...Pressed Down, Shaken Together and Running Over...

Blessings can be found in the most unexpected of places. 

My goal when I moved from the city was, initially at least, to live a simpler life.  I wanted a small house, sparse furnishings, a few chickens and a vegetable garden.  My sweet brother in law and a dear friend worked weekends to get my chicken house built so I could have those chickens by the time I moved in.  I had tilled my garden and planted the heirloom seeds and watched as they sprouted up.  I watched as my house took shape and all the little things I dreamed of were completed in that house.  I had a huge estate sale and liquidated 90% of my possessions in the big house and moved them all into storage to wait for the new house to be ready. Finally, on the first day of May, I moved in.  As soon as the moving truck arrived I realized the remaining 10% of my possessions were never going to fit in this house.  I ended up getting rid of half of the 10% to who ever would take it and I still had too much.  I felt like I was on a picnic on the shores of Galilee and no matter how much I gave away, more kept appearing.  How in the world did I ever get all this stuff???  Luckily I had a barn and I could stash it in until I figured out what I wanted to do with it (and, it's still there).

A week before I moved in my sister and her husband bought 2 little turkeys and 9 chicks to have in some family photos and I was so ready to get my own chickens. A week after I settled in, I went to the feed store and bought my chicks.  I had built them a brooder so they could live in that for a while until they were big enough to be in the coop.   I bought 15 female sex links because I didn't want a rooster (keep that in the back of your mind, we'll get to that later), just hens for eggs and they were so cute. I talked to them and cared for them and held them, feeling their warm little bodies in my hands, and watched as they grew.  Soon they were too big for the brooder and I moved them to the coop.  I built them miniature roosts so they would know to roost at night.  Talk about cute!!

Time ticked by and soon I had 2 rescue puppies, 2 free kittens, a rescue horse, then another horse.  I vaguely remember something about a simpler life way back there but I didn't know what had happened to that. I was in the middle of a busy, wonderful life and loving every bit of it.

My sisters chickens were disappearing one at a time every night until she only had 2 left. I talked her into giving them to me and for a day I had 17 chickens until one of the puppies ate one.  I still have those same 15 hens...and 1 rooster.  The people who sort those chicks by sex need a brush up course because that little boy slipped right past them.  It was a good thing though, I'm glad it happened.  I'm looking forward to babies this spring and more eggs and chicken for the freezer later.

Recently a friend of a friend had 6 turkeys she needed to relocate so I took them.  I warned them I would be slaughtering some of them and not to give them to me if that was going to be an issue.  Those turkeys arrived and they were the biggest things I'd ever seen. 

That brings me to my post title and my opening line. 
    Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and
    running over, shall men give into your bosom.  For with the same measure that ye mete withal
    it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38

Indeed I have been blessed.

No recipes this week but next week I have a great turkey sausage recipe to share! Ha ha ha!

Texas Simplicity

It's been 8 months since I moved from the city.  In the first few months I missed the conveniences of the city and the food....oh how I missed the food.  I think I missed being able to drive 5 minutes for Dairy Queen or 30 minutes into Dallas and have world class dining and here, it's 30 minutes to DQ and 2 hours to fine dining.  I knew if I wanted fancy food I better get busy cooking it because all I was getting out here was burgers, chicken fried steak, BBQ and hot links.  Now, all those things are delicious - if prepared properly - which, often, they were not.  It was easier for me to make my own everything than drive 15 miles to get it and it not be the way I liked it then fork over good money for a less than great meal, so I did. 

I made Chicken Fried Steak...

 

 

I made Pear Tatin with Caramel Sauce...

 

 

 

I even made Beef Bourguignon and homemade Hawaiian rolls...that was so good...

 

 

 

And some Pasta Carbonara...

