Cider Braised Cabbage

I initially cringed at the thought of cabbage, but in uploading the recipe, I've changed my mind. This might be good. Any takers?

Cider Braised Cabbage

2T butter
1 med onion, sliced
1 2lb head cabbage
1/2 cup apple cider
2T vinegar

-Melt butter in large pot over medium-high heat.
-Add onion, sauté until beginning to soften.
-Add cabbage, saute until slightly wilted, tossing frequently.
-Stir in apple cider.
-Uncover; simmer until almost all liquid in pot evaporates. Stir in vinegar.
-Season with salt and pepper.

Spiced Green Tomatoes

The Farmer's Markets are in full swing all over New England, with their bins of kale, peppers, lettuce and everything else that's leafy and green. It's not quite tomato season yet, but you might be able to find some green ones.




Spiced Green Tomatoes

5 lbs green tomatoes, sliced
5 1/2 cup sugar
2 cups vinegar
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
1 TB white mustard seed
1 TB cinnamon

- Wash but don't peel the tomatoes.
- Combine all the ingredients and cook gently until tomatoes turn clear.

Cider Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries

We just had something remarkably similar to this at my mother's house over the weekend. Must be a holiday thing!

Cider Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries

3 1/2 lb sweet potatoes

1 1/2 cup apple juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

5 TB butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 ts all spice

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/8 cup chopped green onions.

-Cook potatoes until half done.

-Add the spices, remaining ingredients, into sauce pan. Cook until the juice is syrup.

Failure to Pie...

Good evening everyone,

I just spoke to Grammy Gertie a few hours ago, and she extends a Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

I called her tonight because my new office (of my new job, of my new career!) held a Thanksgiving potluck today. There were some untraditional dishes -- guacamole, greek salad, Elmo cupcakes, etc. I chose to bring the pie.

Unfortunately, I'm not as flawless at this pie making thing as Grammy is....

Literally, I got up at 5 a.m. this morning, and proceeded to roll out dough and slice apples in the dark. It took forever. I more or less slept-cooked, not realizing until 7am that I'd forgotten to add some non-essential ingredients. No bother. These were going to be amazing pies.

By 8am, the pies had baked, but not cooled. It was time to leave for work, and I have a half hour commute on a crowded subway. Hmm... clearly I didn't work out the logistics ahead of time.

First, I tried walking with them in a bag to the T stop. They were too fragile even for that. I ended up hailing a cab -- an expensive, luxurious ride for my baked friends. I was determined that they make it to the office in one piece.

It was pointless. When I got there, the pies were all smashed up into a mush of crust and filling. I might as well have brought apple crisp. Pies make terrible commuters. Luckily my coworkers were nice about it.

The best thing though, was when I told Grammy about my pie troubles, she said, "Well, how many pies did you make?" It almost sounded a little competitive.

"Two," I said.

She quietly chuckled and said, "Well that's... okay."

On to the recipe! This never appeared on the Thanksgiving table to my memory, but it was in the recipe box. Double click the image to enlarge it.

Harvard Beets

You know what vegetable sounds wicked smart?

Harvard Beets

3 cans whole beets

2 TB whole cloves

1 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

3 TB vegetable oil

3 TB ketchup

1/8 ts salt

3 TB cornstarch

1 ts vanilla

-Drain beets, but save 1 1/2 cups juice.

-Cut beets into wedges.

-In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, ketchup and salt. Put cloves in a strainer, and add. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove cloves.

-Combine cornstarch and beet juice until smooth. Stir into sugar mixture. Bring to boil.

-Add beets and vanilla.

Frozen Waldorf Salad

Good morning,

I'm fitting in this post between work assignments... as you do. Hope everybody's having a wonderful July so far! Here's something cool to try on a hot summer's day.

Frozen Waldorf Salad

1 can(8oz) crushed pineapple, undrained

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/8 ts salt

2 med apples (red delicious), chopped

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup whipped cream

lettuce leaves

-Drain pineapple and set juice aside. Add water to juice until it equals 1/2 cup.

-Combine juice, eggs and next 3 ingredients, and cook over medium heat, stirring until thick. Let cool.

-Stir in pineapple, apple, celery and pecans.

-Fold in whipped cream.

-Spread mixture in pan, cover and freeze until firm.

-To serve, let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Cut into squares and serve over lettuce lined plates.

Grated Carrot Salad

This "salad" I definitely remember from almost every summer lunch we had at Grammy's. It's very sweet, almost like the dessert before dessert.

In fact, here's the lunch menu on a typical Saturday lunch at Grammy's:

a plate of cold cuts (including liverwurst -- served with stone ground mustard and Hellmann's mayonnaise), baked beans, sliced tomato, corn on the cob, grated carrot salad, potato salad, and milk in a skinny green glass. Follow with cake or pie, and whipped cream.

Grated Carrot Salad

carrots, grated

crushed pineapple

white raisins/ sultanas

mayonnaise

small marshmallows (optional)

apples, chopped (optional)

celery, chopped (optional)

-basically, just mix everything together and serve!

Broccoli & Red Onion Salad

This recipe sounds extremely healthy... until closer inspection!

Broccoli & Red Onion Salad

2 heads broccoli, chopped

1 red onion, sliced

1 lb bacon, cooked-drained-crumbled

1-2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

-Toss the above ingredients. Dress with the mixture below:

1 cup mayo

1/2 cup sugar

2 TB red wine vinegar

Pickled Cabbage Stuffed in Green Pepper

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Alas, there is no corned beef and cabbage recipe in Grammy's recipe box (nor did we expect there to be one). I've chosen this recipe for today because it's:

A) Very green.

B) Involves cabbage.

C) Sounds a little disgusting... which is similar to my memory of Irish cuisine (kidding, kidding... I lived there for 6 months and the curries and stews were terrific!)

Pickled Cabbage Stuffed in Green Pepper

-Cut cabbage and salt.

-Let it come to a boil in equal parts of sugar, water, and vinegar (1 cup of each).

-Boil until sugar is dissolved then add 6-8 drops of cinnamon oil.

-Put peppers in solution and keep good and warm (30 min).

-Put into canning jars, pour hot juice over, and seal.

Carrots with Ginger

A little bit of (not-so) healthy food, to get us into spring shape!

Carrots with Ginger

2 lbs carrots, cut in 1/4 inch thick

1 cup fresh orange juice

1/4 cup butter

2 TB sugar

1 1/2 TB grated fresh ginger

-Mix ingredients

-Bake in covered dish at 350 degrees for 20 minutes

-Garnish with freshly chopped parsley

Onion Pie

I'm not sure if this dish is best for breakfast, lunch or supper, but it sounds pretty interesting. Double click the image to enlarge it.
Apologies - the rest of the card should read:

-Pour egg and cream into crust over onions.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Marinated Asparagus and Diced Tomatoes

How good is your ounce to tablespoon conversion? I'm going to type this recipe as is, then translate it into tablespoons at the bottom:

Marinated Asparagus and Diced Tomatoes

1 bunch asparagus

1 cup plum tomatoes, diced

1 oz fresh basil (1 tsp dried)

3 oz oil

1 oz balsamic vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

-Wisk together the basil, oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

-Blanche asparagus for 3 minutes, and rinse in cold water

-Mix asparagus and tomatoes into basil oil and vinegar.

-Refrigerate until serving.

1 fluid ounce = 2 Tablespoons

(so this recipe needs 6 TB oil, and 2 of balsamic vinegar)

Corn Salad

Good for a picnic (which is many, many months away at this point).

Corn Salad

2 dozen ears of corn

1 good sized cabbage

4 or 5 green/red peppers

2 bunches celery

3 cups sugar

3 pts vinegar

1 pt cooked lima beans

-mix and boil 1/2 hour, stir often

I imagine the yield on this is huge....

Christmas Cucumber

I don't recall eating this as a child, but it sounds very... green. You know, in a festive way.

"Christmas Cucumber

2 or 3 cukes sliced

1 med onion

1 green pepper

2 TBsp salt

1 TBsp mustard seed

1 TBsp celery seed

2 cups sugar

1 cup white vinegar"

- Mix vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard and celery seed, heat but do not boil until sugar and salt dissolve.

-Cool and pour over vegetables, mix.

-Put in canning jar, covering with liquid. Refrigerate.