Easy Quinoa

aka: Keen-Wow!

1 tbls. butter
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
2 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tbls. dried parsley
1/4 tbls. dried thyme (estimated)
1 dash lemon juice

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the quinoa, and toast, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is tender.
2. In a bowl, toss quinoa together with garlic, parsley, and thyme. Sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve.

NOTES: 

• The original recipe is here.
• Browning it in the butter first gave it a bit of a rice-a-roni quality that we all liked.  Really, if there were no other seasoning besides this and the broth, it would've been good.
• I think this would freeze really well and will probably double the quantity I make next time for that purpose.
• The original recipe called for vegetarian broth and while our crunchy score would've spiked by using it, I happened to have a carton of Aldi chicken broth around so that's what we used.
• This was really, really good.  I'll definitely be looking for this product for a better price.
• Thanks to Holly for the suggestion to try it and thanks to Jen for the subtitle. ;-)

This drink is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

2 parts Creme de Cacao
2 parts 99 Bananas
1 part Malibu rum
1.5 parts Cream

Mix with ice.  Strain and serve.

Notes:

• I might have the proportions wrong because I already drank most of mine.  But just make it according to your tastes.  Drink mixing is an art, not a science.
• This would be great blended with ice.  Or substituting the ice and cream with ice cream.

Chocolate Peppermint Blossoms

1 -1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 & 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, cut into chunks
1 & 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon peppermint extract (see note below)
1/2 cup powdered sugar for rolling
Hershey's Kisses

• Line cookie sheets with parchment.  Preheat oven to 350.
• Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
• With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and extracts, beating until combined and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
• Gradually, add the flour mixture, beating on low just until combined.  The mixture will be very sticky.
• Place the bowl in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
• Use a teaspoon cookie scoop (or a spoon) to scoop generous teaspoons of dough and roll them in the powdered sugar.
• Bake for 12 minutes and meanwhile, unwrap the Kisses.
• Remove from the oven and immediately press a Hershey's Kiss on top of each hot cookie.  Press firmly, so that it doesn't pop off.  Let the cookies sit on the sheet for 1-2 minutes, then remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. 

NOTES: 

• The original recipe from Bake at 350 called for mint extract in the cookies and a regular Kiss on top.  I didn't have the extract and used the candy cane Kisses for a little extra visual festivity.  
• On the down side, it looks like the white chocolate has a lower melting point, because they immediately melted into puddles.  (Glad I pushed them down firmly as suggested so there was a well to contain all that melted chocolate.) On the up side, they're still cute, just not it the 3-D way I expected.
• This is a really delicious cookie!  Chewy and nice texture.
• The Kisses did eventually firm up.  I was doubtful at first so I put most of them out on the freezer to cool.  By the time we got back from N's concert, both the indoor and outdoor ones were firm.
• I made a double batch (half butter and half margarine, btw) and the yield was 8 dozen.
• I'd definitely makes these again.

Pork Chops with Blueberries

(from The Silver Spoon)

• 4 spare-rib chops
• flour
• 2 T butter
• 3 T olive oil
• ¾ cup red wine
• 2¾ cups blieberries
• scant ½ cup honey
• salt

Preheat oven to 400º. Dust the chops with flour. Heat the butter and oil in an ovenproof pan, add the chops and cook, turning, until browned all over. Pour in the wine and cook until it has partly evaporated, then season with salt. Pass the blueberries through a food mill (or puree) and mix with honey. Spread this mixture over the chops. Cover the pan, transfer to the oven and bake 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Orange Soufflé Crepes

• 3 large eggs, separated plus 1 extra egg white 
• 5 tablespoons sugar 
• 1 cup whole milk 
• 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 
• 1/4 cup strained, freshly squeezed orange juice 
• Zest of 1 orange 

• 12-14 crepes from your favorite recipe. 

Whisk the yolks; add 4 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk and whisk until thick and smooth. Whisk in the flour.

In a small saucepan, bring the rest of the milk to a boil. Gradually whisk half of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk, whisking constantly. 

Place over low heat and continuing to whisk, cook until the mixture comes just to a boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the orange juice. Grate the orange zest and whisk it in.  (The soufflé base may be made ahead at this point. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Cool completely; cover and refrigerate).

Shortly before you plan to serve the dessert, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a shallow baking dish. Pour the base into a saucepan and heat over low heat, whisking until just hot to the touch. Remove from heat.

Beat the 4 egg whites until stiff. Add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat another 30 seconds. Fold 1/4 of the whites into the base; then gently fold this mixture into the rest of the egg whites.

Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of the filling into each crepe and fold in half. Arrange them in a single layer in the prepared baking dish. Bake 10 minutes or until puffed.

Serve immediately. They may be served as is or accompanied by a fruit sauce.

Makes 6 servings

source.

Sweet Potato Casserole

(as close as I remember)

Casserole:

• 4 whole Medium Sweet Potatoes (about 4 lbs)
• ½-1 cup Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• zest and juice of one orange
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 2-3 teaspoons ground ginger 
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper, or to taste
• cayenne pepper (optional)

Streusel:

• 1 cup Brown Sugar
• 1 cup Pecans
• ½ cup Flour
• ¾ stick Butter

Bake sweet potatoes in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-45 minutes. When they are finished cooking, slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl. Mash thoroughly and combine with remaining ingredients. Place mixture in a large-ish casserole dish and smooth surface.

In a separate bowl, combine streusel ingredients. With a pastry cutter or fork, mash together until thoroughly combined. Sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Homemade Laundry Soap

1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan.  Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts.  Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved.  Remove from heat.  Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket.   Now add your soap mixture and stir.  Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir.  Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel.  You use ½ cup per load.

**A few things to note about the soap**

~The finished soap will not be a solid gel.  It will be more of a watery gel that has been accurately described as an "egg noodle soup" look.

~The soap is a low sudsing soap.  So if you don’t see suds, that is ok.  Suds are not what does the cleaning, it is the ingredients in the soap.

MY NOTES:

• I've made this 3-4 times now and it seems to be working well with our water and machine.  I probably should note that I really don't have any regular laundry challenges like cloth diapers, super hard water, or really dirty work clothes.  It has met all my usual challenges like grass stains, etc. though.
• It has a pleasant, clean smell.  As suggested, I added lavender and orange oil to the first batch, but it really wasn't a notable improvement, so I've skipped the expense since then.
• I'm not sure why the directions say to add water in these crazy increments.  The first time is obvious - a smaller amount so I can make sure everything is dissolved.  After that, just dump it in.  There are 2 gallons total.
• After it cools, there will be a very gelled layer.  I just hit it with the immersion blender to mix it all together before transferring it to my empty laundry jugs.
• Easy-peasy.  Practically free.
• Source  (Word of warning though, its crazy colors, multiple fonts, and "cute" laundry graphics make it a challenge to read.  That's the main reason why I transferred it here.)