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Homemade Fruit Leather

While growing up fruit roll ups were a rare treat. My sister and I always begged for them, or the fruit gushers that were the hallmark of being a real winner in the packed lunch arena. Now that I look back I wonder why those artificially colored and flavored packages of high fructose corn syrup are supposed to be part of a "healthy lunch". Fruit leather is the fruit roll-ups healthier cousin. We were allowed to have fruit leather on occasion and when I got old enough to go grocery shopping for myself it was one of the things I always bought. Even store-bought fruit leather often has artificial coloring or corn syrup, plus preservatives.

Making your own fruit leather is so easy! Plus it's pure fruit, no added sugar or preservatives. You can customize to your taste and make whatever fruit makes you happy. I was gifted with a huge bag of mangoes a couple weeks ago while I was kind of trespassing in someone's yard at work. During mango season anyone with a tree just shoves fruit off on literally anyone who walks by. Anyway, I have several bags of chopped mango in the freezer waiting for me to use them. I pulled a bag out, probably the equivalent of one mango, let it thaw and threw it in the blender. I let it puree until totally smooth then added a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cloves. Then you turn the puree out onto a sheet pan lined with a silpat or parchment paper and you get it as smooth and even as possible. An offset spatula makes it much easier. My offset spatula has been commandeered by Tyler who claims it is the "most perfect cream cheese spreading device", so I had to clean mine off first. Then you put it into the oven and let it dry for several hours. Easy!

The next day I made a big pot of applesauce in the crockpot to use up some apples in the fridge. I set aside about a cup of the applesauce and blended it and repeated the same process. The results are tasty concentrated fruit flavor that is portable and good for you!


Fruit Leather

• 1 cup fresh fruit puree 
• pinch spices to taste

Blend fruit and spices if using and spread evenly on sheetpan lined with silpat or parchment paper. Try not to get edges thinner than center or they will get crispy before the center is done. Put into preheated 175 degree oven and let dry for 3-4 hours. Keep and eye on it and test the top with your finger. When it is dry to the touch it's done. If necessary you can flip over and let bottom dry for a while. Let cool. Roll up and cut into strips. Keep in airtight container and finish in a week. 

Chicken and Dumplings

My mom found this recipe several years ago as a way to use up leftover Thanksgiving turkey and it has become a tradition to make this the week after Thanksgiving. It's so freaking delicious. The soup part is creamy and rich and the dumplings are light and airy. I am sick this week so this was a pretty easy dinner that is comforting and soothing. It's not exactly healthy but there's vegetables in it! Usually there aren't any leftovers when my mom makes it so if you are feeding a crowd or want leftovers double the recipe, as written it serves 5-6.

Also this week I made a rotisserie chicken do double duty for me so I used half of it in this recipe and half in another recipe I'll post later. I'm trying to buy less meat so I'm pleased this week I only bought one chicken and didn't need any thing else.

This meal is easy enough for a weeknight but special enough for holiday time. It's a perfect way to use up leftover chicken or turkey. If making dumplings intimidates you, don't be nervous, just make sure you don't overfill your pot. It really couldn't be easier. I hope this dinner makes you as happy as it makes me.


Chicken and Dumplings

• 2 Tblsp butter
• 2 stalks celery, chopped (I buy the pre-chopped package because I hate all the extra celery sitting around)
• 3 carrots peeled and chopped
• 1 pkg sliced mushrooms (sometimes I put in 2 packages cause I love mushrooms)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 3 cups chopped cooked turkey or chicken
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 can (14 oz) reduced sodium chicken stock
• 2 packets McCormick's turkey gravy mix, mixed according to package directions 
• 1 1/2 cups bisquick
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 Tblsp chopped sage
• 1 tsp pepper

In Dutch oven or any pot with a lid, melt butter. Add next 5 ingedients. Allow to saute for about 5 minutes until onions are translucent and  mushrooms are getting color. Add turkey, peas, and broth. Stir in the turkey gravy. Bring to a boil over high heat. In separate bowl combine last 4 ingredients until combined. When soup comes to a boil drop heaping spoonfuls of dumpling mixture over the top. Maintain a low boil and let cook uncovered 10 minutes. Cover and cook another 10 minutes until dumplings are dry and airy on the inside. 

Crock Pot Sesame Chicken

I got a new job recently, which is good for having a paycheck but bad for being home to cook dinner. Cooking dinner is actually pretty enjoyable for me and I like being home in the evenings to relax and make a home cooked meal I can enjoy with Tyler. Adjusting to my new schedule with two jobs, one of which is through dinner time, is difficult. I've had to work much harder to plan dinners and get them made when I'm home in between jobs or made ahead of time so it can just be reheated. Tyler helps a lot but he works too.

The crock pot is the answer to my problems. I made the sauce at night so in the morning it started in the crock pot and was ready by the time I got home from my first job. It's easy, fast and convenient.

This may seem like a weird combination of ingredients but it tastes really good. I like serving it over rice because it's kind of Asian-inspired flavors.

Here's a picture of this dummy up to his usual shenanigans. He's managed to completely knock over the easy chair by himself a couple times. He jumps on the chair at full speeds and just knocks it over backwards, then looks shocked that it happened.

Exhibit A.



Crock Pot Sesame Chicken

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup canned tomato sauce (once I used spaghetti sauce in a pinch and it worked)
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tblsp vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• sesame seeds

Season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper and place in crock pot.Mix everything but the sesame oil and sesame seeds together and pour over chicken. Cook on low 3-4 hours, shred the chicken with two forks and allow to cook another half hour or so. Mix in the sesame oil and serve over rice. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Potstickers

I am a dumpling FIEND. I would gladly eat dumplings every day. I don't discriminate in my dumpling adoration. Pierogies, spaetzle, chicken and dumplings, gnocchi, dim sum, every culture has their own riff on dumplings and I love them all. The one nearest and dearest to my heart though, is the potsticker, or gyoza. Sometimes I crave them like crazy and there's not a lot of options for getting them into my mouth. Don't be intimidated by these, they're actually really easy to make.

Previously only attainable at restaurants or from the freezer section I now bring you a recipe to make your own potstickers, and they're amazing. I put fresh ginger, garlic, and green onions in some ground pork and wrap it in a wonton wrapper. You can find them in the refrigerated vegetable section.

Here's the pork mixture pre-wrapper.

In the process. Take about a tablespoon at a time in the middle of the wrapper and wet your finger and run it along the edges to make it stick together. Try to get as much air out as possible. Otherwise they might burst when you cook them, which is only aesthetically troublesome but still.

This recipe makes about 40 dumplings. I cooked up some the night I made them and I put the other plates into the freezer. You want to freeze them in a single layer and then move them into a bag or container or they'll stick together and you'll be sad. I know from experience. There may have been a dumpling tantrum the first time I made them when they all stuck together after freezing.

To cook them, fresh or frozen, heat about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a nonstick skillet and place 5 or 6 in the pan. Let brown on the first side and turn over. Add 1/4 cup water and put a lid on it. Let simmer and steam until the water evaporates. It should be all cooked through at that point. Place on a paper towel and serve with dipping sauce.

Enjoy the fruits of your labors. Tasty, fresh potstickers that don't have any weird ingredients or preservatives and since you froze some, you can make them whenever you want!!!!! POTSTICKERS FOR LIFE.

Potstickers

• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 Tblsp soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 pkg wonton wrappers
• vegetable oil

Mix first 8 ingredients together until well mixed. To fill wontons wrappers, place a small spoonfull of filling in the middle of each wrapper, use your finger to moisten the edges with water and press tightly to seal. Place flat in single layer on plate or tray. At this point you can cook right away or freeze.

When you're ready to cook heat a Tblsp of vegetable oil in skillet and heat over medium-high. When you drop the dumplings in they should sizzle immediately.Don't crowd the pan. Cook for a couple minutes until the first side is golden brown and flip over. Add 1/4 cup water into pan and put a lid on. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the water evaporates and they are cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately.

I made a dipping sauce with 1/4 cup soy sauce, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a pinch of fresh grated ginger and sliced green onions. Yummy!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies (Only Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You'll Ever Need)

I'll just let you read that title again.Not only is this the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever tried, I went ahead and added NUTELLA. GET YOUR TASTEBUDS READY.

My search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe was long and trying. The Tollhouse cookie recipe was the one I usually went to but I was never really thrilled with the results. They come out crispier and flatter than I prefer. I like my cookies chewy and soft with perfectly crisp edges. Thankfully I found this recipe and there is no looking back. This should be your go to chocolate chip cookie recipe.

I think it's an important life skill to be able to make a perfect chocolate chip cookie.

