First of the mini tomatoes

Mabel the Maple

Mini Malachi the Cacti

This week at preschool, LittleMiss learned about some desert plants called "Cactus".   
We went to the nursery this week to see if we could find a cactus all our own.

OH did I get an ear-full!  LittleMiss explained, for what seemed like hours, that you can not touch the catcus, because it has prickly spiky that will give you big owies and make you fall down with eyes closing and make your tongue stick out!  Oh My!  

She would not go near the cart at all once I put the mini cacti in there.
She panicked when the cashier grabbed the tiny little cellophane wrapped pot.
She insisted that we wrap it up in three bags and only Mommy can carry it only by the handles of the fourth bag in which the three bag wrapped cacti rode.

After much discussion at home, she wanted nothing to do with the little thing.
"Too Owie, Mommy!  Bad choice."

Well, being the rebellious Mommy that I am, I secretly replanted the catci, now named Mini Malachi the Cacti - in honor of our previous 7ft catci Malachi.  Rest in Peace.

Mini Malachi, truly multiple cactuses -  cacti.

The red globe on the top is a non-chlorophyll forming petite dessert catcus that is grafted onto a base cactus.  The red globes, Gymnocalycium mihanovichii, were originally discovered by a gentleman in Japan sometime in the 1940s.  Since then, these little globes have become a novelty house plant.   Since the red globes are not ale to produce their own chlorophyll, they depend on the grafted base cactus for food, water, and growth. 

Hopefully LittleMiss' fear of this dangerous beast can be overcome & changed to a lesson in sharing?

The Story of The Carrot Cake

For Grandma Millie 
        &  Aunt Cindy


 Raw Carrot Cake 

So, this is the picture that started it the ideas for the cake - found it on pinterest.

The original recipe & source of this image is from a blog called UrbanPoser where she blogged about RAW Carrot Cake Balls (Vegan, RAW, Paleo, GAPS)  (link)

Those of you who partook of the cake, might realize that this image looks nothing at all like the layered cake of which you ate.   You are correct.  You may rest assured that your powers of recognition and differentiation are well.

Now on to the thought process.

These are the ingredients to the LEFT as posted in the original blog.

The information to the RIGHT is what I did.

2 Large carrots, peeled (about 1/2 a pound)

As you might already realize, it is not carrot season.

The carrots at the grocer's were rather small.
Had I used only 2 carrots, 

we would not be having this conversation.

I used 2 BUNCHES of small carrots.

I weighed them on my kitchen scale, which

is where & how I weigh foods, and

probably could be removed completely

from the sentence as it would

make for a quicker read, if I assume

that the audience knows that

I don't use a garage

ton-age scale

to weigh

carrots. 

1 large tart apple, peeled and cored

Got it!  Had a large tart green granny smith!

1 1/4 cups dried shredded coconut 

I didn't have healthy coconut. I had the good stuff!

The sugar sweetened shredded baking coconut.

Normally, I don't like coconut.

It's a texture thing.

Well, and 

a flavor thing.

Okay, so I just don't like coconut.

I was willing to be brave & used it in this recipe. 

1/2 cup chopped up raisins or currants (chopping raisins can be sticky business)

I love all sorts of dried fruits, but raisins

have never been my cup of tea.  

Oh yuck, can you imagine

a cup of raisin tea.  blah!

Okay, so as I saying, raisins - don't like 'em.

Instead, I used DRIED CRANBERRIES.

I     l  o  v  e    dried cranberries.

I used closer to 3/4 cup.

As for the 'sticky business'; 

food processor chopped them just fine.

(Ha! fine, as in okay, AND as in small size)

3/4 cups finely chopped (with a few larger chunks) pecans or walnuts

I don't like walnuts or pecans.

MrMan LOVES pecans. Especially in pecan pie.

It's a texture thing.

I do like the flavors of most nuts, and 

prefer them in butters.

I have learned that toasting walnuts,

softens their texture.

I toasted 3/4 cup chopped walnuts in a large

dry fry pan over medium-high heat

until they smelled toasty.

 

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

I'm good with cinnamon.

1/2 tsp ground ginger (or fresh grated ginger to taste)

LittleMiss says that our most recent root of ginger

looks like a rabbit & she gets upset

when I break off 'limbs' to

grate.

