Smoky Potato Cheese Soup

Winter seems to have set in here in Central Ohio. Fortunately we haven't seen any snow yet. Cold weather is perfect for soups. We aren't crazy about soup at my house, but this is one that we all enjoy. I usually make this recipe a couple times a year.

The original recipe came from Allrecipes, but I lightened it up a bit. However, this is by no means lowfat between the smoked sausage and the Velveeta!

Smoky Potato Cheese Soup

1/2 c chopped onion
14-16 oz pkg light smoked sausage, diced
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
6 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 lb Velveeta Light, cubed
2 (12 oz) cans fat free evaporated milk
black pepper, to taste

Spray a large pan with nonstick spray. Cook the onion and sausage over medium heat until the onions soften and the sausage starts to get some color. Add the broth and potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes are soft.
Using a potato masher, lightly mash the potatoes, being sure not to completely mash them.
Add the Velveeta and stir until melted.
Stir in the evaporated milk and season to taste with pepper.Notes:
1. If the soup isn't as thick as you'd like, then make a slurry using equal parts cornstarch and water. Stir in about 1 tablespoon at a time to the soup until the desired thickness is reached.
2. For best results, leftovers should be reheated on the stove. Microwaving can curdle the soup.
3. Serve with some crusty bread and a salad.

Pizza Casserole

Back in college I had a roommate named Danette who had a boyfriend named Robby. Pizza Casserole was a staple in his house. Danette really liked it so she introduced us to it. Just five simple ingredients that didn't put a huge dent on our college student budget. Needless to say, we ate it quite frequently.

Pizza Casserole

12 oz package egg noodles, cooked
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1 lb ground beef, crumbled, browned and drained
28 oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x13x2 baking dish, layer HALF of the noodles, soup, ground beef, spaghetti sauce and cheese. Repeat. Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes until hot and cheese is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Note: if you want to spice this up a bit, feel free to add fresh garlic and red pepper flakes or perhaps some Italian seasoning to the meat.

OAMC: Prepare this in two deep 8x8 baking pans instead of the 9x13. Freeze. Thaw completely and bake as directed.

Microwave Barbecued Round Steak

My parents bought their first microwave from Monkey Wards when my sister was a baby. I have fond memories of watching the time count down and trying to stop it at "0" (zero, not oh) by pressing the button to open the door. Here's a great recipe from back then with some of my own twists:


Barbecued Round Steak

Yields 8 servings

1/2 c minced celery OR 1 t celery seed
10.5 oz can tomato soup, undiluted
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 t prepared mustard
1/2 c minced onion OR 2 T dried onion flakes
2 t garlic powder
2 T brown sugar
2 T lemon juice
1 t Tabasco sauce
2 lb round steak, cut into bite-sized pieces

In a 3-quart microwavable bowl, mix everything except the meat until combined. Stir in the meat. Cover and refrigerate several hours.

Microwave, covered, on 50% powder for 20 minutes. Stir and recover. Continue cooking at 50% for another 20 minutes or so until meat is tender, stirring every 5 minutes. If edges start to dry up, stir in a little bit of water.

Note: the fresh celery and onion usually provide enough moisture for a 2-lb batch. If you use the dried versions, you'll definitely need the water. Also, if you're feeding a smaller family and cut the recipe in half, then you'll also need some water.

OAMC: I am trying this out for the first time, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. Put 2 lb meat in a gallon bag (or 1 lb meat and 1 cup sauce in each of two quart baggies) and pour sauce over and freeze. Thaw in fridge. Pour into bowl and microwave as directed.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

I have been eating Italian Beef Sandwiches all my life. I think I heard someone say that the recipe entered our family through my dad's Aunt Jane (please correct me if I'm wrong.) While the recipe is essentially the same, I have tweaked it to make it suitable for the crockpot.

First, I gather all the ingredients. You'll notice the Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. Ordinarily I'd use Lawry's Seasoned Salt, but I'm out, so I've been using Tony Chachere's instead lately because it's also a seasoned salt just with different spices.

Put the roast in the crockpot and sprinkle on the seasonings. Add 1 cup of water to help cook the roast, but not more since this is a crockpot and the moisture can't escape like in the oven.
Let it cook on low all day. When it's tender, remove the meat and thinly slice or shred.

