Potatoes Done

When I saw you could make these ahead and then put them in the crock pot this was a no brainer.

They are amazing. As usual I messed with the original recipe. You can find that here:
http://lifeonvirginiastreet.com/2009/11/amazing-mashed-potatoes-html/

This is what I used
6# potatoes - cooked to fork tender
7 oz cream cheese
3 TBS butter
1 cup sour cream
Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash

Put all of it in the Kitchenaid mixer and mixed until creamy.  Done! In the refrigerator until tomorrow.

Pumpkin Pie

Pie number 2

Yes, I forgot to take a picture - already in the oven. I was intrigued with a recipe that my niece, Sarah Noble, pinned. The pumpkin pie had pepper in it. I just had to try it. I changed the recipe a bit. I doubled the amount of pumpkin.

Pie Crust for 1 large pie or 2 small
2 cans (15oz can) pumpkin puree - American Test Kitchen suggests cooking pumpkin on top of the stove and then cooling it before baking with it.
3 large eggs
1 and 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup heavy cream (I used pumpkin flavored coffee cream)
1/4 cup milk

Original Recipe from:
http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/10/26/the-great-pumpkin-pie-recipe/

This makes a very large pie. There was one bit of epic fail. It said to pre-bake the pie crust for 10 minutes. I did not use beans to keep the shape because I was worried about getting them out of a pie shell that wasn't fully cooked. And of course the sides collapsed. In retrospect I don't think I would pre-bake the pie crust.

Will critique tomorrow.

Apple Pie with Crumb Top

The first pie - Apple with Crumb Top - for our family Thanksgiving tomorrow.  This looks so good. I tried a new crumb topping. I didn't follow her directions because i combined everything and then added the melted butter. Turned out great though. (http://damndelicious.net/2012/12/30/coffee-cake-with-crumble-topping-and-brown-sugar-glaze/)

1 3# bag Gala apples sliced thin
1 TBS cinnamon
3/4 cup of crumb topping
1 TBS butter cut into small pieces

Mix together until each apple piece has cinnamon on it

Crumb topping
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups flour
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Mix dry ingredients. Add melted butter. Mix thoroughly.

Roll out pie crust. Add apples. Dot with the small pieces of butter.

Top the pie with remaining crumb topping. This is the tallest apple pie ever to go into my oven!

Put pie dish on cookie sheet to catch drips. Bake in 375 oven for 25 minutes then turn oven down to 350 and continue to bake for 25 minutes. Cover edges of crust with foil if it is turning too brown.

Will post picture after it is out and critique the taste tomorrow.

Yeah! A good start

Joanna came over today to help us start cleaning out the basement. When we saw a condo we liked this fall I knew that there would be no way we could even consider moving at this time. I decided right then that we needed to begin getting rid of the tons of stuff in the basement.

Joanna and Pat are at Bethesda right now. Lots of plates and bowls. Bags of clothes. Boxes and boxes of books.

Feels good!

Thank You Harvey's!

What a good time to pick for dinner out! The manager's were tasting new wines. Arlen shared.  I had a glass of Lancaster Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. It was so delicious. Full bodied. Tart. Yum. It will probably be over $100 bottle. Have to say - would love to win the lottery. Thank you Harvey's.

Tuesday Cooking Class

Yeah! Potstickers!  Javie and I made the best potstickers. Ours didn't look like this picture the blog posted. Ours were a rectangle. Quite easy. We used ground turkey instead of chicken. And I made a flat circle of scrambled eggs to slice into small pieces to replace the mushrooms. Yum!

We also had roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and squash. A yummy dinner. Click the picture to go to the recipe. It made enough to freeze a batch.

Javier asked, "Nana, have you ever heard of hot dogs wrapped in croissants? "

Guess what we are having next week!

Characters Changing the Plot

The next book, A Light Shines Forth, is coming along.  I find it very surprising that my characters have a life of their own.  I thought the ninth graders, Isabella and Ellie were the main characters.  As it turns out Emma and Noah have taken over.

While I write a chapter I actually go back into the previous chapters to add tidbits that may lead into what I am writing.  That is when the characters usually take over.  Ideas and thoughts just spill out onto the page and I find that the whole novel could have a new twist.

Now if I can just figure out how to smoothly move my book five years into the future I will be able to pull this novel off.

I love writing.  I love my characters.

Tuesday switched to Sunday

The kiddos do not have class on Tuesday because their classrooms are a polling place. Which means I need to mention that we all need to vote on Tuesday.

So today after church Javier, Pat and I cooked dinner. Before I left for work I put chicken in the oven on the slow cooker setting. It was the first time I used that setting. It worked great.

When we got home we made Grandma Shea chicken. Cooked chicken dredged in flour seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash and parsley. Javier learned to season by looking at the pattern on the flour. Then browned in butter.

We made pasta with cheese. Javier learned by chewing a piece of pasta whether it was done.

We made Red Lobster biscuits - yum.

Pat made corn.

Everything was delicious.

Then after giving them the cookie dough I made this morning they went home.  A half hour later Sheala and Joanna stopped by. We visited for awhile before they went over to Caroline and Jesse's. 

Now we are waiting for Madam Secretary to start and drinking Mr. Lepeak's raspberry wine. Tangy, sweet, full bodied. YUM.

No Fresh Tomatoes Spaghetti Sauce

Yesterday, Javier learned how to make a quick spaghetti sauce when you don't have any fresh tomatoes.  I explained that if we had fresh we would cook it for a couple hours - when you need something quick - you open lots of cans and jars!

This made a huge amount of sauce - fed 10 with lots of leftovers.

3 jars of whatever kind of spaghetti sauce is on sale and has garlic in it
2 large cans of Hunts tomato sauce
2/3 of a can of Contadina tomato paste
1/4 cup of water in each of the jars to shake and add all the remaining sauce
A large squeeze of the Parsley, Italian Herbs and Garlic

And always stir with a wooden spoon!

I made the meatballs in the morning because they learned how to make meatballs already.  But meatballs are the secret ingredient to the best sauce ever.  Slowly simmering the already baked meatballs in the sauce makes the best flavored sauce.

We also had to frost the pumpkin roll and put it in the refrigerator before going to catechism class. No class next week so we can make the whole meal together!

Butterballs

These were our favorite Christmas cookie growing up on Hoyt Street.  I can say right now - I love the dough before it is baked - I love the cookie after it is baked - I could live on this cookie.  Mom always made them very small, my friend Jan makes them really big.  My friend Bea calls them Mexican Wedding Cookies - my Mom called them Butterballs.  Love them all.

1/2 pound butter
4 Tbs Granulated Sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups walnuts or pecans, chopped fine
1 3/4 cups Regular flour or 2 cups cake flour measured, then sifted

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla, add nuts and flour.  Refrigerate and then roll into small balls.
Bake 1/2 hour in a 300 degree oven.
Roll hot in powdered sugar then again when cool.

Quick Trip to Virginia

On Wednesday we took Robbie to Virginia.  He needed to be at the airport in Richmond on Thursday where he was going to catch his plane to Okinawa.  Joanna, Pat and I stopped at Joanna's best friend's home overnight in Virginia Beach.

Marina, Jason and their son, Mark, were such great hosts.  We had a very nice time visiting with them.  Marina didn't know that Joanna was coming, it was a nice surprise.  Their home is so warm and inviting.  This was the first time Pat and I met Jason and Mark.  It was so nice to get to know them.

On Thursday morning we got up early and Marina, Joanna, Pat and I took Robbie to Richmond.  We were so surprised at how small the airport is - it is an international airport so we expected something the size of Detroit.  But we walked in and Robbie went right to the counter to check in - no waiting.

Then after we had breakfast we watched as Robbie went through checkin.  It was very hard to watch him go.  Marina had packed him a huge amount of food.  A big sandwich, homemade hand held apple pies and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

We went back to Marina's and spent the night.  She made the best shrimp boil - I know I will be making that here for our friends.  It was delicious.

On Friday we left to come home.  It was a whirlwind trip - but one so filled with love and laughter and stories and good times and good food.

Robbie had a delay in Chicago, missed his flight, because of that delay, in Tokyo and then finally texted his Mom to say he made it to Okinawa.  Already miss that guy.

It's Elsa!

I LOVE Pinterest!  There was a picture of a cake that was made to look like a Crystal palace. I figured I could do that for Ayva. We found sugar crystal candy on sticks at Rau's in Frankenmuth. I printed out an Elsa from the Internet and taped her to a stick. The cake is two rounds - one for the bottom, the other cut in half for a send layer and the other half I cut the ends off and made a small third layer.  The two small ends I used to fill in under the third layer.

I crumb coated with white buttercream. Then swirled blue into the second batch and frosted again. I sprinkled clear sugar glitter and put it in the refrigerator.

Once it was cold I put the crystal sticks and Elsa on the layers. The only thing that didn't work too well was the expensive tube of Wilton glitter frosting I bought to write happy birthday.

American Prophet

So excited. Jonathan Stewart formerly a co-parishioner at the Cathedral (and a son of one of the famous Allen Girls) will be playing the lead in the short film The American Prophet.

