Happy Memorial Day Weekend to everyone!

I’m actually noticing some minor improvement as of yesterday, but I’m still on the casualty list!  Bearing that in mind-I’m sharing some recipes with you that I received from a couple here in Laguna Woods who make a great team-he gardens fruits, vegetables and several variety of fruit trees and then, she cans and cooks the bounty. They also share with family, friends, neighbors and the local senior center.

Here are the recipes Jim and Ruth Matson shared with me:

Berry Cobbler

Pre-heat your oven to 365.  Melt 2/3's of a stick of butter (about 6 tbsps.) in a 9×13 pan.

Crust:

1 C flour
1 C sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 C milk
1 Tsp. vanilla
Mix above ingredients and pour over the melted butter.

Fruit:
4 C berries
½ C sugar
Combine in a pan and cook for a minute-long enough to release the juices.

Pour fruit over crust and bake for approximately 45 minutes (or until browned). Crust will rise to the top and brown nicely.

Serve warm with a bit of vanilla ice cream if desired.

The second recipe Matson shared comes from one of her neighbors.  "Linda's zucchini bread is just wonderful!  We think it's the best-which is great because we usually have a bumper crop to share with friends, family and neighbors!"

Zucchini Bread

Pre-heat oven to 350.

Combine:

2 C flour
2 Tsp. baking soda
¼ Tsp. baking powder
1 Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Mix well.

Combine:
2 C sugar
2 C grated zucchini
1 C oil
3 eggs
2 Tsp. vanilla
1 C nuts or raisins
Mix together.

Combine wet and dry ingredients together.  Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake for 50-60 minutes OR in a 9×13 greased pan for 45 minutes.  

And last, "I started making this bread and butter zucchini pickle recipe years ago.  Even those, like our daughter, who prefer the dill style pickles, say they just love these and become addicted to them."

RUTH'S ZUCCHINI PICKLES

4 Quarts thinly sliced zucchinis
2 Medium thinly sliced onions
1 EACH red, green and yellow peppers, again, thinly sliced
¼ C salt
Combine above and cover with cold water.
Let stand 2 hours, drain.  Rinse with water, drain again.

Combine in an enamel kettle:

4 C white vinegar
4 C sugar
2 Tsp. celery seed
4 Tsp. mustard seed
2 Tsp. turmeric
1 Tsp. dry mustard

Bring to a boil, cook two minutes.  Add vegetables and remove from heat.  Allow to stand at room temperature for two hours.

Bring to a boil again and cook 5 minutes.
Ladle into sterilized pint jars, fill to ½" from top.  Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes 8+ pints of pickles.  If there is a partially filled jar at the end, DO NOT process.  Cool, add lid and place in the refrigerator. Wait about two weeks to use.

This whole hand thing is becoming a drag.

While I no longer have to force my two digits to “bend and stretch“-I’m still quite swollen and numb in parts.  Plus, I think I’m getting hooked on Vitamin E oil.  Not ingesting it, just using it to massage the hand and scars.   Stinging from tender and dry cuts is not pleasant.

As for cooking-my husband is still helping with the prep work.  Yesterday-our daughter-in-law and I hung out and I put together a noodle pudding.

I’ve found that if I hold one pot handle with my “good” hand (that being rather an operative word at this time, I think “less bad” is better)and lean the other handle on my forearm this gets me from the stove to the collander.

My small appliances are in the same shape.  As I was blending my custard mix for the pudding I heard something funny coming out of my 14 year old blender.  The hard rubber blade on the base broke.

I’ve decided since our budget is rather thin-I’m going to start using that “new” 3 year old food processor for all my pureeing needs until further notice.

Luckily-I believe in Alton Brown (the food guru on Food Network) who says he doesn’t believe in unitaskers.  Neither do I.  I even use my mother’s hand-me-down (read this:  from her wedding gifts)melon baller to help core pears and apples.  

And now, my swollen and numb hand is stinging and stabbing-so I’m out of here for another week.

Happy Mother’s Day to everyone.

I know, some readers will already be over and done with the celebration.  We decided to hold ours yesterday, for the most part.

My parents moved out of their home of 49 years and into a senior community here in our area.  I’m not able to drive long distances with my back and it is becoming a rather dicey life with my mother losing her eyesight and my dad’s health/memory issues getting worse by the minute.

I have not been of much help-and what help I did, was too much for my hands and back.  I did have 4 articles to do this weekend and I’ve accomplished 1-1/2 due to pain.

So, I’m not apologizing here folks, just asking for some slack for a while.

Our daughter sent me some flowers and some groupons for vegan cookies (read this-she wanted me to enjoy my gift!).  We wound up going out after helping with a lot of unpacking the last two nights.  Our son and daughter-in-law really pitched in, so I’ll forgive the fact that I didn’t get a card-they were soaking wet from moving my parents furniture, unloading boxes and I help dil wash, dry and put away a lot of pots, pans and utensils.  So helping their grandparents was more than enough for me.

My husband took out a fancy, smancy tenderloin that he’s going to grill along with some baked potatoes and sweet onions when he gets home.  I’ll add a simple salad-as my hand is having enough of a problem typing this and the one finished article.

I haven’t forgotten about sharing the healthy KFC recipe-just can’t do anymore right now.

Have a great week!

Okay, stitches are now out, but the hand is quite shaky.  I’m still going to keep things on the short side because of it.

Obviously, cooking around here is being kept VERY easy.  Although, dh was determined to try the healthy KFC fakeout.  He did a good job.  I managed to get the salt and fish sauce into the brine for him.  And I measure out the dry ingredients for the dredging.  He had to cut the chicken, dry it and make the wash and to the messy parts.

It was quite tasty, but according to my ever-lovin‘, it didn’t taste like KFC.  He said it was also a lot of work, but that he’d like it again.

In other words-“honey, when you are up to speed, let’s have it again.”

It had a LOT of ingredients.  Remember-the colonel did say “11 herbs and spices“.  I bought little bags of all the ones I do not keep in my pantry-no sense buying expensive bottles to go to waste when Sprout’s carries the fresh jars that cost less that $2 for all the “spare” recipe parts!

Let me know here if you’d like to try the recipe and I’ll put it on here.  Too much to type, at this point, if no one wants to give it a go!

And now, I’m going to send a note to my hand surgeon and see if this literal “shakiness” is normal!