My Stained Apron

Blackberry Fritters

November 7, 2014 by Holly

“I was going to make fritters today…” (hubby’s eyes light up)
“But I ran out of time” (hubby appears devastated.)
I’ve been promising for over a year to make fritters for my doughnut loving hubby and finally got around to it. I even made a double batch, making half into apple fritters, and the other half into these blackberry fritters, since the dough is the same.
I’m not sure why I put it off for so long, they really weren’t difficult once I simplified the recipe a bit. Make them for the doughnut fan in your life and win a bazillion brownie points. 🙂

BLACKBERRY FRITTERS
Makes 1 dozen

Step 1:
1 1/2 T active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar

Step 2:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 1/4 cups flour

Step 3:
2 T shortening
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the blackberries:
1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries
1 T sugar
2 T flour

For the berry glaze:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup plus 1 T hot water, more if needed
1 T berry jam

Place all of step #1 ingredients in a mixer bowl and let bloom for 5 minutes.
In another bowl, whisk together #2 ingredients, set aside.
Add #3 ingredients to the mixer bowl and using a paddle attachment, mix for a minute to break up the shortening.
Add a third of the dry ingredients (from step #2), when blended in add another third. Switch to dough hook and add the last third.
Knead for 2 minutes. Dough with be smooth and slightly sticky.
Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Roll dough into a 10 inch square on a lightly floured counter, about 1/2 inch thick.
Spread blackberries on half of square, then sprinkle with the sugar and flour.

Fold dough over to seal in blackberries. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut into 1/2 inch strips.

Now cut the other direction, making 1/2 inch squares.

Scoop and rearrange the dough.

Cut again in both directions.

Now that you have tons of teeny pieces, form them into a log, about 12 inches long by 3 inches thick.

Lightly coat log in flour.

Slice log into 12 equal pieces.

Pat each piece into a palm sized circle and place on a lightly floured cookie sheet and set aside to raise for 30 minutes.

Fry over medium heat in at least 2″ of oil. Place on a wire rack set over a cookie sheet.
Make the glaze: Whisk all glaze ingredients together until smooth, add more hot water a tsp at a time if too thick.
Dip one side of fritters into glaze and place back on wire rack for excess to drip off. Let glaze harden for about 10-15 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Top Pot Doughnuts

Filed Under: Doughnuts / Pastries

Apple Fritters

November 7, 2014 by Holly

“I was going to make fritters today…” (hubby’s eyes light up)
“But I ran out of time” (hubby appears devastated.)
I’ve been promising for over a year to make fritters for my doughnut loving hubby and finally got around to it. I even made a double batch, making half for these apple fritters, and the other half into blackberry fritters, since the dough is the same.
I’m not sure why I put it off for so long, they really weren’t difficult once I simplified the recipe a bit. Make them for the doughnut fan in your life and win a bazillion brownie points. 🙂

APPLE FRITTERS
Makes 1 dozen

Step 1:
1 1/2 T active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 tsp sugar

Step 2:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 1/4 cups flour

Step 3:
2 T shortening
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the apples:
2 1/2 cups chopped apples (chopped at 1/2″)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 T cinnamon
1 T flour

For the glaze:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup plus 1 T hot water, more if needed

Place all of step #1 ingredients in a mixer bowl and let bloom for 5 minutes.
In another bowl, whisk together #2 ingredients, set aside.
Add #3 ingredients to the mixer bowl and using a paddle attachment, mix for a minute to break up the shortening.
Add a third of the dry ingredients (from step #2), when blended in add another third. Switch to dough hook and add the last third.
Knead for 2 minutes. Dough with be smooth and slightly sticky.
Put dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel. Let rise 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
While dough is rising prepare the apples. Heat the apples, sugar, and lemon juice in a skillet over medium high heat and cook 5-7 minutes, until liquid has evaporated and apples are softened. Set aside to cool.
Roll dough into a 10 inch square on a lightly floured counter, about 1/2 inch thick.

Spread apples on half of square, then sprinkle with cinnamon and flour.

Fold dough over to seal in apples.

Using a bench scraper or knife, cut into 1/2 inch strips.

Now cut the other direction, making 1/2 inch squares.

Scoop and rearrange the dough.

Cut again in both directions.

Now that you have tons of teeny pieces, form them into a log, about 12 inches long by 3 inches thick.

Lightly coat log in flour.

Slice log into 12 equal pieces.

