Strange Cat

We have strange animals that live in my house. My dog loves to lick our cat. I don't mean in a friendly way. I mean our cat is receiving a regular bath. She is saturated when he is through. (I have posted a photo of our cat at the end of this post.) Occasionally, she will swipe at him but I think it is more for show since she doesn't move away. Why? Why does the cat let our dog do this to her? Why does he want to lick her in the first place?

Recently, I have changed work locations. Near my old job, I liked to order a wrap from Bay Wrap. So, I decided I would attempt to duplicate one of their wraps. My oldest daughter said I did a pretty good job. I made a chicken and rice meal the night before and made extra to make this easy to go lunch. Any Asian salad dressing is a great substitute for the sauce.

Asian chicken wrap
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup soy sauce, low sodium works fine
1 Tbsp cup water.
1 clove garlic, minced fine
1 tsp ginger, minced fine
1 tsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2 cup chicken, cooked and cut into strips
4 tortilla wraps
2 cup lettuce
1 cup sprouts
1 cup rice, cooked
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup scallions

Directions:

1. In a small bowl,combine the honey, soy sauce, water, garlic, ginger, olive oil, and lemon juice. Taste the sauce and adjust the flavors to taste. Add salt and pepper if desired. 
2. Place the chicken in the sauce and set aside.
3. Place the tortilla wraps on a plate. Cover the tortilla wraps with a damp paper towel. Microwave the wraps for about 10 seconds, just to warm them.
4. Place one wrap in the center of a large piece or aluminum foil or wax paper. 
5. Place 1/2 cup of lettuce and 1/4 cup sprouts evenly over the tortilla wrap.
6. Onto of the lettuce, evenly spread out 1/2 cup of the chicken. 
7. Over the chicken, sprinkle the cooked rice and almonds. 
8. Top the rice with the scallions and sprinkle a little of the sauce evenly over the tortilla. Do not drench or the tortilla will become too soft.
9. Fold up the sides of the tortilla and roll up the wrap tightly.
10. Wrap the chicken wrap with the aluminum foil or wax paper.
11. Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

Did you already know...
- A group of cats are called a clowder.
-Cats are the most popular pet in North America.
-A cat will clean itself 1/3 of the time its awake.

Why me?

Raspberry Phyllo Tarts

Since I really didn't think you had enough berries recipes already, I will (just for you) post a few raspberry recipes. Oh, your welcome. You don't have to thank me. My children have been thanking me lately. They must be my children since they aren't complaining yet.

If you couldn't tell by now, I love berries. So, I was looking up raspberry recipe in Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2008 cookbook and noticed a raspberry Phyllo tart recipe. It looked easy. It looked quick and I totally changed it besides a few ingredients. All of my tarts were gone within the hour. So, here is my inspired recipe from Cooking Light.

Raspberry Phyllo Tart Recipe
1 (2.1 oz.) package of mini phyllo shells
4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted
1/4 cup raspberries
Crushed almonds and additional raspberries for garnish


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place shells on a baking sheet.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, honey, and almond extract.
4. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chopped almonds and the 1/4 cup raspberries. Mix until well combined.
5. Spoon in about 1 tsp of the cream cheese mixture into the Phyllo shells.
6. Bake the shells for about 5 minutes and rotate pan.
7. Bake the shells for another 5 minutes or until the cream cheese mixture is firm.
8. Remove the shells from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
9. Top the shells with crushed almonds and raspberries if desired.

 Recipe created by Jen of Sweet Morris.

 Did you already know...
-Another name for phyllo is filo or fillo. 
-The largest producer of phyllo products is Athens Foods.
-Phyllo dough has been produced since the Ottoman Empire but Athens foods have been producing it for over 50 years.

Chock Full of Nuts Cookies

I love nuts in my cookies. So, I was very glad this recipe was not previously picked the members of The Project Pastry Queen. If you take a cookie and add four different types of nuts to it, this is the cookie you would have. Any other type of nuts can easily be substituted to your taste but why mess with perfection. Please check out the other members to see if they substituted different nuts in their cookies.

The hardest thing about making this recipe was keeping my children away from the toasted macadamia nuts. Alright, I will admit I did sample a couple of them but it was only for quality purposes. I did half the amount of the almond extract but added the omitted extract to the vanilla extract. 

