Coconut Bean, Chicken, and Avocado Salad

We had a yummy creation for supper.

Once a week we have beans that I cook in the crock pot.

This week the beans were cooked in coconut milk and salt.

I was taught by Julie Kartchner how 

to cook beans with a crock pot, boiling water, and seasonings.

Measure out your beans and wash them.

Add the beans, oil, and other seasonings to the crock pot on high.

Boil water.

Cover the beans with boiling water about 2 inches above the beans.

Start at 8 am and cook on low, the beans will be ready by supper.

Start at 12 Noon and cook on high.

I have cooked the beans at high elevation by starting them the evening before on low.

Milk Shake

He loves milk shakes. 

Only they aren't really milk shakes.

They are smoothies.

He insisted he get the biggest one

because he made it.

 

Watermelon

Here is one of our Sugar Baby Watermelons.

Since it is October, we probably should harvest it.

 

Hurricane was very interested and 

after posing picked it to share with Grandma.

Lemonade

We bought a case of lemons.

Sweetheart loves lemons.

He especially likes lemonade.

We are made lemonade concentrate 

that we will enjoy throughout the summer.

I like my lemonade tart.

Sweetheart likes his sweet.

 Hurricane laid down on the couch

and fell asleep after the work.

Grapefruit

On our way back from the Grand Canyon,

we stopped at the Mesa Temple.

On the Temple Grounds, fruit trees are scattered on the whole lot.

Mostly citrus trees are there.

The temple has a fruit picker, and anyone can pick the fruit.

Hurricane wanted to pick the fruit.

Hurricane wanted to eat the fruit right then.

His reaction was awesome.

He likes grapefruit like his Mom likes grapefruit.

His pucker is super cute.

Even his eye pucks up.

Underfoot on the other hand likes grapefruit like his Dad.

He never puckers up. He eats grapefruit like an apple.

Grapefruit is one of his favorite treats.

What a great blessing to have such diverse boys.

Meridell Park Apples

One of the joys of fall is picking fruit.

My Dad loves fruit trees. 

When my parents were looking for a home,

they wanted space enough for an orchard.

After living in their home for a while, they counted their fruit trees one day.

The count was 60 or more trees.

If having one orchard wasn't enough,

Grandpa Kirkham had another orchard.

Meridell Park's orchard has many, many trees 

- apple, white peach, pear.

We wanted Underfoot and Hurricane to know 

where some of our favorite foods come from 

and how to to pick, juice, and preserve apples.

The boys climbed in the trees to pick the apples.

The climbing wasn't always easy.

We picked clean 14 of the many trees available.

If we had had more time, we would have picked the entire orchard.

Mr. Awesome had pruned some of the trees very well.

The fruit on these trees was huge, sweet, and heavy.

A parable is told about having trials and that it is like God is pruning us

because when great efforts have been put forth 

then to have a trial to come and clip that experience away.

The parable goes on to say that pruning is necessary for 

the greatest blessings.

The boys loved climbing the trees and ladders. 

After picking for an entire morning, they were tired. 

Picking apples is the hardest part of processing or just eating.

They were hard workers and for that I am grateful.

We took an 8 foot trailer being optimistic to fill it to the top!

The sides are probably 3 foot.

Our optimism was greater than the time we had to spend.

We boxed up 5 banana boxes full of apples after juicing

with still a few apple left to be juiced by my brother and his wife.

Pressing apples is a lot of fun.

The apples are washed, 

chopped in the press' shredder, 

smooched with the pressing tool, 

pasteurized, and canned.

Our nieces came and helped.

Dark Hair stuck with me to end. We call the juice liquid gold.

In the end, we came home with 16 gallons of juice.

 We packed up 5 banana boxes full of apples.

We shared 4 of the 5 boxes and came home to can applesauce.

I still have a few left to put into a pie for the pie party.

We are grateful the apples were shared with us!

Thanks to my brothers, their wives, and children for hosting us!

