Doughnuts (Mel)

As I was standing over my sink devouring a piece of cold chicken like a ravenous beast, I though to myself, I should really make some doughnuts today. Okay I know that if Tim reads this he'll get all sicked out cause I was eating cold chicken. Get over it honey, I've done it since I was a kid and I'll do it until I die, which incidentally, will probably be sooner than later if I keep eating cold fried chicken.:) Secondly, I only thought about the doughnuts because yesterday I really wanted to make some and I found a really quick really easy recipe for Old Fashioned cake doughnuts, which are my FLAVORITE!!! See? It's like flavor and favorite together??? Sigh anyways if you would like to try to make doughnuts, like I am going to TRY and make doughnuts, here is the recipe:

FAST AND EASY OLD FASHION DOUGHNUT
4 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 c. milk
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix all together, roll and cut with doughnut cutter. Deep fry until brown.
Delicious plain, or coat with sugar and cinnamon.
Today though I'm doing half the recipe, because really do I need 2 dozen doughnuts just laying around my house with only me and Riley at home? No, I don't think so, remember how i was eating cold chicken? For  breakfast, over the sink cause I didn't want to dirty a dish? Yeah two dozen or more doughnuts around the house are NOT a good idea. Here's some pictures of my doughnut endeavor:

 The Beginnings

 The Holes

 What makes doughnuts delicious in the first place.:)

 I think they turned out okay. We'll see when the taste tester gives them a try.

 The finished product. I burned the last couple...oops.:)

Riley LOVED them she thought they were pretty good even though I did burn some and the Crisco made them smell like eggs. Not really appetizing for me, but fun to do nonetheless!

Chili, fun and the Halloween Tree (Mom)

I have to say that I really love, Love, LOVE reading the posts on this blog.  I think it is so fun  to share with each other.  Our chili night was so much fun.  I like doing things like that.  Maybe because it makes it more fun for me.  I don't have to plan it all. 
I made so much chili that didn't get eaten that I was able to freeze some for later.  Maybe if we get a good snow in the near future,we can go sledding then come home for chili and hot cocoa. 
I would share my recipe for the wheat chili, but I kind of make it up as I go along.  I usually cook the wheat in the slow cooker before hand and then add it in along or instead of the meat.  Other than the wheat, I just make it like regular chili.
All of the chilis were so good. I loved the cookies and the corn muffins.  Both of those added to the fun of the night.  Let's not forget this and do it again some time.  Just a reminder, our Iron Chef is coming up in February or March so we need to think about what we want for our special ingredient. 
I decided that I wanted to read the Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury for Halloween.  I went looking on a couple of book websites, and found a hard copy for not too much, so I ordered two.  I read it quickly, and loved it.  I loaned one book to Steph and the other to Mel.  While on the website, I was able to order the animated movie too.  It was made for TV in 1994.  Leonard Nimoy does the voice of the main character and Ray Bradbury himself narrarates it.  I think it is just loosely based on the book, but still a nice show for the Halloween season.  If you would like to read the book or watch the movie, just let me know.

Roasted Pepper and Pepper Jack Corn Muffin Recipes (Steph)

Since I didn't take any pictures of our chili cook-off the other night, I might as well share the recipes I used for the food we brought.

Roasted Pepper Chili

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
2 cups chopped onion (2 large)
1 large Bell Pepper
1 Anaheim Chili Pepper
1 Jalapeno Pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 15 ounce can beans (kidney, black, pinto)
    (I used one can pinto and one can black)
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 Tbsp Chili powder
1 tsp dried basil (I didn't have basil, so I used dried parsley instead)
1/2 tsp black pepper

Roast peppers under broiler until dark and blistered.  Place in bowl and cover 5-10 minutes. Remove skins and seeds; dice. In dutch oven, brown ground beef then add onion, roasted peppers and garlic.  Cook until onion is tender.  Stir in beans , tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, basil, and black pepper .  Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer covered 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

At this point, I usually put it in the slow cooker to keep it cooking until dinner time.  Serve with sour cream and/or cheese.


Pepper Jack Corn Muffins

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 to 3 Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

Preheat oven to 400 deg F.  In a medium bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine eggs, milk and oil.  Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture and stir until just moistened.  Spoon batter into greased muffin tin, filling each two-thirds of the way full.  Bake at 400 15 to 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Makes 12 muffins.

Just a note: I doubled this recipe, so I used 1 cup shredded cheese.  I don't think it was enough cheese, so next time I think I'll bump it up to 3/4 or 1 cup of cheese per batch.  Also, I thought that the corn muffins were still a little dry for my taste, so next time maybe I'll add some sour cream or something???

As for the bookin', Mom lent me one of her copies of "The  Halloween Tree" and I've read the first couple of chapters.  I want to read it aloud to Kevin, but when I brought up the idea, he wasn't too hot on it.  I'll let you know what I think when I'm done.  I know we watched the cartoon all the time when we were kids, but honestly, I can't remember most of it.  All I remember it the part where they eat the candy skulls and I thought it was cool, but kind of freaky at the same time.  

