Your Own Coffee Shop Treats

 One of the best things about fall was heading to our favorite coffee shops and getting a coffee and a baked treat.Yet now with the pandemic, it's still kind of hard to get a favorite sweet and relax . However scones, muffins and doughnuts can easily be baked in your kitchen. What's even better is you can tailor them to your tastes.

Scones may sound fancy but they're not.Scones are just a variety of Scottish flatbreads called bannocks. They were first cooked in a large mound and then scored to create triangular pieces. Even today the recipe is easy and simple enough for the most novice home baker. They can be either sweet or savory. The basic recipe calls for flour, sugar, butter, heavy cream or butter milk and eggs. Baking powder is mixed in to give the scones lift along with salt which lifts the flavor. You can add vanilla if you want for a sweeter , dessert taste. The best tasting ones however, have grated frozen butter which will create pockets and a moist, crumbly inside,The best part are the add ins. Think chocolate chips and cinnamon for a sweet combo or orange and blueberries for a healthier bite. Scones can actually  be turned into a main course with the addition of ham, cheddar and scallions Just reduce the amount of sugar added and, of course, omit the vanilla. Top with flaky sea salt. Another savory idea is adding different herbs to the dough. Try garlic, rosemary , parsley and basil. These are perfect with a hot soup or chicken or ham salad.

Our favorite coffee shops are also known for their muffins and doughnuts. Muffins have been around since the early 1700's and are one of the easiest baking recipes. They're a type of quick bread, made primarily of melted butter, sugar, eggs, and milk mixed with the dry ingredients of flour,baking powder, salt and spices. Again these can have tasty variations such as chocolate chips and pecans  along with cinnamon and nutmeg. Fruit studded muffins make for a nice snack. Blueberry muffins are the most popular but you can also use strawberries and raisins too.Banana muffins are also a nice treat with coffee or tea. Keep in mind muffin recipes are fluid. You can sub in maple syrup or honey for sugar along with whole wheat and almond flour for refined white. Doughnuts rank right up there with muffins as the perfect coffee go with.Many home bakers are turned off by the fact of frying them , remember you can use an air fryer to bake them. Remember to use yeast in them for flufflier ones. You can also use premade biscuit dough too. Cake doughnuts have an easy recipe that 's your basic vanilla cake one. They're made with flour , eggs, vegetable oil ,brown sugar, and baking powder for lift. Decorate them with an easy to make glaze of confectioner's sugar , milk and vanilla.

You can still have coffee house treats with your cup of joe or tea. All it takes is some time in the kitchen and creativity. They'll be even better tasting , fresh from your oven.

Fall Pantry Keeps And Throws

 Fall offers a lot in the way of cooking and baking. Yet like anything in the house , the kitchen needs to be cleaned and scoured. There are some ingredients that need to be cleaned and some that need to be kept.  It makes for a more organized area , perfect for the heavy schedule ahead.

Items that need to go are the ones that made summer fun. If you have any ice cream left over from the summer  you can either eat it or throw it out. The sweet creamy treat is still good if you bought it in late August or early September. If you bought it earlier, you can still eat it  but it won't have the same vibrant taste. Sherbet is the same, lasting for two to three months. Luckily ice cream cones can last a surprising two to three years, however they will develop a rancid taste after two years in storage. These can be repurposed in fun Halloween treats by turning them into  cupcake cones. They also make cute containers for popcorn balls and Halloween candies as well as mixed berries. A fun dessert is layering different kinds of berries with whipped cream in cake cups. You can top off with sprinkles. Another long lasting summer treat is a box of Popsicles. These can go well into the new year and keep in mind that they're great for soothing sore throats. If you have boxes from the beginning of the year, throw them out.

You probably spent the summer creating all sorts of mayo based salads and slathering your dogs and burgers with all sorts of mustard and ketchup. Keep in mind that egg based mayonnaise has a shelf life of only two months. You won't die from eating it, but you'll become very sick.A better alternative is vegan mayo which can easily last six months once opened. That barbecue sauce you slathered on all those chicken wings and ribs may have to be thrown out, especially if you opened it in May or June.It lasts only four months. If you have a lot of it and it's still good, then think about adding it to meat loaf or hamburgers. You can also use it for pulled pork or pulled chicken. Horse radish is another condiment that has a short shelf life, expiring after  only four months. Throw it out if you bought it at the beginning of the summer. If it's under three months, then think about using it for roast beef sandwiches or to give salad dressings some zing. Ketchup is still good even after six months while mustard can last up to a year. Those pickles that graced the picnic table in the summer can also grace the winter table.Olives last even longer , staying in the fridge from one year to eighteen months.

