Update on How Things are Where I Live, or Why I Haven't Posted in a While

Hello World!

So, as most of you probably know/remember, or if you are new here/have forgotten I live in Oklahoma. That is the reason for me not updating in a while. Those of you who sent me messages asking about how I was and if all was well, thank you. I am pretty sure that I have replied to you all by now. If not, consider this post my reply.

I do not live in either the Oklahoma City or Tulsa metropolises which is where a great deal of the bad damage was. I live in north central Oklahoma. We did have a few tornados around where I live, but none that hit where I am at. The extent of the “damage” that my house and area got was that the streets flooded and we got some leaves blown out of our trees. The rivers around where I live were up which is a good thing since we have been in the middle of a drought and it makes growing our vegetables and fruit hard when the rivers are low.

While I was not directly affected by the tornados in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa area tornados, I had a couple of family members and some very dear friends of mine that were. I nearly got caught in the storms that produced the EF5 tornado that hit Moore area really hard on May 20^th. In fact, if I had left any later than when I had, I would probably not be here since I was traveling at the time. If you saw pictures of the Warren Theatre in Moore, I was actually in that part of the theatre only a couple days before watching a movie with about 20 of my friends. Of those same friends 1 does not have a house anymore, 3 have homes that they cannot live in at the moment because of the damage to their property, and about 10 of them have minor damage to their homes/flats. One of my friends and a cousin of mine are nurses and were put on call. My cousin was sent out to help with little kids affected by the storms. Another cousin of mine is in the Army National Guard and was helping out down there as well. For those of you who do not know, I volunteer with the American Red Cross when it was needed. For those of you who did know this and were wondering why I was not down there helping, here is the reason: there were so many people down in the area helping that the Red Cross and other organizations were asking people that were wanting to volunteer to not go down to the affected areas because there were already too many people. Also, the meteorologists were predicting more violent storms and they wanted to make sure that not all of their volunteers were in one area if another tornado hit in another area. One of tornados that hit the Tulsa metropolis were about a mile away from my big brother’s house and close to some of my other cousins’ and my aunts’ houses. However, the only damage that they got were some tree limbs down and some shingles got ripped off.

So, all is well, or a well as it will be until everything is back to being all shiny and new looking again. Hopefully I will be able to get back on my schedule. For those of you who are reading this on my fashion and beauty blog, I was doing a series of monthly posts on the birthstone of the month. Since June is a pearl I do not feel the need to repost the same thing over again. Instead, I will post a link back to it down at the bottom. For those of you who are reading this on my recipe blog, I will be back to posting recipes again soon! My friends that are from various countries in the world that do not know much about the weather where I live, tornados and bad storms are fairly commonplace in Oklahoma. However, ones that are this devastating and horrific are not. It is very rare that we get ones that are this awful that cause this much damage.

Those of us here appreciate all the help and prayers that the world has been sending us!
Lots of love and happiness!

If You Would Like To Read About Pearls Click Here!

Crème de Menthe Truffles

Hello everyone!

I have a new recipe for you all to try. They are delicious beyond reason. I have made them several times and each time they are gone in minutes. Today’s recipe is Crème de Menthe Truffles. The recipe makes about 4 dozen truffles. You can easily cut the recipe in half if you do not need that many. Keep in mind that this recipe has liqueur in it and as such may not be suitable for taking to events where children are involved. On with the recipe!

Ingredients

v 2 cups of whipping cream
v ½ cup of vanilla sugar
v ½ cup of butter
v 32 ounces of dark chocolate chips
v 2 tablespoons of Crème de menthe

Directions

v In a saucepan over medium heat whisk the cream and vanilla sugar together until the cream starts to bubble and the sugar is dissolved
v Remove from heat
v Quickly whisk the butter, dark chocolate chips, and Crème de menthe into the cream and sugar mixture until the butter and chocolate chips are fully melted
v Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature
v With a tablespoon spoon the mixture out and roll into balls about 1” in diameter
v Refrigerate for an hour or until the truffles are firm

Tips

v For a bit of something extra you can roll the truffles into various “toppings”, such as powdered sugar or coconut, before you refrigerate them
v You can change up the flavour of the truffles by changing the Crème de menthe liqueur for another kind of liqueur

Hope you all love these! They are easy to make and really delicious. So, if you are looking for a good desert, or just something easy to make, give these a try and see how well they are loved by your friends and family!

Until next time!

Yorkshire Pudding

It’s time for more recipes!

