Baking Breakfast Cookies.

A quick post walking through something I baked for breakfast yesterday.  Usually my breakfast is some kind of cereal (oatmeal or a packet type) with fruit (dried in the porridge, fresh with the other, unless it's Raisin Bran) and yoghurt if it's the packet type because that is dry.  Sometimes orange or blended juice if I am eating Weetabix or Shredded wheat.  Once in a while I do a pastry thing, or a sandwich, depending upon what's in the house and my timing.

My friend Jodie posted a link to a recipe for Banana Blueberry Breakfast Cookies, which looked easy and interesting.  I thought I'd make some and see.  Since it's not blueberry season, I rehydrated some of the dried ones I use in my porridge.

Sunday night I took a banana out of the freezer (actually, a whole bag and then separated one when it was half-thawed, and put the rest back) to thaw, instead of buying a fresh banana.  Why waste a fresh banana in baking?  I wanted to do a half-batch because I don't need a dozen.  So these are my ingredients:

The banana looks brown and liquidy because that
is what happens when you freeze and thaw them.
The maple syrup is from a cousin's maple trees.

I didn't do an in-progress photo because it didn't look like much, since everything was fairly brown.  Also, I am not a content creator so I don't remember to take photos at every point and put a lot of natter about the recipe into my posts.  I made six cookies, and since I had a small spoonful of mini chocolate chips, one has very few blueberries and a bunch of chips on top.

They baked for the full time, and didn't get overly golden, but were firm.  I tried one as soon as it was cool enough to do so and it tasted mostly of banana.  Maybe I will try again during fresh blueberries season, but I think these would be fine without the blueberries.  Or maybe try chopped strawberries if you like that combination, or some other fruit that is compatible.

I also ate several slices of dried persimmon from Andy's Orchard.

Today I ate another one, curious to see how the overnight rest might affect the taste.  It was much softer, probably because it was in a closed container and the blueberries and banana held moisture that made the cookies softer.  The banana is less pronounced today, with the vanilla and cinnamon making themselves known.  It's still not something I'm overly excited about, but maybe it's me.

Frugal Cookery for January (and bonus midcentury cookies)

As I said in my "Resolutions" post, I planned to cook at least one meal per month from one of my historical cookbooks.  We had a sleet/snow storm at the beginning of this week and it seemed the perfect time to try a menu, since I was working from home.

The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child, first published in 1829 as The Frugal Housewife, Dedicated to Those Who Are Not Ashamed of Economy, seems a fitting choice for January.  Mine is the commonly-available Dover reprint of the 1844 edition.

The book is not only a cookery book, and the majority is about general household economy, including "Simple Remedies" for various ailments and how to remake bonnets, clean brass, and get rid of ants.  She also tells how to choose meat and store vegetables, and an Appendix at the end includes additional items such as getting rid of ear wax, preserving various fruits, and something appropriate to my current weather:  "Icy Steps - Salt strewed upon the door-steps in winter will cause the ice to crack, so that it can be easily removed."  Two substantial sections are stories (really, moralizing lectures) about living economically, intriguing for their perspectives on the society of the day.

Browsing the main sections, I found this recipe:

A pound of fish per person sounds like quite a lot, but this is fish entire, with the bones and skin and fins and such.  Fillets would be about half that quantity, and I happened to have some salmon in the freezer that I thought would do, once the skin is removed.  In the interest of frugality and using my current pantry, the only item I needed to buy was a potato.

Fish chowder alone isn't a full meal, so I looked for a dessert.  In terms of simplicity, frugality, and midwinter-ness, a pudding seemed the best option.  Given that most of the puddings were boiled, and I've never done a boiled pudding, the one baked pudding was the answer.  Finally, to round out the meal further, some vegetable is in order.  Browsing that section, which speaks more of storage than cooking, I noticed a recipe for stewed tomatoes.  That may not sound practical in January, but I had put tomatoes by in the freezer during the summer when my CSA had them in plenty, and that seemed a nice, easy way to round out the meal.  Plus, the chowder recipe mentioned adding tomato catsup (the recipe she included, not the insipid sweet stuff available commercially today) so it sounded as if the tomatoes would be compatible.

