Pantry talk - fancy foods and the pantry lifestyle

When you are doing research on keeping a pantry, so often the reason people build up a pantry is what I've talked about... it helps us save money, it is essential in an emergency of any kind, it provides during a job loss, etc. However, there is another everyday value I've found in keeping a deep pantry and that is the creativity in the kitchen it makes possible.

I don't have a lot of room for a pantry but I've found we make room for what is important. Since a pantry gives me freedom and a feeling of security, I made a corner of the garage my pantry (it also provides storage for other items as well as my laundry room). It has never known the presence of our car. I also use the cabinet I inherited from my mother-in-law (shown in the picture above).

When Stephanie and I were enjoying a meal at the French restaurant, I told her I started a post long ago titled "Fine Dining" but never finished it. (Sometimes I'll get an idea for something to chat about and just draft a title.) It came about as I was remembering dining experiences at very nice restaurants, something I had not done in eons before last week.

That's how I became interested in gourmet cooking lessons as a young wife and mother, wanting to cook "fancy" food at home once in awhile. After taking cooking lessons and perusing magazines like Bon Appetit and Gourmet, I learned most of the "gourmet" foods served in the nice restaurants were either 1) made with the best and freshest ingredients, 2) made special by serving simple foods with the additions of a unique sauce or seasoning, and/or 3) the presentation of the food created... magic.

It all came back to me as we shared bites of entrees and dessert, sharing also ideas of how we could recreate the tastes at home. I've been watching Lydia's Italy since receiving PBS again and I've heard her talk a great deal about adding just a pinch of red pepper flakes to a pasta dish. I didn't think I'd like them but after realizing that was what gave my pasta meal a bit of a "kick", I now know I'll be adding these to my pantry when possible.

That's what a pantry enables me to do... especially when I have a little more grocery budget than I do right now. I not only keep basic foodstuffs in the pantry but the tall yellow cabinet holds a good collection of herbs, spices, condiments, and other items to add flavor to simple foods.

Most are familiar names I've used for years and years but I also like to try new things. For instance, a couple months ago I saw a McCormick's spice advertisement that they had added smoked paprika to the line of seasonings they sold so I purchased it when it became available for a great price at the grocery store. There are lots of recipes using it online.

If you ever watch any of Nigella's cooking shows, you have seen her closet she uses as a pantry. She purchases ingredients for the pantry when she travels and that inspired me to look for small (and relatively inexpensive) items to add to the yellow cabinet once in awhile. Those special oils, vinegars, condiments, jellies, and other items to add a bit of elegance or the unexpected to food.

A great place to look is Target's clearance rack in their grocery section where they often sell such foods at greatly reduced prices. My latest special addition to the pantry was their apple-caramel sauce which can be poured over ice cream but also used as a dip. There were two jars left at about $1.50 each... a very inexpensive addition to use later for ice cream, pound cake, or with apple slices as a dip. Great idea, Nigella (can you tell my travels are only to the grocery store... but the concept is the same).

Isn't it incredible what one can do with flour, sugar, butter, and a couple of eggs? The basics can come together to create all kinds of amazing creations. By adding an additional flavor of extract, or dried fruit, or chocolate chips, or perhaps a cup of pecans... and one can make a creation for friends and family that brings smiles of joy.

Everything can be kept in the pantry and a small corner of the freezer (butter freezes very well and it has come way down in price) for the moments when we want to "whip up" something special to bring a smile to someone having a difficult day, or serve with a cup of tea at the end of a long day, or to take with us to a last minute picnic to see the animals at the zoo... creativity made possible because of our pantry.

Have you ever walked into a bakery known for high quality and beautiful baked goods.... and cost a small fortune? Not only do they use the best ingredients but just like the "fine dining" restaurants, they often add just a little touch of "special" to their products. I've learned to do the same thing, for instance when I make my favorite coffee cake recipe, I add an extract according to what berries I'm using (almond for cherries, lemon for blueberry).

I also make a thick confectioners sugar glaze to drizzle all over the cooled coffee cake. It makes a simple and inexpensive coffee cake look as if it were purchased in the most expensive store in town (and also adds a delicious flavor).

I used Christmas money to purchase meringue powder and a few inexpensive cake decorating supplies. They are in the yellow pantry awaiting the time and energy to create some fancy sugar cookies or cupcakes.

It is true that creating a pantry means we must make the time to make a list of basic items we want to keep on hand, budget part of our grocery money to purchase for the pantry, look through our recipes and menus to know what food items are most important to keep on hand, and perhaps find a place for shelves so we can have a pantry... but it provides great rewards in the long run.

Yes, I do believe as deep a pantry as possible (food and nonfood items) to provide "insurance" against job losses, national emergencies, and no telling what our future holds... but most of all I love it when I have a full pantry so I know I can provide good meals for my family as well as being able to bake when inspired (having been a pastry chef wannabe).

