Shrimp Dip for a Spring Picnic

This recipe is based on a recipe my mom use to make for her microwave cooking classes and demonstrations when I was a teenager. My only addition to the original is the can of tiny shrimp.
I served this on "party rye" bread at the picnic that my son and I had last week. The following day, I served some in little cucumber cups and my son said he liked that even better, because he thought the rye bread was too dry. My mom served it as a dip for potato chips. So, it is quite versatile.




1 8-ounce package of cream cheese

1 can of Cream of Shrimp Soup

1 4-ounce can of Tiny Shrimp

1 bundle of green onions


Place the cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl and heat in the microwave 1 minute on high power. Stir. Add Cream of Shrimp Soup and put back in the microwave for an additional minute on high. Stir well. Add tiny shrimp and three finely sliced green onions (white and green parts) to the mixture and stir well. Finely slice two more green onions to use as garnish.

The dip can be made a day in advance. It will keep for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread Cookies

Cranberry Pistachio Shortbread

2 1/3 Cups unbleached white flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 Cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Cup shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

1 Cup dried cranberries, cut in small pieces (kitchen shears work well for this)

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together. Add vanilla and salt. Mix well. Add flour and mix until the mixture is a uniform crumbly consistency (this won't take much mixing). Fold in the pistachios and cranberries. Press the dough together with your hands and divide into two even parts. 

Form each half of the dough into a log shape and wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper. Make sure the ends of the plastic wrap are sealed well or the ends of the wax paper are twisted closed to prevent the dough from drying out. Refrigerate the dough for at least two hours. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Slice the cold dough logs into 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 15-20 minutes. 

Cool cookies on a wire rack. 

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

The Neverwhere Tea Party

It's time for the second installment of  #Teapot Tuesday.



This time, the featured teapot and all of the dishes are Noritake China, made in Japan. The pattern is "Candice". My husband inherited these, his mother's best china, when she passed away.

The featured book for this tea party is Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman



The passage from the book, which provides the perfect menu for a tea party, is the reception at the British Museum for the opening of the Angels Over England exhibit.








       "And then, with more enthusiasm, she said, 'Food!' She descended on the canapes like a small, smut-nosed girl in a too-large leather jacket who has not eaten properly for sometime. Enormous quantities of food were immediately crammed into her mouth, masticated and swallowed, while at the same time, the more substantial sandwiches were wrapped in paper napkins and placed into her pockets. Then, with a paper plate heaped high with chicken legs, melon slices, mushroom vol-au-vents, caviar puffs, and small venison sausages, she began to circle the room, staring intently at each and every angelic artifact.
       Richard trailed along behind her, with a Brie and fennel sandwich and a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice."

                               - Chapter 9







The menu:

Mushroom Vol Au Vents

Caviar puffs

"Little Smokies" sausages (little venison sausages are not so easy to find, so little smoked sausages were substituted)

Brie and fennel sandwiches

Melon slices and fresh strawberries

The Beast of London gingerbread cookies

Mint green tea

Orange juice for people who do not wish to have tea





The mint green tea was chosen because of the green colored restorative drink that Richard is given.

         "Richard knocked back the green liquid, which tasted of thyme and peppermint and winter mornings."

                         - Chapter 10




Puff Pastry Cups (needed for the next two recipes):

Defrost frozen puff pastry dough. It should still be cold, but no longer frozen. I took my dough out of the freezer and placed it in the refrigerator over night, then may the pastry cups in the morning. You can also just set the box of dough out on the kitchen counter for a couple hours to defrost.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Make egg wash by whisking 1 egg yolk with 1 Tablespoon cold water.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface.

Use a 2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter to cut as many circles as you can out of the dough. Then, use a 1-inch circle to cut a smaller circle out of the center of half the larger circles. Brush the large, solid dough circles with the egg wash and place a ring-shaped circle on top. Make the edges match. Move the completed dough cup to a parchment covered baking pan and brush the tops with egg wash.

