Episode 13: Marzipan Pumpkins

(This episode is dedicated to show-and-tell time and my super hero teacher and classmates.)

This is a special holiday episode of my show. Marzipan pumpkins are not only great for Halloween candy and decorating, but they are also great for other fall decorating, including Thanksgiving. These pumpkins will look so cute on your table. They are fun to make and really yummy to eat.

Marzipan is a paste made from almonds and sugar. You can buy it at the grocery store. It' a little hard to knead in the food coloring but the rest is easy. You can use any fruit stem as your pumpkin "stem" or you can make your own out of marzipan.

Enjoy the show!

Episode 12: Play dough

We've had a lot of rainy days lately, and we have a lot left to come. And making play dough is a really fun thing to do on a day you're stuck in the house. I know it's easy and cheap to get at the store, but for some reason making it yourself makes it more fun to play with. The recipe I listed calls for adding 1 teaspoon of oil, but I left it out when I made my batch. I understand that the oil is supposed to keep it from drying out too quickly but after a week my oil-free play dough is as fresh as when I first made it. So it's up to you if you want to use it.

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients, add the food coloring last if you plan to make your play dough all one color. (Otherwise wait and knead in the colors after your play dough is cooked.) Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled. Will last for a long time.

Episode 11: Chicken Potpie

Chicken potpie is one of my favorite things to have for dinner. It's so yummy and it's full of veggies so it's good for you too! Did I mention how easy it is to put together? You can used leftover chicken or turkey or you can tear apart a rotisserie chicken. For this show my mom cooked a couple of chicken breasts and then cubed them. You can make your potpie in a glass casserole dish, in a pie pan or in a cast iron skillet. It's also up to you if you want to use two crusts or one. In my house we usually only put one crust over the top of our potpie. The benefit of cooking in a skillet and then topping it with a crust before sliding it into the oven is that you have less dishes to clean when you're done. Hurray!

Here's what you need:
1 pie crust (Use a homemade one.)
1 10-ounce package of mixed frozen veggies
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1 bay leaf
A couple shakes of pepper
2 cups of chicken broth
3/4 cup milk
3 cups of cubed chicken
1/4 cup snipped parsley

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

In a skillet melt your butter and then add the onions and cook until tender. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, spices and bay leaf. Add chicken broth and milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in the mixed vegetables, the chicken and the parsley. Take your skillet off the heat and carefully top it with your homemade pie crust. Slide it into the oven and bake it for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden. If it looks full be sure to put a cookie sheet under your skillet so it doesn't get all over the bottom of your oven. Dish it out and eat it piping hot. If you're lucky, you'll get the bay leaf! Enjoy ... and thanks for watching The Retta Show!

Episode 10: Mexican Ice Cream Sundaes

Ingredients
Serves 6
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2/3 cup heavy cream
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
1 1/2 pints dulce de leche ice cream
1/4 cup redskin or unsalted peanuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut on a rimmed baking sheet; toast, tossing occasionally, until brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high, bring cream to a boil; remove from heat. Add chocolate, cinnamon, and salt. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is shiny.
Remove ice cream from freezer 15 minutes before serving. Scoop into bowls; top with warm sauce, peanuts, and coconut.

Episode 9: Guacamole

I love guacamole. Especially when it's homemade because then I know I'm not going to run into any peppers that are too spicy ... and I also know it'll be salty enough. This recipe is really easy and can be changed depending on how much you like certain ingredients. I have a friend who uses lemon juice instead of lime juice, but I like limes with my avocadoes. Also, I skipped the hot peppers in my recipe because I'm sharing it with my little brother, but you can make yours as spicy as you want. I was planning to use a clove of garlic in my recipe, but my brother ate it before I could use it. Guacamole tastes yummy either way. Enjoy!

What you need:
2 ripe avocados
1 lime
1 small, diced tomato
1/4 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 or a diced bell pepper
cilantro (however much you like)
salt (to taste)

If you like it spicy you can also add a jalapeno or two and a diced clove of garlic.

What to do:
Mash up your avocado. Squeeze in you lime juice and stir. Then add all the rest of the ingredients and stir, Devour it with chips or smear it onto your hamburger. Delicious!

Episode 8: Strawberry Ice Cream

This is the simple recipe that comes with the ice cream maker. Usually we cut down the cream and substitute for more milk so the ice cream doesn't leave that creamy feeling on the roof of your mouth. It's super yumms!

What you need:
3 cups fresh ripe strawberries, stemmed and sliced
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 ½ cup sugar, divided
1 ¼ cups whole milk
2 ¾ cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

What to do:
In a small bowl, combine the strawberries with the lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Stir gently and allow the strawberries to macerate in the juices for 2 hours. Strain the berries, reserving juices.

In a medium bowl, combine the milk and remaining granulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream, reserved strawberry juice, and vanilla. Turn the machine on; pour the mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. Five minutes before mixing is completed, add the reserved sliced strawberries and let mix in completely. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Episode 7: Cherimoyas

This is the last Retta Show we filmed in California. In this episode I teach you everything you really need to know about cherimoyas. A few months ago I hadn't even heard of cherimoyas. One day someone pointed out to my mom that we had a handful of cherimoya trees growing in our orchard. She told us that they are sweet and creamy and that we should ripen one to try it. Since then we have seen them at every farmer's market, selling for as much as $2 each. If we had stayed in Camarillo I would have had to open a cherimoya stand. Maybe we can grow some in Texas ... enjoy the show!

