They say to state your New Year resolutions in more specific terms. Not, I’m going to lose weight, but I’m going to lose 10 pounds this year. Not, I’m going to save more money, but I will put $50 in my savings account each payday or I’m going to save an emergency fund of $2000. Express your desire to do better in certain terms. Get the idea?
A Little bit better.
Tiny plate, tiny spoon.
I know better than to say I’m giving up sweets for the new year. So, I’ll just have smaller portions. We should be realistic in our goals as well.
Happy New Year Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.
A late breakfast of bread pudding and sausage was more like brunch. I wasn’t really hungry so, I prepared a little Christmas tea for my mid-day meal.
The electric tea kettle is a Chefman and works great.
I love the electric tea kettle. And the plain white tea pot. And the Snoopy tea cup and saucer. The oblong dish filled with goodies is vintage Avon, along with a 1970’s Christmas a napkin. I love them, too.
Christmas tea for one.
In the tea pot is Biscotti tea from Red Stick Spice Company. It is so good! They are in Baton Rouge, LA. Shop on-line, if you can’t get to Baton Rouge. Here’s a link:
It would be easy to jump into the bustle of the holiday, but I decided to stay in this Saturday and practice the pause. I could have just grabbed a cold drink and a snack, not bothering with a plate, but chose to have something elegant.
Tea time is a deliberate practice: Choosing the size of tea pot, selecting the tea cup and saucer, deciding on what to nibble on with your tea and finding a tray to hold it all. It makes you slow down. You hone the skill of patience, as the water boils and the tea steeps.
Christmas carols are in my head. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on the television. I’m surrounded by my Nativity Scenes, tucked here and there on book shelves and the mantle. A quiet Saturday before the rush of the next two weeks of the Christmas season.
I’m telling my age by writing this, but a memory of a cardboard “fireplace” came to my mind the other week. I asked some people I know around my own age, ahem, and they all remembered the fake red brick fireplace, brought out at Christmas time. It had fake flames, a fan and a light to simulate a fire.
Now, I don’t know if we actually had one of these cardboard Christmas time wonders. I should ask my older brothers… Any way, I may have seen one somewhere. A cousin’s house, maybe? Or a neighbor’s?
Nostalgia got the better of me. I googled, I searched Pinterest and found lots of pics of what I remembered.
Not wanting to drop any money on either a vintage faux fireplace or a new version, I decided to collect boxes from work and make my own.
I found Charlie and Snoopy at a big box store and thought they could flank either side of my homemade version of the cardboard fireplace. Charlie and Snoopy are full of Nostalgia of their own. All will go out onto the blue porch, along with a collection of snowmen and a Nativity scene.
Christmas is coming Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.
I’ve been under the weather for over a week. Excuse this sentence if you are easily grossed out, but if snot were a commodity, I could have cornered the market last week. Tests for covid and flu were negative; I’ve never had covid, but I have had the flu many times. And whatever I had, it felt a whole bunch like the latter. Steroids and a broad spectrum antibiotic, oh my! I figured I’d add some comfort food along with the prescribed meds now that I’m no longer prone. Self-care 101.
Slow-cooker Chicken Noodle Soup simmered midmorning to early evening. A boneless, skinless chicken breast was nestled down in the middle of onion, potatoes, carrots, frozen corn, and broccoli. Seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, Tony’s seasoning, garlic, and basil. One can of chicken broth with two cans of water. Egg noodles were added the last 15 minutes of simmering. Simple cheese toast was served alongside a hearty bowl of goodness.
Friday night’s supper hit the spot.
In recent weeks, cider recipes have been flashing through social media. I’ve never made cider and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a mug of it. Thinking that the concentration of fresh fruit and spices may benefit my recovery from the gunk, I decided to tweak the many recipes I looked up. Here’s what I did for
Small Batch Spiced Cider:
In an 8 quart pot, I simmered 2 Gala apples and 2 Honeycrisp apples, cored and cut into chunks. I added 3 each of navel oranges and little mandarin oranges, peeled and chunked as well. Five cinnamon sticks, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. To sweeten it, I added a scant 1/3 cup of white sugar and a 1/ 3 cup of MaBell cane syrup. If you cannot get MaBell cane syrup, try Brer Rabbit.
All of this was covered with 6 cups of water. It cooked down for two hours over medium heat with the pot lid vented. After the fruit was cooked down and the cinnamon sticks removed, it was carefully put through a strainer, packing and squeezing the solids to extract the juice. I then strained it a second time through a couple of layers of cheese cloth.
Now, I do not have any designated cider mugs. I’m not sure what it’s served in, although the term ‘a mug of cider’ rings in the back of my mind somewhere. So, shopping around in my cupboards and hutches, I found my pretty Flora Gold Louisa pattern. They’re a pretty autumnal color and hold heat well.
I heated the cider back up with just a tiny bit of salt to cut the sweetness and brighten the orange and apple flavors. The heated cider was poured into a warmed tea pot and placed on a pretty tray. And yes, that’s candy corn and dry roasted peanuts mixed together. Tastes like a Payday candy bar.
Pop your favorite microwave popcorn. I used 3 single serve Orville Redenbacher popcorn. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and put the popped corn in as much as a single layer as you can. Set this to the side.
