THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES--CHEMO IN THE HALL

Michigan is having the worst storm in at least 70 years.  The winds are howling and we are under a tornado watch.  An hour ago, there was a tornado warning issued.  Everyone in the hospital had to be moved out into hallways.  Chemo in the hall!!  An all-clear was issued.  We all moved back into the chemo rooms.  All the furniture was moved back into place.  We got settled back in and comfortable.  The warning beeps went off again and we all had to move back into the hall again!!!  We are now back in the chemo rooms again with the tornado watch on until 6pm.  Hopefully we will be finished and back home before anything else happens.  Going to be burning a lot of gas getting home with the 40 to 60 miles an hour headwinds we will have to deal with on the way.

LET THE CONCERT SEASON BEGIN!!

Our oldest Grandson and his Leading Lady; they are both extremely talented musicians.

Peewee football season ended this weekend and soccer season ended last weekend so let the concert season and holiday concerts begin.  We have brand-new tires on the van and we are ready to burn up the roads getting to as many events as we can.

CHEF JOSE CALIFORNIA TURKEY CLUB SANDWICH

Chef Jose

On Tuesday we spent a lovely day in chemo with Jose.  A chef, Jose, last week he gave use the tip to use brown sugar in salsa and also what to do with tomatillos.  See
http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2010/10/joses-tips-for-salsa.html

Tom decided he wanted a sandwich from the Cherie Inn.  I asked Jose if I could pick him up a sandwich too.  He said he had his famous chutney, crackers and bleu cheese for his lunch.  Yum!!  We started talking about sandwiches.

http://michigancottagecook.blogspot.com/2010/10/cherie-inn-burger-michigan-cottage.html

He asked if I had ever had a CALIFORNIA TURKEY CLUB SANDWICH.  I hadn't.  He told me it was his favorite sandwich and was made like a traditional turkey club, but in addition to the turkey, bacon, lettuce and tomato, it had a fried egg and avocado in it.  He said the good avocado fat balanced the bad fat of the egg and bacon.

The beginnings of the club sandwich are debated. However James Beard wrote in his American Cookery, “it is one of the great sandwiches of all time and has swept its way around the world after an American beginning. Nowadays the sandwich is bastardized because it is usually made as a three-decker, which is not authentic (whoever started that horror should be forced to eat three-deckers three times a day the rest of his life).” I agree with Beard as I don't like the third piece of bread in my sandwich although I am eager to try making Jose's California Club Sandwich with just two pieces of bread.

VOTED THEE BEST PUMPKIN BREAD

Pumpkin bread baked in a pumpkin patch molded pan.  Enjoy!!!

Originally from a Utah family’s self-published cookbook, the bread baked from this recipe is always a mega-hit. I can’t find the book or I would give them credit. I will find it someday and I will post the title and authors.

I usually don’t like recipes that contain commercial mixes because the mixes change or are taken off the market and you are left with an unusable recipe. I also like to avoid the chemicals used in mixes, but this bread is so good I over-look my principles for this recipe.

This bread is so easy and quick to make you will never buy a commercial pumpkin bread mix again. Once the ingredients are measured out, they are just put in a bowl and beaten together.

No need for butter or cream cheese, this bread is delightful as is.  Enjoy!

Tom took this bread to the church Christmas tree sale and everyone raved about it. Nelda, my dear friend and cookbook buddy, never uses any other recipe for pumpkin bread since I found this one. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

UTAH PUMPKIN BREAD-VOTED THEE BEST
I make this in many different sizes of bread pans. I just adjust the baking time accordingly. I like to replace some of the oil with applesauce for nutritional reasons and doing so does not affect the quality of the bread.

5 eggs
1 ¼ c vegetable oil, half applesauce-half oil works well
1 can (15oz) solid-pack pumpkin, I used half of a 29oz. can
2 c flour
2 c sugar
2 pkg. (3oz. each) cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mixes, used as is from the box
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
½ t salt

Ingredients:  Flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, canned solid-packed pumpkin, cooking oil, and eggs.

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients, flour, sugar, pudding mixes, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In large mixing bowl, beat the eggs. Add oil and pumpkin; beat until smooth. Gradually beat dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture. Pour batter into greased loaf pans. Bake in preheated 325° oven for 30 minutes for miniature loaf pans, 45 to 50 minutes for medium pans or larger pans 55 to 60 or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks.

I am a sucker for molded pans.  Probably because when I was young, I would see these wonderful European breads baked in gorgeous shapes and I couldn't buy any fancy pans until the Bundt pan was introduced in this country. 

I add applesauce to the oil.

Measure flour and sugar into a bowl.

Add boxes of pudding mix.

Add cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.

Measure oil; add applesauce if desired.

Put the eggs into a large bowl.

Spray decorative pans with cooking spray that contains flour.  Make sure the surface is completely sprayed with no dry spots.  Spray other baking pans with cooking spray.

