Blog Posts - The Provident Homemaker

No bored kids

12/27/2011

Well, at least they'll be bored less....

Do you need some ideas of things to do with your kids during Christmas break?

How about:

Pipe Cleaner Animals
Pipe Cleaner & PomPom creatures

Peel a hardboiled egg the cool way (my teenagers will love this!- but I'll do my own, thanks) I'd blown eggs before, when they were raw, but had never heard you could use a similar technique when they're cooked!

Have you ever thought about the name "Play dough"? I hadn't, until I bought a book called Kids' Ideas With Frozen Dough. This book, printed by Rhodes Bread, who makes frozen bake-at-home bread dough, shows how to make butterflies, turtles, alligators, bees, dinosaurs, your name... all from regular bread dough.

As a mom, I detest play dough- it gets everywhere, and is usually abandoned someplace with its lid off, where it dries out. But this- Hey! this is useful. And edible. I give my kids a lump of bread dough to play with, and later we bake and eat their creation. If you want to make your own, see the Making Bread page. You can even use biscuit dough, though it becomes tougher the more it's handled. Yeast bread dough can take a lot of abuse.

Now one more for anyone over about age 5: The Two-Second Shirt Fold.
See it here,
then learn how to do it, here. You'll be amazed. Then you'll want to go fold all the shirts in your house!

Beating the Christmas Gimmies

12/24/2011

Isn't this what you hope for?
A smile, a gift willingly given, and gratitude when it's opened.

We found that our children too often got the "gimmies" (Gimmie, gimmie, gimmie...)--
Tear one present open, toss it behind them, and reach to see what's next. Some presents never got played with or appreciated, relegated to the side of the room forever, in favor of something more exciting. To help eliminate that, we started a Christmas tradition a few years ago.

There's no rule on when they're allowed to get up- but present-opening won't start until 8 a.m. Stockings, and only stockings, are free game before that. Each of the kids gets a box of cereal as part of their stocking (set to the side, no, they don't fit inside!), so that pretty much takes care of breakfast. (If you'd like fresh cinnamon rolls, see the Refrigerator Rolls post.) Right before opening presents, we read the Christmas story in Luke Chapter 2, and have our usual family song and prayer for the day.
We take turns opening one present each hour, on the hour- only one package opened at a time, going from youngest to oldest, each person choosing what to open. We also open 1-2 family gifts, depending on how many are under the tree. We spend the next hour looking at, playing with, or reading whatever our gift was, or the kids play together with something. We meet under the Christmas tree an hour later, to do this again.

This has really helped our children notice and appreciate each gift better.

Since we have a large family, all the kids buy or make small gifts for each other, and grandparents give gifts, everyone actually has about ten presents. Rather than taking ten hours to open, though, we open the rest of them at about hour #5.

I recently read someone's else's method; they have each person gather the gifts they are GIVING, and distribute those themselves.  The point of this is to focus on the giving, more than the receiving. This year we'll combine the two ideas, letting one person each hour give out all their gifts. (After-Christmas- update: I LOVED doing this, and the kids were really excited to give their gifts out in one round . Next year I'll let the teenagers give last, though, so they end on a grateful/happy note. I made the mistake of having them )

And this year, with Christmas on Sunday, our kids voted to have just the filled stockings for Christmas morning, and "Christmas" on Monday. They want this because there are household rules on the types of play on the Sabbath (i.e., no bike riding, rollerblading, or trampoline jumping!), and they figure they can FULLY enjoy whatever they're getting if there are fewer limitations. I'm voting for this because then we can hopefully focus more on Christ that day, including watching the video links, below.

May you have a Merry Christmas, filled with happiness, peace, appreciation, and love for your family and our Savior.

For some beautiful, newly-released Bible videos on the original Christmas, from The Annunciation to The Wise Men and in between, see here.

Refrigerator Rolls

12/15/2011

Do you ever wish you could have cinnamon rolls in the morning without having to get up two hours early? Do you ever wish you could have dinner rolls ready to bake when you walk in the door from church or work?

With this recipe, you can. No pop-open refrigerated dough cans required. You get fresh, hot, delicious bread with all normal, easy-to-pronounce ingredients. (Do I sense a Christmas tradition in the making?)

The technique might work with other bread/roll recipes; I haven't experimented to find out yet. (Please let me know if you do!)

The recipe is from a 1987 Fleishman Yeast bread recipe booklet and tweaked only slightly. One chapter in the booklet was called "Rising On Ice"; hence the name, below. The dinner roll dough is soft, tender, springy, with a tender crumb. You can make any shape of rolls with it, including cinnamon rolls! If you make dinner rolls, remember that you can sprinkle them with herbs, sesame seeds, poppyseed, or sea salt. These could even be made into can't-be-beat hamburger buns! (Roll 1/2" thick, cut 3-4" circles with a biscuit cutter or canning ring.)

This makes about 2 1/2 dozen rolls, or one 14x18" baking sheet full of cinnamon rolls.

Rising On Ice Dinner Rolls

1 cup milk
2/3 c. water
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) butter
6-7 cups flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 packages active dry yeast (or 3-4 tsp. instant yeast)
2 eggs, at room temperature

Combine milk, water, and butter; heat to 120-130 degrees (butter doesn't need to melt). Meanwhile, put 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Add the warm milk mixture, then beat two minutes on high speed. Add eggs and 3/4 c. more flour; beat two more minutes on high. Add more flour to make a fairly stiff dough; knead 8-10 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Punch down, shape into whatever shape rolls you want. Place them on a greased baking sheet. Brush them with oil (this helps them not dry out in the fridge, as well as to not let the plastic stick), then cover them loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2-24 hours. When ready to bake, pull them out of the fridge, carefully uncover them, and let them sit at room temperature while the oven heats. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done.

For instructions to make cinnamon rolls, see the Making Bread page and scroll about halfway down.

Holiday Pies!

12/15/2011

There are lots of recipes here for pies, crusts, and toppers!

Check out the following links, from my main page and blog posts. You'll see repeated recipes throughout them; they're mostly handouts from different pie classes I've taught.

Crash Course In Pies- basic Vanilla Cream Pie and variations: Banana Cream, Banana Caramel, Butterscotch, Coconut Cream, Chocolate Cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Cookies and Cream, Eggnog, Peanut Butter, and Strawberries-and-Cream pies! Also has different options for crusts and toppers (meringue or no-run whipped cream)

Custard Pies: Recipes from The Chameleon Cook: Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Cranberry Pie, Rhubarb Pie, Date-Pecan Pie, and Lemon Chess Pie (blog post on Lemon Chess Pie here).

Memorable Holiday Pies- easy pat-in-the-pan crust that is never tough, the world's BEST raspberry chiffon pie, pumpkin pie, cream pies with a few variations.

Pumpkin class handout - includes my mom's pumpkin pie recipe, along with other non-pie recipes.

Starter Cookbook- cream pies and variations, crusts, meringue, no-run whipped cream, and tips.

The Great Pumpkin Cookbook - includes Praline-Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin-Apple Pie, Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, Pumpkin Streusel Pie, Pumpkin Cookie Pie (sugar cookie crust, pumpkin-icecream filling), Gobble-up Pumpkin Pie (uses a can of sweetened condensed milk), Impossible Pumpkin Pie (makes its own crust), Mom's Pumpkin Pie, Honey-Pumpkin Pie, Raisin-Pumpkin, Tofu-Pumpkin (egg and dairy free), and Molasses-Pumpkin Pie! Also has a few pumpkin cheesecake recipes, along with dozens of other recipes.

Long-lasting hives, stress, and ezcema

12/12/2011

If you are prone to getting hives or ezcema, maybe my story will help you.

This photo is of uticaria; hives. It often starts as general puffiness with itchiness, and is often aggravated by heat or friction, even from clothing touching it. It itches and burns ferociously, and if you give in and scratch, it balloons, swells, puffs up into red or white raised areas. Just looking through the photos (to get some for this post) brought memories that made me want to cry. It's awful. What's worse is that some people have these for months or years at a time.

Photo credit: International Chronic Uticaria Society

I was reading my local online news today, and there was an article called "Treating ezcema and other rashes", part of a regular feature called "Mommy Medicine". I posted a comment on the board, and then thought that maybe some of my blog readers would need the information, too. Or maybe you know someone with this problem. I sometimes break out in hives all over my entire body, sometimes I can even feel my brain swelling with it, and NOTHING takes it away. I can't effectively explain how desperately miserable that is. Benadryl doesn't touch it, nor cortisone cream, not oatmeal baths, not Eucerin, or calamine lotion- nothing! To make it worse, they would stay for days. I'd been to doctors, I'd been to naturopaths; nobody could explain why it was happening, other than there must be something I was allergic to. But there was no consistent pattern that lead to any one allergy. At least it wasn't contagious.

I noticed over time, though, that some foods seemed connected to the hives, though they couldn't account for all my cases. I'd also only break out if I was stressed and it was right before a certain time of the month, in addition to eating those foods, plus some mystery factors. I searched online for "stress and hives" and found the website of the International Chronic Uticaria Society. Reading through their info, I found a list of foods that are naturally high in histamines (the opposite of antihistamines!) and often trigger chronic hives. Every food that I suspected was a culprit IS on that list, as well as other ones that I'd been eating but not suspected. I had hives when I found that food list; after immediately dropping every possible offending food, the hives cleared up after just 2 days instead of the usual 7. I can still eat those things on a regular basis, but if I'm at a higher risk of hives (stress, time of the month), I back off for a few days, and I stay hive-free.

My son has ezcema on a regular basis, as well as some ADHD, and avoiding that same food list helps tame both. It's amazing. All I can figure is that the ADHD and ezcema both must be related to inflammation and the body's response to it. The funny thing is that we had avoided some things for years with him, seeing that it made a huge difference in behavior- artificial color, artificial flavor, and preservatives- and those are all high in histamines. Maybe he can blame my genes, after all.

If you want to see the food list, it's at http://urticaria.thunderworksinc.com/pages/lowhistamine.htm

Uticaria on someone else's back.

All photos are from the International Chronic Uticaria Society.

Uticaria on leg.

Uticaria on neck. It also may be on the top, sides, back, and inside of the ear; on the scalp; on arms, palms, fingers, underarms, chest, rear end... anyplace there is skin.

Pickle juice and exercise

12/8/2011

"No woman ever has enough time, enough energy, and enough strength to do all the good things that are in her mind to do. We have to have the help of the Holy Ghost to take care of the most essential, and then the necessary, and then fill in the nice-to-do things around that." - Julie B. Beck, president of the Relief Society, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Boy, is that right! I oughta be in bed right now, judging by what happened last night.

Like any self-respecting American woman, I intend to exercise on a regular basis. Yesterday I managed to get on the treadmill for just over a half hour. The only problem was the time: ten p.m.

So I walked, and walked, and walked, as I balanced my reading book on the treadmill's control panel. The book had to be held to stay up and stay open, so I alternated which hand could swing freely, and which stayed put. Since the book (Seven Miracles That Saved America) was more interesting that paying attention to which side of the treadmill I leaned towards, I wandered too far to the side and whacked the back of my hand on the rail. Now I have a big blood blister there.

After I finished, it was time to stretch out. So I did, sitting on the floor with my book still in hand. After a while stretching, I woke up. As in, while sitting up, reading and stretching, I had fallen asleep. Totally, completely asleep.

So that's how well my intentions end sometimes!

Anyway, if you thought from this post's title that the pickle juice was somehow a secret to exercising, get your hopes back down. :-) They're not even related, as far as I can tell. If you find out differently, please let me know...

It's just that something new dawned on me yesterday- pickle juice is useful. Sure, I've always used a tablespoon or two in homemade Thousand Island dressing, but the rest gets dumped.

What IS that pickle juice? Basically, it's vinegar, with salt, spices, and sometimes sugar. So if you find (or make up) a recipe that needs those things, you can use pickle juice! I even found a recipe online for pickle juice soup (which got surprisingly good reviews). Try it in place of the vinegar in a tuna salad, egg salad, potato salad, pasta salad, etc. (The flavor will penetrate better if you pour it over the potatoes or pasta while still warm.) Or make it into a vinaigrette or creamy dressing; in a pan sauce for meat- especially fish; poured over a roast (vinegar helps tenderize meat); pour it over cooked beets to make 'instant' pickled beets (or use another vegetable- try Dilly Green Beans), or do whatever else you can think of!

Have you ever been tempted to buy a bottle of fancy flavored vinegar? Look at that, you had some in your fridge all along!

