MM 89 Weeks

                                                              

Trenton Florida 2014 Quilt Show

This is always one of our favorite things to visit when we are in Florida. It's held in March and it just keeps getting better each year.

Lots of Photos to share with you.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Chocolate Pretzel Treat

Light bulb moment at Walgreen's. I saw chocolate covered pretzels and I knew I had two pounds of strawberries. An idea forming.

There's a recipe that's been around forever. Berries  in  jello and  layered with pretzels on the bottom. I didn't want to make it, sounds delicious but I wanted something different.

I knew I had yogurt at home and knew the combination I came up with would work.

Honestly, it can't be any easier.

Ingredients:

6 or 7  fresh strawberries depending on size- sliced
1 cup Strawberry Greek yogurt ( use any flavor you like)
Chocolate covered pretzels ( break up by hand in small pieces- I used about 12 mini chocolate pretzels) 

Directions:

Place half of the yogurt in the bottom on a 8 ounce tumbler glass.

Break  the chocolate covered pretzels on top of the yogurt.

 Spoon the rest of the yogurt on top of pretzels.

Add the sliced berries on top of the yogurt.

If you have whipped cream or cool whip top the berries .

This recipe is so inter changeable - you could use any type of berry or even cut up a pineapple. It's easy and good.

Mandi's Chapel

One of the things I love to photograph is the inside of a church. Doesn't matter to me what denomination it is, if it's open I want to take pictures.

I usually ask permission if someone is around and never use a flash and go with natural light.

This little chapel is on a lake. It was built by the parents of Mandi Petway who was 23 years old when she died.

It is a beautiful little chapel and I wanted to share my PHOTOS  

MM 88 Weeks

I Like Being 98.

Key Lime Cookies

I picked up a bag of key limes recently. I used half of the limes to make strawberry key lime jam and I had quite a few left and saw a recipe on Over Time Cook which I knew I wanted to try.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine ( I used butter)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3 Tablespoons key lime juice
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs*

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Cream the butter, sugars in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Add the  vanilla and  egg and key lime juice, beating well to combine after each addition.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and graham cracker crumbs.

Turn the mixer to low, and slowly stir in the dry ingredients. Beat just until the dough comes together.

 Scoop a heaping tablespoon out a ball of dough. Roll it in the remaining graham cracker crumbs to fully coat. Place on prepared tray which was lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining dough. Space cookies about 2 inches apart, to allow for spreading.


Bake the cookies at 350 for ten minutes. Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

* I bought a box of graham crackers and pulsed them in my food processor. Used one sleeve of crackers for this recipe.

I love a soft, chewy cookie. These have a crunch. 

Irish Soda Bread

This is an old recipe from a cooking board. I never made it because I can buy Irish Soda Bread back in NY in any local grocery store. Not so in Northern Florida.





Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons caraway seed (didn't use)
3 Tablespoons Crisco
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup raisins
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons butter 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
 In a saucepan, cover raisins with water. Bring to a boil, drain and set aside for later.
Combine dry ingredients, cut in Crisco with a fork.
Add raisins, toss to coat with flour.
Add buttermilk a little at a time to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto a floured board-knead a few times to smooth.
Form into about a 6” round dome and place on a greased or parchment lined sheet.
Cut a large cross (X) into the top of the bread.
Melt 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 1/2 tablespoon butter 
Brush the bread with the sugar/butter mixture.
Bake 45 minutes until well browned.

Max 87 Weeks

                                                       Happy St. Patrick's Day 

White Springs, Florida

The wooden vase was for sale at the White Spring Tourist Center. I included other photos of painted windows for sale in the link below. My favorite was the mermaid. Wouldn't buy it but it was cute.

White Springs has a Wild Azalea Festival the second week of March. 

I signed up for a hike in a state park to see the wild azalea's.  They were suppose to be in bloom. Only two bushes had flowers and I did get a few nice photos.



White Springs

Zelda

Zelda is named after Zelda Fitzgerald (the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald), because (according to legend) during one of Zelda Fitzgerald's nervous breakdowns, she went missing and was found in Battery Park, apparently having walked several miles downtown. It is presumed that she entered Manhattan's north end from the Bronx in 2002 as a wild turkey fitting her description was first spotted in Riverside Park and then near the American Museum of Natural History and Tavern on the Green. She continued to make her way downtown before finally settling in Battery Park- source Here

Most turkeys live to be six years old, Zelda is 10. She also is a survivor of Hurricane Sandy.

