Random Thoughts and a little...........FLOUR

   

     This is a Macoun apple.  Isn't it a beaut?  I was lucky enough to purchase a couple on a recent trip to the New England area.  If we had driven instead of flown, I would have taken home an entire box.  This apple was that good!  I loved the fact that it made a pop sound when I bit the first piece.  It was sweet, with a just a hint of tartness and had a lightly spiced fragrance. The Macoun met all of my qualifications for a good apple.  No wonder it is considered the "New England favorite dessert apple."  I often purchase smaller portions of fruit when on vacation in a different area, just to try something different.  I sure am glad I did, especially because this apple is only available in the fall, specifically October - November.  If you ever have the opportunity to try one, you shouldn't hesitate.  An interesting fact I have learned is that the Macoun is a parent of the Honeycrisp apple.  So if you like the Honeycrisp and can purchase them in your own area in the fall, at least you are coming close to this treasure.  Happy crunching!

CARDAMOM - I ran across a recipe last year for Chai Sugar and decided to make it.  What mainly peaked my interest about it was that one of the ingredients was cardamom.  Until last year I had never even seen cardamom let alone purchase any.  (The photo at right shows the cardamom seed pods.  The seeds are removed from the pods and are ground into the powder used for baking.)  But I was pleasantly surprised at its color and aroma.  I want to say it smells exotic, whatever that means, right?  But believe me, it has a pleasant spicy aroma.  Some spicy scents seem hot or warm.  I don't get that from cardamom, but it does have a presence.  I made my regular banana bread recipe last week and added some cardamom.  It gave a little more interest to the flavor, so at least for fall and winter, it will become a permanent ingredient for that recipe.  Next I'm adding it to an apple pie.  I have read that cardamom works well with cinnamon and nutmeg recipes, so why not add it?  My regular banana bread recipe includes the usual flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, oil, banana, and egg.  Then the spices are a half teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. ginger.  Since cardamom seems not as strong as ginger, I would go ahead and add 1/2 tsp. or more.  I hope you try this spice in your next banana bread....and you like it!

CHAI SUGAR - I found the recipe in a 2013 Taste of the South Special Collector's Issue for Fall Baking.  However, it can be easily located on the Internet.  The recipe includes 4 teaspoons of ground cardamom.  If you decide to make this sugar, try using it in a favorite cookie recipe.  Thank you Taste of the South!

Lavender

 
FLAVORED SUGAR - Another idea I have read about from Mother Earth News Food and Garden Series, is making flavored sugars.  I appreciate this periodical and only wish to share the idea.  This process entails wrapping either dried or fresh herbs and placing them on top of about a cup of sugar in a container with a lid.  The mixture should get shaken every few days and would be ready for use in about a month.  I could see using these sugars in tea or other beverages.  I would love to bake with it most of all.  I plan to try this soon using some culinary lavender.

 

Garden Thyme

DRYING HERBS - I tried drying some herbs this year.  I followed a microwave method I read about that meant drying herbs in 30 second intervals.  I was a bit leery of this, but the thyme I used worked and dried well.  What also worked for me was simply placing clean leaves from the herbs I brought in on paper plates and positioning them on a table near my east facing windows.  The morning sun from daybreak until noon apparently was enough to do the trick.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The herbs I used were the thyme, sage, a couple of different mints, rosemary and basil.  Basil was by far the most difficult.  I think it had something to do with its moisture content.  I tried the paper plate experiment earlier in October.  I do not know if it would work as well now since we are later in the month and the natural light is not as strong.

& FLOWER

 

    These are beautiful dahlias I saw while on our trip.  They were planted outside of a diner where my husband and I ate dinner one evening.  I have only grown dahlias once.  Each year they must be planted in spring and then dug up for storage after the first frost.  I think I opted not to replant my bulbs again so I could plant something else.  A girl's only got so much room, right?  They are certainly a very attractive flower. 

     Here at left is some fabulous fall leaf color from New Hampshire two weeks ago.  This was our second time to witness the changing leaves in the New England area, and when we were there all of the color had not peaked!  I have always heard of the vivid shades of color in this area and now I believe it.

     Hydrangeas shown above are in their autumnal splendor.  Believe it or not, my husband and I were walking through a cemetery in New Hampshire, trying to find any familiar ancestral markers when I spied this oak leaf variety.  What a beautiful enhancement to this final resting place.  It is my understanding that these shrubs bloom white in summer and over time can turn shades of blush pink, rose, and even beige.

     This last photo at right is a cluster of pecans on a tree after their pods split and before they fall to the ground.  I have seen many sights like this one, especially when I was a child.  The biggest chore in the fall for my sister, brother, and me was picking up pecans.  Then we would sit around our dining room table and crack each one in a sort of vice, and then picked out the meaty treats.  Yes, I do say treats.  To this day I love eating pecans any way I can get them, but especially right out of the shell.

Using Corn Starch instead of --- FLOUR

     My grandmother lived with us for a while when I was a child and I always liked to be in the kitchen when she was cooking.  One of her sweet treats she made that everyone enjoyed was banana pudding.  You know...vanilla wafers, bananas, pudding, and a meringue topping.  It was her pudding that puzzled me though.  I did not understand how she got that luscious yellow creamy stuff from adding that white powder from a box to her other ingredients.  When she told me it was corn starch in the box, the only thing my young mind could equate it to was what got sprinkled on your clothes to make them stiffen once they were ironed.  This possibility seemed yucky to me.
     But Grandma was right.  Corn starch is known as a thickener and it worked wonders in her puddings and pie fillings.  It is also used as a thickener for gravies and sauces, making them shiny or glossy instead of opaque as when flour is used.  I grew up learning to thicken with flour.  But when I watched my mother-in-law make her gravy, I learned how she used corn starch.
     Now, I have also learned that corn starch can make a great shortbread cookie.  The surface of each cookie becomes crisp when baked.  The centers, however, hold together well and have just the right crumbly texture.  Corn starch can also be added to regular flour to make cake flour.  Cake flour is what is usually called for in a cake that should have a light and fluffy texture. 
     So I found this recipe below from www.argostarch.com and made these for dessert one night this past week.  (I appreciate the Argo website, but I gain nothing from its use other than happily sharing the information.)  According to my husband, the taste tester, these chocolate chip beauties passed with flying colors.  These were easy to make and very tasty.  Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE CHIP SHORTBREAD COOKIES

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened (no substitutes)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup Argo Corn Starch

1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips

1 tablespoon sugar

     Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
     Mix butter, brown sugar and vanilla using an electric mixer.  Gradually blend in flour and corn starch.  Add chocolate chips.
     Form into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheets.  Pour tablespoon of sugar on a small plate; dip bottom of drinking glass in sugar and gently press down on each cookie to flatten.
     Bake cookies for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bottoms begin to brown.
     Cook for 5 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.  Lightly sprinkle additional sugar on top of cookies while cooling, if desired.


& FLOWER

     The autumn season is a good time for appreciating our trees.  This could mean viewing their beautiful changing colors, planting young specimens, or just being thankful we have them.  Here are three of my favorites.

Weeping Willow - As a child, I liked that it was easy to climb and appreciated that it grew in a rounded shape.  Even though anyone can most definitely see through its long fronds, when playing under that green canopy, I always believed I was hidden.  It grows well in a wide range of soil and moisture conditions.  Its growth witnessed along the Euphrates River eventually fooled some into thinking this tree had a biblical beginning.  That way of thinking prevailed and for a long time the Weeping Willow was linked to sorrow.

Oak - When we moved to what became my last childhood home, there was an oak tree that was planted very near the front sidewalk by the street.  Because of the tremendous height and size they can reach, it is not a good idea to plant an oak tree near a sidewalk.  Its roots can eventually grow to massive proportions, raise the sidewalk, and break it.  Oak trees can grow to 100 feet tall and 150 feet across.  In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed legislation that made the oak tree our national tree.  In medieval times of England, legend claimed that King Arthur's round table was made of one piece of oak.

Cypress -  The cypress trees I knew in my youth were the swamp or marsh kind that had "knees" or  shorter protrusions that rose up from their watery surroundings.  I used to call them the knees "hips." In the fall the cypress turn a rust or orange color as if to blend in to the color scheme of that particular time period.  However, the cypress trees planted in my neighborhood in southeast Missouri do not develop the knees and are used for ornamental landscape purposes.