Heirloom Recipes
Last week my mom and I went down to my grandma’s house to go through some of her things. We went through many boxes and looked through so many things. Often the things that are valuable when someone’s gone aren’t tangible and often are not worth anything to anyone else, but they’re priceless to the family.
I’ve been wanting to collect some of the family heirloom recipes for quite a while to make a special cookbook. While we were visiting my uncle & cousin, I spent some time looking through my grandma’s recipe boxes. They were small metal boxes stuffed full of index cards and clippings from the newspaper and magazines. I was able to get some photos of some of my grandma’s favorite recipes, some of them in her writing. My cousin also had my great grandmother’s recipes book, which was a collection of recipes in an old railroad ledger book.
Throughout the rest of the year I’m going to collecting more of these family recipes. I’ll make the recipes and take photos of the finished products. I’ll try to find some photos of my grandma cooking or of her kitchen the way it used to be. For Christmas I’ll make a nice printed cookbook at Lulu and give it to family members. What a lovely reminder of what is really important; things that can’t be bought or sold. Most often the simplest things in life mean the most to us.
I can’t wait to try my great grandma’s tomato butter (which was most likely their version of ketchup) and my grandma’s pickle recipe.
Do you have any family heirloom recipes? What are you doing to preserve them?
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Make Your Own: Brown Sugar
There are lots of things you can make at home for much less than you can buy them at the store. Not only does it save money, but it saves time as well. No more quick trips to the store to get brown sugar when you start baking and realize you’re out. I’ve been making my own brown sugar for quite a while, mostly because it can be difficult to find organic brown sugar when you live in a rural area and it’s pretty expensive when you do actually find it! I definitely couldn’t get organic brown sugar for less than $1.50/lb, which is about what this costs me.
To make your own brown sugar all you need is white sugar and molasses. I use organic evaporated cane juice sugar (not Sucanat) and unsulphered organic blackstrap molasses. The general recipe is 1 cup of sugar and 2 Tablespoons of molasses. You can adjust the molasses amount or use a different kind of molasses to suit your tastes. I’m partial to blackstrap or sorghum molasses. I also like to use at least 2 Tablespoons or a bit more, since I like dark brown sugar.
After adding the molasses to the sugar all you have to do is mix. This can take a while, you can use a mixer if you’re making a large amount, the whisk attachment works very well for this task. Mixing by hand is quicker I think, that’s what I do. Using a fork seems to work best. Don’t worry if you have small lumps of molasses in the final product.
Another added benefit to making brown sugar at home, is that it’s always fresh. It smells wonderful and it’s always nice and soft. It has a much deeper flavor than store-bought brown sugar, which I really appreciate!
Now you can add this to the growing list of things you can make at home. You’ll have a constant supply of fresh brown sugar for baking all kinds of delicious goodies.
Have you ever made brown sugar at home? Any other great things you make at home you’d love to share?
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Superbowl: Food or Football?
We always get together with friends for the Superbowl. I’m not really that big on football, especially the NFL (personally I think it’s all rigged). For me it’s all about the food and friends. We usually plan out a special menu, last year we had a wild game theme with buffalo and venison mini burgers and other delicious sides. This year we’re doing fun snack food, like potato skins, chips, and these pretzel dogs.
I also made some of these chewy oatmeal cookies for Mr Chiots, he’s a big oatmeal cookie fan and I haven’t made them in a long long time! They were really great, perfectly chewy and full of nuts and raisins.
Of course there always ends up being too much food, but that’s what the Superbowl is all about. Food and Friends!
Did you watch the Superbowl? Is is about the football or the food for you, or something else?
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Make Your Own: Baking Powder
Baking powder and baking soda are both leavening agents used in baking. Some recipes call for baking powder, baking soda or a combination of both. When both are used in a recipe, the baking powder does most of the leavening and the baking soda is used to neutralize the acids and add tenderness. Baking powder does lose it’s potency after a while, so I mix up small batches whenever I need them.
