Old-Fashioned Date and Nut Bread-Cookbook Sundays

Not again, not another banana bread?...you're probably wondering. Well it's not, it is a super wonderful Date bread, with walnuts, from another "thrift find" book of mine, which cost only $2.49, from Goodwill. This book does not have any pictures, it is, what it is! Just simple, and I love it, because these are recipes from backs of labels on cans, boxes,  jars, you name it...these are the forgotten, and tossed away recipes, compiled into one super great book.

I made this bread for my family, to have with their extremely early breakfast at about 4:00AM, for their caffe latte. They were rushing off to catch their plane to New York City...it's beyond me...why at this time for the year, would you wand to spend 3 days in snow, ice, and sleet in the city? ...the answer is...NEW YORK, NEW YORK..."the city, that never sleeps". It's a city that welcomes you 365 days a year, and 24/7. Also when you are in the restaurant business, as my son-in-law is, He likes to check out the restaurants in Miami, and the best ones, in New York.

I am staying away from the extreme cold and snow, but for them, it's an adventure. The little ones have never seen snow. My children got all bundled up in their snugly winter gear, from head to toe. For the last three days my daughter Lora was gathering stuff for them from her friend who has children their age. Her friend and little family spend every Christmas in Idaho with their family, so obviously they have all the winter clothes.
I've been away from the cold climate in Ohio for over 35 years, and that's a long time. Your blood thins out when you are not used to such cold weather, they say. We had our lowest temperature here, in South Florida, which is a record low of 29 degrees with a 12 degree wind chill, which cooled it even more into the teens. I was not about to budge and venture out that day.

So, I'm standing at the checkout at Goodwill, I suddenly notice the man across the counter standing there with a parrot on his shoulder. He, he, only in "Florida" do you see all kinds of people with their diffirent pets in stores...I always carry my camera...never know what kind of encounter I run into, grabbed my camera out of my purse, and could not resist taking a close up. As you can see, my purse is still open, and my "thrift finds" are ready to be purchased.

The famous Russian stackable dolls, is what I call them-don't know the name, but this is one of the largest I'v seen, such a "handcraft"...only one little flaw, only consists of two pieces, and not the smaller, and tiny ones. Cost, $5.99...that is a super bargain...seriously. I've seen one set in a consignment antique shop that was half the size, and not this good of a quality, because this is thicker, heavier, and the artwork is much more superior. That other one cost at the antique shop $22.99. I'm going to do a giveaway on this, if I get interested bloggers who would like it. The stackable shelves, are 100% bamboo, original price per set of 3, is still on it, for $24.99, I paid $3.96 for each...that's another bargain.

The gentleman was nice enough to let me take a photo of him and the pretty pink parrot, I asked him if the parrot talks...he said no "I do the talking for him"...sometimes it's better this way, no telling what these parrots repeat when their owner does not expect it!

I snapped the picture so fast, did not want to be to obvious, but Manager John, behind the counter, and the other young man, who is an employee, where eager to be in the picture...I even told them that I will post this on my blog, so they were gracious and even smiled!...You meet all kinds of people in this store especially...for some reason, and that reason is, they have the best wares, pictures, toys, books, clothes, shoes, you name it, they have everything, and even the "mega rich" go there, to look for books, and "neckties" and belts?...hmm wonder why?...I saw the couple drive away in their Mercedes!

Peanut Butter&Jam Crepes, and a CSN Gift Certificate

Now that the holidays are over, and all the great leftovers have been recycled into time saving meals, and we are just tired of eating so much cookies...if any left, as for me, I'm just fresh out of ideas, so I lean on my "tried and true" and easy dishes, and desserts. Crepes...or in Hungarian, (palacsinta)...in Italian (crescpelle) in English is actually the American version of pancakes, which is totally a different type, but thicker, and is consumed for breakfast.

My family loves crepes, I have at least 3 types of crepe pans, all three are only used to make crepes in. I have a 6 inch cast iron tortilla pan, which is so perfect to make the smaller size crepes, nicely seasoned pan, easy to flip the crepes over, which is the best part. The second one is actually just for crepes as well, which is an 8 inch skillet. The third, which is the most popular, and "fail proof" is an 8 inch non stick skillet that is most advisable. I do have the actual recipe, which I personally think is the best that I can share with you!

I could barely set up these little peanut butter&jam crepe pieces...within less than 5 minutes it was gone. I could barely take a picture of it, because my little grandchildren, and son-in-law just grabbed a piece. These paper thin crepes, and the peanut butter and jam not only satisfies, as a snack, but doubles as a dessert. The above presentation, is 2 pieces of crepes stacked, smooth and silky peanut butter is spread on it, and strawberry jam is spread on it. Folded in half, and into thirds, and sliced it in half, again. Just look at the thin, light as a feather crepes, you can just serve it with a fork, to cut a bite size piece.

