Tag Archives: Finer Things Friday

I Found My Thrill on a Blueberry Hill of Scones

Posted on by Run DMT
13

PhotobucketApril is here and all the beautiful berries have begun to ripen.  Towards the end of the month, we’ll find ourselves at the blueberry farm once again.

 

As the temperature rises, the price of blueberries will drop in the supermarkets.  When that happens, I buy multiple pints of blueberries to toss in the freezer for smoothies, pancakes and other yummy blueberry treats, like Allan’s spectacular scones.

 

 

Iron Chef Allan’s Rustic Blueberry Scones

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

 

Mix well in a large bowl:

2 cups white whole wheat flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

¼ cup sugar

 

In another bowl, toss 1 cup of frozen blueberries with ¼ cup of dry flour.

 

Then, mix 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream with dry ingredients.  When mostly mixed, add blueberries and knead a few times by hand until combined.

 

Roll into 8 inch round and then slice into 8 equal parts. Place triangular slices on a greased cookie sheet.  Brush with cream and sprinkle with large sugar crystals.

 

Bake for 20 minutes for fabulous blueberry scones.

 

 

The only thing missing is the clotted cream.  Maybe Karen can send some our way.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 



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I am a Food RENEGADE!

A Suess Inspired Supper

Posted on by Run DMT
25

The elementary teacher in me cannot let Dr. Suess’s Birthday slip by without celebrating it somehow.  But it also could be the party planner person in me looking for any reason to celebrate something.  Either way, Dr. Suess’s body of work and contribution to children’s literature and literacy should be recognized.  So with a little research and some creativity, I found a fun Suess Supper to serve my family this week for Dr. Suess’s Birthday and this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 

Do you like Green Eggs and Ham?  Would you like them here or there?  Would like them in a house?  Would you like them with a mouse? ­(from Dr. Suess’ Green Eggs and Ham)

 

 

Well, don’t feel bad, because my kids wouldn’t eat them either.  Funny enough, they’ll eat green cupcakes and candy, but they won’t touch green eggs.  Honestly, the eggs (and the photo) didn’t turn out quite as well as I had hoped.  I followed these instructions and tried really hard not to break the yolk, but I don’t think my cage-free organic eggs were fresh enough to cooperate.  (Real mature, Denise.  Blame it on the eggs.) With each failed attempt, I just kept scrambling the eggs.  The “ham”, on the other hand, was easy to make green.  Using a dinner plate, I added two drops of green food coloring to about a Tbsp of water and soaked the “ham” (which is really tofu bologna because family won’t eat ham, green or not) in the solution.  Then, I fried the ham in a pan lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

 

When my family wouldn’t eat the green eggs and ham (which is probably a good thing because there’s enough dye in that food to kill a horse make even the Grinch green with envy), I let my creative juices flow.  I knew they would devour Eggie Middles (others call this dish a Nest Egg).  Instead of a circular cookie cutter, I used a star shaped cookie cutter to cut a hole in the center of each slice of 5-Grain Italian bread.  Unfortunately, the eggs wouldn’t cooperate once again and did not retain an egg shape once cooking in the pan.  But at least the star shaped toast looks nice, so the slices could have stars upon thars (The Sneetches and Other Stories).

 

 

After finding an adorable Cat in the Hat inspired cupcake, dessert was simple, but finding all the materials necessary to make the cupcakes was not.  Thanks to Felicia of Go Graham, Go, I located blue cotton candy at our local Dollar General.  But then, I couldn’t find red cupcake liners!  Not even the silicone kind!  So, I cut red large beverage cups and used the bottom portion of the cups to hide the plain white cupcake liners.  Then, I downloaded Suess font and created Thing 1 and Thing 2 tags on white cardstock.  (Pay no attention to my poor cutting skills.)

 

You will see something new.  Two things.  And I call them Thing One and Thing Two. ­(from Dr. Suess’ The Cat in the Hat)

 

 

On a side note, cotton candy does not do well in humidity.  Therefore if you live in a humid climate like me, add the cotton candy to the cupcakes right before you serve them.

 

If a cupcake loaded with icing and blue cotton candy isn’t your cup of tea, then perhaps Ten Apples Up on Top (or just three) is a healthier option for you and your family.  May I suggest one of our favorite apples, such as a Jazz, Pink Lady or Gala?

 

 

 

So there you have it: A Suess inspired supper with some healthier options too!  Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 



 

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Easy, Peasy MSG-Free Empanadas

Posted on by Run DMT
8

PhotobucketWhen Latina on a Mission shared her quick and easy empanada recipe, I thought I would try my hand at making them.  Ms. Latina’s recipe seemed simple enough.

 

Ms. Latina’s recipe called for an envelope of Sazon with anchiote but I had never used the stuff before and once I read the ingredients, I still would not be using it as the first ingredient read Monosodium Glutamate (otherwise known as MSG).  MSG does my head in and I feel really shitty after I eat anything with MSG.  Other ingredients also listed on the label were “spices”, which just annoys me.  TELL ME WHAT “SPICES” ALREADY!

 

So, since I would skip the Sazon, I would need to get a little creative with my favorite Spanish spices.  I knew cumin, oregano and turmeric would be critical ingredients for this dish.

 

The first time I made these empanadas, they were a huge hit with my family.  My dad raved about them and took some home for my mom to taste, but she thought she could make them better by adding olives.  Whatever.  Well, we’ll see about that, Sha!  I challenge you to a Empanada Bake-off!  BUR-RING IT!

 

So, here is my new and improved MSG-free recipe for

Easy Turkey Empanadas .

 

 

Ingredients

1 lb. ground turkey

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Green bell pepper diced

1 Spanish onion diced

2 Cloves of garlic minced

¼ tsp Turmeric

2 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Kosher salt

½ tsp. Ground black pepper

2 Cups Pomi chopped tomatoes

½ Sliced Spanish olives (optional)

1 Package of frozen empanada dough (I used the large 10 count dough.)

 

Directions

Turkey Filling

 

On a medium heat, sauté the diced bell pepper in olive oil for a couple minutes or until soft.  Then, add onions to the pan and sauté.  Once the onions soften, add the garlic to pan and cook for about a minute.

 

 

Then, add ground turkey and cook for about 5 minutes or until the pink color disappears.

 

Once the turkey is almost fully cooked, add cumin, oregano, turmeric, salt and pepper and stir the spices into the turkey.  When the spices have mixed well, add the chopped tomatoes and olives and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Taste for additional salt and pepper.

 

 

Empanadas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Defrost dough according to package (about an hour).  Grease a cookie sheet or spray with cooking spray.

 

 

 

For the filling, add a generous spoonful of meat (about ¼ cup) into the center of a thawed dough disc.  Then fold dough in half and crimp edges with a fork to make a small meat pie.  Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 



 

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Throwing Some Good Fortune Your Way

Posted on by Run DMT
6

PhotobucketGung Hay Fat Choy!

It’s Chinese New Year and in the Run DMT house, we celebrate with some homemade Chinese food.  This year, Allan made his famous veggie fried rice and then I attempted Steamy Kitchen’s Chinese Pot Stickers for the occasion.

 

Unfortunately, the ground chicken I bought went bad so Allan saved the day by running out and buying pot stickers from the neighborhood Chinese takeout.   Oh well.  Better luck fu next time!

 

We finished the meal with fortune cookies, but with new and improved kid-friendly yellow dye free fortune cookies which I discovered in the Asian section at Target.  Upon my discovery, I wondered what makes fortune cookies kid-friendly.  I hoped for at least silly jokes, like the ones you find inside Christmas crackers or Laffy Taffy, but the fortunes were just as corny as the ones from the Chinese restaurant, minus the lucky numbers and how to speak Chinese lessons.

 

 

And funny enough, much like the ones from the Chinese restaurant, you could read each one and follow it up with the expression “in bed”.  So not-so-kid-friendly, but funny as hell Diyu!

 

My fortune was very encouraging…

 

 

…in bed.

 

Of course, fortune cookies have nothing to do with Chinese New Year or even China for that matter, but for my family and me, no Chinese meal is complete without them.

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.


 

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Feeling Like a Jerk

Posted on by Run DMT
15

After visiting the Cayman Islands for our honeymoon many moons ago, Allan and I began to crave Caribbean flavors.  Fortunately living in Florida, we’re relatively close to the Caribbean, its lifestyle and wonderful foods. Whenever we spot a dish with Caribbean flair on a menu, we don’t pass it up.

 

Last summer, Allan found a Bobby Flay Jerk Grilled Chicken recipe but tweaked the recipe (as only Iron Chef Allan could do) into fabulous a Jerk marinade that sends us back to the Caribbean with every bite.

 

When Allan last prepared this dish, he cubed the chicken and grilled it on skewers as bite size morsels for wraps and as his sous-chef, I made the mango salsa. The sweet paired with the heat is simply delicious!

 

 

This marinade and mango salsa also works well with whole boneless chicken breasts for sandwiches or served on a bed of rice.

 

Jerk Chicken

Ingredients

1 lb boneless chicken breast

1/4 cup olive oil

½ red onion

1 large Habanero pepper, stem and seeds removed

1 tablespoon fresh ginger (about 1″)

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp thyme

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Pinch ground clove

1 Tbsp ground allspice

1 Tbsp Kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Juice of 2 fresh limes

¼ cup orange juice

 

Place all ingredients in a food processor (except the chicken) and puree until almost smooth. Place the chicken breasts into a gallon size Ziploc bag and pour marinade over the chicken.  Place bag in refrigerator and marinade for 24 hours.  The longer the chicken marinades the more intense the flavors and heat becomes.

 

Grill chicken on each side for 5 to 6 minutes or until cooked through.

 

Mango Salsa

2 mangoes, peeled and diced

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion (about one half red onion)

1 Habanero pepper seeded and minced

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

Juice of one lime

3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Salt

Pepper

 

Combine the mangoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, habanero pepper and orange juice in a bowl and gently mix. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste

 

Now link up and see what If I Could Escape and Gone Bananas are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 

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A Mean Bark

Posted on by Run DMT
10

Leslie of The Hungry Housewife has told me repeatedly how easy it is to make peppermint bark.  This year, I decided to give it a shot after refusing to take out a loan to purchase Williams-Sonoma’s lovely stash or waiting for it to be marked down.  After all, I need to brag about eating peppermint bark to Karen for our Friday Food Fight and I can’t wait for it to go on clearance to do it.

 

So, I decided to follow Leslie’s advice and her recipe and I made my own batch of peppermint bark.  It really was so easy and soooooooo good.  It even passed Iron Chef Allan’s taste test.

 

 

Look! I even put it in a fancy tin!

 

 

I’m taking orders, if you’d like some. It will cost you $26.50, plus $4.95 shipping and handling.

 

Link up and see what Karen and Kirsten are serving for this week’s Friday Food Fight.

 

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School Daze

Posted on by Run DMT
7

Last Monday, we began the back to school grind.  Although the girls were excited to start the school year, I wasn’t ready to let them go.

 

 

Every August,  I always suffer with more anxiety and butterflies about the start of a new school year than my girls do.  Will Emmalynn behave?  Will Allana be challenged? But this year, I had even more mama guilt than usual because I felt I didn’t spend as much time with them as I should have.  Our last few weeks together had been pretty uneventful due to a never ending nursing schedule with a newborn.

 

My youngest daughter, who was once referred to as my baby before the arrival of our newest baby, entered kindergarten.  To prepare for the big day, we had countless conversations this summer about how kindergarteners behave.  Kindergarteners don’t pee their pants.  Big girls need to be responsible for their belongings.  Kindergartners need to know how to write their name.

 

 

Emmalynn has never been one to give a full account of her days at school and what she does remember always seemed so random.  Therefore, I learned to rely on notes from her teachers or other moms to share information or stories about what goes on in the classroom.  When I picked her up after her first day, Emmalynn reported that she did not get a lollipop and the details behind that situation are still uncertain.  However, she happily reported, “Mommy, Kindergartners do not have rest time.”

 

 

Allana enters third grade this year and she now faces FCAT (Florida’s standardized test – Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) every academic year.  Over the summer, shifts and changes occurred at her school with the staff, including the principal which caused me to worry about her placement, because Allana needs a teacher who will challenge her.

 

 

Allana hoped for a teacher who was warm and friendly as well as challenging, but mostly she hoped that her best friend, Nikki, was in her class.  So far thankfully, everything seemed to work-out just as we hoped.

 

 

Even Emmalynn seemed off to a good start.  She may not have been given a lollipop, but a happy face, a sticker, a pencil and a new book made for a fabulous first day.

 

 

Until the next day, she “washed” her hair with hand sanitizer and by Friday, she lost her new glasses.  *sigh*  Looks like we need another conversation on responsibility and how kindergarteners don’t wash their hair at school.

 

In the end, the girls we survived the first few days daze of school and thankfully, it was a successful one.

 

 

*Proudly submitted at GMYBS, Photo Story Friday and Finer Things Friday.*