Dry Rubbed Rib Eye

What a busy weekend.  I have been working on scrapbooks and picture albums and Bill was going out on calls this weekend.  But we did get to grill out and it was amazing.  I rubbed these steaks on Saturday and we grilled them tonight.  I usually use A1 steak sauce on my steak but with this seasoning rub no steak sauce was needed.  I thought they were a little salty so next time I think I would cut down on the salt but the flavor was wonderful.  Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend!

Dry Rubbed Rib-Eye
slightly adapted from Anne Burrell

2 T salt
1 T hickory smoke salt
2 T brown sugar
1 t crushed red pepper
2 t smoked paprika
1 t garlic powder


Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl.  Use your fingers to make sure that all the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Rub the outside of each steak generously with the rub.  Wrap each steak in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, 2 to 3 days is better.  This will make the steak taste like it has been aged.

Preheat grill.  Remove steaks from the refrigerator about 20 to 30 minutes before cooking. Grill as desired.

Strawberry Freezer Jam and Kitchen tile

Still doing more upgrades and fixing up the house in preparation for the graduation party.  This past weekend Bill and Greg (our cousin) tiled the kitchen for me and oh how I love it.  The tile really makes a big difference in the kitchen.  Here are some before and after pictures of the kitchen.

As I had mentioned last week we have strawberries galore, so I made some strawberry freezer jam.  Bill and the kids love this jam.  I have made 18 pints so far and will probably make some more so Billy and Cally can take some with them when they move out this fall.

I used sure jell and just followed the directions for the non-cooked jam and it was so easy to do.

Sure Jell Strawberry Freezer Jam

2 C crushed strawberries
4 C sugar, measured into separate bowl
3/4 C water
1 box Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin

Wash berries and take off the stems.  Crush the strawberries (about 1 qt will make 2 C crushed).  I used a food processor but you do not want them pureed as you will want there to be some small chunks of berries in your jam.  Measure 4 C of sugar in a separate bowl and then add to the crushed strawberries letting them sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix the water and pectin in small saucepan,  On high heat bring to a boil  while stirring constantly and boil for 1 minute.  Add to the fruit mixture and stir for 3 minutes or until sugar is almost dissolved.

Fill all containers immediately to within 1/2 inch from the tops.  Wipe off top edges of containers, immediately cover with lids.  Let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.  Jam is now ready to use.  Store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks or in freezer for up to 1 year.  Thaw in refrigerator before using

Oatmeal Cake

Yum

Oatmeal Cake is one of my favorite cakes that my Mom makes.  It is like having a soft chewy oatmeal cookie and dipping it in whipped cream ..... yummy   The Strawberries in the picture came out of our strawberry patch, we are going to have strawberries coming out of our ears.  I am going to make strawberry freezer jam and more strawberry desserts also to come.

Today was the Senior and Junior Powder Puff  Football Game.  It is really fun to watch the girls play football.  Of course they play flag football but it still gets pretty ruff out there.  Cally is complaining of a sore neck tonight after playing today.  It is also complete with boy cheerleaders.  I had a blast getting to go watch and take pictures and oh yea......SENIORS WIN 28-21

Oatmeal Cake
from Mom

1 1/4 C boiling water
1 C oats
1/2 C butter
1 C white sugar
1 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 C flour
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 Tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
whipped cream or cool whip for garnishing

Pour boiling water over oats and let stand for 20 minutes.  In a mixing bowl cream the oleo and the sugars until fluffy.   Blend in vanilla and the eggs.  Stir in the oats.  Mix in flour, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until well blended.  Pour into a greased and floured 9 inch square pan.  Bake 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes.  Cool cake and serve with whipped cream or cool whip

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Happy Mothers Day !

I hope everyone had a great Mothers day.  I sure did.  For Mother's Day Billy gave me 2 really pretty hanging baskets and Cally gave me 3 pots and a bunch of flowers for my front porch.  Cally and I planted the pots tonight and they are gorgeous. 

