Green Chili

It's been a year, today, since my Mother in Law passed away.

So, I thought it would be nice tribute to post her recipe for green chili.

 

 

My MIL was born and raised in a small town in southern Colorado, just near the boarder of New Mexico, so green chili is kind of a big deal where she came from.

 

She spent her entire working life in the food industry- from waiting tables to being a cafeteria lady at school to owning and working her own restaurant (or two).  And green chili was her specialty.

 

Nobody in our family ever made it, except her.  We bowed to her green chili expertise.  In that expertise she swore the only chiles to use were Hatch green chiles and always bought cases in August during the big roasting fests that happen around these parts.

 

 

Before she became too sick to cook, she showed me how to make it and wrote the recipe down for me.

 

Sandy's Green Chili

 

4lbs. Hatch green chiles chopped

2lbs. ground pork

2lbs. ground Italian sausage (hot or mild)

3medium onions chopped

8cloves garlic chopped

1lb. 12oz. can Rotel (original)

5Tb cumin

2Tb cilantro (1/4C if using fresh)

1Tb salt

Water (about 1C)

Browned flour (about 1/4C)

 

Brown meat and drain off fat.  Add the chiles, onions and everything through to the salt.  Stir in water and simmer for 2 hours.  Give it the occasional stir adding in more water if it becomes too dry.  After 2 hours, add in 2Tb to 1/4C of browned flour to thicken to your personal preference.  Cook for 10 more minutes.

 

Makes: A boat load!

 

This is SO delicious over fresh homemade sopapillas.  But honestly, I don't know the first thing about making sopapillas.  So unless we're eating this in Colorado and the Farmboy's cousin's girlfriend has blessed us with her perfect sopapilla-making talent, we eat the chili as is or over chimichangas bought in the freezer section of the grocery store.

Sad, I know.

 

If you decide to give it a try, please let me know what you think, cuz we think it the diggity-shniz.

 

PS.  I should probably warn you- if you use fresh chiles and you've purchased the hot ones and then use hot Italian sausage and you have a delicate palate like mine, it may take a whole gallon of milk to cool your mouth off afterwards.

 



Peach Pie

A Farmboy Favorite

Ingredients:

1 Peach Festival

1/2 pint whipping cream

1C powdered sugar, divided

6oz. cream cheese, softened

1 9in. baked pie shell

sliced peaches

1C sugar

2Tbsp. cornstarch

1C mashed peaches

1C water

yellow food coloring

Preparation:

Find yourself a Peach Festival and go to it.  Purchase a peach julep upon entering.  Walk around and look at antiques while enjoying your peach julep.  Purchase a serving of peach cobbler.  Walk around and look at crafts while enjoying your peach cobbler.  Beg the paper fan giver-outer people to look one more time... surely they have just one more fan somewhere.  Purchase a bowl of peach ice cream and profusely thank the ice cream people for not just the ice cream, but the paper fan they were kind enough to give you also.  Enjoy your ice cream while fanning hot air about your head.  Purchase a bag of fresh peaches on your way back to your car.

Once home pull out your peaches.  You'll want to do this as soon as you can, because the peach farmer wasn't lying when he said the Georgia Belle peaches will ripen really fast... I wouldn't wait more than 24 hours from purchase time to start.

Whip the cream with 1/2 cup powdered sugar.  Beat cream cheese with rest of powdered sugar.  Fold together the whipped cream mixture and the cream cheese mixture.  Spread in the cooled pie shell.  Cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. 

Cover cream mixture with sliced fresh peaches. 

For the glaze: Mix together the sugar, cornstarch, mashed peaches, water and about 2 drops of food coloring.  Boil until clear, stirring constantly.  When cool, pour over pie.

Try not to eat the whole pie in one sitting.  

However, judgment shall not come to pass should you do so. 

These things happen sometimes.



Strawberry Cake

Lately I've been cooking quite a lot out of this cookbook.  I really love how it is broken up by countries and the bits of cultural food information and family memories that Tessa shares.

I'm pretty sure that I have never been Finnish in any of my past lives, however, a Cypriot I most definitely could have been.  Oh yes, I could happily live on the island of Cyprus.

But, that doesn't mean I haven't liked any of the Finnish recipes.  Bring on the meatballs- someone else may have the herring fish though.

The last Finnish recipe I followed was Sipi's Strawberry Cake.

Delish.

This is practically a strawberry shortcake.

And just as easy to make

{maybe easier}

than strawberry shortcake made with biscuits.

And possibly better.

Well, at least better than mine the last time I made it with biscuits.

