Colloquialisms.....

Colloquialisms....., I was raised on these things and have always known what they were, having heard them from childhood.  Having said that, I want you to know that I had to use spell check to get the spelling right.

I've been thinking a lot lately how much the nifty little sayings of our Mothers and Grandmothers apply to us today; such as:

"Waste not want not" - being raised by parents that were "depression babies", certainly made me realise how important it is to "use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without out".  When I was a kid, we got one new pair of shoes at the beginning of school.  I remember that about half way through the year, the soles of our shoes would wear through.  We, often, didn't have enough money to have the shoes resoled, so my Dad would cut cardboard in the shape of our shoe sole, place it inside the shoe and we'd use that till it wore out and then cut another.  It worked.  Not that well when it rained, but thank goodness we lived in So. California where the weather was always pretty good.

     I certainly know why I have a tendency to be "thrifty".  It's always amazing to me when kids look in the refrigerator or cabinets and say, "I'm hungry, we have no food."  Now if you're familiar with my home, you know that's just not a possibility.  I'll say, "You're either blind or nuts.  There's tons of food in there."  The standard response is, "but nothing I want to eat."  Meaning, nothing that isn't instant, junk food or easily microwavable and sometimes the microwave part is just too much to handle.

     When did we become a society that thought in terms of "easily disposable" and "instant gratification"?  I'm not sure, but it might be a good idea to return to the good old days when "waste not, want not" was a standard of living as well as really good advice.

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" - This indicates a destination, not a swear word.  I use and think of this one a lot.  I'd like to share a little story....I was teaching a class one day and was telling a group of women that we needed to be more "in tune".  We needed to listen to those promptings that triggered the thought.."I should call so and so", " I should check up on.....", we've all had them, but in our busy lives we may have a tendency to ignore or discount them. 

     As I looked around this group of women, I saw a girl that I had been thinking about all week.  I'd kept thinking that I should give her a call and, because I was busy, I kept putting it off.  I looked at this young girl and said that I needed to apologize, that I'd felt all week that I should call her and I hadn't.   I'll never forget her response.  She said, "I wish you would have called, I was having a problem that I couldn't resolve by myself and I know you could have helped me." 

     WOW!  This was a HUGE moment for me.  We can teach, we can preach, but can we learn?  I'll never forget that moment in time for it truly was a lesson of "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."  We are not judged on what we intended to do, but on what we actually do.  Good advice.

"Time flies when you're having fun" - How true is that?  It becomes even more glaringly obvious when your not having fun (oye, a minute can seem like an hour).

"There's not enought time in the day" - Time is a concept that facinates me.  We have the same number of hours in a day, the same number days in a week, the same number of weeks in a month and the same number of months in a year, but does it seem that our time is passing more quickly?  I can remember, those "slow, lazy days of summer".  They no longer exist.  I can remember when we couldn't wait for our kids to go back to school because summer seemed to last forever.  Now summer passes so quickly that we don't seem to have shared the "family time" that we had planned for.  Our children are off to school again and, more quickly than we'd like, we've celebrated Christmas, Easter is past and another summer is upon us.

     When "old" ladies say, "enjoy your children, they grow up too quickly", it's true.  39 years ago, last January, our oldest son was born.  It seems like yesterday.  I can still remember looking at him after delivery, unwrapping him and checking for 10 fingers and 10 toes.  I can remember his stages of growth and thinking, at the time, that I had all the time in the world to enjoy these moments.  Not true.  "Time ceases for no man".  Time never stands still it just keeps progressing consistently forward. 

     My advice to you?  Take time.  Take moments in the day to stop.  To appreciate.  To be present.  You'll find quickly enough that if you don't take those moments, they're lost to you forever.  There's no going back, only forward in time.

     Colloquialism are fun.  They're representative of an "era", but still applicable today.  Ask your Mom or Grandmother about colloquialisms they were raised with.  Write them down, talk to your children about them and determine how they apply to you today.

     Just because something's old, it doesn't mean it's useless.  Often the older things are, the more value they have.  Have fun and find some favorite colloquialisms to share with your family and friends.

Breakfast - anytime of day....

Those of you who know me well, I try to hide my obsessions from most people, know that when I get my mind set on something I can't let it go till I've perfected (or as much as I can) the object of my obsession.

Well, a couple weeks ago, the "fam" decided to have breakfast for Sunday dinner.  Now, Camille and I could eat breakfast 24/7, unlike Danny, Kathrine and Fred.  I got it into my head that we should make waffles, which is unusual for me because they're not very user friendly when serving a crowd.

I got out and dusted off my 2, count them, 2 waffle irons and decided to use some Bisquick for my waffle batter.  You must understand that my mind was screaming, NO, NO, NO, start from scratch, but even I do not listen to my mind sometimes.

BIG MISTAKE!  I've used Bisquick since I was a young married and have always had wonderful results, in fact one of my favorite coffee cakes I make using Bisquick (remind me and I'll tell you how to do it), but those waffles were the WORST things I'd ever tasted.  UGHHHHHHH!

Of course, now I had a challenge to find the perfect waffle recipe.  After leaving my 2, count them, 2 waffle irons sitting on the counter for 2 weeks, I decided I needed to get my behind in gear or they'd become a permenant fixture in my kitchen.  Naturally, I turned to Fine Cooking to do some research and found a recipe and tips that I felt might be very helpful. 

Well, yesterday was the big waffle day and I have to say, this recipe is a keeper.  It preformed just as promised.  The waffles were light and airy, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  Using some of the tips kept the waffles warm and crisp till they were ready to be served.  Here goes.....

Light Crisp Waffles

3 1/2 oz. or 3/4 C. bleached all-purpose flour
1 oz. or 1/4 C. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 C. buttermilk
1/4 C. milk
6 Tbl. vegetable oil
1 large egg, seperated
1 Tbl. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

*Heat your oven on it's lowest temperature setting and heat your waffle iron. 
*Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder and soda in a medium bowl, mix it thoroughly.
*Measure the buttermilk, milk, oil and egg yolk in a large measuring cup and whip the egg to mix.  In a glass or metal bowl, beat the egg white almost to soft peaks, gradually sprinkle the sugar over the whites and continue to beat till peaks are firm and glossy;  Beat in the vanilla, (this can be done in a stand mixer if you like, just don't overbeat the whites).
*Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk till just mixed.  Drop the whipped whites onto the batter and fold in with a spatula just till incorporated, being careful not to beat down the whites.
*Grease or spray (with Pam) your waffle iron to keep your waffles froms sticking.
*Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron and cook till the waffle is crisp and nutty borwn. 
*Set cooked waffle directly on oven rack to keep warm and crisp.  Repeat with remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (don't stack them on top of each other).  When all the waffles are cooked, serve immediately.

Variations:

Whole Grain Waffles - Add 1/4 C. wheat germ to the dry ingredients.
Chocolate Chip Waffles - Stir 1/2 C. chocolate chips or mini chips into the batter.
Cornmeal Waffles - Substitute 1/2 C. cornmeal for 1/2 C. flour (keep the cornstarch).
Cranberry Orange Waffles - Stir 1 tsp. orange zest and 1/2 C. chopped Craisins into batter.

Note:  You'll notice that there are weights and measurements for the dry ingredients.  If you're not sure about the accuracy of your measurements, try weighing your dry ingredients instead, your recipe will turn out the same every time.

There are a couple different things about this waffle recipe, namely, the cornstarch, a combination of buttermilk and milk and whipped egg whites with sugar.  The cornstarch and adding the sugar to the whites gives you the great crispy texture, you'd almost think they were deep fried, on the outside and the combination of buttermilk and milk, allows for the flavor of the buttermilk, but the milk lightens the batter to give you a wonderful moist, light center.

I LOVE the idea of placing them on the rack in the oven.  It worked perfect, but you don't want to leave them in there too long or they'll dry out.  I'd start your waffles about 20 minutes before you're ready to eat, keep them warm in the oven and you'll have great hot crispy waffles for a crowd.  Let me know what you think about this recipe.  It's my new favorite (well, actually, it's my only favorite).

Now, for those in my family that aren't great pancake, waffle or french toast eaters (what could possibly be wrong with them?), I made Hash Browns and Scrambeled Eggs.  Here are a couple tips:

When making Hash Browns or French Fries, remember to soak your potatoes in cold water after they're shredded or cut.  This removes the excess starch and makes them more crunchy.  Drain the Hash Browns a couple of times and replace with more cold water.  Make sure they're drained VERY well before putting them in your HOT skillet.  I'd fried some bacon for dinner, so I used some of the bacon grease in the skillet.  Get it really hot and start dropping in your potatoes.  Allow them to fry in the pan till they form a nice golden crust on the bottom, then give them a turn and allow them to brown on the other side.  I had so many in my 12 inch skillet, I needed to turn them in sections.  It took about 30 min. to cook 6 shredded potatoes (I left the skins on the potatoes for extra nutrition).  Just a little salt and pepper to taste and they were great!  Be sure to serve them hot.  If you have to hold them, you could place your skillet (make sure it's oven safe), in a hot, 350 degree oven till you're ready to serve.  Try not to hold them too long.

This is a little tip I received from a friend that worked in a restaurant.  When making scrambled eggs, whip your eggs and then add water, not milk to your eggs (if you've made scrambeled eggs and you see some liquid seeping from your eggs, that's due to the milk.  Use water and that won't happen).  Add a little salt and pepper and whip well.  Pour your whipped eggs into a HOT, greased skillet.  Allow your eggs to start setting up in the hot pan, then start folding them into themselves.  Do Not stir or whip your eggs once they're in the pan.  Start from the bottom of the pan and fold them up and over, forcing the unset eggs down towards the bottom of the pan.  You'll only need about 3-5 min. for your eggs.  Make sure that you don't overcook your eggs.  You still want them to be shiney and soft when you stop cooking them.  They'll continue to cook a little after you stop, so don't overdo.  This will give you a great light and fluffy scrambeled egg.  You can add herbs, cheese, peppers, whatever you like to the eggs.  Add your add in's when you pour the eggs into the pan, this allows them to be incorporated into your eggs as they cook.

Well, that's it.  Just add some great syrup, ketchup (for your hash browns), some yummy crisp bacon and you're good to go.

Breakfast is good served any time of day.  An omlet makes a great light lunch or dinner.  Serve it with a side salad and some fresh fruit and you'll be in breakfast heaven.  Try some tonight......

I think it's time to put my 2, count them, 2 less than dusty waffle makers away again.  I've accomplished my mission of finding the perfect waffle and served a great Sunday dinner to my family.  What more could I want?

Bon Appetite!

Spending time in the kitchen is always a good thing....

First, I want to thank Nick for his comment about the Chocolate Zucchini Cake.  I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I do.  I gave you a Chocolate Fudge Frosting recipe that came with my Cold Water Chocolate Cake, my "go to" favorite chocolate cake, but I made my zucchini cake with a Chocolate Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting.

I'm not sure how many of you make your own frosting, but if you don't, it's time to start.  There is NOTHING easier or better tasting than your own frosting.  Here's how it goes:

Buttercream Frosting

1 cube of softened butter
1 # (3 1/2 C.) powdered sugar
dash of salt (to taste)
a little cream (I use Pastry Pride), for consistency
3 heaping Tbl. cocoa (if you're making chocolate)
1-2 tsp. vanilla
4 oz. softened cream cheese (optional)

Place the butter and cream cheese (if using) in your mixer and beat till smooth.  Add the powdered sugar all at once, the cocoa powder (if using) and a dash of salt.  Beat together till the sugar and cocoa are incorporated in the fats, this mixture will be very stiff.  Add a small amount of liquid (cream, Pastry Pride, half/half, etc.) and beat.  Add the vanilla and beat.  The amount of liquid you add is determined by your desired consistency of the frosting.  You want to add enough that the mixture is not terribly stiff, but not so much that it's runny.  It's important to remember that as you beat the frosting, it will become smoother and less stiff, so add just shy of what you think you might need.  Remember, "less is more" you can always add a little more later, but you can't take it out once it's in there. 

The best way to make frosting is with a heavy duty stand mixer, because you want to beat the frosting for 7-10 minutes.  This beats air into the frosting and makes it light, fluffy and smooth.  If you want your frosting even lighter, you can add a little shortening to the fats (remember, only Crisco).

After your frosting's beaten, check the consistency and see if you need to add a little more liquid amd adjust for flavoring (if you need a little more salt to cut the sweetness).  I often add a little almond extract, as well as the vanilla, when making chocolate frosting.  I'm loving it!  You can store any extra frosting in the refrigerator.  Place it in a tightly covered container and when you're ready to use it again, let it come to room temperature and re-whip in the mixer if you want it fluffy again, otherwise, stir with a knife and spread.  Did you grow up in the era when a great treat was graham crackers and your Mom's homemade frosting?  Mmmmmm, memories of home......

You can make any flavor frostine you want by adding flavorings, colorings, chopped toasted nuts, chopped toffee bits or even citrus zest.  The possibilities are limitless, but one thing I know, once you start making your own frosting, you won't want to quit.  Enjoy!

How easily I get side tracked.  I was going to tell you about my day in the kitchen.... It's time to start using up the produce in your garden or the produce that all your friendly neighbors are giving you out of their garden.

I cut my grapes and made grape juice.  One of the pieces of equipment for those who can is a Steamer Juicer.  This is amazing when you have a lot of "stuff" that you need to do something with and just don't have the time or inclination.

You can buy a steel Steamer Juicer or an aluminum one.  Check out Amazon, they have a good selection and vary in prices.  I love the steel, but mine is aluminum and it works just fine.  It's a 3 part juicer - the bottom part holds the water, the middle section captures the juice and the top colander section holds the produce, top it with the lid and you're ready to go.  The steam from the bottom section literally sucks the juice right out of your fruit, drains it into the middle section and, with the attached rubber tubing, allows you to fill straight to your sterilized canning jars.  It's a quick and easy process when you're feeling a little overwhelmed.

One pot full of grapes yields 4 quarts of concentrated juice.  This end product is so great!  It's wonderful for babies, diabetics, makes a great punch base, syrup, jelly or just juice.  Because it's a concentrate, you may want to cut it with a little water before using and you can sweeten to taste, if you like, when you're ready to use.

I've been making juice for over 20 years, especially when I want to save time and I love it! 

If you don't think you get enough produce to justify a Steamer Juicer, think about getting one for your whole family and take turns.  Think of everything you can do with it, especially if you have access to fruit.

I've made: plum, apricot, peach, apple, grape, tomato and a combination of fruits by adding strawberries, pineapple, mango or citrus fruits (just remove the peeling of citrus fruits and pineapple).  You can make just about anything you can think of.  You're fruit doesn't need to be peeled, seeded or stemmed.  Just wash it off and put it in the pot - let it do it's thing and "release" the juice directly into your quart jars.  You can process the jars for 20 minutes, allow them to cool overnight and store.  If you're making vegetable blend juices, I'd recommend that you pressure can your jars, just to be safe.

All done with grapes, moving on to basil.  I love fresh basil, but about half way through the season you begin to wonder what you're going to do with all that basil.....

Strip the leaves from the stems, lay them out on a cooling rack, placed over a cookie sheet and dry the leaves in a low temperature oven till just dried.  They dried in about 15 minutes in my convection oven, just check the first sheet and then you'll know how long it's going to take.  Remove them from the cooling rack into a bowl and allow to "air cool", then pour the leaves into canning jars and store in a cool dry place.  Have you seen how much you're paying in the store for dried basil?  Trust me this is so much cheaper and fresher.  You never know how long those spices have been sitting on the shelf.
You can use this same process for any herbs you might have.  I have garlic chives that'll be going in the oven as well as some thyme. 

Now if you want to use your basil fresh in recipes, strip the leaves, give them a rinse and layer them on top of one another.  Give them a little roll up, like a cigarette, and slice them very thinly with your Chef's knife.  This is called "chiffonade".  You can toss this cut basil into a salad of ripe garden tomatoes and chunks of mozzarella cheese in a little olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper or toss it with pasta, salt and pepper, garlic and olive oil for a light supper, just top with grated parmesan cheese and you're ready to go.  Add it to home made soup or put it in a zip lock bag and freeze for later use.

Probably the most notable thing people do with an abundance of basil, is to make Pesto.  I'll share my Pesto recipe with you.  It's really easy and only requires a food processor.  You can make it with a blender, but I prefer a processor, if you have one.

This recipe makes enough Pesto to serve 5-6 people - toss with 1 # pasta

3/4 C. fresh basil leaves
3-4 cloves of peeled garlic (I use chopped in a jar - about 1/2 Tbl - adjust to taste.)
3 Tbl. pine nuts
1/2 tsp. salt
5 Tbl. olive oil
3/4 C. freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (or a combination of both)
1/2 tsp. pepper

Place basil, garlic, nuts, salt and pepper and oil in processor and process till smooth.  Measure cheese into bowl and pour pesto over cheese.  Mix well and pour over hot pasta.  Serve.

If you want to freeze your pesto sauce, make it to the point of adding the cheese.  Pour it into containers and freeze.  Allow to thaw in fridge and come to room temperature before serving.  Once Pesto is at room temperature, add cheese and toss with pasta.

When I decided to start making Pesto several years ago, I did some research and found several different recipes.  I like this one the best, but I add some of the elements of the others.  I add about 1 Tbl. of butter to the processor and about 3 oz. of softened cream cheese.  I love the smoothness of the sauce and the creaminess from the cream cheese.

I often spread this mix on my "Stove Top Pizza".  Grill the dough, give it a turn, spread it with Pesto, sprinkle a little mozzarella, add some sliced tomato and a little baby spinach, drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and you have an AMAZING light dinner or lunch.  This is beyond good!

Well, that does it for today.  Hope this was helpful and if you're not growing herbs now, think about it for next summer.  Fresh herbs are beyond amazing and they add so much to your cooking. 
Bon Appetite!

To Fry or not to Fry.........

Well, I think that depends on how you feel about frying.  I, myself, seldom fry, but I got an OVERWHELMING urge to fry when I read an article in Fine Cooking about making your own french fries.

Now, I was intrigued because they indicated that you should fry your fries twice.  Once to cook the potatoes and the second time to give them a great crispy, golden brown crust.  Sounds interesting, doesn't it?

I called my friend, Anne Steele, the Mother Of All Things Fried, and asked her about this concept of double frying.  Now, Anne's British and knows something about making "chips".  She goes through more potatoes in one month than I probably do in 4 to 6 months (of course that was before I found my potato ricer).  Anne said that she'd heard about the double fry process, tried it and didn't see much difference.

Well, that was good enough for me.  Anything to save time! 

Now, you might ask why a little German girl, who doesn't fry was so determined to make french fries?  Well, it all harks back to "using it up" (don't you just love your Grandma's sayings?).  I had 20#'s of potaotes (it was a moment of weakness), 10#'s of onions (I do use onions a lot) and up the ying yang amounts of zucchini from the garden (did I tell you those puppies grow during the night? They must be on steroids!).

I'm a BIG believer that if you're going to make a mess in your kitchen, you may as well make it worth your while, so I decided to have a "fry party" with my kids, Danny, Camille and Kathrine, oh yeah, I forgot Fred (he counts as one of the kids).  I decided that we'd have french fries, sweet potato fries (I LOVE sweet potato fries!), onion rings (I LOVE onion rings) and fried zucchini (that too!).

I did a little research and found out that you should fry with, either, canola oil or peanut oil because they have a higher smoke threshold compared to other oils.  You difinely don't want smoking oil in your house.  I read an article that indicated that you should fry your foods, not lower than, 360 degrees.  This seals the outside quickly, preventing your foods from absorbing the oil.  They also had a great idea about how to drain your fried foods.  Place them on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet instead of on paper towels.  This way they don't sit on top of each other and absorb the oil from the paper towel.  The article also indicated that the best way to fry foods was in castiron and that the oil level should not be more than 1/3 the depth of the pan.

Well, it all sounded good.  I set everything up, got out my dutch oven (that I bought for the No Time For Bread - bread, beyond yummy), I filled it 1/3 full with canola oil, got out my digital themometer so I could keep the temperature at 360, set up my cooling rack and cookie sheet, cut and sliced all the vegetables and made my YUMMY batter for the onion rings and zucchini.  I was good to go.

One thing I didn't realize was how quickly the temperature of your oil dropped once you put food in it, you have to keep an eye on that and you need to let it come back up to temperature before adding your next batch.

I cut the sweet potatoes and potatoes too big (my cutie Camille cut them down for me), I sliced the onion rings to thin and, let me tell you, 4 potatoes makes a MONGO amount of french fries.

I LOVED the onion rings and zucchini.  The sweet potato fires were really good and the french fries tasted good.  Would I go to all the mess (and there is MESS) again to make french fries?  Probably not, but I'd do it again to make the onion rings and fried zucchini.  They were CRAZY GOOD!

No matter how you work it, it is more fattening, so I wouldn't do it every day, but it would be a fun treat to share with family and friends.  I think next time, I'd try an electric fryer and see if it makes a difference in stabilizing the temperature, but the dutch oven worked great.  You can use any deep pan, just remember to fill it no more than 1/3 full (this allows space for the oil to bubble up when you add the food without boiling over) and don't over crowd your pan.  You need to allow room for the food to move around a little.

