Foods We Can't Live Without #4

I find that blogging is taking me back in time to a food, a special person or a time gone by. I LOVE ice cream. As I think back to my childhood, I remember having ice cream as a treat before I went to bed at night. I thank my father for creating the craving for sweets that I still have today.

My first memories of going out for ice cream were to Zarda Dairy. I remember banana splits, hot fudge sundaes and Bubble Gum Ice Cream. At home I remember my dad making malts with malted milk powder.

Homemade ice cream...remember the hand crank ice cream makers? Was that a lot of work or what? Today, I have an electric ice cream maker. While making ice cream with this machine is so much easier it does remind me that this is just another tradition of the past that has been replaced by technology.

One of my favorite recipes for ice cream is Alton Brown's Serious Vanilla Ice Cream. When I went to make it today, I realized I didn't have the peach preserves. I did have Apricot Preserves, so I used them and couldn't tell the difference. In the last few minutes of the mixing process, I added crumbled Thin Mints.

What is Verjus?

Prior to my trip to Sonoma a friend recommended a TV show called In Wine Country. In Omaha, it's on early on Monday mornings, thank goodness for the DVR. One of the features on the episode I watched this morning was on Verjus (vair-ZHOO).

Verjus is the pressed juice of unripened grapes. Verjus comes from the French term vert jus, literally "green juice,". The grapes used to make verjus are the unripened grapes the vintners thin from the vines. The unripened grapes are pressed but not aged.

Verjus van be used in salad dressing as you would a vinegar or as a substitute for lemon or lime juice.

I am anxious to see if Verjus can be found anywhere locally. Possibly Whole Foods? If not, I will be ordering verjus to try in some summer recipes.

Sad Sunday Morning Breakfast

For our Sunday morning breakfast, I was so excited to try the recipe for the Lemon Cottage Cheese Pancakes that I had so enjoyed two weeks ago.

As I was mixing the ingredients, I thought the batter seemed a bit runny. My husband was so nice and picked up the ingredients for me yesterday at the store. He purchased large curd cottage cheese and I did wonder if that might present a problem. Also, I did cut the recipe in half.

I've been lucky, so far everything I have decide to blog about has turned out well. Not so much today, these pancakes were a FLOP. They just didn't cook properly. From the one bite I tried, they seemed have too much lemon flavor.




I will try these again with a small curd cottage cheese, a little less lemon juice and a little more flour. If anyone has any other thoughts please comment.

Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread

My friend Larry's mother made the best banana bread. I was thrilled when she gave me the recipe. She was one of those old fashioned cooks that didn't always cook with a recipe. Like the time I asked for her bread pudding recipe...all she could say was well I put a some bread, some eggs, cinnamon, etc. in a bowl, you know just enough of each until it seems right. I think the secret to good banana bread is really ripe bananas and glazing the bread while warm.




Mrs. Flint's Banana Bread

Cream together 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter. Add two eggs, 3 mashed RIPE bananas, pinch of sale, 1 teaspoon of soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1 3/4 cup flour.

Bake in greased and floured loaf pans at 350 for 45 - 60 minutes. Makes two medium size loaves.

Glaze while still warm with a glaze of powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk.

Dr. Pepper Flank Steak

I am not much of a red meat eater. My husband, on the other hand, could eat it at every meal. He doesn't feel that a meal is complete without some sort of meat.

I do, however, like flank steak. Flank steak is a cut of meat that is best when marinated, cooked until rare or medium rare and thinly sliced against the grain. I've found several marinades that make this a flavorful cut of meat. One of our favorites is the Dr. Pepper Flank Steak marinade.



Dr. Pepper Flank Steak
Adapted from Grady Spears recipe

1 (16-ounce) bottle of Dr. Pepper
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tablespoons of your favorite steak grilling seasoning
1-1/2 pounds of flank steak

1. In a large bowl, combine the Dr. Pepper, garlic cloves, and cinnamon sticks.
2. Add the flank steak, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12 hours.
3. Prepare and light the grill, and heat to medium-high. Remove the flank steak from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.
4. Season both sides with the steak seasoning.
5. Grill the steaks from 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until done (never cook flank steak past the medium-rare stage or it will be very tough.)
6. Remove the steak from the grill, and let rest for 4 or 5 minutes, loosely covered with foil. Cut the steak across the grain into 1-inch-wide slices.

Wine Country

My husband and I just returned from a four day vacation to the wine country. We stayed at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. This property is one of the most peaceful and relaxing places I have ever stayed. The flowers, trees and water features make this setting so beautiful.



We did wine tasting at 18 wineries in the area. It is hard to pick a favorite as most of them had their own character and charm. Two of my favorites were Imagery and Hop Kiln. Imagery is a combination of artwork and wine. Their wine labels are unique. Each label incorporates the parthenon as a part of the label. It's fun to try and find it. At Hop Kiln, the tasting room is the old hop kiln. Hops grow on the property today.

We had dinner at The Girl and The Fig. I am much more of a foodie than my husband. I was so looking forward to our dinner. Maybe it's because I am from the midwest or maybe I had built it up too much in my mind but I was really disapointed in the experience.

My favorite food experience of the trip was the Lemon Cottage Cheese Pancakes at the Big 3 Diner at the Sonoma Mission Inn. They were served with creme fraiche and were so light and delicious. They just melted in your mouth. I am looking forward to finding a recipe and trying these at home.

Many times you come home from a vacation feeling like you need another vacation. That was not the case with this trip, it was one of the most relaxing vacations I have ever taken. I look forward to another visit to this area sometime in the future.

Fresh Since 1923

Who doesn't love a homemade pastry on a Saturday morning? Not from your local Krispy Kreme but Schmidt's Bakery in St. James, Minnesota. Schmidt's is one of those places that takes you back to a simplier time when you might find a bakery like Schmidt's in your home town.

From their homemade candies at Christmas time, cream horns, cinnamon rolls and hamburger buns, everything is wonderful! If your travels ever take you to Southwestern Minnesota, Schmidt's is worth a stop!