Delicious Clam Chowder

Once or twice a year I make this Clam Chowder and it is always a hit! A couple of friends asked for my recipe so I figured I had better post it. Enjoy! I like to serve it in homemade bread bowls--for those, just use your favorite bread recipe and make individual size bowl loaves instead of the "normal" loaf.


Creamy Clam Chowder

1 large onion, finely chopped
2 medium white potatoes, diced
1 cup finely diced celery
2 (6 1/2 oz) cans chopped clams
1 bottle clams juice
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
3/4 cup butter
1 quart half and half
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1 bay leaf

*Drain juice from clams and pour all clam juice over veggies in a medium sauce pan. Add bay leaf. If needed, add enough water to barely cover the veggies and simmer while covered until barely tender.
*Meanwhile, in a soup pot, melt butter, add flour and whisk until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, Add cream, stir with wire whisk until smooth and thick.
*Add un-drained veggies, salt, clams, and vinegar. Heat. If chowder is too thick, add some milk. Add pepper (and additional salt if needed) until the seasoning is right.

Dad's Birthday Cake

For my dad's birthday I made this kayak cake. The cake itself is a carrot cake and I made cream cheese frosting. The recipe was delicious. I used the Wilton's pre-made fondant. It turned out wonderfully! Very happy with the end result.

Carrot Cake

Mix together the following ingredients:
     2 cups sugar
     3 eggs
     1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
     1 tsp. vanilla
     2 cups grated carrot
     3/4 cup flaked coconut
     1 small can crushed pineapple



Mix together in a separate bowl, then add to above mixture.
     3 cups flour
     1 tsp. cinnamon
     1 tsp. salt
     2 tsp. baking soda
     1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Bake in a greased and floured 9" x 13" cake pan at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 15-20 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

*Soften 4 oz. cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at room temperature. Beat together until smooth.
*Beat in 2 cups sifted confectioners sugar and add 1 tsp. vanilla.
*Mix until smooth. Add milk to moisten if needed. 

Award-Winning Coconut Cream Pie

At work our department sponsors a Pie Contest each year. Last year I made this coconut cream pie recipe and it won first place. This year I made it again, and it took 2nd place to a Peach-berry pie. I made that one too. :-) I hadn't ever made it before (...the Peach-berry) but I love peach/raspberry snapple, so I got the idea to combine the two flavors from that drink. I ended up adding some blueberries to it as well and it was REALLY delicious...if I do say so myself...but, the judges liked it too, because it beat out my coconut cream pie. I can't really give a recipe for the Peach-berry because I just sort-of threw it all togher...basic fruit pie (I use tapioca for thickening,) and used peaches and raspberries...and blueberries. See below for the crust recipes and the coconut cream recipe.

 

Coconut Cream Pie

 

2 baked 9-inch pie shells

1 quart milk (I use whole...it makes for a creamier pie...but I have used skim and it turns out well too.)

2 cups half-and-half

2 Tablespoons butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teasponn salt

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup coconut

1 quart whipping cream, whipped and lightly sweetened

1/4 cup coconut, toasted

    

 Reserve up to 1 cup of milk to mix with cornstarch. Place remaining milk in top of a double boiler and add half-and-half, butter, and 3/4 cup sugar. Cook until butter is melted and milk looks scalded

     In a bowl, whisk egg yolks until well broken up; then add 1/2 cup sugar and salt and whick together very well. Slowly add this mixture to the hot milk mixtuer, stirring constantly. Stir for approximately 1/2 minute and then allow to cook for 15-20 minutes. (This gives the eggs time to cook and starts the thickening process. Undercooking at this point slows the finishing process down by as much as half an hour.)

     Mix reserved milk and cornstarch together and slowly adad to the hot mixture. Be careful to stir constantly or lumps will form. Continue to stir for at least 2 minutes and every 5 minutes for the next 15-20 minutes. (A good test to see if the pudding is done enough is to stand up the whisk in the middle of the pudding with the whisk touching the bottom of the pan. If the whisk will stay straight up after you let go, the pudding is thick enough. In my experience, it takes closer to 30-45 mintues.)

     When pudding is thick enough, stir in the vanilla. Stir in coconut and remove the whole double boiler from stove (The hot water will help to keep the pudding hot while you dish up the pies.)

     Pour filling into pie shells. Fill pies so the tops are a little rounded. When cool, top with whipped cream and garnish with toasted coconut. Makes 2 pies.

