Winter and kitchens go together~

                                     

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,                     

 




What a winter ! We've been back six days and I just don't believe this weather in Ohio. However... it's good to be in the kitchen.

                 

 

 In searching Pinterest after a month away, I've found some interesting things.  Pinterest has to be the best site on the web for people who like to cook, craft, or collect.

 

The coconut cake caught my eye right away because I am wild about coconut in any form.  Now that I have ventured back into the kitchen, I am thinking of making this cake.  By the way I made the orange juice cake for guest in Florida and it was well received although I had to do it in a glass baking dish because there was no bunt pan.  How can people do without bundt pans? I think this coconut cake will be beautiful in such a pan.  It put me in mind of the movie Babette's  Feast when she unpanned the swirled baba au rhum. (Uh oh, I read further and it said a bundt pan was not recommended because the cake is so delicate. ) I can't think why, a pound cake is anything but delicate,  so I might just risk it.

Saturday.  I did risk it.  I took many risks and I like my results.  I used a bundt pan but I also used a French vanilla cake mix, two sticks of room temperature butter, five room temperature eggs and one cup of milk, with a half a bag of Baker's coconut.

 

                                                                  

                                                                   

 

 Recipe as shown of Pinterest:

Coconut Pound Cake Ingredients:

FOR THE CAKE:

 

Coconut Pound Cake - Recipe

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 eggs (at room temperature)
• 1 cup whole (or low-fat) milk
• 1 tsp coconut extract
• 3½ oz Angel Flake sweetened, shredded coconut (used half a bag of Baker's coconut.)

FOR THE GLAZE:

• 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut milk (or regular milk)
• 1/2 tsp coconut extract
• 1/2 – 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour a 9- or 10-inch tube pan. This cake is delicate so I wouldn’t recommend using a bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer (on medium speed) to cream the butter and sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add in eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Stir in the milk, coconut extract and shredded coconut. Finally, add the flour, baking powder and salt mixture, and stir to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until golden brown, about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. Whisk together the coconut milk, coconut extract and confectioner’s sugar until smooth, adding more sugar as needed to thicken the glaze (or more milk if you want to thin it out).
5. Cool cake in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing. Drizzle with glaze while cake is still warm.

I do an awful lot of this~

                                                               


                                                                   A peek into my day...

 I came home to the most amazingly clean and organized house!  Thanks to Beth, Mike, and a woman named Levitt. Even the dogs sparkled.  It was a lovely gift and one I really appreciate.  After a month in the sun and a trip home without incident it is always an adjustment to get back into the thick of activity. During the trip I did a lot of cooking and today, four days later, I am considering turning on the stove if I recall how to do this.  The knobs are so clean, the counter so pristine, the floors so shiny, disturbing things so perfect makes me hesitate, procrastinate, and abdicate.

One thing about the trip before I (perhaps) start to cook.  The motels between Columbus and Florida have suddenly gotten cheaper.  On the way down we paid $53. for a nice room at a Best Western.  We have always paid over $100. On the way back we paid $48. for a night in a Hampton Inn.  Granted what ever was blowing through the air system in that one caused me great anguish with cold like symptoms... that is until I got home, shed what I was wearing, took a shower, washed my hair and suddenly I was cured.  What is it with these heating and air systems--don't they know how to change a filter?  Anyway, once we got to northern Florida we stayed a couple of days to visit family. We were in another Best Western (where we had stayed five times before) and the room price went up to nearly $90. for the same type accommodations.  We asked the( snippy) desk clerk why the price difference and her reply was, "after all, this IS Florida". Really? Gainsville?  That's the way it goes and if one travels, one pays.

Before we left for the month at the beach, Glenda and Joe had a family card party to see us all off the next day. Kathy, their daughter, made a delicious easy dish with a rotisserie chicken.  It was miniature sliders.  The left overs have many uses: on a homemade pizza, on a salad, over a pasta dish, to name but a few. We made it twice in Florida and it will become a must at parties from now on.  It is one of the two dishes that was new to me, the other one from Beth can be viewed on the previous post about Florida with the family pictures.

