Silent Sunday

Mini banana breads with white chocolate chips

I'm not sure, which is better...'Silent Wednesday'...or 'Silent Sunday!'...either way, I haven't done one, or the other! This is something all new to me...so here it goes!

Baked, Eggplant Stacks

 @ Palm Sugar Asian Grill..(Gabby and me)

Red Velvet Cupcake...(celebrating three family members' birthdays)

Super spicy mixed papaya salad

Vegetarian Spring Rolls with Tofu

Perfect and awesome Asian restaurant...Palm Sugar

My beloved city...West Palm Beach, Florida...at dusk

Plum Upside-Down Cake

Since I've been food blogging for the last two years...I have not been thinking about that I would actually say,
"I have to bake something for my food blog"...hmm! wonder why did I say that to my daughter Lora, yesterday morning?
She told me the other day that her food blog is getting to be expensive...well, the reason for that is: She bakes every single day...really! There isn't a day that goes by when she does not bake...if nothing else, but the 'staple' banana bread, or homemade pancakes!

I was hoping to get this post up by yesterday...Friday, knowing that I did not have anything else worthwhile to post and that I don't do much baking cakes...although I love to put simple and yummy quick and easy desserts together!
We have such an abundance of plums...not the deep purple Italian ones, but the round ones which are so perfect just by themselves to snack on (which I did eat 3 yesterday)...and decide to make something with it. No time to start browsing through my cookbooks, old recipes, or favorite food bloggers' recipes...so what do you do first, if you don't have the basic recipe on hand?...The Internet...yes, that's the fastest way to google a recipe and do some adaptations of your own, which I did a little on my cake. Since I made this for my blog...still smiling to myself

about that one, I only kept one large piece for myself and shared the rest with my family.

Yesterday was such a stormy day on-and-off, with tropical storm Isaac on our heels by Sunday night...hopefully it's not turning into a hurricane!

Good day to be cooking and baking when you're stuck inside. I did go out on my balcony to take some photos of the beach, the clouds, and no less than 30 minutes wind, and a storm, but the worst is yet to come! We'll just have to be prepaired and be safe.

As you see, for my baking, I like to chose a comfy-cozy home type of dessert. For me they are super easy to make, and I do believe it will be easy for you, if you follow my easy and handy little tips. Don't let the layering of this beautiful upside-down all American simple cake intimidate you...and I DO recommend that you make this from 'scratch' and not from a mix, although I do use cake mixes, only to 'doctor' them up!
Here's the link to this awesome and easy cake!

Plum Upside-Down Cake 

Zucchini Quiche...made easy!

A new and fresh  BISCUIT MIX...so versatile, that you can make your own homemade BISQUICK. If you live in the U.S. you must be familiar with the famous Bisquick biscuit mix that you can make pancakes, coffee cakes, biscuits, pies, and quiches with? Well there's a solution to making your own mix, without the preservatives, and you can keep the mix in you fridge for weeks...so easy to make all the familiar and delicious things...and extremely handy!

I found my original recipe made with Bisquick which I've been saving since 1992. Instead of the 1 cup of Bisquick, substitute 1 cup of your homemade Biscuit Mix.I already lightened up the recipe, even then; by reducing the oil from 1 cup, down to half a cup!

This is a crustless quiche...or pie, whichever you prefer to call it! It is so easy to make, once you have your Biscuit Mix made. Your family will love it, and thank you for it!

Recipe; for Easy Baking Mix...Mix 5 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup of baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in 1 cup of shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Store in airtight container, in your fridge, or a cool dry place. Makes 6 cups.

Linking to: Hearth and Soul Blog Hop @ Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Mango Jam... Sweet Mango Chutney

With all the cloudy days we've been having, I haven't been able to take a descent outdoor/indoor 'natural light' photo in all last week. Don't you agree that this is a nice outdoor 'last minute'...photo of my amazing mango jam, and sweet mango chutney?

If I want to take descent natural light photos, I have to take them at my daughter Lora's house in her lovely kitchen with plenty of natural lights or on the patio. As for my little condo, I have only one spot for photos, but I DO have GREAT lighting in my tiny kitchen, 3 different types which are very helpful for photos!

Enough of the photos...still up to our 'eyeballs' with the mangoes, as you can see in Lora's recent post as well!

Since she came back from Italy, we've been busy making all kinds of things with mangoes...but she's the one that made the majority of the jams.

See what I mean? ...natural lighting is 'everything'...same mango chutney inside, by the glass door...can't even correct the color...and the same one, in the jar.

BTW-this pretty dish is an American antique from the 1930's 'thrift find' for $2.99 that I gave to Lora. I just love the ruffled details and the 18 carat gold...if that's not an amazing treasure, than I don't know what is!

Although Lora brought back with her Italian pectin and has used the metric system measure with her little scale to weigh the fruit, the sugar, and use the pectin accordingly, I am satisfied with our 'good old' American made by KRAFT FOODS, which I'm happy to say, I also used for the Sweet Mango Chutney, which I will give you a full recipe for the 'spicy' version, but you can eliminate the spicy peppers, onion, and garlic for the sweet version that I used, because the little ones love this even as a thick jam!

Just to let you know how much I love this product, I did buy a double VALUE PACK just the other day, to use it for a GIVEAWAY gift for any one, that would be interested of using that great pectin, made in the U.S. by KRAFT FOODS!
It is a double pack, sealed in plastic, with instructions on the box, and inside with a packing slip, as well for other suggestions of uses. It is 100% natural, and no 'animal' products added. If you are interested in receiving this amazing product, which takes the place of AGAR...that is a lot more expensive...than by all means let me know, and mention what you wold like to use it for! I will use the RANDOM.org calculation, to determine the winner, by Friday @ 11:00PM Eastern Standard time.

On another serious note:
Did you know that on Aug. 1, 2012, Foodbuzz will no longer exist?...or is it joining Daily Buzz Food? As a Foodbuzz Publisher, I don't recall getting any notice in my e-mail...but I do know that for several months now, I have not been getting paid for ads into my Pay Pal account. I have close to 3,000 friends on Foodbuzz that I have been so fortunate to befriend in the nearly last two years on Foodbuzz, among them my dear friend Lizzy, Gina, Chef Dennis, and Jo...from day #1 we've been supporting one-another all this time, and I've had the pleasure of meeting them (except Lizzy)...at last year's fantastic Foodbuzz Food Festival, in San Francisco...another question?
What is happening this year with the Food Festival? I've gotten the invite, but have not responded...and now, THIS?...I am totally perplexed!

I've submitted an application to be a content contributor for DailyBuzz Food, and given you my RSS feed. Why don't I see my content yet?

Diane
posted this on Jul 23 12:16

Our system soon will push your RSS content onto appropriate channels automatically, but for the time being we're manually processing posts. They'll show up as soon as we can mark them active. Thanks for your patience!

This was just one of the questions posted re: the new Daily Buzz Food...if anyone knows more info regarding the change on Foodbuzz, please let us hear about it...I'm in the 'dark'...and have no answers other than what you may all know!

For the Mango recipe:
Follow the instructions of the Sure-Jell, or other pectin of your choice, package instructions. You can make any kind of jam easy, as long as you have a sterilized jar, and lid...make sure you refrigerate it, otherwise you would have immerse the jars with the jams in boiling water for 10 minutes, and let it cool completely. before storing it in a cool place in your cupboard. (Personally, I prefer the fridge method)

Mango Chutney
adapted from Cooking Light

2 medium ripe mangoes
peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 sweet onion chopped
1/2 red bell pepper chopped
1 jalapeno pepper diced
1/2 cup golden raisins
3 Tbsp brown sugar
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
1 teaspoon of pectin
(you can use powdered instead)
dash of salt
dash of black pepper
1 garlic clove minced

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan Cook over medium heat for 20 to 30 minutes or until thick. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat, Cool completely. If too chunky, mash with potato masher. Spoon carefully into sterilized jars with sterilized lids, and refrigerate. It will keep fresh for up to 3 weeks (if it stays that long)

For the sweet version:
Just omit the hot peppers, including the black pepper, and also the onion and garlic...otherwise, follow as in the original method. (the original version did not use pectin; but it really does make a great difference in texture and flavor, so I added it)

note: either one is great as a condiment on burgers, fish tacos, or as a side sauce, heated up and thinned out a little, or even as a jam on toast!

Pizza Margherita...{semi- homemade}

No matter what I try to do to this photo, to make it look better, its just not working! Its one of those photos that you have no choice at night, under a light that is just not gonna do justice to the photo. I made this semi-homemade pizza for myself, just the day before my family arrived back from their vacation, in Italy.

It was the easiest pizza...ever, and I must admit; the TASTIEST!...you know why?...because all you have to do is buy a fresh pizza dough from your local favorite supermarket, that's already in a plastic bag, and it weight 1 lb. and the dough is already risen. Costs about $2.50...and you don't have to do anything else, just spread the dough out on a pizza pan, and I will show you how I made it...and devoured almost the entire pizza by myself.

For the last time...alone in my daughter's house, I decided to go out on the patio with my glass, or two of my favorite Chardonnay wine, and just enjoyed the beautiful night...not exactly standing in this spot...where I took the photo of my son-in-law's creative 'trellis' design, where the beautiful bougainvilleas grow, but no flower at this time!

I am not having much luck with my computer today...or is it with Blogger? Thanks to my dear friend Angie...she wrote me an e-mail, just about an hour ago, which showed that she could not open my blog..."by invitation only"...what's up with that? I corrected it right away...so now its working, again.

Also, I cannot open my new photos that I intended to post for today's post. Lora took the photos at her house yesterday; of the Zucchini Quiche that I made, since I didn't have my camera with me, and I cannot upload it!
Will post it next week! ...so here's my super easy pizza with the 'ready dough'...BTW, I learned this method of actually getting a 'hands on' tutoring from a friend from Naples who was an expert 'pizza guy'...at my workplace at the famous caffe Luna Rosa, on the beach in Delray Beach, Florida. Now, its a chic and trendy caffe, but back in the late mid to late nineties, it was more of a small pizza, and panini place!

Pizza Margherita  
 recipe by; Elisabeth

1 lb.fresh, (not frozen) bread/pizza dough
or your favorite homemade dough

3 or 4 ripe plum (Roma) tomatoes sliced fairly thin
Kosher, or sea salt, freshly ground pepper,
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped
crushed red pepper flakes
dried oregano, dried basil
fresh basil leaves for garnish

1/2 to 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

First step: get your pizza pan ready, spray with cooking spray, take dough out of the plastic bag, and place it on the pizza pan...punch the dough down, and spread as much as it allows, leaving a border at the edge of the dough. In a small bowl, add the oil, garlic, the salt, pepper, the dry spices, and brush the dough lightly, with a pastry brush! Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, and stretch again, leaving a border.

Preheat the oven to 525 degrees F. Also, brush the top of the tomato slices with additional oil, mixed with herbs, or if you prefer, just drizzle plain extra virgin olive oil on top. Place the pizza with the baking rim on a 'pizza stone'...if you have it, if not; it will still work fine. Bake for about 5 minutes...just to get the rawness out of the dough. Take the pizza out carefully; just don't burn your hands. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the dough, carefully put the fresh tomatoes on top of the cheese topped pizza, put back in the oven...lower the temp. to 450 degrees F. and bake for an additional 15 minutes longer, until the tomato gets slightly wilted, and cheese bubbles. The rim will get nicely golden brown, and crunchy!

Slice with a pizza cutter, and enjoy!...perfect pizza...and it really is homemade, because you made the entire pizza by yourself, and just used a 'little shortcut' dough, which saves you time, and waiting for the dough to rise!

You can top your pizza with whatever you have on hand, just a suggestion: which will help you each and every time. Brush your dough with the herb-based olive oil, and pre-bake for about 5 to even 10 minutes, depending on the topping you will use. You will never get a slimey, soggy top, underneath the topping, and will be sure to get a nice crunchy bottom, as well!
Mangia, mangia...Buon Appetito! xo

Ricotta Spiral Pastry

 

I am so behind with my post that I intended for Thursday...and here we are, it's Friday now, and way into the evening. I don't have any new things to post, except these perfectly yummy Ricotta Spiral Pastries that I got the idea from a food blogger friend Gizike from Hungary. @ Gizi Receptjei (Gizi's Recipes)...Click over to check her Ricotta Spiral Pastry with Bacon Bits...in English, but you will recognize it from the inviting photo of her yummy creation! While you're there, browse through her other amazing recipes, and lovely photos to illustrate them!

Hers is with crispy bits of bacon, and mine is with fresh chopped basil, and fresh chopped oregano. I used what my daughter had in her fridge, and freezer...she just diddn't have bacon. Lora and I are never without Pepperidge Farm  puff pastry, or phyllo dough, and other ingredients which for us are 'staple ingredients' such as ricotta, and Reggiano Parmigiana cheese.

Just reading the recipe in Hungarian, and knowing I had all these ingredients on hand, I got so thrilled about making it. Just thaw out the puff pastry and you're ready to start. Gizike's blog is in Hungarian, but she has a TRANSLATE option. Just 'sift' through some of the inconsistencies on the translator because some stuff may sound totally ridiculous, which does not fit correctly into the English language, or vica-versa, according to a Hungarian food blogger, constantly mentioning to me that the translate is humorous most of the time!

Speaking of which! Couldn't be any more humorous than, trying to translate from a Bulgarian food blog. Wonder who does these translations...because, that specific time, when I tried to get the recipe of a stuffed chicken, and was interested in the stuffing ingredients. I certainly was not about to print it out (in fact, I let the blogger know of the problem)...no response!......translate option said, instead of 'stuff the chicken'...'f--k' the chicken ...now I'm blushing! So just venture with the translate, carefully!

 Ricotta Spiral  Pastry
 adapted from,Gizike

1 sheet puff pastry
1 cup whole milk, or low-fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg
a few basil leaves, and oregano leaves, chopped
or herbs of your choice
2 cloves garlic chopped
salt, and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp butter, melted (optional)

In a medium bowl, mix together with a fork; the ricotta, parmesan, basil, oregano, eggs garlic, salt, and pepper.
With a rolling pin, roll the thawed out puff pastry lightly, and evenly. Brush some of the butter on it, and spoon the ricotta mixture evenly.

 Start to roll up the dough 'jelly roll' style.

Now, you can start to cut them with a sharp knife.

Cut the slices carefully about 1 to 1 1/2 inches.

(note: the little end piece on the right corner. I actually saved that too.)

Place the spiral rolls carefully in a round cake pan...(I used a pan with a removable bottom. Make sure you spray the pan with cooking spray!
You can also use a rectangular pan, depending if you use a single portion, or double portion!

Brush the rest of the butter on top, and with a soup spoon, pat them down lightly and shape them into rounds.

In a preheated 375 degree F. oven, bake for 35-45 minutes, until it gets golden brownish around the edges.

It turned out incredible, flaky, and oh, so ridiculously overly amazing!












Now, on to some other things to mention!

I received a small package the other day...a fabulous gift for Lora and I, from our dear friend,  Lizzy...the most amazing French soap, the fragrance alone, is breathtaking...one sniff, and you feel like you're in Paris...actually it was from Paris. This was her gracious token of gift to all of us who has guest posted for her, while she flew off to Paris...doesn't it sound romantic?...well it should, and I should be the one to go next time...LOL

Another thing:
I already announced the winner of my giveaway...which is Sissi, from With a glass ...Congratulations to Sissi!
Sissi was contacted and already responded by e-mail, and was very thrilled. I will soon have another giveaway, just can't decide yet, what it will be. Thank you Sissi, and thank you all for your kind comments, and participation!..xo

I wish you all lived closer, so I could give you some mangoes...I've been giving them to Lora's neighbors. Since we had that hard wind, and storm, the mangoes have been dropping from the tree like "dead flies"...oooh, not a good comparison. I even got one fall down and knocked me on my head...ouch!...got a nice bump...saw some 'stars'...even split the ripe mango open...ha,ha....just didn't want to post that photo.

Now, all I need is some ideas, and recipes to make mangoes with!...any suggestions?...please, send some my way!

Strawberry Cake...for Father's Day!

Notice something different?...a pink cake...and it's for Father's Day!...just can't stop having 'Lucy' moments, since I agreed to guest post for my friend Ping, and Veronica. It just seemed to have rubbed off on me. Now, I'm enlisted in the 'Lucy Club'

Why a 'pink' cake for Father's Day?...wouldn't it be more appropriate to make a cake with perhaps 'blueberries' that would signify that it's for  a male?...actually, not really Having a strawberry cake is OK, but why go overboard for the pink frosting?...well, I have an explanation for that, as well!

Linking to:
Hearth and Soul Blog Hop @ Swathi's Zesty South Indian Kitchen

OK, I must admit that I got a little carried away with the cake. I had 2 containers of beautiful ripe strawberries, and I just had to do something with them, so I decided to make a cake (last minute)...like a few hours before we were going to eat lunch.

The cake was an absolute success to celebrate Father's Day for my son, and my ex-hubby! They never even notice that it was all PINK, but my little granddaughter sure did. Pink is her favorite color, so it was a double celebration!

Strawberry Cake
my doctored up creation

1 box of strawberry or yellow cake mix
1- 3oz. box of strawberry JELL-O
1/2 cup canola, or vegetable oil
1 cup of plain water
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups mashed strawberries
1 Tbsp sugar

It's a lot easier than you think. Just one box of strawberry cake mix, or yellow cake mix,

For the strawberries: cut the berries in 1/3 pieces, place them in a medium bowl, and add the 1 Tbsp sugar...mash with mashed potato masher, and let it sit for about 20 minutes. It will be juicy and slightly chunky.

In a large mixing bowl, add the cake mix, 1/2 of the 3-oz. JELL-O the eggs, oil, water. Beat on slow speed with electric mixer, until combined, then on high speed for about 3 minute, till creamy, and fluffy.

After mixing the ingredients, pour in the mashed strawberries.

 Gently fold in the mashed strawberries.

Pour into a sprayed and floured 9 inch spring form pan, or 2- 9 inch round pans. (my pan I used only has the bottom removable.
For spring-form pan, bake at 350 degrees F. for 45-50 minutes, for the 2 round 9 inch pans, about 30-35 minutes.

Let it cool on a wire rack, and frost with strawberry cream cheese frosting:

1- 8 oz. pkg Philadelphia cream cheese, at room temp.
1 stick=4 oz, (113.4 g,) unsalted butter, at room temp.
3 cups powder (icing) sugar
1 teaspoon of the strawberry JELL-O
1 teaspoon plain water

With an electric mixer, mix all ingredients together, till combined, and beat until light, and fluffy, on high speed. Spread it on the cake, when cake is cool, and decorate with additional strawberries if you like. Let the cake set in the fridge for about 2hrs before serving! It is yumm, and delish...and no-one will suspect that it's a "doctored-up" cake...let it be YOUR SECRET! 


I finally received the special addition of the Bon Appetit for the Giveaway, and will announce the winner for my next post!

So, for my continuing photos....just wanted to share some S. Florida photos. The mango tree has already been trimmed down...it is at least 50yrs old.

The glorious mango tree...mangoes getting nice, and ripe!

He loves bougainvilleas!