Mandarin Salad

It is dang near impossible for me to make a yummy salad without following a recipe. Honestly, what can be that hard about making a salad? I don't understand how I can fail miserably every time that I don't use a recipe! I found the most delicious recipe for a salad in my Gooseberry Patch Blue Plate Specials cookbook. Best I have come across yet! I love all the colors in it; makes it beautiful looking! Has anyone ever had kiwi in a salad before? This was my first and let me tell you it was GOOD, although everything it was mixed with contributed to the wonderful flavor. I do think that some grated parmesan or even some crumbled feta would have been great on this too and next time I make this I will definitely try it. I have been so excited to tell you about this salad, but enough gushing here is the recipe!

Mandarin Salad

1 kiwi, sliced

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, torn

1/4 bunch Romaine lettuce, torn

1 c. celery, chopped

2 T. green onions, chopped

1/4 c. oil

2 T. vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

3 T. plus 1 t. sugar, divided

1/2 t. salt

1/8 t. pepper

1 T. fresh parsley, chopped (I used dry because I did not have fresh parsley on hand and it still turned out delicious)

1/4 c. slivered almonds (I used sliced almonds)

11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

Mix together kiwi, lettuces, celery & green onion; store in large bag in refridgerator. Combine oil, vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt, pepper & parsley in an airtight jar; refridgerate. Saute almonds & remaining sugar in a skillet over medium heat until well coated; cool & break apart. To serve, place lettuce in serving bowl & top with almonds & oranges. Shake dressing well; pour over the top.

Makes 6 servings.

Sounds a little fishy

When Brandon was in Iraq he found a new love for fried catfish and wanted me to make some here at home. I've never really cooked fish or seafood before so this is all new to me. I have been experimenting with different recipes on a search to find one that catches our hearts. My first attempt I used my grandma's beer batter recipe. When I was little my grandpa loved to fish and after a successful fishing trip Grandma & Grandpa would invite the family over for a fish fry. My grandma always made beer batter fish; it was the only way I would eat fish...until I discovered halibut, but that's a story for another day. Anyway, my first attempt at fried catfish was pretty tasty and Brandon really liked it although it was a different style from how it was fixed in Iraq. Mine had more of a thick "breading" rather than a thin "crumb" crust. So I decided to find out which was really the better of the two. I found a recipe in my Southern Living cookbook Grandma bought me that resembled the "Iraq" version. I tried it and it had great flavor, looked much prettier, but still doesn't compare to Grandma's old family recipe. I do have to say that it is good enough to recommend and share the recipe here on my blog. I think the reason I am partial to Grandma's recipe is because not only does it bring back fun memories it also takes away that fishy flavor. One thing I might try next time is adding the garlic powder from SL's recipe to Grandma's. Sounds rather delcious! I didn't get pictures of the batch of Grandma's but I did take pictures of the Southern Living recipe.

Grandma's Beer Batter

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
salt
1 can beer
2 egg whites (stiffly beaten)

Mix first 3 ingredients. Add beer, then egg whites.
Cut fish into approximately 1 inch pieces. Fry in oil.
*Cut in half for just one family.

Classic Fried Catfish

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 1/2 tsp salt
12 catfish fillets (about 3 3/4 lb)
vegetable oil

1. Combine first 4 ingredients and 2 tsp salt in a large shallow dish. Sprinkle catfish fillets evenly with remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and dredge in cornmeal mixture, coating evenly.
2. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 2 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 350. Fry fillets, in batches, 5-6 minutes or until golden; drain on paper towels.

Note: For a quick weeknight version, skip the deep fryer. Cook catfish in 2 Tbsp. hot oil, per batch, in a nonstick skillet 5 minutes on each side.

Make 6-8 servings.

*As I type this recipe, I realize that I completely forgot to add the red pepper! Oops! It still tasted delicious! I also did the second option and just poured a small amount of oil into a pan instead of pulling out the deep fryer.

A Month of Sundaes

If my sister or I got grounded growing up our parents would tease us saying that we were grounded for a month of Sundays. Neither of us knew what that meant and it drove us nuts; Mom & Dad got a kick out of it! Now after we are both grown up and married my mom found this book and gave it to us as a gift from her and Dad this Christmas. The really cool thing about the book is it's all about ice cream; ice cream is my FAVORITE! It's about the start of ice cream in the USA! I find it interesting that all ice cream parlors/soda shops back in the day were in drug stores (pharmacies). Who'd have ever thought? I guess a spoonful of sugar really does help the medicine go down! At the back of the book it has a list from state to state which are the best ice cream parlors and one listed is here in my hometown! It also mentions what is the "best" at each place.

Double-Chocolate Christmas Praline-Fudge Cake

I am obsessed with cooking & baking. I am both proud and slightly embarrassed to say that I own around 200 cookbooks. The amazing thing is that I have only purchased maybe a total of 10. My friends and family know me too well. My mom bought me a Gooseberry Patch Christmas Cookbook last year; a cake in it caught my attention and I really wanted to make it. Brandon was deployed in Iraq at the time and I couldn't imagine making it just for myself! Well now that he is home, I FINALLY made it last weekend! And it was just as delicious as I imagined it would be (well worth the wait)!!!





I usually have a really difficult time with layered cakes so I am really proud of this cake! I've got a story about the last time I tried a multiple layer cake! My parent's had gotten me a cake pan to make a checkerboard cake; I made the cake, assembled the layers and went about my business. When I came back upstairs, a huge chunk from the top layer had fallen off! I "glued" it back on with some frosting and continued on my way only to come back and see that the chunk had fallen off again but it took with it part of the next layer. I tried "gluing" it again but came back a third time to find that even more had fallen off! It was hopeless, but HILARIOUS! I ended up dumping the entire cake into a regular 9x13 pan. It looked really sloppy but still tasted oh so delicious!
Here is the recipe to the cake in the picture above. If anyone makes this let me know what you think!

Double Chocolate Christmas Praline-Fudge Cake

1 cup butter or marg
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
Chocolate Ganache
Praline Frosting

Cook first 3 ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts and mixture is smooth; remove from heat. cool. Beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add butter mixture to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. Combine sugar, flour and salt; gradually ad to buttermilk mixture, beating until blended. (batter will be thin). Coat 3 (8") round cake pans with non-stick vegetable spray; line with wax paper. Pour batter evenly into pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 22 to 24 minutes or until set. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool layers completely. Spread about 1/2 cup ganache between cake layers; spread remainder on sides of cake only (not top). Chill cake 1/2 hour. Pour frosting slowly over top of cake, spreading to edges, allowing some frosting to run over sides. Freeze, if desired; thaw at room tempurature 4-6 hours. Makes 10-12 servings


Chocolate Ganache

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter or marg, cut up into pieces

Microwave chocolate chips and cream in a glass bowl on medium power (50%) 2-3 minutes or until chips are melted. Whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth. Cool, whisking often, 15-20 minutes or until spreading consistency. Makes about 2 cups.


Praline Frosting

1/4 cup butter or marg
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup whipping cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring often; boil one minute. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add toasted pecans, stirring gently 2-5 minutes or until frosting begins to cool and thicken slightly. Pour immediately over cake. Makes about 1 3/4 cups.