food, crochet, merriment
We started out with two cake mixes–one chocolate and one vanilla, white melting chocolate, one package each of Nutter Butters, Milano cookies, Autumn Mix candy, Red Vines, Halloween Jellies, two tubs of frosting and a variety of sprinkles. Here’s where that went…
Believe me, it didn’t take as long to eat them as it did to make them….yum!
Not too hot, not too wussy–this salsa tastes lovely the day you make it and even better once the flavors have mellowed. So perfect for chips or soup or for topping your favorite spicy meals. Beats anything else I can think of to do will all those tomatoes from the garden.
5 lbs. tomatoes, peeled, skinned and processed until chunky (or chop by hand)
1 cup diced peppers– a combination of seeded jalapenos and peeled, seeded mild long green chilies. Some chopped bell pepper may be added also.
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
bottled lemon juice
Sterilize about 6 pint jars and keep hot until ready to use.
Combine all ingredients and simmer for about 20 minutes. In each pint jar put 1/4 -1/2 tsp. salt, depending on taste, and 1 Tbsp. bottled lemon juice. Ladle in salsa, using slotted spoon. Place lids on and rings. Process in boiling water bath for 35 minutes.
Refrigerate leftover salsa and use within a week or so.
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Ahhhhhh….don’t you just love having to eat your vegetables?
The original recipe called this “Bread.” Let’s be serious guys—this ain’t bread. Bread is lovely but it tries to behave itself. This little number is moist, chocolaty and positively wicked–with no shame whatsoever.
Cake I tell you…cake.
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups softened butter
3 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the eggs and butter, mix well. Fold in the chips and zucchini until they are evenly distributed. Pour into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool cake completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.
Now then—tell me again. How many servings of veggies are we suppose to have each and every day? I want to be sure to get them all in.
Heh, heh, heh.
This lovely thing is mostly a crustless quiche…kinda. But, oooooh…it’s good. So if you’re in the mood to toss something together, plop it in the oven and forget about it—then here’s your dish. Perfect for when the mornings are just a teeny-tiny bit cooler.
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsps butter
2 cups diced cooked ham or sausage
8 eggs
1-3/4 cups milk
½ cup flour
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
Combine cheeses; place 3 cups of mixed cheese in an ungreased 13×9 baking dish and set aside. Saute ham in butter until done. Sprinkle cooked meat in baking dish over cheese. Top with remaining cheese. In a bowl, beat eggs—then add milk, flour, salt and pepper. Mix well. Slowly pour over the cheese. Bake at 350* for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
If you doubled this then call in the farm hands.
If you didn’t…
…get the kids and eat very quietly.
What is “Deep Chocolate Ice Cream” you say?
It’s the kind of chocolate ice cream that people eat in slow, deliberate silence. It’s the kind of chocolate ice cream that makes peoples’ eyes flutter–just a bit–like they are sinking into some kind of trance. It’s the kind of chocolate ice cream that will make you run right out and get an ice cream freezer for yourself–if you haven’t already.
Oh, you can come to my place and taste some of ours—but I’ll warn you—beyond a heaping spoonful, we don’t share so good.
Just read the ingredients and see if they don’t send you shopping, at a sprint…of your own free will.
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa
1- 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
4 large egg yolks
1-1/2 cup white sugar
In a small saucepan gradually whisk together the whipped cream and cocoa powder until it is smooth. Place over medium-high heat and bring the mixture to the scalding point (the milk begins to foam up). Remove from heat. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate has completely melted.
Meanwhile in a stainless steel bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the hot mixture into the whipped egg yolk mixture, making sure you keep beating so the eggs don’t curdle.
Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook until the custard thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon.
Immediately remove the custard from the heat and continue to stir the custard for a few minutes so it does not overcook. At this point stir in the vanilla extract. Cover and let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate the custard until it is completely cold–preferably overnight.
Transfer the cold custard to the container of your ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Once made, transfer the ice cream to a chilled container and store in the freezer for a few hours or for as long as you can stand it.
Take it out when no one is around.
Hide somewhere.
Make sure you have a big spoon.
