Thursday, January 3, 2013

Carrots... TTC #1


Before the 17th century, almost all carrots cultivated were purple. The modern day orange carrot wasn’t cultivated until Dutch growers in the late 16th century took mutant strains of the purple carrot, including yellow and white carrots and gradually developed them into the sweet, plump, orange variety we have today.

Before this, pretty much all carrots were purple with mutated versions occasionally popping up including the yellow and white carrots. These however were rarely cultivated and lacked the purple pigment anthocyanin, which gave carrots back then their distinctive purple color.

It is thought that the modern day orange carrot was developed by crossing the mutated yellow and white rooted carrots as well as varieties of wild carrots, which are quite distinct from cultivated carrots.

Some think that the reason the orange carrot became so popular in the Netherlands was in tribute to the emblem of the House of Orange and the struggle for Dutch independence. This could be, but it also might just be that the orange carrots that the Dutch developed were sweeter tasting and more fleshy than their purple counterparts, thus providing more food per plant and being better taste.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!

        I am so excited to be jumping into a new year here at the pantry... I have always kind of considered 13 to be a lucky number for me. This year we decided we were going to have some fun with exploring recipes from 13 different avenues. This could be from cook books, friends, TV, internet or many other fun new resources that we will share with you as we go along.
       We will be continuing with our "Tuesday's with Dorie" group and the cookbook we are using this year is "Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan." So, please, check back often to check out all the fun we are having... Please feel free to join in cook and create right along with us. Post comments, good or bad, we don't care! Let us know how we are doing... :)

Friday, November 30, 2012

ONIONS! I had never heard this!!!
PLEASE READ TO THE END: IMPORTANT

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu...
Many of the farmers and their families had contracted it and many died.

The doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser. She said that several years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu, and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu.

Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this most interesting experience about onions:

Thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmer's story...but, I do know that I contacted pneumonia, and, needless to say, I was very ill... I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion put it into an empty jar, and place the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs...sure enough it happened just like that...the onion was a mess and I began to feel better.

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

This is the other note. Lots of times when we have stomach problems we don't know what to blame. Maybe it's the onions that are to blame. Onions absorb bacteria is the reason they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flu and is the very reason we shouldn't eat an onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open.

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers of mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist.

Ed, who was our tour guide, is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely safe.

"It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He then talked about the summer picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table, and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick.

Ed says that, when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's probably the ONIONS, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES.

He explained onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion.. He says it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator.

It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!). Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to cook the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.

Please pass this on to all you love and care about.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

"Tuesdays with Dorie" Challenge.... Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

Our challenge today at "Tuesdays with Dorie" was to make these really awesome looking muffins. They were very tasty. We enjoyed them all clear down to the very last crumb! The recipe we were challenged to use was from "Baking: From My Home to Yours", by Dorie Greenspan, pp. 207

 You can out more challenges and fun at "Tuesdays with Dorie".

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

"Tuesday's with Dorie"... Whole Wheat Bread


I really like this recipe. It came together very easily and taste fantastic. I think the malt helps to give it a richer wheat flavor and yet, you don't get that heavy dry taste that you often get with whole wheat bread.

You can check out other great TWD recipes at "Tuesday's with Dorie". Come join the group and bake with us!

National Cheeseburger Day!

       So what actually makes up just a plain old fashioned Cheeseburger and what fixin's do you like to put on yours?
        Historically, "It's as American as, well, American cheese. But that’s as far as the patty’s origin gets narrowed down. Various eating establishments (mostly in California) claim to have invented the cheeseburger. The Pasadena Sun did due diligence in investigating the burger’s background and while it heavily leans toward one over the other, it’s left undecided. The front runner for the American classic is “The Rite Spot” in Pasadena, California. Legend has it, one of the cooks there, Lionel Clark Stenberger, slapped a piece of cheese on his burger and the rest was history. The year was around 1924, but could have been more like 1927. Backing up this assertion, the other main family laying claim to cheeseburger’s fame reportedly worked at the Rite Spot before going out on their own. While it took some American ingenuity to slap meat on some bread and render it a hand held sandwich, the concept of the patty itself was brought to the United States by German immigrants who had become fans of the Hamburg Steak. This cheap, chopped or roughly ground beef was mixed with fillers like breadcrumbs, suet and onions, bound with eggs and seasoned with nutmeg. The meat, often salted and smoked for preservation, was brought over to the United States by immigrants on the Hamburg America Line and became a popular menu item on New York City restaurants that catered to German sailors and European immigrants, hungry for the flavors of home. Time Magazine's Josh Ozersky asserts in his 2008 book, "The Hamburger: A History" that the modern day incarnation of the formed patty between two halves of a bun is "an American invention" with endless regional variations like the Connecticut steamed cheeseburger, Mississippi slugburger or Oklahoma onion burger. Various inventors have laid claim to that innovation, from Charles "Hamburger Charlie" Nagreen, a vendor at the Seymour Fair in Wisconsin in 1885 and Fletcher Davis in Athens, Texas in the 1880s, to Frank and Robert Menches at the Erie Agricultural Fair in Hamburg, New York in 1885 (they also take credit for the invention of the ice cream cone at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904), or possibly Louis Lassen at Louis' Lunch in New Haven, Connecticut in 1900."
       Aside from all the history rumors, I believe that cheese burgers date back way before that, Any time man takes meat and slaps it between two pieces of bread, you have a burger... right? and they have been doing that since the beginning of time. :)
      My favorite way to eat a burger all depends on my mood. I love a thick juicy burger prepared using the same recipe as I use for my meatloaf. I like to mix a combination of meats like ground beef, pork and turkey.  Some grated carrots and onions, sauce, seasonings and bread crumbs, using an egg to bind in all together. Next, I get very creative with all the things I add on top... I have never made the same burger twice!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

"Tuesday's with Dorie"... Nectarine Chiffon Upside Down Cake


This was a crazy cake, but tasted amazing. For the most part I found the recipe to be simple just time consuming. Which in, by no means, is a bad thing... It was easy to assemble and smelled delicious while baking. Mine drooped a bit in the center and yet I found it to be completely cooked all the way through. I am not sure that I would make this same recipe again, I am more of a southern cobbler type girl. :)

You can check out other great TWD recipes at "Tuesday's with Dorie". Come join the group and bake with us!