Barackos (the meal formerly known as Hawaiian Tacos.)

I was scrolling through Facebook that night after the the results were announced and found this post from one of my favorite people, Cathi Kern:

“Gobama!! I knew having Barackos for dinner would bring good luck!”

I just loved the statement—and considering President Obama was born in Hawaii, and we were having “Hawaiian Tacos” for dinner the night he won the election—I have decided to steal Cathi’s term for tacos.

Regardless your political leanings, the Barackos are delicious.

Barackos (recipe adapted from BHG, Feb. 2007—Hawaiian Tacos)

1 1/4 lb. bulk Italian sausage

1/2 c. chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

dash hot pepper sauce (optional)

12 taco shells

1 recipe Hawaiian Pineapple Salsa (see recipe below)

1 c. grated fiesta blend or sharp cheddar cheese

 

In a large skillet cook sausage, onion, and garlic, until meat is browned and onion is tender. Stir to break up and crumble the sausage.  Drain off fat.  Stir in dash of hot pepper sauce.  Spoon meat mixture into taco shells.  Top with Hawaiian Pineapple salsa and sprinkle with cheese.

Hawaiian Pineapple Salsa:  Combine 3 chopped Roma tomatoes, 1/3 c. chopped onion, 1 chopped cucumber, 1 (8 oz) can pineapple tidbits (drained), 1 fresh, chopped and seeded jalapeno pepper, 2 T. snipped fresh cilantro, and 1 T. packed brown sugar.  Mix until sugar is dissolved.  Serve immediately or chill in fridge for up to 2 hours.  If refrigerated for more than 30 minutes, serve salsa with a slotted spoon.

Cake 6: Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I do this all the time.  I invite people over for dinner and later realize I don’t have time to get to the store—so I end up scrambling trying to figure out what to fix with ingredients I already have on hand.  Fortunately, I generally manage to pull it off okay.  Case in point: this delicious carrot cake from Mel’s Kitchen Café.  (I know, I could probably be her one woman advertising team.)

Made from staple ingredients, this cake is awesome.  One note: make sure you cool this baby COMPLETELY before attempting to frost it.  I was a bit hasty in putting this together and even though it was cooked completely, both layers sank in the middle, leaving a pretty good sized crater.  Yay for lots of frosting and home-canned apricot preserves to make it look like I MEANT to have a hollow cake.

Carrot Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (12 1/2 ounces)
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 lb. medium carrots (6 to 7 large carrots), peeled
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil

Frosting

Note: You might want to double the frosting recipe if making for a layer cake—I didn’t, but kind of wish I had…

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
5 tablespoons butter softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon sour cream, light or regular
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Grease and flour a 9X13-inch baking pan or 2 9-inch round pans.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt in large bowl; set aside. In a food processor fitted with large or fine shredding disk, shred carrots (you should have about 3 cups); transfer carrots to bowl and set aside. You can also shred by hand on a box grater if you don’t have a food processor. (I use a salad shooter—remember those?)

In a large bowl and using hand-held mixer, beat granulated and brown sugars and eggs on medium-high until thoroughly combined, about 45 seconds. Reduce speed to medium; with mixer running, add oil in slow, steady stream, being careful to pour oil against inside of bowl (if oil begins to splatter, reduce speed to low until oil is incorporated, then resume adding oil). Increase speed to high and mix until mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 45 seconds to 1 minute longer. Turn off mixer and stir in carrots and dry ingredients by hand until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.

Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake until toothpick or skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 32 minutes for 9-inch round pans and 40 minutes for a 9X13-inch pan. Let cakes cool for about 10 minutes in the pan and then invert them onto a cooling rack to cool completely (the 9X13-inch cake can be cooled completely in the pan if you don’t plan to invert and ice all the sides). At this point, once the cakes are cooled, they can be wrapped in plastic wrap and put in a ziploc bag and placed in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature prior to frosting.

