Twenty-three for 50 - Delicious Dessert and Dark Secrets

More of a starter than a finisher lately, I thought I would use a little of my free time to update you a bit in my journey through this year of being 50. I volunteered this year to be an exam-question writer for ALU (Academy of Life Underwriters). ALU has 4 underwriting-related exams and they are considered very challenging. This is something that I have thought about doing for about ten years, since I first realized that people like me wrote the exams. After attending a conference in April (virtually of course), and hearing the association president talk about getting involved and the many ways to do that, I tracked down contact information for the ALU president and asked about how to volunteer. They had 2 open positions - one for marketing (ah, no.) and one for exam writing for 301, the final and hardest of the exams. Sign me up! I wrote a total of 26 questions, all multiple choice, for 3 chapters of the textbook and some of "general knowledge". There are 3 different styles of questions - straight, except ("all of these EXCEPT"), and multiple option (A only, B&C, A&B, etc.). It was time-consuming, difficult, and a lot of work in a short period of time, but also very rewarding and interesting. I feel like I know and understand the material in chapters I worked on better than ever. Reviewing my partner's questions helped me learn more about what makes good questions (and also reminded me that I have the nit-picky proofreading skills necessary for this task).  

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True to my first sentence, I started but didn't finish the blog post on 8/30. Back now to finish it up. I believe my ALU work is technically volunteer time, since I did not receive any pay for it and most was done on my own time. Conservatively, between reading, writing questions, reviewing questions and revising, I will say 25 hours spent. I have 2 day-long virtual meetings coming up this week and then some time to complete final revisions on my questions by early October. Then I will be done until next summer.

Recipe 23 - Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Way back on the 4th of July, I tried this recipe to share with friends. My mother-in-law had made it for dinner the week before and I had right away asked for the recipe. It was easy (could be easier if you use a premade graham cracker or chocolate pie crust but this crunchy crust is so good, you'll want to try it at least once), and if you like PB and chocolate like I do, you'll love it. The filling recipe is from cooks.com and sounds like one that comes on the label of Cool Whip or Hershey's syrup. The crust recipe comes from E's cousin. Combined they are a delicious summer dessert. Unlike other frozen desserts, this one isn't impossible to cut straight out of the freezer.

Butter Crunch Crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the following ingredients together with your hands:

1/2 C. butter

1/4 C. packed brown sugar

1 C. sifted flour (unsifted if you are me and don't have a sifter)

1/2 C. chopped pecans, walnuts or coconut (we used pecans)

Spread mixture in a cake pan (it didn't say what size - I used a Pyrex 8"x12" and that worked fine). Bake about 15 minutes. Stir it up (to break up chunks) and press 2 C. hot crumbs into bottom and sides of 9" pie pan. Cool. Save the remaining crumbs for topping. Can also use for topping for ice cream, pudding, parfaits, etc. Store in refrigerator.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie filling

Mix together:

3/4 C. peanut butter

1/2 C. Hershey's chocolate syrup

12 oz. Cool Whip (Lite works just fine)

Spoon into prepared crust. Sprinkle crumbs over top (or grated Hershey bar). Freeze until ready to serve.

Book 23 - The Husband's Secret

My selection for August book club was one that my mom loaned me after seeing it on my Goodreads list. I can't remember when I put it on my list or how I had originally heard about it. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty looks like chick-lit. Chick-lit is not my favorite (both the term and the marketing behind it, plus most of the books marketed this way), but I thought it would be a light read for summer time. I was pleasantly surprised and really liked this book, plus we had great discussion at book club where others were also pleasantly surprised. The blurb on the back has you "imagine your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something with the potential to destroy not only the life you have built together, but the lives of others as well. And then imagine that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive..." Fairly intriguing, right? I never guessed correctly any of the twists or turns. The plot was not at all what I expected and kept me reading. A couple of notes for potential readers: the author is Australian and the book takes place in Australia. This means that some cultural references and places will likely be unfamiliar. It also means that Easter happens in the autumn. It occasionally confused my American brain a little bit but not too much. The other thing to note is that there are a lot of different characters and storylines taking place at the same time, plus some flashbacks. Pay attention - characters will change from one chapter to the next.

Overall a very good read, not your typical chick-lit, and made me think really hard about secrets between couples and between family members.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 31 (8 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 28

Blog posts published– 23

Miles walked in August - 62.3

Miles walked so far in September - 14.7 

    Miles walked year-to-date –411.28

Scrap book pages completed –27

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 25

Fourteen for 50 - Lovely Lemon Bars and a Book about Leningrad

Easter dinner was just the 2 of us today, but I made honey hoisin pork tenderloin, au gratin potatoes, and some roasted asparagus (just a drizzle of lime olive oil, salt and pepper - yum!) and then for dessert...

Recipe 13 - Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars

I love lemon - lemon tarts were one of my favorite indulgences when I was in France during college, particularly those from one tearoom near the chateau in Angers.  Traditional custardy lemon bars with a buttery crust from the cafeteria at St. Olaf were worth trying to grab a second or third.  And there is something about citrus that says "spring" and "Easter" to me, so for Easter dinner, I told E to check the Pinterest dessert board for something with lemon.  This was the winner from The Salty Marshmallow blog - Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars.  I think I would call them Creamy Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars, or something like that.  It is a sugar cookie base, cream cheese lemon filling and then topped with more crumbles of the cookie dough.  I either used too much of the cookie dough for the crust, or didn't let the topping cook long enough to be crunchy, but I think when I make them again, I will make half the dough and skip the crumbles on top.  They didn't really add anything for me.  Overall a nice easy alternative to the usual lemon bar - I would make it again.  Prepare ahead - the crust needs to completely cool before adding the filling and then you will bake again.  Also, be careful when eating - the bottom crust gets quite crispy and when I tried to eat mine with a fork like a civilized person, the bar slipped off the plate and landed on the couch (yes, I was being civilized eating on the couch in front of the TV).  It was much easier to eat when I just picked it up with my hand.

Crust:

1 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 C (2 sticks) butter at room temperature

2 C flour

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 C lemon juice (for me, juice of one lemon)

2 Tbsp lemon zest divided

1/2 C sugar 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8"x8" or 9"x9" baking pan with foil or parchment and spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray. (There is enough butter in these, you could probably skip this, depending on your pan.  The foil did make it easy to just lift out of the pan so I could cut easier, though.)

With stand mixer using paddle attachment, or with hand mixer, beat together the softened butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Set mixer on low and slowly add the flour (½ cup at a time) and mix just until dough comes together.

Press half of the dough into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

Cool completely before filling.

Store remaining sugar cookie dough in a bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the filling:

Again with stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and 1 Tbsp. of the lemon zest until smooth and creamy.  Pour filling over cooled crust. Top filling with the remaining sugar cookie dough by crumbling it evenly over the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until cookie crumble is light golden in color.

Top with remaining lemon zest as desired. (My zest got dried out before I had a chance to do this.)  

We cut into 16 squares and ate them room temp.  I think they would also be good chilled but the crust might get too hard.

 

Book 13

This was a book club selection and came highly recommended by an Italian exchange student who lived with one of our members a couple years ago.  City of Thieves by David Benioff takes place during the Siege of Leningrad, an aspect of World War II that we had read about at least on other time (The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean).  I see that at least a couple of my book club friends have given it 5 stars on Goodreads, but I am still wavering between a 3 and 4.  I didn't love it for some reason I am still trying to figure out.  The story was interesting enough - while the Nazis have the city under siege, Lev and Kolya are arrested.  Instead of being executed for their crimes, they are told they can save their own lives by bringing a powerful Soviet colonel a dozen eggs to use in his daughter's wedding cake.  Simple enough, right?  If only the citizens were not literally starving to death, resorting to eating whatever questionable "food" they can get their hands on.  Eggs are not readily available even if one had the money to buy them.  It is part historical fiction, part buddy adventure.  The author has written screenplays and, to me, the book read like he was already adapting it for the film.  And one of the characters consistently annoyed me.  I don't know - I learned more details about the siege of Leningrad and the Russian side of WWII, and the book read pretty quickly, kept me wondering how they were going to get through and if they would find eggs ever - but I just didn't love it.  For the 2nd month in a row, I may be the outsider at book club who didn't like the book that much.

Baby Hats

Four more hats turned in last Monday (along with my giant bag of yarn).  I am working on one now that should be pretty cute but I made a mistake and am trying to decide if I just go with it and knit on or rip back to the boo-boo.  The hat is currently sitting in time-out while I decide.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 13 (6 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 13

Blog posts published– 14

Miles walked in April - 7.2

Miles walked in March - 51.17

               Miles walked year-to-date –136.16

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0

Thirteen for 50 - A Yarn about Yarn, plus Cat Poems, and Creamy Pineapple Deliciousness

Thank you for all the kind words and support on my last blog post.  I love that you are reading it and enjoying!  I hope I'll be inspired to have another post like it again some day.  

If you are concerned about my walking goals not being met, don't worry - I figured that the winter months would be a little low and will catch up with higher mileage months the rest of the year.  I am on pace for 50 in March - just need about 4 more in the next 3 days which is very doable. I told E I wanted to walk 3 miles today - we ended up with a tiring (for me) 3.7.

The Knitting Grandmas (& Friends!) group that I make the baby hats with has developed a connection with a women's correctional facility in the area.  There is a group there that knits and crochets (and teaches others to knit and crochet) blankets that they then donate to shelters.  I don't know the whole backstory of how we got connected but they accept yarn donations for their projects.  Occasionally the Grandmas (& Friends!) will receive yarn that we can't use for baby hats (we have been advised to use only a certain brand and type of acrylic yarn due to allergies, softness and ease of washing), so we then pass that yarn on to the correctional facility group.  Once word spread, people started donating entire boxes and garbage bags full of yarn and our group became kind of a yarn pipeline.  Our weekly email last week, telling us how many hats we had turned in for the week (108, none of them mine), also said if you are planning to donate to the ladies in prison, we should bring it in on Monday because there probably won't be another pickup until 2nd quarter.  This prompted me to gather all my yarn in one place, write down what I have and how much of it I have, and weed out the stuff that I am not likely to use.  Most of what I am donating is either smaller amounts, too small for any projects I will do but good for the bright colorful blankets the women make, or yarn that I picked up for free somewhere along the way that I am just not going to use (color, type of yarn, etc.).  I came up with a large plastic bagful to donate (bigger than a Target bag, smaller than a kitchen garbage bag.  I thought you might like this picture of a bunch (but not all) of my yarn in one place.

I also found the giant first-ever sock which reminded me again that GAUGE MATTERS, one random granny square (I was teaching myself the technique), and a part of what appears to be a knit flower where I was trying to figure out how the petals work in stockinette or garter stitch (they curl up in stockinette and look much better in garter).  It only has 2 of the petals, though, so made me really think about what it was supposed to be.

I'll drop off hats and yarn tomorrow, so we'll count and post about those hats next time.  I think I have maybe 6 to drop off?

Book 12

I finished another book of poems - Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot.  Because poetry is best read aloud, I read a few of them to my cat Zeke.  He seemed bored (slept through most of it) but maybe that is because these poems are about cats, not for cats.  These poems are the basis for most of the songs in the Broadway musical Cats, which I saw in NYC when I was 18.  We had amazing seats for this show, in the orchestra pit area so right up front and close.  I loved this show so much and only partly because I was already familiar with the music by the time we saw it live.  I liked how the cats/actors moved, and their costumes were really cool too.  As I read the poems, I had a little trouble because I wanted to sing them instead. Some of them show their age, and every time I cringed a little, I had to remind myself that they were published in the 1930's, very much a different time.  Overall I enjoyed the book, though, and love how he captures the very different personalities of cats in the characters like Rum Tum Tugger, Macavity, and Skimbleshanks.

Recipe 12 - Dole Whip

I will confess - I have never had this at Disney, but I did have it once from the work cafeteria and that is kind of the same, right?  Back when we used to have a frozen yogurt shop at work instead of a coffee shop, they gave out samples of Dole Whip.  I raved about it to E, who somewhat surprisingly likes pineapple, and then several times he stopped by my yogurt shop but Dole Whip was not in stock.  Finally, I found an easy recipe that seems true to the spirit of the real thing - no dairy.  Pineapples were on sale so I had E pick one up, and then made him cut it up and freeze (I am bossy, I know).  This was a good version of it, though I added some pineapple juice because it was too thick.  From Holderness Family (whose videos I also enjoy).

2 cups frozen pineapple 

1/3 cup coconut milk (I was surprised to find the can of coconut milk solid when I opened it - apparently it does this at room temperature?)

3 Tbsp maple syrup (there was an incident at my house that may or may not have been kind of a sticky mess - I got part of the measured amount into my blender)

1 tsp lemon juice (I forgot this)

1 tsp lime juice (I forgot this too)

1 pinch salt (guess what?  I forgot it)

Put all ingredients into blender or food processor (I used my Ninja because that is what I have for both blender and processor, and because it works well on frozen stuff). You may have to stop and scraped down sides (I did several times before I added in the juice which helped loosen it up some).  If you want to be fancy, you can put it in a plastic bag and pipe into dishes. (I put mine in plastic bag and then in freezer because we weren't ready to eat it yet and it makes 4 servings and we were only eating 2 of them.  I scooped out with ice cream scoop and we have some left for another evening.)

That's it.  Simple, tasty and fast.  If you don't like or have coconut milk, you could swap in another type of milk.  Honestly, I couldn't taste the coconut nor the maple, just the creamy delicious pineapple goodness.

 Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 12 (5 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 12

Blog posts published– 13

Miles walked in March - 46.07

               Miles walked year-to-date –123.86

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 16

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read or eat again,

Hallie

Eleven for 50 - Hygge House and Pi Day

 E has been working on fixing our floor and reinstalling the bookcase that does double duty as railing above the stairs.  This is a project probably long overdue but he has done a really nice job on it.  The floor no longer has a gap and the bookcase is getting beefed up with trim to make it look more built-in. This bookcase is where I have been keeping my cookbooks and also my to-be-read and recently-read books.  In the process of taking it out to fix the floor, we had to box up the books and that has given me a chance to cull the stack.  Unfortunately, I really like looking at, collecting and dreaming of using cookbooks so probably none are going away.  I look forward to putting them neatly back on the shelf and organizing them, though.

Spring-like weather means longer walks and I had been enjoying the morning walks in the sunlight, though now that daylight savings time has started, that will be over for awhile - back to darker walks before work.  Whoop-de-doo, it will be light later into the evening.  DST is dumb.  We took some longer walks the past couple days (I took a day off from work Friday just 'cuz) with our Nordic walking poles - 20-40% more energy burned just from walking I would already be doing.  I love the new poles and can feel that I am working muscles I don't normally use much when "regular" walking - arms, different leg muscles and core.

I finished 2 more books on the same day again.  Both really spoke to me where I am and how I feel right now.

Books 10 and 11

The Necessity of Empty Places by Paul Gruchow has been on my list to read since I read a chapter of it for a writing class in college.  It is essentially a collection of essays but are all connected by common theme - appreciating some of the vast seemingly-empty landscapes that we often overlook, with the eye and voice of a naturalist.  I love how Gruchow starts with a broad view - the sweep of the prairie, the spans of alpine tundra, the vast sandhills of Nebraska - and then turns it inward or microscopic.  Self-reflection or reflection on the American population at large is common.  Snippets of history might pop in - of the land, of a particular animal, of an explorer who recorded the area.  What may look like an endless empty nothing is teeming with flowers, grasses, bugs, birds and other animals.  If you are a person who disdains description and who needs a central cast of characters, a plot with a conflict-climax-resolution, chatty dialogue, this is not the book for you.  I will not pick this book for book club (I could almost hear at least one person saying that they flipped through the long pages of description, not realizing that the scene IS the main character), but I loved it so much and can't wait to read more by this author.

Book 11 was The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking.  Hygge refers to finding comfort, pleasure, and warmth in simple, soothing things such as a cozy atmosphere or the feeling of friendship. Ironically, I read the book about hygge in a most un-hygge way - electronically.  I almost never read books on tablet or phone but found it the easiest way to get this one.  

The author's main point was that the concept of hygge explains why the Danes end up at or near the top of every "most happy" list year after year.  I think we all have learned to live a little more hyggelig during this pandemic - taking more pleasure in the simple things.  Home-cooked meal, small gatherings, board games, comfort items like blankets and hand-knit sweaters or scarves, books and a crackling fireplace.  These are all things I appreciate and turn out to be very hygge.  I was living hygge without even knowing it.  I think these last lines of the book summed it up nicely:

...hygge is about making the most of what we have in abundance: the everyday. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin said it best: "Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in the great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom."

Speaking of comfort in the everyday, we tried a recipe that was easy enough for a week night, and yet had enough potential for fancy that you could serve it to guests, too.  Recipe is from Whatsinthepan.com, and I served it with mashed potatoes and a veggie on the side.  Filling and delicious, and as I said, easy yet slightly fancy.

Recipe 10 - Boneless Pork Chops in Creamy White Wine Sauce

4 boneless pork chops (I only had 2 so that is what I made - I trimmed off the fat and mine were rather thick so took a bit longer to cook to 145 degrees internal temp/done)

2 T butter

Dredging mixture:

1/4 C all purpose flour

1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 t onion powder (I didn't have onion powder so used an additional 1/4 t garlic powder instead)

1 t Italian seasoning

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Sauce:

2 T butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T flour (or use leftover flour from dredging which is what I did)

1/2 C dry white wine (I used cooking wine so I didn't have to open a bottle of "real" wine)

lemon juice (the original recipe says "1/4 lemon (juice of fresh lemon" which I didn't understand at all - I used about 2 T lemon juice)

1/2 C chicken stock or broth

1/2 C heavy (whipping) cream

1 t Italian seasoning

4 sprigs fresh thyme - leaves only (I used a 'shake-shake' of dried thyme instead)

Whisk together in a large bowl all ingredients under "dredging mixture" above.  Dredge chops thoroughly in the dry mixture, then heat 2 T butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat (next time I would use medium - I think the pan was too hot and the butter got too dark too quickly).  Once hot, sear chops by cooking for 3-4 minutes per side for a total of 6-8 minutes.  First side on medium high but then reduce to medium for 2nd side (see my note above).  Remove pork from heat and transfer to a plate. Cover to keep warm.

Return skillet to heat, add 2 T butter and minced garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes on medium (my garlic never takes as long to cook as recipes say - be careful not to burn it or let it get too dark).  Add flour to the butter/garlic and blend it in.  Next start pouring in wine while still on medium heat - about 1 minute (mine started foaming a bit and binding/thickening which was fine). Add chicken stock and heavy cream.  Squeeze a little bit of lemon into the pan, add thyme and Italian seasoning.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer 2-3 minutes.  Taste the sauce and add more seasoning, if necessary.

Reduce heat to low and return pork chops to pan.  Depending on thickness of your chops, you might just need to heat them a bit to make sure they are done (cook pork to 145 degrees internal temp, per my internet search).  Drizzle some of the sauce over chops and reheat on low for 2-3 minutes or until done.

We had a lot of extra sauce - E has been having a little with his lunch baked potato and chicken.

Nine for 50 - The best laid plans of mice and men...

birthday flowers from my mom

 "The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men/Gang aft agley," says Robert Burns (and probably better known today as "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" from John Steinbeck). I don't know that my plan to have another post in a few days was really well-laid, but it certainly did go a bit awry.  This past week was a series of Mondays.  It started with a very Monday type of Monday, went on to the Mondayest Tuesday in a long time, which then transitioned into a Wednesday in which I spent 3 hours with IT trying to recover my spreadsheet of all I had done on Tuesday (never to be recovered, by the way), and ended with Thursday and Friday and my frequent mentions of when I would like to start drinking (9am was the record for earliest mention, but please note I did not drink even a sip until nearly 6 pm on Friday and then only 2 cocktails).

my b-day shirt from my sister

For this post, let's travel back in time to my four-day birthday extravaganza, now nearly 2 weeks ago.  If you recall, the big day was a Tuesday, so I took Monday and Tuesday off from work and we began the celebration on Friday after work.  There were flowers, gifts, cards, phone calls, special deliveries, favorite meals, and time spent doing some of my favorite things.  I baked (my birthday cake - new recipe below), we ate (menu planning was undertaken seriously with b-day extravaganza in mind), I scrapbooked, read (see books below), walked, did a little knitting, spent time with E.  We tried on Saturday for food from a favorite Italian restaurant only to be told that they were full and weren't doing any carry out.  On to plan B, where the B stands for BBQ pulled pork from another local place.  Later that evening, I scrapbooked via Zoom with my sister and a couple of our friends who we haven't seen for more than a year (I only got 1 page done that night but also completed 12 cards).  Sunday was pizza (of course) but I got to choose the toppings (sausage and green pepper) and we made it deep-dish.  Monday we Nordic walked at the community center, around the ice arena while a couple of young women practiced figure skating - I admired one's persistence as she over and over attempted a jump and fell on her butt.  I got new walking shoes and discovered our shoe sales guy also had failed  carryout from the same restaurant we did on Saturday.  Still hungry for Italian of some sort, we got Olive Garden to go and ate while attending virtual Mini Medical School.  Then on Tuesday, E made his famous Chicken Tacos (these have been renamed tacOOOOOOs because they are that good). It was a good birthday - thank you to all who were part of it through your wishes, cards, gifts and being there for my first half century.

Recipe Nine - Chocolate-Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake (aka The Fiftieth Birthday Cake)

This recipe is from Weight Watchers Best-Ever Desserts. Copyright 2007 so I have had it for awhile.  Back when I was a member, back when they were still Weight Watchers and when they still had the Points program.  It was a tasty cake that we ate all weekend long, and that I sent home a chunk of with a friend who delivered a delightful unexpected gift to my door.  If you need some chocolaty goodness, this is a cake for you.  I didn't put any candles on it, though I did receive a thoughtful package in the mail that included exactly 50 candles sprinkled throughout the box.

Cake 

2 C all-purpose flour

1 1/4 C granulated sugar

2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder

1 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used semisweet Ghiradelli)

1 T instant espresso powder (I did not add this)

1/2 C boiling water

1 T vanilla extract

1 C low-fat buttermilk

1/3 C canola oil (I used vegetable oil because that is what I have)

1 large egg

1 egg white (which reminds me I need to toss out that extra yoke still in the fridge)

3/4 C semisweet chocolate chips

Glaze

1/2 C confectioners' sugar (aka powdered sugar)

2 oz semisweet chocolate, melted (same Ghiradelli as the cake)

3 T fat-free half-and-half

Naked cake

Preheat oven to 325 F. Spray a 10" Bundt pan with nonstick spray.

Whisk together in a medium bowl: Flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a small bowl, combine the cocoa, chopped chocolate and espresso powder.  Pour the boiling water over the cocoa mixture, stirring until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  Stir in the vanilla.

