Ben's surpise entrance to the Family Thanksgiving!
As you can see, we had more than enough food! I forgot to get pictures of the tables since I was so busy prepping and hugging family members that I hadn't seen in a long while. But you can see a portion here. The highlight of our day was when Ben surprised us, by popping in the door just as we were ready to say the Thanksgiving Blessing! We all went ecstatic since he wasn't supposed to get away for Thanksgiving...and we were not expecting him. We were still missing Travis in Korea and Lori and Brandon in Hawaii, but having Ben with us was very special!!!! My mom enjoyed every minute of the day! Even if we didn't have all the delicious food, just the love of the family would have been enough for me.
Here is another favorite holiday recipe: Cranberry Apple Christmas Casserole-( but it is great for Thanksgiving too) 1 c. white sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries
3 cups unpeeled, chopped apples, 1 inch diced in size
½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg, optional
Topping:
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. old fashioned oatmeal
½ stick butter, melted
¾ tsp. cinnamon
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans
Mix sugar, cranberries and apples together and place into a greased baking dish.
Mix together the topping ingredients in a bowl, and then top the apple, cranberry mixture with the pecan topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. until apples are cooked and bubbly.
Well, it's been a while since my last post .....I've been loving on my mom and drawing inspiration and amazement from a very courageous woman as she battles Ovarian Cancer. The same strength , FAITH, and love that she shared in her everyday, NORMAL life, is now carrying my family through a very difficult time. To be honest, it's been hard to cook and share food when my mom is only able to drink clear broths and juice right now. It is clear that our celebrations, ourholidays, even our grievings.... are all centered around food and eating. I always receive such pleasure in sharing food, recipes and new tastes with my mom. All I can say is that it is just HARD...no words..... But one day my mom assured me of this, she said, "Lisa I get pleasure from seeing you and the family enjoying meals and having parties like we have always done. I want you all to enjoy eating and living."
my precious mom, June Stewart!
I am preparing now, for "the BIG, crazy, fun, amazing family Thanksgiving we will enjoy next week. My mom's whole family will be coming from all over the US and we will be having 60 people for our special celebration. It will be our most treasured and memorable Thanksgiving Celebration. ( and we all have a new perspective on the important things of life...family, FAITH, and friends)
I am also going to begin a lot of Holiday cooking and I will share my favorite recipes.
This is my mom's FAMOUS, most delicious, sweet potato casserole.... ( with a few tweaks from me)
Sweet Potato Casserole with Glazed Pecan Topping
4 cups cooked and slightly mashed sweet potatoes- Use fresh sweet potatoes
1 c. sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten slightly
¼ c. butter, melted (½ stick)
½ c. whole milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Glazed Pecan Topping:
1 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans
3 TBSP. melted butter
In large bowl, mix sweet potatoes, sugar, salt, eggs, butter, milk and vanilla on low speed of a mixer until completely blended. I do not whip this mixture.
Place topping ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with wooden spoon until combined. Mixture will be crumbly.
Spray a medium sized casserole dish with non-stick spray. Fill with your sweet potato mixture then add you pecan mixture to the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 min. until topping is slightly browned and casserole is a little bubbly.
Note~ I cook my sweet potatoes at 400 degrees for about 50-1 hour, cool and peel them for use in the casserole. It is usually takes about 6 medium sized sweet potatoes to make 4 cups.
August is always an unbelievably busy time for me with the start of a new school year. My job as a Program Coordinator for Lindsay's Legacy Mentoring is one that I love....just trained 21 new mentors for our 20 schools last week. Needless to say, with that and a Chick-fil-A (Moo-au Luau this week), I haven't had a lot of cooking time.
Lisa's Dinkie Doozies
For me, going into the kitchen usually means relaxation. Especially when it is a lazy Sunday afternoon and chocolate is calling!! Here is the recipe a lot of you have asked for . I made them today, just to be sure the recipe was o.k. Amanda thinks they passed the taste test:)
Let me know if you have any questions about making these. I recommend letting them cool on a wire rack , then transferring them to a large piece of waxed paper for the frosting project. They will stick together if stacked on top of one another in a container.
Have a happy week!
Lisa’s Dinkie Doozies- August 2010
¼ c. butter, softened
¼ c. Crisco
¼ c. Canola Oil
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups All Purpose flour
¾ c. Hershey’s cocoa
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/3 c. milk
Mix butter, Crisco, oil and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla and mix lightly. Sift dry ingredients together. Mix alternately with the milk, by hand or low speed on mixer.
