In the Kitchen with My Sister

Where have I been and what have I been doing? Driving through the West and now enjoying being home in the Black Hills again, staying with my sister and her family, for one. There are several adventures I hope to share here in the next month or so. We haven't been doing as much cooking together as usual during this spring's visit, but last night I did make soup using French green lentils for the first time, combining this and this recipe for a final dish that was quite yummy. We found these lovely spring onions at the farmer's market and used them as a garnish on the soup. Also at the farmer's market: little radishes and lots of canned goods, including chokecherry jelly, pumpkin butter, and raspberry rhubarb preserves that I look forward to using in Houston later this summer.

My brother-in-law is usually the one who whips up some of our Grandma Helen's Swedish Pancakes (really crepes) now and then for breakfast, but I also attempted them for the first time this trip. I'm thinking some of these green onions would be tasty in them! My sister and I fondly remember eating them at her house when we stayed overnight as kids, sprinkled with plenty of sugar. Here's the recipe - we now eat them with sugar and lemon juice or Nutella.

3 eggs

1 1/4 C milk

3/4 C sifted flour

1 T sugar

1/2 t salt

Beat eggs 'til thick and lemon-colored. Stir in milk. Sift dry ingredients; add to egg mixture, mixing 'til smooth. Drop batter by tablespoons (I used quarter-cup measure) onto moderately hot, greased griddle. Spread batter evenly to make thin cakes. Turn when underside is light brown.

Life as a Christmas Elf

Today I mailed off my last packages. Here are a few things that I included as handmade gifts, some of which might be quick for you to make as last minute gifts if you need ideas! (If you're a family member and have secretly discovered my blog, I guess your surprises are ruined! ;-)

Desk calendars for those with office jobs (4x6 inches), using wallet-sized prints of my flower photos and free yearly calendars downloaded on the web.

Beaded earrings - copper, glass, minerals, sterling silver.

Guilty pleasure - pretzels in almond bark with sprinkles.

Typed, printed, and bound booklets of the favorite family recipes my MIL wrote out by hand for our wedding.

Herbal sachets (many of these are for my own closets, fabric stash, etc.) They do contain lavendar, but also whole cloves, thyme, mint, and rosemary. They smell wonderful! I tried out a few decorative stitches on my sewing machine for embellishment, and even broke into my vintage hankie collection for a few of them.

I also did some simple scrapbook pages, easy cookie cutter clay ornaments, pottery for one lucky person, and made a pile of photo notecards. I haven't been able to craft much this year with study and travel, so it has been rather fun to get back into it. The hardest part of Christmas prep remains: cleaning and straightening my house before visitors arrive! I hope your Advent season is going well.

Old Fashioned Bread & Butter Pickles

Old Fashioned Bread & Butter Pickles

3.5 Cups thinly sliced non-waxed cucumbers (Kirby works well, and I love the small Persian cucs in this recipe)
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
1.5 Tablespoon kosher salt

Mix these three ingredients together and then layer with ice and refrigerate overnight (or up to 24 hours.)

The next day, drain water and ice and place veggies in a medium-sized glass jar.

Syrup
Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 3 minutes:
1 Cup white sugar
1 Cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon celery seed

Pour over the veggies in the jar and refrigerate overnight before eating (I let my syrup cool for 5 minutes before pouring over.) Can easily be doubled or tripled if you are not the only pickle eater in your household (as I am.)

Rhubarb Bread and Coffeecake

Rhubarb grows like a weed up north. My aunt and uncle were happy to give a bunch away to my stepmom and me, so we all picked it one afternoon (well, they picked and I took photos) and then enjoyed iced tea on the front porch. I think I enjoy rhubarb more for the nostalgic reminders of my childhood than anything else. So that evening I chopped up approximately 5 lbs. and froze it to attempt to bring it back to Texas.

Unfortunately, while it did stay cold on the trip, it did thaw. I was advised not to refreeze it, so I tried a few new recipes this week. One was for Rhubarb Bread, seen below, which I enjoyed. I pulled the recipes from my stepmom's box, a treasure of Midwestern classics!

Rhubarb Bread

1 ½ C brown sugar
2/3 C oil (I used 2/3 C applesauce + 1 Tbsp oil instead)
1 egg
1 C sour milk (just add 1 Tbsp of vinegar to milk) or buttermilk
1/2 tsp salt
½ C nuts (I used more)
1 tsp soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 ½ C flour
1 ½ C chopped rhubarb

Mix all together (dry first, then add wet, then add nuts and rhubarb.) Put in two greased loaf pans. If desired, top with ½ C sugar, ½ tsp cinnamon, and 1 T melted butter. Cook at 325 for 40 – 60 minutes. Very moist and yummy.

I also combined two recipes to try out Rhubarb Coffee Cake.

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

1 ½ C brown sugar
1 egg
1 C sour milk or buttermilk
1 tsp soda
¼ tsp salt
½ or more C walnuts
½ C shortening
2 ½ C flour
1 tsp vanilla
2 C rhubarb
Cinnamon if desired
Mix dry ingredients, form a well, and add wet. Or just mix it all together at once!

Top or swirl into batter mixture of:
½ C white sugar
½ C brown sugar
½ C walnuts
2 T melted butter
1 tsp cinnamon

Bake 350 for 40 – 45 minutes. Very sweet! Can probably reduce topping sugar if you want.

A Week of Delights

I had a delightful visit with my sister and little nephew. Some of our highlights:

Smiles at how well my nephew (almost two) and my young dog played together and hung out. They were well matched, although the dog did gnaw up my nephew’s little shoes when we left them in the kitchen. Fetch, tug of war, even bedtime kisses for each other.

Cooking coconut Indian chicken, trying a great new Greek chicken recipe, making cream of asparagus soup from the Moosewood Cookbook, and other food. Delicious Valentine’s Day cookies made by my sister.

Taking a crash course in Elmo’s World.

Smiling at seeing my nephew’s reactions to the animals on his first trip to a zoo.

A wonderfully lazy day walking to the park, playing at the playground, and relaxing in the backyard drinking vanilla jasmine tea and eating sonpapdi, a sweet and flaky Indian dessert.

Attending my first Weight Watchers meeting. I am still trying to get my head around learning to eat in a healthier manner. My sister has done so well that I’m inspired.

Finally getting a chance to shoot photos of the elusive turtles at the pond (above.)

Chatting and hanging out with my sister! My husband kindly babysat so we could go shopping and to a movie, in addition to our time at home.

Witnessing my nephew’s cute little personality, hearing his cute little voice, seeing him learn new words, and teaching him funny things to say. (“I’m sooo cute!”) Seeing what a great job my sister and BIL are doing with their son.

I felt so blessed to have them come down, as well as refreshed and inspired.

How was your week?

Toffee Cookies

A neighbor brought some of these over last week - quite yummy and easy! Something fun for your holiday weekend.

Toffee Cookies

1 sleeve saltines
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
12 oz chocolate chips
12 oz pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Spread saltines on a cookie sheet. Melt butter and sugar in microwave and boil for 3 minutes. Add vanilla. Pour mixture over the saltines. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool 2 minutes. Place chocolate chips on crackers and spread as they melt. Sprinkle on nuts. Refrigerate until solid.