Drive-In Memories

When I read that the drive-in theater in my hometown was closing, I was filled with a flurry of emotions. I feel sad that it won't be opening again, even though I don't live close enough to go to it anymore, and I feel really happy that I had the chance to be a part of it at all.
The first drive-in movie I ever went to was at the Puget Park Drive-In. It was summer of 1982 and I was 12 (or just turned 13) years old. A neighbor took her 3 kids and a few of us from the neighborhood to see E.T. We were rollin' sweet in her early 70's Buick station wagon and when we arrived we climbed on top of the wagon's roof, laid out some blankets and enjoyed our first drive-in experience. I loved it! I loved being outside in the open air, seeing the stars above the movie screen and feeling free to talk during the movie without disturbing others.

During my teen years I would go again once or twice, but it really wasn't comfortable in a two-seat sports car. My drive-in love was renewed again around 1997 when my husband and I would spread out sleeping bags in the back of his Toyota 4Runner, open a pizza box, some sodas, a bag of microwave popcorn and enjoy the double feature. At that time Arnold Schwarzenegger was starring in the movie, Eraser. Luckily it was a pretty good flick because we saw it about 5 times as it went through the drive-in rounds; first as the feature film, then a few weeks later as the second movie shown in the double feature. It really didn't matter what movie was playing though. The drive-in experience is all about atmosphere.

The nearest to a drive-in experience here is the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. It's a 650 seat outdoor theater, with a marble floored stage, where Shakespeare's plays are acted out nightly from June through September. Ticket prices vary depending on where you sit. You can sit in the bleachers, box seats with outdoor tables and chairs or in the nosebleed section, which in my opinion is the best of all; a grass-covered area above the tables and bleachers. You can bring in blankets or a tablecloth, a picnic basket, a nice bottle of wine (or your beverage of choice) and enjoy the outdoor entertainment.

No matter what you're seeing or where, there is one food that always comes to mind when you hear the word, movie; popcorn. There's nothing better than movie theater popcorn but these days I'd rather have something with less fat, without sacrificing flavor. Below is a flavorful and unusual popcorn recipe I like to snack on instead.

Cranberry-Orange Popcorn
5 quarts popped popcorn (I use an air popper to pop 1 cup of raw kernels)
½ cup sunflower seeds, shelled (I buy them in the bulk bins)
½ cup pumpkin seeds (also sold in bulk bins)
½ cup orange flavored dried cranberries
½ cup butter, melted
¾ cup orange blossom honey
2 Tablespoons fresh orange zest
1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg (ground works as well)

Preheat oven to 300°. Sift the popcorn through your fingers to sort out any kernels that didn’t pop, and then stir popcorn, seeds and the cranberries together in a large roasting pan. In small bowl, combine melted butter, orange zest and nutmeg. Pour over popcorn and toss to coat. Bake in 300° oven for 15 minutes, stirring twice. When done, stir again and then serve or allow it to cool and store airtight. The whole mixture will fit into two large Ziplock bags.

Coconut, Papaya & Pineapple Scones

Deliciously moist and light, these beautiful jewel-toned scones have bright colored bits of candied papaya & pineapple, scattered throughout to add a burst of color and sweetness that perfectly complements the coconut.
The inspiration for this recipe was Stacy Garwood's winning recipe in Food Network Magazine's Secret Ingredient contest. I read it and copied it down while visiting my mom for the Christmas holiday & knew that her recipe for Coconut Scones With Coconut Glaze sounded so delicious I had to try it.

When we returned home I realized I didn't have any pecans & didn't think the plain coconut could stand alone. I began thinking tropical flavors for substitutes & then decided on cutting up candied papaya & candied pineapple rings in place of the nuts. The result is beautiful! Despite the amount of coconut items in this recipe, the final product doesn't have an overpowering coconut flavor. Even my coconut-hating husband loved them! The fruit used can be dried or candied but the candied isn't too sweet for this recipe & can easily be found in the bulk section of the supermarket.
I did make the full recipe but wanted the triangle shaped scones I prefer instead of round. Since I only had enough candied fruit to make up for half the nuts, I divided the batter in half. For the second half I stirred in some chocolate chips, divided the batter again and made half round and tested the other half in my new brownie pan.
So for me, the original recipe made 10 round scones, 8 triangle scones & 12 square scones in the Perfect Brownie Pan. I had coconut scones coming out my ears! LOL I've since re-crafted the original recipe, cutting it in half to suit my circumstances and preferences. I hope you give them a try!

