Happy Halloween!

Thor wishes you and yours happy trick or treating and handing out of goodies. As for Thor, his plans include guarding these pumpkins. Happy Halloween, everyone!

My Baby is 10

I really don't know where the time has gone. My baby turned 10 yesterday. Of course, we had a party last Saturday night, while his sister was home, but last night, we had another cake and he got the presents sent by his college sibs. That's right, the lucky little devil got 2 cakes and 2 batches of presents. These are Saturday night.

Pumpkins on Thorsday

We never get our pumpkins more than a week before Halloween. I really just don't want 30 to 50 pounds of rotting vegetables laying around for that long. However, we must have them, because I don't want to disappoint my children.

Thor inspected Mark's pumpkin carefully to see just what this thing was.
Then he pretended to snooze through the fun going on around him.
Just look at that piece Mark took out of his pumpkin! This may warrant further inspection....
And more inspection....
And yet more inspection....

Here's a closer look, in case you didn't see exactly what's going on here.

Happy Thorsday, everyone!

Pain de Paris

yes, I had to get all fancy and make a bread with a fancy Frenchified name. And, of course, that meant I had to use the fancy Frenchified name for a title. Sorry about that!

I found the recipe in Beth Hensperger's Bread Machine Bible. Of course, I never finish my bread in the machine, and I often just use my mixer to process it, especially if I'm making a large batch. But, as I've said before, the bread machine is a very fine mixer!

PAIN DE PARIS

Pate Fermente Starter

1/2 cup warm water (about 95F - the temperature of my fingers)
1-1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp yeast.

Mix the ingredients in the bread machine or a mixing bowl, and let sit at room temperature for 3 to 12 hours. Punch down every 4 hours if it's sitting long. (Or, you can mix it and put it in the fridge overnight, taking it out to come to room temp an hour before you plan to use it.) Makes enough for 2 batches of bread.

Bread Dough

1-1/3 cup warm water
3-1/4 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tsp gluten
2 tsp or 4 tsp (for fast rising) yeast
3/4 cup starter (half the batch)

Dissolve the yeast in the water, and stir in the rest of the ingredients. To measure the starter, rinse a dry measuring cup with cold water, shake it off, and scoop out the starter. It will be a low 3/4 cup, otherwise, your second batch won't get the proper amount. Mix according to my bread making directions (link over there---->), let it rise for 15 minutes, form into loaves, and bake for 17 to 20 minutes at 375F. Note that this bread doesn't brown up much.
I made this on two separate nights. The crust was very crunchy, and Thor especially loved it. It was good, but nothing very special. The verdict? I probably won't make this often, because the starter is a pain. I had been hoping for a weak sourdough flavor, especially in the second batch, but it didn't happen. My boys did enjoy it as a grinder, but no more so than my usual French bread. Ah, well, we must keep life interesting around here, right?

Garden Tuesday

In the rare, perfect autumn day, I relish the sight of an apple tree with spots of ripe, red fruit abounding.
The maples are sporting new colors these days.
The sky is a perfect montage of shades of stunning azure.

And yet another hidden advantage of living in an old house: a weather vane and lightning rod combination.

Chocolate Desesrt #72

OK, Chocolate Dessert #72 really isn't a complete dessert. But I know Sue's been waiting patiently for another recipe from the 365 Chocolate Desserts cookbook. I also knew my daughter would be driving home Friday night, although I didn't know she'd be driving through a monsoon. So I took this simple and great chocolate recipe, paired it up with another recipe, and, Bingo!

CHOCOLATE DESSERT #72:
Banana Cream Pie in Chocolate Crust

Recipe #72: Chocolate Pie Crust

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips OR 3 ounces semisweet chocolate
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp shortening
1/2 cup ground walnuts
1-1/2 cups shredded coconut

Melt the butter, chocolate and shortening in the top of a double boiler or in a 4 cup microwavable measuring cup. Stir in the walnuts and coconut. Spread in a very well greased pie plate, and freeze for 10 minutes or more.

Custard filling:

2 egg yolks
1-3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar

Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch in the 4 cup microwavable measuring cup. Whisk in the milk, then add the rest of the ingredients. Microwave until it simmers and thickens, stirring every 30 to 60 seconds.

Into the frozen pie crust, slice 2 bananas. Pour the custard in - use my recipe, or store bought cook and serve, or instant - whatever floats your boat. I suppose you could even use chocolate pudding, although I think that would just be weird. Top with whipped cream - made at home, canned, cool whip, again, whatever floats your boat. This dessert isn't supposed to be complex; it's supposed to be good!

Paula, this is safe for your baby. Dog, replace the walnuts with some other ground nut or even more coconut; it's a good alternative to graham cracker crust. Duckie, sorry it's got chocolate in it. And everyone take note, the 4 kids who were at home ate half of it Friday night, and the rest for lunch on Saturday. Then they wailed because there was no more, although they also ate the one in the graham cracker crust thereafter.

Flowers and Tinkerbell

My daughter sent me birthday flowers from Wyoming. My little boys bought me the vase.

