Monday, March 22, 2010
Kitchen Shears Winner!!
Congratulations to Comment #4, Lisa S. on your new kitchen shears!
Lisa S.
"My most favorite kitchen tool is my garlic press...I cannot live without it! I used to cut up my fingers trying to get garlic as chopped small....and this press has saved my fingers! It's the greatest! (A close 2nd place for me is my herb grinder...it rocks as well!)"
My garlic press died a sad death a few years ago and I've never replaced it. I just do the whole whack and chop! Now this herb grinder you speak of…I may need to look into one of these!
Email me your mailing address to mypotboilethover@yahoo.com to claim your prize!
Oh, and can I just say that my cousin Richie's comment was my absolute favorite? You had me laughing out loud with your George Foreman expertise!
Have a great week everyone! Baby Back Rib recipe coming up as soon as I get the time to write the post!
Friday, March 19, 2010
My Favorite Things - Pampered Chef Kitchen Shears
It's giveaway time! This time, I am giving away my favorite kitchen tool in the whole world – Pampered Chef Professional Kitchen Shears. We got our first pair of these as a wedding gift (thanks, Jeanette!) and have literally used them every day since. I've lost countless pairs to the garage and have since threatened Allen with his life if he takes my new ones out of the kitchen!
No, I do not work for, sell, or otherwise endorse Pampered Chef products (although I do love their stuff!), but I'm here to tell you right now that these are the best kitchen shears ever. They do it all. I could go on all day with all the uses!
Thanks to Tina True, my favorite Pampered Chef Consultant, for donating these shears for our giveaway!
To enter, just leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite kitchen tool is. You will be required to enter an email address – but never fear, it will not be published and I will never use it for anything other than blog purposes!
All comments (one per person, please) must be submitted by 9 pm Eastern Sunday. Winner announced Monday!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Easter Dinner - Coconut Cake
Sorry about the lack of photos in this post. I got totally distracted and didn't take even one. You can see that we had half of the cake eaten before it occurred to me!
Most everyone I know has been making a variation of this cake for years, because it is just so darn good and so darn easy. Everyone calls it something different. I've heard it called everything from Poke Cake (I guess from all the hole poking you do!), to Cold Coconut Cake (what my in laws call it, obviously because you eat it cold), to plain old Coconut Cake. No matter what you call it, you must try it! I'm telling you, serve this to your Mother in Law the next time she comes over. If she doesn't already know about the recipe, you can pass it off as your own and be the rock star of dinner!
Pretty much every holiday dinner I go to with my family, I take this cake. It's my Uncle Bill's fave. Trust me, it takes a lot to put a smile on Uncle Bull's, um, I mean Uncle Bill's face. This cake does it. Every time. Someday I'll tell you about Uncle Bill. He's a school bus driver and he's the grumpiest man I've ever known. I love him to death.
| The Software: |
| White cake mix Eggs Vegetable Oil Cream of Coconut Sweetened Condensed Milk Whipped Topping Coconut |
| The Hardware: |
| 9 X 13 dish Mixing Bowl(s) Electric Mixer or Whisk (or heck, a spoon) Fork or Toothpick |
Here's your first clue that this is going to be one easy recipe. It starts with a boxed cake mix! Take your white cake mix and make it according to package directions for a 9X13 pan. If you are really a beginner and have not yet acquired an electric mixer of any sort, just mix that puppy up with a whisk. It's a cake mix, not rocket science!
When your cake is about done (you'll know it's done when you stick a toothpick (or a sharp knife if you're fresh out of toothpicks) in the center of the cake and it comes back clean. In other words, not gloopy. If it has gloop on it, your cake is not done.
Anyway, as I was saying. When your cake is about done, empty the can of sweetened condensed milk and the container of cream of coconut (This can be found in the mixed drink ingredient area of your grocery. I won't tell anyone if you also pick up some daiquiri mix while you're there - especially if you are making this cake for your Mother in Law. You may need a stiff drink after she leaves. Kidding, I'm KIDDING, folks! In almost 8 years of marriage, my mother in law hasn't driven me to drinking one time!) in a bowl and mix them up with your instrument of choice. I like a whisk here.
Also, just another note about the cream of coconut. I have found it in two forms, in a can and in a white plastic container. I'm pretty sure they are two different sizes, but I just buy whichever one the grocery has that day and use the whole thing. No one has ever complained about the cake! Oh, and another note, if you get the canned variety, unless you shake it up really well before you open it, it's gonna look all separated and gross. Don't panic. Just dump it all in the bowl and whisk!
Once the cake is done, take it out of the oven. Now the fun begins! Using a toothpick or fork, poke holes all over the hot cake. I like a fork here. Don't worry, no one is going to see the holes and even if they did, they wouldn't care after one bite of this manna from Heaven!
Now that your cake is all holy, slowly begin pouring the condensed milk/cream of coconut mixture over the hot cake, pausing every little while to let it soak up the goodness. Keep pouring, keep pouring, until it is allllll gone. Then take a little spoon and scrape a taste for yourself out of the bowl. Mmmmmmm….good stuff, isn't it?
Let your cake sit like this for 20 minutes or so. Give it plenty of time to soak in the milk, then cover and put in the fridge to cool completely. While you're at it, get the whipped topping out of the freezer to thaw.
Once the cake is cold and the whipped cream is thawed, spread the whipped cream as an icing over the cake. Delish I tell you, DELISH! Sprinkle the coconut over the whipped cream and put it back in the fridge until you are ready to impress.
It's really important to serve this cake cold, and within a day or two of making it.
Click Here for the Printable Recipe
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Easter Dinner
My Dear Friends, Easter will be upon us in less than a month! What does the holiday mean to you? For me, it means Worship, a new dress for church, playing the Easter Bunny for Clara, hanging out with family and eating good food!
During the rest of March, this blog will focus on some of my favorite Easter Dinner recipes. Pork of some type, Au Gratin Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole, Seven Layer Salad, Fruit Pizza, Coconut Cake...I could really go on for hours! I will be home in WV for Easter this year and I so hope the whole family gets together. My Aunts and Cousins are some of the best cooks in this world - and the spread is always impressive!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Sausage Quiche
Tonight I made a Sausage Quiche for our sweet neighbors Becky, Dave and Mrs. Fredda. They are the sweetest people in the whole world and sadly Dave is fighting a battle with cancer. Quiche is quick, easy and yummy reheated, so that makes it a great candidate for taking to someone for dinner!
As I said, this is a sausage quiche because that happens to be my personal favorite. You can take this basics of this recipe, though, and add whatever meat, cheese and veggies you like. Quiche is very versatile!
| The Software: |
| Frozen Deep Dish Pie Crust Sharp Cheddar Breakfast Sausage, cooked and crumbled Eggs Heavy Cream Half and Half Salt Pepper |
| The Hardware: |
| Cheese Grater Mixing Bowl Whisk Baking Sheet |
The first thing you want to do is preheat the oven to 325 and get the sausage cooking. You can see that I totally neglected to take a picture of that part, but I figure you get the concept. Plop it in a pan, crumble, and cook!
While the sausage is cooking, shred a little more than a cup of cheddar. Please, Please, Please, do not buy the already shredded cheese in bags. The taste difference is truly notable! Once the cheese is shredded, go ahead and put it in the bottom of the deep dish pie shell. (You could obviously make your own pastry if you so desire. I have no time for such nonsense!) See how I have the quiche on a baking sheet? This will make transporting everything to and from the oven so much easier!
Here's the final product!
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