Gingerbread Popcorn

 This is from TheChunkyChef.com.  My daughter had made it one year for Brownies.  It is an odd taste.  It's not one of my favorites but it is a hit with a lot of people.

Ingredients

- 14 cups popped popcorn (try to remove unpopped kernels)

- 1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed

- 1/2 cup light corn syrup

- 1/4 cup molasses (we usually use cooking, but have also used fancy)

- 2 tsp ground ginger

- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

- pinch ground cloves

- 1/2 tsp kosher salt

- 1 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 - 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Lightly coat a large mixing bowl with non-stick cooking spray.  Add popped popcorn and set aside.

2. Line two baking pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

3. Add brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, molasses, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt to a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over MED heat, stirring constantly.  Bring to a boil, and then boil without stirring for 4 minutes.

4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda.  The caramel will foam a bit, that's okay.  Working quickly, pour the mixture over the popcorn and mix as well as you can.  If not all the popcorn is covered, that's okay, as it bakes the caramel with thin out and be easier to stir and coat.

5. Transfer the popcorn to the prepared baking pans.  Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 10-15  minutes.  Let cool in the pans, and then break apart any large clumps and store in an airtight container.

Hateful Eight Casserole

Lately, we’ve been going over to a friend’s house for supper and games. We take turns doing the meal and dessert, and I’ve been bringing over some games that we hadn’t played yet to try out. The selection is a bit tricky as there is usually 6 of us, as well as the kids.

The last time we were over it was our turn so we brought our Hateful Eight casserole. Truly, it’s a seven layer casserole with an extra layer added because I wanted to be able to turn it into the Hateful Eight version below.

The recipe is simple, and easy to modify. It doesn’t have exact measurements so much as it has directions. The original recipe is:


In a 9” casserole dish
1. Place 1” layer of raw potatoes sliced thin
2. Layer of onion sliced thin (1 large onion)
3. 1” layer of sliced carrots
4. ¼ cup of raw rice
5. 1 tin peas (drained) or 12 oz. frozen peas
6. Layer of pork sausages (1 ½ lbs) or hamburger
7. 1 can tomato soup diluted with 1 tin of water
Bake at 350 degrees F for 2 hours, covered for the first hour.

Tip from Mom – I usually make this in a casserole dish and cover with foil wrap for the first hour – hour and a half and then uncover for the last ½ hour. I have made this is a small roaster as well with a lid and uncovered for the last half hour.

I have also used frozen peas and carrots or mixed vegetables instead of the layer of carrots and the layer of peas.




Our modifications - My wife doesn’t like the onions so she was skimpy on the onion layer.

For a dish this size, we added more rice – about a cup.

She also doesn’t drain the peas, but we did add a canned corn that we mostly drained.

We used a bit over two cans of soup for the topping.

We covered it in foil wrap. It did require a bit longer cooking (I don’t believe they preheated the oven) to cook the rice properly.

Wendy's Chili

I was off last week. I didn’t have any major plans but still didn’t manage to get a lot done. I was able to make a batch of chili on Friday.
I’ve tried a few recipes before but I really like the Wendy’s chili recipe from Todd Wilbur of Top Secret Recipes.

I highly recommend his Top Secret line of books. They have a bunch of recipes to make clones of various restaurant and branded snacks and drinks. I use his Outback Blooming Onion recipe whenever I can.

The chili is simple to make but I always have to modify it due the metric can sizes available up here.

2 pounds ground beef (~1kg)
29 oz tomato sauce (~900mL)
29 oz kidney beans in liquid (~900mL)
29 oz pinto beans in liquid (~900 mL)
1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)
1/2 cup diced green chili (2 chilies)
1/4 cup diced celery (1 stalk)
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin powder
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups water

- Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat; drain off the fat.

- Using a fork, crumble the cooked beef into pea-sized pieces.

- In a large pot pot, combine the beef plus all the remaining ingredients, and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours.

Makes about 12 servings.

For less spicy chili change the pepper to 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper.
For much spicier chili add a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. For a real stomach stinger, add 5 or 6 sliced jalapeno peppers to the pot. Leftovers can be frozen for several months.

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Wendys-Chili-Recipe.html

Gee and Shan don’t eat that much so it’s mainly for me – and D3 eats a bit too.

Toaster Oven

Before getting married, I used to use the toaster oven a lot. In the middle of the night, or whenever, I would make grilled wiener sandwiches. I would take two hot dogs, split lengthwise, place them on a buttered piece of bread and put a piece of cheese on top of the other piece of bread and then toast. It was a nice, warm snack that was easy to make at 2 in the morning. I would put a piece of tin foil down over the racks to help catch the grease and make clean-up easy. Or so I thought.

