Monday, March 26, 2012

"Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco

I recently purchased a copy of Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco at a local used book store. It is a story of a grandmother and granddaughter, bravery, and the excitement and joy of a thunder storm. I very much enjoyed the good read!


At the end of the book is a recipe for real Thunder Cake. I had a strong desire to "take a whack at it," so I did and the result was scrumptious. Here is a photo of my re-creation of the Thunder Cake.


My encouragement to any readers is to find the book, read it with fun people, and venture into your own make-believe thunderstorm, unless there is a real one, and make your Thunder Cake!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Breakfast Burritos with Family and Friends

Hello!

We decided a few mornings ago to kick of the day with homemade tortillas stuffed with all the breakfast burrito ingredients we could find at home to cook up. Because we slept in, and it took over an hour to prepare (even with all the sets of hands), we ate our delectable breakfast at just about noon. It was well worth the time and effort.





For the tortillas, we did some that were just plain flour and water with a drizzle of oil in the pan. Others were more elaborate in ingredients, but I did not taste the difference, although some taste testers claimed they could depict it.

The fixings within our breakfast burritos included:


  • centimeter-sized potato chunks
  • scrambled eggs
  • chopped asparagus
  • chopped mushrooms
  • slivers of onion
  • grated cheddar cheese
  • salsa
  • sour cream
The vegetables were all cooked on a griddle with olive oil.


We also included in our breakfast burrito feast an array of fruits. One such fruits were California strawberries! So sweet!


My word to any readers is to slow down, take hours to cook with family and/or friends, and enjoy a meal together, even if it's breakfast at noon!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Soy Chai Latte

I recently discovered a love for the Vanilla Soy Chai Latte No Water at my local Starbucks. Because I am a do-it-myself kind of person, and because I like to save money, I decided to look up a recipe and create my own at home, and, by golly, it worked! Now I will go to my Anthropology class with a thermos of piping hot tea, one of the best kinds, if I do say so myself! Check out the Chai recipe I used at Instructibles.com. I used plain soy milk instead of regular (cow) milk and sugar instead of artificial sweetener. There were a few other minor tweaks of the recipe, but I think every time a treat is made, there should be some variation. Enjoy creating your own!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Lentil Soup and Buscuits


This evening, I had the desire to make a hearty dinner, so I chose my mom's original lentil soup. It is a meal that I have enjoyed more and more with time. It might be considered plain to some, but add your salt, pepper, or other spices, and perhaps a dollop of sour cream, and it is full of fabulous flavor! Here is my mom's recipe, with a few alterations of my own:
  • One bag of lentils, about 2 cups
  • One onion, chopped
  • One bay leaf
  • 4 stalks of celery chopped
  • 4-6 carrots chopped into 1 inch chunks
  • 1/3 cup barley
  • A drizzle of olive oil, maybe 1-2 Tablespoons
  • 1 and 1/2 quarts of water
  • salt and pepper to taste, after cooking is an option
  • sour cream to dollop, if desired
I use a pressure cooker, and once the top is rocking it only takes 8-10 minutes cooking over the heat. For more pressure cooker information and cooking times, see The ULTIMATE Pressure Cooker Cooking Time Chart. My mom used a regular pot on the stove with a lid and had the lentil soup simmer for about an hour. She also said to add water as needed so the lentils don't dry out while cooking, which can only be done, of course, if you are cooking with a regular pot. Do not try to add water to your pressure cooker! (That would be disastrous, as you should know.) The goal is to have tender lentils in the end product.

This lentil soup recipe is one of my favorites because it has both a legume (lentils) and a grain (barley) as well as other vegetables, spices, and garnishes, if you please. It is a fabulously healthy vegetarian dish! You can vary the amounts of veggies and such, as you wish. Experimenting with new ingredients may be delightful as well!

Another wonderful aspect of this lentil soup is that it keeps in the refrigerator for several days, at least, and lasts well in the freezer for months (tested by me), which means: great leftovers!

I had a hankering for some fluffy biscuits, so I referred to my copy of Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book from 1961. It is on page 76 in my book. My change to the recipe was using butter instead of shortening. If you don't have your own Betty Crocker Cook Book, you can search for the recipe on Google, or look up any other favorite biscuit recipe.

Here is a photograph of my Lentil Soup and Biscuit dinner for two!