Making Gingerbread Houses, Part 2: Assembling and Decorating

12/2/2011

See here for Part 1- Baking.

The #1 reason people are scared of making gingerbread houses? I think it's ASSEMBLING the pieces. Most people use frosting to hold the pieces together. That's aggravating; the frosting doesn't hold well and the pieces have to be propped up for hours before they'll really bond. Who has time for that?

Here's what my mom taught us- use Edible Hot Glue- melted sugar. Caramel, they call it in the cooking world. Take about 1/2 cup granulated sugar, put it in a heavy saucepan (big enough to dip your gingerbread pieces in) over medium-high heat, and watch as it starts to melt. (It's actually decomposing, scientists just learned this year!) Do NOT walk away from the pan during this time!!! You'll need to stir a little of the unmelted sugar into the liquid part; keep it moving a bit so it doesn't scorch. Turn down heat as needed. If it cooks too much, it turns black and bitter-tasting.

Once it's completely melted, turn the heat down to low; you want it to stay hot enough to be liquid, but low enough it won't burn.

Get both pieces ready that you want to bond. Dip the edge of one into the hot sugar. Be very, very careful to not get any on yourself- this is way hotter than boiling, though it doesn't look it. Think hot glue on steroids.
Put the two pieces together immediately, and set them up on a flat surface. You'll have about ten seconds to get the fit right before this 'glue' sets up.

This even works to connect broken pieces. Somebody bumped the cooling rack and knocked most of the gingerbread to the floor. Several broke.

No problem.

This is where the frosting comes in handy- to make your decorations stick! I also like to cover the places the sugar glue shows. For more ideas on what you can use for decorating, see my three-page handout on making gingerbread houses.

One done. This one was actually a kit, though I used the Hot Sugar Glue to stick it together.

We make a bunch of little houses every year; each child gets to decorate his/her own. Some years we've just made and decorated a house FRONT- a large, house-shaped, FLAT cookie. Not 3-D.

Part of the tradition is that we eat our houses on New Years' Eve, though somehow there's always candy missing off them by then!

Have fun!

Tablecloth Apron

11/25/2011

Maria VonTrapp had a great idea when she made those playclothes....

This apron is made from a damask tablecloth and an embroidered fabric placemat.

Since the tablecloth is designed to be spilled on, this should be a pretty stain-resistant apron!

Why wear aprons? You mean besides the fact that I always splash or spill when cooking? And that I feel more feminine and domestic when wearing a pretty one? Read through my favorite-ever story about aprons: Apron Evangelism, from Hillbilly Housewife.

Another "tablecloth apron"; since the tablecloth was labeled "harvest", it was on clearance for $2. The contrast trim and pocket are cut from a fabric napkin, also on clearance ($ .50).

Other cheap sources of fabric can include new or used tablecloths you already have or from thrift stores (cut around any stains), sheets, curtain panels. I've used all of these to make dresses before, too. Make sure the drape of the fabric is what you want on your finished product. A crisp sateen sheet will give a much different look than a silky damask tablecloth or satin sheet.

This one is a rough copy of a mid-1900's vintage apron. I was able to make 3 of these from one 60" round tablecloth ($5).

After cutting out the main apron body, cut pieces of the placemat to fit where you want them. Cut them out a little bigger than you need, to allow for seams.

Iron under any edges that need to be hidden, pin in place, then stitch.

This placemat was two layers thick, and so was difficult to turn under for a clean edge. I found some 1/8" white ribbon, set that over the edge to hide the little frayed bits, then used a zigzag satin stitch the same width as the ribbon.

The red tablecloth was 60x120"; I can get 4-5 of these flounced aprons from it, or twice as many if they're straight and simple. And the placemat will be enough for trim and a pocket on two aprons. The green tablecloth was 60x72; it will only make two; the flounce is cut in a circle and takes up a lot of fabric.

For 50 free apron patterns, see here; it's also listed on my Favorite Resources page, 2/3 the way down, under "sewing".

Just think of the possibilities!

Refrigerator maintenance

11/22/2011

What is this?

My fridge is having issues. It's about 6 years old, which is considered late middle age for a refrigerator. There was water and ice on the top right fridge shelf, and food was frozen on the right side, but not the left side, of the fridge. Clearly something was not going as designed. And I really want it working well for all that Thanksgiving food! (To be honest, though, when DON'T I want it working perfectly?)

Also, the front half of the outside of the appliance was warm/hot to the touch; the back half was cold. That means the motor is working harder than it should. What to do? I am not fond of paying $100 for a service call, so I tried a couple simple things.

The external hot/cold problem was solved very, very easily. I should have done this earlier; it is supposed to be done regularly anyway. I had forgotten; it's probably been two years. The condenser coils collect dust and lint- they should be vacuumed or brushed off every six months.
Mine were covered in a 1/2" thick 'blanket' of fuzz and dust. They can't do their job of cooling with all that on there!
I vacuumed the coils and everything else down there, then pulled the fridge out, unplugged it (don't skip this step!), and removed the back access panel to see how bad it was back there. It was as coated as the front. I cleaned that area out, using both a long-handled dishwashing brush and the vacuum. That was last night. This morning, the outside of the fridge is all the same temperature. That probably means my electric bill should drop a little bit now, and the motor should last longer. So how hard is it to clean your condenser coils? Very, very, easy. In some cases, you won't even need a screwdriver. My refrigerator is a Whirlpool; to get instructions for other brands, and other repairs or maintenance, one good site is repairclinic.com

Once you understand some of the basic inner workings of your fridge, not only will you have a new respect for it (and its inventors!), but you'll be able to problem-solve better, saving you money!

This is the refrigerator grill, at the front bottom. It's easiest to access with the door open.

Some grills need to have a couple screws removed to pull it off/ mine just clips into place. All I have to do is pull it straight out. Normally I do this with two hands, one close to each end of the grill, but I had to have one hand free for the camera!

These are the condenser coils behind the grill. These have already been cleaned, or you would see nothing but lint!

Sitting next to the fridge grill, this is a specialty brush you can buy to clean with. It's bendable and close to two feet long. Other things that work to clean this narrow space include: some vacuum attachments, a pipe cleaner (those fuzzy things you use in craft projects), a flyswatter, a handled scrub brush.

