7049. Make homemade applesauce

 Mom has been making homemade applesauce for years. She has an old school Chinois and pestle that has used for as long as I remember. This year I offered to go home and help make applesauce.

She had the kettles of apples cooking with sugar when I got there. We had to wait until they were mush before we could make the applesauce.

Once the apples were cooked down to mush, she would spoon the apple mush into the Chinois and I would stir it around get out all the sauce I could from the mush. Our applesauce is a lot runnier than most by doing this. We don't really like chunky applesauce.

I though the mashing of apples through the Chinois was going to be hard work but it was not that bad at all. It went quicker than I expected and mom said I had a lot less waste than she ever had. I must be all those 2 lb. weights I've been lifting.

The last step is to cook it again and add cinnamon hearts to it to give it a nice pink color. Why we do this? I have no clue but we always have had pink applesauce. 

Oh wait, the is one more step. We had to bag it all up. Mom also found this bag holder gadget somewhere and it makes filling the Ziplock bags a breeze.

Each bag held about 1-2 ladles of applesauce. We ended up with about a dozen bags of applesauce and 10 containers for the kids for their lunch. Mom said she needs to make more.

It was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was pretty easy and I am planning on helping again. 

6887. Make Brazilian Cheese Bread

 This month at Little Chute Library's Cooks and Culture Club we were going to Brazilian Culture and Food. The librarian's friend was from Brazil and knew a restaurant owner, Mara, also from Brazil. She came to talk to us or rather teach us how to make Brazilian Cheese Bread.

Danielle made it once for our lasagna dinner but other than that I never had it. Brazilian cheese bread is a gluten free bread that is a staple in many Brazilian households because it's easy to make and freeze the dough. Then when company comes, take out the dough and bake. It is an expensive, savory treat that is enjoyed by all.

To make Brazilian Cheese Bread you will need

• 500 grams tapioca starch
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 125 grams Parmesan cheese
• 125 grams Mozzarella cheese

Since we were making individual batches, we used less and Mara had everything pre-masured for us.

We started by adding our egg to our tapioca starch and salt mixture and mixed until crumbly.

Then Mara came around added oil and water so we could form a ball.

We then separated the ball into small balls which we could bake there or bring home. I brought most of mine home to serve at our tea party since they were Janis friendly.

They were definitely better than I remembered. If you bake them in the air fryer like I did for the tea party, they come out nice and crispy with a perfectly cheesy inside. Even the hubby liked them.

I definitely would consider making them again if I found the tapioca starch and got a scale. They truly are a quick and easy snack to keep on hand. 

Veggie Tales -- Swiss Chard

 I am not a huge vegetable fan especially leafy green ones. I stick to the basic veggies: Carrots, green beans, corn, peas, cucumber, radishes, and shredded lettuce. I hate tomatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower -- the later two I can tolerate if they are raw. If put in front of me and challenged, I will at least try most things. However, I am not going out of my way to eat my veggies.

When I went to the cooking club at the library, we were nearly forced to take some vegetables from the community garden. I snipped some parsley and a little kale. I stayed far from the Swiss chard.. it looked too much like Rhubarb. However, the librarian pretty much insisted that I take swiss chard. I figured I'd mix it with the kale for a salad. I was told it was better cooked. Cooked?? Um.. not so much.

When I got home, I started looking for Swiss Chard recipes on Pinterest. I found a lot of recipes for cooked swiss chard. I found a recipe for pasta, sausage, and swiss chard. Since I had to fend for myself this week and had some kielbasa in the freezer, I figured I would make this instead of sauerkraut casserole.

Fast forward to Thursday. I went to make dinner. First I chopped the swiss chard The stem into bite size pieces and rolled the leaves and then sliced them into pieces.

Then I read the recipe and ran into an issue. I had no tomato paste. Okay no problem, I will just skip it. As I kept reading, I thought the broth won't work without the tomato paste. Time to improvise.

After cooking the sausage and swiss chard, I decided to add some lemon juice since I heard that lemon and swiss chard went well together. I was slightly worried about the lemon and kielbasa but I figured I'd worry about that later. I also added the red pepper flakes and garlic from the original recipe along with lemon pepper seasoning.

Once the pasta and sausage was done, I mixed the sausage and swiss chard mixture into the pasta.

Then I sprinkled it with the parmesan cheese and dug in.

It was amazing. Because I diced the swiss chard small, it was not really noticeable. I only used 1 swiss chard leaf so that might be part of why I didn't really taste it. 

 I will definitely make it again. Maybe I will even make the real recipe. I just have to get some swiss chard.

