Holidaze

See that...it's done with my spanking new awesome lil Photo Studio in a bag!  My sis got it for me and it's awesome, I say again, awesome.  Oh, the chocolate chip pecan pie was good too! (Clearly I need practice..)

I am a big Grey's Anatomy Fan. I can't help it, I love the characters, the drama of the hospital staff and the crazy things they come up with. I have to say that my favorite illness/accident was the one where the guy has tree branches coming out of him. Or wait no, maybe the time the little girl felt no pain and thought she was a super hero! Really, do these things happen to people or are they making them up? The worst one was, of course, George. Losing him suckethed very much. But enough of that....the real reason I am starting off with Grey's is because their last new show was called "Holidaze" and sometimes...no wait...all the time Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years seem to pass in a frenzy like daze thata lot of us can totally relate to.

So, here is my Holidaze post....Sorry, had to slick this computer so the pictures are in no way touched up and fancified!

I cooked so much and took so little pictures, but here is the list and the pictures for what I have....


Not Pictured (Shame on me)

Thanksgiving Dinner

Yeast Rolls (From Scratch)
Turkey
Creamed Corn n Cheese
Green Bean Casserole
Pies...Lots and Lots of Pies.
Collard Greens (Not from the can, that's Blasphemy!)
Bacon Cheddar Chicken

Christmas

Pancit
Brisket...num
Spinach and Artichoke Mac and Cheese...mmmm
Some More Pies...

New Years

Seafood Salad
Spinach Dip
Chocolate Pudding Poke Cake

Pictured!

Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies...and my daughter snatching one.  See, they were great!

Mmmm...Orange Brownies inspired and adapted from the banging Paula Deen.  I am so lucky, my best friend is a younger version of her.  I keep telling her when she gets old I want her autograph!

Another Orangy inspiration from Paula Deen...I made this like four times over the holidays...I couldn't stop myself.

Requested by my son for New Years...these were the yummy cocktail meatballs!

Homemade Salsa..mmm

I know...It is horrible I didn't take more pictures.  I should be shot! But good thing for you, one of my New Years Resolutions is to make sure I record my stuff more fully!  Speaking of...I have just that thing to do that with thanks to some of my FAVORITE Christmas Gifts...

Thank you Laurie....I love it and I am already filling it up with plans of passing it down to Mya on her wedding day.  It has all these wonderful inserts and now I love Susan Branch too!

My mother made this for me...it's a Raggedy Ann apron with my name spelled (Correctly even) across the top...who cares if the 'R' is on there wrong..I LOVE IT!

The Bread Maker

I haven't used it...I am scared to...the directions aren't so clear but...rest assured, BREAD I SHALL MAKE!

The lovely Black n Decker Food Processor (This was my gift to myself) Come ON...it was on sale! 

And last, but certianly not least...my husband, the love of my life....got me...the MOTHER OF ALL CHRISTMAS GIFTS...THE MIXER!!! Just look at it...that red, that steel...she's a beautiful piece of loveliness!

So Happy Holidaze from My Family to yours!!!

Lumpia...It's whats for dinner...

The holiday's have grabbed me up and while I have been cooking and baking like a mad woman, I have not had time to post here or even take good pictures...except one, which my friend Lisa fancied up for me. A few weeks back Lisa asked for a cooking lesson and I pulled out my best casserole's because for a beginner, those seem to be the easy things...and as we planned on when to get together, I got all self important and made a whole plan in my head about how I would go along teaching Lisa how to cook from the basic's until the intermediate, and so on....lol...we sure can let our egos grow big and strong sometimes. The last minute Lisa grabs me and says "Let's make Lumpia!" and she was so excited and I was thinking.."Oh crap, I don't know how to make lumpia!"

This is where God comes in, shakes me up, takes off my coat of self importance, and show's me how much better it is to do things his way. We did do lumpia and it was soo much better learning how to do it together! Lisa CAN in fact cook...and it was HER lumpia recipe we tried and perfected. It was also her design on the lumpia once it was picture time so if anyone asks you to come cook, chances are, they just wanna spend some time with ya! Lisa and I had a great time and realized that we needed more lumpia if we were going to feed both families! It was so simple and while the rolling was a bit time consuming, it went fast because we chattered to each other while we rolled.
So we chopped onions, shredded carrots, tossed in some garlic...ground some beef...soy sauce, sugared it, and off to the rolls we went..Oh wait and some lovely green onions!
Here is the recipe and I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did...we are planning a Christmas Eve Asian style for our friends with the Pancit we also learned how to make and forgot to take pictures of...