Episode 6: Salad Dressing

This is the best salad dressing recipe in the world. My mom got this recipe from Miss Courtney a couple years ago and now it is the only salad dressing we eat. And we eat a ton of salad.

What you need:
1/3 cup of balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of Dijon or yellow mustard
A couple sakes of pepper

Throw all of these ingredients into a blender or small chopper and blend until it's all smooth. Taste it with a crouton. Yummy!

We change this recipe up all of the time. When it was basil season I threw in about a handful of basil in every batch. Sometimes I throw in dill or parsley or cilantro. This recipe also works with lemon juice instead of vinegar. But the original version is always yummy so make that first and then get creative.

Episode 5: Apple Pie

Part 2 of 2. Get out your pie crust and let it warm up a bit. It's really tough to roll straight out of the fridge. (Especially if you can't use your rolling pin and need to use a vinegar bottle.)

When I made this pie I used organic Fuji apples that I picked out at the farmer's market the day before. I like the skins so I don't peel my apples for pie. Most recipes call for peeling apples though. It's up to you. Also, Fujis are pretty sweet so you don't need as much sugar as when you bake with Granny Smiths or some other cooking apples.

No eggs in apple pie either so taste after each step! Well, maybe don't taste the all-spice. But everything else is YUMMY!

What you need:
1/2 cup of brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
6 cups of thinly sliced apples
1 pie crust (See Episode 4.)

Put your apples in a bowl. Throw on all the other ingredients and stir well. Put your apples in a pie plate. Roll out your pie crust and put it on top of your pie. Use a fork to poke in as many holes as you want. Place it on a baking sheet. Put in a 375 degree oven for about 50 minutes. If your pie has neat edges, cover them with foil for the first 25 minutes of your baking. When your crust is golden and your pie is bubbling take it out of the oven. Serve it warm with ice cream or eat it cold. It's so yummy! I ate three pieces of this pie!

Episode 4: Pie crust

Last week we were invited to a potluck and the plan was to take an apple pie. So we made the pie and split it into two episodes. Consider this Part 1 of 2: The crust.

When I made this recipe I used a little whole wheat flour. You can use the same portions and make it totally with all-purpose flour or totally with whole wheat flour. I've also made this same recipe with pastry flour. Since it was a fruit pie I went easy on the whole wheat. But if you're making chicken pot-pie or something like that then you may want to make it meatier.

You will need:
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of cold butter, cut into small pieces
3 or 4 tablespoons water

Mix together the flour and salt. If you're making your crust in the mixer just put the butter in and let it get mixed up with the flour. If you're doing it by hand just cut it in with a pastry cutter (Like I did with the biscuits in Episode 3.) or use two knives to cut it in. Then add up to 4 tablespoons of cold water. In the mixer you almost never need more than 3 tablespoons because it mixes really well. If you're doing it by hand you may need 4, but don't use more than that. It will get too gooey and hard to work with. Keep mixing until it's all moist and can form into a ball. Make a disk and wrap in plastic to use later or roll it out and top your favorite pie. The disk will keep in your fridge for a few days in and in your freezer for a couple weeks.

One of the best things about making pie crust is that it doesn't have any eggs. That means you can taste it. It's so buttery and YUMMY! Even before you cook it!

Episode 3: Biscuits from scratch

Making this episode of my show was a little tricky because we filmed it while my brother was awake. Every time I tried to say something he would shout out, "Mama!" But my biscuits turned out perfectly, even with all of his "help."

I picked biscuits for this episode because I love any excuse to get the honey jar out and my mom will usually let me have as much honey as I want on my biscuits. Also because so many of my mom's friends ask her for the recipe and they think making biscuits is tricky. How crazy. All you have to do is mix up some stuff and put it in the oven. Easy Cheesy!

You will need:
2 cups of flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt (Or just a few shakes.)
1/2 cup of butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup milk

Turn your oven on to 450 degrees

Stir together the first 5 ingredients. Cut in the butter with 2 knives or a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add the milk and stir until the dough clings together. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface, knead a few times and then flatten with your hands of a rolling pin to about a 1/2-inch thickness. Cut with a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter or a cup. Put the biscuit on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Eat them warm drenched in honey or jam. They're also yummy with an egg sandwiched in the middle.

Episode 2: Orange juice and posicles

In this show I visited my friend's orchard for fresh oranges. When you make your juice you can get a bag of juice oranges from the market. But if you live in Southern California or Florida then you should definitely make friends with people who own orchards. I also prefer organic oranges. They're the yummiest. After you bring home your oranges it is best to rinse them off first. (It is windy in Southern California so they collect a lot of dust.) After you rinse them, slice each one in half. Then squeeze them until you get every drop of juice out. Pour them into pretty cups and garnish with orange slices, mint leaves or anything else edible you have lying around.

If you have juice left over, make popsicles! I always put frozen fruit in the bottom of my popsicle molds before I pour in the juice. In this episode I used raspberries, but you can use just about anything. Except peas. One time my mom gave us popsicles with peas and it was so gross. Freeze them for at least three hours or over-night. It's really hard to wait for them to get solid, especially when you know how yummy they'll be. Enjoy!

Episode 1: Cream Puffs

1/2 cup butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 eggs

Filling: We used ice cream. But you can also used whipped cream, pudding or fruit.

Combine butter, 1 cup of water and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to boiling. Add flour and stir. Cook until mixtures forms a ball that doesn't seperate. remove from heat and cool 10 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon until smooth. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven 30 to 35 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Split. Fill. Devour. Makes 10-15.