Onion Rings

 While going through my mother's recipe cards I found lots of interesting recipes. The cards had all types of recipes from Spoon Rolls to French Fried Shrimp to Irish Spaghetti and everything in between. One of those in between recipes was for Fried Onion Rings, I thought that recipe would go good with our dinner of chicken sliders (We ate a big lunch). My awesome Mom taught me how to make them. If you would like to make the recipe it is listed down below....

Ingredients 

• 4 large onions, sliced into 1/3-inch rings
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg, beaten

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups vegetable oil.
  
  
  Directions

1. Soak onion rings in a bowl of ice water for 30 minutes to 1 hour; drain and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Whisk flour, buttermilk, egg, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl until smooth.
3. Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 375 degrees F.
4. Dip onion rings in batter, working in batches; fry battered onion rings in the hot oil until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Chocolate Contest

Recently my wonderful mother found a chocolate contest in Tyler, Texas which Andrew, Mom and I entered. Andrew made peanut butter chip cookies and Mom made chocolate cherry cookies for their divisions.  For my group I made a chocolate cake and chocolate truffles. While the desserts were being judged, a cooking demonstration was held. The demo taught how to make different types of truffles and how to cook with white chocolate. After the demonstration the judges announced the winners. Sadly Mom and Andrew didn't place, but I placed 2nd with my truffles.

Did you know that.........

Truffles originated in France?
Truffles got their name because they look like the truffle mushroom?
Truffles were first made on an accident?

 

 

 

Caribbean Cruise Day 3

Departing the cruise ship.

 Our first stop was Cozumel; Mexico, here we rented a taxi to take us around the island. First, our driver took us to a family owned chocolate shop which still used an Mayan recipe. Second, we drove around the city and then to a  less populated area of the island. Then we ate at an Mexican restaurant, walked around the beach on the Caribbean Sea. While walking on the beach a man approached us asking if we wanted to hold Alberto his iguana. Me being the animal lover that I am gladly took his offer.When Dad went to get my picture we were told that pictures were five dollars. After our time on the beach we went back to the boat. While at a gas station near the boat the car wouldn't start so we 

Cozumel means Island of the Swallows.

walked back to the boat and enjoyed a good dinner of Fettuccini Alfredo and Crème Brûlée.

Pretzels

Recently, my mother and I made my one of my favorite foods; pretzels. My mom found the recipe from Brown Eyed Baker but we made a few modifications which are below the recipe.

Ingredients:
1½ cups warm water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
4½ cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cups baking soda
1 egg yolk + 1 tablespoon water, whisked together (for egg wash)
Coarse salt, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Combine the water, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes, until the mixture begins to foam.
2. Add the flour and butter. Use the dough hook attachment to mix on low speed until all of the ingredients are combined. Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, about 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove the dough from the mixer and place in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with the vegetable oil; set aside.
5. Combine the water and baking soda in a large, wide pot (a Dutch oven works perfect for this). Bring the mixture to a rolling boil.
6. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined baking sheet.
7. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 2 or 3 at a time (or however many will fit comfortably given the size of your pot – don’t crowd them), for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large, flat spatula. Place the boiled pretzels back on the baking sheet, brush the top of each pretzel with the egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt.
8. Bake until dark golden brown in color, about 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Modifications: 

If you choose to do a egg wash,make sure you brush the pretzels very light.
Otherwise the bottom of the pretzel will be soggy and have greenish glaze.

Buddha's hand fruit

Q. Can you identify this fruit?  This fruit originated in Northeastern India or China. It grows on a shrub tree with long thorny branches. This fruit's tree has leaves that are four to six inches long with blossoms that are white with a purple tint. It contains small amount of fruit and is juiceless. The Chinese and Japanese use it for perfuming rooms. The peel of this fruit can be succaded which is a candied peel of a citrus fruit. A neat fact I learned when researching this fruit is: Trees can be grown from cuttings taken from branches two to four years old. 

A. If you guessed a budda hand you're correct.

Food Show

My dish

Yesterday, I participated in the 4-H Food Show, Food Challenge, and the Food Quiz Bowl. First, I did the Food Show and won first place. The Food Show is where you make a food and tell how you made it, how it is healthy for you, and tell how many calories your dish has. After the Food Show, my team won first place in the Food Quiz Bowl. The Quiz Bowl is where you and a team of other kids have buzzers and buzz in answers about food nutrition and safety. Lastly, my team won first place in the Food Challenge. The Food Challenge is kind of like the Iron Chef but you have to tell how the food is healthy  how much it cost to make, and safety precautions you used. Since I won in all of the contests I will get to go to district with the 4-H Food Show, Food Challenge, and the Food Quiz Bowl.


If you would like to make the dish that I made, below is the recipe.


Chinese New Year Noodles with Shrimp
6 ounces thin spaghetti noodles
7 ounces shrimp, deveined
1 ½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt, divided
½ teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/4 cup snow peas, sliced thin on diagonal
1/4 cup matchstick cut carrots
1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine can substitute for apple juice.
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Bring a stockpot of water to boil. Add 1 tsp of salt to water and cook thin spaghetti, according to package directions. Drain. While pasta is cooking, place shrimp in a small bowl and add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and the cornstarch. Mix well and let sit for 8 minutes. Rinse the shrimp well, washing off the salt and cornstarch. Pat very dry with paper towels.
In a wok or large skillet, heat cooking oil on high until a bead of water sizzles and evaporates upon contact. Add the shrimp and fry until halfway cooked through, about 1 minute each side. Dish out the shrimp to a plate, keeping as much oil in wok as possible (you should have about 1 teaspoon of oil left and you may add a just a bit of oil into the pan if needed.)
Turn heat down to medium and add garlic. Fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds then add the snow peas and carrots. Fry for 1 minute, until the carrots and snow peas are cooked but still retain a nice crunch. Add the soy sauce and rice wine. Turn heat to high and add the drained spaghetti noodles and shrimp. Toss well to combine. Let cook for 2 minutes, until shrimp is cooked through. Toss with sesame oil and sesame seeds.

Christmas cookies

 This year to start off the Christmas holiday, we made several batches of M&M, gingerbread men, spritz, and sugar cookies. After we finished baking all of the cookies, we delivered them to our friends, neighbors, and members of our church family. My favorite kind of cookie to bake is the spritz cookies because you   use a cookie press to make the cookie design. My favorite cookie to eat would be the sugar cookies. Although making Christmas cookies, giving and receiving presents and everything else that you do for Christmas is fun, make sure you remember that if God hadn't sent his Son Jesus Christ to be born on Christmas day we wouldn't celebrate CHRISTmas.  

Luke 2:9-14

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. (10) And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. (11) For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (12) And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, (14) “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” To read more Christmas bible verses click  here

Jesus is the reason for the season art taken from here

Chick and Garden Update

I'm writing this post since I promised to keep my blog updated with the chicks and garden growth. My Quail have grown up and have started laying eggs. They have laid almost forty eggs in nine days. I'm hoping to get a incubator and try to hatch some of their eggs.  The broilers are fat and lazy, they have grown a lot. Dad has been butchering some of them and we've been eating them. The Buff Orpington chicks have gotten bigger and have became free range. Our garden is over grown with weeds and has lots of grasshoppers. We've been getting LOTS of squash, a few zucchinis, one cucumber, lots of okra, and about twenty tomatoes. I love having a garden, the produce you get from a garden has lots more flavor than the kind at the store. I would really recommend 
having a garden. 

Broilers 

Cucumbers 

District Food Show

When I went to district with my Applesauce Oat muffins , I won 1st place. There were 10 to 15 people that had won at their county  and moved on to District I competed against them and won First place with a perfect score. Also, I entered Ag  Id which is a new 4H contest where you have to identify agricultural

products from Texas and know information about them I won 1st place in that too. To find out more about the food show click here .

4-H Food Show

On January 20 my brother, sister and I went to the county 4-H Food Show. The 4-H Food Show is where you prepare a healthy dish. Which would fall unto one of these groups, Main Dish, Breads and Cereals, Nutritional Snacks, and Fruits and Vegetables? The dish I made was Applesauce Oat muffins so it would be in the Breads and Cereals class. Each person enters one dish in a category and gets 2,5or 7 minutes to tell the judge how your dish is nutritional for you. Then the judge will ask you some questions such as how many calories are in your food, your 4-H leadership that you have done; and if you could substitute any ingredient in your recipe. After everyone was done getting judged, we received our ribbons. My sister and I both received first place so we will go on to District.  

Reindeer Cookies

Yesterday evening we made reindeer cookies to start off this Christmas season. Here's how to decorate them: First after you make the dough, you shape it into small triangle shapes on the baking sheet. Next, you get to get to put 2 pretzels in the top corners for the antlers. Next, you put two green M&M's on for the eyes. Then, you put the red  M&M on for Rudolph's red nose. Lastly,you put them in the oven for 10 to15 minutes. You can find the recipe  here Enjoy!     

  Here are four facts that I learned about reindeer.   

1. Both  male and female reindeer grow antlers.
2. Reindeer typically have a lifespan of around 10 years.
3. An adult reindeer can weigh up to 300 pounds.
4.  Reindeer are good and strong swimmers.

Since you can't live on cookies we made Chili too.  My sister and I won third place at the 4-H Chili Bonanza  with this recipe last year. The 4-H Chili Bonanza is fundraiser for 4-H where you can take your chili and display your table. Then you serve a small bowl of your chili to the judge. After that you serve the extra chili to every one there.  This year instead of a chili bonanza they had a waffle supper. The chili recipe is                  here.

State Flag of Texas

Chili is the state food of Texas.