Strawberry Poundcake FAIL

They say that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions....well, I just took a ride in the express lane!

This was supposed to be a nice surprise for someone I love, but it sorta exploded and made a mess. Luckily, I still have time to make another one as a replacement. But I'm out of eggs. Trip to the grocery store in my near future...

I'll post the photos of the mixing process along with the recipe after I get myself together, wipe away the tears, and go grocery shopping.



This really did almost make me cry!!!

Ham and Swiss Roulade for Dad

Dad's birthday brunch

Monday was my dad's birthday. I invited him over for brunch, and made the roulade recipe that I had been so pleased with when I tried it. For dad, I used a nice Polish ham and Swiss cheese. On the side, we had some sauteed mushrooms (sorry, no photos) and he even got a container with leftovers to take home with him. :)

He seemed happy, and we sat for a long time on the back patio, watched the birds, and chatted. I hope it was a nice day for him.

We have never really been close, and he's a hard person to get along with most of the time. But I just wanted to give him this one day where he felt like he was a special person.

I also gave him a bottle of wine that I know he likes, and I'm going to bake him some bread next week (Old World Rye, and Tomato-Basil). He's diabetic, so I didn't want to bake him a cake, although he loves cake...the bread will be less of a stress on his system, and he'll still enjoy it thoroughly, I'm sure.

Happy birthday, Dad.

Butterscotch Pie

I found this recipe in Amy's old green recipe file box.

Butterscotch Pie

1 c. brown sugar
3 T. white sugar
3 level T. flour
3 level T. corn starch
1 t. vanilla
1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. milk or cream
1/4 t. salt
2 egg yolks
1 heaping T. butter

In medium sauce pan, beat eggs and milk...


add flour, salt and corn starch; mix well...

...add butter; mix well.

Pour boiling water over sugars...


...blend to dissolve.

Add to sauce pan; cook over medium-low heat until thickened, stirring constantly.


Here's the pie shell I made:


And pre-baked:


Poured the custard into the pie shell and let it cool before putting it into the fridge to completely set...


Topped with whipped cream:


End result:



Written at the bottom of the page: From Anna Johnson (Alice's mother) sometime in the late 1920's.

(Amy's) NOTES: 2/21/1968 - Use a little less flour & corn starch. Use 3 eggs.



MY NOTES:
I thought this was going to need some tweaking, but I made it pretty much as-written, and it turned out fantastic. It totally tasted like butterscotch.

My initial thoughts were that I'd want to use hot milk rather than water, to make the pie creamy, but I trusted the recipe, and it was really good as-is. My only change was using half & half mixed in with the eggs; and I used 1 whole egg plus 2 yolks.

Everyone *loved* it, and one friend asked if he could have a second piece...

Gripe Of The Day

Bad Storm

Headed right for us...

Issued by The National Weather Service
Chicago, IL
12:30 pm CDT, Fri., Jun. 18, 2010

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 342 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT /8 PM EDT/ THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS

IN ILLINOIS THIS WATCH INCLUDES 18 COUNTIES

IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

LIVINGSTON

IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

FORD IROQUOIS

IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS

BOONE DE KALB LA SALLE LEE OGLE WINNEBAGO

IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS

COOK DUPAGE GRUNDY KANE KANKAKEE KENDALL LAKE IL MCHENRY WILL

IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 5 COUNTIES

IN NORTHWEST INDIANA

BENTON JASPER LAKE NEWTON PORTER

random amusements

Cactus and Calendula












Calendula is an edible variety of flower, which also supposedly has some medicinal values, although I just like to look at them. Especially the vivid orange ones. Pretty!

random amusements

Why is toast so good?

It's just a piece of bread that's been exposed to a heat source. Did you know there's a scientific term for this? It's called the Maillard reaction. (I think I may apply for a government grant to further study this principle. [humor])

But, seriously, what's about the only thing you want to eat when you have a cold? Tea and toast, right? Well, that's what I always want.

Or how about when you're stomach is a little upset, but you have a long day ahead of you, so you know you have to eat something...? Again: toast.

So, is toast, technically speaking, a comfort food?

What do you like to put on your toast? Butter, butter and jam, peanut butter, Nutella?

Ooh, I forgot to mention the magical properties of cinnamon toast!

Thumper likes toast with lots of butter. :) Casey likes toast with peanut butter. I like toast with....well, everything.

Ever smash up an avocado and put it on your toast? Or what about toast with smoked salmon and cream cheese?! Oooh, yum... Maybe just a simple Kraft cheese slice on your toast? Some sandwiches are better on toast; take the BLT, for example.

I guess that's all I have to say about toast for now, but please, keep toast in mind next time you are looking for a snack.


Oh, and let's not forget super heroes:

Lamb on the grill

Grilled Lamb with steamed veggies

Not really a recipe....just an idea and some photos...

Sorry about the over-exposure on the photo...damn sunlight!


Leftovers the next night, with some polenta fried in olive oil, with a dash of garlic salt and black pepper...

Polenta

One of Casey's favorite things from childhood: fried cornmeal "mush" with maple syrup.

Polenta

4 c. water
1 c. yellow corn meal
1 t. salt

1. Grease a loaf pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray.
2. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.
3. Combine remaining cup of water with corn meal and salt; slowly pour into boiling water, stirring constantly.
4. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally.
5. Cover and turn down heat; simmer 5 minutes.
   
6. Pour into prepared pan and cool in fridge until set.
7. Slice into 1/4-inch pieces and fry in butter until warmed through.
8. Serve with more butter and syrup, as you would pancakes.
   

Chicago Blackhawks = Stanley Cup Champions!!!!!

HAWKS WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gripe Of The Day

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

I made this for the kids next door...they had some after dinner that night, then had it for breakfast the next morning, AND IT WAS GONE!!!

Strawberry Pretzel Dessert

crust:
2 c. crushed pretzels
1/4 c. sugar
6 T. butter, melted

creamy layer:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. whipping cream

jell-o layer:
2 c. boiling water
2 pkg. strawberry jell-o
1 1/2 c. cold water
1 qt. (4 c.) strawberries, sliced

Heat oven to 350°.

Mix pretzel crumbs, sugar and butter (I used my food processor). Press onto bottom of 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Bake 10 min. Allow to cool completely.


With an electric mixer, blend cream cheese and sugar until smooth; beat in whipping cream. Spread over crust. Refrigerate.

Stir Jell-O with hot water until completely dissolved; stir in cold water. Refrigerate about 90 minutes or until thickened (spoon drawn through leaves definite impression). Stir in strawberries. Spoon gently over the top of the cream cheese layer. Refrigerate for about 3 hours, or until firm.

Mixed Berry Tart

Remember when I asked you guys what I should do with my puff pastry dough? Well, I made a decision, and this is what it turned into...

Mixed Berry Tart

1 puff pastry sheet, thawed
6 oz. fresh blackberries
6 oz. fresh raspberries
1/2 c. fresh blueberries
1 pkg. Jell-O cook & serve vanilla pudding
1 c. milk
2/3 c. half and half
1/4 t. almond extract

Rinse the berries well, and drain them...


Unfold the puff pastry dough and place it on a baking sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray...

Flatten it out a little using a pastry roller or a rolling pin; then fold the edges over to create a border crust. Poke the center with a fork to try to keep it from puffing up too much in the center where you're going to want to add the custard filling.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool on rack.

Meanwhile, make the vanilla pudding according to the package instructions (although, I used some half and half, and made it thicker). You can leave out the almond extract if you don't like it; otherwise, stir it in while you're cooking the pudding.

Spread the still hot pudding onto the baked crust and pile the berries on top. Serve warm or cool. Refrigerate leftovers.

random amusements

Hawks win another one at home


Marian Hossa and Ben Eager both scored in last night's game to give the Hawks their second win in this best of 7 Stanley Cup Finals series versus the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Hawks will now travel to Philly for games 3 and 4, and will need to avoid the defensive lapses that were scary for us fans in game 1.

To tell you the truth, I don't exactly know how to feel right now...I mean, I'm hopeful, and maybe you could say, "cautiously optimistic" about our chances, but to this point I have never seen our team play this well and get this far in the Play Offs, so I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to be doing/feeling/thinking under these circumstances. It's weird. Surreal. Unbelievable.

Oh, and the night before last I had a strange dream that Adam Burish was in my kitchen and I was going to make him some coffee. When I asked what kind he liked, he said, "I dunno; coffee is just coffee to me." I was appalled! I made some Lavazza and we sat out back on the patio and drank our coffee. (Please don't misinterpret that—I'm not a psycho-slut with a crush or anything! We were just drinking coffee, that's all. I would never be rude to the guy, honestly!)

random amusements

3 random thoughts...

#1
Tonight is game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals VS. the Flyers.

LET'S GO HAWKS!!!!!!


#2
If Thumper had a credit card, what do you think he'd buy me.....?


#3
Going to be working in the yard today, getting the garden planted.



Have a great day, everyone!