Delicate Muffins

I found this in one of my Mom's cookbooks when I was a teenager.  My favorite muffin, very simple and very easy to dress up.

Delicate Muffins
2 c all-purpose flour
4 t baking powder
1/2 c sugar
3/4 c milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c melted butter

Combine dry ingredients and whisk. Add wet and stir gently to combine, do not over mix.
Bake at 400F for 20 minutes - until just brown.  Makes 12.

My Own Variations:
Cranberry-Orange 

1-2 tablespoons fresh cranberry orange relish
1 c dried cranberries (orange flavored or otherwise, soaked in warm water before to plump).

Apple-Yogurt
1 apple, chopped small
1/2 c sliced almonds
1/2 t vanilla
1 c plain greek yogurt
(substitute 3/4 c milk with 3/4 c water)

Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish

Being far away from Trader Joe's, I had to figure out how to make my favorite Thanksgiving condiment.  And who knew it was so easy!?  You'll want a food processor with a chopping blade.  Best made the night before so the flavors have a chance to mingle.

Fresh Cranberry Orange Relish
1 bag cranberries
1 orange
1 t vanilla
1/4-3/4 c sugar

Rinse cranberries and pick through.  Add zest from orange.  Cut segments from orange and add (no pithy white part - it's too bitter). Add vanilla and depending on how sweet your orange is, sugar to your liking.  1/2 c is safe, but occasionally you need more or less.   As good with your Thanksgiving turkey as it is on vanilla ice cream or in Delicate Muffins.  Mmmm...

Creamy Curry Chicken

Grandmother says this is the best curry she's ever had (and that in her 82 years, she's had a lot of curry).  It's also one of my sister-in-law's favorite dishes.  As a bonus, it's dairy and gluten free (so long as your broth is too).

Creamy Curry Chicken

4 pounds chicken, cut to bite size pieces* 

3-4 T Madras Curry Powder (yellow), divided

(2) 18.5oz can Coconut Cream (look for 70% or more)

(1) 14oz can chicken broth/stock

1 t ginger paste (optional)

1 t lemongrass paste (optional)

2 T olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

Heat oil in large skillet or wok on high heat. Toss chicken to coat with oil.

Brown chicken with 1 T curry powder, salt & pepper.  When liquid has almost evaporated, pour in broth and return to a boil for approx. 5 minutes (this should finish cooking the chicken).

Add coconut milk, remainder of curry powder, and remaining seasonings.  Simmer on medium heat until thickened.  Serve over steamed rice with vegetable of choice.

When it's too hot for this dish, but you still want curry... check out Joni's Curry Chicken Salad.  It's our "summer curry".

*I recently doubled this for a big family meal.  Instead of attempting to cut up 8 lbs of chicken breast myself, I called to get a price to have it pre-cut and found out they don't charge extra.  $2.99/lb to have it cut up for me!  What a time saver.

Mashed Potatoes with roasted garlic, rosemary and parmesan

You know mashed potatoes are good when you fight over who gets to lick the bowl.

This is a conglomeration of recipes, so I'm calling it my own.  It's the magic that happens when you read a half-dozen mashed potato recipes on epicurious.com the week before Thanksgiving.  You could easily half this, as written it served 13 with only a couple cups leftovers.  

Mashed Potatoes with roasted garlic, rosemary and parmesan
4 lbs red potatoes
4 lbs yukon gold potatoes
1 t salt

Wash, trim and cube potatoes (I peeled about 1/3 of them). Cook in salted water until they fall apart when pierced with a fork.  Remove from heat and drain, reserving about 1 cup of water.

4 heads garlic (16 cloves), roasted
1 c milk, 2%
4 T butter
1 T fresh rosemary, minced
6 T parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to taste (I started with 1 t salt and added from there)

Combine above in small saucepan and bring to a low simmer.  I used an immersion blender to liquefy the garlic, you could also toss it into a blender.  Mix into mashed potatoes, serve.  Hope for leftovers.

Roasted Garlic

This takes all the bite out of garlic, making it oh-so-yummy and almost sweet.

Cut the top off a bulb of garlic, exposing the top of each clove.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap in foil, leaving some air space (I put the bulb in the middle and twist up the top almost like a chocolate kiss).  Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F.

Use in my favorite mashed potatoes or spread on top of steak like horseradish.

Cuisinart Pie Crust

I've come to find there are a lot of recipes for pie crust out there... I don't have the patience for most of them.  Raise your hand if you enjoy cutting butter into flour.  Didn't think so.  This, however, is fantastic.  Quick, easy, and seemingly foolproof.  I've used it twice now, once savory and once sweet - changing only the amount of salt.

Cuisinart Pie Crust
1-3/4 c flour (unbleached all purpose)
1 stick (8 T) butter, cut up
3 T oil (olive)
1 t salt (reduce to 1/4 t for sweet -or- use unsalted butter and add 3/4 t)
1/4 c ice water

Pulse flour, butter, oil & salt until crumbly.  Drizzle in ice water and blend just until a ball starts to form.

Dump out onto parchment paper or a sil-pat and roll thin.  Place pie pan on top and flip the whole thing over.  Fold the extra dough under, all the way around the edge, and pinch.  Chill in the fridge before baking, 30 minutes or overnight.  Makes 1 double or 2 single crusts.

Tips:  
Make sure to cover/seal dough well when refrigerating.  You don't want any rogue odors latching on when you're not looking.
To pre-bake shells (like for cheesy chicken pot pie) prick holes around crust with a fork and bake for ~15 minutes at 375F. If bubbles appear, carefully pierce with a skewer and smooth down with a long-handled spoon.  You can also put parchment paper in the crust and fill it with dry beans or use pie weights.
If you're feeling fancy, you can seal them with an egg glaze.  Just beat an egg, brush it on the hot crust then return to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.  (I haven't tried this, too lazy when without is just fine... but now you know what I know).

Breakfast Cookies

I adapted these from a recipe on the Cheerios website.  I liked them, Stan not so much, but he's not really a breakfast person anyway.  The cereal on the outside was still a little crunchy, like it would be normally, and the ones in the middle were just part of the cookie. 

Cheerios Breakfast Monsters

1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat or oat flour (toss your oats in the blender until it resembles flour)
1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups Cheerios® cereal

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. In large bowl, stir together sugar, butter, almond/peanut butter, water, vanilla and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients except cereal. Gently stir in cereal. (If you want crunchier finished cookies, bake these now - for softer finished cookies let the dough stand a while.) On large cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper, drop dough by rounded 1/2 cupfuls (rounded 1/3 cupfuls for 15 cookies) 4 inches apart. Flatten dough to about 1 inch thick.

3. Bake 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. DON'T OVERCOOK.  Store loosely covered.

Pumpkin Crunch

A requirement at our Thanksgiving table, this is one of those recipes that has you using 14 other recipes trying to describe it... it's kind of like pumpkin pie, or cobbler, but not really, and sorta like pecan pie, but with pumpkin... when really, it is an awesome dessert in a class all it's own!  If you love pumpkin, pecans, butter (who doesn't) and cake, you're in luck. This recipe has it all, is super simple to make, and is always met with rave reviews! 

Pumpkin Crunch
1 box butter pecan cake mix (yellow will also work)
1 (15 oz) can solid pack pumpkin
1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 -1 cup chopped pecans (or more)
1 cup salted butter, melted

Whipped cream, ice cream or whipped topping.

Oven 350. Lightly greased 9 x 13 pan.

Combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt in large bowl.  Pour into pan.

Sprinkle dry cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture. Top with pecans.

Drizzle melted butter over pecans.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes, or until light golden brown. Serve warm* or chilled with whipped topping.

*Thanks to Megan for bringing it to small group last night, giving me credit for the recipe, and prompting me to finally get it on the blog!  And it was SOOO yummy (I think I've been over cooking mine)!  Mmmm... yummy!

Breadstick Snakes

Today is Alex's class party. Not being sold on all the usual sugar and creepy that accompanies Halloween, I have made it my mission to find cool alternatives. Check out these little guys - inspired by these little guys. 

Alex helped by rolling and wrapping the dough and by drawing the eyes on (with food coloring markers). I manned the green color mist and the carrot tongues.  They each have their own little personality and Alex is so excited to share them with his friends!

We bought wooden dowels at our local home improvement store and cut them to fit the length of my baking sheets.  Then I covered them in foil and lightly greased them with a little spray olive oil.  We used store-bought breadstick dough and rolled them a little before wrapping them around the sticks.  They baked according to directions and I removed them from the sticks as soon as they were cool enough to touch.

All lined up on a baking rack, I held them over the sink and sprayed them with Color Mist in green (they're not kidding about that overspray warning- it's so fine you almost can't tell it's there -until you add water- so be very careful.  I laughed when I blew my nose before bed and had bright green snot!).  Then, Alex used a food-coloring marker to draw on the eyes.  The markers came in a set and were a bit pricey, but they're what really made the whole process interactive for Alex.  He was able to help with the dough and with the decorating.  He's been complimented by his teachers for having excellent spacial skills, specifically the ability to put facial features where they belong, so I got to employ one of his talents.  He did such a great job.

I wasn't going to put tongues on them, but when I explained the project to Alex he informed me "Mommy, snakes have tongues" and I'm so glad he did.  They'd just be worms otherwise.  I added a little sliver of carrot for a tongue (using a veggie peeler on baby carrots, then just notched a little v out, and I had to cut a little slit in the breadstick with the paring knife before pushing the carrot into place). 

We had a lot of fun working on this project together.  As Alex drew the eyes on, he would speculate about each snake - "this one's sleepy", "this one's looking up at the sky", "this one's funny".   And we managed to get all but the last batch (9 of 36) done between dinner and bedtime.  I'd call that a success.

Balsamic Glazed Chicken

This is another favorite. Seems I can never make too much, as the leftovers never last long regardless the quantity.  Even our 4 year old gobbles this up!


Balsamic Glazed Chicken
1-1.5 lbs chicken, cut in strips or pieces
1-2 T olive oil
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground black pepper

3/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c soy sauce (reduced sodium preferred)
2 T brown sugar
1 T butter (unsalted if regular soy sauce used)

Toss chicken in oil, salt & pepper.  Cook in wok until done.

While chicken is cooking, simmer vinegar, soy and sugar in large saucepan or pot.  More surface area is better.  Whisk occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, 12-14 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.

Toss chicken with balsamic sauce and stir to coat.  Let stand 5 minutes, then stir again.  Serve over rice with veggie of choice.  Yummy!!

When the weather's really nice and Stan's looking for an excuse to grill, or wings are on super sale, we'll make this like the original.  It's just not necessary to enjoying the full flavor of this simple recipe.

Modified from: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Balsamic-Soy-Glazed-Chicken-Wings-236679

Favorite Teriyaki Chicken

This is the recipe Stan requests most often (and I keep losing the paper copy, now it's in safe hands - the internet.  Whew!)

Favorite Teriyaki Chicken
1-1/2 to 2 pounds chicken, cut in small pieces
1-2 T olive oil (for cooking)

Sauce:
3/4 c water
1/2 c soy sauce (Lite if you have it)
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t crushed garlic
1/4 t ground ginger

1/2 T cornstarch
1/8 c cool water

2 cups rice, steamed.  I use Botan Calrose Rice in a rice cooker.  If you've never used one, I recommend it highly.  They're about $20 at Target, look for one with a non-stick bowl. Rinse your rice first, and then fill the water to about 1" above the rice (about the distance from the tip of your middle finger to the first crease).

Cook chicken in wok or skillet.  Once chicken is browned and partially cooked, add sauce.  Allow to boil to finish cooking chicken.  Mix cornstarch with cool water, add to chicken.  Return to boil and stir occasionally until sauce thickens slightly.  Serve hot over rice with broccoli.  Yum!

***If you can't use corn products, you can skip the corn starch: Marinade the chicken in half of the sauce for 2-3 hours, then cook it separate from the sauce.  In another large sauce pan or pot, reduce (boil out the water) from the remainder of the sauce to thicken.  Just be careful not to scorch it, since there is a rather high sugar content.

Trader Joe's... in Kansas City... REALLY!!!

I know!  I'm so excited.  They're coming, really coming... I'm so happy I could cry!  I'll settle for a happy dance and a blog post though.

Read all about it.

KitchenAid's dual fuel double oven range

Kitchenaid's stolen my heart again.  It's BEAUTIFUL. And FUNCTIONAL. The only thing I can't quite wrap my head around is the price, MSRP $2,349.00.  Though, I do understand that is a reasonable price in comparison to their other models... it's just more than I've spent on all my current kitchen appliances, combined.

Add this to the list of reasons I must make myself independently wealthy.  I'll retire with my new double-oven range and bake, all day, for the rest of my life.  I'll be the crazy old cookie lady.

Caramel Apple Dip

Oh my!  This is SO YUMMY, features fresh fruit (that's available year-round) and it's simple too!  Thanks to my friend Becca for inspiring me with a similar recipe!

Caramel Apple Dip

2 8oz pkg low-fat cream cheese
1 jar, 8-10oz, caramel sauce (ice cream topping)
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
2 t vanilla
1/2-3/4 c chopped nuts, I use dry-roasted unsalted almonds

4# apples, granny smith or your favorite   
2 T lemon juice

Allow cream cheese to soften, mix in sugars and vanilla.  Spread in bottom of 9x13 pan.  Top with caramel sauce, sprinkle with nuts.  Refrigerate.

Slice apples, immediately putting them into a gallon zip-top bag with lemon juice and 2T cold water (to keep them from browning). Occasionally close bag and toss to coat.  Refrigerate.

When ready to serve, put apples in a pretty bowl and set out next to caramel sauce.

Pineapple Brown Sugar Topping

This is so amazing on ice cream, super quick to make, and doesn't require anything perishable.  It's a triple threat.

1 can (22oz) crushed pineapple in natural juice
1/4 c lemon juice
3 T dark brown sugar
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

In medium saucepan, combine pineapple with juice, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon.  Cook over medium heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved and the juice is somewhat reduced, about 3 minutes.  Set aside to cool slightly.  Spoon 2-3 T worth onto vanilla ice cream, serve.

The original recipe is for banana splits, but the topping is amazing stand-alone.  IF you have bananas, and want to add them - more power to you.  They were yummy, but not necessary (and, unlike all other ingredients they have a shelf life).

Store any leftover pineapple yumminess in the fridge and reheat for later.  (Or dish it cold onto vanilla yogurt as part of tomorrow's lunch. mmm...

Hiring a designer? (or anyone)

I really enjoyed reading this article, I think the points are relevant to many different professions. 

http://www.mcwade.com/DesignTalk/2010/07/hiring-a-designer-eight-things-to-look-for/#comments

Joni's Curry Chicken Salad

Our Cousin Joni shared this with us for lunch today.  Yummy!  She was kind enough to share the recipe with me, and I in turn am sharing with you.

Curry Chicken Pitas
2 c cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
1/2 c mayonnaise
1 T honey
1 t curry, yellow or Madras
1 c halved grapes (we had red)
1/2 c chopped pecans
4 green onions, chopped
4 pita breads, warmed, halved
8 lettuce leaves

In bowl, combine mayonnaise, honey and curry powder. Stir in chicken, grapes, pecans and onions.  Line pita halves with lettuce; spoon 1/2 c of salad mixture into each and serve.  4 servings.

From: Taste of Home's 2002 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes

Best of You

Heard the song Best of You by the Foo Fighters on the radio today.  I took it to be God asking me "Is someone else getting the best of you".  Not exactly the original intent of the song, but that's how it touched me today.

I'm also reading Crazy Love in small group right now and God's really been tugging at my heart to spend more time with Him.  Reading the Bible, sure, but specifically, spending more time listening to Him.  Just being quiet in His presence.  I don't admit this often, but I do believe that God has spoken to me. (why do I think that makes me sound crazy)  At my lowest times, He has whispered to my heart what I've needed to hear most.  Comfort and wisdom no person could provide.  

In the book, there's a challenge that's stuck in my head.  The author relayed the parable of the sower... if you don't know the story, it's explained here.  He says:  Don't assume you're good soil.

Don't assume you're good soil.

Analogous

Have you ever gone to use a word, then decided your audience wouldn't receive it the right way?  I hate having to dumb down my vocabulary for business, but I'm regularly given a hard time for using "big words".  So tell me... is this really so much that I must be mocked for it?

conceptualized
multiple competencies
delineate  

I was going to use the word analogous today (it was honestly the first word that popped into my head) but instead I jammed on the backspace and said "just like".  Do you know how much I attempt to avoid the word "like" as a rule? 

Maybe that's just me rebelling against my Valley Girl roots.

Galations 6

¹Live creatively, friends... ^4-5Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. (The Message)