Lime-Glazed Cookies

Man, this is a busy time of year. Not much posting going on lately. I guess life takes priority and that is okay.



I love icing. I could take the icing and leave the cake sometimes. I love when brownies and cookies have icing. Here is a little cookie with a icing glaze. It is tart and sweet and zesty and most importantly, yummy!

Lime-Glazed Cookies

1 1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. finely grated lime zest (about 2 limes)
2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups flour
Lime Glaze (recipe below)

Beat butter and both sugars in a electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrap down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add lime zest and juice, and salt; beat until combined. Add flour; beat until just combined.
Turn out dough onto a large piece of waxed paper. Using your hands, shape the dough into an 8-inch log; flatten round log into a rectangle log about 1 1/2 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide. Flatten sides against work surface. Wrap and freeze or refrigerate until dough is firm- at least one hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place dough about 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cookies are puffed and barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cook completely. When cool spread with about 1 teaspoon Lime Glaze. Cookies should be eaten same day they are glazed.

Lime Glaze

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. finely greated lime zest

In a small bowl whisk all ingredients together until spreadable. Mine was a little thin and I had to add more powdered sugar. Make it the consistency you like for glaze. I prefer not runny but still pourable.

Two Easy Pasta Dishes

Lately I have had a hard time coming up with things to make for dinner. This is mainly due to lack of planning on my part. . Do you know how I feel? You are staring at the fridge thinking, "What can I make that the kids will eat, that the husband will like, and that will take 4 minutes from fridge to table?" The answer for us is pasta. The girls will eat anything that has "noodles" in it. Shawn is game as long as the sauce isn't red (yes I know, what the heck?), and pasta is fast! So here are a few recipes I have made lately. So yummy and very easy!

Pasta with Mushrooms



12 ounces of any short twisted pasta (I used rotini)
1 lb. white button mushrooms- trimmed and quartered
2 Tbs. butter
2 green onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper
2 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. fresh grated Parmesan, plus more for serving

In a large pot of salted water, cook the pasta until al dente; drain and return to pot. Set aside.
While pasta is cooking, melt 1 Tbs. butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add green onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes- until onion softens and garlic becomes aromatic.
Add mushrooms. Cook, stirring occassionally, until mushrooms are tender and begin to brown, 6-8 minutes.
Add chicken stock to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally until liquid is reduced by half, 2-4 minutes. Transfer mushroom mixture to pot with pasta. Add Parmesan and remaining Tbs. butter and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with more Parmesan grated on top.


Spaghetti with Lemon Zest and Chives



1 lb. spaghetti (I used angle hair pasta this time and it also worked well)
zest of 1 lemon
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 c. butter
2 Tbs. fresh chives
1 c. coarsely grated Ricotta or Parmesan
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook spaghetti until al dente. Grate zest into a large bowl. Add juice. Stir in butter, cut into small pieces, and cheese. Add drained pasta to lemon sauce and sprinkle with chives. Season with salt and pepper. Toss well, and serve.

A Tip from Grandma: Involve the Kids

I'm not sure if this is a tip or just more of a philosophy Grandma had. She felt like kids should be involved with the cooking. She always told me to bring it down to their level. Grandma was really good at this and even let the kids help with dipping chocolates, and making yeast breads. Stuff that needs to be precise, but she was always very patient.
So in that spirit, I decided to involve my girls in dinner last night. We made waffles. Yes, I know, I pulled out all the stops. They were both cheering "We love brinner, we love brinner"!
Now I can't say that I always want to or enjoy involving my kids in the kitchen. Sometimes I just want to be left alone in my little domain. But the waffle-making was really fun. They asked for waffles, then were so eager to help, and so excited that it just made the whole event great. I let them measure and stir, pick their toppings and pour them on. They are getting old enough that pretty soon we should delve into reading the recipe and let them do things with no help.
As you can see the evening was a big success, the waffles were great, and the girls even helped clean up the dishes. After all that is part of cooking, right?
Waffles

