Category Archives: Cooking

The Art of Food

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The year 2020 got off to a good culinary start. With our traditional pork and sauerkraut that I made for everyone else, we had raisin walnut cinnamon bread that I made this morning. It was delicious with some butter but I couldn’t help but think what amazing French toast it would make. I love making bread. The dough is so soft and smooth when I knead it. It is therapeutic.

My mother in law spent the afternoon with us and joined us for the New Year’s meal. She brought an amazing coconut cream pie that she made this morning. It was also delicious!

We are fortunate to have a family of good cooks who appreciate cooking and baking for the art they can be!

More Than Cookies

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Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the many benefits of being retired is that I have time to really prepare for and enjoy the holidays. Not since I was in college have I had the time to enjoy baking and decorating the way that I am this season. And for me, a large part of that means baking!

The Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies are a family favorite. I have never had them actually last until Christmas. And this year promises to be no exception. But I did buy enough ingredients that I will be able to bake a second batch in time for the actual holiday.

Russian Tea Cakes

I came across a recipe for the Russian Tea Cakes when I was in late high school or maybe when I started college. These were a personal favorite of my mother’s and she always looked forward to me making them. I have also heard them called Snowballs. By either name, they are delicious.

Coconut Cookies

I love these Coconut Cookies at any time of year. They have a nice melt in your mouth, caramel taste because they contain both white and brown sugar. They are not necessarily a holiday cookie but I was on a reminiscent binge as I was baking.

Muddy Buddies

I did throw something new into the mix this year because I have been given Muddy Buddies as a gift and they are tasty. The recipe is not much of a secret as it is brought to us by the folks that make Chex cereal. Just check the box for the recipe. Does this mean that Muddy Buddies are a breakfast food? I vote yes!

At the rate we are going through these cookies, I anticipate baking some other kinds too. Maybe Aunt Clara’s Molasses Crinkles or Aunt Jane’s Candy Cane shaped cookies. When I was a kid we had two people who often gave us trays of assorted types of cookies as a Christmas gift. They were always much appreciated. Even then I knew what a special gift they were because of how much work it was to make this many kinds of cookies and because they were a labor of love. They are more than just cookies. To me, they represent thoughtfulness, caring, and wanting to share with those you care about.

That is why I am such a Christmas girl. Each year, I remember the traditions and kindnesses shared by so many people in my life. I want to relive them as well as share them others. Merry Christmas One and All!

Pizza, Mangia!!

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From time to time I like to make homemade pizzas. They are fun because you can make up your own concoctions with whatever you want. My pizza dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas. You can make both at the same time or save the dough in the refrigerator to make the second pizza on another night.

I just use the standard pizza dough recipe that came with my bread machine. If I’m going to be away, I will make the dough in the bread machine so it is ready when I get home. If I’m around the house anyway, I knead the dough by hand. You could also use pizza dough from the freezer section of your grocery store. 

Above is my red pizza before it goes into the oven. This one has fresh mushrooms, black olives, and chicken sausage on half. The cheese is cheddar. I find that the cheese you use doesn’t really matter as long as you don’t mind a non-traditional pizza.

And here is the pizza after baking. My pan has holes to make the pizza crispier and make it cook more evenly. For the sauce I just used jarred spaghetti sauce of your choice. I often use Del Grosso Three Cheese.

This pizza is actually the favorite in our house. It is a white seafood pizza. The crust is brushed with olive oil, then topped with sea stix, shrimp, chopped marinated artichoke hearts, minced fresh garlic, and Old Bay Seasoning. The cheese on this one is a six cheese Italian Blend.

I bake the pizzas at 425 degrees for 15-17 minutes. Let them cool a few minutes, then slice and serve!

A Quiet Weekend

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This is one of those weekends where I have no plans. Ha! Then why am I so tired?

After the obligatory bathroom cleaning, dusting, vacuuming, and dish washing, I decided to try making my garlic breadstick recipe into dinner rolls in preparation for the upcoming holidays. The rolls came out quite well. They will make a fine addition to this evening’s dinner of cavatelli. At this point, I did stop and read for a while. A girl has to have her priorities.

A bout of insanity struck and I decided to clean some more. I washed the dogs’ bedding from their crates. Then I thought what am I going to do, put Nikki’s freshly laundered bed back in her smelly Vari-kennel? So I hauled it into the bathroom, disassembled, scrubbed, and hosed it down.

Time to sit down now, right? My brain was too busy for this. It thought, you are out of granola, you should make a batch. Homemade granola for breakfast is a delicious thing. But…

since the oven is already heated up, and we are out of dessert, I should make that pumpkin gingerbread coffee cake I have been thinking about. And so I did.

As soon as I finish that load towels and make the pasta for dinner, I am sitting down! Boy, I hope I don’t have another weekend with no plans for a while. They are exhausting.

