Virgin Mudslide

One of my all time favorite mixed drinks is a Mudslide. I am a sucker for chocolate, hazelnut and ice cream. Put those three together and I am one happy lady. I have been tweaking a Virgin Mudslide recipe to make it exactly what Philip and I would enjoy.

The recipe is very simple and easy to make. It is very easy to make this drink pretty. Best of all, everyone, children included, can enjoy this recipe. I hope you enjoy.

Virgin Mudslide
Serves 4

1 quart vanilla ice cream
½ cup cold coffee
1 teaspoon hazelnut syrup
½ cup chocolate syrup
1 ½ cups milk
Whipped cream
cherry

Pour all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. In a wine glass swirl chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass. Pour the Mudslide into the glass. Top with whipped cream and a cherry. *You may use chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla for a more chocolate flavor.

Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris

Everyone loves a celebration. The food. The music. The decorations. The atmosphere. The drinks. Yes, the drinks. Ah, the taste of something different and as special as the occasion itself.

Most often people think of celebrating with alcohol. When planning a celebration, I focus on finding a drink that compliments the food, tastes good, out of the norm and dare I say it…. non alcoholic.
In our home we do not drink. Philip is a recovering alcoholic. He is two years sober and I am so proud of him. I will not stop celebrating but I will find ways to celebrate sober so everyone, children included can celebrate too.

I love a mixed drink as good as the next person. There are many ways to make virgin mixed drinks for everyone to enjoy at celebrations.  The other night I decided I would make Strawberry Daiquiris. These Strawberry Daiquiris are delicious and I highly recommend them.
　
Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri
1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, hulled
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup lemon juice
3 cups lemon-lime soda, chilled
16 ice cubes

Blend until smooth strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, chilled lemon-lime soda. Then add ice cubes and blend until smooth. Makes 4.

The strawberries may be substituted ...for 1 1/2 cups of sliced peaches.

I will eventually post more of my favorite non-alcoholic drink recipes. What is your favorite non-alcoholic drink recipe?

2011 Valentine's Day Dinner

This year I cooked Valentine’s Day dinner at home due to Philip’s crazy work schedule. I love cooking at home and he doesn’t seem to mind either.

I have two basic rules when cooking. One, don’t try to reinvent the wheel. I try to simplify recipes to fit our busy life. I don’t want to work myself to death to achieve the same result I could have achieved an easier way. My second rule is to never try to cook a food I am completely unfamiliar with in my kitchen before trying it at a restaurant. Philip nor I have ever eaten lamb… yet. As tempting as it is to purchase a rack of lamb and attempt it at home, I will not do that. For lamb to be our main course and neither of us know if we like lamb does not make sense for me to prepare lamb at home. When preparing a holiday, themed, or ethnic menu I don’t want to run the risk of ruining the entire meal by preparing a completely unfamiliar main dish. If I can’t resist the temptation to prepare a completely unfamiliar main dish I will scale it down to appetizer portions and serve as the appetizer.

Once a friend told me that the dishes I cooked sounded too complicated for him to eat. He came to the house a few times and had dinner with us and found that only the name of the recipe was complicated. Don’t let a name of a recipe discourage you from trying it.

Valentine’s Day dinner was very simple. This was our menu:

Appetizer: Parmesan Laceys
Bread: French Bread
Main: Black Peppercorn Pork Tenderloin with Peach Preserve Sauce
Sides: Cooked Carrots and Ricotta Mashed Potatoes
Dessert: Black Mousse Tie Cake
Drink: Sparkling White Grape Juice

I hope you enjoy these recipes!

Appetizer: Parmesan Lacys

6 ounces Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups) I purchased a pre-shredded bag from the grocery store.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line large cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Drop level tablespoons Parmesan 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet; spread to form 2-inch rounds. Bake Parmesan rounds until edges just begin to color, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer crisps, still on aluminum foil, to wire rack; cool 2 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat with remaining Parmesan.
　
　
　
Drink: Sparkling White Grape Juice

We do not drink alcohol so I find alternatives to drink that is more festive that soda, water, tea or coffee. For this menu I purchased a bottle of sparkling white grape juice at the grocery store.

