Mrs. S. gave us rhubarb at church, and I've not yet justified the time (or the sugar) to make a pie. (Maybe tomorrow afternoon?)  In the meantime, it adds delicious zing to our strawberry smoothies! 

MMM!  Far better than just the strawberry alone!  This is the taste of summer!  

(Our smoothies are different every time.  This particular "recipe": 3-4 cups frozen strawberries, couple stalks of rhubarb, a *splot of honey, handful of almonds, a tablespoon or two of flax seeds, and fill the blender the rest of the way with Kefir.)     
  

*splot: PrairieFrog unit of imprecise measure

Kiersten's Question:

My long winded Answer:

First a huge disclaimer. I make no pretense that this is the "right" way to take a turkey from carving board to soup. I was never taught the "right" way. (Or if my mother taught me I didn’t pay attention.) My method is just what I’ve fallen into over the years of turkey cooking. I’m sure it is quirky and not at all professional, but it works for me. 

Once all the nice lunch meat, and the less neatly sliced "casserole meat" is off the frame, I set up a station with a trash can, a large stockpot (mine's either 16 or 20 quarts), and a gallon sized ziplock bag within easy reach.

Pulling up my sleeves, I begin "sorting" the turkey. De-meated bones go in the stockpot. Gristle, cartilage, and fat go in the trash can. Bits of soup meat go into the ziplock.

When I’ve pulled all I can off the frame for this round, I pull the bones apart, smash them down in the pot, cover them with water, and set them boiling for 3-6 hours (or until nearly bedtime.) The ziplock bag of meat bits goes into the refrigerator to reserve for when I’m finishing up the soup.

An hour before bedtime, I turn off the burner under the stockpot. Using big tongs I remove the bones to a carving or cutting board. I let them sit for ten minutes until the they are cool enough to handle, then I retrieve the ziplock of "soup meat" from the refrigerator and position the trash can nearby. I repeat the process I did before, sorting to trashcan, ziplock and crock pot. (Crock pot this time instead of stockpot) Aside from using a different pot, the only variation is that on this round the bones get cracked with a channel lock plier thingie as I rend the frame apart. Once again, I cover the bones with water, then I set the crock pot on low where it will simmer all night. 

Before going to bed I have one more turkey task: "sorting" the broth in the stockpot to ensure that it is free of bones, and "rescue" bits of turkey by adding them to the ziplock. Now, I'm ready for bed, and I put the whole stockpot in the refrigerator.  (In the place that the uncooked turkey occupied the previous day.)

The next morning, sometime after breakfast, I check the crock o' bones and add a bit more water if they aren't still submerged.  Next, I retrieve the stockpot from the fridge, skim the fat off the top, and put it on a burner on low to medium heat as I process veggies to add to the soup.

I run a large onion through the shredder disk on my food processor. (Finely chopped with a knife would work great too.) Still using the food processor, I thinly slice a bunch of carrots (5? 10? Dunno), and 3-5 ribs of cellery. I usually run a bunch of broccoli through the food processor too. 

I peel a full bulb of garlic and slice each clove in half or fourths with a paring knife, and hand slice/chop two anaheim peppers. (I’ve used bell peppers sometimes, instead.)  If I have them,  I dice a cup or two of mushrooms as well. 

All the veggies are thrown into the simmering stockpot, then seasoned–usually a couple tablespoons of Herbs de Province, as well as an extra bay leaf, and an extra tablespoon of parsley.

At this point, I unplug the crock o' bones that has been simmering all this time and let it cool down and put it in the refrigerator. (Stockpot with broth and veggies keeps simmering.)

After a few hours, I tend the crock o’ bones again, skimming off fat, then throwing away all bones and gristle. I leave any marrow that’s boiled out or other nourishing stuff in the water. After carefully ensuring there’s no bone bits remaining I dump the crock’s contents into the simmering stockpot.

Now it is finally time to add the turkey meat to the turkey soup! I fetch the ziplock "soup meat" bag from the fridge. By this point after several rounds of bone picking, this gallon ziplock is usually full to capacity with the yummy turkey. (If it is scant, I add a some "casserole grade" turkey that I bagged up in individual meal sized portions at the beginning of the process.) Dump the turkey into the soup, and let it simmer while reading books to the children until lunch.

Just before lunch I taste the broth.  If it tastes weak, I add chicken boullion.  If the flavor is rich and full enough without the boost, I just add sea salt to taste.   Black pepper gets ground in to taste as well. At this point I like it to be a little extra rich, and very thick--almost more of stew or casserole consistency than soup.   I like it condensed to conserve freezer space. It can be diluted later when thawed.  For the same reason, I prefer to not add the rice to the big pot. I freeze the "base" and add noodles, rice or barley depending on my whim come serving day. (Wild rice is the best! Yesterday for lunch I served it with a blend of wild rice and brown rice mixed in–"economy wild", gives the flavor but a little less pricy.)

On serving/thawing days I also often add some frozen peas, and some chopped scallions or fresh chives if I have them available. They are better added fresh at the end because they get overcooked easily in the big batch.

It is really pretty easy, I'm just verbose.

Mmmm!  The house smells good!  The Craisy Almond Bread (With Craisins and Cinnamon) is hot from the oven.  I've been busy baking, as we will have several rounds of guests, and a few birthday celebrations coming up in the busy week ahead! 

Of course, there were the usual batches of bread, and some Russian black bread too.   I already mentioned the pound cake...  We finally got a workable recipe (and figured out the right size) for hamburger buns.  We've tried a few times over the years, but couldn't get the size and shape quite right.  I think we managed it this time!  We did a huge batch of  yummy AND healthful cookies.  And finally, no baking fest is complete without a big batch of gooey brownies. 

I didn't take a picture of the Russian bread or our regular bread.

Brownies and Craisy Bread

Honey Oat Cookies

Hamburger Buns Ken made! 

And, goop to hot oil and herbalize Kaira's hair after she got a 4inch health trim. 

(It is still nearly to her waist, just two inches above instead of two inches below.)  It made lovely green slime, and was quite fun!

We really enjoy edible flowers!  The children often help gather violas to brighten a salad or herb blossoms to garnish the main dish.  Stuffed tulips are one of my favorite spring time recipes for a brunch or luncheon.  When I saw a recipe for Dandelion Flower cookies, I sent the girls out to harvest our bountiful dandelion supply.   

The recipe had a higher oil and honey to flour/oat ratio than I'm used to, so I replaced 1/2 the oil with applesauce.  I may tweak it more next time and also substitute applesauce for 1/2 the honey.  A pinch of baking soda might find its way into the next batch too. 

The cookies were good though, and worth trying again!  I especially like the fact that it uses honey instead of refined sugar.  

Here's a picture of my girls gathering dandelions.  (I didn't photograph the finished cookies--I don't photograph cookies, I eat them!) 

Hat tip to Dalyn, Queen of Quite Alot

Oh, do you know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, do you know the muffin man,
That lives on Drury Lane?

Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
The muffin man, the muffin man,
Oh, yes, I know the muffin man,
That lives on Drury Lane.

This is baking week at PrairieFrog Academy & Chef School!  Yesterday we made hundreds of healthful (REALLY!) chocolate chip cookies, and a triple batch of blueberry muffins. 

Today we made raspberry cheesecake muffins and lemon poundcake muffins!  MMMM!  Ken and the girls did much of the work on today's baking while I was at the midwife's.  What a great guy my Muffin Man is!

The rest of the week we will be baking oodles of cookies--not as healthful as the Honey & Oat Chocolate Chip, but scrumptious!  Ginger spice cookies, Fudge Ecstasies... 

Our freezer is brimming with good things to share with family and friends this Christmas.  And the house smells great!

This recipe will make 6 loaves if using 8" pans

1. Grind 12 cups wheat berries

2. Add 6 1/2 cups very warm water to Bosch

3. Add 10 heaping cups of the freshly milled flour to water, mix in on level 1

4. Add 3 T SAF yeast to mix. Let it mix for 1 min, then turn it off and cover with lid. Let it "sponge" for 10 minutes. (More of the flour will be added in step #8.) While the dough is sponging, oil bread pans, and get out other ingredients.

5. When it is done sponging, turn the mixer on for a second to punch the dough down before adding the oil and honey. (Or it will ooze out!) Measure 2/3 Cup oil (olive or canola) and 2/3 Cup honey (together the oil and honey should measure 1 1/3 cup)

6. Add 2 heaping T gluten, 2 T sea salt (regular salt is fine too), and 2 T flax seeds (optional)

8. Turn on mixer to level 1 and begin to add the rest of the flour, one cup at a time (carefully while it is mixing) until you see the sides of the bowl wipe clean. (It will not be totally clean, especially on top, but it should be pretty close.) (Usually this is about 5-6 cups of flour)

9. Turn mixer up to level 2, let kneed for 4 more minutes.

10. (At this point remove extra rack from oven to allow room for bread to rise–leave 2 racks.) Preheat oven to Warm. When it is preheated, turn the oven off.

