Ground Beef Stroganoff

 Ground Beef Stroganoff

I tweaked my recipe tonight and really liked how it ended up! So as not to forget what I did...

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef

• 3 cups dry noodles (spiral or similar size)

• 1 large onion, diced

• 1.5 c. sour cream

• 1-2 c. broth

• 3 Tbsp butter, divided

• Salt, pepper, onion powder

• 1 Tbsp stone ground mustard

Directions:

Boil noodles for 10 minutes, then strain and set aside.  While these are boiling, add 1Tbsp butter to the skillet and cook diced onion until translucent.  Remove and set aside.  Add a little more butter to the skillet if needed and then brown beef seasoned with salt pepper and onion powder.  When fully browned, add remaining butter and cooked onions.  Once melted whisk in 2 Tbsp of flour, and continue to mix while cooking for 1 minute.  To this pour in broth and mustard slowly while whisking.  Once fully combined and starting to thicken, add in sour cream, then noodles.  Season with more pepper to taste.

Blacksmith's Chai

 Blacksmith's Chai Concentrate

        Every so often, I make a big batch of chai concentrate to give out for Christmas.  The sweet spiciness is so nostalgic on many levels.  And this super dark version lends a smokiness that really appeals to my palate now!  Feel free to adjust ingredients to your heart's content!

Ingredients:

-About 2" knob of ginger, sliced

-2 nutmeg nuts, crushed

-4 cinnamon sticks, crushed

-16 cardamom pods, crushed

- 1 tsp crushed peppercorns

-8c water

-1/4 c. black tea leaves

-1/2 c sugar (may substitute honey)

In the bottom of a cast iron dutch oven, toast spices for 1 minute, then add water.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 min.  Return to a boil, then remove from heat and add the tea leaves (I wrapped mine in cheesecloth to steep, but this is not necessary). After 5 minutes, stir in sugar until dissolved.  Strain through cheesecloth covered mesh into jars.  Let cool at room temp before storing in the fridge.

To use, heat with equal parts milk and enjoy!

Quick Garden Pickles for War

Last week, our family joined our SCA kingdom in a war against our neighboring kingdom.  Fighters took to the field in their heavy armor beneath the summer sun and fought for their homeland and glory.  And when it was over, we were there with water and pickles! 

Pickles (the vinegar pickle juice in particular) has been found to be very beneficial to athletes and those who work in hot environments.  Not only do they provided needed electrolytes to better utilize the water you drink, they also can reduce muscle cramps!  While cucumber pickles are lovely, it was fun to switch it up with this fun giardiniera, or garden veggie pickles.

Passing out pickled veggies on the battlefield sidelines between scenarios

While you can use whatever veggies you have on hand, I chose carrots, bell peppers, onions, garlic, and cauliflower.  The bell peppers were probably in the highest demand, but they all seemed to disappear rather quickly!

Ingredients for 1 gallon:

~6 large carrots, sliced 1/4” or less

~1 head of cauliflower

~3 bell peppers, sliced in 1/4” strips

~1-2 onions, sliced in 1/8” strips

~5 cloves of garlic sliced thin

Brine:

~2 c. Apple cider vinegar 

~4 -5 c. water

~4 tsp. Salt

~4 tsp. Sugar

~1/4 c. Pickling spices  (the one I use contains coriander, cinnamon bark, mustard seed, ginger, fenugreek, bay leaves, dill seed, red peppers, cloves, fennel seeds, black pepper, and allspice.)

Bring brine ingredients to a boil in pot on stovetop.  Fill four quart jars evenly with veggies.  Once brine has boiled and allowed to cool slightly, pour evenly over veggies, ensuring all are covered with the liquid.  You may add more vinegar or water as needed. Make sure all spices make it into the jars as they like to stick to the pot.  Cover and allow to cool at room temperature overnight, then place lids and refrigerate for up to 4 weeks.  

Also good on the feast table

For more reading on the benefits of pickles, see this article from Cleveland Clinic: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/6-health-benefits-of-drinking-pickle-juice

Apple Recipe Roundup: Updated!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Autumn!  I can't believe it's been a year since I really took off with this blog!  For those of you who have come along on the ride, you have my thanks! It sure has been a year of fun adventures and growth.

About this time last year, I was overwhelmed with the amount of apples our tree dropped and went a little apple crazy!  Well, it didn't really end and I've decided to update my apple round up post from last year to add in some of the many more I've tried since posting!  Here's where I'll take off:

(We have an apple tree in our back yard!) Free fruit!  Fruit was so precious in Alaska, we are kind of going crazy with all the fruit now.  I can’t stand to see any of it go to waste!  It is an old, untended tree that we have here, so it has been necessary to cut out the big bruises and insects.  Still, I have been making as many apple dishes as I can!  I wanted to share an apple round-up with you of some of the recipes I have been using this autumn.

