No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Posted on May 20, 2013 by The Wife

With the over abundance of eggs we’ve been given lately, I have been trying to think of things to make that require more than one egg. I came across several recipes for lemon curd, and thought that would be the perfect thing to make, becuase it requires several eggs, and I can pressure can it.

Well, the pressure canning failed (curd leaked everywhere and the lids didn’t seal to the jars) so I was stuck with quite a bit of lemon curd on my hands, and it goes bad within a few weeks when it’s not canned. For this recipe you can make your own lemon curd, or you can easily use store-bought.

Naturally, I figured I’d make a dessert that uses lemon curd, just to use it up. I cobbled together several lemon bar recipes and came up with these yummy no-bake bars. They are tart and sweet, and make a wonderful dessert for summer; especially since you don’t have to heat up the house to make them.

No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs (or about 10 graham crackers, pulverized in a food processor)
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 C. plain yogurt
1/2 C. sugar
2 C. lemon curd
3/4 C. boiling water
1 packet of unflavored gelatin

Step 1: Lightly grease an 8×8″ baking dish. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, 3 Tbsp. sugar, and melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.

Put the crust in the refrigerator to set while you prepare the filling.

Step 2: Stir the gelatin into the boiling water until dissolved. Let it cool a bit.

Step 3: Stir 2 Tbsp. of the gelatin mixture into 1/2 C. of the lemon curd. Spread it over the chilled crust, then return it to the refrigerator.

With a mixer, process the cream cheese until very smooth. With the mixer running, add the yogurt (or sour cream, if you have that instead), 1/2 C. of lemon curd, and the remaining gelatin mixture. Mix together until smooth, then add the 1/2 C. sugar. Taste to make sure it’s sweet enough, and add more sugar if necessary. (I wanted my filling a little sweeter, so I added more sugar) Mix until combined.

Step 4: Pour the cream cheese mixture over the crust and let it chill for at least four hours, or overnight.

Step 5: After the cream cheese filling is well set, pour the remaining lemon curd over the top and spread it evenly.

Chill for another hour, then cut into squares and serve cold.

I love lemon desserts in the summer, and this one is very light and refreshing. It would also make a great dessert for a potluck or party.

The Wife

Not so Fitness Friday

Posted on May 17, 2013 by The Wife

Today is supposed to be fitness Friday. But I’ve been pretty sporadic about my fitness the last few weeks, so instead I’ll give you a picture of a bald-bellied puppy laying on the couch:

Anyone who tries to tell me that Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dogs aren’t the best dogs ever is not allowed to come over, because we have two.

The Wife

Traditional Bread Pudding

Posted on May 15, 2013 by The Wife

If you weren’t aware, The Renaissance Man and I did not have your typical wedding. We eloped, then my parents threw us a big party a few months later.

This big party was thrown at our favorite bar’s patio, and our favorite bluegrass band played. We also didn’t have a traditional cake. We had the bar’s signature bread pudding instead.

I have been searching for a recipe for this bread pudding since we moved. The problem is, this particular bar routinely wins awards for it’s food, and the bread pudding is no exception.

A few weeks ago, I found a recipe that sounded pretty close. And after tweaking a few things, it really was about as close as I’m going to get. So, if you want to get a feel for how our wedding reception was, or just want an amazing dessert, try this bread pudding.

Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

5 C. bread, cut into cubes
4 C. scalded milk
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/4 C. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. Southern Comfort (or whiskey. Or rum.)

Step 1: cut the bread into cubes. I found that 3/4 a loaf of regular old white bread was plenty.

Like the mood lighting? The power went out while I was cutting the bread. Fortunately it came back on about an hour later.

Step 2: Scald the milk. If you don’t know what that means, just heat the milk in a saucepan until foam starts to form, like this:

then pour the milk over the bread and let it soak for about five minutes.

Step 3: meanwhile, mix together the beaten eggs, sugars, butter and vanilla together. Once the bread has soaked up all the milk, pour this mixture over it, and mix it together well, stirring gently to avoid turning the whole thing into a bowl full of mush.

Pour the whole thing into an 8×13″ pan.

This is not an 8×13″ pan. This is an 8×10″ pan. The bread pudding rose about an inch over the edge of this pan while it baked.

Step 4: Bake the bread pudding at 325 degrees for an hour and twenty minutes. Once it’s done, let in cool in the pan on a wire rack. While it is cooling, make the sauce.

Step 5: A note on the sauce. Please do not skip the sauce. This sauce will change your life. Please, do yourself a favor and make it. And then eat it.

In a saucepan melt the 1/2 C. of butter, 1 C. granulated sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and Southern Comfort (or whiskey. Or rum). Bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, and cook for three more minutes. Stir it frequently to prevent scorching. Once it has cooked for three minutes, remove it from the heat. Cut and serve the bread pudding drenched in the sauce while the sauce is still hot.

This is one of those stupidly, insanely, wonderfully delicious desserts that sounds sort of…weird. I promise, it’s not weird. And if you serve it to people, they will ask you for the recipe.

The Wife

Oops!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by The Wife

Well, I didn’t mean to take another week-long hiatus. I promise, it was unintentional. But a few things happened…

First, I started my new job, where I work four eleven-hour days (and one four hour day). It’s long, but good to be working again. But those hours really are not conducive to frequent writing. I will be doing all my writing in bulk on the weekends, now that I know I am lazy when I get home in the evenings.

Second, this happened:

This is Miranda. Someone found her wandering around on the street, and The Renaissance Man can’t say no to a 12 week old catahoula puppy. And neither can I, as it turns out. She joined our family last week, and since she is so young (and was eating crap on the road for who knows how long) she is a little high maintenance.

Third, during the first week on the job, one of the kids I’m sitting for got sick, and gave me her cooties. So I’ve been feeling kinda gross for the last few days.

So if you’ll forgive me for my unintentional absence, I will share with you my recipe for homemade carpet cleaner and powder. I’ve been blowing through this stuff like crazy cleaning up puppy “accidents” the last week.

Carpet Cleaner and Powder

Ingredients:

vinegar
water
1/2 C. borax
3 C. baking soda
15-30 drops essential oils (optional. You can use lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, or peppermint to keep bugs out of the carpet, and they all smell nice)

Step 1: For the carpet cleaner, mix equal parts vinegar and water in a container (mason jars work well, and I have tons of them around). That’s it! Pour some on the stain you’re trying to remove, let it soak in really well (up to a few minutes, depending on the stain) then blot (don’t scrub) the moisture.

Step 2: Add the baking soda and borax to a mason jar. Screw on the lid, then shake well to combine. You can use it as is, or add 15-30 drops of essential oil to it, cap, and shake again to distribute the oil. I added 10 drops of lavender and 10 of eucalyptus. It smells heavenly. You can sprinkle this over a stain you just used the cleaner on to absorb the rest of the moisture, or you can sprinkle it over your whole carpet when you vacuum to freshen the carpets and keep bugs away. Either way, sprinkle it, then leave it for a minute or two, then vacuum it up.

If you’re feeling creative, you can even label your new cleaning solutions (pardon the art. I am not a terribly talented artist).

So, if you have one (or more) of these:

or are just looking for a less chemical-y alternative to cleaning your carpets, these are two great things to have around the house.

The Wife

Elevating the Loquat

Posted on April 29, 2013 by The Wife

I had no idea what a loquat was, until we moved to Texas and I discovered a loquat tree in our backyard. Unfortunately, the squirrels got to them before I knew exactly what I had in my backyard. So all last year I researched and planned, and found a million wonderful canning recipes for loquats that I was just dying to try.

And then, we moved. We moved before our loquat tree bore any fruit this year, and that made me sad. Now what was I going to do with all these wonderful recipes? You can’t usually buy loquats in the grocery store.

