Holiday Bark Candy

I'm always for trying new things in the kitchen, and this year I tried making bark candy for Christmas.  I may be a novice, but with a little more practice I'm competent I'll get the hang of it.  The first batch came out very tasty but I made it too thick so it was hard to cut.  The next batch was equally tasty, but I made it just a little too thin, so many of the m&ms and Hershey kisses fell out when it was cut.  Of course, in neither instance did this stop people from digging in and enjoying it.

New Year's is coming up, so I'm going to give it one more try.  Even if it does get messy or if some of the pieces fall out, somehow I think it will still be enjoyed and appreciated.

GM

Crazy About Christmas Cupcakes with Fondant Candy

Since I had to drive from Tucson to Phoenix to prepare dinner on Christmas day I decided that cupcakes would be the easiest dessert to transport.  Cupcakes also make great desserts because no cake knife or plates are needed.  They're the best darn on-the-go desserts on the planet.

Since it was Christmas I wanted to do something really special.  Somehow over the years I've managed to hang on to my recipe box from my grade school home economics classes, and among those recipes is one for fondant candy.  While not quite sturdy enough to use for sculpting or for covering a cake, it can be handled like a cookie dough and cookie cutters can be used to cut out decorations.  Oh, by the way, unlike those packaged fondants, this fondant actually tastes quite good.  It has a buttery, minty flavor.


CHRISTMAS FONDANT CANDY
(adapted from Mrs. Witt's 7th grade home economics class)

3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup evaporated milk
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 teaspoon wintergreen extract
red and green food coloring

Melt butter or margarine in a saucepan over low heat.  Stir in evaporated milk, vanilla and salt.  Remove from heat: add powdered sugar, gradually.  Turn out onto a board sprinkled with powdered sugar and work with hands until smooth.  Makes two cups of fondant.

Divide fondant in half.  Add peppermint extract and 2 drops of red food coloring to one half of the fondant; add wintergreen extract and 2 drops of green food coloring to the other half.  Place each half of the fondant onto cutting board sprinkled with powdered sugar and roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.  Use a cookie cutter to cut out Christmas shapes and place on top of iced cupcakes.  Any remaining pieces of fondant can be placed on a serving plate and served with other Christmas candy.

My Grandmother's Green Beans

It was a bittersweet Christmas for me this year as my mother is in failing health and probably won't be around for very much longer.  I decided to make Christmas dinner for her this year and, rather than the traditional turkey or roast beef, I made some of her favorite dishes--leg of lamb and her mother's recipe for green beans.

I don't know if this recipe was ever actually written down anywhere or not.  My grandmother prepared it for years, as did my mother, and it was always a family favorite. I too have played with it a little over the years myself.  It's and oldie but a goody, and there are probably a lot of other grandmothers out there who made this dish as well.  Here is my interpretation.  Please consider this recipe as a guide as I never make it the quite the same way twice.

GM


GRANDMA'S HOMEMADE GREEN BEANS

1 to 1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans
3 or 4 red potatoes
3 or 4 slices of bacon
1/2 cup chicken broth
water

Wash green beans, snap off ends, snap into two or three bite-sized pieces and drop into a large mixing bowl.  Scrub and dice the potatoes and add them to the beans.  Cut bacon slices into small pieces and brown in a small stockpot.  Once bacon is browned dump in the green beans and potatoes.  Add chicken broth, stir, and cover.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for approximately 30 to 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and cooked all the way through.  Stir occasionally, and, if necessary, add small amounts of water to prevent the beans from scorching.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve as a side dish with pork roast, pork chops or fried chicken.

Christmas Candy Cane Cake

This cake was a big hit at the Tombstone Vigilantes Christmas party, and it's so easy to do.  Simply use your favorite cake recipe or cake mix, (classic white or chocolate are recommended), and ice the cake with your favorite icing.  I used the Wilton icing recipe that came in my cake decorating course books, but even canned icing from the supermarket should work with this cake.

