Akershus Christmas Bread

Ingredients:

1 quart milk 

3 ½ ounces fresh yeast

8 ounces margarine

8 ounces sugar

1 ½ teaspoon cardamom

3 pounds flour

4 ounces raisins

3 ounces chopped citron

Begin by heating the milk in a saucepan, and then adding in the yeast. In a separate bowl, melt the sugar and butter together, and add remaining ingredients. Mix until the dough is a medium stiff consistency. Then, cover and let rise for an hour. Once the hour is done, kneed and separate into separate loaves and let rise for another hour. Once the rising is done bake at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Milk and yeast

My rising system - cover in a warm sheet and place on top of hot oven

Before kneading

Christmas bread

Please go to www.magicaldismom.com tomorrow for another Disney recipe with Krystal

Chef Mickey's Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:
3 pounds Whole potatoes (Peeled & Cut in to 1 by 1 inch cubes)
2 cups half & half
4 Tablespoons Butter
¾ Cup Parmesan Cheese (Grated)
1 Tablespoon Salt
½ teaspoon Black Pepper

Cut and boil the potatoes (I never peel mine) until soft, then drain. In a sauce pan, heat up the half and half and add it to the potatoes. Mix and add in the remaining ingredients saving the seasonings for the last.

Using the mixer

Please go to www.magicaldismom.com for another recipe with Krystal tomorrow!

Chefs de France's Croque Monsieur

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups hot milk

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pinch nutmeg

12 ounces Gruyere, grated (5 cups)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

16 slices white sandwich bread,

Dijon mustard

8 ounces baked Virginia ham, sliced but not paper thin

Begin by melting butter and stir in flour to make a roux. Stir for about 2 minutes. Then gradually pour in the hot milk and add the dijon mustard. Continue whisking until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and add in spices.

Sauce

In a pan layer the bread, sauce, ham, cheese, and more bread. Fry on both sides until cheese has melted and the bread is a golden color.

Please follow Krystal tomorrow at www.magicaldismom.com

Boma's Passion Fruit Meringue Tart

What a wonderful, and relatively easy, sweet treat to make! It is rich, creamy, and full of flavor. The great part of it is that the size can be changed so if you are into healthy eating and do not want to splurge, simply use a smaller tart shell (which is what I did) and get a little bit of the satisfying flavor. Definitely will be making these again - all 24 that I made were gone within an hour between my house and my neighbors!

Ingredients:

8 each 2 ½" Tart Shell 

1 ¼ pounds Sweetened Condensed Milk 

2 ½ each Egg Yolks 

6 tablespoons Passion Fruit Puree 

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice 

5 each Egg Whites 

2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons Sugar

Start by making the puree, which is very simple. Take a strainer and gently push the insides of whatever fruit you choose to use through it (I added a little bit of strawberry so that my kids would like it more) and that is it. Then, mix the egg yolks, condensed milk, passion fruit, and lemon juice. Pour into the tart shells and bake at 250 degrees for 15-18 minutes (if using smaller shells check at the 10 minute point to see if the filling has set). While that is baking, whip the egg whites and sugar together until it takes on the appearance of whipped cream. After the tart has finished baking, remove from the oven and pipe the meringue on top and place back in the oven for a few more minutes at 370 degrees. Remove once the meringue has browned a little.

Beginnings of the puree

Adding in the egg yolk and condensed milk

The meringue

Tarts finished baking

Complete with meringue topping

Join Krystal tomorrow at www.magicaldismom.com for another Disney recipe!

Review of The Amazing Spider-Man

Image from www.en. Wikipedia.org

Spider-Man pin

My husband, son and I were lucky enough to go see The Amazing Spider-Man on opening day. In anticipation of crowds we purchased our tickets in advance, and went to an early showing at our favorite theater (the plush, big recliners at AMC cannot be competed with!). Because we purchased our tickets ahead of time, we were given an adorable Spider-Man pin and washable tattoos (both a huge hit with my son).

Let me begin my actual review by saying I am not a comic book person - I literally have no previous knowledge about any of the superheros unless my husband has told me (or I saw it in one of the other big hit movies that have come out). Within the first hour of this movie, I understood the entire story of Spider-Man. The first part of the film is dedicated to explaining Peter Parker's beginnings while still with his parents, it shows why he went to live with his aunt and uncle, and really delves into his character. While my husband (big comic geek) and I were enthralled with the back story, our four year old son definitely was not and had a hard time paying attention to the film; however, after Parker is bitten by the spider  there is almost non stop action that completely captured every one of us in the theater.

