Old blueberries make what?

These are some very juicy blueberries. My hands were purple all day!!!

I guess I am sort of following a really crappy pattern here. I have soooooo much food that seems to been the right on the edge. Too old to eat as it is but just right for baking or cooking...aren't I lucky????

This time it was blueberries. Can you guess what I made?

Blueberry Muffins (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)

Ingredients:

1 cup AP Flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (you can use regular AP flour)
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup milk (2 Tbsp more if using ww pastry flour)
1/4 cup vegetable oil or canola oil
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tsp finely zested lemon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  
• In a mixing bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center.
• Combine all of the wet ingredients except the blueberries and zest. Add all at once to the flour mixture and stir until just moist. The batter should be lumpy.
  
• Fold in the blueberries and the lemon zest.
• Fill greased muffin cups or paper liners 2/3 full.
• Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

This was another really quick and easy recipe. Loved it!!!

On another note...Hurricane Ike.

Crystal Beach near Galveston, TX after Ike roared through.

I know that now that the storm is passed and it is no longer in the news we tend to forget that it is a story about individual lives. I know first hand that the people who live there still need to be in our thoughts. A very good friend of mine is just on her way from here to Galveston where her family has lived forever. They are going there to help do the demolition of their home. Yes, all of their lives were spared but the storm surge came through and pushed their home 4 inches off of the foundation and the house is no longer livable. They have lost everything. Mostly to water damage but at this point with out any A/C they have lost the rest of it to mold. I experienced the loss of my home and most of my belongings to Hurricane Charley 4 years ago (see my post here). I guess all I am trying to say is let's not forget that those people still need our thoughts and prayers.

If anyone is interested in making a monetary donation to this family please email me at judy@nofearentertaining.com and I can get you the family's name and address. This would be going right to them, not through me. They really need all the help they can get right now!

As Always...

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

What to make in a hurry and oh yeah...try to get rid of those frozen peppers!

The other night I knew I had to think quick on my feet. It was 5:00 and I had no clue as to what I was going to make for dinner. I remembered a dish that my brother-in-law used to make that was really good but could not for the life of me remember how to make so I just started winging it.

I browned up some "very happy" ground beef. I added some chopped onion, and some green pepper (down one more!!!). Added some oregano, salt and cumin (sorry, no measurements here but keep tasting it...is it good?).

At the same time that I was working on this I was making some white rice (yes I know that brown is better but it's what I had!!!).

I added a can of black beans to the meat mixture and then added a couple of spoonfuls of dijon style mustard. Mixed the cooked rice into all of this and check it out...

This is such an incredibly flavorful dish and I served it with the tomato, onion and cucumber salad from yesterday. I actually had a girlfriend of mine come over and join us and she liked it too!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Tomato, Onion and Cucumber Salad

Honest...there are cucumbers on the bottom!!!

I seem to always have fruit and vegetables that are right on the edge of going bad that need to be used up right away! Yesterday it was bunch of tomatoes and a cucumber. Unfortunately the cucumber had lost virtually all of it's flavor but I was still able to use it in the salad that I was going to make.

Very simple salad. Tomatoes, cucumber and red onion. Sliced and placed in a large flat container. I used a glass 8X8 cake pan.

Salad Dressing:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup white vinegar
5 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tsp fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Mix all the ingredients together and pour over the sliced of tomato, onion and cucumber. Place in fridge for an hour or so before serving. Stirring frequently to make sure the flavors are well blended.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Over ripe bananas call for banana muffins!

Nice and fluffy banana muffins...the perfect snack!

For some reason we always seem to have really dark bananas lying around. I guess I should stop buying them but I think the problem is inconsistency. Sometimes I will buy 5 bananas and they will be gone in 2 days. Other time I will buy 5 and 4 of them will go black. The other day I decided to make some banana muffins. I know everyone has their favorite recipe for them but this one is really easy and there are no special or fancy ingredients to over take the banana flavor. Just good ol' banana muffins!!!

I have used this recipe over and over and it has never let me down.

Banana Muffins (adapted from the Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book)

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups AP Flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup butter
2 Tbsp milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  
• Combine all ingredients but the nuts in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on low until all ingredients are blended. Change speed to high and beat for 2 minutes.
• Stir in the nuts.
• Pour the batter into a muffin pan lined with muffin cups. Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for about 10 minutes in pan and then remove from pan and continue to cool.

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Why I LOVE Foodbuzz...

Our menu for the evening at Todd English's Blue Zoo

They bought me dinner! And I don't mean just any dinner. They bought me and about 20 of my nearest and dearest Florida food bloggers a really, really nice dinner with cocktails and wine as well!!!

This happened on Saturday night. The planning for this has been a long time coming. I think it was around the middle of June when Jenn the Left Over Queen and I first started talking about getting together with a bunch of other bloggers. About this same time Foodbuzz, being the incredible people that they are implemented a program called Dine on Us that is available to all of their featured publishers!!! We jumped right on it and Jenn took the bull by the horns and pulled this thing all together. We were even fortunate enough to have Ryan from Foodbuzz fly all the way from San Francisco to hang out with us!!!

