Friday's Five

Five cookbooks that I use often. I love cookbooks. I enjoy looking at the photos and reading the recipes and tips. I have sorted through and gotten rid of a number of cookbooks but I have also added some new ones to my collection. Given the number of meals that I cook it is nice to have a variety of cookbooks.

Here are some of my cookbooks on my shelf. I love my coffee canister.

And the top shelf has some more. I love these shelves in the kitchen.

The five cookbooks that I often use.

1. America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook - There are a number of recipes that I use from here -- chicken potpie, beef potpie, chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce, easy biscuits. I love the notes that are in the book either about ingredients or cooking gadgets.

2. More-with-Less Cookbook - My copy is worn and a bit dirty. I use this for pizza, lentils, chicken and pineapple.

I love the fact that it is spiral bound.

3. Betty Crocker New Cookbook - I am not sure how new this is. I have had it for a long time. It is a good basic one. I use it for meatloaf, chili, and a number of other recipes.

4. Delia's Complete Cookery Course - This is a new book that I have added recently. A friend here recommend Delia as a standard. I have made a number of things out of this book -- potato and leek soup, roasted potatoes, and a few other things. This is a go to book when I get some new things in my fruit and veg boxes.

5. Mary Berry - I have two Mary Berry cook books. I have not used the Baking Bible much but I have found a number of recipes in the Marry Berry Cook's. I found a delicious pork with veggies recipe that we all enjoyed. Some of the things that I have recently found easy to cook are putting the meat and veggies all in the same pan and baking -- sometimes called a tray bake.

What is your go to cookbook?


Beth

The Pyrex Museum

I will admit I didn't even know there was a Pyrex Museum. I didn't know until a friend and I wandered into a flea market store and wandered through and discovered we were at the Pyrex Museum.

The Museum wasn't that big but the Pyrex was enough for me to drool for quite some time. I love Pyrex. I have Pyrex and we use our Pyrex.

I remember growing up my mom had some of the refrigerators containers in Butterprint. She still has those containers and uses them. The refrigerator containers are square and rectangle with a clear glass lid. They have three different sizes and they stack nicely. These are perfect for leftovers.

I think some of the first Pyrex that I received were the primary mixing bowls. It was a wedding gift from an uncle and aunt. I think they shop flea markets to make sets in order to give them out. I love my mixing bowls. They are great for mixing and also for serving. The large yellow bowl is perfect for a big lettuce salad and the little blue bowl is exactly what you need for gravy.

This is a view of one side of the museum. You can see the primary mixing bowls on the shelf. The primary color mixing bowls were very popular and then Pyrex updated them. I have not seen the updated colors much except the set my mom has.

Over the past few years I have added to my collection mostly when I find pieces at thrift stores. I think my favorite pattern is Friendship. The bright yellow and red just make me smile. It is difficult to find pieces in this pattern.

Remember the kitchen colors from the 70's. The Pyrex were the right colors for the kitchen with avocado green, harvest yellow/gold, and brown. In my Pyrex searching I seem to find quite a number of pieces in avocado green.

The Cinderella bowls are the ones with the handle and spout. I am not exactly sure why they are called Cinderella bowls. I have a few of them.  These are perfect for mixing up brownies or make a pie crust.

The bowls that are on my wish list is a set of the dots. Those might be on my wish list for a long time. I just love the bright cheeriness of the pattern.  There are four in the set -- green, yellow, blue and red/orange.

It was a fun discovery. The owner came over and talked with us for quite awhile. She has a few pieces for sale only those that are duplicates. She did recommend buying them when we find them. I do if it is a price I like and the piece does not look like it has been in the dishwasher. If you have vintage Pyrex, don't put it in the dishwasher. It might look like it is fine but over time it will have a washed out look and the color will disappear because of the hot temperatures and the soap. Take a few minutes and wash them by hand. 

The Pyrex Museum was a fun find during our girls weekend away. 

Do you have any vintage Pyrex? What is your favorite pattern?

Beth

Making Bread Crumbs

I love when I have a use for something that I might throw out and that use saves me money. Around our house it seems that no one eats the crust of bread. I will sometimes but that is carbs and I try to avoid them or limit them at least. So when we are down to just the crusts in the bag. I put them in the freezer.

When I get a full bag or have the need for bread crumbs, I just pull them out. Plus them on a tray to thaw.

Then when they are thawed, I put them in the oven at a low temperature about 200 degrees F so they can dry out. I will flip them so both sides get dry.

I just break them into smaller pieces and put them in a blender. I just crumb them. If you don't want fine crumbs then you do have to watch and stop it before it gets too fine. Sometimes you get lumps remaining and my son thinks they are the greatest treat.

I then put the crumbs in a jar and put them in the freezer and pull them out when I need them. I use them for meatloaf, meatballs, and other things.  If we have lots and lots of bread crumbs, I will make chicken croquettes.

