Grandma's Fudge

In a large saucepan, combine and heat:

4 ½ c sugar

1 cube butter

1 can evaporated milk

Boil over med heat, stirring constantly for 8 min.

Add:

1 heaping cup of chocolate chips

1 lg Hershey bar (~7-8 oz) broken into small pieces

1 small jar marshmallow cream (~7oz)

Stir together quickly until completely incorporated.

Add:

dash salt

1 t vanilla

nuts (optional)

Pour into 9x13 pan lined with wax paper and/or sprayed with cooking spray. Let sit in fridge for a few hours. Cut and enjoy! Store in airtight container.

Wassail

 Wassail is another of our holiday favorites.  This recipe is an adaptation of the Lion House recipe.

2 1/4 c white sugar (I have omitted this for a diabetic friend and it still tasted really good...)
4 c water
4 cinnamon sticks
2 T candied ginger, sliced
1 T whole cloves
4 c OJ
2 c lemon juice (can substitute lemonade - we really like the flavor that way)
8 c apple juice

Bring water, sugar and spices to boil in a large pot. Turn off heat and cover pot, letting spices soak in hot water for about an hour. Add OJ, lemon juice & apple juice just before serving and let warm. I don't strain the spices. I like them to keep exuding flavor as I store the wassail, but if you don't want it to get super spicy (or you don't want to swallow a clove), strain before adding juice. Serve warm or cold.

 We were too busy drinking it to take a picture of it in a cup. And it's so good that now it's gone. :)
Enjoy!

Oatmeal is the new BREAKFAST of CHAMPIONS!

This is our new favorite breakfast. I can not keep this family in cold cereal. We eat TOO much of it! I do, however, always have these ingredients on hand. I guess this is not really a recipe, just a fun breakfast idea. We make plain oatmeal (usually in the microwave) then let everyone add their favorite toppings: nuts, raisins, craisins, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, honey, sprinkles, jelly beans... we've probably tried it all. This is the new favorite combo: Oatmeal (of course), chopped apples, chopped pecans & maple syrup. I have never before thought of adding maple syrup to oatmeal until we saw a friend do it. It has changed life around here. My kids will eat anything with syrup (or sprinkles). :) Enjoy!

Mom's Pecan Pie

We love pecan pie around here. Pec (ah) n or pec (short a) n - however you want to say it. It's just plain old good! This is my dad's birthday request every year (for the last 31 years that I know of) and we make it for Thanksgiving and for any other festive occasion we can think of. This is the time of year for me that I always wish I were home with family. We live as far as we ever have from everyone this year and are spending the Christmas season with just our little family (and lots of wonderful friends). I'm coping with the no family party sadness by baking lots of yummy stuff that reminds me of home and family. This is THE pie! (and it's "easy peasy" - my 6 year old's newest coined phrase.)

(I cheated and used a purchased pie crust...)

1 c sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 c corn syrup (light or dark)
1/4 c melted butter
1 cup pecan halves

Mix the above ingredients in a mixing bowl until blended. Pour into unbaked pie crust and bake in 400* preheated oven for 10 minutes. Turn heat down to 350* and cover pie crust edges with foil. Bake an additional 30-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean-ish. It can have pieces stuck to it, just not be goopy. Let it cool a bit and then eat it up!

Did I mention I LOVE this pie? YUM!

This month's Author Spotlight- Michelle E.



Michelle E.

Georgia

Saltbox Author Since 2009

Read Her Bio Click Here

Favorite Foods:

One favorite food? Hmmm… I don’t think I can pick just one. I really love seasonal foods. I love turkey with sausage and red cabbage and everything that goes with it at Thanksgiving. I love wassail when it starts to get cold outside. I love my mom’s and grandma’s au gratin potatoes, homemade jam and homemade cinnamon rolls at Christmas-time. Ice cream and slush are my summer favorites. I can’t pick. Maybe I just love all food. Oh wait – unless chocolate counts.

  

Favorite Restaurant(s):

I’m easy to please when it comes to restaurants. I’m just thrilled that someone else is going to do my dishes. J I love Café Rio, The Old Spaghetti Factory, Porcupine Grill (in Salt Lake City) and the weird Japanese place just down the street from me. Some I love for the food and others for sentimental reasons.

