Strawberry Jam (Recipe 12)

It is 8:13am. The sun is streaming through the kitchen windows flooding the room with that dazzling golden light of the morning. I just got back from a 1.75 mile run and have determined that morning runs (i.e. runs at 7:30am) are the best. The dew is just lifting off the ground which makes the air more humid which makes breathing a … breeze (ish). While I was running I got the urge to write. Which brings me here – sitting at the tiny table in our new kitchen, a bowl of Cherrios in front of me and a piping hot cup of coffee to my right. And even though we still don't have internet, it doesn't mean I can't write now and post later. And so, without further adieu – strawberry jam.

Strawberries are in season. And strawberry season may just be one of my favourite produce seasons. Maybe it's because Africa never had berries and I'm making up for the three years without them. Or maybe it's just because they have the perfect mixture of sweetness and tartness. Not to mention that they are a beautiful piece of fruit. The fire engine red colour with the dark green leaves poking out at the top. Can I just say again that God is an incredible Creator? If looking at the fruit He has made doesn't bring you to praise Him, well… it really should!

Because strawberries are in season and because Aldi was selling them for $1.00 a pound I couldn't help but buy enough to make Strawberry Jam. I found an easy recipe online that called for three ingredients:

• 2 pounds Strawberries 
• 3 cups White Sugar 
• ¼ cup Lemon Juice 

 First, I set to hulling and slicing the strawberries or taking out the greenery leaving delicious slices of fruit.

I put the berries in a pot with the lemon juice and sugar and set my jars in hot water to sterilize them. 

Again, handy cooking tip, setting wooden spoons over a boiling pot will keep it from boiling over. The jam is ready after it has boiled for a bit and the berries have been squashed to your preferred size. 

Take the jars out of the hot water and set them up ready for jam to fill them. 

I'm sure there is an easier way to get jam into jars, but I just took a spoon and slowly but surely filled each jar. 

Vwala. 

Once the jam is in the jars, place lids on them and place them in boiling water until the lids have sealed. 

Sonya, Damarise, and I played some Dutch Blitz while the jam was cooking. 

Once the jars have sealed, take them out, label them, decorate them, give them to friends, whatever you want! It's easy, delicious, and the smell from cooking it is how Summer should smell. 

Lasagna and Breadsticks (Recipe 11)

Lasagna – layered deliciousness. It's a beautiful dish with the perfect mixture of meat, cheese, and sauce. And it is surprisingly easy to make. I always thought lasagna was a complicated dish, but after making it, it has become one of the most fun dishes to make. 

Meatballs are the essential meat in lasagna. So, I began by whipping up a batch of Mom's meatballs. Growing up, whenever Mom made meatballs for dinner, Dad always made a comment about how he married Mom because she made the best meatballs he had ever tasted. Not gunna lie, her meatballs are the most amazing ones I have ever had, and I have never been able to replicate them. Thus, I changed the recipe a bit and adapted it to make my own meatball recipe. 

The Recipe: 

• 1 pound of Ground Beef
• Breadcrumbs
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 Egg
• Onion Powder
• Garlic Powder
• Italian Seasoning

I would put how much of the seasonings I put it, but I didn't count. Just do it until it looks right. 

Roll them up and bake them at 350ºF for 20-30 minutes. After that time pour spaghetti sauce over them and cook for another 20 minutes. 

Then comes the fun part. The actual lasagna. 

The Recipe:

• 1 Box of Lasagna Noodles
• 1 1/2 Jars of Spaghetti Sauce
• 2 Pounds of Ricotta Cheese
• 1 Egg
• 2 Bags of Mozzarella Cheese 

Boil the noodles for the time suggested on the box. While the noodles are boiling mix together the egg and Ricotta Cheese. This makes it fluffier. I also added in some Italian Seasoning just to add flavour. 

When the noodles are cooked spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Then place the noodle horizontally. Spread spaghetti sauce and ricotta cheese over the noodles. Then place bits of meatball over the sauce. Cover with mozzarella cheese. And repeat.   

