She wants a dog

The Girl dog-sat for our neighbors on Thanksgiving weekend.  

It included taking them out for walks one at a time - they have two Blue Heelers. 

 She took Bubbie with her and I trailed along, out of breath!

This is Allie, the oldest.  She loves tummy rubs and The Girl.

 "Mom, I reaaaally want a dog!", she says, every time she dog-sits.  I remind her that she has a lot to accomplish before she graduates college. She's just now learning to fend for herself and live on her own.

 I know she would love it and take care of it.

It would be a good companion and protector.  I know.
She makes some good points for it.

So I hope she will wait until after graduation. 

Gina

Walnut Raisin Pie

I wrote down this recipe more than 26 years ago, even before I was married.  I was working in the Stationery and Books department at Foley's - obviously I was a hard worker - spending time copying recipes out of the cookbooks.  I might have only made this recipe a couple of times in all those years.  It's something Hubby and I enjoy.  The kids, not so much.  

I think it smells and tastes just like Christmas!

Walnut Raisin Pie

3 eggs

2/3 c. sugar

1/2 t. salt

1 t. apple pie spice (or use a combo of nutmeg, cinnamon, ground cloves)

1 c. light or dark corn syrup

1/3 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts

1/2 c. raisins*

 and a ready-made pie crust!

*Soak your raisins in a little hot water for 10-15 minutes to soften them up!

Heat the oven to 350.  Prepare your pastry OR just pat a ready-made one into your buttered pie plate.  Beat the eggs, sugar, salt, spices, syrup, and butter with a mixer til blended.  Stir in the raisins and nuts.  Pour into crust and bake 40-50 minutes or until filling is set.  Cool and serve.

For some reason, I felt a little blue around the edges the day I made this - when that happens, it helps to throw the back door open to let a breeze into the  kitchen and bake something wonderful!

Gina

Our cards arrived...

Our cards arrived from Shutterfly.  This year I am not as jazzed about them as I was last year:

For one thing, the colors seem extreme in the photos and the contrast is really high.  The pics don't look that way on my computer.  And I wish I had given more thought to that whole black and red theme.  One of the reds looks a tad orange-y.  I picked a style that is just a card - not folded.  We can all sign the back, so that's OK.  Hmmm...I think next year I will get one big group shot.   

And I will pick a more traditional card design and colors. 

******

For now, I am getting them signed by everyone so they can be in the mail next week. 

Bourbon Orange pecan pie

This is one of the pies we served at Thanksgiving - the flavors were so good and it smelled amazing warm from the oven.  Enjoy with a cup of coffee!

Bourbon and Orange Pecan Pie
(from Real Simple magazine, Nov. 2009)
1 ready-made piecrust
1 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. light brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
3 eggs
2 T bourbon (or use 1 t. vanilla extract)
1/2 grated orange zest
1/2 t. salt
2 c. pecan halves

Pre-heat the oven to 350 after setting the oven rack to the lowest position.  

Place pie crust in buttered pie plate and crimp along the edges.

Whisk together corn syrup, sugar. butter, eggs, bourbon, orange zest, and salt.

Stir in the pecans and pour into the crust.

Scape the bowl with a spatula to get all of the goo!

Bake 50-55 minutes and let cool before slicing and serving.

Admire your pie before everyone digs in! 

You can even pose with it and show your mom your beautiful smile. 

Gina

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Christmas cards 2011

Cheesey smiles and all!

  

  

  

  

Somehow, out of all of the photos we took, we got a few for the Christmas card.  

Gina

Liquid gold

I'll have a great start the Thanksgiving with some homemade stock

I bought a couple of turkey wings and plopped them into the crockpot with a little water, some garlic salt, and some rosemary.  Underneath them I tucked some odds and ends of celery and some carrots.

After they cooked most of the day I strained the liquid into my Pyrex measuring cup and set it in the freezer to set up the fat that rose to the top.  I chopped the turkey and bagged it to make yummy turkey pot pie or turkey a la king for another meal.  

This cup of concentrated and seasoned stock is what I ended up with - about 1 1/4 cups for some tasty Thanksgiving gravy.  I just scraped the fat off - it comes off easily - and spooned it into a mason jar for storage in the freezer. 

Liquid gold!

It's jelly-like but will liquify when I heat it up to make gravy.  We like to brine our bird and sometimes it makes the drippings a bit  too salty to use.  So, just in case, I will pull out this secret weapon.  And if I don't use it for gravy, it makes an awesome base for delicious soup.

Gina

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Picadillo

I am always on the lookout for great new recipes for my collection and found this one recently at Frugal Follies.  It's got some interesting ingredients and sounded promising so I gave it a try.

Picadillo

2 T canola oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb. ground beef

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 small green olives with pimentos - I used the salad ones which are already sliced

1/4 cup raisins

2 t. chili powder

1 t. cumin

1/4 t. cinnamon

Rice

In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the onion; saute 2-3 minutes.  Add the green pepper (I didn't have any, so I left it out) and saute another 2-3 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute 1 minute more.  Remove veggies to a bowl and set aside.  Add beef to the pan and cook until it is no longer pink.  Add veggies back to the pan.

 

Add the tomatoes, olives, raisins, and spices, and turn heat to high until the sauce is boiling.  Lower heat and cover, simmering 15 minutes or so while you make the rice.  Serve over rice.  Serves 4-6.

I served it with steamed carrots and it flat out disappeared.  Hubby kept saying it was very good and so unusual - sweet from the raisin, salty from the olives.  Perfect for Fall weather with the flavors of cinnamon and cumin.  I will definitely file this one for future reference!

Gina

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