Dee Rescues Me

So even before I quit my job, I was planning to visit my friend Dee and had already scheduled Friday as a day off. Audrey and I drove to Dee's house on Friday morning. She lives in Selah, about 220 miles from our home. It was wonderful to have a place to retreat to and just chill for a few days.

Friday: We arrived a little after lunch time and got the tour of Dee's house and their gorgeous property. After visiting for awhile and having a bite to eat, we headed to downtown Yakima. Patina, a recycled clothing boutique owned by her friend, was a fun place to explore. Found a cute blouse there. We went to the shopping mall for awhile and then stopped at Papa Murphy's for pizza. We had never had the Chicken Garlic, something Dee's family orders all the time. That was yummy! After dinner Dee made some Pineapple upside down cupcakes (recipe below). And later that evening we watched a meteor shower from her deck. (I looked it up and found it was the Camelopardalids meteor shower associated with Comet 209P/Linear.) Amazing what you can see when you don't have the city lights to distract! We did not stay out all night as the evening got cool. Dee's daughter was sweet and had given up her room for the weekend - thank you!!

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CUPCAKES
20 oz can pineapple chunks (or slices), drained, juice reserved
1 box yellow cake mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
Maraschino cherries, cut in half

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 regular-size muffin cups with non-stick spray. In large bowl, beat cake mix, oil, eggs and reserved pineapple juice with mixer on medium for 2 minutes.
In small bowl, stir together melted butter and brown sugar. Spoon 1.5 teaspoons butter mixture into each muffin cup. Top with pineapple pieces. Place cherry half, cut side up, in center of pineapple pieces. Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each cup. Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of cupcakes to loosen; invert onto cookie sheet. Serve warm.

Saturday: We woke up and Dee made homemade donuts for breakfast! They were delicious!!

BAKED CAKE DOUGHNUTS
2 cups cake flour, sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 TB butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray doughnut pan with non-stick spray. In large mixing bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Add buttermilk, eggs and butter. Beat until just combined. Fill each doughnut cup approximately 2/3 full. Bake 7-9 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Let cool in pan for 4-5 minutes before removing. Finish doughnuts with chocolate glaze or cinnamon sugar, or confectioners' sugar. Doughnuts are best served fresh. Makes 12 doughnuts.

We headed to Selah, but first stopped at the Wenas Cemetery. The cemetery was incorporated in 1880 and is the second oldest incorporated cemetery in Yakima County. It is approximately 7 acres.

We then went to Buhrmaster Bakery, a local bakery where everything is baked fresh daily. I bought some cinnamon pecan bread to take home, but went next door to the Red Apple grocery store to buy milk to go with the bakery items we had to try immediately. Went to The Vintage Shop, an antique store. That was fun! And we also spent much of our morning on my souvenir spoon hunt... seriously a lot of time. We went to store A, asked if they carried, they did not but told us maybe store B carried. So we'd go to store B only to find out they did not carry them either. That went on for quite some time!

We checked out Wenas Lake for awhile. This was just up the road from Dee's house.

Regrouped at Dee's house and then headed back into town and went to King's Row. Audrey and I shared a Garbage Burger (beef patty, ham, bacon, cheese). It was enough for us to share! Audrey also enjoyed that you could order ANY flavor of pop since they would mix them to order. So you could have a raspberry coke or a vanilla orange soda or a pineapple root beer. The combos were whatever you could dream up.

We headed to Yakima for more spoon hunting. Finally found a spoon at Walgreens. Then we went to a super cool bookstore called Inklings. They carried lots of other items besides books, so we spent quite awhile exploring this shop. Afterward we went to Glenwood Square, a refurbished fruit warehouse that was built in 1910. Still had the brick walls, hardwood floors and rough timber beams throughout. The warehouse had restaurants, offices, shops and some cool fish tanks!

Unfortunately it was time for us to head home. We made one more stop (Fred Meyer to pick up road snacks and fuel the car) and we said our goodbyes. Dee - thank you so much for a wonderful visit!!

Oatmeal Pancakes

We had Breakfast-for-dinner tonight and tried a new recipe  These were good, tasty and hearty. John covered his with peanut butter and hot syrup. Audrey and I just had with butter and hot syrup. I keep saying HOT syrup because evidently some folks think you don't warm your syrup before putting on your pancakes. My question would be - how do you get your butter to melt?

