BLUEBERRIES AND CREAM

I think I took 5000 pictures of this blueberry dessert.  It was so pretty.  I couldn't help myself.  First, I started taking pics with just the glass with the dessert inside.  Then I took pics with the silver platter underneath.  Then I put the demi tasse spoons in.  It just kept looking prettier and prettier.

But how did it taste you ask.  Well, imagine blueberries and cream.  It just does not get any better.

Does it? Well, my husband says just plain blueberries are phenomenal.  Don't you just hate people like that? Such purists. Ah, but don't be fooled.  He is not perfect when it comes to eating.  If he stares down a pizza, the pizza always wins!

How is it done?  Well, that my friends is the easy part.

BLUEBERRIES AND CREAM

1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese or Greek Yogurt cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup mashed blueberries
2-3 cups blueberries

Whip the cream cheese until fluffy.  Add in sugar and vanilla.  Combine.  Whip in mashed blueberries.  I dont know if this was a good decision or not.  I think it might be better without the mashed blueberries whipped in.  But I kind of liked how it was very blueberry-y tasting. Eh, either way.

Whip heavy cream until stiff peak form.  Spoon a third of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and blend.  Add in the remainder or fold it in.

Sppon some of the cream mixture into a gladd dish.  Layer in blueberries.  Add more cream.  And then top with more blueberries.  Garnish with mint leaves.

Makes 8 servings.

Tender Zucchini Noodles with Scrambled Eggs

Zucchini is like miracle food when it comes to 200 or less.  You can really eat a lot of zucchini without eating too many calories.  Love it.

The hardest part of this dish is chopping up the zucchini.  I used the mandolin to cut thin slices and then I cut those into small strips.  If you have one of those ribbon cutters, that will work perfectly.

Salt the zucchini liberally and let sit for fifteen minutes.  Rinse and squeeze gently before adding to the pan.


Tender Zucchini Noodles with Scrambled Eggs

This makes two servings. Calories in italics.
Calories per person is 217

2 medium to large zucchinis.  You should end up with about 6 cups of zucchini (before salting) (114)
1 teaspoon olive oil (40)
4 eggs scrambled (280)
season with garlic powder, salt and pepper

In a large, non stick fry pan heat olive oil.  Add gently squeezed zucchini. Cook over medium heat until the zucchini has wilted.  Move aside and cook eggs.  Or you can cook your eggs in another frying pan.

Divide zucchini and eggs between two serving plates.

Rendering Tallow

This is was an adventure in cooking for me.

Some time ago I was reading a blog where a woman had rendered suet to make soap.  I thought to myself.  What a lot of work to make soap.  I wouldn't do that.  How would I have the time to do that?  I wouldn't even know where to begin.  Well, apparently, this thought went out into space and came back as a challenge for me to make it.

Recently, we bought a half of a cow.  When I ordered my cuts of meat the butcher asked me if I wanted suet.  I said yes.  Before I had made some English pudding and we really liked it.  I thought, what the heck, I will make some of that pudding.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Oh, the things I would discover as a result.

First of all, most people don't use fat from the cow.  Sadly.  Since this cow gave its life for us, I think we should use all the things we can use and not let things go to waste.  That really is a shame.  I can tell you I will be saving fat from now on.  In this post at the blog, Humblebee and Me, I discovered that morsel of truth and I could not agree with her more.

This site, Cooks Info, I found out more about suet. What it is used for, storage and literature and lore.

I also found out that tallow is great for skin.  I will be experimenting with this idea myself.  You can read all about this one bloggers experience with tallow yourself at Mommypotamus.  I will say that after all my cleaning and such my hands were a lot more soft.

There are two ways of making tallow.  The dry method and the wet method (at Applegarth Farms blog).  I used the dry method. I found this site, The Prairie Homestead and basically followed everything she said.

Here is what I learned.  Go farther than you think because I think I could have rendered more fat than I did. You will see in the picture below where I strained it.  It really could have been more golden.

Clean up is the hardest part about this whole process.  I used a bench scraper for my counter top.  This helped me get rid of a lot of grease before attempting to wash it off.   Regular soap and water wont work very well.  You will have to do it over and over again.  You can use vinegar or any product that "cuts grease".

RENDERING TALLOW 

Cut down suet.  Tearing away the sheath around the fat as much as possible and cutting out meat chunks left behind.

Place processed suet in crockpot.  Set heat to low. The more you break it down before the crockpot step, the faster it will melt.

Once it is cooked down, strain the liquid from the solids.  I did not use cheesecloth.  This strainer worked just fine.

 Pour the liquid into a lined baking dish.

Let cool and then cut into bars.

Wrap and freeze for long term storage.  I am not sure when I will get to making soap with the tallow so I am setting it aside in the freezer for now. I may just end up using it for cooking.

Yellow Cake

This is a good cake!  We had half of it as a cake.  The other half I made into cake balls.  I saw it on Craftsy. If you would like to take the Wilton Craftsy class- hop on over to Craftsy and sign up for this class, its free.  (Craftsy did not pay me to say that).

I am still working on getting a smooth cake pop but these turned out okay.  My kids certainly thought they were edible.

Yellow Cake

slightly adapted.

3 1/2 cups cake flour (11 1/2 ounces)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temp
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease two 8" round pans.

In large bowl, mix together dry ingredients- flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add flour mixture alternately with
milk, beating well after each addition. Continue beating 1 minute. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan and cool completely.

5:2 Lentil Toss

5:2 recipes can be very easy if you have things made up before hand. I had these lentils already cooked so this dish was a breeze to put together.  Obviously, you can use any kind of lentil.  I used black beluga lentils here. They hold their shape nicely after cooking.

Lentils are a very healthy addition to this dish.

Lentils are "a rich source of numerous essential nutrients, particularly dietary fiber and protein supplying 122% and 52% of the Daily Value (DV), respectively. Micro nutrients in high content include folate (120% DV), thiamin (76% DV), phosphorus (64% DV) and iron (58% DV) (table).

With 26% of total food content from protein (table), lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any legume or nut, after soybeans and hemp. Red (or pink) lentils contain a lower concentration of fiber than green lentils (11% versus 31%).

The low levels of readily digestible starch (5%), and high levels of slowly digested starch (30%), make lentils of potential value to people with diabetes. The remaining 65% of the starch is a resistant starch classified as RS1^, as a high-content resistant starch, which is 32% amylose. A minimum of 10% in starch from lentils escapes digestion and absorption in the small intestine (therefore called "resistant starch")^. Source Wikipedia, click here).

Lentil Toss
Calories are in parenthesis. 

1 cup fresh zucchini, diced (21)
1 small tomato diced (22)
1 cup lettuce torn into bite sized pieces (8)
1/2 cup lentils, cooked (115)
1 teaspoon olive oil (40)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
s and p, to taste

Toss this salad together and enjoy!
206 calories

Peach Barbeque Sauce

 
I made this barbecue sauce before and totally forgot to blog about it.  Over the winter I used it all.  It was a very delicious recipe.  I can tell you for sure that it is on the canning "to do" list to be sure.  Won't be long and peaches will be in full throttle and I will be canning this stuff to be sure! If you can, I highly recommend you do too.

Have you ever wondered about the spelling of barbeque, I mean barbecue?  You can read about it here, from The Grammarist.  I choose barbeque.  Deal!

By the way, the sauce does darken over time. If you make it and wonder why mine is darker- that's why.

Zesty Peach Barbeque Sauce
BALL Complete Book of Home Preserving 400 Delicious Recipes For Today; Robert Rose Publishers.

• 6 cups finely chopped pitted peeled peaches (about 3 lb or 9 medium)
• 1 cup finely chopped seeded red bell pepper (about 1 large)
• 1 cup finely chopped onion (about 1 large)
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped garlic (about 14 cloves)
• 1-1/4 cups honey
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp hot pepper flakes
• 2 tsp dry mustard
• 2 tsp salt
• 8 Ball® (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands 

1. PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil.  Wash lids in warm soapy water and set bands aside.
2. COMBINE all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens to the consistency of a thin commercial barbeque sauce, about 25 minutes.
3. LADLE hot sauce into hot jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.
4. PROCESS in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.

The Blues

 
I haven't been cooking or baking much lately.  We have been moving my parents into their new abode.  They are in their 80's and needed to downsize and be on one floor.  So my awesome brother and his awesome wife came up from TN and that is what we have been doing all week- moving them in. 

They have lived in that house for 52 years.  That is a LONG time.  I never knew any other place growing up.  Some people may find it sad, the move and the loss of that house.  I have not frankly. I am more of a "anywhere you hang your hat" kind of gal. The only time it hit me as sad was when we were sitting eating lunch at the table, on paper plates because nearly everything was gone from the kitchen, at that point.  My Mother said, "This is our last meal here at this table."  I got kind of teary eyed then.  All those memories locked up in a table. 

That table was where we gathered every day.  No matter what.  We always ate dinner together.  It was where I crafted. It was where we met to discuss pivotal life events. Its where we gathered with company.  Where we played board games and got silly.  Its where my parents piled a bunch of booze on the table when I was 16 and said, "so your curious about alcohol, go ahead, have at it. Under their watchful eye me and my friend set out to get drunk. (BTW, that was pretty much it for me by the way of alcohol in my teens.)  Other than wine on special occasions.  Everything happened around that table.

We managed some time to go and pick blueberries at our favorite spot.  We go pick at this place every year - for many years.  It started about 9 years ago.  I found the place when I lived in Lockport, NY.  I took my daughter there and at 3 she picked blueberries.  This made me incredibly happy.  My parents always taught me about good food.  Lots of stories around blueberries as a matter of fact.  I use to pick wild blueberries with my parents in the woods of Pennsylvania. They were very tasty blueberries.  My father use to pick blueberries when he was a kid in those same places during the 40's and sell them by the pint along the highway.  He would get paid 10 cents for those pints.  If they couldn't sell all of them, he and his brothers would sell them to a man called Scoblick.  He had some sort of processing center to can the blueberries.  He would pay them 8 cents.  So, obviously, they preferred to sell them along this highway where motorist were happy to pay them 10 cents for some fresh blueberries.

It was totally apropo that I found this blueberry craft beer for my dinner the other day.  It was delicious.  Kind of smacked a little of a wine cooler without all the sweetness of a wine cooler.  I loved it!