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©Life of a Foodie and Her Family 2008-2013, Lynn Tabor

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11/29/2011

Gingerbread House Contest....

My daughter's class has been entered into a Gingerbread House contest!!! 


Thanks for registering for the 2011 Gingerbread Contest! We will have at least 125 entries in the contest this year!!!


Here are the most important details to know right now–


Houses will be available for pick up on Monday, November 21 and Tuesday, November 22 between 3 – 6 pm. Please call if you will not be able to pick up during these times.


· You will have a kit that includes pre-baked gingerbread pieces, icing, and candy decorations.
· The House should not be edible – we suggest using a glue gun to help with stability.
· Space constraints: the house must remain within a space of 12” wide and 11” deep and 12” tall.  (I feel like I will be on a Food Network Challenge and will have my trusty measuring tape out!)


Houses will need to be delivered to the Gingerbread Village at the Westfield Sarasota Square Mall – Macy’s wing on Wednesday, December 7 between 3- 7 pm.

The Third Annual CYD Gingerbread Festival is a sugar-coated treat for children of all ages. Do not miss the home tour of the glittering Gingerbread Village of 125+ homes decorated by local youth groups, businesses and organizations. See the impressive iconic Sarasota landmarks recreated in gingerbread by talented professional chefs. It is coming soon to the Macy’s wing of the Westfield Sarasota Square Mall. Mark your calendar for December 9, 10 and 11 and plan to visit during mall hours – Friday and Saturday, 10 AM – 9 PM. Sunday, 11 am – 7 pm.


No cookie- cutter homes in the CYD Gingerbread Festival Village! Visitors will see a winter wonderland of lavishly decorated gingerbread houses. Grand confectionary structures designed by sponsoring businesses and organizations sit alongside more than 125 candy-coated cottages decorated by local school children. Area elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and youth groups are represented in the Village. $1 donation per person at the door.


Visit gingerbread2011.com after December 8, see all of the houses and vote for your favorite!


Don’t miss the “Iron Chef”-style competitions on Friday and Saturday evening at 7 pm. Last year’s winning chef Lyndsy McDonald of Pastries by Design will return to face a new challenger and race the clock in the Gingerbread House Decorating contest on Friday, December 10. Student chefs from Venice HS, Southeast HS, and Manatee Technical Institute will have their own competition to create a Gingerbread masterpiece on Saturday, December 11.


Proud sponsors include Westfield Sarasota Square Mall, Ringling College of Art & Design, Hyatt Regency Sarasota, Sarasota Convention and Visitors Bureau, Mattison’s, Michael Saunders & Company, Kohl’s - Central Sarasota Parkway, People at Play, Whole Foods, and SRQ Magazine.

I am so excited to help the class build their gingerbread house, which will certainly NOT be your typical gingerbread house!

11/28/2011

YCA Green Bean Bundles

Victoria always makes Green Bean Bundles for Thanksgiving.  She first made the recipe when she attended Young Chefs Academy and was in the Kindercooks Class.  (for her own safety, I blur out her face)

16 slices pre-cooked bacon (she prefers raw bacon)
1 1/2 pounds fresh green beans
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400.

Place beans in a colander wash. Snap the ends off the green beans

Simmer beans on stove, just covered with water for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain beans in colander and rinse with cold water to hold color and cool. (we have discovered that a quick blanche is better for the beans and then toss them in the ice bath)

The bacon should be flexible to work with. If need be, place on a paper plate and microwave just long enough to war

Place 4 to 6 green beans on a slice of bacon. Roll the great beans into a bundle with the bacon. Continue until all the green beans have been used. About 16 bundles.



Place the bundles seam side down side by side on a greased baking dish.

Melt the butter in a small microwave safe bowl. Add brown sugar and mix well. Drizzle over the green beans in the baking dish.





Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.



Cranberry Sauce

I also made a batch of Orange Cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup of granulated sugar
Zest from two oranges... (one orange I use a mircroplane and the other a zester that makes nice long strips)




Add all the ingredients to a saucepan and boil until the cranberries start to pop then turn down to medium heat and continue cooking until berries have popped and it thickens. (about 5 minutes)

Pour into bowl and let it come to room temp, then store in the fridge.


To serve place in a pretty bowl and let it come up to room temp.

Pumpkin Pie

Next pie we made was Miss V and Daddy's favorite...Pumpkin Pie and this also came from my old Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Pastry (again I cheated and used a refrigerated pie crust)
1 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon shortening
2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
Sugar

Filling
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

In medium bowl, mix flour and salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

Gather pastry into a ball. Shape into flattened round on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

Heat oven to 425ºF. With floured rolling pin, roll pastry into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1 inch from rim of pie plate. Fold and roll pastry under, even with plate. Cut scraps of rolled pastry with tiny leaf-shaped cookie cutter. Sprinkle cutouts with sugar; press on pastry edge. (Miss V said to skip that step)

In medium bowl, beat eggs slightly with wire whisk or hand beater. Beat in all remaining filling ingredients until well blended.

To prevent spilling, place pastry-lined pie plate on oven rack. Pour filling into pie plate. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake about 45 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 4 hours or until chilled. Store in refrigerator.



Apple Pie

Yes, I am so far behind in blogging.  "Real" life is beyond busy so I am taking a breather and catching up a bit.

So last Wednesday Miss V and I made our pies for Thanksgiving.  First up was this yummy Apple Pie from my old Betty Crocker Cookbook.

Pastry (I cheated and used a refrigerated pie crust)
2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons shortening
4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Filling
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples (8 medium)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

In medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half; shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one pastry round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 cup flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir in apples until well mixed. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling. Trim overhanging edge of pastry 1/2 inch from rim of plate.

Roll other round of pastry into 10-inch round. Fold into fourths and cut slits so steam can escape. Unfold top pastry over filling; trim overhanging edge 1 inch from rim of plate. Fold and roll top edge under lower edge, pressing on rim to seal; flute as desired. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Serve warm if desired.






11/16/2011

T-Shirts for Turkeys

Our favorite radio station is doing T-shirts for Turkeys. This is the same station that did the Gift Cards for Alabama. Anyway Victoria has been on me about getting a turkey for someone who might not have one. I told her that I would look up the drop off locations and sure enough there was one in our town in the afternoon.

So I told her that we could do a "paper" turkey aka 10.00 (or more) cash/check and she was adament that we get a real frozen turkey because people can't eat a paper turkey. LOL I told her that they would just buy the turkeys with the cash. Not good enough...it doesn't make sense to give them money and then they have to buy the turkey. Wouldn't it make more sense just to buy the turkey? Umm...she got me on that.

After school today we drove down to the Publix location and went shopping. 

Here she is doing her shopping...

 Ok so she had $20.00 to spend and bought two nice sized turkey since they were on sale for $0.59 a pound.


And her she is with her new T-shirt.



She is such a sweet giving little girl and I am so proud of her thoughtfulness.

11/08/2011

Cranberry White Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls

I made these on Saturday and they came out really well.  I found the recipe in a Taste of Home magazine.

2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
1 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
5 to 6 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 package (10 to 12 ounces) white baking chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

GLAZE:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons Spice Islands® pure vanilla extract
5 to 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter, sugar,
salt and 4 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about
6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the
top. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (I totally skipped this and let it rise on the stove top for about an hour then proceeded with the recipe)

Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 24-in. x
12-in. rectangle. For filling, combine the butter, brown sugar and
cinnamon; spread over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges. Sprinkle
with chips, cranberries and pecans. Roll up jelly-roll style,
starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal.

Cut into 16 slices. Place cut side down in two greased 13-in. x 9-in.
baking pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about
45 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile,
in a small bowl, combine the confectioner's sugar, vanilla and
enough cream to achieve desired consistency; drizzle over warm
rolls. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 16 servings.







11/04/2011

School Lunch 10/31 - 11/4

This weeks lunch round up.

Ham & Cheese on whole wheat
Cheese Stick
Breakfast on the Go packet
Crackers
Fruit Snack
Carrots
Apples
Chocolate Milk

Peanut butter and Jelly cut into a Pumpkin Shape
Capri Sun
Carrots with Green Goddess Dressing
Breakfast on the go packet
Fruit snack
Mandarin Oranges
Cheese stick
Oreo Yo Crunch

Peanut butter and Jelly on a mini deli thin
Chocolate milk
Breakfast on the go packet
Fruit Snack
Chips Deluxe Gripz
Mandarin Oranges
Carrots
Simply Go Gurt
Cheese stick
 Green salad with a slice of turkey, craisins and tomatoes honey mustard dressing.  Oh and homemade croutons.
Strawberry milk
Breakfast on the go packet
Fruit snack
Crackers
Cheese stick
Simply Go Gurt
 Pizza Friday...pack snacks only