December 25 - Christmas Day in the Morning

Cinnamon is one of my favorite smells associated with Christmas. I enjoy luring loved ones away from their gifts or out of bed on Christmas morning with freshly baked yummies.  But if you’ve stayed up too late wrapping gifts or watching the Norad Santa Tracker the night before you might want something easy to prepare so you can get back to your own napping amongst the wrapping paper.  

This Christmas Quiche can be prepared the night before (which made me extremely nervous the first time I tried it, but everything worked out deliciously) and the Apple Puff Pancake is cinnamony enough to fill your home with Ahhhh...  Merry Christmas!

Menu

Christmas Quiche

and/or

Apple Puff Pancake

Sausage or Bacon

Fruit Salad 

- Grapefruit sections, Pomegranate Seeds, Diced Apples & Banana Slices

Freshly Squeezed Orange juice

Christmas Quiche    10-12 servings

Prepare the night before, store in the refrigerator and bake in the morning.

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup flour

Melt butter and add flour to make a smooth roux.  

6 large eggs

Beat eggs & add to roux.

1 cup milk

1/2 - 1 lb. cubed Monteray Jack cheese (amt. depends on your preference - I like less)

3 oz. cream cheese

2 cups cottage cheese

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

Add rest of ingredients to egg mixture.

Stir until blended - pour into 9x13 glass baking pan, cover w/ foil overnight

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45 min.

Apple Puff Pancake   6-8 servings

2 Apples

Peel & slice

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Add to apples and mix

5 Tbsp butter

Chop and scatter in the bottom of 9x13 glass baking pan

Lower rack in oven to lowest level

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Place pan w/ butter in oven until butter melts and starts to bubble

6 eggs

Beat eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Add to eggs and mix well

Remove baking pan w/ bubbling butter from oven

Distribute cinnamon apple mixture evenly in pan

Pour egg mixture over top of apples - do not stir

Return pan to oven.

Bake for 20-22 minutes

Powdered sugar (optional)

Cut into squares and sprinkle w/ powdered sugar if desired.

Independence Day - July 4, 1776

          The 4th of July always makes me think of summer backyard picnics at Grandma Caldwell’s Meadville, Pennsylvania home.  Whether braving a scratch to find a ripe raspberry, riding the mower over the immense lawn, avoiding bees in the attic to seek hidden treasures, hunting fireflies or fishing on Tamarac Lake, we always seemed to be having fun with Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts and Uncles and the cousins.  And there was always food!  

          Recently I was given a copy of the 4th of July menu that Grandma Caldwell fixed every year and I wonder now how long it took her to prepare the smorgasbord?  Just reading it makes me want to start baking. Here’s her menu...

Turkey Breast

Cottage Cheese

Potato Salad

Relish – Olives

Macaroni Salad

Rolls

Cole Slaw

Jello

Baked Beans

Deviled Eggs

Salad Plate

Cranberry Sauce

Pickles

Soda Pop

Cheese

Blueberry Muffins

Watermelon                                    

Strawberries

Cantaloupe

Peach Pie

Lemon Pie

Strawberry Pie

Banana Cream Pie

Cake

I hope you enjoy these two recipes straight from her recipe box and my memories ~ Enjoy, and Happy Independence Day!

Grandma Violet Caldwell’s Potato Salad  Serves 6

4 cups cubed boiled potatoes

½ cup chopped onions

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup sweet pickles

1 cup salad dressing / Mayo

1 t mustard

½ t celery seed

½ t salt

1/8 t pepper

Mix all together and chill   

Grandma Violet Caldwell’s Peach Pie

Store bought crust

Prebake

6 peaches

Pitted skinned and sliced

1 3oz pkg. peach or orange jello

½ cup cornstarch

1 cup sugar

4 cups hot water

Boil until thick   

Allow to cool  

Add fruit 

Mix and put in crust. 

Allow to set in refrigerator. Delicious!

Earth Day - April 22

          One day I told my kids that I believe in saving the world after expecting them to recycle something, rather than throw it away.  They rolled their eyes and gave me the ‘You’re weird, Mom’ look.  But making one small change at a time can make a big difference.  So let’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  For me this translates to...

• Thrift store clothes shopping - Thank you Mom for teaching me to see the treasures.
• Checking out books from the library - we usually end up filling a rolling suitcase.
• Grandma Neibarger’s garden compost smoothies - a blended concoction of all fruit and veggie kitchen scraps with water, bury it in a hole and you’ll get beautiful dirt in no time so you can grow your own food!
• Making the effort to recycle as much as possible - always room for improvement on this one - don’t have recycling where you live? Call your trash pickup and request it till you get it!
• Regular de-cluttering - more therapeutic than shopping, plus you can donate to a good cause and feel even better!
• Use less stuff - do we really need so much?  Check out a short video, The Story of Stuff - http://www.storyofstuff.com/  and I also highly recommend seeing the documentary I AM - http://iamthedoc.com/ - Love it!

And last but not least...

• Deja Food for dinner - never call them leftovers! (This is a way to reuse and recycle but you're on your own for reducing:)

My favorite re-purposed meals...

Day 1 - Grilled Salmon, mango salsa, couscous, green beans, green salad

Day 3 - Salmon Tetrazzini, green salad, peas, dessert

Day 2 - Roast chicken, fried rice, broccoli, green salad, fruit salad

Day 5 - Chicken noodle soup, green salad, fruit salad

Day 7 - Chicken PotPie, green salad, fruit salad

Day 4 - Crock-Pot Beef or Pork Roast, cooked potatoes and carrots, green beans, green salad

Day 6 - Corn tortilla tacos, deja meat, grilled onions, fresh guacamole, fresh salsa, beans & rice

...or the famous (at least in our family) ‘Daddy Dinner’ or ‘Grandpa Dinner’ as we now call it - line up your plates and divide deja foods evenly between them with no more than a large spoonful for each customer. Consider adding tuna salad w/ crackers, popcorn, cottage cheese w/ peaches, a cookie, nuts, pickles, half of a hard boiled egg and whatever else you can find - adventures in dining, Thanks Dad!

Paul Revere’s Ride - April 18, 1775

It should be your care, therefore, and mine, to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives.
John Adams, 1756

          “Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere...” begins a famous poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (for the complete poem see:  http://www.nationalcenter.org/PaulRevere'sRide.html ) the mission? To get word from Boston to Concord, temporary home of the Provincial Congress, that the British were on the move to arrest Patriot leaders and seize guns and ammunition.  

          In addition to Paul Revere there were actually 2 other men helping to spread the news, William Dawes and Dr. Samuel Prescott, a Concord resident.  They met up in Lexington, but before they could complete the five mile ride from Lexington to Concord they were stopped by a roadblock.  Although they tried to break through, only Dr. Prescott was able to escape capture and deliver the message to Concord.  Paul Revere was taken prisoner and greatly exaggerated his report of the troops awaiting the Redcoats in Concord.  When the Redcoats escorting Paul Revere back to Lexington heard shots being fired and church bells ringing they feared for their safety and released Paul Revere with a tired, slow horse for his return to Lexington as the struggle for independence began.  

          My mom grew up on the east coast and we occasionally had Boston Baked Beans and Brown Bread for dinner.  I’ve included a recipe for Brown Bread, but you might be able to find it pre-made in a store in the canned food aisle.  Yes it comes in a can, ready to be warmed and eaten.  Don’t skip the warming, you just vent one end of the can and warm it in a pot of water on the stove, we always sliced it and spread with butter.  For an easy Boston Cream Pie, bake a yellow cake in round pans, put vanilla pudding between the two layers and top with Chocolate Ganache frosting and have one slice if you live by land and two if by sea. 

Menu - 

Hot Dogs

Aunt Jayneanne’s Baked Beans

Boston Brown Bread

Green Salad

Cottage Cheese

Boston Creme Pie

Aunt Jaynann’s Beans

2 Large cans or 1 #10 size can Pork & Beans

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple 

Drain juice out from pineapple

1 1/2 cup tomato catsup

1/2 medium green pepper

1 medium onion

Chop green pepper and onion

3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

3 Tbsp. Molasses

Combine all ingredients in a CrockPot and cook on low for 4 hours.

Boston Brown Bread  - Makes 4 loaves
Modified from The Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous Eating Places, published in 1946. This recipe comes from The Williams Inn in Williamstown, Massachusetts. 

A #5 tin is a 56-ounce can (7-1/3 cups) - recipe can be halved - baked loaves can be frozen.

3 cups bread flour
3 cups yellow cornmeal
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking soda
Mix dry ingredients together

2 cups raisins
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ginger
3 eggs, beaten slightly
3 cups molasses
3 cups sour milk
Combine remaining items in a separate bowl.  Add dry mix to this liquid and stir well. Spoon equal parts into 4 well-greased, tall #5 tins. Cover with lids or waxed paper tied on firmly, and steam for 3 hours.

