Birthday!

Jax turned three, so I made him some birthday treats.

1. First I made some apple pie/tartlet thingies - diced apples tossed with some cinnamon, brown sugar, and flour, baked in puff pastry squares in muffin tins. But they looked really good, and really, what three year olds want gourmet apple pie/tartlet thingies?
2. So I made some yummy yellow cupcakes and took those to daycare, still warm from the oven. There were a few extra (I sent two dozen, not knowing how many floaters would be around for birthday snack time), and I asked Jax if he wanted to give them to the office people. No, he said, he wanted to take them home and eat them. Smart boy.
3. The best, however, was his cake. I asked Jax what kind of cake he wanted, and he said blue cake. The next day, muffin cake. Finally he said chocolate race car cake. Sure, I can do that. My grandma gave me a ton of old Wilton cake pans, so in addition to race car I also have a semi, jeep, old model T Ford, station wagon, van, and coupe. The race car pan was really big, so I decided to go for the coupe, because, as I see it, anyone can make a race car cake - it takes someone special to make a 1976 Datsun 280Z cake. And oh yeah, I'm that special. Jax said he wanted it to be yellow, so I made it retro '70s yellow. Pure awesome. And delicious, of course, but that goes without saying.

Spicy vodka plum chicken

I'm usually hesitant to try out a new recipe, and when I do, I don't follow it exactly. I have some oranges and plums to use in the next few days and was searching for an orange-glaze chicken recipe when I came across this. It calls for green onions, but I didn't have any so I left them out. I wasn't sure about it until I took a bite - delicious! And of course I made enough sauce (mixed it together in a dish before adding some to the drippings) that I can freeze some and marinate chicken in it later. This was a wonderful combination of sweet and spicy, plus the addition of the vodka in the jam I think made it even yummier.

Spicy vodka plum chicken
some Chinese five spice powder
several pieces of chicken
1/2 c plum jam (I made my own in the bread machine, of course - 4 plums, 2 tbsp pectin, 1 c sugar, and 1/2 c vodka)
1/2 c chicken broth
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Heat a little oil in a skillet. Coat the chicken in the Chinese five spice powder. Cook the chicken in the pan until done; set aside. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan drippings and cook until thickened. Put the chicken back in, coat it in the sauce, and cook for a few minutes. Serve over rice.

More awesome jam

I'm on a jam kick right now, ever since I realized how incredibly easy it is to can my creations.

Today I made banana butter (like apple butter, only with bananas). Yum!

Banana Butter
7-8 ripe bananas, mashed
5 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/5 c sugar
1 tbsp rum
cinnamon
ginger
allspice
nutmeg

Put everything into the bread machine and set for jam. Wait 1 hour 20 min. Eat.

Filled 9 4-oz jars.

Awesome jam

Plums were on sale at the grocery store, so I bought a bunch. What to do with them? Make jam - strawberry plum vodka jam, to be exact. Yum! I also canned it, in cute little 4 oz jars, to give out for Christmas presents. They're cooling right now, so I'm really hoping they seal right - this is my first time ever canning anything.

Here's the recipe (I actually measured things this time!):

Strawberry Plum Vodka Jam
1 lb strawberries, washed and cut into chunks
5 large plums, peeled and cut into chunks
1 c sugar
2 tbsp vodka
1/2 tbsp pectin

1. Put the fruit into a food processor and pulse until it's in small chunks.
2. Throw everything into a bread machine.
3. Cook on jam setting.
4. Can.

I ended up with 10 4-oz jars of jam, plus a little left over to eat immediately.

Jax's Birthday

We threw a small party for Jax's second birthday last week.

Menu:
Chicken nuggets (because what two year old doesn't like chicken nuggets)
Fruit salad - canteloupe, strawberries, pineapple, grapes
Pizza rolls
Taquitos and queso blanco con chilis sauce
Airplane cake!

The cake was marbled chocolate fudge cake, made by marbling Better Homes and Gardens' white cake with their chocolate cake. It didn't marble as clearly as I wanted, but it still combined really well for a dense, fudgy cake that was lighter fudginess in some parts compared to others. It didn't last past the day of the party.

Pizza Rolls
Pizza sauce (I made my own with some tomato sauce, onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning)
Sausage, cooked
Pizza dough (I broke down and used the bagged mix instead of making my own)
Mozzarella cheese

Mix the sausage into the sauce. Roll out the pizza dough and cut it into squares. Put a spoonful of sauce onto each square, as well as a pinch of cheese. Fold the dough over. Bake at 450 10 minutes or so, until crust is golden. Note: DON'T sprinkle the cheese over the entire sheet. The crust won't stay closed and it'll ooze out all over!

