Spenser here for visit

Our grandson Spenser Olson is here for a visit on the farm and we are doing some fun after school recipes that are kid friendly!!!!
We are going to make cinnamon rolls and "no bake" brownies.

I love trying new recipes, this one is from Martha Stewart.

"No Bake" Fudge Brownies

Ingredients

Makes 2 dozen

• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 1/4 cups evaporated milk (from one 12-ounce can)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups finely ground chocolate wafer cookies (from two 9-ounce packages)
• 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons salted cocktail peanuts
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• Salt

Directions

1. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with plastic wrap, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides.
2. Heat chocolate and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until chocolate melts and is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Set aside 1/3 cup.
3. Combine cookies, 2 cups coconut, 1 cup peanuts, the sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Pour in chocolate mixture; stir until combined.
4. Spread mixture evenly into dish. Spread reserved 1/3 cup chocolate over top. Finely chop remaining 2 tablespoons coconut and 2 tablespoons peanuts; sprinkle evenly over chocolate. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Remove brownies from pan by lifting plastic wrap. Remove plastic, and cut into 24 brownies.

Cinnamon Rolls

1 frozen raw yeast bread loaf, place in lightly oiled large bowl, cover and place in warm place.  Let rise till triple in size, about 3 hours.

When dough is triple in size, place on flour surface, roll out to form a rectangle about 18"x10".

Mix:

1 stick softened salted butter

1 cup sugar

4 TBLS ground cinnamon

Spread mix evenly over the dough.  Roll dough to form  a thin log shape.  Begin rolling on long side and roll completely.  Cut log into 1" pieces and place cinnamon side up in cupcake paper and place in cupcake pan.  Repeat with all pieces.

Bake in a  375 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove and top with frosting, if desired.  Recipe follows:

Frosting:

1/2 stick softened butter

2 TBLS whipping cream

1 tsp pure vanilla

1-1/2 cups XXX sugar, spreading consistency.

place 1 tsp on the top of each cinnamon roll and let it melt down into the roll.

These were delicious and the kids had such a good time making them.  

Remember, "Find something that you love and share it with someone".

Sandra Boyett

Vegetable Garden Meals

Well, summer is blazing and our gardens are ready for harvest.  I must admit, my vegetable garden probably have used a little more TLC.  But, we managed to harvest some beautiful and delicious eggplants.

Today we are going to prepare a couple of dishes that begin as one preparations and make two distinct and delicious dishes.
Let's start with the base for our two dishes.
In a large saute pan over med/high heat, add:
4 TBLS olive oil
2 large eggplants, washed sliced and chopped to bite size pieces
1 large onion peel and chopped
4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
S&P to taste
Continue sauteing until tender, adding extra olive oil as mixture absorbs the oil and begins to get dry.
remove from heat and set aside.

Eggplant Cornbread Salad
1 recipe of your favorite cornbread cooked, cooled and cut into bite size pieces, set aside in large bowl.
Add to cornbread:
1 cup of eggplant base
2 tomatoes chopped to bite size pieces
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese


Blend together:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 envelope ranch dressing mix
1/2 cup buttermilk
Pour over cornbread  and toss together, cover and serve at room temperature or refrigerate and serve cold.

Eggplant Ragoue

To the remaining eggplant base, add:

2-15 ounce cans of roasted chopped tomatoes

2 TBLS italian seasoning

Simmer until heated through out and flavors have blended, S&P to taste.

Serve over your favorite prepared noodles and top with shredded parmesan cheese.

These are delicious meals as a whole or as side dishes.

Find something that you love and share it with someone.

