The Deli Lady at Reasor's Cobbler Recipe

So, I went to the grocery store after work today and I made two major mistakes. First of all, I was starving. Secondly, I forgot my list at home. I'm a big list maker and I'm also convinced that grocery lists save money. So, needless to say, I spent a lot of money on the most random items. However, there is a silver lining. I had a long conversation with the deli counter lady and even scored a recipe out of the deal. It could be disgusting, who knows?! I'm still going to try it because she swore by it...and when anyone swears by a recipe, I'm game. It all began when I was browsing the prepared foods counter and drooling. (I really should have had a snack before I went because those foods normally don't look very appetizing.) She caught my eye and said she had slabs of ribs coming out of the oven in fifteen minutes. Sold! I was wondering what to make for dinner. So I did my grocery shopping then strolled back to the deli counter. Well, the ribs weren't quit done like they promised, so I had to wait a few minutes and chat it up with the lady. She even came from around the counter to chat with me. That's when I got the recipe. Here it is:

Reasor's Deli Counter Lady's Cobbler Recipe

1 Cup Self rising flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 Cup milk

Mix ingredients together. Then rub melted butter inside an 8 X 8 pan. Pour the batter in the bottom. Open a can of fruit - she suggested blackberries- and pour just a little of the liquid out. Pour on top of the batter mixture and bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean (she said like 30 minutes to an hour - kind of a big difference, but oh well). Viola'

So, if you try this cobbler recipe and hate it, don't blame me. If you try it and love it, I'll take the credit. I'll give it a try soon and let you know what I think.

Jesse & Matt sitting in a tree....

K.I.S.S.I.N.G....First comes love, then comes marriage.....you know the rest! We had Jesseca and Matt's couples shower a couple of weekends ago and it was a huge success! I posted some pictures to show some really cute and inexpensive ways to decorate for a shower. We did kind of an Italian theme. We had all Italian foods like brushetta, artichoke dip, genoa salmai/munster cheese bread, Italian skewers, and a variety of olives and other little bites. Instead of a cake we had a dessert bar with brownies, cupcakes, cookies, and lemon bars. Yum Yum! For drinks we served Sangria, pea tea, some white wines, and a variety of beer. It really turned out great! The best advice I could give someone that is throwing a party for 60 plus people is to rent tables. I couldn't believe how affordable it was. Each bistro table was only $9 and totally worth the money. We just bought some cute red and white checkered plastic table clothes and tied them around with black and white toille and that's it! That's all you gotta do! It was very cute. We also bought some flowers at the local grocery store and filled empty wine bottles for our table centerpieces. We also filled a couple of small vases with fresh flowers and lemons in the base....Adorable! With the help of all the fabulous bridesmaids, we pulled off quite a party! Congratulations Jesseca and Matt!

No Spoon Needed

There it is...the perfect coconut cream pie! I did it! It was not coconut cream soup! No spoon needed here. There were, however, a few little hiccups. Only a few cuss words were said, not too many. First of all, I used my new double boiler. This pretty much doubled the time for me because you had to fill up the entire pot and bring it to a boil on medium heat. The milk had to get to a scalding point and it took more than 3o minutes. Yikes! There is also another very common mistake when making an egg custard....sometimes if the milk is too hot when you add the egg yolks they scramble....just like scrambled eggs. Mine might have done this a little bit - hence the cuss words. However, I quickly grabbed my whisk and whisked out as much as I could. No one even noticed. Whew. All in all, it was a successful coconut cream pie. Only 364 more days until I make it again. Frank thinks if I made it more often it wouldn't be so difficult. Hmmm....

THE coconut cream pie...4th time's a charm?

As Easter quickly approaches it's that time of year again when I attempt to make Frank's favorite dessert of all time....his mom's coconut cream pie. I heard about this pie for years before I actually got to try it one Christmas. And it was delicious! When I tried it I thought to myself, "I can make this...piece of cake (or pie)!" Frank said that others have tried to make this pie and it's never as good as him mom's. I took that as a challenge! Long story short, I've made this pie 3 times now. Two times we had coconut cream soup and one time, in the middle, I actually made it right! Making a custard pie is a lot harder than it looks. However, now I have an official double boiler, so I'm hoping my new kitchen accessories will help me on this year's challenge.

Here is the recipe exactly as I received it from Frank's mom in an email:

"For the crust: You will need 1 and 3/4 cups of crushed graham crackers. This is 1 package. (a box comes with three packages). I use the bottom of a drinking glass to crush these in a bowl. To this, add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 6 tablespoons of melted margarine or butter. Mix and press firmly to sides and bottom of 9 inch pie pan. Chill one hour before filling, or bake at 375 degrees about 7 minutes. (I usually bake.)

For the filling: I will give this to you in the order I do it, since I like to have everything ready to pour into the milk and keep stirring so it doesn't stick. Separate 3 eggs. Beat the yolks just a little. Put the whites in a bowl big enough for mixing, as you will make your meringue out of them. In another bowl, mix 3/4 cup of sugar, and either 1/2 cup of flour or 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. I use cornstarch if I have it. If not, I use flour - doesn't matter if it is all-purpose or self-rising. Get your coconut out of the can or bag - 3/4 cup of shredded coconut. You will also need 1 teaspoon of vanilla flavoring. In a double-boiler, put water in the bottom part, probably about an inch - just till it will barely touch the bottom of the top part when you set in in the bottom part. Put 2 and 1/2 cups of whole milk in the top part of the double broiler and turn your eye on medium heat. You want this milk to heat to a scalding point - this will be when a think film forms on top of the milk. At this point you will start stirring and slowly add your sugar/cornstarch mixture. Heat and stir until this starts to thicken, then add your beaten egg yolks. Continue stirring until thick. Remove from heat, stir in coconut and vanilla flavoring. Pour this into your graham cracker shell and allow to cool while you make your meringue.

For meringue: To your three egg whites, add 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar and about 1/8 teaspoon vanilla flavoring. Beat until it begins to thicken, then add about 6 tablespoons of sugar (one or two tablespoons at a time) and beat until thick enough to stay where you put it. Ha! Bake at 425 degrees just about 4 minutes or until lightly browned. I always watch this part very closely since it can burn pretty quickly.

This sounds more complicated than it is, once you have tried it a few times, and even if it is not perfect the first few times, more than likely it will still be edible. Good luck!!

Hugs,

Vivian"

I will be making this on Saturday and I'll let you know how it turns out!

Happy Baking!

Oops...I just spent $75 at Loops

I've been wanting to learn how to knit for a very long time. I've been talking about it forever. I've just never gotten around to actually doing it....until now. Well, I just invested $75 in this new hobby of mine, so I better actually learn how to do it.

Let me start at the beginning. At my school, there is the nicest mom that loves to knit and she volunteers her time every Thursday to the Knitting Club. Anybody that wants to learn can come AND it's free! We got an email recently from our school secretary asking if anyone would volunteer their classroom for the Knitting Club on Thursdays after school. I quickly replied that they can use my room so that I would be forced to learn by proximity. For the past few weeks a nice little group of little girls come to my classroom for their weekly knitting club. I haven't officially joined the club...I'm usually getting my classroom ready for the next day as they're sitting around the table talking and knitting. Last Thursday, I finally just went straight to the knitting store, Loops, right after school and bought what I needed to start. I did not think this hobby would cost me $75! Yes...what you see in this picture above is what I got for $75. It better be the coziest blanket ever for that price. Well, and it is organic.

I hope this isn't a repeat of the time I wanted to take piano lessons from our school's piano teacher. She was so nice and patient and even gave me a keyboard to take home for practicing. This new hobby of mine didn't last long, one summer to be exact, when I realized that she had given me the same piano books that my third graders use! It is kind of funny and sad at the same time. Hopefully the Knitting Club won't be the same sort of situation....I'll have to keep you posted!

Best Ever Pot Roast

The first day of spring (also my birthday) and it snows....unbelievable! The hubs and I took a road trip to Kansas City for the weekend to visit the my brother's family. Bryan, my brother, told me that he'd make anything I wanted for my birthday dinner. Sounds like a nice brother, doesn't it? Well, only until he taught his two little boys, my adorable nephews, to call me Aunt Bubba - a nickname he made up for me when we moved to Texas as kids. Oh, and by the way, I HATED that nickname and still do. He obviously is still getting the reaction he wants from me. When am I going to learn? Gotta love big brothers!

Anywho, for some reason meat and potatoes came to mind. Maybe it was the 8 or so inches of snow out the window? Now, I know this blog is new and a few of you are asking, "What is the point of it anyway?" One aspect of the blog is that I love to try new recipes and share them with the world. I rarely make the recipes up myself, but I do like to give credit where credit is due. In this case, my brother did the cooking (this time) and The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook is where the recipe came from. And boy was it delicious! Here's the recipe if you're interested, and you should be interested because it was the best pot roast ever....and I really mean it this time.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/02/perfect-pot-roast/

That's all you gotta do!

Happy Cooking!

What the heck is cake flour anyway?

I know it's happened to everyone out there...well, everyone that bakes that is. You're happily following a recipe and you come across the ingredient cake flour. You think to yourself, "What the heck is cake flour anyway?" as you pour in your all-purpose flour. Does it really make a difference? Honestly, I have no idea! Wish I could help you out. Well, I actually can help you out if you're really curious. In this month's Cooks Illustrated magazine it states: "With just 6 to 8 percent protein, cake flour imparts a more tender, delicate texture to baked goods than all-purpose. Here's how to make an approximation.

2 tablespoons cornstarch + 7/8 cup all-purpose flour = 1 cup cake flour

Happy Baking!