Christmas Notebook

rosemary crackers

March 30, 2009 – 1:05 pm

I found a recipe for Crisp Rosemary Flatbread at Smitten Kitchen and decided to try it as crackers. The recipe is from the July 2008 issue of Gourmet magazine. I made a few small changes to the original.

Rosemary Crackers

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped rosemary (preferably fresh)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil (plus more for brushing the top)
Flaky sea salt or Kosher salt for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 450°F. Preheat a heavy baking sheet on the bottom or middle rack. I used the bottom rack.

Fresh rosemary really does make a big difference over dried. Pull the leaves off a stem of rosemary, starting at the top and pulling down. Discard the stem. Finely chop the leaves. A few larger pieces are fine. Makes for a more distinctive cracker, don’t you think?

Stir together flour, chopped rosemary, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in center, then add water and oil and gradually stir into flour with a wooden spoon until a dough forms a ball. Knead dough gently on a work surface 4 or 5 times. Pull the dough apart, making three pieces.

Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough so it is evenly thin. Thicker parts will take longer to cook and you’ll end up with thin dark crackers and thicker not-completely-baked crackers. A particular thickness isn’t so important, just so it’s even. I rolled the dough on the parchment paper, so it was easy to transfer the whole thing to the cookie sheet when ready to bake. Remember: that preheated cookie sheet will be HOT!

Lightly brush top with additional oil. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Cut the dough into the size crackers you want. Slide dough, still on the parchment paper, onto preheated baking sheet and bake until pale golden and browned in spots, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer crackers (discard parchment) to a rack to cool, then make 2 more sheets of crackers (1 at a time) on fresh parchment (do not oil or salt until just before baking).

The first batch was a little too crisp. I was doing something else at the time and let it go an extra minute. Check it early and take it out before it begins to turn dark. The dark ones were still delicious, and we ate them, but the lighter ones were nicer. The second batch was better.

This batch was salted a bit too heavily. Less is better.

Store in an airtight container.

Delicious as a snack, but this evening I plan to serve them with my cheesy potato / sausage soup.

Check out Smitten Kitchen for more delicious recipe inspiration.

~~Rhonda

just a dusting

March 29, 2009 – 8:54 pm

We woke up to a little bit of snow this morning. DH took all the photos, except the last one, just before 8:00 a.m. I took the last one just before 10:00 a.m.

Front yard…

East yard…

Fenced garden…

The daffodils started the day bowed to the ground. By afternoon, you would never have known they had been snowed on.

Back yard…

By the time we arrived home from church, there was no hint that we’d had any snow at all. We’re back to spring.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in spring | Tagged garden, snow, spring | Comments (0)

earth hour

March 28, 2009 – 10:19 pm

DD was excited about joining in Earth Hour this evening, so we turned the lights out at 8:30 p.m., and played a game of Star Wars Trivia by candle light.

I won. 🙂 ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in family | Tagged DD#3, dh, earth hour, game, trivia | Comments (0)

“be careful driving home in the rain”…

March 28, 2009 – 11:46 am

…said my 11 year old when I dropped her off at a friend’s house this morning. 🙂 Practicing her mommy skills, I guess.

Dogwood branches in the rain…if it weren’t so chilly out, I’d use my tripod to get a prettier picture. Took this one as I stood under the carport, before dashing into the house. I always take a camera when I go somewhere, even if it’s just dropping DD at a friend’s house for a play day. 🙂

The rain pours off the corner of the carport. The poor little hosta needs to sit a bit higher.

It’s a good day to stay inside and bake. I think I’m going to try a cracker recipe or two. Years ago, when we had less than no money, I made crackers from scratch. So tasty! Maybe some rosemary flatbread and something with garlic and freshly grated Parmesan cheese…I’ll let you know.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in spring | Tagged garden, rain, spring 2009 | Comments (0)

spring with a chance of snow

March 27, 2009 – 10:54 pm

Today was beautiful. Sunny with flowers. I even mowed the back yard for the first time this season. But…Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy with snow in the evening. St. Louis is predicting 3″ with more to the west and north. Thankfully we are in the opposite direction. Perhaps it will miss us.

Here are more pictures of spring taken in our yard this afternoon.

The redbud flowers are beginning to open.

This magnolia was planted last spring and bloomed off and on all summer.

The lawn looked so fresh and green after mowing.

The red tulips can be seen all the way across the yard. We’ll have to get more of those. I’d like to put some by the mailbox and around the back door.

