Brownies

Brownies

4 sq. unsweetened chocolate ( 4 oz)

2/3 c. shortening

2 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 ½ c. flour

1 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp. Salt

Melt shortening and chocolate together in microwave. Beat melted chocolate with sugar and eggs, then stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Spread in well greased 8 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Playing With Fabric

This week I have been busy cooking and creating. And spending money I shouldn't be spending. I don't have any recipes to share from last nights dinner as I made breakfast instead. I don't cook breakfast in the morning, never have. I am not a morning person. If the kids want a hot breakfast, well that is what microwaves and Fathers are for. I just can't stand the smells that early in the day. So I cook breakfast at dinner time at least a couple of times a month.

In and around all that cooking I have been playing with my fabric. Still itching to get outside and start dyeing more colors, but I am sure I have at least a month yet before that can happen. So I am trying to make due with what I have and start creating anyway. The piece I am working on now is a dragon against a sunset landscape. It is finally starting to come together into something recognizable, but the process is rather slow. And there is so much more to do. I have been working on it mostly as a practice piece. I don't know if I would ever want to sell it, but I suppose for the right money anything is possible. The point has been to experiment with different ideas and techniques and tools. I think it looks pretty cool so far, but I am not sure if I want to show you all a picture or not before it is done. As I said there is still a lot of detail work left to be done, its just the basic foundation for the most part right now.

I also started working on a silhouettes series that I think I will actually frame and try to sell when they are finished. I have a couple of trees that I have cut out, but they are also a long ways from being done. These are ones I am really looking forward to working on too, but I am still waiting on some better tools to be delivered which will hopefully give me a little better control for the intricate cutting I want to do. Years ago I used to make these beautiful, intricate snowflake designs. I never did anything with them except give them away, but I am hoping to reproduce a similar style of design in fabric now, and maybe make some money from them. I am using my own hand dyed fabrics for both the foreground and the background and I think I may do some detailing with some iridescent colors to highlight the designs further.

As I have mentioned before I always have a million ideas floating around in my head waiting to be executed. I usually work on several projects at one time if only to get a record of an idea before it floats away. Unlike some artists who can draw a sketch of an idea to save it for later, I can't draw worth a shit. When I go to cut fabric I usually do not draw out anything, I just start cutting and layering until get the shapes I want. I have tried drawing a rough sketch first, but it takes me longer to draw a simple sketch than it does to cut out hundreds of pieces. And then it still doesn't even look anything like what I envisioned! So I just gave up on that idea. If I really think I need a pattern for something I will trace it out of something else to get the basic outline.

That is something else I have thousands of hours of practice at, tracing! I remember having special coloring books as a very little girl with sheets of tracing paper inserted between the coloring pages. And if they didn't already have the tracing paper in the book, I would steal it from my mom. I even bought a new light box that finally arrived this week. It is much bigger and better than any I have had before, and it sure as heck beats using the window! So I have been printing out animal photographs to work with too. I would like to do a series of at least “semi” realistic wildlife in fabric as well. I am seeing lions and tigers and frogs, oh my! All spinning through the back of my head waiting for their chance to be created. Then of course there are all the landscapes, and the portraits, and the foliage and flowers, and, and and ... My goodness it better warm up soon! I need to get to dyeing so I can get to work!

Honey Cookies

Today's recipe is a very special family favorite!  It used to be a family joke that these are my "weight loss cookies" because I always made them when I was trying to shed the "baby weight" after the kids were born.  You have to remember that I do NOT diet, ever, and I have always been perpetually skinny, so this strategy will probably not work for anyone else, but I did lose weight eating them, just cause I would have lost it anyway doesn't make the joke any less funny!

 Picture is of cookies similar to the recipe added by request.

Honey Cookies

2/3 c. sugar

2/3 c. shortening

2 eggs

1 1/3 c. honey

2 tsp vanilla

5 ½ c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Salt

Cream sugar and shortening together well. Beat in eggs, honey and vanilla until well mixed. Stir in 2 cups flour, baking soda and salt and mix well. Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until it forms a stiff dough. Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 4 hours. Divide dough in half. Roll out each half on a well floured surface to ¼” thick. Cut into desired shapes and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes until just turning brown. Can be eaten plain or frosted with a powdered sugar frosting.

Powdered Sugar Frosting

2 c. powdered sugar

1 Tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla

10 drops food coloring, optional

milk

Cut butter into powdered sugar, mixing well. Stir in vanilla, and food coloring if desired, and add milk, just a teaspoon at a time, until it forms a thick but spreadable consistency. Frost cookies when cool and sprinkle with toppings if desired.

