Pig Pickin

Back in the day when I was young and ignorant about the fact that gluten was sending my body into an inflammatory tail-spin, I would from time to time make cake.  My desert of choice was and continues to be ice cream.  But a good refrigerator cake was always in second place. 

I must have a thing about cold deserts.

Southern cooks have a different outlook on life than northern cooks.  They appreciate the fact that there's nothing better on a sweltering hot Summer day than a cold, fruit based, whip cream cake.  And since most of the US is having a heat wave this week, I thought I'd surprise SM with a refrigerator cake.

Enter the Pig Pickin Cake.

I'd never heard of this cake until I moved down here to NC.  Miss Susan, my genteel southern friend for the past 13 years gave me this recipe several years ago.  (*She also gave me something I call Susan's Cake that I make only once a year at Easter.  It's THAT good.  I'll try to post about that cake over the next few weeks.)

But let's get back to the pickin of the pig. 

I googled it to see if this cake is well known and boy is it ever!  Turns out that there's a whole page of recipes available that are similar enough to the recipe Susan gave me.  So go Goggle it and pick your favorite.  You really can't go wrong.

As to why they call it a Pig Pickin Cake it's because it's a cake that's often served during summer BBQ's where they would cook a whole hog over a pit.  Everyone would then "pick" at the pig.  I also think that once you start to eat this cake you just can't stop so you keep picking at it, making a pig of yourself.

Whatever.  It's cold and light and not too sweet and creamy and fluffy and .....

Oh, just go make it for yourself and see what I mean OK?

Christmas Cravings

It's one week till Christmas and I'm getting hungry.  For beef. 

We haven't had beef here in the house in so long I'm having withdrawals.  We had turkey for Thanksgiving of course, and we've also managed to demolish 2 hams so far.  Sauerkraut with pork is a New Years thing around here, so beef is on the menu if I have anything to say about it.  And I do.

Something medium rare, butter knife tender.  So flavorful the only thing you need is salt and pepper.  I want to feast on a beast.  I want to gorge myself silly and have enough of leftovers.  (Mmm, cold beef with horseradish sauce.)

I've made beef tenderloin before but shockingly have never tried a standing rib roast or without the bones, it's known as prime rib. 

 

I've been eyeballing the grocery advertisements waiting to pounce.  Tenderloin is running $14 lb but the rib roasts are $7 lb right now.  I'll also need to get a meat thermometer.  Can you believe it?  I've been cooking for 30 years and have never owned a meat thermometer.  I've gotten by with the finger poke technique all these years, but I need a medium rare roast so badly.  I'm not planning on screwing this one up so it's best to have a little insurance.

I've also got fudge on the brain.  Chocolate is such a part of my Christmas's growing up.  Dad was a chocolate salesman for Nestle.  He would sell bulk chocolate to speciality candy shops.  We always had boxes of chocolates laying around.  Up in Ohio, Dad sold to a shop called The Yum Yum Tree.  I loved their particular blend of chocolates.  Mom would get a box of some kind of mint chocolates and maybe if we were lucky she'd let us have one.  They were that good.  Us kids weren't picky about chocolate...anything and everything was fine by us.  That was our Christmas breakfast.  Chocolate at 5 am unwrapping our Christmas presents.  I'd eat chocolate all day long.  Christmas just isn't Christmas without some kind chocolate in the house. 

I've never made fudge before but it looks like the easiest thing in the world.  I think that's what I'll do today.  Make fudge.  Slide into a sugar coma. 

At least I'll die happy!

So what's cooking at your house?  Any cravings you'd care to share?

A Seasonal Kitchen

My kitchen, like yours I'm sure, is the heartbeat of our home.  I find myself spending more and more time in it. But it depends on the season.

In the spring I spend most of my time outdoors.  I crave salads and start grilling meats during the Spring and into Summer, so the kitchen is used mostly as a clean-up station.

During the Summer we all start harvesting and preserving what we can.  Fruits and veggie's alike get squirreled away so the kitchen becomes a cluttered work zone.

As I move into Fall I'm still preserving but I'm also starting to get creative and want to cook and bake more.

Once Winter hits I'm in full blown cooking mode.  For some reason I love to cook in the morning.  I rarely cook a "dinner" at dinner time.  I guess I'm inspired early in the day.  Or maybe I just get lazier as the day goes on and want to relax in the early evening instead of starting a whole cooking production.

