Greatest Godmother EVER!!

My godmother

Teresa Versen Nugent Lancaster

June 27, 1916 - March 11, 2009

Something REALLY good from my favorite recipes

My recipes featured here--are all really good--but they are more carbo-licious than protein and vitamin-rich, I notice.

In keeping with that, here is my favorite chocolate cake recipe--fabulous with either chocolate or cream cheese icing. I made it for myself for my birthday--and after offering it to all my neighbors in the building and next door--I had only a week's worth for myself--but that was just the right amount:

Fudgy Chocolate Layer Cake

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans. In a saucepan, melt butter and chocolate, stirring over low heat.

2. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in large bowl of electric mixer. Add chocolate mixture, buttermilk and eggs. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Divide batter between cake pans. Bake until cakes spring back when gently pressed, 25 - 30 minutes. Cool in pans 5 minutes, invert onto wire rack.

4. Icing of your choice.

NB: I made this in a bundt pan and it baked for 40 minutes until done.

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Coming soon: My hometown A - Z: Letter G

Dear Jim: You are missed today

Today is inauguration day.
My friend Jim and I considered this one of our "unofficial" holidays.
On "unofficial" holidays--I got to cook dinner, and he got to watch TV.
Unofficial holidays were TV-heavy days.

Other unofficial holidays were State of the Union, Oscar night, World Series if the Yankees were in the game, the PGA when Tiger was ahead and the first winter day of measurable snow. Jim could make just about anything great fun!!

I missed him today. It would have been a TV-heavy day.
He would have even tolerated watching TV until we saw the First Lady's gown.
He lived into the beginning of the campaigning in '06. Then he was gone.
He was so hoping that Al Franken would win the Senate race from Minnesota.
He read the Franken book titled,"Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Dummy"--and used to laugh out loud--then read the passage to me--and laugh again.

Today I was in the car and heard Rush on the radio, already ragging on Obama's inaugural speech as too simple. . .and in tribute to my friend Jim, I have to admit--Rush sounded like a Big Fat Dummy.
JIm didnt know who would win the Presidential race in '08--but he was sure it would not be Hillary. Right, again, my friend.

So, I am sitting here waiting to see the First Lady gown--I cooked dinner, I watched a lot of TV. Its been a great day.

Dont underestimate the gifts of treasured friends.
Be sure to thank them, over and over.

From My Favorite Recipes

One Dish Chicken and Rice




Ingredients:

1 (10 ounce can) cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 cups cooked and chopped chicken
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup frozen peas (I used a can of small petite peas)
1/4 cup choped green or red bell pepper (I used half a green pepper)
2 cups cooked white rice (I used Premium Minute Rice)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I used Monterey Jack shredded cheese)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (I preheat to 325 as my casserole dish is glass)
Blend soup, milk, salt, pepper and mayonnaise in a medium bowl.

Combine chicken, onion, peas, bell pepper and rice in a large bowl
Mix gently.

Gently fold soup mixture into chicken mixture to combine.
Fold in half the cheese.

Spray a medium casserole dish with cooking spray.
Spoon in the chicken mixture.

Sprinkle top of casserole with remaining cheese.
Bake until top is golden brown--about 25 minutes.

Leftovers are GREAT.

Use every ingredient--each contributes significantly to the distinctive taste.

Recipe name is misleading. It took three dishes to get the casserole in the oven!!

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Next blog: Something fun from my private library

2009--Looking Forward, Looking Back

Its no mystery that New Year's Eve is my favorite day of the year (after my birthday). It is the one day that the whole world, regardless of race, religion, locale, political leaning, celebrates. I have a friend named Teri Schaack whose birthday is New Year's Eve--and she claims that the world throws her a party every year.

So--as we approach the new year--2009 I look back and look forward.

BAbies--our family grew by new baby girls (2) in 2008 and we look forward to more new babies in 2009. Babies are a signal that the world will go on.






Re-connecting: After reconnecting a few years ago with a long time friend from college, John Kennedy and his wife Diana, this year I went to their daughter's wedding in Houston. Congratulations Mr and Mrs. McNabb!! Also re-connected with my cousin Michael Groesch--who also lives in Houston.




Arizona: Looking forward--I am planning a trip to Arizona this winter to see several friends in Sedona and Tucson. I have wanted to visit Tucson for several years and my friend Caroline recently moved there--giving me the best motivation ever to go visit her and her husband Zvi.





5K: After years of not running, I have started training for a marathon, one 5K race at a time. I figure that if I run 8-5K races in 2009 it will be a marathon that took a year to run. Had a GREAT surprise when I learned that a friend plans to run 5K's with me!!


Only a nurse practitioner--(that would be me) would ignore a nagging side pain for three years. Hey, I was busy doing other stuff like traveling and biking and starting my own business. Had emergency surgery this summer. I feel better!!






Brides: Brides always make the year exciting and memorable. This year there were three gorgeous brides





My wonderful friend, Caroline and her darling husband Zvi
Married: July 2, 2008
Boulder, Colorado

See you in Tucson, Caroline!!





