All This Packed in One Frosty Glass -- Chai Almond Smoothie

I love smoothies for breakfast. My usual in a Chocolate Breakfast Shake, but this one, laced with spices, is also really good and good for you.

·      *Bananas are a good source of potassium.

·     * Almond Milk has 50% more calcium than regular milk and contains just 60 calories per one cup (compared to skim milk at 90 calories per cup).

·      *Flax Meal is full of fiber and it helps reduce cholesterol and stabilize blood sugar.

·     * Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties, soothes the stomach, and helps lower cholesterol levels.

·      *Cinnamon can help lower blood sugar, triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol.

·     * Cardamon aids digestion.

·      *Nutmeg  -- Studies show that it can help lower blood pressure and sooth a stomach ache.

·      *Vanilla - Vanillin, the active component of vanilla, has been shown to have antioxidant properties.

Chai Almond Smoothie

1 banana

1 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon ground flax meal (I use golden flax meal)

1 to 1½ teaspoons freshly grated ginger (good for nausea or upset stomaches)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.     Put banana, milk, flax meal, spices and extract into blender. Add lid and blend until well mixed.

2.     Stop blend; add ice (about 1/3 of a glass) and blend until ice is finely chopped and frosty. Sprinkle additional nutmeg on top and ENJOY!

Note: Add agave or honey -- just enough to sweeten, if needed. (Personally, I don’t think it needs extra sweetener.)

Everything but the Kitchen Sink — Chicken & Kale Soup

     I had no intention of posting this recipe so I did not take photos along the way. Needed to use some chicken breasts that had been in the freezer and the kale in the fridge.

     We really didn't add everything but the kitchen sink . . . but it seemed kind of like that at the time. Although we assumed the soup would be edible, we did not expect the final results. The aroma was enticing and it tasted VERY good!

     Here’s the problem—I started it, Barry added to it, I added more to it! But, we put our heads together and think we have captured the essentials.

Chicken & Kale Soup

2 chicken breasts, bone-in

Seasonings for cooking the chicken breasts – I used 3 sprigs of rosemary, 1 large bay leaf and about ½ tsp. of poultry seasoning, salt & pepper (vary it according to your preference)

Kale – about ½ to ¾ of a bunch -- about 1½ to 2 cups when prepared (step 2)

½ of a medium onion, diced

1½ carrots, chunked or diced

1 medium turnip, diced

Additional chicken broth or stock, if needed

Additional seasoning: 1 tsp. seasoning salt, 1 tsp. cumin, ½ tsp. curry + additional salt & pepper if needed (seems like a rather strange combo but that’s what happens with two cooks watching the soup pot . . . but, it works for us)

1 (15 oz.) can cannellini beans (white kidney beans), undrained

1.  Cover the chicken breasts with water; add the seasonings. Bring to a boil and turn down heat; simmer until chicken is tender. Remove bones and shed or cut meat into bite-sized pieces.

2.  Rinse the kale; remove the leafy greens from the tough stem and tear or chop and toss into the soup.

     Click here for instructions on kale preparation and nutritional info.

3.  Add the other chopped veggies.

4.  If needed, add additional chicken broth – we did need to add more as we wanted about 4 to 5 cups of total cooking liquid.

5.  Add additional seasonings of your choice (see our notes above) and simmer until all of the veggies are tender.

6.  Add can of undrained cannellini beans and heat thoroughly.

One Adventure Ends -- The Duncan Hines' Table

     Literary League is over but I did take a few pictures. Of course I meant to take more but with all of the last minute things to do, I simply forgot!
    I had a great time planning the program -- both the book discussion and the table full of treats, all from an updated edition of Duncan Hines' Adventures in Good Eating and The Art of Carving in the Home.
    Cora Jane Spiller, Hines' great niece, was a great help! We corresponded by phone, email and even Facebook. She sent a collection of vintage books and DVD interviews for me to use during the program. During the last couple of weeks I've been so immersed in Duncan Hines that I'll probably be going through withdrawal next week!
     Although this particular adventure has come to an end, I'm looking forward to lots more adventures in good cooking and eating. And, chances are there will be many more posts from Duncan Hines' cookbooks in the future.

There are no recipes on this blog post  -- it is merely a culmination of all the recipes I made to go along with my program. Simply click on each recipe name to find the actual list of ingredients and directions for its preparation.

From left to right: Betty Cass' Brown Sugar Cookies, Hot Toasted Cheese Hors d'Oeuvres, Date & Nut Cakes, Taffy Tarts served w/ whipped cream on the side, and Nut Macaroons.

My personal favorites: 

Betty Cass' Brown Sugar Cookies

Hot Toasted Cheese Hors d'Oeuvres

Recommended by Duncan Hines -- Hot Toasted Cheese Hors d’Oeuvres – and the sampling table

     Restaurants, cafes, motels & hotels wanted to capitalize on their inclusion in Duncan Hine’s guidebooks (started in 1936, the restaurant guidebook was in it's 50th printing in 1957). Since these establishments were not allowed to advertise in his guidebook (he considered this to be a conflict of interest), Hines provided them with an inexpensive yet ingenious service – for an annual rental fee of about $10.00 he provided a uniformly-sized metal sign – “Recommended by Duncan Hines”.

     After locating a copy of the sign on the Internet, I downloaded it, made it into a poster and placed one on both my front and back door . . .  in anticipation of my recent literary program on Hines.

This is the sign posted
on our back door.

     No, I did not send anyone $10.00 but I did inform Duncan’s great niece of my actions. Cora Jane’s immediate response, “I hope it’s the red one, the blue ones are for lodging.” I assured her I was inviting my literary group just for food; I had no plans to keep them for the night!
     Anyway, I thought I needed one savory item on my sampling table and this is the recipe I selected . . . but I did make a few adjustments that I have noted below.

Hot Toasted Cheese Hors d’Oeuvres    Serves 25

2 cups grated cheese (I grated sharp Cheddar)

1 egg beaten

10 dashes Tabasco (hot) sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

¼ teaspoon salt

2 loaves of bread (1 used a partial loaf, 13 slices, of wheat sandwich-style bread and ended up with 52 squares)

1 lb. bacon (I used just 4 to 5 slices of bacon per 13 slices of bread -- see notes below)

1.     Combine cheese, egg, hot sauce, Worcestershire Sauce and salt; mix well with a fork.

2.     Remove crusts from bread and cut in 1” squares. Place a spoonful of mixture on each piece.

After removing the crusts, I simple cut the slice of bread into four pieces;
they measured about 1 1/2" and, in my estimation, were the perfect size.

I've started adding the cheesy mixture to the bread squares.

3.     Top with strips of bacon. Toast in 450° oven until brown. (Worried that the bacon would not crisp up to my liking before the bread was charred, I experimented -- The bread pieces became nice and toasty in 5 to 8 minutes but the bacon was still soft. So, here's what I did: 

      Put the cheese covered bread in the 450° oven for 5 to 8 minutes. 

      Meanwhile microwave serve slices of bacon. Crumble into relatively big chunks.

      Once, cheesy squares come out of oven, place bacon chunks on hot chefs.)

Recipe #8 in Adventures in Good Cooking, came from Cathryn’s in Portland, Oregon.

Other Duncan Hines recipes included on our blog:

·      Betty Cass’ Brown Sugar Cookes

·      Chocolate Upside Down Cake

·      Date & Fudge Cakes

·      Fudge Squares

·      Taffy Tarts

·      Nut Macaroons

AND, the adventure continues . . .

We liked the little squares so much, that we made Open-Faced Hot Toasted
Bacon & Cheese Sandwiches for breakfast -- didn't even bother to
trim the crusts off the bread. Great with a poached egg but I'd eat it for lunch, too

Adventures in Good Cooking Continues and Expands– Betty Cass’ Brown Sugar Cookies

The finished product.