Here is my helper mixing up the meat for meatloaf. My mom is might be shocked that I make meatloaf. It was not my favorite meal growing up but I do like it and it is Miss K's favorite meal.

Stop by later to see how we used the blender this week in school.

What are some things that you make that use bread crumbs?

Beth

Organizing FUR - Frequently Used Recipes

FUR (Frequently Used Recipes) is a bit like FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). It is a place for my frequently used recipes.

It began with needing to remember which cookbook has the pancake recipe and then what page is that recipe on. At that time the oatmeal that I bought didn't have cooking instructions so I needed to remember my proportions.

I had spiral bound index cards with my office supplies. I decided to use that.

It is four different colors and that worked nicely. Orange was for notes and information that I needed like "baking powder - 1 tsp -= 1/2 tsp cream of tartar + tsp baking soda." That was important information when you live in a place where finding baking powder is difficult.

Pink was breakfast foods - my pancake recipe, oatmeal, raisin cinnamon bagels, whole wheat bread, and a few other recipes. It was easy to look and know that pink was breakfast items.

Then green was for salads. We eat lots of salads and it is nice to have the various dressing recipes in a place that is easy to find. Cranberry, Feta, and Walnut is still one of our favorite salads. So easy to make. I might have this recipe memorized by now.

The yellow section was empty for some time. I just could not decide what other recipes fit in the "frequently used recipes." I then just started to add some of the main dishes that we make often.

Just looking at this you can tell that it gets used. I think the oil and soy sauce splashed on that recipe.

Having the recipes on a spiral bound book makes it easy to flip to the recipe I need and not spend time remembering which cookbook and then looking up the page. It was also nice to bring with us while we are in transition. I have some of our favorite recipes here.


Beth

My new love

Roasted Garlic -- We love garlic here. If a recipe calls for garlic; we usually double it. Last week I went to the produce store that can only be described as a fast food produce store. You walk up to the counter and tell them what you want and they pull bags and you pay and the next person starts their order. I needed garlic and wasn't really thinking that would mean I would get a bag of it. I got 12 bulbs of garlic. We like garlic but I didn't think we could eat it that fast.

I looked in a cookbook and discovered how easy it is to roast it and so I did that.

I cut the top off. Pulled off as much of the outer layers. Put foil on a cookie sheet with some olive oil. Put the garlic bulbs cut side down and baked for 30 minutes. We spread it on bread or just ate.

 

Potato Cakes

This is a recipe from my childhood. I remember my mom pulling out the hardback Mennonite Community Cookbook full of notes and some cooking stains. My mom would  make these with leftover mashed potatoes. Now I do the same thing when we have leftover mashed potatoes. I love finding a way to use up the leftover mashed potatoes.

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 large egg

1 tablespoon flour

2 tablespoons cream

1 tablespoon minced onion, if desired

4 tablespoons fat

Mix ingredients and shape into flat cakes or drop from a spoon into hot fat.

Fry a golden brown on both sides.

National Pie Day

Today is National Pie day and so we celebrated by making and eating pie.

We made an apple pie. J liked to help because he got to use the apple peeler. Actually, he said he loved using it.



Then for dinner we had spaghetti pie. I am not a big spaghetti fan but I do like spaghetti pie and after three servings I think Miss K likes it as well.

Spaghetti Pie Recipe

Leftover spaghetti (I didn't have leftover so I cooked a box)

some melted butter

1 egg

some parmesan cheese

Mix that together for the crust put in a pie pan or just a 9 x 13 pan

Then top with cottage cheese or mozzarella or mushrooms (I only put them on one side)

Top with sauce and back for 30 minutes or so.

Fried Rice Recipe

Okay, since I showed the picture and told that I learned to make it and someone was disappointed that no recipe was included. Here is my recipe which includes my adaptions because most recipes it seems I adapt in some way.

3 cups leftover rice - I never measure just have a good portion. I have also cooked rice just so I have rice for fried rice

Heat in a large frypan. I don't have a wok - can you believe that.

3T oil

1/4-1/2 lb of cooked or raw meat cut in thin strips - I use cooked ham so basically I am just heating it up.

3 cloves garlic minced

1 large onion, corrsely chopped

1 or 2 carrots diced

I fry those things and then mix my sauce

1 tsp sugar

1T soy sauce

1T fish sauce - I use that bottle of fish sauce that I was given. This is not something I usually keep on hand.

Stir fry until meat is tender and hot

Add the cooked rice

Stir-fry 5 minues

Add

1 c leftover pea - if you are using frozen add them when you add them at the beginning so they will thaw.

Just before serving add

2 eggs beaten

I like my eggs well done and so I have learned that I just get another little frypan out and fry my eggs and then add them to the rice. You could even use leftover scrambled eggs.

Mix and get everything hot. Depending on how much rice you might need to add more soy sauce.

Basically this is a dish that uses all those leftovers that you have.

I had a friend add hot dogs to her fried rice once. That is not one of the meats that I would add.

