Dipping Bowl

Well, I must say, I am not happy with the pictures that I took last week. As I was getting ready with the food that I had promised to bring for my friend's Candle-lite party that she was throwing, I figured I had enough time to go through the motions and record a pictorial about how I was going about it. The process went fine. The orange counters in my kitchen however, did not like to co-operate. Looked like I was in a giant pumpkin. The orange grocery bag that I used to catch crumbs didn't help either. Not did being left handed, trying to take pictures with my right hand, while the overhead light was on the wrong side. Lol.

Aside from that, everyone absolutely loved the dip. As they did the Cheddar Bacon Ranch pull apart bread that I made. I had to make a few tweaks on the Fox Valley Slush, as I didn't have any pink lemonade to add. But the apple strawberry orange juice that I substituted gave a very nice flavor that people enjoyed, even without the lemon lime soda. So here are the pictures I managed to salvage.

The homemade paprika onion bread bowl after it was hollowed out. I use a serrated bread knife to cut around the rim, leaving a little less than an inch width so that the walls are nice and sturdy. For this I cut straight down and then used the fork to pull the bread up and out. It left a few pieces on the bottom, which were easy to tear out.

Just to keep it simple, I matched the bread bowl with French Onion dip, again made at home. I made it the day before to allow the flavors to blend well.

There was a nice level so that the top still fit properly. As for all the bread I pulled out, I sliced it into bite sized pieces to serve with the dip and vegetables.

And there's my French Onion Paprika Dipping bowl!

Pics of Soup Bowl

So as promised, I took pictures of my clam chowder in bread bowls, that we had for dinner last night. It was incredibly easy to make, since the longest part of preparation was peeling and slicing the potatoes. I had so many cut that I had to make two batches of stew. The first was the clam chowder, the second a regular beef stew. Either work well for bread bowls because you thicken them over what a simple soup would be.

The bread bowls were even less work, since I routinely use the dough button on my bread machine. It's a simple matter of putting together the bread recipe you like, letting the machine do all the work and then prepping the shape of the bread you want. Using a recipe that calls for 5-6 cups of flour, nets me about 4-6 decent sized bread bowls. I cut that down last night, making 8, since two were for the little girls who most likely weren't going to eat clam chowder. The bread bowls take about 25-30 minutes of baking in a 350 degree oven.

I'm going to be making these again really soon, since I promised a friend that I would prepare bread bowls for dip for her candle party. They will be smaller, but the process remains the same. So perhaps I'll do a step by step tutorial just for the fun of it.

The recipe was a plain white bread. I've used paprika onion bread for dips and it would make a nice accompaniment to a French Onion soup. I'm also planning on working on a garlic based bread, or Italian flavored.

I know not everyone enjoys it, but my family loves a good sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese melted on their clam chowder. Since the bowls had just come out of the oven and were still nice and warm when I started prepping them for serving, I added a sprinkling of shredded cheese in the base before I ladled the soup in. And then another sprinkle on top.

Don't worry if the chowder runs over, it's all part of the fun of eating it. If you find that the bread bowls aren't large enough for a serving for an adult, they can always ladle in more when they've eaten the first portion. The top can be dipped in the soup, or as my husband preferred, buttered and eaten alongside. And the kids just loved being able to tear their bowls apart to eat, having soaked up the flavor and thick broth of the soup.In fact, one of my little ones was snatching up the bread as soon as I pulled it from the inside of the bowl to munch on. She even tried to feed it to the cat. He was more interested in the clams, but he made a valiant effort of ignoring her in his special way, even as he begged at my feet under the table.

Clam Chowder Bread Bowls

So excited. I made a lovely huge batch of clam chowder this evening. Nice and thick, smells delicious. We're just waiting on the bread dough to finish rising. And then I will divide the batch into 8 pieces and bake some bread bowls. I promised that I would send some over to my neighbor. But I promised myself that I would take pictures of the final result. So it won't be too much longer now!

Of course, I could always do that with the beef stew as well. I had so many potatoes in the batch, that I couldn't fit them all in the stew pot. So in a little bit, I'll thaw out some stew meat and whip up some of hubby's favorite beef stew. The starter mix is the same, spices and protein different. But it will all taste good in the end. I bet that he would love to have that for his lunch. Pour the stew into the bread bowl, cover, wrap and he's got a nice hearty meal for his lunch at work.

Champagne Jell-o Shots

Saw a picture for a recipe today. It was Champagne jell-o shots covered very prettily in pop rocks. I was thinking, that this would be a good recipe to try over the holidays. Mixing jell-o and alcohol is not difficult. Another site that I was reading made mention of the fact that since champagne has a lower alcohol content, you should use more of it. But for the purpose of the recipe, the way it looks, since the site it was taken from didn't sync up, they were more like jell-o jigglers, in which you use less liquid to get the more solid jell-o state. So I think some trial and error there might go on. Mix it with orange jell-o for a mimosa type jiggler/ shooter.

