A Birthday Party to Remember

The weather in Cleveland has not improved, but we made it to Austin, Texas, for a few days for our great-niece's 2nd birthday party. My niece Julie made some wonderful foods for the children (and adults) attending the party at the Austin Dog Alliance. Compare the photographs of Cleveland, Ohio, to Austin, Texas, on approximately the same day in February!

                                                                           

One child filled his plate with a selection of very healthy and colorful combinations of fruit, cheese, and crackers.

                                                                                     

 

For easy to handle food for children, and adults, Julie made some doggie's in a blanket (a small piece of hot dog embedded in dough,) which can be made from most any kind of pastry that can be wrapped around a small piece of meat. Per my former life in intensive care units, hot dogs can be very dangerous food for young children, so always be very cautious in this respect. Small pieces of multi-colored cheese and cut up fruit were most colorful on the buffet table.

Cupcakes on a cup-cake-tree were a wonderful addition and my niece had the most fluffy cupcakes covered in white icing with multi-colored sprinkles. Lemonade was available for the guests and the hosts were two very well-trained dogs, both named Max.

Spicing Up Hot Drinks

The snow makes me want a hot drink.

A dash of cayenne pepper sprinkled into my hot cocoa gives it a wonderful punch. If you try it be very, very careful not to overdue and make sure you are not allergic to the pepper.

I do not put cayenne pepper in my Mom's cocoa bur top it with whipped cream and sometimes a bit of cinnamon.

For coffee, I add cinnamon to the grounds before brewing. It seems to give the coffee a smooth flavor.

Does anyone have any suggestions for variation on winter comfort drinks?

A Pudding without Milk!

I am so excited as I have a pudding recipe that my husband enjoys. He is allergic to dairy and watches longingly as I prepare pudding for my mother of almost 92 years to help her gain weight.

The pudding recipe that I use for my mother, also works for my husband. Since my husband does not tolerate milk and is sensitive to eggs, I removed these from the ingredients and substituted Rice Milk or Almond Milk. He loves the pudding that includes:

2 cups of Rice Milk or Almond Milk
3 T Minute Tapioca (generous Tablespoons)
3 T sugar (scant Tablespoons)

Let the above ingredients sit in a saucepan for about 5 minutes.

Cook the pudding on medium heat a bit past boiling, stirring constantly.

Add the vanilla (I use about 1 teaspoon real vanilla, as my husband loves vanilla) and take the pudding off the heat but continue stirring.

Pour the pudding immediately into serving bowls, carefully, as it is very hot.

Please let everyone know that you are serving "hot" pudding. The pudding will become more and more dense as it cools but my family loves it hot.

My mother loves the pudding as hot as it can be served. She has a technique for eating it. Mom skims the outside rim of the pudding and continues this process until she has finished. Although my Mom eats what I consider to be very little, she can manage two servings of the homemade tapioca pudding. Mom's pudding includes a beaten egg that I add to the saucepan before cooking using whole milk. The egg adds a bit of richness and color to my Mom's pudding while the pudding for my husband varies in color whether I am using the Rice Milk or the Almond Milk.

My husband and my mother now both enjoy eating pudding warm. For my mother I grate fresh nutmeg into the pudding while it is sitting in the saucepan for the first 5 minutes prior to cooking. I also grate a bit of nutmeg on the top of each serving to be eaten by my Mom.

My mother can smell the freshly grated nutmeg with its fresh spice and lemon scent. I do not get the same response from my Mom when I use nutmeg from a can. I do not include nutmeg in the pudding for my husband. For one variation, I add cinnamon to the pudding for my Mom and my husband. Both also enjoy the pudding when it includes sliced bananas. I place the slices of bananas in each individual serving dish and make sure to cover all the banana slices with the hot pudding.

The first time I ate warm pudding was when I visited my friend Carolyn and her daughter many years ago. Carolyn made the most heavenly puddings and served the freshly made pudding, warm -- I had only eaten cold pudding until that time and was always impatiently waiting until the pudding cooled off and could be placed in the refrigerator.

At my friends home, I realized that there is nothing better than warm pudding in the middle of our cold Midwestern winters. Carolyn's young daughter, Jenny, loved the warm pudding as much as I did. I remember Carolyn's butterscotch pudding that warmed the palette as well as one's soul. Jenny would chose the pudding flavor for dessert each evening. Jenny is grown and has two young daughters of her own. I imagine her young family enjoying warm pudding together.

Carolyn's tradition continues in my home. The pudding that is refrigerated in our house is microwaved as everyone wants warm pudding, a special treat to eat as one watches the snow fall. I am careful to pour pudding into serving dishes that can be refrigerated and microwaved as no one in my family wants to eat cold pudding, once they have enjoyed warm pudding.

Thanks Carolyn, for sharing your warm pudding and home with me so long ago.

Lingering Memories of My Summer Garden

It is winter and it is cold.

I have saved herbs from my summer garden by transplanting, freezing, and drying.

I transferred my outdoor garden Rosemary to a pot that sits on my bay window and smells wonderful in my living room. I hope I remember to water this pot.

I picked sage and parsley for my Thanksgiving herb stuffing. Even the water from the vase holding the sage gives off a wonderful aroma each day when I place fresh water in the vase.

My indoor kitty, Precious, ate some of the dried parsley. Precious especially loves the dried lovage from my mother's herb garden that I planted years ago for my Mom. Mom continues to enjoy the everlasting herb garden that needs little tending.

How I miss my summer garden!

Now that we have had several snowfalls, I will peak under the snow to see what surprise may linger under the wonderful pure white blanket and plan for next spring!