"The Code of the Hammy Guy!"

OK, so now everyone will officially know I'm a dork, or something like that. My husband recently was talking about Will Durant, author of The History of Civilization, and I decided to see if the book was available. Sadly, it was out of print. Further, it turned out to not be a book, but 11 volumes. Happily, there was a set in very nice condition available on Amazon.com for a mere $175! Oh, happy day!

So, after a while my books arrived, and I let them sit for a week or two; 11 volumes is by and large a decorative thing, right? Ryan flipped through the volume on Greece and Rome, and recognized some of the sculpture and temples, thanks to Calvert School's Child's History of Art. Then, being bored last Friday, I decided to crack open the first volume of the book. Now, I can't say I've made a lot of progress, 100 pages or so (not much of a dent on the oh, 12,000 or so in the set), but there was a great quote on page 5 of the book, right at the beginning of Chepater 2 on the economic elements of civilization:

"Three meals a dare are a highly advanced institution. Savages gorge themselves or fast."

But, funniest of all to me, when Ryan saw the cover of this book:
he exclaimed, "I know that guy! He's the Hammy guy! He gave us the first Code of laws!" He then raced upstairs for his Calvert 4th grade history book, brought it back down and announced that it was Hammurabi, who was the first "dude" to put the laws right out there in public so everyone could read them. When quizzed as to whether everyone could read, he admitted not, but then rushed to say that they all must have had friends who could help, so if they wanted to be criminals, they could know enough to stop before they got caught.

I was amazed that he remembered and recognized Hammurabi. I doubt he would have known of Hammurabi (and certainly not of the Greek and Roman sculpture and temples) at the end of 6th grade without Calvert School. Sometimes our kids just make us proud.

And, to our neighbors to the north, Happy Canada Day!

Mocha Roll

I'm not all that great a cook. If you want great, you need to go visit Peter. But sometimes, I surprise myself. When flipping through my 1950s era McCalls cookbook a few nights back, I found recipes for jelly rolls, which I've never felt the great impulse to make. And yet, when I found the recipe for a mocha roll, I was intrigued. There was only one minor problem: I have no jelly roll pan. Oh, well, nothing stops me if I want to do something, and last night I had the impulse to do this while Jeffrey and his Dad were trimming our arbor vitae. Look, I could stand outside and fret about those two idiots being on ladders, 2 stories up, waving hedge trimmers in the air, or I could cook. Cooking won. As a bonus, I found something that Paula's little one can eat. Warning: This is very caloric. I believe calories hopped off this and attached themselves firmly to me while I was making it.

MOCHA ROLL

6 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
confectioner's sugar

Pan preparation: grease the jelly roll pan, and then line it with waxed paper. Preheat oven to 375F.

Whip the egg whites with 1/4 cup sugar until stiff. Set aside. Using the same beaters, whip the egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until thick and lemon colored. Add the cocoa powder and extracts and beat into the egg yolks until well combined. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites until just combined, then coax into the jelly roll pan. Bake 12 to 14 minutes, or just until the surface springs back when gently pressed with fingertip.

Run a thin metal spatula around the edges of the pan to loosen the roll. Sprinkle the top with confectioner's sugar. Place a towel on top of the pan, followed by a rack, and invert the whole thing. The cake will fall out of the pan. Remove the pan, and carefully peel off the waxed paper. Gently roll the cake up inside the towel the long way, so it is a 15" long log. Let it cool on the rack for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.

Mocha Cream Filling:

1 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. instant coffee
1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Let the coffee and cocoa powder sit in the cream for a few minutes to dissolve. Whip the cream with all ingredients added.

Unroll the cake. Spread with 3/4 of the mocha cream filling, and roll the cake back up, in the same direction as it was rolled to cool. I left the cake on the towel, and used the towel to roll it back up; it made it so much easier! Place on a serving platter, frost with the remaining filling, and put in the fridge for at least an hour. Slice with a sharp serrated knife to serve.

