Lemon Cake with Macerated Berries

Ingredients:
1 Lemon Cake Mix, already made and baked in 9"rounds
Cool Whip
1 clamshell of blueberries
1 clamshell of strawberries, sliced
1/2-full cup of sugar

Rinse the berries, and mix with sugar, until there's a good covering of sugar on the berries. Mash the strawberries about halfway and refrigerate for at least an hour.
Ice one cake with a little under 1/2 the Cool Whip and top with 1/2 the berry mix. Add a little cool whip on top to keep the berries in place. Set the other cake on top and ice with the remaining Cool Whip. Add the remaining berries on top and press them down a bit to keep them from sliding around. Refrigerate.

Ratatouille

Ingredients

• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound Italian eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound zucchini cut crosswise into 1-inch sections
• 3 anchovies, finely minced
• 1 onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup green onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 TBSP dried parsley
• 1/2 TBSP dried basil
• TSP dried Thyme
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 dried chile
• Splash balsamic vinegar

Directions

Line a large platter with paper towels. Heat 1/3 cup olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the eggplant, season generously with salt and pepper, and let that cook down for 10 to 12 minutes, until the eggplant is soft and wilted. Remove the eggplant from the pan and onto a platter. Next stop, zucchini: cook it the same way in 1/4 cup oil, then add it to the platter.

Add another 1/4 cup olive oil to the pan, then the anchovies, onions, garlic and herbs. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the onions get nice and caramelized. Add the tomatoes and cook that down for 10 to 12 minutes, until pulpy. Return the eggplant and zucchini to the pan, crack open the chile and add that too. Season with salt and pepper and let it cook slowly for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is soft, mushy and juicy; you want all the flavors to come together. Stir in the vinegar and let cool to room temperature.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch-thick round slices
• Salt
• 3 Cups Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil
• All-purpose flour
• 5 medium eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 jars of pasta or marinara sauce
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions

Arrange the eggplant slices on several baking sheets and sprinkle generously all over with kosher salt. Set aside to let the bitter juices weep from the eggplant, about 1 hour.

Transfer the eggplant to a colander in the sink, and rinse well under cold running water. Transfer eggplant to a work surface and blot very dry with paper towels.
In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and breadcrumbs, and season with pepper.
Place the flour in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Dredge an eggplant slice in the flour, then dip it in the egg, and finally dredge it in the breadcrumb mixture. Shake off any excess breading and transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.
In a large skillet, pour the oil to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat the oil to almost popping over medium heat. 
Working in small batches, fry the eggplant slices, turning once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Using tongs, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and season with salt to taste. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a cake pan with PAM. Cover the bottom of the baking dish with 1/3 of the sauce and arrange half of the eggplant over it. Cover the eggplant with another 1/3 of the sauce. Scatter half of the Parmesan and half of the mozzarella over the sauced eggplant. Repeat with the remaining eggplant, sauce, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Bake until hot and just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes.

Peach Cobbler

FILLING:

8 or 9 peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp. self-rising flour
1/2 c. melted butter

Cook peaches in water until tender. Mix flour, salt and sugar. Add to peaches. Mix. Add melted butter.

 

PASTRY FOR COBBLER:

1 c. self-rising flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 c. shortening
4 tbsp. sweet milk or enough to make dough stiff

Blend flour, salt and shortening to a coarse meal texture. Add milk. roll on a floured surface. Pour half of peaches in 9x13 inch pan. Cut some dumplings and push dumplings down into peach juice. Pour remaining peaches in and top with lattice strips. Bake in a 350 degree oven 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown. Sprinkle a little sugar on top before baking. This should be a juicy cobbler, not dry.

Chicken and Dumplings

This meal cost me about $6 for about 6 to 8 servings. Can't beat that!

1 whole chicken
3 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
2 tablespoons ground celery
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon granulated onion
(Can you tell my brother works in a spice factory? Yay, spices!)
1/2 cup milk
2 chicken boullion cubes
1 cup baby carrots sliced thin (just because they were in the fridge and I needed to use them.)
1 tablespoon of Salt
1 tablespoon of pepper 

Boil chicken in spices for a few hours, until the chicken breaks apart at the touch. Take out the chicken from the pot and pan for bones. You could also strain it, but I hate dishes so I just take the few extra minutes. Take the stock back to a boil.

