Go West

West, Texas
Highway art
Exit 353 - I-35

Before you get to Waco from Dallas, you pass through West, Texas - which should be named Kolache, Texas.  We stopped at the Czech Stop and of course, had to get some kolaches.  Pumpkin, pineapple and coconut cream.  

Pumpkin!

Pineapple and Coconut Cream!

And a loaf of jalapeño cheese bread.  And a maple walnut twist.   

Zoom in to the above right sign handing from the ceiling and see
all what they go through each week!

And a cookbook, as I am an avid collector of these self-published community cookbooks.  It was filled with recipes and artwork.  A wonderful and potentially tasty addition to my collection!

Texas Sesquicentennial Edition
1986

And there are sketches throughout

Plus there are five recipes for Apple Strudel!  Hubby loves apple strudel and I'm always looking for new recipes.

It seems there's hope for them reconciling when Peggy looks at Charlie with new eyes and (citing a reference from her grandfather who claimed that her grandmother's strudel kept the family together)...

[present-day Charlie has just begged for another chance with Peggy]
Peggy Sue: Charlie, I'd like to invite you over to your house this Sunday for dinner... with your kids.
[Charlie hesitates, unbelieving]
Peggy Sue: I'll make a strudel.

One of my all-time favorite movies!  Who doesn't like time travel?

And visiting small Texas towns, driving and eating your way across Texas!

No Taco Bueno

Ouch!  I may just go back to making my own taco seasoning.  I will admit Penzeys has some terrific blends and spices and seasonings, but this latest price jump for my usual 3/4 cup bag of Bold Taco Seasoning has me rethinking this particular purchase in the future and going back to making my own.

(By the way, I do love Penzeys Apple Pie Spice on oatmeal in the morning with toasted walnuts and chopped apple.)

c. 1995  641.5
ISBN: 1-55561-073-0
1-55561-107-9

I love this Make-A-Mix book by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover.  I still have the receipt from the now defunct Crown Books wherein I paid by check on February 7, 1996 for $17.49 including tax.  (I saved 10%!)  It also has great recipes.

I leave out the cornstarch and reduce the salt

Through the years, I have also scribbled, stuffed and taped my own mix recipes to the pages, which I shall also post later today.  Gotta keep my Foodie Blogroll bonafides! ; )

Location, Location, Location. . .

Christmas Cookbook 2014
one side

Year-Round Celebrations 2014
the other side

Found at Dillard's (on a round table by the Shoe Department), a two-fer special edition Southern Living  Christmas Cookbook/Year-Round Celebrations book for only $10!  Benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities.   You can bet I will be trying and you will be seeing some recipes here in the near future.  (I think this has the Red Velvet Brownies I've been seeing on Pinterest!).   I would trust their recipe - I've always had good results with recipes from Southern Living, Cooking Light, and Martha Stewart's EveryDay Food.  I usually dirty up enough prep dishes and tools to run the dishwasher twice, but they are all worth it.  And this is worth it especially for a good cause.  (Not a bad gift for Secret Santa exchanges with a cap on how much you could spend.  I bet this will be traded/stolen many times over.)

Fresh Fig Muffins

Fresh Fig Muffin
(Christmas in July?)

From "The Figgery" today. . .I baked this Fresh Fig Muffin recipe adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco.   These turned out GREAT!  Tasted wonderful warm and at room temperature.  Hopefully they will freeze well, as I was able to get 15 muffins out of this recipe.  Albeit using my "seasonal" cup cake paper cups.  I don't like to try and pry muffins out of the tin, but I do like an after-holiday sale.  I can usually pick these up for 10 to 25 cents a package.  I also think the designs are pretty.

The changes I made were using Celeste figs and sprinkling some Sugar in the Raw on top before baking for sparkle.  Next time I may try subbing out 1/4 to 1/2 of whole wheat flour.  I will try 1/4 cup first, as these are so light as they are.  Also the cinnamon-y/brown sugar muffin base smells and tastes just heavenly as it is baking and afterwards.   I bet you could make these again and sub out pieces of apple, or blueberries, or peaches for the figs.  Add walnuts or almonds.   This recipe is definitely a winner!

FRESH FIG MUFFINS

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2  cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup chopped fresh figs (I quartered the smaller Celeste figs)

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Generously butter a standard 12 cup muffin pan or line it with paper liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

In a second small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla.

