Band Get-Together

Tonight, like last year at the end of the season, a bunch of bandies got together at the Teppanyaki Grill for dinner.

Tom and I rode up with Jeff and Helen, and it was a good time with my fellow band-mates. It was BYOB, and David brought a liquor from his native Lithuania, Trejos Devynerios, for everyone to try. I really liked it!

A Christmas Promise

A couple of days ago, I joined the Winter Reading Program, and the first book I finished for it was "A Christmas Promise," by Mary Balogh.

I liked it, but what's new, I like most of Mary Balogh's books that I read. It was about a titled man with no fortune, and a common woman with lots of money. The woman's dying father contracted a marriage between the two, and part of his dying wish was for his daughter not to mourn him that Christmas, but to celebrate. She invites her entire family to the country manor, and through trials and tribulations, they eventually fall in love with each other. A good story with a happy ending, that made me cry and was romantic enough for me.

Fried Chicken

One of the reasons why I wanted to get myself a deep fryer, was so I could make fried chicken! I started out looking for a clone for Popeye's fried chicken, but instead found a seasoning blend for Kentucky Fried Chicken.

KFC’s Secret Herbs and Spices

- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons Accent (an MSG-based seasoning)

Then I looked for a fried chicken recipe that utilized pork rinds for the crunchy coating.

Fried Chicken to Die For
Makes 4-8 servings.
Ingredients*

• 4-8 Pieces of Chicken
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/4 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 eggs' whites (no yokes)
• 1-2 T. Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 - 1 bag of crushed pork-rinds
• Oil or Lard (lard preferred)

Instructions: Heat oil to about 370 degrees. You can fry this chicken in a pan, but I prefer a deep fryer. Thaw and pat dry chicken with paper towel. Rub salt and pepper into chicken. In bowl, mix or whisk heavy whipping cream, egg whites, and Tabasco sauce. In second dish, finely crush pork rinds. Dip chicken into liquid mixture then into the pork rinds. You may have to pat or press the pork rinds a bit to insure they stick to the chicken. Next, place in oil and cook for 9 or 10 minutes. If pan frying, turn chicken half way through. If you are using a small deep fryer, don't overfill, cook 2 or 3 pieces at a time. Enjoy!

Instead of rubbing the chicken with salt and pepper, I used the KFC clone blend, and I omitted the Tabasco sauce, for Tom's benefit. For half of the chicken, I used Panko as the coating, since Tom doesn't like pork rinds. Unfortunately, the Panko got too brown with this cooking time, but didn't cook through enough for Tom's liking. My half, the half with the pork rinds, turned out well enough for me. It was crunchy, and had good flavor.

Sweet Potato Chips

I'd got myself a deep fryer for myself for Christmas, so I tried it out tonight! Mom had left some sweet potatoes behind after the holiday, and had mentioned how much she liked sweet potato chips, so I had the perfect reason to try out the deep fryer. I sliced them up on the grater, dropped them in the fryer, and sprinkled them with Paula Deen's House Seasoning. I thought they were tasty, but Tom detected the garlic in the seasoning, so he didn't like them. Oh, well, his loss.

Navy Bean and Ham Soup

After the holidays, I've been trying my darndest to use up the leftovers, mainly the ham. Ham and cheese omelets and ham fried rice (also using up leftover rice) were just the beginning. I need to make sandwiches, too, but in today's exploits, I made a Ham and Bean Soup. When I first broached the subject with Tom, he said only if I make it the exact same way his mother used to make it - just beans and ham. I looked through her recipe box and found no reference to that soup. I finally decided to modify this recipe, and here's what I came up with.

Slow-Cooker Navy Bean and Ham Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb leftover ham, cut into cubes
• 1 16-oz bag of dried navy beans, rinsed and sorted
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 2 heaping spoonfuls of finely chopped onions
• 4 cups water
• 1/4 t dried thyme

Directions

1. In 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients.
2. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 10 to 12 hours or until beans are tender.

I cooked it on High heat, since I got a late start this morning, and intended for it to cook for 5-6 hours. Because of the late start, I had to go to work, and Tom let it cook for two extra hours (gasp!). By then, he reported that all of the water was gone and the beans were mushy and pasty. He tried it, regardless, adding equals parts water to "soup," and said it was "freaking awesome!" He liked it, he liked it!

Swirled Candy Cane Cupcakes

I don't know why, but for Cookie Day at Huber, I decided that I wanted to make Swirled Candy Cane Cupcakes.

Swirled Candy Cane Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 box (1 lb 2.25 oz) Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
• Water, vegetable oil and egg whites called for on cake mix box
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 teaspoon red paste food color
• 2 containers (12 oz each) fluffy white whipped frosting
• 1 cup crushed hard peppermint candies (about 30)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups.
2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, egg whites and peppermint extract with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Divide batter in half. To 1 portion, add food color; stir until uniform in color. In each muffin cup, place 2 tablespoons red batter; top with 2 tablespoons white batter. Swirl white batter through red batter with knife for marbled design.
3. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
4. Frost cupcakes with frosting. Top each with crushed peppermint candies.

I think they turned out well, with a nice bit of peppermint flavor. The only down side was that the mints melted a little and got sticky.

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Wanda sent me a link for the recipe for Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, so I thought I'd make them for Huber's Cookie Day, in addition to the cupcakes I initially planned to make.

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 box (7.4 oz) Alpine Spiced Apple Cider Instant Original Drink mix -not sugar free- all 10 packets
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 bag Kraft Caramels (14 oz)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line cookie sheets with parchment. (You really need the parchment!)
2. In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
3. With your mixer (or an energetic spoon) cream together butter, sugar, salt and all 10 packages of apple cider drink mix powder, until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix well.
5. Gradually add flour mixture to butter/egg mixture. Mix until just combined.
6. Refrigerate for about an hour. (If you're really impatient you don't have to do this, but it makes it so much easier to work with.)
7. When you are ready to bake, unwrap your caramels.
8. Scoop out cookie dough ball about the size of a walnut. (I used a rounded cookie scoop-full. My scoop holds about a Tablespoon.)
9. Flatten the ball of dough slightly in the palm of your hand. Press the unwrapped caramel into the center of your dough and seal the dough around it, covering it completely. Place on parchment covered cookie sheets 2 inches apart.
10. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until very lightly browned around the edges. Please don't over-bake! Once the cookies are done, slide the parchment off of the baking sheet right out onto the counter. Allow cookies to partially cool on the parchment. When cookies are cool enough to be firm but still slightly warm, carefully twist off of parchment and allow to finish cooling upside down (either on the parchment or on a rack.) If you forget about them and they cool too much and stick to your parchment, put them into the freezer for a few minutes and they'll pop right off.

I think they were very good. They were definitely the best warm, but they were pretty good at room temperature, too.