I just ordered this new book, well new to me at least. Called The Pastry Queen: Royally Good Recipes From the Texas Hill Country's Rather Sweet Bakery and Cafe There seems to be a pattern developing here. Spring is finally around the corner and NOW I want to bake. ah well, OK I always want to bake, but let me get back on point here. This is an Awesome book. Beautiful pictures unbelievable recipes many from my childhood in Texas and tons of stories about who they are & what they do. Ms Rather has done an exceptional job here. Check it out. I mean really who push some old lady out of the way for one of those tarts on the cover!
I saw this salad on Lydia's Italy. If you like Italian, then you should be setting the DVR for this show. Lidia Bastianich, the host, made this bread salad, with roasted peppers, Aged black olives, capers, etc... I was intrigued. so I set out to make this from memory. Man Oh Man. this is delicious. I am thinking how great this would be with Shrimp on it or even as a side with BBQ Shrimp, (New Orleans Style). I must be hungry for Shrimp. Huh?
I won't say I followed her recipe exactly, but I really liked how it came out the way I did it. One really cool trick is the brush the peppers all over with oil instead of dripping oil on them like you see on TV. The skins just slipped off and the peppers were sweet. I have read other recipes on this salad and most say to pull out the really good Olive Oil for this. I would have to agree. The quality really shines though on this salad. I served mine with a Steak and Fried potatoes, Yum!
Since I am now Italian Inspired, I am going to break out my new pasta roller tomorrow and experiment. I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh my gosh! This could be so very, very bad. I will let you know if this really
works out or not. It sounds too easy to mess up. This could be a super easy diet killer. Wow!! So this one goes on the weekend snack menu.
On a side note, today January 14th, 2010 marks 1 year since I quit smoking. Not even a puff. (Patting myself on the back). Only way to get through it was to knuckle and go cold turkey + anti-depressant meds and tons of support from my wife.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't want one every now and then, but for the mst part they are out of my life, I just take it one day at a time.
Every year our family will get together after the 1st of the year, to celebrate Christmas and the fact that we are all still here for another year. We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year, we have hit pretty hard with illness and injuries this year. Some of us, didn't quite make it through their battles. But the party goes on, and we will remember the best of them and be thankful that we had the chance to have them in our lives. As for those of us who are recovered/recovering. I say lets get the party started. We thought of trying something different this year, but by popular demand it's Mexican again!!! Some say I was born with a Jalapeno in my mouth. I cannot get enough Mexican food. It is truly my favorite. One has to understand, that Mexican food in this part of Southeastern KY used to mean Taco Bell. Now I like Taco Bell, and I will eat there from time to time, but it is not like the real thing. (By the way, if there are any Taco Bell Executives, who wish to try to tempt me to their side, feel free to send the coupons my way) but I digress. Tomorrow night's menu. Nachos with all the delicious sides, quesadillas, salsas, guacamole, rice, beans. This is officially derailing my sensible eating plan, but hey What the Heck! So here's to the ones we lost and to the new friends we will make in 2010.
I must admit, I love, love, love Oreo cookies. I am sure this goes way back into my childhood. My wife has discovered Oreo truffles. All the chocolatey goodness of the cookie in a gooey ball dipped in chocolate. Ya'll it doesn't get any better than that! We found some candy molds at a local store. The results were amazing. I think we have made these for almost every get together since Thanksgiving. We even auction some off at a school fund raiser!
Oreo Truffles
1 package Oreo cookies 1 Package Cream Cheese
Chocolate Dip
1 Cup White Chocolate chips (You can use milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate or Semi-sweet 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Shortening Microwave and stir in 30 second intervals until the mixture is thoroughly melted. You may have to make more than 1 batch, but this amount seems to work best for us.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- In a food processor, crumble the cookie until if is very finely crumbled add Cream Cheese to crumbs and process until all the white of the cream cheese has disappeared. Refrigerate the dough for 30-45 min. Roll dough into small balls dip in the chocolate and let set up for 20 min. in the refridgerator.
If you want to get fancy, take a candy mold, fill half-way with the chocolate mixture insert the dough ball and fill remainder witht he chocolate. refridgerate until set.
Don't forget the Milk, You can't eat an Oreo without Milk!
I am looking for the best Blueberry Streusal Muffin Recipe. I am not usually this hard up to perfect a recipe, but I will admit to being confounded by this one. I have had 5 failures in a row. That is a personal worst.
After 14 years of Food Service Management, I changed careers to work in retail/Accounting. I would not change my time spent inthe hospitality industry for anything. I learned so much from so many! However that is where I found the love of my life, so it will always hold a special place in my heart.
There seems to be a pattern developing here. Spring is finally around the corner and NOW I want to bake. ah well, OK I always want to bake, but let me get back on point here. This is an Awesome book. Beautiful pictures unbelievable recipes many from my childhood in Texas and tons of stories about who they are & what they do. Ms Rather has done an exceptional job here. Check it out. I mean really who push some old lady out of the way for one of those tarts on the cover!
