Orange-Cranberry Scones

These are fabulous for breakfast, or anytime! They're even good without the frosting, if you can't wait for them to cool before eating.

Makes 8 servings

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (cut into small pieces)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 teaspoons orange rind
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg

GLAZE
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons orange juice

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Stir in cranberries.

In small bowl, mix buttermilk and egg along with orange rind/zest. Add all at once to dry ingredients, mixing JUST until combined, no further. Turn out mixture on floured board and pat into a flat rectangular shape. Cut squares into triangles and arrange on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 15-25 minutes or until golden brown. Your nose will tell you when these are done!

For glaze, mix together powdered sugar and orange juice, for desired consistency (add juice slowly, as humidity will play a factor in how quickly it reaches drizzle stage). Drizzle over slightly cooled scones.

Menu Plan Monday, March 26

SUNDAY: Chicken and vegetable stir-fry with sesame garlic sauce, rice

MONDAY: Leftover pot roast with onion gravy, noodles, vegetable

TUESDAY: Balsamic Chicken with Thyme, rice, vegetable

WEDNESDAY: Chili

THURSDAY: Spaghetti

FRIDAY: French Toast and fruit

SATURDAY: Spanish Garlic Shrimp

Visit the hostess of Menu Plan Monday for more recipes and meal ideas!

Sesame Garlic Stir-Fry Sauce

Why use the bottled stuff when you can MAKE YOUR OWN?

My father-in-law bought a bottle of sesame garlic stir-fry sauce at a supermarket so he could make this recipe. It was really good but some would have preferred less spice. I looked at the ingredient list on the sauce bottle and figured it wouldn't be too hard to make at home.

Did you know that manufacturers must list ingredients in order of quantity? The first ingredients on the list are the major ingredients in a food. Keeping that in mind, here's how I wound up making the sauce:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbl EACH water and cornstarch (dissolve the cornstarch in water before adding to sauce)
1 tbl sesame seed
1 tsp garlic powder or minced garlic
1/4 tsp fresh-ground pepper blend
1/4 tsp ground ginger (not in the sauce but we like ginger in our stir-fry)

Stir to mix, and microwave for 1 minute before adding to the pan. Cook until sauce thickens a little.

Menu Plan Monday, March 19

Sunday: We attended a birthday party for our little neighbor Cutie-Pie. (She's 3). Dinner was sandwiches and chili at the party.

Monday: Tandoori Chicken, rice, broccoli
KITCHEN HINT: The recipe calls for 1/3 cup plain yogurt. In a container you get 2/3 cup. I don't use plain yogurt for anything else, so I doubled this marinade and froze half of it for next time.

Tuesday: Barbecue pork sandwiches, french fries, salad, raw vegetable platter

Wednesday: Chicken pot pie

Thursday: Spaghetti and meatballs

Friday: homemade French Bread Pizza, salad

Saturday: Paula Deen's Sesame Chicken Strips This is a Tried & True recipe in our house. I freeze the chicken strips in the marinade (looks gross but it works out in the end) and follow the recipe from there.

Visit the hostess of Menu Plan Monday for lots more menu ideas and recipe links!

Granma's Irish Biscuits

These are a cross between a drop biscuit and a scone. I learned this recipe from my Granma (my Dad's mother) who was born in Co. Waterford, Ireland, in a little town called Kilmacthomas. Family members still live in the same house, today. The picture above is not that house, but it looks quite like it, and it's in the same county.

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 stick margarine, at room temperature (not melted)
raisins, to taste
1/2 cup milk*
1/2 tsp.  mace, optional (I added this ingredient. Granma never used it)

Mix all ingredients. Batter shouldn't stick to fingers (add more flour if necessary). For best results, mix by hand--I dump the semi-mixed dough onto a floured tabletop and knead it a bit--but only a few times.
Drop about 1/2-cup size balls onto floured cookie sheet, or pat into a rough circle and cut into wedges. Makes about 8.
Bake 20 minutes at 350.
*The quantity of milk is variable. Granma never used a measuring cup. If you accidentally put in too much milk, just add a little more flour. This is a "go by the feel of it" kind of recipe.