The back service panel. The fridge has to be pulled away from the wall to access it. Before removing the screws here, cut off the electric current: unplug the fridge or turn it off at the circuit breaker. Turning the control off inside the fridge will not do it. These screws had a six-sided head; use a rachet if you have a head to fit, or a wrench. Or maybe yours are regular screws.

What it looks like inside, after cleaning. The long greyish-white thing on the left is the evaporation tray, right behind the post in the center is the condenser fan and motor, and the black thing is the compressor. Behind the compressor are more condenser coils to clean off.
This back area does not get dirty as quickly as the front, so a cleaning every year or two should be plenty.

Making Gingerbread Houses, part 1- Baking

11/17/2011

It's that time of year...

to make gingerbread houses! Whether you want to make one for a competition, or just make something fun with your children, here's my family's tried-and-tested favorite recipe for eating AND building. (See here for a gluten-free recipe, or just substitute a GF flour blend in place of regular flour.) We have a yearly tradition of everyone in the family decorating a small house. If you want a recipe that will bake up thin yet strong, suitable for competition-level houses, the next couple pictures are of this one. The eating/building recipe has more leavening and therefore a lighter crunch. The 'building' recipe, below, is also good, but more dense. Be sure to roll this one thinly!!!

The pattern I use most often for my family is here.

See here for Part 2- Assembling and Decorating

For the full recipe, along with more instructions, tips, and things I've learned, it's also on the link above. Put in a large bowl or medium saucepan: 1 1/2 c. light corn syrup, 1 1/4 c. brown sugar, and 1 cup butter. This will be easiest if you cut each cube of butter into 5-6 chunks.

Heat in the microwave about a minute or until everything melts and can be stirred together. If using a saucepan, heat over medium-high, stirring until the sugar and butter melt.

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl:
6 3/4 c. flour, 1 Tbsp. cinnamon, 1 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. salt.

I like to grab the dry stuff with my fingers and mix lightly before mixing it with the wet, this saves the step of pre-stirring all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl first.

Stir until everything is mixed well.

This dough will be warm and firm yet soft; it gets stiffer as it cools. It's easiest to roll out while still warm.
If it gets too stiff, return to the microwave for 30 seconds to rewarm it.

Divide dough into 2 or three pieces. Working with one a time, roll directly onto parchment, if at all possible. This will save you immeasurable aggravation!

Try to get it an even 1/8" thick. As you can see, this is quite thin. The corn syrup gives this dough a lot of strength.

Put your pattern on top of the dough, and cut around each piece. Try to have each piece touching as much as possible. The easiest way to cut them, by far, is to use a pizza cutter or pastry wheel.

Bake until golden brown and firm to the touch. Pull out of the oven, and IMMEDIATELY re-cut the pieces, if you need them to be exact. They will have spread a little bit. If you're making eight houses for your family, you can skip this step!

My favorite part of baking gingerbread houses: eating the 'twigs', the skinny little pieces trimmed off the house parts. They are addictive!

To make stand-up trees, cut out two for each tree. Cut a section out of the middle of one of the pieces, as wide as your dough is thick. You'll 'glue' one of these halves on the front of the whole tree, the other half on the back.

Cool on a cooling rack. When all the way cool, I like to stack all the pieces for one house in each stack. Here are five houses -- what one batch of dough made-- ready to put together.

Next is the really fun part- decorating! That is another post.

It's the little details that make gingerbread so fun!

Lemon Chess and other custard pies

11/11/2011

This is a smooth, lemony, egg-based baked pie. Use a fresh lemon for the best flavor, one is all you'll need. If you only have bottled lemon juice, be sure to use the lemon zest, or about 1 tsp. lemon extract, or 4-6 drops lemon oil. The zest gives more flavor than the juice does.

Lemon Chess Pie
5 eggs
1 3/4 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
2 Tbsp. cornmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) melted butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl, then add sugar, juice, zest, cornmeal, salt, and butter. Pour into a parbaked crust, put on the lowest rack so the heat will set the crust. Immediately reduce temperature to 325 or 350 degrees. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until all but about 1” of the center is set. Jiggle the pie to check that- it will jiggle like Jello instead of like water. (If 1" of the center still seems like liquid, that's OK; the center will continue to cook as it cools.) Cool on a rack. Store covered in the fridge.

Pat-in-Pan Crust Looks and tastes just like a rolled-out crust, but is much easier, and does not get tough from handling it.

1 stick butter (1/2 c.) softened but cool
2 oz. cream cheese, softened but cool
1 ¼ c. flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt

Coat a 9” pie pan with cooking spray. Beat together butter and cream cheese until very smooth. Add all else, beat 20-40 seconds more until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Scrape sides of bowl, beat until large clumps form. Set aside 3 Tbsp of dough for top edge. Evenly press remaining dough onto bottom and up sides of the pie pan. On a floured surface, roll each Tbsp reserved dough into a 9” rope, put around top edge of pan; flute edge. Wrap and chill 1 hour, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll out and prick with a fork; bake until golden, 35-40 minutes. Cool on rack.

To "parbake" this crust, you're going to "par"tly "bake" it: cook 20-25 minutes, until the crust looks dry but not browned. Pour the filling in while crust is still warm.

If you’re making multiples of this, it’s easiest to use an upright mixer and wire beaters. You’ll use about two cups of the dough, loosely packed, for each crust.

This recipe is from this week's Custard Pies and Pie Crust class- the two-page handout is on the link. It includes recipes for several custard pies: Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Poor Man's Pecan Pie (Pecan Pie recipe, but using toasted rolled oats INSTEAD of pecans), Rhubarb Custard Pie, and Cranberry Pie.

Sweetened Condensed Milk and substitutes

11/4/2011

Most grocery stores start having 'baking sales' right about now. I usually stock up for the coming year whle these baking ingredients are cheaper. This year the sweetened condensed milk price hasn't been as low as usual.

What can you use if you don't have sweetened condensed milk? (If you want one without dairy or table sugar, see here.)

While playing with it in recipes, I've learned a couple things about it. One 14-ounce can is roughly the same as adding 1 cup of evaporated milk and 1 cup of granulated sugar (more accurate is 7 oz. evaporated milk and 7 oz- which is 1 cup- sugar). You can also use half-and-half, whipping cream, coconut milk, coconut cream, or powdered milk mixed to double strength. If you need it to be rich and are using powdered milk, add a couple tablespoons of butter. Cream of coconut is a pretty good substitute; use the same amount. Coconut cream is my favorite to use in this when cooking for dairy-sensitive people. You can find it, and sometimes coconut milk powder (mix to double strength for coconut cream consistency), at Asian markets. See photo at bottom of post.

