Lookie What I got Forom My Apron Swap?

I got some yummy recipes and a recipe organizer, now who here can't use one of those? I sure need one...and a pretty apron so I won't slobber all over my clothes, and I love that it has big pockets, and she hand painted me a beautiful plate and shabby chic angel sign, and then 4 favorite family recipes, a cool 1989 recipe book, and a Chocolate lovers dream book to read....what a treat...

What to make Mom for Mother's Day?

Make your mom a special Mom's Day cake:

Teapot Birthday Cake
Prep time: 20 min.
Baking time: 50-60 min.
Decoration time: 45 min.
Difficulty: Challenging

What you'll need:
1 14-oz. bag M&M'S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies
2 16-oz. boxes pound cake mix
2 16-oz. cans vanilla frosting
Food coloring (yellow & orange)
1 12 x 12-inch piece blue poster board
1 lollipop
1 14-oz. bag M&M'S® Brand Peanut Chocolate Candies
2 one quart Pyrex bowls, greased and floured
Wire rack

What to do:

• Set 1/2 cup of M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies aside.
• Sort through remaining M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies, separating colors into small bowls, set aside for decorating teapot.
• Prepare cake mixes according to package directions.
• Fold reserved 1/2-cup of M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies into cake batter before transferring into prepared bowls.
• Bake in preheated 350-degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.
  Using the template below, cut a spout and handle from the blue poster board, and then set aside.

Prepare the frostings:

• Tint 3/4 cup of the vanilla frosting with green food coloring to the desired shade.
• Place in a resealable plastic bag, snip the corner, and set aside.
• Tint the remaining vanilla frosting yellow (with orange food coloring) and set aside.
• Trim the tops of the cakes so they are level.
• Place one cake layer—rounded side down—onto the cake platter, and spread it with the yellow frosting.
• Then place the remaining cake layer—rounded side up—on top to create your own teapot.
• Cover the cakes with the remaining yellow frosting, making it as smooth as possible.
• Sort the blue M&M’S® Brand Peanut Chocolate Candies, and then place them in one continuous line around the bottom of the cake.
• To make the lid, outline a 6-inch circle around the top of the cake with the green frosting, and fill it in.
• Outline the circle’s edge with a continuous line of blue M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies.Press a lollipop into the top of the lid.
• Decorate the sides of the teapot with flowers, made from pressing M&M’S® Brand Milk Chocolate Candies into the frosting.
• Pipe small green frosting leaves around the flowers.
• Using the tip of a paring knife, cut a slit into the opposite sides of the teapot, and slip in the handle and spout.

Makes 10 servings. Enjoy

Template: click to enlarge and print

Extended Through April Contest "All about Recipes"

Ok here is the extended through April "All About Recipes" contest. All you have to do is comment here and list 5 of your favorite recipes. then post 1 of those recipes on your blog, either written out or a link to it. Be sure to leave your link to your blog, or email so I can contact you. Anyone who has no links will be disqualified since I will not be able to locate you.

Everyone who comments will be entered in the contest, and comment as many times as you wish, as long as you follow the steps of 5 recipes an adding a post to like here on your blog.. All names will be a random draw out of a hat, so the more you comment the more chance you have to win...

That's it! Easy enough for you to win.

What does the winner get???? Well the winner will get a Hallmark recipe organizer book. It is It is an oldie but has never been used. It is a nice size, 10" x 8" and is 3 ring for easy adding and removing of pages. There are recipe pages to load all your favorites in, 6 tabbed dividers, self adhesive tabs, 6 pocket pages to hold more recipes and there are several pages on roasting hints, weights and measures chart, and much more! And on the first page is my famous Holiday Appitizer Quiche for any special occasion. All handwritten and ready to be made! Yummy!!!!

Happy Easter!

Good luck!
Deadline is April 30th at 12 midnight Pacific time.
Winners will be announced the 1st week of May.......

Miz Allie's Escape,Flowers, Homemade Soup, and Yum!!!