It pays to clean out your pantry, fridge and freezer after every six months. It also pays to know what foods have a long shelf life and can be used in some cold weather recipes. See what you have and either use it or toss it.

Tooth Healthy Foods

Our teeth are probably ready to fall out  after six months of devouring cookies, and ice cream, Add to that sugary drinks , from soda to coffees to even alcohol, and you have a recipe for mass cavities and rot. Yet you can help your teeth. A good  calcium and protein diet can help in reversing the effect of too many Oreos and mocha lattes.

What should you eat if you want to preserve your teeth? Cheese and yogurt are very good choices. If you're not averse to dairy , then think about incorporating it into your diet more. An excellent choice would be a spinach salad with grated Gruyere or a Cobb salad with cheddar cubes instead of croutons. Incorporate more cheese in your charcuterie platters. Try slices of Provolone or  Gouda along with blue and Brie. Yogurt is another must eat. Greek yogurt is better for you because it has double the amount of protein than regular yogurt. A healthy treat is a parfait of Greek yogurt, mixed berries and honey. This is a plus because honey , itself is good for teeth , preventing all kinds of gum disease and tooth decay. The compound prevents dextran, a polysacceride created from bacteria from forming on the tooth enamel. You can also create delicious dips with it, using spices and even onion powder to create a tasty veggie dip. Use it in cooking too, especially in marinating chicken.

Leafy greens are another important ingredient for healthy teeth.Spinach is an excellent choice, because it's not only healthy but versatile. A tasty dish is choley , an Indian stew made with fresh spinach leaves , curry and turmeric  along with onions and chickpeas.  Another idea is spinach filled crepes. This can be served with cheddar cheese sauce for a fun change from the ordinary. A spinach salad chock full of other veggies is another tasty good for your teeth plate. Other leafy greens are kale and collard greens which both can be incorporated in a variety of different dishes. The two are interchangeable in recipes. Both can be made into tasty vegan stews along with peppers and tomatoes, spiked with garlic and red peppers. Another leafy green is cabbage, good both cooked and raw.  It makes for a great salad, especially Oriental style with soy sauce and ginger or cooked and pickled in savory and vinegar. For a good snack try celery chunks or almonds. Celery acts like nature's toothbrush, scraping bacteria and food particles from the tooth's surface. Almonds are high in calcium and protein which make for the perfect snack. 

Eat for your teeth as well as for your body. It'll make for fewer dentist visits and less cavities. It'll also make for stronger teeth and better digestion.

Friday Night Fun

 Kids are feeling pretty down these days with most sports and after school activities being cancelled. Yet there's one thing that can't be exed out and that's Friday night. It 's meant for fun dinners and activities to welcome in the weekend There are plenty of neat dinner ideas and snacks to keep everyone full and fun. 

Pizza has always been a Friday night standard. It's easy to make at home with the dough consisting of just flour water,  yeast, olive oil, salt , and yes, a teaspoon of sugar. What makes it special is what you put on top. A fun idea is creating individual ones and let the kids put what they want on top. Vary the toppings. Have chopped bell peppers along with  chopped and diced broccoli and cauliflower. Kids love pepperoni so you can always make that one of the toppings too along with extra cheese. A spin on pizza is a calzone. The name means big sock however you can make them little sock size for your little ones. Another way of looking at it is as inside out pizza. Usually the toppings and sauce go on the inside and then the whole thing is baked in a 375 degree F oven for thirty to thirty-five minutes. Omit the pizza sauce and save that for later dipping. Like pizzas , calzones can vary . Kids can stuff them with sausage and bacon along with Canadian bacon and sausage. They can also be stuffed with the traditional ham and ricotta cheese but different veggies can be subbed in for the ham. You can also season or not season them too. Kids love barbecue and if the weather is still warn in your area then think about a cook out with their favorite burgers and hot dogs. Since it's Friday serve up a bowl of potato chips or tortilla chips with nachos too.

