Grilled Asian Pork Tenderloin with Peanut Sauce

FineCooking.com

Pork...the other white meat!

Servings: Serves four to five

Ingredients:
1 cup light coconut milk
1/2 cup smooth, natural peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 small pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil for the grill

Directions
In a large bowl, whisk the coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, garlic, and coriander to make a smooth sauce.

Trim the pork of excess fat; butterfly the tenderloins by splitting each one lengthwise almost but not quite all the way through, so the halves remain attached.

Open each tenderloin like a book, cover with plastic wrap, and pound to an even 1/2-inch thickness with a meat mallet or the bottom of a small skillet. Put the pork tenderloins in the bowl with the marinade and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.

When you're ready to cook the pork...heat a gas grill with burners on high. Clean and oil the grate. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade, letting excess marinade drip back into the bowl (don't discard the marinade).

Grill the tenderloins, covered, turning once, until just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes total (cut into one to check). Transfer to a carving board and let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the marinade into a small saucepan and add 2 tablespoons water; bring to a boil (*WARNING: This liquid MUST be brought to a boil to kill any bacteria from raw meat juices), reduce the heat, and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. If the sauce seems too thick, thin it with 1 or 2 teaspoons water. Slice the pork and serve with the sauce on the side.

Serving Suggestion: Serve with steamed jasmine rice and stir-fried snow peas or vegetable mix.

Original recipe from: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/grilled-asian-pork-tenderloin-peanut-sauce.aspx

Hot Creamy Cocoa

Photo: Graham van der Wielen

Homemade cocoa simply doesn't compare to the store bought stuff; which comes from a can or envelope!

Treat yourself and/or family to some delectable hot cocoa on the cold winter's days which lay ahead. ~ Liz Rhoades


Creamy Hot Cocoa

 Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup Splenda or white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 3 1/2 cups 2% milk
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup half-and-half dairy cream

Directions

• Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. 
• Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. 
• Simmer and continue stirring for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't burn. 
• Stir in milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. 
• Divide cocoa between 4 mugs or big cups. 
• Add the cream to the mugs of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature. 
• *Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top if you like

Original recipe: AllRecipes.com

HyDrive Energy Electrolyte Formula Review

In my hands, I am hold the last formula of the HyDrive Energy drinks - Electrolyte Formula - which is lemon lime flavoured.

The beverage smells a lot like lemonade, but does not have that intense and sour lemonade flavour. It starts off watery, like the Strength Formula, but the taste builds up by the end of each sip. Half way through each sip, lemon and lime flavours start to emerge and by the end they are fully noticeable. Strangely, another flavour emerges at the finish - tangerine. It sounds strange, but this is what the finish tastes to me like. You can almost compare the taste to the yellow Gatorade, but once you drink at least half the bottle of HyDrive, the taste builds up and starts to differ from Gatorade. Like the other HyDrive formulas, the taste becomes more intense and flavour-rich, yet not very sweet. The Electrolyte Formula was enjoyable and easy to drink, but it wasn't my favorite HyDrive in terms of the taste. I would have enjoyed it more if the initial taste was made more flavourful.

You guessed it, this HyDrive formula contains 145 mg of caffeine. The unique ingredients are Magnesium, Chloride and Phosphorous. Within 30 minutes I started to get the already familiar feeling of clean and gradual build up of energy with my energy levels peaking 15 minutes later. I felt calm and very focused for 15 - 20 minutes right as my energy was peaking and plateauing. I was at this peak plateau for a good 3 hours after which I came back down, but did not crash.

The HyDrive Energy series was one of my favorite energy drink series, if not the favorite. Each formula has unique ingredients and every single one tasted great. Most other energy drink series have good flavours and bad flavours, but all the HyDrive formulas were consistently good. The energy kick was about the same with each flavour and though the caffeine content was not the highest, at 145 mg, the ingredients in the energy blend worked together to provide a few hours of clean energy with no jitters or a crash. It was an absolute pleasure to try all of the formulas and I hope the company expands their business into Canada.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Vitamin E - 3 IU
• Niacin - 20 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 2 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 6 mcg
• Pantothenic Acid - 10 mg
• Phosphorous - 16 mg
• Sodium 140 mg
• Potassium 50 mg
• Caffeine - 145 mg
• Taurine - 50 mg
• L-Carnitine - 25 mg
• L-Arginine - 25 mg
• Magnesium - 2 mg
• Chloride - 2 mg

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: purified water, sucrose, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, monopotassium phosphate, natural flavor, gum arabic, sucralose, glycerol ester of wood rosin, yellow #5, blue #1.

