Cauliflower Wraps or Pizza Crusts

Yes, like everything else in my life right now, this came from Pintrest.  How did I ever get anything done prior to joining Pintrest?  Ah, but I digress.

I try to eat a pretty low carb diet most of the time. It just works for me.  One problem is finding a good bread substitute.  There are times when I need a quick meal I can eat on the go.  A lot of my go to low carb meals do not fit the bill.  So I when I found this recipe  and this recipe I thought they would be perfect for when I need a sandwich or it is family pizza night.

Like with any other recipe, I made changes.  Here's my modified version

Cauliflower Wraps
1 bag frozen cauliflower, thawed
3 eggs
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste
2 Tbsp ground flax seed*

Place cauliflower in food processor.  Process until very fine.  Add Parmesan cheese and seasonings, pulse until well combined.  Pour mixture in a bowl and mix in eggs.  On a parchment paper lined cookie sheet make 6-8 inch rounds.  I made mine pretty thin, probably 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.  Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes.  Flip them over and bake another 5 minutes.  Cool on wire rack.  Mind did not come out crispy.  But the flavor is good and they make a perfect sandwich wrap.  I plan to freeze them and grab them as needed.

*One recipe called for ground flax seed which I intended to add but forgot.  Next time I plan to add it.

Jenn

Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese

Oh my goodness.  You have to try this.  It has the flavor of homemade, baked macaroni and cheese with slightly more effort than making a box of Kraft.  It got rave reviews from every member in my family.  Of course, I found the recipe on Pinterest, because that seems to be where I find everything these days.

I adapted the recipe from this recipe from A Whisk and A Prayer

Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese

1 ½ cups milk

12 oz can evaporated milk

¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted

3 eggs

½ tsp salt

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp mustard powder

1 tbsp parsley

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheese (I used an Italian blend, mixed with sharp cheddar)

8 oz. of shaped pasta (shells, elbows, penne, etc.), par cooked (about 4 minutes) and drained

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese 

¼ cup (½ stick) butter 

1 cup panko bread crumbs

Spray a 3.5 quart slow cooker with non-stick spray.  Combine milk, evaporated milk, butter, eggs, salt, onion powder,  mustard powder in the slow cooker.  Blend all ingredients with a stick blender or whisk.   Stir in parsley and pepper.  Add cheese and pasta.  Stir to combine. Top with Parmesan cheese.  Cook on high for 30 minutes and then on low for 2 hours.  Melt 1/2 stick of butter in a frying pan, add bread crumbs.  Stir occasionally until nicely browned.  Layer bread crumbs on top of mac and cheese and serve.

The beauty of this dish is we had a very nice traditional dinner - ham (left over), mac and cheese and steamed green beans, on a night that otherwise, due to time, we would have had a frozen pizza or take out.   

To Die For Blondies

Not the best picture.  After completely cooling the sauce thickens to more of an icing consistency as seen above. 

I have to share this recipe.  It is absolutely amazing.  Everyone at my house absolutely loved it.  I will admit it is a bit of a commotion to make since you have to brown butter and make butterscotch sauce. But it is well worth the time and effort.


This recipe did bring up a question for me.  What is the difference in butterscotch and caramel?  Having made caramel before and tasting this sauce I would call this a caramel sauce not  a butterscotch one.  But I've never made butterscotch.  Does anyone know the technical difference?

The recipes for the blondies and the sauce are adapted from Collecting the Moments
Brown Butter Snickerdoodle Blondies
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) of unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoons of salt
1 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

2 1/4 cups of firmly packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a 9x13 pan with foil and spray foil generously with cooking spray.

In a saucepan, melt all the butter. Over medium heat cook the butter until it is browned but not burned. It will take several minutes.  Be very careful.  Butter goes from not brown, to brown and then on to burned very quickly.  For me, it went from being a little bit foamy to extremely foamy when browned.  It will smell nutty and have a  golden brown color (once the foam goes down) when it is done. Set aside while you gather and measure the rest of the ingredients

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set it aside.

In the mixer bowl, mix the browned butter and sugar together.  Add the eggs one at a time and mix well.  Add vanilla.  Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Pour the batter into the 9x13 pan. Place immediately in the oven.  If you leave this sitting the melted butter will start to rise to the top. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until jiggly in the center when the pan is gently shaken. Cool in pan. 

Butterscotch sauce

1/4 cup (half a stick) of butter
1/2 cup of packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt


In saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sugar, cream, and salt. Stir until blended. Bring the mixture to a slow, easy boil. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce begins to thicken. Then cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Remove from heat. As it cools, the butterscotch will thicken. Poor the sauce on the blondies while it is still warm.  If it gets too cool it will be too thick to spread on the blondies and it doesn't reheat well.

Remove blondies from pan by lifting out the foil.  Cut and serve with a big cup of your favorite coffee. 

I am seriously thinking about doubling the sauce the next time I make these. I think I may also sprinkle some pecan pieces on some of the blondies before topping them with the sauce next time, as well. White chocolate chips would also be good sprinkled between the layers.

Enjoy,
Jenn

Rosemary Skewers

I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman last fall. This has become my go to recipe when I need to take and adult appetizer to a get together. It is easy to make, in fact most of the time the kids help me assemble it, looks pretty, and tastes delicious.

Rosemary Skewers (Adapted from The Pioneer Woman's recipe)
24-30 sprigs of rosemary, each 4 to 5 inches long
8 oz hard salami
1 jar quartered artichoke hearts, drained and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 container bite-sized fresh mozzarella, drained
1 package cherry tomatoes
1 can black olives, drained
bottled balsamic vinaigrette

Starting about an inch from the top of the rosemary sprigs strip the leaves. You want some leaves left at the top for decoration. These will be your skewers. To assemble the skewers fold one slice of salami in quarters and slide it to the top of the skewer where the leaves start, add artichoke, and mozzarella. On half of the skewers end with a black olive, on the other half end with a cherry tomato. Alternate tomato and olive skewers around a plate. Fill the center with the leftover tomatoes and olives. At this point you can cover and refrigerate until needed. Right before serving drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over everything. Do NOT put the vinaigrette on early, it will discolor the salami.

Enjoy,
Jenn

Who Knew it Was so Easy: Egg Drop Soup

I saw this recipe recently at Kingdom Twindom and thought I have to make that! So today I made it for lunch for myself.  I really think my girls will like it and they will probably be having the leftovers for dinner tonight along with this favorite Asian dish.  The Egg Drop Soup is super easy and took maybe 15 minutes to make.  The slowest part was waiting for it to boil.

Egg Drop Soup (from Kingdom Twindom)
2 or 3 green onions chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 cups chicken broth (homemade if you have it, canned if you don't)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 eggs beaten well

Heat the oil in a sauce pan.  Add green onions and saute until wilted and starting to stick to the pan.  Stir in rice vinegar to un-stick the onions (de-glaze the pan).  Add stock and soy sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Once the soup is at a roiling boil, drizzle the egg into the pot while stirring.  Serve. 

I love how quick and easy this was and so flavorful.  I will definitely be making it regularly.

Jenn

St. Patrick's Day Goodies

I came across a couple of recipes that I wanted to try for St. Patrick's Day treats for the Maniacs. Both were hits.




I actually followed this recipe almost exactly. My only change was to add more Tabasco (1 tsp). I baked some today but have enough dough in the fridge to make two more batches. They are great still warm from the oven and really good room temperature.  I do like that I didn't have to make all of them at once. 




I intended to follow this recipe but Ruby was grocery shopping with me and insisted she would not eat chocolate cake. So I made yellow cake whoopie pies with green food coloring and plain vanilla frosting (recipe below). My cakes came out brown around the edges and firm but sticky on the outside - when you pick them up a layer of cake sticks to your fingers. Not sure what I did wrong. But, they taste really yummy.

Butter Cream Frosting
recipe is from my friend Ashley

2 sticks butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
4 tsp. Vanilla
2-4 tbsp. Milk if needed

Cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar a cup at a time blending well. Add vanilla. If needed, add milk a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved.

Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Oh My Goodness, I Love this Recipe!

I adapted this recipe from The Pioneer Woman. Her recipe sounded really good but called for multiple oils I don't usually keep on hand. Necessity being the mother of invention, I changed it up to work with the ingredients I do keep on hand and, oh my, is it yummy.


Sesame Noodles
16 oz of linguine - any long thin noodle will work
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-4 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons rice or rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup hot water from cooking the pasta
1/2 teaspoon rooster sauce or Tabasco, or 1/4-1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Cook pasta according to package directions. Toast sesame seeds in a dry saute pan over medium high heat, tossing or stirring frequently for about 2 minutes or until golden brown and fragrant. Remove sesame seeds and add olive oil to pan and heat. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Place all ingredients except green onions in a bowl and stir until well blended. Drain pasta and pour sauce over noodles. Toss to coat and then let sit for 5 minutes before serving to let the noodles absorb the sauce. I usually add the rooster sauce (or Tabasco or red pepper) after serving the girls so they don't complain about it being too spicy. Sprinkle with green onions before serving.

I make this pasta to go with leftover roast. The first time I mentioned using leftover roast in stir fry Michael thought I was crazy. He is now a convert. I make a double batch of the sesame sauce above to use as my marinade/sauce for the meat and veggies. Leftover sauce can be stored in the fridge for a few days as you may or may not use it all depending on how much meat and veggies you have.

Slice the roast very thinly and saute it in sesame sauce to taste. Add whatever fresh veggies sound good with some more of the sesame sauce and stir fry until desired tenderness in achieved. Serve beef and veggies over noodles.

Enjoy!
Jenn

Feta Chicken Pie

Here at Mayhem Mania we are big fans of Chicken Pie.  Not Chicken Pot Pie, mind you.  Our favorite has always been Moravian Chicken Pie.  It is simple and delicious and five out of six of us will eat it.  It also reminds me of home which is a huge bonus.  We have now found a Chicken Pie that might actually be, dare I say it, better than Moravian Chicken Pie.  I can't believe I'm saying that.  Really, I can't.

As always my take on the recipe is below.  The original calls for the crust to be filo dough or puff pastry.  Both would be supper yummy.  In my world the filo dough is too much work and both were more expensive than the pie crust.  As you know, I'm a girl who watches the grocery budget closely.  Next time I may "splurge" and make it with puff pastry but it was really good with pie crust.

 

Feta Chicken Pie

Adapted from:   Tasty Kitchen Feta Chicken Pie

2-3 lbs Skinless Chicken breast

2 cups Chicken Stock – will make when poach chicken

1 stick butter

3 whole small Onions (1 quartered, 2 finely diced)

3 cloves garlic, smashed

½ cup flour

¼ cup Milk

2 pie refrigerated crusts

8 oz container Feta Cheese, Crumbled

1 Tablespoon Chopped Dill

1 Tablespoon Chopped Chives

1 whole Egg (lightly Whisked)

In a large pot add one onion quartered and smashed 3 cloves of garlic, add the chicken, salt and pepper, and then water to almost cover it. Bring it to a boil and then simmer until chicken is cooked through.  Dice the chicken and strain the broth.  This is a good do ahead in the crock pot step.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter and saute 2 finely diced onions for 5 minutes on a low heat. Add the flour and cook this for 30 seconds – 1 minute stirring constantly. Add two cups of stock from poaching the chicken and the milk. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.  Remove from the heat.

Unroll one pie crust and place in the bottom of a deep dish pie plate that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Add the chicken, feta, dill, chives, and the egg to the sauce and stir well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into pie crust. Top with second pie crust.  Trim to fit and crimp edges.  Cut a couple of slits in the top.

Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes until crust is browned and filling is bubbling at vent slits.

I had a little more filling than would fit in my pie plate.  I put it in a small casserole dish (2 cup) and topped it with the left over crust from trimming the pie.  

Use the left over chicken stock to make extra gravy to serve with the pie.

I serve the pie with gravy over top of each slice, mashed potatoes, and a green vegetable.  

Eliza Claire always gets very excited when there are mashed potatoes on the menu and always requests them "with a pool."  By that she means topped with gravy but with a nice depression in the potatoes to hold all the gravy.  That girl could eat her weight in mashed potatoes with gravy.  

Enjoy!

Jenn

Spanish Tortilla

I have always loved a good Spanish Tortilla but to make them always seemed like too much work for such a simple dish. The thinly slicing potatos and then browning them always seemed to take forever and be messy. Then I came across a recipe in Food Network Magazine that changed everything.  This has become one of my quick, go to meals when I need something everyone will eat. 

Spanish Tortilla - This has a few additions/changes from me in typical Jenn style

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion halved and thinly sliced (or diced or cut however your family will eat it)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic minced
Salt and pepper to taste
12 large eggs
1 cup water
1 8.5 oz bag of kettle cooked salt or salt and cracked black pepper  potato chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium or large ovenproof skillet.  Add onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until onion is soft. 

While onion is cooking beat eggs with water.  Lightly crush your bag of chips and then pour into the egg mixture.  Stir to combine.  Let stand stirring occasionally until onion is done cooking.  Stir in onion mixture.  In skillet add last tablespoon of olive oil.  Pour in egg potato onion mixture.  Cook about 5 minutes.  Place skillet in oven and cook 30-35 minutes until top is golden and slightly crisp.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

At our house we usually have this with salsa, fat free sour cream and shredded sharp cheddar cheese sprinkled on top with a side of Spanish rice and black beans (whole or fat free re-fried).

Even Rehm who eats nothing and will not touch an egg or an onion with a ten foot poll will eat the Spanish tortilla - I think the potato chips enticed him to try it.

If you are a Weight Watchers person, this is 8 points plus points for 1/8 of the tortilla. 

Tomatillo Salsa

About a year ago my grocery store quit carrying my favorite Tomatillo Salsa.  I have had a hard time finding another one I like which has made making my favorite Chicken Enchiladas difficult.  Last week while at the grocery store I finally bought ingredients with the plans of attempting to make my own.  I finally got around to it today and the results were yummy.  Now I think I'll have to change the meal plan for this week to include Chicken Enchiladas.


Tomatillo Salsa
8 tomatillos, husks removed
1 onion quartered
6 cloves garlic
2 jalapenos
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
juice of one lime
1/2 cup cilantro leaves

Place tomatillos, onion pieces, garlic and jalapenos on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Place in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes turning once mid way through.  Remove from oven and cool.  Core tomatillos and seed one of the jalapenos.  Place all of the roasted veggies in food processor.  Add salt, pepper, lime juice and cilantro.  Pulse until desired consistency.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

This came out with a nice tangy flavor.  It is very mild on the heat scale.  Next time I might roast my veggies a little longer or at a higher temp and I'll probably leave the seeds in both jalapenos.

Cauliflower Soup

For those of you who know me well, you know I don't like vegetables.  It is mostly a texture thing but also a smell thing and sometimes even a taste thing.  I've never eaten cauliflower because it stinks.  I can't get past it.  So it was very surprising to me when I saw this recipe over at The Schell Cafe that I thought it sounded good.  What was even more surprising is I bought the ingredients for it, made it and actually liked the soup.  It was actually really good! Yeah, I must be coming down with something.  This is so not like me.  It is really crazy.

Of course in true Jennifer cooking fashion I could not just follow the recipe.  So I encourage you to go see Kristin's original version but I'll post my modified one below. I would have followed her recipe more closely but some of the ingredients I didn't have on hand (vegetable broth, flax or hemp seeds) so I made do with what I had.

Cauliflower Soup

1 onion roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lbs frozen cauliflower*
6 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
3 15 oz cans of chicken broth
parmesan cheese

Cook Onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes until tender.  Meanwhile defrost cauliflower in microwave - don't cook it just defrost.  Add cauliflower, red pepper, salt and pepper to onion and garlic. Cook for 5-10 minutes.  Add broth and simmer until cauliflower is very soft.  Use immersion blender to process soup until smooth (think potato soup consistency).  Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.


*I used frozen because I forgot to buy fresh and remembered when I was in the frozen food section of the store.  I was too lazy to go back to the other side of the humongo HEB to get the fresh stuff and figured the frozen would work just as well.  If you want to use fresh, use one head.

Tonight we were almost completely out of parmesan cheese and I was really trying to get the kids to try the soup.  So for the kids, I browned and crumbled bacon on the top of their soup and sprinkled with shredded cheddar.  I had a little bacon in mine but it was good without it as well.

I think this would be good with shaved ham or finely diced turkey smoked sausage in it as well.

The flavor was very rich and creamy and just delish without adding any cheese or meat.  Eliza Claire and Ruby both ate it.  Charlotte tried one bite. Rehm of course didn't even look at it much less taste it. So for our family it was a definite success and we will definitely have it again.

Enjoy,
Jenn

Homemade Tomato Soup

I have not had homemade tomato soup in years.  I used to love my grandmother's but it is a recipe I have never gotten from her and just something I've never made, well, until yesterday.

I have a spaghetti sauce recipe I love. I could literally drink it.  I decided to use it as my base for my soup. It worked perfectly.  The end result was yummy.  I just had the last of the leftovers for lunch.  I'm sad it is gone.  I'll definitely have to make it again.

Homemade Tomato Soup
1 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes
1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes*
1 14 oz. can of tomato sauce
4-6 large cloves of garlic peeled and smashed with the side of a knife
1-2 medium onions quartered
1 stick of butter - the real stuff not the fake stuff
1 32 oz. container of chicken broth

1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup fat free half and half
Salt and pepper to taste


Add the first seven ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook uncovered for at least and hour.  Use an immersion blender to puree.  Stir in baking soda.  Once it stops foaming add the half and half.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until heated through and serve.

Last night I served the soup with garlic and cheese flavored croutons and parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.  It was delicious!

In case you are wondering the baking soda is added to reduce the acidity in the tomatoes to keep the half and half from curdling when it is added.  Thanks mom for the tip.

*This would be better with all San Marzano tomatoes but since they cost 4 times as much as plain old whole tomatoes I used only one can of San Marzano and finished with regular whole tomatoes.

You can definitely play around with the amount of butter or use a mixture of olive oil and butter.  I used fat free half and half because that is what I had at home.  If I had regular half and half I would use it but definitely cut the amount of butter down then.  And if you don't like a creamy tomato soup this would be great if you just left it out and added another cup of broth. 

I served the soup with grilled cheese sandwiches.  Last nights were homemade brioche with sharp cheddar.  If you are doing a lot of sandwiches I find that buttering the bread, assembling them on a cookie sheet, and baking them in the oven is quicker and takes less of my attention than doing them in a frying pan.  I usually bake them at 350 for about 15 minutes(or until golden brown), turning them once.

My Mother is a Genius!

She told me how she stores her cilantro in the fridge to get it to last more than a few days.  I finally tried it, even though previously I always thought it was too much commotion.  My cilantro lasted for over four weeks without getting slimy and turning brown! If you are like me, you've probably read this before but blew it off but I promise it is worth the effort.  It is so nice now that I make my own salsa every week to know that my cilantro will be fit to use whenever I need it. 

Here is what you do.  Unbind and wash the cilantro.  Trim the bottom off the stems.  Fill a glass with about an inch of water in the bottom.  Put the cilantro in and cover it with the plastic bag from the grocery store.  Store in the fridge until needed.  Whenever you use some cilantro change the water in the glass.  If the inside of the bag gets too wet, stuff a paper towel in the top of the bag before you put it back over the cilantro.  That's it.

And here is my Salsa recipe.

Fresh Salsa

All measurements are approximate as I don't actually measure anything.  I just throw it in.

3-5 cloves of garlic, peeled
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 jalapeno, coarsely sliced with seeds in 
1/2 medium white onion coarsly chopped
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/4-1/3 cup red wine vinegar or lime juice

Add garlic and salt and pepper to food processor and pulse until garlic is finely minced.  Add jalapeno and onion and process until as coarse or fine as you like.  Add tomato and cilantro and process to desired coarseness.  Add tomato juice and vinegar or lime juice and pulse to combine.  Taste and adjust seasoning to taste. Makes 6 cups 

Some weeks I make it with the red wine vinegar, some with the lime juice.  It gives it a different flavor.  Some weeks it is spicier than others depending on the size and spiciness of the jalapeno.

Enjoy,
Jenn

Bread in the Crock Pot

This week I happened upon a comment about baking bread in the crock pot.  I was intrigued.  While I didn't really have a recipe, just a basic understanding of the mechanics, I did have some bread dough in the fridge so I decided to give it a try.

I ended up doing two different loaves with slightly different methods and results.

The dough I used was from my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book.  I love this book try to keep at least one type of dough in the fridge at all times.  Sometimes I have two.

With the first loaf I let the dough rise for 30 minutes - 1 hour before putting it in the crock pot.  I preheated the crock pot with about 2 cups of water in the bottom.  I crumpled a piece of foil and placed it in the bottom.  Then I put my dough in a greased loaf pan and placed it on top of the foil.  I placed a folded dish towel over the crock and then placed the lid on top of that.  I cooked on high for 3-4 hours.  When I took the bread out the top and bottom were almost soggy, it was very moist - not at all crusty.  I turned it out on a cooling rack for a couple of hours it had dried out enough to just be soft but not soggy. The end result reminded me more of the consistency and crust as a loaf of store bought bread.  I'm sure at this point I could have put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes to crisp it up a bit.  The bread was good, just not crusty.

The second loaf I did not let rise as I figured the first hour or so in the crock would basically allow that.  I also did not put the water in the crock.  Everything else I did the same.  The result was a crustier crust and the loaf was not as tall due to the lack of rising time. 

I will definitely be using the crock pot method again, especially in the summer.  Much better than having the oven on 450 for 40 minutes or more.  When I do bake in the crock pot again, I will let the dough rise for about one hour prior to putting in the crock and I will use the no water method as I liked the crust better.

Definitely an experiment that was worth the time and effort.  Now, to get the family to eat two loaves of wheat-oat bread. 

Jenn

Granny's Caramel Cake

This is my most favorite cake.  I've never had a cake like this outside of my family.  I have no clue where the recipe originated. 

Growing up the grandchildren got to choose the dessert for the Sunday lunch closest to their birthday.  I always picked Caramel Cake. 

Rehm chose this as the cake he wanted for his birthday party.  I made it yesterday morning before I realized his party would be canceled due to illness.

Granny always made her cakes from scratch. I'm not that good.  I use a cake mix.  I have found that the Duncan Hines Golden Butter Recipe cake mix comes the closest to Granny's cake.  I follow the cake directions except I substitute milk for the water.

Caramel Icing (I double this recipe)
1/2 cup of butter (use the real stuff not the fake stuff)
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk

Melt butter then stir in brown sugar and salt.  Bring to a boil.  Boil hard for two minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in the milk - stirring while pouring the milk.  It will bubble really high and completely change consistency at this step.  This is normal.  I always think I've ruined it but it always turns out perfect. Return to heat and return to full boil.  Remove from heat and cool.  Once cool, transfer to mixing bowl and beat in confectioner's sugar, until smooth.  Add milk by tablespoon full until proper spreading consistency. 

I've found that it seems to harden up as I work with it.  I suggest starting with it a little runnier than you want it otherwise you'll have to continually stop and stir in more milk to the frosting as you are working.

Granny always made two 9 inch cakes.  She split each of these in half and put frosting between each layer and then frosted the top and sides.  I am inept at frosting cakes, so I don't split my layers.  I just frost between the two cakes and then the top and sides. 

This would also be good to add crushed pecans to the cake mix or between layers or to add banana to the cake.  I'm a purist though and only want this cake in its original form.

I haven't had one of Granny's caramel cakes in probably 3+ years since Sunday dinners at her house ended.  Now if I want caramel cake, I have to make it for myself.  I'm glad to know that I have passed the love of this recipe down one more generation.

Jenn

Popcorn in a Paper Bag

Did you know that you can make microwave popcorn in a paper bag? I stumbled upon this Alton Brown recipe several months ago but had not tried it. Last week for the elementary mid week programming we were doing a snack involving popcorn so we decided to assemble microwave popcorn with the kids. They thought it was a very novel concept. Oh, we left the oil and jalapeno seasoning out of theirs.

I did a couple of test batches at home. It works great but you really need to take it out when there are two seconds between pops. If you don't use oil, the salt doesn't stick so it is pretty bland. I found a few sprays of butter flavored pam and shaking the popped corn in the bag did the trick. The staples did just fine in the microwave and did not make any sparks.

I would like to try using some different flavored oil or adding some seasoning like ranch dressing mix or Parmesan cheese to the bag prior to popping. This is definitely a cheaper and healthier way to make microwave popcorn and the possibilities are endless.

All I ask is that to show your gratitude for my money saving tip, you forget all about it when it is time for the boy scouts to sell popcorn in the fall. I know a scout who would be very sad if I was the reason he wasn't getting any popcorn sales.

Jenn

Microwave Pop Corn
1/4 cup popping corn
1/4 teaspoon of popcorn salt or kosher salt
1-2 teaspoons vegetable oil or flavored oil or popcorn oil, you get the idea - clarified butter would also work

Put all ingredients in a brown paper lunch sack. Fold over twice and staple twice. Shake bag to distributed seasonings and oil. Place on top of a couple of paper towels in the microwave. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until there are two seconds between pops. Shake bag again and enjoy.

A Tasty Surprise

Ruby and Eliza Claire have a book called You Can Do it, Sam that was a favorite a few months ago. It is a darling book about a bear named Sam that bakes cakes with his mom and the delivers them to all of their friends. He takes them to each door all by himself.

I decided to do our own version of this book since I had devised a recipe for Moravian Sugar Cake using the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day's Brioche bread dough recipe. I wanted to try it out but did not want to have a whole jelly roll pan of sugar cake sitting around my house as I knew what would happen if I did - I would eat way too much sugar cake.

Sunday night I made the dough. Monday morning we got up and I got the dough in the pans. I measured out all the topping ingredients and then put each girl on a stool with her set of ingredients and let her make sugar cake.






First they had to mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together. Then they had to use their index fingers to make indentations in the dough. Then they had to sprinkle on the cinnamon/brown sugar mixture and last but not least they had to drizzle on the butter.

While the cake baked the girls made cards to go on the cakes. They said "A tasty surprise! Love, Ruby and Eliza Claire." When the cakes were done we cut them into squares and wrapped them in wax paper.

Now it was time to deliver them. When we got in the van, a warning light came on. It was not one I was familiar with so I looked it up in the owners manual. The manual told me to turn the van off and restart it (sounds like any electronic troubleshooting device - always start with rebooting, oops tangent - back on subject now). Restarting it made the warning go away so we headed out to deliver our tasty surprises.

Our first delivery was to Grandma and Grandpa and then to one of their neighbors. At each house one girl would "ding, the ding bell" and the other girl would deliver the tasty surprise. Then at the next house they would switch tasks. When we got in the van to go to the next delivery, the car didn't want to start. It took a couple of tries and then started but the warning light was back. Not wanting to completely derail our tasty surprise fun we made three more deliveries and just made a point to leave the van running, knowing that when were finished those we would go to the car dealership in that neighborhood and have the van looked at.

Our friends at our last delivery invited us in. I explained that we couldn't come play for a bit as I couldn't turn the van off. My dear friend was nice enough to offer to watch the girls while I took the van to the dealership. I took her up on it! Michael ended up meeting me at the dealership and waiting for the van. I picked the girls up and we finished our deliveries.

It is funny. I realized Monday morning that we have become a society that never drops in on people. It was kind of daunting to embark on a day where I knew I was going to drop in on eight or nine households, completely unannounced. At each door, the person answering the door looked confused. Grandpa even asked if they had been supposed to watch the girls that morning. Luckily, while everyone was a bit disconcerted to find us unexpectedly at their door they were happy to be receiving a tasty surprise.

It was a fun day. One I hope the girls will remember. One I hope to repeat at least occasionally. Maybe next time we will drop in at your house with a tasty surprise.

Oh, and the sugar cake tasted just like Dewey's , though looking at the picture ours was not that thick and had more topping on it. I think next time I'll do everything but drizzle the butter and let it rise in the fridge overnight before baking...

Jenn

PS There is at least one other book about Sam and his Mama called Where's My Hug?

Focaccia

Still enjoying the bread making. This time I made a focaccia to go with dinner. I followed this technique, but changed up the toppings.

For the adult one I used sun dried tomatoes, slivered garlic, oregano, sea salt and olive oil.


For the kid one I used peperoni, slivered garlic, pesto and then sprinkled it with mozzarella when it came out of the oven.

Both were yummy and we have left overs for lunch tomorrow.

Making Bread

Yesterday I took the plunge into bread making. Even though I like to cook bread is something I've never had a desire to do. It just seemed too involved and like there were too many things that could go wrong.

I am using this basic recipe. You mix the four ingredients, let is rise and then refrigerate it until you want to make bread. My biggest complication so far has been finding the right size container to keep the dough in. Right now I am using my rubbermaid cake caddy, but today I purchased a cereal storage container that should be big enough and take up less room in the fridge.

I made my first loaf today. I used 1/4 of the dough I had. It took me only a couple of minutes to get the dough out, shape it, and get it ready to go in the oven. Then it had to rest. My only problem in baking was getting flour in the bottom of the oven when I transferred the bread to the baking stone. It burned and smoked and eventually I had to wipe it out mid cooking. The kids were very concerned that there would be a fire, but I assure you there was not!

We timed the bread baking so that the children could have a slice of warm bread for snack time. It was a big hit.

I'll be interested to see how the flavor changes as the dough ages. Today it was good but basic. The crust was very crunchy and the bread was very soft inside.

Happy baking!
Jenn

Tortilla Roll Ups

This is a quick and easy recipe for a great appetizer.

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
small can of green chilies
1 bunch of green onions
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro
1/4 cup salsa
Salt and pepper to taste
10-15 flour tortillas
Additional salsa for dipping

Combine the first seven ingredient in food processor and process until mostly smooth. Spread mixture on tortillas and roll up. Wrap rolled tortillas in damp paper towels. Place towel wrapped tortillas in a zip top bag and refrigerate at least a couple of hours but up to a couple of days. When ready to serve, unwrap from paper towels and cut tortillas in to 1 inch rolls. Serve with salsa for dipping.