Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Cooking, Baking, Eating - Delights of a Lifetime - February 26, 2014

I have to admit, in recent years, my time in the kitchen has certainly waned.  I have
always loved to cook, though I didn't really begin in earnest until I was out of nursing
school.  Living in New Orleans as a young RN, I delighted in Creole concoctions,
practicing on my classmates and began acquiring what was to become a collection
of nearly five hundred cookbooks from all over the world.  Bananas Foster became
a signature dessert and one most requested by my three sons.  Perhaps this is 
what instilled the desire to become firefighters in Alex and Jeremy though I never
set our homestead ablaze.

Of course, I also enjoyed dining in restaurants as I traveled and added their 
cookbooks to my collection.  Notebooks of recipes clipped from the pages of 
Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Southern Living, Sunset, the Wednesday food newspaper
section, and the treasured recipes of friends were added to my files. 

In my mid-twenties, while living in Tampa, Florida, I took a Wilton cake decorating
course and, weekly, brought home my creations.  That grew a little tiresome when
people started requesting cake "donations" and didn't even provide the ingredients.
I had to learn to say no but learn I did.

For about six months, after moving to the San Francisco area, I even started a
catering business.  Following my back surgery, it just became too much physically.

Once I became a forensic nurse, with call for two different agencies, my time in the
kitchen became less in less.  As one of my colleagues said, "You can make toast
but you can't bake a cake."  Waiting for the dreaded beeper to go off interfered with
a lot of activities.

Once my job ended in budget cuts nearly five years ago, I got rid of nearly all my
cookbooks and other belongs.  Home now from India for a few months and helping
take care of my sweet granddaughter while Laura is going through the fire academy
( she is a paramedic ), I am enjoying cooking dinner many nights.  Most of my 
recipes are in storage but some I find on the computer.

Tonight, for dessert, I'm making a Pillsbury cookoff favorite of my sons, one I've
made for over twenty-five years.  I always loved the bake-off recipes, quick and easy,
from only a few ingredients.  

This for Chocolate Cherry Bars was created by Francis I Jerzak, of Porter, MN
for the Bake-Off® Contest 25, 1974.  



·         prep time 15 min
·         total time 2 hr 0 min
·         ingredients  8
·         servings  48

 

Ingredients

Cake Bars


1     (18.25-oz.) pkg. Pillsbury® Moist Supreme® Devil's Food Cake Mix
1     (21-oz.) can cherry pie filling
1     teaspoon almond extract
3     eggs, beaten

Frosting


1   cup sugar
1/3   cup milk
5      tablespoons margarine or butter
1     (6-oz.) pkg. (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips

Steps

·         1    Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 15x10x1-inch baking pan or 13x9-inch pan. In large bowl, combine all cake bar ingredients; stir until well blended. Pour into greased and floured pan.
·         2     Bake at 350°F. until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. For 15x10x1-inch pan, bake 20 to 30 minutes; for 13x9-inch pan, bake 25 to 35 minutes.
·         3     In small saucepan, combine sugar, milk and margarine. Bring to a boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Pour and spread over warm bars. Cool 1 1/4 hours or until completely cooled. Cut into bars.

 

Nutritional information                Serving Size: 1 Bar    Calories  110      Calories from Fat    35


Total Fat      4g       Saturated Fat     1g              Cholesterol      15mg      Sodium     105mg

Total  Carbohydrate    18g      Dietary Fiber    1g         Sugars  14g        Protein    1g
% Daily Value*:

Vitamin A   0%        Vitamin C    0%      Calcium     0%      Iron    4%
Exchanges:
1/2 Starch; 1/2 Fruit; 1 Fat;
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
 http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/chocolate-cherry-bars/15d6f3ce-21b3-43fb-8cb0-
b33fb4177d3e

Thank you, Francis and Pillsbury!!!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Sundays in My City - November 27, 2011

My lovely daughter-in-law, Laura, a paramedic, had to work on Thanksgiving
( a 5PM to 5AM shift which was her bid this go round ), so she and Alex
invited Jeremy and I up to their West Sacramento home yesterday to
celebrate, instead.  It was actually a lovely drive up, without very much
traffic, beautiful sky shots with nice cloud formations and, even some
beautiful fall foliage, that whizzed by so quickly, I couldn't get pictures.

Christine and Roger came ( Laura's folks ), her brother, Robert, and his
wife, Kristin, and their two delightful little boys, Conner and Holden, and,
in addition to my two granddogs, the Calhouns brought Tigger, the new
shelter dog that joined their family when their beloved Gus died earlier
this year.

The food was absolutely delicious.  Alex and Laura bought a new grill and
the turkey was brined overnight and cooked on the grill - a first time
event for Alex.  It was just hilarious watching him at the task, with
Jeremy helping.  The bird turned out to be the yummiest I've ever
eaten and it just fell off the bone.  Carving it was so much easier than
last year with the electric knife!  There was, also, a whole array of other
treats - a FRESH green bean casserole, an unusual - and heavenly
concoction made from cornmeal and sweet potatoes, two different
stuffings, eggplant caviar, a lovely fruit compote with cranberries, dried
apricots and other good things, lovely California wines, plus appetizers
to keep us happy before dinner.

And, of course, dessert - pumpkin and two apple pies - one with a cream
cheese frosting ( my choice, of course - like I needed more calories ) and
one without frosting.

It was a wonderful family day and, thankfully, Jeremy drove home so I
could doze, intermittently, awakening suddenly, thinking we were about to
face catastrophe on a California freeway.  It must have been my full
stomach!


The skies over Fairfield, CA



Flat farmland near Dixon, CA



Jeremy ( 27 ) and Alex ( 29 ) Vukasinovic


Taffy, my first granddog


Bucky, granddog number two


Beautiful Laura, my daughter-in-law


Grandma and her pooches


Macro of table flowers


Bucky's favorite position


Such a sweet face!


Having fun in the kitchen


Working on a pony tail!



Ohhhh, that's nice, Uncle Jeremy


Forget that computer and use both hands...



Thanksgiving flowers


Smells scrumptious!


A piece on the plate, a piece in the mouth


How about dropping a bite of that turkey?


I'm waiting over here, too.


Alex with his mother-in-law, Christine


Laura and Alex



Nini and Holden


Laura and Holden


I am participating in Unknown Mami's Sundays in My City -
check it out and tell us what's going on where you live.


Thursday, February 24, 2011

Alphabe Thursday - "T" Is for Tripe - February 24, 2011


Tripa ala fiorentina by avlxyz

"T" is for tripe,
I think it's quite yummy,
Though many won't let it,
Enter their tummy!

This stomach of beef,
Or sheep, pigs or goats,
Can't make it down,
Some people's throats.

Tripe needs preparation,
And a good cleaning, too,
Slow simmering till tender,
Is what one must do.

Then one adds the things,
That make it sublime,
Garlic, spices, tomatoes,
And pour on the wine!

From Mexican menudo,
To andouille of France,
Honeycomb tripe,
Is not looked at askance!



tripe by acme

I ate tripe last Friday,
A taste of old Italy,
The dish was as fine,
As any could be!

Don't turn up your nose,
Without trying a bite,
You may finally decide,
That tripe is all right!

Carmen Henesy

Copyright (c) Carmen Henesy
February 24, 2011

I am participating in Jenny Matlock's Alpabe- Thursday - check out the site and join in the fun!