.

The curry bars come in mild, med.hot and hot. My husband likes hot food. I do not. So, I've been pretty cautious using the other bars. What I've found is that the med. hot isn't that hot. I haven't had the courage to use it exclusively though. I buy a mild and a med. hot. I use half of each for one batch. I don't find it to be hot at all. Last night I got a bit braver. I used half of a mild bar, 1/4 of the med. hot and 1/4 of the hot . This did give it a slight zing. I still wouldn't have even called it hot by my standards. Next time I'll try 1/2 a mild bar and half a hot. I think though I'll only do a 6 serving batch in case it's too hot and hubby has to eat the whole thing by himself.

Oscoda, Michigan... Did I hear you say huh?

2010-08-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

Yep that's what I get when I say Oscoda, Michigan is my 2nd favorite place to live. Being an Air Force Brat I lived in many states, but this one stood out as the most beautiful. Now I was a kid I'm not sure how I'd like it as an adult. I've threaten to vacation there one day, but hasn't happened yet. I remember swimming in Lake Huron, running in the woods, climbing trees, picking wild raspberries, fishing in the AuSable River, catching frogs, playing with garter snakes, collecting multicolored leaves in the fall, ice skating, sledding, snowball fights, just to name a few of my favorite things.

The other day a miraculous thing happened. I found out someone I've known for about 8 months lived and went to high school in Oscoda, Michigan. I was dumbfounded. I never thought I'd ever meet another single living human being that had been there. I was reading her Facebook info and it said "High School Oscoda Michigan." I knew it couldn't be a joke, because no one could be that random.

I sent her a FB note asking if she really went to Oscoda High School. The good news is yes she has and now I have someone to reminisce about Oscoda with. The bad news she wasn't even born when I was there. Man, I'm getting old. I was there from 1968-1972. She was there from 1990-1992. She was born in 1975.

Chocolate Cherry Birthday Cake Turns 16.... errrr 10?

2010-08-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

We're going on our 10th anniversary of the Chocolate Cherry birthday cake. Ten years ago my little girl was turning 6. A few weeks prior to their birthdays I ask both my kids what kind of cake they want for their birthdays. This "what kind" usually refers to the shape. It also helps with the theme of the party. I love decorating cakes and have had a great time making some pretty creative cakes over the years. One year for my daughter's 6th birthday she gave me a flavor. She said, "I want a chocolate cake with cherries and I want to decorate it myself."

I was a bit in shock and thought to myself, "WHAT?! I don't get to decorate the cake." Up til then I had decorated about 14 kid birthday cakes between the 2 kids. A few of the cakes I had made were a Pokeman ball, gigantic hamburger, a panda bear , large strawberries, and a gumball machine. Now she was grabbing the reins of my cake decorating juggernaut and I wasn't very happy about it. After all, these gorgeous and delicious cakes were ALL ABOUT ME...ME...ME! OK I needed to step back and remember the birthday cakes were made for the person who's birthday it was. A cooler head prevailed and if they wanted to put MORE than their 2 cents in on it's flavor and design I need to get off my high horse. I needed to remember the day is about them. *hanging my head in minor shame*

So, I shook it off and went on a hunt for a Chocolate Cherry cake recipe. I found the below recipe and boy it was sure wonderful. We've used it every year. The moist chocolaty cherry cake is topped with a rich fudgy frosting. There is never any leftover birthday cake when this cake is made.

Chocolate Fudge Cherry Cake
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix (your favorite)
1 can cherry pie filling
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond flavoring (optional) (It's not really optional you must use it.)

Frosting:
1 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup milk
6 oz package of semisweet chocolate chips

Mix cake mix, cherry pie filling, eggs, and flavoring by hand. Pour batter into greased and floured 13x9x2-inch pan and bake at 350° about 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. (Bundt shaped pan works great just takes a little longer to bake.)

For frosting, place sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil for one minute. Remove from the heat and stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Pour over warm cake.

Lynne's Note: If using a bundt shaped cake I place it on a wire rack over a plate to catch excess frosting. Pour frosting over cake. Excess frosting cake be saved and used later for whatever you want. This way you don't end up with a huge puddle of frosting on your cake plate. Then I use 2 spatulas to move cake to a clean platter. This is a very delicate cake. Ask for help moving it if need be. If it breaks don't worry you have excess frosting to cover the break. I've never had any exclaim, "I'M NOT EATING THAT CAKE IT'S BROKEN!"

That first year my daughter decorated her cake with Skittles and Lego figures. I tried to talk her out of Skittles back then and tried to again this year. Suggesting M&M's might be more suiting. She confidently stated then and now, "No, I like Skittles and I think the taste great." After that first year the family knows they are Skittles and most flick them to the side. The first year was hilarious watching people bite into a fruity candy thinking it was an M&M. Then watching some politely spit them into a napkin.