OATMEAL PANCAKES
1 & 1/2 cups quick oats
2 cups milk
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 TB sugar
2 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 TBS vegetable oil
2 eggs

In a large bowl, soak quick oats with milk for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Cook pancakes on a griddle pan over medium-high heat

New Years Family Brunch

We got a lovely invitation to have a New Years Day brunch at the Clifford's home. They invited members from our ward and set it up in an open house style. Visiting with friends on a brisk January morning was enjoyable. And of course it was fun to try out all the goodies she had prepared. She is an awesome cook and baker. Susan served all homemade baked goods - bagels, muffins, cinnamon rolls - and had sausages, bacon, hot cocoa and orange juice. It was a wonderful way to start out 2013!

Christmas Eve

Our assignment for the Christmas Eve meal at grandma's was to bring a fruit salad and monkey bread. This is what the bread started looking like before we brought it up - it was making me nervous!!  Thought it was going to explode or get all over the oven or something. It ended up looking fine (see second picture).

OREO MONKEY BREAD
18 frozen Rhodes rolls
1/2 cup melted butter
1 package Oreo pudding box mix
2/3 cup cream cheese, softened
2 TB milk
2 TB sugar
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a bundt pan with nonstick spray. Place all of the dough in staggered formation inside the pan. Sprinkle the pudding mix over the rolls and then drizzle the butter over the top. Meanwhile, mix the cream cheese, sugar and milk until smooth. Dollop over the rolls, leaving a little in the dish to lightly drizzle over the top after baking. Cover with saran wrap and let rise for 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. (If you place in fridge, allow to come to room temp for an hour before baking). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn out onto a platter.

FRUIT SALAD
Fresh apples, grapes, pomegranate and canned mandarin ranges and pineapple slices. Combine with a jar of Coconut Creme spread (similar to a pie filling).

The menu consisted of waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon (lots and lots), orange juice, eggnog, fruit salad and the Oreo monkey bread. After dinner (breakfast) we exchanged gifts and then played one of the games that someone had received.

I received a cool scarf that mom made and a necklace holder. I did not mention that on my wish list but had been on the hunt for something. She found exactly what I wanted without knowing that was what I wanted! I got a cool red bread basket and homemade cookies from Brianna. John got chocolates and vise-grip adjustable tool from mom. And assorted tools for duct work from Dakota. Audrey got an infinity scarf, Susan Boyle CD's and some Coca-Cola items from Grandma. She got the Adele CD and Oreo's from Mariska. We gave for our exchange items  Rooster serving plate/bowl to Michelle (from John), Jingle Bell Voice Male CD to Brian (from Sam) and a 12 piece Brave action set to Cheyenne (from Audrey).

After having a great time, we headed home to find some Santa gifts there! Some PJ's for Audrey, some PJ's for Sam and a Norman Rockwell Christmas book for John.

Overnight at Hartman's

I've decided the best way to spend Thanksgiving Day is to not have to worry about driving home when you are full & sleepy from a fabulous meal. This year we stayed overnight at the Hartman's lake house. After helping them clean up the kitchen and put things away (tables, chairs, serving dishes), we relaxed by watching a couple movies and then went to bed. (Audrey brought Firefly so Richard could experience... he logged onto Amazon that day and picked up his own copy, must have liked it!)

We woke up and had waffles - the Kremin's joined us.

Mary's Waffle Recipe
1 & 3/4 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 beaten egg yolks
1 & 3/4 cups milk
2 stiffly beaten egg whites

Combine yolks, milk and oil. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in egg whites leaving a few fluffs. Cook in waffle iron.

As we were cleaning the breakfast dishes, Mary started up a batch of soup, so we definitely stuck around until after lunch. Spent time watching more Firefly episodes and visited. After lunch we went home and took a nap!

Turkey and Navy Bean Soup
2 lbs turkey with bones (if no leftover turkey, use drum sticks)
3 T. oil
2 & 1/2 quarts water
2 tsp salt
2 bay leaves
Heat oil and brown turkey in a covered pot to avoid splattering of oil. Drain excess oil. Add water, salt & bay leaves. Boil for 1 & 1/2 hours. Remove meat from bones. Set broth and meat aside.

3 c. Navy beans (small white beans)
3 quarts water
1 large onion, chopped
12 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T. oil
1 T. ground cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 c. celery, sliced
salt to taste - about 2 tsp.

Wash beans. Add beans to 3 quarts water. Boil 10 minutes. Set aside for 30 minutes, then cook for 30 minutes more. Saute onions and garlic in oil for 2 minutes, then add turkey & broth as well as the beans and their broth and 1 more quart of water. Add celery and seasonings, cover and cook over medium heat for 1 hour.

Variations - chicken instead of turkey; more veggies; rice or noodles instead of beans.

Blackberry Scones

BLACKBERRY SCONES
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 TB grated lemon zest
8 oz blackberries
Course sugar for sprinkling (can find in cake decorating section)

Heat over to 400 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a grater, grate frozen butter into flour mixture until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal.

