Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Oh my!

I surprised myself today. I made the best marinara I have ever had. HA! I don't mean to brag, but to share. I could not believe it! Here is what I did:
Heat 1 tbls oil in a pan
Add 3 tbls of crushed or minced garlic and 1 small onion
saute for a minute, then add 1 small can of tomato paste and let cook for 2 minutes. Stir a little to make sure nothing burns.
Remove and put into crock pot. (This is just what I did and I have no idea how it turned out so well, so that's what I'm telling you!)
Brown ground beef, removing fat. Add 1 tbls oregano and a pinch of salt. Add 1 can of diced Italian tomatoes that has been pureed and 1 small can of tomato sauce. Let reduce for about 5 minutes, then add to crock pot. Add another can of diced Italian tomato pureed and tomato sauce and paste. Add 1 tbls of basil, 1 tbls sugar, and 1 tsp parsley. Let simmer until ready to eat.

I have no idea what happened, but it tasted amazing tonight and everyone agreed. Good luck if you try it and let me know how it goes!
Sorry no pictures, I hadn't planed on posting this.

Busy last Monday!

Yesterday was a very busy day for cooking. I started off with some homemade jam, moved to Jello, and ended with cake balls. HA!
I got an ad last week with 58 cent a pound for nectarines. I have long thought that they were very close to peaches, so I decided to make jam with them. I grew up with only homemade jam and since I live in Las Vegas and don't have a garden to pick raspberries I will resort to making jam with other fruits that I can get at a more affordable cost. All in all I ended up making more jam then I thought it would and ran out of canning jars. So I had to beg, borrow, and almost steal some from my friends. With the first batch we just did the normal jam, the second we added cinnamon, and the last and smallest batch we added about 1 1/2 cups of frozen mixed berries that I had from costco. They all seemed to turn out fine, however I have only had a little taste of each. HA! So hopefully it wasn't a total waste of time.
Now as for the Jello, I know a lot of you are thinking. JELLO?! Typical Mormon food. And I totally agree, but I have to say I love it! Especially in the summer when it's hot and food isn't very appetizing. My Mom has always made this layered Jello and I love the layers. I think it is fun and yummy. I have been wanting to make it since the beginning of summer and I finally had the opportunity. So I made that with all the time I had yesterday. It really is very easy, but you just have to have the time at home to do it. Here is what you do:
Seven Layer Jello
3 oz. pkg of each lime, lemon, orange, cherry (I used other flavors, so you can too!)
2 small envelopes knox
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 pint sour cream
2 cups milk

Dissolve first 3 jellos in 1 cup of hot water for each of them. Then add 1/2 cup cold water to each. Put lime in the first layer and set in fridge. Boil 2 cups of mild, add 1 cup of sugar and dissolve. Dissolve 2 knox into 1/2 cup of cold water then add to milk mixture. Add vanilla to sour cream and then add to milk mixture. Blend well and let cool until lukewarm. After the lime jello is tacky (about 30 minutes) add 1 1/2 cups of the milk mixture. Let set for about 20 minutes or until it is tacky and pour the next jello (Lemon). The pattern goes lime, milk, lemon, milk, orange, milk, cherry. Do the cherry jello half way through. I usually pour the mixture on a spoon to make sure it doesn't disturb the next layer.
The last thing I did on Monday was to help my sister make cake balls for the bridal shower she was throwing. We decided to do chocolate, since I had it. We did chocolate cake with a chocolate ganache. I think I would do a cream cheese frosting next time, but they still tasted great. WE put them on sticks this time, so that she could give them as favors. Over all the turned out wonderful, even with the few hick-ups we had. HA!