When cake is cool, mix cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla at medium high speed in clean bowl of standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment (or in large bowl using handheld mixer) until well combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed. Add confectioners’ sugar and mix until very fluffy, about 1 minute.

Frost cooled cake and dollop with apricot preserves or sprinkle it with nuts or whatever else to make it look fancy.

Perfect grilled chicken!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!  Thanks to the internet, I have finally FINALLY figured out how to grill chicken breast without it turning into tough, stringy, dry pathetic-ness! I use a gas grill, so here are the instructions:

Brush a little oil on the grill before turning it on. (I use olive oil.) Turn grill on high and let it get good and hot.  Then, turn the heat down to medium. 

Flatten your chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer or mallet or whatever the heck those things are called—1/2 inch is the perfect thickness.  Season the suckers with a little salt and garlic powder if you haven’t already marinated them with something else.

Place the chicken breast on the grill for two minutes.  Rotate the chicken forty five degrees (don’t flip it over) and grill for another two minutes.  THEN, flip the chicken over and repeat the two minutes/rotate/two minutes thing.  This sears in the juices and keeps the chicken tender.  I never have a meat thermometer but here’s how to test for doneness—if you press the chicken and it feels mushy, it’s not done.  If it has no give, it’s overdone.  If it springs back slightly—voila—you’ve got cooked chicken.

I know that’s not terribly scientific, but it works for us.  If you’re paranoid about that kind of thing, get your thermometer and make sure the chicken registers at least 170 degrees in the middle of the thickest part.

Cake 5: Pineapple Coffee Cake and Homemade Yellow Cake—two forehead-meets-the-table disappointments

I have been on a serious Pina Colada kick lately.  It’s my favorite flavor aside from chocolate.  And I thought, hey—if you can make a pineapple upside down cake, why can’t you make a pineapple and coconut coffee cake?  So, I went in search of a recipe and found this one on www.food.com.  Apparently, it’s one of the more popular recipes for pineapple cake.  I made it up, and doctored it a little (added coconut to the batter.) 

It looked like cake.  It smelled like cake.  But it tasted like a whole lotta nothing. I was so disappointed I didn’t even take a picture of it before pitching it.

But, I still had time to try something else.  Since I was out of canned pineapple, I thought I’d go with Mel's Homemade Yellow Cake.  It, too, was a disappointment, but maybe it’s just me.  The cake turned out fine, but when I think of yellow cake, I think of the vivid yellow and airy/spongy texture that comes from boxed cake mix.  And I like that.  Mel’s yellow cake was on the dry, heavy side.

Oh well.  There’s always next week!

Cake 4: Ethereal Angel Food Cake

I am ridiculously proud of this cake.  It turned out so well and was SOOOOO good! Before I found this recipe, I had determined I was no good at making angel food cake.  Every time I tried, it was a disaster.  So why bother trying again?  Three reasons.

First: I was listening to a radio show called Food for Thought featuring our loved and local Chef Doughty. She was talking about making yeast breads and how often when they don’t turn out, we’re tempted to give up.  She encouraged listeners, when we have a cooking failure, to immediately try again and keep experimenting until we get it.

Second: A friend of mine who keeps chickens had just unloaded two dozen farm fresh eggs on me. What to do? Make a cake, of course!

Third: I found this simple, straightforward, ultimately AWESOME recipe from one of my favorite recipe sites, Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. (No cake flour involved! No weird ingredients! No experience necessary!)

This really is the easiest angel food cake recipe I have ever seen, and it even has a chocolate version! I’m posting just the recipe here, but if you want to see some “tutorial pictures” from Mel’s site as well, click here.

Ethereal Angel Food Cake

*Note: To make a chocolate version, substitute 1/4 cup cocoa powder for 1/4 cup of the flour.

