Mini-Oktoberfest: Pennsylvania Red Cabbage (RECIPE)

This recipe is from my go-to resource in the kitchen, The Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book. It's the perennial red and white checkered classic that I think belongs in every kitchen. Makes a great present for bridal showers or a nice gift for someone who moves into their first apartment or house.

Pennsylvania Red Cabbage
(My commentary is in italics.)

2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp vinegar (IMHO, cider vinegar is really the only way to go here.)
2 tbsp water (You could substitute apple juice or cider for a stronger apple flavor.)
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/4 tsp caraway seed
2 C shredded red cabbage
3/4 C coarsely chopped apple (1 small apple)

In a large skillet, combine the brown sugar, vinegar, water, oil, caraway seeds, 1/4 tsp salt and a dash of pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until hot, stirring ccaisionally. Stir in the cabbage and apple. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat about 5 minutes or till cabbage is crisp-tender, stirring occaisionally. Makes 3 to 4 servings.

Note on quantity & serving size: I doubled this recipe because half of a head of red cabbage gave me 4 cups of shreds. However, I got no where near 6 to 8 servings out of it. My husband had a second helping, I did not, and there is only a small spoonful as leftovers. So, you may want to adjust accordingly.

Note on caraway seeds: I would classify these as optional. The flavor they bring to the table is fantastic, but I know that some people are not keen on their texture. I, myself, don't care for a lot of that texture in my food. So even though I doubled the recipe, I actually used something more like 1/8 of the caraway seeds - essentially halving their quantity.

Note on the apples: Because I was making an apple side dish, I opted to omit the apples from the cabbage. However, the cabbage seemed to be lacking that flavor - I should have used apple juice instead of water to compensate for removing the apples.

Note on cooking time: We like our cabbage cooked until it's very tender, so the actual cooking time was probably more like 15 minutes, at least. Basically, I got the cabbage started and let it cook while I cooked the rest of the meal.

Getting My German On: A Mini-Oktoberfest

There is something about this time of year, with its cool, crisp air and the changing leaves, that inspires me to get into the kitchen and not just cook, but "get my German on". Yes, I just totally made up that expression. It's just that there is something about autumn that makes me think of good German (or Pennsylvania Dutch) foods. I come by it honestly, since I'm of at least 50% German heritage, although if you keep going back beyond my great-grandparents, my ancestors also lived in France, Switzerland, Ireland and England. Lot of Swiss relatives back in the 1600s, according to Ancestry.com.

In any event, I consider myself to be mostly German, and I like German / Pennsylvania Dutch food. So earlier this week, I made a full menu of such yumminess. Over the next few days, I'll be sharing the recipes with you here, but I wanted to use this post as a kick-off to the little mini-series of recipes. No worries - nothing here is a top secret family recipe.

So, what do you have to look forward to in the coming days?

Well, beginning at the top of the plate, we have the sweet, yet tangy, red cabbage.

Below that is a piece of apple & pork sausage from a local meat company. I found this at my local grocery store, and I would suspect you could find something similar just about anywhere. A good substitute would be bratwurst; I happen to prefer the Dietz & Watson brand of that. My hubby grilled the meat for our dinner, and it didn't receive any special treatment, so no real recipe there.

At the very bottom of the plate are a few potato pancakes, topped with sour cream. There was a bit of a learning curve with these, but they are definitely something I will serve again.

Lastly, over to the side you can see the spiced apple compote, also known as stewed apples.

Accompanying all of this hearty deliciousness was a glass of Simply Apple apple juice. Apple cider would work as well, but I find that most of the cider sold in the grocery store more closely resembles apple juice, thanks to all of its pasteurization and whatnot. This Simply Apple juice is still pasteurized and is safe to drink, but it has not been clarified or filtered. This gives it a much more full-bodied taste that resembles cider more than juice.

Grab a pen and paper, and check back over the next several days for my mini-Oktoberfest!

If you ever need ...

If you ever need tea light candles for anything, just come see me. I just gathered them all together into one container, so of course (ahem) I counted them.

I have 80 of them.

I.am.not.kidding.

Sigh.

Nostalgic Sandwich

And here is what a nostalgic sandwich looks like (refer to the previous post for an explanation).

