Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010 Menu

I LOVE Thanksgiving. It has really become my favorite holiday. I love to cook the large meal and I especially love that Kasey cleans up after me!

Sweet Potatoes

I have never made these before, but I figure, “hey, why not?”

Ingredients

· 3 cups cold mashed sweet potatoes (without added milk and butter)

· 1 cup sugar

· 1/2 cup milk

· 1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

· 3 eggs

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING:

· 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

· 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

· 2 tablespoons cold butter or margarine

Directions

· In a mixing bowl, beat sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, salt and vanilla until smooth.

· Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish.

· In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, and flour; cut in butter until crumbly.

· Sprinkle over potato mixture.

· Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown.

French Bread

I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was really good!

Ingredients

· 6 cups all-purpose flour

· 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast

· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

· 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

Glaze

· 1 egg white

· 1 tablespoon water

Directions

· Put the 2 cups of warm water in a mixing bowl and add the yeast. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and it should turn frothy.

· In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, salt and they yeast and water mix. Beat until well blended Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

· On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about an hour).

· Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large and thin rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.

· Grease a large baking sheet. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled (about 35 to 40 minutes).

· With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

Stuffing

Ingredients

· 1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread

· 3 3/4 cups cubed white bread

· 1 cup chopped onion

· 3/4 cup chopped celery

· 2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage

· 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary

· 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

· 1 apple, cored and chopped

· 3/4 cup dried cranberries

· 1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

· 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

· Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Spread the white and whole wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.

· In a large skillet, onions over medium heat, stirring until evenly browned. Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.

· Pour mixture mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver. Drizzle with melted butter, and mix lightly. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.

Pie Crust (for “Superman Pie”)

Ingredients

· 4 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 3/4 cups lard

· 3 tablespoons white sugar

· 2 teaspoons salt

· 1 egg

· 1/2 cup water

Directions

· In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, lard, sugar, and salt. Blend together with a pastry cutter until crumbly.

· In a small bowl, mix egg with water. Blend into flour mixture. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

Pie Filling (for “Superman Pie”)

Ingredients

· 2/3 cup white sugar

· 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

· 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

· 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

· 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

· 8 apples - peeled, cored and sliced (I prefer Jangold, but Kasey prefers Granny Smith apples. If I had the cash I would only use Honey Crisp apples, but they are like $3-4 EACH!)

Directions

· Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

· In a small bowl stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and cloves.

· Place one of the pie shells into a 10 inch pie pan. Put 1/2 of the sliced apples into the shell and sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over them. Top with the remaining apples and the remaining sugar mixture.

· Using the remaining crust, use a cookie cutter or a glass to cut dough circles.

· Starting along the edge of the pie, place the circles, slightly overlapping all the way around. Once you go around, move up to the next level and continue until the top of the pie is covered. You will want a small bit of space between the “corners” that the overlapping circles make.

· The top of the pie should have one single crust circle. In this circle, draw a Superman logo! (thus the name Superman Pie. Shut up. That’s what I call it, so if you don’t like Superman, draw the Batman logo or whatever)

· Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish

(This is the BOMB, yes I said "the bomb"… old school)

I got this recipe from NPR. It looks weird (pepto pink) and sounds nasty, but trust me. It is THE BEST! BTW, the first year I called this Cranberry Chutney, and Kasey still calls it that, so if you hear her talking about Chutney, this is what she means.

Ingredients

· 2 cups whole raw cranberries, washed (that’s about a whole package from most stores)

· 1 small white onion

· 3/4 cup sour cream

· 1/2 cup sugar

· 2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar (not the creamy horseradish sauce, but the brownish stuff that is just the grinded up root)

Directions

· LIGHTLY Grind the raw berries and onion together with a food processor. You want them to be chunky still.

· Add everything else and mix.

· Put in a plastic container and freeze overnight.

· Early Thanksgiving morning, move it from freezer to refrigerator compartment to thaw. ("It should still have some little icy slivers left.") I usually make this first in the morning and put it in the freezer and just take it out and move to the fridge about an hour before everything is done.

Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

· 12 eggs

· 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard

· ¼ cup mayonnaise

· 1 pinch black pepper

· 24 slices black olives

· Paprika for sprinkling

Directions

· Boil and peel the eggs

· Cut eggs in half lengthwise

· Place the yolks into a mixing bowl, and set the whites aside.

