Four Posts, Four Movies

Turner Classic Movies is having a series of Alfred Hitchcock's movies, so far I've seen Marnie, Shadow of a Doubt, Psycho, and now Vertigo.  Time for some popcorn in our nifty new popper, a gift from brother-in-law Mark. 

And it's not as hard to clean as I thought it would be.

Home Cooking - Mom Fairies, How Am I Doing?

So a month or so ago I read this post by Dave Fairies over at City of Ate, and I thought I'd made a food discovery roughly on par with a Dallas Morning News writer finding something amiss at DISD.   Gooey. Butter. Cake.  yum.  And the entire post was a kind of checklist of how to be a good Missouri Mom, did I mention that we have one child up at Mizzou?  Don't worry, he's not studying journalism.

But seriously I read this post and got too excited, because I knew I could do this!  Cardinals fan?  No problem, they are my favorite bird - and red happens to be my best color.  Everyone up at Hillcrest High School knows I can talk through an entire 7 innings of baseball, what's two more?  But wait - there was no recipe included, and not personally knowing Dave's mom, this was a game stopper - like a rain out or a dugout-emptying-fight.

Of course the real challenge for me is the cooking throwdown.  And I confess I was hesitant to take it even though Dave's references to the ingredients included my favorite three:  eggs, butter, sugar.  So I thought about it for a few days as I sat in the kitchen entering accounts payable on QuickBooks.  Thought about it as I waited for my daughter to finish theater practice, thought about it as I waited for my husband to come home from a double shift.

I decide to take an inventory of the recipes on Cooks.com and what is in the pantry, hmm, got this, and this, not that.  What was really needed, I determined, was to forge a way to a new Gooey Butter Cake concoction - because that is what Dallas food is, taking other foods and making our own mark on them (and besides I only had Carrot Cake mix on hand).   After all, what is more tasty than Carrot Cake and sweet cream cheese at the holidays?

Well "perfect" took four tries, a few of the Cooks.com recipes were total failures and my desire to have a round shaped cake required purchasing a 10" spring form pan when the 8" attempt was still too gooey after two hours in the oven.  But I think I got it, the Dallas version that is, and it is a delicious and easy option as either dessert or coffee cake for company or as a gift.

GOOEY BUTTER CARROT CAKE
1 package Duncan Hines Decadent Carrot Cake
1 cup hot water
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 lb. confectioners sugar
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (for dark or glass pans, 325 degrees).  In small bowl, mix packet of carrots and raisins with hot water and let sit for 5 minutes.  Drain all water thoroughly.  In medium bowl, add (cooled) butter, 2 eggs, cake mix, when well mixed add carrot/raisin mixture and pecans and stir.  Pour into ungreased 10" springform pan (or 9" x 13" pan), gently pushing batter up sides slightly.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar, pour the rest in a bowl with 2 eggs and cream cheese, mixing until pretty smooth.  Pour into center of springform pan, allowing it to spread to edges naturally.  Bake for 20 minutes, sprinkle top with reserved confectioners sugar.  Continue baking for 70 minutes.

Have insulin ready.

Calling All Chocoholics

Tomorrow night (Friday 9/18) is the Annual Chocolate Walk in historic downtown Carrollton from 5pm - 9 pm. Each shop participating in this event will entice shoppers with a free chocolate treat. Tea Thyme & Tisane will be offering a "full chocolate menu", Vintage Martini will be serving Chocolate Martinis, and Blooms on the Square has a selection of treats to entice you. Many stores are also including raffles, discounts and entertainment to add to the excitement of the evening. Like Al Johnson, who'll be singing at the Silver Star Mercantile, and the Hebron High School ROTC.

Seriously, what a fun idea. I don't know which slogan I like more: "Sip, munch and crunch chocolate with your friends", or "Friends don't let friends shop alone." Don't delay, these free treats are only while supplies last.

Sublimely Sublime Chocolate

Looks Yummy? I'd agree, but that's all I can say about this amazing collection of chocolates that came home with hubby last night. Because when I went to bed, they were set out on the countertop, but when I woke up this morning, everything except the cardboard was gone. I know the three dogs came to bed with me, which left three humans, one of which is a serious chocoholic.

Sublime Chocolates opened last August in Allen, and is a family endeavor (yay!) of Troy and Bliss Easton (Mr. & Mrs.), and Bliss' sister, O'Lynn McCracken. You can read Teresa Gubbin's September review of Sublime for Pegasus News, here.

It's fair to add that this photo does not completely do justice to the beautiful color of these chocolate pieces, perhaps overcome by the poor lighting and the bright orange of their logo'd bag. The boxes which are a bright orange inside with a bronze and gold metallic exterior are well constructed, "They were designed to be jewelry boxes for the chocolates," according to O'Lynn. And she said many people collect them, including a math teacher that uses them to teach students about volume.

So because I missed out on this special treat (and because it's time to stock up on two teenagers' summer apparel at the outlet mall), I'm taking a road trip up to Allen in the next two weeks to check this place out. I'll keep you posted - and take pictures.

Food For Fat (Tuesday)

Just as everyone is blogging about bacon, news yesterday that Smithfield Foods, the world's largest pork processor, is cutting production 10%, shuttering 15 plants and laying off 1,800 employees. Not only are exports expected to slow, but beleaguered US consumers have been switching to lower priced "house label" brands. Eventually once supply shrinks enough, prices will begin to sizzle.

So to throw a little fat on the pan and support this necessary industry, I propose Save The Bacon, where "Fat Tuesday" (2/24) be renamed "Pork Tuesday", and everyone make something hideously fattening containing pork. Just for this one year.

My recipe contribution to this expected excess of cholesterol comes from my Granny, Lucille Browning Kressbach who at an early age moved from Logan, West Virginia to Pontiac, Michigan with her (young) widowed mother and sister. Maybe it was growing up in a rural town in WV in the early 1900's , but Granny loved bacon, and Jim Beam. This is a recipe she made for over 40 years for her bridge group, you make it the day before so it's very low maintenance the day of the event.

I make it now for my family it's one of their favorites, but I can't bring myself to make it more than once every three or four months. I've modified it slightly, the chicken breasts today are much larger, so for portion control I've cut them in half. This of course isn't a cooking blog, but in the interest of Save The Bacon, I'm sharing.

Granny's Party Chicken

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise (12 pcs.)

4-5 oz. dried beef (the small round kind they sell in jars)

12 pcs. bacon

2 c. sour cream

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup

Grease 9 x 12 pan (with bacon fat, if you have it) spread beef over the bottom. Wrap each piece of chicken with 1 slice of bacon and place on beef. Mix sour cream and soup, spread over chicken. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 275 degrees for 5 hours.

Laissez les bons temps rouler, ya'll.

Sweet Dallas Recipes

From Helen Thompson, "Texas-based food writer and editor", with Metropolitan Home and Meredith Publications (among other gigs), comes a collection of dessert recipes from some of Dallas' favorite restaurants. Dallas Classic Desserts, (Pelican Press), with a foreword by Patricia Sharpe.

Missing Doughmonkey's Madagascar Flourless Chocolate Cake? It's in there. Got a hankerin' for Al Biernat's Texas Pecan Pie a la Mode (I do!), it's in there. How about Asian Mint's Green Tea Ice Cream Cake (yes, yes, yes), it's in there. And (don't melt) there's even the recipe for La Duni's Quatro Leches Cake. Need I say more?

I'll share one of the recipes here, it's one I happen to have on file in my computer since my job duties include recipe typing.

Sevy's Grill's Three Citrus Pie. (Makes 1 pie)

Pie Shell:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham cracker crumbs

12 cup sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

6 large egg yolks

6 Tablespoons fresh orange juice

6 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

6 Tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 (14 ounce) cand Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk

Whipped cream to garnish

Thinly sliced citrus fruit to garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. To prepare the crust, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter in a medium bowl and mix well. Press evenly along the bottom and sides of a 10-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees. To prepare the filling, beat the egg yolks in an electric mixer on low speed until just blended. With the motor running, slowly pour in each juice in a thin stream. Let set for 5 minutes, then gradually stir in condensed milk. Pour into the cooled crust.

Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack, then chill. Garnish each slice with whipped cream and a thin slice of citrus fruit. You may also garnish with raspberry sauce streaks if desired.

Dallas Classic Desserts can be ordered online, 20% off of the cover price of $15.95, here.

Fill Me With Love Cheesecake

At Neiman Marcus, here.

Do Unto Others.......

I need something to change the flavor in my mouth, disappointment has a bitter taste. So tonight, since hubby is working a double shift, Sister is in Denton at a JV soccer game and the Boy has mock trial finals practice (who knew I birthed an "unimpeachable witness"?), I am going to sit my happy seat down at the bar at Houston's.

You see, I know Houston's would never advocate the position taken by certain thoughtless journalists. And they taught me (while in college) how to be the best waitress, well, that I was ever going to be up at the old location on Walnut Hill. And I really, really like Houston's food, as I suppose many others do, they are always busy.

And I gladly hand over to Park Cities the 1% of the sales, they are, after all, our neighbors.

Potatoes Romanoff on Today Show

A preview on todays "The Today Show" of a potato casserole dish, "Potatoes Romanoff" had me sticking by the TV for over 30 minutes. Turns out it's a dish Sevy's mom makes, but she adds crushed potato chips on top for a little crunch - and it is truly yummy. You had to feel sorry for Chef Schenk (from the Strip House Restaurant in New Jersey), his presentation would have been fine if they hadn't asked him so many questions about potatoes - which took up too much time - which cut into the actual preparation of the casserole. You can see video and recipe, here.

UPDATE: I made these for Sunday dinner, cut the recipe in half and still had twice as much as was needed for a family of four. Of course I decided to nuke the potatoes to cook them and waited too long, so they were still warm when it was time to prepare the dish. Instead of grating, I crumbled them into small chunks - it worked very well. I did not use crushed potato chips like my mother-in-law, sticking with the recipe's cheddar topping. Not only was it delicious that evening, it made the best leftovers the next day.

Thanksgiving Week Pie Cookoff

I visited the Northaven Gardens Pie Contest, even tho' I didn't have a pie entered. I was sitting in on the class about growing fruit trees in Texas (more on that later). I blame that contest for getting me in the mood to cook pies - which I hadn't done in years. So I decided to try the pie mixes I had purchased a few weeks earlier at Plano's Jr. League 'Neath the Wreath bazaar, and took them to Port Aransas for our Thanksgiving vacation. Made by Easy As Pie, in Hearne, Texas, they are packaged in delightful little gunnysacks tied up with tags that contain the ingredients and directions.

With intriguing names like "Pineapple Upside-Down Pie" and "Dixie Delicious Pie", I had purchased four flavors: "Chocolate Puddle", Cherry Crumble", "Praline", and "Sugar Daddy". All required a frozen pie shell (one of the tags recommended Mrs. Smith's Deep Dish Pie Crust) and 1/2 c. butter; three mixes also required eggs; one required vanilla; and one called for a can of pie cherries.

Sister, who is quite an afficionado of undercooked brownies, loved the Chocolate Puddle pie, as did niece Katy (also 14), but it didn't grab me. Great chocolate flavor, but we served it at room temperature and it might have had more appeal warmed. The Sugar Daddy Pie was a hit with everyone - think of way over-sugared oatmeal cookies baked in a pie - pure sugar rush. Also a hit - and nephew Kenny stood guard over the last piece - was the Praline Pie, a combination of butterscotch chips and pecan pieces. I confess that my least favorite may have been that due to my own error, the Cherry Crumble Pie Mix called for a can of pie cherries - and I now realize that I purchased cherry pie filling. My main complaint had been that it was too starchy - well that explains everything. The crumble was actually delicious, it completely covered the top and contained oatmeal for crunch.

Ease of preparation? Well this cooking slacker would give them an 11 (out of 10) on the easy scale, each one took 5 minutes or less, plus cooking time. If you too can microwave butter, you'll agree. What's not as easy, is ordering two of the above four - the website doesn't list the Cherry Crumble mix nor the Praline mix. But I called, and they still have it in stock, per their instructions, you can place an order for another mix and include in the comments that you want to make a substitution for either of the unlisted mixes. Or you can call them directly and place your order over the phone, (979) 279-2607.

Each mix on the internet costs $8.95 each (plus a flat $6 for shipping). But check their website for monthly specials, in December you can get 25% off orders of $85 or more, so I'm re-stocking to put into friends stockings this year. Holiday Tip #3: These would make fabulous little hostess gifts if you're going to any dinners or parties this season.

Great Weekend For A Pie Contest

And I have a secret weapon to win the Northaven Gardens 2nd Annual Pie Contest. Since Sevy's Grill is a prize sponsor this year it wouldn't look good if I entered and won, so I'm going to share this incredible recipe with anyone who is looking for a hands-down best-ever pie. You don't have to sign up ahead of time, you just bring your pie on Saturday between 9 am and 11 am to their store. Rules can be found here.

It's a family favorite made by my grandmother, and every single female of the Alban clan makes this pie for holiday meals. That being said, we had some disagreements about the methodology, which my aunt put to rest at a family gathering this summer.

So even though this isn't a cooking blog, I consider this too valuable not to share.

GAMMIE'S DREAMY CREAMY PEACH PIE
Graham cracker crust (for 10" pie): 1-1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs, 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 c. melted butter. Mix together (reserve 2 TBL. for later), press into pie plate and bake for approximately 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling:
3/4 c. sugar
2 c. sliced (fresh) peaches
1 TBL. Lemon juice
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
2 TBL. HOT water (as in boiling)
1 env. Knox unflavored gelatin

Prepare crust and bake to allow time to cool, once cooled, put in refrigerator to chill. Mix sugar, peaches, lemon juice, salt together. Mix HOT water with gelatin and stir until dissolved (don't let it set), stir into peach mixture. Whip cream until thickened (almost to soft peak stage), fold into peaches, then pour into chilled pie crust, refrigerate immediately. When "set", sprinkle reserved crust mix over the top.

While I won't be entering this great pie, I will be at Northaven Gardens for the FREE program at 1:30 - "Growing Fruit Trees in North Texas", with Christine Hensle. Hopefully their fall stock of pomegranite trees are in, I've have been waiting since spring for the "real fruit" bearing version. Oh, and I want to find out who wins at 2:30.

Let Them Eat Cake

Just in time for the holidays, this site has the most amazing list of cakes. The names even look delicious: "Carrot-Pineapple Cake", "Night Before Christmas Coffee Cake", "Hummingbird Cake", "Neiman Marcus Cake" or my favorite name - "A Cake Thats Fit For A Queen". Maybe the five hours at the bake sale today was too long.

Thank you to Syndicate sister Ginger Simmons for sending me that link.

Landlocked In Dallas - It's A Clam-ity

Ok, so people who know me are going to wonder why a non-seafood eater would post about seafood. Well I do know what delicious looks like, and the clams, above, came in an email from one of our seafood vendors, Steve Connolly Seafood in Boston who ships their premium products to the restaurant overnight express.

I asked our salesman Willy Warner where non-restaurant folks could buy their goods, and it turns out it's available right on my little Preston-Forest corner at TJ's Seafood Market. They are the only retail seafood market in Dallas that Connolly's ships fresh seafood to. Willy says they can ship anything, including the clams above to TJ's. Currently they have a fresh shipment of Patagonian Toothfish (more commonly called Sea Bass) in.

Growing up we had a HoJo's restaurant in our neighborhood, and my sisters loved the fried clams. They are not a complicated dish and with the invention of the FryDaddy, easy to make at home. According to Willy, "Fried clams are to New England what barbecue is to the South..... All [recipes] work with the same four elements: soft-shell clams, a dipping liquid, a coating and oil According to almost all cooks the liquid is usually evaporated milk, and the coating is nothing more than some combination of flours; regular, corn or pastry."

