Susiej

This summer, our hill at the lake will be used in yet another ingenious way: to make ice cream for our root beer floats. I was tempted to buy the traditional ice cream maker, but there are so many choices; I quickly became overwhelmed looking at all the bells and whistles. And besides, I have all that boy power just dying to get put to use. Plus, the process of making ice cream by hand… literally…. in the can… is is a great way to introduce some lessons in science. There is the ice cream in a bag method; my boys would surely break the bag in the mixing process. So, I’ve decided to go with the ice cream in a can method.

1. The first challenge is finding the can. Many recipes suggest using a coffee can, but who buys coffee in a can anymore? A better idea is to ask for an empty paint can from the paint store. You’ll need two: A quart, and a gallon.
2. Ask your kids to tell you the freezing point of water — or teach them — 32 degrees F, or 0 Celcius. Then, ask them what happens when we put salt on icy sidewalks. Ask them to start thinking about why we need salt to make ice cream.
3. In the small, clean can, add one cup of milk or half and half, one cup of sugar, and one teaspoon of vanilla.
4. Optional: add one tablespoon of chocolate syrup — or frozen strawberries.
5. Use a hammer to seal the lid tightly.
6. In the larger can, combine the ice and rock salt. Use a thermometer to record the temperature of the rock and salt mixture.
7. Use hammer again to seal the lid tightly.
8. Take turns rolling the can down the hill, for about five minutes. This will “solidify” the ice cream.
9. Explain what’s happening: the ice melts and combines with the salt. This “brine” has a lower freezing point — lower than 32 degrees.
10. After five minutes of rolling, open the large can, and take the temperature of the ice. It will be colder than it was the first time.
11. Open the smaller can. The colder brine was able to get the milk mixture cold enough to freeze to a solid, to create ice cream.
12. You know you’re going to have to whip up another batch right now; the fun was really rolling the can down the hill.
13. An instant way to eliminate the ice cream headache is to put your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Teaching a toddler how to do this is something you won’t soon forget.

Pictures to come…
Thursday Thirteen

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I found this recipe in the same folder where Grandma kept her marshmallow recipe. Her method involves whipping the custard into the whipped cream, and the result is heavenly. I omit the coconut but, I left it listed in the ingredients, as you may like it.

You may think this recipe looks complicated, with all its ingredients and steps. Let me assure you this: the more times you make this recipe, the easier and simpler it gets. So, my advice to you is to keep making this pie over and over again. (As quickly as this pie disappears, you may want to make one each day anyway.) Soon, you’ll have this recipe mastered, and you’ll be able to fly through this in no time at all. You’ll be amazed.

Recipe

Crust:

• 1 cup chopped unsalted macadamia or cashew nuts
• 1/2 cup flaked unsweetened coconut
• 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 egg white

Custard Filling:

• 3 egg yolks
• 5 teaspoons cornstarch
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
• 2 bananas
• 1/2 cup finely chopped macadamia or cashew nuts

1. Prepare the crust: Combine the macadamia nuts, coconut, and brown sugar in a medium-size bowl.
   Beat the egg white until stiff, and gently fold it into the nut mixture.
2. Press the mixture evenly into an 8-inch pie plate, making sure the sides are thickish (the crust will shrink while baking). Bake until the crust is lightly browned, 7 minutes.
3. Remove the pie plate from the oven and let it cool on a rack. (The crust will tighten as it cools.)
4. Prepare the custard: Beat the egg yolks in a heavy medium-size saucepan. Add the cornstarch and sugar, and mix well. Then stir in the milk, salt, and butter.
5. Cook the egg mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is bubbling and thick, 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Transfer the mixture to a glass bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.
7. Whip the cream with an electric mixer until it forms stiff peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled custard.
8. Peel and slice 1 of the bananas, and arrange it evenly on the bottom of the reserved crust. Spoon the filling into the crust, cover with plastic wrap, and chill for another 2 hours.
9. When you are ready to serve the pie, sprinkle the chopped nuts evenly over the top. Then peel and slice the remaining banana, and arrange the slices in a circle on top of the pie, with a few slices placed decoratively in the center. Serve immediately.

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Not only am I sharing a recipe for fair-style lemon-shake-ups, but I’ve also created a “system” to have the ingredients ready in your refrigerator, so you can make a lemon shake-up on demand, whenever the whim strikes you; or the kids. The secret to making lemon shake-ups at home lies in knowing the magic ratio: here it is:

Lemon Syrup: For every 1/2 lemon, add 1/2 cup of water to 1/4 cup of sugar.

