Palecintas- Hungarian Crepes- and Jordan!

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Yesterday, Jordan and I made two batches of these lovely little pancakes!  About 55 of them- we only ate about 8 of them- the rest are going to a diversification meeting at his workplace.  That is why HE made the second batch and cooked them himself.  I love this wonderful delicious treat- but making them by yourself is tedious.  So making them with him was a lot of fun and good times.

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He had a good time, as well- even though I gave him a hard time about his first couple of tries and made him eat them rather than allow them into our pile of possibles for the dinner.

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Here’s the recipe

Ingredients:

3 whole eggs, beaten

1 cup milk, scalded, cooled

1 1/4 cup AP flour

1 tsp sugar

pinch of salt

1 cup of carbonated water(club soda)

Method:

add sugar and salt to eggs and beat up again.  Add small amount of milk to eggs, whisk, then add rest of milk and whisk until smooth.  Add flour- whisking continuously – about !/4 cup at a time, until batter is smooth .  Then add the club soda and mix together until smooth and slightly bubbly.

Heat up crepe pan until hot – water skidding across surface when you place a drop or two into the pan.  Drop a small pellet of butter- less than 1/4 tsp – into pan and turn to coat bottom, immediately  pour a little less than 1/3 cup of batter and turn skillet around to coat the bottom forming a thin pancake.  Allow to cook for about 45 seconds to a minute- the top of pancake should appear dry and then turn it over and cook another 45 seconds or so.

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Spread with nutella, or creamed cottage cheese mixed with honey , or whatever you prefer in the center and roll up.  Then top with syrup or fruit or just confectioner’s sugar.

And enjoy!

Family and celebrations

My brother Ralph, sister, Cynthia and me

My brother Ralph, sister, Cynthia and me

Last week, my oldest brother, Ralph and his wife, Carole, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

A milestone in anyone’s life, their daughters had a party for them.  There were lots of guests to share in the celebration and their marriage has been a beautiful example of love and endurance.  I didn’t even take a picture- this one of the three of us was taken by my(our ) niece, Allyson- so I can’t show you the happy couple.

But this picture of me with my brother and sister really makes me think of the passing of years and of familial relationships.  I am a lot  younger than most of my siblings- my parents really had two groups of children – the older 4 and then some years later, the little girls (as we were called).  Three little girls on the tag end – each of us 2 years apart, with me in the middle.  They have both died now- and I am the last of this smaller group – but thankfully the older sibs are mostly still here- three of them still living .

In the crowd of party goers that night were a small contingent of my brothers family- his children and grandchildren of course, and then my sister,my niece and nephew , a cousin and I.  My sister-in-law, Carole has a VERY large family and as I looked around the  room I was made aware of the depth of family relationships.  I share a bond with these people that is so strong it almost hurts.  I look at my brother and see him still as my hero- the man who always had time for me when I was a little girl.  I see my sister and remember when I thought she was the epitome of grace and beauty.  They still hold these places in my heart and memory- the passing of time has just seasoned and strengthened the love that we share.  So I just wanted to take a moment and celebrate family and share a picture of two of the people who have helped to shape the woman I have become.

Building a big cake!

My niece recently said on her facebook status,

“We are a family that  likes to make big cakes.”

So true.

We made one for her father’s birthday one year that was 5 different cakes

all stacked up on top of each other.

And today we made a 5 layer cake with filling and frosting- a chocolate

decadent cake that was so large that no one could eat even the thinnest slice

by themselves!

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Here it is layer by layer-  Chocolate chip cookies- 1

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Chocolate cake- layer # 2

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Chocolate marshmallow fluff – icing# 1

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Chocolate chip cookie dough- layer # 3

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More Chocolate marshmallow icing

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another chocolate cake- layer # 4

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top layer chocolate chip cookie- # 5.

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Chocolate Ganache icing.

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Drizzling Dark chocolate and sea salt caramel on the sides and top.

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Garnishing with marshmallows and chocolate bits.

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Lighting the candles!

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Admiring the cake!!!

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Cutting the cake with an electric knife – thin slices were mandatory!

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A peek inside-

Well that is the pictorial review of our endeavor.

We all baked a part of the cake- or made an icing- and then we brought it together

and built it.  My family has lots of birthdays in October- so we decided to celebrate them

all with this giant cake.

Happy Birthday to Elizabeth, Martha, Roger, Allyson, Aaron, Lily—,Dianne, and Kieran.

Did I forget anyone?

Leave me a insulted comment and I will ask your forgiveness!

Family time on Chincoteague- not much blogging going on!

