Spices and Herbs

I do not know where I have been, but I just read a 2013 report about contamination in spices and herbs. I am thinking about throwing all of mine out and only using real items like fresh garlic and ginger until I can dry herbs from my garden next summer. I had no idea about this, but can dry sage and lovage from my Mom's house, where I planted an herb garden for her. At my house I always have thyme and oregano coming up in huge batches trying to keep the deer away.

I bought spices yesterday and now really hate to use them. Where have I been? Here are references to some of the reports I somehow missed, but for sure I am going to dry my own herbs and make my own spices next year. More work, but then what are kitchen and dining room tables for anyway if not to dry leaves from the garden which will become my spices?

FDA Draft Risk Profile: Pathogens and Filth in Spices - Pdf of report dated 2013

I just threw out all of my spices but for whole nutmeg, fresh ginger, fresh garlic, whole cinnamon stick. I will have to dry my own spices next year from the garden. My husband agreed after I showed him the report and he held the garbage bag for me. Guess no more complaints about bland tasting food in this house. Can not take the chance of catching anything, especially from my own spice cabinet.

Cookbooks I am reading

My sister Cecile sent me the book "Quick & Easy Dump Cakes and More," by Cathy Mitchell. It says on the cover "Just Dump & Bake." I have to agree, although maybe a bit too sweet for me, the dump cake I made worked out great. The problem is it was too fast and too good. I used to make one years ago with brownie mix and cherry pie filling and something else? Hope I find the recipe as that one was incredible. I will try to search for it on the internet.

The second book I am reading is "Cupcakes and Muffins" by Ann Nicol which says it includes "New Recipes." It says on the cover "Quick & Easy, Proven Recipes."

I also bought an alternative wheat flour yesterday to try in some gluten-free recipes. I need to find out if the flour advertised to substitute 1 for 1 for regular flour in recipes truly works. The only problem is how does one write a cookbook on a strict diet? Luckily, someone sent me an email that the spleen does not like "wheat" so I have a perfect excuse? Wonder if I can use this substitute flour to make our family tradition of New Year's pretzels? Wonder what the flour will taste like, can I use with yeast? Guess I have more projects and research to do ASAP.

I am glad to be here and truly hope what I write will help someone. Please, if you are lucky enough to have grandchildren, bake something homemade or semi-homemade for them. Never used your oven or your child's oven? Then it is time you try it for your grandchildren. If this sounds familiar, I am talking directly to you. Whatever you think is important, I am telling you it is NOT. Memories, what your grandchildren will remember include smells, warmth, not just your expertise or books and articles your have written. Try the pineapple angle food recipe or a dump cake, but give that child something warm and comforting from you. Love cafeterias and taking them out to eat? Great, they will love packaged food. I remember when my Mom would take a homemade hamburger and wrap it up and put it in a brown bag so it would look like "take out," and this was for a child with 30 food allergies. I remember her making homemade applesauce and putting it in a MOTTS applesauce jar so her grandson would recognize the label. As he got older, he understood that his grandmother was making everything for him from scratch, loved it, and he remembers as I heard him mention it.

If by chance, you have worked in a lab, have used an autoclave and/or other equipment, but have never used an oven, you have no excuse. Want to do something that really counts, come up with a healthier snack than you can buy in a bakery.

If you are buying everything from a bakery, you are missing the wonderful smells that one associates with home. Did you have a grandmother that baked for you? Do you remember? Why not let your grandchild have the same type of memory.

Since I do not know when I will get to Texas to see my niece as my angel cardiologist says not sure if my spleen and lungs can fly yet (guess I have work to do here on earth to make me worthy as still have a bit of devil in me that I am trying to get rid of), please make something from scratch with my great-niece. Something she will remember as her mother remembers our Mom's banana bread.

If only my anise cookies would get the dried caps on them like my mother's did. I have taken the dough to her house to dry, but it has not worked. Hers always worked, but mine have never worked and I tried every year but this one. Why did I not watch her more closely, I can not even make decent streusel -- she did it so effortlessly and it did not matter the temperature of the butter, but in a few seconds, perfect streusel, I can not make a decent streusel topping.