Scores:
Cost - not sold in Canada
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 7.9/10

Overall - 16.4/20...not the most flavour-rich HyDrive energy drink, but it still is one of the better tasting ones on the market

End of Harvest Casserole (also vegan)

I used to work at a Health food store. I took over for the chef in their deli when she moved. I learned alot about many things including things I never thought Id like. I found out Gardenburgers are awesome and I didnt even miss the meat. I found out whole grains are pretty tasty. And I found out you need surprisingly little oil when making a salad to make it taste good. One thing tho I never thought Id ever eat or like is tofu or soy cheese.

I used to make all kinds of things for this place, muffins, salads, sandwiches and these were things that were already on their menu. But in time I got to play and added cakes, breakfast cookies and this particular dish. We used to serve take out foods for vegans. I was always looking for things and since Im not vegan I wasnt sure what anyone would like. I do know its hard to find good vegan recipes. I love veggies and have grown them for yrs. but I dont eat only that. So when I stumbled on this recipe I had to give it a try. The owner of the shop encouraged me to include products in the store so others would taste things I made and buy those things too.

I decided to make this dish with smoked soy or tofu cheddar cheese.....and omg ....it was delicious and you would never know its soy. This dish became a popular one in our shop for take out.


END OF HARVEST CASSEROLE Serves 8-10

1/2c. chopped fresh parsley
2 tb. chopped fresh thyme
1 tb. chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper
1c. thinly sliced potatoes
1c. broccoli or cauliflower flowerettes
1c. thinly sliced celery
1c. thinly sliced onion
1c. thinly sliced zucchini or summer squash
1c. shredded cabbage
2-3 tomatoes, sliced
1/2c. chicken stock (you might need a bit more)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2c. grated cheddar cheese

Any vegetables in this recipe can be replaced by an equal amt. of whatever vegetable you may have growing in your garden.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a sm. bowl, mix the salt and pepper, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. In a 3qt. casserole , arrange a layer of each vegetable, starting with the potatoes, (They cook the longest so need to be closer to the heat source and in the broth), broccoli, celery, onions, or other slow cooking veggies and ending with the tomatoes, sprinkling herb mixture between each layer and over the tomatoes. Pour the chicken stock over the casserole and scatter the garlic and cheese on top. Cook, covered, till the veggies are tender and the cheese is melted, about 45min. to 1hr. Serve at room temperature.

You can substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock to make it vegan and I topped this with smoked soy cheddar cheese. I like the smoke flavor better on this dish and no one would ever know you used it , it is that good.

I would use the best vine ripe tomatoes you can find on this. Sometimes the potatoes take a bit longer to cook I found. I dont know if it was the little oven I had to use in the store or what so thats why I said it might need more broth or it might need to cook a little longer. Test at the suggested time and see if they are done.

Rachel's Daisy Wedding Cake

Here is the cake that I've been working on this week. 3 Tiers of white cake with raspberry filling. I made the daisies out of fondant. This cake was a lot of fun to make!

Thank You Bakerella!!!

Bakerella is famous for her Cake Pops. She makes really cute pops for all of the holidays, and this time around I couldn’t resist trying them! My friend Sara and I spent an entire day decorating our cute little creations (some of which are pictured above).

We started by baking cakes from a cake mix. After the cakes baked and cooled, we crumbled them into a bowl and mixed them with frosting. Next, we rolled them into balls (about the size of a quarter). The balls needed to go in the freezer for a few minutes while we melted our candy melts. It was necessary to dip the lollipop sticks into the chocolate melts before putting them into the balls. This made it so the balls wouldn’t fall off the sticks. Once the balls were all on sticks, we placed them into foam blocks and put them back into the freezer. After a few minutes we were able to dip the cake pops into candy melts and decorate away. It’s amazing what you can do with cake sprinkles and confetti! For more details on how to make Bakerella’s Famous Cake Pops check out her website at http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/08/hope-these-put-smile-on-your-face.html

Koru Energy Strips Review

I have had and used Koru strips for months now, but never got the chance to review them until today. Where can I start? I like the packaging, but there are only 4 strips and a sticker in each pack. It would have been a little nicer if the strips came in a package like the Listerine strips or the Diablo strips, but they come packed the following way:

Taste

The taste is sweet, minty and refreshing. It does have some bitterness to it, but it is not as bad as the Diablo strips or some bitter-tasting energy shots on the market. Not much else I can say about the taste.

