• 

  2 cups whole milk

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp - 1 tbs sea salt (to taste)
• blue food coloring (15 drops)
• green food coloring (5 drops)

Separate the eggs. Mix the egg yolk with the sugar. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Boil the milk over medium heat being careful not to burn it. Turn down the heat and immediately pour the egg yolk mixture into the boiled milk and stir constantly, until the mixture thickens (custard stage). Pour the yolk mixture into the egg white mixture, stir in small pinches of sea salt until it tastes “salty sweet” and place in refrigerator until cooled completely. When cooled add vanilla, cream and food coloring and stir thoroughly. Pour into your ice cream maker, Popsicle maker, or into ziplock baggies (double bagged) which should then be placed into a larger baggie with crushed ice and salt (to be tossed around until ice cream forms).

November 17th, 2007
Categories: Recipes . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

Today I made the rest of my big pot of Chili Verde into burritos for our lunches or dinner. I love having frozen burritos in the freezer, especially Chili Verde burritos with lots of cheddar cheese. I cut up lots of cheese, brought the flour tortillas and the big pot of Chili Verde out and made an assembly line. I cooked the tortillas on the burner (the correct way to cook a tortilla) spooned on the cold chili verde, topped it with cheese and folded the tortilla into a lovely burrito. I placed the lovely burrito into a ziplock baggie and placed it in the freezer.Now we have quite a few in there just ready to pop into the microwave for a quick meal. I made the Chili Verde hot this time so I didn’t have to add any hot sauce. Sometimes I use that white Mexican cheese inside, which is very good, but I love using extra sharp or sharp cheddar cheese, it adds a nice flavor to the Chili Verde.

Whenever I cook I try to make a lot and freeze some of it for another time. It saves a lot of time and effort by making two meals or more while I am in the kitchen. The burritos can be fried in a little oil for a different flavor, or you can even top it with some more cheese and hot sauce, if they are not hot enough for you. A Chili Verde burrito with a serving of Mexican Rice and refried beans makes a wonderful meal for dinner time!

November 17th, 2007
Categories: Cooking . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

Here are some great cooking sites you should check out:

A hearty, hot soup for chilly nights

Brining a Turkey

Cook Smarter, Not Harder

Time for Brioche

November 15th, 2007
Categories: Sites I Like, Cooking . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

Whenever there is a sale on food at the grocery store, that is what we eat for the week. Our local supermarket had a one day sale today and I was able to get hamburger for 99 cents a pound, chicken breast and legs for 49 cents a pound, Country pork with bone in 89 cents a pound, 4 lbs of bananas for 99 cents, 4 lbs of yams for 99 cents, 4 lbs of jalapeño for 99 cents,

4 lbs of tomatillos for 99 cents and 7 lbs of carrots for 99 cents!I got two packages of the ground beef and one of them was made into hamburger patties and fried up, so we can make a quick burger for our lunches. To the other package I added torn up rolls moistened with milk, a load of spices (garlic powder, parsley flakes, dried onion, cayenne, oregano, chili powder, salt and pepper. I mixed it well with my hands and formed a long thin loaf and cooked it for two hours at 325 degrees. I let it cool and placed it in freezer bags. I will use it for Sunday dinner. I will put it back in the oven with some carrots and yams and I will add  tomato sauce to the top of it. We will eat meatloaf sandwiches with the leftovers.

The pork was made into two dishes as well. I baked one package of the pork with the fat on top so that it got nice and browned. The other package I took and cut off bite sized chunks of meat and put them in the oven with shake’n bake on them. I love having these to munch on during the day for a high protein snack. The remaining bones and meat were added to the other pork roasting in the oven. When the pork was nicely browned I removed it, added water to cover and boiled it, until the meat fell off the bones. This is my stock for making Chili Verde.

I love making a big pot of Chili Verde with tons of whole garlic cloves, onion, jalapeños and tomatillos. I also like to add any other green chilies I can find and sometimes even bell pepper. I love drinking the broth in a cup, especially when I am sick. It always makes me feel so much better right away. The meat and vegetables are wonderful with sharp cheddar cheese wrapped up in a flour tortilla. Can’t wait to eat one.

My daughter put the chicken in the oven for me with tons of spices underneath and on top of the chicken. She adds poultry seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. We baked the chicken at 375 degrees for about an hour and a half.

So now our fridge and freezer are full of some nice meals for the rest of the week, and yes, it was a lot of hard work but so worth it when it is time to make a meal and most of it is done for you already. (Not to mention the great bargain, since it was all on sale!)

