Lavender Jelly

Lavender Jelly

3

1⁄2 cup dried edible lavender flowers

4 cups water

1 package fruit pectin

2 tbsp lemon juice

5 ½ cups sugar

1. Simmer the flowers in boiling water for 15 minutes.

2. Take off the heat, cool, and strain through a cheesecloth into a bowl.

3. The lavender water can be covered and stored for up to 3 days in the refrigerator but has to be cooled.

4. Prepare jars, lids, and rings for canning.

5. Whisk lavender water, pectin and the lemon juice in a large saucepan.

6. Bring to a boil.

7. Add sugar and return to a full rolling boil.

8. Boil hard for 1 minute.

9. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

10. Put into jars and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes for either half-pint or pint jars.

11. Makes about 3 pints or 6 half-pints of jelly. 

Wild Rose Jelly

Wild Rose Jelly

Again with my flower jellies.  Remember, use only petals that have not been sprayed with any chemicals.  

3

6 cups of rose petals

4 cups water

1 package fruit pectin

2 tbsp lemon juice

5 ½ cups sugar

1. Simmer the petals in boiling water for 15 minutes.

2. Take off the heat, cool, and strain through a cheesecloth into a bowl.

3. The rose water can be covered and stored for up to 3 days in the refrigerator but has to be cooled.

4. Prepare jars, lids, and rings for canning.

5. Whisk rose water, pectin and the lemon juice in a large saucepan.

6. Bring to a boil.

7. Add sugar and return to a full rolling boil.

8. Boil hard for 1 minute.

9. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

10. Put into jars and process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes for either half-pint or pint jars.

11. Makes about 3 pints or 6 half-pints of jelly. 

Violet Jelly

Violet Jelly

As with any edible flowers use untreated flowers.  Flowers from florists or a lawn may be treated with pesticides that are harmful if ingested. 

7

8 cups fresh violet blossoms

3 1/2 cups boiling water

1 package powdered fruit pectin

1/2 cup lemon juice

4 cups sugar

1. Rinse and drain blossoms; place in a large heat-resistant glass bowl.

2. Pour boiling water over the blossoms and let stand for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

3. Strain and reserve violet liquid, pressing with a spatula to extract all possible color. Discard blossoms.

4. Measure violet liquid; add enough water to measure 3-1/2 cups (liquid will be blue-green).

5. Stir in pectin, lemon juice and sugar (the liquid will turn a violet color).

6. Pour into a large stainless steel saucepan; bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.

7. Boil 1 minute.

8. Remove from the heat; skim off foam.

9. Carefully ladle hot liquid into hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace.

10. Remove air bubbles; wipe rims and adjust lids.

11. Process for 5 minutes in a boiling-water canner. 

Spicy Sweet Curry Hummus

Spicy Sweet Curry Hummus

3

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 cups cooked chickpeas

1 cooked medium sweet potato

¼ cup olive oil

Juice of one lime

1 ½ teaspoons curry powder

1 tablespoon of fresh ginger or candied ginger

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons vegetable broth

1. Add garlic and salt to food processor.

2. Pulse to chop the garlic into very small pieces.

3. Add the chickpeas, sweet potato, olive oil, and lime juice.

4. Process for 30 seconds, then add curry powder, ginger, and broth.

5. Process for 1 ½ minutes.

6. Taste and adjust salt if needed.

7. If you would like the hummus a bit thinner, you can add 1 or 2 additional tablespoons of broth.

Calendula Jelly

Calendula Jelly

Actually, any edible marigold can be used in this recipe like lemon gem, tangerine gem, red gem, etc.... Just use the petals the rest is not edible.

2

3 cups of edible marigold flower petals

5 cups of water

1 box of low sugar pectin

3 cups of sugar

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1. Put flower petals in a bowl.

2. Pour over enough boiling water to cover and allow to steep and cool for a couple of hours.

3. Strain well and add enough water to make 4 cups of liquid.

4. Mix the pectin with ½ cup sugar in a small bowl.

5. Whisk the sugar-pectin mix into the liquid, along with lemon juice, and bring to a hard boil in a large pot.

6. Whisk in the rest of the sugar.

7. Return to a hard boil.

8. Boil for 1-2 minutes.

9. Poor into sterilized jars and process in canner according to directions.

Warm Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad

Warm Thai Peanut Quinoa Salad

4

2 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 cups dry quinoa, rinsed

1/4 cup natural peanut butter

2 tablespoons sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

Juice of one lime

3 cups roughly chopped baby spinach

1 cup peas

1 medium red pepper, diced

1/3 cup minced red onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

1. Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium pot.

2. Add quinoa, then reduce to a simmer and cover.

3. Cook for 10 to 11 minutes, until quinoa, is cooked through and tender, but not mushy, and water has evaporated. 

4. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter, sesame oil, and soy sauce.

5. Let sit for five minutes.

6. Stir in lime juice, spinach, peas, red pepper, onion, cilantro, red pepper flakes, and peanuts.

7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fresh Herb Dumplings

Fresh Herb Dumplings

These dumplings can go into a soup or add your favorite sauce.

3 large eggs

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup chopped fresh chives

3 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

3 tablespoons chopped celery leaves

1 teaspoon plus 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1. Whisk first 7 ingredients, 1 teaspoon coarse salt, and pepper in large bowl until blended.

2. Whisk in flour (batter will be soft).

3. Bring a large pot of water to boil.

4. Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt.

5. Working with half of batter at a time, quickly add dumpling batter to pot by teaspoonfuls, submerging teaspoon with batter into boiling water each time and shaking spoon to dislodge batter.

6. Cook dumplings at a gentle boil until just tender (do not overcook), about 8 minutes per batch.

7. Using large skimmer, transfer dumplings to a large rimmed baking sheet.

DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, cover, and chill.

Pea Pesto Crostini

Pea Pesto Crostini

3

2 cups of fresh peas

1 garlic clove

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

2/3 cup olive oil

8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices baguette or ciabatta bread, preferably day-old

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Pulse together in a food processor the peas, garlic, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

2. With the machine running, slowly add 1/3 cup of the olive oil and continue to mix until well combined, 1 to 2 minutes. 

3. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed.

4. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

5. Preheat a stovetop griddle or grill pan over medium-high.

6. Brush both sides of each of the bread slices with the remaining 1/3 cup olive oil and grill until golden, 1 to 2 minutes.

7. Transfer the bread to a platter and spread 1 to 2 tablespoons pesto on each slice.

8. Top each crostini with 2 tomato halves and serve.

Ginger Cookies

Ginger Cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup butter softened

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon of minced candied ginger

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

¼ cup molasses

2 tablespoons white sugar

2

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Beat in the candied ginger and egg, then stir in the water and molasses.

5. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture.

6. Shape dough into walnut-sized balls, and roll them in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar.

7. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly.

8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.

9. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

10. Store in an airtight container.

Cream Cheese Tart with Mixed Berries

Cream Cheese Tart with Mixed Berries

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla sugar

1 egg

1 cup butter

3 eggs

1/2 heaping cup sugar

1 heaping cup cream cheese

2 1/4 cups quark, a fresh cheese

1/4 cup corn starch

1 cup raspberries

1 cup black currants or blueberries

1 cup red currants or blackberries

2 tbsp toasted almond flakes

confectioner's sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F and place the flour on a working surface.

2. Add the sugar, salt, vanilla sugar and egg, chop the butter and add to the flour.

3. First, roughly combine with a large knife, then use your hands to knead the dough until smooth.

4. Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

5. For the topping, separate the eggs.

6. Whisk the egg yolks with half of the sugar and all of the cream cheese.

7. Stir in the quark and corn starch.

8. Beat the egg white with the remaining sugar until stiff peaks form, then fold into the quark mixture.

9. Sort out the berries, rinse or clean as needed and pat dry with paper towel.

10. Strip the currants from the stems and mix the berries in a bowl.

11. Divide the dough into two halves.

12. Roll out both halves on a dusted surface and line the buttered and dusted tart pans with the dough.

13. Spread with the quark and cream cheese mixture.

14. Scatter the berries over the mixture. 

15. Place on the center rack of the preheated oven and bake for about 40 minutes.

16. Remove and allow to cool in the tart pans.

17. Decorate with toasted almond flakes and dust with confectioner's sugar before serving. 

Creamy Beet Dip

Creamy Beet Dip 

4

1 1/2 pounds beets, halved

Parchment paper

3/4 cup light sour cream

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon of fresh dill

Pinch ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 small clove garlic

Whole-wheat pita wedges and/or fresh cut veggies (optional)

Dill sprigs for garnish

4

1. Heat oven to 425°F.

2. Roast beets on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, turning once halfway through, until soft, 45 to 60 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and let cool.

4. Peel beets under running water.

5. In a food processor, combine beets, sour cream, 2 teaspoons juice, dill, cardamom, salt, and garlic; blend until smooth.

6. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with zest and dill to taste.

7. Serve with pita, if desired.

Ginger Pear Jam

Ginger Pear Jam

5

4 cups sugar

4 pounds of ripe but firm pears, such as Bosc, grated

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon pectin, optional

5

1. Combine grated pears with sugar, lemon juice, ginger, and cinnamon in a large stainless steel pot.

3. Bring pear mixture to a boil.

4. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 30 to 45 minutes, or until jam has thickened.

5. Stir pectin into ¼ cup jam liquid, if desired, and add to jam.

6. Cook 3 minutes more, or until jam is thick.

7. Meanwhile, sterilize jars and lids: Submerge jars in a large pot filled halfway with simmering water, and lids in a small pot of simmering water.

8. Keep jars and lids in hot water until ready to use.

9. Remove jars one at a time from hot water, and fill with jam, leaving ¼-inch headspace.

10. Seal with lids.

11. Place canning rack or cake rack in the bottom of large pot, and return sealed jars to pot, adding extra water to cover jars by 1 inch, if necessary.

12. Bring water to a boil, and boil 10 minutes.

13. Remove jars from water, and cool.

Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils

Moroccan Pumpkin and Lentils

6

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, diced 

1 jalapeño chile, sliced

1 cup green lentils, rinsed

1 tablespoon paprika

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin

4 tomatoes, chopped

1 2-lb. pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed

1 carrot, sliced

½ cup tomato purée

¼ cup chopped cilantro, for garnish

1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.

2. Add onion and jalapeño, and sauté 10 minutes, or until onion is translucent and golden.

3. Add tomatoes, lentils, and spices, and cook 2 to 3 minutes more.

4. Stir in pumpkin cubes, tomato purée, and 2 1/2 cups water.

5. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 40 minutes, or until pumpkin, carrot, and lentils are tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water if needed.

7. Season with salt and pepper.

8. Garnish with cilantro, and serve hot.