Ramekins

This may just be the excuse I need to buy some ramekins...

Deep Dish Cookie Recipe

The Cob

Thanks to Whitby farms (Kim for thinking of me and Kennidi and Braden for the transportation and delivery), I spent this morning filling my freezer with sweet corn.  Hannah, Grandma and Izzy helped shuck the corn.  Then I blanched it and Rosemary helped me cut the corn off the cob. 

Here's a tip... place the cob upright on the center post of a bunt or angel food cake pan.  Then cut the corn off, letting it fall into the pan.  It makes things (somewhat) easier and less messy.

 Then I used my Grandma Vivian's recipe:

8 c. cut corn

1 cube butter

1 1/2 t. salt

2 T. sugar

1/2 c. water

Boil 5 minutes.  Cool and freeze in Ziploc bags.

** I modified the recipe by reducing the butter to 1/4 cup.  One cube sounded delicious, but my waistline just wouldn't appreciate it!

** I also modified the recipe by blanching my corn before mixing it with the butter, salt, sugar.  But my brother Bret said it is easier to cut the corn off before it's blanched.  I don't have enough corn experience to know.  Anyone have a preference?

So, thanks to the Whitby's, my freezer is now filled with 18 quart bags of delicious sweet corn.  I can't wait to heat them up for dinner this winter.  

And, of course, there were plenty of dishes to be done.  Unfortunately, my dishwasher is currently making ugly sounds, so I was forced to wash everything by hand. 

Raspberry Season

It is raspberry season and we are loving it.  In addition to the small patch we have at home, there is a large patch of raspberries at our property.  We have been busy trying to keep up with all of the ripe fruit.  I have already filled the freezer with jam, we have eaten two raspberry pies,

we eat raspberries by the handfull, throw them on cereal, oatmeal and waffles.  But the raspberries are still coming, so I am trying to figure out what to do with them next...

Perhaps raspberry sorbet,

or raspberry sauce over panna cotta,

or maybe raspberry pancakes.

Do you have a favorite raspberry recipe you can share?

Last Minute Thanksgiving

We had lots of great plans to travel to Utah for the Thanksgiving weekend. We were all looking forward to dinner with most of my siblings and their kids, tickets to the Nutcracker, cousin sleepovers, putting together care packages for cousins on missions, humanitarian aid projects, bingo games and probably a late night game of Canasta.

Instead, we found ourselves in the middle of freezing temperatures, closed roads and six days worth of snowstorms in the forecast. We decided to stay home instead of chancing a possibly long and dangerous drive.

We were sad, we were blue, but we found lots to be grateful for. We were invited to Thanksgiving dinner with friends who also changed plans because of the weather. My refrigerator was empty, so I had to do some last minute scrambling to come up with some things to contribute to the dinner. I searched some of my favorite blogs and found some great recipes. We had a really yummy meal. Dawn's turkey was amazingly moist and tasty. Rosalie's rolls were delicious. Here's what I brought (can you tell which part of the Thanksgiving meal I like best?)...

This delicious candied walnut salad from Our Best Bites…

An amazing Key-lime coconut pie from Everyday Food…

This wonderful White Pumpkin Cheesecake turned out creamy and smooth and looked beautiful (also from Our Best Bites)!

From The Pioneer Woman came this great recipe for Pecan Pie. I think it’ll replace that recipe from the Karo Syrup bottle that I have used in the past.

I have always struggled with pie crusts. I have never found a recipe that works consistently for me. Recently a friend recommended this Pie Crust recipe from Martha Stewart. It uses a food processor. I have made it three times now - and each time it has come out well. This recipe may change my pie crust luck.

Lunch Money

I have three girls packing a sack lunch to school everyday. For some reason adding Maren into the morning lunch routine this year got me to thinking.... About Ziploc baggies. I figure I use about 4 Ziplocs per kid, per day (to hold sandwich, fruit, vegetable & chip or treat). That comes to 12 Ziplosc per day or 60 Ziplocs per week (wow!). Average cost is about 5 cents per Ziploc. That adds up to $3 per week - or roughly $108 per school year. That's a lot of money in plastic! Actually, it's not really the money, but stuffing everything into those little bags every morning that got me thinking. Is there a better way? Do I always need a supply of Ziplocs on hand - what if I ran out? Is it wasteful for my kids to throw out so much trash after lunch everyday? I really hate stuffing food into those things every morning! So, I got some inspiration from this cute blog, another lunch, written by a mom who does amazing things with some pretty ordinary lunch items. She gave me this idea... the metal lunch tray from Planet Box. No more Ziplocs. Their cute little metal tray has individual compartments to keep food separated, closes into a nice little package, and is dishwasher safe. Unfortunately, it is a little out of my budget at $35. Maybe some day I'll splurge. In the meantime, I opted for a less expensive option...

This nifty little find from The Container Store was only $10. It also has individual compartments, plus comes with a water bottle that fits perfectly into one of the pockets. The kids come home, clean out the crumbs and stack it on the counter for the next day. It's been a great alternative to the traditional sack lunch.

Hillary’s Pita Pockets

WARNING: If you try this recipe you'll never be able to eat another dry, hard pita pocket from the store again!

Here's the basic recipe and some tricks to make it work. For a more detailed explanation and better pictures check out Cassi's blog.

Pita Pocket Bread

1 3/4 c. warm water

2 1/2 t. yeast

2 t. sugar

2 t. salt

2 T. oil

2 c. whole wheat flour

2 3/4 – 3 c. white flour

Mix water, sugar and yeast together. Let stand for five minutes. Add salt, oil and wheat flour; mix well. Add white flour one cup at a time until dough is soft and slightly sticky. Knead for five minutes. Let dough rest for 30 minutes, well oiled and covered.

Roll dough into eight balls (10-12 for smaller pitas). Roll out into circles on a well floured surface until 1/4 inch thick. Place on a floured cookie sheet without sides. This is important as you will need to slide the pitas into the oven with as little handling as possible. Let rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place baking stone or baking sheet in oven to preheat. VERY CAREFULLY transfer bread to oven and bake until lightly browned. This takes about 4 minutes in my oven. Cool and cut pockets in half.

Tips:

* Do not rest unbaked pitas on top of each other or touching in any way.

* Do not push down on or disturb pitas after the rest period.

* Pitas freezer very well. I often double the recipe and freeze what we don’t eat for another meal.

What's for Dinner?

I am in mourning.

I sunk into a real life, honest-to-goodness depression the other night when I looked in my freezer and realized it was empty of freezer meals. What was I going to do for dinner? It was a busy day and I really didn't have time to plan. I just needed something I could pop into the oven in a hurry.

For the past several years, my friend and I have been exchanging freezer meals on a monthly basis. We would each make up several meals, freeze them in disposable containers and swap them. She recently moved. So now I am on my own, her freezer meals long ago eaten.

I decided I better pick myself up and get to filling my freezer again. I started with Emeril’s Chicken-patty Pockets. A delicious recipe from my Everyday Food magazine.

To make as a freezer meal, simply shape the patties and freeze them in a single layer on a cookie sheet. When they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer Ziploc bag, label with instructions and a date and store in freezer. When you are ready to use, pull them out of the freezer, put them on a cookie sheet and broil as directed. From frozen they only take a minute or two more to cook.

You can purchase pita bread from the store, but it’s about a zillion times better if you make it yourself. I have a great recipe I’ll share later this week. You’ll never go back.

Got Milk?

I made my first purchase of raw milk this week. We drove to a small farm not far from our house - complete with barefoot children, chickens on the front porch & cows in the meadow. We spent $5 for a gallon of milk in a large olive jar from the fridge in the garage.

There are very strong opinions on both sides of the fence regarding raw milk. You can check the information from both sides and decide for yourselves. Many argue that raw milk is healthier. See this website for more details. The other side argues that pasteurization is essential in avoiding the risk of bacterial contamination. See this website for more details.

I'm not sure which side of the fence I sit on. I've always put a gallon of milk into my cart at WalMart and not thought too much more about it. So why the raw milk purchase???

Purely NOSTALGIA.

When Kirk heard a friend mention she was buying raw milk, it reminded of him drinking raw milk growing up. He also reminisces about powdered milk (which he likes for some unknown reason). Two extremes, I know.

So we came home with a gallon of raw milk. What did the kids want for dinner? Cereal to go with it. Perfect. Kirk showed us how to skim off the cream and we had a delicious dinner.

Summer Fresh

Summer is all about FRESH FRUIT! Right now our strawberries are on and we are enjoying one of my favorite recipes...

Glazed Strawberry Tart

1 c. sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 c. orange juice (the juice of about 2 oranges)

1 T. lemon juice (the juice of about 1/2 of a lemon)

orange and lemon zest (zest a little lemon and orange and throw it in!)

1 quart strawberries, hulled and sliced (more if you like)

1 c. heavy cream

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Baked tart shell

Combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, orange juice, lemon juice and zest in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes until the sauce thickens. Spoon into a bowl to cool.

When sauce is cool, toss with the sliced strawberries. Filled the baked and cooled tart shell with the strawberry mixture.

Before serving, whip the cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread over the berry filling. Serve immediately.

** This recipe is also great with raspberries.

** I often use a regular pie crust instead of a tart shell.

New Technique

Thanks to one of my favorite cookbooks, The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, I just found a new use for my cheese grater. It has now become my new pastry cutter. This works great for anything you would use a pastry cutter for - from pie crust to biscuits.

The method is simple... just freeze your butter until it is pretty firm. Then grate it with your cheese grater. I usually leave part of the butter wrapped in it's paper so I don't melt it with my fingers while grating. If the butter gets too soft, stick it back into the freezer for a few minutes until it hardens up again. Once it's grated, it's ready to use in your favorite recipe that calls for cutting butter in to the dry ingredients. For example, here is how you would use it in biscuits (which I made this week - they were delicious):

Buttermilk Biscuits

1 c. flour

1 c. cake flour

2 t. baking powder

1 t. sugar

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

8 T. (1 stick) butter, frozen

3/4 c. cold buttermilk

Heat oven to 450F. Sift dry ingredients. Grate frozen butter into the flour mixture and incorporate until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the buttermilk until the mixture forms a soft, slightly sticky ball. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and quickly form into a rough ball. Do not over mix. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a rough ball and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until the tops are light brown, 10 - 12 minutes.

Yum, Yum, Yum!

I tried a new cake for Kirk's birthday tonight. It was delicious and definitely worth passing along. I am usually a little leery of recipes involving cake mix concoctions. But this one was super moist and very tasty. If you like Chocolate, you'll love this one...

Too Much Chocolate Cake

1 package devil's food cake mix

1 package (5.9 oz.) instant chocolate pudding mix

1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well greased 12 cup bundt pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until the top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate.

Frosting:

2 T. butter

2 T. cocoa

2 T. water

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in cocoa and water and cook until thickened. Take off heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Pour immediately over cooled cake.

Nutritional info per serving (12 per cake):

598 calories

38.6 g fat

61 g carbs

2.2 g fiber

7.6 g protein

Good thing I've got a long run tomorrow to burn off at least some of these extra calories!

Another Hit

We had yet another birthday at the office this week. Lemon Sour Cream Pie was requested. But what can I say? I wasn't in the mood. So, instead I made this...

Key Lime Pie

It was creamy and refreshing, tart and sweet, and delicious. Though, unfortunately, not low in calories. Sorry. I made a homemade crust: 1 package Graham Crackers (about 8-10 crackers) 5 T. melted butter 2 T. sugar Mix and press into a 9" pie pan. Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes until golden. Serve the chilled pie with plenty of real whipped cream.

New Favorite

I think I have a new favorite in my collection of chocolate desserts. I made this for a staff birthday at the office today. The birthday girl requested something without flour and I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. Delicious! Here is the recipe...

Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Truffle Cake

No Sugar - Grand Finale

Actually, there was no 'Grand Finale'. After 10 days we called it quits. Cutting all treats out of my diet was just plain torture. I bought a wonderful bag of mint M&M's at Target and have been eating a few every day. Just enough. My brother (a diabetic since age 8) gave me the best advice...

'A little here and there, but only when planned for. Plan well.'

Kurt, I hope you don't mind if I quote you. Thanks for the sage advice!