You may use butter instead of margarine, but Granma always told me that butter is "too extravagant." Dad says that this translates into "too expensive." These are a wonderful, quick breakfast item, and nice to serve guests at any time of day, with a good cup of tea.

Irish Soda Bread

Everyone thinks they have THE BEST recipe for Irish soda bread. This is the recipe my mom follows. She turns out over a dozen of these every St. Patrick's Day, to share with family, friends and neighbors.

Get the recipe at Cook and Count.

Menu Plan Monday, March 12

SUNDAY: Pizza

MONDAY: Barbecued Chicken, Orzo, vegetable-to-be-named-later

TUESDAY: Pork Paprikas

WEDNESDAY: Hawaiian Chicken with rice and pineapple

THURSDAY: Spaghetti

FRIDAY: Homemade Potato and Cheese Pierogi (I know, Fridays are supposed to be a penitential meal. I'll do plenty of penance putting this together. It will take me most of the day.)

SATURDAY: undetermined. It will just be me, Middle Sister and Little Brother, as it's a Boy Scout camping weekend.

Visit the home of Menu Plan Monday to get more recipes and menu ideas!

My Husband's Family's Pierogi Recipe

It's an old family recipe. This will make a LOT. Enough to feed about 60 people. The family gets together before Christmas Eve to prepare these for the holiday feast. Here it is, in my husband's cousin's words. All filling quantities are basically "eyeballed."

Before you start the pierogies you will have to melt salt pork with onions and make sure you do it in a slow flame otherwise it won't render the salt pork juice.

Dough:
3 cups of flour
1/4 cup of Presto Cake flour
2 beaten eggs
pinch of salt
1 cup of water

Mix it all and if it is too dry take more water. Knead the dough until it is blended then put it into a bowl and plastic on top and put into the fridge. Let it set overnight.

Potatoes:
15 lbs of yukon potatoes
5 tablespoons of melted salt pork
2 blocks of extra sharp cheddar cheese (grated)

After you skin the potatoes boil them and when it is done drain the potatoes then mash the potatoes with salt pork, cheddar cheese and your taste of pepper.


Sauerkraut:
7 large cans of sauerkraut
3 tablespoons of salt pork
1 cup of plain bread crumbs

Drain the sauerkraut then put it into a large pan with the salt pork and your taste of pepper. Let that slow simmer until the sauerkraut is soft and darker. When it is done then you can put the bread crumbs in. If it is still very wet then put more bread crumbs.

My additions to the directions follow. Cousin S. wrote these down for us, and everyone knows how to do these steps:
After the filling is prepared, roll the dough and cut out circles. Put a heaping tablespoon of filling in each circle, fold over and pinch closed. It's easier to do this if someone shows you how. Make sure it's COMPLETELY pinched so there are no "leakers." The only thing worse than "leakers" is when someone mixes up which pan has the potato pierogi and which pan has the sauerkraut!

Place the pinched pierogi on a table to dry. Flip them over to dry the other side. After they've dried, boil until they come to the top. You can freeze them with melted butter (wax paper between layers) at this point, or refrigerate.

To serve, fry in plenty of butter until they're browned on both sides.

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala Recipe
Source

Ingredients:
4 boneless chicken breast halves without skin
1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp basil, dried
3 tbsp butter or margarine
3 tbsp olive oil
4 to 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced (1/2 to 1 cup sliced)
1/2 c Marsala wine

Instructions:
Pound chicken to 1/4" thickness between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Combine flour, salt, pepper, and basil; mix well. Heat oil and butter in a heavy non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Dredge chicken in seasoned flour mixture.

Cook chicken until lightly browned on first side (about 2 minutes). Turn chicken and add mushrooms around the chicken pieces. Cook about 2 minutes more, until lightly browned; stir. Add Marsala wine to pan. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Serve with hot cooked pasta or rice.

Best Barbecued Chicken

This recipe comes from the book The Convent Cook by Maria Tisdall. It became a family favorite the first time we tried it. I like to freeze chicken pieces in the marinade, and then when we want to grill some chicken we just defrost and cook!

Get the recipe with nutrition information at Cook and Count!

