My family came to visit me this past weekend "HI FAMILY" and because I never get to host people at the house I was very excited. I baked treats, I planned meals and I cleaned cleaned cleaned. I cooked ahead of time and it was well worth it. It meant that instead of planning a meal I wanted my family to eat and then spending an hour or two in the kitchen making it when they were there, I got to actually spend time with them.
My prep time was spaced out over three days which was the perfect amount of time to get things done without feeling like I was overwhelmed by work and more work. 'Three days?" You query. 'How did you get three days to do this?' Well, let's just say the three days (or really five, two of which my family was doing the visiting part with me) were forced upon me when we had to take furloughs again at work. It's okay because The Courier is actually doing okay, but Lee Inc. (the company that owns The Courier) as a whole took furloughs. I got unemployment, so basically I got a paid extra week of vacation, with just a little more stress and all that fun thrown in due to the lovely economy we all get to live with right now. Anyway, the planning.
You should have seen my starting menu. I was going to do peanut butter balls, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon sugar muffins, chocolate cheesecake and short cakes, and those were just the snacks.
Oh yeah, in the end I just decided that chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon sugar muffins and short cakes were enough, plenty in fact. I know, three snacks for not quite two days, oh my. But I like people to have options, to have what they want and not to have to worry about running out. The chocolate chip cookies were good for any time, I thought the cinnamon sugar muffins would be a great substitute for breakfast (just like cinnamon rolls!) and the short cakes would make a lovely dessert after one of the evening suppers.
To make it even a little more challenging for myself I wanted my dad to be able to eat any of the snacks or food I made and not even have to worry one little bit about his blood sugar. Why? Diabetes. He found out that he had it a few months ago. Mom has assured me that he's doing really well, he follows the diet pretty well and knows what he can and cannot eat, but that wasn't the point. I didn't really want him to even have to THINK about it.
I had found this diabetic magazine while shopping at Fareway one day and it was full of recipes. Full. Insanely full. Did I mention there were a couple of diabetic recipes in there? There were snacks and desserts and breakfasts and sides and main meals. Meals for two and meals to be made from leftovers. It was incredible. It had all the carbohydrates listed on the recipe as well as calories, fat, protein and all the other fun stuff listed in the nutrients section of a recipe that we normally don't want to read. After finalizing my menu a little bit, I got bakin'.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Chicken a la Jessica
I love chicken. I can't necessarily say that I love chickens, as in the live things that peck around and have alien-looking feet, but I do love the meat that comes off them bones. My new favorite seasoning is blackened seasonings. It's spicy and sweet and does wonders to chicken meat.
If you've never used it before, it's quite easy. Buy some seasoning (George and I found ours at Hy-Vee), take your chicken breast and sprinkle/rub in the seasonings liberally. Pop it in the oven for 45 min. to an hour and you have beautifully seasoned delectable chicken. Pair it with some of the fresh peas you know you've been craving and follow it with some canteloupe for dessert. You've got a great meal.
Blackened chicken also goes wonderfully on the grill. Rub some Olive Oil on your chicken before you season it, but other than that the same thing goes. I'm having it in the oven tonight since George is gone and I'm all by my lonesome, but definitely check it out!
If you've never used it before, it's quite easy. Buy some seasoning (George and I found ours at Hy-Vee), take your chicken breast and sprinkle/rub in the seasonings liberally. Pop it in the oven for 45 min. to an hour and you have beautifully seasoned delectable chicken. Pair it with some of the fresh peas you know you've been craving and follow it with some canteloupe for dessert. You've got a great meal.
Blackened chicken also goes wonderfully on the grill. Rub some Olive Oil on your chicken before you season it, but other than that the same thing goes. I'm having it in the oven tonight since George is gone and I'm all by my lonesome, but definitely check it out!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Strawberry Suprise Part 1
I love strawberries. Honestly, what food don't I love? If I didn't love it do you think I'd be putting it on here for all of you to see? Uhm, prolly not.
