Pots and Pins

Crock-pot Turkey...

This is one of those recipes that probably everyone's mom has written down somewhere - it's been around forever and that's because it's just plain good to the bone and it's simple! 

Unfortunately for me, my mom didn't have this recipe until just recently so I didn't grow up eating this at family reunions like everyone else in Utah.  My mom's second cousin gave her this recipe and then mom made it - and she RAVED about it!  She made it for the entire tribe and they loved it!  The second cousin is also known as Two-Doors-Down, or Two-Doors because that's her location, her real name is Sue but if Mom calls her Sue everyone says Who? 

This is mouth-watering-good.  It's true.  I didn't believe it would be when I saw the ingredient list and it's even better the next day on sandwiches. 

Crock-pot Turkey - From Two-Doors-Down aka Sue Fullmer

I turkey breast

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1/2 cup water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1 tablespoon Italian Seasonings

In crock-pot, combine soup, water, bouillon cubes and seasonings.  Mix well.  Put turkey breast in crock, spoon some of the soup up and over it.  Put on lid and cook on high for TWELVE hours.  That's right...12 hours.  When the turkey is done, it will be swimming in a delicious gravy, tender and full of flavor.  If you cook it overnight you'll definitely be awakened by the aroma - as I was - so I would suggest putting it in early in the morning or else you just might dream of turkey all night long!

Cranberry Breakfast Cake...

Normally I don't eat sweets in the morning - just a mocktail of Diet Coke, Chocolate protein powder, half a banana and ice all mixed up together in the blender...it's an acquired taste.  I've had this drink for breakfast off and on for about 8 years now...it's not bad really, once your gag reflex is properly trained it will go down quite nicely!  It has about 250 calories and is also low in carbs (which is why I don't mix the protein powder with milk - too many cals and carbs) and when I drink it for breakfast I get to eat more for lunch! 

Fresh nutmeg is so different from the ground stuff you can buy - it only takes a minute to rub the nutmeg nut over a micro-plane to get it fresh with all the flavor...and it's so, so good!  A few years back I was baking and had been using whole nutmeg - there were several nuts on the counter.  The mister walked in, started rambling about something and as he was talking he picked up a nutmeg and tossed it into his mouth thinking it was a walnut or something - actually I have no idea what he was thinking - I mean, a nutmeg nut looks nothing like a walnut!  Anyway, he bit down hard on it, almost breaking a tooth, before he spit it out into his hand and accusingly said, "What are you trying to do, kill me?!"  Yes, that's exactly what I was trying to do...I left those whole nutmegs on the counter in the hopes that you'd bite one and go on to your heavenly reward!  Men!  This cake has a wonderfully light texture and a very subtle hint of nutmeg.  The cranberries give it that nice tartness and the nuts bring it on home!

Cranberry Breakfast Cake - Bon Appetit, December 1996

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

powdered sugar for sifting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.  Sift flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt into medium bowl.  Beat 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Reserve 1 tablespoon dry ingredients.   Mix remaining dry ingredients into butter mixture alternately with buttermilk in 3 additions, beginning and ending with dry ingredeints.  Mix dried cranberries with reserved 1 tablespoon dry ingredients in small bowl.  Fold dried cranberries into batter.  Transfer batter to prepared pan (batter will come only about halfway up sides of pan).  Smooth top.  Mix walnuts, cinnamon and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl.  Sprinkle over batter.  Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.  Turn off oven.  Open oven door slightly.  Let cake stand in oven with door ajar 10 minutes.  Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely.  Sift powdered sugar over cake.

"In my experience, clever food is not appreciated at Christmas.  It makes the little ones cranky and the old ones nervous."  Jane Grigson  (This food is decidedly NOT clever - so make it anytime - Christmas or not!)

Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon...

I can't remember if I mentioned this or not but a month or so ago I was at an estate sale with Lori...I really shouldn't go "saleing" with her because she always gets the good stuff before I even see it!  Anyway, here we were at this house, loaded with garbage, and I spied a stack of cookbooks and magazines - Gourmet and Bon Appetit Magazines dating back to the 1960's!  I immediately grabbed them - and at 10 cents a piece for the "newer" ones, those from the 80's and 90's and 25 cents a piece for the oldies, I was in culinary heaven!  For the last several weeks I have pawed all through those magazines - marking pages of things I want to make and I hope to be able to share those recipes with you very soon - a good recipe never goes out of style you know!    

The girl and I went downtown today to show Baby Max the big city - he loved it.  And it loved him.  We were walking down the street and I see this man, about a half a block ahead of us, drop his sunglasses.  I hurried up the hill, picked up the glasses and tried to catch him...but I was wearing heals on a hill - do the math - no way was I going to catch him!  He turned the corner and went out of sight.  When we got to the same corner I saw the man standing a block down at the next corner - and this time it was downhill - so I hurried down to him, (I'm good on a downhill slope!) held out the sunglasses and said he had dropped them...he replied, "They weren't my sunglasses lady, I found them on the sidewalk, tried them on but didn't like them so I just tossed them...you chased me down for that?!?!  Hahahahahahaha....."  Idiot!  Him for throwing sunglasses on the ground instead of in the trash or setting them on something where someone else could have found them and USED them - AND for making me, a do-gooder-extraordinare feel like a fool. Idiot!  Me for chasing down a litterbugging-street-urchin.

This recipe was from a request to Bon Appetit by the Hollingsworths of Des Moines, Iowa after they had vacationed in Aspen and had dined at Bump's in the Tiehack Day Lodge - wonder if it's still there?  The girl lapped it up - the boy pronounced it delish - but picked out all of the bacon because he's "no longer a bacon eater."  I just don't understand that.  Perhaps he's not really my son?  The mister said is was too salty...there is just no pleasing that man.  It was perfect...gooey, rich cheeses, soft macaroni noodles, crunchy bacon bits...what's not to love?!  I was not in need of comfort food yesterday (the girl and I had a great day shopping, found lots of treasures!) but had I been, this would have hit the spot!

Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon - Adapted From Bon Appetit, December 1994

1 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

5 large garlic cloves, minced

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup half and half

2 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups packed grated mild cheddar cheese (about 8 oz.)

2 cups packed grated Fontina cheese (about 8 oz.)

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 4 1/2 oz.)

12 oz. elbow macaroni

2 cups fresh white breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish.  Saute bacon in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp.  Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels and drain.  Remove all but 1 tagblespoon bacon fat from skillet.  Add garlic to skillet and saute until golden, about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Whisk cream, half and half, yolks and nutmeg in heavy medium saucepan to blend.  Add 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1 1/2 cups Fontina cheese and Parmesan and stir over medium-low heat until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes (do not boil).  Stir in bacon and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat.  Cook pasta in pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite.  Drain and transfer to prepared baking dish.  Pour sauce over and stir until pasta is coated.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/2 cup Fontina.  Bake until sauce bubbles and top is brown, about 15 minutes.  Preheat broiler.  Sprinkle macaroni and cheese with breadcrumbs.  Broil until breadcrumbs are golden brown, watching closely to prevent burning, about 2 minutes. 

"Iceberg lettuce is the polyester of vegetables."  John Waters

Angela's Baby Boy...

Angela is the only girl in her family of 6 boys...she's married now and has 4 little girls of her own and is now expecting her fifth child - a baby boy!  So that called for something special!  I made one of these blankets for Baby Max - he's probably never seen it because he has a hundred quilts and even more blankets in his wee little closet - but one day, when his mother gets it out and lets him feel how soft it is, I'm sure it will become his favorite!  So I decided to make one for Angela's baby...light blue minky on one side and dark brown curly minky on the other - and it is so, so soft!  It's also a bugger to sew on - minky slides all over the place!  I did something I normally don't do - I pinned the dang thing about every two inches!  I hate to pin.  Something else I hate?  Ironing.  When I'm working on piecing a quilt I never iron - it's such a waste of time!  When a quilt is washed and dried (birthed) you can't tell if one little block was pressed or not!  Trust me on this.... 

The pic on the left is totally washed out but I assure you that IS minky and not a piece of Sasquatch's hide.  Oh, the binding is satin - babies love satin, don't they?  At least my boy did...he loved anything silky so in an attempt to keep him from carrying around my unmentionables I made him a satin blanket.  It was beautiful for about 4 minutes and then, as all babies do, it was spit upon.  Years later it was nothing more than shreds but at least my unmentionables were in one piece! 

Karon's Apple Jelly With Lavender And Thyme...

I've never made jelly - didn't even know what a jelly bag was - but now I have and I do!  And it was so much fun!!  My house has never smelled better, that's for sure - even the mister wanted to know what was cooking - of course, when I told him he turned up his nose and left, in his world if it ain't strawberry JAM then it's not going near his jam hole.

Karon is the brains behind Dream Country Chat, one of my favorite blogs.  She lives in Aryshire, Scotland, which seems like such a charmed place to me - and I found this recipe on her blog.  I hope she doesn't mind me repeating it!  Just promise me that you'll check out HER blog - her jelly recipe is in grams, not pounds, so I've done the conversion for you.  (Karon is also the maker of wonderful "aroma therapy" items - you'll see them on her blog.)  I LOVED making this jelly!  It's definitely different - and I'm sure it will be great on a pork chop or even chicken - because the flavor it so light and fresh - not what you'd expect!  

