Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 4)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at MMDC this past week:

Posts ~

1.19: 🔥week 3
1.20: transplanting a plant on a dare
1.21: tip-sy Tuesday: how to make cake flour
1.22: jam crumb cake
1.23: TBT: southern spoon bread
1.24: candy cane hearts
1.25: cauliflower parmesan

What's cooking ~

• herb crusted lamb roast, mashed carrots, roasted green beans
• marinated pork tenderloin, mushroom ravioli, wilted spinach
• chicken sausage, baked white beans in red sauce, chopped salad
• grilled chicken, caesar salad

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• Guys, I read great book - "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry" by Fredrik Backman (he wrote 'Man called Ove' which is also really good). I didn't think I loved it when I started reading so wasn't paying much attention to a bunch of stuff that ties back in later in the book; I actually re-read the first half after finishing the book so I'd get all the stories and clues. Ended up loving this book and recommend for sure. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
• made myself a color-coded weekly schedule to help stay on task and get stuff done! This took a surprising amount of time - good thing I didn't have the schedule done before I made the schedule because I don't have an open time slot allotted for wasting so much time making a schedule. 😂😂😂 I do love me a schedule tho...
• visited the battleship USS Iowa with Al and Cathy, here's a few pics:

this appeals to my love of crafts!

I've never seen a recipe that feeds 2,500 people?!! 

saw this hanging in the ship kitchen - I should frame it and hang it in my kitchen! 

Hope you had a great week - stop back often to see what else I think of to make, bake, organize, schedule...

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and schedule making fool

in the flight simulator, so fun - it was tossing us all over
and you really had to hold on!

1.26.19: Ron's Mom's dinner (aka 'the okra dish')
1.26.18: Brooke made gemstone soap
1.26.17: Valentine heart garland
1.26.16: honey lime dressing

Cauliflower Parmesan

A quick post today, busy and have to keep moving! This is quick, healthy, and delicious - roast cauliflower until tender (or done to your liking). Top with spaghetti sauce, italian seasoning, and shredded parmesan. Put it back in the oven until the sauce is heated thru. I'm tellin' ya - it might be a super short post but this is SO good I don't even need to spend more time talking about it.

Cauliflower parmesan. Just make it :)

1.25.19: spirit gloves (sew pompoms onto glove fingertips)
1.25.18: anniversary card
1.25.17: Kyle's sausage stuffed acorn squash
1.25.16: stamped floor mat

Candy Cane Hearts

I was putting away the Christmas candy (I have a big jar on my counter with candy in it, for Christmas I filled it with big and little candy canes, peppermint kisses, etc.) and remembered seeing a picture somewhere of this idea. How cute did these turn out? If you still have candy canes around (do they sell candy canes year round?) make these for Valentines day!

I just melted dark baking chocolate in the microwave according to package directions because that's what I had in the drawer. I also want to make some white ones when I get more chocolate - I'm sure melting chocolate chips would also work. Lay 2 candy canes on parchment or waxed paper, fill with melted chocolate, add a few sprinkles, let harden. Easy!

Tip: don't overfill the space between the candy canes, it'll ooze over the top and then you have to do touch up - guess how I know?

1.24.19: DIY body wash
1.24.18: side table re-do
1.24.17: egg and avocado toast
1.24.16: citrus scented lamb stew

TBT: Southern Spoon Bread

Today's 'throw back Thursday' recipe from my new/old cookbook is for southern spoon bread - I've never had it but have heard of it, so it isn't one of those lost-in-time recipes; I assumed it's like soft corn bread, maybe like a cornbread pudding kind of thing (does anyone know what it's supposed to be like?). Well, I followed the recipe exactly (I know, that isn't like me right?) and something happened that made it look terrible - although it tastes good - it just didn't mix together and/or bake right. I couldn't fold in the beaten eggs whites, it was just liquid with clumps of floating egg white! When it was almost thru baking and I could clearly see the texture wasn't going to be right, so I stirred the whole thing up to try to blend things together which made for a lumpy ugly clumpy cornbread sort-of-thing. Hmmmmm....not sure I'd recommend this one, I might try again just to see if second time is a charm. You decide. It's totally edible, don't worry about that, it just isn't pretty.

