Cranberry Crazy

Okay, I'll admit it.  I've gone a little overboard in my love of all things cranberry.  But let me explain.  As with all true addictions, there was a very good reason to get started.  My cranberry experimentation began in part because of my allergies to grapes.  There are some things that need just a bit of sweet-tart to spice things up.  I can't have grapes, so why not cranberries?  

But before I go into that, I'd better back up a bit.  It all started with the wonderful cranberry relish that my stepmom makes every year.  It's a given.  Marilyn will bring the cranberry relish for Thanksgiving.  It's not a fancy dish.  In fact, the recipe was at one time on the bag of cranberries itself.  Into your food processor dump the bag of cranberrys and a cut-up orange (rind and all) and some sugar.   Process until it's combined.  There...done. 

The problem is (not for me) that I'm the only one that will eat the leftovers.  So I ate it with all the Thanksgiving leftovers ~ you know, the turkey sandwiches, pot pies and stuff.   But this year, there were a lot of leftovers.  So I began to get creative with it.  I have stumbled upon two outstanding indulgences.

I first added it to my homemade yogurt.  That was terrific, but as with most addictions, moderation just wont do.  So the next day, I added it to oatmeal. That was great.  Today, I added both yogurt and oatmeal to the cranberry relish.  Now I really had something.  That stuff sticks to your ribs.  I wasn't hungry for a good 3 hours.... *;)

I would love to have had a picture for you, but I had to eat my breakfast in the car while taking Steph to her piano lesson today....  No hands left for the camera...

Now, what does any of this have to do with grapes?  Well, that brings me to lunch.  I have an old recipe for tuna with curry that is so wonderful.  The challenge for me is that it called for grapes to be added for the sweet balance of the dish.  I haven't been able to eat grapes for awhile, so I just had to leave it out.  That really changed the flavor of the dish and I couldn't find another replacement for it....until the leftover cranberry relish!  It's a perfect substitute.  I used all the self-control I could to capture a picture of my masterpiece before I inhaled it...

It even looks festive.  To make this lovely snack (or lunch) take one tin of tuna, drain.  Add a spoonful of mayo (to taste), a couple teaspoons of curry powder (again, to taste), and a tablespoon of Marilyn's cranberry relish.  Spead crackers with cream cheese and top with tuna mixture.  Yum!  If I had them, I'd even add a bit of chopped pine nuts for more texture.

So there it is.  I'm addicted and I don't care who knows it.

Tuesday was a day for Pumpkin Cake

A break in the rain today left the mountains looking like some one's quilt batting was dragged across the peaks.  So pretty.  Just minutes after this shot was taken, the mountain was again swallowed up in clouds.   I can see why ancient people thought the mountain had its own spirit.  It's always changing its mood.  Kinda like me some days...

 

Living in Hawaii, it's hard to tell when the seasons are changing.  It used to be that I'd watch what people were wearing on TV commercials.  When they broke out the sweaters and started advertising cold remedies, I knew fall had come.  We don't have the changing leaves or the daylight savings.  But today, the weather was definitely cooler.   The rain came through in waves making me want to snuggle up with a book.  Unfortunately, Tuesdays are not good snuggle-up days at my house.  There's school work and chores to be done.  I did manage to grab a cup of coffee and a piece of my favorite pumpkin cake.  I'll have to share the recipe.  This cake is so moist and delicious, I didn't even make frosting for it.  The recipe calls for cream cheese frosting.  I love it, but then the cake is so rich you can't eat too much.  I like it plain or with a dusting of powdered sugar.

 

This recipe has been adapted to be Sulfite free.  I've found that I can't tolerate baking powder, which makes baking rather interesting.  In most recipes, I substitute an extra teaspoon of baking soda plus half a cup of yogurt for every teaspoon of baking powder the recipe calls for.  This works best for quick breads.  I have a tortilla recipe that only called for 1/8th teaspoon of baking powder, so I just omit it.  The tortillas turn out fine.

Back to the pumpkin cake:

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups organic non-enriched flour

1 tsp. each: cinnamon, ground cloves, ginger, nutmeg

3 tsp. baking soda 

1 tsp. salt

1 cup butter

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup yogurt

one 15 oz. can pumpkin

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sift together dry ingredients: flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.
• In a large bowl, place butter and sugar and beat together until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time to the wet ingredients.  Stir in the vanilla and yogurt.
• Stir 1/3 of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, then 1/2 the can of pumpkin.  Follow that with 1/3 flour mixture, then the rest of the pumpkin and then the remaining flour mixture.
• Spray the cake pans with nonstick spray.  You can use either two round 9-inch pans or one bundt pan.
• Bake the two round pans for 30 minutes or the bunt pan for 45-55 minutes - or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for a minute and then turn out the cakes onto wire racks.  Let cool completely.
• To finish, frost with cream cheese frosting or sprinkle with powdered sugar - or each plain.

 To learn more about sulfite intollerance, see this great website.

An Attempt at Frugal Friday...

It was a gorgeous morning.  Found this day lily ready to burst.  Will keep you posted when it blooms.  I hit the ground running (not literally, today) with a list of Frugal Friday activities.

Planted seeds in the raised box in the back yard.  I'm trying bush beans (usually an easy crop), tomatoes, and a mix of salad greens.  The last time I tried to grow Manoa lettuce, it tasted so bitter, we fed it to the rabbits...  We'll see how these come out.

