Icebox Dessert

It is hard to buy my husband a gift early. He seems to always be home when it arrives. It is just my luck. Well, my husband loves coffee. He drinks it all the time. It doesn't affect his sleep at all. Now, I drink half decaf sometimes. If I drink any past noon, I will not be sleeping any time soon. Which could be why I tend to do my blog late at night. So the day my husband received his new coffee maker, he made two cups. The machine takes k-cups and he thinks it is the coolest thing. The next day he had four cups. I have a feeling he really likes it.

Now, I haven't been feeling the best so the kids have been helping me in the kitchen. This is the best dessert for kids to make for Dad on Father's Day. I only instructed. I did not make it. My daughter loves it so we have made it several times. The first time I heard about this dessert was on Smitten Kitchen's website but the recipe is also on the box of the chocolate wafer cookies. I will say the first food blog I ever checked out was her website. I still check it out.

Oh, this is going to be good!

Icebox Dessert
2 cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp fine sugar
1 (9 oz.) package chocolate wafer cookies
1 oz. semi sweet chocolate square 

1. In a large bowl, beat the cream with the sugar until soft peaks form.
2. Take one cookie and spread the whipped cream on both sides.
3. Add a cookie to the whipped cream cookie and continue to add cookies to each end to form a long train. 
4. Take the remaining whipped cream and frost the top and down the sides of the cookie train to cover.
5. Grate the chocolate over the whipped cream.
6. Cover the dessert and refrigerate for at least several hours or overnight.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Singing is allowed during assembly

Did you already know...
-It is estimated to be over 70 million father's in the U.S.
-In 1909, Sonora Dodd conceived the idea Father's Day to honor her widowed father who raised his six children.
- In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson designated Father's Day to be the 3rd Sunday in June.
-June was the month Sonora Dodd's father was born.

Macaroni Grill Bread

Did you realize that Father's Day is this Sunday? Are you doing anything special with your Father? Do you take him golfing or fishing? Do you buy him a gift? I am unable to see my Dad this Sunday. It is so sad. It's sad because he has decided to visit England for the next two weeks with my oldest daughter. Instead, I will spend Father's Day with my husband and his Dad. It will be fun.

One of the things my husband likes is homemade bread. He tends to have his favorite but he is willing to try other ones. I made this copy cat recipe and he loved it. The best thing about this recipe would be it yields two loaves. We had half a loaf left the next day so my daughter made BLT sandwiches after toasting a few slices. I will say it was the best BLT sandwich I have ever had. I have eaten at Macaroni Grill but it has been awhile so I can not say if it taste like the restaurants but it is so good.

Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread
1 1/2 Tbsp active dry yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp dried rosemary, chopped
2 Tbsp butter, melted
coarse salt for sprinkling on top

1. Directions:
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large cup, combine the yeast, sugar, and water. Allow the yeast to proof for five minutes.
4. In a large bowl, combine the salt, 1 Tbsp rosemary, and 3 cups of flour.
5. Add the yeast to the flour mixture and mix. 
6. Slowly, add the remaining flour to the mixture until the dough is slightly tacky and holds it shape. The dough should be soft and smooth.
7. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise for about 1 to 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
8. Punch down the dough and divide in half.
9. Shape the loaves into two smooth, ovals and place one on each end of the baking sheet.
10. Brush on the melted butter on top of each loaf.
11. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with the remaining rosemary.
12. cover the loaves with lightly greased plastic wrap and allow to double in size again about 1 hour.
13. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
14. Sprinkle each loaf with the coarse salt.
15. Bake the loaves for 18 minutes or until browned. the loaves need to be baked through. 
16. Transfer the loaves to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Did you already know...
-Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurants were founded by Philip Romano.
-The first restaurant was opened in 1988 in Leon Springs, Texas.
-There are over 200 restaurants world wide.

Peanut Butter Florentines

Have you ever had florentine cookies? They are lacy and crisp. They are good. They are fickle when it comes to humidity. Why? The once crisp cookies becomes soft. It does affect the taste. They are still good soft or crisp. If your cookie becomes soft, they can be added to your yogurt parfait.

Or you can make an ice cream sandwich.

Or top a cupcake.

This weeks pick for The Project Pastry Queen was picked by Missy of Creative Missy. Please check out what the other members made this week. The original recipe called Ruby-Flecked Florentines since they are flecked with cranberries and raisins. I was in the mood for a plain, lacy cookie. They did come out good. Humidity made some of them droop but it was alright.