Once the cake is iced you need to pulverize some candy canes.  I recommend using the smaller candy canes as they are easier to break.  I left them in their wrappers and smashed them with a hammer, or you may prefer to put them in a baggie and use a rolling pin,  Whatever technique you use you will find it's a good fix for a bad hair day, or a fun activity for restless children.  Once the candy canes are broken down into tiny bite sized pieces simply sprinkle them on the top and sides of the cake. 

Tip:  Add a teaspoon of peppermint extract to the cake batter and the icing.  If either recipe calls for vanilla extract omit it and use the peppermint extract instead.  This will give the cake a subtle peppermint flavor that will complement the candy canes.

Enjoy.

GM

My Continuing Quest to Make the Perfect Bowl of Chili

Some dishes always seem to bedevil me, and for many years chili con carne was one of them.  I always seemed to have all the right ingredients; chili powder, ground beef, onions and tomatoes, and my chili always tasted good, but there was always something missing.  Something that I just couldn't quite put my finger on.

Then I started watching the Master Chef competition, and one of the hurdles the contestants had to clear was a taste test to determine all the ingredients in a pot of chili con carne.  Yeehaw!  It was a serendipitous moment, so I really paid close attention.  One of the ingredients that nearly all the contestants got right was cumin.  Cumin?  I'd never heard of it.  To the best of my memory it wasn't a spice that my mother ever used, so it wasn't in my kitchen.  Well, there was an easy remedy for that.  The next time I went to the dollar store I bought a jar of cumin, and the next time I made chili I opened it.  As soon as I took a whiff, EUREKA!  That was the allusive ingredient that was always missing from my chili.  That batch turned out to be the best pot of chili con carne that I ever made.

I never make my chili the same way twice, so please consider this recipe a general guide.

CHILI CON CARNE

1 to 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 small can diced green chili peppers
1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
3 tablespoons red chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper

Brown ground beef and onions in a small stock pot.  Once meat is browned all the way through add tomatoes, Ranch Style Beans, kidney beans, green chilies and tomato paste.  Stir all ingredients thoroughly until tomato paste is smooth.  Add seasonings and bring the mixture to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.   If desired, serve each bowl of chili topped with chopped onions, chives or cheddar cheese.  Corn bread makes a nice side dish, or drop a piece of cornbread in the bottom of the bowl and serve the chili over the top.

Historic Recipes- Peppermint Candy Layer Cake and Whipped Cream Topping

Peppermint, cakes and the Christmas holidays all go together, and this historic recipe, courtesy of Anna's Kitchen, is perfect for the season.  The topping recipe comes from my forthcoming cookbook, Rosie's Riveting Recipes: Cooking on the Home Front Line.  Enjoy this holiday blast from the past.


PEPPERMINT CANDY LAYER CAKE

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cups milk
2 cups cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream together margarine, sugar and salt. Stir in beaten eggs. Sift flour with baking powder twice. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, about 1/2 of each at a time. Pour into two 8-inch layer pans, lined with paper or greased with margarine and floured. Bake at 375º F for 35 minutes. When cool put layers together with white icing. Decorate with peppermint candy using whole sticks on top, crushed on sides.

Modern Variation:  Since today’s baking powders are double-acting decrease baking powder to 1 ¼ teaspoon. For best results use a small (6 cup) bundt pan, a medium (8 x 4 inch) loaf pan, or an 8 x 8 inch square pan. To add some peppermint flavor add ¾ teaspoon peppermint extract. If desired, top with Whipped Cream Topping. 

WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

1 cup whipping cream
½ cup crushed peppermint candy
or ½ cup crushed peanut brittle
or 4 tablespoons jam or marmalade

Whip whipping cream until stiff. Fold in crushed candy or jam or marmalade.

Modern Variation:  For peppermint candy topping add ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract to give the topping more peppermint flavor

My First Christmas Cake of the Season

Christmas cakes are so much fun, and sometimes the decorating can be very simple.  Cookie cutters make great cake decorating patterns--just press down into the icing and viola!  I used buttercream icing with a star tip to get this effect, and yes, the red icing just wasn't cooperating, but I figured since I was using the red to make ornaments it wouldn't be that big of an issue, and indeed no one complained about the cake when it was served.  However, if you don't know how to use a tip, you could get a very nice effect using gum drops or m & m candies.

