A Birthday in Review

Quote of the Day:  You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. ~ Les Brown

Started the birthday with a Turtle drink at the Coco Moon with the Biker Chef.

Thanks, Lorie, for the coffee. Look, I'm trying to perk up!

Birthday lunch with friends.

Thanks, Anna at The Shante in Pillager, for the chocolate sundae!

 

 

Wishing for continued success.

With the help of these two, how could it not come true?!

 

All in all it was a great day. Got an oil change on my van, took a quick walk, sneaked in a short nap after lunch, and had dinner with my youngest boys. The guys in my life gave me books and movies and music as gifts. (They know me well.) Krista and I planned out two book ideas and set a date to start them.

 

Dare to dream. Believe in your ability to succeed.

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt:  Have you recieved any gifts lately, either tangible or in the form of support and encouragement?

Risotto con Peperoni Arrosto (Risotto with Roasted Bell Peppers)

 

Make no mistake about it.  I treat myself well.  My husband and son really missed out. I am eating alone.   A few simple ingredients is all you need for a fabulous Risotto.  I quickly Roasted a half of each color I had.  A few minutes under the broiler is all you need.  When the skin turns black,  quickly remove them from the oven and into a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and let cool.

In the meantime Heat about 3 cups of broth.  I prefer to keep vegetable broth in the freezer, always ready to go.  I opened up a great bottle of white wine and set aside a cup for my recipe.  I planned on having plenty of leftover for some Arancini for a future post.  What a great surprise and all for me!

Ingredients: 1/2 yellow

1/2 red

1/2 orange  Bell pepper

1/4 cup diced red Onion

12 oz of Arborio Rice

fresh basil and fresh parsley for garnish

3 cups of broth

one cup white wine

3 teaspoons salt

one teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

one teaspoon of capers

One pinch of Saffron  (one thread or powder)

Method:  Broil your peppers, in the manner explained above, set them aside to cool.  Cover with plastic wrap and peel.  Cover with a teaspoon of salt in a bowl and set aside.  

 Into a large enough pan or mini stock pot to accommodate your finished risotto, heat your oil.  Saute your diced onion.  After a few minutes, when your onion is fragrant, add your rice.  Give it a quick mix and add your wine.   Mix until your liquid is evaporated.  Add your salt.  Add your vegetable broth a little at a time.  Make sure you do not rush this process.  Your total cooking time on a slow simmer is about 25-30 minutes.  Great things can not be rushed.  I like to calmly have my cocktail while I watch this Risotto cook. 

Add  more liquid, keep mixing and let evaporate.  At the 25 minute mark add your saffron.  Mix, add the rest of your liquid and mix again.  The mixing helps the starch release from the rice.   The rice expands and creates a rich, creamy texture.  Add your roasted peppers, mix gently, add some parsley and basil if you like.  Add your capers and  Mix again.  Let our risotto  rest by placing a damp cheese cloth over the top.   Be sure and taste it and make sure its cooked to your liking.  Depending on your type stove, you may have to cook it a little longer.  You can use a thin cloth if you like.  Wait 5 minutes , remove the cloth and serve.

  Remember, patience is key to a successful risotto.  Great things can't be rushed. Remember,  to treat yourself well.   Saluti! Buon Appetito!

(Special note:  If you prefer you Risotto cooked a little longer than 25-30 minutes, be careful not to overcook.  Your risotto should be creamy but slightly firm when cooked). 

IWSG Tardy, Again

Quote of the Day:  There are two weapons in the writer's arsenal...The first is stamina and the second is uncompromising belief in yourself. Leon Uris

On this September 5th edition of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, I'm low on both. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this online group and all the great insecure writers who participate. Go to his blog for more info.

And, I'm tardy again on my posting, so here are my excuses.

(The middle one is not really that much taller. He's on the top step.)

Yesterday was the first day of the 2012-13 school year. We were up and out of bed before 6:00 am. The middle son was at his school for earlybird class by 6:45, and the other two biked off to the middle school by 7:15, backpacks loaded, tummies full of blueberry muffins, and heads and hearts filled with good wishes to the start of a new year.

After supper, the neighborhood boys wanted to run off a little bit of first day of school steam, so they gathered at the park. I headed back to the store for more school supplies. Just as I entered the store, my cellphone rang. "Mom, I've been stung." One of the twins, Eric, has had an allergic reaction to wasp stings in the past, so I turned right around and brought him to the ER. He didn't show much reaction, but they took good care of him. All the while, I thought of his twin brother, Charlie, who had also been stung, twice, at the same park, at the same time, and wondered if he needed attention. I tried calling. No answer. About an hour after we got to the ER, the phone rang. "Ya, Charlie seems to be reacting to the sting." Thanks to big brother Zach, he got some Benadryl. I told the ER nurse that I had to go. I said, "His twin brother was also stung and is having a reaction, so I need to go get him. I'm going to leave this one here, and go get the other one. I'll be right back."

By 11:00, we were finally home. The boys sleep-walked into the house, and I fell into bed. I'm still recovering as I write this post about writing and found the quote that explains my problem. I don't think I have the stamina nor the "uncompromising belief" in myself right now. It seems a little selfish, actually, to daydream about writing fiction right now.

So, I sent my groggy boys off to school today, still needing a couple extra notebooks, minus their football shoes, and spent the morning trying to regroup.

Tomorrow's my birthday. Maybe I'll get the gift of stamina and self-confidence. But, if not, chocolate will work.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What do you do when you're low on stamina and belief in yourself?

Amaretto Cakes

Where there is an Italian, there is Amaretto.  I have been wanting to try an Amaretto cake for the longest time.  I came across a little bottle of Amaretto in the closet, so I thought what a perfect excuse to use it up.  Nothing like the smell of almonds throughout the house on a rainy day. 

Don't be afraid to use alcohol.  I must say, I am rather heavy handed when it comes to flavor.  Not a big fan of overly sweet desserts, so I found this recipe particularly challenging.   Finding the right balance between liquor and sugar content is as individual as choosing a perfume.   I must say, it's quite delicious.

Preheat your oven to 325 F. 

Ingredients.  6 cakes (plus extra for a small, sheet pan about 12 inches square)

Mini cake pan

Sheet cake pan (12 inches square)

3 sticks butter (1 plus 1/2 cups)

3oz cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons vanilla

4 tablespoons Amaretto (imported Italian, American versions are overly sweet)

2 cups plus 1/2 cups flour

2 cups plus 1/2 cups sugar

6 eggs

1/2 cups sliced almonds covered in Additional Amaretto

(This is a variation on a recipe I came across in Southern Living.  You will need extra vanilla and extra Amaretto as the original recipe lacked flavor).

Cream together your butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.  Add your Sugar to your mixture a little at time.  Add your sour cream.   Beat until mixed well.  Add your vanilla extract, liquor and mix again.  This should take just a few minutes as you want everything well combined.  Add your flour a little at time.

Make sure to incorporate a little at a time.

Add your eggs one at a time.

Line your pans with sliced almonds. You can soak your almonds in a little Amaretto ahead or place a tablespoon of Amaretto over each cake insert.  Your alcohol will evaporate when baking and add terrific flavor to your cake. So don't panic.

Slowly pour your batter into each cake insert.  Don't over pour like I did.  You really should only have them 3/4 full.  You need to give them room to grow in the oven. 

So they turned into Muffins and not my intention.  I had extra batter too, so why not a small cake pan? 

(I lined my pan with wax paper to make it easy to remove the cake).

Bake in a Preheated 325F degree oven for 25-32 minutes.  Check for doneness  by inserting your knife into your cakes.  Your small sheet pan with One inch of batter will need 22 inches of cooking time. 

I cut the lids off the cakes after they cooled.  I Carefully cut out each cake.  I have been told If you place a damp rag under your cake pan, your cake should slip right out.   Give it a try.

Make some holes with a toothpick over everything.  Drizzle or brush some additional Amaretto.  Buon Appetito!

Special Note:  Make a glaze, sprinkle with powdered sugar or just slice yourself a piece with a nice espresso.  Enjoy!

Summer's Last Hurrah!

Quote of the Day:  The Minnesota State Fair, The Great Minnesota Get-Together, is the second largest state fair in the nation, according to Wikipedia. It has everything: livestock, 4-H projects, fine arts, machinery hill, goofy hats, saunas for sale, beer, lemonade, leather, cheese curds, even lotto on a stick.

(We didn't win the cash, nor the consolation prize which was a motorcycle.)

 

 

A visit to the State Fair is a great way to say good-bye to summer. We decided that the theme for the day was to look for things that are funny, things that crack you up. We started at the fish tank. Fish are funny-lookin', especially giant catfish, like the ones you see at the bottom of the big outdoor tank.

 

 

Actually, I think these folks are more cute than funny.

