Mud House Year

Mud House Christmas Eve

I know that Christmas has come and gone and we are well on our way in 2013.  However, my next few posts are dedicated to our wonderful Mud House Christmas.   This is the first moment I have had to sit down and organize my thoughts but Christmas was just too much fun to let slip by without sharing!Christmas in the desert does not offer the anticipation of snowfall and sleigh rides but it is lovely and festive none-the-less.  At the Mud House, we share distinctive and charming traditions, some of which have been handed down through seven generations of my family here in the desert southwest.  For example, whimsical tin ornaments and sweet brass angels collected in the border town of Nogales by my grandmother, Mema,  (and later by me) grace our tree and mantel.Other traditions are more recent and some are new this year such as gingerbread tee-pee making with Chef Amanda at the Ritz at Dove Mountain.  One of our oldest family traditions began when my great-grandmother, Bammi,  first served flat enchiladas on Christmas Eve.  Family lore maintains  that Bammi actually created the recipe and later shared it with a lady down the street. This lady eventually opened  a little restaurant,  El Charro, which now has several locations and is celebrating its 100th anniversary.  Flat enchiladas, now widley known as Sonoran enchiladas, have been on El Charro's menu for a century.   They have been served on Christmas Eve in my family for longer than that. This photo does not do them justice but the contrast between the colors of the red sauce, green olives and white and yellow cheeses make them especially festive.   

My family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve.  We gather at one of our homes and share a wonderful dinner of Mexican food.  This year our celebration began on the porch of  the Mud House with sparkling sangria. We then enjoyed a buffet of flat enchiladas, frijoles, green corn tamales, tortillas, and fresh salsa.   The tables were set with rose bowls, mason jar candles, and individual kits to make Christmas Eve hot chocolate .This year we introduced a new tradition which may or may not take hold.  Everyone was asked to bake and bring a batch of cookies.  These cookies served the double purpose of being treats for dessert and for a cookie exchange.  Guests took them home in red Chinese take-out containers.   All the cookies were delicious and so creative!  We even had some reindeer cow-pies (thanks Greg!) However, rumor has it that some of the cookie makers were not too thrilled with their assignment.   Also, we ended-up with way too many cookies so maybe next year we will ask for one batch from each family rather than one from each person. As always, it's the little things that make our gatherings so special.  Rumor also has it that next year we will be doubly blessed yet again with more little things.

At the end of the evening,  guests were guided on their way by the warm glow of luminarias and sparkly white lights festooning dried mesquite and century plants.

Thanks to every single member of my dear family who helped make this evening so much fun.  My next few posts will share some recipes and more details about our Mud House Christmas Eve. 

As a side note, Pinterest Wednesday will return soon.

 

Pinterest Wednesday

Kiss PiesThis is one of those recipes that looks like such a good idea but it is much better in theory than in reality.  I was so excited to find it on Pinterest because I had leftover pie crusts in the freezer from Thanksgiving and I thought this would be a perfect way to use them AND make some goodies for Christmas Eve.   These little pies were easy - just two main ingredients!  They were fun to make and really cute...before I baked them.
After they were baked, they didn't look as cute and I'm afraid they tasted like pie crust, just pie crust.
I really wanted these to be wonderful.  I even tried a second batch using more sugar...
and some crushed peppermint.
I even tried different flavors of kisses
but, alas,  they just tasted too pie crusty.

If you are a fan of pie crusts you might really like these.  You can find the recipe at Picky Palate.   I'm giving these only 2/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas.  They were easy and fun to make but, as my daughter said, "Mom, they are not that great."
 

A Few of My Favorite Nashville Things - Part II

                                                                        Bang Candy Company Bang Candy Company specializes in artisan marshmallows, half-dipped in chocolate.  It's located in the old Marathon Car Factory building. Flavors include chocolate chile, rose cardamon, orange ginger cinnamon, espresso, and toasted coconut.  These are such yummy treats!  I am using them for favors on Christmas Eve.  Sarah was very helpful with my order!  For more information, check out their website.

 

                                                                         Vanderbilt UniversityOne must venture beyond the hustle and bustle of West End and 21st Avenues to appreciate the beauty of the Vanderbilt Campus. In fact, I hardly knew it was there.  Once I entered it's tree-lined perimeter, I discovered it is what I always imagined a southern university would be - all red bricks, green leafiness and white columns...oh, and magnolias, of course.  It's also an excellent institution of higher learning.   It's a lovely place to walk and contemplate - you'll feel smarter just being there!

