Tips from Granna's Table - A Home Baked Memories Newsletter
http://www.homebakedmemories.com
Newsletter Vol 1, No. 1
January 30, 2006
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''”””””””””””””””
In this Issue:
- Upcoming "Special" Dates and Holidays
- Quote of the Day
- Recipes
a) Chocolate-Cherry Fudge Brownies
b) Heart Shaped Tea Cakes (Scones)
c) Chocolate Heart Tarts with Raspberries -
Susan's Helpful Household Hints & Tips
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Upcoming "Special" Dates and Holidays:
February is:
Library Lovers Month
National Cherry Month
National Hot Breakfast Month
Reasons to honor and celebrate
January 29 - National Puzzles Day
January 30 - National Croissant Day
January 31 – National Popcorn Day
February 1 – National Baked Alaska Day
February 2 - Bonza Bottler Day (2-2)
February 3 – National Carrot Cake Day
February 4 – National Girls & Women in Sports Day
..more special dates to celebrate…
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Quote of the Week:
"We do not remember days we remember moments"
-Cesare Pavese
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This Week's Features and Recipes:
Chocolate – Cherry Fudge Brownies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) melted butter
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs, if using smaller eggs, use 7 instead of 6
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup plus 1 ½ tablespoons European or Dutch cocoa. (You can use regular cocoa, but the brownies will not be as dark or rich.)
Scant 2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chocolate chips
1 ½ cups pitted bing cherries
Cream together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla for 3 minutes.
Add the cocoa to the butter mixture and thoroughly mix for one minute.
Add the flower, baking powder and chocolate chips to the mixture and thoroughly mix for 2 more minutes.
Grease a 9x13 pan
Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pan
Bake 35-40 minutes or until an internal knife or toothpick comes out clean. Test at 30-35 minutes. (The center will fall just a tad.)
When tripling this recipe, add 1 extra egg, but not when making a double batch.
Now the good part, top a warm brownie with french vanilla ice cream, a little hot fudge sauce and a bing cherry or 3!
The kids will definately know that you love them with all your heart when they dig into this old treat! So will your honey! (FYI – this recipe has been adjust for the Pacific NW.. altitude approx 2000 feet.)
Submitted by Randi Levin – author of Baking at High Altitude – The Muffin Lady's Old Fashioned Recipes
..more about High Altitude Baking…
..more wonderful recipes…
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Heart Shaped Tea Cakes (Scones)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add remaining ingredients and blend well. Dough should be soft. Roll dough out onto a floured surface until approximately 1/4-inch thick. Cut dough into desired heart shapes and bake on a slightly greased sheet for 10 to 12 minutes.
*Note: This recipe can have many different variations. Consider replacing the dried cranberries with chocolate chips, currants, or diced dry apricots. You might also consider adding finely chopped nuts for a slightly different "twist". Serve with a wonderful cup of tea... and Enjoy!
..more wonderful recipes…
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Chocolate Heart Tarts with Raspberries
The tarts can be made a day ahead and then assembled just before they are served.
you may want... Nested Heart Cookie Cutters
Ingredients:
(Ganache Recipe Below)
2 (15 oz) packages refrigerated (9 in.) pie crusts
1 egg white mixed with 2 teaspoons water
1/2 pint raspberries
Mint
Ganache
Ingredients:
1/4 cup whipping cream
7 ounces of Semi-Sweet Chocolate
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
On lightly floured surface; roll pie crust out to 12" circle.
Using largest cutter, cut out two hearts.
To form border cut out center of one heart using 3rd largest cutter.
For various size tarts use cutters one size smaller for borders.
Repeat with second pie crust.
Using smallest cutter cut out petite hearts for garnish.
To attach border to bottom, brush edge of heart with egg wash; top with border.
Prick bottom with fork, bake 10-12 minutes to until light brown.
Cool completely on rack.
Heat whipping cream in saucepan to boiling point. Do not boil.
Remove from heat, add chopped semi-sweet chocolate bits.
Stir until smooth and glossy. Cool.
With bag and cake decorating tip, pipe ganache into tart shells.
Arrange raspberries on ganache.
Top with small heart pastry.
Garnish with mint and powdered sugar, if desired.
YIELD: Makes 6-8 tarts
Enjoy your beautiful Heart Shaped confections and share as a Special Valentine or as an I Love You for someone needing a hug.
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Susan's Helpful Household Hints & Tips (week at a glance)
January 23, 2006
COOK'S ILLUSTRATED
HOW TO RECALIBRATE AN INSTANT-READ THERMOMETER
If your dial-face instant-read thermometer is inaccurate, it can be
adjusted.
To test accuracy, insert the probe into a pan of boiling water. The
thermometer should register 212 degrees at sea level. (The boiling
point drops about 1 degree for every 500-foot increase in altitude, so
compensate accordingly.) To correct the measurement, turn over the
thermometer and use a pair of pliers to adjust the nut beneath the
head. Keep adjusting until the thermometer reads 212 degrees when
inserted into boiling water.
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January 24, 2006
GRAMPA POWLIS' POUND CAKE
Just watching him make this recipe was a feast for one's eyes. When
he made his pound cake, he always made two; one for family, and one
for friends and neighbors. He told me that this recipe has been
passed down through five generations in his family.
I don't know how old Grandpa Powlis was when I met him, but from the
history he shared with me at the time, I would guess he had to be
somewhere
in his late seventies/early 80's. It wouldn't surprise me one bit, if he
was still alive. But with 3600 miles separating us, I won't soon be
finding that out.
Grandpa Powlis said that flour must be sifted (even pre-sifted flour)
BEFORE measuring. He told me that I had better mix the batter as many
times as he says and for as long as he says, if I didn't follow the
recipe
to a T, that I could expect failure. So I've made the recipe EXACTLY
as it was given to me. Far be it for me to take a chance on failure!
He insisted on organization; demanded that all utensils, ingredients,
pans,
bowls, etc. be put out before starting the recipe.
I offer this recipe to anyone who wants it, with one condition, and that
being, should you chose to share it, that it includes the short history
from where it came.
I'm posting the full recipe for 2 cakes - It is easily halved if you want
only one cake.
Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour, 15 minutes
Makes one 9'' and one 10'' cake
1-lb butter, room temperature 3 C Sugar
10 egg yolks 5-1/2 C sifted flour
6 tsp baking powder 10 egg whites
3/4 C milk 2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp fresh lemon rind
Beat the 1-lb very soft butter with 3 C. sugar for 5 minutes at low
speed.
Add 10 egg yolks and beat at low speed for 2 minutes.
Beat the 10 egg whites at high speed for 2 minutes with the same beaters.
Next, beat creamed mixture for another 5 minutes at low speed.
Sift together the flour with the baking powder.
Beat one third of flour into bowl with cream mixture, at low speed.
Beat in 3/4 C milk until smooth. - Beat in another third of the flour
until
blended.
Add the beaten egg whites and beat until smooth.
(*Note: I asked him why he 'beat' the batter at this point, instead of
'folding in' the egg whites. His reply: ''cause, dat's
the way I does it'' - Gawd, how I loved this man.)
Reserve 1/4 C. flour, and add remaining flour to bowl. Increase speed of
mixer to medium, and beat for 5 minutes.
Grease one 9'' tube pan and one 10'' tube pan generously. Coat evenly
with
the reserved flour, tapping excess into bowl.
Add 2 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp grated, fresh lemon rind to the cream
mixture. Beat at medium speed another 2 minutes.
Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in SLOW oven (300 degree) for 1
hour and 15 minutes, or until cake springs back when center is lightly
pressed with fingertips.
Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 min. Loosen around side of the pan
with a
knife, and invert cake on to wire rack to completely cool.
This cake is delicious, especially when warm from the oven.
