Three big patriotic holidays are right around the corner. Yes, three. I bet you forget to count Flag Day on June 14th. That’s okay, I think I am one of the few people that remembers to put out the American Flag on that day because my Dad always did.
The whole meal doesn’t need to be red, white and blue, though you could if you wanted. But a few festive foods here and there can help decorate your Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day tables: Continue reading
Share on FacebookIt is almost time for another one of those pseudo-holidays that started as a way for American immigrants to show their ethnic pride and has turned into an excuse to eat Americanized version of ethnic cuisines and drink copious amounts of alcohol. At least for Cinco de Mayo we don’t die everything green like on St. Patrick’s Day. I am not saying I don’t love the food, or an excuse to have a good time, I just think it is funny that many Americans believe these days are celebrated in the homeland the way we do here.
Enchiladas
With all of that said, I still have some good Mexican recipes to share. My favorite is my grandmother’s enchiladas – nope not the Texan grandmother, the French one. Just love the irony of that one, and the enchiladas are pretty good too. Click here, if you don’t get the joke.
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We’ve had a bunch of things going on in our kitchen the past few weeks, nothing to write an entire blog about so we are going to have another mishmash entry.
Easter:
I made the best ham I have ever made this year. Not the best holiday ham I have ever had – that honor goes to my Uncle Chris’ Christmas BBQ ham. My Aunt Sue and I have been known to salt our ham, much to the chagrin of our family members that have not been blessed with our extremely low blood pressure. So, this year, I soaked the ham overnight in a large plastic container filled with water. I changed the water first thing in the morning and soaked it for a few more hours. My husband was thrilled with how much this reduced the saltiness and I thought it tasted more “hammy” which is a good thing. Next time I think I will soak it at least 24 hours in advance.
Peanut Butter Jelly Bean Cookies
We ended up with oodles of jelly beans thanks to preschool, an egg hunt at Grandma’s and what the Easter Bunny brought. So I decided it was time to finally try Peanut Butter and Jelly Bean Cookies. Not bad. Use your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe (or try this wheat free recipe) and gently press in a few jelly beans before baking (I would have added a few more than the three we added to about a tablespoon of cookie dough). And I mean GENTLY. My sous chef pressed some of the jelly beans all the way through the cookie dough to the pan and after baking they made removing the cookies very difficult. A few days later I came across a recipe on Sara Moulton’s site using coconut and oatmeal that sounds quite delicious.
Community Supported Agriculture
We have had a few deliveries since I last talked about joining Harvest2U. The first few contained a lot of greens, which I found I enjoyed a bit more than when I was a child. One great method of preparation I found was to rinse them, shake lightly but keep some water on them, then chop and cook in a saute pan until the leaves start to wilt. Then add the secret ingredient – Chemical X – oops, I meant garlic jelly to taste.
We also received these two interesting looking ingredients.
vegetable from another planet #1
vegetable from another planet #2
The first is kohlrabi. I chopped it up and added to soup and stir fries. For Easter I made scalloped potatoes and kohlrabi – it was okay, probably not something I would attempt again since it smelled a bit like cooked cabbage (maybe because they are related) which meant I had to eat all of it since the guys wouldn’t even try it.
The second is fennel, which I found plenty of uses for both the white part and the fronds. Besides the soup and stir fries, I also added the both to salads giving them a little licorice flavored kick.
In the last delivery we got some loquats, tiny little orange fruits that tasted kind of like a citrusy apricot. Not sure what else to do or how long they’d stay in the fridge, I made a small batch of loquat jam with a dash of fresh chopped ginger for kick. I don’t know if I got a different variety of loquat, or didn’t cook them long enough, but mine never turned the ”deep red” mentioned in the recipe. It still tastes pretty good.
Interesting tidbits:
Local Honey helps alleviate seasonal allergies! Or so says the Internet. No one has done an official peer reviewed study, but it does sound plausible if you think about how honey is made. The bees collect the pollen from local flowers and come back to the hive to make honey. If the honey is not overly processed and still has the bee pollen in it (it is sort of cloudy and NOT clear like most of the stuff you get in the major grocery stores) and you buy locally “produced” the theory is it will be sort of like a vaccine, a bit of the hair of the dog that bit you so to speak. For more info, check out this article on Discovery Health.
And finally here’s a quick follow up on the Kale Chips I mentioned previously. A recipe in the latest issue of Sunset magazine adds a teaspoon of soy sauce to the olive oil before you toss in the kale and then sprinkles sesame seeds on top in lieu of salt. Gotta try that one!
If you have any suggestions or recipes for jelly beans, kohlrabi, fennel or loquats please share by commenting or sending an e-mail to: audrey@thatrecipe.com.
Until next time, happy eating!
