Fermented Juices (aka "Homemade Hooch")

At our house, we call the homemade soda that we make using a Ginger Bug "hooch."  It's not at all alcoholic, but "Hooch" sounds more fun than "Fermented Juice using a Ginger Bug."

Below are some of my favorite combinations.  I've been making these sodas with ginger bugs for a couple of years and have found that it is as much art as it is science.  Before you read my recipes, you might want to check out some of these websites for more thorough explanations and directions:
Papa's Homemade Hooch
Wellness Mama
A Life Unprocessed


White Grape and Lavender Soda
Lavender Simple Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup lavender buds, rinsed
-- In a small saucepan, heat the water to boiling.  Lower heat and add the sugar, stirring to dissolve.  Add the lavender buds and simmer gently for 10 minutes.  Allow it to steep for 10 more minutes.  Strain out the buds using a fine, mesh strainer.  Cool the syrup to room temperature before mixing with the ginger bug.
For the soda:
-- Add the lavender simple syrup to 5 cups white grape juice and 2 cups distilled water.  Combined, your mixture should be 2 quarts.
-- Pour the juice mixture into glass or plastic bottles (See note below)
-- Add 1/2 cup of your ginger bug.
-- Cap the bottles and let sit for 1 - 3 days.  The stronger the ginger bug, the fewer days it will take to ferment.
(Note:  I like to use 2 liter pop bottles at this stage.  When the bottles become hard and cannot be squeezed, they are done.  Sometimes, I will put the fermenting soda in smaller pop bottles.  Some people like to use Grolsch-style bottles, but I don't want to risk exploding bottles. I have used glass bottles, but always put some of the mixture in a plastic bottle.  When the plastic is too hard to squeeze, the hooch is done.)



Rhubarb/Raspberry Soda
1 quart distilled water
1 quart frozen rhubarb
1 pint frozen rasberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 T. lemon juice
-- Place the above ingredients in a 2 quart pan and heat to boiling.  Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 20 minutes.  Strain the mixture, tossing the fruit and returning the syrup to the pan,  (At this point, I added a Raspberry & Hibiscus tea bag.)
-- When the syrup has cooled to room temperature, add 1 more quart of distilled water.
-- Pour the juice mixture into your bottle of choice.
-- Mix in 1/2 cup of your ginger bug.
-- Seal/cap the bootle(s) and wait 1 - 3 days until the plastic bottle is to too hard to squeeze.


Lemonade Soda
1 can frozen lemonade or limeade
Distilled water
-- Reconstitute the frozen lemonade according to the directions, using distilled water
-- Mix 6 cups of the reconstituted lemonade with 2 more cups of distilled water.
-- Add 1/2 cup of the ginger bug.
-- Bottle as per instructions for above recipes.


Be Creative!  You can make all kinds of simple syrups using fruits (fresh or frozen) or herbs and use them for the base of the soda.   You can also use any kind of frozen juice concentrate or bottled juice.  Since I'm looking for healthy drinks, I stay away from the "cocktail" mixtures or those with corn syrup.  One item of interest:  the sweetness of the base can be a challenging thing to get right.  Too sweet and the soda has a funky aftertaste.  Not enough sugar and it doesn't want to ferment.  So experiment.  And let me know if you come up with a winning combination.

Summer Treat -- Coconut Ice Cream (non-dairy)

A few weeks back I made one of the best purchases at Goodwill -- a Cuisinart ice cream maker for $14.99.

Last year I tried some sorbet recipes and just put them in Ziploc bags in the freezer and set a timer for a series of 20 minute intervals for "smooshing" the bags.  The end product was OK, but I found myself longing for a real ice cream maker.  God heard the cry of my heart, and there was an ice cream maker calling my name for the shelf at the Lakeville Goodwill Center.

I've made vanilla and chocolate ice creams (recipes to follow), non-dairy coconut ice cream, and strawberry sorbet (using strawberries from my garden).  Below is the coconut ice cream recipe:





Coconut Ice Cream (Vegan)
from the Hungry Mouse website
2 (13 oz) cans of unsweetened coconut milk (not reduced fat)
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract

Combine completely the sugar with one can of the coconut milk.  Add the second can and the flavorings.  Chill for at least 4 hours.  (I chilled it over night.)
Process the mixture in the ice cream maker for 15 to 25 minutes, following the directions for your particular ice cream maker.

