Hair Before the Chop

If you follow me on Instagram you know I post pictures occasionally of my long hair. Well tomorrow that will be changing, I will be cutting somewhere around 16 inches off. The last time my hair was cut was well over two years ago. I love my long hair but unfortunately it is no longer healthy. I know I will miss it but thankfully my hair grows very quickly. I will be donating my hair to Locks of Love, this will be my second time donating. Somewhat ironically the last time I donated was right before we moved away from Florida, I think I had around 12 inches cut off. Before I donated the last time my hair was straight with a touch of wave to it, after it was cut it grew back curly, maybe this time it will grow back straight, who knows.  The picture below, was taken shortly after I donated to Locks of Love. We met some friends in Chicago to visit the American Girl Store circa 2006. Tomorrow I will post the After shot 🙂

 

 

Potato Peach Dumplings

 

Today I bring you traditional Peach Dumplings. After researching a bit these Peach dumplings have roots in Czech, Slovak, Bohemian and Jewish cultures. My great Grandma Vlcek made these when my mom was little, as my mom grew older my Great Grandmother taught her to make them. Every year around the last week of July we make these dumplings in remembrance of Great Grandma Vlcek.  As I have grown up my mom has passed on the torch of making Peach Dumplings. When you think of Peach Dumplings you think of a sweet dessert but that is not the case with these, they make a yummy meal. Grandma always served the dumplings with Roasted Pork.

 

First you make potato dumpling dough then you wrap the dough around a peach with its skin on. We then top the cooked dumplings with cottage cheese, and melted butter; you can also sprinkle a bit of sugar on top which is delicious and very decadent. I never had the chance to meet Great Grandma but I know I would have loved her! From what I have been told about Great Grandma, she was a real hoot. You never knew what she was going to do next. Great Grandma was the person who taught my mom to cook, when Great Grandma passed on she left her precious cookbook to my mom.

I treasure this tangible piece of my Great Grandma! Every time I make a dish from the cookbook I feel closer to her.  I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does.

 

 

Potato Dumplings Recipe

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes, (use all-purpose)

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2 cups flour more or less if needed

Directions
Cover potatoes with water then boil until fork inserted into potato comes out easily. Once the potatoes have cooled, peel then using a potato ricer, rice potatoes into a large bowl. Form a well in the center of the potatoes and add the eggs. Add the flour and salt to the potatoes and mix with your hands. Knead until thoroughly mixed. The dough should be firm and stiff but not sticky.
Roll into fist sized balls. Drop into large pot of boiling salted water.
Cook 12 minutes. The dumplings should float to the top.

Peach Dumplings Recipe

Ingredients 

6 Peaches, firm and just barely ripe, not too soft
Directions
You can lightly flour your hands but too much flour will toughen the dough.
Prepare potatoe dumpling recipe, according to directions above, but separate into 6 pieces . Flatten each piece into a “pancake” in the palm of your hand, flour your hands if the dough is sticky. Place a peach atop the “pancake”. Curl your fingers around the peach, work the dough around the peach and pinch seams to close, it’s important to close the seams securely. Finish the dumpling by rolling each one as you would roll a meatball, in your hands. This evens the dough over the peach and makes sure the seams are closed.
Drop each dumpling into the pot of boiling water and cook for about 20 minutes. Serve dumplings steaming hot in a large bowl. We serve one dumpling per person, cut each dumpling up then place cottage cheese on top of the dumpling then pour a touch of melted butter on top.

Cappuccino Chocolate Cookies

Today I bring you Cappuccino Chocolate Cookies, perfect for a rainy day. I have been reading the Hannah Swensen Book Series by Joanne Fluke, in each book Joanne includes several recipes for desserts as well as a few main courses. I have been wanting to try a recipe but had not had the chance until two weeks ago. A friend of ours had a family emergency so I offered to bring over Dinner and some dessert for the whole family.

This recipe makes somewhere in between 8 to 10 dozen cookies, if that is to much to eat at once feel free to freeze the extras 🙂 The recipe calls for espresso powder, I used Greek Nescafe Classic, next time I think I will try Coffee Extract.I did make a few changes to recipe to accommodate my taste. I absolutely love this recipe, I know I will continue making it for years to come! Enjoy 🙂

 

Ingredients:

4 sticks, (one pound) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup espresso powder

1 TBL 1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups white granulated sugar

3 eggs, beat in measuring cup

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3 cups milk chocolate chips (A bag plus half a bag of chips)

5  1/2 cups all purpose flour, measured with the scoop and level method

 

Directions

Mix into melted butter the espresso powder and vanilla extract, continue mixing until espresso powder is dissolved. Add in the sugar, eggs, baking powder, and baking soda, mix well. Add in the flour one cup at a time mixing until evenly distributed, continue until all flour has been added in. Mix in chocolate chips using a spatula. Using a medium cookie scoop, drop unto parchment lined cookie sheet, 12 to standard sheet pan. Flatten each cookie with a two inch flat surface (I used a small ramekin bottom). Place cookie sheets into a preheated 375 degree oven for 9-11 minutes. After they come out of the oven leave on pan for two minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

 

Dads Chocolate Trifle

Today I bring you my Dad’s Chocolate Trifle. I remember when I was little my mom and I would make this for Father’s Day. This dessert is perfect and quick! This year I did not put any candy in the trifle but typically we use crushed Heath Bars in between the layers. I used a box brownie mix but you could also make homemade. I use Cool Whip since it is stabilized, I suppose you could make homemade whipped cream but I am not sure how it would hold up for a few days in the fridge.

 

Ingredients: 

1 boxed brownie mix, made and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 container Cool Whip

1 box chocolate pudding, prepared according to package

1 trifle bowl or small punch bowl

Optional: Crushed Candy

 

Directions:

Layer in brownie pieces, make sure to cover bottom of bowl. Next layer in pudding. After that if you choose layer in crushed candy. Next layer in Cool Whip. Repeat layers. I did two complete layers then crumbled bownie on top of the last layer of Cool Whip. Can be made up to a day in advance. Enjoy!

The Gulf Orange Beach Alabama

Who would’ve ever thought Shipping containers could be cool?! Well the Gulf restaurant in Orange Beach Alabama is built out of shipping containers which offers a very cool atmosphere. With just recently relocating to the area we had heard so much about this restaurant and had to go check it out for ourselves. It is perfectly located just over the bridge into Orange Beach and it’s right on the Gulf of Mexico. When you’re eating you can view all the boats going in and out of the pass. They have mixed seating with tables, chairs and lounges located on grass and sand. They have a rotating menu so you never know for sure what they will have each day but they are all about the Gulf to table setting. When we went I had a hamburger which was delicious, my parents had fresh fish Poboys and we had a side of fresh cut french fries, which reminded me of fair fries. The food was excellent just like the view!
If you are looking for a fun place to eat with a great view while in the Perdido Key/Orange Beach Fl area then The Gulf is for you! Below is a photo journal of our visit.

 

 

 

 

Welcome!

 

I would like to Welcome you to the New and Improved Lashes and Dashes. The past few weeks have been filled with transferring the site from WordPress.com to a self hosted site and all of the things that go along with it. I am now using BlueHost to host my site and so far I am loving it! They have amazing customer service, any problem that I had was solved within 20 minutes. I highly recommend them for self hosting.

I also wanted to thank my readers for staying with me over the past few weeks, Ya’ll are amazing!  Be on the look out for a few more changes coming! I have several post coming up focusing on travel around the Pensacola area, As well as some food blogs. I am so excited about these changes and the journey of taking Lashes and Dashes to the next dimension!

I appreciate Ya’ll so much and welcome your thoughts about how you like this new layout 🙂

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

My family loves P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps, I can remember the very first time I ever had them. I was around 8 and we were visiting friends in Colorado. I remember my girlfriends and I using our chop sticks as drum sticks (much to the dismay of our parents) while we were waiting for the wraps to come out.  With our love of P.F. Chang’s and not having one close by to our new home, I knew I had to come up with a recipe.  Hope you enjoy my version of the wraps as much as we did! 🙂

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground chicken
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced finely
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained and diced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Bunch of Romaine lettuce

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground chicken and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat. Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar,and ginger until onions have become translucent, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 minutes.
To serve, spoon several tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of  lettuce leaf, taco-style or if you are like me onto your plate.  Enjoy!

Patriotic Trifle

I made this trifle for Memorial Day, I got the idea from Mels Kitchen Cafe, I used her recipe as a jumping off point. I love trifles for their simplicity but it looks like you spent hours.  You can make everything homemade or you can buy it from the store. I made the blueberry filling homemade but bought the cherry filling. We had friends and family over for Memorial Day and they gave this dessert a thumbs up!  On a side note please bare with me in the next few weeks as there may be some exciting changes coming to Lashes and Dashes 🙂

Adding water to the blueberries.

Adding in the cornstarch.

In goes the sugar.

All of the ingredients for the blueberry filling in the pot.

The blueberry filling cooking.

The blueberry filling cooked and cooling.

Adding condensed milk to softened cream cheese.

The cream cheese filling.

Making whipped cream.

The cake mixture layer on the bottom.

The blueberry filling layered on.

The whipped cream layer.

Note: I used a Angel Food Box mix and used about 3/4 of the cake. You could also use a store bought cake which the original recipe said is the perfect size. If you choose to decorate the top of the trifle keep the other portion of the cake. I used canned cherry pie filling but you can also make homemade cherry filling the same way you made the blueberry.

Ingredients 

Blueberry Filling:

12 ounces frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 tablespoon)

Cherry Pie Filling.

Cake and Cream:

Baked, cooled and cubed angel food cake (see note)
16 ounces light cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup half-and-half or evaporated milk (can use skim evaporated milk)
2/3 cup granulated sugar

Whipped Cream:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

DIRECTIONS

For the blueberry filling, in a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until thickened, 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature. For the cake and cream layer, in a blender or with an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer), whip together the cream cheese, half-and-half or evaporated milk and sugar until smooth and creamy. Transfer the mixture to a bowl if you used a blender. Fold in the angel food cake cubes. Keep in mind (from the note above) that you may not use all the cake cubes, especially if using an angel food cake mix. Add cake cubes until they are all thickly coated with a layer of cream. If making this in advance, it can dry out if there is too much angel food cake added. For the whipped cream, beat together the heavy cream and powdered sugar until peaks form. To assemble, in a trifle dish or in a large glass bowl, spread half of the angel food cake mixture. Top with half of the blueberries, spreading evenly across, and then spread half of the sweetened whipped cream. Then spread half of your cherry filling. Repeat the layers but keep out small amount of blueberry and cherry filling as well as small amount of whipped cream. If you would like to decorate the top of the trifle use extra angel food cake chunks around the outside edge of trifle, then using the leftover cherry filling make a circle around top of cake. Using the leftover whipped cream make a smaller circle then place a small dollop of blueberry filling in the middle to finish the trifle off.
Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. Serve chilled.

Lambert’s Cafe in Gulf Shores, Alabama

Lambert’s Cafe home of the Throwed Rolls. When I was little we would go out to Foley to eat at Lambert’s for special occasions. In my little mind it always seemed like it took hours to drive out to Lambert’s but in reality its only about 40 minutes from our house. Lambert’s always has a wait, when we use to go it was only 30 minutes but when we visited last weekend the wait was around an hour. While we waited we visited the new gift shop out side of the restaurant. While we were walking around we chatted with one of the employees who said the longest wait they have had was four hours. Lambert’s is famous for their rolls that they throw at you, as well as their “Pass Arounds”. Pass arounds are basically side dishes that waitstaff bring around in big kettles.  Throwed Rolls and Sorghum, Tomatoes and Macaroni, Fried Potatoes and Onions, Fried Okra, Apple Butter, and Boiled Cabbage are all pass arounds. I had chicken and dumplings, my dad had Round Steak which is breaded steak fried then served with mashed potatoes and pepper gravy, and my mom had grilled shrimp. Lambert’s food is good but you definitely go for the experience. With all of the entrees you also get two sides, you will not walk out of Lambert’s with an empty stomach! After we ate at Lambert’s went over to Tanger Outlet Mall to walk off all the food. We were pleasantly surprised when we visited the Outlet Mall, they have improved it from when we use to go.

Coca-Cola Salt and Pepper Shakers in the Gift Shop.

The Gift Shop.

Part of the line outside.

A view of the line inside as well as the decor.

Waiting for our number to be called.

A close up of the famous rolls.

We caught a roll!

The Roll Guy.

A close up of the front of the menu.

More decor in the front entrance.

The view from our table.

Another view from our booth.

The roll guy in the bow tie getting ready to throw rolls.

The roof above where we were sitting.

The roll guy coming up our aisle.

Getting ready to throw the roll.

Throwing the roll.

Close up of the fried okra.

The Sorghum being poured onto my roll.

Apple butter on one side of my roll, sorghum on the other.

Round Steak and mashes potatoes with beets and collard greens with a side of cornbread.

Chicken and Dumplings with mashed potatoes and cottage cheese.

Grilled Shrimp with coleslaw and sweet potato.

Norma’s at Duh Review

When I was little one of my favorite things was to go on a special mommy/daughter date at Norma’s at Dillards. Norma’s at Dillards was wonderfully feminine with a huge mosaic on the wall of Victorian Women at the beach, as well as petite chicken salads.   You may remember I made my own take on Norma’s Bread Pudding Here. Fast forward many years and Norma’s at Dillards no longer exist but that’s ok because Norma has now opened up a new Restaurant at Duh. Duh is a wonderful mix of gardening, outdoor living and fine interiors. Personally I do not think a better pair has been made then that of Norma’s and Duh!  Norma’s at Duh is much more modern as well and it is not just for women. My dad was with us and He enjoyed himself. I am quite the picky eater so when I decided on trying the Champagne Chicken Salad I was not quite sure what to expect seeing as I will not eat Chicken Salad. Lets just say I about licked the plate clean I loved it so much! My Mom got Norma’s Chicken Salad and my Dad had the Gumbo. We also had Norma’s Bread Pudding. We will be back to Norma’s at Duh for sure!

The back of Norma’s menu giving you a history of Her Business.

Beautiful light fixtures

 

Norma’s Chicken Salad

Dad’s Gumbo.

Norma’s Champagne Chicken

Norma’s Bread Pudding

Large Print above our table.

Framed vintage map of Florida.

Vintage artwork.

More beautiful decor.