Small gifts

Yes, yes...I know I said I probably wouldn't have time to write this week but I find myself with something to say today, so I am cramming it in this morning...so quickly I have to tell you....

I told my neighbor at the bus stop this morning that I would be blogging about her today. You should have seen her eyes get big as saucers as she gasped for just the right thing to say to throw me off track.
She has been listening to me almost daily, early in the morning and in the late afternoon, as we stand shivering or soaking up afternoon sunshine waiting for the inconsistently timed bus to arrive to pick up or deliver our collective darlings! Of course I have filled her willing ears with tales of cake filling and caramel deliciousness and yeasty trials. She smiles and nods and soaks it all in, she is a great listener!
Two days ago as I stepped into her home to get out of the afternoon rain, she held something in each of her hands. She reached toward me with palms down clasped gently around this gift she was yet to bestow on me. She said, with a little glow...."I want you to have two of my peppers, they are small and seem stunted, but they are good." (or something like that, I am not great with exact quotes.)
You see, as she has been listening to my tales of cooking I have been listening to her tales of container gardening. She has been diligently moving her little container garden in and out of the house as our weather has moved from bitter cold to mildly warm. She has lovingly nursed this particular little bell pepper plant long after its prime, encouraging it to do just a little more and it did!
So there I held in each of my cold hands a green beauty, each yearning to be the size of a small lime, little miniatures of their full potential. I was so touched. How can such a small act of kindness feel like such a huge gift? I placed them gently into my coat pockets as we rushed out into the rain to fetch our babies.
They were just enough pepper to become a part of a chopping lesson for my middle son who loves to have a knife in his hand. He begged for a taste as we were dicing them small. He took a little nibble then thoughtfully said...."hmmmm it tastes just like the other ones from the store, except home grown, so really yummier!" We put them into the beef stew that was waiting to go into the oven, an unexpected addition to add a bit of flavor. Did it change the stew all that much...no. Did they stand proudly to speak of kindness...absolutely!

Yesterday, this same neighbor came out with a pile of cookbooks she had been stacking up for me in anticipation of giving them to me to borrow.
Ooooohhhh, nice pile!
Martha and Everyday Foods...wonderful. Next in the pile...The Bread Bakers Apprentice...drooling now! Did I happen to mention that I love books. Yeah, well I do.
Then she pulls from the bottom of the pile a book I recognize immediately.
Here let me re-stack the pile for you so you can see it.
What????
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
I just ordered this book...remember my post from Monday, Using the Yeast!!
In all of our talking, I never mentioned the title of this book, only regaling her with tales of mixing flours and quick preparation. Aaaaahhhhhh ha ha ha. Isn't that just how it goes!!

Share your life with others in a genuine way. Give small gifts. Tell your neighbor what your cookbook titles are before she goes off and buys the book herself!!! Ha ha ha. I love my life!
And... thanks neighbor (with the fantastic purple streaks in your hair) for your kindness!

Yes, she really does have lovely royal purple streaks in her hair. They are hidden beneath long beautiful locks of deep brown, but catch your eye at unexpected times....just a little something to mortify her 7th grade son and to have a bit of color in her life. I love color!

Sunshine Soup

If you live in an area where the snow covers the ground during the better part of the winter you can perhaps appreciate those first flowers of spring a bit more than those of us who live in the south and still manage to see some color throughout the coldest part of the year.
There is just nothing like seeing that first glorious yellow of daffodils, or purple of crocus after all of the hues of gray thrust upon us by the winters pleasure.

Maybe it is because I am an artist and tend to catalog images for later reference that I am so sensitive to color. I think color has a way of making you hopeful when you have lost hope. It can revive you when you are on your last reserves of energy. It is a little spark of wonder in a life of doubt.
Well, I think it can be those things if you allow it to be. And, actually it is not the color itself, but appreciating God's work in delivering color as a precious gift that has the power to lift you when you are needing it.
Here is an example. As I was rinsing my beans last week at the end of a long and tiring day, the sunshine through my front window caught them and I was so taken aback by the unexpected purple. Fantastic!
Or check this out...Colors of spring flowers and warm sunshine right there in my kitchen despite the cold outside. It made me want to lift my face and feel the comforting warmth settle on my cheeks.
Instead I decided to make soup!
We have here 1/2 a butternut squash
1 small sweet potato
1/2 orange bell pepper
2 carrots.
I drizzled them with a bit of grapeseed oil and added garlic, salt and pepper then tucked them into the oven for the heat to work it's magic in turning them into sweet tidbits. They roasted in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, turning once for more even browning.

I then put them into my soup pot and added a box of chicken stock (my favorite is Kitchen Basics, it gave me a little thrill that the box is a wonderful school bus yellow and therefore fit into the color scheme of this soup!) and a few sprigs of thyme.
I let this simmer down for awhile, then used my immersion blender to puree the soup into a whirled sunset of wonder. I should have taken a picture I know, but I was hungry!
A little addition of salt, pepper and cream and it was ready to go.

It was so sweet, I almost felt guilty for eating it as the main course!!

Perhaps we should take more time to acknowledge that Christ with his hand in the creation delivers daily visual gifts of colorful wonder to us.
John 1:3 All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
You may be surprised at how His well thought out design can thrill and amaze you, I always am!

Using the yeast

I am excited beyond belief...AGAIN! I know it doesn't seem like it takes much, and to tell you the truth really it doesn't but this time, I think you will be excited too!
I have been for some time now wanting to delve into bread making. I have put off this high adventure for many reasons, none of them good or even sensible. The biggest reason of all being that I hate to fail. Who doesn't want to be good at what they do right?
I wanted my family to ooooohhhh and aaaaahhhh with delight when they walked into our crowded little house to find the smell of a fresh loaf overwhelmingly scenting the air!
To have them approach me with adoring eyes and little hearts filled with love as they wait to have the first slice of barely cooled bread.
To have them begging on bended knee "Please sir can I have some more???" (circa 1988, Oliver Twist quote which I have kept with me from my high school musical days!) And, of course they would say Ma'am in my dreamy scenario.
To have them...
well I think you get the picture. I wanted my family to really dig this bread making thing in a big way, unlike how they reacted to my first attempt at Chicken Divan. Oh, it was good, in fact it was really good. They are just not ready for all of the wonderfulness out there available to them. They also ask me not to grill steak, as I am really good at burning it. I acquiesce to this truth!

What it comes down to is this...I wanted to try my hand at bread making and not crash and burn.
I came across a particular recipe over and over again and finally went to the referenced website to check out what all the hub bub was about. I read too many reviews to number, of people who claimed to have made fantastic bread with a simple recipe, and in only 5 minutes a day with no kneading.
I have a particular problem with my joints at this point in my life, those in my wrists are especially affected. It is important to me as an artist not to stress them out too much and thought this might be my bread downfall. So, when I read that there was no kneading in this recipe, I was hooked for a try.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day is the book and website from which the recipe comes.
You simply must throw off all excuses and make this recipe.
As soon as possible.
People will swoon, children will come running and throw themselves at your feet, your husband with look at you adoringly and say "Dear lovely wife, please hack me off another hunk of that really good bread you've got there next to you" hee hee hee.
All of my murky bread dreams became reality as I successfully pulled loaf after loaf of this delicious crusty bread out of my oven. I want the same for you! If you don't have bread dreams of your own, use mine...that is fine with me.

Let us begin with the first hurdle to overcome.
Fear of killing the yeast!
I have a very dear friend who is a bread maker extraordinaire who explained it like this.
Yeast is much like you. It doesn't want the water too hot, or too cold. Run the water in the tap until it feels like the perfect temperature for taking a bath.
Well, I don't know about you but I have run some baths in my time and knew immediately just what she was talking about. Just warm enough to want to sink in and enjoy, but not too hot that it makes you want to jerk your testing toe out quickly.
Ok, next hurdle.
Truthfully, after making this recipe 3 times now, there is no next hurdle!!

Ingredients:
3 cups water ("sink into the tub" temperature water!)
1 1/2 Tbs. Kosher Salt
1 1/2 Tbs. Yeast
6 1/2 cups flour
King Arthur got to make this journey with us. He contributed 3 cups of White Whole Wheat flour, the other 3 1/2 cups were Hodgson Mill Naturally White Flour.
I am finding I am a bit of a flour snob, and I am okay with that. I just truly love that both of these labels say INGREDIENTS: Wheat Flour (unbleached and unenriched) Ahhhh simplicity. I need more of that in my life.

Pour into a large bowl or container which has a lid the 3 cups of water.
Sprinkle in the 1 1/2 Tablespoons of salt and watch it settle to the bottom. Always do this first, as yeast doesn't take kindly to a direct salt attack.

Next, sprinkle in the 1 1/2 Tablespoons of yeast. You can then go tackle a quick chore while the yeast proofs. That just means it is proving itself worthy to serve with King Arthur, cause he is a bit picky about his companions.
You should see little signs of life from this mixture, I just don't have the time right now to get into fancy descriptions. If you are feeling terribly uncertain about it, well then by all means google and learn!
After about 5 minutes, return and dump in all of the flour and stir until it is moistened.
Smacking forehead with hand.... Why in the world I haven't thought about using my stand mixer to do this until just this very minute is beyond me. Sigh, next batch!!

Notice how my bowl is all messy. That is the dough from the previous batch. The authors of the book say to keep that around as it adds to the flavor of future batches. Just another perk of this particular bread, no bowl washing! Just mix until the flour is incorporated, then rest the lid on top and let it rise. Do not cover it tightly!

Yikes, I can see that I am running out of time for blogging today. I have more drawing due, and have set myself a time limit, so while I normally like to write an eloquent fun to read blog; today you are just gonna get dumped on. Sorry, but the week isn't gonna get any better and you must make this bread!!!

Mine usually rises in about 2 hours time. They say you know it is ready because it rises and then starts to settle again. See how high it has gotten in the bowl!

At this point you can put the lid on and put it in the fridge, taking out a grapefruit sized hunk to use when you are ready to bake.
Or, you can prep a loaf to cook immediately! You will need a surface that has been dusted with cornmeal, because this stuff is sticky!
I advise you to dampen your hands and then grab a chunk of the dough. You could flour your hands instead, but the dough is a wet dough and we don't want to drag it down with too much more flour.
Oooch the dough down on itself with your hands. Come on, you have seen bakers do this oooch thing. Kind of rolling the dough down on itself hiding all the weird places on the bottom. Now set it out to rise for about 40 minutes.
At the 20 minute mark set your oven to 450 degrees and insert a baking stone or cast iron skillet.
At the 40 minute mark, dust the top of the bread with flour and hack a few slashes in it.
Next,
slide your bread onto the heated pan and let it cook for 30-40 minutes, or until a lovely brown color. Oh, I almost forgot a wonderful baking secret. Place a separate pan on the bottom oven rack with a cup or so of water in it. This will cause steam during the beginning stages of the baking, which in turn causes a crispy crust.

Check out page 4 of this tutorial to get you through all of this with much more detail than I have time to sketch out for you here. Thanks to another buddy who referenced that page! In the article it talks about the bread taking on a sourdough taste to it. I haven't had a batch around long enough to have that come about yet...but I wouldn't be opposed!

My 4th loaf was the most gorgeous of all, but it was consumed so rapidly that I didn't have time for a photo.
Why am I so very insistent that you make this bread? Because...
my family to ooooohhhh'd and aaaaahhhh'd with delight when they walked into our crowded little house to find the smell of a fresh loaf overwhelmingly scenting the air!
and...my children approached me with adoring eyes and little hearts filled with love as they waited to have the first slice of barely cooled bread.
and...my oldest son who is not much of a love muffin ran into the kitchen and said "I just have to hug you Mom and uuuuhhhh are you gonna be making that bread again soon?"
and....
Well, I think you get it. My family loves this bread, they are adoring fans! I didn't crash and burn!! I ordered the book! I know there is so much more to learn about this, but how very nice to have such a success right out of the gate.
AAAhhhhhh I am so frustrated. My time is up and I have so much more to tell you about this. I want to tell you about the flax seed and baking it in my deep covered baker instead of using the pan of water, and how the crust gets all crispy and the inside is chewy and perfect.
I will be back later than sooner I am afraid, so until that time....read up on these referenced pages, because in my rush today I am just sure I have left something important out!!
I beg of you....bake some bread!!!

Busy, busy!

Oh, dear bloggers....I am so very busy right now. I am drawing, which means income!
I don't want you to feel neglected, so I am going to re-post a little something I wrote last September.

I had been struggling with keeping my fish alive in my pond, what with the heat and birds eating them. aaarrrrggggg! We also have a pesky bunch of raccoons which visit. They used to seem cute...hhhhmmmmppphhhhhh.
I don't sleep well when my husband is out of town, and he was!

Oh....something else I want to say...
Go buy some yeast. You are going to be making bread soon. Delicious crusty, chewy, homemade bread. I know it seems daunting to even think about, but trust me on this, okay?

And here is my Chronicles of a night re-post, just for fun!

I think my super hero name would be Sense Woman. Not like in common sense, but the 5 senses.
Sense woman able to bring demise to the bad guys with her super senses...hearing, smell, taste, touch, sight. Watch out criminals...she is dynomite.

What does this have to do with the night in question, I know you are wondering. Well, the problem is I get so sensitive when my mighty protector is gone that I hear every little sound in the night...magnified. Now mind you Todd could probably sleep through almost anything...ok no probably about it, he does sleep through almost everything, but there is something about having him close to wake up if I needed to.

So here begin the chronicles of the night for your reading pleasure.

10:10 p.m. I settle in after a long weekend, my mind reluctant to fall asleep, but my body the stronger partner in this brings it into submission.

12:47 a.m. I am having a nice dream about just a regular day at our house, one with no drama! Then all of a sudden in the dream... a storm sweeps in a lightning strikes, the electricity so close that it sends my heart racing. In the dream I rush out to tell Todd that the house has once again been struck by lighting (it really did happen in 1998, and I won't soon forget it) Still in the dream he laughs at me insisting that it was not lightning. As I get upset with him and my heart racing even faster I take a deep breath and wake up.
I lay there in bed wondering just what could be as loud as a lightning strike to wake me up. I lay there scared to get up, listening intently for unidentifiable sounds. I hear the whir of the fridge and nothing else. I finally get the nerve up to get out of bed to check on things. Hello...if there is some danger in the house I need to be protecting my children right...duh. So I walk quietly through the living room, and into the kitchen....and there....on the floor.....is the bag of chips that has fallen out of the top of the pantry. Yes, my friends that is to be compared to a lightning strike. I take the time to laugh at myself and get back in bed, to fight the mind body struggle again. I wage the war for some time and finally manage to doze off.

2:12 a. m. once again Sense Woman is on duty. Attuned for danger is her famous sense of hearing. Again waking with a deep breath to the sound....this time of a familiar squeak. I have no doubt what this particular sound is, so I jump out of bed and rush to sliding glass door leading to the back yard. I gently open the blinds so as to not frighten the raccoon which I know will be there. And, sure enough there he is, by the pond washing his cute little hands. I rush back to the bedroom to get my camera, sure that all of my FB buddies who have followed the pond saga will want to see this happening.
When I come back to the door, I am stopped in my tracks as well as my kind thoughts about the cute raccoon because he is full out SWIMMING IN MY POND!!!!! Swimming......in ........my ......pond. la dee dah, come on in the water is fine swimming, doing laps and enjoying the feel of the water swimming. No wonder my water lily is shredded and the water all churned up and murky!
Of course I wanted you to be able to enjoy this sight as well so I quickly snapped a picture. See it below. See the pond there, and the coon enjoying an early morning swim. NO, you don't hmmm could be that it was completely dark outside and when you use a flash with glass....well you know....I told you, not Common Sense woman.
So, the coon chose to slink away completely disgusted with me for my paparazzi actions. He was probably just pretending to leave, but have not fear Sense Woman is here ready to listen for more disturbances in the night, including raccoon squeaks, cause you know how loud those are.

Before climbing back in bed for the next battle of mind over body, I turn on the fan in my room which has been previously referred to as the love fan. As in...if you love me you will turn on that loud fan before you leave so it covers up the noises so I can sleep longer.

Fan on, mind racing I settle in determined to sleep all the way thru until my alarm should wake me. Relax, breathe deeply.....I finally drift off.

4:08 a.m. Daniel is prodding me. Mom, mom...hey apparently the fan is working he made it all the way into my room. Mom, mom he says again. With Daniel there I immediately think of a soggy bed that I will have to change, so I begin to get up to go help him. He puts a hand out and says "I had a bad dream" I sigh with relief and urge him to climb in to bed with me and snuggle his skinny cold little boy body. "Do you want to tell me about it? " I ask "No, I just want to lay here with you." he replies. This doesn't happen often, so I share my warmth and manage to fall asleep quite easily this time. Maybe I am a hero after all.
6:48 a.m. the alarm sounds and I am back on normal mommy duty! Wait....one child has a fever, better put my cape back on...I might just need it today.

Part time job!

I have decided that planning a meal for 35 people is a part time job.
I had the opportunity to plan such a meal this last week. That is where I have been in case you have been missing me. I have been missing me and my writing attempts, so surely you have too!

The real challenge of this meal? Our church youth group. Ha, ha, ha....that makes it sound like the youth is the challenge, but that is not at all what I mean.
What I mean is...how do I make it healthy, delicious, homemade, beautiful on the plate, and yet, simple enough for inexperienced kitchen help to pull off with finesse? For these kids to have enough time "under the knife" so to speak to feel like they really contributed to creating something wonderful.

Food is such a gift.
It is a gift I love to give.
It is a gift I want others to feel like they can learn to give.
Homemade food, lovingly prepared....well, it just doesn't get any better than that.
Maybe I am too simple in that regard, maybe not!

Ahhh, well....I think my tired brain is lugging along wishing for more to tell you about this without it sounding like I pulled it off without a hitch or without expectations being unrealized.
What I must say though is...
...my heart is happy.
This group of kids, and a crazy amazing passel of willing Moms fell in under my leadership and accomplished what was only a vision last week this time.

I am thankful for people who have been in these shoes before and shared wisdom on how to do things best without squelching my spirit or swaying me from my plans.

I am thankful for Moms and Dads who have spent time loving their kids and raising them to be respectful hardworking people.

I am thankful for butter, because without it 2/3 of my meal would not have taken place!!!

Butter in the crackers, butter in the soup, butter in the pound cake.
Lots of butter in the pound cake!!!

And speaking of butter...I wanted to share a recipe that seemed to be one of the hits of the day. Cheesy Crackers! I did a bunch of cracker recipe reading and finally combined a few for my finished project.
I hope you will give this a shot and find that you enjoy them as much as we all did!
I don't have pictures from start to finish so really use your imagination, okay?!

In a mixer or large bowl beat 1/2 cup softened butter until light and fluffy.
Add 8 oz shredded cheese (2 cups) and mix til incorporated.
I used about 7 sharp cheddar and 1 Parmesan....just cause.
Combine 1 1/2 cups flour with 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4tsp. to 1/2 tsp. pepper (you know depending on how much you like pepper!)whisk together and add to the butter cheese mixture til combined.
I was cooking in bulk and on a budget so I used mainly white flour but snuck in some of my yummy grainy wheat flour from home.
When I make these for my family...King Arthur will definitely be coming along for the trip!! I also think some paprika would be nice or even some red pepper for a little spicy touch. You just get out there and get creative with it, unless that stresses you out then by all means put in the small amount of pepper and count it good!
Sorry for that detour, back to the recipe.
Divide the dough in half. If it is crumbly and not sticking together then pour in just a touch of liquid. I gotta tell you one of my batches was perfect, one was crumbly, crumbly. All I had on hand at the church kitchen was half and half and that worked just fine. Now don't go dumping a big slosh of liquid in here....just a touch until the dough holds together when squished.
In a generous sheet of plastic wrap, squish the dough together and then shape the dough into
well
whatever shape you want.
You know it usually says "a log" at this point in a recipe....not everyone wants just "a log" and that is fine. I wanted a flat edge on the bottom for easy cutting so I made a divot down the middle of mine and called it good. I didn't literally call it anything, but felt good about the shape.
This shaped buttery, cheesy goodness then needs to go in the fridge for at least an hour but up to 3 days.
When you are ready to bake them, set your oven to 350 and have a go at slicing them very thinly! I had two preteen boys on this job so I had every where from paper thin to 1/4 inch thick and some with both extremes on one cracker. If you want them crispy, cut thin....if you don't care then call in the troops to help.
Arrange the crackers on an un-greased baking sheet. I did not want any chance of sticking, and easy clean up, so we used the Reynolds release foil again.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly toasty! Move the baked crackers to cooling racks, and let them cool completely before storing them.
As if you are gonna have any to store!

I will type up a recipe for a link and post it here...but not today, I am tired.

I think we will go for our family once a month out to eat pizza day tomorrow because there is just nothing better than lovingly cooking for a large crowd and then taking the next day off!! I feel very certain that my local pizza place folks are lovingly preparing my pizza, don't ya think!

A little something extra

I spent most of my growing up years in South Louisiana. A beautiful place where the trees are dripping with long strands of gray moss and just sometimes, if you are on the right road you can see alligators inhabiting the road side ditches.
I suppose I am thoughtful of Louisiana today because of the Saints in the Super Bowl, and a little something that happened at my local Starbucks. Don't worry, I am not here to talk about football. I did catch the last two quarters of the game, and feeling no allegiance to any team, found myself cheering for whoever had the ball at the time. How about that interception though!!!

What I really want to talk about is lagniappe. This is (very, very) roughly pronounced Lon-yop.
It is a word that was thrown around in my childhood days in Louisiana like howdy is here in Texas. It means an extra unexpected gift or benefit. In the old days it was mainly done by a shopkeeper to show favor at the end of a sale. He would throw in something a little extra to top off the deal.

