Summer is Early

The weatherman on the local news channel said that the rest of this week is supposed to be as hot as it typically is in July!  So it will be hot hot HOT in Florida!  I thought I would share a drink that you can sip to help cool yourself off.  This non-alcoholic drink is great for parties or a get-together, or just make a pitcher to keep to yourself and enjoy.  Fresh mint works best, but it should be easy to find in most grocery stores, especially in the summertime. 

 

Refreshing Summer "No-jito"

Ingredients

crushed ice

12 mint leaves

4 ounces lime juice

2 cups Lemon Juice

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

2 cups lemon-lime soda

garnish with mint and lime slices

Directions

1.  Fill a pitcher 1/3 full with ice, then add mint leaves.

2.  Add the lime juice.

3.  Lightly mash the leaves together with the liquid using a muddle stick or wooden pestle, careful not to    tear the leaves. (or you can use handle of wooden spoon…or the back or metal soup spoon…You want to bruise and crush the leaves to release the essential oils and flavor of the mint, but not tear them into little pieces.

4.  In a separate container or pitcher, combine lemon juice, sugar and water.  Stir to combine until sugar completely dissolves.  Add 2 cups of soda and stir to combine.

5.  Fill the glass with more ice, then add lemonade and extra soda, if needed.

6.  Garnish with mint, serve, and enjoy! 

If you don't like the flavor of lime, you could substitute oranges, or raspberries or fresh cherries.  One of the things I love most about cooking (or bartending and drink making) is that I don't have to always follow the rules and do exactly what the recipe says to do.  Now, some of my students will say this is the exact opposite of what I teach them in class, but that is part of the fun of buying your own ingredients and being the cook, rather than being a cooking student!  A fun little "Adult Rule" I have learned to use at my leisure.  LOL.

The end is near!

'Tis the time of the season...

The air is warm, breezy and relaxing 

                     (well, actually it is usually becoming more and more suffocatingly humid and overbearingly hot...)

The students are anxiously trying to learn as much as they can, filling their notebooks with information and new content

                      (Yeah!  I WISH!  Reality is a lot of the student body has been checked out since Spring Break back in the late March.  Now, they resent the fact that any adult would try to dictate to them what to do with their free social time...the same time we unwittingly consider to be "School hours")

The time of Semester Exams approaches with sharpened pencils, flash cards to be read up until the last bell of class, and the anticipation of proving how well the class has understood, comprehended and applied the content you have so carefully and thoughtfully taught.

                        (Ummm...what universe are you living in??   One, I have had three students caught blatantly cheating on an open note test...the one where I have spoon fed the information to them and given them the answers...all they had to do was copy them.  Two, I am beginning to understand that listening, hearing, comprehending and understanding are WAAAAYYY  different ideas than they were when I was in high school. 

Three, what do you mean sharpened pencils?  I have had to go out and buy a jumbo box---I will have 92% of all my classes who will use the "No Book bags" rule for testing days as an excuse to not bring a writing utensil.  28% of them can't remember to bring a writing utensil on Tuesdays!)

But even so, thoughts and summer plans run amok, even in the Culinary Classroom.  There is even more excitement than normal as we carefully begin packing all of our equipment and organizing our supplies.  Our Culinary Department is getting a new facility, complete with a full commercial kitchen, walk-in refrigerator and freezer, a separate dining room, a full video surveillance system, and (how crazy that I am excited about this) white boards (which are supposed to be interactive). 

Now before I hear about budget cuts and the demanding needs of the Science/Math/English departments....please be assured that we have worked hard to secure the monies for this project.  We applied and received grants, have used our profits to purchase our own equipment and supplies, and work five different businesses in order to keep our program afloat and "in the black".  We also have almost half of the total school population in our program.  Next year, we have 960 students signed up for one culinary class or another.

So my packing skills as an Army Brat come into use again.  Any spare and sturdy boxes would be much appreciated, but you will have to deliver or ship them to Florida.  

Enjoy this simple but student favorite dish...great for a Friday night meal when you really want a pizza, but don't want to have to pay the delivery person or both making pizza dough from scratch.  It can even be made ahead the night before and then baked.

Pizza Casserole

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• ½ green pepper, chopped
• ½ c. sliced mushrooms
• ½ cup pepperoni slices
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 16 ounces marinara or pizza sauce (any spaghetti sauce will work)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent rolls

Directions

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

2.   Brown beef, onion and garlic in a large saucepan over medium high heat. When meat is almost halfway completely cooked, add green peppers and mushrooms.  Continue cooking until meat is browned, then drain fat and stir in marinara sauce.

3.   In a 9x13 inch baking dish, spread a layer of sauce. Top with 1/2 of the mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, another layer of sauce and the rest of the cheese. Top with crescent rolls, pinching seams together.

4.   Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until rolls are golden brown

*You can also make this recipe with no meat, just use additional vegetables (or add broccoli, cauliflower and carrots as well) to add more to the overall dish).

Enjoy!  And I will try to post again next week!

TG

Starting Small

So as I am procrastinating from completing a very long task for my certification course....I decided to work a little on this little project I began a while ago.  I am sure I will look back at this and think WHAT was I thinking?!? but I have had quite a few friends and acquaintances want to know if they can see my recipes or find out more about my classroom online.  Maybe this will be a way to do both. 

So as I finish my last few minutes of "me time" for the afternoon...I did find a new recipe I  made for Mother's Day Breakfast.  Well, Mom, Dad and Grandma tried the new recipe.  I sat in my chair and drooled from arm's length.  It is a Cinnamon Roll recipe that actually uses a standards yellow cake mix as the base.  I, of course, did not have a yellow cake mix, so instead I used a white cake mix.  They came out more cake-y and with more stability than the usual yeast rolls, but they smelled amazing.  I will take a picture and add to this post later (yet something else to add to my "to do" list... Ha ha!), but here is the recipe:

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Rolls:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages quick-rise yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (120 to 130 degrees F/50 degrees C)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Frosting:

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, combine 4 cups flour, dry cake mix, yeast and warm water until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
2. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll each portion into a 14-in. x 10-in. rectangle. Brush with butter; sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side. Cut each roll into 12 slices; place cut side down in two greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pans. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 20 minutes.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 20 minutes. For frosting, in a mixing bowl, cream butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Add enough milk to achieve desired consistency. Frost warm rolls. 

 **I will admit that in addition to my substitution of cake mixes, I also overcrowded both pans with rolls.  I used a cake pan and a pie plate.  The cake pan rolls ended up taking about 30-35 minutes to completely bake, and the pie plate (a glass plate) needed only 25-30 minutes.  The glass pie plate did need to have the oven temperature lowered by 25 degrees.  Other than that, the rolls came out very nicely!  Mom should have a treat to enjoy with her morning tea and Activia yogurt for at least the next three days, if not longer! 

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