My Family's Version of CHOPPED

I am a BIG fan of the FoodNetwork program, CHOPPED. On this program, four chefs compete for a $10,000 prize by creating a three course meal consisting of appetizer, entree and dessert from a basket of unknown ingredients that they get to open at the beginning of each round. They must use and transform each ingredient in the basket in their presentation.

On the program, one chef is eliminated each round, until there is just one chef left standing. The rounds on TV are appetizer = 20 minutes and entree and dessert, each 30 minutes.

Our family's version took place during a regular "family style" Sunday dinner. Just like on TV, there were four chefs. Our "take" was to do the appetizer and dessert rounds as a competition. The regular, family style Sunday dinner was prepared in advance by the host family (and without any competition) That would be the middle course, the entree.

Our prep times were strictly controlled by the "judges" and, to tell the truth, because I was one of the contestants, I didn't pay any attention to time. I think the prep time was between 20-30 minutes. As a contestant, I didn't pay attention to anything except getting my offering prepared and plated and presented to the judges. I didn't even look to the right or the left to see what the other contestants were doing.

One thing I do know is that we made the most colossal mess ever. There were spills and crumbs wall to wall. The labradoodles were in "heaven"  trying to keep it clean. If you never got to meet these puppies, I had the pleasure of spending a week with them one time. Check it out here: My Week Went To The Dogs

The basket ingredients were chosen by an impartial individual. For the appetizer round the basket ingredients were: Canned Vienna chicken sausage, pickled jalapino peppers, dill pickle chips, and stove top stuffing.

Each contestant had a cutting board at their very tight station (remember-this is a family kitchen not a commercial one-we are stuffed at the counter like sardines), plus knives, aprons, etc. and liberal use of pantry and fridge.

As soon as the clock started on the appetizer round, I dove into my basket ingredients, chopping up those strange looking sausages, adding about a tablespoon of drained jalapinos to get chopped up too. Into a bowl that went along with some stove top stuffing. I added a beaten egg to that and formed it into a "slider". Crushed some of the dill pickle chips onto my cutting board and pressed the crushed chips onto both sides of the sliders. Then browned them in oil in the grill pan. All my secret ingredients were transformed and in use. All I had to think about now was attractive presentation. I sliced up a tomato and layed the crispy slider on top of it. The dish looked unfinished. I took a green bell pepper from the pantry, sliced it into circles, put them into the grill pan and browned the edges. Set those askew onto the sliders, put a spoonful of ricotta cheese into the middle of the pepper circle, salt and peppered it and dolled it up with a sprig of parsley. Done!

These are the appetizers made by the other contestants. All using the exact same ingredients but each dish totally different from the other three.

Laney's dish - sausage~stuffing~chips~pepper hash on bed of arugula topped with fried egg

Michael's: Hushpuppy with same ingredients (pulverized)~Handmade Jalapino catsup~pickle from pantry

Sorry, I did not get a picture of the forth dish. It was an empanada made with hand made dough which the contestant made using the potato chip and stuffing basket ingredients plus pantry ingredients. The deep fryer was in use for the hush puppies so she had to pan fry her empanadas. Unfortunately this happens on the TV show as well and the contestants have to think on their feet. This entire contest was conducted in the most military, rushed atmosphere that there was little time to snap pix as well as cook. The main reason for rush - 3 babies, ages 3,1 and 3months who had one parent in the contest, and the other was a judge plus the babies all had to be in bed by 7PM or the parents turn into pumpkins.

Unlike the TV version, two contestants were eliminated in round one. Between round one and dessert, we had the already prepared grilled dinner which everyone (14 people) ate together.

In the final round of our family CHOPPED competition, there were two contestants. Myself and the nephew. The ingredients we discovered in our baskets were: a golden yellow honeydew melon, Neopolitan Soy Ice Cream, French fried potato chips, and crescent rolls.

Again, not paying any attention to the other contestant, I peeled and chopped up melon, added sugar, flour and cinnamon to it then opened the crescent roll tube, floured my board and rolled out the dough triangles and put a tablespoon or so of the melon mixture into the center of each. Folded them up so no filling would escape, sugared the tops and put them into the oven. Next I made a chopped French fried potato and chopped nut brittle. I melted some of the ice cream in a separate pan, to use for a sauce, adding a bit of ricotta to it to make it less sweet. When I had two minutes left on the clock, I removed the tarts from the oven onto a plate (by this time we were using plastic plates), Put down some of the sauce on the side of each tart and garnished with the brittle. Here it is. The winning dessert !!

This is the nephews dessert. Because I was so crazy busy, I had to make some phone calls to find out about it. He flambed then pureed the melon adding a bit of the ice cream to it to make a sauce to pour over the  rolled and deep fried dough. He crumbled the French fried stix to use as a topping.

The unwinning dessert

According to one participant: "we have to do this again, this was the most fun we ever had at a Sunday dinner".