Oh... what are french lentils? Well, my preference for them came as a result of learning all I could (starting over thirty years ago) about really good food and why chefs have a preference for some types of food over others. I noticed all their recipes called for these lentils instead of the brown type found in American grocery stores at the time.

French (or green) lentils not only have a good flavor but they hold their texture far better than the brown lentils (being less likely to get mushy). I like brown lentils just fine for soup but when I make lentil salads, I understood why I would find them being used in those recipes.

I know this is a rather long post but I'm passionate about the subject... can you tell? :)

The official end of summer

For the past few years, the official end of summer at my house is not a holiday but "Book Rush" at the bookstore. It is two to three weeks of chaos and frenzy followed by time on the sofa watching DVD's (or napping)!

In the past, this is how I earned my money to purchase items on my Priority List. This year the income will go to food and gasoline. Now that is what I call a priority. :)

Part of the paycheck from the last Book Rush went to the purchase of new cookware. Kathleen asked for a reminder of what I had purchased. It is quite difficult to believe I've had them for six months now! I LOVE them! After thirty-four years of keeping house, I am convinced owning good quality cookware (knives, etc.) is necessary to enjoy the process of cooking. I've cooked with cheap cookware and that is when food gets burned easily.

I had budgeted to purchase a complete set of Wolfgang Puck cookware on sale (my daughter likes her Wolfgang Puck set and I have an omelet pan of his, purchased at Goodwill, that works great). However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized what I needed was not in the set. Here is what I ended up buying: 1 Cuisinart 12" skillet; one Cuisinart 12" saute pan with lid; and I purchased on sale... one All Clad large saucepan. I could only afford it because it was one of the kitchen store's specials that month for about $90.00. They later told me they put one All Clad product at a great sale price each month.

The Cuisinart pans are made for the home cook rather than the restaurant chef but I find mine work very well. The 12" skillet and 12" saute pan are the best to purchase since they are nice and big. That was the reason I decided against getting a set of anything, none of them came with a 12" pan (at least at the time). I didn't want the nonstick interior and as long as I've sprayed them with something like Pam or poured a little oil on the bottom, I've never had anything stick. I can also saute items or add other ingredients and then pop it all in the oven. For the three items, I paid what I brought home from one week's work at the bookstore. Money well earned...

What can I say about All Clad? There's a reason that is the choice of professional chefs throughout this county. It's simply wonderful to work with. (Same with Henckle and Wusthof knives). I have heard, though, that a lot of professional chefs buy inexpensive omelet pans with a nonstick finish because they get beat up quickly regardless of price. I can see that as in my own home, with just three of us, we go through omelet pans and have to replace them every few years. Although, the Wolfgang Puck omelet pan that I found at Goodwill is holding up great.

My other cookware item that I use all the time, every day in cold weather, is my ancient Le' Cruset dutch oven. It's chipped now and the outside discolored but it still works fine. It was a gift for my 10th anniversary (yes, we just celebrated our 34th year).

Kathleen, I hope that answers your question! :)

I also hope you all had a chance to click on some of the links at the end of my previous post about my Scrapbook Journal. They will take you to many lovely pictures to inspire you to put together your own. My original scrapbook is about eight years old and I love to get it out and look through the pictures when I need something beautiful to think about. I don't actually write in it, it is all magazine pictures and poetry I've printed out. My scrapbook journal is fairly new. I find I write in it a lot some weeks and then set it aside for others. At least when I want to write in it, it is ready.

Picture: Under the Sunflowers by Robert Duncan; allposters.com

Preparing for the open house

I can get back to baking, now that the outside of the house looks good again. I needed to do a little cleaning before the open house but that storm that blew through last week really messed up the yard (my hubby cleaned most of it), as well as the porch and deck. I lost a couple plants and I'm hoping one other lives. All the rain we've had didn't help any of them.

God has provided in miraculous ways so we not only were able to put our car in the shop to be fixed but we could purchase a few more items for the open house. Christopher will not be disappointed or embarrassed when his friends are here (as well as people from work and church).

I'm doing something very similar as I did for Stephanie's wedding open house (she and J. had a beautiful but small wedding and reception for only family and close friends but then they had a huge open house at our place a couple of weeks later for everyone). The only difference will be that this is more casual, which is why I was going through Goodwill looking for baskets. I have lots (and lots) of "nice" serving pieces collected through the years but I don't think my girly tea stuff will do for a graduation open house. :)

Here is the menu so far, it is open to "tweaking" as the day goes on... all items in italics will take you to the corresponding recipe on my recipe blog.

Sheila's Cake
Lemon Cake
Cup Cakes (used as a centerpiece, too)
Cowboy Cookies
Snickerdoodles
Key Lime Squares

Potato Salad
Lentil Salad
Potato Chips
Veggie Platter w/ Ranch Dip

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Shrimp Salad Sandwiches
Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches
(all sandwiches cut into triangles)

Lemonade

Christopher wants his favorite dip but I'm not sure about that, yet. I think we have enough. If I add anything, I'll add open face cucumber sandwiches as I know a few of his Hindu friends are coming over and they are vegetarians.