In a large bowl (yes, this is a 3 bowl cake), whisk together the buttermilk, oil, egg and egg white.  Stir in the cocoa mixture until blended.  Gradually add the flour mixture, stirring just until blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into the pan.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 45-50 minutes.  Let cool in the pan on a rack 10 minutes.  Remove the cake from the pan and let cool completely on the rack (mine cooled on the plate because I didn't want to have to figure out how to move it from the rack to the plate).

To make glaze, whisk together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl (I used a glass 2-cup measuring cup) until smooth.  Let stand until cool and thickened, about 15 minutes.  Place the cake on a serving  plate.  Pour the glaze over, allowing it to drip down the side of the cake (like it needs my permission to drip?).  Let stand until set, about 10 minutes.  

In case you want the info, if you somehow slice this into 24 (!) pieces, it is 4 points/serving in the old old points system.

Cake in its glazed glory

Book Seven, Eight and Nine

I finished 2 books during my B-day weekend (not that I started and read them completely during that time.  As you may realize, I often/always have more than one book in progress at the same time.  I happened to have read the final pages of 2 books during that extended weekend.).  The first was one that had been on my Goodreads "want to read" list for many years and that I almost picked for book club until a couple of people wiser than I said "nobody wants to read that book but you, Hallie" and I picked something different.  As I read and really enjoyed it, I realized that most (normal) people truly would not appreciate it like I did.  The subtitle to Stiff by Mary Roach is "The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers".  I'll admit, it was an odd book but odd in a way that I approve.  I am a fan of murder related TV shows and forensic science (CSI and Bones to name a couple).  Movies with serial killers intrigue me. Medical science is also fascinating - the time I got to go into the gross anatomy lab and see the digestive system in living color was seriously a highlight - and I can read very detailed medical records without feeling the least bit squeamish (other than anything dealing with eyeballs or, inexplicably, finger/toe nails - those gross me out).  All that said, this book examines all the different ways that human cadavers have been involved in scientific (and sometimes bizarre) undertakings and studies over the past 2000 years or so.  Topics ranged from plastic surgeons practicing face lifts on the newly deceased, organ donation, use of cadavers in car safety and army weapon testing, and for help in future criminal investigations by studying how bodies decompose under various circumstances.  You may find this book disgusting in places (I struggled a bit with some of the vivid descriptions in the body decomposition field) but I found the author's humor (a bit of a gallows humor) and enthusiasm for learning all she could about the various uses for cadavers interesting and the book highly readable.

Book 8 was a book club choice - Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.  It also had been on my "want to read" list for about as long as Stiff had.  I liked the first part okay and then it got odd and I lost interest.  I don't want to give away too much but it only got 3 stars from me (of 5).  It seemed like the author was trying to make a point about something but I am not entirely sure what that point was.  I didn't really like most of the the characters (other than Mr. Penumbra) and had trouble remembering who some of them were, let alone remembering what their purpose was supposed to be.  Readers at work have been talking about Sourdough by the same author but I think I'll pass.  I kind of liked that the cover glowed in the dark, but that seems an odd reason to like/recommend a book (or anything else, honestly).

One of my favorite authors, Margaret Atwood, wrote the book of poetry Dearly that I read as book number 9 this year.  I don't usually read poetry but enjoyed this.  I had noticed that it was dedicated to Graeme, in absentia. Graeme Gibson was Ms. Atwood's long-time partner.  He died a couple of years ago and had vascular dementia prior to that.  Themes of love and loss, and the passing of time run throughout this collection of poems.  Some of them really stuck with me and I find myself still thinking about them 2 weeks later, particularly Ghost Cat and Blackberries.  I also realized that I had heard her reading from the book on the radio one day and now understand why her voice was breaking as she read.  

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 9 (5 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 9

Blog posts published– 9

Miles walked in March - 13.42

Miles walked in February – 34.04

                Miles walked year-to-date –91.23

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 12

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read or eat again,

Hallie

Eight for 50 - In which we eat and knit hats

 I am back - I didn't leave you or forget.  I was busy celebrating my four-day birthday extravaganza weekend.  More on that later but that is my excuse for posting twice within a couple of days, catching up without making one really loooong post.  This post is 2 new recipes and 6 hats.

When last I wrote, we were about to celebrate Valentine's Day and try a new recipe.  E made his traditional pan-seared steaks with bourbon-thyme sauce, and I made mashed potatoes (timing them so they are still hot when the steaks are ready is the biggest challenge with my contribution).  We shared a bottle of wine from Snowy Peaks Winery that we picked up on one of our trips to Rocky Mountain National Park, and I made a new recipe for dessert - Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie that I had pinned from Julie's Eats and Treats blog.  I knew I wanted to make a skillet cookie, trying to recreate a Pizookie that we had in Sacramento one time.  The recipes I was finding were for different (smaller) cast iron pans than the ones I have, but this one fit the bill so I tried it.  I wanted the cookie to be hot and gooey when we ate it so didn't want to bake ahead of time. Also, I did not want to be messing up the kitchen, mixing cookie dough after eating a lovely dinner, so I made the dough in the afternoon and then refrigerated it.  That may have been a mistake.  Instead of taking 35 minutes to bake, it took more like 50.  It looked done at 35 (at least according to what Julie said it would look like) but it was RAW.  Overall, we liked it pretty well but it was not what we were hoping for.  Instead of pizookie, it was more like choc chip cookie bars that happened to be round and baked in a cast iron pan instead of a cake pan.  Next time I will make about 1/2 the dough, and then figure out how long to bake it from there.

Recipe Seven - Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

1 C butter, softened

1/2 C sugar

1 C brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 t vanilla

2 1/2 C flour

1 t cornstarch

1 t baking soda

1 3/4 C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 deg.  Lightly grease oven-safe skillet (I used 10" cast iron, next time I might use larger, if I don't halve the recipe). 

In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer), beat butter for 1 minute on medium speedy until smooth and creamy.  Add both sugars and beat again on medium until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla on high (gradually go up to high - I got a lot of splash ramping up to high too fast) until combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed.  

In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch and baking soda until combined.

Slowly mix into wet ingredients until combined (slowly and on slower speed - the flour flies otherwise and makes a mess.  Ask me how I know.)

Add chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.

Spread dough into skillet.  Bake 35 minutes or until browned on edges and light browned on top (center should be firm to touch - she said it would be gooey in the middle but mine was very raw).

Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes and serve (I cut mine into wedges - apparently she ate the whole thing with a spoon, starting in the middle.  We also topped it with a couple scoops of Halo Top Sea Salt Caramel ice cream.)

skillet cookie cooked "rare"

15 minutes later

yummy with ice cream

A couple days later, I had a hankering for some fish.  I don't make a lot of fish at home but love to eat fish and other seafood when we are cruising.  Sadly, our cruise was cancelled this year (and we were going to be cruising for the first time ever ON my birthday!), but I decided to try a new fish recipe at home.  Chili Lime Baked Cod sounded easy and it was!  It was also fairly delicious.  I served it with paprika roasted potatoes, which E liked with the lime butter.  It would also be very good over rice or wild rice.  Adapted from KeyIngredient.com.  It does need to sit for at least 30 minutes in the rub before cooking so plan ahead.

Recipe Eight - Chili Lime Baked Cod

1 t paprika

1 t dried parsley

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t chili powder

1/2 t garlic powder

1/4 t cumin

1/4 t salt (I used kosher)

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1/8 t cayenne pepper

2 T extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 cod fillets (mine were about 3 oz each.  You could also use salmon, halibut, tilapia or other fish, and use bigger fillets.)

1 T unsalted butter

zest and juice of 2 limes (I only used juice of one which was plenty)

In a small bowl, combine all of the spices and mix well.

Using 1 T of olive oil, brush the cod filets on all sides and then rub the filets with spice mixture - use it all and coat well.

Refrigerate the fish for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 deg.  Place cod on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily and is opaque throughout. (Mine took a little longer, though I suspect they were a bit thicker.)

Meanwhile in a small saucepan, melt the butter with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Add in the lime zest and juice and swirl the pan to mix. (I used the microwave and a glass measuring cup and instead of swirling, I whisked.)

Serve the cod over brown rice and corn, if desired, and top with the lime butter. (I poured a little of the lime butter sauce over the fish while still in pan, served cod alongside paprika roasted potatoes, and had side dipping bowls for extra sauce.)

I turned in 6 hats on 2/22 and completed 6 scrapbook pages over my birthday extravaganza weekend, plus got back to walking (and Nordic walking) on 2/18.  I also baked a birthday cake (new recipe!  Will be in the next post), and finished 3 more books (see next post for those as well).

I'll leave you now with pics of cute hats.

upside down cable hat in persimmon

Citrus inspired

2 more cute hats

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 9 (5 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 9

Blog posts published– 8

Miles walked in February – 32.76

                Miles walked year-to-date –76.53

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 12

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read again (hopefully in the next couple of days),

Hallie

When Life Gives You Kale, part 2;

Eating: You may recall a few weeks back, part one of this post, about what to do with abundances of certain types of produce.  Well, now I have a bunch of beets (actually, I still have roasted beets in the freezer from last year) and some large cabbage, as well as several pounds of apples we picked.  Here are some more recipes in the same spirit as When Life Gives You Kale, Make Kale Chips.  I am thinking of cross-stitching that saying and hanging on the wall.  By the way, I really really like that roasted tomato soup recipe I posted last time.

Beets.  Was there ever a  vegetable that divided groups of people more?  Well, maybe brussel sprouts but more on those later.  Beets seem to be something you like or something you definitely do not like.  I like beets.  I liked them canned when I was a kid, I like pickled beets, I like them in a salad.  But...there is a such thing as too many beets for me.  I think part of it is that I don't know a lot of ways to prepare them and so when I have a lot of them, I am overwhelmed and get tired of the roasted-beets-as-side-dish preparation.  So I found something new to do with them: Roasted Beet Borscht.  In the same vein as carrot soup and zucchini soup, this is a pureed soup.  I made one sample batch to see if I like it (made with a very large golden beet - it was a very beautifully colored soup), then made a triple batch and froze most of it for later (mix of red and gold beets, deep red color, also quite lovely).  Recipe is courtesy Tyler Florence of Food Network.  Have I mentioned that I love Tyler?
Roasted Beet Borscht (for when life gives you beets)

1 pound beets

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 sprigs fresh thyme

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

6 cups chicken stock (I cheated and used chicken base/bouillon and hot water)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

 

To roast the beets (same as I do when I make them for a side dish), heat oven to 400.  Scrub beets and place them on a pan. Salt and pepper and drizzle with 3 T olive oil.  Add 3 sprigs of thyme. Bake until the beets are tender, about 1 hour (depends on the size of the beets).

When the beets are cool enough to handle, slip off their skins, and chop them into large chunks.

 

In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, add the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil. Put in the onion, carrots, garlic, and remaining 3 thyme sprigs and cook until softened and just starting to color, about 10 minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs. Put the chopped beets into a blender and add the cooked vegetables and most of the stock (SMALL BATCHES!! to avoid soup scald shower). Blend until smooth, add more stock if the puree is too thick. Add the vinegar and honey; season with salt and pepper. Blend again to incorporate flavors. Can serve hot or cold. (The borscht is good without the vinegar and honey but definitely add those because it enhances the flavor A LOT.)

You can also make a garnish for this (I did not do this part, because it was just for me - I don't need to be so fancy eating my lunch). Grate a Granny Smith apple on the large holes of a grater and mix 2 T chopped fresh dill.  Add a big dollop of sour cream to each bowl of soup and top with the apple and dill mixture.

I was also going to blog cabbage recipes but realized I did that last year, so if life has given you cabbage, check out Cabbages Galore for recipes for a soup that uses carrots and for the very handy Freezer Cole Slaw recipe. 

I know everyone likes apples, so an abundance of apples is probably not a problem, but here are a few of my recipes and ideas for when you hit the orchard in the fall and pick way more than you really know what to do with.  Not that I would ever do that...

Apple Cake - two different recipes posted here.

Taffy Apple Pizza - an old Pampered Chef recipe that I have made many many times and previously blogged here

Grandma Nellie's Apple Crisp
(I received this recipe from my mother-in-law as part of a bridal shower gift and it is the only apple crisp E likes because it does not have oatmeal in it.  I lost the recipe and had to call my MIL to get it again.  Grandma Nellie's original lacked a few directions, so this is slightly modified.  I will give you cooking temp and time, for example.)
Fill bottom of a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with sliced, pared, cored apples.  Sprinkle with 1 C sugar (lately I have cut this back to 1/2 or 2/3 C) and sprinkle with cinnamon (lots of cinnamon if you are making this for E).
Combine: 1 C flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 C butter (I melt it in the microwave first)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 t salt
Mix until forms crumbles.  Crumble over the apples.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes until the top is golden.

Applesauce
I make mine in the crock pot because then I don't have to watch it so closely and it makes the whole house smell delicious!  This year I bought a food mill which is not necessary but does make the sauce smoother and (maybe more importantly) I don't have to peel the apples or worry about getting all of the seeds and core out.  I just use the apple wedger.  I also make mine without added sugar.  Then I can use it in recipes without altering the sugar content of the recipe.  And you can always stir in a little brown sugar to taste.
Wedge/core about 10 apples (peel if not using a food mill).  Place in crock pot along with about 1/2 C water.  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.  If not using the food mill, you can mash with a potato masher or use an immersion blender.  Cool and store in refridgerator or freezer.  I freeze mine in 1 1/2 C portions in freezer bags.  That is what I use to make muffins.

Applesauce Streusel Muffins are yummy and the recipe is here.  I usually mix up the batter on a Saturday morning and bake half the muffins then and half again on Sunday morning. 

Now I am hungry. 

Until we eat again,
Hallie

C is for Crepes

Eating: Okay, so I was a French major (also a math major, but that's got nothing to do with this post) and I love crepes.  I liked them pretty well when we made them in high school, carefully dipping the crepe maker into the batter, hoping it wouldn't slip off before I flipped it back over.  But I really came to love and fully appreciate all that crepes can be when I studied in France for 6 months while in college.  My first evening in Paris, we went to the Quartier Latin and I had my first street crepe.  I watched in awe as they poured out just the right amount of batter onto the flat griddle, levelling and spreading it out thin, flipping it somehow without ripping it, and spreading on the delicious Nutella.  Then they rolled it oh-so-precisely into the wax paper and received their 12 francs in exchange (now I have revealed that I was there pre-euro...)  The melty chocolate/hazelnut spread inside that delicate thin pancake...the thought of it is making my mouth water even now, 20 years later. 

I later discovered crepes equally tasty with just butter and sugar, with fruit and whipped cream, one extremely messy one with chocolate that dripped down the front of my jacket, and savory crepes.  I have yet to find the right recipe to make savory crepes on my own but my favorite combination in France strangely involved egg (I typically do not like eggs much), tomato and cheese.

Crepes are easy to make.  I either cook up the whole batch and keep them stacked (with wax paper between each one) and covered until serving, or I stir up the batter and refrigerate, making a few at a time each day until the batter is gone.  They also will freeze, I am told.  I have not tried it but if I did, I would make sure they were in airtight freezer bags with wax paper between each one.

This is the recipe I use for the batter.  I have found a small non-stick saute pan is all that you need - don't waste your money on fancy crepe griddles or the little electric one that you dip upside down like we had in French class. Directions are in recipe below.  Serve hot or cool.  You can go fancy with your filling (I have made homemade cherry sauce and caramelized apples with maple syrup) or simple (Nutella, chocolate pudding, jam, applesauce).  E loved when we toasted some slivered almonds and sprinkled them on the Nutella. Sometimes I like them with Nutella, cherry sauce, almonds and freshly whipped cream (these are not street crepes - they are eat-on-a-plate crepes).  Experiment and see what you like.

Crepes (From Betty Crocker Cookbook, aka "Big Red")
1 1/2 C flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 C milk
2 T margarine or butter, melted
1/2 t vanilla
2 eggs

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.  Stir in remaining.  Beat with hand beater until smooth.  Heat skillet (butter the skillet if it is not non-stick).  For each crepe, pour scant 1/4 C batter into skillet.  Immediately rotate skillet until thin film covers the bottom (and up the sides a bit, depending on size of pan). Cook until light brown. Run a spatula around the outside edge to loosen, turn (see if you can flip it one handed!) and cook other side until light brown. Stack, placing waxed paper between each; keep covered.

Bon appetit!
A la prochaine,
Hallie

A is for Apple Cake

Eating: A few weeks ago a friend mentioned that her son said he wanted an apple cake for his 5th birthday.  His logic was that he likes carrot cakes, but he likes apples even more than carrots, so apple cake must be even better than carrot cake.  I love 5-year-old logic.  So I offered my favorite apple cake recipe (which is also one of my favorite dessert recipes, period) as well as E's Grandma Nellie's apple cake recipe. And now I offer them both to you.  My apple cake is less cake like.  It gets a nice and slightly crispy on top.  I serve it with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream, or with freshly whipped cream.  I have not yet made Grandma Nellie's recipe (because I like my own so much, I guess) but my friend did and it was a hit.  She made a cream cheese frosting for it and said it turned out a lot like a carrot cake. Nellie's frosting sounds more like a caramel frosting to me, and therefore, sounds scrumptious.  A couple of tips: I think you could probably substitute apple sauce for some of the oil in either recipe to cut out some of the fat and Nellie's recipe says "do not sift" the flour - I never sift the flour (maybe because I am lazy?  I don't know.  I just have never in my life sifted flour.)

Fresh Apple Cake (my recipe, formerly the recipe of the woman I nannied for almost 20 years ago)
Add together: 2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 C oil
1 t vanilla
3 C sliced apples (peeled and cored, of course)
Fold in: 3 C flour
2 C sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 t baking soda
Bake 1 hour at 300 in a 13x9 pan.  Serve warm or cooled, with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream, or freshly whipped cream.

Fresh Apple Cake (Grandma Nellie's recipe - given to me by my mother-in-law)
Mix together: 4 C apples, chopped fine
2 eggs
2 C white sugar
1/2 C oil
Add: 2 C flour (do not sift)
1 t cinnamon
2 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 C chopped nuts
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 
Frosting: Melt 1/2 C shortening and 1 C brown sugar over low heat.  Add 1/4 C milk.  Boil 2-3 minutes.  Stir constantly.  Remove from heat.  Add 2-2 1/2 C powdered sugar.  Beat.  Add 1 t vanilla.

Nellie, I challenge you to a bake-off!
Try one recipe, try them both.  Either way, let me know what you think. 

Until we eat again,
Hallie

Recipes for a Pampered Chef party

Eating: The other day, I hosted a Pampered Chef party, the first one in 4 years.  I had a terrific turnout with a really fun bunch of friends.  Since it was around lunchtime and the recipe demonstrated was a salad, I decided to supplement with some additional food.  I like to feed people, what can I say?  I think I inherited it from my grandma.  Many people asked for recipes so here they are.

Thai Chicken Salad - This was the recipe demonstrated.  I somehow did not get a copy of the recipe so this is what I remember it being - one of the party attendees who received the recipe can correct where I am wrong.  Also, the consultant said something about serving the chicken part with rice for a meal - not sure if that is just the chicken or with some of the veggies or what.  I really liked this salad and am happy to have enough of everything that I can make it again!
Chop 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts into about 1" cubes.  Cook in skillet with a little olive oil until no longer pink. 
Pour 3/4 C. creamy poppyseed dressing into a small bowl or measuring cup.  Grate 1" of fresh gingerroot (can leave the skin on) - squeeze the juice from the ginger into the dressing.  Add 3 cloves of garlic, pressed.  Stir.  Pour just enough of dressing mix onto chicken in pan (about 1/4 C) and toss to coat. 
Chop one small bunch of fresh basil and about 1/4 C. peanuts together (in the Manual Foodprocessor, if you have one).  Stir that in with chicken.
In a large bowl, combine a 6-8oz bag baby spinach, one 8-10oz bag of brocolli slaw, 1/2 red pepper diced, and 1/2 medium cucumber sliced and halved.  Add in the chicken mixture.  Pour on remaining dressing mix and toss all together. 

Chicken Rice Soup - I won't post my chicken soup recipe again - you can read it here.  This time I added some cooked brown rice, frozen peas, and sliced zucchini.  I made the stock and cooked the chicken the night before, then put all the ingredients in the crock pot and heated it for lunch.  It was not my best soup effort ever - stock was weak and soup overall kind of bland.  Sorry, for those who ate it - I can do better.  I also apologize for the coffee - I had trouble with the new grinder and ended up with brown slightly coffee-flavored water.

Taffy Apple Pizza - This recipe goes back to the days when I was selling Pampered Chef, around 2002/2003.  I made this recipe at all my first shows.  Easy and yummy, it is "old school Pampered Chef".  It helps to let the cookie dough and the cream cheese soften at room temperature.
Spread the contents of one tube (18oz) of sugar cookie dough onto pizza stone with a rolling pin until you have a 14" circle.  Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Cool 10 minutes.  Carefully loosen cookie from stone using a serrated bread knife.  Cool completely.
Combine one 8oz package cream cheese, 1/2 C packed brown sugar, 1/4 C creamy peanut butter and 1/4 tsp vanilla.  Mix well.  Spread mixture evenly over the cookie.
Peel, core and slice 2 medium apples (the recipe says "Granny Smith" apples but that is mainly because they work the best with the Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer.  Any good crisp apples will work - I used Gala.)  Arrange apples evenly over cream cheese mixture.
Heat 1/4 C caramel ice cream topping in microwave on High for 30-45 seconds, or until warm.  Drizzle over apples.  Top with 1/2 C peanuts, chopped.  Cut into wedges with pizza cutter and serve.


Reading: I am nearly done with the book for Sunday bookclub (which will meet Saturday this week for our annual potluck), The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang.  It is the memoir of a Hmong woman and her family who comes to Minnesota from Laos (by way of Thailand) in the mid 80s as refugees.  She tells the story of her family's escape from Laos, about life in the refugee camp where she was born and lived the first 6 years of her life ("camp" makes it sound like a better place than it was), how they came to Minnesota with virtually nothing but a debt to pay for their flights to the US.  She ties in a lot of cultural information along with the story of the family's struggle to adapt, to learn the language, to find work and raise their children.  I really am enjoying this book.

I am also almost done with Winnie the Pooh - just one more chapter/story.  I have to finish it by the end of the night tomorrow to meet my 2012 prediction of reading 3 books per month.  Wouldn't want to miss that predicition in the first month.  That would be like a new year's resolution then!

Well, off to read.  I'll have a new recipe for you next time, and promise it is easy, tasty, and gives you another option for what to do with chicken. 

Until we eat again,
Hallie