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We aren’t posing for this photo- we are watching…

 

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THIS- Aidan on his bike adventure!

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Right after the puddle he accidently turned into the open gate and CRASHED!

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Tomorrow our next influx of family arrives, some left today- Jordan leaves tomorrow-

it is a lot like an open house.  And the beach is beautiful, the gardens are lovely, and the rain stopped!

Faces and fish (totally unrelated.)

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems somehow related

to everything else?  Where this event leads into the next one, a seemingly random

phone call summons up a visit with someone obscure and yet it all manages to

seem familiar, like there is theme music in the background of your life?

I seem to vaguely remember such days, but lately, my days are so random.

This happens, that happens, this person shows up, I make bread.

So, yesterday, without any theme music, without any fanfare,  a happy little

string of events occurred and amazingly, I had a camera at hand.

Nothing big, you understand, just heartwarming.

It all started with the cupcakes.

015Apple filled spice cakes.

017…with yellow butter cream icing.

I made them for Cynthia and Frank and Jordan.

Because, you know, they LIKE cupcakes.

But I ended up with 24- and cupcakes go stale quickly.

So we boxed them up and took some to-

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Allyson.

She was surprised…

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and delighted!

While we were there, we saw this boy…

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happily playing in a pile of dirt.

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His shirt says “I PLAY DIRTY!”

(He didn’t know about the cupcakes.  SHH! It was supposed to be

a secret!)

He was just so happy to have us stop over.  He thought we might like to

play in the dirt and mud with him.

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Oh yes, there was mud.  The train needed a mud hole to fall into.

But when we politely refused, he tried another tack-

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and got on his bike.

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“Do you want to watch me ride my bike?”

And we did – for a while.

So- the cupcakes made for a happy afternoon.

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They were very good, by the way, I filled them with apple pie filling.

The Fish?

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I found a whole bag of ribbon origami fish at a thrift store.

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They tickled my fancy – so I bought them!

Recipe cards and passed down memories

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I was looking for the recipe for my mother’s cocoa brownies yesterday and I found it!

Going through the recipe box always brings me to tears.  This one is written in Robin’s writing- and has

been accidently dipped into a bit of the batter many years ago.  The tears aren’t because of the messy

card- but because of the treasure of memories my sister’s handwriting brought me.

The tears were quickly followed by a smile, though- because on the flip side of the card-

003                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         was a notation of the calories in one 32nd of a piece of brownie.  Robin was a great calorie counter.

Here is the story my mother always told of these brownies.  A friend had given her the recipe, but when

my mom made it, she thought it might be too rich, so she substituted margarine for the butter, and then

made it in a jelly roll pan rather than a 9×9 square pan.  And then it was too thin so she added icing- the

icing she used for the postom cake.   To dress up the brownies, she added melted chocolate on top and

it got a very distinctive design when cut whilst it was still warm.   She had company over one day and

the husband of our visiting couple really loved the brownies.  He kept saying, “Get the recipe for these

brownies, Sophie, they are the best I’ve ever had.”

Sophie, his wife, was the friend who had given my mother the original recipe for these brownies!

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Here’s the recipe for Cocoa Brownies with cooked icing.

ingredients!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups AP flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup dark cocoa- I used Hershey’s

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup soft butter

4 eggs

2 tsps vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

12 oz bag of choc chips

Sift together the dry ingredients.  Sift them because the cocoa will have some compacted balls and REALLY need

to be sifted.  Set aside.

Beat the butter , eggs and vanilla together and add the dry ingredients  about a cup at a time. Mix well, add nuts by hand

and spread in a greased jelly roll of cookie pan with sides.  Bake at 350 degrees F for about 22 minutes- do not overbake,

these burn easily since they are so thin.  pour 1/2 cup choc chips on to hot top and let melt.  Skim the chocolate over the top

and allow to cool completely.

Now to make the cooked icing.

I was going to take pictures of each step- but this goes pretty fast and needs to be tended- so no pictures, sorry,Sad smile .

Put one cup of milk in medium cook pan and stir in 4 rounded Tablespoons of flour and stir for about 10 minutes over

medium heat until the mixture is the consistency of mashed potatoes. Stiff mashed potatoes.

Take off heat and stir in 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar.  Beat until creamy and ice cooled brownies in tray.

Melt 3/4 cup of chocolate chips in microwave and drizzle on top of icing.   Using a sharp knife cut the brownies into about 32

bars.

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These are soft and chocolatey- it is hard to eat just one!

Book and craft- (maybe even, ART!)

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 I found this book at our local used book shop/funding literacy campaign.

