Pulling Together As A Family

I’m sure most of us would agree that when it comes to families getting along it is usually easier said than done. It’s far easier to love but sometimes much more difficult to like those that are the closest to us. The other night while sitting out on the deck sharing a couple beers with my friend Chrissy we each shared some of our family get together stories. Chrissy remembered a special time when everyone in her family all got along beautifully. The time was when her grandmother got everybody together to make pulled taffy. For whatever the reason all the ugly baggage that had a tendency to show up didn’t at this particular time……….
Maybe it was the use of all that sugar, it just gave everybody a much sweeter disposition.
For whatever the reason, those are the memories that help carry us through the less than perfect times.

Old Fashioned Pulled Taffy

3 cups of sugar
1 cup of white corn syrup
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of butter
1/3 cup of vinegar
1 tbsp. vanilla or flavor of your choosing
A drop of food coloring, optional

Mix sugar, syrup and water in a 4 quart sauce pan and place over medium heat. DO NOT STIR. Cook until mixture reaches soft ball stage (234 to 240 degrees). Add butter, vinegar and vanilla. Cook again until mixture reaches hard ball stage (250 to 268 degrees). Again, DO NOT STIR. Pour out onto a greased platter let cool enough to touch and begin to pull. Keep hands lubricated with butter and pull the taffy with a partner. The more taffy is pulled the better when you see it looking the way you would like cut into pieces and wrap in saran or waxed paper.

Chicken Ala Tile

Yesterday would have been my mother and father’s 50th wedding anniversary if they had not divorced 28 years ago. I know it sounds sad but it’s really not, they are better friends now than they never were married…….Out of respect for them and for all of you as well I will leave out all the nasty bits and private details.
Let me just put it this way; “We can still love roses and hate being pricked by the thorns all at the same time”….I just realized how much a rose symbolizes the perfect metaphor for life.
Anyhow, on a some what lighter and much less philosophical note, my mother was thinking back on their marriage and asked me if I remembered the “Chicken Ala Tile” story? Well of course I did, it was really funny in a strange sort of way given the circumstances back then. My father was watching his weight, which actually translates into that my mother was watching his weight, if you get my drift. He was only to eat chicken or fish, two vegetables and the chicken or fish had to be broiled. Back then we had one of those little counter top broiler ovens where my mother carefully placed the chicken to cook. While that was broiling away she made the vegetables that would accompany the chicken getting more and more frustrated by the minute with all his bellowing and barking in the background…..poor Mom! I was setting the table and he was in the living room which was right off the kitchen having a scotch and watching the news. My mother walked over to the counter to turn the chicken and when she pulled the handle of the broiler pan, the handle broke and the chicken went spilling on the floor. Totally frustrated and angry my mother grabbed the chicken threw it back in the pan and shoved it back under the broiler and proceeded to wipe off the kitchen tile. My mother just looked at me and I silently understood. We sat down for dinner; my mother asked my father how he liked the chicken? He said it was good; did she do something different to it? She said no, I cooked it the way I always do while winking at me and grinning.
So here is a broiled chicken recipe to enjoy in honor of this story, throwing the chicken on the floor is optional!

Broiled Chicken

1/2 chicken, cut in 4 pieces

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. oregano

2 tbsp. water

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Put chicken in a pan with salt and pepper. Combine oil, water, oregano, and lemon juice in a cup. Beat lightly with a fork. Pour the combined ingredients over the chicken. Place chicken under the broiler and broil for 10- 15 minutes, then turn over and broil on the other side until nicely browned.

photo courtesy of JoJoBear99/flickr

What's That Unusual Smell?

While spending time with my mother yesterday, looking at photo’s and reminiscing, my mother recalled a funny story. My mother also felt that it would be a great story to post on my blog……so here goes:

Almost 20 years ago at a family picnic where each person brought a dish to pass, my mother decided to make what she called her;” Garbage Macaroni”. Not the most enticing name for something that one would put in their mouth but despite the name it was always a big draw with family and friends. I think it should have just been called everything but the kitchen sink macaroni because she literally put in just about everything she had on hand into it. When finished this thing weighed a ton, my mother had to put it in one of those big foil turkey roaster pans. This macaroni contained all kinds of assorted meats, vegetables, seasonings not to mention a variety of cheeses, it really was delicious. You actually do not need anything else when serving this dish; it already has your meat, your veggie and your starch.
Now to the funny part, when the picnic ended and everyone was taking their care packages home my mother still had almost half a pan of her garbage macaroni left.
Since I was going through some lean times she asked if I would like to take the rest of it home, I immediately replied yes. This would have given me about a weeks worth of meals which would have helped me greatly, so my mother said good and proceeded to wrap it up for me. Due to its size and a shortage of saran wrap or foil my mother decided to tie it up in a garbage bag, I didn’t have far to go and I could repackage it when I got home. I was so excited when I got home, I got out my plastic containers and lined them up on the counter but as I started to remove the pan of macaroni from the garbage bag I smelled something oddly familiar. It smelled just like lemon dishwashing liquid the only problem was is that I didn’t use lemon scented dishwashing liquid. I stirred the macaroni and sniffed again and it still smelled, then I tasted it and it even tasted like some bad lemony something. I called my mother and said I don’t know what happened but there is no way I can use this macaroni as much as it kills me I am going to have to throw it all away. My mother couldn’t understand how that could have happened until she cleared out her bag from the picnic and pulled out the box of Lemon Potpourri Scented Garbage Bags……..giving her Garbage Macaroni a whole new meaning!

Harriet’s Garbage Macaroni (Ingredients and amounts can vary, depending on how many you are serving and what you have on hand).

1 lb. Italian sweet sausage (turkey sausage works great)
1/2 pound of sliced or chopped pepperoni, optional
1 pound of hamburger, optional
(Cubed up cooked ham also works nicely in this)
1 cup of ricotta cheese, optional (if using, just smear a little between layers)
3 green peppers, chopped2 onions, chopped
2 Large cloves of garlic, chopped1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce2 cups of water2 pounds of macaroni (any)
12 oz. shredded Mozzarella cheese
12 oz. of cheddar1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of grated Romano

Remove sausage from casings and crumble. In large deep skillet or dutch oven, fry sausage until crumbly and (hamburger if using). Add green peppers, onions and garlic sauté for 5 minutes, do not drain. Stir in tomatoes, paste, sauce and water; simmer stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Cook macaroni according to package directions, drain. Cover bottom of deep roasting or lasagna pan (foil turkey roasting pan works great) with sauce. Layer macaroni, sauce/meat mixture and cheeses ending with the macaroni. Pour remaining sauce over. Sprinkle Parmesan and Romano cheese over top. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly and brown.

photo/courtney_clove's/flickr

Gentlemen Prefer Cookies!

Remember going to a bar or a club to meet men? Well I found out this morning that bars and clubs are a thing of the past. If you really want to get a man interested entice him with cookies! This little piece of knowledge came my way in the form of an innocent phone call to my grandmother (88 yrs.) and aunt (91 yrs.) in Florida. My grandmother answered the phone and said, “Guess what your aunt and I are doing today”? We are having a nice gentleman over to teach him how to bake cookies. After my mouth dropped for a second I thought, how cute. It turns out my aunt Jay had been giving some of her cookies to her mail carrier who in turn shared some of the cookies with a friend of his. Well his friend loved them and wanted to know who made them, long story short the man was introduced to my aunt, they became friends and today at 1:00 pm he is having lunch with my grandmother and aunt who are then both going to teach him how to bake Italian lemon cookies.


Italian Lemon Cookies


4 cups flour
1 cup of sugar
8 Teaspoons of baking powder
3 eggs
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of butter, softened
4 Teaspoons of lemon extract
1 Teaspoon of lemon zest (optional)

Mix all ingredients together (by hand or mixer). Drop onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes.

FROSTING:
1 box confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon extract
3 Tablespoons of Milk (should be runny enough to drizzle, if too thick add a little more milk)

Mix and pour over cookies as desired.

Horton Hears A Who! Frying What? Where?

Don’t worry Horton; it’s only me that you hear. I am in the kitchen frying up a batch of elephant ears. I promise you that your ears are safe, not one single elephant has ever lost their ears or their life in the making of this recipe.

