Happy Saturday, Dear Readers!
If you’re here in the Houston area, I hope you are dry. . .if you’re not, well, Thursday (8/20) we had some serious rain going on, complete with thunder and lightning. The HeatCageKitchen garden was happy with the extra water, but the green onions, which have been supplemented recently with two bunches of organics I bought, are nearly a foot high after 2 weeks. Not bad!
Today was our monthly district meeting, and a pretty good one, too. Our fearless district leader and hostess, LK, has finally seen her dream of her sister and family practicing Buddhism after something like 27 years of practice. Today was the day that all four officially became Buddhists, and it was also her sister, JH’s, birthday. (I also became a Buddhist on my 24th birthday in 1986, so it’s always extra special.) LK’s brother-in-law, JH’s husband, was not able to make it due to work commitments but received an official certificate along with JH and the kids. They lived in California until a year ago, and bought a house not far from LK, making LK one of the happiest people around.
To celebrate, LK drove down to Galveston this morning–during the period when we had sunshine before the rain came back again–and bought a beautiful cake to celebrate the whole thing:
Indeed, it was NOT gluten-free, and I told her I would just have one of the roses. (I didn’t, really.) Actually, I did bring home a slice of this beautiful creation for Neighbor R, my elderly neighbor, and I nibbled on the veg and some grapes that were there. Here’s a view of the inside after it was cut:
Neighbor K has been to PattyCakes many times since she works down there, and if I remember correctly, she brought me a couple of their delicious samplings a while back. They’re across the street from the well-known Mosquito Cafe, and are operated by the same people.
Since we have a couple of diabetics in addition to me, who avoid this kind of thing, LK kindly had cut veggies and Tzatzaki, which was very tasty. Might have to make that myself some time. I’ve got the recipe, but I’ve never made it; however, I don’t know what recipe LK used for today’s delicious dip.
If you’re a fan of Starbucks, The Safe Haven With Food, and you’ve been enamored with their recent food offerings, I discovered a bit of a hack. By accident, of course. A couple of months ago, I met with a potential copywriting client at a Starbucks in nearby Pasadena (that’s where the business was located) and I got there early. While my computer was booting up and connecting to the WiFi, I found myself hungry for some reason. I looked in the case and found their little yogurt cups with fruit. I picked up the one with cherries, and thoroughly enjoyed it before she arrived.
A couple of nights ago I was hungry, and I started prowling in the fridge (as we single folks are wont to do) and saw the container of Fage yogurt in there, and suddenly the light lit up in my brain! Five frozen cherries, in a little dish, microwaved for about 20 seconds on 50% power to get the chill off them; chop them, put them back in the bowl, then spoon some of that Greek yogurt in the bowl. Mix well–carefully, or in a bigger bowl–and sweeten to taste. Use whatever you like–stevia, saccharin, Somersweet, whatever. Because remember, the one in Starbucks has sugar in it–you don’t have to do that. I don’t miss the crunchy part, although I do eat it when I have one in Starbucks (it’s wheat free.) Which has been exactly. . .twice. I never forgot it, but at $3.95, it’s not a habit, only a handy option I’ve had twice.
The Starbucks Evenings menu hasn’t yet appeared here in Clear Lake, to my knowledge, but it has in New York. You can see the actual menu here, but from what Lindsay Putnam of the NY Post says. . .do not bother. Remember that those breakfast sandwiches are frozen and heated in an oven before the barista hands them to you, so naturally, so is the Evenings menu–no real cooking goes on in Starbucks. If you do eat one, you think about how delicious it tastes. . .and not much else, OK? Yes, I have had the sandwiches a few times, less since I read Wheat Belly, but the last time I had one of those big croissant bun sandwiches was out of necessity a few months ago. So the Evenings menu, tempting as it may look, may, in fact, disappoint. I’ll let you know if I get to try it.
Then again, New Yorkers seem to judge everything harshly, and it was brand new, so maybe she was just there on a bad day. Use your own judgment, as always.
Now, another story about the GER. He loves it when I write about him.
The GER goes fishing usually on Mondays with a friend who has a boat, and while this week’s haul. . .was not, last week they caught more river monsters. I gave him a ride somewhere last Tuesday, and he told me to bring something to keep it cold. He told me to share it with Neighbor K, but K didn’t wanna mess with no fish that night, so I offered some to Neighbor R after I cooked it.
