Easter Eggs

Lots of my friends are becoming "chicken ladies" now. Luckily one of them lives only a couple of miles away. Last week when I was baking a birthday cake, I realized I had only 2 of the 3 eggs needed for the recipe - a quick text to the neighbor "eggs?", the reply - "on my way to town, I'll drop by with a couple of dozen". Who said living in the boonies was inconvenient?
We've learned some things about eggs since buying eggs from the farm instead of the grocery store. The selection is much more interesting! This winter when the hens took a vacation, I brought home eggs from the grocery store. When I opened the carton, ohh, they were all white and the same size - how dull! I've read that for dying Easter eggs brown eggs work best for absorbing the dye color. We are saving that project for next year when Granddaughter is older.
Another thing to know about farm fresh eggs is that they are that - fresh! That was very evident when I made Deviled Eggs last weekend for Easter dinner. Eggs which are not-so-fresh are much easier to peel. If you're buying them from the store, check the carton for the closest 'sell by' date. This is one time when buying the product that is less fresh is better.
From the King Arthur website I learned a few more tricks for hard cooked eggs. One I had not known, but will definitely use again is to prop the carton on its side in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. You may need to secure the top with a rubber band. This floats the yoke to the center of the egg, making a much more attractive deviled egg with the yoke-space to fill evenly in the center of the white. Cooking times for eggs are based on room temperature eggs. So take them out of the refrigerator to bring them to room temp before cooking. If you forget this step, allow them to set in a bowl of hot tap water for ten minutes.
Now here's a good plan for cooking the eggs to just the right firmness. What a mess to undercook the eggs you want to use for deviled eggs and end up with a weepy white and a gooey yolk. Not a safe product to eat either! Place the eggs in a single layer in the cooking pot and cover with water by about 1 inch. Bring to a rolling boil. Then remove the pan from the heat and cover with a tight fitting lid. This way the eggs will slowly cook in hot water. No cracked shells and poached whites escaping. Time is important, for medium eggs allow 12 minutes, for large 17 minutes, and for extra large 19 minutes. Then drain the eggs.
Place the eggs in a bowl of ice water to cool. This eliminates the green ring that can develop if eggs cool too slowly. When cool, peel and continue with your favorite deviled egg recipe or refrigerate to use within a week. An easy way to peel the egg is to tap the flat end on a hard surface to crack it and peel under cold running water. Even with using the fresh eggs I had this made peeling easier and only a few wore a mangled surface.
Deviled eggs are a favorite no-think covered-dish-to-take. And there are never any left to bring home! Glad I found that article by King Arthur Flour to learn more about eggs!

Strawberry Birthday Cake

Not the best photo. It was eaten so quickly,
I hardly had time to snap a pic!

This is the season of birthdays for our family! This year's March baking includes  Shamrock Poke Cake, Lemon Bars, Carrot Cake, Coconut Cream Pie, and an added special cake for a sister-in-law. I was glad to have that excuse to make this Strawberry Cake that I'd tasted at church coffee time a few weeks ago. It has a fresh strawberry flavor that is light and refreshing for the season.

Best Strawberry Cake

           

Cake Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) container fresh strawberries

1 (16.5 oz) package white cake mix

3 eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 (3-oz) package strawberry flavored instant gelatin

Icing Ingredients:

¼ cup butter (½ stick), room temperature

4 oz. cream cheese

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon strawberry flavored instant gelatin (reserved from cake)

2 tablespoons strawberry puree

Cake Instructions:

1.     Wash and hull the strawberries and gently puree them in a food processor until chopped well but not liquefied. This will probably produce more puree than you need, but if not add enough water to make 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons.

2.     Preheat oven to 350° F. and lightly spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, mix together cake mix, eggs, and vegetable oil until well combined. Open the gelatin and measure out 1 teaspoon to save for the icing. Pour the remainder of the gelatin and 1 cup of strawberry puree into the batter and mix well.

3.     Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.

