The Plucky Housewives

Today was a pretty successful day in the kitchen.  On the list to recipe test were an idea for a lemon meringue tart - based on Arlene's infamous lemon meringue pie and a Raspberry Frangipane Creme Tart.   Raspberry Frangipane Cream Tart I will start with the Raspberry Tart.   The result was pretty right on.  Need some tweaking - mainly in the pastry crust.  I think that needs to be tweaked all the way around as it was the same recipe I used for the Lemon Meringue Tart as well.   Will be playing with that over the next week.   The Vanilla  Creme Patisserie was just downright fabulous!   My first attempt at Frangipane was much more successful than I had anticipated.   It took me some searching to find just how fine I needed to grind the almonds, silly it seems.  Its always very difficult to tell if you have something right the first time you attempt a new skill and have no idea what the standard is.  Thank goodness for the...

Chick Pea and Cilantro Salad I had visited a friend who had made a chick pea and parsley salad, which was surprisingly tasty for me.  I love chick peas (garbanzo beans), whether they are in a salad or whizzed into a creamy hummus. I am also a lover of cilantro and began to wonder, as I usually do, as to whether I could successfully change up this recipe.   I was delighted to discover that it worked phenomenally well! Try it.  If you are not a fan of cilantro, then change it back to parsley, either way its a lovely salad for a summer day! 2 tins of chick peas, drained 4 spring onions, chopped 1 c cilantro garlic puree (tube version) - 1-2 inches 5 oz feta 1-1/2 T olive oil juice of one lemon red pepper flakes Combine garlic puree, olive oil, red pepper flakes and lemon.  Whisk together until well combined and slightly emulsified. To a medium bowl add chick peas, spring onion, cilantro and feta.   Mix.  Add dressing and combine. Chill bef...

So this is a variation on a theme.   A few years ago I created in a frenzied moment, a trifle dessert at the last minute.  All I had was a leftover cake, some bananas and a few other dairy items.   I put together a dessert that has become quite the favorite of my friends (and on here).    With a little bit of time and some more creativity, I came up with this updated version.   I call it Strawberry Banana Dixie trifle.    Here is the link to the original recipe.   Dixie Banana Trifle Original recipe The changes I made:   I layer in fresh strawberries sprinkled with a bit of sugar.  I also added some shaved milk chocolate to the top and layered the entire dessert in a lovely trifle dessert dish.   Enjoy!

I am a collector of cookbooks.  The older the better.  I find them fascinating.  The history of where the average housewife/cook came from and how we got to where we are today with the foods we prepare for those we love.   Most of my readers know that the very name of my business comes from an old cookbook, The Buckeye Cookery cir 1876.   My most recent addition has me completely enthralled.   While in Mineral Point Wisconsin last weekend, just milling around a small flea market mall, tucked in amongst a few other old books, was the Gold Medal Cook Book.   Compliments of Gold Medal Flour manufactured by Washburn-Crosby CO., Minneapolis Minn.  cir 1904.   (For just a mere $7.00).    My love of all things Edwardian causes a conflict within as to whether my most favorite part of this find are the recipes or the advertisements.   Which brings me to why I am devoting an entire blog entry to this crumbling gem.   The first pag...

Original Inspiration via RachelSchultz.com Skinny Thai Peanut Chicken I was puttering around the house one morning, fretting over what I could possibly make for dinner.   I was not smart and did not pull anything out of the freezer to thaw.  In addition, heading out to the store just was not on my list of to-dos for the dinner.   I vacillated over just having sandwiches or not even caring.  I feel guilty about those choices and thought what could I put in the crockpot that would thaw and not turn out weird.   I remembered a recipe I had come across that might work and pulled it out.  It was for a Skinny Thai Peanut Chicken in the crockpot.   I noticed while looking it over that there were a few things I did not have, but possible substitutes just might work, so I set about really creating my own, but using the recipe as a guide for amounts and combinations. Worried about whether this was going to work, about half-way through the process, I went ...

I am a bread maker.   I gained this skill from my mother.  I will forever be grateful and so will my husband and children!   I have a recipe I regularly use for bread, that has been passed on from my grandmother, made by her mother, and her mother and so it goes.    Every now and then, however, I come across a recipe that is just a little different that I need to try!  And so it is with this one.   What captivated me by this recipe was the use of buttermilk.   Now, its not that I thought, wow, buttermilk in a yeast bread recipe, let's try that....honestly?  I had an entire 1/2 quart of buttermilk left over from holiday baking that if I didn't use up, it was going to turn quick and thought, what can I do with 4 cups of buttermilk?   I saw this recipe and thought, now that sounds good and voila.   It was shear necessity that perked my interest.   I made it, I/we (especially the husband) loved it and had bread for the en...