This was a big fish. Flounder, if I remember correctly. Not like catfish, frying catfish is easy. So I treated this big fishy with the respect it deserved and broiled it. I’m not kidding when I tell you it was a big one:
It was about 15 inches long, I think, but I forgot to measure it. I thought about stuffing it, but that wasn’t an option:
Sometimes he’ll give me filets, but sometimes not, like this one. The only option was to roast it whole and pull the flesh off the skeleton, since there was no easy way to stuff it. I set out to the garden and gathered up a few things:
Green onions (from the ones I planted in the garden), mint, parsley, some rosemary and basil, plus some lime zest. Using that mezzaluna knife, chopped it as best I could, and added some kosher salt:
Then it’s just used as a rub on both sides of the fish:
I put it in the toaster oven on “broil” until I thought it was done, and it came out pretty darn good:
It needed salt, in my opinion, and I gave the easily-removed, skinless chunks to Neighbor R, and made sure there were no bones in it. I had three meals out of that fish along with some baked sweet potato sticks. YUM.
In the last couple of posts, I spoke about Red Dwarf, the crazy-wild British comedy that combines science fiction with slapstick comedy. Here’s a short clip of the song I was singing while I was dealing with said fish in an episode from many years ago. The character, Cat, just LOVES fish! That comes back to haunt him in Season 9 when a despair squid is found in the water tank. . .oh, nevermind. If you’re not a fan, it won’t make a lot of sense. It’s kind of like explaining something from Doctor Who to someone who has never seen it or understands it. Like the GER!
Tomorrow is Sunday, and I’ve got to plan out the week’s eating. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I think there’s going to be some chicken in the Crock Pot. . .again. But since I found two big packets of chicken thighs on sale at Target Friday night, it’s a good thing.
School’s opening real soon, so if you’ve got students at home, you’ll be gearing up now to make those mornings easier. I’m looking at waffle iron hacks and cheats on Pinterest now, and I’ve started a board to keep them in one place. People have figured out how to cook all kinds of things with waffle irons, and YouTube has a collection of them as well. Just go to YouTube and type in the search box, “waffle iron hacks” and/or “waffle iron recipes” and you’ll see ingenious ways people have used a waffle iron for anything *but* waffles.
One of my writer friends, a Christian copywriter here in Texas, posted on Facebook instructions to take those cinnamon rolls in a can and cook them on a waffle iron, then pour that sugary frosting on top. Looks a lot more appetizing than the ones made the *normal* way. It made me want to head to Kroger for a can and make them myself! But I didn’t, and I’m researching new ways to use the waffle iron daily instead of just occasionally, when you make waffles.
One interesting idea I saw on Pinterest was to spray the waffle iron, heat it, then put frozen tater tots on the bottom, covering the grid. Close the lid, and a few minutes later, crispy hash browns! Admittedly, that’s not something I would make for myself, (at least not with frozen tater tots) but I might do that for the GER or someone else who really liked hash browns. I’ve eaten hash browns occasionally, usually at Denny’s on my birthday with my Grand Slam; but as a rule, potatoes are not in my fridge.
Remember: 110v vs. 220v. And don’t forget your college student headed for the dorms this fall.
Have a great week, and whatever you do cook and eat–Enjoy!
Happy Sunday, Dear Readers:
Are you ready for this new week? Summer’s almost over, at least, for the upper states. Here in Texas, summer lasts until at least October. I could actually have a pool party if the weather held out that long. We’ll see. Last year I got strep throat. . .I don’t want that again.
The rains have returned to Houston this week, and while it’s not really “cool,” it is a little “less hot.” In 30 days the temperatures will go down about 10 degrees, and my plants will be happy about that.
Have you been watching Giada de Laurentiis’ new show, Giada in Italy? Giada took her daughter Jade on vacation in Positano, Italy, and they made a new series out of it. Or something like that. She’s cooking Italian food IN Italy, many with an American or California twist. Today’s show was cooking at a friend’s restaurant in the area, and there was a lot of Italian spoken while they worked. They cooked one of his signature dishes, and one of hers from her Las Vegas restaurant, plus her Sin City Cookies, also served in Vegas. Conveniently, Giada’s mother, stepfather, daughter and a couple of other close friends were there during filming, so they got a thumbs-up from everyone. Yes, Giada is waiting tables in this little place, too.
