7 Minute Icing to the Rescue

For his sixth birthday party last weekend my youngest requested chocolate cupcakes with white icing. My mother was the baker and happily obliged. That is until we had a mini-crisis–she could not find her special buttercream icing recipe. Only an hour from party time, Mother pulled out an icing recipe from days gone by…7 Minute Icing. It’s in most country cookbooks for a reason–it’s simple, fast, and yummy!

7 Minute Icing
Wilma Kitchens

2 egg whites, 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, 1 and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 cup cold water, dash salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla

Place all ingredients except vanilla in a double boiler. Beat one minute with an electric mixer. Cook over boiling water, beating constantly with mixer until firm peaks form. You’ll know when icing will curl a bit when you pull the mixer up. Mix in vanilla at end. Be sure to make this icing on a dry day–it will not work on a rainy day.

Zesty…and Healthy Chicken Wings

What if I told you there is a way to make chicken wings healthy without giving up flavor? Really.

My mother made a healthy version last weekend that can compete with any wing on the block. Besides being healthier than its deep-fried counterpart, these zesty wings are cheap to make at home. Soaked in a brine followed by a spice rub, they are marvelous for any party, served hot or cold. Mother says that you can use wings or drumettes and even chicken legs wonderful choices too.

Zesty Chicken Wings
Wilma Kitchens

14-16 wings, drumettes, or chicken legs

Brine: 3/4 cup of sea salt, 1 cup apple juice, 1/4 cup whole peppercorns, 8 cups water, 5 to 6 cloves of crushed garlic.

Mix in a large dutch oven. Bring to a boil, then allow to cool for at least 10 minutes or longer. Put wings/drumettes/legs in to soak overnight in the fridge.

Dry Rub: 6 tablespoons of Italian herb seasoning, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 2 teaspoons of sea salt, 2 teaspoons of black pepper.

After soaking overnight, drain brine and discard. Divide rub mixture between two large Ziploc bags. Divide chicken between two bags and shake to coat.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray or coat with olive oil.

For wings, broil for 8 minutes, then turn over and broil an additional 8 minutes. For drumettes and legs you will need to increase the time. Make sure chicken is cooked through.

Crunchy Sopapillas with Strawberry Salsa

Surprise guests with this refreshing strawberry salsa and yummy sopapillas at your July 4th picnic. Easy to make and delicious to eat!

Sopapilla ingredients:
1 package flour tortillas
Cooking spray
Cinnamon and sugar mix

Instructions: Spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray.  Cut into triangular wedges with a pizza cutter.  Dredge each wedge in the cinnamon/sugar mix.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 F for about 5 minutes.  Turn the chips over with tongs and cook 5 to 8 more minutes or until crispy.

Strawberry salsa ingredients:
1 carton strawberries, washed and stemmed
1 peeled, seeded apple
2 peeled kiwis
1 tablespoon sugar, according to taste
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Rough chop all ingredients in a food processor.  The strawberries, kiwi, and apple pieces will have the appearance of tomato, pepper and onion salsa.

Morning Casserole

Our June featured blogger is Katharine from Canada. If you would like to join our blogroll and have your blog featured click here.

Good Monday Morning…

I love my crockpot, and especially in the summer… it is great for not heating up my kitchen and for being able to enjoy summer plans and still come home to a nice dinner with little or no work. If you love to host breakfast or brunch (my favorite) this is an easy, crowd pleasing recipe…

Crock Pot Morning Casserole
1 bag (32 oz.) frozen hash brown potatoes
1 lb. of bacon diced, cooked and drained or 1 lb. cooked ham, cubed
1 medium diced onion
1 green bell pepper diced
1 1/2 C. shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1 dozen eggs
1 C. milk
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper (more or less to taste)

Place a layer of frozen potatoes on the bottom of the slow cooker, followed by a layer of bacon, then onions, green pepper and cheese. Repeat the layering process two or three more times, ending with a layer of cheese.

Beat the eggs, milk and salt and pepper together. Pour over the crockpot mixture, cover and turn on low. Cook for 10-12 hours–while you sleep peacefully and stress free.

I realize this isn’t the most appetizing picture, but I promise it’s really good!