For the last layer simply put sauce and cheese on top. Cook at 375ºF for 30-40 minutes. 

I also made breadsticks to go with the meal. I used a tasty braided bread recipe and just made it into breadsticks instead. 

The Recipe:

• 2 Cups Warm Water 
• 2 Tablespoons Yeast 
• 1/3 Cup Sugar 
• 2 Teaspoons Salt 
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil 
• 1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder 
• 1/2 Teaspoon Oregano 
• 4-5 Cups Flour (but probably more like 6)

Mix together the water, yeast, and sugar to proof. In another bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients. When the yeast has proofed mix with the other ingredients. Knead and let rest for one hour. After an hour shape into the desired bread type. Braided bread, breadsticks, or rolls. Let rise for 30 minutes. 

Bake at 375ºF for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve hot! 

Damarise was at work and couldn't join us for dinner. Which, while being lonely without her, also meant there was no one to get a picture of dinner... or to remind me to. So alas, I have no more pictures of dinner. Oops. 

The verdict: The gracious eaters for this meal were Davey, Jimmy, Megan, Faith, Sonya, and Carolyn. They ate it up and left plenty of leftovers for lunch and dinner the next day. I'm a huge fan of anything Italian and after realizing how easy it was, it is definitely a meal I'll make again. 

Oops

I promise I haven't given up on this blog or on the 50 new recipes! I know it has been over a week since I last posted, but I haven't given up, I just haven't had internet connection... or my cooking/baking gear.

You see, Wednesday Damarise and I packed up the kitchen – spices, food, pots, pans, and all. We found a house to sublet over the summer that was 5 houses down from ours. The move was simple, but we stretched it out over a few days. Thursday we moved our table. Friday we moved the dishes. And Saturday we moved over beds, food, and everything else we owned.

We spent most of Saturday unpacking. Sunday I decided to try out the new oven. Chocolate chip banana muffins are my go-to baking fix. If I have the urge to bake something, I'll whip up a batch and let the sweet smell of vanilla, bananas, and chocolate fill the house. It is also my go-to "how-does-this-new-oven-work?" recipe. Because I know how long the muffins should cook for in my old oven, I see how long they cook in a new oven and adjust all my recipes from there. The new oven was splendid and huge. I am a fan!

Hopefully our home will have internet come Friday, but we shall see. Having to deal with setting up electricity, water, and internet was a shock to what the "real" world is like. There are several things that I didn't even think of (like having to figure out who picks up our trash when). But, it is all working out and I am just thankful to be in a home still in the same neighborhood. God is good!

When we do get internet I will post the past new meals I have made: Lasagna (which was so fun to make!), strawberry jam, and tomorrow's meal – fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and biscuits. Mmmm. Stay tuned! Hopefully it won't be too much longer.

Squirrel (Recipe 10)

Adventure. 

There is not a better word to describe Saturday. From the time I woke up to the time I went to bed, it was just one adventure after another – a day of learning and trying new things. And that, that is a great day! 

Here is how the adventure began.

I am trying out new recipes. After the adventurous and semi-successful attempt at cow tongue, I thought I'd probably just stick to more basic foods for the rest of the Summer, even though trying something new is just too fun not to do. 

The day after the cow tongue adventure, I got a text from Jimmy asking me if I would cook up squirrel if he hit one. How could I say no to such an adventure? Of course, I assumed it was a joke, until he brought back a pellet gun from home and said that he would go out shooting Saturday and try to catch a squirrel or two. 

And thus began the Saturday adventure of the squirrel. 

We left the house at 9am to go into the woods and find some squirrel. Jimmy was ready with his gun and I had some homemade squirrel bait (i.e. peanut butter and molasses).  

It had just rained the night before and there was fog everywhere, not to mention an immense amount of humidity. So, after trekking around the woods for about an hour and not seeing a single squirrel, we called it quits and decided to try again later. 

Later in the afternoon, when the sun was shining and and the ground had dried up we decided to try hunting again. We trekked out into the woods and within a minute saw three squirrels. As Jimmy aimed his gun at one jumping around in the branches, I saw one sitting still on a tree. I called to Jimmy and showed him where the squirrel was. Jimmy lifted up his pellet gun, flipped off the safety, and shot. 

It was a perfect shot. The squirrel tumbled out of the tree and onto the ground. Jimmy loaded in another pellet not realizing how perfect his shot had been. We climbed over to the tree to see if the squirrel had been hit and then we saw it. The squirrel was laying there looking right at us – dead. We both just stood there looking at it. It was so sad. We moaned a little and had a moment of silence for it. Then we bagged it up. 

After wandering around the woods for another hour we came back to the same spot and got another. Two was plenty and we brought them home to start cleaning and cooking them. 

We tried each doing one, but it was hard to get started on them. 

So we worked together to clean it. Neither of us had ever done it before and it was so amazing to see how intricate God created all the intestines of a squirrel. 

It was a lot of work to clean the first squirrel. 

Megan graciously read us the instructions from a website we had found. She wasn't too excited about watching us cut into the squirrel, but without her help we would have taken way longer trying to figure out how to do it. 

Faith and Damarise watched us from the house every so often. 

The website said the skin would come off like a sock... it lied. It was a lot harder than a sock!

But Jimmy pulled and got it!

The last step was quartering it and then we started on the next squirrel, which took us about half the time to do. 

Next we soaked the squirrel in a pot of salt water for two hours.

Then we sautéed it with onions, garlic, carrots, and wine for an hour and a half. 

The adventure that started at 9:00am was done at 10:30pm. It was a long day, but an adventurous day full of new excitement. The squirrel turned out deliciously and the meat was so tender and tasty. 

Even Damarise enjoyed it!

Our hard work paid off! 

The verdict: Jimmy and I decided that we would have made good pioneers. Even though it was an all day process, we did find our own meat, killed it, cleaned it, and cooked it! Damarise, Megan, and Sonya were our eaters and they all seemed to enjoy it. The wine and vegetables gave the squirrel a good flavour. It was a fun and long day, but I loved it! Summer adventures are superb and squirrel = success!

Cow Tongue Sandwich (Recipe 9)

Just like it sounds. I made a cow tongue sandwich to take to school with me when I substituted on Thursday. And it was delicious! It also used up several leftovers that were taking over the fridge. 

The Recipe:

• Cooked cow tongue
• Leftover rolls from Sloppy Joes
• Cheese
• Dijon mustard (yum!)
• Mayonnaise 
• Spinach Leaves
• Tomatoes

You could toast it, grill it, or eat it cold (which is what I did). I thought it was a great sandwich. 

Sloppy-Joes on Homemade Rolls and Potato Salad (Recipes 7 and 8)

Recipes seven and eight were made for the sole purpose of complimenting recipe six – the Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. I knew I wanted to make that and have people over to eat it, but I felt weird about just offering dessert. So, I scoured the web (i.e. the food section on Pinterest) until I found something that caught my eye. Sloppy-joes. It has been ages since I've had sloppy-joes and I've never made them from scratch so it was the perfect chance to make a new recipe, plus it was a Summery dish that would go well with the pie. 

I began the morning by looking for a good hamburger bun recipe. After comparing recipes I have with recipes I found online, I ended up going with one online. But it was a good start to the morning. Read some in the Psalms, some C.S. Lewis, my recipe book and drank some strong Zambian coffee. Mmm. 

Next, I set to work peeling the potatoes for the potato salad and boiling some eggs for it as well. Helpful tip: if you are boiling a pot on the stove and don't want it to boil over, place a wooden spoon over the pot. I don't know how it works, but it keeps it from boiling over. 

I would post the recipe of the potato salad on here, but I really don't know how to make it. I throw in some mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, onions, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, paprika, and whatever spices sound good at the time. I mix it up until I think it tastes right. There really is no recipe for it. Just do what suits you best. 

