Homemade Bath Salts

I found instructions on how to make bath salts at home and thought it would be a fun gift to make and give to my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law while we are all together for the holidays.  It was certainly simple enough, the whole thing took me under 10 minutes, and will probably be even faster next time, and all of the necessary components were pretty easy to find (I had to go to a natural foods store, but it wasn't out of the way).  Here is what I did:


Bath Salts


1 large box (4 lbs) epsom salt
1 small box (1 lb) baking soda
60 drops (about 0.25 oz.) essential oil
desired amount of food coloring 


-Mix the epsom salt and baking soda together in a large bowl and stir to combine.
-Mix in the essential oil drop by drop, stirring until it reaches the fragrance level you like (I chose lavender because I like the smell and the soothing properties it has for a bath).
-Transfer about  1/2 cup of the mixture into a smaller bowl, and mix in the food coloring until the mix is a darker version of the color you would like.
-Mix the colored salt back into the rest of the salt and stir until well combined.
-Repeat the process with the food coloring until the whole mixture has turned the color you want.
-Divide into 4-5 batches and pour into individual glass jars with lids (these can be mason jars, or lidded jars found at a craft store, whatever is fun for you!).
-Use about 1-3 Tbsp per bath, or until desired fragrance is released into the water.


The best part about this was the price!  Compared to what I would have to pay to buy bath salts, this was a great deal.  Here is the breakdown as it pertains to me.

Epsom salt: $1.99
Baking soda: $0.69
Essential oil: $5.99
Food coloring: $2.99
Glass jars: $8.99/12

Pre-made lavender bath salt: $10/20 oz.

For this project I only used about half of the oil, maybe 1/8 of the food coloring, and 1/3 of the jars.  So my cost was: $1.99 + $0.69 + $3.00 (oil) + $0.37 (food coloring) + $3.00 (jars) = $9.05 for the whole project, or $2.26 per individual jar.  This is awesome because the retail of each jar is about $10!  That means for my entire project I saved about $30.95!  This was great too because I was able to customize it to the scent and color I wanted.

I really liked the way the salt turned out, however I haven't yet taken a bath with them, and there are still a few changes I will probably make for next time.  The first is that I would like a slightly chunkier salt texture, so I think if I used half epsom salt and half rock salt I would like that better, but I'm not sure that the rock salt would ever dissolve, so I will have to experiment and see how it goes.  The next thing is that the fragrance was really nice at first, but it became really overpowering by the time I was done mixing everything, so I'm not sure if I just used too much or if it will be great now that it is in a jar, just something to keep in mind.  The last was the coloring the mix was more laborious than I had anticipated.  I think it is because we only had some weird gel food colors, and the traditional liquid might work better, but I'm just not sure.  The end product for me had a very light purple color, but it was barely noticeable, however there were lots of flecks of blue and red, which was fun, just not quite what I had expected.  Then again, I didn't spend a whole lot of time coloring it, which I would do next time.  I'm super excited to see how they work out when I go home and take a nice relaxing bath however!

Produce Co-op

So I have been doing some research for about two months now, looking for a good co-op in my area to join.  For those who don't know, a produce co-op is a non-profit organization that purchases fresh produce, and sometimes local meats, breads, honeys, nuts, etc. all from wholesale farmers in the area at reduced prices than what would be found in the grocery stores.  The result is cheaper, higher quality, oftentimes organic products that are sold to members of the group at the discounted rate.  I love this idea because, well first it saves us money (usually 25% - 90% discounted) and we get better quality ingredients that help support local farmers which I think is great because I am all for supporting the community and small businesses as I can.

The only downside to this method of purchasing produce is that the selection is chosen for you, and you usually don't know what you will be getting before the time that you pick up your food.  This might result in extra trips to the grocery store to supplement the items that you don't get in your "basket" that you want for the week, and it makes meal planning for the upcoming week much more difficult if you have to wait until after you receive your basket to plan the upcoming meals for the rest of the week.

