A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Recipes

Currant Jelly

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This summer our currant bushes were full to overloaded and since we weren’t on holidays when they were ripe!!!!  Woohoo, not just feeding the local wildlife!!!! The lad and I set out to make some jam.   He’s hadn’t had currant jelly before so this was a new experience for him.   He thought it was a hoot!  🙂   It was a lot like making gooseberry jelly but currants, especially black currant, have naturally occurring pectin so guess what you don’t have to add to them?

A recipe for making currant jelly using black and red currants.

How to make it

We didn’t have quite enough black currants to make a full recipe so we added some red currants in.  I kinda had to wing it a bit as I found no recipes online for a mixture of black currant and red currant.

I used about 1.5 lbs black currants (as that’s what we had) and another 2 lbs of red currants (as that’s what we had left after making just plain red currant).

Crush the fruit in a pan with water (about a cup) and let it come to a good boil.  You want all the juice released from the berries.

Use pantyhose, or cheesecloth or jelly cloth to get all the juice out.  Some recipes say not to squeeze but just to set it in a container and drip the juice all out.  I let my boy have fun.  🙂

Measure how much juice you have, add that much sugar, put it in a pan and bring to a boil.

You’ll want to skim off the scum.  This stage took the longest. You need to bring the jelly to the “Jell point”.  I know what that is, but if you don’t, here’s a helpful page for you.

Then put into your sterilized canning jars, drop into the canner for 10 minutes boiling and voila, you to will have a lovely black/red currant jelly.

Recipe: Easy Bake Tortellini and Meatball bake

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So I was looking for a recipe that would kill two birds with one stone, use up ingredients we already had in the house, and was really easy to make.   I found that in Easy Bake Tortellini and Meatballs.  We’ve been fighting the flu and hubby was moaning he needed something real to eat.  I have to admit when I was making it I fell completely apart because when you have the flu and you feel miserable and there’s no Italian seasoning in the house, life is not worth living.   I did manage to pull myself together when I remembered I can make my own Italian seasoning so the world had not ended.   I bet you didn’t expect drama in the kitchen did you?  🙂 Anyways, the original recipe is here.

Ingredients (listing what I used not what was called for)

21 frozen Italian meatballs, defrosted
1  pkg., refrigerated tortellini… I weighed them in at just slightly over 20 oz.
1  jar, marinara sauce, used hunts I think?  regular sized jar.
1 (14.5 oz.) can, diced tomatoes
1 c. cottage cheese
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp sage
1/2 tbsp. Italian seasoning  
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mix the following: Meatballs, tortellini, marinara sauce, and tomatoes.
Place them in a  9 x 13″ baking dish.
In a small bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, herbs, and garlic salt. Drop small dollops of the cheese mixture evenly over the top of the pasta. Top the pasta evenly with the shredded mozzarella cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Reactions:

Dad: “I like this, I really like this, I like this better than regular lasagna!” later on “I don’t think you understand how much I LIKE THIS” (as he had a second bowl).

Son: “My throat is too sore, can I have some another day?”

Mom: “This is very good, yes, son you can have some another day you will like it”.  It’s great as leftovers too!

Want to share a recipe?  I’d be happy to have you.

This linky is for recipe and food related posts.  Thank you.

Recipe: AppelFlappen

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Made a new recipe for New Year’s Day, a dutch recipe that we’ve not tried before.  AppelFlappen.  Turned out well.

You can find the original recipe here.

Ingredients:

6 baking apples (Spy, Red Delicious and Granny Smith work well)
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1⁄2 cup milk

Instructions:

Peel and core apples, cut into slices to form rings about 1/2 inch thick.  We made a couple of rings and then decided it was easier to just do small chunks. 
Beat egg into milk and add to dry ingredients. result should be the consistency of pancake batter.  We needed more milk than the recipe called for. 
Dip apple rings into batter and deep fry at 350* until golden brown on both sides. do not overcrowd, fry 3 or 4 slices at a time allowing plenty of space to flip the slices over.
Drain on paper towels and let cool for 30 minutes.
Place on a tray and sprinkle with icing sugar. (also good plain).

 

For other holiday cooking see the following

New and old, the boys,and togetherness.

Recipe: Pineapple Lamb

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My son made me laugh tonight.  I created a new recipe and well as we were eating it, he looked at me all serious like “mom, this is so horrible, you should punish me severely and make me eat the rest of it all by myself!”

I laughed, hubby’s response was “I guess you like it then eh?”.  🙂

As I wrote this post I asked hubby “what should I call this?”

“Pineapple Lamb”.  So there you have it.. PINEAPPLE LAMB.

Ingredients:

1 lb lamb.  I bought the shaved lamb that comes in rolls from the Asian market.
3 green onions
about 2 tbsp. rosemary – we used fresh
1 medium carrot, coarsely grated.
Celery (about three stalks thinly diced)
1 can pineapple tidbits drained…if you have a boy child watch him steal the pineapple juice.. let him 🙂
Salt and pepper to taste, garlic powder as well.
Worchestershire sauce (to taste… we put in 3-4 shakes)
1 jar pineapple sauce.

Directions: 

Let the meat cook a bit until browned, season it as you will (we used salt, pepper and garlic powder).
Add the green onions, carrot and pineapple tidbits. Stir it around so it’s well mixed.
Add in the jar of pineapple sauce.

Let it cook for about 20 minutes roughly covered.
I checked it at the 10 minute mark, turned it down and opened the vent on the lid to let it cook down a touch.