November 15th, 2007
Categories: Cooking . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

They had a sale on cake mixes so we grabbed a lemon one. We also had gotten a whole bag of limes on sale, so we decided to make some extra tart lemon/lime/orange cake or A Citrus Cake!We exchanged the water called for in the cake mix with the juice of one orange and the rest was the juice of many limes. These limes were small so we used about ten of them. Anyway they all added up to 1 cup of juice. We added the juice (instead of water), the eggs and oil as directed on the package, poured it into a glass pan and cooked it until it became firm and passed the clean toothpick test. We had to cook it slightly longer because of the glass pan and the lower temperature, but it came out so wonderful! I am telling you, it tastes as tart as a lemon meringue pie and is so moist. We will be baking this again soon!! If you are dying for a great lemon cake, you must try this!

November 13th, 2007
Categories: Recipes . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

My daughter loves coffee, just like her Grandmother. My mother loved coffee and would drink it all day. Cups and cups of it. I allow my daughter 1 cup a day so she tries to make it special. Sometimes, depending on the brand of coffee, she will just drink it black and iced. Other times she will add milk and drink it like that. She has it so many different ways, she could write a book on it…ha ha ha. Anyway today she made a cup of coffee that she named Christmas Coffee. To a regular mug of strong black coffee (be sure to leave a little room ) add the following ingredients:

• 2 Tbs. Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup
• 1 Tbs. Cinnamon Flavored Creamer
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk

Stir thoroughly and enjoy!

November 12th, 2007
Categories: Recipes . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

We made Naan bread today, from a box we found at the dollar store. They had two different types, onion or garlic. We tried the onion one first. It made 8 nice sized pieces. First you add the yeast to a warm water and sugar mixture. You let it sit for 10 minutes. Then you add the yeast mixture to the flour packet with a little more water until it forms a dough ball. You knead it, then split it into 8 pieces, form it and put it on a greased cookie sheet in a warm place  (covered) for twenty minutes. The bread rises and then you put it into a 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes. It is delicious and  is complimented by serving it with curried rice and hummus.

November 12th, 2007
Categories: Cooking . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

We made a coconut cake today. We used a white cake mix (because it was on sale for 99 cents). Instead of using oil and water we used coconut milk and coconut oil. For the frosting we used coconut milk, powdered sugar and butter. After we frosted the two 8-inch rounds we covered it with a whole bag of coconut. It looks so scrumptious, I can’t wait until we can taste it.I think next time, I want to put some coconut cream pudding between the layers to add a different dimension to the flavor. Anyhow, the way it is now will be excellent with a coconut ice cream. Another thing I may try is to melt some dark chocolate and drizzle it over the cake. That would be good too when the chocolate cravings come.

November 10th, 2007
Categories: Cooking . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

My favorite foods were on sale at the grocery store right across the street. Beef ribs were 69 cents a pound and some of best sized sweetest tender white corn I have ever had was 5 for a dollar. The yams were smaller than I had seen before, but they were 4 pounds for 99 cents and the same with the cabbage! I put the ribs in the oven and cook them at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on how thick they are. Then I add the bbq sauce and cook for another half hour or until the sauce thickens on the meat. We like our ribs well done and tender! The corn I just boiled for about 5 minutes. I don’t like my corn mushy. My eldest son loves his corn with mayo, cayenne pepper, Parmesan cheese and lemon juice. I just eat mine plain, yummy. The yams, even though they were small, were the best I have ever tasted, sweet and tender. I cooked them at 400 degrees for about an hour or until soft. My daughter loves cooked cabbage and I love coleslaw. She just eats the cooked cabbage like that, juet plain. I cut the raw cabbage up, chop some fresh garlic up real fine and some onion too. I add a small amount of mayo and a touch of milk. I didn’t have any grapes or raisins or carrots, but if I have them I add them in as well.\It was a delicious dinner and good for us too.

November 9th, 2007
Categories: Cooking . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments

Who can resist cheesecake? Now that the holidays are coming, think about making cheescakes for dessert and for gifts! If you have never made a real cheese CAKE (not the traditional cheesecake that looks more like a pie) then make one this year. I actually made a real New York Cheese Cake and the first step in the recipe was to make a white cake!! Can you believe it? So I made this whole beautiful white cake and then the next step was to crumble my whole cake up!! You were to use this cake for the “crust” of the cheesecake! Anyway my Cheese Cake turned out wonderful and it was a Cheese CAKE, not a Cheese pie!!

The Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

November 8th, 2007
Categories: Recipes, Sites I Like . Author: gloria . Comments: No Comments