Baby it's Cold Outside

Brrrr!!  Isn't it amazing how we can have sunny 60 degree weather one day, and 38 degrees with clouds and lots of wind the next!  Only here in Kansas.  Actually, that's not quite true...being from Nebraska, I've seen warm rain in the morning, and a blizzard by afternoon (that was 1996...when I was living in Kearney, Nebraska!).  If you have read my previous blogs, you know that I love this time of year, especially with the Autumnal colors, but more importantly...the food!!  I love apples...fresh apple butter, homemade chunky applesauce, and Uncle Harold's dried apples, but I equally love pumpkin...pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread, Starbuck's Pumpkin Latte!  Of course, trying to follow a modified-Paleo diet, some of these things don't exactly work.  But played around today, and came up with a recipe for a Pumpkin Pie Creamer. 

Here goes...hope you enjoy.  (And you can enjoy it, even if you aren't doing Paleo...just switch out regular milk for the coconut milk!)

Pumpkin Pie Creamer

4 cups coconut milk (unsweetened)
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin (not the pie mix, just the plain pumpkin)
1/4 cup Agave Nectar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2  tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves

In saucepan, put all ingredients, and whisk together.  You can add more or less spices, and more or less agave nectar to your taste.  Pour into pitcher and store remaining creamer in the refrigerator.   I used about 1/4 cup of creamer to the cup of coffee, but again, you can adjust to your liking. 

I hope you have the opportunity to play with this recipe, and that you enjoy it.  It's not quite like Starbuck's, but it's pretty good...  Now to just play with some other flavors at Christmas time, like chocolate/peppermint!! :)

Till next time!!!

       

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs

Fall always reminds me of the food processing and canning.  Of course, my last writing was making sweet pickles.  I remember spending a lot of time with Mom in the kitchen, and she canned almost everything!!  Green beans, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, tomato juice, salsa, spaghetti sauce, peaches, apricots, pears, apples...pretty much if she raised it in the garden, she preserved it!  Today, on this beautiful autumn day, I decided to make homemade spaghetti sauce with meatballs...except it wasn't to can, but to eat...and it was yummy! 

For many years I have had "tummy trouble," and have decided to try to cut back on gluten and grain products, to see how my tummy responds.  So far, it has been very good!!  So, with the spaghetti sauce, obviously I couldn't do spaghetti, so I did the next best thing...cooked spaghetti squash.  I was so pleasantly surprised at the outcome of this and will definitely be making it again.  What is even better...I have "planned-overs" so will have a meal tomorrow and Monday, and may share with a friend of mine who eats Paleo-style.

Don't be scared about this recipe...it was simple, flavorful, best of all...good for my tummy! 

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 pound ground bison (buffalo)
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. each of:  dried basil, oregano, thyme, and marjarom

Marinara Sauce:
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 T. minced garlic
1 T. olive oil
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes, no salt added
1 small can tomato sauce
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 tsp. each of:  dried basil, oregano, thyme, and marjarom
2 T. fresh minced basil leaves
2 T. fresh minced parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Spaghetti:
Spaghetti Squash

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut spaghetti squash in half, place in baking pan, and bake for 1 hour or until it "shreds" easily with a fork.  While squash is cooking, mix together all the meatball ingredients, and roll into balls (I made 20 meatballs, so each serving was 5).  Place on a foil lined baking sheet sprayed with nonstick spray, and place in the oven alongside the squash.  Bake for about 25 minutes. 

While these are baking, begin marinara sauce by sauteing the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium heat.  One these are softened, but not browned, add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, zucchini, and all the seasonings.  Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes, or until all flavors have come together.  For the last few minutes, add the cooked meatballs to the sauce, and simmer while you finish "shredding" the squash.

When the squash is done, remove from oven and "shred" with a fork.  To serve, place 1/4 of the "noodles" on serving plate, top with 5 meatballs (or 1/4 of the recipe) and divide the remaining sauce.  Makes 4 servings.    

End of summer project (Sweet Pickles)

When I was a little girl in southeast Nebraska, my parents had a huge garden, and Mom would spend hours preserving the goods,  whether it was the freezing, the canning, or the dehydrating.  She didn't do as much dehydrating, but I remember batch after batch, and jar after jar of her goodness being stored in the basement, in a room we called the "fruit room."  One thing she used to make was sweet pickles.  I just really didn't like these as a child, but I think it was because I remember the "scum" being on the top of the cucumbers in the brine.  It truly grossed me out.  But as an adult, I've learned otherwise!!