Ingredients

1 egg
1 lb of ground beef
1 T of Hosin Sauce (I added this when Lisa wasn't looking O.O..so very optional)
1 bunch of green onions
1 medium onion
1 shredded carrot
2 or 3 T of soy sauce
3 T of sugar
2 cloves of chopped garlic
salt n pepper
1 package of egg roll wraps (We used these instead of lumpia rolls because the texture is better and holds less grease...I think)
Directions:

Cut up onion and put it and garlic into skillet under medium heat.
Let them soften before adding in ground beef to brown.
Once the meat is browned, drain it a bit of any fat and then add in green onion, carrots, soy sauce, Hosin Sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.
Taste the filling to make sure it has enough soy sauce and pepper...I added a bit more here and there until I liked the flavor.
Take it off heat and start to wrapping.
Crack and mix egg in small bowl.
Keep a damp cloth over the egg rolls to keep them from drying out and use the egg mixture to seal the wraps closed.
Once they are all wrapped up tight (You can use a burrito style wrap that keeps it all tucked in nice) tuck them into a deep fryer for about three or four minutes until the outside is a golden brown.
Lay on paper towels to drain and serve hot!!
We loved them and hope you do too...I am sure to try and add in some mushrooms or chicken later but for now, this is a good start for something I've never made before!

Salmon en Croute ~ Fancy Made Easy!

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

I must say, I am not normally a fish person. I love shell fish, but salmon has never been anything I wanted to try. Still, Daring Cooks is about being DARING and while they offered an alternative to the fish, I went ahead and did the salmon. How often have I cooked with it? Oh, never and I couldn't even pronounce it correctly!!! The deli guy was looking at me all strange when I ordered the fresh fish. Then he thought I was nuts when I asked him.."Can you cut off that skin...it's looking a little gross...I don't wanna eat fish scales." Call me odd, but hey...I wasn't feeling it!

So with my fish in tow I went home to start the short crust pastry. Because, hey...we need to try that too. Store bought pie crusts are heaven for me...but if I could learn the short crust...how much better would that be???!!! So I was excited and found a food processor on sale!! My husband let me cart it home and I was madly excited. I followed the instructions for the pastry perfectly because I heard it could get tricky. I followed it perfectly four times....and each time...it just wasn't working out. Apparently I just don't have that special touch. Four hours into the pastry making I decided I had been daring enough and pulled out the puffed pastry in the fridge to de thaw...So sue me..x.x;;

Again, at the store I was instructed on what arugula was..and wondered why we had three different salad leaves in one spread but hey...not my recipe and I am DOING IT! So skipping the watercress I got the spinach and arugula and tossed them into the new processor with some extra dill, cream cheese....It was a really good spread.

I dribbled some lemon juice on my salmon, because while I don't cook fish often, I do have my beliefs about how it should be cooked...ha ha. Lemon and dill are necessary ingredients. Rolled out the puffed pastry, wrapped my fish up, baked...and realized minus the homemade pastry this is a pretty easy dish and my husband loved it.

I think it is definitely something we will try again!

I followed the recipe below which is a bit different then the original, but it was pretty good!

Salmon en croute:

Ingredients

I package cream cheese
Dill, rocket (arugula) and spinach - 1/2 cup of each but the dill...just a few tablespoons
One puffed pastry sheet
Salmon fillet (skinless) 17 oz.
egg - 1 medium sized

Directions:
1.Heat the oven to 390 F. Put the cream cheese in a food processor with the dill, spinach and arugula mix it into a puree of yum.

Season well with more dill? Maybe some lemon juice or salt!

2. Roll the pastry out so you can wrap the salmon in it completely (approx. 2-3 mm thick) and lay it on a buttered or oiled baking sheet (it will hang over the edges). Put the salmon in the middle. Spoon half of the puree mixture onto the salmon. Now fold the pastry over into a neat parcel (the join will be at the top, so trim the edge neatly), making sure you don’t have any thick lumps of pastry as these won’t cook through properly. Trim off any excess as you need to. Make 3 neat cuts in the pastry to allow steam to escape and make some decorations with the off-cuts to disguise the join if you like. Brush with the egg glaze.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and browned. To test wether the salmon is cooked, push a sharp knife through one of the cuts into the flesh, wait for 3 seconds then test it against the inside of your wrist; if it is hot, the salmon is cooked. Serve with the rest of the watercress puree as a sauce.