First to be prepared is the pudding, as it takes longest - "three or four hours" - to bake.  I had a pint bottle of milk in the 'fridge from another recipe that didn't get made, so halved the ingredients - and made a few adjustments.

I do not have molasses in the pantry, and my supply of maple syrup (my usual go-to with corn porridges) is running a bit low.  However, preserves and jam can be used as sweetening; I have some recipes that call for it specifically.  After checking what I have, I selected some peach jam as it is on the runny side (no pectin used) and I thought would go well with the ginger.

Although we don't need to scald milk for safety since pasteurization became the norm, I did heat the milk to just below a simmer.  Then I stirred in three and a half tablespoons of cornmeal; a half-teaspoon of salt; and a heaping teaspoon of ground ginger.

How much jam to add?  I estimated that a teacup would hold 4-6 ounces of tea, so I added four tablespoons (two tablespoons to a liquid ounce).  I whisked everything in the pot, and then poured it into the enameled cast-iron casserole, which is a family item that was passed down to me a number of years ago, and seemed appropriate to use.

Stirring in salt and ginger; cornmeal
has already been added to the milk.

The jam fell under the surface quickly!

Oven at 300(F) and I went away for two hours.  I wasn't sure how long the chowder would take, but I guessed it would be about half the time that the pudding requires.  I decided to bake the chowder because of the "don't look" instruction.

Two hours later, beginning the chowder.  This time I was making a one-fourth recipe, since I had about a half-pound fillet, but given that there are no specific amounts in this recipe other than the meats (fish and salt pork) and crackers I went by guesswork.  I skinned the filet and cut it into pieces.  Having been frozen, it was somewhat soft, so I had some slices and some bits.  At least they get hidden in the course of the cooking!

Pantry ingredients, plus potato.

Salmon, thawed, beginning to slice.

For the salt pork I used three slices of bacon.  I fried it in a pot, then poured the grease into the bottom of a Pryex® casserole.  I thought if the layers were pretty, I'd get a side shot.  I followed the layering pretty much as instructed, using all of the onion and about three-quarters of the potato.  I'd guesstimated the packet of crackers would be equal to about one and one-half common crackers.

Fish on the bottom, then sliced onion,
potato slices, and cooked bacon.

Second set of layers, crackers more
visible this time.

Of course there is no quantity or proportion for the "flour and water", just to pour it to the top level of the contents of the dish.  I started with 3/4 cup of water and two tablespoons of flour.  Then I added another half-cup of water to bring it just to the top.

Peeking at the pudding.

Something I didn't photograph was adding a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar just before putting the chowder into the oven.  Why?  If you look at the recipe, she suggests a number of things to add flavour.  Lemons were $1.49 at the store, not very frugal!  I don't have homemade tomato catsup and didn't want to create it when I needed a most a quarter of a cup.  I don't have clams, and I didn't want to use beer since I wasn't doing anything with the rest of the bottle.  But vinegar often stands in when something tangy is wanted, and I do have that, so I thought I would add just a bit, about as much as one-fourth of a lemon.

I took a look at the pudding when I put the chowder into the oven.  It's hard to see in the photograph, but it is still somewhat runny, although medium-thick.  I would eat it at this stage for morning cereal.

A little under two hours later, I put the tomatoes (partially thawed because I had not taken them out very early) in the pot that still had a bit of the bacon grease in it.  Mrs. Child's recipe says to add butter, but I figured I would be frugal and use what there is.

So I heated the tomatoes and cooked off the water that separates out when you freeze and thaw tomatoes.  It's not a problem if you are turning them into sauce or another cooked preparation, and it meant I didn't add the recommended "spoonful of water, to keep them from burning".

After two hours of baking the potato slices in the chowder were soft, so I decided that dinner is ready to serve!

The pudding has an almost cakelike crust on the sides.
I am very glad that I thought to grease that casserole!

My opinion on the meal?  Tasty!  OK, the tomatoes were "meh" because they were just tomatoes.  After a couple of spoonfuls I added some Vulcan Fire Salt to amp the flavour.