Fried Rice

I made this for dinner last night, but by the time I finished typing out the recipe and cleaning up the kitchen I didn't get a chance to post the recipe for you.  I originally learned to make this from one of my ex-sister-in-laws when I was a teenager  She was from the Philippines and her version was a little different as I am sure I have "Americanized" it over the years.  Its really good with some sauteed mushrooms thrown in there too, but my husband won't eat them.

Fried Rice

3 c. cooked rice

1 stick (½ c.). Butter or margarine

1 c. sliced carrots

¾ c. sliced celery

1/8 c. Soy Sauce

1 c. chopped bell pepper (the more colors the better!)

1 bunch green onions, cleaned and chopped.

2 c. chopped cooked ham, chicken or steak

6 eggs

Fry cooked rice in 3 Tbsp, butter in a very large frying pan over med-low heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, saute carrots and celery in a separate small frying pan in 1-2 Tbsp. Butter over med-low heat until tender, adding small amounts of water as needed to keep from burning. Add soy sauce to rice, stir well and continue frying over low heat while other ingredients cook. When carrots are tender add to rice in large pan. Add meat to rice and stir well. Fry be1l peppers and green onions in 2 Tbsp. Butter until softened, add to rice, stir well. Scramble eggs and fry until well done, stir into rice mixture and continue frying over low heat for 5 minutes.  Serve hot with additional soy sauce to taste.

Weirdness Isn't Just Genetic

Everyone in my family is weird. I think I have established that fact before. I suppose an argument could be made for a genetic influence contributing to the weirdness in my home, but then how would you explain all the crazy critters we end up with? I mean, I expected my children to be a little weird, they really didn't have a whole lot of genetic normalcy coming from my half of the contribution, and all of their Father's had their own unique brands of weirdness as well. So, the kids never stood a chance. But why are the animals in my family so weird?

Take our dog Jack for example. A few of you may have seen his picture on Mother's Facebook page, I posted it the night we brought him home last August. He was six weeks old at the time and just as cute as could be. He is a Red Heeler, aka an Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog with a permanent grin on his face. He stands knee high now and he is already almost stronger than I am. Now Jack is a very smart dog and he learns new things really quickly, when he wants to, but he is also extremely stubborn and when he doesn't want to learn something, he won't. He is still a puppy, so he does still have some issues with bladder control when he gets excited, but there is nothing particularly unusual about that.

What makes Jack weird is his personality. I swear he is the MOST jealous dog on the face of the planet! No one in out house is ever allowed to go anywhere near anyone else when he id present. He cannot stand it! Now we are a physically demonstrative family, always have been. Everyone gets hugs or kisses or just a pat on the back all the time, and we tend to often be found in close proximity to one another, so having a dog who believes that this is unacceptable behavior and that no human being should be allowed to touch anyone but him in his presence can lead to some fun times let me tell you. It really is quite funny to watch him. He can be sound asleep on the couch and the minute I start to walk toward my husband to talk to him, the dog is awake, across the room and up in the chair next to my husband making sure he puts his body between us. He will bark and growl and act like he is going to tear me apart if I dare to reach out to touch my husband. Now he is NOT violent, but he does like to pretend he is. He is very careful most of the time to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone, although he just doesn't seem to understand the concept of his dew claws being painful when they rip though human flesh, but he really isn't trying to hurt anyone. He just wants you to think he is.

He is a pretty good dog, if I tell him No, he will stop and allow the physical contact to occur, but then he gets mad at me afterward and tries to eat my clothes. The clothes I am wearing at the time. His favorite thing is my slippers. I am on my third pair this winter, his puppy teeth really did a number of the first two pair! Now that he has his adult teeth, and a little better sense of his own strength, he doesn't tear them up as fast. I generally try to get dressed during the day and put on my jeans and tennis shoes whether I am planning on going anywhere or not because it makes me feel better when I get dressed for the day. Jack is not allowed to chew on my tennis shoes, and he knows this. But at some point during the latter part of the day my feet start to get cold and I end up changing into my slippers and you can just see the excitement on that grinning little face! His eyes light up and the instant the first one is pulled on my foot he launches his attack! Growling and nibbling and biting that slipper like he has a personal vendetta against all things soft and warm. As I said, he is always careful to bite around my feet and never to bite down into any body part that happens to find its way between his teeth. But if you didn't know he wasn't tearing me limb from limb it sure could sound like he is!

Jack is a very sweet dog, he loves to lick my face and he gives a great hug, especially if he thinks he is in trouble. He's just a little weird, like everyone else around here.

