Our Day at the Fair, Part I

Yesterday was gorgeous county fair weather, and we spent a great family day at ours.

We always seem to get there too early, though—well, at least for the last two years since we’ve had fair entries.  Too early = anytime earlier than the judges are done judging.  Last year we learned that 9 a.m. is too early but forgot that 9:45 a.m. also is.

Why?  Why, you ask??  Because we have to find out as soon as possible if the kids won any ribbons since the anticipation is a killer when you’re only 7 or 8, or 4.  Or the mom.

Our first stop, of course, was the baked goods building just past the fair gate, and I already told you we got there too early.  We didn’t know that right away, though, and it was not entirely a bad thing, as you’ll see in a second.  The doors were wide open, so in we walked, and we found the judges all sitting at the tables talking and nibbling.  Still, peripherally, we noticed blue and red ribbons in the decorated cakes case as we edged closer and smiled hesitatingly at the judges, who didn’t seem to mind our presence one bit.

Nathan was the first to see it—-that big, beautiful red ribbon hanging from Hannah’s pretty-in-pink doll cake.  Then he said it out loud, and if you know Hannah, I don’t even have to tell you what she did next, because you can already see it and hear it, can’t you?

But if you don’t know her, I’ll tell you she is an 8-year-old girl, and she did what many 8-year-old girls would do.  She jumped up and down and let out a shriek like nobody’s business, and all the judges smiled and laughed and congratulated her, while I was standing there wishing I had the video camera with me.  Moments like those are priceless.

She did a fantastic job, didn’t she?  She also told me several times recently, “I was born to bake.”  Yep she’s my daughter, all right.

I’ll confess to helping just a little bit, though.  I styled the hair. 

Next time I’ll share more exciting news from our day at the fair.

Elisabeth’s Rainbow Cupcakes Cake

Okay, so if you’re a regular reader, it should be clear that I’m a little inconsistent when it comes to food.  One minute I’m all-natural, whole, healthy ingredients, and the next minute I’ve got a picture of artifically-sweetened, artifically-colored, sugared up junk food slapped up here on the blog.

But you all have been very sweet in pretending not to notice.     No explanation for now; I just wanted to say that the irony is not lost on me either.

So, jumping right in . . . I wanted to show you this trick I did with cupcakes for the first time ever.  I’ve seen cupcakes cakes in stores and online and had an opportunity to make one earlier this month for Elisabeth’s birthday.

She wanted a rainbow cake, and I wanted to make her a BIG rainbow.  I don’t have a large enough pan, though, so I thought if I put some cupcakes together I could get the look we wanted.

First, I’ve got to say that one of my pet peeves is rainbows with the wrong colors or the colors in the wrong order.  Science degree, ROY G BIV, and all that, you know?  Normally, it would bother me, but when your sweet, turning-4-years-old daughter wants pink and purple sprinkles at the top, you can lay aside your visible spectrum convictions, save the physics lesson for another day, and just go with it.  See how laid back and easygoing I am?  heh heh

But back to the technique.  It was fun to do, and this is the tip that made it possible.  The gigantic Wilton #789, with one smooth edge and the other with teeth.  I used a decorator bag along with the tip’s smooth side to frost the cupcakes all together in long ribbons of icing. I applied the sprinkles, made some poofy clouds, and that was it.

What’s nice about this technique is that you can cover a cake that’s any shape, and placing cupcakes together is a whole lot easier than trimming cakes to make your shape if you lack the right pan.  Also, there are no sides to frost, which made things go more quickly.  And finally, serving time is quick and easy too.  Just pull the cupcakes apart and there you go.

The birthday girl was delighted, and cleanup was a cinch.

Gingerbread Cookies Worth Eating

Cookie Week continues . . .

I’ve enjoyed making gingerbread cookies over the years but was never completely happy with any of the recipes I tried . . . until I discovered one called “Gingerbread Cookies Worth Eating” in a Sur La Table catalog.  I was intrigued and hopeful.  Surely if Sur La Table said they were worth eating, they would be, right???