I never made the connection until recently that elephant ears and the fried dough I grew up with were one in the same. We always used pizza dough for our “Pizza Fritte” what we grew up knowing as fried dough. The ingredients for the elephant ears are almost the same except that the elephant ears use a Crisco type shortening and the pizza dough uses oil. I always find it interesting that so many cultures have similar versions of the same recipe. Indian fry bread and Sopapillas are another example of culturally popular fried dough recipes with very subtle changes to their ingredients and preparation. I guess one thing we can be certain of that no matter what it’s called or what part of the world it’s from people are definitely united in their love of fried dough.

Elephant Ears (not real elephant ears, Horton)!

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp. salt

2 packets dry yeast

2 tbsp. sugar

6 tbsp. shortening (Crisco)

4 cups flour

Oil for frying

Toppings:

Melted butter (optional)

Powdered sugar, sifted

Cinnamon/sugar mix

Heat but do not boil milk, sugar, salt and shortening until shortening is melted. Cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Stir in flour 2 cups at a time, beating until smooth after reach addition.
Put into greased bowl. Cover with damp cloth, let rise until double. Dust hands with flour. Pinch off pieces of dough size of golf ball. Stretch into 6-8 inch circle. Drop into hot oil in pan large enough to fry 6-8 pieces. Fry until pieces rise, turn with tongs and fry until light brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with desired topping.

Horde Of The Rings

We take for granted just how easy some foods are to prepare ourselves. It seems that we are so conditioned to automatically purchase certain foods pre-made at a supermarket or by taking a quick trip through a drive thru. I started to think about this when a friend of mine asked me to pick up some frozen onion rings at the supermarket to have with dinner, I said you are kidding those aren’t even real onion rings. They are just minced onion and mostly bread crumbs. I told her I would just make the onion rings, she looked shocked. You know how to make onion rings (like it was some mysterious government secret) I said yes and they are really easy to make and taste a lot better than anything you’d get from a store or drive thru not to mention how much more you would get for a lot less money. So I proceeded to make the onion rings as she watched looking at me like I was some great magician. As soon as she took her first bite she never wanted store bought or drive thru again.
It really is silly the money we waste on certain foods just to save a little time, we get so little and spend so much for what? I think taking the time affords us more in our lives and it sure as hell tastes a lot better when we do.

Beer Battered Onion Rings

1 1/2 cups of flour (pancake mix also works well)
1 1/2 cups of beer, active or flat, cold or at room temperature (Guinness makes for a really rich tasting batter and color but any beer will do).
3 lbs of Bermuda onions, Vidalia or any variety that you like
4 cups shortening or oil
Salt to taste (it's best to salt them right when they come out of the fryer)

Combine flour and beer in a large bowl and blend thoroughly, using a whisk. Cover the bowl and allow the batter to sit at room temperature for no less than 3 hours. Twenty minutes before the batter is ready, preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place brown paper from grocery bags or layers of paper toweling on a jelly roll pan. Carefully peel the papery skins from the onions into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick slices.
Separate the slices into rings and set aside.
Heat electric frying pan to 375 degrees and heat the cooking oil. With metal tongs, dip a few onion rings into batter. Then carefully place them in the hot oil. Fry rings, turning them once or twice until they're an even, delicate golden color. Now transfer to the paper-lined pan. To keep warm, place them on the middle shelf of the oven until all the onion rings have been fried.

Not Recommended For Sore Throats

Photo by Allysa/flickr.com

Passing by some peanut brittle at the grocery store the other day reminded me of a funny story. Many years ago one of my aunts had to go into the hospital for some minor throat surgery. The surgery went fine; the doctor said it would take a couple weeks for her throat to heal. This meant no solid foods for at least the first week. So my aunts menu pretty much consisted of ice cream, pudding, jell-o almost anything that was soft and cold or could be sipped through a straw. It’s not hard to enjoy ice cream and pudding for a couple of days but by the third day you are pretty hungry and are craving some serious food.
I believe my aunt was into her fourth day of recovery and an old friend stopped by with wrapped gift in hand. My aunt was happy to see her friend even though she couldn’t get the thought of sinking her teeth into some solid food off her mind. Her friend said here, this is for you it might help take your mind off of things; I know it is one of your favorites. I’m sure you all can guess what it was…..you got it; it was a nice big box of homemade peanut brittle. My aunt didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, her friend cried when she realized what she had done. Obviously it was not intentional; I think we all felt sorrier for the friend than we did for my aunt (how embarrassing). Needless to say everyone survived, my aunt got to eat eventually, her friend never lived it down and we inherited a funny story to tell at any given opportunity.

