This is the time of year we’re all groggy trying to
get used to the time adjustment really missing that
extra hour but it’s getting me more daylight!

Well St. Patrick’s Day is in the air too lots of
festivities this weekend and corned beef and cabbage
a plenty this week too. What Hubby looks forward to
most is the leftober recipes for the corned beef like
hash and reubens 2 of his favorite things. I never
used to like the hash because the can of it smelled
like dog foor do me…enter the homemade stuff which
I totally do and I like mine chunky and a little
on the crispy side so just cook it a little longer.
You could also use a food processor on the beef
depending on your texture preference. This really
couldn’t be easier to make so there is no need to
reach for that can of pasty hash. Always served in
our house with poached eggs.

Enjoy! Marzee

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RECIPE: HOMEMADE CORNED BEEF HASH

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INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cooked potatoes, chopped
1 1 1/2 lbs cooked corned beef, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Heat cast iron skillet over medium heat, add butter to
coat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft. Add
potatoes and corned beef, mix and allow to heat through.
Spread mixture in an even layer over bottom of skillet.
Cook for about 10 minutes. Flip the hash mixture in sections
and cook another 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Category: Breakfast, Leftovers, Holidays
http://www.thedailyrecipe.com

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MARZEE’s CORNER

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BASIC CORNED BEEF COOKING

To cook prepared corned beef, place it in a large pot
along with the liquid and spices that accompanied it in
the package. Pour in enough water to cover the beef, then
bring the water to a boil on the stovetop. Reduce the heat
to a simmer, and cover the pot. A three-pound corned beef
will take about three hours to become perfectly tender. Check
the meat occasionally, adding more water if necessary. The
beef is ready when it pulls apart easily. For a one-pot feast,
you can add shredded cabbage and chunks of potatoes and carrots
to the pot during the last half hour of cooking.

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Want to start your morning off bright? Don’t just reach
for the JAVA, cut off a big slab of this MORNING APPLESAUCE
LOAF. Now this recipe is a bit of a doozie on the will-
power simply because you cook it on such a low temp for
2 hours, then it really needs to sit for a good day
before you slice it but I’m telling you this is awesome
with coffee, tea, or milk. Don’t forget, good things
come to those who wait!

Enjoy! Marzee

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RECIPE: MORNING APPLESAUCE LOAF

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INGREDIENTS:
1 c shortening
1 1/2 c brown sugar, firmly packed
4 Eggs
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour, sifted
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts baking soda
1 1/2 ts salt
2 ts cinnamon
3/4 ts cloves
3/4 ts nutmeg
2 c canned applesauce, sweetened
1 1/2 c oats, uncooked (quick or old-fashioned)
1 c raisins
1 c pitted dates — cut in small pieces
1 c coarsely chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Beat shortening and sugar together
until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each
addition. Sift together 2 cups of the flour, baking powder,
soda, salt and spices. Add alternately with applesauce to creamed
mixture; blend well. Stir in oats. Combine remaining 1/2 cup
flour with raisins, dates, and nuts; stir to coat fruits and
nuts evenly with flour. Stir into batter. Pour into 2 greased
and waxed paper-lined 8-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ x 2-1/2″ loaf pans. Set a
pan of hot water in the bottom of oven before adding loaves.
Bake loaves for 2 hours. Loosen edges; cool on wire rack about
10 minutes. Remove from pans; cool thoroughly. Wrap cooled bread
in plastic and store one day before slicing.

Yield: 2 loaves
Category: Breads, Breakfast

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MARZEE’s CORNER

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BAKING WITH APPLESAUCE:

Doesn’t your family love it when you bake? Did you know
you can substitute apple sauce in place of oil to cut down
on the fat in your baking?

Just substitute 1 cup of apple sauce for one cup of oil,
butter, margarine or shortening. Believe it or not, you still
keep the same great taste and texture, but with a lot less
fat and calories.

I know you’ve been missing the bloopers and some of
you have been missing this ezine all together. Look
like we’re experiencing regular delivery again thank
goodness I appreciate your hanging in there with us
and the bloopers are back today too.

Well are you one that is up for trying new foods?
Zucchini bread was never something I wanted to try when
I was younger until I realized it was more like carrot
cake which I was equally amazed at was not just a
conspiracy to get me to eat something yucky. Now I
can’t get enough of it! I love the loaves but I’m such
a fan of the edges that muffins are even more appealing
and convenient for me. Give these muffins a try very
moist and perfect for anytime of the day. You could
leave out the nuts if you’re not a fan but I think it
needs the raisins.

