Very Berry Pie

Ummmm, summer fruits. The strawberries have been good so long this summer that I can't seem to pass the 3 packages for $5 without picking up more. So I've prepared them in many ways - favorites, new recipes, and old favorites. One of my old favorites we like that I've tried variations with this summer is a refrigerator pie.

This is good with the basic recipe, and also with adding blueberries. That made an especially colorful pie that would be great for patriotic holiday meals. The next thing I'm trying is with fresh peaches (mum, fresh peaches from the Texas niece) and peach jello. A good way to 'taste the season'.

Strawberry Shortbread Pie

¾ cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 ½ cups water

1 package (3 oz) strawberry gelatin

4 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1 shortbread crust (9 inches) (or your own favorite one-crust recipe, mine comes rolled in a box!)

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in gelatin until dissolved. Transfer to a bowl. Chill until partially set. Place berries in crust; pour gelatin mixture over berries. Cover; refrigerate until set. 

Squashed!

We’ve been squashed this summer! Not in the smashed way, but in the garden variety way. In spite of a string of days with 100 degree temperatures and no rain, the squash has continued to produce well. Its neighbors in the garden, the tomatoes and cantaloupe are carefully watered and tended and still give out only small amount of produce. It has been a challenge to find yet-another way to prepare the squash, but this recipe I found for Summer Squash Relish (in Taste of Home) is really good. I think we'll especially appreciate it next winter with hamburgers when we're only having squash in one dish at a meal! 

Not only have we learned that Summer Squash is easy to grow, we've also learned that it is best harvested when it is still immature. Waiting until ripe produces a hard and large orange gourd-like rock! The Indians have been great squash growers for more than 500 years, and the name "Squash" meant "something eaten raw".  Squash, gourds, and pumpkins are grown in many parts of the world and rank 11th among the leading vegetables in the world. 

Yellow Summer Squash Relish (makes about 6 pints)

Ingredients:

10 cups shredded yellow summer squash (about 4 pounds)

2 large onions, chopped

1 large green pepper, chopped (I used one-half green pepper and one-half red for color)

6 tablespoons canning salt (canning salt makes a clearer brine, not cloudy)

4 cups sugar

3 cups cider vinegar

1 tablespoon each celery seed, ground mustard, and ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a large container, combine the squash, onions, green pepper and salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Drain; rinse and drain again. 

In a Dutch oven or large heavy pan, combine the sugar, vinegar and seasonings; bring to a boil. Add squash mixture; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Carefully ladle hot mixture into six hot pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Refrigerate remaining relish for up to 1 week. 

When processing in the boiling-water canner, remember to bring the water to a boil, add the jars and start counting the processing time when the water returns to a boil. The new recommendation is after the processing time, turn the heat off and let the jars stand in the hot water for 5 additional minutes before removing. 

Frog Eye Salad

In spite of its name, this is a tasty sweet and cool salad for summer. One of my favorites to make and to share. It's a good one to share because it makes so much! Just be sure you have people taste it before you tell them the name of the recipe!

It is made with Acini de Pepe pasta which is a small round pasta (like a Frog's eye?). The sweet citrusy flavor is cool and refreshing. I recently made the recipe to take to a salad dinner and had a medium sized bowl left for us and a small bowl to share with a friend who also loves this salad.

Frog-Eye Salad  (Acini de Pepe)

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 ½ teaspoons salt (divided)

1 ¾ cup pineapple juice (from cans of pineapple chunks)

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 ½ quarts water

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 package (16 oz) Acini de Pepe pasta

3 cans (11 oz each) mandarin oranges, drained

2 cans (20 oz. each) pineapple chunks, drained

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, drained

1 carton (8 oz) non-dairy whipped topping

1 cup miniature marshmallows (optional)

1 cup coconut (optional)

Combine sugar, flour and ½ teaspoon salt. Gradually stir in pineapple juice and eggs. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until thickened. Add lemon juice. Cool mixture to room temperature. Bring water, remaining two teaspoons salt and oil to boil. Add Acini de Pepe pasta. Cook at rolling boil until Acini de Pepe is done. Drain, rinse with water, drain again and cool to room temperature. Combine egg mixture and pasta mixture. Mix lightly but thoroughly. Refrigerate overnight in airtight container. Add remaining ingredients. Mix lightly but thoroughly. Refrigerate until chilled in airtight container. Salad may be refrigerated for as long as a week in airtight container.

25 servings. 

Absolutely no frogs were harmed in the preparation of this salad. 

Roll Out the Breakfast Rolls

Last month I attended the second National Festival of Breads in Wichita. This contest is sponsored by the Kansas Wheat Commission, Fleischmann's Yeast and King Arthur Flour and is an inspiration to baking! Eight finalists were chosen from over 500 recipes submitted by home bakers across the U.S. These eight were brought to Wichita for the national contest. While here they enjoyed a Wheat Harvest Tour which included a visit to a wheat farm, a grain elevator and a flour mill.

I happened to visit with the winner's family in the hallway. They were the Collier family from Redmond, Oregon. All had enjoyed their first trip to Kansas, and of course, enjoy the baking of mother/wife Gale as she created her winning recipe and others.

The displays, baking demonstrations and trade show were great and made me proud to be from the wheat state of Kansas where baking is still an important skill. I came home ready to try more recipes and bake more!

My son and his friends who were visiting over the 4th of July holiday weekend appreciated the efforts of this. I prepared this year's Festival of Breads grand prize winner, Quick Raisin Granola Breakfast Rolls, for them. This roll is so packed with good fiber and extra cereals that it is very filling. It makes a good breakfast with fruit and yogurt. One is enough, but the guys managed to eat 2 or 3 each.

As with most yeast breads, the prep time of letting the dough rise requires an early start before serving time. Not wanting to get up quite so early, I tried a new-to-me method. I prepared the dough the day before, and after forming into rolls, placed the ready-to-rise rolls in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning I removed them and let them warm and rise for a couple of hours before baking. This worked well and I plan to do this with other yeast breads. Another thing I really liked about this recipe is that the mixing and kneading are done in the bread machine. This is a larger amount of dough than my bread machine would be able to handle for baking, but with a little help with the initial mixing, it handled the dough fine. The Wheat Commission has added alternative directions to use if you don't have a bread machine.

Here's the recipe (with some of my suggestions), or you can find the original on the website for the National Festival of Breads (www.nationalfestivalofbreads.com) or the Kansas Wheat Commission (www.kswheat.com).

Quick Raisin Granola Breakfast Rolls
1 cup Raisin Bran cereal
1 cup granola
1 1/2 cups water, room temperature (80 degrees F)
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature (most recipes call for unsalted butter, if you use salted it can affect the way the yeast reacts)
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature (I keep 1/2 cup portions of buttermilk in the freezer for recipes, or you can substitute a mixture of 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar + enough milk to make 1/2 cup. Let stand 10 minutes before using)
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread flour (you can use other brand flours, but KA is a high quality flour - remember they were one of the contest sponsors)
1 1/3 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour
1/2 cup raisins
2 1/4 tsp. Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast
Topping: 1 cup granola (Quaker Natural Granola with Oats, Honey & Raisins or a similar)
1 egg white (beaten)

1. Place Raisin Bran cereal and granola in large plastic bag. Using a rolling pin, finely crush the cereal.
2. Have ingredients at room temperature. (this is a good tip for any baking) Add the ingredients to the bread machine's pan as suggested by the manufacturer. (for mine it is the dry ingredients, except yeast, first, then the wet, then yeast. I mixed the dry ingredients together before putting in the bread machine.) Start bread machine using the dough cycle (about 1.5 - 2 hours). Open the machine and touch the dough to check it's consistency after 5 minutes. (also to see that it is mixing well) The dough should form a ball around the kneading blade. If its too dry, add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of water; if dough is too wet, add 1 tablespoon flour at a time until the right dough consistency is reached.
3. Meanwhile, for topping, place 1 cup granola in bag; use a rolling pin to finely crush. Place egg white in small bowl and beat with fork.
4. When cycle is complete, remove dough and divide into 18 (I did 20) equal pieces. Shape into uniform rolls.
5. Dip each roll in egg white and granolas, lightly pressing granola onto dough. (I needed to use more granola and egg white)
6. Place rolls onto greased 12- by 18-inch sheet pans. Cover; (this is where I put the rolls in the refrigerator overnight). Let rise in warm place (like the oven with only the light on or a microwave oven after you've boiled a cup of water in it) until doubled in bulk (45 to 60 minutes). (or more if they've been in the refrigerator)
7. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 17 to 20 minutes, depending on size, or until golden brown. Remove rolls from pan and cool on wire rack.

If you don't have a bread machine, here are the notes from the KWC:
1. Place Raisin Bran cereal and granola in a large plastic bag. Using a rolling pin, finely crush.
2. Have ingredients at room temperature. In electric mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm (100 to 110 degrees F) water. Let stand 10 minutes.
3. Add crushed Raisin Bran Cereal, granola and raisins. Add dry milk, buttermilk, brown sugar, honey, whole wheat flour, 2 cups bread flour, cinnamon, butter and salt. Mix 2 minutes on medium speed.
4. Gradually add enough of the remaining 1/2 cup bread flour to make slightly sticky dough. Knead dough by hand or with dough hook 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in lightly greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk. Punch down dough.
5. Proceed with shaping and second rise as directed in original recipe.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Our garden is abundant with summer squash now! I can't use them or give them away fast enough. Why can't our tomatoes grow that well? In my squash quest, I have discovered a couple of new recipe ideas, however.
The one that most surprises everyone is the raw squash with dip. Simply cut the squash into slices, or strips, soak in salted ice water for 30 minutes, drain, and serve with dip. To make it look fancier (even looks like french fries!)  cut with a crinkle cutter. It makes a good relish to go with sandwiches or a healthy (with low-fat dip) snack.

The other preparation is a casserole that even the guys took seconds of this weekend. Both recipes are from Southern Living magazine, July 2011 issue, with some adaptations.

Squash Casserole  (makes 10-12 servings)

3 lb. yellow squash

½ cup chopped sweet onion

1 ½ tsp. salt, divided

1 cup grated carrots

1 (10 3/4 –oz) can reduced-fat cream of celery soup

1 (8-oz) container light sour cream

¼ cup chopped fresh chives

½ cup crushed cornflakes cereal

½ cup crushed French fried onions

2 Tbsp melted butter

¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut squash into 1/4 –inch-thick slices; place in a Dutch oven. Add onion, 

11 1 tsp. salt, and water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook 5 minutes; drain well, and pat squash dry with paper towels.

2.     Stir together grated carrots, cream soup, sour cream and chives, and ½ tsp. salt in a large bowl; fold in squash mixture. Spoon into a lightly greased 2-gt. oval baking dish.

3.     Stir together cornflakes, French fried onions, melted butter and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle over squash mixture.

4.     Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown, shielding with aluminum foil after 20 to 25 minutes to prevent excessive browning, if necessary. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Calories: 159 per serving; 7 g fat, 4 g protein, 15 g carbs, 4 g fiber, 9 mg cholesterol, 1 mg iron, 586 mg sodium, 38 mg calcium.

Here's a photo of both preparations. Naturally, I served the squash with beef!

 Now doesn't that look good? Wouldn't you like some squash from my garden??