Pots and Pins

Cookie Bouquets...

Another day in paradise...another batch of cookies...this time it's for a church youth group - cookie bouquets for centerpieces.  The theme for the event is "Bloom Where You Are Planted"...so these seemed perfect - and for refreshments they will be served flower-shaped cookies and milk.

There are businesses that do this - make cookie bouquets with all shapes of cookies for all different themes - but if you're going to have a bouquet - shouldn't it be with flowers??  Therefore I think cookie bouquets should only be made with flower shaped cookies - but that's just me.

Stuff styrofoam pieces into small pots - if you use larger pots then you really need large cookies or a lot more of them.

  Styrofoam doesn't need to fit exactly, but it does need to be pushed down a little from the top so the grass or moss or whatever it is you use, will have a place to rest.

Once the cookies are baked, and still warm, gently insert a wooden skewer into each one - about half way.

Let the cookies cool completely.  If you try to insert a skewer after the cookie has cooled it will crumble and break and then you must eat it immediately.

Once the cookies are cooled, frost them, but don't hold the skewer - hold the edge of the cookie.  I usually make these the day that I'm going to use them but if I make them a day ahead I wait until the frosting has set and then I cover them while they're still flat on my counter, with plastic wrap - basically wrapping the entire counter! 

If you have a ton of time on your hands, you can "paint" the skewers green with food coloring.  Put your hands into a plastic bag to protect them, then squirt some green food coloring into a small bowl, add a drop or two of water, and dip your plastic-covered hands into the bowl then smear the green over the skewer - it does look nicer but I was short on time.

Cover top of pot with Easter basket grass or moss (can be purchased from a craft store) BEFORE inserting the cookies - as you insert the cookies the grass will be anchored.  Do not use glue or the skewers will not be able to slide through it. If you're delivering the cookies to someone - they do make a nice gift - wrap them up in a big piece of cellophane and tie with a bow....I've told you this before, so forgive me for repeating it, but I DO HAVE THE BEST COOKIE RECIPE IN THE WORLD....click on the cookie link in the sidebar to find it....oh, no substitutions allowed!

Two Weeks And Counting...

The clock is ticking!  So I think it's time for a little contest....Pictured at left is my daughter, two weeks from her due date, which is April 7th....if you want to receive a fabulous gift - or a reasonable facsimile thereof, let me know when you think her baby will arrive....date and time....the person coming the closest will be the BIG WINNER!

Things to consider:  This is her first baby (more importantly, my first grandbaby!)

She is not terribly uncomfortable - no swollen ankles, no problems breathing - no sign that this is going to happen soon!  (I could be saying that just to throw you off...but I'm not.)

If she follows the "family histrionics" she will be late - seriously late - as in she was THREE weeks late being born! 

Send me your name and your guess asap!

Thanks To David Lebovitz!!!

Finally....after much searching I found the blog where I read about Marion Cunningham...I can't believe I forgot!!  David Lebovitz' blog is amazing - as are his recipes and insights - I thoroughly enjoy reading him and I think you will, too!  He has written 4 or 5 cookbooks - he lives in Paris and he gives chocolate tours!!!  Is that a dream life or what?!?!   David...if you're out there...you are my hero!  Now go, click on his name and visit him already - he's worth it! 

I was able to pick up a copy of David's book, Room For Dessert: 110 Recipes for Cakes, Custards, Souffles, Tarts, Pies, Cobblers, Sorbets, Sherbets, Ice Creams, Cookies, Candies, and Cordials (whew!) at my local Half-Price book store - wasn't half price but it was still a steal!  I think I gained 5 pounds just reading it...so I'm avoiding making anything from his book until the weekend - then all bets are off!

Egg Giveaway!

Don't forget to leave me a comment if you want to be entered in my Easter Egg Giveaway!!  You have until Monday, March 31st then I'll pick a winner through random.org....scroll down to see pictures...and yes, I do know that Easter is over...but what's wrong with eating Peeps and celebrating for another week or two?!

Fruit Dip...

When I first tasted this dip I couldn't get over how good it was - the hint of orange, the creamy texture...and where had it been all my life?!!  At the time I was shocked to find out that I was probably the only person this side of the Mississippi who had never tried it!  I'm sure it's been present at every church social, baby and bridal shower and ladies club event for the last century but I only recently discovered it - and it has quickly become a staple in my refrigerator.  There might be other variations to this recipe that are just as good but I think this is the closest thing to perfection there is...so in the spirit of community service, I'm posting this recipe for the two, possibly three of you out there who don't have it...

Fruit Dip - Linda Millward via Mari Short

1 7-oz. jar Kraft Marshmallow Cream

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon orange rind, grated

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened

Mix all together with a whisk until smooth.  Serve with cut up fruit of your choice.  (I really like this with sliced apples...a nice cup of mixed berries with a dollop of this on top will get rave reviews.)

J.B.'s French Toast...

If I only had a brain....I'd be able to tell you on who's blog it was that I read about Marion Cunningham....and I'd be able to thank them for letting me know about her, her wonderful life and her most excellent book that I just got in the mail....Marion Cunningham's Good Eating ~ The Breakfast Book, The Supper Book.    

Marion authored The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, and edited the 12th and 13th editions of the classic Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  She has written numerous articles for Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Gourmet - and also writes a food column for the San Francisco Chronicle and the LA Times...and in her spare time she worked along side James Beard for years....no slouch that Marion!  So when I read - on that forgotten person's blog - about Marion's Breakfast Book, I immediately ordered it.

 

Having the time, or should I say, taking the time, for a proper breakfast is something we hardly ever do...oh sure, Sunday mornings we try, but never on a weekday morning - that would just be such a waste of time, right?  Wrong!  It took about the same amount of time to make Marion's fabulous French Toast as it did to take Caesar Beezer The Wonder Dog out for his morning "constitution."  And sitting down to a wonderful breakfast - with silverware and a napkin - seemed to make what lies ahead of me today much less stressful...I almost felt civilized!   

J.B.'s French Toast (J.B. is James Beard....not James Brown!) - Adapted from Marion Cunningham's Good Eating, The Breakfast Book, The Supper Book

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups cornflakes

4 tablespoons butter

6 slices dense white bread

powdered sugar for sprinkling

maple syrup for serving

Stir the eggs, milk, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl until well blended.  Strain the mixture through a sieve into a shallow bowl in which you can drip the bread easily.  Crumble the cornflakes slightly to make each flake about half it's original size and spread them on a piece of waxed paper.  Dip (don't soak) both sides of each slice of bread into the milk batter.  Then press each slice of bread on both sides into the cornflakes to coat the bread well.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat and fry 3 slices of the bread until golden on each side. Keep warm in a 250 degree oven while you fry the other 3 slices in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.  Serve hot with maple syrup.

(Marion's recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar for sprinkling over the French toast once it's done - I preferred to use a sprinkle of powdered sugar.  Also, while I like the French toast without syrup, I really like it much better with the syrup.)

Marion wrote that this recipe is her favorite French Toast recipe.  She also said James Beard told her that they used to serve this in the dining cars on the Santa Fe Railroad...."the crumbled-up cornflakes give every bite a crisp crunch that is mightly good."  I would have to agree.

"Life, within doors, has few pleasanter prospects than a neatly arranged and well-provisioned breakfast table."  Nathaniel Hawthorne

One last note...on page 53 of Marion's book she wrote the following - and after just having returned from being around my young and energetic nieces and nephews - some would say wild - I read this and thought how very timely it STILL is!!  Nothing ruins a meal faster for me that someone chewing with their mouth open....and being a mouth-breather is still no excuse! 

This is a very long post - but if you're still with me - I have a question for you...I'm sure you've been asked it before at parties or those interminable "get-to-know-you's"....If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?  Well, I'd definitely put Marion Cunningham on my list - an ordinary woman who led an extraordinary life.  Now I'm done.

Easter Egg Giveaway!!!

As I was gathering up Easter decorations to pack away for another year....I realized that I have way too many painted Easter eggs....I used to paint and sell them - back when I had time, patience and nerve....so I've decided to give one of my hand-painted Duck eggs away....they were all painted in 1996 and around the top of the egg is says Happy Easter...if you'd like a chance to win one of these eggs all you have to do is send me a comment letting me know you're interested.  I will use random.org to pick a "winner" on Monday, March 31st - it's that simple!   (The egg will come with it's own hanger.)

Arrrrgh.....Shiver Me Timbers...

I just had to show you my most recent "best find"....I bought the last 5 packages at 75% off in the clearance room of a cute little shop in Draper, Utah....these garlands will be a welcome addition to the Slaughterhouse come Halloween!  And the witch - she so resembled me that I just had to have her, too!   

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Chives...

One of my very favorite cookbooks is My Mother's Southern Entertaining by James Villas with Martha Pearl Villas.  There are just a few pictures in this book and normally I like more pictures - less strain on my brain - but this tribute by James is filled with quotes from Martha Pearl - little tips and suggestions that make this a great read as well as a great cookbook.

Martha's Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Chives is a favorite of ours and James had this to say about his mother's recipe:

"Mother is usually obsessed with using her favorite red potatoes for salads, stews, gashes, and the like, but when it comes to any form of saclloped potatoes that need plenty of starch for ideal texture, she settles for nothing less than genuine Idahos.  And since fresh chives are gowing in profusion by graduation time, she livens up the classic dish with a least a quarter cup.  So check these potatoes after about 40 minutes to make sure they don't dry out; the top should be crispy golden but the inside buttery soft."

This recipe is not for those watching their waist...it's loaded with cheese and butter and finally....cream! 

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with Chives - Adapted from My Mother's Southern Entertaining

1/4 cup grated Swiss cheese

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

3 pounds (about 6 large) Idaho potatoes

3/4 cup butter, cut into pieces

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups cream, as needed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Butter the bottom and sides of a large, attractive baking or gratin dish and set aside.  In a bowl, combine the cheeses and chives and set aside.  Peel the potatoes and slice them widthwise in very thin slices.  Arrange an overlapping layer of potatoes in the prepared dish, sprinkle the layer with part of the cheese mixture, dot with a few butter pieces, and season with salt and pepper.  Continue making layers with the potatoes, cheese mixture, butter, and salt and pepper until all used up, then pour enough cream around the sides to almost but not quite cover the potatoes.  Bake till the top is golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Lemon Mousse Cake...

Once I was stuffed and buckled into my seat on Southwest, I pulled out my magazines in the hopes of keeping my flying fears under wraps - it was a successful flight, not once did I hyperventilate, throw-up or assault the arm of the person next to me with a death-like grip.  I think we were somewhere over Idaho when I came across this recipe for Lemon Mousse Cake with a mousse filling, lemon curd topping and a cream frosting - it just sounded like Easter and Spring and the perfect ending to any meal.  But alas....all that ends well ...did notl!

My first mistake ... I only had two 8-inch cake pans...instead of borrowing one from a neighbor or heaven forbid, sending the mister to the store to purchase another, I used a 9-inch pan and cut it down - yes, it was a little thinner than the other two but really, who would notice?  Cutting a 9-inch cake into an 8-inch cake leaves a very untidy edge...but I figured the frosting would take care of it...wrong!

The only advantage to cutting down the cake layer was I could taste the cake and it was good - very, very good.  So I then took out the mousse from the fridge - where it had been for an hour just like the recipe said - only it was runny...I put it back in the fridge for another hour....no change.  So back to the mixer to make another batch of the mousse.  Two more hours later, the mousse was still not thickened but it was good....so I decided to just go with it - maybe that is how it's supposed to be?!  You can see the mousse oozing out the sides....which then made the frosting impossible.  It ran and ran...but I perservered!  I put the lemon curd on top and then made what turned out to be my second and worst mistake...

    Since I had only used a little bit of the mousse, because it was so runny, I decided to just add powdered sugar to it and turn it into a frosting!  Seemed like a brilliant idea at the time....but after about 6 cups of powdered sugar, I still had soupy frosting which now tasted nothing like the light and delicate lemon mousse it once was....also, since I had remade the mousse, I had used up the last of my cream so I had no way of making the frosting the recipe provided...and no, there was no chance the mister was going to the store for more cream...oh well, I was fighting a losing battle and after working on this cake for hours and hours I just gave up, slopped on the slop and called it good.  I gave the mister a slice and he loved it - said it was my best cake to date...go figure - what I deem a disaster he loves - the man's a jewel.

You can see how the mousse still oozed out - and the frosting just dripped so much that I ended up scraping most of it off...I left the cake on the counter - came back an hour or so later to find it looking like this: 

The lemon curd top had been "nibbled off" and the cake was in it's final descent...

The cake was light, lucious and full of lemon flavor - I would definitely make it again...but the mousse has some issues...and then I sealed it's fate with my hybrid frosting...I'm giving you the recipe, make the cake, you'll love it, and maybe you'll have better luck with the mousse than I did...know that you've been warned! 

Oh, on the up side - this cake uses a lot of lemons so your kitchen will smell wonderful! 

Lemon Mousse Cake - Victoria Magazine - March/April 2008

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons lemon extract

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon slat

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh lemon zest

1 recipe lemon mousse (recipe follows)

1 recipe cream frosting (recipe follows)

1 (10 oz.) jar lemon curd

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour three 8-inch cake pans. 

In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, eggs and lemon extract.  Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat until smooth.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt.  Gradually add to sugar mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Stir in lemon juice and lemon zest.  Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes.  Remove from pans; cool completely on wire racks.  Spread lemon mousse evenly between cake layers.  Spread remaining mousse on top and side of cake as crumb layer.  Chill in refrigerator.  Frost sides and top of cake with cream frosting, reserving about 1 1/2 cups for decoration.  Place lemon curd in a pastry bag fitted with a small star tip.  Pipe lemon curd in a circular pattern on top of cake.  Fill another pastry bag with reserved cream frosting, and pipe border around the top and bottom edges to enclose curd.  Garnish with fresh mint, if desired.  Cover and chill. 

Lemon Mousse - makes about 4 cups

1 (1/4 oz.) envelope unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold water

3 tablespoons boiling water

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons lemon extract

In a small bowl, soften gelatin in cold water; let stand 2 minutes.  Add boiling water, stirring until gelatin dissolves.  In a large bowl, and using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat cream until foamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating until medium peaks form.  Gently fold in lemon juice and lemon extract.  Add gelatin mixture, stirring gently.  Chill for 1 hour before using.

Cream Frosting - Make 4 cups

2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cream, vanilla, lemon extract, and confectioners' sugar.  Beat at medium speed until smooth and creamy.  Refrigerate until ready to assemble cake.