Regardless, I hardly ever cook during the week.  Leftovers all the way, Baby.  During the Fall and Winter months I make a TON of food over the weekend and let SM decide for himself what he wants to reheat on a daily basis.  I don't get home most nights until 6 pm or later and by that time I'm just not interested in cooking.  Reheating, Yes.  Cooking, No.

So yesterday morning I was up and cooking by 7am.  I wrapped things up at noon.  On the menu?

Steelcut Oatmeal with cinnamon, maple syrup, a touch of brown sugar and Craisins.

Ham Soup.  I simmered a ham bone for 3 hours and then tossed in the veggies.  Some were frozen like the cherry tomatoes from my garden this year.  (Thanks for the suggestion Jane!)  I pulled fresh carrots out of the garden and added them to the soup.  Love the smell of fresh carrots!

And look what SM had for lunch!

I also cooked down some frozen strawberries I'd picked this past Spring to make a sauce to top the cheescake I'd made the other day.  The cheesecake was OK taste-wise but lumpy. That's the thing about mistakes.  You always remember them and rarely repeat them.

Eat Santa...Eat!

SM always complains that my cooking is making him fat.  But he's the one who requests all these yummy things and at this time of the year, it's cookies and cakes and pies! 

So I'll do my best to fatten my Santa up.



Eat Santa...Eat!!!!

And there's nothing in the rule books that says that Mrs. Clause can't stay slim and sexy. 

 

Unfortunately in this house gluten free Mrs Clause likes to drink her egg nog and eat her Christmas candy and ...Hoo Boy...Mrs Clause is a bit of a lush too...So let the Asti Spumanti flow!  Screw that slim and sexy crap!  More of me to love right?  RIGHT????  



So donning my sexy Christmas socks, I got to work.  First things first, some Snow Ball cookies and Peanut Butter cookies.  

As I whip up my cookies, I think about all the people who say they CAN'T cook.  That's a load of "hooey" as far as I'm concerned.  Of course you can cook.  You're just not interested in cooking.  It's like anything else.  You have to be curious about it, excited to do it.  Everyone who is a GOOD cook started out as a LOUSY one first.  Please!  Some things are hits and the others are misses. You learn, you grow.  I used to think I was a lousy baker.  According to SM (and the girls at work) I'm not.  Who knew? 

SM watched me flatten the PB cookies and asked me to put some chocolate chips on top.  "You want me to mix them in?"  I asked.  "No.  Just put them on top."  That's the point.  Have fun!  Experiment!  Someone will eat your food. 

True...it might be the dogs, but someone will appreciate your efforts

Even now I can screw up a recipe.  Take today for example.  I thought since I'm feeding Santa all those yummy cookies that I can't eat, I'd make me a cheesecake.  I've made Ina Garten's Cheesecake before.  It's wonderful!  But the last time I made it we ended up throwing part of it away.  Cheesecake dries out quick and this recipe was HUGE.  Way too much for 2 people.  I figured I just cut the recipe in half.  How hard can that be? Plus, I wasn't going to use a crust (GF me).  Uh oh...I didn't have any lemon for the zest it called for.  So what?  Ooop's!  Did I just add the eggs to the cream cheese before I whipped the cheese for 5 minutes?  Oh crap!  The eggs were supposed to be at room temperature?

Hmmm....I stood there with my hand mixer trying to make this mixture smooth.  It got better but still had lumps.  Screw it!  I tossed it into a pan with the bottom lined with parchment paper and put it in the oven.  Uh oh!  How is this going to time down?  It's half the size!  I baked it at 450 for 15 minutes and it looked done already!  Crap!  I backed it down to the 225 the recipe asked for and set the timer for 45 minutes instead of the 1 hour and 15 minutes the recipe called for. 

After only 20 minutes I took it out of the oven trying to salvage the situation.

So how is it?  Don't know.  It's in the fridge now waiting for us to taste later tonight.  It might not be my best effort but I know it'll be edible.  Who knows?  I just might have created an award winning GF Cheescake.  I doubt it, but at least I tried. 

And boy does the house smell good!  Just like Christmas!

Leftover Soup

Probably the nicest thing about leftovers is that when you're tired of eating them or even looking at them (and want to reclaim your refrigerator), you can toss everything all together and make a pretty amazing soup. 

