The kids did a great job today baking bread. We made braided breads, cheese stuffed loaves and pita bread. Here are some pics I took today. Keep in mind the kids range in age from 7-11. I am impressed every day at what they can do!!!
Kneading
Ready to braid
Some of the braids
more bread
Cheese stuffed bread
More cheesy bread
“Pizza” Cookies
We were making pizza in camp and made these giant cookies, baked in pizza pans, for dessert. The recipe calls for peanut butter but since we have a couple of kids with nut allergies we just left it out. The cookies work just fine either way. They are a lot of fun to make, decorate and eat!! Recipe follows.
“Pizza” Cookies
½ c. each butter, peanut butter and packed brown sugar
1/3 c. granulated sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1 c. chocolate chips
¾ c. mini marshmallows
2/3 c. peanuts, optional
½ c. M&M’s
Beat together butter, peanut butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in flour and press into ungreased 12-13-inch pizza pan. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate and peanut butter chips. Let stand for 1 or 2 minutes than spread over crust with a spatula. Top with remaining ingredients and return to oven for 5 minutes. Cool and cut. Makes 12 servings.
Homemade Pizza
If you think it is too hard to make pizza from scratch let me share with you what my camp kids made today. These are all from scratch. They made the dough, rolled it and made the pizzas you see here. The kids range in age from 7-12. I am so proud of each and every one of them. Recipe follows.
Homemade Pizza
1 packet active dry yeast
1 t. sugar
1 2/3 c. warm water
4-4½ c. flour
2 t. salt
3 c. pizza sauce
16 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
Cornmeal
In bowl combine 2 cups of the flour with the yeast, sugar and salt. Add the water and stir to blend. Add flour gradually and keep stirring. Stir until soft dough forms. Place dough on floured surface and knead until stretchy and smooth, about 10 minutes. Allow dough to rest 3 minutes and knead a few more times. Place in bowl and cover. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
Punch dough down. Divide dough in half and roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Dust back of baking sheet with cornmeal and place dough on cornmeal, pressing down a little. Slide dough off sheet and onto a clean baking sheet. Place half of the remaining ingredients on the dough and repeat with remaining half of dough. Add more toppings, if you like and bake in a preheated 450-degree oven for 13-15 minutes. Cool a few minutes before cutting. Makes 2 pizzas.
Mini Pizzas: You can also divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them out into 6-inch rounds. Then let each person make his or her own pizza. Bake a few minutes less than the big pizzas.
Get creative with the toppings: for your pizza toppings can include pepperoni, sausage, peppers (sweet or hot), Canadian bacon, mushrooms, artichokes, tomatoes, olives, chicken, turkey, pineapple, grilled eggplant, chickpeas, kidney beans, white beans, fresh herbs, spinach, broccoli, zucchini, ham, onions, roasted garlic, green beans and even dandelion greens. Well, you get the idea.
Have fun with the cheese, too. Mozzarella is great, but you can use any cheese you like including cheddar, feta, Parmesan, Romano, Monterey Jack, Muenster, provolone, Edam, Colby, Swiss or brick.
Peach Gglazed Chicken
I was looking for something fun to put on chicken we were grilling this weekend. I looked at what I already had and discovered some very ripe peaches. I used them for my inspiration for this sauce/glaze. I started with caramelizing some onions and then adding the peaches, peeled and cut up. Kept adding ingredients until I got the flavor I wanted. We added some of the sauce to the chicken ahead of time so it would absorb into the meat. While grilling extra sauce was brushed on. There was an extra container of the sauce so we served that on the side.
Peach Sauce/ Glaze
2 T. oil
1 onion, minced
salt to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
6-7 ripe peaches, peeled and diced
1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. maple syrup
2 t. hot sauce
2 t. cinnamon
Saute onions in oil until tender. Sprinkle generously with salt and add the garlic and cook a couple of minutes longer. Add remaining ingredients and cook until peaches are tender and sauce has thickened. Adjust seasonings and add a little sugar, if you like. Makes 4 cups. Use as a marinade, barbecue sauce or as a side sauce with chicken, pork or other meats. Any marinade must be discarded after use as it will have raw meat juices in it.
Asian Cabbage Salad
I’ve had this recipe for a long time. Having found myself with a bunch of ramen noodles I decided to make it for a cook out. I forgot just how much I liked it. It is simple to make. You just crumble up ramen noodles and place in a strainer. Pour over boiling water, let them drain and mix with the rest of the ingredients. It also calls for shredded cabbage, but you could cole slaw mix. I admit I am not a big fan of the seasoning packet, which is called for in the dressing. You can just leave it out and add a little extra salt. That’s what I did.
Asian Cabbage Salad
1 (3 oz.) package ramen style noodles
4 c. shredded cabbage, you could use cole slaw mix 2 c. baby spinach
4 green onions, sliced
2 T. sesame seeds
3 T. vinegar
2 T. sugar
2 T. oil
1/2 t. ground white pepper
1/4 t. salt
1/2 c. slivered almonds
Crush noodles slightly, place in colander. Pour boiling water over the noodles to soften slightly. Drain well. In mixing bowl combine the noodles, cabbage, onions and sesame seeds. For dressing in screw top jar combine seasoning packet from noodles* with remaining ingredients, except almonds. Put on lid and shake well to combine. Toss dressing over noodle mixture and refrigerate, covered, several hours or overnight. Toss in almonds just before serving. Makes 6-8 side dishes.
* If you don’t want to use the seasoning packet, just add some extra salt to the dressing or even some soy sauce to taste.
Ramen with Pesto Sauce
I was asked to do a cooking program for the Teen Adventure Camp in Beachwood today. The camp is about 50 teens and they had the challenge of cooking with ramen noodles and making something to wow the judges. They really did. They used them in pesto, salads, stir fry dishes and even desserts. I was so impressed. Great flavors and beautiful presentations, too. Here are some of the pics from today.
Fruit and Veggie Salad with Ramen noodles
Ramen Stir fry
Ramen Alfredo with lovage leaf
Chicken and Ramen lettuce wrap with a spicy balsamic dipping sauce
Asian ramen stir fry
Dessert- Ramen in a chocolate sauce
Ramen Haystacks- Ramen noodles- uncooked in chocolate with whipped cream
Ramen cinnamon fritatta with a mango caramel sauce
Chocolate Shortbread Cookies
The kids were baking today in camp. They made a chocolate chip shortbread cookie., lemon meltaway cookies and a no-bake cookie pop made with vanilla wafers. We had a such a good time. Here is some of the work they did.
Making the shortbread cookies
Lemon Meltaways
Lemon Meltaways
Dough:
1 ¼ c. flour
¾ c. butter, softened
½ c. cornstarch
1/3 c. powdered sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. grated lemon peel
Frosting:
¾ c. powdered sugar
¼ c. butter, softened
1 t. lemon juice
1 t. grated lemon peel
In large bowl combine all dough ingredients and mix well. Divide dough in half and roll each half into an 8- inch roll. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, 1-2 hours. Slice chilled dough into ¼ inch slices and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8-12 minutes, or until cookies are set, but not brown. Cool completely on a rack. Combine frosting ingredients and beat until light and fluffy. Frost cooled cookies. Makes 4 dozen.
Corn Salad with Lemonade Mustard Dressing
Continuing with my cooking with lemonade assignment I came up with a simple salad dressing. It’s only 4 ingredients and while I used it on this corn salad it would also be great tossed on a green salad or maybe a potato salad. I am always looking for new salad ideas. This is one I will be making again soon.
Corn Salad with Lemonade Mustard Dressing
6 c. cooked corn, off the cob
1 sweet pepper, seeded and chopped
1 small sweet onion, diced
½ c. chopped fresh parsley
1 recipe lemonade mustard dressing- recipe follows
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill at least an hour before serving. Serves 8.
Lemonade Mustard Dressing
½ c. oil
1/3 c. lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 T. whole grain mustard
1 t. hot pepper sauce, or to taste
1 t. salt, or to taste
Place all ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Serve as a salad dressing on mixed greens or with assorted veggies.
Making ice cream in bags
We made our own ice cream in camp yesterday. We used plastic bags, ice and salt for our ice cream “machines”. We made both vanilla and chocolate bases with half and half, chocolate syrup, sugar and vanilla extract. We poured some of the base into a sandwich size Ziploc bag and sealed it tight. Then we put ice and salt in a gallon sized Ziploc bag along with the sandwich bag of ice cream base. The kids went outside and tossed the bags back and forth. In about 10 minutes we opened our bags and had ice cream. We did have a few leaks- dropping the bags will do that :). It was fun, though.
We also made mini ice cream sandwiches with vanilla wafers and chocolate covered frozen banana slices.
Ice cream sandwiches
Frozen bananas in white chocolate with sprinkles
Chocolate ice cream in a bag.
Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles
I made a couple of batches of these pickles last night. I made one batch regular and one batch spicy. I get requests every year for spicy Bread and Butter Pickles. While you should follow recipes for pickles carefully- those amounts of vinegar, salt, sugar etc., all are important for safety and a good end product, you can play around with seasonings a little. In this case I just added a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each pint jar right before filling and processing for the spicy version. Just enough of a kick. You might want to add a little more or less according to your taste.
Bread and Butter Pickles*
6 quarts thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
6 medium onions, peeled and sliced thin
½ c. pickling salt
1½ quarts vinegar
4½ c. sugar
½ c. whole mustard seed
1 T. Pickling spice
1 T. celery seeds
Wash cucumbers and trim off ends before slicing. Place in non-reactive bowl
(stainless steel, enamel, plastic) add the onions and then salt and stir. Allow cucumbers and onions to sit in the salt for 3 hours. After 3 hours drain well, but do not rinse. Meanwhile combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Add cucumbers and onions and return to the boil. As soon as the mixture is boiling ladle into clean, hot pints jars, leaving a good ½ -inch of headspace. Wipe rims and screw on lids firmly. Place in boiling water bath and process for 10 minutes. Remove to counter and allow to cool naturally. Makes 12 pints.
* For Spicy Bread and Butter Pickles add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes to each pint jar just before filling.
Note: These need a couple of weeks for the flavors to develop. They can also be made with firm, small zucchini.
Source: Putting Food By
