Jam Making Class

Last night I went to a jam making class with some moms. Sounds lame I know but I've been trying to figure out how Zara can help me make jam/jelly. This holiday season we're planning on making several themed baskets and I thought jam would make a fantastic addition. But it involves a lot of hot stove time, and peeling of fruit, and so on.

So I took a class where the recipes are from the early 1900's and they only use natural products. Sounds pretty good right? So I hitched a ride with a friend (thanks Jenn!) and we got to cooking. The jam was cranberry, pear and lemon. I'll provide a modified recipe below, but while peeling and yada yadaI realized, I can make this fun for a two year old! Since we were using cranberries, I'm having Zara give them a bath and to be on the lookout for white cranberries. While tart, they contain a higher amount of pectin which will help 'gel' the jam. While she does that, I peel and dice the pear, zest the lemon and squeeze out the juice into a pot that has 1 cup of water. Add 3 cups of sugar (also a gelling agent along with the lemon!) and then the cranberries that have stems and water removed. Bring to a rolling boil, constantly stirring. Once rolling boil has happened lower heat. At this point in time you can have your toddler bung in a tbsp of cinnamon and then mash the fruit with a spoon (under close supervision...obviously...it's still on the stove). Keep stirring until jam thickens and when you scrap against bottom of pan you can see silver (or whatever color your pan is) clearly. (About 15 minutes).

Now here is where you will need sterilized products. While the dishwasher can help with most of it, an old fashioned tip is to swipe the lid with bourbon, sounds good already right? You are going to need jars, lids, a funnel, a spoon and a knife, all sterilized.

Here is where you have a choice. If you like your jam chunky, skim off any white nastiness from the top of your mixture with the knife. Then funnel into jars. You know you have enough when you lay a knife across the top and the jam touches it. Use your spoon to top up and your knife to get rid of bubbles. Seal and put in dishwasher for 90 seconds (if using jars pictured below, if using other jars, either boil for 5 minutes OR turn the jars upsidedown for 5 minutes. Other option, if you prefer more of a jelly, use a jelly cloth or a cheesecloth to strain out the chunky pieces.

Okay a bit upside down but here is the recipe;
1 cup cranberries
4 pears, peeled and diced
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 cup water
3 cups sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

How Pear Juice Saved My Tuesday

So, I'm a mom. And sometimes that means I talk about disgusting things at seemingly inappropriate times (although it always seems appropriate to me...but I digress).

That brings me to pear juice. My daughter has been having 'poopy' issues, which have gotten increasingly worse, leading to constant screaming and trying to 'go'. I have tried almost every natural remedy to no avail. In all this trial and error process, she has stopped drinking (obviously not completely). Someone told me that if she doesn't want the prune juice, to try other 'p's'. Which brings me to this...pear juice. I tell her it's apple juice, she drinks it and well...she poops! The problem isn't solved yet but it is a definite improvement!

No Power

I was going to post about making celebration oatmeal chocolate cookies with you all today, but we don't have power and therefore aren't cooking. Instead I'll leave you with an amazing toddler tip.
When giving your toddler a juice box, flip up the ends to make it look like wings. When they take a sip have them hold onto the wings so they don't squeeze the juice box making the juice get everywhere. It's a rug saver. You're welcome.

Peanut Butter Success!

As I mentioned in my last post, today Zara and I planned to make peanut butter from scratch using a recipe that she can follow.
What you'll need;

whole unshelled peanuts
Vegetable oil
Honey
Mortar and pestle
Small mixer like a cuisinart

I shelled the peanuts into the mortar and pestle and my daughter crushed them. We then dumped them into the cuisinart, added 2 tabl of oil and 2 tabl of honey. Blend and serve. It is delicious, and might be this year's Christmas presents. She lived being involved with each step of the process and we talked about how peanuts grow.

Halloween and Blogging Fail

My goal was relatively lofty. To blog everyday and have a new recipe to share everyday from my daughter's second birthday until her third. Not surprisingly it didn't happen. Was it that sometimes cooking with a two year old leaves taking beautiful pictures to the wayside? Sometimes. Was it laziness? A little bit. Was it procrastination? Absolutely. For some reason, I could NOT get myself to get to the computer to sit down and blog daily. I had the time. I just didn't do it. So, onto more realistic expectations on my part. I'm going to blog. About food. It's going to be about cooking with kids (or how to involve your kids when you're cooking and making it more fun for them). I'm going to include pictures because I'm actually going to take them instead of talking about it. I'm going to link more. To things I write about, places I mention, projects that I talk about, etc. I'm going to try to make this blog easier for YOU, and me, at the same time. I'll thank me later I'm sure.

On that note I'll wish all of you a Happy Halloween and if you are on the east coast, good luck getting through Sandy. While I'm in the Cape Cod area and it hasn't been all that bad as of yet (and I'm thinking we've already had the bad wind), I know Jersey and New York is getting slammed. Good luck folks.

Tomorrow Zara and I will be making homemade peanut butter. We're both hoping it'll be a beautiful beginning to Christmas presents. We'll see. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun.

Not in the Mood

Lately I just haven't felt myself. I'm down in the dumps and just feeling plain, well, depressed I guess. It's affected my sleep, my ability to clean (which I guess is arguable anyway) and cooking. Is it the change of weather? Maybe, this is our first fall in Plymouth, and I'm a bit nervous about the winter, especially since we've only lived through the 'season' so far and lately I seem to have only run into crazies on the street. But I still find beauty in this place, even as the season is changing, and Z and I both love being able to walk where we want and have the water at our fingertips. We've also met some great people here, so it's not that either. I think mostly it may be that while I love staying at home, right now I don't feel completely fulfilled. It's like I'm stalled in some capcity, waiting for something to happen, although I'm not sure what 'that thing' is. Anyway, I HAVE been cooking and creating and all those sort of things, I've got a couple of recipes for you below, and I'll keep you posted on my funk, I'm sure it'll clear up soon!

Vino Verde with Peppermint
How appropos that I bring you this as my first recipe after the above mini rant. I made this one late afternoon, it was hot, Z was simply tempertastic and I had just bought a case of vino verde (fantastic for those sticky summer months-it's a new, green wine that has a bit of a bubble to it!). I was trimming my peppermint that had exploded and a sprig fell into my glass. I went to take a sip without looking first and was greeted with a fantastic peppermint sented explosion. I highly recommend this combo. It's light, beautifully summery, and exceptionally satisfying.

Bloody Mary/Virgin Elizabeth
I know, it's a little strange that I have two alcoholic postings in a row, but I'm recording my recipes from August, and the beginning was obviously a little rough :-)
My sister was visiting, and we both LOVE bloody mary's, especially if there are good accoutrements added. SO, I had purchased siracha pickles, as well as all the makings for a bloody mary the night before her arrival, and we went to town. If you don't know what's in a bloody mary, here is my version (per glass);
-1 shot vodka
-3 shots tomato juice
-1 teaspoon horseradish
-1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
-1 tablespoon hot sauce
-1 squeeze of lemon
to garnish
-siracha pickles (3)
-nice stick of celery
-2 olives (I prefer garlic stuffed)
-lemon wedge
-2 cornichons
-dilly bean
Since we were making this in the presence of my daughter, we wanted to make her a special drink too, so we came up with this virigin elizabeth (obviously because they were sisters, and I'm a dork and love history).
-1 shot cranberry juice
-2 shots seltzer
-1 lemon wedge
-3 grapes
It was good, obviously not rocket science, and she loved it! She also had a red drink that had fancy things in it and we made a big deal out of saying cheers and clinking glasses.

Beet, Chicken & Peashoot salad
My husband had been traveling for several days and I needed a quick dinner to throw together for whenever he walked in the door (and we weren't sure when that was). I decided on salad and things I had in my fridge. Since I made my daughter chicken nuggets, I made a couple extra, and chopped them up and put aside. I then plated the lettuce (I use mixed with herbs) cut up an onion, tomato, some roasted beets and cheese. I put the chicken nuggets and pea shoots on top and voila! I quick and easy salad

Pasta with Sausage and Ricotta
Where I grew up, whenever someone wanted a quick and easy italian type meal, they would simply add ricotta. In a pinch it stretches the last of the pasta sauce, and creates a creamy, almost lasagna type meal. (Without the baking or the time). I was having one of those moments, where I had a half a bottle of sauce (I'm admitting to using bottled sauces) 1 sausage that had been cooked as part of another meal, and not a lot of inspiration. So I boiled some pasta, heated the sauce (I always recommend adding wine, additional fresh herbs and some cheese to created a heartier base to the bottled sauce) chopped up the sausage and then drained the pasta (leaving about 1/4 cup of the water to add to the sauce) and threw it all into the sauce. Once it was all incorporated, I added about a half a cup of ricotta and stirred, off the heat, until it had the consistency and taste I like. I suggest you taste and salt as you go. I don't like a lot of salt, but to each his own.

After a Long Weekend

Nothing says 'long weekend away' than coming back to an immaculate kitchen. It shows, well frankly it shows that I haven't used it. And while I enjoy my kitchen being clean, counters smellingly slightly of my lavendar cleaning product, there is nothing better than messing it all up again. While I still need to bring to you the entire month of August's cooking adventures, rest assured I have kept to my daily habit of cooking something new to bring to you. Oh, and I found the hookup from my camera to my computer, so pictures really ARE coming soon!

Nigella's Crustless Pizza
I really can't live without this recipe. I found it about a month ago and I think I've made it about 5 times since then. It's SO easy, it's delicious and I've only met one kid that didn't instantly love it. It also helps that it requires very little ingredients and once made the kids won't get your floors filthy with it (I know, you're thinking WHAT? Pizza that when dropped isn't messy?) Well yes, that is the absolute beauty of Nigella. Not only is she my absolute favorite cook, but she seems to inherently know and cook what I love, in a manner that I find easy and like to replicate with my own additions (or subtractions) in order to make it my very own. So here it is, Nigella's Crustless Pizza. I'm giving you my version of the recipe, hers can by found either on the food network or her own website.
-1 egg
-2/3 cup flour
-1 cup 2% milk
-1 cup cheese of your choosing (Nigella uses cheddar, I use a mixture of parm, mozz and whatever else I have)
-pinch of salt
-additional toppings of your choice
Preheat oven to 400F
Grease a pie dish
Mix together egg, four, milk and cheese. Add salt and any other herbs or seasoning you enjoy (as you may have gathered, I tend to use fresh herbs from my windowboxes, such as rosemary or oregano).
Pour this mixture into the greased pie dish and pop into the oven fro 30 minutes. Top with additional toppings, both Nigella AND I do not use tomato sauce, you can, obviously, tomato paste will also work, but you still get a 'pizza' without the mess if you omit tomato. Add fresh tomato, or pepperoni, banana peppers or garlic, you get the picture, then top with a little bit more cheese, really to your liking. Bake for an additional 2 minutes and...that's it! You've got a fantasticly glorious pizza that your kids and you will LOVE!

Panzella
I've heard this recipe called about a million different variations of the above word, and I'm sure there is a corret way to spell this. I'll find it...eventually. I LOVE good bread. In fact, bread and cheese may be my absolute downfall, so I almost always have a hunk of nice bread that is slightly off but not yet moldy, that I'm trying to figure out what to do next with. This is a wonderful recipe for that slightly older bread, that isn't turning it into a pudding which is my standard go-to. Give yourself about 30 minutes to marinate this salad once you've prepared it so that all the flavors have time to seep into the core of the bread.
-Hunk of old bread, 1/4 to half a loaf is best
-Peppers, either bell or banana, sliced to fork sized pieces, about one whole
-2 tomatoes diced thick
-1 small onion
-fresh basil
-fresh mint
-salt and pepper to taste
-squeeze of harissa paste
-1/2 cup olive oil
-1/4 red wine vinegar
Slice up the bread and vegetables (and fruit). Toss into a bowl and add seasoning. Add oils, toss again and cover in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Toss before serving.

Mussels in White Wine
There are so many recipes out there to prepare mussels. And most of them are pretty good. I find I like to make mine up as I go. That way I'm always pleasantly surprised at the outcome. This last batch I made for a small dinner party where I was serving 3 kids under 6 and 4 adults. Needless to say I needed a lot of mussels, and they needed to taste delicious, but NOT of wine. So I modified my normal bottle of wine with about a half bottle and added other ingredients to ensure I was getting a tasty dinner.
-2 to 4 lbs of mussels. We go to a wonderful fish place that cleans them for free. It saves a lot of time and hassle since I have a tiny sink, but if you need to clean, it's really not that bad!
-1 head of garlic, peeled
-1/2 bottle of dry white wine
-1 tbl of olive oil
-1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
-1/2 stick of unsalted butter
-salt and pepper to taste
-handful of fresh tarragon to garnish
Add everything but salt and pepper, tarragon and mussels to a large pot (I use a dutch oven) and bring to a rapid simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes, taste, add seasoning to taste. Add mussels. Cook until the majority (if not all) of the mussels have opened. Plate, garnish with tarragon, serve. How easy is that?