In the kitchen with Elise

This meal goes great with anything, it is simple healthy and delicious Ingrediants 1,5 kg tilápia                                                                                                                                                   1 lemon squeezed                                                                                                        ...

This week I took a few days to completely re do my kitchen. As I have been telling you, your kitchen has to be a place in the house that you enjoy entering and a place where you can let your creative juices flow. So here are some pictures of my kitchen. It was a very simple kitchen mainly all white but looked a bit boring. I have been meaning to redecorate it for some time but never got the chance to. Finally I did get a chance and a great friend to help. Thanks to Damien's help and Felipe's creativity and labor. My brain was the one behind this operation, coming up with ideas and what to put where :   ) Keep in mind that my kitchen is never as messy as pictured above. I just had to move everything out of the way to start working and then I forgot that I never snapped a before picture. So had to take these last minute pictures. But the point is look at the simplicity. There is nothing wrong with having an all white kitchen but spruce it up somehow to make it comfort...

I don't know if you have ever heard of Lady fingers before. This is a type of sponge cake or angel food cake but in the form of fingers. Now why they call it 'Lady fingers', I don't know. All I know is that this simple but delicious Lady fingers is expensive if you were to buy it in the store and they are only sold in high end grocery stores. There is two types of Lady fingers; there is the Lady Fingers champagne cookie and there is the Lady Fingers sponge cake. Lady fingers (sponge cake) is soft like a cake and can be used to make almost every dessert, and I will show you how. Make this recipe of Lady Fingers (sponge cake) and this week I will teach you how to make my all time favorite dessert. Out of all the desserts I make, this dessert has got to be the most popular and is my favorite. I have yet to find a person who doesn't like it. It's that delicious!!! So, I will give you this recipe on Thursday December 1, 2011. First make this Lady Fingers (spon...

Anyone can cook, that is why I created this blog. All you need is to have the will to cook, the desire to be in the kitchen, the creativity and joy to make your meal a master piece AND 'you are cooking'. That simple. This week my husband  and nephew got in the kitchen and cooked up a storm for thanksgiving they made potato salad, stuffing, whipping cream pound cake and sweet potato pie which was absolutely delicious. My husband won't let me give out the complete recipe for the sweet potato pie because it is a family recipe. But I will tell you the basics of it. You have sweet potatoes, butter, milk, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg you boil the potatoes till extremely soft about an hour and you mix everything together. Put it into a pie crust and throw it in the oven until it is  lightly browned and dry to the touch. Twalla. Very delicious and simple to make. If you still have an excuse as to why you cannot cook, cut that excuse off. Anyone can cook no matter who you ...

You can never get a decent, delicious meal if you don't take your time to cook. It's unbelievable how many people in this world is obese and unhealthy. (You can be skinny and unhealthy too) just because they don't want to spend their precious time in the kitchen so they eat out all the time. That is horrible. First of all it is extremely lazy and secondly it is poisonous to your health. Take time out of your day to cook your own delicious meal. If you don't know how to cook you have no more excuses just view this blog daily. Taking the time to cook your own meal is not only healthy but will save you lots of money. If you are constantly eating fast food or in restaurants you will spend much more money than if you were to go do a great grocery shopping and then come home and cook that same meal or something even better. There is nothing wrong with eating out once it a while it is a luxury, but to do it everyday or almost every day is ridiculous. So instead of bein...

  For those who don't know Thanksgiving is this coming Thursday. What is the main thing that everyone looks forward to on the day. Thats right. The Turkey..... This might have happened in some families, but I remember a Thanksgiving day when I went over to a family members house for Thanksgiving and guess what there was no turkey there was beef and chicken instead. WWWHHHAAATTT!!!!! No turkey. That's what I felt like shouting at the top of my lungs. On Thanksgiving you need to have the turkey. Thanksgiving is a day to remember to give thanks but the main dish of the day is definitely the turkey. No substitutions. Now another horrible thing is to have a turkey on Thanksgiving but then it end up dry, rubberlike and tasteless. You were better off with no turkey at all.... There is a right and wrong way to make your turkey. You want it to be juicy, soft, tasteful and absolutely yummy so here is a family recipe for what I think is one of the best turkeys I have ever taste...

Ladies and Gentlemen this dessert is a delight to your taste buds! Delicious!!! You will need: 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1 1/3 cups of water 1 can sweetened condensed milk 3 egg yolks 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup flaked coconut 2 medium bananas 2 tablespoons lemon juice from concentrate Whipped cream or heavy cream and sugar NOTE: IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN INGREDIENT OR TWO ON THIS INGREDIENTS LIST, JUST COMMENT TO ME IN THE COMMENT BAR BELOW AND I WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOU COULD USE INSTEAD. (Sometimes there are ingredients you could use to replace something you don't have, and sometimes you could just skip that ingredient. But before you do, ask me first.) HERE WE GO !!! Get a bowl and place your sweetened condensed milk and your egg yolks in the bowl, then mix it with your hand mixer for like a minute, just until its mixed together. Then in another bowl dissolve the cornstarch in the water and put it in a medium sized ...