A jelly bag, I discovered after reading up on it on the net, can be an old, well-worn pillowcase - really anything that has a loose weave, but that won't allow bits to go through.  I just happen to have LOTS of old pillowcases - so one became my jelly bag.  (My mom told me afterwards that I could have used pantyhose as well or cheesecloth.)  I set the pillowcase inside a bowl, filled it with the apple mixture, and then tied a cord around it so it could hang from my pot rack.  Karon said it needed to hang (and drip) over night - it worked great!  In the morning I had about 3 cups of jelly juice!  I threw out the pulp, rinsed out the pillowcase and set it aside to wash so I can use it again to make more jelly.  It was so easy!  (You're admiring my lobster lamp, aren't you?!  Everyone does!)

There's no added pectin in this jelly either - and you won't believe how fast it sets up.  I stirred and stirred my jelly, once I'd poured it into the jars, so the bits of lavender and thyme would be distributed throughout - but they mostly just floated back up to the top.   

While the jelly was in the final stages of processing, the mister was in the back room, TV blaring, as his favorite football pundits were making their pitch for the weekly games...(Fox NFL - with Terry, Howie and Jimmy) - he kept yelling at me to come and and watch - he hates watching TV alone - I suppose it's no fun changing channels without an audience - but this is one show he watches from beginning to end - it's kind of like Sunday morning services for him.  Spiritual even.  But I couldn't very well join him when I had jelly to make!  He was not pleased - this is somewhat of a Sunday morning ritual this time of year and I am usually right by his side - I'm like Ed McMahon to his Johnny...he comments on something and I say, "Right you are!"  This week he was pre-empted by jelly - but that didn't stop him from singing Hail To The Redskins, (a religious hymn) or from declaring that the University of Washington will be toasted by Oklahoma on Saturday...or from requesting chili for the Sunday night game...and another football week is underway!

Karon's Apple Jelly With Lavender And Thyme - from Karon Grieve of Dream Country Chat

2 1/2 lbs. cooking apples (I used Granny Smith)

handful of dried lavender (available at Whole Foods or healthy food stores)

handful of fresh thyme

2 cups white vinegar

2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

2 1/2 tablespoons chopped lavender

Roughly chop the apples (skins, cores, etc.) and put into a pot with the herbs and 2 cups of water.  Simmer gently for about 30 minutes or until everything is all squishy and pulpy then add the vinegar and boil for another 5 minutes.  Pour into a jelly bag and let hang over a bowl to drip overnight.  Squeeze the jelly bag in the morning to get out any remaining drops of liquid.  Discard the pulp and measure the liquid in the bowl; for every 2 cups of liquid add 2 cups of sugar. (I ended up with 3 cups of liquid.) Heat gently till the sugar has dissolved then boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until the setting point has been reached.  Scoop off any scum that has accumulated on top and then let cool a bit before stirring in the chopped up lavender and thyme.  You need to do this so that the little herby bits will be evenly distributed and not just float to the top of the jars.  Pour hot jelly into jot jars, stir again, and put on lids.  Process in a water bath for 5 minutes.

 

The color is so pretty - and the flavor is apple-y, sweet and refreshing! I love the bits of herbs!  Even if you think you won't like this jelly, because it's a bit different - you will!  (I put some of this jelly over some hot, steamed carrots and it was out of this world GOOD!)

Over-the-Top Popcorn...

Burnt popcorn - it smelled up the entire manse - had to open the windows and even then the stench wouldn't leave!   I watched the second bag more closely - kind of like what I do when I'm baking rolls - the first batch always burns and then I pay attention because the second batch is also the last batch!  I whipped up this recipe, which I came across while reading my new issue of Southern Living last night...and it was gone within minutes - the boy loved it and so did I!  Anything with bacon in it is always going to get me to the table - I love bacon - I'm always afraid that one day only the word oink will fall from my lips.  This is so good that I waited for the boy to go off to work before I made it again because I didn't want to share!    

Start with a bag of popped popcorn...toss in some Parmesan cheese, melted butter, buttermilk-ranch dressing mix and top it off with some crispy bacon...it's practically a meal in inself!  I felt entitled to an entire bag because I walked a golf course today...in sandals...and now I can hardly move!  The boy played in a golf tournament and I tagged along as his one and only fan and let me tell you, being a spectator is not an easy job!  I walked, in the hot sun, up hills and dales for hours on end...without a chair, mocktail or potty! So I earned this fabulous treat!

