Mom's Latkes

Makes @20 small latkes

6 medium-size potatoes,pared
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 medium-size onions,grated
2 tsps salt
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
dash paprika
1/2 cup flour
vegetable oil

Grate potatoes (I prefer a medium grate); place in a large bowl with baking soda; toss to mix. Squeeze off any excess water with hands.
Beat eggs in large bowl; stir in potatoes, onion, salt, nutmeg,and paprika. Sprinkle flour over top; stir in.
Pour 1/4 inch depth of oil into heavy skillet(or electric fry pan) and heat.
Drop spoonful of potato mixture for each latke into skillet; flatten slightly with back of spoon.
Fry slowly, turning once, 3 minutes, or until crisp and golden. drain on paper towels; keep warm.
Serve with sour cream or applesauce and love!
xxx MOM

Crispy Baked Kale with Gruyere Cheese

Jenni and I discovered this last fall and we just love it! Gruyere cheese can be a bit pricey but it is really yummy. You can substitute any alpine style cheese like swiss. hugs... Mom

Croutons:
Sourdough bread, crust removed, torn into 1/2 pieces, 2 cups;
tossed with 1 Tblsp extra virgin olive oil; toasted on cookie sheet 350 degrees for 8 minutes; set aside to cool
Kale:
1 medium shallot,minced
1 small onion,thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 1/2 pounds kale, large stems discarded, leaves chopped
1 tsp chopped thyme leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
In large deep skillet, or heavy pot, heat 1/4 extra virgin olive oil
Saute shallot, onion, garlic 7 minutes over moderate heat until soft stirring occasionally
Add kale, cover, cook about 15 min. til tender over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally
Stir in thyme, salt , pepper to taste
Transfer to 8x10 baking dish

Topping:
1 and 1/4 cups shredded gruyere cheese (or swiss) @3.5 ounces
sourdough croutons

Bake: 350 degrees @20 minutes 'til cheese is bubbling and croutons are golden; let stand 5 minutes and serve

You can make this ahead of time; just skip last baking and refrigerate overnight; keep croutons in airtight container.

Cool Food Blog

A friend of mine passed on a cool link to a great food blog. She takes really great food photos. She's got a yummy sounding pumpkin and lentil curry recipe posted 3rd down currently. I added her site to our page as a link, but here it is in this post too.

http://www.wellfed.typepad.com/

~H

Sweet Greens

Hi girls. Great idea! Here’s my first contribution! -J

Greens
Bring 3 inches of water to a boil in a saucepan.
Take half of one head of kale.
Chop off the thick part of the stalk.
Rinse and roughly chop leaves.
Add greens to water, stir until bright green and let cook
2 minutes.
Drain greens and place in serving bowl.

Sweetness
In small bowl combine 1 TB olive oil, 1 TB real maple
syrup, ½ TB balsamic vinegar, or any quantity you
want in ratio of 1:1:1/2.
Whisk together until blended.
Pour over greens and toss thoroughly.

Serve! Enjoy! Easy! :)

Mom's Pumpkin Bread (family fall classic!)

3 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin
1 cup oil
1 1/2 cup walnuts
Mix wet ingredients together, then dry ingredients together and add them gradually, then walnuts. Bake in ungreased baking pans at 350 for one hour. Yummy! - K

We recently revisited this at Thanksgiving and b/c of the sweetness of the pumpkin we reduced the sugar by 1/2 cup. Still super yummy!

Spicy Lentil Pot

Heather here. This recipe is a favorite of ours for fall and winter. We got it from my friend Mandy. It comes from the recipe book Extending the Table which I should probably own. It's super easy to make!

Spicy Lentil Pot Serves 4-6
Chop in Large Chunks:
2 Carrots
1 Green Pepper
1 Onion
2-3 Tomatoes or 1 8 oz. can of tomato sauce

Put vegetables into a large soup pot and add:
5-8 cloves of peeled garlic (left whole)
1 and 1/2 cups red lentils (rinsed and drained)
4-5 cups of water
1 chicken boullion cube

Cover, bring to a boil. Turn down heat and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes without stirring.
Skim foam from lentils as desired. Cool slightly then puree.

Return to pot and add:
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1 teaspoon ground red pepper (or to taste)

Simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Optional: in separate pan fry 1/2 cup of chopped onion in 1 T. of oil until toasty brown. Float onions on top of soup. Serve with wedges of lemon to bring out flavor.

Notes: I don't add the onions, but the lemon can be nice. Also, I have made it without the boullion and it's still been great.

Baked Pumpkin

Hey there. It's Mom.
Here's one I just got from my friend Nancy. This serves 6 generously.
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to cut it in half and use a smaller pumpkin and shorten baking time.
I'll let you know how it works.

Ingredients:
5-6 medium baking apples (tart), pared, cored, sliced
2 cups cooked sausage (spicey) 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/2 c raisins 1 T flour 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Toss together and put inside volleyball size pumpkin (scrape out seeds and strings first)
Dot with butter. Put lid on. Bake in shallow pan 350 degrees for 2 hours.
Scoop pumpkin out as you serve. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Food for Eating

Most blogs are food for thought, but this one is really about food to eat!
Family and friends of ours will post recipes and cooking suggestions.