Michael’s Persimmon Fruitcake

Autumn brought the ripening of glorious orange persimmon fruits that make the base of this delicious cake.  Squishy, over-ripe persimmon pulp is scooped out of the skin and frozen in 2-cup recipe-ready containers. We use a family favorite recipe for Persimmon Cookies as the batter and add LOTS of dried fruits and nuts. The chopping and mixing is a big job, so get some help, a sturdy spatula and your biggest bowl to stir this up.  After baking, the dense loaf freezes well.  We’ll enjoy slices for breakfast for many weeks to come, and it is particularly good toasted and spread with butter.

 

 

 

PERSIMMON FRUITCAKE

1 cup shortening or butter

2 cups sugar

2 cups ripe persimmon pulp, mashed (or defrosted )

2 large eggs

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. ground cloves

¼ to ½ cup water if needed to thin the batter

6 to 7 cups mixed dried fruit and nuts, chopped. We use:

                1 cup candied pineapple

                1 cup candied or dried cherries

                1 cup dried cranberries

                1 cup golden raisins

                1/2 cup dried dates

                2 cups walnuts

Chop all the dried fruit and nuts and set aside.  Prepare 3 loaf pans by greasing and lining with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  

In large electric mixer bowl, using the paddle attachment, beat shortening and sugar together until fluffy, then add persimmon pulp and eggs and beat well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then gradually add to batter. Beat just until combined.  Transfer batter to extra-large bowl and mix in the dried fruits and nuts by hand using a sturdy spatula. 

Divide batter into loaf pans.  Bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Cakes may need extra baking time to be cooked in the center and will be very brown.  Cool completely before storing.  We divide the loaves in half, individually wrap and freeze.

Surf and Turf Celebrations

 

Baked Shrimp Scampi

                                                                …a Family Favorite Birthday Dinner !!

2 lbs. large shrimp (31-40 size or larger) de-veined, peeled, tail off and rinsed

1 large fresh tomato, diced (appx ½ cup)

1/4 cup white wine or dry marsala

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 cloves fresh garlic, pressed (abt. 3 Tbsp.)

3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (or substitute fresh young carrot tops)

4 Tbsp. (1/4 c.)  lemon juice

Zest of 1 small or ½ large lemon, micro-planed

2 Tbsp. capers

1-1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

1/4 tsp. chili powder or chili flakes (optional)

1/4 tsp. mixed Italian herbs or pizza seasoning

Put cleaned, drained shrimp in a large baking dish.  Mix remaining ingredients and pour over the shrimp.   Bake in 375’ oven, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring the dish once halfway through the cooking time.   Serve scampi with pan juice over rice.   

And with grilled T-bone steaks.

Halo Sunshine

 

Halo Sunshine

Scones are a favorite breakfast item on our ranch, and these delicious orange-cranberry ones are a bite of sunshine.  This recipe uses "Haloes",  a brand of seedless mandarins grown in the central valley of California.  Any small orange will do, but you will want to remove all seeds and white pith.  Process the fruit, including the peels, in a food processor, using some of the sugar to help it move in the processor bowl.  The chunky puree may be frozen in small containers for future baking.   

Orange-Cranberry Scones                      makes 16-18 scones

1 small seedless “Halo” mandarin, tangerine or clementine

¾ cup sugar, divided

3 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 Tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. salt

6 Tbsp. soft butter

1-1/4 cups dried “Craisins” cranberries

3 large eggs

½ cup milk, half-&-half, buttermilk, or heavy cream

¼ cup raw sugar (Turbinado or large-crystal decorative sugar)

1)      Prepare fruit: Wash but do not peel.  Cut into eighths and remove any seeds or excess pith.  Process in food processor, with ½ cup of the sugar, until finely chopped.  (Note: prepared fruit may be stored in freezer for future baking.)

         Preheat oven to 400’ and lightly grease a large baking sheet.

3)      In large bowl, whisk remaining sugar and dry ingredients together.  Cut in butter using pastry blender or two knives.

4)      Stir cranberries and prepared fruit into dry mix. Make a well in center of dry ingredients.

5)      Whisk eggs and milk together in a measuring cup, then pour into well in bowl. Stir with fork until just combined. Do not over-mix.

6)      Form scones using one of several methods:

a.       Scoop balls using ice-cream scoop and place on greased sheet, spacing 2” apart.

b.       Divide dough in half, and shape on a lightly-floured board into two flattened discs, 1” x 8”.  Cut each disc into 8 wedges and transfer to greased baking sheets.

c.       Form dough on board into a long, flattened log.  Cut at alternating angles to make triangles.  Transfer to greased baking sheets.

7)      Lightly brush tops of scones with small amount of additional cream, milk, water or egg-wash and top each with a generous sprinkle of raw sugar, using about ½ tsp. per scone.

8)      Bake at 400’ for 13 – 15 minutes until edges begin to be golden-brown and centers are set.

9)      Best served warm and fresh.

Happy New Year with Carrot-Orange Soup

Homegrown carrots store a long time in root-cellar conditions.  

Here's our favorite winter soup.  Happy New Year !

Carrot Orange Soup   

2-2.5 lbs. large carrots, peeled and cubed

1.5  large sweet onions, chopped

6 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp chicken bouillon powder, with 8 cups water,  or use canned broth

1.5 cups orange juice

Optional:  Zest of ½ orange (micro-planed is best)

Approx. 2 tsp. seasoned salt with chili, or salt and cayenne pepper to taste

1)      Melt butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot.  Add onions and cook over very low heat until tender, about 25 minutes.

2)      Add carrots with water and bouillon, or broth. Bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until carrots are very tender, about 30 minutes.

3)      Pour soup through a strainer and transfer solids to a food processor, blender or food mill.  Working in batches, and adding liquid stock as needed, process until smooth.

4)      Return the puree to the pot and add orange juice and zest.  Add additional stock until soup is of desired consistency.

5)      Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Simmer until heated through and serve.

6)      Garnish as desired: delicious with a swirl of sour cream, tajin seasoning or parsley.

November 16, 2020

Sharing a family birthday cake favorite today:

Coconut Pecan Frosting

1 c. evaporated milk

1 c . sugar 

3 egg yolks, beaten

1/2 c. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1-1/2 c. flaked coconut, toasted

1 c. chopped pecans

Combine first 5 ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly with a whisk, about 12 minutes.  Remove from heat, and stir in coconut & pecans.  Cool, beating occasionally, until spreading consistency. Refrigerate any leftovers.  Makes about 2-1/2 cups. 

Pirate's Grogg

Ahoy matey!  Speakin' o' birthdays, an since bloggin' bein' the finest way I be knowin' to capture my best recipes for posterity, I be offerin' up my recipe for Pirate's Grogg.  It be a fine punch for drinkin' on most of yer fancy-type occasions.  Add a bit o' dry ice for makin' a mystic roiling-boiling brew...and some plastic spiders to the punch bowl if you're a scurvy dog.  Aaaaargh!

 

 

We stirred up two vats of this brew down in the galley for our Pirate Murder Mystery Birthday Party last February when we celebrated Vincent and Kayleigh's birthdays.

 

 

Pirate's Grogg

 

2 large cans or 2 half-gallon cartons of Pineapple Juice

2 two-liter bottles of Ginger Ale

2/3 bottle of "La Paz" Lime Juice cocktail mixer

(or a large frozen limeade concentrate)

more or less

 

Mix ingredients in a 3 gallon dispenser.  Add ice.

 

Aaaaarrrrgh!

Double Digits

Carolina turned 10 years old recently and it was a fabulous 2-day celebration.  She thought about it for months and planned it down to a "T".

The 10th Birthday Party Plan

We had a her first ever "friends" party and rollerskating extravaganza which included a plethora of skaters with ages ranging from 50 (me) down to 4!

Kayleigh decorated the cake using our "double batch" recipe for Decorating Buttercream Icing.  This recipe originated in the Wilton Method of Cake Decorating classes I took over 20 years ago, after which I became a Wilton instructor at a local craft store.   More recently, I taught our older kids and their friends the skills of cake decorating and candy-making through our 4-H club.  Kayleigh practiced extensively and has become our family's official celebration cake baker and decorator.