Main: Black Peppercorn Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Peach Preserves Sauce

This is where I saved a lot of time and money. I had the recipe to make this from scratch but when I went to the grocery store I found pork tenderloin in a package already flavored with black peppercorn for much less than I was going to spend on a pork tenderloin and prepare it myself not to mention the time spend preparing it. Follow the directions on the pork tenderloin package.

The peach preserves sauce is very simple. In a small pan add ½ cup of peach preserves and 1 cup of water. Heat to a boil and stir to dissolve the preserves leaving only peach chunks in the syrup.

Slice the pork tenderloin and place on plates. Spoon peach preserves sauce over meat.
　
Sides-2: Ricotta Mashed Potatoes

Once again I was pressed for time. Rather than going to the trouble of making homemade mashed potatoes I purchased a package of microwave mashed potatoes. I prepared according to the directions and then added 1 cup of ricotta cheese to the mashed potatoes and blended well. Salt and pepper to taste.

Side 2- Cooked Carrots

Cooked carrots are a family favorite. I purchase a small bag of baby carrots. Place the carrots in a kettle and cover with water. Add 2 chicken bullion cubes to the water and boil until tender. *You may use canned chicken broth instead of water and bullion.

Bread: French Bread

While at the grocery store I went ahead and purchased a loaf of French bread. What took me 3 minutes to purchase would have taken me 3 hours to bake.

Dessert: Black Mousse Tie Cake

This dessert is wonderful! In a previous blog I posted the recipe for this cake. This is the time consuming recipe but well worth it. Expect 1 solid day to prepare this cake or 2 days of working on it intermittently.

I hope you enjoy this menu as much as we did. What did you serve for Valentine’s Day?

Cheddar Vegetable Chowder

I once read that the average American family cooks ten different meals. I decided then that our house would not be average. Luckily that is one of the things Philip loves about me. He likes that I cook a wide variety of dishes and I am always looking for a new dish to make.

At the same time that Philip loves the fact that I am always cooking something new and different, in the beginning I got some unexpected reactions from him. A few of his responses have consisted of, “What is that?”, “It’s green!”, “You want me to try what?”  The great thing is that even after his response he has enjoyed ninety percent of the dishes.

Many of the new recipes I find are quite complicated and time consuming. I like most women do not have the time to spend hours in the kitchen every day. If I can simplify a recipe so that I am not reinventing the wheel, I will. I want to help others eat a variety of dishes that are good, easy and not time consuming.
One of our favorite soups is Cheese Vegetable Chowder. This was the soup I prepared when Philip said “It’s green!” That has not stopped him from requesting this soup time and time again. 

With St. Patrick’s Day one month from today I am beginning to plan my menu. I always plan special meals in advance. I haven’t decided if I am going to go more traditional Irish recipes or if I am going to go with a green food menu.

I am sharing the Cheese Vegetable Chowder recipe with you. It does turn green from the spinach in the soup. A green soup deters most people in the beginning but as a woman stood in my kitchen eating a bowl of the soup, she kept saying, “It’s green but it’s good!”

Cheese Vegetable Chowder
1 c. onions, chopped
2 c. water
2 tsp chicken bullion
3 c. chunked potatoes- may use frozen chunked potatoes
1 c. diced carrots- may also use frozen carrots or canned carrots
1 can corn, drained
1 can spinach, drained
4 c. milk
¼ c + 2 Tbsp flour
¾ tsp salt
Real bacon bits *see note at the bottom
Shredded cheddar cheese

Sauté 1 cup chopped onions in a small amount of oil.  Add 2 cups water, 2 teaspoon chicken bullion, 3 cups chunked potatoes, 1 cup diced carrots, 1 can drained corn, and 1 can drained spinach. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cook until vegetables are tender. Whisk 4 cups milk, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, and ¾ teaspoon salt together. Add to the pot and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Top with real bacon bits and cheddar cheese.