Freeze for an hour before serving.  Store in the freezer in a covered container.

Wine Slush Recipe

For that bottle of less than perfect wine or for the heat of summer ......

Graduation Party Menu

This year, we tried something new for our graduation party -- a Thai-themed meal in part because Ryan is going to Thailand next year.  Below is the Menu with links to the recipes.  Many commented on how good the sauces were, how nice it was to have fresh vegetables, how interesting and different the selection was.  I think I'm a pretty good cook, but when I come up with something really yummy, I'm as excited about my food as anyone else.  The sauces I "invented" after researching the internet for some ideas.

Ryan's Graduation Menu
* follow the links for the recipes
Thai Tacos
     Diced Chicken with pineapple/peanut sauce
     Large Romaine leaves
     Jasmine Rice
     Lentils & Quinoa with pineapple/peanut sauce
     Crushed pineapple
     Coconut
     Chopped peanuts
     Chopped green onions
     Chopped red, yellow, orange, green peppers
     Shredded carrots
     Pineapple- Ginger Sauce
     Peanut Sauce
Snack Mixes
     Scrabble (Chex Mix)
     Goldfish Mix
     Gorp
     Puppy Chow
Desserts
     Brownies
     Chocolate Chip Cookies
     Scotcheroos
     Snickerdoodles
     Mini-cheesecakes with blueberry and strawberry sauces
Beverages
     Soda
     Mineral Water
     Lemonade
     October Ale (grape juice made with ginger ale)

Snack Mixes for the Graduation

Gorp
*Is a recipe even needed for this??
Mix to your own satisfaction:
Raisins
M & M's
Peanuts

______________________________________________________________

Goldfish Party Mix

2 bags fish crackers, cheddar and Parmesan

1 #  bag oyster crackers

4 qt. popped corn

1 c. melted margarine

1 pkg dry Ranch Dressing

Mix the goldfish crackers, oyster crackers, and popped corn in a large roasting pan.  Pour melted margarine and dressing mixture over the cracker mixture and mix well.  (It helps to pour a little at a time and mix in between.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 - 15 minutes.

_______________________________________________________

Puppy Chow

9          cups Rice Chex®, Corn Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)

1          cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2       cup peanut butter

1/4       cup butter or margarine

1          teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2    cups powdered sugar 

·         Into a large bowl, measure cereal; set aside. 

·         In a 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter uncovered on High for 1 minute; stir.  Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth.  Stir in vanilla. 

·         Pour mixture over the cereal, stiffing until evenly coated.  Pour into a 2-gallon resealable food storage plastic bag.

·         Add powdered sugar.  Seal bag; shake until well coated.  Spread on waxed paper to cool.  Store in an airtight container in a cool place.

Desserts for Graduation Party

Italian Cream Cheese and Ricotta Cheesecake

*Gluten-free mini cheesecake version

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (16 ounce) container ricotta cheese  (I use my home-made ricotta cheese)

1 1/2 cups white sugar

4 eggs

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 tablespoons cornstarch

1 pint sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Fill muffin tins with parchment paper muffin liners.
2. Mix the cream cheese and ricotta cheese together in a mixing bowl until well combined. Mix until light and smooth.  Stir in the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, and cornstarch. Add the sour cream last and stir. Pour about 1/3 cup in each compartment.  The cups can be full.
3. Bake in the preheated oven 40 minutes.  Turn the oven off and let it sit for 10 more minutes.

Berry Sauce
2 cups fresh or frozen berries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
--------------------
2 tablespoons conrstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Mix the ingredients above the line in a pan and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer until the fruit softens.  Add the cornstarch/water mixture and cook until the sauce bubbles and thickens.

Italian Cheesecake

Now that I have fresh ricotta, I have to come up with some new recipes.  The only recipe for which I've used ricotta in the past is lasagna, however I've usually used the cheaper cottage cheese.  One evening I served a bowl of fresh ricotta and some blackberry jam.  Mixing the two, my son commented that it had a cheesecake flavor.  Back to my computer I went looking for a good cheesecake recipe that uses ricotta.

