Cotton Country Kitchen

Moldy Mounds of Dirt (Treat for Kids Only)

2011-10-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

These are prepared on the Rice Krispies Treats model with cocoa-flavored cereal, for Trunk or Treat parties. Ugly -- gummy worm emerging from each mound of dirt optional.

Regular Batch
Spray a very large bowl and a 9 x 13 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper if you intent to make shaped mounds rather than rectangles. If desired, crush chocolate cookie wafers to decorate the finished treats (I took some Oreos apart and used the halves with no filling to crush, putting the remaining halves together for "double stuff" Oreos). Reserve crushed cookies in a bowl.

Measure about 8 1/2 cups Cocoa Pebbles or Cocoa Dyno-Bites (13 oz. box) into the very large bowl you have sprayed with non-stick spray. Have a sturdy spatula or large spoon ready for stirring.

Melt 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) in a microwave, in a large microwave-proof bowl. Pour in a 10 oz. bag of marshmallows and stir to coat marshmallows with butter. Melt marshmallows completely in the microwave on high power for about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring once at 45 seconds. Pour and scrape melted marshmallow mixture into cereal and quickly stir to coat the cereal. Scrape into the prepared 9 x 13 inch pan and press evenly into the pan with buttered hands (or spray hands with non-stick cooking spray). If you intend to serve as bars, sprinkle some cookie crumbs over the cereal mixture and press into the top if desired, to make the top look "dirty". Also makes the bars less sticky (you could also coat the bottom of the pan with cookie crumbs before adding cereal if desired). Cut when cooled. Cover tightly to store.

If you want to make "moldy mounds of dirt", score the warm cereal mixture quickly into serving-sized pieces. With buttered hands, shape each piece into a flat-bottomed mound, shaping it around half of a gummy worm if desired, so that the other half of the worm emerges from the "mound of dirt". Firm cereal mixture around the worm. Roll the mound in crushed cookies to give the appearance of an uneven, dirty surface. Press cookie crumbs into cereal mixture and set on waxed paper-lined cookie sheet to cool.

Big Batch

Prepare as above, using a 16 oz. bag of marshmallows, 13 cups of cereal and 6 Tablespoons of butter. Marshmallows will take a little longer to melt and you will need BIG bowls both for the microwave and the cereal. I put the mixture in a 10 x 15 inch baking dish(sprayed with non-stick cooking spray as above) to score it into serving sections, then quickly shaped the pieces around gummy worms and coated with cookie crumbs. I set the mounds on a 1/2 hotel sheet lined with waxed paper, but you could use 2 smaller cookie sheets. I got 31 mounds of dirt, most of them quite large for a kid (slightly smaller than a cupcake).

NOTE: If you get a 42 oz. bag of Cocoa Dyno-Bites cereal, you can make 2 big batches if you substitute a cup or two of another ingredient for cereal in each batch -- nuts, coconut, another kind of cereal, etc. I would not try to make a double batch at one time - just too big. Separate batches are much more feasible.

Mongolian Beef

2011-09-05T22:32:00.000-07:00

Quick to make. Guys especially seem to like this spicy/sweet/salty recipe when they are dragging a little after a hard day of work. I adapted this recipe from the one linked at the bottom of this post, at Pink Bites. I reduced the sugar (the original was too sweet for me, but you could add some back if you prefer) and substituted flour for cornstarch (corn allergy). Because I was now making a sauce with flour rather than mixing cornstarch with the beef, I switched the brown sugar to white sugar to make it easier to mix with the flour. You could do the same thing with cornstarch or arrowroot, but use only half as much as you would measure if using flour. A sauce made with arrowroot should be added right at the end of cooking, as it will thin out again if over-cooked.

I usually don't use the maximum amount of garlic. I often add both hot pepper flakes (or ground hot pepper) and a fresh Ancho/Poblano chile. I usually use more ginger than in the original recipe, and if I don't have fresh ginger, I use a little ground ginger.

Serves two or three. You can easily double or triple the recipe if you have a large electric skillet. I often make this with cube steak, though Mexican-style Milanesa also works. If I have last-minute guests, I may start some ground beef cooking before adding the steak.

Mongolian Beef (corn free) 

1 pound of flank steak, cube steak, Milanesa or other lean steak
1 Tablespoon canola oil or similar oil for stir-frying

 1/2 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon grated or minced ginger (peeled)
 Up to 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves) 
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or ground red pepper (cayenne if you're brave)
AND/OR 1 fresh Ancho, Pasilla or other mild chile, seeded and sliced

1/2 cup cold water 
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce 
1/4 cup granulated sugar (you can add 2 to 4 Tablespoons brown OR additional granulated sugar)
1 to 2 Tablespoons flour (depending on desired thickness of sauce) 

 3 large green onions, 6 small green onions or 1 small regular or sweet onion

Cooked white or brown rice, and/or stir-fried vegetables for serving
(shredded Napa cabbage or similar greens, mushrooms, onions, celery, etc)

1. Begin to cook the rice while you prepare the rest of the meal.

Mince garlic and grate or mince ginger, set aside. Prepare and slice fresh chile (if used) in about 1/4 inch by 1 inch strips. Peel onion and slice into 1/4 inch by 1 inch strips or trim green onions (both white and green parts) and slice once vertically, then chop into 1 inch slices. Set aside.

Slice steak thinly across the grain, then slice into short strips.

2. For the sauce, mix granulated sugar and flour. Stir in the brown sugar (if used), cold water, and soy sauce. Save until meat is browned.

3. Heat a large wok, heavy pan or electric skillet to medium-high. Add the oil and then the meat, stirring until it is all browned (should not take long). Add the garlic, ginger, red pepper and sliced fresh chile if used. Continue cooking and stirring until garlic softens a little.

Stir the sauce ingredients to suspend the flour, pour into the wok/pan, stir until thickened and let it cook along with the meat for a few minutes.

4. You can cook down the sauce to reduce it to a sweeter, more concentrated flavor or leave it thinner. Add green onions at the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy. Serve it hot with rice and/or stir-fried vegetables or salad. It may not seem like you have much sauce, but the sauce is quite sweet and salty, and goes a long way on rice. Serves two, or maybe three if you serve it with veggies, etc.

Allergy Information: Check soy sauce for wheat or corn products.

Mongolian Beef  from Pink Bites
1 lb of flank steak or cube steak, thinly sliced crosswise 
1/4 cup of cornstarch
 3 teaspoons of canola oil 
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece) 
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves) 
1/2 cup water 
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
 3 large green onions, sliced
 Rice, for serving

1. For the meat, make sure the steak slices are dry by patting them with a paper towel. Slice them into strips, then add the cornstarch to the beef. Place the slices in a strainer and shake off excess corn starch. Begin to cook the rice while you prepare the rest of the meal.
 2. For the sauce, heat half of the oil in a large wok or pan at medium-high heat and add the garlic and the ginger. Immediately add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl. Don’t worry if the sauce doesn’t look thick enough at this point. The corn starch in the beef will thicken it up later.
 3. Place the meat in the same pan and cook, stirring until it is all browned (this is a quick thing). Pour the sauce back into the wok/pan and let it cook along with the meat. 
4. You can cook down the sauce to reduce it to thicken or leave it thinner. Add the green onions on the last minute so the green parts will stay green and the white parts crunchy. Serve it hot with rice. Serves 2.

Little Squashes

2011-06-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

Darla the Kitty Princess checks out a platter of summer squash in her flower border. Some of the ones she's looking over would qualify as "baby squash" - the kind I could never afford when I lived in Southern California and occasionally visited the upscale Irvine Ranch market.

I think the very cutest baby squashes are the scallop types (in white, all shades of green, pale yellow, deep yellow, rings, stripes, and combinations) and the crooknecks. And "round zucchinis" have gone beyond the old European heirlooms and their progeny to standardized hybrids. They make for a fun picture arranged like billiard balls. But I'm not growing any of those this year.

Even though I've simplified our squash list, we've still got 8 plants of summer squash this year - way too many for one family, unless you plan on giving some away. Even if you give lots of squash away, you can be overwhelmed if you don't pick them young. The ones on the platter are:

Magda:   A pale green, fat Lebanese (Cousa) type bred in France. My favorite zucchini. First to produce this year, as usual.
Sweet Zuke:   Medium green with faint stripes, shaped something like the Cousa types when it gets bigger. I bought seeds for this variety as a darker companion to Magda. Tends to break at the neck when picked.
Spineless Beauty:   Zucchinis on a less-prickly, less-hairy plant. They're the ones in the photo with the blossoms still attached. How high-end is THAT? My favorite variety name for a "hairless" zucchini was "Kojac". This type really is more pleasant to pick than regular zucchini.
Meteor:   A deep yellow zucchini, very slim when young. Apparently being dropped from production. Yellow zucchinis taste a lot more like green zucchini than like the yellow crooknecks and straightnecks. They probably have a different profile of phytonutrients than the green ones, so if you're a zucchini fan, growing both could be good for you.
Precious II:   A hybrid straightneck yellow squash which resists greening from a common squash virus. They're the ones that look sort of like pale yellow bowling pins in the photo.
Zephyr:   The one in the photo that's yellow on top and pale green on the bottom. A unique squash bred by Johnny's Selected Seeds. Has a winter squash in its parentage, and is rather firm. Nice flavor. Reported to keep better in the fridge than most varieties.

I planted two plants each of Magda and Zephyr. Thought I had 9 plants in all, but the Butterstick I thought I planted turned out to be a melon. Maybe I'm a little crazy for planting so many. But the bounty doesn't last forever. Summer squashes tend to produce so much fruit that they seem to wear themselves out after a while.

In our yard, the yummy yellow squashes, both crookneck and straightneck, tend to succumb to disease and/or insects faster than the zucchini types. Here, it's possible to put in a fall crop of summer squash if the white flies and squash bugs aren't too bad and soil diseases don't get to the plants.

Recipes: Okie Squash and Tomatoes is a good recipe for people who are not wild about zucchini by itself. Skillet Lasagna with Shredded Zucchini works even for most people who don't like zucchini because of its texture.

Melons as Cucumbers? Plus: Apricots! and a Garden Update

2011-06-04T03:27:00.000-07:00

MELONS AS CUCUMBERS
For me, part of the fun of gardening is doing a little experimentation. Last year, I tried hybridizing a new melon variety: Bidwell Casaba x Small Persian, to see if I would come up with anything close to a Crenshaw melon (the Crenshaw is reported to be derived from a Casaba and a Persian melon). Maybe we'll see this summer. Plants are in the ground along with some of our favorite melon varieties and a couple of new ones.

This year, I lost some of my cucumber seedlings to damping off fungus. So on the cucumber trellis, I'm trying some melons which I plan to try harvesting as cucumbers. "Armenian Cucumbers" and related varieties like "Painted Serpent Cucumbers" are actually melons, after all. True cucumbers have a hard time producing palatable, non-bitter fruit here because of the heat and because it is hard to maintain an even water level in the soil. The variety Summer Dance is the best I've found so far here, and it must be grown vertically or in part shade in this climate. This year, I'm also giving a few other varieties a spot in the garden, in addition to the "melon as cuke" experiment. I'm not including Armenian, because of the folk tradition that growing it near regular melons will change their taste. Not sure it's true. But why let this idea interfere with my experiment?

One year, our late, great dog Sparky was trying to harvest a melon (Piel de Sapo type) and accidentally pulled up the whole plant. He loved Summer Dance cucumbers, so I figured he mistook the melon for a cucumber. We used some of the immature melons he pulled up with the plant like cucumbers (peeled and seeded). They were sweeter than cucumbers, but quite similar. Our neighbor at the time told me that in the old days, his family ate immature honeydews as cucumbers. Yesterday, I planted out six varieties of melons on the cucumber trellis, along with a late planting of "Summer Dance" cucumber and "Poona Kheera (a brown-skinned cucumber from India). The melons are:

Honeydew Gold Rind: A honeydew melon which turns golden when ripe. Not too sweet, according to the description. From Willhite, 2005 seed. Pick on full slip if using as a melon.

Sprite: A crispy little white Asian melon. Tiny seeds from 1998 AND 2001. We'll see if they germinate.

Bartlett Hybrid honeydew from Burpee. 2007 seed. They've discontinued this one, which is why I got it on their bargain page in 2007. Supposed to taste like a Bartlett pear.

Lambkin: an early Piel de Sapo type hybrid with yellower skin. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a winter storage melon here if it matures early, so why not use as a cucumber?

Golden Crispy hybrid: another discontinued hybrid, not too different from this one. Crisp little melons are popular in Asia.

Gold Bar hybrid: Park bills this as the first cucumber/melon cross: a cross of Cucumis sativas (a cucumber) and Cucumis hystrix (a melon). But information I see on C. hystrix calls it the closest cousin to the cucumber. It's not a regular melon. It's hard to cross a cucumber with the melons we are familiar with. Even this cross-species "melon" has been hard for me to grown. Last chance for this batch of seeds.

Update: June 8, Lambkin and Summer Dance sprouted in their little seed protectors, which have now been removed Pictures of those later.

APRICOTS: We got our first apricot on June 2, a Royalty (not Royal). Second one yesterday. Quality is much better than usual, probably due to the cooler weather this year. Not as mushy this year. Maybe it's gotten less water during ripening than usual, too. This is a really big apricot, and the fruits stayed on the tree in our recent windstorms (it's billed as a wind-resistant variety). I'm thinking that this is a good variety for the Salinas Valley. It's a semi-freestone and there are other varieties out there which taste better. But it's still an apricot.

Update: On June 7, I picked our first Blenheim apricots which matured in reasonable weather. No comparison with Royalty. Blenheim's depth of flavor was remarkable, and its texture is far superior. No wonder people go on orchard tours in the Santa Rosa Valley to taste it. The variety Golden Sweet is said by Andy Mariani to be very similar, but more resistant to pitburn and brown rot. I just have to convince a nursery to pick some up from the commercial vendor. There should be some super-sweet varieties coming onto the nursery market soon, too.

I also picked a Harcot on June 8. It was bigger than Blenheim, but not as big as Royalty. Quality is much better than Royalty, not as good as Blenheim. It's better suited to our climate, though. Flavor Delight Aprium also has some ripe fruits. Usually they ripen before or with Royalty. They rank just under Harcot for flavor. They're quite reliable here.

FRUIT TREES: I finally got around to whitewashing the trunks of the new Pluot trees yesterday: a Flavor King to replace the one Sparky's bathtub killed, a Flavor Grenade to replace the one Little Buddy chewed up when he was a puppy, and a Splash. You're supposed to use a cheap white latex interior paint, diluted with an equal part of water. I found a little jar of paint used for testing mixed paint colors which was perfect for this use. I also renewed the whitewash on the cherry trees.

ONIONS AND LETTUCE: F. planted a bunch of seed for a short-day purple onion this spring, and they're bolting, so I advised him to dig them up. It's hard for him to understand that you plant some kinds of onions in spring and other kinds in fall. But he buries all onions so deep that they won't bulb up, anyway. These are woody, but he harvested and bunched them like scallions, anyway. Tied them with an onion stem. He hates to waste food. We give him some space in the garden to grow the things he likes. He does better with tomatoes and winter squash than with onions. He also transplanted some lettuce a couple of weeks ago which was already too bitter to eat after a warm spell. He really hates waste, and I think he intended to grow it out for seed. More seed than we could ever use. It's a pretty, but inferior, variety - a volunteer with tough, frilly leaves. I pulled them and put them in the compost bin so he wouldn't have to. There are still some in the front yard. He had started to transplant those to his garden plot, too. But I stopped him. Think I'll try to keep them from going to seed after they bloom. We have lots of lettuce seeds.

TOMATOES: I saw my first sphinx moth of the year last night. It's a shame that these fascinating moths lay eggs which turn into such destructive caterpillars. It will be time to break out the Bt spray (one of the most effective, specific biological insect controls around) soon, as the moths begin to lay eggs on the tomatoes. You can see the difference between a tobacco hornworm and a tomato hornworm if you scroll down here. I think the tobacco hornworm is more common in our garden. I only saw one of them on the tomatoes last year. Only sprayed Bt once. We also get the white-lined sphinx moth here. It's a beauty. According to Wikipedia, the caterpillars feed on tomatoes as well as a wide range of other plants. I'm not sure I've ever seen one on a tomato plant, though. Other sources don't seem to list tomato as a host. This is the green color variation of the caterpillar. Uncle Kent told us years ago about having to drive over a migration of green caterpillars in the Arizona desert. Guess it might have been these.

Our first tomato will be ripe soon. It's turning red. It's on an Early Girl plant we bought at a promotion at Home Depot in a gallon pot for about a dollar. The Ace we bought at the same time has good-sized fruit on it, too. I shaded the exposed ones yesterday with aluminum foil. Many of the other tomatoes bought as smaller plants also have fruit.

It's the fourth of June, and this is a late year for tomatoes here, but the fourth of June seems pretty early for a ripe tomato to people in most of the country. The name of the Fourth of July tomato doesn't mean as much in areas like this as it does in the North, and it's not offered in nurseries here. I didn't grow it this year because I didn't start plants from seed. Tough skin, but does well in the heat here, becoming very sweet. But I may be planting Moravsky Div (Wonder of Moravia) as my really early tomato next year. Recommended by heirloom tomato expert Carolyn Male. Along with Bulgarian Triumph as a later, small, sweet tomato.

The lanky potato-leafed plant I bought as an Early Girl has largely recovered from its early sickly appearance and has some small fruits on it. Though the plant is not what you would call "lush" at this point. It's probably the maternal parent of Early Girl, which is reported to be a potato-leafed cultivar. There were lots of potato-leafed plants among the Early Girls at nurseries and box stores this year. Somebody left some self-pollenized tomatoes on the plant during production of the hybrid seeds, apparently. I'm surprised that this doesn't happen more often.

Frost yesterday

2011-04-10T07:50:00.000-07:00

We had a light frost yesterday morning. Didn't hurt the tomato plants. Temperature at the airport was 36 degrees.

How to get water rings off wood furniture

2011-03-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

Today, I found a big white steam circle on our table. I read up on techniques for removing water rings, and decided to try ironing the table. It worked. The table has a polyurethane finish. I would be careful if trying this on lacquer. There are now clear water-based finishes, too. Sometimes marks on these will go away if you just wait a while.

But back to the almost-magical technique I tried. Steps below:

1. Find a clean, soft white cotton cloth or handkerchief with no texture or pattern. I used a doubled cotton handkerchief.

2. Place the cloth over the mark. Run a hot iron (no steam) back and forth over mark, moving the cloth every few seconds. Repeat until mark is gone.

3. Rub with lemon oil or other water-free furniture polish.

4. If the finish still looks damaged even though the ring is gone, you might eventually go over your entire surface of the furniture piece (i.e., the entire tabletop) with Danish Oil. Requires good air circulation and some time when you won't need the furniture.

Tomato Choices

2011-03-28T06:39:00.000-07:00

This time last year, I already had tomato plants in the ground. I started plants indoors in January. Last year I also had problems with tobacco mosaic virus (or a very similar virus) in my tomatoes. I didn't start any plants indoors this year. The plan this year is to plant a TMV-resistant variety between varieties that are not resistant, since the virus can spread plant-to-plant and by handling (dip hands in milk to prevent the spread).

LOCAL TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRUS RESISTANT VARIETIES

I now have 12 Big Beef VF12NTSt (6 from RiteAid, 6 from OSH). May not need all 12. This variety is not quite as large as some of the giant beefsteaks, but it is recommended for our hot valley and is earlier than most big beefsteaks. Stores well. Peels more easily than Better Boy when raw.

2 Champion from Walmart (from the racks outdoors). This is the indeterminate cousin of Celebrity, slightly larger tomatoes and reportedly with better flavor. The original Champion has VFNT resistance. Champion II: VFFNTA plus yellow leaf curl. Don't know which this is (or even if it's labeled correctly, for that matter).

1 Jetsetter VFFNTA - an early disease-resistant variety recommended for our hot summer climate, from OSH.

I may also pick up from OSH:

Carmelita VFNT Hybrid version of famous French heirloom Carmello. Red/pink with green shoulders. Midseason. 8 oz.

Sunsugar FT Even sweeter than Sungold, less cracking, less fruity flavor. Other TMV resistant varieties which may be available commercially include Sweet Million, Orange Paruche and Sweet Baby Girl (compact). Also Sweet Hearts grape tomato and Golden Rave FT mini-Roma. You can plant cherry tomatoes in places where they can just sprawl, if you like.

OTHER LOCALLY AVAILABLE VARIETIES

I picked up cheap gallon containers of Early Girl and Ace. I had an Ace die on me (probably due to a soil disease) once, but it is very popular locally. Early Girl is early. Roma and Beefmaster were also available in gallons, 2 for 3 dollars.

I also got from Hofman's 6 each of Black Krim and Cherokee Purple. Won't need 6 each. Black Krim did very well here last year. There are reportedly 2 strains running around: one "smoky" and one "salty". I got the "smoky" one last year. Cherokee Purple is not real productive, but has exceptional flavor. Pick black/purple varieties while the shoulders are still green (as a rule). Not applicable to Indian Stripe, a slightly smaller, more productive version of Cherokee Purple. It's available from Victory Seeds, which also sells rechargeable desiccant packets for storing seeds.

Hofman's has some pretty nice plants this year, including several heirloom and OP types. I picked up a "mystery plant" labeled as Early Girl from a flat of Early Girls. It's a rangy potato-leaf plant - certainly not Early Girl. My thrills come cheap. I also saw at Walmart an Early Girl plant with one stem which had sported to potato leaf. Didn't buy it.

I will probably get a Better Boy, which I think has a little better flavor than Big Beef, but is harder to peel when raw. It is not TMV resistant

I may also pick up the following from OSH:

Jubilation F1 6 oz, orange, firm flavorful, unspecified multiple disease resistance, indt.

Sunny Boy Determinate (?), very sweet, firm, few seeds

Arkansas Traveler Medium-sized, pretty, pink, late. Others with similar breeding are Traveler 76 (less cracking), Burgundy Traveler (better flavor) and Bradley F (bigger, soft, delicious, used for canning and fresh eating in the South. As with other determinate types, you can restrict water as the fruit ripens to increase flavor). There is a Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival in Arkansas. I also planted a Porter's Dark Cherry (Bonnie Plants). I suspect that it may actually be Porter.

From Home Depot or Lowe's

Sungold - the world's favorite cherry tomato. Be sure you get the hybrid. Golden orange color, prone to cracking, distinctive fruity flavor

Also, I think I have a German Johnson this year (one of the more heat-tolerant pink heirloom beefsteak types), a Lemon Boy VFN hybrid for mild yellow salsa, and a Mama Mia paste type. I don't know if the last one is a hybrid or not. It's a big, gangly indeterminate and the only reference to a tomato of that name I find is a standard determinate type.

OTHER RECOMMENDED VARIETIES

The heirloom tomatoes which are most commonly used as standards for flavor and texture are Brandywine Pink (particularly Sudduth's Strain or another named strain) and Cherokee Purple. Brandywine Pink is notorious for poor production, even though it tastes wonderful. It's worthwhile looking around for some similar varieties with better production (especially in hot-summer climates). Marianna's Peace and Mexico, along with Boondocks, are recommended for our hot valley. There are also some red Brandywine types recommended for warmer weather, such as Brandywine OTV.

If you're in Utah, you might check out Diane's. In addition to their own Purple Passion, they sell other great pinks. Caspian Pink, Rose and Chianti Rose would be good bets for cooler climates. Gregory's Altai is early for a big pink. Little Rosalita is very pretty and lasted late into the fall last year here. If you want to try an Ivory-colored tomato, Super Snow White might be a good choice. Nyagous is a beautiful "black" tomato that did well here. Amazon Chocolate sounds nice.

Gardeners in more humid areas need to be aware of local blights, and new virus prevalent in the East. Resistant varieties should be available locally, like Mountain Magic, (early and late blight, FFF, V). This new variety is highly regarded for flavor by "tomato people", and is said to improve in flavor if left on the counter for a few days after picking. Choose a resistant type as insurance even if you plant non-resistant types. In the Pacific Northwest, Territorial and Nichols are two catalogs with good information on varieties which get enough heat units to ripen there, as well as blight resistance.

In the East, Bella Rosa, Amelia, and other tomato spotted wilt virus-resistant varieties would be good insurance of a tomato crop even if you plant other varieties. Early standard tomatoes are also described here. Fourth of July hybrid is small, has tough skin, is very early and gets sweet in hot weather.

If you typically set out plants in May, you may still be able to start some seeds indoors. Otherwise, you might consider picking up some seeds for next year. Pinetree is a good source of reasonably-priced seeds. Check out their International section. (I also have tomato seeds if you just need a few). On its Hybrid Tomato page, Pinetree now sells the famous old Moreton Hybrid and the slightly newer Jet Star, (both having some characteristics of older, flavorful standard tomatoes) as well as other hybrids, notably Grandeur VFFNST (a Japanese short internode variety, said to be heat tolerant), Polbig VFT (very early, tolerates cool weather), and Sungold.

Their standard tomatoes include interesting varieties such as Prudens Purple, Tip Top, Oregon Spring (parthenocarpic, tolerates cool weather), Mortgage Lifter, Peach Blow Sutton, Black Krim, Black Cherry, Gold Nugget (parthenocarpic, takes cool weather, may be grown in container), Nebraska Wedding and Stupice. The last is reportedly tolerant of cool weather, hot weather and difficult growing conditions. People love the flavor or they don't when served fresh. It's supposed to be wonderful cooked. Moskvich (same size range, semi-determinate)) did well here last year and has nice flavor. Ditto Cosmonaut Volkov.

Tomato Grower's Supply ships promptly. They sell the beloved pink cherry tomato Rose Quartz VFNT, as well as a wide variety of good open-pollinated and hybrid varieties. Husky Cherry Red is a good front-yard variety. Husky Gold is the other recommended "Husky" variety (short internode indeterminate). Green Grape if you're worried about pilferage and don't mind a less-neat plant.

If you like Roma-type tomatoes, you might as well pick a variety with some flavor or disease resistance. Most Roma types are determinate. If you want fruit all season, you might go for an indeterminate type (if you're canning, determinate might be better). If you want to use them fresh, pick a variety described as good fresh (orange and black plum types are listed by color). Or maybe even a meaty, flavorful oxheart. Expect wispy foliage on oxhearts. You might even think the plant is sick.

For next year, I'm thinking about Sweet Treats F1 Large pink cherry tomato. F12,TMV, grey leaf spot Resists leaf mold, tolerates gray leaf post, crown rot and root rot. And Bulgarian Triumph.

Wild Boar Farms has your wild-looking tomatoes. AAA Sweet Solano was my favorite orange/yellow variety last year. Has faint stripes. Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye had TMV here, but is recommended for cool-summer climates. Early. Mine took a long time to germinate last year.

Have fun. Don't get carried away, though.

UPDATE: The new favorite very early tomato of Carolyn Male (heirloom tomato expert) is Moravsky Div or Wonder of Moravia in one of the Slavic languages - very close in Slovak. (apparently not ultra-early in Oregon) - potato leaf, determinate.

Winter Veggie Update

2011-02-24T09:54:00.001-08:00

Well, the "Just Right" hybrid turnips I planted in December are bolting, right on schedule to attract bees to pollinate the Royal Rosa apricot and the Flavor Delight Aprium.

"White Lady" turnip, planted the same time, is not bolting yet. "Just Right" is a great fall turnip, resistant to cold. Not such a great spring turnip. Just as described in the catalog.

Thumbprint Cookies

2011-02-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

These are rich butter cookies, resembling shortbread. They contain no eggs or leavening, so if you want kids to have the experience of eating cookie dough, this is a good recipe to use.

Little Cooking Lessons

Creaming butter and sugar: Some classic baking recipes (such as butter cakes and some cookies -- like this recipe, which contains no leavening and very little liquid) depend on creaming butter and sugar to add lightness and proper texture to the finished product. The temperature of the ingredients, especially the butter, is important. Butter and sugar will cream to a "light and fluffy" consistency when at 65 to 67 degrees. Start creaming the butter first, then add the sugar,as described at the link. Beating creates some heat, so you may need to put your bowl in a shallow container of cool water to keep the butter from melting, especially if the room temperature is above 67 degrees F.