Put the meat back in the crockpot with the juices. Add only enough water to not quite cover the meat and let it cook some more.

When you're tired of waiting, serve the meat on some good buns, being sure to add some juice to each sandwich.
Tonight I tried these 40-Minute Hamburger Buns that I heard about on Love to Pinch Pennies. Casey's were prettier than mine, but that's no surprise considering I screwed them up. I am out of active dry yeast, so I used rapid rise, but mixed the dry ingredients first rather than proofing the yeast in the water like you do with active dry. That shouldn't be a huge deal, but I added more than I needed to. I dumped in 3 packets without thinking and each one has 2.25 teaspoons for a total of 6.75 teaspoons, but the recipe called for 2 tablespoons or 6 teaspoons. Then I forgot the salt. They were good, but definitely needed salt. They were fast because they only require one short rise instead of two rises which made them great for a weeknight. I will hold onto this recipe.

Italian Beef Sandwiches (100% Crockpot method)

3 lb boneless beef roast such as rump
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1/2 t seasoned salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t rosemary
1 t Italian seasoning
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1 cup water for roasting plus more later

Place meat in a crockpot. Add seasonings and 1 cup of water. Cook on LOW all day.

Remove meat from crockpot. Slice thinly or shred and return to crockpot with juices. Add a little bit more water, but not quite enough to cover the meat. Continue cooking a couple more hours to let the flavors mingle.

Serve meat and juices on a good bun that won't get soggy and fall apart from the juices.

50% crockpot/50% stove option:

To speed up dinner, after the meat has cooked in the crockpot until tender, you can simmer the sliced/shredded meat and juices in a covered skillet on the stovetop for 45 minutes. Just don't add any more water than you need to!

If you know you'll be exercising the stove option and you don't have the time/energy to measure out a bunch of spices in the morning, then don't worry. Just put the meat in the crockpot and season it with the salt and pepper and add the water. You can add the remaining seasonings to the skillet in the evening.

Homemade Cake Release

My sister will be attempting to decorate her first cake this week for her oldest daughter's birthday party. (Laura likes stargazer lilies, so I took this picture of mine in bloom for her.) Baking the cake itself isn't hard, but wondering whether it will come out of the pan in one piece can be scary.

Typically a cake mix will tell you to grease the pan with shortening and then dust it with flour. Sometimes it's hard to grease the pan evenly if the pan has a lot of nooks and crannies. Another option these days is to buy a can of nonstick spray that already includes the flour. I know that Pam, Crisco and Wilton carry such a spray, but who really wants to have to buy another product that you will only use occasionally?

My Wilton Method instructor gave me a recipe to make it easier. The best part is that most bakers are likely to have all the ingredients already in their kitchen. I divided the original recipe by four, so if you make a lot of cakes feel free to quadruple my quantities. It works great as long as you line the bottom of the pan with wax paper and then brush the sides with cake release. I've only had it fail once, but that was a banana bread recipe that I've found to be particularly difficult and I didn't line the pan with wax paper.

Homemade Cake Release

1 /4 cup + 2 tablespoons Crisco
1 tablespoon Oil
1 tablespoon Flour

Mix until creamy. Brush onto sides and bottom of pan with a basting brush. Store leftovers in refrigerator. It keeps a long time.

Using up the veggies: Chard Tartlets

Every Thursday in the summer, we receive our CSA share from the Sippels. I get excited about some veggies and dread others. The ones we like are gobbled up in a day or two. The ones we dislike stick around the fridge until they are mushy, moldy or otherwise inedible and get tossed in the compost bin.

To keep on top of what's left in the crisper drawers, I have a list on the fridge of all the herbs and veggies. When we use up something, then I cross it off. When we pick up that week's share, I add the names. It's a lot easier than rummaging through the crisper drawers to see what I still have.

