On a Stick by Matt Armendariz and Corn Dog Recipe

This book is awesome!  It has so many recipes that I want to try.  I did make the Corn Dogs and sharing the recipe below.  The other things I want to try, (not in any order) are, Deep Fried Ravioli, Breakfast Pancake Dogs, Chicken and Waffles, Deep Fried Mac 'n' Cheese, Fish and Chips, Fried Mozzarella, Fried Pickles, Moletes, and the last one I will mention is called 'Son in Law Eggs' and hmm you woulf need to see the picture, but they look like a male private part!  These are just a few of the ones that look good to me, but there are many more  even dessert on a stick such as Frozen Elvis and S'mores!

Here are my corndogs!  Though not as pretty as the ones in the book, they were delicious!

Corn Dogs
4 wooden skewers
1 qt vegetable oil(i used sunflower oil)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2TBS sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
3/4 cup whole  milk
1 egg
4 jumbo hot dogs(I used Ballpark Angus low fat)
ketchup and yellow mustard for dipping

Preheat oil in a large, heavy pot over medium high heat.
Mix flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a bowl.  Stir in milk and egg and whisk gently until combined.  Once oil reaches 360 degrees, thread hot dogs onto skewers.  Dip each in batter, rolling until fully coated, and quickly drop entire stick into oil.  Fry 2 at a time for 4-5 minutes.  Drain on paper towels .  Repeat for remaining corn dogs.  Serve warm, accompanied by ketchu[ and mustard.

You can use all types of sticks and this photo shows a few ideas.

                                                         Deep Fried Mac 'n' Cheese

                                                             Deep Fried Ravioli

                                                               Fish and Chips

Spaghetti and Meatballs

                                                            Margarita Jell-O Shots

I hope you enjoyed peeking into this book.  It really is one of my alltime favorites!

Well Preserved by Mary Anne Dragan/ Blueberry Jam & Apple Butter Recipes

 It  is time to start thinking about all the fresh fruit and vegetables for the season. Oh, how I love this time of year and always want to make these wonderful treats last longer.  My all time favorite food for the summer is a fresh, vine riped tomatoe sandwich.  But, it has too be made with white bread and really good mayonaise and salt and pepper.  The only thing that can make this better is a thinly sliced fresh picked cucumber added to the sandwhich.  I guess this is a dead giveaway that I am a true southerner.  But, seriously if you have never tried one of these sandwhiches, you really need to because they are awesome!

Anyway, I also like to turn some of the berries and fruit that are availabe into jams and jellies.  I recently picked 5 gallons of blueberries.  I really enjoy picking berries.  I get up very early and start picking before the sun gets really hot.  It is a good time for reflecting on life.  It is usually just me, the berries and the birdies.  The birds usually are not too glad to see me.  This time I had a mockingbird that followed the entire time I was picking.  She would land in  the tree right at head level and just fuss and fuss.  I guess she was afraid that I wasn't going to leave her any berries.

This book has a recipe for just about any type of jam, jelly, preserves or chutney that you can imagine.  I made blueberry jam and plan to make blueberry jelly soon.  Here is the recipe for blueberry jam.

True Blueberry Jam
Makes about 4-5 8oz (250ml) jars
Ingredients
6 cups or 1.5L blueberries
4 cups or 950ml sugar
1/4 cup or 60ml lemon juice
Prepare the preserving jars. ( I use my dishwasher to wash the jars and lids on the hottest setting)
In the preserving pot, crush the blueberries thourghly with a potato masher.  Add the sugar and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil over medium high heat and boil rapidly, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the heat.  Stir and skim off foam from top.  pour the jam into hot, sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4"  head space.  Wipe the rims clean.  Seal according to manufacturesm directions.  Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Here is a photo of my jam made using this recipe. (i doubled the recipe)

Here is a recipe for Apple butter from this book.  I didn't pick the apples fom (unless you count picking them up from the grocery)  This is so easy and delicious that I will never buy it again.

Apple Butter

Makes 6-7 8oz. (250ml) jars

In the past, people cooked apple butter outside in massive kettles slung over an open fire.  Luky you!

Ingredients

5lb or 2.25 kg tart apples(I used a combo of granny smith and fuji)

2 cups or 4.75ml apple juice or cider

2 TBS or 30ml lemon juice

1 TBS or 15 ml cinnamon

1/2 or 2.5 ml each ground cloves, allspice and nutmeg

 1 1/2-2 cups of brown sugar(I have used white sugar before, but the best apple butter has brown sugar in it)

Core apples and chop them coarsley.  Combine the apples and apple juice or cider in your preserving pot.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce the heat to low, cover loosely and simmer for 20 minutes or until the apples are tender.  stir occasionally.  Remove heat.  Pass the mixture through a sieve or food mill.

Measure the puree back into your pot.  Add 1/2 to 2/3 cup of sugar for each cup of puree, depending on the tartness of the apples.  Add the lemon juice and mix well.  Cook over low heat, stirring almost constantly for 35-45 minutes, or until thickened.  Stir in the spices during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time.  Test for doneness if desired.  ( put a TBS of the apple butter in the center of a plate and if it doesnt separate after a few minutes, it is ready)

Remove from heat.  Spoon butter into sterilized jars, leaving a 1/4" head space.  Wipe the rims clean.  Seal according to manufactures directions.  Process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I think that anyone interested in preserving food would benefit from this book!Copyright

Copyright 1998 by Mary Ann Dragon

3rd edition 2009

Whitecap books

282 pages

Splash into Summer Winner!!

Congratulations to Serene! She won the Perfect Scoop Book and Ice Cream Scoop!  Thank you everyone for participating!!!

Charla

Splash into Summer Giveaway Blog Hop /The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz & Ice Cream Scoop

Thank you to I'm A Reader, Not A Writer, and Page Turners Blog for hosting this great Blog hop!!  I  am giving away a brand new cook book and a new Wilton Ice Cream Scoop.  The winner will be drawn randomly and announced June 1st.  I will email the winner and list nthe first name or alias here.  Thank you for participating and Good Luck!!  Please fill out the form below.




 The one you can win is Green!

***It appears that Google Friend CONNECT IS HAVING PROBLEMS.  Please look at the top of the blog and the follow button there will work.  I have noticed this problem on many blogs the last few days.



The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

This is the perfect cookbook for all of those hot summer days to come!  Come back on May 25th and register to win this book and an ice cream scoop!  Seriously, this book is great.  It has beautiful photographs of almost every recipe.  Not only is it full of ice cream recipes, but it also has gelato and frozen yogurt recipes along with sauce recipes to top off the perfect summer treat.  I am having a difficult time choosing a recipe to share because they all look good!

Ok, I am going with lemon ice cream since I love all things lemon!

Super Lemon Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

2 lemons, preferably unsprayed

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, about 3 lemons

2 cups half and half

pinch of salt

Zest the lemons directly into a food processor or blender.  Add the sugar and blend until the lemon zest is very fine.  Add the lemon juice and blend until the sugar is completely dissolved.  Blend in the half and half and salt until smooth.  Chill fo a hour, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Other recipes in this book that look great are:  Fresh Fig Ice Cream, Pear Caramel Ice Cream, Peach Ice Cream, Blueberry Frozen Yogurt, Cheesecake Ice Cream, Rum Raisin Ice Cream.  That is just a small sampling of the recipes in this book! 

Spring Carnival Blog Hop Winner!

Congratulations to Stella @ exlibris! She won her choice of cookbook!  Thank you everyone for participating and thank you for all the lovely comments.  I hope you will come back for the Splash into Summer Hop at the end of the month!  I will be giving away another great cook book that will be perfect for Summer!  The random number generated was 40, but I couldn't figure out how to make the number stay so that I could post it(I'm still new at this).

Thanks to everyone!

BabyCakes Covers the Classics by Erin Mckenna and Snoballs Recipe

happy Birthday Maegan and Joe!!!!




Before I give my review, I want to tell My Baby girl Happy Birthday!  Also Happy Birthday to her  husband, Joe.  Maegan was born on May 6 and Joe was born on May 7th.  We will be going out to lunch tomorrow but,

Review:

 I bought this book for Maegan and thought I would go ahead and review it today.  She has been told to try eating gluten free and that is what this book is all about.  Every recipe in it is gluten free.  The recipes look great.  I was going to bake her a cake from the book, but after going to Target and Walmart and not finding the ingredients, I decided not to.  But for anyone that has a serious gluten allergy, I would recommend this book because, everyone needs cake.  Then it would justify spending the money on the different kinds of flours that are necessary to cook gluten free.  Let's take a look at the goodies inside this book.  There are :

Wonder Buns

Smores

Rice Krispie Blocks

German Chocolate Cake

And

The recipe that I am going to share is Sno Balls

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened coconut

1 1/2 tbs india tree natural red food coloring

3/4 cup white or brown rice flour

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1/4 cup arrowroot

1 TBS baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup agave nectar

1/2 cup melted refined coconut oil or canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup vanilla extract

1tsp lemon extract

1/2 cup hot water

1 1/2 cups Ricemellow cream ( found at Suzanne's Specialities Ricemellow Cream)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners and set aside.  In a small bowl, combine the coconut  and red food coloring and toss with your hands until the flakes are uniformly pink.  Add a touch more food coloring if you want the flakes brighter pink.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, potato starch, arrowroot, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and salt.  Add the agave nectar, coconut oil, applesauce, vanilla, and lemon extract and mix. with a rubber spatula until the batter is smooth.  Add the hot water and mix until fully incorporated.

Using a 1/2 cup measure, divide the batter among the baking cups.  Bake for 14 minutes, rotate and bake until the cupcakes are lightly golden on the outside and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 14 minutes more.  Let stand in tin for 30 minutes.

Remove the liner from each cupcake.  Cut the bottom third of the cupcake away and set aside for another use.  Using a spoon, hollow out the inside of the remaining section of the cupcake and fill each with 1 Tbs ricemellow creme.  Spread an additional 2 Tbs creme on the top of each snowball and roll in pink coconut.

Happy Birthday to my Favorite people in all the world!