Every Monday Night in our church we have what is called Family Home Evening. Its an evening set aside for families to do something together as a family. Its a wonderful opportunity for families to strengthen their relationships with each other, foster family unity, and to have some fun together. There will be some spiritual lesson included of course, but in a fun way, as well as games or wholesome movies, and always a snack of some sort.
Some families even do activities together on those nights, such as bowling or playing football, etc. Its just a wonderful opportunity for families to spend some quality time together. Its not just for families with children either. Singletons get together as groups, and married couples who are empty nesters do as well. If you are interested in learning more you can read more about it here.
Of course you don't need to be a member of a church to enjoy family moments together! And certainly at the moment we are all having the brilliant opportunity to be able to spend special moments together with our families.
One special part of sharing an activity together is being able to enjoy a snack or something delicious to eat that you normally wouldn't have! A treat as it were!
One popular treat that children (both young and old) really enjoy is this quick and easy Sweet Kettle Corn! Its not overly sweet and is filled with fibre as well. It is the perfect snack to enjoy together while you are playing games or watching a film.
Its also very simple to make. You just combine a quantity of oil and sugar in a heavy based pan and heat it over moderate heat.
Pop in some un-popped popcorn and then place a lid on top and wait for the popping to start.
Once the popping starts you need to shake the pan aggressively over the heat of the burner until the popping stops.
Dump it into a bowl, salt and Bob's your Uncle! Done and ready to enjoy!
I have also seen people add food colouring to the sugar and oil mixure as well, to make pink popcorn or whatever. I like it just plain. Not too sweet. Not too salty. Just right.
When I was child I used to love it when my mom bought us a pack of Jiffy Pop to enjoy together. Watching that foil bag expand over the heat of the burner seemed just like magic to me!
Of course now that I am older popcorn is not quite the treat for me that it once was, but it is still a rare treat that I enjoy now and again, once in a blue moon.
I am afraid that my diverticulitis and gums don't allow me to enjoy it as much as I used to. And Todd is not fond of it at all . . .
We had a hot air corn popper when my chicks were all still in the nest and we often had popcorn as a bedtime snack. Oh how they loved that.
Oh, and movie popcorn. That is one thing I have always loved most about going to the movies, the smell of the popcorn. We never buy any however. They charge an arm and a leg for it these days and in most theatres now it comes in already popped by the bagful. They just dump it into these big heated plastic cases to warm it up.
I don't think it is quite the same somehow . . . not the same at all.
I suppose it is considered progress, but something gets lost in the translation I think. Something really important. In any case next time you sit down to enjoy a film or game together why not make up some of this Sweet Kettle Corn for your family to enjoy! Build a happy memory together!
Sweet Kettle Corn
Yield: 15 cups
There is something about the sweet/salty/crunch combination of this snack that is incredibly moreish. Very simple to make as well.
Ingredients:
- 65g unpopped corn kernels (1/2 cup)
- 95g sugar (1/2 cup)
- 80ml cooking oil (1/3 cup)
- fine sea salt
Instructions:
- Combine the sugar and oil in a large heavy bottomed kettle which has a tight fitting lid. Heat over moderate heat and add the popcorn. Cover tightly. Once the corn begins to pop, shake the pot aggressively over the heat of the burner until the corn stops popping.
- Carefully dump the corn into a bowl to serve and season to taste with salt. Serve immediately.
When I was six years old my father took me to the circus. My brother and sister didn't get to go because they were too young. I don't remember clowns or elephants or anything like that, but I do remember a box of pink kettle corn with a prize in it that my father bought for me. The prize was a pink plastic fan that was strung together with what seemed like silken cords and folded up flat. It had a silk tassel on the end. Funny what sticks in your mind . . .
Right when this corona virus was just beginning and we were all just starting to be afraid that it would spread to the UK, I had my last Chiropracter visit in Chester city. We always treated ourselves to a lunch afterward on our walk back to the bus station. Usually at a different place each time.
On that day we decided to treat ourselves to a Yorkshire Pudding Wrap at one of the hot sandwich shops in downtown Chester. I remember feeling very paranoid about germs at the time. It wasn't a nice feeling. That was the last time we went anywhere. It was the 5th of March. The rest is history. We did enjoy our sandwiches however. They were very good indeed.
The ones we had on that day were turkey ones, with stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. I decided to recreate them in our home today using what I had in the house. Leftover roast beef, leftover roasted vegetables, peas, leftover gravy, etc.
I cut my regular recipe for yorkshire pudding down in size and baked it in a jelly roll tin. Because it was spread out quite a bit, it didn't rise quite as high, which is what I wanted. I rolled it up in a clean tea towel as soon as I took it from the oven for a few minutes to soften it and make it a bit more pliable for wrapping purposes. This worked very well.
I then cut it half crosswise to make two smaller wraps. I spread each half with a quantity of horseradish sauce and grainy mustard and then I started layering.
First heated roast beef. You want to cut it very thin for this purpose. You can season it a bit with some salt and pepper if you like.
Onto that I layered on the leftover and heated cooked veg that I had. Roasted potatoes, cut into smaller bits, roasted parsnips, carrots, cabbage . . . baby peas, roasted onions . . .
Just use what vegetables you have. You don't need a lot really, just a tiny bit of each scattered over your roast beef . . .
A bit of gravy got drizzled on top and then I rolled them up tightly. In town you can eat these in a parchmen wrapper and yes they are messy.
Here at home, we ate them on plates, with knives and forks and some homemade coleslaw on the side, coz . . . that's how we roll.
Of course there was extra gravy for drizzling over top. You just have to have some gravy drizzled over top. Just look at that tender roat beef, those crispy roasted potatoes, parsnips, peas . . . carrots . . .
It was nigh on impossible to eat these out of hand. We didn't even try . . .instead we gobbled them up with knives and forks.
There were little utterances of glee in between mouthfuls . . . and why not. These were delicious!
Yield: 2
The Yorkshire Pudding Wrap
Leftovers from a roast dinner, heated and wrapped in a flattened yorkshire pudding. Scrumptiously tasty!
Ingredients:
For the pudding wrap:
- 110g plain flour (3/4 cup)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 large free range egg
- 250ml milk (1 cup plus 2 tsp)
- oil to cook
You will also need:
- 1/2 pound of cooked roast beef, sliced thin and heated
- a quantity of leftover cooked vegetables, heated (carrots, swede, parsnips, onions, cabbage, peas, etc.)
- 2 TBS horseradish sauce
- 1 TBS grainy mustard
- salt and pepper to taste
- leftover beef gravy, warmed
Instructions:
- Whisk all of the ingredients for the pudding wrap together in a bowl until smooth. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 220*C/ 425*F/ gas mark 7.
- You will need a jelly roll tin, approximately 12 inchs by 17 inches. Pour a quantity of oil into the pan, about 1 1/2 TBS. Put the pan in the oven to heat. Once the oil has heated pour in the yorkshire pudding batter and return the pan to the oven. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes until risen and golden brown.
- Have ready a clean tea towel the size of the pan.
- Warm your roast beef, gravy and vegetables.
- When the pudding is done remove it from the tin, flipping it onto the tea towel. Roll it up tighly from the short end, and leave it for a few minutes. Unroll and then cut it in half crosswise so that you have two pieces of pudding 12 inches by 8 1/2 inches in size.
- Spread each piece with 1/2 of the mustard and horseradish sauce., followed by the thinly sliced beef, warmed vegetables and a bit of gravy drizzled on top. Roll up and serve. Pass some extra gravy on the side if desired.
I couldn't finish mine actually. Mitzie didn't mind. My loss was her gain. She loves a good roast dinner, minus the onions and the potatoes! Do yourself a favour the next time you have leftovers from a roast dinner and make yourselves some of these delicious wraps! They are Mmm ... Mmm ... Good!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons