Eggnog for Breakfast??

2 eggs (backyard eggs are best!)
3-4 tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (plus more for serving)
1/4 tsp rum extract
2 cups milk (or silk, or other milk substitute)

Whisk eggs and sugar until sugar dissolves, then add remainder of ingredients. Chill, if you can wait that long, or just pour into chilled cup! Sprinkle with additional nutmeg if desired.

You can also add some pumpkin puree to taste, but if so you might want to do this in a blender rather than whisking, just to get it really smooth. This is a delicious way to get your morning protein (although what appears to be rum breath might get you into trouble with the boss). If your “boss” is wee, he or she might love this for breakfast too!

Re: eggs. Yes, these are raw eggs. If this is a concern to you, make sure your eggs are fresh (place them in a bowl of room temp water – if they lay flat down, they’re fresh. As they age they begin to tip up and will eventually float after about 30 days – the USDA lets producers sell them up to about 45 days after being laid. Eww. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.). You can also take your nice fresh egg and quickly wash it off in tepid/room temp water before breaking them open. Salmonella risk is very low from the INSIDE of the egg, but washing-before-use will help decrease the risk from the OUTSIDE of the egg no matter where you get your eggs from. (“>

Harvest Tine (sic)

One of the biggest problems with harvesting potatoes is with the subsequent tine-pokes or shovel-slices. No matter how careful we try to be, it seems like about 10% of our potatoes end up dinged. When, like this year, you plant an awful lot of potatoes to begin with, that 10% adds up very quickly! So what to do with the damaged spuds that must be cooked right away?

Enter “Potato Bark”. I was looking for some tips on dehydrating, and stumbled onto http://www.BackpackingChef.com. This guy is awesome! It kills two birds with one stone, as my husband recently asked me to look into dehydrating some meals for his He-Man Backpacking Trips. (He doesn’t call them that, I do. They involve several days of backpacking over Montana mountain peaks. I stand in awe.) Backpacking Chef has lots of recipes for backpacking meals – dehydrated etc.

Potato Bark involves taking your potatoes (in our case, scrubbed and sliced up with the damaged parts removed) and boiling them until cooked. Since the crockpot takes this ridiculously low amount of energy ($$), I tossed my tater slices into my big crock and added lightly salted water. Then, mash your cooked potatoes with an appropriate amount, depending on your volume of potatoes, of fat-free vegetable, beef, or chicken broth (and homemade broth is another post). Add salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste and as desired. Beat the lumps out: by hand, by blender, by mixer, by food processor, whatever. Now you have nice, smooth, fairly thin mashed potatoes. Not too runny, ok?

Spread this tasty mixture out onto your dehydrator “fruit leather” sheets, or on top of parchment paper cut to fit your dehydrator, whatever you have. Backpacking Chef says you can do this in the oven too, but I’m doing it in the dehydrator. Lots less energy! ($$)

Spread thinly, about 1/8″ thick. Then dehydrate it until it’s, well, dry. Dehydrators vary. You want it into a brittle sheet that will break up into small, convenient pieces when done.

Still with me? Here’s the beauty of this stuff. You don’t have to take it on He-Man Backpacking Trips! You can keep it in a Ziploc or a glass jar for practically EVER, and when you want a nice thickener for your soups, stews, etc? Toss a handful in! This is alot better option than cornstarch as a thickener, as you’re getting some nice health benefits from your good potatoes.

And of course you don’t HAVE to use your own organically grown potatoes that got stuck by the potato fork tine or the shovel. You COULD just make it with whatever potatoes strike your fancy. That’s the beauty of it!

I just love how things all tie in so nicely sometimes. Need to use up potatoes? Need to come up with some backpacking/camping/hiking meals? Need to just have some great, nutritious thickener on hand for your upcoming Autumn and Winter stews and soups? Well here ya go. Thank the Backpacking Chef!

Favorite Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3 TBS (yep, Tablespoons!) vanilla
1/3 cup butter (real stuff)
1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups grated zucchini (leave the skin on)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1 cup minced nuts (optional) – we like walnuts

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat to 350.
2. Combine all ingredients in one huge bowl, mix well.
3. Pour into two greased (or Pam-ed) loaf pans, or 1 bundt cake pan.
4. Bake for one hour. Here at 3500 feet, we bake for 1:10 or so – use the toothpick inserted in the center to come out clean test.