Sifting Flour: Some precise baking recipes still call for sifted flour, which gives a more reproducible measurement than newer methods. When I was little, Mom, who hates to measure, had a flour sifter in the flour canister. My high school cooking teacher, Miss Hauser, had us sift flour onto a sheet of waxed paper with a relatively fine-meshed strainer, spoon the flour into a measureing cup and level with a knife without shaking or tapping. She also had us sift the measured flour together with the salt and/or leavening in a recipe two or three times for the highest-quality results. This recipe calls for sifted flour.

Some popular recipe books simplified the method for measuring flour by calling for stirring the flour in the canister then spooning the flour into a cup without shaking or tapping, then leveling. Then came the "stir, dip and level" method. It is good to be familiar with the method recommended by your favorite recipe books (accurate measurements matter more for some recipes than others). Heritage recipes were often developed with sifted flour. People who compete in baking at state fairs, etc. usually use recipes which call for sifted flour.

Ingredients

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but not mushy
1/2 cup superfine sugar (baker's sugar)
2 teaspoons vanilla or a combination of flavors*

Directions

Mix measured, sifted flour with salt, sift together and set aside. Cream butter, then cream with sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in flavoring. Gently fold in flour about 1/2 cup at a time. Do not over-mix. Cover dough and refrigerate for 1 - 2 hours (you can also divide into 2 or 3 portions to use on different days. Avoid over-handling. Keep sealed and refrigerated).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll cold dough into 1-inch balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets (I line a cookie sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil) if making a single sheet of cookies). Make a deep indentation in the top of each cookie with your thumb. Avoid handling dough too much. Cookies don't have to be perfect, especially if kids help. Fill with jelly or preserves (or fill after baking with chocolate or preserves). Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Makes about 48 cookies.

I don't fill the cookies before baking. Instead, for a chocolate version, I slide the foil off the baking sheet onto a cool surface or a wire rack, immediately place 3 big Guittard milk chocolate chips in the indentation of each cookie and press the chips together slightly when they have partially melted. For a more traditional thumbprint cookie, I put a little dab of boysenberry preserves in some of the cooled cookies. Someday, I may try a baked filling with brown sugar and coconut, almonds or pecans.

Allergy information: This recipe contains no baking powder and so is free from corn products (unless toppings contain them - watch for corn in jams and jellies). It is one of a limited number of cookie recipes that don't include eggs.

* You can also use a combination of flavorings to make exactly 2 teaspoons: 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla with 1/2 tsp. almond or lemon extract or 1 3/4 tsp. vanilla with 1/4 tsp. almond or other extract. I think that 3 parts vanilla to 1 part almond is sometimes called "Viennese vanilla".

Easier Gardening, Lower Food Costs

2011-02-15T07:26:00.000-08:00

The weather in Mexico and the world's financial situation have prompted people to think more seriously about gardening. I left a comment here concerning the value of good seed catalogs and gardening books. If you want me to recommend a good seed catalog for you, let me know.

I get some resistance to treating our own garden more like a garden and less like a farm. But I'm starting to introduce the ideas of gardening beds where rows are not practical. This is a farming region, and people are used to farming. There is less interest in gardening than there might be in some non-farming areas, interestingly enough. Following are some ideas which might inspire you to consider gardening.

1. Square Foot Gardening

The link above takes you to an Amazon video about Mel Bartholomew's famous Square Foot Gardening system. Check out the written summary of his Latest Improvements here. There is much more emphasis on making gardening easy than in the original book. These changes are included in a 2006 book, All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! which is recommended by the Cox family.

It appears to be out of print at the moment, but I recently bought a copy. Major changes from the original book include:

(a) Drip irrigation

(b) Raised beds filled with soilless mix and lined with weed-stopping landscape cloth

(c) Wider aisles between beds for easier maneuvering.

I would also recommend lining the bottoms of beds with galvanized 1/4 inch hardware cloth if there are gophers or moles in your neighborhood. These beds require the outlay of a little money at first, but will pay off in the long run. There's also a new cookbook to go with the new gardening book. Fun video.

In cold-winter climates, raised beds have the advantage of warming up faster in the spring. In a hot-summer climate like ours, they carry potential disadvantages of faster loss of water and sometimes salt accumulation at the surface. These problems can be lessened through the inclusion of water-retentive materials in the soil mix, mulching (as with reflective mulch which also repels bugs) and through periodic soil leaching. In windy desert climates, sometimes beds are build lower than the surrounding land. If you're ambitious, you could try this.

2. Weedless Gardening

This is a cheaper alternative which allows you to use your native soil (still utilizing beds rather than rows), Lee Reich, a former agricultural researcher, wrote a book which provides a scientific rationale for Ruth Stout's emphasis on mulching, but does not require you to have as much mulching material as Stout originally recommended. I love the title to Stout's book linked above, but haven't read it.

Reich recommends laying down four sheets of newsprint over the soil, covering it with mulch, and planting seeds in the mulch. Lots of people swear by it, as long as there are no really nasty weeds (like certain perennial grasses) in the soil. I used a modification of this system on some tomato beds, and it really did eliminate weeds.

3. Cinder Block Gardens

The photo shows my first cinder block garden, containing young plants for my hybridization experiment for last year: Bidwell Casaba x Small Persian Melon. I'll plant some of the resulting seeds this year. You can use pretty much all of the same techniques as the Square Foot Gardening, though bed dimensions will be a little different (up to 40 inches wide in the planting space, 55 inches wide on the exterior if the unit is 3.5 blocks wide). If your ground is level, you need no tools except maybe a hammer to drive stakes and a level to check your work. The beds should be level. If you build it on, say, level concrete, you may not need any tools at all. These beds can be easily dismantled and moved if necessary.

The bed pictured above is narrow because it is against a fence. It required a couple of short (8-inch) blocks. It's made of "lightweight" cinderblocks (thinner). If you build your frame two 8-inch cinder blocks high or three 6-inch cinder blocks high and cap it, you can sit on it (lay the blocks on halves, as with brickwork, if you use more than one layer of blocks). The neighbors' yards near this bed are full of gophers, so I lined this little bed with hardware cloth. This size bed allowed me to use an entire 2-foot wide roll of 1/4 inch galvanized hardware cloth without cutting. Lining the entire planting area with commercial-grade weed block before laying out beds eliminates weeds in the aisles, too. Eventually, you would want to cover the aisles with wood chips, gravel, or something similar. This advice also holds true for square foot gardens.

Fill the cavities in the blocks with native soil or sand. You can also secure with stakes like I did. I wonder if bottles of water in the cavities would moderate temperatures? I used a soilless mix (potting soil) for the bed itself.

Cinder blocks wick water, so I lined the inside surfaces (NOT the bottom of the bed) with plastic and topped them with foil to repel aphids and whiteflies. In more moderate climates, you can plant herbs or some veggies in the cavities of the cinder blocks.

4. Self-watering containers

If you're short on space or time, try these. GardenWeb is a good source of information. One commercial type is the "Earthbox", typically big enough to hold two indeterminate (staked or caged with a PVC pipe support which fits around the container - see photos in thread at the last link) or up to four determinate or short-node indeterminate tomato plants. Someone put some thought into this system. You can also make your own containers. Do a little research first.

Have fun. Don't get too ambitious all at once.

Quick and Rich Fudge

2011-02-14T16:50:00.000-08:00

Well, this is actually closer to being a ganache than to real fudge. But no matter. Quick to make. Kid friendly. You can load this up with chopped nuts and drop teaspoonfuls on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper, then top with a pecan or other whole nut if you like. But most people seem to prefer it plain.

Oil an 8 inch square baking dish or spray with cooking spray. Fold a sheet of waxed paper to fit along the bottom of the dish and up two sides. Smooth into oiled dish.

Have all ingredients at room temperature.

One 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
2 to 4 Tablespoons butter
11.5 oz. bag (2 cups) Guittard milk chocolate chips (or other milk chocolate chips)
1 cup Nestle mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (or other semi-sweet chocolate chipe)

Melt all ingredients over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, stirring constantly. This won't take long. When smooth, remove from heat and quickly stir in one to two teaspoons vanilla. Quickly spread evenly in pan. A stiff but flexible nylon or silicone scraper helps. Cover and chill until firm. Slide a knife around the edges of the pan and lift out cold fudge to remove waxed paper. Cut into small pieces - it is very rich. Keep tightly covered.

NOTE: If you use the maximum amounts of butter and vanilla, this fudge will be quite soft at room temperature. It will hold its quality best if refrigerated until shortly before serving.

Grandma's Almond Toffee

2010-12-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

Similar to commercial "Almond Roca"but better. This toffee is not too hard - easier to chew than some English toffees. David's Mom has made 8 batches for Christmas this year (plus other candy). I think this is the over-all favorite of her holiday candies. Though various family members have additional favorites.

Prepare a jelly roll pan (about 10 x 15 inches with a lip) by lining with aluminum foil and generously buttering the foil. Have ready the following ingredients:

2 cups salted butter (one pound) - bring to room temperature
2 cups sugar - room temperature
2 cups chopped, toasted almonds - divided
1 pound milk chocolate (about 2 2/3 cups of Guittard milk chocolate chips, for example)

It is important that the butter and sugar both be at room temperature, or the candy will separate. Grandma uses cane sugar for candy. You will need an accurate candy thermometer.

Heat butter and sugar together in a heavy saucepan while stirring constantly. When butter and sugar have melted together, attach candy thermometer to the pan with the bulb in the candy. Start with medium-high heat and adjust heat to bring candy to a boil, then to keep it boiling. Boil, stirring constantly and vigorously, for about 5 minutes, then add about half of the chopped almonds. Continue to cook and stir vigorously until candy reaches 300 degrees (optimum final temperature may be slightly different at high altitude or low barometric pressure. You can look up general adjustments for candy making). Be very careful. The thermometer and candy are HOT.

Pour toffee into prepared jelly roll pan. Cool toffee. I think you could probably score the candy for easier breaking before it is completely cool, but Grandma doesn't bother because people tend to want to eat big chunks of it.

When the toffee is cool, melt milk chocolate over hot water (bring water to simmer in a double boiler, remove from heat and place chocolate in the top of the double boiler over the hot water). I think Guittard milk chocolate chips would be a good choice if you don't buy milk chocolate in bulk. If the weather is humid, you might want to use part "milk chocolate dipping wafers" and part milk chocolate to stabilize the chocolate. "Frost" the cooled toffee with the melted chocolate. Sprinkle with remaining chopped, toasted almonds (may not take an entire cup). Cool until chocolate solidifies. Break into pieces and enjoy.

If you wanted something closer to an "Almond Roca" presentation, I believe that you could also score the warm toffee, cool and break it into pieces before dipping in milk chocolate and rolling in chopped almonds. Sounds like a lot of work.

Allergy information: Contains milk products and nuts but no corn or wheat.

Bulgur or Brown Rice Dressing

2010-11-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

NOTES: A good recipe for Thanksgiving or the day after Thanksgiving. I can't eat David's Mom's cornbread dressing because of my corn allergy, so for Thanksgiving 2010 I made the "healthy" dressing alternative from Family Circle. People liked it. The original recipe is very low in fat and is high in fiber. Ideas for using brown rice or other grains are below the bulgur wheat recipe, along with ideas for turning this recipe into a main dish.

This dish holds well on "warm" in a slow-cooker or electric skillet, so it is convenient when cooking facilities are busy. I made 1 1/2 recipes for two Thanksgiving dinners. I think the recipe below would fit in a 3-quart slow cooker. A 6-quart slow cooker should accommodate about a double recipe. Leftovers are great - appropriate for breakfast or for lunch with leftover turkey added or on the side.

I made one concession to decadence: 2/3 cup pecans toasted in a combination of butter and oil (about 3 Tablespoons total) in a small skillet. I removed the nuts with a slotted spoon when they just began to color and transferred the nut-flavored butter and oil (butter not necessary) to the electric skillet in which I cooked the onions, celery and bulgur. I swirled some of the chicken broth used to cook the bulgur in the small skillet to add more flavor the the dressing.

This dish could easily be made VEGETARIAN. Just use vegetable broth or water instead of chicken broth and leave out any added butter.

I left the garlic out for Thanksgiving dinner for a more traditional flavor and used fresh sage in place of poultry seasoning. Save the garlic for a day other than Thanksgiving. I think celery leaves and parsley are sufficient seasoning if you want to distinguish this dish from sage dressing (especially appropriate if you are using brown rice - which should also be compatible with tarragon and/or fennel leaves and diced bulb). Doesn't need too much pepper, either. The amount of poultry seasoning or fresh herbs in the recipe does not give as strong a flavor as in bread stuffings -- as appropriate for this recipe. I added some finely chopped green tops from a bunch of scallions, too. You can add the finely chopped white parts just before serving if you like. I usually use just the green parts from the scallions.

INGREDIENTS FOR BULGUR DRESSING (Serves 8 to 10)
Part 1
2/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/4 cup orange juice, apple juice or water
(also toast nuts for Part 4 if using)

Part 2
1 to 3 Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil (May use oil used to toast nuts, and/or use part butter)
3 cups chopped onions
2 cloves minced garlic (optional - I use chopped scallion greens instead)
1 cup chopped celery with some leaves
1/2 to 1 bunch scallions, green and white parts added separately (optional)
Fresh-ground pepper to taste (don't over-do it)
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning or 2 teaspoons to a Tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves (maybe with a little fresh thyme) OR tarragon, minced (optional seasonings)

Part 3
2 cups medium or coarse bulgur wheat (the most commonly available kind)
3 cups low-sodium or regular chicken broth (one can of each works for me)
Additional broth, water or apple juice if necessary to adjust moistness. (I use two 14 1/2 oz. cans of chicken broth, but you may need only 3 cups of liquid if the lid to your pan is very tight.)

Part 4
Softened cranberries from Part 1.
2/3 cup toasted walnuts, pecans, pine nuts or pumpkin seeds. Optional* (Or finely diced celery, fennel bulb and/or leaves or jicama)
1/4 cup minced parsley (more if you have sweet Giant Italian Parsley)
Adjust salt and pepper if necessary
Chopped fresh scallions - white part (optional - see Part 2)

DIRECTIONS
1. Microwave cranberries and orange juice or other liquid, in a covered bowl (I put a small plate over a small bowl), on "high" for about 40 seconds, or until liquid simmers. Remove from microwave and allow to absorb orange juice, stirring a couple of times as you prepare dressing, re-cover each time you stir them.

If you wish to toast nuts in oil and use the oil to cook the onions, see directions in the note before the recipe above. Otherwise, you may use dry-toasted nuts or omit nuts.

2. Cook onions (and garlic if used) in oil over medium heat in an electric skillet or large covered pot until onions start to become translucent, (you may cover the skillet or pot if the onions make you cry as you start to cook them). Mix in celery, chopped green sections of scallions if used, poultry seasoning, sage or alternate herbs and pepper and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.

3. Add bulgur and broth, bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes, or until bulgur is tender. Taste. If dressing seems dry, add some water, additional chicken broth or apple juice. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. If you need to hold dressing until serving time, keep it in a slow-cooker or electric skillet on "warm".

4. Before serving, mix in nuts and minced white parts from scallions (or raw celery or jicama) if used, parsley and plumped cranberries.

* See notes at the top of the page for toasting pecans or walnuts in a small skillet or heavy-bottomed saucepan. Don't allow them to toast too long. Remove pan from heat and nuts from pan as soon as they start to color, or they may burn and turn bitter. You can also toast the nuts dry or use pre-toasted nuts. Nuts or other "crunchy" additions are optional.

BROWN RICE DRESSING, Alternate Grains and Allergy information:

I think a wheat and milk-free alternative with long-grain brown rice and maybe a little wild rice, cooked until done but still chewy, would also be excellent. You might try leaving out the poultry seasoning or sage in the bulgur recipe. For a different flavor, try adding some minced green tops from a bulb of fennel and chopping some of the bulb into the dressing, or some fresh tarragon. Consider pressure-cooking brown rice at high altitudes. Or try other grains. Cook enough rice (and/or other grain) in broth to make about 5 or 6 cups of cooked grain.

Cook Part 2 above separately as directed, adding a little broth to simmer for a few minutes, then add your rice or other grain. You're on your own figuring out equivalent amounts of cooked wild rice, millet, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat or pearled barley (people who react to wheat gluten may not get along with barley, either).

I have made bulgur/barley dressing. It has a different texture from straight bulgur dressing (which I prefer) - sort of like the difference between short-grain and long-grain rice. To try it, bring 1/2 cup of pearled barley and 1 1/4 cups water to a boil in a small, tightly lidded saucepan and simmer until firm but tender (45 minutes to an hour), adding a little extra water near the end of cooking if necessary. Reduce bulgur to 1 1/2 cups and add cooked barley to broth along with bulgur in the recipe above.

This recipe can be made free of corn products - check chicken broth and cranberry ingredients.

Main dish: To make this into a main dish, add some diced, cooked chicken, leftover Thanksgiving turkey, or one to two pounds of cooked, seasoned ground turkey. You may want to increase dried cranberries to 1 cup and orange juice to 1/3 cup.

OR you can add 1 pound of ground turkey to Part 2 once the onions have softened a little, breaking up and cooking until no longer pink. Add a cup of coarsely grated carrot and/or zucchini with the celery if you like. You can get away with using water instead of chicken broth, and you probably won't need as much liquid.

For a complete vegetarian dish, try topping with some firm cooked, seasoned garbanzos, lentils or adzuki beans (or serve them alongside). Or use part amaranth, quinoa or buckwheat with bulgur to provide a complete protein.

Stocking Up: In an emergency, even if you had no way to heat food, you could serve a salad using similar ingredients by soaking medium bulgur in cold water for one hour (or until hydrated), adding dried celery, parsley and onion (not as much as in this recipe) plus dried cranberries or other dried fruit, desired seasonings, a little oil and lemon juice or vinegar. Allow to sit until vegetables re-hydrate and flavors blend, stirring occasionally. Stir in a can of tuna or diced chicken (with the liquid in the can) if you like and serve.

Fall Fruits

2010-11-24T14:12:00.001-08:00

It's the day before Thanksgiveng. A freeze (26 degrees) is predicted tonight. Time to gather in some apples.

Cranberry salsas

2010-11-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

Previewing cranberry salsa recipes:

Fresh Scallions, garlic, lime, jalapeno. Might substitute a little parsley for cilantro, serve cilantro on the side. Salsa in "Yankee Magazine". So traditional!

Ditto, no garlic, more cilantro

Basic enhanced canned cranberry sauce

Enhanced canned cranberry sauce with pears, green onions, cumin. Also a quesadilla recipe

Fresh salsa with Oranges, apples and serrano chiles (I think they mean a 12-oz. bag of cranberries)

Ditto, orange zest, less apple. Turkey taco recipe, too.

Recipes using less than a can of pumpkin

2010-11-21T13:16:00.000-08:00

For people who are concerned about wasting food, pumpkin recipes using less than a can of pumpkin call for recipes which use the remaining amount of pumpkin. A 15 oz. can of pumpkin contains about 1 3/4 cups. A 29 oz. can contains about 3 1/2 cups. Following are some recipes which use less than these amounts. Of course, you could also use home-grown, cooked and pureed winter squash (such as butternut or a variety of pumpkin bred for culinary use rather than display):

3/4 cup pumpkin.

Pumpkin Rice Pudding: No wheat, no eggs.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding 8-inch pan. A little less sugar, more fat than the extravagant pumpkin bread pudding that everybody loves. You could leave out the butter and use a 12-oz. can of evaporated milk in place of cream.

Hot Caramel Sauces

2010-11-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

Take your pick of Brown Sugar, Vanilla or Maple "caramel" sauces. These sauces are rich and really wonderful on bread puddings, steamed puddings, baked apples and other apple or pineapple dishes, etc.

None of them contain real "caramel" - browned white sugar - or even "caramelized" milk. And they can be a little bit tricky - if cooked too long they could become like candy and if allowed to cool too much, they may turn grainy. But they're worth a little care. So don't cook the sauce too long, and serve it hot or warm.

VERY RICH Dark Brown Sugar Caramel Sauce (See slightly less rich microwave version below)

This sauce is from our favorite pumpkin bread pudding recipe. Its flavor is intense.

1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)

Whisk sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

Microwave (or saucepan) Brown Sugar Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a 4 cup glass measure or deep bowl, microwave butter on High for 45-60 seconds to melt. Whisk in brown sugar and heavy cream until smooth. Microwave on High for 2-2 1/2 minutes until bubbly and slightly thick, stirring once. Serve warm over bread pudding, cake or ice cream.

For a (convenient) double batch using a stick of butter, cup of heavy cream and 2 cups of sugar: prepare in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly until bubbly and slightly thick.

VERY RICH Vanilla Caramel Sauce (See slightly less rich microwave version below)

I like this variation using about half white sugar and a little vanilla. Vanilla is superfluous in the all-dark-brown sugar sauce. Think of the difference between See's dark brown sugar candy centers and their vanilla caramel centers. The vanilla sauce is convenient for me because I can use the 1/2 cup of brown sugar left over from a pound of brown sugar when I make a double recipe of Pumpkin Bread Pudding. Once I browned the butter before making the sauce. Adds a nice flavor.

1 1/4 cups suger, including at least 1/2 cup white sugar - the rest brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (may use half salted butter, or you may brown the butter)
1/2 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
1/16 teaspoon cream of tartar (if you want to cook the sauce until it's thicker)
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and cream of tartar (if used) and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes. Cook a little longer for a thicker sauce.

Microwave (or saucepan) Vanilla Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla

In a 4 cup glass measure or deep bowl, microwave butter on High for 45-60 seconds to melt. Whisk in brown sugar and heavy cream until smooth. Microwave on High for 2-2 1/2 minutes until bubbly and slightly thick, stirring once. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla.

Serve warm over bread pudding, cake or ice cream.

For a (convenient) double batch using a stick of butter, cup of heavy cream and 1 cup each brown and white sugar: prepare in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly until bubbly and slightly thick. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Maple Caramel Sauce (big batch)

This recipe uses real maple syrup. It is expensive, but I think it's especially appropriate for holidays like Thanksgiving. It's a little thinner than the other sauces (cook it a little longer to thicken it up some) and may need to be stirred occasionally (butter may separate) if you serve at a buffet. I made the recipe below the last time I made Pumpkin Bread Pudding and kept it hot in a small slow cooker. I had a lot of sauce left over for other things like baked apples. This sauce is convenient when you make Pumpkin Bread Pudding because you can use a pound of brown sugar with none left over.

For a somewhat less rich maple sauce, try this one.

1 cup white sugar
1 cup real maple sugar (medium or dark amber - not "Grade A")
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1 cup whipping cream or heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and cream of tartar (if used) and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes. Continue cooking for a few minutes longer, until the hot sauce is a little thicker than cold maple syrup. If serving at a buffet, keep hot in a small slow cooker. Stir occasionally if butter starts to separate.

Pluots and Sugar Plums

2010-08-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Last week, I picked samples of three varieties of Pluots and our only European plum:

The yellow ones at the top are Flavor Queen Pluots: Pure sweetness - too sweet for some people when fully ripe. Clingstone. This variety does not set fruit easily. I only have a few fruits this year.

To the right are Geo Pride Pluots - tender, flavorful, sweet. Semi-freestone when soft-ripe.

At the bottom are this year's first Sugar Plums - a small European variety which survives in our climate. They can be dried into prunes without special treatment. Sweet, like the typical prune-plum.

On the left are Dapple Dandy Pluots: Bumper crop this year, as most years. Firm, clingstone.

Summer Fruits

2010-08-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

It's been seasonably hot - with highs around 100 degrees for several days, almost 40 degrees cooler just before sunup. The peaches and nectarines appreciate the weather more than the plums and Pluots do. But we have an assortment right now. Here is a platter full of fruits:

At the top are July Elberta peaches - freestone, suitable for canning (much less firm than cling peaches), great for jam, old-fashioned yellow peach flavor fresh. To the right are some of the last Heavenly White Nectarines - also freestone. Sweet, growing on a vigorous tree. Skin is slightly tough. I may not have watered enough when they were small. I would have bigger fruits on both of the varieties above if I had thinned more carefully.

Below the Heavenly White nectarines are some Burgundy plums. They are sweet, firm, quite mild and red all the way through. They hang well on the tree for quite a while without losing quality. Some people find them similar to Bing cherries. Clingstone. Recommended for drying if you're patient enough to cut the fruit off the pit. The blossoms are self-pollenizing and it is a good pollenizer for second-early blooming plums and Pluots.

At the bottom are Snow Beauty peaches. Freestone. A very nice white peach for California. Above them, in the center, are Fantasia nectarines - an old-fashioned, very flavorful variety - not as sweet as some of the newer ones. Freestone. A great fruit. I learned from "Fruitnut" on the Garden Web that this variety may not produce fruit if not watered well early in the season. I did better this year.

To the left are Dapple Dandy Pluots - the most well-known commercial Pluot. It was once promoted as "dinosaur eggs". Some of the mottled skin coloration comes from a plum parent - Mariposa. They grow on a vigorous, prolific tree. The fruit is firm and sweet. Clingstone. Not the most flavorful Pluot available, but still very tasty. There are some similar-looking varieties which ripen at different seasons which are very inferior in flavor. Their inferior flavor is even noted in the wholesale catalog for the trees. So try to make sure you get the real "Dapple Dandy" if you buy some at a farmer's market or something.

Grandma's Chili Sauce

2010-07-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

History and Memories

This is one of the best recipes Mom got from her mother-in-law. It became almost mandatory with roast beef, pot roast, hash or meat loaf. It is also good on scrambled eggs (particularly with fried potatoes) and even in slightly messy sandwiches.

As I recall the story, Grandma got this recipe from a woman's magazine back when women's magazines were newly popular. It calls for "50 tomatoes", which is a little less specific than most recipes for processed foods today. Mom decided that this meant "medium tomatoes". I did a rough measurement with 5 tomatoes, and I figure that this amounts to about 5 or 6 quarts of diced tomatoes. Your results may vary.

I have memories of making this chili sauce as a rather big production: scalding and peeling tomatoes, grinding green peppers and onions (best done outside with a sprinkler running to limit tears) in a food mill (meat grinder). I still think the finished product tastes best when the onions and peppers are ground, but it was a messy business, with a little of the juice running down the back of the food mill onto the floor. Today, you can use a food processor if you like. Aim for onions and peppers diced to a size of about 1/4 inch - less than 1/2 inch in any case.

After following Grandma's recipe for several years, Mom decided to substitute whole spices for the ground spices in the original recipe to produce a redder sauce. She ties the whole spices in a cheesecloth or muslin bag so they can be removed after the sauce is cooked down. The longer the whole spices simmer in the sauce, the stronger the flavor they impart. You can add more whole spices if you prefer a spicier sauce.

I compromise, leaving the celery seed swimming in the sauce and bagging the other spices. (I am partial to celery seed). I have used one of the little nylon tulle circles used to tie up bundles of Jordan almonds for wedding receptions. But you run a very slight risk of melting it if you allow the sauce to scorch during cooking.

The biggest change Mom made in this recipe was adding tomato paste at the end of simmering, which drastically cuts down on the time that you need to cook the sauce down until it is thick. Adding tomato paste also means that there is proportionately more tomato and less of the other ingredients in the final sauce. If you wish to increase the amount of the other ingredients for a zingier sauce, feel free.

According to my calculations from a "home cooking" website, a 12-ounce can of tomato paste is roughly equivalent to 6.6 cups of fresh tomatoes, packed (minus a lot of water). This means that 4 cans of tomato paste is about equivalent to the amount of fresh tomato in the recipe. This little comparison also gives you an idea how long Grandma's version has to be cooked down to produce a thick sauce. Mom's new version is thicker than Grandma's version, however (at least as we prepared it). We didn't use any paste tomatoes, either. So the "sauce" between bits of vegetable tended to be somewhat watery. It was still very good.

Jason also got Mom to add jalapeño peppers for an unusual Chili Sauce Picante (or "Salsa") variation.

