Hectic Hiatus

The hiatus is from blogging, as you'll note if you glance at the posting dates.  The hecticism is from life.  Consider this a hiatus from the hiatus and then I'll probably slip back into non-bloggerdom until September.

It hasn't been bad hecticism, but I'll give you the Top Ten Life Altering Events which have interfered with my blogging since I posted last.  Since when do I blog about my life?  Generally I don't, because I have too much to say about what I've been doing in the kitchen.  But life has cut into my kitchen adventures, so I haven't conducted many experiments lately.  None worth reporting on anyway.  If you're wishing I'd shut up already and give you the Top Ten, your wish is granted.

1. End of school year. Crazy nuts no matter how you're connected to the education system - as a parent, as a student, as a teacher.  Or how about as a parent to 3 students married to a teacher?  

2. Made an offer on a house with a new kitchen for improved copycatting!

3. Grandpa turned 80! I was able to copycat a fondant horse I found on the internet.  Here's how his cake turned out:

I also made Marshmallow Fondant for the first time. This slacker has been buying it at a ridiculous cost from Micheal's.  And since you asked for it, here are my two bits on fondant.

Wilton fondant: looks nice, tastes like *#$&, costs an arm, and is difficult to work with.  

Duff fondant:looks nice, tastes like better *#$&, costs a leg, and is much easier to work with. 

Marshmallow fondant:looks nice, tastes pretty ok, super cheap, super easy to work with.  

Marshmallow Fondant, thanks to About.com

4 cups mini marshmallows

4 cups icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

2 tbsp water

food coloring or flavored extracts, optional

Basic steps:

Dust counter with icing sugar. Place mallows and water in large microwave bowl, nuke on high until marshmallows are puffy.  Stir mallows with a rubber spatula until melted and free of lumps.  Add icing sugar and stir until impossible to stir anymore.  Scrape onto work surface.  Dust hands and knead

the mixture like bread dough until it's smooth and no longer sticky.  Add more sugar if necessary.  Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it's ready.  Add coloring and extract by kneading it in.  Roll it out, wrap in cling for later, whatever you want! 

4. The sudden passing of our beloved principal.  Grieving, prayers, funeral and extra school related details for The Husband to attend to. 

5. The Husband becomes Associate Principal for next year. Very unexpected, very proud of him, very sad because of the circumstances which made the position available. 

6. New home inspection, financing, negotiations...

7. Camping trip to Saskatchewan to nab a new sister.  We infiltrated Grenfell so my brother could get married!  A Western wedding called for a Western cake...

The folks at the Co-op and liquor store will never forget the weekend we came to town. Cleaned them out of ice and beer the first night. The poor folks at St. Columbkille didn't know what hit them when we all marched in for Sunday Mass.  12 extra adults and 7 extra kids...I think we doubled the congregation.

8. Camping trip to Manitoba to visit family. No cooking, no cakes.  Firepit, family, fireworks. 

9. First time camping in a Walmart parking lot overnight on the way home.  Phew! Now I can check that of my bucket list!  Walmart: parking lot by day, KOA by night.  

10. First time attending Roman Catholic Mass in a car dealership. Ten points if you can name the place! I love Sundays on the road!  You just never know what kinda Mass you're gonna get.

Oops! I did it again!

Confession: I Hate Meatloaf

I do hate meatloaf, usually.  Growing up on a cattle ranch, let's just say we ate a whole lotta anything and everything that can be made out of ground beef.   Meatloaf is not on my top ten list, but cheese is!  So if you hate meatloaf (like I do) this is the recipe for you!  I still hate meatloaf, with the exception of this one recipe.  But then, it's not really meatloaf.  It's just cheese wrapped in meat, so more like a treasure hunt. 

Stuffed Italian Meatloaf - from Buns in the Oven

compliments of Wendy

1.5 lbs ground beef

2 large eggs, beaten

3/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp garlic salt (or 1 minced clove of garlic)

1/4 cup dried minced onion

1 can diced tomatoes, drained (or 1 can tomato sauce)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

A prayer and a pinch o' love

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients but cheese.  Mix thoroughly.  Put mixture on waxed paper and press flat into a 9x12 inch rectangle. Layer shredded cheese on top of rectangle, leaving approximately 1/2 inch around the edges.  Roll from the short end, jelly roll style.  Seal the ends and place on a rack in a baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done.

Have a Droopy Birthday, It's Good for the Morale.

Happy birthday to one of The Girls! I wish there was a witty rationale for the Duck Cake, but there isn't.  I'm not trying to imply the birthday girl is an ugly ducking.  She's not.  She's cute and ducks are cute, and it's a fun pan that I haven't used in several years.  I used the yummiest gooiest icing you'll ever taste, if you're in the market for yummy gooey icing!

Snow Peak Frosting

1 1/4 cups white corn syrup

2 egg whites at room temp.

pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla

A prayer and a pinch o' love

Heat syrup until boiling. Mix egg whites on high with electric mixer until "peaks" form. Add salt. Slowly pour in syrup, continuing to beat until frosting is fluffy and hangs from beater in "peaks."  Fold in vanilla.  Dye is preferred.  This icing is best served fresh.

It wasn't long before our poor little duck began to age.  Is this a bad omen for the birthday girl? I sure hope not!  Duckie did not age well.

 A little reconstructive surgery and our birthday girl was happy. 

Gnat's Famous Potato Soup

There's nothing to say about this soup. Just make it. It's that good.

Gnat's Homemade Potato Soup - from Buns in the Oven

6 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

2 onions, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

6 chicken boullion cubes

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

4 cups water

1 tablespoon salt

1/3 cup butter

pepper, to taste

8 ounces sour cream

finely chopped chives

shredded cheese
a prayer and a pinch o' love

Combine all ingredients except sour cream, chives, and cheese in pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes tender, approximately 20 minutes.  Stir in sour cream during final 10 minutes.  If desired, mash some or all of the potatoes before serving.  Garnish with chives and shredded cheese.

Crockpot - combine all ingredients and cook on low 10-12 hours, or high 3-4 hours.  Stir in sour cream during final 30 minutes.  Garnish as above.

While you're at it, make the best homemade buns ever to go with it. You won't be sorry.  

 












No Knead Buns - from 4H Favorites

in memory of Sally Froland, Leader, Czar Metiskow Beef Club

5 cups warm water

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp yeast

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cup cooking oil

1/8 cup salt

12 cups flour
a prayer and a pinch o' love

Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water.  Let rise 15 minutes. Mix eggs, oil, and salt well, then add to yeast mixture.  Add flour.  Let rise 1.5 hours.  Make into buns and let rise again for 1.5 hours.  Bake at 325-350 for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown. Yields 54 buns.

A first time for everything.

An acquaintance asked me to make her wedding cake.  Excited by this daunting task, I was also a little worried that my skills were not up to par for that kind of a project.  As I'd never worked with fondant on a square tiers before, I decided to practice.  Happy 30th birthday to The Husband....with a tiered fondant cake. 

OY. This is not how the corners are supposed to look.  I didn't publish this until now because I didn't want the bride to have a heart attack.

Bottom layer.

Trial and error is my teacher. The top layer turned out better and I figured out how to make the corners nice.  

Ready to tackle the wedding cake; the lifelong happiness of a young couple resting squarely on my shoulders.  The Big Reveal, my first wedding cake:

 

For variety, I made 3 kinds of cake. The top layer is Lemon Poppyseed, thanks to Baba Boyko for the suggestion.  The middle layer is French Vanilla, and the bottom layer is Chocolate Cherry.  The bride was happy.  If the bride's happy, we're all happy. 

And they lived happily ever after.

Confession: I Play With My Food

It's true. I love to play with my food, especially cakes and gingerbread.  Here are a few samplings from over the years...see for yourself:

Before I learned about dowels. Oops.

Frozen Pizza Ditza

Every now and then things get a little hectic. That's evident, as I haven't even had a chance to blog.  Sometimes I take a little holiday from cooking and commit such sins as feeding my family frozen pizza.  My brain takes a holiday too sometimes, which is also evident if you look below. 

Copycat that!

Some Things Old, Some Things New, Mostly Borrowed, None Blue

Wednesday brought us a dish that our whole family loves, Chicken and Cheese Tostadas - a recipe shared by the best Kate in the world.  The picture doesn't do it justice at all.  I'm not a photographer, I'm just a copycat cook.

Kate's Chicken and Cheese Tostadas

6 flour tortillas

cooking spray

1 packet Taco seasoning mix

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into strips

1/2 cup water

2 cups chopped tomatoes (omitted in this house, too offensive)

1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

6 tbsp sour cream

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

A prayer and a pinch o' love

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place tortillas in single layer on large baking sheet.  Spray tortillas with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with 1 tsp seasoning mix.  Bake 7-8 minutes until crisp brown.  (I slice them with a pizza cutter because they take up less space that way).

Meanwhile, mix chicken, seasoning mix, and water in large skillet. Bring to a boil on med-high heat. Reduce heat to med-low; simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add 1 1/2 cups tomatoes.  Cook until heated.  Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 cup cheese.

Spoon chicken mix evenly over tortillas.  Top with remaining cheese, remaining tomatoes, sour cream, and cilantro.  

 

There's dessert too!

Cinnamon Crisps

6 flour tortillas

cooking spray

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

A prayer and a pinch o' love 

Blend sugar and cinnamon together. Spray tortillas with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with sugar mix .  Bake 7-8 minutes until crisp brown.

We needed a little evening snack, so here it is.  The one and only recipe I've ever invented all by my own self.

Hurry Curry Popcorn

1 bag microwave popcorn

3 tbsp butter or margarine

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp onion salt

A prayer and a pinch o' love

Prepare popcorn as directed.  Melt butter.  Combine with spices and pour over popcorn.  Toss to coat and enjoy!

That wraps up the things OLD.  Old because I've made them before.  Old favorites.

Tonight brought us to something new.  A new recipe to copycat, from my favorite Crockpot cookbook.

Lemon Pork Chops - Rather Altered.

1 tbsp vegetable oil

4 boneless pork chops

3 cans, 8 ounces each tomato sauce (I only used one can. It seemed like a lot.)

1 large onion, quartered and sliced (onion salt used as substitute here)

1 large green bell pepper, cut into strips (omitted)

1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning (had none, omitted)

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (AHA! I had that!)

1 large lemon, quartered (1/4 cup lemon juice used instead)

A prayer and a pinch o' love

Heat oil in large skillet over med-low heat until hot. Brown pork chops on both sides.  Drain excess fat and discard. Transfer to Crockpot.  Combine tomato sauce, onion, bell pepper, lemon pepper seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.  Add to Crockpot.  Squeeze juice from lemon quarters over mixture; drop squeezed peels into Crockpot.  Cover; cook on low 6-8 hours until pork is tender.  (I cut the chops into strips to reduce cooking time).  Remove lemon before serving. 

If I had to rate it on a scale of Hated It to Wanna Eat It Every Day, it would be some place in the middle.  Pretty good, but not my new favorite food.   Like Lorry's French Onion Soup.  That's my new favorite food.

I served it with Katie's Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese from Buns in the Oven.  There was so much sauce, I should have served it with rice.  But ah well, here is our favorite mac and cheese recipe:

Katie's Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese

16 ounces macaroni noodles

5 tbsp butter

5 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I used mostly mozza tonight)

A prayer and a pinch o' love

Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Meanwhile, melt the butter and stir in flour.  Gradually add milk.  When the mixture starts to thicken, stir in the cheese.  Stir constantly until all the cheese is melted.  Mix cheese sauce with cooked macaroni.

Feed it to someone and they will love you forever.

Death By Chocolate.

