Easy Cherry Lime Syrup Recipe

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Recipe:
4-5 cups of sand cherries (or other wild or non-sweet cherries) (leave the pits in)
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
1/4 cup honey
pinch of salt
3 limes (juiced)

In a saucepan on med-high heat, add the whole cherries and add just enough water to cover the cherries.  Cook on a low boil for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Place a mesh strainer over a large bowl pour the whole saucepan full through the strainer to get cherry juice.  You can squish the cherries a bit with a spatula in the strainer to get more juice out.  Put the juice back into the saucepan and discard the cherry pits and solids.  Add sugar, honey, salt, and lime juice, and cook on med-low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let it cool and you're done.

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Do you ever click on a recipe on Pinterest and then get annoyed when you have to scroll through the whole page of pretty pictures and lots of words to find the actual recipe?  Me too.  That's why I put the recipe at the top.  In case you want to know more though... here's the rest of my blog post.

Last year we planted some Sand Cherry bushes in the yard.  We ripped out the burning bushes previous owners had planted because we wanted to have more edible landscaping.  My thinking is if I have to water them, I should at least be able to eat something in return.  Sand cherries (Prunus besseyi) are native to the northern plains, so bonus for planting natives!

Here they are, growing happily in their second summer in our yard.  They've survived two very severe drought years.  We're in SW Nebraska.  They are on the west-facing side of our garage.   I got exactly 3 cherries in the very first year, but this year we got at least two quarts.

In the beginning of July the cherries look like this.  I'd say even these are not quite ripe.  They're quite black when they're totally ripe.

If you eat them raw they're quite bitter and sour.  These are great for jams and sauces where you're adding sugar anyway.

I picked about 1 1/4 quarts (4 or 5 cups) off of the ripest bush.

To make the syrup, put the cherries in a saucepan on med-high heat with just enough water to cover them all.

 Cook them down on a low boil for 15 minutes.

 Strain them through a mesh strainer and keep all the rich purple juice.  Discard the pits and fruit.

Cook the juice with the sugar, lime juice, salt, and honey for 10 minutes on med-low heat to create the syrup. 

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.

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!

Quick Hors d'oeuvres

Whenever you need a quick snack for a party, or when you're having guests over, here is a yummy, fast recipe.

I'm not sure what to call these. Maybe they should be "Biscuit cream cheese puffs," or something like that. If you have a suggestion, leave it in the comments.

You will need:
-about 1/3 of a package of cream cheese
(fat free cream cheese or neufchatel cheese is also acceptable)
-1 can of biscuit dough
-garlic salt

Open up the can and separate the biscuits.

Cut each biscuit into four pieces.

Add a bit of cream cheese to each biscuit piece.

Roll up the biscuit around the cheese.

Lay them all on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with garlic salt. Optionally you can brush the tops with melted butter.

Bake at the temperature suggested on the biscuit can, but for a slightly shorter time. Take them out when the tops are lightly golden.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake Balls

Today I made a pineapple upside down cake for tomorrow's church potluck. I used a store-bought box of pineapple cake mix. I only wanted to make a 9 inch round since I only had one can of pineapple on hand, so I came up with a delicious way to use up the other 1/2 of the cake batter- pineapple cake balls! This is what I threw together and it turned out yummy.

I used:

- 1/2 of a 24 oz package of almond bark. - 12 cooked pineapple cupcakes, or you could use another 8 or 9 inch round baked cake.

- 1 package softened Neufchatel cheese because I like to pretend this dessert is low fat.

- 1 cup of powdered sugar

- 1/2 a stick of softened butter

Crumble the cake while it's warm.  Blend together the butter, neufchatel cheese, and powdered sugar.  Then add the crumbled cake and mix. 

Roll the mixture into 1- 1 1/2 inch balls. Refrigerate them while you prepare the melted almond bark as directed on the package. I prefer to microwave it in a glass bowl. Using a spoon, coat each cake ball with almond bark.

Tap the spoon against the edge of the bowl to let the excess drip off.

Place them on a sheet of waxed paper and refrigerate until solidified.

YUM!