Molasses Cookies

Another childhood recipe, this one is off the Brer Rabbit Molasses bottle, one my awesome mom made every so often. We would make these cookies small because then we could eat more of them. One time Mom and I were having one of our famous mother-daughter talks while drinking tea and eating cookies and looked down to find that we had eaten a couple of dozen!!! Call them molasses cookies or ginger cookies, just make these.

Mix together these ingredients:
3/4 Cup shortening (melted, cooled a bit) /
OR butter, softened
1 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup molasses
1 egg

Sift or whisk together in separate bowl:
2 t baking soda
2 Cups flour
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t ground ginger (or 1 t)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt

• Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, a bit at a time.
• Chill for an hour or so (metal bowl helps).
• Roll into small balls and roll balls in sugar.
• Bake on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees 8 to 10 minutes.
• Leave on sheet a minute or so then remove to wire rack to cool.

Made with shortening, the cookies may harden to ginger snaps after a few days but the butter version stays pretty moist unless you bake them longer. Storing in cookie tins works well.

I made these to give to folks stopping at our Kiwanis table at the Richmond Hill Park Fair.

Short Bread Cookies

My late great mother-in-law would make these for Christmas, but whenever you want a nice simple tasty cookie, make these.

Mix together these ingredients:
1 pound butter
1 Cup light brown sugar
4 Cups white flour

• Roll into 4 rolls and roll them in red or green sugar (for Christmas).
• Chill overnight.
• Slice off cookies and bake at 350 degrees 15 to 20 minutes until golden.

Hey, use organic ingredients and you'll feel better about the pound of butter, but each cookie is small. FYI, my ex said don't use whole wheat flour. He tried it and "blech".

PUMPKIN PIE CAKE

I've had this recipe for a long time and it needs to be accessible and not lost. Try it once and you will bake it again.

Take one yellow cake mix, reserving one cup for the topping, mix the rest with 1/2 cup of melted butter and one beaten egg. Line the bottom and sides of a 13x9 inch pan with this mixture.

Mix together:
1 large can pumpkin (28 oz. size, approx.)
3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup of sugar
2/3 cup of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Pour into crust-lined pan.

Cut 1/2 cup of butter into the 1 cup reserved cake mix and 1/4 cup of sugar. Sprinkle this on top of pumpkin mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour and enjoy!! Reddi Whip or whipped cream is a nice addition.

Happy Halloween and/or Thanksgiving or TREAT Day to you and yours!

Fluffy Egg Dumplings

When in the mood for noodly carbs I will make a half batch of these on top of vegetable bouillon and deliberately undercook them. I will even re-heat the leftovers in the microwave. Cook them as directed and they are beautifully fluffy.

1-1/2 C flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt

1 egg well beaten
2 T salad oil
1 C milk

Whisk or sift flour with baking powder and salt in medium bowl.

In small bowl, beat egg then add oil and milk. Pour all at once into flour mixture and mix only until moistened.

Drop batter by rounded tablespoons onto gently bowling stew or bouillon. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, then cover tightly for 10 minutes.

Possible additives to flour: 1/2 t curry OR 1/2 t sage, OR 2 T chopped parsley or chives, OR 1 t caraway seeds.

07/06/13 UPDATE: I added some fresh rosemary and some corn just off the cob. Yum.

(For recipes like these, I keep my old stained McCall's Cookbook.)

Homemade Cocoa

Homemade cocoa goes down way too fast -- and I even doubled my recipe and moved from my usual small 8 oz mug: for that a heaping teaspoon of cocoa to a Tablespoon of sugar, dash of salt and mix together; add a T of milk and mix more, add a 1/4 t of real vanilla and 6 oz or so of milk. Heat in microwave a minute or so: delicious! Comforting.

ToniD's Italian Fritata

Some friends have requested some zucchini recipes and voila, BlueRootsRadio.com's news editor extraordinaire ToniD posted an awesome sounding Italian Fritata. You ought to go check out the BRR blog, but let's also repost it here.

Everyone is talking cooking. So for dinner tonight I made myself a Fritata, Italian Omelet.

