Week in Review: Tuesday Club met this week. I was in charge of dessert. I subbed two days and read two books for my 20th Century American Fiction class. That's about it, I guess. Here's a picture of Landon and Stella celebrating St. Patrick's Day last year. Next week I'll post a current photo of the two. (It's getting harder to get them both to cooperate).

I think Hickory Hill Hans missed the call on Groundhog's Day. Is it ever going to stop snowing? Listen to me whine. Of course it is! I decided, enough was enough. I put the Brad Miller Snowman back in the basement (as if it is to blame for wreaking weather havoc across the United States) and then I harvested some pussy willow. That's right - I'm moving forward with spring.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! When I heard the news I rended my garments...... I rent my garments? I did some garment rending in anguish and despair.

Sunday Night Candlelight Supper: Stormy came over and ate with us. We had salmon with lime butter and dill, potatoes lorraine, the dried cherry/walnut salad with maple dressing, and for dessert, creme brulee. (I had leftover whipping cream from Tuesday Club and I didn't want it to go to waste, but I'll let up on the creme brulee for awhile now) Here's the recipe for the potatoes lorraine:

Potatoes Lorraine

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 large potatoes; cooked with the peelings on and then cooled

2 tablespoons minced onion

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled and divided

paprika

Combine eggs, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. Grate the cooled potatoes and measure three cups. Stir grated potatoes into egg mixture; add onion, half of the cheese and half of the bacon. Spoon mixture into greased 1 1/2 quart baking dish and sprinkle the top with paprika. Bake at 250 degrees for about 25 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cheese and bacon on top and put back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

If you're an ant and you're walking along across the top of pudding, you probably have no idea that the only thing between you and disaster is the strength of that pudding skin

Jack Handy

Week in Review: So, there wasn't a lot happening on Wednesday, no school and all. I shoveled the driveway (because I don't know how to start the snow blower) then I made this snowman, which seemed to irritate my friends and family members who have real jobs. Please keep in mind that while I was shoveling, Bob was playing golf in Florida, and the week before he was playing golf in Las Vegas, so it's all relative.

The Book Babes also met on Wednesday night at Julia's house. The book was A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseine, the author of The Kite Runner. When we got ready to go home, Vicki couldn't find her car keys and I came close to backing into one of the Tipton's big trees trying to maneuver out of the driveway (Vicki was the first car in) Thank goodness I have the backup camera!!!

And speaking of books, I signed up to do Oprah's world-wide online classroom event that will discuss the book, A New Earth. It starts tomorrow night at 9:00 PM. I don't know if I'll get anything out of it or not, but I didn't want to be left out.

It's hard to believe but this Wednesday we will be weighing in on week #9 of our Biggest Loser contest. I'm stuck on a total loss of 11.6 pounds. (I sinned last week with a large bag of Ruffles. How I miss the trans fats!!!) Here's the kicker. One of our anonymous contestants contracted the influenza and lost six pounds last week!!!! How am I going to compete with that??

Sunday night supper was at the Cork and Cleaver, with Nick and Stormy. I baked a couple of apple pies on Saturday. One was for Joe Taylor's birthday and the other was for plain ol' eating. After the Cork we came back to our house and enjoyed the pie. Here's the recipe. Don't forget that the recipe for Opie's No Fail Pie Crust is on my very first blog entry in September.

Grandma's Apple Pie

6 cups peeled, sliced apples (I use Granny Smith)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine apples and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. In another bowl combine sugars, flour, and cinnamon. Pour sugar over apples and mix to coat. Place apples in pastry-lined pie pan and dot with butter.
Cover pie with top layer of pastry, crimping the edges and cutting a slit so steam can escape. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees for another 45 minutes. I like to protect the edges of the crust with aluminum foil so that the crust doesn't get too brown.

How come the dove gets to be the peace symbol? How about the pillow? It has more feathers than the dove and it doesn't have that dangerous beak.
Jack Handy

Week in Review: Another pretty uneventful week here. The beagle won at Westminster, Everybody came home. Lindsey made it back from New York, Bob returned from Memphis where he was helping some guy celebrate his retirement by playing harmonica at a blues bar on Biel Street, and Stormy returned from her Portugal/New York vacation. She brought me a little dish, some Christian Dior paper dolls, and an evening bag. She stayed for Sunday night supper. Here I am stirring the spaghetti sauce on the second day. It makes our house smell like an Italian restaurant.

Do you wonder, sometimes, how you are perceived by others? I recently got a phone call from a woman (an acquaintance, not a close friend) who had spilled red wine on her blouse and wondered if I knew how to remove the stain. I didn't, but I ran downstairs, got on the computer and googled red wine stain removal. I relayed my findings to her and hung up the phone, feeling good about being able to help out another human being.

Then I started to wonder, "Why did she call me with this problem?"

Does she:

A. Think I look like I know my way around a stain?

B. Think I'm a clumsy person, who probably creates a lot of stains?

C. Think I drink a lot of red wine and therefore, am probably sloshing it about on clothing, furniture, and pets????

Hmmm

Recipe of the Week

Classic Vanilla Creme Brulee

1/2 vanilla bean

2 cups heavy cream

4 eggs yolks

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup plus 8 to 12 tsp. sugar

Position a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Have a medium saucepan of boiling water ready. Line a shallow baking pan with a small kitchen towel.

Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean lengthwise down the middle and scrape out the seeds into a 2-quart saucepan. Add the cream and the split vanilla bean, stir to mix and set the the pan over medium heat. Warm the cream until bubbles form around the edge and steam begins to rise from the surface. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep, about 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, salt and 1/4 cup sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and thick ribbons fall from the whisk, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the cream mixture, whisking until blended. Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Divide the mixture among four 6-oz ramekins and place the ramekins in the prepared baking pan. Add boiling water to fill the pan halfway up the side of the ramekins. Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the custards are just set around the edges, 3o to 35 minutes.

Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 3 days.

To serve, sprinkle 2 to 3 tsp. sugar over each custard. Using a kitchen torch, melt the sugar until evenly melted and golden.

Week in Review. It was a pretty quiet week. Yes, Ashley, you are lucky to have a birthday in February because that spices up the month for you, but the rest of us are really hurting here. I guess we do have the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show to look forward to this week. I always try to get Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog, interested in the herding dog competition. She's not one to watch much TV. Speaking of Maddie, I noticed a hint of skunk aroma this week and was told that February is a big mating month for skunks. That figures, Valentine's Day and all. In October of '06, The Amazing Barking One was sprayed twice in less than a week. I'll have to go outside with her when she potties at night.

Famous quotes from Pepe le Pew

"I am your peanut. You are my brittle."

"Zee cabbage does not run away from zee corned beef!"

I think Pepe associates love with food. (Hey! I think I do that too)

"You know, eet may be possible to be too attractive."

Lindsey will be working this week in Rome, New York, separated from her Valentine on February 14th and not able to eat at St. Elmo Steakhouse, as they planned. I'm going to suggest that she rent a romantic movie to watch that evening. I checked the American Film Institute's 100 most romantic movies and here are their top picks:

1. Casablanca - (We agree - great dialogue, World War II, and a tormented Bogart)

2. Gone with the Wind
(A great story, but not really a great LOVE story)

3. West Side Story
4. Roman Holiday
5. An Affair to Remember

6. The Way We Were -"Your girl is lovely Hubbell."

How about a movie that isn't even on the list, like 1956's Friendly Persuasion with Gary Cooper as one pretty hot Quaker? Or, how about

25. When Harry Met Sally

Harry: There are two kinds of women; high maintenance and low maintenance.

Sally: Which one am I?

Harry: You're the worst kind. You're high maintenance but you think you're low maintenance.

Stormy is flying from Lisbon to New York on Tuesday and then she and Nick will see Carmen at the Met on Valentine's Day. That Stormy is one lucky duck. Bob will be in Wisconsin and then Memphis. I'll be here, on Hickory Hill Drive trying to keep the Brad Miller Snowman out of the hands of invading marauders, and Maddie, the Amazing Barking Dog out of the range of lovesick skunks.