I double this recipe and make one bundt cake and 2 loaves, trying to stick at least one loaf in the freezer before my ravenous hordes get to it. It’s low fat (comparatively), loaded with good stuff, and makes a pretty decent breakfast-in-a-hurry! Or a snack… or dessert…

Easter Cupcakes

Even the word… cupcakes… a term of endearment… a wee bit of confectionary delight. Did you know that the term “cupcake” was first used in a cookbook published in 1796, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons? How neat is it to bake something that millions of cooks have been making for family, friends, church socials, fund raisers, birthday parties, kindergarten classes, and their own personal, possibly secret thrill, for hundreds of years? That’ll put the Retro in the Retro Mom…

I’ll be honest, I haven’t always been a cupcake baker. I like bundt cakes alot too. So tidy, with an inherent dignity. Frosted or sprinkled with powdered sugar, some of them stand quite alone just fine. Good Southern cooks always have a bit of bundt pound cake tucked away somewhere. (I’m not saying I am one, just that it’s a good habit) But cupcakes? A placed-in-hand bit of light fluffy cake topped with… whatever! While I’m pretty much against most convenience foods due to chemicals etc, I have to say that the squirt frostings (cream cheese, anyone?!) are desperately convenient and incredibly easy to use… with no MESS! As a mom of two exceedingly mess-prone children, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that simple fact.

And of course… sprinkles!!! Oh I love me some sprinkles, especially Easter colors. It’s the only time of year I really love pastels. We’re big fans of sprinkles in this household… did you know that children burned out on the idea of another peanut butter sandwich will beam with joy when you sprinkle non-pareils or sanding sugar on top of the PB? At least my little tooters do. They’re also great on Cream of Wheat, oatmeal, bananas… sprinkles rule.

Despite what this sounds like, my household is actually quite limited on sugar intake. I don’t bake very often anymore – dumb old metabolism anyway – and baked goods and candies are treats rather than snacks. In other words, pretty rare. But you can’t be a Sugar Nazi ALL the time…

From my house to yours…
Happy Easter to my Christian friends…
Happy Passover to my Jewish friends…
Good Luck to the rest of you.

And to everyone – have a cupcake!!

Olive Garden’s Zuppa Tuscana (soup)

This is a knock-off, copycat, wanna-be soup recipe mimicking, as close as I can recall, that delicious dish known as Zuppa Tuscana at Olive Garden. The truth is that since we’re on a budget nowadays, I haven’t actually BEEN to Olive Garden in… let’s see… the Prince is almost 5… yeah like 5 years. But I still remember and fondly imagine this soup! I took someone else’s knockoff recipe and morphed it into my own.

Zuppa Tuscana
1 medium white onion, minced fine (or 1/4 cup dehydrated minced onions, rehydrated for 2-3 minutes in hot water first)
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 tablespoons garlic cloves, minced (I know that sounds like alot, but it cooks down and mellows out well!)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh or dried parsley
2 quarts chicken broth
4 medium potatoes, diced into small cubes (I don’t peel mine, claiming added health benefits. Of course this is also the lazy cook’s method, and I doubt OG fails to peel THEIRS!)
1# sausage (kielbasa, or italian)
2 cups kale, chopped fairly small
1 cup milk (or 3/4 cup heavy cream, if you can bear to use it!)

1 – Start sausage cooking in a skillet. I do mine in 1/2″ of water, with a lid. After it’s cooked, I slice it into medallions and brown them. You can start with precooked sausage and just do the brown-the-medallions stage if you’d like. Or you can chop it up into little sausage bits. Like I said, it’s been 5 years since I’ve had this stuff at the restaurant, I can’t remember how they do everything!<br />
2 – Start onions and bacon in stockpot, cooking in EVOO, for about 5 minutes, until onions are clear and bacon cooked down somewhat.
3 – Add garlic to stockpot and cook 1 more minute.
4 – Add broth and potatoes to stockpot, bring to simmer for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are cooked but still firm (can potatoes be classified “al dente”???).
5 – Add lemon juice, parsley, kale and transfer sausage into stockpot as well. Simmer 10 minutes (or less if you prefer your kale particularly “al dente” as well!)
6 – Add milk and heat through.

This is some good soup. Even the Princess said tonight, “Mommy, isn’t dis soup jus’ delicious!” I love that kid. Serve with breadsticks or a good loaf of Italian bread, and a big yummy salad of course! Be sure to tip yourself well!!

Gotta Getta Cuppa…

Early in the morning I drag myself from my bed after a restless night and seize my favorite tea mug off the countertop where I set it the previous night to be available without much need for reference vision. I grope in the cabinet, plunk in a good bracing bag of Red Rose Original, and then “cheat” by filling the cup to the brim with hot-water-on-tap. Within 5 minutes I’m burning my mouth and slurping without manners trying to lip-cool enough of the sturdy brew to kick the quilt off my brain. There’s some strange, near-magic in tea leaves. Whether you are of the “loose tea” or “tea bag” factions, that tablespoon or so of carefully dried and prepared tea leaves synthesizes with boiling-hot water to become color, flavor, alertness and restoration in your cup.

