COOLEST TIP EVER!!!

I found this little gem of a video yesterday and it was instantly one of those moments where you close your eyes and think to yourself...DUH!! Why didn't I know about this 20 years ago!!!

If you EVER use frosting bags and tips, you HAVE to watch this video from Karen's Cookies. It will make your day, I promise!!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

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BEST CARROT CAKE IN THE WORLD

Carrot Cake recipes are a dime a dozen, everyone has one. I have been making the same old recipe (not this one) for as long as I can remember, but today's post is replacing that old recipe card for sure. This recipe is SO good ...full of carrots, pineapple, coconut, pecans and raisins; it is beyond delicious.

DESSERT IDEA - NOT JUST A CUPCAKE

 While still warm,  slice the cupcakes, vertically into 4-5 slices and

arranged them on a dessert plate and top the slices with a big

dollop of vanilla whipped cream. It made a wonderful dessert!!

The rest of the cupcakes went into the cookie jar.

3/4 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut (do not pack)
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans (I use walnuts)
8 ounce can of crushed pineapple with juice

Preheat oven to 350 and put paper cupcake liners in cupcake pan (recipe makes 2 dozen cupcakes).

Mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla, mix well, beat in flour mixture and mix well.

Stir in carrots, coconut, nuts,  pineapple and raisins. Let batter sit for about 5 minutes. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full (an ice cream scoop works well for this).

Bake in preheated 350 oven for 25-30 minutes (my oven took 25 minutes). Cool and frost.

These cupcakes just keep getting more and more moist (if you keep them covered).

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Lunar New Year 2563

The year of Golden Rabbit or 2562 in Chinese calendar ended and the year of Water Dragon has begun.

Didn't want to lost the moment where many Chinese were happily welcoming the new year with colorful ornaments, delicious delicacies, and also the smoky temples, I decided to visit the famous Jakarta China Town again!
If last year I visited this place by myself, this time I brought along my

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CROCKPOT CHICKEN CHILI

This is a new recipe experiment for us and I must tell you it was delightful. It is one of those rare meals that is not only good for you, but it's very tasty, very hearty and it rings all the familiar bells of comfort food.

This recipe is also a breeze to make because you put most of the ingredients in the crockpot the night BEFORE you want to serve it (no need to pre-soak the beans) and then in the morning, you just add the chicken and carrots and let it cook all day!! It will make your house smell fantastic!!

1½ cups DRY Great Northern white beans (rinsed)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup chopped onion (sauteed)
4 ounce can mild green chile's
2 cups grated carrots
3 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dry oregano leaves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 teaspoon salt  (see note below)
½ teaspoon black pepper
6 cups chicken stock (see note below)
1 cup Monterrey Jack Cheese shredded

Wash and sort the dry beans (do not pre-soak) and put them in the crockpot. Add the stock, sauteed onion, seasonings and chile's. Cook on LOW setting overnight (or about 8 hours).

In the morning, remove about a cup of the beans and mash them thoroughly. (I put them in the blender)  Return the mashed beans to the crockpot; this will thicken up the broth in the chili.

Cut the raw chicken into large pieces and add it to the crockpot along with the shredded carrots.  Cook this on high for 6 to 8 hours. If your crockpot runs very hot (as some of them do) cook it on low instead.

About 30 minutes before you want to serve the chicken chili, add the shredded Monterrey Jack cheese and stir.

I hope you like this hearty "good for you" chili as much as we did.

NOTE: If you use salt free chicken broth, go ahead and put the teaspoon of salt into the chili. Taste it again after it is finished cooking (and you've added the cheese) to see if it still needs more salt.   If you use chicken broth made from bullion, I wouldn't add any salt to the recipe, as the bullion broth is already quite salty.

NOTE: I hope you don't leave out the grated carrot, it really adds a wonderful taste and texture to the chili.

NOTE: We are fairly timid when it comes to spicy heat in our food. The recipe calls for 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. I used a scant 1/8 teaspoon and it was absolutely perfect for us. If you like more heat in your food, add more cayenne.

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PISTACHIO PUDDING with a twist

Today's post is more of an idea, rather than a real recipe. Picky-picky husband loves the old Watergate Salad. I never thought of it as a salad, but that's what they called it: instant pistachio pudding, Cool Whip and crushed pineapple...talk about shades of childhood!!