Decorating Buttercream Frosting - "Double Batch"
(Makes 6 cups of medium consistency frosting - - -
Usually enough for both icing and decorating a family-sized cake)
2 lbs. powdered sugar (approx. 8 cups)
1 Tbsp. meringue powder
2 cups Crisco shortening
1 Tbsp. butter flavoring
1 Tbsp. clear vanilla flavoring
1/2 cup water
1/8 tsp. salt
Sift powdered sugar and meringue powder together and set aside.  In a mixer bowl with flat paddle attachment, cream shortening with the flavorings.  Add salt to water then gradually add water to shortening, beating until all is well-creamed.  Gradually add the sugar mixture and beat well until smooth and well-mixed.  Remove half of batch to be used for decorating.  More powdered sugar may be added to a small portion if stiff frosting is required for roses and other stand-up decorations.  A bit more water may be added to a portion of the icing to make a thin consistency for writing.   Use the remaining half of frosting for icing the cake by beating in 1-3 tsp. more water (and food coloring, if desired) to make a thinner consistency for icing the cake.  Leftover frosting may be refrigerated or frozen and will keep a long time.

The next day, on Carolina's real birthday, we had a dinner party at home.  She requested that I make the casserole we call "Aubrey's Chicken Divan", which her cousin Aubrey prepared when we visited the Virginia family in 2009.  This creamy chicken and broccoli casserole has a mildly delightful curry spice twist.  A nice company entree' or meal ministry gift, this dish can be made ahead and refrigerated (but do not freeze) and keeps a good consistency when hot-holding.

Aubrey's Chicken Divan
(serves 6)
2 cups cooked diced chicken (boneless thighs or breast)
2 cups broccoli florets, lightly steamed or briefly boiled (3-5 minutes) and drained
1 cup grated cheddar cheese, or shredded cheese blend
1 cup bread crumbs mixed with 3 Tbsp melted butter, or 1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp. curry powder
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
Stir together the mayonnaise, yogurt, curry and lemon juice to make a smooth sauce.  Grease a 2-quart deep baking dish and layer half of the chicken and broccoli in the bottom. Cover with half of the sauce and half of the cheese.  Repeat the layering.  Top with the breadcrumbs.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until heated through. 

Happy Birthday Carolina!

Until the Cows Come Home...

It's been an interesting year!  So many things have factored into my nine-month hiatus from blogging: the stress from the fires of last summer, subsequent illness, followed by the holidays and our "birthday season", intense audits at work, personal computer crashes, and the ever-present busy-ness with family and school and vacations. And now the cows.

We had a mountain lion take out a dairy goat earlier this summer.  We think the same predator literally scared one of our horses to death.  Then a few days later, five of our cattle blew straight through a barbed wire pasture fence and took off downhill like rabbits into the neighbors' sections of range-land.  Our dairy cow was located a week later and about 5 miles away!   While we're delighted to have her back, we're still searching for the missing cattle and it's like hunting for 4 really big needles in a 10-square-mile haystack.  We've had a  recent sighting of the wayward bunch.  Tracking and herding them into catch-pens is not an easy matter...one jumps like a show horse and another has no idea what it means to be herded at all and won't move an inch, that is until she decides to race after the jumper.  No definite progress yet, but we're tracking their whereabouts and we'll remain hopeful until the cows come home.

COW PIES
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 c. chopped peanuts (optional)
1)  Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, parchment or aluminum foil.  Measure out your vanilla, peanut butter, oats & peanuts, and set them aside.
2)  Combine sugar, butter, milk and cocoa powder in a medium saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full rolling boil.
3)  Remove pan from heat and quickly add the remaining ingredients.
4)  Mix well and immediately drop mixture by heaping tablespoons (or small portion scoop) onto the prepared cookie sheet and allow to cool completely before removing.   Store leftovers in a cool dry place.

This recipe is a quick favorite for those last minute "I gotta bring 4 dozen cookies tomorrow" snack requests.  Makes about 48 delicious, chewy, fudgy, no-bake treats in less than fifteen minutes.  You can guess why our family calls them "cow pies."

Oven-Baked S'mores by the Fireside

Last month we had some incredible wildfires which burned very close to our place.  We spent a number of days and nights on round-the-clock vigils watching the burn line come closer.  Having prepared for times such as this, we had the fire hoses and shovels ready to do battle.  And we joked that if the flames came close enough, we would roast marshmallows to make s'mores.  As it turned out, the fire crews were able to contain the line just below our kitchen window view.  

We made s'mores anyway...the bake-in-the-oven version.

This hill later burned.

We're enjoying s'mores and watching the fire-line below.

We started out with this package of gi-normous marshmallows

We cut the oversize marshmallows in thirds with scissors, laid them out on the graham crackers and briefly broiled them.

