Month: February 2012

Almond Lace Cookies

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20120225-094026.jpgWell, this week has been a little hectic. Not only were we having problems with the computer, but we have been learning about Foster Care through DePelchin Children’s Center as well. My wife and I are trying to do foster care to adopt for a sibling group of two. We hope to do it later this year. I never knew how much information was involved with a situation like this. These children have lived through some real horror stories. So publishing this on Wednesday/Thursday like I hope to do for future posts was a little more difficult this week, but I Digress.

Almond Lace Cookies are wonderful little treats and easy to make. The recipe said that it would make 72 cookies. I don’t know what size cookies that they like, but this is Texas. Everything in Texas is bigger, and so were my cookies. Let’s just say we only had about 30 cookies when it was all said and done. I basically only did a spoon full when I placed them on the cookie sheets, but this made larger than normal cookies. Even though this is Texas and we want big things, I recommend going a little smaller. Theywill be easier to eat (it’s a fairly brittle cookie) and bake.

If you like almonds, you will probably really love these. The crushed almonds are accentuated with the almond extract which brings out the flavor even more. Everyone that had them really enjoyed them, and they didn’t last very long in our house. After all, there were only 30 cookies.

As for the chocolate, I do not recommend putting it into a Ziploc bag and placing it in the Microwave for a minute. This creates a Texas size mess to clean up. As I was pulling the bag out of the Microwave, only the bag came out. The chocolate stayed right where it was with some of theplastic. After I cleaned the mushy soft chocolate, I decided to try it a little differently.

My wife suggested that I put the Hershey’s dark chocolate bar in a Ziploc bag and place it in boiling water. Well, my wife is one smart cookie. It only took a few seconds to watch the chocolate melt in the bag, and it was very easily managed from this point on. Pulling the bag out of the (caution) boiling water, I snipped a small corner off of the bag, and it was easy to drizzle the chocolate onto the cookies.

This recipe is easy to make and worth the time if you want to treat your little ones. Hopefully we will soon be able to do the same as well. Remember, “Just like the chocolate, don’t leave any child behind.”

For the Recipe: Almond Lace Cookies

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Banana Foster French Toast

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Banana Foster French ToastThis weekend was one that I will never forget. My wife and I decided to host the middle school girls at our house for our church’s Disciple-Now weekend. That is 11 middle school girls, a female (College Student) group leader, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, my wife, and then there was me – the Lone Ranger (man). It was going to be survival of the fittest in this wild jungle of estrogen. At least I have two male cats – who by the way were cowering beneath the table.

D-Now (as they call it) is basically a weekend slumber party for the different age groups with Bible study and group projects. They went to a Bhutanese Refugee camp, had worship, and enjoyed a quality Bible study time at the house. Joking aside, it was a wonderful experience, and I was impressed with the quality of our youth and their leader. The weekend was a blast!

I decided to find a French Toast recipe to make for the girls with some bacon and scrambled eggs. This way they could start the day with a nice meal. I thought only teenage boys ate like that. WOW!

I found a Betty Crocker recipe for Banana Foster French Toast. The title alone made my mouth water. The truth is that it was just alright though. There were definitely things that could have made it better.

First you spray a 13″x9″ glass dish with baking spray, cut the cinnamon bread into cubes, and place it in the dish. Then you mix the ingredients, (minus bananas, walnuts, some syrup, and the rum extract). These items will be used later – about 8 hours later. All in all, this is an easy dish to make.

As good as it sounds like it should be, it was just average. The bananas did not really add anything to it, and I am still trying to figure out the foster part. I guess that was the rum-extract mixed with the real maple syrup. The maple syrup (liquid gold) could have been cut in half as well.

My wife said that she loved just the French Toast part (no fruit), and my mother-in-law called it a glorified bread pudding. Most of the girls really enjoyed it, and our friend the college student wanted the recipe. I think that it was a hit for the most part. The best part is that it is really easy, and you make most of it the night before.

Instead of adding the bananas and rum-extract infused maple syrup (which cuts the cost in almost half), I think that a raspberry or blueberry sauce could have added a lot to this recipe. Either way it was worth the effort and the ease to make, but ultimately was just an average dish. 

The basic french toast portion of this dish, provides a great foundation for a different recipe. You need to try it for yourself to really know, and remember “Just because it sounds good, doesn’t make it any more special. It is the guests that make it special!”

Click here for Recipe: Banana Foster French Toast

Easy Salmon Croquettes (Salmon Cakes)

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Salmon CroquettesOh so delicious. I can remember when my mom used to make salmon cakes when I was a kid. Coupled with some Kraft Mac and Cheese (the only real Mac and Cheese) was a highlight of the evening. I once called them the Poor Man’s Salmon Cakes. We didn’t always have very much, but my mom really could cook. That is where I get some of my passion for it.

My mom made sure that I would learn how to, so to speak, wine and dine if I wanted to. I have tried it a few different ways in the past, and I didn’t realize that I was missing some of the ingredients, like egg and lemon juice. This recipe is the closest that I have come to my mom’s croquettes, and they are AWESOME and easy to make.

I used three cans of “Chicken of the Sea” boneless skinless Salmon instead of the 15 oz can that the original recipe called for. I like it this way because I can open the can and drain the juices out of it before I use them. Basically I would just press the top of the can into it and get as much of the juice out before use. Then I put them in the bowl.

I used  Saltine Crackers and crushed them in a zip lock bag. About ½ of a row of crackers equals one cup, once crushed. Add a little bit of onion, salt, pepper, egg, and lemon juice. Then pack them into little patties. The recipe said that it makes 8 patties, but I made 6. They were about 3” in diameter after I pressed them onto some parchment paper.

I got the oil hot and placed them into the pan. With a little sizzle and pop, they started to brown. I made some Mac and Cheese, and I was in HOG HEAVEN. It brought me back to the good ol’ days.

Enjoy and remember, “It doesn’t have to be difficult to be delicious.”

Click here for the recipe: Salmon Croquettes

Mustard Beef Rolls

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Mustard Beef RollsAwwww! There is nothing like a slab of meat that you roll bacon into before eating. After all bacon is man’s best friend, right?

I love to cook. Not everything that I make is a winner but I think this one is definitely a keeper. The MUSTARD BEEF ROLLS, garlic mashed potatoes, and corn took about 2 hours total to put together (50 minutes of that time was the beef in the oven). The dish was not necessarily difficult, and I would say that I would do it again in the future.

I think that the following things could have made it a little eaiser though:

  • The recipe called for crumbled bacon and making that upfront from breakfast or the night before might have made the process a little eaiser and cut back some of the cleanup. This could cause a problem if you want to use the bacon drippings, but you could use butter instead.
  • See if you can have the butcher cut the flank steaks into (5) 2″x5″ pieces ahead of time – pretenderized. This way you know that the size is all ready for you to add the mix too as soon as it is ready.

The hardest part really comes from trying to roll the beef and keep the stuffing intact, but once you get them together, there is not that much left to do. You put them into the flour, fry until they start to brown, add the wine, and then cook for 50 minutes.

My wife described them as tasting like little meatloafs. Which is probably a pretty fair description of what they tasted like. So if you are up for a little experiment, check out the recipe below, and remember to “Spice up your kitchen with something new.”

Click here for recipe: Mustard Beef Rolls