Recipe of the Week: This is a great way to cook a standing rib roast. The secret is to keep the oven closed at all times. This recipe came from the Vera Bradley Cookbook. It just doesn't get any easier than this.

Forgotten Roast

1 standing rib roast (any size)

seasoned salt

pepper

Place the roast on a rack in a roasting pan. Sprinkle generously with seasonings. Place in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and let the roast remain in there all day. Turn the oven back onto 400 degrees for 30 minutes for medium-rare or 45 minutes for medium. At this time, you can add some par-boiled potatoes, if you want. So good, so easy, and so juicy!

Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house, you can never tell. Joan Crawford

Week in Review: Happy Groundhog's Day! Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow on February 2nd, but Buckeye Chuck, in Ohio, didn't see his. We have a groundhog who lives out back by our woodpile. I haven't seen hide nor hair of him. I guess his name is Hickory Hill Hans, and if he did stick his head out Saturday morning (unbeknownst to me) he did not see his shadow, which means SPRING IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!


Wednesday was Rob's 19th birthday. He was not receptive to any of my ideas for a birthday present, so I just wrote him a check. He did let us take him and Candace to dinner at the Shady Nook on Saturday Night. Here is a picture of Rob from last summer





I'm taking a 20th Century American Fiction class so that I can also teach English, and this week we're starting to read The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. Have you noticed that when you go into a bookstore, you can purchase classic books, the finest literary works known to man, for peanuts?? I bought a hardcover book that contains, not only The Sun Also Rises, but also A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Old Man and the Sea. It cost $12.00. That's $3.00 per literary masterpiece. Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography by Andrew Morton costs $25.95. Hmmmmmm. Shouldn't we be disturbed by this?





Speaking of Books, the Book Babes met on January 23rd at Vicki's, and I forgot to mention that last week. Our book was Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg. We just love her. In this book, Aunt Elner falls off a ladder while picking figs in her backyard. She dies and makes a brief trip to heaven where she chats with God, who appears to her in the form of Neighbor Dorothy who used to do the radio show from her living room in Elmwood Springs, Missouri. It's a great story, maybe not quite as good as Standing in the Rainbow, but certainly worth your time.





Ooh! Last summer, our Landon won the Babes of Summer radio contest as the cutest baby in Springfield, Illinois. His prize was a free photo session and pictures from photographer, Kimberly Smoot. Here's one of them.






Recipe of the Week:

This cheesecake recipe comes from the Great American Brand Name Baking cookbook. It's a very popular cheesecake and not difficult to make


Heath Bar Cheesecake

Crust:
1 & 3/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 Tablespoons sugar

Filling:

3 packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 package Heath Bits

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For crust, combine crumbs, butter, and sugar and press into a 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate. For filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in sour cream adn add vanilla. Pour into crust and bake for one hour or until filling is just firm. Let cool for about ten minutes then sprinkle Heath Bits over the top. Cool completely on wire rack and then refrigerate.

Week in Review: I wedged a plastic heart into the squirrel's paws this week so Valentine's Day must be just around the corner. Ah, the magic of Valentine's Day. Remember how you used to scrutinize your valentines and how you told yourself that you were quite sure that the cutest boy in your class had selected the best valentine in his collection just for you? When probably, his mother had actually addressed his valentines, and just grabbed them randomly from the package.

Last year for Valentine's Day, Bob gave me a box of DeBrand's Truffles. They were all caramel, every one. I ate one, and the next day, when I opened the box, that truffle had been replaced with another caramel truffle. This pattern continued. It was the perpetual, eternal, never-ending box of caramel truffles! I ended up making Rob and his friends eat them. "For the love of God, boys. Let's put an end to this monster!" I said to them. It was memorable.

I also gave valentines to the squirrels on our kitchen tree. I taped them onto their little nuts....they're holding little nuts, the squrrels are...

Of course, I was too distraught to blog last week, what with Brett not getting to go to the Super Bowl and all. I'm bouncing back, but it hasn't been easy.

The Biggest Loser Contest Continues:

To date, I've lost 8.2 pounds. I'm in second place and I can't tell you who's in first place because the contestants must remain anonymous. I will just say that the person in first place is VERY COMPETITIVE and will be hard to beat. Buying that scale was one of the best things I've done in the last, um......ten years. I've been hopping on and off that thing like a woman, possessed.

We invited some guests to eat with us Sunday, but they couldn't come, so I just made a big pot of vegetable beef soup. We also had leftover lasagna from Friday night. Bob is going to be in California this week, so I'll be eating that soup while he's away.

The recipe of the week is one that Stormy got from Bon Appetit magazine. These cupcakes are worth the effort. I took some to Sally for her birthday. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Scented Devil's Food Cupcakes

2 & 2/3 cups flour

1 & 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 & 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 & 1/2 cups sugar

1 & 1/4 cups brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

1 & 1/4 cups buttermilk

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 & 1/4 cups miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray insides of cupcake papers with nonstick spray. Sift flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda into large bowl. Combine sugar, coffee, buttermilk, oil, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in another large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat egg mixture until blended. Add dry ingredients. Beat on medium speed until blended, scraping the bowl occasionally, about 4 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each paper. Bake cupcakes until puffed and center is just firm to touch. about 24 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool completely.

Frosting

3 sticks unsalted butter

10 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons whipping cream

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Week in Review: A pretty quiet week - it was my sister, Lori's birthday on the 7th. Here's a picture of her, taken this summer when she received her second masters degree. Bob went up to the Quinnesec mill in the U.P., and I subbed two days. Oh, I'm sure you'll be relieved to find out that the Brad Miller snowman still stands, unmolested, at this writing. It's comforting to know that this blog is not being monitored by riff-raff and scalawags.







The Biggest Loser Competition begins: Wednesday was the first weigh-in day for the five Biggest Loser contestants. I am pleased to report that I was the big loser this first week, dropping five pounds. (Remember though, that I was retaining cabbage from New Year's Day)


The Bread Snowman: For you who wondered about the bread snowman with the spinach dip tummy (scroll down for photo), the snowman is made from two loaves of frozen, white bread dough. Just thaw it and knead in 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon dill weed. Press into a greased snowman (or other) pan. The snowman is a Wilton pan. You can buy it online, I would think, or you could borrow mine if you want. It would be a welcome treat at any Super Bowl party - and it would be especially enjoyable if you just happened to be watching Brett Favre on your television screen, playing in that Super Bowl.


Saturday Night Dinner: Nick and Stormy came over for supper and I served up some German food - wiener schnitzel, rotkohl (red cabbage), and German potato pancakes. This was a little intense because you're frying the veal and the potato pancakes at the same time. I had never made any of these dishes before, and I ended up overcooking the broccoli because I was so engrossed in the frying, but I think everything turned out well. The dessert was not German, just cherry pie. Nick and Stormy brought two bottles of wine - a sauvignon blanc and a riesling - and then we had one more bottle - the house wine, a Beaujolais by Monsieur Louis Jadot. (nothing German about him, either)

I didn't take any pictures but, of course, you remember Nick and Stormy from earlier posts. If you'd like, you can scroll down until you find them. Just look at them and imagine them wearing different clothes and eating different food!

Recipe of the Week: Is the Wiener Schnitzel. I got the recipe from Ruth Reichl's book Tender at the Bone. The Book Babes read this some time back and really enjoyed it and the recipes.

Wiener Schnitzel

1 & 1/2 pounds veal cutlets
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup finely ground bread crumbs
salt and pepper
6 tablespoons butter (okay, I used more)
1 lemon

Pound each cutlet thin between two pieces of waxed paper.
Place flour in a flat dish or plate large enough to hold the cutlet. Place beaten egg in another dish, bread crumbs in a third. Season each with salt and pepper.

Dredge cutlets in flour. Dip into beaten egg. Dip into bread crumbs until thinly, but thoroughly coated. Place on waxed-paper-covered platter and place in refrigerator for about an hour.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in large skilled. When sizzling, brown cutlets quickly on each side until golden. Remove to platter.

Melt remaining two tablespoons butter in the same pan. Squeeze lemon juice into butter and pour over cutlets. Serves 4.

GenieBen Sie das Essen!