TRICK OR TREAT, GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT!

 The perfect thing to makle and snack on while you pass out the candy to the kids!  Everybody who tries it begs for the recipe.  ENJOY!

Trick or Treat Trail Mix

 

 1 bag medium pretzels

1 can(s) dry roasted peanuts

1 box mini peanut butter ritz bits

1 stick real unsalted butter

1 c light karo syrup

1 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 pkg autumn colors M&Ms

1 pkg candy corn

 

On greased cookie sheet, spread out pretzels, peanuts and peanut butter ritz.

Melt butter, syrup and sugar on stove top. With candy thermometer, heat until 250 degrees. Quickly add vanilla and baking soda, will foam.

Pour sugar mixture over pretzel, peanut and cracker mixture...place in oven at 250 degrees for 55-60 minutes.

Remove to wax paper and break apart. Will harden quickly, so move as fast as you can to break up clumps. When cooled add to large bowl and add candy corn and M&Ms.

 

A TOUCH OF ELEGANCE FROM THE OLD SOUTH

Aunt Celestia with Sunny, Chick & Sunny's daughter Dawn

Celestia Noe England was the sister of my Grandfather.  I remember visiting my Great-Aunt Celestia at her home in Stuart, Florida when I was a little girl.  When I think of Papaw’s sister Celestia, I think of someone very aristocratic.  Even later in her life (she was 91 years old when she passed away!), she carried herself well.

Aunt Celestia has always been my kindred spirit.  Like me, she was a writer.  It’s a common thread that runs through the Noe Family, linking the generations. 

Sunny and Chick

I also have a common bond with Aunt Celestia’s two daughters – Hallie Young and Gladys Quinn (who are more lovingly known in our family as “Sunny” and “Chick”).  Like Chick, Linda & I share her love and passion for horses. 

And we are both like Sunny, too.  Like Linda, Sunny was a fantastic artist.  Even just getting a letter from her showed you her skills because she would have pictures and artwork drawn on each envelope. 

Sunny Young was my favorite of all my Mom’s Cousins.  She lived in Marietta, Georgia, where she had once had her own talk show on television and did quite a lot of modeling.  She and I both loved to cook, loved historical things, wrote poetry and we were both preservers of family history and traditions.  How blessed we are to have a family heritage so rich in history to preserve!  Many times, Sunny would send me old and treasured photos of family members long gone.  And we shared poems that we had written – she was always so complimentary to me!  And it’s cousin Sunny that we can thank for knowing our family history.  She did intensive research, tracing the Noe Family back to France and a town named Noe!

I miss Sunny and her special ways of keeping in touch.  But I treasure the many things she shared with me, including this --- her favorite recipe for Chicken Kiev, which she made often when entertaining guests or family alike.  

CHICKEN KIEV  

1/2  c. butter softened

2-1/2 tsp

s dijon mustard

1 tsp. lemon zest finely grated

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 garlic cloves, pressed

Pinch of sea salt

Pinch of fine white pepper

4 chicken breast fillets, skinless

8 toothpicks

1/4  c. parmesan, grated

1 c.  breadcrumbs

1/3 c. organic all-purpose flour

2 extra large eggs, whisked

vegetable oil for frying

Mix butter, mustard, lemon peel, parsley, garlic and seasoning together in a bowl, spoon into a piping bag.

Cut a horizontal pocket at the end of the thicker side of each chicken breast.  Fill each pocket with equal amounts of butter using the piping bag.  Secure each incision with 2 toothpicks.

Pour parmesan and breadcrumbs into a bowl, season and mix well.  Coat each butter-filled chicken breast with flour.  Dip chicken in egg to coat well.  Press chicken breasts into breadcrumb mixture to coat well.

Place on a plate or baking tray, cover with clingwrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Heat about an inch oil and fry chicken breasts on both sides for 4-5 minutes or until golden and cooked through.  Serve with mashed potatoes and salad.

 

GO BUCKEYES (Since You Don’t Play Florida!)

Okay, I know that the Gator’s don’t play this week.  Another Bye Week.  But I have a recipe that is so special I have to blog about tailgating anyway.  But always remember that my tailgating recipes are also great to have for parties or just quiet evenings in front of the TV. 

In Ohio, the Ohio State Buckeyes were everything.  And since they don’t play against Florida, I’m free to blog about them just a little.  And after all, their Head Coach is our former Gators coach, Urban Meyer, who led the Gators during the great Tim Tebow years.  So with that being said, on to the recipe!

Coach Urban Meyer with the legendary Tim Tebow

Ohio is the Buckeye State, so naturally a lot of things are named for that.  This tantalizing dip beats them all!  Chocolate and peanut butter mixed with lots of other good stuff, and you’ve got a keeper on your hands right here!  Enjoy it whenever Ohio State plays, or even when they don’t.

BUCKEYE DIP

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 c peanut butter, creamy

1/8 c milk

1 c confectioners' sugar

8 oz cool whip

12 oz mini chocolate chips

Graham cracker sticks

Cream cream cheese, peanut butter and milk together until smooth.

Add in confectioners' sugar and blend until smooth.  Fold in Cool Whip and mini chocolate chips.

For best consistency let set in refrigerator 2 hours before serving, but can be enjoyed immediately.   Serve with graham cracker sticks.

A GENTLE GIANT

Fred Baum was a dear friend. He could be stubborn, cantankerous and offensive ... but in the end, all would be forgiven and forgotten, and his big heart would shine through. And his death on May 29, 2007, was as much of a paradox as was his life ... a shock, but not an unexpected surprise.

His obituary in the Hamilton newspaper read, in part, as follows:

"Fred Baum made movies his life as the owner and operator of several theaters in Butler County, most recently the Holiday Auto Theatre on Old Oxford Road, the very place where he began his career at age 16.

A native and life-long Hamilton resident, Charles "Fred" Baum died in his home Tuesday morning. He was 64.

Baum's career included owning and operating several movie theaters in the area and building the first multi-screen cinema in Oxford.

In the 1980s, he sold all of his operations and retired from the business, but not for long. In 1995, he purchased, restored and renovated the Holiday Auto Theatre for the nostalgia of it, he told the Journal News.

 

The 66 Year Old Entrance Sign at the Holiday Auto Theatre

 Last year, Baum put the Holiday Auto Theatre up for sale at a list price of $650,000. Calling it "the end of an era," he expected that it would be sold and used for other purposes.

 

The Holiday Auto Theatre

Baum was also known for a fleet of vintage buses that he collected. Many of the restored buses are on display at the drive-in.

 

One of Fred's prized buses -- The New York Trade Center Coach

Memorial services will be held at a later date."

But he was so much more than all that!  Fred first came into my life as the host of the afternoon movies on a local television station. He would introduce each film, give trivia and little-known facts about each one, and astound everyone with his vast knowledge old Hollywood classics. I was a teenager then, enchanted and maybe even a little in love with this bigger-than-life character. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would one day count the famed Fred Baum as one of my closest personal friends.

But it happened! Many years later, I was married and my husband Steve was looking for a job. One day, while checking out what was playing at the local movie houses and driveins, he saw that the Holiday Auto Theatre was hiring. He applied for the position of "consession stand worker" and ended up becoming the manager of the drivein! And my dream of meeting the incomparable Fred Baum became a reality. We became fast friends.

Eventually I also became part of the Holiday "family" (office manager and later consession co-manager to Steve). Some of my best memories will always be listening as Fred shared HIS favorite memories from his life and career ... in particular, about his personal friendship with the late, great Kate Smith.

We shared many things in common, besides our love of drive-in theatres and movies! We were each extremely patriotic flag wavers; we both loved traveling to Maine and lighthouses; we both adored cats (how he LOVED his Sylvester, Katie, PG, Chessie and Calie) and we shared a love for cooking and kitchen gadgets. And we were both pretty much set in our ways, which caused us to occasionally butt heads! But we both knew how much we cared for one another, and I will miss my daily (anywhere from five to ten) phone calls from Fred, and exchanging recipes with him. I'll miss grillouts at his house, and spending every Christmas afternoon with him, which became a tradition for us.

