Strawberry Boullibaisse

SPEAK OUT FOR FREEDOM FOR THE WEB!

Last night I made Strawberry Boullibaisse. I didn't think to take a picture, we just gobbled it up. I usually put lemon juice and orange rind in, but Piano Boy had asked for strawberries for smoothies and then not eaten them, so I had a whole quart of them. (I only used about one fifth of them for two people).

 Here's what I did: I cut up fresh fennel, mushrooms, yellow squash, green squash spinach and strawberries, added a can of olive (sm can) drained, a can of organic diced tomatoes with juice, a can of clams with juice, tilapia, scallops, and shrimp. I cut the fish in soup sizes. For vegetarians, substitute tofu and/or beans for the fish. Spices: thyme, parsley, dill, garlic, salt, pepper, old bay, bay leaves, coriander.

It was different but delicious.

I'm a creative cook, so my recipes are pretty general--I always assume you can decide how much of everything you need per person.

Apple Cranberry Pie, from Scratch

This is a recipe for another blogger whom I am trying to convince to make her own homemade pies. "Easy as pie takes on new meaning with store bought pie-crusts. Homemade is cheaper and more environmental, but the store bought pies out to give some courage to TRY IT!

1)gather everything you need: fruit (in this case, apples and cranberries--I like to sue a variety of different kinds of apples. But ANY one kind will work--and they still taste good even if they aren't the freshest. Fresh is better of course. Here I have Granny Smith, Macintosh, honey crisp and several others. If possible, take the pie crust out of the fridge 15 minutes ahead (or so) to warm it slightly. Do not take it out too early.

2)Spread one piece of pie crust and cut each apple in half, one by one.

3)Then quarter them

4)remove the cores--be sure to get the little pricky thing out

5)Peel the pieces. Try to remove as little apple as possible with the peel, but get all the peel off, if possible

6)spread the pieces evenly on the bottom of the pie dish, on top of the crust

7)If adding cranberries, cut each one half--why--because otherwise they will float to the top and not spread their yummy tartness properly

9)I like to put the cranberries into the holes left by the apples

10)3/4 cup sugar is enough for a normal pie, but add more if you like it sweeter. As each layer is completed, sprinkle on a light sprinkle of sugar--this helps keep the apples from browning--or you can dip them in lemon juice.

then add another layer of apples.

and more cranberries, more sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon.

After the pie is full of apples and cranberries, add the rest of the sugar with a large heaping tablespoon of flour mixed in to thicken the juice (this is optional) and more cinnamon. Youc an also add nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice, in small amounts. (opt)

put the top crust on and make vent holes for the steam. Seal the top and bottom crust.

put it in the oven with a tray underneath so if it boils over and leaks, it won't get on the oven. Bake at 375 or 400 about 40 minutes--set the timer for 30 and then check it every little while. Watch the crust. If it is browning too much, put it on a lower shelf, and/or cover the edges with foil.

The pie is done in 40-45 minutes, usually, when the crust is browned but not burned and the filling has been boiling.

You can also make quickly little pie things by just tossing some apples or other fruit on dough with a couple tablespoons of sugar and a little cinnamon, or use a small oven proof bowl.

A word about the leavings. PLEASE---Feed them to the chickens or pigs or COMPOST THEM. It is unenvironmental to toss them in t he trash where they will sit in a landfill forever.

Of course, you do know that if you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

Puttenesca a la Marie

This is what I made for dinner last night--a form of Puttenesca a la me. It was part of my creative every day, LOL!

The main thing is fresh tomatoes (or you can use canned if haven't any fresh), garlic, olives, capers. Leave anything out you don't like. I served mine over "designer" pasta ("Mother-in-law's tongue"). I added mushrooms, veggies, wine, and pork. (Also salt, pepper, basil, parsley.) You could add an alternate protein source, or none. But although it was utterly wonderful and seems fancy (cause it's soemthing I've never made before quite like this), it didn't take long.

I dipped the fresh tomatoes in the same water I was boiling for pasta, each for 45 seconds, slid off the skins and chopped them up--the tomatoes, not the skins. Saute the garlic (onions if you like them--I can't eat onions) in olive oil, add any extras (meat, veggies, mushrooms). When they are nearly cooked, if you add them, add the tomatoes, wine, capers, olives, cook a couple minutes and serve over the pasta you've been preparing, YUM YUM! (I fried up a couple pieces of polenta to serve on the side.)

Creative Soup cooking with Soup "Recipe"

This is a soup recipe Nadine could maybe use, as the basic recipe has only a few ingredients.

I spent the entire morning shoveling and am going to have to go out and resume momentarily. Hope to get some pictures, too!

I came in tired and hungry and I hadn't been able to go to the store because of the weather, so I didn't have what I wanted for lunch. I like to challenge myself to make something both healthy and tasty from what I have on hand. And since I was cold from shoveling, I made a simple soup. I had made another different one earlier in the week I'd intended to write about but never had time. So today I thought I'd rest before resuming shoveling by writing this down. The soup came out great.

Basic 4-ingredient soup (with additions later)

1. water
2. vegetable (s)
   
3. protein (s)
   
4. salt (and spices, opt)
   

OK, those are your basic ingredients for soup.

Now, how to do it:

1. measure about a cup of water per person, more if you're very hungry. (No that water won't make you satisfied by itself, but will provide space for the other ingredients.) Use a pan that is somewhat larger than the amount you want, but not a lot larger. (More energy efficient, quicker, more environmental, more economical). Bring to a boil.
   
2. While the water is heating, choose one or more vegetables. If more than one, choose some you like that go well together. Cut them into bite-size pieces (any size you like--smaller ones cook faster.) Today I used spinach and zucchini. I often use broccoli. For each person, as 1/2-3/4 c vegetables (You can use more or less depending on whether you like your soup chunky or brothy), finely cut--or however you want them. Put them in the boiling water.
3. Choose a protein. Tofu works. Beans. Fish, shrimp, chicken, or any combination you like together. I had chicken today. Cut into bite-size pieces (or any size you like). Add 2-4 oz about the amount that the palm of your hand would make if cut up. add to soup pot. Cook briefly, about 5 minutes.
   
4. salt to taste. Pepper, garlic powder opt. (Sprinkle salt over the pan).
   

Presto, a simple soup. Tasty and nutritious.

OK, for the additions.

1. you can add a little wine or balsamic vinegar--I added vinegar to mine today, just a little--careful, not too much. 1 1/2 t vinegar or 2 T wine. Or you can add both. I like both, but BB does not.
   
2. fresh onion and garlic--saute in butter or olive oil. add 1 rounded tablespoon flour. Add a little of the broth in, mix it in, then add the onion and garlic to the soup--presto--a thicker, spicier soup. Use one small to medium clover of garlic and or a few slices of onion. I did not use these today.
3. Milk or cream--mmmm--cream soup. Use less water to start with and add the equivalent amount of milk or cream--near the end. If you put the cream or milk in a jar with a rounded T flour and shake, and then pour it into the soup, it will thicken the soup--or you can saute flour in butter or olive oil as above--don't do both. One or the other. I can have dairy, so I didn't do this, but I often do it for BB.
4. starch: add any kind of pasta in small quantities, or rice--cook it first unless it's quick cooking, or use left-overs, or potato, or oatmeal--yes oatmeal--it's good in soup--or barley, or cous cous. I love little pastinas. I have many varieties, but used none today. Also beans, peas, garbanzos etc. (making pea soup or lentil soup is a little different).* But you can add some to your soup--best if they are already leftovers or if you precook them--otherwise they take too long to cook for this recipe
   