Well, that was my experience.  It was fun and everyone ate their fill.  We had some leftovers, but they didn't make it through the night....must have been good.

Here's the recipe for the Onion Ring batter, give it a try -

2 C. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
12 oz. of beer*
1/4 C. oil
    Combine all the ingredients, but don't beat.
2 egg whites - beat till stiff and fold into the batter.

This is a great batter.  I used it for the onion rings and zucchini.  It's light and fluffy (due to the whipped egg whites).  I doubled the recipe (you know me) and it covered 3 large onions and 1 large zucchini.  It was a lot.  Next time, I'll only make one recipe, unless I'm having a crowd.

Note:  If your egg whites are at room temperature before you whip them stiff, they'll whip much faster and you'll get more volume.

*I didn't have the beer, so I used 12 oz. of milk instead.  It worked just fine.  If you like the yeasty flavor from the Hops, you'll want the beer.

Did you know?

Did you know that you shouldn't use Pam or other non-stick cooking sprays on your non-stick cookware?  Many people don't. 

I had a brand new set of non-stick cookware and, wanting to cut back on calories, I was using Pam to spray my pan, instead of a little oil.  Well, what non-stick cooking spray does to your non-stick pans is not a pretty sight.  They become STICK pans.  The spray forms a sticky residue on your pans that you can't get off without scrubbing, vigorously, which, in turn, ruins your non-stick coating.  What a dilema.

Today, I was sent a great little cooking help and tip.  I hope you find it as great as I do.

Do you like Baker's Joy - that lovely spray that includes flour so your baked goods just drop out of your pans?  Well here's a homemade version you can make up yourself, keep in the refrigerator and guess what?  It won't harm your non-stick pans.

1/3 C. vegetable oil
1/3 C. flour
1/3 C. vegetable shortening (remember - Crisco)

Place the ingredients in a jar, with a screw on lid, and mix well with a fork.  The mixture will be a little lumpy.  You can spread this mixture in your non-stick cookware, casserole pans or use it for baking.  Spread it with a paper towel, your fingers or a pastry brush.

Keep it stored in the fridge and you'll have it available when ever you like.  This will make 1 C.

Isn't this great?  I plan on making some today and replenishing it when I run out.  Can you imagine how much money you'll save on non-stick cooking spray?

Since today seems to be tip day, here's a couple more:

     Did you know that you can shine copper with ketchup?  Spread it on your copper, let it sit and wash off.  The acid in the ketchup removes the tarnish.  Cool hugh?
    
     Never fill hot pots and pans with cold water to cool them off after cooking, the cold water hits your pans and causes the metal to warp.  This happens with cookie sheets as well.  Allow your pans to cool to room temperature before putting any water on them.
    
     Did you know that cookie sheets, cake pans, stoneware and castiron are all better after they're seasoned?  That means that you NEVER wash them with soap.  Your pans season by cooking/baking the fats from your foods into the pan itself.  As the fat cooks/bakes into the pans, they'll become more and more dark and become more non-stick.  When you scrub all those beautiful dark patches off your pans, you have to start all over in the "seasoning" process.  Have you ever scrubbed your cookie sheet so it looks brand new and the next batch of cookies stuck?  Well, you scrubbed off all the seasoning.  You don't want to put soap on your pans because it will stick to the fats in the pan and may effect the flavor of your foods.  Wash in hot water, but no soap.  If you're concerned about germs, just remember that whether you're cooking on the stove top or in the oven, your pans reach such a high temperature that no bacteria will survive.

     Use baking soda as a low abrasive cleanser.  If you have something that needs to be scrubbed off your countertops or cooktops and you're concerned about using Comet, use baking soda instead.  Sprinkle it in the area that needs cleaned and use a mildly damp cloth to scrub the area.  You don't want your cloth too wet, or you'll dilute the soda, if this happens, just add more.  It will scrub off gummy residu from your oil bottles and more.  It leaves your tops shiney and clean.  Baking soda is a must in any kitchen, not just for baking, but for cleaning and medicinal reasons.

Well, there you go for Wednesday.  I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring, but hopefully, it'll be interesting.

Zucchini, zucchini, everywhere....

For those of you that have or tried to grow zucchini, you know how this goes….

When planting tomatoes, I always plant more than what I think I’ll want because I’m sure that I’m going to loose some along the way (that BROWN thumb of mine) so, of course, I do the same with zucchini.  Now, I ask you, how WRONG is that?

Zucchini seems to have a mind of it’s own.  For 2 years, I tried to grow zucchini and failed (who can’t grow zucchini?).  Of course the next year, I planted 6 zucchini plants in my little planter box and they were like zucchini on steroids.  They took over everything and kept popping those puppies out, seemingly, every night.  I was praying for the growing season to stop so I wouldn’t have to cope with zucchini any more. 

You know, you can only make so many zucchini cakes, breads, muffins and cupcakes before you’re OVER IT.

I hate canning and baking during the summer, mostly because my kitchen is always 10-15 degrees hotter than the rest of my house.  However, growing things won’t wait till winter to do their thing, so I needed to come up with some creative ways to get the job done without baking or canning.

Here are some tips and a couple recipe that you might like to try:

• Use zucchini in stir-fry, just be sure to add it at the very last because it cooks so quickly.
• Try the casserole recipes I gave you last week.
• I gave you the recipe for my FAVORITE zucchini sweet relish.  Chop all your stuff now, measure (per recipe), toss in zip lock bags and freeze till you want to can.  This is a great way to get all the “busy” work done and you only need to finish it off later.
• Use zucchini in vegetable lasagna.  I found that if you grate your zucchini and allow it to air dry a little bit, spread on a cookie sheet, you won’t get as much moisture in your lasagna.  This is a great way to get kids to eat their vegetables also.
• Make Potato Pancakes and add shredded zucchini.  Just make mashed potatoes, or use up leftovers (if your potatoes seem a little dry, you can add an egg for a little moisture.  You don't want these patties too wet, so take it easy), add some shredded zucchini and a little onion (I sauté the zucchini and onion till it has a little color on it and expresses it’s moisture) and S&P to taste.  Form them into patties and “pan fry” in a non stick skillet, dry or with very little oil.  These are a great side dish to any meal.  I serve them with applesauce and sour cream, but they’re equally good plain or with some yummy salsa.  These are wonderful with a side salad and can be your whole meal or light lunch. 

Here’s a great zucchini cake (I know it's in the oven, but it's really GOOD):

Chocolate Zucchini Cake - yields 9x13 cake
1/2 C. butter
1/2 C. oil
1 3/4 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. sour milk* or buttermilk
2 C. zucchini, shredded
2 1/2 C. flour
4 Tbl. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. each - cloves, cinnamon & salt
1/2 C. chocolate chips
1/4 C. chopped nuts - optional
     Beat together butter, oil and sugar.  Add eggs, vanilla and milk; beat well.  Add all the dry ingredients and beat well.  Add zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts, mix till well incorporated.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 40-45 min. or till done.  You can dust the cake with powdered sugar, frost with a chocolate buttercream frosting or use the "Fudge Frosting" from the Cold Water Chocolate Cake.