I stopped by my neighborhood Starbucks yesterday to buy a bag of Guatemala Casi Cielo coffee beans. Oh, this coffee for me is just the yummiest, most wonderful, can't wait until it comes out each year so I can stock up coffee.
Anyway, did you know that when you pay for a bag of beans with a registered Starbucks card, you get a free tall beverage? You gotta love that. Now don't rush ahead, that is not the lagniappe in this story, because I went in knowing about that, so it doesn't qualify as an unexpected gift.
I walked in and there it was across the room. It is in a beautiful brown bag with gold touches, really wonderfully designed to make you think of decadence. I strode over to the counter to pay and the Barista said "Did you know that if you buy 2 bags of beans, you will get a 20% discount?" BTW... Barista-a coffee house employee who prepares and serves coffee based drinks

Oh no!! He was speaking to me in bright, colorful, flashing neon language. I just love a good deal. I hesitated momentarily, scrolling through my mental budget, quickly looking for a tidy place to list coffee addiction in my spending categories, then placed another bag on the counter top heaving a heavy sigh of resignation. I told him, I just couldn't pass up that kind of deal seeing as how this is my very favorite coffee.
He then went over the top and said "Oh, your favorite huh! Well, if buying two bags gets 20% off then three bags must mean 30% off." Yes, I do think I stood there with my mouth agape. I composed myself quickly and with no thought whatsoever of the budget, placed another bag on the counter.
You are probably thinking at this point that we have gotten to the extra benefit portion of the story. Nope! While it was definitely an unexpected benefit, it was not what ultimately captured my attention.
Oh, and before you ask... I did think about asking him about a fourth bag, but didn't want to press my luck!

As I was paying for my coffee he reminded me that I could get any tall beverage with my purchase. I really just like a good cup of drip coffee and let him know of my preference. Recently Starbucks made Pike Place blend their everyday coffee, and I say "ICK" to that. I know others really like it but after suffering through a few cups, I decided I didn't have to drink it ever again. They were just starting up a batch of Verona to brew, so I handed him my plastic cup I'd brought from home and set out to meander a bit while it was percolating.
As I approached the counter to check on the progress, I saw my Barista fellow dispensing hot water into my cup. He then walked over to the sink and poured it out with a flourish, then quickly back over to coffee to get it in while the cup was still warm. That, my friends was lagniappe to me!!!
That was an unexpected benefit. He turned around to hand me my cup and saw me standing there mouth agape again. He looked a little taken back. I quickly exclaimed "I saw you heat my cup!!" He thought it an accusation of some kind and tried to mumble out an explanation. I cut him off quickly and let him know that that little touch was just pure barista love and I appreciated it! I think maybe he blushed.

Little things like that speak loudly to me, probably because acts of service and gift giving rank high on my love languages list. (You should read more about love languages, it is very interesting!)

I know everyone doesn't speak the same love language, but I could almost guarantee that everyone appreciates lagniappe, if they take the time to notice it. So, this week as you are going about your regular routine...try to throw in a little something extra along the way. An unexpected gift or benefit.
You will more than likely not be noticed for it at all, but then again a crazy coffee loving fool might come across your path and want to hug your neck for it.
And, on the flip side, be aware of those around you who do choose to bestow lagniappe on you....and take the time to be grateful.


This is not meant to be an advertisement or guarantee of any discounts or services offered by Starbucks!

Sometimes yummy is good enough!

It all started the other day when I went out to lunch and decided to order dessert. Well, it actually started with an excellent piece of tilapia and perfectly cooked green beans, which made me feel confident that the desserts were bound to be as good as they looked.
Because you know...sometimes they aren't, and that is just a crying shame!
It was a simple caramel sauce atop a scoop of vanilla ice cream, atop a piece of humble pecan pie. What about this lovely trio caught my fancy you ask? It was that creamy dreamy caramel sauce, so tan and lovely drizzled on the ice cream and around the pie. Folks, I am not ashamed to say that the taste sensation brought about by that sauce had me wiping delicate little tears of joy from my eyes. It was that good.
Now I am not usually much of a caramel girl....I kinda tend to stick to the chocolate realm and am very comfortable there. But that sauce.... sigh.... it might just be a new love of mine!

Well, me being me, I just had to come home and make an attempt at "the sauce". (I think it deserves quotes) I opened my trusty Joy of cooking cookbook and read the recipe. I stood in the kitchen confidently shaking my head in agreement as I read the recipe. Oh yeah, I got this one, no problem. If you'll please remember from my past post....I have mad skills.

Do you have any idea, how fast sugar burns? Ooo, oooo, oooo ask me, I know!
As long as it takes to set up a cute picture of butter.
See, I didn't read my Joy quite closely enough. It specifically said to bring the sugar to a boil, cover for 2 minutes, uncover and boil gently until it reaches a deep amber color. I may have skimmed over the gently part cause mine was a raging cauldron of bubbles.
That is one stick of butter by the way. Which is how much I used in my second try of "the sauce".