I am so thankful that I had a well stocked freezer and pantry and for the financial blessing we received! God is faithful. I'm doing a lot of baking because that is one way to save a lot of money. I'm always shocked at how much even the grocery store charges for baked goods. Keeping it simple will also keep it cheaper. :)

A cool and cozy home

I appreciated the comments about my house looking "warm and cozy". This past week I've been striving for COOL and cozy. When I talked to Stephanie yesterday, she said people in New England are having a difficult time with the 98 degree temperatures. While our part of the country doesn't usually get as hot as say... Texas... it can become hot and humid enough to be uncomfortable throughout the Summer. So I'm all about cooling off these days.

Last night I was sharing the sofa with Sasha and reading the last couple of chapters of Beautiful in God's Eyes; The Treasures of the Proverbs 31 Woman (by Elizabeth George). It has been on my current reading list on the side bar now for quite awhile. This is probably the third time I've read it and I tend to pick it up when I have a short amount of time to read. Her books are great for such times as each chapter can be read and pondered individually. Except for her original A Woman After God's Own Heart, this is my favorite E. George book. She talks a lot about the importance of making a home "cool and cozy" and Christ centered.

The only challenge I have with her books is her teaching that we need to be working all the time. As one who is genetically disposed to sit and ponder once in awhile, I do not fall into that Energizer Bunny category. She has got to be a first born girl with a "Type A" personality, hehehe. I just overlook that part of each book and take it for what it is worth to me, I understand what she is saying... don't be lazy!

As I read, I looked around my living room/dining room area. I once again realized how truly beautiful it is (at least to me). No other area in the whole world (except my vintage kitchen) more reflects my personality, nowhere else do I feel as secure. I am so thankful for Steph & J.'s generosity that allowed us not only to take the trip to Lancaster but to bring home a few small items which add to the beauty and memories.

I have one more "souvenir of the trip" coming to me at Christmas. Stephanie purchased a framed reproduction of a child's needlework for me at one of the last stores we visited. She said she knew I'd forget about it by Christmas so it would be a surprise. She knows me well, I already forgot what the words were. :)

I encourage you today to do one thing that will bring order and beauty to your home. I have a box of papers I need to go through, most of which can be thrown away. It still surprises me how much can be accomplished by just doing a little at a time. One good thing about decluttering, it doesn't cost us anything except time (and perhaps a couple trash bags!). When finished, it is always a good feeling to have a clean canvas which our treasures can show up better. I don't know about you but when my house gets messy, I don't notice the flowers on the table or the shine of silver and teacups.

I have the butter coming to room temperature and a few recipes to look over, deciding what to bake this morning for the freezer. I already know I'll be baking muffins for the guys to snack on but I'm not certain what will be baked for the freezer. Probably some cookies as I plan to serve a variety of them for the open house. I also need to get outside before it gets too hot to do a little lawn and garden work.

My reward this afternoon... I'm pulling out my files of Laine's Letters to read through and find some good frugal living ideas. I started receiving her letters many years ago, when she was still sending out two or three each week. I printed them out immediately and read them when I had a quiet moment.

They are full of frugal treasures and one gets to feel Laine lived next door. If you click on the picture, it will take you to her "In My Home This Week" archives. Just start with the first one and go through... they are full of frugal ideas. By clicking on the notepad, you will find yourself in her "Letters" archives. You can begin by reading the first letter and going on from there or by clicking on a subject you'd be interested in reading about. It would be well worth your time and printer ink to print out a few at a time, brewing a cup of tea (cold tea?), and reading these letters from a true Proverbs 31 woman. I love her honesty, the fact she also has to work "just a little at a time", and how she shares what she has learned as she was on the path to becoming more frugal.

I'll be posting some of my favorite money saving recipes on the recipe blog soon. In the meantime, click on the recipe box at Laine's Letters where she has lots of very yummy and low cost recipes.

Now, I had better get to work before it gets too hot in the kitchen!

Picture: Shady Patio; allposters.com

Yummy tea time recipes

This week's Gracious Hospitality's Blog-a-thon is all about our favorite tea time recipes. I can't wait to go back and find new recipes from the other participating blogs!

Below are two great recipes but if you here are others labeled "tea time" on my recipe blog.

This is a new cookie I just made for my husband's birthday. He loves German chocolate cake so I decided to make these instead of cake (with just the three of us to indulge). They're remarkable!

I've had the recipe cut out from Taste of Home for awhile (I have one entire recipe box just for cut out recipe "cards" from Taste of Home, Country Woman, etc.). It is not difficult but it is a little time consuming. However, it is SO worth it! Yummy... BUT RICH!


German Chocolate Cookies

Cookie Dough:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips
1/4 cup flaked coconut

German chocolate icing:
1 egg
1 5 oz. can evaporated milk (or measure 5 oz. from larger can)
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter (no substitutes)
1- 1/3 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Chocolate drizzle:
12 oz. chocolate chips
-0r-
dipping chocolate
(I had some dipping chocolate left so I melted it and it worked great)

For frosting, in a saucepan, combine the egg, milk, sugar, and butter. Cook and stir over medium-low heat for 10 - 12 minutes, or until slightly thickened. Mixture will reach 160 degrees (I didn't check temp, I just stopped when mixture thickened). Take off heat. Stir in coconut and pecans. Set aside and let cool.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in 2 cups chips and coconut. Drop by tablespoons 2" apart onto ungreased baking sheets. (I used my cookie scoop, which looks like a little ice scream scoop). Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet for ten min. before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

In microwave, melt the chocolate chips or chocolate dipping chocolate. Frost the cookies when completely cool. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

(Recipe originally from Taste of Home magazine)

Here is another of my scone recipes, already posted on the recipe blog.


Cinnamon Chip Scones

3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature (yes, I know scone recipes usually call for cold butter)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup cinnamon chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter cookie sheet.

In large mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer), mix flour and sugar.

Mix in butter with dry ingredients just until mixture resembles cornmeal. (I just used the paddle attachment and it worked fine.)

Add heavy cream and cinnamon chips to mixture. Mix together until dough forms, mixing as little as needed.

Pat into a 1/2 inch thickness and cut out with a 2 inch biscuit or cookie cutter. Place on greased cookie sheet.

Bake 9-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Do not over bake.

I let them cool on the baking sheet.

Makes nine scones.

More food and kitchen ponderings

The yellow pantry was my mother-in-laws.
She had it in the basement storing laundry items!

I had to stop by the grocery store this morning for just a few items. Since next week will include a "stock up" day, I didn't need a lot. Still... I decided to wander through the store a bit and see if there were any items on sale which I will need soon. The prices continue to shock me and I am very happy for those lean years when I had almost nothing to spend on groceries. Skills which are being used again...

I'm not only having to stretch the grocery money even more but I have once again started to deepen the pantry. I'll share some of those experiences and lessons off and on. One thing we've already done is to make a return to "cheaper" coffee and to use 2% milk instead of real cream. I expect that is better for our health, anyway.

I'm "tweaking" my stock up list this afternoon. It's basically like our "priority spending" list. I'll decide two or three items to add to my regular grocery shopping list next week and then mark the date with a permanent marker and store them in a safe place. Once I have the number of items I want to have on hand, I'll start rotating... continuing to mark the date when purchased but placing the newly purchased item in the back and opening the "oldest" one on the shelf.

I thought you might like a few pictures from my kitchen. These are repeats for you all that have been reading for awhile. These were not taken all at once so there are a few changes. Hmmm... reminds me of one of those "which of these pictures are not like the other" puzzles! :)

I love the vintage yellow cart. It had some minor pieces missing when I bought it at Goodwill. My husband had the correct size of nuts and bolts in the garage and was able to fix it quite fast.

The red bookcase was beside my husband's bed in his childhood bedroom. The bread machine and the bread box are both white but they have "coordinating" Susan Branch scrapbooking stickers.... so cute.

What can I say about the stove? It still works. It came with the house so I don't owe any money for it. I can call it an antique... or at least vintage. It was probably brand new the same decade I was married. Like I said... it works.

Kitchen still life... a very good thing.

Almost at the end of leftovers

There is something about Holiday weeks in my family, I still cook as if everyone were home for Thanksgiving- Christmas- Easter - etc. so I tend to have a lot of food left over.

So... meals this week have been interesting. Yesterday morning I could fix a big breakfast since Christopher didn't go to class until noon-ish, so I found myself staring at the refrigerator shelves (I can't be the only one who does that) and realizing there were the makings of a great breakfast there.

When we lived in Iowa, we enjoyed going to a restaurant that served skillet breakfasts. We loved these meals but when I tried to recreate them at home, they never turned out right.

Then one day, we were at a restaurant that served something similar and I had a Eureka moment! No wonder mine didn't look like the original. So... yesterday I pulled out half an onion, half a green pepper, a hand full of leftover mushrooms from a meal last Friday (still useable but looking pathetic), leftover smoked sausage, two remaining boiled potatoes with their skins on... and six eggs. After much chopping, slicing, beating, sauteing, etc. they were done.

I placed the scrambled eggs on the plate and then the rest of the mixture over them. That is what I had missed from the original restaurant meal... the eggs were cooked separately and were at the bottom of the skillet, or in our case yesterday... the plate!

Well, it was delicious and nothing at all shouted out... leftovers. Sometimes I'll guild the Lilly and sprinkle cheese on top but I left it off this time. Christopher will eat just about anything with cheese, except perhaps spinach.

