How to Cut an Avocado

I don't know where I saw this done years ago- but I've been doing it this way ever since.

Cut through to the seed and follow the line all the way around the avocado.

Give a slight twist and pull the halves apart.

Take a spoon and follow the meat going around the whole thing as close to the skin as possible.

Tah Dah!

Butternut Squash Whole Wheat Pancakes

I baked butternut squash a couple days ago and had it sitting in the fridge, deciding if I want to make a pie out of it or freeze it for something else... So this morning I decided to stick it in some pancakes. I left out the sugar because it was a really sweet squash (I read somewhere online that the longer you bake them the sweeter they get).


Butternut Squash Whole Wheat Pancakes
3 c. whole wheat flour
2 TB baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. butternut squash meat
1/4 c. oil
2 1/2 c. milk

Mix thoroughly. Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot griddle. These pancakes didn't make "bubbles" to show when to flip them, so I just watch and flip when the edges start to get a bit crinkled and the underside is brown. They were thick, so cook them longer than normal pancakes.
This makes a good sized batch, enough for 6 good eaters-- we normally have just a couple pancakes leftover.

Butternut Squash

Yesterday I posted how to bake a squash and thought I would include pictures of the butternut squash I did as well. This is a pretty tasty squash, it took almost 2 hours to get soft and it was dryer than acorn squash.
Please excuse the blurry pics...

How to Bake a Squash

This is acorn squash, but as far as I know this works for all types of squash.
Cut the squash in half.
Remove the seeds.
Bake at 350˚ for 1-2 hours, until the outside is flexible.
Scoop the insides out and serve or save.

I bake them upside down.
My mom would put them right side up and put a pat of butter and spoon of brown sugar in the acorn squash. Then she would give person their own half of a squash to eat.

Breakfast Veggies

Brian was wanting to increase his fruits and veggies and I had just read an article about blending leafy greens as a cheaper alternative to juicing them- takes alot more to juice, so with a large family blending seemed like a great option. We tried it and actually liked it. The spinach isn't too strong, we actually taste the orange juice and strawberries more than spinach.

Now every morning with breakfast we have glasses of green juice. Naomi used to wake up and ask for milk and now she asks for juice. She loves it!

I just eyeball it every day, so I took a picture of the blender so you could have more of an idea of what I use.

I pack in 2 or 3 handfuls of spinach, 3-5 frozen strawberries and pour orange juice over that until it hits around the 2 cup mark on the blender. Then my blender makes it really easy because it has a "drink" button and goes through several different speeds for about a minute.

I've stuck in apples, bananas, peaches, apricots, etc and they are all tasty.

Just so you know, Naomi won't eat spinach any other way so I love it when she drinks a big glass of juice.

Veggie Frittata

We got a new grill this year, the old one belonged to some friends, who got it from their parents, who got it from the grandparents... and it had a glass front, which we found doesn't hold up to cooking while a squirt gun fight is under way.

I make alot of oven dishes and I struggle in the summer when I don't want to use the oven and the only "cold" dishes I know to make are sandwiches. Not that any of the guys mind that, they love meat sandwiches.
My friend Laura told me how her mom uses her grill to bake things in stones. Our new grill has a temperature gauge on it and it's taken me a while to get up the guts to try it. I really didn't want anything to happen to my precious stones! It worked great- Brian put the grill on low and it preheats in about 3 minutes- it kept it at a constant 375˚.


Veggie Frittata

Ingredients:
16 oz pasta, cooked and drained (I used Linguini)
1/2 c. chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped carrots
2 c. sliced zucchini
6 eggs
1 c. shredded cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix pasta, tomatoes and carrots, pour into a casserole dish, 9x13 or a large skillet.
Top with layers of zucchini. Mix eggs, salt and pepper and pour over all. Top with cheese bake at 375˚ for about 30 minutes.
If you make it in a skillet, you can cut it into pie shapes to serve.

Valentine Banquet 2009

Last year our group at church (Y.A.M.S. Young Adults Married & Single) hosted a Valentine Banquet (2008) for the rest of the Church.
Everyone had a great time, so we decided to do it again this year. It was a beautiful- we had so many people helping, setting up, decorating, cleaning, serving, doing dishes- it went really well. It was a little more challenging with having a 2 month old, but YAMS is a pretty good group of friends and they did so much.


