Tis The Season......for Halloween!

The most wonderful time of the year....for  me anyway.  I LOVE fall, October and especially Halloween!  I can't really explain the obsession, it's not like I get to do anything special.  I thought that by having kids I could live vicariously through them when it came to trick or treating.  WRONG!  My kids were never really into trick or treating.  My husband and I would set out with them and plan to visit all the streets in an entire neighborhood.  After two streets our kids were complaining "I'm tired", "Carry me", "Carry my sword", "Carry my bag", "This mask is hot".  My husband and I would be like "Come on, only 3 more streets to go!" I looked forward to Oct. 31st every year when they were little but it just didn't have the same effect on them that it did with me.  You see, I was deprived as a child when it came to trick or treating.  First of all, it was always cold on Halloween when we were kids.  So I may have been dressed up like a princess or a witch or a kitty cat, whatever.  My mom would wrap me up in a coat, a scarf, a knit cap and sometimes gloves.  By the time I got to one of the three houses I was allowed to trick or treat at and rang the bell, no one knew what I was supposed to be.  "Oh look...Honey, come to the door and see this....it's a kid dressed as an over protected child!"  Yep, that was me, deep down inside I was just a witch screaming to come out.  (Ironic isn't it!)   I still love it though.  Can't explain why.  I don't dress up and I'm a little old for trick or treating and if you know me at all you know that I will not step foot into any place that is haunted be it a house, hotel, B&B, etc.  I love going to theme parks and haunted houses and such but when it comes to the real deal you can count me out.  I love scary movies but only if I can watch them during the day and I have to admit that I usually sleep with a light on when I'm home by myself.  So this fetish I have with October 31st is a little strange to say the least.  I just love all the decorations, the colors, the pumpkins and that fact that for one day out of the year you can dress up and act like anyone you want for the entire day and no one will think anything is wrong with you.  It's a day where you can be anyone else that you want to be and get away with it. It's like you get to be in your own fantasy land for the day.  I love spooky but not scary.  I love creepy but not frightening.  I love candy corn.  I love that it gets dark early. I love the idea of ghostly encounters but should I ever see one I better have a change of clothes handy!  I would be really scared if I saw a stranger ghost but I have often wondered if I would be afraid if I saw a relative ghost.  Would I run away or would I try to talk to them, touch them?  Hmmm.  Thinking about it, I think I would be scared.  Anyway, what is the point of this long winded post?  For the next month I will be chewing and reviewing Halloween treats and recipes.  Spooky cookies and creepy treats, so stay tuned and check back weekly to see what I have conjured up for Halloween!

Bob's Pot Roast

Okay readers, I'm finished with the Pioneer Woman and plan to start on a new cookbook this week.  In the meantime I figured I needed to post something so here is my recipe for pot roast aka Bob's Pot Roast.  Keep in mind, this is intended for human consumption but Mr. Little Bob is an incredibly picky eater and the only thing I can get him to eat without having to cover it up with cheese is my pot roast.  So here goes.  By the way, you can cook this roast in either a crock pot or oven depending on whether or not your roast is fresh or frozen.  Yes, I said frozen.  Several years ago I was talking with a grandmother friend that I had and she told me that she always slow cooks her roast in a crock pot frozen.  I gave it a try and it works perfectly so there is no need to thaw out your roast ahead of time if that is what you have.

1 beef rump or shoulder roast
1 pkg of frozen stew vegetables
1 pkg of brown gravy mix
1 pkg of beef stew mix
2 cups water

Set crock pot to cook on medium to medium high.  (Mine has settings for 4, 6, 8 and 10 hours and I always use the 8 hour setting)  Set unwrapped, frozen roast in center of the crock pot.  Sprinkle the package of frozen vegetables around the roast.  On top of the meat and veggies, sprinkle the brown gravy mix and the beef stew mix.  Slowly add two cups of water so that you don't completely disturb the seasoning on top of the roast and veggies.  (This makes a nice coating as it cooks)  Place the lid on the pot then go work in the yard or go shopping or if you must, go to work.  It will be perfect when you get back!  Remove meat and veggies from the pot and make gravy with the drippings.  You may have to add another package of gravy mix or what I do is just mix up a couple of tbsps of corn starch in a half cup of water and mix that with the drippings from the crock pot in a sauce pan on medium heat over the stove. 

If you want to cook your roast fresh, heat oven to 325 degrees, mix all ingredients according to directions in a roasting pan and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

             I don't have a picture of my pot roast so here is a picture of my picky eater!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Macaroni and Cheese

Photo by Ree Drummond

4 cups dry macaroni
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c (1/2 stick or 4 tbsps) butter
1/4 c all purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whole milk
2 heaping tsps dry mustard
1 pound cheddar or other desired cheese, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Cook the macaroni until very firm.  The macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot (if you are in a hurry and don't want to bake the macaroni and cheese, cook it now until it's done) Drain.
In a small bowl, beat the egg.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter a large oval or rectangular baking dish.  In a large pot, melt the butter and sprinkle in the flour.  Whisk it together over medium-low heat.  Cook for 5 minutes, whisking constantly.  Don't let it burn.  Pour in the milk.  Add the mustard and whisk until smooth.  Cook 5 minutes or until very thick, whisking constantly.  Reduce the heat to low.  To tempter the egg, slowly pour 1/4 cup of the sauce into the beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking the egg.  Whisk until smooth.  pour the egg mixture into the sauce, whisking until smooth.  Add in all but 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir until melted.  Add the seasonings.  Taste the sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed.  Pour in the cooked, drained macaroni and stir to combine.  Serve immediately or pour into the baking dish and top with the remaining cheese.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Sorry Pioneer Woman, but this was not a big hit with me.  I probably should have stopped after I had it all combined and not baked it in the oven.  To me, this just dried the whole thing out.  I like mac and cheese that is creamy and cheesy and this was very dry and didn't have a lot of taste to me.  It was fine when I tasted it before I baked it.  I could have made a mistake while preparing it but then I don't recall ever having made mac and cheese from scratch before so it is very possible that I screwed it up, I just always used a box.  So the fact that I didn't care for this recipe is probably from my lack of experience in cooking homemade comfort foods OR it could be because I have a sister in law who makes the best mac and cheese I have ever tasted.  Yes, Gayla, I'm talking about you!  Gayla is my husband's youngest sister and she can cook homemade comfort food like no one else I know!  Matter of fact, I ate some last night at a party she was having and it was the biggest helping on my plate!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Simple, Perfect Enchiladas

The Sauce:
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsps all-purpose flour
1 large (28 ounce) can enchilada or Mexican red sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsps chopped cilantro plus extra for serving

The Meat:
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion
Two 4-ounce cans diced green chilies
1/2 tsp salt

The Rest:
10 to 14 corn tortillas
canola oil for frying
1/2 cup chopped black olives
1 cup chopped green onions
3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
cilantro

In a saucepan over medium-low heat combine the canola oil and flour.  Whisk together and allow to bubble for 1 minute.  Pour in the enchilada (red) sauce, chicken broth, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Finely chop the onion.  In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion.  Drain the fat then add the green chilies.  Add the salt and stir to combine, turn off the heat and set aside.

In a small skillet over medium heat, lightly fry the tortillas in canola oil just until soft.  Do not crisp.  Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.  Repeat until all the tortillas have been fried.  Now that all the elements are ready, lets assemble!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish.  Next dip each tortilla into the sauce.  Set the sauce-soaked tortillas on a cookie sheet.  On each tortilla, place some of the meat mixture, black olives and green onions.  Top with a generous portion of grated cheese.  Roll up the tortilla to contain the filling inside and place seam side down in the baking dish.  Repeat with the rest of the tortillas.  Stir the cilantro into the sauce and pour the remaining sauce over the top of the enchiladas.  End with a generous sprinkling of cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly.  Sprinkle extra chopped cilantro over the top. 

I served this with a quick taco salad on the side.  In a large salad bowl, cut up one head of lettuce into bite size pieces, add about 4 to 6 ounces of a block of cheddar cheese, cubed, add one small diced tomato, one can of drained pinto beans, 1/2 to 3/4 of a small bottle of Catalina Salad Dressing, toss to mix well and top with small size Fritos.

These enchiladas were good but they were not my momma's enchiladas.  We do things a lot easier and still get a good result.  I love Pioneer Woman and her cookbook but it seems to me she takes a lot of extra steps to make something where to me a shortcut could be taken.  I guess that's why she has a cookbook and I don't! :)  Anyway, if you like beef enchiladas these were good.  It made a huge pan full so you could feed 4-5 people at least.  I like enchiladas made with red sauce even though my family prefers chili.  You could taste the green chilies and the black olives for sure in this recipe.  I am not a huge black olive fan but it worked for this dish.  On a scale of 1-10 I would give these about a 7.75 and that's just because I am partial to the ones I grew up on.  Corn tortillas stuffed with shredded Velvetta cheese and chopped onions topped with chili and more shredded cheese then heated till bubbly.  I can make them just like my mom but for some reason they always taste better when she makes them!

Road Trip to Mt. Nebo State Park, Arkansas



The main course

Well it's back to reality after our trip to the mountains of Arkansas.  I highly recommend renting a cabin at Mt. Nebo State Park.  It's about a six hour drive from Dallas but one worth taking.  You enter the park from the town of Dardanelle.  It's a small town, population approx. 4,200.  Be sure you stop at the Wal-Mart that's just before you make your way up the mountain for food and supplies because you wont want to leave once you get up there.  The drive there is nice but there are some major switchbacks getting to the top that will have you thinking you're getting no where fast because every turn looks exactly the same.  Same rocks, same road, same trees, it's kind of funny actually.  When you reach the top it's a short drive to the visitor's center to check in and then there are about 20 cabins throughout the area along with some privately owned cabins that are also for rent.  They have a sunrise point, a sunset point, swimming pool, picnic area (several), playground, tennis courts and a gift shop.  One side of the mountain faces Lake Dardanelle which makes for nice scenery except for the nuclear power plant that sits out in the middle of it!  The other side faces more mountains and trees as far as you can see.  This is the side our cabin was on.  The cabins were built in the 1930s but have recently been renovated so you think you are staying in a relatively new cabin.  Ours was very cute, all in oak paneling with a small kitchen that included a refrigerator, stove, oven, sink, microwave, toaster and coffee maker plus all the necessary kitchen utensils, plates and pots and pans.  It had a full size bathroom with a tub/shower, a living area with satellite TV, a foo ton, rocking chair, fireplace and dining table and then one bedroom with a queen size bed.  Outside we had a patio with a picnic table, lawn chairs, a fire pit and a cookout grill.  When we first checked in we thought we wanted to go into town and check out the local eateries but the sunset was at 7:18 that evening and we didn't want to miss it so we grabbed what we needed at Wal-Mart and headed back to the mountain.  So I have to say that I don't have a review of any places to eat on this trip, all I can tell you is that my own personal chef, Gary, cooked us out some great rib eye steaks while I worked on the baked potatoes, corn and garlic bread in the cabin.  We managed to come up with an appetizer and dessert as well.  See photos below!  Day two of our trip we rented mountain bikes and went on a 2 and a half our ride.  The first half was pretty easy but there was a lot of up hill on the second half.  There is a "bench" that runs all the way around the mountain that is suitable for mountain biking so we took that trail all the way around.  I didn't feel bad about missing this weeks Zumba class after our ride.  That was plenty of workout to last me a week!  I'm glad we did it.  It was really cool to be there riding along the side of the mountain, through the trees with the love of my life!  After the ride we went back to the cabin, cooked up a late breakfast of scrambled eggs, biscuits, sausage and bacon then we cleaned up and took a nap for most of the day.  By late afternoon it was time to situate ourselves outside and wait for the live Bambi show to start.  We had 9 little visitors that evening including one young buck and two spotted fawns that looked like twins.  For dinner that night we had cooked out hot dogs.  Our last morning there we woke up to find 10 deer at our back door.  I got straight up out of bed and sat on the back door steps in my PJs so I could watch and feed the deer.  We left the back door open while we were eating breakfast and a couple of doe just stood there at the door watching us.  I think maybe they wanted a cup of coffee and a biscuit!  It was great fun and anyone who loves the outdoors should take a visit to Mt. Nebo.  You'll love it!

