Jimmy's Birthday

Feb. is such a great month.  I love Valentines Day, and it's also my favorite man's birthday.  It's also a month of hope that the long winter will end.  How about the last few days in Cache Valley.  We've been in the 50 degree zone.  It's been wonderful.  A bit spring like, and just a wonderful reminder of what's to come.

So I have to tell you what I love about James since it's his birthday.  He's wonderful!  I met him and was instantly smitten.  It was really hard though, because my family wasn't at all encouraging.  I had a missionary that they absolutely loved.  But James was so fun, so exciting, and interesting.  He had just returned from a Mormon Mission to Taiwan and I was amazed at all he knew.  Did I say he was exceedingly handsome as well.  The first date he showed up at my house in a pair of his grandpa's old cut off coveralls, and this hair!  He had so much black curly hair that went everywhere.  He had the look of someone a little edgy, but a heart of pure goodness.  He was good!  Good in every way possible.  I think that's what caught my attention most about James was his goodness.  He's always been good.  Just a perfect spirit from heaven.  Well now 18 years later, 4 (almost 5) kids later and a lot of life experiences I love his guts even more.   I'm thankful for him every minute of every day.  He works so hard for me and the kids, and has provided so well for us.  He has let me be a mom and stay home, but also encouraged me to do anything I want as well.  He is kind.  Extremely kind and personable, and the best talker.   He is the best dad in the world too.   I married Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, but it's all his other qualities that make me love him so much!  I love your guts James.

So for the big 40th bash we actually were quite low key.  James enjoyed every minute of it.  His mom asked if I was doing anything big, and I admit I am not that kind of wife.  I don't do birthday parties, and if a gift is actually wrapped it's amazing, but we had a great night with just the fam.  I do, do birthday cakes though.  Nothing spectacular, and more times than not it may be a pie or trifle, but the birthday boy this year wanted a Coconut Cream Cake!  Trust me, I had no recipe for this.  I had to make something up according to James' wishes.  I'd do anything for that man!  I think it turned out great.  It was sure pretty.  Next time I think I'll make some marshmallow-y 7 Minute Frosting to cover the cake with.  Just to mix things up a bit.  This time I just used stabilized whipped cream though.   Give the cake a try.  Especially if you're a coconut lover like we are!

James' Coconut Cream Layer Cake

1 white or yellow cake mix made with 2 extra eggs, and coconut milk for the liquid baked according to directions.  I put the cake mix in 2-  9 inch cake pans, froze them when they were done and then split each frozen layer in 2 to make a 4 layer cake.

2 c. of lemon curd (recipe next)

Lemon Curd Recipe

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into bits

Whisk together juice, zest, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes.

Transfer lemon curd to a bowl and chill, its surface covered with plastic wrap, until cold, at least 1 hour.

3 c. of whipping cream whipped until pretty stiff.  Don't turn it to butter.  That won't work real well.

Powdered sugar to taste

vanilla

1 t. gelatin powder

1/4 c. water

While the cream is whipping I take a small sauce pan and put the 1/4 c. water in and sprinkle the gelatin over the water.  Let it sit a few minutes and the gelatin will "bloom"  or absorb all the water.  Then turn the stove on low and swirl the pan until the gelatin dissolves.  It's fast.  Pour the liquid gelatin mixture into the whipped cream very slowly and keep whipping.  You don't want big clumps of gelatin to form so drizzle slow.  So now you have what is called Stabilized Whipped Cream.  It will last forever.  It won't separate and get wet overnight.   I love to layer this between my favorite Chocolate Cream Cake and it made a great frosting for the Coconut Cream Cake.  

Assembly:

Take one cake layer and spread a thin layer of lemon curd and then top with a generous amount of cream.  Place the remaining 3 layers on the cake repeating the lemon curd and whipped cream.   I like to stick a skewer of pencil down the middle of the cake to keep it in one place.  Actually this time around I stuck 4 skewers in the cake to keep it upright.  Otherwise it will tend to slip and fall.  When done frost the entire cake with the whipped cream.  I toasted a bag of coconut and spread that all over the cake to make it pretty.  The cake is best made the day before, and then served cold.  The cream frosting really makes a moist cake. 

Not Your Best Attempted Confection

See I'm sure he loves me despite, my failures.  Right?

