Food Friday - Family Favorites

from Kris B.

It is hard to believe that the holiday season is here!  It's that time of year where my life is made possible only by the many lists that have diligently created - lists of social obligations, Christmas gifts to buy, chores to be done, and of course, meal planning tasks.

Sometimes I wonder why planning Thanksgiving dinner is that difficult since it is a meal of tradition; everyone has their favorite dish and it is my job to make sure that all those favorites end up on the holiday table. In my family, we don't have generations of traditions by which to abide when it comes to our holiday meals, but I know many families that have had the same dishes as part of their Thanksgiving celebrations for years and years and years.  And often when they stop and think about it, they realize that some of the things that are still being served were a favorite of someone who is no longer living and no one now even likes "that" dish.  This scenario reminded me of a funny song that I sang with a chorus several years back, "Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise."  If you need a little bit of comic relief during these hectic days, click here.

We don't have any Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise at our house, but we do have some foods that are fast becoming holiday traditions.  One such food is pumpkin butter.  A former friend and I used to make it every year for our church's Christmas bazaar.  It quickly became a favorite of my then toddler second child.  Over the past twenty years, I have tweaked the recipe a little here and there to try and make it the best it can be and to add my own personal touch.  A jar of pumpkin butter used to be the standard holiday gift for my girls' teachers, as well as for many of my friends.

Because of the craziness in my life at the end of last year, I did not make any holiday pumpkin butter. in 2014  Though life still hectic this year as well, I managed to get the first batch of pumpkin butter made this week.  (Yes, Erin.  You may have a jar now.)  As I was making it, I was reminded of just how good pumpkin butter is.  I will definitely be making a few more batches over the coming weeks!

INGREDIENTS

2 15oz. cans of pumpkin puree

1 1.75oz package of pectin

1 TBS pumpkin pie spice

3 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 TBS vanilla

Stir pumpkin puree and pectic together in a good sized heavy pot.  (You want a pot that is big enough so that once you add the sugar, the mixture will not boil over or "spit" hot pumpkin butter over the top.)  Continue to stir regularly while bringing this mixture to a boil.  Once boiling, add all of the sugar at once, the pumpkin pie spice, and the vanilla.  While stirring constantly, again bring the mixture to a boil.  Allow to boil for two minutes.  Remove from heat.

The pumpkin butter can be canned using standard canning procedures; or, it can be stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Pumpkin butter is fantastic on your morning toast or English muffin, on crackers as an after school snack, or as filling for your holiday thumbprint cookies.  And, as members of my family will tell you, it is also good on a spoon right out of the jar.

by Tracey G.

Thanksgiving has never been a time for sticking with tradition for me, I don't know why, but I've never felt obligated to one certain dish. I've always been very open-minded about my menu. I have made turkeys the majority of the time because I like the sides that go with it, lol. And I like to make turkey noodle soup with the left-overs! But I'm always willing to add in things, omit things and whatnot.

I've been looking for a recipe for the Thanksgiving morning, something simple that could maybe pave the way for a "tradition" of sorts and this recipe came along at the right time so I thought I'd give it a try. I mean seriously this sounded pretty straight-forward yummy, lol. And it is - it's really good. Harry loved it and will go perfect with coffee at any time of the day! I must thank Taste of Home for coming through for me once again!

Down East Blueberry Buckle

courtesy of Taste Of Home Magazine

2 c flour

1/4 c sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg

3/4 c 2% milk

1/4 c butter, melted

2 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Topping:

1/2 c sugar

1/3 c flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 c  butter, softened

1) Preheat oven to 375° F. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk egg, milk and melted butter until blended. Add to flour mixture, stir just until moistened. Fold in blueberries. Transfer to a greased 9-in. square baking pan.

2) For topping, in a small bowl, mix sugar, flour and cinnamon. Using a fork, stir in softened butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter.

3) Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (do not overbake) Cool in pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

Wednesday in Michigan and Texas - How We Roll

by Us

Sometimes we chat about important stuff, like what we are going to post here; sometimes it is important stuff like what is making our hearts hurt today; and, sometimes it is just everyday stuff like what we are making for dinner.  Friends are there to talk about any kind of stuff you want to talk about, right?

