Chocolate Wafer Log

Here's a quick chocolate lovers dessert for a warm sunny evening. Here's a recipe that is simple, delicious, and only takes a few minutes to assemble. Just in time for you to plan that last quick dessert for our long Labor Day Weekend. The chocolate lovers in your family will be coming back for more.

• 1 box of chocolate wafers/200 grams
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 pkg cream stabilizer
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Stack your cookies into piles.

1. Whip the cream till stiff, adding sugar, vanilla, and stabilizer. I always add "Whip It" by Dr. Oetker, cream stabilizer, to the whipping cream which prevents the cream from separating.
2. Spread each chocolate wafer with a teaspoon of whipped cream. (or be a bit more generous)
3. Stack in groups of six.
4. Place stacks end to end on plastic wrap to form a roll, pressing together lightly.
5. Wrap and refrigerate four hours.
   
6. Frost top and sides with remaining whipped topping just before serving.
7. Garnish with a few chocolate curls.
8. Cut into diagonal slices to serve.
9. Makes up to 10 servings.

Make yourself a fresh cup of coffee and enjoy a dessert on your patio.

Bread For The Journey

I love things fluffy and soft ... and things that are not relegated to straight lines. 

I snapped this photo up country this summer. It was a plant growing in the lot next to my brother's yard. It looked like a dandelion but I have never seen a dandelion seed ball on a tall over 4 foot stem!  I'm not sure what the plant is, maybe Orange Hawkweed?

There is incredible potential in that fluff ball.  At the right time when the wind blows the seed will let go and will be carried far and wide, taking root where ever each seed eventually lands. 

I was thinking how our words are like those seeds.  We hold them in our heads, until the right wind blows and the word-seeds are let go and we have no idea how far and wide they will be carried. 

Sadly, the above flower is considered a weed, and so our words are often the same.  

Blown out of our mouths by an emotional wind, they can be hurtful words, or angry words  

taking root in someone's 'back yard'.   

They may be useless, vain words that have no good purpose

 and add to the clutter in someone's mind. 

  Or they can be provocative words that cause repercussions in the emotional reactions they trigger. 

They may even root deep causing bitterness and unforgiveness

 to be an invasive 'weed' growing in someone's consciousness. 

Weeds need no tending ... they are unstoppable in their distribution and grow readily, 

even in rocky soil. 

But ..  we can also choose to release good word-seeds.  

Words that are gentle and healing. 

Words that encourage and add beauty to someone's heart garden. 

Words that are thought provoking and enriching to someone's mind.

 Words that brings smiles, words that bring the joy of laughter. 

Words that comfort and words that edify or  add meaning to someone's life.  

Words that pacify and mediate, words that bring peace.  

As we hold the 'fluff ball of word-seeds' in our minds  ...  

let us stop

 before we blow the seeds out  of our mouths
 - and consider ... 

 will they be weed-seeds?   or will they be garden-worthy seeds?
will they hurt? or will they heal?

Will they honor the Lord?  or will they be used by the enemy? 

  The words of the wise are like goads,

 and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, 

given by one Shepherd. 

Ecclesiastes 12:11 

  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, 

O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. 

Psalm 19:14

Manhattan Style Clam Chowder

I can make soup at least twice a week and no one would complain. My family likes the left overs for lunch, a bowl after school before supper or an evening snack. Soup is warm, comforting and good enough for company too.

• 1/2 lb of bacon, diced
• 1 cup onion, diced
  
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup of celery with leaves, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 large can (28 ounces) tomatoes,
  
• Salt and Pepper to taste
  
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 3 medium potatoes, diced
• 2 cans (6 to 7 oz each) minced clams with juice
• 2 bottles (8oz) clam juice

1. Brown the diced bacon, drain the fat.
2. Add onion, celery and saute until softened.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients and cook until the potatoes are fork tender.
4. Serve with some crusty bread.
5. This soup taste even better the next day.
   

Sweet and Sour Meatballs for a Crowd

When we meet with our care/community group we often begin with an organized pot luck dinner. Recently, as I pulled out the roaster full of meatballs, I thought I'd share this as an example of a recipe that is easy to multiply to serve a large group. One person brought a slow cooker full of rice, others brought salad, buns and dessert.

Meatball Ingredients for about 120 - 130 meatballs

• 3 pounds fresh lean ground beef
• 2 cups bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoons ketchup
• 1/2 cup milk or water
• 2 teaspoons fine dried onion flakes
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• pepper
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons oregano

1. In a large bowl mix all ingredients well by hand. If you find it dry, you can add some more milk or water. 
2. Shape into 1 inch meatballs. You can use a mini scoop. 
3. Bake on foil or parchment paper lined cookie sheets for 15 minutes at 400° F. If you've made them a bit larger, bake 20 minutes. 
4. If making ahead, cool and freeze according to the meals you have planned.

