Cultured Cranberry Relish and Veggie Dippers

Fermenting veggies for serving with a dip, and cranberry relish - for Thanksgiving Day

For several years now I ferment veggies for a platter with dip, and then a cranberry mixture for Thanksgiving. I ferment them for at least 24hours. The process breaks them down a bit for easier digestion, besides being healthy for our gut.

I by organic broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumber and carrots (and this year added red pepper). I slice and put them in a large bowl, along with some slivered fresh garlic. I sprinkled on about 3 Tb sea salt and occasionally stir to start the veggies juicing. I also add a couple teaspoons of pickling spices and then about 1/4-1/3 cup of liquid whey (from strained yogurt). Just make sure the veggies are covered with water, which with the salt becomes a brine. There's a glass weight in the jars to keep the veggies submerged. A brine is typically 3 Tb salt per 1 quart of water.

Pulsing cranberry relish ingredients

CRANBERRY ORANGE APPLE RELISH

4 - 7.5oz containers of cranberries (around 32 ounces)
8 tangelo type oranges, skin and all (remove seeds)
3 apples
1/2 cup sucanat (dehydrated sugar cane)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/4-1/3 cup whey
1/2-1 lemon

Pulse all but the whey in a food processor. Don't puree. This mixture filled my 1 1/2 Liter and a 1 Liter Pickle-It containers, with a glass weight, and airlock on top of jar. I squeezed some lemon juice on top of both for extra submerging liquid. You can do this in a regular fido jar or canning jar with a plastic lid. But I have tasted a difference in the foods fermented with the airlocks - better tasting!

I keep on making the cranberry relish thru-out their season in the store - on into February. I store the jars in my cool cellar. I like to eat this with yogurt, walnuts, shredded unsweetened coconut . . .

Any leftover veggies can be jarred up and stored in a fridge or cool cellar as well. I've opened a jar months later and they're still fairly crisp and yummy!

AEbleskivers

I don't know how on the computer to make a capital A and E flow together with the right line in the A as the vertical line in the E, but that's how it's written. English spellings are usually just Ebleskiver. 'Aebleskiver' is Danish for 'apple slices', which used to be (or applesauce) put in the middle of these spherical pancake balls.

You need a special pan that has hemispherical indentations in it. It's best with a heavy, like cast iron, pan. Over the years we've tried several kinds and I now just stick with the cast iron one.

How in the world did someone think of this? I read a funny speculation of the Vikings with their many battles having many indents in their shields and they loved pancakes. So without the convenience of frying pans, they greased their shields and poured the batter over them over the fire.

We make these for all holidays and birthdays. Their taste is a cross between a pancake and a doughnut.

I always start preheating the pan while I'm making the batter.
Here's the recipe I've developed -
4 eggs separated
4 tsps sugar
1/4 C oil or melted butter
2 C buttermilk or yogurt (sometimes I just add buttermilk powder to water)
1/2 tsp salt
2 2/3 C flour (I used to use white whole wheat or pastry flour I grind, now I sprout and dry grains to grind into flour for recipes like this. Soaking overnight would probably work too with the buttermilk - I've not tried this yet.)
1 tsp soda
2 tsps baking powder

I beat the egg whites first till stiff and then put them in a dish while I mix up the rest in my Bosch bowl and then gently add in the whites.

In the preheated pan, and now set on medium, put oil in each indent about half full. I find the first ones always need more oil, but then can use less as we're making more. Put batter, about topping the indent, in each. You can use a skewer to turn them, but I've gotten used to using two little forks. When you turn them the middle batter, still liquid, spills into the indent to cook for the other side making actual pancake balls. I'm a clean cook, so I always push the stuff that spills out of the indent back into the balls as I'm turning them, so the pan stays pretty clean. It takes awhile to get the hang of this. But they are so good and worth making.

Years ago, growing up in Tucson, my mom made loquat jelly that we'd serve with these. We always serve them with real maple syrup, melted butter, and then some cooked fruit sauce, like berries. Traditionally they're dusted with powdered sugar, but I'm never one to add more sugar when it doesn't seem necessary. Then we always have bacon and/or sausage with them.

We often invite a family for Christmas day brunch. When our kids were young and we'd moved to Evergreen we had a family we developed a regular tradition with - them coming for Aebleskivers and cross-country skiing, then going to their house for supper, ice skate, and watch movies, and sleep over. Though we've not gotten together for years now, I've never forgot little Kim and Kevin calling them "Able skiers".

At Christmas time, I always have fruit soup and rice pudding around that we'll serve with these. 

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Potato Sausage

Monte showing Emery the potato sausage mixture!

Though we could buy potato sausage at a meat market, we've been making it since we got married in 1975. It's our Christmas tradition food, along with Scandinavian Fruit Soup and Rice Pudding.

I have a meat grinder attachment for my Bosch Kitchen Machine and a sausage stuffer attachment. Before that I had a KitchenAid and a meat grinder for it too. Before that, how funny ... I still laugh! we scrunched up the casings on an angel-food cake pan center, and tried stuffing the meat mixture thru that tube. It was not easy and a mess!

Usually we grind the meat ourselves too, because then we have control over the fat amount and the kind of fat. For years we did it with elk, but now we don't have any elk or venison. I grind the onion first and then the potatoes, because the onion mixed with potatoes helps keep them from turning brown.

The meat casings we use are hog, and we get them at the meat market. Some stores have them in the freezer compartment. The casings are in salt and need to be soaked in warm water first. Then we like to put an end under the faucet and run water thru them to rinse the salt out. After grinding and mixing everything together the sausage stuffer attachment is put on and the casings are pulled over it - they end up sort of bunched up. Then run the meat mixture thru to start stuffing the casings. We have a cookie sheet with sides under the machine to catch the sausage. We always bag up extra sausage in Ziplock bags and freeze.