Zelda, who has a turkey-shaped farm in the park designed in her honor, sleeps in a nest in a tree near the playground, high above the park and usually comes down around 6:30 or 7 a.m.

She spends her days exploring and foraging for food, searching the lawns and gardens for seeds, bugs and grubs. She sometimes heads to the nearby Battery Gardens Restaurant, where she likes to admire her own reflection in the glass.

Tortilla Chip Casserole

This recipe was adapted from The Way To His Heart.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp canola oil ( used olive oil)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp kosher salt ( didn't use salt)
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 oz 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
4 oz baked tortilla chips, crushed( I also had some baked wontons that I tossed in)
1 roasted red bell pepper, chopped ( used a green pepper- not roasted)
8 oz lower-sodium green chile enchilada sauce
2.5 oz shredded cheddar-Monterey Jack cheese blend (about 2/3 cup) ( Used a Mexican Blend)
2 Tbsp chopped green onions

Directions:


Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

In a large saucepan heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until onion are soft and translucent and add the garlic and flour. Cook mixture for 2 to 3 minutes.

 Slowly add the milk and stock, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil making sure you still stir .

Remove from the heat and stir in the cumin, coriander, salt if you are using it, pepper and cream cheese.

In a 11 X 7 baking dish spread half of the milk mixture over the bottom of the dish.

On top of the milk mixture add a layer of beans.

Next in line is the chicken- add 1 1/2 cups on top of the beans.

The tortilla chips are added to top the chicken.

Repeat process one more time.

When the last layer is in the pan top with 1 cup of the milk mixture and the enchilada sauce.

Sprinkle with the shredded cheese and bake for 30 minutes in the preheated 350 degree oven.

Garnish with cut up green onions.

 

First Grade Math Homework

Forget Jeff Foxworthy's  Are you smarter than a fifth grader. Can you figure out this first grade homework?

Banana Nut Twists

I don't get to bake as often as I used to, so when I do get the opportunity, I jump right on it.

Making bread is up there at the top of the list of my favorite things to bake. No bread machine for me-I love doing all the kneading by hand.  The KitchenAid helps with the mixing, but for me, there's something zen-like about kneading bread dough. I find it so relaxing.  And there's nothing like the aroma that fills the house when fresh bread is baking in the oven......it's heavenly.

I've been wanting to make some sweet rolls that I can wrap up and tuck away in the freezer to have ready to take out for a treat.  I have some great recipes for cinnamon rolls and such, but wanted to try something new.

There they were....3 bananas from the last bunch we bought sitting on the counter, ripe and ready for baking.  I've made a cinnamon roll-type recipe using bananas in the past, but this time I wanted to try something new and different. With a cookbook collection of well over 200 books-there HAD to be something in one of them.  I reached for an old cookbook that was my Mom's that has always been a great source of ideas for me. She bought this Pillsbury Best 1000 Recipes Best of the Bake-Off Collection cookbook back in the early 1960's. It's a cookbook I still turn to for inspiration to this day.  It's got all of the winners from the first 10 Bake-Off contests-back when baking was done from scratch-no packaged mixes in these recipes. This book is so well loved by both Mom and me that it's starting to fall apart. When I ran across a re-release of the book a few years ago, I grabbed one so that I'd have a replacement for Mom's when it gets too tired to stay together. 

I went looking in the sweet yeast rolls section and there it was-a recipe that was all the inspiration I needed to use those bananas.  I couldn't wait to get started.

This bread dough goes together quickly in the mixer.  As with all of my sweet roll recipes, I like to add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and one of butter flavor extract to give the dough a little richness. I also always use bread flour for any yeast breads that I make.  I find it makes the dough lighter and I use less flour than when I use all-purpose flour.

Instead of making a pan of cinnamon rolls, I opted to make individual twists with this dough...those would be easy to wrap and freeze so that I could take a couple out of the freezer at a time rather than a whole pan of rolls. I've read that spritzing the rolled out bread dough with water rather than using melted or softened butter allows the cinnamon and sugar to adhere to the bread dough as it's rising and the rolls have less of a tendency to separate from the cinnamon layer.  I decided to try that method and boy am I happy with the outcome. 