Pickle loaf.
American cheese.
White bread.
Yellow mustard.
Grand total for a couple of sandwiches:  Less than $5

Being a kid again:  Priceless

A Quarter-Pound of Nostalgia

What you're looking at is a quarter of a pound of nostalgia. Every now-and-again, I get the hankering for some type of food that reminds me of my childhood. This week, I decided I would get some good German bologna and American cheese for our lunches. Oh, and by American cheese, I mean the stuff from the deli counter rather than the individually wrapped rubbery stuff. The rubbery stuff is really only good for grilled cheese and burgers. Anyway, something about that combination of bologna and cheese just reminds me of being a kid.

When I got to the grocery store this morning, I used their touch-screen ordering kiosk to place my lunchmeat order so that I could shop around while they prepped my order. In their system, bologna is grouped with other miscellaneous meats - things like liverwurst and loaf meats. When I saw that "loaf meats" were an option, my nostalgia kicked it up a notch. I selected that option and was pleasantly surpised to see that I could get Pickle and Pepper Loaf, as wel as Olive Loaf. So, I ordered myself some P&P loaf.

And you're probably wondering how lunchmeat could possibly ever be considered nostalgic?

As a kid, we called this combination of meat, peppers and mystery ingredients simply "pickle loaf". I didn't eat it all that often, but my mom would buy a pound of it just about every week for my dad's lunch. When I was younger, I can distinctly remember him taking four (4!!) meat sandwiches in his lunchbox, along with one peanut butter sandwich (no jelly) and some kind of goody or dessert, like leftover cake. I can remember Mom making the sandwiches assembly-line style at the kitchen table while I ate my breakfast. It all fit perfectly lined up in his lunchbox.

As I grew older, his lunches got smaller, but Mom would still buy him pickle loaf fairly frequently. If the store was out of pickle loaf, olive loaf would do, but it wasn't the preferred choice. For a treat, Mom would occaissionally get something called "macaroni and cheese loaf" for just the two of us. Yep, it's just what the name suggests - a bologna-type of loaf meat that has pieces of cooked macaroni and chunks of cheese in it. Dad didn't like cheese, so that one was just for me and Mom.

Now, as an adult, every once in a great while, I get this hankering for some pickle loaf or mac-n-cheese loaf. It isn't always easy to get, so when I saw it today, I jumped on the chance to grab some. Just a little bit, enough for a couple of sandwiches - enough to satisfy my hankering for something nostalgic.

It Has Begun. (RECIPE)

Fall baking season, that is!! Ok, technically, it began this past weekend when I made baked apples. It was the first time I tried to make them, and I learned that I have some room for improvement. Good flavor, bad delivery method / not necessarily easy to eat.

In any event, the season continues! Of course I can find an excuse to bake any time of year, but each season brings its own unique set of ingredients to the kitchen. Fall means apples, pumpkins, spices, and savory goodness. So, tonight I've decided to make pumpkin bread using some of the pumpkin I froze last fall. Need to use it up before freezing any this year! While it's in the oven (and before NCIS begins), I thought I'd share the recipe with you. It's from the Betty Crocker cookboook.

Pumpkin Bread
1 can of pumpkin (16 oz), OR 2 cups of mashed pumpkin
1 and 2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cups vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup raisins

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease bottoms only of either 2 (8x4x2) OR 1 (9x5x3) loaf pans.
2. Mix pumpkin, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients, then pour in pans.
3. Bake the 8 inch pan 50-60 minutes. Bake the 9 inch pan 70-80 minutes. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then loosen the bread from the sides of the pan and remove from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for 4 days, or refrigerate for up to 10 days.

Randomosity

Wow - it's been a while. Didn't realize just how long until I logged into Blogger and saw the last day I was here. Oh well - I subscribe to a philosophy known as "blogging without obligation". I blog when I want, and not because I feel like I have to or should do it. Anyway, moving on to what's going on these days.

