Another Sunday October 22

On Sunday, October 22, 2006 I wrote the first post for this blog. Blogs were still pretty new ways to communicate with a larger community and there weren't the hundreds of thousands of food blogs that exist today. It was an exciting time and I was inspired by some food blogs I had been reading for a few weeks. It seemed like fun and like something I could do. Turns out both were true.

I wrote, "Food is one of my earliest enthusiasms. Baking was how I got started and it remains one of my favorite ways of being creative. Then there are all of the beautiful fruits and nuts just outside my back door in season...pretty California...apples in the fall, but we've gone through blackberries, plums, peaches, pears, walnuts, quince, persimmon in their turn over the years. I grow tomatoes, green beans and lots of summer squash, plus herbs.

Other enthusiasms are painting & drawing, photography, gardening (flowers, too) and writing a bit. Seems like most of these can be enjoyed while blogging or will add to the blog.

I love trying new things and have been cooking long enough that I take the results of new recipes, untasted, to parties and often make small changes to recipes the first time I try them.Foolish? Intrepid? Confident? Who knows?

Looking forward to tasting new things, making new friends and having a good time.

Elle"

Here is a photo from that first fall.

So now, as I begin the twelfth year of blogging,  I look back I find that I did make new friends, and I've certainly had a good time. I've expanded by skills and confidence in the kitchen, tried new techniques, discovered new (to me) cuisines, honed my photography skills, and posted over 1,000 recipes.

These days the main reason I blog is to have recipes that I want to make again easily available for me. The secondary reason is to participate in the Bread Baking Babes and Cake Slice Bakers monthly events, mostly because I really enjoy the other bakers. I also like to host guest bloggers like NoHandle.

So here we go, into the new blogging year, with one of Sweetie's favorite ways to enjoy fish -
Garlic Microwave Fish.

This works best with firm fish fillets. We often cook snapper this way but this time it was tilapia. I am going to do directions more than amounts because it works just as well for small amounts and for big ones...just add or subtract the butter and garlic to taste.

Start with a microwave safe flat dish or pan with low sides. I use a glass pie plate. For larger amounts I use a glass baking pan.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter for each pair of fillets (about .75 pound total weight) in the dish in the microwave.
Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic, cover with waxed paper, and microwave on high for 1 minute. (1 minute will become familiar in this recipe.)

Take the fish fillets and dredge them through the butter/garlic mixture, on both sides. Lay them on top of what is left, cover with waxed paper, and microwave on high 1 minute.

Uncover. Turn the fillets over, cover again with waxed paper, and microwave on high 1 minute. Uncover and test to see if fish is flakey, especially in the thickest part. If not, cover again with waxed paper and microwave on high 1 minute. Continue to test and microwave 1 minute at a time, turning fish once more at this point,  until fish is flakey.

Serve with the garlic-y juices. Squeeze a quarter of a lemon over if desired. Serve hot.

Into Year 8

Recently I went back to look at some of the first entries in this blog, beginning October 22nd, in the ancient past of 2006. There were a lot fewer folks blogging then...I mean A LOT fewer. In fact, there were a whole lot fewer people on the Internet, especially older folks like me. That has changed as the baby boomers have more time on their hands as kids leave the nest and some of us retire. People of all ages have become more comfortable with technology during that time, too.

The fun thing about the Internet is that no one really knows anything about you, so when I started this blog I was accepted, or it seemed so, by bloggers all over the world and many years younger than I was. It has been fun to see the life changes that have taken place among many of the younger bloggers I met then. Some have married and have had kids, some have moved from amateur to professional photographers and writers, some have moved, change jobs and professions, discovered different ways to eat, different cuisines and culture, expanded their talents and skills, and more. We have lost some bloggers and gained many more. I've learned a lot and had virtual fun with them over the years.

My personal journey during these seven years has included new jobs, new skills from going back to school, a half dozen or more home improvement projects, a huge increase in cooking and baking skills and recipes, new virtual friends made, and a continued interest in food and how it can bring us together. I take lots more photos, and some of them are better than the ones from the first year. Now and then I throw in some photos of flowers (like above) or of a project or something else non-food, but mostly this blog is about food. My favorite thing still is to try a new recipe, often making changes to the recipe right off the bat, then to share the results with friends and family. Sharing good food around the table is one of the unfailing sources of joy. On occasion it is a flop and I resolve to try it again as written or make other corrections, but mostly I find a new recipe to keep, like the one I just posted for butternut squash and yam soup.

I get excited about discoveries, too, like the fact that you can make excellent caramelized onions in a crock-pot, with no stirring or watching to make sure they don't burn. You can make enough to use some and freeze some for later. These brown, savory, slightly sweet onions are made from inexpensive yellow onions and they add so much flavor to so many kinds of dishes...omelets, vegetables, savory tarts, pizza, in soups, over grilled meats or poultry, and so on. I bet you will find your own favorite ways to use them.

This is another one of the blessings of blogs...you can find amazing things like this. I was looking at one of the blogs on my sidebar (I forget which one) and it had a link to another blog, where I found a link to this recipe. I find that it's more fun to find recipes this way than just to use a search engine (if I have the time) because you never know what you will come across. Thank you Dorothy for the easy caramelized onion recipe!

Thanks for checking out my blog...do come back. You never know what you will find here, either. Onward...into year eight of blogging.

Dorothy’s Crock-Pot Caramelized Onions from the Shockingly Delicious blog

6 large regular yellow onions (3-4 pounds)
2-3 tablespoons good quality olive oil

Peel onions and cut them into thin slices; you should have about 6 cups (exact amount is not crucial, though). Mist the inside of the ceramic insert for the slow cooker, place onions in cooker and drizzle the oil over the slices. Cover and cook on high 10-12 hours, until the onions caramelize. They will have a deep brown color. Leftover caramelized onions may be refrigerated, covered, up to a week or two. They may be frozen up to 6 months. Makes 3 cups.

Two Dads and Fudge and a Birthday

My enthusiasm for writing and posting on this blog has risen and fallen and risen again over the years. I'm in a middle ground sort of place now...happy to blog but finding it harder to find the time. I guess that is not too surprising when you consider that today I have been doing this blog for FOUR YEARS!

To celebrate my four year blogoversery I'm doing my first giveaway ever! All you have to do is comment (c'mon, you know you want to!), making sure that there is another blog or an e-mail address attached to your comment. You can comment on the four years (or any post during that time) or you can comment...and I hope you do...on this post.

What am I giving away? Some goodies from Sur la Table, one of my favorite goodies and gadgets store for cooking and baking. I purchased these...no corporate gifts here, but it is a store I like to browse in and, occasionally, shop in. Here is a photo of what I'll be sending the lucky commenter. Included are a digital timer (which would be very useful for the following recipe), an instant read thermometer (not good for fudge but good for many other temperature measurements), and one of my favorite kitchen implements, a microplane grater, especially great for zesting citrus, but it does a good job on hard cheese and many other foods.


The drawing will be random and I'll contact the winner (and announce who it is...and their blog if they have one) to get their mailing address.

So that takes care of the birthday! What better way to celebrate than to have a guest blogger, especially when that blogger is NoHandle.

In my family the fudge maker was my Dad. Dad had a sweet tooth but was pretty picky about what he ate to appease that sweet tooth. Any kind of fruit pie was usually top of the list. He liked Coca Cola, especially on a hot day. When it came to candy, he liked fudge, especially black walnut fudge.

Maybe fudge making is a Dad kinda thing because it looks like NoHandle, who is also a Dad, makes awesome fudge. If you read this post carefully and follow his suggestions and instructions step by step, you will very likely make awesome fudge, too. If you are a Dad and don't know how to make fudge, it might be a good idea to try this. Your children will go on and on about it for decades if you do...especially if the fudge is good!

Aw, Fudge! , by NoHandle

As you may have seen, if you read the comments on this blog, I have a certain fame (notoriety?) for my fudge making ability. I come by this honestly as Dad loved to do this too. Fudge is easy to do badly, and only somewhat harder to get right. What I want in fudge is a creamy consistency, but not like peanut butter, it should have a bit of crystalline structure to it. I want a great chocolate taste, of course. I don’t tend to add a lot of other flavors; one kind of nut is about as far as I go, and Black Walnuts are a family favorite. Pecans are good too. This is the KISS principle at work. The recipe itself comes from a Hershey’s Cocoa box (Hershey calls it their most difficult), but the devil is in the details. Let me bedevil you.

The ingredients are simple; sugar, cocoa powder, whole milk, butter (not margarine), vanilla extract (again, the real stuff is so much better), and salt. Nuts are optional. I prefer Dutch Process cocoa, but the ordinary kind is OK too. I just got some from Penzey’s, so this will be a bit of an experiment; I usually use Hershey’s. I am talking here about a full batch, but I often just do a half batch. The only cooking change is a smaller pan.

The method is simple, but time and temperature (even more so) are critical. So is cleanliness and moisture control. Keep water away from chocolate when you cook. The first step is to mix the cocoa powder into the sugar, mixing it well enough that the mixture is evenly light brown. There will be extra bits of cocoa powder floating on the top, but that’s OK.


Next, stir in the milk. There will still be renegade chunks of cocoa powder. Now you can turn on the heat to medium.

A few words about equipment are appropriate here as things heat up. The pot needs to be squeaky clean and dry, and larger than you might originally expect. Fudge froths up a lot as it boils, so for a full batch I use a 4 quart sauce pan.

I always use a candy thermometer, but the first time I make fudge in a new situation, I only observe the temperature. I use the candy-maker’s “ball” measure for doneness. I’ll talk about that later in the post. I have mentioned that I live at altitude, and I will tell you that temperature for fudge making is less precise than the ball measure. At sea-level a soft ball is 234 to 240 degrees.

Early on, as the fudge comes to a boil, the froth will rise, then it will fall, losing about half of its extra height. That is the stage when you need to start paying closer attention. Throughout this stage, I recommend stirring occasionally, every few minutes, say five or so. When stirring, be sure the bottom of the pot stays clean or the mixture will burn. Also clean the sides as the froth falls, so that sugar crystals don’t form there. It doesn’t need to be perfectly clean, a thin layer is OK. Clumps are not.

Right about now, the mixture will take on a bubbly satin sheen. You will recognize it when you see it. If you have calibrated your candy thermometer, watch as it approaches the temperature. The last few degrees go very fast.

Now is the time to start testing for doneness. Take a small bowl or teacup of very cold (out of the tap, you don’t need ice cubes unless your tap water is warm) and drip a bit of the fudge mixture into it. It will either pool on the bottom (not ready yet), form a firm ball (when rolled with fingers), and with no “tail” (you’ve gone too far; try adding a half cup of milk and hope for the best), or a soft ball (again when rolled with fingers) and a bit of a tail (Goldilocks time; just right.

Firmer is better than too soft.

Note the temperature for your next attempt, and remove the pot from the heat. I like to put it on a trivet or folded towel so it doesn’t cool too quickly. You can remove the thermometer now if you want, or you can wait until it has cooled. I take it out.

Pour the vanilla extract on top of the fudge, and gently drop the butter on top of that. Do not stir or otherwise disturb the fudge.

As Alton Brown often says, “Just walk away.” Allow the fudge to rest for about 15-20 minutes, checking on how hot it is during the last 10 minutes or so. I use the “fever method” that is, I place my palm on the side of the pot at the level of the fudge. If it is too hot to keep contact, it’s still too warm. If it is running a mild fever, I may have waited too long, but stirring time will be short (but it may seize up). I am looking for a temperature somewhere around 110 degrees, but I’m not that precise about it. Warmer is safer, but more work.

While waiting for the fudge to cool, you should put a sheet of aluminum foil on a cookie sheet, and rub a thin layer of butter (salted or sweet, it doesn’t matter) on it, all over. If some stuck to the paper wrapper, use that, and use the end of the rest of the stick, leaving it wrapped. Then sprinkle salt lightly over the butter. Salt really brings out the chocolate flavor. After the salt, add chopped nuts if nuts are part of you plan. Many people mix them into the fudge, but I find that having a layer on the bottom works just as well, and is also easier to stir (well, beat really).

I guess the next step is obvious, it is also very important. You need to beat the now melted butter into the fudge mixture.

There will seem to be a lot of butter at first, but it goes quickly. In addition to distributing the butter, this will add a bit of air to the fudge, and will create that smoothness I mentioned at the start. It may take a while, up to 15 minutes, depending on the temperature when you start, the humidity, and how firm the ball was. Your patience will be rewarded. I use a fresh, long wooden spoon, and just beat as fast as the viscous liquid will permit. As with the boiling, there is a satin texture that develops before it starts to harden, and ribbons form. Watch for it. The whole mass will start to stiffen, and it is time to pour onto the prepared cookie sheet.

If you stop beating too soon, while it is a thin soup, the texture will suffer, and it will take a while to harden enough to eat. If you wait too long, the fudge will harden in the pot, and you will end up with rough, irregular chunks that look a bit like lava (the stone, not the soap). It will taste OK, but may have more grain to it, and be difficult to extract (use a chisel :-). In the middle, it may start to harden just as you pour. Just use your hands to flatten it on the cookie sheet, cover with wax paper if you like. If your timing is good, it should start to harden within minutes. This is a good time to cut it into pieces. I favor small squares (about three quarters of an inch) but you can go smaller or triangular if you choose.A pizza cutter is the tool of choice.

There is the possibility that it won’t harden, or stay sticky. This is nature’s way of telling you to have more patience, or use more muscle. It probably didn’t cook long enough. I had this problem early on. The best remedy is to re-heat it and use it as a chocolate sauce, then start over on your fudge journey.

Congratulate yourself, and share and enjoy! Don’t let the fudge clinging to the spoon or pot escape your attention. The crumbs on the cookie sheet are also your immediate reward for a job well done.

Here are the ingredients (available on the Hershey web site too):

3 Cups granulated sugar
.67 Cup cocoa powder
1.5 Cups whole milk
.125 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
.25 Cup butter (1/2 stick) at room temperature
.5 Cup chopped nuts

Just Short of Two Years

This is the two hundred and fifty-fifth post on this blog. It's been almost two years since the first post (which was October 23rd) and the first posted recipe is just as good today as it was then. When you post something as basic and wonderful as vegetable soup, it has a good long shelf life I guess.

Maybe it seems like I'm rushing the blog birthday a bit (and I DO love birthdays). Since October has proven to be the busiest month in 2008 so far, it's possible that I won't even have time to post next Thursday on the 2nd blog birthday, so I'm repeating the October 23, 2006 recipe for your enjoyment.

Blogging continues to be a super hobby. My skills and exposure to new ideas, foodstuffs, techniques and perspectives continue to grow, I've 'met' wonderful, creative, generous people from all over the globe. Looking back at the earliest posts, I think that my photo skills, and even my writing skills have improved over time.

If you have enjoyed this blog, and have the time and interest to do so, consider making one of the recipes from the last two (almost) years, blogging about it and sending me a link. My e-mail address is in the upper right corner of the blog. If life slows down a bit I may even be able to do a round-up if there are a few willing to play along. Here is your chance to try out a Daring Baker Challenge even if you are not a Daring Baker, to try your hand at tomato tarts, a bacon-lover's salad or apple pie or myriad other offerings. If nothing else, here is a good, healthy, fine tasting soup for your fall lunches or dinners.

This recipe is my variation of Weight Watchers zero point Garden Vegetable Soup. With the changes I've made, it's no longer zero points, although it's still pretty healthy. If you prefer to not use canned stuff, you can make broth and cook white beans ahead of time and use fresh tomatoes. If you have no problem with shortcuts, you can use frozen green beans and pre-chopped garlic, too. It's hard to mess this soup up.

Fall Soup

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2/3 Cup sliced carrots
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 Cups (2 cans) 99% fat free broth (I used chicken, but vegetable and beef work too)
1/4 to 1/2 medium head green cabbage, diced (depends on how much you like cabbage)
3/4 Cup green beans
2 medium tomatoes, diced or 1 can Ready Cut style diced tomatoes and juice
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or twice as much fresh
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano or twice as much fresh
1/2 Cup diced zucchini or 1 small summer squash, diced

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil, then saute the carrots and onions over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Add garlic and saute another minute.

Add about 1/2 cup of broth to the pan and deglaze pan (scrape up the browned bits from the bottom and sides with a wooden spoon), then add rest of broth, cabbage, tomatoes, basil and oregano; bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, about 10 minutes.

Add one can of cannelli beans or other cooked white bean, including the soft stuff at the bottom of the can. Add the squash and green beans. Stir. Put the lid back on and heat another 5 minutes. Check beans. If too crisp, cook another minute or two. Serve hot.