Now, on to the recipe, and the $50. gift certificate giveaway from CSN!...isn't is marvelous?


 I saved my crepes/palacsinta recipe from 20 yrs ago, which was  copied from a Hungarian cookbook, written in English, and then I found the same exact formula/recipe in an old food magazine from the same year, so I cut and pasted it on an index card. The Hungarian book called it "pancakes" and palacsinta, which I preferred the name CREPES, sounded more sophisticated!

CREPES


3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup club soda
unsalted, melted butter, about 1Tbsp. plus 1Tbsp.
vegetable, or canola oil, mixed with the butter


Mix the eggs, flour, milk, sugar and salt in a large bowl, and beat with a wire whisk, or electric mixer for about 2 minutes, to make a smooth batter. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours, or more.

Stir club soda into batter. Heat a heavy 8 inch skillet over moderate heat for about 1 minute. Lightly brush with the melted butter, and oil Test heat by dropping a small amount of the batter into the pan-if it sizzles, pan is ready.

Remove pan from the heat, immediately pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the center of the pan, and at the same time, start tipping the pan in all directions so that the batter coats the bottom of the pan in a thin, even layer. Pour off any excess batter, fill any large gaps with a little extra, Return pan to heat and cook about 1 minute until top of crepe loses its shine and the edge can be lifted easily with a small spatula. Lift edged of crepe out onto a flat surface. Continue making crepes; stack them in heaps of 6 or 8 with wax paper between each crepe.

Crepes may be made ahead, each stack put in a plastic bag and refrigerated or frozen. Thaw before using. Makes about  12-14 crepes.

CSN I STORES- $50. Gift Certificate {Giveaway}

I'm so excited that I was contacted by CSN stores...to share this amazing giveaway with you!
CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find everything, from...
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 Dinnerwar, Glassware, Serving pieces to my favorite Candles, Decorative Plates to portray your beautiful foods to show them off on your photos for your food blogs.

CSN STORES' sites and products have been featured by:

• The Today Show

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That's a big deal!

 

Many thanks are in order to our generous sponsor for this gift card! Here is where the fun begins! 

One lucky food and thrift finds reader will win a $50. gift card to spend on anything from any of the 200+ CSN Stores just by doing the following:

Leave a comment below telling me which items you have your eye on from either CSNhome.com or AllModern.com  Earn an extra entry by doing any of the following.  Please leave a separate comment for each of your entries.  Maximum of 4 entries per person.

• Follow food and thrift finds
• Post about this giveaway on your blog – link to this post 
• Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter –include a link to this post

Giveaway ends Sunday, January 9th at midnight EST.   A winner will be chosen Randomly and announced on Monday, January 10th . 

The winner must claim their prize before Sunday, January 9th or a new winner will be selected.  You must be 18 years old and either a U.S. or Canadian resident to enter.   Maximum of 4 entries per person.

Savory Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

On New Year's Day, it's been such a tradition in my mom's and aunt's Hungarian kitchen to have a huge casserole of stuffed cabbage, I have such fond memories from Cleveland, every New Year's Eve was a celebration of family, and friends in our house for the New Year's Eve, in our full "party basement" which most northern houses have...I sure miss that. On New Year's Day, was a huge early dinner celebration at my aunt and uncle's, with our families, siblings, and cousins. Every 1st of the year, my aunt would roast a cute "little" pig...(uggghh) the thought of it now, scares me...I could not be staring the poor innocent piglet in the face...ohh yes, the face, and the poor little mouth with an apple in it!
Anyway, these were traditions of the sixties, and since then, we had our tradition for our children, and times, have changed and we keep moving on with time, moving on to a New Year, and hopefully, a better tomorrow for all!

I have not made Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in several years, simply for the reason that my dear departed aunt

who lived next door to us made it every years, here in S. Florida, as my children were growing up, keeping up with the traditions. It's been over ten years that she's gone, and so have the Hungarian traditions.

But of course, if you live near by here, in S. Florida, and  wish to eat authentic stuffed cabbage rolls, you can visit the Hungarian/American club here, locally, in Lake Worth, where they still keep up with the authentic traditions.

Well, for some reason,  when I saw a  spicy Korean condiment of cabbage called "Kimchi" in my daughter's refrigerator, which I thought was so bizarre, because she is so sensitive to hot spices, and that is one spicy side dish! Of course, I ended up with the Kimchi, but that's another story!

I happened to have ground beef, the 1 1/2 heads of cabbage (really need 2) ...2 lbs of authentic homemade Italian sausage from our favorite Italian market, called Mario's in Delray Beach. I did not use Hungarian sausage because smoked Hungarian, or Polish sausage would be perfect for the cabbage, or use smoked ham hocks, which all have so much sodium nitrate, that again, my daughter cannot have, which unfortunately causes extreme headaches for some people.

As you can see, I have my "misen plaz" already set up for the second production...just look at those awesome fresh, and tender homemade sausages. These people have been in the meat market business for at least 30yrs, and the same recipe is passed on from generation, to generation of sausage makers. On the left is my very favorite Hungarian paprika, and on the right is a 32 oz. jar of my store brand's sauer kraut...looked all over for the ones in the bag, but they were all sold out on New Year's Eve. This is a very acceptable kind, better than the ones in the can, which seems soggy to me. This was perfect, and crispy sauer kraut....and it's not just for "hot dogs"

Mix together 1 lb. of ground  beef, 2 links of sweet sausage, removed from the casings, 1 cup of partially cooked long grain conventional rice, like "Uncle Ben's" cooked for about 10 minutes, and drained from the excess liquid. Just mix all the ingredients together with 1 large chopped onion, 2, or 3 cloves of minced garlic, salt, and pepper to taste, and of course good Hungarian paprika, about 2 teaspoonful.

I apologize for these cabbage leaves for looking so "raggedy, and retarded"...my daughter insisted of taking photos, any way!...The cabbage leaves are removed separately with a sharp knife and boiled until they get soft enough to roll. Don't use the inner part, that need to be chopped up, and sauteed. As you can see, I cut most of the hard veins out, they are chewy, and makes it harder to roll.

Actually, this is a perfect leaf, total of 18 leaves. Just scoop out a small portion like this, place in the center, fold the end up from the bottom first, then the top, and fold over the right side, and then the left side to cover, into a little "piggy blanket"...so cute!

Here comes the good part..."waste not, want not"...the inner part of the cabbage that is crinkly, and cannot be used to roll is chopped up, and sauteed with onions, garlic,  in a small amount of vegetable oil, and about 3/4 cup of water added, and a teaspoon of paprika. Just saute for a few minutes until still crisp, but well incorporated. Adding this, and the rinsed sauerkraut to the casserole.

This is what it looks like, before you place the casserole into a 350 degree oven, covered, with aluminum foil.
Bake for 1 1/2 hrs, covered, remove cover, and bake for an additional 20 minutes, or so, but not longer. (you don't want cabbage to burn, or brown)

I used 1 15oz. can of diced tomatoes, and poured half of it over the top, added 1 can of water, from the tomato can, drizzle a little olive oil, and ready to bake.

I ended up with extra sausage, mostly the hot sausage, so I sauteed the sausage pieces, added more sauer kraut, and divided the tomatoes, and also added a small amount of water into this casserole, and baked both dishes at the same time in the 350 degrees oven, for a total time of 1 hour and 45 minutes. I seemed to surprise my family, because I started this about 10 AM, and we had an early lunch, along with Lora's lentils, which was ohh, so good. The little ones, like the cabbage rolls, called it "meatballs" but unfortunately, there were some hot pieces of sausages in the cabbage casserole, so that didn't go over too well, but the cabbage rolls were not overly spicy. They were just right...

While everyone slept, I was up early, because the little pets were so happy that I stayed over, they wanted to spend time with me, so I just leisurely sneaked out to the patio at 7:30 AM, had a nice cup of caffe latte, with a piece of my daughter's cake, and I felt so great to be alive, on the first morning of 2011!

This is little Stella...saying "hello"...My granddaughter's second little pup, she just loves the name Stella, and probably would have liked it for herself!

This is Luigi ...Lui, for short, he is my "sweetheart"...so sweet and loyal-he sulks when I leave their house and sits by the door for a long time. He is ferocious with big dogs, and forgets that he is just a little Chihuahua!

One time he got into a brawl with the neighbor's boxer, jumped up, and bit Charlie's nose, in the meantime, Michetta, their cat, who is also my little buddy, got upset, and he jumped up and bit my wrist, which required immediate medical "outpatient" attention at a nearby walk-in clinic, for fear of getting a nasty infection!...but don't get me wrong, I still love them all!

So, there you have it...all three were hanging out with me on New Year's morning. Michetta, is a male cat, but so sweet and gentle, and he likes to hang out on my daughter's patio. He lives next door, but I seem to have adopted him, because I feed him also! He is a wise and at the same time an adventerous kitty, loves to torture, lizards, and little snakes, and brings them to his owner's front door, who happens to be my daughter and son-in-law's BFF, and traveling companions to North Carolina!

Chocolate Chip Granola Banana Bread

What better way to end the Old Year,  than to snuggle up with a comfy little throw blanket, watch re-runs on T.V...
or if you're a thrifter like me, get some VCR movies for 69 cents at Goodwill, or if you're lucky, you can get DVD's for $2.99, and get some real good ones, if they're even available. One great VCR movie I still cherish, and like to watch it on New Year's Eve is "When Sally Met Harry" It's from the 80's and I love the 80's classics. There's a quote in there that makes you think,

"What does this song mean? My whole life, I don't know what this song means. I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?"

I'm certain this has happened to a few of us, over the course of time..."old acquaintance forgotten"...not by choice, it's just how life takes a different turn. Everybody has something in their life that sometimes they just don't wish to share with others, so they fade away from sight, meaning...they would rather not be "acquainted" with you. I think it has a lot to do with the economy changing, location, jobs, family, relationships, so it's easier for them not to share things with you, or not wanting to divulge information, that might change your friendship...instead, ending it is the better option...sigh!

So, make yourself a nice hot cup of your favorite herb tea, and have a nice piece of banana bread...as for me and my family, I like to add chocolate chips, not just in the mix, but sprinkle them on top of the bread.

Just as with my cheesecake which I have memorized the recipe, which is so basic, so as the banana bread. It turns out perfect every time. You can of course, omit the chocolate chips, and add nuts, and raisins, or dried cranberries,but always add dried fruits, and not chopped fresh ones. The mashed ripe, (not overripe) bananas add the moisture, and any other ingredients other than the chocolate chips, nuts raisins or dried fruits will make it too wet, and it will not rise properly. I added half a cup of granola to it, knowing that it's dry and will even give it a better flavor, and make it healthy.  The baking time is done to a science, I promise you this is another "tried and true" over, and over again recipe. Recipe, to follow!

Chocolate Chip Granola Banana Bread
My own recipe

1 1/2 cup All purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup Granola (if you don't use granola, add 1/2 c. flour)
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas ( mashed with a fork)
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable, or canola oil
dash of salt
dash of cinnamon
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray. Mash the bananas with a potato masher, in a small bowl. In a medium bowl mix the sugar, the milk the eggs, and the oil with a whisk together till it's incorporated. In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, the salt, and the cinnamon. Stir together. Now, you are ready to add the liquid mixture, then, fold in the bananas, the granola, and last, fold in half the chocolate chips, and spoon into the loaf pan, adding the last half of the chips, sprinkling it on the top. Bake at 350 degrees for the first 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for an additional 25-30 minutes. It should look like the photo above, just the right color, nice and golden brown, separated on the sides of the pan, the chocolate chips should be nicely sitting on the top (not sunken in) ...cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, before inverting it. This is a tried and true
"fail proof" recipe, every time. I guarantee it!
Before you all start your New Year's Eve celebration, others in various countries are getting closer, and some may be already bringing in the New Year, so I'm wishing you all a healthy, prosperous, safe, and...
Happy New Year!

(click on link below)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's how my last day of 2010 was spent with my daughter, and grandchildren! First, we spent a glorious couple hours at our local zoo, The Dreher Park Zoo, which is just a short drive from their house, it was another gorgeous day, temperature in the low seventies, perfect breeze to just wander through checking out the different and interesting species. Did not get to see the tigers, and some of the other animals, but managed to get some great photos of the ones, we did.

This is the entrance of the zoo!

My little tour guides, that I'm following through, while entering inside...how cute is that?
.

These swans were so graceful, and beautiful, and the weather was so, so perfect. There were a lot of people there today, must be tourists, and of course, locals!

A little Koala bear, snoozing. Took this shot close up, with my new camera...mind you, there's a screen, dividing us from the little bear, but you would not notice it!

These parrots were actually posing for me, and afterwards, flapping their wings, making a raucous...as if to say, "no more pictures!"

Here's a duo, so cute and playful!

Although this statue is cool, but a bit "scary!"

It was so hard to take a picture of this little fellow, he was running so fast back-and-forth, that I barely caught this shot of him/her?

Next, was the gift shop...have your choice of these cute little stuffed animals, if your don't mind spending $12.99 for them, which actually is not too bad, because they are so unique!...I would have take the frog, for myself...to see if my "prince" will come at the stroke of midnight...but in the meantime, my loyal kitty, Prince, is constantly at my side.

Here's a beautiful python, with his owner, Just look closely, at the python, he is sticking his venomous tongue out!
I went up to the python, and petted him, and was told, that "you cannot pet this particular python"...OK, just a warning? could have been bitten?...don't know, but will not do it again.

...how does this song go?...is it? "Do, or D, a female Deer"...this little cutie posed for me too, so friendly, I could have taken him/her home!

Watch out for this humongous Florida alligator...and we have plenty of these in our local canals. One of the reasons why I would not want a house with a canal in the back. They come out of the water and sneak up in your back porch or garage...well, maybe not this big!

Florida flamingos are so amazingly beautiful, they are so unique...notice, how they do everything synchronized. Such great creatures, of God!

Just look at their sleek long necks, and the gorgeous pink colors...that's why they call them Pink Flamingos...only, in  Florida!.... We are so proud of them!

Last...these beautiful pink, and coral colored birds...don't know the species name...anyway...ddddthat's all folks!
Hope I didn't freeze up your computer, or put you to sleep, it's New Year's Eve...so nice to have spent time with all my friends through Foodbuzz, and all others, as well...without you, I would be just posting to myself!
See you, in 2011...be safe, if you're at a party, or driving late! XOXO

A Comforting Frittata

With Christmas behind us, and leftovers just about gone, too much sweets eaten...a nice comforting vegetarian frittata will not only satisfies your hunger, but you can have your "breakfast, for dinner" as well. How can you go wrong with a perfect blend of sauteed sliced potatoes, fresh chopped tomatoes, and fresh spinach, topping it off with shredded cheese of your choice ( I used, cheddar)...scramble up at least 6-8 eggs, and added all together cooking it on the stove top, making sure you are not scrambling it, just lift a little from the edges to let it cook evenly, and finishing it off in the broiler. Yumm! Something your family will enjoy on a lazy and not much to do, evening.

There's no set recipe for this fritatta, just start out sauteing some chopped onions in about 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, along with about 4 small potatoes peeled and sliced thin, saute until potatoes are almost tender, adding about 1 large or a couple small fresh tomatoes, salt and pepper and a good handful of fresh spinach right into the mixture. Let it all cook together until spinach gets wilted. I even added about 1/4 cup of plain crushed tomatoes, (tomato sauce, marinara sauce will also work) but not tomato paste. To serve 6 servings with this, I scrambled 8 eggs, and poured it right over the vegetable mixture...see photo below!

In this process, all you do is lift a little bit around the edges, not disturbing the rest of the egg mixture, letting the uncooked eggs flow to the edge. 

At this point, you can see the edges setting, but the middle is still kind of wet, so with a wooden spoon, or spatula, carefully make a small incision in the center, tilting the pan from left to right to get to an even flow for setting more.
This may sound like a small "surgery process" or some kind of experiment, but it's just to make sure you have an even, nice, and fluffy frittata. Here's the last process, below!

Last process, I added a 16 ounce bag of shredded cheddar cheese, and a small amount of Mexican style cheese...you can add in place of this, shredded mozzarella, Swiss, or just grated Parmesan cheese. Also, you can variate the vegetables, and the spices, but in this case my grandchildren were eating this, and I had to be careful not making it too spicy for them. You can top this off with a nice salsa, and serve it with crusty bread. This dish served 4 adults, and 4 young children. Satisfaction guaranteed!
Actually, there was more food, which my daughter prepared...always thinking, there's not enough. We prepared all this at my son's house, just to have an easy casual dinner...yeahh, right!
We always have a bag or two of frozen shrimp, around. You can also use cooked frozen too, just add it to the sauce when it's completely done, and heat it up. In the case of the peeled deveined frozen shrimp, just saute in a small amount of olive oil, till they turn pink, and added to the sauce. I have a link back from June of this year, before I decided to join Foodbuzz-as you can see, I didn't even get a comment on it, not even looking for anyone to follow, except only family, and a handful of friend following my blog-out of guilt, or pity!...and never commenting. OK, just check the link out, even the photos were...so, so...bad!
Shrimp Marinara

The sauted shrimp is being added to the sauce, just fold it into the sauce, and it's ready to serve over pasta of your choice. The fritatta, is being prepared on the right...Buon Appetito!...ready to serve the "Strarving Artists"...seriously, they are all taking special art classes, my son Joey, is not only a writer, but an artist too, and it kind of runs in the family, on both sides.

I guess they are all working on "Alice in Wonderland...my son doing artwork on surfboards, with special waterproof markers.

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 6)
 
(The above quote is often mistakenly referred to as: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there." But this line is not in the Alice in Wonderland books.)