I'm offended.

This is an old Junior League Cookbook. I'll have to look and see if Minny has a chocolate pie recipe in it.

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Very. Simple

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I have nothing to say about this. Make up your own caption.

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Nice.

I don't get it.

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In case you don't like MEAT.

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We have more. Lots more. I like to read Stephen King, but somedays a good cookbook can be just as entertaining.

This past week I fully intended to document my 12 days of Christmas tradition. I have created my own Rudolph 12 days! But (there is always a but) little Boo got sick. Sick sick. Her mono reactivated and her spleen enlarged and her kidneys got infected and she was really sick.

We had a few nights at various hospitals and no sleep. She shared a room with a girl that had long loud vomiting spells every hour. Of course, that didn’t stop her from eating! Each time I heard a potato chip bag crinkle or her fork hit a plate, I died a little inside because I knew what was coming. My husband would quickly make an exit, “giving her some privacy”. I had to hang around with Boo and just dry heave.

Now we are home but I’m just now catching up. I’m working on a few pinterest projects and am cursing the googly eyes that need glue. I spent 15 minutes trying to peel the back off to stick! How do people do these perfect projects and real life too? I’m never going to be the person that makes homemade marshmallows or color 5 shades of rice crispie treats and mold them into a string of Christmas lights. It’s a miracle that I can make it to the store on most days.

My compromise is cupcakes (yes from a mix) that we frost and decorate with something. Puppy chow that we call snowman soup. I am going to try to make the snowmen from powdered donuts but who knew you couldn’t but candy corn in December? I have a handful of stale ones from Halloween that will have to do.

Hopefully I will have pictures of my afternoon projects. And everyone will pin them, I’m just sure!

the basics

Ingredients (beware these measurements make a big batch.  I’m freezing my dough to use for later and to give to friends.  It should keep in the freezer for a couple of months, so feel free to freeze some or cut these ingredients down to suit what you need)

• 2 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups of quick oats
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth (you could do water but it’s not as flavorful)
• 1/4 cup of corn or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 small jar of chicken flavored baby food

Hand mix all of these ingredients, then refrigerate the dough for about 30 minutes.  I do this with all cookies, whether they are for humans of dogs.  The take sections of the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface.  Use your hands or rolling pin to flatten it out to about 1/4 and inch in thickenss, then cut into whatever shapes you need.  You can use a cute cookie cutter if you like.   I had to cut mine into tiny squares because I have a dog that’s able to fit into one hand.  But if you have a bigger dog, simply make a bigger treat.

tiny treats for a tiny dog

Bake them at 375 for 8-10 minutes.  They will feel done on the outside but not hard all the way through.  I seal his up in a plastic bag and will keep them for about a week.  They actually stay soft even after a day or two, which is something I have yet to accomplish with cookies for human consumption.  Maybe it’s the baby food……….  Either way, this little guy enjoys them, and they’ve been a good addition to our potty training treat selection.

Happy Fall!

Ingredients:

• 3 large white or yellow onions, thinly sliced into strings, not big chunks
• 1/4 to 1/2 lb of stew meat, depending on your preference, or hell go meatless
• 2-32 oz boxes of beef broth
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons of worchestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• salt and pepper to taste

I used a 6 quart slow cooker for this meal, and it worked out perfectly because it gives the onions time to carmelize.  Sear the beef on all sides and set into slow cooker.  Take sliced onions and place them in a skillet with a little butter for just a few minutes until they start to brown at the edges to loosen them up a little.  Then add them to the crockpot.  I had to cook my onions in two batches because I used gigantic onions.  Take the worchestershire, flour, and sugar and whisk together and add to onions and beef.  Add broth, stir ingredients together.  Cook on high for 4-5 hours, low 8-10.  It’s important NOT to skip the step of stirring together the worchestershire, sugar, and flour.  If you try to just dump it all in and stir it as a whole, it will  be a big globby mess.  I learned this the hard way with some chicken and dumplings a few months back.

I served this with some crusty french bread cut into little squares and some mozarella cheese one top.  It was really tasty and will make a huge pot so you can have leftovers for a day or two.

So, I studied cookies. I have made a few discoveries about cookies that I thought I would share.

• The recipe on a bag of chocolate chips is the same no matter the brand.
• Adding more vanilla to any cookie adds to the taste. Use real vanilla.
• Use real butter, especially in chocolate chip. It makes the edges crispy and the center soft.
• Mix the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for 36 hours before baking. (this is for chocolate chip)

I had the most trouble finding an oatmeal raising recipe that I liked.

• I found that most recipes for oatmeal cookies differed.
• The best textured ones used old fashioned oats.
• Soak your raisins. You can use water, juice, or whiskey. (I used water)
• We probably won’t be having any oatmeal raisin cookies at the wedding.

I don’t know why I can’t make those taste and look perfect. But I can’t so we will be having sugar cookies instead. Now, to find the perfect glaze.

This week we thought it would be fun to show the various ways to make a peanut butter sandwich since school lunches are on the horizon.  Some may not travel well in school lunches but are a great after school snack or breakfast.

• The first one is one our dad makes. We all had it has a baby and are thankful none of us were allergic to nuts. Dad always mixed peanut butter and Johnny Fair syrup until it was smooth.  This makes a great sandwich or spread for toast or biscuits.    
• An alternative to this is mixing with honey.  I’m not sure which one I like better but I do like this on biscuits.
• Joy’s favorite is to mix crunchy peanut butter with grape jelly and spread it on wheat bread.
• My husband’s favorite is peanut butter and raisin.  He likes the peanut butter spread on the bread and raisin arranged across it so that there are equal amounts of each.
• This is my variation on a peanut butter and banana. You mash the banana and add peanut butter, like with the syrup.  Then spread it on the bread.  Although more work, it evenly distributes the peanut butter/banana combination.
• Mom takes this one step further and dips this sandwich in an egg and milk mixture. She then fries it on a hot buttered griddle as if she was making french toast.   (totally a tribute to Elvis on mother’s part)
• My husband’s version is to cut the bananas and lay across the peanut butter on bread.  Simple enough.
• I like to do this with an apple.  Slice it very thin and lay it on top of the peanut butter.
• Last but not least is our very favorite way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You make the sandwich as you would and then butter it like would a grilled cheese on the outside.  Then we brown it on a griddle and enjoy. 

So, how many ways are there to make a peanut butter sandwich?

]]> http://www.redvelvetwisdom.com/2010/08/14/pbj-let-me-count-the-ways/feed/ 4 http://www.redvelvetwisdom.com/2010/07/27/i-think-i-may-change-our-name-to-bacon-com/ http://www.redvelvetwisdom.com/2010/07/27/i-think-i-may-change-our-name-to-bacon-com/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 12:39:03 +0000 LanaJoy http://www.redvelvetwisdom.com/?p=1940 For some odd reason, it seems that here lately we have had an abundance of posts related to bacon.  Well this one is no different.  You may remember a few weeks ago Dena did a post on eating chicken fried bacon at the Rockin Rooster in Avery, Texas.  Well as  soon as my accomplice saw that post, he looked me in the eye with the most serious face he possibly can muster, and said, “you have one week to figure out how to make this.”   Now I realize in previous posts I have complained of people making overly simplistic food requests, and I was actually kind of excited to be trying something that I had never done before.

Now, I did a little research on chicken fried bacon, and as best I can tell, it originated (along with any number of other fried sins) at the Texas State Fair a few years back.  There were quite a few ways to make it, and it seems that some people bread it, some people batter dip it, and there were recipes using flour, bread crumbs, and any number of things.  So I decided to go out on my own and do a simple double dredge.  I took some thick cut bacon, and cut it in half because I was afraid these big long strips might be hard to manage, and I am glad I did, because I do think they were easier to handle since I was pan frying.

