Oh, how I love marmalade!

I only had one Meyer lemon on my tree this year.  The marmalade I made from it was like liquid gold.  I was feeling sad that my tree hadn't been more prolific and then....Trader Joe's came to the rescue.  They sell Meyer lemons!!!!  Oh, thank you, thank you, Trader Joe's.  I take back the negative things I've said about you not having bulk goods.  You've more than made up for it by having Meyer lemons.

Soooo, once I had my lemons, I wanted to make more of that liquid gold.  About that same time, my nephew and niece came through on their way home from Florida and left me with a bag of the best red grapefruits ever.  With those grapefruits and the Meyer lemons, my two favorite citruses, citri, citrus fruits, I made what I do believe to be the best marmalade ever!

Here's how to do it...

Chop the lemons and grapefruits into sort of small pieces.  You use the peel, too, so you don't want huge chunks in your finished marmalade.  It will look like this...

.

Measure your fruit and add the same amount of water to it.  Bring to a boil and then let simmer on lower heat for 5 minutes.  Pour the fruit/water mixture into a bowl you can cover and set in a cool place for 24 hours.

Next day....

Measure out your fruit/water mixture and add an equal amount of sugar to it.  Bring to a boil and stir constantly.

Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring, til a candy thermometer reads 220 degrees (F).  The mixture will gel a little but will still be pretty liquid.  It will thicken a bit as it cools.

Pour into sterilized jars.  At this point, I simply put on the lids and refrigerate.  I've only made batches big enough to get three pint sized jars so they don't stay around long.  I give them away and use them up!  Like I said, liquid gold.

*****

Thanks to Carla at recipezaar for this easy, easy recipe.  I modified it by changing up the fruit but otherwise followed her recipe.

My all time favorite cookie

These are my favorite cookies to make, give away as gifts, and eat!  They are a bit like a ginger snap but the espresso adds a special kick and the brown sugar frosting is perfect.  One cookie with a cup of tea or coffee is a real treat.  I have some dough chilling in the fridge tonight and maybe after I bake and assemble them tomorrow, I'll add a picture or two, but for those of you who have been asking here's the recipe:

Espresso Brown Sugar Sandwich Cookies

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

3 TBSP. instant espresso powder

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cloves

¾ cup butter, softened

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

¼ cup molasses

In a medium bowl, combine flour, espresso powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Gradually add the granulated sugar and brown sugar, beating on low speed until combined.  Beat in the egg and molasses until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour mixture.  Cover and chill dough for 2 hours or until easy to handle.

Shape dough into 1 ½ inch balls.  Roll ball in turbinado sugar (optional).  Place about 2 ½ inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.  Flatten balls slightly.  Bake in a 350 oven for 12 -15 minutes or til edges are set.  (My note:  I do them the shorter time because I like them chewy and soft, be sure not to overcook them!).  Transfer to wire rack and let cool.  Frost bottoms of half the cookies with a generous 1 tablespoon of brown sugar frosting.  Place remaining cookies atop the iced sides of cookies to create sandwich cookies

Brown Sugar Frosting

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup butter

¼ cup half and half

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

In a heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, and half and jalf.  Cook and stire over medium heat to a full boil;  boil 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.  Let cool until of spreading consistency; which occasionally.  Use to frost cookies.

(I believe this recipe was from Real Simple magazine, but I don't know what issue - I cut the recipe out and slipped it into a plastic sleeve in my recipe notebook)

Cheap and Wholesome

Interesting post from Simple, Green, and Frugal on eating healthy with cheap, wholesome foods.  Check it out.

Extra healthy enchiladas

I gave the boys a choice tonight - pizza or enchiladas.  M chose enchiladas.  I decided to make them extra healthy.  Here's how:

Saute:

2 chopped onions

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tablespoon chili powder

a bit of lemon pepper

3-4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Add to the saute and cook on medium heat stirring often til warm through:

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn

1 package tempeh, chopped in 1/2 inch chunks

Put a generous serving spoonful of this filling in the middle of a whole wheat tortilla.  Fold over and place in 9x13 lightly greased baking dish (I use a light spray of cooking spray).  8-10 enchiladas will fit in the pan. 

I used about a cup of salsa to spread over the top of the enchiladas and for the boys, sprinkled shredded Mexican cheese.  (I'm cutting way back on dairy so left some without cheese on top for me).

Bake at 350 til the cheese is melted - about 15 minutes so they are good and hot all the way through.

We ate these with roasted green and sweet banana peppers from the garden and a cabbage salad. 

Really, really good!

Soup for a Crowd

It was a busy weekend, food-wise. With company arriving Saturday afternoon, a nice dinner for them that evening, more guests coming over for dessert that night, and a large crowd anticipated for lunch Sunday, I wanted to serve something on Sunday that I could prepare ahead of time and then get on the table right after church without much fuss. It needed to appeal to young and old and be delicious and filling.