1.       Dried apple chips: may be done in the oven or a dehydrator.  Or even strung on a thread and hung on the hearth if you want to do it the truly rustic way!  I followed this simply wonderful recipe and my huge batch disappeared in a matter of days.

2. Mountain Apple Dumplings.  The official recipe for this is up, but for my unedited (well-loved) version, zoom in on my recipe card below. 

3.       Apple Cider Vinegar:  well, except for the cider bit.  You just use the toss-away cores and skins instead!  This may not save time or much money, but how cool is it that you don’t have to throw away your cores or skins!  The homemade vinegar recipe can be found here in her creative post.  *Update: I'm not going to lie.  I've been struggling with this one and fruit flies.  I've tried boiling them first.  Anyone have any suggestions?
 

4.       Apple Crisp: This crisp has been my go-to this season and we’ve already made three batches!  Perfect combo of warm tart apples, and cinnamon, oat gooiness!

5.       Irish Apple Cake/Bread: Straight from the Emerald Isle, this lady’s concoction is sure to make you feel like you’re sitting at the comfort of a warm hearth on a soft morning.

6. Apple Cardamom Jam:  I made this for Thanksgiving last year and it was such a hit!  I still can't get a enough of it!  It's so unique, I've been giving it as gifts, too.  Although not necessary, I've added crab apples to this as well.

7. Smoothies: I suppose if you blended just apples, you'd end up with apple cider?  We tend to add in other fruits or berries, but the apples add such a great flavor and consistency.

8. Popsicles: You can use remnants of the smoothies to pour into popsicle molds for the hot, dog days of summer we seem to be experiencing now. 

9. Fruit Leather:  Again, you could use the same concoction as your smoothies, or just plain blended apple.  Pour on to dehydrator sheets and in about 4-6 hours you'll have your own fruit leather!  Love this for picnics!

10. Pectin: I'm always curious about how things USED to be done.  You know, before we could just run to the store and grab whatever we need.  Pectin is one that had stumped me for some time.  I know people have been making jellies and jams for some time, so HOW?  Anyway, I was pretty excited to figure this one out, and now, with only the help of the apple tree, I can make it for free! 
11. Shrunken Apple Heads: We made these for Halloween and they turned out great!  Although ours were just decoration, I've heard of others floating theirs in punch bowls!

12. Strawberry Hard Cider: This is my husband's latest endeavor and we're still awaiting the results, but isn't it lovely?
 

I have yet to find the perfect apple pie recipe, but I feel like that should be included in the list somewhere, too!  Anyone have any amazing favorites?

 And here's one last apple bonus: how to keep your apples from browning!

Oh, man, this is making my mouth water!  You can have your pumpkin spice!  I’ll take apple as my autumn flavor any day!  What will you be doing with your apples this year?  I hope you’ll get a chance to try some of these delectable delights during this time of changing seasons! 

 

Wild Cooking Adventure: Sourdough and Jelly

We just came from the land of the sourdough, both in cooking and in locals.  (Alaska calls their long time homesteaders "Sourdoughs" for those not familiar with the term.)  And sourdough bread remains a popular baked item there.  Many have heard of Dick Proenneke from the television show and I was given some of his sourdough starter from a friend of a friend and kept it alive and well until I had my second child (plus two cats, a puppy and six chickens) and I let it go too long without feeding it and it died!  I'm still kicking myself for that, but I recently learned that you can't transport sourdough starter.  Well, you can, but over time, the local yeasts will overtake it and it will take on the local characteristics.  Sourdough is unique to the area, isn't that interesting?

Wild Yeast Trap Set.  Complete with guard dog!

So I recently began to get a hankering for sourdough again.  I always wondered where the starter came from, I'd only been given jars of starts before.  So the wonder that is Pintrest came to the rescue again and I found that you can capture wild yeast right out of thin air!  Christina Keibler is very knowledgeable has great written and video instructions, but it's basically just flour and water in equal parts.  You leave it in a bowl outside, stirring every few hours to incorporate more air into the mixture.  After about 24 hours you can see the bubbles and "hootch" (clear liquid from yeast) forming and that's it!  She also has a recipe for bread from the starter you can find on this page.  I'm still working on the quirks of Oregon yeast to get a big fluffy loaf, but the flavor is amazing!

