Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Apple Crisp

In my quest to quickly use up my preserves from last year, I focused on the jars of apple pie filling.  I have a lot of them, so they're pretty obvious in my pantry.  I needed to use them up, since I'm pretty sure Husband will have a coronary if I start bringing home apples and still have a whole pantry full of them.  (They're free AND from his mom, so I don't know HOW he could be upset).  I have so many plans for canning this year, so I suppose I should prove that we eat what I make.  Better late than never.

Apple crisp it is!  It's easy, quick, and Husband loves it (I tend to be most partial to desserts that involve chocolate brownies, but I have yet to figure out how to can that.)  Typically I'd make my apple crisp with fresh apples, but man, this was easier.  I suppose one could argue that I did all the work last fall, but that would assume my prior kitchen antics were considered work.
I buttered a casserole dish, and added 1 500ml (pint) jar of apple pie filling.


Then, I made the crumble.
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2/3 cup rolled oats  

Dump it on top of the apple pie filling, and spread to roughly cover.


Bake at 350º until bubbly and browning on top (maybe 15-20 min).  My mom and second-in-line-resident-apple-crisp-expert said this apple crisp is better, because doing it with fresh apples, you often can't cook down the apples long enough before the crumble is overdone, so this has a better consistency


I wanted to take a nice picture of the finished product, but unfortunately...


...Husband got to it first.

Smoked roasted red pepper salad.

In light of the start of jam/canning/preserving season, I stood staring into my pantry.  The jam cupboards were bare (make a mental note to make more this year), but pretty much everything else was still there, staring me in the face, reminding me of the winter of morning sickness, cold and flu sickness and general fatigue.  The few jars of peaches that were left fermented, and their absence was an obvious hole, but it amazed me how little was eaten.  It doesn't really surprise me when I think about it.  I did feel pretty awful, and when you feel sick, the last thing you want to do is experiment in the kitchen.

The jars that taunted me most were the ones full of smoked roasted red peppers, mainly because they were a recipe of my own invention.   I hadn't even cracked a jar to see how they smelled. 

So, I cracked one open.

They smelled devine.

I knew I needed to do something with them.  As a child, I remembered my mom making a pickled roasted red pepper salad, and I figured adding the smoky element would only add to it, so that's what I did.


It's a simple salad dressing, basically a 1:1 ratio of oil and vinegar (I use a light flavoured oil and white vinegar).  Then cut up as many of the pickled red peppers and onions as I want in the salad.  A touch of salt and pepper, and you're good to go.

Luckily I had a bag of mixed fresh salad greens that Husband's aunt picked fresh the day before.  If you don't have an aunt that gives you salad, feel free to get some at the store.  Toss the whole thing together and you've got yourself a salad.


A little feta cheese wouldn't hurt either.  I didn't have any, but hey, I can do that next time, but maybe after I make a pasta, or maybe a pasta salad, or a sandwich spread, or a casserole... or maybe...  well, that's a whole other post.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Realistically, they were doomed from the start.

I've always maintained the idea that if you can read, you can cook.  I may have to eat my words.  There should be a caveat attached to that one, reminding you that reading doesn't come into play ONLY while doing the cooking, but also, before you start.  Lately I have started far too many recipes, only to discover I don't have half the ingredients.  Today, I decided to make "Parker House Rolls" from a recipe book I took out of the library.  I've decided to let you in on my internal monologue as I baked the buns.

Parker House Rolls:

Step 1: in a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 cup lukewarm water and 2-7g packets active dry yeast.  Stir until dissolved and let stand 10 minutes, until bubbly.

Hmm, I only have a giant bag of yeast, but I THINK the equivalent to one packet is 1 tablespoon. Let's go with that.

Step 2: In a small saucepan over high heat bring 1 cup water and 1 cup milk to a boil.  Pour the hot liquid into the mixer bowl.  Add 2 teaspoons salt and 3 tbsp melted butter.  Let cool 10 minutes.

Do I have butter?  No.  Margarine will be ok.  Do I have enough margarine?  No.  *Adds shortening*.  Darn, my yeast has already been sitting for the requisite 10 minutes and is ready to go.  If I put it into the bowl now without letting the milk and water cool, it'll kill the yeast.  Yeast must sit longer. 

**(I should also note that while typing this I realized I put in a completely incorrect amount of butter/margarine/shortening.  The recipe called for 1/2c plus 3 tablespoons, and apparently the half cup was to be used to grease the pans and brush over the buns before baking.  I put it all into the mixer)


Step 3:  Add 1 egg, lightly beaten, and one large potato, cooked and riced.  Mix together.

Hooray!  I can manage this one.

Step 4: Switch mixing paddle to dough hook, add 4 1/2 cups white flour.  Add additional flour 1/2 cup at a time until you get a soft manageable dough. 

Do I have white flour?  No. White bread flour is fine.  Do I have enough white bread flour?  No.  Throw in some whole wheat flour.  "GIRL!  Stop right there!  Don't you dare throw Cheerios into the running mixer!"

Step 5: butter a large bowl very well, make dough into a ball and put in buttered bowl, turning to coat outside of dough completely with butter.  Let rise 50 minutes

Ok, still out of butter.  Oil it is.