Buffalo Chicken Sliders

1/4 c butter

1/4 c honey

1/2 c hot sauce

1 Rotisserie Chicken shredded
...
12 slider buns

Bleu cheese dressing.

In small pan combine butter, honey and hot sauce and cook over medium heat until butter and honey is dissolved.

Remove chicken skin and shred the meat. Toss chicken in sauce to coat evenly. Drizzle bleu cheese dressing on sandwich.

It's that easy.

February at Many Branches~and pictures from Florida

                                                           

                           

After a month in the Florida sun, we will be on our way home to Many Branches
 tomorrow, Friday, arriving to yippees and kisses from the dogs, and family too, on Saturday. It was a lovely month with some visitors and lots of down time, cards, cocktails, and good food. Our favorite eat out spot (after Gull House kitchen) is New England Eatery. When I put my foot down, out of the kitchen we go there for seafood. It is usually once a week. It is amazing to spend a month with relatives without a spat or split. I don't know how it happens, especially after seeing so much squabbling on TV reality shows. 
 I think we are an enigma.

I have many pictures and two tried and true recipes for you to try.  I should be able to post on Sunday. I know that you have been snowed and sleeted in and depressed due to the weather. This is happening in the UK as well as many other places.  Here's hoping that all of that is over and that we will bring sunshine home with us.  We have many plans for spring and hope they all pan out. Many blessings to you for 2014.

Doris                                 

 

 

Before the tan~ 

 Cincinnati Lechlers at the New England Eatery~

Feet on the sand...Doris and Andy~

 

 Pork roasts/thick cut fries all roasted together~
 

Hash brown nest in a cupcake pan/and egg and cheese~

 

 Our backyard~

Chee...too much wine or too many cards?

 

 

Andy and JD's dangerous hike.

 

Joe and Glenda

Our every day, all day view.

Kathy's one out of six fish she caught.

 

The back of our beach house.

 

End of the day....end of the stay 

This is a super starter that Beth brought for an event and we took the remains in ball form to a card party later.

This is supposed to go in a ring mold with a dish in the center holding seedless raspberry jelly once it has been unmolded.  But it can be made into a ball with a side of jelly and crackers.

Beth's cheese starter.

Combine all:

1 pound white cheddar cheese shredded or food processed to small rice like pieces
1 cup toasted walnuts
3/4 cup mayo
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1/4 tsp garlic minced
1/2 tsp hot sauce or more if you wish
Mix it all together and put into a mold or simply a ball and chill.

Once out of the frig. unmold and place the sweet jelly or jam with the cheese item.

 

Orange Juice Cake~

orange juice cake

Me at age six.

                                                     

My niece, Nancy, and her husband, Danny, came to visit today.  Actually hospital visits played a role in their being here, but once that was taken care of for the day, we settled down to a nice visit.  They brought me four lovely things: one was a folk art type water color of our family home on Joe Town Hill--we were actually not on the hill but nestled in the valley on fifty acres that had a lovely home, barn, cottage, two long low chicken houses, a pond and horses. It had a long lane which I drove up and backed down several times a day as a child. (The old black car can be seen in front of the barn.)  It's where I learned to stick shift drive. My parents bought the place when I was seven years old for $1,000.  It was a wreck, but tidy it up they did and it was a show place which my father sold when I was in college for $13,000.  That was a good price back then and now I cannot guess how much it would be worth now.  The picture will hang in a place of honor here at Many Branches.  I can see my bedroom in the picture and the landscape details are clear and honest. The second gift was a big pot of vegetable soup.  She took pity on me since I can't stand to cook since Thanksgiving.  I'll probably get back in the swing of things once I get to the beach house, but right now, not so much.  The third gift was an orange juice cake with the recipe which I will share with you because the cake is easy, moist, and delicious. It's good to have many nieces.  Sadly, we lost one, Nancy's sister, Linda, this time last year. We will always miss her. The fourth gift arrived later. A picture of me at age six. Thank you.

                                         

Orange Juice Cake:

1 box Duncan Hines butter recipe yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1 cup orange juice
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
Mix all of the above and pour into a greased bundt pan and bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven.

Frosting/glaze
1 stick butter
1 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
Mix until smooth (just keep stirring it will eventually dissolve)
Pour over hot cake right out of the oven
Let it sit for 30 minutes and then remove from pan

                                  

 

Aunt Fausta's Pies

 

 

Fausta is an unusual name.  A Saint of mercy was named Fausta and that was one quality my aunt had among many.  She was one of my dad's sisters. My aunt never uttered a complaint as far as I know.  Everything was just fine with her and she saw no evil in anything or anyone. She was known for her pies, her easy going personality, and quilting.  She used to come to our house along with my mother and she would make pies. My mother would make pillow-soft  dinner rolls and also cinnamon (rolls). Mother  fixed chicken with her famous home made noodles, and then they would quilt. They chatted quietly and laughed loudly all day long and it was some how stabilizing to my household. She and my mother were closer than my mother was to her own sister.  That happens sometimes I have found.

 

My Aunt Fausta (we pronounced it Aunt Faustee) was the best pie baker ever!   Her lard crusts were so flaky and delicious one could eat them without the filling.    I had been to her house many times for lessons on pie making, but the lessons never seemed to work once I got home.  Never one to give up on pie, I decided one Sunday afternoon when the house was quiet I would make pies until I got it right.  I had flour from one end of the kitchen to the other.  I tried pounding the dough into submission, but to no avail. I also refused to chill the dough for 30 minutes because I wanted instant gratification...always in a rush. Hence, it never worked.

 

 My aunt died at 93 the year we moved into this current home but not before Andy got her to the Ohio State Fair; a place she had always longed to visit.  I was in London and she was staying for a long visit with Andy and the boys.  Andy got it in his head that she should indeed see the fair, so he and she drove to the fairgrounds on a hot and humid day.   He hustled her hither and yon to see the quilts display and the baked goods contest. It could have killed the poor woman but it didn't and see it she did and she talked about it until she died. I loved her and her qualities and I wish I had them.

                                                         

 

I saw this cute presentation on The English Kitchen.  I don't think these are available in America, but they should be.  This is a wonderful little addition to entertaining. Spoonettes, love this idea and could run with it if we had them.
Note: Oh, you can get them on Amazon, but two packages, coming from the UK cost $50. US.  No thanks. Scoops will suit me.

January at the beach~

Next~

Glenda and I have started packing for a month in Florida.  We have that great beach house with the many steps again.  We plan to look at the other offerings from the same owner this January in case he has another beach house we might enjoy better, though this one is really good...just steps to the sand with our large free standing deck at the beach and a balcony for morning coffee or drinks before dinner. There is something decadent about being in bed in January and being able to listen to the ocean just steps away.  We are hoping for good driving weather.  I know there will be a time down the road when driving that far late in December will be too risky and impossible, but while we can we enjoy the go. (We have already had three snows and it is only November.)  We are stopping for a few days with our son David and his family and then checking in to our January home.
                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

The dogs have begun to worry.  I called the vet today about Winston's anxiety separation issues--can we ever have a normal dog??? The rug cleaners were here and the three dogs had two nice rooms to wait in and yet Winston paced and yipped, paced and yipped.  When we go on vacation he won't eat for a week because I am not there to feed him. Well, he will have to cope because we are going! Andy has finished his classes at OSU and will sign up for more but not this next session because we will be gone. He really enjoyed the Political Science class as well as the horticulture sessions.

I must say Thanksgiving 2013 was really nice.  Pam and George came one day early with Beth, our daughter-in-law who, by the way, cut and broke her toe by dropping a can of Pledge on it, if you can imagine such damage with a simple can of furniture polish.  Any way, she's a plucky girl and went right on working. Joe F. brought a set of window boxes that he had made for us from Cincinnati AND there was a surprise birthday wishes session for me during the festivities.  Beth's family arrived fromNew Orleans without incident or killing each other from confinement in a car together for sixteen hours.

 

Set for thirty guests.

 

 

I hear we are having lots of company at the beach...so, I've figured it out. ta-daa. 

 

 

And then there were eleven...after Thanksgiving for dinner at Lindy's in German Village. 

