Weekend Cooking: Maya Angelou's Red Rice

In her newest book, Mom and Me and Mom which is due out on April 2nd, Maya Angelou talks of her monthly lunch dates at her mother's house. For their dates her mother would cook one of Maya's favorite dishes. One particular lunch date stands out in Maya's mind, a date she has aptly dubbed Vivian's Red Rice Day, in which her mother served Red Rice, Maya's favorite food in the entire world. There was also an unadorned roasted capon and lettuce salad, but the rice was the star of the show.

Weekend Cooking: Jalapeno Poppers and a Margarita

One of my jalapeno plants in the garden last year.

With a review yesterday of The Blue-Ribbon Jalapeno Society Jubilee by Carolyn Brown, I thought I'd stay with a jalapeno theme this weekend with a recipe for Jalapeno Poppers from Rachael Ray's my year in meals. I bet these would be delicious using sweet banana peppers if you wanted a mild appetizer.

Weekend Cooking: From Wisconsin With Love

   

Sisters, Laurie and Debra Gluesing, have written these fantastic cookbooks featuring Wisconsin recipes, history, and folklore. I've spent way too much time looking through them, and loving every second of it. The first was published in 1984, and the second in 1991.

Wisconsin has a diverse ethnic mix. According to page 57, 50 nationalities are represented in Milwaukee alone (that was in 1984 when the book was published).

I'm Norwegian and German from my Dad's side and mostly German with some Native American from my Mom's. So I thought I'd feature recipes from the books that represent my heritage.

Weekend Cooking: Pinterest. The start of a funny dialogue.

The other evening, we were just sitting around the living room watching tv and winding down from our day. Baby Girl was perusing Pinterest when all of a sudden she said, "Mama, look at this..." Well this continued for what felt like 5,000 times, but I'm pretty sure I maybe exaggerating just a tad. Finally I said, "make a new board, and I'll take a look, all at once."

Weekend Cooking: Simple, Delicious Meatballs

We had an impromptu family get-together/party at my in-laws last night. I wanted to whip something up to take along, and I decided on these meatballs. I make them quite often because: 1. my kids love them and 2. they're so darn simple and don't require a pantry-full of ingredients.

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

1 small can of evaporated milk (5 oz)

1 envelope of onion soup mix

1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

Mix together and shape into meatballs. Brown in the oven at 350 degrees F. for 20 minutes.

For the sauce:

2 c. ketchup

1 c. brown sugar

1 Tbls. Worcestershire sauce

Simmer the meatballs in the sauce for a while so they can soak up the saucy deliciousness. The recipe made about fifty meatballs using my tablespoon scoop.

Taking a nice looking photo of meatballs is a little difficult. This is the best I could do. Trust me, they're scrumptious.

Enjoy. Talk to you soon,

Angela

Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book
 (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes,
 random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, beer, wine, photographs. If your
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Weekend Cooking: Rosettes

We're visiting my parents in northwest Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas/New Year's and my Mom brought out the rosettes. Man, talk about heaven. They are so dang melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

A rosette is a thin, cookie-like deep-fried pastry of Scandinavian (Swedish and Norwegian) origin. Rosettes are traditionally made during Christmas time. They are made using intricately designed rosette iron. The iron is heated to a very high temperature in oil, dipped into the batter, then re-immersed in the hot oil to create a crisp shell around the metal. The iron is immediately removed and the rosette is separated from the iron. Usually, the edges of the rosette are dipped into frosting or sugar. Rosette recipes are popular in the United States among families with Scandinavian ancestry.

I found a recipe in my Mom's old, well-loved copy of Betty Crocker's Cooky Book.

Rosettes from Betty Crocker's Cooky Book

1/2 c. Gold Medal Flour
1 Tbls. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 c. Water or milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 Tbls. Vegetable oil
Confectioners' or cinnamon sugar

Measure flour by dipping method or by sifting. Blend dry ingredients together. Mix remaining ingredients together; stir in. Strain mixture. Heat rosette iron in hot fat (400 degrees) 3" deep in small saucepan. Tap off excess fat on absorbent paper. Deep into batter until 2/3 covered. Immerse in hot fat. Fry until delicately browned. Remove; tip upside-down to drain. Push off rosette.

