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Chocolate cake
Feb. 22nd, 2011 08:55 amI made chocolate cake for dessert last night. I'm having some for breakfast. This cake is easy to make; you mix it in the pan in which it is baked; it is coarse and moist and yummy; it doesn't need egg. I love this cake.
Growing herbs
Feb. 21st, 2011 08:31 pmLast year I grew rosemary, parsley, and Greek basil, as well as the chives that just keep coming back. This year I want to grow some more kinds of herbs.
Is anyone interested in sharing some seed packets? I have such a tiny yard, that I won't be growing much of any one kind. I figure if two or more people get together and choose some varieties, we could share the cost.
Is anyone interested in sharing some seed packets? I have such a tiny yard, that I won't be growing much of any one kind. I figure if two or more people get together and choose some varieties, we could share the cost.
I want to make lacto-fermented pickles. The recipe says to add one or two grape leaves to keep the pickles crunchy. I don't know where to get fresh grape leaves.
Does anyone have a grape vine? How about tart cherry, black currant, or horse radish leaves?
Does anyone have a grape vine? How about tart cherry, black currant, or horse radish leaves?
Carrot cake
Sep. 5th, 2010 04:46 pmI made carrot cake. It was good, but no better than what I have eaten elsewhere. The icing turned out tasty. I used home made quark instead of cream cheese. The texture was a little different. If you looked closely, you could see tiny curds, but it wasn't apparent while eating it. I'll see if I can fix that another time.
Leverpostej
Mar. 6th, 2010 04:32 pmWell, that was a surprise. I made some food that has a better aftertaste than the actual taste.
I made leverpostej which is a liver pâté (pate) that they make in Denmark. It isn't exactly like the French one. I remember loving the stuff, when I lived in Denmark, so I tried cooking it. I would say that it was a moderate success. I will be experimenting with it to try and get it just right. I used the recipe from my Danish cookbook, Mesterkokkens Store Kogebog, copyright 1967. I googled the recipe and found too many. A lot of the ones written in Danish have been modernized. I will be incorporating some of the more modern techniques and ingredient variations in my experiments.
I made leverpostej which is a liver pâté (pate) that they make in Denmark. It isn't exactly like the French one. I remember loving the stuff, when I lived in Denmark, so I tried cooking it. I would say that it was a moderate success. I will be experimenting with it to try and get it just right. I used the recipe from my Danish cookbook, Mesterkokkens Store Kogebog, copyright 1967. I googled the recipe and found too many. A lot of the ones written in Danish have been modernized. I will be incorporating some of the more modern techniques and ingredient variations in my experiments.
More learning to make Danish food
Oct. 16th, 2009 03:16 amI have been working on making rullepølse. It's a Danish cold cut. I like the idea of making my own cold cuts, because the ones from the store have scary, long lists of weird chemicals. And, they are rather expensive compared with other meat.
This is my second attempt and though the first one was okay, this is a little better. It may take a while before I get it right. There are loads of recipes on the intertubes and I'm working my way through the ones that look appealing.
This is my second attempt and though the first one was okay, this is a little better. It may take a while before I get it right. There are loads of recipes on the intertubes and I'm working my way through the ones that look appealing.
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| From food |
Planting food
Mar. 26th, 2009 05:28 pmI just took 10 minutes to plant some snow peas, lettuce, and radishes. I even made a little map, so I know where I planted stuff and marked on the date. I'm still wondering if I was supposed to soak the peas before planting. It didn't say on the package. A quick Google didn't turn up anything about soaking the peas.
Here's my last crabby post about the food safety lady on TV.
Another suggestion was colour-coded cutting boards. Red for raw meat, yellow for poultry, green for fruits and veggies, and black for cooked or ready to eat. She also prefers plastic because of the cut marks you get on wood.
She didn't mention the cut marks on plastic. It's kind of controversial, which is better, wood or plastic. But, there was a study at the University of California (Davis) that shows that wood is safer: Food Safety: Comparing Plastic and Wood Cutting Boards By Dean O. Cliver, Ph.D. I have heard of other studies with similar results. I don't know this for sure, but I think she hasn't studied it and is just using "common sense" and what other "experts" say.
She owns five cutting boards. They didn't look very big. I have five white plastic cutting boards (three small, two large) and a wooden board. I don't want mine colour coded - I have a dishwasher. I just put the meat and poultry boards in the dishwasher as soon as I'm done with them. I might need another vegi board while the first one is dirty. Without colour coding, I just grab a clean white one. Yeah, I think wood would be better, but I still have an ingrained prejudice in favour of plastic. I guess the next one will be wood. The last three were cheap at a yard sale.
Another suggestion was colour-coded cutting boards. Red for raw meat, yellow for poultry, green for fruits and veggies, and black for cooked or ready to eat. She also prefers plastic because of the cut marks you get on wood.
She didn't mention the cut marks on plastic. It's kind of controversial, which is better, wood or plastic. But, there was a study at the University of California (Davis) that shows that wood is safer: Food Safety: Comparing Plastic and Wood Cutting Boards By Dean O. Cliver, Ph.D. I have heard of other studies with similar results. I don't know this for sure, but I think she hasn't studied it and is just using "common sense" and what other "experts" say.