 

Hot cider

• 12 cups water
• 4 tea bags
• 2 tablespoons whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 cups apple cider
• 4 cups orange juice
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. Simmer water and tea bags together with spices for 30 minutes.
2. Add 4 cups apple cider.
3. Add 4 cups orange juice from frozen concentrate
4. Add 3 tablespoons lemon juice
5. Heat it up to a quick boil.
6. Take out tea bags, cinnamon sticks and spice container.
7. Simmer slowly for another half hour. 
8. Cool and pour back into glass jugs and store in cool place.

 

 

 

 

 

Not always about the turkey~

 

 

 

 

 

 

I always go a little crazy during Thanksgiving.  I cook as though the fleet just docked and they are all coming to brunch and dinner. This year is no different, except it is more.  So far George (Pam's husband) and I are doing two turkeys and a ham the night before--this is new and I'll let you know how that works out later AND as we have the last few years we have "the roast".  Tom likes my cooking.  He's married to my niece Mary Susan and he is particular about his food. I've gotten him over some of his food sillies such his aversion to bread pudding. He is however, on my mind when I think of rib roast for special occasions.  He loves the roast.  Today, just when I was ready to throw aside my TASTE OF HOME magazine (which can be awesome or really bad) I was scanning it and everything looked wonderful! Now Taste of Home has hooked up with Sam's Club and they have begun to do some exciting things.  It is funny because two weeks ago at Sam's I ordered a slab of rib roast cut into two eight pound roasts.  One for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas Day. I pick them up on Wednesday before the big day.  I'll put one in the freezer and then I go to work on the biggest roast.  I cut slits all over the poor thing.  I insert garlic, which I love, but it hates me, into each and every slit and there are many on an 8 pound rib roast. I make a slurry of olive oil and fresh herbs and rub the roast with this all over its surface. I then layer a bed of onions in a roasting pan with some other tasties like carrots and celery and kohlrabi sprinkle olive oil, salt and pepper over the bed, lay the roast on top with a good helping of kosher salt and pepper and a good shake of a special honey red pepper seasoning.  Then I take (what ever is left over) red wine, pour it over the meat with a little more olive oil, cover it well with plastic wrap and leave it in a cool place until an hour before roasting on the day. I roast it to 130 degrees and let it rest (and me too) for 20 minutes--it cooks a little more and reclaims its juice back to where it belongs inside the roast and not on the cutting board. So, the plan is one platter of sliced white turkey meat covered in gravy, one platter of dark turkey meat with juice from the roasting, and one platter of ham covered with a special glaze.  That's just dinner however, which will be a candle light affair because of the late arrivals from New Orleans.

So far for the brunch I have ready these soups: ham and bean; barley and mushroom; chicken and vegetables; chili several ways; chicken and fat noodles; beef stew; pork/vegetables;  cheddar cheese with broccoli soup, and, a pasta ears soup. The pulled pork for sandwiches is ready as well.  I have four casseroles ready so far and several fruit breads.

One thing that caught my eye in Taste of Home, but I can't do for this crowd of thirty, is the shredded Parmesan cups filled with Cesar salad.  When I find the directions again, I will list how to do it here.  So far it has eluded me.

The other thoughts I have are for starters and sides. Sweet potato bacon wrapped bites appealed to me as a starter or a side. 
                                           

Yiiikes! Somebody stop me!

 

 Why do I do all of this? Read on:

 

Famous TV cooks make mistakes like the rest of us.  I have to laugh when Ina, the Barefoot Contessa, says she likes to surprise guests.  Just when they think they are coming to her house to eat something exotic, she serves them spaghetti and meatballs.  She says they find it delightful. (I doubted that very much.)  But, I tried it anyway on a frequent guest who did antique shows here in town and stayed and ate free, which is saying something if one has to pay four nights in a motel and the cost of eating for four days...and to say nothing of a friend that comes with him to stay as well. This went on for years, several times a year.  I always made food to please. I never felt used because normally one of the guys bought some of the things I had brought over from London and Paris. So, having heard Ina say her bosses were coming to dinner and she was serving meatloaf, in the Hamptons I might add, I thought that sounded catchy and fun.  Mashed potatoes, peas, and meatloaf were on the menu for a dinner AFTER the show closed, which was winter late to boot, after 9:00 pm.  As we sat down to the table the hand rubbing, the cutlery snatching, the gleam in the eyes appeared on cue.  I served, sat down and started asking about the show--who was there, how was the crowd, did you sell well?  Each question was answered in one syllable while the one guy was stirring the food around on his plate  actually snarling at it! Finally I asked,  don't you care for meatloaf?  No, he said, it was not what I was expecting. I get this at home. So after that, that is where he ate (and slept) as far as I was concerned. So, Ina, when you say this kind of thing on TV, simply because you don't want to exert yourself, you lead us astray and we don't like it.  It is not cute. And, by the way, I don't think your guests like it either. (I saw the startled reaction of the 'birthday boy' when you served his high end guest spaghetti and meatballs.)
 
That is why I go all out for my family and guests no matter the occasion. Can you imagine Tom's face if he showed up for brunch on Thanksgiving day and the only thing I had was one soup, one kind of cracker, and bread pudding for dessert?

Chicken in Paris, Veggies at home~

Kohlrabi and carrots...the last of the garden in the sink.

Potatoes, carrots, and kohlrabi ready for a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese over the olive oil, salt and pepper.

The above would be great roasting under the rotisserie chickens...why not?

 In Paris this time of year the food aromas take on a new and different deliciousness.  The fresh rotisserie chickens twirling outside the stores on their spits with tiny elegantly cut potatoes nestled beneath the hens as they rotate to perfection serve to cook the main dish and the side in one economical and logical combination.  I have offered this advice to Sam's suggestion box because they have wonderful rotisserie chickens , big , succulent and priced lower than the tiny offerings of Giant Eagle..  (The thing about the French potatoes: they are cut and trimmed into shapes that we simply do not fool around with here in America making them a simple but elegant presentation.)  It is genius to cook them this way which allows them to crisply roast beneath the dripping poultry, The potatoes are sacked in a separate container so if you don't want the potatoes, or just the potatoes, they are there to be sold together or alone as you wish.  But here, oh no, let us waste the drippings, the heat ,and the goodness and just sell the chickens--don't give an extra hand to the house wife as she flies through the store with supper thoughts churning and kids screaming. Why is it that stores of any kind find it difficult to take suggestions that are not even critical, but simply sensible and helpful. I rarely roast a chicken any more.  I usually buy two rotisserie chickens and we have several meals from the meat and then I simmer the devil out of the bones with fresh herbs to make at least two different soups; one chicken and noodles and one chicken and vegetables.  You can't beat these duos. Actually, why stop with potatoes, roast carrots under the hens or any other sturdy vegetable.  That's what I have always done when roasting chickens or turkeys myself.  The bottom of the roaster is covered with vegetables and served along side the chicken and there you have a one roaster dinner. The French got this one right for sure. They are also very clean about their always fresh  food during the cleaning, serving  and next day readiness of equipment.  Those spit roasters which have at least two complete cycles a day are sparkling clean after the dinner hour in preparation for the next day, as are all of the shops' meat counters, fish shelves, and beef refrigerators. Yep. They do food right.

Limoncello

   Pinterest is one of the most wonderful sites on the Internet.  It has everything and everything is meant to be shared.  If you don't want to share, then don't put it on Pinterest. 

 

 I always keep a bottle of limoncello, a liqueur from Italy.  The one I am using now is Caravella, but I haven't had a bad one.  This limoncello is easy to make in itself, but why not buy it already to go?  It is not that expensive and keeps in the freezer or in the frig beautifully.  This cake caught my eye because I am in to Thanksgiving preparations as we speak.  The tables are set for thirty and covered lightly to keep the areas fresh.  I just can't do this at the last minute it takes a lot of time to set the tables the way I like them. So far I have six different stews and soups in the freezer for the mid-day meal.  I have two pans of lasagna in the oven right now, one for dinner, one for the freezer. Anyway, I was surfing Pinterest and found this luscious cake.  I want to try it, so here is the recipe.  Also I will write how to make your own limoncello if you like. Note: Today the Barefoot Contessa, Ina, put limoncello over fresh fruit to sit at room temperature while she made a topping of Greek yogurt, vanilla, and a fourth of a cup of store bought lemon curd...stir together and top each serving of fresh fruit with this luscious mix. A nice ending to a meal.