And then I met our new next door neighbor, Nikki. Nikki, who happens to have a loquat tree in her back yard that produces more fruit than she can eat. So she let me raid it for my own nefarious purposes. This was my haul:

Despite their name, loquats are more closely related to apples than anything else. They taste like a plum and an apricot had a baby. And, since they are an asian fruit, I decided to go for broke and make a Chinese five-spice preserve.

Chinese Five Spice Loquat Preserves

Ingredients:

4 Pints loquats (about 6 cups)
4-5 C. granulated sugar
1 C. water
3 tsp. bottled lemon juice
1 Tbsp. chinese five-spice powder
1 tsp. ground ginger

Step 1: Prepare your jars, lids, and canner. If you have never canned before, see the tutorial here. Throw a couple of ceramic plates in the freezer. You’ll need them to test for gelling later.

Step 2: While your lids and canner are heating, slice the loquats into thin slices. The loquats have a large seed in the middle (sometimes t hey have more than one). I find it easiest to slice around the middle of the loquat long-ways, and remove the seed before slicing.

also, loquats turn brown once sliced, so unless you work very quickly (or you are lazy, like me) I’d recommend sprinkling some lemon juice over the sliced loquats as you go.

Step 3: Add the sliced loquats to a deep pot. Pour in the water, sugar, lemon juice, and spices, and bring everything to a boil. I added 4 C. of sugar and then tasted it for sweetness. 4 C. was enough for me.

Once everything comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer it for about 25-30 minutes. Stir it frequently to keep the bottom from scorching.

Step 4: Once the preserves have simmered away for 25 minutes, take one of your plates out of the freezer. Spoon a little of the preserve on the cold plate, and put it back in the freezer for a few minutes. Take it out again and push your fingernail against the side of the pool of preserve. If the surface wrinkles, it’s done! If it doesn’t you can either cook it for five minutes more, or add a Tablespoon or two (go with two) of powdered pectin to the mix. I didn’t do either of these things, and my preserves were a little runny. They still taste good, though.

Step 5: Once your preserves are ready, ladle them into 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. This recipe made 4 1/2 pint jars for me.

Add the lids and screw bands and proccess the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. let them sit for 24 hours, then store them in a cool dark place.

These preserves almost remind me of spiced peaches. Almost. I’ve been eating them stirred into yogurt, but they’d be good on just about anything.

If you have access to a loquat tree, or access to a friend who has access to a loquat tree, tell them you’ll give them a jar if they let you pick as many as you want. You won’t be sorry, and neither will they.

The Wife

P.S. Is it weird that rainy days make my kitchen look super-yellow? It’s not really that yellow, I promise.

Cold Snap Soup

Posted on April 24, 2013 by The Wife

It has been unseasonably cool down here the past few weeks, and the chill in the air makes me crave soup. Soup season tends to end here around the end of March, but with lows in the low 40s, I thought I could safely make this soup without overheating us.

So if you’re experiencing snow, or ice, or chilly nights where you live, this is a hearty root vegetable soup that ought to keep you warm.

Root Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
3 parsnips, peeled and cubed
1 rutabaga, peeled and cubed
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 yellow onion, diced
1/4 bunch parsley, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and diced
3/4 C. pearl barley
6+ cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Cut and peel all the veggies. Also cook the chicken breasts and cube them. I boiled the chicken breasts and reserved the liquid to use as part of the chicken broth in the soup. Waste not…

Step 2: Prepare the barley according to package directions. It takes a while, so while the barley is cooking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large stock pot. Once the oil is heated, add all the veggies, reserving some of the parsley and green onion for garnish, if you want.

Step 3: Cook the veggies over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until everything begins to soften. Then add enough broth to cover the veggies by an inch or two. Throw in the bay leaves, too. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed/desired.

Step 4: Bring the veggies to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the barley is done (about 20-25 minutes). Then add the barley and chicken. Stir everything together, then simmer for another 15 minutes.

Serve with a little green onion and parsley as garnish.

This is a very hearty, flavorful soup. It will definitely keep you warm on a cold night, especially once you get done with all the chopping! It can also easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the chicken, and using vegetable broth.

Here’s hoping it warms up soon!

The Wife

An Over Abundance of Eggs

Posted on April 22, 2013 by The Wife

One of the doctor’s at The Renaissance Man’s clinic keeps chickens. And, apparently, he keeps more chickens than his family can keep up with, egg-wise. So, he brings the extras in to the clinic, and people can take them if they want them.

The other day, nobody wanted eggs (apparently) and Dr. J made TRM take home two dozen eggs. That is on top of the two dozen he brough home a few days before that. And there’s only two of us, so it takes a while to work through a dozen eggs.

This is what my kitchen looked like over the weekend:

Of course, when faced with such over-abundance, my first instinct is to figure out how to preserve the bounty. Unfortunately, there are not many ways to preserve eggs. The most popular way is to pickle them. Pickled eggs keep for about a month in the fridge, unless you talk to anyone who has ever pickled them; they will tell you that they last several months at least.

So I pickled 16 eggs.

Purple Eggs

Ingredients:

1 beet, peeled and sliced
1 onion, sliced
2 C. vinegar
2 C. beet juice
1 C. sugar
8 whole allspice
16 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
16 hard boiled eggs
2 1-quart mason jars

Step 1: Hard boil your eggs. It helps if you do this the night before, since cold eggs are way easier to peel.

Step 2: After you peel and slice the beet, place the slices in a saucepan and cover them with water. Bring them to a boil and then reduce the heat and cover, simmering for about 30 minutes.

Step 3: While the beets are simmering, add the vinegar, sugar, and whole spices to a large saucepan. Slice the onion and add that to the pot, too. Once the beets are finished, add them and 2 C. of the beet liquid to the pot. Bring everything to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat.

Step 4: Put one beet slice and a few onion slices in the bottom of each jar. Add some boiled, peeled eggs to each jar (I fit 8 into each). Oh yeah, if you didn’t peel your eggs, now is the time. Ladel enough of the hot pickling brine into each jar to cover the eggs completely. I added another beet slice on top. Shake the jar just a little to dislodge any air bubbles, then put the lid on them and let the jars sit until they cool off.

Step 5: Once the jars are cool, put them in the fridge for at least 2 days before you eat them. The longer they sit, the more the brine penetrates the eggs.

You can tell that this jar was just filled, because the eggs still appaear white. They will begin to turn purple as the brine penetrates the egg white.

We have not opened our jars yet, since it hasn’t been 48 hours, but people use pickled eggs as a garnish for salads, or as an extra-flavorful deviled egg.

The Wife

P.S. I still have 32 eggs left. Any more suggestions on what to do with them?

Around the Homestead

Posted on April 17, 2013 by The Wife

Now that we’re getting settled and I’ve managed to unbury my camera and take some pictures, I thought everyone would like to see where we’ve moved to.

It’s quite the change. We went from a tiny backyard to one acre with several outbuildings. I have plans for at least one of them.

We haven’t met our human neighbors yet, but these are a few of the four-legged kind.

Mule.

a friendlier mule.

The neighbors keep mules that can drive wagons, some horses, and at least one donkey.

This is going to be my chicken coop by the end of the year. We’ll have to make it chicken Fort Knox; there’s a lot of snakes and dogs around. And apparently racoons, although I haven’t seen any yet.

So goodbye, little house! You were cute, but we outgrew you very quickly! We’re looking forward to giving an honest effort to homesteading in the country, and hope you guys want to come along for the ride!

The Wife

Movie Night Cookies

Posted on April 15, 2013 by The Wife

I have a sweet tooth. In fact, I think every tooth in my skull is a sweet tooth, because I can’t get enough cookies, cake, and chocolate. Which is a problem when you’re trying to lose weight.

I try not to keep sweets in the house, because I will eat them. But every once in a while I make something, and eat all of it, and then I can go another few weeks without succumbing to the craving.

