Strawberry Vanilla Jam

I love home made jam. It tastes more like fruit then some sort of fruit flavored jelly stuff, which seems to be all that's available at the store. People get all excited and impressed at my domestic ability when I give them a jar of jam, which I find kinda funny. Really, all making jam entails is cutting up a bunch of fruit, throwing in some sugar and pectin, and stirring for awhile before you pour it into jars and dunk it in hot water. Easy!

I found this recipe for strawberry vanilla jam over at Canadian Living's website, and I thought it sounded amazing. It also helped that a local candy shop had vanilla beans on sale for 50% off, and I stocked up on a bunch especially so I could try this recipe. Last weekend I whipped up this jam and I've had it on my toast every morning this week.

While I loved this recipe, I have to warn you that the vanilla flavor isn't that apparent. It's really mild, almost to the point where I could miss it altogether. You may want to add more, if you can. I had just scraped out the seeds of one vanilla bean and then put the pod in a jar of sugar to make vanilla sugar, but perhaps I should have boiled it with the jam. (Edited to add: ah-HA! I was supposed to add the pod! Silly me!)


At any rate, it's pretty yummy! I think it would be delicious if you want to use the jam for a filling in a jelly roll or something.

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White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Jake asked me to make white chocolate macadamia cookies awhile ago, and I knew the perfect recipe to adapt. I have a Mrs. Fields Cookie Book, and in it her recipe for white chocolate pecan cookies is amazing. Simply sub the macadamias for the pecans, or even try cashews. I also like to use really good quality white chocolate like Green and Blacks, and chop it into chunks myself.

Makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies

You'll need:

2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup softened butter (still sorta cold, but slightly soft)
2 large eggs
2 tsp of vanilla
3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
8-9 oz chopped white chocolate

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, blend butter and sugars together to form a grainy paste. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture. Blend at low speed until just combined. Fold in the macadamia nuts and chocolate until they are well distributed throughout.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 300 degrees for about 18-20 minutes.

And then try not to eat the whole batch because OH MY are they yummy.

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Home made Lemonade

One sip of this lemonade and I vowed to never, ever, make the stuff from the can again.

You need:

8 lemons, washed and dried
1 cup sugar
boiling water

In a heatproof bowl, rub each lemon vigorously with 1/3 cup of the sugar. Cut the lemons in half and squeeze to make about 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice; pour juice onto the sugar. Pour in the rest of the sugar and lemon shells. Cover with 3 cups of boiling water and let sit until cool. Remove the lemon shells and discard. If you prefer your lemonade without pulp, then you can strain the syrup through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. We loved it as is, and so we skipped that step.

If you would like sparkling lemonade, add the syrup to 2 cups club soda. For plain lemonade, add the syrup to 2 cups of cold water.

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Carrot Snacking Cake

This moist, not too sweet cake makes a great lunch box treat and freezes well-even with the glaze!


Makes 16 pieces
*original recipe from Canadian Living September 2008

3/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained well with a fine sieve (keep the juice!)
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups grated carrots

Pineapple Glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
reserved pineapple juice

Pre-heat oven to 350 F, and line a 9 inch pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl beat the eggs with sugar until pale. Beat in oil, applesauce and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir flour mixture into the egg mixture just until moistened. Fold in pineapple and carrots.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan, then top with pineapple glaze.

Pineapple glaze:

In a small bowl whisk the icing sugar and 2 Tbsp of the reserved pineapple juice together, adding up to 1 tsp more juice if you need to make it spreadable. Spread it over the cake and let stand about an hour, until set.

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Thai Mango Salad

Bright and summery, with tart lime and crunchy peanuts, this is an amazing salad to go with grilled meats.

1/2 cup chopped peanuts
2 firm mangoes (peeled, pitted, and sliced)
1 sweet red pepper
2 carrots, peeled and grated
4 cups mixed greens
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint

Dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp grated lime rind
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 Tbsp fish sauce or soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp minced hot pepper (or 1/4 tsp hot sauce)
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Toss the lettuce, mango, red pepper, carrots, green onion, mint, and peanuts together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour however much you'd like over your salad. I would have preferred a touch less dressing, so next time I won't just dump it all into the bowl.

Enjoy! You can sprinkle more peanuts on top if you wish.

*original recipe from Canadian Living

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Scatteredmom's Tuna Casserole

Tuna casserole was one of the first things I began making when I moved out of my parents house. How could you resist this creamy, cheesy, goodness?

Plus it's pretty cheap and dead easy to make. Here's my version:

2 cans tuna (flaked or chunk, doesn't matter) packed in water, drained
2 1/2 cups of dry macaroni
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup (I like Campbells)
1/3 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup plain yogurt (2%, not fat free)
salt and pepper to taste
shredded Cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain well.

In a large bowl, mix the cooked macaroni, the can of soup (don't add water/milk to it, just throw it in there), and yogurt together in a bowl. Fold in the tuna, peas, and add salt and pepper to taste. I don't usually add any salt, but about 1/2 tsp pepper is yummy.

The yogurt looks a bit strange, I know. I normally would just throw in more of the condensed soup, but I didn't have any so I used yogurt. The result was a dish that was really creamy, and it tasted delicious. Plus yogurt has way less fat then the soup or even sour cream-Jake and Hubs loved it!)

Scrape out into a casserole dish and top with cheese. I like to use an 8x11 inch pan-if it's more shallow, then there's more surface area for cheese and it heats up quicker.

Pop the finished casserole in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes.

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Lemon Chive Mashed Potatoes

I don't usually use a recipe for mashed potatoes. Instead I eyeball it, so I'll try to explain how I make it without using much in the way of measurements. The other night Jake suggested that I add lemon and chive to the potatoes, and it was an instant hit! It's especially delicious with Citrus Roasted Chicken, as the orange and lemon flavors play off of each other nicely.

You will need:

Yukon Gold Potatoes. About 2 medium sized ones per person, I'm guessing.
butter
milk
a lemon or two
handful of chives
salt and pepper

Peel and boil the potatoes in salted water until they are tender. Drain them well, then put them back into the warm pot. Drop in a knob or two of butter. Mash.

Knob= about a tablespoon-ish

Heat up a little milk in the microwave. I usually heat up too much, but depending on the moisture in the potatoes, you might need a bit more on some days, a little less on others. I usually heat up about 1/3 cup. I don't always use it all. I use enough to make it creamy, but not so much that it's soup. You can eyeball it, honest!

Pour in some milk and mash some more until it's the nice creamy texture you like. Salt and pepper to taste, then zest a lemon directly into the mixture. Cut the lemon in 1/2 and squeeze about a tbsp or two into the potatoes. Add some chopped chives.

Stir. Taste and adjust as you see fit.

Serve.

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Brownie Ice Cream Cakes

I had never made anything with ramekins before, but these caught my eye and before I knew it, I was putting these babies together for dessert one night. Take a bit of time when you assemble them to really plate these beautifully, and you'll get rave reviews.

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup butter
4 eggs, separated
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
Raspberry sauce
1 cup raspberry sorbet

Grease eight 6 oz ramekins and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl set over hot water (not boiling), melt butter and chocolate together until smooth. Set aside.

In another bowl over a saucepan of gently simmer water, whisk egg yolks with 1/2 cup of the sugar; cook, whisking constantly, until light and thickened, about 8 minutes. Fold 1/4 into the chocolate mixture; fold in remaining yolk mixture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; beat in remaining sugar, 2 tbsp at a time until stiff peaks form. Fold cocoa and 1/3 of the egg whites into chocolate mixture; fold in remaining egg whites. Spoon into prepared ramekins. Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes, until puffed and edges are set. Allow to cool.

Invert cakes onto dessert plates and remove paper. We topped ours with raspberry swirl frozen yogurt and Hershey's chocolate sauce.

Makes 8 servings
*original recipe is from Canadian Living

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Scalloped Potatoes

Creamy, rich, scalloped potatoes go great with a roasted ham. Some recipes I've used call for cream to get that great rich taste, but this one uses 1% milk and it tasted just as good, if not better!

6 Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 small onion, sliced

sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp thyme or marjoram
2 1/2 cups of milk (I used 1%)

Peel and thinly sliced the potatoes. To keep them from discoloring while I made the sauce, I put them in a bowl of cold water to sit.

In a saucepan, melt the butter until smooth. Add the flour, salt, pepper, and thyme, stirring and cooking for 1 minute. Add the milk gradually, whisking well to keep it smooth. Continue to cook and stir sauce until it thickens; about 5-8 minutes.

Grease an 8 inch square glass baking dish (or a casserole dish will do-shallow is good). Layer 1/3 of the potatoes, then 1/2 the onions, 1/3 potatoes, 1/2 the onions, and then 1/3 of the potatoes. Pour sauce evenly over top. Cover dish with tin foil.

Bake at 350 F for 1 hour, then uncover the dish and bake 30 minutes until browned, bubbly, and the potatoes are tender. You may want to put a pan underneath the potatoes while they cook, because mine overflowed a bit and began dripping in the oven. Let them stand to cool and thicken up for about 5 minutes or so before serving.

Serves 6.

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Quickie Cheese Biscuits

Great with soup or stews, these biscuits are quick and easy enough that you can make them after a busy day at work. I found this recipe from an old Canadian Living Magazine.

1 3/4 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp dried parsley (I didn't have any on hand so for the ones in the photo I had omitted it)
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 cup old cheddar cheese
1 cup milk

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, dried parsley, sugar, salt, and garlic powder together. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Add the milk and cheese, stirring with a fork until the mixture becomes a ragged dough.

Turn out the mixture onto a lightly floured counter and gently knead it twice, then pat down to about 1/2 inch thick and cut with a biscuit cutter. The secret is to handle the dough as little as possible, but gently knead the scraps back together, pat out, and cut more biscuits until the dough is used up.

(the original recipe said to drop the dough by 1/4 cupfuls 2 inches apart on a baking sheet and bake 13-15 min. I chose to cut them out instead. Mostly because I didn't think cutting them out was any more work, and I was doubtful of the drop method.)

Place the biscuits about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet and bake in a 425 F oven for about 8-10 minutes- watch them carefully! Any longer and mine probably would have burned.

The original recipe says it makes 12, but I get 9-10 biscuits.

Ooooo were they ever good served with slices of honey ham, pickles and big bowls of chicken noodle soup. You could also try splitting them and topping each 1/2 with a slice of ham and a poached egg.

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Scatteredmom's Veggie Pizza

I love a good veggie pizza. Too often the ones from a take out place have few veggies and mostly cheese, or they throw in weird things like pineapple. Fruit? No thanks. Here is the most loved pizza in my house at the moment:

red onion
thinly sliced zucchini
thinly sliced sweet peppers (red, yellow, orange, or combination)
sliced black olives
garlic cloves-peeled, cut into slivers
plum tomatoes-seeded, then thinly sliced (it's important to do this, otherwise you get soggy pizza)

We make our own sauce and crust. Recipes here.

So when you have made your crust, rolled it out, and then topped it with your sauce, we layer our pizzas like so....

-sauce
-mozzarella cheese
-garlic/onions
-zucchini, peppers, tomatoes
-olives
-maybe a sprinkle of feta or Parmesan cheese

The trick is not to put too much cheese on top of the veggies, or they won't cook.

Bake this baby in the middle of a pre-heated 425 F oven for about 15-18 minutes, watching carefully so the bottom doesn't get too brown on you. When it looks like how you enjoy your toast, remove the pan and set the rack higher. Turn on the broiler.

Put the pizza back in (and watch carefully) so the broiler can do it's work caramelizing the bits of cheese and stuff and making that pizza look amazing. Don't over do it, and don't get distracted or the pizza will be burned.

Remove from the oven, let sit for about 5 minutes, then cut up and eat!

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Veggie Soup

I've been eating a lot of soup lately and to be honest, the home made stuff is so much better that I don't even really buy the canned stuff anymore. Jake loves it to-I just whip up some on a Sunday, throw it into some individual sized containers, and put them in the fridge for lunches. Paired with a sandwich or some hummus and pita, they make a nice lunch.

This recipe is pretty good. The original called for sweet potatoes, but Jake didn't like that so I used red skinned potatoes. I'm not sure about the potatoes, to be honest-I think if I made it again I'd add noodles or maybe rice instead. You decide!

1 onion,
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped (I omitted this-instead I'd boil up some pasta and add it at the end)
1 sweet pepper, chopped
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (19 oz) can chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 each bay leaf and cinnamon stick
2 tsp paprika

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Pizza Pizza! Home Made Crust and Tomato Sauce

Pizza is my favorite food in the universe. Oh, I do enjoy fancier fare, but when I crave something yummy, it's always pizza. I've tried various recipes so that I can make it at home and by pass the grease and expense, but none really quite made the cut.

That is, until I tried this one. Perfect! Below you will find a recipe for home made crust, sauce, AND a link to the how-to for a whole pizza of your very own. It's a 3 for 1 deal!

Pizza sauce

one 28 oz can plum tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp wine vinegar
pinch each of salt, pepper, and sugar

Drain the tomatoes, keeping the juice and putting it aside. Seed and coarsely chop the tomatoes. Put them aside as well.

In a saucepan, heat up the oil and saute the garlic and onion until translucent. Add oregano, tomatoes, juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar. Simmer until it has thickened, which is about 20 minutes or so. Let cool and then process in a blender until smooth.

Makes about 2 cups, or enough for 2-3 pizzas (depending on how much sauce you like). It keeps about 1 week in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer.



Pizza Crust
Don't be freaked out at the thought of making your own crust...it is sooooo easy and this one can be popped into the fridge or freezer even! This recipe makes enough dough for one 14 inch pizza. My pans are 12 inch, and the end product was far too thick for me. So the next time I made it, I set aside 1/4 of the dough before rolling it out and it was perfect.

Depending on the size of your pans and how thick you like your crust, you may want to play with this a bit.

3 cups flour
2 tsp quick rising (instant) yeast
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups hot water (120 F/50 C)
1 Tbsp olive oil

Turn the light on in your oven. Yep, you read that right.

In a medium sized bowl, measure out 2 3/4 cups of the flour, yeast, and salt. Whisk together. I measure out my water in a Pyrex measuring cup, add the oil, and dump into the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until a raggy kind of dough forms.

Dump the mixture out onto a lightly floured counter, and being kneading. If it's sticky, add bits of the remaining 1/4 cup of flour, 1 Tbsp at a time. Knead about 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Get a large bowl and grease it with a bit of olive oil. Put the dough in and turn it to grease all over, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

At this point you can put the bowl in the fridge and leave it for 24 hours. Great prep for during the week if you are making pizza the next day! You could even chop all the veggies and have it ready to go!

If you plan to eat your pizza that day, place the bowl in the oven with the light turned on. The premise is that the slight heat created by the light warms the oven just a bit-and the fact that the dough is in the oven keeps it from getting a draft. Let the dough rise for about an hour.

Once your dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it to knock the air out of it. Roll it out to fit your pans with a rolling pin. Roll over and pinch the edges, and then top that baby!

Next, make a yummy pizza with it!

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