I found it at allrecipes.com:  Italian Cream Cheese and Ricotta Cheesecake.  Because my husband has to eat gluten free, I adjusted it a bit.  I had some thick, firm homemade sour cream that I used instead of the required cream cheese and also substituted the sour cream at the end of the recipe with strained yogurt. I also made a smaller recipe for a pie plate instead of a spring form pan.  (I rarely make a recipe exactly as it appears.  If you want to see the original version, check out the link.)


Italian Ricotta Cheesecake -- Gluten free
Ingredients
8 oz. cream cheese
8 oz. homemade ricotta cheese (or store-bought)
3/4 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 t. lemon juice
1/2 t. vanilla
2 T. cornstarch
1 T. gluten-free flour (I use Bob's Red Mill all-purpose flour substitute.)
1/8 t. xanthan gum
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. butter, melted and cooled (which I forgot to add)

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9 inch pie plate.
2.  Mix the cream cheese and ricotta cheese together in a mixing bowl until well combined.  Stir in the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla, cornstarch, flour, and butter.  Add the sour cream last.
3.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
4.  Bake in the preheated oven 1 hour; turn the oven off and leave in the oven 1 hour longer.  Allow to cool completely in refrigerator before serving.  Serve with your favorite fruit toppings.

If you go to the allrecipes link, you can read other comments by other cooks.  This turned out to be a deliciously light dessert.  Though I love graham cracker crusts, this is a good crustless version.  We served it with cherries and blueberries.

Try it, you'll like it!

Three Cheese Experiments

Below are my three experiments, continuing my adventures with milk.  The first was exactly by the recipe that I found on the "Chef in You" website.

Ricotta Cheese #1
Ingredients
2 quarts whole milk (I didn't use organic as the website suggests)
1 cup whipping cream (again, not organic)
3 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
1.  In a heavy saucepan, combine mile and cream.  Warm in moderately high heat until the surface becomes foamy and steamy and a thermometer reads 180 - 185 degrees.  Don't let the milk boil.

2.  Remove the pot from the heat.  Add the vinegar and stir gently for 30 seconds; the mixture will curdle almost immediately.  Add the salt and stir for 30 seconds longer.

3.  Cover the pot with a clean towel and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

4.  Line a colander with several layers of cheesecloth, allowing several inches of overhang.  (Note:  I didn't have "butter muslin," just the cheap grocery store stuff.  The weave is far too loose and the curds and why ran through.  A cotton tea towel worked much better.)
5.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the curds to the colander.  (Note:  It would take far too much time to spoon a half gallon of stuff into a colander. Using a metal mesh colander and a tea towel set  over a large bowl, I simply poured it all over the towel/colander set-up.)

6.  Let the ricotta stand, stirring occasionally.  I let mine sit for a couple of hours, squeezing the liquid out every now and then.  When you're satisfied with the consistency of the cheese, it is ready and can be refrigerated.  It will last at least 4 days.

The next cheese experiment occurred because I had a batch of yogurt that didn't set.  I tried the suggestion from another website and let it incubate a little longer.  Still no yogurt.  Thankfully, this yogurt maker had a further suggestion for using failed yogurt.

Ricotta Cheese #2
Ingredients
1 quart of "failed" yogurt

Directions
1.  Heat the yogurt until the white curd is visibly separating from the greenish, watery whey.
2.  Set a colander over a bowl and line with a towel.
3.  Pour the entire contents, "curds and whey," into the colander.
4.  Allow the cheese to drain for a couple of hours.  As with the cheese above, I occasionally stirred the mixture and squeezed the liquid out.
5.  Refrigerate and use.

Since I was spending the morning in the kitchen, I thought I might as well give a little time for experimenting, as opposed to following any specific recipe.  I really don't know what you would call the result.  It was like a super-thick sour cream/cream cheese/quark kind of thing.

Not-Ricotta Experiment
Ingredients
1 quart whey strained from the week's batches of yogurt
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup yogurt that didn't set right.
1 T. vinegar

Directions
After incubating it for a while longer, I reheated the mixture to 190 degrees and added the vinegar.  Like the other ricotta recipes, I let it set for a couple of hours before pouring it in a colander/ tea towel set up.  The whey drained out, leaving sour cream.  It got pretty think, and was really delicious.

