Ferguson Farmers' Market Pie Contest

What fun! For the first time, I entered a pie contest! I've always enjoyed making pies and consider my crust somewhat wonderful, and today we are putting it to the test! The Ferguson, MO Farmers' Market is sponsoring this pie extravaganza today. So, last nite there was some very serious pie making going on at my house!

My two entries were a Dried Cherry Apple Struessel and a Buttermilk Cherry. Of course, you can't just make one . . . the family had to be able to sample! At the time, I didn't realize that you could enter more than one pie, so my dad and my son, Michael, and his wife, Angela, came by last night to pick a "winner" to submit this morning. Hands-down, the Dried Cherry Apple Struessel won.

As you can see, I had a mix of apples and took a quick pic before hitting the oven.

And here are the completed beauties!

So this morning, bright and early (VERY early for getting up on a Saturday) I loaded both pies in the car and delivered them to the Market. Mine were the very first there, and we had to wait until after 11 for the announcement. so I saw quite a bit of the Market.

This is a shot of the typical booths at the Market - and all kinds of people enjoying themselves:

And here's the table of pies! There were 24 entries, total - I didn't envy the judges!

And speaking of judges, here they are - including the Mayor of Ferguson. While judging, we all got our hopes up when one judge was overheard to say my Dried Cherry Apple was "almost perfect."


It was a shame, but the Buttermilk Cherry's crust soaked up some of the liquid from the filling and lost its crispy-ness overnight.

Pictures of the pie slices are the "sample pies" and are not as thick with filling as the real deals are . . . Unfortunately, when all was said and done, neither one of my pies won a prize. The cheering section - Michael, Angela, and my high school friend, Mike, felt "robbed" and it is probably attributable only the the overwhelming number of pie samples and the fact that mine were sampled very early in the process. Needless to say, it broke my heart, but we will try again.

As Angela pointed out - I have an entire year to "practice" and they will be happy to come and help judge the effort! hehehehe

Let Them Eat Bread!!

Ok - here it is!! My brand new birthday bread machine! I have wanted one of these (lusted after one) for quite a while and my brother and sister-in-law gave me this for my birthday! I'm thrilled to say the least.

I bought several varieties of bread, then had a drawer full of it when I got the machine, so had to finally give in and make French toast for beakfast as an excuse to use the machine! It is wonderful.

I just put the stuff in, and in 3 hours, out came this lovely loaf of potato bread. It smelled wonderful while it rose and baked, filling the house with terriffic aromas - just what we need on a cold winter's day!

I will definitely be making more soon!

Test of My Cooking Skills

This is one beautiful cake! The recipe sounded so good! So, I figured, why not give it a try? Have wanted to try a chiffon cake for years. They were all the "rage" in the 40's and 50's, but seems there's never been a mix for them. So, after hemming and hawing for a few days, finally bit the bullet this morning and got to work.

Had to zest there oranges (honeybell tangelos), then juice them (neat trick if the only piece of cooking equipment you don't own is a juicer). Then, separate six eggs - wait, make that seven, and throw away a yolk. After that, while they were getting to room temperature, had to dig to the far back corner of the pantry and find the box of cake flour that's been there since I moved in five years ago. Pray the weevils haven't discovered it. Thank your lucky stars and yourself for remembering to have it sealed in a plastic bag. Sift the darned stuff with the antique flour sifter from my aunt. Ever heard of castor sugar? I have, but never had any, so made my own, which required digging out the food processor and grinding regular sugar for about a minute.

Whew!

Then, drag out the hand mixer, beat the dry ingredients, add the wet and mix till smooth. Ok. Then haul out the Kitchenaid stand mixer and beat the egg whites. Fold whites into batter. Well - get yourself a REALLY big bowl first! At this point, every mixing bowl, measuring cup, mixer (stand and hand), several little bowls, a plate, and measuring spoons are dirty. Basically everything in the kitchen.

But, I managed to fold it together, put it in the pan and bake it until it was absolutely beautifully done and smelled heavenly. Ok - invert the pan on a bottle. Wait - thought it'd fit on a booze bottle, but that was too big. Ran to the fridge and grabbed a small necked wine bottle. Phone rings - don't even bother trying to answer!! Have to invert the cake or it might fall!!! Panic set in, but managed to invert it on the wine bottle (memo to self - buy some old-fashioned bottles of soda). As you can see - somehow even managed to get it out of the pan in one whole piece!

Looked naked somehow, so whipped up some powdered sugar icing and put some orange extract in it. So now, comes the test . . . the tasting. Anybody interested???

Hope it was worth it!

Next - the new bread machine!!!