Bill also finished my fire pit and we also now have grass in the area where the pool was.  Bill and I broke in the fire pit last night.  Bill bought me a bottle of wine and we sat out by the fire and enjoyed our evening.

I bought myself a new baking pan.  It is an ice cream sandwich pan.  You can see the pan above, I was putting ice cream in the pan to make my ice cream the size of the sandwiches.  It ended up just being easier to put a scoop of ice cream on the cookies and then mashing them together.  This pan is by Wilton.  I used the recipe on the back of the package.  It has a recipe for both brownie ice cream sandwiches and Blondie ice cream sandwiches.  The recipe says it makes 12 but I only got 9 out of my batter.

Blondie Ice Cream Sandwiches

from Wilton

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

1/2 C melted butter

1/2 C sugar

1/4 C brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

ice cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray pan with vegetable pan spray.  In small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.  In large microwave-safe bowl, melt butter.  Whisk in sugars, eggs and vanilla, mix well.  Add flour mixture, mix until blended.  Spoon 2 T of batter into each pan cavity, spreading evenly.  

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted at an angle toward center comes out clean.  Immediately unmold blondies onto cooling racks.  Repeat with remaining batter.

Scoop about 1/4 C ice cream onto smooth side of half of the blondies.  Top with remaining blondies, pressing gently.  If desired, roll edges of sandwich in toppings.  Wrap and freeze immediately. 

Blonde Brownies

Sorry I have not posted lately...whew I am just beginning to catch my breath after our exciting weekend we had.  Round 1 done and now onto round 2 with the graduation party.  Been busy the last couple of weeks buying tableware, table cloths, food and we have gotten the chicken and pork bought and in the freezer.  This weekend I am working on getting the announcements and invitations in the mail.

Now back to the blonde brownies.  These are one of Bill's favorites.  He loves the pieces on the outside of the pan because the have a harder edge on them, works out good for me because I would rather have the inside pieces with no edge.  These remind me of chocolate chip cookies without the chips. They are crunchy on the outside but gooey on the inside and best to eat warm.

Blonde Brownies

adapted slightly from cooks.com

1 1/3 stick butter, melted
2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 C flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t vanilla

In medium bowl stir all ingredients, blend well.  Spread into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Cut into squares.

Prom Queen 2012

Congratulations Cally !

Cupcakes with Pudding in the middle

This week is getting crazier as it goes on.  Prom is this weekend and we are soooooo busy right now.  We had the final dress fitting on Saturday, Hair appointment is this Saturday and then since she will have her hair all pretty we are going to do more senior pictures in her prom dress.  Later more group pictures before she goes to eat.  And finally we are going to head over to the dance for the crowning of the Prom Queen.  Since Cally has made court we are able to go into the dance and watch........ it is an exciting time around our house right now.  Here is a sneak peek of Cally in her dress at the dress shop on Saturday.  More pictures to come.......

And with all this going on we are trying to get the house ready for the graduation party.  We have grass growing in the area where the pool use to be, the porch has been remodeled and is ready to paint so now we are going to start on the inside painting and putting tile up in the kitchen, moving my home office into the living room and lots and lots of cleaning and washing.  It will be nice though to have all this work done at the beginning of summer so we can relax and enjoy to time we have before the kids both move out.


So needless to say, these cupcakes were fast and easy.  I used a box cake mix, can icing and instant pudding.  Of course you can make your favorite homemade cupcakes and icing and I am sure they would really be delicious.  So here is how I did the cupcakes as I did not have any recipe to give you.

Cally gave me this plunger as a gift.  You insert it down to the first line on the plunger for standard cupcakes.  Twist it and then pull out the center.  Then you just use the plunger handle to push out the cupcake center.

Next just fill the cupcakes with pudding and then put the cupcake center back on the top.

Finally ice the cupcakes and enjoy!