 

                                                              Food Trucks
Alluring and elusive and so, so worth it.  See my post here.  Nashville has a bountiful bevy of food trucks.  I think my favorite, so far, is Smoke Et Al. 

  I ordered the smoked pork belly tacos and fried okra. Yummy doesn't begin to describe it - so good!

 

                                                            Hillsboro Village This is a funky four block area along 21st Avenue, just south of the Vanderbilt campus.  Davis Cookware is there along with other quaint shops and restaurants.  During my visit, several pop-up stores opened for the holidays including Cake Vintage, where I did a little Christmas shopping. You will also find the legendary Pancake Pantry in Hillsboro Village, but be prepared to wait in a line that winds down the sidewalk if you decide to eat there.  Also, McDougal's is just around the corner.

 

And, a final tip-of-the-hat to the original...           GiGi's!  Gigi's Cupcakes are just so photogenic I had to include one more picture!

I'm saying goodbye to Nashville tomorrow.  I will write one more Nashville post before I go.  

 

 

A Few of My Favorite Things - Part I

                                                  

I am so fortunate to have spent almost three wonderful weeks in Nashville!  As my visit comes to an end, I am thinking about a few of my favorite Nashville things.  Some I have already told you about, but I am including them again because I love them so much!

 

                                                             Vicki Sawyer                                                    
                                                    

First of all,  there is Vicky Sawyer and her amazing birds (and other animals).  If you haven't yet, please check out her website - so wonderful!

 

                                                                                     Davis Cookware "Well, Ma'am you can't sell from an empty cart."  Mr. Davis replied when I commented on how much there was to see in his store.  

Davis Cookware has been in Hillsboro Village for 43 years.  It is stuffed to the rafters with everything you could ever need for your kitchen.  It also carries over 50 types of coffee beans and I don't know how many types of loose tea.  They also sharpen knives and bill themselves as, "Home Of the Knife Whisperer."  Designed and staged - definitely not.  Original, charming, whimsical, complete, and reliable - yes.    If I lived in Nashville, this would be my "go-to" place for everything kitchen related and for the wisdom, history, and lore of Hillsboro Village. 

 

                                        Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Company 

Voted America's Best Chocolate by Southern Living Magazine, Olive and Sinclair make small batch, slow roasted, and stone ground chocolate right here in Nashville.  These lovely bars are already packed and ready for the trip home to the Mud House where they will find themselves snuggled into a few lucky stockings on Christmas Eve.  Here is their website:  Olive and Sinclair.  

 

                                                                  Midtown Wine and Spirits
I love little bottles of anything.  I think little bottles of liquor are especially enticing, for obvious reasons.  I  also love how their shapes exactly mimic much larger bottles.  My first few days in Nashville I popped into a couple of grocery stores looking for a bottle of wine.  I found beer, but no wine.  I soon learned that Tennessee liquor laws vary by county and are complicated - wet counties, dry counties and everything in-between.  You can read more about it here, if you are interested.  Anyway, I discovered that in Nashville, liquor and wine are sold only in liquor stores.  Beer may be purchased in grocery stores.  Midtown Wine and Spirits not only has an amazing selection of everything you can imagine containing alcohol, they also have a wonderful selection of mini-bottles.  I bought some for a few of the adult stockings I will be stuffing. For more info please click here. 

 

                                                             Pralines by LeonNo visit to this part of the world is complete without sampling some pralines and Leon's is the place to try them.  Pralines by Leon is located in downtown Nashville on 2nd Avenue.  It has been in it's current location since 1994 but its history can be traced back to 1888 when Leon's Greek grandfather Constantine moved to New Orleans and began making candy.   You can read much more about Pralines by Leon and the other wonderful candy they make by checking out their website.  You can also order on-line.  If you are in Nashville it is absolutely worth a visit.

 

 ... Stay tuned for Part II of a Few of my Favorite Things...

 

 

Cupcakes, Seriously.

