A Few Things

Below is a picture of Joseph holding his bedtime snack tonight, a decadent dairy treat: hot cocoa with whipped cream on top. He even sprinkled a little cocoa powder on the whipped cream to make it fancy.

Why do I tell you this? Well, I've been looking for a replacement for whipped cream that didn't involve buckets of chemicals and partially hydrogenated oils- the search, I hope, isn't hopeless, but I have found a way to make a fancy, foamy dessert drink- behold!
Yes, the cup says "dream"- DREAM COME TRUE! It's just soymilk! You can't whip soymilk! Well, apparently you can- I did it while it was heating in a pan. I whipped it with an electric mixer over a medium flame (scorched soymilk tastes really weird- so heat gently)- when I was done I had heaps of foam that I could pick up with my fingers and dollop on my mug. Careful not to whip too much- it can all turn into foam and trust me, it really doesn't deflate.
I mixed in maple syrup, cinnamon, and cardamom- it was really good. Just like the fancy coffee place that made steamed foamy soymilk for me with their fancy machine- only I don't have a fancy machine! Further proof that not being able to have milk really isn't that bad.

And then...

As I was taking the above pictures off our camera I came across this video. I loaded it on my computer not knowing what to expect. This... is my family:

Don't ask me how Joseph make that sound at the end... he doesn't even know.

Non-Dairy Rice Crispy Bars!

Praised be Jesus Christ!

I really like marshmallows. Thankfully, marshmallows are dairy-free but eating them straight out of the bag doesn't seem like the most honorable way of consuming them. Since I shun margarine also, rice crispy bars have been on my list of things I can't eat for awhile- but no more! I could always eat the peanut butter ones- but- there's no marshmallows in that recipe...

Because I'm that kind of a baker, I'm going to give you an annoying outline of the recipe instead of an actual recipe. I like to know how things work, rather than just follow directions one time. As a general rule in non-dairy baking, to substitute oil for butter, one uses half the amount (for example 1/2 cup butter= 1/4 cup oil). This works in cookies and cakes and breads of all kinds- substituting oil for butter or shortening even works with pie crust (trust me, my Mom and I could LIVE off of pie). Taking all that into account this is how I made my rice crispy bars:

First of all, I halfed the recipe (I didn't want to end up with a giant pan of rice crispy rocks) (plus I knew no one else would eat it). I used 3 cups of rice crispys and two cups of marshmallows. I'm really horrible at melting marshmallows on the stove- but I melted them with 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil. You might need more or less- my marshmallows were sticking really bad to the pan so I added more oil. The rest is like the normal recipe- without buttering the pan of course. My Mom said they needed butter flavor (yes, you can buy artificial butter flavor... ) but I really liked the marshmallowy taste. They were chewier than normal- meaning it took a little more effort to bite off a chunk and mash it down- however, this is why I give an outline so that you can experiment and figure out how to make yours the way you like them! Be not afraid!

Mary's Feast of Feasts and Non-Dairy Lemon Lusciousness!

Ave Maria!

Last year we had a tea party in honor of our Lady's Assumption- this year, we had a pot-luck dinner! Mostly the reason was that I wanted families to come- I love spending time with my friends, but their families are so cool that I can't stand to leave them out.

I had three men at my service the entire day (not to mention our Blessed Mother...) and we accomplished a great deal. Though we weren't exactly done by the time the party started the lawn was mowed, the cakes were baked, 9 loaves of french bread were made, 24 egg-shells were washed and crushed for the compost pile, the lights were up, the side walks and driveway were immaculate, vespers was prayed and the tater-tot hot dish was in the oven. I am heartily grateful for the service of these men- besides there's something so satisfying about serving soup and biscuits to hungry men that work for you. Pope John Paul II says that all of mankind is entrusted to women- it is our vocation! And of course the best kind of ruler is humble and rich in love that is strong as death- like...hmm... Mary?

The highlighted dessert was the Assumption cake- it is a double decker angel food cake (I'll explain how to stack angel food cakes without fancy equipment if anyone wants to know) with a cloud of whipped cream and of course, Blessed Mother being taken up on top. Legions of angels bearing up Our Lady on the clouds of heaven!

The little pastries next to the Assumption cake are filled with non-dairy lemon curd (2 angel food cakes=24 egg whites= 24 lonely egg yolks!) which is delicious- who needs butter? This is a single recipe and maybe makes a cup or so- I, of course, octupled (is that a word?) the recipe and ended up with- a lot.

6 tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons corn starch

Zest of half a lemon

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup lemon juice (don't use the yucky store-bought kind! SQUEEZE YOUR OWN LEMONS!)

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and whisk it so there are no cornstarch clumps. Add zest and egg yolks and whisk until everything is wet and yellow. Stir in your lemon juice and fire up the stove to medium heat. Cook until the mixture starts to get thick like yogurt (it will get thicker as it cools don't worry) making sure you're stirring pretty much all the time so that it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. Remove it from the heat and cool! Experiment by adding some soy or rice milk to try to bulk out the recipe (in the original butter filled recipe it makes more because there's a whole stick of butter in it...) and just cook it a little longer. I would NOT recommend using margarine or shortening of any kind. Not only is it horrible for your health but it will make an absolute mess of your luscious lemon curd. Butter can do things that margarine just will never be able to do- that's the way it is. Some things are simply inferior to others.

So at the end of the day, Mary is body and soul in heaven, and we await the joyful day of our death and the reunion of our souls with our glorified bodies in the new Jerusalem. Sigh, God is good.

Non-Dairy Ice Cream Success!

JMJ

Having finally gone pretty much totally non-dairy (I still snitch on candy bars) I started to miss a few things (definitely NOT the gross feeling of not being able to digest dairy though...!) one of them being ice cream. Over the years my Mom has tried all kinds of different non-dairy ice creams but liked very few of them. She always said they tasted "beany" and they never had that great of a texture. She has gone to making her own ice cream out of non-dairy whip. It tastes pretty good but it's positively loaded with chemicals and partially hydrogenated whatevers, which I really don't enjoy putting in my body. "Well what the heck!" I told myself one day, "Why can't I just make a custard base from soy milk and put that in the ice cream maker?"- My Mom makes chocolate pudding from soy milk all the time, why not ice cream? I tried it this week and I'll say that I am rather satisfied with the result. It feels like ice cream and looks like ice cream- I can't say that it tastes like ice cream because it really tasted like chocolate- because I put tons of chocolate in it- but I'm sure if one scraped a vanilla bean, one would get a taste very comparable to vanilla ice cream. Note that this is a NON-DAIRY recipe- not a vegan recipe.

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

2 cups soy milk

Flavoring of your choice (1/2- 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract, baking chocolate or cocoa power, 1 scraped vanilla bean, the possibilities are endless! You're a non-dairy baker, I know you have lots of practice being creative...!)

Heat the soy milk in a saucepan until it's hot- but not bubbling- just so when you put your finger in you snap back and go "ow!"

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl. I got fancy and decided to like whip them so they got all thick and light yellow- but I really don't think you need to do that, just make sure the sugar and yolks are really well blended.

When the milk is hot pour a little into the egg mixture to temper the egg yolks while whisking and get them warm before you pour the whole mixture back into the sauce pan of hot milk. Always keep mixing- not vigorously- but just so that everything gets blended nicely. If you don't temper the yolks before you put them into the hot milk the mixture will curdle and you'll get nasty chunks of cooked egg- and yes- you will need to start over.

Return the mixture to the heat and cook until the mixture coats whatever you're mixing with (supposedly everybody mixes with wooden spoons and always says "until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon"- but I don't mix with wooden spoons... I could really tell it was ready based on how it was sticking to the whisk- if you don't know what it looks like, look up how to make real ice cream and you'll see- you want the mixture to be like, well, melted ice cream, and not like pudding.) It should really only take a few minutes, if that- plus this is when your egg yolks get cooked. I always get really impatient at this point and throw in some flour to help thicken it. I don't think it really makes a difference, but you can throw in like a teaspoon of flour if you want to be like me.

Remove from the heat and stir in your flavoring.

You MUST chill your mixture before you put it in the ice cream maker. So put it in a bowl in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 hours.

You also kind of have to have an ice cream maker- I was always one of those kids who just whimpered "It's not fair" when people made home make ice cream on TV and said "Well, just pop it into your ice cream maker and voila!" because we didn't have one, and neither of my parents drank coffee so we couldn't even do the roll-the-coffee-can stunt. My Mom got one last year though and let me tell you- it's so worth it.

So, one more think people can't feel bad for me about. I am holding that this lactose intolerance is a party suffering. Praised be Jesus Christ!

Soup Day

Being rainy and cold- I thought it an excellent day for soup and reading. Reading that I've tried to do for years but never really got done... I think a lot of those into Anne of Green Gables series fizzle out around Rainbow Valley. Somehow when the exciting Anne and Gilbert love story is now more of a peaceful ever after, people lose interest. Being a big advocate for loving everyday life, I didn't want to be that way- so I've tried to plunge for the past few summers into Rainbow Valley. It seems I've been unsuccessful- but I did read a good chunk today.

In the meantime I was more successful making soup. During the past few years of living in the house at St. Olaf I found out that people actually make soup- not just get it from a can- horrible I know. I also found out how easy it was to make your own with whatever you had. Today I made some that I like to make a lot with dried split peas.

I boiled about 5 cups of water with

• half a bag of dried split peas, rinsed
• about half an onion, chopped
• two cloves of chopped garlic
• one sweet potato
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery (w/ leaves) chopped

After that I added seasonings like a little dried oregano, a bay leaf, and salt and pepper to taste. I didn't add enough salt this time- silly me. Then I boiled it all for about an hour- maybe- I really don't know how long. I usually just boil it until I can't stand to not eat it any more- but an hour would be good- at least until the peas get soft and mushy and it becomes thick and soupish. Easy, good for lent, sticks to the ribs, and made out of random things anyone can have!

Homemade

I've had a couple of good baking/ cooking days and feel quite satisfied with myself (so does my tongue).  Oh how I love home!  So much time to do anything you want and endless baking supplies.  Who wouldn't want to chat over cranberry-almond-citrus scones?  

Or sit in your cozy room sipping  warm homemade turkey broth with a little wild rice and leftover turkey tossed in?
Then finish it all off with a hunk of fresh wheat bread...
This bread's name is Sean- my mom said I had to name it because it turned out so huge.  I'm actually most proud of the turkey stock- though I don't know why- it's just boiling a turkey carcass with some vegetables.  I guess I just feel like a real woman when I can make soup without opening any kind of can or carton.  Of course the scones were made with oil instead of butter- and I actually did put milk in them, though I could have used soy-milk.  Perhaps I will write out the recipe later.  I'm not sorry for the milk because they tasted creamy and delicious (and the company that came with them was equally satisfying).  I can't resist cranberries or conversation.  

My last night at home!  Only two more weeks until finals then I'll be home until February.  The Lord has blessed me abundantly- Praise him!!

Bread Baking

In my little house here at St. Olaf we only eat homemade bread- I don't know if it's cheaper than your run of the mill nasty no fiber white bread- but I'm positive it's less expensive than a good loaf of whole wheat bread. Last year one of my house mates made the bread- now that shes off student teaching- I make it. Over the summer at home we had a store bought bread crisis so I worked out a recipe that I really liked (non-dairy) and made it a whole bunch of times. It's never turned out quite as well at school as it has at home- maybe it's just because we eat it so fast at home when it's still warm and squishy.

1/2 cup warm water
1 TBSP active dry yeast
2 cups not cold water- but not super warm (potato water is good here too)
1/4 oil
1/4-1/3 cup honey
scant TBSP salt
1 cup wheat germ
2 cups wheat flour
3-5 cups white flour (until the dough isn't sticky)

Proof the yeast with a little sugar in the 1/2 cup of water- then in a bowl, add the 2 cups of water, honey, oil and salt. Then add the wheat flour and the wheat germ- if you don't have/want wheat germ just substitute another cup of wheat flour (wheat germ tastes good though- and it. Then add white flour until it's kneadable. Then knead (and add flour if it's sticky) for 8-10 minutes or until you can poke it and it'll poke back. Set to rise in an oiled bowl (with a pretty kitchen towel over it) for an hour- then punch it down, kinda pat it back into a ball and set it to rise for another hour. Punch it down AGAIN, shape it into 2 loaves, place them in oiled pans and set to rise AGAIN- but only for about 40 minutes this time. Bake it at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Now you have bread!

I also love to make buns out of this dough. Bread baking is trickier than making muffins or grilled cheese- it's one of those things you kinda have to feel out. But I've ruined many loaves and wasted many packets of yeast- so don't feel bad if it doesn't work the first time- or the second or third- ok yeah- feel bad for awhile- but don't give up!