Kathy Zengolewicz

Keep all produce separate from any meat in your refrigerator. Crisper drawers help protect and keep your produce moist and aid in the maintenance of freshness for longer periods of time. Mostly all fruits and vegetables can be stored in the freezer. Make sure to freeze in small pieces.

It is better to buy small quantities and eat any produce as quickly as possible after purchasing them. The flavors and nutrients start to degrade the moment they are picked.

Tomatoes should be stored, unwashed, at room temperature. Vidalia onions have a high water content and should be wrapped individually in paper towels before storing in the refrigerator. Eggplant goes bad very quickly and should be eaten with a couple of day of purchasing.

Asparagus should be stored with their tips in water and with a wet paper towel wrapped around the tops to keep them crisp. Mushrooms can be stored in a cool dry place and washed directly before use.

Lettuce should be washed as soon as possible after purchase and cleaned. I rap my lettuce head at the core, remove the core and hold it, core side up, under cold running water until the water comes out of the top. Then let it sit and drain before putting into a lettuce crisper and placing it in the refrigerator.

Cantaloupe will go from ripe to overripe quickly. Store the or any other melons at room temperature. Mangos, plums, peaches and pears can be stored in a brown bag at room temperature.

Storing your fruits and vegetables properly will help them last a little longer and save you money.

Take care. I’ll talk to you soon.

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Then Wednesday I made a sausage and spinach quiche.  Wouldn’t you know it, someone asked me what was in it.  I think I said something like, “Uhhhhh, some sausage, eggs, spinach, cheese, uhhhh.  Hmmm. Let me think.”  Honestly, I have no clue the amounts of each thing in the quiche.  I just kept adding more eggs, milk, seasonings, until I thought it looked right.  Recently, I’ve been experimenting with making my own caramel macchiatos.  I have it just about right.  They are so good.  Now my friends are asking me for the recipe.  Once again, I am not sure of the amounts.    I realize I am becoming one of those frustrating people that can’t tell you a recipe.

Are you a no recipe kind of cook?

image (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Keeping the Castle

This time, I included a short description of the things needed for each of these cupcake ideas. Perhaps that will help you save some time as you scan through the list. If you’re like me, you’d rather choose a project that you already have the supplies for, rather than making another trip to the store.  Each cupcake requires icing, so I did not include it in the list.

• Peeking Monster – sour candy corn, Necco wafers, blue mini M&Ms
• Spider Crawler Cupcake – chocolate truffles, melted chocolate, mini red M&Ms, pretzel sticks
• Howling Werewolf – shredded wheat, red mini M&Ms, candy corn, black licorice, sunflower kernels
• Witch Legs – black marzipan, yellow mini M&Ms, peppermint sticks, dyed green coconut
• Frankenstein – chocolate graham crackers, miniature marshmallows
• Funny Frog – Hostess Ho Hos or Swiss Cake Rolls, melted chocolate, blue mini M&Ms, green mini M&Ms, red fruit roll-ups
• Green Goblin – sour gummy straws, sour gummy rings, white jelly beans, mini chocolate chips, green jelly beans
• Little Witch – sugar cones, chocolate cookies, melted chocolate, mini M&Ms, dyed coconut
• Gone Batty – chocolate cookie wafers, chocolate M&Ms
• Spooky Eyes – candy coated almonds, Cocoa Puffs, icing
• Who’s There? Owls – fruit flavored candy circles, oval chocolate cookies, frosting, cashews, shaved coconut, pretzel rods
• Googly-Eyed – dark chocolate-covered almonds
• Peek-A-Boo Ghosts – sugar, marshmallows, small mint candies, M&Ms
• Bare Bones skeletons – large candy mints, licorice pastels, small mint candies (Tic-Tacs), white sprinkles
• Under Wraps Mummies – M&Ms, chocolate chips
• Ghoulish Delight ghosts – white fondant
• Madcap Monster – silicone cupcake baking cups with feet,  lollipop sticks, cornstarch, black licorice, white disk shape candies, chocolate pieces, gel frosting

Which cupcakes do you think you’d like to make?

image sxc.hu

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• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal at GoodLife Eats
• Pumpkin Waffles at Smitten Kitchen
• Black Bean Pumpkin Soup at Smitten Kitchen
• Pumpkin Spice Latte from Kettle and Cup
• Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte from A Year of Slow Cooking
• Creamy and Spicy Pumpkin Soup (low carb) at Low Carb Diets
• Spicy Pumpkin Bisque at About.com Home Cooking
• Baked Stuffed Pumpkin at About.com Home Cooking
• Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Cheesecake at Pumpkin Patch
• Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup at Think Inside the Icebox
• Pumpkin Spice Roll from Kraft Foods
• Double Layer Pumpkin Pie from Kraft Foods
• Pumpkin Pie from Martha Stewart
• Pumpkin Bread from Food Network
• Pumpkin Roll Cake from Paula Deen at Food Network
• Pumpkin Custard Pie from Emeril Live
• Pumpkin Waffles with Maple Walnut Apples from Food Network
• Delish Pumpkin Dip from Our Recipe Garden
• Pumpkin Bread Pudding from Everyday Food Storage

Which pumpkin recipe do you think you’ll try?

image sxc.hu

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Animals

• frog cupcakes
• barn cake with farm animal cupcakes
• pony cake
• panda cake
• monkey cake
• dinosaur cake

