Fun w/ sugar and flour...

cookie decorating... Wow I'll tell ya I have a new found respect for girls who do cookie decorating especially her...Bake at 350 and her... Sweet Sugarbelle kudos to Bridget and Callye, you girls are true artists and your work is aMaZiNg!! So I snagged this great set of snowflake cookie cutters for a buck at an estate sale, new from Williams Sonoma, in the little tin, mind you...and I knew that I wanted to make this a CHRISTmas project for the girl and I. So I went in the web trying to find the right recipe and Bridget had a gingerbread that look like it was a keeper so I gave it a go... Gingerbread Cookies (modified from Southern Living Incredible Cookies) 1/4 c water 1 & 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 c molasses 1 c butter, softened 1 c sugar 5 c unbleached, all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp coarse salt 1 & 1/2 TBSP ground ginger 1/2 tsp allspice 1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon Line baking sheets with parchment. Bake at 350 for 11 mins less for smaller cookies... I only made 1/2 batch but there was plenty for decorating... I also want to share this really cool tip that I got from a gal name LeeAnn from Home Based Mom...

the cookies:

man they changed blogger since I have not been blogging much...the layout seems much harder to do......I guess I have a new respect for all the bloggers out there too... Merry CHTISTmas all...lot of love...m

Tropical Traditions Gold Label Coconut Oil Review and a Giveaway!

Since doing the no grain-no sugar diet (thank you Vinnie Tortorich) I have been looking into all things paleo as well. So since starting June 16th I am down a total of 19 lbs! I think it is a combination of many things, but one thing I have been doing that I wanted to share is using Topical Traditions Gold Label Virgin Coconut oil as a supplement to my daily diet. After reading the many benefits of taking coconut oil, I wanted to give it a try. I see a major improvement over my skin, my skin is so soft, and I see improvements in my hair and nails as well. Without getting too personal my bowels are working better but I don't know if that is the oil or the probiotics that I am taking twice a day, but I do see some movement, if you know what I mean. So how do I take this oil you ask, I tried taking it by the spoonful but that just didn't work for me, I also tried cooking with it but didn't like that either. I made my spinach stuffed mushrooms and sauteed the spinach in the coconut oil, but it had a distinct coconut flavor. And my family noticed a difference right away. I bet it would be OK in baking but I haven't tried that. So what I do is have it in my coffee in the morning, I put about 3 teaspoons of oil in my coffee with my half and half. Remember were talking Atkins/Paleo/South Beach/Sugar Busters here, you can have full fat stuff. One other thing that I have noticed since taking the oil, I don't get those wild cravings any more like I used to, and it helps with not feeling so tired all the time too. So I will keep on using it cause I like the way it is making me feel. And I really trust the Tropical Traditions Gold Label coconut oil as being one of the best ones out there. The good people at Tropical Traditions were kind enough to supply a jar of coconut oil to one of my readers to try. All you have to do is subscribe to their email Sales Newsletter here: http://www.tropicaltraditions.com/subscribe_for_special_sales.cfm and then leave me a comment saying you did...

Win 1 quart of Gold Label Virgin Coconut Oil!

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Lemon Angel Pie...

Lemon Angel Pie

I have been wanting to make this pie for awhile now...I saw it on Leigh Anne's " Your Homebased Mom" blog and I thought "wow that is such a different crust, I have got to try that"...Leigh Anne says that this is her Easter dessert every year. And since I wasn't going with the traditional Italian desserts, like Wheat or Rice pie, I thought this would be a nice change...it did not disappoint... 

 beat you egg whites and cream of tartar till soft peaks form, gradually add sugar, untill stiff peaks form...

butter your 9 inch pie dish...please note I did not own a 9 inch dish so I had to use a 10 inch and let me tell you it makes a difference...

 now this is where it gets tricky...Leigh Anne says that she just piles the egg whites into the dish, I made mine like a crust, next time I am not going to make such an indentation...and use a smaller pie dish!

bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes...if you feel like the outer crust is getting too brown you can use foil to wrap edges..

 stir together your lemon juice and sugar and egg yolks...

 cook in microwave for 4 minutes, stirring  every 30 seconds until it thickens up...very simple "family of flavors"

had to get that in there...

whip your cream, I always put my bowl in the freezer for a few minutes...

combine your lemon curd and the whipped cream...

fill you crust with the filling...

and top with the additional whipped cream...Chill for 24 hours! I put little shavings of lemon peel for decoration...

Lemon Angel Pie
4 eggs, seperated
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups whipping cream.
Beat 4 egg whites with cream of tartar, gradually add 1 cup sugar after soft peaks have formed...  Beat until stiff, but not dry.  Spread on bottom and sides of buttered 9 inch pie pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.
Cool.
Take 4 egg yolks and beat slightly.  Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, 3 Tbsp. lemon juice and 1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind, 1/4 tsp. salt.  Cook until thickened in microwave for 4 minutes (stir every 30 seconds)  Cool.
Whip 2 cups whipping cream and fold 1/2 of whip cream into lemon mixture.  Pour into cooled meringue shell.  Top with the remaining whip cream.  Chill for 24 hours.

My Gentle Giant...