First though, I had to crack the fat.  Pretty on the one hand.  Nasty on the other.

I had 2 stock pots in the spare fridge.  The first one had the leftover drippings and meat that I'd picked off the bone on T-day.  This had a thick layer of fat that I removed.  (Some of this was from the bird itself and the rest was the butter I'd roasted the bird with.)

The other pot held the carcass itself that I'd boiled to loosen up any more meat.  Not the "yummiest" way to start off your day.  (I made this soup at 7am)  Meat just isn't very pretty is it?  Makes you consider going vegetarian from time to time.

I tossed in the leftovers from the fridge.  Peas and carrots, mashed potatoes, squash.  I considered throwing in the left over sausage stuffing but that would have made it a soup I couldn't eat (gluten) so I passed on that one.  It makes me wonder what kind of texture the bread would add to the soup.  Instead I added a bit of corn and some rice and let it all meld together. 

Soup for breakfast anyone?

Never be afraid to make soup.  Recipes for the most part are just not needed.  Just toss in all the things that taste good to you and you'll be surprised at the results you'll get.

Makes me wonder how many families are eating Turkey Soup this weekend...

Playing With Your Food

Every once in a while I step out of my comfort zone in the kitchen.  Sometimes I get inspired by the recipes I see on ya'lls blogs.  Sometimes I just like to twist things up a bit.

The other day when I was at the market I picked up some cream cheese, (perhaps a cheesecake in my future?) and I saw this stuff further down in the case.

Chorizo.  Have you ever cooked with this stuff?  I've heard it mentioned on the Food Network but have never used it.  See it all the time here in the stores.  Lacking any inspiration in the "What to cook for dinner" department, I thought "Today is the day" for me to try chorizo.  I had visions of a red bean, rice, sausage (ie chorizo), jumbalaya type dish dancing in my head.

So I get the rice, beans, tomato's and seasonings all going and open the packet of chorizo to discover that this ain't no sliceable sausage.  The casing it comes in can't be cooked.  They package it to look like a tube of sausage.  In reality you're supposed to fry the stuff up, drain the fat and smear it on a tortilla or toss it in some eggs.  It's very, very fine ground pork with lots of spices.

So I fried it up, tossed it in the rice along with some cubed up ham and waited for SM's verdict.  I didn't think it was half bad.  Neither did SM.  Will I use it in a rice dish again?  Probably not.  I still have a package left in the fridge.  Any suggestions from the cheap seats?

Sunday morning, I took the ham bone out of the freezer, soaked (the night before) some Great Northern beans and thought I'd do a bean soup.  But instead of cooking it in my stockpot on top of the stove, I thought I'd use my Dutch Oven and put the soup in the oven for a few hours.  Slow cooking at it's finest.

I brought all the ingredients (Ham bone, water, carrots, onion, garlic, celery (or celery seed) a squirt of mustard, salt, pepper and butter = the elixir of life) to a boil on top first, then set the oven to 250, stuck it in and went outside to do some yard work.  After 3 hours I pulled it out of the oven, fished the ham bone out and put any big chunks of ham aside to cool so I could shred it and put it back in the soup. 

SM looked over my shoulder "It's not very thick, yet."  He observed.  "I'm not done yet."  I replied.

This is where I twist things up a bit.  If you want to learn to cook or even become a better cook, than in my opinion what you have to do is taste.  Period.  You've got to know what you want in order to get what you need.  A recipe in and of itself can't do that for you.  It's someone elses taste buds doing the talking.  And with soups in particular, you also need time.  Time for everything to meld together.

Most recipes for Ham and bean soup are like this one from Allrecipes.  It's a good base but nothing special, the broth is thin and there's no "zing" to it IMHO.  I'm not fond of bay leaf so I don't use it.  Yes, you could blend everything together  to achieve a thicker soup but I like seeing beans and carrots and ham in my soup.

The soup had cooled down a bit from being in the oven.  You can't really taste when something is hot either.  Lukewarm is perfect.  So I tasted.  Bland...nothing special.

First things, first then.  I wanted to thicken up the broth.  I use mashed potatoes for that.  If there's no left over mashers, I use instant from a box.  That's my secret for a thickener.  I always have some dried instant flakes in the house.

Taste.   Needs some heat.  A couple of shakes of red pepper. 

Needs a touch of smooth sweetness.  My ham wasn't "Honey Baked" and I like that flavor so I added some brown sugar.  (What?  Brown sugar?  Not a lot, maybe 3 Tspoonfuls.)

Salt.  (Be careful.)  Mine wasn't a salty ham, plus the potatoes have a tendency to remove any salty flavor.

I turned the stove top on low to simmer these new flavors together.  Taste.  (Something wasn't right.  What was I forgetting?)  I went and did other things for a bit when it hit me.  Acid.  The last time I'd made Ham and Bean soup, I'd tossed in a can of diced tomatoes.  Once it has a chance to cook down, the tomatoes add a nice zingy flavor to the soup.  So back in the house to toss that in.  By 2:00 it was ready and so was SM.

"That stuff's not just good, it's "Holy Shit" good."  SM said.  "It's Dean and Deluca good.  It's $8 a bowl good."

"Why, thank you."  I smiled at him as he went for seconds.  This is why I cook and also why I've learned to cook well.  I know SM truly appreciates food.  He was born to be a foodie.

And I guess that means that I was born to be a foodies cook. 

Kohls Cash

I don't shop at Kohls Department Store very often.  Mostly for clothes.  When I went shopping a few weeks ago for new fall and winter clothes, they gave me a voucher for "Kohls Cash".  You can use the voucher just like cash on anything in the store.  Sale prices still apply.  The only catch is that you need to use it during a specific time period.  Smart business approach.

Saturday, SM and I were heading out and I noticed that the voucher was going to expire the next day.  "Yikes!  We need to swing by Kohls!"

"I don't want to mess around with that today." SM protests.

"Hey...It's $30 bucks worth of something, ANYTHING.  I've already got my clothes.  Why don't you look for some sweat pants or jeans?"  

"Sure go on.  We're are driving right by it anyway."  SM, less than enthused.


"You can sit in the car if you want." I offered.


Turns out that SM wandered in too.  He poked around the men's clothing area but, as he said, he just wasn't in the mood.  So I headed over to the kitchen area thinking there's got to be something I could use for $30.


SM found their Dutch Ovens on sale for $99.  (He paid $40 at Sams Club.  SM  is the kind of guy that shops even after he's purchased.  Do you have a guy like that?  No matter what he buys, he's always shopping for it after the fact.  He did this on the minivan too.  Online, pointing out to me the great deal he got.  A phone call from a dealer who wants to see if he's interested in a van they have.  He had a 5 minute conversation with the kid and reports back to me how he got the better deal.  Must be a guy thing.)


So I'm poking around and decided I could really use another nonstick insulated cookie sheet to replace the one I'd ruined last year.  (I sprayed it with cooking spray when I stuck some fries in the oven.  Turns out that you shouldn't do that.  My new pan says so.)  So I got that, a slotted spoon and a ladle for soups.  My out of pocket cost? $6.24  Woo Hoo!

So now I can use my big ass cookie sheet to bake me some big ass cookies for my big ass.  Well, not MY big ass.  Since I've gone gluten free and I don't eat bread, pasta, cakes and cookies anymore, you'd think my ass would be tiny and trim.  HA!  I make up for all that by eating my way through a wheel of cheese and gallons of ice cream.  Not to mention the taco chips and wine.  


My fat cells will not be denied!

A Potted Roast

I woke up this morning, took my walk and worn jeans for the first time since April!  It was freakin COLD!  42 degrees and a wind chill!

I'm a WIMP, I tell ya.  To go from 80 degrees to 42 in a matter of days is a wake up call for sure!  It's windy too, so I'm leaning towards indoor pursuits rather than the outside weeding, yanking (and cursing).  Or at least that's what I tell myself since I'm totally not motivated to anything.

The Dutch Oven was still sitting on my counter top untouched.  I just knew that today was the day. 

So with the sun barely above the horizon line, I hopped into the car and ran to the closest market (ie: $expensive$) and bought a chuck roast.  

Carrots, onions, potatoes and beef seared in butter one by one.  A bit of red wine splashed to de-glaze the pot and stuff it all back in with some beef broth.  Spin your oven dial to 300 and go find other things to do for 4 hours.

"Gosh, that smells great!"  SM says hovering.  "Is it done yet?" 

"Sure.  Why don't you pull it out for me since its so heavy."