Coconut, Papaya & Pineapple Scones

Scones:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar, divided in half
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed (1-1/2 sticks)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (found in Asian section of supermarket in cans)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 cup candied papaya, finely chopped (about 4 strips)
1/2 cup candied pineapple, finely chopped (about 2 rings)

Glaze:
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2-1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, HALF the sugar (1/8 cup) and coconut.
With pastry blender or hand mixer, cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbles. In small bowl, whisk the eggs slightly then add in the coconut milk and the coconut extract. Whisk until combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Stir just until combined and then stir in the candied fruits. The dough will be wet and lumpy. Scrape the dough out onto the center of the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Using a spoon or spatula, pat & form the dough into a circle about 8 inches around & 1-1/2 inches high. (Doesn't have to be precise.) Sprinkle the top with the reserved amount of sugar (or less) and bake in center of oven for 12 minutes. Remove pan from oven & use pizza cutter or large knife to gently cut the circle into 8 wedges (like a pizza). Return pan to oven & bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until scones are not wet in the center & are slightly browned.

Tofu: Not as scary as it sounds...

In my effort to change our eating habits, I have befriended an ingredient previously looked upon as totally gross. I've tried tofu several times before, many years ago, but I never enjoyed it. Now that I've done some research and experimented with this strange food I've come to actually like it. If you've ever had a discussion about tofu with a tofu-eating friend, they no doubt told you that tofu tastes like whatever you cook it with. Well, that's a true statement. Tofu alone is quite bland and for someone who tends to eat very strong flavors, it's like eating unflavored marshmallows. But for me, it's not just the lack of flavor. It's the texture that makes me go, Eww!

The gross factor, I guess, comes partly from the name and partly from the texture. The word, TOFU, looks and sounds like either a word I'd get soap in my mouth for saying or the latest clothing line from a hip hop artist. The texture reminds me of those molded desserts where the Jello is mixed with whipped cream and that's one of those foods that everyone seems to love, but me.

My tricks to eating tofu are to extract as much water as possible, over season it and always use the firm or extra firm for meals. Desserts, like cheesecake, can be successfully made with the soft or silken tofu but I have yet to cowgirl-up to that.

Making tofu requires a process similar to cheese making but no dairy is involved. The soy beans are crushed and heated, separating the liquid (soy milk) from the solids (curds) and then the curds are pressed tightly together into blocks of tofu. The only thing added to the bean curd when making tofu is Nigari. Nigari is the powder form of magnesium chloride that results from removing the sodium chloride and evaporating the water from seawater. Nigari is used because of its natural ability to make everything jell together.

Tofu is a great meat alternative for anyone on a vegetarian, vegan or dairy free diet due to the high quality protein, calcium (from the Nigari) and B vitamins it contains. Tofu has zero cholesterol and is low in sodium and calories. I'd like to share a recipe that even tofu haters will like. It's a variation on my sweet and tangy homemade BBQ sauce but with a bit of Asian flair and a much faster cooking time.

Sweet and Tangy Tofu

8 ounces firm or extra firm tofu
4 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 Tablespoons ketchup
2 Tablespoons brown sugar (I use dark)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce (or regular chili sauce)
1 dash cayenne (optional)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 Tablespoon sesame seeds
2 green onions, sliced
2 cups hot cooked rice (I prefer short grain brown rice)

Start your rice cooking per package instructions on the stove or in a rice cooker. Line a small plate with a double layer of folded paper towels. Lay the block of tofu on the paper towels and cover with more folded paper towels. Place another plate on top and weigh it down with a heavy skillet or a heavy canned food item. This squeezes out the excess water in the tofu. Let it sit while you prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, dry mustard, cider vinegar, chili sauce and cayenne. Set aside. Slice the tofu into 1/4 inch thick slices and then cut those slices into squares about 1-inch in size. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the tofu slices a couple minutes on each side so they are a golden brown. Remove to a plate and set aside. To the pan, add the garlic and cook just until it's fragrant but not burned. Pour in the sauce ingredients and the sesame seeds; cook and stir a couple minutes or until it begins to thicken. Return the tofu slices to the pan and stir gently to coat. Serve over hot rice and sprinkle with green onion slices.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Serves 4

A super bowl for the Super Bowl!

I've been gearing up for the football season's ultimate match up, Super Bowl XLIV, on February 7th. This year I'll be serving some of our favorite standard recipes along with a few new ones.

Of course appetizers are always big on the menu for Super Bowl Sunday. Anything that can be eaten in one bite, with the hands or while jumping up and down screaming at the television, without making a mess, is potential Super Bowl fare. This year I have a menu of old stand-by recipes as well as some new ones to try. I have a large group of friends and family that are always willing to be guinea pigs for new recipes so I never have to worry about how a new one will be received. They all know that at any time I may serve up a new creation and I'm more than happy to hear how everyone feels about it.

