Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Saturday, December 2, 2023

December Hymn

 


December drapes dormant landscapes with snowflake-sequined flair
It kindles in its chill a thrill that contradicts despair
And cheers faith’s frame with hope’s dear Name; Jesus! As once again
Hearts start anew to travel to the town of Bethlehem

December decks earth’s halls with shawls that nature’s shuttle weaves
Where fall-gales doffed treetops, white softness soothes its loss of leaves
And stirs within cages of skin a holy atmosphere
Of peace and love, through knowledge of the Name we hold so dear

December brims with joyful hymns and beauty to behold
Fresh snowfall awes and gently draws us back to days of old
Until we feel the sacred zeal of shepherds and wise men
And yearn to bring the Christ Child King gifts of worship. Amen

December rings the old year out before it brings the new
It rebukes doubt with shouts of joy for what is good and true
And bids us come and see Christendom’s Cornerstone, and laud
The glory of the Gift, where love unveils the face of God

© Janet Martin

2 Pet.1:1-2
To those who through the righteousness 
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ
have received a faith as precious as ours:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance 
through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.





some of the 'hymns' of joy brimming from cookbook lyrics,
due to Christmas celebrations beginning...

(very versatile for switching up the dry fruit and nuts!)


(or, in Victoria's words, melt-in-your-mouth-orange pillows)


(easily done using home-canned fruit)




 

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

September's Soul-Storm


This is the kind of poem I cannot rush...

September’s tent is gray then blue and apple-dappled, where


Pungent scents of surrender’s hues hang heavy on the air....


As evidence of summer’s curtain close intensifies
In blush of sedum’s dusty rose...


 and rush of butterflies...


In rusty-singed zinnia-rainbows,


... in tardier sunrise


Goldenrod tapers flicker, undaunted by fits of rain...


And footsteps start to hurry through dawn’s barely-parted gates
Tomato-plum-pear flurry fills jars, crocks, pots, pans and plates...
(a few recipes below)

*Glug-glug-blip-blop, the steaming canning-kettle seems to say...


Frost-flavoured innuendos start to infiltrate green glade


As cricket-song crescendos in an ardent serenade
A vibrato that ebbs and flows into a subtle fade...




September’s tent is gray then blue and apple-dappled, where
Pungent scents of surrender’s hues hang heavy on the air
As evidence of summer’s curtain close intensifies
In blush of sedum’s dusty rose and rush of butterflies
In rusty-singed zinnia-rainbows, in tardier sunrise

September’s bliss is bittersweet, aster-embellished grief
Happiness and heartache compete, bloom-beauty is so brief
Frost-flavoured innuendos start to infiltrate green glade
As cricket-song crescendos in an ardent serenade
A vibrato that ebbs and flows into a subtle fade

Goldenrod tapers flicker, undaunted by fits of rain
Birdfeeder patrons bicker over dinner-bits of grain
While squirrels dart and scurry and harvest-hum escalates
And footsteps start to hurry through dawn’s barely-parted gates
Tomato-plum-pear flurry fills jars, crocks, pots, pans and plates

September authors sorrows joy is privileged to bear
Futile to suffer morrow’s unaccomplished weight of care
While dahlias beam, and cornfields gleam and backroad haunts beguile
While summer’s remnant hours stream beneath noon’s sky wide smile
And flower-bowers beckon dreamers to loiter awhile

Glug-glug-blip-blop, the steaming canning-kettle seems to say
Too busy to stop for too long to dream the day away
Though it would be a terrible pity to never pause
To be a duty-rebel and revel in Now because
The tree the breeze dishevels will soon wear the leaf that was

September seems to keenly whet time’s teeming undertow
With destinies that we forget while lost in June’s hello
A cello I cannot quite see is playing Fur Elise
A green and yellow melody of love’s fond agonies
Rolls, nay tolls from a welkin belfry through fields and hills and trees

September is a poem that the poet cannot rush
It feels a bit like coming home, a Voice that whispers 'hush'
Yet kindles in the bosom a war-cry nobody hears
A medley culled from blossoms felled and held in yesteryears
An arch that leads to autumn, through which summer disappears

© Janet Martin


due to a bumper crop of summer squash  and an
almost tomato-crop failure
 someone suggested trying zucchini salsa, so I did!
it's delicious!!
(I used yellow and green squash and seems to have worked)
If you like sweet heat you might want to try this!