Sandra Boyett

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 pound soft unsalted butter
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups finely chopped pecans
• 5 cups sifted pastry flour
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter and powdered sugar in mixer until light and fluffy, about 1015 minutes. Add vanilla, salt and pecans. Remove from mixer and stir in pastry flour by hand being careful not to overmix. Form into football shapes about the size of small walnuts and place on a buttered cookie sheet. Bake 1012 minutes or until just beginning to get the slightest bit colored on the bottom. Remove upon the first sign of color and set on a rack to cool. When cool enough to touch place in a bowl with powdered sugar on top and bottom and toss gently. Occasionally toss with sugar while cooling, trying to get as much sugar as possible to stick. When cold, place cookies in airtight container and cover until ready to serve.

Honey Lavender Ice Cream

Ingredients

Makes about 1 quart

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup dried lavender
• 1/3 cup honey
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, lavender, and honey. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for 5 minutes. Strain mixture, reserving milk and discarding lavender.
2. Combine egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed until very thick and pale yellow, 3 to 5 minutes. Meanwhile, return milk to a medium saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat.
3. Add half the milk to egg-yolk mixture, and whisk until blended. Stir mixture into remaining milk, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
4. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in cream. Strain mixture into a medium mixing bowl set in an ice-water bath, and let stand until chilled, stirring from time to time. Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Store in an airtight plastic container up to 2 weeks.

Babyback Ribs and Watermellon Salad

Well, summer is closing in and we are all thinking of summer activities.  So, today on the cooking show we prepared babyback ribs and a wonderful watermelon salad.  This si a meal that takes no active time to prepare and allows you , the host, plenty of time to participate in the activities of the day. I encourage every one to use paper plates and throw away cups and just have a relaxed, fun-filled day.

Babyback Ribs
1. 3 racks of the freshes ribs you can buy
2. wash and dry the racks
3. Now season on both sides with your favorite dry rubs, I used Kansas City Cowtown seasonings.  They can be purchased online at www.cowtownbbq.com
4. Sprinkle the back side of the ribs first, be cautious and remember that the first ingrediant in most of the powder seasonings is salt.
5. Line a cookie sheet with 3 large pieces of heavy duty foil, 2 pieces over-lapping each other and covering the sheet sideways, leaving about 10" on the sides of overhang.  Now place the 3rd piece of foil length ways with the same amount of overhang.
6. Place one rack of ribs in the center of the sheet, lenght ways, with meaty side up, sprinkle top side with more seasoning and place 2nd rack on top of 1st rack with meaty side facing up, and sprinkle the top side of 2nd rack with seasoning and repeat with 3rd rack the same procedure.  Only place the racks 3 high.  If you want to cook more place a second stack of ribs next to the first stack on the same cookie sheet.  2 stacks of three will fit nicely on one sheet.  If you have more to cook. start a second cookie sheet.
7. now wrap the ribs with the overhand of foil, like it is a baby, wrapping tight abd sealing the sides.
8. Place in an oven preheated to 350 drgrees and bake for 31/2 hours.
9. Let rest 15 minutes and seperate stacks and coat with your favorite bbq sauce.

Watermelon Feta Salad

2 pounds cubed watermelon

8 ounces feta cheese, cubed

Mint and basil leaves, julianned

Toss all the above in large salad bowl

In a sauce pan, dissolve 1/2 cup sugar in 1/4 cup white vinegar.  Add a pinch of salt.  Remove from heat and whisk in 6 ounces of plain yogurt.  Pour 1/2 of dressing over the tossed salad and serve remaining dressing for dipping the mellon as desired.

Please enjoy!!!

Hand tossed pizza

Well school is about to be dismissed for the summer and mom's are scrambling to find things to keep the little one's busy.  Well letting children participate in the preparation of their meals is one way to keep them busy. get them to eat and pass on a little family tradition.  Things that will be remanenced in their adult life with pleasant memories.  I recently made a trip, along with my sister, to stay with my grandchildren a few days and when I visit, we always cook.  On this trip, we made our own pizzas and had them for dinner.   On my last cooking show I shared this with my own children and our viewing audience.  So, let's get started.