Each Lemon Shake Up Needs 3-4 Tablespoons of Lemon Syrup.

Once you know the ratio, you can expand the recipe to serve a party, or keep a batch stored, ready to go, in your fridge. Here’s the method.

1. Wash and scrub fresh lemons.
2. Make simple syrup by boiling sugar and water for 5 minutes.
3. Let syrup cool.
4. Microwave lemons for about 5 seconds, to warm-up the lemon so that the juices will come out easily.
5. Cut lemon in half, and squeeze the juice. Rachel Ray swears by holding the cut side of the lemon up, and squeezing with your hand, and the seeds won’t drop into the bowl. I prefer to use my simple lemon-juicer tool — it pulls out lots of juice, catches the seeds, and the pulp, before it ever hits the bowl. It’s metal, and sturdy-enough for a kid to use.
6. Strain lemon juice to eliminate the pulp — if any.
7. Once the syrup is cool, add the freshly-squeezed lemon juice to the syrup.
8. Cover and refrigerate.
9. When you’re ready for your Lemon Shake Up, fill glasses with ice water. (Or fair-style paper cups, if you really want to be authentic.)
10. Add two tablespoons of the lemon syrup to each glass.
11. Stir vigorously, or find a way to cover the glass and shake.
12. Scrub a fresh lemon, and cut lemon into slices.
13. Add lemon slices to the top of each glass, or use a greater to add fresh lemon peel.

Also, do you cook or non-cook your strawberry jam? I cook, and I explain why, here.
Thursday 13

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It happens. A recipe calls for simply the yolks of the eggs, and has listed no alternative use for the whites. I know, you probably pour the whites in Tupperware, expecting to use them in the near future. But, you forget, and they are forever discarded.

• Instead of casting them away to die as leftovers in your fridge, toss them in your mixing bowl immediately, and turn that baby on.
• Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
• With the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low-medium speed until foamy.
  Add 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar and continue to beat the whites until they hold soft peaks.
• Once the meringue is perky, and the whites have soft peaks, gradually add 1/4 cup (50 grams) of granulated white sugar for every egg white. Add it slowly, so the cookies won’t taste gritty.
• Add a dash of vanilla.
• Continue to mix for few more minutes.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Drop the meringue by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet.
• Pop the sheet in the oven and bake the meringue “cookies” for one 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours
• Let them cool for dessert tonight, or put them in an air-tight container for tomorrow night.

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Lately, five o-clock has been popping up everyday and I stand in bewilderment that it’s actually showed up, as if I didn’t expect it. I haven’t pulled a thing out of the freezer to cook for dinner, and nor do I plan to run to the store to get anything at the last minute. This reaction is called Mom’s Spring Fever. So, for the past two weeks, I’ve been scrambling to find something to put on the table in fifteen minutes.(Wendy, I promise, I will post about my life-saving gadget, the pressure cooker and why you should have one, but not today. I have spring fever.) But this meal doesn’t require a pressure cooker at all.

Here is one of my fifteen-minute meals:

1. Open, drain and rinse a can of garbanzo beans. (Truly, any bean you have an hand will work. So don’t feel limited.)
2. Squirt fresh lemon juice, salt and extra virgin olive oil all over the beans.
3. Look around the spice cabinet, or my own garden to see if there are any appropriate herbs. Luckily I have some basil and chives growing in my garden, and fresh parsley in the refrigerator.
4. Wash and cut herbs and throw on top of garbanzo beans.
5. Yippee. I found some sun-dried tomato pesto in a jar, so I add that.
6. Stir bean mixture.
7. Pesto reminds me of Parmesan cheese, so I use a vegetable peeler to throw in cheese shavings on top of the beans.
8. The kids probably won’t like this, so I start to boil some water to cook some pasta.
9. Boil some soybeans as insurance. Soybeans are a full protein, so I figure if all the kids eat is soybeans and pasta, I’m covered.
10. Drain pasta and reserve some for the kids. Pour the rest over the bean mixture and stir.
11. Cover cooked, reserved, plain pasta with extra virgin olive oil and more Parmesan cheese. Extra Virgin Olive Oil has vitamin E, and I’m sure my kids need some of that.
12. The kids devour the pasta and soybeans, and reluctantly try the bean.
13. This is great… leaves more garbanzos for us.