Ah! The hamburger buns. Bread for me is a hit or miss situation. Either the bread turns out perfectly fluffy and wonderful, or it is dry and crusty. These rolls were thankfully on the fluffy and wonderful side. 

The Recipe: 

• 1 cup Milk 
• 1/2 cup Water 
• 1/4 cup Butter 
• 4 1/2 – 5 1/2 cups Flour 
• 2 1/4 teaspoons Yeast 
• 2 tablespoons white Sugar 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 Egg

Mix together the warm milk, sugar, and yeast to proof. After proofing mix together with the other ingredients. Knead well. Let rest in a greased bowl for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes divide into rolls and place on a greased baking sheet for another 30 minutes rest. 

Bake at 400ºF for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. 

And last but not least to complete the meal: the Sloppy-joes!

The Recipe:

• 1 Onion, diced 
• 1 Green Bell Pepper, diced 
• 1 and 1/4 lbs Ground Beef 
• 1 and 1/3 cups Ketchup 
• 2 tablespoons White Vinegar 
• 1 heaping tablespoon Brown Sugar 
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder 
• 1 teaspoon Paprika 
• 1 teaspoon Salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper 
• 2/3 cup Water

Sauté the green pepper and onion in a skillet.  

Mix all the ingredients together with the cooked ground beef. (I also put a little bit of mustard in mine). 

Serve it up on the rolls with some potato salad and veggies. 

And enjoy it with some friends. 

The verdict: the eaters for this meal were Jimmy, Sonya, Faith, Megan, Matt, and Damarise. I think it turned out well. It was a simple Summer time meal with leftovers! Yes! And as always, great fellowship. We even played some Fffbasketball after dinner. I have great friends! 

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie (Recipe 6)

Strawberry-rhubarb pie is the epitome of Summer pies. Strawberries were on sale at Aldi – a pound for $.99! Such a good deal! I snagged up a few cartons and went on the search for rhubarb. I went to Walmart in search of that delectable plant and came up empty handed. Nobody knew what rhubarb was. 

Then Tuesday morning I went to an early breakfast with Janessa at a whole food's store. We were sitting up stairs eating muffins and sipping piping hot coffee when I spotted the dark red, beautiful stem poking out from amidst a mass of leafy vegetables. It had to be rhubarb! When we finished our meal we went downstairs and I found perfect looking rhubarb. I bought it and was probably too excited about it, but it was a great find.

I took it home and prepped the rhubarb and strawberries for the pie. 

The Recipe: 

• 3 cups strawberries hulled and quartered 
• 4 cups rhubarb, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces 
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 1 cup flour 
• 1/2 cup sugar

Does that not look like Summer?

Oh, my mouth is watering just looking at these pictures.

Mix it all together. 1 cup flour seemed like a lot, but it is necessary. 

The pie crust, an essential part of all pie, and so simple to make. I didn't have a pie pan so I put my pie crust in a round cake pan. It turned out fine, so if you don't have a pie pan, no worries!

The Recipe:

• 2 cups Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 cup Shortening (or margarine)
• 4ish tablespoons Water

Mix it up in a bowl and divide the dough in halves. Take one half and roll it out to fit the pie pan. Take the other half an cut it into strips to place on top of the pie. 

I did not add in the full cup of flour and had to go back and add it in before completing my pie. 

When the pie is ready for the oven, brush the dough with an egg white and water mix. (I added a wee bit of sugar to mine so that the crust would have a little sweetness). 

And just in case you had any illusions that when I cook I keep everything neat and tidy, let me just dismiss that idea and give proof that I am probably the messiest cook ever. It takes me a while to clean up after cooking. But it is worth it!

Preheat the oven to 425ºF and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes put the oven on 350ºF and cook for 30-40 minutes more. The crust should be a golden brown and the strawberry-rhubarb mix should be bubbling. 

Serve it up with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and your taste buds will be in Summer taste heaven. This is probably one of my personal favourite pies and it is perfect for eating after enjoying a game of Ffbasketball with friends.