Wordless Wednesday~

Curried Cauliflower Rice

I love a lot of the vegetable that lots of people don't.

I love cabbage and Brussel sprouts and artichokes and broccoli and turnips and spinach and I love cauliflower.

I do draw the line at beets and lima beans. I just can't eat 'em, but cauliflower. I LOVE.

Maybe my Mom instilled my love for it when I was younger. She would bread it and fry it and it would get all golden and crispy around the edges and the flavor was nothing like the taste of raw cauliflower. I need to make her cauliflower and share it with you guys, but for now I bring you this Curried Cauliflower Rice.




This beautiful one pot meal that looks as lovely as it tastes.

My friend Krysta posted this a few weeks ago.

The minute I saw it I knew I had to make it for my Dad. He's a cauliflower lover like me.



I am a wimp when it comes to heat, so I reduced the curry to just 2 teaspoons. After tasting it, I think I really could have put in the 4 teaspoons. There really wasn't heat, just great flavor. I also skipped the cilantro cause I'm one of "those" people who thinks it tastes like soap.

I also substituted jasmine rice for the basmati cause when I went to look for my basmati I then realized...I was out! So jasmine it was. Worked perfectly too!

One Pot Curried Cauliflower Rice
from Everyday Food and Evil Chef Mom
4 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large head cauliflower, cored and cut into 1 1/2 pieces
salt and pepper
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
2 cups of basmati rice
4 teaspoons curry powder
1 can (15.5 ounces) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 3/4 cups of low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium high. Add cauliflower and cook, stirring frequently, until browned in spots. This might need to be done in batches.

Transfer to a plate and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 teaspoons of oil and onions to pot; cook, stirring occasionally , until onion is translucent, 5 minutes. Add rice, curry powder, and chickpeas and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until rice is coated, about 2 minutes. Add broth and cream and bring to a boil. Scatter cauliflower over the top (do not stir to combine) Cover and bake until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with cilantro before serving.

Apple Molasses Cookies

These used to be my favorite cookies. I first posted them way back when this blog was just taking it's baby steps. They are great cookies, and I make them faithfully every Christmas cause they are one of those cookies that have become part of a food tradition in this house. They used to be my favorite.

Used to be. I think I have a new favorite now.

Hello Apple Molasses Cookies.

Hello spicy, sweet, just the right amount of chewiness cookies with an added bonus of diced apple in every bite. I adore these!

I adapted this recipe from one I found online at Tasty Kitchen from Coupon Clipping Cook. I changed it up from her original recipe. I omitted the pumpkin pie spice. I just didn't think it was right for this cookie. I also increased the amount of apple from 2 tablespoons to 1 small apple diced. I didn't think that 2 tablespoons was really going to be enough apple. I'm glad I increased the apple, cause my apple to dough ration was spot on. Just make sure to use a small apple and dice it finely.




Apple Molasses Cookies
makes 32 cookies
3/4 cup butter, at room temp (1 1/2 sticks)
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg, room temp
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 small apple, peeled and finely diced
granulated sugar for rolling

Oven to 375.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Add in the molasses and egg and mix until combined.

Sift together the  flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to to mixing bowl in small batches, about 1/3 cup at a time. Stir in the diced apple. Dough will be soft.  Chill for 20 - 30 minutes to make it easier to work with. Roll into 1 inch balls. I used my small cookie scoop. Place some granulated sugar in a bowl to roll the dough balls in. Place on a parchment lined pan and bake for 10 minutes. NO MORE, NO LESS! 10 minutes is the perfect amount of time for these cookies. Let them sit on the pan for 1 minute before removing them to a cooling rack.

Wordless Wednesday~

Right Now

Time: 7:41am

In my mug: honey and lemon tea.

In my ears: Colin Hay. Thanks to Jennifer for sharing him with me. (Yes that voice is familiar...think Men@Work. Who woulda thunk??? Love his voice.)

In my belly: just the tea. Waiting on John to get home from work so our vacation can begin.

On me: My "I'm in the Moooood for love" t-shirt. Picture two cows in love, in a row boat....hey it's a sleepin' shirt!

Last watched: Dexter. I am addicted.

By my bedside: Latest issues of Savuer & Bon Appetit. 

Under my nails: Paint. Been doing a lot of that lately.

Looking forward to: VACATION! read on:

October is my favorite month.

Not only because of all the obvious reasons (the fall leaves, the fall foods, the fall clothes, my anniversary, pumpkins, warm socks, cozy blankets, etc. I really could go on and on here). It's also my favorite month cause I always take vacation time. I rarely take a full week, but October is an exception.

So we're on vacation this week. We will be off to Boston with friends, we will be taking care of odds n' ends around the house, we will be celebrating my baby turning 15 and I will be cooking and baking, not only for Evan's birthday party, but with all the apples we picked this past weekend.

Get ready for some apple recipes.

Millie's Quick Dessert Cake

I have made this cake and posted it before. It was a long time ago.