As I mentioned, I don't have a jelly roll pan, so I used an 11x17 baking sheet. So my cake is thinner than it should have been. Also, I multiplied the filling recipe by 1.5, but I've given it to you in its original format, so you can decide what to do with it.

Ramblings from Home

In case anyone wondered, Jeffrey found the source of the rain in our basement. There was a small hole in the rock foundation (which was built for the first house here, sometime around the Civil War), and when it rained too hard and the drywell at the bottom of the downspout filled up, it overflowed into the basement. So he dug out about 20 lineal feet of the foundation, about 18" deep, put an inch of hydraulic cement on it, and filled it back in. He has reassembled the basement ceilling, and all is right in that corner of my world. Jeff also commented that it's remarkable that the coal chute wasn't leaking, but he cemented around that better, just in case. Yeah, we have a coal chute. No, we don't use it. Do I look like the kind of girl who would shovel stuff into her furnace?

I am amazed that we've been here just about 19 years (the closing was 19 years ago Tuesday, actually). I never lived anywhere more than 3 years growing up, and often less than 1 year. Not because my father got job transfers, but because he was usually bored, quit a job, moved, and hoped to find another. So I had no idea that living in a house for quite a while would put memories in every corner. This juniper is one memory. This was planted at one end of the garage our first full summer here, and a blue spruce at the other. The blue spruce is marvelous, skyrocket junipers, not so much. We have a terrace beside the garage, with a stone retaining wall. I also have a rodent-phobic husband (which suits me fine). So, a few years back, he was looking out a window, and thought he saw movement at the bottom of the juniper. He went upstairs, got a hunting rifle and some birdshot shells, loaded the rifle, and hollered for the boys, then 15, 14, 13 and 11. They arrived, and he barked at them, "Follow me outside." Our second son, years later, admitted that he thought he'd been mouthy to me one too many times, and now he was in big trouble. Anyway, my dearly beloved stood squarely in front of the bush, lined 2 boys up on either side of him, half a step back, in a semi circle, ordered them to watch the bush, and shot at the base of it. He then explained that he thought he saw a rat in the bush, and didn't want such a disgusting thing anywhere near the house. So "The day Dad shot the bush" is now folklore.

Anyway, last year, for some unknown reason, one of my daughters (she was MINE that day, hubby explained, not OURS), decided to scalp one side of the skyrocket juniper. Needless to say, it never grew back. So when Jeffrey was off getting planting supplies from one of the "big box" stores, he saw an Alberta Dwarf Spruce marked down to $25, because its bottom branches were thin. (Full priced ones were $100.) So Jeff brought it home, and announced it was Albert, A Dwarf. Albert ended up replacing the scalped skyrocket juniper this weekend, and the story of the bush Dad shot may fade. And, lest anyone fret, at the time, there was no other house within 1/4 mile of ours, and we've taught all of our children to shoot. One is in less danger from an item known and understood than from one forbidden, and therefore, likely more alluring.

Strawberry Sour Cream Bread

All of my strawberries are gone. Well, sort of. I froze about 30 pounds of them (3 baskets), laying them carefully in single layers on waxed paper on cookie sheets, then using the waxed paper to pour them into ziploc freezer bags. The girls boo-hooed about it when I started the day we got the strawberries, but since everyone except me was sort of berried-out by Friday, it's good that I started then. Plus, I now have 24 beautiful freezer bags of these lovely, red gems.

Anyway, last night, I decided to move some of the somewhat overripe strawberries into use. To that end, Kevin was very handy. On his blog, I found this recipe, which I present without further ado.

STRAWBERRY SOUR CREAM BREAD

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped
2 cups strawberries, cut in half (fresh or frozen work fine)

Cream butter with sugar until light; add the eggs one at a time, combining well after each addition, and beat in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, powder, soda, salt & cinnamon. Beat half into the butter mixture, then beat in the sour cream, followed by the balance of the flour mixture. Batter will be creamy, more the texture of pound cake than of nut bread. Stir in the nuts, then gently stir in the strawberries. Turn into a greased and floured 9"x5" loaf pan, and bake in a preheated 350F oven for 60 to 70 minutes. Makes one delectable loaf.
Mine must have lasted a good 12 to 14 minutes (and only 6 people were home at the time). This was so moist we could have eaten it with a spoon. If only it had lasted longer.....I think the girls and little boys need to go back to the strawberry farm tomorrow or Monday....

Fiesta Chicken

Turns out you can't live on strawberries alone. After a pound or so of the marvelous little tidbits, you really crave some meat! So, dinner proceeded on schedule, after all.

I found this recipe some time, I don't know where, and cut it out, and pasted it in a 2 ring binder cookbook I have. I don't even know what it was called, because I didn't cut out the title. Nonetheless, it is now and forever Fiesta Chicken, because when Ryan saw it, he exclaimed, "This looks like a fiesta on a plate!"FIESTA CHICKEN

4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast & thighs, cut into uniform sized pieces
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1 onion, minced
12 oz can diced tomatoes or 2 large tomatoes, diced

Spread the chicken in a greased baking pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and spread the onion over the top. Pour the tomatoes evenly over all; cover and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.

Sauce:

Pour the pan juices into a saucepan. Whisk 1/4 cup cold water wtih /14 cup cornstarch and whisk into the juices. Add 1 leek, sliced thinly, and cook until thickened. Whisk in 1/2 cup sour cream until just blended, spoon some of the sauce, especially the leeks, over the chicken in its pan, and return to the oven for 10 minutes, uncovered. Keep the balance of the sauce warm, and pass it in a gravy boat with dinner. Serve with pasta mixed with diced tomatoes, chopped parsley, pepper and 1/2 cup milk, and with a green veggie. Serves 8 to 10.

Thor

Watching over "his" boys. Need I say more?

I got my $65 Worth

.....of strawberries, of course!

I was drooling over Pam's strawberries a couple of days ago, and envious of Paula's kids going picking strawberries (and eating them all). Then, today, in the food section of our local paper, what should appear but an article about a local strawberry field? What to do? Of Course! The girls are often whining that they're bored, and the little boys may be bored also, so send them! And Jeffrey, too, for good measure! With five giant baskets!Well, I got 50 pounds of strawberries. Yep, 50 pounds. Don't drool on your monitor, now. I'm off to eat myself silly.....tonight's dinner may be cancelled due to lack of interest.....

Lemon Sponge Cake

Heard around midnight last night: "There's a problem with this cake."
"Yes, dear, what's that?"
"It's too small."

My dearly beloved loves sponge cake. And he loves lemon. So this was a perfect fit for him. The kids liked it, but of the half that remained when they went to bed, almost nothing remained at midnight. Thus, the cake was too small.

LEMON SPONGE CAKE

6 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon extract

6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
6 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp lemon peel

1-3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp baking powder

Beat the egg whites until foamy; add 1/2 cup sugar and lemon extract and beat until stiff. Set aside.

Beat together egg yolks and 1 cup sugar until thickened and lighter in color. Add lemon juice and peel. Beat until combined.

Sift together dry ingredients. Beat into egg yolk mixture. Fold in egg whites. Smooth into greased tube or bundt pan, and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, then invert on a serving plate and let cool thoroughly (the cake will fall out when it's ready). Top with sifted confectioner's sugar and serve. 12 to 16 slices, depending upon the size of each slice.

Family Pleaser Light Bread

This is adapted from a recipe I found in a cookbook published in the 1950s. I could not, for the life of me, figure out why this would be "light" bread, given the recipe list. And, jeez, I cut the sugar in half on this recipe and it is still not diet food! But the entire 2 pounds disappeared in one meal, so it must have been a "family pleaser" indeed.

FAMILY PLEASER LIGHT BREAD

1 cup milk, warmed to about 100 degrees
6 tbsp. yeast
4 cups flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt

Add the ingredients to the bowl or bread machine pan in the order listed. Mix on the dough or pasta setting on the bread machine, or with a mixer for about 15 minutes. Let the dough sit for about 15 minutes, then split into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes, or until doubled in size, then bake at 350 for 25 to 27 minutes, depending upon the darkness of crust desired. This is somewhat hard to cut when the loaf is hot, but my 8 year old said, "This is really good bread!" Coming from that child, it's high praise indeed.
And, this is my 200th post. I'd never have believed I'd write this much.

Pork Butt

Oh, the title possibilities here: "Rubbed Butt"? Or, as my kids term it, having seen this unfortunate label on a piece of meat in the supermarket some years ago, "Butt Whole"? Anyway....last week it was pretty chilly here. We're talking high of 58 from Monday through Thursday sort of chilly. Paula posted about her ribs, and, since I had the "butt whole" out of the freezer, I thought, "Well, why not adapt?" So adapt I did.

RUBBED PORK BUTT

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. paprika
1 tbsp. mustard powder
ground black pepper

Mix all the seasonings together in a bowl. Smash into all sides of the meat. Put it in a roasting pan, let it sit for a while, then put it in the oven at 325 for about 30 minutes per pound (mine took 6 hours - and it was boneless). Ladle the fat off the pan drippings, and add 1/2 cup water. To this, whisk in 1 cup cold water whisked with 2 tbsp. cornstarch; cook until the gravy thickens and turns clear. Serve with "Heart Attack Potatoes":

Wash, slice and boil 4 to 5 pounds red skinned potatoes (leave skin on) until tender. Drain in a colander. In the same pan, melt one stick butter and one stick margarine. Grind in a bunch of black pepper, and add chopped fresh or dried parsley - about 1/4 cup. Stir in the potatoes and serve. "Heart attack goodness on a plate!" according to one of my daughters, hence the name.

Pasta Florentine

Well, I don't really know if this is Pasta Florentine or not. What I do know is that if you serve your chicken or fish stuffed with spinach, it becomes "______ Florentine". So, maybe this is an invented title for something you already cook. I've never seen nor had it, but the ingredients were on hand, and it was very easy!

PASTA FLORENTINE

1-1/2 pounds mini penne
1/2 pound frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup parmesan
1 stick butter
fresh ground pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 cup heavy cream

Cook the penne according to package directions. Pour into the colander to drain, and put the pot lid on top of it to keep it hot. In the same pot, melt the butter, and grind in a generous amount of pepper. Stir in the spinach and tomatoes, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until hot. Add the garlic powder, then stir the penne back in and add the parmesan; stir in cream until it's smooth and creamy.. Serve immediately. Side dish for 8 people (two of whom are large, voracious 20-something men). Not good for those of us on a perpetual diet, but really good, nonetheless.

Beef With Snow Peas and Water Chestnuts

On a cold June evening (50 degrees), it was time to fire up the broiler for another round of "Steak is Boring!" This was really good; poor Thor didn't get any leftovers.

BEEF WITH SNOW PEAS

3 lbs. steak, cut into 1/2" wide strips
2 bags frozen snow peas, thawed
2 cans water chestnuts
3 green onions, chopped
olive oil
ground ginger
garlic powder
freshly ground pepper

Preheat the broiler. Drizzle olive oil into the bottom of the broiler pan, then arrange the beef strips in it. Sprinkle with ginger, garlic powder and pepper; broil for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip, season the other side, and broil for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the beef from the broiler pan to a platter. On the stovetop, whisk 1 tbsp. cornstarch into the pan drippings, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the drippings thicken. A bit of water should be added if necessary to help loosen the browned bits on the pan. Return the beef to the pan, spread the vegetables in with the beef, stir to coat with the sauce, and broil for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the vegetables are heated through and tender-crisp. Serve with rice or buttered pasta..