Drop by tablespoon or whatever size “doozie” you want, onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet.
Bake 375 degrees for 7-8 min. until set. Cool before filling your cakes.
Filling:
½ c. Crisco
¼ c. butter, softened
1 small jar Marshmallow Fluff , or about 8 oz.fluff
2 tsp. vanilla
3 c. powdered sugar
¼ c. half and half
Mix all together until fluffy. I mix it about 2 min. in my Kitchenaid on medium speed.
Use as a filling for your chocolate cookie/cakes! Dust with powdered sugar, optional.
Just returned home this week from an AMAZING trip to Asheville, North Carolina. It was a very special time with my mom, who is fighting the good fight against ovarian cancer, and my 2 daughters.
We stayed at the Grove Park Inn for 2 nights, visited their World Class Spa, and found some unique eatery's in downtown Asheville.( This trip was a very special gift and one that will be treasured forever!)
My favorite eatery was Tupelo Honey Cafe , right in the middle of the downtown area.
I had the MOST delicious pancake I have ever eaten!! ( and I am pretty picky about saying something is the BEST!) This was my Sweet Potato pancake, topped with pecans and warm syrup. The french toast and eggs benedict were great too, and we loved that the plates were garnished with fresh orchids...
Asheville is a place that will cause your creative juices to start flowing. It is so full of art, music, shopping and trendy eatery's, all with the organic, local, sustainable food and farming themes. I am pretty sure I could spend at least 4 days trying all the restaurants!
Upon returning home, the first order of business was to try to re-create the Sweet Potato Pancake. Here is a picture of my "easy" version of the pancake.
Semi- Homemade Sweet Potato Pancakes
I asked them at Tupelo Honey Cafe, if there were whole grains in the pancakes and she said, no, we just use our pancake batter and add freshly mashed sweet potatoe, cinnamon and nutmeg. So this is basically what I did. My favorite "semi-homemade " pancake mixes are Trader Joe's Buttermilk Pancake Mix or, believe it or not, Jiffy Baking Mix! Yes it is in the little blue box and very inexpensive , but it makes great, quick and easy pancakes and waffles. I added about 1/2 cup of mashed , baked sweet potato, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, some freshly grated nutmeg, and 1 tsp vanilla to the batter. They turned out pretty good.
We topped them with pecans and I make a golden maple syrup by heating my syrup in the microwave in a mini pitcher for about 20 seconds and when it comes out just whisk in about 1 tsp of softened butter or Smart Balance Spread. It is delicious!
We also stopped at the WNC Farmer's Market in Asheville on our way home and the heirloom tomatoes were bountiful! I have used them in so many dishes this weekend, but my favorite was so easy....Steamed fresh okra ( 3 min. in the microwave) covered or in a steam bag and baby heirloom tomatoes. We cut the fresh tomatoes in half and ate them with the fresh okra and it was better than edamame!!
steamed okra and heirloom tomatoes, my weight watchers friendly snack!
my grilled fresh eggplant sandwich ...with fresh mozarella, greens and HEIRLOOM tomatoes!
Chocolate Chip Heaven Cake, Rachel's favorite!
Last but not least, it was the birthday of my niece, Rachel, this week and I made her annual and most requested birthday cake. This is so easy! It is her favorite and one that is great for young chefs to practice with. It is fool proof:) I like to drizzle it with some chocolate ganache or frosting, but Rachel likes it plain, with powdered sugar.
Recipe follows:
Chocolate Chip Heaven Cake
1 box Yellow cake mix (I use Duncan Hines Yellow)
1 small box instant vanilla pudding
½ c. oil
½ c. water
12 oz. package Nestle mini chocolate chips
1 – 8oz container sour cream
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine cake mix, vanilla pudding, oil, water and eggs in mixer. Beat until combined then add sour cream and combine. Lastly, mix in the chocolate chips and beat on medium speed about 1 min. until thoroughly mixed. Bake at 350 degrees in a well greased tube pan for 45-50 min. Remove from pan after cooling 10 min and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Having an over abundance of fresh tomatoes is a Summer blessing! I found some DeCecco , Farfalline95 pasta( which is really a soup sized pasta) but I used it to make a salad for the celebration of Amanda's safe return from Costa Rica.
