Extra Dessert Delights Apple Pie Gum

This summer, I've been struggling with my desire to eat nothing but peanut butter milkshakes (and Peanut Buster Parfaits, and Tin Roof Sundaes, you get the idea!).  I've been able to maintain my weight all summer, but nothing has been happening on the weight loss front.  Instead of getting frustrated, I've been trying to nudge some of the bad habits I've picked up in the summer back to healthier habits.  I saw this gum in the checkout aisle last week and decided to give it a try since I'm a fan of the Extra Dessert Delights Mint Chip ice cream gum.  I'm glad I took a chance, because I'm now a big fan of this Apple Pie Gum!  I know it sounds weird, and I have to say, it is a little weird, but it tastes like apple pie!  It's just enough to take the edge off of a sugary dessert craving.  I do have to say that after about one minute, the taste starts to wear off a little and it gets a little blah, so it's not a gum you want to pop in your mouth to give it something to do for a while, just for a quick taste of sweetness.  Now Extra just needs to invent a peanut butter milkshake flavor and I'll be all set!

Pie + Cupcake = Pupcake!

One of the last "baby words" my 4 year old still says is "Pupcake" instead of "cupcake".  I've never really broken him of this word because I think it's cute.  However, he's growing up just far too quickly in my opinion and I know that "pupcake" will go the way of other baby things.  So I decided I needed to invent a "pupcake".  Pie + cupcake = pupcake.  This recipe is for a banana cream pupcake.  I made them in my mini muffin tins so each ended up being a hearty teaspoonful.  They would make cute appetizers, but only for close friends as the cupcake liner was a little floppy and they were a little messy.  They were so cute and yummy though, slight floppiness can be forgiven among close friends.

This recipe is basically a scaled down version of banana cream pie.  Enjoy!

Banana Cream Pupcakes by Joie de vivre
 Makes 24 pupcakes with plenty of vanilla cream leftover to make more

Ingredients:

Mini cupcake liners
Mini cupcake pan
1 banana
Mini Nilla wafers
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2  c. 2% milk
5 egg yolks
3 Tbls. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Whipped cream for garnish

Directions:

1.  Line 24 mini muffin cups with mini cupcake liners
2.  Place one mini Nilla wafer at the bottom of each cup.  Set muffin pans aside

3.  Start making vanilla cream.  In a saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and salt.  Add the 2% milk and whisk until combined.
4.  Place saucepan on medium heat and thoroughly whisk in the egg yolks.  Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to barely a simmer.  Cook at barely a simmer for one minute.
5.  Off of the heat, whisk in the butter and the vanilla extract until incorporated.  Mixture should be thickened, if it is not, return it to a gentle heat until it does start to thicken.

6.  Cut banana into thin slices.  Top each Nilla wafer in the muffin cups with one slice of banana.  Top these with one heaping tablespoon full of vanilla cream and then top with another slice of banana.

7.  When the pupcakes are all assembled, cover with Saran wrap and place in the fridge to cool.  The custard will firm up a little more.
8.  When ready to serve top each with a dollop of whipped cream and serve with a spoon.

See how cute these are?!  Sweet face was so excited to try them.  They got an enthusiastic approval from all of us!

The cuteness of these cupcakes (and the cuteness of Sweet Face) inspired a cuteness collage.  I'm submitting these cuties to the Eat Your Words challenge hosted by Tangled Noodle and Savor the Thyme. 

Coconut Custard Pie from the Blender

Do you have any community cookbooks?  You know, the cute cookbooks where grannies, or moms or firefighters get together, share their favorite recipes and then make a cookbook to raise money?  I recently inherited one such cookbook from my mother titled Polish Foods as we Remember created by the Golden Age Club from Assumption Church in Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1977.  I used this cookbook to create my whole Easter feast, as well as making this Coconut Custard Pie for a new mom at my church.  It was super easy, was in the oven with about 5 minutes prep time, and was ready to go to the new mom in an hour.  You'll love the ease of it, plus the subtle sweetness and the crunch of the coconut.

Coconut Custard Pie from the Blender adapted by Joie de vivre from Polish Foods as we Remember

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/2 c. all purpose flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. melted butter

2 c. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.

3.  Pour ingredients into a greased and floured 10 inch pie pan.  

4.  Bake for 45 minutes until set on the sides and slightly jiggly in the very center, it should also be lightly browned.

5.  Rest on the counter for 20 minutes.  Serve immediately while warm or refrigerate and serve cold.  Leftovers should be refrigerated.

Lazy Daisy Cake

Vintage recipes fascinate me.  At times, they can be downright scary, i.e. jello with meat in it, but most of the time, they are fabulous recipes that have stood the test of time.  Lazy Daisy Cake has been around since the 30's.  In an era where hard working women were washing diapers by hand and hanging them on the line, and everything was made from scratch, the lazy daisy cake was a way to get a wonderful dessert on the table without too much effort or the fuss of a real frosting.  The topping on this cake is a broiled coconut topping which caramelizes milk, brown sugar, and butter.  I was able to put this cake together in about 10 minutes, and then watched as it broiled for about 4 minutes at the end.  Because the topping is so moist, the cake also lasted more than a week and tasted just as wonderful as the first day with a little zap in the microwave to re-warm the topping.  I'd totally recommend it.  I'm sending this one over to Joy at Joy of Desserts for her Vintage Recipe Thursday event.

Lazy Daisy Cake adapted from America's Best Lost Recipes

Ingredients:

For cake:

2 c. high gluten unbleached flour (or all purpose)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbls. unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

1 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 large eggs

2 c. granulated sugar

For topping:

9 Tbls. unsalted butter, melted

3/4 c. packed light brown sugar

6 Tbls. evaporated milk

1 1/2 c. sweetened, shredded coconut

Directions:

1.  For the cake:  Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 x 13, broiler safe baking pan (Do not use Pyrex)

2.  Heat the milk slightly in a small saucepan and melt the 4 Tbls. butter in it.  Do not boil.

3.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside

4.  In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs and granulated sugar with an electric mixer on medium high until pale and thick, about 6 minutes.

5.  Fold half of the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then stir in 1/2 of the milk mixture, stir the other half of the flour mixture into the egg mixture, then stir in the other 1/2 of the milk mixture.  

6.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

7.  Remove the cake from the oven when done, pre-heat the broiler with the oven rack still in the middle of the oven.

8.  For the topping:  In a medium bowl, melt the 9 Tbls. butter in the microwave.  Add the brown sugar, evaporated milk, and the coconut.  Spread the mixture on top of the cake.

9.  Place the cake back in the oven and broil until the topping is bubbling and starts to brown, about 3-4 minutes.  Cool slightly before serving.

Raspberry Sorbet with Thai Chili and Lemon

We had guests over for lunch today and since the weather is getting warmer, I wanted to lighten up the dessert a bit.  Sorbet seemed to be the order of the day.  This recipe is adapted from Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman.  I have had this cookbook for awhile and frankly had never looked at it because it belonged to my husband before we got married.  A recent comment from Sam at My Carolina Kitchen made me pull it off the shelf and I have to tell you, it is wonderful!  To go along with this meal, I also prepared Mashed Potatoes with mustard and crunchy shallots, and Rabbit with Mustard, all to rave reviews.  It is a really well laid out book and the directions are simple.

Let's get back to this wonderful dessert.  The sorbet was fresh and bright tasting with the slightest hint of heat from the chili.  It made the perfect ender for a lazy spring lunch.

Raspberry Sorbet with Thai Chili and Lemon adapted from Simple to Spectacular

Ingredients:

24 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed

4 Tbls. lemon juice

1 Thai chili, seeded and roughly chopped

1/2 c. sugar

1 c. water

Directions:

1.  Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

2.  If desired, strain mixture through a fine sieve to remove the raspberry seeds.  I left them in for a more rustic feel.

3.  Chill the mixture in the refrigerator until completely chilled, 4 hours or overnight.

4.  Process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to directions.  Mixture will be soft.  You can serve it as is, or place the mixture in a freezable container and freeze 1-2 hours for a firmer consistency.  

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

For my husband's birthday last week, he requested a St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake.  He had seen this recipe in the Oct/Nov 2008 edition of Cook's Country and has been drooling over it for months!  It turned out really well (what from Cook's Country doesn't really?).  The bottom layer is a yeasted cake that is not too sweet and really retains a yeasty flavor.  It is topped with a gooey, pudding layer and then finished with powdered sugar.  It only made an 8 x 8 inch pan so we weren't overwhelmed with cake for days and days.  If super sweet cakes are your cup of tea, this cake is not for you, but if you like quirky, regional specialty cakes, this one will be a hit!  I'm sending this over to Susan over at Wild Yeast for her weekly YeastSpotting event.

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake adapted from Cook's Country Oct/Nov 2008 edition

Ingredients:

Dough:

1/4 c. whole milk, warmed to about body temperature

1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast

1/4 c. sugar

2 large eggs, room temp

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. high gluten, unbleached flour (or all purpose flour)

6 Tbls. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and softened

Gooey Layer:

1/2 c. sugar

4 Tbls. unsalted butter, softened

2 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 Tbls. light corn syrup

1 large egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 c. high gluten, unbleached flour (or all purpose flour)

3 Tbls. instant vanilla pudding mix

Confectioners sugar

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.  When oven reaches 200 degrees F, shut the oven off.  Line an 8 x 8 inch pan with a few wide strips of foil that hang over the edge to help in removing the cake from the pan when it is done.  Grease the foil, the pan, and a medium bowl.

2.  For the dough:  Combine the milk and yeast and beat with an electric mixer on low speed until the yeast dissolves.  Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour and mix until combined.  Increase the speed and add the butter, one Tbls. at a time.  Continue mixing for 5 minutes to help develop the gluten.  Transfer the batter to the greased bowl, cover with Saran wrap, and put in the warmed oven to rise for about 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, spread the batter into the prepared pan.  Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

3.  For the gooey layer:  In a bowl, beat the sugar, butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Reduce the speed and add the corn syrup, egg, and vanilla.  Add the flour and pudding mix and mix until combined.  Dollop mixture evenly over the batter and spread gently into an even layer over the cake batter.

4.  Place the cake into the oven and bake until the outside is golden and the topping is still jiggly and just starting to color slightly, about 25 minutes.  Cool in the pan for at least 3 hours, remove the cake from the pan using the foil strips.  Place the cake on a plate, remove the foil strips, and dust the cake with confectioners sugar.  Serve and refrigerate any leftovers.

Raspberry Marlow

I love vintage cookbooks and old recipes.  So I was so excited to read about the Everything Old Is New Again recipe contest over at the Domestic Muse.  I recently inherited an old cookbook that belonged to my grandmother, Norge Binding of Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook.  I love this cookbook!  One, it is huge, two, the copyright is 1945 so it is FILLED with vintage recipes, and three, my grandmother won this book for being the top sales girl on the floor of White House Appliances in Eureka, CA.  She was very proud of her accomplishment and of this cookbook.

This was my first time actually using this book because I am so afraid it is going to fall apart!  It deserves to be used though and it reminds me of my grandmother and makes me wonder if she had ever tried the recipes and what she thought of them.  Grandma, I made this for you!  It is very rich tasting, but perfect for a spring day.  My five year old thought it would be perfect in a no-bake pie with a graham cracker crust.  Perhaps that will be our next experiment with the leftovers!

Raspberry Marlow adapted from Norge Binding of Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. raspberries (defrosted if frozen)

8 oz. marshmallows

1/3 c. dates, finely chopped

1 c. heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1.  Mash the raspberries to a pulp and add them to the top of a double boiler over gently simmering water.  Add the marshmallows and stir continuously until the marshmallows are melted completely.

2.  Transfer the marshmallow mixture to a bowl, stir in the dates.  Chill the mixture 1-2 hours.

3.  Whip the whipping cream until heavy peaks form.  Stir in 1/3 of the whipping cream into the chilled marshmallow/raspberry mixture to lighten it a little.  Fold in the rest of the whipping cream gently.  

4.  Chill until ready to serve.

Georgia Cookie Candy

I do believe that Paula Dean has happened upon the secret recipe for Reese's Peanut Butter cups but taken out the preservatives!  My boys and I were watching Paula last week and she had her son Bobby on making this.  I told my boys, "Look at that big boy, he's bigger than his mommy!"  They did not believe that Bobby was Paula's son because how could you ever be bigger than your mommy?  They were intrigued however by the Georgia Cookie Candy and asked to make it.  It was a wonderful dish to make with kids as it doesn't require any cooking.  Plus, it makes such a big pan, desserts are covered in your house for a week.  Here's the link to Georgia Cookie Candy on the Food Network website.  Enjoy!

Poached Pears in a Cranberry-Brandy Sauce

I love lazy Sunday lunches (with lazy Sunday desserts!)  On a quest towards healthier living, I created this healthy dessert, and I do have to say, it was lovely!  It's made in the crock-pot so it's super simple to put it in and forget about it until you're ready to eat.

