Food Flops

I’ll be the first one to admit I’m not a great cook. How I’ve made it 52 years, nearly 53 {gulp} and never learned to cook, I don’t honestly know.

All I can tell you is – I’m trying.

If you’re an experienced cook, maybe you’re used to flops. Maybe you like trying new recipes and it doesn’t bother you when they don’t try out. Maybe you can take a look at a recipe and know it won’t work.

Not me, obviously.

Since it’s Fall, even though the 90 degree weather is hiding this fact, I wanted something Pumpkin.

Mom had a recipe.

Mom has boxes and boxes of recipes. It’s her hobby – rippin’ and tearin’  seemingly yummy directions out of magazines and newspaper.

This looked like a good recipe for Pumpkin Muffins. Look at the date – 1990. She’d kept it for 10 years. I figured she must have made it numerous times.

I figured wrong.

First I had to find some muffin liners, since I’m in her kitchen.

I thought these were sooo cute. Probably from before I was born. That’s back in the 50’s, folks. I didn’t want you to have to count this morning.

Old, very old. Just like I’m feeling today.

I’m not showing the recipe. I’ll show you the muffins though.

Don’t let this fool ya. They were horrible. Horrible!

Dry, no taste, bland. Blech!

What really bothered me, though, other than I wanted a nice, sweet muffin, was that I opened a huge can of pumpkin. I only used 1/2 cup, but that left me with the rest of the can.

A big can of pumpkin at Safeway was $3.98 last week. Four bucks? For pumpkin?

And then to have it not turn out? I was more than bummed.

And I followed the recipe. I did!

Mom always asks me that. Did you follow the recipe?

Okay, forget this recipe. I still have some pumpkin left and found a potential candidate for yumminess. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Poached Eggs – FastaPasta Style

I’m not usually a gadget person. I don’t different kinds of complicated tools that do the same thing.

BBH loves gadgets. The more, the merrier. Mom loves gadgets. Mom gives BBH gadgets when she upgrades to a newer, ‘improved’ gadget.

So between my mother and my husband, we have a ton of gadgets.

There is one area where I’ll admit to loving them, though – the kitchen. Somewhere, in my pea brain, lies a belief that gadgets will make my cooking/baking better.

It doesn’t work that way, I know. But it makes me feel better in the kitchen. And I’ll take all the help I can get, thank you very much.

So Mom has been pretty sick for a while now. Getting food down her is a daily struggle, but she a necessity. About the only whole food I can get her to eat is a poached egg.

I love poached eggs. I even have a poached egg pot with four little egg holders and it works great. But it’s packed up. With the rest of all of my wonderful kitchen gadgets.

But I’m staying with my mother. She has more kitchen gadgets than I do. Ah, but there’s always room for one more, right?

Allow me to introduce you to FastaPasta.

Mom saw it on QVC and had to have it.

We could write a book on QVC.

We shop there. A lot.  

But let’s get back to the FastaPasta. I actually did cook some pasta in it and it turned out fine. Why they call it ‘fasta’, I have no idea. Seems to me like it takes as long as cooking it in a pot on the stove.

But you don’t need a strainer/colander/drainer thing. And you don’t need to wash a pot. Just the little plastic shoebox-lookin’ thing.

Ok, fine. But Mom wanted a poached egg. And she was sure she saw them make one on QVC.

So I looked on their website video. No poached egg. I read their recipes. No poached egg. I googled it. Nope.

Well, how hard could cooking a poached egg be, anyway?

You know, I quit asking those questions years ago because in my personal experience, just about anything can go wrong when I’m in the kitchen.

But, come on. One egg. It couldn’t be that bad.

And, Surprise, Surprise – it wasn’t!

I put some water in the box. No instructions, so I just guessed.

There are little lines on the side of the box to measure your water for pasta. Not for poached eggs, though.

I cracked a couple of eggs. I figured if it turned out halfway decent, I’d want one too.

I nuked the water and eggs for about 2 minutes. Mom’s microwave is super powerful, so it’d probably take a little longer in mine.

And I’m looking at this picture and the lid is on. You’re not supposed to cook with the lid on which makes me wonder if I did. Or did I put the lid on to take the picture. Now, why would I do that, though? Hmm . . .

At any rate, the eggs looked pretty good – even thru the lid that wasn’t supposed to be on there.

Wait, maybe I put the lid on there to keep the steam in. No. I think it was to drain the water.

Yeah! That was it.

See the little drainer vents?

I was sure the egg yolk was gonna break. But it didn’t.

