Ooh La La! Macarons and A French Obsession

Hello, everybody!

 The Fresh Pioneer is back and I've got some fun eats for you! Edna and I were just reminiscing over our very favorite desserts of all time. That's what we do around here. No stimulating conversations over politics or religion. Favorite desserts is our topic of choice.

  When I lived in France, I lived in the North where they used almond paste for almost every dish. But every now and then I had something truly different. One day a friend of mine brought me a macaron. (I tried to find her on facebook, but there are a lot of Stephanie Michels out there and it's hard to tell what someone would look like at nearly forty when you knew them at 13. So, Stephanie, I really, really loved that macaron! And now I'm going to try and make my own.)

 Apparently there's a real science to it. I suppose I should have researched it a bit before I started. For one thing, it's NOT a rainy day activity. Which makes no sense. If it wasn't raining, we'd be at the park, not in the kitchen!!

 Anyway...

1 1/2 cups ground almonds
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 300F.

(I used almonds with skins. I think you're not supposed to use almonds with skins because my nut flour had little dark specks and the other pictures don't have those specks. That's my theory. The other theory is that the internet is a big fraud and no on can be that perfect.)

Edna went to work on 4 large egg whites, room temperature. She was singing a lovely song. You can listen to it here. Sing it, Edna!

 So, she got the egg whites whipped to stiff peaks.
 Slowly add 2/3 cup sugar.
 Then we stirred in the nut and powdered sugar mixture, just until it was mixed.

 Then, I put it in a pastry bag and piped it onto a cookie sheet. Put it in the oven for 18-20 minutes.

While they're cooking, cut some fresh strawberries.

Ok, the oven went off and these looked done. They didn't look right, but they looked done. How do I know? I poked one.

The top should crack and cave in while the inside stays chewy. At this point I'm re-reading instructions because they look a bit... flat. Edna mentions the 'rainy day/ meringue' issue and I agree. Perhaps a sunny day would have a better time to try the elusive macaron. But we are not deterred!!

Leave the macarons on the sheet for 20-30 minutes until cool. Otherwise they will come off the sheet in one piece. Here's one with some whipped topping and strawberries. Verdict?? DELICIOUS. It was almost exactly like I remembered. And hey, that memory was from a long time ago. I'll say this was a success. A bit flat, but still a success.

And of course I had to try and make some cool colors. Here are some blue... with raspberry filling. My kids said it looked like they'd been given a color filter like one of those fancy apps on the phone...

 

So, they were good. An now they're gone. I thin I'll leave you with this picture of the cake my sister made for my birthday last week. DO NOT TRY TO COUNT THE CANDLES. The smoke alarm might have gone off. We might have had to get the fire extinguisher. We might have vacated the house. Or not.

Anyway, the cake is vanilla layers with huckleberry cream cheese inside an buttercream frosting for the outside! Huckleberries grow in the mountains where she lives. If you've never had them, they're like tiny blueberries an insanely hard to harvest. You can spend all day picking huckleberries and come home with half a gallon and a number of ticks. Yikes.

  But lucky me, I don't have to do any of the hard work. THIS just SHOWS UP at my house! yee-haw! And the picture doesn't do it justice. It was bursting with flavor, partnered with the light vanilla cake and silky smooth butter cream frosting... it was amazing.

 So, until next time my dears! Edna waves her beaters and we'll see you in a week!

I GOT MY COVER!!!!!

No recipes today. Life has gone haywire for me in recent weeks and my days have been spent taking care of my aging mother instead of cooking. Well, I am cooking, just not taking pictures or doing anything fancy. Which is also why I haven't been around much lately.

However, I couldn't miss whisking into the cafe today with some news. Can you guess what it is?

Yeah, okay, so the title of this post probably gave it away. Seeing my very first cover--with my name actually on it--was definitely a bright spot among the chaos of last week. Suddenly, it was real. I actually wrote a book that is going to be on the shelves of many a bookstore. Maybe someone will even buy a copy. Maybe they'll even read it!

So without further ado...



I absolutely love it. And I can't wait to hear what y'all think.

The story takes place in the tiny town of Ouray, Colorado. I had sent my publisher a couple of snapshots I had taken.

Of course, they tweaked them to make it, well, perfect, but kept the essence of Ouray--the Victorian buildings along Main Street and the proximity of the mountains.

Want to hear something funny? When I pitched this story to Melissa Endlich, I first showed her some pictures of my setting. One of which was the first snapshot above. She pointed to it and said, "That's an LI book cover right there."

Who knew her words would so prophetic?

Birthday Cake!

It's Birthday Cake time at our house! This guy turned 21 last week!

Well, yes, that picture IS a few years old, but I don't feel like I'm any older than I was when this picture was taken...um...
/whisper/
nineteen years ago.....

Now he's tall, lanky, shaves, and can drive a car and everything. He also just finished his sophomore year of college.

Where does the time go?

Eagle Scout Project, 2010

On his birthday, this college boy got up and went off to work at 7:00 like he does every day, and never told me what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday.

So I got to choose. Baker's prerogative.

I didn't take long to decide on chocolate, so I got out my cookbook - this time it was my trusty Better Homes and Gardens red plaid cookbook from 1982 - and found a recipe.

If you've never baked a cake from scratch, try this recipe. You'll never go back to box mixes again! This is so easy, and the cake is so moist and delicious, you'll love it.




Sour Cream Chocolate Cake


Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour (I always use cake flour for cakes!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup cold water

Now one problem was that I had all the ingredients I needed except one - no unsweetened chocolate squares. But it's easy to substitute! I have plenty of cocoa powder...

And yes, that does say 3.5 POUNDS. I love that store....

Anyway, to substitute cocoa powder for unsweetened chocolate, use 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 Tablespoon butter for each ounce chocolate in the recipe.

Here are the steps to making delicious chocolate cake:

1) Let your butter (1/2 cup PLUS 3 Tablespoons if you're using powdered cocoa) warm up to room temperature. 

2) In a separate bowl (not the one you're going to be mixing the cake in), combine the flour, baking soda and salt. This is also where you add the powdered cocoa if you're making that substitution.

3) Prepare your baking dish - 2  round cake pans, or a 9"x13" rectangle, or cupcakes, and pre-heat your oven to 350°.

4) Once the butter is room temperature, use your mixer to beat it for about 30 seconds.

5) Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined

6) Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition

7) Mix in the sour cream (and melted and cooled chocolate if you're using that option)

8) Add the dry ingredients and the 1 cup cold water alternately, beating on low speed after each addition until combined

NOTE: step 8 is very important when making a cake from scratch. This is what keeps your cake light. When you add the ingredients, add about 1/4 of the dry mixture, beat, 1/4 cup water, beat, 1/4 of the dry, beat, and so on until all the ingredients are combined.

9) Pour the batter into your pans

10) Bake in a 350° oven for 30-35 minutes or until done. You can insert a toothpick into the center - if it comes out clean, then the cake is done. Or you can use the touch test - lightly touch the top of the cake. If it springs back, it's done, but if a depression remains, you need to bake it a few more minutes.

11) Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pans. Let it cool completely before frosting it.

I frosted our birthday cake with Chocolate Buttercream frosting, and added mini chocolate chips.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

about 2 cups powdered sugar

about 2 Tablespoons milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup cocoa powder

In your mixer, or in a medium bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add about 1/4 cup powdered sugar and vanilla and stir well. Add a splash of milk and combine. Add cocoa powder and combine. Alternate adding milk and sugar until you have enough frosting and it's the consistency you want. Add more milk or sugar as necessary.

The birthday boy wanted to have dinner at Olive Garden. I'm not sure about your family, but no one at our house felt like eating cake after Olive Garden! So we opted to save it for the next day.

Remember how the birthday boy has to be to work by 7:00 am? This is what the cake looked like when I got up the next morning:

We have another birthday coming up at our house next week. How should we celebrate this one?

Getting Past the Pasta

Growing up I looked forward to spaghetti made with Spatini spaghetti sauce mix, my mom’s cottage cheese lasagna, and her gumbo served over rice. I miss stuffed shells, ravioli, mac and cheese, even Kraft out of the blue box. No Olive Garden either. Sniff. Whaa.  Okay, I am over it. Sort of.

Ten years ago, when I first gave up wheat pasta due to my allergies, I substituted yucky, mushy rice pasta elbows for everything I missed. Not much on the grocery shelves back then and I was desperate.  Now there are plenty of options. Lasagna noodles, jumbo shells, the fancy twirly kind. Even the texture has improved.

But I discovered rice’s dirty little secret and it wasn’t carbs. It was, GASP, Arsenic! 