~Audrey
Share on FacebookAnother holiday is almost upon us. Before I offer some recipe suggestions, how about a few smiles?
Does anyone else find it odd that we make Deviled Ham and Deviled Eggs out of the leftovers from the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ? (To which my friend, Carol the Pastry Chef, responded, “It’s okay as long as you have it with Angel’s Food Cake”.)
mmm chocolate
Oh My!
Good way to use up all the excess the EB brings you.
Cute, or rather creeepy if you stop and think about what the eggs would have been if they didn't end up in your fridge.
And here are a few recipes for the ingredients I most associate with Easter.
Eggs:
Lamb: Dad’s grilled leg of lamb
Carrots: In case EB doesn’t eat all of the munchies you leave out for him
Chocolate: I posted lots of ideas last year, including Chocolate Bunny Bread, Baby Ruth Brownies and Snickery Hidden Treasure Cookies.
Jelly Beans: I am still looking for a good recipe to use up leftover jelly beans, but I think I am going to try to chop some up and top some peanut butter cookies or brownies kind of like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. If you have any ideas, please share them!
Finally, I will leave you with this wisdom from my mother:
You can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs.
Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey
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Card taped to the microwave door
A few days before Valentine’s Day, I stumbled downstairs in desperate need of caffeine after our darling little boy kept us up for several hours playing in the middle of the night to find a card taped to the microwave that said “Hot Hot Hot Danger Danger! Do not get burned opening the microwave!” I looked at the calendar to make sure I hadn’t missed an important date, then carefully opened the microwave to find… Continue reading
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I have joined my local CSA. No, I am not referring to the Confederate States of America. Though, thanks to Great Great Grandfather Ruben Donnell’s service in the 4th Battalion North Carolina Junior Reserve (he joined in 1864 at age 17), I could be a member of the Daughters of the Confederacy if I had the inclination.
The CSA I am referring to is Community Supported Agriculture. The website www.localharvest.org describes:
Share on FacebookOver the last 20 years, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has become a popular way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. Here are the basics: a farmer offers a certain number of “shares” to the public. Typically the share consists of a box of vegetables, but other farm products may be included. Interested consumers purchase a share (aka a “membership” or a “subscription”) and in return receive a box (bag, basket) of seasonal produce each week throughout the farming season.
King Rex preparing to throw some beads.
This year is just flying by, I can scarcely believe it is already time for Mardi Gras/Pancake Tuesday and the beginning of Lent.
I don’t have to much new to add since I have already posted some ideas for Mardi Gras and a few Pancake recipes as well as some meatless meal ideas in the past. Our Meatless Main Courses menu has a few more ideas to help you out.
I will be making Junior’s Jambalaya from Emeril’s There’s a Chef in My Soup for Mardi Gras and Pierogis from Nadia G’s Bitchin Kitchen Cooking for Trouble for Ash Wednesday.
I am always looking for more vegetarian, meatless and or vegan dish recipes. If you have any you would like to share, please send them along to audrey@thatrecipe.com.
Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey
Share on FacebookIt was 1961, Camelot had ascended to the White House bringing it with the ideals of the Peace Corps and the challenge of The Space Race heating up with the goal of a lunar landing by the end of the decade placed before all Americans. Women wore gloves and hats and, for the most part, did not work outside the home (and if they did it was in a “supporting role”). Americans ate three meals a day from four basic food groups - meat, grain, dairy and fruits/vegetables. And into this era, The Congressional Club (the wives of elected and appointed leaders), published the sixth edition of its charity cookbook.
The Congressional Club Cookbook, 6th Edition (1961)
This past week, I have been exploring my recently acquired treasure, The Congressional Club Cookbook 6th Edition - a thrift store find that was given to Ma’am by a former co-worker which she passed along to me when she was cleaning out books. It was a two-for-one prize for me. Not only is it a cookbook full of homey recipes, it is a glimpse into America’s psyche 50 years ago. I almost wish I was still in school so I could write a report on it. Oh wait, I have a blog. Even better, I can write and not have to stress too much about sentence structure, grammar or word count.
First of all, look at that cover! The ladies are in dresses, heels and lacy aprons. My husband is lucky if my jeans, sweatshirt and athletic shoes aren’t too splattered with food by the time dinner’s done. My grandmother, Mimi, told me she always made sure she was dressed nicely with her hair and make up done when my grandfather came home because he spent all day with those lovely well groomed ladies at the school and she didn’t want him coming home to her in a house coat and rollers.
The fact that the two parties representatives are not trying to shove that cake in each other’s face is not that strange considering the origins and goals of the Congressional Club, per www.thecongressionalclub.com,
“Founded in 1908, the original purpose of The Congressional Club was to provide a non-partisan setting for friendships among the spouses of members of the House and Senate in Washington, D.C. Although the scope of the Club and the breadth of its activities have increased over the years, its purpose remains the same.”