 

Crust I use for cream pies...

 

Crust

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup lard

1/4 cup margarine (I use Imperial...)

1/3 cup shortening

1 Tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon nonfat dry milk (powdered)

1 1/2 cups pastry flour*

1 1/2 cups bread flour*

1/2 cup COLD water (may need 1 Tablespoon more....)

 

* I have used 3 cups of all-purpose flour and it works just fine.

 

     Using a pastry blender or food processor, blend together the fats. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar, baking powder, salt, and dry milk powder together. Then add to the creamed mixture and mix briefly. Add flour and beat until it is blended. Pour water in and beat again only until water is incorporated.

     Divide dough into two balls. Roll out--I roll it out on lightly floured parchment or waxed paper...but however you like to roll out your crust--do it. :-)

     For pre-baked shells, bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

     For fruit pies and other pies that bake in the crust, fill pie shell and follow instructions for that particular pie recipe you are using.

     Yield: 2-3 pie shells.

 

 

Flaky Vegetable Oil Pie Crust

2 cups plus 4 Tablespoons sifted flour

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

4 Tablespoons COLD water

 

Mix together in food processor. Separate into 2 equal pieces. Roll out between 2 pieces of lightly floured waxed paper.

 

***This crust is slightly more difficult to work with as it is SO flakey...but it is DELICIOUS. It get's crisper and is extremely flakey. I prefer it to the other recipe I posted for two-crust pies.

 

Dominos Anyone?

One of the residents at work has been pretty sick and she loves to play Mexican Train with double 12 dominos...I wanted to make her a special, one of a kind card....so this is what I came up with. She loved it. :-) The stamp on the inside says, "If you don't win, find out if the loser get's anything." :-) Perfect for a hardcore, competitive domino player.

I'm One Busy Card-Making Beaver...

I decided I had to make myself put the sewing machine away and take out the stamping supplies! I haven't made cards in so long...so this past weekend I made 4 each of 10 different cards so I would have some cards on hand when I need one. My supply was running SUPER low.

This evening, I spent some time making some wedding cards. I always have a tough time making wedding cards for some reason.

I am posting the pictures below. To see more information about the cards and know colors/stampsets, etc that I used to make them, you can see my postings on Splitcoast Stampers.

 

A New Purse!

I've seen the pattern for this purse for several months. I've seen it made up a few times at various quilt shops. I've been wanting to make it, but had to find the perfect fabric. It is called the Birdie Sling and is an Amy Butler design and pattern. This was the first time I have made any of her patterns and I would use one again in a heartbeat! Very well written patterns.



I saw this great batik floral and kept thinking that I wished I could think of something great to use it in. I thought about it during a 90-minute trunk show and as I was walking up to pay for the yard of a different fabric I was getting to make a leash and collar for Molly (which I still haven't done!), I saw the pattern and it hit me! This gorgeous blue/purple and green floral batik would be perfect for the main portion of the birdie sling. SO...I began scowering the batik shelves to find the perfect fabric for the handle and band as well as a third coordinating fabric for the lining. I found lovely fabrics that matched beautifully! I was super excited and bought all the fabric I needed. This was my first time making a purse, and there were several things I hadn't done before--like make gussets and sew in pleats. I used fusible fleece and fusible
woven interfacing. It was a very educational experience, and ended
with a lovely final product! Well...at least I think it is lovely!

I've already switched all of my purse essentials over and it is my current purse. LOVE it! :-)

Abe's Hippo Birthday Cake

While chewing his piece of Chipmunk cake at Scout's family birthday party, Abe excitedly told me that I had a couple of weeks to rest up from cake making before I got to make his birthday cake, and that it would be a hippo.

What have I done to myself? :-)

I love those two kids so much that I simply can't say no...so of course I made him a hippo cake. This birthday was a special one too--it was Abe's 8th birthday and he was baptized. I had to make a great cake to celebrate such a poignant event....so a hippo it was! Abe requested a vanilla cake since the last couple of cakes I have made, I've used our family Chocolate Economy Cake recipe.

After Abe's baptism, the family all went to Seneca Lake State Park and had a pizza and wing picnic and hippo for dessert. I wish I had a picture of Abe's face when he first saw the hippo cake. It was priceless.

I think my favorite thing about the hippo, other than how happy it made Abe, was that the little guy looked like he was smiling...A happy hippo!