The chowder was definitely a good item.  Unlike modern chowders which are soup this is a solid casserole of a dish.  The fish was not prominent, probably because I didn't have much of it.  The vinegar was just barely there, alleviating what could have been pasty-white blandness.  Ditto the bacon, which of course softened but added a bit of smokiness that might not have been present had I used uncured bacon or salt pork.  I could have chopped it into smaller bits and the bacon would have blended in better, but it was pretty good.  The crackers and flour-water dissolved to bind everything together silkily.

As for the pudding?  WOW.  I love Indian pudding and similar things anyway.  I can see why people serve it with thick cream, that would really have made it wonderful.  Even without anything on top it's still very good, with the ginger showing up on about the third spoonful.  There's no distinct taste of peach, the jam just added sweetness.

These left plenty of leftovers.  I heated up some of the pudding for breakfast today, and it's still light, not dense, with the ginger a bit more prominent.  I'm going to top it with some vanilla yoghurt to finish, and will heat up the chowder for lunch.

BONUS RECIPE:  I am in a couple of book clubs, and this month both are reading Hidden Figures.  I decided to make a recipe from a cookbook of about that era to serve as snacks, and selected "Gumdrop Cookies" from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book, Revised Edition © Meredith Publishing Company 1953, 1962:

Because this post is so long already, I am not going to add lots of photos of the process.  It was very straightforward because this is a modern recipe.  I halved the quantities and used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour because one club has some people who need to avoid gluten.  This made the cookies a bit more crumbly that the cookies might have been otherwise.  Also, I used butter because I didn't have shortening.   I used only the green gumdrops, because I thought it would be more palatable to keep to a single flavour, and I don't like green gumdrops.

After baking - firm, brown underneath but still light on top.

Verdict?  Surprisingly better than people anticipated.  The lime gumdrops blended well with the cocoanut in the cookies.  I waited a few minutes before removing the cookies from the baking trays, which helped keep them intact.  Even halved the recipe made a lot of cookies, because the dough was fairly stiff and I rolled balls instead of dropping the dough from a teaspoon.   It's hard to see but I made sure that each had a least one piece of gumdrop, you can see a bit of green in the cooky at the bottom.

Berlin Fair Competition Results 2013

I like to enter the local fair, which is hosted by the Lions Club and a big fundraiser of theirs as well as a number of other community groups.  It is a good, community fair full of rides, food which is bad for you but tastes SO good, and competitions for and exhibits of everything from chickens and sheep to baking and photography.

Usually life conspires so that I don't get to the fair except to drop off my items and (except for one year when a friend did the pickups) pick up my items.  Last year I had planned to spend Sunday afternoon there, but a storm moved in and they closed early, so I got there just in time to pick up my items!  This year I determined to go on Saturday night after a music event I was committed to attend.

I made it!  I rode two rides (the really wild scary ones I won't take my nieces on when we go to the North Carolina State Fair in a couple of weeks), and because I had eaten at the music event I wasn't hungry even for my favorite fried potatoes (which I learned as Texas Taters but here are called Butterfly Potatoes), but I did run into a friend who was doing guard duty at one end of one of the display buildings and spent time catching up with her.  Another friend was working hard in one of the main fried dough booths, and I snapped a couple of pictures of her, but didn't have time to say "hi" until the end because the crowds were so thick around it.

Both of my friends are skilled and enter the competitions also.  Lisa, the frycook, received a second and third in photography.  Ann, the guard, received a third in the knitted shawl category and may have had some others on display; her mother, Betty, is very accomplished and had all kinds of ribbons for her items, including shawls, socks, and a hat.

Very insanely, I decided to enter nine items.  Insane because five were baking, and they have to be turned in on Thursday, and I didn't know if work would let me have the time I needed to bake, especially with rehearsals on for "LES MISÉRABLES" so I don't have evenings free!  Also insane because two of the needlework items were not started as of the weekend.
So I expected a couple of ribbons in needlework, and maybe one in baking.  I ended up with NINE, seven of which include money prizes!  This year I am going to remember to get there in time to collect the money - I missed last year because of the early shutdown, and the year before I forgot to get the money before picking up my items.  It's not much, but it pays for yarn!

BAKERY

One thing I found interesting is that although I made these cookies from the same recipe, one took third and one took second.  Ann said it was probably because the ones I entered in the "Natural Baking" category have the pretty designs of sliced almonds on top.


 

Drop Cookies

Natural Baking

They don't include the white chocolate chips that the drop cooky entry does.  The chips are in the original recipe, which I altered by using half chopped dried apricots and half cranberries.  I wasn't sure the chips count as "natural" so left them out of the others and decided to add the flaked almond topping to make them more interesting.   Because these are gluten-free, I wondered how they would compare to the "regular" cookies in these categories, made with wheat flour.  I think they did well enough.

 

I tested my Ricotta Pound Cake (a melding of a couple of recipes) on volunteers at the Wadsworth Atheneum for EnvisionFest, and when I dropped it off joked that a couple would be very upset if it did not get a ribbon.  I think they will be happy!

The Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip recipe was a flyby thought - I had eight entries, wondered if I would dare round it up to nine, which is a number I like.  And Serious Eats happened to have just posted it, and I figured that with the seasonal taste and chocolate, it might get some favourable reviews.  I did not use all the spices, just ginger and cloves, and I used a cup of mini-chips instead of two cups of regular sized.

I was a bit sad that my bar cookies recipe didn't do better.  It was based on a recipe from New Zealand, and maybe another jam in the middle would have been more popular - I can try again next year!  I thought they would be marked down on appearance because I rushed and tried to cut them warm, but they did OK in that category.  And the leftovers were happily received at rehearsal on Thursday, after I delivered my entries!

 

 

NEEDLEWORK

 

I will start out by saying that I cannot post one entry yet as it is a gift and I don't want the recipient to see it before unwrapping.  I was sad that one took only fourth, and wonder if I should have entered it under "Miscellaneous" instead of the category - nothing I can change about it now! 

 

The other three took blues (First Place) so I suppose I should be happy over all.  Since I usually make dresses in child sizes, this is intended for a girl named Judith, and I hope it fits - I think it may be a little small.  If so, it will go to a smaller girl and I'll enter a bigger dress next year!  I did several starts-and-stops on this trying to get something I liked.  The top is mostly my own invention and the skirt inspired by one on the Caron website.  I know several friends with little girls and try to spread the items around.  I have no idea why the top ruffle is up on one side in the display.  This makes three years in a row my crocheted dresses won first prize in the category.

I did not intend to enter the sweater this year.  It is from a Mary Maxim kit that I bought on a whim and the original delivery date was October 2nd or after, but it arrived the week before.  I started it on Monday and finished Wednesday - but no button in my box was right.  The closest one was too small to work well.  So on the way to deliver the entries to the fair, I stopped at Joann's and gave myself five minutes to find a button and get out of there.  After a quick debate I chose the one you saw, and when I turned in the sweater two of the ladies exclaimed over how perfect it was.  So I chose wisely!  I will give it to our Assistant Director for his daughter, a cute little blondie.  Although the kit comes in multiple sizes and contained enough yarn for all of them, the pattern was only for size 18-24 months so I couldn't wait - she'll be too big next year.

 

The last item I can show I started on Sunday and finished Thursday about two hours before the deadline for entries.  When I turned it in one of the ladies predicted it would win a blue ribbon, and she was correct.  Because I was crunched for time the crown is five rows shorter than the pattern directs but it fits my head, although a bit stretchy.  It's going to Mittens for Akkol to distribute at one of the orphanages this winter and I may make one on smaller needles for myself.  I didn't have the pattern yarn so used a ball of wool I had in the stash.  Because it is dark and hard to see on the in situ picture, I've included one that I took at home before delivering the entries, close enough for the pattern to be seen.

 

Of course, my needles and hooks are not still - there are more items to finish for the M4A fall campaign (socks, shawls, scarves) and holiday gifts to work on.  Even so, I am already planning ahead to next year's entries!