Hot days do come along in North Dakota. It can be over 100 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-July and sometimes into September. No one wants to turn on the oven in such heat, so I have a couple of 'beat the heat' standby recipes that our family enjoys. By the way, as Mother and I are writing this, our weatherman has announced that we should be expecting snow today. It's April 14, 2011. It's going to feel and look like winter again by tomorrow, he says. The local weatherman said that he hopes the snow in the ditches and the wind break trees will be melted by July! (Only half-jokingly!) So, this is for those fellow northerners who are dreaming of warmer weather and for those southerners who are currently experiencing nicer weather...
Italian Vegetable Salad from daughter Lisa Crow Boreman
5 cups broccoli, cut up small
5 cups cauliflower, cut up small
4 plum tomatoes, cut or 1 pkg. cherry tomatoes
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 can black olives, drained (optional)
1 bottle (8 oz.) of Italian dressing or
make your ow Italian dressing:
1 cup Canola oil
1 Tablespoon salt
1/4 cup white vinegar
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
In a large salad bowl, combined the first eight ingredients. Combine with salad dressing. Toss to coat. Refrigerate at least four hours, covered. You may add two cups of shredded mozerella or shredded yellow cheese just before serving. You may also add thinly sliced salami, chopped ham or chopped turkey/chicken.
Mother always made us treats and her "Puffed Wheat Bars" were something we kids looked forward to! She got the recipe from the Puffed Wheat box. She made it often because it was an inexpensive candy you could make at home, important when the nearest store was 20 miles away!
Puffed Wheat Bars
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo syrup, dark
1 cup peanut butter, creamy
6 to 8 cups of Puffed Wheat cereal
9x13 pan, buttered or sprayed with Pam
Boil the sugar and syrup together at least 2 full minutes, but not too long.
Take off the heat and stir in the creamy peanut butter.
Before it cools down too much, pour onto the cereal that is laying in your prepared 9x13 pan and stir quickly.
Cut into bars and serve. If you can wait long enough for them to cool down, kudos to you!
,..and just in case you have a cool spell during the summer, here's a wonderful orange chiffon-type cake that tastes like a creamsicle - a great choice for a summer birthday like mine! Mother found this nice recipe in the Feb./Mar. 2011 "Looking Back Magazine", which can be found online at www.lookingbackmagazine.com
Orange Creamsicle Chiffon Summer Birthday Cake
with home-made frosting (aka Lois' Orange Cake)
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 or 2 drops of orange food coloring (optional)
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tablespoons cake flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (frozen concentrate works nicely, too)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (maybe you can do this at the cooler hour of around 5:00 a.m. on the summer birthday girl or boy's big day). Butter or spray your 10" tube pan. Cream the 4 Tablespoons of butter with the sugar. Beat really well. Add just the egg yolks and then beat until the mixture is thick and yellow. Add the food coloring if you would like. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add alternating with orange juice to the butter mixture. In another bowl, beat your egg whites until stiff. You can add 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar to help it along if you wish. Fold the egg whites gently into the butter batter. Pour into your prepared 10" tube pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cake is firm, but springy. Cool completely before you spread on the frosting.
Creamsicle Cake Frosting:
1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted
1 stick of butter, softened
2 teaspoons of grated orange zest
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (or juice from concentrate)
Cream the powdered sugar and the butter until nice and fluffy. Add the zests and juice; beat until smooth.
Pour over cooled cake.
Happy Birthday!
Italian Vegetable Salad from daughter Lisa Crow Boreman
5 cups broccoli, cut up small
5 cups cauliflower, cut up small
4 plum tomatoes, cut or 1 pkg. cherry tomatoes
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 can black olives, drained (optional)
1 bottle (8 oz.) of Italian dressing or
make your ow Italian dressing:
1 cup Canola oil
1 Tablespoon salt
1/4 cup white vinegar
4 Tablespoons lemon juice
In a large salad bowl, combined the first eight ingredients. Combine with salad dressing. Toss to coat. Refrigerate at least four hours, covered. You may add two cups of shredded mozerella or shredded yellow cheese just before serving. You may also add thinly sliced salami, chopped ham or chopped turkey/chicken.
Mother always made us treats and her "Puffed Wheat Bars" were something we kids looked forward to! She got the recipe from the Puffed Wheat box. She made it often because it was an inexpensive candy you could make at home, important when the nearest store was 20 miles away!
Puffed Wheat Bars
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo syrup, dark
1 cup peanut butter, creamy
6 to 8 cups of Puffed Wheat cereal
9x13 pan, buttered or sprayed with Pam
Boil the sugar and syrup together at least 2 full minutes, but not too long.
Take off the heat and stir in the creamy peanut butter.
Before it cools down too much, pour onto the cereal that is laying in your prepared 9x13 pan and stir quickly.
Cut into bars and serve. If you can wait long enough for them to cool down, kudos to you!
,..and just in case you have a cool spell during the summer, here's a wonderful orange chiffon-type cake that tastes like a creamsicle - a great choice for a summer birthday like mine! Mother found this nice recipe in the Feb./Mar. 2011 "Looking Back Magazine", which can be found online at www.lookingbackmagazine.com
Orange Creamsicle Chiffon Summer Birthday Cake
with home-made frosting (aka Lois' Orange Cake)
4 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 or 2 drops of orange food coloring (optional)
1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tablespoons cake flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (frozen concentrate works nicely, too)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees (maybe you can do this at the cooler hour of around 5:00 a.m. on the summer birthday girl or boy's big day). Butter or spray your 10" tube pan. Cream the 4 Tablespoons of butter with the sugar. Beat really well. Add just the egg yolks and then beat until the mixture is thick and yellow. Add the food coloring if you would like. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add alternating with orange juice to the butter mixture. In another bowl, beat your egg whites until stiff. You can add 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar to help it along if you wish. Fold the egg whites gently into the butter batter. Pour into your prepared 10" tube pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cake is firm, but springy. Cool completely before you spread on the frosting.
Creamsicle Cake Frosting:
1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted
1 stick of butter, softened
2 teaspoons of grated orange zest
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh orange juice (or juice from concentrate)
Cream the powdered sugar and the butter until nice and fluffy. Add the zests and juice; beat until smooth.
Pour over cooled cake.
Happy Birthday!
I'm so sorry about the snow. I know you must be tired of it! We're having a very springlike week with temperatures in the 70's and 80's and sunshine (although it appears to be overcast at the moment). (I'll cross my fingers for rain!!!)
ReplyDeleteThe vegetable salad sounds delicious! So does the cake!
I was wondering if you are near the flooding or not. Snow seems to be lasting here and there at different places this year. Long winter. Not too bad here, but we are starting the tornado weather. I like puff wheat cereal and your bar recipes sounds like I might have to make that someday, also loved the cake recipe!
ReplyDeleteFortunately, we are in an area that isn't flooding and it's a bit hilly, so never should, but there are three wooden bridges washed out in Bottineau County where lots of my family lives, but everyone is all right. Thank you for asking! Tornados will come later in summer when it heats up - we have cold fronts against hot fronts and get thunderstorms, etc. They can be rather exciting! Stay safe!
ReplyDelete