On the Merry-Go-Round in a Jiffy

I loved to cook as a child and was interested in learning to make all kinds of foods, especially recipes with tactile appeal.  I remember the pretzels made for my fourth grade class didn't go over very well with my friends.  But that failure aside,  Mom was patient enough to let me help often and even cleaned up the messes I left behind.  

 Mom's Garden & the Merry-Go-Round

I also learned a great deal about cooking "by osmosis";  growing up in a large family that completely enjoyed eating good foods of considerable variety.  Being the youngest meant there were older siblings having cooking experiences of their own.  Sometimes they didn't want me hanging around their adventures and I do remember being sent outside to "Just go play on the merry-go-round!"

This is the very first recipe I remember learning to make on my own.   My daughter Carolina had her first lesson last week and she will tell you these delicious cookie bars can be made "in a jiffy" and they disappear just as fast!

JIFFIES

2 wrapped bundles of graham crackers
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut, optional 
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

Break crackers into small pieces in a mixing bowl, then add rest of the ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.  Turn into a greased baking dish (9"x13" or smaller) and spread into a layer, pressing down slightly with moistened hands.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Cut into squares and loosen from pan while still warm.

The Art in Gracious Living

My mother’s first aspiration was to be an artist and she started out attending a high school for fine arts.  But in the harsh reality of the early World War II era, Mom’s plans dramatically changed when her own mother died.  At only 15 years old, she needed a practical means to support herself and so she transferred to a trade school to become a hairdresser instead.  The art which Mom loved became a sideline expression through the twists and turns of a full life.  She and Dad raised a pile of kids in those post-war years and built a marvelous legacy of love into each of us.   

Mom's art was woven into the tapestry of daily living.  It was exquisitely rendered in delicate white ink illustrations encircling photos on the black pages of the family scrapbook album.  It filled a modest little portfolio of sketches and it still graces the walls of the family home in a few oil paint and pencil works.  It was evidenced in her gardening and flower arranging and cake decorating.  It was expressed in the precision she ran a busy household and in the fullness of her church and community involvement.  It still flows into her special ministry of correspondence through handmade cards and expressive letters written to her extensive circle of loved ones.  And her art was evident in the way she cooked for her appreciative family.

Every Easter we would get out special cookie cutters and make a batch of cut-out sugar cookies.  These would be iced with a smooth white glaze which dried to make a canvas for lovely edible art.  We used tiny paintbrushes and food color to detail the most intricate designs on the cookie shapes.  Mom's Easter crosses were decorated with wreaths of roses, while the stars and egg-shapes had stunning rainbow-hued details.  The bunnies had sweet “Peter Rabbit” clothes and the some of the loveliest lace aprons I can still remember.

 

Easter Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cream of tartar 

Cream the butter, then add sugar and beat well.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Mix dry ingredients separately and then add to wet.  Dough will be very soft.  Chill for at least an hour before rolling out ¼” thick and cutting into shapes.  Dust rolling pin and cutters lightly with flour to keep from sticking.  Bake shapes on ungreased baking sheets at 375 degrees for 6-8 minutes until set, but not yet golden.  Cool completely before icing.  We prefer leaving the cookies “stuck” to the cookie sheets, as they are easier to brush with icing glaze this way and lift off easily when dry.

 

Icing Glaze

1-1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. meringue powder

3 Tbsp. water

Beat ingredients together until smooth and brush or spread onto each cookie.  Allow to dry completely before decorating with food coloring using new, clean paintbrushes.

 Easter Blessings...  Celebrating the resurrection of Christ,              ~ Liz

John 16:33 - Jesus said:
"I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.  

In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  
I have overcome the world."  

Beef Boy

It’s harvest time on our ranch.  The freezer is empty and it’s time to replenish our stock of custom-raised organic grass-fed beef.  Our steer “Beef Boy” is ready for processing and it’s a big job.  The men are rigging a gambrel and hoist that will lift 1000 pounds high enough to load into the back of a pickup truck. Then it’s off to a butcher shop for the cut and wrap.

Beef Boy is 2 years old and has lived a blessed life here, grazing on open range at our ranch.  We have lots of younger critters that need the precious green grass more than he does, and we don’t want him to be past his prime.    Thank you, Beef Boy, for your part in our family’s provision.

Our beef is processed into premium steaks and filets, with the balance done as stew chunks or ground beef for easy meal preparation.  Here’s a recipe given to me by a friend from Community Bible Study many years ago.  Christopher presented this recipe at a 4-H Favorite Foods Day and won a collection of nice prizes for the “Best Beef Recipe.”  Enjoy!

HAWAIIAN MEATBALLS

Meatballs

1-1/2 lbs. ground beef

½ cup chopped onion or ¼ c. dehydrated chopped onions

1-1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 egg

2/3 cup saltine cracker crumbs

½ c. evaporated milk or cream

1)      Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with pan spray.

2)      Mix ingredients in a large bowl.  Shape meat mixture into small balls of about 1 tablespoon each and place on sheet.  We like to use a portion scoop to make uniformly-sized meatballs.

3)      Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until browned, approximately 30 minutes.

Hawaiian Sauce

2 large cans (20 oz. each) pineapple chunks in juice (drain, reserving juice)

2 cups reserved juice (water may be added to reach 2 cups total)

4 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup vinegar

1/3 cup soy sauce

1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)

1)      Whisk cornstarch with a small amount of the liquid in a large saucepan or dutch oven pot until smooth.

2)      Gradually whisk in remaining juice, then add brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, and bell pepper if used.  Cook over medium heat, stirring until boiling and thickened.

3)      Stir in pineapple chunks and cooked meatballs.

4)      Heat to boiling, lower heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes before serving.

This recipe is delicious served over rice or in a crock-pot for a potluck. 

Makes about 35 meatballs (8-10 servings)

Sunshine Days

SUNSHINE DAYS

"It's MY TURN to have the blue cup today!" ... "NO FAIR!  I get to sit in the front seat this time!"  ...  "But we don't want to watch the Barney video AGAIN!" ...  Every day, indeed every hour, brings up some new situation to resolve among our children.  Kids have the most amazing sense of fairness and they have the uncanny ability to keep score on the most trivial issues.  To help you save your sanity and referee the skirmishes over such problems as only one red lollipop, or an odd number of potato chips, I offer the wonderful solution of "Sunshine Days."

Each child rotates the honor of being designated the "Sunshine Person" of the day.  All special privileges or sundry daily choices defer to the child whose Sunshine Day it is.  Several years ago, we were in the habit of singing a special rendition of the old song "You Are My Sunshine" at the top of our lungs every morning to keep track of whose day it was.  Now we simply put a child's initials on each day of a wall calendar to keep track.  Our three kids do a simple rotation through the week.  I know of other families who have assigned a specific day of the week to each child.

This system works, and it's not just for little kids.  Sunshine Days can enable parents to focus special attention on one child at a time, a benefit that older kids particularly enjoy.  Our kids relish the opportunity to play a favorite game with Mom or Dad on their Sunshine Day.  The biggest Sunshine Day privilege is to be the only child to accompany Mom or Dad on a trip out to do errands.

This simple tradition has been a great joy to us for the 5-plus years we've been doing it.  I'm sure it will become a cherished memory of childhood.  I think our kids are learning to share in ways that encourage them to work out the details on their own. They have learned that different treats happen to different people on different days, and if they're patient, their own Sunshine Day will come.

Dear Ones:  This is a re-publication of an article I originally wrote in 2001.  Now, several children and 10 years later, we are still employing the practice of Sunshine Days.  One very helpful aspect of this tool has been the way we use it to sort out preferences for watching videos in our home.   Television is not an option since we don't get much reception out here and we don't want a satellite dish.  We have long held a standard of Movie Time being at 4:00 pm daily, after school and chores and a 15 minute pick-up are completed.    The Sunshine Day person gets to pick from our collection of DVD's.    Everyone has the opportunity to enjoy the single family movie selection or opt out to pursue other diversions such as reading, games or crafts.  Play clay has been a favorite in our house for years.

Play Clay
1 cup flour
1/3 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. oil
Food coloring
Extracts such as peppermint, clove or lemon may be added for fragrance.

Combine ingredients in saucepan.

 Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and forms a ball.

Turn out onto counter, cool slightly and knead smooth. 
Store in a plastic bag when not being used.

Kayleigh's Pizza

It's quite remarkable, really.  First thing she does is milk the cow.  Every morning Kayleigh gets up and out the door with her brother Vincent and they work together to milk "Galaxy", our family cow.  She's a beauty, that Jersey cow, and she gives us several gallons a day of the most delicious milk imaginable.  

Kayleigh takes three gallons of the milk and turns it into about two and a half pounds of mozzarella cheese in forty-five minutes...
It's incredible, really.   

Later, she'll whip up a batch of pizza dough, top it with sauce, the homemade mozzarella, add pepperoni to one and Hawaiian toppings to the other, and we'll all enjoy our Saturday "family night" pizza-and-games celebration, courtesy of Galaxy and our really, really amazing 15-year-old daughter!

Speedy Mozzarella

3 gallons of fresh milk

3/4 tablet of rennet dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water

1-1/2 Tbsp. citric acid powder dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water

1)  In a large stockpot, bring milk to about 55 degrees F., stir in the citric acid water.  You can check the acidity with pH test paper strips to ensure your target pH is in the range of 5.2 to 5.5.  This is helpful to ensure the right acidity to get the cheese to stretch, and especially if your milk is naturally souring in which case you can use less citric acid.

2)  Heat on a very low flame to 85 degrees.

3)  Stir in rennet water with 20 strokes then stop stirring to let the curd set, while continue heating very slowly up to 105-110 degrees.  Turn off heat and let sit until curd forms, about 15 minutes.

4)  Scoop the curds out of the whey and drain in a cheese-cloth lined colander.

5)  Transfer curds to a glass bowl and microwave 1-2 minutes at a time.  Wear clean food-safe rubber gloves and knead and stretch the curd until smooth and stretchy, reheating if necessary.

6)  Add kosher salt to taste, about 1 Tbsp., as you work the cheese into a ball.

7)  Wrap in plastic and keep refrigerated until ready to eat.
 

(For more cheese-making instruction and supplies, 
please consult our friends at www.thebeveragepeople.com)

Pizza Crust

Kayleigh uses a basic recipe adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

2-3/4 to 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 
1 package active dry yeast (or 1 Tbsp.)
1 cup warm water (120-130 degrees F.)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
In a large mixing bowl, combine 1-1/4 cups of the flour, yeast and salt.  Add the warm water and oil.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl occasionally.  Beat on high speed for 3 minutes.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (about 6-8 minutes.)  Divide dough in half, cover and let rest for 10 minutes in a warm area.

Pizza Sauce

Kayleigh uses canned tomato sauce and adds Italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, etc.) garlic and pepper.

Kayleigh's Pizza
Roll out and stretch each half of the dough onto greased, perforated 16" pizza pans.  Top with pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese and a variety of toppings.  Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy, rotating the pizzas on top and bottom rack positions halfway through the baking time.  
Yield: Two thin crust family-sized pizzas...Just perfect, since there's no take-out or pizza-delivery-service way out here in these hills.

It's delicious, REALLY!

Blue Oak Point Ranch Overnight Granola

It's definitely not a summer-time thing...leaving the oven running all night!   But on chilly mountain nights, a long slow overnight bake for our family's favorite granola yields a delicious breakfast that warms us up in more ways than one.  

Overnight Granola
3 cups five-grain rolled cereal (or substitute old-fashioned oatmeal)
4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
3 cups sliced almonds
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup roasted & salted sunflower seed kernels
1 cup shredded coconut
Combine the above ingredients in a very large bowl.  In a blender, whirl to mix the following:
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. maple flavoring
Pour liquid over the dry ingredients and mix well.  Lightly spray two large rimmed baking sheets (13"x18") with pan spray.   Divide granola onto the two sheets and spread out evenly to fill each pan.  Bake overnight at 175 degrees.   Remember to always check and regulate your oven temperature using an oven thermometer, rather than relying on the dial gauge.

 

Granola will be perfectly golden and toasted in the morning.  Cool completely and store airtight.  Serve with milk, yogurt, or my favorite way: with a splash of boiling hot water to rehydrate and a crunchy topping of chopped apples.


Enjoy our new blog with recipes and reflections from Blue Oak Point Ranch.
Be blessed today!
Liz