ABC Survey

Lovingly recycled from Patti's Blog...

A - Age: 47

B - Bed size: King
C - Chore you hate: cleaning out the fridge
D - Don’t eat: liver
E - Essential start-your-day item: coffee
F - Favorite board game: Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit
G - Gold or Silver: Both
H - Height: 5'8"
I - Instruments you play: guitar, piano (both not played well)
J - Job title: Engineering Supervisor
K - Kid(s):  yes, two
L - Love or lust: both
M - Mom’s name: Angela
N - Nicknames Cyn
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: 3 ankle surgeries, 2 childbirth, 1 reset of broken nose, 1 bladder infection and 1 pneumonia as a baby
P - Pants or pantyhose: pants
Q - Favorite Movie Quote:  "Jake: How often does the train go by? Elwood: So often that you won't even notice it."
R - Right or left handed: Right.
S - Siblings: 2
T - Time you wake up: 5:20 am
U - Underwear: old lady style
V - Vegetable favorite: beets or spinach
W - Ways you run late: I always underestimate how long it will take to do something
X - X-rays you’ve had: a ton
Y - Yummy food you make: pickles
Z - Zoo favorite: penguins

Ask Moms Kitchen - food processor, pectin and camping

 

Do we wait anymore for the postman to bring us answers to all of our burning questions?   All I seem to get is junk mail these days.    But I do wait eagerly for comments to my blog posts.   And occasionally, someone asks a question.   So, here are some answers.....

 

Any advice on what to look for in a food processor? Or do you use your beloved Kitchen Aid mixer and call it a day?

 

There are people that use their food processors all the time.   I am not one of them - I prefer to knead bread by hand, and make pastry crust by hand, too.   However, there are certain jobs where the food processor is indispensable - and that's for slicing and grating large amounts of food.   I've owned a Cuisinart and a Kitchen Aid food processor (there are no other brands worth buying, in my book) and I much prefer the Kitchen Aid.   If you monitor the Macy's sales, you can find some good deals on them - I snagged mine for about $100.  That being said, you could use a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a slicer attachment, but it takes longer to set up. 

 

Can you please tell me how much of your home-made pectin to use in a typical jam recipe (one that would otherwise require bought pectin)

 

Yes, you can find the ratios for typical jam recipes in this blog post.  Also, a great book of jam and jelly recipes that don't require boxed pectin is Linda Ziedrich's Joy of Jams, Jellies and Other Sweet Preserves, and for ideas on flavor combinations, or just fantasizing about taking a trip to France, I like to browse Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures.  However, that book isn't really user friendly. 

 

I would love to see your kaper chart and schedule from Girl Scout camping. I camp with my girls quite a bit, but this year am coordinating a camp trip for the entire service unit (45 girls) and would love to see what worked for others. I would also like to see the egg on a stick info.

Sure!  For those not involved in Girl Scouting, a kaper chart is used to divide up camp duties, otherwise you might end up with what I like to call a "Lord Of The Flies" situation, where there is youth anarchy and no one has fun or eats anything or gets their tent set up.  I made my Kaper Chart back when my Scouts were Brownies....now they are Seniors and they have to figure things out for themselves.   I wrote this post about Girl Scout camping a while ago...it reminds me that I should write about Boy Scout camping sometime....I have a Boy Scout, too.   Boy Scout camping is similar to Girl Scout camping in that there is plenty of opportunity for a "Lord of the Flies" situations, but Boy Scout camp usually involves more axes and knives, which adds a greater degree of parental angst.   But it's fun, too! The adult leader Boy Scout magazine has lots of great info and recipes for camping...check it out. 

To make an egg on a stick, here is what you do:

• First, since I know you are using Leave No Trace principles as a good Girl Scout should...you are not using an actual stick but a metal marshmallow roaster stick.   That's good, because it makes egg on a stick work even better.  
•  Use older eggs because fresh eggs are hard to peel.  Carefully poke a hole in each end with tip of a pocket knife. Stick the skewer straight through the egg longways through the holes.  
•  Keeping the stick parallel to the ground (if pointed up or down it will slide), roast it over the coals like a marshmallow, rotating it to cook evenly.  You can pull the stick out to check for doneness - hard or soft cooked
• When it is done to your liking, carefully remove from the stick (it will be hot) and when it has cooled enough to touch, peel and eat.

Your scouts will be amazed!  Have fun....

Under Pressure

Today, I taught a pressure cooking class at Big George's in Ann Arbor. It's a great thing to do on a rainy dreary midwinter day. The first recipe I demonstrated is Beef Monterey, which is a southwest variant on swiss steak. It's quick and easy for a weekday dinner. Saffron Risotto with vegetables is beautifully colored, especially cheery on a gray day like today. To make it into a meal, add some cubed chicken with the rice or some shrimp at the end. Risotto in the pressure cooker is so easy - it literally takes 5 minutes to do. No standing by the stove and stirring for 45 minutes! It's probably the number one reason to get a pressure cooker. I'm devoted to my Kuhn Rikon Duromatic pressure cookers (I own two), because they are beautifully built. Alas, they are spendy! I've written about my love of Swiss kitchen gadgets before, but I'll let you in on a little secret. I bought a Phillipe Richard pressure cooker at J.C. Penney for $20 and it worked splendidly. I'd suggest using a flame tamer with a cheaper cooker to help evenly disperse the heat. A flame tamer is a metal disk that goes between the flame and your pot.

Beef Monterey

1 T. olive oil
¼ c. flour
Salt and pepper
1 top round beef steak, approx.. 1 ¼ lb, cut into 4 serving size pieces
1 T red wine vinegar
1 medium onion, sliced pole to pole
2 poblano peppers
1 10 oz. can tomatoes with peppers
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, minced

In uncovered pressure cooker, heat oil on medium high heat Combine flour, salt and pepper in a ziplock bag. Add beef and shake so meat is evenly coated in flour, and add beef to cooker and sear quickly on both sizes until browned. Remove meat from pan and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with vinegar, add onion and pepper and cook for a minute or so. Add tomatoes, including juice. Return beef to the pan . Cover cooker and bring to full pressure (15 lbs) over high heat. Lower heat to maintain high pressure. Cook for 20 minutes. Release pressure using the quick method, open the cooker and remove the meat, cook sauce uncovered until it has thickened slightly, 7 – 9 minutes. Top meat with sauce and garnish with cilantro. Serves 4

World’s Easiest Risotto

The basic recipe
1 T. olive oil
1 ½ c. arborio rice
3 ½-4 c. stock
¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Basic method – heat the oil in the open cooker, add rice stirring to coat with oil, add 3 ½ c. stock. Cover, bring to low pressure (12 lbs) over high heat , lower heat to just maintain pressure. High pressure(15 lbs) is okay if that is the only option with the cooker. Cook for 5 minutes, release pressure using the quick method, and open the cooker. Add Parmesan and heat uncovered until desired consistency, adding stock if necessary. Add salt and pepper to taste Makes 4 main dish servings (or 6 side dish)

Today’s variation
I made Saffron Risotto with Vegetables – I added ½ c. chopped leeks, ¼ t saffron to oil during the rice step, I used chicken stock and I added a cup of peas during the Parmesan step