Favorite Family Recipes

Always give thanks to our Heavenly Father for the food He provides and with it create meals to nourish the body and comfort the soul.

[liquid-book-of-days]

Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil Tea Sandwiches.

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Strawberry Shortcake.

[tokkeki]

Japanese white bread recipe by Bread Channel

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Christmas Recipes — Molded Gingerbread Cookies with Sugar Glaze Ingredients — Flour Mixture: • 3 cups + 4 tbsp. unbleached flour   • ¾ tsp. baking soda • ½ cup sugar • 1½ tsp. cinnamon • ½ tsp. ground cloves • 2 tsp. ground ginger • ½ tsp. nutmeg • ½ tsp. salt Liquid Mixture: • ½ cup vegetable oil • ½ cup molasses • ½ cup dark corn syrup • 2 tbsp. water Clear Sugar Glaze: • 2½ cups powdered sugar • 2 tbsp. water • 1 tbsp. butter, softened • 1 tbsp. light corn syrup • ½ tsp. vanilla, if desired  • food colouring, if desired  Directions — • To make the clear sugar glaze: Combine sugar, water, butter, corn syrup, and vanilla in a small bowl and mix until powdered sugar is moistened. Beat at medium speed until smooth, adding additional water if necessary. Tint with food colour. • To make the gingerbread cookies: Combine the flour mixture and the liquid mixture together either by hand or in a heavy standard mixer using the flat blade (not the whisk). Mix until the dough holds together, adding 1 or 2 tbsp. of water only if necessary to bind the dough. Knead the dough into a solid mass and place into a tightly sealed zipper bag. Let the dough rest for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight. • On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough with a plain rolling pin about ½ to ⅝ inch thick, depending on the depth of your cookie mold. Using a pastry brush, flour the surface of your cookie mold. Press firmly onto the flat surface of the dough and then lift the mold straight up. Re-flour the mold for every pressing. • Cut and place the cookies on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Let cookies dry for 8 - 12 hours. • Bake at 300°F for 12 minutes. Large cookies will need 14 - 15 minutes. • If desired, glaze the gingerbread cookies as soon as they come out of the oven and before you remove them to a cooling rack. • If needed, soften cookies with slices of apple on firm bread (rye) for a day or two. Keeps well.

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Christmas Recipes — Russian Mushroom “Gribochky” Cookies Ingredients — Dough: • 2 cups all-purpose flour  • ½ cup corn starch • pinch of salt  • ½ tsp. baking powder • 1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter  • 1 cup sugar • 1 large egg • ½ cup sour cream  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract Glaze: • 1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted • 1-2 tbsp. orange/lemon juice or milk (more, if needed) • red food colouring (optional) • confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional) • 4 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped Directions — • Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper. • To make the cookies, over a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder, corn starch and salt, and set aside. • In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the vanilla, egg and sour cream and continue beating until blended, 1 to 2 minutes more, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add flour mixture and mix until blended. • With floured hands, shape the ½ dough into 24 mushroom caps/balls (about 0.7oz each) and place them on the prepared sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Shape the rest of the dough into 24 mushroom stems, (about 0.5oz each). You can put the 'caps' on one sheet and 'stems' on another. I used 4 baking sheets. • Bake two sheets at the time, until the cookies are just beginning to brown, about 10-12 minutes, switching the pans and rotating a half turn halfway through baking. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the cookies cool on the sheets for 5 minutes.  Repeat with two more baking sheets. • Place the chocolate in the top pan of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl. Place over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan. Heat, stirring frequently, until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. • While the cookies are warm, poke a small hole in the bottom of a mushroom cap. Spread chocolate over the bottom of the cap. Dip the tip of a stem in chocolate, and press lightly into the hole. When the chocolate sets, they will hold together. Repeat with remaining pieces. • To make the glaze, in a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and orange/lemon juice until smooth. Stir in one drop of food colouring at a time until the desired shade is reached. Glaze the mushroom caps with sugar glaze and let it dry. • Dust the cookies with confectioners’ sugar shaken through a sieve.

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Christmas Recipes — Suchard Chocolate Nougat Turrón Ingredients — • 180g butter, softened • 4 eggs • 40g pure cocoa unsweetened • 125g of Suchard chocolate nougat (and a little more for the final decoration) • buttermilk: 250g of cream or whole milk + 2 tbsp. of lemon juice • ½ tsp. vanilla • 350g pastry flour • 280g sugar  • a pinch of salt • 8g pastry yeast • 5g sodium bicarbonate Decoration: • 80g of cream (milk cream) • 100g dark chocolate 70% cocoa • 1 tsp. honey • 20g butter • 40g chopped Suchard chocolate Directions — • Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a bundt cake mold well, sprinkle with some cocoa powder. Combine cream or whole milk with 2 tbsp. lemon juice; stir, let stand. • Sift the flour with cocoa powder, baking yeast, baking soda and pinch of salt; reserve. • Cut the Suchard into small pieces, add it to a bowl and melt it in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring every time and carefully watching that it does not burn. Reserve. • Mix the very soft butter with the sugar and vanilla for about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition. Add the melted (and cold) Suchard chocolate and mix until combined. • Add the dry ingredients (which you have sifted) in 3 increments, alternating with the addition of buttermilk (mixture of milk and lemon juice), ending with the dry ingredients. Turn the dough into the mold, smoothing the surface with a spatula; lightly tap the mold against a cloth that you have on the countertop so that the dough settles well. • Bake 15 minutes at 180ºC. Turn down to 170ºC and bake 45 minutes more, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. • After baking, remove the mold from the oven, wait 10 minutes for it to cool slightly. Then hold the mold by the handles and shake with some energy over the countertop so that it gradually loosens from the walls of the mold. Turn over on a wire rack and let cool. • In a small saucepan bring cream and honey to a boil. Turn off the heat and add the chopped chocolate; stir for 3 minutes, then add the butter and mix well with a fork. Pour the mixture into a wide-mouthed kitchen bottle and apply the topping to the top of the bundt cake. Sprinkle the minced suchard over and let the chocolate solidify. Serve and enjoy.

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Christmas Recipes — Sugarplums Ingredients — • 1 cup finely chopped, pitted dates OR ½ cup dates + ½ cup prunes • ½ cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans • ½ cup finely chopped almonds or pistachios • ½ cup finely chopped, dried cherries or cranberries • ½ cup finely chopped, dried figs (stems removed) • ½ cup finely chopped, dried apricots • ¼ cup honey • ¼ cup brandy or whiskey • 1½ tsp. ground cinnamon • ½ tsp. ground nutmeg • ¼ tsp. ground cloves  • 14 drops natural, purple food colouring (optional) • ⅓ cup sugar (for coating sugarplums) Directions — • In the bowl of a large food processor, mix all dried fruits, nuts, honey, brandy/whiskey, spices, and food colouring. Blend on high until mixture starts to clump together. Stir with a spoon and keep blending and pulsing the mixture until it is very well blended and all of the ingredients look uniform. Transfer to a bowl, and using your hands, moosh the mixture to evenly distribute the food colouring (if using). • Using your hands, roll out approximately 30 sugarplums. Roll in sugar. Place in air-tight containers and refrigerate until ready to eat (these will keep in your refrigerator for up to 2 weeks).

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Christmas Recipes — Chocolate Profiterole Christmas Puddings Ingredients — Chocolate Profiteroles: • 125g plain flour • 25g cocoa • 2 tsp. caster sugar • 100g butter, in small pieces • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten Filling and Topping: • 300ml whipping cream • 1 tbsp. icing sugar • 1 tsp. brandy (optional) • 2 x 100g bars Taste the Difference Belgian white chocolate, in pieces • 50g ready-to-roll green icing  • 15g ready-to-roll red icing Directions — • Preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7. Sift the flour, cocoa and a pinch of salt onto a square of baking paper that you have folded in half and opened again. • Over a low heat and in a medium pan, gently heat 300ml water, the caster sugar and the butter. Once the butter has melted, turn the heat up and, as soon as the liquid comes to the boil, take the pan off the heat. • Pour the flour mix from the baking paper into the pan, then return the pan to the heat and cook for 1 minute, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. You will need to beat the mix vigorously and keep going until it comes away from the sides of the pan – this will take a few minutes. • Take the pan off the heat and leave the mixture to cool for 5 minutes. • Next, little by little, beat in the eggs, making sure the egg is fully absorbed into the dough with each addition. You can do this with an electric mixer if you prefer. You will have a thick, glossy paste; leave it to cool slightly. Then, using a large piping bag with a 1.5-2cm plain nozzle, pipe 24 small balls onto a large, lined baking tray. If you don't have a piping bag, you can use a teaspoon – put 24 heaped teaspoonfuls of the mix on the lined tray and, with damp hands, roll each into a ball. Either way, smooth out the tops with a damp finger. •  Bake the profiteroles for 25 minutes until puffed and risen, then remove from the oven. If you're going to fill them using a piping bag, quickly make a hole in the bottom of each one with a skewer then return them to the oven, on their sides, for 10 minutes. Alternatively, halve them and return them to the oven. After the 10 minutes, cool the profiteroles on a wire rack. •  In a bowl, whip the cream with the icing sugar and brandy, if using. Then, using a piping bag, fill each profiterole. Or, fill the halved profiteroles with the whipped cream using a teaspoon. •  Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Spoon a little of the chocolate over each profiterole and leave them to set in the fridge for 30 minutes. •  To decorate, roll out the green icing and use a veined holly leaf cutter to stamp out 48 tiny holly leaves (or you can cut them by hand) and roll tiny berries from the red icing; use these to top each profiterole. * * * NOTE: The profiteroles can be made and baked up to 2 days ahead – cool completely and store in an airtight tin. They will soften slightly but still be fine to use. You can make the holly at the same time; store, covered, on a plate. Decorated profiteroles will keep for up to 2 hours in the fridge. Unfilled profiteroles can be frozen.