Bake for 12 minutes. Let cook for 10 minutes, before scooping any excess pastry from the center of the cups. I found that a grapefruit spoon is a very handy tool for removing the excess puff pastry without damaging the cup.





Mushroom Vol Au Vents:

2 Tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 pound mushrooms, roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 heaping tablespoon of finely cut fresh chives

3 Tablespoons brandy

1/2 Cup heavy cream

3 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Additional fresh chives for garnish (optional)



In a large frying pan, saute the mushrooms in the butter and olive oil until they start to soften. Add garlic, chives, and brandy. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring all the time. Add cream and parmesan cheese. stir and cook until the cream thickens. Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper. Spoon mushrooms into the puff pastry cups and serve.



Caviar Puffs:

4-ounces softened cream cheese

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

4-ounce package of thinly slice smoked salmon, cut into 12 pieces

Black caviar

Fresh dill for garnish

Mix cream cheese, lemon juice, and pepper together and use the mixture to fill 12 puff pastry cases. Roll up a piece of salmon and stick it into the cheese in one pastry cups. Place a dab of caviar (about an 1/8 of a teaspoon) in front of the salmon. Garnish with a small sprig of dill, also stuck into the cheese.





Roasted Fennel:

2 fennel bulbs

2 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon of course sea salt


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut each fennel bulb in half and remove the core. Cut each half-bulb into 4 wedges and place them in a bowl with the olive oil. Toss until well coated with oil. Spread the fennel on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake 30-40 minutes.



The Brie and fennel sandwiches in the photograph are just made using plain thin sliced white bread. They were alright, but not as good as I had hoped. The next day, I tried making them again as grilled sandwiches, and they were beyond amazing! As DH said, "What isn't better when it's fried in butter?!" But, this is incredible, warm roasted fennel with melted Brie oozing out of the edges of the sandwich!



There was nothing sweet mentioned in the description of the reception, but I like to have something sweet at a tea party, so I took my inspiration from "London Below" and made boar shaped gingerbread cookies to represent "The Beast of London". London Below seems quite old fashion and gingerbread seems like a very old fashion type of cookie to me, which is why I chose it.



The gingerbread cookie recipe can be found here: http://overthecrescentmoon.blogspot.com/2009/12/out-of-this-world-gingerbread.html

The red eyes for the boar are cinnamon "Red Hots" and the tusks are slivered almonds. Both should be added to the cookies before baking.

Green Tea Swirled Pound Cake

Green Tea Swirled Pound Cake

2 3/4 Cups sugar

1 1/4 Cups softened butter

5 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla 

3 Cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 Cup sour cream



Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a large bundt cake pan with Baking Pam.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream beat until well blended. Scrape the bowl occasionally. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together. Gradually add the dry mixture to the batter, beating in between each addition. 

Place 1/3 of the batter in a separate bowl and add 4 teaspoons of green tea powder (macha). Mix well. 

Use 1/3 of the remaining white batter to make the first layer in the bundt pan. Cover that layer with 1/3 of the green batter. Continue alternating white and green batter until all the batter has been used. Smooth out each layer after it is added. When the top layer has been smoothed, take a butter knife and stick it into the cake at random spots all the way around (this will cause the swirled effect). Smooth the top of the batter again.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until a skewer stuck into the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for 20 minutes before removing from pan.

Strawberry Shortbread Cookies

Strawberry Shortbread Cookies



1 cup of butter, softened (2 sticks)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup freeze-dried strawberries, ground into a fine powder in either a food processor or blender

2 cups of flour


Use a low setting on mixer to blend room temperature butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add powdered strawberries. Mix well. Add flour a half cup at a time, mixing until it is all incorporated.

Roll the dough out in a sausage shape. If you wish to add colored decorating sugar, roll the dough in about 2 tablespoons of red sugar, Wrap the sausage-shaped dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. The refrigeration will make the dough easier to slice.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.



Slice and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. The cookies will not spread while baking. They shouldn't touch, but they can be placed about a centimeter apart and it will be fine.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

The round slices of dough can also be easily shaped into hearts before baking.

If you do not want to use any artificial food coloring in your family's Valentine treats, these cookies, minus the decorating sugar, are a nice pink color without anything artificial.

Our Week of World War 2 Rationing

We decided to try living for a week off of the food allowed by American rationing during World War 2.



In the beginning this seemed easy. Fresh produce, milk, and eggs were not rationed. Most meats were rationed, but not poultry or Spam.

First, however, there was a math lesson to figure out how many of each kind of stamp our family would be given. Each person over 12 years old was allotted 48 blue stamps each month. Blue stamps were used for processed foods, such as canned fruits and vegetables. They were also given 64 red stamps, which were used for meats and fats. First we figured out our family's total for the month, then we divided that by 4, assuming a 4 week month, to determine how much we would have for a single week.




Sugar rationing was separate from the other rationing. Each person was allowed 2 pounds of sugar per month. For us, that would be more than we go through in a normal month.



My mother, who was 9 years old when the United States entered the war, said that the sugar shortage was usually only a problem if you had berry bushes and fruit trees and were going to do canning.

Since stores might not get shipments of rationed goods, even if you had the money and ration stamps to buy them, I chose to treat sugar as that item we were unable to get that week. We started off the week with about a cup and a half of sugar.

Although the number of points needed to buy rationed foods changed from week to week during the war, we used the following newspaper ads and documents for our experiment:









I purchased only foods that would have been available at the time, but did not always restrict myself to the popular recipes of the day.




By the end of the day on Tuesday, we had used all our ration stamps for the week.

The last of the sugar was used up on Tuesday night to bake a sour cream pound cake, which lasted for two days. After that,  honey was used as a sweetener.



A week of living off of food allowed by rationing:


Sunday

Breakfast: A glass of Milk with Ovaltine for Blaze, Coffee for the adults

Lunch: Thin pork chops with roasted potatoes and carrots

Dinner: bean burritos (refried beans and cheddar cheese on wheat tortillas)



Monday:

Breakfast: DH had oatmeal. Coffee for the adults and milk with Ovaltine for Blaze

Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly on a tortilla

Dinner: Chicken parmesan on spaghetti

Dessert: Root beer floats (ice cream shops were allowed 70% of the sugar they had been using pre-war and Barq root beer began bottling their soda for distribution at the beginning of the war)



Tuesday

Breakfast: DH had oatmeal. Coffee or milk

Lunch: turkey, cheese, and lettuce on a tortilla
orange juice

Dinner: left-over chicken parmesan and spaghetti

Dessert: Root beer


Wednesday

Breakfast: Sour cream pound cake with fresh raspberries, milk for the child, coffee for the adults



Lunch: Turkey sandwich and grapes. Iced Tea

Dinner: Great Northern Bean soup (dried beans, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, bell pepper, ham, and a splash of milk) and homemade honey cornbread (made with honey, because the pound cake used up all of our sugar).

Honey Cornbread

1 Cup all-purpose flour
1 Cup corn meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Cup milk
1/4 Cup vegetable oil
1/2  Cup honey
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Blend dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Add liquid ingredients and mix until all the dry ingredients are moist.
Pour batter into greased pan (I used a cast iron skillet) and bake for 20-25 minutes.



Thursday

Breakfast: a Slice of plain sour cream pound cake, coffee for the adults, and a glass of milk for the child

Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, water to drink

Snack: vanilla ice cream with fresh raspberries

Dinner: Tossed salad and sliced, fried Spam

Dessert: one Hershey chocolate bar each


Friday

Breakfast: DH had oatmeal. Coffee or milk

Lunch: Left-over bean soup and cornbread
V-8 juice
Blaze refused to eat left-over bean soup. Instead he has an apple, a handful of grapes, and a piece of cornbread.