One more component-the icing-and my sweet rolls would be complete. I thought a light coating of cream cheese icing would be a nice compliment to the banana in the rolls-that and a generous sprinkling of toasted pecans. 

I'm so happy with the way these rolls turned out.  The banana flavor is subtle, but it's there.  There's a little touch of sweetness from the cinnamon swirl in the center and the slight tang of the cream cheese icing compliments the rolls nicely. Oh, and let's not forget those finely chopped pecans-they add the crowning touch.

I've kept a few up here to have as a treat and the rest have gone down to the freezer on a cookie sheet. Once the rolls have almost frozen, I'll remove them from the cookie sheet, wrap each one individually in aluminum foil and pop them into a resealable freezer bag. 

If you love to make bread and you too have those pesky overripe bananas that need to find a home in something good, I do hope you'll give this recipe a try. 

A big thank you to Linda for having me as a guest poster on your wonderful blog...I've had a great time!

Carol

BANANA NUT TWISTS

(Source: Inspired by the recipe Golden Bananzas by Mrs. Pazzino de'Pazzi from Hampton Bays, Long Island, NY. from Pillsbury's Best 1000 Recipes Best of the Bake Off Collection)

BREAD DOUGH:

1 (1/4 oz.) pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp.)

Pinch of granulated sugar

1/4 c. warm water (100-110 degrees)

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 c. warm buttermilk (100-115 degrees)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 c. mashed very ripe bananas

4 drops yellow food coloring

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. butter flavor extract

1 large unbeaten egg

4 1/4-4 3/4 c. sifted bread flour

FILLING:

1/2 c. granulated sugar

2 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 Tbsp. butter, melted, to brush over the baked rolls

CREAM CHEESE ICING:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

3/8 c. confectioners' sugar

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. pure lemon extract

2-2 1/2 Tbsp. milk

1/2 c. pecans, toasted and finely chopped

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and pinch of sugar in 1/4 cup warm water.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the 1/3 cup granulated sugar, salt, oil and buttermilk. whisking until combined. 

Add the baking soda, bananas, food coloring, vanilla, butter extract, egg and 2 cups of the bread flour.  Beat on medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 c. flour and beat on medium speed.  Stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough. I always measure the largest amount of flour asked for in the recipe and hold back what I don't use in the dough to use for kneading and rolling the bread dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead, adding as little flour as possible, until smooth and elastic, about 5-8 minutes.  The dough will still be slightly sticky. 

Place the dough in a greased bowl, then turn the dough to grease the top. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a linen towel and allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. When 2 fingers pressed lightly into the side of the dough leave indentations, the dough has doubled in size.

For the filling, combine the 1/2 cup granulated sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, stirring until well mixed.  Set aside.

Spray 3 baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray and set them aside.

Punch the dough down, turn it onto a floured surface and roll the dough into a 24x6-inch rectangle.  Spritz the dough's surface lightly with cool water.  Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over the dough. Fold the dough in half to create a 24x3-inch rectangle. Pinch all the edges to seal.

Cut the rectangle into (24) 1" strips.  I have a long pizza chopper like this one (thank you Cyndy!) that does a great job for this.  A nice sharp chef's knife works well too.  What I do is place a yard stick next to the dough and use a knife to score each slice through the top layer of dough only.  I then use the pizza chopper (or my chef's knife) to cut straight down through the bottom layer of dough.  Don't drag the knife-that distorts each slice-cutting straight down with a slight rocking motion gives the dough a nice clean cut.

Twist each strip of dough 3-4 times and place on the prepared baking sheets.  Cover each pan lightly with a piece of plastic wrap that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  This makes it easy to lift off the risen rolls and not have the plastic wrap stick to them.  Let the rolls rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.

When the rolls are almost doubled in size, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover each pan of rolls and bake @ 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until light golden brown.  Immediately upon removing the pan of rolls from the oven, I like to brush each of them with a little melted butter-this gives them a nice shine and keeps the rolls soft.  It's not a necessary step, but it's the way my grandmother and mother have always done it when they make bread, so I continue their tradition.

Remove the rolls from the pan to wire racks to cool completely.

For the icing, in a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla and lemon extract and beat until thoroughly combined and smooth.  Add 2 Tbsp. milk and beat until smooth, adding more milk as necessary to reach the desired spreading consistency.