There are so many varieties of tea (and tea drinkers)… the strong black drinkers, the fancy Darjeeling fans, white tea, green tea, flavored fruit tea, herbal tea aficionados. Some of us like it in pots, some in mugs. We doctor it different ways – milk or cream, sugar, honey, stevia… or not at all. Some sip it delicately from even-more-delicate fine china. Some toss it back headless, from coffee cups. Like the modern cup of coffee, the way we drink our tea says something about us. Me? I prefer strong black tea, the “breakfast” varieties from Irish to English. My small kitchen sports one single-width cabinet dedicated to my tea, and other varieties from Blueberry Acai Berry to Raspberry, Chamomile and Sleepy Time, Echinacea and Earl Grey join the Orange Pekoe-Black tea standards. I admit that some varieties are caffeine-free… I have enough problems sleeping at night without adding caffeine to the mix!

I like the convenience of teabags but love making a personal pot with my Tasha Tudor loose-leaf Welsh Breakfast. I drink it straight up, hot, without additives. I prefer a heavy stoneware mug, the larger the better, as per CS Lewis, who wrote to my complete agreement, “You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.”

I have a small collection of teapots, including the teapot that came with my parent’s wedding china 45 years ago, another inherited from my late mother-in-law, a dented copper pot with white and blue porcelain handle, and my most-used pot – a 2.5 cupper, heavy brown stoneware that was my Grandmother Robin’s for many years. She changed to another, same-sized teapot so I could take her home with me for tea!

I like tea cozies too. I figured out a couple of years ago how to make them on my Knifty Knitter loom, and have a variety of colored cozies double-knit with remnant yarns. I put a pom-pom on top… why not?

This January morning came complete with a headache and sleet… a pink sky and forecast to continue frozen precipitation (aka snow) for the next three days. Ah lovely, a perfect time for a special pot of tea!

Some Favorite Tea Quotes (the books always seem to go hand-in-hand):

A book reads the better which is our own, and has been so long known to us, that we know the topography of its blots, and dog’s ears, and can trace the dirt in it to having read it at tea with buttered muffins. ~Charles Lamb

Tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their nervous sensibilities will always be the favorite beverage of the intellectual. ~Thomas de Quincey

Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company. ~Author Unknown

All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong, but like it a little stronger with each year that passes. ~George Orwell, “A Nice Cup of Tea”

The first sip of tea is the always the best… you cringe as it burns the back of your throat, knowing you just had the hottest carpe-diem portion. ~Terri Guillemets

The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort and refinement. ~ Arthur Gray

and finally…

“May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain,
tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you,
those you love near you
and all that your heart might desire.” Irish Blessing

Even Greener Greens…

The Spring 2011 issue of Abundant Life Seeds (www.AbundantLifeSeeds.com) catalog has some interesting information about the “how” involved in the fact that organic gardening and farming methods produce more flavorful and colorful, and even more nutritious, fruits and vegetables.

“In a major new study by a team of scientists from Washington State University…it concluded that… organically farmed soils had more carbon and higher concentrations of micronutrients resulting in antioxidant rich fruits that provide health benefits. Antioxidants are powerful allies in combating heart disease and cancer risks; they promote strong immune systems that help tip the odds towards graceful aging. Antioxidants are naturally occurring compounds in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Most of us need to double our antioxidant intake to take full advantage of their health potential.

“Did you know that organic gardening and farming methods can increase antioxidant compounds in vegetables by an average of roughly 30% compared to conventional gardening or farming practices? One explanation is linked to pest pressure. When plants are under stress from pests, they produce a diverse array of natural chemicals called Secondary Plant Metabolites (SPM’s). Many of these natural chemicals are antioxidants. SPM’s are also partially responsible for giving vegetables and fruits their bright coloring and distinctive flavors. Plants grown in organic gardens or farms typically deal with higher levels of pests than plants under conventional cultivation where pesticides are robustly used. For this reason organically grown plants fully engage their innate defense systems and in doing so elevate antioxidant concentrations.”

We already knew that pesticide levels in fruits and vegetables made them unsafe –especially over the long run – to eat, being linked possibly to such ills as cancers, heart disease, hormonal disruptions, etc. Now it appears that the old adage about “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is not necessarily true! A pesticide-laden carrot might still be better than a bag of Cheetos, but neither one is likely to keep you from getting a cold.

So the lesson for us all is, buy organic whenever and however you can afford it… grow it if you can!! Look into community gardens or local farm “subscriptions”. Feed your earthworms and “slow feed” your plants with organic fertilizers… and enjoy those super-delicious crisp organic fruits and veggies!

Chap-Aprons

I loved this old Wrangler shirt – now it gets a new life!

OK so apparently I have a new semi-obsession with aprons. That being said, page 8 of the February-March 2011 Mary Jane’s Farm magazine has a photo of an absolutely adorable chap-apron made of light green gingham, with ruffles and a big pocket! TOO cute!!

