A guy who has been married 8 times by the time he is 40 years old meets and proposes to the ninth. Novel goes back and forth between him and his future ninth wife.
PJH Rating: ***
Month: December 2012
Orange Drop Doughnuts
Courtney has made these doughnuts several times and made them again this snowy morning. They are easy, tasty and there’s nothing better than a hot doughnut.
Orange Drop Doughnuts – Cook’s Country
Orange-sugar coating
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Doughnuts
- About 2 quarts vegetable oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon grated orange zest
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the coating: Pulse sugar and zest in food processor until blended, about 5 pulses. Transfer to medium bowl. (If making by hand, toss zest and sugar in medium bowl using fork until evenly blended).
For the doughnuts: Heat 3 inches of vegetable oil in 4-quart saucepan until temperature reaches 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Whisk eggs, sugar, and orange zest in large bowl. Whisk in orange juice, then butter, until well combined. Stir in flour mixture until evenly moistened.
Using two dinner teaspoons, carefully drop heaping spoonfuls of batter into hot oil. (You should be able to fit about 6 spoonfuls in pan at one time. Do not overcrowd.) Fry, maintaining temperature between 325 to 350 degrees, until doughnuts are crisp and deeply browned on all side, 3 to 6 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to plate lined with paper towels. Drain for 5 minutes. Add doughnuts to bowl with orange sugar and toss until well coated. Place on serving plate and repeat with remaining batter, regulating oil temperature as necessary. Doughnuts are best served warm.
Ten Years of Christmas Eve Jammies
Christmas 2012
We had Christmas Eve at our house.
For starters:
- amaretto cranberry cosmos
- Hanky pankys -(of course)
- Shrimp
- crab cakes
- smoked salmon with fixings
For Dinner:
- Ham and rolls
- Macaroni and cheese
- Winter Greens gratin
- Purple cole slaw (MOM or somebody who has this recipe!!! I just realized this recipe is not on EoE. Will you email it to me? How can this not be on here?)
- Sliced oranges and grapefruits with pomegranate seeds
For dessert:
- apple gingerbread upside down cake (made by Kirsten… and delicious)
- Emily Jane’s brownie Santas and cookies
Chrismas Breakfast.
Mom and Dad always join us for Christmas breakfast and we always have the same thing:
- Courtney’s homemade sticky buns
- Egg and sausage casserole
- cranberry coffee cake
- lots of bacon
Christmas Dinner at Mom and Dad’s house:
- sauerkraut balls
- more hanky pankys
- shrimp
- Roast Beef
- popovers
- mashed potato casserole
- green beans
- salad
- and ice box pudding for dessert… of course
everything was fantastic…wonderful day…Merry Christmas!
Eat Out: Chinato
Courtney and I went out this past Friday night leading into the long holiday weekend. After work we went to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, the Cleveland Art Museum and then out to dinner at Chinato on East 4th.
This is our third visit to Chinato and it continues to be a favorite. We sat in the bar for awhile before we went in for dinner watching the snow storm outside. I had a Crown Royal Manhattan with some lovely liquor soaked cherries and Courtney had a Great Lakes Christmas Ale.
We split a tuna crudo – little pieces of raw tuna with a little bit of pesto, a little bit of Parmesan and they were fresh and delicious. We split a mushroom salad which was shaved raw mushrooms in a vinaigrette with lots of lemon and good parmesan. Very different and very tasty. We also split an order of fried artichokes.
Courtney had some sort of fish that I forget what it was called – sort of like monkfish that was served with a parsnip polenta and I had salmon served with white beans and braised escarole. Excellent dinner as always.
Book: The Age of Miracles; Karen Thompson Walker
A 12 year old girl living in California is going through the trials and tribulations of all 6th graders, but this time set in the near future where Earth’s magnetic field has shifted causing days and nights to become longer and longer leading to the possible end of the world. An interesting novel, sort of like watching disasters unfold on the news, that I found hard to put down.
PJH rating: ****
Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream
Butternut Squash Soup with Cider Cream
Bon Appetit, November 1998
Ingredients:
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 2 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
- 2 cups chopped leeks (white and pale green parts only)
- 1/2 cup chopped peeled carrot
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 2 small Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves
- 5 cups chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups apple cider
- 2/3 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
Chopped fresh chives
Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add squash, leeks, carrot and celery; sauté until slightly softened, about 15 minutes. Mix in apples, thyme and sage. Add stock and 1 cup cider and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until apples are tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly.
Working in batches, purée soup in blender. Return soup to pan. Boil remaining 1/2 cup cider in heavy small saucepan until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Cool. Place sour cream in small bowl. Whisk in reduced cider. (Soup and cider cream can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and refrigerate.)
Bring soup to simmer. Mix in whipping cream. Ladle soup into bowls. Drizzle with cider cream. Top with chives.
Northern Italian Beef Stew
Northern Italian Beef Stew
allrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds lean top round, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 large sweet onions, diced
- 2 cups large chunks of celery
- 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into large rounds
- 1 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 4 large tomatoes, chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds red potatoes (such as Red Bliss), cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 quart beef stock
- 2 cups tomato sauce
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef in batches in hot oil until browned completely, about 5 minutes per batch. Remove browned beef cubes to a plate lined with paper towels, keeping skillet over heat and retaining the beef drippings.
Cook and stir onion, celery, and carrots in the retained beef drippings until just softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir mushrooms and garlic into the onion mixture.
Pour red wine into the pan; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking the mixture until the wine evaporates, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir tomatoes into the mixture.
Return beef to skillet with potatoes, basil, thyme, marjoram, and sage. Pour beef stock and tomato sauce over the mixture. Bring the liquid to a simmer.
Reduce heat to low and simmer until the beef is very tender and the sauce is thick, 4 to 6 hours.
Book: Wonder; R. J. Palacio
A ten year old boy who was born with extreme facial abnormalities starts school for the first time going into fifth grade after being home schooled. The book chronicles his year at school with the point of view going back and forth between different people. While the end was a bit over the top hokey, and I’m not quite sure how it ended up in my overdrive queue, I did enjoy this book written for tweens.
PJH Rating: ***1/2
Eat Out: B Spot
Courtney and I stopped at B Spot for lunch yesterday afternoon at Eaton while out shopping. B Spot is Michael Symon’s casual burger joint. I always thought it was a counter service place but it turns out it is a regular restaurant. We sat at the bar and I had a Bell’s Best Brown ale – yum- and Courtney has a Great Lakes Christmas ale. The space is nice even though it’s in a mall. There’s a great mural of beer cans on the wall with a big B in the middle. I had a bacon cheeseburger, Courtney has a thin lizzy and we split an order of onion rings. The burgers were great – nice and fresh, and buns were excellent – buttery brioche. There were different sauces to put on the burgers and dip the rings in. We especially liked the homemade ketchup.
Eat On Edgecliff 