Ingredients

50 medium tomatoes (about 6 quarts) peeled, cored and diced to ~ 1/4 inch pieces
5 cups vinegar (we use apple cider vinegar - 5% acidity)
6 Tablespoons sugar (less sweet than most commercial chili sauces)
6 Tablespoons salt (preferably non-iodized: check labels of pickling or kosher salt for equivalent amounts)

1/2 Tablespoon cloves (ground in the original, whole in Mom's version)
1 1/2 Tablespoons allspice (ground in Grandma's version, whole in Mom's version)
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon or 4 sticks cinnamon, broken
2 Tablespoons celery seed

4 green peppers, cores and seeds removed, ground or diced to ~ 1/4 inch
4 onions, ground or diced

For Mom's updated version: 4 twelve-ounce cans tomato paste

For Chili Sauce Picante

Add ten Jalapeño peppers, cores and seeds removed, minced - or other hot peppers to taste. You may wish to add 2 to 4 Tablespoons of coriander seeds, toasted or not, to your spice bag and omit the celery seed, which doesn't seem very "Mexican". Mom uses celery seed.

Directions

Tie whole spices in a cheesecloth or other food-grade cloth bundle, if using whole spices. Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed kettle and simmer briskly, uncovered until thickened. Stir frequently, particularly as sauce thickens. For Mom's version, cook down for about an hour, add the tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes. Stir frequently as above. Remove the spice bundle.

Pack in cup, 12 ounce or pint canning jars, using normal home canning techniques. Leave 1/2 inch head space. Process in a boiling water bath (covered with boiling water) for 12 minutes if sauce is already hot when processed, about 15 - 18 minutes if sauce has cooled significantly before processing, or for larger jars.

Quarter Recipe

It's much less of a project to make a quarter batch, especially if you use a tomato variety that's easy to peel while raw. Blanching even the easy-to-peel ones may be worthwhile if you make the larger batch above.

You can easily process jars in a large kettle, slightly elevated in a steamer insert, if you have a smooth-topped stove which doesn't work with a typical cold-pack canner. Separate canning jars in the steamer insert with clean, wet washcloths to prevent bumping during processing.

I increased some of the ingredients a little to compensate for the addition of tomato paste, for a result a little closer to Grandma's original, but redder and fresher in flavor like Mom's.

12 to 14 medium-sized tomatoes (about 6 cups peeled, cored and diced)
1 1/2 cups real apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar, scant
2 Tablespoons salt, scant

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 heaping teaspoon whole allspice
1 stick cinnamon, broken (I used 1/2 stick each of the assertively-flavored flaky Mexican cinnamon sticks and the harder "standard" cinnamon sticks - they're from different species of tree)
2 teaspoons celery seed, scant

1 large green pepper, diced
1 very large onion, diced

1 twelve-ounce can tomato paste

Melons, Peaches, Nectarines, Pluots, Giant Caterpillar

2010-07-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

It has been hot this week -- as expected this time of year in the valley. Melons and other fruits are ripening at an accelerated pace. Here are some I picked today:

At the top left is my all-time favorite melon, Early Sugar Shaw Hybrid Crenshaw. It shows a little sunscald, typical for these melons if you don't protect the fruits. At the top right is a Lilly Hybrid Crenshaw - almost as big as the Sugar Shaw. I'm looking forward to comparing them because seed of Early Sugar Shaw is no longer available (though I still have some seeds). Next to Lilly are two Heavenly White nectarines and three Geo Pride Pluots. Then comes a little slightly sun-scalded Savor Hybrid Charentais melon. Next to it, if identified correctly, is Summer Dream Hybrid. There are two varieties of melon named Summer Dream. This is the orange-fleshed one from Japan. It is cracked. Watered too late in the ripening process. Charentais melons are also very prone to cracking if watered while ripening.

At the bottom of the photo is a melon of whose identity I'm not sure. It could be one of the Crenshaw varieties above, or Sweet Honda, a yellow-skinned, orange-fleshed melon from Japan. But it looks a lot like Lilly (perspective in the photo makes it look relatively larger than the ones in the back). The little pale melon next to it may be an Extra Summer Sweet. Next to it is another yellow melon - Sweet Honda or a Crenshaw. In the center are F.'s volunteer watermelons. The plant these came from had died back, and the melons may be over-ripe. At the left of the photo are four July Elberta peaches and a Dapple Dandy Pluot (firm-ripe).

Giant Caterpillar

Ripe Green Tomatoes

2010-07-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I picked the first fruits from our three varieties of tomatoes which are green (well, yellow-green) when ripe: They're pictured with some orange and yellow tomatoes for comparison. At the top is Absinthe, our largest green tomato, with a smaller specimen below and to the left. On the right side of the plate are three AAA Sweet Solano, orange with yellow stripes. You may not be able to see the stripes. Next are Green Grape cherry tomatoes in various sizes, and some mystery yellow pears for color comparison. Next going clockwise is Green Zebra - green with yellow stripes. Then some orange cherries, most likely Sun Sugar (they were labeled Sun Sugar Red). Then comes the yellow tomato which was supposed to have been Boondocks.

And there were more red and pink tomatoes. At the rights is the unusually pretty pink tomato which was labeled "Black Krim". It was sold along "German Johnson" and "Arkansas Traveler", so it may be one of those varieties. At the bottom is a huge Anna Maria's Heart. Next on the left is a Giant Belgium - not all that giant. Next going clockwise in another big Anna Maria's Heart and a respectably-sized bicolor Orange Russian 117, which has characteristics of both oxheart and regular-leaf tomatoes.

Really BIG tomatoes

2010-07-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

Temperatures went down a little after our 107-degree day, but the forecast for tomorrow is 105 degrees. On Saturday, the family who brought their kids over for a planting experience this spring came again to pick tomatoes, peppers, squash and nectarines. The garden is producing well.

We have gotten our biggest tomatoes of the season so far. Some varieties which have, up until now, produced smaller tomatoes have delivered some whoppers. Below are the biggest, with some others for contrast.

In the center is the very biggest specimen - deep as well as wide - a German Head tomato. I think it's the biggest tomato I've ever grown. It has on it some cherry tomotoes (they were supposed to be Sun Sugar Red, but they're probably Sun Sugar) and a penny for size comparison. At the top are three pretty hefty Anna Maria's Heart tomatoes. Then clockwise to what was supposed to have been a big pink beefsteak variety (Boondocks) but which is actually a fairly small yellow variety. Then come two big (for this variety, so far) Black Krim tomatoes with a small, striped Black and Red Boar perched between them and a couple of cherries. To the right side of the platter, three Goose Creek tomatoes - one of the size we have been getting until today, the other two quite a bit larger. Pretty tomatoes.

Next to the Black Krim, at the bottom of the photo is a Marianna's Peace - not large for this variety. Then comes a huge red Jet Setter hybrid fruit. There was another just like it. I was really expecting this to be a medium-sized tomato, along the lines of Celebrity. Perched above these are some AAA Sweet Solano fruits. The yellow on orange striping is quite evident today, even if it doesn't show too well in the photo. Next going clockwise are two Brandy Boys (one to the side of the platter) with a small Ponderosa Pink perched between them. The other tomatoes to the left of the platter are a little Barbara fruit (we're getting lots of these, some much bigger than this one) and a dark, very ribbed JD's Special C-Tex. The shape of this one is quite variable. Above it is a small, beautiful, smooth pink fruit with green shoulders which was supposed to be Black Krim. I bought the plant rather than starting it from seed like the plant that produced the Black Krims on the right. Maybe it's a chance cross or mutation. Maybe it's mislabeled.

Variety Comparisons

Black and Red Boar vs. Nyagous: Both of these little tomatoes are smooth and beautiful. (Black and Red Boar is pictured above and here, in the first photo. Nyagous is pictured in the second photo at the link) Black and Red Boar is heavily striped. Nyagous has a dusky blend of colors. The overall color family of both is similar on the outside. On the inside, Black and Red Boar is dusky pink, without the green coloration typical of the "black" tomatoes. It is soft, slightly sweet and quite flavorful. Nyagous shows light vein-like markings on dusky flesh when peeled - quite distinctive and beautiful. Both tomatoes are quite easy to peel, except for the shoulders on Nyagous. Nyagous is also soft, but is juicer, a little sweeter and has a smoky flavor typical of a black tomato. This was a very ripe specimen.

Black and Red Boar gets the nod for its extraordinary appearance, Nyagous for flavor.

Cucumbers, Climbing Squash Plants, Fruit Tree Pests

2010-07-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

Below is a photo of the cucumbers I picked yesterday, with some of the tomatoes we picked at the same time. We got some LONG cucumbers. At the bottom are two Natsuhikari - our first of the season. Then a ribbed Suhyo TK, then the tomatoes, then several Summer Dance cucumbers - not all as perfect as they usually are.

We've had a spider mite invasion of several of our stone fruit trees. Today I sprayed the Heavenly White Nectarine tree pictured below with a jet of water. Much to the consternation of our dog, Maggie. The tree is due for some extra pruning this summer. It's currently losing a few leaves due to the mites. Hope rinsing off the leaves gives predators of the mites a chance. They're very difficult to control with insecticides. You can see one of F's winter squash plants climbing the tree. He planted several of them where they would tend to overtake our plants.

Below is our drenched Warrior Princess Maggie resting after her epic battle with the water hose.

More Interesting Tomatoes

2010-07-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

The photo below includes examples of some of the interesting tomatoes developed by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms, plus some others. The dusky, striped little tomatoes at the top are Pink Berkeley Tie Dye. Next, going clockwise, comes Beam's Yellow Pear. Then come three Purple Passion, some smaller Evans Purple Pear and then Yellow Submarine. At the bottom are some striped Black and Red Boar specimens. Then comes our mystery yellow pear (extra seedling with a purchased Brandy Boy plant), Haley's Purple Comet - a large oval cherry tomato, then Golden Egg, Grightmire's Pride (an oxheart tomato - my choice today for fresh salsa) and AAA Sweet Solano - a small, oranged tomato striped yellow, with some green markings. In the center are three Orange Russian 117 tomatoes - a bicolor oxheart cross.

The contrast in color between "Purple Passion" and "Evan's Purple Pear is an example of the two varieties of "PURPLE" in the tomato world. The first type, like "Purple Passion" is along the lines of a rosy pink, and comes mostly from the absence of yellow pigment in the skin of ripe tomatoes. Famous older varieties in this category are "Pruden's Purple" and "Aunt Ginny's Purple". The second category of purple tomatoes is a dusky type, often with some green coloration, similar to the "black" tomatoes. It is typified by "Cherokee Purple", which I grew last year. The coloration of "Gary O' Sena" in the photo below is similar to that of Cherokee Purple, one of its parents. The "JD's Special C-Tex" below characterizes the "green shoulder" stage at which this type of tomato is often picked.

The second tomato photo for today includes, at the top, Brandywine OTV (my choice today for a fresh slicer); four little Goose Creek tomatoes; a big, dusky, irregular Gary O' Sena; smaller dusky Nyagous (note the yellower skin tone), two Marianna's Peace specimens; Three nearly-perfect Momotaro tomatoes and several Black Krim specimens of different sizes. In the center, next to the Black Krim are two Anna Russian tomatoes, more typical oxheart shapes than the double one pictured last time. Below them is a JD's Special C-Tex - looking more like a typical small beefsteak than the big boat-shaped specimen last time.

Skillet Lasagna with Shredded Zucchini

2010-07-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

Tips and Comments
This recipe is a good way to use zucchini or other summer squash when your plants are producing more than you expected. Shredding the zucchini makes this dish palatable to most people who don't like zucchini because of its texture. (You can only eat so much zucchini bread, another favorite recipe for "sneaking in" some zucchini). And the strong flavors of a tomato-based spaghetti sauce mask the flavor of even the darkest green zucchinis, with the overall effect of making the sauce taste milder.

Some of the extra moisture released from the squash is absorbed by the no-boil lasagna noodles as they cook. If you're too rushed to make lasagna, you can add a little shredded zucchini to almost any chunky pasta sauce. Or use part zucchini and part shredded carrots (for a slightly sweeter taste).

Yellow zucchini or straighneck squash looks especially nice in this recipe. It would also work with steamed and flaked-out strands of spaghetti squash. I prefer immature spaghetti squashes (when the rind can still be easily pierced by a fingernail) to ripe ones when serving with a tomato-based sauces. Even if you like ripe spaghetti squash, there are always a few fruits which don't mature to the hard-rind stage by the end of the season. This would be one good way to use them.

The recipe below makes a lot of lasagna. If you wanted to halve the recipe, a 9 x 9 inch baking pan or skillet would allow you to use one sheet of noodles per layer of the Ondine noodles. There are also "no boil" lasagna noodles which look more like the traditional ones, which might be more convenient for this recipe. Or see the 2-layer variation (using only 2 pounds of cottage cheese) at the end of the recipe. It cooks in about 25 minutes after layering the prepared ingredients. It's the one I usually make now.

You could also bake the recipe below in the oven (try 20 minutes at 350 degrees before topping with cheese, or estimate baking time from a recipe on the package of your no-boil lasagna noodles), but it's too hot here to bake right now, so I made it in a big (12 x 16 inch) non-stick electric skillet. I used "no boil" lasagna noodles which came in thin, corrugated sheets, about 8 x 8 inches. I broke them to fit the skillet. The Ondine brand noodles came with a recipe for vegetable lasagna, with no tomatoes, on the package. It includes only vegetables, oil, a little cheese, and chicken broth. The translation wasn't perfect, and I haven't tried it yet.

Ingredients
Vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (leave out if kids hate onions)
1 pound very lean ground beef or turkey (optional)
5 to 7 cups coarsely shredded zucchini or other summer squash (remove seeds from really big squashes)
Salt to taste (about 3/4 teaspoon, less if spaghetti sauce or cheese are quite salty)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large jar (32 ounces) spaghetti sauce

3 pounds (5 1/2 or 6 cups) cottage cheese *
1/4 cup minced fresh scallions or sweet onion
3 to 5 oz. Parmesan or Romano cheese, finely grated
3/4 pound to 1 pound part-skim Mozzarella cheese, grated
No-boil lasagna noodles

Directions
Saute chopped onion in a little oil in the skillet in which you will prepare the lasagna. When onions are translucent and have begun to brown (or caramelize them if you like), add the meat, breaking it up as it cooks. When about half the pink has disappeared from the meat, add the zucchini, salt and pepper and stir into the meat. Cover and allow to cook until the meat is no longer pink and the squash starts to turn translucent .

Adding the zucchini while the meat is partially pink should result in meat which is more tender. If you want the shredded squash to retain more texture in the finished lasagna, add the spaghetti sauce as soon as you add the squash.

Reserve about 1 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce (to spread over the bottom of the skillet) and mix the remainder into the squash mixture. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, covered. Meanwhile, mix the minced sweet onion or scallions into the cottage cheese, along with 1/2 to 2/3 of the grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Spoon squash mixture into a large bowl. Spread reserved spaghetti sauce evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Add a little water to reduce to the consistency of common canned tomato sauce, if necessary.

Place one layer of lasagna noodles over the spaghetti sauce, breaking pieces to fit as necessary. Leave about 1/2 inch between the noodles and around the edges of the skillet.

Working quickly, spoon half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles and spread fairly evenly. Sprinkle with about 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese. Dot with about 1/4 of the squash mixture, and spread it over the cheese layer.

Add a second layer of noodles, perpendicular to the direction you used for the last layer (more or less - don't be too concerned about precision). Working quickly, spread the remaining cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, followed by 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of the squash mixture.

Top with another layer of noodles, according to the directions above. Dot with the remaining 1/2 of the squash mixture and spread the mixture to cover all of the noodles.

Cover tightly and simmer (you want some bubbles reaching the top, but not vigorous bubbling) for about 40 minutes, until noodles are cooked through when you test a piece. Mix the remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan or Romano cheeses and sprinkle evenly over the lasagna. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. (If baking in the oven, do not cover after adding the last layer of cheese). Turn off heat to the skillet but leave it covered, allowing lasagna to rest for 10 minutes. Or remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve.

* 2-LAYER VARIATION: I later made this recipe using 2 pounds of cottage cheese and only 2 layers of noodles, leaving the rest of the ingredients about the same. I reserved plenty of sauce/squash mixture to go over the cottage cheese layer which topped the second layer of noodles. It cooked faster with only 2 pounds of cottage cheese - in 25 minutes. I still let it rest, covered, with the heat off, for 10 minutes. The time necessary to cook the noodles may vary with the brand of no-boil lasagna.

Allergy Information: We have a friend who is allergic to squash. Some people with a latex allergy have a cross-allergy to squash or to some other foods, especially certain immature fruits (like summer squash). Some varieties of Classico Spaghetti Sauce contain no corn products.

Oxhearts and Others - More Tomatoes

2010-07-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

We're starting to get substantial numbers of tomatoes now. Lots of Fourth of July, Early Challenge and First Lady fruits. We've had several Cosmonaut Volkov fruits and some tomatoes which are labeled "Aunt Ginny's Purple", from a second plant which may have been a victim of the "toddler label mix-up" event. They're a tender, meaty heirloom type, but not "purple" or pink. Lots of perfect-looking, egg-shaped Barbara fruits, too. We hit the jackpot with several Pink Oxheart fruits today. One is pictured below with several other varieties:

At 12 o'clock is our first little Royal Hillbilly. The fruit of this variety is usually larger, according to the description. Next to it going clockwise is a small Momotaro, a pink market tomato from Japan. Then a Marianna's Peace, looking more like an oxheart than it should. Then our first Goose Creek, a little bit over-ripe, with cracks at the stem end. You can't see the little white speckles which are sometimes noted on this variety in the photo, but they're there. Next to Goose Creek are three dusky Nyagous, slightly darker in hue than the big, boat-shaped JD's Special-C Tex in the center of the platter. The green on the shoulders is characteristic of many of the "purple" or "black" tomatoes when ripe. Two of the Nyagous fruits are likely over-ripe.

At six o'clock are two Moskvich fruits, then one of the Oxheart Pink fruits. The ones I picked today were variable is size and shape. Not all of them looked this much like a heart. The comes a Ponderosa Pink with some green on the shoulder and a little cracking, and finally a big double heart - Anna Russian. There was also a HUGE double Anna Maria's heart that got stuck in the fencing where two layers overlapped. The second time for this variety. We'll have to find a better one to photograph.

We're still getting a lot of squash, too. And a lot of squash bugs. I had to pull up two plants of Saffron Prolific crookneck this week due to disease. Zucchini plants generally last longer than crooknecks and straightnecks in our yard. And some of F's volunteers. Our 107 degree day was hard on the beans. Haven't had any edible ones since. Still getting a few Summer Dance cucumbers.

First Plums and Pluots

2010-07-05T15:52:00.000-07:00

Below is a plate showing, at the top, the superlative Flavor Supreme Pluot, the classic Santa Rosa Plum on the left and Weeping Santa Rosa at the bottom. There is a whole and a cut fruit if each variety . These were picked last week, just as our apricots were finishing up.

Flavor Supreme has lots of sweetness, similar in this way to a typical European plum, but with sprightliness and complex flavor characteristic of an Asian plum. It has a little apricot in its background, along with Santa Rosa and Mariposa plums, which are common in the parent lines of new varieties of plums and Pluots. It tastes best when it first starts to soften, while the skin is still mostly green. It has a bit of crispness at this point. Eventually, the flesh will turn a deep maroon, but by then much of the complex flavor will be gone. My experience this year has been that the fruit can develop a slightly "cooked" or oxidized flavor if it ripens when the temperature gets to 107 degrees. Fruits which ripened after the high heat (daytime highs of about 92 to 99 degrees) were far better. The same was true for the plums below.

Flavor Supreme grows on a vigorous tree with big leaves, but its blossoms are not very attractive to bees. It's a good idea to graft in some early-blooming pollenizers, like the old California commercial plum, Inca, or one of the other early-blooming Pluots. Or, you can plant your pollenizers very close to the Flavor Supreme, or bring over some vases full of blooming branches to place in the tree. Right now, the tree is afflicted with spider mites, and as soon as all the fruit are picked, it's going to be pruned and blasted with a jet of water in the mornings. I've already started spraying the tree with water, trying to avoid the fruit as much as possible.

This year, the fruit is ripening with Santa Rosa, indicating that rain prevented setting of the earliest blooms. As with our apricots. Normally, Flavor Supreme starts to ripen well before Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa is the classic California Asian plum, introduced by the legendary breeder Luther Burbank. It is tart at the pit and astringent under the skin, with a sweet layer in between which has a lushly complex flavor. It tastes a bit "wild". It is not sweet or firm enough for some modern tastes, but this is a fruit that lets you know you're alive when you eat it. A Santa Rosa at its peak is, in my opinion, a wonderful thing. Some people peel it before eating. Like Flavor Supreme, it loses flavor if over-ripe. It makes very flavorful jams and jellies. Leave the skins on.

The blossoms are self-pollenizing, and this tree is the classic pollenizer for Asian plums and Pluots which need cross-pollination. It has a wide climate adaptability. The tree is vigorous and easy to care for. Perhaps too vigorous for some people. Summer pruning is key to controlling its size. If compatible with your soil, you could also consider planting it on a dwarfing rootstock (the same is true of Flavor Supreme, another vigorous tree).

Weeping Santa Rosa is a Floyd Zaiger development, like Flavor Supreme Pluot. It's one of his earlier releases, now off patent. The fruits grow on a tree with a weeping habit. It is a little sweeter that Santa Rosa (wins taste tests) and ripens slightly later than Santa Rosa. It can be picked when a little firmer and still have great flavor.

Below is our plate of fruit under the Weeping Santa Rosa tree by our front walk. You can see a couple of fruits hanging from the tree next to the daylily blossom. The cut fruit in the photo above is slightly under-ripe. At perfection, the flesh will have a slight rosy blush, a little less than the photo of the Santa Rosa fruit on the left.

Like Santa Rosa, its blossoms are self-pollenizing and can pollenize other varieties. The tree is often grafted onto dwarfing rootstock for ornamental use, but you can also prune it to the shape you like. It has a wider climate adaptability than Flavor Supreme, but probably not as wide as Santa Rosa. The little flower underneath is a cross between a Martha Washington geranium (well, pelargonium) and a scented species. It survives in our climate better than the true Martha Washington types. But the bloom you see lost a petal during the photo session, and it may be our last for the year.

Olives and Virgin Olive Oil May Reduce Inflammation

2010-07-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

In a controlled study, high-phenolic (i.e., virgin) olive oil modified expression of genes involved in inflammation. Some of the affected genes are linked to obesity. Olives may be even more helpful. See comments.

First Cucumbers, More Tomatoes

2010-06-23T23:37:00.000-07:00

We are starting to get temperatures in the mid-nineties now with 102 forecast for Sunday. Usually this time of year, we ahve had several triple-digit days. The wonderful Blenheim apricots which are now ripening don't have pit-burn this year. We were lucky with this variety this year.

Pictured below, our second cucumbers from the garden (we ate the Cool Breeze before taking a picture). The ridged one in front is Suhyo TK. The one in back is our standby, Summer Dance. Also pictured are some new tomato varieties. Along the edge of the plate above the Summer Dance cucumber is Rosalita. To their left, a heavily-ridged, squat Aunt Ginny's Purple with blossom end rot on the bottom where you can't see it. Beneath are two Early Challenge fruits and between the cucumbers is a plum-shaped Barbara fruit which probably could have stayed on the vine another day. IDs continue below the photo.

Beneath the blossom end of the Suhyo TK cucumber is a little Fourth of July fruit and our largest fruit so far, other than Cosmonaut Volkov, First Lady II. Lined up against the cucumber are three Berkeley Tie-Dye fruits. You may not be able to see the stripes, but there is some faint striping. The smaller fruits in front are Yellow Submarine, Black Cherry and Pop-Ins.

The plate is next to one of F's squash plants. He seems to have planted them where they will overtake many of the plants we planted. He believes that any seed which naturally sprouts in the garden will produce better than a "foreign" seed. At one time, when people planted single varieties, this may have been true. But we get some strange squashes from the F2 generation, offspring of hybrids from the year before.

First Cucumbers

Cool Breeze: Short, stubby gherkin, probably a little larger than you would pick for sweet pickles. Light color. Very crispy, sweet. The plants are not happy where they are planted. Don't think I will get many more fruits. Produces before many other varieties, but is not a heroically heat-tolerant variety like Summer Dance. It needs to be grown on a trellis here.

Suhyo TK: Deeply ridged. Did not peel. Trace of bitterness at stem end, astringent (not in a particularly unpleasant way, tender). Would be a good variety for making cucumber facials. Would probably have some bitterness in hotter weather. This is a tough climate for cucumbers.

Summer Dance: As usual, sweet and tender even with the skin on. No bitterness. A great cucumber for our climate.

More Tomato varieties, following up on our first harvest

On June 18 I picked:

Cosmonaut Volkov: A good-sized tomato, tasty and mildly sweet with light red flesh. Peeled easily without blanching (so did a fully-ripe Fourth of July). Assuming that a certain toddler didn't switch the labels when we planted this section.

First impression of tomatoes picked June 22 and 23:

Pop-ins: Variable red pear or teardrop type, bigger than typical yellow pears. Juicy, pleasant.
Rosalita: Rosy grape tomato with tiny white dots. Sweet, nice fruit.
Yellow Submarine: Bigger than the typical yellow pear. Flavorful.
Black Cherry: Very flavorful. Gel around seeds is green, as expected. I liked the fruits with a touch of green on the shoulder best. Lots of "black" tomatoes are ripe when they still show some green. There was no cracking. This variety is known to crack in some conditions.

First Lady II: Hard to peel when raw, OK for an early tomato, kind of bland.
Early Challenge: Smaller than First Lady II, easier to peel, slightly tastier
Berkeley Tie-Dye: Not as much striping as I expected. Gel around seeds is tart, as expected. Soft flesh. Not as flavorful as I expected. Maybe too ripe?
Aunt Ginny's Purple: Not ripe - picked early because of blossom end rot.
Fourth of July: Fruit ripened in warmer weather is sweeter than the first fruit we got. In my past experience, the flavor of this variety has stood out when the weather got hot. Fruits are relatively hard to peel raw unless very ripe. This is a shame, because the skins are tough.

Update, June 26

Stone Fruits: Yesterday, Marcela came by for some spricots. The little fruits from my volunteer tree are flavorful, sweet-tart and firm, sometimes a little tough or crunchy. Seems more and more like the offspring of a commercial variety. Golden Amber is big, very soft and flavorful. Softer and bigger than Blenheim. I'm not so sure that it's immune to pit burn, as described in catalogs, but it's a good late apricot. We didn't get much of an extended harvest this year due to rain during the bloom season.

Today, I picked a peck or so of Blenheim apricots - luxurious this year with more moderate temperatures. Temperatures are warm enough - mid-nineties - to sweeten up the Arctic Star nectarines. The soft ones are really sugary now.

The Santa Rosa plums at the side of the house are ripening, before the few Flavor Supreme Pluots, which normally start ripening first. Santa Rosas are a jolt of tangy flavor, -- too flavorful for some modern tastes.

Cucumbers and squash: I picked a bunch more Summer Dance cucumbers today - smaller than you would see them in the store. More luxury. Not much going on with the other varieties. Lots of squash on now. Magda is prolific. Diplomat and Kojac are both nice, standard green zucchinis. I pulled up a couple of F.'s volunteer plants which had turned yellow.

Tomatoes: More varieties ripe for the first time this year:

Boondocks Mystery: The mis-labeled Boondocks plant turns out to be a mid-sized clear yellow tomato. Somewhat tart. Plant is diaseased, may come out soon.

Brandy Boy Mystery: The second plant with a purchased plant of Brandy Boy turned out to be a big, mealy yellow pear-type tomato.

Beam's Yellow Pear: Tasty, but not as tasty as Yellow Submarine. Both are thicker at the neck than the common little bland, cute-as-a-bug yellow pear tomato.

Napa Grape: Juicy for a grape tomato. Nice flavor.

Jet Setter: Mid-sized, tasty, quite easy to peel without blanching. One was craced at the stem end, the other wasn't

Better Boy: Tasty as usual. A little softer that Jet Setter. I preferred its flavor today.

Moskvich: Picked an under-ripe one with blossom end rot. Ditto Cosmonaut Volkov, from my first plant. The one picked from the fence resembles it in appearance, so it was probably identified correctly.

The 2010 Harvest is Underway

2010-06-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

It's cooler than normal for June this year. Harvest is well underway, and will accelerate in the next few weeks. We've had tomatoes, turnips and beans. We've had our first stone fruits. And we're getting lots of squash. Below is a photo of some of our early harvest, along with my current favorite hoe, a little triangular one. I also loved my Dad's little crescent-shaped scuffle-hoe, but I've never seen one like it since.