One thing Giada pointed out while she was making the cookies: chocolate chip cookies are an American creation. I knew that, of course, but she was serving them to Italians in a small town on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. There was no reaction from any of the local folks who had the cookies, but if Giada served them with her 10,000 megawatt smile, they didn’t pay much attention.
Speaking of the cookies. . .Giada used a stand mixer to make the cookie dough. . .and you know, it sure looked familiar. So I did a little clicking around, and guess what I found? Giada’s set list–and in it, no kidding, was SMEG! The stand mixer was a SMEG, but did not have the name stenciled across the side. Either they don’t sell it that way in Italy, it was specially made for Giada, or the props department removed the lettering and painted over it. But it was, indeed, a SMEG.
It’s what happens when you pay attention. Anyway. . . .
The garden’s doing OK–I’ve picked a number of Anaheim/Hatch chiles, and darnit, I found one more today while I was taking pictures. Maybe some of the grapefruit salsa will be in my future this week.
I was SO happy to be finally getting a nice looking red bell pepper, and the really hot summer got to it:
The big white, wrinkled spot on the right is where the sun scorched it. I did, of course, water it, but heat indexes of 121 were just too much for it. I’ve never seen that happen. So, I’ll let it ripen a bit more and see what happens next. Might be just that side–and if the rest of it is OK to use, it’ll go into a pot of chili. There are flowers on the plant, so I could see more peppers, but like anything else in a garden, you wait for it.
In addition to the peppers and the sprouting orbs of tomatoes:
That’s actually a little red tomato, but for some reason, it looks like a double. Go figure. It’s one of the four organics I bought in the spring. There are several little green orbs, but this one. . .well, if it matures properly, I’ll happily eat it. The Sungold has about a dozen orbs, and plenty of flowers behind them. Sungold is a prolific-producing hybrid, and it’s been the one I’ve picked most often this summer. The Cherokee Purple and Chocolate Cherry haven’t done anything but sprout more leaves, so I guess it’s done–but I’ll wait and see on them, too.
Both basil plants are growing back nicely:
Even if the new organic shoots are taking their sweet old time:
If it nets me one or two more pots of pesto, it’s worth the wait. Fingers crossed.
The citrus trees are doing well; the Key Lime tree has several orbs that should be ready for picking at some point in the next month or two; there were even some new flowers on it this week. But the Meyer Lemons are still a complete mystery:
I have no idea.
Now, if you’re a longtime reader, you know it’s Hatch Chile time in Houston. Well, in New Mexico, too. The plant I have which grows these magical chiles is in a pot, not in the ground, and it has been a prolific producer this year. If it were in the ground, I’m sure the chiles would be as big as the ones I saw in Kroger this afternoon:
This one was about nine inches long–much bigger than the ones I get, which are about as big as my index finger. I also don’t leave them on the plant too long, or they’ll get red–and hot.
Central Market posted some pictures on Facebook this weekend of the farm land in Hatch, NM. Friend of the blog BL, who I used to work with at Boeing, lives in Las Cruces, NM, and when I posted the pictures on my wall, he said that he lives about 20 miles away; it’s just farm land. But hey–they grow these beautiful peppers there, so why not post them?
I didn’t buy any, although I thought about it. I mean, they grow in my back garden. . .maybe next week.
There are 100 recipes in Central Market’s database, and I went looking for a recipe to use the ones that have been in my fridge for a while, waiting on me to finish thinking about what to do with them. I also had two jalapeno peppers, also grown in the back garden, about the size of the top digit of my thumb. Here’s a primer for “first time Hatchers,” if you’re interested, too. But with the second harvest coming soon for these peppers, I decided to take the pepper by the horns and do something.
Breakfast.
I roasted them up under the broiler–and that’s a smell you can’t bottle or fake, it’s wonderful:
I’ve done this before, but not in many years. You roast them until the skin burns and bubbles like this, then put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, or a cover like I did:
If you don’t, you end up with a hard-to-chew outer layer–like the shipping plastic on your smartphone screen, or the keypad on that new microwave oven. It’s easy to remove once they’re cool enough to handle.
When I was finished, this is what I ended up with:
Now, to give you some perspective on how much I ended up with, two cans of the same types of roasted chili–one from Target, a 7-ounce can, and a 4-ounce can of Hatch brand chiles (grown and processed in New Mexico), and the chiles I roasted and peeled.I think I bought the Hatch brand chiles at HEB. I’m so glad they’re gluten-free! (Yes, they usually are, even without the labeling.)