Then I got to thinking about jelly and what I have on hand, and I recalled a recipe I have for rose petal jelly.  This rental that we're living at has an abundance of gorgeous rose bushes around it and a good many were just starting to drop their petals.  So my sweet daughter and I plucked them up and followed this recipe by Luckybeans for the jelly.  It turned out a vibrant fuscha red and took a little mending  (it didn't want to set up) but now has a lovely light flavor.  Just a beautiful process as a whole.  So lots more photos of this:

I love that glowing color!  And making good food with what we already have, and getting the little ones involved and learning new skills.  I'm going to chalk this one up as a win! =)  Do you have any fun new food projects planned?  I always love to hear what everyone is up to!  Happy Memorial Day Weekend and I hope in your celebrating you can appreciate those who serve and have served.

Waste Not Fruit Leather

 Are you guys getting this crazy heat!?  88 degrees in April just seems surreal!  I used to LOVE the sun, and it couldn't get too hot for me, but now I'm afraid Alaska has ruined me.  I feel like I'm melting as soon as the mercury hits 80 and I'm more than a little concerned about this upcoming summer!  But, oh!  The blooms!  The variety of plants that are thriving in this climate never ceases to astound me.  My neighbor threw some lilac boughs on the burn pile yesterday because she had to thin her tree out a little, but I couldn't bear it!  I had to rescue them and brought them all in the house! =)

We've had a lovely week of exploring gardens, wading in creeks, and shooting with friends.  Not to mention catching tad poles and filling up the kiddie pool!  Our little lady has decided that while we're out and about, her snack of choice is an apple.  Not slices, no, the whole thing.  And that's all well and good except, she gets it to where it is just beginning to look polka-dotted with her tiny little bite marks and then she decides she's done.  Even on her best day, she'll eat off all the skin but doesn't want to eat the flesh.  But I'm pretty okay with it because of my latest technique for using what we have. 

Last summer we made a lot of smoothies with unfinished bits of fruit, but this spring I've been taking it a different direction.  Like I've said before, good fresh fruit was difficult to come by in Fairbanks, so it pains me to see it go to waste!  So lately, I've taken the leftover bits and pieces and throwing them into the blender, then in my dehydrator to make fruit leather.  This is so easy!  I only have one tray right now, so my blender half filled with puree will then fill my dehydrator tray just about perfectly.  As. Kadee mentions in her post Oh So Delicioso, the right consistency comes from patience and spreading it so it's just thicker than transparent.  In the dehydrator set to 135, this will take about 6 hours to fully dry. But keep checking on it as you get close because different combinations are going to take different lengths.  It should feel fairly dry to the touch. 

And flavor combinations are endless!   Right now, mine usually involve some apple and banana, but I've been adding in melon, orange, and blackberries.  I did a couple adding a spoonful of honey or sweetened jam, but it certainly wasn't necessary.  I even did one that was about half Greek yogurt!  It was really tasty!  This is another place to sneak in some well paired vegetables as well, like cucumber, spinach and carrots.  I've snuck them all in! =) 

So far this spring, I haven't had a batch last more than a day.  The young 'uns eat it like candy, it's easy to make and easy to grab on the go!  My next batch is going to be blackberry watermelon.  What other concoctions could we come up with?

Note: our family shares our own germs, but if you're making this to share outside of immediate family, I recommend using non-nibbled fruit! =)

Mountain Apple Dumpling Recipe

 

 

Do you still have any apples left?  As promised, I’d like to share with you our Mountain Apple Dumplings.  Now, I’d like to tell you some wonderful, woodland tale about backpacking deep into the Cascades and stumbling across a story book cottage of a sweet, elderly, mountain lady who kindly shared with us her treasured family recipe.  That’s the fable that plays in my head when I hear the name but, no, not quite so romantic.  The name comes from the secret ingredient: Mountain Dew.

Is this healthy?  Eh, “healthy” is a continuum, right?  It’s better than some, has real fruit in it and is amazingly delicious!  This recipe is quick and easy and always ends up being a hit at get-togethers.  I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been asked for this recipe!  And the funny thing is that, though I got this recipe from my Mom ages ago, she and I have both evolved it to our own tastes, and now we would write it out completely differently.  So take this recipe as a general guide and have fun with it!  I’ll include some comments about different ways you could tweak it. 

 

Mountain Apple Dumplings

Ingredients:

2-4 apples

2 refrigerated crescent dough (or pie dough)

1 c. butter (she uses 1/2 cup)

½ c. sugar (or 1 cup for tart apples)

1 can Mountain Dew (I don't usually have soda in the house and have used orange juice in a pinch.  I works, but changes the flavor)

1-2 TBSP Cinnamon (I like to add nutmeg, cloves or allspice, too!)

See!?  Every ingredient is adjustable!  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Core and slice apples into 16 pieces.  You may peal them if you desire, but I usually leave the skins on. 

 

Wrap each slice in a triangle of dough (it’s okay if it’s not completely covered) and place in greased 9x13” pan. 

 

They will probably all be touching.  Pour sugar evenly over dumplings, then spices over the sugar. 

 

 Gently (so as not to wash all the sugar off dumplings) pour butter, then Mountain Dew evenly over dumplings. 

 

Cook for one hour, then enjoy!  These taste amazing warm with a little ice cream!

 

Can I just share the story of this plate while I have it in a photo.  I know it’s not much, but I think it’s beautiful: emerald on the top and cobalt underside.  My kinda colors!  So, we were on our daily walk down our dirt/ice road last breakup (spring) in Fairbanks.  As the snow had just begun to melt it revealed this beautiful plate, surprisingly unbroken, on the side of the road.  Though I immediately wanted to take it home (is that gross?  I sanitize!) I figured it belonged to someone farther down, so I set it upright in a snowbank so any one passing would be sure to see it.  I let a week pass and it remained, so I brought it home and thought of it as my lovely scavenger’s treasure.  Not long after before we were having a meal on our porch because it was finally ABOVE FREEZING!!! And the baby pushed the plate off the table and it shattered into a million pieces.  Aw man, sad!  Oh well.  I threw it away.



Does he remind anyone else of a tiny Kristoff?

My walking buddies

 

 

The next day on our walk, I found the exact same plate in the exact same spot!!!!  What?  Wow, thanks, God!  Hee hee!  Now my little miracle plate makes me happy every time I see it.  And who said God doesn’t care about the little things! =)

Edible Chocolate and Peanut Butter Play Dough!

Today I’d like to introduce you to the silliest member of our family: meet Clancey!  He joined our family just a few months before our eldest was born.  You  could say I was in baby mode.  I also got six chicks at that time.  Life was a little crazy for a while, to put it lightly!  Anyway, Clancey has had a bit of a rough life with us thus far, having been attacked by moose twice and nearly fatally hit by a truck on the highway.  He loved the Alaskan winters, though, being half Malamute.  In fact, he was born at the beginning of winter, so by the time the spring came (at least six months later) he had such a hard time knowing where to go to the bathroom once all the patches of snow had melted!

I was just going back through photos last night and came across this video, taken exactly one year ago Saturday.  He loved cracking through those first layers of ice to catch the bubbles. And to think this year they’ve already been having snow on the ground for a couple weeks!  This makes me smile every time:

Clancey does the Fox Hop

Sometimes just going into a new season triggers fond memories.  For whatever reason, as the air began to get crisp and breezy, our little one (who’s only experienced four autumns) began to remember making edible play dough.  Although this is probably true to some extent anywhere, a lot of outdoor life is crammed in to the summer in Fairbanks, then we did all our fun indoor activities when the cold weather hit.  So he thought of this recipe and started reminding me about every other hour that we needed to make a batch.  And I’m so glad he did because it’s fun and simple, we can make it together, play with it together, and enjoy eating it together!  So yummy!  Really chocolate and peanut butter are always good together!  I remember this Reese’s commercial from TV Land when I was growing up!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crash

SO cheesy!  But memorable, I guess.  Digging up the recipe reminded me of how Mom would make it growing up.  In fact, she would get groups of our friends together and make huge batches of it at a time and everyone always loved it.  Except when my buddies of the time decided to eat the evaporated milk by itself.   That didn’t go over too well…

Anyway, I only had a little honey left so I just made a half batch of the recipe below, then split that and added a little cocoa powder to one to have the chocolate along with the peanut butter.  Yum!  It was hard to convince the little hooligans to play with it they were so busy just gobbling it down!  I love how quick this is too!  Super fast, no baking, 3-4 ingredients, and minimal dishes!  A delicious consumable that’s okay to play with.  That’s my kind of activity!

2 cups evaporated milk

2 cups peanut butter

1 cup honey

2 TBSP cocoa powder (optional)

Mix them together.  Enjoy!  Yup, that’s it!  Add more evaporated milk or peanut butter as needed to achieve the perfect consistency.  It will be a little more grainy than regular playdough, you’re just looking for a moldable texture.

 

Hope you’re enjoying this autumn-time and can make some new pleasant memories with your family this season!

Inspriation for Life and Apples

Do you have anyone in your life who has (or continues) to inspire you creatively?  Those people you admire are vital, but what about those who invest in your creativity, who are honest but encouraging and thought provoking…  I hope you do, but either way, I’d like to share some of mine with you, to pass their inspiration along so that it might benefit more.

Meet my parents!  My first inspirer-ers.  Is that a word?  It is now…  Anyway, they have been encouraging and uplifting from day one and it's so exciting to see them investing in and inspiring my children now, too!  I love this photo of them because it makes me laugh every time.  So here’s the back story: we were walking along a windy beach, I got ahead a little bit and looked back to see them walking along together, talking and laughing.  So romantic!  I whipped out my camera to capture the moment and this is what I got:  Mom reaching down to pick up a shell and Dad holding out his jacket to fly!  They love each other and they love life!

Dad claims this is a more natural pose =)

I could go on about how wonderful they both are, but my purpose of this post is to encourage you with something that they gave, and continue to give me.  My Dad is the most God-loving, hard-working, creative man I’ve ever known.  Although I don’t think he would consider himself artsy, he sees the beauty and majesty of God’s creation in everything from the greatest mountains to the smallest microbe.  And he’s so good about inviting others into the outdoors (or anything he’s interested in, really) and making it fun.  I want to be that kind of person to others.  I can’t think of anything more inspiring than creation and the God it directs us to.  And his creativity comes out in more electronic ways, also, that I can only hope to understand someday!

He and Mom both share this knack for making things work.  If you can’t afford it or can’t get it, then you find a way to do it yourself or take what you already have to substitute. This led to teaching us the determination and perseverance that many projects throughout life require.   Of course this comes with some trial and error, but I love their stance that mistakes are for learning!  I also love their giving hearts.  Yes, it’s good to make and do, but so much better to share these things with others!

Now Mom is very much the sort of person who would just rather create things herself.  Her “famous” quote has always been, “we could make that!”  When you make it yourself it is the ideal size, shape, color, function…why pay more when we could do it ourselves?  Also, her love for animals had encouraged many to care for their critters well.  Again, I could quote them both until the cows came home and one quick blurb will not do justice to all their words of advice, encouragement, wisdom and inspiration.

But one more thing I’ve admired about them is that they always try to find the good in every situation. Which leads us to my bridge to the apples: they are one of Mom’s favorite things!  Though autumn has never been her favorite season, she’s always enjoyed apples whether they be baked in a dish or standing alone.  This is the first year since I lived with them that we’ve had an apple tree in our back yard and I LOVE it!  Free fruit!  Fruit was so precious in Alaska, we are kind of going crazy with all the fruit now.  I can’t stand to see any of it go to waste!  It is an old, untended tree that we have here, so it has been necessary to cut out the big bruises and insects.  Still, I have been making as many apple dishes as I can!  I wanted to share an apple round-up with you of some of the recipes I have been using (and a couple I’d like to try!)

1.       Dried apple chips: may be done in the oven or a dehydrator.  Or even strung on a thread and hung on the hearth if you want to do it the truly rustic way!  I followed this simply wonderful recipe and my huge batch disappeared in a matter of days.

2.       Mountain Apple Dumplings.  The official recipe for this will be coming soon, but if you’re in a hurry and want the unedited (well-loved) version, zoom in on my recipe card below. 

3.       Apple Cider Vinegar:  well, except for the cider bit.  You just use the toss-away cores and skins instead!  This may not save time or much money, but how cool is it that you don’t have to throw away your cores or skins!  The homemade vinegar recipe can be found here in her creative post.

4.       Apple Crisp: This crisp has been my go-to this season and we’ve already made three batches!  Perfect combo of warm tart apples, and cinnamon, oat gooiness!

5.       Irish Apple Cake/Bread: Straight from the Emerald Isle, this lady’s concoction is sure to make you feel like you’re sitting at the comfort of a warm hearth on a soft morning.

Yet to try:

1. Apple Fritter Bread
2. Easy Apple Pie
3. Mini Carmel Apples
4. Also, I have yet to find chickens to feed the pieces that are unfit for my family!  There’s always those super bruised pieces or the ones that had (or have) worms leave their marks.  It makes me miss having chickens because I hate throwing anything away! 

 And here's one last apple bonus: how to keep your apples from browning!

Oh, man, this is making my mouth water!  You can have your pumpkin spice!  I’ll take apple as my autumn flavor any day!  What will you be doing with your apples this year?  I hope you’ll get a chance to try some of these delectable delights during this time of changing seasons!  Oh!  And if you’re able, give your folks (or mine) a hug and let them know how they’ve inspired you in life!  If not, be that inspiration to someone else!