Recipes Reviews and Gadgets

My husband’s Aunt Bessie in Canada gave me this recipe. She said after I made this muffin recipe I would never use any other. She sure was right! She received it from a friend and she prefers to make it with rhubarb, but any fruit will do. I actually have rhubarb growing in my yard, but have never made a thing with it. Maybe I need some recipes!

1 1/4 C Brown Sugar

1/2 C Oil

1 Egg

2 tsp Vanilla

1 C buttermilk (or sour your milk)

1 1/2 C of your favorite fruit

2 1/2 C Flour

1 tsp  soda

1 tsp baking flour

1 tsp salt

Topping - Combine 1 Tbsp melted butter with 13 C brown sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon.

Combine sugar, oil, egg and vanilla, buttermilk, and beat well. Stir in fruit. In separate bowl sift flour and rest of dry ingredients. Add dry to wet ingredients until just blended. Spoon into muffin cups. Sprinkle topping over batter and press down. Bake 20-25 minutes.

ENJOY!

My friend Amanda in the UK is pregnant with twins. She is eating very healthy these days to ensure she delivers those little ones with ease. She plans to deliver them at home unassisted and wants to be as healthy as possible.

She created this nice healthy vegetable rice soup for those cool winter evenings, and says it is best with fresh vegetables if they are available.

yummy!!

3 cups water

veggie stock (as much as you think you would like)

a carrot peeled and sliced on the diagonal

11/2 cups frozen sweet corn

cabbage (add as much as you like)

salt and pepper

1 C cooked brown rice

Bring the water and stock to a boil, next add the carrot and sweet corn. Cook on a low boil for 3-5 minutes then add the salt and pepper. Cook on low boil for another 2 minutes longer. Add cabbage and cook until tender, finally add rice and serve…enjoy!

My friend and co-worker Lisa, from Beijing, sent me this recipe. It is called Mapo Tofu and roughly translated it means “pockmarked grandmother bean curd,” named for the old woman who supposedly invented the dish. It is served in many restaurants in China.

The recipe is written in both English and Traditional Chinese. Which one can you read? This is a good way to learn your Chinese!

 Lisa says please try it at home she is sure you will enjoy it!

 Ingredients:

• 1/4 pound ground pork
• 1 pound regular tofu (medium firmness)
• 1 leek or 3 green onions
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Chinese salted black beans (fermented black beans, also called Chinese black beans), or to taste
• chili powder
• 3 Tbsp stock (chicken broth)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
• Freshly ground Szechuan pepper
• 2 - 3 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

Directions:

Cut the tofu (bean curd) into 1/2 inch (1 cm) square cubes, and blanch (drop into boiling water) for 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from boiling water and drain. Chop leek or green onions into short lengths. Heat wok and add oil. When oil is ready, add the ground pork. Stir-fry pork until the color darkens. Add salt and the salted black beans. Mash the beans with a cooking ladle until they blend in well with the meat. Add the chili powder, leek or green onions, then the stock and bean curd. Turn down the heat. Cook for 3 - 4 minutes. While cooking, mix cornstarch, water, and soy sauce together. Add to wok and stir gently. Serve with freshly ground Szechuan pepper. 

麻婆豆腐

这是一道川菜名肴。直译的话，“麻婆豆腐”是“脸上长满麻子的妇人做的豆腐”，据说是这个妇人发明的这个菜，所以以她来命名。

配料

猪肉末、嫩豆腐、葱或洋葱、精盐、豆豉、辣椒粉、原汤（鸡汤）、玉米淀粉、水、生抽、新鲜的四川辣椒、花生油

做法

先将嫩豆腐切成一厘米左右的方块，用滚水煮二到三分钟，以去除石膏味，沥干水分。

把葱或洋葱切碎。起锅放油，油热以后把猪肉末放到锅里煸炒，直到肉的颜色变深。放盐和豆豉和肉一起炒，再放辣椒粉、葱或着洋葱，炒到入味，再放豆腐和鸡汤，用小火焖三到四分钟。把玉米淀粉、水和生抽调到一起，放到锅里，轻轻翻炒一下。最后配上新鲜的辣椒一起食用。

My friend Cherie gave me this recipe, and said it was so good she could not stop eating it. She cannot take full credit for it though, as her co-worker Lorrie made this wonderful treat and shared it with the office. Cherie was going to go home and make up a loaf for her family because she enjoyed it so much. It is said to be great for breakfast, as a dessert or snack!

Thanks Cherie and Lorrie! :)  Cherie is going to send us a traditional recipe from the Philippines next time!

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/3 c vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup mashed riped bananas (about 3)

1 tsp vanilla abstract

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup semi sweetened chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom of 8″x4″ loaf pan with cooking spray

2. Beat sugar, eggs, oil in large bowl, at medium speed until combined.  Beat in bananas and vanilla at low speed. Combine flower, cocoa and baking soda in medium bowl; add to wet mixture at at low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Spoon batter into pan. Bake 60 to 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

My cousin sent this recipe and she varies it every time she makes it by using whatever canned beans she has on hand. She serves this dip with with nacho chips and some Margaritas! I have not made it yet, but I trust her opinion because she is older than me. I do have a gang coming over this weekend, who love to snack, and a couple of the ladies do enjoy Margaritas! We may just have to try this!

