After Thor's unhappy day at the vet's office Monday, I decided a dessert which included our dearly beloved dog was in order: strawberry shortcake. Sadly, strawberry season here is over; however, many of the 24 quarts I froze live on! I laid them on waxed paper on cookie sheets and froze them individually, then transferred them to ziplock bags, and look how perky they still look!
I'm sure most of you have shortcake recipes. Mine is very simple, measuring is helpful but not entirely mandatory. This can be made into individual biscuits or pressed into a round cake pan (my family prefers the biscuits, so everyone gets his or her own personal shortcake).
SHORTCAKE
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 egg
7/8 cup milk
1 tbsp baking powder
Stir together the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, and drop onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 400 for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 12 individual shortcakes. To bake in a round pan, bake at 375 for about 16 to 20 minutes, then cut into wedges. Serve with sliced strawberries, sweetened or unsweetened, and whipped cream (I whip 1 cup of cream with 2 tsp vanilla and 1/4 cup sugar until soft peaks form). Thor got his shortcake without the strawberries or cream, but he was contented because he got dessert, also. Take that, vet who said Thor was fat!
To use this recipe for biscuits, which work phenomenally with stew, cut the sugar in the recipe to 1 tbsp. For my crew, I quadruple the recipe and sometimes a couple of biscuits are left over.
On Sunday morning, I felt like coffee cake. So, after reading some of the Sunday paper, it got to be Sunday afternoon, and I made two apple filled coffee cakes. These are really good, and, while they need a little attention, they are well worth the effort. I offer this proof: half of one survived until this morning, and my 3 oldest sons aren't even home!
APPLE FILLED COFFEE CAKE
Dough:
3/4 cup warm milk
2-1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp. butter
Add all machines to bread machine bucket and let it knead for about 15 minutes, or soften the yeast in the milk, stir in the sugar and salt, and add the egg yolks, melted butter and flour and knead until smooth and elastic. Let it rise about 15 minutes, while you make the filling:
2 large apples, cored and sliced
4 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
4 tbsp butter
In a 4 cup pyrex mixing cup, stir the apples with dry ingredients; cut the butter in chunks and put on top of the apple mix. Microwave about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring once or twice. Set aside until the dough is ready.
Generously grease & lightly flour a 9" round cake pan. Roll the cake dough out into a rectangle, and fit into the pan, with half the pan's width hanging out each side; smooth the apple mixture into the portion of the dough in the pan, and fold over the dough which is hanging out of the pan. With a few drops of water, close the seam in the center. Brush the top of the coffee cake with 1 tbsp melted butter or egg white whisked with 1 tbsp water. Let it rise about half an hour, then bake at 375 for 24 to 26 minutes.
Thor was eating the end pieces I'd saved for him, which had no filling in them, after his unhappy experience at the vet. The vet told the kids Thor was "somewhat overweight" and should lose at least 10 pounds, and one of my smart-aleck daughters told him he was not so fit himself. My son almost choked.
Over the weekend, one of the girls wanted Jeff to give her a piggyback ride. This, of course, caused them all to want piggybacks. So, after one turn around the family room, the second daughter piled onto Jeff's back, and he walked around the family room again. At this point, Thor decided that this was wrong. Notice in this picture that his head is level with his back. This means he is saying "Ah-roo!", which roughly translates to "stop that right now or I shall jump at you!", and shortly thereafter he will begin stuffing his head between the involved parties to cause them to cease their unseemly behaviour at once! Of course, since they were upsetting Thor, the girls stood on their own feet and fed him dog treats.
We have had a stressful day. Thor has been favoring his back leg for about a week, so last Friday the kids tookhim to a vet, who convinced them to bring him back this morning for X-rays. After the application of $600 to this vet, it was determined that Thor does not have bone cancer, arthritis, tendonitis, or hip displasia. As I told the kids, he's just a little older, and neither his nor their mother's joints work quite as well as they used to. Well, at least now I can stop worrying about our faithful, loyal companion and get back to cooking and other useful pursuits.
Saturday night was Taco Night this week.
When we were married, my husband promised to love, cherish and take out to dinner every weekend night for as long as we both shall live. Or something like that. Anyway, after about 14 years, he got tired of that routine, with (then) 7 kids to drag along. So, for a couple of years, I refused to cook, instead ordering delivery pizza. Hey, I didn't care; I don't even like the stuff. Then I settled upon a course of easy to cook meals for Friday and Saturday nights, consisting of whatever I could make with minimal effort, at whatever time I deemed fit (which has included midnight, after finishing a wallpaper project, for example). Sometimes it's pasta with meat sauce or white clam sauce, sometimes it's beef stew, soup and grinders, quiche or tacos.
There's no real reci
pe here, just a picture of my ingredients, which included 5 pounds of seasoned ground beef, 2 pounds of jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, diced onion, and salsa, plus, of course, flour tortillas, laid out on my passthrough for the family (and, this week, a guest who happened through). The passthrough is one of my greatest creations ever. It puts the food out for buffet style self-service without anyone tromping trhrough the kitchen, possibly endangering themselves or me; the location right next to the stove and 6 feet from the sink makes service and cleanup relatively easy. And what you can't see is Thor lying on the floor in front of the right edge of this counter, patiently waiting fot the day someone hands him his own plate. Ah, the power of belief in his humans!
"What is this, Halloween chicken?" asked my husband as the big sons were grumbling about the pollution all over their chicken. Come on, guys, like it or go buy your own dinner somewhere!
It was only 54 degrees last night, certainly not July as we know it. So I decide that the thing to do was make chicken under the broiler with other ingredients, and this is what I came up with. Remember, we're still at summertime "sorta big" family levels, so cut down your ingredients accordingly.
HALLOWEEN CHICKEN (why not, it works!)
4 pounds boneless chicken
salt
garlic powder
1 minced onion
1 can pineapple
4 tomatoes, diced large
2 carrots, grated
2 cups chicken broth
juice from pineapple
3 tbsp cornstarch
3 cups white rice, cooked
Slice the chicken into 1/2" thick chunks. Sprinkle lightly with salt and liberally with garlic powder. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes, then turn over, reseason, and broil for 6 to 7 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the chicken broth in a saucepan with the minced onion. Whisk the pineapple juice with the cornstarch, and stir into the chicken broth; bring to a boil. Cook until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes, then add the vegetables and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the sauce and vegetables over the chicken, and return to the broiler for 3 minutes. Serve over a bed of hot buttered rice. Gluten free for Paula's not-so-little baby, and good for everyone.
Of course, you might want to add peppers and/or mushrooms to this, but I'm allergic to peppers (can't even take the smell of them cooking in my house) and averse to eating fungus.
Incidentally, my daughters warned my sons to knock off the Halloween jokes; one of them said she'd not put it past me to google "chicken and pumpkin recipes". To which I promptly went to the cupboard, fetched 2 cans of pumpkin, and said, "I'm ready, guys! Don't tempt me!" Yes, I'm sure you heard the groaning from wherever you were last night.
Last night, a wicked line of thunderstorms rolled through. Booming right over our house, poor Thor was scared out of his wits. Since someone had a chair from the line out of place during dessert, Thor crawled under the breakfast room table. He used to do this as a baby, and the space under the table was dubbed "the clubhouse". (Yes, I admit it, sometimes when my kids are being unpleasant, I threaten to go to the clubhouse myself. Never have, though, because I might get stuck there). So, here's your Thursday morning dose of Thor, looking for protection from noise by his people. I'm looking forward to Gaylen's pictures of her happy hounds!
My third daughter turned 18 yesterday. She is a delightful girl, even if she doesn't appreciate her absolutely perfect, below waist length strawberry blonde hair with the natural wave (grrr. it makes me mad to just think about how much I'd love to have her hair.)
Kellie wanted a marble cake, and her older sister laid claim to the decorating rights. Thus, there's a penguin on this cake. Truthfully, I'm not sorry there's someone elso to take on decorating jobs sometimes; I must've made and decorated around 200 birthday cakes by now? My arm is sore just thinking about it. We got everyone to stand still for Dad to take a picture, although Mark is nearly hidden behind one of his sisters; yes, the three oldest sons are missing. And, yes, I'm on 3" heels, so I'm not appearing as short next to Jeffrey as I truly am.
Of course, Thor had to get his picture taken with the birthday girl. What fun would a birthday be without a large and friendly dog?
Here's Jeff helping Cass with her cake, after he had finished his own. Hey, you don't think he weighs 220-plus from failure to find plenty of food, do you? 
Jeff started wearing his hair below shoulder length in high school, when he was working for a mason one summer, and he let it grow out to help prevent sunburned neck and ears. The girls admired it when he went back to school, so it's been long ever since. I figure he should enjoy it now, since male pattern baldness is likely to strike him at some point in his life.
I hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday, although most weren't as good as Kellie's Tuesday. And happy 25th anniversary today to my friend Paula and her husband; she was a beautiful bride!
Ah, summertime. The desire for cool, delectable desserts abounds.
I must confess that last Tuesday, when my grocery delivery came, I ordered a case of bananas. Again. Sometimes I just can't help myself. I love bananas and all things made with them. So, last night I decided to make a banana cream pie from my dwindling stock. Make the filling first, then prepare the crust.
BANANA CREAM PIE
Filling:
2 to 3 bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt2-1/2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten slightly
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 cup granulated sugar1/4 cup melted butter
Topping:
1-1/2 cups whipping creawm
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in the milk. Heat to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Boil for one minute, stirring constantly. In a second bowl, beat the egg yolks slightly. Combine them with half the hot mixture, then add this to the hot mixture in the pan. Return to the stove, reheat to a boil, and boil for one more minute, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat, stir in the butter and vanilla, and let the filling cool.
Meanwhile, make the crust: Crumble graham crackers (1 entire small package from the box makes about a cup of crumbs), either crushing between sheets of waxed paper with a rolling pin, or pulsing in the food processor. Pour into a small bowl, mix completely with the sugar, and add the melted butter, stirring with a fork to combine. Press into a greased deep dish pie plate. Slice 2 to 3 bananas, to loosely half fill the pie plate, into the crust. Pour the filling over the bananas, and place in the refrigerator to cool for at least an hour.
Topping: Whip the heavy cream with the sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Spread over the pie, and chill completely.
This is really rich. What looks like a small slice will be a huge serving.
Of course, if you wish, you can use instant vanilla pudding for the filling. Just replace 1/4 cup of the milk required with whipping cream, and proceed as described above.
This is what was left after we had dessert last night. No one would wait for the picture to be taken before they took their slices. Of course, this is so filling that I ate about 3 bites of my dearly beloved's piece, and nothing more. Now, go ahead, admit that you want this....
Our third son has been in the southeast this summer, building a house. Bad time to try to get into the building busi
ness, I suppose, although if he can make it now, he can make it any time. Anyway, he's been driving a 1995 Caddy that I found for $2000. It's been a trouble free car for 3 years (other than the water pump failure about a year ago), so I really am happy with it. But, since he's always been fascinated by building, and this is clearly what he intends to do, without bothering to finish his college degree, when a friend of mine called and said he was standing in front of a 1998 Chevy extended cab pickup for $2500, and it was Dan Green, I told him to snag it!
Earlier this week, Dan flew home to get his new truck. He brought a present for Thor: a biiiigggg bone. Now, while Thor can haul around the super big rawhide bones, he can't chew them all that well. So, my boys being resourceful, they sawed it in half. And look how happy Thor is!