Now this is what Miz Allie Cat did to the hidden cat nip??? Well not too hidden, she found it and ate it all and got it all over the diningroom floor....grrrrrrrr

My flowers are blooming.....this is a beautiful Morning Glory one I shot.....DH got me a new tea pot to hold my tea. I seen it at Polly's Pies and loved it and he remembered and got it for me for my B day...Wasn't that great??

I was thinking of homemade soup and was watching Tyler and he gave 4 tips, sea salt, fresh cracked pepper, lemon juice sqeezed from a fresh lemon, and fresh herbs like oregeno....he claims that your soup will be spectactular....

Let's make a yummy dessert, I love Bread Pudding mainly because I love the cinnamon and hot dessert...here is an easy recipe to make some scrumptious pudding...

Bread Pudding Recipe

Bread pudding is a dessert that was born of necessity long ago. It was a recipe cooked up by thrifty homemakers to use every bit of leftovers in interesting ways to feed their families. This bread pudding, from an old Amish cookbook, is absolutely incredible.
It is definitely a comfort food, and can be made richer with cinnamon sauce or caramel sauce. You can also substitute berries in place of the raisins for a delicious change of pace. It is a fairly basic bread pudding recipe, but it is truly the soul satisfying treat that most people crave. Nothing beats warm bread pudding on a cold or rainy night.
What do people that love bread pudding also tend to reach for as a treat? Check out our Monkey Bread Recipe for a sweeter, cinnamon-laden delight, or Banana Pudding for a luscious, creamy southern favorite. If you're truly throwing those calorie counts out the window (and we all need to once in a while!), take a look at the cheesecake recipes that will have you convinced that each bite is a velvety, decadent morsel of pure joy.

Bread Pudding
Ingredients:
2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups soft bread, torn into small pieces

1/2 cup raisins or berries (optional)

Directions:
1. In medium saucepan, over medium heat, heat milk just until film forms over top. Combine butter and milk, stirring until butter is melted. Cool to lukewarm.
2. Combine sugar, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Slowly add milk mixture.
3. Place bread in a lightly greased 1 1/2 quart casserole.
4. Sprinkle with raisins or berries if desired. Pour batter on top of bread.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 to 50 minutes or until set.

Serve warm.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me!!! Its DABOOKLADY's

Birthday today!!!!

Recipe Nonsense

There are so many recipes out there that one is not sure what to make or what to believe as "good" or "best" in status to rating.... I do love Paula's southern cooking on TV, and Rachel Ray, but I really like my grandma's and Mom's recipe best. As I talked earlier in my blog about the recipe book I made for my family, it was filled with so many traditional family recipes, but I recently found a real treasure at a garage sale...yup...tons of older recipe books that were made from people's work. Yummy....so I got the best of both worlds, older tradional recipes aand family recipes....now what I liked even more was that the recipes came with a little "blip" of history about it....what a treat!!! Some recipe nonsense is what I call it...but an educational insight to some very unique recipes and history that only a true lover of baking and cooking can appreciate!!!

Two of my favorite ones are "Bella Vista in the Kitchen" I know its from a school and old, but there are no dates or where abouts of the school, but there is a wealth of recipe nonsense in this one and some wonderful family recipes.

Then there is my utmost favorite one, "Recipes from Wisconsin" [1984] this lovely little tresure has tons of Wisconsin history and facts, that I never knew along with some real treats in recipes... some of my favorites are below...

Now did you know,"Johnny cakes were originally called "journey cakes" because they could be easily carried on journeys, and taste as good at the end of the trip as at the beginning. Simple and nutrious, the recipe was also standard fare in the logging camps of N. Wisconsin. The lunmberjacks often ate them as individual cakes smothered with the locally produced syrup."

Johnny Cake [can store in freezer too]

1 c cornmeal

3/4 tsp salt

2/3 c sugar

1 1/2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 egg

2 to 3 tbsp melted lard

1 1 1/4 c sour milk

Sift all dry ingredients together

In a separate bowl beat egg, lard [melted] and sour milk,

Combine liquid and dry ingredients

Turn into a greased cast iron skillet

Or 9x9" baing pan

Sprinkle top of batter with a few extra tblsp sugar

Bake at 425' for 20 minutes

[to sour milk add 1 tsp of vinegar or 2 tsp of lemon juice]

One quick and easy, and filling treat that all kids and most adults will love is this one.