I made this apple crumble the other day and oh boy, was it good. It is also really simple and quick to make. all you need is: Apples Sugar Cinnamon powder butter pinch of lemon juice Preheat your oven to 325F. Then Take a few of any kind of apples (the more apples you use, the more apple crumble you will have; so use a lot ...). I used the macintosh and granny smith apples. Peel off the skin of the apple then cut them into wedges (cut the entire apple in half then in slices going longwise.) Once you do this put your apples into a big bowl and squeeze a pinch of lemon juice on your apples so that they won't get black. (Note don't put too much lemon juice or your crumble will be sour crumble. Then pour a little sugar and a little cinnamon onto the apples. I don't want to say an exact amount because with apple crumble some people like it very sweet and others not so much, some like it with loads of cinnamon and others with very little so put as much as you think y...

It is of extreme importance for you to cook in a clean environment. How can you cook something clean, delicious, healthy and creative in this type of environment. No, No, No absolutely not (...) You need to keep your kitchen clean and tidy at all times. If your kitchen looks something like this, even a little better than this but still messy; Fix it right away. To clean something like this you need a bleach bomb in there.... But since that doesn't exist... Try using 'Bleach', '409', 'Lysol'  or any disinfecting cleaner. It is really important to use cleaners that disinfect in your kitchen because they build a lot of bacteria because of raw meat especially but as well as  your trash. Bleach is the best to use when cleaning your kitchen and your counter tops but '409' is great as well. Something that lots of people use which is horrible for a kitchen cleaning is 'fabuloso' though it smells good it has no disinfectants. Whatever product ...

 This is what I mean when I say use your creativity. I made simple brownies but instead of just eating them with a spoon straight from the oven tray or just plopping it on the plate. I  waited for the brownies to cool and cut them up into perfect squares and set them on a plate. I put a perfect scoop of cookies and cream ice cream centered on top and took chocolate sauce and drizzled it on the side of the plate. (This is something that a restaurant would charge about $6 per slice and it cost me about $3 for a big tray. I did this in a rush because I had hungry people waiting :   ) but there are ways that this could have been much more creative. Maybe on a nicer plate, The chocolate sauce splattered neater and a nicely cut strawberry on top of it all. Do you see where I am going with this? ) Great, learn to make the simple dishes you create look extravagant. Use your creativity. That is what makes it unique. God Bless

Have you ever heard of this expression "Out of a Lemon make a Lemonade" It goes for more than just cooking but it means in general to make due with what you have and make something out of it. Today I cooked a great meal for my family, I made white rice, brown rice, shrimp and broccoli with a touch of wine, salad, beans and a delicious mixed rice which is what todays post is about. "Making a lemonade out of a lemon." I made a whole chicken the day  before Yesterday and had half of it left in the fridge. I also had some plain white rice left over from the other days meal; and some turkey meat that was just laying in the fridge. Normally what people do when they see food in the fridge just sitting there is throw it away. But instead of doing that, be creative and make something new with it. I made a really good rice mix with the left over food and my family ate it and loved it. They grabbed seconds and even thirds. This is great to do as well with Thanksgivi...

can you find the turtle and swan? Hi Ladies! Here are two apple decorations that I did when Bishop Bira and his wife came over to our church. This decoration is easy and is a beautiful centerpiece to put in the center of your table with a fruit bowl like I did in these pictures above. This is a true eye catcher! and is great to do when you have guests coming over your house. Let me know if your interested in learning how to carve your apples for this Apple decor. You want to learn how to do it? Comment in the comment bar, and I will give you step by step lessons. Its really easy to do! By Elsie Da Silva www.howtodategodsway.blogspot.com

These are a few cakes that I've made. Another great frosting for your cake besides frosting and whip cream is condensed milk cooked with coconut (like Brazilian docinhos) Great frosting for a cake it is a gooey coconut sweet frost for the cake. Try it... 1 can condensed milk half a bag of shredded coconut Put it in a small pot and cook it on low for about 15 minutes until it thickens slightly. But make sure to mix the entire time. or else it will completely burn and quickly. Let it cool a bit and then frost your cake with this and sprinkle the rest of the coconut on top. (NOTE) you can do the same with Chocolate.

Do you like Italian food? Today I made a really delicious lasagna for my family. Here is the recipe. Your Ingredients: lasanga pasta (I like the one that is oven ready, that does not need to boil.) tomatoe sauce (I used  the name brand Ragu) alfredo sauce ( I used the alfredo sauce in a jar)(will teach you how to make this sauce yourself after) minced meat (I used turkey minced meat. It's a bit more expensive but healthier) Shredded Mozerella cheese 1 egg diced onion, pepper, garlic How to do it: Take a pot and put a little bit of oil on the bottom. then add in your garlic, onions and pepper. Let it cook a little  until it is golden then add in your minced meat. Cook it for about 10 minutes until it is cooked well; while the minced meat is cooking add in the seasonings of your choice. I like to use a little salt, a little pepper, a little garlic salt and a little lawrys seasoning salt. But you can use what you like. (Make sure to not over season) Once you cook ...

Here is a cake that I made with clowns for a little girl; while still in Culinary School. In order to decorate your cake first you need to know what it is you want it to look like more or less, have creativity or if you don't have it try to use what little creativity you have. We left off at baking your cake. After doing that which in the case of the wedding cake, I baked 3 cakes 1 big 10in. the other medium 8in. and the last one small 6in. Once you do that you need to put the cake onto a pretty serving tray, What I do is poke small holes in the cake with a fork and take a little condensed milk and mix it with milk. I then take a spoonful at a time and pour it on the cake and allow it to seep in through the holes and that makes the cake moist and delicious Great Tip:  wet the cake with condensed milk and a little milk mixed. and use frosting to be like a glue. Put the frosting on the serving tray first then put your cake on top of it. This prevents the cake from sliding ba...