I had to secretly grate the ginger - used a 1 tsp. 

1/4 tsp nutmeg

I'm good with nutmeg.

I'm extra good with ground cloves.

 

pinch of salt

No salt please.  The frosting will be a tad salty.

So not extra salt in this please. 

*3 Tbls RAW honey (palm sugar or agave for vegan)

I didn't have raw honey.

I just had honey.

So I just used honey.

It's Dakota honey, that is harvest 

from North & South Dakota.

*3 Tbls RAW nut butter (almond, pecan, walnut, cashew)

I do like nut butters.  I have these nuts

and could have made butters for this.

However, I had Nutella.

Nutella rules out all other butters 

in any dessert recipe, 

ever! 

Juice from half a lime

Didn't notice the call for lime juice.

Then when mixing it, I found a open bag of raisins to use up.

Yep, after all that talk about not liking raisins,

I added 3/4 cup of raisins.

So there you have the ingredients thought process.  From there she shreds, mixes, presses in to bite size, and dips in raw cocoa w/ coconut oil.

I on the other hand, went the more traditional route -  bread-pan-sized layered cake.

Quick recap of ingredients:

0.50 pound of carrots

1.00 large tart green granny smith apple

1.25 cups sweetened shredded coconut

0.75 cup dried cranberries 

0.75 cup toasted chopped walnuts

0.75 cup raisins

2.00 teaspoons cinnamon

1.00 teaspoon nutmeg

1.00 teaspoon ground cloves

1.00 teaspoon secretly freshly grated ginger

0.25 cup honey

0.50 cup Nutella hazelnut spread

Inner Frosting:

1 stick of salted butter

? 3 cups ? powdered sugar

1 tablespoon cream if too much sugar is added

dash of salt

Outer Frosting:

0.50 cup nutella

1.00 cup milk chocolate chips

I shredded the carrots & the apple using the fine shred disc in the food processor.  Then wrapped it up in a flour sack towel to hand squeeze out as much juice as I could.  I tried to get it as dry as I could with just twisting and squeezing.  I ended up with almost a full cup of juice, which I drank to power me through the rest of the recipe.  

In food processor with chopping blade, I chopped the cranberries with honey and the grated ginger.  

Mixed everything all together using my hands to make sure the shreds weren't clumped and that the nut butter was evenly distributed.

Pressed into a parchment-paper-lined-jelly-roll-pan. Topped with foil.

Set in the freezer over night, because by this time everyone else is in bed and I have run out of coffee and steam.  

Then the next day, while having wonderful conversations with Grandma Millie & hearing stories about her life I had never known before, took the frozen sheet out of the freezer & uncover.

In a large saucepan, melted a stick of butter over medium heat.  Stood there and swirled the pan slightly off the flame to allow the butter to brown, was careful not to burn.  When it smelled nutty and became a deep caramel color, removed from heat and let cool a bit.  

Without measuring, and while keeping deep within conversation, added scoops of powdered sugar to the browned butter.  I'm guessing that I used less than 3 cups.  By hand with spatula, whipped the sugar into the butter until it was a thick, but still creamy and spreadable.  Added a large dash of salt to keep it savory, since I learned during conversing that Grandma Millie doesn't like frosting because it tends to be too sweet.

I lined a bread pan with foil with quite a bit of over hang to wrap all around.

Cut 1/3 of the pressed cake, lift, then press into the foil lined bread pan.

Frosted generously, but not too generously, so that I don't over sweeten it for Grandma Millie.

Cut the second third, lifted, pressed onto the frosted cake.

Repeated with frosting.

Finally top with the last third of the cake.  

I did NOT frost the top, because that will become the bottom.

Firmly pressed together. Wrapped in foil & returned to the freezer.

Then relaxed until the roast duck was ready for dinner.

Retired for the evening.

The following day, after I announce that I'm going to step away and tidy up before heading over to Aunt Cindy's house, realized that the cake must be removed from the freezer and drizzled in chocolate.

Carefully flipped out from the bread pan onto a serving plate.

Melted a bag of milk chocolate chips in the microwave, then stir in a 1/2 cup nutella.   Heavily drizzled over to cover the cake.

Drove to Aunt Cindy's.  Met Mr. Carrot.   Ate Cake!

Of course, all of these steps could probably be completed in one day.  The placement in the freezer was to solidify it a bit for frosting. Probably only needs to about 20-30 minutes.

Pickled Beans - FOUND IT!!!!

We did extensive research on pickled beans a couple years ago.  
John endured taste-test after taste-test.  
A matrix of samples were designed 
& sent to work with him to 
finally determine which 
recipe 
would 
become 
THEE 
recipe.

The decision was made.


The ingredients acquired.



The beans pickled.




The beans devoured.






And then.....  we moved and I lost the recipe.  
Seriously?!?! 
Yep.  
I lost it.

UNTIL TODAY 

WHEN I FOUND IT, 

one year and 12 days 

since 

we've 

moved

!!!

So, here's the deal.  I refuse to lose this top-secret family-created taste-tested approved selected recipe again.   I am putting this mission in your hands to keep it for your eyes only - unless of course I ask you again what the recipe was, because I will totally forget that I blogged it.

Bring to boil

1c            h2o

1.5c        wht vngr

1.5c        cider vngr

per jar

1 t           salt

2 T          sugar

1 t           dill

1 t           peppercorn

2              dry bay leaves

2 t           garlic powder

2              dried mini red peppers

2 T          dried diced onion

1              fresh green chile

½ t          alum (if wanting crispy)

Pack w/ green beans

Fill with boil vngr mix

1st Day of Spring = Seed starting

Gardens planning for both indoors and outdoors?
Yep, I used a spreadsheet.   Like I'd use anything else?

While spending the last couple of months dreaming through seed catalogs, I catalog all that I wanted, the name, the price, the number of seeds per packet, the days to germination, guessed when I wanted to have produce and worked my way backwards to when I'd need to start the seed.

My biggest catalog order came from http://www.seedsavers.org/

  

Now that the seed packets have arrived, let the fun begin!!!

According to the spreadsheet, sorted by planting dates, I have my list of which seeds to start this week:

Broccoli, Romanesco

Pepper, Hinkelhatz (hot)

Pepper, Mini red bell (sweet)

Basil, Lettuce Leaf

Basil, Lime

Basil, Mrs Burn's Lemon

Basil, Purple Dark Opal

Bean, Sultan's Golden Cresent (snap) -[rare]

Bean, Sultan's Green Cresent (snap) -[rare]

Thyme

Tomato, Blondkopfchen (indeterminate)

Tomato, Current Sweet Pea (indeterminate)

Tomato, Ukrainian Purple (indeterminate)

Pepper, Bull Nose Bell (crisp sweet)

Dill, Bouquet

Over Easter weekend, I'll be visiting with my Grandparents and a couple of Aunts.  As I get ready to plant the seeds, I'm setting a few seeds of each type in some envelopes for gifts.  I used the cover of another seed catalog for the gift envelope.

Sprinkled the bottoms of take-out trays with cinnamon then poured in a thin layer of perlite.  Gently poured in warm water and let it all soak.

LittleMiss helped spread the seeds in the perlite.

Another layer of perlite, spritz, and covered.  

The lovely take-out trays are blending in nicely with the glass collection in window. While snapping the picture, my little assistance insisted that I include her garden too.  Thus, the can of crayons that she's growing has been added to the foreground.  In the background, you might get a glimpse of the take-out-box mini greenhouses.

Most everything that I've started so far are for containers & deck-level planting.

Next week will be most of the north hill side and the west hill side.

For the north hill we've got the three-sisters sprinkled with sunflowers and an end cap of butterfly weed.  Hoping for patches of sweetcorn to be used as trellising for sultan's crescent beans and the hillside to spill over with pumpkins.

 

For the west hill we've got all this planned, but haven't mapped it all out yet.

ooohhhh.... I'm very excited and can NOT wait for the snow to melt

The Pancakes that MrMan Actually Ate

Blueberry Puffy Fluffy Pancakes 

3          eggs - separated;   3 whites & 2 yolks.
1/3   cup  whole flaxseeds - then grind into fine powder
1     cup  milk
1/2   cup  water
1 1/2 cup  flour
2 1/2 tsp  baking POWDER
2     cups blueberries (frozen okay - thaw them)

Separate the eggs & discard 1 yolk.

