Potato Chocolate Covered Cherries

I’m not going to lie to you. Making these is a labor of love. However, it’s labor that can be divided up over a few days. This is another recipe from my mother-in-law. The original version is first, followed by the changes I made.

Filling:

1/3 c. mashed potatoes

1 ¾ c. powdered sugar

1 ½ c. coconut

½ tsp. vanilla

I added a ½ c. dried cherries and ¼ c. Amaretto and omitted the vanilla. The cherries were soaked in the Amaretto overnight before I did anything else. After soaking they were mashed, then added to the other filling ingredients. The consistency should be like cookie dough. Instant mashed potato flakes can be used in place of homemade. They can also be added if the filling has too much liquid. I used standard flaked coconut, but next time I will either run it through the food processor or use macaroon coconut (like this product, http://www.bobsredmill.com/fine-macaroon-coconut.html?&cat=). The filling can be covered and put in the refrigerator until you are ready for the next step.

Place parchment or wax paper on two half-size, rimmed baking sheets. Rather than forming a ball in my hand, I found it easiest to put 1 tbsp. heaps of the filling on a sheet. A maraschino cherry, with stem, was pushed into each heap, than the filling was formed around each cherry. If the filling gets too soft from handling, let it chill in the refrigerator before dipping in chocolate.

Coating:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

¼ - ½ bar paraffin

Instead of using paraffin, I made chocolate ganache. (An example here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chocolate-ganache-recipe/index.html). After the cherries are dipped in the chocolate, place on the second sheet and refrigerate. The cherry stems provide a handle for dipping. In the event that you don’t have cherries with stems, or the filling wants to stay behind in the chocolate, there is an alternate method for enrobing. Put the chocolate in a condiment bottle. Squeeze a circle about the size of a quarter or a little larger, place a cherry in the middle, and use the bottle to drizzle chocolate over it until coated.

I can’t say how many cherries were yielded. I didn’t count, but my guess is close to 2 dozen. I just kept placing heaps of filling on the sheet until it was gone. If I ran out of ganache, half batches were made until all the cherries were coated.

I know making your own chocolate covered cherries sounds like a lot of work, but they are worlds better than store-bought. They are also a great intro into candy making because there is no need for cooking sugar or a candy thermometer. Just take your time and have fun.

The Project Queen

Dinner in Bed

While breakfast in bed is a nice surprise, I contend that a fancy dinner in bed is the true height of luxury and hedonism. Now, I’ll admit that eating out instead of cooking is nice when you’re looking to inject some romance into a relationship. But can you go to that hoity-toity restaurant in your pajamas? Heck, no! Not even if they’re silk. And contrary to what some people think, you don’t have to make complicated, time-consuming dishes to have a wonderfully decadent meal.

My husband and I enjoyed dinner in bed for our Sunday evening meal. I was originally planning it as a Valentine’s Day surprise, but some last-minute errands cropped up. So it just worked better to wait for the weekend.

Karl and I enjoyed Ribeye Steak with Bourbon Cream Sauce, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Yellow and Green String Beans, and handmade Chocolate Covered Cherries. As for a wine pairing, I’m not much help. Most of my spirit consumption is confined to cooking with it. We enjoyed Knudson’s sparkling cherry juice. It was an excellent accompaniment.

Get your ingredients together and allow the steak to come to room temp. To time everything, start cooking with the mashed potatoes. They take the longest prep time. I used 4 potatoes. I wanted leftovers. When making the mashed potatoes substitute buttermilk for sweet (reg.) milk. Once your potatoes are in the pot, prepare the beans for your favorite cooking method. Heat a heavy-duty non-stick or cast iron skillet for the steak. When the pan is hot enough melt 1 tbsp. butter. Salt and pepper both sides of your steak. I cooked one steak that weighed approx. 1 lb. and was 1” thick. If you enjoy a medium-rare steak, cook each side only until it has a nice brown color. Wrap it in foil and allow it to rest. A warm, not hot, oven will keep it from getting cold. The mashed potatoes can join it while you make your sauce. Remove the steak skillet from the heat before adding any alcohol to it. Two tbsp. of bourbon is enough. Return the skillet to a low heat setting. Stir the bourbon into the browned butter and steak juices. Let it cook until the alcohol smell mellows. Add ½ - ¾ c. cream and stir gently until the bourbon-butter mixture blends into the cream.

