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Fiction, Food, and Foolishness
MIX IT UP
The number one kitchen tool I can’t live without is my mixer. I have two mixers. An inexpensive hand held mixer and a somewhat costly stand mixer. The brand I have is Kitchen Aid®, but there are many on the market to choose from. If you bake a lot, a good stand mixer is a MUST. It will last for years, making the investment easier to live with.
As you can see, mine is plain white, but you can get them in all colors. They come in red, cobalt blue, even pink. I kinda wish I’d gotten a color, then baking would be more of a party!
Worth their weight in gold, are the attachments that come with it. If you make pies or any type of pastry, your life will be so much easier with a dough hook. It saves time and energy and goes a gazillion times faster than the manual pastry blender I used for years.
My sister, Sugarpie, blends her pie dough with a fork! Bless her heart.
Along with the dough hook, a paddle and a regular beater are usually included with the mixer. The paddle is great for mixing cookie dough and cakes. The wire beater is used for whipping such things as icing or egg whites.
In my next post, I’ll be twangin’ about a certain type of rolling pin that makes me happy every time I use it…and I’m not talking about hitting my husband with it! (anyone born after 1970, won’t get that joke)
If any of you have a favorite kitchen tool you can’t live without, let me know. Maybe it’s one of my favorites too!
Talkin’ Twang for today: When a cowboy’s too old to set a bad example, he hands out good advice #Texas.
KITCHEN TOOLS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT
HEY GOOD LOOKIN’ WHATCHA GOT COOKING?
Everyone knows if you want to succeed as an author, you must promote your work. How to do that is debatable. Marketing guys agree you should have a fan page on Facebook. You should Twitter and join other social sites like Linkedin. In addition, you should be listed on book sites, such as, Goodreads and Amazon’s author pages. Some think the number one thing you should do, is BLOG.
Okay. I’m good with that. Sounds easy, right? Write it…and they will read. HA!
It’s not enough to just be a good writer. You have to write about something, someone wants to read. You should offer up advice or instruction, because we all want to learn, or at least read about someone else who may have learned something and is willing to pass that knowledge along to us.
That brings me to my dilemma. What the heck do I know enough about to pass on to others who are willing to spend their precious time reading my blog? I’ve given this a lot of thought and decided, I don’t know a lot about anything, but I know a little about a lot of things, or as my daddy used to say, “ I can tell you a thing or two, ‘bout a thing or two.”
So, over the next few weeks, that’s what I will be doing, and the first subject I’m going with is, COOKING TOOLS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT.
Once you’re done reading this, if you have a kitchen/cooking tool you can’t live without, I’d love to hear from you. Maybe it’s one I haven’t tried in almost fifty-two years of cooking.
If you have something you want to share, please email it to me, as my comment section of the blog is not working right now…but I’m working on it, so maybe next week, it will be functional.
Looking forward to hearing from you. [email protected]
Next blog: First Kitchen Tool I can’t Live Without
Talkin’ Twang for today: Well, don’t that just beat all you’ve ever stepped in!
SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS
SCHOOL DAYS, SCHOOL DAYS
Administrators, educators, and support personnel filled the room, about five hundred in all. Everyone but teachers had worked all summer, but it was the first day back for them, and we were having our “welcome back” general assembly. My husband sat among them.
As one of six campus secretaries, along with my sister, Carol, I co-hosted the event. She briefly covered the basics outlined in the handbook, touching on arranging for substitutes, sick days, and budget requests. Those were the things most important to us.
Then the Superintendent spoke. BOR—ING. The crowd lulled into a stupor.
Then came my turn at the podium. I don’t know what came over me. Oh yes I do. Sometimes, I speak before I think. Not always a good trait.
“Okay, everybody, stand up. C’mon, I can tell you’re waning a little and we need to get your blood pumping.”
They all reluctantly got to their feet.
“We’re gonna do a little exercise we learned at the secretaries conference this year. It’s designed to get your neurons firing when you feel that afternoon slump,” I said.
“With your right hand in front of you, make figure eights,” I demonstrated and they followed instructions. “That will get the left side of your brain firing. Now, switch and let’s get the right side going,” I said, sticking my left hand out. “Are you feeling it?”
A rumble of response spread across the room. I think some of them were moaning in disgust.
“Okay. Very good! Now y’all sit down and take some deep breaths. Of course, I can’t take too many, because then I’ll hyper-ventilate, then I’ll have to put a bag over my head, then my husband will get excited, because he’ll think we’re gonna have sex.”
The room erupted into laughter. The superintendent looked like he might faint. My husband looked toward heaven and shook his head. Neurons were firing.
For the remainder of the day, practically every man on campus came by my office and brought me a paper bag.
When five o’clock came, with my bundle of bags, equaling the remains of a small sapling, I took some deep breaths, opened the door to my house and shouted. “Honey, I’m home!”
TALKIN’ TWANG: Never approach a bull from the front, a horse from the rear or a fool from any direction.#Texas #humor
TEXAS WHITE TRASH TURTLES
Another delicious recipe from upcoming cookbook SWEET THANGS…and super simple!!
TEXAS WHITE TRASH TURTLES
Pre-heat your oven to 300.
Line cookie sheet with parchment paper
Put down a layer of pretzels
Top each one with a Rolo candy
Bake for about 4 minutes
While the candy is still warm, place a pecan half on top and kinda smoosh it down
Let them cool and enjoy. Oh my Lord! They are good!!
You can store them in an airtight container for several days…but they’ll be gone so fast you won’t need to!
TALKIN’ TWANG
My #southern momma always said, “Tell me what you need and I’ll tell you how to get along without it.”
WHAT’S IN A NAME
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Have you ever thought how difficult it is to come up with a name to use with a one-syllable last name?
Believe me, I’ve thought about it a lot. As many of you know, Ann Everett is only a pen name. My real last name is Ball. Think about that for a minute…
You would really need to be careful there. For the obvious reason, you wouldn’t want to go with Cannon or Crystal. You’d also need to steer clear of names like, April, May, or June, unless you wanted your kid going through life sounding like an event.
I recently read where a couple named their child Sweet Pea. Apparently, they didn’t remember junior high school, or perhaps they never attended one.
With each of my son’s four children, we faced the name dilemma and it got harder with each one.
We spent a small fortune on name books and hi-liters. We had exotic baby names, Hollywood baby names, Biblical, new age, Texas, southern,historical baby names.
Did you know there’s even a web-site where you can pay someone to name your baby for you?
With the third child on the way, I couldn’t get it off my mind. Since we knew they were having a girl, that narrowed our search. As I drove, I considered everything I saw. Applebee? No. Marriott? No. Harley? Definitely no. Raddison? Hmmm, maybe.
We asked the two older kids for advice. At the time, Caleb was three and he thought Diamond would be a good name. Reagan, 6, wanted to name her Arina. She thought it sounded like a princess. I thought it sounded like a football stadium.
In the end, they decided on Reese Caroline. I liked it.
In my upcoming book, YOU’RE BUSTING MY NUPTIALS, I have some crazy character names. Want to know where I get them? Many come from obituaries! Yep, I scour those things and keep a list of all the crazy Texas names. When I need one, I just pull it out and give a character a name to remember!
BE SURE TO WATCH FOR THE RELEASE OF YOU’RE BUSTING MY NUPTIALS…SUMMER 2012
TALKIN’ TWANG: My Texas momma always said, “Wash down as far as possible, wash up as far as possible, then was possible.” #Southern #laugh-out-loud
COCONUT LEMON CURD CAKE
AS COMFORTING AS A WARM SOUTHERN NIGHT
As many of you know, characters, Pattiecake McAlister and Sugarpie Monroe from LAID OUT AND CANDLE LIT, will be publishing a cookbook very soon.
I thought it might be nice to offer up a few samples of recipes which will be included in SWEET THANGS COOKBOOK.
I found the original recipe on-line. When I baked it, I was unhappy with the results. The cake wasn’t easy to make. You made the cake, the curd, and the icing. Now, I’m not opposed to doing all those things from scratch, but heck-fire, if I’m going to, I want the results to be delicious and they weren’t.
However, I thought the cake could be improved and simplified. It was yummy and much improved,so, here goes.
SWEET THANGS RECIPE
COCONUT LEMON CURD CAKE
Yellow cake mix-prepared according to package directions
After the cake is cooled. Spread lemon curd (bought in the jelly/jam department at the grocery store) between layers. I buy two jars and use it all.
Frost with the following 7-minute icing.
2-large egg whites
1 1/2 Cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cold water
1 TBS. light corn syrup (that’s Karo for all you new cooks)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
In a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, place the egg whites, sugar, water, and corn syrup. With a handheld electric mixer, beat the mixture for 3 to 4 minutes on low speed. Increase the speed to high and continue to beat for another 3-4 minutes or until the icing is shiny and satiny with soft peaks. Remove from heat, add the vanilla extract, and continue to beat on high speed for another 1 to 2 minutes or until the frosting is thick. Use immediately and add coconut to top and sides.
I personally keep any left over cake in the fridge. Later, if you don’t like to eat it cold, microwave your slice for about 10-15 seconds. It will take the chill off and soften the frosting just a bit.
This version of the cake was delicious. Much more moist than the site recipe I first tried.
If you really want to be fancy, bake the cake in two 8 inch pans and split the layers horizontally into four and add the curd between each layer.
Now, the icing may be a little bit of work, but it is well worth it.
TALKIN’ TWANG: My Texas momma always said, “You can tell the minute a man touches you if it’s for his benefit or yours.” #humor #Southern
Ann Everett, Best Selling Author
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