After the water was drained.

This was the only issue – see the white rectangle? That’s cooked egg white that settled in the bottom of the box.

It was fine, though. Tasted good. Wasn’t overcooked or undercooked.

In fact, I think I’ll go make a couple more right now.

Deviled Eggs or Egg Salad

This is one of my standards. You know, a recipe I don’t have to think about – or worry about! I’m not sure why, but it always turns out and it’s always a favorite. That’s not too common when I make something, believe me. It’s usually more of a 50:50 proposition.

I don’t usually measure, but I will today. I’m using 8 eggs, but they’re on the small side. Here’s what you’ll need.

Tools

• saucepan & lid
• bowl w/ice water
• something to mash eggs with (I’m using my lovely Ninja)
• timer – there might be one on your microwave if you don’t have one
• tongs, to get eggs out of hot water, or a big spoon would work
• measuring spoons (unless you just add to taste)
• knife to cut green onions

Ingredients

• eggs
• mayonnaise
• dijon mustard
• green onions
• salt & pepper, if desired

First, boil the eggs. Put the eggs in your saucepan and cover them with water. Heat to boiling, then turn fire off and let sit for 22 minutes. I’ve boiled eggs this way for years. There are other ways, but this always works for me.



Next, put eggs in ice water to stop them from cooking.

Once cool, peel eggs under cool, running water. Helps to get the shells off.

For Deviled Eggs, slice eggs in half and scoop out yolks. Then add ingredients below. I spoon it into a plastic bag, cut a small corner and then squeeze it into the whites.

For egg salad, just mash whites and yolks up together. I throw everything in the Ninja – even whole eggs.

Then add:

• 1 green onion, chopped
• 3 Tbls. dijon mustard
• 4 Tbls. mayo
• salt & pepper to taste

Then refrigerate for a while to let the flavors blend. You can add more mustard or mayo to taste, but I’d wait until it sits a bit. The flavors get much stronger after it’s refrigerated.

That’s it! Easy-peasy. Once you’ve made it, you’ll know how much mustard & onion you like. I personally love a lot of dijon mustard, but I’ve learned to start with a little and add more later.

Next time you have to take something to a party, try these deviled eggs. I guarantee they’ll be the first to go.

Check out some tasty recipes from these great blogs.


Colleen

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Tonight was the third time I made this cake, and it hasn’t failed me yet. Either that means it’s extremely easy, or I’m becoming a better baker. Or maybe a bit of both.
I won’t lie – it’s rich. Any cake that doesn’t call for frosting, only powdered sugar – is probably pretty rich. Usually that doesn’t stop me, however. Me & the Hubs love our sugary frostings. But this one truly doesn’t need any frosting.
This recipe came from an insert in the Sunday paper – American Profile, I think it’s called. I usually don’t try these recipes, but I’m so glad I gave this a shot.
Tools Needed

• Bundt pan - If you’re a new baker, it’s worth the investment, just for the array of wonderful cakes you can make in this pan. I was lucky; Mom gave me hers.
• Mixing Bowl
• small bowl for beating eggs
• Mixer
• Measuring cups for liquid
• Measuring spoons
• Spatula to scrape mixing bowl
• Toothpicks to test for doneness
• Cooling rack

Ingredients

• butter or shortening to grease pan & flour to coat pan after greasing OR
• this lovely stuff (see note below)

• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened (this means room temperature or you’ll get little lumpies)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 18 oz. package yellow cake mix
• 1 3 oz. (small) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups fresh blueberries (I’ve always used frozen, but I thaw & drain them)
• Powdered sugar (optional)

Note: My Bundt pan has all these cool nooks & crannies so I used the Crisco spray pictured above. It seemed a bit greasy after spraying so I coated the pan with some powdered sugar since I was going to top it w/the sugar anyway. Worked fine.
Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Lightly spray 9-inch tube or Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust w/flour (or powdered sugar, as I did).
3. Combine cream cheese and oil in medium bowl; beat with mixer at HIGH speed until smooth & creamy. 
4. Beat the 4 eggs in small bowl.
5. Add cake mix, pudding mix, beaten eggs and vanilla to cream cheese & oil mixture. Beat at MEDIUM speed.
6. Fold in berries. Batter will be THICK. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
7. Bake 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on rack. (If you can’t wait, it’s really good served warm.) Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Serves 16. (Did they really say 16? Guess they cut smaller slices than we do!)

