Pennsylvania  Dutch Streusel Cake with a  Fruit Filling

Have you ever made streusel  cake or streuselkuchen?  This is one of  the best.  Like most, this one has a  layer of fruit filling tucked under the streusel top.

Serve  it as a dessert or as a coffee cake.   It’s easy to make with premade pastry  fillings again which I get from Prepared Pantry.  The one in the  picture was made with a cherry filling but you can use any of the following  fillings:

• Cherry
• Apple
• Blueberry
• Lemon
• Raspberry

You  can also mix a fruit filling with a Bavarian cream  filling or a cream cheese filling,  about half of the cream filling and about half of the fruit filling, to make  fillings like cherry cream cheese or raspberry cream. Everything tastes better with music – so be sure to put on some – we like grandma music – which includes Love Song For My Child. By the way – if you click here you can download our coloring books – the first one is FREE!

Premade pastry fillings come in 2-pound tube packages.  Simply cut the corner and squeeze what you  need.  You will use about half of the  filling.  Fold the cut corner over and  put a clip on it.  You can store the  unused portion for six months in the refrigerator.

We  make this cake in a 9-inch springform pan, our Candy  Apple Red Silicone Springform Pan, because it has a double seal that  makes it virtually leak proof and because of the glass base that we can cut and  serve on.  You can use another springform  pan as long as it has a tight seal.

                  Ingredients

• 2  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup butter
•  1/2  teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
•  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
•   1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
•   1/4 teaspoon salt
•   3/4  cup buttermilk
•   1 large egg, whisked
•   1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
•    2  cups premade pastry filling
•   1/2  cup confectioners’ sugar
•   1/2 teaspoon vanilla or 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
•   1-2 tablespoons milk

                  Directions

Preheat  the oven to 350 degrees.

1. Mix  the flour and brown sugar together. With a pastry knife, cut in the butter  until the mixture is granular in appearance.   Measure and set aside 3/4 cup of the crumb  mixture.
2. Stir  the baking soda, baking powder, spices and salt into the remaining crumb  mixture. Form a well in the center of this dry mixture. Add the buttermilk to  the egg and add the extract. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well in the  dry mixture. Stir with a fork until combined. Do not over mix. Some lumps will  remain. Set aside about one cup of this batter.
3. Place  the batter (not the cup set aside) in the prepared pan. Spread it evenly across  the bottom and slightly up the sides with a rubber spatula.
4. Spread  the premade pastry filling over the center of the batter. Spoon the set aside  batter on the pastry filling in drops—it will not cover the filling but will  spread while baking. Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup crumb mixture over the  batter. (You will have four layers: batter on the bottom, then fruit filling,  then batter, and finally the crumb topping.)
5. Bake  for 45 to 50 minutes or until golden and the cake portion tests done with a  toothpick. Baking times will vary with different pans. Let the cake cool for  ten minutes in the pan on the rack. If you are using a springform pan, loosen  the edges and remove the ring after ten minutes.
6. Mix  the confectioners’ sugar, extract and enough milk to form an icing of drizzling  consistency. Drizzle over the streusel cake.

Quiches are a food that our grandchildren love. The french name for this delightfully flexible ‘pie’ makes a fancy dish from simple cooking. Easy to make and serve – and always thrilling to eat – change the ingredients to meet your fancy and be sure to remember when cooking with kids – let them help you! Here is a picture of Jonah helping to prepare broccoli and green beans to add to the quiche that he likes the best -which is not the standard one below – but could be with the addition of his favorite vegetables! Of course we are listening to Grandma Music! He loves Sam, The Broken Robot Song. By the way – if you click here you can download our coloring books – the first one is FREE!

Ingredients:
One unbaked prepared pie crust ( there are lots of varieties in your supermarket)

3 Tbsp of Olive Oil

2 white onions chopped

Italian Parsley ( or if you prefer you could use Fresh Coriander/Cilantro which my grandson Jonah LOVES!)

Other ingredients like peppers, broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, bacon cooked crispy and dry, chopped cooked chicken breast, crumbled goat cheese and so on

4 eggs

3/4 cup of Half and Half ( or light cream)

1.5 cups of grated gruyere cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees while heating the oil in a deep frying pan, then saute the onions in the oil until soft.

2. Add the raw vegetables if any and let them soften/reduce. Stir gently.

3. Add the parsley or cilantro and saute for a few more minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper

4. Whisk the eggs with the half and half/cream and add the gruyere cheese and a touch of salt and pepper to taste. Add the vegetables and stir gently to mix.

5. Place the pie crust ( which normally comes in a tin) on a flat baking sheet in case of spillage – and pour the mixture into it – until very full.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve with a fresh arugula and mint salad. YUM!