The end of the week usually means movie or game night. The fun food that comes to mind with both of these activities is popcorn. A tasty version is subbing in olive oil for a richer flavor. You could also make a variety of different flavored corn. Add a heady sprinkle of cheddar cheese powder or finely grated Parmesan.Caramel corn is another sweet treat perfect for munching during a marathon or Scrabble game. The caramel is a mix of butter,vanilla and the two sugars brown and white cooked over a stove top. The already cooked corn is then tossed into the mix and coolers. There's a great recipe in the Two Sisters Food blog (where I get all my frosting recipes). Another fun Friday night treat is a bowl of potato chips. However the store bought kind can be greasy, especially when eaten at night. This is when the air fryer comes into play. Air fryer chips are crispy and just as tasty as any of the commercial brands. You just need Russet potatoes sliced thin with a mandoline.It's then soaking them in cold water for thirty minutes. Before frying coat both sides of the slices with cooking spray and then cook for sixteen minutes at 300 degrees F and then the last few minutes at 400 degrees F. Remember to salt them too.

Nothing will take away Friday night fun. Bake that pizza , pop some corn. Have fun foods and fun treats for the best night of the week.

The Secret of Mapo Tofu Sauce

 One of China's best known and most sought after dishes is mapo tofu sauce . This fiery blend , usually reserved for Szechuan restaurants can be made at home. It's a relatively easy mix that can have a lot of uses with other dishes. Once made it's sure to be a kitchen staple.

Andrea Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American food writer and chef wrote about it in yesterday's New York Times Food section. It's definitely on my must make list because of the promised flavor and how it can be used with other dishes like nachos (!) and even spaghetti. (!!) Chef Nguyen fi rst came upon it in a Chinese restaurant in Southern California where she grew up. She fell in love with the melding of meat and tofu , the sweet and savory along with the silky texture.  The fascination stayed with her. As an adult she visited Chengdu, the capital of Szechuan Province and the dish's birthplace.It's a relatively new recipe, compared to other Chinese ones, starting in the late 1800's. The originator, Mrs Chen, created the sauce in her family's restaurant and the dish is named for her.It's an unflattering nod to her pockmarked skin. Ma refers to pockmarks while po signifies old woman. According to the story, porters lugging oil to the market would frequent her eatery. One day they wanted an affordable dish made up of tofu and meat cooked up with some of the oil they brought in. Mrs. Chen obliged , also throwing in such Szechuan staples as Szechuan peppercorns and fermented bean paste.

Chef Nguyen has tried the dish at the original restaurant as well as trying ones here in the States. She has eaten it out and in Chengdu homes where she saw different variations. Mapo sauce has a lot of potential and can be used in so many dishes like lasagna and Mexican.Any home chef can make it. It's blending silken tofu until it's liquified and then heating Szechuan peppers in oil, preferably canola or vegetable until fragrant. Let the peppers cool and then grind them up. It's then preparing the rest of the ingredients which range from the all important doubanjang or fermented red bean paste  and douci  fermented black beans, along with fresh ginger, sugar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Remember to add pork or beef (it's up to you to decide.  I would go  with tofu crumbles for a truly vegan dish). It's then adding the spices and meat , frying the mixture until it's a rich reddish brown. The next step is  reducing the heat to medium low and adding the sugar and soy sauce. Scrape in the blended tofu, cooking well for about three minutes. Orange oil will rise to the top. Don't fret. This is normal. This is also the time to taste and adjust the flavor. Add sugar to tame the heat or salt to add more flavor. You can even add the bean paste. Chef Nguyen adds scallions and a cornstarch  and water slurry to thicken the sauce. The Szechuan peppercorns are added for more fire. Again, this works for all sorts of dishes. I would used it as a sauce for ants climbing a tree, a tasty and classic Szechuan dish.

Mapo tofu sauce is a versatile dish that can easily be made at home. Use it on a variety of different dishes.It'll make any recipe sing.

Helping Regufees In A Sweet Way

 Everyone needs help these days. Refugees have it the hardest yet some are being helped in a very sweet way, They are providing treats while being treated themselves. It's something they long deserve.

