Easter Food

Traditionally during Lent people gave up meat, sugar, dairy, eggs, and fat. When Easter rolled around people were able to use those ingredients for tasty, rich dishes.

Pascha is one of those dishes. It is a traditional Easter dish has everything "forbidden" in it (except meat), which is probably why it is called "Pascha" in the first place. It is a food that my husband's family has always had on the Easter table and wouldn't dream of omitting from the Paschal feast. They normally have it as a spread on Russian Kulich bread.

Pascha

1 whole egg
4 egg yolks
2 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 pounds ricotta cheese
1/2 pound sweet butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups golden raisins
1 cup blanched almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons grated orange rind

Beat the egg and the yolks until thick and lemon-colored.
Gradually add the sugar, and beat until the mixture is thick and
creamy.

Pour into a saucepan and add 1/2 cup of the cream.
Heat over medium-low heat, beating constantly, until the mixture begins
to thicken. Do not boil. Remove the pan from the heat and continue
beating until the mixture has cooled to lukewarm.

In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, butter, the other 1/2 cup of
cream and the vanilla. Cream until the mixture is smooth.

Add the egg mixture, then the fruits, almonds, and orange rind. Blend
thoroughly.

Chill overnight.

What Kind of Cake are You?

You Are a Chocolate Cake

Fun, comforting, and friendly. You are a true classic, and while you're not super cutting edge, you're high quality. People love your company - and have even been known to get addicted to you.

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Yum!

More Grocery Bargains

I was at Kroger this evening to pick up some pita bread. (I haven't been able to find pitas anywhere else, and I am just not up to trying to make them from scratch.) Since the pitas were near the produce I decided to see if there were any good deals to be had.

Were there ever. I was able to get more than seven pounds of organic bananas for 0.99 total. They were on the ripe side, but definitely not over ripe. That was a much better price than the non-organic bananas which were lime green.

Next, I noticed that all the berries were marked $2 a carton. (This may not be a good price where you live, but it is here.) When I inspected them, fully expecting them to be over ripe and slightly slimy, I saw some of the most beautiful berries outside of Whole Foods I have ever seen. I was able to get fresh blueberries, raspberries and blackberries for a great price. Normally I only look at the berries with longing, but today I was able to bring home a healthy treat for my family.

Just Checking In

I don't have anything in particular to post, but I wanted to let you know that I haven't totally forgotten about this blog.

In other news, since it was a pretty warm day today, I decided to make this recipe which I posted a while ago. My husband still liked it and I was even able to get my son to eat it. Also, I recently found this muffin recipe which looks both healthy and delicious. The only thing keeping me from making it is that it makes 18 muffins instead of 12. I don't know what I could do with the extra batter.

Happy Birthday!

On Sunday we celebrated my son's birthday. About a year ago I had seen on the Internet a ship cake and I thought I would try my hand at it. If you want to see it better you can click on the picture.

My husband made the cake and frosting and I "sculpted" and frosted it. All the guests were quite impressed. I thought it best not to mention that it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. Next time I will probably do better just because I will have more experience.

The ship was a chocolate cake with chocolate peanut butter frosting. Since we were having so many guests I also made a spice cake with cream cheese frosting. (I'll give the recipe in a future post. It was excellent!) It ended up being one of the situations where one cake wasn't enough but two cakes were way too much. We don't mind that!

Grocery Bargains

I had such an exciting time at the grocery store this evening that I just had to relate my experience. :) Yes, I am a nerd to get excited about saving money on groceries.

I hate what our grocery bill often looks like and usually check out all the grocery circulars each week to see if there are any deals that work for my family. Oftentimes there are not, since we don't buy processed foods very much.

This week however, Kroger is having some sort of pre-Super Bowl sale where if one buys eight select Kraft or Nabisco products there is a seven dollar discount at checkout. Normally, the names Kraft and Nabisco scream processed foods, and sure enough, most of the select items are highly processed. However, one of the select items was Philadelphia Cream Cheese. They also had in on sale for one dollar a package.

