Category: In the Kitchen

Granny’s Fruitcake

Featured by GrannyDalgas, posted in Books and Reading, In the Kitchen

Happy Holidays , and best wishes for a healthy winter ! I am sharing this video even thought it looks like I might have been a little tipsy , but honestly, it was just nostalgia, and my natural awkwardness. I am not including the recipe for Vegan Fruitcake, because there are so many available in books and online. My substitutions of Coconut Oil for Butter, and Chia Seeds for Eggs, and Molasses for Sugar or Honey however worked very well, and I would recommend . I would reduce the baking time as mentioned at the end.

As the year ends, my hope is to build stronger connections with my family, friends, neighbors and community, and to open my heart, home and garden.

Travel Accoutrements

Featured by GrannyDalgas, posted in Books and Reading, Good Advice, In the Kitchen, Life Stories

We calculated last night our time away from home has been 4 weeks. In this time, our assortment of dish ware has been limited – but I have been pleased with the many good meals we have invented. I brought along a fair amount of garden produce, of which we are just now depleting . Last night we had yummy roasted veggies and leftover carrot cake from the New Morning Bakery. I made enough for this morning’s brunch to take along – which I have just finished eating ! I love our new 3 – tiered stainless steel lunchbox! It has been a revelation in easy on-the-go dining . A bowl for Pa , a bowl for moi, and a bowl for Beau .

Tofu

Featured by GrannyDalgas, posted in Books and Reading, Health and Happiness, In the Kitchen

I am trying to remember when I first tasted tofu, and why I love it so much. I probably tried it first after hearing about it from my sister Ruth, and likely Gary and I first bought at the First Alternative Coop in Corvallis, OR in ’76 or ’77 when I was pregnant with my firstborn. Soon, we were making our own tofu from the basic elements of soybeans, water and nigari , a type of sea-salt used as a coagulant for the soy milk. It seems to have gone through an era of unpopularity which perplexed me. Maybe that reputation is fading, as the need for we humans to eat a more plant based diet grows more and more evident. And the association of soy with good health is surely evidenced by its long historical consumption in Asia. It has been consumed for over 2,000 years in China and at least a thousand in Japan. Those of us who know the tender freshness of just pressed tofu know it as a homey, delicious taste. I liken the difference between store-bought and homemade, to the difference between store-bought and freshly made bread. The use of nigari brings the aroma of the ocean to my senses. The process of making tofu is described best in The Book of Tofu, by William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagi My sister Ruth recently posted a pic of her own return to tofu making and I am inspired ( as I am so often by her good example ) to bring out the basic equipment necessary and to spend the early morning hours of a snowy morning to practice one of the best of my cooking skills.

Picking Plums

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Gardening Secrets, Health and Happiness, In the Kitchen, Love and Family

Picking Plums

Don’t you love the way he gracefully picks the plums from the tree? The trick to growing a good Italian Plum tree is so simple. Plant one or find one where it happens to be, and when the season arrives, pick the fruit. The birds will eat a few, but happily, bugs don’t seem to like them very much. We have found that the fruit is most easily preserved by drying it. A simple commercial dryer works great. This year we are experimenting with putting sliced fruit in the greenhouse on a piece of screening. On a hot day, the temperature in the greenhouse gets up above 120 degrees. The texture of the finished dried fruit is nicer than in the electric dryer.  Later in the year I will use the fruit in fruitcakes and breads, or just as a snack with nuts. I’m interested in more ways to use it. Sometimes I wish I had a cook living with us so I could just grow the garden and fruit trees, harvest and preserve the produce  and someone else would make delicious meals or treats with it.  Anyone interested??

Pops said he knows just what it feels like to be pregnant when he wears the pickin basket.  I appreciate that he tries to imagine what it must feel like.

Mama Knows Bread.

by GrannyDalgas, posted in In the Kitchen

I am on a quest to learn how to make bread. Since I was in our hometown of Entiat last week, and because I am excited to learn what I can in living a healthy, happy life, I took the opportunity to take a lesson from Mom and learn some of her sourdough techniques. There were a few bits of info that I hadn’t seen in my recipe book, that I hope to use for my next batches of bread. I will share them with you!

Mama keeps her starter in the ‘fridge in a mason jar with a handy plastic lid that screws on tight, but opens easily. She pours her entire starter into two bowls, and adds flour (some of which she grinds from whole grains), and water to both. She lets them both sit out and bubble, on top of the stove. She then stores one batch (the mother) back in her jar, and makes the dough with the other, (the baby).

Mama Knows Bread

We used part of our dough to make a delicious eggplant and roasted and home canned tomato pizza!

Mama Knows Pizza

Hopefully later this summer, when the tomatoes and other fruits and veggies are ripe for harvesting, I’ll get a lesson on canning!

Canned Upriver

Everything you want to learn from Mom!!

by GrannyDalgas, posted in Art and Beauty, Books and Reading, Gardening Secrets, Health and Happiness, In the Kitchen, Love and Family

Hi! This is Ruthie posting. I am starting a blog for Mom, because she is amazing, talented and very skilled. I’ve learned so much from her, but there are still so many things I still would like to learn more about with and from her. Here are a few: How to make bread, how to grow vegetables and herbs, how to can veggies and fruit, how to stay as healthy as she is, how to make a welcoming home, how to train a baby…. there is so much!!! Please post what you would like to learn from Mom, or what you have already learned!!!