We let it sit for about a 1/2 hour with the lid on, then loaded up a plate.  

Even the pups want in on the action.  "Hey...get your nose outta there!"

"I'm so stuffed".  SM says picking at the pot for one more bite.

Too bad being fat is bad for you.  It's a skill that I could learn to master.

Going Dutch

I don't own any cast iron pots or pans.  Somehow I've made it through (almost) fifty years on this planet without ever experiencing the bliss of cooking with cast iron.

Seriously.  What's the big deal?  

I'd mentioned to SM a few months ago that, besides an apron and a good cast iron skillet, I really wanted to invest in a good dutch oven.  I see them from time to time being used on some of the food shows that I watch.  I kinda like the idea of a "one pot" dinner and the fact that I can take it from stove top straight into the oven appeals to me.

I came home this week and look what SM got me.

"I had the choice between red and blue.  I thought you'd like the red better."  SM said.

"You're right.  Somehow food coming out of a red dish seems more appealing."  I told him.  I lifted up the lid.  ""Wow.  That's heavy!!"  For some reason I wasn't expecting it to be THAT heavy.

So it's been sitting there on my counter looking pretty all week.  I have visions of soups and stews, roasted chicken and pot roasts dancing in my head.  I might even fry something!  All I've been waiting for is cooler weather.

Welcome to October!  We've had an extended summer so far this year, but today the north wind is blowing and the house is buttoned up tight.  We're forecast for brilliant blue skies, winds gusting to 25 mph and a high of only 64 today.  Brr.


We're hoping to spend some quality time on the back yard this weekend... weeding and trimming our way through the massive growth that this summer has given us.  It a mess back there.  


So we will need hearty sustenance to help us get through.  Any good ideas for breaking in my new dutch oven?  Favorite recipes?

All About The "Yum" and Other Comforts

Our last few days have been quite cool and overcast.  Ohio Weather we call it.  (evil grin)  A nice taste of fall.  Don't get too excited though.  We'll be back in the mid 80's in a few days.

Since the weather has been cooler,  SM asked me to make some stuffed green peppers.  Sure!  I always have leftover meat, so I also made meatballs.

Funny thing.  You know how you use rice in the meat of your stuffed peppers?  Well, I love meatloaf and meatballs and since I went gluten free, I've just been opting out on using the breadcrumbs in the recipe.  It made for a denser, dryer texture (particularly with the ground turkey)...but whats a girl to do?

Well, the meat (and meatballs) with the rice in them were so moist and light, they were out of this world.  A true light bulb moment!  I used ground turkey and a roll of Jimmy Dean pork sausage (ground beef too if you want), 1 egg, katsup and Worcestershire sauce (and lots of it).  And from now on I'll be adding rice too.  I don't really measure anything, I just mix it all together.  It'll be really really loose.  But it firms up and stays moist after cooking.  Yum.

SM also finished off the banana bread (see post from last week) and wanted more cake, so I used the same basic recipe and substituted apples and walnuts and doubled the cinnamon and also added some apple pie spice.  TaDa!  Apple Spice Cake!

I noticed that it didn't need to cook as long as the banana bread (less moisture in the apples) but SM reports that it's still moist and "Yummy".  I expect that I can use this basic recipe and make carrot cake too.  I'm curious what will happen with chocolate.

SM was in Hendersonville (in the mountains of NC) a few days ago and picked me up a few more apples straight from the orchard.  He has no idea what they are but they taste great so who cares.  $8 for a peck.  What the heck is a peck anyway?  No leaves turning yet, though.  He's also loving the new car.  (drives great.)  A neighbor teased him the other day saying that SM "didn't look like a mini-van man to him."  Oh well...hauling kids or hauling crap...you're still "hauling".

The cooler weather made me check out my winter clothes situation.  I wear scrubs to work so that's easy but my "at home" clothes were falling apart.  I haven't bought new clothes in several years.  My sweat pants (and "sleepy" pants) that I hang around the house in, have holes around the waistband and I'd already tossed a pair of jeans that had to be 6 years old at least.  And now that I'm older and my waistline has become one with my hips (freakin menopause) so my whole shape has changed. 

So I NEEDED to go shopping.  And I hate clothes shopping!  I have to be IN THE MOOD.  You know what I mean.

