Family

This time, Brad’s family. There was laughter, chatter, and eating, as per the usual.

And a dessert bar, featuring leftover birthday cake and some ice cream syrups. (There was, of course, some ice cream to go with.)

The meal went off without a hitch. I think everyone had fun. I did, anyway.

There was caprese salad, homemade bread with butter and jam, ribs, potato salad, crispy crunchy corn, fresh green beans, cucumber salad, pickled beets, and refrigerator dill pickles.

For dessert, the above mentioned cake, ice cream provided by my sis-in-law, fruit syrups, chocolate syrup, blueberry pound cake crisp, and zucchini bread.

There are so many new recipes from this meal to share. I’ll jam them into this post, if you don’t mind. I have the longest list of drafts I need to publish and it’ll never happen if I separate out all of these recipe. And I’d be upset with myself if I found out a dear reader was drowning in fresh tomatoes or blueberries and didn’t have any ideas of recipes to use them. Is that even possible, though? The lack of ideas, not the drowning. I know what it’s like to drown in produce.

Caprese Salad

So simple and delicious. I love fresh tomatoes and basil together.

garden ripe tomatoes, sliced

fresh mozzarella (balls or slices)

basil, torn

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

Layer the tomatoes and mozzarella. Sprinkle with the basil and drizzle with vinegar and oil. Serve immediately. (Leftovers make an interesting omelet the next morning.)

Potato Salad

One of my favorite potato salad recipes. If you don’t mind sugar, you’ll love this one. It’s very creamy. It’s adapted from The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals, page 45.

5 pounds potatoes, scrubbed

8 hard boiled eggs

1 cup diced celery

3 T finely minced onion

3 T chopped fresh parsley

2 cups mayonnaise

6 t prepared mustard

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vinegar

1 T salt

Boil the whole, unpeeled potatoes until soft. Drain the hot water and cover with cold water. Let sit until you can handle them. Remove the peels and chop into 1/2 inch pieces. You should have about 15 cups, give or take a cup. Throw them into a big bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours before serving.

Yield: about 3 1/2 quarts

Creamy Crunchy Corn

This is an excellent corn recipe to serve to company. It’s a little different than the usual pot of cooked corn or baked corn. Not that there’s anything wrong with those. They are delicious, too!

This recipe is adapted from The Better Homes and Gardens Annual Recipes 2004, page 162.

10 cups fresh corn kernels (about 20 ears)

1/4 cup butter

2 T canola oil

1/2 cup water

2 T sugar, if your corn is a little old and not so sweet anymore

3 T cornmeal

salt and pepper

Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet. Add the corn, water, sugar, and cornmeal. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. At the end, if there’s still a lot of moisture in the pan, remove the lid and turn the heat to high. Cook just until it’s all evaporated and the corn is a bit crunchy. Serve immediately.

Serves: 15

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

Wow. For being 100% whole wheat, this stuff is surprisingly light (not in color…in texture). I thought the coconut might be strange but I really liked it, and that’s saying a lot coming from someone who doesn’t usually love the stuff.

Sorry I forgot to take pictures of it! Head over here, where I’ve adapted the recipe from, for some good ones.

1 cup (4 1/2 oz) whole wheat bread flour

1 cup (4 1/4 oz) whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 oz) cane sugar

2 t baking soda

1/4 t baking powder

1 T cinnamon

1 t salt

3 large eggs

2 t vanilla

3/4 cup (5 7/8 oz) canola oil

3 cups grated zucchini (sorry, forgot to weigh it)

1/2 cup (3 1/4 oz) chocolate chips

1/2 cup (1 1/4 oz) unsweetened coconut flakes

Combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs. Beat in the vanilla and oil. Combine the dry and the wet ingredients and stir in the zucchini.

Grease 2 8×4-inch loaf pans. Divide the batter between them. Sprinkle the chocolate chips down the centers of each loaf. Lightly press them into the batter. Evenly sprinkle the coconut over the entire tops (not just the centers). Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from the pans and cooling on a wire rack.

To freeze, double wrap each loaf with plastic or wrap in one layer of plastic and then put in a plastic bag.

Yield: 2 8-inch loaves

Blueberry Pound Cake Crisp

I’ve had a homemade pound cake languishing in the freezer ever since this party. I forgot to serve it with the fondue. So I’ve been slowly using it in random applications. Using is as a crisp topping? What a novel idea! I forget how I came across this recipe but here’s the original. The pound cake is excellent atop the juicy sweet berries. I’ve cut back the sugar a bit and used a little less butter. There’s already plenty in the pound cake!

1 1/2 pounds (generous 4 cups) fresh or frozen blueberries

1 T lemon juice

1/3 cup (2 3/8 oz) cane sugar

1 T cornstarch

1/2 pound (3 cups) 1/2 inch cubes of plain pound cake

2 T melted butter

2 T cane sugar

pinch lemon zest

Toss the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch. Let stand 10 minutes. Pour into an 8-inch baking dish.

Meanwhile, toast the pound cake cubes at 375 for 10 minutes. Toss with the butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Arrange the cubes on top of the blueberries. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake 20 more minutes or until the berries are very bubbly and the cake cubes are golden and crisp. Let cool 1 hour before serving.

Serves: 6

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