Leah's Kitchen

Find Me Here

2011-01-09T15:21:00.001-06:00

Hi There....

If you are looking for my website...I moved. You can find me here:

http://leahdudley.com

Little Cheesecakes

2009-01-05T12:42:00.006-06:00

It was a busy weekend of catering and hosting a birthday party for my little granddaughter!

Although it's lots of work I love to cook and always have fun trying something different. This weekend I catered a party and made little individual cheesecakes.

They turned out very pretty...and were tasty as well...

It was the most fun to decorate the tops to make the platter look festive and beautiful...

Little Cheesecakes

Filling:
3 packages cream cheese (24 ounces)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Crust:
2 cups crushed graham crackers
5 Tablespoons melted butter
3 Tablespoons sugar

Toppings:
1 can cherry pie filling
3 Tablespoons Amaretto

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
Smuckers Caramel Topping
Smuckers Hot Fudge Topping

Line mini muffin tins with paper liners.

Mix crushed graham crackers with the sugar and butter. Mix well and spoon a heaping teaspoon into bottoms of paper liners. Use thumb to press down crust.

In mixer beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sour cream, and sugar and beat additional 2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each. Add vanilla and nutmeg and mix well.
Spoon filling into liners on top of crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Chill for at least 2 hours.

Mix cherry pie filling and mix with the Amaretto. Chill and put a spoonful with a cherry on top of little cheesecakes. Drizzle with hot fudge sauce.

Whip cream until thickening. Add sugar and whip until thick. Add chocolate liqueur and mix well. Top each cheesecake with spoonful of whipped cream and drizzle with chocolate and caramel sauce.

Christmas Fudge

2008-12-14T13:59:00.007-06:00

It's just not Christmas at my house without making fudge! There is nothing easier than the fudge made with the marshmallow cream. But there are some improvements to the recipe to make it more flavorful, chocolatey, and good...something for your friends and family to remember...!

These are the characters of the recipe...

And you can always add to the lineup to make your fudge a little unique or different....

White chocolate chips to swirl in to make marbled fudge.

Godiva Chocolate Liquior

Toasted almonds or walnuts

Chopped dried cherries or apricots

You want to start with a large heavy pan. You are going to be cooking on high heat so you will also need a silicon spatula and a candy thermometer.

Chocolate Fudge

3 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons Karo light corn syrup (optional)

1 stick butter ( 8 Tablespoons)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream or half and half

1 teaspoon salt

2 packages Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

1 jar Marshmallow Cream

1 cup finely chopped toasted pecans

2 teaspoons vanilla

First you will chop your pecans...

and place them in a shallow pan...I use a round layer cake pan. Toast them in the oven at 350 degrees until lightly browned and fragrant.

In large heavy pot mix sugar, Karo, butter, and cream.

Cook over medium high heat stirring often until all the butter and sugar have melted. Insert candy thermometer stirring continuously until mixture registers the soft ball stage on your candy thermometer.

After reaching the soft ball stage take pot off the heat, remove the candy thermometer and add the chocolate chips and vanilla.

Stir until mixture is smooth and add the marshmallow cream.

Stir until marshmallow cream is incorporated and add the toasted pecans and give a few quick stirs.

At this point you can pour fudge in a 9 X 13 inch greased baking dish or I like to hand drop each piece onto wax paper coated with baking spray. I use two spoons to dip each piece and drop onto the waxed paper. Let the fudge set for at least two hours before cutting or eating.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T20:39:00.004-06:00

So I did have good intentions...I planned on recipes ...photos ....and more for Thanksgiving. What I didn't plan was my hubby in the hospital for 4 days the week before Thanksgiving. So while I did get my lists on the blog...that was it....! I barely had enough time to shop and cook for my family!

The food turned out really good! After brining my free-range turkey in apple cider, kosher salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, juniper berries, rosemary, thyme, onion, and garlic. I stuffed it with oranges, lemons, and onion and roasted it in white wine and butter with plenty of poultry seasoning.

The dressing and gravy was so good with all that wonderful broth from the turkey...

We all had a good time visiting and playing with the grandbaby. It was a quieter Thanksgiving with not as many as we usually have for dinner. My parents and some friends were there for dinner. My son and his family were in South Carolina with his in-laws and my girls just came over to visit after eating dinner with their " significant other's" families.

There was plenty of food and lots of leftovers for everyone to take home.

So I will do more for Christmas with lots of baking so be sure to check back often.

Leah

Thanksgiving Week

2008-11-22T18:51:00.006-06:00

Tomorrow will be the beginning of the week of Thanksgiving and I am far from where I anticipated I would be in my planning. Due to a slight intervention of my husband being in the hospital for a few days...my schedule has been altered!