Using an electric mixer (if you have a paddle attachment, use it.  I used the regular Kitchen Aid one), beat the butter and brown sugar until well combined.

With the mixer at low speed, alternate adding the the dry and liquid ingredients - 1/3 flour mixture, 1/2 buttermilk mixture, 1/3 flour mixture, 1/2 buttermilk mixture, 1/3 flour mixture. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix.

Remove bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the figs.

Fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.

I love my Pampered Chef stoneware.
A nice remembery gift from a very dear friend of mine

Bake until the muffins are a deep golden brown in color, 25-30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Then turn out muffins from the pan and let them cool completely.

Makes 12 to 15 muffins.

Look carefully -You can see the melted and caramelized  figs inside

P.S.  How impressed was I by this recipe??  I just bought the cookbook!  Since it was published in 2009, Amazon has them new and used starting at $3.99.  Target and Walmart also sell it online, if you have a gift card from them - I'd consider getting this cookbook.  And then give the giver something you made from it. 

Mark it with a B -- Baking Books

Costco Two-fer!

First, of course - Cooking Light's newest book "Everyday Baking"
$15.99 (published price $24.95) ISBN 978-0-8487-3441-1

Next, "Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook"
$11.99 (published price $19.95)
ISBN 978-0-470-874030-5

Besides my legendary Pavlovian response to anything Cooking Light, this book's recipes can be made in 30 minutes or less.  You've got quick breads, muffins, rolls & flatbreads, scones, biscuits, coffee cakes, cookies, cakes, pies, cobblers...  Doesn't the Cranberry Upside-Down Coffee Cake on page 176 sound good for when the bags of cranberries start appearing in the stores (I may even still have a bag in the freezer from last year, I better go check.  I don't think I want to wait to try it.)

And I've always favorited Betty Crocker..  I have several of her cookbooks, the basic ones which get updated every few years and she changes her hairstyle ones - Some of our favorites don't get carried over from edition to edition.  Of course, there are always new ones added!    But this book helps keep all good and yummy things holiday handy.  Appetizers, candy, bread, breakfast and main courses, desserts.  Even gifts from your kitchen and holiday decorations.

While I hate to push the season, I also like to prepare and plan.  We always try a couple new recipes each year.  I think I may find them in these books.

Reality Bites

What it is supposed to look like!

This is the recipe I saw on page 75 when I bought the new Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast 24/7 cookbook the other day at Costco.

Step 1:  Don't use French bread the recipe calls for and instead bolillo buns.
Trim off tops and bottoms and think this is a good substitute.  Pat self on back for using a couple of whole wheat ones!

Oops!

Step 2:  Quick, think!  BAKED French/Bolillo Toast!
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, until slightly crunchy on top.

Her heart is in the right place!

Step 3:  Top with remaining apples and sauce.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar (just like the cookbook picture, which is the only resemblance to the pictured recipe) and eat!

Ready to eat!

Overall, a great save.  I will probably purposefully make it this way again.  Especially in the Chantal heart-shaped baker, I think it actually looks pretty.  And delicious!

CINNAMON APPLE STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Cinnamon apple filling
4 (1 ounce) slices diagonally cut French bread, about 1" thick
1/2 cup fat-free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
cooking spray
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

1.  Prepare cinnamon apple filling.
2.  Cut a horizontal slit through the side of each bread slice to form a pocket.  Stuff 3 tablespoons cinnamon apple filling into each pocket.
3.  Place milk, vanilla and egg in a shallow dish; stir with a whisk until blended.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
4.  Dip each side of stuffed bread in egg mixture to coat.  Add stuffed bread to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar, top evenly with remaining filling.

Calories 230, fat 7.9g (sat 4.2g, mono 2.2g, poly 0.7g), protein 6.2g, carb 34.6, fiber 2.2g, chol 69mg, iron 1.4mg, sodium 259mg, calcium 73mg 

Cinnamon Apple Filling

2 tablespoons butter
2 cups chopped unpeeled Gala apple (4 small)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add remaining ingredients, saute' 3 minutes or until apples are golden.
Serving size 5 tablespoons

Calories 115, fat 5.9g (sat 3.7g, mono 1.5g, poly 0.2g), protein 0.2g, carb 16.9g, fiber 1.5g, chol 15mg, iron 0.2mg, sodium 44mg, calcium 16mg

Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2011

A Pavlovian response as soon as I see the Cooking Light type face, the new Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2011 quickly moved from the table to my cart at Costco the other day. Costco's price of $20.99 is a considerable savings over the publisher's price of $34.95. But well worth every penny, even though I subscribe to the magazine, too. I rip out the recipes I want to try, and then the ones we liked are put in my recipe binder. Now my tearable (sic) magazine folly during the year has been made whole again into a book.

Sigh, I counted my Cooking Light cookbooks the other day. I have 31. Not counting the 17 special issues they publish during the year. Obsessed. Yes.

Cooking Light - Cooking Through the Seasons

Like a moth to a flame - the latest Cooking Light cookbook, "Cooking Through The Seasons - an everyday guide to enjoying the freshest food" jumped into my cart yesterday at Costco. $17.99 (Item #521914) ISBN: 0-8487-3319-3 Publisher's price $29.95 Over 250 recipes, 400 pages. Hopefully this will inspire a new seasonal rotation of recipes to my repertoire. I really want to start exploring our local farmer's markets, too.

Everyday Food Fresh Flavor Fast

Finally, a follow-up book to Everyday Food: Great Food Fast.
Just-released Everyday Food: Fresh Flavor Fast has 250 recipes, divided into --

Breakfast
Sandwiches, Burgers and Pizzas
Appetizers
Salads
Soups and Stews
Main Courses (including vegetarian)
Side Dishes
Desserts

I can't wait to try some of them. Right now I seem to be on a Cooking Light bender. I like the format of this book better than the first, which was organized by seasons.

If you subscribe or buy the Everyday Food magazine, you may recognize some of the recipes. This is a good way to "catch up" on what you've been missing, or be able to grab and thumb through at a moment's notice. I don't know about you, but my attention span is easily diverted when I start delving into past issues looking for recipes. At least I can hope to resurface relatively faster with this book handy.

With these two books and the new iTunes Martha Stewart Everyday Food app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, it's a triple crown Everyday Food recipe win!

Paperback, ISBN: 978-0-307-40510-4
$14.99 at Costco, $24.99 publisher's price

Baton Rouge Adventure Part 2 - Slow Cookin' in The Fast Lane

Baton Rouge had HUGE Barnes & Nobles - we went to two different ones. One to shop, the other a free wifi iPod Touch fix to get directions for our next stop. Not only do I heart BN, but I love to check out the regional section whenever I travel, especially the cookbooks. And I found this -- "Slow Cookin' in the Fast Lane" by Julie Kay. Double bonus, it is a slow cooker/crockpot book!

Julie Kay writes a weekly column, "What a Crock", in Baton Rouge's newspaper, The Advocate. You can also find and buy the book online. 126 pages, covered spiral bound hardback. Poultry...Beef...Pork...Soups & Stews...Louisiana Favorites...Lagniappe. Crocking with a Louisiana flavor. There are several unique ones I plan to try soon.

Lowest price for Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Sam's takes the cupcake!

Publisher's price - $24.99

Costco - $14.99

Sam's - $13.72

What sold me? BOSTON CREAM PIE cupcakes!!

New Cooking Light Cookbook at Costco

The Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2009 is now selling at Costco - $20.99 Uh, a little ouch? Last year's was $18.99 and they had a coupon, too. Still the same retail price - $34.95; (ouch x 2!) but 200 fewer recipes. 2008 -- "Over 1,000 New Recipes!" 2009 -- "Over 800 New Recipes!" I kept waiting for a coupon, but it seems Costco is all over the Barefoot Contessa cookbooks (with automatic register markdowns of $3 or $4) this year instead.

Taste of Texas -- Smithville, Texas - Bastrop County Cookbook

I love the fundraising cookbooks and here's the latest one for my collection. Just published and chock-full - 219 pages! - of Texas-style recipes and goodies. Such as Scrumdillyumshish, Old-Timey Buttermilk Pie, Popcorn Cake, Parmesan Enchiladas, Pecan Sticky Muffins, Sweet and Sour Asparagus, Southwestern Cheese Dip, Frog Eye Salad, Texas Hash, Peaches and Cream Salsa, and so much more. But let's be honest, we (at least I do and will admit it) buy these for the desserts, right? Take your pick of almost 200 of them. Wow your family, friends and coworkers. Well worth the cost of the book right there!

The cookbook sale benefits the Bastrop County Mental Retardation Association. To order yours by mail, the cost is $12 plus $4 shipping. Send your check to:

BCMRA

Attention: Kathy Lynch

P. O. Box 484

Smithville, Texas 78957

If you are driving on Highway 71 back and forth between Houston and Austin over the holidays, you can also purchase at copy at the Smithville Public Library and the Smithville Branch of Franklin Bank.

Not only is this a wonderful addition to your bookshelves, but these would also make great holiday gifts, too. (Email Kathy Lynch at k-rector-2@austin.rr.com to make sure they have enough in stock and maybe for possible gift-wrapping options.)

Money Monday - Mix It Up

Let's mix it up!

Just in time for Thanksgiving, this is my favorite "recipe" for Poultry Seasoning --

1 teaspoon each of dried: rosemary...sage...thyme...marjoram...celery salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Shake and store in a leftover spice container. Sprinkle on turkey or chicken and bake in oven or cook in the crockpot. Use in your favorite stuffing recipe. Especially if you use fresh spices, this will smell and taste so much better than the generic container of "Poultry Seasoning" being sold in grocery stores right now.

I love the Make-A-Mix cookbook co-authored by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover. Their recipes and mixes will save you time and money...and help you eat healthier by reducing sugar, salt and other additives. Be sure you get the updated and expanded 1995 edition.

Today's Costco Find

Fix It & Forget it Big Cookbook - 1,400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes - $18.69 at Costco right now. (Publisher's price $29.95) It's a big honker of a book - 699 pages! Phyllis Pellman Good has written 5 Fix It and Forget It slow cooker/crockpot recipe books. Would you believe I don't have any of them? (I do have the page a day/recipe a day 2008 and 2009 calendars. 2009 is also now available at Costco for $7.69) Unless it fell behind another book. That is a possibility. Sad. Too many cookbooks, not enough meals!

Slow Cooker Thursday and Crockpot Challenge - Cornbread

This is from Mable Hoffman's Crockery Cookery, Revised edition, 1995 (ISBN: 1-55788-217-7) - Page 209 I liked the addition of 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and only needing 2 tablespoons sugar. I also used skim milk instead of just "milk." When I flipped through the book trying to find a recipe for today, I thought this would be a great opportunity to use the Rival Bread Baker container, hiding in the back of my pantry. It goes perfectly in the Model 3355 (5 quart?) crockpot, but alas, I never got around to replacing the cracked plastic lid which Rival was using at the time. Time for Plan B -- the 6 cup Corning Ware baking dish, which just fit in "Big Bubba." Mabel says to put 2-3 paper towels on top of the baking dish, but I figured I'd use the matching lid, just skewed slightly. I'm also a little leery of cooking on High 4 1/2-5 hours. I'll do a check at 3 hours. The newer crockpots get and cook hot faster, even on the Low setting. I'll soon find out and report back if I should have used the Low setting instead. . .

It was done at 1 hour, 45 minutes on HIGH. The edges were slightly darker, as if baked in the oven and very yummy. Success, but watch your time and your crockpot! Start checking at 1 1/2 hours, at least the first time you make this to be on the safe side.

CORNBREAD

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup milk

Grease a 6-7 cup baking dish. In a bowl, stir all dry ingredients together. In a small bowl, beat together egg, oil and milk. Pour liquid ingredients into cornmeal mixture and stir to combine. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Place dish in bottom of slow cooker. Cover with 2-3 pieces of paper towel. Cover and Cook on High 4 1/2-5 hours or until firm. Serve warm. Update: Mine was done to perfection on High at 1 hour, 45 minutes.

The chili powder makes it look pretty...

Today's Costco Find

I knew when I saw the display at Barnes and Noble last weekend that Costco would get this book, too at a price of $21.99 versus $34.95 -- Cooking Light Complete Cookbook - A Fresh New Way to Cook. And you get a 17 month subscription for $9. 99 or 6 free issues, plus 11 more. And the interactive CD of Cooking Light's Dinner Tonight Cookbook.

Upon reading the "Welcome" letter from Mary Kay Culpepper, Editor in Chief, I discovered this is the same as the 2006 "All-New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook", with the following differences --the In Season section and the CD. Plus the subscription offer, which I want to find out if I can add on to my current one. (Hey, it worked with the Taste of Home Baking Book). The 35 "In Season" recipes are new -- Corn Bread Shortcake with Ham and Fresh Peach Salsa, and Cheesecake with Fresh Strawberry Sauce are two which popped to my attention.

So, a must buy? Your call: If you don't already have the 2006 cookbook - yes. If you like ring-bound cookbooks - yes. If you don't like Cooking Light's older cookbook's hard-to-use indices - yes. If you like the interactive CD of the Dinner Tonight Cookbook - yes. If you think you'll also be able to extend or start your Cooking Light magazine subscription for $9.99 - yes. If you are a sucker for all things Cooking Light - yes.

175!

175 cookie recipes in the soon-to-be-published, Martha Stewart's Cookies cookbook. Per the Costco Connection magazine, they will have it mid-March (and Everyday Food again). Amazon says you can pre-order for March 11.

Update 3-11-08 -- I picked up my copy at Costco today! $13.59 (publish price is $24.95). The recipes are divied up into -- light and delicate...chunky and nutty...crisp and crunchy...soft and chewy...cakey and tender...rich and dense...crumbly and sandy. . .yum! The books are going fast, there were only 6 copies left on the table.

Ginger Snap Cookies

Back in the day when I was gainfully employed, a fellow co-worker made the best-ever ginger snap cookies -- spicy, sugary, crisp and chewy all at once. While I was pregnant, she'd even bake a batch for me, but alas, I never got the recipe. It has been my mission for almost 16 years to find it. I discovered many pretty good/pretty close recipes along the way, but not "the one" ...Until I was at the library in the cooking section last weekend and found "The Weekend Baker" by Abigail Johnson Dodge with the cookies on the cover! They looked just like Libby's! I flipped to page 136 and saw the ingredient list for "Ginger Crackles" was slightly different than all the others I tried previously. I went home and started baking and I think these are them. I made it using the measuring cups -- the author is a big believer in using the scales for measuring. Next time I'll try it that way. I know back when Burda WOF used to have recipes and the ingredients were listed by weight, my German friend said that was the way she and her mom always baked.

GINGER SNAPS/GINGER CRACKLES

2 1/4 cups (10 ounces) all purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon table salt

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (2 ounces) vegetable shortening

1 cup (8 ounces) sugar, plus 2/3 cup (5 1/4 ounces) for rolling

1 large egg

1/4 cup (2 fluid ounces) light molasses

Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment or non-stick baking liners. In a large bowl, combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk until well blended. In another large bowl, combine the butter, shortening and 1 cup sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed until well combined. Add the egg and molasses and beat until well blended. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until well blended. Pour the remaining 2/3 cup sugar into a shallow bowl. Shape the dough into 1" balls. Roll each ball in the sugar and set 2" apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time until puffed and lightly browned around the edges, about 13 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Using a spatula, lift the cookies from the sheet onto a rack and let cool completely.

----

The book is well-organized and easy to follow. I like how the author presents many of the recipes with do-ahead sections. Such as for this recipe she says:

The dough can be made, shaped and balls coated with sugar and then frozen for up to 2 months before baking. For best results, position the shaped dough snugly on a small cookie sheet and freeze until very firm. Then pile the frozen balls into a heavy-duty freezer bag and store in the freezer. When you're ready to bake, remove only the number of cookies you need, place on prepared cookie sheet and leave them on the counter while the oven heats up.

The Weekend Baker, Abigail Johnson Dodge, 2005, ISBN: 0-393-05883-2, Library Call No. 641.815 Publisher's list price $30

Oops!

You all realize by now I am a sucker for a cookbook, and then when you combine Betty Crocker...with heart healthy recipes...and a shiny metallic cover - well, natch this hopped into my cart. But then I got home and opened it and realized it is the same 10th edition I bought earlier this year at the Costco. It's still a buy it if you don't have the 10th edition already (I still love and use my 1969/1978 edition!). You'll love the low fat, 20 minute, and slow-cooker/Crockpot recipes.