I love fresh peas. We used to grow them in South Africa and as a child I would go to the vegetable patch and stand and eat the sweet delicacies right out of the pod. In this recipe you will need to find fresh peas – which is the only difficult thing about it – the rest is easy. And cooking with kids means that they will open the pods and eat the peas as well as shelling them for you to cook! What fun.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup chopped chives
• 2 garlic cloves, minced – fresh is best but when in a hurry I will use ready prepared from the store
• 4 cups shelled green peas – this is fun to do with children but have extra on hand for snacking!
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chicken broth – I use Better than Bouillon
• 1 tablespoon honey – we use the honey from our bees – try to get pure organic honey since most honey is sugar water and NOT pure in stores
• Salt to taste
• Four large pieces of feta – crumbled (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint – we grow this – and its easy to grow in a pot in your kitchen! Try it sometime!

Directions: Put on your favorite song – mine is grandma music –  Start the world all over again. By the way – if you click here you can download our coloring books – the first one is FREE!

1. Saute the chives and garlic in melted butter in a pan just for a few minutes.

2. Add all the other ingredients except the minte and bring to a boil then reduce heat, and simmer until peas are tender.

3. Dont overcook – you probably need only 10 minutes for really fresh peas - remove from heat and put into a serving dish – then stir in the chopped mint.

4, We make our own feta – so love to add crumbled feta to the top of the peas, toss slightly and then serve. Yum! This could be a vegetarian main for those who also eat cheese.

A Very Simple Way to Make Very Good Cream Puffs

(Includes raspberry, cherry, and lemon variations)

If you can make cupcakes, you can make  cream puffs.  They’re that simple.  I don’t mean fancy, decorator cupcakes; I  mean bake-them-from-a-mix-and spread-frosting-on-them cupcakes.  They are not just amazingly good; they’re  easy. And again I am resourcing ingredients from my favorite supplier, The Prepared Pantry.

I  don’t remember when I had my first cream puff.   I was a kid.  I remember that they  were kind of mysterious—something magical.   I had no clue how they were made but I sure liked them.  Now I know how simple they are. And so you can make them with your children.

With  cream puffs, you can be a successful pastry chef—a magician in your own  kitchen.  They’re so easy, they’re  foolproof and so good that you’ll dazzle your family and friends. Of course its important to put on music while we cook – so we love to listen to the Happy Song which you can buy by clicking on this link - or buy the whole CD ( by download or in Sam’s Special Box) -makes us click our fingers and dance around the kitchen. What could be more fun than that! By the way – if you click here you can download our coloring books – the first one is FREE!

There  are three parts to cream puffs: the baked pastry shell, the Bavarian cream  filling, and the chocolate topping.  It’s  not just the combination of tastes; I love the crisp shell against the cool,  silky smooth Bavarian cream along with the melt-in-you-mouth chocolate.

Step 1:   The pastry shell.  The batter for the pastry is extremely  easy.  It’s only three ingredients excluding the water.  There is no  baking powder or yeast; these are leavened with steam.   The key in  baking the shells is to get your oven hot enough that the moisture will quickly  turn to steam expanding the dough until it triples in size and then baking them  just until they get a little caramel colored with crispy edges. I started making these when I was a child – and was thrilled and delighted that they came out every single time exactly as I wanted them to!

Step 2:   The filling.  Buy premade  Bavarian cream.  You can buy  it cheaper than you can make it and it’s a lot less trouble.  It comes in a two-pound squeeze pack.  Cut a quarter-inch off the plastic package,  insert the tube in the edge of a pastry, and squeeze.  You’ll feel the pastry become heavier and  start to swell as the Bavarian cream fills the pastry.  It’s the easy way to fill cream puffs.  It’s also the easy  way to fill cupcakes with pastry cream.        When  you’re through filling your cream puffs, fold the corner on the pastry bag  over, put a paper clip on it, and store the rest of your pastry cream in the  refrigerator for up to six months.  See what else you can make with pastry filings with this  free e-book.

Step 3: The chocolate.  You can use  any sweet, high-quality chocolate.  Chocolate wafers are made for candy making and  have a smoother grind and more cocoa butter than chocolate chips.  You can either dip your cream puffs in the  melted chocolate or spoon it over the top of each.  The hotter the chocolate, the thinner is the  coating.  If it is melted but not too  hot, you’ll get a thick layer of chocolate.

The Recipe

This  is the recipe for traditional cream puffs made with Bavarian cream and  chocolate.  Following are instructions  for making variations like raspberry, cherry, and lemon cream puffs.