I re-discovered the old recipe recently and remembered that I haven't made it in years because Cool Whip now gives hubby indigestion, part of getting older I guess.

I decided to experiment and see if I could substitute real whipped cream for the Cool Whip. The result was delicious and much fresher tasting than using the non-dairy topping of yester-year.

Beat 1½ cups of whipping cream with a small (4 serving size) box of instant pistachio pudding until you get stiff peaks, then fold in an 8 ounce can of well drained, crushed pineapple and a half cup (loosely packed) sweetened coconut. Chopped maraschino cherries would go well in this, but I didn't have any.

Chill for about an hour or so (it keeps well and doesn't deflate). Makes about 4 cups of pudding.

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JAM BARS

I saw this great recipe on Monica's web site Lick the Bowl Good, the other day and thought picky-picky husband would enjoy them (I was right!!). They are similar to a raspberry shortbread bar that I posted about a year ago, but even easier to make.

This fruit bar gets even more tasty on day two and three. They are heavenly (in spite of my  emergency substitution in the almond department). I hope you try them, you will love the crumbly, buttery, sweet, nutty crust (it has just a hint of cinnamon). This recipe is a keeper.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1½ cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup light brown sugar packed (I use dark brown sugar)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup sliced almonds (I used walnuts)
1/2 cup of your favorite fruit jam (I used an extra 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (my addition)

Preheat your oven to 350 and butter an 8" square baking dish (I didn't butter the pan, instead I lined it with parchment paper and left the ends long so that I could easily lift out the whole square after it cooled...easier to cut that way).

Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking powder, set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars on high speed until they are light and fluffy; beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract.  Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture.

Stir in the nuts. Note: I used walnuts instead of almonds and I used my food processor to chop them fairly small.

Gently press half of this mixture, evenly,  into your prepared baking dish. Stir the jam (I used raspberry) with a spoon to loosen it up and gently spread it onto the bottom half of the bars, leaving a 1/4" jam free border so that the jam doesn't stick to the sides of the pan when baked.

Top the jam layer with the rest of the flour-nut mixture ad spread evenly, pressing lightly to make the layers stick to each other.

Bake for 25 to 35 minutes (my oven took 35 minutes) or until the top is golden.

IMPORTANT: Cool completely before you try to remove these bars from the pan. Cut bars with serrated knife.

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QUICK STEAK and GRAVY

This great week night dinner is fast and satisfying for sure.  It is  made with cubed beef steak and is versatile enough to feed two or twenty.  It's rich brown gravy is flawless and the whole thing is table ready in about 35  minutes (depending on the thickness of your cube steak).

The ingredients listed here are for one pound of cubed beef steak (it makes about 2 cups of gravy). Double or triple the ingredients as you like.

1 pound cubed beef steak (see note)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon flour (to add to gravy)
little extra flour to coat the cubed steak
(1) 4 serving size envelope of Lipton's Beefy Mushroom soup mix (see note)
2 cups water
(no salt...there's salt in the soup mix)
pepper to taste

Cut the cubed beef steaks into serving size pieces and dust them with pepper (no salt). Coat them in a little flour (shake off the excess) and brown them in 2 tablespoons of vegetable (or Canola) oil.

Remove the browned meat to a plate.  Mix 1 tablespoon flour with the dry soup mix and mix it all into the oil and meat juices in the same pan that you browned the meat in. Whisk in two cups of water and use a wooden spoon or spatula to scrape up any browned bits that might be stuck to the bottom of the pan. Stir till the gravy is thick.

Put the  meat back in the gravy and turn it way down to a slow simmer.  Simmer (covered) until the meat is tender (see note below).

Serve over rice or mashed potatoes for a quick and easy dinner that even Picky-picky husband loves.

NOTE:   Some people have said they can not find Lipton's Beefy Mushroom soup mix. You can also use Lipton's Onion soup mix.

NOTE: How long you let the meat simmer in the sauce depends on how thick (and how tender) your cubed beef steaks are. The ones I buy are fairly thin, so I usually simmer them in the gravy for about 30 minutes. If you have thick cube steak (or if it looks a little tough) it may take more like 45-60 minutes to get fork tender.

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Bacon, Avocado,Tomato Pasta

What's for lunch?

Sometimes I just look in the refrigerator to see 

what I can pull together for lunch.

 Today I found 1/2 of a tomato, 1/2 of an avocado, 

a few pieces of bacon, and a little leftover grated cheese. 

 All I needed to do was cook a little pasta, and

 Chop those few ingredients.

The rest of the ingredients I usually have on hand

 are: fresh basil from my garden, garlic, lemon juice, 

olive oil and s&p. Toss it all together.

Lunch is being served on the patio!

You don't need to follow the recipe exactly. 

It's just a guide. Use what you have. 

Just add your ingredients and toss.

B-A-T Pasta

2 C uncooked pasta, bow ties

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp

1/2 avocado, cubed

1/2 tomato, cubed

1/2 C shredded Italian cheese,

(Parmesan, Romano, Asiago or a combo)

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4-1/2 C fresh basil leaves, chopped

2 T lemon juice

Generous amount of salt and pepper to taste

Cook and drain the pasta. Rinse under cold water.

Put into a medium bowl, add other ingredients.

Toss to combine. Two large servings.

Enjoy!

"Ask not what you can do for your country. 
Ask what's for lunch." ... Orson Welles

This is similar to my Spinach Pasta Salad with Asiago Cheese
Links: Designs By Gollum

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PEANUT BUTTER KRISPIE TREATS

This recipe has been around forever; it is one of those classic sweet treats from our childhood.  Picky-picky husband is a big fan of the old fashioned Rice Krispie treats made with melted marshmallows, so he initially resisted this peanut butter version (he resists change).  However, this evening, I noticed that the pan of treats, on the kitchen counter, had been seriously noshed upon.

This recipe is SUPER easy and uses all pantry ingredients, which is a good thing.  It goes together in just minutes (the longest part of this recipe is the cool down time). They cut beautifully if you let them cool all the way down and they travel well.

1 cup light Karo syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips (see note)

Mix the syrup and granulated sugar in a heavy saucepan, over medium heat (stirring). Bring to a boil and immediately remove from heat; stir in peanut butter until smooth and well mixed.

Pour over Rice Krispie cereal and stir to coat evenly.  Press into a lightly greased 11" x 7" pan (see note) and press down evenly with slightly damp hands.

Melt the chocolate chips and stir until smooth (I melted mine in my microwave at 60% power for about 1½ minutes).  Spread evenly over bars.  Cool about an hour before cutting.

NOTE: This recipe calls for half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half peanut butter chips, but any combo would work well.  I found a similar recipe that used half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half butterscotch chips for the frosting (they called them Scotcheroo's).

NOTE: The size of the pan is not really important. Just remember that the smaller the pan is, the thicker the treats will be and the bigger the pan is the thinner they will be.

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Walkabout Soup

This is a creamy onion soup that's like the

Walkabout soup served at the Outback.
Perfect soup for a winter day.

It's very easy to prepare. You'll need:

beef bouillon cubes, onions, flour, salt, pepper, 

cream, and shredded cheese. 

It's been in my recipe basket for over 15 years.

 If you can boil water

and slice an onion, you can make this soup.

Bring 8 cups of water and 8 bouillon cubes to a boil.

 Add the onions salt and pepper.
Simmer covered for 1 hour.

 Then gradually whisk in the flour.

The lumps will dissolve with an additional
 30 minutes of cooking.

Whisk until smooth.

Add the cream.

 Whisk to blend

 Stir in the cheese.

Let simmer another 5-10 minutes.

Serve!

My grandchildren loved this soup.
 Just remember to call it

Walkabout Soup and don't mention the onions.

Walkabout Soup

8 C water

8 beef bouillon cubes

3 onions, cut in half and thinly sliced

1 t salt

1 t pepper

3/4 C flour

1 C heavy cream

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

Bring the water and bouillon cubes to a boil.
Stir until dissolved. Add onions, salt and pepper. 

Cover and simmer for 1 hour. 

While stirring, slowly whisk in the flour.
Simmer covered for another 30 minutes,
whisking occasionally. Lumps will dissolve after
 additional  cooking Stir in the cream  then add
the cheese. Simmer another 5-10 minutes. 

Serve with a little cheese sprinkled on top, if desired.

8 servings/200calories

Enjoy!

Links: Between Naps On The Porch,
Designs By Gollum

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Another beautiful escape; Jatiluhur Lake, West Java.

For many of us who spent our primary school in Indonesia, we must have learned about 'the biggest dam or the biggest hydro-power in Indonesia' name Jatiluhur nearby Purwakarta, West Java.

For many of us who live in Jakarta or Bandung or both and spend many-many times travelling through Purbalenyi toll highway, must be familiar with this exit signage. See the picture below.



After about 30

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Baked Cranberry Oatmeal

This is a warm crumbly oatmeal that's good to serve

 on a cold morning.  In South Florida that's 

anything below 60F!

 Flavored with brown sugar, cinnamon and fresh cranberries.

 Combine the dry ingredients.

 Melt the butter in the baking dish to grease the pan,

then pour into the wet ingredients.

 Whisk in the vanilla.

 Combine with the dry ingredients and stir in the cranberries.

 I made half the recipe and used an 8" square pan.

 Bake for 30-40 minutes. Cut unto squares and serve.

 Top with warm cream if desired.

If you have leftovers, you can reheat them in the

microwave during the week.

Baked Cranberry Oatmeal

9X13 pan has 6-8 servings

3 C oatmeal

1 C brown sugar

2 t cinnamon

2 t baking powder

pinch salt

combine in a large bowl

in another bowl combine:

2 eggs

1 C milk

1 stick butter, melted

2 t vanilla

whisk together and combine with the

dry ingredients. Stir in

1 C fresh cranberries

Pour into the buttered 9X13 pan

and bake @350 for 30-40 minutes

Cut into large squares and serve with

warm cream if desired.

Enjoy!

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Carrot Bread with Cream Cheese Icing

"First step is always the hardest"hhhm, sometimes I have to agree.Some of the 'first things' were happenning this week.First day of school and work after 2 weeks of beautiful holiday, and all of us struggled with 'wake up' time in the morning. It was hard!First time driving again through the busy-crowded-chaos Jakarta traffic, after 2 weeks break (my husband was the driver during the holiday),

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Homemade Biscotti

Biscotti are a twice-baked Italian dipping cookie. 

They are wonderful with a latte or cappuccino. 

Perfect for dipping into your favorite coffee.

 The recipe is similar to mandelbrot or Mandlel Bread 

which dates back to early European cultures and 

is a popular Jewish treat. Mandel means almonds in

 German, so they traditionally have

 almonds and almond extract.

 Beat sugar and oil in an electric mixer 

until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.

 Add the eggs one at a time, beating until well incorporated.

 Gradually add the flour. 

Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.

 Add the toasted almonds. Toasting brings out

 the flavor. I used the toaster oven and bake 

 for 5 minutes at 350 until fragrant and golden. 

You can easily add your own touches.  

 I used 1/2C almonds and 1/2C

mini chocolate chips. 

Spray a large (12X18) sheet pan.

 Pour the batter evenly on the pan.

 Bake in a 350 oven.

 Until golden, about 20 minutes.

 Remove from oven and let cool for 7 minutes.

 Turn out onto a cutting board.

 Slice lengthwise down the middle, 

then cut across into 1/2-to 3/4-inch strips

 You can also cut lengthwise into thirds 

to make smaller pieces.

 At this point I store some in the freezer before

 the second baking. When I want to serve them I 

remove from the freezer and let sit at room 

temperature for about 5 minutes then bake on a 

cookie sheet at 350 until toasted, about 8 minutes.

 Return the cookies to the sheet pan and return to 

the 350 oven and bake for 6 minutes then flip. 

and bake the other side for another 6 minutes. 

 Serve for coffee.

Store extra cookies in a large jar.

Biscotti

Almond or Chocolate Chip

1 C sugar

1 C  vegetable oil 

4 eggs

1-1/2 C flour

2 t vanilla extract

1 t almond extract

1 C toasted almonds

(or 1 C mini chocolate chips or

half of each)

Beat sugar and oil with a mixer until dissolved.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until well mixed.

Gradually add the flour. Stir in the extracts.

Stir in the almonds or mini chips.

Spread onto a sprayed baking sheet (12X18)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, until lightly golden. 

Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 7 minutes. 

Turn onto a cutting board and cut in half lengthwise, 

then cut across into 1/2" to 3/4" strips.

 Return cookies to the sheet pan and return to

oven to bake another 6 minutes, flip and bake 

the other side for another 6 minutes, until golden.

Enjoy! 

Links: Designs By Gollum

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