Energy

The strips work pretty good. Though there are only 40 mg of active ingredients per strip, the delivery is quick and a jolt of energy comes in within minutes. The jolt also comes with a very focused feeling, which lasts for about 20-30 minutes. The energy kick does not last very long, but you do have 4 strips per pack for a total of 160 mg of active ingredients. Mine started to wear off within 40-50 minutes, but I just popped another one in my mouth and life was good again.

Ingredients: maltodextrin, hydroxypropylmdethyl cellulose, water, triethyl citrate, sorbitol, flavourings, sweeteners, color.

Scores:

Cost -$3.00 from King of Caffeine

Taste - 6.5/10

Energy - 4/10 to 9/10 depending on the number of strips

Overall - 10.5/20 to 15.5/20...depending on how many you take

'Best Bet Special' - 2nd Leg Play-Off Betting Tips with Betfair

Hello and welcome to the second leg of my 'special' edition guest blog. I am going to be previewing this week's 2nd leg play-off fixtures, and in particular those games involving Championship sides.
Drama, nerves and excitement are guaranteed, but hopefully I can also try and win you some cash with my best bet tips.
 
I told you last Wednesday predicting the play-off was hard, and as if to prove the point a narrow victory for Burnley was the only game I got right! Here’s hoping for better luck this week:


Sheff United v Preston - 2nd leg

Mon 11th May KO 19.45 LIVE ON SKY SPORTS

It is still all to play for at Bramall Lane after the two sides couldn’t be separated in the first game at Deepdale. Sean St Ledger gave Preston the lead only to be pegged by back Brian Howard minutes into the second half. With no away goals rule this one could go all the way to penalty kicks.

Current Match odds:

Sheff U 11/10 Preston 3/1 Draw 12/5

Scorecast:
Sheff U 1-0 7/1 2-0 17/2 2-1 8/1 3-0 17/1

Preston 0-1 17/2 0-2 20/1 1-2 13/1 0-3 69/1

Draw 0-0 17/2 1-1 6/1 2-2 15/1

My 'best bet' prediction:

It is almost too close to call but I am going to stick my neck out and tips United to go through - but only after extra time or penalties. I think it will be level after the 90 minutes.
1-1 draw @ 15/2


Reading v Burnley - 2nd leg

Tuesday 12th May KO 19.45 LIVE ON SKY SPORTS

Despite having an array of attacking talent on show, Saturday’s first leg failed to live up to expectations. The game looked to be heading for a bore draw until a moment of madness by Andre Bikey. The Reading defender inexplicably pulled back Stephen Thompson in the area with only six minutes of the match remaining. Referee Martin Atkinson pointed to the spot, and Graham Alexander duly converted the penalty to give the Clarets a vital first-leg lead.

Current Match odds:

Reading Evens Burnley 16/5 Draw 5/2

Scorecast:
Reading 1-0 7/1 2-0 9/1 2-1 8/1 3-0 20/1

Burnley 0-1 12/1 0-2 25/1 1-2 14/1 0-3 79/1

Draw 0-0 10/1 1-1 6/1 2-2 16/1

My 'best bet' prediction:

Steve Coppell's Reading team are in poor form of late, and they will have to produce a much improved performance on Tuesday night if they want to progress any further.
Meanwhile Owen Coyle's Burnley have been going great guns of late, and I fancy them to grind out a draw at the Madejski Stadium, and book themselves a place at Wembley on May 25th.
O-O draw @ 10/1


The Best Of The Rest:
Eight other teams face off this week in the race to earn promotion from Leagues One and Two.

