Food & Wine

Po’ Girl Christmas

REPOST FROM CHRISTMAS 2014-LAST CHRISTMAS IN MY HOME WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS-BECAUSE I’M LAZY NOW-IT’S MY THING.

Sorry that I have been so lazy about posting anything of substance for a while now.  The very reason for this blog was to share things I have learned living on the cheap all of my life.

Christmas was great this year, had some family and friends over for Christmas Eve this year and went to one of my son’s homes on Christmas Day for “Dinner with the Cratchits” complete with plum pudding from England and some kind of “Hot Gin Punch a la Cratchit” which I blame for the enormous group hug before I left for the night.  I didn’t try any but brought some with me to try when I got home.  I never drink and drive.

Lighting of the Plum Pudding!
Lighting of the Plum Pudding!

I lost one of my cousins a few days before Christmas this year.  I am posting a picture with her from Christmas of 1957.

From far left, Aunt Ruth, sister Gail, cousin Thelma, Bro Bryan, Me, cousin Brenda, Front Bros Bob & Don
From far left, Aunt Ruth, sister Gail, cousin Thelma, Bro Bryan, Me, cousin Brenda, Front Bros Bob & Don

Some of my family now live in the Upper Peninsula. My cousin Thelma passed this year after suffering for many years with Alzheimer’s and my sister Gail passed right after Christmas last year from esophageal cancer. Christmas 1957 was the last Christmas for my Aunt Ruth who passed approximately six months later from Colon Cancer.  Moral:  Enjoy every Christmas like it’s your last.

2014DecMiscChristmas 085

I saw this idea at a diner in Marshall Mi before the holidays. They had placed a loved ones picture in one of the wreaths to honor them and so I placed a picture of my sister to honor her because she always loved Christmas so much and this was our first Christmas without her.

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2014 Casa Po’ Girl Christmas décor.

Wanted to add more to the usual lights and garland I place in my flower boxes each year so I found these gift boxes at the dollar store and inserted some wire to attach them.  The soil was not yet frozen, so this was possible.  The following is a little walk through of what I did to achieve this:

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Finally broke down and made a Santa doll with the pattern I purchased many years ago.  Also used some of my odds & ends to make some “baby” crafts.

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I will not post actual pictures of the parties out of respect for others privacy. A few shots of some of the cookies that I and others made this year. One of my sons went all out this year and for the first time made cookies. All kinds of them. I think the Ninja sugar cookies got him started, but we really loved the melt in your mouth eggnog cookies!  I have to say I have eaten so many of these I have actually felt very sick so that’s it for me.

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Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting

I decided to bake a cake when the heat was out in my apartment again.  It’s not super cold right now but chilly so what the heck, why not use this as an excuse for making something I shouldn’t be eating.  I had to bake something to warm myself up and had all the ingredients.

I knew I wanted something quick and easy, small.  I knew there was a recipe in my 1972 Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, page 97 for a Dinette Cake.  This was for “A tender, golden cake for small families.”  I wanted chocolate, not hard to do with this recipe.  I am posting the recipe that I made and not the original one for the yellow cake.

One Bowl Chocolate Dinette Cake

 

1 C flour                                           1/3 C cocoa powder

1 C sugar                                          1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt                                          1/2 C milk

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch                      1/4 C French Vanilla Creamer

1/3 C oil                                           1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

 

Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl and place all the liquid ingredients in a two cup measuring cup to add all at once to the dry. You can use a hand mixer or hand whisk, which is what I used to keep it simple.

Once the dry ingredients were incorporated, I added the liquid and mixed well.

Pour into a 9x9x2 glass pan well greased, I don’t use flour as I used to and find that if I grease well, there is no sticking and it does not have those clumps of flour on the bottom which detracts from the flavor considerably.

Bake at 325° for approximately 20 min or til done. You can start to smell it and I test with those tiny poultry skewers that come with those lacing kits many use with their turkeys. They work out nicely.

