Pause and Remember – 6/29/2012

On Friday, I pause and remember a single moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.

Ready for the 4th of July!

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Slow Cooker Caper Chicken

My youngest daughter is a busy stay-at-home mom who always finds time to get together with me on Fridays for lunch.  I try to make meals that are tasty, quick and easy, and reduced in fat and calories.  Here is what we enjoyed last Friday.

This is a tasty low-fat dish adapted from one I found on The Pioneer Woman Cooks.   The count for the chicken and sauce according to my Diet Power software based on 6 servings is:  144 calories, 9.18 g fat, 56.9 mg cholesterol, 1.54 g carb, 0.2 g fiber.  Additions such as rice and vegetables should be counted separately.

SLOW COOKER CAPER CHICKEN

• 2 boneless-skinless chicken breast halves, each cut into 3 sections
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 dashes Greek seasoning
• ¼ cup melted butter
• ¼ cup steak sauce (A-1 Steak Sauce)
• 2 Tblsp. capers in brine

Place the chicken breast pieces in the slow cooker.  Pour lemon juice over the top and sprinkle with black pepper and the Greek seasoning.

In a separate bowl, mix the melted butter with the steak sauce and capers.  Pour this mixture over the chicken breast pieces and cook for 4-6 hours on low.

I served this chicken and sauce with rice and steamed broccoli.

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Le Poulet Mini-Quilt Table Topper

Last week, I posted about chickens invading my June kitchen.

http://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/the-chickens-have-come-to-my-june-kitchen-2/

Actually, they spilled over into my living room when I made this mini-quilt for my table topper rack.  I had a very small remnant of this fabric called Le Poulet by Windham and fussy-cut all of the elements of the quilt.

As of this writing, this fabric is available on eBay.

I just added some chicken-wire fabric for the background and polka-dot for the binding from my stash.

The backing was made from scraps ….

….and I finished it off with some simple machine quilting

There was one fussy-cut of a hen which I didn’t want to lose in a drawer full of scraps, so I added strips to make it into a block right away.  This can be used to construct a tote or gift bag, a potholder or maybe a pocket on an apron.  It’s ready to go.

I also found this great vintage thermometer to add to my chicken-coop kitchen.

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The Chickens Have Come to my June Kitchen

I had a post in 2008 that told how these two pieces came about:

http://lillianscupboard.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/hens-and-roosters/

A redwork potholder comes in handy.

My favorite set of dishes is Bob Timberlake’s Ella’s Rooster

I thought it only appropriate that I should display my 1945 edition of The Egg and I by Betty MacDonald.  

The book is so much better than the 1947 movie with Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray.  I have all of Betty MacDonald’s books – they are hilarious and great reading.

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Lemon Pecan Dream Cups

Every Friday, I fix lunch for my two daughters.  I leave lunch on the kitchen table for my oldest daughter (who lives with me and works at home) and pack a picnic basket with lunch for my youngest daughter and myself to take to her home.

I make four servings so she can have something extra to squirrel away for later.  Lunch is always simple – a main dish salad or casserole plus a light dessert.  I came up with this dessert today, using what I had on hand and basing it loosely on one of our favorites, The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford.  The crust is so good in this dessert and the lemon filling is light and tangy.  We all loved it.

LEMON PECAN DREAM CUPS

Crust:

• ¼ cup all -purpose flour
• 2 Tblsp. butter, cut in small cubes
• 1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Filling:

• 2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup frozen topping, thawed
• 3.4 oz pkg lemon instant pudding (4 servings)
• ¾ cup milk
• 1-½ tsp. lemon juice to enhance flavor (optional)

Topping:

• ½ cup frozen topping, thawed (divided)
• 4 pecan halves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Have four oven-safe custard cups at hand
To prepare the crust:

Place the flour and butter cubes in a small bowl.

Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips.  Stir in chopped pecans.

Divide this mixture between the four custard cups and press mixture down in the bottoms of the cups.  Bake @ 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Place cups on a wire rack to cool.

To make the filling:

Place cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl.

Stir until smooth.  Stir in ½ cup frozen topping until blended.  Spread this mixture on top of cooled crust in custard cups.

In the same medium bowl, place instant pudding mix and milk.

Beat until pudding starts to thicken – about one minute.   Stir in lemon juice.  Spoon the pudding mixture on top of the cream cheese mixture in the cups.

Swirl 2 Tblsp. of  topping on each cup and place one pecan half in the center.

Cover and refrigerate for at least ½ hour.

4 servings

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Modern Sunbonnet Wall Hanging

For my birthday in 2009, my oldest daughter made up a bunch of hand embroidered redwork pieces featuring sunbonnet ladies doing various phases of quilting.  She got her patterns from Quilting Bee Designs.  I made up the first wall hanging using some of the panels in 2010:

Sunbonnet Quilters

Busy Quilt Room

Airing the Quilts

I was down to my last seven panels and used six of them to make a final wall hanging.  I like these blocks which have old-fashioned sunbonnet ladies working with all of the modern conveniences – designing on the computer, unloading fabric from the trunk of a car, washing in a modern washing machine, using the latest rotary cutters and sewing machine.  I used an alternate block called Road to Oklahoma from my Electric Quilt 6 software.

After I had assembled the top, my daughter took it back to hand quilt.  Her work is so beautiful.

I finished the quilt off with label, sleeve and binding.  For the label, I printed a recent picture of my daughter and me along with the description on fabric.

It makes a beautiful wall hanging and a fitting finale to working with some wonderful redwork embroidery.

I made up the 7th block as a mini-quilt for my tabletop rack and did some very simple machine quilting.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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Pause and Remember – 6/15/2012

On Friday, I pause and remember a single moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.

My daughters visited the Roycroft Museum and gift shop in East Aurora, NY, on vacation and this is what they brought back to me.  They definitely know what I like.

Artists:  Laura Wilder and Rix Jennings

Click on pictures to enlarge.

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Blackberry Pear Cobbler

It’s almost time for fresh blackberries and I wanted to use a bag of frozen blackberries before the farm markets open.  I needed 4 cups of fruit and only had 2-1/2 cups in the bag of berries, so I used a can of drained pear slices, which made the measurement exactly right.  Fresh blackberries can also be used but if you are substituting fresh pears, saute them first in a little butter until fork tender so they will be done within the 30-minute baking time.

BLACKBERRY PEAR COBBLER

Filling:

• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tblsp. cornstarch
• 1 cup boiling water
• 15 oz. can sliced pears in juice, drained (about 1-½ cups)
• 12 oz. bag of frozen blackberries, thawed, with juice – about 2-½ cups
• 1 Tblsp. butter
• ¼ tsp. nutmeg
• ¼ tsp. ground ginger

Topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tblsp. granulated sugar
• 1-½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ cup shortening
• ½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Have a 9×9 inch baking pan/dish at hand

To make filling:
Drain the pears – I like to save the juice in a jar in the freezer to substitute for a cup of cold water when making Jello.  A mixture of different juices makes it really flavorful.

Cut the pear slices in half.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, cook the sugar, cornstarch and boiling water over medium heat until mixture begins to boil; continue stirring and cooking for another minute.  Remove from heat and add blackberries and pears.  Stir in butter and spices and pour into a 9×9 baking pan/dish.  Set aside.

To make topping:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in the shortening with your fingertips.  Stir in the milk to make a soft dough.

Drop the soft dough by spoonful onto the hot filling.

Bake @ 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.  Place pan on a wire rack to cool.

Good warm or at room temperature.  Delicious plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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A New Park in my Neighborhood

There’s a new park in my neighborhood, dedicated over the Memorial Day weekend.  It’s called Home of the Brave Park and at the very center is a gorgeous memorial to our veterans.

The memorial sets in the middle of a large parcel of land that was home to a fireworks manufacturer since 1931.  The Rozzi family is famous in our area for spectacular shows and provided the fireworks for the first night game ever played in the major leagues – the Cincinnati Reds vs.  the Philadelphia Phillies at Crosley Field on May 24, 1935.  A couple of years ago, the company moved to another location and now their beautiful property is home to a great park that includes a children’s play area with a waterpark, picnic shelter, walking trails, baseball  and soccer fields, and lots of pretty flowers, bushes and trees.

It’s a five-minute drive from my home and I have a feeling the grandchildren are going to be spending a lot of time there this summer.

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Pause and Remember – 6/8/2012

On Friday, I pause and remember a single moment from the past week – inspired by The Warden’s Log.

My neighbor’s perfect summer porch

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