BIZZY BAKES

This is catch-up week at our group, WwDH.  Each of us has selected a recipe, we missed making along the way.  When I originally saw this recipe, it was immediately on my radar but for some reason, I was not able to join in, that week.  This is my second chance and I happily made this refreshing breakfast, lunch, brunch, snack or  dessert. This was originally with pistachios which I did not have in the house.  Almonds and honey go so well together that I easily adapted the recipe to the almonds. Roasted Almond and Honey Yogurt     -   Adapted From New Food Fast by Donna Hay They say that today is the hottest day, this year, and what is more appropriate for such a day, but a nice cool mixture, sweet and nutty, creamy and smooth. It can't be easier to make.  I roasted nuts in the microwave and that is a quick job.   Place honey in the bottom of a glass.  Cover with slivered almonds.  Top with creamy yogurt - ...

Salads are a delight in the summer with the high temperature and humidity.  It nice to change them around by adding ingredients, you might not expect to find.  I have been putting strawberries into salads for years but not blueberries.  I admit, I hesitated, not knowing if they would be accepted.  They turned out to be a wonderful addition to the salad. Greens with Fruits and Nuts Ingredients: 8 ounces mixed greens of choice 1/2 cup strawberries 3/4 cup blueberries 2 tablespoons chopped pecans 1/2 cup slivered almonds Dressing - 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon honey 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper Method: In a bowl, place all makings of salad except dressing. In a separate container, mix the salad dressing ingredients.  I usually put the salad dressing ingredients into my mini food processor and mix them together so the...

I have posted, in the past, an Apple Strawberry Crisp which I did make for the first days of Passover.  What I did though was to make some extra topping and make a Mango Squash Crisp following the original recipe and subbing in these two ingredients.  It was good and I used it as a side dish rather than a dessert. I would think, this recipe, leaves itself open to many different substitutions giving us an easy recipe to make in a variety of guises.  It good me all fruit with cherries and blueberries or sweet potatoes and pineapple.  This is the place to use your imagination and have fun creating it. Mango Squash Crisp 1 bag of Butternut squash cubes  1 - 2 mangoes cut into small pieces ( about the size of the cubes) ½ cup sugar  2 teaspoons lemon juice  ½ teaspoon cinnamon  Crumb Topping:  2½ cup potato starch  1 cup sugar  1 egg  1 cup oil  4 oz. ground walnuts  In a 10 inch ba...

Until the week before Passover (Pesach), Operation Clean-Up is going on and I am clearing out any cabinet with food in it (including refrigerator and freezer).   This is an example from an old post of how I throw, whatever I can find in my kitchen, together to create a new dish. I found in my hydrator, a half of a package of shredded cabbage which had to be used up or it would land in the garbage and that is not where food belongs.  I have tons of recipes using cabbage but I was not in the mood for making any of them.  What else could I find? In my onion drawer, there were two shallots.  Sounded good to me.  There was a bag of golden raisins and another of cashews in the cabinet.  So far, so good.  A moment of thinking and I decided on a simple stir fry. Nutty Cabbage & Shallot Stir Fry Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 shallots, sliced thin 2 cups shredded cabbage (you could use cole slaw mix) 1/2 cup (pecans or cas...

When I saw the additions to the quinoa, in this recipe from All Recipes. Com, I knew I had to make it.  How could you go wrong with it?  Actually, I did goof, big time.  I must have put too much liquid in the quinoa and it was mushy.  Despite this, the added flavors made it worthy of eating and I would make it again, just with more care. Tropical Quinoa Ingredients: 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed 1 cup water 1/4 cup chopped dried pineapple 1/2 cup dried mango 1/2 cup cut-up apple 1/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes 1/4 cup nuts, chopped                Method: Mix the quinoa and water in a saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until all the water is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove from heat, and stir in the dried pineapple, dried mango, coconut flakes,  nuts.     Eat and enjoy. Serve hot. Linked to  Full P...

This title tells what I made but not what the group made.  The correct dish is  White Fish with Pine Nut Brown Butte r .  Ok, mine is  fish and has the butter but my changes were major.   When I ran out of pine nuts, a few months ago, I did not replace them because of the price.  That is where the almonds come in; they are my replacement in this recipe.  I was planning on picking up white fish in the store but it has been so cold, I opted out of facing the ice and freezing temperature and settled for salmon which was already, in the house. I admit, I am not at all sorry, because I love salmon and almonds are as good as pine nuts, in my opinion.  This quick dish was delightful.  It was mild flavored and on spinach, it seemed perfect. The ingredients were few, butter, almonds, lemon juice, salmon and spinach.  I added a little water when I put the spinach in the pan, for the last two minutes.   It came together easily a...

