Grape Chutney, a new favorite

This recipe is from a different source, but just as good.  We ate it over whipped cream cheese spread on toasted Italian bread on Friday evening, and almost didn't get to our main course (baked potatoes with butter and sour cream).  The potatoes were raised by our friends Betsy and Layne Moeller near Rosholt, SD.

GRAPE CHUTNEY

From Cuisine at Home, Issue 77, October 2009

Spread chevre or any soft cream cheese over toasted bread, then top with a spoonful of this sweet-hot chutney.

Makes 1 ½ cups; Total time: 45 minutes

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup minced shallots (2 shallots)

1 Tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)

1 tsp cumin seed

1 cup each red and green seedless grapes (11 oz. total)

1 cup diced red bell pepper (1 large)

¼ cup golden raisins

¼ c. cider vinegar

1 jalapeno chile pepper, minced (3 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp minced fresh gingerroot

¼ cup grape juice (white or red – chutney made with white will have a brighter color)

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

¼ tsp kosher salt

Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.  When oil is hot, add shallots, garlic, and cumin seed; sauté until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Keep stirring so the shallots don’t brown.

Add grapes, bell pepper, raisins, vinegar, jalapeno and gingerroot.  Reduce heat to medium-low; cover skillet and let chutney simmer for 15 minutes. 

Remove lid; stir in grape juice and brown sugar. As the grapes cook down, crush them with a spoon. Continue to simmer mixture, stirring often, until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 15 minutes.  Remove chutney from heat and stir in salt; let cool.

Serve chutney over cheese and crackers, or as a condiment for chicken, pork, lamb or beef. 

Per Tbsp: 37 cal, 1 gram total fat; 21 mg sodium; 6 g carb;

Barbecued Marinated Firebird - not our favorite

We had never grilled turkey breast before, which is probably why this wasn't our idea of a great meal.  Next!


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Here's the challenge: I'm going to make each recipe in the cookbook, "Trophy Recipes from Columbia Classics Car Club 1992-2002,' Tri-Cities, WA", one recipe per section, and blog about it.  And then I'll go on to the next section.

Next Section: Cakes
Next Recipe:  Chocolate Cheese Cake - looks awesome! I'll be back after while!.  Bon Appetit!

Vacation Trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario with Arliss, Bob and Sybil Moreland: There, and Back Again

[Bob Moreland, my stepfather, writes a column ('Friends and Fancies') that is published in a number of newspapers in South Dakota and Nebraska.  His September 2011 columns described the vacation trip I took with Bob, my mother Arliss, and Bob's daughter Sybil at the end of August.  We had a great time and I wanted to share Bob's viewpoint (with his permission) as well as my own photos and images. I have also added some additional information and weblinks where I think it will add to the story (my comments are in italics). - DeAnn]

#412 Friends and Fancies
By  Bob Moreland
September 1, 2011

Bob Moreland, photo by Steve Moreland

This has been an eventful week.  Last Sunday we packed our suitcases and headed to the Fairground in Valentine.   We arrived just as the Sand Painters and other exhibitors were about ready to take their paintings from the walls.  They had entered some very professional paintings and photography.   Dave Dorsey had the “best of show” ribbon with a painting making the use of color in an abstract painting of an outdoor scene.

Green Valley Ranch, near Merriman, Nebraska, to Valentine, Nebraska

The occasion was a surprise party for Pat Schemmer [Schemmer Studios, Valentine, Nebraska]  who was given the Rose of the Sandhills Award in recognition of the many honors and awards that she has received for her skills in many forms in the art world and her continual unselfish aid and assistance  in promoting art among beginners and longer term artists.   In the invitation to the party we were asked to bring an original work 5X7 or smaller for Pat.   A day or two before I found a picture I had taken of Pat and penciled a drawing of  it  on a 5X7 canvas and  got out my oil paints that hadn’t been used for many seasons.  The caps were all dried on.  In the past when that happened I never found any other way to open them other than lighting a match and holding it until the cap twisted off, usually burning my fingers and littering the place with burned matches.  I got the innovative idea this time to light a candle and rotating each tube that I planned to use  over the flame.

I got Pat’s likeness fairly well captured but thought she was too dark and started experimenting.  By the use of pastel chalk I did get it lightened but lost the details.  Realizing that I needed to present it within a period of 24 hours I wiped it out with a rag approximately 6 or 7 times trying every medium at my disposal with the hope that I could get it to look even close to resembling Pat as I had it before all the wipeouts.   Knowing that I would have no other time to write this week’s Friends and Fancies I spent the whole time from supper to breakfast trying to complete both projects.  I blamed near decided to scrap my portrait of Pat but it was too late for any other plan so took it and received a hug and a thank you!  Had anyone asked about the media  that I used I would have told them,  “A combination of lead pencil, magic marker, chalk, water color, oil paints, erasers, sandpaper, ball-point pen, crayola, my jack knife and spit.”

*****

I told Arliss at the time we got married, just a month short of four years ago, several places that I wanted to take her and people that I wanted her to meet. 

Bob and Arliss on their sunny wedding day, October 2, 2007

Merriman to Valentine to Pierre

We accomplished another one of those goals after leaving Valentine last Sunday.   We are now in Albert Lea, MN on the way home from Thunder Bay, Ontario, winding up a wonderful week.   

We drove from Valentine to Pierre, to the home of Merlyn and Arliss’ daughter, DeAnn Hilmoe.   They were expecting us!  Merlyn had an outdoor cooker with deep fat at the boiling stage and was just ready to put in his last catch of Walleyes.  Added to that pleasant scene were our long-time friends, Dan and Myrna Buckles, formerly from Martin, now living in Pierre, their mouths watering, witnessing.

In a short time we were enjoying Walleye, and Zucchini Stir-fry, a meal to be remembered. 



 

After a good night’s sleep, DeAnn, Sybil, Arliss and I left for Benson, MN for a noon lunch with Arley Anderson.  Arley was Elaine’s late brother Bruce’s wife [Elaine was Bob's first wife, who passed away about seven years ago. Arley is Elaine's sister-in-law.] Arley's son Rob and his wife Pam joined us briefly.

[On our way to Benson, we stopped in Redfield, SD to get some gas - "coincidentally," my cousin Evey DeKay was just arriving at work at the next convenience store, so we got to greet her and catch up on her life. 'Next time' maybe we'll get to see her sister Marleen as well!]

Pierre to Benson, Minnesota





 

Benson, MN to Foley, MN to Duluth later that night



After catching up on happenings since the last time we had been together we headed for Duluth, MN where DeAnn’s brother-in-law Dick Hilmoe and wife Judie live. 

However, our next stop was in Foley, MN to see Randy and Donna Schaefer who worked for us a number of years ago.  [To Be Continued...]

Carrot Salad

And I'm back to the Columbia Classics Car Club Trophy Recipes!   Last evening I made Carrot Salad as a side dish. It was a hit!

This recipe was provided to the cookbook by Rita Nehls, and this is her note with the recipe: "This was my Mother's recipe.  She used 4 cups of carrots; instead of dicing her onions she slices them so they can be eaten in rngs and puts her peppers in chunks.  Then she reuses the dressing as a salad dressing when the carrots are all gone.  TALK ABOUT FRUGAL...a depression child, you know! Anyway, enjoy it whichever way you want.  You have seen mine and I chop everything as most men don't like a salad that has large green pepper chunks or onion chunks in it.  ENJOY."

After supper someone suggested that very thing: saving the leftover dressing to use on green salad. It is reminiscent of a Dorothy Lynch dressing - very good.

The recipe from the cookbook suggests cider or red wine vineger, so I used red wine vineger; and calls for a slightly smaller amount of olive or vegetable oil (1/3 cup), in addition to specifying the amount of salt and pepper - 1 teaspoon each.

