Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day

Ever have this happen? You pick your kids up form school and one of them tell you that you need to make something for them for their in school party and - oh yeah it's tomorrow? And another - oh yeah - I would really like you to make that cake you make! Immediately the other one chimes in - oh me too!!! So what I thought was going to be a nice quiet Wednesday night on the home front is not! I did what any Mom out there would do...I made cake X 2!

It was really simple actually. I have been loving the taste of the super easy orange cake that I made last week and the week before that so it was a no brainer as to what I was going to do. My youngest daughter has a sensitivity to red dye so I also knew that she needed to have something that wasn't full of it...no red velvet cake for her!!!

This cake is so versatile. So far I have made a layer cake, bundt cake and now heart cakes using the same recipe. Up until now though I have just been topping it with a glaze but with it being Valentine's Day and all I thought I would make a nice orange icing to go on top. My youngest daughter's is the cake on the right without icing all the way around (less icing for the young ones is a good thing and they don't miss it!). I sprinkled them with some little nonpareils and colored sugar.

Orange Frosting (will frost 2 cakes)

1/2 C. butter (softened)
1 tsp vanilla
6 C. powdered sugar ( sifted)
1/2 C. fresh squeezed orange juice
zest of 2 oranges

Beat butter with vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in the sifted powdered sugar, adding a small amount at a time. Add a few Tbs of the orange juice and all of the orange zest. Beat and add more orange juice as needed to make the frosting spreadable.

Not too bad for a last minute treat!!!

Cake X 2

The spoils...great for my new composter!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

The best chocolate chip cookies EVER!!!

Can you tell that I liked them? These cookies were so good and I have been trying to really stay away from the sweets and all but those pretty much did me in! I got the recipe from Jill at Simple Daily Recipes which is one of my favorite food blogs. It has straight forward easy to follow recipes. She also runs the Great Cooks Blogroll which is showing up on more food blogs every day!

Anyway, enough about Jill...

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!

• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (I only had light brown sugar so I added 1 Tbs molasses)
  
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup healthy egg substitute, or 2 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
  
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375F degrees.

Beat sugars and butter in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Beat in vanilla and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough 1/4 cupfuls (I used a small scoop so I got smaller cookies) about 2 inches apart on ungreased (or silpat covered) cookie sheet.

Bake 11-13 minutes to until edges are light brown (middle will be soft). Cool 3-5 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Store in an airtight container to keep fresh and soft.

Maybe it was the dark brown sugar (or molasses) which gives these such great flavor but whatever it is I will make these again!!!

This makes it soooo hard to cook in my small kitchen - Huge Dog takes up some prime real estate...right in front of the sink and between 2 counter tops!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Farmer's Market Leftovers...and what I made!

Dinner! Grilled radicchio, sauted shitake mushrooms, sauteed dandelion greens and swiss chard

It seems like so long ago that I went to the Farmer's Market and came back with bags (earth friendly reusable - of course) of fresh veggies and boat shrimp. But it has really been less than a week. I went through the refrigerator yesterday and got out all of the food that remaining from last Wednesday's trip and knew that was about to be dinner!

Sauteed dandelion and swiss chard

Organic Shitake Mushrooms

We had some dandelion greens and swiss chard that I sauteed with olive oil and garlic, shitake mushrooms that I sauteed in butter, tomato and mozzarella (fresh from Paesano's), and a head of radicchio which T. grilled and we ate with balsamic vinegar. Mozzarella and Tomato Salad with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and fancy olives

The radicchio was my absolute favorite. I love the flavor anyway but once it was grilled it seemed not quite so bitter but still with the crunchy, sharp taste! If you haven't tried it before I would have to say it is a must try!!!

My fridge is now empty and just waiting for my next visit to the market!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

A special meal for a bunch of sickies!

T. was away for the whole weekend but he called me Sunday morning and said he wasn't feeling very well and was going to head home earlier then expected. This was a great surprise for the girls because they didn't expect to see him until Monday morning. But all I really heard was sick...so I leapt (not really) into action and started making chicken soup! The girls and I had roasted a chicken for Friday night and I had saved the bones to make some stock. Good thing too now that T. and my youngest one are both sick now!!!

I knew that the chicken soup would be good for them but I also wanted to make a nice dessert for them too. I had bought some of the most incredible Florida oranges called Cara Cara's ( they have pink flesh, similar to a blood orange but not a dark and their juice is only slightly pink). I decided that I would make them into a cake. I found a recipe for a super easy orange cake. They all loved this one so I will have to make it again!!! T.'s theory on this was that the cake had vitamin C in it so it was the perfect meal to have served.


To make the soup:

Stock
chicken bones
1 lg onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1/4 cup of dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
any left over onion or garlic tops (I have been buying from the farmer's market so I have onions with tops on them)
6 cups of water (approx. I put enough in to cover everything completely and then some)

I take all of these ingredients roughly chopped and put them in a large pot and allow it to simmer all day long. When I am ready to make the soup I strain the stock from the other ingredientsa and place it back on the stove. I pick out the meat and some of the greens and chop it and add it to the soup pot.

Soup
Left over chicken
Swiss chard ( roughly chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
Better than Bouillon chicken base (1 tsp)

I add all of this and just let it come back to a boil and allow it to simmer again until the greens have wilted nicely.

I guess I have been making soup on Sunday since I have been going to the Farmer's Market. I have been using it to help get rid of all of the leftover bits of produce that haven't already been used up. I can honestly say that nothing is going to waste in my house right now!!! Tonight's dinner is already planned.

Tomato and mozzarella salad
garlic wilted dandelion greens and swiss chard
grilled radicchio
butter sauteed shitake mushrooms

Yes, I know there is no main meat course but I don't think every meal needs one and by eating all of this up tonight I get to go to the Farmer's Market again on Wednesday!!!

As always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Shrimp Tacos with homemade Pico de Gallo!

Shrimp Taco with pico de gallo and avocado

This was a really easy meal that I threw together Thursday night after Karate. I had steamed the shrimp up the night before to help save time and made the pico de gallo during the afternoon. This helped so much in feeding everyone at a decent hour! To make the shrimp all I did was steam them in some water with a little beer mixed in. Them set them in the fridge to cool until the next night. For the pico de gallo I really didn't have a recipe. I cut up a white onion, probably about 10 campari tomatoes (they were the ones that were going to go to waste 1st) seeded (just cut them in halve and squeeze the seeds out), 1 jalapeño pepper finely chopped, 1/2 of a bunch of fresh cilantro (roughly chopped), salt, pepper, juice of 1 lime and garlic powder. The salt, pepper and garlic powder were just to taste. I then let it all sit together in the fridge.

Pico de Gallo

For the taco I took some tortilla shells piled them with about 10 shrimp, bunch of pico de gallo and some fresh avocado and called it dinner. It really doesn't get much easier than that for a busy week night dinner or a fun meal with some friends!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

My Initiation into the World of Goats

My 1st Gallon of Raw Goat Milk!

Yes, I know it is not intended for sale for human consumption! So sad really!

As you read this please don't get the wrong idea. I like goats really I do but in the limited amount of contact that I have had with them (petting zoos, and fairs etc) they have always really seemed to be pretty dirty and dumb animals. Okay, let me explain. You go to a petting zoo and they always have poop on them somewhere, maybe from another goat climbing on them or from rolling around the ground...anyway I hate for my kids to even touch them and always make sure I have the hand sanitizer and wipes ready for the minute they are done (not a germaphobe either but animal poop is gross) because that is what the kids are there to do!

Today I went and picked up my first ever gallon of goat milk from a local goat farmer. I am a city girl...I will always be a city girl but that doesn't mean I can't eat well and want what is best for my family but I have to tell you that picking up goat milk today I was so far out of my element that it wasn't even funny!

The owners had given me really good directions (thank goodness) because getting there sure made you feel like you were in them middle of nowhere (right in the middle of the city though), right down to the dirt roads with no street signs!!! Okay, anyway I pulled into the driveway and parked my car. As I was looking around and getting out I saw a woman (a very pregnant woman) over in the goat pen (is that what you call it?) and I could here her yelling to the goats "Tell me where they are?" And to my very goat uneducated ears I could have sworn I heard the goats saying "there, there, there". I didn't really want to interrupt but I wanted my goat milk! So I yelled out to her and asked her if I was at the right place. She snapped back at me that she had no idea and what did I want...now I had only spoken to her husband so maybe she didn't really know anything about it. Then I thought I had better see if I could help her find what ever she was looking for because it didn't seem like I was getting any milk from her until she was finished. So I asked her if I could help her. She snapped back at me (yes, again) did I know anything about goats...I said no but if that was what she was looking for I could probably identify one! The whole time I am thinking "what a nasty b*****!". I got into the goat pen and started walking around. Turns out we were looking for 2 of the babies that she had that were missing. I started searching the fence to see if they had just gotten out and then I started looking under the rocky area and the trees. Now she had started yelling for her husband and, I kid you not, every time she yelled out "Leal" the goats seemed to say it as well "Leal, Leal, Leal". Very bizarre!

Anyway we finally found the babies. They had hidden themselves in their covered area behind a box and the wall and under some straw??? and I no longer had to worry about the wild goat eating animal I was envisioning. The goat lady apologized to me and gave me my milk and off I went. These goats though changed my mind. They were really smart (they could talk!) and they were so nice and clean! Now I have my goat milk. I can't wait to make some yogurt!!! I also can't wait to see what my next adventure will be with the goat people!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Pasta with Shrimp and Basil Pesto

Last week after I went to the Worden Farm's Farmer's Market I made some fresh basil pesto with the basil and garlic that I had bought when I was there. Click here for post and recipe. So I thought I would show you what I did with the pesto.

I cooked the peeled and deveined shrimp in some butter and garlic just until they were no longer opaque. Cooked the pasta according to the box (use whatever type of pasta you have available). Toss the past a shrimp together with as much pesto as you like. You will have to judge it based on your taste. Sit down and enjoy. This is one of my favorite meals. I could truly eat this everyday!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com