I love being able to support PBS. And they have such awesome shows offered on their channel. We’ve been loving the Kitchen Vignettes, and my kids regularly opt for this during their TV time. I’d love to try so many of their recipes, but here’s one I tried early on. SO yummy! I used our version of pesto though, since I always have plenty of that on-hand.
Well, this was some decadent goodness! Quite easy and a big hit.
I did not add the sausage this time, because, well, I didn’t. Also, I’m just realizing I completely forgot the Italian seasonings-oops. I’m sure that would help bump this recipe up even more. I was originally going to make our very simple homemade sauce, but we ended up using a jar of pasta sauce that was 18 oz. So, that’s all I used. I also think I only added about 20 oz of water. I will check and update. Oh, and definitely added more pepperoni. I chopped the pieces that were being mixed in and left the others whole. We used our home-grated cheddar from the freezer and a little Romano, instead of mozzarella.
Anyway, very good and very simple.
This soup was so delicious! We used coconut milk in place of evaporated milk, because we had one on hand and it sounded like a good combo. I will say–Our kids, who normally eat almost anything (well…one of them does) did not care for this. Maybe the curry? I, on the other hand, couldn’t stop eating bowl after bowl. Simple and delicious. A definite keeper.
One of my favorite cookbooks is actually called, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. The author talks about which foods make more sense to create from scratch at home and which ones are better to just buy. In the bigger picture, yes, butter for recipes and daily life is easier to buy. But, the pure beauty and Wow! factor of homemade butter is just divine.
We had tried our hand at butter-making a couple other times in the past, but we were re-inspired after watching this video from the wonderful folks at Shelburne Farms. (Check out all their videos and links–they are amazing!) So, we grabbed some heavy cream and one of our Mason jars and got to work. We shook and shook. It only took about 5 minutes to get some beautiful whipped cream. The butter took a bit longer. I think the wonderful part about this activity is its parallel to so many of our goals in life. At first, you’re just shaking and shaking the jar and it doesn’t seem like anything is happening…BUT, it is! And then we were ready to give in at the whipped cream stage and just spread that on our gorgeous loaf of local bread, but we kept going. This was the part that really seemed impossible at first. How was a jar of whipped cream suddenly going to transform into butter? But, keep going. It’ll start to form a clump. Then, keep going. Suddenly you will feel and hear the liquid you heard in the first stages. Only this time, the liquid is buttermilk that has separated from a lovely little ball of butter.
Homemade butter on fresh bread is one of the best treats I can think of. I added some salt and crushed rosemary to mine. Wow. I highly recommend everyone give this a try at least once.
Some tips:
-I later read that it helps to leave the heavy cream out of the fridge for a bit (an hour?) before starting to help speed the process. Noted
-As Cat says in the video, it’s definitely a good project to do with friends, as your arms may get tired.
-This is a good lesson in trust and perseverance. The butter will happen. I promise.
-Save the buttermilk and make something with it. (Pancakes?)
-We were wondering why they didn’t just add the salt during the mixing/shaking stage, until we realized the buttermilk would be affected.
-This is a great opportunity to look at pics and videos of old-fashioned butter churners. (Word to the wise-Do NOT just type in “butter churner” and look at images in front of your kid–eeps! Make sure to include the word “old-fashioned” or “traditional,” or preview ahead of time.)
I remember once reading an article about a young woman who baked a mini birthday cake for each of her friends and family members on their birthdays. I wanted to be that person, baking little tiny cakes and helping people celebrate their special day with a surprise treat.
Well, that never happened, but that doesn’t change how much I love food gifts! As a gifter, they’re a great, low-pressure choice, and as a recipient, I love that they are, quite literally, consumable and don’t add to any clutter.
I have a soft spot for homemade food gifts, for environmental reasons and that added personal touch, but I’ve also been the happy recipient and proud sender of store-bought items as well. There are zillions of ideas on food gifts anywhere you look, but here are just a handful that have worked well for me:
-Chocolate Chip Cookies or Oatmeal Choc. Chip Cookies
-Homemade Vanilla Extract
-Bread (homemade or from a local bakery)
-Local delivery (It’s sometimes easier than I realize to set up a local delivery from long-distance. I once came home to a cooler of local mini cheesecakes on our doorstep for my birthday, sent from my sister’s family a state away.)
-Food baskets! (My personal favorite. I love a collection of fun, snacky foods, whether homemade or local treats or store-bought favorites. There’s something about seeing them all together, collected by someone who knows what you like that is truly special.)
-A collection of favorite snack foods (Somewhat redundant, I know, but food collections are so rad I had to give them two entries.) (After giving birth to my first baby, my sister sent me a whole package of baby-sized/mini-sized snack foods. I still remember how wonderful they all tasted (New mamas are HUNGRY!). So, I definitely don’t discount the awesomeness of well-chosen store-bought foods, especially favorites or unique items)
Sometimes the toughest part for me is figuring out how to package items, since I am an environmental over-thinker. If I’m mailing a food item and sending it Priority where the weight doesn’t matter, I love reusing cleaned-out glass jars for items. But a well-cleaned plastic container could definitely work too. In fact, I try to keep a stash of empty jars and containers on hand for just such an occasion.
If I’m sending cookies or granola in the mail, I like to make them ahead of time and freeze for a few days to give them a bit more time, just in case. (It’s always good to have cookies in the freezer anyway for last-minute food gifts or for rainy days.) And then, of course, there are definitely items that won’t send well in the mail but that are great for local deliveries or gift giving.
Food gifts shine for pretty much any occasion–birthdays, new babies, break-ups, illness, graduations, anniversaries, loss, apologies, and my favorite–just because.