 

Once cooled, I whipped up some quick butter cream frosting by hand from the following ingredients:

1/4 C softened butter, approx 2 C powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla & tiny bit of milk by drops to give it the proper consistency.  If you don’t use salted butter, you can add a pinch of salt to the icing as well.

Then it’s yum, yum, eat it up!

 

Happy New Year

Woke to no heat.  Thankfully it was in the 30’s this morning.  I woke up about 3 am to pee, good thing this was not a “hangover” day for me.  I noticed it felt cold but too lazy to walk to the next room to “turn up the heat” which is what I thought was wrong.  Went right back to bed shivering.  I woke a couple of hours later colder, went to turn it up and felt the radiator cold as ice.

Damn!

It went out a few times last year.  We have an old boiler in the building but last year after new management took over, my heat has not only gone out once in a while, it’s not as warm as it used to be.  I have not seen the heating & cooling people out here for a while now, maybe saving money.  I have a space heater I turned on and made some hot coffee to warm myself after dressing myself in layers and then wrapping myself in a blanket fleece robe.

I waited for a while to call the caretaker, being a Holiday and all.  At 10 am when it was still out he said he had gotten other complaints and restarted the boiler again.  That was cause for celebration indeed.  Another slice of “better than sex” cake!

It’s alive!

Warm is good.  Cold bad.

Pumpkin Spice Goodies

Po’ Girl’s Recipe Page Soon to Come

PUMPKINPATCH

It’s pumpkin time!  I love pumpkin anything, almost.  If I get a young, sweet one, I will just eat the flesh with a little butter and salt.  Delicious as any good squash.  Problem is many don’t eat them til they are older so they think the taste is very blah.  It’s OK to eat as a vegetable just as any fresh squash is.  It has never gotten proper consideration on the dinner plate.

I always end up sick of Pumpkin Spice by Fall’s end.  From the creamers in my coffee to any recipe I can cram it in, I will do just that.  Was never a fan of actual Pumpkin Pie, not sure why.  I will eat it if it’s offered to me though.  A small piece smothered in whipped cream is not bad.

Please enjoy the following Pumpkin recipes with this disclaimer:  Results are not guaranteed and be aware that I often use less sugar in my recipes than most conventional recipes contain. 

Pumpkin Muffins

 

1 1/2 C flour (all-purpose or whole wheat)

1/4 C brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of other spices of choice such as

nutmeg, cloves, ginger, turmeric or cardamom

1/3 C oil or melted butter

1 egg

1/4 C vanilla creamer

1/4 C Pumpkin Spice

or any creamer/milk with additional sugar for sweetness

3/4 C Pulp of Pumpkin or Butternut Squash

1/2 C well chopped Walnuts (optional)

1/2 C chocolate chips (optional)

This made a dryer batter with results more like a scone than a muffin when I baked them in muffin top holders. (not pictured)

Bake at 375° for approximately 15 minutes, but keep an eye on them.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

2 1/4 C flour of your choice

1/4 C wheat germ

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg, cloves, ginger or other spice of choice

1/2 C butter

1/2 C brown sugar

1/4 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 TB Pumpkin Spice Creamer

2 eggs

3/4 C pulp Pumpkin or similar squash

10 oz Chocolate Chips (optional) for plain pumpkin cookies

Chopped nuts (optional)

Mixing & baking identical to making any chocolate chip cookie. The puree & creamer goes in with the wet ingredients, once all incorporated, then the dry, which should have previously been combined and set aside, is mixed in.

Bake at 350° for approx 9 minutes but keep an eye on them.

Cheesecake
YUMMY!
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

Cheesecake

 

Ritz Cracker crust

42 crackers (crumbled in food processor till done)

2 TB sugar

4-5 TB melted butter

Mix everything in bowl & press in the bottom of an ungreased 8″ Springform Pan with Parchment paper on the bottom. Please click on areas highlighted for more in depth information on how to easily cover the bottom of your pan if you are not familiar with how to do this.