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Christmas Recipes ― Wassail Punch For centuries, Wassail punch was served in England from Christmas Eve until the Twelfth Night. Of course, you can enjoy it throughout the holidays, and flavour it to your personal taste. Start with a little of each spice and add more gradually until it suits you. Ingredients — • 3 oranges • 25-30 whole cloves (or more, depending on your design) • 1 gallon sweet apple cider • 6-10 cinnamon sticks • ½ cup vodka • ½ cup brandy Directions — • Preheat oven to 350°F. • Push cloves into each orange, making a design, and bake for 1 hour. • In a large pot combine all of the ingredients, including the baked oranges, and bring to a simmer. Serve hot.

[afaerytalelife]

A forest truffle is actually a mushroom, but an unusual one — it grows underground. Obviously, that means they are especially difficult to find since you can’t see them. That’s why high-quality truffles in France and Italy are often worth hundreds of dollars — they’re culinary treasures. These mushrooms exist in the United States also, and they’re almost as good as those from Europe. While truffles are one of the world’s most expensive ingredients, they can be found for free if you know where to look. How To Look for Truffles Rely on the help of the creatures of the forest. Voles, squirrels, wild boars, and chipmunks love truffles just as much as humans do, and if you look for evidence that they’ve been digging in a certain area, you are almost certain to find truffles nearby. Like other mushrooms, truffles often grow in clusters quite close to one another — so if you find one, you may find more within close vicinity. Search near trees. Truffles are always found near a tree’s roots. Specific types of truffle have affinities for certain trees, but almost any tree can support them — especially Douglas firs, pines, oaks, and hemlocks. However, you aren’t likely to find them under maples or cedars. Probe for truffles with your bare hands. When you find evidence that animals have disturbed the forest floor (small areas of pushed-up earth and small holes in the duff), push your hand under the surrounding duff and, with your fingertips, feel around for a hard, ball-shaped object, generally the size of a walnut. There may be only one or there may be several. When done, pull the cover of duff back into place to leave the area as you found it. How To Know You Have a Truffle When in doubt, smell it. If it has a rich, earthy, garlicky, pungent smell (some think the aroma wonderful, others hate it), it’s ripe and edible. You may not smell anything right away; often, conditions in the woods are cold and wet during truffle season, and the truffle may need to warm some before it gives off its scent. If it is warm and remains scentless, wrap it in a paper towel, then place it in the refrigerator for a week or so to ripen. A real truffle when cut in half will have a solid core with unique, beautiful marbling throughout. Train Your Dog to Hunt for Truffles Originally, domestic pigs were used for locating and extracting truffles from the temperate forests of Europe and North America. They have a remarkable sense of smell, and are able to identify truffles from as deep as three feet underground. However, it is notoriously difficult to wrestle a truffle away from a hog. Therefore, training dogs to do this work make things much easier. Use a found truffle — especially if it’s pungent — to train your dog to find more. Place the truffle in the toe of an old cotton sock, along with some other stuffing. Use it to play “hide and seek” with your dog. Make sure to reinforce the scent by letting the dog smell the sock between each search. Use a command such as “Find the truffle!” each time. Remember to reward with food and praise at each success, and make the search harder and harder. Eventually, move the game outdoors where you can bury the sock in the ground or under pine needles. Keep the sock in the fridge; eventually it will become very ripe, but your dog will love the smell all the more. Once your dog becomes proficient at this game, take him or her out to the forest for the real thing. Happy hunting!

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Autumn Recipes — Grandma’s Applesauce   Ingredients — • 4-5 large apples (or 6-9 small apples), peeled and cored • 1 tsp. lemon juice • ¼ - ¾ cup granulated sugar • ½ tsp. ground cinnamon Directions — • Cut the apples into ⅛” slices and cut those slices in half. Put the apples in a saucepan and add the lemon juice and ¾ cup water. Stir apples to coat thoroughly with the mixture. Cover the apples and cook over medium heat for 7 minutes. • Add ¼ cup to ¾ cup sugar, depending on the sweetness of your apples. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook uncovered until water evaporates and the apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in cinnamon. • Store applesauce in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. May be served warmed or cold.

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Avonlea Recipes — Hetty King’s Cranberry Pie In the Road to Avonlea episode “Strictly Melodrama,” Hetty is loathe to give up her treasured recipe for cranberry pie, which has been in the King family for three generations. Thankfully, she won the bet that would have caused her to reveal the secret. Still, the recipe for a truly great cranberry pie is hard to find, so we thought we’d share this one, which we are sure Hetty King would approve of.   Ingredients — • 4 cups whole cranberries, fresh or thawed from frozen • ½ cup + 2 tsp. sugar • ½ cup walnuts, chopped • 2½ tsp. cornstarch • ½ tsp. orange zest • ¼ tsp. salt • pinch freshly ground nutmeg • 1 recipe double-crust pie dough, 2 rounds • 1 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed small • 1 large egg white Directions — • Place 3 cups of the cranberries in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until slightly chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl and toss with the remaining 1 cup of whole cranberries. Add ½ cup sugar, walnuts, cornstarch, orange zest, salt, and nutmeg; mix gently and set aside. • On a lightly-floured work surface, roll out 1 disk of pie dough into a 12″ round. Fit into the bottom and up the sides of a 9″ pie plate. Spoon the cranberry mixture into the prepared pie plate and dot with butter. • On a lightly-floured work surface, roll out the remaining disk of dough and create a lattice to drape over the cranberry filling. Chill the prepared pie for 1 - 24 hours. • Preheat oven 375° F. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg white with 2 tbsp. water. Brush all over the lattice of the pie, then sprinkle with the remaining 2 tsp. sugar. • Bake 40 - 45 minutes on the middle rack, until the crust is golden and the cranberry juices are bubbling. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely before serving.

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Summer Recipes — Lavender Tea Bread Ingredients — Lavender Cake: • ¾ cup milk • 3 tbsp. fresh lavender, finely chopped • 6 tbsp. butter, softened • 1 cup sugar • 2 eggs • 2 cups all-purpose flour • 1½ tsp. baking powder • ¼ tsp. salt Lavender Glaze: • ½ cup milk • 1 tbsp. dried lavender buds • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar   Directions — • Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan, and set aside. • Combine the milk and lavender in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat to a simmer, then remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly. • In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg until the mixture is light and fluffy. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl; stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk and lavender until just blended. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a wooden pick inserted into the crown of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack.  • Once the cake has cooled, prepare the glaze. Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, remove the pan from the heat and add the dried lavender buds. Let the mixture steep for 5-8 minutes, then strain the milk. Whisk it into the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until you achieve a smooth and opaque glaze. Pour or spoon over the cooled loaf.

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Medieval Recipes ― Poudre Douce From baked apples to a morning bowl of oatmeal, this “sweet powder” of spices was a staple in Medieval and Renaissance cookery. But don’t be fooled: reminiscent of her rough-and-tumble brother spice used for meat and savoury dishes, Poudre Forte (”strong powder”), Poudre Douce has a delightful peppery kick that has caught more than one poor soul unaware. Used mostly for desserts, Poudre Douce may replace cinnamon in any sweet dish. Ingredients — • 1 tsp. ginger, ground • 1 tbsp. peppercorns • 2 tbsp. cinnamon, ground • 3 tbsp. sugar • 1 pinch of another ground spice (nutmeg, cardamon, cloves, allspice) Directions — • Grind the pepper and mix well with the other ingredients. • Store at room temperature in an airtight mason jar. Best if used within the span of a year, but keeps virtually indefinitely. • Use in recipes where you would use cinnamon, or keep on the table and use as a sweet replacement for pepper.

