Advents Corner

Gulf oysters have always been available for my enjoyment, even as a kid.  My first experience with gulf oysters was when my Grandfather and uncles were sitting on the front porch shucking them.  I was about 8 or so and had never had a raw oyster before.  My Uncle Tiny popped one open, turned the shell up to his mouth, and opened wide.  I could not believe he did that so I had to try.  Let’s just say I never developed a taste for them raw but I will knock you down to get some fried.  With new post-harvest processes being developed such as IQF, HCP, and HPP having raw oysters is becoming safer every year. 

Last night I tried a new dish.  I am always trying out new things for the family because it gets really old eating the same stuff all of the time.  I have a bad habit of not following recipes, well tweaking recipes I should say.  Matt says “do you have a recipe or you making your own?”  I don’t know why he asks because the answer is always the same.  Last night I decided to try my hand at Cottage Pie.  Matt loves shepherd’s pie; he always gets it when we go to Cheesecake Factory. 

As most of my family knows I love Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup, in fact I buy it by the case at Costco because I use it in everything.  So here is my recipe for Cottage Pie using Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup.

Ingredients  

1 pound ground beef 

1 can Campbell’s crème of mushroom soup

3 large russet potatoes 1 cups mix vegetables or 2 handfuls ( I used a frozen medley that had peas, carrots, green beans, lima beans and corn)ButterMilk

Peel and cut your potatoes into cubes, add a little salt and put to boil.  Cook ground beef and drain away excess fat.  While the beef is draining add can of soup and ½ cup water to the pot.  Constantly stir until all of the soup is dissolved.  Add your beef and vegetables into your soup mixture.  Turn to simmer and leave uncovered.  Because of the soup you do not need to add any seasoning to the beef mixture. 

Pre heat your oven to 350. 

Drain your potatoes, add butter, milk, and whip until you reach the desired consistency.  After your beef mixture has reduced down to the amount of gravy you would like pour into a casserole dish.  Place your potatoes on the top and add cheese.   

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Everything is hot when you put it into the dish so you only need to worry about the cheese melting.   

I hope you like the recipe, my family loved it, and Michaela even ate all of the vegetables without picking any out.

I’ve been asked to try these Grey Poupon Mustards and give an honest review so here goes. The first one I tried was the Harvest coarse ground in my potato salad. I always tell Michaela that the difference between Southern potato salad and northern potato salad is MUSTARD!!!! I usually use just regular mustard in the salad but I thought since I had these why not try and shake it up a little, and shake it up they did. The Grey Poupon gave it a kick it never had before, the whole mustard seeds gave it a tangy taste that we just loved. The Hearty Spicy Brown we used on sandwiches and it gave them the same taste the deli sandwiches have that we spend a fortune on. Not too spicy just enough to give the sandwich extra flavor and to keep you coming back for more. Both of these were awesome but I did like the coarse ground a little more maybe because it was in potato salad, because I love potato salad. Pick up a jar and add it to a recipe that calls for regular mustard and give it that added BAM!!!

Spam musubi is a fun on the go snack in Hawaii.  They are so very simple to make and they are so good.  Lani just loves them, she ate a 1/2 of one all by herself.  I love spam although I have to confess I did not eat it until I was pregnant with Lani then I would eat it straight out of the can.  I found this recipe on www.sushiday.com even thought it is very easy to make I thought you might want the directions for it.  Please try it and don’t let the thought of spam put you off because it is so enjoyable and you can keep them in the fridge and eat them in the go for breakfast in the morning instead of stopping at McDonald’s.

Ingredients

• 2-3 sheets nori
• 2 cups rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 can spam
• 1/4 cup shoyu
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Cooking Directions

1. Cook the rice, using equal parts rice and water. I use a rice cooker, but you can also cook it on the stove if you don’t have a rice cooker.
2. Mix the shoyu, oyster sauce, and sugar in a bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Cut the spam into about 10 pieces, horizontally (like you are slicing the top off each time). Keep the can!
4. Place the span in the shoyu mix, marinate for about 5 minutes.
5. Put the oil in a frying pan, heat over medium heat.
6. Fry the marinated spam until brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
7. Cut the nori into strips about 2.5 inches wide.
8. Wash the can that the spam was in very well.
9. Fill the can loosely with rice, then pack the rice into the can very tightly. It should end up about an inch or so thick. Update: To get the rice out of the can, I slammed the can upside down on the cutting board until the rice came out. You might also try to line the can with plastic wrap before you pack the rice, so it’s easy to pull it out.
10. Place the rice on one end of the nori, so that they are perpendicular.
11. Place a slice of spam on the rice.
12. Wrap the nori around the spam/rice stack. Hold closed for a few seconds, it should stick. If it doesn’t stay closed, use a drop of water to close it.

