Blueberry Mini Loaf

Loving that spring is on the way! Even though last night in Virginia it snowed! Just a little bit, but I hope it did not kill the flowers that have already started to grow. I guess that means that I have to start doing yard work. Maybe this year my flowers will look better than they have in the past. Our soil is so full of rocks it is hard to plant things. However, the large rocks are good for boarders around the flower beds and mail box.

I can not wait for all the summer fruit to be here. The blueberries that I used in the mini loaves for a Goodies by the Pound order were very good, a little on the tart side but a sprinkle of sugar on top of the loaves added a nice crunch as well as some more sweetness.

We live near a country farm, called Great Country Farms located in Bluemont, Va, about 10-15 minutes from our house. They have pick your own fruit in the summer, pumpkins in the fall and cut your own Christmas trees. We try to go for blackberries and peaches. Nothing like going down a line of peach trees and finding the best ones to fill up your basket. And going down the rows of blackberries is fun, trying to see who gets the largest berry. I see peach cobbler, and blackberry pies in my future. How about blackberry cobbler and peach pies? The possibilities are endless!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Elizabeth

St. Patrick's Day dinner

Corned Beef and sauteed Cabbage for dinner on St. Patrick's Day.  I don't know why I wait until then to make this dinner, we all love it, and the Reuben sandwiches I had for lunch the next two days were so delicious. I will have to put this meal on our list of meals so we can have it more often!

Now, the Reuben sandwich.  I have loved them forever, I want to take my kids to a real New York Deli to have the best corned beef and pastrami. We did have a corned beef sandwich, mine with sauerkraut, when we were in New York last summer at the Statue of Liberty. It was good and my son shared mine, his did not have sauerkraut though. But it was not the New York Deli experience, with the garlicky pickles, the potato pancakes with sour cream, matzo ball soup, and all the things that my Jewish father, who grew up in Brooklyn, ate as a child and passed on to me and my sisters and brother.

I have to admit, when I made my Reuben with the leftovers, I did not have any rye bread in the house.  I made it with sourdough and it was very good. I also substituted muenster cheese, because I do not like swiss cheese. If you can't tell by now, I had not gone to the store yet, so when I ran out of the sourdough, I made my husband a Reuben, without sauerkraut, on challah bread. He loved it and so did my daughter.

I hope everyone had a good St. Patrick's day and happy first day of spring!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, another March 17th has come around again. My Irish Mother would be proud that everyone in my family, well, except for my husband, is wearing green today.

I am going to try my hand at Corned Beef and cabbage for dinner tonight. I read a post on Twitter,  written by @chefphilosopher, on a way to make corned beef tender and not dry. He said to not boil the beef but to let it simmer for 2-3 hours instead.  I will let you know how it turns out.  I see Ruben sandwiches in my future for lunch. YUM, and for that, my Jewish Father, would be proud!

I am also going to make sauteed cabbage instead of the traditional boiled cabbage. I cut  up the cabbage like you are going to make coleslaw, cut a medium onion the same way, and mince 1-2 cloves of garlic. I saute mine in olive oil and butter both, it's a holiday right?, you can have extra calories. (I will go to my Zumba class tonight to make up for it!) I cook mine until very tender and some of the pieces are starting to brown. This gives so much flavor, and don't forget lots of salt and pepper.

I will put up pictures tomorrow to let you know how our meal turns out.

Again, Happy St. Patrick's Day,

Elizabeth

Happy Spring

Please forgive me for not posting for a while. You Mom's know what it is like.  I got busy with other things after the holidays and my birthday and got lazy with my blog.

The pictures are of my daughters birthday party, which we just had this past Sunday. We had it at the King Pinz Bowling Alley, which just opened recently in our area. What a fun place to have a party.  Her actuall birthday is in December, but you know how hard it is to plan a birthday party in December. Everyone is so busy with their own holiday plans and we have our annual party in early December, you remember the pictures I put up of the party. So we usually delay her party so all her friends will be able to attend.

My daughter, Lexie wanted my dark chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I was so happy when one of the mom's asked me if the frosting was made of marshmallows because it was so light and fluffy! I told her that beating a long time in the mixer was the key. I beat the butter for about 3 minutes, then added the egg yolk and vanilla and beat for about 3 more minutes, then added the powdered sugar and beat for around 5 more minutes. I taste the frosting every few minutes to make sure the powdered sugar is completly incorporated. Then I fold in the melted chocolate and frost immediately.  Perfect, fluffy, yummy buttercream frosting!

I think with spring finally on the way, I will experiment with other flavors in the buttercream, and on different kinds of cakes. My family and neighbors will have to be the tasters. The things my family does for me!! I must admit that I am not good at decorating the cakes, I need help with that. Maybe I should jump on the cupcake bandwagon, they seem to be easier to decorate with the large tip in a swirl on top of the cupcake. If I could decorate every cake with the star tip I would be fine.  I tried to make flowers but all I got were blobs of frosting. I did have good luck with rolled fondant that I cut flowers with a cutter. I know so many people do cakes and only cakes so I am putting my efforts into everthing else. Pies, brownies, cookies, muffins and molded chocolates.

I also got an order this past Saturday, from one of the flyers that I put out before Halloween! I am glad someone kept one and thought to order from me!

I hope everyone is happy that winter if finally almost over and are looking forward to a beautiful spring.

Elizabeth