Make it Yourself: Cranberry Liqueur

I have made it no secret that I love cranberries.  Raw cranberries, snowy sugared cranberries, cranberry bread...  Transformed into an alcoholic additive is another delicious way to enjoy these little pearls of antioxidant goodness!

The cranberry liqueur recipe I use is adapted from Cooking Light, December 2003.  It makes a lovely gift packaged in a decorative bottle.  The Container Store has a wide selection of bottles.  Be sure to keep some for yourself!

2 cups honey 1 cup water 1 (12-ounce) package fresh cranberries 3 cups vodka

Place cranberries in a food processor; process 2 minutes or until finely chopped. Combine honey, water, and cranberries in a half gallon jar; stir in vodka.

Secure the jar with a lid. Let stand for 1 - 2 weeks in a cool, dark place, shaking every other day.

Discard solids by straining through a sieve into a large bowl. Then pour liqueur into clean jars through a cheesecloth-lined funnel.  Add a decorative tag or label to identify this potent potable.

My favorite way to enjoy cranberry liqueur is to pour an ounce into a champagne class and top with bubbly.  You could also use it for a cosmopolitan, cranberry martini, or for sipping on its on.  Enjoy!

Make it Yourself: Wine Bottle Olive Oil Pourer

This olive oil container has been in the background of many pictures on this little blog.  It might possibly be the most utilized ingredient and container in our whole kitchen.

Five years ago, I found the winemaker Four Sisters at a shop in Portsmouth Virginia where we were living.  As the oldest of four sisters, I knew I wanted each of my sisters to have a bottle with this label.

More than the wine itself, I knew we would treasure the bottles.  I considered different ways we might extend their use beyond a wine container.  I finally settled upon making a wine bottle olive oil pourers for my three sisters and myself.

Transforming a wine bottle into an olive oil pourer is an easy thing to do and a great gift for a wine lover, cook, or anyone who appreciates the fine art found on many labels today.  Here's how:

1) Buy wine.  Search for a label with meaning or one that looks unique.  A plasticized label will hold up better than a paper and glue label.  A green or brown glass bottle is preferred as the darker color protects the oil from light damage.

2) Purchase pouring spout.  I have purchased cheap spouts that don't work a bit, so my advice is to go for quality here.

2) Dispose of wine.  I don't need to advise you about how to do that, right?

3) Wash bottle thoroughly.

4) Fill with high quality olive oil.

5) Top with a spout.

6) Voila!

For gift giving, you might want to package the pourer with a coaster and handmade tag with details about the olive oil.

PS. Keep away from the dog.

Make it Yourself: Holiday Tree

Our Xmas tradition is to decorate a Norfolk Island Pine.  It tolerates the attention but prefers to be an indoor/outdoor tree and is usually completely dried from the lights at the end of the holiday season. This year I was thinking about buying a metal or wooden reusable tree.  Then I had a brainstorm: let's make our own branch tree!

I filled an empty clay pot with garden stones.  Sand or pea gravel would also work well.

Lil helped me gather multi-pronged branches from the backyard.  We inserted them into the stones and added more on top to hold the branches in place.

I brought the 'tree' inside and wondered whether it was a dumb idea.  The branches looked out of place on the quilted tree skirt made by my grandmother.

We unwrapped our  collection of  miniature ornaments and added them to the tree.

I placed a few pieces of holiday origami at the base.

When all the decorations were placed, I fell in love.  Our tree is earthy yet shows off our ornaments.  I don't have to worry about leaves drying out or presents being dirtied by soil.  Best of all, the tree cost nothing and can be returned to the yard at the end of the season.

------

I am also in love with my new camera.  I brooded about whether I needed a DSLR for months and finally bought a Canon EOS Rebel T1i Digital SLR Camera on Friday.  It is amazing!  I'm still learning how to use it well, but the pictures I'm getting are already so much better than I could take with my Powershot.

Case in point: I rarely took pictures of Hawise before because the old camera would not react quickly enough to capture her ever moving body.  Today I recorded another xmas tradition with the DSLR: torturing the dogs with costuming.

Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: Kids Cook a Harvest Meal

Buoyed by the success of recent Kids Cook classes, I hatched an idea:  could I cook an entire meal with children?  Then I questioned if we could use Ohio raised seasonal ingredients at the same time.  Thanks to sponsorship from the FoodBuzz 24, 24, 24 program, I was able to test out the concept by hosting a kid prepared Harvest Meal with three families on Friday. Preparation started by gathering ingredients.   I visited the North Market, Weiland's Market, and farmer friends to gather meat, drinks, produce and eggs.

I chose Wild Goose Creative, a local artist cooperative gallery, for the location.  Their brick lined deep room with a full kitchen was a lovely venue for our casual and creative meal.

