tasty cake

I have been whining about my TV copper ware but today I made a banana foster (pineapple) upside down cake in my largest one and it worked beautifully. Go figure.  I could have waited a bit longer to made the bottom darker, but the cake is so tender and delicious that looks aren't everything.  It's a supper cake.

two item bubble up dessert

On this nutty day I managed two delightful supper items:  The dessert has only two items and I don't apologize for this because it is delicious. I know you need quick desserts just as I do. The next is a chicken pot pie with hash brown bricks instead of the usual puff pastry or pie crust topping. 

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1 tube of Pillsbury Grands Cinnamon Rolls with icing
1can of apple pie filling.
 350 for 25-35 minutes
Cut rolls into fourths. Butter the baking dish stir around the apple filling to cover each fourth. Bake 

Girls' day out

I was so happy yesterday shopping with Beth in some of our favorite haunts yet today I read that Andersons' will be closing its wonderful stores after seven decades.  They have not made a profit, according to the article, since 2008, so who can blame them?  They made a really big store expansion a few years ago, but it must not have worked.  They carry such great items and special treats in every nook and cranny.  I just can't believe we won't have this wonderful general store because they are closing between April and June of this new year.
1/16/2017

Brown rice medley which has long grain brown rice, black barley and Daikon radish seeds. Delicious and the new to try basmati rice medley both from Trader Joe's.





Beth, one of my (great) daughters-in-law, and I ran around today after church.  We had lunch at Chuy's, then hit Trader Joe's...a crazy time to shop, but we found several great new items to try and here they are.  Then on we went to World Market where we found some more finds.  I had not been out to shop in weeks, so it was a real treat.

In one post I wrote about how my batterie cuisine was getting too heavy for me and what did I just do but buy another iron skillet.Oh well, there are enough people who will gladly lift it for me as long as they can eat what is in it.

I try to buy something different to try each time I get to Trader Joe's so I have five things in this picture that I have not tried.  But look at the picture of the rice at the bottom--Trader Joe's rice medley and it is the best.  I bought some for Brooks to try since he is now into cooking.  The lemons are my favorites, sweeter and tastier than regular old lemons.  But in their vast rice section was a new one for me basmati rice medley with herbs and vegetables.  I also saw and bought coconut oil spray to use instead of Pam.  Trader Joe's has many sauces and marinades so I bought Soyaki.  TJ 's Israeli couscous box has a recipe on the back for the couscous with pine nuts and parsley. Yum. 

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Trader Joe's rice medley/ vegetables and Chuy.

I adore winter food and especially vegetable concoctions such as I made today.  I took my last bag of wonderful Trader Joe's rice medley and combined the rice cooked in chicken broth with cauliflower and broccoli.  I then stirred in two heaping spoonfuls of my Chuy's creamy dressing and topped it all with cheese and popped it into the oven.
(Just out of the oven and it is delicious.)

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new copper skillets as shown on TV

Because my Le Creuset cook ware has become so heavy for me to handle comfortably, I was thrilled to see the inexpensive copper ware demonstrated on TV.  Andy found and bought one for me at Ollie's and when I tried it a couple of times it worked just as the ad illustrated.  So I asked Andy to buy ten more skillets so that each head of the kitchen household that came for the party could take one home as a gift. We even went back for more of the pots and pans and skillets until I found that if you add, for flavor, a bit of butter or oil to the skillet its sliding feature disappears and it is a bit less easy to clean. Never one to give up on a 'good thing' the next time we visited Ollie's there were the copper baking sheets, so I bought two. I have since thrown one away.  I could not get it clean or stain free after baking a simple free form tart.  I followed the seasoning instructions on the baking sheets, which had not appeared on the skillet packages, and even kept the instructions because it said to do it every few weeks. So, here is what I think: on TV they simply use a new pan or skillet for each dish they illustrate to give the illusion that you will have a product that will work the same every time and it is simply a scam and I fell hard for it. Not one person that I gave a skillet to has mentioned this because they are very polite and I have kept quiet about it because I didn't want it to be true, but the baking sheet was the last straw!  I will use them as long as I can get them clean and actually the skillets do clean up easily but the food does stick so it takes more effort than they own up to on TV. Boo hum bug!

Fooling with food

Today I feel like playing with my food.  I made a trip to Carfagna's Italian meat market yesterday and saw a lovely bag of fresh chicken wings that lured me to buy them.  I also bought a couple of packages of pepper bacon and combined the two to roast in the oven until the bacon was crisp.  Then I'll remove the bacon and sauce the wings and stick them under the broiler to get crisp and browned. The sauce will do that in a hurry.  Looks yummy so far..
Then there are the tiny rib eye,pepper crusted sliders from Anderson's that take only a minute or so on each side.  Paired with Carfagna's potato bread slider buns (at least that is how I use these dinner rolls) it makes a real treat.  

                                                         

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2017 so far, not so good~

Andy brought me primroses and I made him an apple treat

I always like to start the year off right, but it has been a bumpy ride so far.  First, I ,who have had perfect and even low some times, blood pressure have had astoundingly high blood pressure readings for almost two weeks straight. We finally got that under control with the doctor's help. (I think Alleve is the culprit causing the high blood pressure.)  As the doctor went out the door he said if you are taking Alleve or Advil stop until we understand what is going on. Just be careful and read the warnings.

Then, Fergie, one of the family dogs, took a turn for the worse and had to be put to sleep because of an inoperable tumor. We are still not over that loss. Our son, David, lost his 15 year -old dog companion, Gus, three weeks before Fergie's death.  He took that very hard as well.  We do love our dogs.

Now I am getting a cold and have not had one for years.  Enough already! That is enough badness to last a long time. I know there are far worse problems out there.  On a happy note:
(It wasn't a cold after all.  I was allergic to something that went away after several wash loads of pillows and throws.) So things are looking up after all.

I hope your year started off and continues to be perfect.  I will get back to blogging once I get over these afflictions.

Ending 2016

One last holiday setting and then we are done! 

I think this has been the busiest holiday season of any that I can remember. Or maybe it's my age.
I know it is going to take a long while to recoup.

I love these antique plates and have tried for years to find replacements even using a china 'finder' type service.  But, to no avail. This is a good, happy looking after Christmas arrangement. 

We have a new Kroger store and it is wonderful.  They have had so many sales and we have tried several of their delicious seafood and beef fillet offerings.  Their beef fillets that I buy whole and they cut it, clean it and string it to suit my needs.  I usually get three roasts from one of these vacuum packages and having them on sale during the holidays has been perfect. We could practically cut the meat with a fork.  We also bought (several times) their ready-made crab salad.  It is scrumptious with a little kick.  We had over-night guests for a week and a half and those guys could eat!  I am exhausted trying to keep them full, but these salads, our fish chowders and filling beef fillets helped to no end.

Beth, Andy, and I have the place to ourselves until Saturday: Mike, Nate and Adam are skiing in Colorado.  Beth's kids have gone on to other visits having just left a few hours ago.  Matt is busy with his new baby. Nate is about to leave Colorado for Hawaii and then New Zealand after spending a couple of weeks in the Galagos Islands. JD is getting his wisdom teeth out today. He David and Johnna live in Florida, so they were among the scattered this year.

We are looking forward to 2017 and to what our new president will bring to our country.  Let's give him a chance.

Christmas Day 2016

Doris and Alyssa on their way to a movie.

Sweets from New Orleans from Alyssa.

From Beth and Mike for the pergola this summer...

Three of our guys are skiing in Colorado for a week  The Nate leaves there for Hawaii and New Zealand.

Beth's favorite brand TB  


Dinner out Christmas Eve   

Christmas champagne breakfast prepared by Alyssa and Beth.

We went to a movie late in the afternoon and then came home to this for dinner:

Shrimp and grits cooked by Alyssa and Beth.  Really good. They made breakfast for the family.

Merry Christmas from Many Branches

                                                
  New additions to the family Lechler 

                                                                           

Nate, Mike and Adam will be skiing in Colorado for Christmas.

                                                                                                  
                                               

Alyssa and Brooks are now all grown up.                       

New Orleans family.

JD in Florida...

Ham and bean soup

I have a big slow cooker of ham and bean soup burbling away to keep me company while I try out some new bakes today. Nate is home for three days and although he has eaten well on his trip, I want to fill him up because he leaves on Monday for skiing in Colorado, then from there he goes to Hawaii and last of all to New Zealand.
After another round or two of coconut cookies, I am moving into the bars.  Starting with date fills which can also be apricot fills, prune fills, raisin fills or mincemeat fills (Andy would love that.) I think a mixture of several of these might be tasty.  Wish me luck. Still using recipes from the Swift Brookfield booklet.  Here is the filling for the date fill slices.  I am using a variety as you can see.   

This needs a top and then into the oven.  Andy is going to love these.

Ready for 30 minutes in the oven   

My niece, Nancy, blessed us with two boxes of buckeyes today.

Date Fills      

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp. soda
1/2 cup water
2  1/2 cups sifted flour
2  1/2 cups old fashioned oats
Mix (they say by hand) I used the mixer until it got too difficult: butter brown sugar, salt, soda and blend.  Stir in water and flour. Add the oats. Mix only enough to blend. (I used my hands at the end.)  This is a stiff dough.  Place one-half of the dough in 5 or 6 spots on the cooky sheet..  Spread the dough with a spatula, I used my hands, until it is evenly distributed and 1/2  inch from the edge of the pan.  Dip palms in flour to pat smooth--I used the bottom of a glass.
Spread the cooled filling on top. Drop remining dough on top and smooth out with your hands.  It's like a big fruit filled sandwich. Secure the edges by packing it tightly around the 'package'. The crust will look bumpy and rough.

Date filling (But I used a mixture.) I used apricots, cranraisins, dates.
1 pound of a variety of dried fruit including dates if you like them
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup of water 
1 tablespoons lemon juice
Combine all ingredients and cook until thick. Cool before spreading on top of the dough.