Beat 3 egg whites stiff.


Grind flaxseeds into powder

In a separate bowl, mix the ground flax with the milk, water, & 2 yolks.

Gently, stir the flour & baking powder into the flax-milk-water-yolk mix.
(do not over beat, otherwise it gets too gummy)

Gently, stir in the blueberries.  (If they are frozen, thaw them & pour in all their juice too.  doNOT use blueberry pie filling - yuck! - really would not work well in this recipe)

Gently, fold in the stiff whites.

Plop onto 325F hot griddle.

Resist the urge to uber-flip.  Leave them alone to puff & rise gracefully.  Then flip only once.

Serve & be amazed that MrMan is eating a breakfast food 

that is somewhat healthy 

& 

contains

 blueberries!!!

calculated using RecipeNutrition.com

Merry 12th Day of Christmas!!!

Merry 12th Day of Christmas!!! (a few days late)











Very blessed this Christmas to have spent the time with the in-laws before Christmas, a quiet time at home during Christmas, and the folks & step-brother up for the end of Christmas.

I must confess that this year's festivities were influenced by Pinterest.

For lunch at the Borchert's we brought Christmas Trees!



Green frosting on ice cream cones, decorated with mini M&Ms, topped with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

Pinterest Link

Source: pigtailsandtutus.blogspot.com via Petranella on Pinterest

Then for actual tree decorating, I left that up to LittleMiss.   Or should I say "left that down to the lower right 1/8th of the tree within her reach"


 

 Sorry, got distracted by cuteness....


Okay, the 12th Day of Christmas menu --- what we ate!

Lunch:
Princess Aprilia's Purple Pumpernickel Bread
(used the bread machine's recipe for pumpernickle bread, but added a ton of purple food coloring; treated the same way as if making a red-velvet something, just it was purple)

Rueban Spread on Princess Aprilia's Purple Pumpernickel Bread
into crock pot on high until melty, then low just to keep warm:
  8 oz sour cream
  8 oz cream cheese
  8 oz shredded swiss cheese
  8 oz sauerkraut (not drained, use the juice too)
  14 oz chopped deli sliced Pastrami (2 pkgs, I think was 14 oz)
  1 tbsp (yep, that's a lot) slightly crushed caraway seeds
  2 tsp  slightly crushed fennel seeds

Platter of dill pickles, slices of pumpernickel, & some herbed mustard from an oktoberfest shopping spree.


Dinner:
Stars & Scribbles
Cut mini stars out of Pillsbury Cresent Roll dough & just squowooshed the leftover dough edges into similar sized bites.  Baked for slightly lesser time than what was on the package - watched to make sure they didn't burn.  

Pinterest Link that inspired stars & scribbles

Source: dunkincookingthesemi-homemadeway.blogspot.com via Petranella on Pinterest

Roasted Cranberry Country Butter
  7 pkgs of fresh cranberries
  1 pkg (lb) dark brown sugar
  4 cinnamon sticks
  2 peels of oranges
In very large roasting pan placed rinsed & sorted berries, in 300F oven, covered.  Cook for about an hour.   
Stirred with wooden spoon, mashing the berries that had popped open (which was most of them).   
Put in 4 cinnamon sticks strategically spacing them in the pan to optimal spice exposure.  Removed the peel from 2 large oranges.  Then using a filet knife removed the white pithy lining of the peel to only have the zest layer remaining.  (Someday I'll add a picture of that process). 
Bury the orange peels in the berries.  
Keep the lid on & reduce heat to 250F for another 2 hours.  Then I left it in the oven with the lid on & the oven closed overnight.  When completely, absolutely, totally cooled, if not cold, I pureed the berries in my food processor (in batches). (By the way, I removed the cinnamon sticks, but I did chop up the orange peels & pureed them in with the berry batches).   

If you were more organized than I, you would then heat up the pureed (now) butter then can in boiling method.  If you are me, then you put it in a sealed container out in the cool pantry & served it with 12th day of Christmas Dinner as a spread on the Stars & Scribbles, then give 'unsealed' jars to the guests & tell them to keep refrigerated!!!!
(no pinterest, just made that one up  --- don't tell Shane Quinters though!)