Today I will be sharing the recipe for a delicious and ridiculously easy recipe from the UK. Now, most of the people that I have spoken to hate British food. Why is that? I have yet to have any bad British food? Maybe it is because people in the States are not used to having food that does not have a ton of salt or sugar in it. Whatever the cause, food from Britain is not bad. It is quite tasty in fact. After all, how can one say that all British food is bad when the British gave the world those delicious Cadbury cream eggs? Anyways, on with the recipe for today: Yorkshire Pudding! This recipe makes 4 individual servings. You will need either a set of for ramequins or a large muffin pan

Ingredients
·         4oz of unbleached flour

·         1 large egg
·         10 fl oz of milk
·         teaspoon of sea salt
·         The drippings from a roast

Directions

·         Preheat oven to 400⁰F
·         Sift flour into a bowl with the salt into a bowl.
·         Mix the milk and eggs together
·         Add the milk and egg mixture into the flour while beating with a whisk until the well-blended
·         Refrigerate for about 1 hour
·         Place a little of the drippings into each ramequin or section of the muffin tin and heat
·         Once the pan or ramequin is hot fill each with the batter and place back into the oven
·         They are done when they have risen and are firm and brown
That’s it! They are pretty tasty. They go well with roasts and various other meat dishes. Sometimes they are used with other recipes like when one is making Toad in the Hole. I will have to post that recipe for you all to check out later.

Enjoy!

Some Questions to Answer! A.K.A. Why My Spelling and Some Phrases I Use are "Weird" to Some of You

Hello everyone! I have a post for you all that is amazingly not about food.

So, I have had several people ask me about my spelling. My favorite time has been when I had a person come up to me at college and tell me that I was spelling things wrong or that I was calling things by the wrong name. All I have to say is, oh silly American English. So, today I am taking a break from my usual posting to clear up some terms and spellings that people keep telling me are incorrect.

First things first. Where was I born? Not in the Commonwealth! Amazingly I was born in the middle of the United States to my wonderful Mother and Father that are of Oto-Missouria/Dutch/Prussian/Scottish/English decent. So, how do I end up sounding like I’m British rather than American? Well, it comes from learning my English from people that use Oxford English. *sigh* For the longest time my teaches and professors thought I grew up overseas. Oh well. That’s life.

Next: the questions that I get the most. “What is up with you adding a u to various words?” and “why do you keep spelling the word color wrong?” I am not spelling colour wrong. To me you all are spelling colour wrong. I spell it the same way that I have always spelled it. The same thing goes with flavor, labour, honour, and neighbour. Also, I sometimes people think that I spell words like centre, litre, and theatre wrong. No, that’s how the English spell the words center, liter, and theater. Sometimes I spell things like practise instead of practice or connnexion rather than connection. Most of the time I spell things like catalog this way: catalogue. That’s just one of my quirks. I’m not spelling it wrong. I’m spelling it right…in the Commonwealth.

Also, some of the phrases that I use in my everyday life are more British than they are American. For example, I often ask people if they would fancy a cuppa. Most of the time I end up with people looking at me strangely. Of course growing up in Oklahoma asking someone if they want a cupppa tea isn’t that far of a stretch and people there just look at me like I’m abbreviating the sentence and then finish it with what they want. When being asked if you fancy a cuppa, what a person is asking is if you want a cup of hot tea. Speaking of tea, when being asked how one takes their tea or coffee what you are being asked is do you want cream, milk, sugar, or nothing in it and not what kind of cup you want it in. In a lot of places outside of the States it isn’t uncommon for people to put milk or cream in their tea. I do this all the time. For a long time my boyfriend thought I was drinking coffee until he notice the tea bag in my empty cup. For those who would like a new type of tea to try I would recommend PG Tips. It’s delicious. I enjoy it quite a bit. I always have a box at work and at home so that when I feel the need for a cuppa I have it available. I also use my mobile not my cell phone. For the ladies, and this relates back to one of my previous fashion posts, I wear tights regardless of if they are called pantyhose. It weirded my boyfriend out when I started talking about ice lollies. Those are popsicles for those who don’t know.

I could go on and on, but alas, I have so many things to get done today that I must cut my post shorter than what I would like. I will try to start posting little random tidbits at the end of my post though or explain things that may be unfamiliar to those who were not raised by Europeans.

Until the next time!

Eggs Benedict

It is Passover everyone and Easter is just around the corner! Today I will be posting the recipe for my favorite breakfast food, Eggs Benedict! Surprise! Not something for Passover or Easter. Well, I guess it could be eaten for Easter. Defiantly not for Passover though as it is not kosher at all. Although I guess you could substitute the pork for turkey bacon if you wanted too, but I have not tried that. If you do please let me know how that turns out. This particular recipe makes 2 servings and is fairly easy to change depending on how many people you are serving.

Ingredients

v  2 egg yolks

v  1 tablespoon and 2 ¼ teaspoons of lemon juice

v  A small pinch of white pepper (you could use black pepper if you cannot find white pepper)

v  1/8 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

v  1 ½ teaspoons of water

v  ½ cup of butter that is melted and 1 tablespoon of butter that is softened

v  1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

v  4 eggs

v  ½ teaspoon of distilled white vinegar

v  4 large pieces of Canadian Bacon

v  2 English muffins that are split (If you are living outside of the United States they are also called Muffins or Breakfast Muffins. I have run into this problem as my friends outside of the States have no idea what the term English muffin means)

Directions for the Sauce (Hollandaise Sauce)

v  Fill the bottom of a double boiler with water making sure that it is not full enough for water to get into the top pan

v  Bring water to a point just before it boils

v  Whisk egg yolks, lemon juice, white pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 tablespoon of water together in the top pan

v  While whisking add the melted butter to the mixture slowly until well mixed

v  Add salt and remove from heat

v  Tips!: If the sauce seems to get too thick you can add a teaspoon of hot water to the mixture. To keep the sauce from cooling to much while you are making the rest of the dish you should keep the pan lid on

Directions for Eggs (Poached Eggs)

v  Fill a large pan with about three inches of water and bring to a point just before boiling

v  Add vinegar

v  Break eggs carefully into the water

v  Cook eggs for 2 ½ to 3 minutes keeping in mind that the egg yolks will still be soft in the center

v  Remove eggs from water with a slotted spoon and set on a plate

Finishing the Dish

v  Brown the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and toast the English muffins

v  Butter the toasted muffins with the softened butter and place a slice of the bacon on each one

v  On top of the bacon place one poached egg and drizzle with the sauce

Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do!

Raspberry Meringues

So, I have been busy and I don’t know when it’s going to let up. So, I am not promising how often I will update. I am trying to make time to update as often as I can! Today I will be posting a recipe that is pretty tasty. It is a type of candy, although some people insist that they are a type of cookie. However, since there is not any flour in it I have a hard type thinking of these as a type of cookie. Today I will be posting the recipe for Raspberry Meringues.

Ingredients

v  3 large egg whites (a little tip for you: if you have them at room temperature it is easier to mix for this)

v  ¾ cup of white sugar

v  1/8 of a teaspoon of sea salt

v  1/8 of a teaspoon of cream of tartar

v  1 teaspoon of raspberry extract

v  Red gel food colouring (You must use the gel food colouring for this recipe or it will mess up the recipe!)

Directions

v  Preheat your oven to 200⁰F

v  Set a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water

v  Wisk egg whites and sugar together until sugar is dissolved and it is warm

v  Mix in the sea salt and cream of tartar

v  Using an electric mixer whip the mixture on medium-high while slowly adding the raspberry extract until it forms stiff and glossy peaks (this should take about 6-8 minutes and the mixture should be almost cool

v  Paint 3-5 vertical stripes of the gel colouring inside of a large pastry bag

v  Fit bag with a ½ inch round tip

v  Once the mixture is ready fill with the meringue without smudging the colouring

v  Line your baking sheets with parchment paper

v  Pipe 1-2 inch circles onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart

v  Bake them for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes (They should be crisp on the outside, but not hard)

Hope you all enjoy this! Until next time!

Baked Apple Dumplings

So, it’s 2013. My classes have started up again. Before I get too busy again I will post a new recipe. This is pretty tasty and super easy. My mother made these baked apple dumplings for me the other day for breakfast. I also made it for my church’s choir luncheon on Saturday and it was very well loved. This recipe is also pretty inexpensive to make as well.  It took me about an hour and a half to make so they go along pretty quickly.  

Ingredients

·        4 large baking apples

·        The juice of 2 lemons

·        2 cups of sugar

·        1 cup of butter, not margarine

·        16 fluffy buttermilk biscuits from a can (you know those things that you pull the paper and it pops open

·        2/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract (Not imitation vanilla!)

·        8 teaspoons of ground cinnamon

·        2 cups of water

·        1 bowl of water

Directions

·        Preheat your oven to 375⁰F

·        Peel and core your apples and then slice them into 8 slices, if possible use one of those apple slicer/corers to do this

·        Take your bowl of water and mix the lemon juice into it

·        Place your apple slices in this bowl of water (This keeps your apples from turning brown and you can do this with apples for fruit trays as well)

·        Mix 2 cups of water,  1 ½ cups of sugar, the butter, and vanilla in a large saucepan to make a simple syrup

·        Using medium heat bring this mixture to a boil

·        While this is boiling wrap each slice of apple in one of the biscuits and pinch the ends and seams together

·        In two separate 9x12x2 inch baking dish, or one that is twice that size, place the wrapped apples  with the long seams facing the bottom

·        Mix the rest of the sugar with the cinnamon and set aside

·        Pour the hot simple syrup over the apples and sprinkle the sugar cinnamon mixture over the top

·        Bake in for about 35 minutes or until they are golden brown

These particular dumplings are best served warm. However, they are pretty good cold with coffee too. Hope you enjoy!