Mango-Coconut Ice Cream

Recently we've borrowed our neighbor's Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker. (It is a proper noun I believe because so much goodness has come out of it lately.) We've made multiple batches of ice cream of different flavors. Our favorite has been this recipe. I made it up after reading lots of different ice cream recipes. I'm sure it isn't that unique to other ice creams, but I did feel that I made something super yummy.

Mango-Coconut Ice Cream
Source: Me

Ingredients
3 ripe mangoes (peel, deseeded, and pureed)
1 can 13.5 oz coconut milk
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp coconut extract
1 TBSP vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together and mix until the sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze let it go until firm. It will be a soft ice cream. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.To serve the following day, set out on counter for about 15 minutes to soften.

We have LOVED it!

Liquid Gold

When we moved to the desert, we wondered what would grow here. It wasn't like we were going to plant a traditional garden in the spring, water, weed, and harvest in the fall. The seasons here seem to be a perpetual summer with an occasional drop in temperature that will bring the blessed white snow. (I really miss the change of seasons.) There are season changes here when watching the cacti flower at different time of the year.

What did we find?  

Grapes!

This is our second season to harvest grapes. We have 7 different vines - 5 of which produced this year. We have one of each color grape (green, red, black) thanks to Sweetheart's sister as a Christmas present a few years ago. All the vines are a sweet table grape. There are many different types of grapes. One vine we will give away at the beginning of next year to make room for area specific blackberry plants.

We decided to juice and can our liquid gold for future celebrations or to sneak at night with a little Bubble Up.

We made 2 gallons. One quart broke during the bottling process. So sad that it broke. Aren't the colors just beautiful?

Classic Cherry Pie

One year ago I made my first pie crust with butter that was delish! I took pictures and then it has been in my drafts ever since. I made this pie again this year. Yet I unfortunately had some "help" from Hurricane to "make" the pie.

The recipe calls for cornstarch which I was out of. I called my neighbor who had an extra box. She sent it up along with the baskets she had used and other miscellaneous items. Hurricane took the cornstarch and used it like baking soda on the carpet and SPREAD THE ENTIRE BOX. I called Dr. Daddy who chuckled and asked if he could buy some more.

He bought me more around 7 pm. After dinner, baths, beds, and cooking we had a completed pie around 10:30 pm. We couldn't go to bed without a piece and ate hot pie around 10:45 pm. It was still delish.

So even though the pictures are 1 year old, the pies were both wonderful.

Classic Cherry Pie
Source: Martha Stewart
Ingredients

• For the filling
• 2 pounds fresh sour (tart) cherries (or drained thawed frozen), pitted (6 cups)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• For the crust
• Pate Brisee Pate Brisee
• All-purpose flour, for surface
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon heavy cream, for egg wash

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make the filling: Toss together cherries, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, and almond extract in a bowl.
2. Make the crust: Roll out 1 disk pate brisee to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. Pour in filling; dot top with butter. Refrigerate while making top crust.
3. Roll remaining disk pate brisee to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out 4 or 5 holes using a 3/4-inch round cookie cutter. Place on top of pie.
4. Trim bottom and top crusts to a 1-inch overhang using kitchen shears, and press together to seal around edges. Fold edges under; crimp as desired. Freeze for 20 minutes.
5. Brush crust with egg wash. Bake pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet set on the middle rack, with a foil-lined baking sheet on bottom rack to catch juices, until pie is bubbling in center and crust is golden, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Transfer pie to a wire rack, and let cool before serving.

Cook's Note

Pie can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Simple and Sweet: Fondue

For our anniversary, Sweetheart took me to The Melting Pot for dessert. I remembered that we own a fondue pot. It was a wedding gift that was seasoned this year.

When I explained to Underfoot what we were going to eat, he was a little hesitant. The second time he responded like this:

Then we introduced Hurricane to fondue....

And got this.

I love those intense eyes.