So, not to be overcome by a little pan of burnt sugar I set out to try again. My kids were cheering me on at this point because if chocolate sauce is good, then caramel is bound to be as well.
Into the pan went another cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water.
Deep breath, and go.
So, you let the sugar melt in the water, until the granules dissolve, then you let it come to a boil.
Notice in this shot the little bubbles waiting to come up.

Then very shortly after this it is foaming and bubbling. Very exciting, let me tell you. The recipe then says turn up the heat, put a lid on it and let it boil for 2 minutes. With heart palpitating and palms sweating I stood there while the seconds ticked by, just sure that my sugar was going to turn on me again.
Although, I did have time to take this picture of me in the reflection of the pan....isn't that orange color just so fun against the silver.

So, I took the lid off and gave a little sniff. "sniff sniff" No burned smell, so I pressed on.
I am convinced now, I didn't press on quite far enough. I did take this second batch of "the sauce" all the way to the end but it just didn't have the depth of flavor or gorgeous color I was looking for, so....on to batch 3 of "the sauce".
I couldn't give up! After all, I had come this far and I still had sugar!!!

If you have made caramel sauce at this point you are possibly thinking, come on Jennifer it just isn't that tricky. Well, here is the thing. I choose to use unrefined cane sugar instead of white sugar and just look at the difference in color to begin with. Go here to read about that a bit if you want to.

So, when the recipe tells me to look for a deep amber color, I am at a bit of a loss because this sugar starts out at amber.
Sigh. I stirred and stirred and stirred.
Did you know you can stir it too much. Yeah, I made that mistake too. I finally gave up on deep amber after about 3 minutes of boiling. (Come on, give me a break, I didn't want to burn it.)
In went the butter
stirring gently until it was all incorporated. So far so good! Well except maybe for all the sugar that was clinging to the sides at the bottom of the pan. I learned later that my pan was too big and that the chosen pan should have tall sides and fit on the burner with no overhang. Oh, the details!
The last thing to go in this batch was the heavy cream.

That was supposed to be a cute smiley face for you, but like everything else I had done up to this point, it didn't go as planned. So you get a half smile, half grimace in agony because you just wanted some stinkin' caramel sauce but not all of this grief face.

And here is the finished product.
I must admit, the color is not what I wanted. The photo is a bit deceptive because this sauce looks distinctly lighter on vanilla ice cream. While the taste is right on for "the sauce", the color....well it just isn't right. It just doesn't do it justice.
Yes, I want to have my sauce and color it right too!
So, since I still had some sugar left I decided to give it another go, but with a different recipe.
A dry caramel recipe. The sugar just goes straight into the pan with no water. Cool, I will try that, I mean really just how hard can that be?
Why, oh why could I not see the impending disaster!?!
I proceeded to burn two batches back to back, never even making it to the butter adding part.
I decided at this point to raise the white flag of surrender and just be happy with my pale sauce.
What else is a girl to do when she is out of sugar?
Hmmm, now what to do with 1 1/2 cups of decent sauce and 1 1/2 cups of super yummy but pale sauce. Is there such a thing as hot caramel, instead of hot cocoa? That deserves some investigation I think!!

An evil lecture!

Do you ever just feel completely mind boggled when reading food labels?
Okay, wait let me back up.
Do you ever read food labels? Well, you should!!
I want to talk today about the gobbledygook found in the "Ingredients:" list of packaged foods we may pick up while shopping at our local grocery store.
I mean it gets to the point where you feel like you are on an episode of Are You Smarter Than A 5th grader.
Mrs. Watrous....what is monocalcium phosphate?
Uhhhhh............ I don't know.
Well, how about methalparaben, or xanthan gum, or hydrolyzed vegetable protein?
Are you kidding me, my spell check doesn't even recognize these words.
(and yes, I checked... I am spelling them right!)
I have always been told, "If you can't pronounce it, then you probably don't want to eat it." Well, I gotta tell you after doing some research, that really doesn't seem to be an effective gauge.

