Simple Science - Making Butter

How we did it: We poured a pint of heavy cream into a quart canning jar, spun the lid tight, put on some good bouncing music and started to shake - and shake - and shake. When we noticed that the stuff inside was changing we popped the lid open. It looked a lot like whipped cream but without the sugar and vanilla it wasn't so tasty, so we put the lid back on and shook it some more. After about 20 minutes the cream did its thing - The fat and the water separated yielding butter and buttermilk! We drained off the buttermilk (future ingredient for Irish Soda Bread) , then mixed a dash of salt into the butter. As a finishing touch, while the butter was soft we put it in a cake decorating bag with a fancy tip and made butter dots.

Hard work but soooo tasty! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

We have gone through an astounding amount of jam this year. I blame it primarily on the fact that we make our own yogurt and I often put a dollop in the bottom of the jars before adding the cultured milk. With the stock of home made nearly gone, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I still had enough strawberries and rhubarb in the freezer to make a batch of this.

Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

Makes about 2 Pints (4 jam jars)

3c Strawberries (cleaned and hulled)

3c Rhubarb (cleaned and diced)

1/4c Water

1 Packet Instant Fruit Pectin (I used Ball 1.59oz)

1-1/2c Sugar*

Put Strawberries, Rhubarb and water in a large pan. Simmer stirring regularly for about 20 minutes until it cooks down to a thick sauce. Let cool about 10 min.

In a large bowl mix pectin and sugar. Add cooled fruit, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved.

Ladle into containers and allow to set about 30 minutes.

Can be kept in the refrigerator 3 weeks or frozen up to 1 year.

Makes an awesome sauce over vanilla ice cream or sweet flavoring for plain yogurt!

*This jam is NOT super sweet. To make a sweeter jam increase the strawberries (maintain the total fruit quantity of 6c) and/or increase the sugar to 2c. 

Simple Savory Butternut Apple Soup

Soon to be soup in my belly!

Simple Savory Butternut Apple Soup

Serves 4

Takes about 30min

Ingredients:

1 Large Red Onion

1” Piece Fresh Ginger

1T Olive Oil

1 Medium Butternut Squash

3 Medium Apples

5c* Vegetable or Chicken Broth

1/2c Almond Butter

Chop onion & mince ginger. Sauté with olive oil until the onions begin to get translucent. Peal and dice squash and apples. Add broth, apples and squash to the onion mixture. Simmer until the squash can be easily squashed with a fork. Add almond butter, then puree the mixture with an immersion blender.

Serve with crusty bread. Use apple slices as a fancy garnish if presentation is your thing.


*This recipe yields a very thick soup that can be thinned to taste by adding up to 3c additional broth, milk or cream.

Peach Plum Honey Jam

Peach Plum Honey Jam

4c combined Peaches and Plums (I used 2 parts peaches 1 part Italian plums)
2T Lemon Juice
1c Apple Juice
1pkg No/Low Sugar Pectin
1c Honey (I used wildflower)

Prepare the fruit: pit but leave the skins on then either chop small by hand or in a food processor on pulse.

Mix together fruit, lemon juice, apple juice & pectin in a large pan. Bring to a heavy boil, stirring continuously.

Stir in honey. Return to a heavy boil for 3-5 minutes again stirring continuously.

Skim any foam, then can it up in 1/2 pint hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Process in a hot water bath for 10 min.

 Makes about 4 jars

Swiss Chard with Polenta & Egg – A Very CSA Dinner

 

 

Our CSA season kicked off this week and our first share featured Swiss chard, garlic scapes and onions. I had tried this recipe with the polenta we got from our winter CSA and some frozen greens so I was excited to change it up and make it with everything super fresh. The results were delicious!

 

 

Swiss Chard with Polenta & Egg

The Polenta Part

3/4c Polenta

1c Milk

2c Water

1t Butter

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/4c Grated Parmesan Cheese

Bring milk, water and butter to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, then slowly pour in the polenta, stirring briskly so it doesn’t get lumpy. Simmer for about 20min stirring regularly. Add salt, pepper and parmesan cheese in the last few minutes.

