A DEFINITE MUST DO TODAY

You need to do this today and get in your vote for the 'top-50-mommy-food-blogs'. Very interesting list of food bloggers for you to see who is nominated and who is at the top. You can even add your own blog if you wish and get in on this. I voted but I also wanted to see some new food bloggers that are out there with some new and different ideas. I find food blogs are usually very interesting and they all have their own great ideas whether it be recipes or tips. Take a look.
Alert: GOOSEBERRY PATCH is coming out with a new cookbook this week on slow cooker/casserole cooking. Check it out this weekend. They really put out great recipe books with not very involved steps to ending up with a nice dish. They publish a list of stores where their books can be purchased. I have seen them at Cracker Barrel Restaurants. They are on Twitter and Facebook as well where you can add comments to their posting which I think is very informative for all who like their books. Occasionally they put out a recipe from a member.
CAKE BALLS--I never heard of them until this week. Serious Eats came out with an article/recipe recently that explains it all. Basically to make them is to bake a box cake, crumble it, add frosting and roll into balls. Sounds wierd but ooooh so tasty. Great for luncheon dessert or for a summer tea. This all came to my attention by an article in the Dallas News about cake balls. Naturally I had to investigate.
Next post will be about a great southern tradition---banana pudding. Come vist again, soon.

Join the 'Circle of Friends'

Here is an interesting and fun group to join up with at Gooseberry Patch. They have a great site with interesting recipes as well as published cookbooks. The recipes are tasty and very easy to make. Many come from online members. They publish a very colorful monthly desktop for you to download to your computer. All in all the site has alot to offer.

Blueberry Muffin--Really Big

Found some interesting sites about food this weekend. One is from Emeril and the other is about a very large blueberry muffin.
Emeril is offering some of his recipes available for download here. (This is a .pdf file so you will need Adobe to read it.) It seems he has allowed us to view some of his recipes from his fabulous New Orleans restaurants from appetizers to desserts. It is well worth downloading.
The realllly large blueberry muffin is being touted from a segment on the Simpsons. Check out the article here about what the chef at a famous resort put on his menu. I can't imagine ordering a four pound blueberry muffin for $25 except for the fun of it. First of all you need alot of fresh blueberries and also need to have many people to share helping to eat it. Fun, fun!
Enjoy your weekend

ANNUAL EASTER POUND CAKE

Today is a good day to make a "lemon pound cake" using the recipe I posted a year ago on my old recipe blog at Granny's Tasties @ http://grannycbb.blogspot.com/. This has become an annual recipe at Easter time. Here is the recipe
if you might be interested in making a loaf pound cake.
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I just finished baking a 'lemon pound cake' in a loaf pan from "Taste of Home". Strawberries are available again, so I planned the baking in time.
Ingredients: Loaf Lemon Pound Cake·
2/3 cup butter-flavored shortening
· 1-1/4 cups sugar
· 2 tablespoons lemon juice
· 1 teaspoon lemon extract
· 2/3 cup milk or 1/2 c yogurt
· 2-1/4 cups cake flour *
· 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· 3 eggs
· Confectioners' sugar
Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar
until light and fluffy.
Beat in lemon juice and extract.
Add milk; beat for 30 seconds.
Sift cake flour, salt and baking powder;
gradually add to creamed mixture.
Beat on low speed for 2 minutes.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Pour into a greased wax paper-lined 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pan.
Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Remove waxed paper. Dust with confectioners' sugar.
* I used 1 3/4 c regular flour + 1/4 c corn starch**
Have all your ingredients measured and at room temperature.

If you are interested in looking at recipes from my old blog, please go to this addresshttp://grannycbb.blogspot.com/ and look in the left column for "recipes on this blog" title. Here is listed all the recipes and the date to search for the item.
Happy Easter to everyone and happy baking.

St. Patrick's Day is Wednesday

HOW-TO CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE DINNER

Every year I look forward to this day to celebrate St. Paddy's which means making my corned beef and cabbage meal. You can find recipes all over the web that for this meal but a recipe is really not necessary for many people. By this I mean all you have to do is buy a slab of corned beef which includes the spices and a nice head of cabbage(big or small.) Get your slow cooker out and place the corned beef in it covered with water. Add the spices to the water. Turn it on low and go about your business for the day as it will take 8 to 10 hours to get tender enough to eat. Remove the corned beef and let it rest for a half hour before cutting. Cut cabbage into quarters and place in enough water to cover or even use the juices from the corned beef which has the spices in it. Cook cabbage until tender. If you wish potatoes as well, add them to the cabbage water. Once cabbage and potatoes are tender, slice the corned beef and set up your plate for eating.

If you wish to find out more how to make this meal, check out Epicurious.com and About.com for the how-to. There are many recipes for this meal where you can start from scrach and even add your own spices. These two sites are my favorites cuz they have variations for you to try. My suggestion as stated above is the simple way to go.

There are other ideas for celebrating the day such as Irish Soda Bread, green cheesecakes, and a grasshopper drink. Have fun and enjoy your day.

IF YOU LIKE CASSEROLES

These recipes really applie to folks who like to make casseroles. I do and did alot of this when I was feeding four very hungry children and I had to stretch the meals. Maybe they were not too fond of them but it certainly filled their stomachs and noone went away hungry. One of the boys used to make sure he had a good helping left on his plate so he could take it back to college. I assume he had a microwave cuz it just would taste better heated.
Anyway I just found two great casseroles by the same Chef John. One is with chicken and asparagus and soups. The other is with tuna and noodles and soups. Either one could easily be doubled if you would like to take it to a covered dish gathering. I doubled the chicken recipe because the kids liked it so much and sometimes changed out the asparagus for some other vegetable. Asparagus was not really their favorite.
Even now I make these and other casseroles but not in such quantity. The whole idea for me is to have something easy to reheat from left-overs that still tastes as good or better. Another idea is to make potato casseroles(no meat) that will go with most meat entrees. Like chicken, pork or beef. Sometime when you go out to Cracker Barrel try their potato side which is great. I will look for the recipe and post it another day.
Have a good weekend and enjoy your cooking time. Make enough for next day reheats.

'Sweet-Chili-Thai-Sauce'

If you have been watching the Olympics you may have caught the ads for the dipping sauce at McD for their nuggets. I decided to do some searching for the ingredients and how-to make my own. I have a great recipe for chili sauce from my grandmother that I think is great. We make it when the time is right for fresh tomatoes, etc. Seems this is a similar sauce to what I found at many different sources but it is known as 'Sweet-Chili-Thai-Sauce' and somewhat different ingredients. Lots of chilis, naturally, rice vinegar(never used it).
Anyway I made a list of sites to get a different view of how to make it. So far I have not picked any particular recipe to start with. Maybe I need to get over to McD to taste it to see if I like it.
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Sweet chilli sauce is a popular condiment in Western and Malaysian cuisine. It is commonly made with chillis and some sweetening ingredient such as fruit or a refined sugar.

chinesefood.about.com/od/fusionrecipes/r/chillisauce.htm
allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Chili-Thai-Sauce/Detail.aspx
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Sweet-Chili-Thai-Sauce/Detail.aspx
www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,sweet_chilli_sauce,FF.html
www.recipezaar.com/Thai-Sweet-Chili-Sauce-120670
www.recipezaar.com/Thai-Sweet-Chilli-Sauce-81949
www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sweet-Chili-Sauce-10443
This recipe is really different from a blogger in Denmark. Decided to go back and read the blog for whatever else might be there.
foodandthoughts.blogspot.com/2005/03/best-sweet-chili-sauce-evah.html
sweetsunshine.com
www.thenibble.com/zine/archives/sweet-sunshine-chili-sauce.asp
www.shesimmers.com/2009/02/how-to-make-thai-sweet-chili-dipping.html
www.grouprecipes.com/s/sweet-chili-sauce/recipe/1/relevancy
Links to the best recipe sites on the net for hot sauces, chilli sauce and spicy food recipes. Looking for Mexican or Thai recipes then you will find them here.
www.chillisauce.com/sweetchillisauce.html