Sauce:

• 4 small cans (14 oz / 398 ml) pineapple tidbits
• 3 cups pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup vinegar
•  2/3 cups soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons dry mustard
• 2/3 cups flour
• 2 cups water

1. Drain pineapple tidbits, reserving the juice. Add enough water to juice to make 3 cups. Set aside.
2. Place meatballs and drained pineapples into large roaster.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the ketchup, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, mustard and juice. In a container with a lid, shake to blend flour and 2 cups water before adding to the sauce.
4. Pour sauce over top of meatballs and bake, covered, for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours at 325° F. until it has cooked and sauce is thickened. If you need more liquid, add another cup of water. You can transfer the cooked meatballs and sauce to a large slow cooker to keep warm. You can also put it all in all slow cooker on high for several hours, until it bubbles and then turn to low setting. Serves 16 -18

For a small family size recipe check here  (you'll have to scroll down a bit) 

Snickerdoodles

These cookies take me back to my growing up years. My sister Rhoda came home from school one day with a new recipe from her Home Economics cooking class. Snickerdoodles soon became a house hold favourite.

• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Sugar coating:

• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

1. Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until creamy.
2. Add all dry ingredients and beat until incorporated.
3. Stir together sugar coating in a small bowl.
4. Roll cookies into 1 1/2" balls and then roll in the sugar coating covering all sides.
5. Bake at 375º for 8 minutes. Do not over bake.
6. Allow to cool on pan for 1-2 minutes before removing to cooling rake. 

These cookies freeze well. 

Yields approximately 2 1/2 dozen.

Apple Crisp Muffin Cups

These apple crisp muffins are a nice treat when you need a 'picker upper', they go great with a cup of coffee. They freeze well and are quick to thaw for that work or after school snack, dessert, or even breakfast. Enjoy them plain or top with caramel sauce and a dollop of whipped cream if you want to serve them for dessert. In any case they are a neat little hand held mouthful or two of goodness.
This is a large recipe. Handy for extra in the freezer.

Apple filling:

• 6 medium/large McIntosh apples, peeled, cored and cut in small chunks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a medium sized saucepan mix ingredients together and cook just until apples turn tender,  3-5 minutes. Set aside.

Muffin cups:

• 2 cups oats, I used old fashioned oats
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups cold butter, cut in cubes

1. Whisk together oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
2. Add butter cubes and using pastry blender cut butter into dry ingredients until it looks like coarse crumbs.
3. Place heaping tablespoons of crumbs in each mini muffin cup, press into bottom and up the sizes to the top. I used mini muffin pans.
4. Spoon 2 teaspoons apple filling into each muffin cup
5. Bake in a 350º oven for 25 minutes, allow to cool in pan then remove carefully and serve. Place remaining muffin cups in a tightly covered container and freeze.
6. Yield: 48 mini muffin cups

Baked Rhubarb (Bread) Pudding

This recipe began with one in the Mennonite Treasury of Recipes (p 117), evolving into a delicious dessert once I cut the liquids in half. If you have bread (a few days old), eggs, milk and sugar in the house you have all you need to make bread pudding. If you don't have rhubarb, try chopped apples, pears or raisins. This recipe serves 5 - 6

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread cubes (2-3 days old) I use Texas style thick sliced 60% WW bread
• 2 cups rhubarb, chopped 
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cups milk (whole milk or part cream is good)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar for topping (optional)

Method:

1. Prepare a medium pie dish size pan by greasing with butter.
2. Wash, trim and chop rhubarb. Place in a bowl.
3. Trim a thin crust off white or part whole wheat bread, cube and add to rhubarb.
4. In a separate small bowl, beat eggs, add in the sugar, cinnamon, milk, vanilla and salt.
5. Pour over bread and fruit. Toss lightly to cover.
6. Allow to sit for about 1/2 hour for bread to absorb the liquids, tossing in-between. Preheat oven to 350 F.
7. Pour into prepared dish. Dot with butter. Cover lightly with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake another 40 - 50 minutes. Sprinkle with brown sugar for final 5 - 10 minutes of baking.  Done when you can pull it apart with a fork and there is no liquid.
8. Allow to cool for about 30 - 60 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or room temperature with warm vanilla custard.

Simple Vanilla Custard: 

• 1 cup milk, divided
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract OR 1/4 tsp vanilla powder

In a small saucepan, bring 3/4 cup milk to boil. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk sugar, flour, 1/4 cup milk, egg yolk and vanilla until blended. Whisk into milk in saucepan just as it comes to boil and continue stirring until it bubbles. Serve warm. Can be re-heated.