1 3/4 c. flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. oil

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture, set aside.
In another bowl beat eggs slightly. Add milk and oil. Add mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until combined. Batter will be lumpy.
Pour about 1 1/4 c. batter onto a hot, greased waffle iron. Close lid and bake according to manufacturer's directions. Makes about 6 6-inch waffles.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

We made these cookies on Halloween night. They were a big hit! Soft and chewy, and full of yummy flavor. I love the intense spice flavor. Along with the pumpkin and the chocolate, it is the perfect combination. We ate these cookies up instead of chewing on our nails while we watched Tremors.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 29-oz. can pumpkin
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
5 c. all purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

In a Kitchen-Aid mixer, combine pumpkin, sugars, oil, and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and baking soda. Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture and mix well.
Add vanilla and chocolate chips.
Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
After refrigerating and before you proceed, give the dough a good mixing. The chocolate chips have a tendency to sink to the bottom of the dough.
Drop by spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 13 minutes or until the center of the cookie is firm.
Cool on sheet for 2 minutes, the transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Eat with cold milk and enjoy!

Hawaiian Haystacks

First of all, let's just get this out there: I LOVE my book club! Not only is it made up of a group of fantastic women whom I love, but it is also great to get me thinking. As a stay-at-home-mom I sometimes feel that my brain ranges between a 20-watt bulb and a night-light. So to have actual discussions about moral, political, and social issues is so great.
We had a book club overnight retreat several weeks ago. We had a book exchange, did a little craftie(which by the way was super easy, cute, and fun, and would pretty up your kitchen! Go here to see what we did), ate way too much, and stayed up way too late. We ate Hawaiian haystacks. They were perfect. The meal was super-easy to prepare, it was easy to transport (we went to a cabin at Bear Lake), and everyone could tailor the meal to the tastes that best suited them.
Hawaiian Haystacks- serves 5-6 adults

Cooked rice– about 1 1/2 c. per person
2-3 c. cooked, shredded chicken
2 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of chicken broth
1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Onion powder
1 tsp. or 1 cube chicken bouillon flavoring
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, except rice, in a large pot. Stir well to combine. Heat over medium heat until hot, stirring often. This can also be done in a crock pot and left to warm all day. Serve sauce over hot rice with the following toppings:




Cheese
Tomatoes
Chinese noodles
Mandarin oranges
Pineapple tidbits
Edamame (green soy beans)
Water chestnuts
Slivered Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Celery
Green onions
Bell peppers
Coconut
Soy sauce
Whatever else sounds good to you!

So yummy and so easy! Hope you enjoy!

A tip from Grandma: Blanching Almonds

Oh man, does anyone else out there feel like they have a candy hangover from the weekend? I sure do. We partied hard all weekend long. Halloween was a blast. Between family visits, tiny ghouls and goblins, yummy food, late nights, and pseudo-scary movies I am worn out today!
So an easy post for the day.



Have you ever tried to find blanched almonds in the grocery store? I don't know about you but I have never been able to find them around here. And lots of recipes call for them, darn it. So here is a tip from grandma. Blanch your own almonds. She was such a smart lady!

Buy whole almonds with the skins still on. When you get them home, prepare a largish bowl with an ice bath. Set aside. Then on your stove, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Throw your almonds in the boiling water and let the water return to a boil. Boil almonds for 2 minutes. When time is up, drain almonds and immediately put them in the ice bath. Let them sit until cool enough to handle. This won't take long. Drain off the water. Put a couple of paper towels on a plate. Then just go to work squeezing those almond right out of their skins. If you squeeze in the large end of the almond the skins should pop right off. Easy as that! Then you can use them or freeze them. I would give you one warning: be prepared to be squirted in the eye with cold water. Those little guys spit at you every once in a while. It keeps things interesting.

Ladies Fingers or Man's Toes

I made these for the first time a couple of years ago and they were fantastic! They kind of creep me out, especially the crunchy fingernails, but are super-fun. This was my first experience with boiling dough and it was not hard at all. This step is what makes them nice and chewy, like pretzels. I hope you give them a try. They are spooktacular. :) Happy Halloween!

Ingredients
taken from Martha Stewart website.

