Freezer Jam vs. Cooked Jam

So for years I have making cooked jam and sealing it and keeping rows upon rows of jam in my food storage room.  However the other day when I cleaned out my freezer I saw that I had half used bags of raspberries, some ruhbarb from last summer, and the beautiful marion berries I bought in Oregon last summer.  I did not want to put them back in the freezer so I thawed them and cut up a container of strawberries from Costco and decided to make freezer jam since I did not have the time for canning.  After making my first batch I thought it is impossible for the sugar granuals to dissolve like this so I went back to making cooked jam that I was just going to freeze.  So in this picture the jam on the left is cooked and the jam on the right is freezer jam.  I made my husband (and jam know it all ) do a blind  taste test and he said he could taste the individual berry taste better in the freezer jam and that it was just as smooth as the cooked jam.  So there you have it freezer jam does taste the same if not better than cooked jam.  However I must add that I am really hating giving up the space in my freezer for all that jam and will probably return to canning my jam.

Log Pots

I have seen this in so many magazines so when we chopped down our tree I just had to do it.  Well the problem is our tree was a maple tree so it is a very hard wood and the tree was still very wet and not dried out so it did take quite a lot of work.  I do think however that if you had a really dry soft wood this could be done easily and quickly, just say log to desired length  use a drill or drill press with a wide circle bit.  I really wanted and still plan on making a big one from the main stump but that will have to wait until the wood is a lot drier.

Warm Quinoa Salad with Toasted Almonds

Delicious!  That is the word for this, it is so good.  We have had it a couple of times with orange chicken or just grilled chicken.  It is also so quick to make.  The only downside is that leftovers aren't as good as fresh because the almonds get a little soggy.

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups Quinoa

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbls. soy sauce

1 Tbls. rice vinegar

1 tsp. asian sesame oil

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger

2 green onions thinly sliced diagonally ( I used the whole bunch)

1/3 cup sliced almonds toasted

Soak quinoa in water for at least 15 min. then rinse.  Add water and salt to quinoa in sauce pan.  Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to a simmer and let simmer for 20 min.  Meanwhile in small dish combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil and ginger.  Once quinoa is cooked and still warm add soy sauce mixture and green onions and almonds and toss until evenly coated.  Enjoy, I know I did.

Hen and Chicks in Eggs

I just couldn't resist doing this.  I saw on the cover of an old Better Homes and Gardens how they had planted "hen and chicks" in egg shells and had them in an egg carton.  A friend gave me this cute Terra Cotta chicken as part of a gift basket for my birthday and I have been wanting to combine the two ideas.  So here you have it a hen with her chicks coming out of the eggs. 

Garlic Spinach Loaf

On Saturday I picked up my produce co-op basket and brought home Swiss chard.  I have never bought nor eaten Swiss chard, so when I looked it up I fought that I could cook it and treat it just like frozen or cooked spinach.  So that is what I did.  This bread was delicious to eat warm but the best part was the smell while mixing it, the first time I have ever wanted to eat bread dough. Just remember it is supposed to chill overnight.

Recipe

3/4 Cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbls. sugar

2 Tbls. butter

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup grated Asiago cheese (I used grated Parmesan)

1/4 cup thawed and drained spinach (I used fresh steamed Swiss chard)

4 cloves garlic

2 1/2 cups flour

Combine yeast and warm water and let sit while warming milk, sugar, butter and salt on stove until butter is almost melted.  Then remove from heat and add cheeses, garlic and spinach.  Then combine with yeast mixture.  Next add in flour (I think that next time I will add another cup of flour to this) and mix on high for at least 3 min.,  Transfer to a clean bowl sprayed with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight. Remove from fridge 3 to 4 hours before you wish to eat it.  I first set the bowl in warm water in the sink for 1/2 hr.  then removed very wet dough from bowl onto floured surface and covered with plastic wrap for another 1/2 hr.  Then shape into oblong loaf and place on a sprayed and lightly corn meal covered cooking sheet.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size.  Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.  Once bread has risen brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan.  Bake for about 30 min.  Mine came out pretty rounded but then I sliced it while still hot and then remembered to take a picture so mine is pretty flat.  I suggest letting it cool completely before slicing and then rewarm to eat.



Spinach Ice Cream ?

So I saw this recipe in the Costco magazine and it looked good, but how could spinach ice cream taste good?  Well it did, with a tiny after taste of spinach.  Give it a try.

Popeye's Ice Cream

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup agave nectar

2/3 cup powdered milk

2 cups spinach

1 1/2 TBLS. vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups ice cubes

Add ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth.  Eat immediately.

Roasted turnips and asparagus

I have never had a turnip until last week, so I wasn't quite sure what to do with it.  So I just cut it up with some asparagus and yellow squash, a little olive oil and coarse salt.  I roasted it at 400 degrees for about 20 min.  It was really good.  I would say a turnip is closest to a potato but with a sweeter flavor, you can definitely eat it raw.  I don't think I would take up the garden space with a turnip, but it was tastier then I thought it would be.

Corn Bread

Have you ever noticed that corn bread has a lot more flour than corn meal in it?  Well I found this recipe and have been using it for a while now and what I like is there is no oil or butter in the recipe and a fair amount of corn meal.  I will admit it doesn't taste the same as the other recipe I used to use, but it is very moist and with a dab of honey does taste just as good.

Old Fashioned Corn Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup corn meal

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

2 eggs lightly beaten from a chicken you can trust. (I used 2 Tbls. flax meal combined with 6Tbls. water. Stir together and let sit while you mix other ingredients)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk ( since I rarely have buttermilk on hand I just put 3 Tbls lemon juice in a large measuring cup and add enough milk to make it a total of 1 1/2 cups and let that sit for a minute to sour the milk.)

Pour into a greased square pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.