Strawberries remind me of spring and summer. When I taste a ripe strawberry it almost feels like the sun is shining in my mouth. If you think that's hyperbole just try it yourself. Grab a strawberry - one that's deep red, not too big, not too small - and take a bite. The juices fill your mouth and the smell, make sure you breath in the flavor deeply because there's nothing in this world quite like a ripe strawberry. The scent alone will drive you crazy.
So with strawberries on my brain and in my fridge, and too much time on my hands (I need me some hobbies) I set to work.
FYI, I'm horrible at making pie crusts. Every single one I've tried gets too hard because I end up working it so much. I cheated, well at least I consider it cheating. I bought ready-made pie crusts. I know, it definitely doesn't save me any money and it really doesn't take that much time to make pie crust, but I wanted some mini pies and this was the way I set about doing it to save myself much trouble.
I'm telling you, I shouldn't have bothered saving myself any one bit of trouble at all.
Strawberries remind me of spring and summer. When I taste a ripe strawberry it almost feels like the sun is shining in my mouth. If you think that's hyperbole just try it yourself. Grab a strawberry - one that's deep red, not too big, not too small - and take a bite. The juices fill your mouth and the smell, make sure you breath in the flavor deeply because there's nothing in this world quite like a ripe strawberry. The scent alone will drive you crazy.
So with strawberries on my brain and in my fridge, and too much time on my hands (I need me some hobbies) I set to work.
FYI, I'm horrible at making pie crusts. Every single one I've tried gets too hard because I end up working it so much. I cheated, well at least I consider it cheating. I bought ready-made pie crusts. I know, it definitely doesn't save me any money and it really doesn't take that much time to make pie crust, but I wanted some mini pies and this was the way I set about doing it to save myself much trouble.
I'm telling you, I shouldn't have bothered saving myself any one bit of trouble at all.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Lent without chocolate
I gave up chocolate for Lent.
It was hard, enormously hard, especially when, on Ash Wednesday, someone brought chocolate mint fudge brownies to the newsroom for a birthday treat. Birthdays suck. Okay, birthdays don't suck, but the fact that I didn't get to eat Barb's goodies wasn't exactly a high point to my day.
Lent without chocolate was hard for me. Some people give up meat, not a problem for me. Some give up alcohol but I'm not a big drinker. So for me it was sweets. Some might not realize the depths of my love for chocolate, but those who know me will laugh and nod when I dive for freshly baked platter with a chocolate something on it.
I enjoy chocolate more than the average person probably does. I especially enjoy Cadbury eggs during the Easter season. But more than Cadbury eggs, my favorite chocolate treat has to be the simple, delectable chocolate chip cookies. I will make them with white chocolate chips, which I haven't quite gotten the hang of, or chocolate chunks from semi-sweet chocolate or double chocolate chip cookies with a fudge-like consistency and a mixture of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate pieces and any other chocolate concoction I can pull out of my head. But my favorite cookie still comes down to the simple ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie.
I've also discovered, that to satisfy my tastebuds and my chocolate chip cookie fixations, salt is the key ingredient. Take any chocolate chip cookie recipe, double the salt (okay, be careful, sometimes double is trouble) and the savory part of my tongue as well as the sweet is satisfied. The salt in the following recipe already is doubled.
Ingredients:
PREHEAT oven to 350° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels . Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
It was hard, enormously hard, especially when, on Ash Wednesday, someone brought chocolate mint fudge brownies to the newsroom for a birthday treat. Birthdays suck. Okay, birthdays don't suck, but the fact that I didn't get to eat Barb's goodies wasn't exactly a high point to my day.
Lent without chocolate was hard for me. Some people give up meat, not a problem for me. Some give up alcohol but I'm not a big drinker. So for me it was sweets. Some might not realize the depths of my love for chocolate, but those who know me will laugh and nod when I dive for freshly baked platter with a chocolate something on it.
I enjoy chocolate more than the average person probably does. I especially enjoy Cadbury eggs during the Easter season. But more than Cadbury eggs, my favorite chocolate treat has to be the simple, delectable chocolate chip cookies. I will make them with white chocolate chips, which I haven't quite gotten the hang of, or chocolate chunks from semi-sweet chocolate or double chocolate chip cookies with a fudge-like consistency and a mixture of milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate pieces and any other chocolate concoction I can pull out of my head. But my favorite cookie still comes down to the simple ooey-gooey chocolate chip cookie.