Before last week's pickup we still had and their status before tonight's dinner:
- lettuce -- took to a cookout
- garlic scapes (they're the stem and flowerhead that garlic plants get)
- swiss chard (a colorful green)
- beets
- sage leaves -- dehydrated for more sage-y weather
- kale

Last week in our share we got and their status before tonight's dinner:
- more lettuce -- took to a cookout
- more beets
- cabbage
- collard greens
- zucchini -- made pickles
- yellow squash -- cooked
- kohlrabi
- tomatoes -- gone

Today is Tuesday so that means only tonight and tomorrow before the fridge is inundated with more veggies. I had to take action now.

I decided to use up some of the greens. When we were on vacation last month I made Sharna's Chard Tart. The original recipe uses a pie crust, but I didn't have one, so I decided to make a crustless tart instead. Joe isn't crazy about greens, so I baked them in muffin tins for individual portions and froze the rest. I used up the swiss chard and the kale leaves that were still green. Even without a crust, I thought these were really good.

While those were baking, I tackled the beets. One of the blogs I read, Once a Month Mom, had a post recently about making freezer pickled beets. I usually can my beets, but that's a lot of work for only a jar or two of beet pickles. I will try anything once, so there's now a container of pickled beets in my freezer.

If my list is correct, I still have left:
- garlic scapes (they'll keep, so I'm not worried)
- collards
- kohlrabi
- cabbage
- half a hot pepper from my garden

Maybe tomorrow will be coleslaw using the kohlrabi and cabbage as well as some carrots and onions from the garden. Or not. Tuna casserole is on the menu. In my experience greens make a better side for tuna casserole, so maybe it'll be the collards. Probably not.

Here's my version of the chard tart:

Chard Tartlets

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 bunch swiss chard, coarsely chopped and stalks sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tablespoons dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 pinch ground red pepper
3 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Line a muffin tin with (roughly) 10 cupcake papers. Lightly spray the papers with cooking spray.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until onions are soft. Add swiss chard stalks and garlic to the skillet and continue cooking until tender. Add the leaves and cook until tender. Season with basil, salt, pepper and red pepper.
In a bowl, combine the eggs, yogurt and cheese. Stir in the chard mixture. Scrape into the prepared cupcake papers, filling 3/4 or more full. These don't rise very much, but they do bubble.
Bake at 375 until filling is golden and firm, 25-35 minutes.

Zucchini Pineapple Cake

Sunday was the first CSA potluck of the year at the Sippel Family Farm. The potlucks are open to CSA members and their families. Members are supposed to bring a large enough dish along to feed everyone in their party (Grumble grumble vanload of rude people who don't) as well as table service for their party.

Typically the agenda is like this:

3 pm people start arriving
4 pm eat
5 pm farm tour
6 pm leave

The time's aren't set in stone or anything, but that's the general idea. Some months there will be something available for picking. Some members pick before the meal and others pick afterwards.

This month there were sugar snap peas. Peas are not my favorite veggie, but Joe likes them a lot. They're ok as a side dish, but a must in tuna casserole. Canned are gross. Fresh or frozen are fine. I don't care for the pods.

After we finished eating, Joe and I skipped out on the tour and headed off to the pea field with Samantha and reusable grocery bags in hand. I found a row and started picking away, not discriminating against any pod size. Joe carried Samantha until she whined and wanted down. Samantha happened to pick a good spot that wasn't picked-over yet. He also did not discriminate against small pods until he discovered that some pods were very full with large peas. I grew tired of stooping over the low-lying plants and headed over to see his bounty. He wasn't ready to stop, so I kept picking large pods as I headed back to the beginning of the row. We headed back to the house. We each had our bags half full of pea pods. That's a lot of peas.

We stood around talking and didn't leave the farm until 7. By 8, Samantha was in her jammies and we were out on the deck shelling peas. Around 9:30 it was too dark to see, so we came inside and put the girl to bed. Shelling was finished at 11. There were 4 Tupperware Thatsa Bowls of pods that hit the compost bin and just 5 lb 7 oz of peas for eating. Joe went to bed and I continued with blanching the peas for freezing. I was in the bed at midnight with 7 pint bags of peas in the freezer.

Thursday night I decided what to make for the potluck during a power outage. I try to take a dish using fresh produce and/or dessert. In our share that day we got lettuce, garlic scapes, yellow and green summer squash, beets and carrots. In my garden I also have new potatoes that I could use. I wasn't expecting the squash yet (it's nearly July but feels too early), so that was a pleasant surprise. I thought about it a while in the dark and remembered Pineapple Zucchini Cake. I dug out the recipe and was happy that I had all the ingredients on hand.