Made up some mashed taters to go with it at the lad’s request.. I originally wanted to do it over a bed of rice but since the boys asked so nicely… 🙂

Thoughts when eating

  • “this turned out well”,
    “Good, good, make it for my birthday please”,
    “tastes good, bet we could add some yellow or orange bell peppers too”
    “Can I finish it off?”

Serves four if you are eating conservatively… three if people are hungry with just a touch left over.

Christmas Baking, The New and The Old

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EVERY Single year I make papernauten for Christmas. The very odd occasion I will make them other times of the year, but to me they are the best Christmas cookie EVER.  🙂  BAR NONE!

So here’s my recipe:

Papernauten

Here’s how to make them.

Beat three eggs until frothy
Add 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar (packed) Beat until very light and fluffy about 5-6 minutes. Set aside.

Mix together the following:
2 3/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup ground almonds

Then add the following

In our family we double the amount of spices,  This is the doubled amount, if you don’t want them as strong tasting cut all this in half. 🙂
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp pepper
3 tsp grated lemon rind …or add some lemon juice to the eggs and sugar mix

Mix together the wet and dry ingredients. It is a VERY dry mix.

Pick some up and knead it in your hands for a bit, if needed dip your fingertips in water to make it more pliable.

Then form it into a rope about 1/2 inch in diameter. Break into bite-sized chunks (about 1/2 inch) and then cook in preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes (until lightly browned)

YUMMY.  Your children will be begging for more (at least mine does).

 

AND… Like my boy I decided to try something new this year.

Geertsma Family Spiced Egg Cookies.

Two bowls needed.  Preheat oven to 400F

Bowl one:

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda

Bowl two
3 eggs
3/4 c white sugar
1 1/2 tsp corn syrup
3/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 c toasted sliced almonds (we fiddled with this a bit)

Instructions. 
Preheat oven to 400F
1. Mix all dry ingredients in bowl one.  Set aside.
2. Mix all wet ingredients in bowl two until creamy.   Takes about 6 minutes.
3. Slowly add dry to wet until well combined.
4. Drop onto parchment paper, leave about 2 inches between.  About a good tablespoon each. 
5. Sprinkle almonds on top. 
6. Bake for 8 minutes until light browned. They tend to stick so store with wax paper between.

Christmas Baking, The Boys

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The boys did some baking!   It’s always good to have the boys help out.  AND it’s fun to watch skills develop (in the lad) and creativity happen in my man!   I just thoroughly enjoy it. 🙂

So the lad made some Sugar Cookies today.  He saw how much they made and promptly cut the recipe in half.  MOM!  We don’t need to eat THAT many cookies!!!!!!!   Made dad and I laugh in agreement.  🙂  I decorated half of them, he did the rest.  I taught him a couple things to make it easier (like rolling out half the dough at a time)

Chocolate Pretzels.

The other day he made pretzels.  VERY easy for a lad to make.  Take some milk chocolate, melt it slowly in the microwave, dip the pretzels.    I told him what to do and off he went.  They turned out a bit more chocolatey than I expected, but it’s all good cause… WE LIKE CHOCOLATE.  🙂

 

 

Then Dad found a recipe and said “Think we should try it?”  I told him.. “Go ahead, looks good”.

Fudgey Marshmallow Squares. 

Ingredients
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup Nutella (or smooth nut butter of choice)
¼ cup salted butter
½ tsp vanilla
¼ cup sweetened flaked coconut
4 cups mini rainbow marshmallows

Instructions
Line 8” x 8” pan with wax paper, letting the ends hang over the edges. You will use these as handles later.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the chocolate chips, Nutella and butter. Heat, stirring constantly, until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Let cool until pan is safely touchable on the bottom but still smooth to stir.
Stir in coconut to combine well. Stir in marshmallows to cover.
Spread mixture evenly in prepared pan. Place a sheet of clear wrap over the top and press mixture firmly and evenly down into pan to make an even top.
Chill in refrigerator, covered with the plastic wrap, for at least 3 hours before cutting into squares. Remove from refrigerator just before serving.

Anyways, if you make them… let me know!   Take a pic and send it to me.  Always good to share eh?

 

Christmas Baking Togetherness

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Do you know what’s been special about this year for Christmas?   

It’s not just me making the Christmas goodies.   Hubby and son have pitched in which has been totally wonderful!  

So I thought I’d do up a few posts talking about some of the recipes we’ve made together.  Today part one, recipes the lad and I made together. 

Pumpkin Muffins

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix together:
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
Set this aside for now.

Separate bowl cream: Mix for about 2 minutes, you want it light and fluffy
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/3 light brown sugar

Add 2 large eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Add:
1 1/3 c pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla

Now add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Divided evenly into muffin tins.. either use muffin liners or grease the cups well.
Makes 12 muffins.

Cool on wire rack. I found them very easy to remove from the cups and they cooled nicely. They are a somewhat moist muffin so only keep for a couple days on counter, or keep them in the a cool area.

 

Cherry Pie with Mousse

I unfortunately don’t have a picture of this pie as well…. a 12 year old happened!!!!

I told him how to make it and he did.  🙂   It’s REALLY easy.

Take a graham crumb pie from your local Dollarama (or grocery store etc).

Spoon in almost a full can of cherry pie filling (since a boy was doing this he retained some for his own pleasure).

Mix up some mousse (make your own or use a package). Spoon the mouse (we used a vanilla one from a package) over the pie filling.  Let it set in your fridge warning a boy to keep his paws off it until it sets.

Make some quiche for supper and have the pie as dessert or as a counter point to the bacony taste of the quiche, and be amazed at how quickly a boy can pack pie away.  🙂