Since then I have never used a another recipe for my gingerbread cookies.  Try them and you’ll understand why. 

This recipe is quite close to the original (which I could no longer find online) and is just fabulous—packed with spicy flavor and a rich color.  No bland, anemic-looking gingerbread cookies ever again!  These really are worth eating, especially if you use good quality cinnamon, ginger and cloves—like Penzey’s brand, which in my opinion is unrivaled in flavor and aroma.  I buy them in bulk since I bake a lot, and they keep their potency well for a long time.

Gingerbread Cookies Worth Eating

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 T. ground cinnamon

1 T. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup unsulphured molasses

In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, soda and spices; set aside.

In bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter with brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Mix in molasses, then mix in dry ingredients, until just combined.

Divide dough in half and shape each half into a disk.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  (Since the dough requires a rest before rolling anyway, I often make it in advance so it will be ready and waiting for me when I need it.  In that case I put the entire batch of dough in an airtight container and store it in the fridge until I’m ready to roll and bake.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Roll half of dough to 1/8-inch or so thickness and cut with cookie cutters.  Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets and bake for 10-11 minutes.  You may need to adjust the baking time depending on the size of your cutters.

Cool on baking sheet for two minutes, then remove to wire rack and cool completely.  Repeat with remaining dough.

Having your kids help cut out cookies is fun, but here’s where it really gets exciting.  I like to make a big batch of royal icing, get out my cake decorating tips and bags, give each child a pile of cookies, and turn them loose.

Oh, does this bring back memories.  This year’s batch of dough is in the fridge waiting for us, but I found these pictures I took three years ago on decorating day. The kids did a great job, don’t you think?

When little helping hands are involved, I close each decorating bag with a rubber band; otherwise, the frosting tends to get squeezed out both ends.

Here are two Martha Stewart recipes for Royal Icing.  Since we have our own farm fresh eggs, I am comfortable using raw egg whites, but the meringue powder also works well.  For these cookies, I substitute water for the lemon juice called for in her recipe.

Decorator bags, couplers and #3 round tips work well here.  For very young children, a #4 tip would be even better since its larger size requires less squeezing pressure.  For very detailed work, use a #2.

You can always tape the corner of a ziploc bag for reinforcement, then snip off the tip and use that to decorate, but you won’t have the same degree of control or precision you’d have using the tips.

Whip up a batch of these and fill your kitchen with the spicy aroma of ginger.  And have some good family fun too!

Don’t forget to enter my Homemade Cookie Giveaway for a chance at winning a dozen or so little delectables from my kitchen!

Jam-Stripe Cookies

Continuing with Cookie Week, I want to share these delicious cookies, all pretty and festive with their red stripes of raspberry jam.  I first saw them in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food, and I found the recipe online for you here.

They’re a lot of fun to make but can be a little messy and require some care with the assembly.  You’ll also find that the “All-in-One Cookie Dough” used here has links to other cookie kinds and shapes made with the same recipe.  Pretty convenient.

I have two tips to recommend—instructions that vary from the recipe . . . and they may not make a lot of sense unless you read the complete recipe first.

1) I prefer rolling out my dough closer to 10-11 inches square rather than the 12 inches they suggest.  (Then I just eyeball it when I cut the dough into the four strips, by first cutting in half, then cutting each half in half.)  The smaller size makes for sheets of dough that are slightly thicker and easier to work with, as well as a slightly wider finished product.  Otherwise, the cookies seemed too skinny to me.

2) Once the dough is chilled, I do not saw apart the cookies with a serrated knife.  I prefer a single, decisive swipe with my trusty, thin-bladed Santoku.  A large chef’s knife would also work well.  As long as the dough is well-chilled, this does not “squash”  the layers at all; in fact the sheets of dough hold together better since there is no sawing motion to cause the jammy layers to slide apart.

Shall I call Martha and let her know? 

I follow the other instructions as written, and here are some pictures to go along with the recipe . . .