11. Get the dough out and shape it, then put into pans, then into the oven. (Double check–oven should be warmed, but turned off. Turn on convection at this point.) Set timer for 25 minutes rising time. (Dough should rise approximately 1/2-1" above top of pans–if it is higher, the bread can fall, so watch it the first time, and adjust time if needed.

12. Turn oven to 350 and bake for 25 minutes

13 Remove from oven and take immediately out of pans. Place loaves on a cooling rack.

Yesterday's post prombted inquiries about my stromboli recipe.  (Which isn't really made with kiwi fruit.)  I don't follow a real recipe, but here goes!

Start by making your bread dough as you would just for bread baking.  I use our standard "daily bread" recipe with fresh ground wheat, which I'd be happy to post.

Once the dough is made, I separate out one the amount I’d use for one loaf for stromboli dough.  Roll it out an oiled surface into a rounded rectangle.

Cover the rectangle with your choice of filling goodies. I vary this slightly each time, but usually use some combination of:

Pepperoni

Italian Sausage

Bell Pepper

Chopped Scallions

Red Onion

Mozzarella

Provolone

Black olives

Fresh or dried herbs. (Yesterdays I used chives, basil and thyme and a bit of rosemary–all fresh from my herb garden)

Next, roll it into a log like a jelly roll.  Tuck each end under, finger pressing seams closed.  Here’s a link with some great photos. (I haven't read over the recipe on the web page linked... I just like the pictures.  )

Slide the stromboli onto a small, oiled cookie sheet. (If it is too long for your cookie sheet you can "scrunch" it together a bit to make it fit and leave a little rising room. My children like the "scrunching" part, as the long fat stromboli reminds them of a caterpillar.

I put the stromboli and bread dough in the oven to rise. (Oven has been warmed but then turned off). (If your bread making method is different, you can adjust the timing on the following steps accordingly.)

When the rising time has elapsed (25 minutes for my bread), take out the stromboli briefly to brush the top with a beaten egg and cut the slits in the top.

Returning the stromboli to the oven, I turn the oven up to my bread cooking temp (Again, your bread making method will vary) until bread is done, and the stromboli is golden on top. (I’ve found that to prevent it being doughy inside, the stromboli needs to bake a little longer than the bread. I often take out the bread, turn down the oven, and leave the stromboli in for another 4-10 minutes.  Watch it so it doesn't burn.)

Serve with marinara sauce for dipping! (If in a hurry, a can of tomato sauce, one can of tomato paste, some minced garlic and some basil or a mix of Italian herbs can be thrown together in a sauce pan.)

Next week on baking day, I may try a variation on the theme--a sealed French Dip: Instead of Italian fillings.  I’ll roll roast beef and cheese inside and serve au jus.

Stuffed Tulips are a spring favorite in the PrairieFrog home.  They are lovely conversation piece to bring to luncheons, or a pretty appetizer for a main meal.

Stuffed Tulips

6 tulip blossoms

6 eggs

1/4 tsp salt

4 T. sour cream

2T fresh chives, chopped

1T  fresh tarragon chopped.

1T fresh parsley chopped

Boil eggs for 12 minutes.

Prepare the tulips by removing pistons & stamen inside stem

Gently wash the flowers and pat dry.

Shell the boiled eggs and chop them fine.

(Cooling boiled eggs quickly in cold water facilitates shelling)

Add salt, sour cream, chives and tarragon.  Mix well.

Spon egg salad filling.into tulips, filling them carefully.

Enjoy, blosoms and all!

...And the tulips, dandelions, violas, nostrums, lavender, lilacs, chive blossoms...

Edible flowers add a bit of natural extravagance to any meal! My collection of books on culinary botinany include recipes for honeysuckle jam, borrage soup, fried day lilies, and other exotic dishes. Perhaps when my lilacs bloom we will try lilac ice cream! I’ve been eyeing that recipe for years, but haven’t had lilacs–last year we planted three bushes and all three are covered in tiny buds.

Yet, only rarely do I use the actual recipes, preferring to incorporate the flowers in a more impromptu manner–as a garnish, or tossed into the salad.

Most of the blossoms from culinary herbs are edible (consult a reliable list to be certain).  In general the flowers have a milder, but similar flavor to the herb itself.

Roses have a VERY faint apple taste, and tulips have a faint onion/chive flavor. Lavender is lovely in french cooking, or on fish and poultry, or rice.

My children love picking the flowers for dinner!  These pictures are of last night's meal, which would have been quite uninteresting without them.  (Grilled chicken, rice and tossed salad.)  Chives, dandelion, and a tulip garnish (and season) the rice, while violas liven up our salad.

(Violas are lovely on a fruit tray or with dessert too!)

Stay tuned for my favorite flower recipe--Stuffed Tulips!

It was tasty, and it was loads of fun, but it was awful.

Here’s the background: Ken was heading to Sam’s club yesterday and asked me what else we needed. We often joke around, adding some dream items to the list that we aren’t really intending to buy. With a wink and a chuckle I said, "Hmm... a Waring Pro Waffle Iron."

Ken brilliantly asked what I wanted a waffle iron for, and I gave an equally brilliant answer, "Um... to make waffles." We both laughed.

With Kendra in tow, he went shopping.

I was astounded when they returned home, bringing in the usual boxes of diapers, produce, and other consumables, AND a waffle iron! I’m one spoiled wife!

As children, Ken and his brothers called waffles, "awfuls". Of course, as soon as he said this our girls decided that no other name would do, so "awfuls" they are. And, naturally, we had to try it right away, so we had awfuls for dinner! I used a wonderful Sue Gregg blender recipe for the batter, then we piled them high with fruit, whipped cream, and butter! Oh, we enjoyed our new splurge! Awfuls were declared a success!

Intensive potty training is still taking most of my concentration, so we had another wonderfully simple main dish yesterday!  It was new for us, and unlike Henry, even has a normal name--well, if Egg Pizza is a normal name.

It sounded a bit strange, but was really quite delicious and VERY speedy to make!  Thanks to Meridith at Like Merchant Ships.  The family ate every bit, a sure sign of a hit! 

Here's the recipe from Meridith's blog:

Egg Pizza

1 tsp olive oil
15-oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
12 egg whites
1 cup grated cheese (cheddar or Monterey jack)
you can also add a layer of cottage cheese for a thicker casserole

Grease an 8x8 dish with olive oil. Pour half of the tomato sauce evenly across the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper over sauce. Carefully place the eggs on the tomato sauce to cover. Pour the other half of the sauce over the eggs. Sprinkle the cheese over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. If you overbake, the egg whites toughen

(There is a picture of the dish on Meridith's blog.  We were in too much of a hurry to eat it to take photographs.) I added the optional cottage cheese layer. 

As to the egg yolks, I'd like to say I made up Pots de Creme with the left over yolks, but I wasn't feeling that gourmet.  Instead I froze the yolks in an ice-cube tray--one yolk per section, and will use them after potty training.  (Will someone please assure me that there IS life after potty training?)

Sprout salads and fresh bread completed the meal. 

I'll be printing out the recipe to add to my speedy meal repertoire.  Thanks again Meredith!

After a busy day of potty training, and other things I just threw together a dinner last night. It was one of those ecclectic, recipe-free meals where I'd "winged it" with whatever fell out of the refrigerator.

Amid the usual scramble for bibs and chairs I heard, "What are we eating tonight, Mommy?" Unsure what to call my concoction, I said simply, "Dinner." After giving the same answer a couple more times one child said, "But Mommy, it has to have a name!"

I would have stubbornly stuck to dubbing it, "Dinner" except that four year old Kendra impressed me by remembering her grammar lesson,  "It is a noun, because it is a thing." With a big smile she recited, "A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea."  Then she continued, "Dinner is a common noun, but Mommy, it needs a proper noun."

Defeated, I had to name the dish on the spot. "Henry.   It’s name is Henry."

So all through dinner we hear, "May I please have some more Henry, Mommy?" and, "Mmmm! This is GOOD Henry!"

Kaira declared Henry to be delicious and asked if I could share the recipe with all the grandparents, Miss Kristy, everyone at church and a long list of people which included just about everyone she knows. Maybe she will be content if I post it here?

Henry

Ingredients:

Penne pasta–aprox 4 cups

 

2 cups diced cooked chicken (We grill it advance in huge quantities and freeze)

1 onion-finely chopped

1-2 cups chopped mushroom (I had portabellas! What a treat!)

1 can Cream of mushroom soup (or about 2 cups of homemade equivalent)

1 tsp chicken broth powder

1 celery stalk finely diced

1 4oz can green peppers, or equivelant in chopped and sauteed fresh pepper

fresh ground pepper–to taste

 

Swiss cheese slices

 

Instructions:

Combine ingredients (except for the pasta and the swiss cheese) in pan on stove, stir over low heat until blended and hot, then turn down the heat and let it simmer gently for 30 minutes (or more).

 

While it simmers, cook the pasta as you usually would. 

When pasta is al dente, drizzle with olive oil, then drain. Transfer drained, cooked pasta to a shallow casserole dish, then with the chicken mushroom sauce.

 

Arrange slices of swiss cheese over it all, and put it in the oven for a few minutes--just long enough to melt the cheese.

Really it turned out well, and was similar to a dish I’ve ordered in restaurants a few times. Ken liked it enough to suggest I document what I’d done so I could reproduce Henry again. I may have to come up with a more suitable name for it though...

A few weeks ago I decided to try growing my own sprouts! We've been enjoying having fresh sprouts every day. Today when we finished off the daily "crop" (one full quart jar of sprouts), My eldest asked if could start doing 2 jars a day!

In addition to being nutritional and culinary, it has been educational, and a perfect science unit for my children’s ages. We've looked at the nutrients in the different sprouts, talked about photosynthesis and the greening, the watering, and the growth process. Watching them sprout is amazing–it is just 4-6 days from dry seed to the table!

A brochure from the Sprout People, emphasizing the importance of draining thoroughly after each rinse, says, "do whatever it takes--shake, spin, bounce or dance with your sprouter..." Kendra is my primary sprout assistant, and enjoys "doing the sprout dance" to get all the water out of the jars.

The children were also amused at a line in the brochure stating, "If you want to you can talk to your sprouts and play them music." Kaira has been improvising, "Ode to Alfalfa" and other such pieces on the piano for their benefit. Ken and I know a farming family who broadcasts music over their crops, convinced it helps them grow. The children are skeptical, but intrigued. (Honestly, I'm skeptical but intrigued.)

So far we've sprouted alfalfa, adzuki, mung, a "French Garden" mix (with clover, arugula, cress, radish, fenugreek and dill) and a bean mix (lentils, garbanzo, pea and other legumes). The adzuki weren't to our taste, so we won't be doing them again, but the others have been fantastic.

I've been impressed with how easy it is. To eat a jar a day, we start a jar a day. At night I put some seeds in the jar and fill it with water. While I sleep, they soak.  Come morning, I drain them. 3x per day we rinse and drain. By day 4 or 5 we eat them for lunch! We've been eating them as a stand-alone salad, with a bit of dressing. (Sometimes I'll toss in some tomato or whatever else I have in the crisper.) It is really more convenient than ensuring I have fresh lettuce on hand all the time. (Although we enjoy spinach/romaine salads sometimes too.)

Even Ken has been eating them!  He suggested I try some grains.  He sampled sprouted barley at work and thinks it would make a good breakfast.  Since sprouted grains use the same procedure, sprouted grains  here we come!

Waaaaaaay back in December I'd posted about the unexplained quantities of millet in my pantry.  I even did a follow up explaining what millet is, with a picture and everything. But, until this morning, I'd made no further progress on actually using the millet. 

Tammy commented on  one of my millet posts and suggested making hot cereal! 

Posted by Tammy Dell, millet is a delicious breakfast cereal. It takes just 20 minutes to cook. You can put a little butter in the pan, and slightly brown the millet before you cook it, but it isn't necessary. For each cup of millet, use two cups of water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer. You should stir it a few times while it is cooking. Finally this morning I made up a batch, drizzled it with honey, and poured on a bit of cream... mmmm!  I browned it in butter first, as per Tammy's instructions, so it had little bit of a nutty texture.  The children enjoyed it too.  (Keegan ate a remarkable quantity, and Kaira and Kendra both asked for seconds.)   Anyway, a belated thank you to Tammy for this breakfast treat!  It took me a few months to get around to trying it, but it is sure to become a new favorite!  (Clicking on Tammy's name will take you to her blogspot blog.)