Peanut Brittle

2 cups peanuts (may substitute any nut)

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon butter

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup white Karo syrup

Butter a cookie sheet and set aside. Mix water, sugar, peanuts, and syrup in a 2 quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil.
Cook until candy thermometer reaches hard crack stage (310°F). Remove from heat.
Quickly stir in baking soda and butter, as it will harden rapidly.
Pour quickly onto a buttered cookie sheet and let stand for about an hour to cool.
Break up into pieces.

Lima's in Disguise

Yuck, Lima beans, how many times have we heard that in our lives? How many times have we been the ones who have said it? My mother refused to eat lima beans as a child which was difficult since her mother often made succotash. My mother would pick out all the lima beans and hide them in her napkin. My mother’s hatred for the poor little lima bean carried over into adulthood until I made this recipe. Granted, I left out the fact that there were lima beans in it, I merely said that it was a bean casserole (very truthful). My mother loved this so much she had seconds, when I told her it was lima beans she did not believe me but by then she was hooked.

Unbelievably Good Baked Lima Beans

1 lb. dried lima beans (Yes you can substitute a different type of bean but then I'd have to change my story lol)
1/2 pint sour cream
1 1/2 sticks of butter (must use butter, no substitutions)
1 Tablespoon of molasses
1 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard
3/4 cup of brown sugar (light or dark)

Soak 1 pound of lima beans overnight in 4 cups of cold water for each cup of beans; add more water if beans soak up the initial amount of water.
Boil the beans in the same water for ½ to ¾’s of an hour, add 1 teaspoon of salt; drain well. Mix the above ingredients together to make a sauce, bring the sauce to a simmer and then pour over the beans. Bake for 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees in a covered casserole.

These beans turn out so buttery and creamy with a nice mix of sweet and tangy that it will make you think of lima beans as comfort food.

Having The Blues Makes This Family Happy

In our family loving blue cheese appears to be genetic. There is nothing funnier than watching us at a family get together when it’s time to dress the salad. As soon as the refrigerator opens and that little container of crumbled blue cheese hits the counter we all come running from every end of the house, just to snag a piece.
One of the funniest blue cheese moments was during a party when I was living in my first apartment. I decided to make my own chicken wings and blue cheese dip. I wanted the blue cheese dip to be loaded with chunks, so after the creamy part of the dip was made I added almost an extra pound of crumbled up blue cheese. I placed the wings and dip on the kitchen table for everyone to help themselves. While everyone was talking and mingling, I noticed that my mother and uncle never ventured far from the table. When I went to go get a wing I was looking forward to taking a dunk and pulling up a nice big chunk of blue cheese. To my surprise all I got was a nice creamy dip, no chunks. My mother and uncle on the other hand were grinning from ear to ear telling me how nice and chunky the blue cheese dip was. The two of them had been sitting at the table snagging all the chunks of blue cheese out of the dip.

Blue Cheese Dip/Dressing

1/2 to 3/4 lb. Blue Cheese (any style you like)

1 cup of sour cream
1/2 to 3/4 cup of heavy cream or buttermilk (depending on how thick you want your dressing)

1 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar

Mash Blue cheese in bowl; add sour cream or buttermilk, mayonnaise, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice or vinegar. Blend until well creamed. This dressing keeps for several weeks in the refrigerator. It is delicious as a dip or a dressing.

May add extra crumbled blue cheese if you like yours extra chunky, just don’t invite my mother or uncle over.

Sisters Italian Style

My grandmother flew to Florida for my Cousin Stephen's wedding and will be staying with my aunt Jay. You would think that my eighty-eight year old grandmother would be glad to get away from our seven degree weather. Unfortunately the temperature has only been in the seventies in Florida (which qualifies as freezing by my grandmothers standards). It’s always interesting when my grandmother and my aunt Jay get together, they tend to lovingly disagree on just about everything and I mean everything! Aunt Jay is the older sister, she is in her early nineties, they are the last of five siblings so we as a family treasure every moment even though those moments may require popping a few antacids (sometimes quite a few). Trust me when I say that we would all prefer to suffer from a little bit of heartburn rather than the heartache the alternative would bring.

