Friday, December 13, 2013

Beyond the Waves

What's a week without an Austin Friday?

It wouldn't be a week at OMG.

Taking it back to catch some curls.









Happy Austin Friday!

And for the OMG Cooking Klatch recipes, this week it's sweet treats. So it's cookies, candies, cakes, and pies.  But one can live by sweets alone, so if you found your appetizers recipes or those main dish recipes and thought it was too late to share, it's not!

10 comments:

prairiegirl said...

That fifth picture down is all kinds of awesome.

And we need to stop this train a second. I didn't get to put up an entree recipe!!! This is ThrowbackSaturday. I need to rewind a sec.

But first, I need to find the recipe. BWAH!! I'm pretty sure I know which one of my recipe boxes it's in. BRB

prairiegirl said...

Aww, at the end of the handwritten recipe, my mom wrote a note:

"Call me if you need to after you start cooking. Mom" Ha ha ha, that was the first time I was making it. Okay, here we go. Here's my mom's awesome meatball soup (best with homemade tortillas) - comfort food at its best. I don't share this with just anyone, you guys. ; )

If you live in Texas, go to HE Butt, they have really good torts (that's what we call them - us kids could never be bothered saying the whole word.) - pretty close to the real thing. Not quite, but close enough.

prairiegirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Special K said...

One question PG, is the rice cooked or uncooked for the meatballs?

prairiegirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Special K said...

I have to say that I have weakness for Austin's curls.

It's been snowing here the last 3 hours. Right now it is ocean effect snow, and later we will get the storm that has been moving to the East.

Love the first snow of the season, it's the 10th, the 15th and the 20th one that start to lose their sparkle.

Special K said...

M - your said you were looking for some lemon recipes so here are some I have in my stash.

First:


Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

Yield: Serves 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Easy chicken soup made with a light and refreshing lemon broth, orzo pasta, and vegetables. This comforting soup is healthy and perfect for a cold day.
Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4 inch thick
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
8 cups of chicken broth
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 2 lemons (about 1/3 cup)
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups orzo pasta
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:

1. In a large stockpot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the chicken broth, lemon zest, lemon juice bay leaf and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until orzo is tender. Add the chicken and heat for about 5 minutes.

3. Remove the pot from the heat. Discard the bay leaf and stir in the parsley. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve warm.

Note-You can use shredded rotisserie chicken in this soup.

Special K said...

Now that all the family has called in to check on how much snow we've gotten up here so far, it's back to some lemon recipes.

Here's Lemon Bars

The Best Lemon Bars

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ready In: 55 Minutes
Servings: 36

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour


4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 lemons, juiced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.

4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool.

(You can make these using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green.)

After the pan have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares.

the real m said...

Those pictures of Austin are awesome. I love his thick hair. Both he and Jake are blessed with outstanding hair genes. But he looks so young there. He's aged very nicely. Even more handsome now than before. Lucky Jake.

Speaking of Jake, he looks a lot better in the recent LAX pictures. Some reasonable weight back on so his face no longer looks guant.

Thanks for the lemon chicken orzo recipe and that meatball soup sounds wonderful too. I will definitely try both in the next week. I made a soup earlier this week using a whole chicken to make my own stock first. Oh my God, it was so good and felt so healthy. Time consuming, but not that hard to do.

Special K said...


Lemon Pound Cake

Serves 36

Hands-on Time: 30m
Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 cup (2 sticks), at room temperature

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

zest of 1 lemon

1 cup light cream

1 tablespoon lemon extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Brush six 5 3/4-by-3 1/2-inch disposable loaf pans with the melted butter. Position a rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 350° F. (175° C)

Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg into a large bowl; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the room-temperature butter on medium until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Lightly whisk the eggs then beat them into the butter-sugar mixture. Add the lemon zest. Add a quarter of the dry-ingredients mixture, followed by a third of the cream, blending until smooth. Repeat until all the dry ingredients and cream have been combined. Blend in the extracts.

Divide the batter among the pans. Place pans in oven, spacing evenly. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until the tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack. The cakes can be wrapped in plastic and kept frozen for up to 1 month.

This recipe makes 6 small cakes.