Soup and sandwiches.

I know. Not terribly exciting, but that menu fit the bill and turned out to be a very good choice.

Kids happily reached for PB and J. A few non-Southerners wondered what the pimento cheese sandwiches were, tried them, and liked them. The chicken salad with grapes sandwiches disappeared. Tuna salad sandwiches were the least favorite. I will remember that next time and not make as many.

So many people commented on the soup. Three or four people said something like, "I wish I knew how to make soup."

Well, folks, it really, really, really is not that hard. This really, really is one of those "I just" recipes. Really.

So, if you need to prepare soup for a crowd, here's my standby. But I must warn you, none of the measurements are precise and the soup is never the same. It always seems to be good, though, and it does feed a crowd. Even with almost 30 people here for lunch yesterday, I have some left in my fridge and put two zip-loc bags full in the freezer. I love the fact that I have several meals worth of soup in the freezer!

Here goes...

Saute three or four large onions in a bit of olive oil the biggest pot you have. Add a couple of tablespoons or several cloves (5-6) of chopped garlic. Watch it carefully so the garlic doesn't burn.

Now the fun starts. Add an institutional size can of crushed tomatoes. Yes, the very large one. Mine said it was 6 lbs. 6 oz of crushed tomatoes. Dump that in and then refill the can with water and add to the pot. Now add whatever combination of veggies you want. You will need to add a bit more water at this point. Sorry, I can't tell you how much. Just make sure the veggies are covered. You don't want it thick like stew, but you don't want it too watery, either. As it cooks, of course, it will thicken a bit. You can always add more water if it seems too thick.

Anyway, about the veggies...remember, this is supposed to be easy so use frozen veggies. I used four bags of veggies - one of broccoli, two of mixed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots), one of corn, and one of peas.

I have a very huge soup pot and I do mean huge, folks. It has been called "the soup pot big enough to bathe a baby in." If you don't have soup pot this large, you will probably have to divide the soup and cook in a couple of pots. Or you could just make less.

Anyway, let this simmer along for an hour or so. I added a generous amount of 2-3 tablespoons of dried basil, a couple of teaspoons of dried thyme, and several tablespoons, maybe 4, of lemon pepper. Funny thing about this combination. One of our friends who is himself quite a gourmet cook, upon tasting the soup, asked me what gave it the floral aroma. I wasn't really sure but when I told him the spice combination, he said it must the be thyme and lemon pepper together. Serendipitous, that.

So, I guess I would say that this soup has a hearty vegetable flavor with light floral hints and a bit of a kick (from the pepper).

I did want to have some vegetarian soup and some with meat. So, I took about a pound and a half of stew beef, boiled it in about a quart of water and then added it to some of the soup.

To give you an idea of just how much soup this is, I ended up dividing it into three pots. One holds about 6 quarts, the other 8. The third pot was my large crock pot.

You may have to add more water, if you think the soup is too thick. Salt to taste.

This really is a bare bones outline of a recipe with few measurements, but take courage. You can do this.

I made it the day before and and, as I said, divided it into three pots. I had no space in my fridge so I put all three pots in the freezer. Sunday morning before church, I took them out of the freezer, broke up the icy parts around the edges and left them to thaw all the way during church. When I came home, I heated them, employing a gracious helper to stand and stir to make sure they didn't scorch. The crock pot of soup I set on low before I went to church.

We served up bowls of soup and set them on the counter. The table, pushed up next to the windows to make more room for people, was spread with plates of sandwiches. Everyone introduced themselves and then lined up for food. According to the tradition in our home, those who have never eaten with us and the eldest among us go first.

Generous folks brought cake, pies, and cookies for dessert which we ate later, and the coffee pot did double duty.

I do think it was a meal enjoyed by all. I loved serving it. I loved it that 30 people were eating, talking, laughing, enjoying old friends, meeting new ones in every room downstairs and spilling out to the porch and deck. I loved it that the food wasn't the point, but that in it's simplicity it said Welcome. Eat. Enjoy.

Jim Lahey's No Knead Bread

I used the cooking method in this recipe the other day but not the souring or no-knead features. I'm trying the recipe "as is" starting tonight.

No-Knead Bread
Yields one 1 1/2 pound loaf

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Recipe not my own. It came from here.

New sweet potato recipe

We ate this for dinner. Very, very good! It will become a regular part of the sweet potato repertoire around here.

No curry, cobbler instead

Sorry, the curry didn't happen today. I sat at my desk editing a paper all afternoon and then just had time to make some raspberry bars (from a box - it works in a pinch) and a berry cobbler (from scratch) before heading out the door to a church gathering tonight. I've made the cobbler recipe so many times it I have it memorized.

