It Starts: and no that was not a reference to the Lion King

So, I am now back at School....all I can say is holy moly, so much to do, so many people to see, and all while on culture shock from being gone for over 9 months!

yikes

needlesss to say I am having to post a gone fishing sign up right now because I just cannot keep this blog going and deal with all school stuff and I feel bad making people check for updates when there are not any

so! I do have several posts ready to go (meals, desserts, updates, etc.) but they will have to be put on hold to post maybe in October or November....

happy Schools!!!

Summer is just a Peach (or maybe 14 or 15 of them...)

 We had a large gathering of many of the Longsworth clan over at my house this past weekend. In my childhood one of the many things I can remember about visiting the Longsworth house in the summer was all the fresh seasonal fruit that was always available. Blackberries, Peaches, Blueberries, and many more. we had fruit with ice cream, fruit pies, and most importantly, fruit cobblers!!! 

Cobbler is like sweat bread or scones, mixed with the best fresh fruit. how can one go wrong with that!

So for this gathering I decided to make a Peach Cobbler. Mine was a bit runny since I omitted alot of the Sugar and Flour, so my recommendation is NOT to reduce the amounts on this recipe by too much or you will have basically just fruits and bread (equally as delicious, but not quite a cobbler...).

also note, if you want to make more dumplings for the top, by all means go for it! I personally like my cobbler covered with dumplings, but that is not how I made them this time. The dumplings in the picture are not cooked yet, but once they are cooked they don't expand or anything, they just brown a bit.

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

12-15 FRESH Peaches, peeled and thinly sliced

¼ to 1/3 c. Sugar (depends on how sweet you want it)

1/3 c. Flour

4 Tbsp Butter

 

3 1/3 c. Bisquick mix (to make at least 20 dumplings) (you could use Jiffy, but it is not soy free)

15 Tbsp (a little less than 1 c.) Milk

Cinnamon to taste (optional)

Process

Preheat oven to 350 F

Slice the peaches into an ungreased 9x13 baking pan

Sprinkle Sugar evenly over surface

Cut Butter into slices and place ontop of Peaches at even intervals

Sprinkle Flour evenly on top

For Dumplings, mix the Milk and Bisquick into a soft dough and drop in 20 Dumplings evenly over the top of the cobbler

Bake at 350 F uncovered for about 20 minutes or until Dumplings are golden brown on top

Two brief Vacations: Indiana and Wisconsin

ok, perhaps I should put these in two separate posts instead of one fairly long one, but I am trying to keep the lifeposts to a minimum and maximize my cooking ones, so, here is a rapid fire update of the past life events

I got to go on a camping trip with a very very good friend. Since she lives in Wisconsin still, we decided to meet in the middle at Indiana Dunes State Park. We had a couple scares before we even got to the park, first the weather was predicted to be thunderstorming and in the 90s...then a car broke down and one of us had to take the bus to get there! Agh! but it all ended up being ok, we got there and we are troopers (if I do say so myself) so we thought we could tough out any weather that came our way.

The first day was only about 90, we set up camp and took a short walk down to the beach to just sit and watch the water and talk for ages. Too hot for a campfire we ate our hotdogs panfried style and skipped the s'mores before lying in our tent and watching the heat lightning flash off the lake.

it LOOKS cold...not so

Day two we woke early, as one is wont to do whilst camping since the sun is up and there are no window shades in tents. We took a long walk through some woods (VERY buggy, we had to apply bugspray several times) and then along the beach for at least 2 miles, stopping along the way to have our Rye Crisp and Mustard lunch (campfood we both fell in love with due to a boundary waters trip together). It was not so hot this day and the sun was behind foggy clouds all day so the temperature stayed down at a tolerable 85 or so. We took a lovely nap at the campsite in the later afternoon, and had fun watching other people afterwards while we played Canasta and Speed. One thing I must say is that this campground has NO privacy, the sites are so close together and there are few trees, when we first arrived we were not even sure which site was ours they were so much on top of each other.

games, fruits from Trader Joe's, Clif Bars. What more does one need?

