New Little Old House

Recently I got into making chocolatey treats for a few gatherings. I made strawberry shortcake kebabs (delicious and easy)…

… chocolate covered strawberries (much better than my poor photography would suggest)…

… and white-chocolate-crasin cookies (no photo ‘cause they got eaten too quickly).

But there was one chocolate creation that went terribly wrong: chocolate-dipped s’mores. See, they were supposed to look this gorgeous and taste even better.

Instead I got these.

Things started out fine. I put chocolate on some grahams, put marshmallows on some other grahams, and melted them in the oven. Easy, right?

Well all three “easy” ingredients failed me. The chocolate melted much more slowly than the marshmallows, which were far too large anyway for the crackers, which scorched something terrible. The end result was a burnt s’more with overflowing marshmallow and hard chocolate chunks. They went in the trash long before I could dip them in a cute little chocolate coating.

If I ever give these another go I’m sure they would turn out better. We’ll see if I ever get around to it.

For various reasons I’ve been taking a long hiatus from home improvement. I have, however, gotten back into the kitchen. My most interesting achievement as of late: quinoa muffins.

I adapted this recipe to suit my tastes.

Ingredients: 

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 Tablespoons honey 
1/4 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup flour
Pinch nutmeg  
1 Tablespoon orange zest
1 Tablespoon diced Crasins
1/2 cup cooked quinoa

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, mix oil, sugar, vanilla, egg, and honey. Add milk and stir again.

In a separate bowl mix the salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour, and nutmeg. Add to wet mixture and stir until just blended. Fold in orange zest, Crasins, and quinoa.

Pour into greased mini muffin pan and bake for 10-12 minutes. Makes approx. 20 mini muffins. 

These were so quick and easy and surprisingly tasty to boot. A few muffins make a nice little snack with a bit of added heartiness and protein. They have a texture somewhat like cornmeal or bran. The softer the quinoa, the softer the muffin.  

I will definitely make another batch of these later this week. I’d like to try some other flavor combos: raspberry lemon, chocolate banana, or apple cinnamon. Yum!

Life has been a little too… crazy to write lately (or do much of anything else). But I did have fun with one little project this weekend. 

My mom’s family exchanges homemade Christmas gifts for each household. Inspired by a brownie mix in a jar that I was given last month, I decided to make soup mixes. I chose a recipe that was vegetarian and was simple for the recipients to prepare (not requiring too many extra ingredients). I used this one, then halved it to fit pint jars instead of quarts. I had to be flexible, of course—I couldn’t find vegetable bouillon in granule form and couldn’t find dried veggies. So I substituted dried Knorr vegetable soup packets in for both.

Assembly was fun and easy. I just layered the ingredients, added some fabric (the only stuff I had), and made a tag.

I only needed five for my mom’s family, but I was having fun and had extra ingredients and jars, so I made ten. That was Friday, and nine have already been given away! I’ll save the last one for a hostess gift… or maybe eat it myself since I haven’t actually tried the recipe yet. I can always make more.

The recipients have been delighted—who doesn’t love a simple, warm, and healthy meal? I’m definitely making these again. I’ve got a few other recipes set aside, too, like cocoa mix and chocolate chip bread.

When I spotted a recipe for Apple Cider Caramels on Pinterest I just had to try them. They were delicious and well worth the work!

The ingredients are quite simple:

• 2 cups high-quality apple cider 
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (divided)
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. allspice
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

The recipe advises using a heavy pot (like a Dutch oven) but I don’t own one. My regular nonstick cookware worked fine, though I made sure to stir a lot to prevent scorching. You will need a candy thermometer—no getting around that one. 

1. Boil cider on high for about 20-30 minutes or until the cider is reduced to 1/3 c. Set aside to cool.
2. In a large saucepan or stock pot, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and 1/3 c. whipping cream plus enough water to reach the 1/2 c. line on the measuring cup. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Then simmer until the syrup reaches 234 degrees (my candy thermometer labels this as “thread” stage).
3. While the sugar is cooking, combine the reduced cider with 2/3 c. cream, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice.
4. When the syrup reaches 234 degrees, remove from heat and slowly mix in the cider mixture. Cube and add the butter. Stir until the cream and butter are fully blended.
5. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 248 degrees (“firm ball” stage).
6. Line an 8” square pan with parchment paper or foil. Coat with a bit of cooking spray or vegetable oil. Pour the caramel into the pan. Cool in the fridge or on the counter.

I was a little intimidated by making candy just because I thought something would go wrong, especially when I didn’t use a Dutch oven. But this was really easy and has given me the confidence to try candy again sometime. Cooking did require 90 minutes of pretty much constant attention, but not much skill.

Slicing and wrapping is time-consuming, too! I chilled my pan in the fridge overnight so I had to let it soften up somewhat (but not too much) before slicing. (I should have waited a little longer to make uniform slices easier.) I recommend cutting up all of the papers beforehand so the caramels don’t get too soft while wrapping.

I wrapped each piece in waxed paper (which required larger pieces of paper than you would expect). It wasn’t bad once I got the hang of it.

Behold, a tasty pile of apple cider caramels! They were a hit with my family at Thanksgiving and I plan to make them again soon for the employee dessert contest at work. 

