GG's Gingersnaps

Here are the ingredients and a brief method to making Grandma's great gingersnaps:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour - loosely fill cup and level
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 cup shortening (margarine is fine)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup light molasses

Preheat oven to 350'F. Mix together the all purpose flour, salt, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, shortening (margerine is fine), brown sugar, egg, and molasses.




Roll into balls the size of a walnut and dip top into white sugar. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with fork.

Bake for approximately 12 minutes. Cool on rack.



Enjoy!

Pickled Eggs

Ok...pickled eggs. Love 'em. But only for special. I use Omega 3 eggs....trying to avoid the guilt.








Anyway...here is a lovely recipe that will be enjoyed by other pickled egg lovers:






Pickled Eggs
2 dozen hard boiled eggs
4 cups white vinegar
1 cup water
4 tsp salt
14 whole cloves
2 tsp peppercorns
1 bay leaf
3-5 dried chilies
2- 3 cloves garlic
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 onions sliced
I used a "recipe" but usually modify as I go....so I will try to remember what I really did. Creating food is not space science...but a creative effort..and often changes according to mood, hormones, available time, ...I seldom follow a recipe but use it as a guide. Kind of like dressing for work in the morning....LOL.

Method: Shell eggs and place in sterilized jar. Combine vinegar, water, and salt ...and onions and spices in saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour over eggs in jar. Add more vinegar if needed to cover eggs completely. Cover jar and marinate in refrigerator at least 2 days before serving.




Enjoy!

Pork loin with saurkraut and perogies

Here is a tasty and very simple one dish meal. Simply layer sliced onions and some minced garlic in the bottom of the roasting pan, and set aside.






Take 2 pork loins and slice diagonally in 1 1/2 inch slices. Season with essence (a spice blend - which I hope to share in a future blog) and sear/brown in a hot pan. Arrange pork loin pieces on top of onions in roasting pan.




Drain one large can (or about 2 cups) of saurkraut and spread over pork loin pieces. Season with fresh pepper. Arrange perogies over saurkraute. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top and season with fresh pepper. Cover and bake in 350' oven for 40 minutes or until perogies puff up a bit and the meal is hot.



Serve with light sour cream. Enjoy! (maybe a future blog post will describe making perogies....)

Oven Roasted Turkey Breast with Gravy

Some people are nervous about tackling a turkey dinner because they can't quite see themselves struggling a stuffing into a large bird and waiting four to five hours for it to cook in the oven. Turkey dinner doesn't have to be that difficult. Follow this simple recipe using a turkey breast to achieve the same results.

Preheat oven to 350'F. Remove skin from turkey breast. Wash and peel 6-8 carrots and 4 sticks of celery. Slice into 3 inch sticks. Set aside. Slice 2 onions and lay in bottom of roasting pan. Peel 2-3 cloves of garlic, dice and add to onions in pan. Drizzle some olive oil over onions and garlic in pan.

Place turkey breast on top of onions and garlic. Put a couple tablespoons of freshly chopped sage and parsley in pan or layer between turkey breast pieces. Season with essence (blend of spices - recipe will appear on another post sometime) and fresh ground pepper. Dust with about a teaspoon of poultry seasoning. Place celery and carrot sticks around the turkey breast. Pour 1/2 cup chicken broth over all. Cover and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, depending on size of turkey breast. Use a meat probe near the end of the cooking time to check if done, and allow time for the turkey breast to rest 15 to 20 minutes before slicing.

Gravy: Drain turkey and vegetable juices into a saucepan. Heat to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Mix 1/3 cup flour into 1 cup chicken broth and add to pan juices while stirring. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon gravy browner. Add an ounce of brandy, and stir with a whisk or a fork and simmer until gravy reduces and thickens.

Strain any lumps before serving.

Acorn and Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Veggies

Here are pictures of the veggies before they are roasted, after they are roasted, and in the pot before being pureed.

Basically the soup starts with the roasted veggies, then add the veggies to a good vegetable or chicken stock. (If you don't have time to make your own, use a low fat, organic and low in sodium commercial stock).


I used acorn squash, butternut squash, carrots, onion, celery, zucchini, and garlic and added a drizzle of olive oil over all before roasting on a sheet in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

After scooping out the baked squash, I cut up the veggies a bit and added them to about 9 cups of chicken stock. (Vegetable stock would have also been very nice but I was out)

Add about 2 teaspoons of ground cumin and some fresh ground pepper. (We often use a berbere spice blend instead)






Simmer the veggies in the stock for about 20 minutes, then use a hand blender ,otherwise known as an immersion blender, to puree the soup.









When serving, add a dollop of light sour cream and a light grating of fresh nutmeg.

Voila! A hearty soup full of goodness. Freeze some portions for later.