My new FAVORITE jam

With the last hint of summer just behind us, I couldn't help but make this jam.  And not just any jam,  jam made with rhubarb from my mom and dad's garden.  Please don't ask me how I smuggled it here, but I did it with a clear conscience and no pretense....and relatively legal.  (smile)  Rhubarb does grow here, I just need to find where.  Fond memories of rhubarb growing wild in the backyard of one of the many houses we lived in while growing up fills my head with each tangy bite. This jam is just too good to pass up. 

I made up my own recipe as I didn't want it too tart.
I used 3 parts strawberries to 1 part rhubarb.

3 cups Strawberries (I used frozen)

1 cup chopped rhubarb

2/3 of a package of Pectin (4 Tablespoons)

1/2 Talbespoon of lemon juice

about 1/4 a teaspoon of Butter

3 cups of Sugar

Blend the rhubarb and semi-thawed strawberries in a blender to a lumpy Pierre.  Then heat mixed fruit in a medium sized sauce pan, adding lemon juice, butter and pectin.  Then add the sugar and bring to a rolling boil.  Boil 1 full minute.

Then follow these easy canning directions  HERE! that I blogged about.  Really you won't believe how easy it can be; no boiling jars and no special canner or rack needed.  This recipe above made about 4 small jars.  Not nearly enough though as it is almost gone!  I'll have to try to grow me some rhubarb next summer!

It tastes extra great on this Easy Bread Recipe HERE that I've blogged about.  I have recently substituted 1 cup of oats for 1 cup of the brown flour to make it extra, extra healthy!

Breakfast

I love making breakfast...well, eating it too. And no, not a typical Japanese breakfast of fish, rice and Natto (fermented soy beans- healthy, but smelly!). My favorite splurge in the States is going for Swedish pancakes to IHOP, complete with a side of bacon. I think Japanese bacon tastes like Canadian bacon, but we salt it and fry it up in a little butter to make it more crispy. I've tried to make Swedish pancakes, but they haven't turned out too well. Does anyone have a good recipe to share?The next best thing is Crepes, especially with warm, drippy mixed berry sauce. This was actually a jar of my easy homemade jam that didn't solidify too well. Maybe I'll purposefully not boil it enough next time to make this yummy mistake-jam again. It's great drizzled on pancakes.
I love this Crepe recipe from my old missionary friend. She was the queen of the kitchen and used cooking classes to share with Japanese women the spiritual food that Jesus offers. I worked with Ralph and Stella Cox about 23 years ago when I came to Japan as a summer worker in college. I still use her published cookbook (half in English and half in Japanese) and enjoy trying out her do-able recipes.

I too, have taught many cooking classes as well but found them to be stressful and tiring. Writing the recipe in Japanese (along with metric and weight measurements, Japanese weigh most ingredients instead of using cups) and making extra food ahead of time to "display" and for everyone to taste is time and energy consuming. It's also hard to find recipes that use only ingredients that you can buy here, as well as things that Japanese would like to make (often they don't have an oven).

Recipe Note: I found that if I heat the milk up slightly before I mix it in, then I don't have to "let it stand for 30 minutes" since I am always in a hurry to feed my hungry family...and me too. We usually double this recipe for the 5 of us.

Need some No knead Bread?

My husband brought home flowers for me, I mean he brought home flours for me...from the bread mill near the boy's school. Since you can't buy brown flour at the regular grocery store, we hall it home in 5 kg. (over 10 pounds) bags by train, by bike or most recently and much more easily by car. I often split a bag with another missionary friend, since it is hard to keep it free of bugs, especially in the hot, humid summer. Either I freeze the flour in zip lock bags or keep it in big Tupperware air-tight containers that I have brought with me from the States.

Here is a great-easy recipe. This bread can compliment a warm autumn meal of soup or you can toast it the next morning slathered with honey. This tied-and-true recipe has been passed around our community of OMF missionary woman and everyone's recipe is just a bit different. This faithful recipe is very forgiving and seems to always turn out.

Easy No Knead Brown Bread

3 cups of White Flour

2 cups of Brown Flour

1 cup of Bran, Crushed Oats or Hardy Wheat Flour

2 teaspoons of Salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Sugar

2 Tablespoons of Oil

4 teaspoons of Yeast

3 cups of Warm/Hot Water (about 115 F)

Optional: Up to 1 cup of Sliced Almonds or Unsalted Sunflower Seeds (mixed in or sprinkled on the top)

1. Mix ALL ingredients together (it's pretty wet).

2. Cover with a wet dish towel and put in a warm place. Let rise about 20 minutes.

3. Stir and put in 2 greased loaf pans. Let rise another 20 minutes or so (keep an eye on it so that it doesn't spill over, bake when the dough rises to just above the edge of the bread pan).

4. Bake at about 350 F (or 170 C) for 30-45 minutes (depending on your oven).

More Mixes= more cookies

It's time to make mixes. Since I am always busy making breads and cookies in my kitchen, I try to put the dry ingredients together ahead of time in a plastic bag, then I just have to add the wet ingredients. This really aids in making homemade treats.

Premade mixes also come in handy when we go on vacation, which is right around the corner. These mixes help me be prepared when I need to pack up enough food for several days at a time, especially when the grocery store is a bit of a trek away. Unfortunatley, this year we aren't going to Takayama-by-the-Sea, our favorite cabin-get-away-spot. Instead we are going up to our beloved Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan, for some cooler air and nastolgic times visiting old friends and places.

Here is my favorite Chocolate-Chip Oatmeal Cookie Recipe I got from a magazine where you can layer the dry ingredients in a glass quart jar as a gift.

Dry Ingredients in bag:

2/3 cup white granulated sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar packed

2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups of oats

1-2 cups of chocolate chips (the more the merrier!)

Wet ingredients (listed on the plastic bag in the picture)

1 cup of butter 200 g. (definetly real butter is better than margarine)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

2 eggs beaten

2 Tablespoon of milk

Bake at about 375 F (180 C) for about 8-10 minutes till just a little brown around the edges. These are really moist and chewy. Enjoy!

Monkey Bread

Sorry for 2 "girly posts" as I call them, you know...decorating and food...but I thought I'd share about Monkey Bread, since it isn't so well known, at least outside of the U.S, so I've been told. It is our new favorite breakfast treat, even passing up our beloved cinnamon rolls which garnish our table at festive holidays and birthdays. It is a bit of a sugar fix, but it was cool enough to run yesterday morning and cool enough this morning to turn on the oven.

In America I always used the refrigerated biscuits/bread rolls (who wouldn't?) but since those aren't sold here in Japan I though I'd try with homemade dough. Yum, a huge difference. I just used a "Dinner Roll" white bread dough recipe (1 1/2 pound) that I made in my bread maker. Then I followed the recipe I found on line HERE more or less.

My someday-famous-chef-who-loves to-cook-son and I made mini balls with the dough and rolled them in a mixture of cinnamon sugar (I needed about 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon). Then, I gently layered these balls of dough in my greased angel food cake pan (or bunt pan would do too). I let them raise about 15 minutes in a warm place and then poured the hot, gooey glaze which was 1 cup of packed brown sugar and 3/4 cup (150 g.) butter brought to a bubbly boil in a small saucepan. I sprinkled chopped nuts over 4/5's of the top the the Monkey Bread (4 out of the 5 of us opted for crunchy nuts) and then I baked it for about 30 minutes at about 350 F (170 C). I turned it upside down on a plate and served it warm. We did make scrambled eggs with cheese and ham to give us a little protein with this yummy, sweat breakfast treat.

a sweet treat

Don't you just love homemade jam? Yesterday I made a shelf-full of yummy mixed berry jam for the very first time. I was surprised that it was so fast and easy to make and that it actually turned out. Yeah! As always, if we want to eat it here in Japan, I have to make it. We can by jam here, but it is expensive and tastes like colored sugar water.

