SpruceHill

I got to meet Pioneer Woman!

Yes that's right I got to meet Pioneer Woman last Sunday. My Sister-in-law, Pam and I headed up to West Chester PA where my brother and his family live. It is only an hour drive and we both decided it would be a fun thing to do on a Sunday. Who needs to shop, wrap and bake when PW is an hour away?

We headed out early in the morning around 8 am. We wanted to get to the book store when it opened to get a good number. On the way to PA we encountered a bit of dicey weather. It was raining pretty steadily and the temperatures hovered around freezing. As I pulled out of my road at 8 in the morning and saw that it was closed due to an accident I should have been a bit worried. I thought Maybe it would be slow going from there. We passed a total of 3 over turned cars on the drive up to PA. My Sisiter in law was at the wheel and delivered us safely. She did a great job driving and we had no problems getting there.

We hustled into the store and grabbed our books we wanted to purchase for signing and the kind woman at the counter told us that there were better numbers at the back counter so we ran back and got the number 16! I was so excited to have such a low number. We walked around the store for a bit. I had talked to one of my Bloggy friends Dot O about coming to the signing and it just so happened that she was planning on being there as well. While we walked around I found her eating at the little cafe attached to the store! Dot O is the first Bloggy friend I have met in person. It is strange knowing a lot about a person on-line and communicating through face book and twitter with someone and never really meeting them in person. Dot and I hit it off like we had met before. It was really cool!

We saved seats next to each other by the podium and were lucky enough to be in the second row. We took pictures of each other at the same time :)

It was amazing to me how many people were there.

I snapped a bunch of pictures of the crowd. I was giddy at this point and a little sweaty.

All I could think at this point was holy shmoly I am sitting this close to wear PW will sit! My heart was palpitating.

Then they announced her and she glided out from behind a book shelf and I almost passed out. Not really I clapped.

She looked so pretty and stylish and tall. She said her outfit was inspired by Stevie Nicks. She Rocked it.

She talked for a short time about her tour and the ranch and then answered some questions. Someone asked her to sing.

So she did! I'm working on getting the video from My Sister in law. She taped it.

 
Then she sat down like a southern lady and they called the first 20 numbers to line up and that was us. So we stood in line. I met some nice ladies standing in line that had traveled from Washington DC and Baltimore. They made PW a lovely T-shirt.

 
 As we got closer I got more nervous. I was hoping that I would not trip and fall or say something inappropriate.

Pam got to meet her first.

Then it was my turn, I leaned down to talk to her and tell her my name. I said "Hi Ree I am Spruce Hill!", and she said You are Spruce Hill? I said "Well yes I am!" I asked her to sign the book for my give away and then she signed my personal cookbook. She said "Your name is Sarah right?" And my jaw dropped to the ground and I felt a bit light headed. After all of the many people she has met on her tour I couldn't believe she knew who I was! I had sent her a few e-mails when she started her recipe site Tasty Kitchen and she helped me with my password, and was lucky enough to be a featured member and have had a few of my recipes featured too.

I handed Pam my camera and she snapped some pictures for me. Then Ree gave me a hug and told me it was nice to meet me.  She is so nice and gracious, I was so happy I got to meet her in person. It made my year!

Now my life is complete! I have met Pioneer Woman. Thanks Ree for traveling around the country, spending time away from your family to come out here to see your fans. It means a lot to us all.

Don't forget to visit my cookbook giveaway post. Leave a comment, I will be randomly choosing a winner on Thursday after 12:00 noon EST. The cookbook is beautiful and is filled with all your favorite PW recipes and some new ones too!

  

   

Toffee Crunch Caramel Cheese Cake

Last week I asked Miss E what she would like for her birthday cake. I was really surprised when she said caramel cheese cake. One reason was that I have never made one before, the second is that she is my cake girl. She loves making cakes and decorating them. As soon as she said caramel cheese cake I was on-line trying to find a recipe. I didn't find one I liked so I made one up. Here it is

 The ingredients

• 32 ounces, weight Cream Cheese
• 4 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tablespoons Whipping Cream
• ½ cups Brown Sugar
• ¾ cups Toffee Pieces
• ½ cups Caramel Ice Cream Topping
• 1-½ cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
• 4 Tablespoons Melted Butter
• 1 cup White Sugar Plus 2 Tablespoons For Crust

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs melted butter and 2 tablespoons of sugar. After mixing well, press into the bottom of a cheesecake pan; set aside

I have to say that I just love my cheese cake pan. I know I am such a food geek but I do. It is made by Calphalon. If you do not have a cheese cake pan go out and get one you will not regret it.

In a large bowl, combine room temperature cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, whipping cream, brown sugar, and remaining 1 cup white sugar.

 
Beat until smooth and creamy. Add toffee pieces and mix together on low speed until combined with the other ingredients.

 
Pour batter into the cheesecake pan and cook for 1 hour at 350F.

 
It turned out to be so good! After I let it cool I took it out of the spring pan and poured the caramel all over the top. I just bought a bottle of caramel ice cream topping in a squeeze bottle. It is the perfect consistency for the cake topping. If you like you can make home made caramel but this was quick and easy and very good.

After we sang happy birthday to Miss E I did a quick photo shoot of my piece. It was a very quick photo shoot. I could not wait to eat it. Cheese cake is one of the easiest desserts to make. Do not be intimidated by the cheese cake, embrace it, enjoy it, eat it, you will not regret it.  

In Search Of the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie.......

 
I have searched and searched for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. I have to admit that I have about 10 or more recipes in my recipe binder. But you see there is a problem. I have had the best Chocolate chip cookie of my life, but there is a catch. The person who makes them refuses to give out the recipe. Don't you just hate that? I do, I don't understand it one bit. Ever since I bit into that cookie or I should say cookies. I have been searching to replicate them. No luck so far but I recently found one that comes close.

The Ingredients

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter softened
1 1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (12 oz.) bag semisweet chocolate chips (2 c.)

1. Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.

  

 
2. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

 

 

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chocolate chips until incorporated.

 

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 seconds. Mix in the chocolate chips until incorporated.

 

 

 

4. Using two spoons  scoop the dough into balls and lay on two baking sheets, spaced about 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake until the edges are golden but the centers are still soft and puffy, 15-20 minutes, rotating and switching the baking sheets halfway through baking.

5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then serve warm or transfer to a piece of parchment paper and let cool completely.

In the recipe that I am trying to replicate, the cookies are gigantic mounds of cookie and chocolate. I can't seem to get close to the consistency but these are well worth trying. They made about

 

In the recipe that I am trying to replicate, the cookies are gigantic mounds of cookie and chocolate. I can't seem to get close to the consistency but these are well worth trying. They made about 50 nice sized cookies. I also added about a cup of white chocolate chips to part of the mix.
 

 

 

Something Sweet

I am not sure why it is but I have been craving sweets and baked goods lately. My eldest daughter even commented about it the other day. It must be the cooler weather that fuels my endless need for sugar and comfort.

I made this Pumpkin Custard Crumble the other day. It just kind of whipped it up after looking at several recipes I didn't really like. I posted it earlier in the week on Tasty Kitchen and it was chosen as a featured recipe the next day. If you would like a printable recipe click on the first link.

• 1 can (15 Oz.) Pureed Pumpkin
• 1 can 12 Oz. Evaporated Milk
• 3 whole Eggs
• 1-½ cup Sugar, Divided
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• ½ teaspoons Ginger
• ¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
• ⅛ teaspoons Nutmeg
• 1 box(es) (about 18 Oz.) Yellow Cake Mix
• ½ cups Brown Sugar
• 1 stick Butter, Melted

I started with the recipe on the back of the libby's pumpkin puree, it is my regular pumpkin pie recipe that I always use. I added some ingredients too it and jacked it up a bit. Here is what I did.

 
In a large bowl combine eggs, pumpkin, evaporated milk.

 
 1 cup of sugar, and spices. Whisk together and pour into a greased 8×12 baking dish.

 
In a separate bowl, combine cake mix, brown sugar and remaining 1/2 cup white sugar. Add melted butter and mix together until it becomes crumbly. Sprinkle generously all over the top of the pumpkin mixture.

 
 Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, making sure the top is nice and brown and crisp.

 
Eat with ice cream or just a dab of whipped cream on top. It is a great dessert for a cold and nippy fall weekend, Enjoy!

Chicken and Dumplings the perfect comfort food

The other day I needed to make some comfort food. I had two home with the flu and they needed something warm and good in their belly's. So I made chicken and dumplings.

Ingredients

• Two carrots sliced
• Two ribs of celery sliced
• One whole small onion
• 2 TBS of butter
• Three large chicken breasts
• 5 Cups of chicken broth
• 1 can od cream of chicken soup
• two tablespoons of flour mixed with 1/4 cup of hot water
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 TBS Herbs de Provence

Dumplings

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1 cup of buttermilk

 
  
In a large soup pot melt butter and add chopped onion, cook until translucent about 5 minutes. Add the sliced carrots and celery cook until tender.

  
 
 Lay your chicken breasts on top of the cooked veggies and then pour the chicken stock over the top. Let this simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and falls apart with a fork. Take chicken out of the pot and shred it into pieces with a fork place back into the pot.

 
Add cream of chicken soup, flour and water mixture, salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence. Stir everything together and let simmer for about 45 minutes to let the flavors seep into the chicken.

Now it is time to make the dumplings. In a nice sized bowl measure out your dry ingredients, tossing them together. Add the butter and cut it into the mixture with a fork until it reaches a crumbly consistency. Now add the buttermilk and mix with your hands until it makes a nice ball.  When the stew is finished simmering roll small balls of dough with your hands and drop them on top of the stew, leaving a bit of room for them to rise. I always leave a small part of the pot uncovered for those members of my family who do not like dumplings (Picky kids!). I make biscuits with the left over dough. Just rolling the left over dough out and cutting them into nice round biscuits, great with a bit of homemade jam on top. I had both dumplings and a biscuit.

  
  
Let the dumplings simmer covered in the pot for about 15 to 20 min. Then It is ready to dish.

 
This is the perfect recipe for a chilly fall weekend. Enjoy!

H1N1 has hit our area very hard. Little E and Miss H are feeling much better!