Place the pan in the freezer while you prepare the Cheesecake filling of:

2 – 8 oz pkgs of cream cheese (OK if one is low fat, have not tried all low fat yet per critics)

3/4 C sugar

1/2 C sour cream

2 TB cornstarch

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Using a mixer, cream the cheese and the sugar, then add the sour cream and additional ingredients mixing til combined for each one, one at a time.

To make this

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake

you will merely add 3/4 C pumpkin puree & 1/4 C Pumpkin Spice creamer before adding the eggs                                            AND

place 1 tsp cinnamon & dashes of nutmeg & cloves (spices of your choice) to the cornstarch mixture changing up the amount by 1 TB to a total of 3 TB cornstarch.

Once it’s all combined and smooth, take out the crust and pour in the filling. Place in a pre-heated oven of 325° for approximately 45 minutes but please keep an eye on it, especially when you can begin to smell your baking.  One I baked just right, the other slightly over baked but eatable. 

Once it’s out, let it cool for at least an hour or two on the stove before trying to remove the springform band around it. The parchment paper allows it to slide onto the plate very nicely (Parchment will remain under the cake).   Never cut inside any pans if you can avoid it. I have never had to “slide a knife” around the edge as some instructions have advised. You should not ever have to do this.

Place the cheesecake in the fridge for a number of hours to completely chill. Some swear overnight, but I have not had to wait more than a few hours. Make sure it’s completely chilled before cutting.

Great Instant Pot Cheesecake recipe but you will need a special 6″ pan to fit inside the Instant Pot, plus some are not happy with the condensation that drips onto the cake.  Click for more info.

I plan on posting some Instant Pot recipes of my own very soon.

 

Drizzly Day in the Country

Just before 7:00 am this morning, I’ve always been an early riser, more Blue Jays than I had ever seen before swooped down in the drive to begin eating and drinking.  It was sprinkling and still very dark but I was able to make all of them out.  Knew that it would make an awesome picture with well over 10 Blue Jays only in this tight group.  Of course when I came back to that window after fetching my camera, at least half of them had flown away.  I quickly set the ISO to 800 but realized it was not working after the first two shots.  Not much better at 1600 ISO.  Hand held, dark and rainy.

I have been ill for over a week now with some kind of viral sore throat, bronchitis deal. I do get allergies around this time and I came down with it after running errands a couple of days in a row in thick fog. Even when I try to breathe through a scarf, it can still effect me adversely.
My apartment backs up to woods with all kinds of wildlife out here. Before I became ill I took pictures of some deer grazing right outside my window. I apologize for the poor quality of shooting through my screen. The windows have a special immovable screening that covers the entire window for safety and security or they are just cheap.

These are some shots I got a month or two before when I was outside, which are a little clearer. I try not to get to close and spook them as I did this fawn. His brother could care less I was there, he was hungry!

Sees me…
There’s his brother…
Both…
Starts to run…
Still running…
Going…
Going…
Gone!

These are even earlier still.

Notice me taking pictures..
keep eating…
Little one in the shrubs
Pops out…
Notices people coming…
They start to run away…

My next post I will be sharing my Cheesecake recipe with you all!  First Cheesecake in a very long time and sadly it will not be my last!  Next one will be Pumpkin Cheesecake.  Forgot to take a picture of a mock pumpkin mug cake that I nuked in 90 seconds.  Came out perfect.  Just a plain cake replaced liquid with Coffee-mate Pumpkin Spice.  I will include this recipe when I complete the Pumpkin one within the next couple weeks only adding some actual pumpkin pulp next time.  I just purchased the sugar pumpkin to pressure cook in my Instant Pot.  I prefer fresh pumpkin to the canned any day.

Beware the Food Culture of America

It can kill you.

Enough said.