Sliced zucchini, baby portabella mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, sauteed in Olive Oil with a pat of butter for taste, spices are oregano, garlic powder, pepper, and pepper flakes, Enough eggs beaten to make a thick fritata after veggies are sauteed. Sprinkle with grated Italian cheese of your choice. Cover and cook on medium heat until eggs are cooked. Slice pizza style and serve.

Spinach Fritatas are good also.

If you have an oven safe pan, you can finish it in the oven. The eggs will rise more if you do that.

Then one of our fellow BRR bloggers, 60th Street, posted his similar meat version. Maybe you'd like to combine the two versions (red or green peppers, yes, but forget the meat for me):

@toniD: I had one of those for breakfast, this afternoon, only scrambled.

I used a lot of the same ingredients. Mine was sauteed zucc, onion, baby portabellas, red peppers in olive oil. Then I threw that in and scrambled it with 3 eggs, a crumbled corn tortilla, chopped turkey and pepperoni, italian seasoning, cajun seasoning, salt and pepper.

Ate with a side of buttered multigrain toast and a tall glass of V8

Hangover breakfasts are awesome!

Breakfast Recipe: Avocado Toast

Take a soft Hass avocado, add lemon juice, mix until smooth. Spread on tasty (whole wheat) toast, add slices of good Farmers' Market or CSA radish and a teeny bit of salt. ENJOY.

This is much healthier than butter and oh so yummy with a bit of crunch! Don't remember where I got it last year but certainly do NOT wish to lose this awesome recipe.

Francis's Crowd Pleasing German Potato Salad

(When my dad gave this recipe to me years ago he neglected to put the amount of potatoes but he was making it for a family gathering so I think it was probably a five pound bag of potatoes, perhaps more, leave me a msg if you figure it out.)

Cook potatoes with skins in salted cold water. Cool-peel-cube.

1 quart of water
6 T cornstarch
1 C vinegar
6 t sugar or to pleasant sweetness

Onion larger than a golf ball, chopped very fine
Salt & pepper to taste

3/4 # of bacon chopped 1/2 " across, sauteed to pleasing brown, stirring occasionally till done. Remove bacon and set aside. To bacon fat add water mixed with corn starch, vinegar, etc. Heat for thickening. Add onions to cubed potatoes. Then add thickened sauce to potato mixture and stir lightly till well mixed. Heat slightly before serving. Add bacon and serve.

My dad would make the above and place it in a yellow insulated covered serving container and take it to family picnics and get raves. I no longer eat meat and I miss this salad. The memories, though, I still have. I give the recipe as promised to my bacon eating kids and friends.

Zucchini with Cilantro and Garlic: yum!

A fellow CSA friend told me she made a zucchini and cilantro soup -- don't have her recipe (yet) but got great results taking her idea and adding a handful of cilantro to my microwaved sliced organic zucchini (with a little water, butter, and dash of sea salt)-- this last time I added garlic: yummy. I imagine I could have pureed it and gotten a great soup because you certainly want to enjoy the buttery zucchini water. Maybe next time. In the meantime, my share partner gave me the lion's share of our box: 11 pounds of vegetables and fruit. Hey, neighbor, ya wanna zucchini, heh heh! [Is this a throwback to PRETZELS, a musical review by Jane Curtin and Fred Grande that I was in way back when? -- It may be.]

No-chicken Healing Soup

No-chicken Soup
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

With a flu bug taking grip, despite flu shot, Val from Atlanta answered my request for vegetarian chicken soup: "Take a basic veggie stock and add cayenne pepper, basil, ginger root, lemon peel, sauteed garlic (or roasted), let it steep until all things are 'married.' Top with organic apple cider vinegar.Drink a cup of this warm broth every two hours." Had to settle for ginger powder [my ginger root looking like a voodoo head], and a little cilantro called to me. But it has truly helped. So will time.

Pumpkin soup

Pumpkin soup
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Easy to make soup from CSA organic pumpkin: delicious!

