Grammy's Russian Spiced Tea

I loved, loved, loved Christmas at my Grammy's house.  Grandpa and Grammy lived on several acres in SW Missouri. It was a time filled with family, love and wonderful food.
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We would drive our VW from the mountains, across the prairie to the Ozarks. We would often arrive after dark, walking like zombies into the chilly"utility room.

It was a great place to land.  Next to her super sized freezer, Grammy had all her lovely canned tomatoes and green beans lining the wall in all their colorful glory.  There was also a little table that would have round tins of her Christmas candy: divinity, fudge and sometimes ribbon candy.  I'm ashamed to say that sometimes I would check out the tins before even saying hello.

Grammy was a great cook!  I don't think that I can make good fudge nor divinity at this altitude, but I can make another of her Christmas traditions:  Russian Spiced Tea.  Below is the original recipe from Tang.

I was not able to find unsweetened instant tea at the grocery store, so I varied my recipe.

2 cups Tang
2 cups sweetened instant lemon tea.
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cloves.
Mix together in a big bowl.  Use 4 teaspoons for every cup of hot water.  Store in air tight container.

It is just like stepping back into that sweet time of Christmas in the Ozarks.

Quilts, Rain and Pancakes- Oh My!

     This week I broke out my quilting supplies.  I have a 1930's Singer Featherweight sewing machine that I just love!  I would not trade it in for anything fancier!  It is perfect just the way it is!  It goes forwards and backwards- that's all. But it always works!  What other appliances do we have around the house that are 80 years old and still work as well today as when it was new?  This little black beauty will probably be working strong for my grandchildren too.

     I have a dear friend in Red Feather who has inspired me to start yet another sewing project.  So, Monday I started cutting out fabric for a Wizard of Oz quilt for Sarah's 7th birthday in July.  My friend and I are designing it as we go.  Yesterday I got all the center blocks finished.  There are 24 that have 6 inch pictures or quotes from the movie.  It has been a challenge and I have no idea how it will turn out.  I hope that I still like it when it is finished.  I will post pictures.

    Today we awoke to rain.  Here in Colorado it could have very easily been snow in April. I remember as a girl, I had been given a really cute umbrella.  It was like an upside down tulip.  When opened it would cover me completely, but I could still see out of it's clear vinyl.  The only problem was it hardly ever rained in Colorado.  We either had wonderful blue skies, or we had snow and hail.  I have very few memories of rainy days.  I remember walking around the neighborhood with my little umbrella on a beautiful sunshiny day hoping for rain. Today, I wish had that umbrella for my little ones.  They are walking around the cul-de-sac in their winter coats holding crab apple blossoms in the rain.

   Last night, I promised my girls we'd make pancakes.  I have a recipe that is easy to do and has great results.  No need for Bisquick or Aunt Jamima mix, but just as quick. That means, I don't have to plan ahead.

Yummy Pancakes

1 1/2 cup milk
1 T lemon juice (optional)
1 egg beaten
3 T melted butter
1 t vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

3 1/2 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

1T sugar

1. In a small bowl mix together wet ingredients.  If using the lemon, let this mixture sit for a minute. In a large bowl mix together all dry ingredients.  Make a well in the center.  Pour in liquids, mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled (can use the melted butter mentioned above) skillet or griddle over medium heat.  Pour or scoop 1/4 cup batter onto griddle for each pancake.  Brown on both sides and serve hot. You can easily add a few blueberries to make this even yummier.

Cood Weather Food

It is so cold today.  A good coat and warm boots are required.  The nice thing about Colorado is that it may be cold today, but next week it will all be melted.  There will be blue skies and sweater weather. Tonight we are eating another family favorite.  I have never met anybody who doesn't like it.  Actually my husband gets mad when I serve it to company, because there are smaller portions for him.  He doesn't like to share this dish at all!  The first time I made it was with freshly roasted Hatch chiles from my friend Nancy L.  I've never been able to duplicate it with store bought chiles but it is still very very very good.  The key ingredients are the Grandma's noodles.  If you can't find it, don't bother making it with dried noodles.

Chicken Chile Noodle Bake
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, diced, salted and peppered

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cups canned green chilies, large diced

1 can diced or sliced tomatoes (with jalapenos if “heat” is desired)

1 can low fat cream on chicken soup

1 can no fat, low sodium chicken broth

1 8 oz pkg of reduced fat cheddar cheese, grated

1 pkg 16 oz GRANDMA’S Wide Egg Noodles, prepared

Thaw noodles and boil them up.  While the noodles are cooking, sautee chicken, onions and garlic in 1 tsp olive oil until chicken is cooked. Add green chiles, tomatoes, chicken soup and chicken broth and heat thru. Put cooked and drained noodles in large casserole.  I use my Pampered Chef Cranberry Casserole, but a 13" Pyrex is fine too. Next, add most of cheese and pour heated mixture over noodles, stir, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven, sprinkle on remaining cheese and cover. Let rest 10 minutes and serve.

The “heat” can be turned up for those who like it spicier. You can add red pepper flakes, green chilies that are hotter or the canned tomatoes that are extra hot.

World Famous Gypsy Soup

Or at least it is famous around our house.  This is a very old recipe that I got from Jane Brody.   Not only is it yummy but it is also very weight watcher friendly. My husband is not a "soup person." Yet, he likes this one.  The ingredients sound a bit odd, but trust me and try it.  You'll like it or your money back.

Gypsy Soup
2T olive oil
1-2 cups chopped onions
2 or more large garlic cloves crushed
1/2 c celery chopped
2 c peeled, chopped sweet potatoes
3 c broth (not brother)
1 bay leaf
2 t paprika
1 t turmeric
1 t basil
salt to taste
Dash cinnamon
Dash cayenne
1 c chopped tomatoes
3/4 c green beans
1 can drained chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1T tamari or soy sauce

In a large pot, heat the oil and saute the onions, garlic, celery and sweet potatoes for about 10 minutes.  Add the broth, bay leaf, paprika, turmeric, basil, salt, cinnamon and cayenne.  Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and cove while simmering for at least 15 minutes- until sweet potatoes are almost soft.  Add the tomatoes, green beans, and chickpeas.  Simmer for about 10 minutes longer.  Stir in the tamari if  desired.  Serve warm- Great with home made bread.

Pumpkin Chocolate Comfort Cookies

Some people might think that this is my glorified recipe file, but really I like to share a good thing when I find it.  And nothing is "gooder" than food.

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons.  One of the best things about autumn is the wonderful comfort food that comes with the cold weather.  Today we baked up some Pumpkin Chocolate Comfort Cookies.  I got the basic recipe from Allrecipes.com, but of course made it my own.  I'm sure that I remember there used to be a Weight Watcher recipe like this that used rasins, applesauce and sweetnlow.   What follows is the non- Weight Watcher recipe.  It is more cake-like than a traditional cookie.

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or whatever nut you have on hand.  I used pecans.
• 4 drops red food coloring (optional, makes it look more pumpkin-y.
• DIRECTIONSCombine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 13 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.  Because of our altitude, I had to leave it in longer than the directions called for.  Make sure yours are not over  baked but also not gooey in the middle.  These are autumnal perfection when served with hot cider.

Alice in the Oven

Today my girls requested Alice in the Oven. This is a recipe that is like a skillet custard baked in the oven. We love this! It is easy and uses basic ingredients. I was trying to figure out how it got it's name. There is no reference to this on the web. Because we are always looking for yummy protein based breakfasts, we use this one alot.

Alice In The Oven
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
and one stick (1/4 lb) butter

Preheat oven to 350. Put the butter in a 12" cast iron skillet and melt it in the oven. Pour batter into the pan with melted butter. Bake until the top is golden brown about 35 minutes. Can be served with maple syrup, sliced fruit or plain.

Jamberry

Have you ever read the book Jamberry? It has been a favorite for all of my children. But not all jam is made from berries.

Today I was looking at all my left over tomatoes from my summer garden. I didn't have enough to even make a decent spaghetti sauce, but I had tasted a burger at CB Potts last week that had "tomato jam" listed in the ingredients. It was a great burger. So I looked up Tomato Jam on the internet and found almost a hundred variations.

My mom had just given me my first food processor and I quickly plopped all those red, orange and green fruits into it's plastic bowl. With a quick flip of my finger, I had pureed them all up into a soup like mixture. Next, I put about 5 cups of the tomato stuff and 5 cups of sugar into a pot to boil for 20 minutes. After transferring into a bigger pot after it boiled over onto the stove, I added 2 large packages of raspberry jello. Cooked until dissolved.

It was great! It smells and tastes just like raspberry. Now I have to get some jam jars and get ready to give them away for Christmas gifts. My friend Maria made empanadas and her daughters thought that it tasted just like strawberry jam. Gotcha!