The Retta Show

Snow Cones: Ice Queens

2011-07-04T05:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went to Ice Queens with my mom, my brother and our friends Liefen, Tor and Freia. They had lots of interesting flavors, including four natural syrups made with brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup. I ordered dreamsicle and I liked it a lot. I also tasted Tor's yummy wild cherry and Mom's not-so-yummy Ginger Ale. She liked it though. I also didn't care for Liefen's tamarind, but my mom and Liefen both thought it was tasty. Clifford mixed root beer and bubblegum. I didn't even want to try that. Next time we go we are all going to try licorice! My mom didn't spot it until after we ordered. Licorice! I think Ice Queens is a very nice place to cool down.

Really cool thing about this place: They have Junior Sizes for $1. You can eat just enough snow cone and finish without a tummyache.

GET ONE: Ice Queens, 1210 Rosewood, Austin, Texas 78702

Snow Cones: Sno-Beach

2011-06-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday my brother, my friend Sydnie and I went to Sno-Beach. It was pretty good. I got the flavor sour cherry. It sort of tasted like Bahama Freeze. The small is $2.50 and enough to fill you up ... well, at least to fill me up.Lots of flavors, but not as many as Bahama Freeze.This snow cone stand is right across from Butler Park and just down the street from Barton Springs Pool. We ran through the fountains before heading over.

GET ONE: Sno-Beach, 801 Barton Springs Rd, Austin, Texas 78704

Snow Cones: Bahama Freeze

2011-05-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

All winter long my brother and I looked forward to Bahama Freeze opening it's trailer window for sweet, frozen goodness. On the first day that the temperature reached 100 degrees my mom and dad took us for snow cones before the pool. We both picked Bahama Freeze flavor. It was blue and coconuty. I liked it, but I wished I had mixed something else in with it. My brother had no complaints. My mom got piña colada because it has no color and she got my dad coconut because she thought he'd like it. He didn't. He thought it tasted like fake sweetener. And he said the same thing about mine. I thought it was yummy. We always pick size small. For $2.00 it's the perfect amount to cool you off and make you crazy with sugar! And check out the sign behind us ... they have hundreds of flavors and you can mix and match all of them!This weekend we went back with my friend Bridget and we both got cherry. YUMMY! Clifford got pink bubble gum and as usual was the first one finished.We also visited the Bahama Breeze location at Brodie with Liefen and Tor. Here I tried Ocean Pacific flavor which I didn't like at all. Too sour. They were really sweet and traded me for a Cherry snow cone instead. It was perfect.

GET ONE: Bahama Freeze, 8213 Brodie Ln. Austin, Texas 78745, or on HWY 290 West at the Y in Oak Hill

Snow Cones: Jim Jim's

2011-04-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

Officially these are not called snow cones, Jim calls them WATER ICE, but they are most definitely part of my "Snow Cones Around Town" series because these are my favorite frozen treats in Austin! For $1.50 you can get just enough water ice to fill your tummy and cool you off after a hot day in the sun. Jim's 6th Street location is the best because they have ALL the flavors, including cotton candy and cherry, but he has stands at Deep Eddy, Barton Springs and the farmer's market that usually carry 3 or 4 really good flavors at a time.

GET ONE: Jim Jim's, 615-A. East 6th Street, Austin, Texas

Snow Cones: Zilker Cafe

2011-04-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend after a hot and sweaty bike ride to Zilker Park my brother and I headed straight for the concession stand for icy cold goodness. For $2.50 you can get a sugary sweet snow cone (they call it "snowie ice") in all sorts of fun flavors at the Zilker Cafe. I chose pina colada and blue raspberry. Super yummy! Clifford picked root beer and lime, a combination I don't recommend unless you like toothpaste, because that's what it tasted like.
GET ONE: Zilker Cafe, 2201 Barton Springs Road, Austin, Texas

Snow Cones: Oak Hill Concession Stand

2011-03-31T06:26:00.000-07:00

Snow cone season is just getting started in Austin. Every year I plan to visit as many stands as I can. This is the one I've been visiting regularly so far. These are $1.00 at the ball field concession stand and worth every penny. I highly recommend a "rainbow" snow cone, but plain cherry is excellent too!
GET ONE: Oak Hill Baseball/Softball Complex, 6300 Joe Tanner Lane, Austin, Texas

Episode 39: Falafels

2011-03-13T19:58:00.000-07:00

This makes a quick, easy, and super yummy dinner. (And if your little brother won't try falafel then he can have a pita filled with veggies and sauce.)

