Tag: Extraordinary Mothers

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Easy Coleslaw Recipe

Food is such a fun project and you know the best way to save money nowadays is to make things at home from scratch. Plus you can control your ingredients so if you are health conscious (like me sometimes) this is the best bet. You can avoid all the pre-packaged food and all the garbage that is inside. I am a huge grilling fan too. I LOVE TO GRILL. With grilling comes favorites like burgers, chicken and my famous smoked brisket. Want to know what to serve with those as a side? Good old fashioned Slaw!

1/2 head cabbage
1/4-1/2 head of purple cabbage (or radicchio for a nice pepperly flavor)
1/4 c. shredded carrots
1T. finely diced onion
1 T sugar
1 T vinegar
6 T cream
1 T Mustard dressing

Shred the cabbage very finely, add in the onion and carrots. In a separate bowl add the sugar, vinegar, cream, and mustard dressing, mix well, drizzle over cabbage and toss. Serve chilled or immediately

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Extraordinary Tuesdays: Two For Tuesday

Welcome to “Two For Tuesday” a post every Tuesday for us Extraordinary Mothers (over @ Extraordinary Mothers) on how we deal and cope with motherhood, the pains, angst’s, joys, and triumphs. I am Karie of The Five Fish and as a mother of twins and a singleton I know all too well the “two” sides to each coin, our children and ourselves and how to find answers and balance.

Happy New Year. Another year, another opportunity to start fresh right? I read today on a friend’s blog about how each new year is not a fresh start but yet a continuation of the chapters of our book. She could not be more true with her words. Wiping our slate clean would only suggest that we did not learn from the events of the previous year, day, and months. A new slate also means we are starting at the bottom, new, fresh, no ground work already laid, which makes annual goals that much more unattainable.

How many of you have already made annual resolutions? Lose weight? Quit smoking? Quit cursing? Join a gym, club, church, whatever the case may be. How about any family goals? Any goals and resolutions for the year that mean the entire family? Everyone pitches in, everyone is involved, including the kids towards family goals and resolutions. No family goals? Why not?

Crazy as the idea may sound a family goal creates a healthy foundation for children to set realistic goals, for us as parents to set realistic goals, and everyone is involved which promotes the overall family structure. A starting family goal could be to agree to family dinners each night and maybe everyone takes turns making the meal, setting the table, or cleaning up afterward. A goal to create a stronger family unit. A goal to spend more quality time together. Even the goal of taking a family vacation even if just a stay-cation.

The goal could be anything as a family, anything promoting togetherness and individuality within the family unit. Goals are great fun as long as they are realistic, attainable, and best of all when they’re fun and yield results. So this year when making some resolutions, goals, look at a way to include the family, have some fun with it, encourage the kids and the entire family to think of some great resolutions and goals that everyone can partake. Because each new year that passes is not a clean slate, but another chapter of life.

What will you write in your chapter this year? What kind of family goals can you make? Will make?

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Organic Pumpkin Pie Recipe

While these recipes may be a bit out of “season” now as we have moved past Thanksgiving and Christmas pumpkin pie is always a favorite, especially because it is so easy….when not from a can. Plus more likely the pumpkin pie is cheaper with a fresh pumpkin than one out of the can. Plus I shared I made a cake size Swiss roll, well here is that recipe. The Swiss roll may be a bit bitter as it is a Turkish chocolate style recipe, but still sweet and delish!

Pumpkin Pie

1 pumpkin
6 c. water for boiling

2 c. flour (for crust, obviously)
1/2 c. water (for crust)
1 c. shortening
Heat oven to 425*
1 3/4 c. mashed pumpkin
1 3/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 T. sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves (be sure to ONLY use a 1/4 tsp or your pie will be very SPICY and the cloves will be overbearing)

Gut the pumpkin and all seeds. Cut into two inch cubes leaving skin on the meat during boiling. The boil time for an average size to a small pumpkin is roughly 25-35 minutes. Remove from water and allow to cool somewhat before removing skin to avoid burning. Once all skin is removed, mash or puree until desired consistency. Allow the mashed pumpkin to be completely cool before adding to pie mixture.

While pumpkin is cooling, mix flour, water, shortening together until dough forms. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Add to pie pan and flute edges. Fluting can be done with fingers, fork, or a spoon.

Mix together sugar and eggs until a creamed consistency, adding in mashed pumpkin. Mix thoroughly slowly adding milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and the cloves. By following these steps your pie will have a smooth consistency allowing all the ingredients to blend well together. Cook for 45-55 minutes using a toothpick to determine if the center is done. The pie will have a rich golden hue as will the crust.



Swiss Cake Roll

Preheat oven to 400*
2 eggs (separate yolks from whites)
3 T. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 T. warm water (I used day old warm coffee, adds a bitterness and a wonderful rich sweet taste)
1 oz cube of melted Bakers Semi-Sweet baking chocolate (or 2T melted chocolate chips)
Filling:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 T. confectioners sugar (or 1/4 c. sugar)
May add fresh fruit or flavor or your choice, almond, etc.

