New Year's Feast

Welp- I'm glad to be home after a week at my parents. I didn't realize how much I hate having others control my meal planning and preparation. So, I've made up for it...all in one day.

I ended up slicing up some yellow squash with my new slicer to go with our New Year's Eve steak dinner, by the way. Not sure what to do with it now, but I'll come up with something. A nice saute with onions, butter, and wine, perhaps?

I've made the ugliest, yet most heavenly coconut cream pie ever. That's what I get for trying to fit a 10-inch recipe into a 9-inch pie crust. Here's a shot of the pie sans whipped cream.

Coconut Cream Pie- Southern Living 2005
1 pricked and pre-baked pie crust (9 inches)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups half-and-half (milk also works)
4 egg yolks
3 Tablespoons butter
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (keep it pure, people)

Combine sugar, cornstarch in a heavy saucepan. Whisk together egg yolks and half-and-half. Gradually whisk egg mixture into sugar mixture; bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil one minute, remove from heat.

Stir in butter and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, placing the wrap directly on the filling in the pan; let stand 30 minutes. Spoon into pie crust, cover and chill 30 minutes or until set. Cover with whipped cream and garnish with toasted coconut.

Whipped Cream
Beat 2 cups of whipping cream until foamy; gradually add 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla, beating until peaks form.



Happy New Year, southern-style.

Here's a shot of the Hoppin' John I put together today. Mmm....bacon.

Here's the HJ in final stages of cooking. Beans not mushy, just barely firm to the bite. Just need some rice, greens, and cornbread. Perfection. My South Carolina kin would be very proud.

Hoppin' John

From “The Glory of Southern Cooking,” by James Villas (Wiley, 2007).

1/4 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 pounds black-eyed peas, fresh or frozen

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (lots and lots, please)

Red pepper flakes to taste (I used a few pinches of cayenne instead)

Hot, cooked rice

3 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

FRY the bacon in a large saucepan over medium heat until crisp. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat. Add the onion, celery and garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

ADD the peas, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the peas are tender but not mushy, about 1 hour. (It may take less time for frozen peas, so taste them after 30 minutes.)

DRAIN the peas, then serve over hot rice topped with chopped tomato.

I always like a couple shots of hot sauce (Texas Pete) on this.

Power Tools a la Janet

I love accessories. Beaded necklaces and fun shoes are my favorite, but I have discovered a new family of accessories to love. That is, accessories for my new KitchenAid mixer. I think Jim likes my new cooking and baking obsession. A lot. I think that because my birthday was a few days ago and he and the kids gave me a new baking book, a kitchenaid slicer accessory, new silicone trivets, and a silicone steamer (all matchy red. beautiful). So, here I am trying to figure out what I can slice and dice. Since we've been out of town, I don't have a lot available in the 'fridge or pantry. Hmmm....

I also got Guitar Hero, but the kitchen tools are the root of my excitement.

Did I mention that I ate some de-lish boiled peanuts that gave me a touch of food poisoning? It was almost worth the pain for the pleasure. Yum... and then yuck. All better now. Time to find something to slice. I think I have a potato somewhere that wants to bathe in cheese and cream for my dinner.

Christmas Coconut Balls

Ahhhh.... Christmas. Memories of ripping through package after package without looking up or pausing for a breath. Jim and I refer to this as the "Rogers tear-through." Now that we are civilized adults, we require our children to wait and open one by one so we can ooh and aah before snapping a shot of the kids with every single gift. We never print the photos, but at least we took the picture.

These coconut balls are a Rogers tradition born during my generation. This recipe makes a ton and I can spread them throughout the community. I've dipped them into paraffin/chocolate and love the satisfying snap that comes with every bite, but I've since learned that paraffin is not edible (say some). I'd rather not risk it, so I just use 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk) to 2 T shortening. Not as satisfying to bite, but yummy and definitely edible (I hate that gross "dipping bark"...nasty stuff unless you can find the ghirardelli or a fine (affordable) brand of chocolate).

1 stick of butter, softened
1 can sweetened condensed milk
14 oz. bag of coconut
1 tsp. vanilla (or almond) extract
2 lbs. powdered sugar (I use a bit less to improve the creaminess quality)
1 cup of chopped nuts (I use pecans, but you can use almonds)

Mix together- This dense filling made my Kitchenaid earn its reputation. Roll into balls, cover with plastic wrap and then refrigerate a few hours.

Melt the chocolate and shortening over a double boiler. Roll the balls in the chocolate and lay onto parchment paper to set. I prefer these at room temperature, but the chocolate really needs to refrigerate unless its been tempered, which you cannot do with chocolate chips.

People love them.

Joy to the World - Stress to the Rest

I am so nervous about this new blog. I mean, I can barely keep my household above water these days with work, school, kids and facebook taking up all my time. But...I do love to journal, and what better thing to journal about than food and life? Of course, it's 5:30 in the morning and this is our first free weekend in about a year. I should be sleeping, but nooo..here I am creating a new blog and thinking of the other million things that need to be accomplished before Christmas hits next week.

The truth is, I am very excited! Today I get to sew and bake. Too loud for this hour with little ones sleeping, but soon...very soon...!