5. aromatic herbs and spices--experiment. Start out with just a little. I like to add jerk spices or hot spices or basil, etc. Today I added none of those. I made a simple but yummy soup.
6. gumbo: use chicken or fish, or tofu, add shrimp, and sausage. Be sure also to add Okra if you can get it. Just a few for authenticity, slices crosswise fairly thin.
7. Leftovers--soup is a good way to use up small portions of leftovers! You can make a yummy kitchen sink soup with various things from the fridge--everything but the kitchen sink. A good stirfry or even a good salad can make a good soup later.
8. au jus, broth--save your meat and veggie dripping and broth to add to your soup--mmmm!
9. eggs: egg drop and egg flower soups are yummy, just drop an egg into the hot soup and cook till it's done for egg drop, or stir for egg flower.
10. tomatoes, V8 juice, tomato juice. For a really quick tomato-based soup, if you're in a hurry, use V8 juice, or tomato juice. Other wise, dip tomatoes in boiling water and pull off the skins. This is easier than it sounds--use a slotted spoon for dipping them.
    
11. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Start simple, and when you're confident, experiment. It's tasty, nutritious, and warming on cold days!

*To make pea soup or lentil soup, follow the simple directions on the dry peas/lentils package--they don't have to be soaked--but cook them longer than it says too for better flavor. If you want help with that, let me know. It takes about 45-hour to make good pea or lentil soup, with onions and garlic and carrots. You can do something else while it's cooking, just stir occasionally--and the leftovers are even better than when it's fresh.

And be "Creative Every Day " in everything you do!

Skins, Strings and Glue

When I was a small child, my mother and grandmother would make farina or cream of wheat for me and set it out to skin up good before I ate it. I loved those skins. I also wanted my pudding dished out early to skin up. And I loved the skins on sausages.

But I hated strings! They used to have string beans that had a string in them--those strings would make me gag--I had to carefully remove each one. And celery--forget celery! Ugh. GAK!

Strings on mozzarella however, that was different. I loved lasagna, pizza and just plain mozzarella. Mmm, those strings were good.

And I loved gluey stuff. Big gobs of fish-eye tapioca. Mmm.

So it is no surprise that today I love spring rolls, with their soft stretchy gluey skins, I made some for lunch again today, mmmmm, with healthful salad inside. (I'm talking raw spring rolls, not fried ones.)

Easy as pie: Bumbleberry X2

I had three Thanksgivings this year, one in Snowstorm City and two in Auto City. I made a form of Bumbleberry pie for each, but the first was really more apple cranberry. If you happen to like pie--and I do--you can make yourself a pie any time, not just at Thanksgiving.

You know the saying, "Easy as Pie?" It is pretty easy.

The hardest step is the crust. (There is a nice recipe on crisco cans or oil crusts are good too). Getting the texture just right and rolling it out does take a little practice. BUT if this is too hard--you can buy premade crusts in both the refrigerator and freezer sections of most grocery stores.

Once you have the crust, the rest is truly easy, if somewhat time consuming. You simply peel and cut up whatever fruit you want to use. For bumbleberry pie, use apples, and whatever fresh berries are available. I used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and cranberries. Add 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg (cloves opt), a dab of butter or a little oil, cover with another crust or lattice, and bake at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes. Set the timer for 30. Cover with foil and remove at 30 minutes, then bake 10-15 more until it browns and bubbles. Voila, pie! If I can do it, ANYONE can!

Sorry these pix aren't that great, it was a dark day and I didn't want to use flash.

The Bumbleberry Pie

I took a series for a recipe session, but it's on the lost camera. So
here is the pie just before going in the oven and just before eating
yesterday (for our third thanksgiving). It was delightful--found some
good respberries so it had apples, raspberries, blueberries,
cranberres and strawberries. Yum.

What's for breakfast: cranberry pancakes with Lingonberry Syrup

MMMmmm. I got the Lingonberry syrup at The Village Market. In parentheses, it calls it partridge berry. I've eaten our partridge berry, and they taste like damp styrofoam, so my interest was piqued. I bought it, and yummy yummy yummy good.

