I haven't felt very bloggy, as I have been up to my ears in strawberries, ha ha! My sister & our friend, Cristy, went to Sauvie Island Farms last weekend & picked soooooo many berries. I got 24 pounds of them. :/ Somebody stop me! Here's what I did with most of them, besides eating them plain...
First off, lots of Strawberry-Honey Jam. I used Pomona's Universal Pectin, which is awesome because you don't need to use much, if any sweetener, depending on the fruit; in fact, it gels with calcium, rather than sugar. I've been avoiding white sugar, for the most part, & used 1/2 cup honey to sweeten each batch (per 4 cups mashed strawberries). The resulting jam is just right & won't give the recipients diabeetus.
There are 29 jars of this stuff---some pints, some half-pints, & some teensy-tiny ones. I can't wait to mix it into yogurt & slather it on toast throughout the year!
I also made some pseudo-ice cream. Since I don't have an ice cream maker, I just whipped some heavy cream, then folded in some strawberry puree before freezing. It's a little crystallized, but I wasn't feeling fancy enough to care. :)
If you're in a similarly non-fancy mood, here's how I made it:
Rustic Strawberry-Honey Ice Cream & Sauce
- 1/2 pint heavy cream
- 2 cups strawberry puree
- 3/4 cup honey (more or less, to taste)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon arrowroot starch
Whip the cream until stiff peaks form, being careful not to over-whip, or you'll have butter (which isn't that shabby, actually). Fold about half of the strawberry-honey mixture into the cream. It will be somewhat runny, just so you know. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours or so.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by whisking the arrowroot into the remaining syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer for about a minute, then pour into a jar to cool.
Drizzle the ruby syrup over your ice cream & eat it while basking in the sun!
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I also whipped up a couple treats for a dinner at Coral's house. Of course I forgot to take pictures of them until after I wrapped them up. By the time I realized it, I was running late & just wanted to head over, so sorry!
Luckily, I had set aside a cookie for Ethan, so I have a better shot of that. I made cookie sandwiches, filled with a little homemade peach jam. Mmmmmmm...
Brown Butter Shortbread adapted from My Madison Bistro- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour
Preheat the oven to 325*F. Brown the butter by melting it over medium heat, stirring it frequently until brown & fragrant, about 4-8 minutes. Chill it in the freezer until solid again.
Cream the butter, brown sugar & vanilla. Add the flour & mix until combined. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Pop into the freezer for a bit until it's firmed up.
Cut into desired shapes & place on a cookie sheet. Bake until golden on the edges, 15-20 minutes, depending on how large you made them.
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Black-Bottom Coconut Bars adapted from Martha Stewart
Base:
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup organic sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
Topping
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup organic sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 3 cups unsweetened coconut (reserve 1/2 cup for garnish)
Preheat the oven to 375*F & butter a 9X9-inch pan; set aside.
Whisk together the butter, sugar & egg. In a small bowl, stir together the flour & cocoa, then stir into the wet ingredients. Spread into the prepared pan & bake for 10-15 minutes, just until it begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
While that's baking, prepare the coconut topping. Whisk together the eggs, sugar & vanilla. Stir in the flour, then fold in 2 1/2 cup of coconut. Spread carefully over the baked base. It's pretty thick, so I just dolloped it on top, then carefully pressed it out. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/2 cup coconut. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let cool before cutting into squares.
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On the crafty front, I've been in a crocheting mood, working on my granny square blanket & making a garland for my mom.
Here are all the little hearts, before weaving in the ends:
I made the small hearts from here, then made the garland according to here, except I only chained 4 on top of the hearts, rather than 6, since they were smaller. And here's the finished product:
Cute little hearts!
The other night, my sister & her friend, Megan, invited me to their cute new house for a Southern feast! My sister made delectably tender cornbread. Megan made baked beans (which, tragically, wouldn't soften up till way after dinner) & perfect peach cobbler. I went overboard, of course, & brought BBQ ribz, coleslaw, roasted asparagus, & iced tea!
Only shot I took of the initial feast:
Smels gave me her recipe for cornbread. It is so good! She doesn't know where the recipe came from, besides her greasy Post-it note. :)
Smels' Cornbread of Delight
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 Ener-G egg replacer (or a large egg)
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
Preheat the oven to 400*F. Butter an 8X8- or 9X9-inch pan & set aside. In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredients & mix until just combined. Pour into prepared pan & smooth out the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Eat with butter & honey!
Once I got home, Ethan requested some more ribz, so I made another batch of them, plus more coleslaw!
WARNING: what follows is basically an excuse for eating a bunch of BBQ sauce...
BBQ Ribz adapted from VegFamily- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
- 7 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 9 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2/3 cup cold water
- 1 bottle BBQ sauce
Preheat oven to 350*F. Oil a large cookie sheet & set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the butter & peanut butter; once you've stirred them together, remove from the heat.
In a medium bowl, combine the gluten, nutritional yeast, flour, paprika, salt, pepper, onion powder & garlic powder. Stir in the water. If the dough is super dry, you can add a teensy bit more water. Use your hands to form the dough into a 1/2-inch thick, vaguely rectangular, shape.
On a large cutting board, pour half the peanut butter mixture. Plop the rectangle of dough on this, then pour the remaining peanut butter mixture. Use your fingertips to poke the dough over & over, getting the peanut butter goodness into the whole thing. The rectangle will get bigger, but you shouldn't be poking holes into it, just go halfway through the dough.
Using a big knife, cut the nutty dough into strips that are about 1/2-inch wide. Carefully transfer them to the oiled cookie sheet. It's okay if some break or stretch out---those are the little taste-testers for the chef!
Bake the ribz for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn them over, & spoon about half the BBQ sauce over them.
Bake for 5-7 minutes. Turn them again, & spoon the remaining sauce over them. Bake for another 5-7 minutes. Let cool for a while, so you don't burn yourself. They're actually much tastier if you let them sit for a couple hours, or even overnight!
This coleslaw recipe is from my late Granny, who no doubt clipped this from The Oregonian. It's a copycat of the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe, so there are copious amounts of sugar in it, of course. Feel free to cut back as much as you want, but realize you won't be eating all of the sugar, unless you drink the sauce from the bottom of the bowl. :)
Best Coleslaw Evarrr
- 1/2 head purple cabbage, shredded
- 1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
- 2 carrots, peeled & shredded
- 2 tablespoons minced onion
- 1/2 cup Vegenaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream (or vegan equivalent)
- 1/2 cup sugar (I know, I know!)
- 3 tablespoons vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Combine all the ingredients in the hugest bowl you can find. Refrigerate for at least an hour, stirring a couple more times. The veggies will let go of some moisture, & will wilt down into the saucy goodness.I discovered that a delicious wrap could be made by laying down some greens, coleslaw & 3 ribz on a scrumptious wheaty tortilla. Perfect with hot sauce too!
The Saturday Farmer's Market had some scrumptious sugar snap peas, which are a perfect snack!
Oh, I also made the famous New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies for my Feminist Biblical Interpretations class party! I'll admit that I don't follow the recipe to its utmost pretentiousness level, & they're still edible, ha ha.
Big ol' cookies, cooling in the windowsill...
Chocolate Chip Cookies w/Toffee & Pecans adapted from Jacques Torres
- 1 1/4 cups butter (I use salted, sue me!)
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large eggs
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4-1 teaspoon kosher salt (use less, if using sea salt, or table salt)
- 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips
- 4 ounces toffee chunks
- 4 ounces chopped toasted pecans
Cream the butter, sugars & vanilla till light & fluffy. Add the eggs & beat for about a minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple times.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Either add the flour, half at a time, to the mixer, or just pour the creamed ingredients into the flour bowl & do it by hand. I prefer the latter, since I can make sure everything is combined evenly, with less of a risk of over-mixing.
Dump in the add-ins: chocolate, toffee & pecans. Work them in, stopping as soon as they're evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Cover the dough & let it rest for up to 36 hours in the fridge. I have made these immediately, & they're amazing. I think I let the last batch rest for about 12 hours...
When you're ready to bake them up, preheat the oven to 350*F. Portion out 1/4-cup balls of dough, placing about 6 of them to a cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen big-ass cookies.
***The original recipe calls for portioning the dough into 1/3-cup blobs, then baking for 18-20 minutes. They make 5-inch cookies though, so look out!
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On a sad note, Ethan's Mom's oldest brother passed away yesterday, so I made Cathy some lavender & orange bath salts. All you do is mix 1/4 teaspoon of essential oil with each cup of Epsom Salts. I usually don't tint mine when I make only one type, but I added a bit of food coloring this time, to delineate between the two scents. Put them into canning jars, or any other glass bottles you have floating around. Milk bottles look really cool too! 
Lavender:
Orange:
