Cookies!

So, by now I think you have a pretty good idea that I like to bake! I tried two new recipes for convention.  I made the biscotti for our traditional French press coffee time at 2 pm during convention. The other cookies are for the general fund. I think they may be new favorites!

Oreo Biscotti

1 cup sugar

1⁄3 cup butter, melted

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

16 Oreo cookies, coarsely chopped

2 ounces semisweet chocolate or 2 ounces white chocolate, melted

Beat sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until blended.

Stir in flour, baking powder and salt.

Fold in chopped cookies.

Divide mixture in half.

With floured hands, shape each half into a 9x3-inch loaf on a lightly greased large baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the centers come out clean.

Remove from oven; cool for 10 minutes.

Cut each loaf diagonally into 15 (1/2-inch thick) slices.

Place slices, cut side up, on same baking sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes more on each side or until lightly toasted.

Drizzle tops with melted chocolate.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup pumpkin (we use Libby's canned pumpkin)

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup cinnamon chips

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla and mix until combined, about 3 minutes. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in the cinnamon chips.

4. In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Shape dough into rounded tablespoons and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Lightly press down on the cookies with a spatula or the palm of your hand.

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Campfire Biscuits

So, these were still a lot for these pans, but third time's a charm for great biscuits baked over the campfire! This is the recipe I used. Would be tempted to take it down yet a bit in size, because clearly my drop biscuits grew together, but still totally works to cut them into wedges and cover in sausage gravy or butter and jam!

Baking Powder Biscuits

2 c. flour

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter

1 Tbs. sugar

1 large egg

3/4 c. milk

Mix all the dry ingredients together prior to leaving for the camp trip! Cut butter into dry ingredients; mix milk and egg and add to butter/dry mixture.  Stir until combined and drop into greased foil pie pan. Grease another pie pan and invert over pan with biscuits. Wrap in 2 layers of foil and place over campfire. Turn about every 2 minutes and flip them about 5-7 times ("baking" for a total of 15-20 minutes). Allow to finish baking with foil on for a couple of minutes after. Sorry, but this is totally a fly by the seat of your pants experiment!  How they bake depends on the flame, the heat of your fire, how high your grate is from the flame... But this biscuit recipe is delicious!

Long overdue update!

Well, how to even begin this update! The last update was around Christmas time and the report then was that Tiana was still Down Under, Coda left us and I was in nursing school..  Those are all almost still true! School is out for the summer and in September I will begin my final quarter! Oh. My. Goodness!!!!  Where has time gone and why is it not finished yet?!  I look forward to this quarter although I'm also just about petrified! I will be on a floor of very complex patients, but the awesome thing is that many students get hired on at that hospital if they have had this unit as their senior clinical rotation! A ready-made job isn't such a bad deal!

Just before the quarter finished, Kent and I welcomed Lexa into our lives.  She's a joy and a handful and I hope she's on the way to filling the very big paw-prints her big brother left behind! Soon she and I will begin visiting a local skilled nursing facility for a few minutes a week (she's still too tiny to stay for long!) and bring smiles to the faces of the residents and staff there! Our volunteer time was requested when we went to visit our neighbor who was rehabbing there! I'm so excited because therapy animals are truly incredible in these places!  I'm super pleased that she shows no fear or aggression in the face of walkers, wheelchairs, "odd" gaits, or other medical devices!

So far this summer has been a hot one! We've done just a couple of hikes so far, and now with Lexa being so small, they have to be smaller ones so as not to injure her or damage the growth plates of her bones and joints! She does seem to prefer the trail to the sidewalk, though, so that is good!  Soon she'll have her first taste of camping, too!

I'll try to be better at updating as the summer rolls along!

It's always bread!

Yeah, I know! Just about any post now is about bread.  Actually, I do an update post next! Anyway, I found this bread recipe and really liked it!  The only problem is, it makes 3 loaves and there is NO way I can make it through 3 loaves when I barely get through 1 before it molds.  So, if you need 3 loaves, follow the link, but if you only want 1, here's the scaled down version in easy-to-find format!

Amish Soft Honey Whole Wheat Bread

1 c. warm water

1/3 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. yeast

1 egg, room temperature (can place in bowl of hot water while yeast sits!)

1/4 c. honey

1/4 c. butter, softened (original recipe calls for Crisco, but I don't ever use that stuff!)

2 tsp. salt

3-2/3 -4 c. whole wheat flour

Mix yeast, water and sugar; let stand 10 minutes until foamy. Add rest of ingredients together and knead for 6-10 minutes until smooth. I usually use my KitchenAid for the first 5-6 minutes and then do the rest by hand.  The more you knead, the more the inherent gluten is developed and the less need for any vital wheat gluten.  Let rise in warm place until about double in size.  Prepare loaf and place in greased loaf pan and allow to rise until double again.  Bake about 35 minutes at 375° or until the interior of the bread is 190°.

Amazing Potluck Taco Meat

After this New Year Union Meeting we had a taco salad potluck.  Because we'd been out of town I thought it would be great to have a slow-cooker option for the meat.  Found a winner!!  This would be great for a taco bar and or just to have done and then freeze in meal-sized packages!  Also, because Kent isn't a huge fan of the flavor of cumin, I changed the recipe I found so that there isn't so much of it and due to the base of people we thought we might have, I also made it not so spicy.

Super easy!

3 lbs ground beef, crumbled in greased slow-cooker crock
1/2-3/4 c. cholula hot sauce
1-2 Tbs. chili powder
1-2 Tbs. granulated garlic
1-2 Tbs. granulated onion
1-2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
salt (I omitted)
1/4 -1/4+2 Tbs. water

Mix hot sauce, spices and water, pour over beef, mix well, cook on high 3-4 hours.  Each hour, use a potato masher to mash and mix the beef.  Ok, so after 2 hours my meat looked fairly well done so I turned it down to low for the last 2 hours.  I also wasn't able to mix it that last time because we were in meeting, but it turned out just perfect!  I will make this again!

The end of another year and the Jewish-inspired meal to go with it!

2014 is just about to close!  Can you believe it?  And what a year!  Tiana's still hanging out Down Under leaving Kent and I footloose and fancy-free!  Well, except for that nursing school thing that keeps us somewhat down for 9 months of the year!  But that's ok!  It's great!  We'll miss our sidekick, Coda, a goodly part of the naming of this blog!

Our Christmas dinner theme this year was to enjoy some of the foods enjoyed at Hanukkah.  Since we are not Jewish, I'm sure there are some rules we didn't get right, but we did enjoy our meal!  From what we read, the holiday is about oil so a lot of fried foods!  Also, it's about cheese/dairy to honor some other person's victory somewhere in battle.  Anyway, we had a Brisket in Wine Sauce, potato latkes, homemade applesauce, green salad, cucumbers in sour cream and instead of fried jelly-filled doughnuts we had fried, powdered sugar-coated Khovorst/Strusky from my "Russian" childhood! We had a good dinner that might just need a repeat!  The brisket would make a fine Sunday roast!  So, for your dinner pleasure, here's the recipe!

Brisket in Wine Sauce

2½ pound brisket

1 Tbs. paprika

½ tsp. basil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

3 medium onions, sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled, halved

1½ c. ketchup

1½ c. dry red wine

1½ c. water

Preheat oven to 325° F.

Rinse brisket, place in roasting pan (I used a Dutch oven).

Mix paprika, basil, salt and pepper and then rub into meat.

Scatter onions and garlic over meat.

Mix ketchup, wine and water.  Pour over brisket.

Cover pan tightly (or if using a regular pan, cover and tent with foil so that the foil does not touch the meat.)

Bake for 3 hours or until a temp of 190° F is reached.

I am going to say that 3 of us ate almost all of a 3 pound brisket!  The recipe says this serves 8, but it must be 6 very picky children and 2 hungry adults!!  I did thicken some of the sauce afterwards and so even if you don't make latkes to go with it, you will have a delicious sauce to put over noodles, rice or mashed potatoes!!  You'll actually have LOTS of sauce for those side dishes! Enjoy!

Per Request Part II

Well, since I just updated and I tried more recipes, I'll update again!  I hope that begins to satisfy the blog post craving! Haha!

A few days ago I made a pork recipe in my slow-cooker that we really liked!  When I had the meat shredded, I blended the sauce and drizzled a little on the meat that I had placed on a baking sheet to put under the broiler to crisp it up just a little (like carnitas) and then served the sauce as a "salsa" on the side.  Next time I would consider adding a fresh jalapeño to spice it up a bit! Oh, and I halved the recipe for just the two of us and it was plenty!

Slow-Cooker Green Chili Pork

1 1/2 pounds poblano or Anaheim chiles (about 4 large)

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder

Salt and pepper

1 28-oz. can green enchilada sauce

4 tomatillos, husked and quartered

Flour or corn tortillas for serving, optional

Preparation

1. Place a rack 4 inches from heat source and preheat broiler to high. Place chiles in a single layer on a baking sheet. Broil until skin is blackened, 6 to 7 minutes, turning occasionally. Place in a large bowl; seal with plastic wrap. Let stand until skin has softened, about 7 minutes. Peel, seed and roughly chop chiles. Use immediately or refrigerate overnight in a ziplock bag.

2. Season pork with salt and pepper. Place in a slow cooker. Add chiles, enchilada sauce and tomatillos; turn to coat.

3. Cover and cook on low until meat is fork-tender, 6 to 7 hours. Remove pork to a baking dish and shred with two forks. Tilt slow cooker and spoon off some fat. Place pork back in slow cooker, cover and rewarm on high heat. Season with salt and pepper; serve with tortillas, if desired.

Last night we had company and so I made a summer pasta salad and grilled veggies along with some homemade bread.  The bread I made with 1 c. white flour and the rest whole wheat.  I vary that recipe all the time!  For the veggies I simply sliced a large zucchini lengthwise into 4 thick slices.  I brushed them with olive oil and then used fresh ground garlic salt and pepper to season it.  I also cut red peppers into quarters and did the same thing.  We then grilled them directly on the grate and they came out SOOO tasty!  I also tried a green bean recipe that could have been grilled but my grill basket is too hole-y so I just sauteed them. That recipe is also delicious!  

Grilled Green Beans

The marinade works with broccoli and asparagus, too.

8 oz. green beans

1 Tbs. lemon juice

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp Kosher salt (optional)

Fresh ground pepper to taste

grated Parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients except cheese in a ziploc bag and allow to marinade for 10 minutes.  Grill or sauté over medium heat until crisp-tender.  Turn frequently.  Sprinkle with Parmesan just before serving.

And finally the pasta salad.  I only barely follow this recipe!  

Greek Tortellini Salad

1 (20 ounce) package refrigerated cheese tortellini 

1 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 large cucumber, chopped

1 cup kalamata olives, pit removed and chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

For the Dressing:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and pepper, to taste

directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the tortellini according to the package directions. Drain the tortellini and rinse with cold water.

2. Place the tortellini in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion, and feta cheese.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir until salad is well coated. Serve immediately or place in the refrigerator.

Note-this salad will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

So my recipe looks something like this:

12 oz. dried tortellini - cook according to package directions and cool 

1 small red onion, diced

handful of Kalamata olives (pitted), coarsely chopped

1/2 red pepper, or so, diced

cucumber, diced - until it looks right

about maybe 15-20 grape tomatoes, chopped

fresh mozzarella balls (about 1" diameter) cut into quarters -- again, until it looks right

4 oz. of Genoa salami slices cut up

large handful of baby spinach, cut into thin strips (maybe a leaf or two of fresh basil, too!)

marinaded artichokes, cut up -- until it looks right

The dressing from the recipe above with a bit of the marinade from the artichokes for more flavor.  

The beauty of pasta salad is you can do what you want and what suits your taste!