Celebrating Fall (and cooler weather)

I look forward to Fall every year, especially as the heat of summer lingers here in Florida.  If you are young and someone tells you that you will get used to the heat, you won't.  I have learned some coping skills though, like always carrying a water bottle... and mostly staying inside in the A/C!  But, now the weather is changing, the humidity has finally receded, and it is cool in the mornings and evenings, finally!

To celebrate the end of the doldrums of summer, we will be joining in Barry Stebbing's (How Great Thou Art)  Thanksgiving contest that he just announced. The contest is broken down into age groups, which works well for us as Emily and Michelle are in different groups.  I am looking forward to see the girls' creations and coming up with some creative ways to use them in our decorations this year.  They both have very unique and distinct styles!

I have been baking and using pumpkins from our garden these last couple of weeks.  For tonight, I have this recipe I got in an email from Bulk Herb Store which looks very good:

Cinnamon Baked Apples

Ingredients

• 2 Granny Smith apples
• 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2 tablespoon walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Cut the top off the apples, about a quarter way down from the stem.
3. Remove the core of the apple With a sharp knife, leaving the bottom in tact. This doesn't have to be perfect (or pretty). Just get the core out and try not to cut through the bottom.
4. In a small mixing bowl, combine the butter, almond flour, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Stir until well combined.  Add the raisins and walnuts and stir until evenly distributed.
5. Stuff the center of each apple with the mixture. It will pile on top of the apples.
6. Place in a baking pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Then cover with foil and bake for another 10 minutes. (If you have a casserole dish with a lid, that would work perfectly and for this and allow you to avoid using foil).
7. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Eat alone or with a dollop of cream. Enjoy! 

Easy Snack - Rice Pudding

I love rice pudding.  It brings back memories of my childhood and my mother, as it was a staple she made almost every week.  My mother was a very good cook.  She died of cancer 18 years ago, when I was in my late 20s.  I think of her every time I make these.

It really is a very easy snack/dessert. Rice pudding isn't very sweet, but it hits the spot. 

Rice Pudding

I usually double this recipe.  As it is, it serves 4.

3 cups milk

1/3 cup white rice

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)

Bring milk to a boil, then add rice.  Lower the heat and cook until most of the milk is absorved.  It should not be dry but rather of the consistency of a thick sauce.  Mix in sugar, then pour into a glass dish, cover with plastic wrap and allow to cool on the counter, then refrigerate.

Some people like it hot, especially on a cold winter day, with cinnamon or cocoa powder and sugar sprinkled on top.  On warm days, I prefer it cold with a ginger snap cookie...  Enjoy!

For more recipes ideas, follow click on these linky parties I'm participating in:  Meatless Monday, and Saving Second Base.

Menu Planning - September 13

I think one of the things that is the easiest to do and gets overlooked in my routine is menu planning.  I actually enjoy doing this chore, and it really helps to know first thing in the morning what I'm serving for dinner.  I'm working on making weedly menu planning a habit.  After a day of schooling, it's nice to know I have all the ingredients I need for dinner, everything thawed out... so planning before going to the grocery store helps too.  I like going to the grocery store on Fridays and even early on Saturday mornings.  It seems like the produce is fresh on those days.

This week's plan with links and a recipe:

Monday: Zuppa Toscana, Spinach and Apple Salad, Bacon & Cheese Muffins
Tuesday: Country Style Steak (substitute beef stock for water and skip Morton's seasoning)
Wednesday: Roast Sticky Chicken (see recipe below), beans & rice, Easy Indian Style Okra
Thursday: Leftover Buffet
Friday: Linguini with tomato-almond pesto, salad
Saturday: Garden Vegetable Quiche, salad
Sunday: Thai Chicken,

Snacks: peanut butter cookies

My family loves this Sticky Chicken recipe. I've been making it for years. It is the juiciest chicken, probably because of the lower temperature and longer baking time.

ROAST STICKY CHICKEN

1 large chicken -- roasting
1 cup onion -- chopped
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons paprika
4 teaspoons salt

In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin.  When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions, and place in a shallow baking pan. Roast, uncovered, at 250 degrees F for 5 hours. The pan juices will start to caramelize on the bottom of pan and the chicken will turn golden brown.

If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest
about 10 minutes before carving.

Baking Cakes

One of the things most homeschooling moms have to do is learn to be frugal. Living on one income has forced me to learn how to do many things myself instead of just buying them ready made, especially in the kitchen. We also try to eat as healthfully as possible, so that has also lead us away from eating out as much as we used to.  And, frankly, I just prefer homemade food over what most restaurants serve.  I have an MSG intolerance that has taught us that most restaurants load up on it, and MSG isn't good for anyone; so that's another reason to stay away, besides the need to be frugal.

I don't do hardly any baking during the summer, mainly because I don't want to heat up the house with a hot oven.  Come September, I am missing baking and cooler weather very badly.  So, I start baking, even though we'll probably not get the first cold front till mid-October.  I am a cool weather girl and love our winter weather.  So, Labor Day weekend begins baking season at my home.

We had guests for dinner on Saturday, so I decided to risk trying a new cake recipe.  I just couldn't wait.  I'd been reading up on cake baking tips, looking to improve my skills.  Two pointers I followed: all ingredients should be at room temperature and sugar and butter should be mixed for 10 minutes minimum.  It worked! I also learned how to put a chocolate ganache by watching a YouTube video. It was pretty easy!

Gold Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 t salt

6 eggs

2 teaspoons orange extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour two 2x9" cake pans. 

Beat butter and sugar for 10 minutes, minimum; then add one egg at a time till thoroughly incorporated intot he batter. While this is beathing, mix the rest of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add extracts to the butter mixture, then add flour and buttermilk alternating four times with flour being the first and last ingredient to add.  Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out dry.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes. 

If you are using a ganache, cakes must be fully cooled and preferably refrigerated.  Cover with plastic wrap to refrigerate after cooling.

This video helped with how to pour the ganache.

Baking Cookies and Math

Peanut Butter, Banana, Chocolate Chip Cookies

This afternoon, I baked these really yummy cookies with Michelle. I used the opportunity to reinforce some math concepts she has been learning – fractions and division. I had her measure the ½ cup of sugar with a ¼ cup measure. She noticed it was the wrong measuring cup, so I asked her how she was going to do it. Her first reaction was to say just ½ of ¼ cup measure. Once I pointed out that wouldn’t be ½ cup of sugar, she thought for a few seconds and came up with the right answer. To measure the 2 cups of flour, I gave her a ½ cup measure, and that time she got it right the first time. Another tricky problem was figuring out how to get 2 oz. of cream cheese from an 8 oz. block. We worked through it together. Real life math applications are easy to find around the house. I’ve used cooking and baking with all my children to reinforce math concepts. Maybe that’s why they are all emerging cooks!


I had been craving banana bread all week, and I had the perfect over-ripe bananas in the kitchen. The kids wanted cookies. So, I went looking and found a banana, peanut butter, chocolate-chip-cookie recipe at Cook’s Country online and tweaked it to match what I had on hand. I’m going to have to hide some, or they’ll be all gone by the time Don gets home from work… as Emily said, they are SCRUMPTIOUS!

Peanut Butter and Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons butter, softened
2 oz cream cheese, softened
½ light brown sugar
½ sugar
½ organic peanut butter, at room temperature
¼ cup mashed banana
1 egg, at room temperature
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips cookies

Turn oven on to 350 degrees. Put butter and sugars in mixer, then mix for 10 minutes till light and fluffy. Add egg and mix, add peanut butter and mix, then add banana and vanilla, and mix.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Blend into batter, then fold in chocolate chips. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough, one inch apart, onto cookie sheets covered with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes, till lightly browned.

These cookies are soft in the center and slightly crunch around the edges, yummm!

I'm joining in this week for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.