Grandma's Chicken Soup

This is what I am making for dinner tonight!  I don't actually have a written recipe, I learned it from my Mother who learned it from her Mother as it is with most of my dinner recipes.  So I am writing it up from memory as I make it, as a result all measurements are guestimates and are not guaranteed for accuracy.  The amounts aren't really important in most of my dinner recipes because I scale them up and down depending on who I am cooking for, cooking is more a matter of proportions in my family, I seldom measure anything if I don't have to! 

Grandma's Chicken Soup

1 1/2  c. chicken breasts, cubed

1-2 Tbsp. Cooking oil or shortening

½ c. onion, chopped

1 tsp. chopped garlic

chicken stock, chicken broth, or chicken bouillon

1 c. carrots, peeled and sliced

¾ c. celery, sliced

2- 3 bay leaves (opt., remove before serving)

1/2 tsp.pepper

1/2 tsp.oregano

1/2 tsp.basil

1 tsp. rosemary, crushed

1 tsp. thyme, crushed

4 c, potatoes, peeled and cubed

Saute chicken breast cubes in oil over medium high heat in the bottom of a dutch oven or other deep pan, stirring frequently until golden brown, add onions and garlic when the chicken is about halfway done. When chicken is cooked, add carrots and celery to pan and then add chicken stock and water to fill the pan to cover all, plus an inch or two more. And herbs and spices, bring to boil, then cover and simmer over low heat about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add potatoes, and continue to simmer for about 30 more minutes more, or until vegetables are soft. Serve hot with homemade bread.

My Cooking Adventure

I got a little flack from my last blog post because I mentioned that I “get” to cook dinner this week. Actually I requested to be allowed to cook this week, not that I got any fight about it. My husband is an excellent cook, and lately he has been doing most of the cooking. When we first got together we made a deal that I would cook Monday thru Friday, and he would cook on the weekends. It worked out well then because he was working away from home during the week, and I wasn't. Over the years things have changed, the arrangement has pretty much become a matter of whether or not there is fresh meat in the refrigerator. If there is, he cooks, if not, then I cook. He does a much better job of cooking meat as a “slab”, whether its steak, or pork chops, or chicken breasts, I on the other hand, usually only cook meat cut up into bite sized pieces and mixed in with other stuff. I am the “Queen of one pan dinners”, although I usually use several to cook the meal, it all ends up in one pan in the end. Since my husband the boys prefer their meat “unadulterated” by other foods, he ends up doing most of the cooking. Unless of course he just doesn't feel like it, then I either cook, or order pizza. It works out pretty well for me, most of the time, but this week I have plans.

I made the ham today, which was served by the slice, not mixed with anything this time, but the leftovers will be used in Fried Rice and my American Stir Fry later this week (as well as at least one “breakfast” of fried eggs and ham! Yummy). Tomorrow I am making chicken soup. It is not my husband's favorite, so it has been probably more than a year since I have made it, but I have been craving it for weeks now, and I finally have the celery to make it with so that's up next. I was going to make a different loaf of bread to go with it, but the rolls I made today were so delicious that I think they will work fine with the soup. I would love to make my tuna casserole too, but I know the boys won't eat that at all, so I probably won't get that far.

Its funny how different things can become. Ten years ago I would have never dreamed of wanting to cook dinner when I didn't have to. But before I met my husband there was seldom a time in my life when I didn't have to cook dinner. Maybe if we went out for hamburgers or ordered pizza once a month or so, but for a long time even that wasn't an option. There were a few times when I was single that my kids did get to eat cold cereal or popcorn and fruit for dinner, but it wasn't very often. I don't really mind cooking, except when I am sick, but it has never been something I enjoyed, mostly because I don't enjoy eating I think. But now I know if I ever want to eat certain things again, I have to cook them myself, so I am looking forward to my adventures in the kitchen this week, and I hope you all will join me as well!

Here is a little bonus recipe from today's adventure, its not vintage, but it was pretty darn tasty for desert!

Chocolate Cream Pie

Chocolate Crumb Pie Crust

1 1/3 c. chocolate cookie crumbs, ground fine in the blender

1/3 c. sugar

1/3 c. butter, melted

Combine ingredients and mix well. Press into bottom and up the sides of pie pan, using the back of a spoon to pack firmly. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes Let cool.

Fill cooled pie crust half way up with white chocolate pudding (I use instant), refrigerate 5 minutes. Top with chocolate fudge pudding just to the top of the crust. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes, top with whipped cream before serving.

You can use a purchased chocolate crumb pie crust instead of making the crust, I just happened to have some failed cookies that turned into a crumbly mess that I knew would work really good for the crust.