Easy, easy fruit cobbler

Fill a pie pan with fruit. My favorite is berries - a mix of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I buy them frozen in a bag. They work just fine. Sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon are also good. Sometimes I even mix apples and berries.

Mix 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg, and a pinch of salt. This will be crumbly. That's ok. Spread it over the fruit in the pie pan.

Then melt 1 stick of butter. Pour that over the top of everything. Bake it all at 350 for about 30 minutes or til the topping is golden brown.

This is perfect with vanilla ice cream. I like left-overs for breakfast. Yes, breakfast. I always remember that Almanzo in Farmer Boy (Laura Ingalls Wilder) ate apple pie for breakfast, so I figure I can eat berry cobbler. Yes? Yes!

Next up...

My curry recipe. But not just yet. For now, I will share the secrets...

Patak's curry paste
coconut milk
lime juice
cilantro

You could do just about anything with these ingredients and a few vegetables and it would taste good. Details tomorrow after I make some to remind myself what I do!

Success!

For this bread, I will maintain my friendship bread sourdough starter!

Dense, chewy, and moist on the inside, crusty on the outside, with a hint of sour flavor. I think if I used half unbleached flour instead of all whole wheat, the sour flavor would be more prominent. But, I love the whole wheat goodness. This bread is going to be a standby! Baking it in the Dutch oven is easy as can be and I ended up with a huge loaf that looked, tasted and felt like an artisan loaf from the bakery.

This is definitely one to experiment with. How about whole wheat/unbleached with a bit of garlic and jalapenos; all unbleached with rosemary; all whole wheat with cinnamon and raisins....oooooh, lots of possibilities.

I also want to try the original recipe from which I got the idea for baking in the Dutch oven. It's here.

Trying new things

You know that friendship bread starter that 47 of your friends have tried to give you and when you give in and accept it, it sits in your fridge til it gets strange things growing on it. Yeah. That stuff. You know what I'm talking about.

Well, I got some from Kay the other day. I am determined this time not to let it turn colors in my fridge. The problem is, I am cutting way down on sugar and don't really want to feel obligated to make a sugary quick loaf every ten days. So, this morning I am trying an experiment.

This is a sourdough starter, right. And most of the sourdough bread I have eaten and enjoyed is not sweet, but sour and chewy and crusty and delicious. So, I'm trying an experiment. I have mixed my usual bread dough in the Magic Mill using the organic stone ground flour I got yesterday. I did add a little yeast (not depending on the sourdough to do all the rising). I'm going to let it rise a bit longer to give the sourdough time to infiltrate the loaf and give it flavor. Plus, I think a completely whole wheat bread needs a little longer rise time.

Then I will bake a nice round loaf in my cast iron pot a la the method I just found online when I went searching for how to make a crusty loaf. I am, obviously, not using the recipe in the link, but I want to try that another day. It sounds good.

I'll let you know how this experiment turns out. If it's no good, Coty will still take this bread, toast it, and eat it for breakfast. I can always count on him to say, of failed bread, "Well, it makes good toast." One of the reasons I love him.

The second new thing this morning is roasting peppers. After our walk, Amber and I were talking peppers and she told me what she did with her bumper crop of peppers. I took her advice, plus that of several online helpers, and now have two aluminum foil lined pans with banana and long green peppers roasting and filling my kitchen with the most wonderful roasty, peppery aroma.

Finally, my breakfast this morning is a new twist on an old goodie, again, thanks to Amber. My organic steel cut oats that also arrived yesterday will be in my breakfast bowl this morning. I am following Amber's method. I toasted a cup full in a small amount of butter in my cast iron Dutch oven. They are, at the moment, soaking in a mix of yogurt and water. In a little bit, I'll add more water and cook them. Amber says the toasting before cooking adds a nice flavor and keeps the oats more fluffy. Sounds good to me. I will eat these lovely oats with blackberries and a little maple syrup while I smell roasting peppers and wait for the bread to rise.

Not a bad way to start the day.

On the stove...

bubbling away and filling the house with earthy, healthy aromas are a big pot of pinto beans and a bigger pot of collard greens. I'm cooking the greens Teresa's way with an onion, a bit of chicken stock, some lemon juice, and a little salt. Homemade salsa with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, and peppers from the garden will grace the beans and brown rice. Brown rice will get cooked in the rice cooker later. Love that appliance. It's a nice big one and can cook brown rice for a crowd.

In the oven...a carrot cake.

Heading back to the kitchen to mix up cream cheese frosting while it bakes.

Currently reading...

Looks very interesting. As I think about our "Eating like the rest of the world" food experiment (stay tuned for more on that), this will be an informative read.









Curious to see what is recommended here and looking to make some dietary changes.










I also want to read Nourishing Traditions and a good cookbook. Any suggestions?

I love...

a good summer meal like last night's....Sorry, no food glamour shots.

From the Harrisburg farmer's market - okra cooked in coconut milk and curry paste, fresh corn on the cob, and the sweetest watermelon of the season.

From the garden - fried green tomatoes. Yes! Love 'em. Not particularly healthy, I know. But so good, dipped in a little corn meal and fried in olive oil with just a little salt.

From the freezer - collard greens.

And leftover from lunch - brown rice.

Here it is...Best ever cinnamon rolls

Several of you, seeing pictures of celebratory cinnamon rolls or reading about such rolls on the blog, have asked for this recipe. The page that the recipe is on fell out of the cookbook years ago. It is now taped to the inside of my kitchen cabinet for easy reference. It is one of those recipes that has oil and cinnamon stains from frequent use. I wish I could give credit to the author of the long lost cookbook. Alas, all I can tell you is that it was a bread, roll and muffin cookbook I bought long ago. I don't even have the rest of the cookbook anymore, but this recipe has survived. For good reason.

Best-Ever Cinnamon Rolls
4 1/2 to 5 cups all purpose flour
1 package (or 1 tablespoon) active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs

For filling:
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 tablespoon light cream or half and half

In a mixing bowl stir together 2 1/4 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a saucepan, heat and stir milk, 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup granulated sugar and salt til just warm. Add to flour mixture. Add eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

On a lightly floured board or counter, knead in enough of the remaining dough to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface of the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place til double, about an hour. Meanwhile, for filling combine brown sugar, the 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Cut in 1/2 cup butter till crumbly and set aside.

Punch dough down on a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes (I don't do this). Roll the dough into a 12 inch square. Sprinkle filling over dough, top with raisins and nuts if you wish. Roll up jelly roll style. Slice roll into eight one inch pieces. (Sometimes I roll it into a bigger rectangle and cut each roll a bit smaller). Arrange dough rolls cut side up in a greased 12 inch deep dish pizza pan. (I usually make the thinner bigger rectangle and cut out more rolls and place them right next to each other in a greased 9 x 13 glass baking pan). Cover with oiled waxed paper, then plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, take out of fridge and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Brush dough with half and half or light cream (I don't usually do this). Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or till golden brown (if the rolls are thinner, it could be a little less time). Remove rolls from oven. Brush again with half and half (I don't do this either).

Drizzle with vanilla icing made from a little milk and some powdered sugar and a little vanilla flavoring. Eat warm. Mind you, these cinnamon rolls are not health food but they are very, very delicious and will bring a smile to your face when you smell them baking. My sons will attest to this fact!

Tilapia two - no three - ways

Here, for Kathie, are my tilapia ideas. Enjoy!

Pesto Tilapia
My favorite way to prepare tilapia is with pesto. This is sooo very easy if you have plenty of fresh basil around - which I always do in the summer. Not sure I could go through the summer without plenty in my garden.

First you have to make pesto. I don't have my recipe written down anywhere. I've made it so many times, I just do it by feel. Basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese in the food processor. You can jazz it up with pine nuts or walnuts but I usually do it without nuts. Whiz it around and you've got the most wonderful, green, delicious substance the summer has to offer. Anyway, if you need a recipe, here's one you can use. It's close to what I do. Just remember, the pine nuts are not absolutely necessary.

Once you've made your pesto, simply spray a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray or coat with a little olive oil, lay the tilapia filets in it and spread pesto generously over the fish. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. That's it.

Tilapia in Coconut Milk
This second way of preparing tilapia is equally as easy and just about as delicious. I got this recipe idea from my friend, Lori, and I claim no credit for coming up with this delicious way to prepare tilapia.

Once again, spread your tilapia filets in a 9 x 13 inch pan (no greasing the pan necessary on this one). Pour a whole can of coconut milk over the tilapia. Add a few thinly sliced pieces of fresh ginger, a sprinkling of fresh cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. And then enjoy!

We like both of these tilapia dishes served over rice with the pan juices drizzled over the rice. Oh, so good.

Both are good with a simple green salad or an Asian style slaw with thinly sliced napa cabbage and red, yellow and green sweet pepper strips with a dressing of a little vinegar, a tad of sugar, and a few dashes of hot chili sesame oil (if you don't like it so spicy, use regular sesame oil). Toss it all together, sprinkle a few cashews on top and refrigerate til ready to serve.

One more tilapia idea
I have written before about how much I love Lynne Rosetto Casper and her radio cooking show. I now receive her email newsletter and every time I read it, I want to try her recipes. The last newsletter included an idea for a very simple way to prepare fish. I think I'll try it next time I do tilapia. Here's a link to her current newsletter with Sicilian Sweet-Sour Seafood Saute.