Day three was our final full day at the Dunes. We took the morning to do some real dune hiking and jumping before the sand heated up too much for our feet to stand.

By lunchtime it had reached 99 so we booked it to the air conditioned visitor center and watched a couple videos on how the dunes were special and how they were formed etc. We then drove to Mt. Baldy (the biggest dune around, it is 'alive' moving inland at 15 feet a year!) and ate lunch in the parking lot in the shade of the car. Even though it was now probably 100 and the heat of the day, we decided to hike up the 'mountain' (its only 180 feet high) of a dune, the really nice thing was it was very close to Lake Michigan, so we just ran down it and straight into the VERY pleasant water to swim and cool off for an hour before heading back to camp.


No fire again that night, we instead ate some of the best hummos I have ever had before lying in the tent attempting to fall asleep. This was difficult seeing as there was absolutely no breeze and it was still so hot that you sweated even doing nothing. Oh well, we continually talked about how we were such good campers (despite the fact we took showers every night, drove around in an air conditioned car, had ice water...ya know, real backwoodsy camping). It was a blast of a time, and really nice to spend some time camping! despite the heat it was great and I do love camping, even when there are not showers, but if they are there, capitalize on them right?!

The next weekend, my family and I drove up to WI for my Dad's Tae Kwon Do second dan Black Belt Test. We first visited Sam at Epic Systems in Madison where he works now. Epic is awesome! It is a huge bunch of buildings that are all themed, so there is the 'dragon slayers building' and the 'rainforest building' etc. there is a slide to get from one floor to another, and swings near the huge treehouse where some meetings are held, there is a 'castle' room and a giant rocking horse, and the best part is there are no signs that say not to touch or anything! It is great! If I worked there, I would rarely get any work done I think...








































After Epic we went to Sam's apartment, a really nice one I thought, good for one or even three people living together, though not so great if those people are not related...no roommate space, but Sam lives alone at this point so that was ok.

Day two we left Madison and went over the the Cedarburg area to visit some old friends, we didn't get to go around town too much which was sort of dissapointing, but you can't fit everything in right?




Day three we headed up to Sheboygan Falls for the test. It did not take as long as they were expecting which was a pleasant surprise. It was really amazing to see all of these people (alot of whom I know well) testing for their black belts of various levels. I remember when it was amazing to even see a black belt, and now here they all are, no big deal, testing for sixth dans...it was fun. I was also extremely proud of my Dad, he has advanced so much since I was last able to really watch him do Tae Kwon Do. Since there is no school here in Ohio, it is also that much more amazing that he has had the drive to continue for the past nine months all on his lonesome at home.

the hosinsool

After the test (which went really well except for the breaking, it was too humid) we all went to a cabin of some friends for a delicious dinner of fresh-from-the-lake, caught-by-Don-this-morning Salmon and some great company. We then spent the night in this wonderful rustic little cabin before heading out early the next morning for Ohio again, but we did not leave without getting loads of corn from Witties Vegetable and Fruits (near Cedarburg they have the best corn in the world. In. The. WORLD!) and the Java House (best coffee in Wisconsin for 6 years running).



What a whilrwind, packed chock full of happenings it was too short a trip, next time I shall have to go up for a bit longer than a weekend, its just not enough time to fit everything in!

This was supposedly the 'door to Hell' in the lower level of one of the Epic buildings. It was closed...perhaps I will tryback some time

Dessert 'Snails': What to do with too much leftover Pie Crust

These are a dish I remember from my childhood. When my mom would make pies (particularly the kind with only a bottom crust) she would occasionally have not quite enough extra dough to make another crust, but just enough extra dough to use for something else. This invention we dubber 'Snails'. We would literally sit in front of the toaster and watch these babies cook, drooling more and more as their smell wafted out around us. I think that perhaps it was through the smell that we actually figured out when they were sufficiently cooked, we just knew what they were 'supposed' to smell like to get that perfect golden and flakey texture without going over to the browning or blackened burn. This is a simple and YUMMY way to use that extra crust and they are really fun to make for kids. After all, who doesn't want to brag that their kid eats snails willingly right?

