Enchanted Mama

Spinach, Carrots, and Kale...oh my::

There's been some juicing going on around here lately.

Pounds of carrots. Bunches of kale, chard and dandelion greens. Bushels of apples. Stalks of celery.  Cucumbers by the handfuls.  No vegetable was safe in our kitchen for about ten days.  

It just seemed the right thing to do after arriving home from my trip.  Time to let the body rest and recharge and gather up all the delicious vitamins and minerals.  

And, as glad as I was to eat something, as in chew something....I kinda miss the juice.  

So this morning you will find me gathering, washing and cutting up some delicious produce.  It makes me officially feel ready for the farmers market to begin now that I know what to do with all that kale.  

Do you juice?  Do you like it?  Do you have any great recipes you can share?  

 

Dinner::

Have I mentioned how grateful I am that the big daddy LOVES to cook?  

Well, I am.  Big time.  Because there are literally thirty things I would rather be doing than that.  So it works for our family.  

What I love most about this delish dinner he made, is that we ate one last night and the other? Well, it's for dinner another night.  

Don't you love that.  Two meals for one.  Now that's my kind of cooking.  

The recipe is here from the ever talented Barefoot Contessa.   

Let me know if you try it.  It's worth making. 

At least I can say that after just enjoying it immensely. 

 

For the love of ginger::

This weekend we welcomed a few friends over for dinner.  They are expecting a baby in a few months and we happen to have a few baby things to share.  So, it seemed the perfect opportunity to have them to dine and dessert with us.  

This Ginger Cake recipe was given to me by a friend long ago.  She made it for a baby blessing for my youngest boy.  It was delicious.  Nauseous as I was, the ginger in this cake was a life saver.  Since then we have had it a handful of times and every time I wonder why I don't make it more often.

I thought of you, my friends, and knew you would love it.  Remember the fresh whipped cream on top, it's so worth the extra time.  oh man.  

Hope you enjoy it!

 

Gingerbread and Ginger Cake ---

This recipe makes enough for our family of six to enjoy with a bit left for the next day. If you are expecting company, as I was this weekend, I would suggest you double the recipe.  

1/2 cup Butter

3/4 cup Sugar (add 4 more TBSP for ginger cake)

1 Egg

1/2 cup Molasses (sweet un-sulphured)

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup White All purpose Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 TBSP Ground Ginger

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

1 cup Boiling Water

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and lightly flour a 9 x 11 baking dish or the dish of your choice...I used a bundt pan.  Baking time may vary depending on the pan.  

Mix the butter and sugar until creamy. 

Add egg and molasses and mix well. 

Sift dry ingredients and mix with previous ingredients until well blended.  

Stir in boiling water, carefully, and then pour quickly into a baking dish.  

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

Serve with fresh whipped cream (Heavy Whipping Cream + A TBSP of sugar + eager children to use the hand whisk = yum!).  

Then, ENJOY!

 

Let's hear it for baked goods on a Monday morning...hip, hip, hooray!!!

 

So Easy::

That's what this recipe was supposed to be.  Easy.  

I tried.  I really did.

I didn't think it was possible to mess up---melt chocolate, pour, spread, etc.  

Yet, I did.  

With the three youngest children banging around the kitchen and the clock showing--late afternoon I should have seen that train coming from a mile away.

I didn't.  

It all started on twitter.  Mentions here and there about peppermint bark.  Small comments.  Others trying it.  

I had to have some-and-quick.  I would whip up a batch or two, or four, and give them as gifts and take them to see family and, and, and....

I pulled out the necessary pans.  The chocolate and peppermint. I loved the idea of this so much because we could use dark chocolate and the white chocolate without all the gross stuff.  Peppermint without the dyes and artificial flavoring.  These were going to be delicious.  

Then dodging two of the three children I filled the double boiler with chocolate and went to work.  I spread the melted chocolate on the pan and only when I had finished this did I remember that I was supposed to add the cream and peppermint extract to the dark chocolate.  

"Oh well, what's the difference?"  I thought.  

I proceeded to pour these items into the white chocolate and melt them together.  All was going well I assumed.  Until the white chocolate turned yellow.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to do that.  

More rambunctious children and now the littlest decided she wanted extra attention and I have a boiling mess of yellow chocolate fit for a laboratory.  

I pick up my girl poured the second batch of chocolate one-handed onto the cookie sheets.  Hoping for the best because really I had no other choice, and spread it out evenly-ish then dropped some peppermint on and shoved the whole thing into the fridge.  

I'll tell you that hot liquid chocolate may not be the best time to have the children bounding around the stove.  Nope.  It is not.  

Most of the time I have one to four children around whenever crafting or baking.  It just seems to work that way.  Unless they are in bed, they sense mama is up to something and they are magnetically drawn to me and whatever I'm doing.  Usually, I'm prepared for this.  This day, I was not.  

