Rules of Eating

September 1, 2010

chocolate chip torteWe’re gearing up for a big weekend with my entire family.

A weekend that will be full of fun and laughter – and food. You can’t forget the food.

Not that we will try!

No – we will mark the passing of time by which meal is put in front of us! We see it as a sport that we call “recreational eating”.

We have a “dessert bar” that is open day and night. There’s nothing like a little chocolate brownie for breakfast. :)

We’ve gotten so good at this that we have even discovered certain “rules of eating” to avoid gaining weight.

Would you like me to share? :)

1. If you eat it off a child’s plate, there are no calories – the child got them all.

2. If you cut your food in half before eating it – all of the calories fall out.

3. Any food eaten standing up has no calories since the effort it takes to stand up counteracts the calories in the food.

4. Any food eaten outside has no calories – they are absorbed by the fresh air.

And finally – they one we rely on most heavily -

5. All food eaten during a meal that is filled with lots of laughter will have no calories because the sound of laughter will wipe all the calories away!

truffle lovers cupcakesNow with rules like these – I just need to decide what decadent chocolate treat to bring to share!

Cupcakes? Cookies? Brownies? Bars?

New recipe or an old favorite?

Hmm…I wonder what my sisters and nieces are bringing?

It’s going to be a great weekend! :)

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Family Traditions, Memories | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

Applesauce

August 30, 2010

Do you remember my 5 boxes full of apples?

The kids and I spent 2 long afternoons turning them into applesauce.

apples in WaterThe first step was to wash every apple – we used a solution of Fit and water.  This was Buddy’s job and he did it well.

Apples cut

From there the apples went to the table where Dagmar and Angel Girl were waiting. They carefully cut each apple into quarters – removing any bad spots. Notice that the skin and cores are still present? We’ll take care of that soon – I promise.

When we had a pan full of apples, I added some water and put it on the stove to cook. Make sure you stir it occasionally or they will scorch! (Ask me how I know that! :( )

on the stove

Notice the back pan – it’s cooked down just right. The front pan is just starting. Oh dear – there’s a bruised spot the girls missed! Oops!

Hot Apples

These apples are cooked down and ready to be sauced. Notice how the skin has released and you can see already see sauce forming?
Apples Smushed

Now it’s time for the super- duper wonder machine! I LOVE my Victorio Strainer! One child scoops the hot apples in the top while another child spins the handle. The core, skins and seeds came out one side to be discarded (chicken food here!) and hot applesauce comes out the other.

Voila!

We bought my Victorio 17 years ago and it paid for itself the very first year. It’s saved me money every year since.

Apples

Now come the fun part – tasting! If you think it’s sweet enough – go ahead and package it. If not – add the sweetening of your choice.

My whole crew gets involved in this step – everybody has a spoon and an opinion! (For the record – some of them never think it’s sweet enough!)
Done!!!!Once you have the desired taste, you can put the finished sauce in containers and freeze it – or put it in sterilized jars and give it 20 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

We repeated the process until we had used up all the apples – and now have 100 quarts of perfectly sweetened applesauce sitting in the pantry waiting for a cold winter day.

And that’s a might good feeling!

I’ve linked this post up at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday At Blessed With Grace, Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff and Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Gardening, Harvesting | Tagged , , | Comments (12)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

August 23, 2010

Cake

I can’t believe Dagmar’s sweet sixteen surprise party was over a month ago – and I’m just now getting the post written about her amazing birthday cake!

Dagmar is my aspiring chef – so you know this cake had some thought behind it!

We started weeks ahead of the day with some high level negotiations. The flavor profile was easy – chocolate and peanut butter. Finding the right recipe however – was not.

We both scoured recipe books and the web for that perfect combination of ice cream – chocolate – peanut butter and specialness.

Finally – we hit on a compromise using two different recipes – one from a Taste of Home magazine, and one from a favorite food blog Eggs on Sunday. The result was a rich and decadent hit!

It was easy to prepare and – the real selling point – could be made several days ahead of time since it’s kept in the freezer.

Just remember to allow time for the cake to freeze up between layers!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
4 Tablespoons butter (melted)
1/2 gallon chocolate ice cream
1- 1/4 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter cups – coarsely chopped
3 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 cup Cool Whip
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Mix the crushed Oreo cookies and the melted butter to make a crust. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and freeze for about an hour.