{which turned out to be similar to eating strawberries and cream with river rocks}

This one, however, I will be making again.

Baking: It Does the Memory Good

One day last week, I mentioned that I wanted to bake a Pandowdy.

At the mention of a pandowdy, 

the MIL broke out into song...

"...apple pandowdy makes your eyes light up, and your tummy say howdy."

Pandowdy brought back memories.

Memories the MIL hadn't thought of in years.

 Memories of her aunt dancing around the house with her and the other children

singing...

"...apple pandowdy makes your eyes light up, and your tummy say howdy."

*********

Apple and Rhubarb Pandowdy

from Rustic Fruit Desserts.

Baking time: 45 to 50 minutes

Serves 8 to 10

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, for pan

1/4 recipe (1 disk) All-Butter Pie Pastry

3 to 4 tart apples, peeled, cored, quartered, and sliced 1/2 inch thick (1 pound prepped)

1 3/4 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and sliced 1/2 inch thick (5 cups or 1 1/4 pounds prepped)

Zest and juice of 1 large lemon

3/4 cup packed (5 3/4 ounces) brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Butter a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan or cast-iron skillet or a 9-inch square baking pan.

Toss the apples, rhubarb, lemon zest, and lemon juice together in a large bowl. Separately, rub together the brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt, then add to the fruit mixture and stir to combine. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan.

Roll out the pie pastry to roughly the size of the pan. Top the apples and rhubarb with the pastry, tucking in any excess pastry between the fruit and the side of the pan. This is a rustic dessert, so there is no need to spend any extra time making it look fancy; the beauty lies in its rough look. Cut a few steam vents in the crust, then place the pandowdy on a baking sheet to collect any drips. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350°F and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling around the edges or through the steam vents.

Cool the pandowdy for 1 hour before serving, topped with a scoop of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Storage: Covered with a tea towel, the pandowdy will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.

*********

"I never get enough of that wonderful stuff!"

Spiced Sugar Pecans

This little, yummy treat is one of my family's favorites.

They are great.

I make them for holidays, dinner parties and picnics too.

And the best part is they are super easy and quick to make.

Preheat oven to 250*.

In a large bowl whisk 1 egg white and 1/2 tsp. salt together until frothy.

In a second, small bowl mix 1C. sugar and 1 1/2 tsp.cinnamon together.

Pour 4C. pecan halves into the egg white mixture and stir until all are coated.

Pour the sugar mixture over the pecans and stir well.

Grease 2 cookie sheets and place flat side of nuts down.

(I don't do this.  I simply spray one cookie sheet with cooking spray and then dump the nut onto it spreading them out across the pan.)

Bake for 15 minutes.

Turn off heat and leave in oven for 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let stand for 1 min.

Loosen with a spatula and separate once cool.

(If I don't stand over them once they come out of the oven, they start getting eaten right away.  A good quality spatula is handy for swatting grubby boy hands out of the pecans so that there are some left to serve to guests or pack into your picnic basket or pack into goody bags, etc.)

These are really good as an appetizer

{served with cheese and pepperoni or sausage}

or served with dessert

{on top of ice cream, with apple slices or even by themselves with coffee} 

Enjoy!

A Lasagna Story

Way back in 1995,

when I was a young wife and mother,

I barely knew my way around a kitchen.

In fact, I didn't even own a cookbook at that time.

My two year old was an extremely picky eater, so we ate very basic, very bland, very boring food.

In January of that year, when my baby brother's 

(one of my most favorite people in the whole, wide world and I would do absolutely anything for)

 birthday was just around the corner, I told him I would make him a birthday dinner.

He asked for lasagna.

"That should be easy enough," I thought.  "Noodles, meat, sauce, cheese."

Then he asked for a vegetarian lasagna.

"Even easier!" was my next thought.

I made him a piping hot lasagna and a humongous cake (from a box) in the shape of a fish.

(the fish... that's a whole 'nother story)

Feel free to laugh at this next part, because it cracks us up.

As I proudly serve him his birthday lasagna,

he looks at me and grins,

"Do you think you may have forgotten something, Alisa?"

"You said you didn't want meat in it," I reply.

"Yes, but this is just noodles and cheese."

"Yes."

"Oh."

"OOOOHHH!"

I had baked him lasagna noodles with cheddar cheese on them.

I won't lie.

Not my sharpest moment.

Fast forward 16 years.

I now know my way around my kitchen.

I also own a cupboard full of cookbooks of all kinds.

January and my baby brother's birthday rolls around again.

I text him, "Give me another shot at a birthday lasagna."