In a small bowl whisk sour cream, egg and lemon zest with a fork and then add to flour and butter mixture. Use a fork to stir everything together until just moistened. Add blackberries and gently stir into the dough.

Empty the dough onto a clean floured work surface and shape into a circle. Cut into 8 wedges. Carefully transfer to baking sheet. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar and bake for 13-15 minutes or until light brown. Cool for 10-15 minutes.

Christmas Eve

We had our annual breakfast-for-dinner at Grandma Gramlow's house. We made Davenport Coffee Cake. Other items on the menu included scrambled eggs, bacon, orange juice, eggnog and the McMackin's made waffles. After (breakfast) dinner we cleaned up the dishes and the kids sorted the presents. We wait until all the presents are passed out and then we can open them at once. But we then go around the room and everyone gets a chance to "Show and Tell" what they received and who gave them what. We also draw names, so each person brings one gift and receives one gift - but we all get Grandma a gift and she gives us a gift.

Mom got me the Lion House Cakes & Cupcakes book and made a "nest" necklace. Dakota had my name this year and gave me a Vanilla Bean hand soap set from Bath & Body Works, some Plum Jam and Ferrero chocolates. John received a huge jar of pistachios from mom and a blue solid dress shirt from Brian. Audrey received the Madagascar II soundtrack, a pirates book and a large assortment of Coca-Cola dishes from Grandma. She received a family pack of Oreos and a pirate blanket from Shaune. We were able to give gifts to Kathy (a cookbook), Cameron (Lego Hero Factory) and Dakota (Star Wars items).

There is a crazy story about the Star Wars items... Dakota had hinted that he liked the Star Wars popcorn tins. There were 4 different ones. I asked mom to pick up 2 for me while she was getting 2 for her to give - - so he would end up with all 4 patterns. Well, evidently mom was busy so sent Michelle on the errand. When they delivered the 2 tins to my house, Dakota was in the van so they sent him inside. Audrey was home and said Dakota dropped them off and said "These are for Aunt Sam". That's pretty bad when you deliver your own Christmas gift AND think it is for someone else!

Below is a picture (left to right) of James, Dakota, Cameron, Mariska, Brianna, Cheyenne & Audrey. They sure are growing up! Note the pictures in the background? Right beside Mariska's head is "me" and just to the right of Brianna's head is Kathy's baby picture.

ALTON BROWN'S BASIC WAFFLE RECIPE

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 TB sugar

3 whole eggs, beaten

2 oz unsalted butter, melted

16 oz buttermilk

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. In another bowl beat together eggs and melted butter, and then add buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Preheat waffle iron, ladle recommended batter on iron, close top and cook until golden on both sides. Serve immediately.

Davenport Hotel Coffeecake

DAVENPORT HOTEL COFFEECAKE

1 cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

TOPPING
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a Bundt or angel food pan; set aside. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth. Spread half of the batter in the pan. Combine the nuts, cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle half of the mixture over the batter in the pan. Add remaining batter and sprinkle remaining nut mixture on top. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.

OPTIONAL GLAZE
Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3 to 4 tablespoons milk or light cream. Mix until smooth. Add more or less milk to make a thinner or thicker glaze. Drizzle over cake.

Slumber Party

We headed out to Twin Lakes & Corral's cove (see namesake above) for a movie night and slumber party. We had tacos for dinner and then settled down to watch movies in our PJ's and snack on popcorn, M&M's and Twizzlers. We brought "Up" and "Princess Bride" as the Hartman's had not seen either of these movies. They loved "Up" but did not love "Princess Bride" - say it isn't so! The next morning we enjoyed Mary's famous waffles and a relaxing Saturday morning.

MARY'S WAFFLES
1 & 3/4 c. flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 & 3/4 c. milk
1/2 c. oil
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Combine yolks, milk and oil. Stir in dry ingredients. Fold in egg whites, leaving a few fluffs. Cook in waffle iron. Serve with warm syrup, fruit and whipped cream.

Orange Rhubarb Bread

We have had a rhubarb plant in our yard from the day we first moved to our house (so 22 years). I'm always on the hunt for rhubarb recipes to add to my collection.

ORANGE RHUBARB BREAD
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup orange juice
1 & 1/2 cups chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans. In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in orange peel and vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg; add to creamed mixture alternately with orange juice. Fold in rhubarb and almonds. Transfer batter to prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out

Oven Pancakes

OVEN PANCAKES
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
6 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
dash salt

Preheat oven at 400 degrees. Blend all ingredients in the blender. Bake them for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden on top. Use a knife to pry them out. Yield: 24 muffins or a 9×13 baking pan.