Blessings on your Monday~
Katharine

Katharine is mom to four incredible kids and wife to the best husband on the planet. Visit her blog…

Jiffy Peach Cobbler

Jiffy pie crust mix helps make this quick and easy dessert.  I got this recipe from my mother-in-law several years ago, she uses vanilla instead of the almond extract.

2 (29 oz) cans sliced peaches in heavy syrup

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract or 1 teaspoon vanilla

2 boxes Jiffy brand pie crust mix

½ cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Mix peaches (do not drain), sugar and extract and pour into baking dish. Prepare pie crust mix using the box directions ( I like to use milk instead of the water). Roll out the dough and place on top of peach mixture. Pour melted butter evenly over the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown.  Serve warm with ice cream or cool whip.

*** for a nicer presentation you can roll the dough into strips and form a lattice pattern***

Loaded Scalloped Potatoes

Quick and easy, these scalloped potatoes are a marvelous side dish. My personal favorite is pairing the potatoes with either grilled beef or chicken. Since there is no milk or cream, butter bastes the potatoes as they cook for a yummy flavor.

9 x 13 baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray

1 Idaho potato per person

1/2 stick butter or maragine

Real Black Pepper bacon bits (or make your own)

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Optional: chives, chopped onion, cheese

Thinly slice potatoes and place in baking dish. Add as many bacon bits and optional items as you would like.  Add Sea Salt and pepper. Add butter. If you are cooking a large amount, adjust butter as it is the only liquid (once melted during cooking). Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft.

Mix Tricks: Coconut Bundt Cake

This is one of my favorite recipes for a potluck dessert.  It can be adapted from Triple Chocolate to Lemon Blueberry to White Chocolate Strawberry just by changing the cake mix, pudding mix and add-on flavors. The cake in the photo is the coconut version.

Here’s the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

1 boxed cake mix

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1 package instant pudding

1 cup chosen add-on ingredient (white or chocolate chips, blueberries, coconut, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Mix first 6 ingredients together.  Stir in the add-on ingredient.  Bake one hour in a greased Bundt pan or other large cake pan.

I like to slightly warm a carton of prepared frosting for a few seconds in the microwave and drizzle it over the cooled cake.

Possible variations:

chocolate cake mix, chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, chocolate frosting

lemon cake mix, lemon pudding, blueberries, lemon frosting

strawberry cake mix, strawberry or vanilla pudding mix, white chocolate chips, vanilla frosting

yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding, chocolate chips, chocolate frosting

spice cake mix, vanilla pudding, raisins, cream cheese frosting

white cake mix, coconut cream pudding, coconut flakes, cream cheese frosting (sprinkle top with coconut)

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Ice Cream Bombe

I love making ice cream cakes in the summer.  My family loves eating them so much that they now ask for them all year long, as it has become their preferred birthday cake.  And it couldn’t be easier to put one together!  Don’t be alarmed by the fact that there are several steps; each step takes just a minute or two and the results are well worth it!

Ingredients and supplies:

3 flavors of ice cream

Prepared cake (optional)

Saran wrap

Prep Time:  Hands On: 20 minutes  Freeze Time: 3 hours

• Start by setting one carton of ice cream out to soften for about 20 minutes.  You will want to choose either the flavor you want the most of, or the color of ice cream which will be visible on the outside of the cake.
• While the ice cream softens, place a large rounded mixing bowl in the freezer to chill.  A glass or ceramic bowl will work much better than a plastic one.
• Remove the mixing bowl from the freezer and line the bowl with saran wrap.  You may need more than one sheet if it is a large bowl; it is fine to overlap the sheets.
• Scoop out the ice cream into a stand mixer with the paddle blade attached and beat until the ice cream is smooth and spreadable, about 2 minutes.

• Using a rubber spatula, spread the ice cream into the prepared bowl, leaving an indentation in the middle and spreading the ice cream up the sides of the bowl.

• Put the bowl in the freezer for an hour or until the ice cream is firm.
• Repeat the steps with the second flavor of ice cream; unless your bowl is extremely large, you won’t need an entire carton for flavor # 2.
• Once the second layer has become firm, repeat once more with flavor #3.  You’ll use the least amount of this ice cream.  Make sure to completely fill the indentation in the middle of the ice cream bombe, taking care to smooth off the bottom so that it will sit flat.  Return it to the freezer once more for the final freeze.