But what about the kids? I know some parents, like my own, are not adverse to letting their children have a sip during the holidays, or for special occasions. For myself, I won't tolerate it. My children can drink when they are a legal age in their designated country to do so. Meaning, if they go to Canada when they are 18, then okay. As long as they behave responsibly with the freedom they are granted, I have no problems. One of the ways, I figure, to set an example about responsibility is by being that way myself.

Anyhow, back to the kids mix. My mother showed us a great recipe many years ago that made jell-o with lemon lime soda. It was actually soda water that the recipe called for, but she found it too flat. So she experimented and came up with the Blue Sprites, as my kids called them. So many flavors can be mixed with the different flavors of clear sodas out there. I know some of my kids would love Sierra Mists new cranberry blend. It's a very pretty color too. Mix that with some plain gelatin with a little flavor boost and really, the sky is the limit. And dipping the jigglers in pop rocks will pretty them up, just as much for adults as the kids.

So I am going to get some supplies this weekend and get busy. That, plus planning out our Sunday night movie menu will keep me busy! Picture WILL follow.

Quick Dinners

You know, it's occurred to me for the gazillionth time that I need to start taking pictures of the things I make, bake or create, especially when it's not a birthday cake. After all, people like to see what they're are getting themselves into. We had a quick meal tonight. Just cheesy beef & chips. But it's a family favorite and so simple that I'd love to share it. So one of these days, I will start remembering this. I swear!

Kid Agreed!

Well I feel accomplished. I got the kid to agree that I can post her pictures and whatnot when she starts baking and stuff. I actually suggested that she create her own blog but she told me that she'd no good with blogs. So I told her that she could send me the pictures of what she wants to make and what she actually does make. I tried to find a picture of the cake she wants to make for her father's next birthday, but I can't. She was talking about an episode of Cake Boss where they did a fire truck with lights that actually worked and how she wants to do that as an ambulance, since my husband is an EMT. 

But a little bit closer to the natural time line here, will be the six year old's next birthday. K3 has given us many ideas about what the birthday cake should be. I however, am not all that enamored with making a cake and then layering it with donuts and cans of side. I am thinking more along the lines of this:

Candy-Land-Cake

I actually have the recipe for this in one of the ToH magazines that my mother saved for us. It was a kid's edition that had tons of snack ideas as well as cake and dessert recipes. Since the diabetic cake was a hit with everyone, I figured this one can't really go wrong either.

Proud Mama

Wow, it's been a while. I have been baking. I am happy to say that I got my bread machine out of storage and up and running again. We recently had a Tupperware party and I made this wonderful bread bowl from the favored paprika onion bread. I paired it with a vegetable dip and didn't get a chance to take pictures because it got devoured the moment I stepped out of the kitchen with it. A friend liked it so much that she wants to feature it at her wedding reception next June. And yours truly has been asked to cater the event. So yay! Go me. She also wanted the Taco Sunrise Dip that I made for the eldest's sweet 16 birthday party that she attended. I actually had several people interested in my catering parties and events for them. I figure that as long as they provide the food, I'll provide my time, ideas and kitchen.

But the eldest. Oh, she's on the fast track now. She has been making noises for the last few weeks about graduating early. She wants to spend the summer with her grandparents next year for many reasons. One of which is to get her senior portraits done there. Also, when she was talking to her grandmother, she found out that an old friend's daughter opened up a bakery. She is looking for an apprentice next summer and my mother in law nominated my eldest, since she knows that K1 wants to open her own bakery some day. Amazing opportunity for the kid.

We've also been looking into school for her. Number one on all of our lists is Le Cordon Bleu- Ottawa Campus. They offer Le Grand Diplome that can be completed in ten months. My daughter was iffy about it, since she just wanted to do her Patisserie and Le Grand offers the Cuisine as well. But I pointed out to her that getting her culinary degree does not open the door to opening a bakery. With this program, if she gets in, she does intensive training in both. She would also receive first aid, CPR and HACCP certification. And certifying in the Smart Serve program. So health points and responsible alcoholic beverage service.

The Ottawa campus offers internships in their restaurant Bistro @ Signatures, or a list of others that take on the responsibilities with the students. She'd spend a week doing front of house duties, six weeks on culinary and four weeks on pastries. The opportunity would be amazing. This is the kind of program that they offer in places like Paris, London, Tokyo, Sydney, not just around the corner. And best of all, we have family there that are more than happy to host her during her school tenure. Yes, it's going to be expensive, but as an investment in the future that she's been working towards for the past five years, I think it's worth it.

Work that continues with her plans for this December. I'm not the only one being invited to cook for others. Her Spanish teacher has asked her to prepare cakes for all of her classes featuring a Spanish or Latino theme as a thank you while the teacher has been away dealing with her RL stuff. K1 is getting fired up and passionate about this and I love seeing it.

Bring Your Own Insulin Birthday Cake

So when it came time to do the actual cake, I discovered that the kids were using my round cake pans for other things. I decided to just go ahead and use square pans. Not the greatest idea, since the kit kats were of a mind to fall away more easily. The ribbon I put on it helped, but all the candy wanted to run amok as well.

Since we really liked the idea of a candyland theme with the amount of sweets going into everything, that's how the cake got done up, with no M&M's. Put together, it was a devil's food cake, two layers, with Nutella as the internal frosting filler. I used fudge frosting on the top and sides. 11 kitkat bars to surround it. The topping decorations consisted of rainbow Nerds, Sixlet candies, chocolate chip cookie dough bites covered in chocolate, sour patch kids and rainbow Twizzlers.

So needless to say, the kids loved it absolutely. My brother even whined until I agreed to put a piece in the freezer for him to give to him the next time we could.

D2's Birthday

The kit kat M&M cake that the second eldest wants.
KitKat M&M Cake by Charlotte


I've seen lots of lovely versions. She wants hers to look like a bucket of M&M's. So I have everything I need, except the wide ribbon. I'll have to pick out a nice color, probably a lavender to match the shirt that she will be decorating. Last year, my parents got the girls plain colored t-shirts with pastel fabric paints to decorate them with. So they finally decided they want to do that and I have a couple extra shirts for the kid's guests to work on and take home. School will be done, so it'll be a nice little bookend party to have. Now, just have to plan the menu.

On his birthday, my youngest two wanted to make Daddy a special treat. I guess cooking and baking is a family tradition for these sorts of things. So, the little ones put their ingenious minds together and this is what they came up with.

He absolutely loved the treat, which he kindly shared with them. They have also promised me that they are going to do the same for my birthday. I don't know though. Kind of hard to surprise me when I'm the one they keep running to, asking how to do certain things, like, oh... work the microwave and line pans with waxed paper and so on and so forth.

16th Birthday Bash Smorgasbord

This was our version of a dip an old friend used to make. We substituted cheese tortilla chips for the plain. We all agreed it looked like a sunrise dip.

The aftermaths of several teenagers eating. There were dips, chips, crackers, snack mixes, pinwheels, fruit slices, egg rolls, pizza rolls and of course, the all important cheesecake bar with sixteen different toppings!

The egg and pizza roll platter that was pretty much inhaled by the teenagers. Over all, the entire day was a hit. The sweet sixteen party girl said it was her best birthday ever. Probably because the celebration lasted all day, she had good friends come to see her and she got a sewing machine, which she had been wanting for a while. It made me happy all day just to see the smile on her face. 

Smoked Salmon

I am just so in love with hubby's smoker. We bought some salmon the other day from the grocery store. We'd had it before and were impressed with price and flavor. So after we got the smoker, we decided on getting some more and of course, smoking it. Because the flavor in the fish was so prevalent, we decided not to put any additions to it the first time. It turned out marvelously.

I swear, he broke a piece off and brought it to me and I could taste it, hovering over my tongue before the fish was even in my mouth! Absolutely lovely. It was even better when we paired it with some sauerkraut rye bread that hubby had picked up from the local bakery. I've never been a particular fan of rye bread, but the addition of the sauerkraut gave it such a delicious tang. And even my kids, who absolutely hate sauerkraut, enjoyed it. So I'll be looking up some recipes for that to try on my own. Can't wait to get the bread machine humming again!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Tea Ring

Okay, had to pick something from a catalog to support K1's boyfriend's choir fundraiser. Not a problem. I didn't even remember that I had until he called to let me know that it was in. So I got five pounds of chocolate chip cookie dough and a raspberry cream cheese tea ring. Had it for breakfast this morning. And while it was very delicious, it's nothing that I could not have done myself, honestly.

The only thing is, I would really like to know where they got or produced their filling. Because with my danishes and rings, if I use raspberry pie filling, it always runs too much. I have been thinking about maybe mixing in something that will help thicken it up. Although this one was runny too. But it was mixed with the cream cheese. I'm wondering if maybe I mix it with the cream cheese part, instead of piping it over top...

Okay, so that might be a plan for next time. I mean, understandably hot pie filling is going to ooze and drip. So we'll either fix it, or live with it!

Another Win in the Smoker!