Here’s a recipe that is hard even for the sisters to disagree with....although, my aunt Jay’s are crisper which to my grandmother means aunt Jay's are too dry. Supposedly my grandmother’s could use a little more anise, which to aunt Jay means my grandmother’s lack flavor.

Oh well, I hope you enjoy these too dry flavorless biscotti as much as we do.

Traditional Anise Biscotti

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

3 eggs (save one yolk)

1 teaspoon anise extract (or 2 teaspoons of anise liqueur)

1 teaspoon anise seed, ground

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition and reserving one yolk. Add flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix well at medium speed of electric mixer.
Form dough into flattened log shapes or domed loaves, 2 inches wide by one half-inch high in the center.
Beat together remaining yolk and 1 tablespoon of milk. Brush over tops.
Bake in a preheated 375°F oven 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, use a serrated knife to slice diagonally into 1 1/4" thick slices. Place on a baking sheet and toast five minutes.

One of Millie's Favorite's

As easy as it is to make fried potatoes and eggs my aunt would have had you all believing that it was one of the hardest things in the world to make. Well at least that is what she tried to make all of us believe, deep down we knew that she just preferred to have someone else do the cooking for her. We would all laugh when she would bat her eyelashes at her sister (my grandmother) and hint around about how good some fried potatoes and eggs would be. My aunt didn’t have to hint around for long my grandmother graciously accommodated her. It was always a cute ritual one we all miss dearly.

Fried Potatoes and Eggs

2 cups cooked potatoes, sliced
2 tbsp. shortening (Butter)
3 eggs
Salt & pepper

Fry sliced cooked potatoes in hot melted shortening, break the eggs over the potatoes, stirring quickly through the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fry a few minutes longer until eggs are done.

Orzata....Orgeat...Sweet Almond Syrup

I have rediscovered a favorite beverage from my youth it is called “Orzata”. Well actually the Orzata is almond syrup used as a flavoring for hot and cold beverages and many other recipes. My favorite way of drinking it is putting 1 ounce of Orzata in a tall glass with ice, then adding seltzer or club soda. I think one of the reasons that I love it so much is that it kind of tastes like an almond paste cookie without all the calories. The syrup has about 75 calories an ounce but it has such a strong flavor that an ounce would flavor about 16 ounces of seltzer without tasting diluted.
The rediscovery happened when I was out shopping with a friend a little before Christmas and we had gone into an Italian import store. While looking around I had spotted some bottles of the Orzata and got nostalgic and excited all at the same time. I explained to my friend what it was and how much I use to enjoy it and low and behold I received two bottles of it for Christmas.
I immediately stocked up on some plain seltzer and have been drinking heavily ever since.

Other Uses for Orzata:

Try Orzata in your coffee for something truly special….

Pour yourself a cup of good strong coffee
Add a 1/2 ounce of Orzata and just a splash of cream

Drizzle a little Orzata on pound cake, pancakes, French toast
A little splash in a fruit salad is wonderful.

Me at My Absolute "Wurst"

It was the best of times, it was the wurst of times, it was the age of mustard, it was the age of pumpernickel rye, it was the epoch of thinly sliced onion……..okay now I’ve just gone way too far. I am sure that Charles Dickens would greatly appreciate me turning “A tale of Two Cities” into a parody about liverwurst. If blame must go to anyone then by all means blame my mother for planting thoughts of liverwurst in my brain.
Each week I bring her something special to eat (of her choosing). During a visit with her yesterday she said that she had a request, she said the next time that I come she would like a liverwurst sandwich on rye with mustard and sliced onions. Then it hit me how long it had been since I had a liverwurst sandwich. I hated liverwurst until I was in my late teens, then later developed a taste for it. So needless to say my mother will not be the only one getting a treat next visit.

I really didn’t think that anyone needed a recipe for a liverwurst sandwich so I perused the web for a nice recipe that has liverwurst as an ingredient, hope it’s good, if not just make the sandwich.