No Sugar - Day 8

No Sugar. What a stupid idea! How did we ever come up with that? However, I have to say that I have done pretty well. Definitely not perfect. But the cinnamon roll was my only major slip up. What I have really figured out this past week, is that I think about treats and baking way too much. I've also realized that it's not nearly as much of a temptation if it's not around. I haven't been baking and I haven't had anything too tempting near at hand. That has helped. Only one more week. Yippee!

No Sugar - DAY 1

Actually, it is technically day 2. But since I couldn't help myself and ate a cinnamon roll that I had made for FHE last night, I decided to adjust my start date. Cassi, you were right, I was foolish to think I could resist.

Starting what, you ask? Two weeks without sugar. Crazy, I know. But I am trying to eat healthier and loose those stubbornly remaining baby pounds. My friend, Cassi, and I decided we would forgo sugar for two weeks. I am not cutting out every ounce of sugar, but trying not to eat foods with high amounts of refined sugars. No candy, cookies, sweet breads, jam, syrup, chocolate, etc. Fruits and naturally occurring sugars are OK.

This is going to be hard for me. It is the Holidays. I love chocolate and baked goods. Hey - I love to bake. But I am curious to see if I can make it. Today, at least, was a success. I even wrapped Christmas gifts for Kirk's employees which included bags of chocolates (their favorite) and Christmas candies. I resisted. My stomach rumbled, but I held fast. It may be that I have a reserve of sugar built up from everything I consumed over the Thanksgiving weekend. Hopefully, that will carry me through a little longer.

FHE Treat

Have you been wondering what the Davidson's are having for FHE treat tonight? Banana Bars. Thanks to Sherry for sharing her recipe. Yummy! Banana Bars 1/2 c. butter, soft 1 1/2 c. sugar 2 eggs 1 c. sour cream 1 t. vanilla 2 c. flour 2 t. baking soda 2 bananas, mashed (about 1 cup) Frosting: 1 8-oz. package cream cheese, soft 1/2 c. butter, soft 2 t. vanilla 4 c. powdered sugar Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, sour cream, bananas. Add flour and baking powder. Mix until just combined. Spread in an 11 x 17 greased cookie pan. Bake 350F for 20-25 min. Frost when cool.

Minestrone Recipe

Kurt, I used a Minestrone Recipe from allrecipes.com. Here is a link... Here are some changes I made:

Omit - spinach, pasta (I wasn't sure how well those would process and didn't want to end up with mush).

Substituted - half/half mix of white and pinto cannery beans (that I had cooked in the crock pot overnight) instead of the canned beans.

Directions - Instead of following the recipe directions, I did the following: Saute onion, garlic until tender. Add turkey sausage and brown. Made a broth with the chicken stock, tomato paste and oregano. To fill the jars I layered beans, onion/garlic/sausage mixture, then the vegetables. I covered everything with the hot broth and processed.

Good luck!

Something New #2

I'm on a roll. Today I used up carrots, tomato, zucchini and onion from my garden pressure canning Minestrone soup!

Before processing

Finished soup!

Something New

I decided to try something new today. I recently purchased a large, new, shinny pressure cooker/canner. It has been sitting on my shelf intimidating me all summer. I don't know why, but the idea that it has the potential to explode makes me a bit nervous. Because of this, I have put off trying it out... until today. I don't do a lot of canning. A little applesauce now and then, but nothing like my Mom and Sister. Come to think of it, my brothers probably do more canning than I do. I really have to psyche myself up to do much more than jam. It intimidates me and zaps my energy. My canning buddy, Cassi, and I usually get together and talk each other into doing something. Just recently we went big and did pears AND pear sauce. Not much for some, but a big deal for me. To initiate myself with the pressure canner, I followed my sister-in-law Jenny's recipe for Beef and Barley Soup. In the end, it wasn't too bad. Nothing exploded and I think the soup actually looks tasty. I can't wait to pull it out and heat it up one cold evening this winter. Here's what I did: Step one (day before): Crock pot two beef roasts for 10 hrs. Step two: Make broth from crock pot drippings Step three: Cut vegetables, layer in jars and cover with broth

Step four: Pressure can

Viola - 75 minutes later (plus some cool down time) I have homemade Beef & Barley Soup. What next? Maybe Chicken Vegetable or Minestrone? I still have lots of garden vegetables that need a good place to call home.