Ingredients

1  cup water       1/2 cup butter (one cube)       1 cup all-purpose flour       4 large eggs Bavarian  pastry cream Chocolate  wafers or other good quality melting chocolate

Directions

1. Mix       the dough.  In a medium       saucepan on medium-high heat, place one cup of water and one stick (1/2       cup) of butter.  After the butter is melted, turn off heat and add one       cup all-purpose flour all at once.  Stir until the dough forms a ball       and flour is absorbed.
2. Place dough ball       in your stand-type mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed until       the dough starts to cool, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add the  eggs all at       once and mix on low speed until the dough absorbs the eggs and the dough       becomes very sticky. This will take about 8 to10 minutes.
3. Bake the cream puffs.  With a large       ice cream scoop (1/4 cup), spoon mounds of evenly spaced dough       onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake       at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and then turn the oven down to 350 degrees       for another 10 minutes. You can also use a small cookie scoop as shown in the pictures. You’ll just need to lower the baking time to 15 minutes at 400 degrees and then turn down to 350 for another 7 minutes.
4. Fill the cream puffs with Bavarian       cream.  If you are using a scratch recipe, make       a horizontal slit in the edge of each cream puff and slip a large spoonful       of cream into each cream puff.  If       you are using professional Bavarian cream,       insert the tip of the plastic bag into the edge of each cream puff and       squeeze.

Melt  the chocolate.  You can  do so in the microwave using 20 second bursts or in a chocolate melting pot.   Do not  overheat the chocolate.  You can either  dip the tops of the cream puffs into the chocolate or spoon chocolate over the  cream puffs.  Let the chocolate set  before serving.

The Family of Recipes:  Variations on  a Theme

Discover  a whole new world of cream puffs like raspberry cream, cherry cream cheese, and  lemon cream puffs.  You can make these by  simply varying the filling and the topping.

New Fillings for New  Cream Puffs

Professional  pastry fillings come in the following types:

• Bavarian Cream
• Chocolate Bavarian       Cream
• Cream Cheese
• Raspberry
• Blueberry
• Cherry
• Lemon
• Apple

Learn  more about professional pastry fillings.

While  you can fill your cream puffs with any of these pastry fillings, they just  don’t seem like “cream” puffs without the cream filling.  You can mix the cream fillings with the fruit  fillings to make a raspberry cream filling, a cherry cream cheese filling, or a  lemon cream filling.  You can do that two  ways.  You can mix raspberry and Bavarian  cream filling in a bowl and spoon your raspberry cream filling into the cream  puff pastries.  We don’t bother mixing  the two in a bowl.  Simply insert the  raspberry filling with a squeeze and then squirt Bavarian cream in through the same  hole.  The filling will be red streaked  with Bavarian cream but no one seems to mind; the streaks are attractive.

Adding a Frosting

The  topping doesn’t have to be melted chocolate.   You can top your cream puffs with melted white chocolate or with  frosting.  You can tint your frosting or  white chocolate with professional color gels and add flavors.

A  lemon cream cheese frosting on a lemon cream puff is delightful.  A raspberry cream filling and a raspberry  frosting tinted light pink is a favorite.   (We recommend Marsden and Bathe Flavors and Americolor Professional Food Color Gels to get your frosting the right flavor and color.  They are both reasonably priced and  Americolor comes in such a wide selection of colors like four shades of pink.)

We used this recipe:

3 oz. cream cheese       1 cup powdered sugar       1/2 t. vanilla or other flavor     milk

1. Whip the cream cheese until soft. Add the powdered sugar.     2. Stir in the flavor. Add enough milk and continue stirring until it reaches the desired consistency.

Slide Show of ScreenHeros

Do you remember when television came in a box on four legs? Well you will enjoy this slide show – do stay on it until the end with your speakers on – the last 2 slides are the critical ones- love to hear your comments. I have repeated those two slides here – they are so important for us to remember.

It is the Soldier

Not the President

Who gives us Democracy

It is the Soldier

Not the Congress

Who takes care of us

It is the Soldier

Not the reporter

Who has given us Freedom of the Press

It is the Soldier

Not the Poet

Who has given us Freedom of Speech

It is the Soldier

Not the campus organizer

Who has given us Freedom to Demonstrate

It is the Soldier

Who salutes the flag

Serves beneath the flag

Whose coffin is draped by the flag

That allows the protester to burn the flag

Father Dennis O’Brian

Chaplain, US Marine Corps

The program opens in Microsoft Powerpoint with sound. So if you have that software just click on slideshow from current slide or from beginning and it will begin to play. Take a moment out of your busy day to remember and give thanks.