I've also discovered, that to satisfy my tastebuds and my chocolate chip cookie fixations, salt is the key ingredient. Take any chocolate chip cookie recipe, double the salt (okay, be careful, sometimes double is trouble) and the savory part of my tongue as well as the sweet is satisfied. The salt in the following recipe already is doubled.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
- a dash of cinnamon
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- chocolate chips as desired
PREHEAT oven to 350° F.
COMBINE flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels . Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
BAKE for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Cinnamon Roll recipe
Ingredients:
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 c. milk, scalded
1/2 c. sugar
1 stick butter (8 T.)
2 tsp. salt
7 c. all purpose flour
3 lg. eggs
Filling:
1/2 c. butter, melted (4 T.)
1 T. cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 c. white sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
Frosting:
1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
1 stick butter, melted (8T.)
Directions:
Soften yeast in water. Stir in 1 tsp. sugar. Set in warm spot to rise. combine scalded milk, sugar, butter and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Add 3 c. flour; beat well. Beat in yeast mixture and eggs. Gradually add remaining flour to forms oft dough. Place in buttered bowl, turning once to grease surface. Let raise until double in volume (1 1/2 hours to 2 hours). Turn out lightly on floured surface. Cover with towel and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out to approximately 28" x 16" rectangle. Spread melted butter over surface clear out to the egdes. Sprinike buttereed surface with cinnamon, nutmet, whit3 sugar,b rown sugar, raisins and nuts. roll dough up as in a jell roll; seal edge. Cut in approximately 1 1/4" slices Lay flat in 9" x 13" greased pan. Cover and let rise till double (approximately 30-40 minutes). Bake at 375 degrees for appoximately 20-25 minutes. Frost.
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 c. warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 c. milk, scalded
1/2 c. sugar
1 stick butter (8 T.)
2 tsp. salt
7 c. all purpose flour
3 lg. eggs
Filling:
1/2 c. butter, melted (4 T.)
1 T. cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/2 c. white sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
Frosting:
1 pkg. 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
1 stick butter, melted (8T.)
Directions:
Soften yeast in water. Stir in 1 tsp. sugar. Set in warm spot to rise. combine scalded milk, sugar, butter and salt. Cool to lukewarm. Add 3 c. flour; beat well. Beat in yeast mixture and eggs. Gradually add remaining flour to forms oft dough. Place in buttered bowl, turning once to grease surface. Let raise until double in volume (1 1/2 hours to 2 hours). Turn out lightly on floured surface. Cover with towel and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out to approximately 28" x 16" rectangle. Spread melted butter over surface clear out to the egdes. Sprinike buttereed surface with cinnamon, nutmet, whit3 sugar,b rown sugar, raisins and nuts. roll dough up as in a jell roll; seal edge. Cut in approximately 1 1/4" slices Lay flat in 9" x 13" greased pan. Cover and let rise till double (approximately 30-40 minutes). Bake at 375 degrees for appoximately 20-25 minutes. Frost.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Oh, my, Cinnamon Rolls
Did I mention I love baking? That I get these sudden insane urgers to put flour or sugar or baking powder in something that will turn out sweet and delicious and make people say, 'oh, my'? That I love how chocolate smells when it was pulled out of the oven seconds earlier in the form of chocolate chip cookies? Yes, I may have a problem.
Yesterday I got the cooking bug shopping for groceries. This was new for me. Normally I'm sitting at home on my couch or at the table or somewhere in the house and I have to bake. There is no saying 'no,' I cannot think 'but I don't have all of the ingredients' and there definitely is no running away from the house to get away from the oven because if I do, I'll just be up until 1 a.m. when I need to wake up at 4:15 a.m. for work. Not. Good.
So yesterday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m. I was browsing through the grocery aisles. I had picked up flour, white and brown sugar because we all know that we need to replace these every week or two (or maybe it's just me) and, as I put them in my cart, I knew I would have to make something with them that night. That was it, the baking bug bit and I was gone.
