Potato Celery Root Soup

Celery root is abundant throughout the fall and winter in the Pacific Northwest and if you, like me, try to eat both seasonally and locally then this might very well be abundant where you are too.    Like most potato based soups, this one is creamy and lightly earthy and with the addition of celery root it also has a wonderful delicate celery flavor.  Seasoning should to be taste but kept simple.  I like to add milk to my creamy potato based soups but I’ve also made them without the milk and it’s very good, so it’s worth making if you’re vegan.  The cheese garnish is optional if you’re not me.

Potato Celery Root Soup

Ingredients:

3 large starchy potatoes (either Russets or a similar type), diced medium

1 whole celery root, diced medium

1 giant carrot, diced medium

2 quarts vegetable or chicken broth, or water

Salt to taste

Pepper, about a kazillion grinds

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup of 2% milk, optional

Cheddar cheese garnish, optional

Method: Heat up the olive oil and butter in a soup pot on medium high heat, then add all the vegetables at once.  Stirring frequently, saute the vegetables until they very slightly brown (about 10 minutes on my burner).  Don’t let them burn.  Add the stock (or water) and make sure nothing has stuck to the bottom of the pot.  Bring the soup to a boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer.  Cook until all the vegetables are soft and until the potatoes come apart easily.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Puree.

Recipe notes: With a delicate soup like this I would suggest the best choice for broth is vegetable or plain water.  Chicken would be alright, but beef broth would have too deep and heavy a taste of its own and may overpower the light flavors of the soup.  Always remember that a soup is highly personal and if you like it runnier than it turns out, add more liquid.  If you like it thicker, like I do, let it cook down a little bit.  There is no hard science to soup.  A lot of it is by preference and by feel.  I usually use more salt and pepper in this soup than my other soups.  I would say I use between 1 1/2 tsp and 2 tsp salt and I probably do about 40 grinds of pepper.  I use my immersion blender to blend it and don’t have to wait til it cools, but if you’re using a full size blender to puree the soup you’ll need to wait until it cools a bit or you might burn yourself.

To veganize this recipe all you need to do is use 2 tbsp of olive oil for the sauteing and don’t use the milk or add any cheese.  I promise it’s a very good soup without these additions.

This soup is gluten free through no merit or planning on my part.

Potato Celery Root Mash

This is a simple satisfying winter accompaniment to a meal.  It can also be put into hand-pies (what I lovingly refer to as “poorhouse pies”) and as soon as I have a couple of other necessary recipes posted I will give instructions on how to make poorhouse pies using this mash as one of the fillings.

Potato Celery Root Mash

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes (starchy type, such as russet), diced into 1/2″ pieces

1 whole celeriac (celery root), diced into 1/2″ pieces

1 medium sized turnip (or 2 small ones), diced into 1/2″ pices

1/2 stick of butter

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Method: put all of the vegetables into a steamer basket fitted into a pot and steam them until very tender.  If your steaming basket will not accommodate them all at once, steam the potatoes first, then steam the celeriac and the turnips together.

Put all the hot vegetables in a medium sized bowl and cut up your butter into pieces and add it to the bowl and fold it into the vegetables until it is melted.

Use a potato masher to mash them into a smooth consistency.  Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.  My guess is at least teaspoon of salt will be needed.

Serve hot.  (Reheat if necessary)

Recipe notes: Many people boil their root vegetables before mashing.  I don’t see any reason not to do it this way if you prefer it.  My mother always steamed rather than boiled vegetables because she believed it was healthier, and I tend to agree, but I haven’t got any proof to share either way.  I am a fan of mashed potatoes and I like, but don’t love, potatoes mashed with turnips, but this combination is divine!  The celery root and turnip keeps the mash from stiffening up because they aren’t starchy like the potatoes, and the celery root adds a delicate wonderful flavor.  This is one of those simple winter foods that take few ingredients or effort to make and so are not only budget friendly but also a great dish for people with little time.