The Swiss Chard Part

+/- 1/2lb Swiss Chard Washed with stems removed and ripped up

2 Green Onions chopped

1 or 2 Cloves Garlic (Or a few Garlic Scapes if you are lucky enough to have them) chopped fine

Olive oil or butter for the pan

Salt & Pepper to taste

Sauté onions and garlic, then add in the Swiss chard. Cook until tender. Salt and pepper to taste.

The Egg Part

1 or 2 eggs

Fry sunny side up over low heat with a lid or over easy if you are good at flipping

The Presentation

Stack it all up, starting with the polenta, then chard then egg. Take a picture – because that is what CSA hipster foodies do – or you can skip that step and just enjoy!

 

Inspired by a recipe on http://www.alexandracooks.com



Parsnip Morning Muffins

Still have some parsnips hanging around in your fridge from your winter CSA share? I found an unusual recipe in a seed catalog from Baker Creek (http://www.rareseeds.com/) that is just the thing. Of course, I had to give it my own spin. I hope that you enjoy!

Parsnip Morning Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

 

1 > 1-1/2c Raw Parsnip finely grated

3/4c Coconut Milk

1/2c Oil (can be coconut oil but not required)

1/4c Apple Sauce (can be replaced by more oil)

1 Egg

1/2c Sugar or Honey (omit applesauce if using honey)

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Orange Zest

2c Flour (I used a mix of white and wheat)

1/2c Grated Coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 400

 

Mix up all the wet stuff then fold in the dry ingredients. Spoon into lined or greased muffin tins.

Bake about 25 minutes.

These smell great warm but taste far better after they have cooled completely.  

Hummus made from Orange Lentils (That Insist on Being Called Red)

Why are they called Red Lentils? They are obviously Orange!
 

I got tahini in my Christmas stocking but seeing as Santa didn't bring any chick peas I hadn't made hummus yet. Today I came across a recipe for red lentil hummus on www.chow.com  and decided to try it out. Of course I can't leave any recipe as is, so below is my version. I must say, it came out quite good!

Hummus made from Orange Lentils (That Insist on Being Called Red)

1c Red Lentils
2c Water
2 Cloves Garlic
4T Tahini
4T Olive Oil
1/4c Lemon Juice
Dash Red Pepper Flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
(I used sea salt and a fresh ground pepper mix)

Bring water and lentils to a boil then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes or until lentils can be easily mashed. Drain any excess water that remains (there won’t be much). Allow the lentils to cool a bit. Peal and crush garlic. Add them to lentils along with the tahini, olive oil and lemon juice. Stir vigorously with a fork or a wire whisk until the mixture is creamy. Add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Can be served at room temperature or refrigerated for later use.



Hummus is UGLY But Soooo Yummy!

 

Super Easy Oreo Mint Bark

My kids call it "That Mint Oreo Stuff" but it most resembles a bark candy...

You can call it whatever you like. I call it gone!

Super Easy Oreo Mint Bark

Makes about 50 Pieces

2 Bags Vanilla Candy Wafers Separated (different colors)

2 Sleeves/Rows Oreos
1/8 t Mint Extract

Prepare a cookie sheet by covering with parchment paper or heavy duty aluminum foil.

Place Oreos in a gallon zip-lock bag and crush them.

Melt wafers according to direction (microwave or double boiler) – keeping colors/bags separate.

Stir mint extract into color that will be your base.

Carefully spread mint chocolate over the prepared cookie sheet.

Cover with crushed Oreos, pressing them lightly into the base layer.

Drizzle/spread the other batch of melted wafers over the top.

Refrigerate until hard then ‘crack’ into bite size pieces.

Can be kept in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 6 weeks (but only if well hidden in the back).

Grandma's Cider Pie

 

Cider pie is one of my favorite fall treats. It was one of the pies that my Grandmother would make in the fall when we had fresh cider. It was such a staple of my childhood that when I reached adulthood I was surprised at how few people had tasted or even heard of it. It is very easy to make - and if you substitute margarine for butter in the crust, it can even be vegan.

My cousin posted our Grandmother's recipe HERE. I change it up a little by using less sugar (a scant cup) and adding a dash of powdered ginger. If you are one of those people who is super impatient about stirring (guilty), you can cheat and add the cornstarch mixed with a half cup of cold cider into the rest of the ingredients as they simmer, constantly stirring as it thickens and clears. You can also fancy it up by adding a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Enjoy!

Pizza Party - Toddler Art Project

 

Pizza Party – Toddler Art Project

Age: 18 Months - 5 Years (younger ones need more supervision)

Time: 10 min (+ Prep)

Theme: Pizza

Books: Pizza at Sally’s by Monica Wellington, Pete’s a Pizza by William Steig

Materials:

Brown Construction paper (heavy weight works best)
Assorted scraps and colors of construction paper & tissue paper
Yarn scraps, fabric scraps, foam bits, packing peanuts, sequins, buttons, etc
Small paper plates (optional - for ‘serving’)
Glue
Adults (& some kids) get to use Scissors

Prep: Cut pizza crusts from brown construction paper. I cut three triangular slices per sheet, but you can also make Sicilian style rectangles, or personal pan circles. Prepare toppings such as red and orange tissue scrap sauce, yarn cheese, green pepper paper slices, packing peanut sausage, etc.

Activity: Each child gets a ‘crust’, glue, a paper plate and an assortment of toppings. Make a custom slice! You can suggest that sauce and cheese be the first two toppings, but there is no wrong way to top a pizza. Serve paper pizza on paper plates.

Notes/Tips: You can use a hole punch to ‘pit’ black olive circles and onion rings shape themselves when card stock is cut in a thin spiral. When choosing toppings avoid potential choking hazards such as buttons for little ones. This activity can be made longer by making it a pizza shop game where children make and serve slices to order.

Apple Yogurt Whole Wheat Pancakes

 

Apple Yogurt Whole Wheat Pancakes

1c Vanilla or Apple or Maple or Plain Yogurt
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons Walnut Oil
2 Tablespoons Real Maple Syrup
Dash Cinnamon
1 t Baking Powder
1c Whole Wheat Flour
1 Large Apple Diced Up Small (Peal Optional)
A Bit of Butter for the Griddle
More Maple Syrup for Eating

Mix it all up in the order listed. Heat the griddle to medium, grease with a little butter then fry them up. Enjoy!

Notes:

If batter seems too thick, add a couple of Tablespoons of milk - If it seems too thin add a couple tablespoons more flour
Single serve yogurt is often a few ounces shy of a cup so you’ll need to add a couple Tablespoons of milk
The walnut oil adds a subtle nutty flavor but vegetable oil works just fine
These cook best at a slightly lower temp than regular pancakes – too hot and the batter closest to the apple pieces won’t be fully cooked
Apple Butter is a nice topping for these - It is also less messy if you have anyone who believes that forks should be optional

Yogurt, Apple & Summer Squash Muffins

Yogurt, Apple & Summer Squash Muffins

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup sugar
¾ cup Vanilla yogurt (you can use any complementary flavor or plain too)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups combined summer squash & apple shredded (I used a small yellow straight neck squash and a large Macintosh apple – you can use whatever variety of summer squash and apple you like)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare the muffin tins.
In a big bowl beat egg, sugar, oil, and yogurt. Fold in the summer squash and apple. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon then the flours.
Fill muffin cups about 2/3 of the way. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

ENJOY!

 

 

No Pectin Ginger Nectarine Jam

 

No Pectin Ginger Nectarine Jam

Makes about 2 Pints (4 jam jars)

10 Medium Nectarines (about 2-1/2 lbs)

1 T Candied Ginger (minced)
1 T Fresh Ginger (peeled & grated)
1 T Dried Ginger
1-1/2 C Sugar
2 T Lemon Juice

Wash, pit and chop nectarines. How small depends on how chunky you like your jam: smaller = smoother. You can peel them if you want to, but that just seems like way more work than it is worth as the peels break down a lot while cooking.

Put all of the ingredients into a large wide saucepan or deep frying pan. Bring to a boil them lower to a simmer stirring regularly for about 20 minutes.

You can tell when it is done a few ways: It will be about 200 degrees on a candy thermometer, when you stir it will leave a ‘path’ behind the spoon for a moment, or you can just test it by taking a small spoonful out and popping it in the freezer for 30 seconds to cool.

Ladle into jars leaving about ¼ inch head space, wipe the rims, lid and process in a hot water bath. If you plan to eat it up in the next 6-8 weeks, you can skip the bath and just keep it in the fridge.  

 

Based on a recipe  originally found on www.foodandwine.com

Yummy on Honey Wheat Ritz!

Zucchini Peach Bread

Not too sweet and not to heavy, this bread is a great grab on the run breakfast

or afternoon snack - perfect for those up and coming school days!

 

Zucchini Peach Bread

¾ C Whole Wheat Flour
¾ C All Purpose Flour
½ C Quick Cook Oats (Uncooked)
1 t Baking Soda
½ t Baking Powder
4 T Butter
4 T Vegetable Oil
1/3 C White Sugar
1/3 C Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 T Milk
1 t Almond Extract
½ t Lemon Zest (or 1 T lemon Juice)
1 C Shredded Zucchini
2 Peaches Shredded or Mashed (Yes, this means peach mush!)
½ C Pecans (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350

Cream together butter, oil and sugars. Add eggs, milk, almond extract, and lemon zest and mix thoroughly. Mix in the zucchini and peaches, followed by the baking soda, powder, oats and flour. Fold in nuts last. Grease and spread batter into 2 small loaf pans 8” or 9” square baking pan. Bake for apx. 40 minutes.

Note: This bread will slice ‘cleaner’ after sitting overnight.

(Originally based on Garden Fresh Bread from Cooks.com)

The Ultimate Hide-a-Veggie Recipe - A Letter to a Home Town

My Family Says I Try to Hide Veggies in Everything!

In honor of Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor's Porch Day (August 8th) here is a Letter from the archives.

Those with a garden of significant size can tell you: now is the season of bounty! Veggies abound in midsummer. Tomatoes shine like red Christmas balls on the vine. Carrots have grown beyond wee fingerlings. Summer squashes could squish out every other dish on the table.

Thanks to the CSA I mentioned a while back, even without a garden of our own, this year we are lucky enough to partake as though we had. The quantity of fresh vegetables delivered weekly reflects the bounty of the season. (Bonus: knowing it would cost far more if we bought them at the grocery store.)

Contrary to planting our own garden, we had no say over what seeds were sown in spring. The result is that nearly every week we receive some vegetable that I have no experience preparing: garlic scapes, purple kale, fava beans, etc. I consider this incentive for culinary exploration. I am also thankful that my companion has an adventurous pallet!

Along with the unusual, sometimes the sheer quantity of produce presents a challenge. Nearly every dish I have prepared over the past few weeks, from stuffed eggplant to fresh squeezed lemonade, has contained fresh basil. One week’s surplus of cucumbers became refrigerator pickles for the elder kids to enjoy when they come home from their upstate adventures. Lately the challenge has been how to use the gluttony of zucchini.

Excess zucchini is not an unfamiliar experience. Zucchini grows well in the North East. Almost everyone with space enough grows them. This means a bumper crop in one garden is a bumper crop in every garden. This inevitably leads to sneaking zucchini onto neighbor’s porches in the dead of night; a well meaning, yet desperate measure that an unyielding overabundance of zucchini may yield.

Thankfully zucchini is a versatile and easily disguised vegetable. (Come to think of it, I don’t remember Grandma ever making plain zucchini.) Zucchini bread was the first thing I made (Joan’s recipe from the church cookbook.) I’ve snuck it into omelets. It is a staple in stir fry. Marinated in Italian dressing, it is fabulous on the grill (an idea borrowed from Aunt Patty). With eggplant in the CSA basket, ratatouille is on the menu. My latest endeavor: Chocolate Zucchini Cookies - an ultimate hide-a-veggie treat! Just in case anyone else is looking for a way to use up some zucchini…

Chocolate Zucchini Cookies

* 1/2 cup butter *1/2 cup white sugar *1/2 cup brown sugar *1 egg *1 teaspoon vanilla extract *2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour *1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder *1 teaspoon baking soda *2 cups grated zucchini

Mix butter, egg, vanilla & sugars – then the baking soda and cocoa then the zucchini and finally the flour. Drop rounded spoonfuls onto baking sheet the bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

Optional additions – a scant cup of chocolate chips in the batter or swipe of cream cheese frosting on top. If a veggie hater asks what the green stuff in them is, tell them it’s apple.