• Some members of my family prefer to have a cake layer on the bottom of the ice cream bombe.  I usually bake up 1/3 of a cake mix in an 8” round pan (using the rest of the mix for cupcakes) and press the cooled layer onto the bottom of the bombe.  Freeze again to bond the cake layer to the ice cream.  Another option is to purchase angel food or sponge cake and press pieces of that onto the bottom layer.  Other times we don’t add a cake layer at all, and just enjoy the full flavor of the ice cream.

• To unmold the cake, tip it upside down onto a platter.  Wet a dish towel under hot water and wring it out; then place it on top of the bowl.  Repeat until the cake begins to loosen enough to slide out of the bowl.  Remove the saran wrap and serve as is, or embellish with cool whip.

Flavor options:

When the ice cream bombe is tipped out of the bowl it looks like a half circle.  One of our favorite summer ice cream bombes calls for lime sherbet for the outer layer, a thin layer of vanilla ice cream in the middle, and strawberry sorbet for the inner layer.  We crush up chocolate wafer cookies and mix them into the strawberry sorbet layer before putting it in the mold.  When this bombe is cut, it looks like sliced watermelon!

Another fun bombe uses any red ice cream or sorbet for the outside layer; decorate with chocolate wafer cookies to simulate a lady bug.  Use a cupcake for the head and thin black licorice for antennae.

My most requested ice cream bombe is Black Forest Cherry Bombe.  We use chocolate chip cherry, chocolate, and vanilla ice cream, and a layer of German chocolate cake for the base.  Once the finished cake is tipped out onto a platter I cover it with cool whip and dot the cake with canned sour cherries which have been drained and patted dry.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

I recently purchased a new cookbook, and I am loving it!  Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day lives up to its title.  The bread is crusty on the outside and succulent on the inside, and it truly takes only 5 minutes to make!

Co-authors Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois have perfected a technique for making high-quality fresh bread which requires no kneading, yeast proofing or bread machines.  Their book begins with a couple of chapters about how the method works and tips to make sure your bread is excellent from the very first loaf.  Almost 100 recipes follow, for everything from the basic peasant loaf to pizza crust, cinnamon rolls, whole grain varieties and much more.

I’ve made several loaves of bread since purchasing this book, and homemade pizza is becoming a regular favorite on our menu, thanks to their delicious, easy-to-make artisan crust.  The first time I used the book it took me about 15 minutes to whip up a batch of dough, using my KitchenAid stand mixer.  Now that I know what I’m doing and my ingredients are organized, I can do it even faster.  Every loaf has been delicious, and my only complaint is that the loaves are small and my large family easily consumes more than one a day!

After mixing, the dough sits at room temperature for 2 hours to rise.  Then, the dough goes into the refrigerator, where it can remain for days.  Any time you have the yen for fresh bread, just cut off a hunk, shape it, and let it rise about 20 minutes before baking.  The “five minutes a day” refers to hands-on time, and does not include rising time.  In reality, I can make enough dough to last us a week in 10 minutes, and it ends up averaging out to much less than 5 minutes a day.

I have not tried the new book Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, but I do plan to get it.  There are plenty of recipes to keep me busy for awhile in the first book, but I am sold on the quality and the technique.   Unlike many of my friends, I don’t grind my own grain and I don’t own a bread maker.  Yet we like fresh bread as much as the next family!  This cookbook has been an economical and time-saving way for us to enjoy the health and flavor benefits of fresh bread on a regular basis.

For more recipes, videos and information about the books you can visit the authors’ blog: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/

Enjoy a quick video of the authors demonstrating…

In accordance with FCC full disclosure regulations MMCW must share that we are a sales affiliate with Amazon.com. Should you purchase the above book, MMCW will receive a commission that is used to offset the cost operating MMCW.  We were not asked to review this product nor received any product or compensation for this review.

Emily’s Pancakes

My grandma and mom have used this recipe and now I use it in my home.

Heat griddle to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, add together 2 cups of Bisquick, 2 eggs, and 1 cup of milk. I use a whisk to mix, eliminating any lumps from the batter. Pour batter on the griddle in circles about the size of the palm of your hand. Let cook on one side for two to three minutes. Flip the pancake over, using a spatula. Cook an additional couple of minutes and serve piping hot. Don’t forget the syrup!

Emily Jordan

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