Zucchini Salsa

INGREDIENTS
10cups zucchini, peeled & shredded
4onions, chopped
2green peppers, chopped
2red peppers, chopped
1⁄4cup pickling salt
1tablespoon pickling salt
2tablespoons dry mustard
1tablespoon garlic powder
1tablespoon cumin
2tablespoons red pepper flakes
1teaspoon nutmeg
1teaspoon pepper
5cups chopped ripe tomatoes
2tablespoons cornstarch
12ounces tomato paste

Method:
Day one:
In a large bowl combine; 
Zucchini, onions, green pepper, red pepper and the salt 
Mix together cover and let stand over night.

Day two.
Next day rinse, drain well and put into a large pot then add
 mustard, garlic, cumin, vinegar, brown sugar, pepper flakes, salt,
cornstarch, nutmeg, pepper, 1 tablespoon salt, 
tomatoes and tomato paste.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Pour into sterilized jars and seal.
Water bath jars for 15 minutes.

***

Now dessert!
recipe two;
Pear-Plum Crisp


Wash, peel, (optional) pare, pit,
approx. 7 cups fruit into baking pan. I used 8X12 pyrex pan.


mix 1/2 cup sugar
2 TBSP flour
1/2 teas. cinnamon 
1/4 teas. each of cloves, nutmeg and ginger
Toss with fruit

and top with 
Topping
Mix 1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup br. sugar
then blend in 1/3 cup soft butter

top and bake at 350F till bubbly and golden, approx. 30 min.

(after sampling the unbaked version I feel safe to say-it's scrumptious!)

while dahlias beam...













Wednesday, August 23, 2023

August Celebration

It was a brooding, gray backdrop kind of day...

Where yon billow broods and breaks,
Where the shower spills its lakes...


Where the flower-bower-toast
Thrills us to the uttermost




Where the planted furrow brims
With fruition’s harvest hymns...


(Farmer-patience is tried this year due to much rain!
The neighbor's were able to salvage the last of the straw just before today's soaker!!)


Where dust, threshed from wheat and rye
Wafts between the earth and sky...


Where cricket-minstrels repeat
Repertoires of tweet-tweet-tweet... 


Where garden has Cook beguiled
With dinner-buffets, run wild...


Last night's supper bottom right corner...grilled zucchini-rounds
topped with browned ground beef-green pepper-red onion medley


Where yon billow broods and breaks,
Where the shower spills its lakes
Where the flower-bower's toast
Thrills us to the uttermost
Where the planted furrow brims
With fruition’s harvest hymns
Where the hand of God anoints
Earth in exclamation points

Where wonder and worship meet
In climaxes, simple-sweet
Where delight and sadness spar
Where hello and farewell are
Where we revel in the bliss
Of the afternoon that is
While the gate to twilight’s star
Waits to swing softly ajar

Where dust, threshed from wheat and rye
Wafts between the earth and sky
Where cricket-minstrels repeat
Repertoires of tweet-tweet-tweet
Where garden has Cook beguiled
With dinner-buffets, run wild
Where bravado cannot stay
What no wish can keep at bay

Where hollyhock bistros buzz
With busy bee biz, because
Where each honeyed moment drips
A sparkle of August slips
From lips, fingertips, and sighs
Where before our very eyes
Heaven lends to earth a hint
Of what waits beyond Time’s stint

Where we cannot comprehend
Awesome August without end
Where goldenrod wicks are lit
Just for the sheer joy of it
Where, beyond four-seasoned tide
Rolls a summer countryside
Where death never enters thought
Mum blooms with forget-me-not

© Janet Martin

Tonight's supper...


Green Bean Casserole
2 of my bean jars didn't seal from canning this year
and because I prefer canned beans for this dish, it was the perfect side!
Comfort food on a very fallish feeling evening!


(I also use milk rather than sour cream)


Zucchini Casserole
I added a bit of ham to make it a one-dish meal
(for a 9X13 pan I used 2 more eggs and added a generous tbsp. of melted butter to the olive oil)



another recent meal fav using Swiss chard
Feta was a splurge extra 😊😋






Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Life Is Poetry Waiting To Be Written or Eaten!!


The endless possibilities of garden-fresh fare
is pure culinary poetry!
So worth the toil 
when the soil is rich 
and the rain is plentiful
and the roots thrive!)
Makes the humble laborer
So glad to be alive!

Yesterday my neighbor dropped of a pint of raspberries
so I texted the clan and let them know 
there is a surprise dessert at Emily's house
for anyone wo can make it...
Cornstarch Pudding topped with raspberries and whipped cream

'or as the garden spills with fare and thrills the happy cook'



I had picked the currants just before leaving for the special Dessert evening so
this morning's question was,
What to do with a bowl full of black currants?





Beets are constantly being thinned...