Pests and Diseases

We seem to have Tobacco Mosaic Virus in the yard, particularly in F's volunteer tomatillos. It's spread by touch to all sorts of plants - tomato, pepper, bean, squash, cucumber, melon - just about everything we have planted. Plus ornamental flowers and weeds related to beets (like lambs quarters) and those in the ubiquitous Amaranth family. If plants are not infected early, it usually stunts rather than kills them.

Hope we can convince F that smoking around the plants and touching them actually does spread the disease. Next year, we may need to think of a way to restrict his activities to his own part of the garden without breaking his heart. Tests show that dipping one's hands in milk before handling plants can reduce the spread of the disease. Sometimes plants are also sprayed with milk. I have no clue why this would reduce the spread of an RNA virus. F. doesn't believe that the disease cannot be cured with a "medicine" or that it is spread by touch. He does believe that you can kill a horse by stepping on a scorpion, even if you're a football field away from the horse. It's a challenge to introduce new ideas to him.

Tobacco Mosaic can be seed-borne, which means that my plans for saving seeds and trying a few hybrids may be scaled back. It is persistent in plant debris and soil where plant parts are not fully decomposed.

Squash Bugs have a good start now on our squash plants. They like watermelon plants, too.

First Stone Fruits, 2010

2010-06-17T00:13:00.000-07:00

We had a difficult spring for stone fruits this year - lots of rain during blossom time. For the first time, fruit set was sparse on Flavor Delight Aprium. Also on Royalty and Golden Amber apricots, plus my favorite, Harcot. Not much going on with Canadian White Blenheim, either, but this is no surprise, as it needs a late pollinator and is in a marginal zone for winter chill here.

On the other hand, we got a good fruit set on Blenheim apricot, a disease-prone variety. And it is starting to ripen before temperatures reach 100 degrees - unusual around here. No pit burn. It's a great fruit if you're in a climate which is friendly to it. For example, if you live in Santa Rosa, in what was once called "The Valley of Heart's Delight" based partly on the fruits grown there. Various apricot varieties can be quite picky about the climates they prefer. Apricot success here this year is all about the weather.

Back to the start of the harvest season: Our first fruits were little Royal Rosa apricots. They were better this year than in the past. I think that their water was restricted a little as they ripened. They also need to be dead-ripe before you pick them, or they are bland.

Next came Flavor Delight Apriums - nice fruits - and Royalty (Not Royal), a big, mushy fruit on wind-resistant spurs which David likes because it reminds him of his Grandpa's apricots.

Harcots started soon after Flavor Delight. Not many of them, but they were big and luscious.

Some of them are pictured above with Flavor Delight apriums, a little yellow plumcot (blushing to red) from LE Cooke wholesalers and Arctic Star nectarine. The plumcot is an interesting fruit: soft and tender. It loses quality when it goes beyond yellow with a little blush. It has a little bit of a delicate floral flavor. At its best, it's sweet, but can also tend toward being insipid. I think of them as resembling a wild fruit. Wild fruits seem to come in two main types - highly flavored and tart or even astringent, or slightly sweet and tending toward the insipid. This fruit is closer to the latter category. Some people really like them a lot. I think they would be good combined with cranberries for a less-assertive sauce.

They tend to ripen over a very short period of time, especially in years hotter than this one. The tree is compact and attractive, with nice leaves and showier blossoms than most plums grown for fruit. It's easy to care for. It blooms late in the plum season here, and it may cross-pollinate Emerald Beaut - a prized variety of plum. It takes a few years to start blooming, and often blooms on main branches.

Arctic Star white nectarine (the reddish fruit in the picture) are one of breeder Floyd Zaiger's great family of super-sweet fruits. They can be enjoyed firm-ripe or soft and very sweet. The fruits should be thinned more than I thinned them this year, given ample water until they start to ripen, and protected from insects through dormant spraying, garden cleanup, etc. This will help prevent the bitter almond off-flavors and stunted fruits which can occur in white nectarines.

Squash Report, June 2010

2010-06-16T23:52:00.000-07:00

Once squash plants start to produce, they tend to keep producing quickly, until they "run out of steam" from producing so much fruit so fast. The colander above features my favorits variety, "Magda", a Lebanese or "Cousa" type light, club-shaped zucchini from France, plus several yellow squashes: Saffron Prolific - a shallow crook-neck, Butterstick - merging from straightneck to yellow zucchini, and Cougar - disease-resistant. Plus the zucchinis Kojac (few spines on plants) and Diplomat - a dark green variety. I don't seem to have any surviving Sweet Zuke, a club-shaped dark green zucchini from Burpee which often breaks when you pick it.

The yellow squash with the green end is from one of F's volunteer plants - looks like a child of Magda and Zephyr, a remarkable summer squash with some winter squash in its breeding. Your chances of getting squash of quality comparable to the parent plants from seeds taken from a mixed planting of summer squash are not good. Especially when you started with F1 hybrids. The F2 generation often produces some oddities. The bicolor squash in the photo, for example, has a larger seed cavity than its probable F1 parents. The doesn't mean you couldn't get something nice from deliberately crossing two open-pollinated varieties to get your own F1 hybrid.

I used most of the squash in this colander, plus some already in the house, to make two big skillets full of variations on this recipe. One included a diced Ancho (Poblano) pepper, ground red pepper and Pepper Jack cheese. The other included bacon and was topped with Colby/Jack cheese. I think I like a medium or sharp cheddar better than Colby/Jack for this recipe, but you can vary ingredients to taste.

Below is the row of squash we planted. Some of F's volunteers (not pictured) are already turning yellow and sickly, and are ready to be removed from the garden. They're scattered in odd places. He also planted winter squashes of unknown parentage. Good hosts for next year's crop of squash bugs. He seems devoted to growing them, though. Gives them to friends in the fall.

We already have big adult squash bugs mating, plus nymphs. They can get out of hand fast. Grateful we don't have squash vine borers or cucumber beetles.

First Tomatoes and Beans, Last Summer Turnips 2010

2010-06-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well, our first tomato was a little currant tomato, variety "Sweet Pea". Not bad. There were also a couple from a mis-identified "Fourth of July" plant that turned out to be a tiny, crunchy grape tomato - Not outstanding. We had a Stupice tomato ripening, but lost it, along with a few others of the 61-plus plants we planted. Interestingly, all of the plants lost were either purchased rather than started by us, were over-wintered or were planted where a diseased plant came out.

Our second harvest includes a few tiny Sweet Pea and "Fourth of July Mystery" tomatoes, plus one larger (still not very big) real "Fourth of July" tomato. They're pictured above with the last of the "Summer Turnips", variety - Oasis. Still good. Only a hint of the off-flavors which develop in turnips during hot weather. We've had variable weather this spring, but it's been cooler than normal lately, in the 70s and 80s during the day.

Also pictured, pole beans "Fortex", perhaps the best pole bean in the world, and a heat-tolerant variety, "Champagne". A bean specialist gave me some seeds to try. I only planted a few plants, as pole beans are usually marginal on our spring weather. I typically like them small, but a few got away from me, going to the "beany" stage that David's Mom likes. There's also a sprig from the "Grenada" pomegranate, with a baby fruit and blossoms. Not enough tomatoes to provide color. They needed some help. We should have a bunch soon.

Honors for Biggest Green Tomato go to "Anna Maria's Heart". This is a surprise, as it is listed as a late variety. Healthiest-looking Plant award goes to "Nyagous", a smallish "black" tomato.

Update June 15: Anna Maria's Heart produced a ripe tomato. It had been squished against the fence support, and had some bad spots. This is the first time I've grown oxheart tomatoes. I think I'm going to like this one. Sweet and meaty so far. It's pictured below with what is probably "Sweet Million" plus some more currant and grape tomatoes in the little bowl and "Sweet Quartz" (a Japanese cherry tomato named for the color of Rose Quartz) on top of the beans.

'Champagne' pole bean is out-producing 'Fortex'. Champagne is a flatter bean and has strings - just like old-time string beans with less-elegant names like 'Turkey Craw' or 'Blue Greasy Grit'. I hope to try Fortex again in the fall.

The difference in hue between the "pink" Anna Maria's Heart and Sweet Quartz and the "red" tomatoes in the bowl is not particularly evident in the picture, but the "pink" tomatoes have less yellow pigment in the skin when fully ripe. The "Sweet Millions" pictured here were sweet and a little on the mealy side. Hard to judge quality on these first tomatoes. "Sweet Quartz" was juicier with more complex flavor. It's large for a cherry tomato.

Below is a row of our tomato plants with the June 15 vegetable harvest. "Nyagous" is in front, with dark foliage to go with its dark-colored tomatoes. There are four of these rows, plus extra plants along the dog-run fences.

I was successful at emasculating some blossoms for hybridization, but not at drying and transfering pollen. I'll probably skip further hybridization experiments until next year because of the tobacco mosaic virus in the yard. We will likely lose the "Brandywine OTV and "Haley's Purple Comet" to disease. I think I can get some fruits from the latter variety first.

More melons, second-string tomato plants

2010-05-15T23:02:00.000-07:00

We have lost three tomato plants: The Red October which lived over the winter in a little cup did not make it in the garden. I replaced it with Stupice a while ago. The Winter Red which similarly lived over the winter was apparently eaten by a gopher. It was replaced today with an extra plant of "Barbara", which had developed a few lesions on the lower leaves while waiting to be planted, like some of our other remaining plants in pots. "Mortgage Lifter" (from Target, I think), was sickly yellow and had lesions which looked like the pictures of Alternaria. It was replaced today with either Sweet Million or Sweet Olive, depending on which tag you believe. I guess the plant habit will have to provide clues as to which one it is.

Also prepared mounds for and planted more melons: Oka, Sweet Honda, Extra Summer Sweet, Lilly, Early Sugarshaw. Had some help from a little boy for whom gophers were a great mystery. Kind of slowed me down, but that's what little kids are for.

Skillet Chicken Fried Rice

2010-05-05T21:08:00.000-07:00

Quick to make. Serves 2. Triple or quadruple the recipe in a big electric skillet.

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
Up to 2 Tablespoons vegetable and/or sesame oil
1/2 cup long grain white rice
2 medium cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground ginger OR grated fresh ginger to taste
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or ground red pepper (optional)
1 3/4 cup chicken broth (14 oz. can)
1 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped parsley and/or 2 or 3 minced scallions with tender tops.

1. Cut chicken in 1/2 inch (or larger) cubes. Crush garlic and grate or mince fresh ginger, set aside. Prepare other ingredients.

2. Saute chicken in a large skillet (a skillet you can cover) over medium-high heat, in up to 1 Tablespoon of the oil, for about 2 minutes, until very lightly browned (maybe a little longer for larger pieces) . Remove chicken to a bowl. This time, I put some Pappy's Seasoning on the chicken at this point. It was frozen/thawed chicken and I thought it could use a flavor boost (mustard, celery seed, pepper, coriander, paprika, fines herbes, etc.)

3. Add up to 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and saute the rice until toasted and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. This step keeps the finished rice fluffy and separate, with a texture sort of like Spanish rice.

Add garlic and saute for one minute. Add chicken broth, soy sauce, ginger and red pepper. Cover, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium (or the temperature which produces simmering in the pan you are using). Simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Add peas and cooked chicken to skillet, cover and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes - a little more for larger pieces of chicken, if you're worried that they're not done. Taste the rice, toss in salt and pepper to taste (I didn't need any) along with the parsley and/or scallions. You may also flavor with a little light or dark sesame oil if desired. David doesn't like dark sesame oil, and I just used vegetable oil in the recipe.

NOTE: If the lid to your pan is very tight, you may be able to reduce the liquid slightly, especially if multiplying the recipe. You can also use part water in place of broth in a pinch.

Allergy information: Check soy sauce and chicken broth for wheat or corn products.

Finally planted melons

2010-05-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

Planted melons in hills rather than rows this time. We'll see if F will let us restrict water as they ripen this way. Plants were a little over-grown in their Root Trainers. Hope they aren't stunted too much. Our weather is about to turn hotter.

Planted Extra Summer Sweet, Early Sugar Shaw, Savor, Summer Dream and Lilly.

Plants in the Ground

2010-04-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

The high temperature was in the 80's today. We had a day like that about a week ago, too. with rain and cooler weather (in the 50s during the day) in between. More spring rain than normal this year.

We had a motley crew out planting today: me, a pregnant Mom, three kids, their Dad and two young men. David had a flat tire today, and went to buy new ones. We'll see how we did in placing the plants where they can get water from the drip lines.

Peppers: Ancho, Anaheim and Jalapeno. I gave Francisco some Chile de Arbol plants to put in his garden space.
Cucumbers - on the fence by Sparky's old house. The ones we planted today are bigger than the ones I planted out by the field fencing earlier. Maybe the warmer soil environment made a difference.
Grafted tomatoes on the field fencing (Black Krim and Gary O Sena) along with a purchased Giant Belgium.
Cherry and grape tomatoes: Napa Grape and SunSugar Red.
Beans: Fortex and Champagne. The Champagne plants are in a little better shape.

We also harvested Golden Sweet pea pods (from India) and used them in chicken curry (James made it). We'll have regular peas in a couple of days.

The early bush beans I planted have some curly beans on them: they are persnickety about the weather. I don't think I'll try planting them so early again.

Bro. Martin came by on Saturday for tomato plants and seeds for his family - cucumbers, melons, watermelons and edible gourds, plus winter squash and Zephyr. I gave Paula a Cherokee Purple plant in honor of her Cherokee heritage. Alma got a Sun Sugar and a Napa Grape. I don't have too many extra tomato plants anymore. That's a good thing, I think. Maybe I can keep myself from buying more plants, too.

More Planting - Melons

2010-04-21T23:08:00.000-07:00

This is good melon country, and we probably won't have as much room as we have now forever, so I'm planting several varieties of melons.

On Saturday, the 17th, I paired 4 heirloom tomatoes with a Big Beef in pots, so I could try grafting in a disease-resistant rootstock again. The "Gary O Sena" I did not do a wonderful job on. The plant is already getting woody. I Improved a little with "Black Krim". The smaller plants were a little easier: Cherokee Purple and Brandywine (just purchased). I've decided that rubber bands to hold the grafts together, plus tape (just as for tree grafts) are the way to go. We'll have to see if any of the grafts "take". At least the plants are still alive.

Hate cilantro?

2010-04-18T00:00:00.001-07:00

Try it in pesto.

Lentil Soup

2010-04-13T06:37:00.000-07:00

It rained this weekend. I made a pretty conventional lentil soup for Munch and Mingle. People seemed to like it. I forgot the scallion tops, which I think add a lot to lentil or split pea soup, not to mention chicken soup. I used turkey ham in my soup this time.

Home-style Lentil Soup

Ingredients - amounts can be varied
1 pound dried lentils
2 medium to large chopped yellow onions (depending on whether you include scallions)
2 Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil (more if needed to caramelize onions)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried (optional)
2 large or 4 medium-sized ribs celery and some leaves, medium-diced
4 large or 6 medium-sized carrots, medium-diced
1 quarts water
1 pound diced ham, turkey ham or smoked turkey (optional)
Additional water or broth (about a quart)
Salt and additional pepper to taste
Rinsed, trimmed and diced green tops from 1 bunch scallions

Directions
Pick over and rinse lentils.

In a 6 quart or larger Dutch oven or stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions, pepper and thyme until the onions are translucent and start to caramelize, stirring frequently. For richer flavor, you can caramelize the onions to a light brown color. Watch that they don't burn. Lower heat if necessary. Add the celery and carrots and saute for a few more minutes if you have time. Add a quart of water and the lentils. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and start to simmer, covered. Dice meat (if used) and mix into hot soup.

If you need to transport the soup, this is a good time to do it, to prevent spilling. Place your kettle in a slightly larger cardboard box. When you reach your destination, add additional water or broth to the desired consistency (about a quart of water), bring to a boil again and simmer until the lentils are tender, about an hour. Or finish cooking in a 6-quart slow cooker. Lentils may continue to swell as they finish cooking, so you may need to adjust water or broth further. Shortly before the soup is done, add diced scallion tops, if you are using them. Add salt and additional pepper to taste.

Quantity Cooking: If you double the recipe, you will have enough for an 8-quart stockpot to take to a potluck, with about 2 quarts to leave home for later. Mix all ingredients after adding 2 quarts water and the diced meat, then transfer some to a 3-quart saucepan. Transport the 8-quart stockpot before adding additional water or broth. Take diced scallions with you in a little baggie if you plan to use them. If you have a big enough pot with a heavy bottom, you can multiply this recipe further. You could also transport cold soup in big plastic pitchers.

Other recipes

From our friend Jana, a healthy recipe with lemon and greens. We might use escarole, Tyfon Holland Greens, mild Asian greens such as Tatsoi, or even kale in place of spinach.

Lemon and Lentil Soup
This soup is a great dish to prepare when you don’t have a lot of time; we use a food processor for all of the chopping which cuts the preparation time in half. Serve this soup over cooked brown jasmine or basmati rice. This soup also freezes well for later use.

Serves 4 to 6
1 small onion
5 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups red (or green) lentils, rinsed and drained
8 cups vegetable stock or water
4 to 5 cups baby spinach
1 small handful fresh parsley
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt or Herbamare

1. Peel and cut ends off of the onion and place into a food processor fitted with the “s” blade. Peel the garlic and place it into the food processor along with the onion. Pulse the onions and garlic until finely chopped.

2. Heat olive oil in a 6-quart pot. Add onions and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft.

3. Add the lentils and the vegetable both or water. Cover pot and simmer for about 25 minutes or until lentils are very soft and cooked through.

4. While the lentils are cooking, place the spinach and parsley into the food processor and pulse until minced.

5. Add minced parsley and spinach to the cooked lentils along with the lemon juice and sea salt. Simmer on low for another 3 to 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice if desired. Serve over cooked brown jasmine or brown basmati rice.

Recipe from pg 150 of The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook: The Recipes, by Alissa Setersten & Tom Malterre, MS, CN

Here's a recipe with lots of veggies, tomato paste and cumin. It's vegetarian if you substitute water or vegetable broth for chicken broth. I would substitute lemon juice for the red wine or red wine vinegar, as I am allergic to the sulfites in wine. I might even add a little lemon zest. I like lemon zest in spaghetti sauce. Might also try it with basil in place of cumin.

Another recipe with a little fresh tomato, cumin, coriander and grains of paradise. Bet I would like it without the cumin, maybe with black pepper if I didn't have grains of paradise. Though maybe coriander and grains of paradise would go well together.

Here's one with chicken, kale and tomato. Have fun trying something a little different.

Tomato Wisdom

2010-04-07T23:55:00.001-07:00

Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is knowing not to put one in a fruit salad.

Uh-Oh. Tooth Lice becoming more prevalent

2010-04-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

Read about it here. As with most recent dietary/health news, more fruits and vegetables could help. Or oral louse traps.

Hope the first day of April is good to you.

First Day of Spring

2010-03-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

Planted out 36 varieties of tomatoes, four rows with 9 plants each. Links to descriptions of most of them are here. I found some frost damage on three or four of the many plants we started, particularly on smaller plants of "Marianna's Peace". "Boondocks" turned out to be regular-leaf plants, so it seems to be mislabeled. "Grightmire's Pride" included both plants with typical Oxheart foliage and small potato-leaved plants, which can't be right. Haven't planted the PL type yet, and haven't given any away, either. But "Boondocks Mystery" was popular with the Cub Scouts.

We still have 16 or 17 varieties to go, mostly cherry tomatoes and other small varieties. We should know more about tomatoes at the end of the season. Or at least, I hope we do.

From the Southwest:
Row 1: Early Challenge Hybrid, Boondocks (RL mystery plant), Red Rose, Ponderosa Pink, Absinthe, Anna Russian (oxheart), Aunt Ginny's Purple (PL), Super Beefsteak Hybrid, Fourth of July Hybrid

Row 2: Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye, Purple Passion (PL), Orange Russian 117 (sturdier foliage than the typical oxheart), Brandy Boy Hybrid (PL), Gary O Sena (PL), Black and Red Boar, German Head, Reif's Red Heart (oxheart), Moskvich

Row 3: First Lady II Hybrid, Royal Hillbilly, Brandywine OTV (PL), Barbara, Tidwell German, Better Boy (purchased, gallon plant), Heidi, Jetsetter (purchased), Nyagous

Row 4: Cosmonaut Volkov, JD's Special C-Tex, Black Krim, Anna Maria's Heart (oxheart), Momotaro, Goose Creek, Oxheart Pink, Marianna's Peace (PL), AAA Sweet Solano

I also planted in RootTrainers indoors:

Cucumbers: Cool Breeze (HPS), Suhyo TK (Pinetree), Natsuhikari (Evergreen) and Summer Dance (Pinetree). Weather has been warm during the day. Summer Dance started coming up on March 25, a day when the weather was getting cooler and rain was predicted.

Squash: Cougar(Harris), Sweet Zuke (Burpee), Kojac (T&M), Butterstick (Burpee), Magda (Willhite).

Melons: Savor (VBS), Extra Summer Sweet (Evergreen), Early Sugar Shaw (HPS), Summer Dream (Nichols), Lilly (Twilley).

Pole beans: Fortex (VBS) and Champagne (from Zeedman at Gardenweb). They started coming up on March 25.

Update, March 29: We had another family, and James, over to plant tomatoes tonight. They'll be sharing the garden. Planted cherry tomatoes and others, including a few repeat varieties. East fence, from the North: Porter's Dark Cherry, Rosalita, Sweet Chelsea, Black Cherry, Sweet Quartz, Haley's Purple Comet, Evans Purple Pear, Berkeley Tie-Dye, Green Zebra, Golden Egg, Yellow Submarine, Beam's Yellow Pear, Grightmire's PL (unknown), 2 plants

South Fence, from the East: Pop-ins, Green Grape, Grightmire's Pride (oxheart), Dr. Lyle (?), Big Beef, Mortgage Lifter, Momotaro, Aunt Ginnys?, Brandy Boy, Moskvich?, Cosmonaut Volkov.

Had some "help" from a toddler labeling some of the last tomatoes planted..

61 tomato plants. Crazy.

March 15: Official "frost-safe" planting date

2010-03-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it was cold and windy on Saturday, nicer on Sunday and in the 70s today. David finished tilling and prepared a row for the greens and the rest of the beans I had started. Hope they didn't stay in their little containers too long.

Canadian White Blenheim has some blooms now, coinciding this year with a few stragglers on Blenheim and more on Golden Amber, which is further from the big CWB tree. Chinese also had a couple of blooms.
'
Emerald Beaut plum is blooming right with our little Plumcot. Hope it will cross-pollinate. I took some branches over in a bottle-vase. Cassleman and Flavor King still have a few blooms open, too.

Time to get going in the garden.

March 11 - Frost

2010-03-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

Surprise. We have light frost on the ground. Most of the tomato seedlings and the beans were outside, and some were on the porch (with an eggplant). So far, it looks like there wasn't much damage. Not cold enough to hurt the fruit trees.

I had watered the seedlings in the afternoon yesterday, and that may have helped protect them. Some of the water on the plants is frozen, and the box containing tomato seedlings has frozen droplets. Just a bare hint of damage on a few tomatoes so far. No frost in the 10-day forecast. March 1 is supposed to be the 50% chance of frost date around here, and March 15 is supposed to be the day when you can plant without significant chance of frost. So I guess this year is pretty typical. Frost on March ll.

Popcorn Popping, planting greens

2010-02-12T17:32:00.000-08:00

Today, the Flavor Delight Aprium tree and the Royal Rosa Apricot started blooming. It's a beautiful day, but probably not quite warm enough for honeybees to be really happy yet. Hope some other insects are out.

I plants some "summer turnips" using the Winter Sowing method today. An experiment. I really prefer turnips in the fall. Five 6-oz. deli cups fit in a fried chicken tray from Walmart. Cut some slices out of the bottom edge of the cups and poked some holes in the bottom of the chicken tray. The top is already vented. Used a UV resistant industrial marker (Sharpie) to mark the cups. We're comparing:

White Lady to Tokyo Cross
Hakeuri to Oasis
Just Right (a fall turnip) as control.

I don't think any of these, except maybe Tokyo Cross, are true, 100% turnips. They have sweet, non-hairy leaves which are much milder than regular turnip greens.

I also started some greens and assorted brassicas - 9 deli cups in a pumpkin pie tray from Costco, with plastic wrap snapped into the rim. Poked 2 holes in plastic above each cup, and a few extra holes. The sun is out now, and I don't want any over-heating.

Tomato Seeds Planted

2010-01-30T23:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I planted more than enough varieties of tomatoes on Thursday the 28th and Friday the 29th. Thursday's went into Jiffy Mix in Root Trainers. Friday's went into Miracle Gro Seed Starting Mix. The latter is higher in peat, is easy to wet. I think it holds more water when hydrated. We'll see how things go. They have bottom heat, on and off, from a seedling heat mat.

Some of the seeds I ordered haven't come yet. Don't know if I'll plant them all this year. I will try a few heat-setting and/or fall storage tomatoes using the Wintersown method if all goes well. Along with some ground cherries and flowers. Maybe I'm crazy.

Extra-early slicing tomatoes
Jan. 28: Fourth of July Hybrid (got seeds at Walmart last year) for my early tomato this year. It's indeterminate. Won a taste test at UC Davis in late summer 2004. Great flavor in hot weather. Has tough skin, but I don't mind. Reportedly resistant to nematodes. Burpee likes to keep details about disease resistance secret.
Jan 28: Park's Early Challenge Hybrid VF12NTmv - 63 days, 4 oz., indeterminate.
Jan. 28: Moskvich - 60 days, indeterminate, 4 to 6 oz., does well in cool weather, and reported to taste great in the hot Sacramento Valley.
Early Wonder - 55 days, determinate. Dark pink slicer, 6 oz. Freebie from Tomato Growers Supply.
Jan. 29: First Lady II VFNTASt - 66 days. midsized, crack-resistant, better flavor than Early Girl. 2003 seed. Indeterminate.

Plum and other small to mid-sized tomatoes - Indeterminate:
Jan. 28: Barbara Hybrid VFFN Have to grow this one, because Barbara is David's mom's name. It's a plum tomato bred for the French fresh market according to marketing hype. Seed is from 2003. Won a taste test, hands down, of plum tomatoes at UC Davis in 2004 and was apparently taken off the market in about 2005. I planted some after the normal season last year, and one lived over the winter on the porch in a Root Trainer, along with a Sweet Cluster, a Red October (has a blossom) and a Winter Red.
Jan. 29: Heidi - Heat-tolerant plum tomato from Africa - good flavor.
Jan. 29: Evan's Purple Pear - 70 to 80 days. Sweet. Name a play on the famous "Eva's Purple Ball", but derived from the equally famous Pruden's Purple.
Jan. 28: Cosmonaut Volkov - 65 - 75 days. "Best flavor" per Fedco seeds in New England. Wonder how it does in hot weather?
Jan. 29: Momotaro Hybrid VF1NSt (Tough Boy) - 70 days. Beautiful sweet pink tomatoes from Japan, heat-tolerant, 6 to 7 oz., fruits grow in clusters.
Jan. 29: AAA Sweet Solano - Firm, small, sweet orange tomato with gold stripes.
Jan. 29: Golden Egg - 70 to 75 days. Egg-shaped, pale yellow. Flavorful fresh or dried.
Jan 28: Goose Creek All the rage right now. Said to be a heat-tolerant tomato from a (South Carolina?) Atlantic black Island culture.
Jan. 28: Nyagous - A smallish, black-red, pretty tomato, said to be more crack-resistant than Black Prince.
Jan. 28: Berkeley Tie-Dye, - Striped tomato from Napa Valley.
Jan. 28: Black and Red Boar - smallish striped tomato from Napa Valley.
Jan. 29: Green Zebra - a tennis ball-sized green tomato, blushed yellow to pink when ripe with green stripes. Full, acidic flavor, midseason, does well in heat. Recommended for salsa. I think it's a parent of Berkeley Tie-Dye and probably Black and Red Boar above.

