If you are looking for a delicious, refreshing, non-alcoholic drink to enjoy, here it is!
Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to drink Ginger Beer. It’s non-alcoholic, sharp, and refreshing. Similar to that is my very favorite drink (similar to Ginger Beer) is Ginger Limeade.
You can buy this drink in a bottle in many of our Hawaiian stores. It is made locally, and it’s very similar to Ginger Beer, but it will never surpass the taste of freshly made in your own kitchen.
I can only give you the approximate proportions I use, and you may need to experiment for your own tastes. If you wish, lemons could probably be substituted for limes, but I have never tried it. I have limes, and I prefer limes, so that’s what I use.
The piece of ginger I use is about 3/4 the size of the one in the picture above. Peel it, then slice it into thin circles.
Put these in a saucepan, add about 1 cup of sugar, more or less to taste (I use Splenda or Monkfruit or Erythritol for this). Fill to about an inch from the top with water. Simmer until it has reduced by about half.
Let it cool while you squeeze the juice from about 8-10 limes. Add the juice to the ginger syrup. I add either a liter of seltzer water or diet tonic (my preference).
Serve over ice for one of the most delightful drinks you’ll find anywhere. There is almost always a pitcher of it waiting in my fridge!
This is a wonderfully fragrant and delicious bread that originated with my mother years ago. “Clara” was a woman in a church where my father was pastor, and she had given this recipe to my mother. This is something I look forward to making now that I have an oven again.
I have added Mother’s comments, some of them seem a bit old-fashioned. Plus she always wrote her recipes out on onion-skin paper, making it extremely difficult to read! I think you can enlarge the picture of the recipe to get an idea of what I had to translate.
This was a staple in my home when I was growing up and she sent this to me when I was a young bride. I had to laugh when I read her last comment about how to eat the loaf! I’d forgotten that.
Mix 1 package dry yeast with ¼ cup warm water.
Add 1 cup creamed cottage cheese OR 1 cup clabbered milk heated to lukewarm, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon minced fresh onion.
Mix in 1 tablespoon butter, 2 teaspoons dill seed, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 unbeaten egg, ¼ teaspoon soda, and 4-5 cups flour (more or less to make the right consistency of bread dough.)
Combine all in a mixing bowl, let rise until double in bulk in warm place (50-60 minutes).
Punch down and put into 2 greased loaf pans, or 1 loaf pan and 1 greased round casserole.
Let rise a bit, then bake in 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes until done.
Remove from oven and butter tops thoroughly while hot and sprinkle with lots of salt.
This is a lovely bread to give as a gift, or to slice for a party.
The final note on my mother’s recipe: “If the family isn’t around, eat one loaf yourself and save the other until they get home.” There was never any left over for sandwiches to take to school.
This recipe has made its way through several generations and I’ve passed it on to my own children. My oldest daughter said she’s already gone through three (maybe more) batches this holiday season. I’ve also given it as gifts to friends and neighbors.
Just smelling it as you walk into the house is enough to put you in a holiday frame of mind!
Wassail Recipe
Juice 2 oranges and 2 lemons. Set juice aside to add later
Slice rinds and boil in 6 cups of water with 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 T of cloves, 1 cup sugar (for alternate, see note below). Simmer for an hour.
Add citrus juice and 1 gallon of cider or apple juice. Warm it – don’t boil.
Note: In place of sugar, I use Monk Fruit or Erythritol. You might want to use maple syrup or honey, too.
If you look back over the fourteen years of this blog, you’ll see articles on travel, saints, food, writing, gardening, and so much more. In its recent renovation, I have intended for this blog to follow my path of writing as well as to encourage others to also write. And yet, occasionally I want to include something of the “old” blog features. Don’t be surprised if you find something like “Sourdough Cranberry Rolls” in the middle of my ramblings about writing.
I love anything made with sourdough. When I lived in Alaska, I was given a starter that dated back to the 1800s (at least that’s what I was told, but Alaska is known for yarns as big as the state). At any rate, it had been going a long time, and was deliciously sour. I have made sourdough chocolate cake, sourdough fruitcake, sourdough pancakes and waffles, sourdough breads – any recipe I can get my hands on.
The sourdough starter or madre that I use now also came from Alaska, this time from a friend who used to live there, too. This recipe was adapted from The Tassahara Bread Book and I used dried cranberries instead of raisins. Their original recipe calls for fermenting the raisins, so I wasn’t sure if it would work to ferment the dried cranberries. I imagine you could use dried blueberries, as well.
The Tassahara bakers seem to keep a sourdough raisin roll starter on hand at all times, and this might add to the flavor each time it is used. I probably won’t make this recipe as often as they do, so I didn’t keep anything out for the next time, other than replenishing the regular madre as usual.
Sourdough Cranberry Rolls
1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 4 cups whole wheat flour 1 cup sourdough starter 1 3/4 cups water and fermented cranberries * 2/3 cup dry cranberries Whole wheat flour as needed for kneading.
Mix the salt and cinnamon with the flour. Put the sourdough starter on top of the flour and stir in the water from the cranberries, a little at a time to form a soft dough.
When the mixture is too thick to stir, work with your hands and knead for several minutes. Add the fermented cranberries, and knead a bit more. Add the dry cranberries, and knead them in, too.
Keep the dough on the moist side as much as possible, but add more flour as needed to keep it from being too sticky to work with. Let the dough sit for 20 minutes or so.
Divide the dough into twelve pieces for large scones. Shape into balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel and let them sit overnight, at least 15 hours or more.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until well browned.
* Fermenting the Dried Cranberries: Place 1/2 cup of dried cranberries in 2 cups of water. Cover and let sit for 3-4 days, unrefrigerated. Stir daily. Don’t change the water because it will be used in the recipe.
NOTES: 1) This may seem like a long drawn-out process, but it only takes a few minutes each day, rather than taking up a whole day of preparation. I tried this recipe for Sourdough Cranberry Rolls with great trepidation, but it was so easy! I’d like to try another dried fruit. I mentioned blueberries above, but wonder about chopping up something like dried mango or ginger. Oh my!
2) The damp towel part didn’t work well for me. It seemed to weigh down the rolls too much, so I took it off and it worked better. I think my tea towel was too thick, not thin like the old flour sack towels my grandmother used.
3) I got twenty large rolls/scones instead of twelve. Also, the recipe calls them “rolls,” but I think they are more like scones, so that’s what I call them. Whatever you want to call them, they were delicious!
4) After they were cool, I wrapped each one in waxed paper and froze them. They are warm and ready to eat after about 20-25 seconds in the microwave. Slather with butter and enjoy!
Those of you who have been following this blog since its first post may wonder why I’m reposting some of the old ones. I’m in the middle of selling my home and buying another, so while my time is taken up with house-hunting, I probably won’t be creating many original posts.
If you are new to my blog, then I hope you enjoy these posts and recommend me to your friends.
I first made this recipe back in June of 1964. How do I know? I always date my cookbook recipes the first time I try it and give the family rating. This one rated very high with everyone!
How do recipes become our own? After so many years, we tend to add, subtract, or substitute from the original. Who knows at what point they become ours and not something from a cookbook?
I adapted this one from an old cookbook I had featuring recipes from Luchow’s German restaurant in New York, first published in 1952. You can see the splattered pages. The real name of the recipe is something more sophisticated, but my kids named it “orange sauerkraut” because of the color it turns out to be.
Even people who don’t think they like sauerkraut seem to love this recipe, probably because the sour cream softens the sharp tang of the kraut. Try it yourself and see what you think!
ORANGE SAUERKRAUT
2 pounds of lean beef cut into small 1-inch squares
4 tablespoons of butter (I substitute olive oil)
2 cups sliced onions
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste, although sauerkraut usually has enough salt
1 15-oz. can tomatoes
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons chopped caraway seeds
2 cups sauerkraut
Sauté beef in butter or olive oil until lightly browned.
Add onions and cook 5 minutes.
Add garlic, salt, pepper, and tomatoes, plus enough water to barely cover the mixture.
Cook slowly until meat is almost done and the sauce reduced, usually about 30-45 minutes. Stir frequently.
When sauce is cooked down, add sour cream, paprika, and caraway seeds. Simmer ½ hour longer.
Mix in sauerkraut and cook until everything is heated to the right temperature.
Makes a wonderful family meal served with steamed red potatoes, or traditional German style with mashed potatoes.
A hui hou!
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