     This recipe was  included in both Duncan Hines original edition of Adventures in Good Eating and The Art of Carving in the Home and in The Dessert Cookbook. It was provided by Mrs. R.T. Cooksey of Madison, Wisconsin,

     Of course I had no idea who Mrs. Cooksey was . . . until I read Louis Hatchett’s introduction to the 2002 edition of The Dessert Book. Here’s what he said, "Mrs. R[ichard] T. Cooksey, Madison, Wisconsin, was the third grand-daughter of John J. Valentine. She married a doctor who moved to Wisconsin. She was also an excellent cook, and a few of her contributions are included here along with her sisters.” 
     By the way, John J. Valentine, a friend of Duncan’s father, was the president of the Wells Fargo Company. He was instrumental in helping Duncan get his first job with his company in December 1898.

     Still have no idea who Betty Cass might be!

Betty Cass’ Brown Sugar Cookies (Using a small dipper, approximately 2 tsp. capacity, I ended up with 76 cookies.)

2 cups (packed) brown sugar  (I used light brown sugar but dark would work, too)

½ cup shortening

½ cup (1 stick) butter

2 eggs

2 cups (all-purpose) flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans (I used pecans that Cora Jane Spiller, Hines' great niece, sent us for Christmas)

1.     Mix in the order given and drop by a teaspoon on buttered baking sheet. (l lined mine with parchment and misted it with pan spray.)

I used a small dipper to shape the cookies and placed them on a parchment lined & sprayed rimmed cookie sheet.

2.     Press pecan half in each one.

3.     Bake in (preheated) 350° oven for 15 minutes. (I discovered that the cookies needed to set for a few minutes before removing them from the pan.)

Recipe #546 from Adventures in Good Eating and The Art of Carving in the Home.

Other Duncan Hines included on our blog:

       * Chocolate Upside Down Cake      * Date & Nut Cakes   * Fudge Squares

       * Hot Toasted Cheese Hors d’Oeuvres (or Sandwiches) * Taffy Tarts   * Nut Macaroons

A Shrine to Duncan Hines – Nut Macaroons

     Our living room is now a shrine to Duncan Hines. Talked to Cora Jane Spiller, Hines’ great niece, last week, telling her about my upcoming program on her uncle. Shortly afterwards, a box arrived! A treasure trove of books, including an original restaurant guidebook, a couple of early copies of  Duncan’s cookbooks, a lodging guidebook, and the 2002 edition

2001Reprint of Hines'
dessert cookbook,
edited by
Louis Hatchett. 

of The Dessert Book by Duncan Hines. It was originally printed in 1955 in paperback form and sold for $ .35 a copy. According to Louis Hatchett, who edited the book, it sold hundreds of thousands of copies over the next decade. The book is an assemblage of recipes that Hines collected over the years . . . from restaurants, friend and family. Many of the early recipes had been tested in his nephew’s kitchen; those that came later were tested in the Duncan Hines Test Kitchen in Ithaca, New York.

     I’m making way too many desserts for my Literary program (and sampling) but this one sounded so interesting and it is included in both the dessert book and the original 1939 edition of Adventures in Good Eating and The Art of Carving in the Home,.

     The chocolate dip was my idea as I wanted to include a little chocolate in my dessert menu but seem to be leaning to non-chocolate recipes for some reason.

Original 1939 edition of Duncan Hines' Adventures in Good Cooking and 
the Art of Carving (property of Cora Jane Spiller).

