Tasty Treasures

             On Saturday Steve bought lunch for his team at work.  His employer provided him with the money because his team had the highest scores for quality for the whole department the previous week.  House of Q was the restaurant Steve decided to use and asked me to deliver the food.  House of Q is a great local restaurant but that's not what I'm writing about today.  As many of you know, to me food is comfort, love, and a stress-reliever.  It's also the carrot that dangles in front of Steve's team so they'll continue to do well.  I made Steve's team cookies this past weekend as a bribe.  I want them to continue to do well because it makes Steve look good.  It took me a week to decide which cookies to make.  Chocolate chip? Or peanut butter?  Or something new?  It went like this for days.  I wanted something that would showcase my skills as a baker.  Something that wouldn't be compared to their mom's/friend's/sister's cookies.  Chocolate chip cookies were out.  There's too many variances with chocolate chip cookies.  Everyone has a family recipe for chocolate chip cookies.  I flipped through the family cook book and finally settled on Caramel Cookies.  This recipe is from my great grandma who was great in the kitchen.  I never have to worry when I see a recipe with her name on it.  I know it will be great because she didn't keep crappy recipes... truth be told, I'm not sure she ever tried any recipes that were crappy.  The caramel cookies had a very delicate flavor as most of her cookies do.  The secret is real maple syrup and brown sugar.  The recipe was very simple which is another thing I love about her recipes.  Great Grandma's recipes don't require a lot of fussing but always produce elegant tasty results.  Her recipes are also famous for her directions.  This recipe said "Chill dough.  Shape into balls. Dip in sugar after dipping in water.  Bake at 350 degrees until light brown."  If you notice, there are no directions to cream butter and brown sugar, etc, etc, etc.  You are supposed to know this.  There is also no time given.  You're supposed to know this as well.  In fact, I'm surprised the temperature is given.  These directions are not a finger wagging at us but rather general family knowledge.  Great Grandma was the second oldest of 12 so she had been baking for the majority of her life and lengthy directions were simply not needed.  Her recipes remind me so much of her which comfort me and make me sad at the same time.  I miss her tremendously and her recipes are all I have (well besides the cookbook...).  I feel her in the kitchen with me when I bake her recipes.  Her recipes are a tangible reminder of her.  A reminder that I don't give out to just anyone.  Special close family friends, perhaps, but not just anyone.  I just can't bring myself to do it.  I know it's silly to hold onto recipes so tightly but I just can't let them go.  I do however share her tasty creations with people.  I called Steve at work to see how my cookies were doing.  He said people loved them.  One of his employees asked him "If I give your wife 20 bucks, will she make me more?"  Um yeah!  For 20 bucks, I'll make whatever cookies you want!   I've been harboring a secret dream to open a bakery for awhile now and this might be my start.  My mind swirled yesterday thinking of ideas, recipes and supplies that I would need.  Steve is going to double check with this guy about how serious he is.  If he's serious and I get more orders, you might be seeing more of my Tasty Treasures in the future.

Restaurant Review: Greek to Me!

       Today Steve and I tried a new restaurant in Sioux City.  Greek to Me! is close to Target on Sunnybrook Drive across from a very familiar fast-food joint with the golden arches.  (I will not say it!)  We've never had gyros before.  Steve's coworker highly recommends them.  He actually eats at a restaurant called Opa Time on Hamilton Blvd.  But that's all the way across town, Hamilton Blvd is under construction and the exit to Hamilton Blvd from I29 is closed because it's under water.  Greek to Me! is 5 minutes from our apartment making it the clear winner.  I had the gyro platter with a Greek salad.  Steve had the Philly Cheese gyro with a Greek salad.  I briefly considered getting the chicken gyro but decided to be authentic the first time I tried a gyro.  Now I realize that I said I would never eat lamb... I lied.  Gyros contain lamb.  The gyro had a great peppery flavor and was topped with Greek yogurt, tomatoes and onions.  It also had a couple pieces of feta cheese... which as it turns out, I'm not that fond of.  The salad was fantastic.  It had lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a Greek dressing.  The dressing!  It was a vinaigrette with Greek spices.  (Ok, so I don't know exactly what they were but it tasted great!)  Steve didn't especially care for it but vinaigrette dressings are not his thing.  I, however, want to learn exactly what was in it so I can make it at home.  Steve's gyro had lamb, green peppers, onions and provolone cheese.  Normally it would have mushrooms but he ordered it without them.  He let me have a bite of it and it was pretty good.  I'm not a fan of Philly cheese steaks so I have to admit that I preferred my gyro.  My meal also came with 3 black olives with the seeds in.  The seed was a surprise after I popped the first olive in my mouth.  In Spain, olives are served with practically every meal, drink, etc and always contain seeds so I'm used to eating around them.  Black olives with seeds actually taste a lot better than black olives without seeds.  I have no idea why.  Greek to Me! had pictures of Greece along the wall and Greek music playing which I thought was pretty cool.  Other than the pictures, the decor was pretty generic.