It may be plating for amateurs, but I cut the steak in half, placed each on a bed of mashed potatoes, poured the sauce over both, and placed the beans on the plates. You will notice the sauce isn’t as thick as gravy. It may creep into your beans. However, it’s yummy on the beans too, so don’t worry about it.

You have my permission to invent as many special occasions as you like just so you can celebrate with dinner in bed. I might invent one tomorrow.

The Project Queen

Roses in Winter

Tamora, David Austin English Rose. Her colors are deeper in cool temperatures.

I took these photos a month ago when we had “winter”. Coming from a northern climate where everything is seemingly covered with snow for 6 months (ok, five), having flowers blooming in January is still an outright miracle to me, especially since roses are considered the queens of the summer garden.

When it comes to flower gardens, roses are my first love. If it’s a hereditary trait I probably got it from my paternal grandmother. She loved gardening and roses in particular. I started growing roses myself while in my mid-twenties. When I was younger I thought it was kind of cool to have something in common with Grandma. Now their fragrance reminds me of a gentle, generous lady. She was the kind of person a grand-daughter should emulate.

Once hooked on roses, it’s a species of plant you never abandon, even if you only have room for a potted miniature. Roses come in so many sizes and forms, with hardly any scent to a perfume that knocks you off your feet from 10 feet away. And even though they basically come in 4 different colors: white, yellow, orange and red; they manage to have an infinite variety of colors and patterns. Some are fussy prima donnas requiring lots of pampering from the gardener. Others have lived on abandoned homesteads for decades and are quite happy left to their own devices. So, regardless of the kind of gardener you are or aren’t, chances are a rose exists that will suit you. They certainly have some magical property that appeals to most of humanity. Historians agree that mankind’s love affair with the rose has been with us at least since the development of civilization.

The Project Queen

La France, classed as the first Hybrid Tea. The bush was introduced in 1867.

My rose is the climbing sport. It was introduced in 1893.

She doesn't have many leaves right now, but she's blooming anyway.

Mostly at the top of 12 ft. canes.

Super Bowl of Red

It may not be traditional to put cheese on Texas chili.

But I have a tendency to observe traditions at my whim. It's good to be the queen.

My husband and I aren’t big partiers during the Super Bowl. We mostly watch to see the commercials. Since it’s an evening game I usually use it as an excuse to make something fun for supper and to try expanding my repertoire. This year it was Texas-style chili and homemade tortillas.

I’m a Colorado native by birth and spent my childhood there until I was in high school. You would think a western state would know better, but the only chili I was ever exposed to had … gasp! beans in it. The spicy bean soup came with me to Texas. It took me over 12 years to take a crack at making “Texas Bowl of Red”. I used a recipe from Food Network Magazine’s most recent issue. This link will take you to it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/texas-bowl-of-red-recipe/index.html.

I made a few tweaks. Stew meat replaced a 6 lb. chunk of meat. Instead of olive oil, I cut the last 2 pieces of bacon I had into small pieces and browned the meat with the bacon as it was rendering in the dutch oven. The spice measurements stayed the same, but I put in 4 tbsp. chili powder, 1 tbsp. smoked paprika and 1 tbsp. chipotle chili powder. One change I didn’t try was adding Shiner Bock to it. I ran out a while back and just haven’t remembered to buy more. The recipe calls for additional liquid if the chili gets too thick after adding the masa. Seems to me that would be a good time to sneak in a little beer. However you make it, beanless chili is delicious. Dare I say it was a revelation?

Making homemade tortillas was added to my must-do list after I read the ingredients on a package of store-bought. It was an awfully long list of stuff for a flat bread. I’ve been making yeast breads for a while, so I figured tortillas wouldn’t be too hard, plus I needed to use the tortilla press I received for Christmas. I tried a recipe found on Epicurious, www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Homemade-Flour-Tortillas-233305.

I sneak some whole grain in our diet as much as possible, so the flour was ½ all-purpose and ½ whole wheat. I don’t use lard. Shortening or a shortening/butter combo works just fine. When kneading dough with whole wheat, keep a clean spray bottle with water handy. Whole grains generally take a bit more liquid than white. If you have dry flour that doesn’t want to incorporate, give it a spritz or two of water and keep working the dough until it’s smooth. The recipe includes directions for rolling the individual tortillas. It’s much faster to press them. A heavy skillet such as cast iron would work great if you don’t have a press. Instead of 12 pieces I divided my dough into 8 portions. The tortillas came out about 5-6 inches across, not nearly big enough for the taco bowls I planned to make. For that application I will double the recipe and decrease the number of individual dough portions. Here’s another tip for making the process more trouble free. Cut open the sides of a quart size, or larger, ziplock plastic bag. After portioning and rolling the dough into balls, place them one at a time on one side of the bag, fold the other side over the dough and press them. The tortillas will peel easily off the plastic and keep cleanup to a minimum.

No doubt, I’m preaching to the choir when it comes to Texas chili. Some of you are probably wondering what took me so long to try it. I don’t really know the answer to that one. My challenge to you? Try making tortillas. They would actually be a great introduction to bread making, since they don’t contain temperamental yeast. Are they worth some effort? Most definitely. In the event that someone attempts tortillas and has some difficulties, don’t be afraid to leave a question in the comments section. I’ll do my best to help you trouble shoot.

The Project Queen

Berry Peach Cobbler

My husband has a hunting buddy that’s been nice enough to pick him up several times during duck season. This past weekend was the end of the season, and they decided to stay overnight near their lease to take advantage of 2 days hunting. As a “thank you” I decided to make an extra batch of fruit cobbler that the hunting friend and his son could enjoy when they returned home.

The cobbler making adventure came about because it occurred to me that I still have lots of berries in my freezers, and berry picking season isn’t too far away. Berry Peach cobbler is one of my favorite applications. I was way overdue in making one.

These cobblers also became an experiment in gluten and allergen-free baking. For those of us used to conventional baking, gluten-free is an interesting challenge. The recipient’s son is on a restricted diet that has eliminated all grain products except rice and millet. He also needs to avoid high fructose corn syrup, dairy and eggs. To give myself a starting recipe I referenced a cobbler crust recipe in the pink Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I used it as a guideline for measurements and swapped the traditional ingredients for the gluten-free products. The original recipe did call for eggs and dairy (butter, milk). They were replaced with juice from the canned peaches. For those not familiar with tapioca flour, it’s a non-grain thickener. In gluten-free baking it’s used for thickening sauces and providing some structure to flours that lack protein.

Since I wanted to make sure this recipe really worked, I made our batch of cobbler gluten-free as well. The only difference between ours and the gift was the addition of blueberries. Blueberries are on the “do not eat” list for the son. In case you’re wondering about the blackberry juice in the filling, I can’t stand the seeds, so I cook my berries until they start producing juice. They are placed in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. I use a large spoon to mash them against the mesh, than let them sit over the bowl for an hour or two. When I’m making a dessert I don’t mind the pulp and prefer not to waste more than necessary. I use the spoon to scrape the pulp from the outside of the sieve. In the event that I have more juice than I need, the excess is poured into quart freezer bags. It might make an appearance in another cobbler or get added to a batch of lemonade.

Filling

3 (15 oz.) Cans Peaches (look for light syrup – doesn’t usually use corn syrup; read label)

¼ c. Organic Cane Sugar

¾ c. Blackberry Juice

2 tbsp. Tapioca Flour

Crust

1 c. Brown Rice Flour

1 tbsp. Tapioca Flour

1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

¼ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Cinnamon

¼ c. Canola Oil

½ c. Peach Juice

Pre-heat oven to 400°. Drain peaches & reserve ½ c. of juice for the crust. The remaining juice can be added to the blackberry juice if you want to use it. To cut down on dishes, measure sugar in glass measuring cup and add juice until it reaches one cup. Once sugar is dissolved, stir in tapioca flour. Like corn starch, it’s best to add to cold liquids. Put peaches in a baking dish and pour juice over them. Stir in a handful or 2 of blueberries if you desire and set the fruit aside.

For the crust, combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the canola oil. The mixture will look like large crumbs. Once the oil is incorporated, stir in the peach juice. Drop the mixture 1-2 tbsp. at a time over the fruit filling. It can be spread out a bit with the spoon to cover more of the fruit. Sprinkle cane sugar and cinnamon over the crust before baking for 25 minutes.

It occurred to me while making this cobbler version that it’s a recipe that can satisfy more than one kind of special need. While it’s still plenty sweet, it’s more diet friendly without the animal products. Know a vegetarian or vegan? Try making this for them. Having tried it myself, I can honestly say it’s very delicious.

The Project Queen

Recycled Pillow Dog Bed

My dogs like to come into my studio and lie around my feet when I’m working on projects. But they don’t always appreciate a cold floor in the winter. Last summer I purchased some remnant fleece found in the clearance corner at Hobby Lobby. Courtesy of a long holiday weekend, I found an hour to sew it for a dog bed cover.

The piece I purchased was 60” wide and 1 yard long. It made approximately a 30” x 36” dog bed after I folded the fabric in half. It was large enough to cover two king-size pillows. Other than making sure all edges were straight, there isn’t any cutting involved. One 60” edge was folded over about ½” and sewn. That gave the cover a finished opening. Then with right sides together, the fabric was folded in half so the selvages met. The bottom and one side seam were sewn. The cover was then turned right side out, and I added 4 toggle buttons and crochet rings to opposite sides of the opening. The pillows were stuffed inside.

Viola! Inexpensive, washable dog bed. (And no guilt because I repurposed 2 not-so-nice pillows)

The Project Queen

Ear-warming Headbands

 My younger daughter, Kristen, has a tendency to drop projects in my lap a few days before she returns to school. At the end of last summer it was an apron she wanted to give her older sister. Before she went back for this spring semester she wanted four knitted headbands. The race was on to complete at least a couple of them before she left. She attends school in South Dakota, and the winter deep freeze has arrived.

Sadly, I didn’t have time to photograph the completed headbands. Kristen promised she would send pictures, but until she does, here is headband 3 with an accompanying pattern.

The yarn is Flicker, a number 4 medium weight made by Berroco. It’s an Alpaca blend that has a metallic thread woven in it. However, headbands are great stash busters. They can take half, to a full skein of yarn, depending on yardage. So feel free to use that one-skein splurge lurking in your yarn basket (closet, dresser, etc.).

The stitch pattern I used is called “Twisted Arches”, a type of cable stitch. I found it in the book, Reader’s Digest Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches, pg 55. Here is some useful info: Multiple of 8 stitches + 2; C3L (Cable 3 left) slip next st onto cable needle and hold at front of work, K next 2 sts from left hand needle, then K st from cable needle; C3R (Cable 3 right) slip next 2 sts onto cable needle and hold at back of work, K next st from left needle, then K sts from cable needle.

For the Headband:

CO 18 stitches

1^st row (RS): P2, *K6; rep from * to end (End with P2)

2^nd row: K2, *P6, rep from * to end (K2)

Rep last 2 rows once.

5^th row: P2, *C3L, C3R, P2, rep from * to end

6^th row: As 2^nd row

7^th row: K4, P2, *K6, P2, rep from * to end (End with K4)

8^th row: P4, K2, *P6, K2, rep from * to end (P4)

Rep last 2 rows once.

11^th row: K1, * C3R, P2, C3L, rep from * to end (K1)

12^th row: As 8^th row

Repeat these twelve rows 8 more times.

BO

 (If you are using a chunky yarn, fewer row repeats may be needed. Also, this is a project with negative ease. The band should stretch. Make it a little shorter than you think it should be, unless you’re trying to make an eye mask or infinity scarf. Measure your head circumference before starting.)

A long tail at either end can be used to sew the ends of the headband together. Weave in ends.

If fancier edges are desired, customize with your favorite knit or crochet edging stitch.

For the Gathering Band:

CO 10 sts and do 2 repeats of the above stitch pattern. BO. Before sewing closed, place the small band over the seam of the large band. Make sure the ends of the small band are sewn together on the wrong side of the large band. If you want to keep the small band in place, tack the sides of it to the back stitches of the large band.

A note on gauge and blocking: Don’t obsess over gauge. Just make sure the band is wide enough to cover the ears. “Twisted Arches” doesn’t curl so blocking to make flat or achieve certain measurements isn’t necessary, unless you’re really obsessive.

For those of you experiencing a cold winter, go ahead and make yourself a cozy headband. (Or a “just because I love you” gift.) Be blessed and stay warm.

The Project Queen