Brown Sugar !!

The other day I was getting ready to make another batch of spiced pear topping when I realized I was out of brown sugar a key ingredient.

Then I remembered something my very smart daughter* had recently told me.

* Very smart daughter, who loves lizards almost as much as she loves food.

 She told me brown sugar was soooo easy to make, just mix molasses and white sugar together. I knew that brown sugar was made up of those two ingredients but I had no idea is was that simple.

Here goes:

In a bowl add 2 cups white sugar and 2 tablespoon molasses (I like the unsulfured kind).
The 1 to 1 ratio seemed pretty dark to me, mostly because my molasses was very dark.
If you want it lighter use less, for darker brown sugar use more.

Now stir it...I used a whisk but next time I might try my Kitchen-aid mixer.

Or a wooden spoon to smash the little globs of molasses. Be persistent. In a few minutes it will look like this.

It smells and tastes so much better than the commercial stuff !!
Be sure to store it in a jar or zip lock bag.

Taylor's Potatoes

This is a very simple way to make French fry like potatoes without deep frying.
Taylor is my older brother and he taught me how to make them a long time ago.

Here is Taylor on a beach near his home about four hours south of Santa Cruz. Like the rest of my family, he is a good cook !! He also knits, paints and has an amazing vegetable garden.

Back to the potatoes...
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
I like to use Yukon Gold potatoes, Russets work too, actually whatever variety you like will be fine.

Slice them into wedges. I like to slice them into thin wedges.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with oil ( I like the Trader Joe's spray olive oil) or butter it.

Spray the potatoes lightly with oil. Or you can dot them with thin slivers of butter.
Sprinkle them with salt, pepper and anything else you like (garlic powder, chopped garlic, smoked paprika, dried herbs).

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. You can flip them over half way through the baking time. Use the longer time if you like them darker.

Pears, pears, pears !!

Half bushel baskets of Bartlett pears ( upper basket) and an unknown French butter pear ( two lower baskets).

I came home from an amazing week of yoga at Feathered Pipe Ranch to discover that our pear tree had been busy.

Here is the limb of the tree the other morning. See the bamboo pole ?? That helps hold up the heavily laden branches. And notice how foggy it is, classic Santa Cruz summer weather.

I do love pears they are so versatile and can be made into many things. Recipes will be shared. However most people have trouble with the fact that pears do not ripen on the tree. You must pick them when they are at a certain point, not to early, not to late. Then you must store them until they are ripe but not mushy, another tricky determination. I have spent years learning these finer points. Email me if you want to know them :-)

Anyway, here is a favorite. You can use it on ice cream, yogurt, pancakes or waffles.

Spiced Pear Topping

5 cups peeled, cored and chopped pears
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
a dash of cardamon and cloves
Yield: about 5 cups.


Peel, core and slice your ripe pears. I like to use that slicer/cored device you can see on the chopping board.

In the large pot, add the pears, water, sugars and spices.
Cook until the pears are soft, about 40 minutes to an hour.

It will not be thick like jam. If you are unsure if the pears are soft, take a spoonful out of the pot and let it cool a moment and taste it. You can also check the spices this way.
Once the pears are soft you can either can it or pour it into a jar and into your fridge.
If you are canning it, process it in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. If you are storing in your fridge it should last one to two months.

Some people eat it straight out of the jar !!

Baked Mashed Potatoes

We usually have leftover mashed potatoes when we make them.
Here is a very simple and tasty way to use them again.

Baked Mashed Potatoes
Toss the leftovers into a bowl. I am guessing this is about 3 cups of potatoes.

Add 1 cup grated cheese ( any flavor you have on hand that grates), 1 tablespoon fresh chopped herbs, basil, oregano, chives, parsley, rosemary...or 2 teaspoons of dried herbs, 1 teaspoon of salt.

You can stop here and have a very tasty meal or you can get fancy and add cooked veggies: onions, spinach, mushrooms, summer squash or even meat: ground beef, chorizo...

Mix it all up and put it into a greased pie plate with a little more grated cheese on top.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 375 F, uncovered.
Serve with a salad !!

Apple season has begun !!

Last week Bob and I went to harvest early Gravenstein apples from a friend's tree.We picked about 100 pounds, the question that follows: what do you do with 100 pounds of apples.
All apples are not created equally, these early Gravensteins are not very good for eating out of hand and Bob found that they were not great for making apple wine.
They are good for making pie.

This is all that is left of the pie we made on Monday.

Gravenstein's are also good for making apple cider. Last year I discovered how easy it was to can apple cider. Basically you just heat it up to about 160 degrees F.

Strain it into hot jars.

And process it in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.
Voila, apple cider that you can store for years, if it last that long :-)

We drink it straight, make it into hot spiced cider, use it in marinades and give it as gifts.
This time we put one and half bushels ( about 70 pounds) through our old cider press.

It yielded nine quarts of juice. Bob will core, peel and slice the rest of them. They will be frozen and eventually made into apple butter or pies.