Absolutely fabulous bride--Megan Kennedy McNabb Daughter of college friends--Dr. John and Diana Kennedy
July 26, 2008, Houston

Her husband could not stop smiling--can you?






My spectacular niece Sharon--and her phenomenally romantic wedding in November



How cute is she?







Another Golden: Looking back and looking forward: My son Timothy added another Golden Retriever to our family by adopting Daisy-at 7 weeks. She is darn cute. Now we have three goldens among us. . .Tucker, Berit, and Daisy.



Mamma Mia: Worst movie I saw in 2008--and make that in recent memory. Saw the Broadway play 5 times in New York and once in Las Vegas. Much better on Broadway






Adios Tourists: Looking forward to a joyous new year and a quiet New York with just us locals come January 2.





So as 2008 comes to a close and 2009 opens for us all, we are all looking forward to a new direction for US!!
Hint: Check out the capitol, bolded letters and you will figure it out.

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One of my favorite recipes--a new twist on chicken and rice!!

TIME OUT!!

. . .the section of my blog that is just random things I think are kind of funny!!
There Is No Such Thing As A FREE RIDE--or is there???

I live outside New York City in a New Jersey town, otherwise known as a "train town". That simply means that the New Jersey Transit train system runs through my town, I board at a delightfully quaint train station and am delivered to Penn Station, New York in about 40 minutes.

I buy $200 worth of tickets at once--so whenever I feel like a trip to the city or must go to NYC, I just grab a ticket off the pile and off I go. Its a breeze!! In my last pack of tickets--I had no idea that I had bought a FREE RIDE. I didnt really buy a FREE RIDE--but there was one ticket--that whenever I carried it onto the train, the conductor did not collect my ticket. A FREE RIDE!! As of November 1, I was up to 5 FREE RIDES with this same ticket.


I was on my way to Broadway to see White Christmas on the day before Thanksgiving. I grabbed the FREE RIDE ticket--after all it had worked for the past 5 rides and certainly it will work on a holiday eve!! By this time, I am past feeling lucky and am feeling smugly confident. In New York City, one does not speak to anyone on the train--so I tucked my FREE TICKET into my book and onto the train I went.


I sit down next to a 20-something girl who is talking on the phone--she has the window, I am on the aisle. I get out my book--start reading. Here comes the conductor--I make no eye contact. He asks her for her ticket--he never even looks at me and moves on to the next seat-- The lucky ticket works again!!!

I love my FREE RIDE --NEW YORK, its my kind of place.

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Next blog: One of my favorite recipes

My Hometown A - Z: Letter F

If you are from St Louis, F is for Funnel Cake

For some reason, this southern delicacy--famous at carnivals, country fairs and country-style holidays are a must-have at big events in St Louis. From the balloon festival in Forest Park (a runner-up for F) to the fabulous VP Fair on the riverfront over the fourth of July to the Oktoberfest--the smell of funnel cakes lets you know you have arrived!! Although I have never seen a funnel cake at a major sports event in St Louis--they may be there now with the new baseball stadium (seeing a ball game in the new stadium is on my 2009 wish list).

If you are visiting St Louis during a big festival time--and I suggest you do make that trip---you will smell those funnel cakes and like other pungently notable substances you may have encountered in your life, you will never forget it.

Funnel cakes are flat fried doughnuts basically (at least that is my opinion) and so formed to fit a paper plate by pouring the dough through a funnel--hence the name. I have never tasted a funnel cake--and frankly I think my pancreas is a bit too old for one. But here is the recipe.





To make this easy Funnel Cake recipe, you will need a large frying pan, ( I recommend a cast iron skillet and a fire extinguisher).

A large mixing bowl and a funnel with a 3/8 inch opening.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of self rising flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups of whole milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Vegetable oil (Crisco)

Combine flour, sugar, milk and eggs in bowl, beating until smooth.
Heat 1/4 inch of Crisco oil to 375 in skillet.
You will need to add more oil as you go, usually after frying 3 funnel cakes, try to maintain the oil in the skillet at around 1/4 inch.
Take the funnel and cover the opening with your finger, pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the funnel. Hold funnel over skillet, remove finger from the end of the funnel to release the batter into the hot oil.
Move the funnel in a circular motion as the batter is coming out.
Slightly over lap some of the edges, forming a spiral shape.
Only do one at a time, fry each funnel cake for 1 minute or until edges are golden brown.
Flip funnel cake over with a fork and fry the other side until golden brown, (about another minute)
Remove funnel cake from oil, drain on paper towel, repeat the process with remaining batter.

Serve as is, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and/or cinnamon., or top with strawberries and whip cream.
Funnel cakes make a good snack or a quick breakfast.
This easy Funnel Cake recipe will yield about 1 dozen, 5 inch funnel cakes.
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Next blog: New rotating entry--Time Out!!