Chili Cookoff 2010, continued (Dorthy)

Mel and Sarah started off the night decorating cookies Mel and Steph made earlier last week.  I, of course, had to muscle in on the action because I have a habit of doing that sort of thing (just let me finish that knitting for you....Sorry, guys. I'm trying to be better.)

Some of my favorites included Frankenstein's monster,

witch's boots,

and cute little owls.

Tim and Rory talked some sports before dinner, since their wives wouldn't let them play video games.

 And here are Steph's yummy pepper jack corn muffins.

Before we sat down to eat, Mom brought out some little cups so we could taste a little bit of each of the different chilis.  Everybody's was really good and a few people ended up mixing a couple different kinds in their bowl so they didn't have to choose just one.  For some reason, I didn't think to take pictures of the actual entries, but Mel had that covered, so we're good.

After dinner we played Hedbanz, as Mel said earlier.  It was a lot of fun and even Abi got in on the action.

Here's my recipe for Sweet 'n' Tangy Chili, as Mel has dubbed it.  Ror and I kind of made it up as we went along, so some measurements are guesstimates.

1 lb stew meat (I used part of a bottom round roast)
1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 jalepenos, diced

1 small can tomato paste

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 can of beef broth

2 cans diced tomatoes (we used the kind with green chiles in them)

1/4 to 1/3 cup brown sugar, to taste.

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper, to taste

In dutch oven, sear meat.  Remove meat and set aside.  Saute onion until translucent, then add garlic and jalepeno.  Saute a few more minutes.  Add tomato paste and seasonings, allow paste to carmelize a little.  Add beef broth, diced tomatoes and brown sugar.  Stir in meat and beans.  Let simmer until meat is tender (we let ours go about 4 hours).  Serve with your favorite chili toppings.  We like lime juice and a little Tabasco.

Chili Cookoff 2010 (Mel)

Sunday was the second Annual Schmidt Family Cookoff and I have to say I'm surprised Mom or Steph hasn't jumped on posting about it before now. Dorthy will probably add to mine, she took a lot more pictures than I did, so she probably should, but lets get to the chili

 Mel and Tim's "Ghost" White Chili, in light of the "fall"iday (thanks for that new phrase Dorthy, I'll be using that a lot!) I didn't intentionally post this picture first it just sort of happened that way.

 Steph and Kevin's Roasted Red Pepper Chili. They also made yummy cornbread muffins with pepper jack cheese in them. They were good, and that's saying something cause I don't usually like cornbread!

 Mom's Wheat Chili in front, Charles' Loaded Chili to the left and Dorthy and Rory's Sweet n' Tangy Chili in the back. Yeah I know you all like those names, so feel free to use them on your recipe cards.:)

 We played games Headbandz and I think they played Cranium, but I was watching a movie with a screaming baby so, I didn't get to play.

 We also frosted Halloween Cookies cause I wanted to and when people saw what we were doing they HAD to be apart of it. But I think they turned out pretty good.

More games. Riley thought she needed to be on someone's lap all the time all night long. It got a little aggravating and special note, this is the first picture I have seen that Charles isn't suffocating Amber! Way to Go! All in all I think we all had a pretty good time even without video games (boys) another successful third Sunday dinner with little to no blood shed. We're getting better!

French Fries: The Easy Way? (Steph)

The other day I was over at Mom and Dad's house and I was watching America's Test Kitchen with Mom, since the "Create" channel is one of the only ones that comes in on Mom and Dad's TV.  They were making burgers and fries.  The burgers were made of sirloin that they ground themselves and after they were cooked they served them on potato rolls with cheese and onion.  While that sounded good, I would have made more of a salad on mine.  I like the veggies.  The fries were the really interesting part.  They called them "Easier French Fries" and here's the recipe from their website:

• 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 6 medium), scrubbed, dried, sides squared off, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch batons
• 6 cups peanut oil
• 1/4 cup bacon fat , strained (optional)
•   Kosher salt

1. Combine potatoes, oil, and bacon fat (if using) in large Dutch oven. Cook over high heat until oil has reached rolling boil, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, without stirring, until potatoes are limp but exteriors are beginning to firm, about 15 minutes.
2. Using tongs, stir potatoes, gently scraping up any that stick, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes longer. Using skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer fries to thick paper bag or paper towels. Season with salt and serve immediately.

Seems easy enough and they said that they turned out super crispy and not greasy at all.  I though it was interesting and that one day I would have to try it for myself.  I had no idea that day would come so quickly.