Fall's a Time for . . . . Pumpkin Cupcakes!

There's a nip in the air, leaves are covering the ground, the clocks have just been set back an hour, and kids are excited about Halloween.

Years ago, my mom concocted the recipe for these wonderfully moist pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Granted, in our family, things like cookies, cakes, and cupcakes are merely vehicles for cream cheese icing . . . . but these are superb. (In the same vein, many vegetables are simply vehicles for cheese sauce.) You notice the traditional blob of orange icing in the middle? Mom made too much frosting and in an attempt to finish it off, added the little dollop on top. Now they don't taste right without that!

And how do I know it's the correct time? It has to be . . . . I made this batch last nite, my niece made a batch yesterday, and my sister-in-law (bless her heart) is making THREE batches tonite . . . one for the family's Halloween chili dinner, and two for my brother to take to the office. And, if my guess is right, my other niece has made some recently, too. You'd think the world would be awash in all these pumpkin cupcakes, but believe me, they seem small and don't really go all that far. But there are a few, lucky people outside the family who actually get to have some!

Physics 101

Time for another blond moment. Tonite I barbecued pork cutlets. I had two bottles of barbecue sauce in the fridge so dumped one into the other. Of course, lots still clung to the inside of the emptied bottle, so, being the good "waste not, want not" kinda person I am, I put the lid on and up-ended the bottle on the counter to drain it all into the neck so I could then get the rest out and put it in the first bottle. So the bottle sat there while I cooked outside, and when I came in, the sauce was in the neck. Lucky me!

When I went to take off the lid and drain it into the other bottle, the air inside the drained bottle had warmed and expanded. This created a backlash of air that popped out when I lifted the lid . . . . causing the contents to explode all over me! I had red sauce in my hair, all down the front of my shirt - it was disgusting.

If I'd been thinking, though, I would have staggered out the front door and collapsed on the front lawn. With that much red sauce on me, I would have looked like a murder victim!

At least it didn't end up on the ceiling, walls and doors like the salsa did a year or so ago . . . just all over me!

Coffee Cake Success!!

The Christmas Tree Coffee Cake came out absolutely beautiful this year! Every year my mother made this when we were growing up - from a recipe probably going back to my great grandmother. It hasn't changed too much since then, either! Anyway, it is a sweet egg dough made like cinnamon rolls, but shaped like a Christmas tree. This year, it raised like mad, turned a beautiful golden brown, and tasted wonderful! Can you believe 6 people ate pretty much the entire thing?? My son came by in the afternoon and took away the remaining 3 or 4 small pieces.

Even tho we were short a few bodies this year, it was a nice Christmas. The presents still seemed to fill up the living room, but for a change everybody got to sit on a seat instead of some on the floor. I even managed a nap for about 45 minutes, which meant I missed most of a good movie! Still, it was wonderful to spend time with my family and enjoy the day.

I hope everyone's Christmas was peaceful, happy, healthy, and just as wonderful as it could be. Also, have a wonderful 2006! Happy New Year!

Visions of Sugarplums . . .

I've been busy the last few days making goodies with absolutely NO idea what to do with them. So, tonite, I selected a few to take into the office tomorrow! There are spritz cookies in red (looks orange in the pictures?) and green, cornmeal wreaths with corn flakes on top, my traditional Greek kourabiethes, pecan tartlets, and a new entry, Oreo Balls, plus our family's very own traditional English toffee.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, gets what they want - and that soon we all will know what "Peace on Earth" really means!

"God bless us, every one!" ~ Charles Dickens

Fantastic Fried Fritter Fisaco!!!

The truth can now be told . . . due to a mistake (a typo, perhaps?) I messed up a batch of corn fritters. The first time I tried to turn one it exloded, sending an arc of hot oil into my face! "Thank goodness I was wearing my glasses," is all I have to say. That's what happens when you get all nostalgic about mom's home cooking and things you haven't had in years. Even the stuff you turned your nose up at as a child sounds good. Sigh.

My son came to my rescue with a can of Solarcaine Aloe spray, and I sat with ice on it for what seemed like hours. After a painful night, and a VERY embarrassing day at the new office, things are improving - somewhat. Now I'm just covered with spots that look pretty awful. Everybody at the new office was very nice - and nobody would even ask what had happened. I even had my response at the ready - "bar fight!" And I never even got to use it!

The Family Recipes

I've spent the last few weeks gathering, typing and assembling some of the recipes we grew up with in our family. Traditional stuff like the Christmas Tree coffee cake and decorated Valentine cookies my mom made every year, and the cookies and goodies my grandmother made. Mom also carried over some of the main dishes of her family, added some from my dad's family, and added in a few she discovered along the way.

