This afternoon the girls and I made chocolate covered pretzel rods. Very easy, tasty and messy!
Category Archives: Cooking
Molasses-on-Snow Candy
The fresh snow gave us the perfect opportunity to make a favorite treat of Mary and Laura Ingalls–molasses-on-snow candy. Here’s how we made it:
1) We mixed one cup molasses and one cup brown sugar in a large cast iron pot. We then boiled it until the mixture reached the “hard crack” stage–300 degrees F.
I didn’t get a picture of the mixture boiling, because my hands were full as I stirred constantly and held the thermometer.
2) Kayla scooped fresh, clean snow in two 9 x 13 pans. We then dribbled spoonfuls of syrup onto the snow.
3) Once the syrup was hard, we lifted it off the snow and set the candy on wax paper.
4) Time to eaat–if you dare! We’re not huge fans of molasses around here, and it’s also slightly possible that the molasses mixture began to burn while I was cooking it (though I never let it get above 300 degrees). The girls sort of liked it, but I tried it and thought it was horrible. The smell drove Aaron nuts, but overall we had fun experiencing life as Mary and Laura did.
Going Gluten-Free
For those of you have been praying for our little sweetheart, Madeline, I am glad to report that she is doing some better. Her daytime itching has been minimal, and her nighttime itching decreases as time goes on. Her skin still has a long way to go in the healing process, but there has been progress.
Madeline’s doctor recently suggested taking Madeline off gluten since reactions to gluten can be a common cause of eczema. That means her diet is currently gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free and egg-free. The challenge for me is to provide fruits, vegetables, protein and gluten-free grains that Madeline will enjoy. It has required some significant changes, but surprisingly, I’m already getting used to it.
Saturday Madeline and I went to the health food store to stock our pantry.
And Sunday morning I made gluten-free pumpkin pancakes, recipe compliments of glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com.
Deb’s Granola
I recently attended a retreat for women called “Unveiled.” The weekend was absolutely amazing and exactly what my heart needed! One of the treats from the retreat was Deb’s Granola. The recipe is so simple and delicious that I thought I would share it:
Deb’s Granola
Oatmeal
Rice Krispies (or a healthier version without high fructose corn syrup)
Chopped pecans
Slivered almonds
Coconut
Add honey to coat. Bake at 350 until brown, stirring 2 or 3 times as it bakes.
(I used an air bake pan, which really seemed to help keep it from burning. I stirred it every 5 minutes and baked it for about 15 minutes total, maybe slightly longer.)
Arroz con Leche
Arroz con Leche*
Arroz con Leche was one of my favorite dishes in Spain. The family I stayed with added grated orange peel, which I highly recommend. I’ve tried it without, and it’s just not the same!
3 cups milk
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup rice, short or medium grain
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 to 1/3 of a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk** (from the health food store so it doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup)
2 tsp. vanilla
grated orange peel (I used the zest of one mandarin orange. Adjust to taste.)
Bring milk and water to a slow simmer in a large pot over medium-low heat. (This takes a while.) Stir in rice and cinnamon sticks. Barely simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When rice is soft, remove cinnamon sticks and stir in sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, salt and orange peel. If necessary, return to a low simmer for 10 – 15 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice has a pudding-like consistency. Serve hot with a sprinkle of cinnamon if desired.
*Adapted from this recipe: http://mexicanfood.about.com/od/sweetsanddesserts/r/arrozconleche.htm
**The recipe I originally used called for a whole can of sweetened condensed milk. I definitely recommend cutting it back to more like 1/3 of the can. It would be way to sweet with a whole can. The remaining condensed milk can be refrigerated for up to two weeks.
Amazing Cookies
Have you ever seen such amazing cookies?
All credit goes to a coworker of my mother-in-law who made them for one of Rachel’s showers.
White Chocolate Raspberry Scones
Aaron loves walking to work and stopping by the University Cup for a good cup of coffee. And lately he has been picking up something else—white chocolate raspberry scones. I have yet to try one from the UCup, but I decided to make my own (for Aaron, of course). The plan was for Kayla and Madeline to help me make the scones during “cooking class,” but they were playing together so nicely that I let them continue with their imaginative game. I had a little time to myself in the kitchen, which I enjoyed, and here was the end result:
I have to admit, they were quite tasty! And not dry like traditional scones. They actually reminded me more of a danish. I found the recipe here.
http://www.pickycook.com/breakfastandbrunch/raspberrywhitechocolatescones.aspx
Wild Rice Pilaf with Fruit
I tried a new recipe for dinner tonight that everyone seemed to like. It was very flavorful!
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 1 small carrot, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¾ cup uncooked brown rice
- ⅓ cup uncooked wild rice
- 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium beef broth or vegetable broth
- 1-¼ cups water
- ¾ cup dried apricots, raisins and dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
- ⅛ teaspoon rubbed sage
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted
In a large saucepan, saute the onion, celery, carrot and garlic in butter until tender. Add brown rice and wild rice; stir to coat.
Stir in the broth, water, fruit, parsley, salt, thyme, sage and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 50-60 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
Remove from the heat; stir in pecans. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving. Yield: 5 servings.
My notes: The original recipe actually called for golden raisins and cherries instead of dried apricots, raisins and dried cranberries. I just used what I already had in the house. For the rice, I found a bag of brown rice and wild rice mix that was more economical than buying the two types of rice separately. And for the broth, I made my own chicken broth using organic chicken base.