I tossed the dishes in the sink and sat down frustrated.  That was supposed to be easy.  Easy.  (The very word that I will now be on the lookout for---tricky trickster that it is).  No one else mentioned any difficulty.  Theirs came out perfectly.  And, delicious.      

An hour later we took a chance and tried some after dinner.  The surprise was that it tasted pretty good.  Almost edible.    The problem began two minutes later when it hit the air and it all turned gooey on top.  GOOEY.  That is no exaggeration.  

In fact, if you look at the above photo again I think you will see it.  

See?  

My family ate it of course.  We thought the "peppermint mess", as I have delightfully re-named it, could be stirred into some ice cream and wouldn't that be good?  If not a-bit-too-sweet.   

 

Note to Self::

*One might need to read the recipe, regardless of how easy it seems, at least the first time. 

*Working with Hot Liquid Chocolate may be better when the children are in school. Or the little one is napping.  Or it's not late afternoon when everyone here seems inherently grumpy.  Yeah, I'm talking to you mama.   

* Try this recipe again, because who knows, next time it might work.  

 

Any recipe mishaps for you this season? 

 

Soup Night::

If there's one thing I love about Fall it's the pots of soup set to simmer on the stove.  Smells that waft throughout the house.  Meals that can be prepared and set to warm all afternoon.  

The next best thing is friends over to huddle together around the fire with bowls of soup in our hands.

A few weeks back we decided to do just that.  Three basic soups were whipped up by the big daddy and this mama.  Different types of condiments and add ins made for some serious decisions to be made.  Custom soups abounded.  Laughs and fake elbow jabs were seen as the most precious items were bartered over.  Fun, I tell you.     

Delicious as well, if I can say so myself.  The real treat for us, to see so many head back for seconds.

note to self...Do this again, soon!   

 

Then, peach galettes for dessert.  I've spoken of them before...but really do we get tired of seeing them?  Ummm, I don't.  

Anything delectable cooking up in your kitchen?  

 

 

I Love Sundays::

...that's all I wanted to say.  

 

Baking Galettes::

A delicious recipe found from, the lovely Maya.  

The first time I made this recipe I had guests for dinner.  Yes, I did try a new recipe with dinner guests arriving within the hour.  No, it probably isn't something I recommend.  Though, this recipe turned out to be exactly as I wished...scrumptious.  

I believe you can fill yours with whatever is in season. Our first galettes were made with peaches and this time with apples.  Instead of seven dinner guests, this time it was thirty hungry, birthday celebrating, second graders.  

They approved.  

 

The Recipe is quite Simple and Delicious.  

No-Fail Dough ala MayaMade::

Makes 1 large galette or 8 minis (or in my case 40 mini-mini galettes, as I doubled the recipe)

2 Cups of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/2 teaspoons of Salt

1 Tablespoons of Sugar

12 Tablespoons of cold unsalted buttter, cut into small pieces

1/2 Cup of cold water as needed

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and then cut in the butter.  Add water as needed to form dough into a ball.  Roll dough into the size you want.  Lay on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spoon filling (instructions below) onto the center of the dough.  Drizzle a small amount of juices.  Fold edges of dough up around the fruit.  "Tucking it in" as Maya says.  Then you can paint an egg wash on the outside of the dough if you wish.  Sprinkle crust with sugar if you choose.  

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees until golden and bubbly.   

 

The filling you can tailor to your own wishes.  

The Apple Filling consisted of::

Apples 5-6 cored, peeled and sliced 

Butter, a Tablespoon or two in the pan to avoid sticking  

Brown sugar to taste

Cinnamon to taste, though we love it and always add more

A few tablespoons of water

I let them heat up slowly in the pan and let it simmer until the liquid had evaporated and the small amount of brown sugar caramelized.  Do this until they are soft and delicious.  Yes, you should try one to make sure.  

The peach filling was done in the same way, just less simmering time.  Maya even tried some gingered pears in hers.  That is one we plan to bake some time as well.  

 

All that's left to ask is, "What will you fill yours with?  And, when?!!??"  

 Let me know what you think.  

Happy Baking.   

 

 

Apple Cake::

As we roll into the season of colored leaves, wool mittens and warm lattes (although that particular season seems to be year round), apples are abundant at the farmers market.  

We carried home a big box this weekend, as I had plans for them.  Plans I tell you.  

The original plan started like this...the big daddy and my little guy were arriving home from their adventures and we would surprise and delight them with a warm meal and an apple ginger cake for dessert.

The plan was set into motion with only a slight rumble about the "ginger" part of the apple cake.  

Baking day came closer and my two older ones were "unsure" that ginger was necessary for the cake.  Wouldn't they like it better without the ginger?  Surely the cake would be easier to make without the ginger.  