Don’t attempt to forgo the parchment paper.  These cookies can be messy to make, and the parchment really saves on clean-up.

Enjoy!  And don’t forget to enter my Homemade Cookie Giveaway for a chance at winning a dozen or so little delectables from my kitchen.

Espresso Double-Chocolate Chip Cookies

I cannot remember where I first acquired this recipe, but it has been one of my favorites, and I don’t think I tweaked it much from the original.  I love the flavor of chocolate (doesn’t everyone??), and this one packs a chocolate punch, with a little something extra that appeals to the grown-ups.

Quality ingredients make a big difference here.  Using real butter and pure vanilla extract are a must, and some of my other preferences are King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, Penzey’s Natural Cocoa Powder (darker and richer than anything at the grocery store), Real Salt, and Ghirardelli Bittersweet Chocolate Chips, which incidentally won the America’s Test Kitchen taste test for best chocolate chip.  But good old Nestle’s semisweet is my second favorite.

I always use a cookie scoop for perfectly round cookies.  Have I mentioned I’m funny that way?  For Christmas cookies, I like to use a smaller size scoop (2 tsp. size) to make small, pretty cookies.  That way you don’t feel guilty for having more than one. 

Cookie scoops come in various sizes, and I have several for variety—small cookies, regular-size cookies, and gigantic cookies.  The giant size works great for plopping out pancakes, muffins and cupcakes too.  If you don’t have any scoops, make sure you add them to your Christmas list. 

Espresso Double-Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 T. instant espresso powder (or instant coffee powder)

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda; set aside.

In small bowl stir together espresso powder, vanilla and a tablespoon of water; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and yolk; mix until incorporated. Add espresso mixture; mix well, scraping down the sides of a bowl with a spatula. At low speed, add flour mixture in small batches, mixing until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer, and stir in chocolate chips.

Using 2 tsp-size cookie scoop, scoop balls of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet.  Then with the heel of your hand, flatten each cookie ever-so-slightly so they bake more evenly.  Bake until cookies are just set, 10-12 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through.  Let cookies set for a minute or two on baking sheet, then remove to cooling rack.  Repeat with remaining dough.

These cookies freeze beautifully in airtight containers, in case you’re making them in advance (or if you need to get them out of sight so you don’t eat the entire batch.) 

Be sure to enter my Homemade Cookie Giveaway if you’d like a chance at winning a dozen or so little delectables from my kitchen!

Visit the Barn Hop for some Holiday Homestead Happenings . . .

Staying Sharp

With all the extra chopping, slicing and dicing that accompanies the approaching holidays, I wanted to post a few tips on keeping knives sharp.  A sharp knife is so much more efficient and is actually (and ironically) safer to use because it cuts like it’s intended, without undue pressure.

I used to think a sharpening steel was all I needed to sharpen my knives, but I could never seem to get them as sharp as the knives those TV chefs used—you know, where you can cut right through a sheet of paper or make see-through slices of tomatoes.

That’s because a steel is limited in its application.  It doesn’t actually sharpen a knife; it simply hones it.  It refines the edge by realigning microscopic curves and imperfections made through use.  A steel should be used regularly to keep a sharp edge in its best condition, but once the blade is dull you need a tool that actually sharpens, not just hones.

To truly sharpen a knife, you’ll be grinding away small amounts of the blade to create a brand new, sharp edge.  This can be accomplished in several ways, but by far the simplest and quickest way I’ve found to do this is with a handy little tool called the AccuSharp Knife and Tool Sharpener, available through Amazon.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was the folks at America’s Test Kitchen who first introduced us to this useful gadget after it impressed their testers.  I’ve had mine for over a year now and don’t know how I ever managed without it.

The tungsten carbide “V” notch sharpener grinds away a tiny amount of the old blade at just the right angle, creating a new, sharp edge in seconds.  No mess and no tricky angles to figure out, as with other types of sharpeners.  It’s amazingly quick and easy.