A friend told me that Kohls was having a big sale Saturday, so I dragged my sorry carcass over into the melee.  I don't bother shopping at malls anymore (they don't make clothes for the mature, tightwad woman) so Kohls has become my "go-to" department store.  I can usually find stuff there.

WOW...were they busy!  Women and clothes EVERYWHERE.  I mostly needed pants so I concentrated on that.  Kind of a search and destroy mission. 

I found 2 pairs of jeans, 5 pairs of "sleepy pants/ active wear pants", 1 pair of shorts from the 1/2 off rack.  (When did shorts get so "short"?)  I also bought a couple of shirts and another super soft "throw blanket" for this winter.

Quite the haul, if you ask me.  I spent 1 1/2 hrs in there and walked out with my mood intact and a back seat loaded with bags.  I noticed a lot of women buying kitchen stuff so I think there was a lot of Christmas shopping going on.

When the price is right, people come out in droves.  Even me.  

So food and clothing has been taken care of.  Now what about shelter?  We're investigating window "repair" rather than "replacement".  We've got a guy coming out tomorrow to give us an opinion on the sorry state of our windows.  More on that another day.
   

A Jarring Reality

When I started canning this year, I'd bought a bunch of jars from Walmart when they were on sale.  Easy-Peasy.

A few months ago SM was given a TON of free jars from a fellow whose elderly Mother had passed away.  I've been slowly going through her jars.  Many of them are hazy.  Does that matter?  And I noticed with my last batch that I ran through the dishwasher for prep that they still weren't coming up clean.  Little flecks of crud inside and out.  (Understandable considering that none of us will see so good close up as we get older.) 

Anyway, logic always says that if you get a hand-me-down item, expect to need to spiff it up at bit before use.  

  

This appears to be rust.  (Looks like somebody left her rings on.)  A good hand washing wasn't even removing it so I pulled out the "big guns".  

I've reviewed these "magic erasers" before and I'll shout it from the highest roof top.  "These things ROCK!"  Any kind of stubborn stain, mark, grit or crud, pulls right up with a swipe or two of the magic eraser.


I can't even begin to imagine life with my messy stove top without them.  

Truly a miracle of the 21st century.

Full On For Fall (Cooking That Is...)

What is going on in my house?  

Two days ago I made chili.  Yesterday I made applesauce.  This morning as I'm chopping up the butternut squash (that's  been sitting on my counter for a month waiting to be processed), SM points out that there's 3 banana's slowly decomposing on the counter.   

(Oh Yum...*Seriously, bananas are the grossest thing ever put on the planet.  I can eat one if it's a nice firm yellow.  But that only lasts...what? 90 seconds?  And then it becomes this pulsating mass of stinkyness...Ugh...they are so GROSS.)

"How about some banana bread?"  SM asks.


So I Googled "Best Banana Bread" and found this recipe for Flours Famous Banana Bread  Now I've been screwed by Food Network recipe's before.  Can't really tell you why but they usually end up bland as all get out.  

But I've found over the years, that Alton Brown is a GOD and Paula Dean is the biggest faker in the South.  (A true BS artist.  The sound of her voice and that fake (exaggerated) accent annoys the crap outta me!  True Southerners don't sound like that.)  But I digress.

If I'm searching out a new recipe I usually steer more towards the AllRecipe site.  Or try some of the recipes ya'll blog about.

But the Flours Banana Bread got the best reviews from the commenter's who'd tried this recipe.  So I thought, "What the hell...it's not like I'm going to eat it!  So I gave it a shot.  

I used brown sugar instead of white.  Doubled the cinnamon and didn't even bother with whipping the eggs for 10 minutes.  (Please...who has that kind of time?)  I tossed in some Craisins and baked it in my stone cake pan instead of the recommended loaf pan.  I have to admit it didn't smell half bad.

SM was on his toes when it came out.


So how was it?  SM says that "If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, than he hit the jackpot with me."  (I think he'll keep me around for a few more years.) 


So this one is a keeper in my household.  If you have a nasty, pulsating mass of banana's on your kitchen counter give it a shot.

What's That Smell?

Why you should never blog while cooking...

Stewed Fruit

I've never been really big into jams and jellies.  Too gooey.  Now I love preserves.  But a lot of recipes still want you to throw in pectin.  I've got nothing against adding pectin as a rule, it's just that I feel it's unnecessary for the small batches that I make.  I like to use stewed fruit as an alternative so I can use it as a topping on other deserts as well.