Liverwurst Dip (This actually sounded pretty good)

1 lb. liverwurst (any)

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup finely chopped green onions

1 teaspoon of beef bouillon granules, diluted in 1 cup of warm water

Mix all ingredients together well.

Serve with bread or crackers

Happy at Halloween

My father was never big on holidays so Halloween is special to me because it was one of the few holidays my father got some pleasure out of. Growing up we lived on the second floor of a double house in the city. At Halloween time my Parents and I always got a pumpkin. My father actually loved picking out the pumpkin; I wouldn’t have to even beg for a big one, on his own he would pick out the biggest one he could possibly carry. One year he picked out a pumpkin that was so big he literally had to roll it up our two flights of stairs. First we would cut off the top and scoop out all the seeds. While my mother cleaned the seeds to get ready for the oven, my father and I would get to carving. It was great fun and we came up with some pretty scary faces for our pumpkin. Then afterwards we would enjoy the warm salty pumpkin seeds fresh from the oven…..good memory.

Seeds from Pumpkin
Buttered cookie sheet (oil is fine)
Salt

Wash seeds from Pumpkin. Spread on buttered cookie sheet. Toast at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until golden. Sprinkle with salt. Eat crunchy.

A day at the Casino

Yesterday seven of us went on one of those casino package bus trips. We went to Seneca Niagara Casino on the American side of the falls. You couldn’t beat the price $17.95 second person was half price. The package came with luxury bus travel, $20.00 each in gambling money and a $5.00 voucher for lunch, plus depending on how many points you had on your player’s card you could get an additional dollar amount off the price of your lunch. You could not beat the lunch that we had, we went to their"Thunder Falls Buffet" which had a seafood bar with shrimp and crab legs, fried haddock, fried catfish, mini crab cakes, and all were delicious. They had an Italian bar, salad, bar, pizza bar, southern bar with biscuits, collards, brisket and fried chicken, the brisket was wonderful. Then of course there was the dessert bar which was deadly, I couldn’t decide so I had to try a couple different things (huge sacrifice on my part lol).They had assorted pies, cakes, bars, cookies, brownies even an ice cream sundae bar with all the toppings, I’m surprised they didn’t have to roll us out of there.
All in all it was a great day; we left at 9:30am and were back by 7:00pm. Travel time wasn’t bad as we are only an hour and a half drive away. My 90 year old Aunt who is here from Florida just for the summer came along with my grandmother (her sister) who is 88 they are the only two left of their 5 siblings. So it was really cute seeing them sit on the bus conversing as little old Italian sisters do. The conversation on the bus seemed to veer towards the making of a good doughnut, probably because the doughnuts that we got on the way weren’t the greatest. So today in honor of that conversation I decided to include an old family doughnut recipe, enjoy.

Sweet Milk Doughnuts

4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk

2 eggs (well beaten)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

4 -6 cups of oil for frying

Blend together. Roll 1/2 inch thick. Cut using a doughnut cutter or just cut into any shape you would like and let set 5 minutes, then deep fry. You may eat as is or dust with powdered or cinnamon sugars.

Poor Under-appreciated Parsley

Parsley is much more than a garnish, it is high in vitamins A and C, and contains iron, iodine, and copper. Even though parsley has a very light scent and flavor, it is a terrific breath freshener and is also great for calming your stomach. Parsley is a member of the celery family.
My grandmother has always liked to use parsley. She buys it fresh, washes it, uses paper towel to remove excess water then she removes all the leaves and freezes the parsley in Ziploc bags or plastic containers. My grandmother is very heavy handed when using the parsley and it really does make a big difference in the flavor of so many things, such as her; “meatballs, pestos, pasta, salad dressings, salads, egg dishes (frittatas), beans, chicken”. You can really notice the difference if she leaves the parsley out, everything tastes much better with the parsley added.
So the next time you see that poor little sprig of parsley sitting on the side of your plate just waiting to be discarded, either eat it at the end of your meal and freshen your breath. Tear it up and sprinkle it over your food, anything other than just throwing it away. Make parsley a part of your day to day cooking, you'll be glad that you did.