Rice with Maple Surple, I use Bosenberry

1 c uncooked rice white or brown

2 tsps margarine

2 c water

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 to 1/2 c syrup

Saute' rice in butter for several minutes until margarine is absorbed

add water and salt

bring to a boil

reduce heat

cover and cook until water is absorbed and rice is done

poor syrup over evenly

let it steep for several minutes

Toss lightly and serve

Yummy!!!!!

I love coffee cake and this one is delicious...

Almost every weekend morning growing up, my mom would make an apple coffee cake for me after church. Recently I pulled this recipe from the Boston Globe; they had it listed as an apple cake for the Jewish high holidays. It tastes almost exactly like the breakfast cake I had growing up, although we topped ours with brown sugar and butter, not white sugar with cinnamon. For a scratch cake, it is very easy to make. Although the recipe says to use an electric mixer, if your butter is truly at room temp, you can do this easily by hand.

Apple Coffee Cake

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter,

room temperature1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup whole milk

1 medium Cortland or other baking apple, peeled and sliced

1 Set the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with or pie pan a 4-cup capacity.
2 Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt.
3 In a bowl, combine 1/3 a cup of the sugar with the cinnamon, set aside.
4 In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Beat in the egg until blended. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk, beating until just combined.
5 Spread half the batter in the baking dish. Lay the apple slices on the batter so they just cover the batter (you may have to overlap some slices). Sprinkle the apples with half of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Spread the rest of the batter over the apples. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon-sugar on top.
6 Bake the cake for 25 minutes or until it is golden brown and apples start to bubble at the edges.

February Contest

Ok here is the February "All About Chocolate" contest. All you have to do is answer the 5 questions and post them in the comments page. Everyone who gets them right will get their name entered in the drawing. That's it! Easy enough for you to win.

The winner will get a cookbook called "Simple homemade Food Gifts" A great hardcover book all about gifts to make for any occasion with food! There are more than 365 ideas in this book!!

So make your guesses and post your answers here!!! And

Happy Valentine's Day!

Questions:

1. Where does Chocolate come from?
2. How many different types of chocolate are there?
3. Which chocolate is good for your heart and should be eaten daily?
4. How many "heart shaped" Valentine's boxes are sold on Valentine's day?
5. What percentage of pet owners give Valentine's to their pets?

Bonus Questions:

1. What Shakespeare's character receives love letters in Itay?

Ok everyone.... post your answers and get in the drawing. Good luck!

Deadline is February 29th at 12 midnight Pacific time.

Winners will be announced the 1st week of March.

Contest Winners

The Recipe Guessing Contest has ended and we have 3 winners,

1st place is Tara guessed exactly at 94

2nd place is Chris guess 89

3rd place is knottypurl guess 100

There were 94 recipes in the book!

This contest is closed but the next one begins...

Photos in my Gallery of my Home

Ok I promised I would post a photo in the gallery of my home so here it is... My kitchen hutch. I was lucky when we bought this house because it came with a built in hutch and this sold us on the house. I get to keep all my dishes in it.

And the bottom one is my china hutch. Where do you store your china and your everyday dishes?

Fish Blob Bowl Recipe

This guy needs a nose job????

The blobfish (Psychrolutes marcidus) is a fish that inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of Australia and Tasmania. Due to the inaccessibility of its habitat, it is rarely seen by humans.
Blobfish are found at depths where the pressure is several dozens of times higher than at sea level, which would likely make gas bladders inefficient. To remain buoyant, the flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming. The relative lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it primarily swallows edible matter that floats by in front it.


Not a Fish recipe specimen but wow check out those eyes????


The Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a strepsirrhine native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth with a long, thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate, and is characterized by its unique method of finding food; it taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts its elongated middle finger to pull the grubs out.
Daubentonia is the only genus in the family Daubentoniidae and infraorder Chiromyiformes. The Aye-aye is the only extant member of the genus (although it is currently an endangered species); a second species (Daubentonia robusta) was exterminated over the last few centuries.


Alright I am now going to get to a recipe.... How to make Fish Bowl Jello Called the "Blob"


Fishbowl Jello:

• Get a fishbowl (not used by fish and without fish)
• put in 1 box of jello mix and follow diections( should be blue)
• put in fridge for a little while
• drop in gummy fish
• put in another box of blue mix already mixed in another container (still liquid though)
• place back in fridge
• 1 can (11-oz.) fruit cocktail [optional]
• 2 gummy fish (or plastic fish) [optional]
• 1 plastic aquarium plant (optional)
• when ready you will have an edible bowl of fish :)

Variations:

• fish bowl
• blue jello mix
• Purple endive or fennel, leaves (and other edible things that will look good as foliage in a tank!)
• gummy fish
• 1 package jelly beans (or fruit cocktail)
• uncooked spaghetti (for placing items in jello)
• knox jello (clear)

1. Mix gelatin according to package directions. Use clear jello to dilute.
2. Place the jelly beans in the bowl.
3. When gelatin is cool, BUT NOT SET, pour it slowly into the Fish bowl. Be careful not to move the candies around, because the coloring may run.
4. Allow to cool for just a little while (you don't want stiff gelatin when trying to place fish and foliage in bowl).
5. When gelatin is just starting to set (ie: it's not watery... set just enough to hold something in place) add your "foliage" and fishies, placing them where you want them with strands of spaghetti (helpful when moving things around so your gelatin isn't destroyed he he).
   Refrigerate your fish bowl until you wish to serve it.

Fish Bowl Cake

Prep Time: 25 minTotal Time: 4 hr 55 minMakes: 12 servings

• 1 pkg. (12 oz.) pound cake, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup jelly beans
• 2 cups boiling water
• 2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Brand Berry Blue Flavor Gelatin
• 4 cups ice cubes
• 12 bite-size fish-shaped chewy fruit snacks

PLACE cake cubes in bottom of clean new 2-qt. plastic fish bowl; top with the jelly beans. Set aside. STIR boiling water into dry gelatin mixes in large bowl until completely dissolved. Add ice cubes; stir until gelatin begins to thicken. Remove any unmelted ice. Pour thickened gelatin into fish bowl. ARRANGE fruit snacks in gelatin to resemble fish swimming in a fish bowl. Refrigerate 4 hours or until gelatin is set. To serve, scoop out the gelatin and cake with a large spoon. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

ENJOY!!!

All About Parchment Paper? What is it? Why use It?

What is Parchment paper anyways? And why is it so widely praised? what do you use it for? And is it that great?

Well those are a few of my questions about the stuff....I decided to do a little research about it and see what all the fuss was about. So here is what I found;

• Parchment paper is a silicone coated paper that is used in more and more kitchens as the word gets passed along. It feels kind of like heavy tissue paper, but the biggest difference is that it can withstand heat and food products put on it and it will NOT stick!
• Parchment Paper comes in 16 3/8" x 12 3 1/16" or 16 3/8" x 24 3/8"sheets. The individual sheets make it easy to use and you always know when you are about to run out.
• 
  
  
  
  You can use it when baking just about anything. Use it when making cookies, in a roasting pan, a bread pan, or a casserole. You can use it to line your souffle dish or when you are pouring out fudge to cool down, or how about using it when making peanut brittle.
  
• 
  
  You'll be amazed and how simple clean-up will become

You will find that once you start using it you'll find more and more uses for it. Parchment paper kind of grows on you, if you know what I mean.

But there are some downfalls, like it's really important not to have any of it overhang a cookie sheet because it could catch fire in an oven. And you cannot use it in a toaster oven, broiler, or under halogen lights.

Some people feel waxed paper is just as good. However, beware....because you cannot line a cookie sheet with waxed paper- it will smoke you out of your house! Waxed paper is only good for using outside of the oven or in the oven with something that covers it completely, i.e. a cake. parchment is just more versatile.