Peanut Butter Florentines
2 cups sliced blanched almonds
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup agave syrup
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Process only 1/2 cup of almonds in a blender or food processor until fine.
4. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
5. One at a time, add the sugar, agave syrup, flour, and peanut butter. Stir after each addition.
6. Stir in the grounded almonds with the sliced almonds.
7. Roll 1 Tbsp of the dough into balls. The dough will be sticky.
8. Space the balls of dough about 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.
9. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before gently transferring them to a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen cookbook.

Where is my ice cream cookie? What my brother ate it?

Did you already know...
-Florentine cookies did not originate in Florence Italy.
-Dried fruit and zest are traditional additions to this cookie.
-The well wrapped cookies can be frozen up to a month.

2 graduations and a funeral

It has been a crazy week. Our oldest son graduated on Monday. Also, I attended a distant relative's funeral earlier this week. Now, today is my oldest daughter's graduation. Will I cry? I hope not. (My husband almost did at our son's graduation.) I know we will cheer! Will I rest? No, I will be preparing for the graduation party. Since I needed more time this week (as you probably can tell with my blog postings), I prepared some quick meals. We couldn't order pizza every night, could we?

I love pasta so I really liked this quick meal. The most important thing is the kids liked it. If you love pasta and need a quick meal, I would recommend this dish. If you have a favorite quick meal you love, please send it my way. Can you send me some time too?

Skillet Lasagna
1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, chopped 
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small green bell pepper, chopped fine
1 1/2 cups uncooked campanelle, mafalda, or broken lasagna noodles
1 1/4 cups water
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp dried thyme
1 (14 0z.) tomato pasta sauce
1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded 

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Drain the fat from the skillet.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper to the ground bee. Cook for 2 minutes. 
3. Add the uncooked noodles, water, oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, and tomato sauce to the hamburger. Heat to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for uncover for about 10 minutes or until the noodles are tender.
5. Sprinkle the cheese on top and serve.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker website.

Did you already know..
-In 1321, the University of Coimbra in Portugal required its graduates to wear gowns.
-Before the 1920s, the graduation gowns were grey in the U.S.
-In the 1950s, the graduates were permitted to wear gowns of their school colors.

Congratulations to my daughter! I love you.

Homemade Mascarpone

Do you bookmark recipes you want to try? I have a long list of bookmarked recipes. When I saw this recipe, I knew I would try it but just didn't know when until I saw this recipe. It called for 1 1/2 lbs of mascarpone. I wasn't sure how close it would be to the mascarpone I purchase in the store. Mascarpone currently cost $4 for 8 oz. I calculated it is cheaper to purchase heavy cream and make it myself. I used Oakhurst fresh heavy cream since the heavy cream can not be ultra-pasteurized. This recipe makes 1 1/2 cups of mascarpone. 

I did purchase a container of mascarpone so I could compare. The homemade version was not as smooth as the commercial version. Both versions tasted the same. I didn't notice any other differences besides price. In the future, I will make homemade mascarpone since it is normally used in a dish. 

Homemade Mascarpone
2 cups fresh pasteurized heavy cream*
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)

Directions:

1. Drape 4 layers of cheesecloth over a medium empty bowl. The cheesecloth needs to hang into the bowl only halfway. Secure the cheesecloth by a large rubber band.
2. In a large pan, heat the heavy cream over medium heat stir occasionally so the bottom doesn't scorch.
3. Continue to simmer the cream until a candy thermometer reads 190 degrees F. 
4. Stir in the lemon juice and continue to heat the mixture at 190 degrees F for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
5. After 5 minutes, the cream should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
6. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow the cream to cool to room temperature for about 30 to 45 minutes. The mixture will appear to be a little thicker than the original heavy cream.
7. Pour the cream mixture into the cheese cloth so it can drain into the bowl.
8. Cover the cream mixture with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours. 
9. Carefully lift the mascarpone cheese with the cheesecloth. Discard the liquid left in the bowl. 
10. Transfer the cheese from the cheesecloth to an airtight container.
11. Store the cheese in the refrigerator and use within a week.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Affair.
*My husband is a milkman so I used fresh heavy cream which are sold to restaurants and not available in stores.

Did you already know...
-Mascarpone is a soft Italian cream cheese.
-Mascarpone can be used in savory and sweet dishes like Tiramisu.
-Some substitutes are ricotta cheese, creme fraiche, sour cream with some cream cheese, and cream cheese with a little butter but the taste will be different.