Here are my predictions:

Home wins:
Sunday 10th May KO 18.30 Gillingham v Rochdale
Thursday 14th May KO 19.45 Leeds v Millwall

Draws:
Sunday 10th May KO Noon Bury v Shrewsbury
Friday 15th May KO 19.45 MK Dons v Scunthorpe

Rage Inferno Energy Drink Review

Holy Crap is it tacky? The answer is yes. Actually the tackiest part is that thing on top, which is not part of the cap. It is just a little plastic decor that comes off easily so you can open the drink. You can also open it by just twisting the tacky part.

So Rage Inferno came out a while ago, but since I haven't been to 7-11 in over a month, I am one of the last people to try it. What I don't like about the one that I picked up is the nub on the bottom of the bottle which makes it wobble and be very unstable. I like parts of the label...actually I like the entire label with the exception of the sideways "Inferno" which has a tacky font. Enough talking, lets drink this.

Taste

Rage Inferno is lightly carbonated and does not taste like anything I expected. It actually tastes better. The flavour starts off slightly weak but after the 3rd or 4th sip, you can start tasting it. At first, it seems like it tastes like fruit punch, but then it changes to a sweet cherry taste. Yes, sweet! This drink is sweet and it only gets sweeter with each sip. The effects of that are reflected in the aftertaste which is very sweet, almost like you just had a very sweet candy and your mouth is still coated in it. Here is the most impressive thing though - there are no signs of energy ingredients. The last time I had a bottle this size with this much caffeine, I struggled to drink it all.

Energy

OK, so if you don't know this already, this bottle contains 375 mg of caffeine!!! Yea, 375 mg. There is a spot on the label that tells you not to chug the bottle. This much caffeine can sure do a whole lot of damage to you. If you pace yourself and drink this over the course of a work day, you should be OK. The last time I had 375 mg of caffeine all at once, I was jittery and extremely hyper for a good 2 hours before I calmed down and felt just energetic. Rage Inferno can be a recipe for disaster with the amount of sugar and caffeine it contains. However, if you take it easy, I think that this is a very solid drink.

The effects of the drink are noticeable within 15-20 minutes and they arrive with a healthy dose of jitters. I was completely awake within another 5 minutes and in another 10, I was ready to run around the block. No, I did not consume the whole bottle, I only had about half of it and saved the second half for later...and later did come later in the day. This entire bottle kept me energized for most of the day and of course, once I drank it all and the effects ended, I did feel extremely tired.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Taurine - 3,000 mg
• Caffeine - 375 mg
• D-Glucuronolactone - 300 mg
• Vitamin B3 - 30 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 6 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 18 mcg

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: carbonated filtered water, sugar/glucose-fructose, citric acid, natural & artificial flavours, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, colour, sucralose

Scores:
Cost - $3.49 from 7-11
Taste - 8/10
Energy - 10/10

Overall - 18/20...this one is not only potent, but also tastes great

Snickerdoodle cookies

Yesterday J and I made Snickerdoodles. We tripled the recipe cuz J wanted to make some for her dad for Christmas as a gift. The recipe says it makes 24 if you make 1 in. balls. They lie! We ended up with about 9 dozen! So J took quite a few and wrapped them all up for her dad. And I have 4 1/2 dozen here and she took the rest home with her to take to her church last nite. She was going to something at the youth group, a huge cookie and cocoa party.

I had 4 baking pans going all afternoon that held about a dozen each pan. I remembered that last yr. I made some Vanilla sugar so for the topping we mixed the Vanilla sugar and cinnamon. I thought it would add an extra flavor boost. They are yummy!

I know most of you probably have a good Snickerdoodle recipe but Ill post the one I used here anyway.

Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies

* 1 cup butter
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 2 3/4 cups flour
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl. Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture. Chill dough, and chill an ungreased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.

Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture. Place on chilled ungreased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes. Remove from pan immediately. Makes 24

Will City Buy the Premier League? - Betting News with Betfred

Crab Specialite

A very special, richly delicious soup that is super easy to make. The soup would be great accompanied by a chef salad, fresh fruit and some coffee.

INGREDIENTS:
•½ pound fresh crab meat—or 1 can cleaned Geisha crab meat

•½ cup dry sherry

•½ can condensed pea soup

•½ can condensed tomato soup

•1 cup heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the crab meat with sherry and let it stand. Combine soups and cream and bring to a boil very slowly.

Reduce heat sharply, add the crab meat and sherry, and simmer for 10 minutes, adding a little extra milk or cream if the soup is too thick.

Serve in soup bowls with a tablespoon of dry sherry added to each. This would also be fabulous in a bread bowl! Enjoy

Little i Energy Gum Peppermint Review

I know what you are thinking - gum for girls. You might be right if you judge it by its packaging, but do keep in mind that there is a decent caffeine kick in each piece. The Little I website states that two pieces give you as much energy as an energy drink and this is what i am about to find out today.

The gum comes in a small pink tin that has a mirror inside. I thought the mirror would be on the lid, but it actually is inside the tin, covering the pieces of gum. There is small circular hole in the bottom left which allows you to take 1 to 2 pieces at a time. The one thing that really surprised me was that the gum is made in Canada, but I have never actually seen it anywhere. For shame.

Taste

Before I get to the energy boost, I have to see if it tastes like mint gum. Well, it actually does. In fact, it does much better than most other mint energy gums. The gum is minty, intense yet a little sweet like traditional peppermint gums. The energy ingredients start to show themselves after a few minutes, but they are subtle and do not ruin the overall experience. The one thing I should note is the consistency of the gum - it is not as rubbery as regular gums.

Energy

I started with one piece and it worked pretty good. I started to feel something within 10 minutes and in another 10 I was feeling very energized. The kick was clean and there were no jitters or unpleasant effects. It lasted for just about an hour, which is not a long time, but at least there are more pieces of gum in the package. Next time I am taking at least 2.

Scores:
Cost - $2.00 from KingofCaffeine.com
Taste - 9/10
Energy - 7/10 to 10/10

Overall - 16/20 to 19/20...guys, if you can get past the pink exterior, this is a pretty decent energy gum

BERRY BUNDT CAKES........YUMMY!

Berries seem to be all over right about now. Out here they are on sale alot in the grocery stores. I buy some now and then to put in my cottage cheese in the morning but theres always too many and they end up rotting and I toss them out. I stumbled tho on this recipe and I must admit.....its tempting me enough to go buy a bunch and make it....I bet you will feel the same way too!
Berry Bundt CakeIngredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cholesterol-free egg substitute
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups frozen unsweetened raspberries
2 cups frozen unsweetened blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 6-cup Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, buttermilk, egg substitute and oil in medium bowl. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened.
3. Fold in raspberries and blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Serve with fresh berries, if desired.
Yield: Makes 12 servings

A cup of fresh, delicious blueberries or raspberries supplies about one-third of your daily vitamin C requirements. This fantastic berry cake contains 4 cups of berries!
**********************************

And heres another that looks yummy and a bit more upscale....

William's Sonoma's Mixed Berry Bundt Cake

5 eggs
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
20 Tbs. (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 Tbs. kirsch or other fruit liqueur
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 1/2 cups raspberries
1 1/2 cups blueberries or blackberries
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)
Mixing bowls
Electric handmixer
Measuring cups and spoons
Bundt cake pan
Saucepan for making the glaze

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Take your bundt pan and Butter and flour it.
Mix all of the following ingredients together in a large bowl. Start by blending the eggs and granulated sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat in the butter and liqueur until fluffy. Add all but 2 Tbs. of the flour and the baking powder and salt, and beat until well incorporated and no lumps remain.

In another bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups of the raspberries and the blueberries with the remaining 2 Tbs. flour. Toss to coat the berries evenly with the flour. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the berries into the batter. Pour the batter into the bundt pan. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

Remove the cake out of the oven and place it on a cooling rack. Let the cake cool for 20-25 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let it continue to cool.

Once the cake has cooled you can add a glaze to it. While this is not in the recipe this adds a little something special. Make the glaze by combining butter, sugar and Chambord in a small souce pan. Bring to a boil and then brush it on.
Once the glaze has been applied you can put the finishing touches on the cake. Dust it with powdered sugar and garnish with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

********************************While these recipes call for mixed berries, you could vary the mix or just use all of one kind, just make sure the amounts add up to the same needed for the recipe. I could see adding almond extract a bit to enhance the berry flavor or even orange or lemon. With this last one....same thing for the glaze.... some grand marnier if you use orange extract in it......or just keep with the Chambord since its berry flavored.

A day of Christmas baking

Almond Crescents the first cookie made while the other dough chilled.