Menu Plan Monday, March 5

SUNDAY: Meatball subs, green salad

MONDAY: Goulash

TUESDAY: Little Brother's 5th Birthday! He wants chicken drumsticks for his dinner. I don't think he cares how I cook them as long as they "have that bone that sticks out." Maybe we'll have chicken on the grill.

WEDNESDAY: Chicken flautas

THURSDAY: Chick-Fil-A night for Middle Sister's school.

FRIDAY: Vegetable fried rice. This link takes you to a recipe containing shrimp but we're just using vegetables this time.

SATURDAY: Lemon Mushroom Herb Chicken

Be sure to stop at the home of Menu Plan Monday and check out all the great menu and recipe ideas!

(And I guess I should clear up some confusion here. "Little Brother" is not my brother. He is my younger son. The older one is known here as "Big Brother," and my daughter is "Middle Sister.")

Aircraft Carrier Birthday Cake

This is an upside-down post. It shows the finished cake, and then in reverse, the steps I took to get there. Not including baking and planning (the most important part) I probably spent under 2 hours doing the actual decorating.

The airplanes are the only non-edible part of the cake. Happy Birthday, Little Brother!


Here's the partially-iced cake.


This is the fully-iced cake without airplanes.


Here's how I started out. 2 cakes size 9X13 and 3 mini loaf cakes.

Baked Flounder

I want to think of a fancy, appetizing title for this fish dish. Don't have one yet though!!! This is how I make flounder or similar fish fillets (tilapia, sole, scrod) when I don't want to pan-fry. It's a very simple dish but extremely tasty.

Flounder fillets
Olive oil
Butter
Coarse Salt
Lemon-pepper seasoning

Use a Pyrex dish with a lid for this recipe, or plan to cover your dish with foil.

Brush a little olive oil on the bottom of the casserole dish (to prevent the fish from sticking)
Place fillets in single layer in the casserole dish.
Dot with butter.
Sprinkle a little coarse salt and lemon-pepper seasoning on top of the fish. Don't use too much--you don't want to overpower the fish.
Cover.
Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 15 minutes.
The fish will be moist, tender and delicious.

Menu Plan Monday, February 26

SUNDAY: Arroz con Habichuelas, Nachos with beef and cheese

MONDAY: Chicken Marsala with jasmine rice, green beans

TUESDAY: Pot roast with mushrooms and onions, over noodles and gravy

WEDNESDAY: Baked flounder with butter and lemon

THURSDAY: Spaghetti and meatballs

FRIDAY: Cheese quesadillas with salsa

SATURDAY: Birthday party for Little Brother (he's turning 5). Here's the menu:
Sausage and pepper sandwiches
Meatballs with sauce
Chicken Chili Blanco
Hot dogs
And for dessert: the Aircraft Carrier Birthday Cake

For more menu plans and recipe ideas, visit the home of Menu Plan Monday!

Nancy's Arroz con Habichuelas

source: a friend from Family Corner

1 to 2 tbl oil
1 large spoonful Sofrito
1 envelope Sazon Goya (yellow box)
1/2 small can tomato sauce
1 can small beans
2 cups regular long-grain rice
3 to 4 cups water

In a large skillet, heat oil, sofrito and sazon. Add tomato sauce and beans. Stir. Add rice and water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until water is almost absorbed. Cover and simmer 20 minutes (no peeking!)

Lenten Penitential Meals

As the penitential season of Lent approaches, and I make my menu plans, I start thinking about what constitutes a "penitential" meal for my family.

My dad expressed it well when we were kids: "If pizza or fish is a treat, how can it be a penance?"

Maybe it's a penance only for the one who has to budget around the extra expense of eating fish instead of less-expensive meats, or ordering a pizza?

I wouldn't want to serve my family foods they don't like, and call it a penance. All I'd achieve would be rebellion and wastefulness.

No one has really noticed that I've been serving them meatless dinners every Friday for months now. It's pretty much become routine. Growing up, I was taught that only Fridays in Lent were supposed to be meatless (and Ash Wednesday, of course!) but I have learned lately that all Fridays are penitential days. I haven't mentioned it--it's just been happening here. But I bet the issue will be on the table, so to speak, the first Friday after Easter.