The refugees are the Sahrawi women of Western Sahara and the New York Times Food section featured them in a stunning pictorial today. Italian photographer, Matteo De Maya captured pictures of the women who started bakeries in an Algerian resettlement camp. For forty-five years they've  lived with their families . They fled Morocco in 1975 after their political group Polisario Front fought for independence from that country. Sadly the conflict is still unresolved today. The settlement now is home to $150,000 people, and generations have relied on humanitarian relief as they wait for a permanent homeland.It's one of the the longest running refugee camp in the world.One thing about the Sahrawi is that they love sugar, even believing it can cure various illnesses. An average family consumes eight-eight pounds a month!! Type 2 diabetes is a big concern. Yet sugar was a necessary must eat in their community. They needed to consume a huge amount of calories to walking long distances. It's long figured into their cures. Hot water and sugar can supposedly cure stomach and intestinal problems. Barbecued camel topped with sugar is good for the liver.

Yet their love of sugar can be put to good use. They can bake cakes and pastries, bringing in money for themselves. This  started in 2018 when women of the Sahrawi Trade Union reached out to the Italian nongovernmental groups, Africa 70 and Nexus about organizing a baking workshop for the settlement. Those group turned to Maddalena Borsato,a pastry chef and researcher at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy located in  the Piemonte region. She's helped thirty women so far. Sara di Lello , a project manager for Africa 70 said that holding the workshops in the women's homes reinforced the sense of community and solidarity typical of the Sahrawi's. Yet there are snags. The women don't have access to the ingredients most bakers have at their fingertips. They have to rely on natural ingredients such as  the roselle flower, a type of hibiscus that has a red dye to color the pastries.Luckily  there is the moringa tree, a fast growing plant whose protein laden leaves can be milled into a greenish flour to make pastries and other foods. The home businesses are thriving and the women recently asked for refrigerators for their newest addition - wedding cakes.

The Sahrawi women are making inroads, financially and emotionally thanks to groups helping them. They can bring in money for their families while boosting their confidence. It's the best that can be done for them, and possibly a way out of life in the camps

Weddings Now

October was usually the time for lovely fall weddings however that's all changed. The pandemic has forced us to look at how we gather and throw parties.It's not a question of what shall we serve but rather how can we do it without getting guests sick. There are ways of maneuvering  around the restrictions. 

In the old pre-pandemic days there used to be wedding receptions full of endless courses.There was the sushi bar followed by the pasta buffet. Everyone took from bountiful trays of hors d'ouevres and appetizers. a fun idea would be different food trucks set up along the street or in the wedding venue's parking lot. This is a plus because everyone likes what food trucks produce, The bride and groom can have their favorite foods served, whether it''s pizza or tacos. Several trucks can be set up because they're not that expensive per person. have hamburgers and corn dogs along with pizza and bulgogi, if you want a truly international affair. As for dessert, ice cream trucks are fun but just a bit messy. People will be wearing relatively fancy dress and the last thing anyone wants is a drippy cone or Popsicle. A better idea is a cupcake truck that doles out mini wedding cakes. These can be a variety of flavors too or the happy couple's favorite ones. You can also have already made meals that have been boxed in fancily decorated cardboard containers or plastic tubs. Fill them with  filet mignon sandwiches or lobster rolls. For a side think a small cup of grape tomatoes with a side of dressing. As for the cake, it can be cut in front of everyone and then instantly boxed to take home.

Can there be a relatively normal sit down dinner? Yes but keep it very small. Limit it to the immediate family and the  bridal party. This is reminiscent of weddings of the past where only a few were invited. The family can become involved , especially if the reception is held in the parents' backyard. You could bake a large ham or roast beef and serve it cold, if you 're involved in the wedding. leave it to rest for thirty minutes  - about the length of the ceremony. Slice it right away so that not too many people handle it or are around the meat. As for sides , think scoops of potato or macaroni salad in individual ramekins to cut down on contact.If you want some kind of salad, think hollowed out Roma tomatoes filled with cottage cheese. The cheese be glammed up with the addition of chopped red, yellow and green peppers along with oregano. Decorate with parsley sprigs. Should you have a traditional cake  with just a small group? Yes!!!! Bake a simple two layer with just butter cream frosting and flowers. If you feel it's not enough . then go for a southern tradition and bake a groom's cake. as well. This is usually the groom's favorite flavor, namely chocolate but it could be any flavor - except the wedding cake's. It can be decorated with the groom's favorite team colors or reflecting his hobbies.

Weddings and how we celebrate them will be different for the course of the pandemic. Make the best and most of the day with delicious foods. They can be from food trucks or from your kitchen. What matters is that they celebrate a day full of love and hope.

Happy 100th year wedding anniversary to my grandparents, Joe and Rina Helble.