Fresh Buttermilk Cheese

I know, I know...we've been a little slow at updating.  Busy times around the Blair household, but we've settled in for a quiet evening and decided we need to do this now, or it might not get done.  We made this cheese last week and it was such a fun experiment.  The recipe is courtesy of marthastewart.com .  I was skeptical and thought this would be a long drawn out process, but much to my surprise - it was quick and painless.   Very versatile as well, we are gonna try again next week, but add some fresh herbs to it.  Was great with Ritz Crackers.

Fresh Buttermilk Cheese

Makes 1  six ounce round that serves 4 with crackers. 

1 quart of whole milk
1 1/2 cups whole or low fat buttermilk
2 teaspoons coarse salt

Line a colander with three layers of cheesecloth.  Combine Milk, buttermilk and salt in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over meduim heat until mixture has separated into white curds and translucent whey, about 8 minutes.  If using lowfat buttermilk, it separates at about 180 degrees and the curds will clump together readily.  If  using whole buttermilk, separation occurs closer to the boiling point, about 212 degrees and the curds are finer grained.  When using whole buttermilk, let the curds and whey stand off the heat for 3 minutes after separation, so the curds will cling together and facilitate the straining step.

Ladle the contents of the saucepan in the prepared colander over the sink.  Let the whey drain, 1 -2 minutes.  Lift the corners of the cheesecloth and gather them together. Gently twist the gathered cloth over the cheese and squeeze out any excess whey.

Cheese can be unwrapped immediately and served warm or let stand until cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes more.  To serve a firmer cheese (this is how we liked it ) transfer cheese to a small flat bottomed dish or pie plate and refrigerate till cool. Tent cheese with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated up to 2 days. 

Jamie's reaction to the cheese:  mmmmm...but we tried it warm and it was definetely better cold.   It was kinda like a cream cheese.  Today was a CBA test.  Yesterday was Regan's birthday and there was a left over roll and I took it to school and ate it for snack and everyone laughed at me!    I wish it was summer so I could go fishing.  Because it is warm and the fish will come up and bite. BYEBYE!

Mountain Dew Cake

Let me start by saying  -  I am NOT a Mountain Dew fan.  But you know me, got a new recipe- gotta try it. LOL.  I tried this out on Super Bowl night for the family and had no complaints and it is ALL gone tonight.  Just washed the cake server up.  Got this recipe from the Paula Deen Magazine but adapted it a little since I didn't have the necessary ingredients.

Mountain Dew Cake

1 Box lemon cake mix ( I didn't have one so I substituted one yellow cake mix and a teaspoon of lemon extract)
1 (3.4 ounce) box of lemon flavored instant pudding mix ( I used lemon jello mix)
1 (12 ounce) can of Mountain Dew Soda
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Lightly grease and flour a 10 cup bundt pan.  In a large bowl, combine cake mix, and pudding mix.  Add soda, oil, and eggs.  Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.  Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake for 45 -50 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.  

This cake was SUPER moist !  Was great without a frosting but you could dress it up with a simple powdered sugar drizzle or my favorite: take a white ready made frosting and throw it in the microwave for 25 seconds or so until it is pourable and drizzle over cake.

Here's what Jamie thought:  It was yummy!I ate it for dessert.  There was no complaints from anyone because it was yumilicious. I figured out what I got for my writing CBA- I got a 75 on my revising and editing i got an 86.  We are going to the Alamo, the Imax and the missions on Friday for our field trip and it is going to be so fun.  I have never been to the imax and missions.Today we played a new game in gym and it was with a bowling pin and a basketball.  Whenever we hit the pin with the basketball we had to go shoot a whole bunch of baskets to get points.  My papa Dan was here this weekend and i had fun seeing him.  For our valentines party at school we are having an ice cream party and I am bringing sprinkles.  The end.Bye.

Shae's Birthday Lava Cake

Found some spare time to share the Molten Lava Cake Shae wanted for her birthday celebration.  These are popular at restaurants for a premium dessert price. They are so simple and easy to make at home.  Got our monthly Parrot Head meeting tonight at The Ticket- can't wait.  Maybe it will help me feel better about this nasty weather we've been having. 

Molten Lava Cakes

4 squares of Baker's Semi Sweet Baking Chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 TBSP flour

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Butter 4 (3/4 cup) custard cups or ramekins.  Place on a baking sheet.
Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on high for 1 minute or until butter is melted.  Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted.  Stir in sugar until well blended.  Whisk in eggs and egg yolks.  Stir in flour.  Divide batter between prepared custard cups.  Bake 13 to 14 minutes or until sides are firm but centers are soft.  Let stand one minute.  Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen.  Invert cakes onto dessert dishes.  Serve immediately - get creative : top with whipped cream, ice cream, crushed graham crackers, marshmallow creme, etc.