Next, make the jelly caramel. I used mayhaw because that’s what I had in the pantry. Any mild jelly will do, like crabapple or apple apple. In a 2 quart, heavy bottom pot melt 1/2 stick of salted butter and a 1/2 cup of mayhaw jelly, over medium high heat. It’s going to bubble up; stir it constantly while it reduces. Turn the heat down a little bit and add 1 tablespoon of honey and a splash of vanilla. Whisk in and continue to reduce the jelly mixture. It’s ready to drizzle over the popcorn when it coats a spoon. Carefully pour evenly over the popcorn. Now, add 1/ 2 cup chocolate chips and, if you like, shake on some seasonal colored sprinkles. Gently toss everything together. The warmth of the caramel will help to melt the chocolate chips and set the sprinkles. Serve in your popcorn bowl set… what? You don’t have a popcorn bowl set? No problem. Any big bowl will do.
Mmmm, is the right sentiment about this snack. So good for watching college football. Or make a batch and take it to Fall Fest.
The seasons go from summer to autumn on Monday. In the produce section yesterday, pretty USA strawberries and apples were part of my purchase. Strawberries harken the warmer months, and apples beckon the cooler. I combined the fruits for a nice fruity dessert. Or snack. Or breakfast.
3/4 cup strawberries, washed, stemmed, and thinly sliced
More salted butter, cut into pats
What to do:
Into a 9×9 casserole dish or 9 inch pie plate, pour a little of the melted butter to coat the bottom. Set to the side. Preheat oven to 350°.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and the rest of the melted butter. This will be the crumble top.
Next, arrange your apples in the dish in a single layer. Then, top the apples with the sliced strawberries. Take a few of the pats of butter and dot evenly over the fruit.
Then, take the crumble mixture and sprinkle over the butter and fruit, covering well. Place the rest of the butter pats evenly over the top.
Place the filled dish in the center of the oven and bake for about 35 minutes or until the top is nice and brown.
I served this apple strawberry crumble with a few dollops of light strawberry ice cream and stuck a few crispy apple skins on top. That link is above in the ingredients list.
It’s that time of year when the calendar says autumn, but the temperature says summer. This crumble is a tasty blending of those two seasons. September and October are months of reflection and anticipation. It’s not quite the end of the year, but close. Have we met any of the goals we set back in January? Well, you have three more months and a few days…
Seasons of change Blessings from the Exile’s Kitchen.
One of my grandsons has been diagnosed with different food allergies. With this in mind and wanting chocolate chip cookies today, I started messing around in the kitchen. Wanting the crunch that pecans or walnuts give a traditional chocolate chip cookie, I replaced them with a half cup crispy rice cereal. This recipe should be safe for those with allergies to nuts. In the list of ingredients, I’ve mentioned specific brands on purpose, as the labels say they nut free or have no allergy warnings. Please note: don’t just take my word for it; you read the labels for yourself.
Small BatchCrispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup Pioneer Baking Mix
1/2 cup Great Value rice crisps cereal
1/2 cup Nestlé Allergen Free chocolate chips
Here’s what to do:
Preheat the oven to 350° degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set to the side.
In a medium bowl, mix the first 4 ingredients well. Then, fold the baking mix, rice cereal and chocolate chips.
Drop the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet using a teaspoon. These cookies spread a little as they bake, so leave at least an inch between each.
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until they are golden brown. Cool and enjoy.
These cookies are buttery and have a crunchy outside and a chewy inside. The recipe is a small batch, making 12 or so. Add one to your child’s lunchbox for a goody surprise or enjoy yourself with your favorite beverage.
It’s Baby Boy’s birthday today. It’s been ten years since he’s asked for a German chocolate cake.
I used a box mix for the cake layers but made the icing from scratch.
It takes a lot of bowls and steps to make this two layer cake. Of course, I taste tested along the way. I think it will pass the test.
The chocolate icing is a cross between genache and chocolate butter cream. Adding a half cup of chocolate chips when melting the butter gives it a nice sheen.I made a dam using some of the chocolate icing to hold the coconut filling in place. Top layer before the crumb coat. After covering the entire cake with chocolate icing, it was placed in the fridge to firm up.Out of the fridge and piped with a few little shells and rosettes to hold the rest of the coconut icing.
What’s your favorite summertime sip? Is it sweet tea or lemonade? A simple syrup using fresh, sweet basil can liven up these tried and true refreshers. I grow pots of fresh basil each summer; I love to cook with it.
Here’s what I do:
I pluck a few sprigs of sweet basil, rinse them and remove the stems. In a 1 quart pot, I put 1 cup of water and a 3/4 cup of white sugar. Then I stir it to dissolve the sugar. Next, I drop in the basil leaves. Then it simmers over medium heat till it reduces and makes a syrup. I remove the basil leaves and add 2 cups of water into the basil syrup and 2 big tea bags. Then I steep to the strength that I prefer. I like it more medium than dark.
Porch sipping
I pour the sweet basil tea into a pretty pitcher and keep it in the frig. It never lasts long. Serve over ice and enjoy.
Note: The basil syrup can be added to your homemade lemonade. It’s such a nice flavor combo!
theexileskitchen 