Veganize this! To make this recipe vegan, simply use olive oil in place of the butter.  Use a mild golden variety rather than a green grassier flavored one.  Or you can use a vegan butter substitute if you like, however, I would always recommend using either butter or olive oil rather than an unnatural hydrogenated spread which may rely on a lot of unnecessary ingredients to help it mimic the butter experience.  If you can’t (or don’t wish) to eat dairy, olive oil is often the best substitute for butter.

Farmhouse News

This is the market tote I’m making for my Etsy shop but will offer a tutorial on later so you can make your own.

Here at my farmhouse in town winter is really getting under way.  This morning we had our first hoar-frost with the temperature down to 22 degrees.  I know that in many areas across the country it has already gotten much colder and everyone is bundled up in their wool and mittens.

I am busy making market bags for my Etsy shop.  We have long since stopped using paper or plastic bags to put our groceries into and use cloth grocery/shopping bags.  Every time I leave the house I grab at least one of them because I can never be sure when it will come in handy, when I return home I hang it up on my bag hook.  We have many shopping bags because our kid can’t go anywhere without an entire tote bag filled with snacks and things to amuse himself with.  He’s an intensely picky eater and a grazer so he’s always hungry when we’re out and about but there is rarely anything “out there” for him to eat.  We always travel with a protein bar, some crackers, and filtered water.  He also has ADD and it has been a lifesaver to us since he was a toddler to always bring a collection of things/toys for him to play with while we’re out.  He will panic if he doesn’t have a bag of his things because his view of the world, depending on his mood, is that it’s either insanely boring or very hostile.  In either case, we never travel light and so some of our market bags are always packed with his things.  Some are also always in the wash.  So we have three hooks in our kitchen dedicated to aprons and market bags.

It took me a long time to get into a good habit of always having a cloth bag with me, and even now I forget once in a while, but the real trick for me turned out to be having those bags near my kitchen door, which also serves as our front door.  So if you have trouble remembering to bring bags with you, try this out.  Also be sure you have an abundance of them.  If you only have one or two you will never have them handy.

The bag I made (in the picture above) is a simple tote with no pockets.  It’s lined with muslin and has sturdy woven cotton handles that are long enough so that you can carry the bag on your shoulder.  This bag is currently in my Etsy shop and when I’m done with this post I am heading to my sewing machine to make several more in a couple of other patterns so if you would like to buy one please visit the Etsy shop.  If you want to make one of your own I have decided that this is one of those sewing projects that is ideal for beginners so I’m going to do a tutorial on how to draft this bag to your own sizes needs and how to make it.  But if you are already familiar with my timing you will understand that it may be a while before I pull it all together to present to you.

In a little garden news I want to share the surprise I found underneath my bean tee-pee: 4lbs of carrots!  I will probably do a separate post to talk about underplanting in the garden, but today is just a little post to share what’s been going on around here.  The carrots were completely neglected and thrived- they are so sweet I’ve actually been snacking on them raw.  I don’t often like snacking on carrots raw and plain but these are so sweet I am really enjoying them!  I absolutely love garden surprises whether they are volunteers shouting up at me from the ground (often the legacy of previous gardeners) or if I planted something and thought it died only to find it thriving later on.

It’s time I got to my sewing room so until next time- happy homesteading!

Come visit the Stitch and Boots Etsy Shop!

Candied Spiced Nuts Recipe

Spiced nuts make great holiday gifts but I usually make them for myself to put on salads.

Spiced nuts are easy to make and can be customized to suit your tastes.

Spiced Nuts

Ingredients:

6 cups of nuts, I prefer walnuts

3 egg whites

2 tbsp water

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp cloves

Method:

Preheat oven to 300.  In a mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and water until frothy.  Fold the nuts into the egg whites gently until they are completely coated.

Combine the sugar, salt, and spices and blend well.  Add it to the nuts, stirring gently, until it is mixed in well.  Spread the nuts onto two large greased cookie sheets.  Bake uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes being sure to stir the nuts a couple of times while cooking.

Let the nuts cool completely before storing.  They will not be crisp when they first come out because of the egg whites but after they are completely cool they will be.  Store in an airtight container.