I can read and pronounce BHT and BHA just fine, and these are both preservatives which in lab tests have shown to be cancer or tumor causing! Ok, that is kind of a lame example but I think the point is easily made. It is not the pronounceability that should convince us, but knowledge of what a particular thing is.
{Listen, I gotta tell you the information I will be writing today from here on out is based on where I am in my eating healthy journey. I imagine that at some point I may choose to be even more conservative than I am now and my choices will change. I will not however get more liberal on this subject, not after reading all that I have. You are where you are and have to choose for you and your family. I am just reporting information for you to read over and make informed decisions with!} Disclaimer over...on to the info!
By the way, I put those two above on my naughty list!
Yes, I am making a list and have checked it more than twice. These are the things that if on the ingredient list; the item will go right back on the shelf. Yes, that has meant giving up some of our favorites. Yes, that has meant finding or cooking substitutes, or just doing without. Yes, that has meant jeers and tears from the crowd.
I looked at about 800 websites that catalog this information and this one is my favorite. Okay, to be honest it wasn't exactly 800, but 800 is my favorite "I am gonna exaggerate" number. Now on to the....
Naughty List
BHA
BHT
High Fructose Corn Syrup
MSG, or monosodium glutamate
Olestra
THBQ
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils = trans fat
Aspartame
Artificial colors or flavors
Sodium Nitrate or Nitrate
Acesulfame-K
Potassium Bromate
Sulfites
Sulfer Dioxide
Tetrasodium Phosphate
Methylparaben

Now I don't want you getting all depressed when you find out which cereals and chips and canned goods have so many of these ingredients in them. What am I talking about, you are gonna get depressed! Just count on it.
I still remember with great sadness the day when I picked up that comforting black labeled can of Appetite Pleasin' Ranch Style Beans and read to my horror....partially hydrogenated soybean oil right there on the ingredient list. I am pretty sure I did one of those big long "NNNNNOOOOOOOooooooooooo" screams as I slowly put the can back on the shelf. You know the kind I am talking about.
I just love Ranch Style beans and have used them for years in recipes. It was like saying goodbye to an old friend.
But, partially hydrogenated oils are trans fat by another name! Just check it out. Here is a common thing these sneaky food companies do. They mark a food with this
0 trans fat *per serving ahhhh see that right there in tiny little print that they hope you won't notice. *Per Serving is your clue to flip that puppy over and read the ingredient list. If hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated is on that list at all, then it means that one serving contains less than 0.5 grams of trans fat they just don't have to list it as such. Pay close attention here.... the recommended daily allowance of trans fat by the American Heart Association is less than 2 grams.
So, let's just say for example you grab a chewy granola bar as you head out the door in a rush. Then, with your lunch you have a handful of buttery crackers with your tuna salad. Okay, now... you know we get hungry in the afternoon, so how about a bag of microwave popcorn to see ya thru. While none of those items has a large amount of trans fat on it's own, add them all together and you plunge right over the edge of too much.
Does that mean all granola bars and crackers are "naughty"? Nope it sure doesn't! Does that mean no more popcorn? Well, maybe unless you are willing to invest in an air popper, or cook it on the stove. (It takes less time to air pop than microwave pop by the way.)

I want to encourage you to consider making at least one Ingredient list change this week when you are shopping. Eliminating trans fat is a great place to start!

So, if there is a naughty list, we must have a nice list to balance the scales right? Okay fine, after all I wouldn't want all of my research to go to waste.
There are ingredients that are hard to pronounce that just cannot be included on the bad list. Most of these are additives that come from natural sources, or really fancy names for vitamins.
Not Naughty List ( I hesitate to call it my nice list for so many reasons)
Monocalcium phosphate
maltodextrin
Xanthan gum
Guar gum
Citric Acid
Lecithin or Soy Lecithin
Acetate
Ascorbic acid
Tocorpherols
Thiamine
Riboflavin
Niacin
Biotin
Folate
At this point in my journey, I did not find any information which made me totally opposed to these added vitamins. Read more about that here. It is a website about vitamin supplements, but has great concise information about vitamins and what the different names may be. This website also had a fair amount of information to sort through and read about food additives as well.

Well, if anyone made it to this point in today's blog, then I want to say...
I know I got all serious on you today. Just why do you think I buttered you up with that great cake recipe...to get you to come back of course, so I could lecture you on the evils of trans fat. I really don't want it to come across as a lecture, but an opportunity to gain more knowledge which may change how we think about the foods that we buy. I put both of my lists here, if you would like to print that out to take it as a cheat sheet when you go shopping.

I promise that at another time we will discuss a home recipe for ranch beans to help aid in our struggle to eat better. And, I am working on a fail proof homemade pizza dough for you as well. Be patient with me, these things take time to perfect!

{Additional disclaimer: The information in this blog today was written by a flawed individual in search of knowledge and by no means is meant to be taken as nutritional, medical, or professional advice. She is really just hoping she got all of her links right!}