It's been more of a stretch for me than for them. They eat what I put on the table. (Sometimes someone moans and groans about it, but my family generally consists of good eaters--even adventurous ones. Middle Sister likes sushi, for example.) I am the one who thinks about what to serve on which day, and I can shuffle the meal plan as events warrant, but Friday's dinner is Friday's dinner because that is Meatless Night.

But anyway, the issue at hand really is: if they really LIKE shrimp marinara over linguine, or Spanish Garlic Shrimp, or sauteed tilapia, or even pizza, where's the sacrifice?

Maybe it's time to lay this on the table with my family and see what ideas everyone comes up with.

Menu Plan Monday, February 19

SATURDAY: "Not" Rachael Ray's Veggie Not-sagna

SUNDAY: Spaghetti and meatballs

MONDAY: Pork Teriyaki, jasmine rice, stir-fry vegetables

TUESDAY: Roast Chicken

WEDNESDAY: Tomato soup and grilled-cheese sandwiches

THURSDAY: Stroganoff using the leftover beef from last Wednesday's "Valentine Filet Mignon Roast"

FRIDAY: Cheese tortellini with marinara sauce

SATURDAY: Chili. Maybe.

Visit the home of Menu Plan Monday to get many, many, many more ideas and recipes for YOUR family's menu plan!

My Variations on Rachael Ray's Vegetable "Not-sagna"

1 pound curly pasta (recommended: campanelle or cavatappi by Barilla)
Coarse salt
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 cup frozen shredded zucchini, thawed & drained
2 cups sliced frozen carrots, thawed
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 tsp chopped garlic
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 rounded tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 cups Italian 4-cheese mix (I used a mix of mozzarella, provolone, Asiago and Romano)

Heat a pot of water to a boil for pasta. Cook pasta to al dente.

Heat a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil. Add onions and garlic to the pan. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. When the onions are tender, about 5 minutes, add defrosted spinach and zucchini, separating into small bits as you handle it, and toss to heat through. Transfer veggies to a dish and return skillet to stove top. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and the butter. When the butter melts into extra-virgin olive oil, add 2 rounded tablespoons of flour and cook a minute or so, then whisk in stock and milk. Bring to a bubble and thicken the sauce, reducing it 2 to 3 minutes. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Add all cheese to the sauce and cook, stirring constantly, until the cheese melts completely. Slide vegetables back into sauce. Drain pasta and mix with the cheese sauce.

In case you're interested, here's the original recipe. I had no ricotta (well, I HAD ricotta, but it was well on its way to Science Experiment Status) so I decided to improvise from there. I find that Rachael Ray's recipes are quite forgiving that way, and this tasted delicious to me.

No one else in the house will want to eat this, so I'll be freezing the rest in individual portions for lunches. I was the only one home tonight, so I figured I'd cook what I like.

The leftovers will also be great with some leftover marinara sauce on top.

Public Service Announcement: Check Your Pantries!

H/T to Milehimama, where I read this first:

The FDA is asking consumers to destroy Peter Pan brand and Great Value brand peanut butter, because it is contaminated with Salmonella. Destroy any jars that begin with product code 2111.

Here's the official news release from Con Agra, the manufacturers of Peter Pan peanut butter.

I found one of these jars in my pantry, and am just feeling lucky that we hadn't opened it yet.

Menu Plan Monday, February 12

SUNDAY: FIL cooked a delicious chicken stir-fry when we visited for dinner. Great stuff, Pop!

MONDAY: Chicken piccata with brown rice and broccoli.

TUESDAY: Spaghetti and meatballs.

WEDNESDAY: It's Valentine's Day and I'll be making a very special meal for my family: Filet mignon, as a roast, with potatoes and green beans.

THURSDAY: Pork and Wild Rice from Taste of Home Simple & Delicious (Feb. 2007)

FRIDAY: Baked flounder with lemon and butter. Side dishes to be determined later.

SATURDAY: It's Pop's birthday celebration. He loves to cook for an audience, so he'll probably be searching for a cool new recipe to try!

Visit the Home of Menu Plan Monday to get more great ideas and recipes for your family meals!