The appetizer

The dessert

      

Taking a road trip to Mt. Nebo Arkansas

Dear Readers,
This week I am taking a break from cooking, reviewing and Pioneer Woman. We are on our way to Mt. Nebo for a couple of days of R and R. Hopefully I will have some interesting diners, drive inns or dives to tell you about. Check back in a day or two.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Chocolate Sheet Cake

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
4 heaping tbsps cocoa powder

Icing:
1 3/4 sticks butter
4 heaping tbsps cocoa powder
6 tbsps milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 c finely chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt.  Stir together and set aside.  In another bowl, mix the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and baking soda, mix with a fork and set aside.  In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the cocoa.  Whisk together to combine.  Bring one cup of water to a boil.  When the butter is melted pour the boiling water in the pan and allow to bubble for a moment then turn off the heat.  Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture.  Stir together to cool the chocolate then pour in the egg mixture.  Stir together until smooth then pour into a ungreased jelly roll pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, make the icing.  Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium-low heat.  Add the cocoa powder and stir until smooth.  Add the milk and vanilla and powered sugar, stir together.  Dump in the chopped pecans and stir until well combined.  Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, pour the warm icing over the top.  You'll want to avoid doing much spreading so try to distribute it evenly as you pour.

Photo by Ree Drummond

I made this cake on a Saturday while my sister and her husband were visiting.  I had never made a sheet cake before and I have to say that I was pretty impressed with myself after I made this one.  If you have a craving for chocolate this will take care of it.  It taste just like something you'd get at a church function that was baked by a little ole Sunday school teacher.  Yummy!  I had to make the frosting with half pecans and half plain for the wussies in the family but either way it was a hit!

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - French Breakfast Puffs

Puffs:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup  sugar
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Coating:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tsps ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg then set aside.  In a separate large bowl cream together the sugar and shortening, add the eggs and continue mixing.  Alternate adding one-third of the flour mixture and one third of the milk to the creamed mixture beating well after each addition.  Fill the muffin cups two-thirds full.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until golden.  Remove muffins from the pan.  To make the coating, melt the butter in a bowl or glass pan, In a separate container, combine the sugar and cinnamon.  Dip the warm muffins in the butter coating thoroughly.  Then roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, don't be afraid to coat them really well.

Okay, so I've been waiting until I had a house full of people to try these things out.  I made them this morning and the only ones here to share it with are my four legged friends.  These are pretty good.  I had to each two to be sure!  They were very easy to make.  The muffin batter seemed a little bland to me and I was afraid that these wouldn't have much taste but the baked up nicely, light and fluffy.  You don't want to let them cool down too much before you but the coating on.  You have to handle them with care or they will fall apart on you while you are rolling them in the butter and cinnamon-sugar.  I guess the reason why the muffin isn't too sweet is because of the coating which makes a perfect balance of sweetness.  I'm not sure how the men in my family would go for these, they don't contain sausage or bacon, but they would be really good to serve to overnight guest in the morning with coffee. 

Diner's, Drive Inns and Dives - Leo's BBQ

We stopped in OK City and ate at Leo's BBQ. It was featured on Food Network's Diner's, Drive Inns and Dives. We met the own, Charles, (Leo's son). Told him we saw his place on TV, he was happy we came up. The food was good, we had hot links, BBQ bologna, brisket and ribs with beans and potato salad and the best part was their famous strawberry/banana cake!!! YUM

The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler

1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, melted
1 1/4 cups plus 2 tbsps sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2 cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries (or blueberries, peaches, raspberries and so on)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 3-quart baking dish with butter.  Place the stick of butter in a microwave safe dish and heat for 30 to 45 seconds until melted.  In a medium bowl whisk 1 cup of the sugar with the flour and milk.  Whisk in the melted butter.  Rinse the blackberries and pat them dry.  Pour the batter into the baking dish and sprinkle the blackberries evenly over the top of the batter.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the blackberries.  Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown and bubbly.  When 10 minutes of cooking time remains, sprinkle the 2 tbsps of sugar over the top. 

I thought this cobbler was very good.  It tasted like a freshly baked blackberry muffin.  It didn't really have the consistency of a cobbler, it was more cake or muffin like.  It was simple to make and it was especially good served warm!   A scoop of vanilla ice cream would have made it even better.  At least that's what my husband said.  He thinks he should have ice cream with any dessert!