Verdict: Cute in the muffin pan, but hard to remove. Will put in Pyrex 9x13 next time.

Buttermilk Syrup

I have not tried it yet, but this is the recipe I got from the Senior Brunch.

BUTTERMILK SYRUP
1 cube butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Bring the first three ingredients to a boil and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda. Stir and Serve.

Fruit Salad

We made this to take to mom's house for our Christmas Eve celebration.

FRUIT SALAD
15oz can pineapple chunks, drained (reserve juice)
2 cans (11oz) mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup pecans, choped
3 bananas, sliced
3 medium apples, chopped (unpeeled)
1/2 lb red seedless grapes or blueberries or strawberries, etc.

Place reserved pineapple juice in a small saucepan; add sugar, flour and beaten egg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth and thickened. Allow to cool. In a large bowl combine the fruit and pecans - pour cooled dressing over fruit mixture; toss gently. Chill before serving.

Davenport Day #2 & Ornaments

The next morning we decided to have breakfast in the Safari Room. Audrey ordered crepes, I ordered biscuits and gravy and John had pancakes. Large portions and very tasty. We checked out of the hotel later that morning and headed over to Old World Christmas ornaments to do our annual ornament shopping with grandma. Lunch was served at grandma's house afterward while I headed out to the church to play for a baptism.

Banana Berry Muffins

BANANA BERRY MUFFINS
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
3 overripe bananas
1/4 c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pint fresh berries (used Blackberries)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cream butter with sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Puree bananas, sour cream and vanilla. Add dry ingredients & banana mixture to the egg mixture - alternate. Mix well. Fold in berries (I crushed slightly so they incorporated with the batter more). Spoon into lined muffin tins and bake for about 25 minutes, or until brown. Makes about 15 muffins.

Note: Tasty and nice way to combine fresh fruit in season. But did get too moist the next day. Also making 15 muffins was an obnoxious recipe when you have a 12-count pan. Maybe try a mini loaf pan next time?

Cream Cheese Waffles

We tried a new recipe today - it's a keeper! Enjoy having breakfast for dinner - don't you? And the left overs reheated nicely the next morning.

CREAM CHEESE WAFFLES
1 & 3/4 cups flour
2 TB brown sugar
1 TB baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
3 oz cream cheese (room temp)
2 eggs (separated)
1 & 1/2 c. milk
2 TB vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese and 2 egg yolks together until smooth; stir in milk, vanilla and oil. Add dry ingredients and stir just until combined. It will be a little lumpy. Beat 2 egg whites until stiff peaks form and then fold them gently into the batter, leaving lots of fluffs of egg white (don't over mix). Cook in waffle iron.

Sugared Bacon

SUGARED BACON
1 lb. bacon
1 c. brown sugar
Water
1 tsp. cinnamon
Partially cook bacon - about half way. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and place partially cooked bacon on sheet. Mix 1 cup of brown sugar & 1 tsp. cinnamon with enough water to make it a paste. Using a pastry brush, cover bacon on both sides with the brown sugar paste. In a 350 oven, cook the bacon until completely cooked (about 10 minutes depending on thickness of bacon).

Cinnamon Bun Cake

CINNAMON BUN CAKE

Batter:
1 yellow cake mix
3/4 c. oil
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
8 oz. sour cream

Cinnamon Swirl:
1 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 c. chopped pecans

Icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. softened butter

With an electric mixer blend cake mix, oil, brown sugar, eggs and sour cream. Set aside. For the cinnamon swirl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans in a separate bowl. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan.

Pour half of the cake batter into the baking pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture. Pour the rest of the cake batter into the pan. Sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon nut mixture over the top of the batter. Run a knife through the mixture to swirl the cinnamon with the cake batter. Bake for 45 minutes.

Prepare icing: Blend sugar, milk, vanilla and butter well. Drizzle over the cake after removing from the oven, while still warm.

Pineapple Zucchini Bread

PINEAPPLE ZUCCHINI BREAD
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups shredded zucchini (squeezed dry in paper towel)
8 ounces crushed pineapple (drained well)
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped nuts

Beat the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until ight and fluffy. Stir in zucchini and pineapple. Combine dry ingredients and add to batter. Pour in nuts and raisins and stir. Pour batter into 2 well-greased loaf pans (or 4-5 mini loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (less time for mini loaves) or until firm. Cool in pan for 10 minutes.

Yummy!

This is what "M" and "A" had for breakfast. Can you tell whose eggs belong to who? And I'm not certain MY chocolate milk ever looks that good...