I followed my missionary friend's suggestion and made it with a bag of frozen berries, sugar and Pectin (that was sent to us in our Christmas care packages). I just followed the directions on and in the box of Pectin. My family thinks it tastes great, especially spread on old-fashioned oatmeal rolls or English muffins (which are a treat in and of themselves since we couldn't get those in Hokkaido where we used to live).

Hints:

1. According to my friend's suggestion, I didn't have to boil the jars ahead of time, I just cleaned them well with hot water.

2. I reused old jars and lids from jam or canned salmon that I had bought at the store...they re- sealed.

3. After filling the jars with hot jam and closing the lids tight, according to my friend's suggestion I turned them upside down on the counter to cool. I think this helps them seal. I didn't even have to boil the filled jars afterwards. Super fast and easy!

Any other good helps or hints out there?!

Christmas at our house

Each year in Japan we bring a small gift to our neighbors, usually homemade banana bread, along with a tract sharing the true meaning of Christmas. Most of them don't really celebrate Christmas, but it gives us an excuse to ring their doorbell and visit a little. This year we stopped by the 4 houses that border our home.

As is custom in Japan we don't come home empty handed. If you give a gift, you get a gift. Our thoughtful neighbors shared sweet tangerines and crisp apples with us. Several of the older ladies also stopped by on Christmas day with a bouquet of festive red holly berries with green stems cut from the woods behind our house to wish us a "Happy New Year". We are thankful for God, slowly but faithfully, building these friendships.

Here is the recipe for my trusted banana bread that I make ALL the time. Loaves freeze well and the batter can also be used for muffins, our favorite. This batter is fine in the fridge for a few days, but it's better to let it warm up to room temperature before you bake it in the oven. I often freeze over ripe bananas so that I can make this yummy banana bread any time. I got this recipe from my mom about 16 years ago when we first came to Japan and I needed to make something to bring to church and to give to neighbors (sorry, we aren't sure where it originated from) and I have been making it ever since. Enjoy!

Banana Bread

A. 1 c. (200 g.) softened butter

4 eggs

2 c. (about 4 small) bananas (the ripper the better)

2 t. vanilla

B. 2 1/2 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking soda

2 c. chopped walnuts (optional) can mix into the batter or sprinkle on top

Mix "A" ingredients. I find it best to use a wire potato masher to mix this up and squish the bananas.

Add "B" ingredients (best to mix in salt and soda in with the flour and sugar some first).

Pour into well greased loaf pans or muffin tins - don't forget to grease the inside sides of the pan too, not just the bottom (I found spray PAM works best).

This makes about 4-6 small loaf pans or about 3 regular bread loaf pans. (I don't fill them too full, otherwise they don't bake so well.)

Bake at 350 F (170 C) for about 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Let cool about 20 min. then insert a knife all around the edge (and even the bottom a little) to loosen the bread so that it easily comes out. Cool another hour or so on a wire rack.

pumpkin this and that pumpkin that

The hidden (well, not really...but we tried) object is an upright freezer. There is no room for it in our kitchen and we don't have a garage. This freezer doubles as a table and holds food to feed our hungry boys. It allows us to buy a lot of low cost meat at one time and to freeze baked goodies, especially during busy ministry times like Christmas.

As I said before I love fall and especially at this time of year I am extra homesick for the sights and sounds of autumn, including bright orange pumpkins to decorate with and sweet pumpkin desserts. I did see one pumpkin at a flower shop the other day, but it was rather small and way overpriced. I enjoy decorating with the mini decorative pumpkins sold here though.

Japanese pumpkins, known as winter squash, are prevalent this time of year. When we lived up north in Hokkaido, we would often have friends give us these small green gourds from their family's farm.