Parchment allows you to bake on a sheet without greasing the pan....not only does it save calories and scouring the pan, but it makes a nicer cookie, bread or whatever you are baking. And the finished product is nicer as you don't have that greasy residue around the outside of the cookie.

Probably once you try Parchment you will consider it a kitchen necessity as many do.
A few tips;

• The unbleached (brown) parchment in the brown and green box is the best brand and you get a lot more in the box than with a lot of other brands.
• It's also a better size for cookie sheets than the white parchment that you find in the blue box.
• Parchment is reusable. If you bake something 'non' messy on it (breads, most cookies, etc), just shake off the crumbs and store away until you need to use it again.
• Around Christmas, just line your cookie sheets with parchment and leave it on them for the season unless it gets soiled with jam, melted chocolate, etc.
• You can also use parchment to line cake pans or loaf pans for quick breads.

It's an expensive alternative to waxed paper, but it's less sticky, so it's a good choice if you're making gooey items. Parchment paper can also be wrapped around foods to be cooked or formed into cones for cake decorating. Specialty cooking stores and larger supermarkets often carry rolls or sheets of it. Paper grocery bags are sometimes recommended as a substitute for parchment paper, but it's not advisable to use them. Grocery bags will ignite at 450 degrees, and that they may have been treated with unsafe chemicals. Substitutes: waxed paper (This is a lot cheaper, but it's more likely to stick to gooey baked goods. Try greasing the waxed paper before using.) OR rice paper (as a baking pan liner) OR aluminum foil (Works well for cooking en papillote. If greased, it also works well as a liner for baking pans.) OR lightly grease baking pan (This tends to encourage cookies to spread out on the baking sheet.) OR nonstick baking sheet OR plastic zip-lock bag (If you're piping icing on a cake, this works well as a substitute for a parchment cone. Just fill the plastic bag, cut a hole in a corner, and squeeze.)

So in a nutshell Parchment paper seems to me to be a great item to keep stocked in the kitchen and one that will save you a lot of time and clean-up and since I am not one to like doing dishes, this is a plus for me!!

And check out one of the best places to find all those cookie cutters!

The Recipe of me

The Recipe For DaBookLady

3 parts Vigor 2 parts Success 1 part Genius Splash of Poise Finish off with a little umbrella and straw

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

Come on and Post

New Recipe Contest

I have a reading contest and a crochet knitting contest on my other blogs so now I have decided to have a recipe contest. Who doesn't like contests? I know I love them. Look at the pictures of "My Christmas Cookbook" that I made a few years ago and be the closest guess to how many recipes are in the book without going over and you could be the winner. There will be 3 winners for this contest and the prizes are listed below... Leave me a comment on my blog by midnight (PST) on Wednesday, January 30th that includes the following:

1. 1. Your guess as to how many recipes are in the Christmas Recipe Book I made for my family and friends a few years ago.[hint, there are 6 sections and recipes are on both sides of the page]
2. 2. Your favorite recipe, with link to the recipe directions on your blog or where it can be found, so we can all have some new recipes to look at, because we love that!
3. 3. Your blog address, if you have one, because we love to look at those, too!
4. 4. Optional: Any kind of greeting you'd like to share, be it normal, informational, funny, poetry, strangeness or whatever.

I'll be giving out the 1st prize a Christmas Cookbook, along with my personal favorite "Holiday Quiche"recipe; 2nd prize will be a recipe related prize; 3rd prize will be a kitchen gaget- prizes for the following:

*Closest guess on how many recipes are in the book, without going over the quantity.
*My favorite comment that makes me think, laugh, or feel good or both.
*Random drawing.
That's 3 prizes! I will try to announce the winners by the end of the weekend, following the end of the contest.
So what are you waiting for? Get on in here and leave a comment with your guess, your favorite recipe and your sense of humor!!

Contest # 3 "Between the Bushes"

Be sure to check out the contest on DaBookLady's Book Swap Blog. Its called "Between the Bushes" and you might win an exciting prize!