Bread Pudding

 It's Cold out side!!!  And the time of year everybody starts thinking about all of those comfort foods that they miss eating.  One of my favorites is Bread Pudding.  This is the recipe that I have been telling everyone about at the farmers Markets and food shows.  If I was you, i would double the recipe, so you have leftovers to pick at later.  I had every intention of take a picture of it after mother made it for us at lunch today.  But remembered after my brother and I had eaten most of it gone.  Next time.

Happy Cooking

Bread Pudding

Ingredients

• 6 slices day-old bread
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 cup Slide Ridge honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Break bread into small pieces into an 8 inch square baking pan. Drizzle melted butter or margarine over bread. If desired, sprinkle with raisins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread, and lightly push down with a fork until bread is covered and soaking up the egg mixture.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly tapped

Honey Wine Vinegar Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup Slide Ridge honey
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons Slide Ridge Honey Wine Vinegar
• 2 teaspoon Rum Flavoring

Directions

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Mix together the sugar and cornstarch, and stir into the butter. Pour in milk, and cook stirring frequently until the mixture begins to boil. Continue cooking until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in vinegar and rum flavoring to taste. Serve warm.

Corn Fritters

My mom is the most wonderful cook ever!  She is one of those cooks that can pull a dinner out of a hat.  We are always putting her on the spot.  Yesterday we forgot to let her know that we had a business luncheon here at the house/Slide Ridge office.  She made the best chicken, potato salad, squash and cheese bread ever.
Then it was on to the next meal which happened to be my brother Mike's Birthday dinner.  It was one of our family's favorite fun dinners to have as kids growing up.  Mother would cook us Corn Fritters made from the corn out of our huge garden.  So every year for his Birthday mom cooks him fritters, and of course we all get to share in the fun.
Mother found the Corn Fritter recipe in this Fannie Farmer cook book that was printed in 1954.  She loves this cookbook and as you can tell by the photos below it has been recovered several times to keep it from falling apart, spilled upon, been to close to the burners on the stove, and many kids and grand kids learning how to cook.  It was moms very first cookbook, dad had given it to her when they where first married.

And even looking like it does, my sister and I keep trying to talking my mother into letting one of us have it.


So I am not only sharing a recipe with you that you can use with our Honey Wine Vinegar, but I am writing down a little bit of our families history for our great grand kids, and generation to come.

Corn Fritters

Chop and drain

                1 cup Fresh or whole kernel canned corn

Add

                1 egg yolk, beaten thick

Sift together

                1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

                1/2 teaspoon baking powder

                1/2 teaspoon salt

                Few grains paprika

Stir into the corn.  Fold in

                1 egg white, beaten stiff

This recipe was never enough to feed our family of 7 so we four times it.

Drop from a tablespoon into fat heated to 370 degrees.  Cook until delicately brown.

Drain on a paper towel.  Serves 4 to 6.

Mom would have several different dipping bowls filled with different flavors.  Ketchup, mustard, maple syrup, powdered sugar, and now we have add a reduction of Honey Wine Vinegar to the table of goodies.

Happy Fitter Eating

Chewy Nut and Cereal Bars

It's a busy, busy summer with taking care of the Honey Bees and visiting with all our new friends at the Farmers Markets.  

Currently it is just pouring rain out side, always a good time to do a little computer work.  I just found this yummy recipe in Gourmet Magazine and wanted to share it with you.

Its funny how food and certain smells can remind you of things.  This one reminds me of all the hikes to Cold Water lake that I went on as youngster.  I think that I will wipe up some of these bars and go see if that lake is still there.

BY MAGGIE RUGGIERO
Gourmet magazine food editor Maggie Ruggiero touted these amber bars as the love child of rice krispie treats and those sesame candies sold at natural foods stores. They're nutty, both crisp and chewy, and just a bit crumbly--the perfect afternoon snack. Honey and brown sugar lend a touch of sweetness, while egg, nuts, and seeds give the bars protein and chewiness.
Photo: Stephanie Foley	Active time: 15 min Total time: 1 3/4 hr (includes cooling) INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 cups sliced almonds (4 1/2 oz) 1/3 cup sesame seeds 1/3 cup mild honey 3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 3 cups crisp rice cereal (preferably brown–rice) 1 cup roasted salted cashews (1/4 lb), coarsely chopped 2 large egg whites INSTRUCTIONS Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Lightly oil a 9–inch square baking pan, then line bottom and sides with parchment and lightly oil parchment. Toast almonds in a 4–sided sheet pan until pale golden, 6 to 9 minutes. Stir in sesame seeds and bake until seeds are golden, 3 to 4 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and cool completely. Reduce oven to 325°F. Gently heat honey, brown sugar, and oil in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Stir together rice cereal, cashews, and almond–sesame mixture in a large bowl. Beat egg whites with a rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl with a fork until foamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir honey mixture into cereal mixture, then stir in whites. Spread mixture in baking pan, pressing gently, and bake until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely, then turn out onto a cutting board and cut into bars. COOKS’ NOTE Bars keep, chilled, in an airtight container, 3 weeks.