No, the word “spouses” was not used in the 1961 edition. It was “wife”, with a special “men only” recipe section for the contributions of the elected officials themselves.
The foreward, by First Lady Mrs. John F. Kennedy, states:
“Our country is blessed with the greatest abundance and variety of food in the world. Since cooking is certainly one of the fine arts, every woman in the United States has an obligation to the members of her family and the nation to see that their health and physical well-being are maintained by attractive, properly prepared meals. Good cooking can contribute immeasurably to the happiness of our homes.”
An obligation to my family AND the nation to serve attractive, properly prepared meals?! Wow, no pressure there! A statement like this now would be viewed as insulting to the female population. But, 50 years ago, in the middle of the Cold War, it was a challenge most American woman would readily accept. And, I do have to admit the last statement is true, at least in my house. When dinner sucks this home isn’t a very happy one.
Further irony is added to that statement upon perusal of the recipes which contain a plethora of processed foods such as American cheese, canned soups and vegetables, gelatin and other horrors to today’s nutritionists like flour, sugar, white rice and red meat. But, I will save that ridiculous rant for the Anthony Bordain’s of this world. I am sure fifty years from now, when people look at the 2006 edition of the cookbook some will be repulsed that people actually ate THAT, whatever ”that” may turn out to be.
Each recipe is labelled with the name and signature of the contributor. And, per the dictums of the times, each woman is referenced as Mrs. Husband First and Last Name, and almost all signed their names the same way. The notable exceptions being First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy and the wife of the former Vice President Patricia Nixon that used their own first names. Oh, Jackie and Pat – you rebels! I don’t think I have ever signed my name as Mrs. Matthew Humaciu. I’d probably giggle if I did.
The recipes themselves deserve at least a little mention since this is a cookbook after all. Like most charity cookbooks, there are plenty of misspellings, mistakes and missing ingredients buried in the directions instead of the ingredient list. Which is why Ma’am always told me to read the entire recipe before attempting it. Some look scrumptious and I plan on trying them soon while others, uh, all I can say is “no thank you”. A few notables:
Among those I plan to try at some point are:
I have already tried two recipes Dollar Hot Cakes and Root Beer Brownies. The first is a
Dollar Hot Cakes
basic pancake recipe that I whipped up this morning and made the appropriate silver dollar size using my Tovolo Pancake Pen (thanks again for the Christmas gift, Mary!). Aren’t they cute? The little black flecks are due to me cooking the pancakes in the same pan I used for the sausage – yummy.
As for the second recipe, the name is what got me. What on earth would Root Beer Brownies taste like, I thought? The recipe is simple, mix up a box of brownie mix substituting root beer for the liquid and throw in some crushed pepperment candies. Before I could get to the store to get the ingredients, my friend, Carol the Pastry Chef posted a blog on Root Beer Bundt Cake. I kid you not, it was a matter of 2-3 hours after I found my recipe that
Root Beer Brownies
she posted it. After reading her rave review I figured root beer is loaded with vanilla and spices so it isn’t going to make the chocolate taste “funky” it would just enhance it. I admit I got lazy and bought a packaged mix (but it was a GOOD dark chocolate mix, not the 99cent store brand special) and I did not get the best root beer I have ever had – Henry Weinhards – but settled for A&W. Carol was right, it made a very intensely chocolate brownie. Definately, a recipe I will make again.
I think I will now be on the look out for more of these old cookbooks as I wander through used bookstores. Even if I don’t find any good recipes they may make an interesting read.
Until next time, happy eating!
~Mrs. Matthew Humaciu (tee hee)
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I had it all planned months ago. This entry was supposed to be sourdough recipes you could use to celebrate the Niners return to the Super Bowl. But a fumble here and a fumble there and instead we have a rematch of a few years ago (what? me bitter? – nah!). So, once again I am not that enthusiastic about “The Big Game”. But since some of you might actually care about the game or at least about a Super Bowl party, here are a few ideas to host your own party or dishes you can bring if you are invited to one.
First, check out Ma’am’s how to host a Super Bowl Party for fun ideas and recipes.
Parade Magazine has some celebrity recipes including football legends Jerry Rice (sticky honey wings), Joe Theisman (shrimp dip), Roger Staubach (chili), Mike Ditka (pork chops) and Dan Marino (pasta bolognese)
The game is in Indiana and being played by teams from New York and Boston but if you want to add a Southwestern flare to your party, check out these ideas from Sunset.
And finally, Dash Recipes and Cooking Light have a few ideas for some lightened up fare.
Enjoy the Super Bowl, and just wait until next year when the Niners get their sixth Lombardi Trophy (and maintain their perfect Super Bowl record). A fan can dream can’t she?
Until next time, happy eating.
~Audrey
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