Dump Cake - Comfort Food takes 5 minutes to make and 45 minutes to bake in the overn

I just tried to make my first dump cake and it is in the oven.

I have to mention that I was in the hospital for a fluke incident. I went on a trip to NYC and started feeling my heartbeat for the first time in my life. I thought it was stress related to the nightmare trip. I chose not to run down 19 flights when I could not hear the elevator per my thumping heart. Anyway, the easier a recipe for those like me recovering from heart, cancer or any other serious illness, or even working parents who would rather spend time with their children than bake, the better. However, do not deprive your children of coming home to something baked in the oven -- the smell will stay with them the rest of their life. My sisters and I often talk about my Mom's recipes and I am sure some of you talk about recipes your grandparents made.

Meds do NOT appear to be working as I hoped and we need to make some adjustments. I have to be on meds the rest of my life. Wow, do I wish I had not gone on that trip -- not that it would not have happened anyway.

Then again, maybe the trip saved my life?

My Texas sister, Cecile, knowing I am writing a cookbook, sent me something easy to follow, a cookbook of dump cakes -- the cakes take the time it takes to open the can. Thanks Cecile for your thoughtfulness. The stamina, energy, zest for life that I had are gone, lets hope temporarily. I would rather not have an invasive procedure, but this too may be on the agenda. Hard to believe I was walking 5 miles per day, eating the best I could and "whammo," this happened out of the blue. I was one of the very lucky ones, my spleen took the hit. Did I know much about my spleen before this, "No," but now I eat what apleen's like as am not about to lose this million dollar organ. Thanks so much Cecile for giving me something easy to do while I work out a few complicated recipes. Guess, I am lucky I can calculate anything. If I went to dinner with someone and something like this happened to them, I would send them a get well card. I tried to send a person who went to dinner with us in NYC a Christmas thank you card, and it came back. I did not have the energy to send it a second time. A few days confined to bed in a cardiac unit can take its toll. Nothing like taking 45 minutes to walk one mile, when I used to walk 5 in and hour and a half. Life has surprises and one never knows what is around the corner? All I can say is I am lucky to be here making dump cakes and writing a cookbook that I hope will be useful to those on special diets.

Fascinating, I had not planned to put gluten-free recipes in my cookbook, but now that I read the spleen does not like wheat, I am including alternatives to wheat. Yes, gluten-free will be included, at least in theory, in the cookbook with some ideas.

I have to fool with any recipe. Instead of using peach pie filling, I used two cans of peach slices in real juice, no sugar added. To the liquid portion of the peach juice, I added dried cranberries, hoping they might soften up and absorb some of the liquid. I put a yellow cake mix, over all, and sprinkled cinnamon over the top after doting with about half the butter suggested. Please be careful as this makes part of the mixture dry and one can easily start coughing --- coughing not something I want to start doing as this would mean additional problems. Cinnamon sometimes gives one the illusion of sweetness and it adds color to the dump cake. The dump cake kind of reminds me of a more solid type, wonderful cobbler I had at a restaurant at Cape Code once. The only thing missing is the warm whipped cream (not on my diet plan these days). My husband says this dump cake would go great with ice cream too or even nonfat coolwhip!

I dotted it with about 1/2 to 3/4 stick of real butter, sliced really thin. The recipe calls for the entire stick, but I fear putting that much fat into anything as we have been fat free for a very long time. Next time I might freeze the butter a bit to shave it thinner.

Here is the picture of the dump cake in the oven and I will include a photo when I serve it. Unfortunately, I can not eat anything cold and have much work yet to do here on earth -- I am not allowed to fly for at least one year as my lungs and spleen can not go up yet, guess I am not an angel yet. I baked it at 350 F for 45 minutes in a 9 x 14' pan sprayed with Pam

I have lots of people to forgive and help before I become and angel, but had I had the energy to get out my hand mixer, I would have made pineapple angel food cake for sure!

It has 5 minutes to go in the oven and when I walked toward the kitchen it smelled heavenly!

Has anyone tried dump cake cupcakes? That is my next project!

NEW YEARS PRETZEL 2015, FAMILY SNACK TO HAVE WITH FOOTBALL GAMES, GO BUCKS, YEAH OSU!

I love the New Year's pretzel recipe which I will include herein after I explain the tradition. It is NOT a tradition in all of Germany but just in the part of the Black Forest where I was born. The pretzel is sometimes made into someone's age for the new year. In my case, I use my late mother's age. She would be 98 this March 2015, having been born in 1917.

First proofing, first rising of dough:

The second proofing, rising was in the shape of the numbers and I added a bit of egg wash (egg yellow) to make it appear shiny and like a glaze after baking and here is the final product:

This one was still on the cookie sheet:

Finally the recipe I used this year. Remember, I rarely use dairy, almost always use almond milk where a recipe calls for milk. I may use butter if for my husband and me, but switch to Mother's or Fleischmans unsalted (no milk and parve, but becareful as regular Fleishmans is Kosher DAIRY):

I cut the recipe in half as only wanted to make two numbers, one for me and one for my husband.

1/2 cup almond milk
1 1/4 tsp yeast (1/2 package)
2 T melted butter if permitted, otherwise Fleishman's unsalted (only the unsalted has no dairy)
1/6 cup sugar or less
Zest of half a lemon (optional)
1 1/2 to 2 cups flour, be careful not to use to much. Use one cup flour and then gently add until dough is workable) Knead about 10 minutes
1 egg yolk for brushing pretzel before baking -- again this assumes no egg allergy, it can be omitted for a duller but still delicious product

Bake about 20 minutes at 375 F until the pretzel mumbers sound hollow when tapped and look baked.

"GO BUCKS"

Little Time to Cook and Must Be at the GYM

I froze lots of Copper River Salmon this past summer and now we are enjoying it. To be honest, salmon is not my favorite fish, but my husband is allergic to iodine and has no problems eating it. I am very careful what fish I give him.



Since I have to be at the track these days, a self-imposed regiment before I get one officially, this is how I get it all done. I no longer do two things at once as I used to, those days are long gone. Anyone that tells me what I should be doing, unless they are in the medical profession are ignored because I most probably have already done it.

I respect those who are kind to me and wish to let them know it and am opening my mouth to those that could care less, that are less than honest with me. I have so much to be happy about, especially working for the goal of seeing my little red-headed niece who lives on the other side of the country. I pay more attention to everything including me. I am doing this because as the commercial says "I am worth it." I want to see my great-niece graduate from preschool to Kindergarten.

I have spent many years in medical settings and being a caregiver to family members.I want to share what I have learned along the way in regard to cooking foods as ultimately, if we do not eat, we do not heal. During these holidays, say "thanks" to those who truly care and for those that do not, "turning the other cheek" may work for awhile, but stress accumulates and sooner or later it will take its toll. We have vegan days, eat some fish and chicken. Our calcium source are green leafed veggies, brocoli and almond milk that I use for everything -- from heavenly mashed potatoes to pumpkin pie. I drink it like milk, use it on cereal, cook oatmeal in it and have used it to make puddings. Many of the recipes are searchable in this cooking blog which is also in Kindle format on amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Precious-Cooking/dp/B008NTAH30

My best advice is that none of us are immune to our heredity. We can do our best to be in the best shape we can, but genes are important. My mother was in continuous Atrial Fibrillation and my father had his first heart attack at age 65. I never would have guessed that I would have inherited either of these, but I can say had I not been walking 5 miles per day, I am not sure how I would be now. If I am tired, I stop pushing myself., this is a major change for me. I went on a trip to NYC at the end of September that was a big mistake. It involved agenda's that did not happen, late dinners, and all the things my husband and I have had to avoid to stay healthy. I knew better, but hoped going would be a chance to meet old friends, only none of them came, not a single one that I knew so many years ago. My husband wanted to leave 2 days early as soon as he realized the situation, but I did not listen, and refused to listen to him as could not believe someone would give me an agenda that was bogus. I think it was meant well, but things were cancelled for whatever reason and I had no clue. I paid a big price for this. The first time I felt an irregular heartbeat was on that trip. No one's fault but my own, yes my "heart was broken" and it now shows. It is permanent, blood thinners and 8 meds at the moment, for the rest of my life. Imagine if I had run down 19 flights of stairs, as I almost did, to help someone and it turns out I was the one that really needed the help. Wow, do I learn things the hard way! My friends said I never should have agreed to checking on anyone, they would not have done it, but I have a different nature and if I can maybe help, I will try. If you have company staying at an expensive hotel, do your friends a favor and check it out personally.