My grand daughter J is here and yesterday and today we will be baking. Lil man never made it. I'm a bit ticked off there. My son told his wife to bring lil man here and instead she went to the grandmothers....grrrr. But anyway we managed to get dough made for 3 kinds of cookies. Right in the middle of that tho I realized I didn't have any more flour.

I swore I had some in this house but don't know where I put it if I do. So off to the store we went. Came back with the fixins to make lots more and got busy making dough to chill. Meanwhile J put the Nativity on the mantle which she has done every yr. since she was little.

The first dough we made was for Chocolate Crinkles. We love these, they are fudgy and very brownie like. J started being silly (which I love, this kid has a wicked sense of humor) and started calling that lump of dough up there Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo .............from Southpark. Yea I know gross........but kinda funny too. Then every time we opened the refrigerator she made some kind of Poop joke. Robin Williams was in that RV movie and he talked about the Poop Fairy. Shes never forgotten that and whenever she can she brings it up and we just start cracking up again so with that lump in my refrigerator you can just imagine the silliness going on.

BEFORE BAKING-Making balls of dough and rolling in powdered sugar.

AFTER BAKING

So today we are going to make Snickerdoodles. We made a triple batch cuz the recipe said makes 24. I do think we will be here all day making cookies with that tho. It looks like wayyyyyyyy more. But those are her dads favorite cookie so she wants to take some home and wrap them up to give her dad for Christmas. She did that last yr too. If we don't get them done before she goes home today, maybe Ill just send a lump of dough home with her to bake while dad is at work. I found out she was off all last week for Christmas vacation already. Wow. Lil man isn't off till Wed. of this week.

Chocolate Crinkles

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Topping:
1 cup confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

In a stainless steel bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat and set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs and sugar until thick, pale, and fluffy. (When you slowly raise the beaters the batter will fall back into the bowl in slow ribbons.) At this point beat in the vanilla extract and then stir in the melted chocolate mixture.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to shape into balls (3-4 hours or overnight).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, and set aside.

Place the confectioners sugar in a shallow bowl. With lightly greased hands, roll a small amount of chilled dough to form a 1 inch (2.54 cm) diameter ball. Place the ball of dough into the confectioners sugar and roll the ball in the sugar until it is completely coated and no chocolate shows through. Gently lift the sugar-covered ball, tapping off excess sugar, and place on prepared baking sheet. Continue forming cookies, spacing about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on baking sheets. (If you find the dough getting too soft for rolling into balls, return to the refrigerator and let chill until firm.)

Bake cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or just until the edges are slightly firm but the centers are still soft. (For moist chewy cookies do not over bake. Over baking these cookies will cause them to be dry.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Put in airtight container.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Thyme Vinaigrette

I used to make this in the Spring at the restaurant I worked at. It was very popular. This has a dressing recipe but at home I would make a Red Onion/Thyme vinegar first to use in the dressing recipe itself. That vinegar also won a First Place ribbon at our local county fair.


Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Thyme Vinaigrette Serves 4

1 bag spinach, washed and large stems removed
1 belgian endive, sliced thinly
1 8oz pkg. fresh ripe strawberries
1 pkg. quail eggs

Dressing:
1/2c. olive oil
1/4c. white wine or champagne vinegar
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tb. chopped fresh thyme
1 sm. red onion, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste



Directions:
First cook quail eggs....
1 10-pack fresh quail eggs*
1 tablespoon plus 1 cup distilled white vinegar
1 1/2 cups ice cubes

1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt

*Quail eggs are available at some supermarkets, farmers' markets, and specialty foods stores Place quail eggs in small saucepan; add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar. Bring to boil. Remove pan from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Add ice cubes to pan; let stand 15 minutes to cool. When cool cover with the vinegar in a glass bowl. You want glass so the vinegar doesn't react with the bowl. Let them sit until the shell becomes like rubber, this makes it easy to shell.Then peel and rinse them well with water.

Wash spinach and drain well. On a plate put spinach leaves, sprinkle with finely sliced Belgian endive. Top with 2-3 strawberries, cut in wedges. Drizzle with dressing and top with a few cooked quail egg halves.

Ashley's Castle

A beautiful castle for a beautiful little princess. Both the 10 inch and 6 inch layers were made with a strawberry cake, because Ashley's favorite color is pink. The filling was a strawberry mousse, and it was topped with buttercream frosting. It was quite delicious!

Oven Beef Stew

I made beef stew last nite. Its one of my boyfriends favorite meals. I make this with more meat than it says because he likes a meaty stew. He loves this so much that when I make it he will even take it for lunch often so I make alot and freeze the rest in small containers so he can microwave it at work. I found this recipe many yrs ago when I was first married. My mom used to make stew on the stove top and I tried to use her recipe but it always scorched and burned and I didn't like it. My mom is not the greatest cook either. She has her specialties but that's about it. Now my dad cooks all the time. I don't think she misses it and dad's a really good cook. Dad even took this recipe and adapted it to the microwave for himself. I don't cook much in the microwave, I don't like it. I mostly use it to reheat. So here's the recipe and pics. I make way more than the recipe calls for so don't expect it to look like as much as mine. I used 5lbs of stew meat, and 1 1/2 times the amt. of veggies and double the spices,etc. but still only 2 cans broth, but yours will look like this in the different stages. What I love about this recipe is I can make a great dinner and not have to watch it.

OVEN BEEF STEW SERVES 6
1 bag (12 oz.) frozen chopped onions or 4-5 onions chopped
2lbs. stew meat, cubed ( I cut stew meat from the store into about 1/2-3/4in. cubes)
1/4 c. soy sauce
3/4 tsp. salt-1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
6tb. flour
2 cans (10 1/2oz. each) condensed beef broth (must be this not bouillon)
4 lg. potatoes , cut up
4 lg. carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs, sliced diagonally
1c. peas or 1 (8oz.) pkg. whole mushrooms (optional)

Layer onions on the bottom of a roasting pan after chopping. Top with cubed meat and sprinkle with soy sauce, salt and pepper, paprika and flour. Pour broth from both cans over all. (I found this makes alot of gravy that's not as thick as I like so I add another 2-4 tb. flour depending on how thick you like your stew. It will also thicken up more by the next day.) You dont have to stir it in. It makes the gravy as it bakes, I love it! If all the flour isnt absorbed when you take it out, then stir the rest in real good.

Cover pot and bake in oven set at 350 degrees for 1hr. Remove to add veggies.

Stir in cut up veggies. (I like to cut them up while the meat is cooking and put in a bowl till the hour is up. Then all I have to do is dump them in and stir.) Bake 1hr. more covered.

Remove cover and bake 1/2 hr or longer till vegetables are tender. Its also a good time to check on gravy thickness because without the cover it will continue to thicken. If you add too much flour tho you can thin it down with some water or more broth. Its pretty forgiving. In this last half hr. you can also add the peas. If you add mushrooms, I quarter them before adding. We like everything fairly bite size.

The original recipe didn't call for peas or mushrooms but I like them and use them if I have them. I just toss the frozen peas right in so they don't over cook. I did add mushrooms this time because I had some in the house, no peas around here last nite tho.

Holiday Survival Week ~ Serene Table Scheme

Serene Scheme

How to dress up your regular dishes for the holidays? Try adding neutral decorations like these sparkling tiny trees, reindeer ornament, and a glittery artificial pine sprig in white.

I really love this...it just shows that you can have a very elegant and festive look without using red and green everywhere.

Cookie Week ~ Snickerdoodle Croissant Cookies

If you like Snickerdoodles these cut croissants are a must try! This special shape is easier to create than you may think.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 3-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Milk
1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans*
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Powdered sugar (optional)

Directions
1. Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour. Divide dough into three equal portions; shape each portion into a disk. Cover and chill dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Roll each portion of dough to a 9-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Lightly brush each round with milk. Combine nuts, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle nut mixture evenly over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Cut each circle into 12 wedges with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Roll up each wedge, starting from the wide end. Bend ends of roll to shape it into a crescent. Place crescents 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 14 to 16 minutes or until bottoms are lightly brown. Cool cookies on cookie sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks and cool completely. If desired, sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving. Makes 36 cookies.

Tip: To toast nuts, spread them in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until nuts are slightly golden brown, stirring once or twice. Cool completely. Finely chop nuts and set aside. Makes: 36 cookies
To store: Place cookies, without powdered sugar, in layers separated by pieces of waxed paper in an airtight container; cover. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw cookies, if frozen. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.