Tag Archives: food

DIY Salted Caramel Sauce

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

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Caramel Sauce

We are slowly trying to feel normal here after the tragedy in Connecticut last Friday. It feels a bit hollow to be celebrating and decorating in the shadow of such an inconceivable sadness. We are lucky that our girls are too young to understand what has happened, and Chris and I wipe away tears when they are not looking. Our hearts break for those who have lost the ones they love. We hug our children closer now. We find a little more appreciation for the days we have together.

We celebrated an early Christmas this past week with our new cousin and family. The kids opened stockings and presents and the adults cooked and talked and ate good food together. Here is the recipe from the Inspired Taste blog that we used to make Salted Caramel Sauce. We added a pinch of nutmeg to our sauce and it is delicious. We made another batch and added extra cream to make a cocktail base. (It is sort of a caramel Bailey’s flavor). This batch could easily be frozen into yummy ice cream.

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DIY Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Gifts

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

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PBCups

I always need to wrap these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups as soon as they cool to avoid eating all of them by myself. They are simple to make and really good. We used wrappers from Ikea, boxes from Paper Source and letterpress gift tags from the charming Echo letterpress. Wax paper cut with scalloped scissors keeps oils from the peanut butter from getting on the box. To make your own Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups you will need:

*11.5 oz. Bag of Milk Chocolate Chips (We love Ghirardelli’s)

*1 Cup Chunky Natural Peanut Butter (Smooth works well too)

*1/4 -1/2 Cup Confectioners Sugar (to taste)

*Candy Cups (We made 24 of various sizes with this recipe. You will need two wrappers per cup)

*Wax Paper, Boxes, Twine for Wrapping

*Scallop or Pinking Shears (optional)

1. Mix together peanut butter and confectioners sugar. Set aside.

2. Spread out candy wrappers in a single layer on a tray. (The second wrapper will be placed over the first when the peanut butter cups are finished).

3. Using a heat-safe bowl and heavy bottom pan, make a double boiler by adding a few inches of water to the pan and floating the bowl inside. Pour chocolate chips into bowl. Stirring frequently, slowly melt chips over medium/low heat until they become liquid. (The warm water will keep chocolate soft as you work).

4. Using a small spoon carefully place a little melted chocolate into a wrapper and swirl until the sides of wrapper are coated. Repeat until all wrappers are coated.

5. Place tray of coated wrappers in freezer for 15 minutes to cool and then remove.

6. If chocolate in bowl has cooled, heat again until completely melted.

7. Using another small spoon, place a bit of peanut butter inside each chocolate-coated wrapper. Be sure not to let the peanut butter mound up above the top of the wrapper. (This makes for a neater peanut butter cup).

8. Carefully spoon a bit of melted chocolate over the peanut butter to seal it inside.

9. Return the completed cups to the freezer for 15 minutes to cool.

10. Place each peanut butter cup inside a second wrapper to hide any grease marks.

11. Wrap them up!

Happy Giving!

H Mart Love

22 Monday Oct 2012

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I am a sucker for good packaging.  Leslie told me about an Asian grocery called H Mart on an excursion with the kids this weekend and we were excited to check it out.   We stocked up on noodles and rice and dumplings among other things.  The Korean pears we found were the best we have ever tasted and the acorn pudding was an unexpected savory flavor, (which Ada declared delicious – a small miracle coming from the girl who lives on cereal and PB&J).  The girls had fun spotting things they had never seen before and eating rice and noodles at the food counter.  I dragged the family down every aisle and found lots of new groceries to try.  (OK, maybe I got a few just because they had pretty packaging).  The market carries products from Japan, China and Korea.  You can order online, but it is more fun to go wander around the store if you can.  Our favorite finds are these:

*Dried Noodles

*Little Animal Forks for Lunchboxes (I am saving these to use for a future party, despite Ada’s pleading to open them right now)

*Aid Helper Emergency Plasters

*Knife Sharpening Stone (Which technically we need, and how could I say no to that box?)

DIY Lemon Honey Apple Jam

09 Tuesday Oct 2012

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We are getting addicted to canning things around here.  When I saw these Meyer lemons at Greene Grape Provisions I decided to work them into a jam with some of our abundance of apples.  I love planning food around what looks good at the market.  We used this recipe from the Food in Jars blog and added 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and the seeds from one vanilla bean to the cooking apples.  (I like to keep the split bean in there too).  The resulting jam is very honey/lemon flavored.  It is a bit odd on a PB&J sandwich, but I just put some on toast with blue cheese and avocado and it was delicious.  It would be great with cheese and crackers or stirred into a hot drink as the weather gets chilly.

DIY Apple Maple Jam

25 Tuesday Sep 2012

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Josie and I made jam today from some of our 20 pounds of apples picked this weekend. The house smelled like apple pie and the sun was streaming through the kitchen windows as the fence builders were busy outside. (We are finally fixing up our back yard and the work from just two days has already made the house so much brighter!  More about the fence building soon).  Please don’t judge me for the ugly kitchen in the photos…It is on the list of projects.  This recipe was adapted from the Ball Blue Book.  To make your own Apple Maple Jam you will need:

*12 Half-Pint Canning Jars with Seals and Lids

*15 Cups of Peeled, Cored and Chopped Apples (We used a combination of Cortland, Gala and Yellow Delicious)

*6 Cups Sugar (We used Raw Cane Sugar)

*1 Cup Maple Syrup

*2 teaspoons Cinnamon

*1 teaspoon Allspice

*1 teaspoon Nutmeg

*1/2 teaspoon Cloves

*Seeds Scraped from 1 Vanilla Bean

1. Prepare apples and combine all ingredients in large pot.  (This is my favorite apple peeler).

2. Slowly bring to a boil.

3. Stir frequently and cook until jam is thickened to your liking. (Ours took about an hour).

4. Remove from heat and spoon into washed hot jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace.

5. Carefully wipe rims and screw on two-piece caps.

6. Slide jars into warming water and boil for 10 minutes.

7. Remove from water using a jar lifter and allow to cool.

8. Jar tops will depress as they cool.  Any that don’t should be reprocessed or eaten within a few days.

9. We decorated circles of paper, carefully unscrewed lids and placed the circles on top of the sealed tops.  Screw lids can be replaced to hold the papers in place.  Be sure to label each jar with the contents and date.

**This jam is yummy warmed on vanilla ice cream, pancakes or PB&Js.  Store unopened jars in a cool dry place and eat within one year.  Enjoy!

Inspiration

31 Friday Aug 2012

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Instagrams from the Outer Banks, North Carolina:

*Child’s spelling game at the Beachcomber Museum, Nags Head.  (This amazing space housed Nellie Myrtle’s treasures from 60 years of early morning beach combing in the Outer Banks).

*Surfboards.

*Ivin’s Famous Spiced Wafers.  (I got these boxes purely for the packaging with no idea of the contents, but they ended up being delicious spicy  ginger snaps.  They are perfect for making mini ice cream sandwiches).

*Bright Plastic Boats, Nags Head.

*Fishing Lure Collection from the Beachcomber Museum.

*Parachute with Nan and the Cousins.

Have a lovely weekend!

Saltwater Taffy

29 Wednesday Aug 2012

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Chris came home one morning in Cape May with some of this Fralinger’s salt water taffy.  The vintage packaging alone made me ecstatic.  This video tells the story of the origin of Salt Water Taffy and the family business that keeps the original alive today.  The taffy flavors include: Banana, Chocolate, Lemon, Licorice, Lime, Molasses, Molasses Mint, Orange, Peach, Peanut Butter, Peppermint, Root Beer, Spearmint, Strawberry, Teaberry, and Vanilla.  Hooray for the perfect vacation souvenir!

Homemade Pickles

09 Thursday Aug 2012

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We have been wanting to can our own preserves and pickles since we moved into our house a year ago. So when our CSA offered up 25 pounds of pickling cukes for $24 we decided this was the time. We were quickly reminded that canning is dependent on the readiness of the ingredients, and not on our schedule when the cucumbers arrived the same week as my new niece. I left Chris alone with a pile of spices and a crock and a vague idea of how to ferment pickles…But he did a fabulous job of mixing and skimming and the pickles are great! (I must admit I ate them alone the first few days to be sure we hadn’t made any dreadful pickling mistakes). We were overly cautious with our sterilization and our kitchen was an August sauna, but despite a little cloudiness in our brine our first try at picking was a success!

We used this recipe from Bakespace, and added extra hot peppers, garlic and more dill than called for. Our jars are Weck #908 Asparagus Liter Jars and fit about 8 pickles per jar. I had never used the Weck system before, but it was quite simple and none of the seals failed. We needed about 18 jars for about 5 gallons of cucumbers. Chris’ parents lent us a huge 10 gallon crock which was heavy, but perfect for the job. I had a hard time finding an affordable and deep enough pot for sterilizing the tall jars, but finally located an aluminum tamale steamer at our neighborhood grocery store. I took out the steamer section and it worked wonderfully and cost only $12. (You should not cook canning ingredients in an aluminum container, but it worked fine for sterilizing the jars).

Ada helped color and stick the labels on the jars this morning. We were all pretty amazed at the alchemy of turning cucumbers into pickles. Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is a wonderful place to start for self-sufficient inspiration. And now I am dreaming up shelves in the basement to house the winter stores.

Ronnybrook Farm

02 Thursday Aug 2012

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I love Ronnybrook Farm.  Their milk and cream is the best for making ice cream and I lived on their yogurt drinks when I was pregnant.  They sell large bottles at our farmer’s market in returnable glass bottles, which look like the milk man brought them to your fridge.  Ronnybrook uses Holstein cows – those sweet black and white spotted ladies.  We had Holsteins on our farm growing up and they hold a special place in my heart.  (I remember watching my sisters in white uniforms leading their Holstein calves around the 4H ring).  Farmers who put thought and care into their production make better tasting food.

Popsicles for Breakfast

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

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It is entirely too hot around here to eat a warm breakfast.  (Or even one that is  room-temperature,  in my opinion).  We came up with these as an alternative.  They include some of our breakfast favorites, which are even better frozen.  Put your favorite smoothie in the freezer!  To make this version you need:

* 2 Very Ripe Bananas

* 1 Cup Milk

* 4 Large Spoonfuls of Yogurt

* 2 Large Spoonfuls of Natural Peanut Butter

* 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

* 1 Teaspoon Honey (Optional, depending on the sweetness of your yogurt).

* Blender

* Popsicle Molds

1. Blend together until smooth.

2. Pour into ice pop molds and freeze for 1-2 hours.

*Makes enough for six standard popsicle molds*