Coleslaw with Caraway and Raisins

Found this recipe in a Real Simple magazine. Just looking at the recipe, I thought it sounded good. Made it the other day, and it´s the best coleslaw. Very very tasty. I used a combo of plain yogurt & sour cream. It´s not too creamy/oily, like mayo ones.

Coleslaw with Caraway and Raisins

3/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
Kosher salt and pepper
1 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
6 scallions, thinly sliced
2 carrots, grated
1 cup golden raisins

In a large bowl, whisk the sour cream, vinegar, caraway seeds, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Add the cabbage, scallions, carrots, and raisins. Toss well and serve.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

from Real Simple recipes

For future reference...

in case one ever decides to re-roof:

DO NOT re-roof in late September/early October in southern Oregon (you’ll run into rain, and flood your building, thus forcing tenants to move)

DO NOT re-roof in early October in northeastern Washington (you’ll get cold/wet/rainy weather, thus holding up getting the new roof on, and freezing out your employees in the meantime (58.5F NOT comfortable for working at one’s desk for the next 10 hours))

Caramel-Apple Walnut Cake

It´s unfortunate that it´s getting to be fall. I´m not sure I´m ready for another cold, long, dark winter. One thing I do love about fall though is the apples - applesauce, apple cakes, apples & caramel, apple butter, apples in baked goods, warm apple cider. Throw some cinnamon, cloves, ginger, & nutmeg in with it, and mmm, yum. The smell of fall.

It´s too bad we´re both getting colds, otherwise I´d totally be out tomorrow to one of my favorite farms around getting some apples to make this recipe.

Peach Blueberry cake

We recently bought a bunch of peaches. I was going to can some, which I did, but we mainly ate them for breakfast, dinner, and then made a couple of these Peach Blueberry cakes, which we love. We first found this recipe two summers ago, made it then, then somehow forgot about it last year. I remembered it again this year. It has a wonderful fresh taste, just sweet enough, and I find it hard not to eat more than my share.

The recipe is fairly simple. Original recipe calls for quick cooking tapioca, but since I never have that on hand, I experimented with using cornstarch instead, and it works well.

Peach Blueberry cake recipe
Serves 8

Ingredients

Pastry Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Peach blueberry filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 TBSP cornstarch
2 lb firm-ripe large peaches (about 4), peeled, halved lengthwise, pitted, and each half cut lengthwise into fourths
1 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (bottled lemon juice works ok too)

1 Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. Add butter and cut it in just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add egg and vanilla and stir just until dough clumps and begins to form a ball.

2 Butter and dust with flour the inside of a 9 or 9.5 inch springform pan. Press dough (about 1/4 inch thick) onto bottom and evenly about two inches up side of springform pan. Chill pastry in pan until firm, about 10 minutes.

3 Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.

4 While the pastry chills, combine sugar, flour and cornstarch. Add peaches, blueberries, and lemon juice and gently toss to coat.

5 Spoon filling into pastry and bake, loosely covered with a sheet of foil, until filling is bubbling in center and crust is golden, about 1 3/4 hours.

6 Transfer cake in pan to a rack and cool, uncovered, about 20 minutes, then carefully loosen or remove side of pan.

Cake may come out of the oven looking kind of liquidy still. The liquid will gel as the cake cools.

Itś great with a (generous) dollop of freshly whipped cream.

Recipe originally found here.

Make Ahead Brownie Delight

I was going through some old work papers, and found this recipe. I saw it and knew that it was one I had to keep and make soon. I made it recently for a work function - it was a hit. We considered having a party this week, just to eat this again! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture, and mine didn't look quite this nice, but I'm sure it tasted just as good.



Before we begin, my notes: I used some random Pillsbury brownie mix, because I didn't find Rich & Moist. I also didn't find vanilla chips, so just used vanilla extract w/ the cream cheese instead. I think the vanilla chips would make it a bit thicker and creamy, but it didn't seem to be a problem without them. I used frozen raspberries on top instead of fresh, and raspberry jam slightly thinned and whisked til smooth instead of making a sauce from the frozen, sugar, and cornstarch. I also didn't make the fancy piped side, I just slapped it all on the top. I don't think it was worse for any of those substitutions. I think it tasted a bit better the second day in (more moist).

Make Ahead Brownie Delight

1 pkg (1lb 3.5oz) Pillsbury Rich & Moist Fudge Brownie Mix
1/2 c oil
1/4 c water
2 eggs
3/4 c large chocolate chips or chunks
2 c whipping cream
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 c powdered sugar
1/2 c white vanilla chips, melted
1 10oz pkg frozen raspberries, thawed
3 TBSP sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 c fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 9 inch springform pan. In large bowl, combine brownie mix, oil, water, and eggs. Beat 50 strokes with spoon. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter in greased pan.

Bake 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled.

In a large bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form. In large bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; beat until smooth. Stir in melted vanilla chips. Fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream. Reserve 1 cup mixture for piped edge; spread remaining mixture over brownie. Using decorator bag fitted with star tip (1/4 to 3/8 inch opening), pipe decorative edge around brownie, making sure border doesn´t touch side of pan. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile in food processor bowl with metal blade or blender container, process raspberries with syrup until smooth. Strain to remove seeds. In small saucepan, combine 3 TBSP sugar and cornstarch; stir in raspberry puree. Cook stir over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens. Cool to room temperature.

About 1 hour before serving, arrange fresh raspberries over filling. Refrigerate until serving time. With sharp knife, loosen dessert from sides of pan; remove sides of pan. Cut into wedges. Serve with raspberry sauce. Store in refrigerator.

Serves 16.