Cutting out da buttah

I'd like to stick around awhile and want to eventually have fun with my grandkids, and I want my grandkids to have great memories of doing fun stuff with Grannie Janni! Given my family history of heart disease, I think it's time to really ream the buttah out of my arteries. So I am going to enjoy butter (and other saturated fats like cheese, cream, fatty meats, bacon, etc.) on holidays and birthdays only. Thank heavens that chocolate is actually healthy (dark chocolate or cocoa - milk chocolate is now in the holiday category) - that will go a long way toward helping me wean off teh buttah. Maybe I'm not having cookies, but I can have a square of dark chocolate!

Here is the latest food I discovered which was a satisfying replacement for the buttered version:

BABY YUKON GOLD POTATOES WITH HERBS AND OLIVE OIL
1 lb baby Yukon gold potatoes
2 - 3 T good olive oil
minced fresh herbs - parsley, mint, garden celery, chives, marjoram, thyme
salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes until tender (about 20 minutes)
Drain and break them in half; place them in a serving dish with the cut side up.
Drizzle them with olive oil, then salt and pepper them generously.
Then sprinkle on the minced herbs.
They were so good, I didn't miss the butter.

And here is a hot chocolate that has been getting me through the mornings lately - it is chock-ful (lol) of healthy stuff like antioxidants and calcium and honey.
Good-for-you ANTIOXIDANT COCOA
2 - 4 tsp non-"Dutched" dark unsweetened cocoa (such as Scharffenberger)
2 tsp honey
4 ounces hot water
4 ounces skim or lowfat milk
Mix the cocoa powder with the hot water, stir in the honey until dissolved. Add the milk.

Can one be addicted to umami?

Teriyaki Salmon with Red Onion & Winesap Apple relish

Sauteed Garden Greens

Baby Pumpkin and Squash

Orange Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Blondies

Oct 7 2009 END OF THE GARDEN

GREENS WITH TOMATOES AND BABY SQUASH
small tomatoes, very ripe, halved
tiny baby yellow squash with their blossoms, cut in half lengthwise
greens - mustard greens and tatsoi, torn, large stems removed
mint leaves, no stems
baby red torpedo onion, sliced
garlic, sliced
olive oil

I cut tomatoes and baby squashes in half, and put them in a non-stick skillet with the garlic & onion & olive oil, and layered on the torn greens and mint. Let it cook for about 4 minutes, then stirred it and then served it.

Getting Medieval

Every year in late September, our Farmer Market has a medieval day, when they invite the local SCA chapter, (the medieval re-enactment people), to present demonstrations of Medieval life, including cooking, fighting, arts & crafts, fashion, etc. My daughters and I have been participating in the food demo for a number of years.

This year we made all the food at home the night before. We made:
Oatcakes (unsweetened oat flour flatbread, served with honey).
Apple muse (applesauce made with almond milk and honey).
Hedgehogs (meatballs shaped like little hedgehogs with almond spines and currant noses).
Shrewsbury Cakes (shortbread cookies scented with rosewater and nutmeg).
Greens Tart (a pie made with greens, eggs, cheeses, and nutmeg).
Onion Salad (roasted onions dressed with wine vinegar, cinnamon, olive oil, S & P).
Spiced Cider.

The people who stopped by the food demo were so interested and polite! One englishman came by several times to taste the Shrewsbury Cakes, which he pronounced "Shrawsbry"- -EEEEE!I heart all things British.

A sweet older woman with the most beautiful light green eyes was very interested in the oatcakes and talked to me for some time about them. They were very familiar to her. Her husband was Scottish and she always tried to make his nostalgic foods for him.

She asked if I ever heard of gypsy creams, which she said is an old British favourite cookie. She couldn't find recipe for them. She described them as having flour, oats, golden syrup, and a little bit of cocoa in them, and two cookies sandwiched with chocolate butter cream. I told her I woul look it up. This recipe sounds just like what she described:

http://www.biscuit-recipes.co.uk/Gypsy%20Creams.html
Recipe Name Gypsy Creams
Difficulty Level Easy
Traditional food from United Kingdom
Ingredients 3oz margarine
4 level tsp. golden syrup
6oz self raising or plain flour
2oz sugar
1/2 oz cocoa
2oz rolled oats
Preparation Melt the margarine and syrup in a pan, stir in the sifted dry ingredients and the rolled oats.
Place walnut sized pieces on greased baking trays, flattening them with a fork dipped in hot water.
Bake for 20-25 minutes in a gas mark 3 oven, 325 F / 160 C.
Allow to cool before removing from trays and when cold serve plain or sandwiched together with chocolate butter cream.
Makes 16-18.

Homemade Mozzarella!

Actually, Laurel made this cheese last Sunday with a kit from New Seasons.
I have a recipe for it that was on my cooking "To Do" list. Laurel was disappointed with the cheese, and left it at my house in a yogurt tub. The next day I looked at it and it looked pretty good to me! It is very white and softer than store mozzarella. I made this "lasagne-ish dinner with it.I just layered the ingredients in a lasagne pan and baked at 350* until warmed through. The cheese was also good on Bartlett pear slices, sprinkled with a little nutmeg.



TJ's lasagne noodles, partially cooked to al dente
homemade tomato sauce made with dead ripe garden tomatoes, garlic, basil
yellow summer squash
greens
chicken breast poached in broth, then shredded
spoonfuls of homemade mozzarella
nutmeg

more cute foods - candy "sushi" birthday cake

Sushi cake - chocolate cake, sushi made with green fruit rollups "seaweed", coconut "rice", orange jellybelly "salmon roe", orange cookie-decoration-sugarball "tobiko", candied ginger "kanpyo", and Swedish gummy fish.

Candy Sushi