Category: Cooking

Halloween in March.

I was in the mood for a little taste of Halloween.

And, there were several notable treats to seek out back when I was a child. The house that gave out chips. The king size candy bars. The candied apples…

But, for me, the tops was the popcorn balls.

Well, I may not have THAT recipe, but I DO have one heck of a Caramel Corn recipe.

What’s more, it’s the only recipe I have that comes from my dad. He only made it once in my memory, but I was there to record it at the time.

1 can Eagle Brand Milk.
1 cup Light Karo Syrup
1 Cube butter
2 Cup Brown Sugar

Bring Sugar and Syrup to a boil. Add mild and butter, Cook to soft ball. (8-10 minutes)

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Now, the thing is, this makes a lot of caramel corn…what, exactly was I going to do with it all?

That’s where the popcorn balls came in.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

I sent the boys out to leave them on neighbor’s doorsteps as a surprise. I imagine they’re all curious where it come from, and that makes me smile. A little trick, and a treat. Halloween in March.

Korean Style BBQ Beef

I had planned on getting a heck of a lot more painting done to Steve this weekend, but between the Science Fair project being glued together and worked on at the kitchen table and prepping for the Super Bowl, it just didn’t happen.

So, I thought I’ld share yet another recipe that is always a big hit at our parties. I’ve yet to find anyone that doesn’t enjoy these things.

Korean Syle BBQ Beef:
1LB beef sirloin, thinly sliced
1/2 Cup Soy Sauce
2 TBL Lemon Juice
2 TBL Sugar
1 Clove Garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
2 TBL Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Sesame seads
2 Green Onions finely chopped
Bamboo skewers.

You want the beed in thin long strips. And, just skewer those strips onto the bamboo.

Then, mix everything else together and poor over the beef skewers. Marinade for at least 4 hours, turning about halfway through to coat both sides of the beef. I personally like to marinade overnight.

If you are fortunate, you can find thin sliced beef at the store. If not, your best bet is to leave the steak partially frozen to be able to slice it thinly.

Broil or grill the skewers, cook time varies on the thickness of your beef.

In some other news, since I didn’t have a heck of a lot of work on Steve (who needs to be painted in the dark), I’ve put a bit of work into the site. Couple more pages, updates to some older ones…still working on it, it’s a process, but enjoy.

Cookies.

Fortunately, I was able to enlist some help in this year’s cookie mayhem.

From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween
From An UnOrthOdOx Halloween

Combined with the smaller cookies this year, we trimmed a good 6 hours off the whole process. Yes, some might be disappointed with smaller cookies, but our schedule and my sanity must take priority.

As always, though, it would not be Christmas without the Three Wise T-Rex.

And, the finalists are…

Those of you who were with us through the Christmas conversion last year, know that the Christmas Kitchen Calamity is soon on it’s way. Last year, in place of some of the cookies, we tried our hand at some candies for the first time with some English toffee and peanut brittle. With some mixed results.

But, it was a lot of fun, and I’ve decided I want to try a couple new recipe’s from the treasure trove again this year. The finalists up for consideration are:

English Toffee: Yes, I tried it last year. I never got it RIGHT, though, and there’s 3 OTHER recipes for it as well. One markedly different…

Ginger Bread: Come on, nothing says the holidays like ginger bread, right?

Taffy: I have a homemade taffy recipe here! Oh, how I love Taffy…But, I’m tempted to just buy me some Softi Kaubonbons instead.

Fudge: Memories of making fudge a few times as a child. I have easily a half-dozen recipes in the trove. Or, I could ask mom for hers…

Spudnuts: HOMEMADE SPUDNUTS!!!! I drool just thinking about it.

“Vanilla Pretzels”: This thing reads a lot like German Stollen recipes. mmmmm….stollen….

“Soft Cookies”: Odd recipe from Evelyn…whose recipes I’ve come to love. Sour cream, and NO instructions…can I revive this recipe?

And, on the not so sweet side:

“Best Hamburgers in the World”: A singularly peculiar hamburger recipe that has change my mind on how to make burgers, and I haven’t even attempted it yet. Is this the year to put it all together?

“Sausage Creole”: I’m a sucker for Creole cooking, plain and simple. A joy to find this thing.