Coating the nuts with egg whites.

Coating the nuts with the spiced sugar.

Making them pretty if you’re generous enough to give any away.

Recipe Notes: If you haven’t worked with egg whites before then you may not know why you have to be so gentle with them: when you beat them they fill with tiny bubbles which give them loft but if you stir too roughly or too much the bubbles collapse.  In this recipe it isn’t as vital to maintain loft as it is in other recipes that use meringue like souffles, but it’s the gently cooked whites that give a special crunch to these nuts.  Feel free to play around with the spices- leave one out if you like (or all of them if you want candied nuts with no additional flavor).  If you know your oven runs hot, try setting it a little lower.  If you don’t like walnuts, like I’ve used here, use any kind of nut you like.

Stitch and Boots Etsy Shop

Here on Stitch and Boots my main objective is to help people learn as many of the skills an urban homesteader might need to know that are within my realm of expertise to share.  I want to be a conduit to DIY success in cooking, sewing, fixing, cleaning, and growing.  Sometimes with the help of much-loved and respected friends, often on my own.

In my former life I have been many things including: fast food cashier, electronics salesperson, shipping manager for Weston Wear in San Francisco, custom costume designer, needlewoman, assistant designer at Mulberry Neckwear, color swatcher at Mulberry Neckwear, coffee jerk (several times), technical writer, unpaid novelist, retail store owner, product designer and manufacturer for my own retail store, metal grinder (very briefly wonderfully satisfying), housewife, stay at home mom, and currently I am a headline editor for an online ad network.

I shut down my Etsy shop that followed my retail brick and mortar store because I wanted to be done with sewing for commerce.  I have a good job and not a ton of time.  Having a good job at this time must be counted as one heck of a blessing and I couldn’t be more thankful that I have one.  However, in spite of both my husband and myself being employed, like so many people we know we make very little money together and we are facing the tough prospect of a winter with no extra room in our budget for things like heating our house*.

I have some wonderful back-stock from my retail store that I made myself and I have decided to reopen my Etsy shop to sell what I have and to make some new things for it as well.

I have thought a lot about what my purpose is, what my usefulness to people is, and I believe that the real service I can offer to people is to help them learn to do things for themselves.  Trying to sell people ready-made things isn’t my main goal nor my ultimate gift.  The service of helping to teach others to do for themselves needs to be free.  I need to offer this as a real service.  A thing I do not for commerce but for sheer joy and personal fulfillment.  Money, just to have lots of it, is not an end goal I have, though I admit that like most people I don’t despise the dream of being  comfortable.

Most of the things I am listing in my Etsy shop are things I’d like to do as tutorials  here so that everyone can, if they want to, make them for themselves.  What I would ultimately like to do is to offer tutorials on how to make all these projects for yourself and then offer patterns only for sale at some point.

One pattern I will be working on this coming week is a little pattern for the mushroom applique I designed for the men’s shirt smock project.

I hope that all of you will visit my shop if only to say hello and see what’s going on there.  I know that so many people are in the same situation that I am financially and aren’t in a position to be shopping.   I am going to include links to my Etsy shop in any post where it seems appropriate but I ask you not to feel importuned in the least nor pressured to buy.  If I have something for sale that is exactly what you need or want then I will be delighted to provide it to you, but what I really want is for you all to continue visiting to see what new recipes, projects, and plant profiles are being added to this urban homesteading database.  I want all of you to continue to feel empowered to do things for yourselves.

Here is a link to my newly minted Etsy shop:

Stitch and Boots on Etsy

I have some new recipes to post in the next few days so come back soon!  Thank you all so much for spending time reading Stitch and Boots, this is one of my greatest achievements in progress!

 

 

*I’m not kidding.  The interior of our house has been between 53 degrees and 56 degrees all day.  We’ve always been known to keep our house at a fairly crisp cool temperature but this is ten degrees lower than we usually go.

Elderberry: Plant Profile

An elderberry tree is not difficult to identify, especially when they are in full fruit.  The umbels of small berries are not easily confused with any other kind.