Dry ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt

For the egg white mixture:
¾ cup granulated sugar
12 large egg whites (make sure not to get any of the shell or egg yolk in with the whites or they won’t beat up properly)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder (if using), sugar and salt and set aside. In another bowl place the egg whites and add the vanilla. With a hand mixer (or with a stand mixer), beat the egg whites and vanilla on medium-high until the mixture is just frothy, about one minute. Sprinkle the cream of tartar on the top of the foamy whites and continue beating on medium-high until soft peaks form, another 2-3 minutes.

Add the sugar 1/4 cup at a time until fully incorporated. Continue beating until the whites are stiff and glossy (see the picture below). This may take several minutes, depending on the type of mixer you are using. With a whisk, gently fold the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites. Pour the batter evenly into an ungreased angel food cake pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Place the cake on a rack in the center of the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top of the cake is golden brown, the cake springs back when lightly touched and the cracks are dry to the touch. Place the cake upside down on cooking rack or bottle until cool. Slide a knife around the edges of the pan and gently remove the cake.

Cake 3: Pumpkin Almond Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Caramel

Boy that title is a mouthful. And what a decadent mouthful it is.  This cake is an adaptation of what has become my birthday cake tradition (except for this year, thanks to my eldest child’s budding desire to learn to cook.) 

A few years ago, a friend of mine showed up on my doorstep on my birthday with this amazing three layer pumpkin spice cake with a pecan and vanilla wafer crumb crust.  Between each layer of dense, delicious cake was the best cream cheese frosting ever made.  This drool-worthy confection was topped with a generous dose of caramel ice cream topping and sliced almonds.

It was the best cake ever, despite not being chocolate, and ever since, my friend has made me this cake every year.  This cake is so awesome, so coveted, that we never have leftovers.  I made it this year for the cake challenge, and it was gone before I could even get some out to my friends.  (I promptly went out that day and joined a gym.)

Apologies for the lack of photos—apparently it takes more smarts than I have to download the photos from the new camera without deleting them in the process!

The original recipe called for pecans,but I never have those on hand—I always have almonds—so that’s what I use.  Here’s the original recipe—with substitutions included:

Pumpkin Pecan (or Almond) Spice Cake:

Crust:

2 c. crushed vanilla wafers (about 50)—I used gingersnaps

1. c. chopped pecans (or almonds)

3/4 c. butter, softened

Cake:

1 box spice cake mix

1 (15 or 16 oz) can solid pack pumpkin

1/4 c. butter, softened

4 eggs

Frosting:

2/3 c. butter, softened

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 c. powdered sugar

2 t. vanilla

1/2 c. caramel ice cream topping

In mixing bowl on medium speed, beat the wafers, nuts, pecans/almonds, and butter until crumbly.  Press into three greased 9 inch round cake pans. In another mixing bowl, beat cake mix, pumpkin, butter, and eggs for three minutes.  Spread over crust in each pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers of cakes comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling. (Crust will be crumbly, so be careful.) 

For the frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a bowl and add the sugar and vanilla.  Beat on medium until light and fluffy, about three minutes.  Spread thinly between cake layers, placing crumb side of cakes down as you stack them. Drizzle the caramel topping over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.  Garnish with more chopped nuts (I like to use sliced almonds.) Serve immediately or store in the fridge until ready to serve.  Yield: 16- 20 servings.

Cake 2: Blueberry Almond Cake

I made this coffee cake for Father’s Day, just shy of “week 2” of my 34 cakes in 34 weeks challenge.  Though my husband claims he loves chocolate, he almost never chooses chocolate desserts. He always goes for something full of fruit. So when I found this recipe, I knew I was golden.

Made with fresh blueberries, with a brown sugar and almond crumble topping, this cake is divine.  I expected it to be good, but man, oh, man—I have made this cake three times in as many days, that’s how good it is.  We just can’t get enough of it.  Hmmmm—if I keep finding recipes like this, my hips and thighs are in serious trouble!

