Wednesday, September 28, 2011

GIVEAWAY AT THE OTHER BLOG

I have a giveaway going on at my other blog!  Click here to enter!!!  :)


Hope you all are having a terrific day!  It's is sunny here in Smalltown today but I am keeping an eye on the weather.  Yesterday, my house cat was having playtime outside (that's what I call it...playtime! LOL) and I didn't realize that it had started raining.  I was on the phone with my Mom, and all of the sudden, I heard this strange noise.  I looked outside and yelped in the phone, "Oh No! Gotta Go! It's raining and my baby is outside!"


Good thing my Mom knows me all too well....and still loves me in spite of the fact that I call my cat my "baby" and I sometimes phone her to tell her how her "Grandcat" is doing; hahahaha....


Anyways, I ran out there as if on fire and started calling her name.  I heard this pitiful mewing and there she was, under the deck, looking like a drowned rat.  I crawled under there to get her and ran back inside.  Poor baby....she was so scared that she had messed all over herself.  *Sigh*  The things that we Mothers have to do for our fur-babies.....
After a cleanup, she was all dry and happy.  She crawled up on the couch upstairs and promptly fell asleep.  She stayed asleep the rest of the afternoon, all evening, and most of the night.  By this morning, she was her frisky, onery self again!


I let her go outside for playtime again, but this time, I'm keepin' an eye on Ol' Mother Nature.  As much "fun" as that was yesterday, crawling around under the deck to get her, I'd rather not repeat that experience!   ;)

A.Marie

Thursday, September 22, 2011

WHEN IT DOUBT, JUST BEAT IT!



Okay, Okay, so this post ISN'T about Michael Jackson....but it IS an awesome song, isn't it??!!  ;)

So, yesterday, I found this awesome-sounding recipe online that I decided I just HAD to make (or die trying).  Which almost happened


Oh, the recipe looked simple enough: just take some softened butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  That went just fine.
Next, add an egg. Check. Then, add the flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Check.


Fold in apples and pecans. Uncheck. This is where something went wrong.  You see, I had this simply BRILLIANT idea to use already chopped and cooked apples that I had leftover in the fridge.  I didn't see any reason why cooked apples couldn't be used in place of chopped raw apples.  I mean, come on! An apple is an apple, in my book. But, I forgot one teeny-tiny detail.  When blended with the blender, cooked apples tend to fall apart into a mushy-like substance, thus rendering the entire cake-apple mixture into an undesirable messy conglomeration.   I just about had a heart attack!!  UGH!  It looked TERRIBLE!!!   I couldn't just throw it away...I HAD to find a solution to this problem.  I actually could feel myself start to panic.  What to do....what to do......


Well, I figured that I had already made a mess, so I just had to keep on going.....I set my mixer on high and just beat the stuffin' out of it.  It started looking really whippy and frothy and then I poured into the baking pan, smoothed it out, and shoved it into the oven.  And hoped for the best.


After the timer went off, I checked and it was nowhere near done.  It was still wiggly and jiggly and I shoved it back in.  For 10 more minutes. Then for another 10 minutes. Then I decided to get radical. 


I set the oven temp lower and just let it sit in there for about a 1/2 hour.  When I checked it again, I was pleasantly surprised!  It had cooked to a wonderful ooey-gooey almost-like-bread-pudding consistency...and the taste was DIVINE!  SCORE!!


So, here is the recipe that is aptly titled: Golden Apple Snack Cake.  I have renamed it to Alisa's Apple Mess....LOL  ;)


Ingredients
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups chopped peeled tart apples
1/2 cup pecans


Directions
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg. Combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon; gradually beat into the creamed mixture.  Fold in apples and pecans.  If using cooked apples, beat the stuffin' out of it.  


Transfer to a greased 9 inch square baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 32-38 min. (or 52-58 minutes it you are trying to replicate my mess....then bake another 1/2 hr. at 250!)  or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Yields 9 servings unless feeding a teen son and hubby.  Then it yields only 2 servings.  LOL


Meanwhile, eat your yummy dessert and listen to some more of MJ!  Ain't life GRAND?! ;)



Tuesday, September 20, 2011

YUMMY EGGPLANT (AND THE ANSWER TO KEN. B'S QUESTION)


I LOVE cooking with eggplant.  And, I have found a recipe that is absolutely amazing and, best of all, my hubby likes it!  So, it's a winner in my book!  :)


Here it is:  Tomato and Eggplant Casserole


1 medium eggplant
1 T. finely chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 t. oregano
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1 large tomato, cored and cut into 6 medium-thick slices
1/2 c. grated cheese


Directions:


Peel the eggplant and slice 1/4" thick.  Put in a saucepan with the onion, salt, and 1/2" boiling water.  Cover and simmer about 10 minutes until tender.  Drain well and mash.  Blend in the butter, eggs, pepper, oregano, and bread crumbs.  Turn into a buttered 1½ -2 quart casserole.  Cover with the tomato slices.  Sprinkle with the cheese and salt and pepper.  Bake in a preheated 375° F. oven for 25 minutes until lightly browned.  Serves 6.


************


I am also feeling really, really bad.....I never responded to Ken B's question on my flash freezing post.  It's not that I was ignoring you, Ken.  I just didn't see your question until recently.  For that, I apologize.  I will now attempt to answer your question about preserving the nutrients in fruit and vegetables and how quickly they have to be frozen in order to achieve this.


I did alot of research on the computer, and it appears that there are alot of differing opinions as to what vitamins are preserved during the flash freezing process and which vitamins are lost.   In fact, the opinions are so differing that it was very difficult to come to a conclusive answer.  That is why I am including some of the links that I found.  In this way, you can form your own opinion about the pros/cons of flash freezing and/or blanching and then flash freezing.   I just know that after reading the articles, I was slightly cross-eyed!   :)


http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?366-Vitamin-loss-canning-freezing-amp-more


http://www.eufic.org/article/en/food-safety-quality/safe-food-handling/artid/freezing-foods-quality-safety/


http://www.experts123.com/q/what-is-flash-freezing.html


http://www.ehow.com/info_8373496_snap-freezing-mean.html




Have a wonderful day, Everyone!!!



A.Marie