Advent Calendar, Fall colours

Monday I renewed my subscription to Jacquie Lawson, the English ecard greetings programme. I send all my ecards though them. They have wonderful designs, animations and music. As a thanks for my renewal, I got a copy of their advent calendar free. This  year it is set at the seaside. Even getting the programme this early there are lots of things you can do before December begins.

Monday lunchtime, driving to the bowling alley, we were somewhat dazzled by the colours of the trees this year. I think it has something to do with the weather which is still beautifully sunny and not all that cold yet and the leaves have been staying on the trees a whole heap longer. We don't have many red maples in this area, but I wish you could see all the yellows, golds and bronzes which look especially gorgeous in the sun. I tried to take some pictures on my tablet without much success. Maybe by the time I publish this I will have managed to get some on my camera. Sadly it wasn't really sunny today and leaves are falling all over the place now so, no more pix other than the one I took the other day and posted.

Hoping to get to exercise class this aft. Not been up to it lately but I really need to go.

This is a cake I made some time ago and recently was thinking about making it again so had to find the recipe.Not only is it easy, but it makes for an impressive dessert for a dinner party.

Snowball Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix
1 pkg. (250 g) Philadelphia Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1 egg
2 Tbs granulated sugar
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla INSTANT Pudding
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 cup cold milk
2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
1 cup flaked coconut

1. HEAT oven to 350ºF.

2. PREPARE cake batter, in 2-1/2-L ovenproof bowl, as directed on package; scrape side of bowl. Beat cream cheese, egg and granulated sugar until well blended; spoon into centre of batter in bowl.

3. BAKE 1 hour 5 min. or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in bowl 10 min. Loosen cake from bowl with knife; invert onto wire rack. Remove bowl. Cool cake completely.

4. MEANWHILE, beat dry pudding mix, icing sugar and milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to use.

5. PLACE cake on plate; frost with pudding mixture. Cover with coconut. Keep refrigerated.

Servings: 16

Tips
Kraft Kitchens Tips

Size-WiseAt 16 servings, this fun-to-make cake is a great dessert to serve at a holiday party.Easy CleanupSave on cleanup by mixing and baking the cake batter in the same bowl! SubstituteSubstitute 3 squares (84 g) Baker's White Chocolate, grated, for the coconut. To grate, first warm the chocolate in microwave on DEFROST 1 min. for each square or until warm. Use a coarse grater for best results.

Source: Kraft What's Cooking

Have a great day
 

Advent Calendar, Nose Biting, Rock Art, Frozen Desserts.

Jacquie Lawson have now issued their Advent Calendar for 2011 which is based on London scenes. I really enjoyed the one last year so have downloaded this year’s too. You can also send copies to your friends so they too can enjoy opening the windows for the whole of December and no, you cannot peek and no, I am not affiliated with them. The calendar starts on Dec. 1, so get one now.

A very odd story, Greg Flanagan has accused a poll worker, in Ohio, of trying to bit his nose off. What a funny thing to do when you are attacking someone. Tyson once tried to bite off someone’s ear which was odd enough, but someone’s nose, weird. It started with a head butt, but I still think its very peculiar.

As you may remember, I recently read the last book in Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series, it was called The Land of the Painted Caves and covered a lot of information on the caves in France which are full of rock paintings done some 30,000 years ago. I just rented a documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams which showed pictures of one particular cave which, due to a massive rock fall, had been hidden for over 25,000 years and where the paintings were in pristine condition. The picture shows a map of the extent of the area. The cave in the documentary was the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc and the documentary brought to life all the things I had read in the book. Absolutely fascinating drawings of the animals of the time plus on the ground were skulls of cave bears which had once occupied the caves and made scratches on the walls. I downloaded the movie from iTunes and if you are at all interested, recommend you watch it. Amazon.com also have it for sale.

The local radio do the remembrance ceremony very well, first we got half an hour of poems (John Geilgud reciting) and songs themed for remembrance. Next we got the Last Post for one minute then total silence for the second minute. After that they recited In Flanders Fields followed by Vera Lynn singing war songs. To most British she epitomizes the war years. A friend took her young son to Ottawa that day to see the ceremony live. Sadly not enough people take notice of the occasion any more.