For one dollar I was able to buy eight (8!) packages of cream cheese. One may ask, what does one do with that much cream cheese? Well, I wondered that myself for a brief instant, but then I had an answer. I have a very yummy cheesecake recipe that I want to make before Lent begins which calls for five bars of it. I will still have three left, and I know I will use one of them for something or other. Even if I never end up using the other two before they go bad, I will still have saved more than if I had bought the five bars on their own.

While I was at the store I also looked for the apples that were on sale. Though I couldn't find them, I did notice a sale on grapefruits for 33¢ each. I bought six of them. They brought the total for my grocery bill to $3. Three dollars for fourteen items. Even my husband was happy. He said, "Boy, they must have lost money on us." I guess that is why they call them "Loss leaders".

200 Calories

A website that aptly labels itself the "Wise-geek" has put together a page of different foods and how much of each equals 200 calories. If the portion sizes in the pictures are accurate, it pains me to see that only 2/3 of a bagel qualifies, and yet two full glasses of Coca-cola meet that criteria. Give me a bagel any day over Coke. Blech!

I'm Back (for now)

Well, after a six month hiatus, I have returned. Although the main reason I haven't posted has been due to laziness, the other reason is that I just haven't made any meals lately that are both particularly good and interesting.

I have been thinking about changing the theme of the blog to something more general so I can blog about family life, but as I write this, I think I will just create a new blog which will allow me to do that.

What's for Dinner: Super Salad

I have a friend who calls a green salad with lots of toppings a "super salad." I thought I would take a page from her book and give that name to the dinner we had the other night.

As I said before, it is just too hot to cook. It is not unusual for the temperature in our home to rise 10 degrees if I am using both the stove and the oven. Given that our A/C is already working overtime and that I don't want heat radiating up at me as I stand over the stove, I prefer the no-cook, no-unnecessary-heat meals.

So here's what I put in this salad:

• Several leaves of green leaf lettuce (if one was measuring probably about six cups of shredded)
• Half a large cucumber, diced
• One large tomato, diced
• One stalk of celery, chopped
• One bell pepper, diced
• Two carrots, julienned
• Two hard boiled eggs, sliced
• Some dried basil sprinkled over it (fresh would work better)

Other potential toppings could be green onion, red onion, olives, croutons, artichoke, asparagus, avocado, tuna, shrimp, beans, cheese, some sort of fruit, or anything else that strikes one's fancy.

Each person put their salad dressing of choice on after they had dished up. I just used balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

My overall opinion on this was that it was worth all the chopping not to make the house any warmer. My husband said that it was "good but would have been better with cheddar cheese shredded on top."

Romaine Salad with Lime-Garlic Dressing

I found this salad recipe at Orangette. She always has excellent recipes there. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks so yummy! Romaine lettuce is my favorite for salads (although I do like a combination of lettuces, too) and the dressing sounds wonderful.

Summer Romaine Salad with Lime-Garlic Dressing

For dressing:
3 Tbs plus 1 tsp fresh lime juice
5 Tbs good-tasting olive oil
¼ tsp minced garlic
1/8 tsp fine sea salt

For salad:
Romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and cut with a chef’s knife into rough ½-inch strips
Cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Slivered red onion
Greek feta

First, make the dressing. In a small bowl or jar, combine the lime juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt. Whisk until emulsified, and set aside.

In a salad bowl, combine romaine, cherry tomatoes, and red onion in whatever proportions you like. Toss with dressing to taste, and top with plenty of feta. Serve.

Note: Dressing keeps, covered and chilled, for up to a week.

Beverage Update

Well, we tried the strawberry margaritas with gin instead of tequila and they were quite refreshing. We didn't have any fresh mint so we had to make do with dried. My only quibble with the recipe is that it says it makes 5 cups. That is only if one wrongly assumes that one cup of frozen watermelon is the same as one cup of blended watermelon.

We also tried this frappuccino recipe because it was the only one for which we had all the ingredients on hand. (We had to make chocolate sauce.) It was excellent! We made it a second time and it wasn't as good, probably because we added too much ice.