Ok, so we all know cupcakes have been around for a while, and, believe me, no one knows that better than I do.  I've sampled them from Pasadena to Portland, Maine and I can say with no hesitation that I've found the best.  You know you are in trouble when you keep the cupcake daily menu next to your bed and the last thing you do at night is check the next day's baking schedule.  Seriously.
Gigi's Cupcakes can now be found around the country (unfortunately not near the Mud House) but the original, the very first one, opened in Nashville in 2008 and it is two blocks away from my hotel. 
I love Gigi's story as much as I love her cupcakes and you can read about it here.  It's tough to pick my favorite, but I think it might be the Caramel Turtle Cupcake pictured at the top of this post.  But, they are all absolutely delicious...Gigi also makes yummy mini-cheesecakes.  The pumpkin cheesecake is at the bottom left above.

If you would like to find out more about Gigi's cupcakes check out her website, gigiscupcakesusa.com/home.

 

Pinterest Wednesday

It's pie season and this one is really good.  Buttermilk Chess Pie.  It comes to us from "A Cook and Her Books."    This recipe is close to my heart because my husband is a Kentucky boy.  The first time I ever heard of chess pie was after I met him.  Chess pie is a southern thing and there are a few variations. And, then, of course, there is the quintessential Kentucky version known as transparent pie.  I think this buttermilk chess pie is actually a close relative of the transparent pie because it does not include vinegar.  Our old family recipe for transparent pie calls for carnation milk instead of buttermilk, but other than that, the recipes are almost the same.  My brother-in-law created a family treasure by collecting old family recipes and combining them all into a cookbook.  It includes family history, photos, and wonderful Kentucky stories.  This is a page from the book with my husband's grandmother's recipe for transparent pie. 

And, here is the recipe for buttermilk chess pie from Pinterest.  

Buttermilk Chess Pie
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine sugar and flour in a large bowl. Add eggs and buttermilk, stirring until blended. Stir in melted butter and vanilla and pour into unbaked pie crust.

3. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack at least an hour before serving. Store leftovers, well-wrapped in refrigerator.

Before I tried transparent or chess pie, I didn't think they looked that good but, boy oh boy, was I wrong!

GO MAKE IT NOW.  It's that good.  And, so easy to make.  No question, this recipe gets 5/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas.
    



 

Pinterest Wednesday

I pinned this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it has been calling my name! There is something so seductive about salted caramel.  Combine it with a shortbread crust and it's impossible to resist. You've got the sweet/salty/flaky/buttery seduction all wrapped up in one.  This Pinterest Wednesday recipe comes to us from What's Gaby Cooking and it is yummy!  I am copying the recipe here with no changes.  I didn't have a 9x9 pan so I used an 8x8 pan which contributed to the shortbread crust being a bit thicker.

Salted Carmel Bars

Ingredients:

10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk, whisked
1 2/3 cups AP flour
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
12 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
sea salt flakes

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-by-9-inch pan with parchment paper with the edges of the parchment hanging over the sides. This will make removing the bars easier.

In a large bowl combine the butter, sugar and salt with a fork.
Add the yolk and combine with the fork.
Add the flour and using your hands, combine the dough until its flaky.
Transfer the dough into the parchment lined pan and press down with your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup.
Refrigerate this for 30 minutes. Once chilled, bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned.
Once baked, remove and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a pot combine the topping ingredients; butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, sugar and cream.

Bring to a boil and make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Stir for about 5-10 minutes until its thick and bubbly. If you have a candy thermometer – the caramel should be about 230 degrees. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and pour on top of the shortbread.Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Then sprinkle with the sea salt flakes and serve!  

Mud House Notes

These are rich and delicious but must be kept refrigerated until serving. I refrigerated mine overnight but after only about 10 minutes at room temperature, the caramel melted and looked like this: 

Next time I will cook the caramel a little longer to a higher temperature than recommended in the recipe.  I will cook it until the temperature reaches 240 instead of 230 and I will let you know how it turns out.

The flavors of these bars are delicious!  A big thank you to What's Gaby Cooking.

I am giving this recipe 4/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas because they melted so quickly at room temperature.
   

 

 

Mud House Prickly Pear Margarita Pie

There are many, many versions of margarita pie out there, including this recipe I found in one of my old, regional cookbooks.  It is a 1977 collection of recipes benefiting the Tucson Museum of ArtAmong other things, the recipe requires the addition of four uncooked egg whites which is frowned upon today due to food safety issues.  I chuckled a bit, thinking how much things have changed.  I was getting ready to close the book when I glanced at the facing page and saw a recipe for French-fried diamondback. It took me a minute to believe what I was reading.  For those of you who are neither baseball fans nor familiar with desert creatures, diamondbacks are rattlesnakes and deadly.  The recipe includes directions to use "utmost care and caution to catch a rattlesnake at least two feet in length using a long snare."  Talk about food safety issues!  Shucks, these folks weren't afraid of a lil' ole raw egg!   The author of this recipe was "anonymous" and I can only hope it was written with tongue firmly in cheek.  It is, however, a legitimate recipe.  Yuck and yuck and blech.  Western diamondbacks are not currently considered endangered but they are essential to the eco-system of the desert so nobody out there better be French-frying up a batch of diamondback.   If you want to know more about them (and I don't) check out the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum here.

