Sugar and Spice Almonds

As much as we love raw almonds all by themselves, we also like to dress them up sometimes! This recipe can be used with any nut of choice or even mixed nuts. It assumes the nuts are salted, so if they are not - you might throw a few dashes on your nuts after you have tossed them in spices it goes nicely wiht the sweetness of the sugar.

6C Nuts of of choice
2 egg whites
2T Orange Juice (or a half an orange squeezed)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dr. ginger
1 tsp ground all spice
1- 1 1/2 C Maple Sugar (or Rapedura or Sucanat or sugar of choice)

Whisk together OJ and egg whites until foamy (soft peaks)

Gently mix in sugar and spices

Add nuts and mix to coat

Spread on a large ungreased cookie sheet (in a single layer - it might take two sheets)

Bake at 275F, stiring every 15 minutes for a total of 45-50 minutes, until crisp and lighlty browned.

This recipe fills a half gallon jar to the brim with a few "
"taster snacks" for the cook (and her kids!) on the side. :-)

These make wonderful make ahead treats on a snacky Shabbat lunch table! They are also nice to have a small pretty bowl setting on a night stand in a guest room with a cold bottle water for a (overnight) guest who has just arrived to "settle in" to their room and freshen up. :-)

If you like this recipe you might like my Tamari Almonds too.

Artichoke Bruschetta

This is 'California Food' to me - but really...its Italian. :-) It reminds me of my time in San Francisco. I had a taste for it when I saw it in a jar at the super market and thought I would splurge. I enjoyed it so much that I declared that I must learn how to make it. I looked at the ingredients on the jar and copied them down in my family cookbook. Lots of time passed (almost 2 years!), until I actually got to it...But I am so glad I did, because this a DELICIOUS summer food. I don't have exact measurements for you. But just use this list of ingredients with common sense to your proportions and you will be surprised how easy it is to make. That's what I did and it has been delishious every time

Artichokes Hearts, diced small (marinated or canned are wonderful - canned Hearts of Palm also work very nicely for this!)
Oil (I use Olive Oil)
Red (or yellow) Bell Pepper, diced small
Lemon Juice
Fresh Garlic, crushed
Seas Salt
Fresh Parsley (or dry)
Fresh Oregano (or dry)
White Pepper
Dry Crushed Red Chili Pepper (I use this sparingly)

We like to serve ours with crackers, flat bread, sour dough or crusty bread. It is also nice spread in a sandwich or wrap instead of mayo.

Raw Pickles

We absolutely LOVE raw pickles. We are ruined for the regular "canned" ones. My girlfriend (Dawn) shared this recipe with us last year and it has become a staple in our home. You can slice'm or spear them - which ever you choose. Its a great way use those summer cukes. They keep a really long time in the fridge, I have made several jars at a time before when I had lots of cukes..and want to see how they keep this year in the root cellar. It is my hope they do and I will eventually be able to make our year's worth from our summer garden and keep them down there...but I don't know if that will work. I'll update here after my experiment with tester jars this fall/winter. :-) My family can EASILY eat a half gallon of these in one meal! It's a great addition to Summer Shabbat tables too!

3/4C Apple Cider Vinegar (I use raw)
1/2C Agave Nectar or Honey
4 cloves garlic, pressed (or 2tsp garlic powder)
1/2C sliced sweet onions (or 1T + 1tsp onion powder)
2 tsp dr. dill
seas salt and pepper to taste

4-6 cucumbers, sliced

Pack your cukes in a jar and pour premixed brine over them to fill. Refrigerate.

It best to let them marinate a couple days before you start eating them, the flavor gets stronger - but we have eaten them same day too!

*** Reuse your brine...just add more pickles slices to it when the jar is empty. Eventually you will need to add more brine. You can redo the recipe or just top it off adding more vinegar ans spices. Its so easy and economical!

** Personally, I prefer pickeling cucumbers as a general rule for anything, because I like that their smaller and perefer their skin. However, you can even do this with slicing cukes with waxed skin from the grocery store, just be sure to peel the cukes before slicing. (English Cukes are great too.)

Boursin Cheese Blend

Have you ever bought this dip at the store? It is one of our favorites! However, it is expensive. When you have 8 hands diggin' into something they like...it disappears fast...let alone taking it to share with someone! So I wanted to figure out how to make it. I modified a recipe I found, and this is the result...DELICIOUS!

Boursin Cheese Blend

Use heaping (rounded) teaspoons for these measures. If you have fresh herbs you would like to use in place of the dried, use a Tablespoon equivalent for that ingredient. (Fresh is ideal, but not always possible, which I why I worked this recipe our with dry herbs.) Also , if you make your own homemade cream cheese, the texture of this will be more desirable, softer and more spreadable. The store bought stuff is really stiff, and is best at room temperature when it is spread. Because this is a stiff dip it is better spread not dipped. Serve this with veggies or firm crackers (Like Trisket, pita chips or Melba Toast) . Or you can warm it on the stove, adding Parmesan cheese to taste and use it as delicious sauce over pasta or broccoli. Also a little dollop on top of a freshly at the time of serving, grilled steak is heavenly! Oh this is also very tasty spread on a bagels! Also spread inside a wrap or to roll organic deli meat around it for pin wheel appetiser or a snacky lunch (or layer lox on top of the dip on to p or your bagel!) Oh there are so many yummy ways to use it!

2 tsp dr. chives
2 tsp dr. parsley
1 1/2 tsp dr. marjoram
1tsp dr. basil
1 1/2 tsp dr. lemon thyme*
1 tsp + minced fresh garlic (You could use 1/2 tsp garlic powder in a pinch)
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
8T butter, softened
8-12 oz cream cheese, softened

• Mash all the ingredients together in a bowl with the back of a spoon, or a mixer.*



• Put in the refrigerator overnight to blend the flavors (min 8 hours), it gets better with time! 2 days is even better! It keeps very well for a weeks.

Using a a mixer on a high setting will help whip air into the dip if you prefer it to be lighter instead of more dense. Both are good, but when it is a little lighter is it nicer to spread.

(update) If you can't find lemon thyme, you may use "plain thyme". I then I would consider playing with a LITTLE lemon zest or a squeez of lemon in the dip too. The botanical name ofr lemon thyme is Thymus x citriodorus, in case you need it. If you can find it to grwo some...it is worth it! It is wonderful for tea mixes and cooking.

Vegan Pate' - Who Knew?

I have never been fond of Pate' but thought I would give this one a "whirl". It is from The Raw Food Gourmet and I was so pleasantly surprised! This one has made it to the family recipe book!

Once you soak and sprout the seeds, it a zip to make. Its nice to have on hand for Shabbat or lunches during the week, because is it make ahead and easy to use different ways. It is tasty just as it is, but she also has recipes to use it in Raw Lasagna, Chilie Relennos, or Asian Style by adding other seasonings and ingredients. I have used it "plain" to dip veggies and crackers and have stuffed peppers with it and warmed them in the dehydrator. VERY TASTY. She also explains that it stores up to 2 weeks in the fridge, and can be made with any kind of nut and is easily adaptable with other seasonings. I am looking forward to playing with variations too.

Pate'

3C sunflower seeds. (Soak in water for 8-12 hours, drain and sprout for 2 hours)

1C lemon juice
1/2C chopped green onions
1/4-1/2C raw tahini
1/4C Bragg's Liquid Aminos
1 small red onion coarsely chopped
4-6T coarsely chopped parsley
2-3 med cloves or garlic
1/2 tsp dr cayenne pepper
pepper to taste

When seeds are ready, put all ingredients in a large food processor and chop until uniformly blended into a smooth paste.

Adjust seasoning to taste if needed.

Garlic gets stronger as it sits.

Mks 7-8 C servings

Making Cottage Cheese

Here is a wonderful instructional video for making cottage cheese. It really is easy and so much tastier than the store bought stuff! She doesn't say how much milk to use here...but it is a gallon. You will yield 1 quart of cottage cheese out of a gallon of Jersey milk. You will have LOTS of whey left over. Does anyone have ides and uses for whey they would like to share in the comments section? (Beside fermenting vegies, like souerkraut and Kimchee) I would love to hear them! You can find Rennet at most major grocery stores...but you may need to ask where it is. Junkett is the most common brand name, its inexpensive and it will last you a long time. UPDATE: PLEASE SEE COMMENTS IN REGARDS TO SOURCES FOr RENNET. Junkett has not been confirmed Biblically "kosher".



My favorite is cottage cheese topped with peaches! Yum! Apple butter or apple sauce is also quite nice on cottage cheese too. :-)

Tamari Almonds

One of our favorite salty snacks is Tamari Almonds. I used to buy them by the case, when I had the Health Food Business. They always remind me of my brother - he'll happily empty a jar for me when he visits...but we live so far away, that doesn't happen nearly often enough. :-( So this recipe is for you Ryan! Much Love, Sis

TAMARI ALMONDS

6C of Whole Almonds (raw)
1/2 C Tamari (Soy Sauce), or Braggs Liquid Aminos*
1/2 tsp Sugar (of choice, I use maple), or honey

• Put oven rack in the upper two-thirds of your oven and prehet it to 300 degrees
• Spread almonds out on two baking sheets in a single layer
• Toast for 15 minutes
• Meanwhile - mix tamari and sugar in a large bowl
• Add hot almonds into tamari and mix to coat evenly - every so often, letting marinate for 5 minutes.
• Use a slotted spoon to put almonds back on the baking sheets in a single layer. (Discarding or saving tamari to use for dinner that night!)
• Bake again for 25 minutes; switching trays and stirring the pans once half way through the process.
• The outsides will turn dark brown and the insides will turn golden.
• Let cool and store in an airtight container. (I love to use 1/2 gallon Mason Jars)

These make great snacks on game night, great toppings for salads, a nice filler on a buffet table or tasty homemade gifts.

* If this mix ends up being a little salty for you try using 1/3C Tamari plus 3T water. They won't be as salty. If your almonds are already salted, this might be something to consider.