Perfectly Boiled Eggs

One of my pet peeves are hard boiled eggs that have a grey or green tinge. It is off putting to me. I know the color does not affect the taste. I just can’t get past the unpleasant color. I am going to share a cooking method, for perfectly boiled eggs.

We’ve all struggled peeling hard boiled eggs. I learned from, That Cuckoo Aunt, a content creator on TikTok; an egg peeling hack. Before the eggs hit the pot of water, tap the large end of the egg on the counter. This will break the membrane, making the shell easy to remove. You will hear a distinctive sound,  when that membrane breaks. This method works on fresh eggs!

 

Chose a pot, with a tight fitting lid. Cover eggs with cold water.

 

 

Bring to a boil. Cover pot. Turn off the heat. Let set on burner for 10 minutes.

 

 

Cool eggs under cool running water.

 

 

I rinse the eggs, in the pot of water, as I’m removing the shells.

 

 

Just drain the water and toss the shells in the trash can, or compost bin. Never grind egg shells in your garbage disposal. According to the plumber, the most common sink stoppages are caused by egg shells and coffee grounds.

  

  A YouTube demonstration is available by clicking this link.

 

 

Maintaining The Correct Oven Temperature

Is your oven a little off? Are you burning things? Cooking times not adding up? Your oven temperature is off!

The easiest tip I can give, to regulate your oven temperature, is to hang an oven thermometer in your oven. No more guesswork!

*  Of course you can always pay a repairman to come out to your house and adjust your temperature control and charge you $100.00. If you have an oven with a knob the adjustment is easy. You start by getting a correct temperature of your oven, using an oven thermometer. Remove the knob. Looking at the back of the knob are markings. You go to the right or left, depending on what the temperature of your oven read. Then test your knob to ensure it is matching with your oven temperature. I'm sure youtube.com has a clearer description on how to regulate your oven, but that gives you the general idea.

Granola

When I think of granola, I'm taken back to a family road trip on the central California coast. We are driving Hwy 1 and I am in the backseat munching on a box of granola, looking at the ocean, thinking this is the life! While I'm still a fan of granola, I am not a fan of store bought granola. I prefer to make my own. This is a simple recipe that I put together and have been making it for years.

The recipe starts with everyday pantry ingredients you probably have on hand: oats, flour, nuts, cinnamon, butter flakes, and brown sugar.

The dry ingredients get stirred around.

Oil and honey are added.

You want to make sure the dry and wet ingredients are combined well. I use my hands to mix. Gloves come in handy!

The granola is pressed into a 10 x 15" sheet pan.

Then baked at 350, until golden brown. Flip sections of granola, using a spatula, to help brown evenly. You will do 3 flips during the baking process.

Cool granola completely before storing.

Store in an airtight container.

Makes 1 1/4 pounds granola.

GRANOLA

INGREDIENTS:

2 Cups oatmeal

1/2 Cup all-purpose flour

1/4 Cup walnuts, chopped

1/4 Cup slivered almonds

1/4 Cup pecans, chopped

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1 Teaspoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon butter flakes

1/3 Cup vegetable oil

1/2 Cup honey

DIRECTIONS:

In a large mixing bowl combine: oatmeal, flour, walnuts, almonds, pecans, brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix well. Stir in vegetable oil and honey, mixing well to combine. Pour granola into a 10 X 15" baking tray, pressing granola firmly into pan. Bake at 350 for 30 - 35 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip granola, with a spatula, a few times, to ensure even baking. Remove from oven and cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Makes 4 cups, or 1 1/4 pounds. 

Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy has to be my all time favorite breakfast! Mom would usually make a big breakfast on Sunday morning. It would always include biscuits and sausage or bacon gravy. When she fried the bacon, she would brush the tops of the biscuits with the rendered bacon fat.

This is how I've been making sausage gravy for years. Lately my daughter has been requesting biscuits and gravy for dinner. I took the time to show her how to make it herself. She was surprised at how quickly and easily it came together.

I prefer to use Jimmy Dean original sausage. It hardly has any fat, so I add a little olive oil with the meat and fry until browned.

Flour is stirred in and cooked for just a minute or so, to cook out the flour taste.

Then milk is stirred in. You have plenty of options on what type of milk to use: canned evaporated milk, non fat milk, whole milk, half & half or cream are some of the different types I have used and had success with. Today I used whole milk.

To avoid lumpy gravy, make sure you stir the milk into the flour mixture well. Then keep stirring occasionally, to prevent sticking.

When the gravy becomes thick and bubbly is when I stir in the spices. I stick with salt and pepper, but I've tried sage sausage gravy and that is pretty good.

For the biscuits I just make what mom always made, Bisquick Drop Biscuits. They are easy to make and go great with gravy.

SAUSAGE GRAVY

INGREDIENTS:
8 Ounces Jimmy Dean original sausage
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/2 Cup all-purpose flour
4 Cups whole milk
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet, over medium heat. Crumble sausage and brown, until cooked through. Add flour to sausage and stir into meat, using the back of a spatula. Cook flour for a minute or so. Pour milk into flour mixture, stirring well. Keep stirring, with the back of the spatula, making sure to keep the gravy from scorching to the pan. (Using a spatula scrapes the bottom of the skillet, better than a whisk, which prevents scorching.) Cook for a few minutes, or until gravy thickens and starts to bubble. Turn off the heat. Serve over biscuits. Makes 5 cups gravy.


BISQUICK DROP BISCUITS

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/4 Cups Bisquick baking mix
2/3 Cup milk - or - water
Butter, for brushing the tops

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 450. Stir ingredients until soft dough forms. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Brush tops of biscuits with melted butter. Makes 8 biscuits.