Thanks Karen!

Texas Chili Dip

2 (16 oz.) cans black beans
1 (16 oz.) can corn
1 (16 oz.) can garbanzo beans
8 medium tomatoes, diced into small pieces
1 medium red and/or green pepper diced
1 red or white onion, diced
2 (4oz.) cans diced green chilies
3 diced avocados
Juice of 4 to 5 fresh limes (I also add some of the lime pulp)
2 to 3 cloves pressed garlic
Cilantro, finely chopped, to taste

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate several hours, serve with nacho chips at room temperature.

Here is another one of my Moms favorite cookies to make. She brings them to many parties, and people love them. They have very few ingredients, but do not let that fool you these can be tricky to make. However they are really terrific.

Preheat oven to 375

1/2 Cup of butter

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup of Oatmeal (NOT instant)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp of salt

2 Tbsp of Flour

Mix ingredients and let sit briefly. Line cookie sheet with foil and spray with Pam. Drop half teaspoons 1 inch apart (they spread quite a bit). Make sure there is an even number. Bake until light brown (keep checking).  Carefully take off sheet when almost cool and put on rack. Melt 6 oz of chocolate chips with 1tbs of Crisco. Spread in between two layers of oatmeal cookies, put together to make sandwiches. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like. ENJOY!

This is a recipe my mom gave me a long time ago. She made it quite often. It is a favorite in my family, as you can eat it warm or cold as a dessert or for breakfast. I now substitute any fruit I have on hand. Doubling the recipe works great if you are going to a party and want to make it in a large lasagna pan. My husband loves this with blueberries or blackberries, or any combination of fruits. This is very easy to throw together as a last minute dessert.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Peel and slice about 6 apples (you need enough to fill a pie plate 2/3 full)

Sprinkle apples with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar

Ingredients

3/4 Cup Butter

1 Cup sugar

1 large beaten egg

1 Cup Flour

1/2 cup walnuts or almonds (optional)

Fill 9 inch pie plate 2/3 full of apples mixed with cinnamon sugar mixture (or fruit of your choice. Melt butter, and it to sugar, egg, flour and nuts. Mix well and pour over apples. Spread topping to cover apples well. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes

Eat warm with ice cream or cold!!

I was going to post this recipe last week, and still hesitant to post it with all the peanut butter scare. We only buy the natural peanut butter you grind at the Co-op now. Really not sure if that is any safer, and not sure if it will work in this recipe. This recipe is really great and easy to make. Beware its extremely RICH!

6 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chopped
2 sticks (8 oz) plus 1T unsalted butter
One 16 ounce jar of creamy peanut butter
3 cups rice crispy cereal
¼ t salt
3 cups confectioners sugar
Line an 8 inch pan with parchment paper, In a medium sauce pan melt half of the chocolate and 1 T butter over low heat. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup peanut butter, then 2 cups rice cereal. Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan. Refrigerate until set. About 15 minutes. Wash out the saucepan
In the saucepan combine the remaining 2 sticks of butter and the salt, melt over medium heat stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining peanut butter and the confectioners sugar spread half of the peanut butter mixture over the cereal layer. Top the remaining 1 cup cereal.
In a small bowl micrwave the remaining chocolate at medium power until melted, 1 ½ minutes. Stir into the remaining peanut butter mixture. Spread evenly on the cereal topped peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until set about 45 minutes, Cut into 16 pieces.

I received this recipe from my husbands aunt in Canada. She makes them all the time because it is a favorite of her family. She calls them “Dad’s favorite cookies” because her dad, my husbands grandfather loved them. They are really moist and keep for days. The only substitution I made was using butter instead of Crisco. I have also added dried cranberries and dates before for some of the raisins during the holidays.

Boil together 5 min
1 c water
2 C raisins
Let cool

Mix
3 beaten eggs
1 C shortening (I use butter, I am guessing back in the old days they used shortening)
1 c Sugar
1 c brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
add cooled raisins and water
Mix together
4 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp salt

Add flour mixture to wet mixture.
Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet (fairly good size globs)
Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

I love tea! I drink about three cups a day and I have gone through many tea pots. My favorites were my Pfaltgraff in the pretty designs to match my different dish patterns. When we moved to our new house three years ago slowly I realized the gas stove was burning the bottoms of my teapots . One by one I was throwing them away.  I even tried lowering the heat to medium, but it was still burning them.

While browsing Amazon for Christmas gifts this past season, I noticed the Proctor Silex Eletric Tea Pot. I figured for under $15 I could not go wrong, and I was right. I have been using it every day since. It boils water fast, it shuts off by itself (if I wander away inadvertently some times). I do not know how I have lived without it! I could probably travel with it if I had to.

Of course it will not do me any good if we lose power, so I still have a regular on the stove teapot as a backup also, and it is pretty!