Wyoming Attempt at Uncle D's Wierd Nebraska Fruit

OK.  We started the process by memory instead of looking up Uncle D's post from February 19, 2012 entitled Nebraska Citrus Fruit.  We had lots of oranges that were going to go bad if we did not make some juice. (Those cute little wrestler boys who sell boxes of fruit are impossible to say no to)  Even though we remembered that D had eaten all the insides of the oranges he used (yeah--- we Googled Vitamin C poisoning) we decided to cut these and juice them.  Which we did.  Well, WE did until Bob sliced her finger really bad, and I was left to finish alone.........

Then we looked up the instructions to see how to make the jello.  One of the first instructions is to get a sharp knife and not tell Uncle D's sister (me).  Huh.  Maybe I should have kept the knife to myself---- seems Bob is related to Uncle D.  Never give either one of them a knife!!!!!  I told Bob that we already had 2 blood oranges in our mixed box of fruit..  We did not need DIY ones.....

Anyway, we read the instructions.... not only did Bob mishandle the knife, she cut the oranges the wrong direction (equator vs. north to south).  After we ran them on the juicer, they looked a little like this: 

Then  we I  had to dig the membranes out.  This was not easy, and I cursed my brother for making this look so good that I had to try it.  6 oranges later (well, we juiced a good 20, but I only used the ones with the thickest skin because they were easier to clean) I had a pile of membranes like this:  (ewww)

 (Believe it or not, I did not make spoon sweets or anything out of the rest of the peelings this time.  I THREW THEM AWAY...... OH MY OH MY!!!)

We started following instructions after that, but only used one flavor of jello--- a "Tropical Fusion" flavor.  Whisk for 3 minutes???  Are you kidding me?  You really did not do it that long, did you, D?  Admit it.  That is like FOREVER.....  OK.  I sat down at the counter and did it. When I poured it into the shells, two of them leaked into the bottom of the muffin tin, through their navel.  Thus the instructions to cut them north to south, duh.  Oh well, we only lost 2.  Some of the others are not quite to the top because I jiggled the pan putting it into the fridge and spilled some.  What?? ......You will get old someday too.  Just. you. wait.

The next day, we trimmed the tops and cut them into wedges.  Sorry D, no kids to fool at my house, we just cut them.... right out in the open... in front of everyone...  D said use a serated knife and "saw" the jello.  My knife is SHARP enough to not need serations or the sawing motion.  (As evidenced by the slice taken off Bob's finger). 

Yeah. Yeah.  Mom cut up another sticker............But D, you have to admit  THAT is a knife!

We got cute little wedges. 

 And a sliced finger does not prevent the eating of the finished product.

Thank you Uncle D for the experience..........

A Rainbow of Deviled Eggs

First---- How to cook a perfect egg without getting that awful gray/green ring around the yolk.  Most of the eggs pictured above were NOT done this way, and are wierd shaped because I tried a baking method I saw on the internet.  Don't do that.  It makes them rubbery and funny shaped.  The yellow one right in front and the pink ones were done the way I am going to describe: 

Do it this way:  Start with room temperature eggs.  Put them into a pan and cover with cold water (about an inch over the top of the eggs.)  Add some salt to the water just in case one of them is cracked.  Put them on MEDIUM heat on the stove.  When they come to a good rolling boil (this actually takes quite a long time especially with a huge pan of eggs like we did), take them off the heat, put a lid on and leave them alone for 12 minutes. (This is for our altitude at about 3500 to 4000 feet.  You will need to ajdust according to your altitude.  The higher you are, the longer you need to let them sit.  Christopher--  I would try 15 minutes to start.  Carol-- probably 8-10)   Pour the hot water off and immediately put them into very cold water.  This stops the cooking process.  Some people say to use ice water, but I just run the cold water from the tap into the pan and let it run out until it stays cold-- instead of warming up in the pan.  At this point, they peel really well.  (Oh-- hint.  Older eggs peel better)