My solution to this problem was to just start my own co-op by talking to the suppliers myself, organizing the shipment when it arrives, and distributing the baskets to the people within the co-op.  By having my own, I would be able to talk to the suppliers personally and send out e-mails to everyone a week before the shipment arrives so that we can still plan our meals before picking up our baskets.  The other bonus is that I would be able to talk to the others involved and take a poll on specific produce that we all wanted, instead of simply whatever we got.

The problem is that in order to make it worth the cost, there needs to be at least 12 people involved in the co-op, otherwise the cost would actually become greater, and at that point we might as well just go to the grocery store.  Well I haven't been able to find enough of my neighbors that are interested in the idea to join, but I think they may just not understand the concept, so I'm going to keep trying.

Needless to say, I was still interested in doing the co-op, but I wanted to find the right one for us.  One that would have a reasonable price, and give us the right amount of produce as often as we needed it.  I searched out those available in our area, and decided to try two different ones for the month of January.  My first basket will be picked up the first Saturday in January, and the second will be picked up the third Saturday.  I'm hoping there will be enough produce for the two of us to last through two weeks, with minimal supplementation from the grocery store.

I'm excited to see how it all works out, and there is another co-op I think I will try in February if these two don't work out as I hope, but here's crossing my fingers!  I'll keep you guys posted on what I get and what I think of the different co-ops!

Friendship Bread, Part II

Yesterday was baking day for my Friendship Bread experiment, and I was quite pleased with the results, in fact I was even a little surprised!  The following is the recipe I used to make the completed loaves when already having access to a starter.  If you don't have any access to a starter, see my earlier post about how to make your own!  This will make the traditional Friendship Bread that I grew up making, no fancy additions, just a good cinnamon loaf!


Classic Friendship Bread


1 cup Friendship Bread starter
2/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp butter or oil
cinnamon/sugar mixture for dusting (about 1/4-1/2 cup)


-Preheat oven to 325 deg. F
-Grease two loaf pans with the butter or oil making sure to cover the bottom and sides of the pans.
-Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture in each pan the way you would with flour when dusting before baking a cake.  Be sure the cinnamon/sugar covers the bottom and sides completely all the way up to the top.
-Sift all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.
-Stir in the starter, eggs, and vanilla blending well.  The result should be in between the consistency of dough and batter.
-Pour the batter evenly between the two loaf pans, it should be about halfway up the sides of the pan if you are using regular sized loaf pans, if it is much higher use an additional pan.
-Sprinkle the top of the dough/batter with some more cinnamon/sugar mixture coating the top well (this will result in the delicious crispy crust!)
-Bake the loaves for 45 minutes to an hour, until they are golden and set in the middles.
-Allow the loaves to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

This bread is great!  It made our whole house smell amazing and was such a nice dessert bread to have after dinner or for breakfast!  It is a simple bread, so some additions will be nice, but I am happy with this classic rendition.  I'm definitely going to try some fun variations as I will be baking this lovely bread every 10 days!  I'll keep you guys posted as I try new ideas!

Soupe A l'Oignon

For tonight's dinner I made some French Onion Soup, or Soupe A l'Oignon as it is originally known.  It was a big hit, even with the baby which shocked me!  I take a classic approach where the onion slices are very slowly caramelized throughout the day, and although it is very time consuming, it is totally worth the patience for the amazing flavor that cannot be rushed!  The best part about this soup is that it can be frozen, so although it takes a day to make the big batch, the soup will last in the freezer over the next year, so anytime we want more we just have to thaw and top it!  Here is my original recipe, based upon techniques I learned in during my classical French cooking training at culinary school as well as a few tips I learned from two restaurants and personal preference.


Soupe A l'Oignon


Soup Base:


10 lbs sweet onions
16 oz. cooking sherry
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 Tbsp salt
1/8 cup roasted garlic paste*
1 gallon beef stock*
1 gallon water
1/2 cup malt vinegar
2 Tbsp pepper
4 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped


-Slice all of the onions in half, lengthwise, through the root.  Leave the root intact, but cut off the papery end, and pull off the outermost onion layer of each onion half.
-Cut the onions into thin slices, try to make them all as uniform as you can, mine are usually about 1/8" thick, that way they will cook evenly.
-Place a large roasting pan, or broiling pan over two burners on the stove (the pan should be flat and be at least a 2" thick) and turn the heat to medium.
-Depending on the size of the pan you use for this part, you may have to cook the onions in two (or four) batches. 
-Divide up the olive oil into equal parts for the amount of onion batches you will need to cook.
-Pour 1/2 cup (or 1/4 if doing 4 batches) oil into the pan, and stir to cover the bottom.
-Divide the onion slices up into equal parts for each batch.
-Place the onions in the hot oil, and stir to coat.
-Sprinkle 1 Tbsp (or 1/2 if doing 4 batches) salt over the onions, this will help to leach out the liquid fromt the onions, and pull out that extra flavor.
-Sweat the onions until they are soft and clear, stirring every so 10 minutes or so.  If some "burns on the bottom" that's fine just scrape it into the rest of the onions.
-When all of the onions have been sweated, drain and reserve the liquid leftover from the onions, then place the "dry" onions back into the pan to begin caramelizing them by turning up the heat on the stove slightly, add all of the onions (or 1/2 if doing 4 batches) and stir/scrape the bottom of the pan every 15-20 minutes, the onions should start to color, and as you mix in the "burnt" looking parts, the overall color will turn a golden brown.
-Continue cooking (don't be too eager to stir too frequently, letting them sit is what caramelizes the natural sugars and gives the soup it's signature flavor!) until the overall color is a nice medium brown, darker than brown sugar, but lighter than maple syrup.
-Scoop the onions out of the pan, and set off to the side.
-Pour the sherry into the bottom of the pan, and deglaze by stirring around over medium heat scraping all of the fond (or delicious "burnt" bits and dark spots off of the bottom), continue cooking until all of the alcohol has been burned off, you will know when this is done when it no longer smells like alcohol, but the sherry itself.  It's kind of hard to explain, but you will understand what the alcohol smells like while it is burning off, and when that burning in your nose is gone, it is done.
-Add the caramelized onions and onion liquid into a large pot (or two) that is big enough to fit just over 2 gallons, with room to stir, and add the sherry to the pot.
-Add the garlic paste, thyme, parsley, pepper, and the remaining salt and stir to combine.
-Pour in the vinegar, stock, and water and bring the whole thing to a boil.
-Once the soup has come to a boil, turn down the heat to a low simmer and continue to cook for another 2 hours for all of the flavors to marry together.
-Ladle the soup into 8 oven-safe crocks (there will be plenty of leftover, but each should have about 1 pint of soup) leaving about 1" of room for the topping.


Soup Topping:


2 loaves crusty Italian bread
2 lbs good Swiss cheese (I prefer Gruyere), grated


-Turn on the oven to the broil setting.
-Slice the bread into 1/4" thick slices, and place them evenly on a baking sheet.
-Put them under the broiler for about 1-2 minutes on each side until the "croutons" are crispy and golden brown and dried out.
-Top each crock of soup with enough croutons to just cover (Ours have about 5 each).
-Cover the croutons evenly with the shredded cheese, about 4 oz. each
-Put the crocks on a baking sheet and broil for 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown on the top.
-Allow the soup to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving each crock on a plate, warn your guests that the soup will be VERY hot!

I love this soup this time of year, there is nothing better than a warm and rich soup on a chilly day, and this one is a particular favorite because of the delicious cheese, and the fact that it is relatively cheap to make which is great around the holidays!  We like to put about 1/2 gallon of soup each into 3 or 4 1-gallon freezer bags, and freeze until you have a craving for this warming soup again!

*Below are my recipes for beef stock as well as how to create roasted garlic paste.