*You can make sour milk by adding 1 tsp. of apple cider vinegar per 1 cup of milk. Measure 1 C, then remove 1 tsp. of milk and replace with vinegar.  Give it a stir and let sit till ready to use.

Cold Water Chocolate Cake - Fudge Frosting
1 Cube butter
6 Tbl. evaporated milk
4 Tbl. cocoa
1 Lb. powdered sugar (3 1/2 C.)
     Place butter, milk and cocoa in saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Place powdered sugar in a milxing bowl and pour butter mixture over sugar.  Beat on high till smooth and glossy.  Pour immediately over cooled cake and spread.  Frosting will be very stiff so don't let it stand in teh bowl or it will set up completely.

This is my sister, Carol’s, recipe for Zucchini Burritos – She LOVES them.

Zucchini Burritos - Yields 12
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp. from jar)
6 med. zucchini, chopped
4 oz. can of chopped green chilies
1 tsp. crushed basil leaves
1/4 tsp. ground cumin*
2 Tbl. oil
Salt
1 C. wheat germ
1 1/2 C. grated Jack Cheese
1 doz. large flour tortillas
     Saute onion, garlic, spices, chilies and zucchini in oil over med. heat for 5 min.  Add cheese and Wheat Germ.  Stir till cheese melts.  Spoon mixture between the 12 tortillas and fold burrito style.  Fry in 1/2 inch of hot oil till golden grown, turn over once to brown on both sides.

*Some people don't like the taste of cumin or may be allegic, if that's the case, leave it out.  This is a great vegetarian recipe if you're trying to cut out or cut back on your meat consumption.  If you don't want to fry them, spritz them with some oil and try baking them in the oven or steam the tortillas and try them unfried or baked.  If you want your burritos Chimichangas style (fried), just know that as long as your oil's very hot, not smoking, the burrito will absorb very little oil.

Well, there you go for zucchini, give some of these recipes a try, I don't think you'll be sorry.  Have a great day!

Decorating........I know what I don't know

Several friends have made comments on some of the changes we’ve made to our home in St. George.  I’m happy to share my vast lack of knowledge with you and say that the most important thing is to know what you like.

Step 1 –

Determine what you want your end result to be.  I don’t want a show place, as I’m sure you can tell.  I want everyone to be able to come into my home and feel comfortable.  I want my home to be welcoming, warm and leave others with a desire to come back.  I want it to be a place that my children and grandchildren want to return to frequently.  I’m more about FEEL than APPEARANCE.  This is not saying that it can’t be lovely, but I look at things and ask, how does it make me feel?

Step 2 -

Find your style.  What do I mean by this?  Do you like clean lines, ruffles, flowered prints or geometric shapes?  You may like it all.  If that's the case, determine what you can use together and where it will be.  You may have stripes on your walls and a floral print with ruffles on throw pillows.  You may use very clean or geometric lines on your bedspread and lots of fru fru on the shams and pillows.  What colors do you like?  If you don’t know, look in your closet or call Kathy Gardner and LeAnne Hoopes, they’ll explain it all to you, they’re the experts.  You may like a variation of colors.  That’s OK.  I like to think that you can use colors in your home that you may never put on your body.  I love yellow, but I could never wear it.  This may be a great way to satisfy that yellow craving without looking like a sick puppy.  Learn about the color wheel.  You can use different colors together as long as they're complementary or work together.  Go to your local paint store and choose some color swatches.  Play with them and find what appeals to you and what works together.  Determine which will be your primary color and which are your complementary colors.  Take the swatches with you when you shop, it'll save you a whole lot of time and keep you from having to return things that "don't work".

Step 3 –

Start with a neutral background.  Why you say?  Because it’s cost effective and allows you to change the color in your room anytime you like just by changing out your accessories.  You might think that a neutral color is white, off white or egg shell, the old standby's.  Have you thought of shades of brown, yellow or green?  These can be neutral colors also.  Not quite as neutral as the first group, but if you like these warmer or cooler colors, they may work for you.  Using a neutral color on your walls, is much less expensive; with several sets of different colored towels, bedding or changes in accessories, you have a whole new room without having to change the "base" color (your walls).  A neutral pallet is a very GOOD thing indeed. 

 Step 4 –

Think outside the box.  Allow your creative juices to flow.  Remember I told you that all those great things of your mother’s or grandmother’s would come in handy some day?  Well resurrect them to decorate your home.  You don’t need an expensive coffee table or end table.  Do you have any old luggage or a trunk of your grandparents?  These can make excellent end tables or coffee tables and you have the added advantage of storage space.  What’s not to like? 

In my guest room, there's a valance that’s a copy of the one that was in the house when we bought it.  The color and print wasn’t going to work for me, but I liked the idea of the simplicity of the valance.  I wanted something neutral that I could use with many colors (I’ve changed the colors of the room 4 times since we’ve lived here, but the valance remains the same).  The challenge I had was that the window is about 6 feet wide.  To buy that amount of fabric could be expensive.  Instead, I found a banquet sized off white, linen tablecloth and another, contrasting in a light burnished gold.  Wahla!  I had my valance.  Think out side the box.  See things for other than their intended purpose and you’ll expand your possibilities and save money in the process.

If you have good "bones" in a room (a good traditional style sofa, chair and lamp), you can dress it up or down with accessories.  If your basic pieces are traditional, with clean lines, you can make your room have more of a contemporary feel or a country chic feel by adding accessories.  With all the slipcovers available today, you can easily change the color and texture of your main pieces without the cost of reupholstery or the purchase of a new piece of furniture.

You can find great bargins at yardsales and discount stores.  Some of my favorite pieces were given to me.  The headboard in my guestroom was from a discount store.  It cost me $10.00 and I bought it because I liked the color and finish.  I also happened to have it for 2-3 years before I finally found a place for it.

Step 5 –

Don’t be in a hurry.  Find 1 piece that represents the “theme” of your room, whether that’s color or design.  Take the time to find bargains; these pieces may be some of your favorites.  Keep your eyes open for things that will work with and build upon your theme piece.  They don’t necessarily have to “match”, but they need to complement each other.  When you’re rooms finished, you want your eye to flow from one piece to another.  Be careful that you don’t have something that says, see me!  Remember, it's about the whole, not just one thing.  It may take me months to pull everything together before I’m ready to start my room, but once I have everything the room comes together very quickly.

Remember texture, layers and elevation.  Be sure that you have some fun texture in your room, whether it's on your floor, in pillows or a throw.  Layering is really good;  there's something much more appealing and welcoming about a sofa with throw pillows than a sofa without;  try it, you'll see.  And elevation is very important.  As your eye moves around, you want it to move up and down as well.  If everything is on one level, it becomes very boring.

Basic Tips:
Hang your pictures at eye level and preferably in groups or in a grouping.
Group items and/or collectables on an end table or coffee table.
Try not to allow things to become too cluttered.
Plants add a splash of color, texture, elevation and layers.  Plants are VERY GOOD!

Hints:
You can keep pictures from shifting by sticking rubber bumpers for cabinets on the two bottom corners.  This also keeps your frames from scratching your walls.


Well, that just about depletes my vast lack of knowledge.  I hope you take the time to have some fun with your home and rooms.  If you’re afraid to do an entire room, start small.  Find some fun pillows to add to your couch or something interesting to hang on your wall.  Start with a bathroom, child’s room or entry way.  Get informed and educated about what you like and what appeals to you, but most of all…..HAVE FUN!

Green Things - Another One Bites The Dust.....

     Is it an indictment on my inability to maintain plant life, or just a catchy tune (I can’t get it out of my head)?  Whatever it is, I’ve decided it’s my “theme song” for plant growth and viability in my life.

     My dad, used to come to my house and say, “Ahhh, Chris, don’t you think you want to water this plant?” and I’d say, “Is that what’s wrong with it?”

     My Dad had a great green thumb, I don’t know anything that he couldn’t grow and he enjoyed the entire process.  Planting, caring for and harvesting.   I can tell you, with certainty, that I DID NOT inherit my Dad’s green thumb.  Maybe that’s why the 4, count them, 4 semi-living plants I have in my home are so important to me.  They’re like old friends now and it’s a miracle that they’re still alive.  Two of them even survived the move from Susanville, California to St. George, Utah.  I’m sure that all along the way they kept saying, “it’s only a little farther, just hang on, we’ll be there soon and find a place in the sun and, hopefully, some water.”

     It’s not that I don’t try; I just seem to be jinxed.  I remember when my niece, Taletha, was getting married.  We were having a garden wedding in our yard with a reception to follow.  Wellllll, what could I do but plant the 200 feet of border on 2 sides of our yard with beautiful flowers and bedding plants?  Right?  I want you to know that after having dug, weeded, (removed buried nuts that the squirrels so generously left as their winter crop – who in the heck was leaving nuts for those pesky squirrels?), I proceeded to invest $500.00 in bedding plants and flowers and even spent DAYS getting them in the ground.  My beds were beautiful and looked lovely for the wedding.  I was even more excited about how my beds would look the next spring when the plants matured a little more. 

     Now, I do know that many plants (perennials) will winter over and come back the next year.  About mid-March, Fred started asking me when I was going to start preparing my flower beds.  Understand, in Susanville, winter can last clear till May or June.  I wasn’t in any hurry; I was waiting and watching the weather.  Well, one day Fred came in, so proud of himself, wanting to show me what he’d done for me.  Can you guess what it was?  He CLEANED OUT my flower beds.  He’d WEEDED out every plant that I’d planted the summer before.  Needless to say, my beds never got re-planted.  Of course, my Dad, laughed himself silly.

     After living in St. George for 9 years, Fred decided to plant the BIG concrete box in our front yard, (only because we had a new Grandbaby and it had to be wonderful for Britan and Mom).  If you come by the house, you’ll see a WHOLE LOT of green.  Is that like lying out in the sun till you have enough freckles that it looks like you have a tan?  Mmmmmm, maybe not.  The green’s gotta go, but, if I let Fred do it, I stand the chance of loosing all my plants in the process.  What a dilemma.

     Well, for those of you with green thumbs, you’re my heroes; for those of you that are green thumb challenged, like moi, welcome to the barren wastelands.  You know, we could be like Fred’s dad who planted one singe stem of daisies in a row in his front yard and watered them daily.  The only problem was, they were plastic.  When we asked him why he was watering the plastic flowers, he said, “I have to wash off the dirt.”  Makes sense.  I don’t think I’ve gotten there yet, but if you start finding plastic flowers in my flower beds, you’ll know that I’ve finally given up and that my Dad will REALLY be laughing his head of in heaven.  

Fruit leather - I'm lovin' this!

How I made my fruit leather:  I dried my fruit leather in the oven.  I used my convection (top oven), using all 3 racks and my conventional oven (the bottom one), using only the top rack.  It’s not a good idea to try to cook on both racks of a conventional oven because the heat and air doesn’t flow evenly.   I placed my Sil Pat pads (silicone baking sheets) on my cookie sheets and spread 2 C. of fruit puree on the pads.  I read in one article to spread the pulp more heavily on the outer edges because they dry first and a little thinner in the center, because it dries last.  Spread with an offset spatula and you’re in business. 
  The lowest my ovens will go is 170 degrees.  I suppose you could crack the oven door and see if you can get a lower temperature, but I didn’t.  My convection ovens dried the fruit leather in 4 hours (remember to rotate your sheets, giving them a turn about every hour and moving them around on the racks).  After the 4 hours, I turned the oven off and left them to sit overnight while the oven cooled down.  My tray for the conventional oven had more fruit puree and lacked the air flow (the fans) of the convection ovens.  This tray dried for 6 hours.  In the same article, it said to let your fruit leather sit in the open air a day to finish the drying process.  That’s what I did.  Then I placed a piece of parchment paper on top of the fruit leather, smoothed it down, flipped the leather over and peeled the Sil Pat pad off.  It was perfect.  Roll it up in the parchment (which is WAY easy to remove) and store it in zip lock bags in the fridge or freezer.  After wrapping, I cut mine into 1 – 2 inch segments and tossed in the bag.  This is SOOOOOO good.
  My fruit combination was purple plums and strawberries (just cleaning out the fridge).  I added sugar to taste (next time I’ll add honey) a little lemon juice and cooked it down till it was a little thick.  I’m on a new kick – making fruit leather.  It’s a keeper!

I’m sure that this is WAY more information than you ever wanted about making fruit leather, but I think “knowledge is power”, hahahahahah.  Go through the info, it really isn’t that much, then have some fun making memories of childhood…fruit leather.

*Fruit leathers are homemade fruit rolls. They are a tasty, chewy, dried fruit product. Fruit leathers are made by pouring pureed fruit onto a flat surface for drying. When dried, the fruit is pulled from the surface and rolled. It gets the name "leather" from the fact that when the pureed fruit is dried, it is shiny and has the texture of leather.
  The advantages of making your own fruit leathers are to use less sugar and to mix fruit flavors. Leftover fruit pulp from making jelly can be blended and made into fruit rolls.
  For the diabetic adult or child, fruit leathers made without sugar are a healthy choice for snacks or desserts. Individual fruit leathers should contain the amount of fruit allowed for the fruit exchange.
  Directions follow for making fruit leathers. Fresh, frozen or drained canned fruit can be used.

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HOW DRYING PRESERVES FRUIT LEATHER

  Drying removes the moisture from the fruit leather so that bacteria, yeasts and molds cannot grow and spoil the fruit leather. It also slows down the action of enzymes, but does not inactivate them. Because drying removes moisture, the food becomes smaller and lighter in weight.
  The optimum temperature for drying food is 140 F. If higher temperatures are used, the fruit leather may "case harden"; that is cook and harden on the outside while trapping moisture on the inside. The fruit leather will eventually mold when moisture equilibrates during storage. Thus, the drying process should never be hurried by raising the drying temperature. (See Table 1 regarding the suitability of various fruits for making fruit leather.)

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LEATHERS FROM FRESH FRUIT

1) Select ripe or slightly overripe fruit.