Enjoy! Marzee

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RECIPE: ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

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INGREDIENTS:
3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch of salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine
the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini
and then the melted butter. Sprinkle the baking soda and
salt over the zucchini mixture and mix in. In a separate
bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir
these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in
walnuts and raisins. Coat each muffin cup in your muffin
pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a
spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the
cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle
rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the
muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to
30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo
skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done.
Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins
from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

YIELD: 12 Muffins
Categories: Breads, Muffins, Breakfast, Snack

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                  MARZEE’S CORNER

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     KITCHEN BLOOPERS SUBMITTED BY MY READERS

Well here’s a first. A triple-whammy from one reader
thanks “Lionmother”. I applaud your efforts! 

She writes… Here are three different times when I
 wanted to crawl under a rock for a recipe gone wrong.

“SCREAM OF TARTAR”

This happened a few years ago. My daughters and I wanted
to make dessert and we wanted to make whipped cream with
non-fat milk. I had heard that cream of tartar would
stiffen anything. So as the non-fat milk was being whipped
and after the vanilla and sugar were added it still wouldn’t
get thick. That’s when I got the great idea to add the cream
of tartar. The milk did turn into a creamy mass, but it
didn’t hold together. We added the cream of tartar and let
it sit. Then I mixed it in a little more. It was time to
taste it and ughh it didn’t taste like whipped cream.
Instead it had this awful chalky taste and even after I
had added other spices it didn’t go away. We had a horrible
taste in our mouths all night. Then I realized that cream
of tartar always needs to be warmed. Who knew? We decided
that we’d use real cream the next time. There are some
times when you shouldn’t try to cut calories in cooking.
“FRENCH ONION SOUP DISASTER”

I was making French Onion Soup a la Julia Child’s Complete
Guide to French Cooking for a dinner party with our friends.
I had cooked the onions to perfection and I made my own
stock as well. It was going to be amazing. I thought I was
following all the steps to the letter, but when I came to
the last step the recipe required me to put it under the
broiler after floating a crusty homemade crouton and
covering it with slices of cheese. The cheese was supposed
to get all bubbly and melt. Then underneath would be the
crusty crouton. 

So my guests arrived and everyone was waiting for the first
course. I had put it under the broiler only for about five
minutes, but in that time the soup had disappeared. When
I took it out of the oven the soup had been absorbed by
the crouton and the cheese was covering all of it with the
soggy crouton sitting on top of moist onions.

How could I serve this as soup? Being young, headstrong,
and childless, I decided to try it. I brought it out to the
table in a covered dish and when I took off the cover
everyone stared.

“What do you call this?” one of my friends asked. 
“I call it Cheesy Onion Bake,” I said.

Then I served it in bowls and everyone loved it. They
actually asked me for the recipe. But oh my god, Julia
Child would have been mortified.

I’ll never forget how long that soup had taken to make from
the sauteing of the onions to the making of the stock and
that was in addition to another two courses that I had made
for that meal.

“BRAISED ENDIVE TURNED HORRIBLY WRONG”

For another dinner party I made Braised Endive and it needed
to be put into the oven for a few minutes. I had never worked
with endive and had no idea how fast it cooked. So I was using
the same cookbook by Julia Child and left the endive in the
oven too long. When I took it out of the oven it had a layer
of black over the top. I couldn’t serve it at all. Unlike the
French Onion Soup I had no idea how to present this disaster.

And the winner of the cookie flavor from this week’s
reader poll is…. CHOCOLOATE CHIP COOKIES hands-down.
Voting will remain open on the site but I’ll be toting
a load of these to tomorrow’s picnic now that I know
what my ingredients list is ;o) my coworkers tummies
thank you too…will make a few with no chips for
my sonny boy ;o)

So we’re headed for a weekend of outdoors this weekend
hope I don’t melt! Picnic tomorrow, outdoor concert
later and hitting the Chicago Air & Water show Sunday
(along with the millions of other people that is).
This’ll be the first time we’ve been able to go for
some years and we’re looking forward to getting the
kids out there to experience  it, although looking at
the forecast I’ll be lugging a gallon of spf along so
we don’t all end up extra crispy.

