the domestic mama

adventures in macarons

mamakeith — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:58:39 +0000

So, I know- I have been all talk about these babies. How they are easy-but challenging. And they are addicting to make. I don’t know why.

Anyway, for my birthday I got the book “I ♥ Macarons” and… IT FINALLY CAME! On Friday. The same day my kitchen scale got broken. Not that you NEED a scale to make them…. it’s just most recipes are in that sort of format. Oh well. For today, I will leave you with some pics of my flawed macarons- when you see how they should REALLY look (here) you will see mine are definitly “off”, lol.

BUT…. if you follow me on Facebook you also know that my sweet sister (who lived in France) gave me a plethora of French cookbooks. I made those pretty fruit tarts- the ones with the creme in the center and shiny fruit on top….yum. So pretty. And-NOT THAT HARD! Yipee! I will be posting that- just waiting on some nice light today to get some pics of the lil babies. Oooo…. anf French country chicken. Yum. For now, enjoy these:

very 1st batch-almonds were WAY too coarse.

my personal favorite- although the egg whites were over beaten. Hubby isn’t a chocolate fan- to be honest I am not, either. Except for these. Yum.

hubby’s favorite. Weird. He likes the pink ones. Hmmm.

So, if you are thinking about scales head over to “Blogs From A Homesick Aussie” because she is giving one away! And, check out her site while you’re there…..very cool gal.

refried beans

mamakeith — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:23:26 +0000

Ah, Monday, crockpots were made for Mondays. I realize I post a TON of sweets here-and I realize it’s not sweets you want for dinner, and most people are always looking for ideas for dinner. Well, this isn’t exactly dinner- but you can build on it. Tacos, taco salad, bean n cheese burritos, hmmmm. By the way, I am STILL working on the whole print-friendly- thing. Bear with me… I hope it’s not bugging you as much as it is me..

This recipe came from one of my favorite food blogs- Coleen’s Recipes I just love her site… she posts everyday! I have a little notebook I keep- in it, there is a page devoted to the each site I visit. That’s where I jot down the assorted meals and ideas I find in the big wide web world. Anyway, her “page” is the biggest.

These were the best refried beans EVER. I will never buy canned again!

I changed a few things to the original recipe- marked with an *

1 whole onion, cut into wedges

3 c rinsed and sorted pinto beans (uncooked)

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp black pepper

3 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 jalapeno, chopped

6 slices crisp bacon, crumbled

1 (7oz) can diced green chiles*

1/2 tsp garlic powder*

9 cups water

kosher salt – add to taste at end.

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot, cook on high 8 hrs- or until beans are tender. Drain and reserve liquid. Place beans in food processor, and pulse until you reach desired consistency, you can add some of the liquid if you need. Add salt to taste. This makes quite a bit, but we go through them hare with all the Mexican food I make!

My hubby and I used to go to a local resturant that served refried black beans as a dip with tortilla chips. I am going to make some refried black beans this week- I’ll let y’all know how they come out!

A big thanks to Coleen for this yummy treat!

a note:

mamakeith — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:08:37 +0000

Updates are on some of the other pages- Check em out! Be sure and enter the contest- It’s open until March 17th to enter,comment at Twix post

homemade twix bars and a giveaway

mamakeith — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:57:52 +0000

Am I allowed to call them that? Should I use a ® after”Twix”? Just a thought… Twix are one of my all time favorite candy bars. Zero bars are my first favorite, though. Have you ever had one? Oh…you must try one if not. But Twix are good because they have that cookie crust. Yum. That gives me an idea… I haven’t had a giveaway in a bit. I need to have one. I just don’t know what to giveaway? How bout some cute magnets? Handmade by me? Yes! Idea! All you have to do to enter is comment your favorite candy at the end of this post. Winner(s) will be chosen (randomly) at 8:00am St. Patrick’s Day. To see the magnets- just check out the “shop” page here.

This recipe is very easy, because you can do the crust- than do the caramel later, then the chocolate whenever. You can kinda be lazy a bit…

Mmmm……

the first mixture should look like this after it’s processed, then you press it in the pan.

Okay, y’all…. I misread my cookbook- that’s why there are little caramelized bits in my caramel. I admit it- I am not perfect! (it still tasted yummy though) What happened? haha- I though the recipe said boil for 6-8 minutes. Whoops! I won’t do that again…

This recipe is an adaptation of one found in “The Big Book Of Baking” by Love Food

For the crust:

in a food processor combine (pulse to coarse crumbs)

1 heaping cup of flour

1/2 c butter

1/3 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Press into a greased pan- I suggest a small 9″x9″ or small casserole pan. (I used a “toaster oven” sized pan)

You don’t have to press it up the sides- you just have to get it nice n flat.

Bake at 350ºF for 22 min.

The caramel layer:

3/4 c butter

1/2 c sugar

3 tbs dark corn syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk (I ♥ that stuff!)

Combine the above ingredients into a saucepan heat it gently until the sugar is dissolved- then- bring to a boil and REDUCE the heat to a simmer. SIMMER 6-8 minutes, or until it’s thickened. Spread over the shortbread (I used a silicone spatula- worked great) and let it chill in the fridge for a couple hours.

Now, melt some chocolate chips (7oz) you know how to do that, right? Just nuke em at 15 second intervals, stirring between each one. Spread the chocolate over the caramel, and place in fridge to set up.

To cut them, turn the entire concoction out of the pan and place on a cutting board. (That’s the easiest) ENJOY!

Don’t forget to enter the contest!

lemon buttermilk pound cake

mamakeith — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:58:40 +0000

This is my mama’s pound cake. It’s soft, sweet, rich and melts in your mouth. I don’t make pound cake too much- I think it’s because I am cheap and hate to use all my eggs,sugar and butter on one thing. But then after a bite- I always say….”It’s worth it.”

Things have calmed down a lot around these parts… thank goodness I am no longer a complete idiot on computers and figured out how not only to block people- but block any computer they find me from, too. Yay for technology! If ya follow me on facebook, you know I made homemade twix bars over the weekend. They are tooooo good. I will be sharing that with y’all this week. Along with a little more on “Oranges and Alligators”, a night with friends, and a few more goodies.

My hubby got a free 55 gallon tank for me this weekend. I am a fish tank/dog/reptile junkie. (y’all knew that, though…) I was thinking of doing a step by step set up of a tank- is that interesting to anyone? It goes way beyond adding gravel, water and fish. Well, let me know.

Pound Cake!

2 sticks butter

3 c sugar

5 eggs

1 c buttermilk

3c flour

1⁄2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp lemon extract

Preheat oven to 350°F

Cream the butter,sugar, extract and zest add eggs one at a time,add buttermilk-mix well. Shift the dry ingredients together then add to the butter mixture. Bake in a tube pan 1 hour. Enjoy! Love, MK

chicken and biscuits

mamakeith — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:59:46 +0000

I am a native Floridian. So was my mother and grandmother. We are “natives”- wherever that term originated is beyond me. My father is from the south, although north from here- his grandfather founded North Augusta, South Carolina. James U. Jackson. Pretty cool stuff. Anyway, I love Southern food- and this is one my favorite comfort foods.

Now, this dish has a homemade sauce, fresh cooked chicken and scratch biscuits. I timed it. 35min. If you used cooked chicken, canned soup and biscuits it may top 10. LOL!

cook up 3 chicken breasts-I boiled mine. While that’s going-

make the soup/sauce base:

melt 4 TBS butter, add 4 TBS flour to form a paste

add 3 C whole milk, 3 cubes chicken bouillon cubes, pepper, salt, parsley(2 tsp), garlic (1/2 tsp)finely chopped onion(1/4 cup)

bring to a boil- it will thicken add in 1/2 cup frozen peas/carrots and 1/2 cup frozen green beans and 1/4 c frozen corn kernels

Now while that’s going

your stove top will look like this

now: get out this:

my dear sweet grandmother’s biscuit recipe is here (just click the word-duh )

I decided to show the step by steps, too

add the shortening to the dry ingredients

cut it in until it looks like this

add the milk- DON’T OVER-MIX!

It’s fine if it looks like this. Keep it thick. Don’t twist the cutter when you cut em…

brush then LIBERALLY with melted butter.

yum. Like that.

now, put these guys in the fridge- and chop up that chicken and add it to your sauce. Put that in your favorite casserole pan.

place both biscuits and casserole into a preheated 425°F oven for 8-12 minutes.

you can place the biscuits on top of the casserole- but I don’t like soggy bottoms-

mmm biscuits

I hope this post brought you some visual comfort. Enjoy and feel free to comment! I have enabled comment moderation- don’t take it personal 99.9% are published.

pickles

mamakeith — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:02:21 +0000

When my hubby and I first got together, we had some burgers one night…it actually was my first burger in 14years, after a long period without ground meat, red meat or meat in general. I placed the assorted toppings from the fridge, which included a jar of homemade pickles. “What kind of pickles are these?” he asked “Why? ” I said. (don’t you love answering questions with questions?!) “The’re really good.” he said. “They’re mine.” I said. “Yeah, but where’d you get em?”he pressed on. “No, they’re mine- I made em.” he called his daughter to the kitchen (she was 3 at the time) she took a bite and exclaimed “That was the best pickle ever!” I said “Yay!” Now, when we run out of pickles it’s just something I have to do…. like when you run out of toilet paper. You get my drift.

I decided to learn how to can when I found this book on the “lost arts” of life. All the things we (as people) used to make ourselves has gone away with supermarkets. Everything from bread making, olive curing, soap making, wine making, yogurt making and of course- canning and preserving.

I got “into” the canning. Once you realize the “rules” it’s simple. It does take some time- but the reward is a cute little pantry stocked with love. Now, here are the rules in my own words- but this is not to be used as instructions- READ THE BOOK LET THAT COMES WITH YOUR CANNER! This is just a introduction in case you’ve always kinda though about canning, etc.

1st- start with clean jars. No chips, cracks, etc-same goes for the 2 piece lids. I prefer the wide mouth jars for pickles. Easier to get your hand in there when they are ready to eat.

2nd- heat the jars (I boil mine because I like sterile things) heat the lid and bands to 180°F DON’T LET THE FLAT LID BOIL (it won’t seal right)

3rd in my opinion, that’s the most time consuming part- which is like a total of 15minutes, maybe?

Now, what I do while my jars are boiling and lids are simmering is prepare the innards of the jars

For pickles:

(this is an adaptation from the Ball Blue Book Of Canning)

1 qt white vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 c canning salt

1 qt water

fresh dill, chopped (about 1cup)

3 tbs Frontier (from the health food store) brand pickling spice

1 sp chopped garlic

Place the pickling spice and garlic into a piece of cheesecloth

place the other ingredients into a saucepan and simmer 15 minutes

While it’s simmering- prep your pickles cucumbers. Duh- they’re not pickles yet.I usually get about 8lbs.That will make 7pts or 3qts .

Get the best kirbys you can, wash them well and cut off the end. (the stem)you can slice them any way-or leave them whole. Pack them snugly in the hot jars, leaving 1/4″ space at the top. Line up your jars and carfully ladle the hot liquid into them, leaving 1/4″headspace. Remove air bubbles by running a clean knife along the inside of the glass. Place the 2 piece caps on each jar and tighten just enough- not too tight. Place the jars in a canning rack, and boil fully submerged (that’s called processing) for 15minutes. When time is up, remove jars and set out to cool 24hrs. If you listen carefully you may hear ” POP,POP” that’s the vacuum seal working. My hubby likes that noise. They taste best after they sit for 3 weeks.

A few notes- please read your instructions, have all your equipment out and ready before you begin, and have fun.

the latest!

mamakeith — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:19:22 +0000

I have pickles for y’all. Reason number 3 hubby snatched me up, lol! I want to share them with you. Don’t be discouraged at canning, pickling, etc. It is so easy and fun. There is a special feeling that comes when you open your pantry to your own creations. It’s so cool. Promise. And, it REALLY isn’t that hard. I’m excited to post them. I would do it now, but… it’s dinnertime and I haven’t uploaded the pics, yet. I am such a slacker. Speaking of slacking- I need to call my mama in law and get her jalepeno jelly recipie my hubby told me about…..

