Vanilla Creation

by admin | Mar 7, 2019 | Recipes

Where does vanilla come from?

Who doesn’t love the scent of vanilla? My sister Rosalyn sent me some vanilla beans several years ago. She had ordered some and had more than she could use, so she sent them to me with instructions on making vanilla. Store-bought vanilla has become a thing of the past in our cottage. Her gift has been enjoyed and shared many times over.

Did you know that vanilla comes from an orchid? Spanish explorers arriving on the Gulf Coast of Mexico in the early 16th century found the Aztecs using vanilla and gave vanilla its current name. Later that century Spanish and Portuguese sailors and explorers brought vanilla into Africa and Asia. They called it vainilla, or “little pod”. Although it is native to Mexico, it is now widely grown throughout the tropics. Indonesia and Madagascar are the world’s largest producers.

When a cyclone hit Madagascar and destroyed the harvest. the price of vanilla sky-rocketed. Currently, vanilla is fetching upwards of $600 per kilo—about $60 more than the price of precious silver. The cost of vanilla is about 10 times what it used to cost just a few years ago. For the treasured flavor and aroma of vanilla for baking, making it yourself is cost effective and results in a premium product.

Make your own vanilla extract

I love baking and sweetened delights almost always are enhanced with the delicious fragrance of vanilla. Rather than using imitation vanilla, make your own for a fraction of the store-bought price. The process is simple. Depending on your desired strength of vanilla extract, you will need 13-23 oz of vanilla bean to one gallon of vodka. You could use bourbon, brandy or rum instead of vodka; as long as it’s 80 proof alcohol, it will suffice. I use vodka because it is the most neutral in taste of the alcohols. You can use the extract as soon as six weeks but vanilla extract only gets better and better with age and optimally you should wait 6 months.

Supplies

I gathered the necessary equipment: vanilla beans, steeping bottle and vodka. Most recipes call for splitting the vanilla beans lengthwise and scraping the tiny vanilla beans from the bean, but I have just put the whole bean in the alcohol and let the beans steep with good results. I inserted Vanilla beans into a fancy bottle with a stopper and used a funnel to pour the vodka over the beans and up to the neck of the jar. Shake the bottle daily for a week and then put it away to continue steeping. Shake it occasionally to mingle the ingredients.

The steeping process shows in the color change from clear to amber in just two days. It will be at least six weeks before the vanilla is ready. I just leave the vanilla beans in the bottle until it runs out. I have been known to refill the bottle with vodka and use the beans again for a second steep with good results. Vanilla extract makes a wonderful gift.

Other kitchen uses for vodka

The 1.75 liter of vodka was only $13.99. Note: I also use vodka to preserve ginger root so that it doesn’t spoil before I have a chance to use it in various recipes. Just peel the ginger root, put it in a glass container with a tight lid, cover it with vodka, and refrigerate between uses. I’m also going to make the Apple Vodka recipe I saw on Pinterest the other day with the left over alcohol from the vanilla project.

DISCLAIMER Cottage Shopper is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Family Favorite Crepes

by admin | Mar 7, 2019 | Recipes

My son gave me a crepe pan for Christmas which was his subtle way of inducing more crepes from my kitchen. The specialized pan made it easy to create uniformly thin crepes perfectly.

My family loves crepes. We often eat them as a light supper or festive luncheon. My son recently brought home a recipe that makes a scrumptious healthy breakfast especially for kids with sleep-over guests.

At our family get-together luncheon crepes were requested. Our son brought bananas and Nutella to the occasion for each of us to try. Oh my!!! I was hooked from the moment the hazelnut chocolate spread bananas hit my taste buds. Besides being delicious the crepes had healthy aspects as well.

Healthy Goodness

Bananas are rich in antioxidants and several nutrients. A medium-sized banana has about 105 calories. Bananas hold very little protein and almost no fat.

Bananas are rich in potassium and fiber. They may help prevent asthma, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and digestive problems. One medium-sized banana contains 422 milligrams of potassium.

Potassium also helps muscles to contract and nerve cells to respond. It keeps the heart beating regularly and can reduce the effect of sodium on blood pressure.

Potassium may reduce the risk of kidney stones forming as people age. In turn, healthy kidneys make sure that the right amount of potassium is kept in the body.

I want to share our family’s delicious delight with crepes, so here’s the easiest crepe recipe you’ll ever find.