Elderberry bushes can be pruned to be kept smaller in a garden but given free rein they can grow up to 30′ tall.

The Sambucus Caerulea is distinguished for its light blue appearance that the white bloom on the berries gives them.

Different cultivars of elderberry may produce different sized berries, but even the larger ones are pretty small.

You can see the structure of the umbel better when stripped of berries.  Its branching is intricate and rather pretty.

Most cultivars of elderberry are edible and used in both food and medicine.  Although the elderberry has somewhat fallen out of popularity outside the grandmother crowd, it has been highly valued by people for hundreds (possibly even a couple thousand) of years.  The berries have been used to make jellies, syrups, liqueurs, and pies while the delicate cream-colored flowers have been used to make teas, wine, and “champagne”.  The wood of the elderberry was used by craftsmen and in pipe making and the flowers have been used in cosmetics since the Roman times at least and are still used in cosmetics to this day.

Medicinal uses: the number one medicinal use for elderberry is as a cold and influenza remedy.  It is used in various forms to alleviate feverish conditions, and as an immune system stimulant.  It is prescribed for allergies, congestion, ear and throat infections, burns, inflamed skin and mucous membranes, and for arthritis and rheumatism.

Nutritional value: elderberries are high in vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamins B6, and iron.  They are a powerful antioxidant and are high in fiber.

Elderberry is native to Europe and North America.  The European elderberry (Sambucus Nigra) has dark bluish purple berries while there are two  North American elderberries, Sambucus Canadensis is native to the area east of the Rockies, and Sambucus Caerulea (a sub species of Sambucus Nigra) is native to the area West of the Rockies and extending all the way down to Mexico.

All the elderberries I have mentioned above are edible though it is important to note that it is best not to eat the flowers or berries raw unless you are very sure of the plant’s specific variety because some varieties have poisonous parts without being cooked*.  Unless you know exactly which species of elderberry you have you should always cook the berries and flowers before eating them.  If you are growing your own you can pick the specific variety you would like to grow; if you are foraging for elderberry you may find any of the types mentioned above growing in the wild.  Any elderberry with blue or purple berries is safe to consume when cooked, what you need to avoid is any elderberry with red berries.

Sambucus Racemosa (Red Elder) and Sambucus Canadensus “Aurea” are two types of elderberry with red berries that are poisonous.  While some red berry varieties may be safe to use under certain circumstances, it is best to avoid them unless you are an herbal expert.

Red berries = poison.

Black, blue, or purple berries = edible and safe when cooked.

That ’s the most important thing you need to know.

Why would you want to grow this yourself?  Elderberry is the most popular cold and flu remedy used in Europe even to this day and the scientific evidence supporting the medicinal claims of this plant are growing all the time.  In the National Geographic Desk Reference to Nature’s Medicine they cite that many modern studies have been done to test the folksy claims of the power of the elderberry to heal and that the tests have shown that elderberry has consistently reduced the severity of flu and cold symptoms as well as reducing the length of illness.  This plant continues to be of interest to scientists as well of herbalists.

You can still forage elderberry but with public wild lands continually shrinking, most people’s access to wild elderberry is decreasing all the time.  This is a powerful enough herbal with enough uses to earn it a place in your garden.

Cultivation facts:

• Elderberry is a large deciduous bush growing up to 30′.

• It grows quickly and suckers freely.

• All elderberries prefer a sunny location.

• All elderberries require cross pollination with other varieties.  Either plant two different varieties in their own spots in your garden or if you have limited space, plant two varieties in one hole.

• European elders do particularly well in alkaline soils though all elders are adaptable to most soil types.  Most elders enjoy a wet soil which is why it is common to find elders growing along the banks of rivers, however, once established an elder has few watering requirements.

• propagation can be accomplished with seeds or cuttings.  The seeds need stratification.  Cuttings should be taken from semihardwood in the summer from new growth.

• Because elderberries sucker freely they can take over your yard unless you control them.  However, the bush is not long-lived.

