Beignets

Beignets always make me smile.

The first time I had a beignet, I was probably 4 years old. My Uncle Gary lived next door and he would make them and run them hot to our house in a paper bag. The first bite of this airy donut left an impression. I was always excited when I heard him knock on the door. A special treat that we didn't have often.

The year I turned 30, my parents, Craig, Max and I went to New Orleans to celebrate Halloween. One of our first stops was Cafe du Monde. The beignets there are a little bite of heaven. I remember Max's little face full of powdered sugar and his smile was large.

We get them at the French Quarter hotel at Disney World and occasionally I make them at home. My kids are super excited when they see the dough rising. "Remember not to breath in when you take a bite" they remind each other. See, if you breath in at the same time you take a bite of a hot beignet, you'll cough because you inhale some of the powdered sugar;)

My favorite way to eat them is hot or warm. The good news with that is if you make the full recipe, you'll have plenty to share with your friends and neighbors. But, for the first time EVER we had some leftovers so the kids took them to school the next day. They said they weren't as good as they are warm but they were still a good donut.

I couldn't find the recipe I usually use so this recipe is Paula Dean's and I only changed a couple of things. For example, I prefer to fry in Crisco shortening instead of oil because I think oil makes them a bit greasy. If you don't achieve the hole in the middle, it's ok...they are still a tasty donut.

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 C lukewarm water
1/2 C Sugar
1 envelope active dry yeast
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 t Salt
1 C Evaporated Milk
7 C Flour
1/4 C Shortening
Nonstick spray
Shortening, for deep-frying
3 C Powdered Sugar

Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, measure out the flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Preheat shortening in a cast iron pan. I usually have my burner at an 8.

Add the confectioners' sugar to a paper bag or bowl and set aside.

Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry, flipping, until they become a golden color. After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels, and then toss them into powdered sugar. Hold bag closed and shake to coat evenly.



Yeast
Eggs,
All kneaded and ready to rest for a couple of hours.
Ready to roll out!! I'm getting SO excited.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and put a little flour on top for rolling.
Roll the dough out to about 1/4 of an inch. You don't want the dough to flat or they want puff when they hit the grease. I cut them with a pizza cutter and let them sit another 5-10 minutes. I actually got about 50 beignets out of this dough.
See how they puff when you put them in the grease
Powdered and ready to go.
Light and airy, that's a perfect beignet.
They make Claire smile too!

Congratulations Kayla

One of my best memories from school was making the danceline the end of 8th grade. The chanting of my name coming down the street in the middle of the night..I can still feel the excitement.

The entire danceline in my bedroom, taking me out into the night to celebrate with them and the new recruits. Doing kicks across Lake Street and wearing my banner to school the next day. It was so much fun.

I have life long friends from my years dancing and it really shaped my high school experience.

Alanna's daughter just tried out for the danceline at the high school she'll be attending next year. They do things different now. They post it on line, so I wanted to do something to help make her day special so I made her a cake in her new school colors, Blue and Gold. The STAR is because she is the newest Starliner!!

I made my Skor Cake, dyed the cake navy blue and used my favorite frosting instead of the whipped cream one. A star shaped cookie cutter helped with the design and edible blue glitter finished it off.

Cut the cake in half with a serrated knife. Put frosting in the middle.

Top with Heath candy pieces

Finished

Congratulations Kayla! I'm so proud of you!!

Mexican Beef

I pulled two packages of stew meat out of the freezer intending on making something different. Lack of time and inspiration caused me to throw it in a crock pot and the result was tasty. We had chopped beef on tortillas and I made a Mexican lasagna (I'll be posting that recipe soon) with the rest.

Here's what you'll need:

2 packages of Stew Meat ~ I think I had a little over 2 lbs
1 pkg Onion soup mix
1 Beer or 12 oz water
1 t Cumin
1 t Chili Powder
1 t Chipotle Powder
3 cloves Garlic
2 Chipotle Peppers chopped

Put it all in the crock pot and crock on low for 10 hours. It might have been done sooner but that's when I got around to it and it was perfect. I don't think you can really over cook beef in the crock pot unless you run out of liquid anyway.

Pull it out, give it a rough chop and wrap up in tortillas. My kids actually ate these and asked for seconds..SCORE!

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows

Easiest thing EVER and my son's absolute favorite. Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows. Put them on a stick, dip them in some sprinkles and TA DA...special treat! I did these for Claire and Serena's Golden Birthday treat table.

For these you'll need:

Bag of Large Marshmallows
2 C Chocolate ~ This time I used White Chocolate Melts golden colored
Sprinkles
Lollipop stick

Melt your chocolate. For me that means 1 1/2 minutes and give the chocolate a stir. Put a stick into marshmallow and dip into chocolate. I also dipped into some sprinkles but you can skip that step if you want. Put on wax paper to dry. Store in air tight container and eat within a week.

Spinach and Asparagus Frittata

I was starving and wanted a quick dinner and since my kids had left over pizza, I decided to make a frittata. The bonus...only 7 points for the entire thing. I only ate half with a side of fresh strawberries so it was easy on the calories too!