I did manage to sit down and make all my lists for the week...plan my menu...make my shopping list...schedule my cooking...! But usually I have sent a Thanksgiving dinner invitation by email to all my family and friends...I haven't even started that yet...and to top it off my computer hard drive crashed a couple of weeks ago and left me with only a partial lists of email addresses. So this evening I will be making a few calls and composing an email to get those two items completed.

Today...I did most of my shopping and have most of the groceries I will need for my dinner. I have my table decorated and all my dishes washed and ready to set the table.

Thanksgiving Dinner 2008

Roasted Turkey and Dressing with Gravy
Smoked Ham
Citrus Cranberry Sauce
Mashed Potatoes with Cream
Baby Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Bacon
Baked Corn Casserole
Sweet Potato Crunch
Honey Wheat Rolls
Caramel Pumpkin Pie
Gran’s Fudge Pie
White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

When I make my shopping list I like to categorize so that it is easier to shop.

Shopping List

Vegetables

Russet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans

Corn

Onions

Green Peppers

Red Peppers

Celery

Fruit

Cranberries

Lemons

Limes

Oranges

Raspberries

Meats

Turkey

Ham

Bacon

Dairy

Milk

Buttermilk

Whipping Cream

Butter

Eggs

Cream Cheese

Cheddar Cheese

Staples

Flour

Sugar

Brown Sugar

Cornmeal

White Chocolate

Cocoa

Bittersweet Chocolate

Spices and Seasonings

Poultry Seasoning

Sage

Thyme

Juniper Berries

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Allspice

Vanilla

Salt

Peppercorns

Miscellaneous

Pepperidge Farm Cookies

Tea

White Wine

It's always necessary for me to schedule my cooking so that I can get everything done and ready to serve my dinner around 2:00 P.M. So I begin cooking at least by Tuesday. I use Monday to put the finishing touches on cleaning my home and getting my table set.

Cooking Schedule

Tuesday

Cranberry Sauce

Cornbread for Dressing

Biscuits for Dressing

Pie Crusts

Wednesday

Cheesecake

Pumpkin Pie

Fudge Pie

Brine Turkey

Sweet Potato Casserole

Smoke Ham

Saute Onions and Celery for Dressing

Thursday

Roast Turkey

Mashed Potatoes

Baked Corn Casserole

Bread

Dressing

Gravy

With all my lists done...I feel like I've got a good start on the holiday!

Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

2008-11-11T20:20:00.004-06:00

Have you started planning your Thanksgiving holiday...? Are you cooking for your family and/or friends? Are you dreading and stressing out over the entire ordeal...or do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed and a little apprehensive....?

Don't make the prospects of cooking all that food ruin your holiday. Its possible with a little planning and preparation to have a wonderful holiday!

First of all ....make a list....I make several lists to get me through the cooking.

I usually have around 15 for Thanksgiving dinner. We have family and friends...! I love to invite anyone who doesn't have a place to share the holiday. To me that's the spirit of the season! So it is imperative to be well prepared and have a plan.

The first thing you should do is plan your menu. Then make a shopping list followed by a schedule of preparing all the food. I try to start cooking at least several days before my meal. There are several things you can prepare ahead of time.

The most logical and smartest move you can make is to shop early...don't wait until the weekend before Thanksgiving or a couple of days prior to the holiday. Shop at least the week before...even if you are buying a fresh turkey...the stores get them in about a week before Thanksgiving. If you must wait for lack of room in your refrig...do all of your shopping the week before and pick up your turkey on Tuesday or Wednesday. You might have to wait in line at the checkout....but you won't be frantically running through the aisles at several stores trying to find all of your ingredients for the meal.

I thought it might be fun for you to follow me through all of my Thanksgiving process. So over the next couple of weeks...we will plan...make lists....shop....and cook ....together....!

Looking forward to you joining me.....Leah

Halloween Cake

2008-10-23T14:01:00.009-05:00

During the holidays starting in the fall ...I love to cook with pumpkin! This is an easy and fun cake to make to delight any kid and most adults for the Halloween season.

It's very easy although you do have to invest in a couple of specialized cake pans. I bought my small pumpkins cake pan at Williams-Sonoma last year but they don't offer it this year. You can buy the same one here. For the large pumpkin cake I used Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Pan that I bought at Macy's but they don't have it this year. You can find a similar one here.