Blueberry Almond Cake

1/4 c. butter

3/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 c. plus 2 T. milk

2 c. all purpose flour

2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

2 c. blueberries

Topping:

1/2 c. brown sugar

3 T. all purpose flour

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. chopped or slivered almonds

3 T. butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 inch springform pan (I used a 10 inch springform pan with great results.)

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg. Add milk alternately with flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated.  Stir in blueberries (if using frozen berries, first rinse lightly and drain in a colander to remove ice crystals that may be clinging to the fruit.)  Pour batter into prepared pan.  In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and cut in butter until crumbly.  Stir in nuts.  Sprinkle mixture over batter.

Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (The first time I made this, it took 45 minutes, but the second and third time it took closer to an hour.)

Allow the cake to cool for at least ten minutes before serving.

(recipe adapted from www.food.com)

Cake 1: Devil’s Food Cake with Coconut Pecan Icing

 

Here’s cake number one: My birthday cake, made by my daughter E (with some assistance from my husband.)  I had planned on making myself a pumpkin pecan cake—which had sort of become the traditional cake for my birthday—but my little E was so intent on making me a cake herself…She concocted a plan to get me out of the house so she could surprise me.  She had her brother, C, lure me out of the house to the library.  E and C knew I’d be reluctant to leave the library once I was there, thus giving E and my hubby ample time to concoct their confection and surprise me.

So, though it wasn’t made by me, and it’s from a box, it was a charming cake, made with love (and some sneakery.)  Cake one down.  33 more to go!

Birthday Cake (and then some!)

 

It’s almost my birthday. I’m turning 34, and in the spirit of celebration, I thought it would be fun to make a different cake (or bunch of cupcakes) each week for 34 weeks. It’s crazy, I know.  And bad for my waistline.  But whatever.  I’ll take up jogging or something to balance it all out.

So…starting in time for my birthday, I’m going to try a new cake recipe every week for 34 weeks, take a picture, eat a slice (or two, or ten!) and blog about the recipe and the experience. Extra cake will be distributed to those who want it.  I realize after week four or five, I might have to resort to cake bombing to get rid of it all.  Consider it my birthday present to you.

Funeral Potatoes

I have always known this cheesy, buttery, starchy dish as Funeral Potatoes—it was always served in massive quantities (along with with equally massive quantities of ham, green beans, and homemade rolls) at the post-funeral luncheons in my parents’ and grandparents’ part of the world.  Known in other parts as Cheesy Hash Browns, Potluck Potatoes, or Relief Society Potatoes, this dish defines comfort food.  Around here, it may as well be called Anytime Potatoes or Just Plain Awesome And I Must Have Them Now Potatoes.

Funeral Potatoes (Recipe by Jess Denen, who insists on calling them Cheesy Hash Browns)

1 pkg. frozen hash browns, thawed

1 (16 oz) carton sour cream

1 (11 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

enough milk to make mixture easy to mix (about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup is about right)

1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except melted butter and spread in a lightly greased 9 x 13 pan.  In a separate container, melt butter, and pour over top of the potato mixture. Bake uncovered for one hour.

Variation: To make this a meal in and of itself, rather than a side dish, Mix in two cups of chopped ham, or one cup cooked, crumbled bacon before baking.

Chicken Caesar Sandwich

Oh what to do with leftover rotisserie chicken and the end of a loaf of French bread?  Make a sandwich!  Smear some Caesar dressing on a couple slices of bread, add some spring mix salad greens and some shredded, cooked chicken breast and voila! A break from good ol’ ham and cheese or PBJ!

Lela’s White Christmas Mix

 

Normally, I am not a fan of white chocolate, but when my friend Lela brought over this sweet, holiday Chex mix a couple of Christmases ago, I found snacking bliss.  The recipe makes a ton, so I usually cut it in half.  If you have a big enough bowl, make up the whole lot, and you’ll have enough for yourself and to share with friends and neighbors.

White Christmas Mix

3 c. corn chex

3 c. rice chex

3 c. honey nut cheerios

2 c. small pretzels

2 c. salted peanuts

1 (12 oz) bag red and green M&Ms

1 (12 oz) bag red and green peanut M&Ms

2 (12 oz) bags white chocolate chips

Toss all ingredients except white chocolate chips together in a large bowl.  In another bowl, melt white chocolate chips, stirring until smooth and it pours freely. (I nuke the chips in the microwave, stirring every thirty seconds or so, until I get the right melty-consistency.)  Pour melted white chocolate over the other ingredients and stir to coat.  Spread mixture on a wax paper-lined cookie sheet and let cool.  When it hardens, break mixture into pieces and enjoy.

Soup for Sickies

My hubby has a nasty cold.  Usually, when someone is under the weather around here, I make chicken soup with rice.  It’s our standard “sickie food” designed to comfort and hydrate.  But, I’m pregnant and the thought of making chicken tonight filled me with the kind of dread that really shouldn’t be described in detail in a food blog. 

My solution? Vegetable beef soup.  Heavy on the beef. 

Since we have about two pounds of London Broil left over from the night before, I decided to use that.  I made up the recipe as I went along—so the measurements listed are estimated.  Turned out great (in my opinion)—and if you’re comfortable enough to experiment in the kitchen, you could have a lot of fun with this.

Veggie, Beef, and Barley Soup

1 small onion, chopped

1 T. oil

6 c. beef broth (or 6 c. water plus 6 beef bouillon cubes)

1 t. salt

8 oz. cooked beef, chopped or cut into bite sized pieces

8 oz. frozen California style veggies

1 potato cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 c. dry barley

1 bay leaf

Saute onion in oil until golden, in large saucepan or soup pot.  Add broth, salt, beef, bay leaf, and barley.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down heat, cover, and simmer thirty minutes.  Add frozen veggies and potato pieces.  Cover again and simmer another 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove bay leaf and serve.  Makes six-ish one cup servings.

Easy Brownies

I have a love/hate relationship with brownies. I’m pretty picky about how I like them.  I usually don’t eat other people’s brownies.  I know.  Brownie snob—it’s a texture thing, sorry.  My mom has a recipe for brownies that she loves and has used for years.  I wanted to like it but her brownies always give me heartburn. (I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I eat four or five at a time.)

Her recipe also calls for baker’s chocolate, you know, the kind that comes in those bricks—well, I never have that on hand, so I needed a recipe that used either chocolate chips or unsweetened cocoa powder (because I always have those on hand.)

Here’s my current favorite recipe—which makes a batch of brownie goodness that isn’t too fudgy or too cakey in texture.  Also, it’s quick to put together (my eight year old just made these today) and it’s easily doubled or quadrupled or…well, we’ll stop there.

Brownies

1/2 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa

1 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla (I only use 1 t. because I think 2 t. is overpowering.)

1/2 c. flour

1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8 or 9 inch square pan.  In a medium bowl, combine melted butter, cocoa, sugar, and eggs.  Blend with electric mixer until sugar isn’t grainy and the mixture looks like thick frosting. Mix in vanilla and salt. Stir in flour.

Optional: add a handful of chocolate chips, flaked coconut, chopped nuts, or whatever else sounds tempting, and mix into the batter.

Pour and spread batter in greased pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick (or tip of a butter knife) comes out clean.  Cool completely, cut into squares, or hexagons, or whatever and serve.  If you like fudgier brownies, under-bake by a couple of minutes.  If doubling the recipe, you may need to add up to five minutes more to baking time.

There it is!

Tonight I made my first London Broil.  It was a monster hunk of meat—three and half pounds. Usually I go out to a restaurant for a big hunk of beef, because I have not been successful fixing my own steaks and pot roasts and the like.  But, I couldn’t pass up the chunk of meaty goodness at the grocery store.  It was “price reduced for quick sale”—I bought it on the “sell by” date, and it took up space in my fridge for a day or two before I was brave enough to cook it.  I had a recipe, but it didn’t give me any specifics as far as how long to cook the meat.  And the recipe said to grill it. Well, seeing as it’s December and there’s a foot of snow on the ground, a backyard barbecue didn’t sound that fun. 

So I did what any self respecting cook with a big slab of raw animal flesh would do.  I googled.  I found a great marinade recipe AND a website that tells you how to actually broil a London Broil.  We like our meat on the bloody side, but I was a little leery of cooking at home—what if I didn’t get the right internal temperature? What if we contracted mad cow disease?  What if I overcooked it and it came out like shoe leather?

I worried for nothing. It turned out great. And we have enough leftovers for Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches tomorrow! Hooray!

London Broil Marinade:

1/2 c. sesame oil

1/2 c. canola oil

1 c. soy sauce

2 T. molasses

1 head garlic, peeled and chopped (I used half a head)

1 (3 lb.) london broil beef (about 1 1/2 inches thick)

Place first five ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag.  Diagonally score the meat (I did a diamond pattern because I was feeling fancy.) Place meat in bag of marinade and refrigerate 2 to 8 hours, turning the bag occasionally.

Remove marinated meat from bag and place on broiler pan.  Broil in oven 3 to 4 inches away from heat source for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove pan from the oven and turn meat over. Return to broiler for 8 to 10 minutes.  Remove pan again, turn meat over again so the scored side faces up.  Broil again for another couple of minutes.  (This procedure gave us medium rare doneness—so add a little more time on both sides if you like your meat less pink.) Remove from oven and let meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  Cut into 1/4 inch thick slices and serve.

Pantry Staples

This post is more a reminder/organizational memo for myself than anything else. I was standing in my pantry the other day, frustrated that I didn’t have “anything” to fix for dinner.  The feeling was idiotic and ironic, because my pantry is stuffed—overloaded—with food. Canned goods galore, syrups, condiments, spices, oils, grains, and beans.  There’s chips and cookies, and baking supplies.  And yet, I couldn’t think of a way to use any of it to make a meal.  When a good chunk of the world goes hungry every night, my home is full of food and I don’t know what to do with it.  Pathetic. Embarrassing.

I need to take stock.  And then I need to get a bit creative, broaden my definition of what makes a good meal, and thank God for giving me so much.

Fortunately, later in that same day, as I was idling away some time, I found a recipe in a magazine that inspired me. (After I’d ordered pizza.)  It required two cans of garbanzo beans.  I don’t have canned garbanzo beans, but I had about a pound of dried ones.  I think they’ve been in the pantry for well over a year.  I don’t remember buying them, but I must have, because they were stored in a quart jar with my handwriting on the lid, saying “dried chickpeas.”

So, as I write this morning, I am quick-soaking the beans, so I can cook them up and make up this recipe.  I’ll post about the recipe itself, later.  Right now, I’m going to inventory the things in my pantry.  I have:

15 lb. brown rice

4 lb. brown sugar

1 #10 can each: dried celery, powdered egg, dehydrated onion, freeze dried strawberries, dried carrots, quick oats, regular oats, white flour, sugar, high gluten flour, baking soda, salt (oh, wait, I have two cans of salt), dried apple slices, raisins, dehydrated potato slice, potato pearls, Marshmallow Mateys, refried beans, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans

2 qt. dried black eyed peas

2 lbs. dried split peas

4 cans tuna

7 qts. canned salmon (canned for me by the amazing Merrill Dougal)

2 cans clams

10 pints beef chunks

3 pints beef broth

three rubbermaid containers the size of mailboxes full of various herbs and spices

1 little jar baking powder

2 bottles vanilla

1 five gallon bucket whole white wheat

1 five gallon bucket (almost gone) white rice

25 lb. bag rolled oats

5 lb. bag flour

1 five gallon bucket (nearly empty) sugar

4 lb. powdered sugar

odds and ends bags of corn chips

2 jars peanut butter (one creamy, one chunky)