Dessert Snails

Ingredients

Pie crust

-          3 c. Flour plus 2 Tbsp

-          1 c. cold Butter (2 sticks)

-          1 tsp Salt

     Up to ¼ c. ice cold water (only  enough to make a dough)

Some very soft Butter

Cinnamon

Brown Sugar

Process

-          To make the crust: Combine flour and salt in a bowl, cut butter into manageable chunks and use a fork to smash and work it into the flour until you have a crumbly dough with no large butter lumps. Then, add the ice water a little bit at a time, just until the dough comes together (it will still be very crumbly) you probably won’t need the full ¼ cup of water to achieve this.

-          Roll out the crust into a rectangle about 1/8 inch thick (about the same as you would for any pie you were making)

-          Spread enough soft butter over the dough that the sugar will have enough to stick to

-          Sprinkle the buttery dough with brown sugar, enough to coat it well

-          Sprinkle with desired amount of Cinnamon

-          Roll the dough into a roll (similar technique to cinnamon rolls) and cut into circular pieces about 1 inch high

-          Place on well greased baking sheet and bake in preheated oven at 400 F for 8-10 minutes or until very slightly golden.

-          Cool and serve!

      Notes

     Obviously if you already have a crust from a pie, just roll it into a ball again and roll it out to make it flat, then begin with the cinnamon and sugar etc.

     Also, if you don't want the extra step of making them into spirals, just cooking the dough as a flat sheet with the sugar and cinnamon on top works as well (this version is similar to 'elephant ears')

Cold Sweet Potato Salad

I love sweet potatoes. I LOVE them. more than pumpkin, more than butternut squash, more than most other vegetables I believe. I recently discovered that unfortunately, sweet potatoes are not much better for you than regular potatoes, particularly once peeled...but they are still a bit better and they taste amazing. I think orange veggies in general are my top choice, but these delectable yammy things are definitely the best.

Since it has been super hot recently, I have been looking for ways to prepare things with minimal oven/stove usage. Hence, cold soups, salads, slaws, etc. In my journey to Australia one of the actually good things the cafeteria served (on rare occasions) was a cold sweet potato salad. Fairly simple in ingredients, i never procured a specific recipe, but I ate it enough to make some educated guesses as to the ingredients, and looking online for other sweet potato salad recipes I was able to come up with a cold salad that satisfied my tastebuds to the max.

Here is the recipe, I hope it is as enjoyable to others as it was for me! One note, I am picky and for me the consistency of the sweet potato needs to be good: baked enough that it is not crunchy, but also not mushy either, to really set of this dish well. But if that doesn't matter to you, it really doesn't effect the flavor in the slightest.

Cold Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients

3 med. or lg. Sweet Potatoes

4 c. Baby Arugula

2 Tbsp Rosemary

2 tsp Parsley

1 Roasted Red Pepper, chopped

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

¼ of a lg. Red Onion (about ½ cup chopped)

2 Tbsp of the Roasted Red Pepper Juice (if it came from a jar) or 2 extra Tbsp Olive Oil

3 Tbsp Lime Juice or Lemon Juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

Process

-          Preheat oven to 400 F, cube the sweet potatoes in 1 inch pieces, place on greased baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or so, until softened and not crunchy, but not mushable either (should still hold their shape when forked). Allow to cool

-         
       Mix the Arugula, Rosemary, Red Pepper, Olive Oil, and Onion in a large bowl

-          Add the Sweet Potato, remaining Olive Oil/Red Pepper juice, Lime/Lemon Juice, Salt and Pepper. Mix well

-          Refrigerate until ready to serve!

