TRES LECHE.

Happy Birthday Darryl!!

We like to celebrate birthdays by treating the one celebrated with their favorite meal, and favorite cake, and special prayers and blessings.

This photo does no justice at all. So if this looks yummy, you still have no idea. 

Darryl's favorite cake just happens to be everyone's favorite also. A traditional Mexican dessert, Tres Leche (Three Milks) cake. Here is the recipe I got from my mom, who taught me to make this delish family fave. Both she and I have taken them as gifts to our favorite Mexican food providers with rave reviews. This year I also took one to some guys that Darryl has been working with who have been teaching him Spanish.  I was a bit nervous, but they loved it! It was and always is odd hearing your husband speak in another language to people and you have no idea what is going on and need him to also translate for you. Odd, but fascinating. It's like unlocking another person I didn't know who I was fortunate enough to marry. These friends, though, getting back to the cake, said they usually have some sort of topping on it like strawberries, pineapple, or pecans. And actually, pineapples and pecans together. Yum!

TRES LECHE RECIPE

5 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
1 c white sugar, separated 3/4 and 1/4 cups
1/3 c whole milk
1tsp vanilla extract
1c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1pt whipping cream, separated 3/4 and 1/4 cups
1 can evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9" spring-form pan with additional butter and flour. Beat yolks with 3/4 c sugar until light in color and double in volume. Stir in whole milk, vanilla, flour, and baking powder. In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add remaining 1/4 c sugar and beat until firm but not dry. Fold whites into flour mixture. Pour into prepared pan, then place in oven and bake 45 minutes until golden and center is springy. Cool 10 minutes. Prick cake all over (I like to use a chop stick). To prepare milk syrup, combine sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and 1/4 c whipping cream. Slowly pour milk mixture over cake until absorbed. Cool cake completely and ice with whipped cream made from remaining container with 1/4 c sugar. Refrigerate until time to serve.

The milk syrup. I like to ask people to guess what three milks are involved in making a Three Milk Cake. 

I get a lot of funny looks and responses, seeing as how many people know I'm currently breastfeeding. 

This year the whole prayer and blessing thing slipped my mind seeing as how I had a whole day of cooking and I haven't done a real meal without help in over five months. Sorry babe! So here's a little love note to make up for it. 

Darryl,
You are such a blessing to us. You keep on growing deeper in the Lord and it shows through your character and demeanor. You are an inspiration to all of us and the children greatly look up to you as their hero. I'm blessed to have you as a husband and partner. And although you may think you aren't perfect, you strive to do better and are willing to try and learn new things and that alone brings you close enough for me. We all love you. We respect you. We thank you for working so hard and so long and so much to take care of us. We look forward to you coming home every day. Thanks for standing by me and supporting me and loving me. I'm still so in love and we've only just begun.

XOXO
Meg and The Russell Sprouts

Best Brownies of My Life

When Darryl asks for brownies, I make it once again my quest to make the best ones ever. Recipe after recipe and tweak after yummy tweak I have eaten some tasty chocolately treats, but have sadly remained unsatisfied.

Until today!

 

Look how fudgey. Mmmm. 

I was going to just share the link, but I altered the recipe a bit and the original directions where weird and unnecessarily complicated. So I'm going to rewrite it and make it my own. Is that wrong? 

Just know that when you make these you will, along with an extra pound or two, probably get a cavity or diabetes. If you are still with us, then you must want these brownies as bad as we did! They're worth the risk, and if we can avoid making them often maybe we'll dodge the unwanted side effects as well.

Without further ado, here is the recipe.

BEST BROWNIES OF MY LIFE
1 ¼ sticks butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
2/3 cup  (heaping) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup (heaping) unsweetened SPECIAL DARK cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cold large eggs
1/2cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup walnut or pecan pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease 8" square pan.

In a saucepan, melt butter on medium low heat. Add sugar and cocoa powder and mix well. While still warm (but not hot), remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Add eggs one at a time stirring vigorously after each one.

Add flour and stir until all mixed in. Beat vigorously for 40 strokes with wooden spoon. If you using nuts, fold them in. Spread evenly in pan (can also just add nuts on top at this point instead of mixing them in if desired).