 

 

 

I learned that I didn't need to drive 15 miles and spend $30 to get the foods I craved, I could make them at home and save my gas and cash for other things.  As time went on I didn't crave those things as much and I was happy to just have simple food and that's where I am now. Just satisfied with the delicious simplicity of an egg or a bowl of soup.  I have acclimated at last.  I think my favorite thing I made when I first settled in here was the Beef Bourguinon.  It was simplicity at its best and made me feel anchored to my new present. I bought ingredients from my tiny neighborhood grocery store and the wine was from a local vineyard.  I was supporting my community and giving myself the gift of extravagant, fancy food for a pittance of what I would have paid at a restaurant.  I have Julia Childs' famous recipe but, wow, it takes forever to make so I trimmed the steps back and made my own version.  I like it just as much and hope you will too.

 

Texas Beef Bourguinon





4 slices bacon
1 T additional bacon fat or olive oil
1 carrot, sliced
1 onion, halved and sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t fresh thyme or 1/2 t dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
2 lbs lean beef roast or steaks, cubed
2 T flour
1 bottle nice, red wine (I used a local wine from Los Pinos)
3 cups beef stock, low sodium if possible
1 T tomato paste
1 pkg frozen pearl onions, cooked in butter till slightly softened
1 lb mushrooms , sliced, cook with the pearl onions till soft
1/2 C frozen english peas


Preheat oven to 325.  In a dutch oven, cook bacon, remove and set aside. Add fat or olive oil to the fat from the bacon you just fried and add next 7 ingredients.  Cook on medium high until the onion and carrots just start to caramelize.  Add the cubed beef and cook till browned. Sprinkle the flour over the sautéed mixture and cook for 2 minutes.  Pour the wine and stock over the beef and vegetable mixture and stir in the tomato paste till dissolved.  Bring to boil, remove from heat to preheated oven and cook at 325 for 1 hour.  Heat up the onions and mushrooms right before the hour is up and when ready, remove the pot from the oven and stir in the onions and mushrooms. Return to oven and cook another 2 hours,  Remove from oven and stir in peas.  Let sit 10 minutes before serving.  Taste and adjust salt if needed.

From Excess to Economy

Since I last posted, MANY things have changed.  I moved away from the Dallas, Texas area and back to east Texas, where I am originally from and am homesteading now.  I still love fine dining and travel and home cooking, but I'm changing a few things in my life as a result of our changing times. With the cost of food and the questionable safety of commercially produced foods, I have embarked on a journey to return to a way of life where I have an active role in feeding myself and my immediate family with food I have raised and cared for and, at times, have processed as well.  There's no guarantee that there will be electricity, running water or food at our command so I needed to create a simpler, less needful life.

I felt wasteful and privileged and spoiled, accustomed to eating out often, living in a huge house and totally dependent on large corporation provided power.  We were 2 people living in a 4000 sq ft house and paying huge utility bills every month for 13 years. I woke up one day and realized I had to change my life and teach my son that wasn't how life should be.  I sold that monster of a house and bought land in the country and built a new house.  My goal in building this house was to be frugal and resourceful in the materials I chose and to buy American whenever possible.  If I needed something for the house and I couldn't find an American made source, I bought it used or made it myself.  I used local labor, bought from local vendors and tried to support my local economy (let me tell you, they do appreciate it!).  It took 4 months to build and aside from some builder and structural issues I'm having to deal with, the house is working out great. 

This is the new house (still under construction here).  It's 860 sq ft...yes, 860 sq ft.  I did the math, that's less than 1/4th of the other house. Everything about this house is cheaper.  Here's an example:

Expense                         Then                        Now
Insurance                       $2600/yr                 $900/yr
Electricity (summer)         600/mo x 4             60/mo x 4
Gas (winter)                      350/mo* x 4           80/mo* x 4
Water                                 150/mo                   60/mo
Taxes                               5200/yr                  2200/yr
TOTAL                           $13400.00/yr         $4380.00 yr

* Before, I had only gas heat and water heater, now I have that, and a gas range too.

