Peach Cobbler

6 c peaches, sliced or cubed (recipe calls for frozen/thawed; I used fresh)
2 T agave (originally 3 T sugar)
1 T lime juice (I only had lemon)

3/4 c flour (I used Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose)
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 t salt
6 T butter
1/2 c coarsely chopped pecans (I had walnuts)
Original recipe also calls for 3/4 c toffee candy bar broken into pieces

Put six 1 1/4 c ramekins on a baking sheet.  Preheat oven to 350.

Mix peaches, sweetener and lime juice; spoon into ramekins.

Whisk flour, brown sugar and salt to mix well, then cut in butter until mixture clumps together a bit.  Stir in nuts (and toffee, if you are using it).  Sprinkle over peaches.

Bake until bubbling and golden brown (35 minutes for me).  Cool 10 minutes before serving.

Three recipes today!  Three of my favorites.  OK, I'm only posting my favorites!

First, thank my lovely sister-in-law, Suiko Fukushima, for this one.

Quiche

9-inch pie plate

3 eggs

1 c cream

3 oz shredded cheese (e.g. Mexican mix)

Any vegetables of your choice (e.g. onion, bell pepper, corn, carrots, broccoli)

Ham, bacon, other meats if desired

1)    Cut vegetables, ham, etc. to desired size. 

2)    Stir-fry meats/vegetables and season with salt & pepper.

3)    Beat eggs; add heavy cream & cheese and stir well. Add vegetables/meat.

4)    Pour mixture into greased pie pan.

5)    Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.   

*****

Second, better than any restaurant version I have ever had:

  

Egg Fu Yung

Website:  About.com

Qty Measure Ingredient

------------------------------------------------------------

1 Cup chicken broth

1 Tablespoon oyster sauce

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

1 Tablespoon cornstarch in 4 T water

6 Eggs

1 Tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry

bean sprouts

red pepper

green pepper

red onion

  any other desired fixin's

Instructions: 

Sauce:  mix broth, oyster sauce, soy sauce and cornstarch/water mixture; bring to a boil and stir until thickened.

Scramble eggs; mix in vegetables.  Pour into an appropriate size cast skillet (this is thick, like an omelet, not a thin little crepe!).  Cook over medium/low heat until bottom set.  While cooking, gently run a knife around the edge and tip/roll the pan so raw egg runs to edge.  Finish under broiler.  Serve with sauce.

*****

And last, but not least:  remember the Swiss steak they served in the school cafeteria?  This is NOTHING like that!!!!

Swiss Steak

     From:  The 150 Best Slow Cooker Recipes (Judith Finlayson)

1 T oil

2 lb round steak

2 medium onions, chopped

1 carrot, sliced thinly

1 stalk celery, sliced thinly

salt and pepper to taste

2 T all-purpose flour

28 oz diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 bay leaf

Brown the steak on both sides in oil.  Transfer to slow-cooker.

Cook vegetables until soft, about 5-8 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over veggies and cook 1 minute more, stirring.  Add tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce, bring to a boil and cook while stirring until thickened.  Add bay leaf.

Pour over steak in slow-cooker.  

Low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours.  (Discard bay leaf.)

We're having this for dinner tomorrow night.  It's all set up in the slow-cooker and the house smells GREAT!!

Best sandwich I ever ate in my life.


Egg salad sandwich with basil-honey-lemon dressing

Source:   Better Homes and Gardens, 3/11
Website:  bhg.com

Qty Measure Ingredient
------------------------------------------------------------
1/2 Cup carrot, coarsely shredded
1/2 Cup red onion, sliced thin, then rings cut in quarters
1/3 Cup kalamata olives, halved
1 Cup baby spinach
8 eggs, hard-cooked, sliced thick
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup basil, fresh
2 Tablespoon parmesan, shredded
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Teaspoon Honey

Instructions: Toss carrots, onion and olives.  Line bread with spinach leaves.  Top with sliced egg and carrot mixture.

In a blender, combine oil, basil, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, honey and s/p to taste.  Drizzle over carrot mixture and egg.  Top with remaining bread.

GF banana nut muffins

 This is from recipe4living.com.  It makes 6 average (not overflowing the top, the way I like!!) Texas muffins.  Had them hot this morning; don't know how they will be tomorrow (all you GF folks know about GF baked goods the next day, right?).

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 c sour cream
1 large, ripe banana, mashed
3/4 c brown rice flour
1/2 c potato starch (recipe called for potato flour, I didn't have any on hand)
1/4 c soy flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
I added about 1 c pecans, broken up

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla.  Add eggs and beat well.  Add sour cream and banana and mix well.  Stir in dry ingredients and mix well.  Add pecans and mix well.

Spray Texas muffin cups with oil.  Fill 1/2-3/4 full.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

12/25/11

Merry Christmas to all, and may 2012 be all you wish it to be!

With much love,                                 

Kathy, Greg, Magpie, Beez, Finny, Mazie, Gus, Fluff, Mistoffeles, Mel, Owl, Reba, Toes, Lacy and the Barred Rock Girls.

Holidays, 2011

Hi all


Approaching Christmas, and Barb (AKA Louise, if I remember properly) and I (if she's Louise, then I must be Thelma) are tentatively planning our next road trip.  April again, this time the first 10 days.  Our itinerary includes some hot spots in NC:  Outer Banks; Raleigh and Greensboro, of course; and Southern Pines, Pinehurst and (Barb doesn't know this yet) the campus of Gram's alma mater, Flora MacDonald College.  After several name changes and repurposings, it is now a primary and secondary school, with gardens that are supposedly quite spectacular.  It isn't far from Southern Pines and Pinehurst, and I always wanted to see it.  If I remember right, it is now called Flora MacDonald Academy.


Also wanted to share the last few pictures I have of Joey.  These were taken in August.  The first ones are right after he had a bath, so he looks darker than he actually is.  I think he got a really great home--a small animal veterinarian in the Saratoga area, with many other pets and a bunch of kids.  He was 6 months old and nearly 700 lbs when he left here.  Hope you enjoy these pictures.

One more fun note:  we had our first egg produced yesterday.  It was about 2/3 the size of a regular large egg, and a pretty brown.  Our hospital cat knocked it off my desk (yes, of course I brought it to work to show everyone) and it broke. No new eggs before I left this morning, but maybe when I get home....

It's in the 40's and raining here; no snow on the ground at all.  As a matter of fact, we have only just gotten over 1" so far this whole season.  Pitiful.  But anyway, 

Merry Christmas to all--

Kathy

Joey

The little fella is now named.  Mo at work came up with the perfect tag.  His name is Joke's On You and he'll go by Joey.

A friend came over with her daughters and 5 month old Golden today (Wallace) and this is one of the photos she took.

He's 11 days old and just over 200 lbs now.