Strange things

Do you ever see strange things inside your house? Do you want an example? I saw my 18 year old daughter holding onto my 8 year old daughter's leg. My youngest son didn't want to be left out so he was on top of my oldest daughter's back. My youngest daughter was trying to escape and managed (I don't know how) to drag both her siblings down the hall. Since my youngest daughter was laughing, I thought it would better just not to say anything. Sometimes, I think that is the best approach.

Shortly after, it sounded like my youngest daughter somehow escaped. Within a few minutes, my youngest son came running to me and ask if I knew where his oldest sister's phone was? I said I didn't. I had a good idea who had it. I think my oldest did too. Soon, my oldest was back downstairs with her beautiful hair a little messed up. It appeared like she retrieved her phone. My husband slept through this whole experience. The things he misses. 

My youngest daughter asked me to make peanut butter cookies. I really like this recipe a lot. I made a few sandwiches with jelly in the middle. I think next time we make these cookies we will just have to add ice cream in the middle-just to test it out.

Peanut Butter Cookies
3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup smooth peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Whisk flour and baking soda in a small bowl. Set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the sugar and brown sugar until fluffy.
5. Add the egg and mix well.
6. Mix in the vanilla and peanut butter.
7. Slowly, add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
8. Drop the batter by large spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. 
9. Space the batter about 1 1/2 inches apart.
10. Dip the bottom of a glass in flour and tap off the excess.
11. Flatten the tops of the cookie dough ball with the bottom of the glass.
12. Dip a fork into flour to coat and then make two cross marks across the top of each cookie dough ball.
13. Bake the cookies about 7 minutes and then rotate the cookie sheet around.
14. Bake the cookies for another 5 minutes or until lightly brown.
15. Allow the cookies to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Did you already know.......
-In 1973, the first portable mobile phone was made by Motorola. 
-Martin Cooper was the first person to make a call using the portable mobile phone since he was the one who created it for Motorola.
-Martin Cooper called Bell Lab's Dr. Engel.
-Martin Cooper had previously worked on creating the first portable handheld police radio.

Tiramisu with Homemade Ladyfingers

This weeks pick on Project Pastry Queen was Tiramisu. I told my husband about the selection and I wasn't sure if I wanted to make it. He said, "Well, that is too bad." He loves coffee and dessert so this dessert is perfect for him. He didn't even want to share.

After I made the ladyfingers, my children kept eating them. My first attempts of the ladyfingers were not perfect. I was informed some of my ladyfingers resembled a lady's forearm, a man's finger, a witch's finger, and an Easter egg. I figured out (on my last batch) to make a template of the desired shape onto the back of the parchment paper. They may not have looked perfect but they tasted good.  At one point, I wasn't sure if I had enough ladyfingers left. I also used white whole wheat flour so I think my ladyfingers didn't rise like they should have. I should have doubled my layer of ladyfingers in my tiramisu.

In addition to the traditional tiramisu, I made a children friendly version. I guess the children's version could be called more of a trifle? I am really glad I made a 2nd version since my son kept asking if he can have some. He was not happy when I told him no but then I showed him that I had made him a smaller one for them and life was good again. Please visit Sarah's blog for the traditional recipe and the ladyfingers recipe. 

A piece lacking espresso and liqueur

Children's friendly version of Tiramisu/Trifle:
Ladyfingers
Soaking Syrup (recipe below)
Filling (recipe below)
Cocoa powder
Bittersweet chocolate, grated


Assemble:

1. Coat a mini loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. Dip both sides of a ladyfinger at a time in the soaking syrup.
3. Place a bottom layer of ladyfingers in the dish. 
4. Top the layer with some of the filling then repeat the soaked ladyfinger layer.
5. Add another layer of the filling.
6. Top the 2nd layer of filling with cocoa powder and grated chocolate.

Soaking Syrup for the kids:
1/4 cup water
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, simmer the water and sugar over medium heat for 10 minutes.
2. Remove the syrup and stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Set aside to cool.

Filling for the kids:
1 (6 oz) package of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
4 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temperature


Directions:

1. Cream the sugar with the cream cheese until fluffy.
2. Add the mascarpone cheese until well incorporated.

Recipe adapted from the Pastry Queen cookbook.

Should have doubled the layers of Ladyfingers

Did you already know.........
-Ladyfingers was created in the eleventh century by the French House of Savoy. 
-Ladyfingers are a sponge cake.
-A popular ingredient in other desserts like trifles and charlottes.

Butterscotch Fondue

What is your take on fondue? Are you a fondue connoisseur? Or maybe you have never tried fondue? My oldest daughter says, "Fondue is fun." The youngest kids take after their Dad and love dips. Fondue is like a dip but with long forks. They thought it was pretty cool.

Growing up, we didn't snack a lot. So, I don't remember having fondue. I remember large dinners always with vegetables. However, my sister is hip since she has a fondue pot with the little forks. One time, my oldest asked me what I wanted as a present and I said how about a fondue set. So, I have the cool, long stemmed fondue forks which are color coded. Now if you need entertainment, you should watch seven and eight year olds use the forks. I will say my youngest children didn't give up even when they lost half of their food in the depths of the pot. I guess they wanted to make sure their food was cover nicely. Spoons work very nicely to retrieve the missing food pieces.

I really liked this recipe. I usually do not use a crock pot but I thought the kids would enjoy this recipe especially since we were snowed inside. The kids would agree. I will say the original recipe called for corn syrup and I substituted agave nectar (syrup) instead. I also halved the recipe.

Butterscotch Fondue Recipe
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, melted
2/3 cups agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk
Items to dip like strawberries, apple slices, cookies, cake, etc.

Directions:

1. In a slow cooker, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, brown sugar, butter, agave  nectar, and vanilla.
2. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours. Stir occasionally.
3. Whisk in the milk and continue to cook on low heat for 2 hours. Stir occasionally. 
4. Serve with desired dipping items. 

Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens.

Did you already know........
-Originated in Switzerland in the 1800s as a way to eat harden cheese in the winter months.
-The fondue pot is called a Caquelon which is the French word for pot.
-Fondue parties were very popular beginning in the 1950s.

Days that start with a T

I make sure my children do not go hungry but sometimes I do joke with them about not feeding them. They do not even take me serious. However, my niece was over one day and said, "Aunt Jen, I am hungry." As she followed me into the kitchen, I said to her, "Oh sweetie, we don't eat on days that begin with T." She looked at me like I was serious and didn't know how to respond. My children informed her I was just joking. Don't worry I did give her something to eat and I went a step further. I even provided her with a drink. See, I try to be a good Aunt. 

My sister told me she tells her daughter that they don't eat on days that end with y but her daughter knew she wasn't serious since that would be everyday.

I decided to try this soup. I will disclose that we like kale. We really liked it. Since a couple of us have a cold, I think it was a good choice. I used a sweet Italian chicken sausage. Next time, I think I will fry the sausage first to make it a little crispy and leave some to use as a garnish for the soup.

Sausage and Kale Soup
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
5 waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 cans of chicken broth, reduced sodium
1/2 bunch of kale, stemmed and shredded
12 oz. smoked chicken sausage, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Directions:

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook for about 3 minutes stirring.
3. Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes, cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the potatoes and chicken broth.
5. Bring the soup to a boil and then reduce heat. 
6. Simmer for about 10 minutes.
7. Add the kale and sausage.
8. Simmer until the kale is wilted about 10 to 15 minutes. 

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart.

Did you already know........
-Kale is a form of cabbage.
-Kale is a good source of Vitamin A, C, and K.
-Kale has about 33 calories for 1 cup.

Breadsticks to garlic knots

Isn't it funny how you can change an appearance of something and it becomes fancy? For an example, you can make pasta with macaroni noodles or Campanelle noodles. You can make breadsticks or more impressive garlic knots. Please feel free to continue my examples.

I asked my husband if he wanted breadsticks or would he prefer garlic knots. He replied garlic knots. The only difference between the two in this recipe is the shape. I have made this recipe before and always made breadsticks. I have no idea how Olive Garden or any other restaurant can get their breadsticks the same size. Even if I used a food scale, my bread sticks still would look different. I don't have time or patience for everything to be a duplicated copy but I was surprised how different each breadstick turned out. My breadsticks are like snowflakes with no two alike. My dough would shrink on some and others would be too skinny. I will never be hired at a breadstick factory. My oldest informed me that restaurants cheat with trays. Now, I have learned the secret of life.

The nice thing about garlic knots are it isn't so obvious the knots aren't exactly alike. The other thing I notices is with the breadsticks the kids want more. "What do you mean Mom there are no more? At the Olive Garden, we can always get more." (My kids really did expect me to have an unlimited supply.) With garlic knots, I can make the knots smaller and twice as many to serve. I did not double the recipe but for some reason my supply did not run out.

Garlic Knots from the Olive Garden Breadsticks
 1 1/2 cups hot water (not too hot to be uncomfortable to touch)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp salt
3 Tbsp butter, softened
4 to 5 cups of flour
1 Tbsp yeast
3 Tbsp butter, melted
sea salt for topping
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. With the paddle attachment, add the hot water with the sugar in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the salt and softened butter.
3. Add 2 cups of flour and mix the ingredients on low. 
4. Add the yeast and add 1/2 cup of flour at a time until the dough scrapes the sides of the mixing bowl clean.
5. On medium speed, mix the dough for 5 minutes.
6. Spray a clean working area, a sharp knife, 2 cookie sheet and your hands with cooking spray.
7. Turn the dough onto the working area and roll the dough into a long log. 
8.  Cut the dough with the knife into 24 pieces.
9. Roll the dough into long rope then loop the dough up and tie it into a knot just like a knot in a shoelace.
10. Place the knots onto the cookie sheets about 2 inches apart.
11. Place the cookie sheet into the cold oven.
12. Turn the oven to 170 degrees F and allow the dough to rise for 15 minutes or double in size.
13. Remove the dough from the oven and brush with 1 1/2 Tbsp of the melted butter and sprinkle with the sea salt.
14. Return the cookie sheets to the oven. Turn the oven to 400 degrees F.
15. Once the oven is at 400 degrees F cook the garlic knots for 7 minutes. Switch the cookie sheets from top to bottom so both pans will cook evenly.
16. Cook the garlic knots for another 7 to 8 minutes or until golden brown.
17. While the garlic knots are continuously baking, mix the remaining melted butter with 1/4 tsp garlic powder.
18. Remove the golden brown garlic knots from the oven.
19. Brush the garlic knots with the garlic butter.

Recipe adapted from Jamie Cooks It Up! and originally from The Food Network Magazine.

Did you already know...........
-There are more than 750 Olive Garden restaurants.
-Olive Garden belongs to the Darden Restaurants company.
-Darden Restaurants are one of the largest casual dining restaurant company consisting of Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse, Smokey Bones BBQ, etc.
-The Darden Restaurants contribute to the Darden harvest. The restaurants contribute their surplus food to help local food banks.