Sweet Red, White, and Blue

Hello Sweets,

Can you believe that we're already half way through our week?  I don't know why it feels like time is just flying by me, probably because I am counting down the days until I return to Texas and am reunited with my love :)  Has it been flying by for all of y'all too?  I am very thankful to feel more like myself today, not in as much pain as yesterday and actually got out of the house for a change too.  My version of "getting out of the house" is pretty minuscule compared to most people, but I picked up my prescriptions and some groceries so it's a win in my books :)

I am super excited about today's post, as I explained yesterday this specific recipe was completely out of my comfort zone and I was successful so I just couldn't wait to share it with all of y'all.  I don't know about y'all but I love me some pie, specifically cherry pie so I was super pumped when I came across this recipe.  It's not an apple pie, which is uber American, but it's pretty comparable in my books and very patriotic ;)  But enough talk, let's get to this delicious treat already!

Old Glory Cherry-Blueberry Pie (from My Recipes)

Ingredients

5C fresh sweet dark cherries, rinsed and pitted

3Tbs lemon juice

1 1/2C fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

1C sugar

1/4C cornstarch

2Tsp butter, cut into small pieces

9" pie pastry (see tomorrows blog for recipe)

 

 

I wanted to show the monotonous process of pitting cherries lol

Directions:
1)  Preheat oven to 400F.  In a large bowl, mix cherries with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.  In a small bowl, mix blueberries with remaining 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. (yes I squeezed a fresh lemon lol)

 

   

 

 2)  Combine the sugar and cornstarch, gently stir 1 cup of the mixture with the cherries and the remaining 1/4 cup with the blueberries (I tossed it with my hands to be more careful).

 

 

 

 3)  Spoon cherry mixture over 3/4 of the pastry in the pan, leaving 1quadron free.  Spoon blueberries into the empty space.  Sprinkle the butter evenly over the fruit.

4)  Top with the stars and strips (I made an extra batch of pastry and cut it by hand).

 

tah dah! My stars are a little crazy looking lol

5)   Set pie in a foil lined 13"x17" baking pan.  Bake on the bottom rack until the fruit in the middle bubbles and the pastry is well browned (checking at the 1 hour mark).  If the edges brown too quickly (check after 40 minutes), cover loosely with tin foil.  Let pie cool on a wire rack for 3 hours, and can be left on the counter for 8 hours (max).  Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream or whip cream.

 

so proud :)

So not only does it look like a mini flag, it also embodies the red (cherries) white (pastry) and blue (blueberries) aspect.  This was a very time consuming process, but that's not going to stop me from doing it over again and again.  This is going to sound a little crazy but an hour before this I made another pie, lol yes another one.  Nathan's coconut meringue, see :)

 

I know what you're thinking; 1) I'm crazy for doing two pies in one day and 2) I spoil him rotten.  Well I would have to say yes to both lol, since I made the pastry from scratch I had to make his with it as well (plus I love seeing him smile).  The cherry-blueberry pie isn't overly sweet at all, I was actually worried it was going to be tart because of the cherries (they can be sort of tart) but I had nothing to worry about all along :)  This is officially the "Canuckette Forth of July dessert", and I am going to make it every year from now on :)

During the middle of me writing this post my roommate came home and handed me a package that was sent to me by Nathan's aunt Cindy.  She told me she was sending me something to remind me of home while I'm here in Canada, yes I know I live in Canada but Texas is my real home.  Anyways back to presents :D, so I had no idea what to expect but I knew it would be great.  Considering the type of gift it would only be fair to share with all my lovely readers, yup it's a kitchen goodie.

 

Aren't they amazing!?!  I am so in love with them :)  Every since I met Cindy we've been pretty close and we have very similar taste.  Apparently when she and her husband (Nathan's uncle Michael) saw them they immediately thought of me and picked them up.  I am so very blessed with amazing people in my life, and could never thank them enough for the thoughtful gift.  Well I'm going to try and say thanks by baking something chocolate for her :)  Tomorrow I will share the pastry recipe with y'all along with a recap of our celebrations, it's a very good recipe that my bestie shared with me and now I'll share with you too!  Until next time......................................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Homeward Bound

Hello Sweets,

I know I've been MIA for a few days, and that's because I'm off to see my soul mate!! So I've been very busy trying to get everything in order so not much creating has happened, but y'all know how much I love spoiling my man's pallet, so I know I'll have lots to write about :)

But in the mean time, I realized I didn't share my Easter weekend meal with all of y'all!  I'm not sure what your holiday meals are like with family but mine is a little different, for reasons I won't delve into, but basically I eat my meals with my grandparents each holiday and we have a nice intimate meal.  Well I have watched my grandmother cook our meals year after year, and slowly but surely she has allowed me to help her more and more.  Since her health has started to decline, she has given me the reins completely (and that's not easy for her lol), and on this Easter Sunday dinner was mine to make from the entire dinner to my homemade dessert (recipe will be included in a later post).  Even though she let me make the dinner she couldn't help but try and assist, and since I love her so much I told her that she could help me by sitting and relaxing ;) after all she has taken care of us for years, now its our turn.

So for our dinner, since it was only three of us, our meal was simply made and delicious :)  I made us some very succulent chicken breast that was simply seasoned and not over complicated, and paired it with home styled mashed potatoes and a fresh garden salad.

 Our salad was made up of ice burg lettuce, carrots, romaine lettuce, baby spinach, and cherry tomatoes.  We topped it with a zesty Italian based dressing that gave it a bit of zing without a whole lot of calories :)

 I roasted our chicken breasts in garlic, crushed red peppers, black pepper, and a little bit of olive oil.  It was only in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at about 400F, the end result is a very flavorful and moist piece of chicken.  The home style mashed potatoes are just a simple and tasty, by leaving the skins on and mashing them with butter, garlic, pinch of salt, pepper, crushed red peppers, and milk to make them creamy :)  If you do the potatoes just right your guests won't need to add any butter or seasoning to them!

This delicious dessert is best served hot right out of the oven with a side of vanilla ice cream.  I won't get in to great detail right now because I have a complete post with recipes and pictures coming soon, but what I will tell you is that it's a crunchy wholesome dessert with some fresh sweetness to it :) I know I know, I'm teasing y'all but trust me it will be worth the wait!

Since it's Nascar Sprint Cup weekend, I'll have a few updates for everyone showing pictures from our weekend and maybe even a recipe or two ;) and for the delicious treats that aren't mine I will be teasing your taste buds with some delicious pictures and tantalizing descriptions.  Until next time..................................


Stay sweet,




Jennifer xoxoxo

The quickest way to a mans heart, is through his stomach!

Hello Sweets,

One of my favorite times to bake or cook is for those that mean the most to me.  Nathan is my absolute favorite person to cook for, and cooking for his family is very important to me, or better yet that they like what I make.  At the risk of sounding old fashion or dated, I really do want to be that wife and mother who cooks and bakes on a regular basis.  Some of my fondest memories as a child were being in the kitchen with my grandmother baking (my favorite part was the flour sifter lol), and watching my mother in the kitchen cooking dinner, but not following a recipe but using her sense to determine the right flavors.

Needless to say, today's post is about not one, not two, and but three recipes!  I made Nathan and his father a yummy chuck roast dinner last night with all the fixings.  I went out immediately after to spend some quality with Nathan's aunt, so I only got the "thanks for dinner Canuckette, that was good".  So of course when I returned later that evening, I asked Nathan what his dad really thought, and this is the direct quote from his father,"girl can cook".  This makes me very happy because I love knowing how much his family likes me, family is very important to me, and when you date someone, you connect two families together, and that is precisely what I want.  So for dinner last night I made a chuck roast with roasted potatoes, onions, carrots, corn, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding (a little bit of English to our country dinner).  Everything is relatively simple to make, but remember as with anything you make, make it from the heart ;)

Okay on to the recipes!!

Chuck Roast

Ingredients

coarse black pepper

 garlic powder

some fresh roasted garlic

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce

 Lowry's Steak and Chop marinade

sea salt, Lowry's seasoning salt

 Adolph's meat tenderizer

5 medium sized potatoes, chopped

5 whole carrots, chopped

1/2 a large yellow onion, chopped

1C beef broth or 1 bullion cube, dissolved

My roast soaking in its bath lol

Directions:

1)  Go to the butcher and ask for a chuck roast or seven bone roast (the bone in the center is shaped as the number seven), the more marbling, the better the flavor.  Now I cannot give you the weight of the one I made last night as they bought a whole cow and just had the butcher package their meat for them, but we fed about 6 people.  Now, if you have time you should season or marinade the beef overnight, this way the meat really soaks up all the flavor and will fall apart.  Also, pierce the meat with a fork to allow that much more absorption.  Choose what ever seasonings/marinade you would use of a steak, I do not use BBQ sauce on a roast but that is my preference.  Apply any liquids you chose to use first as to not wash away the seasonings.  Your marinade mixture doesn't necessarily have to submerge the meat, about half full will do, just be sure to flip the roast over at least once (preferably about halfway from prep to cook), then place in the fridge overnight. If you don't have time for overnight, try and get a least a couple of hours. Be sure not to dispose of the mixture the roast is in, as it will contribute to cooking in the flavor, moisten, and will serve as the main ingredient in the gravy 

2)  Preheat your over to 375F. While the oven is preheating, cut up your potatoes, onions, and carrots.  I like a rustic type of meal with my roast, so I tend to cut bigger and not uniformed.  Place the veggies around and on the roast, top with a little bit of beef broth or bullion, cover with tin foil.  Place into the oven for 2 hours, checking after one to ensure the veggies are not drying out, if they are, add a little more of the broth to moisten the veggies.

standing room only!

While that was cooking, I moved on to prepare the Yorkshire puddings!  I start this one hour into the roast cooking to allow the batter to sit for 30 minutes, and then cook in the oven with the roast for the last 30 minutes.

Easy Yorkshire Pudding

Ingredients

3 eggs

1C milk

1C all-purpose flour

2tbs butter

Directions:

1)  In a medium bowl, beat eggs with milk.  Stir in flour and set aside. 

2)  Divide butter evenly into the 12 cups of a muffin tin, about 1/2 tsp per cup.  Place empty tin into the oven to melt the butter for 2-5 minutes.  Remove tin from oven, and distribute batter evenly among buttery cups.

Completed batter and butter divided 

notice the brown on the edges?  That's the melted butter

 3)  Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350F, and bake for 25 minutes more or until puffed and golden.  It is okay to drop the heat while the roast is still cooking as it is only for the last 30 minutes.

All done, YUM!

Next up is the gravy!

Simple Gravy

Ingredients

1 1/2C of the roast drippings

flour

Directions:

1)  Transfer 1C of the drippings into a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Slowly add flour to thicken the consistency.  If lumps form, add a little more of the drippings.  Depending on your preference of thickness, continue adding flour until you've reached your desired consistency.

2)Enjoy!

Completed feast in all its glory, boys couldn't wait to dig in obviously lol

Needless to say, no one went hungry last night, and we even enjoyed some for lunch today :)  Now tonight I am going to make the famous pumpkin spice cupcakes and will be posting that little gem tomorrow!  Until then....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo