It's never enough... teachings!

One of my coworkers sent me a message with a HIGH VALUE teachings. Please try all of them.

1. If you peel a banana from the bottom you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how all the primates do it.
2. Separate your bananas when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen much faster.
3. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. The cheese will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
4. Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
5. Add a teaspoon of water when sautéing ground beef. It w ill help to pull the grease away from the meat.
6. To make terrific scrambled eggs or omelets add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, heavy cream, or Fat Free Half and Half before beating them.
7. For a super brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Get set for a wonderful minty frosting.
8. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and add at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic
9. Leftover snickers bars from Halloween or Christmas make a delicious dessert. Simple chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.
10. Reheating Pizza Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy microwave pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
11. Easy Deviled Eggs.Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw the bag away when done for an easy clean up.
12. Expanding Frosting. When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You will also be eating less sugar and calories per serving.
13. Reheating Refrigerated Bread. To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
14. Newspaper Weeds Away Start putting wet newspapers in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Put layers around the plants, overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic but they will not get through wet newspapers.
15. Broken Glass Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
16. No More Mosquitoes Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
17. Squirrel Away! To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
18. Flexible Vacuum To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
19. Reducing Static Cling Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Put a pin in the leg seams of your slacks and -- ta da! -- static is gone.
20. Measuring Cups Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
20. Foggy Windshield? Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
21. Reopening Envelope If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
22. Conditioner Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
23. Goodbye Fruit Flies To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it with a 1/2 inch of Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
24. Get Rid of Ants Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
25. INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took t he filter over to the sink, ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material - I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. well,...the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free -- that nice fragrance too, you know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box, this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to catch fire & potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out & wash it with hot soapy water & an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!

Australian Coconut-Lemon Bread (enhanced recipe)

Australian Coconut-Lemon Bread

Excellent morning treat. You will try the recipe over and over again.

2 eggs, 300ml (1 1/4 cups) milk, 1 tsp vanilla, 350g (2 1/2 cups) flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon, 225 g (1 cup and a bit) caster sugar, 150 g (2 cups) shredded coconut, 75 g (1/3 cup) butter, melted, zest and juice from 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 180C /350F.Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon. Stir in sugar andcoconut. Make a well in the center and pour in egg mixture. Stir untiljust combined. Carefully add zest and lemon juice.Add butter and stir until just smooth, being careful not to overmix.Pour into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake for 1 hour, or untiltester comes out clean.Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Лимонный кекс с кокосовой стружкой

Рецепт, привезенный из Австралии, который освежит завтрак.

2 яйца, 1 1/4 чашки молока, 1 чайная ложка ванили, 2 1/2 чашки муки, 2 чайной ложки разрыхлителя, 1/2 чайной ложки соли, 2 чайной ложки корицы (по желанию), 1 чашка сахара, 2 чашки свежей кокосовой стружки, 1/3 чашки сливочного масла, предварительно растопленного, натертая жедра и сок 1 свежего лимона.

Размешать яйжа, молоко и ваниль. В отдельной посуде смешать муку, разрыхлитель, соль и корицу. Сделать углубление в центре и влить яичную смесь. Перемешать осторожно, добавить кокосовую стружку, цедру и сок лимона.

Приготовить форму для выпечки кексов, вылить в нее тесто и печь в духовке около 1 часа (полную готовность проверить лучинкой.) Остудить в форме 10 минут и вынуть из формы.
Этот рецепт станет одним из любимых для Ваших домочадцев, потому что это просто, вкусно и сытно.

Original recipe from BakingSheet

Black and White Banana Loaf

Black and White Banana Loaf

Serves 8

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp freshly grated or ground nutmeg, 1 1/2 ripe medium bananas, 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest, small squirt of lemon juice, 1 Tbsp dark rum, 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, 1 stick plus 2 Tbsp (1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened, 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 4 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 cup whole milk

Heat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8×4 x 21/2-in. loaf pan; dust with flour; tap out excess. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a small bowl until blended.

In another small bowl, mash bananas with lemon zest and juice; stir in rum. Microwave chocolate and 2 Tbsp butter, stirring every 10 seconds, until melted and blended.
Beat remaining butter with mixer on medium speed 3 minutes or until creamy. Add sugars; beat 2 to 3 minutes until light and smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla (batter will look curdled). Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in 1/2 the flour mixture just until blended. Beat in milk until combined, then remaining flour mixture. Scrape down bowl; beat in banana mixture (batter will look lumpy).

Stir a little less than 1/2 the batter into melted chocolate to blend. Drop alternating spoonfuls of both batters into prepared pan. Using a table knife, swirl batters together, taking care not to overdo it.

Bake 1 hour and 20 to 30 minutes (check cake after 45 minutes and cover loosely with foil if it’s getting too brown), until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes before inverting on rack, turning right side up and cooling completely.

Двухцветный банановый кекс

На 8 порций.

1 1/3 чашки муки, 1 чайная ложка разрыхлителя, 1/2 чайной ложки соли, 1 1/2 банана, 1/2 чайной ложки свеже натертой лимонной цедры, немного свежего лимонного сока, 1 столовая ложка рома, 3/4 чашки мелко нарезанного шоколада, 10 столовых ложек сливочного масла, 2/3 чашки коричневого сахара, 1/3 чашки обыкновенного сахара, 4 яйца, 1 чайная ложка ванильного экстракта, 1/2 чашки молока.

Нагреть духовку до 325Ф. Прямоугольную форму для выпечки кексов смазать растительным маслом.

Смешать муку, соль и разрыхлитель. В другой миске растереть бананы, лимонную цедру и лимонный сок. В микроволновой духовке расплавить шоколад с 2 ложками сливочного масла. Иставшиеся 8 столовых ложек масла взбить миксером с сахаром. Добавить молоко, яйца и сухую мучную смесь. Мучную смесь добавлеть порциями. В конце добавить растертые бананы.

Отделить 1/3 жидкого теста в отдельную посуду и добавить растопленный шоколад. Выкладывать поочередно в форму по 2 ст. л. теста, чередуя темное и светлое. Печь 80-90 минут. Вынуть из духовки готовый кекс, остудить полностчю перед употреблением. Особо хорош на следующий день.

Recipe from "Baking, From My Home to Yours" by Dorie Greenspan

Spinach Salad with Mushrooms

Spinach Salad with Mushrooms

Yield: 2 servings
4 cups washed spinach leaves, preferably organically grown, 2 large ripe tomatoes, diced (3/4 cup cherry tomatoes), 2 cups thinly sliced fresh mushrooms, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, minced, juice of ½ fresh lemon, 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chop spinach into small pieces and divide spinach between two salad plates. Top each with chopped tomatoes and red onion.

Wash and dry mushrooms, removing stems. In a small frying pan, heat olive oil and sauté garlic with lemon juice, salt, and pepper until garlic is browned. Add mushroom and saute for about 8 minutes. The mushrooms should be browned and tender. Remove from the pan and arrange over spinach salad. Add seasoning to taste. Drizzle salad with mayonnaise.


Салат со шпинатом и жаренными грибами.

На 2 порции.

4 чашки листьев зеленого шпината, 2 больших мелко нарезанных помидора или 3/4 чашки помидоров "cherry", 2 чашки свежих грибов, 2 столовые ложки оливкового масла, 2 зубца чеснока, сок 1/2 лимона, 1/4 чашки мелко нарезанного красного лука, 1/3 чашки майонеза, соль и перец по вкусу.

Мелко нарезать шпинат и уложить в тарелки. Наверх уложить помидоры и лук.
Грубы помыть и тонко нарезать. Нагреть оливковое масло в сковороде. Добавить чеснок и лимонный сок. Выложить грибы и жарить 8-10 минут. Добавить соль и перец по вкусу. Снять с огня и выложить грибы на салат. Заправить салат майонезом. Хорошо перемешать перед подачей на стол.

Pure Lemon Maple Syrup Cake (sugar-free)

Pure Lemon Maple Syrup Cake (sugar-free)
Serves 12

100 g (1/2 cup) butter melted, 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, 225 g (1 cup) 100% Pure Maple Syrup, 100 ml (1/2 cup) hot water, 560 g (2 1/2 cups) all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted with:
5 g (1 tsp.) baking soda, 10 g (2 tsp.) baking powder, 2.5 g (1/2 tsp.) ground ginger, juice and zest of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 tsp. salt

Icing (optional)
1 egg white, 1 cup powdered sugar, juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted tube pan.
Place melted butter in mixing bowl, gradually add eggs, Pure Maple Syrup, hot water, lemon zest and juice. Blend in flour, baking soda, baking powder and ginger. Pour mixture into pan.

Cook in 350 °F (180 °C) oven for 50 minutes. Let cool and set aside.
In a double-boiler, mix icing ingredients and beat mixture until it peaks. Ice cake and decorate with nuts, almonds or cherries (optional)


Лимонный бисквит с сиропом из кленовых листьев

Для тех, кто не знаком с традиционным канадским продуктом "Maple syrup", предлагаю познакомиться и подружиться.

На 12 порций.

1/2 чашки растопленного сливочного масла, 1 яйцо, 1 яичный желток, 1 чашка сиропа из кленовых листьев, 1/2 чашки горячей воды, 2 1/2 чашки муки, 1 чайная ложка соды, 2 чайные ложки разрыхлителя, 1/2 чайноой ложки молотого имбиря, сок и цедра из половины лимона, 1/2 чайной ложки соли

Помадка (по желанию)
1 яичный белок, 1 чашка сахарной пудры, сок и цедра из 1/2 ломона.

Приготовить круглую форму для выпекания биквита. Смешать жидкое сливочное масло с яйцами, сиропом из кленовых листьев, 1/2 чашки горячей воды. Добавить сок и цедру лимона. В отдельной посуде смешать муку, соду, соль, разрыхлитель и молотый имбирь. Медленно добавить сухую смесь с жидкими ингридиентами. Все хорошо перемешать. Вылить тесто в приготовленную форму и печь в духовке при температуре 350Ф в течении 45-50 минут. Вынуть из духовку и остудить.

Для помадки смешать на паровой бане все ингридиенты и взбить немного. Залить теплый (не горячий) бисквит. Украсить орехами или свежими фруктами.

I'm nominated

I invite you to take a look back at culinary 2007

One of the NOMINATED recipes is MINE:

Orange Zucchini Bread

Cranberry-Orange Pound Cake (only in America)

Cranberry-Orange Pound Cake (only in America)

Makes:16 servings

Cake: 1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® golden vanilla or yellow cake mix, 1 box (4-serving size) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix, 1 cup water, 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted, 1 teaspoon grated orange peel, 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped (do not thaw frozen cranberries)

Powdered sugar, if desired

Orange Sauce, if desired: 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon Gold Medal® all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup butter
Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour, or spray with baking spray with flour, 12-cup fluted tube cake pan.

In large bowl, beat dry cake mix, dry pudding mix, water, melted butter, orange peel and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes. Fold in cranberries. Spread in pan.

Bake 57 to 63 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
In 1-quart saucepan, cook all sauce ingredients over medium heat about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Serve warm or cool sauce with cake. For Orange Butter Sauce, increase flour to 2 tablespoons. Cook over medium heat until butter is melted, then cook 4 minutes longer.

Бисквит с клюквой по-американски

Тесто: 1 упаковка сухой смеси для бисквита (yellow cake mix), 1 упаковка (4 порции) для ванильного пудинга (vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix), 1 чашка воды, 1/2 чашки растопленного маргарина или сливочного масла, 1 чайная ложка свеже натертой цедры апельсина, 4 яйца, 1 1/2 чашки свежей или замороженной клюквы. (Если клюква заморожена, то ее не нужно размораживать)

Нагреть духовку до 325Ф. Подготовить формочку (12-cup fluted tube cake pan).

В большой миске смешать все составляющие и взбить миксером в течении 2 минут. Добавить клюкву. Выложить тесто блинной консистенции в формочку для бисквита. Печь около часа и проверь лучинкой готовность бисквита.
Для соуса в небольшой кастрюле смешать все составляющие соуса. Нагреть на медленном огне, постоянно помешивая до загустения. Подавать в теплом виде с бисквитом.

Recipe from Betty Crocker

Chocolate-Filled Biscotti

Chocolate-Filled Biscotti
Cream Cheese Dough: 4 cup(s) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup (2 sticks) butter (no substitutions), softened, 6 ounce(s) cream cheese, softened, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup (packed) brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tablespoon(s) vanilla extract

Chocolate Filling: 1 can (14-ounce) sweetened condensed milk, 8 ounce(s) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut up, 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

1. Prepare Cream Cheese Dough: In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In large bowl, with mixer on medium speed, beat butter and cream cheese until well blended. Gradually add sugars and beat 3 minutes or until light and creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; gradually beat in flour mixture just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl. Place 1/4 dough on sheet of plastic wrap. Repeat to make 4 more. Wrap each with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

2. When ready to roll out dough, prepare Chocolate Filling: In 2-quart saucepan, heat sweetened condensed milk and chocolate over medium heat just until chocolate melts, stirring frequently. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in walnuts. Cool filling to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 large cookie sheets.

4. Remove 1 piece of dough from refrigerator. On lightly floured 16-inch sheet of waxed paper, with floured rolling pin, roll dough into 10" by 6" rectangle. Spread heaping 1/4 filling lengthwise down center of rectangle. Starting from a long side and using waxed paper to help lift dough, fold 1 side of dough lengthwise over filling, then remaining side over dough (dough should overlap).

5. Pick up waxed paper and flip cookie log onto 1 side of prepared cookie sheet, seam side down. Repeat with another piece of dough and filling. Flip second log parallel to first log, leaving about 2 inches between logs.

6. Bake logs 20 to 22 minutes or until edges are lightly golden. Cool logs on cookie sheet 2 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. While logs bake, repeat with remaining dough and filling.

7. Wrap each cooled log separately with foil or plastic wrap, and store in tightly covered containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks or in freezer up to 3 months.

8. To serve, sprinkle logs with confectioners’ sugar. Cut each log crosswise on the diagonal into 12 slices. (If logs are frozen, thaw completely at room temperature before sprinkling with sugar and slicing.)

Итальянские бискотти с шоколадной начинкой.
Для тех, кто никогда не был в Италии, слово "бискотти" будет новым. Поверьте мне, что большинство чаепитий в европейских странах никогда не обходится без бискотти. А этот рецепт совсем необычный и очень вкусный. Попробуйте, и Вам захочется еще и еще раз это необыкновенное вкусное угощение. В холодную зимнюю погоду чашечка чая с итальянским печеньем поднимет настроение каждому.

Тесто: 4 чашки муки, 1 чайная ложка разрыхлителя, 1 чайная ложка соли, 1 чашка сливочного масла, 1 чашка сахара, 1 чашка коричневого сахара (я взяла 1.5 чашки обыкновенного сахара вместо 2 чашек), 2 яйца, 1 столовая ложка ванильного экстракта (по желанию), 150 грамм сливочного сыра "Philadelphia"

Шоколадная начинка: 1 баночка (14-ounce) сгущенного молока, 2 чашки мелко нарезанного шоколада, 1 чашка мелко порубленных грецких орехов.

1. Приготовить тесто. Прежде всего смешать муку, разрыхлитель и соль. В отдельной миске взбить миксером сливочное масло и сливочный сыр. Постепенно добавить сахар и яйца. Добавить ванильный экстракт. Уменьшив скорость миксера, добавить сухую мучную смесь. Замесить тесто и разделить на 4 части. Завернуть каждую часть в пищевую пленку и положить в холодильник (НЕ в морозилку) на 8-10 часов.

2. Приготовить начинку. Смешать сгущенное молоко и шоколад. Поставить на огонь и подогревать помешивая то того момента, пока шоколад не начнет плавиться. Снять с огня, остудить и добавить орехи. Все хорошо перемешать и дать остыть до комнатной температуры.

3. Разогреть духовку до 350Ф. Приготовить две дечки для печенья. Вынуть одну часть теста из холодильника, раскатать в прамоугольник 20см на 13 см. Выложить 1/4 всей начинки по середине раскатанного теста и сомкнуть края теста. Выложить на дечку швом вниз. Повторить с оставшимся тестом. Печь в течении 20-25 минут. Вынуть, остудить. Нарезать на 12 частей каждую порцию.

Recipe from Good Housekeeping