The bleeding hearts are suddenly tall enough for Zak to hide behind.

Happy loves the warmer weather and all the fresh green growth. Just minutes before this picture was taken, she had been pouncing on pieces of moss she had torn off the ground. Now she looks so demure. “Play with moss? Moi? I don’t think so.”

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in spring | Tagged garden, spring 2009 | Comments (4)

apple upside down cake

March 27, 2009 – 12:08 am

This is SO good! I wanted to make something this afternoon, then decided not to. Then DS#2 called to say he was running by this evening after taking DDIL to meet her family for the weekend. So DD and I sprang into action and made an apple upside down cake recipe that I found online. Also, poor son, you missed out. He called to say they were running late and he had decided to head home without dropping by. But it is so good, I will be making it again, and perhaps he can have some next time.

Apple Upside Down Cake

8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups white, granulate sugar divided (1/2 cup and 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 pounds Braeburn, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious apples (about 4 medium), peeled, quartered, cored, each quarter cut into 2 wedges I used three Golden Delicious and one Fuji. Didn’t bother to weigh them.
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/3 cup whole milk
1-9-inch cake pan with 1 1/2-inch high sides

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the sides of the cake pan. Line the pan with a 10-inch round of parchment paper. The paper will come up 1/2-inch up the sides of the pan. Butter the parchment paper. I used a tad of the stick of butter the recipe calls for to butter the pan and the parchment paper.

Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add 1/2 cup sugar and cook until sugar dissolves and mixture turns golden brown, stirring occasionally (use a wooden spoon), about 6 minutes. The caramel got hard when I cooked it but softened after the apples were added. Don’t worry, if this happens. Just keep moving forward. I did read that not stirring the butter/sugar as it cooks will prevent this from happening. I’ll try that next time. It didn’t adversely affect the cake, though.

Add apple wedges to the pan and gently stir to distribute the caramel evenly across the apples. Cover the pan and cook until apples release their juices, about 5 minutes. You can see the hunks of hard caramel in there…

Uncover and cook until apples are tender and caramel thickens and coats the apples, stirring occasionally, about 13 minutes more. I turned the apples a few times, but mainly let them simmer on low heat.

Remove apples and caramel sauce and place in the prepared cake pan. My sauce wasn’t very thick, but it worked fine.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside. Place cornmeal in a large mixing bowl. Pour 1/2 cup boiling water over the cornmeal and stir to blend. Add 3/4 cup sugar and 6 Tbsps (3/4 stick) butter to the cornmeal mixture. Beat until well blended. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder mixture alternating with the milk. Pour the batter over the apples in the cake pan. DD did all of this part for me, except pouring the boiling water over the cornmeal and pouring the batter over the apples. She was happy to lick the spoon and the bowl, too. 🙂 BTW, we just used the whisk and a wooden spoon…didn’t haul out the mixer.

Bake until top is golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool cake in the pan for 5 minutes. Then run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the sides of the pan.

Carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate or dish, and remove the parchment paper. Cool for 15 minutes.

Serves 8. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

The cake has a different sort of texture due to the cornmeal in the mix. Not bad, just different. And it is delicious. We’ll be making it again. 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in our garden, Recipes | Tagged apple upside down cake, recipe | Comments (2)

made it outside for a little while

March 25, 2009 – 10:25 pm

Another beautiful day, though I wore a light jacket. The driveway is lined with daffodils and the redbud trees are busting out all over the yard. There are more than 20 of them in bloom.

Looking north from the veggie garden toward the front yard.

We (OK…DH) planted 13 broccoli plants, 2 Brussels sprout plants, three kinds of lettuce, a clematis, a daylily, and two Asiatic lilies. The radishes and spinach are looking great. Maybe we’ll get the second round of those planted Saturday. The mustard or chard is coming up, too, but we forgot which we planted where…

Funny Zak. He had his nose buried in the fresh sprigs of catnip.

The daffodils just get better every year. These have a wonderful, almost fruity, scent. We need to dig and transplant some of them after they’ve gone dormant. Spread the wealth around the yard a bit more.

I was out longer than I had planned. DD is still feeling under the weather. We left her with a cell phone so she could call us if she needed us…did get one call. “May I have the chocolate bar in the fridge?” She may not be feeling well, but she’s feeling a lot better. 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in spring | Tagged garden, spring 2009 | Comments (1)

flower pasta

March 25, 2009 – 4:21 pm

I’ve had these cute little pasta shapes sitting in the pantry for several months. Today, I visited Nummy Mummy’s site and she had made them as mac and cheese and even served them in cute little flower pots. You gotta go see. Very cute! And give her recipe a try. It sounds so good!

