Archive for the ‘Recipes & Food Talk’ Category

Civil War Era Recipes Cookbook

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

I just finished publishing a new cookbook titled “Civil War Era Recipes Compiled from Historical Cookbooks”. The book is available in printed paperback or downloadable via ebook. There are over 40 pages of original recipes found in old cookbooks from the mid to late 1800′s.

So much fun to read, and a valuable resource for any Civil War reenactions. I did not change any language, grammar or spelling for this cookbook. The recipes were printed just as I found them in the antique cook books. This was so much fun putting together, and very hard to choose which recipes to include!

The cost for the printed version is $35, and the ebook version is only $4.99. Available on lulu.com

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Tinkerbell Cake

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

I recently made my second fondant decorated cake, and I thought it turned out very cute! My great niece wanted a Tinkerbell cake for her birthday, and I enthusiastically jumped at the chance to make one! I made marshamallow fondant for the bulk of the cake, and then used buttercream for some of the piping. The flowers are all made of fonant, and the figures were purchased. Here is a photo of the finished cake. I had so much fun making this one! And my niece screamed when she saw it…. she really liked it!

Tinkerbell Cake

Tags: baking, birthday cakes, cake, cake decorating, cake ideas, fondant cakes, tinkerbell
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Julie and Julia, Beef & Veggie Stew and Cherry Crisp

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

We had a significant snowstorm today, and I didn’t want to go to town for groceries, so I started looking around for things to add to a beef and vegetable stew for tonight’s dinner. I started the stew meat in the crock pot this morning, and kept adding stuff to it all morning. I ended up having to transfer it to a large stock pot, for lack of room in the crock pot. By evening, it was a wonderful, hearty concoction that included nearly everything but the kitchen sink!

For my stew, I ended up cooking some stew meat in the crock pot for several hours, then adding some beef broth, water and a can of tomato juice to the pot. To that, I threw in some frozen stir fry vegetables, a bunch of barley, a can of carrots (I didn’t even know we had a can of carrots! I didn’t buy them, but since I was out of fresh, I was happy to see them in the drawer!). I also dumped in a package of dry onion soup, some Yukon gold potatoes, a splash of worchestershire sauce, a bay leaf, some dried basil and italian spices, a couple of gloves of garlic and some salt & pepper. Cooked it all day long, and by evening it was sooooo yummy! Should even be better tomorrow! I put some in the freezer for later, and will put the rest back on in the crock pot for awhile tomorrow.

For desert, I made a cherry crisp with brown sugar, oatmeal, butter and flour topping. I only had a bag of frozen tart cherries available, but it turned out great even with the tart cherries! Timed just perfect to come out of the oven as we were finishing dinner. Perfect end to a perfect evening. Just wish I had thought to make or buy some ice cream yesterday! But not worth fighting the snowy roads to go to town tonight.

After supper, I ended the night with “Julie and Julia”. I loved the movie! It made me want to buy Julia’s book – Mastering the art of French cooking. I have loved to cook and bake my entire life, and it amazes me that I’ve never owned a copy of her book! Definitely going on my Christmas list this year!

Just a side note…I love the title of the movie – my legal name is Julia, but I’ve always been called Julie.

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Halloween fun

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

I love Halloween! I love the colors, the costumes and the fun treats that you can make! I just finished a batch of “severed fingers” cookies, courtesy of Martha Stewart’s recipe. What fun! I was literally giggling to myself as I was making them. Can’t wait for my great nieces and nephew to see them! Here are some photos of my cookies (next time I think I’ll tint the dough light green to make monster fingers)…

Severed finger cookies

Severed Finger Cookies

Here is the recipe, if you want to try them yourself.

Severed Fingers Halloween Cookies

2 tablespoons red food coloring
30 blanched almonds (I used sliced almonds for the fingernails and slivered almonds for the bones at the ends)
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with Silpats (French nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper, and set aside.
Place food coloring in a shallow bowl. crack each whole almond into halves. and toss them into the bowl with the food coloring and stir them until the color is evenly distributed. leave them in the bowl and stir them every so often until the color is as dark as you like.
Separate 1 egg. Set aside the white. In a small bowl, whisk together yolk, remaining egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add egg mixture, and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes.
Divide the dough in half. Work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and chilled. Divide the first half into fifteen pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece back and forth with palms into finger shapes, 3 to 4 inches long. Pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. Score each knuckle lightly with the back of a small knife. Transfer fingers to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.
When all fingers are formed, brush lightly with egg white. Position almond nails; push into dough to attach.
Bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool completely.
note: To make the knuckles more creepy just shape them big and uneven. To keep them from puffing out too much roll the fingers extra skinny.

Tags: cookies, disgusting, fingers, fun, ghoulish, halloween, holiday, treats
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Summer’s Bounty

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

I made one of the last trips to the weekly fruit truck today – I’ll be sad to see it end! Each summer in our area, a family from a nearby town sells fresh Colorado fruits & veggies every week. They set up for an afternoon each week, in various towns around Scott City, Kansas. They bring in luscious peaches and pears, Rocky Ford cantelopes, vine ripe tomatoes, potatoes, onions and more. Since I moved here too late to really put in a good garden, I’m really enjoying the produce!

Alas, this is the last week for Colorado peaches. I’ve been meaning to freeze some all month, and tomorrow I’m finally going to get some done! I bought a box of beautiful peaches and will plan on spending the afternoon freezing them. At the moment, I’m not looking forward to it, but I know we will appreciate them this winter!

I’ll be so sorry to see the fresh fruits and vegetables gone for the fall & winter, but we have some super sweet corn in the freezer, and peaches on the way tomorrow!

I thought I’d add some peach recipes today, since I have peaches on my mind!

Peach & Raspberry Almond Swirls from Ina Garten - If it’s from the Barefoot Contessa, you know it’s gonna be yummy!