Monday, 12/3/2018 What's Cookin'

[annrms]

Morning!!!

[annrms]

Howdy! There's pea soup fog out there today. DH is going hunting later today...closer to home. Hope to get the car back today from the shop; will be glad to return the rental...so stinky inside from a smoker or worse!!! LOL
I was busy yesterday making stollen. I use the "Stollen Loaves" recipe on TOH. It's easy, but takes about 4 hours.
Birdy - I use the Japanese Seven Spice (Shichimi Togorashi). I really like it sprinkled on brown basmati rice. I also use the Tandoori seasoning...on freshly made popcorn!!! And I love harissa. I made sweet potato fritters using it a few weeks ago. www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/harissa-sweet-potato-fritters/
Just wanted to say hi; will be back later. Waving!

[nancycooksnj]

Good morning friends.



Thanks for starting us off Ann. The fritters look good.


Sunny and warm here today. I got up during the night to open a window as I was hot. Tomorrow we head back down into the 30's. 


Fettuccini Alfredo with garlic bread for dinner tonight.


Made my gingerbread dough for cookies yesterday.


Enjoy your day.


Nancy

[Tasty]

Good morning. 

Yesterday our temperature made it up over 50F but this morning it is heading back down and is quite windy.  However the forecast for the week shows sun most days and temperatures of between 27 and 34 so not bad.

Your fettuccine sounds wonderful Nancy but that is definitely not on the approved list for me any more 😔.    Ann, I have made regular stollen many times, love the flavour so I checked out the stollen loaves you made yesterday.  They look great - may have to try them (probably try half a recipe using the bread machine right now).  I'm sure you will be happy to get rid of the rental car and have your own vehicle back.

The only thing I have planned for today is a visit to our family doctor.  Other than that, will just take it as it comes.

Wishing you all a marvellous Monday 🙋

[marjo]

Looks like we are through with this snow for now. I just have been sipping on coffee and watching the deer in my yard. Sat. night seen 7 take off to cross the creek here. Had to nice bucks last night eating grain that was spilled from loading the bin here. Fun to watch the critters!

Had a naughty kitty that played in a potted plant I had on end table. Made a mess of things!! So one clean up for morning.

Going to make filling for Chocolate covered cherries. I had some cherries w/stems so will do a batch and get the container out of my fridge. Have not done them in awhile. Have the butter getting soft right now. I am suppose to go get blood work but not going today. Wait until the roads are cleaned off. Will try to call later. They open up early but were not there when I called.

Need another cup of coffee!!

Marlene

[nybirder]

Ann--thanks for the suggestions for using the spice mixes I bought. The Sweet Potato Fritters sound good--I have a potato on hand. Two questions. How hot are they made by the recipe? I will have leftovers. Do you think they'd reheat OK? I like the suggestion of using the waffle iron--did you get a chance to try it? The Japanese seasoning on brown rice sounds good, too.

The Stollen Loaves look good. Quite a lot easier than forming the fold-over loaves. I would probably do 1/4 of the recipe just for myself and knead it in my Zojirushi Mini bread machine. An 8x4" loaf is just enough for me. My mother always made a stollen for Christmas. If I end up making the Mini 3-Ingredient Fruitcake, I will be set for the season!

The sun was shining briefly earlier this morning but now it is gone. More rain coming. Oh, goody. At least it isn't freezing. Like Ann, we had fog overnight but it cleared up pretty fast at sunrise. No doubt it was from the warm air over the snow on the ground. We only got up to 40 yesterday despite the prediction of low 50's.

Mmmm . . . Marlene, you tempt me. I love the combination of chocolate and cherries. One of my Christmas presents every year in my stocking was a box of those cherry cordials.

Tasty--I'm assuming it's the fat content of the alfredo that's the problem? I'm going to post a low-fat cream sauce recipe using ricotta as soon as I can find it. It can be used for quite a few faux recipes using cream--it's pretty decent.

Chris--your weekend sounds fantastic. Nice that your non-profit will be the next to profit next year. What a great idea for a fundraiser.