My mom has been making this recipe for as long as I can remember. This was our standard zucchini bread recipe for me growing up rather than the typical spiced version. I only remember Mom making one other zucchini bread recipe and it wasn't as good. It was a Weight Watcher recipe that made a single 8"x8" pan. The following recipe is far too point-y to be WW-friendly.

For the potluck I used my 9"x13"x1" pan plus a mini loaf pan. I took the 9x13 and stashed the loaf in the freezer. Good thing, too, because there were no leftovers to take home.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was when Joe tried it and liked it. He ate 3 pieces!

Zucchini Pineapple Cake

Makes: two 9x5 loaves OR two 8x8 pans OR one 9x13x2 pan OR one 9x13x1 pan plus one mini loaf OR 30 muffins

3 eggs
2 c sugar
1 t vanilla
1 c oil
2 c grated and drained zucchini, unpeeled (or yellow squash)
3 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 c raisins
1 c chopped nuts (my favorite is pecans, but I used almonds for the potluck and toasted them)
1 c crushed pineapple, drained (from a 20 oz can)

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour (or use non-stick spray) baking pans.

Beat eggs until fluffy. Add sugar, vanilla, oil and zucchini.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into wet mixture until just blended. Stir in raisins, nuts and pineapple.

Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake until nicely browned and toothpick in center comes out clean. For 9x5 loaves, 8x8 pans, 9x13x2 pan that's about an hour with pyrex dishes. Metal 9x13x1 pans and mini loaf pans take about 50 minutes. Muffins take about 35 minutes.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

If desired, loaves can be frozen. Wrap loaves in plastic wrap first before wrapping in foil. The acidity of the pineapple will eat through aluminum foil and that's not a good thing.

Seven Layer Bars

Tomorrow we're going to a cookout and I knew that I wanted to take a cookie or other dessert-type item, but I just wasn't sure what. So tonight I'm just sitting there and seven layer bars pops into my head. It's been ages since I've eaten one and even longer since I've made them. Have I ever even made them in my adult life? Maybe in college.

I looked through my recipe box of clipped dessert recipes (desserts get their very own box and everything else goes in another), but alas, no seven layer bar recipe. I moved on to the cookbooks. I could have gone straight to the internet, but I knew my umpteen cookbooks would not let me down and they didn't.

I started with the plastic ring-bound cookbooks that are typical of the church fundraiser. The first book had nothing, but I struck gold with the next book, "Roaring Good Cookbook" by the Witt Lioness Club in Witt, Illinois. There on page 64 was the following recipe for submitted by Kathryn Walcher for Seven Layer Bars:

Seven Layer Bars

1 stick oleo
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1 small or large pkg. chocolate bits
1 small or large pkg. butterscotch bits
1 c. coconut
1 c. chopped nuts
1 can Eagle Brand milk

Put in layers in order. Cover all with Eagle Brand. Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

That's it. I love how Kathryn assumed that her readers were familiar with the desired outcome of the dish. If you had never eaten a seven layer bar would you know to make this in a 9x13-inch baking dish? Would you know to melt the oleo (butter would be yummy) in the baking dish while the oven preheats? How big is a small or large bag of chocolate bits? What do they look like when they're done? How many servings does it make?

All of the ingredients I had on hand. Six of the seven were purchased back during "baking season" before Thanksgiving and Christmas. The seventh item, graham crackers, I picked up this week for no particular reason other than the fact that "s'mores season" is kicking off at all my stores. All of the stores had marshmallows, graham crackers and milk chocolate bars on sale. They would have you believe that no Memorial Day party would be complete without a few ooey-gooey s'mores.

Corn Pizza

Whenever I make pizza I tend to make two pizzas. "Joe's pizza" will have toppings commonly found at a pizza place. "Amy's pizza" either has unusual toppings or toppings that Joe doesn't like such as onions or pineapple. I always eat some of both pizzas. Joe will only try my pizza if it is onion-free. He doesn't like half-and-half pizzas because the onions on one side somehow contaminate the non-onion side.

