Soup Saturday...at least for lunch

It's the end of the week and it's raining. I feel caught somewhere between monsoon season and drizzles. Let's call it April! 
I had made us a pot of chicken noodle soup the other day and put leftovers in the fridge. It seems all my friends that called during the week were complaining of scratchy throats and headaches. Not taking chances, the soup is out today for lunch and this time I'm adding some ginger and chili garlic sauce to it!

While I was in the fridge (not literally but it gave you pause, right?), I remembered that I had an old standby, Boiled Raisin Cake, waiting for me. You know I love my sweets, so after sharing my peanut butter cup with dh, I brought out the cake to thaw for dinner. 

The pizza dough I made yesterday (from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Cookbook always) is waiting in the fridge for later this evening. I love the weekend because there is simply no stress, no fuss. 
Back to the cake, it may have been a hardship during the war to think of recipes that didn't have eggs or milk and butter and sometimes even sugar. This cake has stood the test of time. It is moist and rich with the flavor of spices and I personally want to thank the war brides who did whatever was humanly possible to bring healthy meals to their table during WWII. Cheers.
Boiled Raisin Cake
350 degree oven. Bake 1 hour, test.
2 c raisins
1/3 c shortening (I used butter but remember this is the 40's!)
1 c dark brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg, cloves, ginger
1 c hot water
2 c flour
dash salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 c orange juice, zest of orange
1 tsp vanilla
Put raisins, shortening, sugar, spices and hot water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 6 minutes uncovered and cool.
Add dry ingredients, orange juice, zest and vanilla to raisin mixture, mix well (runny batter)
Use small tube pan or loaf pan, greased.
Enjoy the weekend whether you have sun or rain, look for the rainbow!

Stuff it! With a smile...

I bought the big bag of peppers the other day and must have hidden them in my fridge, because I totally forgot about them! The choices were chop and freeze or cook, girl, cook! 
I suddenly remembered an old, old boyfriend and a trip to Greece and bingo! stuffed peppers were on the menu. I had 2 big slices of meatloaf from the night before so the protein part of the meal was taken care of. Honestly, I prefer the vegetarian style stuffed peppers anyway. The mint and parsley flavors are so much more distinct. 

The only olive oil I use is Greek, thanks to the wonderful Koutalianos family at http://www.basiloliveoil.com/, and it all fell into place. Have you used Major's chicken base? It's wonderful and rich with chicken flavor. My ever so talented niece told me about it. A little rice, stock, chopped tomatoes, so you have enough liquid, with sauteed onion, lemon, oregano and garlic and you're ready to stuff those peppers and enjoy the taste of Greece.

Stuffed Peppers (2 very large)
Oven temp 350 about 60-70 minutes
1/2 c rice (I use long grain white)
1 c rich stock ( I use Major's)
2 chopped tomatoes (I use Roma)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 chopped onion
1 clove garlic diced
1/4 c fresh mint and parsley
1/2 tsp oregano
Cut pepper lid off and scrape seeds from inside, season with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add rice and stock and stir occasionally, about 4 minutes.  Only partially cook the rice as it will continue cooking once in the oven. Stir in spices, tomatoes and gently fill peppers about 3/4 full. Put in ovenproof dish ( I used my Anchor Hocking 1 Quart glass mixing bowl and it was just right for bracing up the tall peppers)with fairly high sides and add 1/2 c liquid stock to the bottom. Drizzle olive oil peppers. Do not cover the rice with the lids until later. The rice will swell in the pepper to fill it. Test after 1 hour. My peppers were huge so I needed the full 70 minutes. In the last 10-25 minutes I put on the lids so they would soften and brown up a little for presentation. The minty vegetable aroma was divine and I think I could visualize myself sipping ouzo and peeling shrimp just before I had a reality check and realized I was in my little kitchen with the rain beating on the skylights. Sigh.

...and so it begins. I have been reading and following and reading some more each and every day and am feeling inspired to join with all of you who have blogs or simply read and enjoy blogs. So, here I am! I have ideas to translate to posts and pictures to upload and I hope you will be patient with me. I can hear dh in the next room watching and cheering, no, not for me, for hockey. That's just fine, let me carry on and create my (yours and mine) space...