The other night, I had come home not long after Kevin did from work and the dreaded question of "what's for dinner" inevitably came up.  Of course I had nothing planned and the pantry was running low and payday wasn't for another week.  I had to whip something up with what we had already.  In the freezer there was a couple of corn dogs and chicken nuggets and quick food like that, so I got out what was in there and preheated the oven.  Then I thought, "what can I serve with this stuff?"  You got it: french fries.  And since I didn't have any in the freezer, I though about making my own using the crazy new technique I saw on America's Test Kitchen.

I only had russet potatoes, so I figured they would have to do, and I only had veg oil. I used about a pound of potatoes and only covered them with oil, I didn't really measure.  Other than that I followed the instructions provided in the recipe.  I was so easy and it worked like a dream.  They were delicious and not greasy at all.

The other night I was at Mom and Dad's house and was raving about how well these fries worked.  I wanted to prove it, so we whipped up a batch, but in larger quantity.  It didn't work as well and I think the reason was that either the pot was too crowded, or we didn't use enough oil.  My suggestion would be that if you are going to cook more than 2 1/2 pounds of potatoes, you probably want to do more than one batch.  Also, a non-stick pan makes life a lot easier.

Here's the link to the website, the also have the scientific explanation as to why it works so well, though you may have to register.  It's free, just click no to the magazine offers.

http://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/detail.php?docid=19884&extcode=M**ASCA00

Conference Breakfast (Dorthy)

Since Conference is kind of like a holiday for us, Rory and I decided we would do a special breakfast on Sunday morning.  We did a baked french toast from the Lion House cookbook (we do have other cookbooks, promise:)).  You put it together the night before and let the bread soak up the egg mixture overnight, so it's good if you like eggy french toast.  Rory likes the version that has apples and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top, so we did a small pan of that kind for those that wanted it.  There is a carmel sauce that the Lion House serves it with, but we cheated and just used storebought.  It's also good with maple syrup.  With hash browns, fruit, sausage and bacon, it was a filling breakfast and a nice way to start Sunday morning.

I actually finished a book last week.  I read the first of the Farworld series by J. Scott Savage titled "Water Keep".  I was a little slow getting into it, but about halfway through, I found it went a lot faster.  I like this author's writing style.  There are supposed to be four books in the series, but there's only two out right now.  I'm about halfway through the second in the series.  Chris gave Steve a book that's just come out by the same author called "The Fourth Nephite".  Steve finished in two days, so after I'm done with "Land Keep", I think I'll read that next.

Finished another 'Tween series (mom)

I have now finished another series that was recommened by Justin.  This one is Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo et al series.  It is about a boy who is raised in Oklahoma by some really awful people so by the time he is 14 he is ready to leave.  It just so happens that he is the only one who can save the Land of Foo, a place where the dreams of mankind are taken and worked so that they can be fulfilled.  It has many magical creatures but over the years evil has worked its way in.  Leven is watched over by  Clover, a sycophant, who is a special creature from Foo who works with humans who are taken mistakenly to Foo.  Leven is also watched over by a tree named Geth,  originally a Lithen (who was changed into a seed), an ancient race of beings that live in Foo.  He meets Winter, a nit (a human taken to Foo) who volunteers to come back as a baby to be raised by a self-centered mother.  They all get together and go to Foo through a special gateway that Leven's grandfather built.  They have to destroy the gateway after they go through so none of the evil entities are able to get to our world or Reality.  Too Late! Something already did.
Once in Foo, Leven has adventures, makes alot of mistakes that seem to eventually work out, and becomes a warrior for goodness against an evil being set to mesh Foo and Reality together.  As Leven travels through Foo he gains wisdom and grows in stature.  He learns to trust that things will work out as they are supposed to and the importance of choosing good friends.
I really enjoyed reading all 5 books.  I read the first two and becuse we didn't have the others went out and bought the other three.  I finished them this morning and didn't want it to end.  If you like fantasy, you would like this.  It is tween book, so pretty easy to read.
Now you may be wondering when I had time to read 5 books.  Well, I have to say that not much has gotten done around here.  I have stayed up way too late reading and haven't kept up very well on my household duties.  I haven't worked much in the last couple of weeks, but I still have peaches that need to be done and tomatoes that are on the vine to be picked.  I need to get a few things done before I begin another adventure.
Steph was saying that she really didn't want to read any more tween books, so I thought that for the month of October maybe we could read something from Tony Hillerman.  He is mystery writer that bases his stories in the southwest.  Or maybe something that has to do with Halloween.  Or even Columbus.   It is also breast cancer awareness month and we all have been touched by that disease, maybe we could find something that has to do with that.
So where are all of the other blogs -hmmm?  I look forward to reading them!

First annual Chili Cook off

So  it is official!  We will be having our own Chili cook off at  our third sunday dinner this month.  (That is October 17 th).  Be looking for a new or old recipe to try.  I'll make some too along with some bread bowls and we will have all the fixin's for chili.  Anyone who wants to make some can, just be sure you write the recipe down so we can put them on the blog.  Ready, get set, cook!