Summer Pasta Salad 8 oz Pasta, cooked and drained Roasted tomatoes( from Saturday) 1/4-1/2 c. Fresh Basil ( to your taste) Fresh Mozarella ( cut in cubes) Parmesan Chees Feta Cheese Chopped Fresh Spinach 1/4 c. Red onion, chopped 1/4 c. red wine vinegar 1/4 c. olive oil 1 clove garlic, minced salt and pepper to taste! *( you must taste)* Fresh Tomatoes for garnish Stir together and add more oil and vinegar as needed for proper consistency.
This is a family favorite and we serve it on croissants, but my new favorite store bought bread is the Whole Wheat, 5 Grain Italian bread from Publix. If you call a day in advance, they will be sure to have a loaf ready for you!
Lisa's Chicken Salad
6 Boneless Chicken Breasts ( cooked, cooled, and chopped in small cubes) 1c. red grapes, cut in half 1/2 c. golden raisins or craisins ( I use a handful of both) 1/2 c. coarsely chopped pecans Hellman's Mayonaise ( I think about 1 c., but just eye it) 1 can mandarin oranges, drained Mix chicken, raisins,grapes, and pecans together with the mayo. I am not exactly sure of my measurements because I never measure on this. But the chicken salad should be moist but not saucy, wet! Lastly, dump in the can of mandarin oranges and stir well. The stirring will break up the orange pieces and add more moisture to the chicken salad. You can make the night ahead and serve the next day if needed. Sometimes you just need to moisten with a little more mayo before serving. Very simple recipe~Enjoy!
Amanda brought us organic coffee grown, harvested and roasted at the farm she visited in Monteverde.
It was delicious "La Bella Tica"
coffee, which is why I am wide awake and posting on a blog!!
Discovered something new and easy for my Saturday morning breakfast...
and we are getting a Trader Joe's in Athens, GA this FALL 2010.
Trader Joes Steel Cut Oatmeal ( Frozen and Microwavable in 3 min)
This was DELICIOUS , weight watchers friendly, and it is amazing with my dad's fresh figs.
I quartered the figs and stirred them in after I cooked the oatmeal. YUMMY!
Fresh Roasted Tomatoes
I had so many fresh tomatoes and not enough time to do anything exceptional with them so I cut them up topped them with sea salt and fresh pepper and olive oil drizzle. Bake 400 degrees for 30 min. They were sweet. I used them as a side dish at lunch and in a pasta salad for Sunday dinner.
This was a grated zucchini souffle that I made with a lot of extra squash I had in the refrigerator. It turned out tasty. I need to tweak a few things and then I will post the recipe. Delicious vegetarian dish with roasted tomatoes as a side.
Dinky Doozies, a family favorite!
Our middle daughter, Amanda, has been in a study abroad program with UGA this summer and is returning home Sunday after being gone for a month in Costa Rica.
She put in her"mama I have to have this.....order for when she comes home!"
Chocolate cake was a must, so we made Dinky Doozies, or whoopie pies, or devil dogs, whatever you
wish to call them. We just call them Delicioso at our house!
The other items on her list were my homemade chicken salad, BREAD, and Chick-fil-A.
FOOD TRAVEL 101( for me) On Sunday I had the opportunity to do some "wandering around" with my husband.
We had a Sunday off together, which is VERY unusual since he is the Pastor of a church, and we decided to go exploring. As we surfed the web for a location close to our home but still far enough away, we discovered Anderson, South Carolina. A "quaint historic downtown area" was all I needed to know! We headed off and found Anderson to be only an hour away from us. Why hadn't we ever gone exploring before, I asked myself. This beautiful little downtown, full of delicious restaurants is only 1 hour away from me!
In our wanderings we fell upon J. Peters Grill which was situated right in the center of the downtown area. We enjoyed one of the most delectable hamburgers my mouth has ever tasted. (see picture below) So my goal for the last half of this year is to wander and explore a few more things that are far, but not too far way from my cozy little town.
I have always been a curious learner when it comes to food! My earliest and fondest memory of "food curiosity" came at 9 years of age while visiting my GRANDma in North Carolina. I asked her if we could bake a pie...imagine my surprise when we didn't just pop it out of a box and bake! We jumped into the car and were off to Aunt Mildred's for a DAY of pie adventure. After picking apples, ladder and all, peeling for what seemed to be an eternity, making a home-made pie crust and baking, I then enjoyed the most delectable treat imaginable. I was HOOKED! Thus my journey began..... remarkable moments happen when you create them with those most dear to you!
