Ohhhh Fuuuuuudge!

Remember in that movie, A Christmas Story, when Ralphie (as played by Peter Billingsley), was helping his Old Man change the tire on the family car? And he accidentally ended up throwing the lug nuts out into the snowy street?

Well, it hasn't been that kinda day for me. Actually, I was pretty productive. Chauffeur kids to outing, go home, clean house, put big pot of corned beef on to boil for tomorrows sammiches, scrub kitchen some more, make bread, do a thousand dishes, order a pizza for dinner, (hey, even I like to indulge at times and allow someone else to cook!), and set about making fudge.

During Christmas, I asked my dear brother-in-law, Jim, to pick up some powdered sugar on the way over to our house for the big celebration. I had made some dessert or other, and had completely run out of the lovely stuff. It usually works that way with me--it either rains or pours. At one point I went through a spate of pie making, so I kept on buying cinnamon...I ended up with about 5 jars of the stuff. But, I digress...

So, I asked Uncle Jim, as he's fondly referred to, to bring some over. He's a really nice man, and he works at a well-known-food-megastore-warehouse-open-to-the-public-wow-I-never-have-seen-such-a-huge-jar-of-pickles-kinda place.

Long story short, I now am the proud owner of a five-pound bag of powdered sugar which now lives in my freezer. I have yet to name it, but I am taking suggestions.

What to do with that much powdered sugar, one may ask...I say, make fudge!

Three Kinds of Fudge
Adapted from a recipe given to me by Sharon H., a loooong time ago. Seriously-the piece of paper it's printed on is hideous looking. But those are the best kinds-used, re-used, folded over and over, jammed into cook-books time and again, coffee rings adorning it. I think my thumbprint in chocolate sauce is on it. You get the picture.

In a saucepan, pour 3/4 cup of milk. Add one and a half sticks of butter, (not margarine, under any circumstances!), and three packages of chocolate pudding mix. While stirring ALL THE TIME, bring to a boil, and boil one minute. Turn off the heat, and add a tablespoon of vanilla, and enough powdered sugar until the mixture starts to become stiff and lift away from the pan. Add nuts if you must, but I prefer not to. This is some good basic fudge right there, but now let's play.

Variation #1 stir in vigorously (it gets kinda thick) one cup of natural peanut butter (unsweetened-no added goop-the kind you have to refrigerate and stir before using because it will separate) just after removing from the stove and just before adding the powdered sugar.

Variation #2 stir in completely one cup of cream cheese just after removing from the stove and just before adding the powdered sugar.

Again, you will know you have arm muscles after making any of these recipes.

Pour into a wax-paper lined 9"x9"-ish pan and set in the fridge. Once it's set firm, cut into squares, and enjoy! I think it's best to keep this in the fridge, just to keep it nice and firm.

Go ahead, you can make it, it's easy! I triple-dog-dare-ya!
Eat well, have fun, and love lots,
Antonia

Penne with Carbonara

Woo hoo! Thanks to Food Renegade for putting this link out there...check out the food-blog carnival-fun at http://www.foodrenegade.com/fight-back-friday-august-5th/

In honor of what would have been Grandma Nancy's umpteenth birthday, I made some lovely pasta tonight. When she was five years old, Nancy (the Americanized version of her real name, Annunziata) traveled across the Atlantic in the early 1900's with her mama, Anna Theresa, from Sulmona, near Rocca, In Italy. La Rocca, as it is called, is a beautiful town built atop a plateau that has a huge ravine on each side. (The ravines are dried up remains of rivers called the Lavino and Lanello.) It's simply enormous, and amazing that they all survive atop the oddly flat perch in the sky, looking at the Majella mountains. There the people used to keep sheep, and make lovely cheese and other delicacies. It is mostly empty now, as most of the former inhabitants have emigrated to other parts. It is said, however, that occasionally you can find pecorino cheese to purchase there, which is made from the local sheep and goats which graze nearby. Pecorino is a wonderful ingredient in the following dish:

Penne with Carbonara

In a skillet, fry four strips of bacon until crisp and brown, but not burned. Turn your flame off. Put the bacon aside and let it rest on paper towels so the grease absorbs out. Drain the grease from your pan, and make sure you do not drip any to the underside of your pan. Don't want a grease-fire! I found this out the hard way. Relight the fire to a low flame, and add the following to saute-three tablespoons of butter, three cloves chopped garlic, a quarter of finely chopped onion, and stir until butter is melted. Then add three slices of mozzarella, and half a cup of cream or whole milk. stir until the cheese melts. Then add several good shakes of grated parmesan or pecorino, and stir until all the cheese is absorbed. Coarsely chop the bacon, and put it back in the pan. Add a can of crushed tomatoes, about a half cup at a time. Stir, stir, stir. Add, finally, a few good grinds of black pepper, and a smattering of marjoram and basil. Serve over penne pasta cooked al dente, and enjoy. Of course this is altered Carbonara, because of the addition of tomatoes. I put it in there because I love them so!Perhaps I feel they redeem all that lovely fat from the bacon, the butter and the cream. Oh, and the cheese, too....

Oh well.

Yeah, who am I kidding, it's comfort food.

Eat well, have fun, and love lots!
~Antonia

Chucks Challenge

I went to the library with a group of friends recently. We had lots of fun just hanging out, and then took a nice walk. When me and a young friend realized we had almost identical shoes on, we both thought it would be fun to see how many of you can identify the real All Stars, and the knock-offs.

Now for something completely different...

A few friends have requested my recipe for that most wonderful of comfort foods that hails from many villages in Africa. It is basically rice cooked with veggies and whatever kind of meat you may have. One of my favorite authors, Neil Peart, fondly dubbed the dish, "Rice With Junk on it." Mr. Peart is not only a fine writer, but also the fantastic drummer from the Canadian band known as Rush. What these three guys have accomplished in music is amazing, and Neil's books are as great as his insightful lyric writing and percussion skills. His website is pretty cool too--check out the "Bubba's Bar and Grill" section of his website, he's quite the foodie!

The dish in question is merely an adaptation of a meal frequently described in Peart's book, The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa. In the book, Peart tells many a tale of his travel group, and some of the parts I liked best were the passages he wrote about the food he ate while on his journey. Rice with junk on it was the name given to a common dish he was served after exhausting days on the bike trail. As far as I know, no 'official' recipe exists for it, which makes it all the more appealing. Kinda goes with the spirit of cooking I love to embrace. Take what you have, and make it mouthwatering.

So, for Mr. Peart, here is my version of Rice with junk on it. Thank you sir, for writing about this fun dish.

In a big skillet or pot, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add one pound of meat, your choice. Grass-fed beef is nice, either ground, chunks, or strips. Chicken works well too. I suppose you could use a pile of bacon or proscuitto if you are feeling fancy and your cholesterol count allows. Throw in some chopped onion or garlic if you like. Add some savory spices, like cracked pepper, or perhaps some oregano or marjoram. Cook the meat until it is browned. Strain off the fat if you wish, and add one cup of rice, and two cups of water or broth. At this point you can add veggies, but if you do, make sure you keep an eye on it so that you can add more liquid if it looks like it's getting too dry. Let the water come to a boil, cover the pot with a lid, and lower the heat until the flame is very low. Let it sit that way for about thirty minutes, and then turn off the heat. Let it rest five minutes, and voila! Rice with junk on it. Elegant, simple and most importantly, yummy.

This pairs great with a fresh green salad and a good helping of Rush music. You can also make it in the crock pot if you wish. Just throw all the ingredients into the crock and let it simmer on low for a good long while. We have this at least once a month.

To close, here is my little ditty called "Crock-pot prayer", from way back when I first became a mama, first published in that little zine that smacks of literary brilliance, Hip MaMa. Read this one to the cadence of the "this is my rifle' prayer as spoken en masse in the movie "Full Metal Jacket" when the soldiers are going to bed. 

Crock-Pot Prayer

This is my crock-pot.

 There are many like it, but this one is mine. My crock-pot is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my crock-pot is useless. Without my crock-pot, I am useless. I must cut my vegetables true, I must use the temperature gague correctly, or eat fast food, which is trying to kill my family. If we are to eat dinner at all in this house, I must cook crock-pot meals-I will!

Before God, I swear this creed-my crock pot and myself are defenders of good nutrition, we are masters of our enemy-junk food. We are the saviours of my life. So be it, until there is no enemy, but peace and quiet and time enough to do everything  that I must do in 24 hours a day and still get dinner on the table before 10 o'clock at night. AMEN!

Eat well, have fun, love lots!

Antonia