Makes 4 dozen.

• Red or green food coloring (optional, for fingers)
• 24 blanched almonds, halved lengthwise
• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees), plus 3 quarts, plus 1 tablespoon
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast (1/4 ounce)
• Vegetable oil
• 5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 large egg
• Sea salt
• Fried rosemary (optional, for toes)

Directions

1. Place a small amount of food coloring, if using, in a shallow bowl, and, using a paintbrush, color the rounded side of each split almond; set aside to dry.
2. Pour 2 cups water into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment. Add sugar; stir to dissolve. Sprinkle with yeast, and let stand until yeast begins to bubble, about 5 minutes. Beat in 1 cup flour into yeast on low speed until combined. Beat in coarse salt; add 3 1/2 cups flour, and beat until combined. Continue beating until dough pulls away from bowl, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup flour. Beat 1 minute more. If dough is sticky, add up to 1 cup more flour. Transfer to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, 1 minute.
3. Coat a large bowl with cooking spray. Transfer dough to bowl, turning dough to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap; let rest in a warm spot to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 6-quart straight-sided saucepan over high heat; reduce to a simmer. Add baking soda. Lightly coat two baking sheets with cooking spray. Divide dough into quarters. Work with one quarter at a time, and cover remaining dough with plastic wrap. Divide first quarter into 12 pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each piece back and forth with your palm forming a long finger shape, about 3 to 4 inches. Pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. Or, to make toes, roll each piece so that it is slightly shorter and fatter, about 2 inches. Pinch in 1 place to form the knuckle. When 12 fingers or toes are formed, transfer to simmering water. Poach for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer fingers to the prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough, blanching each set of 12 fingers or toes before making more.
5. Beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush pretzel fingers and toes with the egg wash. Using a sharp knife, lightly score each knuckle about three times. Sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary, if using. Position almond nails, pushing them into dough to attach. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack. Fingers and toes are best eaten the same day; or store, covered, up to 2 days at room temperature.

Rice Crispy Treats

I know it's just rice crispy treats, but sometimes a good recipe for a basic is worth it's weight in gold. That is how I feel about this one. These are the best rice crispies I ever had. Shawn is a huge fan of rice crispies. I made a pan today and the girls and I each had one. He ate the rest them. Literally- in front of the TV with the pan. So I figure if he likes them, they pass.

Rice Crispy Treats

7 c. crispy rice cereal
5 c. miniature marshmallows
5 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Dash of salt

In a large saucepan, melt butter, marshmallows, and salt over low heat. When melted, remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir to combine. Then add rice cereal all at once. Stir until well combined
Pour into a buttered 9x13 inch pan. Butter your hand and press cereal into pan until even and flat. Let cool. Cut and eat. Yum!
If you want really even, precisely-cut bars, after the cereal has cooled, gently work the whole pan of crispies out onto a cutting board. Using a very sharp knife, cut the bars evenly.

Halloween Mummies

I found this super fun photo/idea on Tastespotting and decided to try it for dinner. I have to admit I am very fond of these little guys. Aren't they cute?
This recipe was adapted from a recipe found on Cooking By the Seat of My Pants.

Halloween Mummies

4 jumbo hot dogs
1 can Pillsbury Grands biscuits
your favorite mustard

Cut hot dogs into thirds.
Take each biscuit from can and roll it out so that it is long and skinny. Using a pizza wheel, cut the biscuit into three long strips. Using two strips per hot dog piece, wrap dough around hot dog to resemble a mummy. Don't over think this people, just have fun, and leave a spot for the mummy to see through it's wraps.
Place wrapped hot dogs on a cookie sheet covered with parchment or a Silpat. If you don't have either of these, use a thin coat of pan spray. Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown. Allow mummies to cool on sheet for several minutes.
Using a toothpick, make little eyes on each mummy out of your favorite mustard.
Serve immediately with mustard and any other dipping sauces (my kids like ketchup). You could also use little smokies instead of hot dogs and take them to your party this year as an appetizer.

Yummy! These were a hit with the kids, and you can talk to your dinner while you eat it.