OK, it's time for dinner. Nothing nearly as exciting at our house as the tilapia dishes above tonight. Just good old mac and cheese made my mom's way which is the best. With three bean salad and fruit salad and fresh bread. Joel's been asking for mac and cheese for awhile. Happy to oblige, sweet boy.

More on homemade pasta

Well, what d'ya know! Someone else is talking about homemade pasta. I just came across this post at Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op. I don't have a pasta machine so I usually cut my noodles in long strips with a pizza cutter. I'm planning to make lasagna sometime this week with homemade noodles. That'll be a first.

Really, making noodles is so very easy. I don't know why I didn't do it before now. Especially since YEARS ago the wife of one of Coty's economics collegues told me that she always made her noodles and that it was easy as could be and the noodles very delicious and nothing like store-bought. But back then I had lots of little people - you know, toddlers and babies - around all the time and I guess the thought of making homemade noodles was overwhelming. But now, it's very relaxing and we do love them. Frances B., you were right. I'm a late comer to the noodle party, but I'm here to stay.

I can't wait to try freezing them as the post above suggests. It would be so easy to double or triple the recipe and freeze a portion. Love that idea.

My new favorite meal

I love this meal. I make it once a week. It is always different and always good. It is simple, delicious, nutritious, and just a bit special so it's also good for company. The meal includes homemade noodles tossed with a mix of sauteed onions, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, and some kind of bean and topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. Add a salad on the side and some of that good homemade bread and it's a very satisfying meal.

I thank my favorite radio cooking show host, Lynne Rosetto Kasper, once again, for a wonderful meal idea, which I, of course, tweaked. My noodle recipe comes from recipezaar. I usually double it.

Last night's noodles were half whole wheat, half white. Next time I'm going for more whole wheat.

Last night's saute included red, yellow, and green peppers, onion, fresh parsley, basil, diced tomatos and fava beans. Very delicious. I make this saute while the noodles cook, drain the noodles and then toss it all together and serve in my big white pasta bowl.

I've done it with chick peas, kidney beans, white beans and variations on the colored pepper theme. I've added garlic, oregano, basil, and parsley. I've used fresh and canned tomatoes. I've added olives, both green and black. It is always delicious. The freshly grated parmesan is so good on top - as Lynne says, it's not the same thing as that dry stuff that comes in the green plastic bottle. Sure isn't. So, if you make this meal, go for the fresh parmesan.

By the way, sherbert, grapes and other fresh fruits, or a plate of assorted dried fruits make a nice dessert to this simple meal.

Enjoy!

How I make bread...a little photo tutorial

The other day, Kandyce asked me for my bread recipe. I have this problem when it comes to recipes. I don't use them too much anymore. When I've done something over and over again, like baking bread, I've modified the technique, adjusted the ingredients, and just done it so many times that the recipe becomes second nature. On top of that, the "recipe" is different almost every time, depending on what I'm feeling like eating, what I have on hand, and what the occasion calls for.

But I would like to help those who want to make some of the things they've enjoyed at my house. So here, dear K, is a little bread tutorial with an approximation of a recipe to get you started. I did measure while I was mixing this time so these amounts are pretty accurate.

Into the bowl of my favorite machine in the whole world, the trusty Magic Mill Mixer, I put:


2 tablespoons yeast (I buy it in bulk at BJ's)
5 cups warm water (not too hot or it'll kill the yeast - just warm to touch)
1 tablespoon salt (I usually measure it in the palm of my hand. For this recipe I poured the salt into the palm of my hand and then measured what was there. It was very close to a tablespoon. Nice to know)
1/2 cup oil (usually canola, sometimes olive)
1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup brown sugar (a note on sweeteners, the yeast needs a little something. Sometimes I use molasses, sometimes honey, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on what I want - a sweet bread like cinnamon raisin bread or something less sweet like rosemary bread)


Into this liquid mix, I add the flour and the Magic Mill does the kneading. The amount of flour depends on whether you are using white, whole wheat or a mix. For the bread above, I used 5 cups of white flour and 5 cups of whole wheat.

After the kneading is done, pour a little oil in the bowl of the mixer and turn the dough to oil it. You can see the oily shine on the dough here. This just keeps it moist and keeps it from sticking to the bowl as it rises. And, see, I really was writing things down while I did it.

Cover and let rise in a warmish place...

Here's the risen dough - it takes close to an hour to double in size.

And here it is, punched down and ready to be turned out onto the floured counter, kneaded a tiny bit more, divided and shaped into loaves. This batch made 5 medium sized loaves. Just the perfect size for slicing with dinner. I often make my loaves a little larger, but I wanted extra to give away so I had more, but smaller, loaves.

Lovely, elastic dough, full of yeasty air bubbles, ready to be kneaded and shaped.

