Friday Foodie

I did my typical Christmas baking while we were here in Tennessee.  I also made a cake for a family gathering that was delicious!  Hot Chocolate Poke Cake is so easy but absolutely amazing.  I did make one change, I used canned frosting because I didn't have an electric mixer.  I tried to make the home made frosting, but I couldn't get it to thicken.  All was not lost - we've been using it as creamer in our coffee! 

 

Ingredients
1 box dark chocolate cake mix
ingredients needed to make cake: eggs, oil and water (use the amounts on the back of the box)
2 (10 ounce) bags mini marshmallows
5 Tablespoons salted butter (can use unsalted)
2 cups cold heavy whipping cream (or Cool Whip)
¼ cup (2 packets) hot chocolate mix

Optional Toppings:
mini marshmallows
chocolate syrup
mini chocolate chips

Instructions

Make 1 box dark chocolate cake mix according to package instructions using the ingredients needed to make cake: eggs, oil and water (use the amounts on the back of the box.)
Pour into a greased 9x13-inch pan and smooth out. Bake cake according to package instructions.
 

When done, poke the cake all over with the bottom of a wooden spoon or anything with a round end handle. It should be large enough for the filling to get down into. 
In a saucepan, melt 2 (10 ounce) bags mini marshmallows with 5 Tablespoons salted butter. Mix constantly until melted and smooth.
Pour marshmallow mixture over the cake and make sure to fill the holes.

 

In another bowl, whisk 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream and ¼ cup (2 packets) hot chocolate mix and whip until stiff peaks form and no longer grainy (about 3 to 4 minutes). I find this easiest to do with a stand mixer using the whisk attachment.   (I think I spent about 30 minutes trying to get this to thicken!  This does not work with a hand whisk.  I finally gave up and bought some canned chocolate frosting.)

Frost the cake with the whipped hot chocolate cream.
Let the cake rest in the refrigerator for a few hours so the cake absorbs the marshmallow fluff before serving.  **I put the cake in the refrigerator before I frosted it.

Garnish with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and top with mini marshmallows and mini chocolate chips before serving (optional.)

This was such a hit!  I'll definitely be making it again and again.

Friday Foodie

We have now hit the time of the year when we slide quickly to the holidays!  But Summer has tightened its grip here in Southern California.  We are in the middle of heat wave with an expected high of 109 today.  I'm thankful for air conditioning, a swimming pool, and homemade ice cream!

Last weekend we had a special visitor.  Our niece, Leksi, is now in the Marine Corps.  She went to boot camp in South Carolina in January.  She spent most of the summer in 29 Palms, but as of about two weeks ago she is stationed at Camp Pendleton - just a little over 100 miles from us!  She will be there for the next four years.  We are so thankful she is stationed so close.  She will also be spending Thanksgiving with us.

I wanted to spoil her since she's been eating chow hall food for so long.  I tried two new things and a couple of things I'd made before.  Here's the roundup!

Oven-Roasted Corn on the Cob

I've made this before, but never posted.

4 ears fresh corn, husks removed

1/2 cup softened butter or margarine

Seasonings of your choice - garlic salt, paprika, etc.

Preheat oven to 425.  

Mix butter and seasonings together.  Spread on corn, then wrap each ear individually in foil.

Place corn on baking pan and bake 25-30 minutes until soft.

Santa Maria Tri-Tip

I asked Lisa (Leksi's mom) if there was any special food that Leksi had really been missing.  She said she likes just about everything, but probably hadn't had a good steak in a while.  When I did my grocery shopping, I found a Santa Maria Tri-Tip that was already seasoned.  I looked around for recipes and found quite a few.  Since mine was already seasoned, I was able to go directly to cooking:

Preheat oven to 425 (conveniently the same temp as my corn!)

Heat large, even proof skillet (cast iron for the win!) to medium heat.  When hot, add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to coat the pan.

Add Tri-Tip and sear each side for 3-4 minutes, until a golden brown crust forms.  (Oh the delicious aromas!)

Transfer skillet directly to oven.  Cook 10-12 minutes per pound.  Mine was 2.6 pounds, but I didn't want to over-cook it, so I went for about 20 minutes.  Tri-Tip is usually thinner on the ends and thicker towards the middle, so it won't be evenly cooked - the middle will be medium-rare, while then ends are medium-well.

Remove from oven and add about 2 tablespoons of butter.  Swirl around in the pan to melt.  Cover with foil and allow to rest for about 10 minutes.  This will also let your meat cook a little longer.  The cast iron skillet will be very hot!

Place on cutting board and slice against the grain.  This is a little tricky, as the grain of the Tri-Tip changes.  At this point I could see that some of the meat was under-cooked, but there was plenty that was cooked to our liking - the under-cooked portions made excellent leftovers!

This was very tasty!

Peach Cobbler

 

I have an email from my Dad's sister, Aunt Suzie, dated December 4, 2009.   She hosted Thanksgiving for many years and I requested her cobbler recipe.  This recipe doesn't get any more old fashioned with approximate measurements and lines like "I use the pie crust recipe on the Crisco can" and " I just watched Mom to figure it out." But this was the cobbler that my uncles fought over each year, making sure they each got plenty!  Aunt Suzie's email:

For the cobbler in my pan I use:

12 cups of peaches

2 to 3 cups of sweetener (I use part sugar and part equal for cooking)

3/4 to 1 cup of flour
and about 2 tablespoons of butter on the top before you put on the to crust.
I use red hots instead of cinnamon and I just add about 2 tablespoons of crushed ones
or you can use about a teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
I use the pie crust recipe on the Crisco can.

I just watched Mom to figure it out.
It would only take about 4 cups of peaches for a 9" pie and cut the other ingredients

 

Here is how I made the cobbler for a 9" pie:

Filling:

4 cups of peaches

1 cup of sweetener (I used all sugar this time)

1/3 cup of flour
1 Tbs. of butter on the top before you put on the to crust.
1/2 tsp of cinnamon

 

Crust:
From Crisco.com.  This recipe has several different options, I chose the Double-Crust recipe:

2 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 C. cold Crisco® All-Vegetable Shortening
4 to 8 Tbs. ice cold water

Stir flour and salt in large bowl until blended. Cut shortening into flour mixture using pastry blender or fork until shortening pieces are the size of peas. Gradually add just enough water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring with fork just until dough holds together and forms a smooth ball.

Shape dough into a ball for single pie crust. Divide dough in half and shape into two balls for double crust pie. Flatten into 1/2-inch thick disk(s). Wrap disk(s) in plastic wrap. Chill 30 minutes or up to 2 days.

 

*I did the first steps on Saturday morning, then let the crust chill.  I started the next part while my Tri-Tip and corn were baking:

 

Preheat oven to 425 (how convenient!)

Mix ingredients for filling.  (I should have cut my peaches in bite size pieces.)

Roll dough on lightly floured surface, rolling from center outward. For 9-inch pie plate, roll into an 11-inch circle. For 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate, roll into a 12-inch circle. Transfer dough to pie plate.

Fill unbaked pie crust according to recipe directions.  There were no directions for this part from my aunt, so I just poured my filling right in.

Roll out remaining dough disk.  I deviated from the Crisco directions here and chose to make a lattice top crust.  Using my pizza cutter, I cut strips approximately 1/2" wide and laid them across the top.  Fold top edge under bottom crust. Press edges together to seal. Flute edges as desired.

Bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown.

This!!  Oh, this was so good!  I was amazed at how good the crust tasted.  With so few ingredients, I really didn't expect it to taste so good, but it was fantastic!  I made homemade ice cream on Friday, so we topped it with vanilla ice cream for the ultimate summer sweet.  I'll be hosting some of our family for Thanksgiving this year and this cobbler will definitely be on the table!

Friday Foodie

 

I made homemade ice cream yesterday and it was SO good!   I started with my Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream recipe:

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream
Makes 4 Quarts
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 cups milk
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons vanilla extract

1.  Combine sugar, flour and salt in saucepan.  Gradually stir in milk.  Cook over medium heat approximately 15 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly.
2.  Gradually stir about 1 cup of hot mixture into the beaten eggs - this ensures that the eggs are cooked but not scrambled.  Add egg mixture to remaining hot mixture, stirring constantly.  Cook 1 minute; remove from heat.  Refrigerate 2 hours.
3.  Combine whipping cream and vanilla in large bowl; add chilled mixture, stirring with wire whisk to combine.
4.  Freeze as directed.  Mine churned for 40 minutes.

5.  Once the ice cream finishes churning, divide into four quart size containers and freeze for about an hour.  

6.  Pull one quart out at a time and pour the ice cream into a larger bowl for mixing.  Add desired flavors, mix well and return to freezer for a few more hours.  

 

Three of the flavors I have made before - Snickerdoodle: 

 

Peppermint:  

 

German Chocolate:   

My new flavor is strawberry.  I bought about a pound of strawberries.  I chopped up about a cup of the strawberries into small pieces.  The rest I put in my blender and liquefied, this made another cup.   The flavor was amazing!  

Friday Foodie

A few months ago, Les and I went out for pizza.  Afterwards we wanted something sweet.  In the same strip mall is a Smart and Final.  We walked in and browsed their bakery section.  It was surprisingly good!  There was a quite a variety of cakes, cookies, and pies.  What caught both of our eyes was what they called Seven Layer Bars.  I remember my Mom making this and calling them Magic Cookie Bars.  We bought a small pack and they were just as good as I remembered.

This weekend we are celebrating the pastoral anniversary of the DeAros in Santa Clarita.  The service will be at our church tomorrow with a meal to follow.  I was asked to bring a dessert and decided I needed to make these bars.  My Google search found "Seven Layer Magic Cookie Bars" on the Eagle Brand website.  I feel sure this is the recipe Mom used!

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (12 graham crackers)

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup (6 oz.) butterscotch-flavored chips
1 cup (6 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped nuts

Instructions 

HEAT oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.

GRIND graham crackers using a food processor or blender (or place in a zip lock bag and crush with a rolling pin.)   In the blender it took about 60 seconds.

COMBINE graham cracker crumbs and butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly into bottom of prepared pan. 

 

POUR sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. 

 

LAYER evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with fork.  (I mixed the dry ingredients together, then scooped out a cup at a time to pour on top of the sweet condensed milk.)

 

 

BAKE 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds.

For perfectly cut cookie bars, line entire pan with foil, extending foil over edge of pan. Coat lightly with no-stick cooking spray. After bars have baked and cooled, lift up by edges of foil to remove from pan. Cut into individual bars.  This made about two dozen bars.  I'm suppose to take a dozen to church, so we get to enjoy some here at home, too!

 

These are very easy to make and SO good!

Friday Foodie

 

Since our day in Dublin, Ireland I have been wanting to make a European style hot chocolate.  I've searched through dozens of recipes and there seem to be two very distinct types - French and Italian.  The base for French hot chocolate, or Chocolat Chaud, is milk, while Italian hot chocolate, or Cioccolato Caldo, uses cream and corn starch to thicken it.  All the Irish hot chocolate recipes include liquor and I know that's not what we had!

For my first attempt, I chose the French Chocolat Chaud.  What better recipe than one from the French Cooking Academy.

Chocolat Chaud

 

Ingredients:

2 cups of full cream milk (I used 2%)

1 or 2 cinnamon barks

A few drops of vanilla essence 

1 tbsp of pure cocoa powder 

1 pinch of sugar

1 pinch of salt

100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate (70% cocoa) 

 

Directions:

Heat the milk in a saucepan on a medium to high heat, adding the cinnamon bark and vanilla essence at the beginning.  I had vanilla extract, so I Googled vanilla essence vs extract and found that extract is less processed and provides a stronger and more pure vanilla flavor when compared to essence.  When the boiling point is reached, reduce the heat to a minimum, stir and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid off.  You want to stir continually to keep the milk from scorching.

Turn off the heat and remove the cinnamon. Add a good tablespoon of cocoa powder and stir in. Filter the milk, wash the saucepan before returning the milk. Turn the heat back on.
Add a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt.  FYI - a pinch is somewhere between 1/8 and 1/16 of a teaspoon.  Also, I was completely out of sugar, so I used Stevia.

 

Add the chocolate pieces and stir in gently until the mix is smooth and silky.

The chocolate can then be served, but if a thicker mix is desired, keep cooking until the desired consistency is reached.  I let mine cook for about 10-15 minutes.  The longer it cooked, the darker it got.

 

I got this pan from Amazon for the express purpose of pouring hot chocolate!  It worked like a charm.

This was amazing!!  It wasn't overly sweet, but was extremely rich.  We could definitely taste the cinnamon.  We topped it with whipped cream.  It would have gotten two thumbs up, but Les wasn't going to put his mug down!

Give this a try sometime during this holiday season, you won't be sorry!

Friday Foodie ~ Fun Fall Favorites

After reading the title of this post you may be thinking, "Chili and cornbread?  Soup?  Turkey and dressing?  Pumpkin muffins?"  You would be wrong with all those guesses!  My most recent Fall favorite flavors are in the form of ice cream.   It was in the upper 90s last week, so ice cream was exactly what I wanted.

 

I'm kind of obsessed with making a gallon of vanilla ice cream, then dividing it up in four quarts with four unique flavors.  This time I made Caramel Apple, Chocolate-Hot Tamale, Pumpkin, and Snickerdoodle.

I made a few changes this time and I think it turned out better than ever.  I started with my Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.  Once the ice cream finished churning, I divided it into my four quart size containers.  Instead of adding my flavors, I put the quarts in the freezer for about an hour.  I then pulled one quart out at a time and poured the ice cream into a larger bowl for mixing.  This allowed the ice cream to firm up a little more so when I added in the additional flavors they would not sink to the bottom of the container.  This worked like a charm!  Now on to the flavors...

Caramel Apple

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and chopped 

1/2 cup Kraft  Caramel Bits

 

This was close to what I wanted.  The apple pieces were tart but the caramel bits got a little too hard after freezing.  I think I could have got the same flavor by adding caramel syrup instead.  Still, it was really good.  I'd say a 7 out of 10.

 

 

 

Chocolate-Hot Tamale

1/2 cup Hot Tamales, chopped

1/2 piece chocolate cake, chopped.

Last year Baskin Robbins carried a flavor called "Spicy 'n Spooky."  This was White Chocolate Ghost Pepper flavored Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Ice Cream and spicy Blood Orange Flakes and had quite the kick!  I tried to come up with something similar.  The Hot Tamales froze too hard like the caramel bits, but the flavor was good.  I'd call this a 6.5 out of 10.

 

Pumpkin

1 dozen Pumpkin Spice cookies, crushed.

The pumpkin spice cookie mix said that it would make 15 cookies.  They would have been very large cookies.  I made normal size cookies.  My first pan had a dozen and my second pan was a little larger and I was able to get another 20 cookies.  I cooked the pan that I wanted to use in my ice cream longer than normal, I wanted the cookies crunchy instead of soft and chewy like I usually make. This one was exactly what I was looking for!  Definitely a 10 out of 10.   

 

 

Snickerdoodle

Approximately 1/2 tube of sugar cookie dough

1/2 cup cinnamon/sugar mix

I bought a tube of "safe to eat raw" cookie dough.  I have been eating raw cookie dough for over 50 years so I'm sure I could have made this with "not safe to eat raw" dough, too.  I made small balls with the dough, then put them in the freezer until I was ready to add to the ice cream.  I mixed it with the cinnamon/sugar and dumped it all in the ice cream so there was a taste of cinnamon throughout.  This was another winner!  10 out of 10.

In case you're wondering, I plan to do some Christmas baking this year, but I'm pretty sure there will be a batch of Christmas ice cream, too!

Friday Foodie ~ Easy Bake Oven and Summer Goodies

My wonderful air fryer finally gave up the ghost a few months ago.  I started researching air fryers and found an article about air fryer/toaster oven combos.  I've owned a toaster oven for years and thought this would be a great 2-in-1 appliance.  I took advantage of Amazon Prime day and bought the Cosori Air Fryer Toaster Oven.  This came with a variety of shelves and pans and is surprisingly roomy!  This is my full size cast iron skillet inside, baking Balsamic Rosemary Chicken:

For the fourth of July I made homemade ice cream using my Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.  This time instead of freezing the entire gallon, I divided it into individual quarts.  I bought these containers from Amazon and made four flavors - vanilla, coffee, chocolate-Butterfinger, and peppermint.  Each of these was amazing!  

 

 

For the coffee, I dissolved four packets of instant coffee into about 2 tablespoons of hot water then stirred it into the ice cream.  I think I could have added a little more coffee or next time I might buy some chocolate espresso beans.  I added chocolate syrup and Butterfinger bits to the next container.  For the peppermint I added about 2/3 cup of crushed peppermint candies and peppermint syrup.  Each flavor was very unique and absolutely delicious!  The total cost was about $12.  We had been in our local Baskin Robbins the previous week and paid over $14 for 4 scoops (2 scoops each.)

 

Les thought this ice cream would be great over a cookie skillet.  I picked up a set of four mini skillets and we were in business.

These baked for about 10 minutes.  I wanted them to still be slightly gooey inside.

I then realized there wasn't room to put any ice cream, so I dumped them in bowls and topped them.

 

These were a hit!  As we were enjoying them last Friday night, Les started chuckling.  He said, "that's an Easy Bake Oven!"  I never owned an Easy Bake Oven as a kid, so I'm very happy with the one I have now!

Evening Stroll and Dinner in Bayeux (Day 15, Part 4 of 4)

 

 

After we had settled in to our room we headed to the town of Bayeux for dinner.  Our chateau was less than 2 miles away but we felt like we were in a different world.  Not that Bayeux was super crowded or busy, but our chateau was another level of mellow.

Bayeux was founded as a Gallo-Roman settlement in the 1st century BC.  The city was largely destroyed during the Viking raids of the late 9th century but was rebuilt in the early 10th century.

 

Bayeux was the first city of the Battle of Normandy to be liberated.  On June 16, 1944 General Charles de Gaulle made the first of two major speeches in Bayeux in which he made clear that France sided with the Allies. The buildings in Bayeux were virtually untouched during the Battle of Normandy, the German forces being fully involved in defending Caen from the Allies.  

We wandered in to a couple of restaurants before we settled on Le Drakkar.  They seated us upstairs along with a bunch of other English speaking people.  Our server was a sweet young French girl who did a great job.  We both had pasta and then had the dessert sampler.

We walked some more after dinner, just enjoying the town. 

 

These pictures were taken after 9:00 p.m.  The sun didn't set until 10:00 p.m.

 

If you look closely, you will see that we are both wearing our coats.  We were so glad we brought these - we needed them for our entire stay in Bayeux.

The next day was a biggie - The American Beaches of Normandy and the American Cemetery.  We have so many pictures and I have so many thoughts and emotions from that day.  It was good but sobering.