Heat iron in fat again; repeat process. If iron is too cool batter will slip off; if iron is too hot, batter will stick. Stir batter each time before dipping in iron. Sprinkle rosettes with confectioners' or cinnamon sugar. (Best if only made a or two before served.) Store rosettes in single layers in wax paper-lined boxes. Makes 18 rosettes.

Note: If you use Gold Medal self-rising flour, omit salt.

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve,
Angela

Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book
 (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes,
 random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, beer, wine, photographs. If your
post  is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up 
anytime over the weekend.

Weekend Cooking: Christmas Cornflake Wreaths

I love to make these at Christmastime because they're simple (albeit a bit messy) to make and they don't require many ingredients.

1/2 c. butter (don't use low fat or tub margarine, too much water content)
32 lg. marshmallows*
1/4 tsp. green food coloring (I always end up using more for the color I want)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3-1/2 c. cornflakes

Make as rice krispie treats essentially. Melt butter and marshmallows over low heat in saucepan. When melted, add coloring and vanilla. Fold in cornflakes until well coated. Drop on waxed or parchment paper and form into individual wreaths or one big wreath and decorate while mixture is still warm.

*Marshmallow conversion

10 minis = 1 lg
1c. mini = 10 lg

Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book
 (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes,
 random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, beer, wine, photographs. If your
post  is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up 
anytime over the weekend.





Love you guys and talk to you very soon,
Angela

Weekend Cooking: Rachael Ray's Year in Meals

I got a new cookbook in the mail this week. I'm assuming it's from a Secret Santa because I didn't order it, but I'm in love and very grateful. It's Rachael Ray's newest cookbook that she wrote with her husband, John Cusimano. They did all of their own photography for this project.

She kept a diary for a year and wrote down what she cooked for her family and friends. Some the recipes are fancier with more exotic items than what we're accustomed to her fixing on her talk show and her 30 Minute Meals. There are little notes throughout that are a fun peek into their lives. They even take us with them to Italy!

The book is billed as an "Atria Smart Book." QR codes are scattered throughout that connect you to bonus videos. You can also visit here to access this content.


Then...

When you flip the book over, there are more than 100 drink recipes from her husband.

Have I mentioned that I love this book? I do.

I would have made something from it to share with you today, but it's my birthday. I already planned on ingesting a box of Lactaid so that I can eat my weight in pizza. I've mentioned before how much I love bacon (here and here come to mind), and Papa Murphy's has a Bacon, Bacon, Bacon pizza right now.

But I'm sure you'll hear from me about this cookbook again. Very soon.

Here's the trailer from Rachael.






 Have a terrific weekend,
Angela

Weekend Cooking, hosted by Beth Fish Reads, is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, beer, wine, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend.

Weekend Cooking: Oreo Turkey Cookies

hosted by Beth Fish Reads

My discovery of this meme was completely by happy accident. While visiting Alex over at The Children's War, I happened upon her Victory through Cranberries post that she wrote for Weekend Cooking.

Hubby and I were visiting with family earlier this week, and his cousin had made these cute Oreo Turkey Cookies for Thanksgiving. I immediately fell in love with their cuteness and just had to share them with you guys so I had to take pics of them with my phone. Please forgive me for the quality of the photos. A photographer I'm not.

The ingredients are simple, and it would be a fun project for the kids to help with.

You'll need:

Candy Corn
Oreo cookies (double stuffed)
Whoppers (malted milk balls)
mini peanut butter cups
Chocolate frosting (either in a pre-made tube or homemade) - this will be the "glue"
pre-filled little tubes of yellow and red icing for the details

 The tail first - grab an Oreo, squirt a bit of the frosting in there to hold your candy corn "feathers."

Grab another Oreo (for the base) and put a dab of "glue" to hold the tail on. Lean it against something while it dries.

Unwrap your peanut butter cups and slice off a sliver so it can lie flat against "tail Oreo." Glue it to your Oreos.

Glue your Whopper head and just the white tip of a candy corn for the beak.

Add your fancy details with frosting tubes.

Have a great weekend,
Angela