• Elderberry is rarely bothered by pests as its bark has a natural insecticide in it.

*One of my herbal books says that all parts of the elderberry Sambucus Canadensis are poisonous (at least mildly) unless cooked.  Although I foraged and correctly identified the elderberries I’m using for elderberry syrup, and theoretically I should be able to eat these raw, they don’t taste very good raw anyway.  I tried one.  The flavor is greatly enhanced by being cooked.  Furthermore, throughout my elderberry reading I have read that all the bark and twigs of all the elderberry varieties are at the very least mildly poisonous which is why it is suggested in a number of sources to take care to remove all of the stems of the berries before using in recipes.  I would certainly follow this advice.

 

**The only problem you will run into with the two in one hole planting is that eventually as you prune old growth away or it dies off you may end up with one of the two varieties completely dying out.  If this happens you can always take a cutting of a cross pollinator and replant it with the more mature plant: dig up any existing suckers and plant your cutting there, near the base of the mature planting.

Make your own elderberry syrup:

Elderberry Syrup: DIY Apothecary

Information for this article comes from:

“The Complete Herb Book” by Jekka McVicar

“Desk Reference to Nature’s Medicine” by National Geographic

“The Essential Natural Health Bible” by Nerys Purchon

Nutrition Data- an online resource for nutritional data (nutritional information from the USDA)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Roasting brussels sprouts brings out their sweetness and mellows their strong flavor.

 

The brussels sprout is a vegetable people love to hate.  It’s as pungent as a cabbage but comes in a small compact miniature head.  I suspect that many people have tasted only mistreated brussels sprouts or they would look forward to them every fall as I do.  Here is one of the simplest ways to prepare them and bring out their best side.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 lbs brussels sprouts

1/4 cup olive oil

coarse salt to taste

pepper to taste

 

Method:  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare the brussels sprouts by peeling away the top 2 to 4 leaves, depending on how dirty they are.  Clean them.  Cut away any surplus stems.  Slice large and medium-sized sprouts in half but leave the small ones whole. Put them in a roasting pan.  Drizzle with the olive oil.  Grind as much fresh pepper on them as you like and sprinkle as much salt as you like.  I generally use about a teaspoon and a half of coarse salt.  Turn them with a spatula until they are all coated.  Put them in the oven.

It will take about 20 to 25 minutes for them to roast.  You want to turn them every so often to prevent any of them from burning and to get more surface roasted.  When they are tender and browned they are done.

Serve hot.

Recipe Notes: How brown you like them is a matter of personal taste.  I like mine to get to a nice medium brown where the vegetable surfaces are starting to caramelize.  I don’t think they taste good being too dark and if they’re too light you miss out on the sweetness.  If you like a touch of heat you can sprinkle some crushed hot pepper onto them.  An alternative to using olive oil would be to use bacon fat which would compliment the flavor of the brussels sprouts well. All I want to suggest is to keep your variations simple because this dish doesn’t need much to shine.

6 Tips To Help You Sew Like A Professional

I remember when I was a kid that it was pretty much a popularity killer to wear home-made clothes.  My mom made me some clothes for a while and I thought they were pretty snazzy but I have never forgotten the attitudes of scorn that others had about it.  Then when I went to Fashion Design School I learned to use industrial sewing machines and how to draft patterns and over the years of sewing professionally and working in other capacities in the garment design field I have come to understand where the attitudes have come from with regards to home sewing.

One of the major issues with making clothes from commercial patterns is that they generally use really large seam allowances.  They do this to give the home sewer more room for adjustments and errors.  Unfortunately the wider the seam allowance the bulkier the seams and the more clumsy a garment or project will look.  For commercially made garment the standard seam allowance is 1/2″.  It’s details like these that can make a big difference.

While most home sewers can’t draft their own patterns and don’t have control over the seam allowances (you can’t just use a 1/2″ seam allowance where a wider one has been given in a pattern because then the pieces won’t come together properly) there are a lot of things you can do to make your sewing look more professional.  Attention to detail is, as always, is the key to excellence.

