Our Duck Dynasty - Extended Family

Just a family photo.....

New Duckies Again!

Two more new duckies came to us last Saturday - a sailor and a service man/builder (?).
Soon, I will post an updated photo of our entire duck dynasty..

Soups on Our Menu: Onion Soup

A few years ago, I was served onion soup in a restaurant. The soup was awful and I did not eat it. Since that was the only time when I had onion soup, I thought I could try to make some good one for us.

I found a recipe, which seemed easy, and decided to follow it.

There was no problems with making the soup, except the final part. The recipe calls for broiling the soup, bread + cheese in the oven and we do not have small soup serving bowls which are oven proof. I did it anyway - in a bit different way -  just used a big pyrex dish.

The results were not good enough though. The slices of bread were mushy.
I also tried melting the cheese in the microwave: the soup got extremely hot but the cheese did not melt entirely.  All in all, no matter what my attempts where, the final effect was not very enjoyable.

Attempt #1

We ate the onion soup - attempt #1 - even though it was very sweet. Too sweet according to our likes.

Some time later, I made it again but that time I skipped the sugar. The onions, prepared according to the recipe are sweet enough, so no sugar is needed at all.
Finally, before serving, I topped the soup with a 'good' amount of shredded cheese and some croutons (instead of broiling bread and cheese slices). And this is our  way of making and serving the French onion soup.

As my husband said: 'The soup gives a good taste to the palate'. It is very good for an appetizer indeed.

Final result which we like......

Wednesday Peach Cobbler

Yesterday we (very much) enjoyed our home made peach cobbler. It was so good, I would have eaten more than two servings, but I was simply not able to...

12 Cakes 12 Months: #4 Carrot Cake / Ciasto Marchewkowe

Last month I decided to make a classic carrot cake by Aldi. It was not the first carrot cake I made but I had never used a cake mix before. Encouraged by the info on the box: 'Real Carrots and Raisins', I decided to give Baker's Corner a try (and make my life easier using the cake mix). There was no problem with making and baking the carrot cake. Following the the manufacturers instructions, I just added some oil, water and eggs. Then baked it using a springform cake pan.
I decorated it with cream cheese frosting (the recipe by the Southern Lady found here).
The results were great! The cake tasted as if it all (not only the frosting) had been made from a scratch. Fluffy and very tasty!

Read more about my New Year's Project: 12 Cakes, 12 Months / Projekt 12 Ciast, 12 Miesięcy,

W kwietniu postanowilam ułatwić sobie życie robiąc ciasto 'z pudełka'. Wczesniej robiłam już ciasto marchewkowe (jest to jedno z ulubionych ciast mojego męża), ale nigdy dotąd nie wykorzystałam do pieczenia ciasta w proszku. Do zakupu tego produktu (w sklepie Aldi) zachęciła mnie informacja na opakowaniu 'prawdziwe marchewki i rodzynki'. Pomyslałam: 'może warto wypróbować'.

Zarówno z przygotowaniem ciasta, jak i pieczeniem nie było problemu. Stosując się do instrukcji producenta, dodałam do proszku trochę oleju, wody i jajka. Wymieszałam wszystko łyżką i przelałam do dużej tortownicy. Potem tortownica do nagrzanego piekarnika i już! No, prawie już - czas pieczenia wyniósł około 50 minut.
Krem do ciasta marchewkowego (widocznego na zdjęciu) zrobiłam sama, według tradycyjnego przepisu Southern Lady.

Wszystkie składniki należy wymieszać mikserem do uzyskania jednolitej masy.

Kiedy ciasto ostygło, przekroiłam je na dwie częsci (dwa krążki) i posmarowalam przygotowanym kremem.
Efekt był rewelacyjny. Nikt by nie powiedział, że to ciasto 'z pudełka'. Puszyste i bardzo smaczne!
Kiedy ów carrot cake Mix znów pojawi sie na półkach sklepu Aldi, nie omieszkam kupić ze dwa opakowania. naprawdę warto.

Dla osób zainteresowanych zrobieniem ciasta marchwkowego, polecam przepis, który wypróbowałam kilkakrotnie. Na dużą tortownicę trzeba podwoić ilosć składników podanych tutaj.

Inną opcją do wypróbowania jest przepis na tradycyjne ciasto marchewkowe podanego przez Southern Lady.

Udanego pieczenia!