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You may not find the smaller Brussel sprouts at the local grocer. You may find them in a CSA box. These were from Boldly Grown Farms winter CSA box. I prepared them for a family meal when my sister, Mary Jane Kellar, was recently visiting from Arkansas. We all enjoyed them as tiny morsels of goodness. Ingredients Baby Brussel sprouts, 1 pound Miniature bell pepper, 1 sliced Balsamic vinaigrette dressing, 3 tbsp Parchment paper, to fit a baking sheet Preparation Rinse and cut each end of the...
I ventured out to our garden today, packing my scissors out in a grocery bag. I told Chili, our 5-year-old miniature Australian Shepherd that we were going out to the garden. As the day was rainy, I put on my waterproof boots. The pickings were slim but I saw plenty of life. I pulled one green onion and left about five. I cut several stems of English thyme. I cut one short stem of chocolate mint and the tops of several sage plants. Once back inside, I cleaned the onion and put the herbs in a...
Or maybe this recipe might more accurately be called butter and brown sugar brownies. It has a lot of butter and brown sugar. That combination creates a chewy soft brownie. This brownie keeps well on the kitchen counter. It begins soft and chewy, then slowly dries out and becomes crunchy. I prefer a semi-sweet chocolate but you could substitute dark chocolate. Ingredients Semi-sweet baking chocolate, 2 oz Butter, ½ cup, plus ½ tsp Dark brown sugar, 1 cup packed Eggs, 2 Ground...
Yes, it's possible to stretch your food budget and meal planning to include salmon in several dishes. This recipe creates enough hash for one serving, for one person. It also allows you to use up those potatoes leftover from a recent meal. That is another budget-stretching feature of this recipe. When preparing to add salmon to a recipe, it must be carefully separated, with your fingers, to look for and remove bones. Have you ever gotten a fish bone stuck in your throat? Ack! It's awful. I...
My holiday baking stretched out a bit during this season. I baked this recipe on New Year's Eve. Some prep occurred several days prior. I made three cups of Earl grey tea and simmered the candied fruit for two hours. I also set out ½ cup of butter to soften it at room temperature. Everything in this recipe was stirred by hand. Ingredients Fruit cake mix, 12 ounces Earl grey tea, 3 teabags Water, 1 quart Flour, 2 cups Baking powder, 2 tsp Butter, ½ cup Eggs, 2 Sugar, 1 cup Vanilla,...
The necessities of life, at times, requires you to adjust your diet. This is a low fat recipe. Just a bit of olive oil is used. The shiitake mushrooms came in a 5-ounce container and were different sizes of slices. I wanted a variety of mushroom sizes to increase the depth of flavor. The smaller pieces cook to a different flavor than the bigger slices. Fresh shallot slices and fresh garlic cloves bring out the flavor of the mushrooms. The egg whites used were from a carton. Ingredients Shiitake...
I like baking those cookie recipes from days gone by. Particularly if the ingredients are easy to come by and the recipe is simple to make. This is a no-bake recipe. I bought chow mein noodles a month or so ago, on a whim. I saw the price had not increased from previous years. It's good to have them on hand, just in case. Yes, just in case I decided to whip up a Chinese meal. They are the hard, crunchy noodle. In this instance, they were perfect to create a sweet treat to gift to friends at...
This is a rich dense bread and takes a good long while to bake. Persimmons are remarkably easy to work with. The skin remains firm as you scoop out the pulp. Tasty, too, when ripe. I prepared the bread pan by my tried and true method. I use shortening and apply with my fingers, covering the corners well. Ingredients Persimmons, 4 ripe Butter, ¾ cup, room temperature Sugar, 1 and ½ cups Eggs, 2 Vanilla, 2 tsp Flour, 2 cups Salt, ½ tsp Baking soda, ½ tsp Baking powder,...
Spaghetti is one of our favorite home cooked meals. When we travel, it's the meal I cook first, upon returning home. I also make lots. Lots of sauce. It's one of those recipes I have not written up. Documenting each time I added garlic granules and Italian season are additions I can not accurately record. I am too busy, stirring and adding another ingredient. I simplified my usual standard recipe to create this simple yet tasty one. This recipe creates one large serving. Ingredients Olive oil,...
The strong flavor of fresh squeezed lemon juice goes quite well with the slightly caramelized Brussel sprouts. The maple syrup takes the edge off the tart lemon juice. The choice of mustard is yours. I have a German brand made with honey. When Brussel sprouts are in season, you should eat them often. They are packed with vitamin C. And goodness knows, we all need extra vitamin C during this season of the flu, RSV and Covid. Ingredients Brussel sprouts, 6 per serving Olive oil, 1 to 2 tsp Lemon,...
Some of my fondest holiday cooking involves fresh cranberries. Each season I cook up a slightly different version. I prefer their tart flavor to savor in every bite to especially compliment dressing or stuffing. It's also a make ahead recipe you can bring cold to a family meal. Ingredients Cranberries, 2 cups fresh Sugar, 1 cup Cranberry juice, 1 cup Allspice, ground, ½ tsp Preparation In a medium saucepan, add all the ingredients. There are also choices of which cranberry juice to use....
Dressing is my favorite side dish with a Thanksgiving turkey dinner. This recipe works perfectly as a casserole. Serve with turkey gravy over. This recipe can be adapted to be gluten free with your choice of bread. You may substitute a heart-healthy alternative to butter. The tart flavor comes from the apple and golden raisins. The savory flavor came from the onion and bread. Ingredients Bread, cubed, 6 cups Raisins, 1 cup Water, 2 cups Butter, ¾ cup melted Onion, 1 cup chopped Garlic...
This is a quick and easy recipe. Makes enough for you to share. The cake mixes are interchangeable in this recipe. I used a devil's food cake mix. I imagine a lemon box mix would be lovely. You mix the ingredients by hand. It gets quite gooey. The Cool Whip was thawed at room temperature. When shopping these days, you purchase what is available and buy a few extra. The supply chain emptiness lingers on. Ingredients Cake box mix, chocolate Cool Whip, 8 ounces Egg, 1 Powdered sugar, 1 cup...
Windy fall weather brings on the desire for warm homemade soups. My health dictates a low-fat diet and my husband, Kevin, assisted in preparing the ingredients with some guidance from me. Over a month ago, I purchased a 25-pound bag of dried pinto beans from Costco. Rather than opening it, Kevin drove to town and purchased a 16-bean soup mix. The photo is my taste test size serving. Less than ¼ cup with a dollop of low-fat sour cream. This recipe is also prepared not to be spicy. Yet...
Toasting oats is a great way to warm your house on a chilly fall day. It fills your home with a nutty fragrance. It has just a bit of a crunch. It's a perfect topper for your yogurt snack. Toasted oats are also good in many home-prepared goods: Your no-bake cookies, granola bars and granola are just a few suggestions. Ingredients Old fashioned oats, 1 1/2 cups Parchment paper (optional) Preparation Cut and or fold parchment paper to cover the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet. Pour in the oats....
It appears to be a year of abundance for apples of many varieties. This recipe uses a large slow cooker and a food mill. The apples cook down in the slow cooker. This is a convenience but must be timed to your schedule. The food mill removes the skin and seeds. One year I made this and the food mill was grinding up the seeds. Most food mills come with different blades. So I adjusted the blade size. If you leave the skins on, the applesauce becomes dark. We love applesauce, served cold, as a...
A condiment I learned about while traveling in the south. Available in many restaurants, as a condiment on the tables of diners. Then, returning home, I found a similar brand in grocery stores. I began looking for hot peppers at area farm-stands. At one, a box of tiny hot peppers was $20. I couldn't understand the Spanish descriptions, except they were hot. Back at home, I had recently emptied some red wine vinegar bottles. This year I went shopping for food safe bottles. Washed them. Then...
Thankful for generous friends. Sheila Klein offers pears each year, from her trees. The pears are picked and sorted into varieties. We bring boxes and take our selections home. I keep orca pears cool until they ripen, in yellow tones. Using them while they are firm, before they soften. I started this recipe with 18 medium pears, cut in half and filled an 8 quart slow cooker. The end result was two pints of pear sauce. Pear sauce is like applesauce. Ingredients Orca pears, 18 medium Cinnamon...
Salmon steaks, ideally, are from a firm fish. There's a wild taste because it's baked with the bones in and the skin is on. I tried a cajun Louisiana fish fry mix. Baking on parchment paper makes clean-up easy. Ingredients Salmon steaks, 1 per serving Fish fry mix, 1 cup Butter, 5 tbsp Parchment paper, to fit the baking sheet Preparation Pat the salmon dry. Sprinkle on the fish fry mix, coating both sides, patting into the salmon. Set the coated salmon steaks onto the parchment lined baking...
The highlight of my summer cooking has been preparing zucchini lasagna. This recipe will feed four. I selected a uniform shaped zucchini, medium size. Plus I ventured to try my hand at using a mandolin again. This time with careful success. I prepped the zucchini first and for the center cut with seeds and pith, I cut that out. You could choose to peel the skin, but if you cut the zucchini 1/8 inch wide, the skin is not cumbersome to eat. Ricotta, as it is plain, is rather like eating clay. But...
Fresh vegetables are the main ingredients to this recipe. I chopped them fairly small and uniform in size. The beef selections are stew meat, steak tips, cut-up steak or roast. Browning the beef adds to the overall flavor. When selecting a beef broth, take care to shop for a low sodium brand. Nothing spoils the taste of a soup, as being too salty. The fava beans are optional. I grow and pre-cook them to add to recipes. When I select vegetables, I think of color, texture and nutrients. I...
I was recently gifted pesto on two occasions. One from Jane Stephens, who lives in town and one from Ann Maroney, who works in town. The balsamic vinegar is a bit overpowering in flavor and color. After seeing and tasting the results, I may use less balsamic vinegar next time. To expedite the preparation, I added the cherry tomatoes in whole and after they cooked two minutes, I used a potato masher to burst out their flavor. If you like the visual effect of cut cherry tomatoes, you will cut...
Of the jams and jellies I make and can at home, jalapeño jelly is the most requested. Even the years I do not make it, someone will ask for it. This year I bought jalapeños from La Conner Gardens farm stand and from Klesick's, of Stanwood. A few years back I invested in a battery operated kitchen scale. Measuring ingredients is one of the things I enjoy while cooking. Piling fresh jalapeños on top of the scale was just a small challenge but accomplished. I had the 12 ounces of jalapeños for thi...
Zucchini is one of those summer perpetual vegetables. It grows in abundance and if you do not garden, friends will often give away their excess. Or you can still buy them at a good price from the local farm stands. This recipe makes two loaves. This recipe uses medium size zucchini, before the center is full of large seeds. I particularly enjoy the clove flavor. Ingredients: 3 cups shredded zucchini (3 medium) 1 2/3 cups sugar 2/3 cup vegetable oil 2 tsp vanilla 4 large eggs 3 cups flour 2 tsp...
This could be served as a spicy condiment with rice and your choice of meat. I eat this as a snack, to carry me over while our dinner meal is prepared. When I began preparing Korean dishes, I started keeping a hot pepper paste. A small tub lasts for months in the refrigerator; so, I learned to shop around for the best price and longest date of expiration. This recipe uses half-tablespoons for several of the ingredients. I measure the dry ingredients first, then the liquid ones; and last, the...