Bishop Gumbleton was a great friend to our beloved Bishop Ken. I cannot wait to see this wonderful man play such an important role.

Half Day of School Fun

Ayva has been waiting all year for this day.  We only get the Halloween box out in October - that way it really is special.  She loves dressing up in all the outfits - especially the scary ones.  However Javier really didn't want too much to do with it this year.  He still had fun though.  Neither one will try on the old man old woman masks - they said they are freaky.  Nana and Papa like them!

We also had lunch - grilled cheese - yum.  And we frosted Aunt Betty's Easy Sugar Cookies so they could take some home in the empty container from Jesse's rice.  You know the rule - don't send back an empty container. Unfortunately, Nana forgot to replace the food coloring!

Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmmmm

Dinner with friends. It was so nice to sit and talk.

I combined two recipes for delicious chicken enchiladas with this being the main recipe. The change I made was to make the alfredo sauce from this recipe instead of the heavy cream.

Then I cheated and asked Jesse to make rice. 

Best cheat ever! 

Green beans saute with onions in a little butter.

Then crush up potato chips and mix them in.

Cannoli Poke Cake

Frozen Fun

The Apple Orchard had a Frozen Frenzy Day. 

Ayva loved meeting Elsa and Anna. 

Javie liked riding the train and horses.

Wednesday Cooking

We were busy yesterday so we couldn't have our cooking day. So we picked the kids up yesterday. We had so much fun, even if Papa had to go help his friend.

Javier and Ayva took turns with the apple peeler/corer. They liked making the peel come off in one long piece. Then they ate them. We made the best apple crisp and named our bakery The World Famous Bakery.

The apple crisp was extra delicious

Topping
Combine in Food Processor
1 cup flour
3 cups oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TBS cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp nutmeg

Add through opening 1 tsp at a time

2 sticks unsalted butter - save 3 tsp of the butter for the apples

Apple Filling
15 apples
1 TBS cinnamon
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp nutmeg
the 3 tsp of saved butter from the topping


Peel and core the apples and slice very thin.  Toss the apples with the sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg.  Put in 9 x 13 pan or larger.  Dot with the butter.  Sprinkle topping evenly over the apples. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes or until bubbling.

They each made a menu. And we talked about what they should say to Grandma Caroline, Grandpa and Aunt JoJo when they arrived.

Javier pounded the steaks so they would be tender. Then they went outside to collect leaves for decorations.

Ayva put the leaves on the table. She asked, "Nana, did God make pink leaves so I would pick them? " I answered, "Yes of course."

We  put candles on the table which invokes the Nana rule: No burping or farting at the table. I know how terrible that sounds to some of you but it has worked for about 16 years.

When our guests arrived for dinner they were welcomed to our bakery and asked how their day was.

Pound steak

Drizzle with olive oil and red wine vinegar

sprinkle with garlic, Mrs. Dash, salt, pepper, thyme

Grill 4 minutes on each side

We had a delicious dinner of steak, smashed potatoes, broccoli, green beans, salad and apple crisp.  The hit of the evening were the green beans that I sauted in butter and olive oil.  Added dill, salt and pepper and then when they were done and I was looking for my small bowl and realized it still had potato chips in it from the kids afterschool snack.  I crunched them up and added the green beans - yummy! Then clean up and Aunt JoJo helped Javier with his math homework.

What a great day.

Thank You St. Anthony

Caroline asked me yesterday where she could get crates to make book shelves.  I told her we would watch estate sales. I said to myself, "Maybe St. Anthony will help us find some."

Today we found eight.  Thank you St. Anthony.

Blessings

You would think I would be sad because Robbie received his certification and we weren't there to see it.  But instead I am so happy that his mother's best friend was there with her husband cheering him on. 

We were so happy that Robbie was assigned to technical school so close to Marina and Jason. It just made everyone feel that he was safe and secure, close to people who love him.

A big thank you and hugs to both of them.

U.P. Color Tour

What beautiful color! For the last several years the fall colors have been so dark. This year the vibrant pops of color intermingled with the green pines have been a joy to see.

We stopped overnight at Mr. Lepeak's in Grand Marais. Even with the rain we love the drive. The tree trunks are jet black and they set off the oranges, reds and yellows.

We brought dinner with us and sat at the kitchen table drinking his famous raspberry wine. It was delicious. We heard all about his family and Grand Marais. He just had his 89th birthday and was proud to say he had just been certified again for the coast guard auxiliary. 

He took us to breakfast at the new bakery/restaurant in town. It is a beautiful place with pine siding, fireplaces, unique tables and delicious food. He pointed to the wall and told us he gave them an antique set of snowshoes he had laying around the shed.

A very nice visit.