Final review: B+ Great food, speedy service, clean restaurant, reasonable prices.  We will be eating here again.

Ode to the Crock-Pot

             I may be in over my head.  I found the website for the Crock-Pot brand slow cookers.  The website has a recipe section.  You can all see where this is going, can't you?  As we all know, I love browsing recipe websites and magazines.  However I usually end up collecting more recipes than I can actually make.  I'm also planning on hosting Thanksgiving again this year and would like to use the crock-pot a little more.  I enjoyed making all of the dishes but using the crock-pot would make the process even smoother.  I know it's way to early to think about Thanksgiving.  A lot of people think I'm a planner out of obsessiveness but the truth is I get so excited about the holiday/party/whatever that I can't help myself.  I hosted my first Super Bowl party in February and I already want to do it again.  If I can plan a party around food, I'll do it and look forward to it for months.  But back to the Crock-Pot recipe section.  I found recipes for: Bread Pudding, Cranberry Orange Sauce (Darcy, I know it's not Grandma's but we have to try it anyways!) and Cherry Delight.  I can make a dessert called Cherry Delight in the crock-pot!!!!!!!  I love cherries!  So does Dad.  If it tastes as good as I hope it does, I'm making it for him at some point.  There's a bunch of other recipes that I'm really excited to look at as well.  I also think that I should get a smaller crock-pot too.  A lot of the side dish recipes use a smaller one.  The crock-pot that I received as a bridal shower gift (thanks Nancy and Jen!) is a 6-quart crock-pot that I registered for.  I wanted a bigger one because I plan on having kids and big crock-pots are great for families.  I love my big crock-pot and have used it a lot.  I think a smaller crock-pot would come in handy too.  I could have two different recipes in crock-pots at the same time!  Right now, the crock-pot sleeve is sitting in my refrigerator with Minestrone soup ingredients ready to go for tomorrow.  I can't wait!

Thank you Great Grandma

At work we have a grill-out the first Friday of every month.  Employee Committee supplies the burgers and hot dogs and employees are supposed to bring something to share.  I usually participate because it's fun.  This week has been a little weird though.  I've gotten some new assignments at work and trying to learn them has left my brain a little tired.  I forgot about the grill-out until Thursday night at 9:20pm when I was thinking about getting ready for bed.  Steve also informed me that we don't have any eggs.  Wacky cake! I can make wacky cake! I thought.  Wacky Cake does not use eggs or milk.  I knew it would probably be in my family cookbook.  As many of you know, I have my great grandma's copy of the family cookbook.  She totally saved my butt Thursday night.  I flipped to the index and saw Wacky Cake p 56 in her beautiful handwriting.  (Side note, why don't schools teach us to write that way anymore?  It's so pretty!)  The recipe was not in the cookbook but she had added it to her notes section.  I never realized that Wacky Cake called for a teaspoon of red food coloring.  I only added 1/2 teaspoon because it seemed to be enough.  Wacky Cake doesn't have a specific frosting recipe.  It simply calls for chocolate frosting.  I decided to use the Texas Sheet Cake frosting recipe.  Steve agreed to make it.  Everything was fine until I realized we didn't have any powdered sugar.  I had to send Steve to HyVee to get powdered sugar.  I was really trying to avoid that.  I didn't go because the cake was already in the oven.  Steve came back with powdered sugar and finished the frosting.  The recipe says to frost while cake is warm.  We took that at face value and poured the frosting on right after the cake came out of the oven.  I do know better than that but it was almost 10:30 and we were exhausted.  The cake was a hit at the grill-out.  Thank you Great Grandma!