My next project was to get some towels hung on the line.  With our still, humid day they took all day to dry and were stiff as a board...  Next time, I may try some vinegar in the rinse water to see if that helps.  I'd love to hear your suggestions on how you keep your hung laundry, especially towels, from becoming sandpaper.

I got my reclaimed wood birdhouse painted.  Actually, I enlisted the help of Andrew and his friends ~ Tom Sawyer-style.  ("Look how much fun I'm having painting.  Want a turn?")  The did a great job. Thanks, guys!

The next project for Frugal Friday, was to try a batch of homemade yogurt.  The Frugal Girl's recipe looked so doable, and had to try it.  I've always thought that if you can read, you can cook, so I'm pretty game to try anything.  I love yogurt, and to have some that is totally sulfite friendly would be great.  The only ingredients are milk and a bit of yogurt as a starter. 

While the yogurt was...doing whatever yogurt does in the cooler, I turned my attention to the house.  Why does it seem like whenever I have lots of ironing and housework, the humidity soars.  My beautiful clear morning turned to this:

Mug-gy!  Oh well, sweating is good for the pores, right?

My frugal dinner plan was individual chicken pot pies.  I love to make them in ramekins.  Everyone gets their own.  I asked my star pie crust maker, Rebecca, to whip up a crust for me, while I put together the filling.  I used roasted chicken thighs, left over rice, frozen peas and carrots, and a homemade white sauce.  When I find chicken thighs on sale (here, that means $1.69/lb.) I roast them all at once and bag and freeze them in meal size zip locks.  That cuts down the time it takes to put dinner together.  I just defrost the chicken and add to my recipe.   I used a pumpkin cookie cutter to cut the pie crust for the top (and don't use a bottom crust).   With the left-over pie crust, I made a peach pie with canned peaches.  I know, not the best, but in Hawaii, fresh peaches are pretty hard to come by.  Mainland produce is picked early so it will transport well, but not much flavor is developed.  Even when Costco brings them in, they are expensive.  Not Frugal Friday fare.  The pie turned out pretty well, even though I got the top a little too brown....  No pictures of the food, too busy.

Finally the clouds gave way to rain, then it cleared beautifully. 

The clouds turned fluffy and pink in the setting sun.

So, my attempt at Frugal Friday turned out pretty well.  I felt productive, anyway.  This also ends our "fall break" from schooling.  Although I did get to some projects that have been on my list for awhile, I didn't do any advance lesson plans.  That is what will occupy the remainder of this long weekend.

I love the feeling that a break in routine gives.  I'm refreshed and ready to get back to the schedule.  I heard a quote from Dr. Laura, "Quality of life is determined by what you make of it, not from what happens to you."  I can agree with that.  Yes, this season of my life is filled with the business of kids' schedules, schooling, church responsibilities and financial pressures.  But one of the things that I can control is what I make of my life at this point.  My attitude can determine the quality of my life.  That's what I'm really trying to focus on.  Not only for me, but for those around me.  That includes you, my friend.  Now go eat some yogurt! *;)

It was an early morning so I made some banana bread.

Couldn't sleep.  Woke up around 4:30, got out of bed at 5:30...   When this happens I usually walk around the house in the dark, picking things up that were left on the floor.  Then I sit in the middle of the family room rug and pray.  Although I really love to sleep, these are very special times.  The house is dark and quiet and I feel all alone even though there are five other people sleeping just yards away.  Quality quiet time.   The sun begins to come up and a strange mix of regret and relief come over me.  Some days I'll crawl back into bed at this point, but today I puttered into the kitchen.  As quietly as I could, I started the coffee and got out the ingredients for my favorite banana bread.  Since I have this weird allergy to sulfites, I tend to bake a lot - so I can eat something.  I've adapted this recipe to be sulfite friendly.   This morning I decided to double it.  With all of us in the house, this bread doesn't last long.  Even though there are many sulfite-laden choices that the family could eat, they always want my homemade goodies - then there's not much left for me...

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter - yes, I always use real butter
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour - I use organic that's not enriched to be sulfite free
1/2 cup yogurt - I use plain
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Butter a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.  (When I double the recipe, I use a bunt pan or 2 loaf pans.)
Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork.  Mix in the yogurt and cinnamon.  In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined.  Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.
Pour into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes.  Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing - if you can...

Still, no one was up.  So with coffee and Bible in hand, I crept outside in the morning's first light to my favorite spot in the back yard.   A swing is set in a raised garden area at the back of the lot.  It's high enough that the view of the Koolaus is just breathtaking.  This is about as good as morning gets around here.   When God says that His mercies are new every morning, this is when I believe it. 

After a long, troubled night of seeking the Lord in the dark, the contrast of light and a new day is almost more than I can take in.  God is so faithful to meet me.  It never ceases to amaze me how a scheduled reading plan could come alive day after day.  I guess that's one of the mysteries of this living book.  God's breath is still fresh on each page. 

Psalm 138

A psalm of David.

1 I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;

I will sing your praises before the gods.

2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.

I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;

for your promises are backed

by all the honor of your name.

3 As soon as I pray, you answer me;

you encourage me by giving me strength.

4 Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,

for all of them will hear your words.

5 Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,

for the glory of the Lord is very great.

6 Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,

but he keeps his distance from the proud.

7 Though I am surrounded by troubles,

you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.

You reach out your hand,

and the power of your right hand saves me.

8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—

for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

I am filled again with hope.  And now, the banana bread is ready!