She owns five cutting boards. They didn't look very big. I have five white plastic cutting boards (three small, two large) and a wooden board. I don't want mine colour coded - I have a dishwasher. I just put the meat and poultry boards in the dishwasher as soon as I'm done with them. I might need another vegi board while the first one is dirty. Without colour coding, I just grab a clean white one. Yeah, I think wood would be better, but I still have an ingrained prejudice in favour of plastic. I guess the next one will be wood. The last three were cheap at a yard sale.
I will continue my critique of the advice given by the food safety specialist from the TV show.
She says to keep large utensils in a drawer. Yes, it's decorative to store your utensils in a container near the stove, but it isn't a good idea. You grab the utensil by the end that will be touching the food, rather than by the handle. You should put them handle end out of the container and wash the container regularly.
I don't keep the big utensils in a jar by the stove because it's decorative. I keep them there because it's handy when I'm cooking. It also means I don't have to touch the handles on my drawers. I wash my hands before I cook, so grabbing by the end that touches the food shouldn't be a problem. If one has dirty hands, it's probably irrelevant which end you touch, because you are going to get germs from your hands into the cooking anyways. If I stuck the utensils in the jar handle out, I would need three or four jars, not just two. It would also make it harder to grab the utensil I want.
Washing the jar regularly sounds like a good idea.
She says to keep large utensils in a drawer. Yes, it's decorative to store your utensils in a container near the stove, but it isn't a good idea. You grab the utensil by the end that will be touching the food, rather than by the handle. You should put them handle end out of the container and wash the container regularly.
I don't keep the big utensils in a jar by the stove because it's decorative. I keep them there because it's handy when I'm cooking. It also means I don't have to touch the handles on my drawers. I wash my hands before I cook, so grabbing by the end that touches the food shouldn't be a problem. If one has dirty hands, it's probably irrelevant which end you touch, because you are going to get germs from your hands into the cooking anyways. If I stuck the utensils in the jar handle out, I would need three or four jars, not just two. It would also make it harder to grab the utensil I want.
Washing the jar regularly sounds like a good idea.
The food safety specialist from the TV show that I wrote about yesterday said to use a "thin dishcloth" to wash dishes instead of a sponge. (Personally, I prefer a brush followed by thorough rinsing or the dishwasher.) The "thin dishcloth" she showed was a reusable/semi disposable, non-woven cloth usually called by brand name: J-Cloth in Canada & the UK or Handi-Wipe in the US. (I will refer to them as "J-Cloths" for convenience.) I agree that sponges harbour far more germs than "J-Cloths" and a counter wiped with a used sponge can't really be considered clean. That's because "J-Cloths" are thin and dry quickly; sponges don't. Of course, that assumes that you hang the "J-Cloth" up to dry. She also said that if your dishrag smells of mildew, it's not drying properly and it's time to chuck it. Wait a minute, these are reusable; you can put them in the laundry with bleach.
She goes on to tell us that she prefers that we dry our hands with a paper towel (Holy environment Batman!) and that if we use a tea towel (dish towel), we should change it every day. My goodness. I was taught not to use my tea towel to dry my hands. I have a separate, terry towel for that. I even have yellow tea towels that I only use for drying fruit and vegetables.
I use "J-Cloths" instead of paper towels most of the time. Spill something on the floor - wipe it with a "J-Cloth" and toss the "J-Cloth" in the laundry. I save the paper towels for broken glass and other stuff that shouldn't be rinsed down the drain. I even use "J-Cloths" to dry meat. Of course I take a clean one and then rinse and toss it in the laundry.
She goes on to tell us that she prefers that we dry our hands with a paper towel (Holy environment Batman!) and that if we use a tea towel (dish towel), we should change it every day. My goodness. I was taught not to use my tea towel to dry my hands. I have a separate, terry towel for that. I even have yellow tea towels that I only use for drying fruit and vegetables.
I use "J-Cloths" instead of paper towels most of the time. Spill something on the floor - wipe it with a "J-Cloth" and toss the "J-Cloth" in the laundry. I save the paper towels for broken glass and other stuff that shouldn't be rinsed down the drain. I even use "J-Cloths" to dry meat. Of course I take a clean one and then rinse and toss it in the laundry.
I saw a TV show today that had a guest who was telling us all sorts of things to change in our kitchens to minimize food contamination. Some of the advice was good. Most of it had me sputtering.
Hand washing: Wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap for at least 20 seconds.
Yikes. Anti-bacterial soap is one of my pet peeves. I have some for very special cases, but using it every day is equivalent to running a program to breed anti-bacterial soap resistant germs. Thorough washing with regular soap and water followed by a good rinse is plenty good enough. If you don't believe me, have a look at this article: Is antibacterial soap any better than regular soap?
20 seconds! If you are using anti-bacterial soap, you have to leave it on your hands for two minutes, if you want it to have special powers.
It even turns out that triclosan, the germ killing agent in most anti-bacterial soap, may mess with our thyroids and cause environmental problems: Researchers sour on antibacterial soap.