"Oh Lis..........this is not your best attempted confection."  That was the comment I got from my most dearly beloved Jimmy Bob.  He said it with the most tenderness he could muster as he tried to gag down this mornings breakfast coffee cake.  Ok I probably should have named the confection SOS.  You know...........Poop On a Shingle.  I couldn't take offense.  I had actually asked him if he liked the before mentioned breakfast as I smuggly tried to swallow the dry piece of yuckiness.  Buttermilk syrup to the rescue, and all in the family were able to at least swallow most of the mess.  I know you're wondering how this could have happened at the Clawson home, but my dear loved ones let me just reassure you I have phenominal failures in the kitchen!  Quite frequently if you can believe it.  Just ask my Jimmy.  Actually don't.  He'll just tell you how wonderful I am, and thin, and how everything I do is touched with gold.  Let's just let him keep thinking this.  That's why I love him so much!

I wonder............does anyone else ever receive a comment like this?  Probably not.  Your husbands probably just swallow and smile.  I'll try to remember my Jimmy thinks I'm fabulous! Or maybe he'll just have a little Soft Soap in his toothbrush tonight:)

Tuna!

The bathing beauty. My camera got wet this day, therefore the extra "soft" focus.

This is the keyword that was yelled from anywhere on a lake when one of my sibling or I had a fish on our fishing lines. It didn't matter is it was a big fat Brook Trout or a Sardine sized cast back. It was yelled out, and yelled out as loud as you could. We'd all go running to see what Josh, or maybe Marc caught. It was always a treat when Tuna was yelled. Maybe it's the fact that I don't think I actually ever yelled it in response to an actual fish on my line. I may have cried "wolf" a few times though. My dad always came up with something funny to say on these family outings. You should ask my brother Marc about the "double humpy with a blond wig". That's the code word for some kind of Salmon I'm told. I think it may just be the punch line for a nasty little joke.  

I had to write about Tuna since that's what J and I have been eating every afternoon for the past week. A beautiful week I may add in Kona............just the two of us, some good books, a large bottle of sunscreen, runs along the beach every morning and Tuna sandwiches for lunch. Yummy! It's what my Aunt Jone calls her Ironman training. You do all of these things everyday, plus add a nap or two and a dip in the pool and repeat. You'll be ready for the Ironman in no time:) I wanted to see if anyone else in this little world of our likes Tuna sandwiches the way I do. I love them with sweet pickles and of all things Doritos on top. Doritos you may ask. Heck ya!

I have a very dear friend Terri who had the stinkiest socks in gym at good old NOJH. By about Weds., she'd pull them out of her locker and we'd smell. They were a little crusty and they smelled of Nacho Cheese Doritos. I was amazed. I didn't have this talent. I never had Doritos socks like Terri. I tried, but I never did. You'd think with Terri's socks and all, I wouldn't like Doritos but I do. Only on Tuna sandwiches though. James thinks it gross. He watched my brother in law chum fish with Doritos years ago and won't touch the things. He's missing out I tell you.

So my Tuna sandwich goes like this:

Tuna (The white kind is best. Thanks Aunt Jone for leaving me plenty of this in the condo!)

Mayo (Miracle Whip is ok as well.)

Mustard (Just a squeeze.)

Dill Weed

Salt and Pepper

Spread the mixture on a roll. Take it to the beach and top it with Bread and Butter Stackers, and a big helping of Doritos. Crunch to your hearts content. I couldn't have thought of anything better for a beach side picnic..........except James, but that story is private and I'll keep it to myself:)

Rice Pudding

We woke up this morning to a white skiff of snow everywhere. Actually, it is quite pretty...........if it were Nov., but in Seth's words, "Mom it is the 4th day of spring! I hate snow!!" Can't you just hear that lovely soft spoken 6 almost 7 year old, daintily whispering this in my ear? I don't think so. He was having a full on hissy fit that makes the rest of us Clawson's look tame. We're working on acting a little more "mysterious" at our house. I'll let you know how that turns out but until then I have to share a favorite treat. It's perfect for days that are a bit cold, but I admit I love this recipe in the middle of the summer as well.