Herb Your Enthusiasm -- A Rosemary Adventure

 Kimberly Library has a cooking club called Herb Your Enthusiasm where they feature a different herb or spice each month. I've looked into this before but it is usually a spice I don't have any interest in cooking with. This month was rosemary -- a herb that I actually have and recently started using. Instead of being at the library, it was at Il Bar Coffee Shop in Kimberly where we would get a cooking demonstration. Sign me up. I didn't pick up the packet of herbs beforehand.. why I already had rosemary.

Despite feeling like an outsider initially since everyone there usually came to every meeting, the librarians made you feel welcome. Then they asked for volunteers to help make the cookies. Since no one else volunteered, I did. I had a real tough job.  I had to use the hand mixer to make the dough. The pastry chef at Il Bar taught us to make lemon rosemary shortbread cookies. We never did get the recipe. It would be a fun summer recipe. I may have to google it.

The owner then showed us how to make lavender rosemary lemonade. Again they needed a volunteer and I'm glad I volunteered for the cookies otherwise I would have to squeeze 10 lemons. While our volunteer was squeezing the library we learned about the coffee shop as well as the rest of the ingredients. Surprisingly the lemonade was quite tasty. I am not a fan of lavender but it was very subtle.

Overall it was a fun hour and a break my mundane routine. It got me out of the house, got to meet some new people, try new foods, and discover a new coffee shop. I will definitely check out the Herb Your Enthusiasm again but probably not in May since I'm not all about foraging for food. I can't wait to go back to Il Bar for a iced chia latte or hot chocolate. They even have flights of their drinks.

20 in 2020 -- Make a new recipe -- Enchiladas

My mom and grandma both get Our Wisconsin magazine. Grandma gives us her copy when she is done with it. I read it and the hubby may read it. Then it sits on a pile on our coffee table for a few months til I get sick of the pile and weed out the old issues. Every issue includes a couple of recipes by readers. The hubby was going through the stack earlier this month and found a few recipes he thought sounded good. One was for enchiladas. So I bought the ingredients and put it them in the dinner rotation.

I'm more of a taco than an enchilada/burrito kind of person but the hubby prefers burritos/enchiladas. I've tried a couple of burrito recipes but the hubby wasn't overly fond of them. I was willing to try this one.

The recipe itself is pretty simple and can be made from simple pantry ingredients... chicken or turkey, cream of mushroom soup, salsa, sour cream, cheese, flour tortillas. I have a feeling the recipe was created to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.

Basic instructions
1. Mix meat, sour cream, taco seasoning, half the can of soup, cheese, onion, salsa, and olives together in a bowl.

2. Spoon filling into tortillas and roll up and place seam side down in 9x13 pan.

3. Then combine the rest of the soup, sour cream and taco seasoning. Pour over enchiladas.

4. Bake for 25 minutes.
5. Sprinkles with the rest of the cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.

I only made half the recipe each night. I mixed the entire filling and topping but only cooked half the tortillas the first night. I figured they won't reheat all that well.

They were pretty tasty. We used picante instead of salsa so it had more pepper and tomato chunks than the hubby liked. The sauce was a bit much with the all that sour cream according to the hubby. That might be because we split it into two nights.

The recipe definitely needs tweaking for our tastes but it was good for the first try. It might become a keeper if I can figure out the whole sauce thing.

I Tried Squash and Survived

Little Chute and Neenah both had library programs I was interested tonight. Based on the times of the events, I opted for the one at Little Chute even though I don't even like squash. Kimbery-Little Chute Library started offering Culinary Third Thursdays where Megan will demonstration demo, teach, and let us sample new foods.

Image courtesy of Google

Like I said I am not a fan of squash but I figured since I was impressed with the salad dressing class, I might find some kind of squash I do enjoy. So instead learning the history of grocery stores in Neenah, I learned about making squash just in case I get some gifted to me or I go off the deep end and decide to buy one.

Megan came prepared to teach us how to make 5 squash dishes using a variety of squashes. You mean there is more than 1 or 2 types of squash? Apparently there is more than just acron and butternut. There's also honey nut, Kabocha, spaghetti, and a list of others. I really should have taken notes just in case I need to buy a squash (or decide to make one of these dishes again).

Since it was a quick paced class with some of the prep work done last night, I am just going to highlight the different squash dishes I tried.

Roast Honey Nut Squash
Honey Nut squash is the little cousin of the acorn squash. Megan prepped this last night basically just peeling and slicing the squash in half, scoping out the guts and sprinkling it with brown sugar before roasting it. I was told this is a good squash to stuff. I actually liked this. It is sweet.

Honey Nut squash at the top and oven roasted at the bottom

Oven Roasted Squash
I don't recall what kind of squash was used in this dish -- it might have been Kabocha. This again was prepped last night. Megan roasted the squash tossed with oil, honey, and thyme. This was very good. I would definitely consider making this in the future if I ever needed a squash dish for something.

Oven Roasted Acorn Squash
This one was prepared in front of us. Megan sliced the acorn squash in half and scoped out the guts. Then sprinkled it with brown sugar, cumin, chipotle chili powder, and another spice. Along with the squash, Megan added sweet peppers, garlic, and butter before sliding it in the oven for 20 minutes or so. This one I was apprehensive of but like the others, the spices and flavors really came out and made the squash really good. Apparently the only squash I've tried was not prepared like this.

Squash Bisque
Technically as Megan said this was cream of squash soup since it didn't have seafood in it. However it was really good. To start this soup, Megan add some mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions) along with some apples to a stock pot and let it cook down. Then she added vegetable stock and the roast butternut squash and allowed it to cook til the squash was soft. Wine was added too (either now or later). Once the squash was soften, Megan pureed it and added some heavy cream to it. I believe some spices were added at this point to. YUM. It was good. Even though the texture wasn't quite smooth, the apple and mirepoix helped bring out more than just the squash flavor. This recipe is similar to what Megan made. You can substitute coconut milk for the heavy cream as well as chicken stock for vegetable stock.

Squash Curry
This ended up being my favorite. After sauteing some onions, Megan added red curry paste and garlic. Once that was nice and toasted, some squash (I think Kabocha) was added along with soy sauce and vegetable stock. Once the squash was soften, coconut milk was added. Then it was garnished with cilantro and lime. The flavors were amazing-- it was a mix of Asian and Costa Rican. This actually reminded me of having lunch at work in Costa Rica. This is a similar recipe.

Now I won't say I have a love of squash but I do appreciate it. If it was prepared flavorfully I might actually eat it. The bisque would be good for a soup cook-off. I am looking forward to other cooking adventures with Megan at the library as this sounds like it will be a regular thing.

6036. Make fresh squeezed orange juice

I was talking to my mom while she and my dad was in Arizona visiting my aunt and uncle and she said, "Too bad you don't like oranges. The orange tree is full of oranges and they need to be picked to have blossoms next year."

Image courtesy of Google

I was like but I could make fresh squeezed orange juice. 

My mom brought me 4 oranges, totaling over 5lbs, back from Arizona for orange juice.

By the time, I saw her though my fresh squeezed orange juice was more like 2 week old squeezed orange juice. And boy were those oranges ready to be squeezed.

I warmed up the oranges in the microwave to get the maximum juice out of them and squeezed...

and squeezed... 

Since these oranges were quite ripe, I also had a lot of pulp to dig out of my juicer..

... and strain the juice to get pulp free juice

I got a fair amount of juice out of my 4 oranges.. enough for a glass... 

After I chilled it over night, I poured me a glass.

BLECH!!!!

It was horrible. I am not a big orange juice drinker but at least I know that it should take like oranges. This tasted like absolutely nothing. It had no flavor or it tasted like old orange rinds. I took 2 sips and dumped the rest down the drain.

After talking to mom, she did say the orange she had in Arizona didn't really have any taste. I'm glad it wasn't just me. Maybe one day I'll get to make fresh off the tree orange juice that actually tastes like oranges.

Fox Cities Book Festival -- Part 2

While paging through the book festival flyer, looking at upcoming events, I spotted a cooking demonstration.. Free Food. New tastes. Down the road. At at time I could go. Free Parking. What's not to like? I texted my friend asking if she wanted to join me. She did but ended up cancelling at the last minute for the fear of little boys trying to become superman... So I went to check out Shana Corandt's Cooking Demonstration myself.

When I walked into the Thrivent Lobby at UW-Fox Valley, my first reaction was "I feel like I'm on a cruise". If you ever went to one of the chef demos on a cruise ship, you know what I'm talking about. The chairs set up in a public area. The banquet tables covered with white table clothes. Older ladies standing around waiting for it to start.

Private Chef Shana and her partner, Liz, are featured on Fox 11's Grilling With the Girls (when it's actually warm enough to grill) and have their own business, Make Me Hot Meals. Since it is Earth Day, they talked a little about sustainable food sources before touching on nutrition. She showed us a Ritz Cracker box and a Brenton Cracker box and asked which one we thought was healthier. The Brenton box had veggies on it, we figured it was "healthier" and when she read the first 3 ingredients it was pretty much the same thing as Ritz..processed flour and other not so healthy stuff. Then Shana held up Organic Shredded Wheat Crackers and Triscuits. The first three ingredients on both were whole wheat flour, salt, and soybean/sunflower oil. My beloved Triscuits had real ingredients and were pretty healthy for you. I guess I will keep eating them at work

After our cracker talk, Shana and Liz started the cooking demonstration portion of the afternoon. They made for us grass-fed beef sliders on spring mix. The beef came from Jacobs Meat Market in Appleton and we were instructed to go there even if it was just for the conversation. The spring mix and pea shoots came from the Free Market in Appleton. All organic healthy stuff I normally don't eat. All the spices came from Penzey's. I love Penzeys. On top of the sliders, was spicy ketchup made with ketchup and chili garlic paste. Then it was topped with pea shoots.