Sports

• easy baseball cake
• baseball cupcakes
• sports jersey cake

Girls and boys

• mermaid cake
• princess cupcakes
• fairy dust wands
• Cinderella castle cake
• Madeline’s hat
• Cars movie cake
• pirate hat cake
• Blue’s Clues
• Lightning McQueen cake
• Thomas the Train cake

The outdoors – flowers, bugs, and more

• campfire cake
• ladybug cake
• sunflower cake
• ladybug cupcakes
• flower cupcake
• shell flower cupcake

Other stuff

• flip flop cake
• ice cream cake (not make with ice cream)
• loops and confetti
• brownie ice cream sandwich
• balloon cupcake

Do you make your own cakes?

image (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Keeping the Castle

This recipe is great for burritos, tacos, taquitos, and more.  I usually cook a 3-4 pound roast with this recipe and then save half of the cooked roast for the freezer.  It’s nice to pull the cooked beef out of the freezer and have meat that’s ready to use!

 In a crock pot add:

• roast (I use one that’s about 3 pounds.)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1/2 bell pepper, sliced
• 2 beef boullion cubes
• Adobo seasoning (salt and pepper can be substituted)
• minced garlic
• cumin
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• fresh chopped cilantro (dried cilantro can be substituted)
• water – enough to cover the roast

Cook the beef in the crock pot on high for 6 hours or on low for 8 hours or until the meat is falling apart.  Pull the beef apart and cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Remove from heat.

This meat can be used in so many different Mexican dishes.  The first night I usually make tacos.  Of course, you’ll need taco shells and the traditional taco toppings – cheese, sour cream, salsa, or pico de gallo, etc.  Then I freeze the rest of the meat and use it to make taquitos.  Sometimes my husband puts a little in a breakfast omelet. 

Enjoy!

image (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Keeping the Castle

My son wanted a Lightning McQueen cake for his birthday. I looked around in the stores and tried to figure out what I was going to do. Then I decided to buy the car figurines from the toy section. At $12 for three cars, I thought it was a bit pricey but it was cheaper than buying a cake and then at least he would have the cars to play with later.

First we started with a regular 9×13 sheet cake that we made. We iced it with homemade white icing. Since I had the Lightning McQueen car that had mud painted on the side, we thought it would be neat to make a mud scene on the cake with chocolate icing.  We even smeared it a little to look like Lightning McQueen was sliding through the mud.

Next we dyed some of the white icing green and made a grass scene. My mom also used the brown for the piping around the cake.

Finally, we placed the cars on the cake. My hubby even looked online and found a Radiator Springs picture. He printed it out and taped it to two toothpicks.

I thought this was a pretty cute cake and it wasn’t hard at all.  When making cakes, sometimes it helps to look at pictures of other cakes to get inspiration.  I hope this one helps you.

Do you enjoy making your own cakes?

images (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Keeping the Castle

Anyway, this is the second year that I haven’t had my mom’s cake abilities at hand.  After all, five hours is a bit far to travel for a party.  With a limited budget and limited cake decorating skills, I knew I needed something easy.  And with the other crazy schedule of us going out of town two days after the party, I knew I needed something that wouldn’t be time consuming.

I was so thrilled when my teenage cousin volunteered to make the cupcakes.  She has been trying some new things recently and decided she would help out on this project.  I was so thankful.  Check out these cute and easy cupcakes she made.

For the frog cupcakes, she simply decorated the cupcakes with green icing. For the eyes she used a white chocolate disk and a chocolate chip. For the princess cupcakes she found some princess crown cupcake sleeves at Michael’s.  She decorated the cupcakes with white icing and sparkly pink sprinkles, and then put the cupcake sleeves around them.

As you can see, the cupcakes turned out cute and they didn’t require a lot of cake decorating knowledge and skill. If you’re interested, you can check out the easy baseball cake that I made on Cuddlebug’s birthday.

images (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Keeping the Castle

And after baking . . .

Mmmmmm. Warm delicious goodness. And oh so easy to do.

So far, I’ve tried this recipe with canned peaches, blueberries, and strawberries.  It’s simple to switch it around according to your tastes and easy to double the recipe as well.

You will need:

cooking spray
1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup milk
2 cups fruit (approximate)*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 9×13 glass pan with cooking spray.  Put 1 stick of butter into pan and bake until butter is melted.  Add 1 cup sugar and stir.  Add 1 cup self-rising flour and stir.  Add 1 cup milk and stir.  Add 2 cups fruit (drained) and stir all ingredients together.  Bake at 350 degrees until light brown (approximately 35-45 minutes).

Have you ever made this easy cobbler recipe?

images (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Keeping the Castle

A few months ago, I let you all know about the cute cupcakes from Bright Ideas.  In their ideas were some baseball cupcakes.  These looked very simple.  I took their idea and modified it into a cake.

I simply made a regular box of cake mix (any flavor will do) and I halved the mix into two round cake pans.  I iced the top of the first layer, put on the second layer, and then iced the rest of the cake.  I could have used canned vanilla frosting, but I made my own icing.  Then I had a tube of gel red frosting that I used to make the lines in the cake.  It was really that simple.  I wish I had remembered to use my round cake holder.  Oh well. 

As you can see below, Cuddlebug was very pleased with his cake. lol

What kinds of easy cake ideas have you found?

images (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Keeping the Castle