Here's the most important bit. It's not really about the ingredients, they are all pretty standard chocolate chip cookie ingredients. The secret to perfect chocolate chip cookies is letting the dough sit. The recipe calls for at least 2 hours but I will make a couple chocolate chip cookies a day for several days and let the dough sit in the fridge and the cookies turn out better and better the longer the dough sits.Some kind of magic happens in the fridge. The chocolate chip cookie gods smile upon them and bless them or something.

The point is, let your dough set for a while and you too can have the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. It takes some patience but it's totally worth it.

Throw some nutella on there too and you'll be the hero wherever you take these.


Nutella Swirled Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tsp vanilla 
• 2 1/4 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2-3/4 tsp salt (I used 3/4 tsp to make them saltier because the salty/sweet combo is my favorite)
• 11/4 cup chocolate chips
• Nutella

In a large bowl whisk together flour, soda, cornstarch and salt.

In another bowl beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and beat until smooth. Slowly stir in flour mixture until batter comes together. Stir in chocolate chips.

IMPORTANT: Cover and chill dough at least 2 hours or up to several days, the cookies get chewier the longer you let it sit. 

When ready to bake preheat oven to 325. Scoop dough onto cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and scoop 3/4 tsp nutella onto each cookie. Top with some more cookie dough.

Bake cookies 11-13 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Let cool.

Grandma's Kumquat Cake

When I was growing up my cousins and I would go over to my uncle's yard and steal all kinds of goodies off his trees. There were loquats, mulberries, tangerines, oranges that he would cut so we could drink the juice, sugarcane stalks to chew, and of course, kumquats. Kumquats are these weird little citrus fruits that have a thick skin and a very tart flesh. You can eat them whole, or what we learned to do was eat the skin and throw the inside away. Kind of counter-intuitive but that's how we do.

Sometimes my grandma would task us with collecting some kumquats so she could make her kumquat cake. I have no idea where she found this recipe but this cake was beloved by the whole family. It's a good way of using up the fruit and making it tasty instead of being very sour.

 This past year one of my cousins reminded me about that delicious cake so I went to my grandma's cookbook that is falling apart and colored with age and countless uses and actually found the recipe! My cousins and I went out that night after dark to pick what remained from the kumquat tree and I baked this cake the next day. The first bite brought me right back to sitting at my grandma's kitchen table eating this cake and talking to her about whatever we used to talk about. It was a powerfully emotional experience because taste memory is so strong. Do you have a flavor that just brings you back to a time and place like that?

Around that time I made another cake to bring to Tyler's house for dinner and his mom fell in love with the cake. She said that she wanted this to be her birthday cake, which was quite the compliment! Since her birthday is in August and there are no kumquats to be found that time of year, I froze some kumquat puree so I could make it for her.

And here we are! I pulled some of the puree out of the freezer and made this for her birthday. Everyone loved it! It's such an embarrassingly simple cake but it has such a nice flavor. It's citrus but it's different from the usual lemon or orange. If you can't get your hands on kumquats you can substitute Calamondin oranges or a meyer lemon, I think, but it won't have the same signature flavor. Kumquats are hard to find and have a short season. I pick mine from my uncle's tree but you can find them in stores in the winter. If you're a kumquat nut like me make sure you're prepared for the long off-season!

This cake holds a lot of memories for me and is one of my favorite things to make. I love using fruit that grows on my family's property and I love making a cake with such personal ties. I always think of my grandma when I make it and thank her for a recipe that is still making people happy to this day. So if you make this, please enjoy and know that the recipe comes from a loving Grandma's kitchen.

Grandma's Kumquat Cake

• 1 box yellow cake mix
• 1 cup kumquat puree, divided
• eggs
• vegetable oil 
• 2 cups powdered sugar

To make the puree slice and seed the kumquats and place in a blender. They should puree without any additional water but you can add a little water if you need to.

To make the cake, substitute 3/4 cup of the puree for the water called for in the recipe.If the recipe calls for more than3/4 cup water, add the remaining amount of water. (So if it calls for 1 cup water, add 3/4 cup puree and 1/4 cup water). Add the remaining ingredients to make the cake as normal. Bake according to box instructions.

Take the remaining puree and add 2 cups powdered sugar and stir until combined. If too runny add more sugar, if too thick add some water. It should be thick enough to not run all over the place.

Once the cake is done prick all over with a fork and let cool. Spread the glaze all over the top of the cake. Enjoy!