If you know something to help some one, and the person is not receptive, try once or twice and please give up. I am telling you it is not worth the stress. It will break our heart, like it broke mine, but that is life and again, it is "my reaction to the situation" as someone I believed in and wrote about, turned out not to be who I thought. It hurts like hxll, but that is life and I would not give this life up for anything. I should have realized the person was using me, not the first time, but for sure the very last, as I have to protect my heart. I am sad as there was much potential to do good, but I know my business and what I am doing and this is just not recognized. I even wrote it out in my blog, should there be any misunderstanding. I am also gullible, you tell me you can not afford $250.00 and I believe it until I see what one really spends -- and then I am shocked. The person is in my prayers, but a friend would never behave in such a manner. Years ago the person made me chose between an important speaker and going to Mobile to work on a project very important to me. Again, this is something that could have been handled another way. I should never have been forced into such a choice, but was so happy at the time -- one can see it in my face -- I will show it here --- happy that I had survived cancer!

I need to get back to this feeling, can't tell, but this was my red-headed stage of my hair on the way to becoming blond? I want to be as happy and get the smile back I had in this picture. Maybe writing it here will help.

Getting back to dinner, our first course was canned Progressive Hearty Tomato Soup which tastes the most like that of my Mom's that I have found to date. My Mom made it fresh from her tomatoes (and mine) from the garden.

For the salmon, I took it from the freezer and placed in the refrigerator over night. It was defrosted and I took a paper towel to make sure it was completely dry. I put some Pam in the stainless steel frying pan, let it get hot and put the skin side down in the pan. This allows for a crispy crust. My husband likes everything well done and if he is presented with skin, it better be crispy or he will sit there picking it off and turn off whomever is eating dinner with us.

Before turning the fish, I put a teaspoon of real Maple Syrup on it, it can't hurt and a cap full of the volcanic lemon juice I keep in the house at all times. I used to put a little Burbon on it and a bit of brown sugar, but Maple Syrup is easier and I love COSTCO's Volcanic Lemon Juice that has no preservatives in it, unlike any you can find on the shelves of grocery stores. COSTCO's lemon juice is like a fine wine and it says so on the bottle from Italy, we love it whenever I need lemon.

When the fish looks almost done, I tell this from experience from looking at the sides of the fish as my husband wants it done, I prefer it a bit undercooked, but it is easier for me to make it his way than to present him with a bit of fish that is not over done. After 46 years of marriage, I realize there are some things I can not change. Men are a bit hard to convince, they have to come to the realization on their own or else they think I am "prodding" them, as a friend said to me lately.

If you think he likes his fish well done, you should see asparagus. He grew up eating canned vegetables and did not like fresh or frozen when we were married, it was a real task to get him to eat fresh veggies, having him help in growing a huge garden in Cincinnati helped much and before that he helped in my greenhouse at The Ohio State University, Yes, I will admit herein that I was not always associated with hospitals, but spent time at the bench, in government where believe it tor not I traveled the country and was introduced in 1973 to Mexican food, for example!

I turn it over and add as much fresh, dried baby spinach as I can fit into the pan and put a lid over it so it does not fall out. As much as I can get in will equal 2 servings although the fish itself is 3 as that is how I cut it in case we might have company. I will put the remaining piece on a plate and cover with plastic wrap when cool to accompany a salad tomorrow, or sometimes I love to eat COLD FISH -- which probably comes from my love of anything fish, being a Pisceas, born Feb 20 (on the cusp of Aquarius).