Anyway, after you peel the eggs, carefully cut them lengthwise and pop the yolks out into a bowl.  Do little containers of food color the same way you do for coloring eggs--  about 1t. vinegar to 1/2 cup water, and as many drops of food color as you desire.  We used neon food color to do these.  The more vinegar you put in, the brighter the egg would be.  However, with 1teaspoon, there was not a vinegary taste to the eggs.  I don't know what would happen if you used more.  As with whole eggs, the longer you leave the egg in the color, the brighter it will be.  You need to handle them carefully with a spoon to keep from tearing them.  Drain them on a paper towel.  Use a new spot on the paper towel each time, or they will pick up the color from the last egg that was there.  Oh, and no-- ours did not turn our teeth blue or anything.

While they dry (I turned them over once to dry both sides) Mash up the yolks.  I cannot give you a recipe for the yolk mixture, I just do it to taste, but add a blob of mayonaise (enough to moisten them up good), as much mustard as you like, salt and pepper.  I also put hot dog relish in mine because I like the chunks of pickle and whatever else they have in there.  I always run the mixture through a pastry bag to make them look pretty, but you can just grab a spoon and smear it into the holes left by the yolks.

Next year, I will try to improve upon this.  This was our first attempt.

nOne: Waffle for Solo Diner

Trying out a title for my recipe book for households with an n of one. nOne doesn't seem to work - looks too lonely. Will keep thinking.

Anyway - waffle recipe. One of the problems with cooking for one is the egg. One cannot easily divide a recipe that calls for one egg. This recipe is perfect in that respect.

Waffle for Solo Diner Basic Recipe

3.5 T. flour
1/8 t. soda
1/8 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
1 egg
1/4 c. yogurt

Mix together and cook in waffle iron.

Tips: I use my homemade yogurt which has no sugar. I add 1/4 t. vanilla for fun. However, the yogurt is where things with this waffle can get interesting, if you don't have an aversion to "store bought" yogurt. Any flavor of yogurt that is on the market will work. So, one could have a mandarin orange waffle, a lemon waffle, a key lime pie waffle....you get the idea.



I did not realize that the picture of the waffle quantity did not turn out until the waffle had been consumed. So, I tried to touch this up - this is the best that I can do. You get the idea - this is the size of the waffle that one gets from this recipe.

Easiest dang cake EVER (tasty, too)

Here's what you need:

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple  (or if you are like me, and all the pineapple in the cellar was sliced, chunks, or tidbits, just throw one of those into your food processor and crush it yourself--- making this project significantly LESS easy)

1 box of angel food cake mix.

That's it.  Just two ingredients--- not even water or anything!!!

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease and flour a 13 x 9 cake pan (or spray if that is your thing---  I did not try it, but you don't grease a pan for angel food--- I figured you should not grease this either, but maybe the pineapples would stick?)

Dump can of pineapple (juice and all) into a large bowl.

Dump cake mix on top.

Whisk until it is mixed up.  (It will bubble)

Spread in pan and bake 30 to 35 minutes.  It will pull away from the sides.  You can also test it with a toothpick.

Serve with whipped cream  (or not)  Oh yeah-- throw a strawberry on the plate so your picture will have color...

Yummy light pineappley (yes even though the spell checker is protesting, that IS a word-- well...... it is now)
goodness.  You have NO excuse not to make dessert for supper tonight.  Now, go do it.

Chocolate Covered Bacon

I have not, nor will I EVER make this, but I am posting it for Dennis:

16 slices applewood smoked bacon, thick cut

12 ounces semisweet or milk chocolate, chopped

4 ounces white chocolate or almond bark, chopped

Directions: Cook bacon until crisp. You can either cook it in a pan on the stove until crisp or on a foil lined pan in the oven at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Place cooked bacon on paper towels to drain and cool. Cut each bacon strip in half.

Melt your semi-sweet/milk chocolate. You can either melt it in a double boiler or in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. You can add about a teaspoon of shortening to thin out the chocolate even more if you want a thinner consistency. Whisk until completely smooth.

Lay the bacon on a fork and dunk the bacon into the semisweet chocolate and make sure it is completely coated. Gently tap the fork against the side of the bowl letting the excess drip off and lay on a parchment or waxed paper lined quarter sheet tray. Repeat with all the bacon slices.

No man....NO MAN, will complain that their chocolate covered bacon doesn't look pretty enough. But if they do, drizzle some white chocolate on it and then don't give him any anyway because he doesn't deserve it for complaining. :)

Melt the white chocolate/almond bark in the microwave in 30 second intervals until melted. Be careful not to heat it too much or it will seize. Drizzle over the chocolate covered bacon. Put the sheet tray in the refrigerator to set, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the sheet tray to a serving dish and serve.

Pasta Primavera Alfredo

So I needed to use up the last of the vegies from my co-op basket, so I decided to make Pasta Primavera Alfredo.



Here is what you need:

3 cups carrots sliced really thinly
3 cups small broccoli florets (I also cut the small stems really thinly and added them)
1 lb. bag of spaghetti noodles (I did not have any without walking to the cellar, so being lazy, I used rotini)
1 cup milk (I also am down to just enough milk for  breakfast tomorrow, so I used Half and Half)
4 oz (1/2 brick) cream cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter
Salt and pepper

Cook the noodles according to package directions. Add the chopped vegetables to the boiling pasta for the last 5 minutes.  (If your carrots are not really thin, you will need to add them a few minutes earlier than that.  Or just boil the vegies by themselves and add after the pasta is done, but why dirty up a second pan?)

While that is cooking, dirty up a small pan by cooking and stirring the cream cheese, milk, butter, and Parmesan cheese over medium low heat until it is all hot, melted and smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Drain noodles and vegies.  Stir everything together and serve.  yum.

Next time, I think I would use the whole brick of cream cheese to give it a bit more flavor (and oops--- calories)   Just a thought....

Can't wait for blueberry season?

So, I finally made something that Bob's readers might like (my usual organic, granola, tree-hugging stuff would probably not appeal to most) AND (this was the key), I actually remembered to take pictures.

So, here is the general idea behind the blueberry coffee cake I made this morning:

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, cubed
TOPPING:
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cold butter
Directions

For batter, in a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg. Combine 1 cup flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Toss blueberries with remaining flour. Stir blueberries and cream cheese into creamed mixture (batter will be thick). Transfer to a greased 8-in. square baking dish.
For topping, in a small bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Footnotes

Editor's Note: If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw before adding to batter.

Okay - sounds easy enough. First, soften the butter - need it extra soft because the hand mixer that Bob's mother gave me a bzillion years ago spews stuff all over the kitchen. FAIL:



Start over...note: softening butter in the microwave only takes 20 seconds (BTW - I use real butter. It is better for you.) Next, I realized that I only had enough cow's milk for a glass to go with the cake. So, I substituted Almond Milk. It is chocked full of omega-3 fatty acids and low on calories.



I also substituted softened cream cheese left over from making single serve cheesecake last night for the cube cream cheese. It made it easier to mix in at the end.



Don't forget to coat the blueberries with flour. I used fresh blueberries, which may be difficult for others to get...remember to use frozen berries frozen.

Just a note - wild blueberries are great for your memory!



Blogging takes a long time, evidently. It is out of the oven already!



Evaluation: Very good. I am impressed, and very glad that I saved my cow's milk to drink. I can hardly wait to try it with NC blueberries. These were Chilean and unfortunately, they have to pick them before they are ripe so that they survive the trip to the US. This means that they are not as sweet as those that are left to ripen on the bush....I get those here in a few short months. Blueberries off the bush are the best, but if you can't get them, frozen are the next best thing!