Grandpa wearing his John Deere cap & overalls & grandma in her music notes t-shirt, admiring the large variety of fish.

Oh, but I did laugh at the folks eating loaded potatoes for breakfast! (I did not take their picture.) We entered the fairgrounds around 8:30 am, so they were off to a good start on the fair food.

 

It's kind of funny to watch the butter sculptures of the Princess Kay of the Milky Way contestants. They're sitting inside a rotating refrigerator.

 

 



 

This rendition of American Gothic in the Fine Arts building made me chuckle.

 

 

The cowboy hat was my first purchase at the fair.

Cheese curds are a popular product.

 

While we were devouring the curds, the young family next to us had their fair book out and were mapping their food route. We did a slow lap of the perimeter of fair and didn't eat anything unusual, but I heard that the Spam curds are surprisingly good. Next year.

 

Despite our efforts to find funny in others, I managed to cause the biggest laugh. The Chef spotted a fun German heritage booth (his roots are German) and put on this funny hat. I lifted the camera to take a shot and poured beer down my front, which is why he's laughing so hard. It was getting hot out by that time!

 

 

After that, we walked through the coliseum, looked at a few more things that we didn't buy, and took a picture of a young cowboy. The crowds were thickening. My feet were sore, and my bra was full of beer, so we headed towards the car.

 

 

 

 

Although the temperatures of our days are still reaching upper 80's and 90's, the nights are cooling off. The leaves are changing color, and the school supplies are ready to be popped into the backpacks. Summer's over and schedules begin. The start of a school year feels like my New Year because I've always been going to school as a student, a teacher, a mom sending the kiddos off, and also because my birthday is always the first week of school. Maybe now I can start writing my next play, blog more regularly, and have a minute to think. Maybe.

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt:  Do you go to the state fair, or some other type of fair or festival where you live? Have you ever had cheese curds? How did you say good-bye to summer?

 

Pasta con Carne in umido con Polpette (Sunday Pasta Sauce)

Had to place a conference call to Mom in NY today about this recipe.  For almost every Sunday of my life, I can remember this dish being made on Sunday Morning.  My mother's meatballs are so inviting.  You can smell them down the street. You can smell them in the garage. I was craving comfort food today. This was perfect.  I don't now how it happened.  I was was wondering if I had added enough cheese to the recipe and my phone rang.   It was my mother again, in that sweet, authoritative voice, demanding that I add more cheese. How did she know?

Ingredients: 
3/4 pound veal
3/4 pork (you can omit the pork and use Ground Turkey.  This sauce was traditionally made with whatever was left over from the week).
3/4  beef
2 eggs
Into a bowl place your meat, 2 eggs, one cup of Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup parsley chopped fine
1 clove of garlic chopped fine (optional)
1/2 cup red onion chopped fine
1 cup of fine bread crumbs plain, plus more for dredging~
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon frying oil

In a flat pan, large enough to accommodate your ingredients, heat your oil.  Saute your onion and garlic until fragrant. Remove your onion and garlic in pan and place in bowl with your meat and mix. Then add salt and pepper, eggs, cheese and mix.
Prepare a flat pan and line it with parchment paper.

Assemble your meatballs, using your hands.  Roll about 3  tablespoons into your hand and roll into a ball.  Roll into a ball.  Pass in breadcrumbs and lay on pan covered with parchment.  After you have assemble them all, place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.

Heat your oil again, add more if necessary and begin frying your meatballs, in small batches.  Do not crowd them.  Good things need time. Do not rush. Do not worry if they do not seem completely cooed through. As they will continue to coo in the sauce.  They will become more flavorful as they coo in the sauce.  Set them aside to cool.

You can make up to 24 meatballs depending on the size.  I like to keep mine around 2 inches in diameter.



Sauce:
Ingredients:
1 large diced white onion
1 clove of garlic chopped
1 cup medium carrots diced
1 cup diced celery (fine)
1 28 ounce can of San Marzano peeled tomatoes
1 teaspoon of salt/ plus more to taste
1 teaspoon of pepper/plus more to taste
1/2 cup of milk 
1/2 cup white wine
a pinch of Nutmeg
1 cup water
Several handfuls of fresh basil for sauce and for garnish

Drain your oil from the pan you have fried your meatballs in.  Add some white wine to the pan and de-glaze  away the bottom bits from the pan. Drain the entire pan and wipe out.  It will still have a wonderful flavor to the pan.  Remove all the remaining grease and place your pan back on a low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to your pan.  Add your meat and brown.  Remove your meat and set aside.  Add your onion, carrots, celery, garlic and saute until fragrant.  Add a little salt to the pan. Put a lid on your pan and let your vegetables sweat for a few minutes.  After 3 minutes remove your lid and mix.  Continue until your vegetables are fragrant.  Add your meat back to the pan. At this point add some of your meatballs.  Be careful not to crowd your pan.  Add your tomatoes, all of your liquids and let reduce on medium. Add your teaspoon of salt and pepper, pinch of Nutmeg.   Simmer your sauce for one hour.  You will notice your sauce will quickly reduce to half. Continue reducing on low.  You will notice your oil will form a ring around the sauce in your pan and your sauce will be thickened.  Turn your heat off and set aside.

Had to chase my family out of the kitchen~lol Meatballs for appetizer too.

Boil your pasta till al dente.   I always serve my pasta first. Mix with some sauce.  Add some Parmesan cheese if you prefer.    In a separate dish serve your meat with plenty of good, crunchy Italian bread~ Buon Appetito.

Special note: My mother would saute various cuts of meat in the pan after frying her meatballs.  Be sure and always drain your pan  and wipe with a paper towel before adding your sauce to the pan.  You can add all of your browned meat back to the pan right before you are ready to add your tomatoes into the pan.

2.  If you wish to bake your meatballs rather than fry, you can do this very easily.   After the meatballs are set on a baking sheet, place them on a low broil for 10 minutes.  Give the pan a shake, low broil 10 minutes more until evenly browned and crisp.  They will taste just like you fried them.  If you use this method your sauce will not be as rich but will still be good.  Enjoy!

Roasted Tomato Tart

I can not believe that a month has gone by since my last post!  The month of August has FLOWN by like a whirlwind, and I now find myself adjusting to a new school schedule.  In addition to the start of school, it is also time for another round of the Secret Recipe Club.

This month, I was assigned to Bewitching Kitchen written by Sally who is originally from Brazil and has traveled the world.  If you want recipes that feature fresh and healthy ingredients this blog is for you.  I was struggling to choose a recipe because all of Sally's recipes look mouth watering!  I finally settled on the Roasted Heirloom Tomato Tart that she adapted from Just a Smidgen because tomatoes are in abundance right now, and I believe that anything that calls for puff pastry is destined to be delicious!

I was not wrong!  This tart was delicious with the creamy cheese and sweet summer tomatoes atop the light and crispy puff pastry.  I was not able to locate bocconcini mozzarella which is a fresh mozzarella cheese about the size of a cherry tomato and stored in water or whey.  I was able to find a fresh mozzarella with a soft creamy texture, but it was not stored in whey and was about a pound in size.  Another change I made was to use the fresh tomatoes from our church's community garden.  These tomatoes, though not heirlooms, are sweet and delicious and pair wonderfully with the cheeses and herbes de provence.  Please head over and take a look at the beautiful recipes that Sally has posted on her blog, you won't be sorry!  ENJOY!

Roasted Tomato Tart

Recipe Source: Modified slightly from Bewitching Kitchen
(Changes are in italics)

1 package puff pastry, defrosted (use one half for the tart)
5 to 6 heirloom tomatoes (I used fresh garden tomatoes)
olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
1 container of bocconcini mozzarella, drained (200g / 7 to 8 ounces) (I used a fresh mozzarella cut into cubes, though it wasn't stored or shaped like bocconcini mozzarella)
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/8 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
2 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 egg

Heat oven to 400° F.

Roll out one sheet of puff pastry on parchment paper until it measures about  11” x 14”.   Use a fork to poke holes in the dough.  This will help prevent the dough from "puffing" too much.  Roll the edges of the dough to create a border all around.

Spread the tomato sauce inside the border.  Top with the bocconcini or cubed mozzarella.  

To remove the excess liquid from your tomatoes, slice them and place them between two layers of paper towels to draw out the moisture.  Layer the tomatoes over the cheese allowing them overlap a little bit.  If you can, use a variety of sizes and colors.  

Sprinkle the top with the herbes de Provence and the grated Parmigiano.

Whisk the egg with a tablespoon of  water to make a wash, and brush this mixture on the edges of the pastry.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the puff pastry has risen and lightly browned.   Begin checking around 20 minutes in case your tart is done in less time.  Remember all ovens vary and so do the moisture levels in the tomatoes.

Cut into squares and enjoy with a green salad.