Cottage Cheese Pie

I am still finalizing my Thanksgiving day ment (by which I'm sure you understand that I'm deciding how many desserts we "need"). Having decided to be smarter this year, I lost 5 pounds BEFORE this holiday week, which will let me pig out without feeling guilty! Woo Hoo! Way to plan ahead by a month!

I found this recipe in the Fanny Farmer cookbook, and it intrigued me. Of course, I adapted it a bit, and it was good. Chan, I'm posting it today especially for you, but everyone else should try it, too. Anything you can mix up simply using your food processor is a great thing indeed.

COTTAGE CHEESE PIE

1 Crumb crust - use a deep dish crust, or it will overflow
1 pound (2 cups) cottage cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup whole milk
3 slightly beaten eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F. Whirl the cottage cheese in the food processor, then add the rest of the ingredients in the order given. Pour into your crust, and bake for about an hour, until the center is firm. Cool completely before serving. If desired, top with canned pie filling (which is what I did), whipped cream or ice cream, or all of the above. The flavor is very similar to cheesecake, but it does appear to me that it has fewer calories. Always a bonus in my book!
Tomorrow, we'll have the Thanksgiving menu done. Tonight, I have to argue my little guy down from his position of "We're having three starches, so we need two meats, and I'm voting for roast beef." He's pretty hard headed.

Michelle, sharp eyes, noticing that Jeffrey got his hair cut off. I'm heartbroken. First, I want his hair instead of mine. Second, I'm disappointed that he succumbed to peer pressure and now looks just like everyone else. I thought I had one individualist in my crowd. And, the little boys thank you all for the condolences on the loss of their little piggy.

Thanksgiving week menus

I'm still working out the details of Thursday, but here's what I'm doing this week:

Sunday (today)
2 oven stuffer roasters
"Party" rice
creamed spinach
mandarin oranges
Pullman bread
Cottage Cheese pie

Monday:
Christmas fish (I'll tell you about it soon)
Christmas rice
Acorn squash
French bread
Chocolate Buttermilk cake

Tuesday:
Steak
Penne with tomatoes and parsley
green beans almondine
Family Pleaser light bread
Brownie Tuesdays

Wednesday:
Roast Beef
Rock Potatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Yellow or white cake

Friday:
Find whatever you can (or, as Al Penwasser calls it, "Refrigerator Hunt"). I'll put it on the counter, reheated if necessary; good luck to all.

Saturday:
The last night all of the college kids will be home. I will muster all of my strength and think up something outstanding. I'll also have to bake each of them a loaf of cranberry or banana bread to take back to school. They'll be really eager to return in 2 or 3 weeks!

And, what post is complete without a picture of Thor and some of his college people?

Good and Bad Weekend

Jeff, Cass and Kellie came home Friday night, to great celebration, fanfare and hoopla. Being from this family means very enthusiastic greetings, and I'm exceedingly proud that all of my children are best friends. Thor, of course, is delirious with joy.

Sadly, on Saturday, Rusty the Guinea Pig died. My little boys were, of course, very saddened by this, as were the girls. Patrick and Jeff were wonderful in helping to lay the poor little critter to rest. The surviving piggie, Cinnamon, is heartbroken. He's never been an only pig. Someone has had him out of his cage nearly continuously, because otherwise he mopes in a corner. I've not heard him squeak once since his buddy died. The little boys are doing their best to console him.

Hopefully, I'll get my week's menus posted later today, and Thanksgiving tomorrow. Then it's off to the loony bin as I race around here cooking like crazy. See you all later!

Easy Cobbler

We're heading tnto the busiest season of the year for most of us. I'm here to help you out on those occasions when you want to take a nice dessert to someone, but don't have a lot of time to accomplish it, or if you find out someone's "dropping by" and you want to offer something good.

I don't do a lot of cooking out of cans or boxes. Let's face it, cans are usually designed to feed 2 or 3 people (other than the giant #10 cans, which is the size I buy for canned fruit), so I could get myself a nice case of carpal tunnel syndrome opening 4 or 5 cans for one meal. The exceptions are tomato paste, diced tomatoes and canned pie filling. This recipe uses the one you'd think most unlikely to live in my pantry, the canned pie filling (you remember me, the crust-phobic one, right?).

EASY COBBLER

1 can pie filling (any fruit flavor)
Crust:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 egg

Scoop the pie filling out of the can into a baking dish (I use the one that's about 7" x 10"). In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine the dry crust ingredients. Stir in the butter and egg until well combined. Drop on top of the pie filling by tablespoonsful. It won't cover the whole top, but it thins out and spreads out. Bake at 375F for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned. Serve with whipped cream (home made or store bought), ice cream or both! And, for pity's sake, whatever you do, don't tell anyone how easy this was!