I'm saving an average of $9,020.00 a year on these items alone. I saved the most money on utilities by positioning my house using permaculture guidelines, having concrete floors (keeps the house about 10 degrees cooler in the summer), a 23 SEER A/C and I have double foam insulation - it's like living in an Igloo cooler, the cool stays cool and the warm stays warm.  I still have Internet and satellite TV and those charges are about the same and my auto insurance stayed the same as well, dang it. I have some livestock that provide meat and eggs to my food supply and a garden is coming this spring.  I'll be solar one day, but for now, my electricity is from a local co-op, not ideal, but at least it's not  ONCOR.

I'm just more satisfied and secure, both financially and realistically, living this way.  As I learn and grow, I'll be blogging along the way about my journey from excess to economy and hopefully help others to do the same.   I believe it's time for a change in our lives. Stay tuned!!

Marcia Marcia Marcia Weidenfeller!

As I sit on my comfy sofa and look out my patio door, out onto my pool and garden, I can appreciate what a beautiful backyard I have.  At the same time, I think about how fortunate most of us are compared to the people who live in the northeast part of the country.  We have shelter, food, jobs, clean water and clean clothes while many of them do not.  I try to imagine how desolate they must feel and how anxious they are to get that all back up and running and to have some normalcy in their lives.  I mean, it was that way in parts of the DFW Metroplex like Arlington and Forney and other places last year, with the bad rash of tornadoes we had one day.  We can manipulate lots of facets in our lives but weather is not (normally) one of them.  When I see the pictures of the damage caused by natural disasters, I am heartbroken at the loss of property these people experience. 

Pair that with the upcoming election and me trying to sell my house and I'm going crazy.  I've been working with this couple that want to buy my house for 4 months and twice it's been the day before and the mortgage company stops it.  I have sold most of my furniture because it's cheaper to buy new furniture than to move it so I'm living in, essentially, an empty house except for beds and a sofa.  Still, I have an intact home that I can afford and it's nice and snug and comfortable.  The election...well, that's another story.

On to other subjects...

Before I was a pastry chef, I worked as a nurse in a general practice doctors' office and on each of our birthdays, we'd have a little party and Marcia would make cake.  Marcia Weidenfeller is the sweetest person you'd ever want to meet and she is a most excellent cake baker, especially when it comes to Italian Cream cake.  I've had a few IC cakes in my life but hers is the best.  So sweet and rich and oh so very, very light and moist.  And, thankfully, it's foolproof - turns out perfect every single time.  It's been years since I had Marcia's IC cake so when I was elected to make dessert for my niece's housewarming party, I made IC cupcakes.  They were stellar.  I found they had something my grandmother called "a more-ish taste" ---- you want more!  So, I'm making one today for my handyman because he's so good to me.  I had a little extra batter so I made myself some cupcakes, Yum!  Brew up some coffee and have a slice of heaven...Here's the recipe for:

Marcia Weidenfeller's Italian Cream Cake

1 C buttermilk                                   5 eggs, separated
1 t baking soda                                  2 C AP flour
2 C sugar                                           1 t vanilla
1/2 C butter                                       1 C pecans, chopped
1/2 C shortening                               1 C coconut
Preheat oven to 325.  Grease and flour three 9" round cake pans.  Combine soda and buttermilk and let stand. Cream butter, shortening and sugar.  Add yolks, one at a time, beating well after each.  Add buttermilk alternately with flour just till combined.  Stir in vanilla.  Add the egg whites, nuts and coconut and fold in by hand.  Divide batter equally into prepared pans and bake till toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 stick butter, softened
1 lb powdered sugar
1 t vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese till smooth.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla and mix on low speed till combined. If it's too thick, you can add a little milk or add more powdered sugar if too thin.  Spread on cooled cake. Pat chopped nuts and coconut on sides of cake.

Comfort in Troubled Times

Wow ya'll, it's been a long time since I wrote. Almost a year.  I have to be in the mood to write and up until today, I have not been.  What with all the turmoil in the world and family health issues, I've just had other things on my mind. 