Many of us are killing ourselves with kindness.

We have tons of processed food & are brainwashed into craving it!”

Most of us never learned self-control or self-discipline.
Instead, we are told to be proud of our obesity & we should never be ashamed.
We are expected to wear our fat like a badge of courage instead of over-indulgence.

You can eat quite a lot of foods that grow naturally.

Eating the way nature intended.

Natural foods: Whole grains, dairy, fresh organic meats, fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, herbs, spices, etc…

Taste better than over processed chemical ridden frankenfoods any day.

 

Even Better Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I have revised Po’ Girl’s Chocolate Chip Cookies for the third and probably not last time.  I am still striving for something a little healthier than the original Toll House Recipe but lighter and tastier than my previous recipe posted 5 1/2 years ago.  I cannot believe it has been that long!  This newest revision still has half the sugar of the Toll House but a little more fat than last time.  Using much less flour makes a more tender, light cookie, even with most of it being whole wheat flour.

Place on parchment covered baking sheet by heaping teaspoons and bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes for soft baked, a little longer for darker crispier cookies if you prefer.

Our apartment shuts off the heat completely after May so it was down in the low 40’s out here this morning.  I wanted to heat my apartment up a little so I decided it would be a great time to bake and store some in the freezer for later.  Hot weather prevents me from using the oven all summer.

Daily Prompt: Blame the Dog

Any of you guilty of “blaming the dog” for stuff?  Farting, eating your homework, that missing cookie, etc…?

HUH?!

Don’t forget Queens! Today is International Tiara Day! Wear your crowns proudly! 

Please enjoy the following guilty pleasure if you happen to have one of the vintage Duncan Hines Tiara Dessert pans from the 80’s.  If not I’m sure you can make do with what you have on hand and play it by ear.

You can place the strawberries over a custard or vanilla pudding layer as I did or just top with the strawberries.  Whipped cream can only improve the experience.

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Daily Prompt: Rapid Read Household Tips

 Household Tips

If you really want to declutter for this year try throwing away Doubt, Worry, Regret, Bad Feelings & Fear.    Try replacing them with Faith, Hope & Prayer!

Weight Loss

  1. Smaller portions.
  2. Increase exercise.
  3. Adjust all recipes for less fat & sugar.
  4. Most good, healthy meals don’t take many ingredients or need to be complicated.
  5. Omit or decrease dressings, sauces & gravies.
  6. Do not fry your foods, ever!  I have cooked frozen southern style hash browns in my toaster oven with no oil a few times.  I will sometimes coat them with a teaspoon but cooking in oil adds many unneeded calories.
  7. I am not a raw vegetable cruncher.  Adjusted snacks to healthy choices of just small piece of cheese, teaspoon peanut butter, Harvest Snaps, Creative Snacks Co Almond Clusters & dark chocolate.

Always remember that cutting things down is not only healthier for you but saves you money as well.

Weekly Photo Challenge: I’d Rather Be Baking

Especially when my apartment’s boiler is not working properly and I wake to freezing, just above zero temps, in my area of Michigan.  My first thought was to turn on my electric oven because it helps to warm the apartment and why not throw in some muffins to bake as well (two birds).

I used the same recipe I posted on a recent post of mine for Sour Cream Coffee Cake.  Click for the recipe.  I baked them at 350° for only 17 minutes in my vintage ecko baking tin.  I did not top these but instead whipped up a spread for them from 4 oz cream cheese and 2 TBs sweet cream butter softened in the microwave but not melted, then stirred in 2 Tb French Vanilla coffee creamer to give it a rich, buttery slightly sweet flavor.  Delicious, but they would have tasted great plain too.  I just happen to be a fan of cream cheese and had some on hand from a sale last week at the local market.

 

I’m still pampering myself and having treats to make up for all the time last year during fall and the entire Holiday Season that I spent ill.  First year I lost weight instead of gaining it for once, to think of it on the positive side.