May26
Actually, I don’t really have any English in me. My children do now through their father, and I do have one redeeming factor on my side – a great English friend. tehe
She just returned from a spring fling over there and brought me a treat! Harrod’s English tea… in its own adorable little tin! I wish I’d been to England to fully appreciate the celebrity of the company, but I have an inkling that its akin to Community coffee from Louisiana. A speciality for which the name equals the place.
Inside the tin, a shiny gold foil bag greeted me just before I popped it open to enjoy my first cup. It was great, thanks you know who you are. How lucky too that I’d just made a batch of yogurt scones. Even I know that tea and scones are the quintessiental English pairing. My recipe for scones comes from Evelyn Raab who writes the column Cooking with Kids for Today’s Parent magazine, published off- and online. Her article May Day has everything you need to know about serving a truly English tea, including the scones. Many of my favorite recipes come from her kitchen, and a long perusal through the recipes online would be a couple hours well-spent. I find something amazing everytime I drop by. Today that happens to be her Father’s Day meal and BBQ ideas. Ssh, don’t tell Mecandes!
While I’m on the tea kick, make a southern version for yourself too. We call it sun tea, and yes, the most important ingredient is a beautiful sunny day. My third batch this spring is out on the deck as I type.
May22
Adapted from a recipe in Talk about Good…
2 cups cooked rice (do not use instant)
3 Tbsp. butter
1 box frozen chopped broccoli or fresh florets from 1 large stem
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 soup can of milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Thaw frozen broccoli or wash and chop fresh broccoli. Saute onion and celery in butter. Add soup and soup can of milk to vegetables and simmer until everything is dissolved. Then add cheese and simmer until melted. Remove from heat and mix with cooked rice, chopped broccoli and seasoning. Bake 30 minutes at 350 in a 9 x 13 casserole. Makes 8 – 10 side servings.
May22
Mecandes and I were looking around for a recipe for jawa juice. Yes, it was one of those days. ha! Anywho, remember in Attack of the Clones when Obi-Wan goes to Dex’s Diner to ask Dex where the mysterious poison dart comes from? The waitress droid offers him jawa juice, and he enthusiastically says yes. We just had a strange itch to know whether someone had actually defined it or come up with a way to make it. We found both, but the two don’t match so I’m merely offering this up for fun!
In an unofficial Star Wars encyclopedia, you find:
Jawa juice – this mixed, alcoholic drink was popular at the Bantha Traxx establishment on Lianna, during the height of the New Order. The origins of Jawa Juice can be traced to Dex’s Diner, on the planet Coruscant, more than twenty years before the Battle of Yavin. It was considered by many beings to be an acquired taste, being bitter and sharp. It also provided a boost of energy when consumed, an effect that seemed to increase as a being drank more.
Yet the recipe calls for this:
Jawa juice -
6 oz espresso coffee (only instant if you have to)
1 shot chocolate syrup (dark chocolate is best)
I don’t know, but if anyone is having an after-watching-Episode III-party at their house, don’t miss the entire Jedi drinks recipe page. There’s one for whomever your favorite lightsaber wielding fellow or gal might be. lol
May22
From my “Meme”
For cake:
3c flour
2c sugar
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
2c chopped bananas, about 3
3 eggs, beaten
1 ½ c oil
1 ½ t vanilla
1 – 8oz can crush pineapple, do not drain
2c chopped nuts – 1 for batter, 1 for icing
Grease and flour 3 cake pans. Preheat oven to 350.
Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs and oil. Stir until moist. Do not beat.
Stir in vanilla, pineapple, bananas and 1 cup of the pecans.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
For frosting:
1 – 8oz pkg. cream cheese
1 – 16oz box powdered sugar
2 t vanilla
½ c butter
Cream butter and cream cheese. Add sugar and beat until creamy.
Cool cake completely before icing. Sprinkle the remaining chopped pecans between layers of cake and on top.
Notes:
I’ve received many compliments on this cake and always send them my grandmother’s way. I love how it incorporates fruit and makes three beautiful layers. Its white icing made it a nice choice for a baptismal cake when we needed one. And I’ve thought lately if I needed something to make for a bake sale, you can get three single cakes from this one recipe. 
May13
From another friend:
Stir together:
2c flour
1c sugar – ½ brown ½ white
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
Stir into the above mixture:
½ c raisins/dates
½ c nuts
½ c coconut
2c grated carrot
1 apple, peeled and grated
Beat together separately:
3 egg
1c oil
2t vanilla
Add wet mixture to the dry and stir everything together only until moist.
Bake 350F for 20 min. Makes 1 dozen.
cecilia
Kalanna
Holli