Sunday night James and Jed (don't those two name remind you of the horses on Dances With Wolves. My dad thinks we named our children after animals in that movie.) had a late church meeting and as they walked out the door they exclaimed how they couldn't wait to see what yummy and delicious treats I would make when they got back. I really had no intentions of making dessert this Sunday. If I don't make them, I don't eat them, but all hell seems to break lose in their absence. So I set to work trying to decide what to make. Cookies, brownies, apple crisp (I didn't have any cream or ice cream so that was an easy no.) I wanted something different, and something that wasn't full of chocolate. (Can you imagine! That feeling does not come very often!) My granny's cookbook is always good inspiration, and I found what I was looking for. At the top of a well worn, and stained page I found one of my favorite rice puddings. I blogged about my favorite Christmas Rice Pudding last Christmas, but this is a perfect anytime rice pudding. I love it hot with a good sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar, but I also love to serve it cold at a summertime brunch or baby blessing or baptism with some raspberry jam.

Most of my kids don't love rice pudding or at least they didn't think they did. My red head decided to try it Sunday night and he loved it. Sometimes it just takes some growing up to appreciate the texture. At least that's what I'm told. I've always loved it, and James has as well.

When he was a kid his grandma Clawson lived across the street from his elementary. (It actually held all grades from Kindergarten to 9th grade and they were still just tiny.) James said he would love to run to his grandma's after school because she always had something good to eat. His favorite was her rice pudding. When he describes it, it doesn't sound much different than rice cooked with milk and sugar. I've tried to recreate his childhood memory but I haven't been able to master it. Ok actually I don't even come close James says. You know, maybe I shouldn't try. Even if I had the recipe I don't think it would be the same. I'm not grandma and James isn't a little boy in her cozy home anymore. I think it takes all those variables to recreate that rice pudding. James loved my rice pudding though Sunday. We all loved it. Give it a try. You do have to baby it a little bit so it doesn't scorch, but it is well worth it.

I was able to use my first vanilla bean in this recipe. I got a test tube of them in my stocking for Christmas. It actually made a mess. I cut it open, scraped the seeds out with a knife, got a lot of other undesirable pod guts, and then threw the vanilla pod in. I then got a whisk out and whisked the heck out of it and more pod guts started floating in the milk. Needless to say I strained all those lovely little vanilla seed out of the milk as well as the gross pod guts. I learned something though. Scrape the pod gently and don't add the scraped pod. You can add a whole pod and let it steep, but not a scraped one. Lesson learned and I hope it saved you a lesson to learn sometime too.

Granny's Perfect Rice Pudding

6 c. milk brought to a boil

add 3/4 c. long grain rice (I used Jasmine rice and I loved it!)

Bring the milk back to a boil and turn the heat to low. Slowly let it simmer on the stove uncovered for about 40 mins. I use a good heavy bottomed pan and that really helps prevent the milk from scorching. When the rice has absorbed most of the milk add:

1 c. cream or half and half

3 egg yolks

3/4 -1 c. sugar (I use 1 c.)

a pinch of salt

1 t. vanilla

I combine all these ingredients together and whisk until combined. Pour it in slowly to the hot rice mixture or better yet add a little rice to the cream and egg and "temper" the custard. We don't want scrambled egg in our rice pudding. pour the custard into the rice mixture and let it come to a boil. It will thicken slightly, but I take it off the stove when it has only been bubbling for 2 mins. or so. I take it off the stove when it is still quite wet. It thickens a lot as it cools. Serve warm with a grating of fresh nutmeg or a sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar or serve cold with raspberry jam. It's great leftover the next day for breaky too.

Chinese Pork Roast

Part 2 of Sunday's birthday celebration. This fantastic recipe comes from my Granny's "Sister's Favorites" cookbook. I have found over the years that the best cookbooks are those made by people you know and love. I have a handful of these well worn cookbooks that when ever I'm in doubt, they always pull through. I love my sis-in-law Kristy, granny's cookbooks. She makes the best candy, and bread sticks. I love my neighbor Colette's family cookbook. It's huge and seriously 2/3 maybe even 3/4 of the book is sweets and treats. You'd think they'd be ziggy piggy's, but alas they are all thin little girls who are fantastic cooks. My ward put out a cookbook a few years ago, and it is amazing. I wish I would have bought tons of them. Oh ya! I did, but I gave them all away. Secretly I have 2 stashed away, and you can not get me to part with them. They are that good. And how about the new one I got from a friend for my birthday. It's from a girl at the bank who's mother wrote it. It has an amazing Banana Bread. And I can't forget about the Herff Jones employee cookbook. It's wonderful! These are all my favorite books. I take them to bed with me sometimes! There's nothing like getting your taste buds going at 9:45 pm.

The Chinese Pork Roast recipe is one of those great recipes. It is definitely James' favorite meal. It is quite easy and just requires a little preparation ahead of time. I love to make gravy with the pan drippings when the roast is done. It has a very sweet and sour flavor. I serve with boiled potatoes and veggies. My favorite thing to do with this roast though is the leftovers. I really hate leftovers unless you can change their identity. If you turn it into something completely different then I love them. The leftover roast makes perfect Sweet and Sour Pork a few nights later. I just chunk up the roast and throw it into the wok with the veggies and pineapple and saute away. Served over rice and it is one of my favorite meals. So James likes the roast and potatoes, and I like the Sweet and Sour. It's a win-win.

Granny's Chinese Pork Roast

1 3-4 lb. Pork Loin Roast

4 T. sugar

1 t. salt

1 1/2 T. honey

1 T. soy sauce (AKA Bug Juice)

1 c. chicken broth

3 T. vinegar

1/4 c. water

Combine sugar, salt, honey, soy sauce broth and vinegar. Place roast in a large Ziploc bag and pour sauce over meat and let marinate for at least 1 hour. (I've done it overnight too.) Pace in a roasting pan. Bake in a 350' F. oven for 2 1/2 -3 hours. Baste sauce if you have time. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. The roast will be a darker brown than you're accustomed to. Take roast out and allow to rest for a few minutes. Cut and serve. I save the dripping and thicken to make a gravy. Serve with boiled red potatoes. YUMMY!

My Favorite Guys Birthday

I may have had ulterior motives for what I did the other day. Have I ever told how wonderful my husband is to me on my birthday? Oh well, maybe it's because he is horrible. Last birthday guess what I received? NOTHING!! Not even a swift kick in the butt. No cake, no new cookbook, no love note, not even a bag of Rolo's. Not a thing. Just a "Happy Birthday Lis. You didn't want anything did you?" I've learned to not expect anything. It's my lot in life. I'll live.

James has many other redeeming qualities. He loves my guts more than most husbands love guts, but birthday's........he's the worst. So Sunday was James' birthday. He had been out of town for a few days so I figured I had plenty to do while he was gone. Maybe he'll remember this day when Dec. 12th rolls around again. I won't hold my breath though:)

Actually, no matter how bad James does birthdays he is still the best man I know. He is kind and gentle, the hardest worker I've ever seen. He works circles around me. He also knows how to play hard. He can fix anything, and I think my dad loves having Jimmy MacGuiver around. James is also the most handsome man. My grandma tells me this every time she sees me. I love his guts, and I miss him in my new king sized bed. We're far away now at night. We're going to have to do something about this:) So for James' birthday I got him everything he wanted. Actually he doesn't want or need much, but I'm amazed at how much he likes little leather journals. He takes it with him everywhere and takes all sorts of notes. These little journals are going to be treasures one day for the kids, and me. He received a few other fun things that day, but we made his favorite food for Sunday dinner.

The first thing we made was Chinese Pork Roast. It is one of my Granny's recipes out of her "Sister's Favorites" cookbook and it is goooooood! The other thing we made was chocolate eclairs. James is always asking for these, and I always have an excuse not to make them. They seem so hard and time consuming, but you know, I'd do anything for James on his special day. The meal was delish! The eclairs were dynamite! We scarfed it down fast and furious. I'll post the recipe for the eclair today and the roast tomorrow. Wouldn't want to overwhelm you with too much in one day. Or me either. You know after I think about it, I'd do anything for James. No matter if he's a bad birthday-er or not. Who cares! I'm just one lucky girl to have him!!

Chocolate Eclair (Courtesy of Gale Gand at the Food Network)

Ingredients

Filling:

2 cups whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

6 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Pastry:

1 cup water

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, plus 1 extra, if needed

Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the saucepan. Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.

