Week 108, 1-14-2018

Thoughts and Quotes: Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a songbird will come. 
                                                                                            Chinese Proverb

Tasting: Muffin Tin Monday was a disappointment. I made Apple Cinnamon Muffins from a recipe I found on Pinterest. They got rave reviews so I'm sure it's just that they're not for me for the following reasons: (1) They're too labor intensive. At my age I need "Git 'er done" recipes. (2) You dirty too many bowls (3) I used half the cinnamon for the topping and found it still was overpowering. (4) The cinnamon topping made them look burned. 

Try this instead:

APPLE MUFFINS

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup peeled and grated (or finely chopped) apples

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsps cinnamon

Brown sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

Heat oven to 350°.

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the egg, sugar, oil, and vanilla.

Stir in apples.

Mix the dry ingredients and stir in.

Divide batter evenly among the paper cups.

Bake 20-24 minutes.

Tasting: This week's salad.

JUST EAT IT! SALAD

Don't tell people this is made from Brussels sprouts or they won’t try it

1 lb. Brussels sprouts

1 small red onion, thinly sliced and rough chopped

2 cups finely chopped Granny Smith apples

1 cup dried and sweetened cranberries

1 cup chopped walnuts

Dressing:

Zest of 1 orange

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper (optional

Cut the bottoms off the Brussels sprouts and discard. Thinly slice each spout, then rough chop the slices.

Put sprouts in a large mixing bowl and add the balance of the salad ingredients.

Mix the dressing ingredients with a whisk and stir into salad.

Note: Right before serving, sprinkle on shredded Cheddar or bacon pieces if you wish.  

Tasting: This week's soup.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH COMFORT SOUP

1 Tbs butter

1 Tbs oil

1 cup chopped onion (white or yellow)

6 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash (2-1/2 to 2-3/4 lbs squash0

1-15 oz can chicken broth

2 cups apple juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp white pepper

dash nutmeg (optional)

1-15 oz can pumpkin

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream

Creme fraiche, optional

Heat butter and oil in a large pot. Sauté onion until soft and translucent.

Add squash, chicken broth, apple juice, cinnamon, white pepper, and nutmeg.

Simmer until squash is soft. Whirl in batches in blender until all is pureed and return to pot.

Add pumpkin, brown sugar, and whipping cream. Reheat.

Serve with a dollop of crème fraiche, if desired.

Note: A sweet soup to enjoy anytime. Have a cup with a piece of toast for breakfast. Take a soup break in place of a coffee break mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Have a cup for a bedtime snack. Or replace dessert with comfort soup.

Tissue Box Card: The tissue box I showed you last week -

I used it to make a birthday card for Chosen Niece Terri. I hope it reaches her before she reads this blog post, but if it doesn't she'll forgive me, because that's the kind of girl she is. I made a matching paperback bookmark to include in the card.

Tasting: The Very Exclusive Cooking Club met this week at Bev's. Here are the results.

January 13, 2018, at Bev’s

THE TABLE

THE MENU

Chez Collette Salad

Garlic Chicken in Cream Sauce

Potato-Onion Casserole

Buttered Green Beans with Carrot Flowers

Sister Shubert Rolls

Muffin Tin Apple Pies

Iced Tea or Hot Tea

THE FOOD

THE PARTY FAVORS

Kitchen towels from Alaska and just-made crème fraiche

THE RECIPES

CHEZ COLLETTE SALAD

3 TBs mayonnaise

1 TB Dijon mustard

1 TB prepared mustard

3 TBs red wine vinegar

1 cup oil

1 tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp dried tarragon

Salad greens and walnut halves

Whisk together and toss with greens.  Add walnut halves and serve.

GARLIC CHICKEN IN CREAM SAUCE

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 Tbs oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup white wine

Dash Worcestershire sauce

2 cups whipping cream

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

1 tsp dried parsley

In a large skillet, brown the chicken breasts on both sides in oil. Remove chicken to a plate.

Add butter to skillet; then add onion and garlic and sauté 4 or 5 minutes until translucent.

Add wine and Worcestershire sauce and cook 2 more minutes.

Lower heat to simmer stage and stir in cream, salt, pepper, tarragon, and parsley.

Return chicken to skillet and baste with sauce.  Keep at a simmer, as boiling will cause the sauce to curdle. Simmer 20-25 minutes until chicken is done.

POTATO-ONION CASSEROLE

1 lb. frozen tater tots, thawed

1/2 can cream of onion soup

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

8 oz sour cream

4 oz sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

Dash garlic powder

1/4 tsp seasoned salt

1/4 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups cornflakes, lightly crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350°.

Grease an 11 x 17 baking dish.

Combine tater tots, soup, onion, sour cream, Cheddar cheese, garlic powder, seasoned salt, and softened butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir gently to combine.

Pour into the baking dish.

Mix cornflakes and melted butter in a small bowl and spread over the potato mixture.

Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake 45-60 minutes or until top is browned and casserole is bubbly.

MUFFIN TIN APPLE PIES

1-13 oz tube of 8 refrigerated flaky cinnamon rolls

1-1/3 cups canned apple pie filling

Heat oven to 375°.

Spray eight cups of a muffin tin with cooking spray.

Separate dough into 8 rolls.

Press into and up the sides of the muffin cups.

Spoon 2 generous tablespoons of the fried apples into the dough cups.

Bake 14-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool in pan 5 minutes.

Transfer included icing to a small bowl and microwave uncovered on 10% for 8-10 seconds.

Place rolls on a serving plate and drizzle the icing over.

Garnish with whipped cream, optional.

Tidying: This week's acquisitions:

After Christmas sale

More after Christmas sale. I needed these for the January Tea table.

My discards. I'm loving these Robert Parker books. His character (Spenser) was on TV - still see reruns sometimes.

The Pepper and Pals Report: Pepper hasn't needed his collar this week; still healing. Stormy worked on her caterpillar tonight. Almost history.

Remember dear little Veronica?

I got a photo from her new mommy, and it's obvious that she has bonded with her new step- brother, Pocket. How cute is this? I smile every time I look at them.

Things that make me happy: I always felt so sorry for the really big alligator who was in a small pool at Bass Pro. He just looked so forlorn. 

Monday night was Bunco night for Sally, so Steg and I went to dinner and then to the new Wonders of Wildlife at Bass Pro. The information desk is near the entrance, and I asked if the alligator died because I didn't see him a couple of weeks ago. 

No, he has now moved to the alligator version of Club Med in Florida. They pulled out a notebook and showed me his photo. Now he's out in the open where he can get some sunshine and plenty of room to roam.

My second happy report is that I got to visit the site of our new library in Nixa. The building is beautiful, and the remodeling will start soon. It might be finished in time for a May tea. Here's the plan - the blue portion is the meeting room and has its own entrance.

Tip: If you lost your wallet, could you quickly report all your missing credit cards? If not, put them all on the scanner and take a picture; then flip them over and scan the back where the customer service phone numbers appear. Put the copy in a safety deposit box or a place no one would think to look if you were burglarized. If copying doesn't work, write out the information and store it.

Think Snow: We got our second snowfall Saturday night and more to come today and Monday. Of course, Miss Nosy Stormy had to check it out with me.

Teaching and Learning: I just learned this on Friday, and if you don't already know about it, I'll teach you something which might save you some money. This only applies to lights with ceramic sockets where you use regular (not LED) bulbs.

Here's my light

It's one of three over the island in my kitchen.

The light bulb over the sink started burning out very quickly. At first I thought I had stored the bulbs too long (later learned they don't have a shelf life). Then I decided it was the cheap bulbs, so I went to Lowes and got more. 

The first one burned about two minutes and went out. When I started to remove it, the glass ball part came off in my hand.

It seems I'm a slow learner, so I removed the filiment and screwed in another bulb. Same thing. I called Terry, my electrician, and he said that I probably had a bad socket and his supplier no longer carries ceramic sockets as they're all plastic now because LED bulbs don't heat up and need the durability of ceramic.

As you know, I'm from the Show Me State, so I went looking for ceramic sockets. No problem. A very smart lady named Pam at Lowes knew exactly what I needed. I bought it, brought it home, and called Terry. I sent him  a photo by email, and he said that it looked like it would work.

When Terry got here, he took out some needle-nosed pliers with plastic covered handles to remove the filiment. Then he ran the pliers around the inside of the socket, put in my new bulb, and said, "Okay, that should take care of the problem". What?! How could that be?

I'm a non-observer about some things, and light bulbs are one of them. Somewhere along the line, they started making the bases of aluminum instead of brass. Of course, they're silver-looking now instead of gold-looking, but I went merrily on my way and didn't even notice. 

It seems that the aluminum reacts with the ceramic socket and forms what Terry calls "white rust". This causes some sort of short that messes up your bulb. Who knew? 

The solution: When you put in a new bulb, spray a paper towel with Pam and gently rub it around the base before putting it in the socket. I guess this forms some sort of barrier which prevents the build-up of "white rust".

I was thinking that if I couldn't get a ceramic socket and the light fixture had to be replaced, I'd also have to replace the other two to match it, and all the time, a little Pam could have prevented the entire problem.

So there, I'm living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

T Goals for Next Week: Because I haven't been working on Teas in order, I ended up with January and February looking much the same; cardinals, same teapot, same colors, so I'm redoing January. 

January 

February

Tissue card for next week

Tasting: Soup - Beef-Vegetable; Salad - Real Cobb (not the salads the restaurants call Cobb which are impostors); Muffin Tin - Garlic Knots

Tidying: More work on the living room deep clean/Weekly seven discards

Tablescapes: Start the write-ups to go with the photos for the book/Order ISBN numbers

Tunes: Start the gigantic task of converting my LP's to digital

So, until next week -

STAY WARM

STAY HYDRATED

DRINK YOUR TEA AND COFFEE

KEEP A SONG IN YOUR HEART

HUG YOUR LOVED ONES

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE