Last weekend I had a family brunch at our house. The girls and I made these mini frozen fruited cheesecakes. The vanilla wafer crusts were supposed to fit neatly inside a mini muffin liner but that wasn’t the case at all. Maybe it had something to do with the Whole Foods brand vanilla wafers I bought as opposed to the vanilla wafer brand.

Anyways, other than being a little buried in a large paper liner, these little bites were a perfect addition to our brunch.

Place 12 vanilla wafers in the bottom of your muffin liners, flat side up

Whisk together 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt ( Seven Stars Maple YUM!), 1/2 cup  softened cream cheese, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon honey

Plop a spoonful on each wafer

At this point you could top with fruit or put the mini’s straight into the freezer for 1 to 1 1/2  hours then remove and top with fruit. (depending on how cold you want your fruit) Let them sit out about 15-25 minutes before serving–but not longer they need to be a little frozen to stay firm.

We used some very mini chocolate chips on ours too. Any leftovers we popped right back in the freezer for later.

I linked to Seven Stars above. I LOVE this yogurt. If I am not making my own this is what I am eating! Next week I will tell you all about a keifer and yogurt making workshop I attended this week with Warren Taylor of Snowville Creamery—oooh ahhh!! Very exciting stuff!

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I don’t usually just link or post  a recipe on Thursday’s unless I have made it and it is actually worth sharing. This weeks plan was to share a Kale and White Bean soup. I made it but it was nothing worth sharing. So instead I planned to share my new and favorite kitchen gadgets but my poor daughter has been here all week

It is almost 10 am as I write this and she just woke up still sniffling and sneezing. My youngest germ is coughing in bed with her Dad who has been working all week until the wee hours of the morning. It’s been a rough week around here!

So that is why I am just getting around to Thursday’s post…on Friday morning afternoon.

With all the germs flying around the house, this week turned into soup week.  There was the mediocre kale and white bean and the cure all chicken noodle

Everyone has a version of chicken noodle soup. Mine is nothing special but it certainly hits the spot. I added some pea shoots to mine…soup and salad all in one bowl is a favorite of mine! There was also a beef vegetable that I made in my new lead free crock pot.

Yes, you read that correctly. I don’t know how I didn’t know that crock pots typically carry lead in there glaze but apparently they do. I did some googling and found that the Cuisinart brand is lead free as is Vita Clay. Both are expensive. I did a little more digging and found this Supentown Slow Cooker. And even better I found it on the cheap at Home Depot The crock is made of the same zisha, purple clay, that the Vita Clay cookers are made from.  Supentown website writes that it is not only free of chemicals but rich in natural minerals. Someday negative info may come out about this cooker too but I couldn’t find it anywhere for now.

I used my new slow cooker to make beef veg soup and all was good. It is a little bit smaller than my other crock pot but not much. But because the crock is not non stick there was a little sticking. It washed out easily and the soup tasted great. Just be sure when you store any small appliance you do not put the cord inside the pot because the soft pliable coating on the cords do contain lead…so wash your hands after use. I also read that there is lead in the coating of the heating elements in the outer part of slow cookers. I am done researching lead for a while. In other news I hear they are planning to take some of the fluoride out of our drinking water…gee thanks. it’s about time. Don’t breath or drink or eat…chemicals are every where!!! It becomes exhausting. Trying not to get too caught up in all of that!

I do know for sure that this is lead free…it is stainless steel

Also by Supentown and purchased at Home Depot this thermal cooker was way cheaper. I haven’t used it yet but can’t wait!! I have had my eye on these thermal cookers for a while but they are  very expensive and couldn’t really find a difference between the two that warranted the extra cost so we finally went with the cheaper one. I love the idea of making food and taking it with us for later, all the while it is cooking on the move with out being plugged in!!! Can’t get more energy efficient than that!

Take a look inside-a simple design!

I promise to use it soon and let you know how it works.

I love my Olympic juicer…especially for carrot juice

Last but certainly not least one of my favorite kitchen gadgets….I shared my love for this thermos before in my OUT WITH PLASTICS post.  During the winter i fill it it up with hot water so a cup of tea is only minutes away. I LOVE it!! Again no electricity used here!

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?

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I LOVE hot and spicy food.  I saw a recipe for Fermented Hot Chili Sauce at Nourished Kitchen and thought it would make tasty gifts to share.

Holy crap–this is some hot, hot sauce!

I bought just about all the habanaro peppers at our grocery along with a few jalapenos and a couple of pablanos for flavor. I cut the stems off and threw them into the food processor with a few sweet onions, several cloves of garlic and a few handfuls of basil and salt and a little sugar. I mixed up the only living cultures I had-keifer starter-with a little water and threw that in too. I put everything into a mason jar–it took several tries as just inhaling the fumes were tough! I let it sit on my counter for about 12 days. There wasn’t much bubbling and not much liquid so I ended up just bottling it up seeds and all.