And this.

Our recipe is

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup 60% cocoa chips
• 1 cup homemade caramel
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• pound cake cut up in 1 inch cubes
• strawberries
• cherries (pitted of course)
• apples
• marshmallows
• other yummy things to dip

Warm the caramel. Turn off the heat and stir in the chips. Add the nuts.Cut up fruit and cake. Dip and enjoy!

Banana Muffins

When I was in graduate school, I managed my stress by baking. I baked a lot of bread - white and banana. My parents were kind enough to supply hundreds of pounds of flour for me to stay sane. I bought the other ingredients. I never ate what I made though. I always gave it away. It seemed contradictory to me to eat my stress and hold onto it. I would bake loaves of bread and cinnamon-sugar the pan to a yummy outside and have flavor contrast.

I also didn't eat sugar for a semester which was incredible control for me. I broke the sugar-free phase with a death by chocolate at Cold Stone Creamery for my birthday. Wow! That was a sugar overload!

Back to bread.... My friend gave me her recipe which I adapted and changed to mine. In my recipe book I have the measurements figured for a single, double, and triple. Now instead of a stress reliever, I make banana muffins for a day that we need a quick breakfast and can grab a bag out of the freezer and go. When I make a batch it is usually with 6-8 cups of bananas so that there can be a lot in the freezer. I use canning lids to be my muffin tins and can fit 23 muffins on a sheet cake pan. I've started to add whole wheat flour to the mixture. It is 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white. I use dry navy beans when I grind my grain. I do a ration of 3 cups wheat to 1 cup navy beans to 1 cup oatmeal ground together. The grain mixture is wheat, oatmeal, and navy beans. It makes a whole protein with the wheat and beans. The oatmeal keeps the bread moist.

Banana Bread

Source: Shaulan Morgan

Single
2/3 cup margarine or shortening (I use butter)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup thick sour milk (add 2 tsp vinegar cup and let stand)
1 tsp vanilla (I also had 1 tsp almond flavoring)
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips and/or nuts

Preheat oven to 350 . Grease pans with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix well. Slowly add flour and baking soda.

 
Add banana and nuts/chocolate and mix well. Divide batter evenly between loaf pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes. For muffins it is about 25 minutes.

I've also added the blueberries instead of nuts and chocolate. As with any bread watch it until it is done. Every where is different because of elevation and humidity.

We then bag the muffins 16 to a bag in gallon freezer bags when cooled. We suck the air out so that ice crystals don't form on the muffins and freezer burn. It is a great treat when you have to grab something quick and need to go or something to share with someone.

Dried Mangos

We love mangoes at our house. It is actually called candy. When it goes on sale, I buy a bunch and eat it fresh or dry it. I found a website that gives great direction on how to dehydrate almost anything. How To Garden Advise has a lot of information.

We love to garden at our house. Since we live in the desert, we have been compared to living on the moon and getting anything to grow is a miracle.We spent the day cleaning up our fall garden and improving our winter garden today. It is a little cold for us - around 55 degrees so I can't complain.

Here is a tutorial of drying mangoes.

1. Pick a ripe mango and peel it. There are mango cutters that will help with the seed but the peel will still need to be removed. Slice the mango into slices about 1/4 inch before placing it on a rack to dry. I have found that long strips work best instead of small chunks.

2. We have a dehydrator given to us by my Mom. The more orange colored mangoes were a littler sweeter and juicer. Dehydrators come in a variety of prices. Another method is to put the fruit on a cookie sheet and cover with saran wrap and place in the sun on a 100 degree day.

3. Place the fruit in the dehydrator at 100 degrees for 20 hours. The fruit should be pliable and not brittle when done.

This summer I bought about 30 pounds of mangoes and dried them, and my boys had them gone in about 3 months. It is a healthy snack and easy to take in the car for a trip.