Halloween Popcorn

My girls are really into after-school snacks. They like me to set up place mats, use folded napkins, and pretend like I am their chef/waiter. Here is a quick and easy snack I made the other day that was fun with Halloween looming so close.
There are lots of different colors of candy melts out there. This can be modified to work for any number of holidays.

Halloween Popcorn

5 cups air-popped popcorn-1/3 cup of unpopped kernels makes approx. 5 cups popped corn
1/3 cup each of orange and purple candy melts

Place candy melts in separate bowls and microwave for 30 seconds, or until melted to a nice pouring consistency.
Place popcorn in a large bowl. Pour one color candy melts ontp popcorn and toss with hands to combine. Let set up for 2-3 minutes. Repeat process with second color of candy melts. Let popcorn set up for about 5 minutes. My kids were impatient so I stuck mine in the fridge for about 2 minutes and that worked well.
Serve and enjoy!

Cabbage Salad

Grandma was known for her salads. Any time we had a family dinner you can bet that there would be at least two salads to choose from. Here is one of my favorites. I used this as a side salad. If you want to make it a main course, add 2 cups of grilled, shredded chicken breast. Family members: this is slightly modified from the recipe in Grandma's Cookbook.

Cabbage Salad

1 medium head cabbage, shredded
6 green onions, sliced
1 pkg. slivered almonds, toasted
2-3 Tbs. toasted sesame seeds
1 pkg. Ramen noodles broke into pieces

Toast almonds: place almond in a single layer on a cookie sheet and brown for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Be sure to watch them. Remove from oven when they are a nice crisp brown. Let cool.

Combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl and toss with dressing just before serving.

Dressing:

2 Tbs. sugar
1/8 c. vegetable oil
1/8 c. olive oil
2 Tbs. white vinegar
1 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
seasoning from Ramen noodles(I used chicken flavor)

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk well to combine. Make sure the sugar is dissolved well. Pour on salad and toss before serving.

A Tip from Grandma: Write Things Down

I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out: Don't be afraid to write in your cookbooks! I guess I was afraid to write in them for a long time. Grandma always told me to write things down about a recipe. It took forgetting important things time and time again before I got this figured out.
When I try a new recipe I like to write down what I liked about it, what I didn't like, what went well, what I could do better next time, even write down if the recipe is worth making again. This is a much easier way to keep track of things than trying to remember them. Besides I think it's really fun to go back through a cookbook and see what your first impressions were of a dish that has become a favorite, or how you have modified a recipe over time to fit your needs better. Thanks for a good tip Grandma!

Just as a side note: My grandma is gone now, but I find great comfort in looking at her handwriting. It makes me feel like she is in the kitchen with me. She also taught me that when someone gives you a recipe, keep it. You will enjoy looking at a loved one's handwriting someday, even if the spelling is not that great!

Baking Powder Biscuits

Today we spent the day working outside in the yard. Pulling out the garden, weeding, trimming, mowing. When we came inside I was tired and cold. I wanted something warm and comforting. So I made baking powder biscuits and we ate then for dinner. Ummm, and that's all. I figured it was a balanced meal because we put jam on them.


Baking Powder Biscuits

4 cups flour
2 Tbs. baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, cold, cut into pieces
2 cups milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl whisk together flour, powder, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture esembles coarse crumbs.
Pour in milk. Using a spatula, fold milk into the dough, working to incorporate all crumbs, until the dough just comes together. The dough will be slightly sticky.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. With floured fingers, gently pat the dough into a round aobut 1 inch thick, pressing in any loose bits. Do not overwork the dough. Use a floured 2 1/4-inch round biscuit cutter to cut out the biscuits as close together as possible.
Place to biscuits on an unlined baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, until the biscuits are golden and flecked with brown spots, 20-25 minutes. Transfer the biscuits to a wire rack to cool.
Serve with butter, jam, honey, etc.

We used apple jelly, apricot-almond jam, honey from Grandpa's bees (thanks Dad), and strawberry jam.

