The iphone 6 has charmed me~

I am not a phone person.  I don't like them and little good news has ever arrived (to me) from a phone that I can remember. (Well, maybe once when Andy first said I love you.)  But I must say the new iphone 6 has captured my attention.  I have not been able to get pictures from my camera's memory card to up load and go on to my blog in the last week or so.  Yesterday Mike showed me how to use the camera phone which is quick and beautifully done.  The camera is the easiest part of the phone to use except for the voice activation--just say the number and she takes care of the rest OR ask her a question and there are the details right in front of you on the phone.  I'm liking the Sprint 'Framily' plan as well with the two of us  paying around $45. each for the month. So far, just fabulous.

                                               

Although I buck and bull about new technology, I intend to stay current.  I figure it will keep me entertained in old age.  Some day I will sit and fiddle with these newfangled items and pity those who did not keep up...hey, sounds like I am nearly there with this terminology and this IS my birthday month..

While writing about the newest: By many accounts, the Midland English dialect, spoken by individuals in and around Columbus, Ohio, among other areas, is the clearest form of American English. According to Shippensburg University professor Dr. C. George Boeree, it is the version of American English most easily understood by fellow English speakers. This is out of all the states, we speak the clearest English of any of them.

Joe, Joe, and Mike are on their way to our house from Cincinnati.  I am serving brat patty sandwiches with grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms and the pasta salad from yesterday along with chili and two kinds of cake.  Since I am taking pictures of anything that moves or looks half pretty, I bet there will be a picture or two for you to see,

This is the topping for the brat patty sandwiches being served to guests today.

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King Arthur visits ~

This lemon buttermilk cake is a mix...YES.  It has a fluffy batter that is light and generous filling the blossom Nordic cake pan which released its goodness easily and beautifully.  Both products from King Arthur.


Because I was fooling with the KING, I made this hurry-up dinner which was well received and very pretty.

 

I was so glad to see the two big boxes from King Arthur today. There is a lot of cooking going on around here.  This week end family from Cincinnati will be coming to the OSU game and then spending the night. As you know, someone or something has stolen October and no one seems to know where it went.  Now we have Thanksgiving looming on the horizon and then, of course, Christmas and then January at the beach house.  Once summer ends, you might as well kiss any peace good-bye.  It all seems so harried now days and I, of late, am always glad when it is over.  People try too hard to enjoy the holidays that once were filled with something different.  It is now like the New Year's eve party where everyone goes to extremes to show they are enjoying the occasion.  I like to buy gifts and give things during the year when it is needed and can be enjoyed because it is needed.  It gives not only pleasure but a sense of relief because the need is there.  I feel the same way about leaving 'stuff and money' when one passes on.  Why can't people have it when it is necessary rather than on a sad occasion when people sit on the edges of their chairs waiting for the other shoe to drop as the will is read.  Well...how did I get on this subject? What has this to do with flour?? So, okay, I have used King's thickening agent already in an apple crumble with granola topping (the granola that I made yesterday,) It works like magic; no lumps, no hassle, just right. If you like to cook, get on their sites and have some fun.  The only thing I didn't actually buy was flour.  Go figure.

NOTE:If you live in Columbus and need a good, a really good, appliance man who fixes all appliances and is reasonable, here is your guy: Andrew Matheny  394-6274  (called The Appliance Guy.)  He has just fixed a dishwasher and a long standing ice machine problem for us today. He is amazing.

Driven To Bake - Mobile Food Truck Finder | King

Granola day at Many Branches~

I can no longer get my (camera) pictures on the blog.  We had someone come to install a new router and now there are other problems to contend with.  Oh well, I can tell you this is granola making day.  I have done two huge batches.  I am so comfortable with this type of homemade granola that I have not made it the same way twice.  There are two steps, however that I must do.  I have to haul out the enormous iron skillet that my mother used for many years. In to the skillet goes: olive oil, one large old fashioned can of oats, 1/2 bag of coconut, some honey, some brown sugar,  some coconut sugar, some nuts, and today a half tub of my homemade cranberry/raspberry sauce.  (The last part is new.) One must stir this around on low heat until all the oats have had a chance to toast a bit. I used to skip the skillet part and mix everything in a bowl and then onto the foil lined baking sheets. But I found the oats to be a little raw and it took a lot of tossing to get them right without the skillet part. Spray the foil in the lined baking sheets and put a thin layer of the above mixture on to the sheet.  Toast it in the oven until it is golden but, of course, not burned.  One must be vigilant with this step because the kitchen witch is always ready to burn. It takes about 10 minutes on roast in my convection oven at 350-400 degrees.  But all ovens are different.  I do two sheet pans at a time shaking and shifting and changing oven racks so they brown evenly. When it's just right,  let it cool completely then pour it all into a really big tub because this is when you start adding all the goodies like the dried fruit, more nuts, raisins, banana chips, sunflower seeds... anything you like, even chocolate chips.  When completely cool, store in air tight bags or containers.  I am told some people in the family can't leave it alone.  Brooks asked for bags of it when Beth and Mike went to Parents' Day at the Citadel.

Somebody stop me!

This first offering is from The English kitchen blog.  I am going to do this for sure.  I do adore cream cheese danish but I always made it hard for myself to believe I could do it as well as the bakery. This is certainly doable.

*Easy Fruit and Cheese Danish*
Makes eight

Printable Recipe  

These are so lovely and so easy and simple to make.  Delicious.  

1 sheet of ready roll puff pastry, all butter

115g of cream cheese (4 ounces)

50g of sugar (1/4 cup)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 TBS heavy cream

2 TBS jam (I used strawberry on half and blueberry on the other half)

1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water

demerara sugar to sprinkle (turbinado)  

To ice:

130g of icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)

1 to 2 TBS of lemon juice  

Preheat the oven to 400.  Line several baking sheets with baking paper. 

Whisk the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cream together.   Set aside.  Unroll your puff pastry.  Cut it into 8 rectangles. 

 Place four on each baking sheet, leaving lots of space in between.  Using a sharp knife, and taking care not to cut all the way through, score a border all the way around each, about 1/2 inch deep.  This will help the edges to rise and create an edge to help keep the filling in.  Place 1/8 of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each.   Spread it out almost to the border on each.  Top each with a few dots of jam and swirl it a bit with the end of a toothpick.  Brush the border of each with the beaten egg yolk mixture and sprinkle with some sugar. (picture and recipe from the English kitchen blog.) Second set, cheese Danish, is from Pinterest.

King Arthur has found me again. Saturday Andy brought the mail to me and low and behold there was the King Arthur Flour baker's catalogue.  It is the holiday prep made easy issue and I slobbered over each and every page.  The sun was out, the day was beautiful and all was right with the world as I waited for the other shoe to drop...but it didn't, so I set about making my wish list from the generous offering included in this booklet.  Some where along the way Arthur's catalogues got lost and this is the first one I have received in years.  What an interesting and irresistible selection from which to choose. I do enjoy their recipes as well.  When my order arrives I don't know exactly where I will squeeze the bottles and jars in the pantries, but in they will go.  Instead of a coffee station I need a seasoning and spice station.  It all needs to be at hand for shaking, pinching, and dabbing.  If you don't get their issues here is the way to get in touch with them: phone 800 827 6836; on line kingarthurflour.com/shop. I can tell you the lady taking my order was flummoxed by its size and I can only hope she got it right. I've got to stop with the kitchen supplies, I am totally out of hand,( but ready to cook for Thanksgiving.)

Have you ever heard of boiled cider?  Well, I am getting it.  The essence of apples, for everything from cobblers to cocktails can be enhanced with this addition. 'They' also use it in granola (which I make tons of) glazes, or in any apple baked goods.  It is said to give a rich background note.

I am also getting panettone mix along with the panettone paper baking pans.  Italy's magnificent holiday bread can be made fresh.  Any left overs go into bread pudding which is delicious with this addition instead of bread.

Beth and I had a day out and not only did we get a manicure and pedicure but we also went to Anderson's.  I don't think I have lauded that store in this blog. It is wonderful and now it is also huge!  The prices are good as well. It is (now) not just a grocery store or speciality store but a one shop fits all store. Andy is the only person I know who loves fruitcake.  He will eat fruit cake from the Dollar Store...I kid you not! At Anderson's I spotted little individual fruitcakes that sparkled with tons of fruit and and succulent crumbs.  I had to buy one for Andy to try.  We need to get back there, they were fabulous...each crumb delectable. Andy guards what is left and snarls like a dog if anyone even looks at it. If you live in or around Columbus and haven't been to Anderson's you are missing a great adventure.  I can't think of one thing they don't sell and they are known for their wine selection.

How do I love thee...many ways

Kathy, my niece loves these little cabbages as much as I do.  I try to please her with different renditions, but I actually think she would even like them raw.  We eat them like popcorn.  I can't say I have ever made them the same way twice, but balsamic vinegar is always involved. Those little critters sigh as their vinegar bath covers their leafy globular blooms. Poetic. No?

Today at the Lechlers: Corn beef and brussels sprout medley. (Eat your heart out, Kathy.)

Applesauce from the red fleshed apples.

It looks like a tomato, but it's an apple~

Deceptive: It may look like a tomato, but this is the world's first red-fleshed apple that has gone on sale in Britain and now America. (And the Lechlers don't like it.)

You know about our fun trip to Lynd's fruit market that has turned into such an arena that people come to spend the day.  There are hayrides, jams, jellies and apple butters to name but a few items.  Fancy cars leaving with corn stalks and straw spilling out the back to carry it all home to the front door for decoration and into the kitchen for delicious pies and tarts and jams, oh my. Then there is the red-fleshed apple of which we bought way too many. We didn't care for them at all it seemed.

So today was find a way to use this fruit without gagging and applesauce seemed to be the answer.  I made all of the apples into a sauce that refused to get sweet so I thought cake and the cake saved their little red -fleshed lives. I had no spice cake mix and the other colors would have been odd looking because you cannot cook the red out of these apples; so it is hidden in this new-fangaled chocolate cake which has yet to be tasted...but it's pretty. Stay tuned for the tasting as everyone gets home for dinner. Note: Mike liked the tart from yesterday and ate half of it, he liked the applesauce and I imagine he will like the cake.  Beth and Andy liked the applesauce and the cake.  But I don't see any of them eating this apple on its own.

Oh my, yes, it works.  Very moist, light and delicious.

TV notes:
Love (evening) TV. I enjoy The Voice very much and last night I discovered Blackish. I then went back to on Demand and watch the ones I had missed of this new comedy which comes on right after Modern Family. Also on Demand is the movie CHEF. That was a good 'food truck' movie.

Lynd's Fruit Farm

         

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After a Sunday afternoon of take out Chinese food while putting together two major items like the coffee station (successful) and a new router (which was NOT successful), we decided to go to Lynd's market in the country to pick apples--well, not pick -pick, but to buy picked apples.  Well it was a hootenanny that greeted us. The one- counter simple outdoor/indoor market had been replaced and a new large arena greeted us.  Lines of people every where (and they said this was not a busy Sunday...we just don't know busy at Lynd's.) People sitting at tables and eating and picnicking on the small hills of still green grass.  Kettle corn a-poppin, and apples of every kind.  Have you ever seen a red fleshed apple, well here it is!

The apple peeled and unpeeled.  It is sharp and crisp.  I've just put it in a tart, with walnuts and yellow delicious apples to see how it turns out. The suggestion is to use it for candied apples. Note:  My family does not care for these red fleshed apples.  The tart was only half gone.  I will make applesauce from the rest of the apples and use that in cakes.  I would not buy them again.

 Also, in this picture is a squash a bit like the acorn but with another name, which I forget, and a subtle difference in taste.

 Ahh, the mustard shown here (new product too) which I get at Stalin's in Cincinnati for $7.29 a tube but now I have found it on line for around $5. to $5.95 a tube.(Never mind, with shipping it comes out more than the cost from Stalin's) Love these tubes of this very spicy mustard that we are now craving on everything and which is inserted in many of our hearty dishes. Spelled: Superscharfer senf.   Delicious.  And, look at the peppers.  We thought we were good at growing peppers, but, really...these are peppers!

Our new marble topped coffee station.  Beth put it together.  Thank you, Beth.

LikeTake soft white bread, cut off the crusts.  Roll out each slice to make it very thin.  Lay a slice of cheese on each piece of bread and roll up tightly.  Smush down the end of the roll to keep it in place or use a bit of egg wash or water to keep it sealed,  Use a skillet to make these rolls the same way you would normally make grilled cheese.  Think of the possibilities: use with salads, chili, tomato soups...endless.