Cherry and Grape tomatoes - Indeterminate unless noted
Jan. 29: Rosalita - 65 days. An early pink grape tomato with white speckles.
Jan. 29: Sweet Quartz Hybrid VFNT - 65 days. Pink Japanese cherry tomato. Gets raves on the GardenWeb tomato forum.
Jan. 29: Sweet Chelsea VFFNT 67 days. Low-acid sweet large cherry tomato.
Jan. 29: Yellow Submarine - Yellow pear type, better flavor.
Jan. 29: Beam's Yellow Pear - Best-tasting yellow pear from Seed Savers.
Jan 29: Haley's Purple Comet - Large cherry tomato, originating from Cherokee Purple. Well-regarded. Compare with Black Cherry.
Jan. 29: Black Cherry - 80 days. Lots of people love this one. Cracks in rain.
Jan. 29: Green Grape - Determinate plant. Spicy flavor. Good front-yard tomato. Not as early as one might expect.
Jan. 29: Pop-Ins - 60 - 65 days. Small red teardrop-shaped tomato

Oxhearts - Indeterminate Meaty medium to large tomatoes, wispy foliage.
Jan. 29: Orange Russian 117 - 85 days. Sweet fruit, pretty.
Jan. 29: Anna Maria's Heart - in honor of our niece
Jan. 28: Anna Russian - 65 days. Early pink oxheart. Also in honor of niece.
Jan. 28: Oxheart Pink - 80 to 95 days. Big. Reputed to be somewhat heat-tolerant.
Jan. 28: Grightmires Pride (medium-sized, fairly early oxheart)
Jan. 28: Reif Red Heart medium-sized heart, good flavor.

Large Tomatoes (including beefsteaks) - Indeterminate
PINK/ROSE
Jan. 28: Purple Passion - An early pink Utah heirloom beefsteak.
Jan. 28: Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye - 65 to 70 days. Striped pink beefsteak from Napa. Better than Cherokee Purple? Compact indeterminate plants.
Jan. 29: Red Rose - 6 to 10 oz.,
Jan. 29: Aunt Ginny's - 75 to 85 days. Famous heirloom, 12 to 16 ounces.
Jan. 28: Dr. Lyle - 80 days. A meaty, fairly smooth large (1 to 2 pound) pink beefsteak without many seeds.
Jan. 29: Boondocks - 80 days. Big, fat beefsteak, over a pound. Does well in warmer climates. Mislabeled in my little pots. Should be potato-leaved.
Jan. 28: Marianna's Peace - 85 days. A popular pink beefsteak said to be more productive than Brandywine. 1 - 2 pounds.
Jan. 29: German Head - smooth, pink beefsteak.
Jan. 29: Tidwell German - big, pink beefsteak from Tennessee.
Jan. 29: Royal Hillbilly - 85 days. Fairly smooth, little cracking, good yields. One pound average.
Jan. 29: Ponderosa Pink Big, mild, rough-shouldered tomato, susceptible to sunscald. Seed from 2003.
Jan. 29: Watermelon Beefsteak - Up to 2 pounds, smooth blossom end. (Didn't come up - old seed).
Jan 28: Brandy Boy Hybrid Brandywine type from Burpee.
Jan. 29: Mortgage Lifter 75 to 85 days. Big beefsteak-type.

PURPLE/BLACK/BROWN
Jan. 28: Black Krim (black, early, heat tolerant)
Jan. 28: JD's Special C-Tex
Jan. 29: Gary O Sena - 70 to 75 days. Stabilized cross of Brandywine x Cherokee Purple. Loved by tomato lovers.

RED
Jan. 29: Brandywine OTV - 85 days. Red, more productive than regular Brandywine, especially in warmer climates.
Jan. 28: Big Beef Hybrid VFFNTASt - 73 days. Reliable, disease-resistant, heat-tolerant, good flavor. I have enough seeds for emergencies now. May try as grafted second rootstock for some heirlooms.
Jan 28: Super BeefsteaK VFN - not sure if this one is an F1 hybrid. Smooth shape, small blossom scar. 2003, Gurneys'

GREEN
Jan 28: Absinthe

Update, February 11: The plants started on the 29th in the Miracle Grow Seed Starter Mix are growing healthier-looking, sturdier plants. I've started giving the ones started the dåy before some plant food. Jiffy Mix plant starter may be most suitable under a layer of the Miracle Grow - for aeration.

Some varieties have not come up: I did not get good results with pre-soaked "Barbara" seeds (only one of 8 survived) - 12 hours in dilute "bloom" plant food plus a couple of drops of hydrogen peroxide in water. The ones planted on the 29th, untreated, did better. Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye did not come up. It was late for Bro. Cox. "Pop-ins" just came up today. Long after most varieties emerged. No response from old "Watermelon Beefsteak" and "Mortgage Lifter" seeds, either. Berkeley Tie-Dye and Absinthe did not come up, but the seed came from a non-profit organization, so who knows their storage history?

The old Atlas beans I planted rotted. Red Swan looks vigorous. Contender - plants are smaller and leaves more yellow. Seeds were older. For the main crop, I got new seed this year.

Update Feb. 18: Saw the first sprout of Pink Berkeley Tie Dye today. Some other seeds are also sprouting just now. There's another "Barbara" start from soaked seed, and another seedling which hasn't shed the seedcoat yet. Wonder why some tomator seeds are so much slower than others? Other than age of the seeds, which is one explanation. Maybe storage conditions, too. And after the first leaves sprouted, I took the Root Trainers off the heating mat, so later-sprouting seeds had to finish at lower temperatures. And tomato seeds seem to sprout fastest at around 80 degrees. Temps. above 86 may be harmful.

Spring almost here: Tomato Seeds Ordered

2010-01-15T18:36:00.000-08:00

We've had three days now when the sun came out - Southern California Rose Bowl weather - after some much-needed rain. More rain is forecasted. We've had kind of a gray winter so far, as usual.

I started to get "spring" seed catalogs in November, and I just got one from Park yesterday. So much fun to dream about a bounteous garden. Buying seeds is my way of "gambling", I think, or perhaps indulging in fantasy. Probably cheaper than going to Las Vegas. If anybody needs some seeds, check with me first. I always have too many.

This year I concentrated on new tomato varieties. And it's not as if I didn't already have seeds. We'll see how many I actually grow. The large number of big pink tomato varieties is due to an effort to discover one like David's Mom remembers from childhood:

Extra-early slicing tomatoes
I'm going with little Fourth of July Hybrid (got seeds at Walmart last year) for my early tomato this year. It's indeterminate. Won a taste test at UC Davis in late summer 2004. Great flavor in hot weather. Has tough skin, but I don't mind. Reportedly resistant to nematodes. Burpee likes to keep details about disease resistance secret.
Park's Early Challenge Hybrid VF12NTmv - 63 days, 4 oz., indeterminate.
Moskvich - 60 days, indeterminate, 4 to 6 oz., does well in cool weather.
Polfast hybrid - 54 days. Determinate. Larger fruits than Fourth of July. Sent the seeds to Betty's parents in Utah.
Early Wonder - 55 days, determinate. Dark pink slicer, 6 oz. Freebie from Tomato Growers Supply.

Plum and other small to mid-sized tomatoes - Indeterminate:
Heidi - Heat-tolerant plum tomato from Africa - good flavor.
Evan's Purple Pear - 70 to 80 days. Sweet. Name a play on the famous "Eva's Purple Ball", but derived from the equally famous Pruden's Purple.
Momotaro Hybrid VF1NSt (Tough Boy) - 70 days. Beautiful sweet pink tomatoes from Japan, heat-tolerant, 6 to 7 oz., fruits grow in clusters. Compare to Tolstoi (have seeds) from India. Larger clusters, smaller tomatoes: 3 to 4 oz. Sold on the vine.
AAA Sweet Solano - Firm, small, sweet orange tomato with gold stripes.
Golden Egg - 70 to 75 days. Egg-shaped, pale yellow. Flavorful fresh or dried.
Little Lucky - 90 days. Yellow with red blush. Complex flavor.
Angora Orange - Medium-sized tasty fruit on a silvery, furry plant. Freebie from Glecker's
Porter - 78 days. Small plum-shaped pink fruits. Heat-tolerant. Old Southwest favorite.
Porter Improved - Very different from Porter. Round, pink, medium to small.

Cherry and Grape tomatoes - Indeterminate unless noted
Rosalita - 65 days. An early pink grape tomato with white speckles.
Sweet Quartz Hybrid VFNT - 65 days. Pink Japanese cherry tomato. Gets raves on the GardenWeb tomato forum.
Yellow Submarine - Yellow pear type, better flavor.
Haley's Purple Comet - Large cherry tomato, originating from Cherokee Purple. Well-regarded. For comparison with Black Cherry.
Black Cherry - 80 days. Lots of people love this one. Cracks in rain.
Green Grape - Determinate plant. Spicy flavor. Good front-yard tomato. Not as early as one might expect.
Pop-Ins - 60 - 65 days. Small red teardrop-shaped tomato
Cherry Roma - 75 to 80 days. Looks like a grape tomato. Holds well. Freebie from Diane's.
Jenny Hybrid 65 days, sweet, small, orange cherry tomato. In honor of Fred's new bride. Looks like it might be discontinued soon.
Ladybug Hybrid - red, clustered. I want to see if all of the tomatoes in a cluster ripe at the same time. Crack-resistant, heat-tolerant.

Large Tomatoes (including beefsteaks) - Indeterminate
PINK/ROSE
Purple Passion - An early pink Utah heirloom beefsteak. Compare to Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye, Pruden's Purple.
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye - 65 to 70 days. Striped pink beefsteak from Napa. Better than Cherokee Purple? Compact indeterminate plants.
Pruden's Purple - Early pink heirloom - sent seeds to Betty's parents.
Red Rose - 6 to 10 oz., cross between Brandywine and Rutgers. Compare to Cosmonaut Volkov (red) and Goose Creek.
Aunt Ginny's Purple - 75 to 85 days. Famous heirloom, 12 to 16 ounces.
Dr. Lyle - 80 days. A meaty, fairly smooth large (1 to 2 pound) pink beefsteak without many seeds.
Mexico - 80 days. Heat-tolerant pink beefsteak, averaging over a pound.
Boondocks - 80 days. Big, fat beefsteak, over a pound. Does well in warmer climates.
Marianna's Peace - 85 days. A popular pink beefsteak said to be more productive than Brandywine. 1 - 2 pounds.
German Head - smooth, pink beefsteak.
Tidwell German - big, pink beefsteak from Tennessee.
Giant Belgium Pink - Huge beefsteak, smooth blossom ends. Sweet and mild.
German Johnson Regular Leaf - 85 days. Mild, reddish-pink, fairly smooth. Average 1 pound.
Royal Hillbilly - 85 days. Fairly smooth, little cracking, good yields. One pound average.

PURPLE/BLACK/BROWN
Cherokee Purple - I grew this one last year. Maintains flavor in cool fall weather. Best picked when shoulders are still green.
Gary O Sena - 70 to 75 days. Stabilized cross of Brandywine x Cherokee Purple. Loved by tomato lovers.
Indian Stripe - Similar to Cherokee Purple, smaller plant and slightly smaller fruits, a little earlier. Pick ripe. The favorite of many.

RED
Marmande - Small pack from Artistic Gardens, 35 cents, for someone in a cool-summer climate.
Cosmonaut Volkov - 65 - 75 days. "Best flavor" per Fedco seeds in New England. Wonder how it does in hot weather?
Brandywine OTV - 85 days. Red, more productive than regular Brandywine, especially in warmer climates.
Big Beef Hybrid VFFNTASt - 73 days. 100 seeds. Reliable, disease-resistant, heat-tolerant, good flavor. I have enough seeds for emergencies now. May try as grafted second rootstock for some heirlooms.

Oxhearts - Indeterminate
Orange Russian 117 - 85 days. Sweet fruit, pretty.
Anna Maria's Heart - in honor of our niece
Anna Russian - 65 days. Early pink oxheart. Also in honor of niece.
Oxheart Pink - 80 to 95 days. Big. Reputed to be somewhat heat-tolerant.

May also get from Wintersown (sent them 5 bucks, will try their plant-starting method) Berkeley Tie-Dye, Black and Red(?) Boar, Black Krim(black, relatively early to late, heat tolerant) Nyagous (black, pretty), Grightmires Pride (medium-sized oxheart), Reif Red Heart (Oxheart), Goose Creek, JD's Special C-Tex, Absinthe, Olive Hill.

Like I said, I can't use all these seeds myself.

Cardamom the Spice - plus Homemade Applesauce

2009-12-31T20:43:00.000-08:00

Cardamom is a spice which originally came from India, where it is used in many dishes, including sweet saffron rice. In some parts of India, cardamom ice cream and cardamom-flavored milk take the usual place of chocolate ice cream and chocolate milk. There is also a spice called "black cardamom", a cousin, which is very different from true cardamom.

True cardamom is popular in Scandinavia, Germany and elsewhere, especially for winter baking. It is used in Danish pastries, Swedish breads, and cookies from many European countries. It is very compatible with several other spices, especially cinnamon. It is often used with orange, apple, peach and pineapple. Cardamom is less familiar in the U.S. than in Europe, perhaps because it loses its flavor soon after it is crushed or ground. We're so used to pre-ground spices. Mom discovered the whole spice years ago and started using it in cinnamon rolls, sometimes with a little orange zest. She had the bleached pods and the seeds seemed a little softer than the ones in the green pods which I have now. I used to crush the seeds she bought between two spoons. The latest batch of cardamom seeds I got seemed harder - see the directions for crushing with a hammer below.

You can buy whole cardamom pods either green or bleached - less flavorful. Or "decorticated" seeds, which have been removed from the pods, but not ground or crushed. For people who use a lot of cardamom. If using whole pods, remove cardamom seeds from pods and grind seeds in a spice grinder or crush in a large mortar and pestle. Or place seeds in the empty, tough inner plastic liner from a cold cereal or cracker box (not from strongly flavored crackers such as garlic) and tap lightly on a non-marring surface, such as smooth concrete, with a finishing hammer or other smooth-faced hammer to crush. Rub crushed cardamom through a fine sieve before measuring. Wrap any extra crushed cardamom in a little foil packet and keep it in the freezer for the next time you want to use it.

Cardamom is a potent spice. 1/8 teaspoon per cup of flour will give a pronounced cardamom flavor if the cardamom is ground or crushed fresh. Before adding more than that, consider whether the person who developed the recipe may have been using commercially ground (less potent) cardamom. Many recipes will use less than 1/8 teaspoon per cup of flour, for a more subtle effect.

Below are three recipes for cardamom in applesauce. The first one can sub for apple pie, at least sometimes (warnm maybe with some toasted chopped almonds, butter cookie crumbles or a little vanilla ice cream). Two kinds of apples - one to fall apart quickly during cooking (forming a natural sauce) and one to retain some chunkiness - are recommended. This was one of Keira's Mom's tips, too. The second recipe looks very good, too - it calls for more liquid and seems a little more "country-style". Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples together would be a good choice for winter applesauce.

Apple Varieties: I've always thought of the season for McIntosh apples (first recipe) as coming before the Granny Smith season. Granny Smith is a late, warm-climate apple which can be exceptional when it is allowed to stay on the tree until the bright green color mellows to yellow-green. It is grown here in our hot-summer climate, and home growers can allow it to ripen fully on the tree. It is often picked commercially long before it is ripe, while still sour and even sometimes a little bitter. I think one could find a better fall variety than Granny Smith to pair with McIntosh apples.

Of varieties grown locally, Gala seems to be the top choice for the early season. It loses much of its flavor in storage. Fuji and Red Fuji are recommended for later harvest and storage. Pink Lady is also recommended for sauce. Granny Smith can be picked fully ripe here if you grow it at home, and should be good mixed with other varieties. I used 2 pound Washington Fuji to 1 pound Washington Granny Smith in January, and the Fuji had held its crispness much better in storage. The Granny Smith tasted like they had been picked green, but fell apart easily in applesauce around the tender chunks of Fuji apples.

The third recipe below (pureed like most commercial applesauce) is made with commercially ground cardamom. It calls for A LOT of the spice compared to the other two recipes. Add cardamom to taste if using freshly-crushed spice.

Fresh Cardamom Spiced Applesauce

We like to use a combination of McIntosh and Granny Smith apples for the best texture and a little bit of tart flavor. Cardamom, a member of the ginger family, has a unique, aromatic quality that is just delicious with apples and ramps up the flavor of this sauce immensely. If you don't have any on hand though, you can use a little extra cinnamon and a pinch of ground ginger in its place.

Or, for more conventional flavor, substitute nutmeg for cardamom.
Ingredients ~  
2-1/2 to 3 pounds apples (about 6 medium)
 2 tablespoons lemon juice  
1/4 cup water
 1/4 cup sugar
 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom  
1 tablespoon butter
 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
 Pinch of salt

Preparation ~ Measure lemon juice and water into a a3 quart saucepan.  Peel and core the apples and cut them into 1-inch pieces, right into saucepan, tossing to coat with lemon-water as you prepare the apples. Mix in the sugar and bring to a simmer, uncovered, over medium-high heat until the apples begin to break down and give off liquid, about 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, stir in the cinnamon, cardamom, butter, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Cover and continue cooking for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the apples have broken down completely and the sauce is thick. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before serving.
Makes about 4 cups. Fresh applesauce will keep 3 or 4 days tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Chunky Country-Style Spiced Applesauce
Bon Appétit | November 1993
yield: Makes about 6 cups

ingredients
• 2 pounds Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, sliced
• 2 pounds Golden Delicious apples, cored, peeled, sliced
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons (or more) fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon (generous) ground cardamom

Combine first 4 ingredients in heavy large Dutch oven; bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cover and simmer until apples are tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until mixture is thick, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes longer. Mash apples slightly with potato masher until chunky applesauce forms. Stir in sugar and spices. Cool. Add more lemon juice if desired. Transfer to bowl; cover and chill overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Cardamom Applesauce (probably too much cardamom if you crush it fresh - but they did call it "bracing")
Bon Appétit | November 1995

• 2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup (packed), golden brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom

Combine all ingredients in heavy medium saucepan. Cover, bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until apples are very tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to food processor; puree. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Allergy information: No corn, wheat or egg. First applesauce recipe contains butter. Others are dairy-free.

Oven-poached Turkey Breast

2009-12-23T17:16:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure exactly what what to call this. David's Mom once cooked for a fancy spa near San Diego where movie stars, etc. often went to lose a little weight. She sometimes prepared this turkey for 600 people. It was served cold with salads and such. Easy, low in fat and very moist and good.

Ingredients
Turkey breasts: If starting with a whole turkey breast, cut each half-breast from the bone and remove the skin. You can simmer the wishbone, ribs, skin, etc. for stock - for another recipe - if you like.

Salt, other seasonings to taste.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For each turkey breast half, place a square of heavy-duty aluminum foil shiny side up on a flat surface and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Season the half breast of turkey, boneless and skinless, with salt. If using other seasonings (celery salt, sage, thyme, pepper, etc.) mix them with the salt and rub onto the turkey. Place half breast on the foil sheet and fold foil fairly tightly around the turkey, making sure that all seams will be above the turkey when it is placed in the oven.

Place wrapped half-breasts on a rimmed baking sheet or in a baking dish with a little room between them and bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of the half breast(s). Remove from oven. Do not open foil. Allow to cool in foil to room temperature. Some of the juices which developed during cooking will be re-absorbed by the meat. Refrigerate while still wrapped, or carefully unwrap to serve, as there will still be some juices around the turkey.

Slice and serve cold, or if you wish to re-heat the turkey, re-heat it in the juices saved from cooking.

Allergy information: No corn, wheat, milk or eggs.

Sweet Southern Style Cole Slaw with V8 Juice Marinade

2009-12-13T05:10:00.000-08:00

Adapted from Recipezaar An even tangier sweet/sour slaw recipe omits the V8 juice, and adds a medium chopped onion, medium chopped green pepper (I might use an Ancho or Pasilla pepper) and small chopped red bell pepper to the cabbage and adds a teaspoon dry mustard and 2/3 cup oil to the dressing, marinating overnight in the refrigerator.

For a less-sweet marinated coleslaw, try this or this.

Sweet Southern Style Cole Slaw with V8 Juice Marinade
See the easy version for a big crowd at the bottom of this post.

This coleslaw is totally fat-free and quite low in salt for a marinated salad (especially after the marinade is drained off). It is typically served in summer with foods like pulled-pork barbecue which make up for the lack of fat and salt in the coleslaw. It is quite sweet and also tangy. I think it's a good match for spicy barbecue and similar foods. The V8 juice adds a little color and flavor to the salad which seems to complement barbecue, etc. Leftovers keep well.

If you're not serving the salad with something that's high in fat, you can add a little oil (up to 2 Tablespoons) after draining the marinade from the salad. The volume of the salad will decrease during marination, so you can serve it in a smaller bowl than the one you made the salad in.

SERVES 12

1 head cabbage (about 2 1/2 lbs)
1 large yellow onion (for 1 cup chopped)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
6 ounces low-sodium, regular or spicy-hot V8 Juice
1 teaspoon salt*
1 teaspoon celery seed*
Ground red pepper to taste (optional)

Wash and remove the outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut the cabbage into eighths and remove the core. Set aside.

Peel the onion and cut into eighths. Using a food processor fitted with the steel blade attachment, process the cabbage and onion, in manageable batches, until chopped finely. Scrape into a large container with a tight fitting lid. Set aside.

In a 1 quart or larger saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, V8, salt and celery seed. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar is melted. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the cabbage and onions and toss to coat well.

Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 4 hours, stirring 2 or 3 times. Before serving, drain marinade from salad, mix in a little oil if desired (up to 2 Tablespoons) and transfer to a smaller serving bowl.

* May substitute 1 1/4 teaspoons celery salt or more to taste

EASY VERSION FOR A CROWD
Serves 24, more at a potluck

Requires a very large bowl or a large kettle in which to mix the salad. After marinating, it can be served in a more normal-sized large bowl.

Double all ingredients, substituting a 5 pound restaurant pack of shredded cabbage for the whole cabbage in the recipe above. Remove packets containing carrots and red cabbage (for another use) if you want a uniform color.

Allergy Information: Contains no corn, wheat, milk or eggs.

Wild Weather - Winter is coming.

2009-12-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

We had our first hard frost the 7th, 25 or 26 degrees, with a repeat the next day. After a cold rain. Grateful for the rain. Since then we've had warmer rains. Hope we will see an end to the drought. Fields went fallow here this year, but it wasn't as bad as on the West Side, where water was just about cut off.

I brought the last four green tomatoes in from the garage to ripen on the counter. Seed catalogs have been coming since late November. Dream time.

Quick Asian Chicken Salad for a crowd

2009-12-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

I accidentally bought 10 pounds of coleslaw mix this week for a branch party and only used 5 pounds. So I'm going to be trying out some cabbage salad recipes. This recipe is adapted from the Ready Pac coleslaw package. Haven't tried it. Think I'll experiment with a quarter recipe, less dressing.

Rotisserie chicken, skin removed, deboned and sliced: 6 pounds
5 pound restaurant pack shredded cabbage for coleslaw or 2 medium heads cabbage, shredded
Diced scallions: 20 oz. or 4 cups
Water chestnuts, drained or sliced, jicama, peeled and sliced in small pieces and /or diagonally sliced celery: 2 lb. or 2 quarts

Uncooked Ramen soup noodles broken into pieces (no seasoning pack): 2 pounds or 12 cups (or use fried crispy chow mein noodles or rice noodles for garnish)
Sesame Asian Salad Dressing: 3 quarts (I think you could use less - much less if you skip the Ramen noodles. Purchase where you get the restaurant pack of shredded cabbage, or make your own).

Mix chicken, shredded cabbage, scallions, water chestnuts, jicama and/or celery. Add broken Ramen noodles if using. Add dressing. Mix well and refrigerate until serving time. Garnish with cashew pieces, toasted almond slices or toasted mild sesame seeds if desired. Or garnish with fried chow mein noodles or rice noodles if you did not use the Ramen noodles in the recipe. If you intend to serve salad soon after you make it, it would be best to skip the Ramen noodles and use the crispy noodle garnish instead.

Christmas Party Marinated Coleslaw

2009-12-05T10:30:00.000-08:00

Adapted from this recipe. Christmas colors - light green, dark green and red. You will need a very large bowl or kettle in which to mix and marinate the salad. The volume of the salad will decrease during marination, and you can serve the salad in a more normal-sized large bowl.

5 tsp. celery salt or 4 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper or 1/2 tsp. red pepper (or to taste)
2 to 4 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups cider vinegar
1 large onion (for 1 cup minced onion) or equivalent in scallions*

1/2 cup to 1 cup chopped green pepper or Ancho or Pasilla chiles (optional)*
1/4 cup chopped pimento or one large chopped red bell pepper*
2 medium heads cabbage, about 5 pounds total, or a 5 pound restaurant pack shredded cabbage for coleslaw

1/4 cup vegetable oil, or to taste
Watercress, green and red pepper rings for garnish

Directions
Mix dry seasonings and sugar in the bottom of a very large bowl or non-aluminum kettle. Add vinegar and mix well. If using an onion, peel, quarter and mince in food processor. If using scallions, mince white part and thinly slice tender green tops. Add onion to vinegar mixture. If the onion is strong, let it sit in the marinade for a while before adding the other ingredients. Chop and add green and red peppers, if used.

If using whole cabbage, cut into eights, remove core and any tough outer leaves. Shred in food processor. If using a restaurant pack of shredded cabbage and it's for a Christmas party, remove the small pack with carrots and/or red cabbage. Otherwise, use them, too. Add cabbage to other ingredients and mix well.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, mixing well 2 or 3 times. Drain just before serving or transfer to a smaller serving bowl using a slotted spoon. Toss in oil. Garnish with watercress or red and green peppers if desired.

* Chopped green pepper is colorful and flavorful, but some people cannot tolerate it. Red bell peppers are easier for most people to tolerate, but not all. You could cut green and/or red bell peppers in rings, strips or shapes for a fancy design and use them for garnish. Or leave the peppers in large chunks in the salad so guests who have sensitive tummies can remove them easily.

Ancho or Pasilla chiles have some mild head and a nice, fruity flavor which could be a nice addition to this salad.

To add dark green color to the salad without fresh peppers of any kind, substitute tender tops from scallions, thinly sliced, for all or part of the onion in the recipe.

Allergy Information: Some people are allergic to celery. Contains no corn, wheat, milk, soy or egg.

"Spanish" Green Beans

2009-12-05T02:34:00.000-08:00

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks!. Entertaining directions at the link.

Pioneer Woman recommends her recipe as a Thanksgiving side dish. The last time I made this simple dish for a Christmas potluck, there were 3 of the more traditional creamy green bean casseroles on the table, so I was glad that I prepared a slightly different vegetable dish. It can be prepared in advance and holds well in a slow-cooker or electric skillet. Recipes to serve 10 and 20 (more at a buffet) are below. You could halve the 10-serving recipe for a family if you don't want leftovers, though leftovers are good.

This dish would also be good served in individual bowls for a light supper (or breakfast or brunch) with a nice roll or some toast. Reminds me of Grandma's farm breakfast of stewed tomatoes and grilled cheese sandwiches. Or serve over a little brown rice, over drained and heated canned corn or with some good tortillas.

Recipe 10 servings (as a side dish).

I prefer slightly-sweet stewed tomatoes for this dish, especially if you're a little short on time to cook the beans after adding the tomatoes. Using part Italian or Mexican-style stewed tomatoes could be nice variations, but you don't want to overpower the flavor of the other ingredients.

Ingredients
5 slices bacon (or up to 1/2 pound)
1 medium onion, diced
4 cans (14.5 oz. ) whole or cut green beans (or 1 1/2 to 2 Pounds fresh or frozen)
2 cans (14.5 oz.) stewed, whole or diced tomatoes (or one 28 oz. can)
Cayenne pepper to taste (up to 1/4 tsp. - maybe a little more if you use regular red pepper)

Preparation
Slice the bacon into pieces one inch wide or less and start cooking them in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until bacon startes to turn brown, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, dice the onion. When the bacon is beginning to brown, drain off most of the fat and then add the onions. Cook, stirring now and then, until bacon and onions are both turning a nice golden color, but do not cook until bacon is crisp.

Add the two cans of tomatoes with their juice and the cayenne pepper to the pan with the bacon and the onions. Stir, loosening browned bits from the bottom of the pan and breaking up the tomatoes a little if you wish. Drain the green beans and add them to the pan. Stir gently. If you wish to take this dish to a potluck, you can heat it through at this point, then transfer it to a 3 to 4 quart slow cooker to finish cooking (or if you are starting several hours in advance, combine the onions, bacon and tomatoes with the drained, unheated beans in the slow cooker and stir gently).