After getting married and setting the toaster oven on fire a few times I realized that my mother must have been cleaning out the oven after me all those years; and that my wife wasn’t.
It made the toaster oven much less useful.

Meat Head - directions

Start by adding your garnish to the tray. If you are using the reduced Jello, more power to you. If you are using the fruit roll-ups, start with a strip from ear to ear and from forehead to the back. Build up a coverage over the entire skull - this gives the first layer of meat a bit of a grip and, should they get to it, a bit more gore at the end.


This is the skull completely covered. If your roll-ups are fresh, this should be easy. You may moisten your fingers to help with the joining if needed (use a glass of water). I have also added the olives in the open tomatoes for the eyes. You can also use yolks from boiled eggs or boiled eggs themselves.


I usually start with a layer of ham on the inside as it has a nice fleshy color. It may not be kosher - but I don't think a head of meat should be. You may need to cut some of the slices into smaller pieces as needed for the nose and fold pieces for the lips.


Depending on the look you are going for, you can also other meats for additional layers. We usually use turkey or chicken, but you can also use roast beef or even corned beef for a nice burned look. Ham itself leaves a nice flayed look.


In this case we used roast beef for hair and eyebrows. As a final garnish, we sprinkled a bit of rice on the head to simulate maggots.


Wrap the head in saran wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. Have bread and condiments as needed, as well as forks and plates.

Enjoy!

Meat Head - ingredients

From the Monster list of Halloween projects – there used to be a link (which has since faded) that explained how to make this. We have done it a few times now, mostly for G/L Halloween parties.
This is what you need to get together:

-You will need a skull (or equivalent) – I use an old plastic model skull I have from decades ago. I would have bought more but cannot find any anywhere. Be sure that this is well washed and okay to put food on – you can always cover in saran wrap to be sure.

-Sliced meat – thin slices work best. I’ve use both packaged as well as regular deli meats. Ham, chicken, turkey, and roast or corned beef all work fine – depending on the look you are going for. Depending on how thickly sliced the meat is and how thick you put it on, plus the size of your skull, you will discover how much you will need. Get extra just in case – you can always use what is left for lunches.

-Red fruit roll-ups (cherry or strawberry). The original instructions said to use red jello made with half the water to make it more rubbery. This has the added advantage of slowly liquefying and leaking red. We tried this the first year and found it very unwieldy to use. We had an epiphany the next year and used fruit roll-ups. They are much easier to handle and work with. It also gives a bit of tack to help hold the first layer of meat. (One thing – with jello or roll-ups, this will flavor the layer of meat directly touching it.)

-Something for the eyes. We have previously used the yolks from hard boiled eggs and cut a wafer-thin slice of a carrot for the iris. This year we tried olives pushed into tiny peppers to hold them in the eye sockets.

-A tray on which to create it. This makes it much easier to move to the fridge and bring out when needed.

-Leaf lettuce is a nice garnish for the bottom of the tray but it is optional.

-This year we also sprinkled the finished head with a small amount of rice (to simulate maggots). This again is optional, but a nice touch for those who have seen the meat-head a few times.

-This year we also added ice packs inside the skull, since it came apart.

Shamrock Shakes

We went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End last night. It was fun - we didn't find it hard to follow at all. Keira is adorable and has such clean, straight teeth when her face is 20 feet high. They could have stopped the rain at the end after 10 minutes though.

On the way there, we had stopped at McDoanld's for supper. Usually I get a Jr Chicken and/or Double Cheeseburger plus strawberry sundae but this time, instead of the sundae, I ordered the Shrek Minty Mudbath. It was similar to a Shamrock Shake but it also had chocolate mixed in.

We were out and about this Easter Saturday and remembered the Shamrock Shakes. The McDonald's at the Walmart didn’t do shakes but we had enough of the taste for it then that we hit a drive through on the way home and asked if they had any. The clerk had no idea what we were talking about but said she could check with her manager. We found it odd that a generation has grown up with no memories of the green minty goodness that was the Shamrock Shake. Luckily, with the internet, I was able to come across others who remembered it.

For more info about Shamrock Shakes including an online petition see:
http://www.tiktok.org/shamrock/

For another link with some of the old commercials, see:
http://www.x-entertainment.com/articles/0948/

After a week, the craving had built to the point where I searched out the recipe online, picked up the ingredients, and made some up for the kids. They were quite impressed.

In case I've sparked a craving, I'll save you the search.

Shamrock Shakes
2 cups vanilla ice cream
1 1/4 cups 2% low-fat milk
1/4 teaspoon mint extract (I could only find mint/peppermint extract)
8 drops green food coloring (I had to use more like 20 drops to get a rich green color)

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high speed until smooth. (The ice cream was soft and I didn't want to mess up the blender, so I just used a whisk and a bowl).
2. Pour into 2 12-ounce cups and serve each with a straw. Enjoy.

David