You will need the following to make the cake:

Rectangular cake board

Cake recipes that come with each pan

Marshmallow ghosts (I got these at Wal-Mart in Halloween candy aisle)

White Fondant (You can also get this in craft section at Wal-Mart)

Dried fall leaves (you can get these at Hobby Lobby or craft store)

Candy corn

This is the recipe for the small cakes:

Pumpkin Patch Cakes

Sift together:
3 ½ cups flour
2 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
2 ¼ teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 ¾ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon ground cloves

In mixer beat until creamy:
14 Tablespoons butter

Add:
2 cups brown sugar
1 ½ cups white sugar
Beat until light and fluffy about 5 minutes.

Add:
4 eggs
Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed of mixer to slow and add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with:
1 cup of milk

Add:
1 ¾ cups pumpkin puree
Mix until incorporated in batter.

Grease and flour cake pan. Divide half the batter between the wells of the prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in batter comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes. Gently tap pan on work surface to loosen cakes. Invert pan on wire rack and lift pan off cakes. Wash and dry pan and repeat with remaining batter.

Frosting:

All ingredients at room temperature

8 oz. cream cheese

1 stick (8 Tablespoons) butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In mixer beat cream cheese for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Add the butter and beat until combined 1-2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy 2-3 minutes. You may use food coloring as desired.

To assemble cakes use a serrated knife cut off any portion of 6 cakes that rose above the rim of the pan. Place a cake half flat side up and spread frosting on top. Place another cake flat side down on top. Repeat for 2 other cakes. Leave other cakes single to use for Halloween cake. Reserve frosting to use to attach to cake board.

For the large cake I used the Martha Stewart recipe that came with the cake pan.

Pumpkin Cake

15 Tablespoons butter at room temperature

3 cups flour

2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 1/8 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/8 teaspoons baking soda

3 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

3/4 cup warm milk (110 degrees F)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray pumpkin mold halves with nonstick cooking spray. Set mold halves on baking sheet.

In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

Beat sugar and butter together until light and fluffy about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until combined. Add pumpkin to warm milk and add to the butter sugar mixture and beat until combined. Add reserved flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.

Pour batter into prepared mold halves and bake until a cake tester inserted into middle comes out clean about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Transfer halves to a wire rack to cool. Let cake rest 20 minutes. Invert halves and unmold. Cool completely and wrap in plastic and let sit overnight.

White Chocolate Ganache

1/4 cup finely chopped white chocolate

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Place white chocolate in a metal bowl. Bring a medium saucepan with about 2 inches of water to a simmer and turn off the heat. Set the bowl of chopped chocolate over the saucepan and melt the chocolate. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Add cream and whisk until light and fluffy.

Orange Glaze

8 Tablespoons milk

1 drop orange liquid gel food coloring

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

In a medium bowl combine milk and orange food coloring. Slowly add confectioners' sugar whisking until smooth. Use immediately.

To assemble cake:

Using a serrated knife, trim halves flat so they will fit smoothly together. Spread the chocolate ganache evenly on the flat side of one half. Invert remaining cake onto the chocolate so the pumpkin shape is formed. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

Stand cake upright on a wire rack covered with parchment paper. Working quickly carefully pour glaze over the cake scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Tilt the cake as necessary to coat all sides. Let the glaze set completely before serving.

To assemble Halloween Cake:

Place a dollop of remaining frosting from the small cakes in center of cake board to one side. Using a metal turner carefully place large Pumpkin cake. Use smaller cakes around the large cake using remaining frosting to secure them to bottom of cake board. Use food coloring to color fondant and shape stems, leaves (you can use leaf cookie cutters if you have them) and tendrils for pumpkin cakes. Arrange candy corn and ghosts amid cakes and scatter leaves.

Cookbooks...

2008-09-17T20:04:00.004-05:00

Cookbooks in my kitchen take up lots of space...so much that I had to buy a new bakers rack to help store some of them along with my collection of mixing bowls. I once counted in excess of 50+ cookbooks and that doesn't even count the books of recipes that I have cut out of magazines.

Cooking has always been a big thing in my family. My "Gran" was a really good cook...she baked for years in a local bakery and worked until she was way up in years, at a local restaurant baking pies and cakes. Of course she passed this talent along to her only child, my mother, who is also a wonderful cook. On my dad's side of the family there was Aunt Ruby who cooked many favorites for our family throughout the years...so I come by my love for cooking through all of them.

We all collect cookbooks and recipes...its just something you can't resist...! Gran and my mom cut recipes out of magazines for years and probably didn't try that many of them as they never organized them very well. After Gran's death, Mother and I found recipes everywhere ...all through her house. She had boxes of them...under the beds...in the closets...in drawers...stuffed in her recipe boxes. Mother had lots too...but she and my dad moved to town from the ranch several years ago and she went through all of hers and threw many of them away. I am just as bad as the two of them....I run off recipes from the Internet and cut them out of magazines too. I try to keep them organized in large notebooks but there is no way ....even if I started tomorrow....that I could try all of them ...even if I cooked day and night ....until I die!