Last week was no different. I knew I would be making pepperoni for Joe, but I didn't really know what the other would be until I started cooking. The $0.19 ears of corn in my crisper drawer called out to me. I don't recall ever using corn on pizza, but the other veggies (carrots, celery, super old daikon) just didn't inspire me like the corn did.

That night I baked the pepperoni pizza first. Joe and Samantha ate the pepperoni pizza while I worked on the corn pizza. When the corn pizza was done, we all had some. Joe was skeptical about putting corn on a pizza, but he went back for a second slice which meant he liked it. Samantha is an unpredictable toddler whose eating habits are typical for her age. Yet she ate more of the corn pizza than she did of the pepperoni. That spells success in this house.

I can't personally vouch for the reheatability of it because Joe took all the leftovers to work. He said his coworkers laughed at him for eating corn on pizza, but he didn't mind because it microwaved well without the warmed-over flavor that pizza often gets.

Corn Pizza

1/2 lb of your favorite pizza dough
1 T or so of EVOO
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 450. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with non-stick spray. Press out the dough to desired size in the pan. Drizzle the olive oil onto the dough and brush to coat evenly. Lightly rub the garlic all over the dough. Sprinkle the corn over the garlic; cover with cheese. Season with Italian seasoning, to taste. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the crust is browned and the cheese is beautifully melted.

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Now listening to The Laurie Berkner Band - Five Days Old on iTunes
via FoxyTunes

3-Step Jambalaya

I like to cook, but often my meals are Semi-Homemade rather than from scratch. Quick and easy is usually the name of the game around here.

Tonight I had nothing prepared. No idea what to make. Then I remembered a recipe I clipped from the coupons a few weeks ago. It was the March 8th Red Plum to be exact. The recipe called for Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage, which I stocked up on last week at Kroger. Pretty great deal that I would have overlooked without my Grocery Game List. I bought 8 packages. My List subscription more than paid for itself with the savings on the sausage. Ah, but I digress.

I pulled out the recipe and read over the ingredients. I had everything! But half of the ingredients were in the freezer. No biggie. I set the items out on the counter and walked away for a few minutes to give the stuff time to defrost a bit. The onions, peppers and tomatoes were still icy when I tossed them in the skillet. The sausage was still cold when I sliced it, but I didn't have any troubles passing the knife through it.

You're probably wondering exactly what the recipe is. Well, Hillshire Farm called it "3-Step Jambalaya". I thought that jambalaya usually had seafood in it, but this doesn't and that's fine here. Joe wouldn't have touched it if it had had any seafood. Really it's just doctored up Rice-a-Roni with some veggies and meat, but it was good and I like good. Good enough that I might save my last box of Rice-a-Roni especially for one of the 6 remaining smoked sausages.

3-Step Jambalaya

2 T butter or margarine
rice from a 6.8 oz pkg of Rice-a-Roni Spanish Rice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 c chopped onion
3/4 c chopped bell pepper (I only used 1/2 c and it was green)
2 c water
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained (I used my last pint bag of frozen tomatoes from 2008. If you use canned tomatoes, I suggest trying a no-salt-added one because this dish is plenty salty already)
seasoning packet from rice mix
1 pkg Hillshire Farm Smoked Sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices (I used the lite variety)
hot sauce, to taste (I happened to use Frank's Red Hot, but Tabasco would probably be good too)

1. In a large saucepan over high heat (I used medium since my stuff was still frozen), saute the butter, rice, garlic, onion and pepper for 5 minutes.
2. Mix in the water, tomatoes, seasoning packet and sausage; bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked. (I stirred occasionally during cooking to prevent sticking. The sauce was creamier due to the stirring.) Remove from heat and stir. Add hot sauce to taste.

Cheesy Potato Spoon Bread

We tried a new recipe tonight at dinner for Cheesy Potato Spoon Bread. I've been holding on to the recipe for a while now. I clipped the recipe from the March 2005 issue of Vegetarian Times Magazine. It only took 4 years for the stars to align and for me to have the ingredients on hand. Usually when I keep a recipe that long, I am disappointed, but this one was good. Joe and Samantha both had seconds, so that means it's a keeper.