We’ll be having to head out pretty early to secure a
decent parking spot for the show. We usually do a
grand family breakfast together on Sundays but this
one will be a “sweet roll Sunday” before we head out.
I just love the sweet smell of cinnamon in the morning
as a waker- upper too and this COBBLESTONE BREAKFAST
BREAD will do just fine with some piping hot coffee.
This is kind of a twist on something called monkey
bread or pull- apart bread where you toss cut up dough
pieces in a loaf pan and they bake into a loaf.
Ahhhhh….. can’t you just smell it now?

Enjoy! Marzee

Get ready next week we’re going to sneek a peek into
this cooking school in the Provence of France.

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RECIPE: CRANBERRY RAISIN GLAZED BREAKFAST BREAD
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INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 packages refrigerated dinner rolls
4 tablespoons buter, melted

Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons milk

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For bread, combine cranberries,
raisins and orange zest in a small bowl; mix lightly. In a
small mixing bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Unroll dough
and separate into 16 rolls. Cut each roll into quarters. In
a large bowl place half of the dough pieces and half of the
butter. Toss gently. Sprinkle with half of the sugar mixture
and toss to evenly coat. Place dough pieces in a loaf pan to
cover bottom of pan. Sprinkle half of the berry mixture over
dough. Repeat layers. Bake 40-45 minutes or until golden
brown. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Loosen bread from edges of
pan and remove to a cooling rack. Prepare glaze by combining
powdered sugar and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over
warm loaf.

Yield: 12 Servings, 1 loaf
Category: Breads

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                  MARZEE’S CORNER
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         PERFECT COFFEE TIPS:

What goes better with morning sweets that the perfect cup
of Java? Here are some helpful tips for better brewing:

Keep coffee in an air tight container and store in a cool,
dark place. Try the freezer! For best results buy the whole
beans and grind them yourself just before use.

If you notice any traces of chlorine, iron, or other minerals
in your water, use a quality bottled or filtered water.
* Softened or distilled water will effect the flavor of the
coffee and should not to be used.

It’s said the best water-to-coffee ratio is 1 tablespoon of
ground coffee or 2 tablespoons of whole beans for each 6
ounces of water. You be the judge.

NOTE: Boiling or reheating coffee literally boils away flavor.
A thermal carafe will keep the coffee hot for up to 2 hours
without losing any flavor.

The cream or sugar is a matter of preference so you’re on your
own there ;o)

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          Viral Videos on the Net at EVTV1.com
              http://www.evtv1.com

Height of blueberry season here and I’ve only gotten a
chance to go pickin’ at Sams Club. It just had to do but
there’s nothing like enjoying them plucked straight off
the vine. You can ALWAYS find some in the freezer section
of your grocery too but fresh or frozen these BLUEBERRY
STREUSEL MUFFINS are a breakfast treat that just can’t be
beat.

I also recently picked up a shaker of Wilton white
sparkling coarse sugar sprinkles which I shake on just
about everything I’m not doing a streusel topping for.
Got that at Michaels and I now keep it in my stock thanks
to their often weekly 40% off coupons. Other splurges I’m
a I’m a fan of are their different shakers of crunch
toppings for my chocolate dipped treats. Those are nice
to even have on hand for ice cream and cupcake toppings
or even that occasional sweet tooth attack where I just
sneak a shake…never let the kids see that ;o)

Enjoy! Marzee

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RECIPE: BLUEBERRY STREUSEL MUFFINS

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INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
2-1/3 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

< STREUSEL >
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

DIRECTIONS:
In a mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add egg; mix well.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed
mixture alternately with milk. Stir in vanilla. Gently fold
in blueberries. Fill 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups
two-thirds way full. In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour
and cinnamon; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over
muffins. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until
browned.

Yield: 1 dozen muffins
Categories: Muffins, Fruit

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                  MARZEE’S CORNER

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BLUEBERRY PICKIN’? Whether you’re pickin’ right from a
grower or in the produce section of the market, here are a
few tips to keep in mind.

Generally, the large berries are cultivated varieties and the
smaller berries are wild varieties. When selecting fresh
blueberries look for a dark blue color with a silvery bloom
for the best indication of quality. This silvery bloom is a
natural, protective, waxy coating. Buy blueberries that are
plump, firm, uniform in size, dry, and free from stems or
leaves. Avoid soft, mushy, or leaking berries.

Store fresh blueberries covered in the refrigerator and use
within 10 days of purchase. * wash just before serving.

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          Viral Videos on the Net at EVTV1.com
              http://www.evtv1.com