Microplane Graters

While not one of the most revered kitchen tools, a microplane grater or two will make your home cooking easier.

I had purchased my share of box graters and the sort at kitchen stores over the years.  When I read about the microplane grater in cookbooks, I assumed it was a style of grater and that it couldn't work any better than what I was using.

I researched this kitchen tool while looking for a zester, discovered how inexpensive they were, and decided to give one a try.  I also found that microplane is a brand not a style of grater.

I first purchased the classic zester.  I have since added the spice grater, but don't use it much.  I wish I had chosen a larger microplane grater over the small spice grater as the zester is sufficient for most spices too.

The Microplane company is based in the USA and the graters are produced here -- I assume in Arkansas, where they are based.

Grating with a microplane requires less effort as the blades cut so nicely.  And these are so much smaller than most graters that they save significant amounts of space in your drawers.

Give them a try.  Grate some fresh Parmesan, nutmeg, or zest an orange or lime.  I'm certain you will never regret making this small addition to your kitchen.  It's a workhorse in our kitchen.

Chemical in Candy Set Off Airport Alarm

Does anyone find this news heading alarming?  A chemical.  A chemical in candy!?

In the candy you eat or perhaps hand your children are chemicals strong enough to set off an airport security alarm?  Are you alarmed?

This is a paragraph from the article:

"It was later determined that the candy, which was harmless, contained a chemical compound that triggered the alarm. "

-www.woodtv.com

I guess the candy was harmless in that it presented no terrorist threat.  But why isn't a chemical compound in candy considered harmful to one's body?

The article never states what the chemical was exactly, but I have two posts on the issue of candy pollutants and alternatives here and here.

Leftover Holiday Ham Split Pea Soup

If your family is like mine, every holiday get-together involves some ham.  And there are always leftovers sent home with various recipients.

And, if your like me, that ham sits in your refrigerator for a day or two waiting for a decision.  You can have ham-on-bun for days on end (I've recently done that and it wasn't pleasant), throw it in the freezer and parcel it out, have it for dinner with a different side for several days or make soup!

I've been reading a slow cooker (or crock-pot) recipe book titled, "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow", by Stephanie O'Dea and used her recipe (pg. 208) for split pea crock-pot soup as a guide.  The only change I made was to use leftover ham slices rather than the bacon or ham hock she suggests.

These are the ingredients I added to the crock-pot:

I started with a pound of organic split peas from our local health foods store for about $2.75 and soaked them with water overnight in the refrigerator -- though soaking isn't necessary if you plan to have them in the crock-pot for 8 hours.  For soaking, I placed mine in a large bowl and covered with water about 2 inches deep.

Next I diced up 1/2 a yellow onion, 1 potato (peeled), and 1 cup of carrot.

 I didn't have vegetable broth on hand, so I used 4 cups of organic chicken stock from Costco.

 I cut the leftover ham slices into chunked pieces reserving some ham to add in later.

Next, I threw it all in a 6-quart crock-pot along with an additional cup of water a tsp. of salt and a bit of fresh ground black pepper and cooked it on low for 6 hours (you may need two more hours if you didn't pre-soak your peas).

After six hours of low and slow cooking, I ladled the ingredients into the Vitamix Blender and blended on high for about 20-seconds before returning the smooth and creamy soup to the crock-pot.





I then added some additional ham chucks to the soup for texture and put the crock-pot on warm until we were ready to serve it!







A delicious and satisfying post-holiday soup for those cold winter days!

Gluten Free Gingerbread House

The fun of building a ginger bread house is a tradition for our family, but our son (see about) always vomited on them after taking a few bites and my wife has a gluten sensitivity.

Given that these boxed creations were designed to sit on store shelves for 5 months, it's no wonder the preservatives and chemicals set him off.

So last year I set out to find a solution that would allow us to enjoy making a gingerbread house and that could be gluten free and contain only natural ingredients.

I discovered a gingerbread house bundt pan that would allow us to use a gluten free cake mix and better yet, use our own ingredients.  I was able to get ours at Michaels on clearance for $12 in the days following Christmas.  Given that this will see many many years of use the actual cost of creating a gingerbread house will be much less than buying a kit every year.

The kids helped in a whole different way this year creating their house.

We first, carefully greased the inside of the pan and in all the crevices using a sandwich bag over our hand.  After the greasing, scatter flour throughout the inside of the pan and shake out any access.  This will allow the finished cake to fall right out when it is done.

Then, let the kids fill in the ingredients and mix.

Pour the batter (9 cups or a traditional cake mix worth of ingredients) in to the bundt pan, give a quick shake side-to-side and it's ready to go in the oven.

We found that it took a few moments longer than a traditional cake to fully bake.  We inserted a skewer stick  into the center and pulled it out.  If no cake residue remains, it's done!

Wait a few minutes and then turn over on a cooling rack and the cake should fall right out.  And it looks beautiful!

 After the cake has cooled, you may decide to cut any bumps off the bottom for a flat presentation.  We just used a nice bread knife for this task.












Next, give the kids some frosting (we made our a bit runny for icicle/snow effect) and let them place an assortment of candies on and around the house.  We used M&M's, but get as creative as you want.

We do this more for fun than presentation, but I have seen some pictured from others that are impressively decorated.  I have also seen just a simple dusting of powdered sugar over the house.  Do as much or as little as you want.

Finally, enjoy your creation!

Picture on the Nordic Ware Bundt Pan.

Angie's Kettle Corn

Yep!  The whole 6 oz. bag is gone!

Our family went to the mall yesterday to look at an impressive train display that has become an annual tradition.

After seeing the trains, we went to the Mall grocery store for a panini lunch.  I wanted a side to go with the panini's that the kids would enjoy and we would too.  This can be a difficult task given the need for gluten free for my wife and all natural for my son.  We don't buy the pre-made sides at the grocery store because we can never tell what the ingredients are and we can't risk my son getting sick.  I started looking around at bags of typical sides (potato chips, corn chips, etc.) and was pleased with what I found.

I picked up a bag of Angie's Caramel Kettle Corn (on sale for $2) fully expecting to read an ingredient list a mile long.  To my pleasant surprise there were only a few items and all things I could easily accept.

The ingredients:

• Popcorn
• Corn Oil
• Sugar
• Invert Cane Syrup
• Natural Flavor
• Sea Salt
• Caramel and Annato (colors)

So how did it taste?   Amazingly good.  The caramel corn has a light coating so we didn't end up picking the caramel our of our teeth all day. The sweet salty taste was perfect and satisfied the kids and parents too.  So good that on a return trip to another grocery store later that day I purchased another bag.

Have you heard of Angie's Kettle Corn?  If yes, you understand.  If not, try it, you won't be disappointed. And it's good for your family too!

Oh!  And Dan and Angie are real people too!  Gotta love honest marketing (see here)!  They have a great success story.