Pastry: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, add 3 eggs, 1 egg at a time. Stop mixing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining 1 egg and mix until incorporated.

Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe fat lengths of dough (about the size and shape of a jumbo hot dog) onto the lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them. You should have 8 to 10 lengths.

Use your fingers to smooth out any bumps of points of dough that remain on the surface. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet. Fit a medium-size plain pastry tip over your index finger and use it to make a hole in the end of each eclair (or just use your fingertip). Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip, gently pipe the custard into the eclairs, using only just enough to fill the inside (don't stuff them full). I cut the eclairs in half and spread the pudding in.

Glaze: I doubled this part and used half semi sweet chocolate chips and half milk chocolate. In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat just until it boils. Immediately turn off the heat. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Set aside and keep warm. The glaze can be made up to 48 hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use, and rewarm in a microwave or over hot water when ready to use.

Dip the tops of the eclairs in the warm chocolate glaze and set on a sheet pan. Chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour to set the glaze. Serve chilled.

So, I'm A Bread Digger

It's true.  I'm a bread digger!  I only married James because he was tall dark and handsome, (and I'd never dated that before), for his Polo rugby shirt, and because I'm a bread digger.  Mind you I wasn't a gold digger.  He had no gold to dig for, but boy did he have bread!  J started at GH shortly after we started dating and that was the clincher for me.  I remember the first time I ate Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat bread.  It was this time of year, and we were having BLT's for dinner.  Oh heaven forbid!  I ate 3 of them by myself.  Does anyone remember that day?  Mom, Hollie, Brothers?  We didn't even toast the bread.  We ate it like it was candy, and I knew from that moment I must marry the boy who had baked that bread.  

I call that my first Great Harvest moment.  I've had a few.  You know the kind.  Like a lovely Fri. morning and I just happen to drop by the bakery as the Apple Crumble is coming out of the oven.  I cut a huge slice and then slather it with peanut butter.  Or how about coming into the bakery early and making a turkey sandwich on fresh Cranberry Orange!   I love it!  Actually, I am a complete bread snob.  I don't even bother with bread unless it is the perfect loaf, that smells just right, isn't over baked, and reminds me of that first sandwich with homemade tomatoes.  We had another bread moment Sunday for dinner.  BLT's with roasted chicken and avocados.  The lettuce was out of my garden too.  Meals like that just make me smile:)

So now you know.  I'm a bread digger!  I sleep with a baker that makes the best bread in this world, and I love his stinking guts!  Mind you he has a few other great qualities too.  He's the man!  I hope you have a Great Harvest Bread Co. somewhere close by and if not......well crap.  You might as well bend over and kiss your bum goodbye.  Or come to my house.  I'll make you the best BLT you've ever had and then maybe I'll make a treat too:)

The Best Race Yet

Jed's trophy!

Handsome boys I've got, don't you think!

Sat. morning the alarm didn't go off at 5:10am as it was supposed to.  Luckily I had been dreaming about running a 1/2 marathon where there were pear tarts, and apple pie, and all sorts of goodies that I ate at every stop.  Pretty soon I couldn't run anymore.  All I could do was waddle and I still had 11 miles to go.  It was a frightening dream.  I woke up because of the stress the dream was causing and luckily I was only 5 minutes behind schedule.  Yeah!   Good thing I had everything laid out in advance.  I was ready in a couple of minutes as well as James, and Jed.  Yes you heard it right......James and Jed ran with me too.  

I've run a few 1/2 marathons with my running gals, but my boys decided to join me this year.  I was glad since I'm a bit slower than years past and I thought James and Jed could stay back with me.  I don't know why, but I've been sucking wind the last few weeks and I didn't want to hold the other girls back. Um, maybe it's the homemade marshmallows, or Lomond View Peanut Butter bars or other delectable treats I've been sampling. Just a thought:)  James ran with me the whole time and Jed just took off at his own pace.  He did awesome!!  1 hour and 54 mins. and 3rd place in his age division!  Isn't that great!!  James and I came in a bit later, but I was so happy for Jed who cares if I was slow.  Colette and Wendy were cheering me on across the finish line, I saw my best friend from when I was in elementary, and her mom who was one of my favorite YW leaders!  I love days like that.