When Alex, Lil and I arrived on Friday, we set up tables for ingredients, a work station, a snack table and a craft area.   While kids love to cook, my experience is that they also need space to process their experiences through play.

When the families arrived, they each contributed a gift to be donated to a local settlement house.  We sang a song to learn each others' names.  I showed everyone around and explained that the event would be free form.  Parents and children could jump in and help cook when they wanted and take breaks as needed.

The first task was to make a small snack platter of Middlefield Original Cheese (Middlefield, Ohio) and crackers.  I hoped (correctly) that having designated snacks would help kids refrain from eating raw ingredients.  Drinks for the evening included apple cider (Mansfieldm Ohio), Cabernet Franc from Kinkead Ridge Vineyard (Ripley, Ohio), Edmund Fitzgerald Porter from Great Lakes Brewing Company (Cleveland, Ohio) and Charlie's hard apple cider from Windy Hill Apple Farm (Johnstown, Ohio).

Next we prepared Speckled Hen farms chickens for cooking.  The children doused the skin with lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper, after which Alex trussed the legs in the tail skin.  Alex then whisked the birds off to our home oven to reserve the Wild Goose oven for side dishes.

Dessert was a pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing made from pumpkins grown in Marysville Ohio.  Even the littlest boy in the group helped spice the cake.

White and sweet potatoes were chopped and boiled for mashed potatoes.

In between cooking tasks, the children played.  They decorated placemats and made felt flowers for our kid friendly tablescape at the craft area.  They also ran laps around the tables to burn off steam.

We mixed golden Ohio eggs and Snowville Creamery milk into cornbread batter.

We cleaned  golden nugget and Hokkaido blue squash from our urban garden for roasting.  Later, we mixed a filling of onions, garlic, black eyed peas, sharp cheddar, cilantro, and chili powder and stuffed the squash.

Ohio cabbage, turnips, and apples were chopped into a harvest salad.  Salad dressing was olive oil, Charlie's apple cider vinegar, and oregano from our garden.

As all the cooking was going on, families set the dining table.  The homemade placemats and flowers were perfect for the kid centered dinner.

Finally, we ate our meal together.  Adults and children bravely tried new-to-them dishes made from seasonal ingredients.  We shared thanks for the bounty of the earth and the pleasure of friends.

-------------

Did you notice my apron in the pictures?  It was given to me by Amy D who makes super cute and functional items from reclaimed fabrics.  Find an apron for yourself or to give as a gift at The Kickstart and Whole Foods Dublin or purchase online from the  Made by Amy D website.

-------------

Tuesday begins the December series of Kids Cook classes at Sprout Soup in Columbus Ohio.  Join me for engaging hands on lessons and great food!

Make it Yourself: Pumpkin Puree

'Tis the season to eat pumpkins.  Making your own puree for pie, soups, and baking is a simple and delicious.  Here's how: Choose your pumpkin.  Pie pumpkins have the richest flavor but you can do this with any pumpkin if you wish.

Halve your pumpkin.

Remove the innards.  I like to use a grapefruit spoon because the serrated edge helps cut through the stringy bits.  You can reserve seeds for roasted pumpkin seeds or garden planting if you wish.

Place halves skin side up on a sheet pan.

Roast in a 350 degree oven for 30 -60 minutes depending on the size of your pumpkin.  You will know they are done when the pumpkins are soft to the touch and look deflated like below.

Flip over and allow to cool.

Remove the skin from the roasted pumpkin.  For a finer product, puree with a food mill or blender.

Use immediately or prepare to store in the freezer.  If you are really wise (I was not) you can measure the puree now and mark quantity on the outside of the freezer bag.

Seal and place flat in the freezer.  Puree will keep in the freezer for up to 12 months.  Simply put in a bowl of water to thaw before use.

Making pumpkin puree is not necessarily more economical than purchasing it.  A 15 ounce can of organic pumpkin puree is $2.79 at my local gourmet store; that's $0.19 per ounce.  I paid $6.50 for these three pie pumpkins and measured 2 pounds 8 ounces weight of the three packages of puree.  Hand made puree was, therefore, $0.16 per ounce.  A tiny savings, but not much really.

Economy comes into play if I grow my own pumpkins, which I plan to do next year.  The pumpkins will then cost very little, especially because I swiped seeds from the organic pie pumpkins.

Even without huge cost savings, puree is so easy that it's worth my effort.  I control the quality of the puree, homemade is less processed and therefore probably retains more nutrients, and it supports local farmers by buying pumpkins directly from them.

