Cool and Yummy

 I'm watching the weather forecast for the next few days and the prospect  for some hot, humid and stifling days this coming week is depressing.  I think I'll spend some time in my sewing room in the cool basement.  But today I was in the mood to spend some time in the kitchen.  With two boxes of strawberries in the fridge and a basil plant that has been growing faster than I can harvest, I found a recipe for Strawberry Basil Sorbet.

Since I enjoyed this sweet treat, I thought I'd share it here just in case you need something cool and refreshing to try on a hot, humid summer day.

You can find the recipe here at Two Peas & Their Pod, but I'll go ahead and post it here too.

Strawberry Basil Sorbet

1 lb. of strawberries, hulled and sliced

2/3 cup of sugar (a little less if your strawberries are extra sweet!)

1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil

1 teas. fresh lemon juice

Mix strawberries with sugar and let set at room temperature (about 45 min to 1 hour) until sugar is dissolved and syrupy.  In blender, combine strawberry mixture, chopped basil and 1 teas. lemon juice.  Blend completely and then place in refrigerator until well chilled.  Using an electric ice cream freezer, place chilled strawberry/basil mixture in chilled container and follow manufacturer's directions for sorbet.  Mine mixed for about 20 minutes to a point when it was nice and firm.  Spoon out and enjoy - or place in freezer safe container and freeze until ready to serve.  

Enjoy!  And stay cool!

Time to Blog

It's July already!  I know, that's not news to anyone but it does seem like this summer is speeding by and I've not taken the time to blog about anything after we returned from the Oklahoma wedding.   I certainly haven't abandoned you all because I manage to compose blog posts everywhere I go, it's just that I haven't taken the time to write them down!  So today I'll just try to get up to date with some mini-versions of the blog posts in my head.

Just a few days after the big event, the mother and father of the bride made a stop here in Indiana for a few days on their way to Washington, D.C.  They probably were just trying to escape the high temps back in OK but we did our best to entertain them with a trip to the horse races at Churchill Downs and a road trip to French Lick and Corydon.  My sister and I knew that we had a great, great, great, great grandfather buried somewhere near there so finding his gravesite was one thing on her list to accomplish at some point.  When we came upon the cemetery and saw the conditions of some of the markers, our hopes were dimmed.  But fortunately his grave stone was in pretty good condition, considering that he died in 1852.  How amazing is it that after growing up in Kansas over 750 miles from here, I would end up living within 30 miles of where some of my ancestors also lived! So here we posed  (for not the greatest photo!) in front of his grave as proof to our families that we found  (4 greats) grandpa John!

Having company gives me the chance to try some of the recipes I've been collecting.  This is a Guinness Chocolate Cake for my brother-in-law.  I don't know how the subject of this came up, but he's been wanting someone to bake him this cake for quite some time.  It was delicious and even had the look of a glass of Guinness with it's foamy head.  The recipe I found online here and can be credited to Nigella Lawson.  

Have you heard of Pinterest yet?  I am addicted.  It is basically an online scrapbook of all the cool things you find while browsing  the internet.  It's kind of like window shopping and taking visual notes.  But it is great for recipes too.  The Sugar Cookie Bars and the Overnight Baked Blueberry French Toast are in my Recipe Box and were on my "want to try" list.  Both were good and I would probably make  again.  

More cake baking, but this one by daughter B.  The little guy turned TWO last week.  B made this awesome Nemo cake with a layer of chocolate chip cheesecake and a layer of chocolate cake.  And yes, it was a wonderful as it sounds!  She did a great job with her Nemo design too! (I didn't notice until just now that their pet fish is making a cameo appearance in this photo!  Can you find Nemo?) 

Welcome to year three Mr. D !  It's going to be fun times at your house!

The 4th of July was a fun day too.  We made a quick trip up to Ohio to meet up with K and J (on their return from D.C.) at our Uncle Larry's home.  It was great to visit with him, our aunt and a cousin and some of her family.  We are looking forward to a  ride on the motorcycle up there some time later this summer for more visiting!

We got home with plenty of time to enjoy our neighbors' firework displays.  Happy July!

Recipe on Loser Monday

As part of the Red Geranium Diet Challenge, we are encouraged to post on Mondays. Since you know you'll NOT be reading about the number on the scale, and there are already far too many photos of my chubby body on here, I've chosen to post a new healthy recipe.

It seems like every time I go to a book store I can manage to find new reading material. On my last visit to Borders, while suffering from the post holiday stuffed tummy syndrome, I found The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook. While I know we'll not be following Tosca Reno's plan completely, she does have a lot of ideas that should be helpful. We're trying to include more whole grains and vegetables and less processed foods in our meals. In her cookbook, I found a recipe for Carrot Bread. I made a few changes and baked it this afternoon.

Here's my version of the Clean Diet Carrot Bread

8 oz. shredded carrots

1/2 cup crushed unsweetened pineapple, drained (but save some of the juice)

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups cornmeal

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup flax meal

1 Tbls. cinnamon

1 1/2 teas. baking powder

2 egg whites

1/4 cup egg substitute (Egg Beaters)

2 Tbls. Canola oil

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup skim milk (or low-fat soy milk)

1/4 cup pineapple juice (see above) or water from cooking the carrots

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. In a small saucepan place carrots and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and let cool.