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January 25, 2006
NEW FOOD LABELING
As of Jan. 1, newly printed food labels have to say in clear,
understandable language whether a product contains one of eight food
allergen groups. The new Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer
Protection Act allows grocery stores to sell off products that were
labeled before Jan. 1, but early in the new year some changes will be
noticeable on the grocery shelves
So if "casein" is included, "milk" it would be listed after it. That
should take some of the guesswork out of avoiding dangerous reactions
by the 2 percent of adults and 5 percent of children in the United
States who suffer from food allergies.
Common allergens labeled. If there are any egg, peanut, nut, fish,
shellfish, wheat or soy in a product, the label will have to say so.
Ingredients specified. The type of tree nut (such as almonds, pecans,
walnuts), fish (bass, flounder, cod) or shellfish (crab, lobster,
shrimp) will have to be listed.
No more catchall phrases. Goodbye to non-descriptive words such as
"artificial" or "natural" flavors, colors or additives. Labels with
those ingredients also will have to specify which allergens they contain.
The exceptions. The law applies only to food regulated by the Food and
Drug Administration. Meat and poultry are the domain of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, and it plans to issue similar rules
sometime this year. In the meantime, the USDA is encouraging meat and
poultry companies to comply voluntarily, and some are doing so.
As for food sold in restaurants, don't expect to see allergen
labeling. The same goes for fresh fruits and vegetables.
Trans fat reduction. All food labels, effective Jan. 1, will list the
amount of trans fat in products. The new law has spurred many food
companies to reduce or eliminate trans fats, which are formed when
liquid oils are made into solid fats and are responsible for raising
the amount of bad cholesterol in the blood.
Gluten rules coming. The estimated 3 million people who can't tolerate
gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, will have their turn
soon. The FDA is working on a regulation that would allow the
voluntary use of the term "gluten-free" by 2008 if a product met
certain standards. In the meantime, companies, using their own
definition of gluten-free, are coming out with more such products.
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January 26, 2006
CLARIFIED BUTTER COMES IN CANS MARKED 'BUTTER OIL'
Clarified butter is widely used for cooking a variety of foods in the
Indian subcontinent, where it is known as ghee. Produced in India ,
Pakistan and Bangladesh , ghee, in cans of several sizes, is available
in Indian grocery stores.
Butter oil is another name for clarified butter and it may be sold in
local stores by that name. The U.S. government sends out enormous
amounts of canned butter oil to Third World countries as part of
American food aid. I guess it is produced out of the farm subsidy
butter that the government acquires.
You can, of course, make your own clarified butter. Place a pound of
unsalted butter - perhaps cut up into pieces - in a medium saucepan
and melt it over medium heat. Turn heat down to low and let the butter
cook undisturbed for 25 to 30 minutes, taking care not to burn it.
(Use a white enamel pan if you have one, or a stainless steel pan, so
you can see the bottom.) Skim the foam off the top.
Allow the liquid to cool slightly and carefully pour the golden butter
oil into a glass jar, leaving the milk solids behind. Refrigerate the
clarified butter, tightly lidded, since fat is a great flavor carrier
and will pick up any stray flavors easily. It will stay for 4 to 6 months.
The microwave is not recommended for clarifying butter.
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January 27, 2006
HOMEMADE SOFT SCRUB
1/4 cup borax
Vegetable-oil based liquid soap
1/2 teaspoon lemon oil
In a small bowl, mix the borax with enough soap to form a creamy
paste. Add the lemon oil and blend well. Scoop a small amount of the
mixture onto a sponge, wash the surface, and rinse well.
Like these tips?
Please forward Susan's "Tip of the Day" to your friends.
Household Tips submitted by Susan Doyle – author of Susan's Daily Tips ..more Susan's Daily Tips…
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Until Next Week,
Judy Block , Editor
Home-Baked Memories – Tips From Granna's Table
http://www.homebakedmemories.com/
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