I have been breading food with nuts since I found out my husband had celiac.  Sometimes, I mix them with corn meal, sometimes with corn flake crumbs, sometimes with GF bread crumbs, sometimes with chips, or whatever, I can turn into crumbs.  With a little seasoning, I have a tasty coating. I did not pound the cutlets down but left them plump.  We like them that way.  For this recipe, I thought it would work and it did.  Certainly, if you prefer thin cutlets, pound away. Rachel's recipe called for frying these in a shallow pan.  I opted out and baked them in the oven.  We just don't need the extra fat in our diet. Nutty Chicken Cutlets   (adapted from Rachel Ray) Ingredients: 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts,  Salt and pepper About 1/2 cup  almond crumbs 1 cup regular, whole wheat or gluten-free panko 1 teaspoon thyme 1 tablespoon parsley Flour, for dredging 2 eggs, beaten spray oil Method: Preh...

When I was on my baking spree for Ina Fridays, I ended up making a whole bunch of goodies including these which I did not have time to write up when the linky first came out.  I plan to add it now. I made these for hubby as a special treat and did not serve them to the rest of the family. After all, they had chocolate cake, peach cake, apple crisp and sorbet.  I never served the ice cream that I bought.  A bit of overkill but I know the grand kids like the apple crisp, some of the adults are peach cake fans and everyone likes chocolate.  My daughter-in-law is a sorbet fan.  I wanted everyone to go home full but that happened before dessert. Hubby smoked two chickens and they were incredible and they disappeared quickly.  I was happy to see that two of the grandchildren were fans of quinoa but my very delicious veggie muffins were not as successful.    Sometimes, cute does not work. Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookies - Ina Garten , adapted In...

This is another Passover recipe, I have to share.  Passover is a funny holiday when it comes to food.  Some people feel deprived because we do not use many  of our normal choices. There are others and I count myself as part of this group who glory in what can be done with a more limited array of  ingredients.   When you think about it, there is one week, we eat without using flour and foods with gluten.  No pasta, no bread, no "normal" cake or cookies, no rice for Sefardic Jews, no beans as well.  It is different but I welcome it.  I think we eat as well if not better for this week than the entire year. Honey and Walnut-Crusted Chicken Ingredients: 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded flat  non stick cooking spray (olive oil) ½ cup honey ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 3/4 cup potato starch ¾ cup fine chopped nuts (I used walnuts but pecans would be better, in my opinion.) ...

It  dawned upon me that I like my apple dishes with chunks of apples opposed to sliced or shredded apples or even find diced.  I love those bigger pieces that you can bit into.  I too this recipe and altered the cut of the fruit and frankly, I think it is much better.   Actually, it was delicious when made Sara's way with sliced apples but we like it chunked that much better. I serve this as a side dish but I am sure others use it as a dessert.  If you would serve apple pie, why not apple kugel? Chunky Apple Kugel adapted from Sara Finkel's The Complete Yom Tov Cookbook Ingredients: 6 tart apples peeled and cut into chunks (at least one half inch) 4 eggs 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup oil 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup gluten-free flour mixture handful of golden raisins 1/3 cup chopped nuts ( Sara suggests pecans but I didn't have any) Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 by 13 pan. Combine the oil, sugar, cinnamon an...

I decided to bake the  Milk-Chocolate Walnut Coffee Cake   selected by  Eileen of One Hundred Eighty Degrees  and organized by Joyce of  Kitchen Flavours.   You will find the other bakes at THB . Since hubby does not like chocolate, I used raisins and walnuts and I think, it turned out well.  I forgot to put the filling in the middle so it is somewhere on the bottom. I thought, I would add a little about mourning in Judaism.  There are stages of morning,  Right now, for us, this is called the Shloshim which ends 30 days after the burial.  We do not listen to music, cut our hair or go to parties.  The children of the deceased mourn even further, lasting the entire 12 months.  Celebrations are avoided at this time.  The other relatives are over the official mourning period,  Certainly, it is a time to remember the loved one.  Someone has suggested that since my daughter was such a fantastic cook and baker, w...

The latest bake for THB, the Home Bakers is Cranberry-Oatmeal-Walnut Cake , selected by Kit from I-Lost In Austen.  The recipe is on her blog.  She made these huge muffins.  What a treat! I made mine gluten-free so I never know how to compare it to those are baking with "real" flour.  This cake called for a full one and a half cups of oats.  All in all, it was not sweet enough for my taste.  Some of the bakers used dried cranberries which are sweeter and had a better cake.  The fresh cranberries are quite tart and even hubby commented on it. Hop on over here . to see what the other bakers have made.

Peach-Cashew Coffee Cake  The scheduled recipe for the Home Bakers is a Peach-Cashew Coffee Cake and I am happy to say that I made this choice.  I love peaches and hubby loves nuts so we have a cake akin to a marriage made in heaven. When, I chose the cake, I did not know it was to be scheduled at this time but once I got the date, I thought, I would be able to pull it off and I guess I have.  I feel badly that I didn't get better photos but it has been an incredibly busy month with school and the Jewish holy days, which I am sure I have repeated over and over again.  I had no time to make this a second time although, I am thinking, it would be a wonderful cake for the upcoming Succot holidays.  If I do make it, I plan to update the photos, if they are better. I am sharing the recipe as it is written in the book.  I made mine gluten-free to accommodate my husband.  I ended up using frozen peaches to save the time of preparing fresh pea...

I like almost anything, with apples which makes this dish, a joy to make. It is crisp, slightly sweet and one that most people do like. Making this is easy as pie...... Why do people say that? Pie is not easy to make, in my opinion. The crust and I are enemies and that crust usually wins. Forget the pie. This is easy to make. It is nice to have a little bit of sweet in contrast to the fish, soup, meat and vegetables. Waldorf Salad (adapted) Southern Food - About.com Ingredients: 2 cups coarsely chopped apples, about 2 medium apples 1 cup chopped celery 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 1/4 cup mayonnaise 1 teaspoons sugar 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice Method: Place chopped apple, celery and walnuts in a bowl. Combine mayonnaise, sugar, allspice and lemon juice. Toss mayonnaise mixture with apple mixture. Eat and enjoy.      

 Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese and Walnuts – Ellie Krieger This is an Ellie Krieger recipe which means it has the odds on its side for being a success. It is uncanny how almost all her recipes are right, for my family. Whether it is an appetizer or dessert, we almost always like the dish. This is yet, another success. Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese and Walnuts (adapted from – Ellie Krieger) I made this gluten-free. It called for whole wheat pasta and I substituted a gluten-free brown rice pasta. Ingredients: 1/2 pound gluten-free fusilli or other spiral shaped pasta 1/2 cup walnuts 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 1/2 cup diced red onion 1 1/2 cups chopped baby spinach leaves 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard freshly ground black pepper Method: Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain the pasta, rinse it under cold water. In a dry saute pan toast the walnuts over a medium-high flame un...

  Our latest baked treat from the The Home Bakers is a tasty cranberry pecan orange coffee cake which fits right in with my husband's preferences.  Nuts and fruit and coffee cake means it will disappear more quickly than usual. Maria from Box of Stolen Socks . selected the cake, this time, and she did a good job, doing this.   The cake was easy to put together and the fruit made it full bodied and moist.  I did use orange juice in place of the concentrate.  That with some zest and you recapture the orange flavor.  I am sure concentrate would have had a fuller flavor, though. For information about the Home bakers and to see the recipes, each member has baked, go over here.   We are using the book, Coffee Cakes, Simple Sweet and Savory by Lou Siebert Pappas.

Yes, I am behind but I am working on catching up and actually, I am about ready to bake the next cake, a buttermilk bundt cake.  We in The Home Bakers (THB) are using Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas.  Since, we are a coffee cake household, this is the perfect book for us.  Except for chocolate which Hubby does not like, the rest of the recipes are just right for him.  This one, Marionberry-Hazelnut Cake is filled with his favorites, not marionberries or hazelnuts though.  What is a marionberry?  I used blueberries and planned to use almonds until I realized, I was out.  I pulled out walnuts instead.  I keep ground flours on hand with a celiac husband.  Nut flours give flavor and are a partial substitute for the all-purpose flour.  I use a gluten-free mixture and the nut flour.  A Great Combo! You can find the recipe here.  My substitutions are as above, walnut flour, gluten free mix, blueberries.  Otherwise, I ...

I have come to the conclusion, one either loves bananas or hates bananas, at least in my family.  There are those like hubby who eats bananas daily and then there are my daughters who make the most unsophisticated sounds, if they hear the word banana.  Shame on you girls. I like bananas in a fruit salad or in a loaf with chocolate chips.  I don't enjoy a plain banana.  Actually, I grew up on bananas and sour cream.  Yummy. When there are always bananas in the house, one is apt to find some really ripe ones, somewhere.  I say this because this was the Case of the Missing Bananas.  My husband kept insisting that there were more bananas somewhere.  He was so strong about this , I suggested looking under the bed, in the attic and in the car.  Ok, that is a bit extreme.   In the meanwhile, I bought bananas and hubby was happy.  Then one day, I heard him proudly exclaiming, "I knew, we had more bananas."  Yes, he found...