2) Wash fresh fruit or berries in cool water. Remove peel, seeds, stems and bruised or spoiled portions.

3) Cut fruit into chunks. Use two cups of fruit for each 13" X 15"fruit leather. Puree fruit until smooth. If thick, add liquid to bring to a pouring consistency.

4) Add two teaspoons lemon juice or 1/8 teaspoon ascorbic acid (375 mg) for each two cups of light colored fruit to prevent darkening.

5) Optional: To sweeten, add corn syrup, honey or sugar. Corn syrup or honey is best for longer storage because it prevents crystal formation. Sugar is fine for immediate use or short storage. Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar, corn syrup or honey for each two cups of fruit. Saccharin-based sweeteners could also be used to reduce tartness without adding calories. Aspartame sweeteners may lose sweetness during drying.

Table 1 - Fruits at a glance

Fruit	Suitability for Fruit Leather
Apples	Excellent
Apricots	Excellent
Avocados	Not recommended
Bananas	Fair to good
Berries with seeds	Excellent
Blueberries	Only in combination
Cherries	Excellent
Citrus fruits	Only in combination
Citrus peel	Only in combination
Crabapples	Only in combination
Cranberries	Only in combination
Grapes	Fair to good
Guavas	Only in combination
Melons	Not recommended
Nectarines	Excellent
Peaches	Excellent
Pears	Excellent
Pineapples	Excellent
Plums	Good
Strawberries	Excellent

LEATHERS FROM CANNED OR FROZEN FRUIT 1) Home preserved or store-bought canned or frozen fruit can be used. Applesauce can be dried alone or added to any fresh fruit puree as an extender. It decreases tartness and makes the leather smoother and more pliable. 2) Drain fruit, save liquid. 3) Use one pint of fruit for each 13" X 15" leather. 4) Puree fruit until smooth. If thick, add liquid to bring to a pouring consistency. 5) Add two teaspoons of lemon juice or 1/8 teaspoon ascorbic acid (375 mg) for each two cups of light colored fruit to prevent darkening. SPICES and FLAVORINGS   To add interest to your fruit leathers add spices or flavorings. Spices to Try--Allspice, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, ginger, mace, mint, nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice. Use sparingly, start with 1/8 teaspoon for each two cups of puree. Flavorings to Try --Almond extract, lemon juice, lemon peel, lime juice, lime peel, orange extract, orange juice, orange peel or vanilla extract. Use sparingly, try 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon for each two cups of puree. PREPARING THE TRAYS   For drying in the oven, a 13" X 15" baking pan with edges works well. Line pan with plastic wrap being careful to smooth out wrinkles. Do not use waxed paper or aluminum foil. To dry in a dehydrator, specially designed plastic sheets can be purchased or plastic trays can be lined with plastic wrap. POURING THE LEATHER   Fruit leathers can be poured into a single large sheet (13" X 15")or into several smaller sizes. Spread puree evenly, about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, onto drying tray. Avoid pouring puree too close to the edge of the sheet; leave an inch or more of border to allow for spreading during drying. The larger fruit leathers take longer to dry. DRYING THE LEATHER   Leather dries from the outside edge toward the center. Test for dryness by touching the center of the leather; no indention or sticky spots should be evident. Dry until it is still pliable. While warm, peel from plastic and roll, allow to cool and rewrap the roll in plastic wrap or special plastic fruit leather sheets. DEHYDRATOR DRYING    It takes approximately six to eight hours for fruit leather to dry in a dehydrator. Follow manufacturers directions. In general, fruit leather should be dried at around 140 F. OVEN DRYING    An oven can be used for occasional drying of fruit leathers. Because the oven may also be needed for everyday cooking, it may not be satisfactory for preserving abundant fruit leather. Oven drying may take up to 18 hours for fruit leathers.   Oven drying is slower than dehydrators because the oven does not have a built-in fan for the air movement. (However, some convection ovens do have a fan.) It takes two to three times longer to dry fruit leather in an oven than in a dehydrator; thus, the oven is not as efficient as a dehydrator and uses more energy. To Use Your Oven--First, check your dial and see if it has a reading as low as 140 F. Check oven temperature on warm setting with an oven thermometer. If your oven does not go this low, then your food will cook instead of dry.  Low humidity aids the drying process. To dry fruit leather, the water must move from the fruit leather to the surrounding air. If the surrounding air is humid, then drying will be slowed down. Avoid drying fruit leather during rainy or humid weather.   Increasing the air current speeds up drying by moving the surrounding moist air away from the fruit leather. To speed the drying time, increase the air flow. For air circulation, leave the oven door propped open two to six inches. Circulation can be improved by placing a fan outside the oven near the door. Change the position of the fan frequently during drying to vary the circulation of the air. CAUTION: This is not a safe practice for a home with small children.   Because the door is left open, the temperature will vary. Place an accurate and easy-to-read oven thermometer on the top tray toward the back. Adjust the temperature dial to achieve the needed 140 F. Maintain the temperature at 140 F. It takes less heat to keep the temperature at 140 F as drying progresses, so watch the temperature carefully toward the end of drying. STORING THE LEATHER Place wrapped pieces in airtight, moisture proof containers such as freezer bags, glass jars or freezer storage containers. Fruit leather will keep about two to four weeks at room temperature when stored in a dark, cool place. For storage up to one year, store in the freezer.

*The preceding information is from Pleasant Hill Grain.  Check out their website at www.pleasanthillgrain.com

 How to make fruit leather from Simply Recipes –  www.simplyrecipes.com

One thing you can do with excess fruit of the season is to make fruit leather, sort of the beef jerky of fruit. I used to love this stuff as a kid, made for a great snack and instant energy, and was easy to pack. Last fall I made fruit leather with the leftover grape mush from making grape juice, and this week it was fruit leather from our neighbor Pat's apricots (Pat's apricots are so ripe that when you go to pick one, two more fall off the branch). What follows is a general guideline to making fruit leather, no set recipe. So much of it depends on the specific fruit you are working with.

I imagine that not all fruits are best processed the same way, and some might work well mixed in with other things, like cherries with ground almonds for example. I know that some people prefer to process just the raw fruit; I like cooking the fruit first to up the intensity of the flavor, and kill any bacteria that might be lurking around on the fruit. When apple butter season starts, I may make a fruit leather batch with extra ground cloves, cinnamon and cider vinegar.

How to Make Fruit Leather

Ingredients:

Fresh fruit (apricots, peaches, plums, berries, apples, pears, grapes)

Water

Lemon juice

Sugar (if needed)

Spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg (optional)

Method

1 Rinse the fruit. If you working with stone fruit, take out the pits and chop the fruit. If working with apples or pears, peel and core them, then chop. If working with grapes, de-stem them.

Taste the fruit before proceeding. Note how sweet the fruit is. If very sweet (ripe Concord grapes for example) you will not need to add any sugar. If still a little tart, you may need to add some sugar in the next step.

2 Place the fruit in a large saucepan. Add a half cup of water for every 4 cups of chopped fruit. Bring to a simmer, cover and let cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the fruit is cooked through. Uncover and stir. Use a potato masher to mash up the fruit in the pan. Taste the fruit and determine what and how much sugar, lemon juice, or spices to add. Add sugar in small amounts (1 Tbsp at a time if working with 4 cups of fruit), to desired level of sweetness. Add lemon juice one teaspoon at a time to help brighten the flavor of the fruit. Add a pinch or two of cinnamon, nutmeg, or other spices to augment the flavor.