We regularly have Chapman’s frozen yogurt as a dessert; it is a Canadian company and they make a good product. The other night, for the first time we tried their Nanaimo Bar. It was a pretty good approximation of a Nanaimo Bar flavour and we both enjoyed it. We also bought what I call Chocolate Profiteroles from M & M Meats although they call them Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Puffs. Haven’t tried them yet, but they look delicious. What the hell, it saves cooking. Of course I shouldn’t be eating dessert anyway.

How’s this for a deal today, three recipes in one. They are also low calorie and will make up for all the stuffing I have done in the previous paragraph,  but its chocolate!!!!!!!

Stuffed Chicken Breast

WebMD Recipe from EatingWell.com

Cream cheese and pesto make a delectable filling for lean chicken breasts. Use this technique to experiment with other fillings as well, such as ham and cheese or goat cheese and chopped olives.

Yield: 4 servings

Recipe Ingredients:

Cream Cheese-&-Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

1. Filling of your choice, (see below)
2. 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, (1-1 1/4 pounds total)
3. 1 egg white
4. 1/2 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
5. 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cream Cheese-Pesto Filling  :

1. 2 tablespoons reduced-fat cream cheese, (Neufchatel)
2. 1 tablespoon basil pesto, (store-bought or homemade)
3. Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Goat Cheese-Olive Filling:

1. 2 tablespoons creamy goat cheese
2. 1 tablespoon chopped black olives
3. Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Ham and Cheese Filling:

1. 1/4 cup grated Swiss, Monterey Jack or part-skim mozzarella cheese
2. 2 tablespoons chopped ham
3. 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4. Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Recipe Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Combine cream cheese, pesto and pepper in a small bowl with a fork.
3. Cut a horizontal slit along the thin, long edge of a chicken breast half, nearly through to the opposite side. Open up each breast and place one-fourth of the filling in the center. Close the breast over the filling, pressing the edges firmly together to seal. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and filling.
4. Lightly beat egg white with a fork in a medium bowl. Place breadcrumbs in a shallow glass dish. Hold each chicken breast half together and dip in the egg white, then dredge in the breadcrumbs. (Discard leftovers.)
5. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts; cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Place the chicken, browned-side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the chicken is no longer pink in the center or until an instant-read thermometer registers 170°F, about 20 minutes.

Recipe Nutrition:

Cream cheese-pesto stuffed chicken per serving: 233 calories; 9 g fat ( 4 g sat , 3 g mono ); 81 mg cholesterol; 7 g carbohydrates; 33 g protein; 1 g fiber; 379 mg sodium; 351 mg potassium.

Carbohydrate Servings: 1

Exchanges: 1 Carbohydrate Serving, Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 3 1/2 lean meat, 1 fat

Nutrition Note: Goat cheese-olive stuffed chicken per serving: 235 calories; 7 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 72 mg cholesterol; 10 g carbohydrate; 31 g protein; 1 g fiber; 248 mg sodium.

Ham and cheese stuffed chicken per serving: 236 calories; 7 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono)

Have a great weekend

Advent Calendar, Courage.

Well I guess you didn’t cross your fingers for me, I certainly have a fully blown cold now, could hardly breathe during the night. Ah well!!!

I bought myself an Advent Calendar from Jacquie Lawson, I am enjoying opening it each day, something different going on all the time. It shows a village where sometimes it snows and where, at night, it goes dark and the stars and moon come out. Today a Christmas train arrived full of presents. I thought it would act as wallpaper, it does, but you have to shrink the picture to get at your icons.

Amazing story on the news last night about a young cross country runner, Holland Reynolds,  who was expected to win her race. Apparently she misjudged both the weather and her water ration so by the time she got to the finish line she was dehydrated and in pain and collapsed a few feet away. Her coach, who now has Lou Gehrig’s Disease, had taught her never to give up so finally, she crawls over the finish line which enabled her team to win. Nobody could help her otherwise she would have been disqualified. To read the story go here http://tinyurl.com/2fpb7da

I published this recipe in March 2009, I still haven’t got round to making it, however, I plan to do so this evening. I have the red cabbage and I have the pasta so I am well away. Its not Matt’s favourite, but it is one of mine so ….

Pasta with Onions and Red Cabbage
Source: Microwave Magic

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup butter
1 large heard red cabbage, cored and shredded
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 package (8 oz) wide egg noodles

Place onion, garlic and 1/4 cup of the butter in a 4-quart round casserole or bowl. Cook on high (600-700 watts) until onion is very tender, 6 to 7 minutes, stirring once. Stir in shredded cabbage, salt and paprika, tossing mixture to blend well. Dot mixture with remaining butter. Cover and return to the microwave for 10 minutes.
While cabbage is cooking, cook egg noodles according to package directions. Drain noodles and add to cooked cabbage, tossing to combine. Return to microwave for 3 to 5 minutes to heat through before serving, if necessary.

Have a great weekend

Widget, Movie Rentals, Free Cereal.

Along with many others, I send a lot of ecards to people. What a lazy bunch we are becoming not buying a card for someone and mailing it, but sending it electronically. So easy isn't it? Anyway, one of the card programmes I belong to is Jacquie Lawson.com where you can find a wonderful selection of cards for all occasions. Every so often they email me to tell me they have a new card(s) available, today it was one for Valentine's Day, what else? However, this one is different, once the card has played itself out, you can download a widget of a puppy which will then live on your desktop. I am a sucker for such things although eventually I turn them off. Suffice to say I now have a puppy which periodically runs across my screen or sometimes just curls up and has a nap. Its cute and will keep me amused for a while. The picture is actually from the Valentine card, but its the same puppy. Being of the old school, I don't send Valentine cards to anyone but Matt although originally it was supposed to be sent from a secret admirer.

Last night I downloaded a rental version of Julie and Julia. Friends have said I/we should see the movie because of our interest in cooking, been meaning to check it out for a while, but decided to rent it from iTunes which is an inexpensive source of rental. Not sure if Matt will bother to watch it, he doesn't like the computer chair, but as its on the laptop I guess he could sit in his own chair in the living room to watch it. His complaint will probably be that the picture is too small!!! Oh well. I will watch it and hopefully enjoy it.

I just requested a box of free cereal from Kashi.com. I tried some of their snack bars last week and liked them. The first time I ate Kashi cereal, some years ago, I didn't enjoy it, but, the power of advertising, I thought I would try it again, especially as I can do so for free. I think you just get a one serving box. If you watch TV in North America, you can't have missed all the Kashi ads.

Yet another email I receive is from Simply Homemade which sends a bunch of recipes and right now, a Valentine recipe. I thought this looked tasty and pretty simple. Me being me, I would probably used bought pastry as I am no pastry chef.

Valentine's Berry Flan

Simply Homemade Share the love any time of year with our light and creamy berry flan. Try different fresh fruits to match the season. Preparation Time: 35 minutes Baking Time: 10 minutes Makes: About 8 servings Ingredients: Crust 1 1/4 cups (300 mL) Robin Hood® All Purpose Flour 2 tbsp (30 mL) icing sugar, sifted 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, softened Filling 8 oz (250 g) cream cheese, softened 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla 1/2 cup (125 mL) icing sugar, sifted 1/2 cup (125 mL) whipping cream 3 cups (750 mL) fresh red berries (strawberries, raspberries) Glaze (optional) 1/2 cup (125 mL) Smucker's® Pure Seedless Strawberry Jam 1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon juice Directions: Crust 1. Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Combine flour and icing sugar. Cream butter and gradually blend in flour mixture. Work with hands to form a smooth dough. Press evenly on bottom and sides of 9” (23 cm) fluted pan with removable bottom; prick with fork and chill 15 minutes. 2. Bake for 7-10 minutes or until light golden. Cool thoroughly in pan on rack. Filling 3. Beat cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Whip cream until stiff peaks form and fold into cheese mixture. Spread evenly in baked crust and cover attractively with fruit, making a heart shape. Glaze (Optional) 4. If desired mix jam and lemon juice together until smooth and brush over fruit. Note: 1. Freezing: not recommended 2. Serve flan immediately at room temperature for maximum flavour. 3. Great throughout the year! Try different fruits to match the season - fresh or canned; grapes, apricots, blueberries, mandarins, kiwi, pineapple, blackberries, etc.

Have a great day