stephanie's slice of life | Stephanie's Slice Of Life

Tag: stephanie's slice of life
- Peaches Flambe
  
  Posted at 9:20 pm by StephMo
  
  Nov 28th
  Nothing screams vintage cookbook like flambe right? In keeping with my “Steph and Betty” goal of trying as many recipes as I can from my mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook, I decided to light some peaches on fire today. It took a few tries as Betty didn’t really explain how to get the brandy to actually light. But that is what I am here for!
  
  I’ll be honest, the idea of sticking a flame into a pan with the goal of starting a fire, scared me. A lot. But, I went ahead and did it anyway.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/4 cup apricot jam
  
  3 tbsp sugar
  
  1/2 cup water
  
  4 large peaches, peeled and sliced, or 1 large 29 oz. can of sliced peaches, drained
  
  1 tsp lemon juice
  
  1/4 cup brandy
  
  Combine the jam, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Simmer over low heat about 5 minutes or until syrupy. I couldn’t find jam so had to settle on preserves which I think may have been the reason it did not get very syrupy.
  
  Add the peaches to the pan and heat for about 3 minutes for fresh peaches until almost tender, and less for canned peaches. Add lemon juice and stir.
  
  In order for the brandy to light it needs to be hot. The original recipe just said to heat the brandy but did not explain that the brandy needs to heat until it starts to bubble. It will not light if not hot enough.
  
  Once this happens turn off the heat under the peaches, make sure to do this.
  
  Pour the hot brandy over the peaches and light.
  
  Once it burns out, stir and serve over vanilla ice cream. It was actually quite yummy!
  Peaches Flambé
  
  Print Recipe Pin Recipe
  
  Ingredients
  
  1/2 cup apricot jam
  3 tbsp sugar
  1/2 cup water
  4 peaches, or 2 – 15 oz. cans
  1 tsp lemon juice
  1/4 cup brandy
  
  Instructions
  
  Combine jam, sugar, and water in a saucepan for about 5 minutes until syrupy. Add peaches and cook 3 minutes for fresh peaches, or less for canned peaches until heated. Stir in lemon juice.
  Heat brandy in small saucepan until it starts to bubble.
  Remove both from heat. Pour hot brandy over peaches and light.
  Stir, serve over vanilla ice cream.
  Posted in Dessert, Recipes | Tagged flambe, food blog, food blogger, peaches flambe, peaches recipe, stephanie's slice of life, vintage recipes
- Indian Pudding
  
  Posted at 8:41 am by StephMo
  
  Nov 22nd
  
  I had never heard of Indian Pudding until I flipped through the pages of my mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook. I was in the pudding section as I was making Rice Pudding, and happened upon this. It was intriguing and even as it was in the oven, for 3 hours I must add, I still had no idea what to expect. Cornmeal and molasses, hmmm. Come to find out it tasted like brown bread, which was interesting.
  
  I’m not entirely sure this recipe actually worked, but since I am determined to make as many recipes as I can from my mom’s old cookbook I decided to write the blog anyway. Steph and Betty!
  
  As I mentioned the recipe called for a 3 hour baking time. However, it did not mention how to know if the pudding was done. After the 3 hours I thought how could it not be done, right? Well, I’m not really sure it actually was done as it was not set in the center even after sitting for an hour. If I ever am to make this again I would let it cook longer until the pudding seemed set. It did set in the refrigerator and was much better the next day. The only I picture I took was the night of, however, and you can see how loose it was.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  4 cups of milk
  
  2/3 cup molasses
  
  2/3 cup yellow cornmeal
  
  1/3 cup sugar
  
  1 tsp salt
  
  3/4 tsp cinnamon
  
  3/4 tsp nutmeg
  
  1/4 cup butter
  
  Heat oven to 300 degrees. Grease a 2 quart casserole dish.
  
  In a saucepan combine 3 cups of the milk and molasses and heat over low/medium heat.
  
  In a small mixing bowl combine cornmeal, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
  
  Gradually stir into hot milk mixture. Add butter.
  
  Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes until thickened.
  
  It didn’t seem like it was going to thicken, but it did.
  
  Pour into the casserole.
  
  Pour the remaining 1 cup of milk on top of pudding; do not stir. Bake for 3 hours or until set.
  
  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
  
  Posted in Dessert, Indian Pudding, Recipes | Tagged betty crocker recipes, food blog, food blogger, indian pudding, indian pudding recipe, pudding recipe, Recipes, stephanie's slice of life
- Chocolate Clusters
  
  Posted at 5:43 pm by StephMo
  
  Nov 15th
  Today as I was flipping through the pages of my mother’s Betty Crocker cookbook, I came upon an easy no bake recipe for Chocolate Clusters. Since I happened to have the ingredients in the house, I gave it a try. Delicious! They are little clusters of fudgy yummy. These will definitely be making it into my Holiday baking this year.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate
  
  1/2 cup butter
  
  16 large marshmallows
  
  1/2 tsp. vanilla
  
  1 cup shredded coconut
  
  2 cups oats
  
  In a large saucepan combine the chocolate, butter, and marshmallows.
  
  Cook over low heat while stirring frequently until the mixture is melted and smooth.
  
  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Add the coconut and oats and combine well.
  
  Drop by teasponfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. I used a cookie scoop.
  
  Refrigerate until set. Enjoy!
  Chocolate Clusters
  
  Print Recipe Pin Recipe
  
  Ingredients
  
  6 oz semi-sweet chocolate
  1/2 cup butter
  16 large marshmallows
  1/2 tsp vanilla
  1 cup coconut
  2 cups oats
  
  Instructions
  
  In a large saucepan combine chocolate, butter, and marshmallows. Cook over low heat until everything is melted and smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
  Add coconut and oats and combine well.
  Drop by teasponfuls onto wax paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate until set.
  Posted in Chocolate Clusters, Recipes, Sweet Treats | Tagged betty crocker chocolate clusters, betty crocker recipe, chocolate clusters, chocolate oat clusters, food blog, food blogger, fudge, stephanie's slice of life
- Betty Crocker Rice Pudding
  
  Posted at 8:12 am by StephMo
  
  Nov 10th
  Rice pudding brings back so many childhood memories for me. My mother used Betty Crocker’s recipe and years ago when I was searching on-line for that recipe I thought I had found it, but I was wrong. When my mom passed away and I got her Betty Crocker cookbook I realized it was not the same.
  
  I decided to try the recipe in my mom’s cookbook and see which I preferred. While they are both delicious, they are actually quite different. This recipe creates a thick custard on top of the pudding and since I happen to love custard, I think I might prefer this version. This recipe is from the book my mother received as a wedding gift in 1969.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/2 cup rice
  
  1 cup water (or less if using instant rice)
  
  3 eggs, slightly beaten
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  2 tsp. vanilla
  
  1/4 tsp. salt
  
  2 1/2 cups scalded milk (see below)
  
  1/2 cup raisins
  
  Cinnamon
  
  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  
  Cook rice as instructed. The original recipe calls for instant rice, but I cooked regular rice.
  
  Slightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt.
  
  Gradually add scalded milk to egg mixture.
  
  ** How to scald milk – heat milk in a pan until it reaches 170 degrees. You do not want the milk to boil, it should just get to the point where a film forms on the top. Remove milk from heat and let it cool to 110 degrees before continuing recipe.
  
  Stir in rice and raisins.
  
  Pour into an ungreased 1 1/2 quart casserole, sprinkle with cinnamon.
  
  Place the casserole in a pan and pour in very hot water until about 1 1/4 inches deep.
  
  Bake about 70 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Remove the casserole from the pan of water.
  
  Serve either warm or cool, personally I prefer it cool. Keep refrigerated.
  
  Look at that yummy custard and creamy pudding. So good!
  Betty Crocker Rice Pudding
  
  Print Recipe Pin Recipe
  
  Ingredients
  
  1/2 cup rice
  1 cup water
  3 eggs
  1/2 cup sugar
  2 tsp vanilla
  1/4 tsp salt
  2 1/2 cups milk, scalded
  1/2 cup raisins
  cinnamon
  
  Instructions
  
  Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  Cook rice as instructed. The original recipe calls for instant rice, but I cooked regular rice.
  Slightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar, vanilla, and salt. Gradually add scalded milk to egg mixture.
  Stir in rice and raisins.
  Pour into an ungreased casserole and sprinkle with cinnamon.
  Place the casserole in a pan and pour in very hot water until about 1 1/4 inches deep.
  Bake for 70 minutes or until knife inserted half way between the center and the edge comes out clean. Remove casserole from pan of water.
  Serve warm or cooled. Keep refrigerated.
  Posted in Betty Crocker Rice Pudding, Dessert | Tagged betty crocker rice pudding, food blog, food blogger, pudding, rice pudding, rice pudding recipe, stephanie's slice of life
- Crustless Quiche
  
  Posted at 9:29 am by StephMo
  
  Sep 21st
  
  One of the best things about quiche is its versatility. Not only with the endless varieties that can be created, but it is perfect for brunch, lunch, or dinner. I decided to use broccoli, spinach, and tomatoes in this quiche, but you can use just about anything you want. While the egg mixture remains the same, the vegetables or meat can vary.
  
  The other great thing about this recipe is that it doesn’t have to be crustless. You can add any pie crust to this recipe if you would like, or bake without the crust for a lower calorie healthier alternative as I did with this recipe.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1 tbsp. olive oil
  
  1 cup brocolli florets
  
  1 -2 cups fresh spinach
  
  1/3 cup grape tomatoes, halved
  
  1-2 tsp. of minced garlic
  
  6 eggs
  
  2/3 cup milk
  
  1/3 cup half and half
  
  1/2 tsp. pepper
  
  1/2 tsp. salt
  
  1/4 cup cheddar cheese
  
  1/4 cup feta cheese
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a pie plate with cooking spray.
  
  Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the broccoli and saute for a minute or two before adding the spinach, tomatoes, and garlic. Saute until the spinach is cooked.
  
  Spread the vegetables evenly in the prepared pie plate. Top with cheeses. You can use whatever kind of cheese you prefer. I was hoping for cheddar and feta, but only had a shredded Mexican blend and feta in the house so I used those.
  
  Whisk together the eggs, milk, half and half, salt, and pepper. Ladle evenly over the vegetable and cheese.
  
  Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until set. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
  
  Posted in Brunch, Crustless Quiche, Recipes | Tagged broccoli quiche, broccoli spinach quiche, broccoli tomato quiche, brunch recipes, crustless quiche, crustless quiche recipe, food blog, food blogger, quiche, quiche recipe, spinach quiche, stephanie's slice of life
- Strawberry Oat Bars
  
  Posted at 10:05 am by StephMo
  
  Jun 25th
  I was trying to think of a nice summery dessert to serve to friends coming over and remembered I still had some of the beautiful strawberries left from when I went strawberry picking. While strawberry shortcake would have been delicious, I wanted a little bar type of dessert. Fruit bars with an oat streusel topping sounded perfect, and they were!
  
  The strawberries I was using were very juicy and I was concerned the bars wouldn’t set properly, and when I first cut into them they were quite mushy. I ran out and bought a back up dessert just in case, but I put them in the refrigerator for an hour or so before serving and it did the trick. They were a huge hit! So good!
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1/2 cup butter, melted
  
  1 cup flour
  
  3/4 cup oats
  
  1/2 cup, plus 1/3 cup sugar
  
  1/4 cup brown sugar
  
  2 cups strawberries, chopped
  
  2 tbsp. lemon juice
  
  2 tsp. cornstarch
  
  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8″ baking pan with aluminum foil and coat with cooking spray. I only had a glass dish with me in Maine so I reduced the heat to 325 degrees.
  
  For the bottom layer combine the melted butter, flour, oats, 1/2 cup sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. It will be crumbly.
  
  Set 1 cup of the mixture aside. With your hands or a spatula firmly press the remaining crumble in the bottom of the baking dish.
  
  In a mixing bowl, I used the same one, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, 1/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch.
  
  Spread the strawberry mixture evenly over the layer of crust.
  
  Using your hands, crumble the remaining cup of streusel evenly over the strawberry layer.
  
  Bake for about 50 minutes or until the bars are set and the juices are bubblying on the edges.
  
  Let cool for a few hours before trying to cut. As I mentioned previously, they are quite messy when first cut so you may want to put them in the refrigerator before serving so they set fully.
  
  A perfect Summer treat!
  Strawberry Oat Bars
  
  Print Recipe Pin Recipe
  
  Ingredients
  
  1/2 cup butter, melted
  1 cup flour
  3/4 cup oats
  1/2 + 1/3 cup sugar
  1/4 cup brown sugar
  2 cups strawberries, chopped
  2 tbsp lemon juice
  2 tsp corn starch
  
  Instructions
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 8" square pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
  Combine the melted butter, flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl. Set aside 1 cup of mixture. Mixture will be crumbly.
  Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
  Combine strawberries, 1/3 cup sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a mixing bowl.
  Spread strawberry mixture over crust. Top with remaining cup of crumble.
  Bake for about 50 minutes or until bars seem set and juices on the sides are bubbling. Let cool for at least an hour before cutting. Best refrigerated for a few hours to fully set before serving.
  Posted in Cookies, Recipes, Strawberry Oat Bars | Tagged food blog, food blogger, fruit bars, stephanie's slice of life, strawberry bars, strawberry crumble bars, strawberry dessert, strawberry oat bars, strawberry struessel bars
- Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting
  
  Posted at 9:25 am by StephMo
  
  Jun 15th
  
  I have been meaning to make a lemon cake for quite some time. Instead of trying to find a new recipe, I decided to take the yellow cake recipe I always use and tweak it a little. It came out moist and has a very subtle lemon flavor. Yum! I also love the combination of lemon and raspberry so I decided to add some raspberry preserves to the center.
  
  What I love most about this recipe is that it is a one bowl recipe. You just can’t beat delicious and one bowl!
  
  Cake Ingredients:
  
  2 1/4 cups flour
  
  1 1/2 cups sugar
  
  1/2 cup shortening
  
  3 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  
  1 tsp. salt
  
  1 cup milk
  
  2 tbsp. lemon juice
  
  1 – 2 tbsp. lemon rind
  
  3 large eggs
  
  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two round cake pans. After greasing and flouring the pans I also put parchment paper on the bottoms of the pans, and greased and floured a second time.
  
  Squeeze and grate the lemons for the juice and rind. One tablespoon of rind give it a subtle lemon taste, if you prefer very lemony you may want to use 2 tablespoons.
  
  Combine all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  
  Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat on low speed for 30 seconds scraping the bowl constantly. Increase the speed to high and continue mixing for 3 minutes while scraping the bowl occasionally.
  
  Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The pans I used took longer than regular 9″ round pans.
  
  Cool in pans, then transfer to a wire rack.
  
  Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1 cup butter, softened
  
  2 tbsp. lemon juice
  
  3 tbsp. milk
  
  4 cups confectioner’s sugar
  
  Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth.
  
  Beat in lemon juice. Add confectioner’s sugar.
  
  When adding the milk I started by beating in 2 tbsp. to see the consistency. I added 1 more tbsp. and it was perfect.
  
  Continue beating on high for 2-3 minutes
  
  Now it’s time to frost the cake!
  
  As I mentioned previously, I put a layer of raspberry preserves between the two layers but you can also just put frosting.
  
  Delicious!
  
  Posted in Cakes, Lemon Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting | Tagged food blog, food blogger, lemon buttercream, lemon buttercream frosting, lemon cake, lemon cake recipe, stephanie's slice of life
- Blueberry Scones With Lemon Icing
  
  Posted at 3:59 pm by StephMo
  
  Jun 7th
  
  Of course if I was going to make scones while I am in Maine they were going to be blueberry scones. And what better flavor to combine with blueberry than lemon. Yum. You may have already tried using my scones recipe, and this recipe is the same except for the addition of blueberries and the icing. Easy and delicious!
  
  As I mentioned in my other scone Blog, this is a great base recipe to add other ingredients to. In the past I have added chocolate chips, yesterday I added blueberries and who knows what I might add next!
  
  ** Please note some of the photos are from my original scone Blog.
  
  Scone Ingredients:
  
  3 cups flour
  
  1/2 cup sugar
  
  5 tsp. baking powder
  
  1/2 tsp. salt
  
  3/4 cup cold butter
  
  1 egg, beaten
  
  1 cup milk or half and half
  
  1 cup blueberries
  
  Combine all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
  
  Using a cheese grater, grate the butter and cut it into the dry mixture with a pasty cutter or a fork and knife. Make sure the butter is cold.
  
  Put the beaten egg in a measuring cup and then fill to the 1 cup mark with the milk or half and half. I used a combination of half and half and milk. Mix the two together and add a little at a time to the dry mixture. You shouldn’t have to use all of it.
  
  The dough shouldn’t be too moist, just add enough so that the dough will stick together once kneaded. It won’t look like it will in the bowl, but you can tell by using your hands and squeezing some together.
  
  Now add the blueberries.
  
  When I got to this step I thought, how the heck do I get the blueberries in the dough without making an absolute mess? I went and changed my shirt, make sure you either do that or are wearing an apron, and carefully started to stir them in as best I could.
  
  Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until it comes together. It is not easy to do without the blueberries exploding, but just take your time and it will work.
  
  Roll the dough into a circle about a 1/2″ thick.
  
  Use a pizza cutter or a knife to cut the dough into 8 pieces, this will make very large scones. If you would like them smaller divide the dough in half, then roll it out and cut into 8 pieces which is what I did.
  
  Place the scones on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until brown. The smaller scones only took about 13 minutes.
  
  Let the scones cool completely and then drizzle the lemon icing on them. For the icing, I used the icing I use on my Italian Lemon Cookies except I cut the recipe in half.
  
  Ingredients:
  
  1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
  
  1/8 cup water
  
  1/2 tsp. lemon extract
  
  Combine all of the ingredients until smooth. If the icing is too thin you can add more sugar until you get it to the right consistency.
  
  You are going to love these scones!
  
  Posted in Blog Posts, Breads, Recipes | Tagged blueberry lemon scones, blueberry scones, food blog, food blogger, scones, scones recipe, stephanie's slice of life
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
  
  Posted at 3:14 pm by StephMo
  
  May 5th
  
  This frosting recipe as well as so many of my tried and true favorites, came out of my Betty Crocker cookbook. As did the yellow cake recipe that I frosted with this yummy frosting. The frosting is delicious and tastes like fudge!
  
  Ingredients:
  
  2/3 cup butter, softened
  
  6 cups confectioners sugar
  
  4 tsp. vanilla
  
  6 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
  
  6 tbsp. milk
  
  Melt the baking chocolate and set aside to cool.
  
  In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the confectioners sugar and vanilla, it will be very lumpy.
  
  Add the melted chocolate and beat together, it will still be lumpy.
  
  Add the milk and beat on low/medium speed scraping the sides frequently. Continue to beat on medium/high speed for a few minutes until smooth while scraping the sides occassionally.
  
  If it seems too thick add more milk a tablespoon at a time. Now frost your cake!
  
  Posted in Cakes, Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, Recipes | Tagged cake recipe, chocolate buttercream frosting, chocolate buttercream frosting recipe, chocolate frosting recipe, food blogger, frosting, frosting recipe, stephanie's slice of life
- Exposed
  
  Posted at 5:45 pm by StephMo
  
  Apr 27th
  
  Our disguise has fallen and left us exposed
  
  Bare we stand from the winter cold
  
  Relentlessly over and over with scorn
  
  The storms have left us feeling ragged and torn
  
  Without our cape of beautiful green
  
  Protecting what we wish to remain unseen
  
  Seasons change and storms come and go
  
  Strong we must be so our cover will once again grow
  
  The leaves we safely hide behind for show
  
  Only revealing what we want others to know
  
  S.M.
  
  Posted in Poems | Tagged blogger, poem, poetry, poetry blog, stephanie's slice of life
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