"LOL... Okay, but this time I want meat in it and a red velvet cake."

"Done."

Both were a HUGE success!

Not a bite of lasagna was left in the pan.

And the cake was gone almost as fast too.

Happy Birthday, Little Bubba.

I love you.

(both recipes came from The Pioneer Woman Cooks)



It Smells Like Glue

Saturday was my birthday.

I did something I haven't done in several years.

I asked for a cake.
Specifically, I asked for this cake.
Plus the frosting.

So the Farmboy, being the most wonderful Farmboy in the world, set out to make it for me.

I was quite impressed seeing how he has made maybe a total of 5 cakes in his lifetime.
And none of them from scratch mind you.

When he got to the second half of making the frosting I hear him say,

"This just smells like glue."

Hmmm.... smells like glue.
Gives one pause, those words.
Wouldn't you agree?

Glue, however, was the farthest thing this cake (and frosting) tasted like.
I can now see, or taste, why this is her "go to" cake.
O.M.G.
That is good cake.

We're Still Eating Blueberries

I thawed out some of our picked blueberries this weekend,
and made a pie.

I threw in some blackberries too and
even though I didn't have time to make my own crust,
(Don't judge me! There wasn't time.)
it is DE-lish!

Would you like a piece?
Better get some quick before the Farmboy finishes it off!

A Little of This and A Little of That

I have to start this post with these little sweets.

Do you remember the "Pay it Forward" I posted awhile back? Well, Tina was one of the first three to leave a comment and look at what that sweet lady sent to me, just as a thank you! (On that note, I haven't forgotten your little somethings, Tina, Julie and Becky... they are in the works.)
Back to Tina... if you haven't seen her creations before, go look. She sells here, here, here and here and if you live in Denmark, you can see her in person, because she is always doing shows. Everything she makes is little, including those adorable tiny bears... those are some of the most darling bears I have ever laid eyes on. I kid you not! Again, thank you so much Tina!

Several of you asked about the Dutch Babies. Now, if you are sitting at our table and you happen to ask "what's in a Dutch Baby?", you end up getting a very satirical, Jonathan Swift-like answer, that could possibly last the entire duration of the meal. But lucky for you, we aren't at the table and I'll give you the real answer. Dutch Babies are also known as German Pancakes. They are mostly all egg and are not sweet like our pancakes, until you do them up. When they come out of the oven, you slather them with butter, dump (no sprinkling here, please) powdered sugar all over them and then squeeze fresh lemons on top of all of that. They are extremely unhealthy, which of course makes them taste all that much better. Here is the recipe I used. I used the larger recipe and made two of them. They were all, but maybe about one fourth of the second one, devoured by a Farmboy, a granny, a bottomless-pit 12 year old pirate and a 16 year old boy (no description needed here) and little ol' me. The tip my mom gave me, was the more eggs the better the pancake and what it says in this recipe about using the bread flour is very true... they will puff up even more than if you use all-purpose flour. If you have a 10 inch iron skillet, give them a try... believe me, it will be worth it.

Diane is having a giveaway over on her blog.
(photo taken from Diane's blog)
A darling tea cup nest. She has been making these great flowers out of sheet music, which you will find in the nest. You have until Sunday to post a comment here.

Silver Bella!!!!

Are you signed up? I am and I got all of the classes I wanted...
Pam's "Lineage of Love"
Teresa's "Victorious Medals"
both of Rebecca's classes "Cigar Box Assemblage" and "Hodge Podge Journal"
and Kaari's "Vintage Charm Bracelet"
Sooooo excited!!!

I'm sure I have more to share, but I need to get moving. I have a Marie Antoinette canvas calling my name.
Have a beautiful Thursday!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Here is a quick recap of ours.


Dutch Babies. This was brunch. This was also my first time making them. Normally my mom would be the one to make Dutch Babies, or we would just go to The Original Pancake House. But when my parents left for their paradise island, mom gave me all her iron skillets.... so of course, that means I now make the Dutch Babies. And good news, they turned out delicious! This photo is pre- powdered sugar and lemons.


And this is what you get when you have two older boys who are past egg decorating (purchase confetti filled eggs) and it's raining outside (go ahead and let them have their fun inside). This is what the whole house looked liked by the time they finished finding all the eggs and then having a war with them. The good thing about them being older, is that they can clean their mess up all by themselves when they are done.



And late last night I found out that the girlfriend, E's, hasn't received an Easter basket since she was a little kid. Well, that won't fly around here! So I whipped a little one up for her today.

Now we are off to the BIL and SIL's house for Easter dinner.

Hope your day has been as wonderful as ours!