The Blue Willow Journal

Easy Pickled Hot Peppers Part 2

Last July I did a posting on an easy way to make pickled hot peppers. It's pickling season again so I thought I'd post photos of what these peppers look like.

The first photo is of a jar just made - the peppers are bright green and red. These need to spend two weeks or more in the refrigerator to become pickled. The second photo is of a jar made months ago - the colors of the peppers (more drab) indicate the pickling process is complete. Once the peppers are pickled they last almost indefinitely in the refrigerator. I have some from last summer in my refrigerator right now and they are still great.

 

Farmstand Vegetable Gardening

Some time ago we had quite a large vegetable garden. We would use the vegetables we grew not only in cooking and baking but we preserved them by doing things like canning relish, freezing tomato sauce or drying onions.
We don't have a vegetable garden anymore but our fondness for fresh vegetables hasn't changed. Solution - farmstands! We have a great one a few miles away and it makes a fine runner-up to the real thing. Here's what I "picked" for dinner tonight:

Deck Time

Easter

We've done a brunch the last two years and find we really like this approach - lots of creativity possible with a menu like this and the dishes are done by 3 pm instead of 7pm!

The Swedish biscuits below are a recipe from my grandmother, executed beautifully by my husband, Steve. The cake is a fantastic lemon ginger pound cake from Martha Stewart, one of the best pound cakes I've ever made to be sure. Many other items on the menu.......very enjoyable!

Winter Farmers' Market

There was an article in the paper yesterday about a "Winter Farmers' Market" in Pawtucket here in Rhode Island. I realized I'd heard about it before but was not paying attention very well. The article made an impression so I proposed a Saturday excursion to family members - breakfast out and then head over to the Farmers' Market. Breakfast was at "the Rue" on Hope St. in Providence - an eggs benedict-type dish made with Thai crabcakes - so the day started off well.
We located the market, housed in an old brick mill, and had our reusable bags at the ready. The instant the market opened it was jammed, so it was almost like a slowly-moving line down one side and up the other to look at everything. Very charming, very neat and very interesting. ALMOST like a mini, less-polished Ferry Building-in-San Francisco kind of thing. 

Here are some photos:

 

 

 

 

 

Teatime

In reading one of my English magazines recently I came upon an article about "bringing back teatime". I didn't realize teatime was becoming elusive, but I guess life gets crazier by the day no matter where you live.

Quoting from the article: "Teatime can be a relaxing way to socialize: the cooking and preparation has all been done beforehand and there's less food involved than at lunch or dinner, more time to chat. It's also relatively short, making it a good opportunity to invite people whom you may not know very well or who for various reasons might not enjoy mixing with your other friends over a long meal."

Good points. I just did a Valentine Tea for two of my sisters, making everything here in Rhode Island and transporting it to Connecticut - very doable and enjoyable. When everyone is home for Christmas we always have a tea one night instead of dinner with the men in the family just as happy with this tradition as everyone else.

The truth is I haven't met anyone who doesn't like "a tea" - I've done teas for large numbers of women, family friends and colleagues.......the response is usually delightful surprise at how relaxing it is and how good the tea and goodies are.

So I'm going to do my part in keeping teatime a frequent part of 21st century life.

 

Snacking on reindeer - ho,ho,ho

I don't remember where I got this recipe but it is just the perfect holiday snack - and kids can make these charming little reindeer themselves. I have made them with my 4th grade students many times and everyone - kids and all those neighboring teachers down the hall we served them to - loved them:

Reindeer Snacks

Triangular tortilla chips
Soft cream cheese
Red bell pepper
Raisins
Mini Pretzels

Spread cream cheese on one side of a chip. Cut red pepper into very small pieces to make reindeer noses and place on the cream cheese; complete the reindeer "face" by adding raisins for eyes and pretzels for antlers.

These are a great combination of salty, sweet and crunchy at the same time - enjoy!

Farm Journal Cookbooks

One of my most prized cookbooks is something called "Country Fair Cookbook: Every Recipe a Blue Ribbon Winner" by the food editors of Farm Journal. It's a baking cookbook. I've had it since the mid-70's, given to me by my college roommate. There is a whole series of Farm Journal cookbooks on many additional topics and they can be found even today on EBay and through out-of-print sources.

So here is a Farm Journal gem for Thanksgiving:

Cranberry Bread

2 c. sifted flour~1 c. sugar~1 1/2tsp. baking powder~1 tsp. salt~1/2 tsp. baking soda~1/4 c. shortening~1 egg, beaten~3/4 c. orange juice~1 tblsp. grated orange rind~1 c. coarsely chopped cranberries~1 tblsp.flour

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Combine egg, orange juice and orange rind in a small bowl. Add to dry ingredients all at once; stir until just moistened.

Combine cranberries with 1 tblsp. of flour; stir into batter. Spoon into a greased and waxed paper/parchment paper lined 9x5x3" loaf pan.

Birthday Menu

Staying home and making a great birthday dinner is often my vote rather than going out. I think this year we hit upon a winner of a menu - here it is:

Rib-eye steaks with shallots and parsley
Sauteed baby Yukon gold potatoes
Asparagus
Iceberg Lettuce Wedges with Blue Cheese Dressing

The cake: Strawberry Cream Cake from the local bakery

 

Better Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hard to believe that the classic chocolate chip cookie could be made to taste better and be better for you at the same time, but I think the recipe below does just that. The men in my family have been experimenting with whole wheat flour - substituting it for the usual white all-purpose flour in various recipes - and I think these cookies are a example of the final product tasting even better than the original.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour               3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda                                     1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt                                                 2 large eggs
2 sticks butter, room temperature             12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 c. sugar                                              

Oven: 375 degrees

Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together. Beat the butter, two sugars and the vanilla until creamy.
Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Gradually beat in the dry ingredient mixture.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded tablespoon onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake 9-10 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on wire racks.
Makes four to five dozen cookies.

(This is basically the original Nestle Toll House cookie recipe with whole wheat flour substituted for the
 white flour).