Inspiration to Cook:
I love to cook. (Just wish I had a magic button to clean up after.) Cooking for other people and cooking for special occasions gets me most excited, but I really do like cooking just for the sake of cooking. (I guess eating inspires me too – I really like to eat yummy food).

Feelings about New Foods:
I love trying new recipes. I’m always on the lookout for something new. I have a few rotating dinners that I cook all the time, but I love to branch out and try new things – especially unique or foreign things. We buy baskets of fruit and veggies from Bountiful Baskets and that keeps things interesting. I get a basket of new stuff on Saturday and have to figure out what to do with it all so we don’t waste any. It’s been a fun and exciting challenge! We’ve even gotten fruits and veggies that we’ve never seen before. My kids love it!

At the Table:
I love to entertain! I love cooking for friends and making special dinners for my husband and me. It makes me feel good and I get a chance to branch out and try new things. (Yes, I do sometimes try new recipes on friends…) I also love cooking with friends! I love learning from the way other people do things!
 

Here at Saltbox House Cooking Exchange, we have been inspired by Michelle and chose her to be our featured author for the month of November. Ever since we've known Michelle, she has been a delight to have as both a friend and a culinary comrade. She has been a great addition to our blog in many aspects and we feel honored to have her on here with us. Thank you Michelle!

To view Michelle's current posts see link list below:

 

Salmon

Swei Jyaus (sway Jows) a.k.a. Pot Stickers

Broccoli and Beef

Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp

Kettle Corn

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Fast and Easy and Handy Artisan Bread

Honey Caramel Sauce
 

Honey Caramel Sauce

Perfect for fall apples!! I love this stuff... and it's SOOO easy!

1/2 c honey
1 stick butter
3/4 c brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk

In a medium sized saucepan, mix honey, butter and brown sugar together over medium high heat. Bring mixture to a rolling boil and boil 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add sweetened condensed milk and mix well. All done! Let cool at least a little (this is almost worth burning your tongue over). Eat with apple slices, pretzels, over ice cream, (or off the spoon... I may or may not have done that). :) Oh the possibilities! It would be great over sliced peaches with a little whipped cream... hmmm. I think I'll go try that right now. Happy fall everyone!

Easy, Fast and Handy Homemade Artisan Bread

photo from motherearthnews.com

My mother-in-law introduced me to this recipe and it's absolutely delicious! It's quick and easy and you can make enough dough at one time to stick in the fridge and use for more than a week. All you have to do is pull out however much you want to bake at a time, throw it in the oven and there you have it! You can make homemade bread every day if you want without spending all day doing it. Here's the link to the site where she got it. Hope you enjoy it as much as we have!

The Master Recipe

The artisan free-form loaf called the French boule is the basic model for all the no-knead recipes. The round shape (boule in French means “ball”) is the easiest to master. You’ll learn how wet the dough needs to be (wet, but not so wet that the finished loaf won’t retain its form) and how to shape a loaf without kneading. And you’ll discover a truly revolutionary approach to baking: Take some dough from the fridge, shape it, leave it to rest, then let it bake while you’re preparing the rest of the meal.

Keep your dough wet — wetter doughs favor the development of sourdough character during storage. You should become familiar with the following recipe before going through any of the others.

The Master Recipe: Boule

(Artisan Free-Form Loaf)

 Makes 4 1-pound loaves

 3 cups lukewarm water
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour

Mixing and Storing the Dough

 1. Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).

 2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve.

3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container.

4. Cover loosely. Do not use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately two hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to about five hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. We recommend refrigerating the dough at least three hours before shaping a loaf. And relax! You don’t need to monitor doubling or tripling of volume as in traditional recipes.

Source:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx?fb_ref=s=showShareBarUI:p=facebook-like&fb_source=profile_multiline

P.S. I tried this with whole wheat flour (subtracting a little less than 25%) to see if it works, and unfortunately I didn't like it. The white was much better. I'm going to keep toying around with it though and will let you know if I ever get it to work out just right. If you've had luck substituting wheat flour for white flour, please let me know your tricks. :) Thanks for all the great recipes!

Mom's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Picture taken from http://forum.xcitefun.net/chocolate-chip-cookies-t33382.html

When I make chocolate chip cookies, we eat a few then the rest sit around for a couple weeks 'till I throw them away. While Tyler's mom was here visiting, I had her show me how she makes hers. We (mostly Ty) went through 3 dozen in a week.

