Rice Krispies treats are one of those things I can't have around the house. If I have a pan of them at home, I'll end up eating just one, then another one, then just one more, and before you know it, half the pan is gone. So, I figured how to make just one serving at a time:
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Single-Serving Rice Krispies Treat
1/2 tsp butter
1/3 cup mini marshmallows
1/2 cup Rice Krispies
Grease spoon and microwave-safe bowl with butter. Leave remaining butter in bowl. Add marshmallows. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. If still lumpy, microwave additional 15 seconds. Stir in Rice Krispies. When cool enough to handle, mold into desired shape.
Makes two small or one large treat.
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Coffee and Chocolate
Concert weekend is over--those of you not in the Bay Area missed a FABULOUS Mozart Requiem performance! Now it's time to get back to regular life again.
For the post-concert reception, I experimented with coffee buttercream on chocolate cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves were from a boxed mix, but the icing was a success--M thought it tasted just like coffee ice cream. I topped each cupcake with a dark-chocolate-covered espresso bean.
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Coffee Buttercream
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 lb powdered sugar
2 1/2 tsp coffee syrup*
1 1/2 Tbsp water
Cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, syrup, and water. Blend until creamy.
*Coffee syrup: Dissolve 3 Tbsp espresso powder in 1 Tbsp boiling water. Stir until dissolved.
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For the post-concert reception, I experimented with coffee buttercream on chocolate cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves were from a boxed mix, but the icing was a success--M thought it tasted just like coffee ice cream. I topped each cupcake with a dark-chocolate-covered espresso bean.
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Coffee Buttercream
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 lb powdered sugar
2 1/2 tsp coffee syrup*
1 1/2 Tbsp water
Cream butter and shortening together. Add sugar, syrup, and water. Blend until creamy.
*Coffee syrup: Dissolve 3 Tbsp espresso powder in 1 Tbsp boiling water. Stir until dissolved.
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Saturday, January 24, 2009
New Year's Cakes
Current mental soundtrack: "Biggest Blame Fool" from Seussical
I don't do a lot of traditional stuff for Chinese New Year, but one thing I rarely miss is the chance to make Chinese New Year's cakes. Many years I manage to make dumplings for dinner, but I didn't get to the Asian supermarket last weekend, so we're going to have an American New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow (steak or roast), followed by Chinese New Year cake.
It's taken me a while to get the dessert recipe right, but I think I finally have it down. My mom always made one big one that had to be steamed for hours, but last year I figured out that it was much faster to make a bunch of small ones. Plus, that makes it easier to freeze the leftovers.
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2 pounds sweet rice flour
4 cups dark brown sugar
2 cups water
Lightly grease 8 custard cups (I use Pyrex ones) with shortening. Melt brown sugar in water over low heat until completely dissolved. Mix with rice flour, adding additional water as needed until dough is wet and sticky. Scoop into custard cups. Steam for 1.5 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool. Slice into thick slices, and pan-fry in oil until lightly browned. Serve hot. Leftover cakes can be tightly wrapped and frozen.
I don't do a lot of traditional stuff for Chinese New Year, but one thing I rarely miss is the chance to make Chinese New Year's cakes. Many years I manage to make dumplings for dinner, but I didn't get to the Asian supermarket last weekend, so we're going to have an American New Year's Eve dinner tomorrow (steak or roast), followed by Chinese New Year cake.
It's taken me a while to get the dessert recipe right, but I think I finally have it down. My mom always made one big one that had to be steamed for hours, but last year I figured out that it was much faster to make a bunch of small ones. Plus, that makes it easier to freeze the leftovers.
