BACKGROUND
I’m going International!
Last week, I shared a list of South African dishes that I’ve been interested in trying, and ever since I’ve been desperate to try my hand at cooking again. I can’t do a lot of cooking at my China apartment because I lack both a kitchen and money for imported ingredients. You’d be surprised at how expensive things like Vanilla, Chocolate, Sauces, and even Cheese can get!
Anyway, July is a busy month for my family with a family reunion, fish fry, 4 Birthdays, and anniversary, and a Home Extension luncheon with my aunt. Since I’m staying at my aunt’s house and have access to her extra awesome kitchen, I decided to whip some international dishes up.
The Fish Fry was our first event, and I tried my hand at a South African Melktert! Originally based on a Dutch dish, the Melktert is now a clearly South African custard dessert that requires no cooking but tastes delicious! It has a strong cinnamon/almondy flavor and is kind of a cross between a cake and an egg custard. Really unique, my uncle said he’s never had anything quite like it.
The recipe below makes two pies, and easily slices into 16 pieces. Must be cooled, but can be served warm or cold.
**Although it’s been recommended as a possibility, I don’t suggest replacing cake flour with normal flour–its need that extra cakey touch. Continue reading
2 cups chopped unpeeled apples
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup finely chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Mix cinnamon and yogurt. Toss in the rest. Enjoy.
A few days ago, I mentioned that I was attempting to build a Gingerbread House for the first time in years. Here are the results–which came out delicious if less than presentationally delightful 🙂
This is what I started with–The Gingerbread slabs came from a pre-made package, the candy and icing I added myself! You can tell that trouble started a little early; the walls went up fine but the back portion of the roof was broken in half and the front gable wasn’t cut correctly so the tips overlapped instead of meeting. It was all supposed to go up really easily, but the roof kept falling in and sliding off the top (After the fourth attempt I had to call in back-up 😛 ) so I ended up gluing it with extra icing and propping it up for the night to harden.
Twenty-four hours later I began the decorating process, and it seemed to be going really well! Law school isn’t exactly a creative outlet, so I was soooo happy to finally get to spend some time doing something artsy, and I think the design turned out great 🙂 It was a mixture of peanut butter pieces, York patty chips, hard rock candy, stick candy, Twizzlers, and more. Honestly, I don’t see how anyone could eat more than one teeny-tiny piece a week 😛 Definitely hits the sweet tooth!
So off I went, icing and eating half of the candy I put on when disaster struck! I turned and put one dab of icing on the front and the entire thing exploded! The roof caved in, walls fell outwards, and it all landed Icing down!
Oops!! So my efforts at a Gingerbread House ended in kind of an epic fail. After this collapse it was unrecoverable and the front never had a chance to be completed. So instead I have plenty of candied gingerbread walls for guests and a plain gingerbread front for tea time. Yum!! 🙂
This started as an experiment with altering the tried and true Peanut Butter filled Dipped Ritz cookies (I actually made some of those too). I have some family members who actually prefer mint to Peanut Butter and friends allergic to peanuts, so I thought I would try out something new for the Christmas season. Happily, these yummy alternatives were quite the success! And they really are quite easy to make!
Ingredients
Directions (approx. 1 hour)
They’re ready for you to enjoy!! Let me know what you think; I’m kind of proud of this recipe!
Random cooking lesson of the day! If you ever need to cook with peanut butter (i.e. Heath Peanut Butter Cookies), and you have to measure it out of a jar, don’t bother messing with it straight up. You’ll only find yourself losing time while trying to get it to quit sticking to your measuring spoon. The easiest way is to coat the measuring cup/spoon with water first. Just run it through some water before scooping. This won’t affect your recipe, but the peanut butter slides out a lot easier! Cool huh?!?
Gluten Free Apple Pie
What is your favorite dish? Mine is always the apple pie, and I make a mean apple pie if I do say so myself 🙂 Unfortunately, this year I had to give up gluten, so I have been attempting to replace all my favorite thanksgiving dishes non Gluten-Free (GF) items. So here is my new pie recipe! See? A blessing! I did not have to give up any of my favorite treats this year. Continue reading
Gluten Free Corn Casserole
This dish has always been a particular favorite of my family (especially me); the creaminess of the dish fits perfectly with many entrees. However, usually I would just use butter, cream cheese, milk, and Jiffy Mix. This year, in replacing my dishes with Gluten Free (GF) products, I had to get rid of the Jiffy Mix. Here is my replacement dish! It is delicious, and makes an absolutely marvelous holiday side. Plus, it takes about 5 minutes to make!
“She was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no city” ~ Roman Payne
Language Translation
Deceptively Blonde 