My cookbook collection started when I was rather young...with a cookbook that I got for Christmas one year. It continued when I got married and since then has grown. It includes the traditional Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. Then it varies from there...from Le Cordon Bleu at Home and My French Kitchen to a collection of Gooseberry Patch cookbooks.

A dear friend gave me a copy of The Congressional Club Cookbook during the 1980's from a trip she took to Washington D.C. that includes recipes from previous Presidents and Vice Presidents, Governers, Senators and their spouses. The Texas Cookbook which was written by Mary Faulk Koock who owned a very popular restaurant in her home, Green Pastures, in Austin. It is a fun cookbook to read as there are many stories and recipes from Texas personalities and their towns and ranches from barbeques to banuqets all around the Lone Star State.

One of my very favorite is Helen Corbitt's Cookbook written in 1957. Helen Corbitt was a wonderful cook with an interesting career that began in New York her home state at Cornell Medical Center and eventually brought her to Texas where she was Instructor in Foods, Catering, and Restaurant Management at the University of Texas, the Houston Country Club, The Driskell Hotel in Austin, and Neiman Marcus in Dallas.

I have, Flavors, a cookbook from the Junior League in San Antonio. Under The Mushroom from The Little Mushroom a restaurant popular in the Market district in Dallas during the 1970's-1980's. Then there is Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread cookbook that has wonderful recipes for every type of bread you could imagine. The Big Book of Breakfast Cookbook that is a complete source of yummy recipes for all breakfast foods. The Pepperidge Farm Cookbook by Margaret Rudkin whose family started the Pepperidge Farm empire.

Then there are the celebrity chef cookbooks...I love Paula Deen and have several of her cookbooks. The Barefoot Contessa at Home is one of my favorite cookbooks and another, Mexican Kitchen, by Rick Bayless. I have an autographed cookbook by Stephen Pyles from a cooking class he instructed at Central Market that I attended several years ago and of course...Martha Stewart Cookbooks.

There are many more cookbooks I would love to own...but I don't need!

Sugar Cookies

2008-09-08T19:45:00.003-05:00

This is a yummy and quick cookie recipe...the ones I'm serving in my lunches for the past couple of weeks. I have to hide them from "you know who" or we wouldn't have any left for the lunches!

I love a cookie recipe that you can mix up and keep the dough in the refrig for 2 or 3 days and just cook as you need them. My kids always loved making cookies at night after supper or in the afternoon when they got home from school and somehow...cookies just out of the oven are the best...!

SUGAR COOKIES

Zest from 1 large lemon
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 ½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 sticks butter (1 cup)
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt

In blender add sugars with lemon zest and mix for about 1 minute. Add butter and mix until light and fluffy about 3 minutes. Add eggs and mix well. Mix together all dry ingredients and add to batter. Mix just until all flour mixture is incorporated.

Use a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper or spray your baking sheet with baking spray. Using a small ice cream scoop or soup spoon dip out dough and place on baking sheet. Leave plenty of room for cookies to spread out. Sprinkle tops of cookie with generous amount of sugar. Bake at 350° for approximately 10 minutes or until slightly browned around edges. Cool on wire racks.

Hope you like them....

Leah

How to Comment

2008-09-04T10:05:00.002-05:00

For those of you who have never commented on a blog ...it is very easy. Down at the bottom of the post you will see where it says:

0 (or # of) comments

Just click on that and it will open the window for comments and if there have been any comments you will see them. On the right hand side of the page you will see an area with a box to "Leave Your Comments". Just type what you have to say...I really would prefer something nice there...then you must fill in an identity. You can just click on the name/URL and type in your first name or you can click on anonymous.

So don't hesitate to comment.

Leah

Welcome to my Kitchen!

2008-09-03T20:56:00.004-05:00

Just a quick note to welcome you to my kitchen. I love to cook and am always in my kitchen. We will cook, test recipes, talk techniques, answer cooking questions, and of upmost importance...we will have contests and giveaways!

But I need your help...please tell everyone you know about my website and my blogs. I need to establish a substantial readers base that will allow me to secure advertisers that will eventually help me to give away more on this blog.

So email my blog...comment on my blog and come back often ...

Note: I have plans to do extensive how-tos and step-by-step instructions here...however my photography equipment is not what I need...so bear with me until I can upgrade....

Love to you all....Leah