My best friend, Julie, called Friday night, and we got talking about those recipes. I mentioned one for a cherry dumpling, which is a slightly sweet fluffy dumpling cooked in slightly thickened cherries with juice, served hot. Mainly I mentioned it because I ran across one for a caramel dumpling made much the same way, but cooked in bubbling homemade caramel sauce. Something made her pause - she sort of remembered something like that from when she was little living in Iowa. She then mentioned her grandmother making a bread with All Bran cereal, just kind of shaking the stuff in until it looked and felt right - and the fact that somehow they were alone in the house one day when her grandma made a loaf. They promptly sat down and ate the entire thing!

These recipes have turned up in books of poetry, scrawled on tiny slips of often written in faded pencil. They can be as obtuse as just a list of ingredients, or have notes like "add enough flour to make a roll type dough." Many appear to be variations on one particular recipe, and that one may actually be from as far back as one of my great grandmothers. They cooked on woodburning stoves - I even remember the one in my grandmother's Michigan kitchen! She'd have the thing going in the mornings to warm up the house and it was always a welcome treat first thing in the morning.

"Aunt Elsie" - absolutely no relation, but never called anything else - lived across the street and cooked on a wood stove even into the early 1960s. I imagine she didn't even have recipes - just threw in what she knew was right. And her sugar cookies and molasses cookies were the absolute best. Recently, on a visit with her daughter, I was gifted with a wonderful inheritance - Aunt Elsie's cookie cutters.

All of this has made me wonder . . . where are the true cooks of today? Somebody who takes the time to make brownies from scratch because they simply taste better (and different from everybody else's that seem to come from box mixes). It seems that cooking was something they just naturally did - and they always made time to do it right. Some of the old fantastic concoctions these women made!

It galvanized me into action today! I had to have some of the true, old fashioned sugar cookies. So I made a recipe that seems to come from way back - perhaps a friend of my grandmother's who passed it on to my mom, who then passed it to me. I've since passed it along to my son and my brother's kids. Basically it is a wonderful recipe we use for the Valentine cookies, but I omitted the fancy icing.

There's just something about the comfort foods we had as kids - it brings us all together somehow. Oh, how I wish some of the people from my youth were still around cooking those wonderful things again!

It's All WENDY's FAULT!!!

She started the whole darned thing!!! That niece of mine with the totally innocent looking shoes and yarn blog that has a link to the left.

Yes, I am caught in the fiendish grip of TSO, otherwise known as Tuna Salad Obsession!! I fixed it last night for my lunch today. It was wonderful! I had been looking forward to it since the day before when I finished off the Nathan's hotdogs I forced myself to buy (everybody in NY swears they're the best and I managed to finish off the pack before they turned rancid - typically I hate hotdogs and refuse to eat them).

My lunch today was great!! It tasted so yummy I wanted more. When I got home and contemplated fixing something for dinner, it called to me from inside the refrigerator! So - I listened! Fixed a sandwich for dinner. Was also GREAT! So I had another! (Good thing I got a HUGE can of tuna!) That was it. Only enough left for one more sandwich - for lunch Thursday . . . but wait, that still leaves Friday . . . what to do???

I did the only thing you can do when caught in the clutches of TSO - I promptly went out and got three more cans of tuna!!!

I've emailed Wendy (she was out with the knitting group tonite) and blamed her unmercifully for this because she talks about it constantly - and told her to make it stop - please make it go away!!! Eventually, I will have to get over the craving for tuna. It's after 11 p.m., and already I am considering a quick trip into the fridge for a "quickie" of tuna salad on crackers - to be eaten in bed, of course! hehehehehe

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, it's that time of the year again, when family gathers to carry on Grandma Field's tradition of Valentine's Day cookies! This year was especially nice, since I didn't actually have to bake the cookies - just help decorate them. Wendy and Kelly baked them, Grace made frosting, and Grandpa Gil got to watch little Lindsay while the girls decorated.

We had a great time, as usual, trying to figure out 144 clever sayings, making sure nobody's name was left off, and then ferrying the cookies to the rest of the family who (even though they'd never admit it) would be devestated if the cookies didn't show up this time of the year!

I hope you and your family and loved ones have a wonderful day this year! I am hoping true love will find me soon and maybe next year I'll be spending it with someone very special!

Christmas Deemed "GREAT SUCCESS"

Christmas was deemed a big success from the beginning at breakfast of my traditional family Christmas Tree Coffee Cakes to the leftover turkey sandwiches at the end of the day.