Anywayyyyy... back to less creepy subjects.  I decided to leave raw eggs and rattlesnakes behind and continue my quest.  I wanted a recipe I could adapt by adding prickly pear syrup.  I wanted prickly pear margarita pie!  You can read about my adventures with prickly pears here and here.   Fortunately I have a nice collection of vintage, regional cookbooks and I found a recipe from the Rancho De La Osa Guest Ranch in Sasabe, Arizona  (it is a mud house, too!).

Here is a little history from their website and I encourage you to visit their website if you would like to learn more.

"In the late 17th Century, the fertile Altar Valley was settled by Spanish Jesuits. Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and his followers built a mission outpost on the ranch. This building was used for more than a century as an outpost to trade with the local Indians and Mexicans. This rare and historic adobe structure is reputed to be the oldest building in Arizona and still serves as a peaceful gathering place for our guests to mingle and relax.

Rancho De La Osa is part of the original three million acre land grant from the King of Spain to the Ortiz brothers of Mexico in 1812. When the Gadsden Purchase was signed in 1854 settling the border dispute between Mexico and the United States, the ranch fell within the US boundaries. Shortly afterward cattle baron and Civil War hero Colonel William Sturgis began renovations on the main house and made the structure the center of his massive ranching empire.

The Mexican Revolution brought history to our doors when revolution leader Pancho Villa fired on the hacienda. A Mexican cannonball from the era was found embedded in the stucco walls of the main house. Today the cannonball sits on display in the structure for all to see.

In 1921, Louisa Wade Wetherill, who is still considered one of the foremost Navajo historians, came south looking for a lost tribe of Navajos. She never found them, but she started "Hacienda De La Osa (She Bear) Guest Ranch" in 1924, and the ranch began its transformation into one of America's premier guest ranches, beginning an enviable tradition that continues to this day."

 

This is a pretty cool, historical place.

I am copying their recipe with my changes and additions in parenthesis.  This recipe is delicious without the addition of prickly pear syrup so don't let that stop you.  If you want to try it with syrup you can find it here.  Just boil it down so it is thickened and you have approximately 3 tablespoons.

Rancho De La Osa Margarita Pie

 For the Pretzel Crust:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed pretzel  (I used 1 cup pretzels and 1/2 cup graham crackers.  If you want a saltier contrast with the pie filling, use all pretzels.)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter melted

Pulse the pretzel and sugar is a food processor several times to combine. Add the butter in a steady stream and process until well mixed.

Spray 9 inch pie plate with non-stick cooking spray and press pretzels evenly over the bottom and up the sides of plate

For the Pie Filling:
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (use Mexican or key limes if available)
1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons gold tequila
2 tablespoons Triple Sec (I use Cointreau - much yummier!)
Green food color (Or pink if you are going with prickly pear pie.  The syrup gives a light pink color to the pie but I wanted my pink to pop so I used two drops of magenta.)
(3 tablespoons reduced prickly pear syrup)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped

Combine the lime juice, condensed milk, tequila, and Triple Sec (Cointreau), food color, and prickly pear syrup, if using, in a large bowl and mix well.   That's the prickly pear syrup in the center, so pretty!Gently fold in whipped cream and fill pie crust.

Freeze for four hours or overnight.

Garnish with whipped cream and lime slices.

Notes:

Don't use non-fat or low-fat pretzels.  The crust will not hold together.
You may substitute graham crackers for all or part of the crust.
The pie definitely tastes better the next day so try to plan ahead with preparation.
This pie is delicious with or without the prickly pear syrup.  It tastes just like a creamy, frozen margarita. 

Enjoy!

Pinterest Wednesday

I'm going with an easy one this week.  This is one of the first recipes I pinned on Pinterest and it comes to us from Buns in my Oven.  It seemed too good to be true.  I was a bit skeptical.  I rarely fry food but am becoming more comfortable with occasional fried okra or refrigerator biscuits.  And when I say comfortable, I mean fried food is comfort food.  If okra tastes good fried, you can imagine how good a fried biscuit is.  Anyway...I love my digital thermometer.  It is a reassuring tool when venturing into cauldrons of boiling oil.  This is what you need:

Refrigerator biscuits.  Get the flaky kind.

Sugar                                                Paper Towels and Slotted Spoon                                      Oil and Thermometer 

Mud House Canned Biscuit Donuts

Ingredients:

1 tube (or more) canned refrigerated biscuits (I get the flaky layers kind)
1/2 cup sugar
hot oil, for frying

Here's what you do: 

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or deep fryer to 350 degrees.
2. Using a donut cutter (or the cap from a 2 liter soda bottle), cut the center from each biscuit.
3. Pour sugar onto shallow bowl or plate.
4. Place a few donuts in the pan of hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. Fry until golden brown on one side, about 1-2 minutes, and then flip and fry until gold brown on the other side.
   
5. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towels.
6. Dredge each donut in the sugar to coat both sides and all around the edges.  You can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the sugar.  I just like them with plain sugar.
7. Serve hot.
   
   They don't have the yeasty lightness of a fresh doughnut but they are surprisingly good.   They should be eaten right away as they become heavy when they cool down.  I wasn't sure how to rate this one.  They are not as good as real donuts but they are SOOOO easy.  I'm giving them 4 1/2 Prickly Pear Margaritas and a big thank you to Karly at Buns in my Oven. 
       
   Enjoy!
   
   
    

 

Halloween Macarons

There is something about this time of the year that sparks my imagination and I throw caution to the wind.  For days, visions of macarons have been dancing in my head.  Not just any macarons, mind you, but macarons wearing little pumpkin costumes.  I decided to attempt another batch of these finicky little monsters, color them orange, and add a little green stem.  Most importantly, I wanted a truly luscious chocolatey filling because nothing says "Halloween" to me quite like chocolate.  If you don't already know about my long, horrifying history with macarons, you can read about it, and find my basic recipe here.  To add the little stems to the macaron shells, set aside a teaspoon or two of the shiny, white meringue before you fold it into the almond/powder sugar mixture. Add some green gel food color and mix until the meringue is uniformly green.  Use a toothpick to place a mini-dollop to the center of the macaron before baking.  Do this to half of your macaron shells.  

I'm happy to report that I continue to have good results with my Mud House propane gas stove.   I'm not sure this batch actually looks like little pumpkins but the chocolate caramel ganache filling is to die for...

Mud House Chocolate Caramel Ganache
5 ounces good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, heated
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Note:  It is important to warm the cream because it will be added to the very hot cooked sugar.   The cream boils furiously when added to the hot sugar, so be sure to cook the sugar in a saucepan large enough to accommodate the boiling cream.

Chop chocolate, place in heat proof bowl, and set aside.  
Bring cream to a boil.  Turn off heat and cover pan to keep cream warm.    

In a saucepan, stir together the sugar and water until all the sugar is moistened. Heat on medium-high, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Stop stirring and boil sugar undisturbed until it turns a deep amber. An instant-read thermometer will register 370 degrees.  I usually remove it from the heat just before it reaches temperature then slowly and carefully pour the hot cream into the caramel. It will bubble up furiously.  Use a silicone spatula to stir the mixture, scraping the bottom.  Return to cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture is combined and the caramel has dissolved.  Remove it from the heat and add butter, stirring gently.  Let the caramel mixture cool for a few minutes before adding it to the chocolate.  Adding too-hot caramel to the chocolate may cause the ganache to separate.  You want the caramel warm enough to melt the chocolate but not too hot.   Once you add the caramel to the chocolate, allow the mixture to sit undisturbed for a minute while the chocolate melts.

Then stir very gently until the mixture is uniform and smooth.  Add the vanilla, stirring to combine.  Stirring too rapidly can may cause the ganache to separate.

Allow ganache to stand uncovered for 1 hour, then cover it with plastic wrap and allow it to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until firm enough to pipe onto meringue shells.  Use a piping bag and tip to pipe a large "Hershey kiss" sized dollop onto the flat side of mararon shell and sandwich with another shell.  Give a slight twist to the top shell as you sandwich it to the bottom shell.

Enjoy!