Winter squash tastes like pumpkin and it is easy to prepare. I bought this one already cut in half (they are hard to cut) and baked it in the oven on a tray on a low temperature until it was soft enough to cut the stringy part out and peel the rind. I mixed the chunks of cooked pumpkin with my hand mixer until it was smooth. This is a great substitute for the canned pumpkin that isn't available here. Also, the cooked and mashed pumpkin can be kept in the fridge for several days or frozen for later.

I made some yummy pumpkin bread using my simple Betty Crocker zucchini bread recipe. I added chocolate chips and sprinkled the top of the muffins with a handful of expensive pumpkin seeds that I bought (but they were worth it). A great DO AHEAD tip that I discovered is to put the pumpkin bread batter in a glass jar in the fridge. It keeps for several days and then I can quickly and easily make hot muffins when a friend stops by.

Granola Bars

Since we don't have the luxury of buying granola bars at the grocery store, like we so enjoyed doing while on home assignment, I have found a great recipe to make them. This is one of my family's favorites and they are great to make ahead of time for lunches or to have on hand for hungry kids coming home from school or sports practice. I think I got this recipe from a Good Housekeeping magazine years ago, I can't quite remember. I often double the recipe and make some for the whole week. (They seem to stay good for 4-5 days in a Tupperware container...although they usually don't last that long in our house!) I love that these are healthy and great tasting too, not to mention soft and chewy. I have to special order the wheat germ, but it's worth it to feed my family these good-for-you snacks.

Granola Breakfast Bars Recipe
2 cups oats (I use old fashioned, but I think they are a bit better with quick oats)
1 cup flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup raisins, optional (we opt out...we have tried them with chocolate chips - yum!)
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground Cinnamon
Mix these dry ingredients together, then add:
1/2 cup oil (I like olive oil best)
1/2 cup honey
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
Mix together and flatten with wet hand in a greased tin foil lined 9x13 pan.
Bake at 350 F (170 C) for about 20-25 min. until edges are lightly browned.
When it has cooled slightyly, I flip them, peel off the foil and flip again onto a cooling rack. (This keeps the bottom from getting soggy.) Cut into strips when they are fully cooled. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

loving my bread maker

I really missed my bread maker on home assignment. Of course in the US, you can buy a zillion kinds of bread, including healthy wheat bread. I would often find myself just standing there in the bread isle overwhelmed, not able to chose which bread to buy. Here in Japan, the bread section is much, much smaller and usually only white bread (with an interesting assortment of sweet bread - I'll have to post about that sometime).

In light of trying to feed my family healthily, I make these yummy bread rolls with oats. I do miss the variety of healthy whole grains that we had available in America. It takes a bit of shopping around here, but I can buy oats, light wheat flour and whole wheat flour. I LOVE this bread machine recipe book.Here is my adaptation of their "Old Fashioned Oatmeal Rolls"

1 c. milk

1 c. oats

1 c. white flour

1/2 c. bran or coarse brown flour

1/2 c. light brown flour

1 t. salt

3 T. butter

1 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. yeast

Add all ingredients, select dough setting. Right from the bread machine pan, take small amounts of dough and semi-roll into small balls. I make about 10-12 balls. Bake at 425 F (210 C) for 10 minutes.

I also got the idea from a friend to make my own bread mixes up ahead of time in zip lock bags to be able to make these rolls in just a few minutes. I put all the dry ingredients in the bag, except for the yeast. Then label the bag with the needed wet ingredients and yeast to be added. At the touch of a button - fresh, hot rolls (great for sandwiches too!)

Have any good healthy bread machine recipes to share?

You can never have too many Christmas cookies

Here's another great and EASY Christmas cookie recipe. My missionary friend served these to us one Christmas eve many years ago in Japan when we stopped by her house feeling lonely and homesick. It was such a treat then and each Christms these are a real treat and definetly some of our family's favorites. I make these a lot in the US since I can't get some of the ingredients in Japan (butterscotch chips and chow mein noodles...maybe those crispy noodles are more American than Asian afterall and it's hard to find peanuts that taste as good as American peanuts, without having to pay an arm and a leg). I am afraid my recipe has evolved over the years and I confess I don't really measure when I make these (in natural "me" style) so just eyeball it if need be...you really can't mess them up. I also like to make Rocky Road the same way, just with mini marshmellows and peanuts and melted chocolate chips.

Ting-a-lings

1 package of choco chips (12 oz. - 340 g.)

1 package of butterscotch chips (12 oz. - 340 g.)

2 cups of salty peanuts

2 cups of chow mein noodles

You can melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in a double broiler or microwave (careful not to burn them in the microwave though). Since I don't have a double broiler, I like to use 2 pans. I bring the water to a boil in the big pan then turn the heat off and put the smaller pan of chocolate in the hot water. Once the chips are melted, add peanuts and noodles. Quickly (since it starts to cool and get hard) drop spoonfuls of cookies on tinfoil. They will harden as they cool. (If you are in a warm climate - or want to hurry them along - you might have to wrap up the tin foil and put them in the refridgerator for a few minutes.) Keep them in a cool place and enjoy!

German Christmas cookies

One of the really wonderful things about working with an international mission is having co-workers from all over the world. See this post HERE. One of those extra blessings is getting great recipes to try...especially at the Holidays.

I usually start baking in October and November for our busy December. We can't get most of the holiday cookies and candies that are spilling off the store shelves here in America, so if we want it, we bake-make it.

Not only will we want-need treats for our family to enjoy at Christmas, but with all the special Christmas church parties and outreaches (not to mention making something to give our neighbors with a Christmas tract and invitation) we easily fill our small extra freezer with an assortment of cookies and breads to share with others.

Here is one of my favorite Christmas cookies that freezes well. I got the recipe from my dear German friend, Dorothea. She often decorates them with nuts, in more European style or with colored sugar or sprinkles in more American style.

They are less sweet than regular sugar cookies, for a nice change, and are great treat with a hot cup of tea. I like that the ingredients are simple and few! I made some the other day and couldn't resist using the cute, autumn sprinkes I found at the store here in the States. The kids like the orange sprinkled pumpkins best I think...and so do I. German Christmas cookies

3 1/2 - 4 cups of flour

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of butter or margarine

(I like real butter best!)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients above. Add flour little by little and knead with your hands until it is easy to handle. Roll out on floured surface and cut in simple shapes . Transfer to cookie sheet. Brush each cookie with a little beaten egg yolk. Then decorate with nuts or sprinkles.

Bake about 9-12 minutes at 350 F (or 190 C) but take the cookies out of the oven when they just start to turn brown around the edges for a softer cookie.

Easy BBQ Ribs

One of the things we are enjoying while here in the U.S. is eatting meat (especially Tim and the boys..."Driscoll men eat meat!" I am told). In Japan we eat mostly chicken and hamburger (1/2 pork and 1/2 beef) and fish (although I don't really know how to cook it -so let me know if you have any good ideas). It's nice to have afordable thick beef, ham, sausages and ribs while here in the States. The easiest way I have found to cook ribs is in my crockpot. Usually you think of using your crockpot in the winter, but I like it in the summer too so I don't have to turn on the oven when it is so hot. We just got a nice big crockpot (we had out grown our little one- Boy, can our boys eat!) and we hope to take it back to Japan (since I haven't found crockpots in the stores there). Just salt and pepper the meat and put it in the crockpot. We fill ours full to the top with meat then cook on high for about 7 hours. (Althought I've cooked them for about 10+ hours on low as well - if you "overcook" them , they just get more tender and shredded, so that's not too bad - Less meat and a smaller crockpot would take less time I am sure) I also rotate the meat about 1/2 way through since it's really packed in there.

The last hour or so, when the meat looks done, drain the juice and put 1/2 to a whole bottle of BBQ sauce. We like all the leftovers too on sandwhiches or in tortillas (something else we can't get in Japan). If you try it, let me know how it goes. Enjoy!