food – Juanita Collins

January 12, 2016

Steel cut oats in the crock pot for breakfast

Just a few minutes ago, I opened the fridge and took out a container of left over, steel-cut oatmeal. I’d made a batch the other day; it is my favourite dead-of-winter breakfast. Stomach grumbling, I spooned out a congealed glop, added a spoonful of honey, and poured a bit of milk over. After three minutes on reheat in the microwave, my bowl of oatmeal looked, smelled and tasted as good as it did when I spooned my first bite fresh out of the crock pot two days ago. Yes, I said crock pot!

I’ve posted this recipe before… I thought you might like to see it again. Bon Appetit!

Everybody seems to call these by a different name. I call them steel-cut oats. I’ve also heard them called Irish oats, or groats. Here’s what they look like:

Here’s the box they came in:

They are creamy and chewier than rolled oats, and have a rich, nutty flavour.

My friend Maureen gave me the recipe and I played around with it a little bit. Do you want to make some? They are easy-peesy!

Before you go to bed, get your small (I use a 6-cup) crockpot out of the cupboard and put 3 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 cup milk into it. Pour in 1 cup of steel cut oats.Put on the lid. Plug it in and turn the setting to low. When you get up in the morning, give it a good stir and let it sit for 5 minutes while you make your coffee. Enjoy!

You can add chopped apple, some walnuts or raisins right into the pot, whatever you like. I like mine plain with a teaspoon (okay, 2 teaspoons) of brown sugar. Sometimes I throw a handful berries on top just before digging in. Delish!

In a nutshell for you:
3.5 cups water
.5 cup milk
1 cup steel cut oats
6 -cup crock pot, on low overnight.Do you love oatmeal? What do you call them: Groats? Irish Oats? Steel-cut?

March 2, 2015March 2, 2015

I don’t need a bread maker – I AM a bread maker!

We spent some time staying with Mr. C’s parents when we were in Whitehorse a couple of weeks ago and they have a bread making machine. I was instantly bitten by the “gotta have it” bug. You know the one…that bug that tells you you need this, that or the other thing? I know you know what I’m talking about, lol!

It happens to me a lot. For instance, my friend Cynde got a Janome Memorycraft 7700 last month. Man o Man, was I ever bitten hard! I thought I was going to die if I didn’t have one, too! Well, I didn’t die. And the urge to spend $2000 faded away pretty quickly, thank god!

But that bread making machine….man, wouldn’t that be nice? And then I remembered the last time I had a bread machine.

I am going to stop right here and give kudos to Black & Decker because their machine survived ME! Or, my meddling with it, to be more exact. I could not, for the life of me, leave that machine alone to do it’s business! I was in there every chance I got, taking the dough out to give it extra kneading by hand, adjusting the water:flour ratio, nipping and tucking and generally making a nuisance of myself. That machine probably cursed the day it was bought and delivered to my house, lol!

That’s because I’m a bread maker. Ask anybody who makes bread from scratch and they’ll probably tell you a similar story. Bread making machines are great. Unless you’re a bread maker yourself. In which case, they become shear frustration-making machines!

So this morning, after reminding myself that that I AM a bread maker and don’t need to buy one, I set about making some. First I fed the sourdough starter. I divided it and put half back in the fridge for another day.

Then I fed it again and set half aside to ferment for a couple of days. This will make an awesome loaf of authentic tangy sourdough bread probably on Thursday or Friday.

I added yeast to the rest and mixed up a batch of faux-sourdough. Two freshly kneaded and shaped loaves are rising as I type. 🙂 Mr. C and I will be fighting over the heel ends of the loaf at dinner. Good thing a loaf has two heels, eh?

My sourdough even has a genealogy. It’s an interesting story. Read it here! It came over the Chilkoot Pass in the late 1800s with the Christiansen family. It came to me from Millie Jones. Thanks, Millie! We’re sure enjoying it!

To feed your starter, mix 2 cups of warm water with 2 cups of flour and 1 tsp sugar. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Lumps are okay. Store in a glass jar in the fridge.

Enjoy!

February 1, 2015

Slow Stitching Sunday

Today is one of those honest, old-fashioned lazy days. The kind we always wish we could have. The kind we imagine we used to have, back in the good old days, whenever those were. Of course, we can’t actually remember any specific lazy Sundays. But they must have existed, right? Because we remember them.

Maybe they don’t happen very often. Maybe that’s why they’re so special. Like today.

Outside my window the snow is falling and everything is covered in drifting white. The wind is ringing the chimes outside the front door. I have a cup of tea at my elbow and Mr. C is ~~snoozing~~ reading on the couch while our fur babies enjoy a group snuggle in front of the fire.

Today I did not get up with any particular agenda in mind. I may spend some time with my latest hand quilting project. This little quilt is so sweet. I’m quilting white-on-white because I want the quilt to look embossed when finished.

If you’re interested in quilting by hand, I’m using 40 weight YLI quilting thread in “natural” and John James size 10 hand quilting needles. I’m also quilting it directly in my hands instead of using a hoop or a frame. I’m also using a product called Thimble Pads on my pushing finger: little sticky leather dots. I love them.

I’m really enjoying quilting directly in my hands this way. I don’t know if I’ll go back to using a hoop after this. My stitches are a bit coarser, but they’ll improve with practice.

Other news: my critiques are all in from my little critique group. I will probably spend some time looking at them. Or maybe not.Maybe I’ll save those for tomorrow, because I know that once I open them I’m going to want to get busy with edits. I won’t be able to help myself. And that sounds like work. Not worthy for such a deliciously lazy day.

Later on my friend Cynde is coming over and we’re going to eat some of the apple cake that I made yesterday (recipe here), drink tea and watch a Craftsy class together.

Oh dear. I’m sorry I disturbed you, Sam!

Today I’m linking in with Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy’s Quilts, and at Lily’s Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day and Small Blog Meet. And that’s all the work I’m going to do.

I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday as much as I am enjoying mine. Are you being lazy, too?

January 30, 2015

The Best Ever Oatmeal: a crock pot breakfast

I love oatmeal for breakfast. But not just any oatmeal…I love steel cut oats cooked overnight in my crock pot.

Everybody seems to call these by a different name. I call them steel-cut oats. I’ve also heard them called Irish oats, or groats. Here’s what they look like:

Here’s the box they came in:

They are creamy and chewier than rolled oats, and have a rich, nutty flavour.

My friend Maureen gave me the recipe and I played around with it a little bit. Do you want to make some? They are easy-peesy!

In a nutshell for you:
3.5 cups water
.5 cup milk
1 cup steel cut oats
6 -cup crock pot, on low overnight.If you’re back on the old Weight Watcher’s Momentum plan, they are 2 points per cup. I don’t know what they are in points plus. You’ll have to look that up for yourself as I’m not doing that program anymore.

Do you love oatmeal? What do you call them: Groats? Irish Oats? Steel-cut?

October 14, 2014

Apple Betty Coffee Cake

It’s Autumn here in the Northern Hemisphere, and that means Apples! My neighbour down the road has a lovely little orchard full of spartan apples and I picked three boxes! They are out in the cool of my garage, just waiting for me to cook with them.

I stumbled upon this apple cake recipe and tweaked it up a bit to suit me. I’m calling it Apple Betty Coffee Cake because it reminds me of my (self-proclaimed) world-famous Apple Betty. This coffee cake makes it’s own crumbly topping, is fast and easy to prepare, goes great with a cup of coffee, is perfect for last-minute guests, and keeps well. Bake it today and serve it tomorrow!

Chop up 3 cups of apples (that’s about 3 medium-sized apples). Whatever grows on your neighbour’s tree will work just fine. I don’t peel them, but you can if you want to.

Put the diced apples into a large mixing bowl and dump 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon and 1 heaping teaspoon baking power over top. Stir it up until the apples are coated. Now, pour 1/4 cup cooking oil into a 1-cup measuring cup. Add 1 egg and 1 generous teaspoon of vanilla. Stir until it’s all blended together. Pour it over the apple mixture and stir, stir, stir until it is all stirred together. The batter will be very thick and glumpy. (Is glumpy a word? It is now!)

Grease and flour a baking pan (I used a round cake pan, but a 9″ square pan will also work). Spoon the batter in and bake for 40 – 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Heaven couldn’t taste better than this. Honestly.

Nita’s Apple Betty Coffee Cake

Mix together:
3 c. apples, chopped
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1 generous tsp. cinnamon
1 generous tsp. baking powder

Mix together:
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 egg
1 generous teaspoon vanilla

Pour wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir well until everything is mixed together. Spoon into one greased & floured cake pan. Bake at 350 approx 40 – 45 minutes.