How to Crumb Coat a Layer Cake

In a recent post I explained how to prep a layer cake for freezing. I find that frosting a frozen layer cake is much easier than frosting a freshly baked cake. There is less chance of the cake tearing, or crumbs getting into the frosting.

The first layer of frosting is called a crumb coat. The purpose of the crumb coat is to lock in any crumbs into a thin layer of frosting, before putting on a final coat.

First we will need to secure the cake to the plate, or cake board. A dab of frosting, on the center of the plate, helps to keep everything in place.

Gently press the cake onto the plate.



Spread the frosting, or filling, liberally. Leave about 1/4" around the edge.

Gently press the top layer into the frosting. Remove the waxed paper.

The cake is now ready for the crumb coat. Using an offset spatula, apply a generous amount of frosting to the sides of the cake, working around the entire cake. The top of the cake is frosted also.

Now that the cake has been frosted, roughly. It is time to clean it up. I start with scraping down the offset spatula, so it is clean. Then in one continual motion, pressing firmly against the outside egde of the cake, I smooth out the frosting. The excess frosting is scraped back into the frosting bowl.

Excess frosting from the upper edges are smoothed toward the center of the cake.

Just keep working around the cake until the top is smooth.

After you have applied the crumb coat, it is best to let the frosting firm up, in the refrigerator, before starting on the final layer and piping.

Prepping Cake For Freezing

The best cake decorating tip I can share with you, is to freeze your cake layers prior to frosting. This tip will have you icing your cake like a professional.

I like to bake the cake a day or two ahead of time. After the cake has cooled, I double wrap in waxed paper. Followed by a double wrapping in tin foil. Just be careful not to smash your cake. 

Place wrapped cake layers on a baking tray, then freeze. You can stack the cake layers later, but for now we want them to freeze level. Since cake can get freezer burn quickly, I don't recommend keeping them in the freezer, like this, for more than a few days. 

Once you are ready to frost, you will start with a light coating, called a crumb coat. The purpose of the crumb coat is to lock in any cake crumbs that may get into your frosting. Since the cake is frozen, frosting is easier. I don't have to worry about the cake cracking. (I will do a full post on crumb coating soon.)   

The crumb coating is followed by a second layer of frosting. Then piping is used to finish the edges. I decorate simply, but clean. I feel with these simple techniques anyone can put out a professional looking cake.

Prepping Cake Pans

Ever get so excited to bake a cake, that you hurry along and don't take the time to properly prepare your cake pans? When it comes time to release the cake you find that it has stuck to the pan. Don't let this happen to you. If you are going through all the trouble to bake a cake, bake it well! Take the extra few minutes to prep your pans, to ensure success.

Start by tracing the bottom of the cake pan onto parchment paper. If you are out of parchment paper, feel free to use waxed paper, as I did in this photo demonstration.

Cut the waxed paper, on the inside of the pencil line. You want to cut away the lead, because eating lead is never a good idea! If the thought of using a pencil bothers you, use a pen, or a pointed object to score the line, before cutting.

Grease the pan, liberally, with shortening. Crisco is my brand of choice. This is when rubber gloves come in handy.

Center the parchment or waxed paper cut out in the pan.

Give the paper another coating of shortening.

Then dust the inside of the pans with all purpose flour. If you are making a chocolate cake, you can use sifted cocoa powder.

* I would like to note: Coating the pan with flour is optional. I've never had a pan stick, just using the parchment and Crisco. However, I am including the dusting method, because it is how I learned, in Home Economics class. It is a trusted method.

Prepping cake pans will ensure that your cake won't be a wreck! If you are going through the effort to make something, do it right.

Cakes, Frostings & Fillings

All About Ganache

Anaphylactic Choc (Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake)

Bakery Style White Cake

Boiled Apple Cider
Buttercream Frosting
Caramel Apple Crumble Cheesecake

Cherry Caramel Crumble Cheesecake

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

Coconut Pecan Frosting & Filling

Cream Cheese Frosting
Fresno Jason's California Cheesecake
Hershey's Chocolate Cake 
Hershey's Chocolate Frosting
How to Crumb Coat a Layer Cake

Michelle's Salted Caramel
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Prepping Cake Pans
Prepping Cake for Freezing

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Twin Angel Cake Pies

No Bake Cookies

I blogged recently about Pigs In A Blanket, and how that recipe reminded me of school days, and eating in the cafeteria. Today's recipe is No Bake Cookies, and the school cafeteria, again, is where I was introduced to this cookie.

The cookie goes together quickly! It is a good idea to have ingredients measured.

And a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.

You start by bringing the sugar, milk, cocoa and  butter to a boil.

Then stir in the oats, peanut butter and vanilla.

Here's where you have to act quickly, as the cookies start to set really fast. Just scoop, or spoon, the cookie mixture onto the prepared cookie sheet. Then transfer to the refrigerator to set.

 This recipe was in the Elwood Baptist Church Cookbook, "Cooking in the Light of Glory", Joyce Golden was the contributor. Thank you Joyce. I have been making these cookies forever!

No Bake Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups sugar
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 Cup cocoa
1/4 Pound butter
1/2 Cup peanut butter
3 Cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 Teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Combine sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Bring this to a full rolling boil. Boil exactly 1 minute. Remove from burner and add remaining ingredients. Working quickly, drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. Transfer cookies to the refrigerator to set. Store in an airtight container, refrigerated. Yields 40 cookies.

* Chunky peanut butter can be substituted, it seemed to give the cookies a softer texture.