Over-the-Top Popcorn - Southern Living Magazine, September 2008

Cook 4 bacon slices (I doubled the bacon because, well, I'm a pig, okay?) in a large skillet over medium-high heat for 10 minutes or until crisp; remove bacon and drain on paper towels.  Coarsely chop bacon.  Pour 1 (1.3 oz.) bag popped microwave popcorn into a large bowl.  Toss with bacon, 1/4 cup grated Parmeson cheese, 4 tablespoons melted butter, and 2 teaspoons buttermilk Ranch dressing mix.  Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, and serve immediately.  Makes 2 to 3 servings (unless you're like me and then it serves just ONE.)   

"When a fellow shuts his eyes to temptation he ought to be sure he isn't winking."  Abraham Lincoln

Coasters...

With a cuppa in hand, I started clicking on my usual morning reading list and when I came to Lucy's Tales From Home, I knew I'd stay a while.  I love this blog - it's all about family and fun and thrown in between are her amazing crafts and sewing project and recipes - I think I'll be her in my next life!  So while there, I spotted her new coasters, made with a Moda Charm Pack and they are ridiculously CUTE!  Had to make some...

Thanks Cindy!  These are fast and easy, and despite what've you've heard those are NOT my middle names!  Two pieces of fabric, right-sides-together with a piece of batting, sewn together, turned and top-stitched.  I love the fall colors!  We use coasters around the manse - we have to as the mister is, as he once put it, a "fluids consumer."  I think that was in response to a question about his proliferation of beverages...and if not for coasters there would be water marks and rings on every piece of furniture.  One set of coasters is not nearly enough so I made another - just for fun...

These are machine, raw-edge appliqued, then sandwiched with batting and backing, stippled and sewn together with the stripped binding.  They are a little more time-consuming but very fun and cute...the "fluids consumer" won't even notice them, he only cares that they catch the condensation so he'll stay out of the dog house...hahahahaha, like THAT'S possible!

Trick or Treat Quilt...

The last of the halloween quilt tops is finished - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the border - it's called Halloween Lane and it's from the Alexander Henry Fabric Collection.  This picture is a little skewed but the quilt is a square.  I think I might try quilting this one myself - and I've got a great flannel halloween back to put on which will make curling up in it, eating halloween candy, all the sweeter!

Fabulous Friends...

I have such fabulous friends - I truly do...they remember my birthday, bring me food when I'm sick, put up with my hystrionics, listen endlessly...and they are extremely talented and creative! 

Susan, who is such a gifted artist, sent me the most amazing card today in the mail - she made it.  There are 6 layers of paper on this card - probably more counting all the little doo-dads, cut-outs and ribbon.  It's her own creation and is absolutely beautiful - there is no way I could just throw it onto the pile...so I framed it and put it right next to my computer so I can see it every "rainy" day!  Susan also wrote the perfect sentiment inside..."To a perfect summer, at least on paper!"   Susan made this card after reading my post about Velvet Mint Water, my favorite summertime drink...isn't it great how "mint" went from being in a drink to being on a card?!  Thanks Susan, I love it!!  Check out her blog to see more of her amazing work at Rainy Day Creations.

Another of my amazing friends is Jenny - I've told you about her before, she's brilliant, beautiful and the maker of amazing jewelry...Check her out at Natural Historie - you'll love her things as much as I do! 

I have one more fabulous and talented friend to tell you about today...she's been my bestus pal since we were in 7th grade...that's right, only a few years ago...Joni Hilton, former beauty queen, TV host, author of 16 books and numerous magazine articles, mother of 4, wife of 1, has a new radio show!  And you don't have to be in the Sacramento area, where she'll be broadcasting from, to hear her - she'll be streaming live at www.kahi.com (or if you are in Sacramento you can tune in to 950 am, 6 to 8:00 pm weeknights.)  She'll be dispensing "relationship advice" on The Joni Hilton Show....relationship advice...hmmm...now there's a topic the MISTER could use!  You can call in with your questions too!  1-800-950-5244...I'm sure it will be great entertainment as Joni is funny and a masterful wit...she once told me, in 7th grade, that in a battle of wits I would only be half prepared...it took me 20 years to figure out what she meant!  Of course, she was right!

Thanks Kate!

Kudos to Kate, a dynamo in a little package!  Kate is off to the Netherlands to become a nanny for a very lucky family - they will love her!  She is not only darling on the outside but the inside as well and I wish her all the best in what is sure to be an adventure!  Kate stopped by the other day to bring me a cupcake - which was so sweet of her - she must have heard my stomach growling!  She made these cupcakes, wings and all, and they were as good as they look!

Kate bought herself a book on cupcakes, followed the directions and made those chocolate wings all by herself...pretty cool, no?  Thanks Kate - your cupcakes were the highlight of my day...followed closely by the Publisher's Clearing House envelope that says I'm ALREADY A WINNER!