See how puckered this hemmed edge is?  I pressed the fabric under first and it still has a puckery appearance after sewing.  It needs to be steam pressed again.  (See photo below)

 

1.  Pressing is vital. This is the single most important tip I can give you.  Unless the fabric you’re using was just bought off the bolt a half an hour ago, you need to press your fabric before cutting your pattern pieces out of it.  If you don’t you may end up with irregular pattern pieces that won’t fit well together.

Press your seams open.  Use steam on all fabrics and use the hottest setting allowable for the fabric you’re working with.  I can’t emphasize this enough: press open ALL of the seams you sew in any project as you go along.  Don’t wait until the end.  After each step in a project- PRESS THE SEAMS OPEN.  Also press any edges you’re turning under for hemming BEFORE you stitch it.  Your stitching will look much nicer.  Then press again.  Please see the difference this can make in the photos I have provided.

The first photo is how some sewers leave their edges.  It looks unprofessional.  This photo shows what  a difference pressing makes.

I have used many irons over the years both expensive and cheap and aside from the incredible industrial steam iron I got to use at my first industry job, the best one I’ve ever used in 20 years is the Black and Decker metal based iron I bought for $30.  It’s heavy, simple, and has few parts that can break.  I highly recommend this iron.

2.  Thread Color. Matching your thread to your project may seem like an unimportant detail but I assure you that the closer your thread matches the fabric color the less anyone will notice the thread at all.  Unless you are purposely using a contrasting thread for design effects, the thread is something no one should notice.  If you use a thread that’s darker or lighter than your fabric then any mistakes you make, such as uneven top stitching, will become more noticeable.

3.  Machine Tension. Your machine comes set at the average tension that is appropriate for sewing most things.  Over time the tension wheel can shift or the tension may need to be recalibrated by a professional sewing machine mechanic.  If the tension is off it’s almost always the upper thread tension that needs adjusting.  The middle setting is generally appropriate (around 5).  Read your sewing machine manual for information on what settings are appropriate for different projects and test it out.

How to know if the tension is off?  If your thread is so tight that it puckers the fabric as you’re sewing it, the tension is too tight.  If the seam is so loose that the thread is slightly loopy- the tension is too loose.

If you don’t have a manual for your machine, take it in to get a tune up and make sure you ask the person who works on your machine to explain to you how to use the tension dial.

4.  Top-stitching give the whole show away. Any time you have to do top-stitching you have a chance to make your project/garment look more professional.  Top-stitching should almost always (unless specifically directed otherwise) be 1/8″ from the edge.  It takes practice to make a clean even stitch but pay attention and you can do it well.  When you’re just learning to do top stitching: go slowly!  Use a seam gauge to help you keep the stitching at the length from the edge you need until your eye learns to judge it without measuring.  Set the gauge at 1/8″ and every couple of inches of sewing check the gauge against where your stitches are.  Pretty soon you won’t need a gauge.

5.  Bulky seams are gauche. Although I have never been sloppy with my drafting or sewing when I’m doing it professionally, I have been known to get quite lazy with the projects I do for myself.  One the steps I have occasionally skimped on is trimming the corners of seams when a pattern directs me to.  Or trimming the seam allowance around curves where typically more bulk in the seam prevents it from laying flat around a neckline or armscye.  The lesson I learned is that neglecting to take these little steps resulted in a visibly bulky seam that looked bad.  Whenever instructions say “trim the fabric…” do it.

6.  Making the fit. One of the greatest benefits of sewing your own garments is that you can make clothes that actually fit you.  If you are able to buy a commercial pattern, sew it up with no adjustments, and fit in it perfectly you just might not be human and I am most certainly extremely jealous!  What you need to remember is that patterns are designed to fit average body types.  Most people aren’t actually average.   The more you adjust a pattern to fit your figure specifically, the more professional it will look.  Each pattern includes instructions on how to make basic changes in fit.  Read these through.  Do test fittings as you sew your project.  Don’t wait until you’ve sewn a waistband on to see if the waist size is really a good fit on you.  Hem length is easy to adjust in a pattern so if you’re a little taller or a little shorter than average this is an easy detail to adjust.

