Cheese Crepes with Blackberry Sauce

That time of year has come once more,one day we as a nation set aside to honor our mothers. One of my mothers favorite breakfast meals is cheese crepes with blackberry sauce. My dad use to do most of the cooking when I was a kid.. Being Italian, and from the region of Bari where the best cooks come from. My dad liked to experiment with food, just as I do. Most of his meals were great, except for the occasional flop like garlic muffins.

Crepes ingredients:
3/4  cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon oil
dash salt

Crepe filling:
24 oz small curd cottage cheese
zest of one orange
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Blackberry Sauce
3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon instant clear gel, or cornstarch

For crepes place milk, flour,egg, sugar, oil, and dash of salt in large bowl, using a whisk beat well. Set aside. Heat a lightly greased  6 inch non stick frying pan. Spoon 1/8 cup of batter, swirling to cover the pan. Cook till the crepe browns, turn over, and cook for 1 minute more.

  
For crepe filling place cottage cheese, orange zest, almond extract, and sugar in a bowl, stir together. Place cheese filling on one side of cooked crepe.

After folded , fry in tablespoon of butter, till lightly browned.

Blackberry sauce should be made to night before. Place blackberries in medium sauce pan with sugar. Bring to a boil for 30 minutes. Strain though a sieve to remove the blackberry seeds. Return to sauce pan with the addition of corn starch, simmer for 5 minutes or till the sauce thickens. Remove , from heat when cooled place in ice box over night to serve  with the cheese crepes. enjoy!!

Spicy Sausage Lentil Soup

It's May here in Virginia, and we're still using our fire place to keep warm. Sitting in front of the fire with a bowl  of warm spicy sausage lentil soup,  yum it doesn't get much better than this. I use to make lentil soup a lot when my boys were growing up, because I just like the flavor of lentils. My son Dany remarked one time he thought it was punishment. That really made me chuckle since that was not the case at all. I just plain liked lentil soup. I think Dany would even like this version.

1. 1/2 cup dry lentils
2. 3 Premo Hot Italian Sausage links cut into small bit size bits
3. 1 teaspoon dry fennel
4. 1  mini cubes Knorr garlic seasonings
5. 1 mini cubes Knorr onion seasonings
6. 3 carrots diced
7. 3 sprigs of celery diced
8. 4 cups water
9. 2 mini cubes Knorr tomato 
10. 1/2 cup chopped green onion saute in 1 tablespoon butter
11. 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
12. 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
13. 2 potato cubed
14. 5 cups water
15. 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 
16. 1 teaspoon dry basil

In a crock pot place all ingredients.  Cook on high for 8 hours. Serve with crusty bread . Enjoy!

Mustard Chicken

Chicken, chicken, chicken there are so many ways to fix this economical bird. Here's a new version of fried chicken without the fried. Since the chicken is baked on a cookie rack, above a flat cookie sheet so the air circulates under the meat. The results is a deep fried crispiness with out the frying part.

1. Cut chicken, dark or white meat
2. 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3. 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
4. Enough salt to salt chicken
5. 3 garlic cloves minced finely, I use a rasper
6. 1 cup corn flakes crumbs, they sell them already done or you can mash your own corn flakes
7. Cook sheet with rack

Rinse chicken with cold water under the sink pulling off any extra fat. Pat dry with paper towel, this simple little step helps meat to get brown. Salt  liberally. Set to the side.

In a bowl mix Dijon mustard, rosemary, and minced garlic well. 

Dip chicken into mustard mixture, making sure the whole outside of chicken is covered.

Roll into the corn flakes crumbs covering top, and bottom of chicken. Knock off excess crumbs.

Place chicken in a rack made this way. The foil on the bottom make for quick, and easy clean up. The rack on top keeps air circulating with gives this recipe a fried taste.

Place chicken on top, leaving enough space in between to allow the chicken room to cook properly. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, turning meat over. Then lowering oven to 350 degrees for another 30 minutes chicken juices should run clear, when chicken is done. Enjoy!

Mother's Day Bacon Quiche

I don't know if you have eaten a lot of quiche, I have it's women's food. What's not to like about quiche it has the meat group, bread group, vegetable group, and dairy group all in one package. I have tried many recipes, but I find the recipe my son Junior shared with me is my favorite. There are few ingredients, with plenty of flavor.

1. 5 large eggs
2. 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
3. 1 1/4 cup sour cream
4. 6 strips of bacon cooked till crispy
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
7. 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8. 1 cup shredded Monterrey jack cheese
9. 1 store bought or homemade pie crust

 Place crust in pie pan,  pierce crust with fork bake  425 degrees for 8 minutes in oven. Take out allow to cool.

Break cooked bacon onto partly cooked pie crust.

Sprinkle the shredded cheeses onto the bacon.

By hand mix the sour cream, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. pour into pie shell.

Bake for 30 minutes, at 350 degrees the top will be browned, test for done by inserting a butter knife in the center, if it comes out clean it is done. Don't forget to wrap the outside crust with tin foil, this prevents the rim of the pie crust from over cooking.

Try is bacon quiche recipe I'm sure it will become one of your favorites too. Enjoy!

Mexican Style Finger Food Chorizo with Eggs

Ever have a hankering for something to eat, not sweet, nor fussy? This Mexican style finger food might just fit the bill, only having 5 ingredients unless you make your own .homemade flour tortillas

Ingredients:
1 dozen flour tortilla or my homemade flour tortillas
1 Cacique pork chorizo 10 oz
6 large eggs
1/2 cup grated mild cheddar cheese
1/4 cup canola oil


In large heavy skillet fry chorizo until it releases the grease about 8 minutes, stirring constantly with a spatula. Set to the side.

Scramble the 6 eggs and fry stirring constantly, take off the stove a few seconds before the eggs dry up.

 Add the scrambled eggs, and grated cheese to the chorizo mixture, it should resemble the picture.

Make sure to warm up store bought  flour tortilla in pan before you try to roll them. Roll into flautas.

Fry till crispy and golden brown it won't take long.

Drain on paper towels and serve right away.

Knitted Beaded Clutch Purse

Have you ever seen those beautiful antique beaded purses?  My next project was to figure out how to make a stylish clutch purse. I bought these sparkle beads back in the 90's, I have been toting them from state to state in the. hopes of someday using them on a special project.

Ran across this book from Bag Lady Press written by Theresa Williams called Bead Knitted Handbags 2. The bag came together fairly easy, my one concern was that I might not have enough beads, so I changed the pattern a bit to make sure I had plenty.

The pattern is knitted in three pieces, the main piece, and the side gussets.

The beads are inserted on the thread, and slid between the knitted part.

The inside is then lined with satin material. What do you think of this project?

Knitted Clutch Purse

I love to knit, and I love to work with beads, beads, beads. I love the way beads catch the light. There is something  so exciting to me when I see one strand of yarn turn into a purse, a sweater, a hat...  

I decided to design a knitted clutch purse in the same colors, and beads as my hand made knitted purse   I was looking for a smaller clutch type purse to take with me, for those special occasions when you don't want to lug a large purse, a small one tucked under your arm will do nicely.

Supplies:
1/2 inch dowel 36 inches
2 wooden balls drilled out at 1/2 inch
Glue
1 large button of your choice
1 skein yarn thin 75% acrylic 25% wool 150 yards
Size 4 circular knitting needles
1 large eye blunt needle
1 packet of glass beads 60 grams
Material of choice for lining 1/8 yard
Size e crochet hook

 Seed st (k1, p1 ) all the way across. Next row (p1 ,k1) all the way across. You will be purling where you knit and knitting where you purled.

Cast on 65 sts. Work in the seed st pattern till the body measures 5 1/2

Next row bind off 6 sts. from the beginning of the next 2 roads.

Knit across till it measures 2 inches.

Cast on 6 sts at the beginning of the next 2 rows.

Work the 65 sts til it measures 51/2 inches.
This will make the notch that will become the bottom of the purse.

After adding the beads, sew the sides up as shown in the handmade knitted purse. I lined this purse without the cardboard.
Sew the yarn around the wooden dowel after gluing the wooden balls in place. Make sure none of the wooden dowel shows.

Fold the flaps in at the edges of the the purse as you sew.

Sew the button in the front of the purse.
To make flap  chain 8 stitches.single crochet for 10 rows.
Next row single crochet 4 stitches chain 1 skip 1. and finish single crocheting the rest of that row.
Rows 11 - 12 continue in single crochet.
Row 13 decrease one stitch on each side  til your left with 4 single crochets. bind off attach to the back of purse.

The front wooden dowel will not have wooden beads added. It will fit snugly into the dowel with the wooden balls. See photo at top.