Search Results for '("C'

[cwcdesign]

We had lots of brown rice left over, so I googled brown rice salads. Found a nice simple Mediterranean Brown Rice salad that was just posted by the author (?) last week. It's similar to tabbouleh but lighter. We added extra vegetables. Will is sautéing Caprese chicken sausage to go with it.

[chocomouse]

Today I made a Berries and Cream Cake. It's an old recipe from 1985 that I discovered when a local newspaper had a recipe contest. I make it every year during blueberry season. It has a shortbread-type crust, pressed into a springform pan. Then a quart of fresh (or frozen) blueberries is poured on top of the crust. A custard of sour cream, egg, sugar, vanilla is poured over it all and then baked for an hour. I have no idea about the origin of it, just the housewife who submitted it to the paper. However, about 20 years later, KAF posted it as its own recipe, with no changes. I discovered today that it is no longer posted on their website. Interesting.

[cwcdesign]

That's good to know Mike.

Our 5 year old OXO scale died (I did not file the warranty and we have been hard on it). Before I replaced it, I went to Serious Eats to see what they recommended. They recommended the one we have because it's really accurate for one and holds up quite well - if you take care of it.

[Mike Nolan]

A while back the aluminum colander I use for pasta finally broke (we bought it over 40 years ago.)

After some looking around online, I bought a 5 quart OXO metal colander on Amazon in April of 2020, over three years ago, and liked it a lot.

Recently one of the feet fell off. I contacted OXO about how to glue it back on, they recommended against that. That exact model has been updated, but they gave me a warranty credit sufficient to buy the current version, and it arrived today.

3 cheers for OXO's customer service!

[BakerAunt]

Thanks for the idea about fingerless gloves, Chocomouse. We are planning a big shipping trip in a couple of days, so I will see what I can find at Lowe's or Tractor Supply, if not Walmart.

As our blackberry bushes are wild patches in the open area of the woodland--mostly in the additional 15 acres that we bought in 2019--they are a gift rather than an intention. My husband has planted some of his trees amid the blackberry bushes, as the deer avoid blackberry plants.

When I pick, I wear jeans (and am looking for even thicker pants), and I have a heavy hemp overshirt, so my arms and legs are mostly protected, but my hands are pricked and scratched, and the leaves of the plant are itchy. My husband commented that for a plant that spreads best when helped by going through an animal's gut, it sure resists giving up those berries.

A major danger is stinging insects. I'm not sure what stung me last Wednesday, when I thought I had pricked myself, but I realized at the end of last week that the "mosquito bites" that were popping up on me were actually a case of hives, probably from a stinging insect.

[Mike Nolan]

Tonight we had steaks on the grill again, with a tomato and zucchini casserole that I found a recipe for online, using both tomatoes and zucchini from the garden. The casserole was quite good, I was afraid it would be really watery but it wasn't. (I left out the garlic in the recipe, of course.) I'll be curious to see how well it reheats.

Sort of like a ratatouille but without the eggplant and with some cheese and bread crumbs.

We had some of yesterday's zucchini cake for dessert.

[BakerAunt]

I do not usually roast chicken again right after having had chicken for three days, but at the grocery this morning, there was a lovely 4.25 lb. chicken marked down to 99 cents per pound. Dinner tonight was roast chicken (the dog is not complaining), some leftover farro stir-fry from last night, and microwaved fresh green beans from our garden.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, we don't do anything special to protect our hands or arms. We do thoroughly cut back old canes in the fall, and try to maintain our patch so the plants each have ample space. We also have metal garden posts on both sides of the patch, with wires strung about 2 and 4 ft off the ground to help contain the bushes. The patch is therefore contained and spacious, and is about 50 ft by 5 ft. We pick very carefully! When I cut the canes down to the ground in the fall, I do so slowly and carefully, wearing heavy gloves, long sleeves, and a turtle neck to prevent the earwigs from falling down my neck.

I wonder if you can find sturdy, rubbery, or leathery, gardening gloves and cut off the ends of the fingers? It would need to be rubbery/leathery so they would not fray after they're cut.

We've just started picking blackberies. Our blueberries are done, and we picked only about 4-5 pints this year, as we lost over 90% of the crop to the killing frost in May. Blueberry season is over for many of the-pick-your-own and regular farms due to the blueberry maggot (Rhagoletis mendax) infestations caused by the extremely rainy weather we've had. Many farms in the area have lost all their crops - fruit, vegetables, hay - due to the floods 2 weeks ago.

[cwcdesign]

I was off yesterday so we went to the farmers market. We didn't get too much because Will is going out of town in a few days.

Tonight I made a tomato galette with Will's pimento cheese (the recipe had called for Boursin). It used puff pastry. It was really good but was too watery despite the fact that I had followed the directions to salt the tomatoes, let them sit and then pat them dry. Next time I'll have to let them sit on a rack instead of the cutting board. Or roast them some first. But I would definitely make it again.

We also had green beans and a tuna salad with cannellini beans.

[BakerAunt]

On Sunday, I de-seeded another quart of blackberries. I had enough to make and can another three (8 oz) jars and one (4oz) jar of blackberry jam.

For dinner, we warmed up chicken thighs from last night in the microwave and the roasted vegetables in the countertop convection oven. Leftovers are great, as they free me to do other cooking and baking projects.

[BakerAunt]

We had a little more than 3 inches of rain last night into this morning, which has cooled us down nicely, as well as helped the plants. It was pleasant enough to open the windows, so I felt able to use the oven again.

For Saturday dinner, I made roasted chicken thighs on one pan, and on the other, I made roasted vegetables, following directions online from Eatwell 101 and Betty Crocker. I found lovely red potatoes as well as some carrots from my other favorite vendor, who is now back for the season. I tossed the chunks of potatoes and carrots in olive oil, and after the chicken had roasted for 20 minutes at 400F, I put in the pan of potatoes and carrots. After another 20 minutes, I added chunks of zucchini and some cherry tomatoes that have been in the refrigerator for a bit too long, after tossing them in oil. After another 20 minutes, I removed the pan with the chicken, but I let the vegetables go another 5 minutes. I would have liked to have seasoned the vegetables, but my husband's gut is giving him trouble, so I settled for sprinkling some Penzey's Forward (a salt-free blend) onto mine. I am iffy about this seasoning, which came in a gift box.

For dessert, we again had the Bittersweet Blackberry Brownies, which improve each day. The recipe is a keeper.

[RiversideLen]

I had canned chili (Amy's vegetarian) with macaroni. E Z

[Mike Nolan]

You could try what I do--stop the mixer, add the flour, take a piece of parchment and wrap it around the bowl as a cover, then start the mixer and let it run for 20 seconds or so, after which flour spills are unlikely. (I picked up this tip in an online class, if that had been the only thing I learned from that class it would have been worth the class fee.)

Why parchment instead of a towel? Well, if for some reason the mixer blade catches the parchment, it just rips. If it were to catch the towel, it'd drag it into the bowl. I've never had it happen, though.

[BakerAunt]

Mike is looking for ways to use up zucchini in baking, while I am searching for ways to use blackberries that I de-seed, since my husband's digestive system cannot tolerate them. I had a sudden idea about chocolate and blackberries on Thursday, so I googled brownies, and I found one recipe that uses blackberry jam and another that uses blackberry puree, although they did not de-seed their blackberries. Since we have so many blackberries, I decided to start with this one:

Bittersweet Blackberry Brownies

(note: it's behind a paywall, but you do get several free articles--or looks at the same article). It is from The Vegetarian Times.

I have mostly kept us away from chocolate, but since I'm taking a statin, and I had a 4 oz. bar of unsweetened chocolate in the refrigerator, I decided to try the recipe. (My husband's face lit up when he saw the unwrapped chocolate bar on the counter.) If the recipe comes out well, I will post my version, which uses white whole wheat flour, adds 1 Tbs. flax meal and 2 Tbs. milk powder (which yes, makes them non-vegan but still vegetarian). I also replaced the 2 Tbs. of coconut oil with 2 Tbs. avocado oil. I'm baking them in the countertop convection oven because it is too hot to turn on the big oven. Since I am baking them in an 8x8-inch glass dish and using the convection oven, I dropped the baking temperature from 350F to 325F and will bake for 20 minutes rather than 18.

After they cool, they are to be refrigerated for an hour before cutting. We hope to try them tonight, and I will post about the results.

[BakerAunt]

I canned another three (8 oz) jars and one (4 oz.) jar of de-seeded blackberry jam from the berries I processed on Monday.

This morning, we picked another three quarts of blackberries, and there are plenty more out there. I need some recipes, other than for jam, that use blackberries with seeds removed. Google has not been helpful on that score.