Merry Christmas to you!

I guess I should also say, 'or whatever you do' too.  Happy Festivus!

We've had a busy few days.  Jolea came in Tuesday night and Jeff brought her directly to the house they didn't go out as planned, as they were both tired and Jeff had to work the next morning.

Wednesday Jolea and I did some shopping gag, I'd rather take a beating and it wasn't too bad.  Then we both got our hair cut.  I've had the same hairdresser since 1990!!! OMG!  Her son and Jolea were in 1st grade together.  So DeeDee was quite happy to see Jolea and Jolea's hairs were quite happy to see DeeDee.  Jolea hadn't had a professional hair cut since the last time DeeDee cut her hair, something like 3 years ago!

Like always Jolea has been doing a lot of cooking since she's been home.  Here she's making Mini Deep Dish Pizzas with Gracie's help.  These were really good, and even though I'd had surgery the tooth thing I was able to eat a couple and they were really good.  We came to the decision that they needed a few more ingredients than just mini pepperonis and cheese, next time we'll throw in some ground beef, bell peppers, green or black olives, onions, etc. as much as you can in a muffin tin.  Maybe it's time to purchase one of those muffin tins for extra large muffins. Hey.... I could make little chicken pot-pies in those too!

Friday we ventured out to deliver a Tiramisu and some not so spicy salsa to Lourdes and then we attempted to shop again, MISTAKE!  Jolea was trying to find an outfit to wear later.  She and Jeff were going out in Dallas.  She ended up raiding my closet, good thing for her that I don't dress like a Mom.  We spent more time in the parking lots than we did in the stores, Jolea shops like me, we scan, we spot something then we touch it, look at it, maybe try it on.  We're in and out in minutes.

Jeff came up for tenderloin and baked potatoes like father like son and he and Jolea headed back down to Dallas to meet up with an old friend of Jolea's from 7th grade and Jeff's buddies.
 

Then yesterday morning as Jeff was bringing her back up from Dallas, she remembers that she's supposed to meet a friend for breakfast.  Long story short, Jessica meets her at the house.  We whip up some pancakes and bacon and have a lovely chat with Jess and her adorable baby boy Braxton over breakfast. 

Seems like just a few weeks ago these girls were headed off to Padre for Spring Break.

He's a cute kid.

Here he's 'putting it out there for the girls' as Jolea and Jess said.

Gracie just LOVED his visit... it really freaked her out that we had a tiny person brought in to chase after her under the table.  I'm sure if she'd run through her tube he may have tried to follow her.

Around noon another old friend drops by and Jolea is whisked off for lunch with Woody's family Jolea and Woody worked together when she was home for the 2005 hurricane season.  She was later met and brought home by a different friend.  Chris and Jolea went to High School together.  Chris came in and stayed for a bit and they played guitars and sang together until the football game was over and he had to get back to his family.

We had dinner and soon after Amanda and her husband Matt came by.  Amanda and Jolea have also been friends since Junior High school when they were in 4-H together but attended different schools until high school.  We'd never met Matt, he's usually deployed overseas somewhere but is now stationed in Washington state.

We put all the leaves in Great,great,great Grandma's table, thinking that surely more of the kid's friends would wander in today around meal time.  Seems that the one that Jolea had invited I guess she felt sorry for him, she always tried to bring in strays may not come after all.  So we'll just scooch it back in to a setting of four.  Fine with me,  because there isn't much tiramisu or chocolate pie left.  I'm supposed to be making a chocolate cake right now but the ham is in the oven.

Tomorrow Jolea and I will set out for New Braunfels to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  Then it's off to Houston Tuesday to see Nita.  Jolea and Nita haven't seen each other since 2008 when Jolea was living in St. Thomas and we all went to see her there.  Then it's back home Wednesday morning, maybe catch Michael and Di as they are in Dallas for doctor appointments. and Jolea will fly out for Key West on Thursday.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a great week.

Christmas Baking Part 3 and 4 (actually done yesterday)

Let's get started.

I pulled out my frozen balls, I had already chopped the chocolate the night before to save time this morning. I wasn't going to have enough of the Gheridelli Chocolate so I was going to mix it with some Hershey's Special Dark.  But that didn't work so well.  Word to the wise here, never use chocolate chips for any thing that you want to set up and harden into a chocolate shell.  Chocolate chips of any kind don't get hard again once melted.  That's why they are soft and creamy when they are in Chocolate Chip Cookies.  So I had to change gears here.  Part 3 to be continued.

Part 4:   Let's make Salsa.  I'm not bragging here but my salsa is well loved by many people.  That makes me feel good.  I was once told by a Mexican (a true from Mexico Native) that my salsa was the best salsa she had ever had that was made by a Gringa.  I make salsa for us here at home about once a month.  Not that it lasts that long, especially when Jolea is home, I just do without for about a week. It's fresh, without preservatives so we have to eat it quickly.  I usually use one package of tomatoes to make one batch.  I like to use the tomatoes that are still on a little vine.  I've found that the ones on vines continue to ripen on the counter, never put a tomato in the fridge unless it's been cut, but you probably know that.

I needed all my cast iron pans for this, I set each burner on high and load them up with tomatoes and Serrano Peppers, I used about a dozen in this process, but when I do one batch I will use 2-3.  I don't use Jalepeno peppers because.... I just don't, the smaller the pepper the more heat it packs.  I roast every thing, turning the tomatoes and peppers over to get little burned spots on them.  This is part of the flavor in my salsa.  It's a cooked salsa but not a cooked salsa.

In the food processor I put in half a medium largish onion cut in half and in half again (did you get that?)  4 cloves of garlic pressed through a press, I like it really small.  About a tablespoon of salt, about a dozen grinds of pepper and the juice of 4 limes.  I whirl these around in the food processor.  I really like this stuff chopped real fine so they end up getting whirled around quiet a few times.

So now you have to start the hot and messy part.  You want to take the peppers and tomatoes out of the pans.  The peppers aren't so bad to deal with, but the tomatoes have turned into little Magma Balls, so let them cool.  IMPORTANT PART:  when you are about to work with ANY kind of hot pepper, take the time to put a little olive oil on your finger tips, your whole hand if you have to, but especially up under your finger nails.  This will keep the juices from the pepper from absorbing into you skin and burning later.  And it washes off easier and you don't end up with it in your eyes or under your nose.  

Back to the salsa,  split the peppers and cut off the stems, cut out the veins and scrape out the seeds, that is unless you are a glutton for punishment, if so, just cut off the stems and throw the whole thing in the food processor.  Give it a whirl.... chop those peppers into smaller bits to share the wealth.   (Note for wennies... if your salsa ends up too spicy, just add a pinch or two of sugar, stir it up, let it sit and voila... not so spicy anymore.)

This is going to get messy,  I just cut  the tops off the tomatoes, getting rid of the stem.  Then I pour out the seeds.  You don't want all those seeds in the salsa.  Do you ever see good salsa with a ton of seeds in it?  NO... good salsa only has the chunks of tomato.  Don't worry about all the juice that goes out with the seeds, there's plenty more in there.  I can make one batch in the food processor, but since I was making 4 batches I had to empty the processor 4 times into a large Dutch Oven pan, it's all I had big enough to hold all this.  The more you process the tomatoes the less chunky the salsa.

In the last batch of tomotoes to go through the processor, I added my all time favorite herb.... celantro!   Don't forget to wash it, this stuff has a lot of sand in it.  I ended up using a whole large bunch, leaves only... no stems (remember that Duder...)  So there you have it.  It's basicly done... now just put it in a jar or continer and stick it in the fridge.  I needed to go get dipping chocolate so I just slid the dutch oven into the fridge to decant (I got that from Overboard) later.  Maybe I'd find some cute jar at the store.  To be continued....

Back to Part 3:  I found this stuff at Hobby Lobby with the help of Paige, a long time acquaintance (her daughter was in one of my Kdg. classes) and store manager.  Paige assured me these worked for candy making and they tasted good.  She said if it was in her store and made of chocolate she had tasted it.  She sounds like someone I could work for. 

I started dunking my balls again.  Can you see the difference?  The ones on the left are the chocolate chip dunked, on the right are the real dipping chocolate.  Yeah the left balls are prettier, but you can't touch them, or pick them up... they melt and make a mess on contact. Who wants balls that disintegrate in your hands?  I know I don't!  You can also see the little holes that are left by the tooth picks in the tops of the... hard balls.

To cover the little holes I drizzled some of the chocolate onto the tops of each ball, but then I wanted to mark them like I did the German balls, so that everyone would know these were Orange balls.  I melted some white chocolate chips (yeah, that won't set up) in the microwave and added some food color to make it orange and drizzled this over the balls.