Finding Time to Cook Fresh Local Foods

Go to the farmer's market...Prepare the ingredients...Cook...Eat...Cleanup...  Serving fresh local foods can be a time consuming process.  With some practice and efficiency, you can eat locally without spending hours a day.  Here are some ideas:

Streamline Purchasing ~ subscribing to a CSA or growing food yourself saves time and transportation resources.  If you do shop the market weekly, make a list and stick to it.

Prepare in Batches ~ Chop ingredients that get used often (like onions and garlic) in large batches and save in the fridge.  Double stock, puree, and sauce recipes and freeze the remainder.  Make extra rice, mashed potatoes, and lentils for reusing in the following night's lunch or dinner.  Double pancake, waffles, stuffed shells, enchiladas, etc. to freeze.  Make one big batch of beans in the pressure cooker and use them in salads, sides, and lunches for the whole week.

Practice ~ Making your first loaf of bread from scratch seems to take all day.  As you bake more often, the process will become so second nature that you suddenly think it takes now time at all.  So it is with other cooking methods.

Cook Simply ~ Every meal does not need to include multiple cooked courses.  In fact, it is often healthier to have simple fresh foods.  Typical dinners at our house include a protein, starch (often baked alongside the protein or leftover from big batch cooking), and fresh salad or fruit.

Make Cooking Fun ~ Put on some music.  Include the kids.  When you re-frame cooking as a hobby instead of a chore, suddenly it becomes easy to carve out more time.

Eat Well ~ We eat together for two - three meals a day.  This is our family reconnection time.  We talk about where the meat comes from, what's fresh from the garden, and the pertinent parts of our day.   Acknowledging the source of our foods creates an atmosphere of reverence and enjoyment.

Cleanup ~ With all the cooking, dirty dishes are endless here.  I myself could use some help keeping up.  The best idea I have is to let go of the feeling that your house must be perfectly clean.   Build in a routine for picking up the clutter and loading/unloading the dishwasher. A lived in house will never and should never look clean all the time.

How do you make time to cook well?

Vacuum sealing is fun!

Alex had a vacuum sealer on his birthday and Xmas list for a few years.  I joked about him coveting yet another unnecessary gadget.

My sisters purchased a FoodSaver System for Alex last Xmas.  I still laughed.

He uses it for sealing and freezing meat stuffs, especially home cured products like bacon.  Lil loves to press the buttons but I continued to consider it a bit of a waste.

Today I was unloading the Dehydratorof yet more dried apples.  I am completely out of canning jars, my usual storage container of choice for dried fruits and veggies.

I remembered the vacuum sealer and finally gave it a shot.  That thing is fun!

It makes a cool sucking noise and seals like magic.  In about fifteen minutes I transformed thirty apples worth of dried apples into four small packages.

There are plans afloat for an extended family canoe trip to the backwoods of Algonquin National Park in Canada this summer.  I estimate I will use the vacuum sealer more as the trip approaches.

A vacuum sealer is certainly not a necessity but I have come around to understanding its uses.  For dried or frozen foods, sealing gives extra protection against spoilage.  I get it now: the vacuum sealer is a cool tool.

Make it Yourself: Pesto

'Tis the end of the basil growing season as a deep frost looms tonight. What to do with the all this basil? Make pesto, of course!

Every year at this time we make a huge batch of pesto and freeze it. Frozen pesto is the gem of the freezer. It’s great to bring to dinner with friends, give as gifts, and makes a great lifesaver for late night snacks and those “What am I going to make to dinner?” moments.

Pesto ingredients: • 5 cloves of garlic • 1/4 cup of pine nuts, toasted (optional) • 2 cups of fresh basil leaves • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded (optional, omit to make vegan) • Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste • 1/2 cup olive oil

Food processors make the most even texture, but if you don’t have one or prefer a more rustic approach, you can always use a mortar and pestle or just chop all ingredients and stir together.

In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast pine nuts for 3-5 minutes (until golden brown).

Combine garlic and pine nuts in the food processor and pulse until chopped. Add basil leaves, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Pulse until blended. Slowly pour the olive oil in while the machine is running. Make sure to scrape the sides then pulse again until thoroughly mixed. Taste and re-season with salt and pepper, if needed.

For storage: this pesto is purposefully thick. Load into small jars within an inch of the top. Top off with olive oil to the very top of the jar before putting on the lid—this keeps the pesto underneath green and fresh for freezing.

If you don’t plan to give the pesto as gifts, and want to keep a stash for you and your family, pesto can easily be frozen in ice cube trays. Simply pop out once frozen and store in freezer bags.

When ready to use, simple set out on the counter or in a shallow pool of lukewarm water to thaw. Once thawed, you can keep it in the fridge and use the whole jar, or just take what you need and toss it back in the freezer—just be sure to replace that layer of olive oil on top first.

{Modified from the Freezer to Table class I led with Holly Davis earlier this year at Wild Goose Creative.}