I had a good friend who used to be appalled at how much I enjoyed getting creative in the kitchen. She told me I was the only person she knew who hoped our Heavenly homes had a great kitchen. I think she is willing to only eat of the fruit of the Heavenly trees if it means no cooking.

I don't understand that at all, having spent untold hours (and hours) watching Julia, Jacques, Ina, that cute Taylor, and many other wonderful teachers as they pass on their knowledge of how to create... magic. The chemistry of it all! The art and creativity of taking flour and sugar and butter and eggs and... making a gajillion things from it. Then there is the blank canvas of chicken and fish, the possibilities of ground beef, the aroma of ham slowly baking in the oven... no wonder I hope we have great kitchens in Heavenly homes!

I have to go. Dinner is ready... leftover chicken sliced and added to roasted summer squash "chunks" and potato wedges quartered and roasted until golden brown... yum. The only remaining leftover (?)... bean soup from the ham bone.

Photo: This looks like one of my new skillets but it is definitely not my kitchen (or my old stove). :)

A domestic kind of day

I plan to spend a little time on my deck today, enjoying the beautiful weather before it gets too hot (again!). I already know where my husband will be...watching the football game. A big game, a huge game, intra state rivals... books written about it... the stuff legends are made of and all that.

I dropped Christopher off at work this morning (for an eleven hour day!) and police blockades were already set up in the main intersections. As I was crossing a highway heading toward "the country", I passed no less than fifteen State Troopers meeting together in what looked like a Trooper Huddle, receiving instructions. :)

That was four hours before the game was to begin. Big Game!

As for me, I'm (finally) catching up on laundry. Lesson learned...never, I repeat...never... procrastinate in ordering my Charlie's Soap again. My husband asked me why I just didn't run over to the store and purchase some Tide or something. No, only Charlie's is touching my washing machine. I have got to overcome that procrastination gene.

If you remember, I had also planned to do some baking earlier in the week. However, once I started grinding wheat I realized the machine was clogging somewhere. How did I know? Because I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Grammie, that's why. Flour was everywhere, over me and the floor, the kitchen counter, the kitchen wall nearest me, the mixer, I even found some later as I was doing dishes.

So... I took the time to deep clean it and vacuum up all the flour. By the time I finished, I was too exhausted to do any baking. That will happen today... a domestic kind of day. I did fill up my large goldenrod Tupperware container with ground winter white wheat and a large zip lock bag of ground soft wheat. I don't use it as often so I keep it in the freezer. (In hot weather and when it won't be used for awhile, the winter white flour goes into the refrigerator.)

Today I have the washing machine going, the bread machine doughing (run that through spell check), breakfast dishes soaking in sudsy hot water, and butter-cream cheese-eggs all coming to room temperature to bake a quick bread and some cookies.

I also spent some time pouring honey from the big container I purchased at the Farmer's Market last week into recycled jelly jars and a couple Ball jars. It is not only easier to handle that way but if it hardens, it is much easier to place a small jar into some hot water to liquefy it than the gallon size I purchase.

I needed something to set the jars on (as they blend into the color of the table) so I placed my very favorite vintage apron that gets used almost every day. I bought it a few years ago at an antique store for $1.00 (it pays to get to know the people who own antique stores!). This is the same place I purchase vintage hankies for $1.00 and once in awhile... a special teacup. :)

So now I'm off for a day of domestic duties. I'm hoping by the day's end, there will be good stuff as a reward... homemade bread, baked goodies, organized drawers & closets with clean clothes, and reading at my deck table with a good cup of coffee and a book. Bliss...

The Farmer's Market

I just love the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning. Besides purchasing honey from the "Honey Man", I bought...

Flowers

and...

Veggies
and
Fruit
and
pecan rolls from the "Mennonite Lady"

Beautiful, sunny days!

If it seems I'm posting less these days, even with the "company" back home you can blame the nice weather and the gift from my daughter and son-in-law. They purchased for us a small (just the right size) deck table complete with umbrella and chairs. I already had added pretty flowers this year so it makes for a lovely combination. It leaves plenty of room for a picnic table to be added later. I'll take a picture and eventually post it (I must someday get digital!).

I absolutely love early summer days in the Midwest. The heat and humidity will very soon settle in for awhile. Then I will retreat to the air conditioned rooms. However, I'm enjoying my front porch and now the deck to...read and ponder.

I have three books going right now, all of which I'll chat about when finished. Only one is on my Summer Challenge list, another is a library book that must be returned soon, and the third is a book to review which I received in the mail this week.

My apologies for not giving recognition to the artist for that lovely picture in my last post. I was quite in a hurry and completely forgot. You can find the print here at Art.com.

