Leftover Makeover

Remember how I used the stir fry the other day to make soup the next day? I do it with all kinds of things. Todays was spaghetti. We had spaghetti for lunch and then I made it into soup for dinner



After lunch I boiled some beef broth. I added carrots, celery, spinach and corn. You can add whatever vegetables you want, green beans and zucchini are good too.

When the vegetable are tender add the spaghetti sauce, if there isn't much meat left in the sauce add a can of beans. Any variety works. Then add either the spaghetti noodles or some elbow macaroni. If you need to add uncooked noodles add them in the beginning with the vegetables.

A little salsa verde gives it a nice flavor. You also might want to add more Italian seasonings if there isn't much flavor from the spaghetti sauce

Pumpkin Chiffon with Toffee or Praline

This has the flavor of pumpkin pie with the much lighter texture of mousse

It's great in a regular pie crust piled up high or spread thin in a tart shell. I topped it with Swiss butter-cream curls, homemade English toffee, and leftover pieces of pie crust that I cut into the shape of fall leaves and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar before baking.

It's also fun to serve in mini tart shells or in crepes, topped with fresh Chantilly cream and more crushed English toffee. I like to make my own toffee but Almond Roca or heath bars work too. It would also be really good with praline coated nuts on top.

Both recipes, the toffee and the praline coated pecans are at the bottom

It looked a lot better before I cut it and messed up the Swiss Butter-cream

Pumpkin Chiffon
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2/3 cup milk
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon each ground ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg
4 egg yolks
1 c. whipping cream (whipped with sugar and vanilla to taste)

2 pie shells (Chocolate Graham cracker work well)

In a heavy saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over milk; and let stand for 5 minutes. Cook and stir over low heat until gelatin is dissolved.

Add the pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce the heat and cook, and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.

Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolks; return all to pan; stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer (mixture will be thick).

Remove from the heat. Cover surface with waxed paper; refrigerate without stirring until cooled. Fold in the whipped topping.

Let set until firm enough to shape. Chill until firm.

Toffee
2 c white sugar
1 lb salted butter
1 c slivered almonds

semi-sweet chocolate chips and finely ground pecans for topping

In a heavy pot, melt butter and sugar over medium heat. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally over medium heat as toffee begins to foam up and caramelize. It helps not to stir too often esp at the beginning but you have to make sure it isn't burning on the bottom as it starts really cooking. Watch on a candy thermometer as it goes up - add almonds at about 200 degrees. Cook until 288 on candy thermometer. Immediately pour onto a heavy cookie tray and spread thin. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top, let melt, and spread thin, sprinkle with pecans. let cool, break into pieces.

Praline Coated Pecans
6 Tbsp butter
1 c. light brown sugar
1 c. coarsely chopped pecans, walnuts, or both

Combine butter and sugar, mix until crumbly. Blend in nuts. Spread flat and bake on tin foil for 10 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 350. Cool. Sprinkle on top of chiffon.

I have baked these nuts in pumpkin cake and chopped then up a bit into smaller chunks and mixed them into frosting on spice cake. You can also add a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the brown sugar before you bake them and serve them as candies nuts just as they are

Plants

Random pictures of plants I took on my trip.

New Lable and Dinner

I added a new lable, Meatless Cooking. I only plan on applying it to things that are not obviously vegetarian. Like the icebox cake and the caramel slush. Cause who puts beef into their slushy?

Vegetarian Stir Fry for Dinner

The recipe is on Bean Basics again.

It's really good the next day as Stir Fry soup. Just boil some vegetable, beef or chicken broth and add the leftover stir fry vegetable and the leftover rice or a package of oriental noodles.

Savannah Happenings

There was a great Jazz concert in Forsyth Park last week. The girls had fun and enjoyed the music.




On the way back I saw a banner for a Greek Festival at the Hellenistic Center in October. Which we will be attending.

Then the end of October is the Shalom Y'all Jewish Food Festival in Forsyth Park.

Williamsburg and then Norfolk

I love this pictures of the girls

The Governors Mansion

Colonial Time Outs

We spent the morning at Williamsburg and then the afternoon in Norfolk at the Chrysler Museum of Art. We got to see a large collection of Tiffany Glass, and their awesome collection of Egyptian art which we have been studying. The display includes a sarcophagus, plaster reliefs with hieroglyphs on them, and a large statue of Sekhmet, the warrior of Ra.

They also have a collection of Greek art, including a replica of the Discobolus and several of the redish orange and black vases. Which will be cool the reference when we get to Greece in our Art History.

Also got to see, and then hear the history on, the Norfolk Mace.

We also drove past, but didnt go in, to Naticus to see the USS Wisconsin. We also got to see the Naval Shipyards on our way through the tunnel.

Then we went home.

The End

Washington DC

Then we went to Washington DC

We got to walk around the mall a little

And see the sculpture garden beside the Museum of Natural History

Then the museum itself

Right across the street from the Museum of Natural History, and the reason we went t DC in the first place was the National Gallery of Art. Sadly you can't take pictures there, but I found a copy of Miriams favorite painting she remembered from when we where there at Thanksgiving. My favorite(s) are Thomas Coles Voyage of Life.