Ingredients:2 cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
flour for your hands
oil for frying

Mash the chickpeas with a fork, masher thing or food processor.
Stir in cumin and coriander.
Add onion, garlic and parsley. Stir together.
Roll the mixture into small balls then flatten them to make patties.
Fry the patties in hot oil for a few minutes on each side until browned.

Serve it in a pita with veggies and yogurt sauce.

Yogurt sauce recipe:Mix plain yogurt, chopped herbs (I used parsley, mint and dill) and salt and pepper to taste.

Episode 38: Banana Bread

2010-09-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

My brother Clifford makes the best banana bread using a recipe from my mom's falling-apart Better Homes cookbook. It's pretty cute ... enjoy!

Episode 37: Cherry Tunrovers

2010-09-19T05:01:00.000-07:00

I made cherry turnovers with my friends on a rainy summer morning when swim practice was cancelled. It's hard to cook in a big group like this, but we had so much fun. This was a really yummy recipe!We followed this Martha Stewart recipe, only we cut our dough into perfect squares so we could fold them over into perfect triangles.

Banana Ghosts

2010-05-09T07:23:00.000-07:00

My brother and I made these delicious banana ghosts for breakfast this morning. This recipe is simple and tastes the best if you use good chocolate chips, like Whole Foods' white chocolate chunks.What you need:
1 Banana
1 cup of white chocolate chips or chunks, melted
3-6 dark chocolate chips

What to do:
Cut the banana in half.
Put a skewer on the bottom side of each piece.
Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze all day or over night.
Dip in melted white chocolate. Work quickly because the chocolate hardens as you spread it on the banana.
Melt the dark chocolate pieces and stick them to your ghost for eyes and a nose.
Eat them for breakfast (like we did) or a super yummy mid-day snack!

Episode 36: Cheesy Potato Bake

2010-04-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 or 4 medium potatoes, sliced and placed in a bowl of water
1 large onion, sliced and cooked in butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350

Butter a baking dish.
Spread on a layer of potatoes.
Then spread on some onion.
Add salt and pepper and sprinkle with cheese.
Continue layering, finishing with potatoes.
Beat the egg into the cream and pour it over the top.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
Bake for about 90 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Cool slightly and devour.

This is a great after-school snack. Or a yummy dinner with a big salad on the side. Enjoy!!

My Rainbow Cake

2010-04-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

My mom made this cake for me to decorate for the spring festival at my school this year. The cake is made with yummy organic ingredients and fresh eggs ... the decorations, not so much. But it was so fun to decorate ... blue icing and candy! Oh how I wish I was getting to eat it instead of some cakewalk winner!

Episode 35: Marzipan from scratch, almost

2010-03-31T17:25:00.000-07:00

The marzipan recipe I followed is very simple. All you need are almonds, powdered sugar, vanilla and two egg whites. A good chopper is also helpful. We started out by grinding the almonds in a coffee grinder, but for some reason that stopped grinding and we had to resort to the little chopper. This did not make the almonds as finely ground as they should have been, but it still made a yummy candy. Almost like marzipan.

Episode 34: Chocolate Hearts

2010-02-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

Buy high-quality dark chocolate. We used Green & Black's organic chocolate. White and chocolate-mint flavors. It's worth every penny ... it's rich and creamy and melts in your mouth!

Fill plastic molds, available and Michael's or your favorite baking supply store.

Refrigerate or freeze till hardened.

Pop out of molds and serve for lunch, or dessert, or snacks or dessert ... (or dinner) ... or maybe give them as a gift ...

Yummy!

Episode 33: Sweet & Savory Nut Mix

2010-01-20T14:55:00.001-08:00

The recipe:
1 cup pecans
1 cup almonds
1 cup walnuts
1/8 maple syrup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary, thyme and sage
dash of cayenne
salt and pepper to tase

Toss all of the ingredients in a bowl, spread them on a baking sheet, and bake them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. Cool. Enjoy

Episode 32: Pecan Pie

2009-12-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

The Recipe:

3 eggs (We threw one on the ground and used 2)
1 cup corn syrup (You can also use honey or maple syrup or brown rice syrup)
1/3 cup melted butter (Sorry, we forgot to show this part when making the show. It got added a little late.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 and 1/2 cups pecan halves
1 pie crust

Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl. Pour it into a crust lined pie pan. Cover the edges with foil and bake it in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 25 more minutes or till knife inserted in the pie comes out clean.

We really changed that part up ...
If you're cooking outside just place your pie on the bottom of the oven and pour the filling over the crust. Be careful not to put too many coals on the bottom of your oven so the crust doesn't burn. Watch it carefully ... ours cooked in about 25 minutes!

Episode 31: Cranberry Scones

2009-11-09T18:09:00.000-08:00

We had no school today and finally a chance to film a new show. These scones are delicious and pretty with all the cranberry halves in them. A great breakfast or after-school snack!

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
5 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for topping
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup (plus 1 tablespoon) half-and-half
1/2 cup halved cranberries, drained on paper towels

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together flour, 5 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 2/3 cup half-and-half until just moistened. Gently fold in cranberries.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently, 5 to 10 times. Pat into a 1-inch-thick round. Cut into 8 wedges; place on a baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Brush tops with remaining tablespoon half-and-half; sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Episode 30: Butterbeer

2009-07-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

After reading the third Harry Potter book I decided I just HAD to have a cup of butterbeer. Harry, Ron and Hermione drink delicious mugfuls whenever they are at Hogsmead, a place that's pretty much impossible for us to get to. The good news is now we don't have to go there for butterbeer, we can make our own yummy brew at home with this recipe. Enjoy!

THE BUTTERBEER RECIPE:

Ingredients:
1 bottle of good cream soda (I used Virgil's)
1/2 cup of butterscotch sauce (It's worth it to make homemade sauce. You'll have lots of yummy leftover sauce for ice cream!!)
1 tablespoon (or less) of butter

Directions:
Mix all ingredients into a saucepan and heat until butter is melted and drink is heated through.
Pour into mugs and enjoy.
Makes about 3 cups.

Episode 29: Pizza at Carino's

2009-07-17T13:14:00.000-07:00

On this episode of my show I got to visit a real restaurant kitchen with two of my friends and Clifford. At Carino's we were set up with pizza ingredients and a HOT oven. I couldn't believe how fast the pizzas cooked! Oh, and they were super yummy. I want to thank Rylee and Cade's mom, Miss Courtney, for setting it up for us. And a big thanks to Mr. Trey and Corino's ... we had so much fun!

Episode 28: Root Beer Floats

2009-06-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

I love root beer floats so much! In fact, this was one of my main birthday requests. (Oh yea, I'm 7 now!!) They're fun to make and you don't really need any grown-up help. It's even better if the grown-ups stay far away so you can keep filling your glass.

This recipe is really easy. All you need is really good vanilla ice cream, really good root beer, and a couple of frosty glasses. We put ours in the freezer for a couple hours and they were perfect. Scoop in your ice cream, pour your root beer over the top and then enjoy the foamy goodness!

Episode 27: Sweet Potato Fries

2009-05-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

In the spring we planted sweet potato slips and watched them grow and grow all summer. In the fall we finally got to harvest them. My brother and I loved digging out potatoes. My brother liked digging them more than eating them, but I think they are super yummy. We cooked them two different ways: Salty fries and sweet with butter and sugar. In this episode I will show you how to make them salty. What a great after-school snack!We kept the recipe simple: Sweet potatoes, olive oil & salt. Coat the potatoes and throw them in a 400 degree oven until baked crispy. You can also add pepper, red pepper sauce or any other spice you like for kick.

Episode 26: Eggs Tacos

2009-02-24T18:49:00.000-08:00

I love cooking from scratch and I really love knowing where my food comes from. These days all the eggs I eat come from chickens that live just 2 miles away: Gram's chickens! These eggs are the yummiest, freshest eggs I can get my hands on. I think the best way to enjoy the flavor is to cook them up in the cast iron pan and then wrap them in a tortilla. Enjoy the show!

Episode 25: Heart-Shaped Pizza

2009-01-25T05:56:00.000-08:00

My friend Celty helped me make pizza dough and heart-shaped pizzas in this show. At my house we eat pizza every Friday night so it's nice to have a whole pile of little pizza crusts ready to go in the freezer. The dough can be made and used immediately or frozen in little flat circle or heart shapes for quick cooking anytime!

This dough is super easy to make because it requires very little kneading and only one hour to rise.

