Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Friday, March 14, 2014

Candied Violets and KnitWits

There are lots of ways to make sugar coated violets.  Since my two violets are blooming profusely, it was time to make a few to top a basic buttermilk cake from Lottie and Doof.



This is what they look like after 14 hours in the fridge


Be sure to give yourself a day for the egg whites to dry, making them ahead of time so that they will be ready for cake decoration.


Several KnitWits were served cake and ice cream yesterday sans the violet toppers since they were still drying. Should have read the recipe two days ago. Oh well.


Still knitting on the chevron Delancey cardigan and am half way through one sleeve.  Pictures later.

Remember it is Fiber Arts Friday!
Photobucket and linking with a new site, from a home schooler in South Africa

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Crocktober: Crock Pot Cashew Chicken and Soup

Now how can you say you don't like crock pot food?  If that is your mantra, you may have not tried this recipe:

Crock Pot Cashew Chicken:

2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken breast tenders
1/2 cup cashews
1 garlic clove, minced
4 tbsps rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 tbsps ketchup
 
Go here for the directions to assemble and cook.  And perhaps change your mind about crock pots.


The Apronista

And not just another soup:
Garth Williams, illustrator

Zuppa Toscana

1 lb. Italian sausages (use spicy to get that signature Olive Garden flavor)
4-6 russet potatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/4 c. REAL bacon pieces (optional)
2 Tbsp. minced garlic (about 3-4 cloves)
32 oz. chicken broth
1 c. kale or Swiss chard, chopped
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp. flour

1. Brown sausage links in a sauté pan.
2. Cut links in half lengthwise, then cut slices.
3. Place sausage, chicken broth, garlic, potatoes and onion in slow cooker. Add just enough water to cover the vegetables and meat.
4. Cook on high 3-4 hours (low 5-6 hours) until potatoes are soft.

30 minutes before serving:
5. Mix flour into cream removing lumps.
6. Add cream and kale to the crock pot, stir.
7. Cook on high 30 minutes or until broth thickens slightly.
8. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Pumpkin Faces & Pumpkin Cake

It is time to Get Pumpkin!
 
Bing has a few faces displayed, but a more fun look is my goal.  It is to gild the lily on my fall front door wreath that we used last year that now needs a little update.

Boo!

Take a look here at Attic Clutter to see some airbrush art with cute pumpkin faces.  I'll try to paint one on a blank oval canvas and put behind this door wreath:


Here is the canvas, an oval with a rust colored acrylic prepped on it and ready for its pumpkin face.  The craft store did not have a circular canvas, so this one will have to do.


Now to paint the pumpkin face and figure out how to attach it behind the wreath.  Duck tape?  Duck tape can do anything, right?

Here it is.
 
August Flowers
 
For an easy and delicious autumnal cake with pumpkin, Pinterest has this cake!  The Food Critic forgot to say to add the eggs to the wet mixture, but otherwise the cake directions are straight forward.  It was delicious, although my brother said it was not sweet enough to his liking.  It makes a firm, dense cake with just enough sweetness for me.
 
 

September 2013 Flowers
 
Enjoy your last days of September!


Friday, August 30, 2013

Best Scottish Shortbread Recipe Since Robert Redford

Friend Natalie served Lavender Shortbread cookies last week.  She had tried several recipes using lavender, and declared this was the best one, first published in Sunset Magazine in the 1970's.  Credit goes not only to Nat for finding it, but also to a person named M.C. from East Palo Alto, California for having it published in the magazine.

Daughter Julie's birthday is next week, so I'll be sending her some lavender cookies and some zucchini bread, along with trinkets to open.  For those of you who have followed Julie's progress with her surgeries and her chemo and radiation, she is doing pretty well, all things considered.  She has an aide who comes in twice a day, and great doctors.  Her champion husband Jack takes her to appointments and occasionally they go to Fatz, their favorite restaurant in Rock Hill, SC.


Here is some culinary lavender purchased in Colorado that I used for the cookies:


Happy Birthday, Julie!


Photobucket
And linking with Fiber Arts Friday, here is my more than half way completed Seriously Simple Shawl by Wendy Johnson.  Details on Ravelry are here.




Lavender Shortbread Recipe:

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Morning Tea and a Game for Boys

What fun to share time with friends on a beautiful almost-summer morning.  Gal friends gathered in our back yard today for cold drinks and cucumber sandwiches and good conversation.





The little finger bites of vegetables and bread and butter were quite good; the picture above shows it made 24, less one previously consumed for quality assurance purposes.  Here is the recipe used for the cucumber sandwiches:


And I should have made a double batch.  Next time.

One momma brought her boys after swimming class to join us. Are they not just darling?  And smart, to boot!


The boys were offered 10 cents each for every "face" they could find in the garden.  The husband and I made a game of it last night while sitting outside and we found 39 faces in the garden. The boys came up with 40!

 Here are a few of the faces found in the garden:











Thanks, friends, for a fun time!

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Chicken Curry from the Hairy Bikers

BBC2 runs "Mums Know Best" and features the Hairy Bikers on many episodes.  Sadly, in the US, we are unable to access that programming.  But you can keep up with the Bikers on print media.  And they have at least a dozen excellent cookbooks, one featuring curries.  This is their website: HairyBikers


The hub and I made one of the favored recipes for chicken curry.  The recipe can be found here.


The spices make the dish perfecto!  (add salt and pepper, of course)


 
Served over rice, it was very tasty.  This will be a repeat.
 
Next on the menu docket is chicken tikka masala, one of my favorite Indian dishes.  You can find the recipe here for an easier version.  And if you really want authentic, a naan recipe can be found here.
 

(Source: Food Network)


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Christmas Confetti Bean Soup in a Jar

What is on your "I Really WANT to Do" list for the holidays?
Really, is there such a thing as a list of Things You Must Do For the Holidays?  Kinda takes the fun out of it.

Besides listening to more seasonal music, I really wanted to make "soup mixes in a jar" for gifts.  It was unbelievable how many sites came up on a Google search for just this topic.

Here is the one site I settled on at this link because it was COLORFUL, EASY, and HAD LABELS.

Needed: 12 wide-mouth pint (2-cup) canning jars with lid and rings 14 pounds assorted dried peas, beans and lentils (at least 8 different varieties):
  •  pink beans 
  •  black beans 
  •  baby lima beans
  •  lentils
  •  red lentils 
  •  black-eyed peas 
  •  red kidney beans 
  •  pinto beans 
  •  split peas 
  •  great northern beans 
  •  small red beans 
  •  white beans 
  • 12 Italian-flavor or beef flavor bouillon cubes 
  • 12 bay leaves
Just put half cup of each bean layered in the jar topped with a bouillon cube and bay leaf and tie on a the printed label.  Like this!

I like soup, and almost any kind of flavor.  How about you?
If you made the soup exactly as directed, it would be pretty bland.  I'm thinking of giving a package of ham hocks along with the jars of beans, reminding the bean recipients that they will also need to add spices for a heartier, tastier version of this bean soup.

(Just had to add the Soup Nazi picture from the Seinfeld days.)

Linking to A Sheltering Tree ... because soup is something that can nourish a body and soul!