Snack: Popcorn


Dinner: Mock duck, mashed potatoes, and gravy



Mock Duck

1-pound sausage meat
1 Cup grated apple ( I used a gala)
1 Cup grated onion
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix apples, onion, and sage in a medium-size mixing bowl
Divide the raw sausage in half. Flatten one half into a half-inch thick rectangle and spoon all the apple-onion mixture onto the rectangle, avoiding the edges. Flatten out the second half of the sausage and place it over the apple stuffing. Pinch the top layer of sausage onto the bottom layer and form into a rounded loaf. Bake for 40-45 minutes. I baked the mock dock in a cast iron skillet and then used the drippings to make gravy. This made 6 slices, so we each had two.


Saturday

Brunch: Spam hash and poached eggs. Coffee or Ovaltine



Spam Hash

2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 onion chopped fine
5 medium potatoes diced into 1/4-inch pieces
1 can (12-ounces) of Spam, diced into 1/4-inch pieces

Pour oil into a large frying pan and fry the onion, potatoes, and Spam, stirring and flipping them over with a pancake turner until dome. Serve with a poached egg on top.

Snack: Sliced apples and popcorn

Dinner: DH had left-over bean soup. Blaze and I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
The chicken I had put in the refrigerator to defrost was still hard as a rock at 5:00 p.m.
The original plan for dinner had been chicken and dumplings.



Quiz about rationing in the United States:

http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz3348672655df0.html


In keeping with our World War 2 theme, we watched the Charlie Chaplin's movie The Great Dictator on Tuesday night.




Swimming in Wakulla Springs would have been fine way to spend a summer day during the war. The lodge opened in 1937 and Johnny Weissmuller was in two Tarzan movies that were filmed there. Here he is at the springs in 1941:



Thursday, when we went to the springs:


Friday was the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. BBC Radio had a special program of the original D-Day news reports, either recorded at the time or the scripts read by modern actors.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01zkdry

Super Bowl Scones

Every year, my husband asks me what I will be making for my Super Bowl tea party. It's a joke, but I like to take it as a challenge. So, here is this year's addition to the very specialized recipe genre of Super Bowl Tea Party foods:

Super Bowl Scones
(smoked sausage scones)




Scones:


2 1/3 Cups of unbleached white flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound of smoked sausage, cut into thin rounds and then each round piece cut into fourths

1/2 Cup finely chopped onions

1/2 Cup finely chopped bell pepper

4 Tablespoons butter

3/4 Cup heavy cream

2 egg yolks

Honey-Mustard Glaze

1 Tablespoon yellow prepared mustard

1 Tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Fry sausage pieces and set aside. Fry onions and peppers in the sausage grease and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add sausage, onions, and peppers and stir to coat with flour. Cut in butter with a fork. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg yolks and 3/4 cup cream. Add the egg yolk mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until all of the flour has been dampened. Don't over mix. It's o.k. if the dough is a little sticky.

Place dough on a floured board and roll out to about a one-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Leave a half inch or more between each scone.

Brush each scone with the honey-mustard glaze and bake about 20-25 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.


Serve immediately

Chocolate Curry Buns

Yes, I know it sounds strange, but cocoa powder and curry spices do go well together. It's similar in concept to a Mexican mole sauce.

My son has been watching the Japanese anime show, Black Butler, on Netfix and was so fascinated by the idea of chocolate curry in a fried bun, which was the winning entry in an episode about a curry festival, that he asked if we could make it.

Sebastian, a demonic butler, prepares to fry the curry buns:


The first of our curry buns, straight out of the hot oil:


Chocolate Curry


3 Tablespoons dark cocoa powder

1 can (400ml) coconut milk

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon chili powder

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces (for a vegetarian version, cubed, firm tofu can be used instead of the chicken)

3 Tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon Sriracha chili sauce

1/3 Cup carrots, diced (or sliced baby carrots)

1/2 Cup green peas

1/4 Cup of cilantro, finely chopped

Place the cocoa in a small mixing bowl. Pour the coconut milk into the bowl, stirring all the time, until the cocoa is blended in and there are no lumps. Set aside.