Poached Pears in Cranberry-Brandy Sauce by Joie de vivre

Ingredients:

 

Yeild:  8 servings

1 1/2 cups cranberries

8 pears, peeled, halved and cored

2/3 c. water

1/2 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. brandy

zest and juice of 1 lime

Whipped cream, to serve

Directions:

1.  In the insert of a 6 qt. crock pot, combine the cranberries, pears, water, sugars, brandy and zest and juice of lime.  Stir gently to coat the pears.

2.  Cover the crock pot and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours until the berries have burst and the pears are tender.

3.  To serve, give each person two pear halves and some sauce.  Pass the whipped cream to top.

Healthy Ambrosia

Isn't this gorgeous?  I've been trying to create quick and healthy desserts for lazy Sunday lunches.  This one was so healthy that the leftovers doubled as a delicious breakfast the next morning!

Healthy Ambrosia by Joie de vivre

Yeilds at least 8 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients:

1 15 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

1 15 oz. can red grapefruit sections, drained

1 pear, cored and chopped

1 apple, cored and chopped

1 red banana, peeled and chopped

2 Tbls. lemon juice

1/4 c. sweetened coconut

Directions:

1.  Add everything to a bowl and stir together.

2.  Serve in small dessert bowls to up the fanciness factor!

A Carrot Cake to celebrate my 100th post!

Dearest Readers,

To celebrate my 100th post, I thought I'd share with you a fabulous carrot cake recipe.  I made this for my husband's birthday when we first started dating and I'm pretty sure it is the reason he first fell in love with me!  (Of course he has since discovered a million other reasons to love me!).  I'm sending this over to Debbie at The Friday Friends for her Carrot Cake Showdown!

Carrot-Ginger Layer Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine, April 1999.

Ingredients for cake:

unsalted butter, for pans

3 c. all purpose flour

1 c. (3 oz.) pecan halves, toasted and chopped

1 lb. large carrots, peeled and grated finely (should yield 2 1/2 cups grated)

3 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 c. lowfat buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 Tbls. freshly grated ginger

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 recipe for Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

1.  Butter and flour two 8 x 2 inch round cake pans.  Tap out excess and set aside.  

2.  Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees F.

3.  In a large bowl, place grated carrots, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, sugar, vegetable oil and ginger.  Whisk until combined.

4.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Using a rubber spatula, fold the flour mixture into the carrot mixture until combined.  Fold in the chopped pecans.

5.  Divide the batter between 2 cake pans and cook until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Approx. 1 hour and 20 minutes.

6.  Remove the pans from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool, 15 minutes.  Turn cakes out onto the rack and let stand until completely cool.

7.  When completely cool, cut each cake in half crosswise to make 4 layers.  Place a layer on a cake stand and spread 3/4 c. frosting on top.  Repeat with the other layers.  On the last layer, spread the frosting on the top and sides of the cake.  Transfer to the refrigerator and chill for 3-4 hours.

Orange Cream-Cheese Frosting adapted from Martha Stewart Living, April 1999

Ingredients:

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3 8 oz. bars of cream cheese, room temperature

3 c. confectioners sugar

1 Tbls. freshly grated orange zest

2 Tbls. freshly grated ginger

pinch of salt

Directions:

1.  Beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer approximately 2-3 minutes until fluffy.  

2.  Add the orange zest, ginger and salt and continue to beat well.

3.  Turn the mixer to low and beat in the 3 c. of confectioners sugar.  Beat until fluffy, approximately 5 minutes.

Poached Dried Fruit Compote

I've been trying to add some healthier dessert options to our lazy Sunday lunches.  This recipe for poached fruit is simple, yummy and a healthy alternative to high sugar desserts.

Poached Dried Fruit Compote

Serves 6

Ingredients:  

8oz. of mixed dried fruit (I used a combination of dried apricots, prunes, dried cherries and raisins)

1 c. low sugar apple juice

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

1 cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

4  whole allspice

Directions:

1.  Place the cloves and the allspice either in a tea ball, or in a muslin cloth bag.

2.  Place all of the ingredients and the spices in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil.

3.  Once boiling, turn down the heat to a simmer and cover the pot.  Simmer the fruit for 15-20 minutes until the fruit is tender.

4.  To serve, remove the cinnamon stick and spices and spoon the compote into small dessert bowls.  Serve warm with whipped cream, or chilled.

Green-Tomato Mincemeat, The Recipe!

After my previous post, a few of you asked what mincemeat was, and a couple of you asked for the recipe.  I was answering these questions one by one, but it may be easier to just post the recipe.  Thank you all for reading my blog and for asking those questions!  

Mincemeat originally was a combination of meat, fruit, and spices (hence the name) but has morphed into a sweeter creation minus the meat.  Some recipes still contain meat or suet, but most don't anymore.  It often has apples, raisins, currents and sometimes nuts, combined with spices.  The resulting mixture is sweet and gooey with lots of spice and texture.  My recipe is modified from my favorite canning cookbook Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt.  This cookbook is on my counter continuously from June through September as it is just jam packed with great (and safe) recipes for canning produce.

Green-Tomato Mincemeat adapted from Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt

Makes about 5 quart jars

Ingredients:

8 cups chopped green tomatoes

1 Tbls. salt

4 cups boiling water

10 cups tart green apples, chopped

4 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed

2 cups raisins

2 cups currants

1/2 cup distilled white vinegar

3 Tbls. orange zest, finely chopped

1 Tbls. lemon zest, finely chopped

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

2 Tbls. unsalted butter

1.  Place tomatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt.  Let stand for 1 hour to draw excess moisture out of them.  Rinse and drain well.  Pour boiling water over tomatoes and let stand for 5 minutes.  Drain well.

2.  In an 8-10 quart pan, combine the drained tomatoes and all of the remaining ingredients in the order listed except for the butter, stirring gently after each addition.

3.  Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.  Reduce the heat and simmer until the apples are tender when pierced.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Stir in the butter.  Remove the pan from the heat.

4.  Ladle the mincemeat into hot and sterilized jars.  Remove as many air bubbles as possible.  Leave 1/2 inch head space.  Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth.  Cover with hot and sterilized lids and apply screw rings.  Process quart jars in a 200F water bath for 30 minutes.

Mincemeat Pie

Last night, we had dinner over at my in-laws so I got a night off from cooking!  My mother in law went all out with a lamb roast, mashed potatoes and lamb gravy, and homemade muffins.  I supplied the dessert.  Last summer, when apples were in season and the last of the tomatoes were hanging green on the vine, I canned some green tomato mincemeat for use in future pies.  It came in handy last night.  After church, I bought a refrigerated pie crust (I know, the shame right?), laid out the bottom crust in the pie pan, scalloped the edges and pricked it all over.  Then, I added the jar of green tomato mincemeat.  For the top crust, I found a smallish cookie cutter (I could only find my little man cookie cutter), cut the top crust into the shapes and laid them over the filling.  To get the shapes to stick together, I gently wet the bottom of the pieces before laying them on top of the other pieces.  This was super easy to do, only took a little extra time, and really upped the wow factor of the pie.

5 minute chocolate mug cake

After lofty goals last French Friday, hormones hit this week and I craved chocolate.  Tuesday night was my low point and I was desperate for something chocolatey.  I remembered a blog post by NuKiwi from From a Kiwi Kitchen, With Love for a 5 minute microwave chocolate cake that had me racing to the computer.  It hit the spot.

The cake itself was slightly dry, but very chocolate-y.  I enjoyed it immensely and for the ease in preparation it got high marks in my book.  This is a perfect dessert when you only want to make one portion.  NuKiwi had a trick to combat the dryness of the cake, you can read her recipe and modifications here.  She also has a simple chocolate frosting recipe in her post.  The following though, is her original chocolate cake recipe that I made.

5 minute chocolate mug cake by NuKiwi of From a Kiwi Kitchen, With Love

Ingredients:

4 Tbls. flour

4 Tbls. sugar

2 Tbls. cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

3 1/2 Tbls. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbls. vegetable oil

Directions:

1.  In a medium measuring bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well.

2.  Crack in the egg and mix well, then add the milk, vanilla, and oil, mixing until there are no visible lumps.

3.  Now pour it into your coffee mug or favorite microwaveable teacup (make sure it is a large one) and microwave it for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.

4.  Allow it to cool a few minutes before frosting.

Sunday dinner with the folks

Sunday is the busiest day of the week for me.  I wake earlier than any other day to set up my classroom for Sunday school before choir practice starts at 8am.  It's these days (oh, who am I kidding, it's everyday!) that I relish using my crock pot to get dinner prepared and not have to think about it.  This past Sunday, we had my in-laws and my husband's uncle over for dinner so having the ability to make a lot of food in the morning, without having to check on it all day was a plus as I scurried around making the house presentable.  I happened upon this recipe in the Fix in and Forget it Big Cookbook, as I do periodically in order to try fresh ideas, I randomly opened to a page in the book and made what was on that page.  I opened to Reuben Chicken Casserole and it was a winner.  Leftovers were equally delicious last night.  

In a second crock pot I made something called Just Peachy, from the same cookbook, which was an easy cobbler type recipe.  I had my mother-in-law bring vanilla ice cream to top this with and we stored it outside during dinner since I was running out of freezer space and it was colder outside than it was in my freezer!  Both recipes follow.  Enjoy!

Reuben Chicken Casserole adapted from Fix it and Forget it Big Cookbook

Makes 8 servings

Prep time:  20 minutes

Cooking time:  4-6 hours on LOW

Ingredients:

2- 15 oz. cans sauerkraut, rinsed, drained and slightly squeezed to remove excess moisture, divided

1 cup Russian salad dressing, divided

8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, divided

3 Tbls. dijon mustard, divided

1.  Spray slow cooker insert with non-stick cooking spray.

2.  Place half the sauerkraut in the slow cooker.  Drizzle with 1/3 cup Russian dressing.

3.  Top with 4 chicken breast halves.  Spread half the mustard on top of the chicken.

4.  Top in order with remaining sauerkraut, another 1/3 Russian dressing, the remaining chicken and the remaining mustard.  (save the remaining dressing for serving)

5.  Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.

6.  To serve, place a breast half on each plate.  Divide the sauerkraut over the chicken.  Top each with a drizzle of the remaining dressing.

Just Peachy adapted from Fix it and Forget it Big Cookbook

Makes 8 servings

Prep time:  2-3 minutes

Cook time:  4-6 hours on LOW

Ingredients:

4 cups sliced canned peaches, drained, reserve juice

2/3 cup rolled dry oats

1/3 cup all-purpose baking mix

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup reserved peach juice

1.  Spray inside of slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.

2.  Place drained peaches in slow cooker.

3.  In a separate bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.  When blended, stir in 1/2 cup reserved peach juice until well mixed.

4.  Pour batter into slow cooker and stir into peaches.

5.  Cover and cook on LOW 4-6 hours.

6.  Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream.

Osgood Pie

I love the library.  If it weren't for the library, I think I'd have to get a second job to pay for my cookbook addiction.  I love how all of the books are together by subject too.  I've recently been boning up on Christmas cookies and low and behold, right next to the book I'm looking for are other wonderful books on Christmas cookies.  It was while I was searching for Christmas cookie books, that my eye fell upon Pie by Ken Haedrich.  Being a cookbook addict, I naturally picked it up.  At 639 pages, this is one enormous book devoted to all things pie.  Flipping through, I was filled with giddy wonder as I found delicious sounding recipes for pies I had never imagined or heard of.  Every few pages there was a new recipe for a pie I am going to have to try.  From his notes, it sounds as if the author has personally tried all 300 of the pie recipes this book contains.  Not wanting to regain the 34 lbs. I have lost, I know I have to reign in my desire to make all of these at once, but the author did have the fabulous idea of sharing your pies with neighbors.  This makes for good neighborly friendships, and keeps you from devouring the whole pie alone.  This idea kept in line with "French" living and enjoying small amounts of desserts so as not to feel deprived.  After an enthusiastic reassurance from a neighbor yesterday that she would OF COURSE eat pie, I started out to make something called an Osgood Pie.  The author wasn't sure of the origin of the name, but after tasting the pie, I thought it might be named after some hard working midwestern farmer, who after tucking into this pie, responded with a full mouth, "Os good".  Translation for those of us who aren't dentists:  "That's good".

The pie was creamy and very sweet, studded with pecan and raisins in a custardy middle.  My favorite part was a crunchy meringue topping which floated to the surface during baking.  It was yummy, yummy and well worth consideration for gracing your Thanksgiving table.

Osgood Pie adapted from Pies by Ken Haedrich

Ingredients:

1 recipe worth of single pie crust (I used refrigerated pie crust)

1 cup dark raisins

4 large eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

3/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1.  Place pastry in a 9 inch pie pan.  Sculpt the edge into an upstanding ridge.  Line with foil, place beans or pie weights into the foil and partially bake your pie crust in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.  Remove the foil and the beans and set the crust aside to cool.

2.  Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover with hot water.  Set aside for about 10 minutes.

3.  Combine the egg yolks, sugar, butter, and vinegar in a large bowl.  Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high speed for a bout 2 minutes.  Drain the raisins and stir them into the egg mixture along with the pecans, vanilla, and spices.

4.  In a medium-size bowl using clean, dry beaters, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Add to the filling, folding them in gently but thoroughly with a large rubber spatula.  Slowly pour the filling into the cooled pie shell.  Using a fork, gently rake through the filling to distribute the raisins and nuts more or less evenly in the shell.

5.  Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the filling is set, about 35 minutes.  Rotate the pie 180 degrees , so that the part that faced the back of the oven now faces forward, about 15 minutes before it is done.  Give the pie a little nudge and watch the surface carefully.  The filling should not move in waves, not even slight waves.  If in doubt, bake 5 minutes more.

6.  Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool thoroughly.  Serve at room temperature or cover with loosely tented aluminum foil and refrigerate it before serving.

Company worthy

Last weekend, after putting the oxtail in the oven to braise, I canned 35 lbs. of the 40 lbs. of sweet summer tomatoes I had bought in bulk from my CSA farmer earlier that morning.  That left me with 5 lbs. of tomatoes to eat fresh, and to my heart's delight, throughout the week.  I was inspired by a picture of a tomato tart I had seen in Rick Stein's French Odyssey and came up with this recipe for my own tomato tart, along with a berry "napoleon" I created on the fly to use up the other package of puff pastry I had thawed.  The whole dinner  was very easy, quick, and pretty enough to be served to company.

Tomato tart by Joie de vivre

One package of puff pastry (will have two pastries in there, thaw them both)

5-6 really ripe tomatoes, sliced

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

2 tsp. olive oil

cilantro

goat cheese

sea salt and black pepper

Lay out thawed pastries on lightly greased baking sheets.  Prick the pastry all over with a fork leaving an inch border around the edge.  Bake pastry according to directions (around 20 minutes) until very lightly browned.  On one pastry, sprinkle garlic and lay the tomatoes over the tart, overlapping them slightly and leaving a 1 inch border around the tart.  Sprinkle with cilantro (to your liking) and then with goat cheese.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Broil tart for about 5 minutes until the goat cheese is slightly melted (watch closely so your tart doesn't burn).  Cut into rectangles and enjoy.

Improvised Napoleon by Joie de vivre

Baked puff pastry

Frozen berries

Whipped cream

Cut the pastry into thirds after baking (or beforehand if you have the foreknowledge of wanting to make this dessert)  Lay 1/3 on your serving plate, top with whipped cream and then top with frozen berries.  Cover the frozen berries again with whipped cream and then top with another pastry.  Repeat the above, whipped cream, berries, whipped cream, and then the last pastry.  Top this pastry with whipped cream.  Leave to rest while you eat the tomato tart.  The berries will thaw a little and make the cream a delightful purple when you cut into the napoleon.  Enjoy!

Chocolate, chocolate chip cake in the Dutch oven!

 This past weekend was our last camping hurrah of the season.  It was also my son's 5th birthday party.  Since we were camping only 20 minutes outside of town, he decided to have his party at our campsite and swim, play games, eat, run around, roast marshmallows, and of course, eat birthday cake.  Despising stale cake, I opted instead to try out my father-in-law's dutch oven, and bake the birthday cake at the campsite.  It was a completely risky move that risked disappointing a party boy and guests, but with cooking bravado (and marshmallows in case of failure) I forged ahead.  I am so glad I tried this because it wasn't at all difficult and now it opens up for me a whole new avenue for camp cooking!  I hope this inspires you to try it out yourself.  If anyone else has some good dutch oven recipes, or has a good link to one, please share it, I'm excited to try it again!

Needed:

14 inch dutch oven

Long tongs

Oven mitts

Charcoal

Lighter fluid

Lighter

Chocolate cake mix

1 Package of chocolate chips

Vegetable oil

Eggs

Flour

Baking powder

Sugar

Cocoa powder

Water

Frosting

Sprinkles, etc.

1.  Light your coals on fire.  It will take them 30 minutes to get good and hot. (Pictured above)

2.  Line your dutch oven with heavy duty foil.  This will help the cake slip out and make it very easy to clean your dutch oven.  Do not go over the lip as the lid needs to have good connection to keep the heat in.  Spray the foil with cooking spray.

