Grape Jelly

We've discovered wild grapes all around our neighborhood during the late summer months.  Malia was the great gatherer last summer, but the rest of the family got in on an outing or two.  These grapes have a wonderful flavor, but they're pretty tart; they're also small and have a seed.  So I cooked them and strained out all the juice.  It seemed too busy to make it into jelly right away, so we froze the juice.  February seemed the right time to pull it out and get busy.

Here's about half of the finished product.  I'm really not into canning, so I always hold my breath wondering if it's going to work.  It did!  And we made it using the "no sugar added" stuff from Rainbow.  Since the juice was so tart, I added 3/4 cup honey to every 4 cups of juice, and substituted one cup of the wild grape juice for one cup of grape juice from concentrate (still 100% juice).  Everyone likes it and I'm happy about having some jelly that's a bit healthier!

Making Chocolate Letters

I was looking for a simple way to include the baby's name on some cheesecakes for a baby shower recently.  I didn't want to have to make fancy icing and get out all the tools for that so I tried something that worked pretty well.  Using chocolate chips, wax paper, letter cookie cutters, and cooking spray I made chocolate initials of the little guy we were celebrating.  One plus of using chocolate is that if you mess up, you can always melt it again and start over. 


Melt about 1/2(?) cup chocolate chips in a bowl.  Lay a piece of greased wax paper on a plate and spread the chocolate onto the wax paper, making sure it's thick enough for your letters.  Place your letters in the chocolate and put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so.  (I didn't time this but kept checking it.)  Remove from fridge when chocolate has hardened a little bit, enough so that you can remove the letters and stencils from the chocolate and remove from the wax paper.  Let the letters, with the slightly hardened chocolate, cool even longer in the fridge still in the cookie cutters.  When chocolate is nearly hard, gently remove the chocolate letters from the stencils.  If one breaks, you can do it again or cover the break with a tiny bow like I did! :)

Turkey Fun

Grandpa Stacy and Grandma Carol have a tradition of coming to our house before our camp auction each year.  Grandma Carol always brings a food project for the children to put together and add to the tables of auction items.  This year it was these adorable turkeys made from oreos, whoppers, reeses, chocolate frosting, and candy corn.  The picture I have is without the eyes that they added later, using a dab of red icing and a chocolate sprinkle.

Making Granola

I made granola this weekend and decided it'd be fun to share pictures.   When I

first married, I bought granola and found that it was rather expensive.  Often I was disappointed with the ingredients.  Finally, I started making it, and usually we have some on hand.  Kent really likes putting it on our oatmeal and ice cream.  The boys like it with plain yogurt and some fruit.  I like it with a few chocolate chips mixed in (but that's when no one's looking!)

 I always put nuts in ours, usually chopped almonds or walnuts.

I like to use a mixture of oats, triticale, and barley that I order in large quantites from a co-op.

So here's the basic recipe...but it's very flexible!

10 cups rolled oats or any other rolled grain
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cups choppd nuts
1 cup dried fruit

Pour oats in a large bowl.  Stir honey and and oil together.  Add mixture to the oats and stir well.  Chop nuts and add to oat mixture.  Grease large glass pan and pour mixture into the pan.  Bake in 325 degree oven for 35-40 minutes (the total time I'm uncertain about!).  Check every 10-15 minutes and stir.  Remove from oven when oats are lightly browned.  Cool and add dried fruit.

You can vary the amount of oil, honey, nuts and fruit to your liking.  I've found that it works out pretty well no matter what!  Just don't forget about it.  I've burnt a large pan of granola to a blackened mess.  That's what I get for relying on my memory instead of a timer.

My Favorite Mexican Casserole

My sister and I were chatting the other night on the phone.  Our conversation often turns to food because...well, we're cooking a lot...as well as the rest of the mommys!  Sometimes it's so hard to figure out what to cook.   Anyway, this recipe is one in our church cookbook and all but one of my children love it (although if your young children don't like spicy this might now be the best choice).  I don't think it's for everyone (esp. if you don't like lots of things mixed together), but I like the fact that it uses minimal meat and has lots of great veges and beans in it...and it is very flexible to whatever you may have on hand.  You can also make it ahead.  It's also flexible with little kids because you can work on getting the filling prepared a little bit at a time.So here it is, Esther.

Casserole

1 1/2 c. crushed tortilla chips
1 lb. shredded, cooked chicken meat (I have used ground beef and shredded turkey too)
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained
1 (15-oz.) can kidney beans drained (I have often used just one or the other type if I didn't have both)
1 (15-oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained (I usually use frozen corn)
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
1 c. prepared salsa
1 c. chopped red onion (I've used yellow onions quite regularly, but I think red would be great!)
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I usually omit this because I don't have it on hand)
1 T. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. each, salt and freshly ground black pepper, or to taste (I go easy on the pepper..prob. 1/4 tsp)
6 oz. grated Monterey Jack Cheese
6 oz. grated sharp Cheddar cheese (I normally use grated mild cheddar because it's what I have)

Garnishes

2 c. ripe tomatoes, diced
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. fresh cilantro leaves  (I usually serve salsa and sour cream)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 13 x 9-in. baking dish, then scatter crushed tortilla chips evenly on the bottom.  Combine the chicken, beans, corn, tomato sauce, salsa, onion, bell pepper, cilantro, garlic, salt andepepper in a bowl.  Place half the mixture evenly in the baking dish.  Combine the cheese, then sprinkle half over the chicken mixture.  Cover with the remaining half of the chicken mixture and sprinkle remaining cheese over the top.  (I sprinkle the top with extra crushed tortilla chips and then sprinkle with cheese).  Bake for 30 minutes.  Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  Serve with garnishes in bowls, so guests can top their portions with diced tomatoes, sour cream and a sprinkle of cilantro.  Serves 8.

Esther, when you make this this week, maybe you could take a picture so I can post it! :)  Thanks.