Homemade Vanilla Extract

I have been baking and using vanilla for more years than I care to admit. I used the brand vanilla that my mother used. I never gave it a second thought. Since, I always thought my mother was the smartest woman that ever lived, I never questioned her brand of vanilla. But, last winter I actually read the ingredients on the vanilla box. I must have been really bored that day. The box boasted it was "pure" vanilla. Oh, it had alcohol and extracts of the vanilla bean. But, it also contained water, sugar, caramel coloring and a couple of things that I couldn't even pronounce. That started the wheels in my brain turning. How could something be pure if it contains so many ingredients? After a bit of research I discovered it was not hard to make vanilla. You just have to be patient because it does take at least 6 months for vanilla beans to steep in alcohol before it can extract enough of the flavor to be used in baking. If you don't give it enough time you just make flavored vodka.
Now, patience is not one of my virtues but, I decided it would be worth the wait. So, I bought a good quality vodka and lots of vanilla beans. If you purchase vanilla beans at the grocery store you will pay about $8.00 for 3 beans. So, you need to find a good source on the internet and purchase them in a very large quantity. Simply split the beans down the side and put them in the vodka. Store in a cool dark place. Shake occasionally to keep things stirred up a bit. The minimum wait time is six months. Your patience will be rewarded with the purest vanilla you have ever smelled. It is simply devine. I love the word devine. Using it  makes me feel very sophisticated.
Making you own vanilla is not hard to do. If you want more complete instructions, hop over to http://www.howtomakevanilla.blogspot.com/. Give it a try. It is well worth the wait. Simply devine!

Deep Dish Pan Pizza

Deep Dish Pan Pizza is so easy to make. All you need are a  few basic ingredients. 1 loaf of frozen bread dough - thawed, 1 jar of your favorite pizza sauce ( I used Ragu), and Shredded Mozarella cheese. You can stop right here and you have all the makings for a delicious cheese pizza. But, we prefer our pizzas with a few more toppings. I added Pepperoni slices, some chopped vegetables (onion,  tomato,  black olives, green bell pepper) and a small can of sliced mushrooms.
Take your bread loaf out of the refrigerator and allow it to thaw and rise for a few hours. Our house stays a bit on the cool side so it took about 6 hours for the bread to thaw and rise.  When the bread dough is completely thawed and has doubled in size you are ready to build your pizza. Liberally oil you cast iron skillet. I use a 12 inch skillet. Place the bread in the oiled skillet and  using your hands flatten the risen bread loaf. You will  need to continue to press the bread dough into the shape of the skillet. Don't be afraid to really press as much of the air out as you can. As it cooks it will rise again. After you have pressed the dough around the pan it is time to add your toppings. This is the fun part. You can get creative and add anything you like. For this pizza we added about 3/4 cup of pizza sauce and spread it round. Don't add your toppings all the way to the edge. Leave about 1/2 of an inch for the crust. Then, we added as small layer of  mozzarella cheese. Next came the pepperoni, onions, bell pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, and olives. Then, we added a bit more cheese. Bake the pizza in a preheated 375 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes. Check it after 20 minutes for desired doneness. The perfect doneness for us was 30 minutes. It was the best pizza. Much better than call out and deliver pizza and it was a fraction of the cost too.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year....Fall!

Good Morning everyone. Fall is finally here and the miserably hot tempertures have broken. At least it is no longer over 100 degrees each day. Here in our part of Texas is still gets up into the 90s but it is amazing how somehow that doesn't feel too bad. Unlike many parts of the United States, we still have green grass and flowers blooming. The leaves on the trees have not yet started to turn colors. I have a Crepe Myrtle tree right outside my front window and it still has big beautiful pink blossoms. I love to read some other blogs written by people in other parts of our country that talk about how the leaves are turning yellow, gold, orange and red, all the beautiful autumn colors. The nights are crisp and clear. Down right chilly and needing to pull out their big soft cuddly sweaters. But, for now I will live vicariously through others.

As we get deeper into the Fall season the produce stands and Farmers Markets promise a return of seasonal fruits and vegetables. Just seeing a big pile of the plump orange pumpkins makes me happy. Another seasonal  fruit that ensures that Fall has arrived is apples. Bright shiny red and green.

Look at the beautiful apple. It's no wonder Eve was not able to resist the temptation to take a bite from the sweet apple. An apple by itself is delicious and can be a tasty dessert. But if you slice a crispy Gala apple and dip each bite into warmed caramel ice cream topping. Oooooo...it's a little slice of Heaven. If you are looking for a quick and easy dessert that is fancy enough for company hop over to the recipes page and try the Cranberry Apple Tart. Top it with some fresh whipped cream and you have a Fall dessert that everyone will think you spent all day in the kitchen.

Enjoy your Fall everyone.
Until next time......
   

Apple Peeler Corer Slicer

When I find a new kitchen gadget that saves time, energy, heartache, and money I like to shout it from the nearest mountain top to everyone I know.  Many of you are apple pie makin' mamas and this apple peeler is going to make your life so much easier. It has a suction cup on the bottom to hold it in place on your counter top. This enables you to have both of your hands free to direct all of your attention the the apples. All you have to do is place it on the end, hold the apple in place and turn the hand crank a few times to get it going and with just a few more turns of the crank and your apple it peeled, cored and sliced. It is amazing and so much fun. If you are looking for ways get the kids to help in the kitchen, this will surely draw them in. They will have a blast turning the hand crank.  We found the great little invention at Academy Sports and Outdoors. The cost was $19.99. It is great for turning all of those crisp fall apples into delicious pies, cobblers, cakes and apple crisps.

Try this recipe for a quick and easy Apple Crisp

4 1/2 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup honey

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

4 tablespoons butter

        Evenly spread the apple slices in the prepared dish. In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice and water, and pour over the apples. Drizzle apples with honey, and sprinkle with cinnamon.

      In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, oats, and butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the apples. Pour apples in a 13 x 9 greased pan.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated 350 degree oven, until apples are tender and topping is lightly browned.

Add a dollop of fresh whipped cream and you will be in Heaven.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time....

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Love on Top

Whew! The summer heat has been lingering on for weeks here in Texas. We almost broke a record of consecutive days to reach over 100 degrees that was set back in 1980. However, on Saturday we had a tiny bit of a break. Our temperature only topped out at about 95. Now, I know 95 degrees is still very warm but, when the old summer sun just will not give you a break and the sweltering heat rises to over 100 degrees for 40 days....well, 95 seems almost cool. Since it has been so hot the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven to prepare a nice hearty hot meal. So, we have been eating a lot of salads lately. I love salads and I like a lot of variety but my family is not quiet as adventerous as I am so I have to get creative and make it little more interesting.

We love croutons in our salads. If you have bought croutons in the the bags you know they are very hard. Almost too hard to bite into.  So, I like to make my own. They are still crunchy but with a nice soft crunch on the outside and a middle that is a bit on the chewy side. Like a warm piece of buttery toast. There are alot of advantages to making croutons at home .
1. You can use left over bread that is about to turn stale. This saves money.
2. You can control the flavor of the crouton by adding any spices you like.
3. You control the amount of spices. This is especially good if you are watching your salt intake.
And my favorite part......
4. You can make them any shape you desire.
Most croutons are simply tiny little cubes of toasted bread. If you have some tiny little cookie cutters you can make it fun by cutting the crouton into different shapes.

I try to find anyway I can to tell my family that I love them. Actually saying "I love you"  does not come easily for everyone. I grew up in a family that did not run around all the time telling each other we loved them. I am the youngest of  four children. Our mother was a terrific Mama that raised four children without a father in the house. I do not know how she did it. Let me tell you, whether you are the Mom or the Dad , being a single parent is one of the toughest jobs in the world. We came from a family that did not hear the words "I love you." But boy, did we feel it. We all knew we were loved  by her actions.  She would swat us on the behind when we were being bad then turn right around and love on us to let us know that all is forgiven. I can hear her say, "Now don't do that again and let's move on." My Mama also had many "looks."  She could be in the front yard watering flowers all the while carrying on a conversation with one of the neighbors and spot one of us kids out of the corner of her eye doing something good and she would flash us a look that said, "You are one terrific kid and I am so proud of you". Then in a blink of an eye, that same Mama could turn her head and stop a misbehaving child dead in their tracks with just one look.  All the while she hadn't missed a word the neighbor was saying. Now that my friends is a gift from God. Yes, I know from personal experience that a person can feel the love without actually saying those 3 little words: I LOVE YOU. But, I am a very blessed woman. I am married to my best friend. Over the years he has taught me to say "I love you." But, I am always striving to develop that same God given talent my Mama had. I have always wanted to be able to express my love with just a special look that comes from deep in a person's soul.

So, my tiny little heart shaped croutons are a kind of a subliminal message to my family. A tiny little hug sitting on top of their cool crisp salad or floating in a steamy hot bowl of tomato soup from a loving wife or Mama who loves her fully grown baby girls. 

This my friends, is dinner tonight. A Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with a little love on the top.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time......

Beer Can Chicken

My sweet adorable husband loves to cook out. He truly is a Grill Master. He has a great big stainless steel gas grill with all the bells and whistles and he has a smoker too. His smoker even has a name. It is Oklahoma Joe. Actually, I am just kidding about him naming  his smoker. Oklahoma Joe is the brand of smoker.  He has cooked everything imaginable on his grill. It is nothing for him to whip up a batch of the most fabulous hamburgers on the planet. Just hint that you might want hamburgers for dinner or a Saturday afternoon lunch and he is on it like a duck on a June bug. On old Oklahoma Joe he smokes chicken. brisket, sausage, and ribs. Oh my! While the chicken, brisket and sausage are delicious the ribs are something just this side of Heaven.  Recently, a new cooking weapon was added to his grilling arsenol.

Meet the newest addition. It is a piece of equipment that is William and Sonoma's answer to Beer Can Chicken. Oh my goodness people! I have heard of Beer Can Chicken for many years but for some reason my husband had never tried to prepare it for us and I had never thought to ask him too. It could be because we don't keep beer at our house very often. I simply just never thought about it. Then a couple of weeks ago my hubby found this cute little cooking toy online and had to have it. Let me tell you it makes the most delicious chicken. The beer makes the chicken so most and tender. It is all kinds of yummy.

All you have to do is place your beer can chicken cooking tool in a disposable aluminum pan. Pour your beer in the cup, place your cleaned chicken on the tool ,place it in a 350 degree grill with the lid closed. In about 1 hour you will have a delicious grilled chicken.

I understand there are many people that really use a can of beer to cook the chicken on. If you decide to try this just be very cautious. I have heard there could be lead in the paints on the outside of the cans. I recommend if you want to try Beer Can Chicken get one of these little cooking tools. It was only about $15.00 from William and Sonoma and  since we bought ours I have seen it even cheaper at Academy Sports. Be careful folks. You are precious. I wouldn't want you to fall ill.

Until next time......

National Ice Cream Day. July 17, 2011

Today is National Ice Cream Day. Since the temperatures are soaring into triple digits here in Texas ice cream is the perfect treat to cool us off. One of the things our family likes to do is celebrate crazy holidays.  Crazy holidays are just plain 'ole fun.  These holidays give us a reason to smile, a reason to make our families happy,  A few examples are Yellow Pig Day, Pickle Day, or Tuna Day, Pie Day, Ferris Wheel Day, National Board Game Day, Cow Appreciation Day, or Ice Cream Day.  There is a special day for almost everything you can imagine. The true National Days have been declared by Congress. However, you can declare a special day just for your family. It can be a day that you all agree that you will celebrate each year.  Have a family meeting to discuss the special day for your family. You can discuss it over an ice cream cone to celebrate National Ice Cream Day.

Until next time.....