In a deep sauce pan, fry the onions, cloves, cardamon, and salt for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and starting to brown. Add garlic and fry for about 1 minute. Add ginger and chili powder. Stir. Add chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring all the time. Add the cocoa mixture, sugar, and Sriracha. Bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and remove from heat.



For the dough, I used my standard refrigerated roll dough (the dough I use for just about everything).

Refrigerator Roll Dough


1 package ( 1 Tablespoon ) active dry yeast
1 1/2 Cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
1 Cup unseasoned lukewarm mashed potatoes
2/3 Cup vegetable oil
1/3 Cup honey
1 1/2 salt
5 to 6 cups unbleached white flour

This is a good recipe to make on a night when you are making mashed potatoes for dinner. Before seasoning the potatoes, reserve 1 1/2 cups of the potato water and 1 cup of the plain mashed potatoes.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast and water. Then add everything else, first mix with a spoon and then kneed by hand. Add flour as necessary, until it becomes a good pliable dough. Form the dough into a large ball and oil the outside of the ball, so it won't dry out while rising. Cover and place in the refrigerator over night. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The dough does not have to be baked all at once. You can bake just what you need for each meal. Punch down dough before using.

To make the buns, I rolled out the dough into circles about the size of a saucer, put some curry in the middle, dampened the edges of the dough, so the it would stick together as I pinched it into a closed bun shape, and deep-fat fried it. 






The full episode of Black Butler with the curry festival (subtitled):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvuh70ibVts

How to Make Candied Violets

Old fashioned candied violets are elegant looking, easy to make, and a sign of Springtime. Also, they make a great excuse to get out of the house and take a long walk.

1. Wash the violets (leave the stems on, it will make them easier to handle).



2. Dry the flowers on a paper towel, placed over a wire rack for good air circulation.
While the flowers are drying, set out a bowl with one egg white in it. The egg white needs to come to room temperature.



3. "Paint" egg whites on the flower petals, both the tops and bottoms.



4. Dust the flowers with super fine sugar. Make sure to sprinkle the sugar on both the top and bottom sides of the petals. After they are well coated, snip off the stems. Let dry for 24 hours before using.



We used ours to decorate miniature lemon cupcakes.

Child-Friendly Recipes for Chinese New Year

This year's lunar new year begin Feb. 10, so here are some recipes to help you celebrate. These are all foods that are easy enough that children can help make them and include foods that most Western children are willing to eat.








Birthday Noodles with Peanut Sauce

2 Tablespoons of smooth natural peanut butter
1/4 cup of hot water
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of honey
4 cups of cooked spaghetti
2 green onions, thinly sliced
chopped peanuts for garnish

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the peanut butter, water, honey, and soy sauce.
Stir mixture into cold, cooked noodles and sprinkle each serving with the green onions and clopped peanuts.
Eat with chopsticks.

The recipe for Dragon Eggs from Jan Brett's website:
http://www.janbrett.com/dragon_eggs_recipe_and_coloring_page.htm

Cucumber Salad with Spicy Dressing

1 tsp. soy sauce

1 T. white vinegar

1 T. sugar

2 tsp. sesame-seed oil

1/4 tsp. Tabasco

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced thin

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, oil, Tabasco, and salt. Mix well. Add the cucumbers and stir until they are well coated with dressing. Chill until you are ready to serve.


The following step-by-step photos of how to make wontons, were made for Blaze's display board about China for the Homeschool Social Studies Fair:


Wontons

1 pound cooked, crumbed, ground chicken

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

2 Tablespoons water

2 Tablespoons sliced, green onions

vegetable oil

one package of wonton wrappers (sold in the produce section of most grocery stores)



1. Mix


2. Fill


3. Fold and seal (a little water works like glue to seal the edges of the wonton wrapper)


4. Pinch


5. Fry


6. Enjoy