Fast Food

Tali uses just five ingredients to make a great breakfast sandwich that you can be feasting on within five minutes of walking into the kitchen.

You need a couple of eggs, a slice of ham, a slice of cheese, butter and an English muffin.

Break the eggs into a small microwave safe bowl, and stir them with a fork.

Then, put the English muffin in the toaster.

Now put the eggs in the microwave and cook for about a minute.

Slice the cheese.

When the English muffins are toasted, butter them.

When the eggs come out of the microwave, they are in a cute round shape, perfect for an English muffin sandwich. You can melt the cheese a little by putting it into the bowl with the warm eggs for a second or two.

Then, assemble your sandwich. Eggs, ham and cheese on the buttered English muffin.

Fast! Easy! Tasty!

another ratatouille moment

Spade recently came across another favorite treat from his childhood and this one is courtesy of Angie also. It seems some of his favorite foods had skipped a generation, from his mom, past me and showing up again with our daughter-in-law. (Not that I didn't try!)

Here are Angie's Ginger Cookies

Measure these dry ingredients into a large bowl:
4 ½ Cups flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
¼ t salt

In a mixing bowl, cream together:
1 ½ cup shortening
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
½ cup molasses

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture.
Form the dough into balls about an inch in diameter.
Put about ¾ c sugar in a bowl and roll the cookies in the sugar before placing them on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for 8-9 min. (Mine seem to take a couple minutes longer than that.)

This makes a big batch of cookies. After I cook one cookie sheet full, I form the rest of the dough into balls, roll them in sugar and place them on waxed paper on a baking sheet, then put that in the freezer for a couple of hours. When the cookie dough is frozen, I put all the frozen dough balls in a large zip lock bag and keep it in the freezer.


Then, when we're in the mood for cookies, I just put the frozen cookies on a cookie sheet, pop it in the oven and cook it for a minute or two longer than unfrozen dough would cook.

Having a bag of frozen cookie dough in the freezer is a great thing that lets you go from hungry for a cookie to eating a warm one in about 15 minutes time.

now you tell me

When I was growing up, macaroni and cheese was not on the menu. But since it is was a favorite in Spade's family, I've made it often for the last 32 years.








I've used the same recipe, with minor variations, these past many years and never felt a need to venture from it. Then last week I came across a recipe that Angie had copied for me from the New York Times a couple of years ago. It had been sitting in my notebook untried when I came across it and I suddenly felt like doing something new.

Everyone loved the results and later Spade told me that that was just like his mother used to make and he liked it more than my faithful recipe that I've been using for three decades. :)

It's not the creamy dish I usually make, but it's plenty cheesy with a nice crispy cheesy crust on top.

I don't have the link to the original recipe, I'll just copy it for you the way Angie did for me.

Crusty Macaroni and Cheese

Time: 1 hr 15 minutes
Yield 8 to 12 servings

3 tablespoons butter
12 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
12 ounces American cheese or cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
1 pound elbow pasta, boiled in salt water until just tender, drained and rinsed under cold water
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
salt
2/3 cup whole milk

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Use one tablespoon butter to thickly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. Combine grated cheese and set aside two heaping cups for topping.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, cheeses, cayenne (if using) and salt to taste. Place in prepared pan and evenly pour milk over surface. Sprinkle reserved cheese on top, dot with remaining butter and bake, uncovered, 45 minutes. Raise heat to 400 degrees and bake 15 to 20 minutes more until crusty on top and bottom.

The menu we eat is pretty simple and we do it almost the same time after time. We have the macaroni and cheese along with broccoli and canned stewed tomatoes. (or canned diced tomatoes or one of the variations of canned tomatoes). It sounds so boring when I write it out, but it's really a favorite meal and doing it just this way is a familiar ritual we always enjoy.

Except that now I don't have to make the white sauce and melt the cheese! After all these years! I'm loving the change!

Lost and Found

You wouldn't expect to discover a great recipe in an orthodontist's office, but that's where I found the recipe that foreshadowed this Asian Pasta. I was browsing through a magazine when a recipe caught my eye and I hurriedly scribbled it into a little notebook I had with me. I tried it out right away and we loved it. I thought my sister-in-law would love it, but I procrastinated sending it to her, and then, before we could even enjoy the recipe a second time, I lost it!

At the next orthodontist appointment I looked for the magazine and it wasn't there. Then I looked for the magazine in the library with no luck. I pined for it and really regretted that I hadn't shared the recipe when I first thought of it. (Always share your recipes, you'll know who to call when you can't find one!) I wished I'd typed it out and added it to my recipe book. And I started a quest to find that recipe somehow.

It was several years later when I discovered a similar recipe in the newspaper and we've been enjoying it ever since. Every time I make it I'm glad I was able to discover it a second time.

Asian Pasta
Ingredients:
1 (8 oz) pkg linguine

1 chicken breast or two thighs, cooked and cubed

1 bunch green onions (about 1/2 C)
about half a pint of grape tomatoes halved or 3 med tomatoes to make about 1 cup diced
2 med ribs celery (about 3/4 C)
1 med cucumber (about 3/4 C)
(or try some other vegetables, like carrots, and/or sweet pepper)

Sauce
1/4 C vegetable oil
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or white vinegar
a half inch piece of ginger, minced and crushed or 1 t ground ginger
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste

Garnish
1/4 C unsalted peanuts, chopped

Directions:
Cook Linguine acccording to package directions.

Chop vegetables and place in 3 qt serving bowl along with the chicken.

Mix all sauce ingredients together until smooth. Set aside until pasta is done.

Chop the peanuts and set aside.

When pasta is tender, drain and add to bowl with veggies and chicken. Then pour the sauce over it and stir it all together. Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the mixture and serve right away.

This makes a nice meal for four. For our family of six, I always doubled it.

We served this last week when our neighbors came over for dinner, and I left the sugar out of the sauce. It tasted fine. So you can cut the sugar down to nothing if you'd like, without ruining the flavor at all.

roommates with recipes

One of the good things about having kids go away to school (and I have to admit that I hate it that my kids have gone off to school, or gone off anywhere for that matter -- in my perfect world they'd stay right here with Mommy forever. :) ) But anyway, they do it and one of the good things about that is getting to meet their roommates and friends.

It's been so interesting to see the friends from time to time over the years and if we don't see them, then to hear about their lives and jobs and families and adventures, etc.

Some of these friends have found a place in my kitchen as well as my heart. Tali's been especially good at teaching me the cooking tricks and recipes she's learned from her roommates. She made some very tasty brownies for Mother's day and they're easy to do. It was basically a doctored up brownie mix, but you could use your favorite recipe and doctor it if you wanted to.

Presenting: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

You can use your usual brownie recipe or get any brownie mix you like. Prepare it according to the package directions. When you have the batter ready, take a knife and dab pea sized globs of peanut butter in the bottom of the pan. Imagine where you'll be cutting the pieces and put one or two globs in each piece.

Then spread the brownie batter into the pan. Now sprinkle chocolate chips over the batter. I don't know how much she used, but I'd start with 1/4 cup and see how that looks. I also might try the bittersweet chips, just because I'm so addicted to dark chocolate. The tiny chips are especially good for sprinkling over things. Or regular chips could be chopped into little bits...

Bake according to the package directions.

That's it!

Delicious!!

some assembly required

This is our favorite spaghetti. I got the recipe when we were on a sailing trip in the Virgin Islands about 20 years ago. The sailboat was from Spain, so this might be Spanish style spaghetti. We call it Bacon Spaghetti.



Here's what you need to make it:
1 lb box of spaghetti
bottle of marinara sauce
pint of whipping cream or half and half
package of bacon
parmesan cheese

Here's how to do it.

Use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the bacon into 1 inch pieces, then cook it in a sauce pan to the doneness you like. Drain the grease.

In the meantime, cook the spaghetti. If it gets done before the sauce, drain the water and add a little olive oil and keep it covered.

Then add the marinara sauce to the bacon and heat through. Add as much of the whipping cream as you like. I usually use almost the whole pint. (I've also saved calories on this recipe by using turkey bacon and evaporated or skim milk.) Heat but don't boil.

That's it! Pass the Parmesan cheese.

dessert for breakfast

This is my favorite way to have oatmeal.
Use a pretty big bowl.
Scoop 1/2 cup oatmeal into the bowl and add 1 cup milk.
Cook in the microwave for 2 mins or so, be careful that it doesn't boil over.
Slice a banana into the warm oatmeal, slice a few strawberries in, break up a few pecans over the top. (You can use any fresh or dried fruit you have.)
You'll think you're having dessert for breakfast!

Banana bread... with chocolate.

This is another recipe from my mother-in-law with a couple changes.

Cream together:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened margarine
Add:
1/4 cup sour cream (or buttermilk)
2 eggs
2 mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix together in a separate bowl, then add to creamed mixture:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
Then fold in:
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips, chopped into small pieces

Bake in a 5x9 inch pan at 325 for about an hour.

Italian Potato Soup

I tried to re-create a soup we had at an Italian Restaurant. It turned out easy and tasty!