 

At the Holiday with mt siaster Linda and my dear Fred

The great voice is silenced now ... never again to be replaced, because Fred Baum was truly irreplacable!

Goodbye, Fred. I always wanted you to realize how much you were loved ... now I wish you could know how much you are missed.

"Please don't weep for me,
for I no longer worry about what tomorrow brings,
For me it brings a much needed rest ...
a rest forever"

Popcorn

Do you love movie theater popcorn? We do! It’s almost a requirement to  get it when you go to the movies. The buttery microwave kind is just not the same.

Movie theaters use butter-flavored oil, which has a lower water content than butter so it makes popcorn less soggy. Real clarified butter (also called Drawn butter) has the same effect.  And that was the only thing Fred used on his popcorn.  To make it, melt 2 sticks butter in a glass measuring cup in the microwave. Let sit for a few minutes; the butter will separate into 3 layers. Skim off the top layer of foam, then slowly pour the clarified butter into a heatproof container; discard the bottom layer of milk solids. Use 3 tablespoons hot clarified butter for 10 cups popcorn; refrigerate the rest.   At room temperature clarified butter is in a more solid state, but when heated turns to a beautiful, golden liquid.  The rich, nutty flavor of the clarified butter takes your homemade snack to a whole new level when drizzled over top and tossed with a bit of salt.

All you need is a 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels and a lunch size brown bag.
1/4 cup popcorn kernels yields approximately 5 cups popped corn
*Put 1/4 cup of the popcorn kernels in the bag.

*Fold over the top of the bag 2-3 times and put it folded side down in the microwave.

*Press the popcorn setting on the microwave.  Let it run until popping slows or microwave finishes.

The second, more secret ingredient is flavacol. What is flavacol? I have no idea. It’s some kind of seasoning salt that is unbelievably delicious. No other seasoning salt holds a candle to flavacol.  And that’s what we used at the drive in.  And I believe you can get it at Sam’s Club. 

Add the flavacol to your popcorn according to your own tastes.

Soft Pretzel

4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon white sugar

1-1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees)

5 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

 1/2 cup baking soda

4 cups hot water

1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 1/4 cup warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two more tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Grease 2 baking sheets

In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in 4 cups hot water; set aside. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda-hot water solution and place pretzels on baking sheets. Sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake in preheated oven until browned, about 8 minutes.

Cotton Candy

5 cups granulated sugar
Scant 1 1/3 cups light corn syrup
1 cup plus 2 T. water
Flavored oil
Food color paste
Vegetable baking spray

To make this recipe at home, you will need a pair of wire cutters and an old inexpensive whisk. Cut the round ends off an inexpensive whisk. Arrange the tines so they are evenly spaced. You will also need an open space to make the cotton candy. At home, slit open a garbage bag and cover the floor area. Wedge 2 long wooden spoons under something heavy so they extend off the edge of the counter.

Place the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a 2-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Insert a candy thermometer and cook the sugar mixture until it reaches 320 degrees F, what is known as the hard crack stage (the sugar becomes brittle when it comes in contact with a cooler surface). Remove from the heat and carefully pour into a medium-size microwaveable glass bowl. If you leave the sugar in the pan, the sugar will continue to cook and turn dark brown. A glass bowl will hold the temperature of the sugar. I put a towel under the bowl to keep the bowl from tipping over and to protect my hands from the heat of the glass. (The sugar will stay liquid enough to work with easily for about 10 minutes; after that it will start to thicken. If this happens before you are finished, just pop the bowl in the microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the sugar is liquid enough to work with once again.) If you are going to color and/or flavor the sugar, add those drops now.

Dip the tines into the hot sugar. Allow the sugar to drain off for 1 to 2 seconds until the draining sugar strands are relatively the same consistency. Then wave the whisk over the extended wooden spoons and allow the sugar strands to gently drift until they are resting on top of the spoons. Make sure you are about 12 to 18 inches above the spoons. Use broad long strokes and work quickly. Gather the cotton candy and roll onto paper that you've rolled into a long, thin cone, like cotton candy is served in at the carnival or serve as is. If you need to store the cotton candy for a few hours, place it in an airtight container. The delicate sugar will melt in a humid environment.