I used a couple cups of flour that I flavored with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cajun spices.  You can just do it to your taste.  Then in a bowl I had about 4 or 5 eggs that I beat thoroughly.  Then one strip at a time I lightly dredged them in the flour, dipped them in the egg wash, and then gave them another coating in the flour.  I put them in a pan of canola oil to fry.  I would give you a temperature, but I don’t have a thermometer so I just did the good old-fashioned flick a little flour in there and see if it boils thing to see if it was ready.  I put 3 or 4 pieces in at a time, and just let them hang out in there until they were golden brown on both sides.

I drained them on paper towel, and they were ready to go.  I have to admit that I had low expectations of the flavor, but it was GOOD.  Very good.  Served it with biscuits and gravy, and it was something that I would make again, but only after a few months of doing a good detox cleanse!  The accomplice even came up with the bacon and gravy sandwich on a biscuit.

So I set out to make one that does.  I decided early on that this little project would have to include bacon, because let’s be serious, I use it in everything but dessert (stay tuned for me to figure that out one day).  Then I decided I was also going to stuff this dog.  This involved me actually putting some thought into this project, because how on earth was I going to stuff anything into a little hot dog weenie?  Well, I decided to use a beef sausage link because they are much bigger, but still pretty much taste like a hot dog.  Then I cut a little pocket into it.

After that I used some smoked provolone that I tore into little strips to stuff the hot dog with.  I used provolone #1 for the smokey flavor and #2 because it’s a firmer cheese that won’t melt super fast.  This would be a disaster with something like Velveeta.  Then I wrapped the hot dogs in bacon and used toothpicks to hold it in place.  I put them in the pan along with some chopped onions, and let the bacon do its thing.  And by do it’s thing, I mean make everything taste amazing!

The bacon didn’t get super crispy all the way around, and towards the end of the cooking process I took the toothpicks out so I could get it a little more brown all over.  Then when they were ready I put them on a whole wheat bun, covered them in hot dog chili, and then topped them with those onions that had been sweating it out in bacon fat.  Celebrate National Hot Dog Night on July 17th with your own delicious variation of this classic summer food!

This was sweet and crunchy and gooey and everything that a dessert should be.  It has flavor and texture and well there isn’t enough blog space in the world for me to go on and on and on about how much I love it.  So now, here it is, so that you can become a convert too!

First, you will need the following:

• 2 cans of apple pie filling
• 1 box of yellow cake mix
• 2 sticks of butter (melted)
• cinnamon
• chopped pecans
• lemon juice

In a rectangular baking dish (13×9 would be fine) pour both cans of apple pie filling.  Lightly sprinkle lemon juice over the top of the apples.  Then take your cinnamon and sprinkle liberally over the top of the filling.  This really is according to your personal taste so I am not putting a measurement on here.  Pour the box of yellow cake mix evenly over the filling, then over that, pour the two sticks of melted butter.  Top with the pecans.  Again this is your own taste.  I like a LOT of pecans so I used a little over 2 cups, but the little 2 cup bag would have been fine.  Then sprinkle some more cinnamon on top of the pecans, and place in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes.  When it’s done, it will look like this……

In theory you should let it cool before you eat it, but that’s just not realistic!

This week I was given some recipes that are at least 100 years old. One of them looked really easy and I tried it. I also tried my magical touch of quadrupling it. My husband always stands behind me and tells me how  3 teaspoons equal something and I lose count. I think in turned out great in spite of his ciphering.

Picante Sauce

• 4 C.  tomatoes (1/2 in blender)
• 1 onion chopped
• 4 tsp. white vinegar
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4-17 jalapenos
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• red food coloring

I chopped everything in the blender, as did the sweet lady, Tressa, who passed on this recipe. The directions say to bring to a boil and then cook on low for 20-30 minutes. Since I had so much, mine had to cook longer. Still, it was all good.  I also added a little cornstarch to thicken it, as Tressa said she had done as well.

Thanks to Tressa for these recipes. Pickles are up next! These recipes are from her much beloved Aunt Maggie. I appreciate her sharing them with us and letting us share them with you.  *EDIT* I didn’t read closely enough. The pickles are from her Aunt Maggie. The is from Tressa’s mother-in-law. Sorry for the wrong credit.