Saturday, March 31, 2012

“There’s a hole in this cake!”


LEMON BUNDT CAKE

Printable recipe here


3¼ cups cake flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powede
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¾ cup sour cream
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup lemon juice
2 Tbl vanilla
4 large eggs
2¼ cups sugar
¾ cup canola oil

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°.  Generously brush bundt pan with shortening and dust with flour.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in large bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, whisk sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla and set aside.  In another bowl (dishes, I know) whisk eggs and sugar together stirring vigorously to lighten eggs.  Gradually whisk in oil until evenly combined.  Add sour cream mixture and stir together.  Add the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon just until combined but still a bit lumpy.  Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake until cake pulls away from sides of the pan and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean – about 50 minutes.  Cool 10 minutes, then unmold cake onto a rack placed over a baking sheet.  Cool.  (The cake can be prepared to this point a day ahead.)

When ready to serve, spoon some of the glaze (below) over the top and reserve the rest for serving on the sliced cake.

LEMON GLAZE
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 Tbl lemon juice
finely grated zest of one lemon
1 Tbl butter, melted
1 Tbl water



Thank you Maria Portokalos.



What is your favorite quote from My Big Fat Greek Wedding?  Here's mine:




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Saturday, March 24, 2012

On this Saturday

Here’s what’s on my TO DO list today (or whenever I get around to it):



  1. buy and plant nasturtium seeds
  2. figure out a way to have them watered automatically without installing an underground sprinkler system*
  3. visit a dear friend of my mom’s in the hospital after open heart surgery
  4. visit another friend in a memory care facility
  5. be thankful for health and home and God’s care of those who need it so much
  6. call each of my girls
  7. install curtain wire (Dignitet) and new sheers (Lill) from Ikea in our bedroom*
  8. find out how they come up with those names for the products they sell at Ikea
  9. spend time on the Ikea Hackers blog which I just now found when googling “Dignitet”

  10. weed the raised beds in the garden in prep for spinach seeds*
  11. power wash the front walk and back patio* – moss and crud have taken over
  12. shopping @ Tr_der Joes
  13. check out the new fruit and produce market in Beaverton
  14. admit that all of the *’d items on my list will actually be done by my husband
  15. enjoy the SUNSHINE and go for a walk

How about you?  How come you don’t publish your To Do lists on the internet? 

Friday, March 16, 2012

White Chicken Chili Soup

This is a wonderful recipe I got from my friend Cathy Tolls.  It’s really easy and fairly quick to make.  These are the kinds of ingredients I’m likely to have in my pantry so I could put this together at the last minute.  It’s hearty and really flavorful and goes very well with the No-Knead Bread I posted earlier.  Toast a couple slices to serve with this soup and you have a yummy meal!





White Chicken Chili Soup


2 lbs chicken tenders, cut into ½” pieces
2 medium sweet onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped or 2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbl olive oil
4 cans (15½ oz) great northern beans
2 cans (16 oz) chicken broth
3 cans (4 oz) chopped green chilis
1 large green pepper, chopped (I used red & yellow mini-peppers)
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp cayenne
2 cups sour cream

Brown chicken in oil then sautĂ© onions and peppers.  Rinse beans.  Add all ingredients together and simmer ~one hour.
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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Easy No-Knead Bread




I love bread and I love easy.  So this was a recipe I just had to try.  I’m actually one of the rare people left in the world who still uses a bread machine (no I don’t watch movies on a VCR anymore, in case you’re curious) but this recipe is super-easy.  You can use all purpose white flour too if you like.  This requires almost no handling and the way you bake it in a covered pot makes the crust crisp and chewy.


No-Knead Bread
Printable recipe

1½ cups white bread flour, plus more for dusting
1½ cups whole wheat bread flour
¼ tsp instant or regular active dry yeast
1½ tsp salt
1½ cups warm water
2 Tbl honey



In a large bowl stir together the flour, yeast and salt. Stir honey into warm water and add to flour mixture, stirring until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and let it rest on the countertop for 18-24 hours at room temperature.

The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice.  Roughly shape into a ball, putting dough seam side down on board and dust with more flour. Cover completely with a cotton towel and let it sit for another hour or two.

While the bread is resting, preheat the oven to 450°. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, remove pot from oven. Carefully lift and flip the dough over into the pot; it may look like a mess, but that’s OK. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes, until it’s nice and golden. Eat up!




Because I love it when bloggers take step-by-step photos when they post recipes, I did too.  But I was laughing at myself the whole time.  I wish you could have seen me trying to be all professional.



You can’t handle this dough too much because is it very ‘loose’ and sticky.


I didn’t have a cast iron pot but a heavy-bottomed soup pot with a lid worked really well.  No sticking either!



I love how Jeff put a piece of cheese on the breadboard for this picture.  We are very European.  J'adore le pain!

*Coming soon - a recipe for White Chicken Chili Soup that goes great with this bread!
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Saturday, March 10, 2012

I am like this… except when I’m not

If you know me very well, you might know that I am not a hoarder or a saver or much of a collector.  I like simplicity.  I like clean and clear.  I am not sentimental about stuff.  My mom was the same way (only more OCD) so I come by this naturally.  

It wouldn’t be at all unusual for for me to throw away batteries in the drawer without checking to see if they still had any juice.  Or to dump a handful of old pens – you only really need one or two, right? 

OKAY, I can hear all of you savers gasping at my wastefulness.  I’ll admit that I may have thrown something away only to find the next day that I need that very thing.  Maybe even more than once.  Ask my husband.  But the happiness I get from a clean, organized drawer outweighs my need to go purchase a new bottle of glue now and then.

A happy day for me is cleaning out a closet or drawer.  I delight in getting rid of things.  You get the picture. 

But for every rule there is an exception.  I have a couple.

I can’t seem to get rid of cardboard boxes.  I don’t know why this is true but it is.  Maybe it’s because you can’t easily go out and find just the right size you need to mail something. 

The other exception is my bathrobe.  My old, ratty robe that I know looks terrible but that I cannot part with. 
Does it flatter me as I lounge in the morning sipping my coffee?  NO.  It is too big and pretty shapeless. 
Is it especially warm and cozy?  NO.  It’s actually made of very thin cotton.



Is it a lovely shade of blue or green or a pretty pattern?  NOPE.  It is pale pink – not my color at all.


Has it held up over the years, refusing to wear out?  NO again.  It has holes, tears and worn spots.

My concerned family has given me new robes that are cute, cozy and look good with all my sleepwear.  It’s not that I don’t have an alternative.

So why am hanging onto these rags?  Anyone?
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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Another Book List

I hope you like a good book suggestion!  Here are a few...


Same Kind Of Different As Me
by Ron Hall & Denver Moore
I read this when it first came out and loved it.  It's a true story that's easy to read and far too easy to relate to.



Hannah Coulter
by Wendall Berry
This author has a very unique writing style - it's almost poetic prose.  There is not a gripping plot but you are drawn into the lives of these characters through the their history, deep feelings and relationships.  I first heard of this author via Beth Moore.



Left To Tell
by Immaculée Ilibagiza
An amazing triumph over horrendous circumstances as the author endured and survived the holocaust in Rwanda.  I think it's important for me to know this was reality for so many.



Love You More
by Jennifer Grant
This is a wonderful book about the real-life stuff of adopting internationally.
I highly recommend it!



These Is My Words
by Nancy Turner
The first in a fiction series about a young pioneer girl - with love, adventure and really good writing.


On my 'to be read' list:

The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton

Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption




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