I still have the Chevette I bought for my 18th birthday, 5 months before I got married. I paid under $4000 for it, it only has 39,000 original miles on it now, and it always runs. Besides, it wasn't ever worth anything for resale, so I just kept it stored in a garage. When we sold that building last year, the Chevette came back here. And it spent the winter and spring under a cover. All of my boys have been hounding me for years to teach them to drive a stick, so, given that I doubt Dan will be back except at holidays, I took him out Friday afternoon to drive around our yard in the Chevette. First, a quick demo of "how it's done"; pay attention to the sound of the engine, the whole thing. I taught him the gear pattern, how to use the hand brake, and, 
after he'd become sassy in thinking this was easy, I put him on a very small hill in the driveway, and told him to start from a dead stop. Well, 20 or 30 tries later, he got it up the hill, parked it, and declared, "No wonder they stopped selling these things! That's way too much work for driving!" But at least now I know he can drive a standard transmission if he must; my work here is closer to done.
The last night before Dan drove back to the apartment he shares with his brother, an investment banker, we had lemon chicken, lemon rice and sauteed zucchini and summer squash. This is really very easy: slice one (or more) each zucchini and summer squash fairly thin. Melt 1/2 stick butter in a skillet, grind in plenty of fresh pepper, and saute for about 3 to 5 minutes. This dinner served with spinach salad caused Dan to declare, "I really need to learn to cook!" That's about as good a compliment as a Mom gets.
And, of course, what kind of mother would I be if I hadn't set him on the road with plenty of provisions for himself and the brother with whom he rooms? 2 cranberry bread, 3 banana bread, one devil's food cake with buttercream frosting and one yellow cake with chocolate peppermint frosting should keep them happy until at least Tuesday....I hope!
This was a throw-it-together-in-a-hurry dinner. But hubby picked up his head and bellowed, "Hey, this is really good!" in the middle of dinner, which told me something. So, try this the next time you're bored with your regular menu choices.
BEEF WITH GINGER & VEGGIES
3 pounds steak, cut into strips
garlic powder
ground ginger
mustard powder
Worcestershire sauce
salt (very little)fresh ground pepper
3/4 pound broccoli
3/4 pound cauliflower
3/4 pound sliced carrots
1 cup beef broth
2 tbsp cornstarch whisked into 1/4 cup water
Line up the beef strips in the bottom of the broiler pan. Sprinkle liberally with Worcestershire sauce, then all of the dry spices except the salt. Broil for 3 to 4 minutes, then flip the meat and reseason. Broil an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Meanwhile, combine all of the vegetables in a bowl with a touch of salt, and microwave for about 5 minutes, stirring once or twice. Heat the beef broth on the stove, and whisk in the cornstarch whisked with 1/4 cup water; cook until thickened and clear. When the beef comes out of the broiler, pour the pan drippings into the beef broth mixture, whisk and return to the boil. Stir the veggies in with the beef, and pour some of the beef broth mixture over the whole thing. Return to the broiler for another 2 minutes. Serve over a bed of rice. Serves about 8.
How could a boy have a better friend than this?
Three of my teenagers were in California visiting relatives for the past week; I picked them up from the redeye flight at 10 this morning. While they were exhausted, and miffed that I chose to drive a car that had "weak" air conditioning (how would I know? I last drove this car in April!), they were certainly glad to see the big, comfy Cadillac awaiting their arrival.
On the way back into town, my son commented that the grass everywhere is a great idea - he's a fan. They liked the climate, not so much the lack of vegitation, and weren't fans of the insect infestations in that house. As we drove back into town, our squad car was parked in its customary driveway, with the chief of police sitting in it, reading his newspaper. As one of my daughters said, "That's just where he belongs. In another hour, it'll be time for him to go sit on the front porch of the deli, have lunch for a couple of hours, talk to everyone there, and watch the traffic go by.
Life is good in a tiny town.
After Thor's unhappy day at the vet's office Monday, I decided a dessert which included our dearly beloved dog was in order: strawberry shortcake. Sadly, strawberry season here is over; however, many of the 24 quarts I froze live on! I laid them on waxed paper on cookie sheets and froze them individually, then transferred them to ziplock bags, and look how perky they still look!