             I hope this letter has found you and yours in good spirits and good health. Until I write again…

Simple Science

Old School Lunch Tray, Baking Soda, Vinegar, Food Coloring

and 2 Plastic Spoons...

 

 

Cause and Effect, Fine Motor Skills, Color Mixing...

I loved watching her face as she was experimenting!

Blueberries!!!

When we were in Northern NY last week, the blueberries were ripening so fast that my Uncle could hardly keep up picking them. I helped pick twice; once while my girl filled her belly basket and practiced her colors (blue, purple & green), then again by myself. We made our way back to the city with an ample supply for eating and freezing.

Back in the city - CSA pick-up day. Our share included... You guessed it: Blueberries! (And of course the ever present zucchini. I am always looking for new things to do with zucchini.) This weeks quest - a good Blueberry Zucchini Bread recipe. I found one on the blog My Baking Addiction (here: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/blueberry-zucchini-bread/) and with some help from little hands we made a batch. The verdict... YUM! I am actually hoping that we get blueberries and zucchini again.

 

 

Letters to a Home Town "A Pie for Pi Day" (with a recipe for Maple Apple Pie)

It was recently noted that I had not yet shared any recipes on my blog, so I went in search of a Maple one in honor of the season. What I found was this Letter from almost exactly 2 years ago - A pie for Pi day!


A Pie for Pi Day

  I didn’t even know it was a holiday until a few years ago. Unless you are a bit of a nerd, there is a good chance that you have overlooked it too; March 14th is Pi Day (aka π Day).
            For those who could use a refresher, Pi is a mathematical (and physical) constant representative of the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle. Numerically it is equal to 3.14159265358979323846……. For most math, science and engineering calculations, 3.14159 is close enough. For purposes of celebration, 3.14 or March 14th is perfect! (A bonus: It also happens to be Einstein’s birthday.)
So what does one do in celebration of Pi Day? Well, make and eat pies of course! Pies come in all kinds: cherry, rhubarb, mincemeat, pecan, shepherd’s, key lime, peach, and don’t forget pizza pie! Everyone has a favorite.
Our current household favorite is a Maple Apple Pie. A concoction inspired by a late night pregnancy craving, this pie is a conglomeration of multiple recipes referenced but not followed.
In honor of the Pi day just passed, and maple sugaring season in full swing, here is an approximation of how it is made, (editorial comments included).
Maple Apple Pie (9”)
 Crust
1 stick Butter
¼ c Maple Syrup
1-1/4 c Flour
Mix it all up, make it into a ball and set in a cool place.
(I have heard that if you are partial to a flaky crust then the butter should still be hard. I let the butter get soft because I don’t have an electric mixer it makes my life easier.)
Filling
5 or 6 Medium sized Apples (I am partial to Macintosh)
1/4c Maple Syrup
½ tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon (if you’re like me and aren’t very good at shaking an even coating - mix with 1 tsp Sugar)
Peel and slice the apples and put them in a big bowl. (Keep in mind that how many you need is directly proportional to how many slices eaten as you cut.)  Mix together Maple Syrup and Vanilla pour it over the apples. Toss it all around until apples are completely coated. Set aside and pull out the ball ‘o crust.
 Roll out ½ the dough for the bottom crust and put it a 9” pie pan. (Stir the apples and syrup again any time you think of it)  Dump about half of the apples into the crust, dust with a light coating of cinnamon (and sugar), then add the rest of the apples and dust them with the remaining cinnamon. Roll out the rest of the dough and make a top crust (I make lattice crusts because solid ones always rip when I try to put them on – and because lattice crusts look cool). Bake at 350˚ for about 25 min. (until the crust turns golden).
Happy belated Pi Day!   
            I hope this letter has found you and yours in good spirits and good health. Until I write again…