· Mash the yolks with the, mustard, mayonnaise, and black pepper.

· Spoon or pipe filling into egg white halves.

· Garnish each deviled egg with an olive slice, and then sprinkle with paprika.

Turkey

Ingredients

· Turkey

· Tony Chachere’s brand injection

· Tony Chachere’s seasoning

Directions

· Inject the turkey as per directions on the bottle. Be sure to USE IT ALL!

· Rub the turkey with Tony's seasoning

· Stuff the turkey with the stuffing above

· Bake the turkey per directions that come with the bad boy.

Brown and serve rolls

Kasey wants these every year. J If you need directions for this you should leave the kitchen now and wait for someone to cook you dinner.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

· Small bag of red potatoes (maybe like 2 or 3 lbs?)

· 1 cup sour cream

· 2 tbsp garlic

· ½ stick of butter

Directions

· Cut potatoes into small chunks

· Boil potatoes for about 20 minutes

· Drain water from potatoes

· Add all ingredients and mix to desired consistency

Green Bean Casserole

This is pretty much just the Campbell’s recipe.

Ingredients

· 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (I don’t like cream of mushroom, but others may want to use that instead)

· 1/2 cup milk

· 1 teaspoon soy sauce

· Dash ground black pepper

· 4 cups canned cut green beans

· 1 1/3 cups French Fried Onions (or just use the whole can! I love these things…)

Directions

· Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.

· Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.

· Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

Monday, August 23, 2010

10bucksapop.com

I recently launched a new retail website: 10bucksapop.com selling graphic design t-shirts. I hope to build this site to a full time part time job. In other words, this will hopefully make enough cash that I do not need a full time job AND that I can have enough of it automated or outsourced so that it takes up less than 10 hours of my time a week.

The main goal of this is to free myself from the cubi-cell monotony of corporate slavery and the geographical restriction that comes with a "real job". I really want to move to the beach in South Padre, and I mean ON the beach, but the economy there is one that does not offer a lot of opportunity outside of tourist type things and what not. Basically if you want to live on the island, you need to bring your own source of cash flow.

If it all works out though, I can spend my days chilling in the sun and kite surfing. :)

This is not my first online business, but it is presenting some new challenges. Advertising for example is a lot different as people will want to see pictures of the products, so I am doing image type ads on google, which is a whole new field for me. Also, I am trying some facebook integration to get some viral advertising action too.

I still have a lot of ideas that I need to expand upon and implement, so there is plenty to be done, but with me, motivation comes and goes in waves. Hopefully I can get it done and start a new and exciting chapter of my life!

Anyway, there you go. That's all I have to say about that.


Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Birthdays

I recently had a birthday and this one was different than the many others that I have had. I normally look forward to my birthdays, but as I grow older, I look forward to them less and less. I used to have a very narcissistic view of my birthday and liked that it was all about me, me me! This year as my birthday approached, I felt that doom of missing all that I wanted to achieve by this point in my life and forgot to look at the accomplishments. I started to realize that this year was not going to be all about me and that frankly people did not care as much as I did. Shamefully, I have to admit that I was pretty bummed.

A couple of days before though, I decided to make my birthday not about me at all, but rather to make it about appreciating the people in my life that have made it what it is.

When I worked at On Board, the head guy there, Brian, used to bring in doughnuts and such for everyone on his birthday. He said that it was a custom that he picked up in Germany, but regardless of where it came from, the idea stuck with me. On the morning of my birthday I brought in three dozen breakfast tacos for my co-workers. It was a simple way to say thanks and many were confused by the gesture, but everyone seemed happy (I mean come on, free tacos!). I left work early and spent lunch and the early afternoon with my mother, since she did give birth to me. While we were out I picked up Jenga and another game to play that evening with my niece and nephew that were visiting.

After hanging out with my mom, I headed home where I was surprised by my wonderful wife with an amazing gift and the customary cookie completely covered in chocolate from the Great American Cookie Company (the place at the mall). That was pretty awesome! That evening, I played games and hung out with Kasey and her sister's family. Ok, I did play a little Playstation too, but only a little and with my nephew.

I did not get to see everyone that I wanted to on that one day and even if I did, I could not do justice to that amount of time, so over the course of the next year, I am going to try to make a point to spend more time with the people that really MAKE my life, the ones who change me just by being a part of it. And hey, if I don't get to you, don't take it personally, I probably just forgot that this was even my plan. (ha ha)