November 16, 2020

Sharing a family birthday cake favorite today:

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 c. evaporated milk

1 c . sugar 

3 egg yolks, beaten

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 c. flaked coconut, toasted

1 c. chopped pecans

Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk, about 12 minutes.  Remove from heat, and stir in coconut & pecans.  Cool, beating occasionally, until spreading consistency. Refrigerate any leftovers.  Makes about 2-1/2 cups. 

Pirate's Grogg

Ahoy matey!  Speakin' o' birthdays, an since bloggin' bein' the finest way I be knowin' to capture my best recipes for posterity, I be offerin' up my recipe for Pirate's Grogg.  It be a fine punch for drinkin' on most of yer fancy-type occasions.  Add a bit o' dry ice for makin' a mystic roiling-boiling brew...and some plastic spiders to the punch bowl if you're a scurvy dog.  Aaaaargh!

 

 

We stirred up two vats of this brew down in the galley for our Pirate Murder Mystery Birthday Party last February when we celebrated Vincent and Kayleigh's birthdays.

 

 

Pirate's Grogg

 

2 large cans or 2 half-gallon cartons of Pineapple Juice

2 two-liter bottles of Ginger Ale

2/3 bottle of "La Paz" Lime Juice cocktail mixer

(or a large frozen limeade concentrate)

more or less

 

Mix ingredients in a 3 gallon dispenser.  Add ice.

 

Aaaaarrrrgh!

Double Digits

Carolina turned 10 years old recently and it was a fabulous 2-day celebration.  She thought about it for months and planned it down to a "T".

The 10th Birthday Party Plan

We had a her first ever "friends" party and rollerskating extravaganza which included a plethora of skaters with ages ranging from 50 (me) down to 4!

Kayleigh decorated the cake using our "double batch" recipe for Decorating Buttercream Icing.  This recipe originated in the Wilton Method of Cake Decorating classes I took over 20 years ago, after which I became a Wilton instructor at a local craft store.   More recently, I taught our older kids and their friends the skills of cake decorating and candy-making through our 4-H club.  Kayleigh practiced extensively and has become our family's official celebration cake baker and decorator.

Decorating Buttercream Frosting - "Double Batch"
(Makes 6 cups of medium consistency frosting - - -
Usually enough for both icing and decorating a family-sized cake)
2 lbs. powdered sugar (approx. 8 cups)
1 Tbsp. meringue powder
2 cups Crisco shortening
1 Tbsp. butter flavoring
1 Tbsp. clear vanilla flavoring
1/2 cup water
1/8 tsp. salt
Sift powdered sugar and meringue powder together and set aside.  In a mixer bowl with flat paddle attachment, cream shortening with the flavorings.  Add salt to water then gradually add water to shortening, beating until all is well-creamed.  Gradually add the sugar mixture and beat well until smooth and well-mixed.  Remove half of batch to be used for decorating.  More powdered sugar may be added to a small portion if stiff frosting is required for roses and other stand-up decorations.  A bit more water may be added to a portion of the icing to make a thin consistency for writing.   Use the remaining half of frosting for icing the cake by beating in 1-3 tsp. more water (and food coloring, if desired) to make a thinner consistency for icing the cake.  Leftover frosting may be refrigerated or frozen and will keep a long time.

The next day, on Carolina's real birthday, we had a dinner party at home.  She requested that I make the casserole we call "Aubrey's Chicken Divan", which her cousin Aubrey prepared when we visited the Virginia family in 2009.  This creamy chicken and broccoli casserole has a mildly delightful curry spice twist.  A nice company entree' or meal ministry gift, this dish can be made ahead and refrigerated (but do not freeze) and keeps a good consistency when hot-holding.

Aubrey's Chicken Divan
(serves 6)
2 cups cooked diced chicken (boneless thighs or breast)
2 cups broccoli florets, lightly steamed or briefly boiled (3-5 minutes) and drained
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, or shredded cheese blend
1 cup bread crumbs mixed with 3 Tbsp melted butter, or 1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp. curry powder
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt, curry and lemon juice to make a smooth sauce.  Grease a 2-quart deep baking dish and layer half of the chicken and broccoli in the bottom. Cover with half of the sauce and half of the cheese.  Repeat the layering.  Top with the breadcrumbs.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until heated through. 

Happy Birthday Carolina!

Until the Cows Come Home...

It's been an interesting year!  So many things have factored into my nine-month hiatus from blogging: the stress from the fires of last summer, subsequent illness, followed by the holidays and our "birthday season", intense audits at work, personal computer crashes, and the ever-present busy-ness with family and school and vacations. And now the cows.

We had a mountain lion take out a dairy goat earlier this summer.  We think the same predator literally scared one of our horses to death.  Then a few days later, five of our cattle blew straight through a barbed wire pasture fence and took off downhill like rabbits into the neighbors' sections of range-land.  Our dairy cow was located a week later and about 5 miles away!   While we're delighted to have her back, we're still searching for the missing cattle and it's like hunting for 4 really big needles in a 10-square-mile haystack.  We've had a  recent sighting of the wayward bunch.  Tracking and herding them into catch-pens is not an easy matter...one jumps like a show horse and another has no idea what it means to be herded at all and won't move an inch, that is until she decides to race after the jumper.  No definite progress yet, but we're tracking their whereabouts and we'll remain hopeful until the cows come home.

COW PIES
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 c. chopped peanuts (optional)
1)  Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, parchment or aluminum foil.  Measure out your vanilla, peanut butter, oats & peanuts, and set them aside.
2)  Combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full rolling boil.
3)  Remove pan from heat and quickly add the remaining ingredients.
4)  Mix well and immediately drop mixture by heaping tablespoons (or small portion scoop) onto the prepared cookie sheet and allow to cool completely before removing.   Store leftovers in a cool dry place.