Yes, I know–“what took you so long, Amy?” Well. . .I just had to think about it. I’ve got lots on my mind, you know, and only two paws for workin’ it and taking pictures. (The paws still burn a little from the capsaicin.)
Oh, and I’ll repeat my warning that I posted months ago: when you are handling chiles, do wear gloves. You can get a box of 100 for about $8 at Sally Beauty Supply, don’t worry about what color they are. Seriously–you do not want to be fumbling around trying to put milk in the eyedropper while your eye is burning. Dairy milk, that’s the only cure I could find on an iPhone during Christmas when I forgot to do it earlier. At least I didn’t rub my eyes this time. The heat is concentrated in the seeds and ribs, but you can still end up burning your eyes if you do something wrong. I speak from experience. Only bell peppers won’t burn you alive, OK? WEAR GLOVES WHEN HANDLING PEPPERS.
Breakfast went into the Crock Pot–2 cups of milk, 10 eggs, the chiles, and some Italian sausage, browned beforehand:
And don’t forget the Colby cheese:
Then the whole business was mixed with a hand-blender (aka “boat motor”) and the cheese mixed in:
And cooked for four hours.
I’ll eat it all week, soon as I pack it up into containers so I can soak the Crock Pot stoneware thingy.
If you’re thinking about Hatch chiles, you’d better hurry up–pay 77 cents a pound now for US-grown chiles, or $1.98 a pound later for Mexico-grown chiles (which are available year-round.) Hatch chiles don’t last long, so get a move on. There are recipes on Central Market’s website, or you can create your own.
Next post, I’ll tell you about the big fish that the GER brought me last week. For now, I’ve got to get to bed.
Enjoy!
Good evening:
Well, yesterday was cooking day, and boy did I ever. I started out with a trip to my local Kroger stores. I say “stores” because I couldn’t get everything at the first Kroger, so I had to drop by the second. Next time I may go all the way to Friendswood and visit the one by LK’s place. Oh, wait, is she in League City? I forget. it’s over there on Bay Area and 518, or 528. . .I get those two mixed up. Anyway. . .I did get online and open up my online Kroger account and add some “digital coupons” onto my Kroger card. I also had some paper coupons that arrived in the mail on Friday. I saved a total of $45.45, which made me feel kinda stoked. Nevermind how much I actually spent, but I stocked up on some things and even tried something new.
It was great to watch that $90 tab go down to $63 in a heartbeat when my Kroger card was scanned. But I don’t do that every day.
I roasted a big ol’ pork loin roast, so that was easy. I made some barbecue sauce, because one thing I picked up on sale were some cross-cut shanks. Those went into the slow cooker this morning–delicious! Also made some more of the low-carb fruit muffins I made a couple of weeks ago.
And then I made some of the muffins I told you about in the last post from GF and Me—the chocolate hazelnut muffins. Yes, they are worth the trouble to make, including with Somersweet. Wanna see?
First, you mix the cocoa powder and olive oil:
Then you whisk up the dry ingredients:
Then beat the eggs until nice and frothy:
And then add this wonderful elixir:
And a little of this, too:
Add the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture first:
Mix in the dry stuff and stir it all up:
And then bake them at 375F for 25 to 30 minutes.
Here’s a tip: let them COOL. Overnight, if necessary. Why? Well. . .the GER came by last night, and I gave him the only one that came out perfectly. The rest, well. . .all I’m saying is let them cool completely. And maybe use paper muffin liners, too:
They sorta didn’t come out of the pan exactly right. . .don’t judge me. Or maybe I didn’t grease the muffin tins enough. Or maybe I need new muffin tins. . . .
I just talked to the GER and he’s not tried his muffins yet. I gave him one chocolate muffin and two of the blueberry muffins. When I mentioned that I was making some gluten-free muffins, he said, “oh, no! You nearly killed me the last time with that dinner!” Like the long-ago dinner with my brother and his family in 1997, I will likely not live that one down. Ever.
I didn’t feel like messing with the Nutella frosting, even though I could have whipped up some Homemade Nutella to make it.
Verdict: Delicious!! With hazelnut flour/meal more available in grocery and health food stores, it wouldn’t be difficult to whip these up anytime you wanted. If you’ve got a gluten-sensitive honey, get started on them Friday afternoon/evening so they’re cool on Saturday, which is Valentine’s Day. If you’re making frosting, I would do it ahead of time, too.