3. In mixing bowl, place dry ingredients.

4. In another bowl, whip egg whites until stiff.

5. In small bowl, mix egg beaters, oil, honey, milk and pineapple juice(or carrot water). Add to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add whipped egg whites and fold until just combined. Add cranberries, carrots and pineapple; mix until just combined. Try not to over-mix.

6. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake at 375 for 60 minutes.

I entered this in the WW recipe builder and it came up being 2 points a slice - with about 18 slices per loaf. It is not a very sweet bread and has a similar texture as cornbread. But I thought it was pretty tasty. A little light cream cheese or apple butter might be a nice addition if you want. Let me know if you try this and if you like it. This was the first time I made this so you are part of the experiment too!

PS: D says it is better with butter smeared on it and B says, pick out the cranberries, then smear on the butter. No this is not as good as my banana bread, but then as D says, most everything that is good for you, doesn't taste as good. Oh well, I tried.

More Than Just Pie

She was known for her pies. Cherry especially, but also lemon meringue and chocolate. But I'll never forget the butterscotch brownies. The brown sugar, buttery scent would fill the house when she baked these. It is one of those smells that instantly takes you back to another era, when women still wore aprons in the kitchen and set the table before all meals.

I grew up on a farm homesteaded by my father's ancestors. He was the only boy in a family of six. Aunt Sylva was the only one of his sisters who lived nearby when I was growing up. My parents were "blessed" with two daughters and our aunt and uncle were the parents of two boys. They often traded kids when extra farmhands were needed or there was a mother-daughter banquet to attend. She was our "other mother".

We lost her yesterday. A lady in all respects, she was always quick to offer her help to anyone who needed it, whether it was baking a pie, accompanying someone on a doctor appointment or just making a phone call to see make sure if a friend was "okay". She had her own sense of style and fashion and always had a kind word for everyone. She would probably be appalled to see that I've posted a photo of her in her housecoat ! But this is the last photo I took of her last fall when my sister and I visited. I love the expression and slight smile on her face as she listened to Karen. She was always interested in our families activities and was so proud of her own grandchildren.

I have the urge to go make some butterscotch brownies and go buy some Jergen's Hand Lotion (another scent I associate with Aunt Sylva!) I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I shared the brownie recipe with you.

BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES

Melt one 6 oz. package of Nestle's Butterscotch chips over hot water (or in microwave)

Add 1/4 cup butter or margarine. Remove from heat.

Stir in 1 cup light brown sugar, packed

Cool 5 minutes

Blend in 2 eggs, 1/2 teas. vanilla.

Stir together and blend in 1 cup flour, 1 teas. baking powder. 1/2 teas. salt.

Add 1/2 cup chpped walnuts.

Spread in greased and lightly floured pan (13 x 9 for thin brownies, 9 x 9 for thicker)

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Cool. Enjoy.

We'll miss you Aunt Sylva.

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving - almost! I just thought I'd post a photo of my front door greeter. He's a remnant of the old Main St. Mercantile days and I wish I could remember the name of the crafter that made him. I don't know if you can see the little sign on front - but it says "Eat Beef". Just a small reminder of family reunions out on the farm! I'm sure some of you will remember:) It won't be long until it is time to decorate for Christmas. When I walked the subdivision I see some neighbors already have some decorations in their yards. I hope we can get some lights up again this year. It's not Dennis' favorite thing to do but he was so wonderful to climb up on the ladder and string a few along the eaves last year - maybe again ? It does make the house look so much more festive - especially since we don't get much snow here to make it look like winter ( not that I'm complaining about that!).

I finally got the quilt assembled! Now just to get it quilted. I've found a lady in Louisville that does long arm quilting so I'm taking it to her on Monday. I've never attempted to machine quilt one this big so I think its best to have someone else do it. I can't wait to get it back. Hopefully she can get it done before Christmas! I've got another project started - but can't say any more than that about it!
Today was Thanksgiving dinner at Dennis' office. Every year they have a big pot luck dinner for all the employees(over 100) and usually I send baked turkey breasts and gravy but I guess they are having the meat catered this year. So my contribution was this Mandarin Salad Oriental. It's one of my favorites so hope they enjoyed it. It's a good thing I've still got some old Tupperware left! If you still need a salad for Thanksgiving dinner, I'll share this recipe with you.

Mandarin Salad Oriental
1 3 oz. pkg. ramen noodles (oriental flavor)
1/3 c. sliced almonds
5 T. Sugar - divided
1/2 c. veg. oil
3 T. White vinegar
1 T. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1/8 t. hot sauce
1/2 head iceberg lettuce - torn
1//2 head romaine lettuce - torn
5 celery ribs - chopped
3 green onions - chopped
1 - 11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

Remove flavor pkt. from soup mix and set aside. Crumble noodles in a shallow pan and bake at 350 for 10minutes or til toasted. Remove from oven, cool.
Cook sliced almonds and 3 T sugar in small nonstick skillet over med-low heat, stirring constantly about 5-6 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and almonds evenly coated. Remove from heat and set aside (I eliminate this step and just toast the almonds without the sugar)
Whisk together flavor pkt and 2T sugar (or 1 T Splenda blend), oil & next 5 ingredients.
Toss together lettuces, celery & onions. Drizzle with dressing. Add noodles, almonds and oranges, toss. Best if served immediately.

Enjoy !