Slightly soften the chocolate ice cream and press about 1/2 of it in a nice layer on top of the Oreo cookie crust. (We didn’t measure things very well – just eyeballed a nice layer and pressed it in!) Sprinkle about 1/3 of the peanut butter cups on the ice cream and freeze for about an hour.

While this layer is freezing, mix the cream cheese and peanut butter in a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and milk, mixing well. Fold in the whipped cream.

Spread the cream cheese layer over the chocolate ice cream/peanut butter cup layer, sprinkle with another 1/3 of the chopped peanut butter cups and freeze for another hour.

Spread the remaining chocolate ice cream over the cream cheese mixture and freeze for yet another hour.

Meanwhile  – melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream together, stirring until the mixture is smooth.  Let it cool for a few minutes so you don’t melt the ice cream when you pour it on!

Remove the springform pan full of chocolate -peanut butter goodness from the freezer and carefully pour the chocolate ganache over it. Sprinkle with the remaining peanut butter cups, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least an hour – although overnight is better.

To serve, dip a knife in warm water, wipe it dry and go around the outside of the springform pan to loosen it. Release the sides of the pan and admire your handiwork!

This should serve about 12 – or just 5 hungry chocolate loving teen-age girls! (I’m just kidding my wonderful daughters and nieces!)  ;)

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace, Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff.

By Country Gal | Posted in Chocolate, Cooking and Food | Tagged , , , | Comments (14)

Staying Cool with Fruit Slushies

August 13, 2010

It’s hot. Really hot.

And humid.

So hot and humid that an extensive heat advisory is old news.

waters

So hot and humid that your glasses fog up when you walk out of the house.

So hot and humid that you fight over who gets to wash the dishes so you don’t have to go out and spread mulch in the garden.

dump

So hot that you just dump the water gun on yourself, rather than wait for a sibling to hit you with a spray of water.

Slushe

It’s so hot that it’s time for Fruit Slushies.

Back in the days when we lived in the hovel with no AC – we would try to “celebrate the heat” with special cool treats in the afternoon.

These Fruit Slushies were always a favorite!

We’ve discovered that they are still a treat – even with the air on!

The recipe couldn’t be more simple – or more versatile.

Fruit Slushies

Blend together in a blender:   (I blend these in batches because my blender isn’t big enough for everything at once.)

1 can fruit cocktail
1 can apricots
1 can peaches
1 can pears
4 medium bananas
1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate

Pour into a plastic container and freeze. ( I use an ice cream bucket.)

To serve – let the fruit mixture sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Using an ice cream scoop, place scoops of the mixture into a glass and fill it with lemon-lime pop. (We’ve used 7 Up, Sprite, and even store brand – it’s all good!)

I have substituted almost any canned fruit in this recipe and it’s always worked. It doesn’t matter what size cans you use – whatever is in the pantry or on sale will work. Make sure you use the juice and the fruit -just dump it all in!

It’s an inexpensive and fun way to celebrate the  last days of summer.

Stay cool!

I’ve linked this post up with Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam,  Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Summer | Comments (5)

Frozen Kool-Aid Dessert

August 2, 2010

Frozen Kool-Aid DessertI love history.

I love food.

I love food that has a history!

This recipe was originally published in a 1940 era Kool Aid advertisement (now that’s some history!) but I found it reprinted in a old issue of Reminisce Magazine .

Since it’s a depression-era recipe, the ingredients are few and frugal.

It was really simple to make – and my children declared it delicious.

We’ve made two batches – first an orange batch followed by a strawberry one – and we loved them both!

I’m sure that the home cooks making this in the 1940′s used their own cream to whip up for whipped cream – but I did not. I took a shortcut in the heat and humidity and used Cool Whip.

I can only imagine how wonderful it be with the real thing!

Frozen Kool-Aid Desert

1 cup sugar
1 package (.13 ounces) Kool-aid any flavor
2 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream

In a bowl, combine the sugar, Kool-aid and milk; stir until the Kool-aid and sugar are dissolved. Pour into a freezer container and freeze for one hour or until slushy.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream until stiff. Add the Kool-aid mixture ; mix just until combined.

Return to the freezer container. Freeze until solid, about two hours.

Yields one quart.

I’ve linked this post with Mouthwatering Mondays over at A Southern Fairytale, Tasty Tuesday at Balancing beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace, and Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff.

By Country Gal | Posted in Cooking and Food, Summer | Tagged , , | Comments (9)