Apple night

I hosted craft night again this month, and the theme this time was apples. Here's the menu:

1. Apple cheddar puffs, half with chicken and half with bacon (made the same way as the spinach artichoke puffs but with shredded chicken or crumbled bacon, grated apple, and cheddar cheese)
2. Apple and red Leicester risotto
3. Apple cranberry crumbcake
4. Baked apples

At the end of the night the only thing left was some baked apples, which I think I'll make into apple enchiladas.

More bread experimentation

Two more friendship bread varieties:

Carrot cake (vanilla with extra cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and grated carrot) with cream cheese frosting

Bumbleberry cheesecake cake (vanilla bread cut in half, sandwiched with cream cheese frosting and leftover bumbleberry filling), great frozen.

Bumbleberry pies

A fellow TFA'er gave me this recipe for bumbleberry pie. I usually make mini ones, as they're a lot easier to eat. I've made them both with the traditional pie dough and cream cheese dough. The cream cheese was a little richer and flakier, but there really wasn't much difference.


Bumbleberry Pie
Filling:
1-2 cups apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
3-5 cups total cups of any or all of the following: strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries
3/4 c sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon


Glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tsp water
sugar


Cream cheese dough:
1 1/4 c flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 c full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c butter, at room temperature


Regular pie dough:
1 c cold butter, diced
2 c flour
1/4 c sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 c cold water


Combine all the fruit in a large bowl. If I'm making mini pies, I usually throw all the berries and cherries into the food processor first and turn them into small chunks. Sprinkle in the rest of the ingredients and stir gently.


Roll out half the pie crusts (either one big one or about one dozen of each dough for mini ones). Fill with the fruit mixture (about 2 tbsp for mini ones). Roll out the remaining dough for the top crust. Cut slits in the top and place over fruit. Seal edges and flute.


Combine the egg yolk and water, then brush over the top crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 minutes (about 5 for mini ones), then reduce heat to 350 and bake for 35-40 minues (about 10-20 for mini ones) or until golden brown. Let cool on rack.

Peach pie/cobbler thing

I bought a bunch of fresh peaches at the farmers' market a couple weeks ago. What do you do with lots of fresh peaches? You make a pie/cobbler thing. I took it into work and my coworkers loved it (I would've sent it to daycare but I didn't know how much brandy was left in it).

Peach Pie/Cobbler Thing

Blanch a bunch of peaches (I think I used 11), peel, and slice. Melt half a stick of butter in a large pan, then pour in the peaches, a cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup brandy. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Roll out a puff pastry sheet until it fits your lightly greased pan. Put the pastry in the pan, then pour the peach mixture on top. Bake at 350 until it's bubbly (maybe 30-45 min?). Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose...

...and sometimes it rains.

Tonight, while it rained a bit, I tried making strawberry roulade with the Amish friendship bread. I made plain vanilla and baked it in a 9"x13" pan, 3 cups of batter per pan (next time only use 1.5 cups and try a cookie sheet), for about half an hour instead of the full hour. I let it cool briefly (just long enough to make the frosting and puree the strawberries). Then I sliced it in half and frosted one of those with cream cheese frosting (1 stick butter, 1 package cream cheese, and enough powdered sugar to make it spreadable), topped with pureed strawberries (great to have on hand in the freezer, especially if you buy too many at the farmers' market like I tend to do). Roll it up, wrap in wax paper, and chill. Voilà!But when I tried it with the other half it stuck to the waxed paper underneath it when we tried to roll it. So that became strawberry cheesecake cake. I'd already made up the other sliced sheet, so we flipped it onto the second, whole sheet, sandwiching the frosting and strawberries between. I then made more frosting (same recipe), frosted the top, and put more strawberries on top.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Tuesday

Tuesday - baked apple pastry bites, made with the filling left over from the apple cinnamon enchiladas.

Ingredients
For the filling:
4-5 apples, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1/2 stick butter
Cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, to taste
1/2 cup brown sugar
For the dough:
1 cup cold butter, chopped into pieces
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
cold water
For the glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tsp water
Sugar

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
2. Dump in the apples, sugar, and spices. Stir to coat the apples.
3. Cover and simmer until the apples are soft, about an hour or so. Stir occasionally.
4. Process the butter, sugar, and flour until it looks like breadcrumbs. Add a couple tablespoons or so of water and process until dough forms. Put in a ball and chill for half an hour or so.
5. Preheat oven to 400.
6. Roll out the dough on a floured surface. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out a bunch of circles. Cut the same amount with a cookie cutter slightly bigger than the first.
7. Lay the small circles on a cookie sheet. Put a large spoonful of filling in the center of each one.
8. Cut two small slits in each of the bigger circles. Wet the edges of the smaller circles, then set the bigger ones on top. Use the tines of a fork to press them together.
9. Beat together the egg and water.
10. Brush the pastries with the glaze, then sprinkle with sugar.
11. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until tops are golden. Let cool on rack.