My personal recipes.

Lemonade Concentrate.

• 5 pounds Lemons
• 4 cups Water (or Enough To Match The Amount Of Lemon Juice Your Lemons Yield)
• 4 cups Sugar (or Enough To Match The Amount Of Lemon Juice Your Lemons Yield)
• 7 jars Pint-sized Canning Jars, Lids And Rings

Fruit leather

This recipe is pretty flexible. You have the freedom to pick one fruit or mix different kinds. You can use fresh, frozen and dried fruit. Below the recipe are some fruit combination suggestions, but feel free to try out your own combos too. I suggest making a few different trays of fruit at the same time because these won’t last long in your house and though they are VERY simple to make, they do take a long time to set.

1. Warm the fruit in a pot on the stove and mix it into a puree. If there are seeds in the puree you can pour it into a sieve to get the seeds out (I didn’t).
2. Spread the puree on a silpat baking mat (my baking love!) or parchment paper. 1 1/2 cup of fruit puree is enough for 1 baking sheet, and put in the oven on 140°F (or as low as your oven can go. my stove’s lowest temperature is 170). Leave the oven door open a little bit to let the moisture out.
3. They are done when the puree isn’t sticky anymore, you normally need between 5-8 hours depending on the oven and your fruit choices. (If you live in a warm climate, you can just leave the pan in the sun for the day).
4. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut them and roll them with wax or parchment paper when they are still warm. Enjoy this healthy alternative.

Fruit combination ideas:
Yellow: 1 fresh mango, 200 g dried apricots, 1 orange (the juice)
Purple: Frozen raspberries, frozen blackberries and 1 banana (these were very seedy, you could replace the blackberries with blueberries)
Green: Kiwi, mango and mint leaves
Blue: Blueberries and grape juice
Red: Strawberries and banana

: One cup vinegar, put on fire and while it is heating, mix one teaspoon each of salt, sugar, powdered mustard, and pepper; the two latter should be used according to their strength, generally the mustard should be used very heaping and the pepper very scant, even full. Stir these together dry, and add the yolks of three eggs, and after the paste is very smooth beat in one cup of thick sour cream. When vinegar boils put in the above mixture, and let come to a boil. Have ready the whites of the eggs beaten stiff and whisk them in the hot dressing, remove from fire, and put in a jar. This dressing will keep indefinitely. If too thick it may be thinned with a little milk or cream when used. 

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-farming/old-farm-magazines-homemade-salad-dressing-zmaz79mazhar.aspx?page=4#ixzz1po6UU1vX

ice pops

• 1 cup cranberry juice
• 1 cup lemonade $
• 1 cup blue sports drink, such as Gatorade

Preparation

1. Arrange 8 3-oz. paper or plastic cups on a baking sheet and divide cranberry juice evenly among them. Place baking sheet in freezer and freeze until juice is almost firm, about 1 hour.
2. Insert craft sticks into center of slightly frozen juice. (If sticks won’t quite stand up straight, you can repositions them when the next layer starts to solidify.)
3. Divide lemonade evenly among cups to make a second layer. Freeze until hard, about 2 hours. Pour Gatorade over lemonade layer and freeze until solid, about 3 hours. Gently pull each ice pop out of its cup (it helps to squeeze the cup lightly from bottom) and serve immediately.

cheesy bread

Crust:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or half white, half wheat)
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast

Put all ingredients into mixer with dough hook and knead about 6-8 minutes.  Spread onto greased 8-inch round pan.

Topping:

Melt 3 tablespoons butter, then add in 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon basil.  Mix and then spread on crust.

Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of the butter mixture, then some shredded mozzarella and/or cheddar cheese.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

poptarts

Pastry
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk

1 additional large egg (to brush on pastry)

Cinnamon Filling (enough for 9 tarts)
1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

Jam Filling
3/4 cup (8 ounces) jam
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

Alternate fillings: 9 tablespoons chocolate chips, 9 tablespoons Nutella or other chocolate-hazelnut paste or 9 tablespoons of a delight of your choice, such as salted caramel or a nut paste

To make cinnamon filling: Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

To make jam filling: Mix the jam with the cornstarch/water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. Use to fill the pastry tarts.

Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, pastry blender or food processor until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. If you’ve used a food processor, transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Whisk the first egg and milk together and stir them into the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive, kneading briefly on a well-floured counter if necessary.

Divide the dough in half (approximately 8 1/4 ounces each), shape each half into a smooth rectangle, about 3×5 inches. You can roll this out immediately (see Warm Kitchen note below) or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Assemble the tarts: If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8″ thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9″ x 12″. [You can use a 9” x 13” pan, laid on top, as guidance.] Repeat with the second piece of dough. Set trimmings aside. Cut each piece of dough into thirds – you’ll form nine 3″ x 4″ rectangles.

Beat the additional egg and brush it over the entire surface of the first dough. This will be the “inside” of the tart; the egg is to help glue the lid on. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each rectangle, keeping a bare 1/2-inch perimeter around it. Place a second rectangle of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Repeat with remaining tarts.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts (they don’t need to be covered) for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 350°F.

Charming tip from King Arthur: Sprinkle the dough trimmings with cinnamon-sugar; these have nothing to do with your toaster pastries, but it’s a shame to discard them, and they make a wonderful snack. While the tarts are chilling, bake these trimmings for 13 to 15 minutes, till they’re golden brown.

Bake the tarts: Remove the tarts form the fridge, and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Cool in pan on rack.

Whole Wheat Variation: I was itching to swap out 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour. I am sure it would make it more deliciously breakfast.

Pop Tart Minis: The biggest struggle I had with these was the size. I actually like my baked goods on the tiny size, thus I think this could make an adorable batch of 16 2 1/4″ x 3″ rectangles.

Savory Pop Tarts: Nix the sugar in the dough and halve the salt. Fill with pesto, cheese, ground nuts or olives, or any combination thereof. Brush the tops with additional egg wash and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. Please invite me over.

Do ahead: The sweet versions should keep at room temperature in an airtight container for a week. If you’d like to make them further in advance, I vote for freezing them unbaked between layers of waxed paper, and baking them as you need.

Warm kitchen warning: Guys, I live in an inferno, the kind of steam-heated, 85 degrees inside (68 gorgeous degrees outside) existence many other New Yorkers are familiar with. Between the heat and yesterday’s rainy humidity, me and this dough were struggling. To keep it from being too warm and soft, I was stuffing the trays of dough in the freezer for 10 minute shifts almost every time I worked with them. If you find yourself in an overly warm kitchen working with dough that gets soft too quickly, just keep using your freezer. The 10 minutes here and there that you extend this project will save you many gray hairs as the dough becomes easy to work with again.

tomato melt

banana corn muffins

biscuit sticks

• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup milk

breakfast potatoes

4 medium baking potatoes
1 small white or yellow onion, minced
1/4 c. salted butter
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste
About 10-20 shakes of Tabasco sauce

Bring a medium or large bot of water to a boil. While the water is heating, cut the potatoes into into 1/4″-1/2″ cubes. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes or until they are slightly softened but not fully cooked. Drain and rinse in cool water.

Heat a large skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat. Add the 1/4 c. of butter and heat until melted and bubbly. Add the diced onion and cook for about 1 minute or until the onions are softened. Add the potatoes in a single layer. Cook for 3-4 minutes (don’t even touch them) and then sprinkle with paprika, 10 dashes of Tabasco, and a little salt and pepper. Using a spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan and flip as many potatoes as you can at once. You just want to handle the potatoes as little as possible while getting every surface of the potato a little crispy.

When the potatoes have cooked for another 3-4 minutes, test them for doneness and seasoning; add more Tabasco, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook until desired doneness is reached, flipping them the same way as before. It’s hard to overcook these potatoes–they should be a little crispy on the outside, but not burned. Serves 4-6.