You simply hold your knife on the counter, blade-side up, then with gentle pressure run a few strokes of the Accusharp from the back of the blade to the tip.  That’s all there is to it!

Your knives will be so sharp you could make your own infomercial if you wanted to (not that you’d want to.)  So do yourself a favor and get one!  It really works, and at just $7.60, the price is right too.  It even sharpens serrated knives!

Are Antibiotics in Your Cheese?

It never ceases to amaze me what the FDA approves as “safe” and “healthy” when it comes to food additives.  On the other hand, nothing they do surprises me anymore.

A friend recently tipped me off to the fact that antibiotics are being added to those packs of pre-shredded cheese you can get at the store.  I checked several brands, and it’s true.

You won’t find “antibiotics” listed on the ingredient label—that might be too big of a red flag for customers, so it’s cleverly phrased as “mold inhibitor” or simply “Natamycin.”

I know those packs are oh-so convenient, but who wants to be feeding their children a dose of antibiotics with dinner?  I don’t have to tell you the host of problems associated with that, not the least of which is seriously imbalanced intestinal flora.

It’s quick and easy to shred your own, and I’m absolutely committed to doing that from now on.  You can use a box grater, but I wouldn’t necessarily call that quick or easy–not if you have several blocks to shred, anyway.

Maybe I just have wimpy arm muscles, but I much prefer one of my favorite powerhouse kitchen tools—my Kitchenaid food processor.

With the shredder attachment, It takes just a few minutes to turn all this

into this.

Homemade shreds will tend to stick together somewhat, but that’s a small price to pay to ensure a healthier food for your family—one free from antibiotics and other questionable ingredients like cellulose.  This makes for a much-improved flavor and texture as well.

So remember to check your cheese!

11/30 – Edited to add:  Ack! Just returned home from the store and guess what? Natamycin is on BLOCKS of cheese now. I didn’t check all the brands, but IS on Kraft. Ick. Not on Hillandale Farms, though (the cheese pictured.)

Stocking Up

I have been busy in the kitchen these last few weeks, playing working with my new favorite kitchen toys tools.  In my spare moments (when I’m not picking beans and cucumbers), I’ve been dealing with all those chickens we put in the freezer on butchering day.  They can’t stay there for long, because on Labor Day we’ll be adding 20 birds to the stash, Lord willing, and the freezer is already full.

So, we had a few options.  1) Eat LOTS of chicken till then (along with all those beans and cucumbers.)  2) Buy another freezer.  3)  Finish all my fall and winter chicken-roasting and soup stock-making in the next three weeks to empty out the freezer enough for the new arrivals.

We chose #3, so I wanted to share the process with anyone who may be unfamiliar with making chicken stock (or canning it), and to publicly exclaim how much quicker and easier it is when you have the right equipment!

While I’ve found a crockpot to be very useful for cooking a chicken to de-bone (as well as for subsequent stock-making), it only holds a single bird.  Um, I have a deadline here.

Enter my new Nesco 18-quart Roaster, which accommodates three cockerel-size (humongous) broiler chickens and greatly speeds up the process.  I think this will soon become my crockpot, because my boys are growing and need I say more?

If you have time and space, I recommend brining (minus the sugar) first, not only for flavor, but to retain moistness especially in the breast meat.  Then cook until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender.  The one thing I love about this roaster is its versatility; you have much greater temperature control than with a crockpot.  So how long I cook the birds depends on what temperature I cook them at (a slow-cook or a roast or anywhere in between), and that depends on what’s going on with the rest of my day.

When chickens are done, remove them from the roaster to cool slightly, then remove the meat from the bones, and toss all the bones back into the roaster oven.  Add a few bay leaves, a small handful of peppercorns, several big glugs of apple cider vinegar, and 3-4 large coarsely chopped onions.  You can also add parsley and chopped celery and carrots, but I don’t always do that.  Then fill up the roaster with water and continue cooking.

