Pay It Forward... Part 2

Let me tell you about my best friend... Isn't that how the song goes?

 

So if you read part one of" Pay It Forward", then you know the story. If you haven't... Go back and read it then come here and read this one.. Ok Ok here we go. My best friend and I hang out every Friday morning. Recently we experienced a "Pay it forward" moment.

 

So she tells me on our latest Friday hangout that since then, she has been paying it forward on several occasions.. In line at Starbucks, she has paid for the people behind us on more than one occasion. Then she tells me while eating breakfast in a Café with her son, she chose an elderly couple and paid for their breakfast too...

 

This experience has changed her in such a way and to be honest.. I can not explain it. Never have I seen such a person devoted to keeping up such a "Good Faith" system. She is like totally on a mission to "Pay It Forward" everywhere she goes.

 

She is not a rich person. She is an average person, who works 3rd shift and doesn't make much money. Just think, if a person who actually had the means to do it on a larger scale. What a difference it would make is someone's life.

 

My BEST friend does this often... Just think of what it could mean to someone if you did it too. I would love to have the money to make a difference in (to be more specific) a child's life. One that would impact them until they were grown. Just think.... Another "Pay It Forward" kind of person in this world.

 

My grandmother Helen was very much that kind of person... Such inspiration in people makes me think that in the end, this world just might be an ok place.

 

People... I challenge you today to "Pay It Forward" to someone who is least expecting it. Do a good deed without recognition. Play a bigger part in your life.. It can be one of the most rewarding things you have ever done...

 

 

THIS post is dedicated to you K.S. With all of my love and Support

Cake is not just for special occasions :-))

Cake has been such a big part of our history. We make cake for so many different reasons. Birthdays and anniversaries are some of the more special occasions to make cake. There are so many different ways to make cake and frosting.

There are many different shows on Reality TV such as Cake Boss and Cupcake Wars. But one of the most recent was a show called "Georgetown Cupcakes"... They recently aired a show on making 10,000 cupcakes for the solders in Afghanistan.

Just an example of how cake can make an impact.

Making cake has been a great past time of mine. I opened my small Coffee Shop back in 2010 and I made a special cake especially for my customers. It's called Kentucky Butter Cake. I sold one of these everyday. I used to serve this cake with Carmel drizzled over each piece.

I recently purchased a cake pan especially to bake with my son's. I purchased a Nordic Ware Ice Cream Cone Cake Pan. You can purchase this pan at www.nordicware.com. I also purchased a Cuisipro Cupcake Corer. This item can be purchased at www.amazon.com or at any local culinary store.

It's always a special time when I bake with my sons. Today, Christopher was the only baker. We has such a great time mixing our batter and filling our cakes with the peach compote. I made a special banana cream cheese frosting that we froze to make look like real ice cream.

 

It was a great time with lots of blunders... When we frosted the first cupcake, the frosting melted all down the sides. So we had to let the frosting freeze just a bit longer. Christopher got to eat 2 of them before anyone else. He had such a great time. He loves to make food.

 

 

Until next time... Happy Eating :-))))

 

 

 

Fresh Peach Compote Recipe

 

Peach Compote

Who doesn't love fresh fruit compote on anything.. Some of the best things to spoon it over are waffles, pancakes and especially over Ice Cream. There is nothing like going outside and picking your favorite fruit and making a delicious topping for your favorite breakfast or dessert.

Peaches are such a wonderful thing to eat. There are many ways to make your peaches a wonderful treat. I chose to make a compote for cupcake filling. All it takes is a little effort. Cut your fruit and add it to a saucepan. Then heat it on high with some butter and sugar until it's boiling. Then take the heat down to medium for about 45 minutes or until most of the juice has evaporated. You're left with this wonderful and lovely smelling treat.

The last step is to put the mix in the food processor once it has cooled and blend. Spoon over your favorite ice cream or some lovely crepes made from your favorite gluten free recipe.

Until next time.. Happy Eating :-)))

 

 

 

10-12 med Peaches

 

1/2 cup sugar

 

2 tbsp. butter (salted)

 

1 lrg saucepan

 

Cut the peaches into slices. Add sugar and butter. Heat on high until boiling. Turn the heat down to medium for about 45 minutes until most of the juice has evaporated. Put the mix into small containers and freeze.

 

This will keep for 12 months in the freezer. Make sure you write the date on your containers.

Asia Wok for Lunch.. The Atmosphere was Great, BUT the Food was......

Not what my dear friend and I expected or ordered. That's not the biggest issue with this restaurant. The way the food was made was not what you would expect. The first dish we ordered was the Orange Chicken. The second dish we ordered was the General Tso's tofu. Seems pretty simple, yes?

The answer to that question is a mystery. When the food was delivered to our table, we got.... Dun Dun Dun! The exact opposite of what we ordered. The General Tso's was chicken and the Orange was the Tofu... How do these things happen?? Neither one of us said a thing.

WHAT A BLUNDER

As we shared each others dish, I realized that I was eating tofu that had either been overcooked or it was recently defrosted. 

The chicken was dry and was more like chicken jerky.  The low

Blood Type tells it ALL.. Eating for your blood type :-)

Have you heard of this phenomenal style of eating? I am not one for diets, I am more into lifestyle changes for your health. It's a style that is more accepted amongst people who don't live by diets.

I have been following this style of eating for quite some time and I can say that it has been hard to swallow at times. However, it has been a wonderful change for me. I have never felt better.

The book gives you all of the details on how to eat for your body. In my case I wasn't sure why my body would attack itself when I ate things. Well I can say that I was not eating a healthy, well balance diet by any means. I have very little stomach acid, so my body does well in a state of Alkaline. Many people won't understand this until they have read the book. It all makes sense once you have looked into your blood type and read into what is good for you and what is toxic.

If you are a Blood Type A, then you are like me. You should be a vegetarian. Dairy and meat are very toxic to our bodies. It can cause a lot of health problems and most of all can cause a huge weight gain if eaten regularly. There are certain fruits as well that are toxic such as oranges and mangos.

It's all in your blood type. Read up on it and I can promise you this, if you have been sick or keep getting sick it's because of what you eat. Of course all natural is best, but again there are a few ways to get around all of that.

Once you have read this book, then it's on to The Gorgeously Green Diet... That book is amazing and has helped me in so many ways. Do what's best for you and your body. Eat Right for YOUR Blood Type. :-))

AS Always.. Happy Eating :-))))))

Gourmet Pancakes Right in Your Own Kitchen!

 

Pumpkin and Espresso Pancakes

with Apricot Topping

 

 

These pancakes are by far the easiest I have ever made. It takes just a few ingredients and you can whip these up in a jiffy. Be creative with your breakfast and you will find there is a world of unknown wonders to treat your taste buds.

 

 

This past week has been such a challenge that I decided to experiment with some ingredients. I started with my Gluten free pancake mix and instead of adding the water and eggs, I added espresso and pumpkin to the mix. I also added 1/2 cup of oil to make sure they would stick. Working with gluten free ingredients is super challenging in itself. So you must learn by trial and error on how to make it work for you.

 

 

Recipe and Instructions

 

Maple Grove Farms Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix

1 cup

Pumpkin Puree(canned or fresh)

8 oz

Freshly made Espresso

2/3 cup

Olive Oil

1/2 cup

 

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl until blended. The mix will not look like a regular pancake mix. It will be a little thicker. Do not add any further ingredients to make it thin. You want it to be thick so you can work with it in the pan.

Heat your skillet to a med/high and add a bit of olive oil to the pan. Take1/2 cup of the mix and put it in the skillet. You will need to work the mix around in the pan. The cakes will be ready to turn once you have mixed it up five or six times. Turning them can be a challenge and please do not get discouraged. These cakes are such a tasty treat. Once you flip the cakes it takes about 2 minutes until they are done.

 

This mix makes 4 to 5 pancakes

 

Apricot Topping

 

In a small bowl, smash 5 apricots and add a tbsp. of your favorite sweetener. Spoon on top of the pancakes and add some powdered sugar.



