National LASAGNA Day

By Chef Diane

Its days like today that make me feel like Garfield!  I love Lasagna! Even though I have only made it once; I eat it almost every week, thanks to Stoffers.   When I made it, I made the sauce from scratch.  Had to boil the noodles, cook the meat separately, and then layer everything together.  Maybe that's why I never attempted it again.  These days you can use already made spaghetti sauce, the noodles don't have to be boiled, and a lot of time is saved.

I love lasagna, in fact, during my first rehearsal dinner for my wedding, that is what was served.  My mother always fixes what the birthday person requests for their birthday dinner, and one year I asked for lasagna, it was the best I ever had.  Stoffers is good, but can't compare to homemade.  Below is a recipe I found for you on allrecipes.com and it has a 5 star rating.  If you have a better, or favorite recipe, please share it with us on the comment section below.

Original recipe makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

• 1-pound sweet Italian sausage
• 3/4 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
• 2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 12 lasagna noodles
• 16 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch-baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

[Photos from Google]

The Candy Man Can

By Chef Diane

Who can take a sunrise

Sprinkle it with dew

Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two

The Candy Man

The Candy Man can

'cause he mixes it with love

and makes the world taste good

First of all I want to apologize to you.  June is National Candy Month, but I picked a terrible time to tell you since it's the next to the last day of the month.  That doesn't give you much time to indulge, so I guess you can say I was looking out for your health.

June is a great month for candy.  In recent years a popular item at wedding receptions is a candy bar, a table is set with all kinds of different candy, sometimes in the bride's wedding colors, and in various types of containers.  This is a big hit for children who are attending, and is also fun for grown ups too.  Normally a bag is provided for the guests to fill with their choice of candy and this serves as their "wedding favor" or gift for attending the wedding.   Since June is the most popular month for weddings, celebrating candy in June makes good sense too.

When my son was small we had pizza and movie night every Friday night.  Every Friday night he would always get the same movies, Peter Pan and Willie Wonka.  My favorite part of Willie Wonka was when all the kids were on the boat and they are floating down the chocolate river and they arrive in "Paradise".  The room where everything is edible and the kids are running around tasting everything.  It all looked so delicious.

I have dabbled a bit in making candy.  Mostly at Christmas time I will make fudge, divinity and pralines.  Pralines are a southern specialty, and I have a wonderful recipe for them that will simply melt in your mouth.  Since I was so late in telling you about Candy month, I thought I would share my secret Praline recipe with you.

So for the last days of Candy month, treat yourself to your favorite candy, or try your hand in making your own.

Pralines

Ingredients:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

5 Cups sugar

1 stick butter

2 tsp vanilla

1 pound pecan halves

Directions

Mix first 4 ingredients and cook on low in large pot.  I use my biggest soup pot.  Stir side to side until you can see the bottom of the pot when the spoon scrapes across.  This takes about 2 hours.  Add vanilla and pecans.  Cool pot in water and stir until thickens.  Drop on wax paper in large spoonfuls.  Let Cool.  Enjoy.

 (Photos from Google)

Chocolate Éclairs’ – Oh Yummy

By Chef Diane

I have a wonderful Uncle Jack, but he isn't really my uncle.  He is a friend of my father's, and has known him since before I was born, so I call him uncle.   Every time he came to visit, I would make him Chocolate Éclairs’.  He always made such a fuss over them, eat them all day long, and wouldn't share with anyone.  These days, the only time I fix them is when he comes for a visit.  I have given his wife the recipe a few times, but she still hasn't made any for him.  They should really complicated and exotic to make, but actually they are really quite easy.  In fact, last year when I went to his home, we made a batch together and they turned out great.

You don't need any special tools to make them yourself.  They may not look quite like the ones from the bakery, but they will taste heavenly all same.

The word comes from French éclair 'flash of lightning.'  They probably got that name because when you eat them, they will be gone in a flash!  The éclair probably originated in France during the nineteenth century. It is a popular type of cake served all over the world. The word is first attested both in English and in French in the 1860s.  In some parts of the United States, Long Johns are marketed under the name éclairs, though the two are not identical. A Long John uses donut pastry and is typically filled with vanilla pudding or custard, making it a simpler and inexpensive alternative to the éclair.   The French call the dough of these treats “choux,” which is carefully baked to allow for a hollow interior. Then cream, custard, or purée is piped into its center and it is topped off with fondant icing.

Today is National Chocolate Éclair Day.  Below is the recipe I have used for  years, and it never fails.  If you don't have time to bake your own, head to your nearest bakery and pick up some for dessert, or breakfast, or any time of the day.

Éclair’s:

Shell:

1 stick butter (real butter)

1 cup water

1 cup all purpose flour

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a medium saucepan bring water and butter to full boil. Remove from heat. Add flour and mix well and let cool slightly. Add eggs one at a time mixing well after each egg. Spoon mixture in the shape of a finger onto a cookie sheet. Remember they will double in size so keep that in mind as you spread them out. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 and bake another 45 minutes. Allow to cool.

Filling:

Some people like a cream type filling - I prefer pudding. Since it is a French dessert, I use French Vanilla instant pudding, but regular vanilla is just as good too. Mix according to directions and let sit in refrigerator while éclair shells are baking. When cooked, take the shell, cut a slit down the side with a sharp knife and spoon the pudding in.