2 cups boiling water
1 cup white corn meal
1 teaspoon salt
1 T. shortening
1 cup milk
2 eggs, separated

Mix water, corn meal, salt and shortening. Cool. Add milk and beaten egg yolks; mix well. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour into greased baking dish and bake in hot oven (400') 30-40 minutes. Serve from dish. Serves 6-8

Notes: that is the exact recipe, if you've never beaten egg whites it's very simple - the recipe just assumes you know how to do that. First make sure you don't get any yolk in the egg whites when you separate the eggs. Let the whites stand for a bit to bring to room temperature. You can beat them by hand but I use my standing mixer with the balloon whisk attachment, turn on high and let it go until the whites are stiff and foamy, looks like whipped cream. You'll know they're stiff enough if peaks form when you remove the whisk. You've essentially created meringue if you wanted to top a pie or whatever (I hate meringue so you'll have to find another recipe on how to use it!).

1.23.19: buttermilk drop biscuits (apparently not like Dave's mom used to make, insert eyeroll)
1.23.18: attempting to organize my life
1.23.17: heart and Scottie string art
1.23.16: Dave's cosmopolitans

Jam Crumb Cake

I made this the other day for breakfast while Al and Cathy were here - I really, really had low expectations when I tried to cut into it and literally had to stab my knife thru the top! I thought it was going to be beyond tough and dry - and while I have posted flops before this is not one, it's the opposite of tough and dry. It's surprisingly good!  I say surprisingly because I followed the recipe against my better judgement - it calls for 3 1/2 cups flour and 2 1/2 sticks of butter in the crumb topping alone - I almost made less of the topping because seriously, that's A LOT of crumb. But I stuck to the recipe and the topping is what makes this cake - do not use less! The one thing I'll do next time is to add more jam, I did 1 cup as stated but more would have made this already delicious, flavorful cake even better. Oh, and 5 days later it still tastes good and is only just starting to be dried out, a few seconds in the microwave and it was delicious all over again. It got rave reviews!

For the crumb topping:

• 3 1/2 cups cake flour (see note)
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• coarse salt
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• coarse salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs plus 2 large eggs yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk (see note)
• 1 cup store-bought blueberry jam (see note)
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting

1. Make the crumb topping: mix together flour, sugars, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Pour warm melted butter over mixture, and mix using your hands until medium to large lumps form. 

2. Preheat oven to 325'. Make the cake: spray a 13x9" baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.

3. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and yolks, 1 at a time, then vanilla. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Continue to beat until well combined.

4. Spoon batter into pan and spread evenly using an offset spatula. Spread 1 cup jam on top of batter, the sprinkle crumb-topping mixture evenly over batter.

5. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour (see note). Transfer pan to a wire rack. Let cake cool slightly, about 15 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Store at room temp for up to 5 days. Serves 10-12

NOTES:

-I posted yesterday about different types of flours, click here to read if you're curious or to learn how to make cake flour from all-purpose.

-You can make buttermilk by adding a teaspoon of white vinegar to milk, let it sit for a couple minutes until it curdles. 

-I used boysenberry jam, it would taste good with whatever flavor you want, but I'd use more like 1.5 cups instead of one. The jam and crumb topping layers are so good together! 

recipe from an old Martha Stewart magazine, I have no idea which issue.


1.22.19: kale salad
1.22.18: skillet chicken and veggie pot pie
1.22.17: reserved signs

Tip-sy Tuesday: Flour

I bake a lot, and often recipes call for 'cake flour', 'all-purpose flour', or 'bread flour' but what's the difference? Truthfully I just use all-purpose when I don't have the other kinds (which is most of the time) but it really can make a difference.

Cake flour has low protein, less gluten resulting in softer, fluffier texture.
All-purpose has medium protein, moderate gluten which is suitable for pretty much anything.
Bread flour has the highest protein and more gluten which adds the chewy harder texture great for bread.

I don't know if there's any way to make homemade bread flour, but you can make cake flour from all-purpose by simply measuring 1 cup of all-purpose flour, then remove 2 Tablespoons of it and replace with 2 Tablespoons corn starch. Sift them together a couple times before using.

1.21.19: making plarn
1.21.18: greek shredded pork, tzatziki sauce, lemon rice
1.21.17: Jen's stuffed spaghetti squash

Transplanting from a Pot to the Ground

We have a big plant in a big pot that isn't looking so good - D kept telling me it needed more water but it was getting water. I was in the courtyard doing some other work and had the thought that I should plant the big plant (more like a big bush) in the ground and see if it liked that better. When asked if he agreed, Dave said yes but there was no way I was going to be able to dig a hole big enough and I'd have to get help (not from him hahaha, he meant the condo gardener guys). Well guess what happened then? 

You know it - that was a challenge and dare if I've ever heard one.  I then had something to prove and I dug that hole no problem. And by no problem I mean it took 2 hours and I had sweat literally running into my eyes and I stopped halfway thru to schedule a massage appointment for later that day knowing I was going to be hurting....oh, and in order to plant this sucker I had to gather up all the river rock that you see in this picture, move the 3 stone pavers, then put it all back!

The plant is so heavy that I couldn't just pick it up and put it in the hole - I tipped it on its side, cut thru the plastic pot it was in so I could get it out of there, then slid and dropped it in place. Whew. 

Check out these pics - poor plant was seriously root bound! I dug the hole big enough to fit the plant and then loosened up the dirt a little bit more so the roots will be able to spread out. Before putting the plant into the hole I gently tugged the roots to free them up a bit, so they weren't so clumped tightly together. 

Because he couldn't admit he was wrong about my digging abilities, I got "it looks a little crooked" when he saw it later that day. Be proud of me, I didn't spout any colorful language, smack him,  or even roll my eyes - I just calmly said "then you dig it back up and make it better" to which he said it looks just fine. LOL!! That's what I thought. 

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 3)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at MMDC last week:

Posts ~
1.12: 🔥week 2
1.13: crocheted messy bun/ponytail hat
1.14: Tip-sy Tuesday: clean your mattress
1.15: Janis's spinach salad
1.16: TBT: potted ham
1.17: fried cabbage with bacon
1.18: avocado fries by Jen

What's Cooking ~

• leftover pot roast, mashed potatoes, roasted green beans
• steak, veggie tots, caesar salad
• baked spice-rubbed salmon, cauliflower rice, wilted spinach
• pork chops, kale salad, baked mushrooms (recipe to follow if I remember)

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• Al and Cathy here visiting, we are doing fun touristy things and hanging out. YAY. 
• read John Sandford's latest Virgil Flowers book "Bloody Genius", wasn't my favorite storyline but I love these characters (Virgil Flowers works with Sandford's other main guy Lucas Davenport so there is lots of cross-over between the two series) so so much I don't even really care what they are doing. Couldn't put it down and sad when it was over, what more can I ask for?!

Hope you had a great week - come back often for more fun crafts, recipes, whatever else I think of to make! 

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and "F-ing Flowers" fan (if you read the books you know what I'm talking about!)

Avocado Fries... by Jen

So my sister tells me she has had these yummy avocado “fries”.  Sliced, breaded, and delicious.  Ummmm.. ok I say.  This isn’t really my definition of “fries” but to each their own.  She then tells me she is going to find a recipe and make this.  Okey dokey. 

Then.. What a coincidence.  Brooke brings me a bag of avocado’s.  Yes a bag of avocado’s from a teenager is weird.  Her aunt has given them to her? (also weird).   Fast forward to dinner prep last night.  Gonna make shake n bake chicken.  I then have a half bag of extra shake n bake.  Hmmm I think.  Non-Cooking girls recipe for breaded avocado “fries”?  so I give It a go.  😊

DELICIOUS! HA!! TAKE THAT SISTER!! I WIN!!

Here's the exact text messages between me and my sissy regarding a photo of avocado fries she has found in a magazine and sent me before making her version - how funny would it have been if she left the peel on the avocado and then tried to eat them?

Jill here - The recipe I have says to dredge in flour and eggs, then panko crumbs, bake on a greased baking sheet at 450' for 15 minutes, turning halfway thru, until golden and crunchy. Is that how she did it but with shake and bake? Nope - here's what she said:

"No flour or eggs. I cut them in slices, rolled in shake n bake and baked them. That’s it."

1.18.19: meat lovers pasta sauce
1.18.18: birthday card gift box
1.18.17: cinnamon roll fail
1.18.16: parachute cord dog collar

Fried Cabbage with Bacon

Here is recipe #2 from Al's cabbage extravaganza - the very delicious Fried Cabbage with Bacon, Onion and Garlic

½ lb. Bacon lg. dice 

1 lg. Onion – diced

2 cloves Garlic – minced

1 lg. Head of Cabbage – cored & sliced

1 T Salt

1 t Pepper

1 t onion powder

1 t Garlic powder

1 t Paprika

½ C Butter

½  C Brown Sugar

In a large stock pot sauté bacon until crispy, add onion, garlic sauté until tender. In same pan add butter, cabbage, sauté for 10 min., add spices and brown sugar, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 min. until desired tenderness.

click here for recipe #1 sweet and sour cabbage


1.17.19: how to clean a fan
1.17.18: baked eggs in avocado
1.17.17: tuna-egg salad
1.17.16: best meatballs ever