Jenn was able to get us an incredible private room for dinner at Todd English's Blue Zoo in the Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando. Good thing too...we were really loud. Everyone talking about food and then the food came and boy was it incredible!

Amuse - Clam...bacon ragout

Second Course - beet salad...candied walnuts, goat cheese fondue

Third Course - spice route char...curried beluga lentils, zhataar carrot, yogurt spill

Fourth Course - sous vide amish chicken...parmessan polenta, picholine olive, deconstructed tomato sauce

Dessert - warm chocolate cake with liquid ganache center.....maracaibo chocolate cream pudding, peanut ice cream

Bloggers in attendance:

Jenn The Left Over Queen
Lys from Cooking in Stilettos
Christey and Peter from Foto Cuisine
Rachel from My Little Marshmallow
Chris from Pickles and Cake
Susan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy
Ingar from Taste Memory
Erin and Chris from The Olive Notes
Bryan from The Tattooed Gourmet

Take a minute and see what they have to say!

This photo here shows the huge difference between the way a photographer sees things and the way the rest of us do. This photo was taken on my camera by Christey from FotoCuisine. The way the light is shining through the wine and causing that incredible shadow on the table. Thanks Christey!!!

What a great night and I really hope we can do it again! You guys are incredible and reaffirmed my theory...food bloggers are some of the best people anywhere!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Chili and a product review

Wow...those onions are almost blinding!!!

A couple of weeks ago the people at Amazing Taste contacted me and asked me if I would like to sample some of their products. Of course I said yes. I like FREE things. I have had problems with this before though. I have been sent products with so many items in the ingredients that I couldn't pronounce and others items that I just would never use.

This time it was different though. When I got the seasoning packets (which sell for $.99) I was pleasantly surprised. One of the companies goals is to help people take cheaper (therefore tougher) pieces of meat and help make them better and saving you money at the same time!


Last night was one of those nights where I had been running everywhere and couldn't figure out what I was going to do for dinner so I was looking through the pantry and saw the seasoning packets and pulled out one for Chili. They also have special blends for poultry, pork, burgers, seafood, an all purpose malibu, and steak house seasonings. The best thing about Amazing Taste Seasonings is that they have hardly any ingredients in them. The chili seasoning has, get this, chili pepper and other spices, salt, and dehydrated garlic. Normally I would have made this without the aid of a seasoning packet but to be fair I wanted to try this.

Guess what? It was good. Now of course I change the recipe from the packet all up. I still added a pound of beef, but I also added onions, green peppers, fresh frozen tomatoes and black beans. Would I buy this? I would need to try some more of them before I could say that. Chili seasoning is so easy to do from scratch so maybe not that one but maybe one of the others. I'll let you know!

Used from my freezer:

1 green pepper (29 to go...a little help here guys???)
6 frozen whole tomatoes

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Brownies again...and an award!

Homemade Super Rich Chocolate Brownies w/ Walnuts and Pretzels!

It seems like every time we are due to get any bad weather or anything severe I want Brownies. Maybe these have become my comfort food? This time it was Hurricane Ike.


I know, I know we weren't even suppose to really get anything bad from it but it was out there and it was within 200 miles of us!!! Was I really just looking for an excuse??? Now in my defense we have had a lot of flooding due to heavy rains. Lots of wind with gust up to 40 miles an hour but nothing like having a huge storm pummel you head on...my prayers go out to the people in Ike's path.

Anyway. I made Brownies again. This time I added some walnuts and some pretzels (trying for that salty/sweet thing). I only had pretzel thins though and they got a bit soggy before it cooked up so use the regular size ones if you try this!

And this is how I ate my piece!!!

Homemade Super Rich Chocolate Brownies

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies.

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
• 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

I also stirred in 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of crushed pretzels.

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8″square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving 2 inches hanging over the sides. Butter parchment paper.

In a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, stir together butter, chocolate, and cocoa powder. Set aside to cool slightly.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla using an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale, about 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture, mixing until combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread evenly with spatula. Bake about 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet. Let cool in pan about 15 minutes.

Lift brownies out of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

This is a wonderful award that was passed on to me from Meryl's Musing which is a really fun blog filled with a little bit of everything. I am so truly honored every time that someone passes an award on to me. I love the validation that comes with it.

The rules are as follows:

1) Add the logo of the award to your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you (as shown above).

3) Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4) Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

So the ones that I am choosing are the ones that I read all of the time and have actually become "friends" with most of them.

Jenn - the left over queen
Peter at Kalofagas
Danni at On the Way to Critter Farm
Nuria at Spanish Recipes
Dharm at Dad~Baker and chef
Val at More Than Burnt Toast
and last but not least Brittany at Musings of a Barefoot Foodie

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com