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 .