 

 

 

Ingredients for limoncello

• 10 lemons
• 1 (750-ml) bottle vodka
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups sugar

Directions

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons in long strips (reserve the lemons for another use). Using a small sharp knife, trim away the white pith from the lemon peels; discard the pith. Place the lemon peels in a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the vodka over the peels and cover with plastic wrap. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka for 4 days at room temperature.

Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pour the sugar syrup over the vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer. Discard the peels. Transfer the limoncello to bottles. Seal the bottles and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 month. Chill.

Limoncello cake:

Ingredients: (For the cake)

• Flour, sifted-2 cups
• Sugar- 3/4 cups
• Baking powder- 1 1/2 tsp.
• Baking Soda- 1/2 tsp.
• Salt- 1/2 tsp.
• Greek yogurt, plain- 1 cup
• Milk-1/2 cup
• Vegetable oil- 1/4 cup
• Eggs- 2 large
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp.
• Limoncello- 1/4 cup
• Raspberries, fresh or frozen- 1 cup

 

Method: For the Bundt cake.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease your bundt pan. I like to use a pastry brush dipped in oil to brush all the little crevices of the bundt pan to make sure nothing sticks and then lightly dust it with flour.

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a smaller bowl whisk yogurt, milk, oil, vanilla extract, limoncello and eggs.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and combine until blended, then gently fold in raspberries.

Pour the mixture into the bundt pan, it shouldn’t be more than 2/3 full and bake for 60-65 minutes until the cake tester comes out clean. Cool until safe to touch and remove from the pan. Cool completely and dust with some icing sugar.

 

 

 

Start Cooking...Thanksgiving is around the corner~

                                                                

 

 

 

Thanksgiving is around the corner and it's a big one here at Many Branches! Beth's family will be coming in from New Orleans and the Cincinnati Lechlers will be here as well.  Plus girl friends and boy friends...you know the drill. Thanksgiving Day will be the usual two meals with the dinner meal a candle light affair because of the late arrivals from New Orleans.  They are driving  and we hope for the best driving weather possible for them. (And, for us, when we go to Florida for the month of January.)

 

As you can see from the picture, I am not a ready mix snob.  I may adjust the things here and there, but I take the help no matter where it comes from.  For instance the wonderfully delicious spice swirl cake mix.  I made it for the OSU week end and could not get it out of the bunt pan (because of the brown sugar cinnamon swirl part), so it came out in pieces...so, I just put it in a pretty stemmed glass dish, made a custard pudding, poured it over the top and there we had a nice bread pudding style dessert. Lovely.  Today I made this cake again and this time I put it in a long baking dish and hoped for the best, and, the best it was.

 

The products shown here are from World Market and I have begun to really enjoy this store. If you buy a case of wine (they have wonderful selections) you get 10% off the case of wine.  The Ghirardelli brownie mix is stunningly good.  I use two boxes and it fills the longest baking dish really well.  Don't over bake. It's Ghirardelli chocolate, how could it not be good?

 

The pasta is from Italy and World Market has some nice selections that are not usually seen.  Lumaconi stands up well to the sauce which nestles in the little pockets, so when one bites in to a fork full, Carfagna's pasta sauce squirts from the shells and one gets double the pleasure. Carfagna's sauce is sold in many grocery stores in Columbus.  Their market is on route 161 in Columbus.  It is a very popular Italian center piece in the foodie world of Columbus, and, their products are fantastic.

 

So, the cooking begins and the freezer fills pretty rapidly.  I am planning on two or three turkeys this year.  Two of which will be roasted the day before.  Luckily Pam and George will be here the day before and George will wrestle the turkeys and slice them up.  I am making gallons of gravy, so two platters will be made the day before, covered with gravy on the day.... and Bob's your uncle. We will also do the ham the day before.  The rib roast, however, will be done on the day.  Too much food you say??? With every bedroom filled and four meals to do, there is never too much food.  We are expecting nearly thirty people. The 29th, the day after Thanksgiving we will gather again for a dinner as well. That's the plan.

                                                                                                                                                                                      

Falling for Florets

On the first day of snow in Columbus, how that happened I'll never know, Cook's Corner featured cauliflower recipes.  Love, love, love cauliflower. I am, however, beginning to re- hate the Columbus Dispatch. They have dreamed up yet another scheme to make money and to annoy (me.)  Now you can only view a section of the paper on line five times without paying for an on- line subscription. There is an over-lay on the recipe that one might want to see until one pays for a subscription.  This is foolish because there is probably not one recipe in this world that cannot be found FREE in the vast recipe offerings on line. So that's NOT going to work. I forgave them for cutting down the number of pages of Cook's Corner while hemming it with crossword puzzles and celebrity gossip, but I have reached my level of forgiveness, which is not large in the first place. Never mind, I found a way to give you some tasty recipes for this delectable vegetable.  I have a large head of florets at the moment and I am eager to try these recipes.  Week end company's coming, several soups are made, but I might add one more dish to the menu.  Oh, and I still have cakes to bake.  I am trying this peaches and cream cake shown here and I will let you know how it turns out. This is a perfect day for the kitchen because it is not nice outside.  The pool is still open and all the summer furniture is covered, briefly, in pure white snow with rain on the way to wash it away.

                                              Oh, yes, Happy Halloween too.

peaches and cream cake

 

For T.F., Hilliard
Makes 8 servings

Peaches and cream cake:
3/4 cup flour
  1 package (3.5 ounces) vanilla cooked  pudding mix
  1 teaspoon baking powder
  1 egg
  1/2 cup milk
  3 tablespoons butter,  melted
  1 can (16 ounces)  sliced peaches
  1/2 cup sugar
  1 package (8 ounces)  cream cheese
  1 tablespoon sugar
  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8-by-8-inch baking dish.

Stir together flour, pudding mix and baking powder.

Combine egg, milk and melted butter. Add to dry mix and mix well. Pour into baking dish.

Drain peaches, reserving 1/3 cup of liquid. Chop peaches and sprinkle over batter. Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and peach liquid. Pour over the peaches. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over all.

Bake for 45 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or cold, but it’s best warm.

S. Hill, Hilliard

Cauliflower, YUM.

Deb Lindsey | Washington Post photos

Roasted Cauliflower Gratin

This recipe was adapted from Washington-area chefs for  The Washington Post. 

Makes 6 servings

There is no need to whip up a bechamel sauce for this quick version of a gratin, made all the more alluring by first oven-roasting the cauliflower.

1 large head (2 pounds) cauliflower (outer leaves removed), broken into 11/2-inch florets 3 tablespoons canola oil 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 small clove garlic, minced 1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; heat to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Toss the florets, oil and salt in a mixing bowl to coat. Spread the florets on the baking sheet, flat edges down. (Wipe out the bowl; you’ll use it again.)

Bake on the lower rack for 20 minutes, then turn the oven on broil. When it’s heated, transfer the cauliflower to the top rack and broil for 7 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned and tender. Keep the broiler on.

Transfer the florets to the same bowl you first used. Add the cream, garlic, Gruyere cheese, half of the Parmigiano-Reggiano and all the pepper and nutmeg. Stir to incorporate, then spoon the cauliflower into a large gratin dish.

Sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano and return to the broiler for 5 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

 

 

 

Cauliflower “Risotto” Recipe

Vegan, grain and gluten-free

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 medium head of cauliflower, chopped in a food processor
• 2 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 can white beans, rinsed and drained, divided (I prefer Great Northern Beans)
• 1/2 c. vegetable broth
• 1 large shallot, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tb sundried tomatoes
• 1 Tb capers
• 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
• toasted pinenuts, optional

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium-sized pot, heat 1 Tb olive oil on medium heat until warmed. Place the shallots, garlic, and thyme inside and saute for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant and translucent.
2. Place 1/2 the can of beans and vegetable broth into the pot and simmer for 5 minutes.
3. With an immersion blender (or if you do not have one, use a regular blender), gently blend all of the contents together in the pot until creamy and smooth.
4. Add grated cauliflower, sun-dried tomatoes, remainder beans, and spinach. Cover with a lid and allow to heat through for a good 5 minutes.
5. Add the capers before you serve and garnish with toasted pinenuts.