Notes

-          Might also be good with a tad of mint instead of the Parsley.

Soy Free Stirfry 'Soy' Sauce that actually tastes very similar to regular Stirfry Sauce. Best use for Vegemite

Remember all that Vegemite you brought back from Australia? That weird tasting, yeasty, salty, brown stuff? Well I have stumbled upon what is possibly the best use for Vegemite ever!

My sister is allergic to all things Soy. This means (of course) that Soy-Sauce is absolutely out of the question. The severe drawback of this is it pretty much cuts out any sort of stir-fry type foods. We have tried making them with other sauce alternatives, but have not found them to be even remotely close in yummy-ness to Soy Sauce sauces.

SOLUTION! VEGEMITE! Upon my return from Australia I brought back with me several packets of this stuff for various relatives and friends to try (since Vegemite is totally and completely an Australian experience...whether or not it is a good tasting experience depends on the person). However, I brought way too much, so we have been trying to find some sort of use for it. Well, its salty, and brown, so, let us try it as a Soy-Sauce substitute.

YES! THIS WORKS!!!! Thus! Here is my Soy-Free Stir Fry Sauce recipe, it is not exactly the same of course but it is pretty darn close to any old regular stirfry sauce in terms of flavor. We will be having it much more often, Vegemite...who knew!!

The amounts are approximate, since we have only made this once it is still a work in progress, but it is close! just a bit of playing around with these amounts should produce a Soy-Free Sauce worth repeating!

No-Soy StirFry Sauce

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Vegemite

½ c. Water

1 ½ Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

3 Tbsp Rice Vinegar

1 ½ Tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

¼ c. Ginger, finely chopped

Process

-           In a jar put Vegemite, Water, Worcestershire, and Balsamic. Shake well and refrigerate until ready for use

-          When ready to add sauce to Stirfry veggies, add to jar the Rice Vinegar, Sesame Oil,  Apple Cider Vinegar, and Ginger. Shake well and pour over Stirfry!

Notes

You could probably mix everything but the ginger in the jar ahead of time and add the ginger when you cook. But this way works well!

also, the ginger is ESSENTIAL. it with the Vegemite is what makes the sauce taste like a soy-sauce mix

Basil Parmesan African Bread

Going again into the African Cookbook I checked out of the Library, I needed to use a recipe for bread that would go well with my Cool Cucumber Soup. I chose the Basil Parmesan as a complement, and it turned out to work well together.

This bread is fairly dense, and my loaf was perhaps a bit dry, but when used with the soup it gave a nice cheesy and onion accent to the simple flavors. This bread tastes a little like an everything bagel with cheese, my Mom found it was good as toast with a bit of roasted tomato on top, and, if sliced thin enough it is a great grilled cheese bread.

Lastly, though we did not try this, I think it would do really well as a garlic bread with tomato spaghetti. Perhaps not the best on its own due to the slightly dry nature of it (I am not enough of a bread person to know how to fix this yet, I am working on it), it is certainly a good complement to many summery dishes.

Basil and Parmesan Bread

Ingredients

½ c. Milk

2 Tbsp Butter

2 ½ c. Bread Flour

1 envelope (or 2 ½ tsp) active dried Yeast

½ Tbsp Sugar

½ tsp Salt

1 Egg, lightly beaten to break the yolk and blend

1 c. Parmesan Cheese, grated

8 Scallions, sliced

1 tsp crushed Garlic (about 2 cloves)

12-15 Basil leaves

Process

-          Heat the Milk with half the Butter just so the butter melts into the milk, DO NOT BOIL. Set aside to cool lukewarm

-          Combine the Flour, Yeast, Sugar and Salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center

-          Add the lukewarm milk mixture, Egg and Parmesan Cheese to the Flour mix and mix together to make a soft dough. If the dough doesn’t come together enough (is too dry) add splashes of milk as you knead in the bowl until it comes together

-          Knead for a few minutes on a well floured surface until the dough is smooth and elastic

-          Shape into a ball and place in a greased bowl, cover with greased wax paper in a warm dry place and leave to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until doubled in size.

-          While the dough is rising, sautee the Scallions and Garlic with the rest of the Butter until the onions are slightly colored. Remove from heat

-          Chop the Basil into small pieces and add to Scallions, allow this to cool.

-          Once dough is risen, punch it, and knead into the Scallion mixture until mix is fully stuck to the dough.

-          Shape into a loaf and place it in a greased loaf pan covering with the wax paper and leaving to double again (about 30 minutes)

-          Bake in preheated oven at 350 for 35-50 minutes or until crusty and golden on the outside. When tapped it should sound hollow

Cool enough that it sets well and serve either slightly warm right away or wait and serve cold. We had it the next day with a cool cucumber and parsley soup and it was absolutely scrumptious!

            Recipe Source: the African Kitchen by Josie Stow and Jan Baldwin

Cool Cucumber Soup

It has been HOT, broiling at around 100 degrees for the past three days, and humid to boot, I wanted to use the oven and stove as very very little as possible to avoid heating up the house.

On a camping trip at Indiana Dunes with a friend we looked through some Real Simple magazines and saw a Cool Cucumber Soup. Perfect! simple, cold, filling, and cucumbers are in season! The recipe below is a variation on that recipe we found and it is certainly very good! Simple flavors make this soup perfect for an icy meal on a hot day. We combined it with a Basil and Parmesan bread for a perfectly good quick and easy summer dinner.

Cool Cucumber Soup

Ingredients

3 med. to lg. Cucumbers, roughly chopped

1 c. Yogurt

1/3 c. combination of fresh Mint, Parsley, and Basil leaves, roughly chopped

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

A pinch of Cayenne pepper

Process

-          Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until totally smooth

-          Refrigerate until very cold, then serve! 

      Makes enough for 3 good sized servings

Notes

Sour Cream or Cottage Cheese can be substituted for the Yogurt if you want a slightly thicker consistency

I recommend serving with some sort of bread (we used African Basil and Parmesan Bread)

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting

The Star of the show

I found a blog called the Brown Eyed Baker that I really enjoyed alot of the recipes I found. Dying to try something and having a serious craving for pumpkin (I know it is not autumn yet but I could not wait), I saw the recipe for Whoopie Pies as intriguing and wanted to experiment. I found that due to the humidity in Ohio the pies/cookies turned out a little gummy on the outside and plenty dense on the inside once they are not fresh out of the oven. But running them through a toaster for a couple brief minutes gets rid of this problem quite nicely, though they cannot have frosting on them if you put them in the toaster as the frosting will obviously melt off...

I was alone in the house and I had a cracking good time making them while singing along at the top of my lungs to musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, the Music Man, and the Sound of Music. Even if one is not singing rather poorly to one's dog, these cookies are as much fun to eat while you are making them as they are afterwards! (yes they have raw egg, so one has to be careful). I had a 29 oz can of Pumpkin, which is about a half cup more than the recipe calls for...but somehow I ended up with an empty can of pumpkin! (hint, I did not use extra in the cookies...pumpkin is just that yummy...). and Cream Cheese Frosting? Really? I mean, one almost has to double the recipe just to get enough leftover to put on the cookies! However, enough of the ingredients made it into the oven and into the frosting that I actually had some to serve to my family. The verdict was, a little gummy, with some odd texture, but VERY good flavor and the icing one really cannot go wrong with. So, in conclusion, while this is a good idea, perhaps if one is looking for a pumpkin cookie that is more like a cookie and less like a cake, one needs to look elsewhere. Or, use a toaster later, really they tasted great.


Pumpkin Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Frosting

For the Whoopie Pies:

3 c. Flour
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt
1 tsp ground Ginger
½ tsp ground Nutmeg
2 c. Brown Sugar
1 c. Canola Oil (or use half applesauce, but add a little sugar if using green applesauce)

3 c. chilled Pumpkin puree (canned pumpkin)
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla extract

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

4 cups Powdered Sugar
12 ounces Cream Cheese, at room temperature
3 ounces (½ cup) unsalted Butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons Maple Syrup (optional, but add a little powdered sugar if you use this)
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Process

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease and flour baking sheets

In a large bowl, whisk together the Flour, Cinnamon, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Salt, Ginger and Nutmeg. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the Brown Sugar, and the Oil/Applesauce together.

Add the Pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the Eggs and Vanilla and whisk until combined.

Gradually add the Flour mixture to the Pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.

Use a large spoon to drop a rounded, heaping tablespoon of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, making sure that the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. The cookies should be firm when touched. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on a cooling rack.

To make the Frosting, beat the Butter until smooth with no visible lumps.

Add the Cream Cheese and beat until smooth and combined.

Add the Powdered Sugar a little at a time until desired consistency, then add the Maple Syrup (if using) and Vanilla and beat until smooth.

To assemble them as whoopie pies: Turn half of the cooled cookies upside down. Spread some frosting onto that half. Place another cookie, flat side down, on top of the frosting. Press down slightly so that the frosting spreads to the edges of the cookie. Repeat until all the cookies are used. Put the whoopie pies in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm before serving.

I opted for the iced cookie version

Otherwise, just Frost the tops of the cookies and serve!

*Recipe Credited to Browneyedbaker, with a few of my own edits, and her source.

African Cooking

So, this week I went to the library as is custom every Friday. I always spend so much time at this lovely place, and I recently discovered the cooking section. Chock full of interesting books I picked out a few that looked try-worthy (I would have taken them all, but that was just not feasible, limited space on our shelves etc.). One of these was the African Kitchen. Designed as the journey of the authors through Africa and the various meals they had along the way this book is a fun read as well as a cookbook with phenomenal photography.

Many of the recipes looked scrumptious (green banana and lentil salad, cold apple and curry soup, and more), but I can't make them all at once, so I chose a few to try out. The first of which is Jeanette's Charkalaka. Looking up the word Charkalaka, I found it means a cabbage salad basically, sort of like a coleslaw without mayonnaise. We had all the ingredients, thus I gave it a shot.

Traditionally made for large gatherings, the ingredients are readily accessible not only in Africa, but pretty much everywhere. This recipe makes quite a bit of food and does not have too much strong flavors other than the spice and taste of the veggies themselves, so it is appealing to a wide audience perhaps.

Jeanette’s Charkalaka (Spicy Cabbage Salad)

Ingredients

1 Onion, sliced

2 Garlic cloves, crushed

1-2 Chili’s

some Olive Oil

1 Green Pepper, chopped

1 Red Pepper, chopped

1 Yellow Pepper, chopped

1 large Cabbage, sliced thinly

1 lb Carrots, grated

1 Tbsp Paprika

½ Tbsp Cayenne

16 oz canned or frozen Peas

Salt and Pepper to taste

Process

Sautee the Onion, Garlic, and Chili together until the onion starts to color

Add the Peppers, Cabbage, Carrots and cook for a few minutes until they start to soften

Add the spices and the Peas and cook until vegetables are a little softer 

Serve either warm or cold. Makes quite a lot of food, a half recipe would probably feed four people quite well.

Notes

 

I used this recipe from the African Kitchen by Josie Stow and Jan Baldwin. The original calls for a whole Tbsp of Cayenne, but I found that to be WAAAAAY too spicy for my taste, so, my recommendation is ½ Tbsp for those with less heat tolerance, you can always add more if it is not spicy enough, but once it is spiced you can’t really take that away!

we have also found that this is actually better served cold. It gives time for the flavors to sink in and bring each other out, as well as tempering the spicyness to a certain degree (a lesser degree..harhar)