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Literary Recipes — Iced Blueberries in Sweet Cream "From the Lord Commander's own table," Bowen Marsh told them. There were salads of spinach and chickpeas and turnip greens, and afterwards bowls of iced blueberries and sweet cream. — A Game of Thrones, by George R. R. Martin. Ingredients — • 1 pint blueberries, frozen • 2 egg whites, slightly beaten • 1 cup + 2 tsp. milk or cream • 2 tbsp. honey • 2 tsp. sugar  • pinch of salt   Directions — • In a saucepan over the stove, combine the egg whites and 1 cup of milk and bring to just under a boil, whisking all the while. Let it simmer for around 5 minutes, then add the honey and a pinch of salt. • After simmering for another minute or two, strain the mixture into a bowl. Add the remaining 2 tsp. milk and sugar. Pour the sauce into a pitcher or serving bowl and chill; it will thicken as it cools. • Pour the cooled sweet cream over frozen berries to serve.

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Literary Recipes — Roasted Potatoes Dickon made the stimulating discovery that in the wood in the park outside the garden where Mary had first found him piping to the wild creatures there was a deep little hollow where you could build a sort of tiny oven with stones and roast potatoes and eggs in it. Roasted eggs were a previously unknown luxury and very hot potatoes with salt and fresh butter in them were fit for a woodland king — besides being deliciously satisfying. You could buy both potatoes and eggs and eat as many as you liked without feeling as if you were taking food out of the mouths of fourteen people. — The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Ingredients — • 2 lb. waxy potatoes (red, white, and purple) • olive oil • salt and pepper, to taste • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme Directions — • Preheat oven to 350°F. • Wash and slice the potatoes in half. Place into a pot full of cold water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are very soft and just about to break apart. Remove the cooked potatoes from the pot and cool on a wire rack. • Place a good amount of olive oil on a sheet pan, about 4-5 tbsp. for a half sheet. Heat the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the hot pan and carefully spread the potatoes, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper over the expanse. Toss with tongs and place the hot pan back into the oven. Bake 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

[heirloom-recipe-chest]

Literary Recipes — Misselthwaite Manor’s Young Fowl with Bread Sauce “They are eating next to nothing,” said the nurse. “They’ll die of starvation if they can’t be persuaded to take some nourishment. And yet see how they look.” “Look!” exclaimed Mrs. Medlock indignantly. “Eh! I’m moithered to death with them. They’re a pair of young Satans. Bursting their jackets one day and the next turning up their noses at the best meals Cook can tempt them with. Not a mouthful of that lovely young fowl and bread sauce did they set a fork into yesterday — and the poor woman fair invented a pudding for them — and back it’s sent. She almost cried. She’s afraid she’ll be blamed if they starve themselves into their graves.” — The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Ingredients — For The Chicken: • 1 young chicken (approximately 4 lb.) • 2 tbsp. butter, softened • ½  tsp. thyme • ½  tsp. salt • ¼ tsp. pepper For The Bread Sauce: • 2¼ cups milk • ¼ cup butter • 1 onion, chopped • 6 whole cloves • ¼ tsp. pepper • 2 garlic cloves, minced • 1 bay leaf • 1 tsp. thyme • 1 cup breadcrumbs • 6-8 tbsp. heavy cream • a pinch of nutmeg • salt and pepper, for seasoning   Directions — • Preheat oven to 350°F. While waiting, prepare the chicken. Start by gently running your fingers under the skin, separating it from the meat (this will help it to crisp). Rub the butter all over the chicken (even into the little crevices) and rub in your seasonings as well. Be sure to get the seasoning under the skin where you can. Tuck the wings under the chicken and truss the legs. • Place your chicken in a glass baking dish and bake for 50 minutes or until the juices run clear. Then bake for another 5 minutes at 375°F (the extra 5 minutes on higher heat adds more colour and crispness to the skin). • After your chicken has been cooking for about 20 minutes, start working on your bread sauce. Combine your milk, butter, onion, cloves, pepper, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme in a saucepan. Let it simmer for 20 minutes, stirring regularly to keep it from developing a film on top. • After 20 minutes, strain the mix and return the liquid to the pan. Add the bread crumbs and stir continuously while it cooks for 3-4 minutes. You’ll wind up with a consistency like thick porridge. • Turn off the heat and stir in the cream and nutmeg until you get a slightly thinner consistency and lighter colour. Season with salt and extra pepper to taste. Serve the chicken and bread sauce together; enjoy!