I found a really nice article on Why? Jams, Jellies and Pectin.  It does a really nice job explaining about pectin. 

SM is big into bagels and toast in the mornings and since he's Mr Buffet he's always on the lookout for different jams and jellies.  This past winter, (I kid you not), I must have had at least 6-8 different kinds of toppings in the fridge. 

This year I resolved to make small batches of "stewed fruit.  I've asked SM to watch the fruit at the farmers market and let me know what he'd like as a topping.  So far this year I've made strawberry and peach.  While both were a hit...we both noticed that the peach came out really sweet.

Now I use No Pectin Jam recipes from off the Internet.  I'm always amazed at how much sugar they want you to use.  I started to follow the recipe on the strawberry, but cut back the sugar and lemon by half, and I still think it had too much of a lemon aftertaste.  (SM says it's fine).

On the peach, I cut back on both the lemon and the sugar even more and while it didn't have that lemon taste,  ewww weee was it sweet!  Note to self, cooked peaches sweeten up, Wow!

Today I saw that the local market was advertising cherries for $2.99 a pound which was a dollar less than at Sams Club.  So I went and taste-tested...(I know, a lot of people hate seeing that at the market)...and I bought 5 pounds.  They were California Organic Cherries to boot.  Thank you California!

(*Conversation with Bambi at the market: Bambi: "Whatcha gonna do with that many cherries?"  Me "I turn 'em into preserves."  Bambi  "Don't they have seeds in 'em?"   Me "Yeah, pits...But you just take them out."  Bambi "Huh.  You gonna eat any fresh?"  Me "Sure.  But most of 'em I'll cook down.")

I kept 1 pound back for fresh eating and (as SM was sampling), I pitted 4 pounds of cherries, (my cuticles look like hell) and threw them in my heavy stock pot along with just 1/2 cup of sugar (They recommend 4 cups of sugar) and a little bit of lemon. 

I brought it up to a rolling boil and turning the heat down just a bit, I kept it at a boil for about 20-25 minutes.  You've got to stir it more as it cooks down.

Toss a plate into the freezer.  (You use that to check for the "gel" so you don't overcook it.)  You can tell when you're getting close when you make a pass with your stir, you see the bottom of the pan and the juice doesn't run back into the pass very quickly.  I take it off the heat, (but keeping the heat on in case it needs to cook more) and put a plop on the plate and stick it back into the freezer for about a minute.

Pull it out and swipe your finger through it.  If the swipe stays, it's gelled.  If not, back on the heat for another minute or two and repeat the process.

This looks good.  

It'll still seem a bit loose but it thickens up as it cools.  I didn't have any pint jars, so I boiled up a quart jar and plopped the fruit in that and sealed it.

(*I didn't do a water bath as this will stay in the fridge to be eaten over the summer months.  I'd process it if it was going on the shelf of course.)

4 pounds of cherries came down to a little over a quart of stewed fruit.  The sweetness was just right at a 1/2 a cup of sugar.  

The price tag for a quart of cherries? 12 bucks.  Perhaps a little indulgent but aren't cherries a special treat anyway?  That's why they're always on top of cheesecake.

(Oooo...Cheesecake!)

Throw Yourself On That Bomb

Most Saturdays I work a few hours post-op-ing patients from the day before.  I need to leave here before 7am and I usually get home by 9:30 so it's a pretty quick gig.  Yesterday though we had a heavier schedule so I anticipated that I wouldn't be home until 11 or later today.

I asked SM if he'd mind doing the shopping today.  He's actually really good at it and has a bit more tolerance for dealing with crowds. 

You see this is payday weekend for me as well as half the population.  And I am "crowd phobic."  (Cranky @$$ me faster...than you can say get me the H&!! outta here.)

SM and I only do the "mother-load of shopping" once or twice a month.  Other than that, we might do a quick run for something we're out of on the other weekends.  As most people will attest...The less often you shop, the more you save.

But this weekend, we needed to hit all our hot spots.  Sam's Club for bulk, Trader Joe's for produce, and Walmart for everything else.  Easily a few hours of work.

SM went ahead and threw himself on that bomb.  "Thanks Honey!"

Since I was too pooped to POP once I got home, I did a "short-cut" pizza so he'd have lunch/dinner once he got home.

