SUMMER TIME SEASIDE TABLESCAPE

Another great buy from Evelyn's! This beautiful piece of yellow pottery is just what my house needed! It along with assorted seashells, Becki's vintage green glasses and my lighthouse dishes (thanks Bonnie & Danny) make a wonderful casual but pretty tablescape for us to enjoy while eating dinner.

The table is one that Frank made years ago and I hand painted. It is not necessary to spend a great deal to decorate your table or house as this design shows... I simply pulled various objects from my china closet, the craft room and borrowed from Becki to help pull it all together.

ITALIAN STYLE POT ROAST

Ingredients


2 cups beef stock
Salt and pepper
1 (4-pound) beef chuck roast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
1 finely chopped carrot
1 finely chopped celery stalk
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
5 cups red wine ( I substituted grape juice and then used 1 tsp of vinegar to cut the sweetness)
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and crushed

Directions

Season the beef with salt and pepper. In a large skillet or sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat until hot but not smoking. Brown the beef on all sides, about 15 minutes total. Transfer the beef to a plate. Pour off browning fat. Add onions, carrots, and celery, stirring, until they are golden. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in bay leaves, rosemary, basil, and tomato paste. Add the wine/juice and simmer until it is reduced by half, about 20 minutes.

Add the beef, tomatoes, and enough beef stock to come 2/3 up the side of the beef. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook at a gentle simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the meat is tender. Turn the roast every 30 minutes or so.

Transfer the meat to a plate or shallow pan and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Skim off any fat from the surface of the liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer until it is slightly thickened; add salt and pepper. Slice meat and return to sauce. Serve with Herbed Polenta.

HERBED POLENTA

6 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup grated Parmesan
3/4 cup whole milk
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring the water to a boil in a heavy large saucepan. Add 2 teaspoons of salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the cheese, milk, butter, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and pepper, and stir until the butter and cheese melt. Transfer the polenta to a bowl and serve.

CAPPUCCINO CUPCAKES

My house smells wonderful.... like your local coffee house, coffee shop; the smell of these cupcakes is beyond belief! So is the flavor... the first batch I tried didn't have the right texture to suit me so I tried again, this time with my normal Betty Crocker cake mix.

If there is a Cappuccino drinker in your family, do them a huge favor and mix up a batch of these, and don't worry the frosting is a simple buttercream that takes mere minutes to mix up.

1 box Betty Crocker Vanilla cake mix

1 tsp fine ground coffee
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 1/4 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs

Follow package instructions, adding the ground coffee and cinnamon to the dry mix. Stir instant coffee into the water before adding to the dry ingredients.

Bake per instructions and allow to cool before frosting with the Coffee Buttercream.

COFFEE BUTTERCREAM

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups confectioners sugar - sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 1/2 cup water

Bring butter and shortening to room temperature. Blend until smooth, add salt and vanilla, blend and then add sugar 1 cup at a time blending well. Mixture will be thick, thin to desired consistency with 1 tablespoon of coffee mixture at a time.

Frost with spoon or with piping bag and large star tip.

CHERRY PEPSI CUPCAKES

1 Box Betty Crocker Super Moist Golden Vanilla cake mix
¾ cup Pepsi Cola
Juice from a 20 oz jar of Maraschino Cherries
Add water to equal the required amount on box (1 ¼ cups)
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
½ of the cherries finely chopped and mixed with 3 tablespoons of cake flour

Mix chopped cherries with the flour and blend with the dry cake mix; add juice, cola and water to equal 1 ¼ cups.
Follow directions on box for mixing and baking.

Allow to cool and frost with Cherry Cola frosting below:

½ cup melted butter
3 tablespoons cocoa
6 T Pepsi
1 T cherry juice
1 box sifted powdered sugar* (may need more depending upon the moisture in the air and the temperature of room).

Melt butter on stove top on low, remove from heat and stir in cocoa, Pepsi, and juice. Make a well in the bowl of sugar and pour in while stirring. Mix well, allow frosting to sit 5 minutes or longer, and then stir again.

Frost cooled cupcakes.

She’s a cupcake kind of girl…

Dorie with a bowl of Cherry Pepsi Cupcake Batter

I don’t know when it first started, but for the past several years our granddaughter Dorie has loved cupcakes and making them. Every so often, she and I have a cupcake baking day and we gather in the kitchen and create magic.


I don’t know how long these cupcake days will last or if when they stop she’ll remember them, but for right now we are having a blast and building memories that I will treasure.

Of course like most children her favorite is usual chocolate or something with decorations like sprinkles or colored sugar. Sometimes we make them for holidays, but the best are the just because kind… just because we can and just because we love them!

I have decided to try a new cupcake recipe for the next year and will be baking a new one each month to enjoy and share here on Foundations, because after all Foundations is about food, family and love.

THE FOODIE BLOG ROLL

I am sure most of you  have  noticed the pretty red box to the left of my posts, but have you clicked on it? Go on and give it a shot, what do you have to loose? It will open a new world to you... where you can find other food bloggers (no I'm not the only one), recipes and other food related things. Hey there's even a store... you know we all like shopping!