These are the ingredients:
1 package Italian sausage (1 to 1 1/2 lb)
1 onion
1 3 lb bag red potatoes
soup base, or bullion cubes, or broth (I use Better Than Bullion chicken or vegetable flavor)
1 pint half and half ( or milk)
2 oz arugula
oyster crackers

Here's how to do it.
Break the sausage into small pieces and cook.
Chop the onion and add to the sausage toward the end of the cooking.
Wash and slice the potatoes and add to pan after onions are translucent. Add enough water to barely cover (about 4-5 cups) and some soup base (about 2 Tbs) and cook until the potatoes are done. ( about 10 mins or so).
Add the half and half.
Add about 2 oz of arugula. (that's about half of a bag)
Serve with oyster crackers.
This makes about 8 servings.

dark chocolate + coconut = brownie bliss

This is a recipe I adapted from the brownie recipe on the back of a Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate baking bar. It's like a Mounds brownie.


Preheat oven to 350F.

Butter and flour an 8" x 8" baking pan.

Melt 2/3 cup (4 oz) Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup unsalted butter.

Let cool to room temperature.

Stir in 1 cup brown sugar, packed and 1 tsp vanilla.

Add 2 eggs, mix well.

Sift together:
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup & 2 Tbsp all purpose flour

Fold into the chocolate mixture.

Stir in 1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut.

Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Try not to eat the whole thing at once.

Very Tasty Curry

Several years ago a friend from Hong Kong showed me how she made curry. Joelle and I made it together recently and it was the best we'd ever made!

We used the list of ingredients from my friend's curry and added a few touches of our own. Here's what we did.

First we chopped half an onion, a shallot, half a yellow pepper and minced 3 cloves garlic. Then we heated olive oil in a large pot and sauteed them.

Then we chopped 3 chicken breasts and 6 or 7 small white potatoes into bite sized pieces and added them to the pot, and stirred it all for a few minutes.

Then we added enough water to cover the chicken and potatoes, and 3 tablespoons soup starter and brought to a simmer. (You can use bullion cubes or broth if you want to.)

When the potatoes and chicken were cooked, we added:
one can of coconut milk
one medium sized tomato, chopped
a half cup of frozen peas
one tablespoon thai curry paste
one teaspoon of yellow curry powder

And cooked this until it was all warm.

We served it over jasmine rice.

Yum!!!

This is about four generous servings.

Alternative Chicken Soup

Chicken noodle soup is the best therapy for a cold. Unfortunately we've needed it the last couple of weeks. I was in the mood for something a little different the other day and I tried adding a few different spices to my chicken soup and ended up with an interesting soup, more like a stew, that I think is as good for a cold as chicken noodle.

I'll give a recipe for about 8 servings, because when I make soup, I like to make a big pot so we can have leftovers once or twice. Cut the recipe down if you want a smaller amount, or if you don't have a nice big pot to make it in.


Chicken Soup, Moroccan Style

I used 3 chicken breasts. Cook them anyway you like and cut or tear the meat into small pieces. If you cook it in water, save the broth to add to the soup. (I had about 5 cups meat - but you could use a lot less or even leave it out.)

Chop the following and saute in olive oil:
3 stalks celery
4 carrots
an onion
a sweet pepper, any color you like

(If you cook the celery and carrot alone for first for a few minutes, then the pepper and onion won't get too overdone.)

Add water, (use the water the chicken cooked in.) I think I added about 9 or 10 cups water total, but you don't need to start with that much, 6 is probably enough to finish cooking the carrots and the pasta. Add soup base, probably 2 Tblspoons now and 2 later, as you adjust the seasonings. (You can use bullion cubes instead of soup base or you could use broth.) Bring the water to a boil and add 1 1/3 C orzo. (about half a 1lb box). Cook 10 minutes.

Add
2 large cans diced tomatoes
2 cans garbanzo beans
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of ginger and cumin
3/4 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
pepper to taste, maybe a heaping 1/4 t
a couple more Tblspoons of soup base
you probably don't need any salt
more water if you need it

(The orzo absorbs the water and the soup gets thicker after a little while. And especially in the refrigerator overnight.)

Heat through.

I like this soup because it smells fantastic and the flavor is so interesting. And almost all the ingredients can be found in the pantry. I hope you like it too.

Favorite Birthday Cake

Here's the recipe of the cake I made to celebrate Kaylie's birthday. My mother-in-law gave me the recipe about 30 years ago and it's been a favorite birthday cake for all of us.

This will make a 9 " square cake. Double it if you have a bigger crowd - you can make two 9" layers, three 8" ones or a 9"x13" cake. Yum!

Marjorie's Black Forest Cake

Combine dry ingredients:
3/4 C and 2 T flour
1 C sugar
1/4 C and 2 T cocoa
3/4 t baking soda
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Sift all this together.

In a separate bowl combine:
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1/4 C melted butter
2 t vanilla
1/2 C water

Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Pour into a greased and floured pan and bake at 350 degress for 25 minutes.

Let it cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove the cake from the pan and finish cooling on a rack.

Spread a can of chilled cherry pie filling on top and garnish generously with whipped cream.