Ingredients:
1/2 c butter
1/2 c shortening
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
3/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
2 - 2 1/2 c flour (I used1 1/4 c white flour and 1 c whole weat flour
1 c chocolate chips

Cream sugar, butter, shortening, vanilla and eggs. Slowly add flour while mixing until it forms a sticky-ish dough (not too sticky, just bareley handleable). Add chocolate chips (and nuts if you want). Place on greased cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees for 7 - 9 minutes. YUM!

Kettle Corn

photo courtesy of Every Day with Rachael Ray site - she has a recipe I might try too... Kettle corn is so yummy!! http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-index/appetizer-starter-recipes/Sweet---Salty-Kettle-Corn

A new fall favorite around our house! We've played games with friends and their families a few times this fall. There's something cozy about sitting around chatting and playing games while eating popcorn. I LOVE popcorn. A friend of mine made this the other night and I fell in love...

Ingredients:

2/3 c popcorn kernels

3 T oil

1/3 c sugar

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat a large pot (with lid - see through lids are best, but any lid will work) with 3 T oil and 4 or 5 "test kernels" over medium heat. When you hear the "test kernels" pop add 2/3 c popcorn kernels and 1/3 c sugar. Shake the pot periodically as the popcorn pops to prevent burning on the bottom. When the popping slows, remove pot from heat and transfer popcorn to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix. Serve!

Note: Heavier pots seem to work better - less burning on the bottom. :)

Bang Bang Chicken and Shrimp

(my kids even eat this!!! yay!!)


Ty and I love Thai food!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE! We just don't get OUT enough to go get it. Our favorite places are a little family owned place in Salt Lake City on 9th (can't remember the name, but the food is terrific!!!) and we just recently discovered a cool place here in Salem called Thai Orchid Restaurant. Their food is terrific as well! We also like ordering Thai food at Cheesecake Factory and this recipe is very similar to theirs. It's pretty mild, but really delicious! I got it from a friend in UT - hope she doesn't mind that I'm sharing her recipe... :)


SERVES 4

Ingredients:

(curry sauce)
2 teaspoons chili oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic cloves
2 teaspoons ginger
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground mace (I left this out one time and it still tasted good...)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups coconut milk
2 medium carrots, julienned
1 small zucchini, julienned
1/2 cup frozen peas (I alwas use more veggies and it works out great)

(peanut sauce)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons water
4 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon chili oil




2 chicken breast fillets



16 large raw shrimp, shelled (or add more chicken and nix the shrimp)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 cups cooked white rice

(garnish)



1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley, crumbled
2 tablespoons peanuts
2 green onions, julienned

Directions:
1)Make the curry sauce by heating the chili oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger. Sauté for about about 30 seconds then add the chicken broth. Add the spices (cumin, coriander, paprika, salt, black pepper, mace and turmeric) and stir well. Simmer for 5 minutes then add the coconut milk. Bring mixture back up to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken. Add the julienned carrots and zucchini, and the frozen peas. Simmer mixture for 10 minutes or until carrots become tender.
2)Make peanut sauce by combining peanut butter, water, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, and chili oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until mixture begins to bubble, then cover the pan and remove it from the heat.
3Toast the flaked coconut by preheating your oven to 300 degrees. Spread coconut on a baking sheet and toast it in the oven. Stir the coconut around every 10 minutes or so that it browns evenly, but watch it closely in the last 5 minutes so it doesn't get too dark. After 25 to 30 minutes the coconut should be light brown. Take it out of the oven and let it cool.
4)Cut the chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Coat the chicken and shrimp with corn starch. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the coated chicken to the pan and sauté it for a couple minutes, turning as it cooks. Add the shrimp to the pan. Cook the shrimp and chicken for a couple minutes, until it's done, then remove everything to a rack or towel to drain.
5)Build two plates (or you can divide the meal into four portions) by filling a soup bowl with 2 cups of white rice. Press down on the rice. Invert the bowl onto the center of a plate, tap it a bit, then lift off the bowl leaving a formed pile of rice in the center of each plate. Arrange an equal portion of chicken and shrimp around the rice. Spoon the curry sauce and vegetables over the chicken and shrimp, being careful not to get any sauce on top of the rice. (I out sauce on the rice because I think it's yummy - no big deal one way or the other...)
6)Drizzle peanut sauce over the dish concentrating most of it on the rice. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of crumbled, dried parsley over the center of the rice. Add a tablespoon of chopped peanuts on the parsley, then place a pile of julienned green onions on top. Sprinkle 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of toasted coconut over the chicken and shrimp and serve it up.