Six Week Bran Muffins

You might be thinking this is the old original recipe that we've all had for years...and you are right! Sometimes it's good to pull out an old favourite and jazz it up a bit, or bake it in different shapes and sizes. This is a large recipe, but disappears faster than the 6 weeks it can last. Adding dates to this old standby makes them even more moist and tasty.
I use Anneliese's Sticky Sauce when I want to make some of them a little sweeter and stickier.

Once you've made the muffin mix, you can bake up just several or a whole pan at a time. Try poking a few frozen blueberries into the batter just before baking or grating some orange rind into the batter.
All variations freeze well.

• 3 cups bran buds (I use All Bran Cereal, Kellogg's brand)
• 3 cups bran flakes
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups buttermilk
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 5 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons baking soda
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups dates, chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons water

1. Stir bran buds and flakes together in a large glass bowl. Pour bowling water over them and allow to sit.
2. In another large bowl cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs, buttermilk and molasses and beat well.
3. Add bran mixture and mix well.
4. Measure all dry ingredients into another bowl and stir to combine.
5. Add dry mixture to to bran and buttermilk mixture and stir or mix to combine.
6. Put chopped dates and last amount of water into a microwavable bowl. Cook in microwave for 1 minute. Take out and stir well. Mixture will get pasty. You may need to put it back in for 30 seconds. Don't over cook as they will burn. 
7. Add cooked date mash to batter and stir well to combine.
8. Store whole mixture in a well sealed container and place in refrigerator. Give the mix a little stir when you are ready to bake some muffins. If adding in some extra fruit or zest, put some of the mix into a small bowl and stir in the extras. The mix will be good for up to 6 weeks if kept well sealed and in refrigerator. 
9. Choose the size of tins. Spray lightly if not using a liner. For regular size muffins, fill cups to 2/3 full and bake at 400ºF for 15-18 minutes. Ovens vary so check with a toothpick. If using mini muffin tins, bake at same temperature but check at 10 minutes. 

Sticky Sauce method: (for 12 regular size muffins)

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1. Put all ingredients except for vanilla in a small sauce pan. 
2. Stirring constantly bring to a light bowl until sugar has melted. 
3. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
4. Grease muffin tins and then divide mixture between 12 muffin cups. (these don't work with paper liners)
5. Put muffin batter right on top of the sticky sauce. Filling to 3/4 full. 
6. Bake as directed above. Remove sticky muffins upside down to a cooling rack immediately after baking. 

This is where I bake and family and friends young and older gather. As you can see it's small and cozy, but spills over into a casual living space with a cozy fire place...and yes, you can take your 'cup of stuff and a thing' into there and put your feet up, or sit at the island. I may put you to work with a cutting board and sharp knife if you sit there. 

Bread for the Journey

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.

Isaiah 55:6 ESV

Sunflowers are those golden beauties of summer whose name originally meant 'sun responder'.

There are many flowers that turn their faces towards the sun,
but the sunflower turns to face the sun completely...
leaves and all.

Is there anything quite as striking as that?

There is a lesson here for us.
Are we seeking after God...completely?

 Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His Glory and Grace.

Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is light and fluffy. I decreased the sugar from the original recipe by half a cup and still think it is sweet enough. You can use cubed fresh pears in this recipe instead of blueberries. You can also use pecans instead of walnuts in the topping. This would be nice for brunch along side a savory dish.

Ingredients:

Topping:

• 1-1/2 cups walnuts or pecans
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut in smaller pieces

Cake:

• 2-3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk, whole or 2%
• 1-1/2 cups blueberries 

For Topping:

1. Blend first four ingredients in food processor until nuts are coarsely chopped.
2. Add butter; using pulse to blend until coarse crumbs form.

For Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare 13x9x2 baking pan by greasing and dusting with flour, shaking off excess.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and soda in medium bowl.
4. Using electric mixer beat butter in large bowl till fluffy.
5. Gradually add both sugars and beat until blended.
6. Beat in eggs, one at a time incorporating after each egg.
7. Add lemon zest and vanilla.
8. Blend sour cream and milk in small bowl.
9. Beat in this mixture alternating with dry ingredients in 3 additions each.
10. Spread half of the cake batter into prepared pan.
11. Sprinkle half the topping over the batter.
12. Cover this mixture with the blueberries evenly.
13. Spread remaining batter over this layer.
14. Sprinkle with the other half of the topping.
15. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
16. Cool and serve.
17. Yield: 12 servings