I had heard about arsenic through the play and the 1944 movie, Arsenic and Old Lace, about two maiden aunts who poisoned old men as an act of "charity." Arsenic was the go-to rat poison back in the day. Did I say it loud enough? RAT POISON.

Arsenic in my rice? Here I was, being healthy, eating brown rice products as my sole substitute and I discover “too much of a good thing” is true. Ack! Consumer Reports report on arsenic and rice here

Have I scared you? Read the report and calm down. But only a little.  Let's face it, carbs are carbs. Even without the warning, I was still not losing the weight I needed to lose. Too many carbs.

But, but, but! What to do? I couldn't go cold turkey on spaghetti sauce! What about Mom's lasagna? 

That's when Pinterest saved me.  If you don't know what Pinterest is, go here Seekerville Pinterest article and then come back. I will wait for you.

I learned there are plenty of folks dealing with the same struggles. They have found ways around giving up pasta:

Broccoli slaw for rice.  Need to know more about broccoli slaw? Read Ruthy's Broccoli Slaw Need-to-know post.

Spaghetti squash for spaghetti noodles.
How to cook spaghetti squash

Notice a theme here. Fresh veggies replace pasta! Veggies, those things that grow in gardens and don't come in a box. Veggies, those things loaded with vitamins and fiber.  Revelation!

And zucchini squash for lasagna! So I set about creating my own lasagna recipe to suit my tastes.

First I peeled zucchini and then just kept slicing it with the veggie peeler.  You can also use a mandolin cutter to get wider strips or one of those crazy things AS SEEN ON TV.

Then, and this is the most important part. Lay the strips on paper towels and cover with more paper towels to absorb all the moisture. Let them sit for about 30 minutes. Pasta will absorb water in recipes but veggies contribute to it and you will end up with a more liquidy recipe than you probably want if you skip this step. Do NOT skip this step!

Substitute the strips in your favorite lasagna recipe. Just use less sauce since the "noodles" will make things a bit soupy and cook about fifteen minutes longer.   And, lookie, just like the real thing!

It slices, looks, and smells like the real thing. And it has more vitamins!

Hope this has helped those who love their pasta but their pasta doesn't love them.

Until next time, The GAL, living the gluten-free and allergy challenged life

Mother's Day Leftovers

Missy, here. We have a running joke in our house about Mom always wanting to eat at "Shaaane's" (said with a very whiny voice). This teasing is due to a past experience where I may or may not have whined about wanting to go eat at Shane's Rib Shack. And where I may or may not have driven straight to Shane's even though the rest of the family chose another restaurant.

Heehee. Don't you love being the driver in control?? It's so easy to hijack the family!

ANYWAY...

On Sunday, Mother's Day, I had the honor of once again being in charge. Gotta love those twice a year occasions (including the birthday) where a poor mother gets her way. So this past Sunday, I got to choose where the family would take me for lunch after church. And guess where I chose...

SHAAAANE'S

No one was surprised. And I had a wonderful lunch of barbecue, mac & cheese and fried okra. We bought the family pack, which gave us a whole pound of pork barbecue. And believe it or not, that meant some leftovers.

So what do you do with leftover barbecue?

I made a salad on Monday!

 Take your favorite lettuces (mine is romaine). Add whatever veggies you want. I only had carrots at the moment. Cucumbers and tomatoes are good. And actually chopped, raw sweet onions are good on this salad. Also, grated cheddar cheese--which I totally forgot about.

Add your leftover barbecue pork or beef or chicken. Top with ranch dressing and drizzle with barbecue sauce. YUM!

A nice reminder of my day at Shane's. :)

The Spinach for Those Who Hate Spinach.

I love Popeye. I think he's hysterical. And Wimpy and Bluto and Olive Oyl....

Oh my stars, who doesn't love a bandy-legged sailor who rescues the fair maiden EVERY SINGLE TIME??? I'm a romance writer, of course I love me some Popeye!

It was the whole spinach thing that I didn't understand... Oh, I understood why Shirley Temple didn't want to eat the spinach pushed on her in Poor Little Rich Girl...

The stuff is horrible beyond belief. And despite all the influence of working in a Greek restaurant for eleven years, I managed to keep spinach at bay...

Until this:

Wegman's brand organic triple washed Baby Spinach leaves....

Maybe it's because they're young.