Friday I wanted to make cookies. I had all the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, but that sounded so…ordinary. So I hopped on Pinterest and two hours later (Pinterest gets you like that) I had a million new cookie ideas. But my favorite? Cookies with popcorn in them. Genius!

I didn’t like the recipe for the cookies that I found, so I went with my old standby (found on the back of every Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip bag) and just cut it in half. The result: a crunchy, light cookie that perfectly combines that salty/sweet/buttery combination you only get when you go out to the movies. You know, when you get that big bag of popcorn, and the chocolate covered raisins, and a big soda? Mmmmm…

Movie Night Cookies

Ingredients:

Popcorn:

one bag of buttered popcorn, popped, or:
1/4 C. popcorn kernels and
1 Tbsp. butter, melted

Cookies:

1 1/4 C. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick of butter
1/2 C. brown sugar
1/4 C. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
3/4 C. chocolate chips

Step 1: Pop the popcorn. I think bagged popcorn, with its super-buttery flavor would lend itself well to this recipe, but we don’t keep it in the house, so I popped my popcorn the old fashioned way. Take a paper lunch bag and sprinkle the kernels into the bottom. Fold the top over twice and stick it in the microwave. Push the popcorn button (or 2 minutes and 20 seconds, for those of you without a popcorn button). Pour the popcorn into a bowl, then melt the butter. Pour the melted butter over the popcorn, sprinkle on a little salt, then toss everything well to combine. Ta da! Popcorn.

Step 2: Next, make the cookie dough. Cream the butter (at room temp. please) and sugars together until light and fluffy. Next, add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Then add the dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) and mix on low until everything is combined.

Step 3: Take the bowl off the mixer, and, using a spatula, stir in the chocolate chips, making sure everything is evenly mixed. Then, you guessed it, add the popcorn.

It takes a while to get the popcorn evenly distributed, but it will break down some as you stir, so don’t give up!

Step 4: Drop heaping tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Now, I am the kind of person who would pack a bag of these in my giant purse when we go out to the movies. But they are equally delicious as a stay-at-home movie snack.

The Wife

We’re Baaaack!

Posted on April 12, 2013 by The Wife

Hello again, everyone!

I appreciate those of you who’re still around, and yes; we’re back up and operational in our new house. Normally, this would be a “Fitness Friday” post, because, well, it’s Friday. But since my “fitness” for the past few weeks has been lugging heavy boxes and funiture around, we’ll skip it for this week (although if you’re looking for some weight training ideas, I highly recommend lugging bookshelves up a set of porch stairs over, and over, and over again.)

I have been sitting on this particular recipe for about a month now. It’s a little involved and, quite frankly, I didn’t have the time to type it out until now.

This is not the average “throw everything in the crock pot and push the button” type recipe that I love so much. Don’t get started on this if you don’t have a little bit of time for prep. But I assure you, it is SO worth it.

Crock Pot Short Ribs

Ingredients:

3 1/2 Lb beef short ribs (like, eight)
1/2 a medium onion, minced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 1/2 C. red wine
1 C. beef broth
2 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Sprinkle the short ribs on both sides with salt and pepper. In a deep skillet, heat some olive oil on high heat. Once it’s hot, sear the ribs (about 3 minutes per side) until they are a nice, deep brown.

Step 2: Once the ribs are browned on both sides, place them in the bottom of a crock pot. Turn the heat under the skillet to medium, and add your onion and celery to it and saute until they are soft. Add the tomato paste and stir well.

Step 3: Pour in the wine and beef broth, and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze it. Add a little salt and pepper, and then whisk in the flour and brown sugar.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then pour it into the crock pot, over the ribs.

Step 4: Place the lid on the crock pot and cook on HIGH for 8 hours (or LOW for 12).

These would be amazing served with mashed potatoes, but we went with sauteed mushrooms and fennel.

These ribs are absolutely worth the effort. They were so flavorful, it was almost overwhelming. All The Renaissance Man could say while eating these was “whoa.”

The Wife