Time for a Career Change

I've been doing some thinking. After five years in ministry, maybe it is time for a career change. I have decided to become a professional, tv cook - ya know, like Martha Stewart or Rachel Ray. Can't you see it now - The Amber Carter Cooking Hour?

Well, I'm not really changing careers, but for the sake of this blog, let's pretend I am a famous cook. Here are my homemade bread bowls. Ever been to Panera and gotten your soup in a bread bowl? My favorite! Except the bread is so chewy I don't usually end up eating much of it. I made these french bread bowls and baked them in pot pie foil pans. Perfect! Not too chewy and not quite as large, so I didn't feel bad eating it all up! Ryan cut out the centers for me.


In the bread bowls, I served Shrimp Potato Chowder. A recipe from my former co-worker and office buddy, Sharon. (Sharon is currently battling cancer so it was bitter sweet to think of her as I served this dish.)
Shrimp Potato Chowder is not a very photogenic food, but it sure tasted good.

I also served a caesar salad with almonds and craisins and lots of cheese and crutons, but didn't snap a picture of it.

Dessert: Apple dumplins. I have been craving these for a while and I found this fabulous recipe online. YUM. It was so easy. And look how delicious it is. The apples I bought were so big that Ryan and I had to share a dumplin. No problem - that means leftovers.

Now, the worst part of me not actually being a famous chef is that I still have to do all my dishes. We had a couple over for dinner when I fixed this spread. They didn't confirm that they were coming until 3pm and it just happened that I was low on quite a few things in my pantry, so I had to run to the store. I got home at 3:30pm and had all this on the table by 5:30pm. Fantastic, I know. But, I didn't have time to wash all my prep dishes. I rinsed them, but they weren't washed. (Remember, we don't have a dish washer which is good for washing and for hiding dirty things.)

And, we invited them because the four of us are taking a first year missionary training class with World Impact. That started at 7pm. So, we barely finished dinner and dessert before it was time to jet out the door, run across the street to work, and attend this training class. So, all the dishes were just piled on the counter. Gross. By the time we got home later in the evening, I didn't feel like washing all those dishes. So, I did something I try not to ever do - I waited until morning. Ryan had to leave at 7:30am this morning to help some people move, so I had the privilege of spending an hour doing the dishes. Woohoo. But, the dinner was worth it.

Here are all the recipes, just like on famous cook's blogs.

French Bread Bowls

1 T sugar
2 tsp salt
2 pkgs yeast
5 C flour

Combine sugar, salt and yeast. Add 1 3/4 C hot water. Stir until disolved. Add 2 C flour until combined. Then, add remaining 3 C flour.
Cover and set in warm place to rise (about 20-30 minutes).
Grease 4 pot pie foil pans. Divide dough into four equal parts and put in pans. Place all four pans in warm place, uncovered to rise until doubled in size.
Bake in oven preheated to 425 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
(Use same measurements to make 2 loafs of french bread, but bake for 20-22 minutes.)

Sharon's Shrimp Potato Chowder

1/4 C chopped green onion
1 clove garlic
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T butter

Saute together.

Add:
2 cans cream of potato soup
3 oz cream cheese
1 1/2 soup cans of milk
2 C cooked shrimp (I prefer the small, salad shrimp in the frozen section for convenience.)

Simmer 10 minutes.

Old Fashioned Apple Dumplins

4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1/3 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 C water
1 1/3 C white sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
1 recipe pie crust (make your own or buy one in the refrigerated section)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter an 8x8 baking dish.

On a lightly floured surface, roll pastry into a large rectangle. Cut into 4 square pieces. Place an apple on each pastry square with the cored opening facing upward. Cut butter into 6 pieces. Place 1 piece of butter in the opening of each apple; reserve remaining butter for sauce. Divide brown sugar between apples, poking some inside each cored opening and the rest around the base of each apple. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over the apples.

With slightly wet fingertips, bring one corner of pastry square up to the top of the apple, then bring the opposite corner to the top and press together. Bring up the two remaining corners, and seal. Slightly pinch the dough at the sides to completely seal in the apple. Repeat with the remaining apples. Place in prepared baking dish.

In a saucepan, combine water, white sugar, vanilla extract and reserved butter. Place over medium heat, and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Boil for 5 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved. Carefully pour over dumplings.

Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Place each apple dumpling in a dessert bowl, and spoon some sauce over the top.