In cooking camp yesterday we made cookies, including Snickerdoodles. This is a recipe that has been around a long time and is still a favorite. The kids really enjoyed rolling the dough in cinnamon sugar, before baking. The old version I had, called for shortening, but I use butter instead,  and chill the dough. I prefer the taste of butter in cookies. These are a great light dessert for summer and they travel well, too. A nice treat to bring to your next cookout, picnic or road trip.

 

 

Snickerdoodles

1 c. butter, softened
1 ½ c. sugar
2 eggs
2 ¾ c. flour
2 t. cream of tartar
1 t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
2 T. sugar
2 t. cinnamon

Mix butter, sugar and eggs. Combine next 4 ingredients and add to egg mixture. Chill dough at least a couple of hours. Combine sugar and cinnamon in shallow bowls. Roll dough in 1-inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. Place 2-inches apart on ungreased baking sheet and bake in a preheated 375 –degree oven for 9-11 minutes. Makes 6 dozen.

Blueberries seem to be very abundant this year. Even getting a nice harvest from my fairly new plants. I had some flour tortillas and decided to use them for a quick blueberry dessert. These can be made with pretty much any fruit pie filling or fresh fruit. I had a lot of blueberries so I made a homemade blueberry pie filling. I canned most of it but had enough left over to make some blintzes. While blintzes are traditionally made with crepes, these use the tortillas instead.

To make them just soak some flour tortillas in milk to soften. I normally allow at least 10 minutes for this. Place a tortilla on your work surface and spoon some pie filling in the middle. Fold in the sides until they just touch. Starting on the side nearest you gently fold the blintz up. It should like like a flatter version of an egg roll. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Heat some butter up in a skillet and place a few blintzes in at a time. Turn when they get golden on one side and cook until light golden brown on both sides. Serve dusted with powdered sugar or with ice cream, if you prefer. Super easy.

If you want to use fresh berries instead just toss them with some sugar before using.  If you want to make a pie filling for this recipe, just cook together fresh berries with a little water and sugar. Once the berries have softened, mix a small amount of water with cornstarch and pour into the blueberry mixture, cooking until it thickens. Add the cornstarch mixture slowly so the mixture doesn’t get too thick.

If you want something a little different to do with blueberries consider making a cold soup. It is a fun first course and very refreshing on a hot day.  I garnished mine with a little blueberry syrup and a couple of fresh berries. Sometimes I garnish with a little mint, too.  Simple and fun.

Cold Blueberry Soup

1 pint blueberries

1 1/2 c. water

2 T. honey, or to taste

1 (3-inch) strip lemon peel

1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick

1 c. sour cream or Greek yogurt

 

In saucepan combine all ingredients, except for the sour cream or yogurt and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool for a few minutes then remove peel and cinnamon. Puree mixture and chill for at least 4 hours. Combine with sour cream before serving. Serves 4-6.

 

 

I was looking for a salad to go along with a taco bar, for a party. I had some nice sweet corn and used it to make this salad. After cooking the corn and cutting it off the cob I added roasted red peppers and garbanzo beans. Cilantro, sweet onions and a simple dressing and I was done. One of the party guests ask for the recipe, so here it is.

Fresh Corn Salad with Garbanzo Beans

6 ears of corn

1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

2 red peppers, roasted, skinned and seeded, chopped*

1 medium sweet pepper, diced

1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:

1/2 c. oil

1/2 c. cider vinegar

2 T. sugar- or 1 T. honey

1 T. hot sauce

2 t. cumin

1 t. paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Cook corn, cool and cut off the cob. Place corn kernels in a bowl and combine with the remaining veggies and cilantro. Combine dressing ingredients and pour over the corn mixture. Stir to combine well and chill before serving. Serves 6-8.

*Here is the information on how to roast peppers. I used  medium hot red peppers for this recipe, but sweet peppers would be fine, too. I just placed the peppers on the open flame on my gas stove, turning them until blackened all over. Once the peppers are charred, remove the peppers from the flame and wrap in paper towels or place in a small paper bag to cool. When cooled the skins will slip off easily. Then just remove the seeds and chop. If you don’t have a gas stove you can also roast peppers on a grill or under the broiler.

Roasting Peppers

Blueberries are abundant this year. I have made jam and pie filling with some, frozen quite a few, and of course, eaten plenty. I also decided to preserves some for later in the form of a blueberry liqueur. I make two different ones, actually. One is unsweetened- just blueberries, vodka, lemon zest and a clove. It is sometimes called an eau de vie- French for water of life, or just blueberry vodka. The other is sweetened a little with a sugar syrup- but you could use honey. That is called blueberry liqueur or blueberry cordial. Both are wonderful. The color is so pretty and they can be sipped, as is, or used in cocktails. I make a lot for gift giving at the holidays. You can use blackberries, too, if you prefer.

 

 

Blackberry or Blueberry Liqueur

4-c. fresh berries
Sliced and scraped peel of one lemon, optional
1 clove, optional
3-c. vodka or 2 c. vodka and 1 c. brandy
1 c. sugar syrup, optional, recipe follows

Lightly crush berries with a fork. Combine with peels and clove and vodka and steep 3 months. Strain and filter and add sugar syrup. Mature 4-6 weeks.

Sugar Syrup

Simple syrup is made from 1 cup of sugar and ½ cup of water. Bring to a boil, then cool. You will have 1 cup of syrup. Some recipes call for plain sugar and others for honey. Watch when you substitute honey for sugar, as it is sweeter and stronger flavored. Better to use orange or clover honey.

A lot of foods remind me of summer. Peaches, I think, more than most. We had a couple of peach trees in my back yard when I was a kid. Watching them ripen, and finally picking and eating peaches right off the tree, is a favorite memory of mine. When summer is long gone and I am watching snow fly outside my window I can open a jar of these preserves and it will feel a little more like summer.

 

Peach and Vanilla Preserves

 8 c. peaches, peeled, pitted and cubed or sliced

1 box powdered pectin

2 T. lemon juice

1 T. pure vanilla extract

7 c. sugar

Place peaches in a pot with the pectin, lemon juice and vanilla. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Add sugar and stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute. Pour mixture into jelly jars leaving 1/4 -inch of headspace. Wipe rims and screw on lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Makes about 9 half- pint jars.

Adapted from Ball Blue Book

The kids and I had so much fun this week. We made pizza one day and vegetable pasta another. We also dipped a lot of things in chocolate. The kids in camp range in ages from 6-12. I was so impressed at how well they did- especially making pizza dough and pasta dough from scratch.  Here are some pictures of what they did. Looking forward to next week.

I was so pleased to be asked to return to New Day Cleveland. My assignment was to create some fun summer salads. It is that time of year, after all. Thanks to the whole crew at Channel 8, who always make me feel so welcome. So, if you missed it- the link is below- with all the salad recipes, too.

 

http://fox8.com/2015/07/02/how-to-mix-up-your-summer-salads/

 

 

 

 

You can’t go wrong putting peaches in almost everything. OK, that might be an exaggeration, but I really love peaches. They may just be my favorite fruit.  I love using peaches in smoothies. I also prefer my peaches fresh, but I use frozen peaches in smoothies, to make them thicker, more like a milk shake. I cut up several peaches and froze them, so I would have them ready to use, when needed. For this smoothie I also used almond milk, a little honey and added vanilla to round it out. Flavor wise- it was simple, but really good.

Peach and Almond Smoothie

2 peaches, pitted and peeled- then frozen

1 1/2 c. plain almond milk

2-3 T. honey, or to taste

1 t. vanilla

Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Makes 1 large or 2 smaller servings.