Slaw Salad & Crunchy Yummy
  1/2 head of red cabbage finely shredded
  1/2 cup of dried cranberries
  full bunch of fresh cilantro (I think it would have been about a cup)

Dressing:  in a mason jar, kept cold until ready to serve
  1 cup milk
  1/2 cup mayo
  1 tbsp dried dill (yep, that's a lot & I love it!)
  1 tbsp dried basil
  2 tbsp cider vinegar
  1 tsp black pepper

Crunch Yummy:  made a day in advance & kept in ziplock bag; sprinkled on top of slaw when served.
  zest of one orange
  1 tbsp sugar
    blended in coffee/spice grinder to make 'orange sugar'

  1/4 cup brown sugar put in small sauce pan on med hi & let melt without stirring.
  mix in the orange sugar, stirring, & allowing to melt.  Heat until just before boiling.  
  
  1 cup walnuts in heat tolerant bowl
  pour the heated sugar/syrup over the walnuts & stir carefully to completely coat the walnuts.  Then spread out on baking sheet. Baked in 350F oven for 30 minutes until edges slightly browned.  Let cool before cracking apart and storing in ziplock.

Inspired by Pinterest Links

Source: foodcomas.com via Petranella on Pinterest

Source: foodnetwork.com via Petranella on Pinterest

  



Royal Potatoes
Made instant potatoes almost according to box instructions for 6 servings - didn't add milk & didn't add butter, only used water for total liquid amount.
 Let cool until cold.
 3 egg yolks
 1 tbsp dried basil
 1/2 stick of butter
 1/2 cup cream

Mix together & try to pipe into pretty shapes.  ONLY AFTER exploding two make-shift-pastry-bags-from-ziplocks, then roll in your hands to shape into 12 balls.  Place on parchment lined baking sheet.  Flatten the balls slightly and press your thumb to make a gravy holding divot.    Keep chilled until 1/2 hour prior to serving, at which time you bake for 30 minutes at 350F.  

Pinterest Link that inspired (technically it was from the show I watched on Food Network, but I also pinned it)

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Petranella on Pinterest

Mushroom Gravy
When you are setting the table, and realize that you have forgotten to make the gravy, do NOT panic.  Take a deep breath.  Turn to your mom & give her a whisk.  (No Dad, one can ever have too many whisks!!!!) Remember that you soaked, jarred, & refrigerated 1 cup dried mushrooms in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water two days ago for this exact need - earthy broth for gravy!

  2 tbsp flour into hot skillet, let brown, let Mom whisk it to evenly brown.
  1 cup mushroom broth - pour off liquid from that emergency jar.
Assure Mom that the lumps will blend in.  Then introduce the 'gravy' to the mini blender & blend away all the lumps that really won't blend in.   Take the roasted orange duck out of the oven.  Pray that there are drippings available, and mix it in the gravy.

(No Pinterest link for the gravy, as this is a 'trick' that I have been using for years.  I'm sure I saw it on a cooking show, but have since claimed it as my own.  MUhhhahahaha!!!)



Duck Ala Orange
From Epicurious (LINK)

Duck a l'Orange Gourmet | January 2006; originally published 1943  

Until recently, we had always thought of duck à l'orange as a tired cliché of the 1960s, so it was a surprise to find out how delightful this old recipe actually is. We have reduced the original quantity of sugar and caramelized it (along with the aromatic vegetables which balance out the sweetness) for a rich sauce with layers of flavor. One thing that hasn't changed: Cooking a whole duck still feels wonderfully extravagant.

2 ducks completely thawed & at room temp.
rinse in cold water, removing all the 'extras', curse your brother for making you eat chicken hearts and gizzards at a birthday meal, then forgive your brother and admire him, for that was good one!


2 leeks - the whole thing!  greens & all! chop in large pieces ~3 inches; swish & set deep bowl of cold water.  (this gets all the dirt out);  set out on towel to dry a bit. BUT NOT the duck towel!!!  


5 ribs of celery chopped to large pieces also ~ 3inches.

cover the entire bottom of the roasting pan with these sticks of celery & leeks.

Slice a pocket into each duck breast & slide in a 1/2 orange peel.
Fill each ducks' inner cavity with 
    ~ 10 sprigs fresh Thyme
    ~ 10 sprigs fresh Lemon Thyme
    ~ 10 sprigs fresh Rosemary
    ~  8  garlic cloves (peeled, but kept whole)
    ~  1 whole orange - sliced in half to expose juice/center
    ~  entire peel/zest of another orange

Tie up the legs and wrap the wings around in a crazy yoga pose to use a 'natural' roasting rack.

Cover & roast at 450F for 45 minutes.  Turn down to 350F and roast for 2.5 hours

(Kicking myself for not taking pictures!!!  THESE were GORGEOUS!!!)

Orange Sauce
1 cup of water boiling
4 orange peels/zest
boil ~15 minutes
remove peels
add some mushrooom stock ( few tablespoons )
pinch of lemon thyme
1/4 cup brown sugar
Mix in the two bags of orange sauce that were shoved in the duck from the store.
Keep warm until serving.

Stuffing Bacon Cups 
1/2 lb bacon, room temp, super stretchy
turn muffing tin upside-down
cut a piece of parchment/foil to cover each inverted cup.
drape, criss-crossing, & wrapping raw bacon over each inverted cup.
put on baking sheet to catch drippings & prevent the oven from catching on fire from bacon grease draining on bottom of oven --- not what I was EVER have such an experience - wink ---
Bake at 275F for about an hour, check on the it frequently.  
You want to cook it until it's completely cooked through, but you don't want to bake too hot, other wise the bacon will shrink too quickly.  The bacon DOES shrink - it's supposed to!  It seems to be more even & retain the cup shape better at this lower temp.
Turn off the oven, keep the bacon in there & let completely cool.
I then kept the parchment/foil piece in the cup, and stacked them together, put in ziplock, and stored in fridge.

2 pkgs of Italian sauage - pan fry & completely crumble.  Toward the end of frying put a TON of dried sage & a whole lot of "Italian" dried seasonings.  Remove from pan & let cool.

In the same pan that has all the crunchy, greasy, mess from the sausage, fry :
3 finely chopped ribs of celery
1 finely chopped leek 
6 finely chopped cloves of garlic

Pour in 2 cups of HOT chicken broth.
Scraping the pan (No Dad, with a WOODEN spoon.  No worries no scratches)

While still hot & very moist, add in 
1 cup of finely diced dried papya
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried cranberries

In large bowl stir this & the sausage all together.
Let cool.
Add 2 boxes of stuffing bread mixes (purchased from Christmas clearance)
4 eggs - mix, toss, coat.

Press into 9x 13 baking dish & bake  350F for an hour.
Let cool, cover & refrigerate until the dinner day.

30 minutes prior to serving, put bacon cups INSIDE muffin cups, scoop in the stuffing into each cup & bake 350F for 30 minutes.   


Another Pinterest Link that inspired (technically it was from the show I watched on Food Network, but I also pinned it) 

Source: cookingchanneltv.com via Petranella on Pinterest

Dessert

Chocolate Decadence 

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons virgin COCONUT OIL

1 cup MILK chocolate chips

1 cup plain, unsalted cooked BLACK BEANS, rinsed and drained  1 cup raw CASHEWS, soaked 4 hours, rinsed and drained 

1 cup water

1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup COCOA POWDER 

2 tsp Baking POWDER

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 325˚F. 

Oil bottom and sides of one 9" round springform cake pan. Dust with cocoa powder. 

Combine and gently heat coconut oil and chocolate chips just to soften.  (I used the microwave to melt)

In food processor I combined black beans, cashews, water, & honey.  Blended on high for several minutes to get completely smooth. Blended in powders & melted chocolate.

Poured into prepped pan.  

Baked 1 hour.

The cake rises & falls at it cools. 

After cool, keep in refrigerator.

Top with stabilized whipped cream

Source: lexieskitchen.com via Petranella on Pinterest

Source: food-pusher.blogspot.com via Petranella on Pinterest

I THINK that was everything!  Mom, Dad, Bro, 

did I forget anything????

 

 
Roast duck in the foreground, the princess potatoes in the background.
 
 
 Stuffing cups & orange sauce


 Chocolate Decadence Royal King Cake with hidden chocolate candy piece.