How to Make Your Own Coconut Milk

Here's something interesting to do at home.  Make your own coconut milk!  My son is lactose intolerant.  He usually drinks almond milk so we're no strangers to non-dairy milks in our house.  I could say that I tried this because it's better than the pre-made stuff you can buy, but really we did this because we bought a coconut on a whim at the store one day and had to figure out what to do with it.  After some youtube watching and googling, here's what we did.

First, take a screwdriver and hammer it into two of the dots on your coconut to make holes.  Then let the coconut water drain out of the holes into a cup (this is not coconut milk!).  You can drink it if you want.  I've heard it's kind of good as a sports drink.  I think I might freeze it into ice cubes to use later in smoothies.

Then comes the fun part.  Put the coconut in a ziploc bag and let your kids throw it on the ground outside until it cracks.

 

My son was so proud of cracking it into 3 pieces!

Now you need to get the white meat off of the shell.  There are probably some easy cool ways to do this that I don't know about.  I just use a knife to cut little sections and pry off pieces like this.  Make sure your knife is sturdy.

One coconut gave me about three cups of meat.

Now all you do is either grate up the white part of the coconut, if you have the time and inclination, or just put it through your food processor and chop it up really small.  

Then add 2 parts hot water to 1 part coconut, so for this one I added 6 cups of hot water.

My food processor doesn't fit that much (oops learned that the hard way and kinda made a mess), so I added 3 cups hot water to all the coconut, processed it, strained it, and then put the coconut meat back into the food processor, added the next 3 cups of water, and strained again.

If you have cheese cloth around you could use that instead and probably get more milk out.

And you're done!  You can put it in a jar or pitcher and let it sit until the cream separate if you want to.  There should be a small amount coconut oil (maybe a couple of tablespoons) in there that will form a solid at the top.  I've been using it as a lotion.  Keep the milk in the refrigerator and use it up because it will only keep for a few days.

 

Sugarplum Drops Recipe

When I was a kid my grandma used to mail us a tin of homemade Christmas cookies every year.  We'd keep them in the refrigerator and mom would let us each have one every day until they were gone.  One of my favorites was Sugarplum Drops.  They combine the flavor of dried fruits and nuts and sugar - so tasty!  When I saw a recipe in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, it brought back all of those Christmas memories.  Here's my version.

 
Sugarplum Drops 

Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens magazine Jan 2008

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped dates
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup pecans
1 cup whole natural almonds
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar (or use colored sugar for a festive look)

In a food processor, combine the fruits and nuts and pulse until you get a course mixture, about one minute.  Add orange juice and continue to pulse until the mixture sticks together (like the photo), about 15 seconds.  

Shape the mixture into one inch balls and roll in sugar.  Refrigerate.
Makes 40 sugarplum drops.

caloriecount.about.com tells me that each one is 52 calories, 7.2 g carbs, and 0.9 g fiber.

Race Car Birthday

My daughter turned four today.  She's not a baby anymore, that's for sure.  She wanted to do a race car theme.  She's my little tomboy- in love with all things cars, and it's funny because my little boy loves all things tea party.  Grandma bought him his own play tea set this year and he was jumping up and down yelling YAY, he was so excited.  Go figure.

We had a big party last year and I didn't really want to do the whole thing again- activities, lunch, cake... too much work.  We put out the kiddie pool with a slip n' slide and had that be the activity.  Nobody cared that it wasn't race car related, especially since it was 105 degrees today.  HOT. 

For a while I thought about just buying a race car cake at the Walmart bakery, but I usually think their frosting is yucky.  I googled for ideas instead.

Since we were just doing cake and ice cream and not a lunch or anything fancy, I made the coolest cake I could find.  I've only made one other birthday cake ever.  I'm not a big fan of cake, but this one turned out great.  Youtube is my friend when it comes to trying new projects, and I watched a few videos about layer cakes before starting.

Here's the link to the One Ginormous Adventure racecar cake tutorial that I used as inspiration.  Instead of piping on all that green frosting... uh... no way... too much work... I colored some coconut green to make grass.  This is the frosting recipe I used from Our Best Bites.  It was perfect- not too sweet or overwhelming.  I didn't add any extra cocoa powder since the cake is already chocolate.  One batch was enough to cover this whole cake.

The cake is chocolate cake mix from a Betty Crocker box.  Between the layers of cake, I used a can of coconut pecan frosting like you normally use on a German Chocolate cake.  It was nice to have something different inside the cake, not just more frosting.

The adorable little fondant race cars came from Lady Cupcake's Corner on etsy.  They were a big hit and they tasted good too.  All the little kids were so excited to eat them, and they all wanted to pick which color they got on their slice of cake.

The little checkered flags on the cake are a 3x5 index card cut the long way and folded around a toothpick.  I colored the black boxes on with a sharpie.

For a table covering, I bought one black and one white cheap 97 cent plastic tablecloth.  I cut one into strips long wise, using the tiles on my kitchen floor as a cutting guide.  The other one was cut into strips the short way.  I wove them together to make a checkered flag.  Then I ran a few strips of clear mailing tape across to hold it all together.  I put the tape side down so you can't see it.  Not bad for two bucks.

My daughter had a really good time.  What kid wouldn't love a race car cake with a kiddie pool and slip n' slide?  We had so much fun.