I'm amazed at how dirty this presidential campaign has been.  I don't think I've seen as much mud-slinging in any election...ever.  The candidates aren't behaving any better either!  I'm tired of the haranguing and trash-talking and I want it over so maybe we can have some sort of normalcy.  I hear some of my most loved celebrities speaking so hatefully and it not only makes me angry, but just disappointed in them in general.  I remember when I was little and it was an election time and I'd ask my parents who they were voting for and they would always refuse to tell me.  They'd say it was private and you don't ask that nor discuss it.  I don't remember a single time politics were discussed in our house, not even local politics.  It was sacred to them and they held it dear to their hearts, especially my father.  He served in the Navy during the Korean War and there was nothing more important or as grave a matter as performing your civic duty by voting.  It was not just a privilege, it was your duty and he held that close.  I am missing him more than usual lately.  I am scared of what is happening to America and what our future holds, regardless of who is elected.  I can imagine him in the late 1950's to early 1960's being worried and afraid, as I am now, about the Cuban missile crisis and the unrest in the world.  He died in 2000 and I can't help but wonder what he'd think of the world today. Is it scarier today than it was in 1962?  Was he as fed up with JFK as I am BHO?  I overheard him talking in a cafe one day to a man about it and I know he didn't like Kennedy, but then not many in the South did according to their conversation.  The only time I heard him discuss politics would be in Paul Stolle's or Knox's Cafe over a Chicken Fried Steak or a Hamburger.  Food is a natural conversational lubricant, I guess.

We'd go there on Sunday nights after church, man, Paul Stolle made good burgers.  I still remember walking in the door and stepping on the beaded wood floors and smelling the hamburgers.  Seeing the red vinyl tablecloths and hearing Miss Doris say "Hello! Have a seat!"  I loved Miss Doris, she was a little, round, white haired angel that brought me the most delicious food I could ask for - Hamburgers and Hamburger Steak.  She had a voice that sounded like two octaves in one - a little "warbly" I guess.  I thought she was great.  We never had dessert there because, well, no one made dessert better than my grandmother, not even Paul Stolle.  We always had dessert at home and my Daddy's (I'm a  good southern girl - and we call our fathers Daddy) favorite was Egg Custard Pie.  My grandmother made excellent Custard Pie.  Never watery and the crust was never soggy.  She said it got watery because you added too much sugar - I found out later it was because it's baked at too high a temperature - so sugar was measured carefully and never exceeded, although I would have liked it a touch sweeter.  I still only add precisely 3/4 cup because, again, I'm a good southern girl and I can hear my Meme in my ear saying "it'll make it watery!"  As Meme grew older, she didn't cook as much and I missed her desserts so when I was old enough and I got married, I tried my hand at Egg Custard Pie.  I measured carefully, baked it per her instructions and the results were perfect.  No water, no soggy crust.  Perfect.  I packed up a piece of that pie and took it to Daddy.  I handed it to him and watched as he uncovered the plate and smiled "Did you make this?" I told him yes and he took a bite.  "Is it good? It's my first one" I told him.  He smiled again "Sugar, that's delicious.  I think that might be better than Meme's" I know I beamed.  A compliment from my father was a rare treat you had to earn so this one was a prize to me.

 

I miss the security of childhood when my biggest concern was whether I could  have a 2nd piece of pie or not.  Desserts make me feel like the world might be alright again, like it might be salvaged if we can just have a piece of pie. Here's Meme's pie recipe - see if it doesn't make your world a little better too.

Meme's Egg Custard Pie

One 9" unbaked pie crust (recipe follows)
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 C sugar
1/4 t salt
1 t vanilla
2 1/2 C scalded milk

In a pitcher or bowl with spout, combine beaten eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla.  Add a little of the hot milk to the egg mixture and whisk immediately to temper.  Whisk in the remaining milk and pour into pie crust.  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 375, bake for 35-40 minutes or until knife blade inserted comes out clean.  Cool.

