Soups on Our Menu: Chicken Noodle Soup

Since we like having chicken noodle soup at weekends, I am sharing my way of making the soup.

What you need:

(yield: for two persons)

• 1 chicken breast cut into small pieces,
• 1 bay leaf + dash cracked black pepper,
• some onion - diced,
• a bit of oil to fry the onion,
• a few baby carrots cut into pieces,
• 1 can cream of chicken,
• 1 chicken bouillon cube,
• salt and pepper,
• some pasta,
• some dried parsley.

How to make the soup:

1.  Put the chicken breast pieces into a pot (not a very big one), cover with cold water, add the cracked black pepper and bay leaf. Cook the meat at 4 till it is done (usually it takes about 20 minutes or so).
2. Fry the diced onion for a few minutes (4-5), until it is soft.
3. Add the onion and the carrots to the pot with the cooked chicken pieces.
4. Cook it all till the carrots are soft.
5. Add the cream of chicken to the soup, stir it well and keep on cooking (at 4).
6. Add the bouillon cube, boil the soup. Season with salt and black pepper as you like.
7. Cook the pasta in a separate pot, according to the instructions given on the pasta package.
8. Drain the pasta. Put it into soup bowls, pour the chicken soup over the pasta.
9. Add/pour some dried parsley to each bowl/serving.
10. Serve and enjoy. 😊

Our Early Valentine Cakes

Our Valentine weekend cakes are ready. 💑

Smaller heart cakes

And a bigger one :-)

What I used to make them:

• 1 box yellow cake mix + what the instructions on the cake box say (water, eggs and canola oil),
• 1/2 can cherry pie filling,
• some powder sugar + a few Tbs hot water to make the icing,
• decorating 'beads'.

 

The cherry part is hidden inside of course 😐.

Have a happy weekend!

12 Cakes12 Months: Mixed Fruit Cake

I need to tell you about the December cake to close the 12 Cakes 12 Months project. It was quite an all year long challenge and searching for a new recipe was time-consuming. Besides, experimenting with the unknown recipes was also risky as we were never sure what we would get and whether the cake was worth trying at all. In this meaning, the project got a bit old during the year. It was often easier to make a cake which we had already had and which we liked or use a cake/cobbler mix when there was not much time for baking.

However, in December I came across that really good recipe for a cranberry loaf cake. I did make it for Christmas. Although the recipe calls for fresh cranberries, I used dried fruit mix - cranberries, cherries, and blueberries.

The cake looked and tasted similarly to the Polish traditional Christmas 'keks' which is a fruit cake as well. Actually, when my husband saw the December cake, he thought it was the kind of Polish cake which he had eaten during our November stay in Poland.

Anyway, the December cake was very popular with our guests who visited us on Christmas Day. It was really tasty, especially when served warm (after 20min microwaving before serving).

I made the cake again in January and we enjoyed it too. Needless to say, it 'disappeared' quite quickly as well.
I am going to keep the recipe by the Southern Lady. Very likely, the fruit loaf cake will become part of our Christmas traditions.

All in all, during the entire project, we experimented with 12 cakes/recipes. The ones which we liked best (besides the December one) were
mandarin pie,
vanilla cake,
pineapple cake,
coconut pie, and
blueberry cake.

It was all worth trying - I am glad I found quite a few, new and enjoyable cakes. On the other hand, I admit I am glad the challenge is over and now I can make any cake whenever I want to or choose not to bake anything at all.

Our Microwaved Peanut Brittle

My husband likes peanut brittle so we bought it from time to time. Once, I wanted to taste the purchased treat (I had not eaten any peanut brittle before) but it was too hard to bite it, so I quit tasting.

Anyway, when I saw the recipe for homemade, microwaved peanut brittle, it caught my attention. I scanned the recipe to see what was needed to make the sweet thing. Since I found it all quite easy and the article mentioned that peanut brittle was supposed to be a traditional Christmas delight, I thought I would try to make it too.

Attempt 1

Was highly unsuccessful. It was my mistake not the recipe, though. By accident, I set the express microwave cooking and the sugar and cane syrup mix got burned totally. It was smelly, sticky and scary as it was spreading in the microwave very fast, covering everything and turning into stone immediately. Luckily, it was only sugar so the hot water dissolved the stone creation and removed it from my kitchen utensils, kitchen tops, and the microwave.

Fortunately, I had not read the recipe carefully enough and I missed the peanuts part - I did not add them to the sugar and sugar cane syrup mixture before putting the bowl in the microwave. Therefore, that was not much a waste. Mostly a lot of mess in the kitchen.

The experience was a bit upsetting and disappointing - well, I assumed it was simply not my cooking day at all.


Attempt 2

I read the recipe one more time - carefully! - paying attention to all the details. With some hesitation, I tried again a few days later.

I buttered a big piece of aluminum foil (instead of the baking sheet mentioned in the recipe). I also prepared all the needed ingredients - measured them and put aside.

All went fine!

How I cooked it:

• 3 minutes in the microwave,
• stirred the mixture,
• 3 more minutes in the microwave,
• stirred again,
• then, 3 more minutes of microwaving.

After taking the bowl out of the microwave, I added the baking soda, vanilla extract, and butter to the mixture, stirred it all and, as fast as I managed, I spread the brittle with a spoon on the buttered aluminum foil.

When the brittle hardened, it seemed to be a bit too thick. It was thicker than the brittle we had bought in a store. But it was soo good! Very sweet but soft enough to enjoy it without teeth braking. I liked it very much. It was so tasty! And not too thick at all.

We will definitely not buy peanut brittle anymore. Whenever we feel like having some, I will make it again using the same RECIPE by The Southern Lady Cooks.

12 Months 12 cakes: #11 Mixed Fruit Cobbler

I would rather write about the Christmas experience but I need to catch up with my November project entry.

Last month, my new try was the Loretta Fruit Cobbler Mix by Bektrom Foods Inc. Besides finding new recipes, I also enjoy experimenting with half ready cakes (mixes). They can be really convenient when you need to make a nice treat for an unexpected occasion/guests or simply when you want to make your life easy. 😀

What I used to make the cobbler:

1 jar - mixed fruit,
Loretta Fruit Cobbler Mix.

First try: I followed the recipe given by the mix manufacturer. The cobbler was tasty but only when it was fresh and warm. Next day, not really.

Second try: I followed all the steps of the given recipe given besides one thing. The instructions tell you to pour the melted butter onto the fruits and then cover it all with the batter/cobbler mix. I stirred the melted butter into the batter (cobbler mix) and spread it all on the fruits (which had been placed in a greased tin of course).
The results were much better. The cobbler was crispier than before and was still tasty even 2 days later.

I stored it in the fridge and warmed up each piece in the microwave before serving. With a splash of whipped cream, the cobbler made quite a nice, and easy to make dessert.

Visit the Bektrom Foods Inc. page to see what the package of Loretta Fruit Cobbler Mix looks like.

Loretta Fruit Cobbler Mix price =$1 at Dollar Tree

12 Cakes 12 Months: Vanilla Bundt Cake

I have noticed recently, that, due to different life matters, I overlooked a couple of entries on my 12 Cakes 12 Months project. I had not skipped the idea of the project, no. Actually, I think of it quite often, trying to find a new, good cake recipe. High time to post some updates then.

In October, we had a vanilla bundt cake. It raised beautifully, was moistened and really, really tasty.

I called it vanilla cake as I did not have the coconut extract suggested in the recipe.
It is worth recommending anyway.

Good Dinner Biscuits

This is a very good recipe for dinner biscuits - I mentioned it already in one of my previous posts.
The biscuits are supposed to be Red Lobster-like ones.

My fancy biscuits cutter

However, it all depends how you make them.

1.  You can follow the recipe step by step and you get the bread which a bit reminds the one served at Red Lobster.
2. My favorite way - instead of brushing the biscuits after they are taken out of the oven, I damp them in the melted butter-and-garlic powder mix before the baking time and putting them on the tin.  Then, I bake them for about 17 minutes and the biscuits come out fluffy and very tasty.

Method #2 result

Olsouthrecipes.com is one of my favorite collection of the traditional southern recipes. It was also the site which I found very helpful while learning how to make some old fashioned and - so good - holiday dishes.