Quick Hummus Dip without Salt or Tahini

Cook a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas) including the liquid. I like to cook most things that come in cans, but not for too long as I do not want the beans to get too mushy and absorb too much cooking liquid. Make sure the beans are salt-free. The best place I have found to buy the salt-free beans at a reasonable cost from 89-99 cents is Whole Foods.

Let the beans cool to lukewarm and drain into processor reserving liquid beans were cooked in, just in case. Add 2 cloves (cloves, not the entire head of garlic, only 2 cloves) of peeled garlic to the blender. Do not cut up the garlic as in my Ninja they will not mix if cut up, but I need to place them in whole. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and blend. Check consistency. Since we eat it on sandwiches I do not add more liquid, but if making for a party dip, add another tablespoon of the bean water in the pan.



Again, this is a salt-free recipe, make doubly sure the can says no salt. The lemon in the recipe takes care of the salt in other recipes.

Garbanzo beans are a good source of magnesium!

Easy Flavored Angel Food Cake or Cupcakes?

Easy Flavored Angel Food Cake

It is a great idea to keep a few 8 ounce cans of crushed pineapple in the pantry for anytime one might want to bake a moist carrot cake or this flavorful angel food cake. I have substituted crushed strawberries in this recipe when my nephew requested a "strawberry" cake and I did not wish to use food coloring.

1 box angel food cake mix
1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice or water
1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients, beat at medium speed for one minute, and place into angel food cake pan, do not over mix, use a timer.

Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 45 minutes, do not under bake. Turn cake upside down in pan until it cools. Using a knife, carefully cut around the cake so that it can be removed from the pan in one piece.

If you wish you can frost this cake when it has completely cooled. A fat-free frosting that we like on this cake is very hard to find, but one can order it from General Mills. It is called Betty Crocker Home Style Fluffy White Frosting Mix. The frosting has egg whites in it and the box says it may contain milk ingredients.

Here is the cake without frosting, kind of like cotton candy!



The link to the frosted cake with details as what one can do with the frosting is at http://preciouscooking.blogspot.com/2014/04/pineapple-lemon-raspberry-surprise-cake.html

For the chocolate lovers out there, the angel food cake box should have some directions for making this into a chocolate angle food cake.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

I try to put ground flax seed into or onto foods. Since we have vegetarian days, I will put it on hot oatmeal and since it kind of looks like brown sugar (no sweet taste) my husband will eat it.

What is really coming back in our area along with the hottest vegetable in our town, kale, are sardines! I loved them as a child growing up as I could manage one little sardine. The ones I had as a child were not skinless and boneless, but my husband is used to skinless and boneless.Long gone are the days when I would strain the mushrooms out of the cream of mushroom soup and have no patience to hear about bones in sardines. Thus,I buy a natural wild caught sustainably harvested imported sardine in a can with no BPA in the lining. IT is called "Season Brand," is kosher with the "U"P on it. I buy it in pure olive oil and can rinse it off, the sardines in salt water seem to be tougher. If you have been following this blog, you know I broke a tooth down to the bone and am cautious about anything I eat.

If you are sensitive to salt, like me, one can rinse off the sardines. I have been known to run to the beach with a can. At COSTCO they are serving them with crackers and rumor has it that many that bring their lunch from home are bringing sardines.

Because the can opens easily, does not need a can opener, it is a good emergency food to have around should we get snowed in this winter, when food trucks sometimes can not make it into the city. I can say that sell fast at COSTCO, whether one is sampling or buying them.

If you get tired of salmon (my favorite fish is ocean perch), you might want to try sardines if you do feel like cooking or are snowed in.

Next time I open a can I will show you the insides, the cover is below:

Mock Amish Meal

When a friend of a cousin visited from Germany, she asked to spend some time with the Amish who live in Middlefield, Ohio, about 45 minutes from our house. I suggested we go to the Middlefield McDonalds as it is a great place to meet and talk to the locals, but hearing the word McDonalds, my friend freaked. I told her we could have lunch at an Amish restaurant, but the Amish hostess and servers will be very busy preparing meals and most probably have no time for conversation. My friend decided on going to the Amish restaurant.

When we got to the Amish restaurant she only wanted "salad" bar, which surprised me. I introduced my German friend to the Amish hostess and asked if she might say a few words in her native tongue (a 14th century German -- or so I have read), and she kindly agreed.

My friend and I had no problems understanding the native Amish language (German was my first language). After we both ordered salad bar as I did not want my friend to be alone, the hostess suggested we at least share a typical Amish recipe.

I said great! When it came to our table, my German friend pushed it away and said this is typical German food and that my mother must have made it too! My mother never made anything like it. I not only gobbled it up, but went home and told my husband. As soon as our company left, we drove to Middlefield, ordered a full order each, and now make several variations at home.

The products I use for the quick recipe are pictured below, I only added the can of lima beans as wanted a few more veggies and frozen lima beans, even baby ones, are not tender enough.

The recipe is great for anyone having dental work, but since I recently broke the back of a premolar down to the bone, I put almost everything into the blender until my new crown is ready -- dread this temporary to fall out and expose the bone of my upper jaw!

Directions are as follows: Use only almond milk (I suggest Almond Breeze) to make the mashed potatoes (no butter necessary). To make 2 servings of mashed potatoes (my husband eats two as pictured in the bowel), heat one cup of almond milk to boiling. Take the pot off the heat and stir in 2/3rds cup mashed potato flakes. You can add a bit more of cold milk or potato if too thick or too thin for your taste. Pour the finished mashed potatoes into a serving bowl.

I took about 1/4 of of the can of soup and some lima beans (drained) and placed them in the blender to blend smooth (for me), and left it in the blender until I finished my husband's meal.

After putting his potatoes in the bowl, emptying the pot that still had potato in it, but not washing it, I poured in the soup from the can and the drained lima beans and mixed with any potato remaining in the pot to thicken the soup. One can add more flakes of potato to this soup to make it thicker (it is the secret to thickening anything, add a few potato flakes).

I poured his soup over his potatoes and put the rest in a bowl.

Then in the same pot, I heated my blender-processed soup and put it over about 2 tablespoons of potatoes that I had reserved in a bowl for me.

It is freezing outside today and this is a comforting meal. The Amish add more (homemade) noodles to the soup. I add noodles too sometimes. The very best is when I make noodles from scratch, but that is another blog post and not necessary for this recipe.

I remember having to make great homemade noodles for my Mom when I was 19 as she said, "You can only get married IF you can make good noodles."

Interesting, my Mom used the old German traditions with me, but I do not remember if either of my two younger sisters had to ace that one? Now, if I could only make all of my mother and grandmother's authentic German Christmas cookies!

Delicious Easy Hot Oatmeal with an incredible Aroma!

We love Quaker's Old Fashioned Oatmeal. Mine soaking in a pot as I write this. Since I tend to have a lot of dental work, I have been looking at what best to eat? What I eat got my attention per my check-up last year, and breaking the back of a tooth down to the bone about two weeks ago.

I was never crazy about hot oatmeal, but love it now per the way I make it. My husband loves it now too. He used to be a cold cereal eater -- those boxes are standing around, while I buy huge boxes of oatmeal and my blood work has never been better.

I cut a small banana, a fresh apple into thin small slices, dried cranberries, or whatever fruit is in the house and add it to my "Old Fashioned" Quaker Oats in a saucepan. I cover it with about 50/50 water and Blue Diamond Almond Milk as we need the calcium (twice the calcium in cow's milk). You can make it with all water or all milk of any kind too. The dried cranberries will become soft.

I let it sit for awhile together, covered in liquid, and will then cook it slowly. Sometimes I stop as tend to burn meals when I blog. Here is what it looks like so far. You can see the oatmeal underneath and banana, apple, and dried cranberries. Sometimes I only use banana, other times only apple or dried cranberries, but am doing all today and it will be delicious!



Here, I am covering it with 50/50 Almond Milk (the one with 30 calories in a glass) and water, or one can use any combination, just cover it -- does not matter if a little more liquid as it will get cooked into the oatmeal shortly.



Now I will cook it and come back to finish the blog!

It smells heavenly when the banana cooks in the oatmeal, the fresh apple is soft and the cranberries plump-up -- can you see?



Oatmeal finished -- soft enough for me but it could be cooked longer -- the apple is very soft and the the banana gives it the most heavenly aroma. Sometimes I put ground flax seed on top -- as it is very reasonable at COSTCO. The only way my husband will eat ground flax is on top of his oatmeal. I sneak it in lots of things when he is not looking! We lean to vegetarian so have to get plant sources for our Omega-3. Do not buy un-ground flax seed as humans can not digest the tiny seeds. If you come up with a recipe, please post, or you can sign up with your email to get the blog each time I update. If you prefer Kindle format, it is available at http://amzn.to/1zFZ4kr for 99 cents per month (Amazon set the price).



It holds up well in the refrigerator if you can not eat it all and my husband will microwave it when he is in the mood --- "Oatmeal is not just for breakfast anymore, as it is a great snack."

And as my great-niece would sing to the tune of 3 blind mice:
"Hot Oatmeal, hot oatmeal, yummy, yummy, in my tummy, hot oatmeal."

The World's Fluffiest Easy Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons (about 20-22 two-inch cookies)

4 tablespoons sifted cake flour (all purpose works great too)
2/3 cup granulated sugar put through coffee grinder to turn to powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional, I always omit the salt)
4 large egg whites (close to room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups sweetened shredded coconut (I use the entire 14 ounce package)

I process the sugar and the flour (for this recipe I prefer unbleached, all purpose as it has less gluten and results in a lighter, more tender macaroon). I have also used Bolts Red Mill one to one gluten free flour. In my coffee grinder, I grind the flour and then the sugar for a few seconds for the fluffiest macaroons ever. This step is not necessary and I know some leave out the flour completely if following a gluten-free diet, but I like the macaroons with the flour and sugar.

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry, add vanilla and beat for a second. Take a strainer and sift the fluffy flour with fluffy sugar through a strainer into the beaten egg whites, a bit at a time and very gently fold in, continue this until the sugar/flour mixture is folded into the beaten eggs whites. Then add the coconut a bit at a time and continue to very carefully fold it into the egg white/flour/sugar mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet (baking sheet preparationexplained below) allowing space for spreading.
I get about 25 2 inch macaroons from the recipe.

Bake in preheated 350 F oven about 18 minutes or until golden brown on the edges and dry on the surface, be careful not to over bake. My husband grew up liking everything over-baked and he likes them at 20 minutes when the entire macaroon is a uniform golden color -- Most prefer just some golden on the outer most coconut, around the edges and on the bottom.
Preparing baking sheet, spray metal pan with cooking spray, put parchment paper over the sprayed pan, the idea being that the macaroons do not get parchment paper stuck in them as the parchment paper sticks to the pan. The macaroon batter is sticky -- so let them cool before gently removing them from the parchment paper. If you move them before they cool, a bit of the cookie will be stuck to the parchment paper!

Kale Smoothies in Winter

While I am re-reading an Ebook (I am author #2) which is FREE for Cyber Monday, entitled, "Mentoring Power," I thought I should make us some kale smoothies. These smoothies are a very dark green. This is because I added concentrated tart cherry juice to the mixture before blending.



The recipe for 2 full glasses includes:

2 medium ripe bananas (my husband likes 3 ripe bananas for a really sweet smoothie)
2 cups of almond milk
1/2 cup of kale (mine was Italian Heirloom kale from my garden having been quickly blanched and frozen, fresh kale is great too and you can add more kale to your mixture.
Cherry concentrate -- about 1/4 cup -- but his is optional, and fruit may be added, or leave it as a kale shake with just the kale, almond milk, and banana

I blend the above in my Oster blender which will crush ice. I do not add ice in the winter, but in the summer I might add frozen bananas and ice. The blender is a cheap one, maybe $25.00, but it had to have the ice crushing setting as I do not want to notice a single plant cell in my smoothie, I want it smooth as a smoothie should be. I do not want to chew my smoothie!

Berries or almost any other fruit (berries, peaches, etc) can be added, but if you are sensitive about colors, be cautious about combinations as you might end up with a gray color -- delicious to drink but not to look at.