Here's what we had on the menu: (recipes on the bottom of post)

Soup

Pasta e Fagioli

Fresh Artisan Bread

Penne Rigate with Grilled Chicken Alfredo

Topped with Diced Tomatoes and Basil

Roasted Asparagus

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

with Chocolate Drizzle

Last year at the banquet we were low on silverware... so when I found a huge amount at a garage sale this summer I grabbed them. There was soup spoons, so I was determined to make a soup for the first course of the banquet. I got this recipe from my friend Suzanne. It's supposed to be like the soup at Olive Garden. I don't know- because it has been so long since I have tried their soup. But Brian loved this, so I went ahead and made it for the banquet. I stuck the soup in 3 crock pots for the day, adding the pasta and sauce a little while before serving. The smell apparently drove the pastor and his wife nuts while it was cooking, so they had to go get some lunch alot earlier than what is normal for them.

Pasta e Fagioli
1 lb ground meat
olive oil for browning, if needed
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 carrots, quartered and diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 24 oz can tomatoes
6 c. beef stock
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 tsp. parsley
3/4 tsp. tobasco sauce
1 can Hunts Chunky Vegetable Spaghetti sauce
1 c. (8 oz.) ditalini pasta, cooked and drained

Brown the meet in oil, until crumbly. Drain if needed. Stir in carrots, onions, celery and tomatoes. Simmer for 10 minutes. Rinse and drain the kidney bean, then stir in. Add beef stock, spices and tobasco. Simmer for 45 min, until celery and carrots are tender. Stir in spaghetti sauce and pasta. Serve.


Artisan Bread
A few months ago I read this post on a blog I follow. I sent the link to my mom, who then bought the cook book. Of which, I borrowed. I found it very interesting and enjoyed reading it. I liked the basic bread, so I used it for the Valentine Banquet and everyone loved it. I changed it a little, so I'll post what I did here. The book inspired me. It was alot of fun and nice to have the dough ready. I really liked the way the crust was so nice and crunchy and crackled when it came out of the oven- just lovely. The texture was great as well and just what I was looking for in an artisan bread.
For the banquet I made all the bread the day before and then before the banquet stuck them in a hot oven with a pan of water for 5-10 minutes. They were great. That made the crust crunchy again.

So, here's what I did:
Artisan Bread
3 c. warm water
1 T. kosher salt (coarse salt)
1 1/2 T. yeast
6 1/2 c. flour

Mix thoroughly, but don't knead. Let rise for about 2 hours, dump onto a floured surface, cut in half and then cut the halves into 3 equal portions. Shape into round loaves and set on parchment paper. Let rise. (This dough was easier to work with after it sat in the fridge for a day, like they suggest.)
Heat oven to 450˚ for 20 minutes before baking with an empty broiler pan (or another metal pan) and pizza stone. When the bread is ready, take a serrated knife and slice three 1/4" deep slits in the top. (Or an "X".) Slide the parchment and bread onto the hot pizza stone. pour 1 c. of warm/hot water into the empty broiler pan. Bake for 30 minutes.
Allow to cool before cutting.
The first time I made it I used unbleached flour, but then for the banquet I used bleach- because that's what I had a 25 lb. bag of. It worked fine, I think they were a little better with unbleached- but really, I would prefer to use unbleached in everything, but it's not so inexpensive here, at least not for the amount of flour I go through in a month.

And since we had 24 loaves of bread to slice- and were limited in our appliances, we used an electric meat carving knife- it worked great.

The loaves were cut into about 5 slices, so we put one loaf between each couple.


Alfredo Sauce
1 qt. Heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat whipping cream on medium, stirring constantly with whisk. When it starts to boil, add cheese about 1/4 c. at a time. Stir until melted before adding more cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. I think this would taste great with some garlic, but I had a lady who was allergic to garlic, so I didn't add any. I will another time when I make it just for us.

I used the fully cooked grilled chicken strips you can find frozen at Costco. I used a little less than 1/2 the package and mixed the sauce with 1 lb cooked Penne Rigate.
Top with diced fresh tomatoes and basil.

Roasted Asparagus
I love roasted asparagus. Just trim the ends off, line in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. My favorite is no pepper- but garlic salt. YUM!
Bake at 400˚ for 10-15 minutes. You want them to be slightly crunchy (not soft and mushy) and a beautiful green color.


Dessert
My friend Dawn makes the most beautiful cakes. I asked her to make the desserts last year too and they were gorgeous. She uses this opportunity to branch out from the typical cakes. This cheesecake was wonderful and she shared the recipe- so you get it too!

Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake
2 c. packaged chocolate wafer crumbs
1/3 c. butter, melted
3 T. sugar
2 1/2 c. fresh or lightly sweetened, frozen red raspberries, thawed
2/3 c. sugar
2 T cornstarch
2 tsp. lemon juice
3 8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 T flour
1 tsp. vanilla
2 egg whites
1 c. whipping cream

Crust:
combine wafer crumbs, butter and 3 T. sugar. Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of an ungreased 8 or 9 inch spring-form pan. Chill while preparing filling.
Raspberries:
In a blender container, blend the 2 1/2 c. raspberries until smooth. Press though a sieve to remove seed. Add water to sieved raspberries if necessary to equal 1 c. Combine 2/3 c. sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Stir in raspberries. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in lemon juice. Remove 3/4 c. sauce; cool slightly without stirring. Cover remaining sauce and chill until serving time.
Filling:
In a large bowl combine cream cheese, 1/2 c. sugar, flour and vanilla. Beat with mixer until fluffy. Add egg whites, beating on low speed just until combined. Stir in cream.
Our half of the mixture into crust-lined pan. Drizzle the 3/4 c. raspberry sauce over cheese mixture in pan. Carefully spoon on remaining cheese mixture, covering sauce. Place in a shallow baking pan. Bake in a 375˚ oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until center appears nearly set when shaken.
Cool in spring-form pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan and cool 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan; cool 1 hour. Cover and chill at least 4 hours.
To serve top with remaining raspberry sauce.

Pumpkin Pie

Well, I don't know how much better tasting pumpkin pie is when you start with just a pumpkin. It's very good, but I didn't notice much difference. I have friends that say there is no comparison, they won't eat anything other than completely homemade pumpkin pie. I myself, don't lovepumpkin pie, I just like it... so maybe that's the difference. :-)




Pumpkin Pie

Pie Crust:
For 1 two-crusted pie (9") or 2 one-crust pie (9")

2 c. flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
~
1/2 c. cold water
1/2 c. oil
Mix the water and oil with a fork until "creamy" looking, then pour it into the flour, sugar & salt mixture. Stir until moistened and the dough is in one ball. Separate into 2 equal portions. I roll it out in between 2 layers of wax paper or large plastic wrap, then peel off the top layer of wax paper, slip your hand under the bottom layer, under the rolled out dough, "flip" it onto the pie pan, press it into the corners of the pie pan and then peel that paper off.
Save the other portion of dough of the top of the pie.


Pumpkin Pie
2 c. mashed, cooked pumpkin
1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. Pour into a prepared crust. Bake 40 minutes at 400˚or until a knife is inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean.

Pumpkin Puree

I was hoping to get this posted before Thanksgiving, but I didn't get done quite as soon as I would have liked.
There are many different ways to cook your pumpkin- basically just bake or boil, etc. until the pumpkin meat is soft and then make a puree.
You can bake the pumpkin skin side up (cut pumpkin in half, oil the edges, place on baking sheet that has some kind of edge so the juices don't spill), you can piece it up and put in in a pot of water to steam or boil, you can even microwave it with water. I prefer an oven method, then I don't have bother removing excess water.
Here's what I did:


Cut the pumpkin.


Remove "guts" (I do have a recipe for pumpkin seeds that are really good- not sure when I'll get that posted though!).


Place in baking dish. Bake at 350˚ until fork tender- somewhere between 45 minutes and 1 1/2 hours- depending on the pumpkin.


Here they are out of the oven, soft enough for a fork to go in with no resistance.


Allow to cool so you can touch it without burning your fingers, then peel the skin off and discard.


Here is all the pumpkin meat. I used a hand held blender (the type you can use in a drinking glass). I tried a regular blender once, but the pumpkin was very hard to get in and out of it and it took a long time. A food processor would be great as well. With my hand blender it took 1-2 minutes to get it to a smooth consistency.


Once the pumpkin is smooth it is ready to use in your favorite pumpkin recipe. I froze mine with 2 cups of puree in each bag. I don't have a set recipe but was planning to try this one: Homemade Fresh Pumpkin Pie.

Zucchini Pizza

This was a big hit last night. I think next time I'll put on more artichoke heart- but even without much of it, it was great.



Zucchini Pizza
4 c. grated zucchini
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp. oregano
1/8-1/4 tsp. garlic salt (I just shook it over, so not sure on exact amount)
3 eggs, beaten
Mix all together and spread into well greased/oiled skillet*. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.
Add whatever toppings you want and then stick back into the oven to heat through and melt the cheese.
We put on:
Pepperoni
Artichoke hearts
chopped fresh tomatoes
grated cheddar cheese (just a thin layer- to hold it all together)

* a 12" skillet worked best- the 10" one is more 'quiche-like', as it is thicker. If you are going to use pie pans, I would probably put it in two 9" pie pans. This sticks a little- it comes off the cast iron best.

This is a really inexpensive meal- if you have a garden, the only real cost is the cheese and toppings.

Ants on a Log

My grandmother used to make these and take them to every church potluck, it was always one of my favorites.


Super easy- and kids can help, if you don't mind them licking their fingers. :-)

Wash and dry as many stocks of celery as desired, cut into 2"to 3" pieces, spread peanut butter in the middle, put some raisins on the peanut butter. Serve.