Pizza Dough Recipe

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm (115 degrees) water
2 packets ( ounce each) active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for bowl
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for kneading
2 cups whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)

Directions
1. Place water in a large bowl; sprinkle with yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Brush another large bowl with oil.

2. In bowl with yeast, whisk sugar, oil, and salt. Stir in flours with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms. Transfer to oiled bowl; brush top of dough with oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface. With floured hands, knead until smooth, about 15 seconds; divide into two balls.

4. Set balls on a plate (they should not touch); freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Then freeze in a freezer bag up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in refrigerator.

5. Divide each ball of dough into 4 pieces. Using your hands, stretch each piece into a 5-inch disk (if dough becomes too elastic to work with, let it rest a few minutes). Freeze shells on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Stack frozen shells between layers of parchment paper. Freeze in a freezer bag up to 3 months. Bake from frozen.

Episode 24: Peanut Butter

2009-01-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

This show stars my little brother, Clifford. He likes to crack peanuts with a wooden hammer my mom keeps in the kitchen drawer. It's really messy, but it keeps him busy for a long time. This is my favorite kind of peanut butter ... fresh and sweetened with honey. It's also super simple to make with any nuts you have on hand. Enjoy ... and thanks for watching The Retta Show!

Episode 23: Cranberry Salad

2008-11-20T04:32:00.000-08:00

This recipe is one of my favorite things to eat at the Thanksgiving table. I love fresh cranberries. Especially when they're mixed with marshmallows and pineapple and whipped cream! (I made this with my Gram!)

Episode 22: Pineapple

2008-11-19T18:17:00.001-08:00

Episode 21: Acorn Squash

2008-09-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

We've gotten a few of these acorn squashes from our farmer and decided it was time to cook them up. This recipe is really similar to the butternut squash recipe, but I think the two squashes taste different from each other. And that they deserved their own shows. My brother, who did not like the butternut squash, loved the acorn squash.
Ingredients:

1 Acorn squash
1 Tablespoon Butter
2 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Cut the acorn squash in half, lengthwise, from stem to end. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and stringy stuff in the center of each half. Put butter, cinnamon and sugar in squash. Put it in a pan, cut side down. Add 1/2 cup of water. Bake for about 1 hour. Take squash from the oven. Turn back over and set in a bowl. Ladle out any "syrup" or drippings from the pan and stir them in with your squash. Enjoy as a snack or with dinner!

Episode 20: Basil-Walnut Pesto

2008-09-12T13:19:00.001-07:00

All of our summer basil is starting to flower so it's time to use it up. We always let quite a bunch of it flower and go to seed, but we do like to use it too. This pesto is super delicious.Ingredients:

2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup walnuts
2 small cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Place all ingredients in food processor or blender. We did them one at a time, starting with the walnuts, adding the oil last. (Chopping is fun.) Blend until thoroughly combined.

Just before serving, add 2 Tbsp of hot pasta water from cooked pasta and serve over pasta or spread on little toasts.

Episode 19: Baked Spiced Butternut Squash

2008-09-05T18:15:00.001-07:00

It's squash season and our farmer has been giving us lots of squash to eat. Here's a yummy way to enjoy your squash with dinner or as a dessert!

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash
melted butter
cinnamon sugar

Preparation:

Brush a pan with butter and heat oven to 350°.

Carefully cut each squash in half lengthwise (or have your friend karate chop it) and scoop out seeds and soft fibers with a spoon. Brush the inside of each squash with butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place squash halves, seasoned cut side down, in the prepared pan. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan. Bake for 1 hour or until the squash is tender. Serve halves immediately. Delicious!

Episode 18: Sushi

2008-08-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

When I visited my Uncle Cy in Ocean Beach, California I found out that he doesn't like to eat sushi. But that's because he never tried my sushi. I don't eat raw fish, or any fish really. And I'm not supposed to eat avocado right now. But vegetables and cream cheese make pretty yummy sushi rolls. Sushi is really fun and easy to make. And even Cy liked it when we were done!

