happily random

Tools of the Trade

I like to keep homemade desserts around the house. Not good for the diet, but I'll sacrifice for the good of the family. There is just something about the aroma of fresh baked cookies that says "HOME." I hope that someday when my kids leave our home & have homes of their own that the smells of baking will remind them of the times we had together as a family.

As you can see, we made chocolate chip cookies today. While not the most creative or experimental, they are a family favorite. It's something that I have made from scratch so many times that I can make it without a recipe.

I don't think it's possible to bake anything without the help of my kids. The second I start, each of them push up chairs from the dining table to the counter so they can be a part. So each child (today just Samantha & Tyler as the older two were still at school) took a turn dumping in an ingredient as I measured it out. Of course their favorite part of the whole thing is getting to lick the spatula or mixing spoon afterward.

I have come to discover that along with the joy of sharing the baking with my children, there is a definite enjoyment in having the right tools in the kitchen. One of those is my KitchenAid mixer. This was a gift from a friend early in my marriage & I have put it to good use. While it's very heavy & a pain to get out of the cabinet due to its weight, I makes baking a delight. I just have the classic model, but it does what it does very well. I would love to purchase some of the attachments for it, like a bigger bowl or a splatter guard (flour gets everywhere if you have the speed up to high when you add it to your mix!), but I'm pretty content with what I have at this point. Tyler is licking the mixing paddle there on the right.

Another of my favorite baking tools is my Pampered Chef Mix 'n Scraper. The one Samantha is nibbling on I have had for 4 years now & it looks nearly brand new, even after all the nibbling. This spoon scrapes every last bit out of a bowl while baking & even has a bit of a bowl to it so you can use it like a large spoon as well. It goes in the dishwasher & is virtually indestructible. Pampered Chef carried a couple sizes of this; I have both of them.

No, I do not sell Pampered Chef, although I probably should. I own I large portion of their tools & cookware. There products are very high quality, easy to use & durable. There are very few of their products that I have used and don't like.

Lastly, for baking cookies, I love the Pampered Chef Mediums Scoop. No, this is not an ice cream scooper. I have it from a good source that attempting to scoop ice cream with it will break it (no, it wasn't me!). Basically it you scoop up just the right amount of cookie dough with it & using the squeeze handle dish it on the baking sheet. No messy fingers & all your cookies are just the right size.

Having the right tools for any job just makes the job more fun!

Chicken Under Bricks

I posted on Facebook that I was making this and had several people ask me about it. Yes, you do cook it under bricks, or something else heavy that can handle 500 degree heat. So, here it is. It's very simple and makes very yummy chicken. Of course, this time of year you have to be one of those diehards that will barbecue in the snow... like me.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Grilling time: 45 minutes

Rub:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp granulated onion
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper

Other ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, about 5 lbs
• Vegetable oil
• Your favorite barbecue sauce (for dipping)

Directions:

1. Turn gas grill on high, both sides and heat to about 500 degrees.

2. Make rub by mixing all dry ingredients into a small bowl and blending together.

3. Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Here's the fun part: using poultry shears, kitchen scissors or a really sharp knife, cut along each side of the backbone and remove it. Be very careful not to cut yourself, either with your cutting implement or on the rib bones. Make a 1/2-inch-deep incision between the breast & flatten the chicken as much as possible. For even cooking, make 1/2-inch-deep incision in each joint between the drumsticks & thighs. Trim & remove wing tips.

4. Season the chicken all over with the rub.

5. Place the chicken, skin side down on the grill, over INDIRECT HIGH HEAT, about 450-550 degrees.

Note about INDIRECT HEAT: What this means is turning on the grill, both sides, and heating it to desired temperature. When it comes time to cook your food, you turn off the side that the food is over, leaving the other side of the grill on.

6. Lightly coat the bottom the bottom of a baking sheet with oil. Place the baking sheet on top of the chicken & weigh it down with bricks wrapped in foil (or cast-iron pan). Grill until golden brown on the edges, about 30-35 minutes. This time may vary. Sometimes it takes 45-55 minutes for me.

7. Using pot holders, carefully remove the hot bricks & the baking sheet. Using a wide spatula carefully release the chicken from the grate, being careful not to tear the skin. Move the chicken over DIRECT MEDIUM HEAT, about 350-450 degrees, & grill until the skin is golden brown all over, about 5-10 minutes (watch for flareups).

Note about DIRECT HEAT: This means grilling directly over the flame. You can either move the chicken over to the side that is on or turn on the side that was off.

8. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board & let rest for 5 minutes before serving. As you can see, I didn't watch for flareups and burned the skin. If you like your chicken blackened, this works. It actually tastes good even charred a bit.

9. Cut the chicken into serving pieces. Serve warm with barbecue sauce for dipping (our favorite is Sweet Baby Ray's).

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf -- Yum!

I like to cook & to bake, but organizing is not one of the things that brings me joy. I have lots of cookbooks & I print out recipes all the time. I am not good at putting the recipes into my cookbook. So basically what happens when I'm looking for a recipe that I know is not in one of my cookbooks but is instead one of those that I printed, I have to rifle through my pile of printouts to find it. I know, pitiful. Like I said, I hate to organize. Maybe one of these days I'll get my act together and get them into my cookbook (or one of my dear friends who like to organize will do it for me???), but until then... here's the recipe.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Loaf

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease & flour 2 loaf pans.
3. Mix sugar, oil & eggs. Add pumpkin.
4. Blend together flour, salt, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda & baking powder. Mix flour into sugar mixture.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Pour half of mixture into each loaf pan.
7. Bake for 45 minutes
   (***note: this is what the recipe says, but it always takes a lot longer to cook than that to cook than that in my experience. More like 1 1/2 hours, and I cook them one at a time because I only own one loaf pan.) 
8. Cool & remove from pans.

I know, this recipe has a lot of sugar in it. And oil. I've considered attempting a lighter version of this, but honestly, it's so good I figure why mess with a good thing? It's not like we're eating it all the time, I treat it more like a "healthy" dessert. It's got pumpkin in it, doesn't it? I got this recipe from MOPS.org, so you think as a mothering group that the recipes would be more healthy as I would assume they would know that you would be serving them to kids and all. Who knows. My kids love this "bread" and I use the word loosely as it is more like cake. I guess that's the important thing, right? My kids love it. They've already started bugging me to have a piece and it hasn't even cooled from the oven!