 

A King Arthur Calzone. Gluten Free of Course :-))

 

The King Arthur Calzone

 

 

This might have been the hardest dough to work with. It's not like working with a regular dough that has Gluten in it. This is a super sticky and really frustrating dough.. The King Arthur bread dough has a recipe for the pizza dough that I knew would be perfect for these.

The main thing to remember when using this dough is to let it sit for longer than the suggested amount of time. I am talking an hour longer than suggested. :-))

 

 



This is the part where you have to get the dough from the pan that it has been laying flat on for the last 30 minutes. You have to cut the dough with the backside of the calzone press. This is really not a fun task at first. Until you figure out that it needs to be powdered to work with, you will want to throw it in the trash and start over. Don't do that.. It's easier to work with the longer you let it set.

         I used a rice and broccoli combination for the filling. I included a bit of cheese as I know that most people either want meat or cheese for flavor. I baked at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. To make this really yummy, you could add a couple of tsp of butter and a glove of garlic. The combination makes the flavor pop in your mouth.

         

The Calzone Press is made by Pizzacraft. You can find these at your local culinary shop or online at www.pizzacraft.com. Here are a couple of tips when using this press. After you get the press closed, you will want to turn it over to the back and make sure that the dough had gotten completely over the filling. If you need to, take some of the leftover dough and pres it over the filling.

 I love Wilton pans. They make the pans that can be used for so many different applications. I was looking for a pan to make my bread sticks and I found this Wilton Doughnut Twist Pan. The pan made the perfect looking bread sticks. They were especially good with a splash of garlic butter whisked across the the tops.

 

The trick to these perfect Gluten Free bread sticks is to allow the dough to rise in the pan at least an hour. You bake them at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Keep checking them to make sure they become a golden brown before taking them out of the oven.

 

You can find the Gluten Free King Arthur Bread Mix online and in the grocery store.

www.kingarthurflour.com

 

The most important things to remember are these... Be patient and have fun.

Happy Eating!! :-))

The Video was an Epic Food Blunder!

 

The Cooking How To was a complete disaster! I have to say that I was not prepared for the final outcome. It was terrible...to say the least. It was a complete blunder.

 

The food came out great but the video that was shot was not. In the last segment of the video, my head was cut off completely. OMG

 

In the middle of shooting, my son Samuel decided that he would come in and start talking to me because he wanted to be funny.. It was just a day of stress when it should have been a fun thing to do for my readers and for my kids as well.

 

I may have to rethink the entire thing and come up with an entirely different plan. :-))

 

SO, onto the next video. We are going to try this again and see if there is a better way to get my entire body in the video this time.. HA HA

 

So until my next blog... Happy Eating! 

A moment of Silence... My beautiful friend is gone :-(

SW is gone

This is out of the norm for me.

I had to say something wonderful about my

beautiful friend who has passed away.

SW had pancreatic cancer and he found out 4 weeks ago.

I was told yesterday of his condition and he passed last night.

I didn't have the chance to say goodbye.

He used to always tell us that he was going to Mass to pray for our wicked souls.

We used to laugh..

 He made so many jokes. He was a truly wonderful 

person in so many ways. 

All I can think of are all of the opportunities I had to call him

and to tell him how much I missed him.

SW, I love you and I will miss you

Love Always

Your Friend

Kim

Friends...

Take the time to tell someone how you feel about them.

For someday may just be too late!

Midwest Food Blunders YouTube Video to Air on July 8th Noon EST

Hello all you wonderful people out there in the world :-))

 

 

This weekend my son Christopher and I will be filming our 1st YouTube video on how to make fresh lemonade. We will also be making Gluten Free Lemon Turnovers. I am so looking forward to presenting not only my cooking skills, but the cooking skills of my wonderful son. There are sure to be lots of Blunders!!

 

He has been sharing the kitchen with me for sometime. He is a wonderful Sous Chef!

 

I look forward to this presentation and I hope that you enjoy it as well..

 

Thank you to all my followers. :-))

 

Happy Eating  :-))