This is my Gram’s cake. A cake she made all the time.

Its official title was Quick Dessert cake, but I changed that to Millie’s Quick Dessert cake.

My Gram is 87 years old. She has Alzheimer’s. She lives in an assisted living facility. She doesn’t know any of us anymore. Along with her mind, her body is growing weaker too. We recently had to get her a walker to keep her steady on her feet.

When I think of my Gram I remember her standing in her kitchen with her apron on, coffee pot brewing, and soup simmering on the stove. My Pa was always sitting at the head of the table, newspaper in hand. She’d bring over a plate or bowl of whatever she had cooking, and he would always say “thank you darlin’” and she would smile. She was always smiling, still is.

• She offered everyone who came in the house a cup of coffee, even if you didn’t drink coffee. She must have asked me a hundred times if I wanted a cup. “No Gram, I don’t drink coffee” and she always seems puzzled by my answer and would say “oh no”?
•  She also liked to offer ham sandwiches, which she pronounced “ham sangwiches”.
•  She always pronounced the letter H… “haitsh”.
•  She ate salad sandwiches (or sangwhiches). She'd take a breadstick, slice it down the middle and put salad in it and eat it.
•  She loved Little Debbie snacks and hard candies.
• She has naturally curly hair, just like me.

I know it almost sounds like she’s gone, and in a way she is. The Gram that I grew up with, who sewed almost all my clothes and even my wedding dress, just isn’t there anymore. The Gram who make ham and cheese pies and grapenut pudding doesn’t know who my mother is anymore, but if you bring her a piece of this cake she will still smile and when you tell her this was a cake she made all the time she’ll turn her head to the side and say “oh really, I did?” Yes you did.

So I know that when she’s gone I’ll still make this cake and think of her and all the little things that made her my Gram. Funny that some sugar, flour and butter can hold so many memories.

I love this cake not only for all the reasons listed above, but because it’s made with staples that you always have in the house and you can totally change it up by changing the fruit you add to it.

My favorite combination is this one of apples and blueberries. You can add any soft cooked or canned fruit that you like.

The fruit will sink into the cake like a cobbler as it bakes.



Millies Quick Dessert Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
1 ½ cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon almond extract
Fresh berries (when fresh berries are not available, I use fruit pie filling and it works great. In the fall and winter I often use Comstocks country apple pie filling with some frozen blueberries. This combo is really wonderful).

Preheat the oven to 350.In large bowl cream together butter & sugar. Beat the eggs in one at a time then add almond extract.

In a separate bowl mix the flour & baking powder and then combine into the wet mixture. Mix until smooth. Grease 13 x 9 pan. Spread batter into pan.

If using fresh berries just sprinkle them all over the top of the batter. They will start to sink into the cake as it bakes.

If using pie filling: Take pie filling and randomly drop it all over the top of the batter. (I use a little over half a can) When using fresh or frozen berries along with the pie filling, I kind of tuck the berries in between the filling so everyone gets a bite of your filling and the fruit.

Bake for 40- 45 minutes until golden brown, or until tests done. Cool, dust with powered sugar. Cut into squares to serve.

Before & Afters

I live in the oldest house on my street.

That was very apparent when I moved in almost 25 years ago. There were was a lot of updating going on back in the 80's.

Since then we've really almost transformed the house entirely.

Almost.

There was the breezeway* (see explanation here if you don't know what a breezeway is) that we never seemed to get to. It was always last on the list and seemed to get pushed back when another project came along.

Last month we finally decided to bite the bullet and re-model it. First we had to decide on a floor. It's a heavy traffic area that gets dirty and muddy and snowy, so we needed something that could stand up to the elements, yet be easy to clean. We chose tile.



I love the tile. It's easy to clean and looks so much better then my peel and stick tile that was peeling more than it was sticking lately.

So the floors in and now cause the floor looks so beautiful I need to re-vamp all the furniture in the room. Kinda like when you get new furniture then you look around the room and decide you need all new drapes or rugs. You know what I'm talkin' about ladies.

I had been searching out pieces at yard sales and estate store. I had an old deacons bench that I didn't want anymore. It held all my outdoor flags, no one really sat on it and I needed something smaller. I got lucky and found a sturdy wooden hamper at a Lion's Club Garage Sale for $5. This is what it looked like when I bought it:




This is what it looks like now:



Amazing what a little paint and a little distressing will do huh? This little beauty holds all my flags perfectly. Happy Mama.

Next up was the onion or vegetable bin. A piece I bought back in the early 80's. I really did use this for my onions and potatoes so I didn't want to replace it with something else, but it needed help.

We took off the doors and hinges. John sanded it. I painted it. I searched around for baskets to fit it and it went from this:



To this. A little bit of an improvement dontcha think?



So those are two of the pieces that we worked on. The big piece was the old nasty, green dry sink. It wasn't pretty but I saw potential in it. John and I totally transformed it into a piece I now love. That'll be coming up next!

Tomorrow the painting begins. I'm so very excited!