New Light Fixtures

When we were nearing the end of building our house, I got to the point that I could not pick out one more thing.  Every time I turned around there were decisions to be made and at the beginning, I stressed and searched until I could make the very best decision possible, as if the wrong doorknob would be the end of the world.  Well by the end, I almost felt like closing my eyes and pointing.  That is about what I did with my light fixture in my guest bathroom downstairs.  Ever since then, I have really hated that thing.  It is silver with the tackiest glass fixtures.  Well I am on a cleaning frenzy and am cleaning every room, washing walls, cleaning out cupboards etc, etc.  Last week was this bathroom.  I could not take that light fixture anymore.  A new one was not an option right now with Christmas coming so I decided to paint it and take off the glass.  I figured I could not make it look worse.  I totally forgot to take a picture of the before.  But take my word for it , this thing was not pretty.  I found a pin on pinterest where they painted one and then replaced the glass with mason jars. That was my intent but my light fixture did not have the right attachment to do this, so I ended up just spraying the inside and rims and using one of those old fashioned light bulbs.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out, so I sprayed the towel ring, the toilet paper roll and the garbage can.  I love it.  I used Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint. This is my new favorite thing.

 

Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon French Toast and Caramel Syrup

I love to have breakfast for dinner.   I really love French toast.  Most times I prefer a very simple French toast with buttermilk syrup or if I am feeling in the need for a little comfort food and reminiscing, peanut butter and maple syrup.  But when that just isn’t enough and maybe your doctor has told you that you need to gain a little weight or maybe you have something great to celebrate or maybe you have had a really bad day, this is the ticket.  It is really more like a dessert than a breakfast food, but I have never been opposed to that.

Kneaders Chunky Cinnamon French Toast and Caramel Syrup

Ingredients

1 loaf of Kneaders Cinnamon Bread cut into 8 thick slices

8 eggs

3 cups milk

1 TB brown sugar

¾ tsp salt

1 TB vanilla

2 TB butter

 Instructions

Preheat an electric skillet to 375 degrees. In a shallow dish, mix the eggs, milk, brown sugar, salt and vanilla.  Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture and coat completely on each side.  Cook until browned on each side.   Serve with caramel syrup.  Top with  sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

Caramel Syrup

In a medium saucepan combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 cup corn syrup over medium heat. Whisk together until smooth and sugar has completely dissolved.

 

Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake

I am a sucker for any dessert that is dark chocolate.  I can be talked into one that is milk chocolate, but my heart belongs to the dark side.  I have heard it is more of a health food anyway and I am all over that!  Jordan has been experimenting on Sundays by picking a new dessert to try.  I found this one on Pinterest and put her to work.  It is fast, easy and tastes amazing.  It is really rich and moist and does not need any kind of frosting or glaze.  I guess if you really wanted to make it more rich, you could make a chocolate glaze for the top. I liked it just plain.  Great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ultimate Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake 

Ingredients

1 chocolate cake mix

1 3.4 oz chocolate instant pudding mix

2 cups sour cream

3 eggs

1/3 cup oil

½ cup water

2 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet)

 Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 10 inch bundt cake pan.  Beat all ingredients (except chips) until well blended.  Fold in chips.  Spoon batter into pan.  Bake for 50 -60 minutes.  Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.  This is a very moist cake and really does not need frosting.  You could use a chocolate glaze if desired.

 

 

The Most Amazing Life Changing Beef Tenderloin

Where have you been all my life???  My hairdresser that has been cutting my hair for as long as I can remember, longer than I have been married, gave this recipe to me.  It took me so long to try it because it sounded to easy and I could not believe that these directions really worked.  If you have priced beef tenderloin, you don’t want to screw it up. Well I bit the bullet and gave it a try.  It was so amazing, that I cannot even find the words to describe it–tender, juicy, decadent, life altering to name a few.  If you want to do a very special dinner this is a must.  So great for Christmas as you are not cooking all day or worrying about the meat getting done on time.  Believe me this works.

Here it is in a nutshell:

Smear the meat with butter ( a must), salt and pepper liberally.  Place in a 500 degree oven for

22 minutes for rare

24 minutes for medium rare  ( I do the 24 minutes)

Take out of the oven and cover with foil and let rest for 15-20 minutes.  Carve and serve.  Christie serves this with a gorgonzola sauce, but since I am the only one in my family that likes that and we love the taste so much of the beef, I do not do this.  I am sure it would be out of this world

I purchased my tenderloin at Costco

 

Grandma Cheltina’s Mustard Pickles

 

I love, love, love these pickles.  My grandma Anderton made them and after she passed away, my dad took over the job.  I can still remember him with his buckets of cucumbers in the brine.  He always made enough for all of us.  These are so good with roast beef and on a roast beef sandwich.  I can remember when Kallie was little she would pick out all of the cauliflower and put the rest back in the bottle.

These are a little time consuming and it is a two day process, but they are so worth it.  Since Dad passed away, I have tried to pick up where he left off.  I must say no matter what I do, they don’t taste like Dad’s.  When he was so sick, I made some for him and he was so excited the day I brought them up to him.  Certain things would bring a smile to his face–roast beef with mustard pickles, hot rolls cooked till quite brown, rice pudding with raisins and most of all sautéed onions on anything!!!!!

 

Grandma Cheltina’s Mustard Pickles

3 qt. cubed cucumbers (pickling)

3 qt. cauliflower cut in small pieces (I do a little more cauliflower and less tomatoes)

2-3 qt pickling onions peeled

3 green peppers, chopped

3 red peppers, chopped

12 small green tomatoes, cubed

Soak cucumbers, cauliflower, and onions in brine overnight.

Brine:

1 cup salt to 1 gallon water.

Next day drain off brine. Bring 1 quart vinegar to 1 cup sugar to a boil in a large roaster.  Add the drained vegetables and bring to a boil again.  Add the tomatoes and peppers.  Bring to a boil again.  Thicken with 6 Tb. Dry mustard, 1 cup flour, 3 Tb turmeric and enough water to make a thin mixture.  When thick, add 2 tsps. celery seed, 2 tsps. Mustard seed and ½ tsp pepper.  Stew for about 10 minutes to desired crispness.  I do not do any longer than 10 minutes as I like the veggies crisp.  Pour into hot bottle.  I process mine for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

 

My Favorite Mac and Cheese

I love mac and cheese.  I even love the Kraft Mac and Cheese that has questionable cheese.  I ran across this recipe that I had tagged a few years ago in my recipe folder.  This folder holds treasures beyond measure.  I try to clean it out as often as I clean closets, but that has not helped me in the least.  This mac and cheese is rich, gooey with a crunchy bread topping.  It is so good and so easy.  the weather is getting perfect for this dinner.  It is the ultimate comfort food.

Family Favorite Mac & Cheese

1 16 oz package elbow macaroni, uncooked

1 egg

½ cup butter divided

¼ cup flour

¼ cup skim milk

2 tsp dry mustard

1 16 oz. package shredded cheese

½ tsp seasoned salt

½ tsp. pepper

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ cups soft bread crumbs

Cook the macaroni according to directions, drain and set aside

Beat the egg in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a large saucepan, melt ¼ cup butter. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes.

Add the milk and mustard and keep cooking and whisking until mixture is thick and smooth, about 5-8 minutes.

Slowly add ¼ cup of the hot mixture to the egg, mixing well. Pour back into the saucepan and stir.

Setting aside ½ of the cheese, add the cheese to the mixture. Add the macaroni and seasonings.

Pour into a greased pan. Melt remaining ¼ cup butter and toss with breadcrumbs.  Cover top of mac and cheese.

Cover and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. I took the foil off for a few minutes at the end to get more color on the breadcrumbs.  I like them toasted and crunchy.

 

Do you Live Each Day as the Gift that it is?

Today prior to the last session of LDS conference, there was a special on Channel Five called Mitchell’s Journey.  I was so touched by this tender special about a family’s journey through the devastating disease and death of their son Mitchell.  The father had documented this journey with his blog.  Often we do not realize the impact that our lives and what we think is our very private story may have on the lives of others.  The way that this family has dealt with this trial that we all pray will never be ours is inspirational.  As I listened to this story, I wept not only for them, but for what I have taken for granted in my own life.  Do I take each trial that confronts me with the faith and spirituality that this amazing family did.  Please visit this blog.  It will change the way you look at your trials.

https://www.facebook.com/mitchellsjourney

 

Salted Caramel Butterscotch Budino

I have taken a little time off from my blogging and for some reason I have had a hard time making this first post.  I have so many recipes that I have tried this summer and so many things that I kept thinking, “Oh I can’t wait to blog that”.  But now that I sit down and start again, I could not decide what to start with.  I think I have made the right decision to start with this amazing dessert.  This is so worth the little extra effort.  Jace and Krystal moved to Washington for school and Dave and I drove their horses up to them last month.  It was such a wonderful trip and we loved spending time with them in their little oasis.  They are living on a 40 acre ranch in Moscow Idaho, about 20 minutes from the school.  I will post some pictures of their place soon.  It is beautiful and I really didn’t  want to leave.

When we were there, we took them out to dinner one night to a really amazing little Italian restaurant.  We ordered their specialty dessert which was Salted Caramel Butterscotch Budino.  I had never even heard of a Budino before this.  It was so good.  Very rich and decadent.  I came right home and goggled it and found several recipes.  I combined a few of them to come up with one that really nailed it.  I hope you enjoy it.  You really need to put this in small dessert glasses or ramekins as it is very rich and a little goes a long way.  The first time I made this, I tripled the caramel because I wanted a nice layer of the caramel on top.  This was a little too much, so next time I will drizzle the caramel over and not make such a thick layer.  I think I would still double the recipe for the salted caramel.  It is good over ice cream also so having too much is not really a problem!!!

Salted Caramel Butterscotch Budino

Salted Caramel

¼ cup sugar

1 Tb. Light corn syrup

3 Tb water

2 Tb butter

1 tsp sea salt (the flakey kind)

½ tsp vanilla

In a heavy saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil over high heat, swirling not stirring to caramelized evenly. When caramel reaches a dark amber color (about 3 minutes), remove from heat and carefully add the cream.   Add the butter, sea salt and vanilla, whisking to combine.

Pudding

3 egg yolks

1 egg

7 Tb. Cornstarch

1 cup plus 2 Tb. dark brown sugar

1 ½ tsp kosher salt

3 cups heavy whipping cream

1 ½ cups milk

5 Tb butter cubed

2 Tb whiskey (I did not use this, but used 1 tsp vanilla)

Whisk the egg, egg yolks and cornstarch in a medium bowl until smooth

Put sugar, salt and ½ cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, without stirring but swirling occasionally, and cook until mixture gets thicker, foamy and lava-like, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and slowly whisk in 3 cups cream and the milk.

Remove from heat and slowly ladle half of the cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture is as thick as gravy.  Remove from heat and whisk in butter and flavoring.

Pour custard through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl. Ladle into small dessert glasses, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours.

When ready to serve top with caramel and sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt on top.

Eat while on a tread mill!!!!