Giving – Do It Yourself Hot Chocolate

Giving –  

better than receiving.

As the holiday season comes around the two perennial bugbears loom closer.  How can we manage gifts when we have neither time nor money to shop?  And how, while we are at this pity-party do we convince the children that it is better to give than to receive?

We make gifts!  This doesn’t involve a visit to Hobby Lobby or Michael’s and a new creative talent, but instead spending five minutes longer at the supermarket buying ingredients to mix hot chocolate powder. And then a brief trip to the dollar store to choose some festive tins and a role of ribbon.

The hot chocolate mix is an ideal task for you and the children who need gifts for teachers, friends and colleagues.  If the recipe seems a little heavy on the sweetness, halve the quantity of confectioners’ sugar. 

Supermarket chains do package differently so quantities are approximate. A few extra ounces here or there won’t be a problem.

HOT CHOCOLATE MIX

3 lbs. non-fat dried milk powder

9 oz. powdered coffee creamer

1 lb. chocolate Nesquik

1 lb. confectioners sugar

Very large mixing bowl.

Spoon for each ‘chef’

Soap (to wash hands prior to working)

Tins, ribbon, decorating doo-dads

© 2009 Jane Manaster. All Rights Reserved.

Food allergy reminders for breaking bread this Thanksgiving

Dining out or in the home of friends this Thanksgiving? If you’re minding food allergies, give yourself a minute to browse these food allergy awareness reminders.

Kitchen kit – Jane’s top six kitchen essentials

If you were cast on a desert island, what six pieces of music would you choose, and which book, beside the Bible and Shakespeare? This question has been posed weekly on a BBC radio program since 1942.  Well-known personalities come up with assorted answers like Beethoven and the Beatles, George Strait and Georges Bizet, Louis Armstrong…. Pavarotti….

Let’s change the question and ask, ‘If you had to select six items from your kitchen, just a single one that demanded electricity, which would you choose?’  Skip the desert island requirement because it raises too many questions, and come up with a list.

Here’s mine:

• Blender for smoothies, soup, banana bread ingredients, grating cheese, etc. Any other task can be managed without a small appliance, with a caveat for cheese graters which are tough on the knuckles!
• 4 or 5-inch blade serrated knife No other knife multi-tasks so satisfactorily.
• Garlic press idiosyncratic, I admit.
• 8 or 9-inch cast iron skillet as they are invariably practical.
• Ice-cube tray for accidentally cracked eggs, orange juice, pureed strawberries, and so on.
• Can opener …. Optional!

© 2009 Jane Manaster. All Rights Reserved.

Minding the English . . .

Jane Manaster takes this cookery post from Austin back to England with Minding the English . . .

 Jane was raised in England long ago when eating roast heart or stewed tripe served with a glutinous white sauce were not uncommon. No special names disguised their identity!

English food unjustly has a very bad reputation.  Wangle an invitation to someone’s home so you can make up your own mind. Don’t be put off if the menu includes ‘toad in the hole’ or ‘bangers and mash’ with ‘blood in the ocean’ or windmill pudding’ for dessert.

 Parkin, sarsaparilla, bacon butty, Marmite, yellow peril……. My goodness! 

 Let me translate:

Toad in the hole, a.k.a. Yorkshire pudding with sausage, is a batter baked in a very hot oven so that it becomes crisp, even as the pork sausage oozes flavor into it. It is not eaten with maple syrup!

 Bangers and mash is also sausage, this time on mashed potatoes.

 Blood in the ocean is quite simply a rice or tapioca pudding with a dollop of strawberry jam.

 Windmill pudding is pretty much any dessert, if there’s enough to go round (Joke!).

 Parkin is a ginger cake, always eaten with a slice of Cheddar cheese. Sarsparilla is the English equivalent of root beer; Brits don’t like root beer, and vice versa.

 A bacon butty is simply grilled bacon between two slices of bread.

 Marmite is a yeast-based product that is spread sparingly on toast, and definitely an acquired taste. It’s the English equivalent of peanut butter in that it’s a stand-by lunch box sandwich.

 Yellow peril is that kind of sponge cake that sticks to the roof of your mouth.

 If you have English friends, just ask them to add to the list.

© 2009 Jane Manaster. All Rights Reserved.

Recipe Risk

Jane Manaster shares her take on  . . .

risky recipes

Selecting a recipe online is such a temptation and such a gamble.   Even experienced cooks eager to try something new can be lured into making bad mistakes. My latest failure was bran and raisin muffins.  I trawled one site after another, rejecting the recipe ones that could live in the refrigerator for six weeks (perish the thought!) and the ones that demanded a whole packet of bran cereal. I didn’t want ingredients that stipulated fat-free, sugar-free, and egg-free as I always reckon too much ‘free’ ends up being taste-free as well.

At last I found the seemingly perfect one. Yes, I had raisins and molasses and all the basics. The recipe omitted to mention allowing the cereal to soften for a few minutes in the milk. I knew I should have trusted myself rather than the printed word. But I didn’t. The poor little muffins didn’t proudly rise in their paper cups.  They just sat there looking singularly unappealing, like poorly mixed cornflakes-and-chocolate-crisps; They tasted just as I imagine sweetened doggie treats would taste. Woof!

© 2009 Jane Manaster. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t chuck the pumpkin seeds

We’re carving pumpkins this evening . . . and roasting the seeds to a crunch.

Don’t chuck the seeds. Give your pumpkin seeds this quick oven roast.

As for food . . . weekend recommendation from Austin’s Addie Broyles

Note to Austin locals:

If you’re in town this weekend and able to check out the Texas Book Festival, consider today’s recommendation from Austin’s Addie Broyles to secure a seat at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the cooking tent to experience a little of the culinary wisdom of Lidia Bastianich. You may or may not recognize Lidia, but when you witness her love of preparing and sharing food, you won’t forget her.

I knew nothing of Lidia until I moved to New York’s Hudson Valley and received one of her cookbooks, “Lidia’s Family Table,” as a housewarming gift from my mother. My mom, who can sniff out a poser from miles away, adores Lidia and discovered her through Lidia’s television shows on Italian-centered cooking. Lidia delivers truth and beauty in all things food. My husband and I enjoyed our experience at New York’s Felidia in the city, and though we’ll be hanging our hats here in Texas a while longer, we’ll savor the best of Lidia Bastianich upon our return to New York.

Enjoy all that’s Italian this weekend and thanks to Addie for the heads-up on Lidia’s visit to Austin.

Peel and Eat Potatoes-Peelin’ with Jane

Peel This

The Cookery welcomes Austin’s Jane Manaster back this week to challenge us with a post on peeling potatoes.

Peelin’ with Jane:

Remember when potatoes were a staple? At 50 – 99 cents a pound, and with pasta and rice down in price, they are almost a luxury.  When a visit to the supermarket coincided with a markdown to make space for a new delivery, I took home a large sack at 20 cents a pound. Try some of these variations, assuming one pound of potatoes per recipe . . . the amount you actually cook.

Measurements are approximate – trust your judgment! Don’t be too sparing with the salt and pepper.

1. Baked Bake the larger ones; the microwave isn’t as good but it takes one tenth the time.

2.  Mashed Peel, boil, mash with butter and ¼ cup of milk, crush in garlic (optional); beat in a raw egg to change the texture and make them party fare.

3. Boiled Peel, cut the larger ones in half so they all cook in the same time. Strain. Serve with raw chopped onion and olive oil. Eat alongside canned sardines … an unexpected taste treat!

4. Potato salad Peel, boil, strain. Cut in 1” pieces. While still warm, spoon over 3 Tbs. vegetable oil; 1 Tbs. vinegar; 2 Tbs. chopped onion. When cold, correct the amount of oil and vinegar, stir well, season, add chopped parsley if you have some handy. No mayonnaise!

5. Pseudo-sautéed Peel. Slice very thin. Cook in a little water in the microwave for two minutes. Strain.  Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or grease with oil. Spread potatoes, spray again and season well. Bake at 425-450 till crisp. Sprinkle a little rosemary before baking (optional).

6. Cottage pie Peel, boil, mash, add a knob of butter, salt and pepper. Saute l lb. ground beef, add ¼ chopped onion, 2 Tbs. Worcester (or similar) sauce; salt; 1 Tbs. flour; ½ c. water. Mix well. In a casserole dish, spread the meat, top with the mashed potatoes. Heat until it’s time for dinner. (Note – cottage pie is ground beef and shepherd’s pie is ground lamb).

N.B. – The peel, along with an onion, and the vegetable stalks makes a good soup stock .

© 2009 Jane Manaster. All Rights Reserved.

About that nutmeg . . .

Sometimes it sounds like a nut – but it’s not. If you’re managing nut allergies among family and friends, you probably bump into the nutmeg question, as we do, this time of year. I lace my pumpkin pies with nutmeg, and our nut-allergy-positive family members and friends freely indulge.  Nutmeg is not a nut, but a spice that you can trace for yourself to a large evergreen native to the Spice Islands.

Go nutmeg and enjoy the best of the upcoming season.

Drink to Fair Trade Month in October

Supporting Fair Trade sounds simple, but picking up a convenient alternative takes me off track. October is Fair Trade Month, and I’m working my way back to stocking Fair Trade coffee. Want to join the cause?

Take a look at these easy avenues to support Fair Trade  . . . . starting with a cup of coffee.