Favorite Cheap Dinner

Pasta with Rabe

This is one of our favorite dinners because it is yummy, cheap, and easy. Whenever the grocery store has broccoli rabe on sale usually 99 cents or even 88 cents I buy it. I buy my pasta on sale and can get a box for 79 centers or 89 cents. I use one boneless skinless chicken breast.

I cook the pasta and rinse the rabe cutting it to pieces. About a minute or two after the pasta has started to cook I add the rabe. Cook until the noodles are done and the drain everything. Stir-fry the cut up chicken. Then add the pasta and rabe with some garlic or as in our case lots of garlic with a bit of olive oil. Serve with some parmesan cheese. So for about $2.50 we have a delicious dinner. Sometimes I even use whole wheat pasta.

Resurrection Cookies

This is for my friend who asked if I made the cookies with my children. I am trying to remember if I made them with her children? Hudson, Grant, Stuart, Emily -- did I make these with you? I remember making them with Emilee when she was 3.

The instructions are easy to find online.

First, you beat the pecans. My Nana used to make these cookies at Christmas with chocolate chips and she would make them red or green. I loved those cookies. I don't think anyone makes them the way Nana did and there are a few things that Nana made that no one else could make -- rice and mushrooms, crumb cake. Back to our cookies. They beat the pecans and had fun doing it. That is to remind them that Christ was beat for us.

Then we did everything else and mixed the ingredients.

He actually got tired of holding it and let me hold it for a bit.

Then we put them in the tomb - I mean oven and they stayed overnight.

I did give them cookies for breakfast.

I served cupcakes for dinner

not for dessert but for the main course.

I called the family to dinner and they had egg in a hole.

I don't think that really fooled them but they did enjoy the fact that they could eat that first. Then they had a cupcake. A few minutes into the egg in a hole J figured out that wasn't icing. He remembered that I bought mashed potatoes at the store. He did tell me "mama, that was good." referring to the fact that I was able to fool them.

Happy April Fool's.

Enjoy your cake. This recipe and idea was on Family Fun's website.

History, Science, Cooking all come together

One of the fun things of homeschooling is when what you learn can be applied at home. The other week J asked, "how do you make sauerkraut ?" That was a good question and not like the usual, "what if your arms were wings?" or "what if you were 12 feet tall?" I am practical and reality based and so I struggle with those questions but when he asked, "how do you make sauerkraut?" That one I could answer. I knew St. Patrick's day was coming and since we live in a good Irish community that meant that cabbage would be on sale -- 9 cents a pound. We can try to make sauerkraut.

A big head of cabbage, a big knife, a big bowl and some salt.

Pound and pound to get as much liquid out of the cabbage.

Put it in a jar and wait three days.

We were making sauerkraut. The jar sealed itself. We waited the three days and then a bit more. This week we make pork and sauerkraut.

History came in to this as we had read how the Chinese used salt to preserve food. We opened the jar and it was preserved. All we had added was salt.

Science came in to this as we opened the jar the liquid started foaming and exploding out of the jar. We quick moved to the sink. We tasted it and added it to the crockpot.

We enjoyed our dinner of pork and sauerkraut. We are still alive that was two days ago.

Adventures in the Kitchen

I am working to be a bit more organized in the kitchen. There are a number of things in that "more organized" category one of which is making some freezer meals. I don't really plan to do the once a month cooking but have found that it is nice to have some meals in the freezer for days when I don't feel like cooking or have a million other things to do. The other thing that I like doing is finding good deals. This week one of the stores had split chicken breasts on sale $1/pound. I got a pack 5 split breasts for $4.78.

The other new love and thrill that I have is requesting books online from the library. I sit in my comfy chair with my laptop and see what books I can find. One of my recent books was Once a month cooking. I sat down with that and made a list of ground beef, beef, chicken, and pork recipes that I thought we would like. So with my 4.78 pounds of chicken and the cookbook from the library I was ready to see what I could make and add to the freezer.

First, I had to cook the chicken. I decided to try something new to me -- cooking them in the crockpot. I put all 5 in, added a bit of water and turned it on high. That was about 10:00 this morning. See how they fit.



They were cooked by 5:00. So this evening I made double batches of Sweet & Sour chicken. It tasted good when I tasted it. I didn't add double the water chestnuts mainly to save the expense of 2 cans. It was easy except for the fact that I used sliced pineapple instead of chunks and used my new ceramic knife to cut them while holding them  and let me tell you that knife is sharp. No stitches were needed but I did decide that I should use a cutting board.

I also made a double batch of Chicken a 'la king.

This recipe was also from the Once a Month cookbook. I did just add a whole jar of pimientos. The recipe called for a tablespoon. I dumped the whole jar in because what was I going to do with some leftovers.

Now I have 4 meals in the freezer. I am not showing you a picture of my freezer because it is packed. I was a bit scared that I wouldn't be able to get these meals in there but I did.

So after today's adventure I would cook the chicken in the crockpot again.