My son's girlfriend had dinner with us a few nights ago, for the first time. We didn't know in advance that she'd be here, but I never let anyone leave my house hungry. Unfortunately, since it wasn't planned, dinner consisted of a mishmash of recipes that had been invented or significantly altered from the first time we had it, so I made sure she understood that if she didn't like something I don't expect her to eat it. This has always been the Food Rule at my house. "If you don't like it, don't eat it." But if you can tell me why you get bonus points for helping me create a better version and/or properly rate the recipe. The veggies were dubbed, "A little weird." by my son and pretty much echoed around the table, but everyone liked the Japanese inspired salmon. Later I apologized to Nick for not having a normal meal planned that night and he put my mind at ease by explaining that he'd already warned her that I pull random recipes out of my.... Well, never mind. She wasn't scared off and I just may have gained another willing recipe tester.

So, here I am searching appetizer recipes for the Super Bowl when I find a recipe for a dip bowl. I love using interesting and sometimes edible food bowls for dips. Hollowed out sweet peppers for vegetable dip, grapefruit or oranges for fruit dip and French bread rounds for spinach dip. The presentation factor alone is worth it, but the likelihood that the kids will try it goes up a notch too. This new idea was to make the dip bowl out of snack mix. I didn't have any actual snack mix on hand but I had a lot of Chex cereal leftover from making homemade white chocolate snack mix at Christmas. This was a perfect way to test the recipe before the big day and use up the cereal that won't get eaten by itself. I filled the Edible Snack Bowl with this BLT Dip recipe I've been making for about 12 years. Originally found in the Taste of Home magazine but altered to fit my family's tastes, and we had a fun snack that ended up taking the place of dinner one night.

BLT Dip

1 cup (8oz) sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup (4oz) shredded cheese (we like the Mexican blend of 4 cheeses)
4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 pound bacon

Trim the large areas of fat from the bacon then dice the meat & add to a large fry pan. Cook and stir until the bacon is nearly crisp. Remove bacon to a plate lined with a couple paper towels to drain the grease. Combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl, cover and refrigerate until serving time. Serve with cut veggies, crackers or small pieces of sourdough bread. Yield: 3 cups.

It’s going to be another chilly January day. The wind is howling through the backyard, banging the playhouse shutters, rearranging outdoor furniture and reminding me that I may have one too many sets of wind chimes out there. This is the perfect day for homemade soup! My favorite combination is a bowl of tomato soup paired with a grilled cheese sandwich. Such a comforting meal and both can be made extra special with these homemade recipes. For tonight’s dinner I’ll be making a super easy tomato soup that has several dimensions of flavor. No canned soup can compare and because it’s made with common ingredients it’s quick and easy. My favorite grilled cheese bread is made with V-8 vegetable juice. It does require a bit of time for mixing and rising, but the flavor is outstanding plain or in a sandwich. Brighten this winter with soups that warm the heart as well as the tummy!

Homemade Tomato Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped bell peppers

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 (15oz) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes

1 (15oz) can tomato sauce

2 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon sugar (optional)



Heat the olive oil over med heat. Add onions, bell pepper, celery and sauté until soft (7-10 minutes). Add tomatoes, sauce, chicken stock, bay leaf, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. If soup is too thick, add water to desired consistency. Total time: 30 minutes

Serves 4



V-8 Bread

2 cups V-8 vegetable juice

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon basil, scant

1 teaspoon oregano, scant

1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/4 cup warm water

1 (2-1/4 teaspoons) package yeast

7 cups all-purpose flour



In small bowl, combine warm water and yeast. Set aside. Heat V-8 Juice and butter until butter is melted. Add sugar, salt, herbs, ketchup, and cheese. Cool to lukewarm. In large bowl (I use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment) measure 3 cups of flour then add yeast mixture and lukewarm tomato mixture. Beat until smooth. Gradually add more flour (approx. 4 cups) until you have soft, workable dough. Knead 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled (1 1/2 hours). Punch dough down and divide in half. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Shape into two loaves and place in well greased loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled again (1 hour). Bake at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes.

Yield: 2 loaves

Blue Moon





This New Year's Eve was a special one for me. It's special for a couple reasons, actually. I'll admit that I'm not the horn-blowing, champagne-clinking, fella-smoochin' type. I rarely stay up late enough to see Dick Clark do the countdown. In fact, the last time I rang-in the New Year was for the millennium. Although I was not prepared for the Y2K catastrophe, I felt the need to stay awake for one if it should happen.

This year, ten years later, I began to get excited about having some drinks & ringing in the New Year for real. 2009 wasn't a good year for us financially & I was really ready to say goodbye to it. We spent the evening with good family friends, eating steak & shrimp, drinking happy drinks, playing Rock Band, singing bad karaoke (although I began to sound better as the night waned on), blowing horns, throwing confetti & counting down.

The other reason this year was special was because there was a blue moon.
The second full moon in a month is called a blue moon. December 31, 2009's blue moon was coupled with a partial lunar eclipse & the next time a blue moon will fall on a New Year's Eve will be in the year 2028. At that time a full lunar eclipse will occur. I'm usually an Absolut vodka gal, but in this case I needed to bring a gluten free vodka. Amazingly, I found a gluten free vodka made right here in Idaho out of our famous Idaho russet potatoes.
To celebrate, I made & enjoyed a version of a drink from Blue Ice American Vodka. The original recipe is called a Blue Ghost but I changed it up a bit & renamed it to fit the occasion. This drink is smooth & so beautiful! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!


Blue Moon Special
1 1/4 ounces blue ice american vodka
1 ounce blue curacao
4 ounces Sprite (or 7-Up)
1 lime (a squeeze for drink & a slice for garnish)
1/2 cup crushed ice

Fill a 6-8 oz glass with crushed ice.
Add vodka, Curacao & soda.
Give the lime a squeeze over the drink.
Garnish with a slice of lime & serve.

For the love of honey... or, I can Can-Can!

Maybe it's coming from a crafty family, or just me, but I've always loved homemade gifts. As a kid I enjoyed them but I'm not sure I really appreciated them properly until I started making them myself. Of course, some of the best homemade gifts are edible. So when I came across a recipe called Love Honey, I knew it would make a great gift.

I've always wanted to learn how to can and preserve my own food. There's just been one little thing holding me back...I'm scared. Scared of the equipment, scared of the hot water and most of all I’m scared of glass jars exploding in hot water! Luckily, this recipe did not require anything but a jar with a screw-top lid. We went right to the store so I could purchase the required jars and get started. The choosing of the jars was a little more complicated than I had imagined. We found two styles that seemed small enough, based on the fact that one recipe makes one cup of honey, and both pretty in their own way. Since I photograph everything and want the product to show through the glass, we opted for the smooth-glass with an interesting shape instead of the fancier etched glass jar.

Upon returning home and opening the package of jars to sterilize them I realized, with extreme horror, that we'd accidentally bought jars that don't have screw on lids, but actual canning lids! It was late at night (when all my good ideas come to me... like painting the kitchen purple) and I'd already torn off the cardboard box, so now I felt obligated to use them. The torn packaging, when pieced back together, had minimal instructions for the canning process.

A couple years ago I came across a recipe for Banoffee Pie. I love the holiday movie, set in Great Britain, titled Love Actually. And in it there is a scene about banoffee pie. I wonder every time I see it just what is banoffee pie? Well, here it was and I almost felt silly when I found out it was simply banana and toffee. I had to make it, of course. I remember making toffee in high school Spanish by boiling a can of sweetened condensed milk on a hotplate so I figured this would be just as simple. Well, it is when you don't forget about the 4 cans on the stove. Apparently, it's like running your car without replenishing the oil. When you let all the water boil out you get exploding cans. They didn't spray all over the kitchen, but were horribly disfigured and I was only able to get enough caramel out of the three I could open (scraping around the blackened areas) to make one of the two pies. My favorite large pot, in breast cancer pink, was ruined. The pie tasted amazing, so all was not lost, but the fear of ruining another pot was something that dawned on me now as I stared at these canning jars.

I've already spent many hours online researching canning methods, recipes, rules and especially the dangers, so I felt more or less the same about doing it as I had in the past. The difference now was I had the jars and the product sitting in front of me. I didn't have the canning pot or the special tongs but even so, I decided it was time to face my fears and finish what I'd started.

I winged it according to the simple instructions on the box and using my largest non-stick Dutch oven for the boiling water bath. The most trouble I had was not having tongs that would grip the wide mouthed, 2-inch tall jars. I used two pancake spatulas to pick up and lift (juggle) the jars out of the boiling water. I don't recommend this method however, it worked.

According to the recipe we now leave the honey to cure for three or four weeks. Luckily, my math skills are far below my writing skills so we ended up with at least two and a half cups of honey leftover after filling the four canning jars. This I poured over a double batch of spices in an old pasta sauce jar and planned on keeping and testing myself. The honey has become my number one favorite flavoring in everything from oatmeal to coffee (instead of cream and sugar). I can't wait until Christmas so I can get the reactions of my family. The flavor seems to mellow as it cures, but it comes on sweet followed by a potpourri of holiday spices and then finishes with a perfectly melded flavor.
This recipe is so easy but is really something special. I hope you give it a try!

UPDATE: 1/14/2010
Email from a friend: "I really liked the honey. I had it on my oatmeal and it had just the right amount of sweetness and the spices were mellow and not overwhelming, a lovely blend of both sweet and spice. When things are too spicy I get heartburn, but this didn't come close. I'm still looking forward to toast with it."