I love these cookies and I have never seen anything like them before.  They are called Stained Glass cookies and you use lifesavers or jolly ranchers as the center and you can hang them from your tree.  Please let me know if you make these.

Isn’t this the most beautiful cake and it is RED VELVET!!!  I thought it was so pretty I had to post it.  I have always heard that working with red velvet is very difficult but I think I might need to make this.  It is just so pretty.

I am always looking for new recipes, some work some don’t.  This one looks like it will be good and just may grace our Thanksgiving table this year instead of regular rolls.  Ham and Cheese biscuits.  The sound so good and the recipe looks easy enough to fit into the menu. 

I want to share this recipe with everyone for the Christmas holiday.  Just about everyone in our family loves mangos.  Matt and Lani love them.  It is sometimes hard to find really sweet ones here on the mainland so cooking with them is the next best thing.  The cake makes the mango sweeter.  With us living so far away from family we try our best to make our christmas’ as Hawaiian as we can.  Upside-down mango cake helps but of course nothing is as good as Mom makes.  This recipe is fairly simple and if you have a Hamilton Beach® Mixerit makes it even easier.  What takes the longest on the recipes is constantly blending the ingredients while mixing which with a hand mixer can become quit cumbersome.  The Hamilton Beach® Stand Mixer helps with that because you just set the speed and with the splash guard you just add the ingredients and let the mixer do the work. Eclectrics® Mixerare wonderful Christmas presents to receive, you do not realize what you are missing until you receive one.

I have included the recipe if you want to give it a shot and add a little bit of Hawaiian into your Christmas holiday. 

  Upside-down Mango Cake                       

1/2 stick unsalted butter                                   3/4 C. light-brown sugar

1 ripe mango, halved, pitted and peeled

(slice each half lengthwise into 8 slices)

1 1/4 C. unsifted cake flour                              1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. each cinnamon & nutmeg                   pinch of salt1 stick unsalted butter (softened)                  

 1/2 C. sugar                                                       2 large eggs at room temperature                 

1/3 C. milk                                                         1 tsp. vanilla 

TOPPING: Preheat oven to 350°, with oven rack in lowest position. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat; add brown sugar and cook over medium heat until mixture bubbles and is creamy and smooth, 2 or 3 minutes. Pour onto bottom of greased 9×1 1/2″cake pan. Arrange mango slices in concentric circles on top of mixture, beginning in the center of the pan and working outward. Set aside. 

CAKE: In medium-sized bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Set aside. In large bowl, with mixer set on medium speed, beat butter until light and creamy. Add sugar a little at a time, beating until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). On low speed, beat eggs in one at a time; increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, then increase speed to medium and add half the flour mixture and the milk and vanilla. When this is well blended, add the other half of the flour and mix until blended. Using a spatula, gently spoon the batter over the mango slices in the cake pan, carefully spreading it in an even layer and sealing it against the sides of the pan so the sugar mixture won’t bubble up over the batter as it cooks. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake until it is still warm: run a knife around the edge to loosen cake, then place platter over the top of the pan and carefully turn the whole thing upside-down, tapping lightly on the bottom of the pan to loosen any topping that may be sticking to it. Serve warm or at room temperature with a big dollop of whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

I can not believe it!!!!  Oh wait I sound like Quincy from Little Einsteins.  Anyway, I did not know you could have caramel apples 10 different ways but I guess you can.  These are really cool recipes since it is apple season.  I think my favorite would have to the the Red Hots.  Let me know how these turn out if you make some.

I know we had brainy cup cakes so we must have eyeballs too.  These are so funny and they are made with peanut butter. They seem very simple to make even for little hands so let your little monsters help you out with this treat. You do not use the oven but you do have to use the stove so make sure you keep little fingers away from the hot surfaces. Have fun with this one and let me know how they turn out.

I am really beginning to wonder.  I have looked all over this internet and the pickings are really slim.  You would think with all of the candy floating around at this time of the year someone would have come up with healthy treats that look cute and are good for you.  This one recipe seems to be coming up on every site.   I think it is because it is really cute and reminds you of Halloween and it is healty.  If you get around to making any of these shot me a picture and I will put it up for everyone to see.

I am really on a roll today with all of the Halloween stuff wouldn’t you say?  I thought these were so funny and I know the kids will get a kick out of eating them.  They are Brain Cupcakes and the recipe is as easy as making cupcakes.  Hope you enjoy them and let me know how they turn out.