Cherry Pie Filling

I love cherry pie.  Unfortunately, I've never had much success with making them. I have a hard time determining how much sugar and thickening agent to use so that I don't have an overly sweet cherry soup mess! Cherries are at the farm stands now and I was determined to make a good cherry pie. This time I tried something new, a pre-cooked cherry pie filling. Success! I was able to adjust the sweetness to my liking and, though not necessary in this case, would be able to add more thickener if the mixture was too thin. I think this will be my go-to way of making cherry pies from now on!

Cherry Pie Filling

6 cups of pitted fresh cherries
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar**
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 1/2 tablespoons water

Whisk together the cornstarch and water; set aside.

Add the cherries, sugar, vanilla and almond extracts, and salt to a medium saucepan and cook on medium heat for about five minutes, or until the cherries really start to release their juices.

Re-whisk the cornstarch/water mixture and add it to the cherries. Stir together and bring to a rapid boil, stirring often, until thickened. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

** Adjust sugar based on the sweetness of the cherries.

Cherry Pie

Pastry for 2-crust pie
1 recipe cherry pie filling

Roll out half the pastry; fit into bottom of 9-inch pie pan. Pour in topping; dot with butter, if desired.

Top with second half of rolled out pastry, or make a lattice top. Flute edges. Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 35 minutes, until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbling.  If edges brown too much, cover loosely with a strip of aluminum foil.

I enjoyed the outdoors while pitting the cherries. Even using a cherry pitter and wearing an apron, I had cherry spatters everywhere.  No way do I do this in my white kitchen!

I don't like cleaning ovens; thus I always put a fruit pie on a foil-lined baking sheet!

Join me at Insprie Me Tuesday

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

My Hubber's favorite salad is a Caesar salad, usually with chicken.  Me?  I find them rather mundane. Lettuce, dressing, some croutons, a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.  I like more "stuff" in my salads! A few weeks back my sister and I were pondering what to make for our Mother's Day lunch. I found this recipe online (who needs cookbooks anymore?) and knew it would appeal to most everyone in attendance.  They all like Caesar salad and this version had a little more "stuff" in it, including pasta. How can a salad be bad when it's got pasta in it? It was a hit with all our guests and I made it for dinner a few nights ago where it got rave reviews from my resident Caesar salad lover.

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

3 cups grilled chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
6 oz. penne pasta, cooked and cooled
4 cups Romaine lettuce, cut into small pieces
1 cucumber, diced
1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Caesar salad dressing, either bottled or homemade
Croutons

Mix together all ingredients except for the dressing.  Pour desired amount of dressing on top (we used about half a bottle), toss.  Top with croutons, if desired (I'm not a crouton fan, so omitted).

Makes 4 large servings.

Butterflies & Floral Table Setting

Recently we hosted some of my husband's out-of-state bicycling friends for dinner. It was a hectic weekend for me as I was tending to my youngest grandchildren, ages 4 and 4 months. I'm not as young as I think I am, they kept me hopping! I like to set a nice table, I want my guests to feel special, but I was really frazzled, pressed for time, and didn't really have a game plan in place. Thankfully, I love dishes and linens, seem to have a growing collection, and was able to mix and match to come up with a pretty table setting.

My Hubbers hates shopping for me.  We're at the stage in our life where we have what we need and buy what we like.  So, I've learned to help him out. I'm a nice wife that way! When I see something I like I send him an e-mail with the link to the item. A box usually arrives not long after.  It's a win-win situation for us, he doesn't have to shop for special occasions and I get what I want! These place mats and colorful plates came to my collection in such a way earlier this year. The place mats have a crochet look to them.  The plates came from Pier One and are, surprisingly, Melamine. The napkins I had bought a few years back, as well as the blue goblets. The Napolean silverware was another "gift".  I've had them a few years now and love to use them, especially in the spring and summer months.

I have oodles and oodles of mason jars, most of which do get used for canning purposes. The last few years Ball has been re-introducing their colored mason jars; I now have a collection in green, blue and purple. I use them for so many things, frequently for floral arrangements, such as this. I bought the flowers at the grocery store and, to make more of a statement, I put the jars on a plain white serving tray.

Everything came together quite well, I think!

I'm joining in at Tablescape Thursday.

Three-Bean Baked Beans

A post about beans doesn't sound very exciting, does it? Well, sometimes the simple, unexciting things are the best! I've been making this bean dish for umpteen years, I don't even remember where the recipe came from.  Whenever I make it, it gets devoured, everyone loves it. I love the variety of beans in this dish, they make this a little different version of baked beans. This is a great dish for holiday gatherings, such as the upcoming Memorial Day.

The best thing about this baked bean dish is that it doesn't take hours to cook, no overnight soaking of beans.  It starts with canned beans, some cooked bacon, ground beef and onions.  Throw it in a casserole and bake!  For really large parties I will double the recipe and throw it in a crockpot for a few hours at low temp.

Three-Bean Baked Beans

½ pound ground beef

5 bacon strips, diced

½ cup chopped onion

2 cans (16 ounces each) pork and beans, undrained

1 can (16 ounces) butter beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup ketchup

¼ cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons molasses

2 tablespoons prepared mustard

½ teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon salt

 

In a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat, brown the beef, bacon and onion; drain.  Add beans.  Combine remaining ingredients; stir into bean mixture.  Pour into a greased 2-1/2 quart baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until beans reach desired thickness.

Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry with Lemon Sauce

More than once, I've gushed over the wonders of living in the midst of farm country, all the fresh fruits and veggies we have within minutes of home. But fresh produce doesn't last long, is best used as soon as possible.  Often, when gifted with a bunch of fresh produce, I find myself at a loss as to how to incorporate them in my meal plans. Such was the case when a neighbor brought me a huge bunch of asparagus. I had already bought groceries for the week, had things pretty well planned out.  We love asparagus but I wanted to do something different than serve it as a side dish.  So I went browsing online and found this recipe.  I had shrimp for another recipe already in the fridge, so changed my plans to make this dish.  We devoured it! The only thing different I will do next time is double the sauce, there wasn't nearly enough for our tastes! It was a very easy after-work dinner.

Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry with Lemon Sauce

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound large raw shrimp, peeled & deveined
1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed and each stalk cut into 2-3" pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Lemon Sauce
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

In a small bowl, whisk together all the lemon sauce ingredients and set aside.

In a large frying pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add shrimp to pan in a single layer and cook for about 3 minutes, turning them over to cook both sides. Season shrimp with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Shrimp should be beginning to pink on both sides and be opaque, but just slightly undercooked (they will finish cooking when added back to the sauce).  Remove from frying pan and place shrimp on plate.

In same frying pan, heat another 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add asparagus and cook until asparagus is tender-crisp, bright green, and just barely beginning to brown. Season asparagus with 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Add ginger and garlic and stir to combine with asparagus.  Cook for another 30-45 seconds.

Pour in lemon sauce mixture into frying pan with asparagus.  Add shrimp back into pan and combine with sauce and asparagus. Simmer for about a minute or until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and serve over rice, if desired.

Dr. Seuss Birthday Party

My niece is very crafty, she makes the most beautiful hair bows and headbands. She's also very creative and crafty when it comes to her children's birthday parties. Her youngest just turned one and she gave him a Dr. Seuss-themed party.  She spent the last two to three months designing, cutting, and pasting all things Seuss.  The party was adorable as was the birthday boy!


The cake, made by a local decorator, was phenomenal.  Lorax Nutter Butters.

The Cat in the Hat aka the birthday boy!

Trufula tree.

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue dish!

 



Photo booth with various Seuss props.

My two great-nieces. If you knew them you know the outfits define them quite perfectly!

 



Garden-Themed Mother's Day Luncheon

For the past 7 years or so, I've been hosting a Mother's Day luncheon the Saturday before Mother's Day. I like using the Saturday date, it eliminates a lot of conflicts with scheduled celebrations with in-laws, outlaws and everybody in between. This year we had 11 in attendance; Mom, my sister, my daughter, step-daughter, three granddaughters, my niece and my nephew's significant other and her son. My daughter-in-law and 4-month old grandson couldn't make the 4 hour trip. Maybe next year!

I found these place mats and napkins at April Cornell last year and fell in love with them.  I've been saving them to be used for this event. My florist matched the colors in the linens to the flowers, they were beautiful.  Each of my guests got to take home a green mason jar with flowers, my Mother's Day gift to them.

The linens remind me of a summer garden so I went with a garden-type theme.  For the kids' table I found birdhouses and I filled them with candy.

Our dessert was chocolate cupcakes baked in terra cotta pots.  They were frosted with a yummy chocolate buttercream then topped with crushed Oreos to resemble dirt. The "carrots" are strawberries dipped in orange candy melts. The dessert table looked like a carrot patch!

My sister made a scrumptious Caesar pasta salad that we topped with grilled chicken.  We all enjoyed this salad and I will share the recipe soon.

After eating, we moved out to the backyard to watch the kids play with bubbles, squirt guns and other outdoor toys. We marveled at how big the children are getting, how fast time is flying, and told various Mom stories. I find Mother's Day to be a little too commercialized and much prefer hosting a gathering like this than buying expensive and, often unneeded, gifts. It was a nice day spent with the women and children I love! Happy Mother's Day!