Add oil and pumpkin to eggs.  Beat well together.  Directions call for beating each ingredients in separately but I just beat all together.

Add dry ingredients and beat well or gradually beat in dry ingredients.  Either way works well.

Batter is ready for pans.

I baked miniature pan, 30 minutes.  I baked medium sized pans for 45 minutes.  The large pumpkin pan I baked 60 minutes.

Cool baked breads on wire rack.

Take breads out of the pans and enjoy!!!!!

DUTCH DICTIONARY FOR CHILDREN OR PEOPLE LIKE ME.

I found this wonderful picture Dutch/English dictionary at VanVeen's Dutch Store in Grand Rapids. http://www.thedutchstore.com/  I thought it would be a delightful gift for my grandchildren, but when I started looking at it, I decided that this copy is mine.  I know just a couple of words of Dutch that my Dad remembered so this will be fun for me to study.  St. Nicholas' Day is coming, this dictionary would make a great gift.

GRANDMA'S OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP OR RHUBARB OR CHERRY CRISP

Old-fashioned goodness.  Enjoy!!!



GRANDMA'S OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP

My Grandma K. was born in 1880 and would have been 130 years old this past August.  So when I say her recipes are old, they are old.  She passed away in 1960.  I haven't made this recipe in years myself as I am always looking for new ways to make things.  When I started putting the ingredients into the 8x8-inch square pan, I thought Grandma, how did you get all this in a little pan like this one?  The topping on Grandma's crisp is like a brown sugar crunchy crust.  It is packed onto the apples and is quite thick.  The crisp starts out dome-shaped but as the apples cook down it all settles nicely into the pan.

Grandma always made this simple but terrific dessert with Northern Spy apples. Like so many old recipes, there are no measurements given for the sugar and spice. The amount of sugar and lemon juice depends on how sweet or tart the apples are. The amount of spice is a personal choice as is the butter. The more butter the richer tasting the apples will be, I use very little butter as the dish by current standards is rich enough. I always serve it warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream which adds to the richness.  When the apples are as sweet as they are this year, they need very little sugar.

I weighed the apples and found I really had to press them down into the pan to get them to fit. My Grandma probably cut the slices so thin that there were no air spaces between the slices. She peeled an apple by starting in one place and peeled very quickly around the apple until the peel came off in one piece. I can’t do that, especially not quickly. Her hands were very dexterous and very quick even though they were stricken with arthritis. Many the times I was scolded because I didn’t shell peas, clean beans or peel fruit fast enough to suit her.

GRANDMA'S OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP OR RHUBARB OR CHERRY CRISP
If you don't want so much "crisp" topping on your crisp, just cut the topping ingredients in half.  I would still use the same amount of apples, rhubarb or cherries.

3 lb. peeled, cored and sliced tart apples, about 4 cups
Butter
Lemon juice and peel
Sugar
Cinnamon
TOPPING
1 c bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter
Cinnamon or apple pie spice, I used 1 t apple pie spice in my topping

Ingredients:  Apples, lemon juice and rind, butter, brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon.  I add some nutmeg as I like it with apples.

My Grand-daughter turned me on to Apple Pie Spice and I decided to use it in the crisp topping instead of cinnamon.

Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Layer apples into the pan with butter, lemon juice, lemon rind, sugar and cinnamon. With a pastry blender cut 1/2 cup of butter into flour, brown sugar and cinnamon or apple pie spice mixture. Spread over apples; bake in 375° oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until bubbly on the sides. NOTE: 4 cups diced rhubarb or cherries can be use instead of apples.

Combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon or apple pie spice together to make the topping.

Mix dry ingredients well together.

Add cold butter and cut into flour mixture with pastry blender.

Grate lemon rind.

Spray an 8x8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

Juice lemon.

Layer peeled and cored sliced apples with sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind and spice.

Press apples down to make them fit in the pan.

Press topping down onto the apples.

Bake in 375° oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until edges are bubbly. 

Grandma love baked into an apple crisp.  Enjoy!!

I FINALLY FINISHED THE DISHES!

I don't have a dishwasher only my hands and a sink.  I finally took the ceiling high pile from the dirty side of the sink to a ceiling high pile on the clean side of the sink.  Now I just have to put them away.  Katrinka and Izzy says that since they only have dew claws, not thumbs, they can't help.  Excuses, excuses. 

So dishes are clean if not put away so it is time to start posting recipes.  Coming this week:

Red Wade's Missouri Fried Cabbage, Northern-style not Southern-style

Kalua Pig which becomes a Pork Dinner, Chile Verde Tacos, Hot Pork Sandwich, a Cuban Sandwich or Pulled Pork Sandwich or whatever your imagination comes up with to use the pork.

A Chicken or Turkey Broccoli Casserole, with no name yet, which is a reason to love the day after Thanksgiving for something besides shopping.

Grandma's Apple Crisp or Cherry Crisp or Rhubarb Crisp