Rambling #22 California Slush!

Years ago when I lived in South Jersey (or for some of you South NEW Jersey), I became very good friends with a couple named Mark and Jane. They had three children who were all just a little older than me, but from the first time I met them I always felt at home when with them or at their house. They took me in and treated me like I was one of their own. I think I can count on one hand the Sundays I didn't spend with them or at their home. Jane is a Kansas farm girl who is an incredible cook and baker (she can bake a loaf of bread from scratch because that is how they do it on the farm). One of my favorite memories is being her "gofer". When cooking she never kicked me out of the kitchen, she just pulled me in and had me stir, mix, unwrap, and fetch. We cooked for all kinds of events from sunday potlucks and church dinners to thanksgiving meals (I spent both Jersey Thanksgivings at their house). I loved cooking with Jane! Here I am with Mark and Jane in their kitchen.
In the summers she would make a delicious fruity treat called California Slush. From the first spoonful I was hooked. Since it has been sooooo hot here in Texas lately I thought it was the perfect time to make some and remember Jane. So here it is and I highly encourage you to try this for yourself!

California SlushThe ingredients: water, sugar, bananas, maraschino cherries, crushed pineapple, orange juice, (pretend you see this) lemon juice, and a couple of gallon ziploc bags.
In a pretty large bowl pour in the orange juice (I let mine thaw in the fridge, it doesn't have to be thawed.
Next add a can of crushed pineapple with the juice
This step you might want to do ahead of time, drain the cherries and cut them in half, and then half the halves, or quarter them. I like to do a jar and a half to two jars of cherries but it is up to you I like a lot of cherries.
Be aware this will stain your fingertips.
Then add the quartered cherries to the orange juice and pineapple
In a sauce pan measure two cups water
and two cups sugar and bring to a boil on the stove
While you are waiting for it to boil, slice and quarter 3-4 bananas. I think I did four and a half because the bananas I got that day were a little small.
Be sure to check your water. See its not boiling yet but it has turned clear again.
Now its boiling!
Add the boiling sugar water to the orange juice, pineapple, cherry mixture.
Add 1/4 cup lemon juice concentrate to the bowl.
Give it a good stir
Add the bananas
and then add 4 cups of water and stir well. If you left your orange juice frozen make sure it has completely dissolved and there are no frozen chunks.
Now ladle equally into two gallon ziploc bags. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to pick cherries as well as the bananas.
If you need some help you can get a tall container like this one to hold the bag while you ladle
Yummm!!!! I cannot wait till I can dig in! Squeeze out leftover air and seal.
Lay both bags flat in the freezer you can tilt the end up a little to try and evenly distribute the cherries (they tend to sink to the bottom of things). It will take 5 or more hours to freeze. If you are impatient like me you will be waiting and watching the freezer, so when it reaches a slightly slushy stage you will pull it out and dish some out. If you let it freeze completely, set it out about an hour before you want to serve. If it gets too liquidy just put it back in the freezer for a bit.
Doesn't it just look delicious! I love this slush. It is an easy treat to make with and serve to kids!
You can click the picture above to make bigger or here is the recipe below.

California Slush

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 12 oz can frozen OJ concentrate
1 Lg. can crushed pineapple (not drained)
3-4 ripe bananas, sliced and the quartered
1/4 cup lemon juice concentrate
1 cup (I like 1 1/2-2 jars) of marachino cherries, quartered
4 cups water
2 ziploc bags

1. Quarter the cherries.
2. In a large bowl combine the OJ, pineapple, cherries, and lemon juice.
3. Boil 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar.
4. Slice and quarter the bananas.
5. Add boiling sugar water to OJ mix.
6. Add 4 cups water and stir to mix well.
7. Ladle evenly into ziploc bags, be sure to scrape the bottom to get cherries too.
8. Lay flat in the freezer.
9. If frozen solid, remove about an hour before serving. Refreeze if it becomes to liquidy.
10. Enjoy!

Non-Adventure #32 Steel Magnolias!

Well here is another Chick Flicks post! This one took place in May!

Our movie was:

Steel Magnolias

Everyone came over and this time instead of signing up for food items, I had people bring beauty supplies like nail polish, curling irons, flat irons, skin care products, etc.
I went ahead and purchased food and everyone contributed to the cost of our dinner. We had chicken strips, mashed potatoes, biscuits, fried pickles, mac-n-cheese (this I made I have a great recipe from Luby's I will try and share the next time I make it.), sweet tea and pink lemonade.
We did our quiz too. Above is Robin, Rose, Adorah, and Jennifer. After dinner we all headed in to watch the movie and we continued on with the beauty treatments while we watched.
Painting Jenn's toes.
Robin doing a pore cleansing treatment
For dessert we had the Pioneer Woman's Dump Cake with vanilla ice cream, to cut the sweetness!
Adorah found a strip and ended up pouring water all down her front trying to wet it enough to get it to stick to her face.
Even Sookie watched the movie with us.
Here is everyone's fingernails all painted!

We all had so much fun. I will list below the quiz if you would like to take it for yourself it is about Julia Roberts. This movie didn't have recipes for food but it did have some recipes to make your own beauty type products which I will put in after the quiz.

Julia Roberts Trivia Quiz

1. What was Julia Roberts' first name before she changed it to Julia?

2. What movie launched her career success and earned her an Academy Award nomination?

3. Julia Roberts was the first actress to ear what salary for her role in Erin Brockovich?

4. What is Julia's true hair color?

5. What special event did Julia celebrate in 2004?

6. Why was a 9,000-year-old skeleton excavated in Bulgaria given the name "Julia Roberts" by archaeologists?

Truvy's Sugar Scrub

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons oil (canola or olive)

1 drop scened oil (optional)

In a small bowl, mix the sugar and oil. Add one drop of scented oil, such as lemon or floral oil, if desired. To use, put 1-2 teaspoons on hands and rub all over backs of hands, palms, and fingers. Rinse with warm water, and pat dry on a towel. Leaves hands silky smooth!

Truvy's Lip Gloss

1 tablespoon petroleum jelly

1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed powder eye shadow

cosmetic glitter (optional)

Combine the petroleum jelly, eye shadow, and glitter. Use a cotton swab o dab on lips. Try different shades of eye cream for fun!

Truvy's Bath Salts

2 cups Epsom salts

scented oils

food coloring (optional)

Mix Epsom salts with a drop or two of scented oil and food coloring. Make ahead or have each woman make her own with 1/4 to 1/3 cup of salts. Place finished bath salts in small jars or bags to take home.

If you try any the recipes let me know what you think about them. Leave a comment if you would like to take a guess at the answers to the Julia Roberts Quiz!

Non-Adventure # 24 While You Were Sleeping!

First off I have been a really BAD blogger. I have several posts coming, but I apologize to the few who read this blog in not posting lately. So I am starting with our monthly Chick Flicks get together.

February's movie was:

While You Were Sleeping

So everyone came over (minus two girls who while en route had a minor emergency and had to skip out), and we started dinner. Seeing as how the movie takes place at Christmas time the menu planned was a Christmasy-type meal. It included:
Pot Roast with carrots (I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe)
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls
and for dessert:
Ice Cream Kitties
We all got started making certain parts of our meal. Here are Rose and Adorah peeling and cubing the potatoes for our creamy mashed potatoes.

While they were doing the potatoes, I dealt with the pot roast, and my friend Robin made our easy green bean casserole.
Here is our Christmas feast complete with some Christmasy decorations. I even pulled out the cards from this past Christmas.
Everything was soooooo yummy! Especially that yummy fall apart pot roast. We couldn't eat too much though we still had to make our dessert!
We couldn't resist stopping to take a picture (in between the dinner and dessert course)! Now it was time for dessert. In the movie there are several references to cats. So for dessert we made our own cats. With the help of cookies, candy, chocolate topping, whipped cream, and ice cream we created our own cats.
Some kind of look like mice but we did our best!! And most importantly we had a great time making them and an even better time eating them! We had fun watching the movie, even with an unnamed person asking us which one is Bill Pullman? throughout the first 20 minutes of the movie. It was also quite entertaining to watch a movie with no cell phones!
I know I am sooo bad for taking forever to post this and though no one even tried to answer the quiz last time, I am just going to assume you just didn't know the answers to it. I am going to post a new quiz, I will give out a little gift to the one who guesses the most right, even if it is just one person. So here it goes:

Sandra Bullock Trivia Quiz
1. For whom was the role of Lucy in While You Were Sleeping originally written?
a. Demi Moore
b. Meg Ryan
c. Julia Roberts

2. In what action movie did Bullock make her on-screen debut?
a. Speed
b. Hangmen
c. Demolition Man

3. What writer is one of Sandra Bullock’s favorites?
a. Ernest Hemingway
b. Tom Clancy
c. Dr. Seuss

4. Sandra and her father work together on a passion of Sandra’s. What is it?
a. Real Estate
b. Deep-sea fishing
c. Jujitsu

5. What is the most outrageous thing Bullock has done for a role to date?
a. Bungee jumped
b. Duct-taped her breasts
c. Shaved her head

So take your best guesses and leave a comment, and remember if you keep it anonymous and win I won't be able to give you your prize! Here are the recipes we used for the night, minus the pot roast one because I linked you to the Pioneer Woman's earlier. We are taking a pause for the month of March with Spring Break's and some other things it was a crazy busy month. I will resume again in April and the movie is...............................

Mary’s Creamy Mashed Potatoes
6 medium all-purpose potatoes
1/2 to 3/4 cup hot milk
1/2 stick butter or margarine
salt

Peel potatoes and dice into 1-inch cubes. Place the diced potatoes in a large saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, and boil gently for about 20 minutes or until you can mash a cube easily with a fork. Drain well. Add hot milk and butter, and mash with a potato masher or a fork until lumps are smoothed out. Transfer to a hot serving bowl, add salt to taste, and whip with a fork until fluffy. Add additional hot milk if necessary. (For a change of pace and a richer flavor you can substitute 6-8 ounces of cream cheese in place of butter. Cut up the softened cream cheese before adding it to the potatoes. Makes approximately 6 servings.)

Green Bean Casserole
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3 14-oz. cans cooked green beans, drained
1/2 cup milk
pepper
1 1/3 cups French fried onions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, mix the soup, milk, and pepper to taste in a 1 1./2 quart baking or casserole dish. Add the green beans and 2/3 cup of the fried onions, and stir until just coated. Bake for 25 minutes. Top with remaining 2/3 cup fried onions, and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until onions are lightly browned. Makes approximately 6 servings.

Ice Cream Kitties
2 or 3 half gallon containers of ice cream in a variety of flavors
1 package chocolate sandwich cookies
one 8-ounce package m&m’s
1 container spray or whipped topping or whipped cream
1 package black licorice laces cut in 4-or 5- inch strips

To create your cat, place a baseball sized scoop of ice cream in a bowl (let ice cream sit our a bit to soften; then use an extra-large ice cream scoop). Take 2 cookies and push them halfway into the ice cream ball. These are the cat’s ears. Place two dollops of whipped cream halfway down “the face”, these will be the cheeks. Take two m&m’s for the eyes and 1 for the nose and place them accordingly. Take 2-3 licorice strips per side for cat’s whiskers and poke them into whipped cream cheeks, all the way to the ice cream so they will stand out.
Feel free to get creative. You can add stripes with chocolate sauce or “fur” with different colored sprinkles, but most of all have fun! Serves approximately 8 depending on how much ice cream you eat!

We Promise It’s Not Elsie’s Eggnog*
6 beaten egg yolks
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
3 cups milk
1 1/2 tsp rum extract
1 tbsp vanilla
2 cups heavy whipping cream
nutmeg

In a large, heavy saucepan, mix egg yolks, salt, milk, and 5 tablespoons of sugar. Cook and stir continuously over medium heat until mixture just coats a metal spoon with a thin whitish or beige film. Do not boil. Remove from the heat. Place the pan in a bowl of ice water, and stir for 2 or 3 minutes to cool. Stir in rum extract, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons sugar until sugar is completely dissolved and incorporated. Cover and chill for 4-24 hours.
Just before guests arrive, beat the whipping cream and remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a mixing bowl until soft peaks form. Transfer the chilled egg mixture into a serving or punch bowl. Fold in the whipped cream. Cover and chill. Stir lightly before serving. Sprinkle each serving with nutmeg. Makes about ten 4-ounce servings.

*We didn't actually make this because some of the girls that come to Chick Flicks are pregnant and the raw eggs in this are no bueno for them! And we were way past them serving eggnog in the store.