Seems we opened presents forever! Everybody was very pleased with everything, and we all had a wonderful time. I learned to play Eucher (a card game) from my niece, nephew and his wife - although I didn't quite get the hang of it and am sure I'll need more practice!

Even though I made it through the day without falling asleep on the couch, the kids still managed to snag my digital camera and take some very fuzzy photos!

Camera Banditos Look Like This:



The new baby got a ton of things and seemed very pleased with it all - just check out her "smile" below!!!



Has been a wonderful Christmas for all of us!

Happy Holidays!

For some reason (could it be love??), I have been filled with the Christmas Spirit this year!!! I've actually bought all my gifts in the stores instead of online. I've been making toffee for a couple weeks already and am finishing it up this weekend by making some as gifts, filling a couple more orders, and some to send off to friends. There's about 10 different kinds of cookies I want to fix (although I'll probably only get to one or two), and the family traditional Christmas Tree Coffee Cakes are ready for Christmas morning breakfast. I'm full of glee, since I got one big gift I can't wait to give, and have already gotten the gift I truly wanted. The only thing I haven't gotten around to is Christmas cards . . . but all the goofy ones I like were hiding this year!

Needless to say, my house is now stuffed to the brim with great baking and candy smells, the tree is lit and glittering, and packages are wrapped and under the tree. Below is a picture of my cute little bowl filled up with the Famous Field Family Christmas Toffee.



I hope everybody has a wonderful holiday!!!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Things here were nice. I had a couple days off work, managed to get some stuff done, and had a nice visit with my girlfriend, Julie, from Houston. I completed painting and finishing the kitchen cabinets and am now eagerly awaiting their installation. Thursday's dinner couldn't possibly be beat - Grace did an outstanding job, as always! It was so good, in fact, I had to take a snooze on the couch afterwards. While I innocently napped, the nieces snatched my digital camera and had oodles of fun taking pictures of very rude things!!! They got quite a giggle thinking what I'd find when I downloaded the pictures. Of course, I realized what had happened, saved the pictures and sent them to the girls in an email with the subject "I believe these belong to you..." The pictures can be seen on Wendy's blog - www.shoesandyarn.blogspot.com.

Friday night, Julie's dad took us to Collinsville, IL, for a great fish dinner at the VFW hall. Julie's brother, Brad, and his daughter, Kayla, were on hand as well. Was a very nice evening. On the way back from dinner, Julie's dad needed to stop at Walmart, so he went to find his stuff, we went to find mine - with a specific meeting place for when we were finished. Well - we made it back first, and no dad. So, we went looking for him. When we gave that up and started back to the front of the store, there was an announcement stating "Will Julie Ann and Susie please come to the front of the store? Their "daddy" is waiting for them." He really got a kick out of doing that!! It's been a very long time since I've been paged at a store!!

Julie came home with me that night, tried out the new bed in the "guest room," and we talked most of the night and the next day. Michael and Angela (of the cabinets fame) came by and we went for St. Louis-style pizza and toasted ravioli with Julie that evening. Unfortunately, she had to get back to Illinois, so was only able to stay the one day. Needless to say, by Sunday I was fairly well done and mainly rested the whole day away.

But after all that, it was great to get back to work today. Only a few minor calamities - the soda machine quit working right after it had been filled, the coffee service came to install a new machine on the 4th floor for us, I ran out of access badges so there are about eight people roaming around trying to get in, one of the guys' chairs disappeared, we need four laptop computers we don't have, and the bosses want to have us all for dinner together tomorrow night - is it possible for me to arrange that in about an hour and a half??? Otherwise, was a totally boring day! hehehe

I hope your holidays was filled with the blessing of great food, the company of great friends, the joy of life, and that your Monday made you feel as necessary as mine did!

Science 101

I know that the burning question on everybody’s mind is this: Just how far can you spread two tablespoons of chunky garden pepper salsa? You don’t have to wonder any more – after extensive not-so-scientific research this evening, I can tell you – you can successfully coat the interior of an 8 foot cube. Not only does this stuff cling to horizontal surfaces, but vertical ones, as well!! Doesn’t matter if the surface is vinyl flooring, glass (such as found on microwave doors and windows in the wall), painted wood (such as a basement door), varnished wood (like the cabinet doors), tile (as found on kitchen walls), cotton fabric (such as my shirt), nylon fibers (such as are found in my throw rug), enamel (like the stove), and there may even still be some still clinging on the ceiling (not to mention the ceiling fan).

Yes, my friends, I beseech you – NEVER, EVER shake a jar of salsa unless you make darned sure the lid is screwed on tightly!!! Just remember - I did this for all of YOU - so you won't have to!