So what can you make with flour, white and brown sugar and time on your hands?Since I have no kids and no hobbies - other than the baking and the cooking - I knew I could make pretty much anything I wanted. Well, with the undecided Iowa weather gusting around my house I decided I needed to make something warm, something that would remind me of winter nights in a warm house surrounded by family. I was going to make cinnamon rolls.
As soon as I got home and the groceries were tucked away I got out the recipe books that had been gifted to me from the people who know me best, my family. I needed to look up cinnamon rolls.
I have made cinnamon rolls on only one other occasion and that day I was not happy with the results. I think I put too much butter on the dough before I rolled it up and after I took the rolls out of the oven and dished one up I realized all of the filling had pooled on the bottom of the pan. At first I didn't think it was a bad thing because it was tasty, kind of like a caramel topping. After the cinnamon rolls cooled I changed my story. It was hard, hard and brittle and not even reheating the rolls in the microwave would do any good. It made me sad. I often turn to the internet for recipes with a little something extra or for a dash of something special, but I knew that today I wanted a tried-and-true recipe. Of course an old-school Dutch cookbook (from the very Dutch community I grew up in) hopefully would be the perfect place to find one.
I opened up my cookbooks and found a few recipes, but none of them tantalized me. I blamed this on my previous cinnamon roll trauma and decided to just go with one. It worked. It took some time due to the rising of the dough and all the amazing fun stuff that goes with baking anything with yeast, but they were, oh, my. To top off the rolls I pulled together a cream cheese frosting, very easy, and very yummy.
I held out until after supper to have one and shortly after that I knew the cinnamon rolls had made the grade. While taking a bite of mine, with the cream cheese and cinnamon and dough melding together in my mouth I couldn't help but let out a little moan of happiness. George was walking by right then and he said "is it good?" When all I could do was nod he took a bite and with a surprised (shame on him) look said "This is really good" and went to get his own.
When I went to set some aside for us and get the others ready for me to take to work the next day to share he even asked if I could put a couple more aside for us to have. That made my night. George doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. He'll eat some of whatever I make, but one is normally enough for him. So, on the George meter, I'm pretty sure my cinnamon rolls were a success.
What tasty treat makes your mouth water?
Yesterday I got the cooking bug shopping for groceries. This was new for me. Normally I'm sitting at home on my couch or at the table or somewhere in the house and I have to bake. There is no saying 'no,' I cannot think 'but I don't have all of the ingredients' and there definitely is no running away from the house to get away from the oven because if I do, I'll just be up until 1 a.m. when I need to wake up at 4:15 a.m. for work. Not. Good.
So yesterday afternoon at approximately 1 p.m. I was browsing through the grocery aisles. I had picked up flour, white and brown sugar because we all know that we need to replace these every week or two (or maybe it's just me) and, as I put them in my cart, I knew I would have to make something with them that night. That was it, the baking bug bit and I was gone.
So what can you make with flour, white and brown sugar and time on your hands?Since I have no kids and no hobbies - other than the baking and the cooking - I knew I could make pretty much anything I wanted. Well, with the undecided Iowa weather gusting around my house I decided I needed to make something warm, something that would remind me of winter nights in a warm house surrounded by family. I was going to make cinnamon rolls.
As soon as I got home and the groceries were tucked away I got out the recipe books that had been gifted to me from the people who know me best, my family. I needed to look up cinnamon rolls.
I have made cinnamon rolls on only one other occasion and that day I was not happy with the results. I think I put too much butter on the dough before I rolled it up and after I took the rolls out of the oven and dished one up I realized all of the filling had pooled on the bottom of the pan. At first I didn't think it was a bad thing because it was tasty, kind of like a caramel topping. After the cinnamon rolls cooled I changed my story. It was hard, hard and brittle and not even reheating the rolls in the microwave would do any good. It made me sad. I often turn to the internet for recipes with a little something extra or for a dash of something special, but I knew that today I wanted a tried-and-true recipe. Of course an old-school Dutch cookbook (from the very Dutch community I grew up in) hopefully would be the perfect place to find one.