ENJOY!!

Broccoli & Beef

Picture of actual recipe available soon (when my hubby comes home to tell me where he hid the camera...) Until then, this picture is very similar to what it looks like. Taken from http://steamykitchen.com/1679-broccoli-beef-recipe.html

Here's another favorite Chineese dish we eat a lot throughout the holidays. We made this with swei jyaus and orange chicken for dinner the other night and it was so fun! I felt like I was at a restaurant.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb beef tenderloin cut thin in 1 in. slices (I just tried carne asada beef and it worked great and was already cut thin. You can also use sirloin steak. These meats are tender enough to stir fry and still be able to chew.)
1 lb broccoli cut into bite-size pieces
15 pieces of scallions, 1/2 in. long
15 pieces of ginger root, ~1/2 in. long

(marinade)
1 t sugar
1 T soy sauce
scant 1/2 t baking soda
2 t corn starch
1 T cold water
1 T canola oil

(sauce)
1/2 T soy sauce
2 T oyster sauce
1/2 t wine (or water, apple juice, etc OR you can omit it altogether)
1 t sugar
1/2 t corn starch

2 c peanut oil to stir fry (optional*)

1)Mix all marniade ingredients together in a bowl large enough to add meat later.
2)Cut beef into pieces and add to marinade. Refrigerate 30 min. - 1 hr.
3)Prepare broccoli by boiling for about 30 seconds then immediateley rinsing with cold water. Set aside.
4)Chop scallions and ginger (peeled) and set aside.
5)Cook meat. Method 1: Stir fry over med-hi heat in wok with peanut oil 1-2 minutes or until there is no visible red. (You could get away with using less than 2 c oil.) Method 2: Spread meat on jelly roll pan or cookie sheet and bake in a preheated oven for 10 - 15 min. at 350 degrees. (LOWER FAT and STILL TASTY!) If I'm feeling crazy, I brush a little peanut oil on the pan (~1/2 T) before I lay the meat out. It does add nice flavor.
5)While meat is cooking, prepare sauce. Mix all ingredients together and set aside.
5)When meat is done, fry scallions and ginger in a little oil until fragrant (less than a minute).
6)Add broccoli, then meat, then sauce. Stir until thickened.
7)Serve with rice. YUMMY!

Swei Jyaus (Sway Jows) a.k.a. Pot Stickers

Picture Available Soon (as soon as I can find my camera...again...)

Until I find my camera, here's what they look like basically. These have been fried in oil after being cooked. They're yummu that way, but a little less on the lite side... :) The fist picture shows how they're folded. I only made 2 pleats, but you can do it however you want - just so no filling is coming out the edges. :) Photos taken from http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/09/chicken-pot-stickers.html

I love fall food, but unfortunateley, I'm the only one in my family who will eat soup - so here's what we've been eating lateley. This is my husband's favorite dish. His mom learned to make it while living in Taiwan as a missionary. His family eats this for special occasions and on Chineese New Year (which isn't for awhile, but hey - special occasions happen all year around, right?).

Ingredients:

1/2 lb cabbage, chopped really fine or grated small
1/2 t salt (optional*)

2 0z chinese chives (green onions), chopped small
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 T MSG (I don't use this)
3 T sesame oil
1/4 t black pepper
1 T ginger root, grated or chopped small - more or less ginger root will make them more or less spicey. I like them on the spicy side so I add a little more than 1 T.

1 package of skins (round wontons)
small cup of warm water

1) Chop cabbage and sprinkle with salt. Refrigerate for several hours before using. *Neither Ty's mom nor I do this. She says it's more trouble than it's worth, but I might get ambitious and try it sometime.
2)Add green onions, pork, MSG, sesame oil, black pepper and ginger root to cabbage and mix thoroughly.
3)Set out a cookie sheet or dish to hold prepared swei jyaus until you're ready to cook. These take a few minutes to make. Trace around the outside of one skin with warm water, put about 1 t of the pork and cabbage mixture in the center, then fold the skin in half and press around the edges. I don't know if you can see in this picture, but we made 2 pleats in the top side of the skin to help it seal better and not pop open while cooking. (The easiest way to do these is with a dough press, but I don't have one. Ty's mom does and it makes it a lot faster!!!) Anyway, continue making sewi jyaus until you run out of pork or skins. If you have extra skins, you can fry them like wontons or if you have extra pork, you can cook it in a fry pan and use it for later.
4) Just before you're ready to eat, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add 8-10 swei jyaus at a time and cook for about 8 minutes. Ty's mom adds swei jyaus, then 1/2 c cold water, waits until the water boils again, adds another 1/2 c of water, then waits until it boils again. This is a bit of a pain, but I think it helps them not pop open as easily. Give it a shot and let me know what you think.
5)Serve warm with dipping sauce (about 2 parts soy sauce to 1 part peanut oil) Use chop sticks to make it even more intersting. :)

Enjoy!!

Salmon!

I have to confess I never thought I'd like fish. My fish experience growing up consisted mostly of trout that we caught in the summer with my grandparents while camping/fishing at Fish Lake in Central Utah. The trips were terrific! Fishing while groggy and freezing at 5 in the morning was even terrific, but eating the fish was never a high point for me. Grandpa made some for breakfast once that he battered and fried and that was bearable, but otherwise, I ate as little as possible. My mom made salmon occasionally, but I adamantly stuck to my "as little as possible" rule. All fish to me tasted fishy until I moved to Oregon.

We've been here only 3 weeks and have had quite a bit of fish. Ty was excited to get wild salmon again (after great experiences in Brittish Columbia). I reluctantly agreed to prepare and cook it as long as it was done outside. Still hate the smell of fish!

We've done it two differend ways and have loved them both. The first was a tried and true version thanks to my aunt and family -

salmon filet
1-2 T butter
1/4 c lemon juice
salt & pepper
1/2 t dill (optional)

lay salmon filet on large piece of foil. top with butter, lemon or lime juice, salt and pepper and/or dill. wrap in foil and cook on bbq for 20 - 30 min.

we ate it with dill sauce that we made up as we went along from what was in the fridge -

1/4 c sour cream (i'm want to try it with greek yogurt instead)
1/3 c mayonaise
2 t dill weed
2 T lime juice
(measurements are approximate)

it was delicious and probably pretty healthy (minus the butter, sour cream and mayo...)

the second reciipe we tried was a recipe we "improved upon" from the internet -

1 salmon filet (~2 lbs)
2 T milk
1/3 c mayonaise (the olive oil version)
1/2 c finely chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1 t lemon pepper
1 c fineley chopped spinach
6 - 8 mushrooms sliced
1/2 - 3/4 c parmesan cheese

mix onion, garlic, lemon pepper and spinach in a small bowl.

lay salmon filet, skin side down, on a piece of tin foil. use a basting brush to "paint" the salmon filet with milk, then spread mayonaise evenly across the top. top with onion, garlic, lemon pepper and spinach mixture, then with parmesan cheese and mushrooms. lay open on bbq for 30 min or until fish is flakey.

this was delicious. a little more fattening maybe, but really tasty! if we did this recipe again we decided we'd add a T or so of lime juice and some zuccini and or yellow squash on top. this was a great all in one casserole style dinner. more veggies would have been great. it was nice because (now that we don't have ac) we didn't have to heat up our kitchen at all.

these recipes were a hit with tyler and me and with the kiddos too. obviously they didn't inherit their mother's wariness of fish.

thanks again for all of your delicious recipes. we're emjoying them at our house too!
love, michelle

Confessions

Hi. I LOVE reading all the delicious recipes on this blog! I've been reading it for a long time. The food and the photos inspire me! I sometimes feel bad that I never contribute, but mostly tell myself that I don't really have a lot to offer. We're in the middle of a move and our lives have been insaneley crazy for the last few months. I did stumble on something really great this month though and wanted to share. I don't have a picture because when I made this last night, I broke a glass, I chopped my wooden spoon to smitherines in the blender, I spilled berry all over my counter and had 2 red-stained toddlers running around my booby-trapped (I think we exceed the safety regulations for how many half-packed boxes you can have in an apartment)kitchen/living room (yes, they're the same room). I'll try again soon (we've been making this a lot) and hopefully update the post with a picture, but until then, imagine...

a cute photo of a blender layered with red, yellow and blue.

1.5 c frozen raspberries
1.5 c frozen butternut squash
1.5 c blueberries
orange juice to fill blender

Blend and stir (CAREFULLY) with a spoon. If you're cool like my brother and own a Vitamix (very neat!) you're good, but for me with a normal blender, I have to stir carefully or add more liquid. We like it thick, so I stir it as I mix.

Pour and serve.

My kids love smoothies and so do my husband and I. We make them often, especially in the summer, but we've only recently discovered adding squash. It was a crazy idea born of frustration on a day where my kids hadn't eaten vegetables for over a week. I was feeling sneaky. I hoped it would be edible and that my husband and I could stomach it. (I don't really love squash unless you eat it with equal parts butter/sugar/squash.) Much to my suprise, I like squash and berry smoothies better than what we normally do (berries, OJ and vanilla yogurt). Sounds a little cookey, but it really is great! I dare you to try it.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the delicious recipes!
Love, Michelle

Hi, I'm Michelle and I'm WAY LATE with the bio thing...

I'm Michelle Evans. I am way late with the bio thing , but so excited to be a part of this blog. I have 2 little kiddos and a busy hubby and am learning that cooking is a great way to be creative while still accomplishing something that already has to be done...

My mom is a fabulous cook and she taught me to cook and to measure everything with exactness. That way it always works out. I love cooking with my mom and using her recipes (they are always good). The creative part of me can't always cook like that though (and more often than not, I don't have the right ingredients anyway), so I sometimes venture out into the unknown and experiment. This is my faborite way to cook -try whatever sounds good at the time and see how it works out.

I served as a missionary in NYC and my mind was opened to a whole new realm of ideas and possibilities relating to cooking (and eating, which is my favorite part!)! I'm the wife of a medical student and have enjoyed being creative, cooking with food storage and whatever else we have or don't have on hand :)! Substitutions are like wild cards! They make the game so much better! :)

For me the bottom line is: life's exciting! And I think cooking (and of course, eating) should be too.

Thanks so much for your delicious ideas! I'm excited to be a part of the crew!

P.S. The picture is my son after we made chocolate pudding. He loves to cook too! He gets his neatness from me!

Tres Leches Cake and Horchata

This recipe is brought to you by my friend, Michelle Evans! She celebrates Cinco de Mayo with Tres Leches Cake and Horchata.

Tres leches cake:
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
5 eggs, large
1 teaspoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 1/2 cup milk
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup plus 3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon rum (omitted)
1 pinch salt
Optional garnishes- fresh berries or cinnamon
Preparation:Combine flour and baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add the eggs to the sugar mixture one at a time until well combined. Stir in the 1/2 cup of milk, then gently fold in the flour mixture a little at a time.
Pour batter into a lightly greased cake pan or baking dish and bake at 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until it feels firm and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Let the cake cool until it feels room temperature. Turn it over onto a platter with raised edges. Pierce cake with a fork 20-30 times. Let it cool in the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes.
Whisk together 1 cup milk, 1 cup sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup heavy cream and rum. Slowly pour over cooled cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Occasionally, spoon the milk runoff back onto the cake.
In a mixing bowl, add 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 Tablespoon sugar. Beat until peaks form. Spread a thin layer over the cake.
Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon or garnish with fresh berries.
(http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/r/treslechescake.htm)



Horchata:
1 c rice
5 c water
1/2 c milk
1/2 t vanilla
1/2 t cinnamon
2/3 c sugar

1. blend rice and water in blender for about a minute (until the rice starts to break up into little pieces)
2. let rice and water stand over night (you can blend it again if the rice didn't break up really great the first time)
(i like to let it stand in the refrigerator so it's cold and can be served right away afterward)
3. pour rice water into another container through cheese cloth or a fine strainer (i didn't have either, so i used a cotton dish towel - anything that will keep the rice pieces out of your drink)
4. add milk, vanilla, cinnamon and sugar. mix well.
5. serve chilled over ice or with crushed ice (my personal favorite)

*i changed the ingredients in the recipe a little and after making it this time would tweak it just a little more: i'd do 1+ c rice, 5 c water, 2 c milk, 1 t vanilla, 3/4 t cinnamon, and 1/3 c sugar. you can always add more sugar to taste.

How did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo?