Greens 'n Stuff

 Baby Bok Choy ( one of my favourites)....stir fried with veggie oil, garlic, pepper, aqnd a dash of sesame oil. Easy. Good. Very green.

 Red Leaf Lettuce. 1 gram of fiber. Good source of calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, and selenium. Very good ona plat with balsamic vinegar with olive oil to dip, and french bread. Very Very green.

 Sweet corn is  thew result of a naturally ocurring recessive mutation in the genes which controls conversion of sugar to a starch........steamed, barbecued, then cut off the kernels with a sharp knife, trying to keep as many intact as possible. Looks great tossed on the salad.

Or, just steam everybody together and be done with it......................add a tad of butter, and presto, instant yum....

Not Rocket Science Carrot Cake

Sometimes, short cuts are great, sometimes labouring over something is great too. But, I like carrot cake to be easy, gooey, and addictive.  And I don't want to wait.

MIX: 1 1/2 cups grated carrots, 1/2 cup raisins (soak in grand marnier, or wine, or something flavourful like that,  beforehand....), 2 tbsp flour.

BEAT: 1 pkg yellow cake mix, 1/3 cup cooking oil, 1/3 cup water, 4 eggs, 1 pkg instant vanilla pudding, 2 tsp cinnamon.

COMBINE: Carrots, raisins into batter.

POUR into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Check to see if done by sticking the cake with a sharp knife. Should exit clean. Cool. Then spread with Cream Cheese Icing.

CREAM CHEESE ICING: 8 oz cream cheese, 4 cups icing sugar, 1/4 cup margarine or butter, 2 tsp vanilla. Beat till creamy. Spread liberally over cake. 

EASY! FAST! YUMMY ( Especially if you soak those raisins.........)

Chocolate Chunks

 Oh Wow, these are good.  I made them again ( and will, again, and again), but this time with the Nibs or dark chocolate chunks. So good. Must be the 15th time I've made them since the fall......yum, yum, yum, yum....

Nibs...Bernard Callebrandt brand

BEAT TOGETHER: 1 cup butter,1 cup margarine, 1 pkg vanilla pudding (instant), 1 1/2 cups brown suar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 tsp vanilla.

ADD: 4 1/2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking soda,4 1/2 cups chocolate chips or nibs, or chunks.

DROP: By tablespoons onto lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. May have to add a minute more. Check to see. Edges should be browned. Dough is lovely and does not spread too much, just kind of oozes into chewy gooey goodness.

The Egg

Ahh,the egg. Perfect in its diminutive state, perfect in its presumptious roundness. The egg  can do many things. I've been reading about eggs , circa 1898, and found that they were popular then. The best way to ascertain the freshness of an egg is to hold it up to the light ( so says my old cookbook). If the upper side exhibits a dark or cloudy appearance then it is very stale. A fresh egg will be clear.  There was also another paragraph about eggs walking on water....but only one person walked on water, and I don't think an egg can compare. In 1898 the best time to preserve eggs was from July to September.

TO PRESERVE EGGS ( if you are want to try)
Take a piece of quick-lime as large as a lemon, and two teacupfuls of salt. Put into large pot and  cover with boiling water. Boil till thick as cream. When it is cold, pour off the top, which will be perfectly clear. Drain off this liquor, and pour it over your eggs. Keep in a stone jar by the door, under which a draft can be felt...this will keep them chilled from August to Spring.
  Another way to preserve eggs is to coat them with lard, then pack in bran or sawdust, or cover with melted paraffin.

BOILED EGGS ( now here's a keeper)
Eggs for boiling must be rather stale ( shudder). Boil up your  staler eggs till hardened.