1 jar strawberry jam

12 qt. canned peaches

12 qt. canned beets

half pint of tomato relish

A big “thing” of chicken bouillon cubes

half a box of chocolate cheerios

2/3 box of some high fiber cereal my husband eats

6 oz. bag of white chocolate chips

1 jar molasses (3/4 full)

1 bottle (unopened) ketchup

2 or 3 cans each: golden corn, green beans, beets

1 large bottle olive oil

1 large bottle canola oil

1 gallon white vinegar

1 bottle balsamic vinegar

That’s just what I remember off the top of my head—I’m sure some of the amounts are off, but still—I look at that list and think—how can I not find a way to make a decent meal out of some of that? 

A Typical Guatemalan Breakfast

What you see before you is the American approximation of a typical Guatemalan breakfast—eggs, black beans, toast, and juice. Eggs are usually scrambled, the black beans can take several forms—here they are refried and served with sour cream.  In Guatemala, beans and eggs are often served with a dry, crumbly cheese that reminds me a little of the parmesan cheese you buy in a container to shake on pizza. 

This is a humble meal and the daily breakfast fare for many people in Guatemala. I asked my husband once (a born and bred Guatemalan) if he ever got tired of eating the same thing every day. He said he didn’t know any different so he never thought about it. At the time I thought it was weird and a little sad to eat the same thing day after day—but then I took a look at my kids, who are perfectly content to have a bowl of instant oatmeal every day.  There are other options, but they are creatures of habit and content with what they have.  I don’t know much about other breakfast options in Guatemala or if there really are any, but if the food is good, cheap, filling, and satisfying—does it matter?

Preston’s Gingerbread Men

My brother Preston was by far the one most “into” the Christmas season when we were growing up.  He was the designated tree-setter-upper/decorator and rooftop light stringer. When he was about ten years old, he got a huge Christmas coloring book from the dollar store.  The thing was as thick as a phone book and included all kinds of activities and recipes.  One of the recipes was for gingerbread men and Preston took it upon himself to give the recipe a go.  It was a hit. He would make these up in an afternoon and soon the entire family was begging him to make another batch.  And another. And another. And...well, you get the idea.

Before I discovered my brother’s cookie creations, I was leery of gingerbread, it seemed too temperamental (think crumbling, earthquake-aftermath-esque candy covered houses), too tooth-breakingly crisp, and too spicy and gross (It’s not called Nutmegbread, people! Ew!).  Preston’s dollar store coloring book recipe is perfect—the spices are mellow and the dough rolls and cuts out beautifully.

Preston’s “Ginger Boys”
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. dark molasses
1/4 c. water
3/4 t. salt
3/4 t. ginger
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. allspice
2 1/2 c. all purpose flour

With an electric mixer on low speed, beat sugar, shortening, molasses, and water in a large bowl until blended. Beat on medium speed for one minute. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Cover and refrigerate dough until chilled (about 1 to 2 hours).  Heat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut dough with cookie cutters and lift cookies carefully with a large spatula onto an ungreased cookie sheet. (I like to use parchment paper, to make clean up easier and to avoid possible cookie breakage.)

Bake 8 to 10 minutes.  Let cookies cool on pan for three or four minutes before removing to a paper towel or cookie rack. Cool completely and decorate with frosting or royal icing.

Mariam’s “Save me from my lack of foodie-ness” Salad

I have this friend that I consider something of a foodie. She likes home-made food and works valiantly to avoid using processed foods in her cooking. I love this friend.  And, despite the fact that I like blue frosting that comes in a can, she loves me, too.  Anyway, one day, I invited this friend and her kids over for lunch.  I wanted the lunch to be special, a little more grown up than the standard PBJ or pizza thing we did when the kids were involved.  But what?  I wanted something savory, but light, substantial but not heavy. Now, this friend would have been fine with whatever the heck I came up with, because she’s laid back like that, but I wanted to do something great.  Special.  Something worthy of this friend’s palate. Something awesome.

And…I was at a loss.  I couldn’t think of anything to make.  With only a couple of hours before my friend was to arrive, I had nada.

Luckily for me, I ended up on the phone with another friend, who sadly, lives too far away for her own play date, but who is also something of a foodie, and deserves her own post for not only her culinary talents, but her other merits as well.  I digress…so, I was telling her about my dilemma and before I could get really melodramatic, she gave me the answer.  A salad so good, so tantalizing, so perfect, I could have smooched her.  In fact, I think I actually made kissy noises on the phone as we said good bye.  Anyway…

My play date friend was delighted with the salad (so was my hubby, who happened to be home for lunch that day. Oh, and the kids opted for grilled cheese sandwiches, which was fine with me—more yummy salad for the grown ups!) and I owe mucho gratitude to Miss Mariam for giving me such an awesome recipe. 

I don’t currently have photos of this salad, but as soon as I make this again (soon, my pretties, very soon) I’ll take some, and post them for your viewing delight. Now, onto:

Mariam’s Salad

1 container spring mix salad greens
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
black olives
pine nuts
feta or chevre cheese
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
sea salt
pepper
meat from rotisserie chicken (or two cooked chicken breasts) chopped into bite-size chunks

Mix greens, tomatoes, and onions, scatter black olives, pine nuts, and cheese to taste.  Sprinkle with oil and vinegar, sea salt, and pepper, to taste.  Add chicken chunks and toss gently.  Serve with a light soup or crusty bread.

 

Mom’s Make Ahead Rolls

I don’t know where my mom got this incredible roll recipe, but it’s my favorite.  Not only does it turn out these lovely, delicious rolls, it’s the only yeast bread recipe I have never screwed up.  Well, okay, I screwed it up once, but that’s only because I was too busy refereeing a squabbling match between a couple of my kids and wasn’t paying enough attention to the cooking.  So, it doesn’t count.

Mom’s Make Ahead Rolls

Heat together: 2 c. milk, 1/2 c. shortening, 2 t. salt, 1/2 sugar until shortening is melted. You can do this in a sauce pan or be lazy like me and just nuke it in a big bowl.

Add: 2 beaten eggs

Dissolve 2 T. yeast in 1/4 c. water and add to the egg mixture.

Beat in 6 c. flour, one at a time (it’s important to add the flour a little at a time, because if you add it all at once, the dough won’t mix up correctly—and you may find you don’t need the entire 6 cups of flour, so be sure you follow the directions here.)

The dough should be soft and a little tacky, but not overly sticky.  Let the dough raise for one hour or until it’s doubled in size.  I do this right in the bowl I mixed it together in.

Punch dough down and divide into thirds. Roll the thirds into circles and cut 8 to 12 wedges like you’d cut a pie.  Roll each wedge from the broad side to the point.  Brush with butter and place points down on a greased cookie sheet.  Let rolls raise again until doubled in size and bake at 400 degrees for ten minutes.

These also freeze well in the dough stage for later use.  To freeze, place cookie sheets with shaped, unbaked rolls in freezer.  When frozen, remove them from the cookie sheet and store them in freezer bags.  When you want to use them, place desired number of frozen rolls on a greased cookie sheet and let them thaw and rise until doubled in size.  This takes anywhere from three to five hours if you just set them out. You can hasten the thawing/raising process by preheating your oven to 200 degrees, then shutting it off and placing a bowl of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven.  Place the frozen rolls in the oven and let them raise until doubled in size (this will still take an hour or so.)  Then bake as above.

Just to let you know, I have let this dough over-raise and then over raise again, and the rolls still turned out fine.  Maybe they were a teeny weeny bit denser than if I’d not let the dough go so long, but the difference in texture was negligible and the taste was still divine.  This is a very forgiving recipe.