Egg roll stir fry

                                                 

Trying this today!! (And, it was delicious.)

1 pound ground beef or pork (crumple and fry with 1 large diced onion in a very large skillet.)

1 small head of cabbage sliced in julienne form.  Add to meat mixture

3 diced carrots add to meat and cabbage mixture

Stir the following together in a bowl: 4-5 cloves of garlic minced, 1 tablespoon grated ginger, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

Add the bowl contents to the skillet and mix, stir over medium to high heat for 4 minutes.

Reduce to medium and cook until cabbage is tender as you would any stir fry.

I am using this minced chicken, carrot, onion,celery mix instead of pork or beef because I had a nice rotisserie chicken on hand.

4 to 6 servings   

Snickerdoodle Bread

             

I have been on a loaf pan frenzy for the last two months...don't know why, but if it fit in a loaf pan, then that was the food's vehicle for the day.  This is my second post after being away for a month and not writing for Sundays with the Lechlers, so as I was searching for inspiration  snickerdoodle bread showed up everywhere I looked all of a sudden.  I could post several recipes, but what is the point when you can google snickerdoodle bread and take your choice of dozens of recipes.  I am going to select one and if it is really good, I will tell you where to find it. If you find one, please let me know what you've tried.  The snickerdoodle cookies are so good and so old fashion, I just don't know why I never heard of snickerdoodle bread until today.  (Maybe it was the loaf pan that caught my attention.)

Mennonite Girls Can Cook's (blog) featured individual beef wellington today.  I have always wanted to try that, but if you don't get it right, think of the cost of that mistake.  Beef is so expensive now and we are paying steak prices for ground chuck now days unless it happens to be on sale, so the cut that costs in the puff pastry wrap is a treasure to be uncovered for sure if it is done right.    

  Another thing I didn't realize until this Florida trip, stores' prices are not fixed and depend on the area in which you are shopping at the time.  I thought if Kroger had a price for ground chuck, one could get that price in any Kroger store no matter which one you happened to drive to. Not so, if you are in a high toned area, those prices will reflect that.  Publix is a really nice grocery store in Florida but you can pay one price and then drive 20 miles and find a different price.  (Andy does a lot of our shopping, so I am constantly surprised and always interested in the way things play out.)

Home again with great pleasure

                                         


         

This to this~
                                                         

It is always lovely to spend January away from the snow and cold weather but coming home today to 60 degrees isn't bad either.  Home is where my heart stays.  I don't know what it is about this place but being able to buy his property was one of the happiest days of my life and driving into the driveway always thrills me because it feels like a part of me rests here and will be here forever...even though I will be pushing up daisies one day. .. hopefully a long time off because I have so much to do and things to see and of course promises to make good.

Beth picked me up at the airport and she is such a doll and so cheerful and helpful and filled with a loving spirit.  The house could have been pictured for a magazine with all of the flowers, clean and healthy dogs, and everything in its place.  It just sparkled. She is a blessing for sure.  Mike flew down to Florida to drive the old folks home.  (Glad I am not included in that description.)  Glenda did pretty well this year even with a very bad knee.  There are five levels to that beach house so we all got in our exercise every day for a month.  It was hardest on her, but she is a trooper.  It rained pretty much but on the sunny days we managed to bake our bones and I came home with a really good tan which always looks nice with a yellow cashmere sweater set and pearls.  It will soon fade, but I am going to make the most of it.

I always say I will never cook again after a month of non-stop cooking, but already I am putting together a grocery list in my mind for my very clean and organized frig. But Beth and I had Chinese carry out tonight and it was so delicious.  Andy and Mike won't be back until very late tomorrow night, so maybe we can work in another carry in meal or two. Steak would be nice since we feasted on seafood for a month.
 (Here is a good idea from Pinterest.)
   iwashyoudry.com

 from I Wash You Dry

Shrimp Taco Bites

Shrimp Taco Bites. Seasoned shrimp in scoop tortilla chip with sour cream, cilantro, and avocado. Great appetizers

I didn't create anything new on the trip, nor did I find inspiration when we ate out, but I have been watching Netflex and several really good cooking events are on there along with Doc Martin, House of Cards, Nurse Jackie (which I cannot watch the last of the series as she continues to shoot herself in the foot.) I got Joe on Netflex and he is so hooked that it was difficult to get him into the card games.  We played over sixty GAMES , not hands, games of Euchre...now I can't stand the name or the game.  We were so far ahead, but those Lechler men are made for cards; they passed us by and so I quit! And tore up the running score. Nice lesson for the young, right?

I will try to get on track and give you some good recipes.  Ina Garten had a great wild rice salad that I want to make for Easter.  Do you realize we are into Lent and Easter is March 27th and everyone is coming?  I had better get my head and menu together.  Talk to you so.  Glad to be back and sorry to have left you hanging for a month.

P.S. I did have one new thing to try while in Florida, well, new to me. Our son David made skillet lasagna one evening to relieve me cooking for once.  It was delicious and eaten in one sitting because you simply select the size skillet that fits the needs of those having dinner with you at that time.  We had seven that evening so a large deep skillet fit with a lid did the trick.  An iron skillet is really great as well. 
Buy the no cook sheet noodles which is a wonderful invention I must say and time efficient, or any kind of pasta that you like. Put a layer of your favorite sauce in the bottom of the skillet. Put a layer of chopped ground chuck (cook before but just slightly), then a layer of sauce, then noodles, then cheese cheese...you get the idea just as you would the tedious lasagna recipe but scaled down.  End with cheese, put on the lid and set the skillet on a baking sheet to catch the spill, and slide it into the oven for around 40 minutes or until it has a good bubble going. It is special.  I found Prego spicy sausage (jar) made it more delicious and I also sprinkled a packet of dried onion soup over each layer of the meat for extra flavor.  Then you don't need salt. Pinterest has dozens of recipes for this and you can't go wrong.  

Once more before I go~

                                    
Happy New Year ~

I thought I was done posting until we get back from the beach, but Cook's Corner arrived this morning after everyone left to go skiing for a week.  There were so many great recipes and interest in this issue that I had to post a few of the recipes I am going to try until Andy and I depart to pick up Joe and Glenda for our adventure.

Spiced popcorn with pecans and raisins:
5 cups popped popcorn
2 cups pecans
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or virgin coconut oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 cup golden raisins
Heat your oven to 300 degrees
Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil
Toss popcorn with pecans.  Set aside. Melt butter in a small skillet over low heat and add the seasonings and spices, stirring 30 minutes. Stir in syrup. Pour over popcorn mixture and mix to coat.
Spread popcorn on the prepared baking sheet and bake, tossing every 10 minutes until dry and the nuts are toasted. About 30 minutes. Let cool and stir in the raisins. (Don't put the raisins in during the oven bake or they will turn dry and hard.)

Veal piccata

8 veal scaloppine, less than 1/4 inch thick
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
All-purpose flour, for dredging
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup capers, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Sprinkle veal with salt and peer then dredge the veal lightly in the flour, shaking off excess.  In large saute pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter with the olive oil over medium-high heat.  add half of the veal cutlets and cook JUST until brown, about 3 minutes per side.  Using tongs, transfer the scaloppine to a plate and repeat with the other veal, remove from pan.  In the same saute pan, add the broth, lemon juice and capers and bring mix to a boil over medium heat scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.  Simmer 2 minutes and whisk the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into the sauce.  Return the veal to the pan just to heat through. Don't over do the heat or you will have shoe leather to chew. Arrange veal on platter and pour over the sauce. YUM.

A good cookbook...read it like a novel

                        


I will miss your company.  I will post on
Facebook but not on this blog until early 
February.  Off to the beach to bake my bones.

Sunday night dinner: lamb chops and prime rib

Roasted Lamb Chops tonight (Sunday)

                                                                             
Her bread recipe right out of my oven. It works.
                                                                               

Although sad, Ruth writes well and produced a good cookbook.  As the novel like cookbook moves along Ruth comes out of it and sprinkles the pages with doable recipes.  As you can see, I have places marked to try.  This book does move along nicely, yet allows for contemplation and places to pause where a good recipe catches the fancy of the reader.  I am doing the bread recipe that gets punched down to size three or four times.  Ruth did this when the electricity was out for three days and states it was the best baked bread with intense flavor from the extra risings.  The recipe is so short with only like three ingredients and I will be putting it in the oven this evening, so I will let you know.  There are several recipes I am thinking of trying after I have had plenty of sun at the beach in January because there is always company coming.  It is like running a bed and breakfast.
NOTE;
THE FAMILY IS WILD ABOUT THIS BREAD. It was gone in an hour as people wandered in from their daily activities. I am off to make another batch.

A quiet Christmas week~

                                                  
This Christmas
will be a quiet one for Andy and me.  Beth, Mike, and Nate are going to visit Adam out west for a ski week during Christmas week.  As they get back Andy, Joe, Glenda and I leave for Florida for a little over a month.  Ahhh, the beach.  So I am free of cooking and planning and rushing.

I am doing some baking to take to David, JD, and Johnna in Florida.  They miss the Christmas hub-bub and sweet treats.

I will keep adding to this post as things progress, but for now it is short and sweet.  Merry Christmas.    


                                            

Christmas breakfast for Santa and all.

From La table de Nana


I'll likely never forget the first time I ate cream cheese brownies.  I taught school (for thirty years) and we had bake sales.  As I was searching the table one sale for something delicious I spotted cream cheese brownies--a half dozen of them which I ate on the way home from school while driving.

Cheesecake Brownies
One 9-inch (23cm) or 8-inch (20cm) square pan

Adapted from Ready for Dessert (Ten Speed)

For those of you who like higher brownies, use an 8-inch pan.

• 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 4 ounces (115g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2/3 cup (130g) sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (70g) flour
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (80g) chocolate chips
• 8 ounces (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk
• 5 tablespoons (75g) sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line a 9-inch (23cm) or 8-inch (20cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).

3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the 2/3 cup (130g) sugar, then the eggs.

4. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.

5. In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, the yolk, 5 tablespoons (75g) of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

6. Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, then take a dull knife or spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.

7. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan feels just set.

Let cool, then lift out the foil and peel it away. Cut the brownies into squares.

Storage: These will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days. They also freeze well, too.

From the blog of David Lebovitz

Things that keep us interested and thankful

                                                                             Only 14 days until......


Pretzel Turtles
 courtesy of Ree Drummond    
Making these today.  So easy.
k



                                                                                 

A river of cookies baked fresh with homemade vanilla.

It's a baking day so something simple, like beef stew that takes care of itself and a chocolate treat.

 oranges filled with bourbon pecan sweet potatoes~




Beach reading


Lovely roasting pans with lids on my to find list...
      

Winston, Posy and Bella

Adam

Answered prayers

Mike and Beth....so thankful                                            
The Lechlers,One  Thanksgiving, Hilton Head

                                                  soon                       

    French blue chairs waiting for us. Here we come: Joe, Glenda, Andy, Doris. Sigh.                                    

Rich Filled Cookies

This beautiful Meyer lemon tree was (where we stayed) at the Claiborne Mansion in New Orleans.  Cloe gave us a dozen Meyer lemons from this tree and they each are as large as an orange. (See the picture after the rich filled cookie recipe.)
                                                                                   

My recipe was printed in the Cook's Corner for the holiday cookie section which appears each November.

I was newly wed in 1959 and received this recipe from a Jersey Shore girl named Stephanie.

A group of us had moved into the new apartments off Olentangy River Road on Harley Drive, and we all became fast friends. The first time I tasted this cookie, I thought it was the best in the world. I have never given out the recipe until now.

I have more than 100 cookbooks and have yet to see this recipe.

RICH FILLED COOKIES

Makes 2 1/2 to 4 dozen

For the cookies: 5 cups sifted all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup sour cream

For the filling: 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup honey 1/2 cup water 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon butter 2 to 3 cups shredded coconut

To make the cookies: In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar until smooth; add eggs and vanilla mix until light.

Mix in sour cream; add flour a little bit at a time — do not over-mix, or the dough will get pucklike.

Refrigerate dough until it is easy to work with, at least 1 hour.

To make the filling: Combine ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes; cool.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

On a floured surface, roll out dough. Using round cookie cutters, cut four dozen large bottoms and four dozen smaller caps.

Fill the large bottoms (center) with some coconut filling and top it with a cap. Cookie top and bottom will meld together in oven. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, until cookies are light golden brown.

Editor’s note: Our tester filled each cookie with 1 teaspoon of filling and had enough to make 30 filled cookies.

— Doris Lechler, Columbus

Meyer lemons from New Orleans and cheese plates from the grandchildren for my birthday with thanks.

Triple chocolate cream cake~

I am not a lover of chocolate, but I could not resist a slice of this cake and I need to get this recipe out there because it is so good as well as so easy to produce. This recipe creates two large loaves or it can be made in any vessel you choose.  It is so forgiving and so adaptable.  If I had a bakery or a food truck, this would be one of the every day items. I printed this recipe, so it must have been from the Internet but I can't find the web site or the person who offered it up.  I would like to know in case she or he has other fabulous recipes to try.  I'll keep tracking. (Recipe is from Mennonite Girls Can Cook's blog.) 

This cake can be baked in any sort of pan.  I selected loaf pans because I have paper liners to fit and because I have had disasters lately with my Nordic pans which I once loved but now they are the enemy. No matter how I grease the pan, something always sticks from the second use of the pan on.  First time, perfect, after that stick, stick, stick.

1 box devils food chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker's super moist cake mix with pudding in the mix even though the recipe calls for 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix.  Should I put the boxed mix in even though it already has pudding mix in the cake mix--yes?) I did it anyway with great success.)

1 box instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water (I didn't use water, I used 1/2 cup of cooled strong brewed coffee.)  You can't taste the coffee, but it enhances chocolate with some kind of magic.

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 large room temperature eggs

Not in recipe: I threw in some chunk chocolate tiny squares but you could use chocolate chips as an enhancement too.

Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat together until well mixed.  The mix will be very thick.
Grease your pan of choice.  Pour in the mixture and bake at 350 for around 25-30 minutes depending on your oven and the pan.  I baked mine 40 minutes in two loaf pans.

Now here is how I kicked it up: 1 stick of butter in a pan on the stove, with 3/4 cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup water...stir until dissolved and take it off the burner.  Pour in 1/2 cup of rum or I used Kahlua which is a rum based coffee liqueur.  See?  You can't hurt this cake.  The slices are down right silky.  I love it, I do. While the cakes are still in the pan (s) pour this slightly cooled mixture over the top of the cake (s) and let it soak in.  Remove from pan(s) and enjoy.

The recipe says to frost with seven minute frosting.  I would not do this, but it is up to you.

apple crisp

Although not too pretty, this is the best apple crisp I have ever made.  I just threw some things together that needed using and some that were meant to enhance, which they did, baked it for an hour and had a bowl with vanilla ice cream melting over the top of the crisp straight from the oven.  I can't wait for Andy to come home from class to try it out.  It will be his favorite.

A couple of special guys are coming from Cincinnati to Columbus for the OSU game Saturday.  Andy supplies the tickets as a treat for our favorite people.  I have made for guys, in the middle of the night, fabulous bean soup.  I was in bed.  At 2:30 in the morning all three dogs sat straight up and barked.  A signal to me there was trouble a-foot.  I let the dogs out to ravage the offenders, but alas, what ever it was was well gone. I had the beans soaking, so I simply put everything in the crock pot, set it on low and back upstairs we traipsed. This morning all I had to do was add the salt and pepper and there; that's done. The
guys will enjoy that before the game on Saturday.

Sweater weather...love my sweaters