I started by baking a vanilla sponge in two 8-inch rounds and a medium-sized loaf pan. Once the cakes were completey cool, I cut one of the rounds in half to make two thinner rounds. I made my very favorite buttercream
recipe and iced each of the items. I used the Wilton's fondant and colored it a grey using the wilton's black gel food coloring. I rolled
out the fondant after it was kneaded and the color was consistent. I covered the bottom round with the fondant and smoothed it over
the cake and then cut off the extra fondant along the bottom.




I then colored, kneaded, and rolled the fondant to cover the loaf, and then put it right up against the first circle.

I cut two small rounds out of the

2nd round (the one I didn't cut
in half...) to use as a nose and
placed them on top of the other
round. I iced over the nostrils
and then kneaded, colored, and
rolled out the fondant for the top
of the mouth. I carefully
smoothed the fondant over being
very careful to smoothe it gently over the nose. Before placing this round I used buttercream to attach two large marshmallows in the front to be the front teeth. I put a dab of buttercream on top of each marshmallow to help secure the bottom of the round. I set the nose round on top of the first and butted the back up against the loaf and the edge on top of the marshmallows.

The next step was the eyes. I cut circles out of the extra round for eyeballs. I cut a slant off of each of these small rounds so they would sit at a slight angle. I frosted each of them with the buttercream and then covered them in white fondant the same way I did the other pieces. Then I colored, kneaded, and rolled out a small amount of black fondant which I cut two small circles for pupils. I attached the black circles to the eyeballs with a small dab of vodka, and attached the eyes to the hippo head the same way.

I made little nostrils the same way after coloring a tiny bit of fondant a light pink color to use for ears and nostrils. I rolled out a little bit of grey fondant to make ears and cut two raindrops  out of it. I rolled out the remaining pink fondant and cut two slightly smaller raindrops.  I attached the pink on top of the

grey with a tiny bit of vodka. I shaped the ears and let them dry over the rolling pin. Once completely dry, I attached the ears with Vodka as well and put a tiny piece of skewer to act as an anchor for each ear. The hippo was finished! 

I am so pleased with the way it turned out. This was my very first time working with Fondant. I read a lot online, and found a really great blog that taught a lot of info. Due to time constraints, I used the Wilton's premade rolled fondant. I would use it again due to the ease of use, but it really does not taste good at all. I think I would really like to try a marshmallow fondant the next time. The recipe for it is on the blog I linked to above.

I showed the cake to Abe before his baptism, and he was so excited. He gave me a great big hug, and Scouty approved too! Once we got to the picnic at the park after Abe's baptism, the kids were so excited to finish their pizza and eat some cake. I put 8 candles on the hippo's head, and they kinda looked like hair!

We lit the candles and sang to Abe while he very seriously thought about what his wish should be. Scout just couldn't wait to get a piece of the hippo cake! After her first bite, she said it was almost as good as her squirrel cake. :-) They were so darn cute! Happy birthday Abraham... Make a wish! (He looks so serious in this picture...I keep wondering what his wish was!)

The hardest part of making these cakes, is cutting and serving them. After all that time, you take a knife to this creation, and destroy it... with one slice of a knife. So depressing. Since I made the cake, my mother handed me the knife, and I had to make the cut. I felt like I was murdering the poor little

hippo. :-(

...it was worth it though, because he was delicious!

Table Runner

This is a good (and easy) pattern. I made this for my brother and his wife for Christmas this past year.

Happy Birthday Scouterella!

It was my neice's 5th birthday, and she had asked me to please make her a chipmunk cake for her birthday. I have a very difficult time saying no to her...so here it is.

I used the same lamb cake mold that I made the Easter cake out of, and shaved some cake off to make the face more accurate, and attached some for the tail. If I were to make a chipmunk cake again sometime, I would
definitely use fondant instead of doing this one in buttercream as the striping of the chipmunk fur was very difficult to create by piping the frosting.

Scouty loved the cake and it was delicious! Happy 5th birthday to my little Scouterella. :-)

If you can't go to the mountains....eat them!