In tribute to all of our women and men in uniform around the world who keep us safe, protect our liberty and create our democracy. We thank you.

I was thrilled when I tasted this amazing salad created by Executive Chef Gabriel Cruz – at the Royalton Hotel in NYC. You will love it! And my grandkids loved making it – so easy – of course when you put on great music such as Dancing in My Room - just throw all the yummy ingredients in! The effort goes into getting the ingredients – but Whole Foods or even ordering them on line – makes it easier! This was so delicious. Thank you Gabriel – and remember to call on the Royalton and sample this when you next are in the Big Apple!

Tuna Tabouli

2 oz Tuna Cubes (Sushi Grade)

3 pc Heirloom Baby Tomatoes Cut in Half

10 slices Persian Cucumbers

1/4 pc Shaved Fennel

1.5 tbsp Black Barley

1 tsp Golden Raisins

10 pc Mint Leaves

10 pc Parsley Leaves

1 tbsp Toasted Hazelnuts

1 oz  Lemon Oil

1 oz Lemon Juice

1/2 oz Olive Oil

Take all ingredients and place in mixing bowl and toss with lemon juice and oils. Season with salt and pepper to desired liking and serve..

Gabriel Cruz, Executive Chef, Royalton Hotel, New York City

For more great salads visit RockinGrandmaMusic.com/jicama

By the way – if you click here you can download our coloring books – the first one is FREE!

Hearty Beef/Chicken/Turkey Bean Meal in One Pot

Cooking in one pot is so easy. My grandchildren love it too – cooking with kids has never been so easy as when creating a one stop meal in a single pot! You can substitute ground chicken, turkey or veal for the ground beef – everything seems to taste wonderful. And if you prefer to make this vegetarian, use vegetable stock instead of water or chicken or beef stock, and leave out the meat product. Easy!  Below is my second grandson, Jonah helping to make the mashed potatoes (yukon gold plus yams and sweet potatoes) that accompany this dish. His favorite snacks are carrots and broccoli!

We love potatoes – and we grow them at The Little Farm. Our favorite is Yukon gold – along with sweet potatoes and yams.

Here is a very simple recipe which you can make with kids. Our grandchildren like to plop the cut potatoes into a big bowl of cold water while waiting for them all to be peeled and quartered – and of course, for the hot water to boil. Here is Jonah snacking on carrots while helping.

Ingredients:

• 6 yukon Gold potatoes peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 sweet potato – peeled and cut into thick slices (you will need a sharp knife they are thick and difficult to cut)
• 1 yam – peeled and cut into thick slices
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 cup of milk
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Chopped parsley for serving – optional

Description:

• Boil water with a dash of salt ( will make it boil faster) and then add all the potatoes being careful not to burn yourself from splashing water!
• Boil until soft then drain through a colander.
• Add to a cuisinart unless you like your mashed potatoes chunky in which case you can use a hand masher ( good exercise too!)
• Add the butter and milk – you can add more as you prefer to get the consistency of mashed potatoes that your family likes. We like it smooth!
• Add salt and pepper to taste

Serve with a little chopped parsley sprinkled on top ( optional)

I am so grateful that we have our own chickens and organic alpha omega eggs. The documentary FRESH will educate you about the food supply and the amount of really bad stuff that is in it. Buy organic – buy less if it is expensive – but only food that has NO antibiotics or additives – eat fresh fruit, vegetables and unprocessed food as much as possible – and all of it organic. Cooking with kids with organic ingredients and avoiding processed food means you are raising healthy children and grandchildren.

I recommend you get this movie – it is on Netflix on demand https://signup.netflix.com/home?mqso=80015652&mkwid=sTKO1SwZG&pcrid=6957683484&gclid=CJCP7cmTuK8CFQ2FhwodyUDPgQ&country=1&rdirfdc=true

The movie and the data in it, is very compelling. http://www.freshthemovie.com/  Here is the link. Below are the eggs that we eat every day from our chickens and quails. How blessed we are!

Yes kids will LOVE cauliflower after you serve them this! Cooking with kids can be such fun and when they help you prepare CAULIFLOWER – yes that vegetable that most kids have never eaten – they will gobble this up! Mine did!

I encountered this dish at the restaurant Abe & Arthur’s in NYC – designed by their executive chef and explained to me byGary Huddleston their Manager – the Executive Chef is Chris Cipollone and the corporate chef for Emm, The Restaurant Group is Franklin Becker. This is different from anything else I have EVER tasted – and its not hard either! Just look at this picture below – isn’t that scrumptious? I have quoted from Franklin Becker’s own words below:

+ ENLARGE

With this cauliflower recipe, you go big or go home.