Aren't those some wild looking balls?

So back to the Salsa....   (do you feel like your train of thought is jumping the track?  Welcome to my world.)

I didn't find anything cute at Hobby Lobby, so I had this one at home.  It's a cool Lock and Lock container I got at the Asian Market, they have cool stuff over there, go check it out.  You need a container with a tight locking lid if you make this stuff or your fridge will smell like salsa and you'll forget that you wanted milk when you go in there.

The tiramisu looks good. I added a little more Kaluah around the edges and got some dribbles on it.  But I'm sure that didn't effect the taste.

I packed this all up and delivered it last night before the weather came in.

We've had wacky weather for the past two days,  While the northern half of the US has been having blizzards and traffic choking snowstorms, we've been having Thunderstorms and Tornados, with temps in the 70s.  That reminds me, I need to call my Aunt in East Texas to see how they are after the tornado that went through Longview yesterday.  Today we are supposed to have snow!  Yeah, it's December in Texas.

I delivered the yummies across town last night and they were well received with chips and spoons.  This is the house just down from where I made the delivery .... they do it up big across town.      We are having Christmas Eve Dinner with the Crains tonight.  We'll have loads of food, Dawn and I will dig into the tiramisu #2, and we'll have a pool tournament.   Then Jody, Jeff and I will have Christmas Dinner tomorrow at our house.  Wish Jolea was here, but I don't want to say that too loud, she's homesick enough without us rubbing it in.

Have a great Christmas Eve.  Tomorrow..... pictures of our Christmas tree and this year's ornaments. 

Christmas Baking, Part 2

I'm exhausted..... after I finished with the German Chocolate Cake Balls I went to get Jody's Christmas present.  He usually doesn't give me any kind of clue or hint as to what he wants.  The other night he gave me a hint so I ran with it.  That doesn't mean he'll be all excited to get it.  Unlike me, he doesn't get excited about much. 

Afterwards I met Dawn and we went into Garland to a restaurant supply store.  I love going to cooking stores.  There are always the coolest gadgets.  The only problem is for some things you have to buy 3 dozen instead of just one.  I got a few gadgets and scoped out a mixer.... that's what Santa is bringing me.  Since mine officially died tonight.  The smaller one was only $1200.  The larger one was only 6 inches shorter than me.  Excuse me.... I'll take two of these.

So tonight I didn't make the Orange Cake Balls...  No, I had to use some strategy in how to make sure I can get all this delivered by tomorrow night.  It was best for me to wait and do the cake balls in the morning.  I made Tiramisu tonight since it has to chill over night.

I know some of you wanted the recipe so here we go.  First your ingredients...  No, first your recipe, or my recipe.... it's really a recipe I got off allrecipes.com.  BUT, I changed a few things so now it's mine.

6 egg yolks
1 1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup marscapone cheese (don't try this with cream cheese)
1 3/4 cup heavy cream

This is where the switch comes in..... I don't use lady fingers like the recipe calls for I use Panettone....  NO, not the one with the fruit, I know that's all they have in some places, but just hold out until you can get the chocolate kind.  We don't need no stinking fruits.

When I buy Panettone, I cut the it into pieces to fit it into my freezer.  As I was cutting it into slices I thought, HEY why couldn't I use this for Tiramisu?  So I did.   I trim the bottom off because no one, not even the Panettone bakers can seem to keep from scorching the bottom of this gigantic cupcake.

I am giving part of this Tiramisu away as a gift so I wanted it to be in a nice little Christmas Tin.  I lined it with plastic wrap and I'm hoping when they get ready to serve it, the Tiramisu can be lifted out.  Who knows it could just fall apart and they have to eat it off the kitchen counter with a spoon. The person I'm giving it to would do that too. 

Then I lined the pans with the Panettone.

Now to the cooking.  You'll need to bring some water in a double boiler to a boil and then turn it down and cook the egg yolks

and sugar in the top portion until all sugar is dissolved and you have a nice lemony looking custard.   This takes about 10 minutes, don't cook it too fast you don't want the water to boil, just simmer under the eggs. 

Now add the Marscapone Cheese, and gently fold in until it's all smooth.

After you have wiped the heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks you can fold in the egg and cheese mixture.  Then you'll need to paint the Panettone with Kaluah.  Or you can use cooled espresso, but what fun is that?  Here is my little pan of painted Panettone.

And the bigger dish.

Then you spoon half of the custard onto the Panettone and top it with another layer of Panettone, and paint on more Kaluah. Top that with the rest of the custard.

And finally, take a little cocoa (I use the Special Dark) and the Instant Espresso Powder, mix them together in a little dish and sprinkle the top of the Tiramisu.

This will turn darker due to the moisture in the Tiramisu. So it won't look quiet so pale in the morning.

Now for the best part.... clean up.  I just painted a piece of the Panettone with Kaluah, scraped the last of the custard onto it..... YUM!


I'm off to bed, busy day of cooking again tomorrow with Part 3 and 4.

Christmas Baking, Part 1

Yeah, it's only a couple more days until Christmas and I'm just now starting my Christmas baking for gift giving. Hey, I've been busy, I'm still working of Christmas socks.

Yesterday I started it all by baking two cakes. I don't have pictures of the cake because I figured you all know how to make a boxed cake mix in a 9 X 13 pan. I made one white cake and added about 2 tablespoons of orange extract, and I made one chocolate cake, just plain chocolate not Devil's Food or double butter or anything like that. Just chocolate.

Then I took a can of cream cheese frosting (for the white/orange cake) and mixed more orange extract and enough food coloring to make it orange colored. No pictures of this because if you don't have a huge bowl you end up with it all over your kitchen and that didn't look very picture worthy. I crumbled the cake and mixed the can of frosting into it. Yeah, I totally demolished the cake. It made a really gooey orange.... goo! I put it into the fridge to chill.

Then I did the same with the chocolate. Jody almost had a stroke. He couldn't believe I was 'ruining' a perfectly good chocolate cake. But then when he saw me put the canned frosting for German Chocolate Cake (the coconut pecan type) in with the crumbled cake, he walked away. But not before rummaging the kitchen for another richer darker chocolate cake mix and frosting for me to bake in a day or two, just for him....

So this morning as soon as Jody left for work I started making CAKE BALLS! I took the chilled German Chocolate balls out of the fridge (I'd rolled the chocolate cake goo into balls last night). I started chopping my huge bar of chocolate I'd gotten the week before. Jody had already asked if we could eat it because we ran out of Butterfingers.

Then I covered everything in waxed paper, chopped some
pecans and set out a little coconut. These were to top the little cake balls after I dipped them in melted chocolate. I chopped the chocolate and started the melting process. If the only reason for inventing the microwave oven had been for melting chocolate it still would have been one of the best inventions for kitchens. Melting chocolate over a pan of hot water is dangerous. Leaving a wooden spoon in a glass bowl of melting chocolate is dangerous too, but we won't talk about that.

Here are my chilled balls. After working with them for a bit I put some of them back in the freezer because they got too warm.

You want to know why hand dipped chocolates are so expensive? Because it's a pain in the butt! I was not about to grab my balls and dunk them in the hot chocolate like those professional ball dunkers do. I don't like having 2nd degree burns on my fingers. So I used a tooth pick.

They look pretty good don't they? Not that I have a chance of becoming a Chocolateer, I have a better chance at being a Mousekateer or even better a Moosekateer... (Marley Moose, Marley Moose yeah!) The tooth picks leave a little hole in the top of the ball so I covered it with a tiny bit of coconut and a couple of pecan bits. Pretty slick huh? This also let's the eater know there is coconut and pecans in these cake balls. I just hate it when my family members want to spit something filled with nuts into my purse because they had no idea there were nuts in that chocolate.



The recipe on allrecipes.com said it would make 36 Cake Balls. OK, someone likes their balls big. I like to share so I used my little 1 inch Pampered Chef scoop.




Don't they look pretty? I'll box some of these up and give to people like my Mail Carrier. I'll save some for my Mother-in-law. She loves German Chocolate Cake and when I first tried these Cake Balls at my friend DD's house, the first thing I thought about was Jane and making these with German Chocolate frosting. They taste VERY good.... just like when half the cake is gone and there is a little frosting and some of the gooey cake residue left in the pan. Mmmm Mmmm goood!

500 points to the person who knows what movie I was referring to when I wrote Marley Moose.... Jolea you can't play. Wouldn't be fair.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - My other balls.