By the time I finished drinking my smoothie, I had read the concise Ebook, Mentoring Power, once again -- it is only FREE for Cyber Monday, a few more hours.

If you or someone you know needs a mentor, is interested in how to mentor, or in U.S. and/or foreign mentoring programs, do not miss the chance of downloading this FREE ebook, which was Hot listed on Amazon's list of ebooks on vocational guidance, the first day it was published!

Apple Pie Crust made with Vodka and Whole Wheat White Flour

Wow, the crust dough substituting Vodka for 1/2 of the liquid was very easy to handle. Especially since I used a flour higher in gluten with the potential to make his crust as hard as a rock, but he Vodka did its job from keeping the gluten from forming, incredible!

I think for a regular recipe, the crust would be incredibly flaky. for me reduced-fat as low as one can go and still have an edible crust, the Vodka helped much to reduce the gluten in this pie. Cooking the apples on a very slow heat, about 140F, to remove some of the liquid and concentrate the apple flavor was a terrific idea. This is the heaviest apple pie I have every made. Heating the apple slices on the stove in a Dutch Oven worked great!

Please note their are no sweeteners or thickeners among the apples in this pie,nothing but apples and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon as we love it! I cooked a mixture of apples including Melrose, Mcowen, Wiesap, etc. together. Some apples turned to a lumpy sauce, while other were tender and held a bit of the apple slice shape.

In this pie I used King Arthur's Flour, white whole wheat flour,which has a bit of a higher gluten content than most flours. I recently switched to white whole wheat as am trying to get away from the standard unbleached flours.

I prefer glass pie pans as no problems with acids and I like to see what is going on in the baking of the bottom crust. I baked this apple pie on a heated cookie sheet.

I started at 425F and after maybe 15 minutes, reduced the heat to 375F and baked it until it looked just right, some light brown on the bottom crust and the same light brown color all over the pie crust.

More Thanksgiving 2014

The top photo is my dinner plate for today. I have a temporary crown in a premolar as the back of the tooth broke down to the bone. I planned on making only soft foods today for Thanksgiving. I did not make my usual fresh cranberry-orange relish, fresh cranberries remain in the freezer. The stuffing is not our usual crispy crust type, but as soft and flavorful as possible. The turkey tenders are just that, very tender turkey, no need to cut with a fork.

Our appetizer today was tomato soup. My Mom made the best-in-the-world tomato soup from tomatoes from her garden and mine. I can not reproduce her soup, although I saw her work on removing the skin and seeds from the tomatoes with a piece of equipment I inherited. It does not look like fun to me. She would carefully place each bit of tomato puree in a plastic bag and freeze it very flat, so that she could fit many into her freezer space in her refrigerator. Thanksgiving was my Mom's favorite, the holiday we would also spend with cousins and I miss that very much.

While my apples are sweating, keeping them around 140F or below in a Dutch oven, softening them up before placing in a new, homemade pie crust. The pie crust I am trying today, replaces 1/2 of the water with 80 proof Vodka, to see if I can stop the gluten from forming. If I ever needed soft everything, this is the year. Should it be good, the recipe will end up in one of my upcoming cookbooks, but no fear, if really good, I will post to this blog.

I am not using expensive Vodka in the pie crust like Grey Goose, but Smirnoff, which was less than half the price. I hope the Vodka does not leave a flavor in the pie crust? Guess it is bye until the pie is finished as they say . . .

"Time to bake the donuts."

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

Since my Mom died 3 years ago, we go to the Cleveland Zoo for Thanksgiving, but I think it is a bit too cold and snowy for us to go today.

I am still testing recipes for my cookbook on desserts and am trying a low-fat pie crust today subsituting 1/2 of the water in the crust with Vodka to try to get a flakier crust to stop the gluten from forming?

Pictures coming later as I just put the turkey tenders and stuffing in the oven. Since I am in the middle of dental work, everything has to be soft this year. I put white, whole wheat flour on the tenders as thick it might thicken up a bit as my husband is a "gravy lover." He will eat almost anything as long as I can come up with a really great gravy!