I suppose most people have a version of a quickie pizza....but here goes mine in case you've never tried it before.

Pulled out of the "pantry"...

Ready made french loaf bread
mozzarella cheese
turkey pepperoni
pizza sauce
fresh mushrooms and frozen peppers and onions that are sauteed first before putting on the pizza.

Secret ingredient...Paul Prudhomme's Pasta and Pizza Magic.  (Love this stuff)

I let the bread dough sit out on a piece of parchment paper while the oven heats to 400.  (I use a pizza stone)

Once the dough has warmed up a bit I slice it down the middle with a serrated blade and "spread" out the dough.  Sprinkle some seasoning on it.  Sauce, cheese, meat and sauteed veggies.  Into the oven for about 18 minutes.

Easy french bread pizza.  No fuss, no muss.

Cookie Monster

"Me want coooookiiiiieeeee."

"Any particular kind?  Chocolate coconut?  Fruit cake cookie?  It is Christmas after all...I could try something new?"

Nope.  All he wants for Christmas is his two favorite cookies.  Chocolate Chip with Walnuts and Oatmeal Craisins. 

I threw in the "Snowballs" (Italian Wedding Cookies) for something different.

"Cookie Monster Haaaaaappppppyyyyyyy."

Cooking With My Polish Baby

SM is a foodie.  SM is also Polish. 

We had a polka band at our wedding and after we played the pre-recorded Robert Plant's "Sea of Love" (my request), the band kicked off the wedding with the crowd pleasing, toe tapping and hand clapping..."I've Got a Polish Girlfriend."

We also had cabbage rolls for dinner...in July. 

And danced the "Chicken Dance."

SM should be living in Cleveland or Chicago.  He should be living in the motherland of all good Polish food. 

SM married a girl who is not a foodie. 

She's got some English and German in her blood somewhere but she's never been into Sauerkraut, Kiszka (Polish Blood Sausage), Pirogi...not saying they're not good. 

Just saying that with 8 Polish siblings there has always been someone else around who does the cooking.

SM has been hankering for some good poppy seed rolls and nut rolls.  He likes to "troll" the web looking at all those good bakeries they have up north in the motherland.

**BTW...There are no good southern bakeries.  I'm not sure why that is as there are TONS of us Yankees living down here.  You're lucky to find a good pizzeria.  Man, did we take that for granted when we lived up north. (sigh)**

Anyway, SM announced yesterday that he found a bakery in Chicago that had poppy seed and nut rolls and that he'd likely spend 50 bucks including shipping for his precious cargo. 

SM knows how to play me.  Since I'm not into baked goods myself he knows that if he tosses a price tag in there somewhere, I'll bite.

"Are you nuts? 50 bucks!?!  Let me see if I can find a recipe...How hard can it be?"

So that is what I've spent today doing.  This is the link for the recipe I used for Polish Poppy seed Roll

I mixed the dough and let it double.  SM came by and I let him "punch" it.  You should have seen his surprise!  I had him hooked.  He rarely helps in the kitchen.

While I rolled out the dough...

He smashed the walnuts...  Do you like our kitchen tools?  Who needs a rolling pin when you've got a bottle of wine.  Nut chopper?  Nah, just crush them with a can of fruit.

We made one big poppy seed roll...

And 2 smaller nut rolls.  SM says it looks like a pizza.

SM at some point in this process says..."If these come out well, I'll love you forever."  (He's practically on his toes.)

Needless to say, it's been sometime since I've seen my husband this excited.

I slide them in for a second rise.... "How much LONGER..."  (He's like a 6 year old!)

"Oh...lets say another hour to rise and another hour to bake."  I will say he took it well.  Not another peep out of him.

After the second rise, I let him him brush on some butter and popped them in.

Here's the finished product.  Boy, did they smell good.  (Too bad GF me won't be eating them.) 

They're HUGE. 

And here's the verdict... He's not sure. 

SM says it's more of a "bread" than a pastry.  (uh, yeah....)  He says it's good, but different.  He thought there wouldn't be enough poppy seed filling but to his surprise, the flavor is quite strong.

The nut roll is just OK.  Definitely not enough "nut flavor" for him.

I asked him if he'll still love me forever...He says the jury's still out.  Boy, does he know how to play me. (grin)