Chocolate Sugar Plums

I always like to try classic recipes and traditional food from all over the world, its always interesting to see how different societies eat. whether its a classic Italian dish or a forgotten American treat, this is the latter.
Did you know a "plum" used to mean any dried fruit? And that sugar plums don't even have sugar in them. I didn't either until I decided to make some. (Wiki it I promise it's true) So really they are made with chopped up dried fruit and nuts, add a little honey for added sweetness. when I first tried one I was like "ehh theyre okay" but after 10 minutes I was like "i need another". They are kinda rich like truffles, you only eat a couple at a time. I didnt think I liked thhem much at first but now I know im going to be making them again, and I probably wont wait til the holidays come around again. I may play with it a little by rolling them in powdered sugar or cocoa powder but I really liked the coconut.

 3.3 oz dried dates (about 15)
3.3 oz prunes
1 cup whole roasted almomds
1 T honey
 1/2 cup cocoa powder
3T orange juice or water (give or take)
1/2 t cinnamon,
1/4t all spice,
1t orange zest (optional)

 Pulse almonds in blender a few times to chop them up. Dice your dried fruit as small as you can (or have patience for) add everything together and mix/puree till everything comes together in a sticky mass. Side note if you have a food procrssor use that it will work the best, my blender started smoking cuz it was working so hard so I scooped mine out and stirred it together more. Then wet your hands and roll into small tablespoon size balls, roll in coconut and place on a cookie sheet. Youll want to wet your hands after ever two or three balls or so. Let them firm up in the fridge for an hour and store in an airtight container.
Makes about 30 balls.

One pot "lasagna?"

I don't really know what to call what I made tonight but it was pretty quick and tasty. It reminded me of other recipes that I've seen for "skillet lasagna" so I dunno. Here's what I did

Cook 1 package of whole wheat egg noodles - boil water and cook for 6 minutes
Then add about 1/2 cup of frozen spinach to the noodle water to de-thaw (like 3 more minutes)
while that is all cooking throw about 15 to 20 frozen meatballs mixed with 1 can of Italian diced tomatoes into the microwave to heat up (about 5-6 minutes)
Drain the water and mix it all together in the pot; add a handful (or two) of shredded colby-jack cheese and half a can of tomato sauce. add a scoop of cottage cheese on top of each serving.

Peppered squash chutney

Great way to use the last of the summer squash. So good on hot dogs.
This is the real recipe but I only made like a quarter batch.
Ingredients 3 pounds yellow summer squash, finely chopped 3 pounds zucchini, finely chopped 6 large onions, finely chopped 3 medium green peppers, finely chopped 3 medium sweet red peppers, finely chopped 1/4 cup salt 2 cups sugar 2 cups packed brown sugar 2 cups white vinegar 4 teaspoons celery seed 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon ground mustard Directions In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Drain vegetable mixture. Rinse in cold water and drain again. Place vegetables in a Dutch oven. Add the sugars, vinegar, celery seed, turmeric and mustard. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes or until liquid is clear. Remove from the heat; cool. Spoon into containers. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. Yield: 4 quarts.

flour tortillas

This is really flatbread because it puffs up pretty thick. For tortillas use 1/2 to 2/3 t baking powder instead. I make it both ways and it is SO good. Its a major improvement from the store bought stuff. Just put it in a big ziplock bag and it keeps in the refridgerator really well. I loke to add a little garlic to the flatbread dough and use as pizza crust when I dont want to wait for the yeast to do the rising. Texas Flour Tortillas Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose flour (can make them whole wheat by substituting one cup of whole-wheat flour for white flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil
3/4 cups of warm milk

Method:
Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and oil.
Slowly add the warm milk.
Stir until a loose, sticky ball is formed.
Knead for two minutes on a floured surface. Dough should be firm and soft.
Place dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap for 20 minutes.
After the dough has rested, break off eight sections, roll them into balls in your hands, place on a plate (make sure they aren’t touching) and then cover balls with damp cloth or plastic wrap for 10 minutes. (It’s very important to let the dough rest, otherwise it will be like elastic and won’t roll out to a proper thickness and shape.)
After dough has rested, one at a time place a dough ball on a floured surface, pat it out into a four-inch circle, and then roll with a rolling pin from the center until it’s thin and about eight inches in diameter. (If you roll out pie crusts you’ll have no problem with this.) Don’t over work the dough, or it’ll be stiff. Keep rolled-out tortillas covered until ready to cook.
In a dry iron skillet or comal heated on high, cook the tortilla about thirty seconds on each side. It should start to puff a bit when it’s done.
Keep cooked tortillas covered wrapped in a napkin until ready to eat.
Can be reheated in a dry iron skillet, over your gas-burner flame or in the oven wrapped in foil.

Makes eight tortillas.

I made grape Jam!!!

So I saw this 3lb box of black grapes at kents for 99cents! Talk about cheap! So I grabbed one up with my chicken and headed home. Now personally I've never been a big fan of grape jelly (or any jelly) im more of a berry jam kind of gal, but a certain someone I know just loves him some pb and grape jelly. So I decided to try a grape jam (made with pieces of friut instead of just juices) and see what happens.

I pulled all the grapes off the vine and gave them a wash, them I just threw them in the blender to puree (it made about 4 cups 'juice'  cuz there were some bad ones and I ate some too). I put it in a pot and mixed it with a box of pectin, bring to a full boil (while during constantly) and add 1, thats right 1!, cup of sugar. Boil for about 10 minutes (spooning out a little onto a chilled plate to test that if it is thinkening how you want) then pour into 4, sanatized, half pint mason jars and let cool completely. If you want to store them in the pantry you need to do a water bath immediatly after filling the jars. so put the jars in your canner covered by 2 inches of water and boil for 15 minutes.

I gotta say; black grape jam is WAY better than super sugary concord grape jelly!!

'they' say that you dont want the skins of grapes in your jelly because they get tuff when cooked. I didnt have this problem, there was also no way I was going to take the extra time skinning the grapes or trying to juice them without my moms old juicer thing. I dont know if its because I pureed them instead of just smashing them or if concord grapes are different somehow but it worked out well for me. Check out my Etsy shop for lots of amazing jam flavors. All the flavor non of the work http://www.etsy.com/shop/MummyMaid?ref=si_shop