Watermelon-Mint Margaritas

Someone pointed me to this recipe on Southern Living. Although I haven't tried it yet, one of the things that makes it looks appealing is that it specifies that it can be made without alcohol. My husband doesn't care for tequila, but he will still be able to try this recipe. Another thing that looks great about it is that with the watermelon and fresh mint it has such wonderful summertime ingredients.

Watermelon-Mint Margarita Recipe

Prep: 10 min., Freeze: 4 hrs. Use leftover watermelon to make this slushy summer drink.

4 cups seeded and chopped watermelon
Fresh lime juice
Sugar
1/2 cup tequila*
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime rind
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
Garnish: fresh mint sprig

1. Place watermelon in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze 4 hours or until firm.

2. Coat rims of cocktail glasses with lime juice; dip in sugar.

3. Process frozen watermelon, tequila, and next 4 ingredients in a blender until slushy. Pour into glasses. Garnish, if desired.

*1/2 cup orange or apple juice may be substituted for tequila.

Yield: Makes 5 cups

Starbucks Frappuccinos

Although neither my husband or I are coffee drinkers, we both like an occasional frappuccino from Starbucks. Between the milk, sugar, and chocolate or caramel syrup, the coffee flavor is diminished enough to enjoy it.

Given, however, that these cost more than three dollars each it is a rare treat for us. The blogger at It's Just Money was also lamenting the cost. He linked to this nifty site where they have a basic frap recipe as well as several Starbucks recipes which can be downloaded as an ebook. Similar recipes can be found here.

The best imitation frap site looks like it can be found at GourmetSleuth.com. It has a large collection of imitation Starbucks recipes which include other drinks and sweets that either are or have been sold there. I am sure that with all these options, my husband will be happy running the blender to taste test some of them.

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

As I have mentioned before, my husband and I don't eat meat every day. This is for two reasons: 1) Meat is expensive but for the most part vegetables, beans, and pasta are not, and 2) I have a very strong family history of heart disease and my husband has also had some heart problems in his family, so we want to do what we can to counteract this.

Because our meals are often meatless, I am always on the lookout for good (and usable, which is hard in this household) vegetarian recipes. One great resource I have found is Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home. It was created by chefs at the famous vegetarian Moosewood Restaurant specifically for people cooking at home who don't have the time or the access to ingredients that a full-time chef would have.

I haven't used it as much as I would like because it is a library book. Every time I go to check it out again someone else has it. That is a good indication of how popular that book is.

Snobby Yet Ubiquitous

I guess a love for cheese and chocolate makes me a snob. Oh, well, that is the price I have to pay for enjoying the finer things of life. It's too bad the quiz didn't mention anything about wine, because that is something that goes well with all French food.

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous. People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

What Kind of Food Are You?

HT: Julie D.

What's For Dinner: Greek Wraps

When it is 99º for a week straight one really doesn't feel like cooking or eating a lot of hot, heavy food. It has always astounded me to have dinner at someone's house when it is over ninety and they serve something like soup or chicken pot pie. (One time the family didn't even have A/C!) Don't they realize that foods like that are perfect for winter because they warm us (and the house) up, and horrible for summer for precisely the same reason?

What makes this dish so perfect is that there is no cooking involved! All that is required is lots of chopping. And since it is vegetarian, that also makes it a lighter meal.

Greek Wraps

1 large cucumber, peeled and diced (between 1½ and 2 cups)
2 large tomatoes, diced (about 1½ cups)
1 bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup red onion
½ cup sliced or diced olives (any color)
1 can garbanzo or black beans, rinsed and drained
½ - 2/3 cup feta cheese (optional)
2 tablespoons balsalmic vinegar
1½ teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 tortillas or wraps, depending on size
6-8 leaves of lettuce

Mix all ingredients except tortillas and lettuce. Add mixture and lettuce to wrap. Fold up and enjoy.

My comments:

The original recipe called for garbanzo beans, but my husband doesn't care for them so I used black beans instead. Also, one could use pitas instead of wraps. I haven't tried this, but I bet that the mixture would be good with corn added as well.

The mixture would make a good salad as a side dish to some sort of grilled meat. In fact, when we ate the leftovers we were out of tortillas, so we just had the mixture as salad for lunch.

Nifty Crockpot Blog

I stumbled upon a site called Slow Cooker Recipes. Unfortunately, it looks like they don't update their blog very often, but hopefully when they do it will be good.

I love the idea of crockpots, but I have a couple objections to the majority of recipes available.

First, almost all the recipes I have seen call for large portions of meat, such as a roast, or a whole chicken. Both for financial and for health reasons, when we eat meat it normally is mixed with other food, such as a pasta dish, casserole or stir-fry. Rarely do we ever have large portions of meat, but that seems to be the norm if one uses the crock pot.

Secondly, many recipes call for convenience ingredients which are expensive and/or unhealthy, such as canned cream of mushroom soup or some sort of soup mix. Sometimes I can substitute a homemade version, but the point of having a crockpot is not to have to do a lot of cooking. Having to take the time to make one of the ingredients defeats the purpose of having a crockpot in the first place.

What's for Dinner: Kebabs

Last night we had kebabs for dinner. No, I have no idea what the difference between that and a shish kebab is.

The wonderful thing about kebabs is that they are so versatile. They can be all meat, all vegetables, all fruit, or a combination of these. Fruit kebabs, though, are usually a dessert food and not for dinner. I have heard of kebabs with shrimp, lamb, pork, even hot dogs. There are so many vegetables that can go on them, and even though I normally like veggies, they seem to taste even better grilled on a stick. The possibilities are endless: bell peppers; mushrooms; tomatoes; white, yellow or red onion; zucchini, potato; pineapple; garlic; mango; etc.

A great thing about these is that you can tailor make them for picky eaters. For example, last night someone didn't like mushrooms and someone else didn't care for red onion. All I had to do was leave those things off some of them and substitute another vegetable instead.

We could have marinated the beef a little longer, but it still turned out very well. The marinade was simply crushed garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar.

Mocha Brownies

I found this recipe on Recipe*zaar and decided to try it because it is something that I have done before (brownies) and something new (mocha flavored). It was rated extremely well, which was added incentive since sometimes one has to be cautious about unrated or low rated recipes.

These turned out to be very moist and while the mocha flavor was definitely there, it wasn't too strong either. Most people who tried them thought them to be very good.

Mocha Brownies with Coffee Frosting

½ cup shortening
½ cup butter
1 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
4 teaspoons instant coffee
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt

Frosting
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 ½ tablespoons milk
2-3 teaspoons instant coffee

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease a 13x9 inch pan.
2. Melt shortening and butter over low heat or in the microwave.
3. Remove from heat and add cocoa, blend well.
4. Add sugar and mix well.
5. Dissolve instant coffee in hot water and mix into creamed mixture.
6. Add eggs one at a time, beat well, by hand, after each addition.
7. Stir in vanilla, flour, and salt.
8. DO NOT OVER BEAT!
9. Bake 25-30 minutes.
10. Cool completely before frosting.
11. For frosting, cream butter and vanilla.
12. Add powdered sugar and mix in well on medium speed.
13. Dissolve instant coffee in milk and add to mixture.
14. Beat on high until light and fluffy.

Potluck Dessert

Tonight is the last night of classes before my husband gets his M.A. Tomorrow his professor is throwing a party at his place and has requested that we bring a dessert. Now, I love opportunities like this to try new and exciting recipes. My husband, on the other hand, hates me trying new things because he is afraid it might not turn out well, or worse, he might not like it.

So here I am, trying to comb the Internet and my cookbooks, trying to find something that is a) something he will like, b) something that has a good chance of turning out well and c) has chocolate in it, because, in case you haven't guessed, we have a propensity for it. I will post what I have decided on when I am done sleuthing.