April Fool’s Day - April 1

           Did you know that the new year used to be celebrated on April 1st? If you think about spring and new growth this makes sense. When the Christian world changed to the Gregorian calendar however, the new year began on January 1 and then the fun began. Because the world lacked internet and global news distribution some people weren’t aware of the change or refused to believe in the new calendar and continued to celebrate the New Year in April, thus earning the label of ‘April Fool‘ and setting off a worldwide phenomenon of practical joking. 
           One of the best practical jokes I ever played on my sister was entirely unplanned. I had found a long thin candle that I absent-mindedly broke into small sections leaving the wick intact. As we were lying in bed, ready to fall asleep I suddenly lobbed it across the room towards her bed and yelled “Snake!” When it landed on her bed she screamed and jumped up. What possessed me to do such a thing? Who knows. We’ve had some good laughs remembering that night, but I’ve tried to be a little more kind with my practical jokes since then. Here are a couple of ideas for some fun food pranks and one foolish dessert... 

Jello ‘Juice’

1 pkg. lemon flavored gelatin

1 drop red food coloring

          Mix up gelatin according to pkg. directions.

Pour into clear glasses, insert straw and allow to set up in refrigerator.  

Frog eggs on ice cream

Basil seeds soaked in water form a gel sack around the dark seed

Ice Cream

Soak basil seeds in water and then serve over ice cream for a little extra ‘crunch’ w/o any noticeable taste difference

Strawberry Fool  Serves 8

2 pints strawberries

Puree

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

Stir into strawberries

2 cups heavy whipping cream

Whip cream

Fold cream w/ strawberries until ‘marbleized’ pour into bowl & chill well.

St. Patrick's Day - March 17

O.k. so we're having this celebration today, late but better than never.  
I must confess that I have a different perspective on St. Patrick's Day this year.  I grew up thinking that I was Irish and every year we celebrated with corned beef and cabbage in March.  This year however, I found out that yes, the Caldwell brothers came from Ireland to America, but they came to Ireland from Northern Italy!! to escape persecution for being Protestant.  So I need to do more family history research!  
Another confession, we're having Indian Roti bread along with our Corned Beef and Cabbage, because I forgot to start a loaf of Irish Soda Bread early enough and because I can just fry up the Roti quickly on the stove.  Sometimes it's the idea of a celebration that matters more than making sure everything 'matches'.  


Health and a long life to you.
Land without rent to you.
A child every year to you.
And if you can't go to heaven,
May you at least die in Ireland.    Irish Toast


Menu - 

Corned beef & cabbage

Carrots & potatoes

Green Beans

Irish soda bread

Grandma Caldwell’s pistachio pudding

Corned Beef & Cabbage

3 lb. corn beef roast

1 bay leaf

6 whole cloves

1/4 tsp pepper

In large sauce pan, cover beef with water.  Add spices.  

Cover and simmer over low heat 3-3 1/2 hours until tender.

6 potatoes, peeled & cut into quarters

6 carrots, peeled & cut in half lengthwise

Add vegetables.  

Cover and simmer 15 minutes. 

1 medium cabbage cut into 6 wedges

Add cabbage, cook 15 minutes.  

Cut meat into pieces and serve.

Grandma Caldwell’s Pistachio Pudding

2 boxes Pistachio pudding

2 small cans crushed pineapple

1 cup mini marshmallows

2 containers of Cool Whip

½ cups chopped nuts

Stir together, and store in refrigerator until ready to eat

Mardi Gras! - Tuesday, March 8

Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French and is known in countries other than France and the United States as Carnival.  What began as a pagan fertility celebration and to ward off evil for the new year became a time of fun and merrymaking before abstaining from meat and making other sacrifices during Lent to honor Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the wilderness.  

Cities worldwide host festivals with elaborate parades, colorful face masks, parties, balls and feasts. You can have a little fun with your family by creating your own face masks and enjoying this New Orleans inspired Mardi Gras menu...

*Jambalaya

Fluffy rice

Crusty bread

Green Salad

*Pecan tarts

Jambalaya is a Cajun dish originating around the bayou, combining the French word for ham and the African word for rice and you can mix and match a variety of seafood and meats depending on what you have available. In other parts of the world, Fat Tuesday might be called Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday and crepes’ will be served with superfine sugar and fresh lemon juice, delicious!  Another idea is to hide a coin (for wealth), ring (for marriage) or thimble (for becoming a tailor or seamstress) in the dessert and could be easily baked into the delicious southern Pecan Tarts recipe I’ve included here.  

Jambalaya w/ Rice

2 Tbsp flour 

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3 chicken legs cut in half

Combine flour & spices in plastic bag and coat chicken

2 Tbsp oil

1/2 lb. pork sausage cut in half

Brown coated chicken in oil for 20 min. Remove. 