If not transferring to a slow cooker, cover the pan and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 45 minutes.

For a Crowd: Your chance to use a restaurant-size can of green beans. This double recipe serves about 20, more at a buffet or potluck, where you might want to serve this dish with a slotted spoon. Save the soupy part in the bottom of the pot or skillet to eat later with crackers, toast or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Ingredients
10 slices bacon (I just use an even pound)
1 very large onion or two medium onions, diced
1 food service-size can (6 lb. 5 oz. ) whole or cut green beans plus one 14.5 oz. can
2 large cans (28 oz.) whole, stewed or diced tomatoes (or four 14.5 oz. cans)*
Cayenne pepper to taste (up to 1/2 teaspoon maybe a little more if you use regular red pepper)

Prepare as above, in a large electric skillet, Dutch oven or kettle with a heavy bottom. For a potluck or buffet, a 6 to 8 quart capacity slow-cooker or large, deep electric skillet is easy to transport.

* Or, for thicker, zesty liquid with the beans omit the cayenne and use an 8 oz. can of El Pato Mexican Hot Sauce instead of one 14.5-oz can of tomatoes.

Some Other Ideas
For a meatless dish, consider the following:

1. Increase the amount of chile, either by adding more cayenne, some Mexican-style tomatoes or some dices chiles. Brown the onions slowly in a little oil.

2, Substitute 1/2 teaspoon (or more) of whole celery seed for the cayenne and add two medium diced potatoes and some fresh-ground black pepper with the tomatoes after browning the onions slowly in a little oil. The Crab Cooker's wonderful red clam chowder - a Newport Beach tradition - contains a LOT of celery seed. Well, green beans and clams are not exactly interchangeable, but there is some similarity in the flavor of the finished products.

Family Green Bean Gardening Traditions and Preferences

David called this dish "Okie beans" at a branch party, but I think of "Okie beans" as big, fresh green beans - "beany" ones like the ones his mother prefers - cooked for a long time with onion and some ham or bacon. She likes varieties like Kentucky Wonder and Pinto (picked as green beans, with seeds developed), but both have strings. Contender is her choice for a stringless, "beany" bean, but it will get fibrous in cool fall weather. It's for spring planting. The Blue Lake-type beans you find in cans are the kind David's Mom calls, "just green, not beans", along with filet beans and other delicate types. The kind my Mom likes. Fortex is her favorite. Great choice. David's mom and my mom both like Romano-type beans, too. But my mom picks them when they're still young, before the seeds develop.

Even though this recipe, as written, is made with beans that taste more "green" than "beany", Pioneer Woman does live in Oklahoma. So David isn't too far off in calling this dish "Okie beans", even when it's made with skinny, city-slicker beans. I expect that David's mom could make this dish wonderful with fresh Kentucky Wonders or her home-canned "beany" beans, too. Wouldn't work as well with Mom's ultra-tender baby beans.

You could also use flat Italian green beans, using one or more cans of Italian-style stewed tomatoes in place of regular stewed tomatoes. Don't over-do the Italian seasoning. You might want to use black pepper rather than cayenne for an Italian variation.

Allergy information: Tomato sauce and some canned tomatoes may contain corn products. Check the label. Some bacon contains corn products. Some people get headaches from cured meats.

Stocking up: You can keep the beans, tomatoes and cayenne pepper for this recipe on hand all the time. In a pinch, you can leave out the bacon. Use dried, minced onion if you don't have fresh onions (don't try to saute them), and a touch of vegetable oil.

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

2009-11-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

The original version of this recipe came from Bon Appetit. I read about the Pumpkin Bread Pudding below on the blog of Elizabeth Scalia, who blogs on a Catholic website as The Anchoress. She says that if you make this pudding, people will "want to be your friend". She's right.

She leaves out the golden raisins (which I can't eat because they're treated with sulfites). I think little Zante currants (miniature raisins, actually) or chopped, sweetened dried pineapple could be substituted. But I usually don't add any fruit.

Instead of serving the sauce alongside the pudding, she stabs the bread deeply all over with a knife when the pudding is done, pours the caramel sauce over it and lets it sink in. That's what I did the first time I made it. But I can't imagine pouring on the whole recipe of sauce. She typically doubles the pudding recipe. Maybe a single recipe of sauce would sink into a double recipe of pudding, baked in a 9 x 13 or 10 x 15 inch pan. If you use a 9 x 13 inch pan, pick one with really tall sides. I use a 10 x 15 inch casserole dish for a double recipe. I have decided that I like to spread some of the warm sauce on the pudding shortly before serving, with the rest served in a small crockpot (the kind used to heat dips) on the side. But Elizabeth's way makes for easier serving (not easier transporting, necessarily). This pudding is best warm. The caramel sauce should always be served warm or hot if served separately.

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING WITH CARAMEL SAUCE

Yield: Makes 6 really big servings, more smaller servings

Ingredients

2 large eggs, equivalent egg substitute or 4 egg yolks
2 cups half and half (I substitute a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk and 1/2 cup milk)
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin (29-oz. can for a double recipe)
1 cup (packed) plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice***
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

10 cups Challah bread (egg bread) or other firm bread, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (about 10-ounces)*
1/2 cup golden raisins, currants or chopped, dried pineapple (optional)

* I use 2 Tablespoons white sugar in place of the 2 T brown sugar, mixing the spices with it.

** I usually don't measure the bread cubes anymore. I have used a 12-oz. package of Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (omit 2 Tablespoons sugar) for a single recipe and a 22-oz. bag of Mexican-style Telera rolls (Semilla de Oro brand, apparently corn-free)for a double batch. If your bread is as soft as these rolls, don't fret about getting your cube size down to 1/2 inch. An inch is fine. I have also used a 24-oz. loaf of dense "country-style" white bread for a double batch, which produced less volume than the Telara rolls. If you believe that you have more bread than usual for this recipe, add an extra egg and a couple of tablespoons extra sugar (plus a little extra spice) for a single recipe or 2 extra eggs and a quarter cup extra sugar for a double recipe.

*** If you want the pudding to taste more like Libby's pumpkin pie, substitute 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ginger and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cloves for the spices in the original recipe. Omit vanilla. Or use 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed cardamom with a couple of teaspoons of fresh orange zest.

Caramel sauce (variations here, less-rich alternatives below)
1 1/4 cups (packed) dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions
NOTE: You will need a REALLY BIG mixing bowl if you make a double recipe, plus an 11x7 inch or 9x9 inch baking pan for a single recipe, or a 10x15 inch baking pan or dish for a double recipe.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk eggs until well-beaten, whisk in cream or milk, pumpkin, dark brown sugar, vanilla extract and spices in large bowl to blend. Fold in bread cubes. Stir in golden raisins, if used. Transfer mixture to 11x7-inch or 9x9-inch glass baking dish (or spray a metal baking pan with non-stick cooking spray)or a 10x15 inch baking dish for a double recipe. Let stand 15 minutes. Bake pumpkin bread pudding until tester (i.e, a knife) inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes for a single recipe, 45 minutes or more for a double recipe.

Meanwhile, prepare caramel sauce:
Whisk sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Whisk in cream and stir until sugar dissolves and sauce is smooth, about 3 minutes.

Less-rich sauce alternatives include Old-Fashioned Vanilla Sauce like Grandma used to make, maple cream sauce (closer to what the Pilgrims could have had - though probably not at their first Thanksgiving), or a standard custard sauce flavored like eggnog. I would serve any of these on the side.

If you want to cut down on the "carb rush" from the pudding itself, you might start with the Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe linked at the Maple Cream Sauce recipe above, or the first recipe linked below. Some recipes use whole-grain bread. Don't be afraid to vary a pumpkin bread pudding recipe.

Other Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipes

Here's a similar recipe using half the pumpkin, proportionately less sugar, slightly different spices and a little vanilla - for a slightly smaller pan - 8 x 8 inches. Double recipe to use an entire 15-oz. can of pumpkin, baking in a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Below is a recipe for Pumpkin Bread Pudding made with French bread and dried cranberries - getting closer to a recipe I could taste. There are some "Artisan" French breads out there with no corn products. I have a non-severe sensitivity to eggs, and I would likely use two egg yolks in place of each egg (most people who are allergic to eggs react to one of the proteins in egg white). Maybe I could get away with 4 egg yolks. The first recipe linked above uses only two eggs. I might decrease the granulated sugar a little, too.

This pudding is recommended with Vanilla Sauce or other accompaniments. I've added a few tweaks to the original linked recipe.

Raisins or chopped pecans can be used in place of the dried cranberries, or try another chopped dried fruit - like maybe dried pinapple. Or leave out the dried fruit altogether.

PUMPKIN BREAD PUDDING with French Bread and Dried Cranberries
Ingredients:
8 ounces French bread, torn into small pieces, about 5 cups
2 cups half-and-half, half milk and half cream or 12 oz. evaporated milk and 1/2 cup milk
3 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
cinnamon sugar, optional

Preparation:
Butter an 11x7-inch (or 9 inch square) baking dish. Heat oven to 350°.
In a bowl, cover the torn bread with the half-and-half; set aside.

In another bowl, combine eggs, sugars, pumpkin, cranberries, melted butter, spices, and vanilla; blend well. Pour pumpkin mixture over soaked bread and stir to blend.

Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with cinnamon-sugar, if desired. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until set.

Serve with a vanilla dessert sauce or brown sugar sauce, whipped cream, or vanilla or eggnog ice cream.
Serves 8.

Maple Cream Sauce

2009-11-28T02:15:00.000-08:00

A for bread puddings, steamed pudding, gingerbread, waffles, etc. Especially appropriate for Thanksgiving. See the link to KSL.com for a pumpkin bread pudding which is smaller than our favorite, with more eggs and less of most everything else - perhaps the one to serve for breakfast.

I've included three variations to this recipe. Real maple syrup is precious, with a distinctive flavor. But most commercial maple-flavored syrups have a stronger, less complex flavor. Some people, long used to the typical maple-flavored syrups, may not even recognize real maple syrup as maple. There is a recipe below for spiced maple cream sauce, if you want to use Log Cabin, Mrs. Butterworth's or another maple- flavored syrup.

Some of the darker, more flavorful real maple syrups (medium or dark amber, not "A" grade) have a sour note. These darker syrups are great in this recipe if you replace part of the maple syrup with brown and white sugar for a more balanced flavor. Add a whisper of vanilla if you like.

Ingredients for 100% real maple sauce
3/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 ½ Tbs. Butter
1/8 tsp. vanilla (optional)

Ingredients for maple/brown sugar sauce
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 ½ Tbs. Butter
1/8 tsp. vanilla (optional)

Ingredients for maple spice sauce
¾ cup maple-flavored syrup
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ Tbs. Butter
½ tsp Pumpkin pie spice or 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. allspice, nutmeg (grated if possible) or cardamom (freshly crushed if possible)

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Bring almost to boil while stirring.
Sauce will thicken as it cools.
Serve over Pumpkin Bread pudding, steamed carrot pudding or gingerbread.
Also very good over ice cream, waffles or cheesecake.

Old-Fashioned Vanilla Sauce

2009-11-28T01:37:00.000-08:00

This Vanilla Sauce, made with water, flour and a little butter, is less rich than many dessert sauces. The recipe below is like the one Grandma served with her steamed carrot (and potato) pudding, although she did not add allspice - just a little nutmeg. That's what I do, too.

I might try it with browned butter sometime, but I might need to stir the sauce prior to serving. I have made it with using a roux with the flour and butter - as for white sauce - cooking to a light tan (watch it carefully). Using a roux changes the texture of the sauce.

Spiced Vanilla Sauce with Butter
Original from Diana Rattray, About.com Guide

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice (optional)
1 cup cold water
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
In saucepan, mix together the sugar, flour, nutmeg, and (allspice); blend in cold water. Bring to a simmer and simmer until clear and thickened. Blend in butter and vanilla. Serve over hot fritters or with steamed pudding, bread pudding, baked apples or other dessert.

Dixie Salad

2009-11-24T13:43:00.000-08:00

The Cox family is going to have this fruit salad, featuring pomegranates, for Thanksgiving. They brought the salad last month for Munch and Mingle. At the time, I thought of it as a glorified, prettier, Southern-style Waldorf salad. It contains pineapple, the traditional symbol of hospitality in the Southeast, along with bananas, and pecans instead of walnuts. Their version of the salad is very similar to this one.

Then I found this recipe from Hurricane, Utah, Circa 1914, and thought that maybe "Dixie Salad" referred not to the Old South but to "Utah's Dixie". In this region around St. George, at the edge of the Sunbelt, "Utah Sweet" (a sweet, pink pomegranate) and other relatively hardy varieties of pomegranate are grown. Pecan trees are used for landscaping. I would imagine that almonds and walnuts are grown there, too, just like in our Central Valley. The dressing for the older recipe includes whipped cream and "salad dressing" - probably a "boiled dressing" or, later, a commercial dressing like Miracle Whip. Boiled raisins (later, grapes), walnuts and almonds apparently came before recipes with pineapple, bananas and pecans. The ingredients in the older recipe could pretty much be produced locally. It is noted that sweetened whipped cream could be substituted for the tangier dressing if you preferred the salad for dessert.

Here's the Cox Family recipe. They are using frozen Grenada pomegranate arils (the individual seeds surrounded by red flesh) that they grew themselves. Grenada is a dark-fleshed, early-ripening sport of the old standard variety for hot summer, mild-winter climates, "Wonderful". The latter sometimes holds fruit on the tree until Thanksgiving, but fruits may split if watering is irregular or if it rains, so it is often better to pick them before they split and refrigerate (up to 2 months) or remove arils and freeze.

Dixie Salad

Amounts are variable. Adjust to taste.

2 cups pomegranate arils (thaw if frozen)
1 can (about 14 0z. drained, 20 oz. total weight) pineapple chunks or tidbits
4 bananas, peeled and sliced
3 cups peeled, cored, and chopped tart apple
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons creamy salad dressing, e.g. Miracle Whip ™

To remove arils from the pomegranate, cut a thick slice off the blossom end, deep enough to remove the skin and reveal the interior membranes radiating out from the center, between the arils. Score the skin deeply from top to bottom near where the membranes meet the skin. Remove a little of the pith from the center, where the blossom end was. You can also cut off a little skin on the stem end if you like. Break the fruit apart and remove arils from membranes, or follow these directions for mess-free pomegranate arils.

Drain pineapple, reserving juice for another use. Mix fruit and nuts with mayonnaise and salad dressing n a large bowl. The linked recipe calls for the salad to be refrigerated overnight, but I think I would follow the Cox's practice of dressing the salad closer to serving time, or at least adding the bananas and maybe the pecans closer to serving time. If I felt fancy, I might toast the pecans first.

Allergy Information: Mayonnaise and Miracle Whip contain eggs. I think Miracle Whip also contains flour and corn products.

Toasted Cornbread-Pecan Dressing for Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

David's Mom always makes a big roasting pan full of cornbread dressing, moist and dense, for Thanksgiving. Still working on getting her recipes together and onto this blog. I can't eat the dressing because of the corn, but I need to learn how to make it for family gatherings.

The dressing below does not require oven time on Thanksgiving or Christmas day. It is adapted from The Cook's Bible: The Best of American Home Cooking by Christopher Kimball - the editor of "Cook's Illustrated" magazine.

"Toasting the cornbread and the chopped pecans gives a wonderful taste and texture to the finished product". You'll have to let me know, because I can't eat it. Sounds good, though. Bet you could double the recipe for a big crowd and leave it in a big electric skillet for buffet service:

Toasted Cornbread-Pecan Dressing

6 cups coarsely crumbled cornbread
3/4 cup pecans
1/4 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups finely chopped onions
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon minced fresh sage or 1 tsp dried
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup minced flat leaf parsley

1. Heat over to 350F. Spread crumbled cornbread onto a baking sheet. Coarsely chop pecans and add to cornbread. Toast in oven for 25-30 minutes or until cornbread is golden, tossing the crumbs once or twice during toasting. Cool and place in a large mixing bowl.

2. Cook bacon over medium heat in a skillet. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the cornbread and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of drippings (mmm...bacon drippings). Add butter and olive oil to skillet and when butter has melted, add onion and saute for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add celery and saute another three minutes.
Stir in thyme and sage and salt and pepper to taste. Add to cornbread.

3. Turn up heat under skillet. Add chicken stock and cook for 3 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom of the pan. Add mixture to the bowl of cornbread. Add parsley to bowl and adjust seasonings.

And you're thinking, "Put it back in the oven, right?" No, that's it.
You're done. Makes about 10 cups, and it tastes even better if you make it today and let it sit overnight. Reheat in microwave (if made ahead) and turn into a serving bowl.

Last Year's Thanksgiving Tips - plus more

2009-11-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

CRANBERRIES
One thing I always do at Thanksgiving now is to make a batch of cranberry sauce from scratch, from the Ocean Spray Cranberry package. Sort through the berries while washing (they float) and follow the recipe exactly, breaking berries which don't burst. It's so easy, and much better than canned whole-berry sauce. Wonderful if you're transporting food to someone else's house, as it doesn't need to be refrigerated and is best made ahead. For a different flavor, less assertive, add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Recommended by Cook's Illustrated as the best recipe for cranberry sauce.

You can also use part orange juice in place of water and a little orange zest mixed in, or as a garnish. Plus a teaspoon of ginger or some other spices. If using orange and/or spices, try using part brown sugar in place of white sugar. Some people like red grape juice in place of water (or port wine - a no-no for those with sulfite allergies), plus the zest from a couple of lemons.

I've been going the purist route in recent years. Just a 12-oz. bag of berries and a cup each of sugar and water. Makes a zingy sauce (though if the fresh cranberries available this year are not completely ripe, a little salt will cut the bitterness). If it's a good year for cranberries, make extra for later in the season. Process canning jars as for jelly if you're serious about having extra homemade sauce.

I have been leaving the oranges, etc. for raw cranberry relish. There's a recipe on the Ocean Spray bag. And you can find others easily. If chunky relish is too bold, try blending it in a food processor until pureed.

For kids, have some mild, jellied cranberry (even better, cranberry/raspberry) sauce on hand. Remove the "log" from the can, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into half-rounds and fan them out on a serving plate, or cut in half again lengthwise before slicing quarter-logs into wedges. Individual servings will take up less room on the plate and will be less "floppy" than big round slices.

Update: More Cranberry Sauce ideas here. And from NPR, the famous pink cranberry/horseradish/sour cream relish. And relish with orange and ginger here.

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
One idea for keeping guests happy while simplifying your Thanksgiving Day menu (and cutting down on rich foods) is to expand the number of vegetable dishes you serve and to set out platters of fruit and nuts for nibbling. Very much in keeping with the idea of gratitude for the harvest. And this holds true for the entire Thanksgiving weekend, when fruits and vegetables can fill in around meals based on leftovers. If guests arrive a day early, fruits and vegetables, and marinated salads, can be kept on hand to accommodate variable schedules.

Here's a pretty fruit salad you can make mostly ahead. It features pomegranates. Our friends in Switzerland could make it in summer, substituting red currants for pomegranates.

One year here in our garden, we had fresh shelly beans in the garden at Thanksgiving, several varieties, and I combined them with corn, a little caramelized onion and a touch of heavy cream for a "more traditional" succotash. I got the idea from the Joy of Cooking. No cup of butter in the succotash for me. Though tomatoes in succotash are another way to go. Keira's mom used to cook dried corn and add a little cream for fall sometimes to remind everyone how things used to be.

I cooked some of the shellies (fresh seeds from over-grown, but not dried, green beans) separately for myself, since I can't eat corn. Black Valentine and Coco Rose de Prague are good varieties for variable fall weather, and make good shellies as well as green beans. Supplement with frozen lima or green beans if you are short of "shellies".

GENERAL

Nothing wrong with having two or three kinds of dressing.

Don't think I'll be doing deep-fried turkey.

My rolls will be from frozen dough, not "scratch".

Hoping that everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Let me know if you have any particularly wonderful dishes for next year.

First Frost

2009-11-16T22:03:00.000-08:00

We had a welcome and prayed-for rainstorm last week. Our first light frost was this morning. A full month after the official "you might get frost on this date" consensus - about October 15. It was not cold enough to hurt plants, except for the most tender ones. Most of the tomato plants in the "tomato hedge" are dead or dying, but not from the frost. One plant (I think it's Big Boy) has a lot of little end-of-season tomatoes still hanging on the plant. It's like the plant rushed to ripen them before they reached normal size. They're sweeter than the bigger ones on the same plant - perhaps due to water restriction during ripening - and have less damage on the tops from water condensation. Their skins are pretty tough.

They taste better than the volunteer cherry tomatoes. These volunteer plants are still covered with fruits, but they taste like they grew in cold weather. I'm starting to think that there's something to the idea that plants grown in uncultivated soil are hardier and more drought-resistant. The cherry tomatoes planted in our cultivated "hedge" are dead. Maybe it's time to try the idea of layering amendments on top of the soil, rather than turning them into the soil.

The heirloom varieties of tomatoes which we planted late, on the south side of the house, are still green and lush. Not many tomatores on the plants. A couple of days ago I picked a Cherokee Purple tomato. The top was cracked and damaged from water condensation, but the bottom half was very tasty - on the juicy side, but it didn't have the off-flavors typical of tomatoes which ripen when the nights are cold. I should search through the interior of the big plant for more.

Tiny Batch Applesauce-Raisin Cookies (vegan)

2009-11-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

The weather is getting colder, and baking something in our small oven heats up the house just the right amount in the morning. You can make these cookies quickly once the raisins are plumped and cooled, while preparing other foods to bake.

This is a cake-like cookie. I hate the taste of burnt raisins in cookies, so I plump the raisins before adding them (using the leftover liquid in the dough). This recipe contains no animal products (unless you make the variation with an egg yolk). It is low in fat for a cookie.

This recipe makes just enough for some little treats. Use a different recipe if baking for a crowd. It uses some small measurements. You can measure 1/8 teaspoon by leveling a 1/4 teaspoon measure and removing half of your ingredient. But you might want to buy a set of measuring spoons with a 1/8 teaspoon measure. Or a set of spice spoons with small measurements.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup raisins, packed
2 Tablespoons water

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg or freshly crushed cardamom
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (stir flour, spoon into measuring cup and level)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup cold applesauce

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:
About 15 minutes in advance, plump the raisins by mixing with water in a small bowl and heating on high in a microwave oven just until water boils. Stir, cover with a plate to allow raisins to plump for about 5 minutes. Stir and microwave again until raisins start to steam, maybe 20 seconds. Stir and cover for 5 minutes. If raisins were very dry to begin with, repeat one more time. Remove cover, stir and set aside to cool.

Position an oven rack in the top part of the oven. Preheat oven to 350º. Cover the baking surface of a light-colored baking sheet (shiny metal is best) with aluminum foil and grease or spray with non-stick cooking spray (or grease the baking surface of the sheet itself).

Combine all dry ingredients except flour in a small mixing bowl and stir until there are no lumps of soda and all ingredients are well-blended. Add flour and blend well.

Drain raisins and measure liquid. Add a scant Tablespoon of the cooled liquid to the dry ingredients - less if you want cookies which are more rounded. Add water to make a scant Tablespoon if necessary. Before stirring, add oil, vanilla and applesauce. Then stir just until blended. Stir in raisins (and nuts if used). Drop rounded tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheet, spacing evenly. Makes about 9 large or 12 smaller cookies.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until medium brown. Do not under-bake or cookies will be gummy. If baked until darker brown, the cookies may be a little tough. I use the small oven at the top of a Gemini dual-oven stove, and switch to the top heating element (broil) for the last half of baking. But in some ovens, you may not be able to set the top element to a temperature lower than "broil". If using a large oven, positioning the rack near the top of the oven should help cook the tops and bottoms of the cookies more evenly.

Cool for about a minute before removing cookies from the sheet to a wire cooling rack. After cooling completely, store tightly covered, with layers of waxed paper, foil or plastic wrap between layers. Texture may improve after the cookies have mellowed tightly covered for a few hours, especially if you have over-baked them a little. They are nice the next day.

Variations
Spicy cookies - Increase the amount of cinnamon to 1/2 tsp. and add 1/4 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. ginger or 1/8 tsp. cloves in place of nutmeg. Or use your favorite spice combination.

You may substitute brown sugar for granulated sugar by sifting dry ingredients with flour instead of mixing with sugar. Omit cream of tartar. Mix the brown sugar with wet ingredients before adding dry ingredients, crushing any lumps of brown sugar. You may wish to omit vanilla.

No Raisins - Substitute a scant Tablespoon of apple or pineapple juice, or water, for raisin liquid. Or leave out liquid for more rounded cookies.

With Egg - Add an egg yolk in place of raising liquid. This will change (and probably improve) the texture of the cookies.

Allergy Information: Contains no corn products, eggs or dairy. Unless you use the egg yolk variation.

Slightly Spicy Chicken and Rice for a Crowd

2009-11-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

A variation on Mexican Crockpot Chicken. Great for a potluck or buffet. Completely fills a 6-quart slow cooker. Halve the recipe for a family dinner. Prepare in a 3-quart slow-cooker, large saucepan or in an electric skillet. Serve with condiment-type hot sauce for those who want it. The ingredient list is about as simple as you could imagine:

2 Family Packs (about 5 pounds each) chicken thighs

2 cans, about 8 ounces each, El Pato Mexican hot sauce (or one in the yellow can and one in the green (Jalapeno) can. For milder flavor, you can use about 16 oz. of enchilada sauce or another Mexican cooking sauce. But I recommend at least one can of the hot sauce in the yellow can.

Chicken broth
Salt to taste

Fluffy rice (start with 4 cups dry rice). Or use an equivalent amount of brown rice, cooked in a rice cooker (or maybe a pressure cooker at high altitude)

Directions:
Chicken and Sauce, Method A: Up-front Preparation
Rinse chicken thighs, remove skin and visible fat. Place skin-side down on cutting board and cut most of the meat away from the bone and connective tissue, using a sharp knife. Cut meat into chunks. (Place skin, fat, bones and adhering meat in a saucepan and simmer in water to cover with a little onion and celery leaves or a carrot to make chicken stock for this or a different recipe). I put a small cutting board in the clean sink and work on about three chicken thighs at a time.

Spray the inside of a 6-quart slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Stir chicken chunks and hot sauce together gently in cooker with a little salt. Cook several hours until tender (not until the chicken falls apart). You may also simmer chicken in the hot sauce in a large pot or electric skillet, adding a little extra water if liquid becomes too thick. You want your chicken and sauce to be quite "soupy" to add moisture to the finished dish. You may cool and refrigerate chicken at this point until serving day, then re-heat.

Chicken and Sauce, Method B: Boning Chicken After Simmering
You can also leave the chicken thighs whole and cook until almost tender in a slow-cooker or electric skillet (the latter will require some added water) until almost tender. Then cool, remove the skin, bones and cartilage after they're cooked. Skim fat from liquid. Put the meat and liquid back in the crockpot or electric skillet and cook for a while with the hot sauce. (You can continue cooking the skin, bones and cartilage in a smaller crockpot with a little water for a really good chicken stock.)

Serving day: Putting it all together
Within about 3 or 4 hours of serving, cook rice in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan (about 4 quarts) or in a heavy-bottomed kettle. Do not remove cover during or after cooking. Keep warm. Heat chicken in sauce if it was refrigerated. Adjust salt to taste. Add chicken broth if the level of the liquid is below the level of the chicken.

Transport hot chicken and sauce in the 6-quart slow cooker and transport the warm rice in the kettle. Maintain chicken at the "keep warm" temperature until serving time. Within a few minutes of serving, gently fluff rice and mix into the chicken.

Leftovers and Home Meals: You may need to add a little extra chicken broth to leftovers if the rice seems dry. David likes this chicken and rice with refried beans and a salad. If serving at home, you can leave the chicken and sauce in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days, heating some up to serve over rice, with good tortillas, in burritos, etc. as needed instead of mixing the chicken with rice.

Easy Low-Fat variation: Substitute about 6 to 7 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for chicken thighs. Cut away any fat or tough connective tissue and cut into 1/2 inch pieces or smaller. Meat won't need as long to cook as the dark thigh meat. You may need to add a little extra chicken broth to get a "mouth-feel" similar to the original recipe.

