In the Kitchen

The photo-of-the-month project is complete. I deleted 100's of photos. Looking at all the food from restaurants or my own kitchen, got me in the mood to try some new recipes.

My new Chosen Niece Sue invited a few people over for lunch, and what a lunch. She made a good old country dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, and hot biscuits. Niece Terri brought a beautiful German Chocolate Cake, and we had a feast. And I'm kicking myself because I forgot to take photos of my beautiful plate.

A You-Tube recipe from my favorite vlogger caught my attention, Coffee-Spice Cookies, and I mentioned it at lunch. Joey said that she had just found some coffee frosting in a can at Walmart. So I said that I was going to make those cookies and drizzle them with frosting. She gave me her can, as my Walmart is small and very limited. 

I should call these Linda Cookies, as Friend Linda loves-loves-loves coffee. You can find the recipe on Kevin's vlog or use my condensed recipe. Here's his Link.  He said it came from a 1950's Betty Crocker cookbook. And here's my version.

COFFEE-SPICE COOKIES

3-1/2 cups SIFTED flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup butter, softened

2 eggs, room temperature

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup cold coffee

1 can Pillsbury coffee frosting (optional) 

Gently whisk together flour, soda, salt, and spices; set aside. 

Mix butter, eggs, and brown sugar in bowl of stand mixer. Cream 5 minutes. 

Stir in coffee with a spoon. 

Fold in flour, a little at a time. 

Chill the dough for one hour. 

Preheat oven to 400°. 

On a parchment lined baking sheet, drop rounded teaspoons of dough. 

Bake 8-10 minutes, or until there’s no impression when lightly touched with a finger. 

If desired, frost cooled cookies, or whip frosting and drizzle cookies in a back and forth pattern.

Note: They're really good with the frosting, but if you plan to store them, it will make them too soggy. 

Wasting food is a problem when you live alone, so I'm making a real effort to use whatever I have instead of getting excited about a new recipe and buying new ingredients. I had a can of salmon, so I decided to make salmon patties. My usual is salmon patties, mashed potatoes, peas, some sort of salad, but being in a cooking mood, I got carried away and tried some new recipes. 

A new salmon patty recipe (I don't usually use a recipe for these) called for panko bread crumbs (I usually use crackers), Parmesan cheese, lime juice, and green onions. The problem came when I tried to flip the patties and they stuck to the skillet because of the Parmesan. Maybe I was supposed to use the green can kind instead of the shredded from the deli case. I'll just stick to my old toss-them-together method, but I will use green onions if I have them instead of the yellow onions I usually chop and add. I might use the lime juice also, if I happen to have one in the fridge.

Instead of mashed potatoes, I made a new recipe which I really like - Lemon Rice.

LEMON RICE

2 cups chicken broth

1 cups uncooked rice

1 Tbs butter

1 tsp salt

Zest of one lemon

2 Tbs lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a pot with a lid. 

Bring to a boil without the lid. 

Reduce heat, put on the lid, and simmer 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. 

Remove lid, turn off heat, and let pot set for 2-3 minutes. 

Fluff with a fork.

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Later I used the leftover Lemon Rice, added tuna, artichoke hearts, green onions, stuffed olives, and shredded carrot; moistened it with tartar sauce and put it on a bed of shredded lettuce for a salad lunch. I find that I tend to eat the lettuce if I shred it, but I don't if it's just a big leaf.

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I usually skip bread with a meal, but this recipe looked simple and quick, so I decided to try it. I think I saved it from the side of a Pillsbury Crescent Roll tube.

HERB CRESCENTS

1 8-oz tube refrigerated crescent roll dough

1 Tbs sour cream

1/2 tsp dried minced onion

1/2 tsp dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp ground sage

1/4 tsp celery salt 

Preheat the oven to 350°. 

Separate the dough into triangles. 

Mix the sour cream and seasonings; spread equally over the dough. It will seem there’s not enough filling, but spread it thinly and it will work. 

Roll up the dough, starting from the straight end, and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. 

Bake 10-12 minutes. 

I opened a jar of pickled beets, put them into a shallow dish with the juice, added some raw onion strings, covered the dish, and let them marinate overnight in the refrigerator. 

When I open a jar of pickled beets, I save the juice. I slice an English cucumber into the juice, and then I have tasty pink cucumber slices for my salad the next day. 

I also use a jar of pickle juice this way, or I put in some raw onion to give it a kick before using. The onion will keep several days in the juice in the fridge.

Next, I made Jan Folks Salad for my Salad book; only eight to go. Jan is my friend who was born and raised in Hawaii on the garden isle - Kauai. When she was in California, we worked together and became friends, so I was exposed to her Chinese, Japanese, Filipino family and friends and tried many new foods. In Hawaii, they wouldn't say Jan's Family; they would say Jan Folks. This is a salad they always served at get togethers, so naturally I think of it as Jan Folks Salad. It takes a little effort, but it's really good. Make it for your next luau.

JAN FOLKS SALAD

1 large package lemon Jello

2 cups boiling water

2 cups lemon-lime carbonated beverage

1 cup crushed pineapple, drain and save juice

1 cup mini-marshmallows

2 large bananas, sliced

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsps flour

1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice

1 egg, beaten

2 Tbs butter

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 

Dissolve the Jello in boiling water; add lemon-lime soft drink. Chill until syrupy. 

Fold in pineapple, marshmallows, bananas, and nuts. Chill until firm. 

Mix sugar and flour; stir in juice and egg. Cook over low heat until thick.

Remove from heat and add butter. Chill. 

Whip the cream and fold in the cooked mixture. 

Frost the salad and sprinkle with cheese.

My wreath is finished. Nothing to write home about, but wreath making is not on my list of skills. If I took a class in wreath making, I'd probably get a D.

I love the pillow tops from Temu. Cheap, zippers in the bottom so you only need one set of pillows, and most are machine washable.

How about that selfie?

The warm weather we had earlier tricked my bulbs, so they started peeking out to see if spring had arrived. The cold weather nipped their little noses, so who knows what I'll get when they finally bloom. We're predicted to have a few warm days this week, (yard work, yuck!), so they'll probably get excited and push up some more. I told them to go back to sleep, but they don't listen well.

Time to finish the laundry and get cracking in the yard.