Amazing little snack. I'm not sure the hubby would go for the Chili Garlic Paste but I liked it even though it left my lips burning the entire drive home. Pea shoots were something I never tried and are absolutely amazing little greens. I could gobble those little buggers up all day. I may have to go get me some this summer.

It is amazing to see the different kinds of events the book Festival puts on. There is something for everyone and this one proves that you don't have to be a reader to enjoy the Festival. If you like to cook this one would be the one for you.

Oh and Jay Busch from Busch's Baked beans lives in Appleton.

#6199 Join a Book Club

Right now I should be at the Neenah Public Library for the monthly cookbook club meeting. I was looking forward to this one as the theme this month is International Inspirations. However, Mother Nature had other ideas and I decided not to venture out in the snow, wind, and cold.

The Neenah Library Cookbook Club meets every 2nd Thursday of the month. Each month has a different theme. You are supposed to check out a cookbook about the theme and try several different recipes. You can make something to share as well.

I was talked into going by a coworker who went to the first meeting. She happened to see my collection of cookbooks and said one would be perfect for the October meeting.  So I took my Cupcake cookbook and went. I really enjoyed it.  I did not make anything. There were plenty of samples.

A cookies 'n creme cupcake and a RumChata cupcake.

November's theme was Fall Flavors. Initially I found this theme difficult because I tend to use Pinterest for all my recipes. I did manage to find a cookbook that had a few apple recipes that might be interesting to try. In the end, I chose to try an apple dowdy. The dowdy wasn't as good as the one the hubs was used to and a lot more time consuming. I also tried several apple recipes from Pinterest including one for Caramel Apple Muffins. The muffins were delicious and everyone at the cookbook club agreed. I definitely will be making those again.

Caramel Apple Muffins

December's theme was Holiday Treats. This one was very easy. Stacy and I do cookie baking every year. We use the Electric Company cookbooks. I even found a new recipe in this year's edition. 

Like I mentioned before this month's theme is International Inspirations. I wanted to find an easy appetizer or dessert recipe for this month's meeting. Over Christmas I went to the library and checked out 5 international cookbooks. I found several recipes in them I wanted to try either for the cookbook club or for dinner. If the weather cooperated, I would have made Cheese Straws from the Betty Crocker's New International Cookbook. However, I took it as a sign when I ran to Walmart to pick up puff pastry yesterday and they were out of them that I wasn't suppose to go to tonight's meeting. 

My thoughts on the cookbooks I picked up this month:

Cooking With Italian Grandmothers by Jessica Theroux.  This is the one I was most excited to look it since the hubs loves his Italian food. I did not find any recipes that I would want to try. There were a lot of fish recipes, very few actual pasta recipes, and not too many desserts either. 

Sweet Mandarin Cookbook by Helen & Lisa Tse. I will be honest; I only picked this one up for the fortune cookie recipe. I never got around to looking at any of the recipes in the cookbook. The fortune cookie recipe does sound easy and I may copy it down to make one day.

Fiesta at Rick's by Rick Bayless. This cookbook featuring Mexican cuisine actually had several recipes I wouldn't mind trying including one for creamy chicken and greens with roasted poblano and caremalized onion as well as one for coconut candies. I don't think I will write either one down but if I need something in the future, I know these recipes exist.

Betty Crocker's New International Cookbook. I surprise by the variety of recipes in this cookbook so much that I wouldn't mind having a copy of the cookbook myself. Besides the cheese straws recipe, there are recipes for Hungarian chicken dish, a chicken dumpling dish and homemade ravioli that we would be willing to try. I also found a recipe for Crumpets which will be perfect for my tea party later this year.

I also checked out Swedish Cakes and Cookies translated by Melody Favish. There hasn't been time to look over this one before the cookbook club. Hopefully I will get a chance to peruse it before it is due. 

There are a variety of ages at the cookbook club from the young to the very old. Some go all out while others are there just for the conversation. Over the last few months, I have tried new things including grapefruit ginger sorbet. I learned some new tricks like using a melon baller to scope out the middle of cupcakes to fill them. It is always a good time and does make me sad that I had to miss this month but I look forward to some comfort food in February.