Note that Brenda’s original recipe calls for sugar. But because I’m a fiend for the alternative sweeteners and eschewing sugar, I used SomerSweet, which is primarily erythrytol. If you have something called Sweet N’ Natural, or another erythrytol-based sweetener, and prefer to use that, it might take some fiddling to get it right. But SomerSweet measure identical to sugar, so that’s what I go with.
And if you’re like me, don’t have a special someone, make them for yourself, (the recipe makes 6 or 7) because they’re just delicious. The rich chocolate-hazelnut taste is like nothing else you’ve ever had, and will become one of your favorites.
Happy Valentine’s Day, and Enjoy!
Good evening, Dear Readers:
Well, Houston’s warm spell was broken with a cold front that literally blew through last night. I was in shorts all day yesterday, and later in the evening found my self. ..chilled. I managed to gather a bag of dry leaves for composting before the rain came through, and will try to get more in a little while; cheap rakes are great, aren’t they? I made coffee last night AND this morning! Enjoy it while you can. . .because soon enough it’ll be HOT again. This is Houston, after all.
All the housework is done, and coupons cut and sorted for whenever I go shopping again. I actually have done some shopping, but not so much for groceries–more spare parts and things, mostly. But not a whole lot. For instance, I had no idea that household cleaning manufacturer Casabella made a tool to scrub your bathtub. No kidding! It’s a tub scrubber on a long pole, much like a mop or broom. How did I not know about this? I actually saw a similar tub scrubber by Oxo on Facebook, but Bed, Bath and Beyond does not have OXO’s model yet. Armed with coupons, I got one of the Casabella models and a refill pad. My tub and surroundings is clean, and I do not suffer with pain from it.
Soon I will be getting the HeatCageKitchen garden started for this year. Although my rosemary plant keeled over after so much rain, I’ve sprouted a bit of rosemary I leftover from Christmas. Takes a while, and you just keep the water fresh in the cup. The green onions are shooting up nicely, and I may need to transplant them to a bigger container.
Last night I cooked up some tenderloin medallions. No kidding. Upstairs neighbor J goes deer hunting, and some time ago gave me some delicious deer sausage he’d had made after a trip to West Texas. I was kind of “saving it,” and then he gave me a package of these:
I’ve had venison twice before, and cooked it once, at someone’s house. (Never again.) I was not aware that venison can be tough, and because it’s so incredibly lean, needs a fair amount of oil to cook properly. I am now, so of course I first hit them with my handy-dandy meat tenderizer:
This is the model I think I have, but I don’t believe I paid that much for it–I’m too cheap. However, this is a comparable model for a lot less.
Olive oil in a cast iron pan is the only way to go:
It wasn’t long before I was enjoying something delicious.
Yesterday also saw some on-sale chicken breasts and what looks like the last of the “fish unspecified” from the GER cooked up for the week. I also have a little of last week’s chicken chili, but I’ll have to post that recipe later. I meant to do it already, it’s for the slow cooker.
Now, the next one I sort of stumbled upon. . .well, let me start it this way. Remember a while back I had a fascination with the Hamilton Beach breakfast sandwich maker? I still think it’s neat, but. . .well, I gave it another try, minus the sandwich maker.
In the Wheat Belly 30-Minute (Or Less) Cookbook, there is, on page 19, a recipe for an “All Purpose Baking Mix.” With this mix, you can make a number of baked-goods recipes in the book. In fact, this book has a number of different mixes for a number of different applications. (On Page 25, there is a mix for the wonderful flaxseed wraps, and on page 28, one for tortillia baking mix, which I haven’t tried yet.)
When it got cold enough to bake a couple of weeks ago, I decided to cook up some chicken thighs, just stick them in the toaster oven on 350 with some olive oil and spices until they were done. Didn’t think more about it, just something to eat. (I got a bunch on sale again.) Separately, I decided to make some of the Basic Sandwich Muffins on page 24, using the All Purpose Baking Mix. First, I had to whip some up:
To make these little sandwich muffins, you’ll need a whoopie pie pan. These muffins are small but quite filling. Once you make enough of the baking mix, you mix up the muffin dough and bake them. They’re not very big, honest:
They’re only about a half inch thick, really:
The recipe makes 4 of these little muffin halves, and the recipe says that each one is a half. Two of these are quite filling. Well, I decided to cut them in half to see what happened, and at some point, I realized that the chicken thighs were the perfect accompaniment. I mean, the chicken isn’t that big, either, once it’s cooked:
The muffins are great toasted:
And you slice up the chicken thighs lengthwise like turkey breasts to make them fit. With some Just Mayo on the muffin halves, and a dot of Zatarain’s Creole Mustard on top of the chicken:
Voila!
