Thursday, June 27, 2013

German Red Cabbage

My husband made this red cabbage dish for our Bavarian Feast the other day and we all loved it!  The original recipe is Grandma Jeanette's Amazing German Red Cabbage.  He modified it by using the whole head of cabbage (who wants to measure shredded cabbage?), omitting the butter, and adjusting the seasonings accordingly.  It's an easy recipe and one that you can easily fill up on guilt-free - gotta love that!

German Red Cabbage

1 head red cabbage, shredded
2 small gala apples, sliced
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Place butter, cabbage, apples, and sugar into a large pot. Pour in the vinegar and water, and season with salt, pepper, and clove.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the cabbage is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Bavarian Feast



My husband made this delicious Bavarian Feast for us on Sunday.  What a treat it was to turn the kitchen over to my husband, run some errands, and return home to this delicious meal!  I'll post the recipes for the Goulash and Red Cabbage as I receive them and have the okay to do so. They are his adaptations.  :-)

Portabella Goulash
Egg Noodles (haven't found a plant-based version yet)
German Red Cabbage
Pretzel Roll (from Wegman's bakery)
Field Grain Frankfurter
Apothic Red wine

This is one of those meals that just leaves you feeling warm and happy.  Sigh...

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Skaneateles

It finally stopped raining enough to give us a beautiful day for road trip!  We decided to visit Skaneateles (skinny altas), a small town on the northern tip of Skaneateles Lake, one of the Finger Lakes (about 50 minutes west of Syracuse).  Skaneateles Lake is one of the cleanest in the world.  It is the source of water for Syracuse and it's so clean that it is used unfiltered!

We stopped at Skaneateles Bakery to grab a snack before heading to Clift Park to wait for our sight seeing tour of the lake.  What a delightful afternoon!  If you ever have a chance to spend some time in the Finger Lakes Region of Central New York, I highly recommend it.  It is a beautiful area with many wonderful things to do. 




Clift Park

Judge Ben Wiles


Skaneateles Lake


Clear Water

Friday, June 14, 2013

Roasted Corn Salsa


The first time we visited Syracuse, it was to see if it was somewhere we would like to live.  For us, that meant visiting the Central New York Regional Market.  We had to see what was available from the local farms.  One of the trucks at the market was there primarily to promote the market and share a recipe made from what could be found at the market that day.  On the day of our first visit, it was Corn Salsa.  Wow!  It was delicious.  We picked up a copy of the recipe and somehow managed to keep track of it as we traveled home, packed, and moved.  I want to share it here because I think you'll enjoy it as much as we do and I figure it's only a matter of time before I lose the piece of paper with the recipe :-).

Corn Salsa

10 large ears corn, husked
Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)
8 vine-ripened tomatoes, about 1 pound total
1 cup diced red onion, 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup julienne fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

Grill corn until light gold all over and cooked, about 12 minutes.  Let cool and cut off the kernels.  Discard the cobs.

Core the tomatoes and cut a small X on the bottom of each.  Place on the grill, X side down, away from direct heat.  Cover the grill and cook until the tomatoes begin to soften, but are not cooked all the way through, about 15 minutes.  Set aside until cool enough to handle, then peel.  Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise and squeeze out the juice.  Reserve the juices and chop the flesh.

Add the chopped tomatoes, reserved tomato juice, onions, basil and red wine vinegar to the corn.  Toss well.  Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt, pepper, and vinegar.

The recipe does call for some extra-virgin olive oil, but we leave it out and don't miss it.  We also thickly slice the red onion and grill it before chopping it and adding it to the salsa.

Serve on tacos/burritos, chips, cucumber chips, bell pepper scoops, etc.  We usually make a double batch and freeze the extra for later use.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Crazy Cake Revised

Back in April my sister issued a challenge - remake Crazy Cake, one of our favorite desserts from childhood, but healthier.  Here it is!  I was actually surprised by how easy it was.  It's a little gooey on the bottom, but in a oh-so-yummy chocolatey way.  Enjoy!



Crazy Cake Revised
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup cold water
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt into an ungreased 8x8 pan.  Make 3 holes in dry ingredients and put in each hole the applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla.  Pour over this the water.  Mix with fork but do not beat.  Bake 25 to 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Let the cake cool and serve it dusted with powdered sugar.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Following Instincts

Friday morning my beagle was so cute that I just had to stop and write a journal entry about her.  Here's what I wrote:

"She has those moments when she's outside, just laying on the deck.  She's alert to the yard - not sleeping.  She was like that just now when I came outside.  She took one look at me, got up, and ran into the yard in "guard mode," barking at who-knows-what.  It's as if she's trying to show she's busy, doing something important.  Therefore she can't do whatever it is that I want/need her to do (like come inside).  The funny thing is, half the time I don't need her to do anything.  Just now I was bringing my breakfast out onto the deck to eat.  Silly dog. :-)"

Not long after that, I caught her in the act of doing this:



Not so cute.  Reminder to self:  I love my beagle, I love my beagle, I love my beagle...

She's done this before, hence the chicken wire.  Obviously, that didn't work.  So, here's my next effort:






It worked around the fence in NC.  Hopefully it will work here.  As my mom said (sympathetic grandma that she is), she's just following her instincts.  I know.  Sometimes though I wish I could sit her down for a story time.  The Poky Little Puppy would be a regular feature:  "No desserts ever for puppies who dig holes..."

--Kathy


Saturday, June 1, 2013

New Link

I've added a new link to the list of food links on the left:

Oh She Glows

I hope you are inspired by her story and enjoy her site as much as I do.

--Kathy