The graphics in this film were absolutely fantastic, especially when compared with the previous three movies (which I was a fan of, but now am in love with the new, more accurate version). It gave all of the action sequences such fluidity that it seemed real and at no point was I questioning whether the shot was live or not. One thing to keep in mind with the graphics/action is that it has given this film a PG13 rating. My husband and I discussed whether or not that should keep us from taking our four year old son, and decided to give it a shot anyways. Some of the scenes can be intense for young kids, but I will say that all of the children in the theater (of varying ages) handled it well and were very involved with the film by the end. Basically, if you have a young child and are interested in seeing it, go unless that child cannot handle the villains in the animated Disney films.

Also, the cast in this film was completely fantastic with Sally Field as Aunt May, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy (absolutely loved her and feel she is leaps and bounds better than Mary Jane), Dennis Leary as Captain Stacy, and Rhys Ifans as Dr Connor/The Lizzard. Andrew Garfield played Spider-Man and, though I have never heard of him, he was absolutely fantastic! He gave the character edge, depth, believability, and a sense of humor.  At the end I truly felt that an average boy was going out to take on his responsibility of ridding the world of evil. The moral of the whole movie, as given by Uncle Ben, is it is one's responsibility to do good and change situations if it is within their power and ability, which is shown and said several times from beginning to end. I love that there are movies like this that are out for boys that really emphasize the need to do good!

All in all, this movie was fantastic and a must see (I may even go and see it again). The ending fortunately left way for a sequel, which I will definitely be lining up to see. I give this film 4/5 Mickey's, and it would be a perfect score except that it was a little long, and cannot quite hold itself against The Avengers.

Mama Melrose's Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan

This is a wonderful, juicy chicken dinner that is great for families or a romantic evening in. The only thing that would have made this better is if I had remembered to pick up a bottle of wine. If you are just making this wonderful meal for a few people (say 4) I would suggest cutting this recipe in half. The Chicken Parmesan is definitely my favorite recipe so far in this challenge.

Ingredients:

1 each chicken breast-5-6 oz, grilled

¾ cup Rigati pasta

½ cup tomato basil sauce

2 tablespoons Asiago cheese, shredded

2 tablespoons mozzarella/parmesan mixture

Chicken Parmesan Bread Crumbs

1 ½ pounds bread crumbs

½ ounce granulated garlic

½ ounce onion powder

1 tablespoon parsley flakes, dry

¾ ounce Kosher salt

½ fresh ground black pepper

1 ½ ounce fresh grated Pecorino romano

1 tablespoon basil, dry

1 tablespoon oregano, dry

1 tablespoon whole marjoram, dry

Chicken Parmesan Breading:

4 each eggs

1 – 2 ounces olive oil

Begin by beating the four eggs and then mixing in a little bit of olive oil. Set aside and then mix everything together for the bread crumbs. Dredge the chicken first through the egg and then crumbs. Once that is done, place chicken in a frying pan with a little bit of oil until both sides are brown. Then either place in the grill or oven (if baking in the oven do it at 350 degrees) and cook until the chicken is done. Then, place the tomato sauce and cheese on top of the chicken and put back in the oven until the cheese has melted. Place over pasta and add more sauce.

Spices with the bread crumbs

Fry for about 2 minutes on each side

Make sure both sides are golden brown before baking/grilling

Cover in tomato sauce and cheese, bake until melted

Wonderful, finished product!

Go to www.magicaldismom.com tomorrow for Krystal's next recipe

Perfect Disney Park Accessory

Recently, I was given a chance to help out at our church's sports camp. While there one of the kids brought something that I knew right away would be perfect for any Disney trip. It is a Mist 'N Sip 20 oz water bottle that has a misting option. All of us volunteers tried it, and had a blast. It gives a good mist with each push of a button that would quickly cool anyone off, and holds a good amount of water. In the week I was around, it did not seem to leak with all of the jostling around, either.

Image taken from www.Amazon.com

This amazing product can be found at sports stores, Target (I did not see it online, but it is sold in stores), and Amazon and pricing ranges between $9.99-19.00. Even on the higher end, this product is well worth it as it can be used at home during the summers (or heck, during a hard day at the gym) as well as in the parks. I know I plan on purchasing several in the next few days for our up and coming trip as well as my kid's soccer and cheer practices.