Recipe

Basic Crepes
Ingredients:

• 6 Tablespoons flour
• 3 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons softened butter
• ½ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Directions:
• Put all ingredients in a blender and mix.
• Let sit for 20 minutes.
• Spray crepe pan with cooking spray and heat pan over medium-high heat.
• When water drop sizzles on heated pan, pour a small amount of crepe batter in center of pan and swirl to cover pan with a thin layer of the batter.
• When bubbles appear on the top surface of the crepe, flip the crepe and quickly toast the other side. (Due to the hot pan and a thin crepe, this happens very quickly.)
• Place crepe on a plate and continue cooking individual crepes.
• Place paper towel between each crepe to keep them from sticking together.

Filling:

• Banana
• Nutella

Slice a banana on an open crepe and drizzle with Nutella. Fold the crepe over the filling and enjoy!
This crepe recipe makes 5-6 crepes. It’s easy to double for more!

Canning the Pumpkin Harvest

by admin | Mar 4, 2019 | Recipes

Pumpkins are so colorful in the garden peeking orange through the trailing green vines. My straw bale garden yielded five big pumpkins in the Fall. I decided to can the pumpkins and preserve them for future use. Never having canned pumpkins before, I got out the trusty Ball Blue Book: Home Canning and Freezing Recipes and Methods. My mother-in-law loaned this to me years ago. I still have it and use it for putting food by.

Canning pumpkins is a simple three step process. First, cook the pumpkin. Second, scoop the cooked pumpkin from its shell and pack cooked pumpkin into clean, sterilized canning jars adding 1 teaspoon of salt to each quart of pumpkin. Finally, process the canned pumpkin in a pressure cooker at 10 pounds of pressure. Pints are processed for 60 minutes and quarts for 80 minutes in order to insure that no bacteria can invade the contents.
The first step was cooking the pumpkin.

With my bounteous supply I found that my inherited Westinghouse roaster oven (again from my mother-in-law) could handle the bounteous pumpkins. The Oster Roaster Oven can accommodate at least one or two large pumpkins at a time. You could also bake the pumpkin in a conventional oven at 350 degrees until softened or use a vegetable steamer; however, for large quantities of pumpkin, I found the roaster oven ideal.

After cooking the pumpkin, scoop the flesh into a large bowl and fill the sterilized canning jars. I use my dishwasher to clean and sterilize my canning supplies. It’s simple to leave the clean jars in the dishwasher until time to fill them. Add one teaspoon of salt to each quart or ½ teaspoon of salt to each pint of pumpkin.

After you fill the jars, wipe the jar rim and threads and seal with a canning lid screwed down tightly. Place the sealed jars in a pressure cooker. Since pumpkins are a low acid food, a pressure cooker is the only kitchen utensil which supplies enough heat to destroy the spores of bacteria, which cause flat-sour, and some other types of spoilage.

To pressure can:

• Add 2-3 inches of water (or as recommended by manufacturer) to canner and space jars so they are not touching.
• Place canner over heat and lock lid according to manufacturer’s instructions.
• Leave the petcock (or vent) open until steam escapes for 10 minutes.
• Close petcock and bring pressure to 10 pounds and adjust heat to hold pressure at 10 pounds. Process pints 60 minutes or quarts 80 minutes.
• Remove canner from heat.
• Let pressure fall to zero. Wait 2 minutes, then slowly open petcock.
• Open canner. Remove jars.
• Do not tighten bands.
• Stand jars several inches apart and out of draft to cool for about 12 hours. Then remove bands.
• Test seal by pressing center of lid. If dome is down, the jar is sealed.
• Store in a dry, dark, reasonably cool place. Since I live in the Rocky Mountains, I adjust the steam pressure. The instructions listed above are for altitudes from sea level to 2000 feet. For altitudes 2000-3000 feet process at 11 ½ pounds pressure; 3000-4000 feet process at 12 pounds, 4000-5000 feet process at 12 ½ pounds; 5000-6000 feet process at 13 pounds pressure, 6000-7000 feet process at 13 ½ pounds pressure.
• Try out some of my pumpkin recipes in my blog article Capturing the Pumpkin Harvest: 10 Recipes to color your world delicious Enjoy your garden bounty all winter long. Home preserved foods remain safe for eating far longer than their first year, but their quality does decline the longer the jars remain on the shelf.

Get more recipes from my garden produce cookbook, Eat What You Grow

This is a great book for those with gardens or even those wanting to start a garden – or even people getting their produce from the grocery store! My kids love asparagus so the asparagus pasta salad will be the first recipe I make. Thanks!