Roasted Green Beans

I've mentioned them on more than one occasion. I make them at least once a week. And yet I have never actually blogged about them. So today, roasted green beans are finally getting their place in the sun--er, on the blog.

Okay, so there's really no right or wrong here. No specific amounts. But you do want to begin with the stars of the show--green beans.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Snap or cut off the ends of the beans. If they're really long, you can snap or cut them in half. Then rinse well, drain well and spread them on paper towel to remove as much of the excess water as possible. 

While they're drying, cut some bacon into bite-size pieces.

How much bacon you add depends on the amount of beans you have. If I'm fixing just enough for the family, I usually only add one slice of thick-cut bacon which, I suppose, would equate to two slices of regular bacon. Of course, if don't want meat with your veggies, you can skip this step.

Transfer beans to a large sheet pan that's been lined with foil. This will make cleanup SO much easier.

Dot beans with the bacon.

Drizzle with coconut or olive oil. Since this bakes at such a high heat, I prefer coconut oil. If it's solid, I simply put in the microwave on defrost for a minute so I'm able to drizzle it. As for how much oil, not too much, but not too little. You want to coat the beans, but you don't want them swimming.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until you begin to see some color on the beans.

These could have actually gone a couple more minutes, but I was in a hurry.

My boys never liked green beans before I started making them this way. And while I wouldn't go so far as to say they love them, they do actually put them on their plate and eat them now. 

So it's September. School is back in session and fall decorations are cropping up all over. Things at the ranch are pretty mellow right now.

That is, until cattle or deer wander into the dogs' line of vision. Then all bets are off.

We still like to do our evening rides around the ranch and I captured these two reveling in the sunset the other night.

Sigh. Such a serene image. Horses are so beautiful.

So what does September bring to your neck of the woods? And have you ever had roasted green beans? Would you?

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Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com 

Simply Decadent Ganache with Raspberries

Hello everyone! Mary Jane here with a simple, but deliciously decadent recipe for those days you need something fancy but foolproof. My dad's seventy sixth birthday was this week and although he loves chocolate, he just doesn't want a big to-do. He's a retired nuclear engineer who loves God, books, the quiet, birds, the forest, hiking, and peaceful moments. Sense a theme??
                                                    

(Mmmmm, like the inside of a truffle!)

  So, what do you get for a man who doesn't want a big fuss, but still deserves a little treat? Well, we brought over the guitar and played some oldies but goodies, and then handed him a perfectly sized treat for him and his wife. They're not the type to want or need a big cake, or even a full pie. But a sweet little ramekin of chocolate with a cookie crust is just their style.
Now, this recipe also made a larger ganache dessert, but be prepared if you're making a cute little dish like we were. Of course, it was no hardship to have TWO, but just a warning that this recipe makes more than the little pie you see.
                                                     
You'll need 2 cups of heavy whipping cream.
                                                 
8 oz of good chocolate...
Some basic sugar cookies (not pictured, but imagine about ten cookies crushed).
Mix the crushed cookies with 2 TBS of melted butter. Press into the ramekin. Bake at 275F for 10-15 minutes. Let cool.

                                                       
You can microwave the heavy cream and the chocolate, but I'm always afraid I'm going to burn it, so I melt it together in a pan on the stove, stirring constantly over medium heat. When it's all melted, pour into the cookie crust.
                                                      
Let cool overnight in the fridge, or at least two hours. This part is important. Otherwise you just have melted chocolate. When it's chilled, it gives it that velvety smooth texture.

 Line with raspberries or strawberries or chocolate shavings.
                                                          

(Fresh picked berries from down the road!)

We also tried a recipe that included mixing in a few TBS of raspberry jam. Meh. I liked the flavor, but maybe if it was strained... I didn't like the seeds IN the chocolate.

 Oh my goodness. So smooth and chocolatey...

Annnnnnd a close up...

 Ok, that's all for now! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and be sure to stop by my author pages Mary Jane Hathaway or Virginia Carmichael for all my book news!

Conquering the French "Boule"

Hello, everybody! For a long time, I've been trying to perfect the "boule", a French bread that's traditionally baked in a round cast iron dutch oven. I've tried it many ways, with several different recipes and I could NOT get it quite the way I remembered it in France. It can be made from any type of flour, with any kind of leavening, but it has a certain crusty exterior. And it MUST be shaped in a sort of squashed ball. 

(wikipedia)

The shape is also the reason a bread maker is called a "boulanger" and a bakery is called a "boulangerie". It's sort of the most basic of French breads and as I said before, I could not for the life of me recreate it in my own oven. I read a lot of recipes that said the trick was "proofing ovens" or pizza stones or organic rye flour or a starter in the fridge for ten days or.... I'd just decided it wasn't one of those things I was going to be able to make on a whim. 

Then my friend Cassey gave me some truffle oil and I wished with all my heart I had some simple crusty bread to drizzle it on. My fourteen year old makes a great French loaf, but it's got that sourdough/nutty taste that comes from the sweet fermentation and I wanted the simple salt bread. But when I mentioned this to another friend of mine (ok, so I was whimpering and wringing my hands), she said that she'd never had a problem with les boules, and we had almost the same oven, and lived in similar climates. I decided to give it one more try, following her instructions. .

Ingredients:

3 cups warm water

1 TBS salt

1 TBS yeast

6 1/2 cups flour

extra flour for the top

Mix the water, yeast and salt together. No need to let it sit for several minutes. Just stir together. Mix in the flour. Let it rise for several hours in a warm spot. Now, at this point you can put it in the fridge for several days, up to two weeks. I actually did put it in the fridge because we ended up going in a different direction for dinner (read: everyone was hungry so we ate).

But the next day, I knew it was time to try for the perfect boule. You can make a large loaf, or several small ones. Since I'd tried larger loaves before without much success, I decided to try smaller versions with a loose foil "oven" wrapped around them.  

The secret to a good boule is NOT to knead or express any of the the gas. Gently take a grapefruit sized ball of dough, stretch the outside and tuck it under, keeping it in a ball shape but keeping the top very smooth. I don't have a picture at the point, but let it rest for another few hours in a warm spot. Right before putting it in the oven, sprinkle with flour and make three vertical slits in the top. 

Preheat Oven to 450F and bake for 40 minutes. 

At 20 minutes, remove the top of the foil. This gives the entire roll a very crispy crust, but the bottom is the crispiest. The American roll is prized for being very soft, but the French love their crusty bread. All the better to soak up sauces!

After removing from the oven, let the bread cool for another two hours. (NO KIDDING. Just when you think you get to crack into it... nope. It will continue to cook and the inside will be set by the time you cut it. No gummy, dense dough inside)

 The bottom of the boules are crispy and dark. One of my kids said, "Oh, the bottom is chocolate!" haha!

 Cutting into the little loaf makes my heart happy because I can hear that perfect hollow sound a crusty top makes when the inside is full of air pockets.... but not too many. (If it was a sourdough, there would be a lot more air pockets, but I'm not very fond of sourdough, tbh.)

 Some home made butter on top and it's ready for a taste test! I drizzled olive oil on mine for the first slice, and added an anchovy to the second. YUM.

 I wasn't sure whether the kids would be excited about this bread as I was since they are, of course, American and raised on soft, white bread and the occasional French loaf. But who can resist a perfect boule with fresh butter?

 This guy, actually. He made pancakes instead. My picky eater did admit they SMELLED good, but now that he's ten, I've learned to accept his taste buds as they are. He still gets his fruits and vegetables, but I won't make him eat crusty French bread if he'd rather have a pancake. Especially if he cooks it.
 So, if you've always wanted an easy, fool proof boule recipe, this is the one! You can always make up the dough for any time during the week, even cooking them one or two at a time.
Until next time! Feel free to stop by my facebook page at Mary Jane Hathaway, my blog at The Things That Last, or my posts at Huffington Post Books.

The Simple Things

Well, the news broke last week, but in case you missed it...

I GET TO EAT REAL FOOD AGAIN!!!!!!

Yes, it really is those simple things in life that make us happiest. Like a baby's giggle, getting a cart at Walmart that doesn't have a gimpy wheel and being able to eat something besides soft foods. 

So what did I have for my first meal? 

I don't remember. 

Well, not completely true. I remember one aspect of it. 

Something I hadn't been able to eat in nearly two months.

SALAD!

Oh, yes it was so deliciously crunchy.

And the pizza I was craving?

That didn't happen until this weekend. But let me tell you, it was the BEST pizza I've ever tasted.

I think one of the things I've enjoyed most is being able to eat vegetables again. Sure I could have cooked them until they were mushy, but why? I mean, that's like eating baby food. Talk about yucko. 

But now, veggies are front and center.

One of my favorite summer salads is avocado-tomato salad. It's deliciously quick and simple.

This is pretty much all you need, along with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

So first, we need to cut up our avocado. The easiest way to do that is to cut it in half and remove the seed.

The cut each half in half. If it's a large avocado, cut each half in thirds.

Now peel off the skin.

Yep, just peel that baby back.

And cut cubes into a bowl.

Now cut up your tomatoes and add them.

Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and lemon or lime juice (this helps prevent the avocados from turning brown, and brown avocados rank right up there wish mushy vegetables), then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and toss together.

Heaven in a bowl.

Not to mention a meal in itself if you're me. Makes a great lunch.

Now while this recipe is super easy, I can make it even easier.

After cutting up your avocado and tomato, drizzle in some Italian dressing, toss and you're done. 

You could even add some fresh basil.