Recipe adapted from Top Pot Doughnuts

Filed Under: Doughnuts / Pastries

Pan Fried Pork Chops

October 30, 2014 by Holly

I don’t know if this qualifies as a “recipe” but there are a few tricks to getting simple pork chops to turn out great you should know. The first is cutting a couple slits, otherwise they will buckle up in the middle and not lay flat, which means you won’t get an even sear. The other is letting them rest for a few minutes to allow the moisture in the chop to start moistening the flour. If you put them in the pan immediately you’ll have more loose flour that will start to burn before the chops are done.
My favorite way to cook pork chops is smoking them, but this is a great quick dinner, especially when paired with these amazing brussel spouts with bacon and walnuts. Or maybe mashed acorn squash.

PAN FRIED PORK CHOPS

1 cup flour
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Oil, to coat bottom of pan
4 bone in pork chops (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick) I used rib cut

Combine the flour and spices together in a shallow bowl.
Cut a couple slits in each chop, about 2 inches deep and 2 inches apart, cutting thru the fat.

Coat in seasoned flour, and let rest on a plate for about 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. (You don’t need it to come up the sides, just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet.)
Cook the chops, flipping once, until cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side.

Filed Under: Pork

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

October 21, 2014 by Holly

You may be familiar with making your own pumpkin puree, but butternut squash is another favorite of mine. I make some every fall and freeze in 15 oz containers (so it translates well for recipes that use a 15 oz can). I use it to make sauces, like this one, or gnocchi (you can follow the recipe for the pumpkin gnocchi, just sub out the butternut).
Butternut squash has a great texture and mouth feel so it makes a wonderful sauce without needing to add milk or cream. This is such a quick and easy recipe, and having the squash made ahead of time makes it ridiculously easy.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PASTA SAUCE (With homemade bacon!)

8 oz (or a pound if you like) bacon lardons (you could also use chopped bacon, or panchetta, or omit entirely)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 T fresh sages, very finely minced
15 oz butternut squash puree
2 cups chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound pasta (something with lots of nooks and crannies to hold the sauce works best)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated or shredded

Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crispy. Drain and set aside.
Remove all drippings but a light coating in pan. Add garlic and sage and saute until fragrant.
Add squash and chicken stock to pan and cook for 5-10 minutes over medium to medium high heat until reduced slightly and thickened slightly.
Season with salt and pepper to taste, add pasta and toss to combine.
Top with Parmesan cheese and reserved bacon.

NOTES: To make this without any meat, just use a tsp of olive oil to saute the garlic and sage.
If you have fresh butternut squash, peel, seed, and cube it. Add about 2 1/2 cups to pan instead of the puree along with the chicken stock. Cover pan and cook through, then puree. Proceed again per recipe.

Filed Under: Pasta, Sauces / Condiments

DIY Smoked Bacon

October 15, 2014 by Holly

I love a good kitchen experiment. This takes kitchen experiments to all new level though. If you’ve never had homemade bacon you have no idea what you’re missing. It makes bacon from the store seem so wrong and inferior. It is really very easy and while it takes some time you don’t have to do much during the time. If you don’t have a smoker yet I don’t know what better argument there is than homemade smoked bacon 🙂

I like to cut the pork belly into manageable sizes, since it makes it easier to cure them in ziplock bags and also when it comes time to slice it later on. The rub amounts are for each pound of pork belly, so adjust accordingly. I did half of mine in brown sugar rub, and the other half in the peppercorn herb rub. We go back and forth on which we like better and I honestly can’t tell you which is better! Next time I might try adding a little maple syrup as well. You can play around with the seasonings, just be sure to use the right amount of tenderquick, as that will keep bad bacteria from growing. You can use pink salt, but you need to be careful when using that, as too much can actually be lethal. I feel like tenderquick is a little safer for a home kitchen.

Pork belly, rind on

BROWN SUGAR RUB:
1 T Morton’s tenderquick
1 T brown sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

CRACKED PEPPERCORN AND HERB RUB:
1 T Morton’s Tenderquick
1 tsp sugar
1 T crushed black peppercorns (Using the side of a chef’s knife, press down to crack)
1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 crushed garlic clove)
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
1 crumbled dried bay leaf

Place pork belly in a shallow pan and rub all sides with rub. Place in a ziplock bag with any remaining rub.
Refrigerate for 7 days, turning ever day to redistribute the rub and any liquid.

After 7 days it’s time to rinse the rub off. You don’t want to skip this, as the bacon will be too salty if you don’t.

After you have rinsed the pork belly, place it on a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet and refrigerate for 2 days.

Time to smoke! Hot smoke, rind side up, for about 2 hours (we used a mix of hickory and cherry) or until it reaches 150 degrees.
If you don’t have a smoker you could bake it in the oven at about 200 degrees on a rack set over a rimmed sheet. But for optimal flavor, we’re going to smoke. 🙂

Above is what the rind side looks like when done, below is rind side down:

Trim the rind off. Unless you want rind-on bacon, then you would leave it on.

Cool, then slice in desired thickness. It’s easiest if you slice with fat side down.

You’ll want to cut the ends off to get nice neat slices. But you don’t want to waste any! So cut the ends into 1/2 inch cubes, or lardons. You can throw these in a freezer ziplock and they won’t freeze together solid. You can pull out however much you want at a time. These are great for chili, cook until crisp to top baked potatoes, salads… pretty much anything you want to taste amazing.

To store the bacon I weigh out half pound amounts, wrap in butcher paper and freeze.

Filed Under: DIY / How to..., Grilling / Smoking

Tea by the Sea

October 3, 2014 by Holly

This summer we had a “Tea by the Sea” for my daughters and few of their friends (and the moms). It was such a fun way to end summer. These ideas would work well for a mermaid type birthday party as well.

I kept the invites simple, printed on vellum and ripped the sides, attached to brown paper using some washi tape.

My girls had alot of fun making each of their friends a mermaid clothespin doll. We used them as a napkin ring and they each got to take theirs home.

We kept decorations simple since we had made so much fun edible things. just a few shells and such we had around the house.

For the kids I made “Mermaid Lemonade”. Mix lemonade and blue Hawaiian punch. ( I also had hot herbal tea for the moms).

I made pink seahorses using pink candy coating and a seahorse chocolate mold, then attached them to a pretzel rod dipped in blue candy coating, then sprinkled some sprinkles and pearl candy around them.

And of course coral reef candy. Make it yourself using the recipe here.

Smores Starfish, recipe found here , and some cookie clams made with cookies, frosting, and candy pearls.

I’m not the best at decorating sugar cookies, but the kids didn’t care!

And of course the sandcastle cake went in the middle of the table

And the teeny cupcakes disappeared very fast!

Sea Glass candy, recipe here

Seafoam (also called honeycomb candy) recipe here

Lime mousse, recipe here. I served this for both the kids and adults.

Fairy bread, of course. A must for every tea party. Cut bread with an octopus cookie cutter and spread with frosting or softened butter and coat with sprinkles. I mixed a few colors in with blue and added some candy eyes.

Using some mini croissants we made crabs cutting the mouths from marshmallows and the candy eyes with “glued” onto marshmallows with frosting and put on toothpicks. I put ham and cheese around them so the kids could make them how they wanted.

For the moms I made some tea sandwiches.

And I frosted some of the cupcakes with plain frosting and put a chocolate shell on top instead of the gummy candy for the kids ones.

And lots of sweets to go around!

It was a fun day! I wouldn’t be surprised if we do it again next summer!

Filed Under: Parties, Tea time

Quick Sea Glass Candy

October 3, 2014 by Holly

While microwave hard candy tends to get chewier faster than regular, it is incredibly quick and easy. Perfect for a quick Sea Glass candy for a “Tea by the Sea”!

MICROWAVE HARD CANDY

1 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
candy flavoring and coloring, if desired
powdered sugar for coating
For sour candy, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp citric acid when adding the candy flavoring

Mix the sugar and corn syrup together in a 4 cup microwave safe glass measuring cup.
Cover snugly with plastic wrap and microwave for 3 minutes on high.
Carefully remove the plastic wrap, stir quickly and place new plastic wrap on measuring cup.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes 30 seconds. Carefully remove plastic wrap and stir.
After boiling has ceased stir in desired coloring and flavoring if desired. (about 1/2 tsp of candy flavoring is enough)
Pour onto greased cookie sheet (I like to line it with a silicone mat) or pour into candy molds.

Cover with a piece of parchment paper and break into pieces.

Toss with powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container.

For the seaglass candy I made 3 batches, one plain, one blue, and one green then mixed all together.
Recipe source: LorAnn Oils

Filed Under: Candy / Confections

Smores Starfish

October 3, 2014 by Holly

SMORES STARFISH

One batch of marshmallows, I used my recipe found here
chocolate or candy coating for dipping
graham cracker crumbs (I actually used leftover cookie crumbs from the sandcastle cake)

Make the mashmallows but spread into a baking sheet instead of a 9 by 13 pan. Just spray the pan with nonstick coating such as Pam, don’t coat them in the powdered sugar mixture.
When set cut into stars with an oiled cookie cutter. I had a starfish cutter but a plain star is fine.