This recipe is a quick favorite for those last minute "I gotta bring 4 dozen cookies tomorrow" snack requests.  Makes about 48 delicious, chewy, fudgy, no-bake treats in less than fifteen minutes.  You can guess why our family calls them "cow pies."

Oven-Baked S'mores by the Fireside

Last month we had some incredible wildfires which burned very close to our place.  We spent a number of days and nights on round-the-clock vigils watching the burn line come closer.  Having prepared for times such as this, we had the fire hoses and shovels ready to do battle.  And we joked that if the flames came close enough, we would roast marshmallows to make s'mores.  As it turned out, the fire crews were able to contain the line just below our kitchen window view.  

We made s'mores anyway...the bake-in-the-oven version.

This hill later burned.

We're enjoying s'mores and watching the fire-line below.

We started out with this package of gi-normous marshmallows

We cut the oversize marshmallows in thirds with scissors, laid them out on the graham crackers and briefly broiled them.

We used chocolate chips and placed this sheet in the oven to warm while the marshmallows were broiling.

When they're nice and melty, just slap them together and dive in!

Goody Goody Gumdrops

So, with Halloween around the corner, I thought I'd share my best tip of what we do with the abundance of candy!  We sort it immediately after the initial thrill of Trick-Or-Treating and put the gumdrops and a selection of other small treats aside for making our annual Christmas Gingerbread House.

The big zipper-bag of candy gets hidden in the pantry until the week before Christmas.  Then all we have to add is a few candy-canes to complete our creation.  We like to have the gingerbread house as dessert after our traditional Christmas Eve prime rib dinner.  I plan to post our recipe and directions for the cookie house in early December.  Until then,  Happy Pumpkin Carving and Trick-or-Treating!

TOASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS
Scoop out the seeds from your pumpkin and remove the bigger chunks of pulp.  Rinse in a colander.  Melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a non-stick skillet. Add the seeds and saute for a few minutes, adding a generous sprinkle of Lawry's Seasoned Salt.  Spray or grease a rimmed baking pan. Spread seeds out in a single layer and sprinkle with a little more of the salt.  Bake at 350 degrees until lightly toasted, about 30 minutes.  Loosen from pan with a spatula and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. In our house, we just leave them on the warm pan in the oven and they disappear within a day.  Depending on their tenderness, they may be eaten whole or cracked like sunflower seeds to eat just the kernel.

Being a Blessing with Dragon Eggs

Dragon Eggs
Our teenagers enjoy fantasy fiction literature...think "Chronicles of  Narnia" and "Lord of the Rings"... Somewhere along the line, our imaginative kids decided to name a favorite family one-pan dinner "Dragon Eggs."  It's really a "Shepherd's Pie" with the mashed potato topping done in scoops instead of spread out.  For good measure, the potato "eggs" are topped with a little shredded cheese.  Somehow this makes them a little more appealing to the two in our family who do not care as much for mashed potatoes.   Gotta love a good disguise!

Being a Blessing
Whether you're inclined to call it Shepherd's Pie or Dragon Eggs, I have found this to be a nice recipe to prepare and deliver to someone in need of the blessing of a family meal.  New baby arrival ...  loss of a loved one ...
14 years ago we had our own tragedy when our 4th baby Andrew died at birth due to hypoplastic left heart syndrome.  As we toughed out those first few weeks, we received many offers of  "Let us know what we can do to help."  And being strong and sturdy types, we just never could come out of the blur enough to articulate to our well-meaning friends what kind of help we actually needed.  "We're OK.  We're managing," was all we could say when, in reality, we desperately needed any support we could get.

I learned through this experience:

If you want to bless someone with your time or resources, 

make a concrete offer of whatever you'd like to do and include an option.  

For example:

"I'd like to take your kids to the park so you can get some rest.  

Would Tuesday or Thursday afternoon work best for you?" 

"When is your next doctor visit? I'd be happy to watch your kids during that time.  My place or yours?"  

"I have a dinner meal I'd like to bring over for your family.  It serves 6-8 people and can be frozen if you don't need it right away.  Would you be most able to use it this week or next?

*********

To bless someone in need:
Make a generous portion of this entree in a disposable aluminum half-pan.  Then write the contents, number of servings, date and reheating instructions on the aluminum lid with a Sharpie pen.  If you add a bagged green salad kit, dinner rolls and a dessert, you'll have a nice offering for a meal ministry.

Shepherd's Pie (Or "Dragon Eggs"  for the adventurous ones)
2 pound lean ground beef, browned and with excess fat drained away
1 quart of brown gravy, prepared from a mix
1 tablespoon dry Taco Seasoning mix for added flavor
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables or assorted fresh vegetables, sauteed or steamed.
1 package of instant mashed potatoes, prepared
about 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or triple cheese blend

After browning and draining the beef, add gravy mix per package directions, taco seasoning and cook until thickened. Add vegetables and cook briefly until crisp-tender.  Transfer to disposable pan if desired or leave in skillet if serving to family.  Top with 1/4 cup scoops of mashed potatoes (use ice cream/portion scoop)  and sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Cover briefly until cheese melts.  Serve (or deliver) immediately.  If cooling for reheating later, chill to 40 degrees within 4 hours.  If refrigerated:  Reheat at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  If frozen:  Reheat at 325 degrees for one hour or until internal temperature is 180 degrees or greater.

This recipe is quite versatile as a family one-dish meal and adapts to what's on hand.  Here I used some dehydrated spinach mixed into the beef. Now, I know this isn't the most appealing photo, but it sure does taste good!