A Pie For Dr. H

Full disclosure - the Boy's fall baseball coach is also Superintendent of DISD and I've never met a person who believes in kids, education and Dallas more than he does. I hope he takes the stress of this "losing streak" in stride, the reports of the board meeting from yesterday would have made someone like me just walk away. But I think he's made of stronger stuff, if you shaved his head he'd look exactly like my very stern German grandfather, Carl Conrad Franz Kressbach who as a sailor knew how to weather a storm.

The district hired a whole bunch of new teachers (good) because the CFO told the district leadership that the money was coming in to cover it. Then they received a report that costs were high, but the state would be sending money to cover it. Then they received a report that costs were even higher, and there wouldn't be the money to cover it. Then they fired the CFO, and now have to remove teachers that were hired with the money they didn't have.

This is a "silver lining" blog, I like to try to see the good side of things whenever possible (which isn't always), but this lining is shining unbelievably bright. Because the money was spent on additional teachers, not on sports facilities, not on field trips, not on travel expenses for board meetings - teachers. And the students benefitted from those additional teachers for the period that the district could afford them. And the district did have the money - $125 MILLION sitting on the sidelines as reserve for a bond market that's been pigging out on "Zero Qual" mortgage packages.

So coach, I've been trying to figure out a pie entry for the North Haven Gardens Pie Contest, and came up with this one, dedicated to you. If I can get it to work, it may be a winning recipe.

COACH'S "GIMME S'MORE CRUNCH" PIE

In a baked graham cracker crust, pour a 1/2 inch layer of bittersweet chocolate and let set. Mix marshmallow fluff with crunchy peanut butter and pour on top. Cover with whipped cream and place a cherry on top. Serve with milk chocolate ice cream.

Friday Night Tailgating - It's A Doozie

Last night's pre-game tailgate featured the usual, parents, kids, veggies and dip, hot dogs, jalapeno sausages ........ and the Doozie (thank you Debbie Jo!). A popular Dallas party sandwich for years, the Doozie was created by the late Bertha Spiritas, a caterer, and (practically)on her deathbed (so the legend goes), she gave her secret recipe to one person.

So if you want to order this great sandwich, you need to call Chef James Burdett at the Jewish Community Center to order them. With thin, thin, thinly sliced bread, multiple meats and a secret sauce they are delicious. He makes the sandwiches out of his home kitchen (they are definitely NOT Kosher), and can deliver them to your home on weekends.

Sevy and I have ordered them for years for an annual post-golf Superbowl get together. They are very "energizing" and soak up the excess libations the golfers may have consumed while competing for the annual championship title. They are so thick we cut the quarters in half to make them more bite-sized.

Well somebody must have fed the opposing team a few Doozies, especially their #3 who kept breaking through our defensive line, wiggly little thing. Final score Hillcrest 21, Parish Episcopal 38, it was a doozie of a game.
(Pictured left, Pershing 5th grader Ford Sherrington tosses the ball with HHS senior Mattia J. Flabiano, IV).

Who Needs the State Fair? Chapter 3 - The Eats

Food is one of the highlights of Trade Days, turkey legs, chili, stuffed potatoes, freshly (as in while you watch) roasted peanuts. My personal favorite, and apparently many others is Ida Mae's, which is the only place that sells fried green tomatoes. On busier weekends I've witnessed a line 20 people long waiting to purchase one of their house specialties.

There is no Ida Mae at Ida Mae's, or to be exact Ida Mae is a dog, the pet of owner Claudia. When it came to naming the business 2 1/2 years ago, everyone thought Ida Mae would be a good name, fitting of the venue - and it is. It's a family business, two of Claudia's five grown sons (who live in the Dallas area) help her, a necessity because Claudia lives in Iowa. In her early 60's, she works full-time in a cereal factory, and part-time as a tax preparer, patching together vacation and sick days to fly down once a month. Her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer 12 years ago, and while she could make a living just working Trade Days, she can't give up her health insurance.

This was one of the few times I could have tried their fried pickles, the heat of the day would have flushed the sodium right out my pores. Ida Mae's is located at the intersection of lanes 52 & 95 - there's no lane markers, so you'll have to ask around.