Jamie's comments: When I ate it the lava cake the chocolate was like Lava-oohy gooey and running out the side like a volcano. School is going great. Taks test coming up. Writing and Revising and Editing CBA's today.  I think I did good. Today I got three mints at school, I love peppermints.Do you like chocolate?Then this was the best recipe for you because it has chocolate in the middle and chocolate on the outside.Bye!                                                    

Melt in the Mouth Fondue

Hello to all....been a couple days since we updated.  Been busy busy- This weekend was the Boat and RV Show in San Antonio, we got free tickets so we went and drooled over the ocean cruisers we can't afford...lol.  Then we headed back to San Antonio with the kids and a friend of Shae's to The Melting Pot.  Anyone ever been there?  It's a chain of fondue restaurants-really neat, but bring a large checkbook because it is so not cheap.  Smart people though, they make you cook your own food and they charge you more...how does that work?   So we came home and Shae (the teenager who is obsessed with Fondue) asked for more the next day.  Some great dippers were marshmallows, cheesecake, rice crispy treats, brownies, pound cake, bananas, strawberries, apples, pretzels.....you get the picture.

So here is our version of Chocolate Fondue thanks to an OLD Better Homes and Gardens cookbook  Fondue and Tabletop Cooking.

Chocolate Fondue

6    1 ounce squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup light cream
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/8 tsp salt
3 TBSP creme de cacao or orange flavored liqueur ( I left it out)

In a saucepan melt chocolate over low heat.  Add sugar, cream, butter, and salt.  Cook, stirring constantly about 5 minutes or till thickened.  Stir in liqueur.  Pour into fondue pot, place over fondue burner. 

We bought our fondue pot at a resale shop for a dollar.  It doesn't get used a ton, but it is fun when it does.  Shae would use it everyday if we would let her.

Here's what Jamie thought about the fondue:

Chocolate fondue is the BEST thing ever.It waS realy realy good.I can't wait tell we have more.At school we are going to do a play called Blam It On The Wolf.I am Iggie the pigge.Bye .

Fruit Turnovers

Hey everyone, Jamie made a great dessert tonight and we thought we would share.  Simply and easy and we had everything already- that is my favorite kind of recipe.  We have been wondering if anyone has tried any of our recipes so far and what your results were...good, bad, indifferent?  We would love to hear it.

This recipe came from one of the many cookbooks Jamie owns.  This one is her favorite because it was signed by her idol Paula Deen.  The book is Paula Deens My First Cookbook.

Fruit Turnovers

1 can of refrigerated biscuits (10 biscuits)
1 15 ounce can of fruit
1/2 cup of white sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon
2 TBSP butter cut into 10 pieces
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 TBSP milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Put parchment paper on cookie sheet.  Pat each biscuit into a 4 inch circle.  Drain the liquid from the fruit and chop the fruit into little pieces- we used strawberries.
Place about 1 tablespoon of chopped fruit in the middle of each biscuit.  Sprinkle with a little less than a teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Dot each with a piece of butter.  Shape each biscuit into a semi circle by folding one side over to match the other side.  Press with a fork all around the edge to seal.  Transfer to cookie sheet.  Bake the pies for 10 to 12 minutes
Mix the confectioners sugar and milk together until smooth, dribble icing on pies.

Jamie was able to completely do this recipe without any assistance from mom.  I was so proud of her (and I enjoyed eating them :^) 

Jamie's turn:
It was yummy.  The best part was the fruit.  It was fun to make especially from my first Paula Deen cookbook.  School is doing great.  Working for my taks test.  I lost a tooth and the tooth fairy came to see me last night.  I got a dollar.  Sisters birthday this weekend and we are going to the Melting Pot. Has anyone been there before.  We are excited about the fondue-we love it. Bye bye!

The Pollo is Loco!

Friday night we grilled some chicken on the pit and I must say it was outstanding!  My mouth is watering thinking about that crispy skin.  So here goes our marinade recipe: 

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white wine (I used cooking wine)
1/2 TBSP Oregano
1/2 tsp Thyme
1 1/2 TBSP Salt
5 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce ( In the chinese section at the grocery store-or just plain old tabasco would work)

Mix all ingredients and marinate 6 chicken thighs for about 2 hours in the refrigerator.  Sprinkle thighs with Lawry's Season Salt and MOST IMPORTANT  Bolners Fiesta Chicken Rub- very liberally  - my chicken is covered in it.  Grill till done.