I will post the rest of my snarky observations over the next few days.
Hand washing: Wash your hands with anti-bacterial soap for at least 20 seconds.
Yikes. Anti-bacterial soap is one of my pet peeves. I have some for very special cases, but using it every day is equivalent to running a program to breed anti-bacterial soap resistant germs. Thorough washing with regular soap and water followed by a good rinse is plenty good enough. If you don't believe me, have a look at this article: Is antibacterial soap any better than regular soap?
20 seconds! If you are using anti-bacterial soap, you have to leave it on your hands for two minutes, if you want it to have special powers.
It even turns out that triclosan, the germ killing agent in most anti-bacterial soap, may mess with our thyroids and cause environmental problems: Researchers sour on antibacterial soap.
I will post the rest of my snarky observations over the next few days.
I surprised another person with beets. He thought he didn't like beets, but he liked these. I surprised ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
swestrup last week. He had always disliked beets. I encouraged him to try them in Denmark and he liked them. Here's the recipe:
If you have last year's older, tougher beets: peel them and slice thinly.
If you have this year's tender, new beets: halve or quarter them or leave them whole if they are really tiny.
Steam until tender. Toss with butter and lemon juice.
swestrup last week. He had always disliked beets. I encouraged him to try them in Denmark and he liked them. Here's the recipe:If you have last year's older, tougher beets: peel them and slice thinly.
If you have this year's tender, new beets: halve or quarter them or leave them whole if they are really tiny.
Steam until tender. Toss with butter and lemon juice.
I sort of forgot about müsli.
Yesterday we got the ingredients for müsli, when we went grocery shopping. So, I made some. I guess I had a müsli deficit. I made it last night and I have already had five bowls of it. Yum. Here's the recipe I used.
Oats, I used Robin Hood large flakes, but it could be rolled oats, or instant oats
Sultana raisins, but it can be any kind of raisins
dried dates, chopped, but not too fine
pecans chopped into largish pieces
slivered almonds
roasted sunflower seeds
sesame seeds
It's about 2/3 oats. Add the other ingredients in quantities that you like. You could use pretty much any kind of dried fruit that you like. Any kind of nuts you like, and any kind of seeds you like, e.g., pumpkin seeds. Chopped coconut is good too, if you like it. I put less sesame seeds than any of the other ingredients and they might be nice roasted. You can also substitute rolled wheat, rolled buckwheat, and probably any other rolled cereal grain for some of the oats.
If you want sugar, don't put it in the mix. Just add it in the bowl.
Put it in an airtight container and shake it well before serving, 'cause it tends to settle and you want a nice mix of everything in each serving.
Yesterday we got the ingredients for müsli, when we went grocery shopping. So, I made some. I guess I had a müsli deficit. I made it last night and I have already had five bowls of it. Yum. Here's the recipe I used.
Oats, I used Robin Hood large flakes, but it could be rolled oats, or instant oats
Sultana raisins, but it can be any kind of raisins
dried dates, chopped, but not too fine
pecans chopped into largish pieces
slivered almonds
roasted sunflower seeds
sesame seeds
It's about 2/3 oats. Add the other ingredients in quantities that you like. You could use pretty much any kind of dried fruit that you like. Any kind of nuts you like, and any kind of seeds you like, e.g., pumpkin seeds. Chopped coconut is good too, if you like it. I put less sesame seeds than any of the other ingredients and they might be nice roasted. You can also substitute rolled wheat, rolled buckwheat, and probably any other rolled cereal grain for some of the oats.
If you want sugar, don't put it in the mix. Just add it in the bowl.
Put it in an airtight container and shake it well before serving, 'cause it tends to settle and you want a nice mix of everything in each serving.
Beltane Bake Day
May. 2nd, 2008 12:57 amI was inspired by bodhifox, ai731, and mousme to participate in "Beltane Bake Day". Basically it's bake something from scratch on Beltane (1st of May) and post it on LJ, preferably with pix and recipe.
This is my quick, one pan, chocolate cake. The recipe is here onswestrup's website, but I have made further modifications. Yes, it is yummy. That was a whole cake less than an hour before that picture was taken, and there's only the two of us eating cake. ( Recipe modifications behind the cut )
bodhifox, ai731, and mousme to participate in "Beltane Bake Day". Basically it's bake something from scratch on Beltane (1st of May) and post it on LJ, preferably with pix and recipe. |
| From chocolate cake |
This is my quick, one pan, chocolate cake. The recipe is here on
swestrup's website, but I have made further modifications. Yes, it is yummy. That was a whole cake less than an hour before that picture was taken, and there's only the two of us eating cake. ( Recipe modifications behind the cut )Now that I have some time, I want to start baking bread again. I have made both yeast and sourdough breads.
I could make my own sourdough starter, but it would be more fun to use one from a friend. So, is there a local friend who has sourdough starter and would be willing to share a bit with me?
I could make my own sourdough starter, but it would be more fun to use one from a friend. So, is there a local friend who has sourdough starter and would be willing to share a bit with me?