Set the loaves to rise - this usually takes about a half hour for mine - and then bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes.

Sorry, I didn't take pictures of the finished loaves, but they were lovely, golden brown, and delicious....and at least one loaf was quickly devoured.

Now it's your turn. If you want more info on the Magic Mill, take a look here. This is the company that I ordered my mixer from years ago and I have never regretted the large initial expense. The machine has probably paid for itself several times over in what I have saved on really good bread. I've seen Kitchen Aid mixers and I'm sure they are fine, but I think the Magic Mill is a better, simpler, more elegant design, easier to use, easier to clean, larger, etc., etc., etc. No, I don't get a commission. I just love this machine.

My next bread making venture is to learn how to make sprouted grain breads. Any tips?

Back yard salad

We've been eating salads from the garden. Lettuce and spinach that sat in the ground just holding on all winter have grown big and lush with a bit of warmth and spring rain. There is nothing like picking your dinner salad from the back yard.

"The return of comfort"

How to announce the return of comfort and well-being except by cooking something fragrant. This is what her mother always did. After every calamity of any signficance she would fill the atmosphere of the house with the smell of cinnamon rolls or brownies, or with chicken and dumplings, and it would mean, This house has a soul that loves us all, no matter what. It would mean peace if they had fought and amnesty if they had been in trouble. It had meant, You can come down to dinner now, and no one will say a thing to bother you, unless you have forgotten to wash your hands. And her father would offer the grace, inevitable with minor variations, thanking the Lord for all the wonderful faces he saw around his table.
-from Home by Marilynne Robinson

No calamity has befallen us, but I've been in a funk for a couple of days. Today though, the soul of this house said, I love you all and I am very glad you are here.

It said it with fresh, hot, homemade cinnamon rolls in the morning. It said it in the evening with black beans and rice, okra gumbo, corn salsa, roasted butternut squash with rosemary, homemade bread, and berry cobbler. Such fragrances. There is also a chicken simmering in the pot for soup for tomorrow. Noodles will be rolled out and cut for the soup and the house will say, More love to you.

When I spend a day in the kitchen...

feeling pliant dough resist and spread under the rolling pin,
cutting pinwheels of brown sugar and cinnamon filled dough,
chopping onions and peppers to saute and add to,
boiling bright purple-black beans,
measuring spices in the palm of my hand,
brushing olive oil on thick orange squash slices,
snipping cilantro, bay leaves, and rosemary from the garden...

When I spend a day doing these things, I think my family knows that I am "back", so to speak. Earlier this morning, the boys were recalling some other bad mood episodes of mine. They affirmed the truth of the saying, "When Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

Ouch!

Oh dear, I don't want them to remember that. I want them to remember cinnamon rolls and rosemary, bubbling beans and hot bread and think, "My mother loves me so much."

I often say, when complimented on my food, "Well, I can cook."

It's what I do to establish equilibrium, to bless, to bring a measure of comfort, to give tangible expression to the soul of this house, the love of this family, my love. There are many things I can't do. Many things I don't do. But I can cook.

And I will always thank the Lord for the wonderful faces that assemble around my table. Even when we argue or get on each other's nerves, say unkind things or act rudely, when we disagree or misunderstand, when we are grouchy or sarcastic. Because no matter what, we love each other. I don't think any of my children would ever stay away from the table. They know "you can [always] come down to dinner now."

And then, we say grace because we experience grace. In our brokenness. In our funks. At our table. Every day.

______________________
also posted at Ebenezer Stories

Soccer food

Homemade noodles with sauce made as described by Lynne Rosetto Kasper in this recipe.

Here's the noodle recipe from recipezaar. Very easy. I rolled the dough out before church and left it to dry a bit. When I got home, I cut the noodles into long strips with a pizza cutter.

And here's the sauce. First, I sauteed two large onions. When they caramelized, I added four chopped Roma tomatoes, a TBSP each of basil and garlic oil, some dried basil, and two large handfuls of fresh spinach. I did what Lynne suggested and added some of the pasta water to make sauce out of the saute. This simmered for a little while the noodles finished cooking.

Then I drained and poured the noodlesinto a big pasta bowl. I tossed it all with the sauce and a bit of parmesan. Oh boy, it was good! And very easy.

We'll be eating variations of this dish often. I didn't use the beans as in Lynne's recipe but will try that sometime before long.

Tools of the trade

I make biscuits,
light and moist,
just brown on the bottom
with golden tops

Here are my
tools of the trade.

Pastry cutter with
worn wooden handle
and steel tines casting
curving shadows.

Measuring spoons that
dangle from a hook
by the stove
til needed
for baking powder.
My palm suffices for salt.

Rolling pin old friend
with dusting of flour
and squeak, squeak
as it rolls,
even pressure on dough.