Cracked Wheat and Parsley Salad

3/4 cup cracked wheat (bulgur)

1 1/2 cups snipped parsley

3 tomatoes, chopped

1/3 cup chopped green onions

2 tbsp. snipped fresh mint

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Soak cracked wheat in enough boiling water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain wheat and press out excess water. Place wheat, parsley, tomatoes, green onion, and mint in bowl. Mix remaining ingredients and pour over wheat mixture tossing to blend well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or more. Enough for 6 people

Ice Cream Melt Down

When the nice weather hits there is nothing I enjoy more than going out for an ice cream. Whether it’s a sundae, cone or shake, I’m a happy camper. Well, I do believe I went a bit overboard yesterday. In the afternoon while out and about doing some errands, my friend says;” do you want to go to Starbucks and get a coffee”? I replied; “actually I’d rather have an ice cream”. That sounded good to my friend as well, so we went to a place called Bruster’s. My friend had a brownie sundae and I had a double scoop waffle cone with peach ice cream and blueberry cobbler ice cream, it was heavenly. But wait, it gets better….later that evening a couple friends called and asked if I’d like to go for a drive and maybe a bite to eat, I said sure. Wouldn’t you know it, my friend just happened to hear about a new ice cream place we just had to try…so we did. My friend’s choice was very daring, she ordered a waffle cone with cotton candy ice cream, then had them dunk it in a bright green key lime dip, it looked very pretty. Her husband had a traditional vanilla chocolate twist……now let’s get to me, the person who just had ice cream barely four hours earlier. I cannot believe I am admitting this; I had another double scoop waffle cone. This time with pistachio almond and vanilla cherry ice cream (you had to see all the whole cherries popping out of this thing). Wait, there is more to this gut expanding story. After all this ice cream, guess what we did next? Went out to dinner of course, a nice little Italian place the food was wonderful.
I think today I’ll just have a salad!

Healthy Day After Salad

1/2 to 3/4 head lettuce, shredded (or mixed with Romaine, curly endive, spinach)

1/2 c. thinly, sliced celery

1 c. chopped or grated carrots

3 or 4 green onions with tops (sliced)

May add any additional fruit or veggie that you like.

DRESSING:

1/4 c. oil

3 tbsp. white wine or tarragon vinegar

1 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt (or omit)

1/4 tsp. pepper or a dash of Tabasco
Add a bit of oregano and/or minced parsley, if desired.

Combine ingredients for dressing and pour over salad about 5 minutes before ready to serve.

Sweet Memories

I miss the days of penny candy, not just because you could get a bagful for a quarter. But also because some of the candies I loved are just nowhere to be found. I have been able to find some like; Zotz and black Jack Gum to name a couple. There are some great places to get nostalgic candy these days such as; ‘Hometown Favorites, Groovy Candy, Vermont Country Store, just to name a few. But even with that, I’ve noticed that some of the recipes have changed and they are not exactly as I remember them.
One of my favorite candies in the world is Sponge Candy also known as Molasses Puffs. Granted, you can find Sponge Candy just about everywhere. They even have it in the bulk section of my supermarket. But it just isn’t like the one I use to get as a kid.
We use to get our candy from a store called “Franco’s” it was about three blocks from our house. This store had Sponge Candy that came in a bag the size of a deck of cards. When you opened the bag there was this one big solid piece of Sponge Candy (without the chocolate coating) and it actually looked like a sponge (kind of like an O-Cello sponge you get in the supermarket for cleaning). I wish I could remember the name…..
Oh well! It’s a great memory never the less and I can still get my Sponge Candy fix when necessary.

Sponge Candy A.K.A Molasses Puffs

1 c. sugar

1 c. dark corn syrup

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1 tbsp. baking soda

1. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and vinegar in a large saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Cover pan for 1 minute to allow the steam to wash down the sugar crystals that cling to side of pan, or whip down the crystals with a damp cloth.
2. Uncover pan; insert candy thermometer. Cook without stirring until candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees (hard crack stage).
3. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Pour into a buttered 9 inch square pan. It's not necessary to spread, as the mixture will bubble and spread itself. Cool in pan on wire rack.
4. Break cooled sponge in pieces. Store 2-3 weeks in a tightly covered container with foil or plastic wrap between layers.

If you like yours dipped in chocolate all you have to do is melt some chocolate chips in the microwave. Coat each piece in the chocolate and let cool.