Nut Macaroons  (Makes about 60 cookies)

2 cups powdered sugar

½ cup (all-purpose) flour, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

5 egg whites

1 lb. chopped nuts (4 cups -- I used almonds)

1. Blend dry ingredients.

2. Stir egg whites into the dry ingredients without beating. Add the nuts.

3. Drop by a teaspoon onto a greased cookie sheet.

4. Bake in (preheated) 300° oven 15 minutes or until set. Do not bake hard or they won’t be good.

I was surprised that the batter was somewhat runny and really spread; however a sketch of the cookie in The Dessert Cookbook indicates that this is suppose to be a flat cookie.

I did bake them a little longer than indicated as they looked very pale after just 15 minutes in the oven. The finished cookies were a little crisp on the edges but soft in the center. 
Follow-up Note: Okay, I tasted several yesterday when I made them and they were soft in the center; actually tasted them at varying intervals in the day. Later in the day I dipped them in chocolate but avoided eating yet another one. Served them today for Literary League but didn't eat one until afterwards and they were no longer soft! So, I guess I should have followed the directions and pulled them out when they were pale and looked very soft! Live and learn . . . the adventures continue!

The chocolate dip was my addition: Melt chocolate chips (with a few drop os
vegetable oil in the microwave. Set time for 30 second intervals and continue to
check and stir until melted. Either dip cookies or spoon chocolate on one edge and
then place on a piece of wax paper. Let set, at room temperature, until chocolate is set.

This recipe, #558 in Adventures in Good Eating and The Art of Carving in the Home,, came from McDonald Tea Room in Gallatin, Missouri.

Other Duncan Hines recipes included on our blog:

* Betty Cass' Brown Sugar Cookies     * Chocolate Upside Down Cake      * Date & Nut Cakes     * Fudge Squares    *Hot Toasted Cheese Hors d’Oeuvres (or Sandwiches)   *Taffy Tarts 

In the Kitchen with Duncan Hines-- Taffy Tarts

These are really good! I'm making
them for my Literary League program
on Duncan Hines. And, of course I
had to taste one or two or . . . just
to make sure they were edible

     Even Duncan Hines contributed a few of his favorite recipes to his original 1939 edition of Adventures in Good Eating and The Art of Carving in the Home, including the one for Taffy Tarts. As I have been preparing a literary program on The Man Behind the Cake Mix, I’ve discovered an array of interesting tidbits about him. Here are just a few:

·      Favorite saying in reference to a really good restaurant, “it makes a man wish for hollow legs.”

·      He was extremely honest and often said, “One can easily earn another dollar, but if one loses his reputation, an opportunity may never again present itself to earn it back.” 

·      Motto – “Have what you want, but want what you have.”

·      His persona was acknowledged in Guys and Dolls in the song “If I Were a Bell.”

·      He even had a horse race named after him – the Omaha Duncan Hines’ purse.

     Duncan lists the yield as eight tarts (he used muffin cups); I used mini tart pan, 1 ¾” diameter; there was enough filling to fill 40 of the mini tarts. I added a dollop of whipped cream to each right before serving.

Taffy Tarts     Makes 8 tarts

Pie pastry—make your favorite recipe

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 cup (packed) brown sugar

1 egg

½ cup currants

3 tablespoons evaporated milk

¼ teaspoon vanilla

1.     Fit pasty into greased muffin tins.

I used mini tart pans, 1 3/r" diameter; they are sitting on a rimmed cookie sheet. 

2.     Cream butter, add sugar and blend well. Beat egg slightly and stir in.

3.     Add milk, currants and vanilla. Pour into pastry lined tins and bake in 350° oven for 30 minutes. (I baked the small tarts for just 15 to 20 minutes.

Filled tarts are ready to go into the oven.

Here they are — cooling on a rack.

Recipe #580 in Adventures in Good Eating and The Art of Carving in the Home..

Other Duncan Hines recipes included on our blog:
* Betty Cass' Brown Sugar Cookies    * Chocolate Upside Down Cake      * Date & Nut Cakes     * Fudge Squares    *Hot Toasted Cheese Hors d’Oeuvres (or Sandwiches)    *Nut Macaroons