Crock Pot Hot Cereal

I should really come up with a better name for this cereal, even though I got the recipe from my neighbor, because that title doesn't begin to describe how good this cereal is.

The hardest thing about this recipe is remembering to put it in the crock pot the night before.  It gets me half the time.  But on days like today I am so glad I remembered, even if it was at 11:00 at night.  But since I DID remember, it topped off a good Sunday morning.  We slept late, almost until nine which is unheard of around here with two kids and two dogs.  It must have been due to the gloomy pouring rain outside.  The temperature was warm enough to have the windows open so the pounding of the rain on the roof outside our window lulled us.  Not to mention the smell of rain in the morning. . . It was a relaxing way to start the day.

Then we rolled out of bed just after nine, after the girls had piled on our bed (and one dog) and headed down stairs to breakfast waiting for us.

To experience this kind of lazy Sunday morning you will need five ingredients:

Wheat Berries
Barley
Rolled Oats
Shredded Coconut
Brown Rice

Mix them in a storage container with a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio.

I managed to get two cups of each in my container and it just filled to the top.

Then when you make it, put one cup of the premixed cereal in the crock pot per three cups of water.  I usually double it, so 2 cups of cereal and 6 cups of water.  Leave on low over night.

It is good just like that.  It is usually a little soupy the first day, but if you store the left overs, you will want to add milk the next day.

But I don't leave it plain.  I add a dash of cream, a sprinkle of brown sugar and a handful of craisins.  YUM.  You, of course, may add whatever suits your fancy.

Lemon Curd and Buttermilk Biscuits

Every spring I get a craving for all things lemon. I have been wanting to try a lemon curd recipe for some time and this one is pretty easy and oh so yummy.

For the curd (don't you think that word sounds awful? It does not begin to express the delightfully light and creamy texture of this treat!) you will need:

3 eggs
1/3 cup lemon juice (2-3 lemons) To get the most out of your lemons juice them at room temp rather than right out of the fridge and roll them along the counter with the heel of your hand before juicing. Strain after juicing.
1 Tbs. lemon zest
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (I stacked two pots--one fit just inside the other without touching the bottom to the water).  Whisk together eggs, sugar and lemon juice and add to the pot/bowl.

Cook, stirring constantly to prevent curdling (ironically, since it IS called CURD!) until mixture becomes thick like hollandaise sauce. About ten minutes.

Remove from heat and pour through a fine strainer to remove lumps.

Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk until melted.

Add lemon zest and cool.  The curd will thicken as it cools.

Cover immediately to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate for up to a week.

OR. . .

barely wait for it to cool while whipping up some biscuits to lavish your fresh curd upon.

For the biscuits you will need:

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
6 Tbs. unsalted cold butter
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 Degrees F.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor. Then cut the butter into chunks and cut into flour with pastry cutter or the food processor until you have a course meal. I used a pastry cutter because a food processor large enough to make biscuits or pie crust is still on my wish list.

Add buttermilk and mix only until just combined. (If it's too dry add a little more)

On a lightly floured surface pat the dough out until it is about 1/2" thick. The less you work the dough the better the biscuits will be.

I bought this set of round cutters in various sizes at Williams Sonoma that comes in handy for oh so many baking situations.  I love them.

Cut you dough into circles.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown on top.

Then slather with lemon curd and take a bite of bliss.

Egg Gravy over Biscuits

So, I awoke the other morning with a hankering for biscuits and gravy.  But I had no bacon and no sausage.  I did, however, have eggs.  But a simple white sauce with eggs was not what I had in mind, so I give you MY new version of egg gravy. (For the biscuits I used a pop tube.)

Gravy Ingredients:

1 envelope of onion soup mix

3 cups of milk

1 tbs. of flour

4-5 hard boiled eggs -- chopped

pepper to taste

Stir first three ingredients in sauce pan and heat on medium heat to thicken--while continuing to stir.  

When it thickens add chopped eggs and pepper.

Pour over biscuits.  Then if you like pepper like I do, add more.

I have to say I will be making this again.

Blackberry Syrup

Since I have an abundance of blackberries this fall, it was brought to my attention that blackberry syrup is divine.

So I made some.

 OH. MY. That stuff is good. I am not a big pancake eater. I figure with the calories you consume it has to be worth it. With this syrup--it's worth it. And it's simple.

(And when the berries just keep coming of this size and quality--FREE, if you don't count the price of blood they exact from your arms--I can't just let them wither on the vine, can I?)

Three cups of berries, 3/4 cup sugar, a teaspoon grated lemon peel and 1/3 cup of water is all it takes and these lovelies can be yours.

Put them in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let simmer for 8 minutes. Mash the berries while simmering a couple more minutes. Then strain out the juice. If you press it to get most of the juice you should get two cups of syrup. Store in fridge for up to two weeks.

Simple. Delicious. Done.