Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Oh what a night!!!

For those of you who attended our 3oth last weekend I thank you again for the great wishes and company. It was fun, although I'm not one to be "the center of attention" like that it was great to see all had a good time and got plenty to eat...I think.
Yes, we did the meat ourselves, the kids did the salads and such. But the cupcakes were made by Sarah Crosby. She's my sister's niece and did a beautiful job. And since I was banned from making anything that didn't go into the freezer I was really glad to have her help. Now for the big question of the day...."where's the recipe for those Raz-Ma-Taz Bars???". Just got it straight from the horses mouth...Kellie's in fact ;0). She found this recipe a few years ago and I told her I wanted them for the the party. So the sweet thing just did whatever her Mommy told her to do...She did tweak them a bit since there wasn't any raspberry jam, she used boysenberry. Like it really makes a difference. Either way, they're delicious and fills the empty spot until you get to the next dessert course...as I always say....
Happy Eating!!

Raz-Ma-Taz Bars

1/2 cup butter
2 cups white choc chips
2 lage eggs
1/2 cup gran sugar
1 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup raspberry (or like) jam
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees ...grease and sugar a 9" square pan

MELT butter in medium microwavable bowl on high for 1 minute, stir. Add 1 cup of white choc chips, let stand and do not stir

BEAT eggs in a large mixing bowl until foamy. Add sugar; beat until light lemon colored, about 5 minutes. Stir in white choc chip mixture. Add flour, salt and almond extract; mix at low speed until combine. Spread 2/3 of batter into baking pan.

BAKE for 15 min or until light golden brown around edges. Remove from oven onto wire rack.

HEAT jam in a small microwavable bowl on HIGH for 30 seconds; stir. Spread jam over warm crust. Stir remaining white chips over remaining batter. Drop spoonfuls of batter over jam and sprinkle with almonds.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes until edges are browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into pieces.

Makes 16 bars.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Just cooling off for a bit....

Ever wonder why you get started on a project and figure out later that if you don't keep it up it gets outta hand and bigger than you expected. Or...just a lotta work! Somewhat like this blog. I've been down to the beach this weekend cooling off and by the time we got done drinking, bitching and just plain complaining, it was time to go home. ;0(.
But it was soooo nice to feel the ocean breezes and lay around and eat, drink and solve all the world's problems. We did do that...in our world anyway. Can't say we solved anyone else's.
I was trying to figure out what to fix for dinner tonight and of course it being "hot as a witches titty"...(my grandpa's words, not mine) I think I'll do the cool simple way and just fix a salad and do some chicken .
We hit the best places to eat in Lincoln City and by the way if you haven't been to the Black Fish Cafe yet....get your butt over there!!! It is soooo good.
After a great pulled pork sandwich topped with Napa Slaw I asked who I had to kill to get the recipes...she said it was online through the Oregonian website...haven't found it yet...But I will give you my recipe for coleslaw. Got it from a long time friend and use it every year for one of the dinners I do...(not telling which one, you have to visit all of my fundraisers to find out!!). Well have to go make lots of brownies and some other delights for the big 30th this weekend...
Happy Eating..;0)

Denice's Cole Slaw

This makes a large bowl....you can cut it down if you want. We just like lots!!

1 head green cabbage..You can use Napa also or mix and match ;0)
Approx 1/2 or less of red cabbage
3 or so large carrots - shredded

I use my food processor because I hate cutting by hand and it does great on the thin slicer disc. If you want it cut smaller you can do that...I don't care what KFC does with theirs..
I have added different things to mine, apples, almonds etc. But we usually just do it the plain jane recipe and it's great with the following dressing. ;0)

Dressing:
2 cups mayo
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar (white preferably, but cider is fine)
2 tsp mustard (if you don't have reg, then any other is fine)
1 tsp Horseradish sauce ( if you don't have it on hand...don't worry, life goes on)
1 tsp salt

I mix this up and let it set in the fridge for awhile. At the dinners we make it by the gallon. I add it just before we serve. If you don't want a lot of slaw sitting around, just do a bit at a time. I really didn't like cole slaw much but I do like it with this dressing.

I'm doing up a large (40 lbs or so) of pulled pork this weekend and if it turns out I'll put the recipe on the blog...if I survive the weekend. Happy Eating!!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Great Zucchini Race....

My buddy Sharon from Bitchin Vittles got me thinking...I know that's really scary but hell, I never realize until I get my butt in trouble how loud I actually "think". You know in the tiny brain and out the big mouth is my motto...;0). Well anyay....she made the mistake of mentioning Chocolate Zucchini Cake, and that's all that mattered after that!!
I found this recipe in my neighbors church cookbook. You know one of those that had a one time printing and the pages are all crusty, dirty and torn up from overuse. Not unlike the Roy cookbook that everyone keeps talking about "redoing" and never seem to get it done!!!
Okay...okay, back to the recipe. We love this. It's moist, chocolatey and you use real buttermilk in it. I have used the fake sour milk (you know the vinegar and milk) but either way we found this to be a hit for anytime. The HS staff loves it and it makes a great snack cake since it has vegetables in it. Anything that will hide the flavor of that is my favorite!!! And if anyone has some Zuke to get rid of let me know...Tony wouldn't plant any for me ;0).
This can be served warm with ice cream or topping of you choice. And like I say everytime I add to this blog...
....Happy Eating!!!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake Bake at 325 for 45 minutes

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil (canola or veg)
1 & 3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups shredded Zucchini

Add the following dry ingredients:
2 & 1/2 cup flour
4-5 Tbsp Cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup choc chips

Mix all together and pour into a 9 x 13 sprayed pan. I use extra choc chips on top of the cake.

Enjoy!!!


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Now for the Mom's of Roy....

It just keeps coming....now all you Mom's want to feed your kids too...oh well, I dug through the file and found the gravy recipe...You can use it for Hamburger Gravy and Turkey Gravy too...I have used it for a soup base too so it's easy to sub in most anything...
We really should all get together and make these recipes and drink our wine and bitch about old times. The parking lot is kinda empty these days so that would be a good place to start ;0)

Well here's to all of you Roy Mom's and kids who can't seem to forget a good thing when we had it. Happy Eating!!!


St Francis School's Gravy Recipe

In large stock pot...about 12 qt at least...the bigger the better I say. Thick bottom so it doesn't burn or scorch....and it will too. Be careful ;0)

1 & 1/3 gallon of water
4 (heaping) Tbsp of Beef or Chicken Base (Costco or Cash & Carry have it)

Add seasonings:
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp sage

Bring all above to a boil....then quickly add the following...there are 2 choices

Whimpy choice: 1 & 1/2 cup corn starch mixed with same amount of water...pour in to pot and let thicken. Turn down temp and it should thicken as it sets. I also use flour and water. Your choice

Original Rue Recipe :0)....with a large whip...(I love whips, they're so kinky!!)
1/2 lb butter - melted...then add 1 & 1/4 cup of flour (AP is fine) Stir quickly (with the whip baby) before it gets too thick and pour quickly into the pot. Keep stirring until it gets nice and thick. Turn down and let cool a bit.
Pour over your choice of meat and bake in oven.

Hamburger Gravy: We used 8 lbs of meat..browned and drained. Put into large pan, cover with foil and let bake in oven until up to temp (150 or higher). Of course we served it with Mashed potatoes...

Turkey Gravy: We usually cooked a turkey the day before. (10 to 12 lbs) Cut up nicely so the kids wouldn't choke while they made pigs of themselves. We did also have chicken chunks from time to time. It was just fine....nobody knew we lied to the little darlings...so sorry, but hey, while we slaved on the cinnamon rolls Mrs Kent just had to make it was a busy day, it was nice once in awhile to NOT cook that stupid bird. Anyway mix together as you did the beef gravy and enjoy it just the same...

Hope this makes everyone happy...I am hot and hungry now. Guess I'll have to get busy and make some of this again...I miss it and I miss all of you guys too.

Happy Eating!!!

For the Roy Kids....

I've had a special request for some of the recipes we used to fix for the lunches at St Francis. And at the top of the list is Joey Moore, Katie Moore Reding and Alicia Ramirez....So if you guys really want them....here they are. I found these two recipes in the file. I didn't bother to divide them down because I know you'll eat all of it!!! You did then, so nothing should change much over time...should it??? Well the only thing I need to mention is that the base for the Turkey rice could stay the same. It needs to be really "rich" in order to get the flavor you want with all that rice.
I have to mention that I made the big mistake of doubling the rice one time and we couldn't figure out why we had some much in the pans. But the kids went nuts that they had unlimited seconds through out lunchtime ;0).
So for all of you Roy kids who remember and appreciated our lunches...Happy Eating!!

Turkey Rice Casserole

Bake in 350 degree oven for almost 90 minutes...but if you do a "normal" batch it should only be a half hour or so...;0)
Of course we used the large pans at school that were 6 inches deep and numerous inches long. This recipe fits into 2 of them

Divide the following between 2 pans (school size ;0)

10 to 12 lbs of turkey...cooked the day before and chopped into bite size chunks
7 lbs of rice (long grain..your choice)
1 lb melted butter (1/2 lb in each pan)
2/3 cups of dried onion (or 1 medium each pan)

Liquid Base:
7 qt of water...bring to a boil and add the following....
  • 4 + Tbsp of chicken base or equal amounts of seasoning of your choice. I like the base since it's richer.
  • 2 Tbsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 3 tsp sage
  • 1 tsp tumeric
  • 6 Tbsp parsley flakes
Bring all above to a boil and divide between two large pans...are you understanding all of this Alicia????

Mix well and bake covered with foil for about 90 minutes or until rice is done.
When done we turned the oven off and left it inside to set a bit.

I have tried to do smaller ones and they turn out great. Get your calculators out and have fun!!! Nothing needs to be exact but it's make sure you have plenty of flavoring...it's the base for this casserole.

And...for Joey Moore....

Sloppy Joes

I let you in on a hint Joe...this freezes and if you can figure out how to size it down then you have your dream come true meal ...don't forget the cheese slices..;0)

8 lbs hamburger - browned and drained
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp Worchester sauce
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/3 cup dried onion ( or a medium one chopped)
1 can tomato sauce (you know the large ones we always had in the pantry..;0) Cash and Carry sell them.
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Mix together and bake in 350 oven until done....about 1 hour. Turn off before serving and let set to stay hot or put into warmer and serve on buns with cheese. Great with fries and whatever else you can think of...

Enjoy the memories...

Happy Eating...