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A story to pass on to the Grandchildren: So, Daddy was driving down an old country road, driving about 60 mph, (minus 55), and Mommy was looking out the window, and she yelled, “Stop, I see one!” Once the car stops, she jumps out of the car to retrieve her treasure.

You can’t see it? It’s right there! A wild snakehead mushroom. Never in my life, nor have I met anyone, who spotted a wild snakehead mushroom from the inside of a moving car. It’s almost as if a fairy told me where to look, and when.

Thinking we had hit the mother-load, we pulled over and started looking for the mushroom’s twin. (They always grow in pairs.) Earlier that morning Daddy found a morel (grey sponge) mushroom at the city park during lacrosse practice. With that one mushroom as our motivation, we headed out of town to the woods to find more.

Snakeheads are usually early, so there is probably still be more to come over the next few weeks. We need rain. (Do I sound like a farmer?)

It’s was almost as if the mushrooms heard us making so much noise, so they tucked back under ground.

I stood in one spot, saw fresh deer tracks, wild roses, earth moist from a creek, and a hill. Here, I had all of the trappings for a big mess of mushrooms. But not one was in sight. But I could smell them.

We found only a few more snakeheads, after a couple of hours searching in the woods. A disappointment, as my sons have now acquired a taste for this exotic delicacy, and there were just a few to share. (I only ate 1 before they were all snatched up!) We took a cell phone picture of our mushroom find for the day and sent it to my brother. His one-word text response was simply, “Where?”

See more Best Shot Monday’s at Mother May I.

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Gooey & Sweet — Chocolate-Covered Bananas, less than 100 calories each

Big snack manufacturers are trying to help us out with our weight-loss programs and diets with pre-packed 100-calorie snack bags. But have you tried them? They taste like Styrofoam. And, look how tiny the bag is! You’re left with your hand in an empty bag, wondering what happened to the loot, feeling sooooo hungry!

A good snack meets your needs on several textural and sensational levels. You’re not looking for a measly 100 calories, you’re looking for an experience. Maybe it’s creamy, crunchy, refreshing, salty and or even sweet. You don’t want dry, crunchy Styrofoam. Here’s a list of 13 snacks that will meet your taste sensation requirements, and still are under 100 calories. Enjoy:

1. Chocolate-covered banana. Cut banana in half, dip in low-fat chocolate syrup, and freeze. The kid in you will like it when you stick a Popsicle stick on one end.
2. Goat cheese on two slices of Melba toast.
3. Dill Pickle
4. 3/4 oz. pretzels dipped in Dijon mustard
5. 1 baked Sweet potato
6. 7 Gumdrops
7. 1 marshmallow. Just one.
8. 1 slice of watermelon
9. 1 cup of frozen grapes… delicious in the summer.
10. Feta cheese and 1 peach
11. 1 slice of whole-grain bread
12. Flavored herbal tea. Read more about how tea can help you to loose weight here.
13. Cucumber slices dipped in low-fat yogurt seasoned with dill, salt, pepper and thyme.

Life can be so simple sometimes. OK. now tell me your favorite, because I’ve got all these boys that will be home from school all summer, and I have to feed them all day!

Also, if you’re looking for a way to keep the kids occupied in the car, or during summer vacation, get your own free download of the award-winning audio adventure “Billy Brown And The Mystery Package.” Read more about Billy Brown, here.

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Photo from ShowBizSpy

When I look at Nigella Lawson, I think, “how can I put on some extra pounds and get the fat to go in exactly the right places so that I can look as voluptuous as Nigella?” I wouldn’t hesitate to eat fried bacon sandwiches, snickerdoodles and Carmel sundaes everyday if I knew the pounds would miraculously pad my breasts to give me that elusive cleavage I’ve never managed to grow. Sadly, as my past pregnancies have indicated, my extra pounds fill in that most unattractive spot, right above my backside, and stay there, forever hiding that elusive feminine hourglass shape.

She’s adored by men and women alike (is it because she’s NOT thin that we don’t hate her), glorified the-everyday-kind-of-food that we all love to eat, and has authored brilliant books like, How to Eat. (A necessary read for all members of the human race who plan to survive.) Millions of people watch Nigella Lawson cook on the food network, just to watch her, not because they want to learn how to cook. Yet, in another move of the media’s anorexic-laden attraction, there’s a rumor from the New York Post that the Food Network Channel directors are trying to get their cameras to show less of Nigella Lawson’s voluptuous backside. They’re concerned that people don’t think fat is beautiful. Message to the Food Network Directors: Your audience recognizes passion and beauty. We’re starving for it. Perfection is impervious to the very elements you’re trying to hide.

Do I see beauty in Nigella because she’s not afraid to combine the words domestic and goddess in the same sentence? Ahhh, the freedom that combination brings. (Sure, this does involve large doses of chocolate: How to Be a Domestic Goddess.)

When I look into her eyes, I see not just joy… but pleasure. I can’t help but think of her tragedies: Her mother died in her 30s from cancer. Her sister died of breast cancer. And her husband, John Diamond, died of cancer.

Yet, she smiles. She knows what my former neighbor Margie knows. Margie, with her gray hair, always stylishly cut, used to say, “Don’t you just love normal days when nothing happens?” Those days are free of tragedy. Never a drama queen be. Nigella says it perfectly, in her own words:

“I suppose I do think that awful things can happen at any moment, so while they are not happening you may as well be pleased.”

So, eat up.

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No, this is not the scene of a fancy restaurant. This is my kitchen. The everyday place where I feed four lovely boys each and every day. White…well, yeah, I admit this is a little nuts.

Deep in my heart, I know that white is not a color to fall in love with, if you are raising boys. But I can’t help myself. It looks so clean; so crisp; and so nice. It started out well…

I’ve even placed butcher block paper on top just to keep it nice.

This opened up a whole new world of possibilities for their creativity. However, twenty minutes into breakfast, my whole plan fell apart. I went back to my red one-that-hides-all-the-dirt. And life, is back to normal.

Just another one of those crazy dreams I have. More Best Shot Mondays, here.

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I made my first Guinness Cake 3 years ago for my husband, brother and Father. My brother and I visited our Dad in Detroit, and the cake never quite made it. I ate it all myself. I can be wicked sometimes… but really, some things are just too good to share.

My Irish friend made me my first Irish Guinness cake after my third son was born. I had given birth naturally, and this cake, she said, was the perfect food to help a nursing Mom get her strength back. In Ireland, when you give blood, and after certain surgeries, Guinness is offered, because of its high iron content. Guinness is also bursting with B vitamins, flavonoids (antioxidants) that are better than vitamins C and E keeping bad LDL cholesterol from clogging arteries. A study at the University of Wisconsin Coronary Thrombosis Research and Vascular Biology Laboratory found that Guinness proved to be about twice as effective at preventing the blood platelets from clumping and forming the kind of clot that can cause a heart attack. So, with this news, this makes a Guinness Cake healthier than my non-white flour snickerdoodles.

At 4.2 percent, Guinness is lower in alcohol than most beers, matching Coors Light. Guinness is also lower in carbohydrates and calories than most beers, low-fat milk and orange juice. I drank some of this rich dark stout straight from the tap in Irish pubs, and never once considered this thick beer light, but so it is. So, indulge yourself in this “healthy” recipe for Irish Guinness cake. I’m making one today… I promise to share…. maybe I better double this recipe.

• 8 oz soft butter
• 8 oz soft brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 10 oz plain flour
• 2 level teaspoon mixed spice (think pumpkin pie spices)
• 8 oz raisins
• 8 oz golden raisins
• 8 oz walnuts
• 1 bottle of Guinness

1. Pour just enough Guinness over dried fruit to cover. Let soak overnight. (f you’re really thirsty hungry, skip this step, and just move on.)
2. Cut a piece of parchment paper to line the sides and bottom of an 7″ pan.
3. Preheat over to 325 degrees.
4. Cream butter and sugar.
5. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time.
6. Fold in the flour and mixed spice. (Do this by hand.)
7. Drain fruit, reserving the beer, and add fruit and walnuts to the mix, folding in throughly.
8. Stir in 4 tablespoons of Guinness and mix to a soft dropping consistency (you may need to add more Guinness if not soft enough).
9. Turn into prepared 7 inch tin. Bake 325f for 1 hour and then reduce heat to 300f and cook for another 1.5 hours.
10. Allow cake to cool in pan.
11. Remove cake from pan and prick base.
12. This is my favorite part… Spoon remaining Guinness over the cake every hour or so.
13. Store the cake for a week before cutting. Yeah… right!

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