We used chocolate chips and placed this sheet in the oven to warm while the marshmallows were broiling.

When they're nice and melty, just slap them together and dive in!

Goody Goody Gumdrops

So, with Halloween around the corner, I thought I'd share my best tip of what we do with the abundance of candy!  We sort it immediately after the initial thrill of Trick-Or-Treating and put the gumdrops and a selection of other small treats aside for making our annual Christmas Gingerbread House.

The big zipper-bag of candy gets hidden in the pantry until the week before Christmas.  Then all we have to add is a few candy-canes to complete our creation.  We like to have the gingerbread house as dessert after our traditional Christmas Eve prime rib dinner.  I plan to post our recipe and directions for the cookie house in early December.  Until then,  Happy Pumpkin Carving and Trick-or-Treating!

TOASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS
Scoop out the seeds from your pumpkin and remove the bigger chunks of pulp.  Rinse in a colander.  Melt a tablespoon or two of butter in a non-stick skillet. Add the seeds and saute for a few minutes, adding a generous sprinkle of Lawry's Seasoned Salt.  Spray or grease a rimmed baking pan. Spread seeds out in a single layer and sprinkle with a little more of the salt.  Bake at 350 degrees until lightly toasted, about 30 minutes.  Loosen from pan with a spatula and allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container. In our house, we just leave them on the warm pan in the oven and they disappear within a day.  Depending on their tenderness, they may be eaten whole or cracked like sunflower seeds to eat just the kernel.

Being a Blessing with Dragon Eggs

Dragon Eggs
Our teenagers enjoy fantasy fiction literature...think "Chronicles of  Narnia" and "Lord of the Rings"... Somewhere along the line, our imaginative kids decided to name a favorite family one-pan dinner "Dragon Eggs."  It's really a "Shepherd's Pie" with the mashed potato topping done in scoops instead of spread out.  For good measure, the potato "eggs" are topped with a little shredded cheese.  Somehow this makes them a little more appealing to the two in our family who do not care as much for mashed potatoes.   Gotta love a good disguise!

Being a Blessing
Whether you're inclined to call it Shepherd's Pie or Dragon Eggs, I have found this to be a nice recipe to prepare and deliver to someone in need of the blessing of a family meal.  New baby arrival ...  loss of a loved one ...
14 years ago we had our own tragedy when our 4th baby Andrew died at birth due to hypoplastic left heart syndrome.  As we toughed out those first few weeks, we received many offers of  "Let us know what we can do to help."  And being strong and sturdy types, we just never could come out of the blur enough to articulate to our well-meaning friends what kind of help we actually needed.  "We're OK.  We're managing," was all we could say when, in reality, we desperately needed any support we could get.

I learned through this experience:

If you want to bless someone with your time or resources, 

make a concrete offer of whatever you'd like to do and include an option.  

For example:

"I'd like to take your kids to the park so you can get some rest.  

Would Tuesday or Thursday afternoon work best for you?" 

"When is your next doctor visit? I'd be happy to watch your kids during that time.  My place or yours?"  

"I have a dinner meal I'd like to bring over for your family.  It serves 6-8 people and can be frozen if you don't need it right away.  Would you be most able to use it this week or next?

*********

To bless someone in need:
Make a generous portion of this entree in a disposable aluminum half-pan.  Then write the contents, number of servings, date and reheating instructions on the aluminum lid with a Sharpie pen.  If you add a bagged green salad kit, dinner rolls and a dessert, you'll have a nice offering for a meal ministry.

Shepherd's Pie (Or "Dragon Eggs"  for the adventurous ones)
2 pound lean ground beef, browned and with excess fat drained away
1 quart of brown gravy, prepared from a mix
1 tablespoon dry Taco Seasoning mix for added flavor
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables or assorted fresh vegetables, sauteed or steamed.
1 package of instant mashed potatoes, prepared
about 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or triple cheese blend

After browning and draining the beef, add gravy mix per package directions, taco seasoning and cook until thickened. Add vegetables and cook briefly until crisp-tender.  Transfer to disposable pan if desired or leave in skillet if serving to family.  Top with 1/4 cup scoops of mashed potatoes (use ice cream/portion scoop)  and sprinkle with shredded cheese.  Cover briefly until cheese melts.  Serve (or deliver) immediately.  If cooling for reheating later, chill to 40 degrees within 4 hours.  If refrigerated:  Reheat at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  If frozen:  Reheat at 325 degrees for one hour or until internal temperature is 180 degrees or greater.

This recipe is quite versatile as a family one-dish meal and adapts to what's on hand.  Here I used some dehydrated spinach mixed into the beef. Now, I know this isn't the most appealing photo, but it sure does taste good!

Vincent's Peanut Butter Treats

Vincent was a tough toddler who remained in the mode of "terrible twos" until he was at least seven years old.  By then, he acquired enough language skills to fully communicate, and we also figured out that he did everything in life much better when he had plenty of snacks.   He learned to help himself to good "grow food" whenever he felt his "gas tank running low".  We have probably gone through tons of Costco's Trail Mix during his adolescence.  Now he's nearly an adult and doing marvelously.  He's a great helper and a hard worker.  After 3 summer jobs, he even saved up enough to buy his own Jeep Cherokee!

This is the first recipe Vincent learned to make and it's still a favorite.  He demonstrated the recipe at a 4-H Presentation Day at age 12 and won a ribbon.  This high-protein snack is great for keeping an active kid's energy level up.

Peanut Butter Treats
1 cup peanut butter (your choice, creamy or crunchy)
1 cup dry milk powder
1/2 cup honey (OK to use honey which has crystallized)

Mix ingredients with a spoon in a mixing bowl until well-blended.  Scoop or roll into balls, or pat into 8" square pan (and chill before cutting into squares).  When making this treat to share with friends, we use a small portion scoop to make the balls and serve them in small cupcake papers for an easy grab-and-go.

Those of us "of a certain age" may remember these as the "City Schools Peanut Butter Squares" which were served every week in our elementary school cafeteria.  I enjoyed them then, and still do.  

Mountain Pale Ale

Many have asked about our home-brew experience, so I decided to blog a short photo-essay on the process.  I make about two batches a year, for our friends & family gatherings.  As far as food crafts go, home-brewing is "easy" once you have all the basic tools and plenty of confidence in how to accomplish each step in your own kitchen.  You'll need to know a lot about sanitation, too, in order to achieve consistent results.   I suggest you consult our friends at THE BEVERAGE PEOPLE up in Santa Rosa, for some great kits and resources to get you started..  They also sell stuff for wine and cheese making as well.

Husband Michael and his brother, Tom, introduced me to home-brewing about 22 years ago with the Christmas gift of a brew-your-own-beer-in-a-plastic-bag-kit.  Easy enough, but produced mixed results since the bag didn't really hold in all the carbonation you want for a nice ale.  Several years of tasting, testing and learning the ropes with a local brew-club has enabled me to turn out a predictable and very tasty pale ale.

MOUNTAIN PALE ALE

Make a "Mini-Mash" with a pound of roasted malted barley grain (Caramel Malt) steeped in 1.5 quarts of hot water.  Strain to yield the sweet liquid which will be boiled up into "wort". 
The spent grain can be fed to the chickens.

Boil 2 gallons water with dry malt extract powder and the liquid strained from the mini-mash

.

Hop Pellets of the Cascade variety are added during the 60-minute boil for bittering flavor

More hops are added for flavor and aroma during the last 5 minutes of the boil

The cooled "wort" is poured into a fermenting pail and  clean cold water is added to bring volume to 5 gallons.  When the wort is about 90'F, brewing yeast is added, the lid affixed with an airlock, and fermentation begins. Within a week or so, the finished beer is siphoned off ("racked') and either bottled or kegged.  If bottled, it must be bottle conditioned for several weeks to develop the carbonation.  If kegged, the carbonation can be applied and the beer is ready to enjoy as soon as it gets cold enough!

INGREDIENTS for Our
MOUNTAIN PALE ALE


5 # Briess Light Dry Malt Extract
1# Crystal Malt (40L) in 1.5 qt. water for mini-mash
1 oz. Cascade Hops (5 IBU) for 60-min. boil
1 oz. Cascade Hops for Finishing
(Other hop varieties may be used to a calculated target of 20 IBU)
1 pkt. Nottingham Brewing Yeast, rehydrated into a starter

Makes 5 gallons


Happy Octoberfest!

Hummingbirds at the Watering Hole

Late summer means that our resident flock of hummingbirds are constantly hungry and persistently feeding at our window feeder.  We have so many of these tiny birds around, that we are making hummingbird nectar twice a day.  They will completely consume the two quarts of sugar water before nightfall.  It's really a sight to see! 

What's more, if you stand quietly next to the feeder and put your hands gently around the perches, the little creatures will alight on your fingers as they greedily slurp up the nectar.  Good idea to be wearing glasses with this trick...they get so close you might just get poked in the eye or ear!

It's amazing to watch these birds dance as they jostle for position on the perches.  Some will chase others away while allowing their favorite friends access to the same spigot.  Even more amazing is to realize the surrounding trees are filled with other birds waiting their turn to feast at our hummingbird feeder.

The hummingbirds generally stay with us all summer and fly south after the first freeze.  Here you see a hardy critter who, in spite of the icicles, is unwilling to say goodbye to the best watering hole for miles around.

Our Recipe for Hummingbird Juice

Put 2 cups of sugar in a quart canning jar.  Add 2 cups of boiling water and stir until completely dissolved.  Add enough ice cold water to fill the quart jar, and it will be at a ready-to-serve temperature.   Makes 4 cups nectar.

Our 4th of July Cookie

Kayleigh's Cookie

It’s getting to be a tradition around here.  This colorful pizza-sized dessert was first baked for our friend’s 5^th of July birthday and served at her cabin in the mountains.  So fun and festive was the giant red-white-and-blue cookie, Kayleigh has baked it every year since 2008 to celebrate America's Independence Day.  In the heat of summer and in our non-air-conditioned home, we appreciate the fact that bakes quickly enough as to not heat up the kitchen too much.  The extra heat is a good excuse to whip up several batches of frosty blended lemonade…another summer celebration treat which we enjoy as long as someone has recently brought up a fresh 20-pound sack of ice for the water cooler.

Our Berries

This year we used a combination of our own homegrown berries and some store-bought ones since it is early in our berry harvest season.  The base is a simple spritz-cookie-dough which is spread out in a pizza pan, baked then topped with sweetened cream cheese and fresh berries.

A Patriotic Work of Art!

Kayleigh’s "4^th of July" Cookie

Cookie dough:

1 cup soft butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

½ tsp. almond extract

½ tsp. vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

Topping:

8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp. almond extract

Assorted fresh berries such as:

1 cup blueberries

1 cup raspberries

1 cup strawberries

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy in an electric mixer.  Beat in the egg and flavorings.  Gradually add flour and mix until dough is smooth.

Press out dough on 12” pizza pan (lined with foil if pizza pan is perforated)

Bake at 325’ for approx 25 minutes until very light golden brown on edges.  Cool cookie completely before topping. (Cookie can be baked the night before.)

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and extract in the electric mixer until topping is smooth.  Spread topping evenly over the cookie, then decorate with an assortment of fresh fruit.  Enjoy this cookie the same day and refrigerate any leftovers.

Here a Chick, There a Chick

Here a chick

There a chick

Everywhere a chick – chick!

Thirty of them just arrived by U.S. mail.   The postal clerk called us for the pickup.  When we arrived at the counter, onlookers at the post office gathered ‘round while we opened the carton to inspect our order.   

Wow, the baby chicks are NOISY!

Yep, our order of baby chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery came in just fine.  We’ll keep them in a brooder pen under a heat-lamp at 95 degrees, gradually lowering the temperature as they grow up and feather out.  

 

In a few weeks the little pullets will be thriving in an outdoor pen and getting into a pecking order with the older birds.  The young females won’t be laying any eggs until they are at least 6 months old, but after that they can lay up to one egg per hen per day.  Since our older flock of chickens (5-years-and-older) are tapering off in egg production, it’s time to refresh the flock!

We enjoy having a nice supply of these beauties for baking and we always like to find good egg recipes.

One family favorite recipe is an oven pancake called a “Dutch Baby”.  We started out making this breakfast specialty with 4 eggs in a small baking dish when it was just the two of us.  25 years later, our recipe has gradually expanded to a dozen eggs baked in a turkey-sized roasting pan! 

It’s an easy recipe too.  The egg, milk and flour batter mixes up quickly in a blender. It is poured with perfect timing into a sizzling hot buttered pan, and I can go get showered and dressed while it bakes to enormous golden brown and puffy perfection.  Basically it’s a gigantic popover and we love eating it dusted with freshly-ground nutmeg and drizzled with real maple syrup.

 

DUTCH BABY (serves 5-6)

8 eggs (preferably at room temperature)

2 cups milk

2 cups flour

2 or 3 Tbsp. butter

about 1/3 cup maple syrup

ground nutmeg to taste

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees with an empty Pyrex glass or metal 9x13 baking dish or 10x12 half pan placed on the top rack.  (Note:  Do not use ceramic, due to the risk of cracking the pan with thermal shock when the batter is poured in.)  In an electric blender,  beat the eggs and milk together.  Add flour and whirl only a minute or two, just until batter is smooth.  (You can use an electric mixer or a bowl and hand whisk, but the blender works best!)

When oven and pan are fully preheated, put on a pair of oven mitts and have your batter ready and close at hand.  Carefully add butter to hot pan and as soon as the butter is melted but not browned, quickly swirl the pan to distribute the butter, then pour in the batter.  Bake about 35 minutes until the “Baby” is puffed up in the middle, golden brown and crawling out of the pan.  

Remove from the oven onto hot-pads or a tabletop trivet.  Drizzle the maple syrup on top and sprinkle with nutmeg.  Cut into squares and serve immediately.

The Right Side of the Menu

We celebrated our 27^th wedding anniversary last month with a lovely dinner out, reminiscing about many other anniversaries over these last years.  It is a benchmark of progress in building our life together to reflect about how those celebratory dinners have changed over the years.  When we were first married during college, the $20 anniversary dinners were bought with weeks of frugality and budgeted savings.  In later years, the dinners turned into a relatively affordable splurge.  One of our favorite dining traditions for a number of years was to go to certain restaurant and order the featured seasonal “Copper River Salmon” with an appetizer of shrimp, and no-holds-barred all the way through the key lime pie dessert and an anniversary toast.  

We remember a quote we heard back in our early years, from some newly-famous rock star (1980’s early MTV-era) who said “The best part about finally being successful is when you can go out to a restaurant to eat and not even have to look at the right side of the menu.”  The sentiment rang true for us and we have counted our blessings every year we’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy an anniversary dining extravaganza.

Our favorite seafood restaurant closed shortly before we moved away from that coastal area.  Nevertheless, we found a fabulous way to prepare salmon at home and now enjoy it as a special treat.  This wonderful recipe for “Citrus Salmon” is a modified version of a recipe provided by my brother’s family in Seattle.  Baked or grilled, this recipe yields a delicious lemon-garlic-caper sauce which is spectacular spooned over steamed asparagus and new potatoes --  a wonderful celebration dinner menu. 

Citrus Salmon 
(Oven-Poached or Grilled)

2-3 pound fresh salmon fillet

In a small saucepan, combine the following ingredients, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes:

Juice of 1 large lemon

Zest of ½ lemon peel

3 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. olive oil

3 garlic cloves, pressed

1 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried dill

1 Tbsp. prepared Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. pickled capers

1 green onion, finely chopped

Place 2 large sheets of aluminum foil, doubled up, on a large rimmed baking sheet. Place the salmon filet skin side down on the foil and fold edges of foil upward.  Pour sauce over the fish and double-fold the foil edges together to seal the top and ends well.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes (depends on the thickness of the fish…look for foil to puff up and hear a good bubbling sound.)   You can also grill the fish for 10-15 minutes with the barbecue covered (leaving the foil open a little bit and without using the baking sheet.)

Salmon before baking

Salmon after baking

 Enjoy!

Pig Powder

Many years ago we graduated from a small-town college and moved to a city where we discovered a demand for our “hometown specialty” of barbecue done over red oak wood and served with special-recipe beans and grill-toasted sourdough garlic bread.  Alongside our professional careers, we started up a seasonal business doing “Santa Maria Style” on-location barbecues for company picnics and other large group events.  After catering many events over many long summers, baby #1 arrived and effectively put an end to our ability to work “twenty-hour-weekends”.

Our catering business had a cute logo with the design of a pig, which spawned quite a collection of pig paraphernalia.  Thus, our special barbecue spice rub became known as “Pig Powder”.  Today, we still make a big batch every few months and use it to season almost everything from eggs & potatoes to soups & vegetables.   The very best use of it, however, is on custom-raised meat barbecued over oak wood on an open grill...beef just doesn’t get any better!

Try our PIG POWDER on your upcoming Father's Day hamburgers or tri-tip!

Pig Powder

2/3 cup “Lawry’s” seasoned salt

½ cup garlic salt

¼ cup black pepper (regular grind)
¼ cup garlic powder (granulated)

Combine ingredients with a whisk and store in a tightly-covered shaker container.  Makes about 2 cups.

πr2 -- “Pie-are-square”

πr²                   “Pie-are-square”

A late freeze this spring means we won’t have any peaches to harvest from our orchard at the end of this summer.  All the little blooming buds look like they were burnt off with a blow-torch.  Every year it seems to happen that the early spring warmth coaxes some blossoms out in March and a subsequent freeze seals their fate.  Each year it is a different variety of fruit that gets wiped out, depending on the timing of who's flowering when the frost hits.  Some years, no cherries … other years, no apples.  This year we'll get no apricots, no plums, nor peaches for fresh fruit pies   ...  boo-hoo!

Luckily we have a few gallon-sized plastic bags of various fruit tucked away in a freezer. Some lovely cut peaches from last year just got turned into a nice pie!

Pie R Squared

The way we do it:    Each gallon zipper bag actually holds about 8 cups of fruit.  Thaw a bag overnight in the fridge until soft enough to break apart, but still icy.  Gently mix in a cup of sugar, a quarter cup of tapioca flour, and a teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg (if appropriate for the fruit being used.)

 

Make this rectangular double-crust pie in a rimmed baking sheet “bun pan” which is 13” x 18” and fill with about 2 quarts of pie filling (home-canned filling works great…more on that in a future blog-post!)  Cut the pie into 6-by-4 portions to make 24 servings.

Pie for a Crowd 

5 cups all purpose flour

1 cup cold butter, cut into chunks

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

4 egg yolks

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

½ cup cold water

¼ cup cream

approx. ½ cup raw “turbinado” large-crystal sugar
and 2 quarts pie filling (more or less)

Cut butter into the flour in a large bowl.  Mix in the salt and baking powder and mix with pastry blender until coarse crumbs are formed.  In a separate small bowl, mix the egg yolks, lemon juice and water.  Stir the liquid into the flour mixture using a large fork.  Add enough additional water one tablespoon at a time until the flour just forms a rough ball.  For a tender crust, do not knead or over-mix dough. Cover dough ball and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  

Divide dough into approximate halves.  Take the slightly larger half and roll out to a rectangle of about 15”x20” (2” larger than your pan dimensions).  Place dough into rimmed baking sheet pan, stretching and patching to fit if necessary, being sure dough goes up sides to top edge.  Fill with fruit filling.  Roll out second crust and place on top.  Pinch edges of crust together as much as possible.  Brush top with cream  and generously sprinkle with raw sugar.  Cut slits for vents in the top crust.

Bake at 425’ for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350’ and bake an additional hour or so, until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cool and cut into pie-are-squares for serving.

Appendectomy Anyone??

Well, we've had quite a week here and are very glad that Chris decided to visit the emergency room when he did.  Turns out his severe stomach ache, which was less than 12 hours in the making, was actually an emerging case of appendicitis caught in ample time for the doctor to remove the offending infection rather than have it rupture the way it did for his brother, Vincent, back in 2008.  Blessing upon blessing, Chris is doing really well now and feeling great enough to bake us up a batch of his very own "Christopher Cookies."

This favorite family cookie recipe was adopted by Chris in March, 2003, when he took over regular baking duties and assumed all the accolades for this fabulous coconut oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.  The recipe originates from my family heritage, but Chris has customized it with the addition of white chocolate chips.  Delicious, rich... and please use only real butter for that truly decadent toffee flavor!

CHRISTOPHER's COOKIES

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup (packed) brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixer bowl, beat butter, sugars and vanilla until creamy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  In a separate small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt.  Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture and beat until smooth.  Stir in oats, chips and coconut.  Drop by rounded tablespoon (or use level small portion scoop) onto ungreased baking sheets.  (Do not crowd them;  no more than 13 per sheet.)  Bake in preheated 350' oven for 14-15 minutes or until just lightly golden brown. (You want to slightly under-bake them so they will remain chewy.)  Cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes;  remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 4-1/2 dozen. (About enough for one day in our family...thank you, Chris!)