This is supposed to be the middle of winter. Guess we have been lucky by having a relativity dry and warm winter so far. Those poor folks in the mid-west and east coast have really been hit with the worst of it, I will take a bit of soggy weather any day in contrast to sub-zero weather. We shouldn’t get too cocky, we have seen some nasty weather around here in Feb. and March. The good thing is the days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner.
Book Club
Book Club met at Edy’s home, eight of us discussed The Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah. We had a great time not only talking about the book but just catching up with what everyone has been doing. Feb. meeting will be in Myrna’s home. We will be discussing Upstairs at the Whitehouse by J. B. West. Let Myrna know if you plan to attend.
In March the Book Club will discuss The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah at Bev’s (310).
Traveling neighbors
We had a good time on our little holiday cruise. The seas were a bit bumpy for a few days but all in all a great trip. We were surprised we enjoyed the many sea days we had scheduled. The ship had enough activities to keep us busy
We are going to take a quick jaunt down to the Orlando area to visit friends for a few days at the end of the month. .
Recipes Du Jour – A easy desert this time
Classic Panna Cotta
Serves 8
1 C whole milk
2 ¾ teaspoons gelatin
3 cups heavy cream
2-inch piece vanilla bean, slit lengthwise and with a paring knife scrape vanilla seeds (or substitute 2 tsps. Vanilla extract)
6 T. granulated sugar
Pinch of salt.
- Pour milk into a medium saucepan; sprinkle surface evenly with gelatin and let stand for 10 minutes to hydrate gelatin. Meanwhile, turn contents of 2 ice cube trays (about 32 cubes into a large bowl; add 4 cups cold water. Measure cream into a large measuring cup or pitcher. Place vanilla seeds into the cream; place pod in cream along with the seeds and set mixture aside. Set 8 wine glasses or 4oz. ramekins on a baking sheet.
- Heat milk and gelatin mixture over high heat, stirring constantly, until gelatin is dissolved and mixture registers 135 degrees on a instant-read thermometer, about 1 ½ minutes. Off heat, add sugar and salt; stir until dissolved, about 1 minute.
- Stirring constantly, slowly pour cream with vanilla into the saucepan containing milk, then transfer mixture to a medium bowl and set bowl over ice water bath. Stir frequently until thickened to the consistency of eggnog and mixture registers 50 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 10 minutes. Strain mixture into a large measuring cup or pitcher, then distribute evenly among wine glasses of ramekins. Cover baking sheet with plastic wrap, making sure that plastic does not mar the surface of the cream, refrigerate until just set (mixture should wobble when shaken gently), 4 hours.
- Serve panna cotta in wine glasses, or if you used ramakins, unmold from ramakins and serve immediately.
I usually serve in wine glasses and pour a layer of raspberry sauce over the surface
Recipe from Americas Test Kitchen.
Tip Du Jour
Warming dinner plates.
Warming your dinner plates make any meal feel special. If your oven is already in use (or your dishes are not oven safe), you can warm all the dishes you need by running them through the dish washer on a the dry cycle.It is also nice to serve food in a warm serving bowl. Especially nice when serving mashed potatoes or a pasta dish. Warm your bowls by draining the food you will be serving them in by draining the water in which the food was cooked into the bowl and letting it warm up. Just make sure the bowl is heat proof.
Edible Toothpicks for hors d’oeuvres.
Any number of hors d’ oeuvres — including meat balls, crab cakes, marinated mushrooms bits of semi soft cheese and squares of Spanish omelet are served with a toothpick skewer. Add a little salty crunch to the equation and avoid the problem of disposable toothpicks by spearing hors d’oeuvres with a slender pretzel stick, which of course can be eaten along with the tidbit thy have skewered.
Perfectly dry salad greens.
While using a salad spinner helps with removing water from salad greens, sometimes it just doesn’t do the trick. To make sure they are as dry as you want simply put a couple of sheets of paper towel in the salad spinner and spin again. Make sure you remove the towel before dressing the greens with the dressing.
Sad News
We are sad to say Joel Remme (304) passed away on Sunday January 6th. We send Carole our condolences to her and her family.
January Birthdays
Linda W. celebrated her birthday and she and John also celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary.
New Toy
Jerry recently gave me a new toy for my kitchen–an Amazon Echo wall clock. This one is special since it connects with Alexa and can be used as a neat kitchen timer.
We wish you all a very Happy St. Valentine’s Day.