4 lbs meat
4 lbs potatoes
1 onion
1 1/2 tsp pepper
7 tsp salt
(1/2 tsp allspice - optional)

So grind all this and mix together well and stuff the casings. Boil and then simmer whatever you're wanting to eat in salted water, to cover, for about an hour. We cut up sections and have on a serving platter. I eat the casing's, and others don't, but yes, they are edible. Monte likes to eat his sausage in his doppa i grytan, Swedish meat and veggie soup.

Leftover, we like to saute it in a skillet for breakfast, or sliced and heated (or cold) for sandwiches.

Fruit Soup

Scandinavian Fruit Soup

When I was dating Monte and he told me about fruit soup, I thought it sounded awful. But now it's my favorite Christmas food and I make a big pot so we have leftovers and plenty for serving at all sorts of get-togethers during the holidays. Here is my fruit soup recipe:

Fruit Soup Ingredients

FRUIT SOUP
12 oz bag of pitted dried prunes, cut them up
1 c raisins or currants
1 c cut up dried apricots
1 c cut up dried apples
1 c cranberries
1 c dried cherries, dark sweet or sour
10 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves (put in a little mesh basket or cheesecloth)
slices of lemon

Bring this to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add 6-7 Tbs tapioca to grape juice to soak a bit before adding to the soup. I eventually pour in a whole jug (32 oz) of unsweetened grape juice. This needs to simmer a bit more for the tapioca to cook and thicken.

It's good both warm and cold. I like it room temp. We love to eat it with cream. It's great with ice cream. It's good with aebleskivers and pancakes and rice pudding ...

Thanksgiving Tree Chart, and Ferments to add to the Menu

Well ... It's the week before Thanksgiving ... and all thru the house ... I'm planning the Thanksgiving menu, and Dawson is fixing our leaky kitchen faucet - actually going to replace it. Too often lately I've been finding the kitchen counter flooded, and this morning realized it leaks under the sink too.

I was going to just put a link to what I posted several years ago, but decided I'd copy and paste some of it here and write more. I like the Thanksgiving Tree idea, but where I usually put it is now covered in framed photographs. The first year I didn't put it up, one of our guests all of a sudden asked, "Where's the Thanksgiving Tree? I've been thinking all week about what leaves I want to fill out and put on the tree!". I'd figured, like my "First's of Spring" chart I've posted on before - by now, it's so ingrained, we automatically think about it - that I didn't need the Thanksgiving Tree chart either. Wrong! And now with Grandkids, it's going to remain as an ongoing tradition. I'll probably put it - the bare-branched tree drawing on paper - on the refrigerator door with colored markers nearby, as I ended up doing that year after Kristen's remark!

November Tradition for gratitude thoughts

I often got frustrated at the Thanksgiving table when I asked what people were thankful for. Usually someone would say something silly and then everyone else would. So that's when, on a large piece of paper, I started drawing a tree, with lots of branches and no leaves, to hang on the wall. I cut a variety of leaves from colored construction paper, leaving them sit on a counter with a pen and glue stick. If this is done a week or so before Thanksgiving everyone who comes to our house could write something they're thankful for on a leaf and glue it on the tree. Then by Thanksgiving, we've had time to think beyond tangibles like food, family, God, friends, pets etc to firemen, police, doctors ... and then beyond to intangibles like Truth, Love, Integrity ...


Two gals had heard me talk about it at MOPS years ago and brought examples of their trees. One drew the tree skeleton and they'd ripped brown paper bag pieces and glued them on, filling in the tree. Pieces were loose and it looked like bark. Another gal had gathered lots of colored aspen leaves and color copied them to cut out for the leaves - reminding me of an old one of mine, still in the garage, on cardboard with real aspen leaves we'd pressed dry.

It's shaping up to be a houseful for Thanksgiving: sons and families, and friends. Looking forward to friends coming from afar, over the rivers and thru the woods ... and yes, to Grandmother's House they'll go. I'm a grandma now!

Me scooping stuffing out of cooked turkey

I do a very traditional Thanksgiving meal. Since stuffing is one of my favorite dishes, I stuff my turkey for that taste contribution to the stuffing. The day before: I brine the turkey, and I cut up a loaf of homemade bread in small cubes to occasionally stir and let dry in a large bowl. First thing Thanksgiving morning I melt a cube of butter in a skillet and saute a chopped large onion and a few stalks of celery. In my mortar bowl I put a few Tb of home dried sage and thyme and oregano, and with the pestle I grind them fine to add to the bread cubes along with several tsp salt and pepper. I also start cooking the turkey organs and neck for broth - both to moisten the stuffing and to have later for the gravy. So once I've added the sauted onion and celery to the seasoned bread and stir to moisten, adding broth if needed, I pack both the turkey neck and body cavity. Then skewer and tie closed, tying in the wings and legs close to the body too. 

I cook my turkey covered the whole time - then there's no need to baste. It sits on a rack in the pan. I put the pan in a preheated 450 degree oven and immediately lower the temp to 325 degrees. Since I always do large stuffed birds, I always cook them 18 minutes per pound. They've always cooked through (stuffing should be at least 165 degrees) and browned well. We remove the bird to a cutting board. I make a paste of about 1/3-1/2 cup flour and water to start cooking the gravy in the same pan the turkey came out of. I'll add broth and potato water to the pan drippings for making a great gravy. This'll need to simmmer at least 30 minutes to rid any raw flour taste, and it'll need salt.

When you invite guests you have to let them bring food. So I let them do what they want with green beans, sweet potatoes and pies. I'll start cooking the potatoes just before the turkey is done. I save all the drained potato water. I let butter melt into the potatoes. The potato water will be used for mashing the potatoes (since I add in lots of butter, I don't use milk) and adding to the gravy. Sometimes I make rolls, or else let a guest bring some. My favorite pie is mystery pecan, so usually make a couple of them the day before.

