teacher by day - chef by night
YUM! This soup is perfect for all seasons and beyond delicious (and easily adaptable!) I first found this recipe on Keep it Simple Foods a few months ago labeled as “Hummus Soup” and decided to wait to make it until I saw my grandmother who …
We keep on getting stuff called amaranth from our co-op. It is not a bad thing (actually pretty good) and it actually tastes a lot like spinach (with a slightly more bitter & fuzzy-ness to them) The major problem is that we are getting tired …
After getting a bag of Snap Peas a few weeks ago from our CSA I was wondering what to do with them, since I did not thinkI liked Snap (or Snow) Peas. The most interesting thing happened as I started to clean and work with the peas though… I started to taste them and realized that these things are awesome!!
Even though I found out that I liked the flavor of them raw, I already had my heart set of making Whitney’s version of Pickled Snap Peas. I always seem to have my heart set on pickles, so I knew I would not be disappointed! (The rest of the peas which escaped pickling, made their way into my Sesame Snow Peas with Asian Crab Cakes)
I tasted these a day later and they were good enough to eat, but resisted temptation and let them sit another week or so and they were worth the wait! These are nice and crunchy still with all the taste you would expect from something pickled. So get your harvest of peas (or go ahead and make this with the green beans that are currently in abundance) and make up a jar of these to enjoy in a few days – YUM!
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Pickled Sugar Snap Peas
Adapted from The Joy of Pickling via Epicurious
1 1/4 cups white distilled vinegar
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 tablespoon kosher or pickling salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed and strings removed
4 garlic cloves, sliced
at least 3 -4 dashes dried red pepper flakes
In a nonreactive saucepan, heat the vinegar with the salt and sugar until they are dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add the cold water. (This gives you a leg up on getting the liquid to cooling the liquid.)
When the vinegar mixture is cool, pack the sugar snaps, garlic and chile peppers or flakes into a 1-quart jar or bowl, and pour the brine over it. Cover with a non-reactive cap, or, er, plastic wrap.
The original recipe suggests you store the jar in the refrigerator for two weeks before eating the pickled peas, but good luck with that. They’re quite delicious and already lightly pickled by 24 hours later.
And I leave you with a Question… What is YOUR favorite pickled food (and do you have an easy recipe on how to make it)!?
These S’mores Bar Cookies are a mix between a Blondie & a Chocolate Chip Bar Cookie. The flavors are right on, the cinnamon in the batter is perfect & they are nice any chewy (even a week later – I stored them in the fridge and then just let them come to room temperature).
21 & Up ONLY beyond this point! This post is a few weeks later than I wanted it to be – SORRY I started making some Jello Jiggler Shots early this year with ‘Beer Jigglers’ for New Years and then some Margarita Jigglers around Memorial …
I recently bought the Jelly Shot Test Kitchen’s book (which I lent out before I even made my first recipe from it – that is how excited we [me & my friends] were to have it). I could have went through this entire book and made (almost) all of these Jello Jiggler shots and have been happy!
You may remember I made Beer Jigglers for New Years (which were not a huge hit – but I would love suggestions as to how to make them better, because seriously it is a good idea, in theory). For July 4th this year I made RED, WHITE, & BLUE Jiggler Shots and also these Mudslide Jigglers.
Instead of just making a plain mudslide though – I decided to make it a fancy “stained glass” jiggler (kinda like I made at Christmas). The taste was AWESOME and they are so easy to eat (much better than the plastic cup version of Jello Shots we are used to and that I hate since then your fingers get all gross & sticky). The only problem is that they are too easy to eat so make sure you do the math & know your limit – these things go down easy!!
They also were a bit ‘sharp’ for my taste. I am not sure if they were just ‘sharp’ since they were layered and maybe would be smoother all mixed together? Anyway, next time I would cut down on the vodka & maybe add some coffee or chocolate milk in its place. I am sure I will make them again, so when I do so I’ll be sure to update this here to let you know how it goes. (OR, you can play around and let me know how it works out)
Put your milk into a small saucepan & sprinkle your 2 packages of Knox on top – allowing it to soak for a minute or two. Then turn your heat on very low and stir constantly for about 5 minutes until gelatin is fully disolved (this will be thick).
Then pour in your Baileys & Kahlua (stirring very well to blend it all). Finally add the vodka (or whatever you are replacing vodka with – it you are replacing with something non-alcoholic, you can add it in with the milk before the Knox).
Pour the entire mixture into either a loaf pan or a 9×9 square pan (as long as its flat – you are pretty much ok with anything). Allow to set for a few hours (or even overnight) and cut as soon as possible to serving as possible (only take out a few at a time or serve on an iced platter so they don’t melt especially outside). This should make about 18-24 mudslide jiggler shots!
And I leave you with a Jello Question…. What is your favorite drink that you would love to see turned into Jiggler Form (I want to experiment!)