*You may also cook 3 oz bacon until done, remove the bacon from the pot and sauté onions in the bacon fat. I use olive oil and Real Bacon bits to save time.

If there is a recipe that you would like for me to find and simplify please let me know. I love a new recipe and the challenge to simplify it for everyone’s use.

Kitchen Gadgets

I am a sucker for a kitchen gadget. There are a million different kitchen gadgets out there that does a single job. If we had every gadget shown on late night infomercials we would not have room in our kitchen to function. Narrowing down what I have to have and what I can live without is a difficult task.

The basics in my kitchen that I use regularly is of course a good set of pots and pans, non stick cake pans and cookie sheets (I have found that Better Homes and Gardens is the best!), a digital meat thermometer, a good mandoline, a pressure cooker, a mixer, a George Forman grill, an adjustable measuring spoon, an adjustable measuring cup, a food processor, a crock pot, a crescent pot strainer, and a good cutlery set. I can make do without anything else but all my other gadgets make cooking so much easier.

Other gadgets I enjoy using is my ice cream maker, bread maker, magic bullet, slap chop, whisks, apple peeler, apple corer/slicer, rolling pin and my list could go on and on.

Which kitchen gadgets do you feel you could not function without?

Beginnings and Black Mousse Tie Cake

I had contemplated beginning a blog for a while now. I guess today is the day I begin, so here I go.
This blog is meant for those that enjoy similar things I do so we can learn from each other. I don’t expect many readers but for those of you that do take a moment to read my blog I will be asking for advice, input, ideas, etc. to help start, work on or finish something I am working on. We all have something to learn from one another no matter how similar or different we may be.

When I taught 3rd grade I had a Mary Engelbreit poster on my wall that said, “Make the most of yourself for that is all there is of you.”  No matter now experienced we are at something, a fresh view point can help us to become a little better than we were before if we are willing to listen and consider the other view point.

For Valentine’s Day dinner I cooked at home. I decided for dessert I would prepare a copy cat version of Olive Garden’s Black Mousse Tie Cake. This was only the second time I had prepared this dessert. This dessert takes me two days to make. I would love to find a way to simple this recipe down more than I already have.

The recipe is as follows:

Black Tie Mousse Cake
Servings: 12

---Bottom Layer---
1 box Chocolate cake mix, devil's food

Mix cake according to directions. Pour a thin layer of batter into the bottom of a glass cake pan. Pour the rest of the batter into pans of your choice. My preference is to make muffins with the remaining batter to store in the freezer.

---Second Layer---
1 teaspoon Unflavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
2 tablespoons boiling water
4 ounces chocolate chips
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

Cut cream cheese into large squares and place in microwave safe bowl with chocolate chips. Microwave 1 minute and stir. Continue microwaving for 1 minute and then stirring until blended. Dissolve gelatin in cold water, then add boiling water. Let this cool while you start whipping the heavy cream and sugar. As cream starts to thicken, add gelatin. Continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Add 1/4 of the cream to the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly. Then fold this into the remaining cream. Once you have completed spread onto cake and refrigerate.

---Third Layer---
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour, sifted
1 teaspoon Unflavored gelatin
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat egg yolks until pale. Add sugar, flour and gelatin, then beat until mixed. Bring cream and vanilla extract to a boil. Add a small amount of cream to egg mixture while stirring. Gradually add until all of the cream has been added. Continue to cook until custard begins to thicken. Cool slightly pour on top of chocolate mousse and freeze.

---Fourth Layer---
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
18 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

Bring butter and cream to a boil. Add chocolate chips. Stir until smooth. Let cool (slightly warmer than room temp) until it starts to thicken. Remove cake from freezer and pour the ganache evenly over the cake. Refrigerate the cake.

*You may save some of the ganache and use it to decorate the cake plate when serving. Leftover ganache also makes a wonderful hot chocolate.

Do you have any suggestions to simplify this recipe further than what I already have?  Some thoughts I had was to try canned chocolate frosting in place of the ganache. Instead of making the custard I thought about using French vanilla boil pudding. Do you think these ideas would work?