A nice dinner….

mamakeith — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:54:34 +0000

Remember last week, when I just couldn’t think of what to do for dinner? We all have those days, those are the days we usually resort to: tacos, burgers, frozen pizza or pasta. Junk foods at their finest. Well, anyway… my birthday rolled around and my sweet family surprised me:

How sweet… my hubby knows how much I adore cake. I should have known something was up when he NEEDED to go to the store Sunday afternoon. I’m a lucky girl. Anyway, I wanted to make a big ol’ pot roast that day. But, things happen. We ended up in Ft Lauderdale way longer than expected, you see there is this HUGE aquarium store there… really folks, it’s like going to a aquatic zoo. They have a shark as big as me and an eel as big as my hubby. Well, we got home a little late for pot roast. So, we grilled pork chops. And ate cake. Yum.

I love my family. I don’t show too many pics of my stepdaughter… mainly because she is older- and I like to have her mothers ok beforehand. But, her mother hasn’t been around in such a long time…it’s a shame.

Back to dinner! So, the next day I went to pick up a nice pot roast, but got kinda grossed out by the fat in it. So I ended up with a nice London broil. You wanna hear something funny? I have NEVER broiled meat before. I only used my broiler for browning the tops of things and melting cheese. Yeah, how un-domestic, huh? Maybe I should be the “almost-domestic” mama? So after extensive research google-ing broiling London broil , I found instructions. But, first my marinade:

In a Ziploc, (or other zip-top bag) I threw in some:

balsamic vinegar

oregano

basil

garlic

black pepper

olive oil

finely chopped onions

splash of red wine

I really wish I had EXACT measurements. I am one of those cooks that does a bit and a dash and a glob.

But, fortunately, for marinades- it really can’t go too wrong as long as you use sense and don’t put say, 1 cup of garlic or something… I figure y’all know that already.

Now let that sit for 4hrs. Put it on a rack, in a pan. Preheat your broiler to high.

If your roast is 1″ thick (like mine) cook it 3″ away from heat for 6min the 1st side- flip it and cook 8 more minutes. Yep-I may not ALWAYS measure- but I do keep track of time. Let it sit about 7-10 min and cut into thin slices. I really enjoyed my birthday knife carving this.

mmm… I served it with mashed potatoes, and for the life of me- I cannot remember what veggie. Man! Too early, I think. This officially became my hubby’s 3rd favorite meal, and my stepdaughter’s 2nd. So, I will be making it again. I love my oven broiler.

homemade vanilla cinnamon grahams

mamakeith — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:38:00 +0000

graham crackers. Some people love em some people hate em, some people wonder why they’re called crackers-when they clearly are more like cookies. Hmmm. I wonder that…animal crackers perplex me, too. Hmmm. So, I had some graham flour (coarse whole wheat flour) and, with a birthday coming up…I wanted to make something not so sweet.

By the way, graham flour is named after Sylvester Graham, a pioneer in the health food movement. The flour was invented by him in 1829 and was used in many recipes at his chain of health food retreats. Just a little tidbit for y’all.

this recipe came from “The Fannie Farmer Baking Book” I however, added my own touches… vanilla and extra cinnamon sugar on top.

To Make:

4 tbs softened butter, mix with 1 egg, 6 tbs sugar, and 4 tbs honey.and 1 tsp vanilla. Dissolve 1/2 tsp baking soda in 1 tsp water and add to the butter mixture. Mix in 3/4 tsp salt, 3/4 all purpose flour and 1 1⁄2c graham flour. It will form a nice dough. Now, roll out 1⁄8″ thick, and cut into 2″ squares. Pierce with a fork several times, and make an indentation in the center,with a knife to score it. The best way to transfer to a baking sheet is to use a spatula. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet.Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture then Bake at 350°F for 8 min, then flip them over and bake 6 more minutes.

I’m thinking these are going to make the BEST s’mores EVER!