Or, try using half chicken thigh meat and half breast meat. Add the breast meat part way through cooking the thigh meat, then proceed as above.

Allergy Information: El Pato hot sauce contains no corn, wheat or soy products. There are a few brands of boxed chicken broth which do not contain corn products. Most canned chicken broth contains corn products. Update: Swanson has removed the corn products from its chicken broth. But check the label.

Mexican crockpot chicken

2009-11-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

Our friends Manuela and Ana taught us to make this wonderful, amazingly simple dish.

Medium-spicy rather than hot, if you fill a 3 or 4-quart crockpot with chicken thighs and use one small can of hot sauce.

Menos pollo, màs piquante. - The less chicken, the spicier the dish.

DIRECTIONS
Place thawed chicken thighs in slow-cooker. One family-pack (4 or 5 pounds) will usually fit in a 3-quart cooker if you remove most of the skins (you may want to leave the skins on the top layer of chicken. Pour a small (about 8 oz.) can of El Pato Mexican hot sauce (in the little yellow can) over chicken. Add a little salt. Cook for several hours, until chicken is tender, stirring at least once after juices are released from chicken. Adjust salt and skim fat from sauce. Serve with rice and/or tortillas, spooning some of the sauce over the rice. Serve with some vegetables or a salad. David likes refried beans with it.

Serve with hot sauce for those who want more heat.

Leftovers still taste good. For a milder flavor, use enchilada sauce (El Pato brand is in a red can. For a slightly different, spicy flavor, use Jalapeno salsa. I think the sauce in the yellow can is the best choice.

VARIATIONS

This is a family-style dish. There's an easy-to-serve variation for a crowd here.

Or you can make this dish "gringo style" by cooking the chicken thighs first, removing skin, bones and cartilage, skimming fat from liquid then adding the hot sauce and cut-up or broken-up chicken to the cooking liquid and allowing everything to cook together for a few more minutes. If you don't have time to cook the chicken in a slow-cooker, you can simmer it on top of the stove in a little broth or water until tender but not falling apart.

You should end up with chunks of chicken in about enough sauce (including liquid from cooking the chicken) to almost cover the meat. This method allows you to remove a little more fat from the dish. You can serve the chicken and sauce with Spanish or white rice or mix the chicken and sauce with cooked white rice. Plus vegetables, beans, etc. as desired.

French Garlic Chicken

2009-11-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

Easy. Requires an oven, so it's not a recipe for summer.

Spray the inside of a glass baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Use a baking dish in which the number of chicken pieces you are cooking will fit fairly tightly. Sprinkle salt and fresh-ground pepper on the dish, then sprinkle lightly with peeled, sliced fresh garlic.

Place one layer of chicken thighs over the salt, pepper and garlic in the dish, skin side up. Sprinkle with a little more salt, pepper over the chicken and lay at least 3 garlic slices on each piece of chicken. Cover fairly tightly (if using aluminum foil, grease the side which will touch the chicken, or spray with non-stick cooking spray). Run your finger along the inside edge of the foil-covered dish to push the foil below the top of the dish (to keep liquid from falling outside the dish).

Bake at 325º F. for at least 1 1/2 hours. Longer is better. You may cook at 275 degrees for several hours if you will be away. If chicken is not slightly browned as cooking nears completion, lift edge of cover to allow juices to concentrate and chicken to brown very slightly. Serve with French bread, roasted potatoes or baked potatoes to soak up juices. And some vegetables or a salad. Leftovers lose some of their flavor, especially if you're short on leftover pan liquid, so don't make too much extra.

Note: The original recipe calls for whole chicken, cut-up, many cloves of whole, peeled garlic and lots of butter. You may dot thighs with a little butter before cooking, if desired. Or remove skin from chicken and baste with butter and broth from the pan during cooking.

Fluffy Rice

2009-11-07T07:08:00.000-08:00

Adapted from The Best Recipe.

This recipe is for fluffy, separate white rice - not for rice to be eaten with chopsticks. You may also cook long-grain rice in a rice-cooker without oil for a more delicate flavor. This recipe uses techniques for preparing rice pilaf.

1 cup rice
2 teaspoons vegetable oil, unsalted butter or a combination
1 1/2 cups water (proportionately less water for more rice: 2 3/4 cups water for 2 cups rice, etc.)
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

Place oil in a heavy-bottomed 2 to 2 1/2 quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid and heat over medium heat. Add rice and saute for one to three minutes, depending on the amount of nutty flavor you want. I go for one minute unless preparing a pilaf-like dish.

Add water and salt and bring to a boil. Swirl pan to distribute rice evenly. Cover tightly, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to sit for an additional 15 minutes without lifting the lid.

How I do it: I usually add a little more water than called for in the recipe above, and cook for 18 minutes before allowing the rice to sit for the additional 15 minutes to finish cooking. For example, for 4 cups dry rice, I have used almost 3 Tablespoons oil, 6 cups water and 2 teaspoons salt, cooking in a kettle for 18 minutes after bringing to a boil, then allowing to continue cooking after turning off the heat. On my stove, the heat setting must be a notch above "low" in order for the rice to cook completely.

You may also need more water than the recipe above specifies if the lid to your pan does not fit tightly. You may need both a longer cooking time and more water if preparing rice at high altitude. If you are planning to serve rice for a crowd, do a trial run in advance to be sure that your rice will be thoroughly cooked at the heat setting and in the pan you choose. Rice cookers give reliable results as long as you are at a relatively low altitude.

Buffet-style Red Chicken Pozole

2009-11-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

A big, easy-to-serve version of Family-style Pozole. Very popular for parties in the fall to winter season, especially as Christmas approaches. It is very simple but somewhat time-consuming to prepare. It's way easier to make than homemade tamales, however. Special tamales, including sweet tamales, are about the most labor-intensive Christmas-time food project in our town. And Pozole is easier than its cousin, Menudo, too. Chicken Pozole is also made in summer with fewer, hotter unripe chiles (chopped, not pureed).

Pozole can be largely prepared in advance of a party, except for the raw vegetable accompaniments. It is served in bowls. Not for a formal-style gathering.

Nice as the main course of a casual meal for a crowd. Good for brunch on cold mornings. The recipe may be doubled or tripled to serve from an electric roasting pan (they vary in capacity), but the weight could strain the handles of the roaster if lifted. Transport part of Pozole (especially liquid) in a separate container.

In our little town, Pozole made with pork butt or pork neck and a pig's foot is common at Christmas-season family gatherings. You may also use pork in the recipe below. Five or 6 pounds of lean country-style spare ribs (not real spare ribs) is an easy choice. Break in chunks and remove visible fat and any bones after simmering. Those who grew up eating Pozole seem to like whole chicken or pork pieces in it (bones and all), so this recipe may not be entirely authentic, but is much easier for a crowd.

Our friend Rosie likes to add some dried Pasilla chiles with the traditional dried California chiles. You could also try Ancho or (sometimes smoked) Poblano chiles. Any of these will give a deeper color and more complex flavor to the dish. None of them are very spicy.

One family-pack chicken thighs (about 5 pounds)
One very big can of Mexican-style hominy - about 3 Kg or almost 7 pounds
One 8-oz. package dried pods of Chile California or similar very mild chiles
One 2-oz. package dried pods of Pasilla, Pasilla Negro or Pasilla Ancho chiles (optional)

Chicken and Broth: Simmer chicken thighs in enough water to cover until tender but not falling apart. Remove from broth. Cool, remove skin, bones and visible fat and set chicken aside or refrigerate. Meanwhile, you may return skin and bones to liquid to continue simmering if desired. Strain chicken broth, mix a little water with the skin and bones and strain again into broth. Discard skin and bones. You may now cut chicken into large chunks and add to broth. Cooked chicken and broth may be refrigerated overnight to save time on the day of the party and to make it easier to skim the fat off the broth.

Chile Puree: Tear off and discard stem ends of chiles. Tear in half lengthwise (or break very dry chiles into pieces). Remove as much of the central seed membrane as can be done without too much work and shake out loose seeds if convenient. Rinse chiles briefly in a large bowl. Pile chile pieces into a saucepan, cover with water, cover pan and bring to a boil. Remove covered pan from heat, setting aside to soften and cool chiles. When at least cool enough to leave your hand on the bottom of the pan, process chiles and liquid in a blender or food processor until skins are reduced to about 1/4 inch chunks. Force through a colander or coarse sieve to remove skins. Or use a berry press or tomato sauce-maker. You may add water to skins, stir and strain again. Discard skins. Chile puree may be prepared the day before and refrigerated, or up to a couple of weeks in advance and frozen.

Final Preparation: Skim fat from broth and heat broth and chunks of chicken meat in a large kettle. Drain and add hominy to chicken and broth. Add chile puree and salt to taste. You should have leftover chile puree.

Add water or additional chicken broth to bring Pozole to a soupy consistency. Adjust salt and simmer to blend flavors. The hominy swells as it simmers, so you may need to add additional water, broth and/or chile puree later. Refrigerate or freeze extra chile puree.

To Serve: Ladle into serving bowls and serve alongside a big bowl of thinly shredded or finely chopped cabbage (with tongs for adding cabbage to the Pozole) and smaller bowls of finely diced red or white onion (offer minced scallions for more sensitive tummies or when available onions are very strong), lemon and/or lime wedges (or lemon or lime juice), sliced or chopped radishes, hot pepper flakes or hot sauce and dried oregano to rub over individual servings as desired. The cabbage, onion and/or scallions and citrus are mandatory accompaniments. Other garnishes are optional but may be expected. Minced cilantro and/or Italian parsley are not traditional garnishes for this dish in winter, but may be offered.

In Mexico, various vegetables, raw and cooked, and other accompaniments like chopped hard-cooked eggs, are often offered in little bowls when soup is served, so diners can add the ones they like.

Allergy information: Contains corn.

Family-style Pozole

2009-11-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

When the weather gets cooler in the fall and we start seeing big bags of dried, whole Chile California on sale at the store, it's time to think about making Pozole, a cousin to Menudo. We're not quite up to making Menudo. Pozole is very popular in our little town as Christmas approaches. It is a simple dish, but somewhat time-consuming. It looks like it contains tomatoes, but the color comes entirely from dried chiles. In summer, diced green chiles and chicken are often used.

Pozole can be prepared a day or two in advance of serving. Leftovers are good. David likes it for breakfast on cold mornings.

For Pork Pozole, follow the recipe on the 29-oz can of Teasdale Mexican-style hominy, substituting about 7 large dried Chile California peppers for Ancho or Chile sauce and Cayenne pepper. These peppers are mild, but the ones we buy are not smoked like dried Ancho (Poblano) peppers sometimes are. You could also used other dried, mild chiles, or combine California and Pasilla chiles for richer color and flavor. as our friend Rosie does. I use lean "country-style spare ribs" in place of the pork and pig's feet in the recipe.

Remove stems and most of attached membrane and seeds from chiles, rinse and tear into pieces. Place in small covered saucepan and bring to boil in water to cover. Turn off heat and allow to sit until cool enough to comfortably keep your hand on the bottom of the pan. Process cooled chiles and liquid in a blender or food processor until the skins are broken into about 1/4 inch pieces. Strain and press (while stirring) liquid and pulp through a colander, potato ricer or coarse sieve, leaving skins in sieve. Or mash soaked chiles in a mortar and pestle and strain as above, or try a berry press or tomato sauce maker. Add chile puree to Pozole to taste. Adjust salt.

For Red Chicken Pozole, substitute 6 to 8 chicken thighs or a whole, cut-up chicken for pork and pigs feet. Cook chicken until tender in water to cover. Remove from broth. People who grew up eating Pozole often like chicken or pork neck and/or pig's foot pieces served whole. For Gringos or for a big party, you may cool chicken enough to remove skin, bones and visible fat, breaking or cutting into bite-sized pieces. Skim fat from broth and return chicken to broth. Drain and add a 29-oz can hominy. Add salt and strained Chile puree to taste as above. Add water or additional chicken broth to produce a soupy consistency. Adjust salt. Simmer until flavors are well-blended.

Serve either pork or chicken Pozole with finely shredded or chopped cabbage, chopped onion or minced scallions, lemon or lime wedges or juice and sliced radishes to be added individually by diners. Also offer dried oregano to rub into Pozole (or finely minced fresh oregano to add) and hot sauce or hot pepper flakes.

Allergy information: Contains corn.

Marinated Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad for a Crowd

2009-11-07T04:52:00.000-08:00

Mom taught me how to make this great salad for fall and winter. Even most kids like this salad despite its strongly flavored ingredients. You can substitute low or no fat Italian dressing, but I think the original Good Seasons dressing made with real apple cider vinegar and vegetable oil (add a little olive oil if you like) makes it really good. Use raw cider vinegar from the health food store for even more flavor.

Wonderful for buffets, because it is made ahead and is good at room temperature. It won't take up refrigerator room if you make it two or three hours ahead. To reduce the workload near serving time, use pre-packaged broccoli and cauliflower florets and cut florets to bite size when assembling. You can start marinating the onion a few hours in advance, especially if the onion is strong.

You can halve the recipe for smaller family meals. Or multiply the recipe for really big events.

Good Seasons Italian Dressing (the kind you make in a shaker jar) - buy a 4-pack.
1 medium or 1/2 large red (or other mild) onion
2 large or 3 small bunches broccoli (or equivalent packaged broccoli florets)
1 large head cauliflower (or equivalent cauliflower florets)
4 to 6 carrots
1 can (or more) pitted black olives, sliced or halved, or equivalent of canned sliced olives

Prepare salad dressing mix according to directions, adding more vinegar in place of the water in the directions. I think this dressing was zingier before they started using xanthan gum to emulsify and thicken it, so if you want to use vinegar in place of some of the oil, too, you might like the result better. Soak some slices of macerated raw garlic in part of the vinegar you intend to use (then discard garlic) if you want to ramp up the flavor a bit more.

Place onion, sliced in thick slices, into a large bowl containing enough salad dressing to cover the onion. I like to quarter the slices. You can leave some attractive slices whole to garnish the top of the salad. If mild onions are out of season, use a smaller amount of strong onion, slice it thinly and marinate longer before adding other ingredients. Or substitute diced scallions.

Wash broccoli and cut into small florets. You may peel and add part of the sliced stems. Pile on top of the onions, shake on more salad dressing and mix. Add salad dressing until there is a little in the bottom of the bowl after you toss the mixture. It will take more dressing than you think for the finished salad, sometimes more than 2 little shaker bottles for this big recipe.

Wash cauliflower and cut into small florets. Mix with other veggies in the bowl. Peel and thinly slice carrots on the diagonal (Microwave or blanch briefly for crisp-tender slices which are easier to stab with a fork) or cut in long shreds in a food processor rather than slicing. Use less carrot if shredding. Mix with other veggies. Add more salad dressing until there is a little at the bottom of the bowl after you mix. Drain and slice or halve olives, add fresh ground black pepper to taste and toss in.

Cover and marinate for two or three hours at room temperature, tossing occasionally. Or marinate overnight refrigerated. Refrigerate leftovers. The second or third day, you can shred some cabbage, savoy cabbage, Napa cabbage or mild Asian greens into the leftovers just before serving if you like, to take advantage of all the dressing left in the bottom of the bowl.

Allergy information for the salad dressing is here.

Old-Fashioned Coleslaw with Celery Seed Dressing

2009-11-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

An old-fashioned coleslaw dressed with oil and vinegar. Good for buffets or potlucks, as it can be served at room temperature. Adapted from an old Betty Crocker cookbook. Makes 6 servings.

The recipe may be easily multiplied for large groups, but you would really want a food processor to shred or chop your cabbage.

Allergy Information: Some people are allergic to celery. Contains no corn, wheat, milk, soy or egg.

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. celery seed*
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped green pepper or Ancho or Pasilla chiles (optional)
1 Tablespoon chopped pimento or red bell pepper (optional)
2 Tablespoons minced scallions or 1 tsp. instant minced onion
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup cider or white vinegar
4 cups finely shredded or chopped cabbage.

Mix dry seasonings and sugar in the bottom of a large bowl. Add other ingerdients in order listed, mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Drain just before serving. Garnish with watercress if desired.

You may also mix the seasonings, sugar, onion, oil and vinegar together and allow flavors to blend before adding to cabbage and other vegetables. This is a good option if you wish to make less salad at one time or if your electricity is out and you cannot refrigerate the salad to blend the flavors. Most of the ingredients, other than the cabbage, can be kept in the pantry for emergencies. Cabbage keeps in a cool place longer than most vegetables.

* If whole celery seed is a little too strong for you or if you're short on time to blend the flavors of the salad, substitute 1 1/4 teaspoons celery salt for salt and celery seed.

Fire and Ice Salad

2009-11-06T04:18:00.000-08:00

A fat-free marinated tomato salad for summer. Good for buffets and potlucks, served with a slotted spoon.

I think I'll try the dressing for this salad on some finely shredded cabbage (maybe with a little shredded carrot and/or minced scallions or red onion) for coleslaw. I will probably omit the water in the dressing and add a touch of oil to carry flavor, but I have seen other beloved recipes for fat-free marinated coleslaw. This dressing has less sugar than the dressing for this marinated coleslaw recipe.

¾ cup white or cider vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons mustard seed
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoons red pepper (ground)
¼ cup cold water
1 ½ teaspoons celery salt
4 ½ teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

6 tomatoes peeled and quartered
1 green pepper sliced in strips
1 cucumber sliced
1 red onion, sliced

Bring first 8 ingredients to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Allow to cool slightly; then pour over veggies and chill. Gently stir occasionally.

Allergy information: No corn, wheat, soy, egg or milk products.

Marinated Italian Tomato and Cucumber Salad

2009-11-06T03:42:00.000-08:00

David's Mom makes this great salad in the summer. She once prepared a big bowl for friends waiting in anxiety for news about a hospitalized child. It was a great stress-reducer and a welcome change from "hospital food". Made them feel loved.

This tomato and cucumber salad has a marinated character, good cold or at room temperature for summer buffets, if served with a slotted spoon.

It is also wonderful in bowls with some of the liquid which will develop in the bottom of the bowl. Try it with some Italian, French or other quality bread and maybe some cheese for a light meal.

Tomatoes and cucumbers are added in about equal proportions, maybe heavier on tomatoes during home-grown tomato season. Onion and bell pepper are for flavor and color, in smaller amounts to taste. In winter, try this broccoli salad.

If someone has a hard time digesting onions, leave them out, use a little minced scallion or sweet onion or allow onion slices to marinate in the dressing for a while then remove them to eat on an Italian sandwich or something. Or cut the onions in big chunks so that they can be avoided by those who have trouble with them. I have a similar tendency to indigestion with green bell peppers, but I still love their flavor this salad. I cut them in chunks so that they will flavor the dressing but I can easily avoid eating too much of the actual fruit. It's also O.K. to leave them out or to substitute deep green Ancho or Pasilla chiles instead of green bell pepper for a touch of heat. Or try ripe yellow bell peppers.

1. Cover slices or chunks of sweet red onion (or minced scallions) with Good Seasons Italian DRESSING, prepared according to package directions in the bottom of a large bowl. I use cider vinegar. Vegetable oil, such as canola, or vegetable oil with a little olive oils will work in this salad. Allow onions to marinate while preparing other ingredients.

Add green or yellow bell peppers or Ancho chiles cut in chunks or slices, freshly ground black pepper and more salad dressing until covered. Allow to marinate for a while to develop flavor, if you have time.

2. Cut tomatoes in bite-sized chunks, removing some of seedy, liquidish pulp (Roma and other low-moisture tomatoes work very well in this salad). This salad is better if you peel the tomatoes first.

Peel and cut cucumbers in slices or chunks and add to the bowl, along with the tomatoes. You may leave the skins on young, tender "burpless" type cucumbers if you like.

Add more dressing until there is 1/4 inch deep layer or more in the bottom of the bowl after tossing.

Cover and marinate for up to two hours at room temperature or a few hours in the refrigerator, tossing occasionally.

Allergy Information: Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix contains maltodextrin and Xanthan Gum, which are typically manufactured using corn products. I can usually tolerate a little of this dressing without a problem, however. The Garlic & Herb and Mild Italian varieties contain zanthan gum, but not maltodextrin. I prefer a non-sweet dressing for this salad. The Garlic and Herb variety works, but the original Italian is particularly suited to the ingredients in this salad.

Fat-Free Alternative: This salad has a different character, with a little sugar in the dressing, different seasonings, and no fat. Also contains no corn products.

Pomegranates and Late Plums

2009-10-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

Our "Grenada" pomegranates have been ripe for a few weeks. Need to pick the rest and refrigerate them before wet weather. They come on about a month before "Wonderful", in the same season as "Angel Red". I have a potted tree of this new variety to plant. Gets good reviews. It's supposed to be a superior variety.

Emerald Beaut plums set better this year than most, because the bloom season for plums was compressed. The plums were good the first week of September, but got better through the month and lasted through about the first week of October. The last fruits had started to wrinkle a little on the tree. Castleman stayed in good shape even longer. They're a very firm plum with nice flavor, but not as sweet or flavorful as Emerald Beaut. Castleman stayed in good shape on the tree into the middle of October.

Got our first Golden Nectar plums this year. The tree is planted over the spot where we buried David's little princess dog, Sula. They come on before Emerald Beaut. The fruits is a thing of great beauty, very sweet, but it has a less complex flavor than Emerald Beaut.

Just for fun and wonder, some bug faces. The photographer says,

I don’t consider photography art. I’m not creating beauty, I’m just recording and translating what is beautiful. Much of my photography is of details and subjects not visible to the human eye. I want to express and reveal to others the abundant, amazing world of arthropods and science.

Food Safety and Storage Life

2009-10-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

Answer to questions on shelf life of foods, proper storage conditions and food safety here.

Our Sherwood Jujube Tree

2009-09-29T13:20:00.000-07:00

Our weather has been hotter than normal for this time of year, but it will change to cooler than normal tomorrow. Our first crop of Sherwood Jujubes is on, a little ahead of schedule. A second crop, on new growth, is coming up in a few weeks. The green fruits are hanging below the brown ones on the same branch.

I prefer the fruit of this variety when it is fully brown, but before it starts to shrivel on the tree. I don't think it will fully dry on the tree like Lang is reputed to do. The fruit tends to drop just after it starts to shrivel. The flesh starts to oxidize and brown as it shrivels.

The skin of the mature, but not shriveled, fruit is hard and crispy and the flesh is flavorful, aromatic and very sweet. Its texture is like a slightly dry apple. You don't notice the texture of the flesh as much as the crunchiness of the skin.

I chose Sherwood because of its weeping habit, slightly smaller size (compared to the largest cultivars) and relative lack of thorns, for the front corner near the driveway. It is a beautiful, narrow tree with shiny leaves that turn yellow in fall and weeping branches. But we may need to take it out this winter because it is in a very small space and the suckers sometimes creep into the street asphalt a little and into the neighbor's yard. We placed upright perforated irrigation pipe around the tree to allow for deep watering, but this was not enough to prevent suckering. I think it did help the tree grow faster. The suckers are very thorny.

The tree grew a little faster than I expected and started bearing fruit young. It started to sucker once the tree got a little larger, Once I neglected to cut a sucker for a couple of months, and it set fruit, too.

This tree is worth considering as a landscape tree where you can mow or cut the suckers regularly. Water deeply to avoid suckers, too. It does well in reflected heat even in our hot climate. There is some fruit drop, but if you want a fruit tree in the landscape, this is one of the least-messy to clean up after. It doesn't require much special care. To grow as a landscape tree, train to a central leader to prevent large branch crotches. Encourage horizontal (weeping) branches from the central leader. To grow for fresh fruit production, prune a dormant whip at knee level to several form low main branches, or prune a leafed-out young tree to encourage lower, well-formed branches.

LE Cooke sells four varieties of Jujube, and plans to introduce "Sugar Cane" in 2011. CFRG has more information on jujubes and recipes for candied jujubes and jujube syrup. I think I would add a little lemon and/or vitamin C crystals to the syrup to limit oxidation. I like the idea of using the leftover syrup from candying the fruit as pancake syrup. I might try candying a few halves (eating the central sliver containing the seed fresh). Seems to me they could make good nests for an almond as a little treat.

Cross-posted here.

Coconut/Oatmeal cookies

2009-09-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

David loves these. The recipe is from blogger Jane Galt (nom de blog) who writes,

These are the rare cookies that improve with age; they just get crispier and more delicious every day. Hope y'all enjoy.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup sweetened, flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups oatmeal (old fashioned; not quick or instant)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. Cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in egg. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda, and add to mixture. Stir in nuts and coconut. Stir in oats. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake 12-14 minutes, until golden brown.

Allergy information: Most sweetened, flaked coconut products contain corn derivatives and also a sulfiting agent to preserve whiteness. Sulfites can cause anaphylaxis in sensitive people.

Chewy Chocolate Chip or Coconut Cookies or Bars

2009-09-26T07:25:00.000-07:00

The Best Recipe includes recipes for both traditional chocolate chip cookies and big, chewy cookies like the ones you get at cookie stores. And they tell you how they came to the ideal recipes. The latter recipe uses melted butter. Following are tweaks and variations on that recipe. The bars are seriously chewy.

You can divide the dough to make more than one kind at the same time. You might want to prepare some cookies to eat while warm and bars to cool for later. Or make part nut or coconut and part chocolate-only cookies. If preparing part of the batch with nuts, prepare them after the no-nut cookies to prevent problems for anyone allergic to nuts.

If you don't have two big cookie sheets (around 11 x 17 inches) or if you want to make smaller cookies, you may not be able to get all the cookies in the oven at the same time. But you could make one sheet of cookies and one pan of bars at the same time - say a 9 x 13 inch pan of coconut bars and 6 chocolate chip cookies (slightly smaller than in the directions) to eat while warm. They would fit on a smaller cookie sheet. Or make a big sheet of big cookies and a 9 x 9 inch pan of bars. I would put the sheet of cookies on the top oven rack if I chose this option. Cookies will be done before the bars. You could move the bars to the top rack when you take the cookies out if you like.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, melted and cooled to warm. (1 1/2 sticks, 12 Tablespoons)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons flour (stir, spoon into cup, level without shaking)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup to 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks
I prefer not to use the full amount of chocolate chips in most chocolate chip cookie recipes. Half a cup for the entire recipe below is fine for me. Choose your personal chocolate level.

Directions

Set oven racks at medium-high and medium-low levels. Set oven temperature to 325 degrees. This is a lower temperature than most cookie recipes. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and the sugars well. Beat in the egg and egg yolk, then the vanilla until well-combined.

Sift baking soda into some of the flour, whisk together with the rest of the flour and the salt. Beat flour mixture into butter/sugar mixture just until combined. Do not over-mix. Stir chocolate pieces or other additions (below) into dough.

Big Cookies

If dough seems too soft to handle, refrigerate for a few minutes while preparing cookie sheets. Line 2 large cookie sheets with baking parchment. Roll scant 1/4 cup portions of dough into balls. For a "bumpy" look, pull apart and jam together again with jagged sides facing up. Space on cookie sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, reversing sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking. For smaller cookies, reduce baking time. When cookies are golden brown and have started to harden at the edges but are still soft and puffy in the center, remove from oven. Cool on cookie sheets on rack. Serve warm (not hot) or allow to cool completely then peel from parchment. Makes about 18 big cookies.

Bar Cookies

If you are worried about the bars sticking to the pan, oil the pan or spray with non-stick spray and line the bottom and two sides (leave enough at the two sides for "handles" to remove cooled cookies for cutting) with parchment or waxed paper, folded under to fit the bottom flat, while missing the corners. Oil waxed paper again to plaster it flat to the pan. This is a good idea if you are baking the bars in a metal pan which you could mar while cutting the bars.

Press dough in a 10 x 15 x 1 (at least) inch baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 23 minutes or more, until golden and starting to harden at the edges but still soft and puffy in the center. You may also bake half the dough (with chips, etc.) in a 9 x 9 inch pan or 3/4 of the dough in a 9 x 13 inch pan for 20 minutes or more. Prepare the remaining dough as cookies. See above.

Cool bars in pan on a wire rack. If you lined the pan with waxed paper or parchment, loosen the sides of the cooled "cookie" and lift out of the pan with the paper "handles" to a cutting board. Peel paper off the bottom, place right-side up and cut into bars with a serrated knife. Cover when fully cooled. You may put cut bars back in the baking pan if you don't want to dirty more dishes.

Chocolate Chip/Nut Cookies or bars

Add 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans with chocolate chips. You may substitute white baking chips for half the chocolate chips. Save a few nuts to garnish the top if making bars.

Coconut/Nut Cookies or Bars

Toast 1 cup sliced almonds or whole almonds or pecans and cool, or use raw almonds or pecans. Chop nuts if not using sliced almonds.

Lightly mix nuts and 1 1/2 cups sweetened dried coconut into the prepared dough. You may also add chocolate chips as above. You may reserve up to half the nuts to garnish the top if making bar cookies (try to pick the large pieces if using chopped nuts). Press into the dough lightly before baking.

Bake as for chocolate chip cookies or bars (see above).

Milk Chocolate-topped Coconut/Nut bars

Omit chocolate chips. Press dough containing coconut and half or more of the nuts (in the variation above) into baking pan. See directions under "bar cookies" above. Sprinkle remaining nuts over the dough and press into dough lightly. Bake as for bars above. Remove from oven and cool for three minutes in the pan, or until center feels "set". Sprinkle with Guittard Milk Chocolate baking chips (or other favorite chocolate). Leave some of the bars "bare" if you like. Allow chocolate to melt and swirl over the top of the bars. Chocolate may not harden for several hours after cookies are cooled. You may wish to refrigerate cooled cookies for a while if you want the chocolate hardened sooner.

To cover about half of a 9-inch square pan use 1/2 cup chocolate chips. For the entire pan, use 1 cup.

For a 9 x 13 inch pan use 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips. Use 3/4 cup to cover half the pan. If you cover half the bars lengthwise with chocolate, you can make 5 rows of bars (the long way) with the middle row half plain and half chocolate.

For a 10 x 15 inch pan use 2 cups milk chocolate chips (1 package) for the entire pan of bars, 1 cup to cover half the pan.

Traditional Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies (Like David's Mom's)

2009-09-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

David's Mom makes great Chocolate Chip Cookie bars. She uses the recipe from the Nestle Chocolate Chip bag, substituting shortening for half the butter. This improves the texture when making chocolate chip cookies as bars. She mixes her dough with a heavy-duty mixer. If you don't like the flavor of shortening in cookies but still want improved texture for bar cookies, try using 1/4 cup shortening or high-quality lard and 3/4 cup butter.

This recipe is very similar to the Nestle recipe, but uses more brown sugar and less granulated sugar, 1/4 cup more flour, less salt and less soda. See notes at bottom of the recipe.

The recipe below may be conveniently halved. If baking as bars, bake a half-recipe in a 9 x 9 inch baking pan. Or a 9 x 13 inch pan for thinner bars.

To use this recipe to make all-butter drop cookies, reduce the flour to 2 1/4 cups and add 1/2 teaspoon water with the vanilla. (Per The Best Recipe, the original Toll House Cookie recipe contained a little water). Unsalted butter may produce better results than salted butter. Substitute an extra stick (1/2 cup) of butter for the shortening in the recipe below.

I prefer not to use the full amount of chocolate chips in most chocolate chip cookie recipes from chocolate chip packages. I think they want to sell more chocolate chips. Less than a cup of chocolate chips or chunks is fine with me. Easier to taste the non-chocolate part of the cookie. I do like nuts in these cookies.

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening (room temperature)
1/2 cup butter, (softened but not squishy)
1/2 cup granulated sugar or superfine sugar*
1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt **

1/2 cup to 2 cups (12 ounce package) semi-sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chunks
Up to 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the shortening and butter on high speed for 30 seconds. Add the sugars. Beat until light and fluffy, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla until combined.

Sift baking soda into some of the flour, combine with the rest of the flour and the salt. Beat in as much of the flour as you can into the creamed ingredients with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir chocolate pieces and nuts, if desired, into dough.

Bar Cookies

Press dough in a 10 x 15 x 1 (at least) inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden. Cool on a wire rack and cut into bars. Makes about 48 bars. For thinner bars, use a 10 x 17 inch jelly roll pan, a 11 x 17 inch half sheet cake pan or half hotel sheet and bake a few minutes less.

Drop Cookies

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool on cookie sheet for 1 or 2 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack with a metal spatula. Makes about 60 cookies.

Cookie Pizza

Prepare dough as above, but do not add chocolate chips. Press dough into two ungreased 12-inch pizza pans. Sprinkle half of chocolate chips and nuts on dough in each pan. Press in lightly. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, until golden. Meanwhile, melt about 4 ounces white chocolate baking pieces or cut-up white baking bar. Drizzle over baked cookie pizzas. Cut each into 8 wedges, then cut a middle circle. Makes 32 pieces.

* Most traditional chocolate chip cookie recipes use 3/4 cup each brown and white sugar. Granulated and superfine white sugars may be measured the same. Superfine sugar produces a finer texture, which may or may not be an advantage in this recipe.

** Many similar recipes include an entire teaspoon of salt plus an entire teaspoon of soda, even though there is not sufficient acid (mainly from brown sugar) in the recipe to react with an entire teaspoon of soda. Some people may prefer the saltier flavor from a full teaspoon of salt and soda. The Better Homes and Gardens recipe upon which the recipe above is based contains no salt, but I think a little makes the cookies taste better. You may wish to increase salt to 1/2 teaspoon if using unsalted butter. An alternate recipe substitutes chopped, salted peanuts for chocolate chips, which would negate the need for extra salt.

Food Allergies: Geographic Curiosities

2009-07-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

Curious information about food allergies and their geographic distribution. Detailed article. Add your own data if you like.

Healthy Snack Foods

2009-07-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Some choices to consider keeping on hand for when you get the "munchies".

Tomato Flowers with Cottage Cheese Salad

2009-07-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

When Miss Hauser taught us how to make these in high school cooking class, we peeled the tomatoes after rotating them over the flame on our gas stoves on a fork stuck in the stem end. You can also blanch tomatoes to remove the peels. I prefer to use a variety of tomato which is easy to peel while it is raw. This works best with fully-ripe tomatoes.

A fancy-looking dish from ordinary ingredients. I don't have Miss Hauser's exact recipe, but I do remember being surprised that MSG and a little extra salt were added to the cottage cheese. The MSG really does make a difference in flavor, but I don't use it anymore.

Cooking Science: In China and Japan, where the use of monosodium glutamate is commn, there is a theory that our tongues have receptors for a "meaty" flavor in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Monosodium glutamate is the sodium salt of an amino acid (one of the building blocks of protein), glutamic acid. I believe it is sometimes extracted commercially from sugar beets. It is also present in hydrolyzed protein products. If you react to it with a headache, flushing or other symptoms, don't use it. The higher the dose, the more likely a reaction is. A 5 mg dose reportedly causes a reaction in many people.

I have a cookbook from the 1950s, and era when exploration of the uses of processed foods was in full swing, in which almost every recipe with a savory flavor contained MSG. It is most familiar in the US under the brand name ACCENT. It is used in a variety of foods, especially soups and salad dressings (like Ranch). Some evidence suggests it increases weight gain (perhaps by making food tastier).

Ingredients
1 pint cottage cheese, regular or low-fat
1/8 teaspoon salt - optional
1/16 teaspoon monosodium glutamate (ACCENT) - optional
2 Tablespoons diced or chunked green bell pepper
1 - 2 Tablespoons minced scallions (white part, maybe with some of the tender inner green tops) and/or up to 2 Tablespoons chives

3 or 4 medium to large tomatoes
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Lettuce, if desired

Directions
Mix all ingredients except tomatoes and allow flavors to blend for a few minutes to overnight, refrigerated.

When ready to serve, peel tomatoes and remove a slice from the stem end so that they will sit flat on a plate. Remove the shallow white cores from the cut end and place cut side down on a cutting board. Carefully cut across tomatoes to make eight segments, stopping an inch or less from the bottom. Gently spread into "flowers", sprinkle with a little salt and fresh-ground pepper and allow to drain for a minute or two. Carefully transfer on a spatula to individual serving plates, over lettuce leaves or on a bed of shredded lettuce if desired.

Pile cottage cheese mixture into the center of the tomato flowers. Serve.

Variations:

1. I cut the peppers in chunks because I have trouble digesting them. They will flavor the salad, but I can push them aside when eating the salad. If your tummy REALLY can't take raw green peppers, substitute ripe red, orange or yellow bell peppers or canned diced mild chiles or pimento. Or add minced Italian parsley in place of peppers.

2. Use a different hearty salad mixture in tomato flowers - chicken, tuna, potato, etc. Let me know if you have other ideas.

Tomato Varieties for Peeling

2009-07-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

Following are my assessments of the varieties of tomatoes I have in the garden by how easy they are to peel when fully ripe but not treated with heat. For difficult-to-peel tomatoes, you can blanch briefly in boiling water then plunge into cold water. This is the most common method used for home canned tomatoes. You can also stick a fork in the stem end of a tomato and rotate it through the flame on a gas stove so that you can peel it more easily.

I will be adding varieties to the following list as I try them individually. Assumes plants were labeled correctly.

Easy to Peel

Bush Early Girl Hybrid: Mostly medium-sized tomatoes, light red, medium-firm walls, juicy seed cavities.

Big Beef Hybrid: Medium to large tomatoes. Mostly large if thinned. May crack at stem if over-watered near ripeness. Deep red skin, meaty but tender walls, medium juicy seed cavities.

Mighty Tom Mostly large tomatoes. May crack deeply at stem if over-watered. Meaty but tender walls, juicy seed cavities. Maintains sweetness in hot weater.

Brandywine (strain unknown): Pink skin, squat, lumpy, prone to catfacing. Very easy to peel. Thick, tender walls. Not too juicy. Great flavor. Not very acid. On the sweet side.

Tomande hybrid Small to medium, squat tomatoes in the style of the green-shouldered Italian type. The one's I've picked have been fully ripe. Flavor not outstanding at that point. Will try with green shoulders.

Better Bush small to medium sized, round, slight cracking possible. Pretty good flavor in heat.

Harder to Peel

Better Boy Medium to medium-large tomatoes. Quite hard to peel unless dead-ripe, and still not the easiest then. Medium firm walls, juicy seed cavities. One of the best-flavored tomatoes in hot weather, on the sweet side. Occasional blossom end rot, but most fruits look very nice.

Champion Indeterminate sibling to Celebrity. Small to medium, salad sized tomatoes. Walls quite firm, seed cavities very juicy. Nice flavor in hot weather. Moderately hard to peel.

Cherokee Purple Dusky purplish-brownish-red tomatoes. Gel in seed cavities is a dark color. Flavor not good when soft-ripe. Best when firm with significant green on shoulders. Then flavor is very interesting. Sometimes called "smoky". Seems to fit. Flesh comes away with peel when you try to peel them. Prone to significant catfacing, some cracking. Early for an heirloom, vigorous, but I grafted a second rootstock onto it (Big Beef). Flavor of soft-ripe fruits is better after they have sat on the counter for a day. Also easier to peel. Good for cooking with squash.

Fruit Cobbler or Clafouti (egg-free)

2009-07-15T08:57:00.000-07:00

When Miss Hauser taught us to make this cobbler in high school cooking class, she told us to remember the recipe in case there was a war and eggs were rationed. It has become a favorite in our family. True heaven is a square of this cobbler made with boysenberries, still warm from the oven, with homemade Vanilla Custard ice cream (or egg-free vanilla ice cream if you're allergic to eggs). It is also great with whipped cream, custard sauce, a fresh fruit sauce or plain. At a relaxed breakfast or brunch, it can stand in for high-labor waffles topped with fruit. It's best served soon after baking.

Today, I found out that our homey cobbler is actually a form of the more exotic-sounding French Clafouti or Clafoutis. Clafouti or Clafoutis is "A baked dessert composed of a layer of fresh fruit topped with a thick batter." The fruit layer has a custard-like quality where it intersects the cake. The fruit becomes thickened during baking and no thickener is added to the fruit beforehand. It resembles those lemon or chocolate pudding cakes where the filling and cake switch positions during baking. The Joy of Cooking has a recipe for Clafouti made with dark cherries, cognac and a thin batter rich in eggs with no other leavening. Probably comes out somewhat crepe-like in texture.

Our homey American version is not a deep-dish cobbler. It is excellent for boysenberries, blackberries, blueberries and other precious fruits because it "stretches" the fruit between several servings. Peaches, apricots or pie cherries are also wonderful choices. Add some raspberries or blueberries to the peaches or pineapple to the apricots or cherries if you like.

For cobblers topped with biscuits, butter cookie dough or pie dough, The Best Recipe, 1999 edition, has an elaborate work-up of recipes for thickened fillings and toppings. There are also directions for "Dowdy", Brown Betty and crisps. Can't vouch for the newer editions. I may post an example with the butter cookie dough if I get a chance to try it soon. Sounds great. But the recipe below is one you can really "cobble together" quickly. Even if it might not be what some people normally think of as a cobbler.

Cooking lesson - Sifting Flour: This recipe calls for sifted flour. Miss Hauser was a stickler for sifting flour before measuring, then spooning lightly into the measuring cup and leveling with a knife. We then sifted the flour together with the leavening, salt and any spices once or twice more. This type of sifting is still used by championship bakers who want perfect results. But for most modern recipes which do not call for sifted flour, stir the flour, spoon lightly into a cup and level with the flat back of a knife.

As an experiment, I used the "stir and spoon" method to measure a cup of flour, then sifted it through a fairly fine sieve (I don't even have a flour sifter) and measured it again after spooning into the cup and leveling. I had about 2 Tablespoons extra flour. So if you're too pressed for time to sift the flour in this recipe, reduce the amount of flour to 1 3/4 cups. I still sift leavening with part of the flour through a fine seive when I bake (unless I can mix the leavening with abrasive sugar) then whisk well into the remaining flour. I hate lumps of baking soda in baked goods. Sifting the leavening with the flour produces a finer-grained crumb.

Grease the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. If using bare aluminum, grease bottom and sides well, flour the sides. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Fruit Mixture:

2 to 3 cups fresh or frozen fruit, peeled and sliced if necessary.
1 cup water or juice, more or less depending on juiciness of the fruit
Up to 1 cup sugar (depending on tartness of the fruit)
1 Tablespoon butter

Bring fruit, water, sugar and butter to a boil, stirring occasionally, to soften fruit slightly and dissolve sugar. Set aside.

Cake Batter

1 stick butter (1/2 cup) softened (not melted)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/8 teaspoon lemon zest or other flavoring (optional)

2 cups sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon if using unsalted butter)

1 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar together well. Beat in flavoring, if desired. Mix and sift dry ingredients together well. Stir about 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture, then 1/3 of the milk. Continue by thirds, stirring lightly after each addition, until smooth. Do not over-stir. Spread batter evenly in baking pan with a rubber spatula. Spoon hot fruit mixture gently over the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until the lightly browned cake springs back when touched lightly near the center.

Serve warm or at room temperature from the pan or cool, cover and refrigerated for later serving - individual servings may be warmed in the microwave.

Sarah's Favorite Twisty Pasta

2009-07-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

We had Sarah, age 3, over to visit not long ago during a stressful time for her, and she wanted this pasta at every meal. Definitely kid comfort food. No onion, pepper or other strong flavors added. Slightly more palatable to adults than the canned kid stuff. A nice way to incorporate some vegetables for veggie-resistant kids. Divide and freeze some of the sauce if you like.

Ingredients
about 1 pound ground turkey or extra-lean ground beef
about 2 medium or 3 small grey zucchini (Mexican or Lebanese type), finely shredded. Sarah will pick it out if she can see it. You could use dark green zucchini for less-picky kids. You could also try adding shredded carrot, skipping the sugar in the recipe.

1 jar spaghetti sauce (about 26 ounces)
1 tsp. sugar or to taste (optional)
salt to taste

Cooked rotini or other twisty pasta
Shredded or diced medium cheddar cheese (or cheddar and mozarella, etc.)

Directions
Thaw meat if frozen. Frozen 1-pound chubs of ground turkey are convenient for this recipe, and the fats are more healthful than those in ground beef.

Cooking Lesson Adapted from a recipe for Sloppy Joes by the obsessive people who produce books like this:

For some recipes, we want ground beef to "give" easily when chewed. This result can be accomplished by not browning the meat too much before liquids (or moist vegetables, etc.) are added. For this recipe, saute meat in a lightly oiled skillet just until it starts to lose its pink color, breaking it up with a spatula as it cooks. We don't want the meat to turn firm. We're feeding kids. (For adults, you can start with some chopped onion sauteed until it becomes translucent, or until it starts to caramelize.) Mix in zucchini (and/or carrots), stir and cook until vegetables are limp. Mix in spaghetti sauce.

Simmer for at least 10 minutes. Add sugar and salt to taste. You can cool and freeze part of the sauce at this point.

Boil twisty pasta until done. Drain and mix with hot sauce and a little cheese and serve.

Leftovers keep refrigerated for a couple of days, though some of the moisture may be absorbed into the pasta. Microwave individual servings topped with a little extra sauce and/or cheese if you like.

Sloppy Joes: Use the same principle of partially cooking meat before adding zucchini. You could probably work up a nice recipe using undiluted condensed chicken gumbo soup, tomato sauce or paste and ketchup. Aunt Elizabeth prepared Sloppy Joes once for a family party using condensed chicken gumbo soup when I was a teenager, and they were wonderful. I can't eat it now. Corn products. Let me know how it works.

Allergy Information: You can find commercial spaghetti sauce with no corn sweeteners if you look hard. Many Classico varieties contain no corn sweetener.

4th of July Garden Update

2009-07-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Fourth of July. Our weather cooled down to the high 80s for Father's Day, then heated up again. It got up to around 107 on a couple of days. While it was cool, we got some good Blenheim apricots with no pit burn. Also a few Canadian White Blenheim apricots, some of which were exceptional. Very sweet. Recommended for areas with just a little more winter chilling than ours. There were some split pits. Probably not suitable for a commercial crop,

Some of the Golden Amber/Peachcot (?) fruits were also wonderful. Arctic Star white necterines are now done. They were great. So were the Flavor Supreme nectarines. Now we have Santa Rosa and Burgundy plums. Santa Rosas are an enlivinging experience when at their peak. Their peak doesn't last long. Burgundy holds longer on the tree, but it also loses quality after a while. Burgundy is sweeter and milder. I think I prefer Santa Rosa's zing. I peeled and ate the first July Elberta peach, a windfall, right in the garden. Got juice all over my chin and had sticky fingers afterward. It was great. The new supersweet fruits are great, but the old-fashioned juicy peaches with melting flesh when fully ripe have a different character that shouldn't be missed. Peaches are easier to grow right than nectarines.

I got a batch of Romanette and Romano Gold beans. They must have set around Father's Day. They were not tough or hollow despite the heat. Seems like a little miracle.

The volunteer summer squash plants have mostly died. The row we planted has been bearing heavily. Took some down to Emergency Aid. Magda and Zephyr have been great. Magda stays tender at a larger size. Johnny's promotes Magda as being similar in quality to its Zephyr. But Zephyr is a firmer squash with some winter squash parentage.

Sweet Zuke is hard to pick without breaking the end of the fruit. I bought the seeds in hopes of a darker companion for Magda. They're not as club-shaped as Magda this year, and some of the fruits are curved.

One of the yellow crookneck varieties has that "greening" virus. Not sure which. Still makes a lot of squash. Scallops and round zucchinis (Eight Ball and Cue Ball) doing fine. I've decided I don't like the round ones as well as the others. Not as convenient to cook. But they're fun to look at.

Tomatoes have been coming on heavy for a couple of weeks. A few have had blossom end rot, but most of them are beautiful.

Found a young black widow spider with white spots on its back in one tomato which had a small hole in it. We have a lot of widow spiders around here. I found a big tomato hornworm recently in Linda's tomato plants. Maybe the black widows have been eating ours.

The first summer we were in this house, I found most of the color variations of widow spiders noted for California: brown widows, black widows with the typical red hourglass, black widows with no hourglass (usually very large) and black widows with white spots on their backs. An juveniles of variable color. Have to watch for them in the creases under patio chairs, in corners, in tomato vines and under squashes. Our friend Geri was bitten as a child. No fun. On the other hand, I used to have phobias and fantasies about black widows. I had some secret little rituals for going down stairs in ways I imagined would protect me from them. A little magical thinking. There was often one at the bottom of our stairwell. If I had maintained my fears of black widows into adulthood, I'd be in a pickle now.

Mom remembers fascinating black widows and other spiders in the corniers above her head as she slept in a sleeping porch as a child. I'm not quite that relaxed about them, though I usually don't worry much about other garden spiders.

Lemon Bars

2009-07-04T04:35:00.000-07:00

I can't eat these because of the cornstarch in the powdered sugar. But people still expect me to make them for parties and big gatherings. This is due to the cooking reputations of David's mother and his sister.

Cookie Layer:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Filling:
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons flour
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice plus a little finely grated lemon zest if desired
(lemon zent not included in original recipe)

Powdered sugar for dusting

Place oven rack in top 1/3 of oven and preheat oven to 350º. Spray the inside of a light-colored, shiny metal or glass 9 x 13 inch baking pan (not a flat cookie sheet) with non-stick cooking spray and spread to a thin layer (including where bars meet the sides of the pan).

For the cookie layer, beat together powdered sugar and butter. Stir and knead in flour, avoid overmixing. Pat evenly into the 9 x 13 inch pan. Form a slightly higher rim of dough, about 3/8 inch, around the edge. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Meanwhile, prepare filling. Lightly beat eggs, mix flour into some of the sugar, then add sugar and flour to eggs along with the lemon juice. Beat until frothy.

After cookie layer has baked for up to 20 minutes, remove from oven. Quickly pour filling over hot cookie layer and return to oven. Bake an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack, then dust with powdered sugar, using a fine sieve or sifter. Cut carefully with a sharp knife and remove from pan with a flat spatula. Makes 2 or 3 dozen small bars.

Big Batch:
Double all ingredients. Bake in a 1/2 hotel sheet pan or 1/2 size sheet cake pan, about 12 x 17 inches. Bars will be slightly thicker than those made with the single recipe, and may need to be baked a minute or two longer at each step. Note: Smart & Final or other restaurant suppliers sell 1/2 hotel sheet pans and foil sheet cake pans, which have higher sides. The 1/2 size sheet cake pan will fit inside the hotel sheet pan, which will give it added stability while cooking and removing from the oven, if you wish to bake the bars in a disposable pan. Be sure to grease the pan well to prevent an interaction between the filling and the aluminum pan. You may also slide the foil pan onto a cool, flat cookie sheet as you remove it from the oven to transfer it to a wire rack or racks.

Cream Cheese Marble Brownies

2009-07-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Try these with either "Pillsbury Brownie Classics - Traditional Fudge" or "Duncan Hines Family-Style Brownies". Both these mixes make a 9 x 13 inch pan of brownies. Directions call for the addition of 2 eggs, oil and water. Once I accidentally left one egg out of the brownie batter and the brownies were very dense and gooey. People loved them.

Two 8 oz. package cream cheese, low fat or Neufchatel cheese, softened (no warmer than room temperature)
½ cup sugar (scant)
¾ to 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1 egg or two egg yolks

One fudge brownie mix (9 x 13 inch pan) plus eggs, water and oil per package directions

Prepare filling by beating softened cream cheese and sugar together until smooth - no lumps of cream cheese. Do not add egg until sugar and cream cheese are thoroughly mixed. Beat in vanilla and egg. Cover and chill filling until ready to finish brownies.

Preheat oven and prepare pan per directions on brownie mix. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and spread in pan. Spoon filling onto brownie mix in 3 or 4 longitudinal stripes. Using a circular motion with a fork, fold some of brownie batter over the filling, working along each stripe. Then lightly move the fork across the stripes crosswise, back and forth in a large wave pattern, to create swirls. Don't overdo it. Bake according to package directions, but about two to four minutes longer. Pale filling will be very slightly browned at the edges when brownies are done.

Notes: Feel free to experiment with 1 package of fat-free cream cheese and 1 package of low fat.

You may also use only 1 package of cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla and one egg yolk for the filling. One package of cream cheese for the filling is also suitable for a smaller (8x8 or 9x9 inch pan) brownie mix like the Betty Crocker mix that comes in a bag instead of a box.

Double Recipe: You can prepare a double recipe in a 1/2 size sheet cake pan (about 12 x 17 inches). Make sure the pan fits in your oven with a little room to spare first. I like to use a foil ½ sheet cake pan on a sturdy ½ size hotel sheet (from Smart & Final or another restaurant supply). Allow a few minutes extra baking time for the larger recipe.

For the double recipe, use 3 packages cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar (scant), 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla, one egg and one egg yolk OR 4 packages cream cheese, 1 cup sugar (scant), 1 ½ to 2 tsp. vanilla and two eggs.

For a BIG crowd: If you need to bake a lot of brownies in a hurry for a party or buffet, you can bake nut brownies or plain brownies on the upper shelf of the oven and the marble brownies on the lower shelf. Press a few pieces of nuts into the top of nut brownies so people can tell they contain nuts. The marble brownies take a little longer to bake. With two ½ sheet cake pans, you can make a very large number of brownies at one time.

Allergy information: Brownie mixes generally contain corn products and may contain traces of nuts. Check ingredients. There are now a few gluten-free brownie mixes out.

Don't Eat the Whole Thing

2009-06-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

Big-time blogger Sissy Willis sent me a link to a post on "mindful eating" in connection with this post. A surprise for me.

Her post is packed with great ideas. Time for me to get serious about them. Less can be more. And the photos make her advice and experiences seem appealing. There's a link to the index for her "Cold Turkey Cookbook" in the sidebar.

Sleep and Weight Gain

2009-06-09T15:29:00.000-07:00

Want to gain weight? Sleep less. More than a kilogram weight gain in 11 days!

Quick Lemon Cookies

2009-06-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

These cookies are made from cake mix, so I can't eat them. They contain corn products. But you can make them start to finish in under half an hour - less if you have two cookie sheets and room in the oven for both.

They went over well at a little party I went to. Nice to have a box of cake mix around to make an emergency dessert from time to time. The recipe is pretty much the one on the cake mix box. They're supposed to be "crisps", but mine were kind of chewy with crispy edges. In summer, you can bake them early in the morning for an event later in the day. But I think one reason people liked the ones I made is that they were made the same day. Fresh counts for a lot sometimes.

Cookies
1 box Pillsbury Moist Supreme lemon cake mix
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
Sugar for dipping

Heat oven to 375º. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs. Stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Place sugar in a shallow bowl. Lightly oil the bottom of a flat-bottomed glass and dip into the sugar. Flatten the first ball to about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat with other balls of dough. No need to re-coat with oil. Bake cookies for 5 to 7 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool one minute, remove from cookie sheet to a rack. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Big Cookies: I made the balls of dough about 1 1/2 inches and baked for more than 9 minutes. Made 24 big cookies. I thought the smaller cookies might be nice as sandwich cookies. Mark said he would eat the big ones as sandwich cookies, too. Maybe with lemon curd, lemon curd and whipped cream cheese, quick butter/lemon frosting or cream cheese frosting. Someone suggested ice cream. That would take some work. I think I would prefer any of these as a filling or topping (added just before serving) to the icing recipe on the cake mix box (but I just don't like hard icing glazes). Since I can't eat them anyway, choose the one you like, or leave them "bare" like I did.

Half-recipe You can make half a batch of the big cookies on one cookie sheet. If you cover it with foil (shiny side up), mess will be minimal. Use half a box of cake mix, 1 egg and 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons oil. Don't go over level when measuring the oil.

To divide a cake mix in half, open the top of the inner bag and alternately measure 1/4 cup at a time into two bowls. Pack and level the mix into your 1/4 cup measure against your flat fingers (outside the bag). Switch to measuring spoons to evenly divide mix when you have less than 1/2 cup left. Return second half of mix to inner bag, roll up top and fasten with a clothes pin. Return to box for later. Probably best to use the second half of the mix within a few weeks.

Icing
This is the icing from the recipe on the box. I didn't ice mine. But the icing would add a little fresh lemon zing.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup powdered sugar and 2 to 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice. Drizzle over cookies. Sprinkle with yellow-colored decorative sugar before the icing sets.