I was inspired from Tassajara Cooking by Edward Espe Brown. "The way to be a cook is to cook." The recipes in the book are sketchy but even sketchy recipes work as a recipe depends a lot on the flavors, size (relative, unless measured, and even then preference matters more), and intensity of the ingredients. The CSA season has ended and I had two small pumpkins which my share partner ceded to me. (She was pleased to be gifted with some of the soup!) I took one and dived in:

Ingredients:
Pumpkin, onion, (sea) salt, (olive) oil, water, cinnamon, nutmeg

After removing seeds and stringy stuff, cut pumpkin (unpeeled worked) into one inch or so chunks. take a onion (mine was large not huge), and saute for two minutes, add the pumpkin and saute five more minutes. Then add 1 cup of water and simmer covered (stirring occasionally) for about 45 minutes until soft and watery. Puree in blender or food processor, add a little more water if necessary. Heat. Add a little sea salt, then kiss each serving with some grated cinnamon and nutmeg. Perfect for a stormy night -- or a sunny day -- whenever you have an extra pumpkin. Not just for jack-o-lanterns or pie!

CSA Pasta #1

CSA Pasta #1
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Kale, wheat fettucine, garlic, crushed red pepper, EV olive oil, oregano, sea salt, frozen veggie stock cubes to finish cooking -- yummy way to use up the CSA kale. Actually made something similar to use up swiss chard. Used rotini pasta -- fried garlic with some CSA onion in the EVOO but omitted oregano. Another version used some cherry tomatoes: nice touch.

The Mexie and Bumble Bee Diet

There hasn't been a tasty tidbit in a while, but instead let's document the Mexie and Bumble Bee Diet. Went into the store to pick up Hershey miniatures and horror of horrors they are now made in MEXICO. Back on the shelf they went. Down with non-Hershey PA Hershey miniatures! Gotta call and/or write and complain! Join me: 800-468-1714 and The Hershey Company, Hershey Pennsylvania 17093-0815, USA. As for the Mexie Chocolates, let 'em rot on the shelves! Calorie count: ZERO.

Then went to make cold Catholic Special and found that Bumble Bee tuna now comes in 5 oz. cans, not six. That'll save a few calories! Though in truth in cold Catholic special the amount is not critical but NOTICED. Did they think we wouldn't?!?!

FYI, make Cold Catholic Special by tossing together your favorite cooked pasta (I used tri-color 100% semolina this time), the tuna, some chopped celery, some chopped (red) onion, Hellman's mayonnaise, some salt and pepper. Sprinkle with paprika and top with some hard boiled egg slices and some celery leaf to make it pretty if you are taking it somewhere: Not diet food but YUMMY and a Tasty Tidbit -- I haven't forgotten you, my foodie friends (Yes, YUMMY, as is HOT Catholic Special, but that's another post.)

BreakRoomLive.com: The Angry Chef (Hummus)

Marc Maron's hummus recipe sounds and looks like it would taste yummy. Bam!! (Hear his version of this famous word.) Let me know if you try it....

Aggie's Amazin' Beans

I have to find more vegetarian recipes to enjoy without cheese in them :-) From Nutrition Action Healthletter I got Aggie's Amazin' Bean recipe, one of my favorites:

1 can of Goya Black Beans (rinsed)
Juice from one lemon
2 cloves of garlic (smashed)
Fresh parsley and/or
Fresh cilantro (To taste -- I use a handful of BOTH green types)
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Let the beans marinate in the mixture at least a half an hour then HEAT a portion for a minute or two in the microwave. WOW -- yummy. The recipe says it can last a week in your refrigerator but it won't because you will EAT it. It is good cold, too, but
delicious and healthy and easy to make.

FYI: Lemons juice easier if you first plop them into hot water and then ROLL them on the counter. You can then make a small hole and squeeze -- or use a juicer if you prefer. (I have one of those orange plastic juice knobs that you insert into the lemon and then squeeze.)

Apple Raisin Stuffing

Dorothy Morehead asked me to make an apple stuffing and then was too sick to eat it. She's still recovering but this recipe found in an ancient cookbook is worth halving and having without the benefit of a holiday. (This vegetarian ate it sans bird and heated it in my toaster oven but that's another story.) Get well soon, Dorothy!! I will be most thankful when you are well!!