This summer I began volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters, which means that I get to hang out with an awesome 13-year old. We have a great time together and I’d recommend it to anyone. Last night we carved our pumpkins. 

Mine is on the right and M’s is on the left. As we were scooping out our pumpkins she muttered under her breath, “This looks like snot.” And thus her pumpkin inspiration was born. In person it was truly gross. M was also the creative genius behind my pumpkin design.

We also roasted the seeds. We made two flavors: one sweet (cinnamon and sugar) and one spicy (kosher salt, garlic, Worcestershire, and cayenne pepper). I think we both preferred the spicy one, but both variations were pretty yummy.

Sam and I also got the porch all decorated for Halloween this week. Unfortunately before I could take a photo (trying to get one at dusk some day) a critter chewed through the cord for our outdoor lights. Fortunately this is one of the million things Sam knows how to fix, so once we get everything lit up again I’ll share a picture.

I was pretty excited to try this whole-wheat beer bread. It certainly is quick and easy because it doesn’t involve yeast. It took less than ten minutes to mix up.

But it isn’t good. I couldn’t even finish the first slice because it was so weird and beery. Subsequent slices have been better, but not great. I used a lightish lager we had in the fridge; perhaps I should have used even milder beer?

As Sam said, “Well, you win some and you lose some.” This is a loser.

We haven’t had much time for home improvement lately, so instead I’m stuck writing about my minor culinary pursuits. Recently it’s been bread, which I’ve made from scratch a few times but not in years. I was inspired by our visit to Round Barn Farm Bed & Breakfast & Bread in Red Wing. The weekend was a gift from my parents; Sam and I had a great stay. One of the coolest parts was getting up to bake bread in the outdoor oven before breakfast each morning.

Upon leaving we were given a loaf of buttermilk bread and one of the Red Wing bread crocks in which they bake it. Naturally my first at-home attempt used their buttermilk recipe. It was tasty.

Buoyed by first attempt, I made a basic French bread while Sam and I were up at his bosses’ cabin. I didn’t have any bread pans, which was fine because I guess the dough wouldn’t have fit anyway. I used a recipe from this kind of woo-woo cookbook I have, and the bread tasted way too unsalted. And we had a lot of it. Oops.

My most recent batch was the best yet: honey wheat using this recipe.

Perfectly delicious. My only regret is that I halved the recipe when I should have doubled it!

Bread is pretty easy; it just requires one to be home for several hours at a time to let the process go as it should. But the work is rewarding and the patience pays off in pure deliciousness. Next up: did you know that you can make bread in a crock pot? I am skeptical but eager to give it a shot. 

It may have taken until September, but I have finally harvested my first tomatoes, broccoli, and green pepper (probably the only bell pepper I’ll get this year).

I celebrated by tossing the fruits of my labor into one of my favorite dinners: stir-fry. I love sauteing vegetables because it’s fast, easy, healthful, flexible, and preserves the fresh flavors. Sometimes I make it Asian-style over rice, but in the summer I prefer a lighter Italian-seasoned version over pasta.

I photographed a rendition of this meal on vacation about a month ago when we were enjoying Sam’s bosses’ cabin. Accented with local WineHaven wine, fresh homemade bread (more about my bread-baking soon), and a beautiful lake view… dinner has never looked so good.

We had another backyard movie party last night; the feature film was Jurassic Park. I got pretty excited about serving some prehistoric-themed treats. The entire menu also ended up being kind of a throwback to childhood parties, which works since the movie is circa 1993.

Here’s what I whipped up:

Triceratops Treats

I wasn’t sure these Rice Krispie bars would work well, but they came out great. Cutting 20 of them was time-consuming but fun. (Thanks, Kitchen Window for being a store I could count on to have open-stock dinosaur cookie cutters.)

Dinos in the Dirt

I picked up a bunch of little figurines at the dollar store (16 for $2!) to top off the traditional pudding, Oreo crumb, and gummi worm combo.

Melonsaurus

This was ambitious, but I got inspired. It was actually much easier and quicker to make than I expected. 

Dinosaur Fruit Snacks

Not a homemade treat, but fitting with the theme.

This menu was so much fun to make that I’m already looking forward to the next party. Depending on what September holds we might be able to squeeze in one more movie night. Our friends had plenty of suggestions for the next film.

We had a great time! Thank you to those who shared it with us!

I recently acquired a free leek. I am pretty sure I have never cooked with leek before, so I dove into my cookbooks to figure out what to with it. Turns out leeks are usually paired with potatoes, which is super because I love potatoes.

I was drawn to a soup in Vegetarian: The Best Ever Recipe Collection because I liked that it included other veggies, not just leek and potato. Here’s my slight adaptation:

1. Dice and saute half an onion and a few cloves of garlic.
2. Add in 4 cups vegetable broth, one leek (chopped), and two small potatoes (chopped). Simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in a small head of broccoli (chopped) and about 1.5 cups of peas. Season with salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Simmer 10 more minutes.
4. Puree to desired consistency (bonus: you don’t have to chop things super-small at the start). I only have a Magic Bullet, but it took just four quick batches. I left the soup somewhat chunky. 

The overall verdict: not bad. This was really quick and simple to make. I like that the soup tastes like summer-fresh veggies and that it would probably be just as good cold as warm. But it was a little bland this first time around. Lemon would be a great addition, as would more garlic. I look forward to leeking again!