Plain Pastry

1 1/2 C AP flour
1/2 t salt
1/2 C shortening
4T - 5T ice water

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.  Cut in shortening till pea-sized.  Add ice water a tablespoon at a time till dough comes together - mixing quickly to avoid the dough from getting tough.  Roll out on floured board to fit pie plate and place in plate.  Trim overhang to 1/2" excess, fold under and crimp to make it pretty.


Enjoy!

Top Chef Restaurant Review: Marquee Grill, Dallas, Tx

I had lunch with one of my oldest and dearest friends today so I just dragged him along while I reviewed a new (to me) restaurant.  I got an email from a reader the other day and they wanted to know if I'd ever been to Marquee Grill and I hadn't, so I thought today would be a great time to do that since Stephen was with me. 

Have you ever heard of Tre Wilcox? He was on Top Chef: Season 3, he didn't win, but if my meal today was any indication, he should have.

   

He started out at Abacus and now he's the executive chef at Marquee Grill, as well as being nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star Chef for two consecutive years.  If you aren't familiar with him, take a few minutes and visit his webpage:  http://cheftre.com and immediately make yourself some reservations and go.  The food was brilliant in every way, from the service to the plating all the way to the dessert.  As I always say, I have 3 favorite restaurants in Dallas, now I guess I need to make that 4 favorite restaurants.  I found it to be very well priced for the quality and creativity, the plates were works of art, the service was impeccable (Thanks Antonio!) and the decor was nice - clean and modern.  We paid about $24 per person for a combo plate that consisted of a starter and an entree, so that's not much more than what you'd pay at Chili's.

MARQUEE GRILL
32 Highland Park Village
Dallas, TX 75205

Starter Courses:

Poached Lobster & English Pea Risotto with Citrus Brown Butter
This was my starter dish.  It was delicious with that nutty brown butter and a hint of coconut milk surrounding an only slightly creamy risotto that was studded with asparagus slices and good-sized chunks of lobster.  The rice was cooked to the perfect bite and the brown butter sauce gave it a taste was reminiscent of a vanilla anglaise sauce.  Odd combination but it totally worked.

Marinated Jumbo Texas Shrimp with Chipolte Cheese Grits and Tequila Lime Sauce
This was Stephen's starter dish.  As much as I enjoyed the Risotto, I thought his dish of Shrimp and Grits was better.  The shrimp were perfect, juicy and tender and fresh, sitting atop creamy grits that were really flavorful, boldly spiced with jalapenos, chipolte and cheese.  They epitomized the new trend of Southwest Cuisine, man, they were good.  The tequila lime sauce was an afterthought, I thought, until I tasted it alone and tasted that cream with a tang of lime.  Yep that was a goooood afterthought.

First Courses:

Lump Crab Cakes & Wood Grilled Iron Steak with Jalapeno Pico
This was my First Course/Entree combo plate.  The first thing I noticed was the unique shape of the Crab Cakes, they were cylindrical!  Topped with watercress and sitting on a sauce I couldn't get a description of.  The crab cakes were very nice meaning they had no filler, only crab and that is good in my books.  The sauce was a bit tangy and maybe had some tomato and cumin in it, but no one was giving any info on that.  The steak was wonderful, too.  It was prepared to a perfect medium well and topped with a reduction sauce and pico.  It was fatty and tender and salty and sweet, just everything good in one bite.

Tomato - Mozzarella Salad  & Marinated Chicken Breast with Grilled Asparagus
This was Stephen's combo plate.  That was the most delicious restaurant chicken I have ever had.  It was so moist and juicy and so flavorful.  All the veggies beneath it were tasty and the sauce was almost identical to my sauce, but a little zestier.  The salad of Mozzarella and Tomatoes was just a regular Caprese Salad.  It was fresh and pretty but not anything you couldn't get at Maggiano's. 

DESSERTS!!

         










Chocolate and Chile:
Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with Guajillo Ganache and Red Corn Tortilla Ice Cream
Now comes the time I have less than stellar things to say about Marquee.  I admit that these desserts were innovative and chef-interpretive, but you don't taste with just your eyes.  The chocolate cake was good, just a dark chocolate cake, sitting on some nondescript mousse-like cream that honestly had next to no flavor.  I couldn't tell exactly what was in it.  The ice cream was the biggest surprise of all.  It honestly tasted like a corn tortilla, weird as all get-outs.  I doubt I'm ever going to want that again.

Caramel Banana Bread Pudding  with Spiced Caramel and Smoked White Chocolate Ice Cream
This was Stephen's dessert.  Dang it, that was good stuff.  I was jealous.  I was openly lusting over his dessert.  The bread pudding tasted they way it said it would - like bananas.  It was light and gooey and sweet and wonderful, like ooey gooey banana bread surrounded by divine caramel sauce.  Just perfect all by itself, then along comes the Smoked White Chocolate Ice Cream.  The best way I can describe it is imagine eating vanilla ice cream with Liquid Smoke in it. Yeah, it was like that. It was something that neither one of us could stomach, even worse than the tortilla ice cream was.  Some coffee ice cream or caramel ice cream would have been a better choice.

With all that said, I highly recommend Marquee Grill.  It was an unexpected delight.

The Most Delicious Cookie EVER!

I get hundreds of cookie recipes a year and most I skip over because they just aren't interesting.  Cookies have to be interesting for me to consider putting forth the effort to make them.  A standard chocolate chip cookie is just boring to me.  Blah blah blah, I know there are purists out there who consider that basic cookie to be the most perfect cookie ever, but really, I can get that anywhere.  Every 7-11 sells chocolate chip cookies so all I see is a saturated market of chocolate chip cookies.  I want inventiveness in everything - including cookies.

If you know me at all, you know I love me some Martha Stewart.  She is my domestic idol, she's beautiful, smart and funny, I love her.  Below, she's autographing her newest Entertaining book for me last November at Williams-Sonoma at NorthPark in Dallas. 

I get daily emails from Martha.com and there's always lots of recipes there and sometimes I look at them, but not often.  I did run across one around Thanksgiving for Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing, I liked the name of the cookies so I decided to make them. I finally got around to it right before Christmas and they were spectacularly delicious.  My picky son who hates anything new or that resembles something other than meat and potatoes, loved them and said they were now his favorite cookie.  They aren't particularly quick to make and they don't travel well, but it doesn't matter, you'll eat them up before you get them all frosted anyway.  Really good with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.
The first time I made them, I didn't like how they spread on the cookie sheet so I've tweaked Martha's original recipe slightly so I get an equally delicious cookie that stands up better and spreads less, it's also less fragile this way.  This recipe makes about 5 dozen bite-sized cookies.   Enjoy...

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 cups packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin (14 ounces)

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:

4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon evaporated milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cookies:  Whisk dry ingredients together, set aside.  Cream butter and sugar till fluffy, add eggs, mix well, scraping sides of bowl.  Add pumpkin, evaporated milk and vanilla, mix well.  Add dry ingredients and mix till just combined well.  Let rest for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, lightly mist cookie sheets with cooking spray.  In a large piping bag with 1/2" round tip, add 1 - 1 1/2 cups of the cookie batter, pipe 1 1/2" mounds of batter at least 1" apart on sheet.  Bake at 375 for 12 minutes or till tops just spring back when touched, rotating trays halfway through baking time. Place sheet on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes, then remove cookies to wire racks to finish cooling.  Repeat until all batter is used.

Icing:  Measure powdered sugar into medium sized bowl and set aside.  Place butter in skillet or saucepan on medium heat and cook, swirling occasionally until butter turns golden brown.  Immediately pour into powdered sugar and stir till combined.  Add evaporated milk and vanilla.  Let it sit for 3-4 minutes and cool slightly before you start frosting cookies.  Use 1 teaspoon icing on each cookie and spread with spatula.  Spread frosted cookies out on surface and allow to dry at room temp for an hour or two, then you can stack them and not mess up the frosting.