 You can see where this is headed....

 

I, on the other hand, love ginger bread, cake, cookies you name it.  As it turned out though the apple ginger cake became an apple cake.  

It was still delicious.  The only glitch happened as the cake was not "done", as in it was soup in the middle, when we needed to leave for the airport.  

What was a mama to do?  

Well, I had two options.  One was to pull the whole soupy-center-mess out of the oven declare the outer edges cooked and wing it later.  Or, as this is the one I chose, I could turn off the oven leave the cake in it and hope for the best.  

It was a bit "too done" around the edges creating a hard sorta layer around the center.  Though it did make the center seem much more moist.  

What can I say it was edible, mostly.

 

Next time you can bet your pants I'm making the apple ginger cake.  

Next time I'm hoping that my children will say, "Oh mommy this is delicious, I can't believe we doubted you, you are amazing and we think you should always bake just what you think every time."  

Wishful thinking?  of course.  

I will try it anyway, just to see, because you never know...

 

Plus, I thought it would be lovely to start the week with a big hunk of cake to look at.  

Am I right?  

Happy Monday!

 

Apple Cake

Recipe from here.

2 cups of Sugar

1 cup of vegtable oil

3 eggs

3 cups of flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 medium apples, cored, peeled, and diced

1 cup of chopped nuts (optional) 

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Topping::

1 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/4 cup milk

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 9 x 13 baking dish. 

Mix sugar, oil, and eggs in a large bowl.  beat well.  

Add flour, baking soda, salt, apples, nuts, and vanilla and beat until combined throughly. 

Scrape batter into prepared dish.  Bake for one hour.  

For the topping boil together the brown sugar, butter, and milk for 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat.  

Remove cake from oven, and immediately poke the tines of a fork down through the cake (about fifteen jabs all around the cake), and pour topping over the hot cake.  Serve warm or let cool.  

Yields 8 to 12 servings.  

We used less sugar than was called for as I like the flavor of the apples instead.  The oil can be replaced by applesauce which makes the cake a bit denser but we have grown used to that.  For the flour we use all or half whole wheat when we make it.  Extra vanilla because we love that and several dashes of cinnamon for well, Fall.  

Plus, the topping is optional and quite delicious without it.  Next time I may make these into muffins as they are almost breakfast worthy.  

Enjoy! 

 

 

Summer love::

One of the things I love most about Summer is grilling and eating outside.

A favorite meal of ours is grilled fish with vegetables from the farmers market.  Or skewers with different combinations of meat, veggies and sometimes even pineapple.

Another love is the oh-so-delicious smoothies that cool you down in the afternoons.  This is our "recipe" I say loosely since for the most part we just throw in whatever we have.   

 

Simple Summer Smoothies, oh so simple...

Handful of Peaches

Some Strawberries

Extra Pineapple, if I have anything to say about it.  

Festive straws in the color of your choice. 

Berries on a skewer, any will do.  

Umbrellas, please.  I need extra as my three year old thought this was the main reason for the drink.  We, of course, don't use these all the time either.   

So here is a bit of what we love about summer!  

 

Any summer foods you are loving these days?  

 

Like the Sun::

We made playdoh yesterday.  I'm always amazed how fast it is to make.  The slowest part is finding the ingredients in the cupboard.  And, as an added bonus it's fun.

My three year old loved kneeding the warm dough right from the pan.  We added some plant pigment dyes for a "yellow like the sun" color he requested.

We added some lavender essential oil to make it all smell good.  

I've read about others adding cinnamon or all spice in the fall.  I'm all for that, as long as they don't think it smells good enough to eat.  You know what I mean? 

This is the Playdoh Recipe we used:

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of salt

2 tablespoons of cream of tartar

1 tablespoon of oil

1 cup of water

Combine first four ingredients in a pan on the stove.  Add water and stir.  Cook on medium heat, stirring the whole time, until it pulls away from the sides and forms a ball.  Then remove it from the heat and kneed it.  Add color and essential oil now.  

 

At this point I handed the playdoh over to my little one and he was off to create, for three hours!  Can you imagine that?  I still wonder if I dreamt it.  

The baby took her morning nap, my three year old served pizza, cookies, cakes, salad, all types of pasta and I knit.  Yes, I knit.  There were, I'm sure, soooo many things I needed to be doing but instead I knit.

Now, he liked to serve me food and my logic was that he wouldn't have done it for quite so long if I hadn't been present.  Convenient?  Yes, but I think we both needed that time outdoors today to enjoy the beautiful weather and have our hands in the dough or a pile of wool.  

Yup, I highly recommend it.  

 

***Check here with my delightful friend for a no-cook method.  I may try that next time...as there is always a need for fresh playdoh!***