Two For One Cookies! Amish and Pudding Cookies!!

If you have been following along, then you know all about the Sabotage of Amish Cookies! I tried them...I tried them three times...finally I called Gigi and asked for a personal lesson, clearly I needed it.

There is nothing so special as a day baking with a friend. I realized that this week as I trekked over to my friend Gigi's house. It was my first visit there and honestly I wasn't sure what to expect. You know how it is, going to someone else's home. Sometimes it's not comfortable, especially to bake in. Or maybe it's just me...but Gigi's was a HOME...if you know what I mean. The sort of place you sink into and relax. I wasn't worried about Mya getting into trouble, because Gigi has a granddaughter just her age. So toys, highchairs, and bassinets abound. Once Mya was settled, I got a bottomless glass of homemade ice tea. This is another feature at someone's home you have to watch out for...not everyone serves the 'tea' that is the 'tea.' You know what I mean....that powder mix. Nope, not my Gigi...it was a great glass of brewed southern ice tea that I would have proudly served to my own guests.

Gigi's kitchen is adorable. Small, quaint, with a bookshelf lined with cookbooks I was dying to dive into. AND...she had THE MIXER! She had the mixer and she let me USE IT. After conversation about books, which I love, movies we both enjoy, and basic good conversation we got to baking. I can honestly say that I rarely bake in other people's houses and enjoy myself. There is a comfort of knowing where everything is and just moving mechanically through your comfort zone....but Gigi had it all out and ready for us and while I watched...she showed me the magic of those Amish Sugar Cookies!

Let me tell you people, I like to consider myself a intermediate cook/baker. I mean, I got the basic skills down. But there is nothing like standing in the kitchen of a true genius and getting schooled. No ma'am, I've got a lot to learn. Like....softened butter is not the same as melted butter in the microwave. It makes all the difference and thus my mistake in making the cookies. So while I watched the master at work, I was transported back to when I was a little girl baking with my mother. It didn't happen often, but when it did it was special. I loved baking with Gigi, she makes a person feel loved, welcomed, and part of the family. Between the good conversation, the great cookies we made, and the gallons of coffee she forced down my ...No I am kidding...but we did drink coffee.

I know I have spouted the greatness of the woman in my Bible study. Gigi is the spitfire. She is this little ball of energy and spunk, independent and funny. Now, as Christians, we don't go around gang fighting, but if we did...Gigi would be in my Gang! 'Cause I know she'd have my back.

Sadly, my camera was on the fritz this day, so I don't have the picture's of the cookies, but read below for the great Amazing Amish Cookies from Gigi and my own Chocolate Chip Pudding Recipe. Here is your two for one!!!!

The Amish cookies turned out just as they should, that melt in your mouth yumminess that makes your hand reach, reach, reach, and reach for more.

The Pudding cookies were nummy and we used a mixture of Cheesecake pudding mix and peanut butter chocolate chips. Good Stuff!!!



The Amazing Amish Cookies



1/2C. Oil
1 Stick Butter (SOFTENED NOT MELTED)
1/2 C. Sugar
1/2 C. Powder Sugar
1 egg


Mix all of this together well. Then add the following:


2 1/4 C. Flour
1/2 tsp. Cream of Tarter
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
3/4 tsp. Vanilla


Mix all of this together in a large bowl. Put into the refrigerator to get it stiff and then take a small amount and roll into a ball in your hands ( about the size of a melon ball) Then place on a non greased cookie sheet and using the bottom of a small juice glass dipped in some sugar press the ball down. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.



Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies



2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant (Whatever Flavor you Like) pudding mix

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (Or butterscotch, or mint, or whatever you want)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine the flour and baking soda.

In a separate bowl mix the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, pudding mix, and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Add the eggs and mix well. Gradually stir in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and the chopped nuts. Drop from teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.

Bake at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.

These are very versatile...and a holiday must at my house!!