Jamie and I were going fishing today, but the wind is really whipping too hard for that, so we settled on making some soap bait and hopefully we can use it tomorrow.  Sure is stinky stuff, but it works pretty good on those old catfish.

Till we eat again.....

Jamie is here.  The chicken was fabulous.  Dad did a good job grilling-took awhile, but worth it.  No bisquits though :(  Yesterday was grandma's birthday.  We had a party for her.  It was fun.  I want to go fishing today, but Mom will not let me because it is windy.  We made soap bait and I remember doing that when my dad and david used to go fishing.  It stinks!  Babybel cheese is good, I am eating some right now.  We watched how it was made on Unwrapped last week.  Bye Bye  See you next time.

Best Ever Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake

Unfortunately, a friend of ours lost her grandfather this week.  Along with some other friends, Jamie and I contributed a cake for the family meal.  It is a great "go to" recipe when you need a quick cake.  This came from a Kraft Foods magazine a few years ago.  Must warn you - it is uber chocolatey.  And the frosting/glaze is soooo good. 

Best Ever Chocolate Fudge Layer Cake

1 pkg (8 squares) Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate - divided
1 pkg (2 layer size) Chocolate Cake Mix
1 pkg (4 serving size) Jell-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
4 eggs
1 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Oil
1/2 cup water
1 Tub (8 oz) frozen Cool Whip Whipped Topping
2 TBSP Sliced Almonds  - * I use white chocolate curls

Preheat oven to 350 degress.  Grease two 9 inch round baking pans.  Chop 2 of the chocolate baking squares, set aside.  Beat cake mix, dry pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, oil and water in large bowl with mixer on low till moistened then medium for 2 minutes.  Stir in chopped chocolate.  Spoon into prepared pans.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until wooden tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.   Let the cool completely.

Place frozen whipped topping and remaining 6 chocolate squares in microwaveable bowl.  Microwave on high 1 1/2 minutes, stir and microwave another minute or until chocolate is completely melted.   Let stand 15 minutes to thicken.  Place 1 cake layer on serving plate, top with 1/4 of the chocolate mixture and the second cake layer.  Spread top and side with remaining chocolate mixture.  Garnish with almonds.  Store in refrigerator.

Jamie is chomping at the bit to tell you her description of the cake:
Man I wish I could have some of that.  The name even makes me drool.  We also made this cake for a bake sale and it sold for $10.  I would have bought it for $20.  I can't wait till I can go to the Spurs game on Wednesday.  Going back to school tomorrow- oh man!  We are about to fry some chicken.Byebye.  Oh yeah and we are making boston cream pie for us.  Why is it named pie if it is a cake?  Do you know?

Campfire Peach Cobbler

Well it has been awhile since we posted, but rest assured, not because we didn't want to, just wwwwaaaayyyy to much going on.  Friday night, Shae had her DI team over for a meeting (seven screaming teenagers-oooohhhh long night)  Two of the girls spent the night and Jamie had a friend spend the night as well- they were all up to the wee hours.  Saturday, Shae, Regan and Trey went to Monster Jam and we (Me, Jarrett, and Jamie) went to Grady's BBQ- used one of our complimentary meals for the beans not being done at the wedding.  2 down - 2 to go.  Enjoyed the evening.  Now today we are BBQing some fajitas and Jarrett's famous Fideo.  For dessert, Jamie and I made a Peach Cobbler.  Jamie thought it would be a great idea to share, although I know not everyone has a dutch oven and cooks over open fire, I am sure it could be adapted to an oven. 

Campfire Peach Cobbler

1 large can of peaches, cut into chunks
1 Butter or Yellow cake mix (we used Butter)
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 TBSP brown sugar

Line dutch oven with heavy duty foil, pour peaches in the bottom of dutch oven.  Mix cake mix with oil and water, pour over peaches.  Sprinkle brown sugar over cake mix.  If using charcoal briquets- use 8- 10 on top and 8-10 on bottom.  Of course, Jarrett just wings it with wood coals and usually does pretty good.  It calls for about 30-40 minutes- when your on wood coals, you better check a little sooner.   

,

Onto Jamie: I like it when my dad cooks in the dutch oven.  Right now I am eating it and it is delish.Guess what I get to go to a spurs game, my teacher won 300 tickets and we each get 2. Yesterday I had a friend over and her name is Chloe,we had a good time.Bye next time we are going to tell you about our bread pudding.

Deen Brothers Chocolate Chip Pie

OK - so this recipe is good, but it makes 2 nine inch pies-way too much for our family, especially since the elder can't have chocolate right now and her hubby doesn't eat dessert.  We made a few changes (of course) but the end result was great.  It came from The Deen Bros Cookbook- Recipes from the Road

Chocolate Chip Pie

2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 TBSP vanilla
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cups chopped walnuts ( we left them out because dad can't have nuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease two 9" pie plates.  In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.  In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated.  Beat in the vanilla.  Add flour mixture, a little at a time, and mix until fully combined.  Fold in the 3 cups chocolate chips and, if desired, the walnuts.  Divide the dough between the prepared pie plates and smooth the tops.  Bake about 30 minutes or until pies are golden and slightly firm to the touch but still soft.  If the pies begin to darken too much cover with foil and continue baking.  Let pies cool completely on a wire rack. 

While the pies cool, whip 4 cups heavy cream until soft peaks form.  Add 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar and whip until combined.  Fold in 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips.  Refrigerate until  pies are cooled, then spread over the pies and serve.

Here's what Jamie thought:

It was yummilicious.  Right now I am eating some.The wild hog was good.  Tonight we are making  enchiladas, yum.  Been playing the Wii today I love it.  Poor longhorns didn't win.  Longhorns are my favorite.  Tonight after dinner I will probably feed the fish in the tank some old bread, but it's too cold to fish.

Granola- good for the soul

Hey everyone!  This was a great snack this week.  We took a recipe from Taste of Home Cooking School and revised it a little for our tastes.   We gobbled it up fairly quickly and the girls are begging for more already.  I think this is a good recipe to change up for your particular tastes.  We love the Craisins and added more to ours along with nectarines, apricots, apples and prunes.

Fruit 'N' Nut Granola

4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup dried mixed fruit  (we used a little more)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (we used sliced almonds)
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl.

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring brown sugar and water to a boil.  Remove from the heat, stir in oil and vanilla until mixed.  Pour over oat mixture and toss to coat.  Pour into a 15 inch x 10 inch baking pan.

Bake at 275 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.  Stir in raisins.  Cool stirring occasionally

Here's Jamie's review of it:
It was a very good snack for school. My favorite was the craisins.  Do you like dried cranberries?  I hope you like the recipe . Do you like the cold weather?  I don't.  Tonight we are cooking a wild hog leg.  I hope its good.

Biscuits like clouds....

Yep, they are just like clouds.  We use this recipe in the oven and in the dutch oven over coals.   Put about 2 - 2 1/4 cups of Bisquick in a bowl.  Add about 3-4 oz of cream cheese (1/2 a box).  Use a pastry knife or 2 butter knives and cut that cream cheese into the Bisquick till it is in tiny little chunks.  Then just pour in milk until you get a nice dough you can roll out.  Not much milk at all....go slow and mix.  Roll it out and form biscuits or use a cutter- these make great thick biscuits, so like an inch or so is great when you cut them out.  I cook at about 375 degrees and they brown up really nice.  Couldn't tell you how long because I just watch them.  Terrific with jelly.   

Well I haven't been too creative in the kitchen this weekend/week , so I will have to try harder this week.  Yesterday was Beef Stew, nothing to write home about!  Let me know if ya'll try out the biscuits, we love em!

Jamie's turn:

I love biscuits made form the dutch oven! My dad loves to make them so just about every sunday morning.So guess what I get for breakfest?This time instead of my dad making them  me and my mom did.This was such an easy and fun recipe so I hope you enjoy them to.Bye Bye for now again.

Chef Jamie at work

Banana Sour Cream Cake

Mmmmmmm.  Well we finally got done with all the parties; New Years and Birthdays.  So we decided it was a good time to try out that cake we have been drooling over.  Had some bananas before Christmas that turned brown too fast, so we slung them in the freezer to preserve them. Don't know if you have ever tried this, but it really brings out the sugar in them.  The skin turns dark brown and they look totally disgusting, but make a mean banana bread.  Here's the recipe we got from Kraft Foods:

1 yellow cake mix (we used Duncan Hines Butter)
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas ( about 3 large)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup oil

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Beat the 5 ingredients in a mixer on low speed till moistened, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.  Pour into greased 13 x 9 pan.  Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Icing:  1 package 8 oz cream cheese, 1 stick of butter softened, and 16 oz of powdered sugar
Beat cream cheese and butter with mixer until well blended.  Gradually add sugar until well blended.

Top with Walnuts if desired. 

Here's Jamie's take on the cake:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! We went to someones house called James for the count down.We stayed up till mid night,we had a good old time and cold.Mom and me just had some of that cake and let me tell you it was delish.bye bye for now.