I had them every day for breakfast, just because I could. Admittedly, I didn’t make any more, I want to try something else next.
Now, of course, I’m down a couple of bags of almond flour. Next trip to Trader Joe’s, I’ll be stocking up again. But between these little babies and the recent Meyer Lemon Cake, oh, is it so worth it.
If you’re looking for a little treat, give these a try, because they’re quite good. The recipes are below.
Please note that one recipe for the muffins makes four, but if you have a 12-cup whoopie pie pan like I do, you can triple the recipe to fill it and bake 12 at once. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Oh, and Valentine’s Day is next week! Are you ready? There are some chocolate recipes here on HeatCageKitchen, just do a search (or start here). But there’s one more thing you can make with that baking mix, and fast–a Coconut-Chocolate Quick Muffin, on page 87 of the same book the muffins are in.
They’re actually listed under breakfast, but they’re pretty good about anytime. In fact, I might make one tomorrow. Let me tell you, though, all these quick muffins are microwavable in a cup. How cool is that?
So get ready for Valentine’s Day the HeatCageKitchen way! Or at least an easy way. . .recipes are below.
Happy Dining!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wheat Belly Recipes
All-Purpose Baking Mix
- 4 cups alond meal/flour
- 1 cup ground golden flaxseeds
- 1/4 cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1teaspoon ground psyllium seed (optional)
In a large bowl, whisk together the almond meal/flour, flaxseeds, coconut flour, baking soda and psyllium seed (if desired.) Store in an airtight container, preferably in the refrigerator.
Basic sandwich muffins (makes 4)
- 1 cup All-Purpose Baking Mix
- 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water, plus additional water if needed
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 4 cups of a whoopie pie baking pan (or all, if tripling recipe for 12.)
In a bowl, combine the baking mix, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the oil thoroughly. Add the the egg and stir until mixed. If the dough is too stiff, add water 1 tablespoon at a time.
Divide the dough among the 4 whoopie pie cups (or 12 if tripling recipe). Using a spoon, flatten the mounds until approximately 1/2″ thick, leaving a shallow well in the center. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for 3 minutes before carefully removing from the pan.
Coconut-Chocolate Quick Muffin
- 1/2 cup All Purpose Baking mix
- 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Sweetener equivalent to 2 tablespoons sugar (3 is better; I use SomerSweet)
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk (almond milk works too)
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted (use coconut oil if doing yeast-free diet)
In a medium bowl, combine the baking mix, cocoa, coconut, cinnamon, sweetener and salt. Whisk in the egg. Add the milk and butter (or coconut oil) and whisk thoroughly. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the mixture into a large mug or 10-ounce ramekin.
Microwave on hgh power for 2 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. let cool for 5 minutes.
Hello, again, Dear Readers:
I’m sorry I dropped the ball again. . .but there’s more to tell about Christmas dinner. And dessert, of course!
If you’re in the US, you’re likely freezing your butt off. I know I have been, but heck, I love it. I’ve got firelogs, and the little laptop in the living room with the fireplace burning all day long (including early this morning.) It’s been raining in addition to being cold, so there’s been coffee, tea, yeast-free hot chocolate and more tea.
And if you’re Down Under, you’ve got shrimp on the barbie. Enjoy them for me, OK?
On the sewing side, I finally finished the hot/cold grocery bag LAST NIGHT. (On the pattern, it’s bag E.) What I’ll show you is the prototype for the planned gifts for Neighbor K and Neighbor R that didn’t happen. First, I used up some denim that R had given me a few years ago, because I thought it would be great. Nope. Too thick. Then I couldn’t sew on the Velcro, even with the help of a friend who sews.The bag has actually been stitched up for quite a long time. So a few months ago in Joann Fabrics I came across contact cement. Hey–my Dad used it all the time on stuff! So I bought a bottle (with a coupon, of course) and finally, yesterday, I finished the darn thing:
I had to wait until I could work outside, and the rain has stopped for a few days. Contact cement has some mind-bending fumes, and I can’t afford to get bended, you know. This is the side of it:
This is the inside, though this is one time it doesn’t look like the pattern envelope picture. Hey–at least it’s not a cocktail dress:
Next time I go to Trader Joe’s, or even HEB, I’ll give it a field test and let you know how it works. That inside fabric is $10 a yard–it better work great!