I was looking out my back window to the woods one day last week...seeing if any of the grass is growing in the spots where we took down some trees. And I saw this thing in one of the little trees in the woods....I'm like "is that a bird, stuck in the branch?"  I had to go out and see, yes it was a bird. I came in to get my Michael to help to see if we could get him loose without hurting him.





as you can see in the picture the bird was impaled in the thorn branch. We had to use scissors to cut the thorn branch. We got him loose, but he was bleeding bad and he would/could not fly.

we had to leave him alone for a couple of hours to see if he would survive..Michael checked on him and unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries...Micheal put him in a small box and buried him...he is kind like that... 

Easter Meat Pie aka Pizzagaina (Full Pie)

I love traditions, it brings you back to a place in time. It helps you remember those that have gone before. Easter is one of my favorite holidays, one of those times when you only make those special Italian delicacies once a year. Pizzagaina, Italian meat pie, is a Easter tradition in our family, I can remember making this pie with Mom. I would cut the meat but she was the maven at making the crust, it was always perfect, just like her ;^) <3 miss you soooo much Mom! For the last couple of years my sister Nancy has been making the pie, but this year I decided that I need to venture into the world of "Pizzagaina"...lets get started...(I feel like Ree, the Pioneer Woman)

the "family of flavors" for the dough
I went a little non-traditional with the unsalted butter but the taste and texture was worth it...added a lot of coarsely ground black pepper to the flour

work your shortening and butter into a pea size crumbs

bring your dough together, cut it in two, and flatten it to an oblong shape...cover it and let it rest while cutting your filling ingredients...


which brings us to this goodness...Ree might have the cast of characters, but I have the "family of flavors", and really isn't this what it is all about, family...

used my new Clauss shears to cut all the meat, what an easy task with these babies....
(note thickness that meat has to be cut)

I swear I had a zen like (I'm telling ya I heard angels singing) moment when I opened this package of cheese, it was just perfection...the price not so much! I think I almost had a heart attack at the check out counter at Shop Rite. It was $6.99 a pound people, that little ball of basket, aka farmer's cheese was $11.39! I'm telling you, I WILL be making my own next year...
loved my new Sudoku knife, it cut through the cheese like butter.

everything cut and ready...the smell of this was just amazing, it just screamed Easter time...

ricotta and eggs and more cracked black pepper in my stand mixer, just on slow...
pat, pat,pat, that is me patting myself on the back for a job well done...the dough came out amazing! I swear Mom's hand was guiding me...it was tender and easy to roll, sheer perfection...she would have been so proud!

ready to pan up!
ready for the filling...

upper crust ready...


isn't Google grand, I mean where else can you get a cross template, for free!!

ready for the oven and time to clean up my kitchen, can't show you a picture of that though, don't want to scare you!

the recipe:
for the crust...
6 c. flour
1 cup Crisco
2 eggs
1/4 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup of cold water
coarsely ground black pepper

Mix the flour with the black pepper, give a few whirls with a whisk...mix your eggs with the 1 cup of water...make a well in the flour and pour the egg/water mixture in. Bring together and when it is all mixed up turn onto the counter and knead until smooth. Cut into two and flatten into a flat rectangular shape. Cover and let rest while making the filling...

the filling:
1 lb of each:
Genoa Salami
sweet sopressata
Prosciutto
1 block of munster cheese
1 basket cheese
1 cup of Romano cheese
3 lbs of ricotta cheese
13 eggs
coarsely ground black pepper
cut up all your meats and cheese, mix your eggs, grated cheese and ricotta...combine the ricotta mixture with the meat and cheese mixture, fill your crust and put slits in your crust for steam...bake in a 350 oven for 1 1/4 hours or until the crust is golden brown...

Buona Pasqua. everyone...

 

***EDIT *** 8.30.2020  FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY!!! PLEASE DO NOT USE POLLY-O RICOTTA! Things have changed over the years and the Polly-O of years past is NOT the Polly-O of today....Ricotta should have 3 ingredients...period! Check the label...even Shop Rite's has only 3 ingredients! who wants Guar Gum, Carrageenan, Xanthan Gum in there ricotta...NO ONE EVER!!

Starting a New Blog ...Day 1 April 3, 2012

I missed blogging...I enjoy writing. This blog will be about things that interest me. Things that I "happen upon" on the net. I have a ton of bookmarks in my saves and I thought I can just add them to my blog instead of saving them there. There is Pinterest and now there is MInterest!

As some of you may or may not know, I LOVE to bake. I have been making some really good fancy cupcakes and would love to get paid to do it someday!

So some the the things are about recipes and decorating techniques that I have found...but today we are going to visit the newest casino in Atlantic City...the Revel...now I am not a fan of casino's, in fact I am pretty burned out from working there for over 33 years, but I found it interesting so....

Just a little recap, the place is very well done, very beautiful, and LARGE, there is a lot of walking to do to get around just the casino floor. I was impressed with the decor, very different, each section has its own "element" like Ultra, Flirty, Sensual...its different...I don't think it is going to make a difference though cause gamblers really don't care much for where they play only if they win....here are a few pictures from yesterdays opening day...