I have also added a recipe on my recipe blog (where I "park" favorite family recipes). My grandson is on the Feingold diet for hyperactive and ADHD children so I "tweaked" a favorite recipe so he could eat it. It turned out so yummy that I'm going to make half of the recipe that way and half with the chocolate chips and dried cherries as usual quite often. Sorry that I couldn't remove the calories.

Granddaughters, recipes, and Laurie

My five year old granddaughter has developed an interest in cookbooks. That is a very good sign that the cooking gene has passed down to the next generation. She also likes aprons. :)

I find it interesting how women from various families put together a meal. My mom rarely measured anything. I had to watch her a few times to know how to make her famous vegetable beef soup (which my sister makes completely different but we learned from the same mom...twenty years apart). I don't even recall mom using measuring cups when she made biscuits.

That is the same way my daughter and I cook so the dominant gene here was from the maternal line. I want to post my potato salad recipe on my recipe blog but I haven't figured out how to write it out (well, you put a glop of Hellman's, a couple squirts of French's mustard...). As with so many dishes I make, it started with someone elses recipe (in this case, Heloise) and I just...um...tweaked it. Stephanie does exactly the same so I'll often e-mail her a recipe I just made and tell her to make it her own.

It was quite amusing when she called while making dinner last week. She wanted to use up a couple of leftover stuffed chicken breasts so she was cutting them up and making a cream sauce to put them in, to be served over noodles. It made her think of me so she called. When she told me what she was doing, I said that it sounded exactly like what I would do (uh...huh). I will say that she's much more likely to get creative with seasonings than me.

We also both have the ability to taste something at a restaurant and come up with something similar in our own kitchen. If not immediately, then sooner or later. I think that's why I love the late Laurie Colwin's books so much because this is how she cooked. It may also be why I love to read cookbooks and watch cooking shows on The Food Network and PBS. It's like being Miss Marple in the kitchen. :) There is always something new and exciting to learn when it comes to cooking!

Now, my mother-in-law was a wonderful cook but entirely different. She followed recipes exactly and the wildest she ever got was perhaps changing the seasonings a bit. She always said she wasn't a great cook, she thought anyone could follow a recipe. I'm not so sure about that. It's funny to me that her way of cooking was very much like her personality.

I have many of her favorite recipes, typed out on index cards and yellowed with age. Because she followed recipes so closely, she was always a treasure house of recommendations and there were often one or two such index cards in her letters. Time goes so quickly and when those cards were stuffed in my recipe card files, I didn't realize how much they would mean thirty years later when I would pull one of them out...especially during Holidays...when the card, in that familiar typing, was all that was left of the past generation.

My mother-in-law lived during the era of the Women's Pages in the newspaper (if you remember them, you are probably more than forty years old). Many of her favorite recipes were prize winners from the Chicago Tribune. She particularly liked to look for new favorites for luncheons and to be served when the ladies met for their bridge clubs. I was recently reading through a "vintage" recipe pamphlet about entertaining, written in the 1950s. I smiled when I saw many ideas for ladies' luncheons!

For a great summer read, I highly recommend Laurie Colwin's two books, Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen and More Home Cooking. They are in paperback, each chapter is self contained, and if you are a foodie...you'll find yourself laughing out loud as well as drooling through each chapter. Colwin was a regular columnist for Gourmet magazine.

Two cakes, ready to go

I ended up making the lemon cake I already have on my recipe blog along with the chocolate chip apple cake. It was not intended that way but it makes it handy to give the recipes.

I normally serve this bundt cake unsliced on a glass cake stand with white chocolate melted and drizzled over the top of it. Since this is for a lunch buffet (or rather, lots of food put out for hungry college students and managers to grab on the run), I sliced the cake once it cooled and placed them on a Christmas serving tray at a slight angle (sides slightly nesting on each other). I melted a little white candy coating and drizzled it over all the slices. It looks so festive and pretty. It was covered with Glad wrap to keep it fresh and protect it.

For the lemon cake, I cut it into squares (it is very rich) and placed it in a rectangular basket I lined with solid red and red plaid napkins. I also placed a sheet of Glad wrap over the cloth napkins to protect them, set the square of cake on top and then covered it all with more wrap to protect it as we transport the basket this morning.

I knew they turned out just right when my seventeen year old boy arrived home from fencing last night and commented that it looked great!

The two recipes can be found by clicking here! Both of these receive raves from everyone who has eaten them. Both also taste best made a day before serving, always a good thing for the busy seasons of life.

Up to my elbows in flour

Okay, so the little girl is up to her elbows in suds but it's close and I love that picture. It is by an artist named George Leslie and I think it is from allposters.com (this is from my files before I put AP next to the name). I am now a little more organized, at least in My Pictures.

I had some ponderings about fear I was going to write about today but I'm afraid they will have to wait until later. :)

After having to run unexpected errands this noon, I came home planning on getting the bedroom finished. Only one more box in that room that I need to go through but it will require some thought as to where the items can be stored. I thought I would finish today. However, the phone rang with my son telling me they want me to "bring something" to their store Christmas party tomorrow. I asked him what they wanted me to bring. Basically the answer was they want anything as long as it was a dessert.