Wikipedia says: The Vaccinium vitis-idaea – often called lingonberry or cowberry, also called foxberry, mountain cranberry, lowbush cranberry, and partridgeberry (in Newfoundland and Labrador) – is a small evergreen shrub in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bears edible fruit. It is seldom cultivated, but the fruits are commonly collected in the wild. The native habitat is the circumboreal forests of northern Eurasia and North America, extending from temperate into subarctic climates.

I then looked up my partridgeberry and Wikipedia said: Mitchella repens , or Partridge Berry, is the best known plant in the genus Mitchella. It is a herbaceous woody shrub, occurring in North America and Japan, and belonging to the madder family (Rubiaceae).
This evergreen plant is a creeping, but not climbing, vine, 15-30 cm long. The evergeen dark-green leaves are opposite, ovate to cordate, with a pale yellow midrib. The petioles are short. Roots may grow at the internodes, forming loose mats. It is part of the undergrowh vegetation in many forests. It has dimorphous, twin white tubular flowers (grown from one calyx) with four petals, covered with fine hairs. They grow axillary at the end of a branchlet. Each flower has one pistil and four stamens. While in one twin flower this pistil is short,in the other it is long. With a short pistil come long stamens, or vice versa. This dimorphy prevents self-fertilization by one flower.

These are the ones that taste like damp styrofoam but are wonderful in the woods and in terrariums. The cool thing about these is that every two flowers forms one berry.

I learned that there are many plants called partridge berry, which is why we have scientific nomenclature, so that there will be less confusion.

Other posts today:

Wolcott Mill
Red maple

What I ate for breakfast: cranberry sauce

Are you tired of sauces? I understand, they could possibly be boring, I suppose. But this was the best one yet. Mmmmmm! So good! And easy, too. I've discovered you can make a great sauce in about a minute (2 minutes counting prep) in the microwave. Take a cup (microwave safe), add sugar, cornstarch and liquid, plus fruit needed, and "nuke" it for a minute and presto--sauce. I did this one in pan on the stove, but even that only took about 3-4 minutes. Mix the sugar and cornstarch well in the dry pan or cup, then add, in this case, water, a couple spoonfuls of frozen white grape juice concentrate, a couple of frozen orange juice concentrate, and chopped cranberries. Stir until thickens over medium heat. Serve over pancake or biscuit or ice cream. I used the whole grain pancake I mentioned earlier. I never measure anything, so I can't give an exact recipe, but boy was it tasty! Yum. I wish I could share it with you. I think with a little expansion in quantity and number of berries, it would also make a great pie filling. Yum.

Not Martha Stewart (What I ate for breakfast--raspberry syrup)

Today I made blueberry pancakes (same recipe as yesterday) with raspberry syrup. I didn't look up a recipe, I just made it, and it tasted great, but was messy. After eating some of the fresh raspberries fresh, I covered the others with water, added sugar and a squirt or two of lemon left from making yesterday's lemon sauce and voila, syrup. I'm not Martha Stewart and I made a big mess on myself and in the kitchen and really enjoyed the food but not the mess. I should have added a little cornstarch for thickening, but it was fabulous! And I have enough left for another meal! YAY! The lower photo is the actual syrup in the pan before I got it all over my clothes, counter, floor etc. I did not strain the seeds out.

What I ate for lunch: Blueberry Pancakes with Vanilla-Caramel Syrup

What I ate for lunch: Blueberry Pancakes with Vanilla-Caramel Syrup

All from scratch. I made whole-wheat bran flaxseed blueberry pancakes and I made the caramel vanilla syrup from scratch. It has a hint of orange because I put it in the same squeeze bottle (intentionally) as my orange syrup. I thought the hint of orange would be good and it is. And the blueberries are high in antioxidants. Yay!

Here's how I made the syrup: a cup of sugar heated on high and stirred constantly until it melts, turns light caramel color plus a little, and boils. Remove from heat, add 1/2 c rice milk and 1/8 c canola oil. If you do dairy, add milk and butter. CAREFUL--it boils up hard. Return to heat, stir to melt the hardened sugar back into the rice milk. Remove, cool, add 1 tsp vanilla. If you want a hint of orange, add 1 1/2 tsp frozen concentrated OJ. Here is a recipe for Caramel Sauce that I modified for mine. I don't do dairy, so I can't use butter and heavy cream.

Today's Detroit Photo: RAZOR WIRE!

What I Ate for Lunch

My blogger friend, Leah, is beautiful and looks young for her age. She's a great blogger and nonfiction writer, a poet, a photographer, and a wonderful perceptive kind loving friend. I love her.

One day at lunch, as bloggers do, we talked about blogging. We both admitted that we like to blog, we sometimes resent the time involved, and we don't always like other people's posts. Some are great, some OK, some boring.

"I hate reading about what people ate for lunch!" Leah told me emphatically. I winced. I myself am guilty of writing about what I had for lunch.

This reminds me of a story. I had a stalker for a while, at least, that's what everyone called him. So I'll refer to him as Stalker Man. He used to come by my house and leave me notes and presents. That would have been worrisome enough, but worse yet, he meddled in my life, sent threatening letters to my ex-husband, without my permission (or prior knowledge), and to my boss, etc. I was really afraid of him and relieved to move away where he could hopefully no longer bother me.

During the time after my second husband left me, I dated a number of men, mostly briefly, before I gave up on men entirely for many years. Stalker Man was one of the reasons for my giving up on men. (Biker Buddy was my sole reason for starting up with men again.)

During the time I was dating, I dated a man who worked in construction. He was a stonemason and carpenter. He was rough looking on the outside but kind, gentle and sweet. I adored him. I'll call him Mason Man.

Stalker Man came by my house almost every day while I was at work. He drove a big truck, and every time he drove in and out of my driveway, he drove across the grass. In the spring and winter, he made big muddy ruts in the lawn.

Long after we quit seeing each other, Mason Man stopped by to visit me. He too drove a big truck, to haul construction supplies. Because there was a car parked in my driveway, Mason Man drove up on the lawn in case the person to whom the car belonged needed to leave. (She didn't—it was my mother's car and she was in the nursing home.)

During the course of my conversation with Mason Man, standing in the yard with his truck, I was noticing the deep ruts in my lawn made by Stalker Man. Understand: I really like Mason Man, whereas I was afraid of Stalker Man and found him annoying. I mentioned Stalker Man's ruts to Mason Man, and he apologized profusely for driving on my lawn. I was SO embarrassed. It hadn't occurred to me that Mason Man would think I was criticizing HIM. I wasn't! I wouldn't. I didn't care if he drove on my lawn. I was angry at Stalker Man and it had nothing at all to do with Mason Man. I told him that, but I didn't think he believed me, and I felt really bad. I wish Mason man knew I didn't mean to criticize him. That I cared about him and never meant to upset him. The worst thing is, I haven't seen him since the day I criticized Stalker Man to him. I've been unable to tell him again I care about him and had no intention to criticize him. He could drive on my lawn all he wanted.

What does all this have to do with what I ate for lunch? I don't know whether Leah meant to criticize MY talking about what I ate for lunch or whether she meant the criticism as an analogy for boring posts in general or some specific other blogger who wrote often about food. In a way, it doesn't matter. Because I love Leah, and her criticism of my blog, whether intentional or unintentional, is well taken. Her blog is much more interesting than mine.

Here's what I say (excuses, excuses):

• I have a lot going on with my family and life right now with the death of my mother, her estate, and the sale of her house, my move (still not unpacked), my art my writing and so on.

• I am putting my writing energy into my novels and poetry. Also investing time and energy in my art.

I could go on, but I won't. Why do I blog then, if it's not the highest priority in my life. I don't really know, maybe I shouldn't.

But I have another issue about what I ate for lunch. I had no lunch, and it's 1:38 PM and I may not get any lunch. I often miss my lunch. I seem to be so busy lately. It's ridiculous how busy I am, and for what?

Busy-ness, though, is not the worst problem with talking and writing about food. The real problem is, I have issues with food. I am overweight, my weight threatens my health, and I can't get it under control. And all my doctors can't help. Or don't.

Maybe I shouldn't be writing about what I ate for lunch. But I like to. I'm interested in food. Supposedly, one should eat to live, not live to eat. I'm not in either category, but I do like to eat and I like to write about eating and food.

I recently wrote a story about Key Lime Pie, but I didn't post it, because I was thinking about what Leah said about not liking to read about what someone had for lunch. I thought about making a separate blog and naming it, "What I Ate For Lunch" and putting food talk and recipes on it. But, I have too many blogs already! I'd like to cut down on the number of blogs I maintain, not increase them.

So, I am going to label all my food-related posts, "What I Ate for Lunch" plus a subtitle. Then anyone who doesn't want to read about what I had for lunch can skip that post. And yes, Leah, if you're reading this, I DO realize you might not have meant me (Hence the story about Stalker Man and Mason Man.)

So here then, finally, is my "first" (new) post under the "what I ate for lunch" category. It is not really the first one, but it will be the first one with that label. I will go back and label the old ones and then maybe post the Key Lime Pie story and some addendums to it. Maybe. If I ever have time.

"What I Ate for Lunch; Spicy orange Syrup on Whole Grain Pancakes"

As I'm sure you realize by now, I'm getting old. I'm 61 years old. I have a problem that bloggers rarely blog about: constipation. It's unpleasant and I don't intend to talk about it here, at least not much. I've tried all sorts of remedies without much success. The one thing that seems to work fairly well with a minimum of unpleasant side effects is bran. But bran is hard to take and no, psillium pills do not work.

I've experimented with various delivery systems for the bran, and my current delivery system is pancakes. With every meal, I make a whole-wheat bran pancake, because it's quick and easy and the taste is fairly acceptable. But it's better with syrup.

Syrup is "bad." It's high in sugar and being overweight, I do not need a lot of sugar in my diet. I also don't like paying the high cost of maple syrup, even though it's yummy. So I've been experimenting with homemade syrups. My mother used to make homemade syrups.

I made a delicious vanilla syrup. I made an elderberry syrup (I'm done at the doctor's and headed out and that's another story, a story about honesty and truthfulness and the goldfish I'd LIKE to write about.) My favorite syrup so far is the one I made last night, spicy orange syrup. It's perfect on my bran pancake and it tastes so good it's almost like a dessert. And I don't need desserts!

Here's how I made it. I did NOT use a recipe; because we got home really late last night and we were very hungry and I didn't want to waste time looking up recipes, so I invented one. I made it while concocting an ad hoc stir-fry (not sure if ad hoc is the right word here). I put one cup or sugar and about 2 tablespoons of water in a large saucepan on medium heat. The water did not entirely dampen the sugar but made it dissolve faster as it heated up. I heated it and stirred it until it boiled and then about two more minutes, took it 3/4 off the heat and added about a quarter of a cup of frozen concentrated (undiluted) orange juice and 2 sprinkles each of cinnamon and cloves. I stirred it until well mixed over the ¼ burner, cooled it, and decanted it into a plastic squeeze bottle to squeeze onto my pancake. It was wonderful.

Next time I'm going to try adding a little orange zest.

It could be served on dessert pancakes. For presentation, sprinkle the pancake with powdered sugar from a sugar shaker and then make a spiral or other design with the orange the orange syrup. Serve with a wedge of orange and three cherries or a scoop of vanilla ice cream also decorated with the orange syrup.

I made the pancake with a scant 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour, ¼ cup mixed bran (wheat, oat and corn), ½ teaspoon baking powder, a sprinkle of salt and sugar, a teaspoon of canola oil and enough rice milk to make a batter. I fried it in a teaspoon or two of canola oil. Crepes would work well with the syrup instead.

Today's Detroit Photo