♥ Sunny Side Up Eggs and Homemade Biscuits

This was Sunday morning breakfast yesterday. We had eggs, brown sugar ham, homefries and buttermilk biscuits. I like eggs anyway you choose to cook them. I usually fry mine over medium, or scramble them, but yesterday I decided to make them... Sunny Side up. Here's how you make the perfect sunny side up eggs.

 Sunny Side Up Eggs and Homemade Biscuits

Add butter to a heated skillet set to medium high. When the butter starts to sizzle, crack your eggs on a flat surface and add them to the pan. Slip the egg into a saucer first if you have trouble keeping the yolks from breaking. Salt and pepper the eggs and cover the skillet. Turn down heat to medium. Leave covered until egg white around yolks is opaque, usually 3-5 minutes. Uncover and carefully run spatula under egg, and serve on plate.

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Butter Milk Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, very cold
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 450. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl, or in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into chunks and cut into the flour until it resembles course meal. Add the buttermilk and mix just until combined. At this point if it appears on the dry side, add a bit more buttermilk. It should be very wet.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board. Gently, gently PAT (do NOT roll with a rolling pin) the dough out until it's about 1/2" thick. Fold the dough about 5 times, gently press the dough down to a 1 inch thick. Use a round cutter to cut into rounds.

Place the biscuits on a cookie sheet touching each other. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until they are a beautiful light golden brown on top and bottom. Do not over bake.

Hints: Your dough must be handled as little as possible or you will have tough biscuits. So work quickly. If you use a food processor the ingredients stay colder and there's less chance of over mixing. You also must pat the dough out with your hands, lightly. Don't roll these with a rolling pin or you will have tough biscuits.

You can also make them up and freeze them on a cookie sheet. Once they are frozen, drop them into a ziploc bag or container for up to one month. Then just bake frozen biscuits as you need them in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Photography ©Welcome Home

Every Woman Should Know
 
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
A set of screwdrivers,
A cordless drill, and
A black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
One friend who
Always makes her
Laugh...
And one
Who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
A good piece of furniture
Not previously owned by
Anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
Eight matching plates,
Wine glasses with stems,
And a recipe for a meal that will
Make her guests feel honored.

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
A feeling of control over Her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
How to fall in love Without losing herself...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
How to quite a job
break up with a lover
and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
When to try harder
and when to walk away

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
That she can't change
The length of her calves,
The width of her hips, or
The nature of her parents...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
That her childhood
May not have been Perfect
But; It's over.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she would and Wouldn't
Do for love or money...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
How to live alone...
Even if She doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
Whom she can trust, Whom she can't,
And why she shouldn't Take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
Where to go...
Be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
Or a charming inn in the woods...
When her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
What she can and what she can't accomplish
In a day...
A month...
And a year...

 

~Pamela Redmond Satran

♥ Brussel Sprouts in Butter

Brussel Sprouts in Butter

Who out there loves Brussel sprouts? I snapped this photo and then ate this entire bowl of them tonight. I didn't leave room for the steak and other vegetables I
put up in the last post.

These were boiled in water with a teaspoon of sug...ar added. i did a slow boil until they were tender then I drained them...added butter and salt and a little pepper. Yum!
I also grill them, roast them, steam them. Sometimes I add bacon and onions and garllic...sometimes I just like them with butter! My Mom used to tell me I called them baby cabbage balls when I was really little. LOVE my brussel sprouts! Do you?
Photography Copyright Welcome Home

♥ Roast Chicken

Moist and Tender Roast Chicken

5-7 pound roasting chicken
Kosher salt
black pepper
1 tablespoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
1 whole head garlic, cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons butter, melted for outside rub
1/2 stick of butter for cavity
1 large yellow onion, cut in half
2 cups chicken broth or use water

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the chicken inside and out and pat dry. Generously add salt and pepper to inside of cavity. Then add thyme, rosemary garlic, onion. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. I use my hands to make sure every part of the outside of the chicken is covered in butter. Tie the two legs together with kitchen string Place chicken on rack in large roasting pan. Pour chicken broth or water under rack but not touching any part of chicken. This way the chicken steams and stays moist, yet the skin gets crisp.

Roast the chicken for 90 minutes to 2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh.... Or when the chicken registers 165 degrees on a meat thermometer. Remove to platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve.

Photography ©Welcome Home

♥ Apple Swirl Streusel Bread

I used Gala apples for this one however, you can use Braeburn, Pink lady or Honey Crisp apples. Don't forget to click on photo for drool mode!

Apple Swirl Streusel Bread
  
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups apple, peeled and diced
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

With a mixer, beat sugar, and eggs until creamy. Mix in lemon juice and the vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt and then gradually stir it into the flour mixture until it is just moistened. Next fold in apples with a rubber spatula and scrape down sides of bowl.

In a small bowl add Streusel topping ingredients. I usually cut them in with two knives until blended and crumbly. Pour half the batter into a standard greased 8 x 5 loaf pan. Sprinkle half of streusel topping over batter. Repeat layers for 2nd half of batter and ending with rest of topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Let cool completely.

Icing

1 1/4 cups confectioners sugar(powdered sugar)
1-2 tablespoons milk

Mix powdered sugar with a little milk at a time to get the consistency you like best. Drizzle over cooled bread.






  Photography ©Welcome Home

Welcome Home Cooking....Recipes From My Mother's Collection

 

It is an exciting day for me as I have just released my first cookbook. It's called....

 

"Welcome Home Cooking....Recipes From My Mother's Collection."

 

 It's a beautiful 196 page full color high quality cookbook with a complete recipe to match each photo.

"There's nothing like a home cooked meal made with love that can spark old memories of our childhood. Welcome Home Cooking is a collection of recipes left to me by my Mom, who now lives in Heaven. It is filled with down-home country recipes that a Southern Mom would teach her daughter. Recipes that have created memories that will never fade. Like her wonderful chicken and dumplings and her delicious homemade cornbread she used to make in her old cast iron skillet. Or, her Sunday after church suppers of Buttermilk Fried Chicken and her incredible Peach Cobbler, fresh out of the oven. I've put together a cookbook for those who yearn for those memories of good old fashioned, uncomplicated home-cooked southern food. The kind of food that memories are made of; and it comes to you straight from my Mother's recipe box. I hope you enjoy some of my Mom's favorite recipes and that you'll make some memories of your own."

It's available today in ebook format for your desktop or laptop (Windows and Mac) and for your iPad, iPod Touch and iPhones for only $24.99. You simply click on the link below to find it. Then you purchase it with a credit card or PayPal and you will receive an immediate email with a link that you can use to download the book to any or ALL of these devices. If you have an Apple Device, you will need to download the free ibooks app first. If you want to also download it to your computer, I suggest you download the free app for Calibre or any other ebook application.

That's all there is to it. You will have your new book in just a matter of minutes. Why an ebook? First it is the most economical way to purchase a book. It's convenient in that you can carry your book wherever you go. My ebook is on all my devices....it's on my phone when I go to the grocery store and need the ingredients to make something for dinner. It's on my iPad for when I know I have a long wait in the doctor's office or when I go to the beach and I want to read a book. And it's on my computer when I want to print something off to take to the kitchen to make a recipe instead of getting my beautiful hardback all dirty and smudgy. Ebooks are the way to go today.

The print book is also available today, however as I projected earlier this year before it was published, it is very pricey and you might find it outside your budget. Unfortunately I have no control over the Publisher's set price but I know that usually when I give much of the proceeds to a charity, they usually charge more. With this book, as well as all my books, I support No Kill Shelters across America in their effort to save the lives of healthy dogs and cats who are killed unnecessarily while waiting for their forever homes.

"Welcome Home Cooking" is also being released today in a soft cover, hardback with a dust jacket, and a hardback image wrap book without a jacket. This book is bookstore quality and meant for those who are sticklers for top notch binding, gorgeous paper, and professional printing. This is not just an average cookbook. It is a limited first edition book and the production team at this publishing house produces each high quality book as they are
ordered, which doesn't always lend itself to affordability.

But you be the judge. If you'd like to preview a few pages of the book before deciding to purchase, go to this link and click on the book and it will show you about 29 random pages. Then if you like what you see, feel free to order it and they will start production of YOUR book right away and ship it to you before the end of the month. The publisher is offering Welcome Home fans a coupon that will give you 25% off the purchase of any print book. That's on Print books only. See below

To purchase Welcome Home Cooking in ebook format for $24.99 today go to: http://store.blurb.com/ebooks/412757-welcome-home-cooking

To Preview Welcome Home Cooking and purchase it in softcover or hardback go to: http://www.blurb.com/b/4446916-welcome-home-cooking

For Print Books: Enter the code in all caps SAVE25BLURB and receive 25% off your purchase if used before July 31st.

Hope you like it!

♥ Roasted Sockeye Salmon

Roasted Sockeye Salmon

1 2-3 lb Sockeye Salmon Fillet (or any size you choose)
tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
lemons for garnish

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pat salmon dry with a paper towel. your hands rub the fillet with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and fresh minced garlic. Turn down oven heat to 400 and roast for about 15 minutes (depending on thickness of fillet) or until salmon flakes easily in the middle or thickest part. If you want to use a thermometer, it should register 125 degrees in the center of the fillet. Remove from oven and transfer to platter or cutting. Garnish with lemons.

♥ Boston Cream Pie

Boston Cream Pie

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) round baking pans. Set aside. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Set aside.

Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until creamy. Add 1 egg at a time; beat well after each addition. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition just until mixed.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake for 29 to 34 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks 10 minutes. Loosen edge of cake by running knife around inside edge. Carefully remove cake from pan; cool completely.

Pastry Cream Filling:

1 1/4 cups whole milk or light cream
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together. Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.

Meanwhile in a saucepan combine the milk and split vanilla bean on medium heat until boiling. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture.

Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 – 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Refrigerate for at least an hour or until cold.

Once filling is cold, Remove plastic wrap and with spatula spread half on on bottom cake layer. Top with second layer. Using a long angled spatula smooth filling around edges so that it is flush with the cake. Your cake is now ready for frosting.

Thick Chocolate Ganche:

12 ounces chocolate, chopped into small pieces
1 cup heavy cream

Place chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until completely mixed and glossy. Allow ganache to completely cool and set up. The longer you allow the ganache to cool, the thicker it will set. When you are able to spoon the ganache and it can hold its texture, it is ready for piping.

Pipe ganache around the top of the cake in a circular motion to resemble a rose as shown in the photo or be creative and make your own design.

Photographs are the property of and copyrighted to ©Welcome Home

♥ Purple Cone Flower

I shot this with my little Samsung MB250 as I do most of my close ups of food and flowers. It is one single flower in my spread of Purple Cone Flowers also know as Echinacea. Who doesn't love the gracefulness of this flower. I love them at each stage of blooming from the time they bud to the point where all the petals start to point downward. Mine are about 3 feet tall and blend well in the back of my garden.

♥ Balloon Flower

love this little flower....I know I say that about all the flowers in my garden, but I love this one for different reasons. It's called the Balloon Flower because the buds like little inflated balloons before they pop... open to reveal a beautiful bell shaped flower. Click on the photo for full effect.

It is a popular perennial that comes in shades of blue, white, purple, and pink and while the one shown is the dwarf variety, the common Balloon Flower can reach up to 3 feet in height. Flowers appear in mid-summer and last for at least a month before fading, although proper dead-heading can prolong the blooming season somewhat.

Photograpy ©Welcome Home