Pots and Pins

Cheesecake With Blueberries...

Take a look at the cover of the August 2008 Gourmet Magazine...it's a picture of what this dessert is supposed to look like...notice those beautiful blue berries?  That's right...BLUEBERRIES?!?  Well, that's what I SAW when I looked at this picture - without glasses - blueberries...not blackberries!   The recipe in the mag is cheesecake with minted blackberries...something I didn't notice until I was half way through the recipe...so here's my baking tip of the day/year/century...do as I say, not as I do...read the entire recipe all the way through - with your glasses on - before you begin!

Here's another tip for you...do not talk on the phone while your crust is baking in the oven...oh sure,  a few minutes longer won't make that much difference - it will still taste good, it's just that instead of being tender enough for your fork to slide through you'll need to use a steak knife to cut it...then chewing the crust is no longer a pleasurable experience as much as it is exercise - and if there's two things that just don't mix it's exercise and dessert!  

Since I only had blueberries I used them, along with an old no-fail recipe I have for a blueberry topping.  So I was thinking that I was home free....NOT!  In Gourmet's directions it says to remove the cheesecake from the oven while the center is still wobbly - it said it would set as it cooled....NOT!   Well, at least not in the amount of time it said - and not in the amount of time I had before I needed to serve it!  The next day, however, the cheesecake looked much more like the picture on the cover...but it required at least 10 hours of refrigeration to get there.  Don't let this stop you from making this dessert....the cheesecake is wonderful and the crust, if not overcooked, is worth is - and even overcooked it's worth it - it tastes like a really good cookie!

Some of this dessert made it over to a friends house - the one I was talking on the phone with while making it...just to let her know that the next time she called and I said I was baking she was to tell me to hang up and call back or she was to hang up on me.  They loved it.  For those of you wondering how I can heat up my oven in the middle of summer...I just wanted to show you that summer has taken a slight vacation around here - the temp was 60 degrees.

Cheesecake with Blueberries - Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, August 2008

Crust: 

3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped

Filling:

3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup half-and-half

3 large eggs

Topping:

1/2 cup dried Blueberries (I used Mariani Wild Blueberries)

1/4 cup orange juice

2 cups fresh blueberries

Make crust:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle position.  Line a 9-inch square baking dish with 2 crisscrossed sheets of foil, leaving an overhang on 2 sides, then lightly butter foil.  Beat together butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Reduce speed to low and add flour and almonds, mixing until combined and dough begins to clump together.  Press onto bottom of baking pan with floured fingers.  Bake just until a shade darker and edges begin to pull away from pan, about 20 to 25 minutes.  Set aside to cool completely.

Make Filling:  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.  Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and flour with cleaned beaters at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.  Reduce speed to low and add half-and-half, then eggs 1 at a time, mixing until incorporated.  Pour filling into crust.  Bake in a hot water bath.  (Put baking dish inside a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and pour boiling water halfway up the sides of the baking dish.  Carefully set in oven.)  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost firm, but not wobbly.  (The original recipe calls for the cheesecake to be removed from the oven when it feels firm 1 1/2-inches in from the edge...let it bake a little longer, you'll be happier.)  Transfer pan to a rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.  Chill, uncovered at least 2 more hours.

Topping:  Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to boil.   Boil for 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has gone.  Remove from heat and let cool completely.

To assemble cheesecake:  Using foil overhang, lift cheesecake from pan and peel off foil before cutting into small rectangles.  Place a scoop of the blueberry mixture on top of each piece of cheesecake. 

Serves 8. 

Maximillion...When Pictures Need No Words...

 

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes...

I think I've made it abundantly clear how I feel about cruise ships and cruises...and if you've forgotten and need a reminder, just scroll back to my post of March 30th, 2008...go ahead, I'll wait...my sister who was always begging me to go on a cruise  has finally given up asking - the rest of my family and friends have stopped asking too...so I thought everyone understood my "issues"...everyone except the mister.  Last night, during the 2 minute commercial when talking is allowed, he said, "Say, we should really go on a cruise, we wouldn't have to schlepp luggage around and we wouldn't have to worry about getting a hotel room...whadda ya think?"  I was dumbstruck...which is different from being dumb...I was unable to speak or more accurately, form words - what I did managed to say, in a high-pitched squeal was, "W H A..(cough-cough)...U TT ?!!?  But by then the 2 minute commercial break had ended and the rerun-du-jour was back on...so I stomped out of the room.

