Beignets, Bacon, and Southern Snow Days

I've recounted in past posts on this blog about the magic that is a Southern snow day.  When we were poor students in Utah, there was plenty to hate about the frigidity that dictated our footwear choices from September through May.  By the time we hightailed it out of there in an overflowing Uhaul, I had come to detest the beautiful snowflakes that eventually turned to less attractive mounds of ice and slush and covered every square inch of . . . well, everything.

In contrast, I can really get behind snowfall in the South.  I know it will melt in a day or two, and in the meantime, we get lots of extra snuggles by the fireplace.  

We've now had two snow storms hit Raleigh this year, back to back.  And while I'm going slightly cray-cray, stir crazy, could really use a trip to the gym, and kind of desperately want Kaden to go to preschool at least one day this week, I'm enjoying it.  

Kaden embraces the idea of snow so fully that he prays that the snow and ice will never, ever melt.

                        

I kind of hope God chooses not to answer his prayer.

Everett, on the other hand, isn't so sure about the idea of a winter wonderland:

Every year, to celebrate the first snowfall of Winter, we make and eat our traditional beignet and bacon breakfast.  Today is your lucky day, because I'm sharing our recipe with you.  

 First Snow Beignets 
Adapted from Paula Deen's French Quarter Beignet Recipe

3/4 cup very warm water
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/8 tsp. yeast
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 plus 1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3 1/2 cups bread flour (Trust me.  Use bread flour!)
1/8 cup shortening
1/2 - 1 cup powdered sugar for topping
Oil for frying (Yes, I said frying.)

1.  Preheat oven to 170 degrees.  Once it's preheated, turn it off.    

2.  Combine water, sugar, and yeast together in a large bowl.  Let the mixture sit for ten minutes, or until foamy.

3.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs.  Add salt and evaporated milk.  Add this mixture to the yeast mixture.

4.  Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour and stir to combine.  Add the shortening and continue to stir, while adding the remaining flour.  

5.  Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth. 

6.  Place dough in a metal bowl that has been sprayed with PAM cooking spray. (I only use Pam.  It's true.  PAM is not paying me to say this.  Perhaps they should.)  Wet a clean kitchen towel with warm water, ring until just damp, and cover bowl.  Place towel-covered bowl in the warm oven for two hours.  (Remember, the oven should have been turned off after it reached 170 degrees.)

7.  Preheat oil in a saucepan.  (Or, if you are truly Southern born and bred, you may have a contraption called a deep fryer.  If so, feel free to use that.) You want the oil nice and hot, but not too hot, or you'll end up with scorched beignets that are doughy in the middle.   

8.  Roll out the dough (half of it at a time) to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut into squares (or mostly squares plus a few rectangles, if you're a former English teacher and geometry isn't your strong suit).

Toss them into the hot oil, a half-dozen at a time and deep fry them, flipping constantly, until golden brown.  Drain briefly on paper towels, before tossing into a bowl of powdered sugar and shaking furiously.  (My Pampered Chef batter bowl works perfectly for this!  I love that I can dump the doughnuts in while they're still hot.  I used to use a plastic bag, but I'd have to let the doughnuts cool almost completely, or they'd melt it.  This batter bowl has an airtight lid, so I can dump them in and shake it.) 

9.  Repeat this process until you have a bowl of sugary, delicious, New Orleans'-style doughnuts waiting to give you Diabetes.  

Stop and devour with the bacon that you've baked in the oven.  Wash the feast down with your favorite homemade hot chocolate.  

10.  Fry up the remaining doughnuts, sugar them up, and share them (while still hot) with the neighbors, who are likely sledding outside your door.  (If you're better than us, share your bacon.  But bacon and leftovers never coincide in this household.)

Do you have a favorite food to eat on snow days?    

Strawberry Picking

When the strawberries are ripe in North Carolina, it starts to feel like it is officially summer.  We went with a couple of our favorite families to a local strawberry farm this week and had a great time picking.  

Kaden in particular had a great time.  Eating.  His mouth was covered in berry juice by the time we were done.  More than once, when I proudly showed him a perfectly red berry, he snagged it and proclaimed, "Oh!  Good! I will eat it!"  before plopping it into his mouth.  I sure hope the farmers factored in preschooler taste-testing to their price per bucket.  With Kaden's berry consumption in the field alone, I'd say we got our money's worth.  

He didn't just eat though.  In true Kaden fashion, he was a great helper.  I hope his work ethic sticks.  He is the best little worker bee.  It makes me so proud.

Everett helped by staying super happy as he off-roaded through the strawberry field.

Had to get a closeup of those dreamy thighs:

 Mia agreed.  She had to give them a good caress after the picking was over:

My friend, Rachel, has the sweetest boys.  They love babies.  Little boys who love babies.  Is there anything cuter?  I think not.  

Even after all the snacking in the field, Kaden couldn't wait to sink his teeth into more strawberries.  Which is why he is pictured below smuggling some from the Pearson's stash.  Ours were already packed away in the car at this point.

It was the perfect night, with the perfect company.  

When Chad went to pay, the lady complimented us on our strawberry picking skills.  "I can tell you've picked strawberries before," she said.  "Why yes, farmer lady, we have.  We have indeed."  And we know how to pick them perfectly ripe, red,

and ready for strawberry freezer jam (which always makes me think of my Grandma Jensen).

With a few left over to make something delectable, fancy, and scrumptious, of course.  I made a strawberry shortcake cake to welcome Chad's brother, Cameron, back from BYU.  You can find the recipe for this beauty here.  And, in my humble opinion, she tasted every bit as good as she looked.

Which is why I quickly shared the leftovers, before I finished it off myself and went into a cake coma.

And now that the strawberries are ripe, it's time for the humidity to commence.  Which excites me about as much as the memory of this.

Tacos Al Pastor

I really love to cook, and I like to tell myself that I'm usually pretty good at it.  So I find it incredibly annoying that I usually bomb in the crock pot meal department.  The slow cooker niche is supposed to be fail proof, yet nine times out of ten my family hates what I make in that stupid thing.  Case in point:  I made crock pot mac and cheese a couple of weeks ago in the slow cooker.  I thought it would make the perfect lunch leftovers for the next few days.  We threw away the leftovers.  It was that disgusting.  Mac and CHEESE for Heaven's sake!

Given my track record, you'd think I would give up, but I just can't.  I'm a busy woman, and the idea of a fix it and forget it meal that actually tastes good keeps me on the prowl for new recipes.

I grew up out West, so I have high standards when it comes to Mexican food.  Since moving to the East Coast, most visits to Mexican restaurants leave me unsatisfied, and salivating while I dream of eating at Inca's or at Tacos el Rey's (the Mexican restaurants of my youth), or something from a Spanish Branch activity.

We finally found one Mexican restaurant that we actually like here in Raleigh.  Our favorite item on the menu by far are their tacos al pastor (pork and pineapple tacos).

Well, one day I realized I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer and two fresh pineapples on the counter.  I was also craving tacos al pastor.  It was meant to be.

A Google search later, I had a few recipes which I combined to create a crock pot masterpiece:  my homemade version of tacos al pastor.  A fix it and forget it meal that actually TASTES good.  Oh, and as an added bonus you can freeze the leftovers, which ALSO actually taste good after being reheated.  That's like a three for one deal or something.

You're welcome.

Crock Pot Tacos Al Pastor

What You'll Need :

• One three pound pork shoulder, roast, or tenderloin  (I used tenderloin.)
• 2 chipotles in adobo sauce (found in the ethnic food aisle at the grocery store)
• One 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple (juice and all) or 2 cups of fresh pineapple, chopped
• 1 cup sweet onion, diced
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed 
• 1.5 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 packet of taco seasoning

How to Make It:

1.  Grease the crock pot with a little cooking spray.

2.  Put pork in crock pot (fat side up).

3.  Mix all remaining ingredients together, and dump on top of waiting pork.

4.  Cover and cook on low for a bazillion hours, until the meat is tender and falling apart.  Shred.  Then let it cook some more.  (Probably at least 8 to 10 hours total.)  

For Topping the Tacos:

• 1 fresh pineapple, grilled and diced
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1/4 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 lime, juiced

1.  Cut the pineapple into long wedges and grill for about 5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.  (For convenience, I just did this on a grill pan inside.)

2.  Combine equal parts grilled pineapple, red onion, and cilantro.  

3.  Drizzle with lime juice.

4.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

When your meat is ready to go, serve on warm tortillas, top with black beans, a generous helping of the grilled pineapple salsa, diced avocado, and crumbled queso fresco (DON'T SKIP THIS!  It's essential.) Serve with lime wedges for squeezing.  

*If you choose to freeze the leftovers, do so in an airtight container.  When ready to reheat, thaw the meat in the refrigerator overnight.  Reheat in a saucepan on the stove top, with a little water added to keep it moist.  Add the fresh toppings and these tacos are as delicious as they were during round one!  

**If you want to get really ambitious, you could even make your own tortillas.  Let's not even talk about how delicious THAT would be.  My favorite recipe for those is here.  (In my opinion, they taste just like Cafe Rio's, if you're familiar with that fresh Mexican chain.)  

***Recipe adapted from the one originally found here.

If you try them, let me know what you think!