And my other daughter came home for me to turn her into Tinkerbell for Halloween. I do believe I was successful!

Thousand Island Dressing

Who else likes to make their own salad dressing? When all of the kids are home, I don't make all that they want, because then I could spend my life with the blender and never get to eat. Well, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing, especially at the end of the Grand Celebratory Season, which is rapidly approaching....anyway....

Who thought up Thousand Island Dressing, anyway? I've been to the Thousand Islands, located in the St. Lawrence Seaway between New York and Ontario. Rich people used to build giant vacation houses there. Does that seem like the kind of people who would suddenly holler at each other, "Dude! Let's put ketchup on our salads!" Ah, yes, I suffer such strange contemplations.

THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp sweet relish
1/2 tsp very finely minced onion
1/2 tsp horseradish
1 tsp water (if desired, to thin the dressing a little)

Mix the ingredients together (I use one of those Good Seasons cruets) and chill at least 30 minutes. Pour over your salad, and ignore people who poke fun at you for putting ketchup on your salad. It even adds flavor to the relatively bland Iceberg lettuce.

Katie and Michelle in the Southern Hemisphere, I know you're starting your kitchen gardens. Hope this is inspiration to you!

Thor has a Lobster!

Thanks to Gaylen, Thor has a new Larry the Lobster. This one must not be cooked, since he is blue and not red. Well, it seems inappropriate to cook your friends anyway.

Thor has decided that this is his lobster. After he goes out, he pounces on Larry and selects someone to play with him. And when he's tired out, he'll take a little snooze with his new toy close at paw. Thanks, Beau and Lucy, for telling your momma about Larry!
And, Sue, I sense another recipe from the 365 Chocolate Desserts coming your way soon. Happy Thorsday, everyone!

Seafood Bisque

It was cold and dreary here this weekend. And while we were lucky up to escape the (expletives deleted) snow with which we were threatened, we were lucky if the temperature ever hit 40. So, Saturday night was a perfect night for soup. My cupboards and refrigerator were shockingly empty (hardly a surprise, since I had forgotten to order a food shipment for Thursday), but I had some imitation crab in the freezer. And, since I love bisque, I hunted in vain for a recipe, and ultimately created my own.

MARJIE'S SEAFOOD BISQUE

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
2 finely minced onions
2 finely minced carrots
4 finely minced or shredded potatoes
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1 cup white wine
1-1/2 pounds imitation crab
1 cup powdered milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp pepper
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 cup water whisked with up to 2 tbsp cornstarch, if needed

In a large stockpot, melt the butter. Add the onions, and saute until soft. Add the carrot, potatoes, broth, water and wine; let them simmer for an hour or so, until the potatoes dissolve. If you wish, run the broth through the blender at this point, but I didn't bother; there really were no lumps in it. Add the crab, and cook until heated, then whisk in the powdered milk and pepper. If the broth isn't thick enough for you at this point, add the water/cornstarch mixture and bring the bisque to a boil. Taste, and add more salt, if needed (I didn't add any, but I'm not a huge salt fan). Add the cream and sherry, and heat to just below boiling. Serve with a mild white bread, such as Italian.

Patrick, who hates food, exclaimed that this was great soup. I only had one quart left over, and the three boys shared it for lunch on Sunday. If you want to use something other than the imitation seafood, it would be great, but we really enjoyed this. And I later learned from Louise that Monday was National Seafood Bisque Day, so maybe the boys should have saved the leftovers for lunch on that day? And, Paula, this works for your baby!

Through the Gate

I am happy to say that the snow which was predicted for my house, and which began flying on Thursday night, amounted to little. That's not to say it isn't cold, but it isn't white. This gives me the ability to answer a question asked a while back by Pam, who wanted to know what's through the gate on my header. Well, here's the gate today, with the burning bushes turning to their spectacular scarlet and hot pink hues (thus the name "burning bush").

I love walking through and under the boughs toward the gate.

And on the other side, I see....My little corner of the world! Complete with sunshine, an alien concept hereabouts of late!

Cornish Treacle Tart

Let me state for the record: I'm not Cornish. I've never been to Cornwall. And I really, truly wouldn't know treacle if it hit me in the head (although I suspect I'd be quite irked if it did). But I was intrigued when I found the recipe in my Fannie Farmer cookbook. Plus, I have had this pan for about 20 years and never used it once!

Travesty, isn't it? Or, maybe it just shows how lacking my baking repertoire has been. Anyway, the recipe calls for an 8" pie pan, which is much smaller than mine; even this lovely tart pan is 10" diameter. So, I multiplied the recipe by 150%, and added the walnuts you find here, and am delighted with the result!

CORNISH TREACLE TART

8" unbaked pie crust
3/4 cup golden syrup or 3/8 cup honey and 3/8 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon rind
(optional) 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (my addition)

Stir together all of the filling ingredients in a large measuring cup. Scoop into the crust, top with pastry strips, arranged lattice-style, and bake at 400F for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

Ryan said this was my first ever classic pie-looking pie, and he was proud. Tasty and easy; what could be better?