Easy Ways with Cooking Chores

Shortcuts for the Cook by McCall's Equipment Editors

• When recipes specify a double boiler, a standard saucepan in a skillet may be substituted.
• To make a waxed-paper lining for a cake pan: Trace around bottom with a pencil; then cut.
• To remove bits of shell or a bit of yolk from egg white, use half of the broken shell.
• Line baking pans with aluminum foil. They will be easier to clean.
• To cut sticky foods, such as marshmallows and candied fruits, use scissors dipped in hot water.
• Don't be a fudge drudge. Butter an ice cube tray and its insert. pour in fudge, and cool, to produce uniform squares.
• Recipe calls for a banana? To slice it with no damage to fingers, leave one strip of peel; then slice toward the strip.
• Did you know that your blender is virtually self cleaning? Simply fill the container halfway with hot soap or detergent suds, and let it whirl briefly, to loosen clinging food. Then rise, and dry. Wipe base with a sudsy cloth, followed by a dry cloth.
• Frost cupcakes in half the time: Dip top of cupcake into soft frosting; twirl slightly; and quickly turn right side up to dry.
• Brown sugar soon dries out and hardens into a solid chunk. to break it up, remove lump from box, and rub it on the kitchen grater. or put a small piece of bread or apple in container, to prevent lumping.
• When peeling potatoes, apples, etc. peel them over paper towels placed in the sink. it will be easy to dispose of the peelings.
• When you are going to mix cold shortening with an electric mixer, heat the mixer blades in hot water for a few minutes. Prevents clogging the blades.
• Melt butter right in the pie pan when you make graham-cracker pie crust. Add cracker crumbs, and mix. Saves washing an extra pan, and you don't waste a bit of butter.
• If you need a wide piece of waxed paper, seal two strips together with a hot iron; seal cools in a few seconds.
• A quick, easy way to make fine bread crumbs is to break slices of bread, which have been crisped in the oven,into food mill, potato ricer, or blender. A twist of the wrist, adn the crumbs are ready to use.
• Mix French dressing in a baby's eight-ounce bottle. Measure ingredients by the ounce markings on the side of the bottle. To mix, screw on cap, and shake bottle vigorously.
• Bake shortcake in your electric waffle iron.Use a rich drop-biscuit batter, and bake as waffles. Saves heating the oven - a boon on a hot day.
• Turn won't meat with tongs or other blunt instrument, rather than a fork. You won't puncture the meat and let juices escape.
• To get a new bottle of catchup flowing, insert a drink straw. This takes air to the bottom, and the catchup flows easily.
• Use a wooden spoon to drain pineapple slices: Thread slices on spoon handle, held over a bowl.
• Become expert with a French knife, to save time sitting or chopping vegetables. For example, do six fresh green onions at a time. There's a technique, and this is it: Hold point of blade on the board; raise handle; then slash through the whole bunch. Celery, green beans, asparagus, rhubarb can be sliced the same way. Use this method, too, for finely chopping parsley and green pepper.
• Use a small funnel for filling pepper and salt shakers. Saves messy spilling, and it's thrifty. Handy, too, for pouring vinegar and oil into small-neck cruets. (Or for pouring hand lotion into a dressing-table container.)
  

Scotch Raisin Bread (Miriam B. Loo)

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk
2/3 cup molasses
1 1/2 cups uncooked oats
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch pans. In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In large mixing bowl, at high speed, beat eggs until light. Add sugar gradually beating until fluffy. At low speed, beat in buttermilk and molasses. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in oats, raisins, and nuts. Pour into loaf pans. Bake for one hour until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. Store 1 day before slicing.

Crispy Crunch Cookies

Ingredients
2 large ripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 cups granola
1 cup seedless raisins

Mash bananas to make 1 cup. Cream sugars and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in mashed bananas, egg and vanilla, blending well.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Beat into banana mixture. Beat granola and raisins.

Drop by teaspoonful three-inches onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until done. Remove to wire racks to cool. Make 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies.