A Jeanne in the Kitchen

More bright, tropical flowers from Belize. Aren’t these unusual? I just love them.

Sometimes it’s hard to get together with everyone to celebrate birthdays and special occasions. We all lead really busy lives, and life happens. But when we do get together, those special occasions are all that much more special and are greatly appreciated. As usual, I have been extending the birthday celebrations for as long as I can. 🙂

We celebrated with our friends Jonathan, Priscilla and Laura the other day. Priscilla prepared a fabulous feast, and as usual, everything was beautiful and exquisite. Priscilla has a special knack for making everything very elegant and beautiful. She always pays attention to all the small details that make every occasion truly remarkable.

Our first course for the evening was a beautifully delicious charlotte, which was a baked encrusted little savory tart filled with duxelles or chopped and creamed mushrooms.

The main course was lamb cooked to perfection with chimichurri sauce Steak Chimichurri, green beans Video #19 – Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots, and baby roasted potatoes, along with some delicate and flaky Parmigiano twists made from puff pastry. OMG! Everything blended together perfectly and just melted in our mouths. Priscilla is an excellent cook. 🙂

We were all very full, but it was a special celebration after all, so we had to have dessert. We had a snickerdoodle bundt cake topped with a honey ice cream and blackberries, followed by presents.

The best gift is of course the gift of our beautiful, long friendships. Priscilla and I go back over 45+ years. We have known each other almost our whole lives. But both Priscilla and Laura gave me other beautiful presents as well. Priscilla, originally being from Argentina, gave me a gorgeous Argentine cookbook, that I am already salivating over. There are so many fabulous recipes or recetas in that book. I am already planning an Argentine feast, which of course will include Priscilla, Jonathan and Laura as well. Laura gave me a beautiful planter and an air plant to go inside. It is my favorite color too, teal. I just need to get some strong nails or hooks to hang it with, and then it will be proudly displayed in my kitchen.

We went out to dinner with our friends Wendy, Marc, Mike and Lauren on my actual birthday, and are planning on going out with Janet and Bob as well. We were supposed to go out last week, but we all decided since the weather was frightful to postpone until it was a bit more forgiving. So the birthday celebrations continue a bit longer. 🙂 Thank you all for always making me feel so special. I am truly blessed and life is very, very good indeed.

I hope you all have those special people in your lives that love and support you. The gift of friendship is truly one of the best gifts we can give and receive.

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Despite all the snow and frigidly cold temperatures we have here at home (our high today is 5* F. When I was out earlier my car thermometer red 2* F), all I have to do is look upon this beautiful flower from Belize, and I know “it’s going to be a bright, bright, sunshiny day”.

Sometimes I plan ahead when making our meals, but most of the time I don’t. I usually only plan ahead when I am making something special, or when we are having guests over. The rest of the time, I kind of wing it. That’s just how I roll.

We had a lot of fresh, delicious seafood, cooked in a variety of ways while in Belize, but we hadn’t eaten much beef lately. We had a some London broil down, which is good when cooked as a casserole or a stir-fry or as fajitas, or something like that where it is cooked with something else and is not just the meat alone. This particular cut of meat lends itself best to these types of dishes. That being said, we hadn’t had a lot of Asian dishes in awhile either, so it was time to make an another Asian stir-fry, this time with beef.

Stir-fries are very easy to make and always taste good. We like potstickers a lot too, so we serve those a lot when doing Asian dishes. Like with anything, there is never just one way to make it. So much of how I cook depends on what I have in the refrigerator at the time. I usually use recipes as guides, and go from there. And often times, I have a general idea of what I want to do, and tweak and adjust as I go.

Asian Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

1 1/2 lbs London Broil or skirt steak, cut into thin strips

1-1/2 cups mushrooms, either quartered or sliced

1-1 1/2 cups broccoli florets

1 TBSP garlic

1 TBSP ginger

1/4 cup green onions, sliced at an angle or Asian cut

2 TBSP oyster sauce

1 TBSP soy sauce

2 TBSP Hoisin sauce

2 TBSP sherry or red wine

2 tsp cornstarch

1-2 TBSP water

1/2-3/4 cup chicken broth

cooked angel hair pasta or spaghetti

peanut or sesame oil for cooking

Combine the oyster sauce, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sherry or wine, water and cornstarch and set aside.

Get a skillet or wok nice and hot and add the oil. Then add the meat and cook until completely browned, then remove and set aside.

Once the meat is cooked, add the broccoli, mushrooms, garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly. Add more oil if needed.

Add the meat back in with the vegetables after they are cooked and add the sauce mixture and chicken broth as well. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for an additional 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I also decided to add some Peruvian peppers, for more some color and pizzazz, along with the green onions, right before serving. I served it over angel hair pasta. As I mentioned earlier, I tweak as I go, NOT to be confused with twerk as I go. That would take my cooking experiences to a whole new and different level, and would add quite a bit more personality as well. 🙂

Because it was beef, I served it with a smooth red blend, as well as a few potstickers on the side. Yet again, a delicious, colorful meal was served in no time.

Enjoy your days. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Just a little something pink to brighten your day.

I am having so much fun with the church coffee cart for so many reasons. One, I am helping people and helping the church doing what I love to do – feed people, an two, I also get to try so many different things that I might not otherwise make. These orange espresso brownies are one example of things I would not normally make unless I was either cooking them for others, or I was going to eat them all by myself. Larry does not like coffee or anything coffee flavored. I love coffee flavored foods, especially a good mocha, but I really DO NOT need to eat a tray full of brownies all by myself.

I am still using up my fruits, Strawberry-Kiwi Cake and I have almost used them all up. WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!!!! This time, I was using up some of my oranges. These were another big hit today. They all disappeared after church today, and that is always a good thing. 🙂

Orange Espresso Brownies

These brownies are decadently rich, but oh so full of flavor. The little hints of coffee and orange really brought out the chocolate flavor and added character and depth to the brownies. I doubled the recipe because I was making them for a lot of people.

Spray an 8×8 baking pan with cooking spray then add a light coating of flour.

Preheat the oven to 325* F or 170* C

1 cup dark cocoa powder or dark chocolate

1 stick + 6 TBSP melted butter

4 eggs

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 1/2 TBSP instant coffee of espresso granules

1 tsp orange extract

Mandarin or cutie orange slices, optional

If you are using chocolate, melt it with the butter over a double boiler until it is all melted and blended together. Stir constantly over a low-medium flame. If you are using cocoa powder, which I did, mix the cocoa powder in with the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together for about 2 minutes with the whisk attachment or by hand. Then add the coffee and mix together again. Add the butter and flour mixture and mix again until just blended together. Do not over mix.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly to cover the pan. Bake for about 25-30 minutes . Allow the brownies to cool before cutting.

I had some leftover orange frosting, so I added just a little dab to each brownie as “glue”. Next I added an orange slice on top of the frosting. And lastly, I gave the brownies a quick dusting with powdered sugar. The orange slices made them look very colorful and pretty, plus I was using up some more of my fruit. I was on a mission after all. 🙂

Life is short. Always make room for dessert, even if you have dessert first. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

Pretty in purple. These little flowers are all over the Caribbean. They are so pretty, especially when they are dancing in the wind.

I think these are all the same flowers just in different colors. All I really know is that no matter what color they came in, they were very pretty.

An update on the name of thee flowers. I just found out they are called Ixora – a pretty name for these pretty little flowers. 🙂

The other day, when we did our Super Bowl spread for church, I had a lot of fruit left over. Cooking At Home Again Larry said there was NO WAY I could use it all before it went bad. HMMMM! You would think after 21 years together, he would know NOT to test me like that. I will ALWAYS rise to the challenge, especially when it comes to the kitchen and food. 🙂 He is right in that I haven’t used it all up yet, but I am still being very creative with it, and have already gone through quite a bit of it. And I am not done yet. I am on the clock because we all know fruit does not have a long shelf life. I think I will make it though. I have confidence in my creative abilities. 🙂 All the strawberries, berries and kiwi are all now gone. I did not use up all the strawberries, but Larry finished them off this morning by making strawberry waffles. So I can cross berries and kiwi off the list.

One of the creative ways I was able to use up some of my fruit was by creating a new cake. I made a strawberry-kiwi cake.

I started off with a basic bundt cake and then got creative. The fruit in the cake is kiwi. The frosting is strawberry white chocolate. Then I added more kiwi as a cake topper.

Strawberry-Kiwi Cake

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

4 TBSP butter, melted

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups kiwi, diced small

Preheat the oven to 375* F or 190* C.

Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray then line it with a light coating of flour.

Combne all the dry ingredietns together and set aside.

Whisk together the eggs, cream and melted butter then add to the flour mixture and mix together until just blended. Add the kiwi and fold into the batter. Then spoon it into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake for about 1 hour, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle. Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the icing.

For the icing, I used some of my leftover white chocolate ganache, and then added fresh strawberries. I put them all in the food processor and blended everything together to make a smooth and creamy frosting. Then I generously drizzled it over the cake and topped it with more kiwi.

I know the frosting is delicious. We will see how the cake turns out. The little tiny bit I tasted was very good, so I am sure it will be just fine. The test will come tomorrow. Let’s see how what the congregation thinks. 🙂

Stay tuned for my next creative fruit adventure. I think you are going to like that one too. 🙂

As I always say, don’t be afraid to play with your food. That’s when it starts getting really fun. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

This is just a fun little extra thing I thought I would share. Apparently the little itty-bitty house I grew up in, in Pasadena, CA has sold once again. It just sold for $970,600. Yep! Almost $1 million for this tiny two bedroom/1 bath house. When my parents bought it, they paid $17K. When I sold it 15 years ago, I sold it for $450K. It has more than doubled since then. Granted, A LOT of upgrades have taken place, but still, nearly $1 million?????? Seriously????? The funny thing is my current house is literally 5x the size of this house, and we have an open space park with all our lakes literally right behind us, and our house is less expensive, though not by much. I guess it all comes down to location, location, location. But I will take my big house on the lakes ANY day and EVERY day over living in LA. You couldn’t pay me enough to EVER live in LA again. I don’t even like to visit.

Pasadena is a giant suburb of Los Angeles, and is about 13-15 miles northeast of downtown L.A. It is very centrally located, which makes it very convenient for just about everything. A lot of celebrities and movie stars live in Pasadena too, because it is so close to the movie studios. And Pasadena is also home to the Van Halens. I used to go to their backyard parties before they made it big, and I used to run into David Lee Roth all the time too.

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