And biscuit cutter,
thin handle broken,
so I press carefully,
and shake to release
biscuit discs,
placing each
on the pan,
sides touching.

How many times have
I held tools in hand to
cut in, measure,
roll and cut out.
And baked.

And opened hot biscuit
steam rising,
waiting for butter
and blueberry jam.

National soup month

Oh my goodness! I missed it. January, now a few hours from over, is National Soup Month! I did make and eat plenty of soup this month. I made chicken noodle twice, bean soup, that lovely butternut squash soup, potato soup, cauliflower cheese soup and more. We even ate soup from a can, something we rarely do - clam chowder and good old Campbell's tomato soup, which you must eat together with grilled cheese sandwiches. But somehow, I missed that I should be celebrating soup this month.

Not to worry....I finished this celebratory soup month with a bang. I made two soups today. Chicken noodle with home made noodles by request for a friend and a HUGE pot of corn chowder for tomorrow.

Wonder what food we're celebrating in February?

Golden butternut soup and sweet potato biscuits

As I said over there, I concocted this soup. I looked in the fridge and saw a plastic container with leftover roasted butternut squash, a ziploc with three cooked sweet potatos, and a pot with homemade chicken stock. Seemed the the makings of a good soup to me...which I have decided to call:

Golden butternut soup
Saute in 2 TBSP olive oil:
1 medium onion, diced
1 yellow sweet pepper, chopped

When the veggies are soft, add 2 TBSP. fresh rosemary leaves, let this all simmer gently while you...

Puree:
the *cooked butternut squash and the sweet potatoes together with enough stock to make it all whiz around in the blender. (I just add enough liquid til it blends easily without making my blender seem like it's laboring too hard).

Add the puree to the saute. And then add more stock (I probably used about a quart total).
Stir over medium heat and add a can of evaporated milk (this makes it really creamy and lovely) and about a cup of sharp cheddar cheese.

Now here's the fun part. I thought this soup needed just a little more kick and I had a jar of pickled jalapeno's in the fridge. So, I poured about a quarter cup of the jalapeno juice from the far in the soup. Nice addition.

We ate with a dollop of sour cream. It would also be good with a little feta sprinkled on top and perhaps some toasted almonds....next time.

Sweet potato biscuits
I have used the same biscuit recipe for years. It is based on the basic biscuit recipe in Joy of Cooking. This is my sweet potato adaptation:

Sift together with a fork:
3 1/2 cups flour
6 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 TBSP sugar

Cut in with a pastry cutter:
6 TBSP butter
When the butter pieces are about pea sized, I added a whole baked sweet potato and cut it in just like I did the butter. When this is all well blended together...

Add:
1 cup milk

Mix lightly til moistened all through. Flour the counter and roll out the dough. A light touch means lighter biscuits. Cut with a biscuit cutter and place right next to each other (no spaces between) on and ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.

We ate these with apple cranberry butter and/or pear preserves. Very tasty!

Sorry I have no pictures of this golden meal. It disappeared too fast.

_______________________
* to cook butternut squash, just cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Bake at 350, cut side down with a little water in an oven proof dish, for 30-45 minutes til soft. Cook time will depend on size of squash. You can also cut in 1/2 inch slices and roast on a cooking sheet sprayed with a little cooking spray. Roast at 40 for about 15 minutes (maybe a bit more) til soft.

Oh, gooooood cookies

Here's the recipe I used for the cookies from my favorite recipe source online, recipezaar. I use it frequently and particularly like that there are comments that describe ways people tweak the recipes. I am definitely a recipe tweaker so I like to see how others do it.

These cookies were delicious. Just what I wanted. I tweaked them by using a bit of cinnamon and cardomam instead of nutmeg since I was out of the latter. Yum, yum, yum!

Oatmeal raisin cookies

I've been hankering for a big chewy oatmeal raisin cookie for several days. I like them way better than chocolate chip cookies. Matthew is taking the SAT as I write so I'm going to greet him when he's done with a warm cookie and a berry/banana smoothie.

Off to the kitchen....

Hungry boys no more

Poor Joel. As we headed from co-op to our afternoon of lab classes he asked if I had anything else to eat. He'd made himself a PB and J for lunch and nothing else and we had a long afternoon ahead of us. (He and Matthew are each in one lab and I teach two so we're there all afternoon). I had the remains of the leftover soup I'd heated up back at co-op. It was cold by then, but he ate it. On the way home, four hours later, he was famished. I was, too.

So, dinner needed to be delicious and filling and wonderful. I had a whole cooked chicken in the fridge that I'd boiled yesterday in anticipation of making soup later in the week. Just the ticket for the start of a very good, simple meal.