Step 6:  Do a whole bunch of really weird forming steps that I don't understand because apparently I have no idea what Parker House Rolls look like.

*Googles "Parker House Rolls" - Images*  Screw that.  *Makes normal looking buns*

Step 7:  Brush with melted butter, let rise on pans another 30 minutes.  Bake 30 minutes at 350º.

Hmmm.  no butter...  how about an egg wash?  And while I'm at it, let's throw some sesame seeds on top, because hey, I like sesame seeds.


 
In conclusion:  they look like buns I suppose.  But they sure aren't Parker House Rolls, and I've now become that person that every cook knows.  The one who asks for a recipe, butchers it badly and then calls to complain that theirs didn't turn out the way they were supposed to.  Unfortunately I don't have anyone to call.

Friday, June 24, 2011

I had great intentions.  You see, my canned peaches from last summer were kind of a dud. Not living in a place where peaches actually grow, I had apparently bought a box of somewhat stringy, slightly mushy peaches, which when cooked and canned lost any real firmness they had ever posessed.  So, in order to use them up, I planned on making some nice peach muffins (something that you wouldn't expect to find nice firm fruit in).  Unfortunately, once I had already mixed together my dry ingredients, and half the wet, I realized that not only was Boy screaming like I had forgotten to feed him in the last ten minutes, but my last few jars of peaches had morphed into some sort of alcohol-like-food.  At this point Girl was singing some interesting nonsense song at the top of her lungs, and Boy spit up on my shoulder, and it seemed like a good idea to eat the peaches.  I refrained, this time.  My stomach audibly thanked my brain. 

I needed to improvise, so I pulled out a can of apple pie filling I had also made last year, and decided to wing it.  Here is my creation:


Apple muffins.

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup apple pie filling
(run a knife through it to dice the apple pieces a bit)

Mix dry ingredients then add eggs, oil and vanilla.  Fold in apples.  Bake in muffin tins at 350 for 25 minutes.  makes 12
 
I did mine in muffin cups, but if you don't do that, you should grease the muffin tins.
 
Husband said he'd eat them, and Girl ate more than half of it then pronounced the rest of it "sticky"  (not quite sure what she meant by that). 
 
 

Thursday, June 23, 2011

WARNING: NEW MOTHER

I read an article a while back that made me laugh. The woman writing it was talking about "baby on board" signs for cars and how before she had children she thought they were to remind other drivers to drive more safely around her. Since having children, she realized they were to warn other drivers of her terrible driving as she strains to hand a goldfish cracker back to her child.

I think new moms need signs for everyday life too.

You start to lose your mind during pregnancy, but luckily, by the time it really gets noticable, you have a giant belly that warns people for you. However, once that baby comes out, the general public doesn't always get why you went to the doctor's office yesterday (after lunch and the library) with your shirt on backwards.

TOTALLY hypothetical situation.

*sigh*

Back to Life... Back to Insanity.

I know, it's been a REALLY long time since I wrote anything, but I have a really good reason, I swear!


I'd like you all to meet Boy. (Luckily for my blog I'm not introducing Girl2, OtherGirl, or Girl-II, Boy is just so much easier)  Though he looks about 12 in this picture, he was actually only about 2 weeks. He has joined our family with a certain type of unstoppable force.  From a torturous pregnancy highlighted by a suppressed immune system in the height of the worst cold/flu season I can remember, to a labour where I was sure I was going to die, and then started to worry that I wasn't going to, Boy was a trial before I ever laid eyes on him.  However, once I did, I forgave him for most of it.   He still has been a trial, not because he's a difficult baby, in fact, somewhat the opposite, rather it is the lingering effects of the emergency c-section that was required to get his massive 11lb, 6oz body out of me.  Yup, that's right.  There is no typo there.  (And for all you health care professionals, no, I did not have Gestational Diabetes, I just made a giant baby... all the weight is in his head, I'm sure). 

My c-section recovery has been slow.  They told me I wasn't allowed to lift anything heavier than 10lbs for 6 weeks (with Boy being the one exception).  I think that women who are recovering from surgery like this should be given a hat or a t-shirt or something so the general public will understand why they are making their mother carry the baby carseat around, or lift their toddler into the car while they just stand there.  For someone who is used to doing everything on her own, it kills me to have to let other people do simple things for me.   This, however, is just the normal part of recovery.  The abnormal part for me is the reason I have nurses coming to my house on a daily basis.  Apparently my incision didn't heal quite properly, resulting in a few weeks of constant bleeding, and now something they call "a cavity" which requires fresh, sterile dressings daily until it heals up.  I prefer not to look.  The whole idea of it kind of grosses me out.  Needless to say, I'm counting down the days until I can vacuum again, or carry my own laundry basket, or heave furniture around the room on a whim.  Until then, I'll be good.  I have zero desire to make this healing process any longer.

You can tell I am healing though.  Yesterday I took a book out of the library about cheese making.  (Husband rolled his eyes.  He typically refuses to eat anything I make that requires curdling, or various forms of bacteria).   I also took out a canning book, and am planning my canning season accordingly.  The canner will see a lot of new things before it gets put away for another year. 

Yup, I'm starting to find myself again.  Who wants to make homemade mustard?