Chock-Full-of-Nuts Cookies
3 cups pecan pieces
1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups slivered blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. On a baking sheet, arrange the nuts in a single layer and toast them for 7 to 9 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Allow the nuts to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Chop the nuts into smaller pieces.
5. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
7. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat for 1 minute.
8. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat for about 30 seconds or until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
9. Stir in the nuts until combined.
10. Scoop the dough about the size of a gold ball onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
11. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes and the cookies are golden brown around the edges with no raw looking dough in the middle. 
12. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

The 6 1/2 dozen cookies will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container or frozen well wrapped for up to 1 month. 
Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. 

Did you already know...
-Hawaii grows 90% of the macadamia nuts worldwide.
-The macadamia nut is not native to Hawaii.
-A macadamia nut tree was first planted around 1881. 
-The macadamia nut originated from Australia.

Chicken Salad Roll Up

When I was growing up, I hated leftovers. I hated them. (I just wanted to make sure you knew how I really felt.) So, I think it is very strange I live in a household that like leftovers. If I make a nice meal, my husband will call on his way home to ask me if there is any left. 

The problem comes when I am trying to make two meals from one. I made this roast chicken which is popular in our household. I also planned to make chicken salad roll ups with the leftover chicken. I had to stress to everyone not to touch the leftover chicken. My husband later told me that he was glad he waited. It was hard but he was glad.

Chicken Salad Roll Up
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup light Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp mustard
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp tarragon
3 cups cooked chicken, cubed
1 cup slivered blanched almonds
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/4 cup minced onion
salt and pepper
4 tortilla

Directions:

1. Arrange the almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer.
2. Toast the almonds for 7 or until golden brown. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, lemon juice, tarragon.
4. Add the chicken, almonds, apple, celery, and onion to the  mayonnaise mixture.
5. Mix the ingredients until incorporated.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 
7. Place 1/4 of the filling in the center of the tortilla and roll. 

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen.

Did you already know...
-As a celebration to the Duke Duc de Richelieu's military victory over the English, the Duke's French chef created a feast in 1756.
-For the feast, the chef was making a sauce with eggs and cream but he didn't have any cream.
-The chef substituted olive oil for the cream and named it mahonnaise.
-The word mahonnaise was misprinted in a 1841 cookbook and the name has been known since as Mayonnaise.

Sand dollar cookies

I can't wait to head to the beach. I will admit I do not go into the Maine water. Would you? It is just too cold for me. However, my children have no problem. I would rather look for sand dollars. If I find one, I may not be quick enough in grabbing it then I will be hit by a wave but normally I get lucky. I am like the little kids who run away when the wave comes near them.

 Last year, we were at the beach and a sea gull actually swooped down close. It was able to take my oldest daughter's sandwich right from her hand. She screamed so loud. I thought it was so funny. It didn't happen again since she was prepared. The rest of the visit she would just keep watching them. She would just keep scanning the sky. She wasn't going to fall for that again. It didn't help that my son was afraid of birds at the time.

These cookies taste very similar to a snickerdoodle cookie. 

Sand Tarts
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs (1 egg needs to be separated)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp water
2 tsp ground cinnamon
sliced almonds, for decoration

Directions:

1. In a mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add 1 cup sugar and beat until fluffy.
3. Add into the butter mixture 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, vanilla, and the lemon zest.
4. Add the flour and salt to the butter mixture.
5. Mix on low speed until the dough comes together.
6. Shape the dough into a disk and wrap well in plastic wrap.
7. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or overnight.
8. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
9. In a small, whisk together the egg white and the water.
10. In another small bowl, combine the sugar and 3/4 cup sugar.
11. Roll out the dough on a clean, floured surface.
12. With a round biscuit cutter, (glass or other round object) cut round circles in the dough.
13. Place the circles of dough onto an ungreased baking sheet. 
14. Brush the dough with the egg white water.
15. Decorate each piece of dough with 3 almonds to look like sand dollars.
16. Sprinkle each pieces of dough with the cinnamon sugar.
17. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Rotate about 5 minutes of baking.
18. Remove the cookies from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Did you already know...
 -Sand dollars tend to live for 6 to 10 years.
-Sand dollars can move along the sand or burrow in the sand underwater.
-Live sand dollars can be found below the low tide depths of the ocean.