Chicken salsa saute:
1) Saute an onion, a cup or so of chopped celery, and a red sweet pepper in a little olive oil
2)Add 2-3 cups of the cooked chicken, pulled off the bones (I didn't really measure, just pulled it off til I had a skillet full)
3)Add some salsa, whatever you have. I had a green salsa made with jalapenos and tomatillas (from Trader Joes) and a little bit of very garlicky salsa (also from TJ's)

While this was simmering in the cast iron skillet, I cook brown rice in the rice cooker. And then I made this sauce:

Cheesy Salsa Sauce
1) To about a cup of stock, add a couple of TBSP flour, stir til smooth over medium heat
2) Add a cup more stock and a cup or more of sharp cheddar
3) Then stir in a 1/2 to a cup of the same salsa that's in the chicken. Stir over low heat til smooth and creamy.

So, now picture the chicken saute over brown rice with this lovely flavorful sauce on top. On the side we had roasted broccoli, roasted butternut squash (leftover) and roasted orange ginger glazed baby carrots. (Very simple - just put baby carrots in an oven dish, I used a pie plate, pour a little juice of some sort, orange is good, a TBSP of brown sugar or honey, and dash or two of ginger and roast at 450 til carrots are a little soft.) A meal full of vitamin A and other vitamins that are good for you. I always figure if there is a lot of color, there is a lot of nutrition.

chicken saute over brown rice with lot of sweet red pepper, glazed carrots, roasted broccoli, roasted butternut squash

Joel's face lit up as the food was brought to the table. I love it when I concoct a meal with surprises (like the salsa sauce) that everyone really enjoys. This was one of them.

We sat around the table and Coty read to us while we drank tea for awhile afterwards. Hungry bellies were filled and minds fed, too.

Thomas's last evening dinner

Before heading back to college Thomas requested:

Enchiladas
Tortilla chips and cheese dip (to which he added Chinese siracha hot sauce which jazzed it up!)
Banana pudding

OK, not the healthiest dinner, but hey, the boy's leaving home and I won't see him for quite awhile. He gets what he asks for. His mama was aiming to make him happy.

For the enchiladas, I sauteed onions and yellow and red peppers, added a little mango chipotle sauce, refried beans, a can of chili beans, and some corn. All of that got rolled in flour tortillas and layered with sharp cheddar and enchilada sauce. Very, very colorful, filling, and comfortingly yummy.

And banana pudding...well, it's a southern comfort dessert, I think. Vanilla wafers, vanilla pudding, bananas. Layered. Simple. Also yummy.

Oh, yea, we had organic mixed greens for salad. A little healthy redeeming feature of a meal heavy in cheese and dairy. Oh well, we got lots of calcium....

And Thomas was happy. That was the goal.

Indian, African

Tonight's dinner had both Indian and West African influences.

The menu:

Fish tikka
Gumbo
Roasted sweet potato sticks
Basmati rice

The fish:
I used a package of frozen tilapia, coated a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and laid the tilapia in it.

Then I made a sauce:
Saute a yellow pepper and a red pepper in about a TBSP of butter
Add a couple of TBSP Patak's Tikka Masala Curry Paste
1 1/2 cups of plain yogurt
a 1x3 chunk of tamarind, softened and mushed around in a cup of boiling water, then strained and added to the sauce

I poured this over the fish and baked at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Really delicious.

The Gumbo:
1 chopped onion, sauteed in a little olive oil
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 large bags frozen okra
a little salt and about a TBSP of sugar

Bring to a boil and then simmer for awhile.

The sweet potatoes:
Scrub sweet potatoes
Cut in half lengthwise, then cut each half into four sections lengthwise
Drizzle with olive oil or spray with cooking spray
Bake at 450 til done - 10-15 minutes

While all this is happening, I cook the Basmati rice in the rice cooker.

This was a colorful and very flavorful meal. The boys devoured it. The only thing left over is a bit of rice....

Chick pea soup

I had about 7 cups of cooked chick peas in the fridge yesterday that needed to be eaten before they went bad. I hate it when I do that...cook extra and then forget about them til I smell that horrible stench in the fridge - such a waste. Anyway, yesterday, I remembered, so we had a wonderful chick pea soup for dinner.

Here's the "recipe:"

Saute together:
1 large onion
a red sweet pepper
a green pepper

Add the chick peas (I used all 7 cups)

Add two cans of tomatoes, the juice of two lemons, and water to cover plus a bit more

And now for the good part - herbs from the garden:
leaves from three four inch springs of fresh rosemary
a few stems of fresh cilantro (still a little in the garden)
a few snippings of fresh bronze fennel

a little salt and pepper to taste

This was a colorful and delicious soup. The boys tried adding salsa which was tasty, but the soup was just fine without the salsa. We ate it with carrot raisin salad and leftover biscuits. Very satisfying.