I made some for DD today, but I used our own recipe. She thought mac and cheese sounded good. All she’s had to eat for the past few days are raw potatoes and a little chocolate chip mint ice cream. I know…raw potatoes. She loves ’em, but they don’t seem like a good food when you’re sick, do they? She’s had one peeled and sliced raw potato every day since Sunday. Not eating much else, besides a couple of servings of said ice cream.

We (read “my kids”) like our mac and cheese a little on the “soft” side. Soft as in not-so-much-cheese, and we use American cheese instead of cheddar. Personally, I’d prefer some killer, baked, four cheese, gourmet mac and cheese, but this is a kid’s dish at our house so I make it the way the kids like it. Which they learned at Grandma’s house, as her mac and cheese was always on the creamier rather than cheesy side of life. Though I think she used Velveeta… Anyhoo…here’s how we make it.

2 c. macaroni [Today I used the flower shaped pasta.]
1/4 c. milk [I don’t really measure this…just slurp some in.]
1 T. margarine
6 slices American cheese, torn into pieces

Cook the pasta according to package directions. I like to add a teaspoon of salt to the water. Drain the macaroni. I don’t rinse it. Return it to the pot and place it over low to medium heat. Add the next three ingredients and stir until the cheese is melted. Like it cheesier? Add more cheese to taste.

It’s even better with real butter, freshly ground black pepper and freshly granted Parmesan cheese on top. But just try to serve it that way to my kids. Not gonna work. BTW, she must be feeling better. She asked for seconds. 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Recipes | Tagged macaroni and cheese, recipe | Comments (4)

blueberry crumb cake

March 24, 2009 – 10:12 pm

After several days of sitting with DD as she has not been feeling well, I decided to make a cake this afternoon. Needed a change of pace! I tried Blueberry Crumb Cake from Dorie Greenspans’s book Baking: from My Home to Yours.

The recipe was easy to follow. The crumb topping, when cooked, was more of a crust than a crumbly topping, but the crisp sweetness was very good on the cake.

The recipe called for combining the crumb mixture in a food processor. Seemed like overkill to me. Just extra stuff to wash. Besides…I don’t have a food processor. ::sigh:: But this doomaflatchie, one of my favorite kitchen tools, cuts butter into sugar/flour very well. Also mixes and stirs well.

I baked the cake in a round 8″ cake pan.

Before…

After…

Wanna piece?

Very tasty, though not as moist as I had expected it to be.

I made a few changes due to necessity. I omitted the walnuts from the topping. I didn’t have buttermilk, so used light half and half with two teaspoons of lemon juice added to thicken it. Milk and vinegar can also be used in this substitute for buttermilk. The usual proportion is one tablespon vinegar to one cup of milk. Do let the mixture stand for five to ten minutes before using to allow it to thicken. Also, I didn’t have a fresh lemon, so omitted the lemon zest. It would have been a nice addition.

DD and DH both liked the cake. The leftovers will make a nice warmed-in-the-microwave breakfast.

~~Rhonda

PS, the cake was even better the second day. More moist than yesterday and delicious, even cold. Had a piece with a cup of coffee. Yum!

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cooking | Tagged blueberry crumb cake, cooking | Comments (1)

saturday yard work

March 23, 2009 – 11:07 pm

We spent a lot of time outside on Saturday. One of the big jobs was burning the brush pile. With 3.5 acres to groom, we can accumulate a lot of debris over a season. Some goes to the mulch pile, but branches go to the brush pile. I wish I’d taken a picture of it before we burned it. The pile was huge and we had to get it burned before we started a new season of yard work. DD and her friend roasted hotdogs and made s’mores, then ran off for an afternoon of outdoor fun.

This is what happens when the kids leave the candy bars sitting in the sun after they finish their s’mores. I snipped the corner and squeezed out melted chocolate. Still tasted great, even though DH had charred the ‘mallows a bit! 🙂

In our tiny woods, the Virginia bluebells are ready to bloom.

Bloodroot is a beautiful flower. We planted one plant some time ago and now we have a wonderful clump of bloodroot in the back corner of the woods.

This is just part of the clump. Pictures do not do these flowers justice. They are pure white and glisten against the pretty browns of the fall leaves. You can click on either picture and it will take you to my flickr page where you can see more pictures of this lovely flower.