The original recipe has some quirks that I attribute to the fact that it came from a vegetarian magazine. I'm a meat-eating homecook, so I adapted the recipe to suit my cooking style. The portion size was large, which is fine as a main dish, but I served this as a side. There were alternate directions for baking individual ramekins or a single casserole dish. I chose the family friendly casserole dish. Another recipe oddity was the SOY margarine combined with the eggs and dairy. Vegetarians are weird.

Here is my version:

Cheesy Potato Spoon Bread

Makes 6 side dish servings

• 1/2 T margarine
  
• 2 c leftover mashed potatoes (prepared)
• 1/2 c water
  
• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 T margarine
• 1/4 t onion powder
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 t ground pepper
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
  
• 2 large eggs, beaten
  
• 3 oz. hot pepper cheese, shredded
• 5 oz. neufchatel cheese, softened
  

1. Preheat oven to 425F. Generously butter 1.5-qt. soufflé dish or casserole.
2. If using cold mashed potatoes, warm in large nonstick skillet or saucepan over medium heat until very hot, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
3. Meanwhile, bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Put flour, margarine, onion powder, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper in mixing bowl, and pour boiling water over mixture. Using electric mixer on low, beat for 1 minute, and add very hot mashed potatoes. Beat again well. Add eggs, and beat again, until thoroughly combined. Set aside to cool slightly.
4. Mix cheeses in a small mixing bowl. Pour 4 cups potato mixture (about two-thirds) into the prepared casserole. Drop spoonfuls of the cheese filling over the potato mixture. Cover filling with remaining potato mixture. Place casserole on baking sheet.
5. Bake 50 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.
   

St. Patrick's Day Menu and Irish Soda Bread

I won't be home Tuesday night, so we had out corned beef and cabbage dinner tonight. Very yummy. Corned beef, cabbage, mashed potatoes and soda bread.

St. Patrick's Day has always been important in my family, but it's funny how I have modified the menu over the years. Growing up, Mom always bought the pink pre-corned beef at the grocery store. She cooked it and then added in the cabbage. We always had the "new" potatoes, which were always red and if we were lucky then they were small. For dessert there might have been green jello. I don't remember there being anything else.

Now that I am an adult I have figured out that I do not get along well with the chemicals in store bought corned beef. They give me headaches and a general sense of malaise. Not pleasant feeling at all. So, several years ago I started seasoning a beef brisket myself several days in advance. This year I tweaked the seasonings and I think it made it even better. Then I proceed with the cooking just as Mom always has. I do the cabbage the same as Mom. Joe doesn't like boiled new potatoes and I'm still working on establishing "our" traditional potato dish, so this year I made mashed potatoes. That leads me to the soda bread. Some years I've made a quick bread variant that was ok, but Joe was never crazy about it. This year I tried something made from yeast. It's really more of a raisin bread, but it's great. Soft. Would probably make a good sandwich bread.

Last year Mom sent me one of those magazine/cookbooks that they sell by the register at the grocery store. It was called Taste of Home Irish Food & Fun. The original recipe can be found on their website here. My comments below are italicized.

Irish Soda Bread

SERVINGS: 10

CATEGORY: Breads

METHOD: Baked

TIME: Prep: 30 min. + rising Bake: 30 min.

Ingredients:

• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°) (I will admit that I do not precisely measure the temp. I microwave 8 oz of liquid for 30 seconds in a Pyrex measuring glass. Less liquid for less time; more liquid for more time. I then check it by sticking my clean finger in it. Totally scientific, huh?)
  
• 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 cup warm buttermilk (110° to 115°) (I used the powdered buttermilk and reconstituted it per the package)
  
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3-1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour (I needed more)
  
• 3/4 cup golden raisins (I used regular raisins that I soaked in hot water until plump. I drained off the liquid after soaking.)
  

Directions:

In a large bowl (I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer with the flat beater here), dissolve yeast in warm water. Add 1 tablespoon sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Beat in the buttermilk, butter, salt, baking soda, 1 cup flour and remaining sugar until smooth. Stir in raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface (I kept in my mixer and switched to the dough hook.); knead (I used Speed 2 and added flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking to sides of bowl. The bowl did have a little bit of dough sticking at the bottom.) until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes (At this time the raisins were pretty beat up, so there were little bits throughout the dough. May want to consider adding in the raisins near the end of kneading if you are concerned about keeping the raisins intact).

(After kneading, I cut the dough in half and froze one half for later use. Note to self: the yeast will be groggy upon awakening so be prepared for extended rise times.)

Place in a greased bowl (I used the same mixer bowl), turning once to grease top. Cover (I like a clean kitchen towel, but plastic wrap will allow you to see the progress) and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes. (If your kitchen is cold, try this trick: turn your oven to the lowest possible setting (mine is 170 F) and a timer for exactly 1 minute. When the timer goes off, turn off the oven and put the dough inside.)

Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead for 2 minutes (This I do by hand and I stop when the dough becomes difficult to fold over itself). Shape into a round loaf. Place on a greased baking sheet (I used parchment). With a sharp knife, cut a 1/4-in.-deep cross on top of loaf. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes (even the half loaves) or until golden brown. Remove from pan to cool on a wire rack. Yield: 1 loaf (or 2 small loaves).

Adventures in Kraut Making, Day 1

Joe and I recently watched an episode of Good Eats where Alton made sauerkraut. Alton made it look easy and unscary. The scum potential and lengthy wait time have deterred me from making sauerkraut to date. But it is cabbage season and there have been cabbages in the CSA shares this month. Joe will only eat cabbage a few times a year without complaining and there is just too much of it sitting around occupying space in the fridge, so I decided I would try my hand at sauerkraut making. I hope this works. We'll know in a month. Here is the recipe. My comments are italicized. Sauerkraut Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2004 Show: Good Eats Episode: Good Eats: Eat this Rock!
Yield 12 cups
5 pounds green cabbage, shredded (I used three medium to large sized heads.) 3 tablespoons pickling salt 1 tablespoon juniper berries (I couldn't find any here in town, so I omitted for now and will add it in when I can get to a store in Columbus that carries them. I'll go to the Penzeys if I have to.) 2 teaspoons caraway seeds (Mine are a little old, so I toasted them a few minutes to make them more fragrant and then cooled them before using.) 1 quart water, in a sanitized glass jar In large mixing bowl (this should be read as huge mixing bowl. I used two 4-quart bowls and they were filled to the brim.), mix cabbage thoroughly with salt, juniper berries, and caraway seeds, using hands or tongs. If using your hands, make sure that they are very clean prior to mixing. Let stand for 10 minutes. Pack cabbage mixture down into a large plastic food container (Alton used a bread container with the insert for removing the bread slices, which he used instead of the lid mentioned in the next step, but Walmart didn't have that type of container, so I couldn't do that.). Top with a lid smaller than the opening of the container and place a glass jar filled with the quart of water on top of the lid. Place in cool area overnight (65 to 70 degrees F). In a day, the cabbage should have given up enough liquid to be completely submerged. The jar serves as a weight to keep the cabbage submerged and away from air. Check cabbage every other day for approximately 2 weeks and skim the surface of scum, if necessary. Let stand for 4 weeks. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

We made ice cream for dessert tonight. I mixed it up and Joe put it in the ice cream maker. If you like peanut butter, then you'll like this ice cream. Very peanut buttery. Easy too, since there are no eggs to cook.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

2 2/3 c half and half
180 g (3/4 c) peanut butter
180 g (3/4 c + 2 T) sugar
dash salt
1/8 t vanilla

Put all ingredients in the blender. Puree until smooth. Refrigerate a few hours until well chilled (or as long as you can stand to wait). Freeze in ice cream maker per the manufacturer's instructions. Yields about 1 quart.

We have a Cuisinart brand ice cream maker that can hold up to a quart and a half. It is the type with a bowl that is filled with refrigerant and refrozen prior to making each batch. Mine must be frozen at least 24 hours or else the ice cream will not freeze properly. I have found that a Ziploc 2 gallon freezer bag will hold the freezer bowl nicely. I put the clean bowl into the bag and pop it in my chest freezer. Then whenever the ice cream making mood strikes, i am prepared. This recipe froze in 25 minutes.