Here's one last drool inducing look. Don't blame me for the slobber on your monitor.

It's Thorsday!

Thor's Mom had a screaming headache all day and night Wednesday; it's finally dissipating today. Thor and his friends had pizza last night, because I was so stupid with pain that I put the roast beef in the oven and went to bed without turning on the oven. They were all delighted. So that Thor's fans worldwide are not disappointed, here are a couple of pictures of our boy engaged in one of his favorite pastimes - playing with a rawhide bone. Happy Thorsday, Everyone!

The Crane in my Garden

...OK, so it was over my garden.

A section of well pipe rotted through last Thursday. Well driller said he could fix it Monday or Tuesday, unless I wanted to pay overtime for Saturday or Sunday. Um, no, thanks; the water's still running.
Sunday morning he called at 7AM, said he had a crew with nothing to do, and would I like my well fixed at standard rates Sunday, or did I want to wait until Tuesday? Do I look stupid?

Ryan was fascinated by the crane truck, and didn't realize the crane would be so tall - it's only lifting out 20' sections, after all (he forgot that the well's 420 feet deep), so he's the author of these lovely photos for you. And today Patrick's out mulching those leaves. No lawn fertilizer creating polluting runoff for the Chesapeake Bay in my little corner of the world!

Coloring Outside the Lines....

...or, I can't even make a stinkin' schedule right.

When I was a child, my most treasured possession was my box of 64 Crayolas. I colored the pictures, and drew more background around them as I felt necessary. Well, that's exactly what happened to Saturday night's dinner - the first night of the schedule! Argh!

I planned to make Cuban bread, and did. But I really hate all that salt, so I also decided it would be a great night to try out an oatmeal bread recipe I'd found. It was light, it was fluffy, it was wonderful; my dearly beloved didn't even try it, although the little boys raved about it. I did have Cuban bread left over, but no oatmeal bread. The recipe is modified from the Farmer's bread cookbook I found at the used book sale back in April.

OATMEAL BREAD

2/3 cup warm milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup quick cook oats
1/4 cup water
3 tsp yeast
2 cups flour
1 tbsp butter

In a 2 cup measuring pitcher, stir together the first 4 ingredients, and let them sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile, put the water in your bread machine container or mixer bowl, sprinkle the yeast over top, add the flour and butter, then scrape the oat mix into it. Proceed as with all other breads. Pour into a well greased loaf pan, and brush the top with 2 tbsp milk stirred with 1/2 tsp sugar. Let rise until doubled, bake at 375F for about 28 minutes, and let it cool a few minutes, because it will be much too soft to cut.

And, while we're in the messed-up schedule confession mode, I discovered last night that I had no turkey left. So, last night was changed to hm, and Thursday will be a chicken thing of some sort. I didn't really need indecision this week!

Less than 2 Weeks to Go...

...and I need to think hard about Thanksgiving.

3 of the kids arrive from college Thursday and Friday, because they have the next week off, my 2 sons from South Carolina arrive Monday or Tuesday (They aren't all that good at planning), and the law school daughter flies in Wednesday at midnight.

So, I'd better get my brain firmly into planning mode instead of my normal "build the day around *this meat*" modus operandi. Here's what's on the schedule for my little corner of the world for the next 7 nights:

Saturday (today):
Chicken Wing Soup
Crusty Cuban Bread (at the insistence of my dearly beloved)

Sunday:
Turkey Breast
Stuffing
Whole cranberry sauce
Green beans almondine
Babylonian Bread
Cottage cheese pie (Fannie Farmer, this had better be good!)

Monday:
Fish (create something new)
Rice (dream up something interesting)
salad (if Patrick gets ingredients)
Whole wheat Italian bread
buttermilk chocolate cake

Tuesday:
Spatchcocked chicken
Heart attack potatoes
broccoli
cauliflower
Pullman bread
Brownie Tuesdays

Wednesday:
Roast beef
rock potatoes
glazed carrots
peas (boring, but I don't know what to do with them)
Italian potato bread
Walnut meringue squares

Thursday:
Turkey
Sweet potatoes
spinach
creamed corn
Family Pleaser Light bread
Whatever cake strikes me

Friday:
Mini Penne in red sauce
Italian bread
Brownies

Crusty Cuban Bread

This comes from my very first bread machine cookbook, by Donna Rathmell German. You remember it, the one that's falling apart. The way I see it, the book is just handier this way. You just pick a page and take it with you (at least, if it's one of the first 30 or so).