Ingredients:
One package of nori or dried seaweed (look for it by the Asian foods)
One cup of cooked sushi rice (look for it on the rice aisle)
1 avocado, sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 small cucumber, seeds removed, sliced in strips
cream cheese, cut into strips
soy sauce for dipping

What to do:
Prepare a bowl of water for dipping fingers

Lay seaweed on a flat surface.
Dip your fingers in water and grab little clumps of rice.
Flatten rice gently onto seaweed.
Dip your fingers in water each time you get more rice.
Cover seaweed with rice, leaving a strip on one end of seaweed open for sealing.
Layer on cream cheese and veggies in a strip down the center of the rice.
Roll up covered seaweed.
Slice.
Dip in soy sauce.
Eat!

Episode 17: Cornbread

2008-07-31T03:45:00.000-07:00

The recipe
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Stir dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Add them together. Mix until smooth, but don't overmix. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Episode 16: Pancakes

2008-07-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

For this episode of my show I had my friend Kayla over to help. Until today her mom was making pancakes out of a box, but now that she knows how easy it easy they'll all be from scratch!

The recipe:
1 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowel. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir them just until moist. The batter will be a little lumpy.

Pour a couple tablespoons into a hot skillet and cook until the bubbles start to pop. Flip when golden and cook a little bit more. Enjoy with maple syrup.

(We usually add frozen blueberries, mashed bananas, pecans, or chocolate chips to the batter, but they taste delicious plain, too.)

Episode 15: Blackberry Pie (camping style)

2008-05-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

What you need:
1 Pie Crust
4 Cups Fresh Blackberries
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Flour

What to do:
Combine sugar and flour. Add blackberries and stir gently.

If you're at home, using an oven: Top with crust and cook for about an hour in a 350 degree oven. Cover with foil if crust starts to get too dark.

If you're camping, using a fire or charcoal: Pour mixture into a cast iron dutch oven. Cover with pie crust and cook over coals for about an hour. After an hour add extra coals to the top of your oven to get a golden crust.

Sorry, I don't have exact charcoal numbers. A good rule is to make sure the coals aren't actually touching the bottom of your oven. So if your oven doesn't have legs then hang it over the fire pit. Check your pie occasionally. If it's good an bubbly then you know it's cooking hot enough.

Cooking a pie at the campsite is such a treat. It doesn't really matter how perfect your crust looks or how juicy your pie is. When we made blackberry pie at our campsite the first night we were so full we even skipped s'mores! That means it was really, really, REALLY yummy!

My Chocolate Flower Cake

2008-04-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

I'm entering my first cake decorating contest Friday with this flower pot cake. The rules are that an adult can help with the baking, but I have to do all the decorating myself. My mom has been digging up cake pictures for days now. She shows me pictures on the Internet and in cookbooks and EVERYTHING looks good. Then last week she came across a picture of this flower pot cake from and old newspaper article my Gram had sent her. Perfect! The recipe was for little flower pots with real flowers. We changed it up and used a big pot and fake flowers. I covered the cake with thick chocolate icing and then crumbled chocolate cookies all over the top. I "planted" the flowers and here's the finished product. It was really fun to make and really easy to decorate.

Episode 14: Baked apples

2008-03-06T18:25:00.000-08:00

My mom bought two giant containers of apples this week at Costco and the very best thing about that is that we have had baked apples for dessert THREE nights in a row! The first night we halved them, filled them with brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins and butter and then baked them until the whole house smelled good enough to eat. The second night we did pretty much the same thing, except we used dried apricot pieces instead of raisins. Tonight we went nuts and filled the whole apple, loosely following a recipe from one of our Martha Stewart magazines. Delicious! That sauce that gets drizzled on in the end is sooo yummy ... I could eat that all day!

Here's my recipe for Baked apples with dried cherries and pecans:

Ingredients:
4 Gala apples
1/3 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup pecan pieces
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sour cream
3 tablespoons crushed gingersnaps

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Core apples with a knife and use a melon baller to scoop out some of the flesh, making about a 3/4-inch-wide cavity. Peel top inch of apples; fill with cherries and pecans and sprinkle with cinnamon. Arrange in an 8-inch square baking dish.
Drizzle maple syrup over apples; top each with 1/2 tablespoon butter. Bake, brushing occasionally with accumulated juices, until apples are tender, 45 to 60 minutes.
Transfer apples to a plate. Pour liquid from dish into a bowl; whisk in sour cream. Drizzle over apples; sprinkle with gingersnaps.

EAT THEM UP!

Episode 13: Marzipan Pumpkins

2007-10-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

(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

2007-06-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-05-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-26T04:13:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-12T21:34:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-08T14:27:00.000-08:00

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

2007-03-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

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.