What you'll need:

6 spears Asparagus ~ snapped into pieces
Handful of Spinach
3 Eggs beaten
Salt and Pepper~I probably used 1/4 t of each
2 T Feta Cheese

Using a non stick, oven safe pan. Stir fry the asparagus in a couple of teaspoons of water for about 2 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted, another minute. Turn off the heat on your stove and spray with cooking spray. Pour eggs over vegetables, sprinkle with salt and pepper. DON'T stir, cook until edges set up, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle feta and pop under broiler for 2 minutes or until eggs are set in the center. Invert onto dinner plate and serve.

Just cook the asparagus in a couple teaspoons of water
Wilt the spinach like this, spray with cooking spray..don't forget to take off the heat. Pour beaten eggs on top
See how the egg is setting up on the edges
Add cheese and throw under the broiler to set the middle
Flip onto a plate and serve

Why I hate Verizon Wireless

I have had the month from hell with Verizon Wireless and I need to get it OFF of my CHEST! So, thank you in advance for listening to my rant or thanks for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow with a new recipe:)

Please allow me to recap. On April 8, I drop my phone in water. I immediately go to the Verizon store in Richfield, MN to purchase another one. I find out that the backup assistance that was installed on my phone was not working and I have lost the 200+ contacts I had. 100+ are clients! I purchase two Samsung phones and the accessories. One for me and one for Claire. I change my texting plan for all three of my lines to unlimited. I have to pay for that texting plan for my third line even though that phone will never text because it is the best “deal” for my situation and all phones must be on that plan. Time spent in store, approximately 75 minutes.

I present the phone to Claire and tell her she can start texting tomorrow.

The week of April 11th, my phone randomly doesn’t work. Randomly, I can’t hear ANYthing when I make a call or receive one. I bring the phone into Verizon, they confirm the problem and they give me a new phone. Time spent in store, approximately 45 minutes.

The week of April 25th I believe it was, my phone goes INSANE. If for example you pulled up the contacts, it flipped fast and continuous and if you pushed a button, it didn’t matter, it wouldn’t stop. It was doing this in every area of the phone.
Took the phone in and they replaced it with a different brand. I lost my stored calendar information. Time spent in store, approximately 75 minutes.

Week of May 9, Claire’s phone randomly started having issues. Same as my phone, make a call, couldn’t hear anything. Random texts not going through. Took the phone in, recognized the problems because they were happening in the store. She took the phone apart and it appeared to be working. When I got home, my daughter tried it…not working properly. Again, it randomly works but not always. Time spent in store 45 minutes.

This phone is our house phone that Claire uses. This phone needs to work.

I also realize that my phone charger is not working.

May 16, I receive a bill for $350+ because when I changed over my plan to texting, the woman did not enter it correctly into the computer. I was on the phone for 45 minutes with customer service trying to get it straightened out until she told me she would call me back. Another 6 phone calls to iron out the details to get it fixed. I'm guessing it was over well over an hour and I have a HEADACHE!

Also on May 16 I bring Claire’s phone back in and tell them the problem. The customer service person tries a few things and claims that the phone is working. We walk out of the store and the phone does not work. I walk back into the store and show them that it is not working. The customer service person tries several things and has to admit that the phone is broken. She’ll order another one, it will be here in 3 days. I told her that was unacceptable. That it was our house phone and you can’t even call 911 should you need to.

“Sorry, policy is after 14 days the phone has to be ordered”.

I ask to speak to the manager.

I tell the manager everything that I’ve typed out here. I further explain that this phone is not just a phone, it is my daughter’s safety line to the outside world if she is home alone. I state policies should have some leeway in cases such as this. He states there is nothing he can do. I am told that I need to come back into the store to have the phone activated when it arrives. I stormed out of the store. Time spent in store, 60 minutes.

I call customer service immediately after leaving the store to simply put on record what a crap system I think Verizon has in place and that clearly they are NOT family friendly. The customer service agent apologizes and says he needs to do some checking. I am put on hold. He comes back and tells me that since the phone is already ordered there is nothing he can do, I should have it on Wednesday. Already ordered, that was exactly 5 minutes ago! It can't be cancelled? Nope, sorry. To be fair, I think he really was. First person I've talked to at Verizon that didn't sound like a robot!

So, two-three days I have to wait because Verizon would not replace a DEFECTIVE phone that is just a month old and barely used. A phone that I brought in at just over the 14 day period and was told they “fixed”. A useless phone that I get to pay the fees for 3 days when it can’t be used!

I am so completely disgusted by Verizon and their inability to adjust policies when safety of a child is at stake. To add insult to injury, I cannot cancel my phones because I would pay $600 in early termination fees. Perhaps that is why Verizon doesn’t care, they don’t have to because they know I can’t afford to leave!

Verizon received a copy of this message...wonder if I'll hear back??

Beer Bread

My friend Karol gave me this recipe years ago and I make it often. Since it's been a tad chilly in these parts, I made it again last week to go with soup.

What you'll need:

3 C Flour
3 t Baking Powder
1 t Salt
3 T Sugar
12 oz Beer
3 T Butter ~ optional

Combine the ingredients and put into greased loaf pan. The dough isn't very sticky, you have to push into pan.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes until golden brown and skewer poked in middle comes out clean. At about 30 minutes, put butter on top~I cut the 3 T into pieces and put on top.

If you have self rising flour you can use 3 Cups and NOT add the baking powder and salt.