3/4 Cup minced onion

1-1/2 Cups chopped celery (include some leaves)

1 Cup butter

7 Cups soft bread cubes

2 Teaspoons salt

1-1/2 Teasp. crushed sage 

1 Teasp. thyme 

1/2 Teasp. pepper

3 Cups finely chopped apples

3/4 Cup raisins

In a large skillet, stir celery and onions in butter until onions become tender. Add a third of the bread cubes. Dump into large bowl, add remaining ingredients and mix. This could be used in a 12 pound turkey but I say spare the turkey and bake it in your oven perhaps at 325 until hot. Worth the calories but I will likely play with it using less butter.

Is it Soup yet? TWO

This is another great soup recipe -- yummy and healthy -- which feeds the body and soul -- enjoy!(I welcome other healthy and tasty soup recipes!)

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and coarsely diced
2 T olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
1 T dried thyme
1 Granny Smith Apple, peeled and coarsely diced
1 C low-sodium vegetable stock
1 C water
1/2 t kosher salt
pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Mix squash and 1 T of olive oil in a bowl and stir well, coating squash thoroughly. Spoon the squash onto a cookie sheet or low pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Heat an empty stockpot over medium heat. Add the remaining 1 T of olive oil and the onion and quickly saute for 2-4 minutes, or until translucent. Add the thyme, squash, apple, stock, and water. Bring to a boil and cook until squash and apple pieces are soft (approx. 15 minutes). Remove from the heat. Puree with hand blender or food processor until smooth. Add salt and pepper. Serve hot or cold. Serves 6.

(A version of this appeared in the Nov. 2003 Nutrition Action Healthletter -- see cspinet.org -- and consider subscribing to their newsletter which comes up with some great recipes worth the modest price.)

Is it Soup yet?

I'm off to pick up our CSA share (Community Supported Agriculture) at Sunnyside Community Services and the newsletter posted on line shows eggplant among the offerings. I've made soup twice and it is worth sharing:

GRILLED EGGPLANT SOUP

1 medium large eggplant (1.5 lbs). Cut in half lengthwise, rub olive oil on cut sides (1 T ?), cook for 30 minutes or until soft in 375 degree oven (I use my toaster oven).

Meanwhile, in a soup pot fry 1 cut up red bell pepper, 1 large onion (cut up), 3 cloves of garlic (smashed and cut), ¼ teaspoon red pepper in about 1 T+ of olive oil until softened (8 minutes?) over med-low heat, stirring frequently. Add 4 cups of vegetable stock (or chicken stock), cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes over low heat.

Scoop out grilled egg plant from skins (discard skins) and add to soup pot. Puree in blender or food processor in batches. Add 2 T cilantro (minced) and some salt. Heat soup up for about three minutes. Serve with a dollop of Plain yoghurt or sour cream. Yummy.

"My" GUACAMOLE*

1 Ripe Avocado
2 teaspoons Chopped onions
½ teaspoon + Minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon +/- chopped jalapeno (pickled slices fine)
¼ cup (skant) chopped fresh cilantro
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mash these together (vary amounts according to taste). Then stir in about ½ cup chopped fresh tasty tomato (winter suggestion: Holland or Israeli or those sold on the vine). Best to make just before use though will hold for several hours.

*This recipe is based on that made at the much missed Casa Mexico on Hudson Street, New York City, back in the early 90s. My brother David and I would go there for their great guac and their terrific garlic soup. The guac was made table-side and I asked them questions as to what they were using and caught the hang of it. At the request of a work colleague I created this more standard measurement version but I have never tasted a guacamole any better. Enjoy!

Mock Crab Cakes - Zucchini

Not sure where I picked this recipe up but it has been languishing on my computer and it is easy enough to try now that I have found it. I have Old Bay!

2 cups grated zucchini
1 egg, beaten
2 T butter, melted
1 C bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced onion
1 t Old Bay Seasoning
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying

In a large bowl, combine zucchini, egg, and butter. Stir in seasoned crumbs [??], minced onion, and seasoning. Mix well.

Shape into patties. Dredge in flour.

In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium high heat until hot. Fry patties until golden brown on both sides.