Last year at Christmas time, I spent a weekend with family in Nebraska, and we enjoyed Aunt Arlene's sweet pickles at lunch.  They are so yummy.  Kari, Kimber, Cindy and I decided it was time that some of us learned to make these pickles, so we set a goal to get together during cucumber season and we did just that...

When I compiled the cookbook for Kimber for her wedding gift, I typed up a recipe from her grandma, my Aunt Arlene, and I also typed up a recipe from my mom...I didn't realize it at the time, but these two recipes were basically the same, just each of these great cooks added their own twist.

Now please realize, this is not a day-long project, but more like a two-week project, but if you make them, I don't think you will be sorry. 

Sweet Pickles

Equipment and Supplies needed:
1.  A large crock or glass container (not metal) (Merri's note:  my crock broke in the early stage of processing, so I used a large plastic container...you will note this in the pictures).
2.  Canning & Pickling Salt
3.  Sugar
4.  Cider Vinegar
5.  Alum
6.  Mixed Pickling spices
7.  Canning jars, lids and rings
8.  Cucumbers--the small ones 3-6 inches in length make the best pickles

Day 1:  Wash cucumbers and remove stems and blemishes and place in crock (or other listed container).

Make a brine of 1 cup canning salt for each 2 quarts of water (2 cups to 1 gallon).  Heat the water enough to dissolve the salt.  Pour over the cucumbers, and cover with a plate, and weight down with a glass jar filled with water. Cover the crock with a large towel (being careful that the towel doesn't get into the water...it will act like a siphon and you will end up with brine all over the floor...and that is speaking from experience!!) Let set for a week (and yes, there may be "scum" or mold grow on top...this is normal).

On day 8:  Drain off the brine and wash the cucumbers.  Mix 1 gallon boiling water with 1 tablespoon alum and pour over the cucumbers.  Cover again with the plate, jar and towel.

Day 9:  Drain off the alum water, and prepare a fresh water/alum solution, and pour over the cucumbers.
Day 10:  Drain off the alum water, and prepare a fresh water/alum solution, and pour over the cucumbers.
Day 11:  Drain off the alum water.  Cut cucumbers into desired sizes (if they are small, you can leave them whole, or you can split into halves or fourths).  Prepare a solution of equal amounts of sugar and vinegar (for example, 8 cups sugar to 8 cups vinegar).  Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar, and pour over the cucumbers.  Cover again with the plate, jar, and towel.

Day 12:  Pour off the syrup into large kettle.  Reheat syrup and for each quart of liquid, add another 1 cup of sugar (for example, for 4 quarts of syrup, you will add another 4 cups sugar).  Pour over the pickles and replace the plate, jar and towel.

Day 13:  Drain off syrup, and reheat.  Pack the pickles into sterilized canning jars.  In a small pan, bring the canning flats (lids) to a boil and set aside.  Add 1 teaspoon celery seed and 1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices to each quart (if using pint jar, use 1/2 teaspoon celery seed and 1 1/2 teaspoons pickling spices).  Pour boiling syrup over the pickles and spices.  Wipe off the rim of the jar, and place a hot flat on the jar, then screw on the ring. 

Now here is the difference between Mom and Arlene...Mom (and I) processed these in a boiling water bath, to make sure they sealed, but Arlene just let them set to seal.  If they didn't seal, then she would store them in the refrigerator.  As a dietitian and food service manager, I have a bit of a complex about making sure my pickles were processed in the hot water bath...of course, some of my family members call me the "food police." 

In Mom's recipe, she also made a note about the brine...it should be so salty that it will float an egg.  She would also wash off the pickles really good when she took them out of the salty, moldy brine.  She also mentioned that if you weren't able to get to a step on the specific day, one day wouldn't make a difference.  For example, if you weren't able to start the alum process on day 8, it would be fine to do it on day 9...but DO NOT skip a step.  Her final note was these pickles could also be ground up to be canned as pickle relish.

Now, just a side note:  when I learned to make these with Aunt Arlene, I didn't have the chance to smell the final syrup, and when I was making mine, I thought that day 13 still smelled "vinegary," so I added extra sugar...yeah, I didn't need to...now they are just very sweet pickles. 

I hope that you will each have the opportunity to do some food preservation...the rewards you will receive include the flavor of homemade goods, but also the pride in knowing that you can be self-sufficient!! 

Till next time!! :)