Bake until toothpick comes out slightly moist with batter, around 20-25 minutes. However, for me this was 28 minutes because my oven usually takes slightly longer. Cool on rack for 10 minutes. Cut and dust with powdered sugar if you like. Enjoooooooooy! And thank me.

Close up of the swirly goodness. 

Dark and lovely. Had to use the nice(r) camera for this because the grainy phone camera would not do it justice.  Still not the best but you get the idea. 

I'll be having one of these today because due to too much coffee yesterday I was up late making brownies. And as a result was so tired the next day and didn't get a nap. Just because the littles could sense my tiredness and all took  their nap in intervals which meant I didn't get one. Oh well, thank goodness I have these gems on hand!

Soft Boiled Eggs + easy peeling tip

Eggs! Well, not just eggs. But it has steadily become a staple around here especially in the wake of three back to back pregnancies. "Take two eggs and call me in the morning," my midwife would say. I got so used to eating two every day, that we all have come to start our day off with the wonderful little self packaged food. It used to be a weekend ritual to have Pancake Saturday and Big Breakfast Sunday. I'll talk about those another day. But since living in the deep south with my very southern husband, I've been learning to cook some of his favorite foods. Southern. I didn't eat a typical southern meal much when I was growing up (i.e. fried chicken, biscuits, grits, etc.) so a lot of this is new to me, even having worked at a southern diner. One of the things that has replaced pancakes lately is biscuits. And what do you put on biscuits? We put eggs!

There are so many things you can do with and egg. I was frying and scrambling them on the regular for a while until I had so many littles and decided boiling them was much easier and much less clean up. One day Darryl mentioned liking soft boiled eggs better than hard boiled. He said it was like getting the fried egg taste with the boiled egg convenience. Well that's something worth trying! After a few hits and misses I've determined the right size pan, water level, temperature, and duration to cook a half dozen of the perfect soft boiled egg (yes it all matters, but it's easier than it sounds). Something I'm doing almost daily now. Eight minutes seems to be the perfect number. Oh and if that pesky shell is keeping you from eating many boiled eggs, try this trick: put a teaspoon of baking soda in the water while you cook the eggs. The shells come off ridiculously easy. Even the littles can help me shell eggs, which they love to do!

Aside from eggs we have a few other things regularly and I'll share those in the future. Until then, try a soft boiled egg and tell me what you think!

Luke 11:11-13
New International Version (NIV)
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[a] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

No AC = Better living?

Just a thought. While our AC was down and out and it was hot I was reading about how to cope. I've had no AC before, but being pregnant put a whole new spin on it at night time! My favorite coping skill turned out to be taking a cold shower and going to bed soaking wet. I didn't learn anything new in my research, but I did find out there is a whole movement of people who are choosing to have no AC because of the benefits of being acclimated to the environment you live in. Even our AC repairman doesn't use his! Interesting! Apparently before we had widespread AC, the government took the Summer off. I remember going home from school early because our schools didn't have AC. It all made sense and we've gone without AC for years in the Summer but night times are especially difficult with two little ones and a prego mama! But one thing I did employ during that time was cooking without cooking: making dinners without using the stove or oven. I've done this a little before when I was young(er) and on a macrobiotic diet before going strictly vegetarian (for 12 years!) to try and ease some digestive issues. It's a lovely concept. But I'm not strictly on any kind of diet these days. I have to have my artificial flavor and coloring popsicle in the evening! We did a lot on the grill, which was fun, and tried to find recipes that didn't require heat and included produce from our yard. I've continued the practice a bit since the AC has come back on (hooray! *see left side of photo above). So I've included my favorite recipe for a chilled dish at the end of the post. It was adapted from a recipe in the Nourishing Traditions book. Tip: make extra and freeze to enjoy the yummy freshness all year round!

In other news, Jordan is at 4-H camp this week. It's a camp where they learn about hunting, fishing, canoeing, and more outdoor stuff. And it's so hot! Poor thing. We miss him and wish there was a webcam where we could see what he was up to! But we pick him up Friday and will hear all the stories through the weekend I'm sure. In the mean time, Darryl has been working on finishing the basement, along with a small crew. Har har! They love love love helping Daddy do stuff. And I enjoy watching from the stairs near the draft of AC.

So since we DO have AC now, we've been indoors a lot more than normal. I tell Zeke, it's too hot for mama! I'm sad I can't take him outside as often as they both would like, but it's hard enough staying hydrated and keeping my blood sugar up without all the heat. So we've been finding lots of fun things to do inside like dance to Putumayo Playground music, blowing the best bubbles ever, and lots and lots of playing, reading, and crafts. And..... I cracked open the dress up chest I've kept for years. I've collected vintage dress up items for years (since I was a teenager) hoping one day to watch my little ones have fun with them. Today was the beginning of that fun! The photo above has Haddie dressed in a dickie and Zeke has on white gloves. The photo below is of super fun cat eye glasses frames. I have about a half dozen of those and should really sell them, but I had to keep this one pair for times like these.

We're enjoying the Summer and hope you are. Stay cool, with or without AC! <3 The Russell Bunch

Pink Gazpacho
6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, quartered
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 green peppers, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 cup whole grain bread crumbs (I used oatmeal as a sub)
5 Tbsp red wine vinegar
5 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp tomato paste (I just used sauce as a sub)
sea salt and pepper
croutons, for garnish
green onion, finely chopped, for garnish
cucumber, peeled and finely chopped, for garnish

Mix ingredients to salt and pepper and blend adding water as needed to make a puree. Chill well before serving. Serve with croutons, finely chopped green onion and cucumber.

I like to also serve with steamed shrimp and cocktail sauce and a nice summery beverage. Enjoy!

Eating Our Yard

Yum! It's that time of year! Garden fresh veggies. We've lived in this house almost seven years and the garden has grown and grown, although I'll have to get the dimensions from Darryl. We're far from Dervaes status yet, but working on it! Truth be told, the past three years living on this property has been up in the air with the new county jail being built. Now that it's started we've thrown caution to the wind and let our back yard be mainly garden. We spend the majority of the time there - but that is another blog for another day. Currently we have (still!) kale, cucumbers, squash, beets, carrots, tomatoes*, potatoes, green peppers, cabbage, jalapenos, onions, and a variety of herbs in season! Soon we'll have blueberries, figs, and even later apples, grapes, sweet potatoes and blue pumpkins! We compacted the garden to have such a full variety and it's been working out quite nicely. We hope to have more room for more in the future so we can store and share and have more crops like corn and peaches. It's so nice to just go out in the back yard and pick wonderfully organic produce and bring it in to prepare for lunch or dinner! I'd like to have a goat and a couple chickens (as pets while we live in town *wink wink*) so we can have eggs and dairy. Eventually....


The kids love helping Daddy and Mama in the garden. Jordan enjoys the conversation more so than the labor, Zeke enjoys the manly labor, and Haddie enjoys the dirt. We all enjoy the end result. We're currently eating a lot of squash casserole and cucumber salad. I've included the simple recipes below for your cooking pleasure. 


On a side note: if you live near by and you have an abundance of produce from your own garden that you don't want to go to waste - donate it to BOLO! We have plenty of families who would love to have fresh garden produce. 


*The tomatoes are just beginning to ripen.


Squash Casserole
8 yellow squash, sliced
1 onion, sliced
8oz sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
Pepperidge Farm stuffing
butter
salt and pepper to taste


Boil the squash and onion until tender. Drain and squeeze out excess moisture. Mix with sour cream and cream of chicken soup with salt and pepper to taste. Put in casserole dish and cover with stuffing. Cut butter on top of stuffing. Bake on 350 until stuffing is golden brown. 


Cucumber Salad
cucumbers, peeled and sliced
tomatoes, sliced
onion, sliced
white vinegar
water
sour cream
dill
salt and pepper


Note: This recipe you got to wing a bit because I don't really measure it. I used to work at a bagel bakery as the prep cook and so I know how to eyeball this recipe but have scaled it down so don't have exact measurements. I base it on how many cucumbers I use. Also I like to peel the cucumbers with a little peel still on for color. 
Add cucumbers, tomatoes and onion to bowl. Pour 1:3 water. Add a big dollop of sour cream, salt and pepper and some fresh (or dried) dill. Mix and chill before serving. Great for cookouts!


XOXOX