Thankfully, there are still items in my pantry for last minute dessert baking. I had some apples that were getting a little soft so I immediately thought Chocolate Chip Apple Cake would be good (known in our family as "Sheila's Cake" after the neighbor who gave us the recipe). It is now baking in the oven. I accidentally put almond extract in it instead of vanilla. I added the vanilla, too, and tasted the batter before pouring it into the bundt pan. Yum...I may have accidentally come up with something new that is wonderful. We'll see how it tastes once it has baked and cooled.

While in town, I dropped off a lot of Christmas wrapping paper, shirt boxes, etc. at the home of a dear friend. What she doesn't need, she is giving to some foreign students she's certain could use them. She gave me an extra turkey from her freezer, that is a blessing! It was good to find a home for more Christmas "stuff".

Now, I must return to the kitchen. Perhaps if I stare at the flour, sugar, butter, and eggs long enough, they will speak to me. I also have some lemons that need to be used soon. I think we are on to something here....

Christmas cookies and other ponderings

Two shopping excursions recently put me to pondering...a lot. Pondering the costs some people are willing to pay for items during the Holiday Season. At the health food store, they were selling a package of two cookies for nearly $4.00. I suppose they were all sprinkled with organic gold dust.

I am a grocery store snoop and I love to see what other people have in their carts. Sometimes I can be self righteous, other times I put a head of cabbage and a bag of romaine lettuce over the Dove ice cream.

Last week, I was waiting in line for a very long time and tired of skimming magazines, so I started looking at other people's carts. The lady in front of me had begun putting her items on the conveyor belt and they just happened to be food (I assume) for a party. I winced as I saw the price tag on some cut up celery and carrots but the true shock came when she put the cookies on the belt. I had to look twice and then when she wasn't looking, I leaned over to check the third time at the price tag for cookies.

The cookies did come in a nice plastic serving tray with a plastic cover to protect them from wind, snow and rain. However, even then they were not worth $18.99 for 2 1/2 to 3 dozen cookies. They weren't even the pretty sugar cookies with frosting or sprinkles. They were simple chocolate chip and it looked like some oatmeal raisin mixed in, slightly larger than the normal cookie one would make at home. Perhaps there was another layer I missed or at least, I hope there was. If I'm paying that much for food, I want a caterer to come with it.

I understand the need for cutting corners when one is busy. I've had to get help myself when I worked full time. I've even been known to keep a couple bags of Pepperidge Farm cookies put back for unexpected company but that is a lot of money for cookies made at a grocery store.

My mind kept coming back to those cookies on the drive home. It is hard to understand the willingness to pay that much for about half a pound of butter, a few cups of sugar, flour, vanilla...yikes...and I doubt they were made with butter or real vanilla. I don't know, perhaps it really is just me. Baking comes easily to me and I enjoy it. For a few dollars I can whip up something that looks and tastes great and people love to receive it as a gift.

I'm sure there are those who would never pay $4.00 with their allowance money for a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. You see, I don't have the equipment to make a latte like they make them at Starbucks. I'm paying about a quarter for the ground beans and $3.75 for their equipment and expertise. As I mentioned in an early post, one is really paying for an experience when they go to Starbucks (or Panera, or Einsteins', or any other place that makes lattes). But grocery store cookies?

I've been known to pay for good quality for clothing that I expect to wear for years, shoes made of good leather, furniture I expect to hand down to my children, and other items for our household. It's just I've had to be very frugal for so long that spending that much money for a few dozen cookies just amazed me. Was I wrong to be shocked, have I been off the party circuit for so long that I'm unaware of what it takes to have a party these days? My mind is still pondering these things...

Note Added Later: I do recall a cookie exchange I hosted a number of years ago where a friend who owned a business purchased her cookies at a specialty bakery. Now, those were worth the money she paid. They were delicious and very special. The Starbucks equivalent in cookie baking. I thought I'd add that little morsel as there are times when one appreciates a little something extra (just not in grocery store cookies that taste like lard). :)

National Bundt Cake Day!

I was watching Martha this morning on the tiny TV (if it weren't for Chicago Sports on Direct TV, I could live with my tiny living room set, which is free!). Anyway, Martha mentioned it is National Bundt Cake Day because of the 60 year anniversary of the Nordic Bundt pan.

My bundt pan is wonderful, I bought it years ago at a garage sale. It's heavy and the nonstick inside surface really works as long as you give it a good spray of Pam or slather of butter. The recipes are usually easy but they come out looking like a work of art. Last year I purchased the pan that makes six mini bundt cakes instead of the one large cake. It's just the right thing to make a special presentation.

Here's our family's "go to" cake recipe which both my daughter and I can probably put together half asleep...no probably about it! This was the cake my Jewish neighbor (and friend) made all the time and she gave me the recipe when we were moving to Detroit. Little did she know we would come back a few years later. :) However, since she moves in liberal, Democratic circles and I cancel her vote, our paths do not cross socially so we never bring the same cake to the party.

The recipe for Chocolate Chip Apple Cake is on my recipe blog along with a favorite lemon cake. Click here!

For instructions on making the perfect Bundt cake, click here.

Eet Smakelijk

In his native land,
A Dutch host utters
these words before each meal...

"Eet Smakelijk"

Meaning to eat well
and with taste.

That is the introductory page to one of my favorite cookbooks, Eet Smakelijk. No, I do not remember how to pronounce it but I kinda' made up a pronunciation so if I tell my daughter I found a recipe in this cookbook (by name), she knows to what book I'm referring. Probably the only other human in the universe who would know what I'm talking about.

I pulled out my old copy of this cookbook due to an an abundant amount of apples I need to use soon, thanks to a very giving friend. I had thought about making applesauce or apple butter (there may be enough apples left for that purpose) but what really sounded good was authentic Dutch Apple Pie. Thus, my venturing into my one Dutch cookbook.

It is actually a cookbook published by the Junior Welfare League of Holland, Michigan. There are many good memories I took with me from our eight plus years in Holland. The food was among them (and some fantastic restaurants). I also will always remember sunsets and picnics on Lake Michigan at Tunnel Park, breakfast in Douglas, lunch in Sagatuck before strolling the boardwalk and viewing the yachts and people in them, Christmas in downtown Holland, a billion tulips in May and the Tulip Time festival, the lighthouses of Holland and Grand Haven...among many other fond memories.

The pie will be dessert for a special Sunday meal with my son's favorite casserole (Cheesy Braut Stew), two different kinds of steamed vegetables, and authentic Dutch Apple Pie albeit without the chopped pecans I often add which are not in the recipe (I must remember to purchase nuts at the grocery store!).

I sat in my chair peeling apples and watching Nigella on the Food Channel, I rarely get a chance to see her new show as we are normally on our way home from church when it is playing. However, we have a flat tire so we couldn't attend church in time.

That's why I'm making a nice dinner. It has been "one of those weeks" for all three of us. We need the comfort that only a wonderful meal can bring today. Thankfully, I had everything I needed on hand to make favorites for which I am very grateful to the Giver of all things.

More weather changes and a great recipe

We have continued to go from unseasonably cold to "warmer than average" this autumn. I don't think there has been a normal weather day this year. :)

Today we were reached 70 and tomorrow our high may not get out of the 30s. I find the older I get, the more I feel like a human barometer. My mother-in-law used to say she could feel weather changes two states away. I'm not quite that sensitive but I do feel the changes on the way tonight. There is snow not too far away from us. I don't mind snow, it is lovely in the surrounding woods. I just don't like to drive on snow or ice. However, our rain expected this evening may turn to some snow flakes tomorrow!

I had to go with my son to the junior college this morning since he was getting an allergy shot on the way home. So I was away all morning and felt rather loopy most of the afternoon (I'll blame the weather changes). However, it seemed like a great day to spend some time in the kitchen and trying a new recipe.

I have two inexpensive, spiral notebooks that I use to write recipes in from library books. I've filled one and started another earlier this year. (I took that one with me this morning and copied recipes while waiting for my son.) This recipe was in the older book and my notes say it comes from The Best of Goosebury Patch Christmas Favorites. It turned out very good and moist. I have a feeling it will be even better tomorrow. The recipe calls for a 9 x 11 pan. I believe you could also put the batter in two round cake pans and check after 25-30 minutes.

I actually baked this in a Pyrex dish that is a size larger than the 9 x 11 pan (it is the dish I often use for roasting, big enough for a turkey!). Even with the bigger size, I had to bake a full 40 min. before it set but do check it at 30 min. as the recipe suggests. This is really yummy...

Carrot Cake

2 C. Sugar
2 C. Flour
2 t. Baking soda
1 t. Salt
3 t. Cinnamon
16 oz. can Crushed pineapple, well drained (the can I used was 20 oz.)
1 1/2 C. Vegetable oil
4 Eggs
3 C. Carrots, grated
1/2 C. pecans, chopped (optional, I didn't have any so I left them out)

Mix sugar, flour, soda, salt and cinnamon together...set aside (I sifted them onto parchment paper). Mix oil and eggs and beat together, add pineapple and carrots. Mix in dry ingredients, fold in pecans if you use them. Bake 30-35 min (mine took 40 min. but that may have been because I used a 20 oz. can of pineapple). Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
1/2 C. Butter, room temp (one stick)
8 oz. Cream cheese, room temp
1 Box Powdered sugar
2 t. Vanilla

Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth. Blend in powdered sugar and vanilla, beat until fluffy. Frost on cake that is completely cool.

I find cold days and baking are made for each other.