Icing Instructions:

        In a large bowl with a mixer, cream together butter and cream cheese until well combined and all lumps are gone. Add vanilla and mix well. Slowly add 3 cups of powdered sugar separately mixing well after each addition. Add 2 tablespoons of strawberry puree and reserved 1 teaspoon of strawberry gelatin and mix well. Add additional powdered sugar if the icing is too thin. Spread over cooled cake. Store in the refrigerator.

More Beef - Tangy Roast Beef

Whatever your hobby or occupation is, isn't it fun to get a new 'gadget'? A new tool, piece of equipment, appliance, or as my husband says "a new toy". My new 'toy' this spring is an electric pressure cooker. I've been hearing about them and seeing mentions on-line, so I did some research and decided this would be perfect for making meat preparations quicker and for making my steel cut oats without 30 minutes of stirring on the range. It does all that and more.
Last week's trial with the new appliance was for Southern Tangy Pulled Roast Beef. An adaptation of a popular recipe I've been seeing frequently. This makes a super tender beef entree and is seasoned with pepperonis for a bit of spice. We didn't 'pull' or shred the roast, just served it with the usual potatoes and veggies. It didn't last long enough to become pulled beef sandwiches.

                               

                       Southern Tangy Pulled Roast Beef 

3-4 pound chuck roast
1 package Ranch dressing (dry)
2 Tablespoons beef bouillon powder mixed with warm water
1/2 stick of butter
1 jar Pepperonis

Place 4 peppers in the bottom of the cookie pot first. Then place the roast on top of them. This lifts the roast off the bottom of the pan to prevent burning and overheating.
Sprinkle the Ranch dressing mix over the roast and add the beef bouillon mixture. Place a few more pepperonis on top of the roast, and around it. Pour 1/4 -1/2 of the pepperoni liquid into the pot. Put the butter (I sliced it to distribute it) directly on top of the roast.
That is it! Now place the lid on the pressure cooker and cook. I determined that 1 hour was the correct time according to similar recipes in my instruction book. Including the prep, time to come to pressure, cooking time, and vent/cooling time the roast was ready in about 90 minutes.

I'm excited about trying other things with my new 'toy'. So far it has done very well with the oatmeal and with other meat dishes I've done. Ask me more if you're considering getting an electric pressure cooker!

March is Ag Month

After lunch, more left for later in the week!

March has been declared Kansas Agricultural Month. Here, in this family, on this ranch, every day is Ag Day! Agriculture is still our state's largest economic driver and a strong tradition throughout the state. Beef is our main agriculture product, and that of many ranchers in Kansas. Kansas has 6.1 million head of cattle (compared to 2.9 million people). Beef is a nutritious choice, providing a high quality protein (helps preserve and build muscle), zinc (healthy immune system), iron (helps the body use oxygen), and many other nutrients. Beef is also an economic choice. Ground beef is one of my go-to's for a variety of recipes. It can be fancy - bacon wrapped patties or lasagna, or simple - sloppy joes or meatloaf. Ground beef adapts well to any cuisine, whether you're hungry for Italian, Mexican, or Asian. 
In honor of Ag and Beef, and Rancher's birthday today, I'm sharing our favorite meat loaf recipe. Easy and satisfying. We often have this on Mondays to also have leftovers and meatloaf sandwiches later in the week. 

Meatloaf

2 pounds ground beef

2 eggs
1 cup oats (quick cooking)

1 tablespoon dehydrated minced onion

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 can (6 oz) tomato sauce

Mix ingredients together, form into loaf pan and top with garnishes of catsup and french-fried onion rings. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Let set 10 minutes before cutting. 

For a 'fancy' meat loaf, I put one-half of the meat mixture in the loaf pan, spread sour cream and sliced mushrooms over the meat, and top with the other half of the meat mixture. 

The next best thing about Meatloaf Monday, is Sandwich Tuesday! A slice of cold meatloaf fits a sandwich just right, add mustard and pretzels for my favorite lunch.