I also apologize for the poor picture quality….the cake was being eaten so fast to take when it was at it’s “prettiest.”

Beat together egg yolks and sugar until creamy, slowly adding the chocolate (be sure not too hot or will cook the eggs) and warm water. Then beat until foamy the egg whites, slowly adding in the flour, baking powder mix. Once the eggs and flour, baking powder are completely combined, slowly begin to add in the chocolate mixture. Once completely blended pour into waxed lined baking pan (13X9, buttered or greased then lined with wax paper or freezer paper for best results and lightly greased again). Bake for 12 minutes, remove immediately and place face down on freezer paper (or wax paper) dusted with powdered sugar. Place damp cloth on top to ease cooling time and allow cake to be easily rolled while warm, removing hard or rough edges, unroll after completely cooled and add cream filling.

Beat together sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until a creamy, comes to a bit of a peak consistency. Do not over beat…filling will be ruined. Slowly spread along inside of cake, roll again and serve dusted with confectioners sugar or topped with drizzled chocolate or fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

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Holiday Traditions

I tweeted and updated my Facebook status on how fabulous this holiday season would be, even after a tumultuous Thanksgiving I knew Christmas would completely drown everything that happened.

For the week leading up to Christmas Big G and I were on a Betty Crocker roll. I think I was channeling her or Martha Stewart for that matter with how many crafts and baking we accomplished together. We started by making these absolutely easy and aromatic Christmas ornaments courtesy of my friend Casey over at Extraordinary Mothers. Look at these beauties, I was so proud of my baby for sticking with the project.

We used some super simple ribbon too. Just a bit of wired ribbon and decorative craft rope and we have insta- ornaments that not only look fantastic and can be dressed up but smell absolutely intoxicating!

Next we did some rolled and cut Gingerbread Man cookies that were just the most tender, sweet, soft delicious cookies you could ever have. We did THREE dozen of those cookies. Look at the boy go! I was so proud he had so much fun…and we chowed on some dough! What good are cookies without cookie dough to nibble on.

So we moved onto more fun cookies and we did some really fun sugar cookies. I decided to use my new Wilton’s Cookie Press that I won from my friend Sandra over at Adventures In Mommyland (you should read…this woman has amazing strength!) and we did fabulous Christmas tree press cookies and some “star” shapes that actually looked more like flowers and we decorated as such.

Finally I made THREE, yes THREE homemade, from scratch, did not buy the shit in a pan from the store, PIES. I know I am a culinary snob…I truly enjoy the insult of being a snob, I pride myself in this delight. I have skills and I am proud to flaunt! HA HA HA. Okay, so enough of me, here is my prize winning pie…well actually it was eaten too fast before I could take a beauty shot, but I do have the original specimen, and I will be posting the recipe for Morsel Monday next week since I have failed to play along with consistent blogging this week. A-Okay by me, enjoying the relaxing time the no pressure of posting. But here is the specimen that I speak of…yes…that is a Pumpkin. An albino (white) pumpkin and what the insides look like after being cooked/mashed. Pretty right? Just imagine the taste. OH EM GEE!

The three wise pies were my infamous and prized beauties that each of my Grandmother’s raved over (yes both Grandmothers asked for the recipe….the women with phenomenal, mad cooking abilities wanted MY recipe!), my aunt’s who both have an insane level of gift in the culinary arts wanted the recipe, and of course my mother…who legitimized my claim of THE PERFECT child cook said my pie was better than the other pie she had that day…or any other day or holiday for that matter. Well of course…mine was made with love…not from an assembly line and stamped with the brand of “Marie Callendar’s.” kthxbai

I then worked on my Turkish chocolate cake. This cake was like no other though, more of a Swiss Roll with wonderful whipped cream inside…again, another recipe I will be sure to post. Super easy, super delish and very decadent. A true dessert cake and delicacy. However, one cake did not roll, so it was a layer cake of sorts, the other did roll, beautifully so I hauled that with us, along with the pecan pie, oh and the divinity. Yes, I made divinity. Which is a true feat to successfully create this confection in winter due to the weather and often cloudy days. You cannot make divinity on a cloudy day…same with fudge…the consistency just isn’t right. But I hauled all these goodies to my Grandmother’s house in Casa Grande for my 31st Christmas Eve celebration with her, with my Grandfather’s passing which was ever so bittersweet a celebration of family nonetheless, my aunt’s who had I many a laughs with, and my uncle who I joined in sarcastic witty banter as we jabbed others and one another.

Needless to say while the gifts were not overly plentiful as some may expect, the love of family, being together, having fun, and the creations of love and joy were shared abound. Those gifts are the gifts that carry no price, can never be replaced, and are felt year round and are remembered for a lifetime.

What were your holiday traditions? Family traditions? Baking fun? Any childhood memories you had that carry on with your present family? Children?