Put flour in bowl and add butter. Use your hands to break up the butter into the flour until evenly distributed. Add milk until you get a sticky biscuit mix. Drop mix into boiling stock in "globs" about 2 tablespoons. I wait a few seconds in between so they done stick. Keep doing this until you run out of batter.

Pull the chicken meat from the bones, discard bones and skin and add back into the pot. Take a few minutes to heat chicken and enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

1 medium onion, thinly sliced 

3 tbsp. canola oil
1 lb(ish) Top Round Steak cut into cubes (USUALLY IN THE DIERBERGS $5 SALE! savings of $2.76) 

4 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced 

1 lb wide egg noodles

 

 

In a large skillet, heat oil, add onion. Cook until softened. Set aside onions. Coat beef with flour, salt and pepper. Heat remaining oil in skillet over med-high heat. Cook beef strips in oil for about 8 minutes. Set aside. Drain fat from pan.

Add to skillet the onion and mushrooms; cook for 4 minutes or until mushrooms are softish. Add sour cream and beef. Cook noodles as directed on package; drain. Toss beef and veggies with noodles.

Ho Ho Cake

My mother's birthday was Easter, so we decided to make her a cake and cupcakes. We used a mix for the actual cake-Dark Chocolate fudge. I added 2 tablespoons of coffee since I was making a double batch to bring out the flavors. We baked 2 dozen cupcakes and had batter leftover so we made a 9 inch square as well. We let them cool completely then added the following cream filling using a piping bag and cupcake tip. We cut the cake in half and added a layer of the cream to that as well. We iced with whipped icing and sprinkles. SO TASTY!

Cream Filling    Enough to fill and decorate 24 cupcakes (we made a double-batch)

2 tsp very hot water
1/4 tsp salt
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Dissolve the salt in the hot water and allow to cool.

Whip the marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it begins to get fluffy.  Add the water and whip well.

Free iPad 2!

I’m posting this to enter a contest offered by CheckNGo at The Centsible Life! I want to win the iPad 2! Enter to win here: http://bit.ly/TCLiPad

Coffee Ice Cream

6 egg whites
2 tbsp oil
4 tablespoons fresh coffee (I used Cafe Du Monde Cafe Au Lait)
8 oz sugar
2 c milk
3/5 cup very hot water



Take the coffee and pour the water onto it then let it stand for about 10 mins. Filter the coffee into a cup. I took a coffee filter, put it over a cup with a rubber band and poured it all in. In a double-boiling bowl, mix together the sugar and egg yolks, then whisk until thick and pale. Whisk in the milk and the coffee, then put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering (though not boiling) water. Cook until the mixture is thick being sure to stir it all the time. Take the saucepan off the heat and place the bowl to one side to cool.

When cool, transfer the complete mixture into an ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
Halfway through, I added Hershey's syrup to make it a Mocha Latte.

Being A Grown-Up and Doing Grown-Up Things

This week, we leased a brand new Honda Civic LX. It's a nice little car and we're excited to be out from under our old Cavalier and into a lease. As soon as it's nice out again, I'll post some pictures.


Also, We've been having issues with our Uverse service since, well, we got it. We've had numerous technicians to the house and they usually fix the big problem but there's continual little problems. John was at his breaking point last night and ready to change to *gasp* Charter. I was in communications with Uverse for at LEAST 4 hours last night.
This morning I called and explained the situation and that we had one foot out the door and that Charter had offered us alot more for alot less. So, they match the price and give us MORE than I asked for! I felt like a grown-up buying the car, but I REALLY felt it when I bargained down a cable bill.


Next on the agenda, learning to drink coffee and read the newspaper in the morning.

Spinach Quiche

Pie Crust
1/2 bag fresh Spinach
1/4 Onion
1/4 Green Pepper
clove of garlic
Tomato
1/2 c Feta Cheese
1 c Mozzarella Cheese
2 eggs
1 cup milk
salt
pepper
nutmeg







Preheat oven to 350.

Saute chopped onions and peppers til onions are translucent. Crush and finely chop garlic and add to the onions. 30 seconds later add fresh spinach and cook down for about 2-3 minutes. cool and add chopped tomato.  In pie crust, layer feta, then add veggie mix on top. Put a layer of mozzarella over the top. Mix eggs, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg and pour over the top. Bake for 45 minutes.

*facepalm*

I made a huge pot of chili on Tuesday and we have been eating it for every meal since then and still have about half left as of last night. I get a phone call on my way home from work:


John: Hi honey, I ran those errands you wanted me to run and I picked up dinner to take a break from leftovers.
Julie: That's great, what did you get?
John:  Steak N Shake
Julie: What did you order?
John: Chili Mac!
Julie: WE HAVE A HUGE POT OF CHILI AT HOME!
John: ...but this is Chili MAC.
Julie: I CAN MAKE NOODLES!

But it was a very sweet thought and I'm glad he thought of it. I just found this hilarious and wanted to share.

Margarita Night

Should never be on a Wednesday. My two best friends called me to see if I wanted dinner and a margarita. I rarely pass up a chance to eat Mexican food, so I was in. Since there were 3 of us, we decided to split  a pitcher. We quickly realized we were not ready to go home, since we were enjoying each other's company so we decided to go to another restaurant and have a few drinks. There, we ended up drinking 2 more pitchers of margaritas.

Now, I don't smoke regularly, but I do when I drink. One of the friends is a smoker and bought a new pack around 6 that evening. They were gone by 10 with the two of us smoking.

Around 11, my husband calls-probably because I told him I'd be home around 8. I ask him to come pick me up and he replies that he, too, has been drinking and is unable to drive. I ride back with one of my friends and end up sleeping on her couch and waking up this morning extra early and driving through the early-morning crowd to get home and pass out for another hour.

Now I'm at work, functioning, but that's about it. Next time I will request that margarita night be on a weekend. To quote Danny Glover, "I'm getting too old for this shit."

Ribeye Steak with Red Wine Sauce

Tablespoon of oil in a skillet on high heat. When the oil is shiny, place room-temp steaks in skillet for 2-3 minutes on each side. Take the steaks out and put on a plate and cover with foil. Dump the used oil out and put a new tablespoon in the skillet on medium heat. Saute 2 or 3 cloves of minced garlic for about 30 seconds and add 3/4 cup of dry red wine. Boil for 2 or 3 minutes until it reduces by 1/2. Add 1/4 cup of water, 1 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce and the meat juices to the skillet and boil for 3-4 minutes until it reduces by 1/2. Whisk in 3 tbsp of butter one at a time until the sauce thickens a bit. Add chopped parsley and pour over steaks.

I would have posted pics, but it was so good, we ate it all before I remembered.

Drunken Beignet Making

Just got back from New Orleans for our honeymoon and brought back a box of Cafe Du Monde's beignet mix. Last night we opened a leftover bottle of wine from the wedding (of which I promptly fully drank). As I am finishing the bottle, John asks if I can make some beignets in our new FryDaddy. "Well, I'm a little wobbly and there's two of you, but SURE! I'll drop dough into boiling hot oil with my hands and a flimsy spatula!"

I rolled them a little too thin, and the first 2 or 3 I left in just a tad past light brown (I forgot that you want to take them out BEFORE they look like they're done), but they were pretty good.

Next time, hopefully, John will request beignets when I am sober and have enough presence of mind to make cafe au lait to go with them.

Married Life

So my husband and I have been living together for a year and a half. We have not hidden this fact. Yet everyone keeps asking if we've noticed any changes. No, we haven't. We got married because it was time for us to vow to each other and the world that we were in it for the long haul. The weirdest part is having to change my G into an S when I sign my name since the beginning is so similar.

So a friend came over last night and John (my husband) and I were talking a mile-a-minute to each other and the friend. He said something along the lines of "You've only been married a week and you're already starting!" Starting what? We have been cooped up together in a suite for a week with no one else to talk to or see (that we know) and now there's someone new in the mix! Of course we're going to talk your ear off!

Okay, now that the bitching has subsided, I want to tell you all how great it feels to be done with wedding planning. All of the preparation and drama is over and I can start my life as a married person. I'm so happy to have found my other half and can't wait to have many stories to tell you all!