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Because I have an excessively picky eater to feed who doesn’t eat enough protein, I am always looking for ways to get more into him.  He has a huge sweet tooth and when it was established that he likes peanut butter cookies I went on a search for the recipe with the most peanut butter and the least amount of sugar.  Naturally I had to adapt what I found and this recipe is the one that has evolved and become our standard.

These cookies don’t spread so you have to push them down a little bit after making them into a ball.  It isn’t necessary to make the classic hash marks with a fork, but I enjoy doing it this way.

Each cookie is about an inch and a half in size when baked.

This is the color the bottom should be when you take them out- a nice deep golden without being too dark or too light.

 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

yield: approximately 60 cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups light-brown sugar

1 1/2 cups smooth peanut butter

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

6 oz mini chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream the butter and sugars together in a big bowl until they are fluffy and light yellow.  Add the peanut butter and continue beating until it is completely blended with the butter.  Next beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla.

In a separate medium-size bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Gradually stir the flour in with the wet ingredients until completely incorporated.  Add the chocolate chips and mix them into the dough thoroughly.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  To form the cookies use about a table-spoon of dough and roll it in the palm of your hand to form a ball.  Place it on the cookie sheet and flatten it gently with either a fork or your hand.

When the sheet is full, bake for 10 minutes until the bottom of the cookie is golden brown.  Cool on a rack for a couple minutes before eating.

 

Recipe Notes: You can make this dough using a stand mixer, as I do, using the whisk attachment for mixing the wet ingredients and a paddle for adding the flour.  If you use a mixer to cream the eggs and sugar it will take about 5 minutes on high-speed to get it to the fluffy light consistency you want.  If you’re doing it by hand be sure to use a whisk and give it the full power of your arm muscles!  If you can get it, use organic peanut butter, but if not, be sure you’re using a natural peanut butter with no added sugars or preservatives.  We store this dough in the fridge and make batches of 12 cookies at a time.  We think they’re best fresh.  The yield you get will depend on the size of cookie you make.  You can make them larger than we do if you like a bigger cookie.

Leek Strata

A strata is an Italian egg and bread casserole.  You can assemble this dish and refrigerate it over night, then cook in the morning which makes it a great dish for brunches.  This version makes use of seasonal leeks when you don’t feel like eating them in the tradition potato leek soup (though that’s something I look forward to every year!) or leek quiche.  I liked making the strata because I could make a dish as satisfying as a quiche but with wheat bread instead of a crust.

The cubed bread in the buttered baking dish.

The eggs mixture being poured over the bread.

Leek Strata

Ingredients:

3 slices whole wheat bread, cubed

7 large eggs

3 medium sized leeks, chopped fine

1 cup milk

8 ounces feta cheese (or chevre), crumbled

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried thyme (or 2 tsp fresh thyme)

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

1 Tbsp butter

Method:  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on med/high heat and then add the leeks.  Saute them until they are soft.  Meanwhile butter a 3 quart casserole dish and fill the bottom with the cubed bread.

In a large mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, thyme, salt, and pepper until will blended.  Add the crumbled feta and the leeks when the leeks have cooled down a bit.  Mix well and then pour over the bread cubes making sure you spread it out evenly.  Let the dish sit for about ten minutes to let the eggs and milk soak the bread.

Bake in the oven between 45 minutes to an hour*.  The sides should pull away slightly and be golden.

Recipe notes:  This is a very flexible dish.  You can make many substitutions such as chard and onions for the leeks.  You can use a sharp cheddar instead of feta or add Parmesan to it.  Keep the bread and the milk proportions the same and change out any of the other ingredients you like.

*Check it at 45 minutes, which is when mine was done, but some ovens cook hotter and some cooler so if it seems a little wet on the top still let it cook a little longer.  It should be moist inside but the top shouldn’t have a runny appearance.