Rambling # 20 An Upside-Down Delicious Pineappley Treat!

Have you ever seen a recipe in a book or a magazine and it made your mouth water and you began to crave it so bad you knew it wouldn't be long before you made it? Well that was me this week. I am not usually a HUGE fan of cakes but there are some I just absolutely love (like Chris's Chocolate Cake and this one!). I was flipping through this month's Family Circle (well technically I think it is March's)
and I came across a Pineapple Upside-Down Cake recipe that set my mouth to watering! The other night I gave in to my craving and made this really simple but super delicious recipe for Pineapple Upside-Down Cake!

Ladies and Gents your ingredients for:

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Baking powder, milk, eggs, butter, flour, vanilla, pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, DARK brown sugar, nutmeg, salt, and sugar.

I started by cracking open the pineapple slices and draining the juice into a bowl, you will need this later. So for now, just set it to the side. Preheat the oven to 350. Now it is time to build up the yummy top part of the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake! The best part if you ask me.
I started with a 13 x 9 pan and melted half a stick of unsalted butter in it. I set the pan on the stove and turned a burner on low. When it was all melted I made sure the bottom of the pan was completely covered.
Then I added a 1/2 cup DARK brown sugar Mix it with a fork until it is all combined and completely coats the bottom of the pan, like so
Next layer the pineapple slices on the brown sugar so that you make a good layer. It will take at least 10 but could use 12 slices to make a complete layer.
Rather than open another can for 2 more pineapple slices I just spaced them better so that they make a good layer.
Put a cherry into the middle of each pineapple slice.
Umm it looks yummy already!
Now for the Cake part! First measure out your dry ingredients. In a bowl measure out 2 cups of flour,
2 teaspoons baking powder,
1/2 teaspoon salt,
and 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg. Most people I know (including me) don't have a 1/8 tsp measure so I just did about half of the 1/4 tsp.
Give those a good stir with whisk or a fork to mix well, and set aside. In a mixing bowl add a cup of sugar
add a stick of softened, unsalted butter now beat together for 2 minutes. When your two minutes are up add two eggs. Beat until well blended.
After your eggs are good and blended add HALF the flour mixture on a low speed.
Keep the mixer going while adding 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice (the stuff you drained from the slices earlier and set aside)
1/2 cup milk and beat until blended.
Beat in the rest of the flour mixture,

and then add a teaspoon of vanilla.
When all is mixed, blended, and combined pour the batter over the topping into the 13 x 9 pan.
Smooth it out and make sure everything is covered, no cherries peeking out.
Now bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for a full 10 minutes. If you rush to pop out the cake too soon the pineapples and cherries may stick to the pan.
Ding! Ten minutes are up! Take a baking sheet and place it on the cake (and ignore the camera cord! I had to plug in my camera to even be able to turn the camera on.)
flip
and Voila! It looks so yummy and golden! Be aware it will be hard to wait those full ten minutes so make sure you set a timer or leave the room so it will look just like this!
Now cut yourself a slice and enjoy!
Look at the carmelized brown sugar, the soft sugary sweet pineapple, and a cherry to top it off! Perfection!
Here is what the page looks like in the magazine! Delicious!
Don't forget to read the post below and make your best guesses in the trivia questions! I got a great surprise for the winner!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

topping:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup packed DARK brown sugar

1 can (20 ounces) pineapple rings in juice

10-12 maraschino cherries

cake batter:

2 cups flour

2 tsps. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup pineapple juice from pineapple rings

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Topping:

Melt butter in a 13 x 9 metal baking pan on stovetop over low heat. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Drain pineapple rings, and reserve 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice. Fit the rings in the pan, it should take about 10-12 rings. Take a maraschino cherry and tuck it into each hole in the pineapple rings.

Cake:

In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In a mixing bowl mix softened butter and sugar together for 2 minutes. Add eggs, and beat until blended. On a low speed, beat in half the flour mix, pineapple juice, and milk. When all that is blended add remaining flour mixture, then vanilla. Spread the batter into the pan over the topping. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cool cake on a wire rack for 10 minutes. If you pop too soon the pineapple rings and cherries might stick to the pan. After the FULL 10 minutes use a baking sheet on top to flip the cake over. If some do stick just put them back on the cake. Eat warm and enjoy!