I opened up my cookbooks and found a few recipes, but none of them tantalized me. I blamed this on my previous cinnamon roll trauma and decided to just go with one. It worked. It took some time due to the rising of the dough and all the amazing fun stuff that goes with baking anything with yeast, but they were, oh, my. To top off the rolls I pulled together a cream cheese frosting, very easy, and very yummy.
I held out until after supper to have one and shortly after that I knew the cinnamon rolls had made the grade. While taking a bite of mine, with the cream cheese and cinnamon and dough melding together in my mouth I couldn't help but let out a little moan of happiness. George was walking by right then and he said "is it good?" When all I could do was nod he took a bite and with a surprised (shame on him) look said "This is really good" and went to get his own.
When I went to set some aside for us and get the others ready for me to take to work the next day to share he even asked if I could put a couple more aside for us to have. That made my night. George doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. He'll eat some of whatever I make, but one is normally enough for him. So, on the George meter, I'm pretty sure my cinnamon rolls were a success.
What tasty treat makes your mouth water?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Jambalaya
This week I attempted to make Jambalaya. My sister has told me multiple times that it is an easy dish, cheap to make and filling for her whole family. She was right.
I made the Jambalaya the easy way: I got a mix from the grocery store and all I had to add was the meat. The original recipe calls for just the mix (I used Zataran's) and a pound of meat. I used kielbasa sausage and chicken. I cooked both before putting them into the mix. The mix was super easy and it was so quick to make. In less than thirty minutes I had a meal ready for George, George A. and I to eat.
There was rice, there was meat and that was good enough for the three of us. We all had pretty generous portions and I had leftovers to take to work the next day.
None of us had ever had Jambalaya before and I can tell that we'll be having it again. There will be some tweaks and some twists, as any good recipe does, to make it a meal we'll crave again.
Changes
I do not think I'll use Kielbasa sausage again. It turned out very greasy and I had to add some spice (thank you red pepper flakes) to get it a little hotter, the way we like to eat.
While the mix was lovely, next time I'm definitely making it from scratch, that way I will know exactly what's in it and I can change the spices to make it taste the way we like it. I honestly do not think that it would take much more time to make Jambalaya from scratch. The longest thing that took to cook was the rice and that will probably take the longest from scratch.
When making the recipe from scratch, if I do have extra time I know I will be able to let the pot simmer before adding rice to it. This way the flavors can meld together and the heat will be more intense.
I'm going to use smaller portions of meat with more kinds available. When I think Jambalaya I think of a mixing of so many different things. We'll definitely have shrimp next time and possible some clam meat. Who knows, it will be interesting.
Are there any Jambalaya tricks to know to become a pro? Or at least as close as I can get to a pro living in Iowa?
I made the Jambalaya the easy way: I got a mix from the grocery store and all I had to add was the meat. The original recipe calls for just the mix (I used Zataran's) and a pound of meat. I used kielbasa sausage and chicken. I cooked both before putting them into the mix. The mix was super easy and it was so quick to make. In less than thirty minutes I had a meal ready for George, George A. and I to eat.
There was rice, there was meat and that was good enough for the three of us. We all had pretty generous portions and I had leftovers to take to work the next day.
None of us had ever had Jambalaya before and I can tell that we'll be having it again. There will be some tweaks and some twists, as any good recipe does, to make it a meal we'll crave again.
Changes
I do not think I'll use Kielbasa sausage again. It turned out very greasy and I had to add some spice (thank you red pepper flakes) to get it a little hotter, the way we like to eat.
While the mix was lovely, next time I'm definitely making it from scratch, that way I will know exactly what's in it and I can change the spices to make it taste the way we like it. I honestly do not think that it would take much more time to make Jambalaya from scratch. The longest thing that took to cook was the rice and that will probably take the longest from scratch.
When making the recipe from scratch, if I do have extra time I know I will be able to let the pot simmer before adding rice to it. This way the flavors can meld together and the heat will be more intense.
I'm going to use smaller portions of meat with more kinds available. When I think Jambalaya I think of a mixing of so many different things. We'll definitely have shrimp next time and possible some clam meat. Who knows, it will be interesting.
Are there any Jambalaya tricks to know to become a pro? Or at least as close as I can get to a pro living in Iowa?
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