(I used white onion instead of shallots)





Before the ink of one is dry another starts to brew
As surely as you catch my eye or as the sky is blue
Or as a bud bursts into bloom or a bird into song
Or morning into blush-brushed light and night into so-long

As surely as the cricket hails the middle of July
Or as a season scales the height of a year slipping by
Or as the colour of its cast crescendos ere it fades
Or as the valour of the past augments its promenades

As surely as love holds and must let go, ready or not
As surely as a sense of sorrow stirs a tender thought
Or as a breeze rolls through treetops like waves on lofty seas
Or as a pang of longing tugs at World of Memories

As surely as tomorrow is forever held at bay
Or as a surge of gratitude steals humbled breath away
Or as the flicker of a lily showcases the sun
Or as the shadow climbs the hill where one more day is done

...or as kerplop of a raindrop ignites a giddy dance
As dust devils are tamed and liquid diamonds lavish plants 
Or as a summer afternoon entangled in heartstrings
Wakens awareness to the whir of time's gossamer wings 

...or as the garden spills with fare and thrills the happy cook
Or as the tea is poured and feet pulled up, nose in a book
*Or as the gladness of a child hearkens to childhoods spent
Or as the ilk of life runs wild with laughter and lament 

As surely as the green of spring turns summer bronze and gold
Or as delight is overcome with wonders to behold
Or as the grace of God ignites a rush of poetry
Before the ink of one is dry, another starts to be

© Janet Martin

*It was so amusing to watch my grandchildren wild with excitement and curiosity
hovering at the 'Mystery Dessert (hiding in a big bowl with a lid)
while we waited till everyone was there to start.
...made me relive a little of my own long-lost childhood.
Oh, the excitement of out-of-the-blue guests and surprises. 
Esp. surprises you could eat!!

Wild with delight...

We could literally write a little book right now entitled
'If Big Brother Can Do It
So Can I!!'😅😂💗



Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Of Endless Possibilities (finally, a foodie post)

People are like cooking ingredients; 
Capable of so much more when put together! 

Like today's lunch salad...
each ingredient is okay on its own 



but outstanding when mixed!
(Today's version. this style of salad is fantastically versatile!)
A few handfuls of chopped cauliflower, 
Approximately 1 cup chopped cucumber,
chopped red onion (to taste) 1/2 can chick peas, 1/2 cup black beans,
1 large carrot, shredded, crumbled feta cheese
Dressing; put in blender
 Juice of 2 lemons
2 tbsp. sugar or honey
pinch of pepper flakes
dash of dill
smidgeon of salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup oil
blend approx. 1 min.
optional ingred. handfuls of chopped kale or spinach, avocado, red peppers, broccoli, celery, etc.

Blending the ingredients of the recipe below, published in the latest Rural Route
(tweaked a bit so I can share the recipe and because I don't like using margarine in cooking)
is a delicious break-the-muffin-blahs. a little different too, blending the whole orange!



 For Christmas I received a recipe book; on my wish list for a while!

The recipe below has quickly become a favorite!

Seriously yummy!

Unfortunately, midst the excitement of eating
I always forget to take a picture of the finished product... here it is not quite all gone!
the first one (no pic)had the cherry tomatoes...definitely a nice finishing touch if you have them!

Together we can do far more than each of us alone 
Imagine, flour without butter trying to be Scone 
Imagine if an egg were only scrambled, boiled or fried 
Or if measure-and-stir was Cook’s simple pleasure, denied 

Imagine if a wooden spoon could never mix and beat 
No pinch ‘o this and-bit-‘o-that to make it salty, sweet 
No culinary prizes, nothing to whip, froth or fold 
No new supper-surprises from ingredients age-old 

No simmer, sauté, season, sift or mince, chop, slice and dice 
No making something special for somebody very nice 
No chill, bake, broil, nothing pinched, dashed or smidgen-ed into bowls 
No pudding, pie, soup, cookies, cakes, chowders or casseroles 

Imagine if we couldn’t toss a medley in a bowl 
To make something that satisfies the stomach, heart and soul 
Imagine if we never had discovered shredded cheese !!!
Imagine life, without love's endless possibilities😋😊 



© Janet Martin


Last night's supper included a never-gets-old-version
of roasted Veggies,
cube veggies and toss with seasonings
Last night I kept it simple
Salt and pepper, garlic powder and thyme
drizzle of olive oil. 

spread on baking sheet. Bake at 375-400
Baking time depends on amount and veggie kinds...from 40-60 minutes.
I always do a huge batch so leftovers can be used for lunches etc.