Freezer Strawberry Jam

 

Strawberry Freezer Jam

Don't be shocked. I can't promise that I'm back for good. But even I am tired of looking at those refried beans (and I have a better recipe for them that I'll post later).

Yesterday I found a steal of a deal on strawberries. Never mind the cost of the sugar and the pectin. We made almost two cases (it equalled around 35 pints. We could have made more, but we were tired).

1 quart (4 cups) strawberries, cut in half
4 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
1 package (1.75 ounces) powdered fruit pectin

Mash strawberries with potato masher or in food processor until slightly chunky (not pureed) to make two cups of crushed strawberries. Mix the strawberries and the sugar in a large bowl. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix water and pectin in a 1-quart saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Pour hot pectin mixture over strawberry mixture. Stir constantly for three minutes.

Immediately spoon mixture into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe rims of containers; seal. Let stand at room temperature about 24 hours or until set.

Freeze jam. Unless you want to eat it right away.

 

Kirkland Brand Mayonnaise

By now I'm sure you're convinced that we never shop anywhere but Costco. And you would be almost correct.

I've posted before about the  vast quantities of mayonnaise consumed at our house. Traditionally we have purchased the gallon-size Kraft brand at Costco because it was cheap. We have looked at the Best Foods brand right next to it with longing in our eyes, dreaming of the day when we would be rich and have fewer children to feed. Do we really think we'll be buying mayonnaise by the gallon when there are just two of us at home? If we do we'll have to also be buying some much bigger pants to wear.

Recently Bob spotted this dream come true in the mayonnaise aisle at Costco. It is a) of about the same quality and texture as the Best Foods brand and b) cheaper than Kraft. We are in Mayonnaise heaven.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

This post is more of a meal idea than it is an actual recipe. This is a Sunday afternoon favorite at our house. It's an easy way to make everyone happy. Eggs have been comparatively cheap in all of the Thanksgiving sales, so we made up a batch this week.

Although some people like to keep their egg salad as little more than eggs and salad dressing or mayonnaise, we really like to put the salad in our egg salad sandwiches. Although we generally fall in the mayonnaise camp on the big mayonnaise vs. Miracle Whip debate (see here), this is one recipe that is really better with whipped salad dressing--the tanginess and sweetness are a great complement to the more neutral flavor of the eggs. So pick and choose from the ingredient possibilities below; we usually use the ones we happen to have on hand.

Also, we usually try to find fancy breads to complement our specialty sandwiches. But in this case I have to say that there's nothing like plain, white wonder-type bread from the grocery store.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

5-6 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced

Choose from the following ingredients. Use 1-2 tablespoons of each and dice them small.

Celery

Yellow, red or green onions

pickles or relish (we especially like bread and butter pickles)

olives

Dressing:

1/4 cup Miracle Whip (use mayonnaise if you must, but you'll be missing out)

1-2 teaspoons yellow mustard

1 teaspoon pickle juice or cider vinegar

1/8 teaspoon celery seed

salt and pepper to taste

Thoroughly mix dressing ingredients. Add to salad ingredients and stir until coated. Spread on white, sliced bread. Serves about 8.

Cheese Ball

When I unveiled this cheese ball at a dinner party a few nights ago, someone commented that it must be holiday time. I guess nothing says "Christmas" like a cheese ball, even though I've been known to make this in the summer because we like it so much. It's simple and delicious, and looks a lot fancier than it really is. This is one recipe that I think I can take full credit for, even though I've experimented by looking at other cheeseball recipes through the years. This has become our standard.

As with many recipes, the possibilities for variations abound. I've found that sharp cheese really does make a difference. But green peppers work just as well as red peppers (although they aren't as festively pretty at Christmas time), and red or yellow onions can easily be substituted for the green onions if you prefer or don't have green onions on hand. And walnuts and pecans work equally well for the nuts on the outside.

Kathy's Cheese Ball
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Combine cheeses, onions, pepper, granulated garlic and Worchestershire sauce in a large bowl. I find it easiest to do this by hand, wearing a latex glove. When all ingredients are thoroughly mixed, shape the mixture into a ball. Place the chopped nuts on a plate and roll the ball in the nuts until all outside surfaces are covered. Refrigerate until about 30 minutes before serving time; then take it out of the fridge so that it will be soft enough to spread. We've found Wheat Thins to be the cracker to serve with a cheese ball because they're sturdy enough to not crack under the pressure of the cheese and also have a great complementary flavor.

Bruschetta

As a family, we are known for our appetizers. We are almost always asked to bring appetizers along when we are invited for dinner. We celebrate Christmas Eve with an all-appetizer buffet, and invite extended family from all sides to join us. We have specific winter appetizers--cheese balls, barbecued meatballs, all kinds of spreads and dips for crackers and chips. There are other seasonal appetizers, like deviled eggs for Thanksgiving. Last weekend we broke out the summer appetizers, including one of our favorites, bruschetta.

As one would expect, most Americans pronounce the word according to the rules of English, with the sch combination having a sh or ch sound. However, the actual Italian pronunciation is a harder sound, the same as the sch combination at the beginning of the word school. So it's actually brusketta. At one point in my life I spoke Italian very well, so you can trust me on this one.

As I finished making the topping on Saturday and ran it past Bob's nose, we both agreed that for us, this is the smell of summer.

Bruschetta

Makes about 25-30 pieces

2-3 Roma tomatoes, finely diced

1/4 - 1/3 cup finely diced red onion

Up to 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil, depending on your taste

1 - 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 baguette, sliced in quarter-inch slices

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Grated parmesan cheese (I prefer a large size grate)

Combine all ingredients except baguette, 2 tablespoons olive oil and parmesan in a glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate for several hours. Brush baguette slices with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Broil for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned.

Immediately before serving, spoon combined ingredients onto toasted bread. Top with grated parmesan and serve.

Pico de Gallo

The first time I remember tasting pico de gallo was about 25 years ago at a work party. One of my co-workers made it; he called it salsa. It was like no salsa I had ever seen before, and I loved it immediately. I couldn't for the life of me figure out how he did it. For a long time, pico de gallo was a special treat reserved for trips to Mexican restaurants.

When I married Bob, he introduced me to the joys of store-bought pico. It was expensive enough to be an occasional indulgence, usually when we were entertaining guests. Then one day I started thinking about how making it at home couldn't be that difficult. I did a little research on the internet, tried a couple of batches, and came up with a recipe that is cheap, easy and wonderful. We serve it with any Mexican dish, but it's especially good with carne asada tacos.

There's quite a lot of flexibility in the recipe. I often make it with any salsa-looking ingredients that I have on hand--I've put in bits of green bell pepper, chopped green onions or other goodies. It can even be dressed up as a topping for fish or chicken breasts by adding a little mango or pineapple. There aren't really any secrets to making it; just chop everything fine, and make it a few hours ahead so that the flavors can blend awhile as it sits in your fridge.

Pico de Gallo
2 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped
½ medium onion, finely chopped (red onion looks pretty in it; white onion tastes really good. I usually use yellow onion because that’s what we always have)
½ - 1 jalapeno, very finely diced
½ bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of ½ lime
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper

Mix ingredients together and refrigerate for at least an hour or two before serving.

Health or Flavor?

I mentioned to a friend the other day that I was working on a food blog. "Is it healthy food, or food with flavor?" she asked. "You know you can't have both."

Do I really have to choose? I've been working hard to be healthier the last few months, and have been very careful about what I've eaten (well, on most days. Occasionally I "go on vacation").

In the process, I've found that I enjoy simple food pleasures as much as I've enjoyed overdoing in the past. If I put the same amount of work into a salad and a nice dressing that I put into french fries and the accompanying fry sauce, it's actually as good (especially if you factor in the guilt differential).

This dilemma reminded me of a recipe. Last fall, Bob and I went to Hawaii on vacation. We cooked almost all of our meals in the kitchen in our room (I know this would not be much of a vacation for some people. It was for us). We bought all kinds of things that we normally wouldn't buy, as they aren't the right size or price tradeoff for our big family. One of our favorites: A spreadable butter. We loved the flavor. We loved being able to spread it without taking it out of the fridge hours before dinner.

A few weeks after we returned, we had dinner with a group of friends. Our friend Wendy brought incredible homemade rolls (I'll post my version of her recipe later), and also some homemade, spreadable butter.

We call the result miracle butter. We started liking it because of the flavor and the spreadability. Wendy pointed out that it's also somewhat healthier than butter; we figured out on our own that it's also a little less expensive. Hence the name, magic butter.

Magic Butter

The only ingredients are butter and canola oil. Wendy suggested equal amounts; we've found that at those proportions the butter gets too runny for our tastes when left on the table during a meal. So we opt for 3/4 cup oil to 1 cup butter. I let the butter sit out for the better part of a day until it's soft. Then I mix all ingredients (make that both ingredients) in a blender. Keep mixing until there are no big butter chunks. Then pour from the blender into a two-cup container (Bob was my hand model for this photo).




After it's refrigerated for a few hours, it should come out ready to use and looking like this:



We can make vast quantities of this stuff at home and not have to worry about going through a tiny container at every meal!