I put the Chocolate Truffles to the test and gave one to one of The Critics.   She died...

of sheer happiness.  Tastebud overload.  Mission accomplished.

Truffle Kerfuffle!

This recipe has been haunting me since I ripped it out of a Compliments magazine around Christmas time.  So the time came to try it out.  I made the basic recipe and the chai tea version. 

The recipe says to let the truffle mixture refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling into balls.  I guess they mean it, this is what happens when you try too soon. 

Looks like a poo massacre.  And the truffles don't look much better, but they taste good!  I really like the chai flavor! Just gotta perfect the technique.

The second batch had more time to cool. These truffles held their shape much better and were easier to work with.  Also tasted heavenly...

Compliments Chocolate Truffles

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tbsp sugar

pinch salt

10 oz semi sweet chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate, it's all I had)

1 cup cocoa or icing sugar for coating (I only needed about 1/2 cup).

A prayer and a pinch o' love

Combine whipping cream, sugar, and salt in saucepan over low heat. When bubbles form around the edges, turn off heat. Don't boil.  Let steep for 5 minutes.

Stir in chocolate chips and stir until melted and smooth.  Transfer to a clean bowl, cover and refrigerate until firm, approximately 2 hours. Seriously.

Sift cocoa onto a plate. Using cool hands, gloves, or melon baller - shape chocolate mixture into balls.  Roll in cocoa to coat.  Transfer to parchment paper-lined baking tray and refrigerate until firm.  Store in airtight container up to 2 weeks, freeze up to 2 months. 

Variations:

Chai Tea Truffles - Add 2 chai tea bags and 1/2 tsp ground ginger to whipping cream.  Heat and steep as with chocolate truffles. Remove tea bags and add chocolate chips, proceed as indicated above.

Honey Thyme Truffles - Replace sugar with 1 tbsp liquid honey and add 3-5 fresh stems of thyme to the cream. Heat and steep as with chocolate truffles. Remove stems and add chocolate chips, proceed as indicated above.

Red Hot Truffles - Mix 3/4 tsp cayenne pepper into cream. Proceed as indicated above.

And because you're dying to know what we had for supper, it's just another hit from Buns in the Oven!  If only there was a way to share the aroma over the internet, that's 90% of what makes it wonderful.

Audrey's Garlic Chicken

1 tbsp butter

2-3 tsp crushed garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (or crushed croutons) 

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

A prayer and a pinch o' love

In shallow casserole dish, melt butter in the oven.  Warm the garlic and the olive oil in a bowl over very low heat or steam so flavors blend (do not use the microwave).  In a separate dish, combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.  Dip the chicken into the oil and garlic mixture, then into the bread and cheese mix.  Place in the casserole dish and flip the chicken so both sides have some.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through.

Pinwheel Sandwiches

I don't usually get very creative with lunch.  But today I thought I'd try something that caught my eye in a little book of tea party ideas that came with a toy tea set.  Couldn't find the actual book though, so I had to go from memory.

Attempt #1.

2 slices of bread, rolled with a rolling pin + peanut butter & jam = the rolled up, sliced abomination you see before you.

It would sure be easier to say the 3 year old made these ones.  But it's me. I did it.

Attempt #2.  This time I removed the crusts and rolled the bread as thin as it would go. I put PB & J between the two slices and on the top slice, so the roll would stick together better. Improvement noted.

Attempt #3.  Found a sharper knife for slicing. More improvement noted.

Attempt #4. Nutella, MMMMM!

Attempt #5. This time kept the PB & J on separate slices.  Love the colors, much prettier.

Having the actual recipe on hand probably would have saved me all the trial and error, but ah well. All in the name of culinary science.  

Pinwheel Sandwiches

2 slices of bread

sandwich spread of choice (peanut butter, jam, Nutella, or if you must...Cheese Whiz *gag*)

Remove crusts.

 

Roll slices as thin as you can with rolling pin.

Spread filling on both slices and stack.

 

Roll up sandwich tightly and slice with a sharp knife. Enjoy!