I started mixing my own baking powder quite a while ago. I ran out once and didn’t want to run to the store. I knew you could mix it up at home, but had never done it. So I looked up a recipe on-line. It’s so quick and easy, I’ve been mixing it up fresh ever since. I also like homemade baking powder because I can make it aluminum free. Homemade baking powder is not double acting like most of what you buy in the store, so it’s important to bake the item right away. (Jennifer brings up a good question in the comments about cookies that call for chilling – I chill the dough, sometimes overnight and have never had issue with cookies not rising, so I guess baking right away isn’t necessary).
Homemade Baking Powder
1 teaspoon baking soda (I use aluminum free)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon corn starch *optional
Mix all ingredients in a small jar. If you are using right away, there is no need to add corn starch, *add if you’re planning on storing baking powder for future use.
It costs a little less than 18 cents for each batch you make following this recipe, if I didn’t add corn starch it would cost only 14 cents per batch. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t buy organic aluminum free baking powder for this price and it certainly wouldn’t be as fresh. I’ve always had great results with this homemade baking powder. So next time you’re in a pinch and need baking powder, mix some up at home. You’ll be surprised by how quick and easy it is.
Have you ever mixed up your own baking powder?
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I’ll Take a Tall Stack
During the long cold winter months here in NE Ohio, it’s futile to think about gardening all the time! There are still many long months of cold and snow left (they’re predicting a few inches overnight). To keep myself from going crazy, I spend my winter months learning to do new things. I finally mastered sourdough bread, so now I’m learning to use sourdough in places besides bread, like muffins and pancakes. One reason I like sourdough is because the grains are soaked overnight, this is supposed to make them easier to digest and much more nutritious. On Tuesday morning I finally made my first batch of sourdough pancakes and they were a HUGE hit.
I used the basic recipe from Mother Earth News and amended it to suit my tastes. I used my sourdough starter and some freshly ground whole wheat flour, along with some buttermilk leftover from my butter making, eggs from the local farm. We topped them with some homemade butter and some local maple syrup (soon enough we’ll have our own maple syrup).
Sourdough Pancakes
1 cup sourdough starter* (I like to use recently fed starter)
1 cup water or buttermilk (I’ve made both and much prefer buttermilk)
1 cup flour (I used 100% whole wheat freshly ground)
In a large bowl, mix these 3 ingredients just until combined (don’t over mix) and let stand overnight. I use raw milk buttermilk in mine and it doesn’t bother me to let it sit out overnight, it has beneficial bacteria in it, so I don’t worry about the milk going bad. *I feed my starter white flour, so my pancakes were half whole wheat.
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter (allow to cool slightly)
1 tablespoon of sugar (or 1 tablespoon of honey)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
vanilla & cinnamon to taste if desired
*you can add a few Tablespoons of powdered milk if you used water in your starter above instead of using buttermilk
The next morning, sprinkle sugar, salt and baking soda over the starter sponge you made the night before (I always put my baking soda through a screen to get rid of any lumps). Whisk egg and butter or coconut oil together then add to sponge mix. Add additional buttermilk if the sponge mix seems to thick for pancake batter (depends on whether you like thick or thin pancakes, this batter is slightly thicker than normal). Mix until combined and allow to sit for 30 minutes before making pancakes.
Drop batter by quarter cups on a buttered, preheated cast iron pan. Cook pancakes until golden brown on both sides, flipping them once only when tops are bubbly and edges look like they’re starting to dry (I guess you know how to do this so I don’t need to explain it too much).
Some of the recipes I’ve read don’t use baking soda, I’ll be making a batch soon without. I hear that it helps reduce the sourness of the pancakes, so if you’re pancakes are too sour, add another half teaspoon of baking soda. Next batch I’ll try making without any baking soda to see how sour they are and how well they raise.
Mr Chiots loved these pancakes, he said they were the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made. One great thing about soaking the whole wheat overnight is that it reduces the bitterness of the whole wheat. I must agree, these didn’t taste like they had as much whole wheat in them as they did. I’ll try making some buckwheat pancakes soon as well. I’m not as huge a fan of buckwheat as I am whole grain or oatmeal pancakes.
What’s your favorite kind of pancake?