RUM OMELET ( this will hold you till dinner time)
Put a quantity of lard into pan, let it simmer. Break eggs into the searing lard.  Add a tad of milk ( wonder how much a "tad" is)to the cooking eggs. When cooked lay on a plate, dust powdered sugar over the top of the omelet, singing the sugar into neat stripes with a hot iron rod, heated in the coals of the fire. Pour a large glass of Jamaican rum around the omelet and bring to the table. Set fire to the rum, then douse out the fire with a pot lid.  Salt mixed with teh eggs prevents them from rising, and when it is so used the omelet will look flabby, yet without salt it will taste insipid. The rum gives it some character.

HINTS FOR HEALTH ( A bonus)
1. Sleeplessness, caused by too much blood in the head, may be overcome by applying a wet cloth to the face. Blood will drain from the head at this point. Serve an egg cooked in lard to regain strength.

2. Eggs are considered one of the best remedies for dysentery. Beat up raw eggs and swallow all at once. It will form a coating on the organs, enabling Nature to resume her healthful sway over a diseased body. Do  this two or three times a day. ( yuck)

Enjoy!

Cookies from a Mix

 Now, don't hate me.....I was curious to see what those mixes on the shelf in the stores could do. Thea re so shiny and pretty, and look so easy. Can't be that great. Can't be that easyk or can it?  Took the plunge and mixed up a batch.  Totally yum.

               It is exactly what it says. Still like homemade best, but  really good in a pinch.

1/4 veggi oil, 2 tablespoons water, 1 egg and one pouch of mix. Stir like crazy and plop onto cookie heets. Easy. Fast. Good. 'Nufff said.....mmmm mmmmm good.

Rich Tea Biscuit Pizza

 Homemade Pizza. Nothing like it. This one, however, is made with a rich tea bisuit  dough.  The crust is tender, has taste ( rather than a cardboard texture of others), and holds up to toppings.  Keep it simple. Just add a salad, a good movie and a roaring fire........And if you decide not to turn the dough into a pizza it will make great biscuits, slathered with butter and honey.

PIZZA DOUGH: 2 cups flour (I did 1/2 whole wheat), 2 tbsp sugar, pinch salt, 4 tsp bakingpowder, 1/2 tsp ream of tartar, cut in 1/2 cup margarine, then dump in 3/4 cup milk. Combine quickly to make a soft dough. Spread in veggie sprayed pizza pan, pressing dough out to edges with fingers.

Spread pizza sauce of your choice on flat. I used  a simple tomoatoe sauyce, which can also be fresh cut tomatoes, pesto, or alfredo.

Sprinkle gnerously with toppings of choice. Use a mix of cheeses, if you wish.....

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or so....have to watch it as the bottom crust needs to cook as well. So just keep an eye on it.

English Tea Cakes

                These are yummy. From the Martha Stewart Cupcake Book. Don't need the frosting either way. Edible and Yummmible.

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup butter, 3 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, pinch salt, 1 1/2 cus sugar, 2 tsps orange zest, 4 large eggs, separated, 1/2-3/4 cup milk. 1 cup jam. Citrus Glaze ( optional, but nice)

Combine flour, b. powder, and salt.

Butter muffin pans and dust with flour.

Zest an orange or two. I actually zest organges  on a regular basis and keep the peel in a ziploc bag in the freezer, then it is all ready to go. Got that idea from  some cooking show, somewhere.  Do the same thing with lemons.

Beat butter, sugar, zest till pale and  fluffy.

Add egg yolks one at a time. Save whites to beat later.

Add flour mixture along with milk till combined nicely.

             Clean beaters. Rinse in cold water. Then beat 4 egg whites till soft peaks form.

Fold egg whites into batter.

Spoon a couple of tablespoons batter into tins. Plop in a dollop of jam.

Cover with remaining  batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. They puff up brown and pretty.

GLAZE:1 1/2 cups icing sugar, orange zest, a splash of orange juice and mix all together. Yummy.Drizzle over teacakes.

Break apart and enjoy still warm from the oven.  had the pan sitting out on the counter, left the room for a moment. When I returned, half the batch was gone. Disappeared into thin air......