| 11:29p |
After a long hiatus...
Sorry guys - life has been getting in the way - moving at the end of the month has put a crimp in my ability to turn out a meal that doesn't involve Lean Cuisine - never mind being able to string more than a few sentences together!
I keep forgetting how easy it is to jazz up something from a mix. Tonight, at the request of my wife, I made waffles for dinner. A half teaspoon each of nutmeg and cinnamon goes quite a long way when slipped into the standard waffle mix. One cannot live on waffles alone, so I sliced a few nectarines up into a casserole dish, sprinkled the slices with a couple of teaspoons of sugar, and put it into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes...just enough to warm them up, but not so much as to carmelize the sugar.
I also made whipped cream (have I mentioned before that I do this?), but instead of using whipping cream I used heavy cream. It's cheaper, can sometimes be found in half-pint containers, and if you're going to use it right away there's no appreciable difference. Use a metal bowl if you can, and put in the fridge about 20-30 minutes before you start - do the same with the whisk or beaters. You can certainly use a wire whisk to whip the cream, but you can save yourself a lot of time and aggravation if you use an hand-held electric mixer. Whip the cream until it starts to form peaks, then add the sugar and extract and whip some more. (Basic ratio: 1/4 pint whipping cream to 1 tablespoon sugar to 1 teaspoon extract) I use vanilla extract most often for this, but I have used orange, lemon, and peppermint extract to match the specific dessert the whipped cream was being used for. This recipe will not get you a "Cool Whip" type consistency, but it's good stuff nevertheless.
And a little shaved dark chocolate never hurt anyone - at least in my house. Your mileage may vary on that! |