Recipes

I like chili sometimes, especially on a wet, cold, windy day such as today, but I have never really managed to get the seasoning "right" unless I used the package chili mix. And, all too often, I use canned beans and sauces as well. Tastes good, and it's easier.

Today I decided to make chili and discovered I had no packaged seasoning. I also thought it was a good idea to use dry beans, since I don't always have consistent results and need to practice if I'm going to live on the things in the future.

There are some things people just don’t think can be made at home. I suppose the thinking is that the tools and/or setup will be too expensive or difficult (or unavailable), or the process is not suitable in some way. Some seem to think that about marshmallows, but there’s nothing terribly tricky or challenging about making those. (Our last effort yielded some delicious chocolate ones—too bad I didn’t write down how much cocoa powder I used.)

That successful endeavor emboldened me to try others. And, as Snolf the First is interested in chemistry, I now have a handy excuse for trying more weird things. (No, no thermite yet, Uncle Carl!)

I have been too much a post–and–run Snake these days; and for that I apologize. It will get worse—or this place will fall entirely silent, mayhaps—before it gets better; but before those days descend, I would like to share some joy—a recipe for a celebratory frugal indulgence. Don’t believe me? Step into my kitchen and behold!

I’m as close to settled on the recipe as I’ll ever be; and if I wait for pictures, I’ll probably never post the recipe. Those who like the crunchy–style granola bars will probably like these ... and they’re easy and inexpensive to make, to boot.

Encouraged by Sunni, I thought I'd share some good memories and recipes for dumplings. Not many people make them anymore, that I've noticed anyway. They are definitely NOT diet food, but they can make a wonderful and nutrient filled meal for hungry children, hunters or anyone else who will likely work off the calories. And besides, they are just plain good.

This is a fairly easy cake to make, especially if one is willing to invest some time into the mise en place; that really helps speed the mixing process. Oh, and this cake is not my idea. I spied the recipe at Simply Recipes, and have streamlined the process a bit and also made some substitutions that improved the cake—at least in the opinion of the cake’s fans here.

This is a bourbon cake; if you don’t like bourbon you may try substituting other alcohols for it, such as rum, coffee liqueur, or maybe a nice vanilla brandy. But alcohol is an essential component of this cake; if you want a regular chocolate cake, there are many splendiferous recipes out there for your discovery and enjoyment.

I was introduced to a lot of foods and food tricks while at college ... reconstituted dried eggs (although I’m not sure that really counts as food), the use of ketchup to disguise scrambled eggs made from reconstituted eggs, veal, and several others that escape me at the moment—probably because they were deservedly forgettable. Not so the granola. I’m not sure what their source was, but it was excellent granola: crisp, with a hint of sweetness, and a good ratio of raisins and nuts to the oat base.

Since then, I have looked high and low for good granola; and in the process, I’ve sometimes paid quite dearly for it too. It was our very own Polka who first encouraged my thoughts of making my own—and who, in the process, reminded me that in some parts of the world the stuff goes under the term muesli. After collecting several recipes and experimenting with a few, I really don’t see myself buying the mass-produced product ever again—especially since, as Wendy McElroy points out, it’s easy to dehydrate one’s own produce. Using dried fruit is a boon in another way—the cook can experiment with varying combinations that simply aren’t possible with fruits that ripen at differing times in the season. It isn’t a good candidate for long-term storage [thanks, SRS and Mama, for correcting me on this!], but it’s so easy and good that it’s worth doing.

Did you go through the "red meat is bad" scare and eat nothing but chicken until you were sick to death of it? I sure did. The budget wouldn't stretch to buy fish very often, and there's only so much tuna I'm willing to eat under any circumstances, so I was pretty much stuck with chicken and cheese of one sort or another. And no, I don't eat soy anything either.

The other major drawback to this time frame was the idea that ALL fats were bad, so the chicken was skinless and as fat free as possible. Cubed sawdust comes to mind...

Even though I've made bread most of my life, I had a challenge learning how to adapt to a much higher elevation than I was used to. I was having consistent problems with over rising, rising too fast, and large airholes in the bread because of it. I tried lots of things, from reducing the yeast to reducing the temperature, but I couldn't get the slow, steady rise that makes for smooth texture and easy slicing... until now.

This recipe is a favorite and comes from "Sundays at Moosewood," a collection of the very special recipes from the vegetarian collective in Ithaca, New York.

I decided to alphabetize by category after all, just to be different. :)

First, let me say that most of my recipes are very simple and plain. I believe strongly in whole foods and natural ingredients, but I do not worry about any particular school of thought as to what foods are "good" or "bad" other than that, and I don't do "organic." If you want to consider that, you just need to find "organic" ingredients or make substitutions where necessary.

Now that I’ve typed that title, I guess there isn’t much else that’s edible that starts “squ” ... but I’m being specific because I want to reserve “S” for something else. (You may have noticed this pattern in action already. A nice way to expand the alphabet, no?) Although I greatly enjoy summer squashes, my focus today is on the amazing variety of winter squashes available these days. If all you’ve had is canned pumpkin, well, I feel for you ... you really haven’t had pumpkin.

As far back as I can remember, I have adored the flavor of squashes. My mom and I were the only ones who liked acorn squash, so she’d buy one, bake it, and we’d each enjoy half. Other squashes weren’t readily available back then. We lived close enough to the annual Circleville Pumpkin Show to make that an occasional family trip; I enjoyed it a lot, despite the plentiful wasps and bees trying to get some last food set by for winter. That festival was probably my first inkling that more things can be done with pumpkin—and related squashes—than just pumpkin pie. And it is very gratifying to see more pumpkins used as food, instead of just Halloween decorations. Some pumpkins, usually referred to as “sugar pumpkins”, have been bred specifically for eating; these tend to be too small for carving. I’ve cooked larger ones sold for carving—not knowing any better—and just like any other nonprocessed food, have found a good deal of variability in the flavor and texture. So far they’ve all been perfectly usable, especially since I have a trick that hasn’t failed me yet. (I haven’t tried the tiny decorative pumpkins, nor the giants that have been bred solely to be immense.)

Watermelon is wonderful. The combination of juicy yet crunchy flesh has appealed to me for as long as I can recall—and I never outgrew the fun of seed–spitting contests. But how does one cook with watermelon? Well, let’s go into the kitchen to check it out.

Snolf the First’s birthday was the other day, and he requested a coconut cake. I didn’t have one in my repertoire, so I found a good prospect online. The only problem I saw is that it called for a lemon curd between the layers, and I knew Snolf I wouldn’t be too keen on that. Instead, I chose to make pastry cream, and flavor it with a bit of coconut-flavored rum. It wasn’t until I started making the frosting that I realized I had a fundamental compatibility problem.

Summer is in full bloom here on the prairie and with it, as every year, come back memories of my childhood almost always spent with either set of grandparents. They are my fondest memories from my childhood and interestingly they have something in common- a kind of freedom provided by the old and the wise in my family.