Birthday Blitz!

We consider November 13th to be the ‘kick-off’ to the holiday season. It is my husband Jerry’s birthday and I like to indulge him in lots of treats. This year’s birthday dinner was…

SALMON TERIYAKI

This Teriyaki Sauce is good on so many different things. Sunday was Jerry’s actual birthday, but we did the big birthday dinner Saturday night. On Sunday I made a bunch of game-day snacks to accompany our day of watching football. I glazed Rumaki’s with the Teriyaki Sauce, which was really delicious (if you like chicken liver!), but that’s for another blog. Here’s how I made the Sauce…

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. Teriyaki Sauce
3 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tsp. freshly grated ginger root

Sesame seeds and thinly sliced green part of scallion to serve.

I made this sauce in the morning and let it sit all day.

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients and gently heat to dissolve the brown sugar. That’s it! Done!

Generously coat both sides of salmon with the Teriyaki Sauce and marinate for about 1 hour. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Remove salmon from marinade and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake salmon for about 15 minutes. Cooking time will depend on the thickness of your salmon. It should be flakey, but not dry. While salmon is baking, re-heat the Teriyaki Sauce. To serve, brush the salmon with additional sauce and top with sesame seeds and sliced scallion tops. Sweet, salty, very flavorful!

Every year for his birthday I make an ice cream of his choice. Lately he’s been on a Sweetened Condensed Milk kick. He has it every morning in his coffee, so he requested…

COOKIES AND CREAM ICE CREAM

I found this recipe online, just to make sure I had the proportions correct. It is, by far, the easiest ice cream I have ever made, and possibly the best! No ice cream maker necessary.

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla
About 8 Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

I made half Cookies and Cream and half plain Sweetened Condensed Milk Vanilla Ice Cream. Use more Oreos if you’re making the whole batch with cookies. This ice cream would also be excellent with fresh berries mixed throughout; chocolate syrup; peanut butter with peanut butter chips. Possibilities are nearly endless!

Preparation:
Place the whipping cream in a large bowl and beat using a mixer until soft peaks are formed.

Fold in the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Gently stir until the condensed milk is absorbed. Transfer to a freezer safe container. Stir in the chopped Oreos. Place in the freezer for at least 6 hours to allow the ice cream to set. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before servicing. Can you believe how easy that is?!

THE NEXT MORNING…
 
For breakfast I made OVERNIGHT YANKEE FRENCH TOAST. This is the special breakfast my Mom made for every Thanksgiving and Christmas morning. The contrast of the pudding like texture with crispy top is fabulous. It’s very sweet, but bacon helps to cut that. This is nearly my Mom’s recipe, but I bulked up on the spice. And so nice, especially on the holiday, to have breakfast all ready to pop in the oven since you make this the night before.

I made my Mom’s plain old white bread recipe to make the Yankee French Toast. My Mother made bread often and this recipe is simple, but delicious. Go to my home page and put White Bread in the search bar if you’d like the recipe.

Ingredients:
4 1″ thick slices white bread, cut in half on the diagonal
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cardamon
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. softened butter
Drizzle of maple syrup over the top.

Preparation:
Generously butter bottom and sides of glass baking dish. Butter one side of the bread and place in pan butter side up.
Beat eggs, add milk and all spices and pour mixture over the bread. Drizzle with maple syrup. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove from fridge and let site on the counter for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 and bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until custard sets. Place under the broiler for 2 minutes to crisp the top.