The other day we were having one of those”what’s for dinner” conversations.  It revolved around having made the chicken and dumplings for last week’s blog post, but finishing them too late in the day to take the photographs for the post so therefore they could not be eaten for dinner that night because there’d be nothing left to photograph so now what was for dinner that night? 

Here is how the conversation went:

Tracey…swiss steak here…

Kris…I’ve never made it but have had it out.  Sounds good.

Tracey…I found a recipe for it a few years ago. (I’d never made it either, but mom requested it one night.)  in my Better Homes red and white cookbook and I’ve never looked back.  lol.  I cheat and use cube steaks because it takes less time using them.  lol

Kris…I have the trusty red and white cookbook.  I’m going to try the Swiss steak one of these days.

Tracey…I’ve never hunted for a different recipe because everyone (mom, Jeremy, and even Harry, lol!) liked it as it was - only thing I do differently is use tomato sauce instead of canned diced tomatoes since neither Jer or Harry care for canned diced tomatoes.  Me, I could eat them straight out of the can.

Kris…Good to know.  I’m not fond of chunks of cooked tomatoes either, though I love fresh ones.  I use sauce instead of diced or stewed  almost always.

Tracey…I also skip thyme because Jeremy hates time so I sub a little oregano instead.

Kris…Haha on the thyme!  Weber does’t like oregano, and that is a hard one to leave out of some recipes.  You know, these are crazy conversations that might make useful blog material.  We can title it “Parsley, Sage , Oregano, and Thyme” or “Husbands, The Spice of Life…Or Not!”

There is a glimpse into how we get things done here at Pictures, Plates, and Lols!.  Sometimes our methods work well for us, and other times…not so much.  No matter the scenario though, we are firm believers in "the laughing out loud" part of our title.  We are able to share the funny stuff with one another, but also our struggles and downright failures.  Somehow the funny things in life are much funnier when you have a friend to laugh along with you and the struggles don’t seem so bad when you know that you have a friend at your side!

Food Friday: Chicken and Dumplings Duel

by Tracey G

Kris and I were wanting to do another "how do you make your (fill in the blank)?" post, and actually this one came up pretty easily. And even better was the fact that we do the different dumplings - a win-win because I've been wanting a noodle-style dumpling recipe for years and have never found one I really like so I'm pretty excited about this one!!

Mine came together from a few sources, I can't even remember anymore where all I pulled from. My "dumplings" happen to be my favorite biscuit recipe - so it can be chicken and biscuits if you don't want to cook them on top of the chicken "stew" part, lol. But it's a very easy recipe, I use as many shortcuts as I can, so it's not a super-time consuming endeavor, lol. Now this is pretty true comfort food - not a low-cal version by any means, lol. I have been known to scale the butter amount back - depends on my mood I suppose, lol.

I have used a few sources of chicken - I've cooked up a few boneless skinless chicken breasts when I've had them to use, I've used a couple large cans of canned chicken and as in this version pictured, I bought a deli rotisserie chicken to use. I usually buy a large 32 ounce carton of broth/stock and one 14 oz can and that usually works out just right for the "5 cups of stock" the recipe calls for. I do mine on the stove and finish it in the oven, but I imagine you could do the whole thing on top of the stove from start to finish.

Here's the recipe - and it would also make a great pot pie filling as well, just use pastry and finish it that way!

Chicken and Dumplings (or Biscuits)

Cooked Chicken: 3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped; or meat from one rotisserie chicken, or 2 large cans of canned chicken

1 pkg frozen peas and carrots or mixed vegetables works well too (can also use canned vegetables as well!)

5 c chicken stock

2 chicken bouillon  cubes, or 2 tsp granulated/powdered bouillon

12 tbsp butter (1 1/2 sticks)

2 c chopped onion, about 2 onions

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 c flour

1/4 c heavy cream

1/4 tsp pepper

Dumpling dough (recipe to follow)

1) Preheat oven to 400°F

2) In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions, over medium-low     

heat, until translucent. Add the garlic, cook and stir a couple minutes more.

3) Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and the  bouillon. Simmer over low heat, stirring until thick.

4)  Add 1/2 tsp pepper, heavy cream, chicken and vegetables.

5) While this is coming up to a simmer, make the biscuits. Once the filling is simmering steady, drop the dumplings onto the hot chicken mixture by tablespoons. Cover the pot and bake for about 30 minutes or until the tops of the dumplings are dry - then remove the lid to cook a while longer to lightly brown the tops if desired. Let stand a few minutes and then serve.

Dumpling/Biscuit Dough: 

(this is the original amount recipe, for my Dutch oven, I usually  make a double batch, then just bake off the rest of the dough that might not make it on top of the chicken mixture, if baking them by themselves, drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and bake off at 450°F for 10-12 minutes.)

2 c flour

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (I've made it without before when I didn't have any around and it was fine)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 c shortening or butter

1 c milk

In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Cut in shortening or butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center; add milk all at once. Stir just until dough clings together. 


from Kris B.

Despite the fact that chicken and dumplings is a regional favorite in Delaware, where my parents grew up, it was not a meal that showed up on our dinner table when I was a child.  I only came to appreciate the soothing nature this comfort food as an adult.  

And here is an important question related to that discovery.  Which came first, the chicken or the dumpling?  For me, it was the dumpling.

I began my love affair with dumplings by eating lima beans and dumplings in chicken broth.  The only dumplings I knew were slippery dumplings because that is what my grandmother made.  Lima beans and dumplings were a summertime favorite.  I made my way to chicken and dumplings when I wanted a wintertime vehicle for those delicious dumplings.  I polled various family members (not my mother) and began experimenting with various recipes and combinations thereof.  Really, they weren’t that different from one another.  

I was surprised to see chicken and dumplings show up on restaurant menus in Texas.  In a moment of weakness one day, I decided to order them while eating out though I knew deep in my heart they couldn't possibly be as good as the homemade kind.  When my meal arrived, I was a little surprised to see my bowl topped with biscuits.  Little did I know that in addition to slippery dumplings, there were also something called fluffy dumplings.  They looked like biscuits.  I like biscuits, but in my mind, what I was looking at was not chicken and dumplings!.  It seemed strange to find them on top of my chicken.  Over time I have relaxed my definition of chicken and dumplings and have an appreciation for the fluffy dumplings because, well, biscuits are good.  Admittedly though, I still prefer slippery dumplings.

I got a good chuckle when Tracey and I started talking about this post and she said that she made her chicken and dumplings with "fluffy" dumplings.   And, since I was late getting my act together this weekend, I chuckled even more when I read her post as I was adding this to the bottom.  Though we do talk a lot about what to make and so on, we don’t know exactly what each other is going to write in the narrative.  At least she says up front that she is making biscuits.  Lol!!!

INGREDIENTS

1 whole chicken

4 stalks of celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

1 TBS chicken bouillon granules 

Salt and pepper to taste

For the dumplings:

2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 TBS shortening

^enough hot broth to make the dough feel “right”

To a large stew pot or dutch oven, add the celery, onion and chicken.  Cover the chicken with water.  Add the poultry season, bouillon, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce heat.  Cook until the chicken is falling off the bone.  A good rule of thumb is twenty minutes for every pound of chicken.  Once the chicken is done, remove it from the broth and set the chicken aside.  Remove one cup of broth to be used in the dumplings.

To make the dumplings, in a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Cut in the shortening using two knives or a pastry cutter.  Then, “add enough of the reserved broth to make the dough feel right.”  (This is the way the recipe was given to me.)  What that means is that the dough will feel slightly sticky but can be handled and rolled.  On a floured board, roll out the dough to 1/16” thickness.  Then cut dumplings into 2” squares.

Bring the remaining broth to a boil.  (If you want more broth, more water can be added.)  Drop the dumplings into the broth one at a time until all are added.  Cook them for fifteen minutes in the boiling broth. 

In the meantime, de-bone the chicken and cut it into bite sized pieces.  Once the dumplings are thoroughly cooked, add the chicken back to the broth.  Gently combine.

Enjoy!

This is another of those recipes that tastes much better than it photographs.  LOL!  

Food Friday - Pass the Salad, Please!

fromKris B.

I don’t have many memories of family Thanksgiving meals and the ones that I do have, are not particularly good ones.  First of all, my mother was one of those who dragged out all of the china for the Thanksgiving meal, no matter who was or was not coming to eat, and then made me dress up for dinner.  Needless to say, particularly as a teenager, this “tradition” made me less than happy.  All that, topped with the fact that I really didn’t care for traditional Thanksgiving food, made the fourth Thursday in November a most miserable day all the way around for me.  I have never cared for roasted turkey; it has never tasted good to me.  That is not a commentary on my mom’s preparation of the holiday turkey, but rather on roasted turkey itself.  It doesn't matter who prepares it, I just don’t like it.  My mom always served Brussels sprouts and cole slaw as side dishes with the turkey, neither of which I liked as a kid.  And, the sweet potatoes were always the candied kind which were and still are way too sweet for me.  Basically, I ate mashed potatoes and dressing as my Thanksgiving meal.  My carbohydrate addiction started young!  Lol. 

I am happy to report that I have evolved a bit as an adult.  I still don't care for roasted turkey, but  I do like smoked turkey.  Thankfully, I have a husband who will now smoke our Thanksgiving turkey.  I also have discovered that I love both Brussels sprouts, preferably roasted with garlic, and cole slaw.  Once I changed my attitude about cole slaw, I tried to find my mom’s recipe.  She had many cookbooks and lots of recipes written on many scraps of paper, but I was never able to find her cole slaw recipe.  All I can remember is that it had lots of sugar and mayonnaise in it.  This most certainly was not enough information to go about trying to replicate it.  So, I was left to search for and try recipes on my own.  Fortunately, because I never actually ate my mom’s cole slaw, I was not up against some expectation that the recipe had to taste just like mom’s.  It just had to taste good to me now.  After a few failed attempts and some others that were so-so, I have finally settled on what I think is the perfect cole slaw recipe.  It is from Ginny Callan’s cookbook, Beyond the Moon Cookbook.  She calls the recipe  “Zesty Cabbage Salad.”  Whatever its name, it is pretty darn good!  I like this recipe a lot because it gets its sweetness not from the cup or more of sugar that I know my mom’s recipe used, but from the natural sweetness in carrots and red bell peppers as well as a tiny bit of honey.

INGREDIENTS

6 cups sated shredded green cabbage

2 cups grated carrots

6 scallions, sliced

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1/2 cup currants

3/4 cup chopped fresh red bell pepper

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup sour cream

1 TBS hot dijon or horseradish mustard

2 TBS fresh lemon juice

1 TBS vinegar

1 tsp honey

1/2/ tsp salt

Toss the cabbage, carrots, scallions, parsley, and currants together in a large bowl.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the dressing - yogurt, mayonaise, sour cream, mustard, lemon juice, vinegar, honey and salt.

Pour the dressing over the salad.  Toss well. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

by TraceyG

When I was a kid we used to go on little getaways - my mom, dad and myself. My dad loved doing that, we'd stay at a Holiday Inn, make sure they had a Holidome or at the very least an indoor pool for me to play in during our stay. If it had an in-house restaurant it was even better!! :-) I wish I could remember how old I was, I want to say I was in the 8-10 range, and we were over on the west side of the state, on a mini break at the Holiday Inn in Traverse City, when, mom discovered this salad. It was on the salad bar in the in-house restaurant, and she fell in love with it. And what I remember from that point on was her mad search for the recipe, lol. Once she found it, it became a staple for her to make around special occasions and potlucks etc. I remember her making it for Thanksgiving quite a few times, but back then I was not a fan of it. I now, as an adult, love this salad - I make it whenever I want it, it's so easy, and so yummy, that, for me it's an anytime-I-want-not-just-for-a-special-occasion salad, lol. And it's pretty too :-)

I've made it with all the vegetable ingredients and I've made it without some of them too - as long as I have carrots and the dressing, I'm a happy girl, lol. So, feel free to make it even if you don't have all the vegetables! Honestly, I can't remember the last time I used celery - not that I don't have it on hand, I just don't care for it in the salad, lol.