Soup’s On!

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Hot soup after working outside on a cold afternoon. My husband has been making and installing old-fashioned storm windows for our old-fashioned house. I help a little bit (very little) when I get home from work. So soup hit the spot this evening.

I sautéed some garlic, onions, and celery, then added the rest of the broth that I made a couple weeks ago and put in the freezer. I added some Slovenian sausage, also from the freezer, that we purchased on a trip to Rogers Flea Market back in the summer. Then I threw in some green lentils so I would have some protein as I avoid eating meat and would pick that out, saving it for my husband. Next came cubed sweet potatoes, chopped zucchini, some celery leaves and spinach. For spices I used salt, pepper, basil, oregano, garlic and onion powders.

You may notice that I use fresh garlic and garlic powder in the same recipe. I do this on purpose because each adds a different, unique flavor that complements dishes in a different way.

Everything simmered in a pot on the stove while we finished up a storm window. When we came back inside, the house smelled wonderful and dinner was ready. Bliss.

Homemade Soup!

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Now that the weather is cooler, soup season is here! I love homemade soup. We rarely have canned soup because homemade is so much better in all ways. It is more nutritious, has less salt, is more filling, and tastes better. And you can put whatever you want in it. My daughter says, that I “get” soup.

This morning I took my soup sack out of the freezer, dumped the contents in a pan of water and let it simmer for more than an hour. After it cooled, I scooped out all the chunks from the soup sack and let the broth cool. Everything I scooped out got thrown away. All the flavor was cooked out. I let the liquid cool and used my fat separator to remove the fat. You can also refrigerate the broth until the fat solidifies and scoop it out that way. Then I split the skimmed broth in half. Half went into the freezer and the other half went in today’s (and probably tomorrow’s) lunch.

I cooked some sweet white onion in olive oil until it was soft. Then I added the broth which I spiced with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, dried garden basil, and oregano. While this simmered lightly, I went out to the garden and cut some Swiss Chard. It is still growing even though we had frost last night. It is a hardy vegetable. I sliced the stems, chopped the leaves, and added both to the pot. From the pantry I added a can of garbanzo beans and some bronze cut penne pasta, along with two links of sliced Italian chicken sausage. All of this simmered together for two hours. Part of the secret to delicious soup is this long, slow simmer. It allows the flavors to to meld and become one.

Personally, I don’t eat the meat because of the whole “dead animal” issue, but my husband does and I only want to make one soup. This however makes me very popular with the dogs if I find any meat in my portion.

List of ingredients:

  • Homemade broth (substitute purchased if you must)
  • White onion, finely chopped
  • Salt, pepper, onion & garlic powders, basil, oregano
  • Swiss Chard (or spinach or kale)
  • Garbanzo beans, 1 can
  • Pasta, chunky shaped
  • 2 Links sausage, any variety, sliced

I did not bother listing amounts because, it’s soup, it doesn’t really matter. Make it to your preference. If it’s too thick, add water. If it’s too watery, boil it down. That’s the beauty of soup. There is no wrong, make it your’s!

Results Not As Expected!

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I’m usually a pretty good cook. I do well with cooking meals although baking is my specialty. Most of what I make is at least edible.

So I was not happy when I had one of those experiences recently where I followed a recipe and the results came out nothing like the picture. I have to admit the difference for actual vs. expected is pretty humorous.

There is soggy liquid around my sliced caramel apples. The apples apparently made liquid which combined with the caramel to form a syrup and slid the caramel right off, rather than having candy coated apples.

I was hoping to take these to my niece’s birthday party. That did not pan out because I didn’t think anyone wanted a bowl of caramel apple soup.

Oh well, good for a laugh!

Birthday Pie?

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What do you do for your wonderful mother in law’s birthday cake when she is a pie person?

You search Pinterest until you find a pie recipe fitting for the occasion. Then you drive to the farm market to get the good peaches before going to the grocery store to get the other ingredients needed. You make the peach custard pie with crumb topping.

You add a decorative rose made of pie dough.

And then the hardest part, you make sure not to eat any before her big day!

When You Know You’ve Raised Your Daughter Well…

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This is the Key Lime Tart that my daughter made her dad for Father’s Day. She bought actual key limes to squeeze for juice and used heavy cream too. Then put it in a crust made from scratch. It was delicious!

She also got him plants for the gardens. She knows him well.

May all the fathers out there blessed with such wonderful daughters. Happy Father’s Day.

Nourishment

Cooking, Thoughts On Life

Even in the midst of winter weather, there is still food from the garden to be appreciated.

In a pot of soup, there is thyme and oregano dried from the garden. Also, potatoes and leeks grown and given to us by two different friends.

A simple pot of soup says so much. It reminds us of warmer, sunnier weather and thoughtful, dear friends. All of these things nourish us.