Creamy Polenta

The first time I had polenta I was attending a wedding. I thought it was pretty good. Someone told me that it was grits. Now, I've had grits and I would rather pass. My Dad is Southern and tried to get us to eat grits often. Several years ago, my Aunt made grits for my husband and he wasn't impressed. When I decided to make this dish, I figured it was probably a good idea not to tell my husband that it was like grits. My husband said when he saw me making this dish he was wondering how he was going to get out of eating it. He was glad he didn't since he loved it. My husband told me several times that I could make this dish again. My son and I loved it.

Creamy Polenta with mushrooms
8 cups half and half
1 Tbsp salt
1 cup coarse polenta
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup freshly grated Parigiano Reggiano cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat the half and half for 5 minutes over medium high heat.
2. Whisk in the salt.
3. Slowly, whisk in the polenta. Continue to whisk for 8 minutes.
4. With a wooden spoon, continue to stir for 5 minutes.
5. Turn the heat to medium and continue to stir until the mixture evenly bubbles.
6. Cover and turn the heat to low. Stir every 15 minutes. Allow to cook for 2 hours.
7. Once the liquid has reduced down, stir in the butter and cheese.

Recipe adapted from Foodnetwork.

Cremini mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
2 shallots, minced
1 cup cremini mushrooms
2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup white wine

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add the butter and the shallots. Cook for about 5 minutes and stir often.
3. Add the cremini mushrooms. Stir  often.
4. Stir in the thyme and salt. Cook for 1 minute.
5. Add the white wine and cook for 1 minute.
6. Serve over the polenta and then top with roasted chicken. 

One year ago........................................I made Lemon Cookies.
Two years ago......................................I made Margaritas.

Did you already know..............................
-Polenta is made with a coarse ground yellow cornmeal.
-Polenta is a native Italian dish. 
-Cooled polenta maybe sliced and then fried.

White Cake

This weekend we went to see Captain America. Before we went, my daughter asked us if we knew Captain America's name. Sadly, I failed her little quiz. Many of you are sadly shaking your head in disbelief. Of course, my husband told us Captain Steve Rogers. Since we had just watched the movie, my son wanted a cake that looked like Captain America's shield. Well, I decided to try to make a blue, red, and white checkered board pattern inside the cake. I took the cake out of the oven and allowed it to cool on a wire rack. Then I wasn't thinking and decided to cut out the circles on the wire rack. I learned a big mistake. I don't know why I didn't catch it but the cake pressed through the cake and made some nice checkered patterns on the cake itself. I had to push half the cake back through the cake. Even with my mistakes, even with the cake not looking as great as I hoped, my son still wanted me to bring it to the party. He really is a great son. The kids still wanted the cake. They didn't care. My sisters told me it tasted good. My husband didn't even get a piece. I had no cake leftover to take a photo of the inside. I think I'm going to attempt it again at a later date.

My sister made the poster for the party!

White Cake
1 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Coat three 9 inch round cake pans with nonstick baking spray and flour. 
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and shortening.
4. Slowly, add one cup of sugar at a time. Mix until incorporated.
5. Add one egg at a time and incorporate well before adding the next egg.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
7. In a large cup, combine the milk, buttermilk, and vanilla. 
8. Add 1 cup of the flour mixture followed by 1 cup of the milk mixture into the butter mixture.
9. Continue to alternate adding another cup of flour mixture then the milk and followed by the remaining flour mixture. Gently incorporate all the ingredients together.
10. Evenly, separate the batter between the three prepared cake pans. 
11. Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
12. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before transporting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Add a pinch. 

One year ago............................................I made Yogurt Pancakes.
Two years ago..........................................I made Tortilla Soup.

Did you already know..........................................
-In 1941, Captain America made his first appearance.
-Captain America has no superhero abilities but the serum gave him peak human abilities.
-Captain America's shield is made of fictitious Vibranium and weighs 12 pounds.

Egg Cupcakes

My sister brought me over a carton of eggs. These aren't ordinary eggs. These eggs are cupcakes. Aren't they so cute! My sister made them for her daughter's class for April Fool's Day and she made us a carton too. My husband couldn't wait to crack into them. So, he handed me the carton with the expiration date facing me. I didn't realize he was trying to trick me. I told him that if the eggs were old then he should just throw them out. He told me that I should take them and I said alright. Before I could throw them away, he told me that my sister had brought the eggs over to me. Since I had already talked to my sister, I knew they were cupcakes. He wasn't going to trick me. My husband had thought I would open them and ask why my sister would give me broken hard boiled eggs. I know my sister doesn't like hard boiled eggs and she would not have boiled the eggs just to bring them to me. He has been trying all week to try to trick me. I guess it must mean that it's April Fool's week? Month? Don't worry I've already gotten him once on April Fool's Day and he is just trying to get me back. I will have to think up of a couple more tricks to play on him now.

Egg Cupcakes
12 miniature white frosted vanilla cupcakes
2 cups white candy melts
1/4 cup lemon curd
2 drops of yellow food dye

Directions: 

1. In the microwave, melt the white candy melt. Stir often.
2. Pour the melted candy melts into plastic Easter eggs. Fill some eggs with a lot of candy melts so it looks like a whole egg and some lightly coated for some cracked eggs.
3. Refrigerate the plastic eggs until the candy melts harde.
4. Carefully, squeeze the sides of the eggs to remove the candy melt egg molds.
5. Top the egg molds on top of the cupcakes. 

Recipe adapted from What's New Cupcake? cookbook by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. 

One year ago.............................................I made Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Two years ago...........................................I made Chocolate and Peanut Butter Ribbon Dessert.

Did you already know..........................
-Eggs should be used within three weeks of purchase.
-After cooking, hard boiled eggs should be eaten within a week. (Candy ones won't even last that long.)
-Frozen, shelled eggs should be used within a year.

Hamburger Cookies

Hamburger Cookies? This recipe my kids have been asking me to make for a couple of weeks for April Fools. They had a lot of fun making these cookies. My daughter came up with the idea to use the sprinkles for the ketchup and mustard. They were so impressed with their creation that they brought them to school for snack. Normally, I like them to eat healthy snacks. If I was a kid, I would have wanted to bring this cookie into class too. 

My friend had made these cookies for me over twenty years ago. I had never seen anything like them and thought they were neat then. I wish she lived near me since I would have returned the favor.

Hamburger Cookies
12 vanilla wafers
1 cup vanilla wafer cookies, crushed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 tsp water
3 drops green food coloring
1 Tbsp yellow sprinkles
1 Tbsp red sprinkles
1 tsp melted butter
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, lightly toasted

Directions:

1. Pair the vanilla wafers and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the crushed cookies, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate chips with the milk for 45 seconds. Stir and continue to heat the chocolate in 15 seconds intervals until smooth.
4. Add the chocolate mixture to the crushed cookie mixture. Stir well.
5. Form balls with each of the chocolate crushed cookie mixture. Flatten the balls slightly to form patties.
6. Turn one of the vanilla wafer cookies upside down and top with the chocolate pattie.
7. In a small plastic bag, add the coconut, water, and food coloring. Mix until evenly coated.
8. Add a little of the colored coconut and top the chocolate pattie.
9. Top the colored coconut with a little of the yellow and red sprinkles.
10. Top the sprinkles with a vanilla wafer.
11. Brush the top of the vanilla wafer with the melted butter and sprinkle a few sesame seeds on top. 

Recipe adapted from the Toll House Bake the Very Best Nestle Cookies Book.  

One year ago......................................I made Candy Eggs.
Two years ago....................................I made Spaghetti and Meatball cupcakes.

Did you already know.........................Some very public pranks are:
-In 1957, BBC broadcasted a prank film about Swiss farmers harvesting spaghetti. BBC received many request for the spaghetti plant.
-In 1985, Sports Illustrated published a fictitious story about rookie pitcher named Sidd Finch who could throw 168 miles per hour fastballs who soon would play for the Mits. Many networks sent reporters to learn more about Sidd Finch.
-In 1996, Taco Bell announced they had purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it Taco Liberty Bell. Many citizens were upset. The White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry was asked about this purchase and jokingly responded how the federal government sold the Lincoln Memorial and renamed it Lincoln-Mercury Memorial.

Vanilla Wafer Cookies

When I made these cookies, it was late so the recipe seemed a little off to me. I decided to bake one cookie as a test. When it came out of the oven, my daughter rushed over to try one until she saw I had make only one cookie. She had to go tell her Dad that I made only one cookie like I was crazy. So, my husband and son came over to witness my lone cookie on the baking sheet. I told them my dilemma about the recipe. Then I realized I forgot to add the vanilla. They all decided then that I was crazy since I was making vanilla wafer cookies. We split the lone cookie. My husband is so sweet and told me that my lone cookie tasted pretty good even with missing the key ingredient. I added the vanilla to the remaining dough and then made the rest of the cookies. They were pretty popular with my kids and husband. Do they taste like the box vanilla wafers? No but they are still pretty good.

Vanilla Wafer Cookies
1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
2 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the baking powder, salt, and sugar.
4. Whisk in the vanilla and melted butter. Whisk until smooth.
5. Add the egg yolks and whisk until incorporated.
6. Add the flour and combine until just incorporated. Dough will be stiff.
7. Spoon a round tsp of dough onto the baking sheet.
8. Flatten each ball of dough slightly.
9. Bake the cookies for 6 minutes and rotate the baking sheet.
10. Bake the cookies for another 6 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Recipe adapted from Instructables.

Two years ago.....................................I made Chicken Spaghetti.

Did you already know..........................
-In 1968, Nabisco introduced Nilla Wafers.
-Nilla Wafers use synthetic vanilla.
-The Nilla Wafer line includes reduced fat, mini, and pie crust.