Granola

I recently discovered homemade granola. It's super easy to make and it's a welcomed addition to my cereal bowl or yogurt in the morning. Remembering to eat it in small quantities is sometimes hard to do when you make it the first time....it is that delicious :)



The basic recipe can be found here. Here's how I made mine:

Granola

Preheat oven 300 degrees

In a large bowl, stir together:
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3 tbs dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1/4 cup hulled unsalted pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup hulled unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sliced almonds

In another bowl, stir together:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla

Dump this mixture over oat mix and mix well. Spread thin layer on cookie sheet lined with a silpat. Use center oven rack, bake 15 minutes stirring after 15 minutes until light golden brown (total time 20-30 minutes).

Cool completely, stirring every once in a while to keep it from sticking together, Add 1 cup of dried fruits. I used 1/3 cup raisins, 1/3 cup dried cranberries and 1/3 cup cut up apricots.

Store in an airtight container. Use within 2 weeks.

Jellied Cranberry Sauce

A few years ago I started making my own jellied cranberry sauce. This is the recipe I used without the lemon zest.



Pretty simple Jellied Cranberry Sauce - yield 6 cups of cranberry sauce.

Cook (medium heat) 2 bags of cranberries (fresh or frozen) with 1 cup of water until the berries pop (about 10 min.) cover partly with lid to let steam escape.
When berries start to pop, check to make sure they are soft. Put through food mill. Return to stove and add sugar 2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Stir well to dissolve and cook anothe 1-2 minutes. Pour into dish or oiled mold.

Dee's Pumpkin Bread

When I saw Dee's recipe for pumpkin bread, I knew I had to try it. I was smart this time and copied the recipe, because she is always cleaning house on her blog and deleting posts...so here it is: (I doubled the recipe and made one with raisins and walnuts and the other smaller loaf plain. Both were delicious!)




1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t fresh ground nutmeg
1/2  cup brown sugar

1/2  cup white sugar
1 cup pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/4 cup pecans

1/4 cup raisins

Combine flour, soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Stir until well blended.

In another bowl, add sugars, pumpkin, eggs, oil, pecans and raisins.  Mix very well.

Make well in the center of the dry ingredients.  Pour in wet ingredients and stir gently with a spatula until not dry portions remain.  Do not overmix.

Pour into a well-greased  9 1/2x 5 1/4x 2 3/4 pan.

Bake at 350°F for 50-55 minutes or until tester comes out clean. 

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Delicious! Try it you'll like it :)


Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

 I made my cake with ( frozen) fresh pumpkin from last year.

How to cook a pumpkin:
Cut in half and place cut side down on a grease cookie sheet (I use PAM spray). Bake 350 degrees until a fork can be inserted easily and well cooked. Let cool, scoop out the pumpkin, then puree in a blender.  I use a hand held immersion blender. You can use right away or freeze for later use.

Mama's Fish Chowder

I can't believe that it has been a whole year since I last posted a recipe. Believe it or not I have still been cooking for my family.

Here is a favorite recipe of mine. My mother used to make it for me. She knew how much I loved it. My family are not big fish eaters, so I don't make it very often. Pollock was on special this week...that is what prompted me to dig the recipe out and make it for myself. This recipe make about three hungry servings. You will need to double it to feed more people. The chowder will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days. In fact it will taste better the next day.  Enjoy!




1/2 cup salt pork (4 slices) cut up into bits (this time I left the slices whole and discarded after rendering the fat) edited 4/18/2011: used 3 slices of bacon cut up instead of the salt pork

1 cup chopped onion (1 large)

3 cups cold water

3 large potatoes diced

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 tbs cider vinegar

1 lb white fish (pollock, shrod, haddock)chunks

1 small can evaporated milk

1 cup milk (1%)



In a heavy kettle fry out pork until crisp. Remove for later (or discard). In hot fat , fry onion slowly until soft and golden. Add 3 cups cold water, potatoes, pepper & vinegar. Boil until potatoes are half done. Add fish. Cooking gently until fish is tender. Add milk. Once hot, serve with browned pork. Serves 3 hungry people.