Dip into melted chocolate or candy coating and drop into cookie or graham cracker crumbs, spooning the crumbs to coat the top as well. Place on a silicone mat or wax paper to set.

Don’t throw away those marshmallow scraps! Use them in hot cocoa, or make the best rocky road you’ll ever taste.
Cut into chunks and put in a bowl with some peanuts and cocoa nibs (or your choice of nut).

Add melted chocolate to coat and spread on a silicone mat or wax paper. Let chocolate harden then cut into squares.

Filed Under: Candy / Confections

Sandcastle Cake

October 3, 2014 by Holly

We had a “Tea by the Sea” before school started for my daughters and a couple of their friends and of course we had to make a sandcastle cake! It was so easy and fun.

SANDCASTLE CAKE

Cake, 9 by 13 pan
Frosting
Cookies or graham crackers, I used danish butter cookies
Sanding sugar or granulated sugar, optional
4 sugar ice cream cones
Mini marshmallows
Bamboo skewer and chewy candy for flag

Process cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs. Mix in some sanding sugar for some sparkle if desired. Set aside.
I cut my cake like this: I ended up using the 2 larger squares and 2 smaller squares instead of 3 of each. These are for the 2 main sections.
And the 4 circles are for under the cones.

Stack the 2 larger squares, then center the 2 smaller squares on top, using frosting inbetween each layer.

Frost the outside and coat with the crumbs. Start adding your mini marshmallow border on top.

Pinch a little corner of the mini marshmallow and coat in frosting then roll in crumbs.

Put a circle of cake at each corner and frost and coat sides with crumbs. Top with a sugar cone (I found it easier to frost and crumb coat them first).

If you want a flag, roll out a chewy candy and cut one out, then poke a skewer thru one end. Place in cake.

I also baked some cake in tiny condiment cups (You can find them at restaurant supply stores like United Grocers Cash and Carry). They made the cutest teeny cupcakes. I frosted them and topped with some gummy sealife, chocolate sunflower seeds and sprinkles. If you’re local you can find them at the amazing candy store Candy Babel.
Sprinkle some crumbs around them on the plate for sand if desired.

Filed Under: Cake / Cake Pops

Canning Journal

September 24, 2014 by Holly

I’m so excited to have this done! I couldn’t find what I wanted online allready so I made my own and wanted to share with you all too.
In my great grandmother’s journal she would record all of her canning and I remember as a kid finding this amazing to read. (Since they were farmers the numbers were pretty big of course!) As a newlywed I wanted to carry this on so I tried to keep track, with mixed results every year. So I’ve finally made a binder to keep it in with my favorite recipes in sheet protectors as well. I know I’ll remember since it’s all together and handy. I love looking back and seeing what I’ve accomplished all recorded. It’s also helpful when trying to remember which recipe I used when I made something we just loved.
I made a few options for the cover page since I thought all the images were so perfect and couldn’t decide and both artist’s agreed to let me use their artwork.
And plenty of links for other helpful things to add in as well!
I’m making a few for gifts for canning friends and found the cute mason jar cookie cutters at Cost Plus World Market to tie on as well. Hope this comes in handy for you all as well!

A few options for the cover page:
From Art by Amanda Hillburn:

Watercolor jar canning journal cover (Thanks Amanda!)

Or this one using images from Aimee at Twigg Studios:

Hand painted canning journal cover (Thanks Aimee!)

canning journal

Or if you’d rather the title was food preservation journal.

And some other handy things to have in the binder:

This Ball Produce Purchase Guide is so handy to have in sheet protectors and easy to find instead of sifting through my canning books.

Dating a Ball Jar, Logo history just for fun. I have some of my Grandmother’s old jars and I have been shocked to realize how old some of them are! Even more amazing is how good of condition they are in and to think how many times they’ve been used!

And of course print off some of these cute labels and have on hand in a pocket:

Adorable “Canned with Love” labels

Super fun labels that you can make into shrinky dinks!

And if that’s not enough, here’s a link to a ton more labels and tags

Filed Under: Canning

My Stained Apron

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Blackberry Fritters

Apple Fritters

Pan Fried Pork Chops

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

DIY Smoked Bacon

Tea by the Sea

Quick Sea Glass Candy

Smores Starfish

Sandcastle Cake

Canning Journal

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