Expanding

I would like to expand my blog to other parts of the kitchen, not just recipes.  I love to share recipes, but I would also like to share other things from the kitchen.
My birthday is tomorrow and my grandmother gave me an early birthday present.

Yaya got me these super cute kitty bowls!  I LOVE them!  I got a set of 2 bowls and they are the perfect size for cereal, soup, pasta, ice cream, whatever you like.  and they are really cute!  

What are you favorite kitchen items that are cute but not really practical?  You know we all have them ;)

Strawberries!

Ok, so I know it's waaaaay past strawberry season and this post is really late.  And I also haven't posted in a long time.  I really am trying to be more regular with my blogging.  Momma A always said to  write up a bunch of posts ahead of time and then post them so many times a week; I think I will try this approach, might help me be more consistent with it.
Anyways, back in strawberry season, my mom and I went to Raab Fruit Farms in Dallastown, PA.  You can access their info through this link, or you can also find them on Facebook, but their page is rather new and does not have a lot of info on it.  We did the pick your own strawberries and it was great.  The staff was very friendly and the berries were yummy.  You all know how I love local farms and pick your own.  you can get a lot of product for less money and you are supporting local farming and business.  Remember: "No farms, No food!"

I picked about 8 quarts of berries and there was no way I could eat them all before they went bad, so I made strawberry jam with them.  I learned how to make jam with Essen, "a recreational cooking school based in Lancaster, PA."  Essen offers a wide variety of classes and I always learn a lot of great foodie info while there.  I will share the recipe for strawberry jam that I learned with Essen.  After you make the jam, you can can it, freeze it, or put it in the fridge and eat within a month.

Strawberry Jam


Ingredients:
3 quarts strawberries, hulled and cut in half or quarters, depending on how big the berries are
2 1/4 - 3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Start Cooking:
1.  Combine fruit, sugar, and lemon juice in a large bowl.  Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours, or refrigerate overnight, stirring occasionally.
2. Transfer fruit mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming the foam and stirring occasionally.  Mash to think puree with back of spoon.  Reduce heat to medium-low and boil gently, until mixture begins to thicken, stirring often, about 30-60 minutes.  Keep skimming foam.

Berries cooking, waiting for the boil.

3.  Once your jam is thickened into jam, can it, freeze it, or refrigerate it.

Tips and Hints:
1.  Watch your jam!!!  I left the jam for about 20 minutes and ended up burning a batch.  Burn jam does not smell to taste good.
2.  Why skim the foam?  It helps keep the jam from getting cloudy.

Enjoy!

Peaches!

I love finding local farms and supporting local farming in my community.  The other day I saw a bumper sticker that said: "No farms, No food."  Very true, right?  So why not support local farming?  Local food is typically cheaper because it doesn't have to be transported far distances to get to your grocery store(better for the environment too).  Supporting local farming can also support local jobs.
I also love pick your own fruits and veggies- what's better than getting your produce right off the plant?  It's the best way to know how fresh your food is.  I have found a great farm market in my community.  Flinchbaugh's Orchard in Hellam, York County, PA is my new favorite place.  They have great events for kids and families.  I recently went to their Summer Peach Fest with one of the kids I work with, and we had a blast!  Flinchbaugh's also does school and adult class tours of their farm.  While I was there, I did their pick your own peaches.  The staff was all very helpful and friendly.  They charged $1.25 per pound of pick your own peaches.  They provide bags for your picked peaches.
After having all these peaches, I wasn't really sure what to do with all of them.  I wanted something yummy for breakfast to have on hand for the week.  I got online and found some cobbler recipes(cobbler is ok for breakfast as long as I don't eat it with ice cream, right?).  I sort of combined a few different recipes to make my own.