Croissants

Whenever I hear the word croissant pronounced in it's true French fashion (kwɑːˈsɑːn) I always think of that song in The Little Mermaid: Les Poisson. Now I know that le poisson is French for "the fish" but it is the way that it is said, kind of like croissant, with that rolling R sound. The thing I always think of is the way the French chef laughs, "Hehehe, hawhawhaw". So whenever you see the word "Croissant" in this post you can think of me laughing "Hehehe, hawhawhaw"!

My dad lived in France for two years while on his mission. He talks about two things from that time: Sneaking into the Cannes Film Festival (that is a whole other story), and the French patisseries. He goes on and on about the flaky, buttery croissants. So I thought I would try my hand at making these little yummies.

Bread products in general are not my strong point. To be honest, anything with yeast scares me a little. So this was a good bread for me to take on. I had to face my yeasty fear straight on. It was not as hard as I thought, just very time consuming. So if you decide to try this out, I suggest doing it over two days, or taking one entire day. There is lots of waiting involved. The whole process was really quite fun and the croissants turned out flaky and buttery, crisp on the outside, airy and soft in the middle. Dad said they tasted like he remembers, so I will call this experiment a success!

Croissants
recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook and The Professional Pastry Chef

2 cups cold milk
2 Tablespoons honey
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup unbleached pastry flour
*NOTE: I used all purpose flour in place of both flours
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons dry yeast
1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 Pounds (5 sticks) butter, cold
Lemon juice
milk for washing prepared croissants

In a small saucepan, heat milk to 110 degrees. Remove from heat, then stir in yeast to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Then add honey and stir to dissolve. Set aside.

Make the dough package: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine 4 1/4 bread flour, pastry flour, sugar, and salt. Add milk mixture and mix on low speed until dough just comes together, about 1-3 minutes.

Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 1 minute. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.

Make the butter package: Lay butter sticks side by side on a clean work space. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 cup bread flour, and several drops of lemon juice. Work flour and lemon juice into butter by kneading it against the work space with your hands. Do not use a mixer. My butter was chilled but slightly softened, about the consistency of the dough. Shape butter into an 8-inch square (I got my ruler out and measure). Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.
Remove dough package from the refrigerator; place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to be a 16x10 inch rectangle- again I measured, about 1/2 inch thick, with the short side facing you. Remove butter package from the fridge; place on the bottom half of the dough. Fold the dough over butter packet, and pinch around the edges to seal butter in. By the way I am sorry you all have to look at my ugly counter top all of the time. Some day we will do something about that. . .




Roll out the dough to a 20x10 inch rectangle about 1/2 inch thick, keeping corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush.
Starting at a short end, fold the rectangle into thirds: fold 1/3 of the dough over the middle section, then fold the remaining third over both sections, brushing away excess flour as you go.

This completes the first of three turns. Wrap in plastic wrap and let dough rest for 1 hour.

After and hour, take dough out of fridge and unwrap. Position the dough so that the long side runs horizontally, roll the dough to the same size rectangle as before, fold, and make the second single turn. Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Repeat the steps above, making the last of the three turns. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. Chill 6-8 hours, or overnight. I let the dough chill overnight then got up very early (think big yawns during church) to form and raise.

Turn out chilled dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough to a 30x16 inch rectangle. If the dough is elastic, cover with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for 10 minutes. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise into two 30x8 inch rectangles. On top of each rectangle, mark every 4 inches. On the bottom of each rectangle mark in between the the upper marks (two inches) to form triangles. Cut dough into triangles. You can use a ruler to guide you.

Cut a 1-inch slit in the center of the base of each triangle. Now take a moment to feel bad for me. At this point it is 4AM and I am whimpering for my bed and half asleep.

To shape croissants, slightly stretch the two lower points of each triangle to enlarge the slit. Fold the inner corner formed by the slit toward the outside of the triangle. Roll the base of the triangle up and away from you, stretching the dough slightly outward as you roll; the tip should be tucked under the croissant. Pull the ends towards you to form a crescent.
Transfer each crescent to a baking sheet lined with parchment or a Silpat. Do not overcrowd on the pan. If crowded they will get overdone in the ends before they are fully baked in the middle.

Let croissant rise until they are slight less than double in size. Brush the croissants with milk,

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. I baked both pans at once, moving the lower pan to the upper rack and visa versa halfway through baking time. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Croissants are best if eaten within 6 hours of baking.

Croissants definitely take some time, but are so worth it if you are after a taste of the real thing. Hope you enjoy!

A Tip from Grandma: Garlic

I love garlic.It is my go-to guy in the kitchen. I love the way it smells, I love the way it tastes. It wasn't always like this. I had never cooked with fresh garlic before Shawn and I got married. When we got married he brought two things with him Betsy (our '69 Ford Ranger that I am actually very fond of) and a garlic press. After that is was true love. But the problem is that I can rarely use a whole bulb of garlic before it starts to go bad. So here is what Grandma taught me:
Freeze it! Buy it on sale and get that good deal on a whole bunch of bulbs. Then when you get them home peel all the cloves (yes it takes some time and your hands will smell for a while, but it is easy with this tool) them throw all the cloves in a pint jar. Then close up the jar and put it in the freezer. The cloves won't stick together when they freeze and then you have garlic quickly and easily at your fingertips when you cook. A frozen clove only needs to sit out for about 30 seconds to a minute before it is ready for the press.

Turkey Noodle Soup

Oh man, a post about something besides dessert? I am branching out. This is a proud moment.
We went to my mother-in-law's house for dinner on Sunday. She had cooked a turkey and so kindly gave me the carcass. Hooray! Hmmm, how many people get excited over a turkey carcass? Me and my dad's dog. I boiled the carcass (yuck) in enough water to just cover it for about an hour. Then I strained the liquid and was left with a beautiful stock for soup (Yum).
So if you are lucky enough to get your hands on a fresh turkey carcass, make yourself some yummy, hearty soup!

Turkey Noodle Soup

1 quart turkey stock
2 cups turkey- diced
2 cups celery- diced
2 cups carrots- diced
1 medium onion- diced
1 recipe fresh pasta- see post below
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil celery, carrots, and onion in just enough water to cover until fork tender. Add turkey stock, turkey and bring back to a boil. Add noodles and boil for 4-5 minutes more, stirring often. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I like mine with lots of pepper. Enjoy!

Pasta Making Basics

Making fresh pasta is fun! I love to use the noodles in soup. So yummy! I was surprised how easy it was to make pasta the first time I did. You don't need a pasta machine to make fresh noodles.

Fresh Pasta

2 cups flour
4 large eggs

1) On a clean work surface, mound flour and make a well in the middle. Crack eggs into the well.
2) Beat eggs with a fork until smooth, then begin to work flour into eggs with a fork.
3) Use a bench scraper to work in the rest of the flour. If you don't have a bench scraper, use one of those annoying fake credit you get in the mail. Make sure it is good and clean first.

4) Once dough is incorporated well, work the dough with hands to form a rounded mass for kneading. Knead about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. If dough is sticky, add more flour.
5) Cover dough with a bowl and let rest 1 1/2 hours. This is very important. The dough needs to relax to be workable. I learned this the hard way. It really acts like a rubber band, shrinking right up, if it is not rested.

6) Divide dough into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, roll dough into a very thin circle, about 1/16 of an inch. Let rest if it pulls back.

7) Lightly fold sheets one at a time into thirds. Cut with a knife or a pizza wheel into desired thickness. For fettuccine, about 1/4 inch strips works well.
If you have a pasta machine, follow the manufacturer's directions. I rolled my dough to a 5, then used the fettuccine cutter.

At this point you can do several things: Hang the noodles on a rack to dry or prepare them for immediate use or freezing. If you are going to use or freeze the noodles, after you finish with each batch mix the noodle gently in a large bowl with enough flour to keep them from sicking together. You will use lots of flour here. Use flour each time you add new noodles to the bowl. This will keep them from turning into a blob.
You are done! To cook, boil noodles (at a full rolling boil) for approximately 4 minutes stirring often. Toss with your favorite sauce and enjoy!