Chocolate Glaze

2 1oz squares of unsweetened chocolate

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

Melt Chocolate and butter in saucepan over low heat, removed and stir in sugar and milk. Mix well until smooth and drizzle over éclairs immediately, it sets up pretty fast.

Time to eat you...

(Photos from Google) 

Chocolate – Ice Cream - Yummm

By Diane Forrest

A friend of mine is an ice cream fanatic.  We have spent several days talking about ice cream and the different flavors he likes, and the different places he has tried them.  He vacations in Mexico at a resort, and loves their homemade ice cream and will eat many bowls at a time while he is there.  I recently told him about my favorite brand of ice cream, and to my surprise he was able to find it where he lives. Even if it is a little more expensive than the store brands, he says the taste can't compare.

Chocolate Ice Cream is one of my all time favorite flavors, and as luck would have it, today is National Chocolate Ice Cream Day.  It has been really hot already so today is a great day to go out and have some chocolate ice cream.

According to punchbowl.com, culinary historians believe that the first ice cream flavors were fruit-based, but by the 18th century both vanilla and chocolate were quite common. Thomas Jefferson took a fancy to ice cream while living abroad during the 1780s. (He was the ambassador to France at the time.) It is likely that he is responsible for bringing this delicious frozen treat to America!  Today, the United States produces around 1.6 billion gallons of ice cream each year.

My city no longer has a place that serves hard ice creams, so I will either go to the store and buy some, or make my own.  Below is a recipe for Chocolate Ice Cream in a freezer.  It is a soft ice cream, like the frosties at Wendy's, so if you have the time, whip up a batch, and if you don’t, you can still grab a cone or a dish of your favorite brand.

Chocolate Ice Cream:

1/2 gallon chocolate milk

1 can sweated condensed milk

1 8-ounce carton of cool whip

Mix in a large bowl and place in your ice cream freezer. Follow directions to your freezer as directed.

This is a perfect treat for a warm summer night, or even a cold winter night! Enjoy!

(Images from Google) 

National Taffy Day

By Diane Forrest

Growing up in a small delta town, there wasn't a whole lot to do.  We didn't have malls or amusement parks, only 3 channels on the television set, and no Internet!  One thing I did have was books.  I would spend the day losing myself in other worlds.  One of my favorite books was the Nancy Drew Mysteries.  Not only did I like them for the mystery, but also the wonderful descriptions of all the meals and snacks Nancy ate.  In one particularly interesting story, Nancy and her friends Bess and George attended a taffy pull with other friends.  At that time I didn't know what taffy was, much less the purpose of pulling it.

Several years later my family moved to the capital state, and attended the State Fair.  It was there that I had my first taste of taffy.  It was sweet chewy and delicious.  I ended up buying a whole bag of it, and waiting for the next year's fair to come back so I could get more!

These days, I can no long eat taffy due to dental work it could wreck, but that didn't stop my son from bringing back a box of brightly colored flavored chewy taffy to tempt me with.  My mother also brought back a box from her trip to Tennessee and was surprised when I didn't even offer her a piece.

If you live in an area where taffy is not available, I have found a recipe here that you can use to make some at home.  You can spend a fun evening with your family experiencing an old-fashioned taffy pull, and hopefully leaving your fillings in tact during the process.  To check out the recipe, click here: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/recipe-taffy.html

(All images from Google) 

National Pretzel Day

By Chef Diane

The days before Christmas I can be found in my kitchen.   When I was growing up, the best part of Christmas was the treats my grandmother made.   My favorites were the fudge and snowball cookies that were kept in a foil lined metal tin.   As my grandmother got older, I began making the treats she couldn’t make anymore.  After she passed away I would make my favorite things, but then I thought that others in my family had their favorites too, and I wanted them to have great Christmas memories too, so I started fixing their favorites too.    Of course by the end of the holiday I wish that everyone had the same favorite!

One of my mother's favorites is chocolate covered pretzels, so every Christmas I fix her a batch.  I have learned that some others like them too, so this past Christmas, my mother's pretzels were eaten up by everyone.  So, I fixed her some just for her on Valentines, and other special occasions, such as Easter, Mother's Day and her birthday.  This past year my cousin's daughter made some chocolate cover pretzels using the rod pretzels that look like sticks.  I have seen them before, but have been wary of trying them thinking if the looked like sticks...maybe they were hard like sticks too.   Well I am happy to report they were delicious, and not hard at all! The bad news for her is now I will be expecting them every Christmas!!!

Today is National Pretzel Day.  Pretzels come in many shapes and sizes; they can also be crunchy or softly baked.  According to legend, in the late 1600s a Pennsylvania baker forgot a batch of pretzels in the oven. The over-baked treats were dark and hard, but the baker sampled one anyway. He was pleasantly surprised by the crunchy deliciousness. Hard pretzels are now one of the most popular snack foods.  According to punchbowl.com, centuries ago, Catholic monks created the first pretzels from scraps of leftover dough. The unique knot shape represented the Holy Trinity, but the significance of this symbol has evolved over the course of history. During the 17th century, pretzels symbolized the bond of marriage. This is where the phrase “tying the knot” originated.  It is also said that the pretzels were formed in the shape of a praying child.  If you are feeling adventurous today, click here to make your own soft pretzels.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Soft-Pretzels or you can just stop by the closest mall or grocery store and pick some up to enjoy.