When the rolls are cooled, spread each one lightly with some of the cream cheese icing and sprinkle each roll with the finely chopped toasted pecans. Makes 24 rolls.

Store any leftover rolls in the refrigerator. To get that fresh baked taste, microwave any leftover rolls for 5 or so seconds and they'll be just as soft and delicious as the day you baked them.  The rolls can also be frozen.  I place the rolls on a baking sheet, cover it with foil and place the pan in the freezer for about 45-60 minutes.  When the rolls are almost frozen through, I wrap each one in aluminum foil, place them in a resealable bag and pop them back in the freezer. 

Tomorrow

I have a wonderful surprise in store for all of you. No, sorry I didn't win lotto yet but I do have a talented friend who is posting a recipe for Banana Nut Twists . Wait till you see them!

Carol is a fantastic cook and her hubby Bob takes photos that are equal to any cooking magazine photo. 

If Carol had a blog she would right up there with any of the popular bloggers, she's that good.

Thanks Carol for gracing Best Of Long Island and Central Florida with your generous contribution.

MM 86 Weeks

I have the old fashion flip phone. I asked Gabe if we could do a "selfie" of us and Max with his phone( not a flip).  What a hoot! He took quite a few and I laughed so hard at some of them my sides hurt. Those pictures are deleted and never to be seen again.

When Gregory gets home maybe we can do another one with his phone or if Brandi is over she can take one of us.

In the meantime-

                                                                  Dog on a mission

No Thank You!

I love a good soak in the tub but no way would I even think of having something like this in my house!

Cat taking the dog home

11 Jobs That No Longer Exist

                                           Tom Sherry was our milkman. Milk came in glass bottles and was placed in a little box outside our door everyday.

List of jobs that are no longer around.

Miss Betty's Meatloaf

We really love this meatloaf ! I have the recipe printed out, just to make sure I always have it.

This is from a lovely lady - Miss Betty who got the recipe from Recipe Hall Of Fame Cookbook--1999. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 can tomato soup
1 cup pepperidge farm herb stuffing- I pulse 1/2 cup in food processor and add the other half from the bag. 
2 ribs celery- chopped
1 egg
1 large onion- chopped
1/2 cup American cheese,grated- I add a Mexican Blend
1/2 cup bell pepper,chopped- if it's a small pepper I add the whole thing
1 1/2 tsp.salt- didn't add. Soup has enough sodium in it.
1/4 tsp.black pepper
bacon slices

Sauce
2 tbsp.butter,melted
2 tbsp.soy sauce
1 (8-oz.)can tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar


Directions:

Mix all meat loaf ingredients except bacon,form into a loaf and top with bacon slices to cover meat loaf.Pour sauce over top and cook at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.Baste with sauce.

Why is the bacon missing on the meatloaf? I ate it when it came out of the oven!

Firehouse Brunswick Stew

I've wanted to make this for awhile. I saw it on a menu in High Springs and wasn't sure what it was. I looked it up and found many different recipes. Quite a few had ground pork or pulled pork in it and I wanted to go with just chicken.

Threads Of Inspiration  had a recipe from the Brunswick County Fire Department. The Fire Department had a booth at the Virginia State Fair and handed out printed copies of the recipe which the blogger took.

Ingredients:


2 1/2 - 3 pound chicken
2 pieces celery
1 small onion
2 quarts tomatoes, fresh or canned
1 cup chopped onion
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 quart green butter beans or lima beans ( didn't use either)
1 quart whole kernel corn ( used canned corn)
5 Tbsp sugar ( added 1 tablespoon brown sugar)
Salt to taste
Red and black pepper to taste

Directions:

Place chicken, celery and small onion in a large kettle. Add some water to cover the chicken. Simmer until meat begins to loosen from bones. Lift chicken from broth. Cool the broth. Discard the celery. Remove meat from bones and cut into small pieces.

Add tomatoes, chopped onions and potatoes to broth. Continue cooking over medium heat until potatoes are tender. Add the cut-up chicken,  corn and sugar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil while stirring. Cover and the lower heat and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 3 to 5 hour or until tomatoes have cooked to pieces.
Makes about 6 quarts. 

MM 85 Weeks

He's thinking I'm here just in case he drops something plus this is a good spot to trip up Mom.

                                                      A monday smile for all of you!

Doxie Derby