Back in the Saddle

            I've finally baked again after my marathon baking for Darcy's party.  Last weekend I made S'mores bars while Nathan (Steve's twin) was visiting and yesterday I made yellow cake.  Last weekend I told the boys to pick something out and I would bake it.  About an hour later, they still hadn't decided.  I think they did more talking than looking at the recipes while they flipped through cookbooks.  I picked out S'mores bars because I know that the Krueger boys will take hours to make a decision if left to their own devices.  We went to HyVee and got the necessary ingredients.  The bars are so easy it's ridiculous.  Make a graham cracker crust.  Save a half cup for the top.  Press the crust into a square pan.  Layer chocolate bars over the crust.  Spread marshmallow fluff on that.  Sprinkle the saved crust on top.  Pop in the oven.  Easy, right?  But on the flip side, how hard is it to microwave a s'more?  (And I say microwave because there wasn't a campfire anywhere close.)  The bars were good but the marshmallow fluff was a bit too sweet.  Maybe next time, I'll use real marshmallows and see how it turns out.
           Yesterday our friends Matt and Abby had us over for a BBQ.  They made pork burgers (or for my family, pork patties) from Tiefenthaler's.  Tienfenthaler's is a meat locker in Holstein and everything I've tried has been delicious.  I so miss having meat locker meat.  Side story, when I moved away from home and actually had to buy my meat at the grocery store, I didn't have a clue what to get.  At home, the meat was always there and it was always yummy.  I decided to bake a cake for my friends since they were supplying the rest of the food.  I made yellow cake because I love it.  I used store-bought chocolate frosting.  I'm still not ready to dive back into the everything from scratch bit after making all of Darcy's cupcakes.  Matt and Abby have the most adorable twin girls.  It was so cute to watch their girls try to eat the frosting off the cake.  Diem actually said she needed more cake when she ran out of frosting!  We had such a great time playing with the girls and talking to Matt and Abby.  I can't wait to do it again.

Side note, I just checked out Tiefenthaler's recipe section on their website.  There's a recipe for their smoked turkey! It's been printed and will be filed with my other Thanksgiving recipes.  I love trying new recipes!

Guy Fieri's Rockin' Road Show

       Last month Guy Fieri was at the Orpheum for his Food and Road Show.  The show was amazing.  Let me just say that I will pay any amount of money to go to his show again.  It was the coolest thing I've done this year.  In Guy Fieri's own words: it was off the hook.  The show was part rock show, part food show, part inspirational speaker and part stand-up comedy.  My friend Abby is also a foodie and went with me.  We had an awesome time.
       The show started with Hayden "Woody" Wood and his Liquid Kitchen.  He bar tending skills were more impressive than Tom Cruise's in the movie Cocktail.  He was flipping bottles over his head and behind his back. And he even got some alcohol in his eye.  That last part wasn't part of the act and he said it hurt.  I bet it did but at least we knew the bottles were full.  He brought 3 ladies on stage (they actually had tickets to sit on stage... I wasn't willing to pay $200 for that privilege) to mix drinks for him.  One of the ladies was wearing a long dress that looked a little like a fancy flour sack and was hammered.  Note to self: Never wear a fancy flour sack dress, get hammered before a show and think you're sexier than you are.  Woody had the three ladies mix cocktails and then toss the glass/shaker at him.  Drunk flour sack lady was the second and chucked it at him.  He had to duck to his left a little to catch it to which he cried "Jesus!"  After the three ladies he did some dancing and mixing and had 3 guys come on stage.  The guys were supposed to mix drinks but being in Iowa, when Woody's back was turned they started drinking straight from the bottles.  He had said the crew had a good time the night before drinking until 4 AM with some locales.  You get what you ask for Woody.  Woody also pulled a married couple celebrating their anniversary on stage.  "What do you do in the kitchen?" Woody asked him.  "The dishes" was his answer.  Woody was going to fix that.  He outfitted the guy with a frilly apron, a purple cape and crown and gave him 60 seconds to make 4 drinks for his wife and beg for her forgiveness.  The way he gave a feather duster with a string attached to it so she could crack the whip at her husband.  On his way to beg for forgiveness, 2 drinks slipped off the tray and crashed to the floor.  Woody looked shocked.  This left the guy with 2 drinks.  His wife forgave him and both left the stage with smiles on their faces.
        After the opening act, a video played featuring 3 guys that Guy had met while doing Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  Guy Fieri came on stage and introduced his crew which included original camera guys from Triple D, DJ Cobra from LA and 3 guys he met while doing Triple D: Panini Pete, Stretch and Pigskin.  Guy is very charismatic and funny but he did touch on a few important issues.  He promoted his new book Guy Fieri Food: Cookin' It, Livin' It, Lovin' It and told the crowd to pay special attention to the dedication page.  The book is dedicated to his sister Morgan who passed away from cancer.  The publisher already had the book printed with a dedication to his family when Morgan passed away and Guy changed his mind about the dedication.  The publisher ripped out all of the pages with the old dedication and printed the new one.  How awesome is that?!  If any of my family are reading this and would like a Christmas present idea, that book would be an awesome gift.  The second issue he tackled was childhood obesity.  "Somewhere along the line, we've forgotten to teach our kids what real food is," he said and it's so true.  I hear a lot of people say "I don't cook" with pride in their voice.  That is nothing to be proud of.  You can't or don't want to prepare food for your family?  Good for you.  He told us to cook with our kids.  Abby and I looked at each other at the same time.  "I cook with my kids," Abby said at the same time I said "I'll cook with your kids!"  It's true.  I steal people's kids to cook with.  I cook with Jade, Aiden and Eve.  It's fun to cook with kids and I plan to do it with my own someday.  Music played throughout the show and DJ Cobra had some special effects for the hilarious stories that Guy told.  Guy is a great speaker.  He was able to mix in subtle cooking lessons with his stories, like don't get your oil to hot.  That story was about deep-frying a turkey for Thanksgiving and how he almost started his house on fire because the oil was too hot.  (It was outside and spilled and the fire was dangerously close to his porch.)  He also did a skit for Minute to Win It, a show he hosts on NBC.  The show's concept came from Australia and he was asked to host an American version.  In the preliminary part of the show, he told a contestant "You have a minute to win it."  The producers liked the phrase so much that they asked for permission to use it.  He had no idea they were going to use it for the title of the show.  I've never seen Minute to Win It but Abby has.  When he asked for audience volunteers even though we were on the third level, Abby jumped up and down trying to get his attention.  And I, being the good friend I am, pointed at her like a dork.  Unfortunately she didn't get picked.  He did pick a soldier from the crowd.  "I support our troops.  I don't support war but I do support our troops," Guy said when the soldier came onstage.  The soldier got a standing ovation from the crowd.  It was a great sight to see.