A couple of weeks after I mad the lamb cake for Easter, there was a fundraiser for the boy scouts at work. They have an annual cake auction where people make and donate cakes they have made and decorated and everyone bids on the cakes and all proceeds go to the boy scouts at church. I told my family that I would make a cake to donate, and asked my niece and nephew what kind of cake I should make...thinking that maybe they'd say, "Chocolate with sprinkles!", but no....they said "Make a mountain...with a lake, like up at Lazy Afternoons!" (Lazy Afternoons is the name of our family cabin in the Adirondacks.) Boy do kids ever have amazing imaginations. Well, I somehow feel complelled to accept these challenges from 4 and 7 year-olds. Why? 'Cause I am an aunt who is a pushover!

I began by stacking the cake to create a mountain shape. After I had the basic shape created, I 'glued' everything together by piping buttercream between all "layers".

After things were secure, I dirty-
iced the entire cake after cutting
a lake-like portion out of the
lower portion of the cake. After
dirty-icing with the plain white
buttercream, I did a base coat of
green buttercream frosting over
the entire cake, except for the lake, which I put a layer of blue-tinted piping gel.

I used gum-paste to create the trees. I used gel food coloring to tint the buttercream as well as the gum paste. It was my first time working with gum paste, but it was quite easy to use. I used small lengths of kabob skewers  for the trunks of the trees (and the posts for the "to camp" sign) because I forgot to buy the small pretzel sticks. I colored them to look more like tree-trunks by wiping a bit of brown food color gel on them. The mountain is covered with rocks/boulders as well as trees. I made the kayak and

paddle out of gum-paste as well. I added a fallen over tree trunk and set that next to the lake. Gum-paste is edible and accepts the color well. Just be sure to coat your hands with shortning to keep it from sticking to your hands.

This was a very time consuming cake, but I ended up being very pleased with the outcome. So were Abe and Scout. It was the only cake at the auction they were even interested in bidding on. Luckily their bid won! Scout did tell me that the cake would be evern better if there had been a little chipmunk on the mountain, however.

After all the time and concentration that went into making this piece of cake-art, it took mere seconds for it to be demolished...and thoroughly enjoyed by all! Abe and Scout took the cake home and it lasted several days until they finished it...but they enjoyed every bite!

Ace of Cakes OR Cake Boss?

Neither... :-) but at least I've had fun and my niece and nephew have enjoyed eating them--and giving me new cake-making assignments.

For Easter I made this lamb cake for dessert for our family dinner. Abe and Scout just loved it. I have a cake form that bakes the 3-D lamb shape. I dirty iced the entire cake and then frosted the face and ears with a black buttercream. I piped the entire body with a star tip to create the wool-look out of natural white buttercrea, and piped the face with a pale pink buttercream. I put the Easter grass and some Robin Egg candies to make it look a bit more Easter-y. The cake was my family "Economy Chocolate Cake" recipe--a very dense and moist chocolate cake. It stands up to carving and 3-D cakes like this very well. (Plus...it's absolutely delicious!)

I've been busy lately...

This is my most recent quilt top that is finished. It was my first experience with a lot of applique. I am so pleased with the way it turned out! It is called "Watermelon Days". I used Moda's Lilac Hill line for the most part.

My first step was piecing the three patcwork/pieced
star blocks.  One has brown points, one purple,
and one green. The one pictured here is the brown.




The next step was to trace all of the applique pieces onto "heat and bond" and then cut all of those out. Then, I had to cut the centers out so things weren't too thick. Then I ironed the heat and bond pieces onto the fabrics and then had to cut eatch of those pieces out--very carefully! I completed this process for all of the applique pieces before attaching anything to the blocks. Once all of the pieces were cut, I peeled off the paper backing and started to assemble the blocks, by ironing them in place on the blocks.

This is the watermelon block. There are three of them that are  exactly the same. After I had the blocks ironed together, I began the machine appliqueing. I used different colored threads to coordinate with each of the different fabrics.

This is the flag block. The instructions for this were very confusing...so I made a few little changes. I really like the way the block turned out. There are corner blocks and three additional blocks--two with three stars, and one that is 4 rows of patchwork squares--similar to the center of the star blocks.

This is my completed quilt top. I am excited to get it quilted. I am going to have it custom quilted on the long-arm maching over at the Ivy Thimble in Victor, NY. I saw this quilt made up on one of the shop hops that included a shop in Watkins Glen, NY called O'Susannah's. It is a cute little shop, and as soon as I saw it, I had to make it! I took the pattern with me to a trunk show at the shop in Victor, so I could buy a couple more fat quarters of fabric and the owner saw it and now they are doing a class in it!