What to Bring For Dessert Tutorial

I am invited to have dinner at one of my niece's homes tonight. I asked if I could bring something. She said "bring dessert".

Since it's Summer and all these fruits are succulently in season, I planned to make a fruit tart.

              

                   THIS IS IT - THE SUMMER FRUIT TART - IN ALL IT'S GLORY

I made it in a 9" spring form pan. I will remove the sides of the pan at service time. So, this is what you need:

1- get some mouth watering looking fruits (any kind) at the market of farm stand
2- one small package of vanilla instant pudding
3- 1/2 cup of Nutella
4- 1/2 cup of clear jelly, not jam (I used plum)
5- 1 package of refrigerated, ready to bake, 24 cookie, sugar cookies

Directions:
1- Put the fruits, one type at a time, into a collander and spray with water. Lay fruit out on tea towels to dry. They must be totally dry before arranging them on the tart.

2- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

 3- Smoosh, with your floured fingers, the sugar cookies around and a bit up the sides of the spring form pan. Smoosh remaining cookies over the pan bottom.

4- Put the cookie crust in the oven. It does take longer to turn golden than the manufacturers directions for baking individual cookies. Keep your eye on it. Remove when golden. Cool on rack.

5- Spread the Nutella over the cooled cookie crust.

6- Prepare the instant pudding using 1.5 cups of milk, not the 2 cups the manufacturer suggests.
Spread the thickened pudding over the Nutella.

7-  I hulled and cut the strawberries in half. I also cut the grapes in half. Arrange the fruits you have chosen in an artistic design over the layer of pudding.

8- The final step that makes this all look gorgeous is: melt that 1/2 cup of jelly in the microwave about 1 minute. With a pastry brush, paint all the fruit, covering each piece completely with the melted jelly.

That's the secret of making it look divine, all shiny and bright and irresistible.

Bon Appetit

Life Started In A Garden Part II

As promised last week, here is part II of the RMSC 2015 Garden Tour. This part of the tour took place in the western end of our county in the little historic town of Scottsville, NY  To see Part I, click on this link  http://sammysgrammysneedlin.blogspot.com/2015/07/life-started-in-garden.html#comment-form

The first garden we visited was the home of a family who live on and operate a flower farm and are in the "flower" business. They have a roadside stand where they sell bouquets and also sell at the local farmers market. The farm was idyllic.

row of bachelor's buttons

busy little bee sipping some nectar from this sunflowers center

treehouse built right over the sandbox

 The owners so friendly. We asked directions from them on how to get to the next stop on the tour. While they were giving us directions, they mentioned "turn right at the Scottsville Diner". That's all we needed to hear. It was time for lunch. What better to eat than at a small town diner.

We had a delightful lunch there. Greek chicken Souvlaki salad in a pita and iced tea. You see the "CLOSED" sign in the window because the diner is just open for breakfast and lunch. By the time we left, it was indeed closed.

Next stop, a town house and garden in the old town of Scottsville.

grape arbor - much cooler under there



Just couldn't resist taking pictures of some of the houses on the street where this garden was. All of them built circa 1830

The final house and garden on the tour was the most expansive, awesome, restful, peaceful............don't have words to describe it..

there was a sandy beach on this pond and two Adirondack chairs to sit and rest in

shady hosta filled path and almost invisible rope hammock attached to two trees here

I sneaked a little picture of the front porch with its white wicker furnishings, including a porch swing

arched entrance to the patio overlooking the garden

Life Started in a Garden

I am so blessed to have girlfriends who are just as enthused as I am to go touring around our region getting inspired by God's awesome creativity - lakes, gardens, mountains, hills, vineyards, ponds, dwellings, families. I am still soaking in the beauty we witnessed together two days ago taking the RMSC Garden Tour . I think I saw the most inspiring gardens on this Saturday past than in all the years I've been touring. (but then, again I might say that every time)

There are several annual garden tours in the Rochester, NY area. All of which make for an awesome "girlz day out". All the tours are fundraisers for various civic organizations that bless our community all year long, year after year.

The one we attended on this fourth Saturday of July was far flung with 3 gardens in an eastern suburb and 3 gardens in a western suburb. I am going to divide this account into two installments. This post for eastern gardens and next week's for the western suburb.

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The first garden we visited was a shady garden and oh, so peaceful and serene. It was raining when we arrived. We all carried umbrellas. The gardener was present in each garden. They were all so hospitable and full of information about their gardens. This particular garden was completely covered in a thick carpet of decaying leaves. It felt luxuriously opulent. I asked the gardener if she imported leaves to make this huge expanse so dense. She answered me "no". The many trees on her property shed their leaves in the Fall and where they fall, they stay. She does create pathways through the garden, using the free mulch the town offers to residents (a recycling project in which the local towns shred residential garden wastes of tree limbs, Christmas trees, etc. and make it available to local residents)

The next garden was just a few steps away from the first one.  In picture 1, the rain soaked bench is reached by a decent on slate garden steps. It looked to me like a perfect spot for morning devotions. Note the mossy ground cover. In picture 2, you can see that this garden is on a slope. Therefore the gardens below are reached by stone steps. This garden was so rich in beauty, it was difficult to even absorb it into my tiny "point and shoot" camera. No shot could capture it enough for my satisfaction. Does that ever happen to you?

In the third and final garden on the east end, the gardener is the owner of a local art gallery. Therefore, you'll see garden artwork in her garden. Also a place for fairies. In picture 1 you'll see the fairie house and the fairie asleep on the moss on the right. Picture 2 shows a fanciful garden bench. Pictures 3 and 4 show a garden path lined with handmade etched stepping stones. Picture 5 is of a front lawn garden bed and picture 6, another piece of garden artwork - a glass and metal octopus, totally out of his element.

Stay tuned for the next post where you'll see the awesome western gardens of Scottsville, NY

La Tea Dah

A couple days ago, my gal pals and I had another of our "girlz day outs". We try to do this as often as we can while still juggling around everyone's schedules. One works four days a week with Friday's off (that's  good thing), another works during the school year and has Summers off. And I am "at liberty" almost all the time.

This time, our plan was to check out a local tea room which moved into a new site because of a fire at the original site. The original site was in an old Victorian mansion, with a rabbits warren of small rooms on the first floor. Of course it also boasted of fireplaces, niches, bay windows, window seats, and cubbies, all those wonderful Victorian architectural fancies.

The new location is far less elegant and of a more modern vintage, but it too is in a re-imagined house. It does not have the ambience of the original location but it's still a tea room and there's a feeling  that you've, somehow, gone back in time.

white fur muff hanging off  a chair - who remembers using those to keep hands warm?

wall of vintage hats to wear while tea drinking

Sometimes we scrapbook the memory of our "Girlz Day Out" but this time this blog post is the record.

A Night On The Town

The town I speak of is Pultneyville, NY, population 698. Layed out in 1896 and on the National Register of Historic Places. Pultneyville, NY

My reason for being there on this past Friday evening was my friend wanted to have dinner by the water. Pultneyville is certainly by the water. It is situated at the mouth of Salmon Creek, an inlet from Lake Ontario. Dinner on the patio of the Pultneyville Grill offers an awesome view of the Lake with sailboats striping the view with their masts.

I highly recommend it

In 1865, Pultneyville was home to approximately 30 Great Lakes captains, thus the "widows walks" (where the wives would ascend to to look out over the lake for the return of their husbands from seafaring) on the top story of some of the houses facing the lake.

Hitching post for horses in front

this house built with the cobblestones used for building the Canal-note the preciseness of the layers 

The little port town served as main access point for Great Lakes commerce before the Erie Canal was built. Sending agricultural goods to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Laurence River then on to east coast cities of NYC, Boston and Baltimore.

In Spring of 1814, it was the site of a small skirmish during the War of 1812 when British troops needed supplies which they seized from the intimidated residents. A dispute broke out and weapon fire commenced on both sides. Two citizens were killed and three wounded and two were taken prisoner.

The excellent rating I would give to the Pultneyville Grill plus the total charm and rich history of this little town puts it high on my list of "favorite places to visit".

Landmark Society House Tour

This year the Landmark Society house tour was held in the Highland Heights section of the city of Rochester. This tract of land is the highest elevation in our city. Because of its hilly terrain, it wasn't settled until the early 20th century. It has an exceptional view and homeowners in the neighborhood have a binding covenant built into their property deeds stipulating that all changes to the design of the houses and yards have to be approved by the Board of Directors. Therefore, on the tour, we saw no fences or swimming pools but rather an attempt to maintain an open landscape. The result is an unique community whose appearance has been carefully shaped by its residents for over a century.

It was a walking tour. All the homes were close to each other. Much hill climbing was involved, however. So much so that one driveway offered a ride up to the house by golf cart.

golf cart hill

The homes in this neighborhood were built at the time of the advent of the automobile and as you can imagine, this historic change brought about a change in the way people lived their lives. In one home on the tour, the main entrance was on the driveway side of the house to accommodate entrance and departure by car! Another home featured a rear entrance much more elegant than the front entrance, featuring leaded glass side lights and decorative railing, reflective of the influence the auto had on home owners who assumed most visitors would arrive by a car driving up their driveways and enter the home from the rear!

Rolling lawns without any obstruction between properties

The day of the house tour was one of those perfect Summer days. I bought by ticket at a church in the neighborhood and when I reached out to purchase my ticket the hostess said "that will be $20.00 plus your bracelet".
Stacking Bracelet

 I was so happy I had business cards in my purse. I handed out 4 of them to the 4 ladies who were "manning" that reception table.