Granny's Place

Cooking with more consciousness.

2010-11-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

The person whose job it is to prepare the food for the household (or group) has a very important duty to the health of the family or group.
It is not merely a situation of cooking for compliments, but the cook is the family (group) pharmacist behind the scene.
Food maketh the man.
The person who cooks for his/her family can do much to relieve stress, obesity and other ailments. If you love your family, you will love to see them healthy and happy.
A conscious chef will not only cook the food that his/her family (or group) likes, but will prepare it in such a way that it is not only pleasing to the eye but feeds body mind and spirit.
Food preparation is a science and not merely plonking food on a plate to fill tummies.

How to use your juicer (The gadget that extracts juice from raw food.)

2010-10-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

More about the juicer.

Please note that I am not going to write about citrus squeezers which are also referred to as juicers.
People often get confused about the difference between a juicer and a blender.
One would put fluid-like or mushy food into a blender (Not a juicer). If the food is too dry some extra fluid needs to be added.
A blender simply mashes and chops everything up into a pulp depending on what you put into it.
A juicer on the other hand will remove the fluid from the food so that you can drink it.
It may be a good idea to do some research on the various types of juicers before buying one.
Personally it does not worry me too much, because I only put edible stuff in my juicer;
What it does not turn into juice, I eat for extra fiber in my diet. Nothing gets wasted.
Some juicers are easier to clean than other, but not much. Some of the juicers that brag about separating the pulp into its own little compartment only have an extra part to clean in the end. You will need to remove the blades and strainer to clean it before you store it again, anyway.
Mushy stuff does not go into a juicer (food hat can be mashed with a fork) like banana or avocado. You will not get any juice out of them. It is better to use your blender for mushy stuff. You can add a little milk, cream, ice-cream, yogurt or water to it if you want to drink it.
If you are going to do a lot of juicing perhaps you need to look at the bigger, stronger models. Find out for how long it is guaranteed. Perhaps that is an indication of how soon you may be experiencing problems.
I still have some research to do on juicers. I have only tested two models so far and both were middle of the range ones. It is my intention to contact some suppliers and find out if they want me to test some of their appliances. It is just a thought. I am not sure if I am going to do it.
I bought my first juicer twenty years ago and it is still going well. Yes, I have two juicers because Hubby bought me another juicer to replace my blender; that is why I decided to write about the different appliances. The fact that my juicer is over twenty years old is possibly an indication of how often I juice things.
One of my friends still had pitch black hair at the age sixty four. When I last saw her she was seeking medical advice to lower her libido. She used to juice a selection of herbs and vegetables from her garden every day and she kept her yogurt jar in the fridge door. When she only had a tablespoon of yoghurt left, she just filled her yogurt jar with fresh milk and put it into the yogurt maker overnight. She always had honey and nuts at hand, which she purchased from the local market. You guessed, she is vegetarian.
Carrot and apple juice are two juicing favorites. Just remember that people who eat too many carrots turn yellow. That’s true. You can tell some of the health fanatics by their hollow eyes and yellow skins. One needs a balance in whatever one does; Even eating healthy. I have seen more than one fruitarian turning completely bananas.
I do not worry about the taste of the juice I make. I just drink it down for health then savor the pulp by mixing it with yogurt, honey, nuts or muesli or something nice.
Some foods that can be juiced raw are:
Fruit:

Apple - remove core (and the skin?)

Apricot, peach pear, quince (remove pip (and skin?)

Coconut

Gooseberry, strawberry, raspberry

Grape (remove seeds?)

Pineapple (remove outer skin)

Mango (remove pip and skin)

Papaya, watermelon (remove skin and pips)

Any salad vegetables can be used: (Just put the parts of the food you like to eat into the juicer)

Alfalfa, Aloe Vera, Asparagus, Beet, Broccoli, Brussels, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chives, Corn, Cucumber, Dandelion Leaves, Eggplant, Endives, Fennel, Garlic, Ginger, kale, Kohlrabi, Lentils and other sprouts, Lettuce, Mung Beans, Mustard, Onions, Peppers, Radishes, any herbs, Spinach, Nettle, Zucchini.

In other words use any raw salad herbs and vegetables.
Cooked and mushy foods are blended rather than juiced. (Use your blender and not your juicer)
Skins and pips you do not use can go into the compost. Perhaps I shall post about compost making at a later date.
Remember if you are not going to eat the pulp, you do not have to remove the skins from most fruit or vegetables unless it is bitter.

If you want to make nice juices, here are some recipes:

Recipe links:

The juice book

Life-tips

Detox

Juicing book

Electric mixer, blender, food processor, juicer or grinder?

2010-09-30T07:11:00.000-07:00

As promised, here is a bit more information about the different kitchen gadgets:

Electric mixer, blender, food processor, juicer or grinder

Electric mixer,
Mixes ingredients and is mostly used when baking cakes
Meat mincer. Pushes food through a sieve to make minced meat or fruit.

Blender (liquidizer),
A blender mashes food into a pulp and is mostly used for making drinks or soups.
The stick blender.
This works the same way as the blender but you plunge the stick into the food instead of putting the food into the blender. blender.

Food processor,
A food processor is a gadget with sharp and blunt blades to chop food finely, make breadcrumbs or kneads dough.

Juicer

A juicer will extract fluid from food, mostly vegetables and leaves the non fluid portion of the food as a pulp which can be eaten separately.
A citrus juicer is a glorified lemon or orange squeezer.

Grinder
A grinder is used for grinding and spices and coffee beans. It is the most time saving device and replaces the old mortal and pestle.

I shall post more details about each gadget in due course.

Most two most useful items in thee kitchen are the stick blender and the humble hand whisk.
Every new housewife should have those.

Electric mixer, blender, food processor, juicer or grinder

2010-09-18T01:13:00.000-07:00

Hubby recently bought me a electric juicer when I said that I needed another blender.
It came to my attention that some people did not know the difference between a mixer, blender, food processor, juicer and grinder.
They are all essential cooking aids with completely different jobs. If you are someone starting up your home kitchen then I would suggest that you get one of those conglomeration models that do a few of these tasks by just changing some of its components. Just remember you may need to. *juice, *blend, *mix, *grind and *chop (process) food.
If you have a separate gadget for each task, like me, you need a lot more packing space.
I decided to write a bit about these gadgets so that my readers know more than I did when I was kitting out m first kitchen.
Watch this space if you need to know more without too much research.

Cabbage juice to heal gastric ulcer pain?

2010-01-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

Cabbage juice to heal gastric ulcer pain?

I made some cabbage juice and it did not taste too bad, but I can not report on its effect on gastric pain because I no longer have gastric pain.

Thinking back, the most helpful pain relief food was skorsie (gem squash) and Rooibos tea, and Spanspek (sweet melon)

See the previous post for details.

Here is how I made the cabbage juice.

I wish I tried carrot-spinach- and cucumber juice.
I am not going to wait for a next time; I hope there will not be such a need.

Making the cabbage juice:

First I selected some young cabbage leaves from the garden.
I will never use above ground shop vegetables for juicing unless it is organically grown and packed.
One never knows when the food was last sprayed and who handled and breathed over it.

Method
Wash
Chop into small pieces.
Place in a jug and cover with boiling water to blanch.

Add a little ice water and blended it with a stick blender.

I drank the juice;
The pulp was mixed with honey and yogurt for a nice solid treat.

I could have put it into a blender or juicer

Alternatively I could have boiled the cabbage and strained the fluid for a tea, keeping in mind that heating destroys vitamins.

Here is a great juice recipe link: http://www.spinachjuice.com/

Gastric ulcer and pain recipes

2010-01-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

This post is an attempt to research what foods will help relieve the pain of a gastric ulcer as well as sharing the foods I already tried.

Every time I go onto an antibiotic I suffer from gastric ulcer burn for ages afterward.
Apart from developing ulcers, I also have diarrhea (runny tummy) so only foods that did not aggravate the diarrhea were tested.

Food that relieved my ulcer pain the most was:

Gem Squash, cooked, mashed, and mixed with a little yoghurt, or as is. (A good baby food too)

Spanspek – The best.

Chicken noodle soup. (Including the noodles). I chose the chicken noodle soup to boost the protein content of my otherwise vegetarian diet.

Banana

Foods that helped for the pain to some extent,

Yogurt,
rice
drinks

The drink that I find the most snoozing is Rooibos tea.
I did not add the peppermint leaves or Ginger to the tea this time, but I could have.
Neither did I try any of the other wonderful herb teas.

I feel that I need to take a few spoonfuls of something every hour to keep my stomach lined.

In the old days we used to give the patients a glass of milk every hour, but that is no longer regarded as desirable. (Those were the days before yogurt was on the supermarket shelves)

Tomorrow I am going to try cabbage juice and see how that works.

Links to other health condition recipes
--------------

The following website suggests:

Drink plenty of water. It dilutes the acid in the stomach which will relieve ulcer pain.

- Eat yogurt to coat ulcers and relieve the pain when it flares up.

- Eat a banana. This neutralizes acid and coats the lining of the stomach.

- Eat apples, cranberries, celery and onions to inhibit the growth of the bacteria that causes ulcers.

- Eat slowly and chew food thoroughly

Remember when you experience persistent or severe pain or bleeding, contact your medical professional.

Cooking by intuition.

2010-01-17T02:43:00.000-08:00

There was a time when man was naturally as intuitive as some animals are today.
Man developed his mental capacity at the expense of his intuitive nature.
Perhaps it is the historical attitude of men towards woman that lead to humankind loosing this gift because women are naturally more intuitive.

Before I explain how to tap into your intuitive nature, you need to remember that the organ in control is always your brain and common sense.
The ability to tune into intuition is not supposed to turn you into a robot.

Who have the ability to use this method?
Mostly woman and people who are well grounded; Men are often too critical and logical to allow themselves to tap into their intuition. The brain can override intuition.

So for people who know about radionics, this is no secret. (Using a pendulum)
There I am loosing at least the interest of half of the readers.

My belief of how this works is that the earth is a big magnet that keeps within its magnetic field an accumulative memory of all the thoughts and happenings that takes place (Past and future).

Man can truly not have one thought or experience that does not become part of this memory bank that influences the destiny of humanity.
How does it fit into cooking?

One can turn one’s own body into a pendulum to give answers.

My belief is that the information you can subtract from the collective consciousness, requires seed thoughts that are already into your mind.

Remember – let common sense prevail. Do not pour a cup of salt into the stew if your common sense indicates it is wrong.
Perhaps you are just not grounded enough to tune in and it is better to use a recipe if you get such stupid inspirations.

Before I tell you how to turn yourself into a pendulum, remember if you want to bake fruit cake, for instance, first read through a few recipes to get the general idea of how to bake one. Build up your ‘seed thought bank’ on the topic.
I even sometimes ask: “what shall I cook for my husband tonight that he will enjoy the most?” and then suggest a few meal choices and see when I get a positive result. I don’t think I ever made the wrong choice.

As I said before, if you are the mental type, it may not work for you.

METHOD:

Relax while standing straight.

Clear your mind from dominant thoughts and just tune into the moment.

Imagine there is a string that attaches you to heaven and run through you into the centre of the earth.

Relax until you can feel yourself lightly swaying on the currents of this imaginary string.

TESTING

Now put the question into your mind (ask) for a YES response and feel your body sensation.

Now ask for a NO response and compare the sensation.

Do it a few times until you are sure of your yes’s and no’s.
For me YES simply records on the front of my body and NO at the back.

Once you know how to do this, you can ask about what vitamins to use or buy and all sorts of other handy frivolous information.

QUESTIONING

Remember your answer depends on your seed bank of knowledge, so be informed.

You can only ask YES or NO questions.

You can not ask: “Do I use apples or pears?”
You must ask: “Do I use apples?”
“Do I use pears?”
If you get yes for both then you ask: “Do I use both together”
If the answer is no then ask: “Do I use either?”

So the answer would have been, in many cases, the same as your common sense would have told you that it does not mater which one you use.

Use the pendulum method only when your common sense lets you down.

Most men will say if you know so much about something, why you have to tune in.
That is the attitude that may have resulted in humanity loosing this art.

This method I find is most useful when I have to decide between two ingredients or quantities in times when my brain lets me down.

Well, there it is: Cooking by intuition. I don’t know of anyone else who COOKS BY INTUITION like this so let me know how you get on.

Fruit cake without eggs (Vegan)

2009-12-20T11:23:00.001-08:00

(Because this cake does not contain butter, eggs or milk it has limited keeping qualities)

Mixed fruit (Sultanas, Currants, Raisins) 675g (1 ½ lb)
Water 450 ml (¾ pt)
Oil 150 ml (1/4 pt)
Whole-meal self-raising flour 350g (12 oz)
Blanched almonds, chopped 50g (2 oz)
Molasses 15ml (1 tbsp)
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Ground mixed spice 10 ml (2 tsp)
Raw brown sugar 75g (3 oz)
Sherry or Rum (optional) 45ml (3 Tbsp)

Grease and line a 7 ½” (19cm) round cake tin.
Place all the ingredients, except the sherry, in a basin and beat well until evenly mixed.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the oven at 150°C (300°F/Mark 2) for about 2 hours, until risen and firm to the touch.
Allow to cool slightly in the tin, then spoon the sherry over the cake and leave in the tin until completely cold.

Unlike a traditional cake, this cake does not keep very long.

This recipe is from the CRANKS recipe book (Cranks Restaurants) ISBN 1 8579 140 x

1982

The happy turkey Christmas

2009-12-19T07:40:00.000-08:00

The happy turkey Christmas

What to cook for Christmas if you do not eat meat

I found the following good websites:

BBC GOOD FOOD

VEGETARIAN SOCIETY

THE VEGGIE TABLE

HUB PAGES -- Here are some interesting meat look-alike vegetarian recipes.

VEG COOKING --- More meat look-alike cooking

Fruit mince 2

2009-12-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

Fruit mince 2

250g currents, washed and dried
250 g sultanas, washed and dried
250 g seedless raisins, washed and dried
500g raw cooking apples, peeled and cored, coarsely chopped then weighed
120g candied peel
120g dried figs or apricots, washed, soaked and dried, chopped
1orange
1 lemon
250g suet, with membranes removed and finely chopped
120g chopped nuts
500g soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons marmalade
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 wineglass sherry
2 wineglasses rum
½ t salt

Chop all the fruit and nuts except the orange and lemon.
Grate the orange and lemon peels, squeeze the juice and strain.
Mix all the ingredients except the rum and sherry.
Cover the container and allow tostand for 24 hours.
Now mix all ingredients together and pack into glass jars and seal as for jam.
This mixture will keep for one year and may be moistened with sherry if it becomes too dry.

So you can make some for next Christmas as well.

Christmas fruit mince 1

2009-12-05T14:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas fruit mince 1

250 g sultanas or raisins, washed and dried
250g currents, washed and dried
250g suet from which membranes have been removed
250g candied peel
250g raw cooking apples, peeled and cored then weighed
250g caster sugar
60g prunes, stoned (that means removing the pips and not drunk)
70g walnuts
2 teaspoons mixed spice
3 tablespoons brandy
2 tablespoons rum
Pinch of salt

Method:
Mix all the ingredients except the brandy and rum, pass through a coarse mincer.
Add the brandy and rum, mix and pack firmly into jars.
Seal as for jams

BOOK REVIEW

--------------------

It's Easy with Apples - Book Review

2009-12-05T13:57:00.000-08:00

Book review:
It’s easy with Apples,
Published in 1972 by Muller & Retief in Cape Town and Pretoria.
It is a great 64 page book packed with recipes and colored photographs.

Apart from the recipes the book also gives the history of apple farming in South Africa;
The different varieties and storing requirements and gives hints on freezing and working with apples.

The recipes include
Hors d’oeuvres and snacks
Meat dishes and main courses.
Vegetables, salads, desserts, cakes, tarts and pies, jams, jellies, sweetmeats, chutney etc.
Apples for breakfast, fruit cups.

CHRISTMAS PREPARATION TIME AGAIN

2009-11-05T05:26:00.000-08:00

It is time to get those international cards and letters sent off for relatives who do not have e-mail.
(photograph from http://free-christmas-time-screensaver.smartcode.com/screenshot.html)

Honor your food

2009-09-13T02:19:00.001-07:00

Cooking with consciousness.

Take a little time to honor the food you are preparing to cook for your family.
Thank God for the privilege to be among the worlds lucky citizens who have food to prepare for the day.

Honor the hands that help to bring it to your cooking pot -- Thank all those who help to prepare it.

Spend a little time to try and imagine what life your food had before coming to your table.
Imagine the mindset of those who harvested and packaged your food.

Are you preparing "happy food?"
When we cook with consciousness, we will start seeking food that was gathered with consciousness. In our little ways we are making life better for the future. All we have to do is be conscious of what we buy and eat. Not just stuff it into our mouths and feel a momentary pleasure while it stimulates our taste-buds. We need to eat for global health. We are part of the globe.

There is so much cruelty and deception in the world from our efforts to produce food at such a mass scale.
There are so many appetites to please, that animals produced for the cooking pots, often have no or little pleasure in this world. Their instincts and pain are totally ignored.
We became aware of how some chicken hatcheries simply throw thousands of male chicks into an area with no food or shelter and allow them to die from injury, hunger and exposure, without ever having the experience to know what it feels to be a rooster.
Their only life experience was that of pain, hunger and exposure. They never even experienced the joy of a full tummy.
I saw one pecking in the dust. He was small yellow and fluffy. He just came from the egg.
He will never know what food tastes like.
He died with a tummy full of sand.
He was never offered water to drink. His only shelter was more discarded chicks, which like him were left to die and rot.
Because he was a rooster and can not lay eggs his fate was sealed.

Cooking fresh spinach

2009-09-05T04:08:00.000-07:00

To cook fresh spinach, dump the drained spinach into a pot. Leaving only the water clinging to the leaves from its wash, cover the pot and cook for 3-5 minutes. Spinach is a delicate leaf that cooks rapidly. If it is overcooked, it loses its tenderness and sweet flavor. It gains only in toughness and slime.

Read more

more ideas

Baked Beans

2009-08-07T23:42:00.000-07:00

From my food wrapper

2009-08-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

growing healthy sprouts

2009-07-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Growing sprouts is an inexpensive way to grow a fresh and nutritious salad vegetable, and you do not even have to have a garden. It can be done on your kitchen table or on top of your fridge.

Ingredients:

One clean glass jar
alfalfa or other sprouting seeds
tap water

METHOD Day 1:

Place seeds into your jar (about a tablespoon full)
Add worm water from the tap
Replace lid and stand for 24 hours (keep out of direct sunlight)

Day 2

Remove the lid and drain the fluid by holding the underneath side of a strainer or a teacloth over the opening of the jar.
Pour cool water into the jar and drain again completely, leaving the sprouts (seeds) behind. The seeds must not stand in water.
Replace the lid of the jar.

Day 3 to 7 (and thereafter)

remove the lid and smell the contents of the jar. It must not smell sour.
rinse with cool water again.
drain completely, leaving the sprouts behind, it must not stand in water.
Replace the lid of the jar.
When the little plants have green leaves rinse them, under a tap of running water, to remove seed husks and then place them into a plastic bag or container and keep them in the fridge.

They are great to eat as they are
In salads,
in sandwich fillings.
Use them with any dish containing raw lettuce, parsley or tomato.

Sprouts are one of the healthiest food you can eat.

I would start a new batch every three days so that I have a continuous supply.

Read more at this blog:
http://www.sproutpeople.com/index.html

Making Yoghurt

2009-07-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

My friend in Australia used to make her own yogurt every night for the next day.

Here is a blog post relating to yogurt making:
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15curi.html?_r=1&ref=dining)

To make yogurt, first choose your starter yogurt. If no one offers you an heirloom, I recommend one of the ubiquitous global brands, sweeteners and stabilizers included. They tend to have very active bacterial cultures, including EPS producers, and the additives end up diluted to insignificant levels. Delicious specialty yogurts make less predictable starters.

Then choose your milk. I prefer the flavor and consistency of yogurt made from whole milk. Many types of reduced-fat milk replace the fat with milk solids, including acid-producing lactose, and make a harsher tasting yogurt. Soy milk sets into a custardy curd that becomes very thin when stirred.

Heat the fresh milk at 180 to 190 degrees, or to the point that it’s steaming and beginning to form bubbles. The heat alters the milk’s whey proteins and helps create a finer, denser consistency.

Let the milk cool to around 115 to 120 degrees, somewhere between very warm and hot. For each quart of milk, stir in two tablespoons of yogurt, either store-bought or from your last batch, thinning it first with a little of the milk.

Then put the milk in a warm jar or container or an insulated bottle, cover it, and keep the milk still and warm until it sets, usually in about four hours. I simply swaddle my quart jar in several kitchen towels. You can also put the container in an oven with the light bulb on.

MORE

Carrot Muffins Recipe

2009-06-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

This recipe is based on a recipe from "Joy of Baking" who gives the best muffin baking advice.

They write that the pitfall with all muffin batters is in over mixing the batter and ending up with a tough muffin.

Only mix the batter until the ingredients are combined and moistened. (A few flecks of flour are fine.)

To make the job easier, plus to give the baked muffins a nice doomed shape, use an ice cream scoop or two spoons to fill the muffin cups.

If you want standard sized muffins, only fill the muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. However, if you like your muffins with a crown, fill the cups to the top. Just make sure to grease the top of the muffin pan so that as the batter overflows it does not stick to the top of the pan.

Fill any unfilled muffin cups with a little water to ensure even baking as well as preventing the pan from warping.

Recipe:

1/2 cup (50 grams) pecans or walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

2 cups (270 grams) grated raw carrot (about 2-3 peeled carrots)

1 large apple, peeled and grated

2 cups (280 grams) Wholemeal flour

1 1/4 cups (250 grams) white or brown (not carmlized) sugar

3/4 teaspoon bicarb (baking soda)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (3.5 grams) salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)

3 large eggs

3/4 cup (180 ml) safflower or canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

The muffins do not need a frosting, but if you have a sweet tooth you can use the following topping:

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/4 cup (56 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 ounces (1/2 cup) (110 grams) cream cheese, room temperature

3 tablespoons icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

----------

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.
Prepare muffin pans by placing paper liners in 18 muffin cups.
"Spray-n-cook" the lot if you have aerosol cooking oil avalible.

Toast the pecans or walnuts for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant.
Do not overcook.
Let cool and then chop coarsely.

Peel and finely grate the carrots and apple. Set aside.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and ground cinnamon. Stir in the nuts and coconut. Set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla extract. Fold the wet ingredients, along with the grated carrot and apple, into the flour mixture, stirring just until moistened.

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

After about 10 minutes remove the muffins from the pans and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Makes 18 standard-sized muffins.

This muffin was based on a similar recipe from JoyOfBaking: http://www.joyofbaking.com/CarrotMuffins.html#ixzz0Hls3dx9x&C

get more recipes here:
Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/CarrotMuffins.html#ixzz0HlsgaBG0&C

My other blog:
http://grannyrosa.iblog.co.za/

Vegetarian Cannelloni

2009-05-07T05:41:00.000-07:00

I watched Sharon Glass and Nolene cooking some interesting vegetarian recipes on TV.
It looks so easy when someone shows you how.

I went to her website, but it was a bit unfriendly -- just wanting you to order or buy stuff so I chose the cannelloni recipe she showed us, and found some other links.

The hint she gave was that the tomato based sauce the stuffed cannelloni is cooked in should be plenty and moist.

The sauce is first poured into the bottom of the dish -- then the stuffed cannelloni on top of it then more tomato sauce with cheese on top.

To put the stuffing into the cannelloni she put it in a plastic bag and cuts one of its corners off. She then uses the bag as a piping tube to fill the cannelloni pasta.

It looked yummi.

Here are some recipes from other websites.

See pictures with links to recipes here

Step by step from Groupkitchen

From Vegetarian Foodie

Jean's blog

After visiting all these carefully chosen links you should be an expert cannelloni maker.

happy experimenting!!

Easter Recipes

2009-03-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

Click to view:

EASTER COOKING
(more links)

HOT CROSS BUNS
(more links)

Veggie soup

2009-01-26T12:52:00.000-08:00

I normally wash and soak my dried lentils and beans overnight before freezing them so they are ready to cook whenever I need them.

How to cook rice ( beginner )

2009-01-07T13:44:00.000-08:00

The cop-out way to cook rice is to place rice into a saucepan with a lot of water and a teaspoon of salt and boil it rapidly until soft. Then drain, add a blop of butter and extra salt - if needed and serve.
A lot of vitamins are lost cooking it this way and the rice needs to be watched closely so that it does not burn.

Here are the methods described on the Tastic rice wrapper

COOKING METHODS

Follow the recommended cookinq method for perfect rice every time:

250 ml Tastic Rice, uncooked 1 cup)

625 ml Water (2 1/2 cups)

3-5 ml Salt (1/2 -1 tsp)

Serves 4-6

STOVE

• Place the Tastic Rice, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

• Cover with lid and reduce heat.

• Allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes until the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, separate, fluffy and white

MICROWAVE

• Place Tastic Rice, water and salt in a microwaveable dish.

• Microwave on a medium/high setting for 20 - 25 minutes.

• Remove from the microwave and allow to stand until all the water has been absorbed.

FOR SOFTER OR FIRMER RICE

• For SOFTER rice, increase water by 125 ml (1/2 cup) and simmer for an additional five minutes.

• For FIRMER rice, use less water and simmer for a shorter time.

Visit the "Home of Rice"

Chicken Bacon and Rice JAMBALAYA

2009-01-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

SOUTH AMERICAN JAMBALAYA

(Recipe from my Tastic Rice packet)

A delicious and spicy dish full of South American flavour.

15 ml (1 tbs) Oil

3-4 Rashers Streaky Bacon, chopped

1 Onion, chopped

2 Celery Stalks, chopped

500 ml (2 cups) Uncooked TasticRice

1 litre (4 cups) Chicken Stock

3 ml (1/2 t) Salt

3 ml (1/2 t) Black Pepper

3 ml (1/2 t) Cayenne Pepper

1 Bay Leaf

1 Green Pepper, chopped

1x 410 g can tomatoes, chopped

100 g Ham, chopped

200g Cooked Chicken, chopped

15 ml Parsley, chopped

METHOD

1. Heat oil and fry bacon until crisp. Place bacon on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.

2. Fry the onion until soft, but not brown. Add celery and Tastic Rice, stirring constantly.

Fry for 1 minute.

3. Pour in stock, add the salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add green pepper and tomatoes and simmer for 5 -10 minutes.

5. Stir in ham, cooked bacon and chicken and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Spoon the delicious Jambalaya into a warmed serving bowl and sprinkle with parsley before serving.

Serves 4-6

TIPS

1. For a special occasion, add 200 grams cleaned, cooked prawns or shrimps to the Jambalaya.

2. Mushrooms and red pepper can also be added to the ingredients.

3. Use cooked chicken pieces in place of chopped chicken.

To navigate to the Tastic Test Kitchen - CLICK HERE

The secret Ingredient

2008-12-27T11:57:00.000-08:00

Much goes into our food that we cannot see with our eyes.

We cannot see flavors, germs or smells.

There is a secret ingredient that is totally ignored.

Even people who use it in cooking are often unaware they are doing so.

Have you often wondered why granny's cooking is nicer than restaurant food?

It is that secret ingredient. Love from the heart.

That is if you have a loving granny

Food cooked with love definitely tastes nicer than food cooked for the purpose of making money or out of duty.

All about Cooking with Turkey

2008-12-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

Since I do not believe in trying to re-invent the wheel, I decided to just post links to how to cook the turkey.

Here in South Africa we never used to cooked turkey for Christmas in the old days. We used to eat meat during the week, because meat was cheap and chicken on Sundays and special occasions. The first time I got into the turkey for Christmas spirit, was when I lived in England in the seventies. We had turkey for Christmas and turkey and ham sandwiches until New Year.

That was then

This year I stuffed my turkey using (fried onion, chicken livers, bacon, salt to taste, mixed herbs and rice par boiled with canned tomatoes. I first cooked the rice with the canned tomatoes then I added the other ingredients prior to stuffing the bird.

It tasted quite nice)

Here are a few ways with Turkey.

Roast Turkey

Roast Turkey 2

Roasting a turkey 3

Classic Turkey Roast 4

preparing a turkey in the webber

Roasting times for whole turkeys

Turkey Tips and Cooking Times

How to Cook A Thanksgiving Turkey On A Charcoal Grill

How to make the stuffing

Different ways to cook turkey

More Hints?

What to do with Turkey Leftovers

_________________

Economical fruitcake

2008-12-20T08:08:00.000-08:00

(Recipe adapted from Cook and Enjoy)

Economical fruitcake

2¼ c flour

¾ c brown sugar

¼ c butter or margarine

2 eggs

½ c golden syrup or molasses

½ t bicarbonate of soda

¼ t salt

1t mixed spice

1t ground cinnamon

¼ c brandy

¼ c raisins

¼ c currants

½ c candied orange peel

¼ c almonds

METHOD

1. See recipes for Christmas Fruit Cake for preparation of fruit and cake tin.

2. Beat the butter, adding the sugar gradually. Beat till creamy.

3. Add eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.

4. Add the syrup and mix thoroughly.

5. Sift together all the dry ingredients and fold it into the mixture.

6. Add the prepared fruit and the brandy and lastly the nuts.

7. Turn the mixture into a greased cake tin, lined with 3 layers of greased paper, and tie on a cover made of 2 layers of paper.

8. Bake in a slow oven at 150 ° C (300 ° F) for 3 hours.

This cake may be steamed for 2 hours and then baked for I hour. (See recipes on steamed puddings.)

South African Recipe:

Teaspoon measure (t) = 5 ml

Cup Measure (c) = 250 ml

Tablespoon (T) = 12,5 ml

Preparing for Christmas fruitcake Baking day (absolute beginners)

2008-12-18T11:05:00.000-08:00

The day before:

Finding the recipe

Buying the ingredients

Finding or borrowing the baking pans

Soaking the fruit

Baking day:

I photocopy my recipe in big print and stick it on the fridge for easy referral

Dress Comfortable. Use an apron if you have it. Flour has a way of getting onto ones clothes

Clean the kitchen and clear the sink and working surfaces.

It is best to wash the dirty utensils immediately. One can get oneself tied in knots when one allow the dishes to pile up.

Preparing the work space

Make sure your workspace is big enough.

A plastic sheet over an ironing board can increase the work surface if you live in a caravan or small flat.

Oven and Pans

Turn oven on take butter from freezer

Prepare the baking pans and line them with wax paper or tin foil.

If you inherited old pans from granny, it is better to line them with tinfoil to cover rust spots or to prevent them from rusting.

Get extra baking utensils and edible ingredients for little Mary or Johnny and space for them to make a mess where they will not bother you too much.

Final touches

Measure out all the ingredients and group them in order of need.

Put on your favorite relaxing music if you do not have a little Mary or Johnny,

Make a cup of coffee or pour some of that fruit-soaking alcohol that is left over into a glass and have a sip now and again.

Follow the recipe.

My very late Christmas Fruitcake.

2008-12-18T10:36:00.000-08:00

Don't need to read another word - Just go directly to the recipe and start baking

SOS

My Christmas cake was so nice, and we had visitors so we ate it.

Not to worry. This cake can be eaten immediately. The longer one leaves it (and feed it a bit of booze now and again) the nicer it is though, but it can be eaten almost immediately.

I prefer light fruit cakes so it does not matter if I bake late.

Regardless of the method of preparing the fruit in a fruitcake recipe,

I substitute it for my own, which is:

Soak the fruit in brandy overnight,

Drain as much of the brandy off just prior to baking

(The brandy is set aside for casual sipping during the baking process or adding to the wet ingredients later.)

Pat the fruit dry and coat th fruit some of the sifted flour so that the cake mixture easier embraces the fruit.

(One can say I marry the fruit with the flour)

If this is too messy, I just add a little of the sifted flour to the brandy and fruit mix first.

The reason for this is to get the fruit evenly distributed throughout the cake and not all the fruit doing breaststrokes at the top of the cake, or lazing around at the bottom.

When I choose a recipe I use my own dried fruit and nut mixtures as long as the combined weight is the same as the combined weight of fruit in the recipe.

I do the same with the nuts if I am going to use it.

I do not soak the nuts in brandy, though.

I choose the freshest ingredients and real butter for my very expensive Christmas cake, but many people will have to use what is cheapest this year.

Luckily for me, my husband is still working and Christmas cake time coincides with bonus month time, so I can splash out a bit.

If the recipes I use do not make allowance for alcohol, I simply reduce the amount of fluid in the recipe.

Even people who do not take alcohol normally may add it to cooking.

The heat process used during cooking is supposed to destroy the active alcohol ingredient in fruitcakes. So they say, but watch out for my cake. I "skelmpies" feed it brandy or sherry so by Christmas time my cake is a swaying alcoholic.

We may no longer drink and drive so at least let the cake enjoy itself.

Something has to consume the booze.

Mind you, that is now another can of worms, come to think about it.

One does not want one of our guests to fail the Breathalyzer test because he/she ate a slice of my Christmas cake.

Perhaps I will bake alcohol free kiddies and drivers cake also and put a big warning sign on my alcoholic cake.

"Do not eat and drive" a doggy bag is recommended.

This particular cake is beboozled."

Happy late baking

Follow the link to the recipe

Light Christmas Fruit-cake (level beginners)

2008-12-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

This year I baked the same light fruit cake for Christmas as I did last year.
After looking through many of my cook books, I settled for "old favourite" from "Cook and Enjoy."
The only difference was that I baked it in two loaf tins so that I have one small cake for Christmas and one for my husband's birthday a month later.

I added all the weight of fruit, cherries and peel together and made up my own mixture of glacè- and dried-fruit and cherries.
All except the preserved ginger which I ate before the baking day. I loooooove ginger.

My husband normally buy's the fruit mixture. I just give him the amount and tell him buy whatever he wants in the cake. It is then his job to feed the cake some brandy every now and then, after it has been baked, while it is waiting in the cake tins to mature.

I soak the fruit in brandy the night before and use some of the flour and just sprinkle it over the fruit before adding it to the flour mixture. The reason for coating the fruit is to spread it evenly throughout the cake when it bakes and not all go to the bottom. The flour coating "marries" the fruit with the dough before it is mixed.

Light Christmas fruit cake

250 gram butter

250 gram castor sugar

6 eggs (or 4 extra large)

3 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

500 g mixed fruit (chopped sultanas, candied peel, seeded raisins, currants)

250 gram candied cherries, cut into halves

55 g (2 oz.) chopped nuts

1 teaspoon lemon essence

(45ml - 60ml) brandy

METHOD

1. Cream the butter and gradually add sugar. Beat until light.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Add the prepared fruit, cherries and nuts. Mix well.

4. Sift together the dry ingredients and fold in.

5. Lastly add flavouring and brandy and blend well.

6. Turn the batter into a cake tin lined with aluminium foil or a few layers of buttered brown paper.

7. Bake in a moderately cool oven at 150 °C (300 °F) for 2-2 1/2 hours.

My variations
Before I start I turn the oven on and prepare my cake tins.
Clean the kitchen and prepare my work surface.

People living in small flats may even use the ironing board with plastic over it for more work space.
Next I find and weigh or measure all the ingredients

I did not have castor sugar so I added normal sugar to the blender and blended it into caster sugar.
Then I added the butter and mixed it until it resembled cream.

Then I transferred it to the mixer and added the eggs one at a time.
I sifted the dry ingredients and coated the fruit with some of the dry ingredients first.

It was less messy to add the other ingredients to the soaking fruit so I first added the wet ingredients and then the dry ingredients.

I mixed it carefully aiming not to break the trapped air caught up by the mixing and the sifting process. ( using a metal spoon rather than a blunt spoon.)

Beware of the Tablespoon

2008-11-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

Warning
Some of the recipes in this blog may date back to 1940. Over the years I have collected recipes from various sources. My own recipe collection started in 1968.
I have inherited old collections from aunts and parents.
I have also lived on three continents during his time and never thought to record the source of my clippings. Perhaps I never considering sharing them with anyone.
Beginners should only trust recipes given in grams and millilitres because cup and tablespoon measures may vary too much from country to country and from different sources within the same region.

When I post a recipe from one of my collections, I normally also post a few web links to similar recipes so that methods, measures and ingredients can be compared.

Here are examples of discrepancies in TABLESPOON MEASURES

TABLESPOON MEASURES:

Margaret Powell (British) 1970 Tablespoon = 18 ml

Australian and New Zealand Complete cooking 1973 = Tablespoon = 25 ml

Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (Australia) = 20 ml

Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (British) = 17,7 ml

Best of Cooking (Hamlyn) - Tablespoon, (America) 14,2

Indian Cooking, Chowhary 1952 - = Tablespoon = 25 ml

Cook and Enjoy, De Villiers 1971 (South Africa) = Tablespoon = 12,5 ml

Complete South African Cookbook (South Africa) 1979 Tablespoon = 12,5

The Australian Women's weekly 1978 = 20 ml

I found the following Tablespoon references on the Internet

British Tablespoon = 17,7 ml, 18 ml, 15 ml

Australian Tablespoon = 20 ml or 25 ml

Canadian Tablespoon = 15 ml

American Tablespoon = 14,2, 14,79

South African Tablespoon = 12,5 or 15 ml

Granny Rosa's BANANA BREADS

2008-11-22T05:42:00.000-08:00

Granny Rosa's Banana breads

(which is CHRISTINE'S BANANA BREAD with slight modifications)

I am not a good cook. I am a good recipe collector. When I post a recipe that I cooked myself, then you can write it down as flop proof, because if it can flop – I will flop it.

The recipe was modified a bit because I had very big bananas and extra large eggs.

I also wanted to see how the recipe bakes in a ring-from tin.

150-ml/100 gr. Butter

300 ml Sugar

3 Eggs (extra large)

1 Tablespoon (20 ml) olive oil

900 ml Flour

20 ml Baking Powder

2 ml Bicarbonate soda

2 ml Salt

2 cups (500 ml) Mashed Banana (6 large Bananas)

10 ml Vanilla Essence

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200 (Turn it down to 180 C immediately prior to putting the cakes into the oven. This allows for loss of heat while the oven is being loaded.)
Prepare two medium sized baking pans

Cream butter & sugar & Beat in the eggs one at a time. Until it looks like cream. (I used an electric beater - (easy peasy) - but hubby will do if he is around.)

Stir in the vanilla and mashed banana until just mixed.

Transfer it to a large enough bowl if necessary and sift in the dry ingredients, (a little bit at a time, stirring until it is smooth every time.)

Do not over do the stirring at this time. The air trapped by the creaming and sifting process needs to be trapped in the dough mixture. It is the air that makes it rise.

Personally, I like my crust to have a crack on top. It looks more artistic and it looks as if it is bursting of flavor. A cracked top will not win any prizes at the show, however.

Pour the mixture into the pans and place them onto the middle oven-shelf.

Bake for 1 hour in a medium oven @ 180 C.

Turn out of the tin onto a wire rack and allow to cool.

The bread is at its best after third day.

( I use a plastic (office tray) instead of a wire rack. It works fantastic, and it does not rust.

Cheap banana time is banana recipe time

2008-11-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

It is banana time and I was just looking through the "Granny Rosa" cookbook for Christine's Banana Bread Recipe.

CHRISTINE’S BANANA BREAD

Oops, we enjoyed the bread so much, we nearly forgot to photograph it.

75 ml/50 gr Butter

150 ml Sugar

2 Eggs

450 ml Flour

10 ml Baking Powder

1 ml Bicarb

1 ml Salt

250 ml Mashed Banana +/- 4 Bananas

5 ml Vanilla Essence

125 ml Coarsely Chopped Nuts (Optional)

METHOD

Cream butter & sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

Sift together the dry ingredients & stir it alternately with the mashed banana into the butter mixture.

Stir in the vanilla essence

Bake for 1 hour in a medium oven @ 180 C.

Allow to cool & store in an airtight tin.

The bread is at its best after third day.

Here are links to other Internet kitchens for similar recipes

The Huletts Kitchen has lots of cakes, cookies and sweet things on their website, including

Huletts banana bread

They also have recipes for sweet-toothed diabetics and slimmers.

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Simply Recipe Kitchen has a nice banana bread recipe as well as a recipe for Banana-nut Muffins

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Last but not least

Here is Food Network's banana bread recipe

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Not satisfied yet? Search Google for more ideas

Microwave Fruit Cake

2008-11-14T12:41:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe in my mother's old recipe book. It seems like an interesting way to bake a fruit cake.

I have not tested it, so it is posted for interest and for experienced cooks. When I test it I shall add my own comments.

Microwave Fruit Cake

125g butter or margerine

500g box dry fruit mix

125 ml snipped dates

125 ml mixed peel

250ml soft brown sugar

5ml bicarb

180ml water

125 ml snipped cherries OR lOO ml yellow sultanas soaked in orange juice

125ml chopped nuts (any nuts or lpkt Brazil + 1/2 pkt Pecan)

50ml brandy

500ml cake flour

5ml mixed spice

3ml ginger

5ml cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 large eggs ' "~

5ml baking powder

Method

Use dish with a funnel in middle. (or ring tin)
Lightly grease dish,
put wax paper in bottom.
Put funnel in.
Microwave butter 30 seconds on High.
Add cake mix (dried fruit), dates, peel, sugar, mixed with bicarb and water.
Microwave 5 minutes on High.
Add nuts, cherries/sultanas, brandy, flour, mixed spice, ginger, cinnamon, salt and fold in.

Add beaten eggs.

Pour into dish and

Microwave 20 - 22 minutes on Medium or Medium Low.

Find similar recipes on the web Click

This weeks best Christmas Cake search results

2008-11-07T13:34:00.001-08:00

Allrecipes .com has the following best links with easily to follow recipes and photographs

Best Christmas Cake

and

Twelve Cakes for Christmas

"Christmas craft ideas" websites review 20081107

2008-11-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

"Free Christmas craft" website review:

www.christmas-joy.com
The following recipes on this website are all written out in a clear and easily to follow print with additional information and photographs.

Christmas Fruit Mince

Christmas Plum Pudding
The introduction to this recipe reads:
Introduction:
Although often confused with fruitcake, this classic Christmas dessert tastes more like a rich, dense spice cake. This version uses butter instead of the traditional suet and can be made with your choice of candied fruit, currants, or raisins.

Christmas Pudding
The introduction to this pudding recipe reads:
Introduction:
No traditional Christmas dinner is complete without pudding. It is best if allowed to mature for at least two days before serving, but it can be made up to three months ahead.

Makes 12 to 16 servings.
Preparation time: 5 hours and 3 days.

Christmas recipe review 2007

People should never financially benefit from disasters

2008-09-13T01:08:00.000-07:00

After recent runaway fires caused much destruction all over the country, I was reminded of an overheard conversation between two men my age.

They were reminiscing about the old days in Milnerton, Cape. One of them worked, as a volunteer, for the first fire brigade in Milnerton. He said that they got paid, when the need arose for them to be called out.

Whenever they were short of money, they used to light a bush fire. If they found that they were still short of cash after extinguishing that fire, they used to light another.

The moral of the story is: Never create an employment opportunity where people’s wages depend on the maintenance of emergency situations. Fire fighters, for instance, should be paid whether here is a fire to fight or not. Volunteers are just that - voluntary service providers - not supplementary-income earners.

Why start another Blog?

2008-09-13T00:54:00.000-07:00

The answer is simple. My Iblog-blog crashed. I need my daily blog-fix!

The White-Granny blog is working again but

my recipe blog crashed - and that just before Christmas. That will not do.

This blog will be what it wants to be, I guess.