Boo Hoo I need more likes~

I have found this really good cooking site named Recipes and Cooking Guide.  I have been watching it every day for a couple of weeks.  I would like to continue, but I don't like it when she keeps begging for likes and comments, writing that Facebook will stop us seeing her site if we don't like and comment in excess.  I have noticed today that some of her begging has been taken off but this one is still on:**IMPORTANT** "Facebook will hide my future posts from your News feed if you don’t "Like" "Share" or "Comment" on my posts regularly!"  If  Facebook does not take down how to make a bomb, how to radicalize our youth, and perverts' posts and pictures, why would any woman who likes to cook and share recipes have her posts taken down due to lack of likes and comments?  Honestly, it is so needy and incorrect. 

I have made at least five of the dishes she has on there and all have been received favorably. Go see what you think when you have time.  There is a big variety and you are bound to find some tasty things.

Buckeyes are tasty

Here comes the snow.  Not much, but winter has hit Ohio and Nate has left the building.  He's in California by now and I miss him already.

My niece and I were laughing online about the ingredients we used to put in our cookie baking sessions where pounds of sugar, flour and butter and even Crisco and paraffin were used to produce wonderful, tasty cookies.  My question to her was, did we put paraffin in the buckeyes?  (Nancy makes the best buckeyes and is bringing me several dozen on the 23rd.)  They are her entrance into the house, some people use passwords, all she has to say is buckeyes and hand them over and she is in for life. I was checking buckeye recipes yesterday because I thought I was losing my mind and there were no recipes turning up that used 1/4 bar of paraffin with 24 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips to be melted in a double boiler.  So I asked her today and yes, she still puts in the paraffin.  I got back online and guess what popped up?  Recipes using paraffin in buckeyes! I must be getting old.  Now you see it, now you don't.  Here is our old tried and true buckeye recipe and we made thousands believe you me.

1/4 bar paraffin melted with 24 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips in a double boiler
1 pound jar of peanut butter (we always used creamy)
1 stick butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 pound of powdered sugar

While the chocolate is melting mix the rest of the ingredients together.  It will be grainy but make the balls the size of buckeyes.(some people put them in the frig to get cold or even the freezer)  Take toothpicks and dunk each cold ball part way into the melted chocolate leaving just a bit of blonde at the top. Move right along or you will be there all night and the chocolate might start to tighten up although I think that may be why the paraffin is in there, to stabilize the chocolate.

We are from the Buckey State and these balls are popular and delicious.

One thing I got wrong is Trader Joe's popcorn in a big decorative can for $10.  Don't bother getting it, it is not good.  Small bags of tasteless popcorn that are stale.  Can is filled with cardboard presumably to protect the bags of popcorn but it is just to take up space.

Dinner party on the 23rd

This has been a wild couple of months.  Sitting out in the sun for several days straight at the end of November and beginning of December is something I don't recall doing in life.  But, the other shoe has fallen and it is to be cold...no other word for it, so it is time to Christmas party.  The Florida family is coming, some by plane, some by car (with a dog). Nancy, my niece and her husband Danny are coming for an overnight and bringing Buckeyes! So we are having an all day and a candlelight dinner on the 23rd.  Candlelight because it gets dark about 5:00, but we won't be dining until after 7:00.  At first I thought of keeping this sensible, but you know how that goes. Guests will arrive in the afternoon and we will have hors  d' oeuvres and soups and cards and drinks, and what ever else appears.  Part of the Cincinnati family will be here too.  I should think there will be around the same number as we had for Thanksgiving, 18 or so. The house will be full and the bedrooms will be occupied.

Nate leaves tomorrow for his sojourn which begins in California. We won't see him again until its time to go to work in the spring.  Nate the traveling man will spend a month or so in Hawaii and go from there to  places new to him.  That's the life of a bachelor who pays his own way in life and enjoys what it brings.

Have you actually made Buckeyes?  I am getting a bunch for December 23rd from Nancy.  We used to make hundreds of them with her sister, Linda, along with cookies galore.  We would start the day after Thanksgiving (or the week end after Thanksgiving) and we would bake every week end until a week or so before Christmas.  We fed all of our families and friends Christmas cookies.  I thought there was paraffin (wax) in those Buckeyes, but every recipe on the Internet has just a few simple ingredients and no paraffin, so I am glad that step is gone (if it ever existed.)  I could be wrong.

Another wrong is Trader Joe's big cans of popcorn.  It is not very good, there isn't much of it, just a lot of cardboard in a big can for $10. Skip that one.

Shishito peppers

Another trip to Trader Joe's with a load of products that I have never tried.  I was making a stir fry and spotted the bag of shishito peppers from my trip to Joe's and I cut two up and threw them in the wok.  Those two little peppers made all the difference in the world to that dish of stir- fry.
They provide just the perfect kick with a lingering on the tongue that makes one want just a wee bit more on the plate.

I have gone through Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer, checking everything I wanted to buy to try during the week of the 20th. Diners are going to be pleased with this bag of tricks I can tell you that.

This is not food, but I bought two of their warm vanilla body butter.(s)  I can't wait to use this after my evening shower.  I have heard rave reviews.  I have to keep this body going and the skin needs attention.

I bought two amaryllis bulbs in wax.  I probably should have bought these sooner, but I was intriqued when I saw them nestled in wax with no water required. Just place them in the sun, no water, no soil, turn them ever once in awhile to equal out sun time and they are supposed to create a beautiful bloom.  You can cut the bloom and it is supposed to flower again.  Don't take off the wax.  It is strange and intriguing.

Products fly out of that store.  They are already out of puff pastry and truffle butter, but I did get truffle honey mustard to try.  I think it would be good on roasted potatoes. It will be good on any number of dishes.

An Evening Christmas dinner on the 23rd

I have had a lovely idea.  We are having a Christmas candlelight dinner on the 23rd with family from Florida and Cincinnati.  Mike and Beth will be in New Orleans and Nate, the traveler, will be visiting  wonderful places and making lovely memories.

It will be a regular meal unlike Thanksgiving.  It will be bountiful but not painful.  I am thinking a Falter's ham and a lovely Carfagna's beef tenderloin roast.  A potato dish, two salads, 2 vegetables and an English desert, a trifle.

I think the family will come for cards, drinks, and starters in the afternoon, but Johnna and JD will not arrive until dinner which will be around 7:00. Their plane comes in around then, so dinner may be held for them if possible. If not we will keep plates warm for when they do arrive.

I must get busy with the menu.  I'll let you know how things pan out...with pictures.

• 
  

Shopping at Trader Joe's and Carfagna's

This is the time of year Trader Joe's goes all out with requests for products they have had before and run out of, and new products for the holiday season. The rainbow of honey is new to me and I always try several new things each time I am in that store.  The kinds of honey are: clover, sunflower, orange blossom, eucalyptus, macadamia, mimosa.

The salts, which I find equally intriguing are: Kalahari Desert salt, Hawaiian Black Lava Salt, Hawaiian Red Salt, Inca Sun Salt, Blue Persian Salt, Himalayan Pink Salt, South African Oak Smoked Salt.  They are beautifully pacakged in tubes, which display well and would be welcomed by a person who likes to cook.  (The honey too.)

                                                                                     





I want to mention Carfagna's has a beef sale going on.  I got some really nice roasts for Christmas Eve.  We are eating in this year,  David, Johnna and JD are coming in from Florida.

pea dip (we have to find another name for this)

I am sitting in the sun, barefoot on November 28th
in Ohio, if you can believe that! 2017

You know how guacamole turns a specious color pretty quickly even with lemon juice and it gets so mushy if not served and eaten pretty fast...but we do it anyway because the initial dip is so luscious? This Thanksgiving I found a pea dip recipe that solves the problem, staying green until it is gone (which is quickly) and I asked Pam to get it ready for the starter section of Thanksgiving.  This too has avocados in it which she chopped and put in at the last moment.  The pea dip (we must find another name for this) flew off the counter and was gobbled down,again before I got to taste it. This is a recipe that you taste and add, taste and add, but it works.  It is not really a recipe but a short list of ingredients that work well together and produce a bright splash of color to the starter offerings.

green pea dip

3 cups frozen peas
2 avocados (chopped and put in at the last moment)
 1/2 of a Jalapeno pepper seeded and finely cut
1 clove garlic finely cut
chopped parsley
shallots or green onions
lemon juice
1/2 cup parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
Blender all together except avocados which go in right before serving.

This is a Martha Stewart picture.  She adds chopped mint to her green pea dip. We did not, but I bet it is a good addition.  See, you can tinker till your hearts content with this one and make it your own.

Another pot of soup that disappeared before everyone got a taste was seafood chowder, tonight with salmon and shrimp...

Dried beef, muffaletta, and cream cheese ball

Another winner on the Thanksgiving table was a cream cheese ball with Stehlin's dried beef and Carfagna's muffaletta Italian olive topping, green onions still from the garden, salt, pepper, a dash of sriracha, chopped parsley, chopped dried beef inside AND rolled over the entire ball. It was so good I had to make another today for the OSU Michigan game.  Joe and Glenda are staying for a few days after Thanksgiving.

Show more reactions

Home Town Cookin

Yesterday, amid all of the activity I spotted the Columbus Dispatch section that seemed unusual.  A few years ago they reduced the length of the pages to a manageable size but here was a section of eight pages that was 23 inches long and totally filled with contestant's recipes. I did not have time to read this but knew that I would enjoy it later once I got over having made 18 different dishes for 17 Thanksgiving guests.  You might assume, and rightly so, there were leftovers. 

According to the paper, in September, more than 1100 amateur cooks entered their Thanksgiving recipes in the first Home Town Cook's contest, in four categories: soups, vegetable dishes, cakes and cobblers, non-turkey entrees.  Those were whittled down to 12 finalists-three in each category and on Oct. 27 faculty from Columbus State Community College's culinary program in Ohio prepared and judged the recipes on taste, and visual appeal.  If you don't get the Dispatch go to hometowncookn.com. The section is great and one you will want to peruse once you can stand the sight of food again.

Here at Many Branches we had a glorious Thanksgiving celebration with a lot to be thankful for in every aspect of our lives.

This Thanksgiving the special dish was sweet potatoes with Modjeskas.  Modjeskas are marshmallows wrapped in caramel and made only in Kentucky  Joe and Kathy found them for me and sent them as a welcome gift.  I topped a sweet potato casserole with several of them buried on top and by the time I went through the line, the entire dish was empty, so I have yet to try the concoction. But the raves were sincere, so track down these delights.  Amazon has them but the shipping costs as much as the candies, so I ruled that out.  If I find a place that is reasonable, I'll let you know.  These came from Bauer's in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

Show more reactions

Make aheads

cranberry toasties, dish #13 completed so far

While my body is unkinking I am reviewing the list of what I have made ahead of the big day...well several big days ahead. The schedule is set and tomorrow things start happening: Monica comes to clean, thank you thank you, the next day Pam and George come to over night and to help me and to set up security cameras on the property...thank you, thank you, Oh yes, and the dogs go to the groomer and will be gone for the day (very nice touch, Doris.) Brooks comes home for the festivities for a few days so the beds are starting to fill up. The lights are up, the wreaths are in the windows, and the kitchen tree is up and loaded with food related decorations. Wednesday I go to pick up a load of magazines for my sister-in-law and to get my hair done. (Glenda and Joe are staying over for few days, until Sunday actually.)  This time next week it will all be over but the shouting. The tables are set for 18. Well, you know the preparations list; you have done it many times as have I.  It's family, it will get done.

So far I have, for our two turkey day meals, Ham and bean soup deluxe. beef and vegetable soup, homemade croutons for the dressing and soups, small pasta and beef dish, deluxe mac and cheese, cranberry sauce, zesty sausage soup, sweet potatoes with a special touch, stuffing, potato soup base for seafood soup. That's ten things so far and this day is just starting.

I am now un-kinked and ready for battle.  Wish me luck as I do you.

Dish number 12 finished.

Cooking zone

I am in the cooking zone.  Andy and I went to Sam's early this morning and I am the proud owner of a 7 1/2 pound prime rib roast.  The family will be happy to see that sitting along with the turkey come Thursday.  Company is coming all week and some staying over from Thanksgiving until Sunday morning.  I hope my legs hold up. lol  This house is made for company and I am happy to host as long as I can.  I have six dishes ready so far: ham and bean soup, beef vegetable soup, a pasta dish of shells and beef, homemade croutons, pepperoni mac & cheese and cranberry sauce.  For dinner tonight we have green beans cooked long and slow with potatoes and corn--a one pot wonder.

Tomorrow is our first girl baby, who is also our first great grand child's, first birthday. I am not a part of the preparations but I can only imagine her wedding if this much time and effort goes into a first birthday party. Bless her heart, she is a beauty.

I am reading Lee Child's newest book.  I do like his writing, but I don't know why.  He just leads me down a path.  I cannot imagine an entire book's story line based on seeing a class ring in a pawn shop but Reacher can and off he goes discovering mayhem across the country and creating some himself.  I read in cycles; six weeks reading everything I can get a hold of and then I can't finish a book to save me for the next few weeks. I am back on track and have a back up on my Kindle at the moment.

Wednesday the big holiday cookie section which comes out once a year in the Columbus Dispatch appeared on my stoop.  It is really packed this year and seems bigger than ever.  I guess everything is going well without an editor, so maybe the Dispatch will save money by working it this way.  When I have a chance I will go over it well and see if there is a special one or two recipes that you might enjoy baking. If you want to look at all of them, just google The Columbus Dispatch and when you are connected type in holiday cookies 2017.  It is worth seeing and reading.

I am finished cooking for the day but thoughts of the next few days plays in my mind.  I have done this so often, it should be easy.  Thankfully I have Beth and then Pam and George come on Wednesday to help out.  I bought George a BIG bottle of good gin.  He is putting up outdoor security cameras for us AND he is the turkey carver.  He also gets them ready for me to put the rub on and the cavities filled...on two turkeys. Yippee!

Our backyard three years ago on this date.