Maybe it's because they're organic. But I'll tell you, this spinach doesn't have any of the bitter green taste of its predecessors... Nor does it have sand that grits in my teeth, such a NON-YUMMY FEELING when one is trying to eat...

 I use it in salads....

I steam it and drizzle olive oil and salt and pepper and garlic.....

I eat it by the hands-full. (Okay, you might have figured out that I've gone low-carb because I was toting around a little more Ruthy than necessary, so it's time to behave for a bit... And don't even ask why I don't just eat like this ALL THE TIME because there's no rhyme or reason to it. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada.

Well, except the fact that carbs taste good!!!  But so does this spinach.

And it's that delicious that I'm going out of my way to go to Wegmans and buy it.

I layer it in my essential-for-good-living broccoli-slaw salad. I've cut it up and added it to cheese dishes... And while I usually am not a fan of the spinach in spanakopita (one of my favorite Greek Dishes) this spinach is melt-in-your-mouth wonderful.

So I'm on the bandwagon. I almost can't believe it, because there are a few things I thought I'd never really like....

EVER.

This was one of them and I'm happy to say....

(sigh...)

I was WRONG!

Secrets, salsa, and some smokin' hot chili

Helloooooo, everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I'm got a few tidbits for you. Nothing like that delicious peach cobbler. YUMMMY!
Now I can't wait for peaches!
 I thought I'd do chili today because it's getting warm here (90F) and for several months I won't want to go anywhere near a hot dish of food.
Ok, that's a lie.
I won't want to go anywhere near a hot stove. So, now's the chance to have that last bowl of comfort food before we all live on popsicles and iced tea for the summer.

 So, the first thing... confession. We Catholics are big on confession. We really think it does the soul good to beg pardon from God and the community. So...

That is indeed a cinnamon roll. For the woman who is not eating sugar. *sigh* And covered espresso flavored frosting. It was so good. And I feel better for sharing my failure with you. I promise to avoid sin and any opportunity to sin, amen! :D

 

The next order of business involves lots of homegrown tomatillos. I know Mindy made salsa but that was the TEXAN way! :D This is the... Munoz way. Anyway, tomatillos are small green tomatoes. You can find the larger ones in grocery stores or you can grow your own. Be careful, like cherry tomatoes they multiply year after year, reseeding, until your garden looks like a tomatillo farm.

  So, here are some before the skins are soaked and removed.

                           
Place on a hot plate (tortilla warmer, calendar, or even in a frying pan) and roll them until they start to blacken. Think of this like grilling. Brings out that deep, roasted flavor.

A handful of dried chili de arbol and give them the same treatment. Be careful. This is about the same as spraying a can of mace in your house. I usually make the kids go outside when hubby starts this step. You can just open a window.

Into the blender. Add salt to taste. A little lemon juice.

Oooo! Baby poo! Seriously, this stuff is addictive. Burn your face off hot but still you want more.

Now we need some easy chili:

Yes, that's a big can of chipotle peppers. Don't be afraid. Just open 'er right up.

I like chipotle flavoring (which is just smoked/grilled Anaheim peppers, really) but not so fond of the sludge from the can so I rinse mine. Mmmm. Looks like something out of a medical textbook.

Mash, chop, squish, dismember. You don't want anyone to get a big piece of chipotle in their chili.

Somehow I missed the picture, but combine

3 cans of kidney beans,

2 cans of diced tomatoes,

4 cups of water,

one chopped onion,

2 lbs ground hamburger if you have it

and a package of chili flavoring in a pot.

Add the chipotle. Remember this is easy chili.

Secret ingredient time! Two Tbs cocoa powder and 2 Tbs oil. Mix well. Add to the chili. You won't regret it. Plus, doesn't everybody need more chocolate??

 

Hmmmmmm. Smokey chili, deep dark flavor. And let the crazies add the home made tomatillo salsa for extra burn-your-face-off flavor!

So, I hope everybody's gearing up for summer! I'm up to my eyeballs in projects. Here's a peek at one. My digital baby is now in print. The proof copies arrived. And she's soooooo pretty! A little heavy at 471 pages but you know those fat babies are the sweetest!

 In a few weeks I'll do a cover reveal of the 2nd in the series. I'm keeping the cover deep under wraps for right now (like a state secret, ya know) but 'Emma, Mr. Knightley, and Chili-Slaw Dogs' makes me smile every time I open the file to see if it's really there!

  Until next time, dearies!