Have fun.

GM

Legends in the Kitchen - a Fun and Flavorful Celebrity Cookbook

Who says a cookbook can't be fun?

Legends in the Kitchen, a cookbook by Mrs. Howard Keel and Linda Radke is just that.  With fun interior graphics and celebrity photos it's a feast for the eyes.  It also has a variety of delicious recipes contributed from Hollywood celebrities including Gloria Loring, Victoria Principle, Stefanie Powers, Beau Bridges and Andy Williams.  The easy-to-prepare recipes include appetizers, main courses, vegetables and sides, soups, salads, breads and desserts.  A portion of the sales of this book are donated to charity. Imagine the fun of eating the same dishes prepared by some of your favorite celebrities while helping others.

GM

Our Mother's Recipes -- Beef Stroganoff

Some recipes are destined to become classics and this is one of them.  My mother made this dish a lot while I was growing up and it has always been one of my all-time favorites.  It was also one of the first dishes that I learned how to make, and I've tweaked it here and there over the years.  It's comfort food at it's best and always seems to taste just a little bit better on a cold winter night.

MY MOTHER'S CLASSIC BEEF STROGANOFF 

1 to 1 1/2 pounds round steak or sirloin tips
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup red wine (optional)
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)
1 small onion, chopped (optional)
2 cups sour cream*
steamed white rice, brown rice, or noodles

Slice beef into small cubes and brown in a saute pan over medium heat.  If desired, add chopped onion, sliced mushrooms, and red wine.  Once meat has browned all the way through add cream of mushroom soup.  Stir mixture thoroughly and heat to boiling.  Reduce heat and simmer on low for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  While meat is simmering cook rice or noodles according to package directions and serve with the meat mixture on top of the rice or noodles.  Blend sour cream into meat mixture just prior to serving, or spoon a dollop or two of sour cream on top of the meat mixture immediately after plating.  Serve.

* Plain yogurt can be used as a substitute for sour cream.

 

The Pampered Chef--an Honest Assessment

It was about a year or so ago that I was lamenting to a friend that I love cooking and I love public speaking, and what I really wanted was to find a job where I could do both.  He suggested The Pampered Chef.

At first I thought I'd found the perfect job, but sometimes things don't work out the way we hoped.  So here is my honest assessment of The Pampered Chef--the good, the bad, and the, "If I had known then what I know now."

The Products

The Pampered Chef products are, in a word, fantastic.  I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad word about the products themselves, and I love them too.  I particularly like some of the handy touches, such as measurement marks on the side of the prep bowls.

I have, however, heard a few complaints about the price, and without a doubt they are expensive.  I even had a cooking show guest come back to me and complain about seeing "the same" products at Target for far less money than what she'd paid for them at my cooking show.  I explained to her that the Pampered Chef products were of higher quality but that didn't phase her.  For her, and for many others, it's all about the price. 

The other caveat is the return policy.  No receipt--no return or exchange.  Period.  This sometimes creates issues for those who've received Pampered Chef products as gifts and had a problem down the road.  Even though the product may have had a lifetime guarantee The Pampered Chef wouldn't make good on it because they didn't have the receipt.  My personal advice:  Be careful about purchasing the products as gifts.

The Reality of Being a Pampered Chef Consultant

There are people out there who are successful at selling Pampered Chef products, but there are many others who are not.  And while I don't have any statistical data, I'd be willing to bet that the number of people who are unsuccessful is far greater than the number people who are successful. 

