Summer, fitness, and food

Summer has settled into a rhythm around here. It's hot and muggy outside. I'm keeping myself occupied indoors with housekeeping, organizing, and sewing. Grandad has been in Houston all week, so it's been extremely quiet. He arrived home just before midnight last night after his flight was delayed by six hours.

My mother-in-law is still in the hospital. She has been moved to the rehab floor of  Christus Spohn Shoreline Hospital where she is receiving therapy three times a day. They make her work very hard and she doesn't like it much. She is of the generation of women who has never done any kind of a work out except that which you get from raising five kids. This is a different kind of hard work. She was kind of disheartened on Tuesday when they told her she would have to be there at least one more week. They explained that she can't go home until she is able to take care of her personal needs including showering, dressing, and going to the bathroom on her own. That has given her something to work towards and her spirit of determination seems renewed. She has also begun to welcome visitors and answer the phone in her room. Connecting with people seems to really be helping. I'm so glad she's finally decided it's okay.

In an effort to keep our gasoline consumption low, I don't make special trips to the hospital unless she needs something. Grandad visits every day on his lunch break and I visit if I'm going to be in town so I can combine my trips. It's only 16 miles from our house on the interstate, but it adds up after a few days. That usually means I visit three to four times a week.

I'm trying to work some exercise into my summer routine. My next-door neighbor and I have been walking every other day this week. We're starting out around 8 a.m. and walking about an hour. It's very hot by the time we get back. Next week we are going to switch to an hour-long session in the pool in nearby Odem. They have an hour from 8-9 every morning set aside for senior citizens to pool walk or do water aerobics. It should at least be cooler. I'll let you know how it goes. My goal is to get 25-30 pounds off this summer and get back into my size 12 jeans. Since I generally eat healthy, I know that I've got to get back to exercising.

And, speaking of eating, I've been meaning to share this recipe for quite a while. It is adapted from an Alton Brown recipe. The first time I made it, I followed Alton's recipe exactly. It was too peppery for both of us, so here is my adapted recipe for Slow Cooker Pepper Pork Chops.

2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup brown sugar Splenda
2 tablespoons black peppercorns, slightly crushed
1 pound ice
4 (1 to 1 1/2-inch thick) pork chops
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 ounces dried apple slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, julienned
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine the chicken broth, ½ cup kosher salt, brown sugar Splenda and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar dissolve, then remove from the heat and add the ice. Place the pork chops into a 2-gallon zip-top bag along with the mixture and seal. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate at least three hours. (You can let it marinate overnight.)

Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Season on both sides with the kosher salt and set aside.

Place the apples in the slow cooker.

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, approximately 5 to 6 minutes per side. Once browned, place the pork chops into the slow cooker atop the apples. Spread the sliced onions on top of the pork chops.

Add the chicken broth to the skillet to deglaze. Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. Pour broth mixture into slow cooker. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low.

I hope you're all having a great summer. I'm working on my plans for "Grams Camp" which will be sometime later this summer. It's certain to include a trip to Cole Park's new children's play area, the Texas State Aquarium, a visit with Great-Grandma, nightly drives over Corpus Christi's "Rainbow Bridge," and plenty of time for cuddling and reading. This year it will be a little more of a challenge with both a one-year old and a three-year old, but I'm looking forward to it. How could it be anything but fun, fun, fun with these two? I'll put my plans in a detailed post later.

What are you planning this summer?

Grams Made 1965 Huguenot Torte with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

My mother-in-law had five children, three boys and two girls. The oldest boy and the oldest girl share September 12 as their birthday, twelve years apart. We traditionally gather for a dinner in honor of their birthday. This year I made dessert.

A couple of weeks ago I was watching The Food Network and someone mentioned this recipe and said it was an old recipe from The New York Times. I don't remember what show I was watching, but I did an internet search and found that it was indeed published in The New York Times back in 1965. It sounded really delicious, so I decided to give it a try. It was a huge hit. The original recipe called for whipped cream with almond extract. Instead I made cinnamon whipped cream. Delicious!

I will warn you that the recipe says it serves 8, but those are not generous servings. Next time I make it, I will double the recipe. It is supposed to sink in the middle and be gooey with a crisp top. By the way, the cinnamon whipped cream was a huge hit with the family. It was just the right touch for the torte.

1965 Huguenot Torte

2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup peeled and chopped tart cooking apples (I used Pink Lady Apples)
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat eggs and salt with until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the sugar.

Using a hand-held whisk, fold in apples and pecans. Add vanilla, flour and baking powder. Pour into a well-greased 9" x 12" baking pan at least 2 inches deep. Bake for 45 minutes, until sunken and crusty. Serve warm or chilled, with whipped cream. Serves 8.

Cinnamon Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chill bowl and mixer's beater attachment in freezer for 10 minutes. Beat whipping cream on high speed until it begins to thicken. Slowly add sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Do not over-beat or cream will begin to separate and break down.

Grams Made Tea Party Sandwiches

 As I told you in a previous post, Grams, Katy and Bylinda hosted a tea party last weekend. When we sat down to plan the menu, we wanted to be sure we had a variety of food that would appeal to a variety of tastebuds. Add to those considerations that Grams lives in South Texas and it's already hot here. (The heat index today is around 105 degrees.) We didn't want to have to heat up the oven which in turn would heat up the house.

We decided to focus mainly on finger sandwiches, but we didn't want them to be ordinary sandwiches. We were aware that many of our guests would be young ladies who would be having their first high tea experience and we wanted it to be something special and out of the ordinary.

The first one was easy; we settled on chicken salad right away. Katy made the chicken salad, which was absolutely delicious. Here's the recipe.

Chicken Salad

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 rotisserie chicken, deboned and chopped
2 cups red seedless grapes, halved
1 cup pecan pieces

Stir mayonnaise, sour cream and lemon juice together to make a dressing. Toss dressing together with remaining ingredients and chill.

The next choice was pretty easy too. We made cream cheese, cucumber and sunflower seed sandwiches. These were my personal favorite. This sandwich was inspired by one that was served at a restaurant that used to be in the central business district of Corpus Christi. Here's how we made it.

Cream Cheese, Cucumber & Sunflower Seed Sandwiches

2 packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
roasted, salted sunflower seeds
2 English cucumbers sliced very thin
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Stir the garlic powder into the cream cheese and spread on bread.  Put the sunflower seeds in a wide, shallow bowl. Dip the bread with cream cheese (face down) in the sunflower seeds. Top with one or two slices of cucumber and another slice of bread.

The restaurant where I used to eat this sandwich added alfalfa sprouts to the top of their sandwich. We opted not to include them.

We knew we wanted to offer a third kind of finger sandwich but couldn't decide what kind. We ruled out tuna salad as too ordinary. Then, after looking around on the internet for ideas here is what we came up with. Katy did the internet search and I don't know where she found the idea, although I would gladly give them credit if I knew. We made apple and cheddar sandwiches. The recipe couldn't be easier. I have to tell you that I didn't love this sandwich at first. The sharp cheddar, the strong mustard, and the apples have a very tart bite. But by the second bite, I was sold. I liked it so much that had the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Apple and Cheddar Sandwiches

Extra sharp cheddar cheese, shaved very thin
Granny Smith apples, washed, cored and sliced thin
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Whole grain mustard

Toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice to slow down discoloration.

Then just spread a very small dab of the mustard on bread, place a little stack of cheddar cheese on top, then top it with two slices of apple.

All of these sandwiches were made on a variety of bread from Central Market in San Antonio. We used dense, whole wheat, nutty breads as well as sour dough.

In addition to the sandwiches, Bylinda made homemade brownie bites with dark chocolate chunks and chocolate icing. We served cinnamon scones which also came from Central Market. Then we added lemon bread and three flavors of cheesecake bites which came from Sam's Club.

We filled my punch bowl with unsweetened iced tea and Sonic ice. And, we offered three kinds of hot tea -- Earl Gray, Chamomile & Bavarian Wild Berry Black Tea.

There were not a lot of leftovers, so I guess they liked the food.