3.  I have a 14 inch Dutch oven.  Most standard cake mixes will make a cake in a 12 inch dutch oven.  If you have a 14 incher, add to your dry mix, 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, and 2 Tbs. cocoa powder.  Follow the directions on the back of the package adding eggs or oil (or both) as necessary and add an extra 1/2 cup water to the wet ingredients.  This will extend the cake mix to fit into a 14 inch dutch oven.  I brought the extra dry ingredients along in a ziplock baggie.

4.  Mix the wet and dry ingredients and then mix in 1 package of chocolate chips.

5.  Pour the cake batter into the dutch oven and cover.

6.  When the coals are white, use long tongs to arrange 9 of them under the dutch oven.  Place the covered dutch oven on top and arrange 16 coals on top of the dutch oven.  This will keep the temperature around 325 degrees.

7.  Every 10 minutes, using your oven mitt, turn the dutch oven 90 degrees.  Then pick up the lid and rotate that 90 degrees in the other direction.  This will prevent hot spots and promote more even cooking.  Cake will be done somewhere between 30 and 50 minutes.  When you are turning, take a peek at the cake, when it starts looking done, do a toothpick test.  Remove dutch oven from coals when toothpick comes out clean.

8.  When the dutch oven is somewhat cool to handle, place a large plate (or in my case a cutting board) over the top and flip.  The cake should slide right out.  Remove the foil and let cool.  Frost when cool.  Voila!

The flat section of my cake was a little side piece that was not quite done and therefore fell off the cake while it was cooling, but it added to the whole baseball theme.  My son thought it was the greatest to have a baseball cake while camping, it tasted great, I tried something new, and it was easy to boot!

Basil ice cream

I am under the sadly false impression that if something sounds strange, and it's in a cookbook, it must be worth trying.  I mean, why would they go to the trouble of printing it if it's not good?  This serves me well most of the time, hence my foray into cabbage galette (delicious), but not so well if I'm reading cookbooks for 50's housewives (turkey-souffle salad - contains lime or lemon jello, mayo, cooked turkey, pimento, onion and pepper.  Anyone?)

However, my instinct proved right this weekend when I was flipping through Rick Stein's French Odyssey for ideas on what to do with some of the 50 lbs. of peaches my sons and I had just picked.  He had a recipe for grilled peaches with lemon verbena ice cream and raspberries.  This sounded perfectly lovely so I started reading the recipe.  In his notes, he says that he got the idea for his recipe from a restaurant called Eugenie-les-Bains in southeast France and the only difference was they poached their peaches and served it with fresh basil ice cream.  "What!?" my curious mind exploded, "Rick Stein!  No recipe for basil ice cream?  How can you say that to me and not include the recipe?!"  It sounded just weird enough that I had to try it.  

While searching for recipes, it turns out this is not weird at all and several of my fellow food bloggers had blogged on basil ice cream.  Now I had to try it.  I happened upon a recipe from Southern Living that I adapted to fit me.  I was not disappointed with this one.  The basil ice cream was beautiful and delicious.  The creaminess and herbiness of the basil contrasted perfectly with the sweet, juiciness of the peach.    It was so good and a perfect dessert to celebrate end of summer peaches.  You must try it and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

Basil ice cream with Grilled peaches by Joie de vivre

2 cups 1% milk, divided

2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup sugar, divided

7 egg yolks

Peaches (1/2 peach per person)

1.  Cook 1 cup milk in a heavy saucepan over low heat until bubbly.  Stir in 2 cups basil leaves and remove from heat.  Cover and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, pour basil mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.  Strain mixture (otherwise it will be gritty) through a wire-mesh strainer into a bowl discarding solids.  Set mixture aside.

2.  Cook remaining 1 cup milk, whipping cream, and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring often, just until mixture is bubbly.  Remove from heat.  Beat egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar until thick and pale.  Gradually stir about 1/4 of hot milk mixture into yolks;  add to remaining hot mixture, stirring constantly.  Stir in basil mixture.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 6 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  Cover and chill 4 hours.

3.  Pour chilled mixture into freezer container of a 1-gallon electric ice cream freezer, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

4.  For peaches:  Cut in half and remove the pit.  Place on a pre-heated grill over high heat (cut side down to start) for 4 minutes each side.  Let peaches cool a little before topping with basil ice cream so ice cream doesn't melt.  Garnish with a basil sprig and serve immediately.