The main dish with this meal was Fettucine Alfredo con Pollo (fettucine with jar sauce and chicken breasts) and it was also terrific.  I must have gotten the recipe from a friend, as I had it saved in my Word document recipe list of favorites. (I name the documents by type of recipe so they are easy to find, like Recipes - Main Dishes - Fettucine Alfredo con Pollo.)  This one was easy to make and delicious. I looked at cheaper brands alfredo sauce but they all substituted soy ingredients for cream, so I went with Bertolli as the recipe recommends.

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Here's the challenge: I'm going to make each recipe in the cookbook, "Trophy Recipes from Columbia Classics Car Club 1992-2002,' Tri-Cities, WA", one recipe per section, and blog about it.  And then I'll go on to the next section.

Next Section: Main Dishes
Next Recipe:  Barbecued Marinated Firebird (turkey breast)I'll be back after while!.  Bon Appetit!

You Can Ask!

I visited the AAUW book sale at the very end of the day - just when they were selling an entire bag of books for $1.  Serendipitously, I found several books I've always wanted to read, and several others that were favorites in the past. I so love finding something extremely valuable while you are looking for something else.  Love that multi-tasking.

The first one I found was "The Gold of Troy" by Robert Payne, which tells the story of Heinrich Schliemann, 1820-1890, a self-made man and scholar who discovered the archeological site of Troy by using Homer's Iliad as a travel guide. I don't remember how old I was when I first read it - probably middle school.  In those days I was very interested in Greek mythology as well as history (as I continue to be) and I think I will enjoy rereading it every bit as much.

I also found a copy of James Michener's book Caravans, which was a bargain I couldn't resist.  I remember reading it the first summer I lived in Pierre (1974) as a college student working at the State Library.  Last year I read it again and gave my copy to Dawson Lewis, whose son Michael was then with the Marines in Afghanistan.  He sent it to Michael, and Michael actually was in the same area described in 'Caravans' and saw these 'khettaras', man-made subterranean tunnels used for water transport. I'm glad to have it back in my library.

And then there's What Happens When Women Pray, Evelyn Christensen's little book that has had a revolutionary effect on prayer groups in every decade since the 1970s.  I overheard my mother's prayer group when they were studying the section on specific prayers from the chapter "Methods - the Six S's'. She was telling them a story from my life: during one holiday vacation, while home from the University of South Dakota, I wanted something from my Dad, or wanted him to do something.  He knew I wanted it, and I knew he knew I wanted it.  I'm not sure whether he knew that I knew he knew I wanted it. OK, enough of that.

I don't actually remember now what it was I wanted; maybe I wanted to drive my brother's car back to school? At any rate, Dad did not do or provide whatever it was.  When Mom asked him why he didn't, since he knew I wanted it, he simply said, "She never asked."

How many times do we miss out because we don't actually say what we want in so many words, but just drop hints?  This happens in prayer as well as in personal interactions.  Just come right out and ask!

Baked Omelet for Saturday Night Supper

It has been such an interesting challenge to incorporate the recipes that will be next in line in the cookbook challenge into our meals.  It means looking ahead far enough that we have ingredients for several recipes at all times, so that I can make one or more at a moments' notice as time (and interest) and appetite allow. It's a juggling act - finding time to cook, at a time when I feel like cooking and Merlyn feels like eating what's on the menu. Saturday night turned out to be the 'sweet spot' in last week's juggling act.

Saturday nights are always special in my mind. In my childhood, Saturday nights were when we took our baths.  I'm sure we took them at other times, but my strongest memory is of the Saturday night bath, in anticipation of Sunday morning church, with clean body, hair, and clothes.  It's such a strong a metaphor of the way we'd like to approach God - with clean hands and a pure heart.

When I was 5, we moved to a house with a real bathtub!!!  There were lots of other new and wonderful things but the bathtub really stood out to me. Fast forward to the present, and I'm a morning shower person, and only occasionally soak in the tub.  I still think hot water is one of God's greatest gifts!  Again, it's a metaphor for His gifts to us - God requires us to come before Him in purity, and then gives us the means to do it!  

Saturday night was a great time to try this Baked Omelet.  It's simple and filling!  I couldn't find a similar recipe online so will reproduce it below. 

BAKED OMELET
1 lb. bacon, ham or sausage meat (cooked and drained).  Line bottom of 13 x 9 pan with meat; top with sliced cheddar cheese and sliced mushrooms.

Beat together:
1 1/2 dozen eggs (18)
1 1/2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Pour over cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Unhappily, <hangs head> I was not successful in my quest to follow the recipe exactly. Since there were just the two of us, we elected to cut the recipe in half and use a 9 x 9 pan.  We had ham on hand for this recipe (from a post-Easter spiral-cut ham that we slow-cooked), and added about 4 oz. of sliced fresh mushrooms.  Because I am often assaulted with the comment "needs more *flavor*," I chose to use pepper jack cheese to add some spiciness. 

This is a delicious baked omelet and I will use this recipe for overnight guests expected in the fall. It's easy, filling, and should be universal in its appeal.

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Here's the challenge: I'm going to make each recipe in the cookbook, "Trophy Recipes from Columbia Classics Car Club 1992-2002,' Tri-Cities, WA", one recipe per section, and blog about it.  And then I'll go on to the next section.

Main Dishes: Cakes
Next Recipe:  Chocolate Caramel Cream Cake
I'll be back after while!.  Bon Appetit!

Best 'Broccoli Salad' in the World

While some of the recipes we've attempted have been surprisingly good or surprisingly - not good, I have been blind-sided by a couple of eventualities.  One is that I have taken some of the recipes out of sequence! I am a 'by the book' girl, and it's shocking to me that I've changed the rules in the middle of the 'game', to accomodate time pressures, meal schedules, and/or items on hand.

Not only that, I have actually had a difficult time preparing the recipes exactly as written!  When I research recipes on the web, I have often found myself thoroughly disgusted with the posters who go on and on about how they added this or substituted that, wondering, "why can't they just make it the way it's supposed to be done????".  But now I find myself doing the *very* *same* *thing*!  And seemingly unable to stop!

I did prepare this 'Broccoli Salad' as it appears below, except that I used Oscar Meyer Ready to Serve Bacon instead of frying my own (since I had some on hand). A Good Housekeeping Taste Test calls it one of the best-tasting precooked bacons.  Also, I forgot to put in the slivered almonds until we brought it out for the second meal.  It made enough for 3-4 meals for the 2 of us. AND WE LOVED IT.

Karen Hilmoe, one of our favorite cooks, contributed this recipe for the cookbook, and attributes this recipe to our collective niece, Patty Hilmoe.  Per her note on this recipe: "Our niece, Patty Hilmoe, of the Bismarck Hilmoes, was kind enough to share this with me.  We love it, and I get many requests for it.  I realize many of you already have it, but for those who don't... Enjoy!"

BROCCOLI SALAD
1 bunch broccoli cut up (4 cups or eore and you can mix broccoli and cauliflower)
1 cup celery chopped
Green onions chopped (Karen use 3 to 4)
1/2 # bacon fried crips and broken up (I used half a package of precooked bacon)
1 cup slivered almonds
2 cups red grapes, cut in half

Dressing:
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)

Blend the dressing well and toss with the salad.  Let sit one hour before serving to blend flavors.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's the challenge: I'm going to make each recipe in the cookbook, "Trophy Recipes from Columbia Classics Car Club 1992-2002,' Tri-Cities, WA", one recipe per section, and blog about it.  And then I'll go on to the next section.

Next Section: Main Dishes
Next Recipe:  Baked Omelet
I'll be back after while!.  Bon Appetit!