It was torn and they were going to toss it, but I loved the illustrations- needlework with antique

fabrics, sequins and felt.

So I rescued the book, cut out the torn page( thankfully it didn’t affect the story) taped two pages

together to make it whole, and then I made the two felted sea horses to go with the story.

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When I began felting my wool pieces some years ago, I wanted

to try out the process and used a pair of gold wool slippers I had

knitted but was not fond of- and they became a very small pair of

gold wool slippers that I had no real use for anymore.   But I didn’t

throw them away, because I like the texture and the reminder of

how much wool shrinks when felted.

So I rummaged through my old fabric trunk, came up with some sheets

of yellow felt and appliqued the seahorses onto the slipper.

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Then I added some identifying stitches, an eye and sequins.

I used the pictures from the book to make the pattern for the

Sea horses- I wanted them to add to the fun of identifying the

hidden or Secret sea horses throughout the book.

We sent them off on Monday to Oyster Bay- I’m hoping the little boys

enjoy the book in person as much as they did when I read it to them on Skype.

020 And then – because I had gotten rid of a pair

of slippers, I made another pair.

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I crocheted some faux fur on the edges- they remind me of lions.

And now I’m going to knit a couple of hats- I found a pattern I can follow

and like- and am going to teach my niece to make a knitted hat over the

next week.   We are going to Chincoteague for a couple of days so that

will be our evening project!

Happy Holidays

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from my family to yours!

We really did have a wonderful time here on Chincoteague Island this year!

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Santa and his helper Elf passed out the gifts…

071Meredith got a sword from our Whole family,(Allyson and Chad and Chad Tyulty  as well)

She is a Lieutenant Commander and needs a sword for ceremonial purposes.

084Willow had to check it out- it is pretty heavy!

147The boys liked the toys.

242And everyone loves the Island.

 

294from the light house…

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…to the park.

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We felted soap-

347and loved the results!

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And now, everyone has gone their own way- Meredith to Hawaii and then

Australia, Jordan to Akron, Luke, Willow and the boys are leaving for Long Island

in the morning and Cynthia,Frank and I are spending the next two days cleaning

and winterizing the house before we leave.

The gifts we gave and received do not compare to the joy we shared as family.

I got lots of hugs and kisses from the little boys- and had the privilege of spending

quality time with my children, sister and husband.

Our first annual Porch dance on Chincoteague!

We are getting the front porch replaced and new steps added to the

house in Chincoteague.  It’s a big job and has taken the better part of

two weeks for our builder to accomplish- so tonight we ushered in this

new era of safe front porch with a porch dance!

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Old porch.

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No porch.

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New porch.

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Porch dancing crew!

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It was a foggy sort of night.  We danced to James Taylor’s last Christmas

Album- and ended our dance with “Baby, it’s cold outside”.

The neighbors probably think we’re nuts.  The little boys think we are so

much fun.  And I?  I think this is the one and only porch dance I’ve ever attended

and I loved every moment of it!

Baking and Decorating in Chincoteague!

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Oatmeal and apricot cookies!

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Mantle piece in dining room.

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Christmas tree!

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The tree is decorated JUST for Meredith!  The camel, elephants, and kangaroo

all represent her travels-  (Iraq, Thailand, Australia).  The mermaids, lighthouses,

firetrucks,seahorses and keys represent her house on Chincoteague.  The teapot and

cups on a tray- her preferred hot drink- and it all speaks of the sailor and places she has

been and hopes to go.  The pink flamingo is just to remind her how she needs to

have a sense of humor- (she hates pink, hates flamingoes, and hates the big picture

of a huge pink flamingo that graced the hallway of her house when she bought it!)

And, just in case you thought that one picture of cookies doesn’t count for much

baking…..

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-here’s a loaf of Italian bread I made yesterday!

Recipe for cookies-

1 stick butter

3/4 cup of white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 heaping cup AP flour

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

apricot and pecan paste*

Mix together the first five ingredients until smooth and creamy.

Measure all the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir, then add to

butter and sugar mixture.  Take a pinch of the apricot and pecan paste

and wrap cookie dough around it and place on parchment papered

baking pan, about 3 inches apart.

Bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown.

Apricot and pecan paste

1 1/2 cups dried apricots

1 cup chopped pecans

2 to 3 TBS white pear basalmic vinegar

1/2 cup honey

Put all ingredients into food processor and

run until everything is a paste.  Place in loaf pan lined with

parchment paper and cover top with another sheet of paper,

weigh down top to compress.

(See how Celia at Fig jam and Lime Cordial, makes a variation of

this in a fig and walnut paste- or an almond and apricot version. )