Time to get moving--I'm burning daylight here. Have a good day, all.

Birdy

[cfniervt]

Good morning friends.
A bit "warmer" this morning for us. I have to make a trip about an hour away so will get lunch somewhere out there.

Ann- Thanks for getting us up and awake this morning! We had the fog last night. Good luck to DH on hunting today. Hope he gets something!

Nancy- I should have been down with you yesterday! LOL The freezing rain turned to just rain around 10sm and was just rain the rest of the day. Did not get below freezing last night so no ice at least. We will see as I have to go over the Green Mountains today.

Tasty- Can you do gluten free noodles? I like Stollen but have made it myself.

Marlene- I love when the wildlife comes through our yard. right now we have a Peacock running with the flock of turkeys. Looks funny but maybe not to him. he got out on a person a mile up the road and she has tried to lure him back with no luck so far. He has been with the turkeys for about 6 weeks now. Even the wildlife service has tried.

Hope everyone has a great day, Chris (HC queen of the Frozen North)

[cfniervt]

Hey Birdy- We were typing at the same time- I like the sound of your smaller bread-maker! I would like that for Dan and I. I will have to look for one. My son wants my big one. I am giving him my big Kitchenaid and getting a smaller one too.

Chris

[weebill]

Good morning. Sue and I got the clubhouse all decorated for Christmas. A couple of guys put up the tree. We decorated it. The fireplace and tables look so pretty with all the poinsettias on them.

It will soon be time to walk Jack. His owner tested me at 6:10 this morning so I know he was out then. He does love his kennel as he gets a treat every time he goes in there.

Birdy-I have never heard of any of those spices. I just use regular spice rack stuff. They sure sound good though.

Ann- thanks for starting us. I have never made swollen before as it is time consuming.

Chris- the peacock thinks he's a turkey.Lol

MARLENE-at least he didn't use it as a litter x. The cats around here are using the flower pots.grrr.

Tasty- when are you going to your mom's?

I better get going if I am going to be home for Louies shot.
ELAINE

[nybirder]

Chris

The Zo Mini BB-HAC10 makes a 1-lb. loaf. It's not cheap but it does a really good job and has a small counter footprint. King Arthur uses the Zo brand in their kitchens--exclusively, I think--and that make is noted for doing a really good job of kneading. They've published recipes suitable for the machines. I have a number of recipes that work well in the mini. I also found a nice bread-slicing guide on Amazon that fits the mini Zo loaf perfectly--and you can set it to slice really thin if you want to. 

Not many programs on it (like gluten free, etc.) but I'm not used to a machine that has them, anyway. It even has a carry handle for moving it around for storage. The settings are for basic bread (regular, firm, soft), French, dough, cookie/pasta dough, cake, jam and quick bread.

There's a new Zo mini out called the Maestro which is about $100 more. I'm not familiar with it and don't know why it's so much more expensive. (Just looked it up--many special bread settings, you can make pasta dough, and it has three user programmable settings.)

I've been away from bread making but am getting the itch to get back to it. A while back, I was experimenting with making breads in the Mini starting with overnight sponges or poolish. The bread was sooooo good. I'm not sure why I haven't done it lately.

Elaine--being able to use the dough cycle on the bread machine speeds up stollen a lot. I've never seen those spice mixes locally before. Who knew that you could find them at Walmart?!

Birdy

[tamaralynn]

Good Morning !

I went to bed early and slept in, so I feel great. The closing got moved to Tuesday so I have today to work on the house. DH wants me to get the rest of my things out of the casita so he can clean and see if any repairs need to be made. He had a dr appointment this morning. Later today we will need to go into town to return (1) the rent U-Haul and (2) the rent car.

Tasty, the 2 sisters did not want any furniture. We paid the estate for it since what we got was worth much more than anything the sisters took. The living room is really full now over there, but there is still room to get around. I have 2 couches and 2 recliners, plus a glider rocker. There is not really room for the rocker, and it is just sitting in front of the fireplace so eventually will need to be moved.

We ended up leaving the dryer in the house since it was a gas dryer and we can only use electric. The new owners said it was ok to leave it there. DH searched for a used dryer online and found one. We are picking it up later today I think. A busy day of running is in store!

I tried to be friendly with that new owner but he would have none of it. As we left I wished him well and said we had made wonderful memories in the house. He did not speak or acknowledge me! I did say a prayer for him- he needs a better attitude!

How nice for you Chris to be on the receiving end of the tour next year! It is a tour I would love!

I was supposed to go to Houston tomorrow for a cleaning at the dentist. When I rescheduled I could only get in January 28th. Business must be booming.

I am soaking some pinto beans so we'll be feasting on beans and cornbread tonight. I bought a ham steak as I did not see any hocks.

That's funny-a peacock running with the turkeys, lol.

I really have to get something made for the coffee shop. I am thinking about a pan of fudge, and some brownies. I think I have all the ingredients. I also need to change out the fall decorations and put in Christmas.

Wishing everyone a fine day!

[tamaralynn]

Hi again,

DH just got back from the doctor and his numbers were wonderful. The dr was happy. Guess this new diet is paying off.

DH was gone so long that he is skipping lunch today. He has a new employee starting and also there is a new arrival who needs help getting her rig parked, so lots going on for him. I will cook a tv dinner for my lunch.

I just unloaded the trunk of the car that had stuff in it that we brought back from MIL's. Oh, yesterday I discovered that the recliner they left in the house has HEAT and MASSAGE feature!! Hooray. It's wonderful. DH and I may fight over who gets that chair!

I got to put the new sheets and bedspread on the bed. They left a sleep number bed in the MB. We both laid down and it seems to work, and is comfortable.

We are not 100% sure when we will actually move in.

Brownies are in the oven now, and I have most of what I need to make a pan of white chocolate caramel fudge. Just have to track down some white chips.

[Jan in BC]

Good morning. (Still morning here).
Ann, thanks for startng us. That stollen looks good. I would probably cut the recipe down too.
Nancy, i don't think i'll be opening any windows for a while. I hope to get my shortbread done tomorrow.
Tasty, hope you get a good report from your dr. I can tell from your posts that you are trying to take it easy.
Marjo, tha fudge recipe you posted looks good. I don't eat that myself, but know plenty of folks who would devour it.
Birdy, my b/machine makes 3 sizes, but i usually use the 1 lb. and make it more often.
Chris, that tour you did last weekend sure sounded like fun. All that yummy food.
Elaine, that's a lot of work decorating. Glad you had help and the end results were very pleasing to you.
Tammy,how nice that you've been able to move so much of your belongings into the house. You'll be able to celebrate Christmas there.
Supper tonight will be salmon, pasta with alfredo sauce. Jan.

[cooktocook]

Hello friends.  Today is National Apple Pie Day.  Although I like apple pie and it would be enjoyed any day of the year, seems that would have been a better celebration for maybe September, Johnny Appleseed's birthday.

No work today, but I will be working the remaining days this week.  Began my day by going over to the library to renew my card.  Picked up a few cookbooks while there as mine are still in storage.  Came home and washed and ironed some clothes, vacuumed the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, and just sitting down for a quick break.

Tasty, hope you got some good news today when you went to the doctor.

Chris, how wonderful it is that next yer your non-profit will get to benefit from the fundraiser.

Ann, thanks for starting us off this morning.

Will be making something new for dinner tonight, Pan-Roasted Steak Pasta with Pecans (Publix).  It is one of their Aprons recipes that they made in-store the last few weeks.  Tasted good that day, so I'll try my hand at it.

Enjoy your day.

Lori

[marjo]

Just finished dunking 78 cherries. Glad they are done. I also cut 9x13 pan of fudge it was easy to make but too much of it!!

Just not into the candies at all. Don't think will get any more done for the day. My back is shot for now.

Red went outside and is going back to sleep again. Isn't that the life!!

It has been flickering snow on and off today without any accumulation. We have plenty for now!

Will be so glad to get my washer back again!! Or should say running!

Marlene