Okay, so we've done hot dogs, polish sausages, kielbasa and the chicken last evening was great. Today's choice was a specially cut and prepared deer roast. Now, that's about two to three pounds of meat. When my husband and I butcher, or more precisely, he butchers, I wrap, we do all the roasts up special.

Making some slices into the roast, we add diced onion, green bell pepper and chopped garlic. Tie it up, vacuum seal it and put it in the freezer. Normally I like to slow cook my roasts, to allow that flavor to spread through the entire roast. It's delicious that way. When we decided to do the roast in the smoker, I used a marinade that I thought would compliment those flavors. So I ended up adding A1's Chicago Steakhouse Style Marinade. It's a roasted onion and red bell pepper, tomato based marinade. It smelled wonderful right out of the bottle. Several hours in the marinade and then it was ready to go in the smoker.

Hubby set the temperature gauge for well done beef, since there isn't a wild game dial. We threw in a hickory applewood blend and let it go. We ended up taking it out just a little early, since we don't like deer or beef too well done. Let it rest while I got the rest of dinner together.

It was just amazing. Even the veg I had put in before hand had picked up the smoky flavor combined with the marinade. It was just delicious. And so on to our next area of experimentation with hubby's new birthday toy.

Tomorrow we search out jerky seasonings for homemade ground beef jerky. Ought to be fun!

Just to get in the mood today, this was a cake for me, done by the kids a couple of years ago. They were trying to copy the style I had done with D3's topsy turvy cake and for not baking a lot... then, I think they did just fine.

Kevin's Birthday Cake

It's that time of year again. We successfully dyed the potatoes green last night, in honor of St. Patty's day. Really amused all of us here, since D3 was setting leprechaun traps all over the house. She blames D2 for turning her back in the kitchen and letting that sneaky leprechaun in to get at the mashed potatoes.

So this morning, for fun the little ones got busy and made Daddy some white chocolate covered pretzels, with nonpareil sprinkles. For having less dexterity and coordination of an older person, they did really well. Really need to remember to take pictures of them doing this, but I can get a shot of the end result once I change the battery in my camera.

This afternoon I will be occupied with creating a German chocolate cake for husband's 40th birthday. It's the big one! Not like it's slowing him down any more than natural. As he proved to me to our satisfaction earlier. Ha!

Converting Bread to Rolls

So I pulled out an old bread recipe that I liked. Plain white bread. Since we were having seafood chowder for dinner tonight, I decided to spice the recipe up. Instead of plain white, I decided on another standby favorite. My beloved paprika onion bread. And instead of waiting for the dough to rise and rise, I just went ahead and rolled it out for biscuits.

Needless to say, it was a huge hit, with everyone. When the little ones wouldn't eat the chowder, they were devouring the rolls. Edies' boyfriend told me hands down, one of the best meals I have ever made that he's eaten. Hubby said much the same. Edie proved her love for it by stealing bites of of boyfriend's biscuit and chasing him around the house when he snagged the last one. Good times. Too bad SD missed out. But she was the one that wanted to sleep over at her friend's so badly.

Need More Recipes

Ha! J just brought me Raspberry Chipotle hot sauce to try and I am trying to figure out what to put it on. I was thinking that the salmon we just got would be good. The lady that he bought it from suggested meatballs, but that just seems so blah. The bottle suggests marinating ribs in it, but I like a more citrus taste with my ribs. But I'm not thrilled with beef ribs, I usually slow cook those. Pork ribs, I like orange flavor on. And of course, the rest of the family won't like the chipotle. Well, maybe Kev would. But, we had fish last night and are planning cola chicken and cherry cobbler for dinner tonight. So maybe we'll save the salmon for next week. I've got two pounds of it, so I can divide it up, and maybe do a teriyaki sweet sauce on one and the raspberyy chipotle on the other. And for now, we'll experiment on the shrimp I have in the freezer. Mmm, maybe a little salad. I'll muse on it, give a few things a try and see what success I have with it.

Happy Dance

Haha! I found my recipe for the filling that I use for my Danishes. So next grocery day, I'll be stocking up. Especially as I promised the eldest's boyfriend that I would make a batch for him. And with some upcoming birthdays, I need to start planning out cakes. I already know that hubby is happy with anything that I make him. Perhaps I'll do a German chocolate cake with traditional pecan and coconut frosting for him. And the baby wants a Tinkerbell cake. Second eldest wants a chocolate kit kat M&M cake. She showed me a picture and challenged me to it. But man, it's so easy, i had it figured out before she had even asked. The best part, is that the eldest is planning on dressing up in her pink prom dress, adding a tiara and lollipop wand and playing the roll of Princess Lolly from the Candyland game, to bring the cake out. Should be hilarious. And some good pictures!