Hand Tossed Pizza

1 bag frozen yeast bread rolls, thawed and risen

1 jar pizza sauce

shredded cheese of your choice

  I used white american

8 ounces softened cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

topping of your choice

 For the savory pizzas I used:

pepperoni

left over meat loaf, crumbled

feta cheese, crumbled

roasted sliced tomatoes

roasted bell peppers, sliced

sliced mango

spinach leaves

fresh basil, minced

chopped smoked turkey

sliced olives

sliced greek peppers

For the dessert pizzas I used:

mini chocolate chips

baked sliced apples, baked with a little sugar and cinnamon

Putting it all together:

1. Take a handful of the thawed and risen yeast dough, on a floured surface form a ball and press out till flat and the size mini pizza desired.

2. Place the mini pizza dough rounds on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam.

3. For the savory pizzas, put a base of pizza sauce, spread with spoon and leave about 

1/2 inch from edge clean, no sauce.

4. Now get creative with any combonation of ingrediants that you or your children desire.

5. Place in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes, cool for 5 minutes, slice and enjoy.

6. For the dessert pizza,  blend the softened cream cheese and the powdered sugar until smooth.  Now, spread a layer of sweetened cream cheese, leaving that 1/2 inch rim clear.

7. Now let's get creative again. top with any of the sweet toppings that you have chosen, one or a combination.

8. Place in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, cool 5 minutes, slice and enjoy.

As you can see, we had a great time and all the kids loved it.  This is one of my favorite things to share with my children, grandchildren and friends.  It brings joy to my life, all the kids have fun and hopefully, this will help bring cooking back to the home for this generation, which is my desire.

As always, find something that you love and share it with someone.

Upside Down Rhubarb Cake

I have never tried anything with rhubarb before and lately I have been seeing it in every magazine.  The one in Martha Stewart looked so intriging, I just had to try one.  The recipe is a variation of the one I saw in the magazine.  I believe that within certain boundries you can successfully change certain ingrediant wheather it is because of taste or out of necessity, because you don't have on hand certain things you need.Give this one a try.

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

Ingredients

Makes one 9-inch cake; Serves 10

FOR THE TOPPING

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup  brown sugar

Coarse salt

FOR THE CAKE

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for buttering pan

1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a very sharp diagonal about 1/2 inch thick

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Coarse salt

1/2 teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh grapefruit juice

2 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until moist and crumbly.

Make the cake: Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Dot with 4 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces). Toss rhubarb with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Beat remaining stick butter and cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in zest and juice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, until smooth. Spread evenly over rhubarb. Crumble topping evenly over batter.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and top springs back when touched, about 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.

Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. The rhubarb will be too hot to handle safely right after baking. But if the cake sits much longer, it may stick.

Wheather you cook, sing or sew, find something you love and share it with someone.

Apple Turnovers

Apple Turnovers, I guess there is a reason why Apple pie is so American.  There is nothing that smells like apple pies baking.  The whole house fills with the auroma and with feeling of love.  Please try these apple turnovers, they are easy and delicious!

Apple Turnovers

Ingredients

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

1 1/4 pounds tart apples, such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)

3 tablespoons dried cherries

3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch kosher salt

1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 Please enjoy!

adapted from Ina Garten

new twist on on old south of the border taco

Pulled Pork Taco with Chipolte Sauce:

This is a delicious dish and beautiful too, you will definitely need napkins and probably a knife and fork.  This is a full meal.
Pulled Pork:
3-4 lb boston butt
Rub with a compination of :
1T barbeque seasoning
3T salt
3t Emeril Essence
1T bbq seasoning flakes
rub well with above mixture and place in roasting that is heavily lined with foil.  Wrap the foil around the boston butt making sure you have a tight seal.  Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 5 hours, remove and let rest unwrapped for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and pull the lean pork apart and place in bowl and mix well with BBQ sauce.  Recipe to follow.

Kentucky Bourbon Southern Peach BBQ sauce:

Combine the following in 2 quart sauce pan that has a lid:
1 cup diced frozen peaches
1T minced garlic
1 cup ketsup
1 cup store bought BBQ sauce
1/4 cup Bourbon
2T Worchestersire sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 pinch ground clove
1 pinch pepper flakes
Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring frequenty, when boil reached reduce heat to very low, place lid  and simmer for about 2 hours, stirring about every 30 minutes.
Stir a generous portion into the pulled pork and place the rest in a serving bowl to serve with taco"s for extra applications.

Chipolte sauce:
Combine the following in a blender and blend well.  Place in serving bowl.
1 cup honey
juice of 1 orange
3/4 cup chopped celantro
2T of canned chipolte peppers

To assemble the taco:
1. Place a wheat tortilia shell on a griddle or skillet with a pat of butter, begin to warm the shell and then place about 1/2 cup shredded cheese, spread the cheese evenly, let cheese melt.
2. Place a portion size of BBQ mixed pulled pork in the center, spoon a small amount of the chipolte sauce over the taco, you can add more later if desired.  The chipolte sauce is made from smoked jalipeno peppers.
3.Fold the taco in half and place on plate.
Serve with sour cream, pico, extra BBQ sauce and extra chipolte sauce

Please try this recipe, I think it will replace your old taco's.  The extra sauces and be frozen for up to a year.

new twist on an old south of the border taco

Ingrediant list for new twist on an old south of the border taco:
boston butt about 3.5 lbs
salt, Essence by Emeril, barbeque flavored flakes, liquid smoke, foil
Chipolte sauce:
1 can chipolte, honey, an orange, fresh celantro,
Barbeque sauce:
1 cup ketsup, 1 cup bbq sauce, 1 cup chopped frozen peaches, 1/4 cup bourbon, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 t minced garlic, 1/2 t salt, pinch ground clove, pinch pepper flakes
Wheat tortilia shells, sourcream, pico, shredded cheese

Spring Bliss

Spring is such a beautiful time of newness and growth.  I think that the blooms, buds and green grass lifts everyone's spirit.  Have you ever wonder why we make resolutions on New Year and not on Spring?  We were talking with the twins last week about the spring equinox and how on the first day of spring, that the day and night is the same length of time and from that point on untill the first day of summer the days would gradually get longer.  The long warm days allow for new growth and the ability to have the wonderful Meyer's lemons that we used today.  We may manipulate the time of day with daylight saving time, but the order of the universe remains constant.  I feel that this is just the way God's love is for us.  No matter how we manipulate things His love is constant.

This cake was featured in Living Magazine and is slightly modified.

Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake Curd Mousse

Ingredients

Makes about 3 3/4 cups

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from one 1/4-ounce envelope)

1 tablespoon cold water

4 large eggs plus 6 large yolks

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest (from 2 lemons), plus 3/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (from 5 to 6 lemons)

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

add the syrup from the cansied lemons to the whipped cream for sweetness and flavor

                 candied lemon recipe follows

Directions

Sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.

Whisk together eggs and yolks in a heavy small saucepan. Whisk in sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium-low heat, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove pan from heat; add gelatin, stirring constantly, until gelatin dissolves and mixture is slightly cool. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, stirring after each addition, until smooth.

Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing with a rubber spatula to remove as much curd as possible; discard any undissolved bits of gelatin and egg. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd to prevent a skin from forming, and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours or overnight. Stir curd, and gently fold in whipped cream. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Stir before using.

Candied Meyer Lemons

Ingredients

Makes 2 cups

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 Meyer lemons (do not peel), preferably organic, washed well and sliced 1/4 inch thick

Directions

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a large saucepan, and heat until sugar dissolves. Add lemons, and cover surface with parchment. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until rinds are translucent, about 30 minutes. Let lemons cool in syrup.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer lemons to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Let stand to allow excess syrup to drip off.

The lemons can be stored in the syrup for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

For the crepes, I used packaged French style Crepes.  Martha made her own crepes and I am sure they are delicious but time restraints prohibit many of us from doing everything from scratch.  The packaged crepes are very good and allow more of us the luxury of making this cake.

Easter Dinner

Strawberry Whipped CreamTart

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup plain yellow cornmeal

2 Tbsp. sugar

¾ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp. orange marmalade

1(16-oz.) container fresh strawberries, cut in half

½ cup orange marmalade 2 cups heavy cream

2 Tbsp. sugar

Garnishes: fresh mint sprigs, sweetened whipped cream

         Preheat oven to 425°. Place first 6
ingredients (in order of ingredient list)
in a food processor. Process 20 seconds
or until mixture resembles coarse sand.
Transfer to a large bowl.

    Whisk together egg and buttermilk;
add to flour mixture, stirring just until
dry ingredients are moistened and a
dough forms. Turn dough out onto a
lightly floured surface, and knead 3 to 4
times. Press dough on bottom and up
sides of a lightly greased 9-inch tart pan.

    Bake at 425° for 20 to 22 minutes or
until golden and firm to touch.

    Microwave 1 Tbsp. marmalade at HIGH 10 seconds; brush over crust. Cool 45 minutes.

         Stir together strawberries and ½ cup marmalade.

     Beat heavy cream with 2 Tbsp. sugar
at medium speed with an electric mixer
until soft peaks form. Spoon onto corn-
meal crust; top with strawberry mix­ture. Garnish, if desired.

Herbed Roasted Potatoes

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1½ Tbsp. butter

3 Ib. small Yukon gold or red potatoes,
peeled

¼ cup lemon juice

4  tsp. chopped fresh thyme ¾ tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

1.    Preheat oven to 400°. Cook olive oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes or until butter begins to turn golden brown. Remove butter mixture from heat, and add peeled potatoes, tossing gently to coat. 2. Spread potatoes in a single layer in a 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. 3. Bake at 400° for 40 to 45 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and tender, stirring twice. Transfer potatoes to a large serving bowl, and toss with lemon juice, chopped fresh thyme, salt, and pepper until well coated. Serve potatoes immediately. Sunday Best Glazed Ham 1 (9lb.) fully cooked, bone-in ham 40 whole cloves ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar ½ cup honey ½ cup bourbon '/3 cup Creole mustard ¼ cup molasses Ø  Preheat oven to 350°. Remove skin from ham, and trim fat to ¼ -inch thickness. Ø  Make shallow cuts in fat 1 inch apart in a diamond pattern; insert cloves in centers of diamonds. Ø  Place ham in an aluminum foil-lined        13-x 9-inch pan. Ø  Stir together brown sugar and next 4 ingredients; spoon over ham. Ø  Bake at 350° on lowest oven rack 2 hours and 30 minutes, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes. Shield ham with foil after 1 hour to prevent excessive browning. Remove ham from oven, and let stand 30 minutes. According to The Encyclopedia of Religion, 1987 “Easter” “It was a popular Easter custom amongst Europeans and Americans to eat ham at Easter, because the pig was considered a symbol of luck in pre-Christian European culture.” German tradition believed that pigs are symbols of luck. If you had a pig to feed your family you were considered lucky, because times were hard. (This luck of the pig is probably one of the reasons that people keep their money in piggy banks.) Occasionally, when we cook we need an ingredient that we don’t have.  This happened to me while baking the tart; I needed buttermilk and didn’t have any.  So, I mixed plain yogurt, sour cream and a little skim milk and it worked wonderfully.  Necessity surely is the “Mother of Invention”. NUTRITIONAL VALUE IN POTATO PEEL - 100 gm of potato peel or skin has 58 kcal, 2.57 gm of protein, 12.44gms of carbohydrate, 0.1gms of fat, 2.5gm of total dietary fiber, 0.021mgs of thiamine, 0.038mgs of riboflavin, 1.033mgs of niacin, 11.4mg of vitamin C, 30mg of calcium, 3.24mg of iron, 413mg of potassium, 10mg of sodium.