Down to the kitchen I stomped - and made pancakes.  I made a bunch of them, ate one, put the rest in the freezer for the boy for breakfast - where all he has to do is pop them into the microwave - it's a great recipe.  Somehow, watching a mishaped Mickey Mouse pancake sear on a hot griddle took away my irritation.  These pancakes are just downright yummy...sweet, dense, rich-tasting and good...they'll cure what ails you!

When I finally went back upstairs I very calmly told the mister that if he ever uttered those words again I could and would have him committed - for his own safety.  He nodded, said nothing and pointed to the TV...one of the dozens of Law and Orders was on so he didn't hear a word I said...but I'm sure he got the point -or in other words - that ship has sailed - for the last time.  Amen.  And Amen. 

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup quick cooking oats

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 ripe large banana

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

8 oz. carton plain yogurt (or vanilla flavored yogurt and omit the vanilla extract)

1/2 cup milk

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl stir together the flours, oats, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon.  In a medium bowl mash the banana with a fork and then add the remaining ingredients, stirring until combined.  Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring well.  Pour about 1/3 of a cup of batter onto a hot griddle, when pancakes begin to bubble around the edges, flip them and cook on the other side until they are golden brown.  Serve with strawberry syrup or preserves or maple syrup.  Makes about a dozen pancakes, depending on the size. 

"Never give a party if you will be the most interesting person there."  Mickey Friedman

Key Lime Pie with Coconut-Graham Crust...

I came late to the Key Lime Party...I think I had my first taste of key lime pie when I was 26...which is old by pie standards.  We, the chirrens and I, went to sponge off my mom when she had a meeting in Ft. Lauderdale - at one of the functions that we crashed, Key Lime Pie was served and I thought I had eaten a slice of nirvana - if nirvana could be sliced.  The people of Ft. Lauderdale were so happy to have my mom and her group there that they showered gifts upon everyone and one of the gifts was the Famous Florida Key Lime Cookbook by Joyce LaFray Young .

This little green paperback cookbook has been practically destroyed over the years - I've probably made every recipe in this book twice...and my all time favorite pie, out of the many that are listed, is the Pier House Key Lime Pie. 

This is a tried-and-true-no-fail recipe that will bring you rave reviews.  I usually have one of these pies in the freezer during the summer...yes, you can freeze this!  Just be sure to let it thaw a bit before serving.  It's tart and refreshing and I love the crust - it's not the crust from The Pier House - they use a plain graham cracker crust which I felt an insult to the rich key lime filling!  This crust is packed with toasted coconut so it's got that all-over tropical flavor.

There was a bit of drama while baking this pie...our trusty handyman had been here earlier in the day to install a water spigot on the deck - so I could water my plants without having to make 19 trips in and out of the kitchen with a water pitcher.  Everything looked great - I watered my plants with the new faucet and hose and then came in and made the pie - did a few dishes - everything was going swimmingly...until literally I was swimming!  The pipe under the sink burst with such pressure that the cupboard doors flew open and water came shooting out!  It was quite a scene!  Of course, the mister was nowhere to be found...as usual.  By the time he got home everything was back to normal...as usual.

 

Just some of the towels that I used to mop up the mess...the silver-lining to my flood is I now have spotless floors!  Fortunately none of this interferred with the baking of my pie!  Now that would have been a REAL drama!

Key Lime Pie with Coconut-Graham Crust...Adapted from The Famous Florida Key Lime Cookbook, The Pier House Key Lime Pie

Crust:

8 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut

10 graham crackers, broken into big pieces

2 1/2 tablespoons sugar

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Heat oven to 325 degrees and adjust oven rack to middle position.  Spread the coconut into a 9-inch glass pie plate and toast in the oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and being careful not to burn.  Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor until they are coarse crumbs.  Put the crumbs into a medium-bowl and add the coconut, sugar and the melted butter.  Toss with a fork to combine.  Using the same 9-inch glass pie plate, press the crumb mixture into the pie plate and up the sides.  Use the bottom of a measuring cup to flatten out the bottom and sides, spreading the crust as evenly as possible.  Bake the crust until a deep golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Cool the crust on a wire rack while making the filling.

Key Lime Filling:

6 eggs, separated

2 cans (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (do not use the fat-free variety...yuck!)

3/4 cup key lime juice

3/4 teaspoons cream of tartar

With an electric mixer, beat egg yolks on high speed until thick and pale yellow in color.  Turn off mixer and add sweetened condensed milk.  Mix on slow speed.  While on low speed add half the lime juice, cream of tartar, then remaining lime juice.  Mix until blended.  Pour into prepared crust and bake until set, about 10 to 15 minutes, or until center is firm and dry to touch.  Freeze for at least 3 hours before topping with meringue.

Meringue:

Heat egg whites in a double boiler with 6 tablespoons sugar, stirring frequently, to 110 degrees.  Beat on high speed until they form peaks.  Top the frozen pie with meringue and place under a broiler to brown top, about 2 minutes.  Return the pie to freezer until serving.  Once pie is thoroughly chilled it can be kept in the refrigerator but I keep mine in the freezer and it will keep for a week if wrapped up tightly in plastic wrap.   Serves 8.     

"Always look out for Number One and be careful not to step in Number Two."  Rodney Dangerfield

Gazpacho With Feta...

The other night while lying on the bed watching TV, the mister started whining - again - about how he needs to lose weight...he even postponed his annual physical because he didn't want to go until he drops some pounds...at least I think that's what he said, it was hard to understand him with all that ice cream in his mouth.  The mister has always eaten like a wayward hog, he loves junk food and if you cut him he would bleed strawberry ice cream...he could eat a sumo under the table and not gain an ounce...until recently...so, in another attempt to serve him something lite, to offset the nightly vat of ice cream...I made Gazpacho for dinner.  If you'd been here you would have seen him glower...oh yes, he glowered...he is a glowerer for sure.  But, he ate it and then declared that in the future he would prefer to chew his veggies.  

Gazpacho...what's not to love?  Sure it's like a watery salsa but when you eat it with a spoon it seems so Malibu-Sidewalk-Cafe-ish...I love everything about it...the vibrant taste, the texture, the color, even the name...Gazpacho...makes me want to get up and dance with a rose between my teeth!  Ole!

This gazpacho is a little different - it has pine nuts, fresh basil and feta cheese on top...and I'm telling you...it's dang good - no matter WHAT the mister said!

Gazpacho With Feta - Inspired by a recipe in Real Simple, August 2008

3 pounds tomatoes (about 6 large) cut into large pieces

1 red pepper, cut into large pieces

1 cup carrots, cut into large pieces

2 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 ounces feta, crumbled

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

1/2 cup pine nuts

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Working in batches, puree the tomatoes, bell pepper, carrots, and green onions in a food processor and transfer to a large bowl.  Stir in the vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.  Divide among serving bowls and top with the feta, basil, and pine nuts.  Makes 4 servings.

July Quilt Group ...

We had a great quilt group meeting at Helen's - even if it was very, very small!  Helen has an amazing home - one step in the door and I'm oohing and aahing over everything but especially her quilts..she has thousands of quilts...yes, thousands...or at least too many for me to count.  And they are all wonderful....here's a few of her quilts and some more of her purses - she is a purse-making-fool!

We had Helen bring out her "wonky 9-patch" because we're going to do another 9-patch group project in September...it's pictured on the far left above.  Next to it is her scrappy, happy quilt - then the purses in the middle.  The red and cream Irish Chain was her table cloth that she served us a wonderful lunch on...(sorry I couldn't eat it Helen!) and the last quilt shown on the right above is one of her most recent - another scrappy quilt that we all loved.  Terry commented that she didn't know how Helen could do all that she does...and Helen replied, "It's because it's all that I do!"

Michelle, who has the least amount of time out of any of us, still managed to piece together two adorable quilt tops...I love the one on the left so much I think I'm going to have to copy it!

   

Terry, one of our resident perfectionists, brought in her appliqued blocks, pictured on the far left, there are dozens of them.  I laid them around and on top of the book that has a picture of the quilt that she is making - it will be beautiful when it's finished.  The next two blocks are part of her BeAttitude quilt - it's going to be very sweet!  And she wouldn't be the quilting star that she is if she didn't bring in two quilts!  We all loved the "country" quilt above and her "contemporary" quilt...she likes every kind of quilt just like me! 

Shrimp Rolls...