Continue to simmer and stir until any added sugar is completely dissolved and the fruit purée has thickened; another 5 or 10 minutes (or more).

Note if you are working with grapes - strain the juice out of the mashed grapes to make grape juice. Force what is left behind, after straining, through a food mill, to make the purée for the next step.

3 Put the purée through a food mill or chinoise or you can purée it thoroughly in a blender or food processor. Taste again and adjust sugar/lemon/spices if necessary. The purée should be very smooth.

4 Line a rimmed baking sheet with sturdy plastic wrap (the kind that is microwave safe). Pour out the purée into the lined baking sheet to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness.

5 Place the baking sheet in the oven, try to keep any plastic wrap from touch the sides of the oven or the oven racks. Also try to make sure that the plastic wrap hasn't folded back over on top of the purée. If this happens, the purée won't dry out. Heat the oven to a low 140°F. If you have a convection setting, use it, it will speed up the process and help dry out the purée. Let dry in the oven like this for as long as it takes for the purée to dry out and form fruit leather. We usually keep it in the oven overnight, so about 8-12 hours. The fruit leather is ready when it is no longer sticky, but has a smooth surface.

Alternatives to the oven: If you have a food dehydrator, this would be a great use of it. My mother suggested putting the tray in the Weber grill, and leaving covered, in the sun all day. Sounds like a good trick, but I haven't tried it yet. My parents remember the traditional way of making fruit leather was just to tent the tray with some cheesecloth and leave it outside in the sun on a hot day.

6 When the fruit leather is ready, you can easily peel it up from the plastic wrap. To store it, roll it in its plastic wrap, put it in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

4 cups of fruit yield about one baking sheet of fruit leather.

Here’s a recipe for Mango Fruit Leather. You can adapt it for the oven if you like.

Mango Leather

You will need:
 2 lb mangoes (about 3 medium)
 2 Tbsp corn syrup
 1 Tbsp lemon juice
 Plastic food storage bags or vacuum packages

Directions:
1.) WASH mangoes and drain; Peel, pit and dice mangoes.
2.) PUREE mangoes in a food processor or blender. Add corn syrup and lemon juice. Blend.

Spread puree evenly on dehydrator trays to 1/4-inch thick.
3.) DRY at 135°F until pliable, about 12 to 14 hours.
4.) CUT mango leather into 6-inch circles. Place parchment paper or plastic wrap between
circles.
5.) STORE in plastic food storage bags or vacuum package. Label.

Grilling with fresh herbs - can you say YUMMY?

Having access to fresh herbs, during the summer, almost makes the heat worthwhile.  Try growing some fresh herbs of your own, it's much less expensive than buying them from the store and they're always available.  You can grow them in small places, mixed with flower beds, a separate herb garden or in pots in your home, on your patio or balcony.  There is nothing quite like using fresh herbs in your recipes.

A friend of mine, Jan, gave me some fresh rosemary and basil.  Knowing that I needed to use it up before it started getting funny, I decided to make an herb marinade for some Tri Tip.  I have to tell you, this was the best meat I've ever had.

Grilling is such a great way to cook during the summer when you want to keep the heat out of the kitchen, so try marinating some meat and start the grilling.

This is how the marinade works:
     Place meat in a gallon freezer zip lock bag
     Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper
     Place a couple sprigs of rosemary in the bag
     Place 4-8 whole, fresh basil leaves in the bag
     Place 1-2 Tbl. chopped garlic in bag (I use pre-chopped in the
                                                                 jar.  You can use less or more.)
     Pour 1/2 C. of olive oil in the bag, press out the air and seal

Once the bag is sealed, "mush" it all around to deistribute the seasonings and coat the meat with the oil.  Toss it in the fridge for a couple hours or overnight.  When you're ready to grill, pull the meat out of the bag, place it on the grill and cook till it reaches your desired doneness.

You can place the rosemary in the bag in sprigs, or strip the leaves and toss them in loose.  If you toss them in loose, you'll get a more intense flavor from the rosemary.  Place the basil leaves in whole, or give them a little slice.  The same principal applies.  The more chopped they are, the more intense the flavor.

I love this, the flavor of the herbs permeates the meat, but in a mild and subtle way.  I was so blown away by the taste of the Tri Tip, that we grilled for the next 3 weeks.  I bought chuck roasts and followed the same process.  You may need to grill them a little longer, but when they're done, just slice them against the grain and serve.  Sooooo good!

I don't see why you can't follow the same principal with chicken or pork.  Try some of your favorite herbs, just remember "less is more".  You can always add more, but it's difficult to take away.

Don't get too crazy about measurements.  Remember that taste is subjective.  What you like is just right for you.

Some tips about herbs:

Fresh herbs can be frozen or dried for longer storage.  If you're freezing, strip the leaves from the  stems and place them in zip lock freezer bags.  Remove what ever measure you need while the herbs are still frozen.  You can get a good chop on frozen herbs, don't let them thaw before chopping, or you'll have a mushy mess.  You can use frozen herbs in just about anything, just remember to add while they're still frozen.

After drying, fresh herbs they can be stored in canning jars with tight seals or you can store them in zip lock bags.  Be sure to label so you remember which herbs are which and always store in a cool dry place.  Remember that dry herbs are more intense than fresh, so use 1/2 the amount that the recipe calls for using fresh.

Tips for grilling meat - what works for me:
   
 I find that grilling chicken can be challenging.  If the chicken is done, then it's usually burned on the outside, if it's nice and brown, it's usually still pink in the center - not good.  This is my solution:  par-cook your chicken before you grill it.  Place it in a pan with some water, enough to keep it from scorching, and slowly cook it half way through.  Place the par-cooked chicken in a zip lock bag with your seasonings and allow to marinate.  When you're ready to grill, place the chicken on the grill and cook till the chicken is done.  Because the chicken is partially cooked before going on the grill, it will cook much more quickly and won't scorch.  Baste it with sauce, if you like, the last 10 minutes or so.

If you're cooking chicken breasts, it's a good idea to filet them before putting them on the grill.  If  you filet the breasts, they don't need to be par-cooked.  Just butterfly them and place them on the grill, season to taste and you'll find that these puppies will be evenly cooked in about 8-10 minutes total.

Remember that when you're grilling, you only want to turn your meat once.  Allow your meat to cook halfway through before you turn your meat, then finish it off.  This way, you'll get great grill marks and a beautiful color.  If you keep turning your meat to get the browning, you'll probably overcook it.  DON'T mash your hamburgers when you're cooking them.  This forces all the juices out of the meat and they'll be dry and tough.

Well, that's about it.  If you want more grilling tips, check out www.finecooking.com and type bbq or grilling in the search line. 

Take a little time to grill this summer and try some of those fresh herbs while they're still in season, I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

Tomorrow I want to share with you how I made fruit leather in the oven.  This is the first time I ever made fruit leather and I'm loving it!  It turned out "crazy good".