Copper Penny Salad

2 lbs cooked carrots (cut in rounds)

1 small green pepper, chopped

½ c diced celery

1 medium onion, sliced

1 can tomato soup

1/2 c vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

¾ c vinegar

Combine soup, oil, sugar and vinegar in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, stir while cooking to dissolve sugar. Pour over vegetable mixture. Refrigerate 24 hrs.

Food Friday - Pie in the Sky

"Pie in the Sky" is probably not the most honest title for this week's post.  It is actually pie in my belly.  This is one of my favorite pies so as soon as I got the photos taken I felt obliged to eat the model.

In our family, my oldest daughter and her dad (my ex-husband) have had an ongoing battle waging over who makes the best pumpkin pie.  His is the more traditional type, and hers is vegan.  They are both really good.  I am always amazed that the vegan pie is as good as it is.  In all honesty, I bet you wouldn't know that it was vegan unless you were told.  Because I am the non-competitive member of the family, I never joined in the pie battle.  I took a completely different route and always make a pie for the non-pumpkin pie eat that comes to dinner every now and then.

This recipe comes from The Pantry Restaurant in McKinney, Texas, a locally owned family business.  Their recipes are longtime family recipes that have been passed down through generations. Fortunately, they also published a cookbook with the recipe for this pie!

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs
1/2 Cup melted butter
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup flour
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Cup pecan pieces
1 10 inch pie shell

Mix eggs, butter, sugar, flour, and vanilla together.  Stir in chocolate chips and pecans.  Pour into the 10-inch pie shell.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes to an hour.  Serve topped with whipped cream or, if you are feeling really decadent, vanilla ice cream.

I usually melt the butter in a four-cup measuring cup and then mix all the ingredients in.  This makes it easy to pour the filling into the pie crust and it is easy clean up.  Only the measuring cup and a stirring spoon!  I also do not make my own crust for this one.  The pie itself is so rich that the taste of the crust is lost, so save the trouble of a homemade crust for that apple or peach pie!

On a side note, this is another in our "brown food series."   Again I say that brown food is really hard to photograph in an appealing way!


by Tracey G.

This recipe intrigued me, the fact that it's a colonial-era pie caught my attention. Add in the fact I love cranberries in just about any form and I'd never eaten them in the form of a pie, and I was really interested! The yummy ingredient list and the easy-factor sealed the deal for me.I think then next time I have some I'm going to heat it up and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream with it - yum!

I must thank Taste Of Home once again for the recipe and this venue for me having the reason to make this recipe! :-D 

Now, instead of making my own pastry for the pie, I just bought and used the refrigerated crust, made it super simple! But I've included the pastry recipe that came with the pie recipe :-)

And this was my first lattice topped pie - and it was so much easier than I thought it would be! I'd always said, nope, not doing that, that looks way too difficult, lol. Well, it's not and it sure looks pretty when you're done and it's baked! :-D

Cranberry Walnut Pie

courtesy of Taste of Home Magazine

Makes 8 Servings

1 pkg (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed

1 1/2 c packed brown sugar

1 c chopped walnuts

1/4 c butter, melted

4 1/2 tsp flour

2 tsp grated orange peel

Dash salt

Pastry for double crust pie (9-in.)

1) Preheat oven to 375° F. Place cranberries in a food processor; cover and process until finely chopped. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in brown sugar, walnuts, melted butter, flour, orange peel and salt.

2) On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of the pastry dough to 1/8-in. thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2-in. beyond rim of plate. Add filling.

3) Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in. thick circle; cut into 1/2-in wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom pastry; flute edge. Cover edges loosely with foil.

4) Bake 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake 20-25 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on wire rack.

Pastry for 9-in double-crust pie:

2 /12 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup cold butter, cubed

1/3 - 2/3 c ice water

Combine the flour and the salt; cut in the butter until crumbly. Gradually add 1/3 to 2/3 cup ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together. Divide in half, shape into disks; wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.