Posts

Afghan Red Bean Chili

Our friend “Muzzy” made us this recipe so many years ago. It is an easy vegetarian dish that is great with spaghetti.

Molasses Cookies

A favorite, special cookie our neighbor, Marilyn shares with us over the holidays. The recipe is slightly vague, but if you have made cookies before, adjusting the amount of flour to your preference is easy. I kept the recipe mostly as written, because that is part of its charm.

Pita Bread

Even though this bread does not always puff up or pull apart into a pocket, it is still a very good flat bread.

The longer the dough has to sit in the fridge, the better it tastes. It can be made up to three days ahead, but it is also good if you are making it last minute.

Christmas Memories Crunchy Puffs

Crunchy puffs, snow chips and pink magic dust. Memories of stringing crunchy puff strings, snow and pink magic sticks.

This recipe is from Adrian and Megan in honor of National Crunchy Puff Day.

Sourdough Bread

This is a very wet dough. The first time making this bread may be a little confusing, but it is not very difficult. Be sure the sourdough starter has been fed and is “very happy” or this bread will not rise properly.

The stretch and fold described will help strength the gluten, adding air without kneading the dough. You do not need to be exact with the times between stretch and folds, but you do want the dough to rest at least 20 minutes. Do not over stretch and fold, four times total is good.

Caramel Corn

Our neighbor, Miss Margaret gave us this recipe over ten years ago. She was a wonderful friend to my grandma and they spent many hours just enjoying each other’s company every summer.

One day we accidentally made this with half the butter. It still tasted very good. Allan said that either recipe “melts in your mouth”.

For reference 2 tablespoons of kernels, about an ounce of kernels, will make approximately four cups (one quart) of popped corn. You will need around 3/4 cups of kernels for this recipe. Be sure to remove the unpopped or partially popped seeds before making.

Better Biltong

While shopping, I discovered some nicely priced meat. I bought a few packages with the hopes of trying biltong in the dehydrator. This is a simple recipe that we prefer to the original one.

Do not reduce the salt but you can add some if you would like it saltier. Coriander and pepper are the traditional biltong spices, but add other spices to your preference. Some people add 1/2 tsp brown sugar per pound, but that is a taste preference.

If storing in the refrigerator, we like it best dried around 50% of original weight. Dry it longer (lose at least 65% of original weight) if wanting to use backpacking.

See notes at the bottom for more suggestions.