I’ve been chunking up the meat and putting it in quart-size zipper freezer bags, using a very inexpensive vacuum sealer (a sturdy plastic straw and a few robust inhalations.)  Flatten the bags somewhat so they’ll store efficiently, and date.

I often end up de-boning in the evening, so that’s naturally when I begin the stock too.  I’ll let it simmer all night and part of the next day.  The bones will release nutritious minerals, leaving you with a rich, delicious, healthy chicken stock, and lots of it.

All-American Model 921, holds 7 quarts (or 19 pints)

When your stock is done, you’ll need to strain it, of course.  I use a large, mesh strainer to scoop out all the bones, and then a small, fine-mesh strainer nestled in my canning funnel to strain even more as I ladle-fill each quart jar.  (You’ll probably want to skim off some of the fat as well, but don’t skim it all off.  The fat has a lot of flavor, and it’s not so unhealthy as we’ve been led to believe.)

And for dealing with all those jars, meet my new kitchen helper—the All-American Pressure Canner 921.  In the past, I’ve always frozen my stock, but if you’ve been paying attention, you know that isn’t an option right now.  I may end up canning some of the meat also, depending on how much room is left in the freezer come Labor Day.

Meat and stock must be pressure-canned, not water-bath canned.  Under pressure, the temperature is able to go higher than 212 degrees, making meat products and low-acid canned foods safe to eat.

I wasn’t completely thrilled with the instructions that came with my canner (not enough details), but after reading the USDA guidelines, a phone call to the company expert, and talking with pressure-canning friends, I’ve worked out the kinks and no longer break out into a cold sweat when it’s time to remove the canner lid after processing.  We’ve also partaken of the canned stock and have lived to tell the tale, so I’m here to encourage anyone who may be intimidated by rumors of botulism or exploding canners and the like.  Fear not; you can do it too.

I am very happy with the performance of this model.  This line of canners is American-made, has both a regulator weight and a dial gauge, and is gasket-free.  That’s right—it’s a precision-machined metal-to-metal seal.  I thought those wing nuts would be a pain to work with screwing them on and off, but they’re not at all.  You do not unscrew them completely—after a few quick spins they swivel down, always attached to the canner base, which is very convenient and easy.  This is a fine piece of equipment with no parts to replace, and Amazon has the best price, along with free shipping.  Did I mention I’m an affiliate? 

Batch after batch, my count is now up to a whopping 53 quarts of chicken stock.  I have never canned as much food as I’ve canned this summer, and it’s exciting to see rows and rows of ready food, with no dependence on electricity.

I’ve lost count of how many quart bags of chunked chicken meat I’ve put back into the freezer, but it sure takes up a lot less space than full birds.  And it is going to be sooo easy making soup when the weather cools.

Lattice Fruit Pies

We’ve been enjoying blueberry season here these last few weeks, and it’s handy having a blueberry farm so close.  This morning we decided to make yet another trip and get some more—to can more syrup, to have some to eat plain, and to make some goodies . . . like PIE.  Mmm.

I’m partial to lattice-top pies over top-crust pies.  Fruit pies, especially, lend themselves to a pretty latticework crust, with the shimmering, juicy fruit peeking through its windows and hinting of the flavors within.

If your recipe calls for a top crust, just roll it out as you normally would, then cut it into strips.  You don’t need any special tools, although it’s quicker if you have a lattice-cutter.  If you don’t, just use a pizza cutter or a knife; it only takes a minute.

Take the strips and basket-weave them on top of the pie, leaving spaces for the fruit to show through.  My spaces are an inch or less, but there’s no set rule for this.

Trim the edges and “glue” them to the bottom crust with a little water (I use my finger dipped in water).  Flute the edges; brush crust with either milk, water or beaten egg; sprinkle sugar over the top; and you’re ready to bake.  With fruit pies, it’s a good idea to bake on top of a foil-lined baking sheet in case your juices run over.

If you have any leftover strips or scraps of dough, make sure you sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar and bake them for the kids.  The grown-up kids like these too. 

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