I often make a fresh cranberry relish with a whole orange (someone will often bring traditional canned cranberry sauce), but this year I'm going to try a fermented version of the relish. And I'm wanting a veggie tray with dip for earlier in the afternoon snack. SO ... today I'm doing to make up the cranberry relish and start veggies fermenting as well. I've got cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli. I'll start tasting them all in a couple days to see if I want to refrigerate to slow the process or let them keep on fermenting till Thanksgiving. I'll take pics and post ... so check in later for a report!

One year I wrote 'gratitude' instead of 'thanks' on the tree chart. It's just something I'd been pondering ... It's an 'at the heart level' thing. Gratitude could change the world!

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Brined Brisket -From Scratch- for St Pat's Day

I've had corned beef and cabbage for St Patrick's Day and always say, "I want to make my own corned beef". But you have to plan ahead since the brisket needs to brine for about a week.

I'll look for about a 4 pound beef brisket. From my research so far I'll be bringing to boil -
1C water
1/4C salt (salt is salt when dizzolved, so I'll use regular sea salt instead of 1/2C of Kosher salt.
1/4C apple cider vinegar (I never eat white vinegar)
2 Tb sugar (I'll use sucanat)
1-2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
a couple cloves
(I'll partially crush the whole spices to better release their flavor)
Let this cool once it's come to a boil and add 2, cut in thirds, garlic cloves. Then add the meat. Make sure the meat is covered by the brine - maybe cutting meat in pieces if need be. This could be stored in a ziplock bag. Refrigerate, turning occasionally, for 6-7 days.

You could cook this by itself for a meal. But I want to cook it with the traditional cabbage, potatoes and carrots.

The meat will cook first for several hours in large pot along with an onion. Then add a cabbage head cut in wedges, 6 potatoes quartered, and 4 carrots sliced - cook till tender. Then add 1/4 C fresh parsley and a few Tb of butter. The meat should be shreddy.

Enjoy, and tell St Pat's story.

Valentine Crafting Tea Party

I had a Tea Party open house. I set up craft stations all over my house. I'd sent out an Evite to a variety of people: some of them very old friends and some new. I think everyone attending knew someone, but people were conversing with lots of new people. I knew everyone! (Oh wait, no, someone brought a friend whom I did not know.)

Me in the tie-dye apron and friends

Valentine paper crafting station

The dining table was set up with the Valentine making paper station. Near it was a small table brought in from the guest room and set up with acrylic paints, glue, glitter, and sequins. Wool and homemade soap were in the greenhouse, off the dining room, for making felt covered soap. The guest room was set up as the needle felting station. The laundry room had a crayon melting craft possibility and a little crock of melted glycerin soap for a One-use-soap craft.

Felting over homemade soap station

Needlefelting craft station

Erika at the One-Use-Soap craft station

Sarah cut out the hearts and squares from my pullman loaves

I'd made the pullman loaf pan bread and all the tea sandwich makings, veggies and dips, the day before, but the morning of the tea I was making scones ... so they'd be fresh. So I didn't have my sandwiches assembled before the guests arrived. As a result, the kitchen and it's table became another craft station with my guests making the various tea sandwiches. I think they enjoyed this!

I had an electric pot with hot water and tea bag varieties, and then of course a wide variety of tea cups Monte and me got at second-hand stores. I just couldn't see people using disposable cups for a tea party! I posted a lot of the food recipes at my karey's kitchen blog (see sidebar).

Second-hand store tea cup finds

I didn't make desserts. Some people brought them. Dawson's girlfriend Splarah made beautiful cupcakes that were almost too pretty to eat!

Splarah's homemade cupcakes!

I'm going to post individual tutorials about some of the craft stations.

On the window sill by the front door I had Valentine gift bags for people to take their goodies home in. People are still telling me "thank you", and how good a time they had. I've decided this valentine crafting tea party will be a tradition.

Gift bags for taking home craft goodies

Tea Party Sandwiches

SO many tea sandwich ideas to choose from! So what did I make for my Valentine Tea Party?
Cumin Roasted Carrot
Curried Chicken
Egg Salad
Black Forest Ham & Gruyere Cheese
Chicken & Apple

I was going to do a cucumber one, but didn't get to it. Thought a Stilton, pear, and watercress sounded good. Had sliced smoked salmon ready, which would have gone with cucumber too, but didn't do them either. Asparagus logs - rolling the bread around asparagus sounded good too. I read of a BLT too ...

The favorite was the carrot sandwich -

CUMIN ROASTED CARROT SANDWICH

Start with 3-4 thick carrots, peel, cut in thirds and slice 1/8" thick. Toss with 1 3/4 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp each of salt & pepper, and 2 Tb olive oil. Roast in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes. You want them to start caramelizing a bit.
Assembling? One bread was spread with a tapenade, the other slice with a herbed cheese. Then the carrots and some baby spinach.

Tapenade

2 C mixed olives (I just used the Kalamata)
1 Tb each of tarragon, chives, rosemary, thyme, and chervil (I had fresh of each except chervil, so used less of it, dried)
1/4 C sour cream
1 1/2 tsp honey (I used Agave Nectar)
pinch each of salt and pepper
Puree smooth. Refrigerate - up to a week ahead okay.

Herbed Cheese Spread

8 oz chevre (I did use chevre, but we don't like most goat products, unless fresh, so I'd make this from now on with cream cheese - we tasted the goat [Monte, Travis and me] and didn't like it.)
2 Tb cream cheese
3/4 tsp each of tarragon, chervil, chives, and thyme (all fresh, but the chervil)
pinch of salt & pepper
Process till smooth and refrigerate - up to a week ahead okay.