Either way, you can't go wrong.

So good, so refreshing.

So simple.

What are some simple things you'd miss if you had to do without?

Tina Radcliffe Bakes: Easy Crescent Danish Rolls

Tina Radcliffe Bakes:

 

Easy Crescent Danish Rolls

(recipe from Pillsbury with modifications)

Ingredients

1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 cans (8 oz. each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations® refrigerated seamless dough sheet. The crescent rolls are generally less expensive and you can buy the store brand.

4 teaspoons jam or preserves----I use Bonne Mamam Raspberry ( THE WORLD’S BEST )

Egg white to brush on eggs

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 to 3 teaspoons milk

Heat oven to 350°F. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice until smooth.

Separate dough into 8 rectangles; firmly press perforations to seal. (I flip it over and seal on both sides.

Spread each rectangle with about 2 tablespoons cream cheese mixture. Roll up each, starting at longest side; firmly pinch edges and ends to seal. Gently stretch each roll to about 10 inches. 

Using an ungreased large cookie sheet, coil each roll into a spiral with seam on the inside, tucking end under. Make deep indentation in center of each roll; fill with 1/2 teaspoon preserves.

Bake 20 minutes. Remove, and then brush dough only with egg white. Bake an addition five minutes until deep golden brown. In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired consistency. Spoon into sandwich zip bag and cut off corner. Drizzle over warm rolls.

Don’t cover until they are cold. No really. Resist the urge.

These are amazing and from start to finish took 35 minutes. I think next time I’m going to try apricot inside and out or maybe cream cheese with Nutella on top. What do you think??

Tina Radcliffe writes inspirational romance for Love Inspired, and sweet, humorous contemporary romance as Tina Russo. Her indie releases, The Rosetti Curse and Love in Bloom, are available on Amazon. Her next Love Inspired release Stranded in Paradise is awaiting a title and release date.

Spring Party Cake Made Simple!

I am the Queen of Simple.... But I like to LOOK elaborate.

It's an art.

:)

Kudos, commendations, ooooos and aaaaahhhhhhssss.....

LOVE THEM!!!!

But youse guys know that my time disappears.... I work full time, I have a house that breaks regularly, a husband (Does that count as another full-time job, perhaps????) an amazing writing career that has taken on a life of its own and leaves me happy-dancing and scratching my head wondering how on earth I got here....

and a host of kids and grandkids. Plus some interesting creatures that lurk in the edges of both my yard and consciousness, so when brilliance STRIKES!!!! I grab hold and run with it.

Here is the cake:

Swoon worthy, right????  And I could have shaved chocolate on the edges, but really, it wasn't necessary.

So here you go:

Make the custard filling, RECIPE HERE...  and remember, this recipe is tried and true, it's an amazing custard and you need about two cups here so you can do the two-cup recipe (just cut the measurements in half) but my rule-of-thumb is if you're making it, why not use the full four-cup recipe because having a dish of sweet custard in the fridge could never be construed as a bad thing, right????

Bake cake of your choosing. We used a white cake mix but any flavor would do.

Whip about two-cups of heavy whipping cream sweetened with 1/2 cup sugar

Once cake is cool, slice one layer in half... freeze the other layer for next time then you can skip the cake-baking part.  SUHWWWWWEEEEEEEET!

Spread bottom half with chilled custard... and it's okay to go on thickly, there is no such thing as too much custard. Really. I saw that online and you know they can never put anything that isn't true on the World Wide Web.

Right?????  :)

Slice a banana or two over custard layer.... Add top layer. Frost with whipped cream. Now I have a cake decorating kit so I got a little fancy schmancy with the whipped cream, but you can simply frost the sides and top.... and leave a thick ridge around the top edge if'n youse don't have a "star" tube and pastry bag... Then layer fresh strawberries (I used some strawberry pie filling too, for glaze, but it's not necessary) around the middle.... If you want to glaze them for "sparkle", keep a small jar of apple jelly on hand. You just heat up a couple of tablespoons of that apple jelly, take a little pastry brush and "paint" the jelly on the strawberries on top... That way they won't get funky if they sit, but I promise youse, this cake will not SIT.

It will be eaten and folks will jump up and down, clapping and exclaiming with joy and really the only thing you had to MAKE was the pudding... and the cake mix.... And now you've got a frozen layer so next time you don't even have to do THAT!

And that's my simple/delicious fun cake of the day....

And here's a pic of the peeps I made this for:

Here is the pretty FANCY table that Casey and Taylor (two of my double-digit peeps) set for Ruthy's Bistro Cafe on Monday:

And here was our "wait staff" for the day:

Casey and Taylor, ready to rock and roll the party!

And here is Casey gathering the drink orders!!!!

While Taylor jots down food orders on her waitressing pad....

Our dessert?

You guessed it!