Corn Chowder

Suddenly, blogger has changed their format for entering things, so if things are weird, it's because I haven't figured it out yet.

Today is Corn Chowder.  This chowder recipe can be done without ham and even without chicken broth (if for a vegetarian).  I'd like to try it again with sliced, fried bacon. The recipe is from the book The Weeknight Survival Cookbook by Dena Irwin. This book has menus for 12 weeks and focuses on making stuff one day and then using part of that to make the meal the next day. 

Very yummy chowder. While high in overall carbohydrates (78 g), by using a baked potato, the actual blood sugar effect is much lower, which is an issue if you are diabetic.

Corn Chowder

2 baked potatoes, diced
16 ounce package frozen kernel corn
16 oz. can cream-style corn
1 (15 oz) can reduced-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
4 ounces lean ham steak, diced
1/2 cup frozen diced onion
1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed thyme
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup evaporated skim milk

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer for a few minutes until heated through.

Makes 4 servings

Homemade Applesauce!

Bunch of soft apples in the bottom of the fridge? Make some applesauce before they go bad. It is so easy - you can do it on top of the stove, in a crockpot, in an oven and even in the microwave and your results will be splendid.

Homemade Apple Sauce

My way

Peel, core and cut in half enough apples to fill a Dutch oven. It will cook down, so a little overfilled is fine. Add about 1/2 cup of water or apple juice. Turn heat to medium and cover. Check occasionally that apples are not boiling. Cook until apples are softened, about 45 minutes to an hour depending on variety and how soft they were when you started. If you have a lot of fluid, leave the cover off during the last 10 minutes to cook some of that off. Add about 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. of salt. Mix well, turn down heat and leave cover off. Cook another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and add more sugar or cinnamon if desired.

Using a potato masher, mash up cooked apples. If you want chunky, don't mash as much. For smooth apple sauce, mash thoroughly. Eat warm or cold.

If baking in an oven, as you might do if you already are using the oven, check at least half way through cooking time that you have enough water or apples will scorch. Remove the cover about the last 10 minutes to cook out some of the moisture.

If you have extra, freeze it. Just put into a freezer ziploc or freezer safe container and freeze. Thaw and eat. I'm sure you could microwave it as well. Canning of course is an option if you have canning supplies (my sister makes great canned applesauce!).

We get our cinnamon from Penzey's - it is very strong cinnamon which is why I only use 2 teaspoons. If you buy your cinnamon from the grocery store, feel free to add an extra teaspoon. Too much cinnamon gives a bitter flavor, but applesauce is somewhat sweet, so it works fine. I love cinnamon!

Brownies!!!

My sister decided to try some brownies and they are oh so yummy. The recipe is from Taste of Home's 2004 Annual Recipes.



Maple Butterscotch Brownies

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons maple flavoring
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
confectioner's sugar, optional

1. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, butter and maple flavoring. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Combine flour and baking powder; add to egg mixture. Stir in walnuts.
2. Pour into a greased 9 inch square baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool. Dust with confectioner's sugar if desired. Yield 16 brownies

Here's a link for a photo and nutritional info. Yes, they can be done in a square pan.

Caramel Popcorn

My blog is certainly not complete if I don't include the caramel popcorn recipe!! We have this every Christmas and it only makes it that far because Mom hides it. I do not recommend using microwave popcorn for this - you will not be happy with the results since microwave popcorn tends to taste burned. Use either an air popper or pop it on top of the stove. I prefer Orville Redenbacher and Jolly Time, but we've also had some success in getting big popcorn with some off brands (our latest is the store brand from Fleet Farm). If you've only used microwave popcorn, I recommend starting with at least Jolly Time. While preparing the popcorn, my siblings found that putting the popped popcorn into a paper grocery bag and shaking it really helped to get any unpopped kernels to the bottom of the bag.

As far as the 'large pan', we use either a 12 or 13 quart steel mixing bowl or a waterbath canner. If all you have is an 8 qt stockpot or a 4-5 quart dutch oven, then put 1/2 the popcorn in and add the sugar slurry, mix a bit, then add the rest of the popcorn and stir carefully. When you add the slurry, the popcorn shrinks some, which will leave you more space.

If you have a family member who must severely restrict salt, Mom made this recently with 1/4 tsp. of salt and it tasted fine, however, we are also accustomed to low salt cooking.



This recipe came from Savory Creations, a cookbook by Mercy Employees Assn., Mercy Medical Center of Coon Rapids, MN. There's no date, but I'm sure it's from the 1980s.

Caramel Popcorn

Recipe by Ann Ulrich, contributed to Savory Creations

Pop and have ready in a large pan:
7 to 8 quarts of popcorn
1-2 cups spanish or roasted peanuts, if desired

Dissolve the following at medium heat and boil for 5 minutes:

2 cups brown sugar
2 sticks margarine
1/2 cup light Karo syrup

Remove from heat, and while stirring vigorously, add 1 teaspoon salt. Pour mixture over popcorn and stir. Bake in 200 degree oven for 1 to 1.5 hours. Stir every 15-20 minutes.

Green Beans with Caramelized Onion

You are getting a flurry of new recipes because we've been trying a lot of them. Here is another yummy recipe. I was iffy on it due to the brown sugar, but it is just right. The original recipe uses fresh green beans and I've included that information at the bottom. This recipe is from Southern Living: All Time Favorites c. 2009 p. 321

Green Beans With Caramelized Onion

2 pounds green beans, frozen
2 large sweet onions
3 tablespoons butter, divided
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. Place beans in casserole dish and heat on high for 20 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, cut onions into thin slices, and cut each slice in half.
3. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, and add onion; cook 8-10 minutes (do not stir). Continue cooking onion, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Reduce heat to medium; stir in remaining 2 tablespoons butter and brown sugar.
4. Add green beans, and cook 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Add vinegar; toss to coat.

Makes 8 servings.

If using fresh green beans, prepare as follows: Trim beans. Cook beans in boiling water to cover 12 to 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside, or cover and chill overnight if desired.

Peanut Butter Popcorn Balls

This was YUMMY. Loved it!! Mom made it. It comes from Taste of Home Winning Recipes, Volume 2 (big 3 ring binder) on page 363. I wouldn't change a thing. I think it has just the right amount of sweetness.

Peanut Butter Popcorn Bars

By Kathy Oswald, Wauzeka, WI

10 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place popcorn in a large bowl; set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir in peanut butter and vanilla; mix well. pour over popcorn and mix until well coated. Press into a buttered 13x9 inch pan. Cool slightly before cutting. yield : 2 dozen.

Calico Baked Beans - perfect for non-cook

I totally love various kinds of baked beans. It's so great to stick stuff into a crockpot or oven and have some tonight and then for lunch and supper the next day while you accomplish some long project.

This particular recipe was from a Lions Club Cookbook. As I get older, I find it a bit too sweet, so if you are serving just adults, feel free to cut the brown sugar to 3/4 of a cup. The original recipe says to use 1 tbsp garlic salt. I think that is a misprint and should have been 1 tsp. garlic salt. I use minced garlic because, well, I like minced garlic and don't feel the recipe needs so much salt.

This recipe also works for the non-cook. Tips for that person are below the recipe. One final tip. Instead of throwing away drained liquid from the various cans of beans, freeze it in ice cube trays or some other container. Use it for gravy or soup.

Calico Baked Beans

By Sharon Thornby

1/2 pound bacon
1/4 cup diced onion
1 cup brown sugar
1 (21 oz) can Boston type baked beans
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (15 oz) can lima beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (15 oz) can butter beans, drained
1/2 tsp dry mustard

Fry bacon. Cook onion in bacon fat. Drain off excess fat. Combine sugar, vinegar, garlic salt and mustard and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir together all ingredients in Dutch oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or cook in crock pot on high setting for 1 hour. Serves 12-16.

If you have no dry mustard, use 1-2 tablespoons of yellow prepared mustard.

For the non-cook. Buy precooked bacon and chop. Chop onion. Mix all ingredients together and put in fridge for at least 2-3 hours (even overnight is fine). This allows the molasses flavor to meld into the beans. Remove from fridge and bake or crock-pot for one hour or until thoroughly hot. If using a microwave, use 80% power for about 20 minutes. Stir, then 80% power for another 10-15 minutes until thoroughly hot. If you use full power, it often boils over and that is one heck of a mess.