Sliced chicken breast with sliced grannysmith apples are another sandwich using the above herbed cheese spread. I marinaded chicken breasts for at least 24 hours, grilled them with some hickory smoke going, and Monte sliced them VERY THIN, as well as the apples.

The chicken marinade?
1/2 C of brewed green tea
3/4 C soy sauce (I always used Braggs Liquid Aminos- healthy, natural, and hardly any sodium)
1/4 C + 2 Tb  Balsamic Vinegar (why not just say 1/3 C, isn't that close?)
1/4 C fresh orange juice
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
2 minced garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp ginger
4 tsp dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

I marinaded 4 large breasts. Two I used in the above sandwich with the apples. The other two I ground in my meat grinder, along with the onion and celery, which I made into chicken curry, which along with the roasted carrot, was another favorite -

Chicken Curry Sandwiches

2 large breasts
1/4 C chopped celery
1/4 C chopped onion
1/4 C apricot jam
1/4 C sour cream
1/4 C mayo
1 Tb curry powder
pinch each of salt and pepper
Like I said above, I used the marinaded and grilled chicken. I used the meat grinder cuz it would grind everything fine without me have to do any chopping. Maybe a food processor would do the job. I picked this because of the apricot jam. I thought it sounded lovely!

Another favorite was my egg salad. I'll post that recipe separate another time. I love my egg salad alone, like as a salad, rather than in a sandwich ... I just love it any way.

I read somewhere that cilantro could replace watercress when in a crunch. I bought some, and was going to use it with cream cheese and cucumbers, but never got around to making them. As I posted earlier, I made the white whole wheat and a brown whole wheat bread for the sandwiches in square (pullman) loaf pans, and Monte sliced them 1/4" thin.

(I'm posting some of the same pictures for these posts because I didn't take any more.)

Everything was ready the day before, so all my early guests (it was a valentine crafting open house tea party) helped make the sandwiches. I didn't plan it to be another craft station, but it worked out that way, and I think everyone really enjoyed it!

Scones, Curds, and Un-clotted Cream

I'm posting recipes I used for my Valentine crafting open house tea party. I already posted about the square bread recipe I used for the sandwich bread. Like it, I didn't want my scones to be like the typical tea house white flour kind. I used my home-ground whole wheat pastry berry flour and oat flour. I also didn't want large scones, so used a small round cutter - like a donut hole size. I wanted to make pumpkin scones too, but found I didn't have any canned pumpkin like I thought I did ... Typical me ... I did plan a lot for this party, but I assumed I had canned pumpkin. Hmmmm.... now that I think of it, I do have that proportion in the freezer ... Oh well, we had enough.

BUTTERMILK SCONES

3 C whole grain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 stick (3/4C) unsalted butter
3/4 C buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients and cut in butter till fine crumble, then add buttermilk. OR you could do this just fine with the butter melted and mix the wet ingredients in with the mixed dry ingredients. The most important thing with scones is to not over mix - like DON'T KNEAD! Dump ingredients out onto floured (oiled would probably work too) counter, mixing together more - I had to add a bit more buttermilk. Pat out in large circle till about 1 - 1 1/2" thick. Cut with a circle cutter (recipe called for 3" circles). Put on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 425 degrees for about 12 minutes or till lightly browned.

Sweetened recipes used same recipe, but added 1/3 C sugar. I did a mixed berry scone recipe adding in the sugar as well as about 2C mixed berries - I had fresh blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries (I used the leftover berries to make a mixed berry jam for the scones). The pumpkin scones used the same recipe with the added sugar, 1 C canned pumpkin, 1/4 tsp each ginger and cinnamon, then 2 Tb vanilla. I did make turtle scones later, using a caramel glaze also used on the pumpkin scones.

TURTLE SCONES

3C whole grain flour
1/3C sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4C unsalted butter
3/4C chopped pecans
3/4C mini choc chips
1 1/4C buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
Caramel Glaze

Mixed the dry ingredients, added in the wet till barely mixed, dumped onto counter mixing it together better, tho not kneading, into a circle about 1 1/2" thick. Cut in circles and put on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 12 minutes at 425 degrees.

CARAMEL GLAZE

2 sticks (1C) unsalted butter
1C brown sugar
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
1/2C heavy cream

Heat all but cream in a saucepan over medium till light boil. Add the cream having turned the heat to low. Cook about 2 minutes or until thickened. Hold the scone bottoms and dip the tops into the glaze and put them back onto the baking sheet.

Like I said above, I made a mixed berry jam from extra fresh berries I bought for the berry scones. I made a Tangerine Lemon Curd and a Un-clotted Cream for the scones.

UN-CLOTTED CREAM

1 Qt heavy cream
3 1/2 C powdered sugar
2/3 C fresh lemon juice

Mix the cream, slowly adding the sugar. Then add the lemon juice in a slow stream. Turn to high speed and whip till the mixture holds peaks. This will keep refrigerated a week.

I ordered up Tea Party books from the library. One book I gleaned a lot of ideas from was Alice's Tea Cup - a famous tea house in New York. When googling lemon curd recipes I came upon this tangerine curd recipe from a blog: www.joythebaker.com, which I've bookmarked cuz I want to try a lot of stuff she posts!

TANGERINE LEMON CURD

Mix together well, rubbing together with the back of a spoon -
5 Tb sugar
1 tsp tangerine zest
In a saucepan over low heat whisk together -
1 lg egg & 2 lg egg yolks (I'd written down another lemon curd recipe and they used the whole eggs so I used 3 whole eggs)
the tangerine sugar mixture
2Tb lemon juice
1/4C tangerine juice
4Tb unsalted butter
pinch of salt

Whisk in the saucepan over low (the other recipe did it over medium) till thick enough to coat the back of a spoon - about 5 minutes (the other recipe stirred in the butter in pieces, a bit at a time, lowering the heat and continuing cooking stirring constantly till thick)(I probably did a mixture of both recipes.) Joy pressed hers thru a fine mesh strainer, then jarred up the mixture. I didn't. I figured the tangerine peel pieces would be fine. I did jar it up and pressed plastic wrap on the surface, as the other recipe suggested, to keep a skin from forming, let cool to room temp and then refrigerated. This will keep a week too or freeze.

PS I read it's best to make these fresh, so I was making them the morning of the tea. Now it's several days later and I'm reheating them in the toaster oven and they're still good. I'm thinking if made later in the day the day before, covered with foil and kept in a warm oven right before the tea, they'd be good. They really aren't hard tho to whip up quickly and cut out and bake ...

PPS I ran out of baking soda! I'm usually a great list-maker, adding things to a list when getting low. I looked all over for another box, so I googled "baking soda substitute" that morning in the thick of making everything! Lots of science you could read: base/acid... The bottom line? Add extra baking powder - so I used a Tb of baking powder in the scones.

Tea Sandwich Bread - Pain De Mai - Pullman Bread Pans

I had a Valentine Tea crafting party. I've been to tea houses and my main complaint is white breads and scones. I wanted to use my fresh ground flours for fullness of nutrients. As I researched tea sandwiches I settled on wanting pullman pans for making the square bread typically used. The first recipe/pullman pan use I found was in Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook - using a 16"x3 1/2" x3 1/2" pan. I had one old pan. I knew my regular bread recipe amount would fill 3 of these pans, and after reading people's reviews, that of loving the bread on a regular basis, I ordered the pans. When I googled Pain De Mie (pullman) Pan recipes I consistently found recipes based on King Arthur's Flour shop, and read thru the reviews so I could get an idea as to the process and any possible tips.

Did I practice before making the party bread? No.

Martha's book shows a light and dark bread combo for sandwiches. In the google research I saw that unsweetened cocoa or carob powder would offer the darker bread coloring, so that is what I added to the recipe (1/2 cup of cocoa). So I ended up with 3 light loaves and 3 dark loaves. Monte used an electric knife we got for a wedding present and have hardly used - it's the best for slicing a nice even 1/4" slice. With the 1/4" slice, with all the tea sandwich varieties we made, only one of each loaf color got used. So I froze the rest of the loves, cut in thirds.

PAIN DE MAI BREAD

6 C warm water (milk is used, so I added powdered milk to the water)
2 sticks + 2 Tb (18Tb) unsalted butter, softened
3Tb yeast
1/2 C sugar
1 Tb salt
about 15 C flour

Add 6C of the flour and yeast and sugar to the mixing bowl and barely mix - let set about 10 minutes (this is a sponge, to let the yeast start bubbling). Then add in the salt, butter and flour till the dough starts balling up leaving the sides of the bowl. I stop and feel how sticky it is, adding in flour till tacky, not sticky, then let it knead about 10 minutes. All bread recipes have you do a rising in the bowl before putting the dough in the pans for a second rising. I never do this, because of the sponging and how well the Bosch kneads dough. Since the KAF recipe suggested it, I decided to just let it rise in the Bosch bowl before dumping it out on my oiled counter top, dividing it in three, rolling it up and pressing in each pan, and let rise again. I normally put a cloth over the rising loaves. It was suggested to put plastic wrap - is this to see it? I did. And when close to the top I snapped/slid the lids on, let set a bit more and put them in the pre-heated oven.

Hmmmm ... oven temp and how long? I'm still not sure. Martha's recipe is for the bread pan size I have, so 450 degrees for 30-40 minutes, lids removed and another 15-20 minutes at 375. KAF baked it totally at 350 degrees, but 25 minutes with the lid on and 20 minutes with the lid off - but their bread pan is 13" long. Someone also mentioned registering the temp with a thermometer, saying it should be at 190 degrees. I saw another recipe having oven temp at 400 and baking 45 minutes. So I might experiment on that. And too, I want to experiment with my basic bread recipe without the milk and butter, but oil, and not doing two risings like I normally do.

The bread pans with the lids are compressing the bread so the air bubbles are more consistent throughout the bread - a little denser for holding together better. So no rounded tops with the larger air bubbles at the top of the bread. Also, it's almost crustless.

Mine did cave a bit in the middle - not much. That's another thing I have to read about again and practice and perfect.

Sarah cut the squares and hearts for the mixed bread design for some of the sandwiches. I had all the sandwich making ingredients ready for the party, but didn't have them made ahead of time. My party was to be a crafting station party: paper craft station for making valentines, paint and glitter station, wet felt over homemade soap station in the greenhouse, needle felting station in the guest room, a crayon melting & one-use-soap station in the laundry/sitting room. So since the sandwiches weren't made in time, sandwich-making became one of the craft stations. I think people enjoyed that. I'll be posting about the crafts on my overflow blog and continue posting tea party recipes here on this blog.

Oh ... I read it's better to make your tea sandwich bread a day ahead - easier to slice, I think. And too, the leftovers from the cut outs? I was going to do a strata for breakfast, but didn't, so now they're all dry and I'll make them into bread crumbs and store them in the freezer - ready for coating fish, or in meatloaf ...

People are still telling me "thank you" for the party and want it to become a tradition. I will make the Valentine Tea crafting party a tradition, and thinking of doing some other seasonal similar parties - like Ukrainian Egg dyeing craft close to Easter; a late summer tea in the full bloom garden ...

Spring Tea and Ukrainian Egg Crafting

I did another Tea party with an Evite to a variety of people and offering needlefelting of styrofoam eggs and learning Ukrainian/Pysanky egg dye as crafts. I posted a lot of pics in another post.

For this tea I made scones again - this time the recipe from my cookbook that includes eggs, as do most scones (except the scone recipes I posted from my Valentine tea recipes). I still cut them out with a small round cookie cutter for smaller scones. I made the tangerine lemon curd again since that was such a success. I made some desserts this time: cookies, merengues spread with jam between two of them, and the winner was ... banana bread spread with Nutella and Granny Smith apple slices - made as a sandwich! I made the square pan bread again, and I made the egg salad and chicken curry sandwiches, since they were the most favored before. But I also made some baby quiches and a grilled ham and cheese sandwich (actually broiled), that were well received. I did veggies and dips again too.

I'll post recipes separate.

Breakfast Bread/ Challah & Sukkot

Last weekend I baked bread for gift-giving. The Jewish Fall Festivals were in my thoughts: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot (click on each of those and they'll take you to posts about them on my other blog). The calendar days stories are so ingrained within me ...

In my cookbook, my Dinner Rolls recipe makes great Challah bread. It's a bread made with eggs and eaten every Sabbath and for many festivals. Original Challah has seven ingredients and it's shaped as a braid. For Rosh Hashanah it's formed into a circle. For Sukkot, as a harvest festival (what I believe the pilgrims, with the first Thanksgiving, were celebrating), raisins are often added. So I thought of my Breakfast Bread in my cookbook with soaked raisins and a whole orange pureed in the bread's warm water. So I made it and in the process decided I'd give some of the bread to some people at church. I also copied my blog posts on the Jewish Fall Festivals, ending with Simchat Torah, to give with the bread, along with a bag of Kale Chips (recipe posted here). For another Holiday - St Lucia Day, with it's traditional buns, you can add 1/4 tsp of safron threads, lightly crushed, to my Dinner Roll recipe or the Breakfast Bread recipe below. They are shaped like an 'S'.

I gave my gifts and by Sunday evening we had an invite from a Rabbi from a local Messianic Church - they refer to themselves as Fulfilled Jews. So I waited to post about all this and the bread recipe until we celebrated Simchat Torah with them Thursday evening, which ends Sukkot. I was so excited! I'd been to this church last year - where my CSA farm share was delivered each week. So I'd seen their sukkah booths in the parking lot. This year I asked to look inside. Apple tree branches, with some attached apples were hanging from the rafters and pictures adorned the particle-board walls. There was a couch, table and chairs, sleeping cots, and harvest produce as decoration (read my posts in above links). I'd given one gift to Ron, who loved my writing - so he called a Rabbi friend, and talked to him about me ... There's a book they read and pray from during the week of Sukkot, like Passover has it's book. Once that was done some old Torah's were brought out and the dancing around the room began. I was standing clapping the rhythm watching the Torahs passed around and more and more people joining the dancing. Eventually the Rabbi handed me a Torah to dance with too! They had tambourine circles with the star of David in the center and streamers and the kids started dancing with them. Many of the families had been sleeping there all week. We left talking about the impressions ingrained for the kids, and the dedication, especially in today's society.

My Bosch Bowl

BREAKFAST BREAD/ CHALLAH

Put 3 C hot water in a blender along with
1 C raisins and
1 whole orange, quartered & seeds removed (do not peel - I'd use organic)
Let these soak awhile and then puree, then pour into the mixer bowl. Add
2 Tb instant yeast (that's what I use)
1/3 C oil
1/3 C honey
4 C whole wheat flour (mine is fresh ground)
Pulse this a bit to moisten most of the flour. Then put the lid on and let sponge 10 minutes.
Then add -
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs, room temp
& enough flour to clean the bowl.

In my cookbook I walk you through bread making. With whole wheat flour, I get the flour incorporated in, in a minute, because flour added later will make the bread dry and sawdusty. I stop the machine and feel the dough. It shouldn't be sticky but a bit tacky. Let it knead for 5-6 minutes (with whole white winter wheat - otherwise 10 minutes). Then I oil the counter top and my hands and dump the dough out, forming it into a nice round blob. Cut the dough into however many loaves you want to make and shape. This recipe can make 3-4 one pound loaves. I braided mine. Let rise on greased baking sheets.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
You could use this dough in loaf pans, or make cinnamon rolls.

Here's another link about Tashlich. And then tomorrow on the Christian Calendar is Guardian Angels Day, click and read about it - are you thankful there's guardian angels? We've passed Michaelmas Day. I should post a pic of Michaelmas daisies that bloom this time of year.

Spiritual Birthdays and Tacos and stuff

Today is Travis's Spiritual Birthday and last thursday was Dawson's. When our kids were little there'd be God-talk-times, but there seems to be a definite time when children ask deeper questions and want to commit their life to God. Monte said he did it when he was eight, soon after realizing that his dad wasn't 'God' and in control of everything. He simply transferred that trust in his dad to trust in God.

I wrote these times on the calendar for each of our kids. Then each year we'd celebrate that birthday with a special treasure hunt meal. The meal had lots of condiments so we could hide them around the house. Since curry (which makes a great treasure hunt meal) isn't a favorite of my kids, we tended to do a taco meal. We'd make up riddles as clues to be left with each food item, guiding them to the next. Eventually everything is at the table and we can eat. There's a final note at their plate reminding them of their treasure in Heaven.

I quick fry corn tortillas so they're soft. Then there's bowls of cooked ground meat, grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, lettuce, green onions, and sour cream, and sometimes guacamole, chips and salsa, and maybe beans. It's one of my favorite childhood meals I grew up with, and my family loves it too. I prefer the soft cooked shells to the traditional crisp shells because the first bite tends to crack the shell down the middle and everything falls out! If you travel to Mexico soft corn tacos is traditional.

I still remember the first time we did this - and we usually retell the story. Heather was just learning to read. Monte was out of town and my sister Kelli was living with us (and that's a powerful story!) so I wrote out very simple clues. Travis, not able to read yet, was practically hanging on to Heather's shirt tail waiting for her to sound out the clues so they could run and find the food. Like she'd be saying, "Look in the re-frig g g g ..." with a hard 'g' sound, as she was slowly walking upstairs. Finally I said, "The refrigerator is not upstairs!" And they'd take off running and laughing.
When Deuteronomy says several times, "teach the children diligently", "tell the children" - this is kinda like another commemoration as is the Lord's Supper and Passover. I'll tell you, our kids never grew up wondering if they were a Christian or not. And what great memories we have celebrating (partying) together around God's Truth and Presence in our lives.

Yesterday at MOPS I did the devotional. It was Tea and Testimony day, so the whole time was filled with five people's stories. Lots of laughter, tears and evoked memories. I combined two things I've posted: The Jar of my life and the Spouse story.

Monte and me thought of some new connections: each of us, so not just me, but Monte, my kids, our friends ... have jars of their lives. I see the larger items as relational, long lasting, for better health and living beyond maintenance, and maybe even eternal. When I got to the part in the story where Sarah's mom felt an urging to pray for Sarah's future mate at the same timing as Travis' horrible illness (if you're lost you need to click on the above stories and read) - I really started crying this time! Through my tears as I put my hand over my beautiful jar of fruit (I took it as a visual aid) I told of the possibilities when other persons have a grapefruit in their jar that they've named "Heart Keeping" and have that relationship with God - that there's a depth in relationships between spouses, relations, friends and community.

I was given a glimpse, tho twenty-some years later, of what the power of prayer can be. And I bet paradise is going to be full of these stories!

Another twist Monte and me are still pondering, is what if two people marry and they seem compatible and their jars are just filled with sand? What might that say? I had quickly voiced the book title "Amusing Ourselves to Death" as a possibility.

Old Fashioned Caramel Frosting

I've loved the flavor of spiced cake and caramel or maple frosting since I was a kid, so my mom always made it for me for my birthday. I carried on that tradition, making it for me from scratch for my birthday since I got married. And like I said in the last posting, where I wrote the cake recipe, my daughter Heather made it for me for this year's birthday when Monte and me arrived at her new home in Texas. She left for me, the frosting to make. 

It's considered a Boiled or Cooked Frosting, and I've been making it from the Joy of Cooking cookbook all these years. But when we moved to 8000 feet elevation in Evergreen, Colorado from Tucson, Arizona, the recipe did not work and I had to do a lot of reading and figuring.

Old-Fashioned Caramel Frosting

In a medium saucepan heat and stir until sugar is dissolved:

2 c packed brown sugar

1 c heavy cream

Cover and simmer for 2 minutes. Spoon down any sugar on the sides of the pan and cook uncovered, hardly stirring, until the syrup reaches 238 degrees. Remove from the heat and add, without stirring:

3 Tb butter (unsalted if you have it)

Set aside, without stirring, until the mixture cools to 110 degrees and stir in:

1 tsp vanilla.

The 238 degrees is where I had to change the recipe (and it has an optional addition of rum flavoring which I don't like). It was in the Joy of Cooking's "Know Your Ingredients" chapter, and maybe under making candy, and maybe even canning, that I figured it out. Cooking and canning temperatures and timings are set for sea level. At 8000 ft I had to lower the temperature to 18_ degrees (I'm not at home with my cookbook and notes. But at my elevation, boiling water temp is at 186, which means 20 minutes of waterbath canning time stretches out to 46 minutes for me! And I think when making candy, that soft-ball stage at 238 has to lower about 2 degrees per thousand ft or is it hundreds?)

Once the frosting is cooled and vanilla added you beat it with a hand mixer in the pan (or you have to transfer it to a mixing bowl) till it gets thickened creamy.

The recipe actually makes more frosting than the cake needs, but my kids always wanted the extra to add to their cake slices or spread on ginger cookies or graham crackers. Yummm ....

In Ogema, Wisconsin, Monte's Aunt Ruby makes this cake frosting. Even last year she had it at an event and I recognized it and we talked about it. She says it's everybody's favorite. Aunt Ruby is the only other person I know who makes it. She raised her family on a dairy farm, so you know her cream had to be the BEST ever!

Spice Cake

I've been asked several times for the Spice Cake recipe I use for my favorite cake - My favorite birthday cake since I was a kid. I've been making it for years from The Joy of Cooking cookbook. But, as usual, I don't do the exact recipe...

First off, I have to say, I am not a cake person. I've never loved cakes for dessert, preferring pies, cheesecakes, and now Tiramisu. Also, I rarely eat desserts. I have to choose the types of carbs I consume carefully. I'm pretty good at avoiding store bought desserts and processed flour products. Since the only place my body can grow is out, when I take in foods, they are nutrient rich, phytonutrient rich choices. I even have to limit my homemade breads.

So when it comes to foods with flour, I make everything from home-ground grains. That way I know they are nutrient rich and at their optimal. So I've made all my pie crusts, cookies, and cakes from ground whole wheat. I use either pastry berries or white wheat, not the red winter wheat berries.

When I look at cakes, all cakes made from cake mixes have a plasticky sheen to them. Maybe it's just my self-conscious seeing things. Maybe my baked goods aren't as light and fluffy, but that's what's been built into our likes from the era when processed flour was introduced as a 'rich mans' food, just like processed white sugar was coveted in the same way.

In the Joy of Cooking, it's the Velvet Spice Cake, 

but here's my version:

I start by beating

4 egg whites 

1/8 tsp cream of tartar, till soft peaks form and gradually add in

1/4 c sugar, till peaks stiffer, but not dry.

I scrape this mixture into another bowl to add in at the end.

Next I beat 

1 1/2 sticks butter (12 Tb) in my Bosch mixer bowl, with the butter (usually unsalted if I have it) sliced in pieces so the whips don't get bent. And add in

1 1/4 c sugar

Beat in 3-4 lg egg yolks

Adding in the dry ingredients:

2 1/4 c whole grain flour (and I never sift either)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I do have a cute nutmeg grinder)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp grd cloves

1/2 tsp salt

Fold in beaten egg whites.