Oh sure, this is the poor man's lobster roll...but it's still dang good.  The mister and the boy love these...I prefer to eat my shrimp roll sans the roll, but only if I'm sticking to my "do it or die diet."  This is a quick and easy recipe for a weeknight meal in the summer...no cooking, baking and really, no fuss.  We buy a big bag of frozen shrimp from Costco...don't you just love Costco?!  That frozen bag of shrimp will last us for quite a while and make dozens of shrimp rolls.  I do love Costco, but only if the mister is NOT with me.  Oh he LOVES Costco...loves to throw stuff in the basket as we walk up and down the aisle...loves to throw in gadgets we'll never use and meat that won't fit in the freezer and skin-care products that he thinks will make him look ten years younger...if you only knew how funny that was!  We'll get up to the register with a basket over-flowing with crap and the bill will be around $500 and it's then that the mister will ask, "What in the world did YOU buy?!?"  When I start to point out HIS purchases he quickly changes the subject...consequently, he is only allowed to go to Costco twice a year...once in the summer and once before Christmas because really, you can never have enough food at Christmas and there's always room in the basket for jewelry!

Shrimp Rolls

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon prepared horseradish

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 pounds cooked medium shrimp

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1/4 cup chives, finely chopped

1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped

4 hot-dog style buns

1 small head of green lettuce, rinsed, dried and torn into pieces

In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, lemon juice, horseradish and salt and pepper.  Fold in celery, chives, green onions and shrimp.  Line the buns with lettuce pieces and fill with shrimp mixture.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.  Makes 4 servings.

"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything."  Charles Kuralt.

Sewing Caddy #2...

I stopped by the only quilt shop left in town and while waiting to pay I noticed a bowl full of these sewing caddies...I wanted one but for $10 I thought I'd make my own....how many sewing caddies/needle holders does one need?  Obviously I don't know the answer to that as I haven't reached the saturation point yet...

 

Now can you see why I'm so enamored with these?!?  They are ridiculously cute!  And useful, too!

Two More Off The List...

Well....I must admit...this has been a BANNER week for me!  I've finished three quilt tops!  And I can finally see the top of my work table!  Now this first one is nothing special - I hadn't planned on making a sequel to Max's summer quilt but then I had so much fabric left over that I had to...it will go in my picnic quilt pile and if I ever go on a picnic I'll have plenty to choose from!

This quilt measures 56 x 58-inches...it was supposed to be square but somehow I lost count and added in an extra strip...the strips are cut 2 1/2-inches x 42-inches, the dark border is cut 1 1/2-inches and the large orange border was cut 6 1/2-inches. 

This next top was another group project - we exchanged circle blocks with Christmas themed or red/green fabric...and they've  been sitting for months just waiting to be sewn together!  I'm not sure I like this quilt - I decided to use the fabric I had rather on hand for the border rather than go buy something that might have worked better - but maybe this will be one of those quilts that I'll like/love after it's quilted...hope so!

This is a no-brainer quilt...I used a CD for my circles and they are sewn onto 7 1/2-inch squares.  This quilt measures  68 x 72-inches...just the right size to curl up in while watching Christmas Vacation.

Make-Ahead French Toast With Strawberry Sauce...

This is a Southern Living recipe from years ago - it's a no-fail-big-hit - I've served it many times and it's my "go to" dish when I'm short on time but still need something nice....like this morning...today is a friend's birthday and it was decided that she needed to be awakened and served breakfast...her husband was all to happy to help us sneak into their bedroom to surprise our sleeping friend...so in we went, loudly singing Happy Birthday as she promptly pulled the covers up over her head - at least she was laughing as she did! 

 

 

 

 

Fortunately she was a good sport about the whole thing (it did not escape me that she didn't ask for an encore of our song!)  We gave her enough time to make herself presentable - which she really didn't need.  She didn't wake up with Rooster hair like I did!

 

 

 

Once back in the kitchen we set up the table as elegantly as we could...sparing no expense...

We had a great breakfast - good friends, good food and presents!  What a way to start the day!  As it turned out, no one wanted to be photographed - after all, it was the crack of dawn!

Make-Ahead French Toast With Strawberry Sauce - Adapted from Southern Living Magazine, 2002

1 loaf French bread, cubed

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, cut into pieces, about the size of dice

6 large eggs

4 cups half and half

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup maple syrup, divided

2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

1 (10 oz.) jar strawberry preserves

Arrange half of bread in a lightly buttered 13-x 9-inch pan.  Sprinkle with cream cheese pieces, top with remaining bread, pressing down gently.  Whisk together eggs, half and half, butter and 1/4 cup of the maple syrup; pour over bread mixture.  Press down on bread cubes to absorb egg mixture.  Drizzle the remaining syrup over the top of the bread mixture.  Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.  Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Uncover and bake  20 more minutes.  Heat sliced strawberries and strawberry preserves in a saucepan over low heat, and serve over toast.  Makes 10 servings.

"If you live to the age of a hundred you have it made because very few peole die past the age of a hundred."  George Burns