More Deliciousness -- Ricotta Cheese

This has turned out to be a dairy-oriented summer for us!

It started with digging out our old yogurt makers and using them for making fresh yogurt for my family.  We also decided that we like to strain our yogurt so that it would be thicker.  Store-bought yogurt has thickeners (pectin or gelatin), and some of our batches with skim milk turned out pretty runny.  Whole milk makes a much thicker yogurt.




Straining the yogurt gave us a significant amount of whey.  I wondered, "Does this stuff have any nutritional value?" and "What should I do with it?"  One website, Livestrong, gave instructions for making ricotta cheese with the whey leftover from the strained yogurt.  I tried these instructions twice, and it failed both times.  But that got me thinking  (which I do on a frequent basis, anyway).  "Is there another way to simply make ricotta cheese?"  And, viola!  I found multiple recipes on-line.




Before I explain this wonderful process, let me explain what whey is to other novices like myself.  In yougurt and cheese making, two main proteins exist:  whey and casein.  The liquid that separates from the yogurt is whey.  The uninitiated, like me a little while back, think that when they see this on the top of commercial yogurt that it's a sign that it is going bad.  While some pout this down the drain, yogurt whey contains all of the vital amino acids that make a protein "complete."  It also contains calcium, potassium and vitamin B-12.

Now to my ricotta cheese experiments.  One morning, armed with whole milk, cream, vinegar, whey, and yogurt, I put my hand to making my own soft cheese in my own kitchen.

Easy as Polenta Pie

When my family asks, "What's for dinner," and I reply, "Mama's Soup Surprise," they get a little nervous.  Sometimes I fix something for dinner that doesn't go over too well.  My family politely says, "You don't have to fix this again." 

Last night, however, I came up with something that everyone at the table liked.

Following is our meal, that I "invented."
Layer on the plate:
     A slice of Polenta Pie
     Fried and Mashed Beans
     Sliced and fried Sausage
     Fresh Tomato Sauce
     Sour Cream
     Shredded Cheese

The recipes for the polenta, beans, and sauce are below.

Polenta Pie

3 cups water

1 cup cornmeal grits

½ t. salt

1 T. butter

Bring the water and salt to a boil.  Add the grits and turn the heat to Low.  Cook slowly for 40 minutes.  Spread in an oiled pie plate.  Let it cool and set.

Fried and Mashed Beans

1 onion, chopped

2 T. olive oil

1 can red beans, drained and rinsed

¼ cup water (or broth or cooking wine)

Saute the onions in the oil at medium heat.  Add the beans and mash with a potato masher.  Mix in the water and heat all the way through.

Fresh Tomato Salsa Sauce

8 – 10 cups of fresh tomatoes*

2 T. olive oil

1 green or yellow pepper, diced

3 small onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T. chili powder

2 t. dried oregano

2 t. dried cilantro

*Note:  Depending on the size and type of tomato, they can either be peeled and diced, or they can be cooked down and put through a rotary food press.

Saute the onions and peppers in the oil.  Add the tomato pieces or cooked tomatoes along with the herbs and spices.    Cook slowly to reduce the sauce.

Summertime Jam

This recipe is a quick summertime favorite at our house.  Sometimes we use strawberries that my son gets from the berry farm where he works.  Most of the time, however, we use the abundance of rhubarb from our garden.





Quick Freezer Jam
Mix well and let stand for 4 hours or overnight:
     2 - 3 c. mashed strawberries
     3 c. sugar
Bring to a hard boil.  Reduce heat to medium.  Boil 10 minutes.
Add:
     1 (3 oz.) package strawberry gelatin
Mix until well dissolved and bring to boiling point again.  Remove from heat and let set a few minutes.  Stir again.  Put in jars and keep in refrigerator or freezer.

Options:
-- Strawberries with pineapple gelatin
-- Raspberries with raspberry gelatin
-- Grapes with grape gelatin
-- Peaches with peach, lemon, or pineapple gelatin
-- 5 c. rhubarb, chopped, with raspberry or strawberry gelatin

Drunken Tofu & Rice

OK, so I made the recipe up.  I don't think there's any official recipe with this name, but it has a fun ring to it, don't you think?  To be honest, I was using up a bit of tofu with my first veggies harvested from my garden, and I wasn't sure what liquid to add.  I poured a little Merlot on the mixture, making the tofu pink, and therefore "drunken."

Drunken Tofu & Rice

2 T. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 large kohlrabi, diced
1 1/2 c. chopped Swiss chard

1/3 c. diced firm tofu

3 leaves of holy basil, chopped  (a Thai herb)

1/4 c. red wine

3 c. cooked rice

Heat the oil in a large fry pan or wok.  Add the next 6 ingredients in their given order. cooking the vegetables until soft.  Add the basil and wine and heat through.  Add the cooked rice and serve hot.

                              

Chicken Satay

Since our daughter's return from Phuket, Thailand, we've been experimenting with some Thai recipes.  I found a great book, Simply Thai Cooking, at my favorite book store, Half Price Books.  (And, it was clearance priced at $3.00!)  In the old days, before my husband was diagnosed with celiac, I used various packets for fixing Asian foods.  Unfortunately, many of those contained gluten.  This book gives specific spices, herbs, and sauces.  We can now be tastefully gluten free.

Last night I fixed Chicken Satay and my family raved about it. Actually, my husband repeated over and over again how incredible the chicken was.  I served it on top of a rice dish that I created.  (Watch for it in another post.)


Chicken Satay
3 chicken breasts
Bamboo skewers
1 can (about 1 1/2 c.) coconut milk
Marinade:
1 t. black pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. ground coriander
     (I used fresh cilantro from my garden.)
1/2 t. tumeric
1 t. minced garlic
1 T. sugar
1/4 c. soy sauce
     (I used gluten free Tamari sauce)
1/4 c. lemon juice
1/4 c. fish sauce

Cut thin slices of chicken that run the length of the pieces of meat. (each slice will be approximately 1 inch by 4 inches).  If the meat is too hard to cut into thin slices, freeze it for 30 - 45 minutes.  Place the sliced chicken in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Whisk together the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and add to the meat.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.  When ready to cook the satays, thread each slice onto a skewer, working the skewer in and out of the meat down the middle of the slice. (I was in a hurry and didn't make them into satays.  Instead, I laid them on a grilling sheet.)  Baste the chicken with coconut milk.  Grill for a few minutes on a medium-hot grill.  Turn fairly often and continue to baste.  The chicken is done when they have turned golden brown.  Serve with rice and peanut sauce.   

Yummy Grilled Shrimp

We have a small, somewhat temperamental grill that we inherited from our neighbors.  In other words, they were going to take it to the dump, and we claimed it before it got on the truck.  Though it's seen better days, I get a lot of use from this little grill.  Recently, I made kabobs for the family, and they loved them.  Here's the recipe.

Grilled Jamaican Shrimp
Marinade:
2 T grated fresh ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
1 sliced lime, peel grated
1 T sugar
1/2 c. rum
1/2 c. orange juice concentrate

Mix marinade in a gallon-sized ziploc bag.  Add 1 1/2  pounds large cooked shrimp. Refrigerate for up to 2 hours to marinate.  Thread shrimp onto skewers.  (If using bamboo skewers, soak them for an hour before grilling.)  Grill shrimp, basting with the reserved marinade and turning them once, until just cooked through, about 6 to 7 minutes.

Serve the shrimp with rice or as part of a salad.

A Plenitude of Swiss Chard

Swiss chard has become one of my garden favorites.  The first varieties of this leafy vegetable have been traced back to Sicily.  The word Swiss was used to distinguish chard from French spinach varieties by 19th century seed catalog publishers. (again, my friend, Wikipedia, helped with this information)  It belongs to the same family as beets and spinach and shares a similar taste.

Swiss chard has shiny green ribbed leaves, with stems that range from white to yellow and red.  Fresh young chard can be used raw in salads while mature leaves and stalks are typically cooked.  Swiss Chard is high in vitamins A, K and C.  It is also rich in minerals, fiber and protein.  Some research suggests that Swiss Chard provides a protective cover for the colon and kidneys.

Each year I plant a few more plants.  According to Go Organic Gardening,
Swiss chard is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. Some gardeners refer to it as a “cut and come again” plant, because you can continuously harvest from the plant all season long, as long as you harvest the outer leaves, and leave the center of the plant to grow.

We add it to other greens for a salad. But mostly, I cook it as you might spinach and add it to all kinds of dishes.  I also freeze it for use in the winter. 

Here's how I prepare it:
Frozen Swiss Chard
Chop the leaves and stalks of mature (large-leafed) Swiss chard.
     I usually cook up 6 - 8 cups at a time
Chop 1 small onion.
Saute onion in 2 T. olive oil.  After the onion softens, add the Swiss chard.  Cook until it's limp and reduced.
After the mixture has cooled, put 1 cup into a freezer bag.  Label and put in the freezer.

Possible uses for the frozen Swiss chard:
Vegetarian Lasagna
Quiche (a previous posted recipe)
Soups
Quesadillas
Stir fry
Sauces for pasta
Pesto/ hummus like dips

Meatloaf

Pizza

Calzones

Egg Dishes

Etc.

Eggplant Recipe

Last year, I harvested only one eggplant from my garden. How disappointing!  It's not that I'm a crazy eggplant lover, but when you spend time planting, weeding, fertilizing and watering you'd like to get something for your labors.

This year, my 4 little plants are prolific!  I've picked and cooked up 4 and have another 8 on the plants. My family is not overly keen on eggplant, but they're brave enough to try any recipe once.  Here's one we liked

Eggplant Caviar*
Real Simple, May, 2010
(I'm not sure why "caviar" is in the name.)

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
2 T. chopped, flat leaf parsley
1 T. olive oil
1 t. red wine vinegar
1 T mayonnaise (opt.)
Kosher salt and black pepper
Pumpernickely bread and cut up vegetables

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Using a fork, prick the eggplant all over.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast until very tender, 50 to 60 minutes
Whe the eggplant is cool enought to handle, halve it lengthwise and scrape out the flesh, discarding the skin.  Finely chop the flesh and transfer it to a large bowl.
Add the onion, garlic, parsely, oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, salt and pepper and mix to combine.  Sprinkle with additional parsely and serve with the bread and vegetables.

*Note:  I rarely make a recipe as it appears in a book or magazine.  What's the fun in that?  Here are the adjustments I made:
2 large eggplants
1 medium onion & 3 cloves of garlic sauteed in 1 T. olive oil
1 handful of dried parsley
A splash and a drizzle of apple cider vinegar
2 medium globs of mayonnaise
Gluten-free crackers

Bake the eggplants for 60 - 75 minutes on parchment paper on a large baking sheet, turning every 20 minutes.  After scraping the meat of the eggplant from the skin, mix the other ingredients (excluding the crackers) with a mixer.  The result is a nice, creamy dip for crackers, etc.

Pickled Beets

This year my garden blessed me with a hefty crop of beets. Unfortunately, my family is not too crazy about beets. I tried adding them to a grilled mixture of vegetables (potatoes, rutabaga, carrots and onions). Not a winner. I cooked a small amount and served it as a side dish. Another loser. I briefly toyed with cooking up a big pot of borscht but knew my family wouldn't go for that either.

What is it about beets that is so troublesome for the kids? I wonder if the bright red-purple color leads them to think that it will have a sweet candy flavor. Possibly the disappointment is too great.

My solution? Pickled beets! My grandmother, Olina Tamina Thompson Olson, used to can quart after quart of these sweet, red pickles and I loved them. (My sister reminds me that she definitely didn't.) That sweet/sour/spicy flavor always makes me think of Grandma's house. Going down into her cellar-like basement to retrieve a quart for our "light supper" was always a bit of an adventure.

I haven't made pickles since helping my mother almost 30 years ago. What did I have to lose? It's not like my family was carefully guarding my harvest of beets, making sure I didn't make any mistakes. (they probably were hoping that this would turn out badly and end up in the compost heap and not on the dinner table.)

Here's the recipe that I found on-line. I added shelled, hard-boiled eggs as per the recipe. I thought they looked kind of cool arranged on the plate. My husband's comment: "Now this is weird."

A Few of My Favorite Things

Now that I've shared what a marvel I am at soups, I thought I'd pass on three of my favorites.

Baked Potato Soup
5 # potatoes, scrubbed and baked
Bake at 350 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours
2 leeks
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 # carrots
12 - 16 oz. frozen corn
1 - 2 T. olive oil
2 cans broth (vegetable for vegetarians and chicken for non-vegetarians)
2 cans evaporated milk
1 pt. sour cream
1 T. parsley
1 T. chives
1 t. dill
2 t. salt
8 oz. cream cheese, softened


Scrub potatoes and prick them 2 - 3 times. Place them on center rack of the oven. Bake the potatoes at 350 for 1 - 2 hours.

While the potatoes are cooling, elevate the oven temperature to 400. Quarter and thinly slice leeks; mince the garlic; thinly slice the carrots. Toss with the olive oil, place in a shallow pan and place in the oven. Stir every 15 minutes for 1 hours.

Cut the slightly cooled potatoes into large pieces. Add potatoes, roasted leek mixture, broth, and canned milk to a large pot.

Mix herbs with the sour cream and add to the pot. (If the herbs are fresh, blend them with the sour cream in a food processor.) Slowly heat the soup to almost boiling. Allow it to cool. (As it sets, the seasonings develop with the potatoes.)

After the soup has cooled, add 1 - 2 cups broth to the softened cream cheese. Mix well. Add this mixture to the pot of soup and reheat.



Italian Tortellini Soup
3 # hamburger
2 small onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 can spaghetti sauce
1 large can tomato puree
2 cans beef broth
1 T. beef bouillon
2 cups dice carrots
2 cups cut up green beans
3 packages of frozen tortellini
2 t. Italian seasoning
(or a mixture of oregano, basil & parsley)

Brown the hamburger. Drain the fat. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the meat and saute. In a very large pot, add the spaghetti sauce, broth, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and seasonings.
Add the meat mixture to the pot. Bring to a boil; add bouillon and vegetables. Cook until the vegetables are done.
In another pot, cook the tortellini according to directions. After drained, add to the soup pot.



Fresh Tomato / Basil Soup
(with fresh tomatoes)
about 2 dozen fresh tomatoes
1 T. oil
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/ 2 cup fresh basil
2 T. fresh oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil
1 t. salt
1 1/2 t. sugar

A note about cooking the tomatoes:
Some people don't like the seeds in tomatoes. If this is the case, cook down the tomatoes and then put them through a sieve.
Your result will be a tomato puree.

If you want a chunky soup, peel and dice the tomatoes and cook them down for about 30 - 45 minutes at a medium to low temperature.
Don't put it through a sieve.

After the tomatoes are cooked to your preferences, set aside. In another pan, saute the onions and garlic in 1 T. olive oil.

Add all but 1 cup of cooked tomatoes to the sauteed vegetables. In a blender or food processor add the remaining tomatoes and the herbs. Blend well. Heat to almost boiling and add the salt and sugar.

Rutabaga Puff ... at last!

Tonight was the night to try my first of many rutabaga ("R") recipes. With mashed "R" in the fridge I made Rutabaga Puff, a recipe found on the Southern Food section of About.com. For others with mashed "R" lounging in their fridges, here's my recipe:

Rutabaga Puff
2 cups mashed rutabaga
2 T. butter
1 T. fresh chives or fresh dill
1/2 t. garlic salt.
2 eggs, separated.

Add the butter, herbs and salt to the mashed rutabaga. Mix in the 2 egg yolks. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Gently fold into rutabaga mixture. Lightly pile into a greased 1 1/2-quart casserole. Bake in a preheated 375° oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until set and top is golden brown. Spoon into a serving dish and serve.

We served this with meatballs in beef gravy, mashed potatoes and home-made wheat berry with craisins and raisins bread. A very yummy meal!

Great Meatloaf!

Last night I made a killer meatloaf for our family and to share with a family who just had a baby. I actually followed a recipe, which I don't often do.

Here it is:
Killer Loaf
2 lb. hamburger
1 box of Stove Top Stuffing
2 eggs
1 cup broth or water
1/2 cup barbecue sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Mix hamburger, stuffing mix, eggs, broth and 1/4 cup barbecue sauce together in a large bowl. Form into loaf in a 9 x 13 pan. Spread the remaining 1/4 cup sauce on the loaf. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes before slicing.