Being the messy person in the kitchen that I am though, I knew that while those chap-aprons would work super well for me in the garden (covering my knees when I’m down in the dirt!), or just doing housework when I need to carry the phone, a hankie, whatever… but they won’t work at all for me in the kitchen, where I tend to *splash*.

So I decided to make this full-length chap-apron! It WAS a pair of Wranglers that were too big for me (Praise God and Hallelujah!!) finally only 3.5 years after my youngest was born, and a beloved, before-babies Wranglers top that was sadly still a big too snug. Now it’s a double-thickness top with working pockets and a fun, Daisy Duke style rope belt. Or maybe it was the Clampett girl. Whomever!! I like it. The leg straps are attached at both ends so you just step through it, then pull the top over your head (the collar). Aprons have to be pretty quick to get on and off, and real chaps take some snapping/tying etc as I recall from my chap-wearing, ranch-rodeo days! Technically they are more like chinks, as chaps are full-length waist to toe.

OK there are tons of ideas with this, like using that faux-suede fabric for a leather chaps look… fringe!!… (I love fringed chinks! oh my)… a flirtier, cuter cowgirl blouse… but this went along with my reduce-reuse-recycle goal and nothing was purchased for the making of this apron (sorry JoAnn’s Fabrics).

Fun!!

Sweet Potato Biscuits!

Now that the holidays are over for the time being, you may find yourself the owner of some leftover sweet potatoes. Here’s a REALLY good sweet potato recipe, based on an old Southern Living Cookbook recipe!! It takes about 22 minutes from start to finish, and I like to wrap a couple of sweet potatoes in foil the night before and stick them in our small crockpot overnight on Low – so they are ready to be peeled and fork-smashed for this wonderful breakfast idea. Of course you can use leftover sweet potatoes as well, and adjust the sugar and oil to reflect if necessary!

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of ground nutmeg

1/2 cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1/3 cup milk
3 tbs vegetable oil

1 – Combine first set (dry ingredients), stirring well. Set aside.
2 – Combine remaining ingredients, pour over flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are completely moistened. Dough will be soft and somewhat sticky.
3 – Turn out onto heavily floured surface, and knead 4-5 times, adding more flour as needed.
4 – Roll or push dough to 1/2″ thickness and cut with floured 2″ biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
5 – Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Butter and enjoy!

Now here’s one of my biscuit hints. I really dislike getting flour all over creation when I’m making bread or biscuits, so this is sort of the Lazy Mom’s way of keeping the mess contained. I use a very large glass or metal mixing bowl which has some semi-flat spaces along the side or at the very bottom to mix it all up in… then when I push it out with my fingers to a flat 1/2″, I flour my biscuit cutter (to prevent sticking) and punch out the rounds right there in the bowl. No flour mess on the countertop!!

Another biscuit hint, pretty commonly known, is that biscuit dough just DESPISES being overmanipulated. Don’t knead it to death!! You’ll get a hard, flat biscuit. They like the bare minimum of mixing, stirring and kneading over… when you knead, smush it down in the center to flatten it out somewhat, then take one end and fold it over in half. Do that 4-5 times, gently. That’s it! Each fold generates it’s own soft, fluffy layer in your biscuits!

These are great cold too… I’m sure you could make these low-cal and healthier by using at least part whole-wheat dough, maybe honey or stevia in place of the sugar, applesauce perhaps in place of the oil?? But however you spin ‘em, these are some tasty little biscuits!!

Your body will love you…

Have you reached full pucker-factor with holiday sweets yet? Had enough goodies to float (or sink as the case may be) a boat? Here’s a lovely lunch or light supper recipe that will make your taste buds and your body sing for joy!!

Garden Cheddar Soup
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 small zucchini, halved and sliced (or 1-2 cups shredded frozen zucchini)
2 tomatoes, diced (or one jar or can of diced tomatoes)
1 celery stalk, chopped (or handful of frozen diced celery)
1/2 to 1 cup sliced mushrooms (or dehydrated, crushed by hand)
1 onion, minced (or 1/4 cup dehydrated)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
4.5 cups beef broth
1.5 cups V-8 juice
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried parsley

Combine all ingredients in stockpot. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes or until vegetables are just tender.
Add handful of shredded cheddar cheese to each bowlful and stir.

This recipe is from the Creme de Colorado Cookbook, put out by the Junior League of Denver. Even my young children LOVED this soup – it smells divinely while it’s cooking, as well! I was able to use my own canned tomatoes and homemade V-8, as well as dried herbs and frozen shredded zucchini. Gotta love a “local, near-organic” soup that warms up the insides and treats you to a taste of heaven while giving you the equivalent of a flu shot (without harmful side effects )… You could add sliced sausage “medallions” if you wanted to beef it up!