California Rolls

Since I live in a very small town at least 1000 miles from an ocean, there is no place around here to buy good sushi.  I have decided to make it myself.  This is my second time making California rolls on my own, which is why they are a little messy still, but I'm getting the hang of it. 

 Before rolling:

If you want to try this yourself, here are the recipes I used.  Youtube also has some great tutorials.  If you can't find the ingredients locally, I have ordered them from http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/ before, and they were great.  This time, I stocked up on nori when I was visiting family in another state.  They sell it at Walmart in some areas, just not in mine.

Sushi Rice (enough for 6-7 rolls)

2 Cups short grain white rice

2 1/4 cups water

½ cup white rice vinegar

2 tsp salt

¼ cup white sugar

Rinse rice several times in water until the water is clear.  Place rice in 2 qt pot and fill with water to 1 inch above the rice.  Let soak for 30 minutes.  Rinse rice again.  Place rinsed, drained rice back in pot and add 2 ¼ cups cold water.  Cook covered until boiling on high heat.  Turn down to lowest heat setting.  Let rice simmer for 20 minutes and don’t lift the lid.  If there is still water, put the lid back on a cook for a few minutes.

While rice is cooking, place rice vinegar, salt, and sugar in small pot and bring to a boil on med high heat, stirring until salt and sugar dissolve.  Remove from heat.

Once rice has absorbed all water, remove from heat and let sit for 15 minutes.  Pour rice in a large non-metal bowl and spread it out with a wooden spoon.  Don’t scrape any dried rice out of the bottom of the pot.  Pour vinegar mixture over a spoon onto the rice and toss until cool.

California Roll (makes 2-3 rolls)

Plastic wrap

Bamboo mat

½ cucumber

1 ripe avocado

¼ lb crab or imitation crab

2 cups sushi rice

2 - ½ sheets nori sushi wraps

sesame seeds

Cover bamboo mat in plastic wrap.  Peel cucumber and scoop out seeds with a spoon.  Slice cucumber into long thin strips.  Peel avocado and cut into thin slices.  Squeeze lemon juice on avocado if desired to keep from browning.

Place nori shiny side down on the bamboo mat.  With moistened hands, grab 1 cup of sushi rice and spread evenly on the nori, leaving a ½ inch of the nori uncovered on one of the long sides.  You should be able to see the nori through the rice.  Don’t make it too thick.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Lay down the bamboo mat and place the nori rice side down on mat.  Add strip of crab, avocado, and cucumber longwise in the middle of the nori.  Roll sushi, rice free edge first.  Use mat to press and tighten roll.  Slice roll and serve with soy sauce and wasabi.

Pumpkin Soup

Wondering what to do with all those cans of pumpkin you bought up on sale after Thanksgiving?  I bought a bunch this year.  I love pumpkin pie all year round, and when I wanted some for my birthday in June last year, the grocery store didn't have any.  I decided to try out a pumpkin soup.

Here's a great recipe for that came out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine and then I tweaked it a bit.

Ingredients:
3- medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2- Tbsp margarine
1- medium onion, diced
1- stalk celery, diced
1- clove of garlic, minced
2-15 oz cans of pureed pumpkin (make sure it's not the pie mix kind, just pure pumpkin)
1- 32 oz box of beef broth
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup water
a squirt of syrup (I didn't have maple syrup so I used non-maple pancake syrup)
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
salt to taste

Cook sliced carrots in a large stock pot in the margarine over med heat for 2 minutes.  Add the diced onion, celery, and garlic and cook 8-10 more minutes until vegetables are tender.
Stir in the pumpkin, broth, milk, water, syrup, and spices, and heat through.  Salt to taste.

The photo in the magazine is prettier than mine.  This makes a yummy fall/winter side dish.

Persimmon Muffins

I was walking through the grocery store and I overheard a man and his son discussing something in the produce section. "What is THAT?" "It looks like some kind of tomato." "Maybe it's just an unripe tomato or... something..."

I didn't tell them, but they are missing out on one of the great fruits of fall- the persimmon.

Persimmons are a little bit tricky. I've heard people say, "They dry out your mouth and taste awful." That's only if you eat them unripe. Unripe persimmons are full of tannins that make them astringent and bitter tasting. The variety sold in the Walmart in my town is Hachiya, which is particularly astringent until ripe, but is more sweet when it is ready to eat than some other varieties. Make sure you know which variety you have and that it is ripe before trying this recipe. Wikipedia is a good resource.

*My Hachiya persimmons were not ripe until you can easily squish your fingers into the skin and the fruit is very soft. Other kinds, especially the pumpkin shaped ones are more crisp when ripe. If you're unsure, just cut a small slice out and try it. The flesh and skin is edible. You will easily be able to tell if it's ready. If it's not ripe you're going to want to spit it out because it's really gross. Have a trash can ready.

I decided to use my persimmons this year in some baking, and I came up with a muffin recipe that I really like. It makes 6 muffins.

Ingredients:

1 ripe persimmon*

1 egg

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon canola oil

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup all-purpose flour

Peel your persimmon and cut off the green top. Remove the soft core.

Mash or blend up the persimmon in your mixer. Add the egg, applesauce, oil, and sugar and mix. Add the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg and blend well. Then add the flour and stir until moist.

Spoon into a greased muffin tin. Grease it really well.

Bake at 350 F for 16 minutes.

Enjoy!