Friday, June 29, 2012

Red, White & Blue Waffles

Here's a delicious breakfast treat for the 4th, or really for anytime.  We love fresh berries on top of our waffles.  Here's the basic recipe.

2 cups flour
3 T. sugar
1 T. baking powder                             
1 t. salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
2 cups milk, as needed

Fresh strawberries, sliced
Fresh blueberries
Whipped cream
Syrup

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Stir with a wire whisk to distribute the ingredients.  Add the melted butter, eggs and about 1 1/2 cups milk.  Blend with a wire whisk until smooth and free from lumps.  Add more milk, as needed, to obtain a thick but pourable batter. 

Follow directions for your waffle maker.

Top waffles with sliced strawberries, fresh blueberries and some whipped cream and syrup.

Waffles may be kept warm in a preheated 300 degree oven for 5-10 minutes, but their consistency may change. 

NOTE:  For leftover waffles, I like to let them cool and them put them on a cookie sheet .  When frozen, transfer the waffles to a freezer proof bag.  Re-heat in toaster or toaster oven.

I am sharing this with:

Mix It Up Monday!
On the Menu Monday
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Cowgirl Up
The Bunny Hop
Full Plate Thursday
Foodie Friday
Weekend Potluck
Seasonal Sundays

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Anniversary Baguettes with Dipping Oil

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Today we are celebrating 42 years of marriage!! How can that be? We were both born in Pennsylvania, moved to Ohio and met our freshmen year in high school.  We were both still in college when we married  in Columbus, Ohio.  I taught Home Economics for several years and then our four children came along.  We lived in Michigan for a short period before moving to Texas and we've been here almost 26 years.   Lucky for us, we were high school sweethearts. I always tell my hubby that with  today's match.com we probably never would have met, as we're so different. He likes to hunt, loves sports,  vegetable garden and I like to read, bake, cook and sew. However, we've just always loved each other, had FuN together, had four great kids and now six wonderful grand kids. My hubby's the most loyal, hard-working, committed, dedicated person. He's had cancer for the past almost 7 years, been on chemo for nearly 2 years and you would never know it. He's MY HERO.  He's the one I,  and our family, can count on and who I LOVE. Happy Anniversary to us!!

Our oldest son's in-laws (and our friends!) share the same anniversary as us.  Isn't that a coincidence?

I made this basket when we lived in Michigan, before moving to Texas, dated 1985!

Elyse pattern wine goblets by Franciscan ($7.99 in 1970, $47.99 today!)
I made an easy meal for us...just summer sausage, grapes, strawberries, cheese, a trio of stuffed olives and French baguettes. The recipe for the crunchy baguettes is from www.kingarthurflour.com and can be found here.  I have another French bread recipe that I love, but it is a softer texture, and can be found  here.   This time I wanted something crunchy and these baguettes made us feel like we were eating at a bistro in Paris, even though we've never been!

These plates were a gift from a dear friend.


We love to dip our bread in an olive oil, which I tried to copy from a favorite Italian restaurant. Here's my rendition:

About 1/3 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
About 1 t. Italian seasoning
About 1/4 t. Basil, dried
About 1/4 t. Oregano, dried
A sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan. Add the garlic and simmer for about a minute, just to get the raw garlic taste out. Add the rest of the herbs. Let cool. Enjoy as a dipping sauce for French bread.

Baguettes rising on parchment paper
My tip for Yvonne's  Tips, Tutorials and Tidbits party  over at stonegable.blogspot.com/, is when  baking breads, such as french baguettes, or pizzas, is to put the shaped dough on parchment paper and slide this onto a rimless cookie sheet. When you're  ready to bake, you can then slide the parchment paper onto the baking stone that's been heating in the oven. Who needs a pizza peel??!!

I am sharing with:

Mix It Up Monday!
On the Menu Monday
Table Top Tuesday
The Bunny Hop
Let's Dish!
Tablescape Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Tips, Tutorials and Tidbits
Foodie Friday
Weekend Potluck
Seasonal Sundays

Monday, June 25, 2012

Red, White and Blue Pie


I saw a picture of this pie in our utililities co-op magazine.  There wasn't a recipe for it, but I thought it
was perfect for a 4th of July dessert.  Here's how I put it together for a quick, easy rendition:

                                                                                                                        
a single crust pie dough, either homemade or store bought
1 can cherry pie filling (I used a Fischer and Wieser product that I bought at Costco...a little expensive, but sooo good!)
1 can blueberrry pie filling (only part is used, refrigerate the rest for another use)

Roll out the pie crust bigger than normal.  Cut 4 strips and several stars from the edges.  I made a paper copy of a star, but if you have a tiny star cookie cutter, it would be so much easier!!  Make sure, with the remainder of the dough, that you have a nice, round shape to fit in your pie plate.

Fit the round pie crust into the pie pan. Turn the edges under and crimp.   With a piece of foil, fold the foil into a strip and make an "L" shape.  Fit this into the upper left corner (it will be a backword "L").  Pour the cherry pie filling in the larger portion and then the blueberry filling in the small quarter.  Carefully remove the foil.  Place your strips of dough on for the stripes on the cherry pie filling  and your stars on the blueberry filling.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes, then turn down to 350 degrees and bake for 35-40 minutes, until filling is hot and bubbly.

Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.   Happy 4th of July!!
Where I got the idea!
                                                                              
I am sharing this with:
Mix It Up Monday!
On the Menu Monday
Tea Time Tuesday at Rose Chintz Cottage
Weekend Potluck Linky
My recipe was featured!
You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
Crazy Sweet Tuesday
Cowgirl Up
The Bunny Hop
Full Plate Thursday
Foodie Friday                                                                                       
Weekend Potluck
Pink Saturday
Sweets for Saturday
Seasonal Sundays
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