Brown sausage for 10 min, remove.

2 medium onions chopped

1 green pepper chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

Save 2 Tbsp fat

Add onion, pepper, garlic, celery, cover, cook and stir for 30 min.

1 can (16 oz.) whole peeled tomatoes

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

Stir in tomatoes, 1/4 cup water, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, spices.  Return chicken and sausage to pan, cover, simmer, stir 20 minutes.

1/2 lb. frozen shrimp

1/2 lb cubed ham

Add shrimp and ham to jambalaya.  

Cover, simmer 15 minutes.  

Serve w/ rice.

3 cups water

1 1/2 cup rice

Cook rice in water 20 minutes

Pecan Tarts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

For Crust - 

2 1/4 cup flour

2 sticks butter (1 cup)

8 oz cream cheese

Blend and divide into 12 equal parts and press dough into bottom and sides of muffin pan cups

For Filling - 

2 eggs beaten 

1 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla 

Whisk until blended

2 cups chopped pecans

Stir in to filling mix and divide among the 12 mini tarts.

Bake for 25 minuets at 350 degrees.  Let cool and enjoy!

Happy Birthday PattyCake!

In honor of my youngest sister's birthday today I'm posting the recipe she requested for Coconut Macaroons. Sure cake and ice cream may be traditional, but anything delicious is a celebration, especially when made with love!

Coconut Macaroons - Makes 8 large macaroons

adapted from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess 

         Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2 large egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

          Beat egg whites until frothy - no more - then add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft             peaks form.

1/3 cup sugar

          Add sugar, 1 tsp at a time and whisk until the peaks can hold their shape and are shiny.

2 Tbsp ground almonds (optional) 

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract (or coconut extract if you have it)

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp shredded coconut

          Fold in almonds, salt, vanilla and coconut.  

          The mixture will be sticky but should hold its shape when clumped together.

Form into clementine-sized domes, 2-3 inches in diameter.  Don't make them too flat, they look best when nicely rounded:)

If you make them half as big cook them for half the time.

1 baking sheet, lined with parchment or wax paper

Cook for 20 minutes or until they are just beginning to turn golden.  

4 oz. bittersweet/dark chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream (optional - but I prefer it)

Melt on stovetop on low heat - drizzle over macaroons.  

Enjoy!

Grand Canyon National Park Created - Feb 26, 1916

If you haven’t stood in awe yet at the edge of the Grand Canyon, it’s not too late to start planning your visit. In 2016, America will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Grand Canyon National Park where you can ride a donkey down the steep switchbacks to the bottom of the canyon, or enjoy the beautiful geologic layered science lesson on land erosion from the rim.  For more info check out... http://www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm

If you won’t be able to visit the Grand Canyon on February 26, you can still celebrate the creation of this spectacular national park by enjoying a delicious "layered" menu...
Savory Salsa Dip & Nachos
Tossed Salad 
Berry Cheesecake Trifle 

Savory Salsa Layer Dip

3 medium avocados

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp grated onion w/ juice

  Smash avocados and mix with lemon & onion juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise (optional)
     Mix salt, pepper, sour cream and mayonnaise in separate bowl

3 medium tomatoes

1 bunch green onions

8 oz. cheddar cheese

2 - 3 oz. cans sliced olives (optional)

  Chop tomatoes and onions and grate cheese

2 - 15 oz. cans refried beans

1 small can green chilies

  Mix beans and chilies

Any leftover cooked meat such as chicken, beef or pork

  Chop meat into small pieces

  Layer in the following order starting at the bottom:)...

• Beans
• Meat (optional)
• Avocado mixture
• Sour cream/mayonnaise mixture
• Green onions
• Tomatoes
• Olives (optional)
• Cheese

  Chill for best flavor and serve at room temperature with tortilla chips topped with   melted cheese.

Berry Cheesecake Trifle

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

     Mix cream cheese & powdered sugar

1 cup sour cream

1/2 tsp vanilla

     Add sour cream and 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 pint whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp. sugar

  In a new bowl whip cream, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 Tbsp sugar. 

  Fold the two mixtures together.

2 quarts fresh or @ 2-3 cups frozen berries (I like the Costco frozen berry mix)

3 Tbsp. sugar

  Combine berries and 3 Tbsp. sugar.   

1 angel food cake torn into bite size pieces

  Layer in a glass bowl:  cake, cream, berries, repeat 3X.  

  Cover and Refrigerate until ready to serve - you can prepare the night before.