Breakfast Peach Cobbler


Ingredients:
Peaches, peeled a sliced
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cup sugar, reserve 1/4 cup
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Start Cooking:
1.  Peel and slice your peaches.  It is really up to you have many peaches you want to use.  2-3 cups of the peeled and sliced peaches is a good amount to shoot for.  Put the peaches, 1/8 cups sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon in a large pot on the stove and bring to a boil.  The sugar and heat will bring out all the juice from the peaches.
2.  Melt the butter and pour into the bottom on a shallow baking dish.  Then pour the hot peaches over the butter.
3.  In a large bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients(only use 1 cup of sugar, reserve the remaining 1/8 cup).   Then pour the batter over the peaches.  Sprinkle the remaining sugar on top of the batter.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes, until cake is done and top is golden brown.  Serve warm.

Enjoy!

Cupcakes

I am a little embarrassed to say that I have never made cupcakes or cake from scratch.  I've always used a box mix; it's just easier.  And they taste good, so why bother with baking from scratch?  I am hosting a girls day in a few weeks, and I have decided to serve cupcakes.  I made this incredibly cute cupcake platter at The Pottery Works in Lancaster, PA.

So do I make cupcakes from scratch?  Or do I stick with my regular box mix?  

Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I love mint, it's a very refreshing flavor that makes me think of spring.  I also love mint and chocolate together and I love cookies.  So why not put them together!? What I came up with was yummy mint chocolate chunk cookies made from scratch.  It's so easy to just make cookies or other baked good from a box or mix, but this recipe is really easy, almost as easy as cooking from a box.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter(1 cup), room temp
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 3/4 Andes chocolate mints, or any other brand, broken or cut into chunks

Start Cooking:
1.  Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.
2.  Using a stand mixer or hand held electric mixer, cream together butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract.  Then add eggs one at a time, making sure they are well mixed in with the butter and sugars.
3.  In another bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt.  Slowly add the flour mixture to butter mixture, using the electric mixer to combine.  Once all the flour is mixed in, use a rubber scraper to fold in the mint chocolate chunks.
4.  Spoon onto cookie sheets, or use a cookie scoop.

5.  Bake for 9-11 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cook on cookie sheet for 1 minute.  Then transfer to cooling racks.  Store in air tight container.

Tips and Hints:

1.  before chopping up the chocolate mints, put them in the fridge for about an hour.  It will make them cold and easier to handle(they won't melt while handling them!).  

2.  serve the cookies while warm, or heat for a few seconds in the microwave. Yummy!

Enjoy!

One Pot Meal

I love cooking, we all know that.  I love finding recipes, trying new foods, and sharing my findings.  But I hate cleaning up after cooking.  I hate dishes, and cooking creates lots of dishes.  So I set out to make a healthy complete one pot meal.  What I came up with was a pasta dish, all cooked in one pot.

Ingredients:
pasta, any style you like or have on hand
veggie chicken strips(or real chicken if you eat meat)
frozen veggies
tomato sauce
Italian seasoning to taste

Start Cooking:
1.  Use a large skillet with high sides and a lid.  Put pasta and enough water to cook the pasta in the large skillet.  Bring to a boil and cook until just under cooked.  Drain out extra water. Remove pasta from skillet.
2.  Add chicken to skillet and cook until done.  Then add the pasta back to the skillet.  Add tomato sauce, and frozen veggies.  Cover and cook until veggies are cooked and entire meal is cooked through.  Season to taste.  Serve with grated cheese, to taste.

Tips and Hints:

1.  Don't like chicken?  Or have another meat on hand?  Substitute ground beef, sausage, or other meats for the chicken.  

2.  This is a great meal to make up a big batch and serve a lot of people or have leftovers. 

Enjoy!

I'm renovating!

Well, I guess I should say my uncle is renovating.  And I'm helping, or trying to at least.  We are working on screening in my porch.  This project is proving to be a lot harder than I thought it would be, or at least a lot more work than I thought.  We worked for a few hours today and are about half way done.  My uncle will be coming back in a few weeks to help finish the project.

The screen is kind of hard to see in the picture, but it goes until the last unpainted poll on the right of the picture.  Our first panel was our worst, but we got it down by the third panel!
I'm looking forward to bug free meals on my new porch for the summer!