(The eggs can be done whole, without mixing them separate if you don't mind the cake being denser.)

Pour into greased and floured tube or bundt pan, and it works in a 9x13.

Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool about 10 minutes to invert the cake out of the pan (or just leave it in the 9x13 if you want).

I always make a boiled brown sugar frosting for it. I don't have time to post it right this minute, so will do it later.

Just a side note: The Joy of Cooking has changed over the years and I don't know what's still in the newer versions. I heard it talked of on a program. Mainly editing out some of the details and maybe ingredients or recipes that people today don't stock. Hopefully it's still making everything from scratch.

Fruit Soup

Like I said before, when I was dating Monte and he told me about fruit soup, I thought it sounded awful. But now it's my favorite Christmas food and I make a big pot so we have leftovers and plenty for serving at all sorts of get-togethers during the holidays. Here is my fruit soup recipe:

12 oz bag of pitted dried prunes, cut them up
1 1/2 c raisins
1 c cut up dried apricots
(about 2/3 cups each cut up dried apples and pears)
(I usually add cranberries too)
(Now I add dried bing cherries instead of adding 2 cans of sour cherries)
10 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
6 whole cloves (put in a little mesh basket or cheesecloth)
slices of lemon

Bring this to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add 6-7 Tbs tapioca to grape juice to soak a bit before adding to the soup. I eventually pour in a whole jug (32 oz) of unsweetened grape juice. This needs to simmer a bit more for the tapioca to cook and thicken.

It's good both warm and cold. I like it room temp. Monte loves to eat it with cream. It's great with ice cream. It's good with aebleskivers and pancakes and rice pudding ...

Potato Sausage

Though we could buy potato sausage at a meat market, we've been making it since we got married. So we've been making it for 32 years (but since we're past our anniversary does that mean our making it Sunday afternoon would be the 33rd time?).

I have a meat grinder attachment for my Bosch Kitchen Machine and a sausage stuffer attachment. Before that I had a KitchenAid and a meat grinder for it too. Before that, how funny ... I still laugh! we scrunched up the casings on an angel-food cake pan center, and tried stuffing the meat mixture thru that tube. It was not easy and a mess!

Usually we grind the meat ourselves too, because then we have control over the fat amount and the kind of fat. For years we did it with elk, but now we don't have any elk or venison. I grind the onion first and then the potatoes, because the onion mixed with potatoes helps keep them from turning brown.

The meat casings we use are hog, and we get them at the meat market. Some stores have them in the freezer compartment. The casings are in salt and need to be soaked in warm water first. Then we like to put an end under the faucet and run water thru them to rinse the salt out. After grinding and mixing everything together the sausage stuffer attachment is put on and the casings are pulled over it - they end up sort of bunched up. Then run the meat mixture thru to start stuffing the casings. We have a cookie sheet with sides under the machine to catch the sausage. We always bag up extra sausage in Ziplock bags and freeze.

4 lbs meat
4 lbs potatoes
1 onion
1 1/2 tsp pepper
7 tsp salt
(1/2 tsp allspice - we usually don't put this in)

So grind all this and mix together well and stuff the casings. Boil and then simmer whatever you're wanting to eat in salted water, to cover, for about an hour. We cut up sections and have on a serving platter. I eat the casing's, and others don't, but yes, they are edible. Monte likes to eat his sausage in his doppa i grytan.

Leftover, we like to saute it in a skillet for breakfast, or sliced and heated (or cold) for sandwiches.

Latkes

No one knows how latkes became a tradition, but they are fried in oil, which perhaps symbolizes the miracle of the oil. In Israel doughnuts fried in oil are a popular treat during Hanukkah too. (We've made homemade doughnuts and they're good.)

Thinking of cooking in oil, I might add fondue to our Hanukkah celebrating every year. I've been wanting to do both the oil (or broth) and the cheese fondue pots. I love so many celebration traditions when they give me ideas of what to cook for supper!

Latke Recipe -
Grate2 lbs russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
one recipe grates them skin and all, another peels them
1 onion
The recipe I like the best leaves half the potatoes in a food processor and adds the onion until all the pieces are roughly 1/8".
Mix the onion and potato together (the onion helps prevent the potato from discoloring) and put in a colander over a bowl to drain the liquid. (Sometimes I skip the colander stage and just pour off the liquid from the mixture just before cooking.)
Mix together
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp salt (- minced scallions, and parsley and pepper could be added)
(1/4 tsp baking powder)
Add the onion and potatoes mixing well. (pour off the liquid from the drained potatoes and add the 'starch' left at the bottom of the bowl to the mixture)

Over med-high, heat oil that coats the bottom of a skillet (with my Calphalon griddle, I hardly use any oil and they brown nicely). Either use a 1/4 cup or spoon to create the latke pancakes and fry on both sides till golden brown. Can keep warm in a 300 degree oven with paper towel layers.

Applesauce and sour cream are traditional accompaniments. I've seen some latkes made with half sweet potatoes too (we've added zucchini that's been salted and liquid pressed out, too, but not for Hanukkah). The meal often has dairy foods.

Tradition -
Jews say blessings for everything, like, "You abound in blessings, source of light, our God, ruler of all worlds; who has made us holy with Your commandments, and has commanded us to kindle the light ..." or "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, who did wondrous things for our ancestors long ago at this time of year."

They play a game spinning a dreidel top. "Nes Gadol Hayah Sham," each word adorning one of the four sides, reminding them of "A great miracle happened (t)here". They sing a song called "Ma'oz Tzur" which would be similar to our "Rock of Ages." The kids often play act the story.

So enjoy eating tradition.