The Pampered Chef is a multi-level marketing company and their products are sold by the home party plan.  So if all your friends and relatives can afford to buy the products, and if they all have the time and the desire to host your cooking shows, and if they are willing to invite all of their friends, and if all of their friends are willing to come and to buy the products and to host cooking shows themselves, and if you can find cooking show guests who are willing to sign up to become Pampered Chef consultants under you, then you should do fine.  In other words, this is what I personally like to refer to as a "doctor's wife's" profession, meaning you need to have a dependable income source outside of The Pampered Chef, and you need for all of your contacts to be people with plenty of free time and discretionary money.  However, if you're just plain middle class, or working class, finding friends or relatives willing to host a cooking show, and then for them to be able to find people willing to come to their cooking shows, can be a real challenge.

I had hosts and hostesses cancel their cooking shows because they couldn't find anyone who wanted to come.  I also had a show where only one guest showed up, which, as you can imagine, greatly distressed the person hosting it.  The fact of the matter is that in this recession many families are cutting back on expenses and have stopped buying frills, and while people are eating out less they're buying their kitchen products at Wal-Mart and not from The Pampered Chef.

People's buying habits are also changing.  They're shopping more and more on-line, but Pampered Chef consultants are not allowed to sell on eBay, Amazon or craigslist.  They're not even allowed to post links to their personal Pampered Chef websites on their personal blogs or other websites, and only those who have worked their way up The Pampered Chef chain will get any kind of commission from products purchased off the main Pampered Chef website.  It's also been my personal observation that the home party marketing plan is becoming more and more outdated.  Many people simply do not have the time or the desire to attend these "parties," while others are unwilling to host a "party" where their friends will feel pressured into buying something.

Nearly all of my cooking shows ended with me having to tell the host or hostess that their cooking show did not meet the minimum sales quota required by The Pampered Chef, and we were left scrambling to find other people to buy something in order to meet the quota.  I won't even elaborate on the times when hosts, or potential hosts, treated me like I was a catering service and expected me to cook an entire meal for all their guests, even though they had been told upfront that my job was to simply demonstrate a recipe and that there would be enough for everyone to taste a sample.

In the end, with only a 20% sales commission being paid on guest sales, and no commission being paid on host sales, I added up my hours and divided them by my commission.  I often found I was making less than the minimum wage,  nor was I able to by products for myself "wholesale."  If I wanted to buy any Pampered Chef products for myself I had to pay full price, just like everyone else. 

So there you have it.  The good and the bad.  I genuinely like The Pampered Chef products and I would highly recommend them. They can be easily purchased on-line directly from The Pampered Chef website.  However, I'm done with trying to sell them, and my advice to anyone would be to think long and hard before signing up to be a consultant.  

My honest assessment.

GM

Historic Recipe -- Veal Heart with Noodles

One of the more interesting things about culinary history is discovering how foods that may be "exotic," or even unpalatable by today's standards were much more common in the past.  Such is the case with organ meats, or "variety meats" as they were called.  The challenge is coming up with more palatable suggestions since the idea of eating heart or kidneys is a big turn-off for many.  The other challenge is market availability.  Because these meats are less common there is less demand, which means some of them may no longer be found at your local supermarket.  Such is the case with veal hearts, so I used a chuck steak as a substitute.  It's less tender than other cuts of beef, so I suspect it would have a similar consistency to heart.  It's also a less expensive cut.  Bottom line, this recipe, courtesy of Anna's Kitchen, creates a delicious dish that's economical, easy to prepare and very versatile.  There are lots of ways you could play around with it to enhance it.  Enjoy.

VEAL HEART WITH NOODLES

2 veal hearts (about 2 lbs.)*
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups sliced onion
2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 cups cooked noodles

Split heart open, remove arteries and veins and wash thoroughly.  Cut in small pieces, dust with flour and brown in butter or margarine.  Add onions, 1/2 cups water and seasonings and simmer until tender or about 2 hours.  Arrange hearts on noodles and pour liquid over top.  6-7 servings.

* Skirt steak or chuck steak can be used instead of hearts.  If using a steak cooking time can be decreased to 45 minutes to one hour.  If desired, add small amounts of water during cooking time. 

Variations:  Use red wine instead of water, olive oil instead of butter.