Just look at all them blueberries! Yum! I really must try it this summer with some fresh berries, though.
I did try this once with cranberries instead of blueberries. Dried cranberries. Didn’t turn out so good. The dried cranberries absorbed any liquid and the cake was much drier. The taste was still good – just not as moist.
I’ve since made a cranberry orange nut bread and rehydrated the berries in orange juice for an hour before putting them in the batter. That might work with this cake, I don’t know. Guess I’ll have to experiment.

Ok, I'm linking to this wonderful party for the 1st time. That's a big, big step for a newbie! But, go and check out everyone else's great ideas!



Happy Baking!
Colleen

Egg & Sausage Souffle

Don’t let the title fool you. It’s not really a ‘souffle,’ as far as I’m concerned.

I needed something for Christmas morning to take to my mom’s and found this at Allrecipes, one of my fav sites. Only thing is, you have to plan a day in advance.

Tools Needed

• Skillet
• 9 x 13 baking dish
• mixing bowl
• measuring cups
• grater for cheese (unless you buy already shredded)

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups pork sausage
• 3 cups seasoned croutons (I used 2 different kinds & it worked)
• 2-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 eggs
• 2-1/2 cups milk
• 1 (10.75 oz) can mushroom soup (recipe calls for Golden; I used creamy & loved it)
• 3/4 tsp ground mustard (I didn’t even put this in – don’t think it needed it, but wanted to give you full recipe)
• 1/2  cup milk

1. Brown sausage in skillet over medium-high heat; drain fat.
2. Place croutons in baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over croutons; top with browned sausage.
3. Beat eggs & 2-1/2 cups milk in bowl and pour over casserole.
4. Cover baking dish and refrigerate overnight.
5. Following morning, preheat oven to 300 deg.
6. Combine soup, mustard and remaining 1/2 cup milk.
7. Pour over top of casserole.
8. Bake, uncovered, until browned and set – about 1-1/2 hours.

Yes, it takes a long time to bake, but it serves at least 8 people w/generous servings. Leftovers are really good, too.

I suppose you could cut the recipe in half, but then you’d have leftover soup in the fridge.

I’ve made this twice since Christmas and left out the mustard each time. I honestly didn’t notice recipe said “golden” mushroom soup. But everyone loved the cream of mushroom.

Let me know if you try the ‘golden’.

Colleen

Technorati Tags: breakfast,eggs,sausage,easy casserole,entertaining

Sunday Waffles

Growing up, Sunday mornings around my mom and dad's had one tradition . . . waffles! My dad would mix the batter from scratch, pour it into an ancient waffle maker, and all 7 of us (yes, seven!) would come to the table for a wonderful family breakfast.

I suppose I could easily find a waffle recipe online, but why? Krusteaz is my fav mix, for waffles and pancakes alike. I've never tried their other kinds - Buttermilk, etc. - because this has been foolproof. I add some water, enough to make the batter thin enough to pour. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of olive oil, if I'm feeling particularly health-conscious.

Now, for the waffle iron. Up until a week ago, I didn't have one so I'd only make waffles at Mom's. She got this one from QVC and it's truly wonderful.

I set it at 3-1/2. It beeps when it’s hot, pour in the batter, rotate the handle, and it beeps when it’s done. Perfect waffles, every time! No grease, no spray Pam, easy-peasy.

Why did Mom give me this brand new one? ‘Cause she still had the old one Dad used and she loves it.

 

Are You a Foodie Newbie?

I am. I love watching cooking shows on the Food Network. Rachael, Paula, Guy, Bobby & Duff are all regulars in my home. And I dig the gadget shows – infomercials, QVC, Home Shopping Network. Only one little issue – I am just learning how to cook.

That’s right. I’m 51 years old and just recently decided I really want to learn to cook. Nothing gourmet or fancy. Just good comfort food. And if it’s on the healthy side, all the better.

I figure there must be others out there like me – we love food, we want to learn how to cook, and most recipes take for granted we already know how. But we don’t, do we? Like when a recipe says “cook ‘til golden brown” and you wonder just what exactly how golden is golden and how brown is brown.

So I’m starting a blog for us, all of us who really want to cook good food, but don’t know a sauce pan from a skillet. I’ll share my successes, as well as my failures, my triumphs and my tragedies. And I hope you’ll do the same. (If you’re an experienced cook, any sage – pardon the pun – advice is welcome.

I’ve also started a Foodie Newbie Network – where you can join and contribute your own recipes. So grab a cup of coffee, or pour a spot o’ tea, and meet me in the kitchen. No experience req’d.