Note-- Cream of coconut and coconut cream are NOT the same. Cream of coconut can be found with the drink mixers in any grocery store. It's made of coconut milk, sugar, and stabilizers. Coconut cream is the thick liquid extracted by crushing or grinding coconut meat. - I've found that this homemade "sweetened condensed coconut milk" does NOT set up in the no-bake cheesecake recipe. The homemade stuff made with actual dairy does work. I suspect it has something to do with dairy curdling- and coconut not- when mixed with citrus juice.

If your recipe is not going to be baked, as when you're making Two-Minute Fudge, stir together the milk and sugar, then bring it to a boil to dissolve the sugar crystals. If the food you're making will be baked, the sugar will dissolve as the food cooks.

This substitute also works in reverse: when you have a recipe that calls for 1 cup milk/cream/half&half and 1 cup sugar, you can add a can of sweetened condensed milk!

To see how to make delicious thick apple-wedge-dipping caramel, see the instructions for Making Tres Leches Cake. Just cook the sweetened condensed milk, don't add anything else to it.

Here's a recipe for sweetened condensed milk using powdered milk:

Sweetened Condensed Milk – for the closest version to a 14-oz can, use

1/2 c. powdered milk*
1/2 c. water
1 c. sugar
0-2 Tbsp. butter

If you like to be precise, use 1 1/2 Tbsp. less than 1/2 c. water (this also gives a slightly thicker result, like the can), but the first way is very close (yields 14 3/4 oz) Other recipes use more -or less- of any of those ingredients. Really, they all work. That said, the 'closest' version costs $ .39 if you use no butter, and $ .53 if you use 2 Tbsp. What a deal! One important thing to know- these recipes call for hot or boiling water so the sugar gets completely dissolved. Otherwise you get grainy condensed milk. I usually put my sugar with the water, then microwave and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then blend with the milk powder and butter.

For more recipes using powdered milk, see the post from 10/25/10

or the recipes from The Wooden Spoon Cooking School. For the class handouts for all the Wooden Spoon classes, see my Favorite Resources page.

*If you happen to have some old food storage powdered milk that is labeled 'instant,' check to see if the milk has larger particles. If they're more the size of coarse sand than of dirt, the powdered milk is 'fluffier' in the measuring cup so you'll need to increase the powdered milk in this recipe to about 3/4 cup.

Cooking with Pumpkins

11/2/2011

There are a few previous posts on finding, choosing, buying,storing, or dehydrating pumpkin-

This one is on just preparing it. If you want pumpkin recipes, see The Great Pumpkin e-book, available for free.

The simple version is: cook until soft, mash or puree, use or store it. If you need details, this is the post for you!

I prefer to steam my pumpkin, that way I can keep the skin on and get the extra fiber and minerals from it, and waste less. You can bake it if you prefer; cut in half, clean out the insides, and bake, cut-side down on a cookie sheet. Plan on about an hour at 350 degrees. Baking is a better option if you're using a thick-skinned squash like Hubbard or Acorn (which work fine in pumpkin recipes, by the way).

If you're steaming it, start by scrubbing off any dirt. If there are little blemishes, cut them out or scrape them off with a paring knife. Some are only skin-deep. Cut off the steam and blossom end. Those little brownish-grey bits never will soften up. They won't hurt you, but they're not pleasant to eat.

Cut the pumpkin in half. Scrape out the strings and seeds. A spoon is a great tool. Don't worry about getting all the strings out. They puree. Seeds don't.

Cut the pumpkin in strips about 1 to 2" wide. These will be C-shaped. Turn them on their sides and cut crosswise to make roughly square-shaped pieces.

Put about 1" of water in the largest pot you have. When it comes to a boil, fill the pan with the pumpkin pieces. Bring back to a boil, put a lid on it, and let simmer until tender. It takes about the same amount of time as it does to boil cubed potatoes: about 30 minutes for bigger chunks, less for smaller ones.

When the pumpkin is done, it will be translucent. A fork or knife poked into a piece will meet no resistance. You can still puree it without it being fully cooked, but it's harder on the machine.
Mash with a potato masher if that's all you have (but it won't get rid of strings). I use a blender and usually have to add about 1/4 c. of the cooking water to get it to puree. A food processor would work great.

If you have more puree than you'll use within a week, measure the extra into containers or freezer bags. How much will you use at once? Store that much in each container. I always make two pumpkins pies at a time, which takes 4 cups. So I freeze pumpkin in 4-cup batches. If you only want 1 cup at a time for a batch of cookies, freeze some in that amount. Label them with the contents, amount, and the date. Best if used within a year, but they'll be fine so long as they don't get freezer-burned. It won't make you sick even then, but you'll need more spices to hide that nasty flavor. I sometimes find 3- or 4-year-old bags hiding in the back of the freezer; they cook up just fine.
So that the bags lie flat for storing, you can freeze them on a cookie sheet. This has another benefit- if your bag happens to pop open while freezing, spills are caught on the tray. Yep, I learned this one the hard way. Actually, they'll stack in a less space if you freeze them already stacked up. Just make sure those bags are going to stay closed!

This reminds me of a quote seen today: "Always learn from others' mistakes. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself."

What about the seeds you scraped out? Well, you can toss the whole lot out into a flowerbed or pot outside, and see what grows next year. We prefer to eat them. With your fingers, sort out the seeds. It's a slippery job, but you'll get the hang of it. The strings go in the compost pile outside. If you want to save seeds for next year, put some of the seeds on a paper towel and let them airdry for a couple weeks. Store them in a paper bag or paper envelope. They'll mold if stored in plastic. Label them! Be aware that unless you have a non-hybrid pumpkin, what grows next year will not be exactly the same size, shape, or variety. But it will be pumpkin. Plant in the spring after the last frost. Plant 3-4 seeds close together, and allow them about a 2-4 foot radius for the vines to spread out.

To bake them instead, drizzle with 1-2 tablespoons of oil (this makes them MUCH easier to chew and digest!), sprinkle with salt, and bake until they've turned golden brown. Use any temperature from 350 to 400 degrees, baking will take anywhere from 7-20 minutes, depending how wet they were and how hot the oven is.