            Throughout the night Guy recognized various people during the show.  He recognized the students from a culinary school that were acting as his stage hands and a member of the Pork Producers responsible for getting his show to Sioux City.  I learned a lot from Guy.  Not all of it had to do with food preparation.  He always plays music while he's cooking because cooking should be fun.  I think this is an excellent idea and have been using it in my own home.  Abby and I stood in line until midnight for Guy to sign the t-shirts we bought for our husbands.  He's a trooper.  I could tell he was really tired but he was still very funny.

Here a Cupcake, There a Cupcake, Everywhere a Cupcake!

             I made all of the cupcakes for Darcy's graduation party and I survived.  156 cupcakes.  When my coworkers hear about it, they give me a strange look and say "You're nuts."  I then make it very clear to them that I would only do this for family... no one else.  I don't want people getting any ideas... right Nancy?  I took a week off work to help get ready for Darcy's party.  On Tuesday I made 2 batches of chocolate cupcakes and a batch of yellow cupcakes.  Grandma did all of the dishes for me.  It was the perfect set-up because I hate doing dishes and Grandma doesn't mind it.  We froze the cupcakes so they'd still be fresh for Sunday.  I had planned to make the white cupcakes on Tuesday instead of the yellow but hit a snag when we realized we had forgotten to buy almond flavoring while grocery shopping.  Wednesday we went grocery shopping before Grandma's dental appointment and forgot the almond flavoring again.  We had just a few things on our mind while at the store!  On Thursday I made the white cupcakes after buying the almond flavoring in Emmetsburg.  Grandma made the spice cupcakes on Friday because I was decorating for the party.  So I guess technically I didn't make ALL of the cupcakes... 
              I made 4 different kinds of frosting: cherry, Butterfinger, chocolate and cream cheese.  I had brought a half batch of the cherry and Butterfinger frosting.  The secret trick to these frosting was the base.  Each started with very basic cake decorating frosting.  I made another batch of the basic frosting and split it in half.  Half was added to the cherry frosting; the other half to the Butterfinger frosting.  Each frosting had been too strong previously.  I wanted the frosting to have a faint taste.  The chocolate frosting was very bitter after I made it.  Grandma fussed with it the next day while I was in Emmetsburg and the result was perfection.  The cream cheese frosting was made Saturday before frosting.  I didn't want to make it sit too long.  The cherry frosting was for the white cupcakes.  The chocolate frosting, the yellow cupcakes.  The chocolate cupcakes had the Butterfinger frosting.  Cream cheese frosting suited the spice cupcakes.
              Saturday Grandma and I took the cupcakes out of the freezer...which wasn't the funnest thing I've ever done.  We put the cupcakes in metal cake pans.  It was a long dash from the freezer in the garage to the counter in the kitchen with the freezing metal on our hands.  Grandma figured it would take us an hour to frost the cupcakes.  We finished frosting in an hour and a half... Grandma was pretty close!  We sprinkled sanding sugar on the white and yellow cupcakes to add a little extra elegance.  For the chocolate cupcakes, Grandma sprinkled a little extra crushed Butterfinger on them.   The spice cupcakes were elegant enough with the cream cheese frosting (and also, anything added to that would have been really gross). 

             On Sunday I took the cupcakes to the office and set them out.  I did plan for the cupcakes to be part of the decoration with the different frosting and the fancy black with white polka dot liners.  I think they turned out very nice.  (And yes, I did fuss with the presentation.)  People seemed to really enjoy the cupcakes.