Now to continue with the holidays. . . .
So I wondered what to have for Christmas dinner, and despite my love for roasting turkey, I went with chicken. Specifically, two small organic chickens, and a recipe from Suzanne Somers’ Sexy Forever Recipe Bible, called Zannie’s Perfect Roast Chicken. It really was, and simple, too. After rinsing them off, you rub some garlic on it, there’s lemon, onion, and a bunch of herbs. Oh, heck, let me show you–this is the actual recipe from the book:
I took out my really big roasting pan and went after it. I topped it with slices of butter before putting it into the oven. I left it completely alone in the oven. And after two hours, I had some delicious chicken that I enjoyed for quite a while:
While that was in the oven I was making some of my favorite sweet potatoes, and also made a complicated but interesting dessert involving gelatin. I showed you the finished product in the last post, but this is the long process to make it.
You can find the recipe for Cafe Gelatin here, and my comment at the bottom from the first time I made it.
The first layer is a espresso panna cotta layer, which involves ground espresso and filtering it through cheesecloth.
Because you use real ground espresso in this, not instant, and you don’t want to crunch down on a coffee ground. Next up is the absolutely vexing espresso gelatin layer:
I say “vexing” because if you scroll past the recipe, you’ll see my comment from 2008, the first time I made this recipe. Unfortunately, the same thing happened this time–needs a little more gelatin than the recipe specifies. I could do it for the stuff in the baking dish, but it was a bit too late for the stuff I poured into the glasses:
The espresso gelatin layer doesn’t set like it should because there isn’t enough gelatin in it. Like the last time, I re-boiled the remainder, added a bit more, and set it back in the fridge for later.
Now to make sure each glass came out exactly right, I used a good ol’ Pyrex measuring cup:
I know, people might eyeball it, but even though it was for me, I wanted to make absolutely sure it came out as good as I could get it.
Now, in between each layer, it had to go into the fridge to set, so I covered them with plastic wrap just in case:
Of course once that’s set up well, you add 2 tablespoons of the espresso gelatin layer on top, and let that set. Then you get on with the vanilla panna cotta layer, and when the time is right, strain that with cheesecloth like the first layer, and pour a quarter cup into each glass, over the espresso gelatin layer, like this:
Since the espresso gelatin layer didn’t set up well, I had to be VERY careful pouring in the top layer, or the espresso gelatin would bubble up, just like the first time, and not make it as pretty. Are you seeing the problem?
So I poured each quarter cup in by tablespoons until it was done.
I know, you’d think I was serving Christmas Lunch to HRH Queen Elizabeth. No, just me. But I want to get it right, because it’s SO good.
So back into the fridge they went for longer, and the rest of the espresso gelatin was firming up too. Meantime, I made my favorite Spicy Sweet Potatotes with regular paprika and no cayenne. When those were done, so was the chicken:
So while Queen Elizabeth might not have been impressed, I thought it was pretty tasty and was pretty darn happy with it. And of course, at the end, I ran a knife through the espresso gelatin in the baking dish to make tiny dices, and fixed up the final part of the delicious sugar-free dessert:
Yes, eventually, it was worth it. Had I gotten up earlier I could have been done earlier, but you know how that goes.
Neighbor R wasn’t home, but K was, and I offered her one. (I had six. She got a perfect looking one.) She didn’t have it right away, but I did point out that it was made with Somersweet, so no guilt. A day or two later when she finally got to it, I got a text message: “Excellente, chica!” She loved it. And rightly so–it’s a nice, refreshing dessert that even works on Christmas.
Now that the holdiays are over, we’re all on diets again, right? I am, actually, the yeast-free diet that I’ve written about before. Why? Heartburn. . .but I was sick in October, so the antibiotics started that process. Then all the dairy, sweet stuff. . .well, you know. Sugar feeds yeast, that’s all I’m saying. . .so I’m back on it with some Yeast Control and missing the milk in my coffee already.
I’ve got more updates coming soon. Happy New Year!!