CRUSTY CUBAN BREAD
1-1/2 cups water
4 cups flour
4 tsp gluten powder
2 tsp sugar
4 tsp salt
3 or 6 tsp yeast

Use 3 teaspoons yeast if you have plenty of time, or 6 tsp if you want your bread in an hour. Dissolve the yeast in the water, then follow your bread machine's instructions, or the ones I've written, accessed by that link over there ------------> I formed this bread into 2 small round loaves. Mark was delighted by the wedges of bread. I doubt anyone noticed.

My dearly beloved really adores this bread. He even wanted it used for his toast this morning. As for me, well, I find it just too salty. Most of the boys really enjoy this one, too, so your salt taste buds will have to be the judge on this one!

Ryan is finally up and about; the prescriptions the doctor gave him for the flu (regular, not H1N1, so Patrick will have to stop oinking at him) have finally kicked in. Thor is happy, because both of his boys will now play with him and feed him. There may even be some romping in store for this weekend, if the sunshine holds up. I'm starting Thanksgiving menu planning this weekend. How about you? Excitement?

A Thorsday Appetizer

You know my boy Ryan has been sick. So we haven't been doing much school work. And I feel my skills becoming a little rusty.

We have not been romping in the yard. And I need more romping.

This is what I've been doing. A lot.

Queen Bitty recently contacted me, and demanded that my human get that salad dressing recipe for her human. Really, for a 4 pound dog, she can be quite demanding. I prefer to get my way by charm. Now, over to my human for....

Marinated Artichoke Hearts

Thank you, Thor.

My dearly beloved loves artichokes. Steamed with drawn butter or marinated, the man adores artichokes. so, rather than pay the excess price for marinated artichokes, I long ago learned to simply buy cans of artichoke hearts, drain them well, quarter them and plop them into Italian salad dressing. My own dressing, of course. And, for Duckie, here's a recipe for a great Italian dressing; feed it to Ben to your heart's content!

ITALIAN DRESSING

1/4 cup wine vinegar
2 tbsp water
2 tsp finely minced onion
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder (more, if desired)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup salad oil (not olive oil)

Mix the onion and spices into the vinegar, shake well, and let it sit for at least an hour. Add the water and oil, shake and serve. Great on salads, it's also wonderful as a marinade, or poured over steak or chicken before grilling. You really need to let the spices soften up and mix with the vinegar to get the full effect, and the water will keep the vinegar from making your eyeballs spin inside your head. Olive oil becomes rather viscous and unpourable in the refrigerator, thus I caution you against using it. This is another "Learn from my mistake!" moment. You can use white vinegar instead of wine vinegar, but look how pretty this is!

Happy Thorsday, everyone. Thor is hoping for healthy boys and no rain next week!

Italian Potato Bread

This was the bread I served with my Chicken Wing Soup. Now, don't tell me there's no such thing as Italian Potato Bread. Just let me have my silly little creations!

ITALIAN POTATO BREAD

1-1/2 cups water
3 tsp or 6 tsp yeast
3-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes
4 tsp gluten
2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Use 3 tsp if you have time to wait, or 6 tsp of yeast if you want your bread in an hour. Add the ingredients according to your bread machine directions, or mix following my suggestions (see link to the right), form into three baguettes, let rise, and bake at 375F for 17 to 20 minutes, depending upon how dark you want your crust.

My dearly beloved greatly enjoyed this bread. Indeed, he scolded me (just a little bit) for being stupid and making French bread the next night instead of making this again. Maybe that tells you something.

I noticed on the internet yesterday a headline that told me what I already knew: "Bread = Happy." Evidently, the thrust of this article is that a lack of complex carbohydrates makes people foul tempered. So, go ahead, make and eat bread!

And, since I've noticed that all of my bread pictures look fundamentally the same, here's my sorry effort to take a slightly different picture.

Happy Veteran's Day

My grandmother's grandfather's grandfather, Peter Beam, fought in the American Revolution. Since then, countless soldiers have offered their lives in service of our great country.

Many people protest the wars in which we're currently engaged. Whether their premise was true or faulty, and whether you agree with the premise and our presence there or not, soldiers from Peter Beam and his compatriots right up to Jennifer's husband, currently enlisted, have fought to give you the right to express your opinion. Political correctness threatens to stifle much of that freedom of speech, but it remains an impulse within us.

To Jennifer, and other families like hers, thank you for loving your soldier and supporting his decision to protect freedom here and abroad. To veterans of past wars, thank you for protecting the freedom that Peter Beam helped earn us. And to all of my bloggy friends and casual passers-by, have a wonderful day, and don't forget to contemplate the veterans who have given you the right to have a great (or terrible) day, and the soldiers who continue to help us keep it.