• Big test last week in one of the classes I am taking. Of course I was behind on watching the lectures and needed to cram play catch-up. Not sure how I did on it yet - have to wait for it to come back to me in the mail. Also behind on watching lectures for the other class I'm taking. Why do I do this to myself (torture myself with this degree, and let myself get so far behind) ?
• Cars are expensive. Really expensive. And when it rains, it pours. Last week and the week before that were quite wet around here.
• I froze something like 10 red peppers yesterday. That's in addition to something like 12 or 14 green peppers a few weeks ago. I also have carrots to freeze and pickles to make this week. I think I might be certifiably insane.
• We painted a room a lovely shade of blue named "Encounter." It resembles the sky on some of these beautiful autumn days we've been having lately.
• I've discovered Pandora. Super great way to hear some different stuff, rather than the same ole' stuff the radio plays. Now, if I could get my paws on some speakers for my laptop, I'd be able to hear the music in more than just a tiny little spot of the house.

I think that's about it, or at least that's the highlights. The washing machine just stopped spinning, so it's time to go. Tootles!!

Kitchen Blooper #1: Being Forgetful is a BAD Thing

I often hear comments about how I'm a good cook, or how I have such great kitchen skills. Well, let me tell you - not every thing that comes out of my kitchen is a success. This occaisional series of posts will provide you with plenty of examples of my epic failures in the kitchen.

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Being Forgetful is a BAD Thing

Last Thursday I made two peach pies. I brought the first pie over to a friend's house for an evening of girlfriend time. I left the second pie at home for my husband and I to snack on. When I was getting ready to leave for the long holiday weekend, I packaged up the leftover pie (half of a pie at that point) and put it in a spot where I'd be sure to see it and remember to take it with me.

Ahem.

I think I had better find a new spot to set things if I want to remember them.

As soon as I got to my destination, I realized that I had left the pie behind, and after driving for a few hours to get there, there was no way I was turning back for the pie. Of course, after sitting in the warm house over a long weekend, the pie was not exactly edible when we returned.

Moral of the story: No matter how good the kitchen skills might be in preparing the food, the skills are completely wasted if you allow the food to go bad.

Lest We Forget, Part 4

(This post is scheduled to appear at 10:06 AM, when Flight 93 crashed into a field in Shanksville, PA.)

The Star Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Lest We Forget, Part 3

(In remembrance of the events of September 11, 2001, I'm re-running a post that I wrote last year. I've prepared this post to run at the exact time that Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. Why I've chosen to post this message at this particular time will become more clear after you read the post.)

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Today is September 11, 2008. Seven years ago, the face of America and its people were changed forever. Changed in a way that cannot ever be undone.

Seven years ago today, our nation was attacked. But more than that, our nation was brought to its knees and truly shaken to the core. I hate to use euphamisms like that, but really what other words are there?

This morning, I wanted to make a very short posting here and simply put up a picture of the American flag, but as I looked through the pictures that I found while searching Google, I realized that there were other pictures that spoke to me. I'd like to share those with you now.

As the daughter, neice, cousin and granddaughter of volunteer firemen, this image is stirring. It is eerily reminiscent of the Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington DC. In the face of horrific tragedy and unthinkable loss, these men took time to raise our flag. It was as if to say, "You may have hurt us, but we stand tall and proud." For as much as we honor those who died in the planes, at the World Trade Center and at the Pentagon, let us not forget those who died in service while trying to save lives. Let us not forget the firefighters, EMT's and police officers.

This photo shows a flag being unfurled over the side of a wall at the Pentagon. I believe that the attack at the Pentagon will always hold an especially sacred spot in my husband's heart, as well as my own, because of the loss of this man.

The photo to the left is of Lt. Jonas Martin Panik. He graduated from high school with my husband. While S. did say that they were never close friends in high school, it was very clear that this personal connection to the events of September 11 made it all the harder for him to bear. Lt. Panik worked in the Naval Intelligence Office, and as the plane crashed into the Pentagon, he was part of a group trying to gain information about that morning's attacks on the World Trade Center. This article provides a glimpse into the events of that day, as it pertained to Lt. Panik and others in his group. Jonas left behind his wife, their dogs, his parents, and his sister.

I believe that the events of seven years ago will be forever engrained in my heart and soul. I believe that the attack on America will be like the assasination of John F. Kennedy for my generation - we will always remember where we were and what we were doing when we learned of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in rural Pennsylvania.

In tribute to that, I ask that you use the comment section of this post to share with others where you were or what you were doing when you first heard about the attacks on our country.