Applesauce- or Pumpkin-Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Cloud Frosting

10/26/2011

Hey, I know what this is starting to look like... and no, I really don't make cupcakes ALL the time!
I had a quarterly lunchtime get-together with some friends, and we all brought food. So that's my excuse this time around. That said, everyone flipped over these cupcakes, and insisted that I share the recipe.

True to form for me, there is no single-page recipe for this: I took a regular cake recipe, added applesauce and spices to it, filled it with something complimentary I had in the cupboard, and made my favorite frosting, using cream cheese in it this time.

If you have a copy of The Chameleon Cook, the plain (yellow) cake recipe is on page 74, and the frosting recipe is on pages 76 (Boiled Milk Frosting) and 78 (Cloud Frosting variation). I made a half batch of frosting; it ran out on cupcake #19. If you like a lot of frosting, especially when it's fluffy, creamy, and not too sweet, make the full batch. If you like a strong cream cheese flavor, instead of using 2 sticks (8 oz.) butter and 8 oz. cream cheese, decrease the butter to 1 stick (4 oz.) and add an extra 4 oz. cream cheese (total 12 oz.) To make it even more rich, reduce milk to 1/2 cup, Ultra Gel or flour down to 2 Tbsp, and sugar down to 1/2 cup.

For the cupcakes:
Take any white or yellow cake recipe, or a boxed mix.
Use the same ingredients and instructions as the recipe or box says, except:

Add 1 cup applesauce or pumpkin puree to it, and reduce the liquid the recipe calls for by 1/2 cup (this means reduce the milk to 3/4 cup if you're using my recipe)
Applesauce or pumpkin puree, for cooking purposes, acts like about 50 % water.
Stir in any or all of these spices: using all of them gives a full, round flavor, but if you only have cinnamon, it'll still be good:
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger, or 1 Tbsp. grated fresh, or 1-2 Tbsp. chopped crystallized ginger :-)
3/4 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

If you like, also add 1/2 c. chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts, and/or 1/2 c. raisins

Bake according to regular instructions.

When cool, add filling if you like. I used Dulce de Leche, thinned with enough water that the caramel didn't hold its shape anymore (maybe 2 Tbsp. water to 3/4 c. caramel). But use whatever you have or can make, such as homemade or jarred caramel sauce, unwrapped caramels melted with milk or water (try 1 Tbsp. milk/water for each 10 caramels). If you have a decorating bag with a tip, you can fill the bag with caramel, poke the tip down into the cupcake, and squeeze the bag until the cupcake swells with the filling. I have a bag, but didn't want to mess with it this time. The other way I fill cupcakes is by cutting out a cone-shaped section from the top of the cupcake. Lift it up, put a spoonful of filling in the hole, and replace the top of the cupcake. Frosting the cupcakes will hide those surgery marks. See the photos below.

If you're making mini cupcakes, an easy, non-messy way to get batter in those little cups is with a small ice cream scoop. Use a regular-sized scoop for regular-sized cupcakes.

To fill a cupcake, run a knife around the top, with the blade angled so the tip is in the center, about an inch down.

Lift up the top, and the cupcake is ready to fill! How much you add is up to you. Any less than 1/2 teaspoon just disappears into the cupcake, so use more than that. Add too much and it will spill over the top... so you'll figure out what you like pretty quickly. That said, I used what fit on a regular spoon, about 1 1/2 teaspoons. Put the top of the cupcake back on, then frost.

Sugar Pie Pumpkins

10/25/2011

SO... is there a difference between those big pumpkins that are cheaper, and the littler, "Sugar Pie Pumpkins" that are 3 to 10 times the price?

Yes, there is. The smaller ones are varieties selected for smooth, dense, creamy flesh, with a higher sugar content. The bigger ones are still good for eating, but usually have a higher water content, and often have stringy flesh. When I make pumpkin pie using the small sweet ones, I can get away with using only 1/2 cup sugar per 2 cups puree. If I use the bigger ones, it tastes best if I use the 3/4 cup sugar called for in the recipe.

How big of a pumpkin will you need for one pie?

A very small one. If you're including the peel in your puree, there will be almost no waste from your pumpkin- only the stem, seeds, and stringy center will be taken out. (Remember to rinse, salt, and roast those seeds!) You'll get almost two cups of puree for each pound in your pumpkin, when prepared this way. Two cups will make one 9" pumpkin pie. That means a 5-pound pumpkin will yield enough puree for FIVE pies. And if you use your 25-lb jack-o-lantern?...... Luckily, pumpkin puree freezes well! My favorite way to preserve it now is by making pumpkin powder. Less space, no freezer burn, and no electricity required once it's dry.

If you're using big pumpkins, you can still end up with dense, smooth puree if you know how to handle it. Clean, chop, and steam, boil, or microwave the pumpkin until tender, then run it through a blender or food processor, adding water only if it won't blend without it. You could use a potato masher, but it won't get rid of the strings. When it's smooth, you can either use it as-is (which is thinner than usual), or let it sit in a colander lined with cheesecloth or paper towels. Let it drain at least 1/2 hour. The water drained off has vitamins in it; use that in pancakes, smoothies, or whatever else occurs to you. Any winter squash can be used in pumpkin recipes. I've eaten "pumpkin" pies made of kabocha squash, spaghetti squash, and Hubbard squash. The spaghetti squash was a lot more watery (drain that liquid off!), and if only mashed, not pureed, the texture resembles coconut cream pie (in fact, there's a recipe for Mock Coconut Cream Pie that takes advantage of this!) Hubbard and kobocha are both dense, creamy, and sweet, and only required the 1/2 cup of sugar that I use with sugar pie pumpkins.

Pumpkin Time!

10/20/2011

When else can you get another vegetable for under twenty cents a pound?

You may even get them for free if you ask a farmer, or grocer, right AFTER Halloween. I was able to glean from two different farm fields last year!

I saw an interesting thing, as I was looking for pumpkins in good condition: one man was walking around with a hatchet and a bucket. He wasn't after the pumpkins; he wanted the seeds! It didn't matter if the pumpkin was shriveled or damaged; each pumpkin was chopped open and the seeds scooped out.

Most people look at pumpkins as merely decorations. They are great for giving your yard or home that homey, autumn feel. But one cup of pumpkin (only 49 calories!) is also high in fiber (3 g) and beta-carotene (Vitamin A- 2650 IU), plus calcium (37mg), potassium (564mg), magnesium (22mg), along with smaller amounts of iron, zinc, selenium, Vitamin C, Niacin, folic acid, and Vitamin E. See University of Illinois Extension or Nutritiondata . That's just the pumpkin. The seeds also provide exceptional nutrition.

If you'd like to know how to turn that festive decoration into a form you can eat, it's simple. Basically, you clean it, cook it, and mash or puree it. I much prefer the flavor of fresh pumpkin to that from a can. It can be frozen for later use, dried and powdered, pressure-canned in chunks, or stored whole in a cool (55-70 degrees), dark, dry location. They can last the whole winter stored whole. I stored a Hubbard squash last November; I finally cut into it in July this summer. It was perfect.

For more detailed instructions for cooking it, along with a few dozen recipes, see The Great Pumpkin recipe book. To get cooking instructions and just a few of my favorite recipes-
Pumpkin Chili, Pumpkin-Pecan Yeast Bread, Pumpkin Muffins, and Pumpkin Pie-

see the Pumpkin Class Handout.

Caramel Apple Cupcakes

10/15/2011

Aren't these so cute? I saw them in a magazine someplace last week; wish I could remember which one it was! Anyway, when there was a bake sale at school a couple days ago, it was the perfect excuse to make them!

You can make any kind of cupcake; I chose an applesauce cake recipe to go along with the look. These also got a caramel filling, topped with caramel frosting, rolled in sprinkles, and then poked with a clean craft stick.

Mix up a batch of cake batter, either from scratch, or using a yellow, white, or spice cake mix: to make it applesauce cake, replace half the oil or butter in the recipe with twice as much applesauce (you can replace all the oil, but the cupcakes will be a little bouncy- fat adds tenderness). For a 24-cupcake batch (same size as for a 9x13 pan full), also add 1 Tbsp. cinnamon. If you have them (or like them!), you can also add a total of 2 teaspoons of other spices: ground cloves (go easy here!), nutmeg, ginger, and/or cardamom. Bake as usual. When cool, fill them if you like. I used a sweetened condensed milk caramel (see Making Tres Leches Cake, second paragraph down), mixed with an equal amount of vanilla pudding to make it go further, since I was making 5 dozen. Use whatever you like- homemade or jarred caramel sauce, butterscotch pudding, sweetened cream cheese (2 Tbsp. sugar per 8 oz. cream cheese), cream cheese frosting, or whatever sounds good with apple or caramel.

Make a batch of caramel frosting (see second page here); leave the pan over low heat to keep it warm and soft. If you want sprinkles on the edges, pour a layer about 1/4" deep in a wide bowl or on a plate.

Dip the top of a cupcake in the warm caramel frosting.

Let excess drip off for a couple seconds...

then twist the cupcake so the drips end up on the frosted top.

Put the cupcake on its side in the dish of sprinkles, then rotate it around to coat the edges all around.

Set it on a tray for easy transporting, and insert a craft stick.

Done! (Wasn't that awesome?)

Substitutions for alcohol in recipes

10/11/2011

Alcohol is added for the flavor it gives, as well as for the liquid it adds. Sometimes you can come up with a totally different flavor that you’ll like. For instance, in a sweet dish or beverage, try adding some cream soda or other soda pop, coconut milk, juice or other liquid instead of liquor. In a savory dish, to replace the “umami” flavor from alcohol, use some complementary liquid (water, milk, broth, clam juice, soy sauce, etc.) and/or herbs or spices for flavor. Foods that are high in that ‘umami’ (savory) flavor include aged cheeses (like Asiago, sharp Cheddar, or Parmesan), soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, anchovies or other fish, shellfish, dried seaweed, Chinese cabbage, vinegars, pickled foods, spinach, tomatoes (especially dried ones), mushrooms. Cured, aged, or fermented foods are almost always high in “umami”. Add whatever sounds good with your recipe; they’ll add a lasting depth to the dish’s flavor.

For the substitutions below, I relied heavily on an old cookbook I have, Entertaining Without Alcohol, by Dorothy Crouch.

In place of…       Use this…

Almond Extract
Replace some of the flour with an equal amount of ground almonds, or replace some of the shortening/oil with the same amount of marzipan. The dish will be a little grainy.

Brandy
“Burnt” sugar (caramel) syrup: melt sugar until dark golden. The darker it gets, the less sweet it will be; too dark will be bitter. Add an equal amount of water, stirring in drop by drop as it will splatter. A little goes a long way; use 1 Tbsp. or less.

Calvados or Applejack
Apple cider (fresh, if you can get it). The dish will taste sweet if you use more than ¼ cup of this.

Cassis
Blackberry juice, or add water to blackberry preserves/jam/syrup. Black currant or elderberry may be used instead. If you have the fresh fruit, cook and press it through a sieve if you like.

Cognac
Apple cider with 1 Tbsp. dark brown sugar per ½ cup of cider
Reduce sugar in the recipe

Curacao, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau
Frozen orange juice concentrate, or tangerine juice. For Curacao, also add 1 tsp. grated orange zest (or a little orange oil or extract) per ¼ c. concentrate

Framboise
Replace with an equal amount of unsweetened raspberry juice, or add water to raspberry jam to make it the consistency of juice. If you don’t have any, orange is usually a complementary flavor, or a little almond.

Lemon Extract
Same as Orange Extract, but use lemons.   Use a light hand; too much oil and peel make a dish bitter. Use ¼ tsp. of zest or ¼ tsp. dried peel for ¼ tsp. of extract.

Orange Extract
The oil you get from bending an orange peel over a dish, plus 1 Tbsp. grated orange zest. Or use 1 Tbsp. dried orange peel.

Red Wine
Beef broth, tomato juice, and/or vegetable juice (like V-8).   Don’t substitute cream of tomato soup; it’s too sweet.
Reduce salt by ¼- ½ tsp. for each cup of broth used.

Rum, Light
Simple syrup made using light brown or granulated sugar
Reduce sugar in the recipe

Rum, Dark
Simple syrup made using dark brown sugar
Reduce sugar in the recipe

Sherry
Replace 1 Tbsp. of butter or oil with 1 Tbsp. walnut oil, or add a couple tablespoons finely chopped walnuts.

Vanilla Extract
Use vanilla sugar, vanilla syrup, or vanilla ice cubes. See under this chart for instructions.

White Wine
Replace with an equal amount of chicken broth, fish stock, or clam juice. If you don’t need much flavor, use water or a little apple cider vinegar mixed with broth.
Reduce salt by ¼- ½ tsp. for each cup of broth used.

Wine Vinegars
My understanding of wine vinegars is that there is no alcohol remaining; all vinegar goes through a fermenting stage first. Specific strains of bacteria are added to this, and they digest the alcohols, leaving acetic acid as a byproduct. "White wine vinegar", then, means that at one point the liquid was white wine, before the bacteria changed it. You could just call it "white grape vinegar"; that's what it means. If anyone knows different than this, please let me know.   If you're still concerned with using them, here are some substitutions: White wine vinegar: use distilled white vinegar. For red wine vinegar, use cider vinegar or some other made from fruit (raspberry, pomegranate, etc.)


Vanilla Cubes: Chop 2-4 vanilla beans and add 1 quart (4 cups) of water. Bring to a boil; simmer until reduced by half, to get 2 cups. Cover and let sit overnight to intensify. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth, pressing on the bean bits to get as much flavor out as you can. Pour this liquid into ice cube trays; it will be enough for two trays. When frozen, transfer cubes to freezer bags. Remember to label them!

Vanilla Sugar: Cut 2 vanilla beans into 1” pieces. Stir them into a container with up to five pounds of sugar. Let this sit for a week or more (longer= better flavor). To use the sugar, pour it through a sieve. Alternately, you could very finely chop those vanilla beans, and use the sugar with flecks in it.

Vanilla Syrup: Follow instructions for Vanilla Cubes, above, except: instead of straining and freezing the water into cubes, mix the liquid with the bean bits in a saucepan with 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil, cover the pot for a few minutes to let any stray sugar crystals dissolve in the steam. Cool and pour into a jar, including the bean bits. If the mixture crystallizes, reheat it to dissolve. Reduce sugar in the recipe by about the same amount of syrup used.

Cream of Tomato Soup and Cheesy Biscuits

10/7/2011

What better meal for a chilly, rainy, end-of-the-garden kind of day?

Picture warm, smooth, bright-flavored cream of tomato soup; tender, flavorful bacon and cheese biscuits with a crispy exterior.

The recipes are simple, and definitely beat store-bought for flavor and aroma! I'll be teaching a class on this, with variations, next week (see Classes), and the recipes and variations come from my cookbook, The Chameleon Cook.

Cream of Tomato Soup
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 medium onion
1/2 one carrot
1/2 one celery stalk
1-2 Tbsp. flour
1 lb. fresh, or 14 oz. can stewed, tomatoes
2 sprigs fresh parsley, 1 Tbsp. fresh basil, or 1 tsp. dried basil
1 c. chicken broth, or 1 c. water and 1 bouillon cube
1 c. evaporated milk, half-and-half, or cream
salt and pepper to taste

Cheesy Biscuits
1 cube butter, melted and cooled
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup cold buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 -1 cup shredded cheese
2 slices bacon, crumbled (optional)

If you're making both, start by turning on your oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chop half a medium onion, half a carrot (or 3-4 baby carrots), and half of one celery stalk. Cook over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon butter or oil. Stir once in a while, until the vegetables are tender, about ten minutes (depending on the

While the vegetables are cooking, start the biscuits. Melt one stick of butter; set it aside to cool. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. sugar.

Stir one cup of very cold (right out of the fridge) buttermilk or sour milk into the butter. As you stir, the butter should start to form clumps. This is good; it gives you the same effect as "cutting in" the butter with the flour, but much quicker. Pour all but about a tablespoon of it into the flour mixture, add 1/2 to 1 cup shredded cheese (the milder the cheese, the more you need), and a couple tablespoons cooked & crumbled bacon (optional). If you like, you can also add 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper and/or 1/2 tsp. mustard to accent the cheese flavor. Stir just until combined.

Put big spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet. If you want a more structured biscuit shape, use a greased 1/4 c. measuring cup as a scoop.

Dip a pastry brush into that last little bit of milk/butter; dab some on the tops of all the biscuits. Put them into the oven to bake, then check on your vegetables. These will take about 12-14 minutes to cook- you want the tops crusty golden, and the insides just set.

When the vegetables are tender, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour depending on how thick you want your soup. Cook and stir for one minute, to brown the flour a little.

Put 1 pound of fresh tomatoes (or use one 14-oz. can of stewed tomatoes) in the blender or food processor. Add the vegetables, one cup of chicken broth (or water and bouillon), and blend until smooth.

Pour back into the saucepan. To catch any little lumps or bits of tomato skin, set a fine-mesh sieve over the pan as you pour. (optional) Add a couple sprigs of fresh parsley, a tablespoon of fresh basil, or a tespoon of dried basil. Simmer for 10-20 minutes, to blend the flavors.

Stir in one cup of half-and-half, cream, or evaporated milk. Add salt and pepper to taste; about 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
Serve hot, with those biscuits to dunk in it!

Now let that wind blow and rain patter against the windows!

Extending Your Harvest

9/29/2011

Ah, harvest time!

Our gardening days this season are numbered: according to the data at the KSL weather center, the average first frost of the fall in Riverton (they don't list South Jordan) is September 24, and the latest first frost was October 4th. So enjoy that produce while it lasts!

That first one is not necessarily a killing frost. Even if it is, there are at least two simple ways to protect your plants: cover them with a sheet, blanket, or tablecloth; or turn your sprinklers on the garden overnight. That will form a layer of ice that protects the plants from dropping below 32 degrees. The plants won't die at the freezing point. How do you know if it will freeze at your house? The rule of thumb I use is: check the temperature outside at 10pm; it will drop about ten degrees more overnight.

So- if it's 42-44 degrees at 10pm, plan on protecting any plants you want to keep growing.

Things you can do in the garden right now, besides keeping up with the tomatoes and zucchini (!):

-trim asparagus plants to the ground

-put mulch around your rhubarb (it'll come up a little earlier that way)

and don't prune or fertilize bushes or trees right now; doing that now sends the plants a message to grow new branches. Those new ones will not be tough before winter, leading to extra winter damage.