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Birthdays are one of those family celebration things where you know ahead of time that there’s going to be at the very least a cake, loaded down with frosting & goodies. However when three birthdays happen at once, complete with a cake and several cupcakes for each person at the same time, you almost want to arrive packing a toothbrush & toothpaste, some mouthwash and some acne treatment.
That was kinda how it felt in our family recently. Mind you, the birthday celebrations themselves were great. We’d had a much worse time than usual getting schedules coordinated and ended up celebrating three birthdays at once that ordinarily would have been spread out over a couple of months.
The big day finally arrives and everybody is in one place at the same time, gifts are first stacked up and then we made the usual big deal about opening them. (It’s only right really, a person deserves to be special on their birthday, even if it is celebrated late.) Then sometime afterward, out comes the cake.
There were one for each birthday being celebrated. My wife’s was chocolate, my brother’s was lemon and my mother in-law’s was red velvet. Each cake was also accompanied by several cupcakes that were the same kind as the cakes.
It’s funny actually, time was I used to be known as something of a sugar fiend, anxiously scarfing up anything loaded with sugar and icing. I still love it but now there’s times when it makes my teeth ache or that I spend an hour or more getting the super sweet taste out of my mouth.
Be that as it may, I still wouldn’t have it any other way. Even when three (or more!?!?) birthdays get packed into one day.
Technorati Tags: cupcake, birthday, sugar, sweets, celebration, birthday cake
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Posted on 24th June 2008
Under: Desserts, Food fun, From The Cook, Odds & Ends, kitchen talk | Comments Off
Ok, after the last entry about Sardine Rolls, It’s time to get that taste out of memory and what better way to do it than with a good Lasagna.
You’ll need a couple of 29 or 30 oz. jars/cans of your favorite spaghetti sauce (or an equivalent amount of a home made sauce)
Start by thawing a 10 oz package of frozen spinach spinach and squeezing it dry.
In a large container mix 2 cups part skim ricotta cheese, 1 1/2 cups of shredded part skim mozzarella cheese, a beaten egg, 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of oregano and 1/2 teaspoon of basil. Add the thawed spinach and blend well.
Use a 13 x 9 inch pan. Put a small amount of sauce in the bottom of the pan and spread lightly so that it covers the bottom. This keeps the lasagna from sticking as it cooks so that you can easily remove it in neat portions at serving time.
Place a third of the uncooked noodles, a third of the sauce and a third of the cheese and spinach mixture. Repeat to Make 3 layers, Topping it off with the sauce.
Combine a half cup of water and a half cup of vegetable juice cocktail (V8 or similar) or tomato juice. Pour this carefully around the edges of the casserole, moving the noodles slightly with a spatula to get the liquid distributed evenly. This is the time to get out the grated parmesan cheese and sprinkle it on top. I would also be tempted to put the parmesan cheese between the layers as well.
Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 and 1/4 hours. Remove the foil and continue baking for a few minutes more, until the top is lightly browned and bubbling.
Let the lasagna stand for at least 15 minutes before serving so that it can cool a bit to serving temperature and “set”. Sliced with a flat edged spatula and lift out serving-sized portions.
Technorati Tags: lasagna, pasta, recipe, main dish, casserole, italian food, dinner
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Posted on 24th June 2008
Under: Dinner, Food Prep, Main dishes, Recipies, baking, pasta | Comments Off
I’ve loved Seafood of most kinds for as long as I can remember. Unfortunately there are still forms of seafood that I personally wouldn’t touch with a ten foot fork and in fact would give a box of expensive womens gold watches (assuming I had any) in exchange for NOT eating them. Anchovies are one of the top leaders in this category of seafood, with Sardines coming in at a close second.
However, I also recognize that why I may not care for something there’s plenty of people who’ll consider it a delicacy, thus I present Sardine Rolls
Take two cans of sardines in mustard sauce and mash them thoroughly. Mix them with an 8oz package of cream cheese and a couple of hard boiled eggs. Add lemon juice, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce to taste and mix well.
Cut the crusts off of two loaves of sliced white bread. Then spread the mixture on the bread slices, roll them up and pin them with toothpicks to hold ‘em together. Broil until toasted.
Technorati Tags: sardines, sardine rolls, recipe, seafood, broil
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Posted on 24th June 2008
Under: Recipies, fish, seafood | Comments Off
When I saw this one in my recipe collection I couldn’t help but stop and check it out since I’ve been a fan of the space program from way back. (how far back? Well, I stayed up to watch Armstrong’s first moonwalk on tv back in ‘69.) Anyway, I couldn’t help but wonder if popcorn of any variety would be allowed on a spacecraft, since it tends to crumble and make for lots of small pieces that would float around in zero-G and mess up lots of things. But this variation might just be ok. Now all they need is a wide screen tv, a stack of movies and some kind of home theater chairs made for the space shuttle (or the lunar base people have been talking about forever).
Start by buttering a large baking pan and fill it with 8 cups of popped popcorn.
Then in a separate pan, combine a half cup of sugar, a half cup of Tang (powdered orange drink originally made for the space program for those too young to remember it.) a third of a cup of light corn syrup, a third of a cup of water and a quarter cup of butter.
Stir this mixture over a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until it reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer. Then remove it from the heat and stir in a half teaspoon of orange extract and a teaspoon of baking soda.
Pour this mixture over the popcorn and mix well. Bake at 200 degrees for an hour, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool completely.
Technorati Tags: astronaut popcorn, popcorn, baking, recipe
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Posted on 24th June 2008
Under: Recipies, Snacks, Treats, baking | Comments Off
I’m taking a moment here to go slightly off my normal topic here to relate a most unpleasant recipe.
Take one part of today’s economy and beat thoroughly until it’s in a state of not enough finances. Then add an online based income that helps make ends come a little closer to meeting. Stir in a computer monitor that suddenly decides that now is a perfect time to up and quit forever. Steam at 4 million degrees for six hours or until the steam stops coming out of your ears.
Top it with a borrowed monitor that will have to be returned. Garnish by stopping by paypal.com and making a donate button and put it in the sidebar to raise the emergency cash needed to replace the monitor.
Finally, please excuse the blatant nature of this post.
Thanks.
Technorati Tags: raise cash, monitor, broken monitor, broken, fundraising, computer monitor, raise funds, disaster
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Posted on 24th June 2008
Under: From The Cook, Odds & Ends, kitchen talk | Comments Off
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