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2 pounds sweet rice flour
4 cups dark brown sugar
2 cups water
Lightly grease 8 custard cups (I use Pyrex ones) with shortening. Melt brown sugar in water over low heat until completely dissolved. Mix with rice flour, adding additional water as needed until dough is wet and sticky. Scoop into custard cups. Steam for 1.5 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool. Slice into thick slices, and pan-fry in oil until lightly browned. Serve hot. Leftover cakes can be tightly wrapped and frozen.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Turkey, Again
Current mental soundtrack: "Mack the Knife"
Tonight was the first of several turkey-based meals to come. (Last night was microwaved leftovers, which doesn't really count). I got this recipe from an online friend, and modified it to suit our tastes. It's become very popular in our household:
Turkey Pot Pie
2 cups diced cooked turkey
2 cans mixed vegetables [I like Vegall Original, because it has potatoes. You can also use frozen]
2 cans turkey gravy
1 can buttermilk biscuits [I usually buy two, because everyone wants extra biscuits]
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine turkey, vegetables, and gravy in a 2-quart casserole. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove biscuits from can and split each in half. Place biscuit halves on top of turkey mixture, and bake as directed on biscuit can. Serve with extra biscuits
Tonight was the first of several turkey-based meals to come. (Last night was microwaved leftovers, which doesn't really count). I got this recipe from an online friend, and modified it to suit our tastes. It's become very popular in our household:
Turkey Pot Pie
2 cups diced cooked turkey
2 cans mixed vegetables [I like Vegall Original, because it has potatoes. You can also use frozen]
2 cans turkey gravy
1 can buttermilk biscuits [I usually buy two, because everyone wants extra biscuits]
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine turkey, vegetables, and gravy in a 2-quart casserole. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes. Remove biscuits from can and split each in half. Place biscuit halves on top of turkey mixture, and bake as directed on biscuit can. Serve with extra biscuits
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
All is Quiet
On a normal Tuesday, I would be rushing home from work right now to start the afternoon chauffeur schedule. Instead, I'm still sitting here in the office, working away. (Okay, typing a blog entry, but this won't take too long.) B is away on an overnight field trip, so I don't have to pick her up at 2:50. On Tuesdays, the other mom drives the middle-school carpool, so M will be deposited on our doorstep around 3:45. (I hope he hasn't lost his house key yet!) And, since B is gone, there's no rushing to get dinner on the table by 4:30, since she won't be going to ballet class today.
Somehow, when planning this week's meals on Sunday, my brain registered the fact that our friend with celiac disease will be here, but did not make the connection that B would not be here to go to ballet class. (Normally, on ballet days, we are using the crock pot so that we can eat at 4:30). So, we are having a gluten-free crock pot meal today. I bought some wheat-free soy sauce, and am making those Korean-style ribs that everyone enjoyed last week:
I used the marinade recipe I found at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4793091, and modified it slightly for the crock pot (instead of the grill):
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed (I used a garlic press)
6 large green onions, chopped roughly
3 pounds short ribs
Combine all ingredients and marinate overnight (I just do it in the crockpot, and if some of the ribs aren't quite covered, I turn them over in the morning before starting the crockpot). Cook in crockpot on low for 8 hours. Serve with steamed rice.
Somehow, when planning this week's meals on Sunday, my brain registered the fact that our friend with celiac disease will be here, but did not make the connection that B would not be here to go to ballet class. (Normally, on ballet days, we are using the crock pot so that we can eat at 4:30). So, we are having a gluten-free crock pot meal today. I bought some wheat-free soy sauce, and am making those Korean-style ribs that everyone enjoyed last week:
I used the marinade recipe I found at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4793091, and modified it slightly for the crock pot (instead of the grill):
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
8-10 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed (I used a garlic press)
6 large green onions, chopped roughly
3 pounds short ribs
Combine all ingredients and marinate overnight (I just do it in the crockpot, and if some of the ribs aren't quite covered, I turn them over in the morning before starting the crockpot). Cook in crockpot on low for 8 hours. Serve with steamed rice.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Changing Seasons
Summer is my favorite season. It's warm outside, the sun shines, and there are so many different kinds of seasonal fruit to choose from. Today, the calendar has caught up to what I've been thinking for the last week or so: summer is over. The leaves are falling in our yard, the heat is on in the mornings, and I've started cooking more cold-weather food. (Since we don't have air conditioning, I try not to use the oven in the summer.)
Last night we had one of our favorite casseroles, Broccoli Rice Casserole. DH and I first tasted this at Threadgill's Restaurant in Austin, Texas. In Austin, you can buy the casserole at the grocery store. Once we left Austin, we had to make it ourselves. I finally picked up a copy of the Threadgill's cookbook a few years ago, and cut the recipe down to manageable size (which is why there are weird amounts like 2/3 can of soup). I usually bake this in a 9x13 pan:
Threadgill's Broccoli And Rice Casserole
1.5 cups long grain rice [uncooked]
1 Tb butter
2/3 cup diced onion
2 heads broccoli, chopped medium-coarse (use flowerets and softer part of stalk)
1/3 cup cold water
2/3 lb Velveeta, cut in 3/4-inch cubes
1 can sliced water chestnuts
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
2/3 can cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
Cook rice and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, melt butter and sauté onion. Add water and broccoli to skillet. Cook over medium heat [covered], stirring occasionally until broccoli is slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in cheese, water chestnuts, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, and cooked rice. Place mixture in covered casserole dish and bake for about 25 minutes. Stir and bake 25 more minutes.
Adapted from Threadgill's: The Cookbook, by Eddie Wilson
Last night we had one of our favorite casseroles, Broccoli Rice Casserole. DH and I first tasted this at Threadgill's Restaurant in Austin, Texas. In Austin, you can buy the casserole at the grocery store. Once we left Austin, we had to make it ourselves. I finally picked up a copy of the Threadgill's cookbook a few years ago, and cut the recipe down to manageable size (which is why there are weird amounts like 2/3 can of soup). I usually bake this in a 9x13 pan:
Threadgill's Broccoli And Rice Casserole
1.5 cups long grain rice [uncooked]
1 Tb butter
2/3 cup diced onion
2 heads broccoli, chopped medium-coarse (use flowerets and softer part of stalk)
1/3 cup cold water
2/3 lb Velveeta, cut in 3/4-inch cubes
1 can sliced water chestnuts
6 oz mushrooms, sliced
2/3 can cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
Cook rice and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, melt butter and sauté onion. Add water and broccoli to skillet. Cook over medium heat [covered], stirring occasionally until broccoli is slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in cheese, water chestnuts, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, and cooked rice. Place mixture in covered casserole dish and bake for about 25 minutes. Stir and bake 25 more minutes.
Adapted from Threadgill's: The Cookbook, by Eddie Wilson
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Homework for the Parents
M and his classmates finally finished their state reports, and to celebrate, they are having a "state report buffet" right now. In other words, the parents had homework last night. When I dropped off M's dish at 11:15, I met two other moms coming out, who both commented on how this simply meant more work for mom. It seems to be that time of year--my friend Anna Banana made a VERY similar post yesterday.
At least we didn't have to spend much time researching recipes. M did his report on Texas, and since DH and I spent seven years in Austin, I have a bunch of recipes collected from various sources. M and I decided on "queso," which has a different meaning in Texas than it does in the rest of the US. I know it's the Spanish word for cheese, but in Tex-Mex style, it also refers to a hot cheese dip, served with tortilla chips. I suggested plain queso to M, but he wanted the sausage queso I sometimes make.
WARNING: Even reading the ingredients in this recipe may cause cardiovascular problems in susceptible people. :-)
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Sausage Queso
1 lb ground beef
1 lb bulk pork sausage
1 medium onion
1 can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 lbs Velveeta
8 oz cream cheese
Chop onion. Brown beef, sausage, and onion.
Melt Velveeta and cream cheese together (I use a crockpot).
Combine all ingredients.
Serve hot with tortilla chips.
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At least we didn't have to spend much time researching recipes. M did his report on Texas, and since DH and I spent seven years in Austin, I have a bunch of recipes collected from various sources. M and I decided on "queso," which has a different meaning in Texas than it does in the rest of the US. I know it's the Spanish word for cheese, but in Tex-Mex style, it also refers to a hot cheese dip, served with tortilla chips. I suggested plain queso to M, but he wanted the sausage queso I sometimes make.
WARNING: Even reading the ingredients in this recipe may cause cardiovascular problems in susceptible people. :-)
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Sausage Queso
1 lb ground beef
1 lb bulk pork sausage
1 medium onion
1 can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 lbs Velveeta
8 oz cream cheese
Chop onion. Brown beef, sausage, and onion.
Melt Velveeta and cream cheese together (I use a crockpot).
Combine all ingredients.
Serve hot with tortilla chips.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Daylight Savingzzz
It's now Wednesday, and I think I've finally gotten myself back in sync with the clock. Why are we still subjected to this every year? I find it hard to believe that it saves enough energy to be worth the trouble it cause. Of course, being a night owl, I do like the day in the fall when we "fall back."
It's been a busy week so far: fundraiser for Voci on Sunday, and a major project at work that was due today. I did find time to make dinner tonight: a vegetarian chili recipe I cobbled together from a couple of recipes I found online.
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Vegetarian Three-Bean Chili
1 Tb olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 15-oz can black beans, drained & rinsed*
1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained & rinsed*
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed*
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 c vegetable broth
1/2 c frozen corn
2 Tb chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Saute onions in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in other ingredients. Mix well and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
*To substitute dried beans, use 3/4 cup dried beans, soak overnight, and cook for 1.5-2 hours. Also add extra 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
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I first came up with this recipe for a party we had a few weeks ago, and it was very popular. I went with chili because we ended up with a huge number of guests (around 40), and I didn't want to spend a fortune on dinner. One vat of chili con carne, one smaller vat of vegetarian three-bean, and side dishes that other people brought. Three of the four members of my family like it, too, so it's a winner. (As any of you with kids know, it's next to impossible to please all four of us at the same time!)
The weather has been nice, and the California poppy seeds I sprinkled in the dirt a few weeks ago are starting to come up. I haven't had a lot of luck with starting things from seed in the past, but I figured that these are wildflowers that bloom next to highways, so how difficult could it be to grow them? We'll see how many of them make it :-)
It's been a busy week so far: fundraiser for Voci on Sunday, and a major project at work that was due today. I did find time to make dinner tonight: a vegetarian chili recipe I cobbled together from a couple of recipes I found online.
-----
Vegetarian Three-Bean Chili
1 Tb olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 15-oz can black beans, drained & rinsed*
1 15-oz can pinto beans, drained & rinsed*
1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed*
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 c vegetable broth
1/2 c frozen corn
2 Tb chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Saute onions in olive oil until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in other ingredients. Mix well and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
*To substitute dried beans, use 3/4 cup dried beans, soak overnight, and cook for 1.5-2 hours. Also add extra 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
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I first came up with this recipe for a party we had a few weeks ago, and it was very popular. I went with chili because we ended up with a huge number of guests (around 40), and I didn't want to spend a fortune on dinner. One vat of chili con carne, one smaller vat of vegetarian three-bean, and side dishes that other people brought. Three of the four members of my family like it, too, so it's a winner. (As any of you with kids know, it's next to impossible to please all four of us at the same time!)
The weather has been nice, and the California poppy seeds I sprinkled in the dirt a few weeks ago are starting to come up. I haven't had a lot of luck with starting things from seed in the past, but I figured that these are wildflowers that bloom next to highways, so how difficult could it be to grow them? We'll see how many of them make it :-)
Saturday, March 8, 2008
The Wonderful World Wide Web
Is there anything that you can't find out on the web yet? I'm always amazed by what is out there. This evening, I cooked Spanish Tortillas for the Voci fundraiser that I'm singing in tomorrow. I was assigned the recipe last week, but I didn't get a paper copy of the recipe from the person in charge. So, last Wednesday, links were sent around for suitable recipes. We are to prepare three to four dozen each, and it has to be served on a white, cream, or silver platter. I do not own any white or cream platters, but I do own some silver ones which are rarely used. So, after cooking a zillion tortillas, I went to look for the silver polish. And couldn't find it anywhere. So, off to the web, where I found the following:
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Line pan (or sink) with aluminum foil.
Put silver in, making sure each piece contacts the aluminum foil.
Add equal parts of baking soda and salt. (I dumped 4 heaping tablespoons of each into a kitchen sink with about an inch of water)
Add enough steaming hot water to cover.
Repeat if necessary for heavily tarnished pieces.
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In just a couple of minutes, the silver becomes noticeably less tarnished! Much easier than stinky silver polish (no elbow grease required). The water ends up smelling like sulfur, and the tarnish ends up stuck to the aluminum foil. According to various web sites, the reaction is even more dramatic if you boil the silver on the stove, but I didn't have a pan big enough to boil a platter! I currently have one of my favorite pairs of earrings soaking in a cup, and I can think of several more things to polish now.
In gardening news, I yanked up two more bucketfuls of weeds from the back yard, and bought a dwarf lime tree to put in a container. I've been meaning to buy a dwarf lime since moving to California six years ago, but somehow haven't gotten around to it until now. I did plan ahead and buy casters for the pot before filling it with dirt and tree, since we're going to have to wheel it indoors during the winter.
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Line pan (or sink) with aluminum foil.
Put silver in, making sure each piece contacts the aluminum foil.
Add equal parts of baking soda and salt. (I dumped 4 heaping tablespoons of each into a kitchen sink with about an inch of water)
Add enough steaming hot water to cover.
Repeat if necessary for heavily tarnished pieces.
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In just a couple of minutes, the silver becomes noticeably less tarnished! Much easier than stinky silver polish (no elbow grease required). The water ends up smelling like sulfur, and the tarnish ends up stuck to the aluminum foil. According to various web sites, the reaction is even more dramatic if you boil the silver on the stove, but I didn't have a pan big enough to boil a platter! I currently have one of my favorite pairs of earrings soaking in a cup, and I can think of several more things to polish now.
In gardening news, I yanked up two more bucketfuls of weeds from the back yard, and bought a dwarf lime tree to put in a container. I've been meaning to buy a dwarf lime since moving to California six years ago, but somehow haven't gotten around to it until now. I did plan ahead and buy casters for the pot before filling it with dirt and tree, since we're going to have to wheel it indoors during the winter.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Hornswogglers and Snozzwangers
My new MacBook arrived today! A 13-inch black 2.4 GHz machine. I've been happily using a a 12-inch PowerBook for the last couple of years, but it's reached an age where the latest software won't install on it, and there wasn't enough space on the hard drive for everything I wanted. My boss wanted me to upgrade a while ago, but I was really hoping that a new 12-inch model would be announced. Instead, Apple chose to unveil the MacBook Air, which is a really pretty machine, but without enough guts for me. The hard drive wouldn't have been any bigger than the old one, and the lack of a CD/DVD drive would annoy me. So, we ordered a 13-inch MacBook, since my personal definition of a laptop requires that I be able to lift it with one hand from the coffee table :-) .
Apple makes it as easy as it could possibly be to upgrade. First, I backed up everything onto an external hard drive (not a required step, but since DH's last two machine "upgrades" have eaten various files belonging to me, I thought it would be a good idea). Next, I turned on the new computer, which walked me through the steps to connect it to the old laptop. Then, I had lunch and read a magazine for a while while the Migration Assistant copied everything over to the new computer. Desktop pictures, applications, all my files. My only complaint about Migration Assistant is the countdown. I expect a bit of inaccuracy, and it doesn't bother me when it takes a while at the beginning to decide if this is going to be a six-hour job or a one-hour job, but when the "less than a minute remaining" stays on my screen for 30 minutes, I find it to be really annoying.
This afternoon I played for the school musical again. The Oompa Loompas did their blocking for the first Oompa Loompa song, and the golden-ticket winners and their parents blocked their boat trip in the chocolate factory. Last night I finally got around to watching the DVD we'd bought of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original, with Gene Wilder). I'd forgotten a lot of the details--I can't remember how long it's been since I last saw it.
Tonight's dinner was an experiment, and it turned out quite well. I'm always looking for quick meals that can go in the crockpot, and I decided this week that I wanted chicken pot pie for dinner. After a little web surfing for ideas, I invented this recipe:
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Chicken Crockpot Pie
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
2–3 chicken breasts
1 stalk celery
1 family-size can cream of chicken soup
1 lb. frozen mixed vegetables
1 can large buttermilk biscuits
Peel and dice potatoes and onion. Dice celery and chicken. Put in crockpot with cream of chicken soup and 2/3 can water. Stir. Cook on low until chicken is completely cooked.
1–2 hours before serving, add frozen vegetables and stir.
15 minutes before serving, flatten biscuits to fit tops of bowls. Bake according to package directions until browned (approximately 10 minutes).
Ladle chicken mixture into bowls. Top each with browned biscuit.
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Apple makes it as easy as it could possibly be to upgrade. First, I backed up everything onto an external hard drive (not a required step, but since DH's last two machine "upgrades" have eaten various files belonging to me, I thought it would be a good idea). Next, I turned on the new computer, which walked me through the steps to connect it to the old laptop. Then, I had lunch and read a magazine for a while while the Migration Assistant copied everything over to the new computer. Desktop pictures, applications, all my files. My only complaint about Migration Assistant is the countdown. I expect a bit of inaccuracy, and it doesn't bother me when it takes a while at the beginning to decide if this is going to be a six-hour job or a one-hour job, but when the "less than a minute remaining" stays on my screen for 30 minutes, I find it to be really annoying.
This afternoon I played for the school musical again. The Oompa Loompas did their blocking for the first Oompa Loompa song, and the golden-ticket winners and their parents blocked their boat trip in the chocolate factory. Last night I finally got around to watching the DVD we'd bought of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original, with Gene Wilder). I'd forgotten a lot of the details--I can't remember how long it's been since I last saw it.
Tonight's dinner was an experiment, and it turned out quite well. I'm always looking for quick meals that can go in the crockpot, and I decided this week that I wanted chicken pot pie for dinner. After a little web surfing for ideas, I invented this recipe:
-----
Chicken Crockpot Pie
2 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
2–3 chicken breasts
1 stalk celery
1 family-size can cream of chicken soup
1 lb. frozen mixed vegetables
1 can large buttermilk biscuits
Peel and dice potatoes and onion. Dice celery and chicken. Put in crockpot with cream of chicken soup and 2/3 can water. Stir. Cook on low until chicken is completely cooked.
1–2 hours before serving, add frozen vegetables and stir.
15 minutes before serving, flatten biscuits to fit tops of bowls. Bake according to package directions until browned (approximately 10 minutes).
Ladle chicken mixture into bowls. Top each with browned biscuit.
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