Beef Stock


10 lbs beef bones (ask your local butcher or meat department of your grocery store if they carry them, and ask if they will cut them lengthwise, if not it's fine)
2 can tomato paste
4 large onions
5 lbs carrots
2 whole bunches of celery
16 oz. red cooking wine
1/8 cup whole peppercorns
1/8 cup garlic cloves
2 whole bay leaves
1/4 cup salt
1 bunch thyme
2 gallons water


-Preheat the oven to 400 deg. F.
-Roast the beef bones in a roasting pan evenly for about 1 hour.
-Spread the tomato paste over the bones with a spatula.
-Return the pan to the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
-Remove as much of the bones and tomato from the pan as possible and place the pan over two burners on the stove.
-Over medium-high heat pour in the red wine and deglaze the pan, scraping all of the fond off the bottom and stirring to incorporate all of the pieces until the alcohol has burned off.
-Wash the onions, carrots, and celery, and cut the onions in half lengthwise, but don't trim off any parts of the vegetables.  
-Take the bones (which should be cool enough to hold) and scrape out the marrow inside with a spoon, putting the marrow and empty bones into the bottom of a large (or two smaller) stockpot that can hold at least over 2 gallons.
-Add the vegetables to the stockpot as well as the spices and herbs.
-Cover with the water and bring to a boil.
-Once the liquid comes to a boil, turn down the heat to low and simmer for 10-24 hours (depending on the time you have and your patience!) stirring every hour or so.
-Strain the liquid after the cooking is complete, and package as you need (I like to put mine into 2 cup portions in sandwich sized plastic freezer bags, and then freeze them flat until I am ready to use some).


This stock is so good, and has a nicer, more complex flavor than the stuff you buy in the cartons at the store.  Seriously, it's cheaper, has less sodium, and tastes better... Why wouldn't you make your own stock?!


Roasted Garlic


5 whole heads of garlic
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
10 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves removed from the stems


-Preheat oven to 350 deg. F
-Cut off tops of the garlic (the papery side, not the root side) to just expose some of the garlic cloves, but leave the heads intact.
-Arrange the garlic in a pie tin or on a square of foil that has edges folded upward (so it looks like a box lid).
-Pour the oil over the garlic heads, into the crevices as much as you can.
-Sprinkle the whole thyme leaves over the tops of the garlic and place the tin in the center of the oven.
-Cook for 30-45 minutes until the garlic feels soft when you squish it and looks golden but not dark brown.
-Allow the garlic to cool completely before removing it from the tin.
-Remove the papery skin, and set the garlic on a cutting board.
-Using the wide flat side of a large chef's knife (this is generally 8" or 10" long and usually has the widest blade in a set) place the heel of your hand on the flat side, and push down and away from yourself on top of the garlic.  
-Repeat until the garlic becomes a sticky paste without any remaining chunks, this shouldn't be very difficult since the garlic is so soft and a little pressure goes a long way.
-Add the garlic paste to a jar with the remaining oil in the pie tin and store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.


I hope you guys like the soup and other helpful recipes to make cheap, better tasting condiments!

Cinnamon Biscuit Buns

I have been craving cinnamon rolls so much lately, that I finally decided to try and come up with a better recipe than those I have made in the past.  We have bought those refrigerated rolls, but they were missing that real cream cheese frosting that I have so desperately wanted, so I scoured a few different recipes and compiled my own.  Here is what I tried and my evaluation of the buns.  Also, bear in mind I was cooking for 8 people, feel free to cut the recipe in half if you don't need a whole pan of

Cinnamon Biscuit Buns

-Preheat the oven to 450 deg. F

-Grease a 9" X 13" glass casserole dish

Dough:

6 cups all purpose flour

3 Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 1/4 cup buttermilk

-Sift all the dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl and stir with a spoon.

-Whisk the oil and buttermilk together in a medium bowl, and stir into the dry ingredients until if forms a soft dough.

-Dump the dough onto a floured surface, and sprinkle a little flour into the dough until it just stops sticking to your hands.

-Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is about 1/4" thick and a rectangle.

Filling:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3/4 tsp ground allspice

1 Tbsp vanilla

-Mix all dry ingredients together in a small bowl.

-Add vanilla and stir until it's a uniform consistency.

-Spread the mixture over the dough rectangle, spreading to both short edges, and the edge closest to you, but about 1" away from the furthest edge.

-Starting with the long edge closest to you, begin rolling the dough away from you as tightly as you can without compacting the dough.

-Slice the dough into 2" width slices, and place them cut side down into the greased pan.

-Bake the buns in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

-Cool the buns for about 10 minutes before frosting them.

Frosting:

1 8oz. pkg cream cheese (do yourself a favor and use the real stuff, it just isn't the same with the low fat stuff, and if you are concerned with the calories, 1: you probably shouldn't be tempting yourself with delicious cinnamon rolls and 2: if you MUST, just use restraint and eat only one or half of one, but still use the real cream cheese!)

1/4 cup (1 stick) of butter (NOT margarine!) at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

-Cream the butter and cream cheese together in a mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer) and mix until smooth and creamy.

-Add the powdered sugar, with the machine off in three or four batches, mixing slowly in between each batch.

-Mix in the vanilla, and then keep the frosting in the fridge until the buns are ready, then spread evenly over the top of the buns.

I liked this recipe a lot, I might still tweak it a little because the buns were rich, but that was to be expected since they were made with a biscuit dough, and a buttermilk biscuit dough no less, but that just meant we were full with two!  They definitely weren't the packaged kind, but I liked the biscuit taste, and the frosting was better than anything I've found commercially produced.  Anyway they were a big hit with the family, and I hope you guys enjoy them!

Friendship Bread Part I

We are waiting at the airport getting ready to board and I thought I would take advantage of this time to use the wifi and write down my thoughts and recipe for the delicious sweet bread I have been making for the last week and a half.  Little did I remember how much I hate the airport's wifi because about a million people are using it, so it takes FOREVER to load!

Anyway, I am super excited about this bread!  When I was young I would always be so excited when we got a batch of "starter" from a friend, then we would make some loaves for a few months, get sick of the bread, give away all of the "starter" and hope more would come around when the craving hit.  Well it has been years since I have seen some "starter" and I have been having a huge pregnancy craving for this bread!  Unfortunately being a college student in the "west" doesn't lend itself to getting much "starter".  So I combed the internet for a recipe to create some "starter" and therefore make the recipe on my own.  I found a few that sounded alright, so I tried two different ones so that I could compare the end results and see which method I liked better, or if they seemed identical.

The first uses dry active yeast and the second calls for a more "traditional" method by utilizing a natural yeast fermentation process.  I must make a note that if you have yet to try making and/or eating this bread you are in for a treat!  It is often called "Amish Friendship Bread" or "Mennonite Friendship Bread", I just go with "Friendship Bread" and people usually know what I am talking about if they have had it before.  The name is such because when you make the batter/dough you always have 2 cups leftover that you can give away (or keep if you want a ton of bread, I guess) to a friend for them to enjoy.  I personally like making a loaf and giving a bag of starter away, that way the recipient has a sample to see how good it is!

It is a nice sweet, almost cakey bread that is so versatile to many different interpretations for additions, flavors, etc.  This first batch I chose to do a traditional cinnamon & sugar since that was what we always did when I was a kid.  However, since I now have my starter (and discovered that it freezes beautifully, so I should perpetually have starter forever!) I will be posting many recipes for my different variations every two weeks or so.  Following are the two recipes I tried.


Friendship Bread Starter (Packaged Yeast Method)


1 package (or 1 Tbsp) of active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 deg. F)
1 cup flour 
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup milk 


-Empty the yeast into the bottom of a medium sized plastic or wooden bowl (it's very important that no metal bowls or utensils are used when preparing this recipe because the metal will react with the natural fermentation process). 
-Pour the warm water over the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes.
-Mix the flour with the sugar and mix into the yeast mixture.
-Slowly mix the milk into the mixture, stirring with a wooden or plastic spoon to avoid lumps.
-This is considered the starter on day one, lightly cover with plastic wrap or a light kitchen towel and keep the bowl at room temperature.




This method is fine, however I found out that the yeast is actually unnecessary since the sugar and milk ferment on their own at room temperature, and by leaving the mix uncovered the yeast is extracted from the particles in the air naturally.  It sounds hokey I know, but it works, trust me!  If you still feel better about using the yeast, that is totally fine as well.


Friendship Bread Starter (Traditional)


1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk


-Mix the flour and sugar together in a medium sized plastic bowl, removing any clumps.
-Slowly add in the milk and stir with a wooden spoon.
-This is considered day one of the starter, leave the bowl uncovered and at room temperature.


Regardless of which method you choose, here is the recipe for Friendship Bread once you have the starter, or if some is given to you by a friend.


Friendship Bread


Bread starter
2 cups flour, divided
2 cups sugar, divided
2 cups milk, divided


-On day one (this is the day that you receive the starter from a friend, or the day that you begin making the starter) stir the mixture only with a wooden spoon in a plastic medium sized bowl.
-On days two, three, and four stir the mixture again with a wooden spoon
-On day five, stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and slowly pour in 1 cup milk being careful to remove the lumps that might form.
-On days six, seven, eight, and nine stir the mixture again with a wooden spoon only.
-On day ten, stir in the remaining 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup milk stirring any lumps that might form.
-After mixing everything on day ten, take out three 1 cup portions of the dough/batter.
-Pour two of the portions into baggies to give away and one of the portions into a clean medium sized bowl to begin the process all over again.
-Use the rest of the batter/dough to bake into two (or four if you make your own starter) loaves.


I will post the recipe for baking the bread in a few days when my second starter is ready to go!  I'm still doing research on the best recipes for baking a typical cinnamon & sugar loaf, and I will probably end up making my own based on some commonalities, then adjust the measurements as necessary.

So far, I have made the starter with the yeast and it looked & smelled like normal Friendship Bread dough/batter.  I've no idea how it tastes because I had to freeze the bags before I left home, but will definitely try them out when I get back in January.

I'm also now on day three of making the starter with the "traditional" recipe without yeast, and it seems to be doing ok, it definitely doesn't have as many bubbles as the first one did, but I'm hopeful and will continue posting as it turns out!

Dried Spices At Home!

So again, I have been trying to get our home cleaned and prepared before we leave for the holidays, and as a result had a few more items lying around that I wanted to use up.  I had some fresh ginger root that I couldn't finish up in time so I thought I would try to make dry ground ginger.  I wasn't really sure if this would work, but I figured I would give it a try anyway.  I also had some dried pasilla chiles that were taking up too much space in my spice rack, so I thought I would make some ancho powder as well.  Lastly, I had used up my store of vanilla sugar earlier in the week, and wanted to get started on a new batch that would be ready when we got home in January.  My methods/recipes follow.


Dried Ground Ginger


1 whole fresh ginger root


-Wash the outside of the root, and peel the skin completely off.
-Grate the fresh ginger using a very fine grater or a ginger plate if you have one (I like to use a long superfine microplane because it makes quick work of this job and I don't worry about cutting myself on it).
-Pat the ginger pulp several times using paper towels until all of the excess moisture has been removed.
-Spread out the pulp onto a cookie sheet as evenly and thinly as possible.
-Place sheet into an oven on the lowest setting possible, preheating is not necessary (mine was at 170 deg. F).
-Stir/scrape the mixture around once per hour until it has completely dried (it took me about 3 hours total).
-Remove the sheet from the oven, and scrape all of the pulp off once it has cooled (about 5 minutes after you pull it out)
-Put the dried pieces into a spice grinder or food processor (I use a coffee grinder that I have for spices only) and grind until it is the consistency you like.

I was excited how well this worked out!  Basically I decided to never buy dried ginger from the store ever again, because here is how the price breakdown works for me:

Fresh ginger $5/1 lb
Dried ginger $4.50/0.8 oz. jar

I only used about 1/2 lb, or roughly $2.50 worth of fresh ginger and got an ounce of dried out of that, or about $5.63 worth of the dried stuff.  Yeah, definitely a good deal!


Ancho Powder


2 dried pasilla chiles 


-Cut the chiles in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds, stems, and membranes.
-Cut or break the remaining part of the chiles into small pieces, about 1/2"
-Put the pieces in a spice grinder or food processor (I use my "spice" coffee grinder) and pulse until you get a uniform powder.

Here is the price breakdown for my ancho powder:

Pasilla chiles $4/bag (I got mine on sale however for $1.50/bag!)
Ancho powder  $5.25/oz

My chiles made about 2 oz. of powder, which means I spent $1.50 for a total of $10.50 worth of powder!  Yay for spending a little bit of time to save a ton of money!


Vanilla Sugar


8 cups granulated sugar
4 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 whole vanilla bean


-Mix the sugar with the vanilla extract, stirring and breaking up the chunks as much as possible.
-Split the vanilla bean lengthwise in half, then scrape out the vanilla beans (the tiny black specks inside the skin) and put them into the sugar mix, stirring again as you can, reserve the vanilla "skins".
-Spread out the sugar as thin as you can on a few cookie sheets.
-Stir the sugar each day for three days, then when it has completely dried put the chunks of sugar into a food processor and pulse until the sugar is all broken up like normal granulated sugar or slightly finer.
-Put the sugar in an airtight container along with the vanilla "skins" and shake once a month.

I absolutely love using vanilla sugar in place of regular sugar.  It tastes so much better, and adds a nice quality to the baked goods!  Also, this is a good way to do something with any leftover vanilla "skins" you might have leftover from other recipes, I always just throw them in with my sugar when I'm done with them because they keep flavoring the sugar forever!

Soup Du Jour

So we are leaving for the Holidays this Saturday morning and I have been using every effort to clean out our fridge before then.  I had a head of cabbage and about 8 Roma tomatoes left in the produce drawer this morning, so I decided to attempt to make a soup with the two loosely using a recipe for stewed cabbage, then adding broth to it.  Here is the recipe I created.

Cabbage & Tomato Soup

8 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 head of green cabbage, thinly sliced

4 Tbsp sun dried tomato oil*

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 Tbsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp medium ground black pepper*

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 gal. vegetable broth*

-Heat the oil in a large stockpot (I use a 2 gallon, stainless steel one) over medium heat until it just reaches the smoke point (when a tiny bit of smoke starts to emerge from the hot oil).  

-Add the tomatoes and cabbage and cook until wilted.  Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

-Add the sugar, vinegar, garlic, cayenne, paprika, salt, and pepper and stir.

-Mix the broth with the tomato paste and pour into the pot.

-Cook on medium-low heat for an additional 30 minutes, then enjoy!

*The oil I used is from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes.  It is just olive oil, but the flavor is better, however plain olive oil would work just fine

*I grind peppercorns in a coffee grinder that I use specifically for spices, and I like to just pulse them a few times so the pepper still has some small bits in it, not a fine powder.

*I make my own vegetable broth because it's cheaper and tastes so much better than the store bought, also I can make a ton at once and freeze it.  The recipe for my broth follows as well.

Vegetable Broth

1 large yellow onion

2 lbs carrots

1 bunch celery

2 Tbsp whole peppercorns

6 whole cloves

1 whole bay leaf

1 Tbsp whole thyme leaves

2 gal water

-Cut the onion in half through the root.  Don't worry about peeling it or removing the root end, just be sure it is clean of dirt.  Stick 3 cloves each into the cut ends of the onion until they barely stick out.

-Wash the carrots and cut them in half, again don't worry about peeling or cutting the ends off.

-Wash and cut the celery into thirds, but keep the end pieces.

-Put all of the vegetables into a large stockpot, if you have one big enough, or in two (I use a 2-gallon stainless steel one).

-Add all of the other spices and cover with the water.  

-Start on medium heat, and cook until the water reaches a boil.  Turn down the heat to just a simmer and continue cooking for a total of 8 hours.  (I let mine cook on the lowest setting overnight for a complete 24 hours just because I like the extra flavor, but that's not necessary if you don't want to leave the stove on all night, or don't have the room!) Continue adding liquid during the cooking time to keep the level at 2 gallons.

-Cool the liquid in the fridge and then strain, keeping the liquid and discarding the rest.  (I like to portion mine into 2 cup [16 oz.] increments in plastic baggies and then freeze the bags so I can always have the broth available when I need it!)

I thought the soup was a success.  It was a bit sweet, but I liked the way it turned out because it still had a nice acidic quality to it and a small kick in the aftertaste.  Overall, a nice vegetarian soup that will be great for lunch when the snow gets a bit deeper :).  I chose to freeze the soup in gallon baggies with 1 quart each (or 4 cups) so that I can enjoy it at different times!  It will keep for up to a year in a good freezer bag, possibly longer, I've just never been able to keep any soup around that long!