The brave decided to try it yesterday………….

I ate some on tortilla chips and yes it was hot but super tasty. I love the taste of habaneros!  I think it will be really good in a bowl of beans and rice topped with some yogurt! Mmmmm

The Nourished Kitchen blog is loaded with really delicious recipes!! Be sure to check them out.

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Isn’t this the most beautiful dish?? And it’s tasty too!

1 small butternut squash peeled and seeded and cut into 2 inch cubes

1/2 an onion

1 T cumin seeds **** see my senior moment note below

1 T corriander

1/2 cup cilantro

1 cup dry cranberries

1 cup crushed walnuts

salt

So I mixed up this wonderful mixture and ate it. And it was really good. BUT because I just copied the ingredients from the Crunchy Bits (Fall Harvest Squash Rice) post and didn’t pay attention to the fact that it called for cumin seeds –mine did taste a bit dusty! -and that she also put her squash in the food processor! As you can see-I did not. But still it was good. I did think it needed something wet with it or on it. I bet processing the squash made it more moist. Today I may add some cut up apple or an orange to my bowl full. Mmmmm (also I skipped the walnuts because we are sensitive to them)

Either way–a beautiful dish to eat!

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I shared on my twitter and face book about how great my countertop pickles tasted and was then asked by so many people for the recipe–So here it is!

I belong to an organic produce co-op. One of the other members spoke of her counter top pickles and was also asked by many of us for the recipe. She referred us to Wild Fermentation.  I linked to this website back when I made fermented carrots and sauerkraut.

Basically this is what I did–Because these were not just picked out of my garden -I soaked my cucumbers in cold water in the fridge for a few hours to crisp them up. I had regular old large cucumbers not pickling ones so I cut them in half and then quartered them. I dissolved 1 Tablespoon of salt for each cup of water. I think I did 8 cups of water for the 3 large cucumbers I had. I did not have a large enough jar so I used the inner crock from one of my crock pots. Perfect!!

After stirring and stirring to dissolve the salt I gently crushed several heads of garlic-say 4 or 5 with the back of a spoon-just to crack them open and threw those in the water with a small handful of peppercorns , 4 heads of flowering dill and a small handful of fresh dill and 2 freshly washed oak leaves from the big tree. The oak , grape, sour cherry or horseradish leaves are to help keep the crunch.

I mixed all of that around and placed a plate on the top to keep the cucumbers submersed in the brine.

I then put the lid on very loosely–leaving it slightly cracked open on one side.

The next morning I noticed a few bubbles–IT”S  ALIVE!!! Then there was a film that I scraped off over the next couple of days-then we tasted on day 2–delicious!!  Actually we ate several!

It has been really hot here so the fermenting went quickly! I left them 1 more day and then moved them into jars (that I have been saving from our Bubbies pickles) and put them in the fridge to slow down the process.M more were eaten this morning as I moved them into the jars–lucky I ordered several more pounds of cucumbers this week!

We might need to add some Rubens to the menu!!

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Friday we took the kids to our old favorite hang outs on Coventry (the Greenwich village of Cleveland). Most are gone now and the crowd isn’t quite so hippy but it was still fun. Playing at the playground and eating dinner at Tommy’s. We need a Tommy’s here in Clintonville. It would surely do a bang up business!!! Pretty Pleeeeeze???

Saturday we headed to the newly renovated and free Art Museum. It is awesome!!!

Then we headed to The Botanical Gardens. I can’t say enough good things about the Hershey Children’s Garden. We could play there all day.

Look –apparently Ginger has a twin in Cleveland

Saturday night we took my in laws to Sokolowski’s to eat.  On the recommendation of Anthony Bourdain of course– we got in touch with our Polish heritage!

Sunday morning we boarded The Rapid and headed to the Terminal Tower for a view from the observation deck. It has been closed since 9/11 and is only open for a few weekends.

Just about everyone in Cleveland had the same idea! We waited in kine for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Ginger was not happy

The ride up didn’t get much better

But the views were so cool! Cleveland really does rock! The ethnicity, the history and the big city feel.

Thanks Cleveland!  We will  be back soon!

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Where to start—

So why sprout?  Sprouts are full of nutrition–They are alive, vitamin and mineral content doubles or triple!!  Sprouting pre-digests the nut or seed and  activates living enzymes which also assist in digestion.

What to sprout? Almost anything! Use untreated, unbroken nuts, grain or seed–not seeds treated for planting purposes. Anything out of the bulk bins will probably sprout.

What equipment  do you need? Any container that provides drainage. You can buy nut and seed mesh bags for sprouting or use mason jars with old tights or nylons on the top secured with a rubber band for draining or you can buy a jar with a screen lid or for larger beans/grains I have used a bowl strainer/colander combination.

How do I sprout? Choose something simple to start off with-   Easy beans–mung beans, garbanzo, lentil, kidney, aduki Easy seeds—alfalfa, clover, radish, mustard, feugreek      Easy grains—-whole barley, wheat berries, kamut berries, rye, quinioa  Best nuts—almonds, sunflowers, filberts

For 1 qt finished sprouts measure out:    small seeds 2-3 rounded Tablespoons — Medium Seeds 1/4-1/2 cup —-Larrger beans and grains 1 cup —sunflower seeds 2 cups

Pour into jar or strainer, fill with good water,  let soak over night    Drain using a screen, nylon or strainer of some sort.  Rinse and drain again.  Continue rinsing 2 to 3 times per day for 4 to 7 days depending on the temperature-until desired sprout length. Keep in a darker spot for days 1 through 3 And for the last 2 to 3 days place in a sunny spot to activate their green chlorophyll.  Drain and keep in the fridge for about 7 days.

Once you get started it’s super easy to sprout!  You can eat them raw in salads or on sandwiches (PB&J w/ alfalfa sprouts is a favorite of mine!!) You can add them to soups or puree to make pate or hummus. You can go on to cook sprouted beans and sprouted grains can be dried and ground into flour.  I have a recipe for the mung bean sprouts in the first photo that I will be making tonight! I love to use sprouted quinoa to make tabouli.  Happy Sprouting!

******Fermented Foods update from last week*********

I just tasted them again today and the carrots definitely have a bit of a zing to them but still not enough-I will taste again in a couple of days. The cabbage is now a beautiful purple color but not too tangy yet. The temperature hasn’t been too warm so I think that might keep things from moving along and fermenting. If I had to eat them now they would be tasty but I am hoping for a little more “sour” zest to them! I promise to keep you posted.

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I am so excited!! I am sort of a geek about healthy food, and fermented food is my latest health food.  It seems like I am not alone. I  have been seeing and hearing so much about fermented foods lately, I couldn’t wait to try to make some of my own. Fermenting foods makes them more nutritious. These cultured foods grow bacteria, probiotics that are so good for your gut.  I found this book at our library–WILD FERMENTATION  THE FLAVOR, NUTRITION, AND CRAFT OF LIVE CULTURES   by Sandor Ellix Katz.  He also has a very informative website called Wild Fermentation. There is so much more to say about how good these foods are for you, Sandor covers it well in both his book and website.

And I also read a yummy blog post by my friend Sheri.  But sometimes I have trouble getting started with something new. I can research things to death. Very un-unschooley of me!! So I have been looking on-line and at blogs gathering info. Today I decided to just try it–and really it was easy.

I  started with Ginger Carrots.

I grated 4 cups of organic  carrots (not peeled as there is lots of good stuff especially minerals you don’t want to wash or peel off)   Put into a bowl and add 1 T grated ginger and 2 T salt.  Immediately the juices started to release from the carrots. This is just what you want to happen. Then I filled my wide mouthed mason jar and added just a tiny bit of water to make sure they were totally covered in liquid.

Look closely—can you see the bubbles–it’s alive!! Really-that’s what makes it so healthy!

I left plenty of head space and capped loosely to let some of the gas escape.

I used good salt. Look it says ALIVE!

I read that you don’t want to used iodized salt. You need to use large, wide mouthed jars which I have not invested in yet nor have I found any at the thrift store-so I used mason jars and an old pickle jar.

Next I made sauerkraut. I used both green and purple cabbage. I grated it up in the food processor and put it in a large bowl.

To that I added 2 T of salt and  1 t of dill seed and 1 t celery seed ground up in a coffee grinder.

After thoroughly mixing it all up with my hands I packed it down into a jar and topped off with a bit of water. Again leaving head space and not sealing too tight.

I put these into a bowl to catch any overflow that might escape. And set them in a dark spot on my counter.

I can not wait to taste these. I will do a taste test in 3 days to see how they are coming along. I read to test at days 3, 6 and 9. When it suits my taste refrigerate. I am so excited at the possible combinations and to try other fruits-yes fruits and veggies and spices Mmmmm.

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I love Indian food. Like really love it!! And I love chai tea. I have tried several kinds at several different places. My favorite at home is celestial seasonings decaf chai and my favorite out at a coffee shop is at Global Gallery where they grind their own spices. Mmm it’s really spicy.

Today has been a rainy chilly day here in Columbus — a perfect day for tea.

I have two Indian cookbooks checked out of the library right now that are fantastic!

INDIAN HOME COOKING by Suvir Saran and  Stephanie Lyness and INDIA WITH PASSION by Manju Malhi  The chai recipe came from the latter.

chai ka masala     spiced tea

3-4   1 1/8 inch cinnamon sticks or cassia bark

6 cloves

4 black peppercorns

6 green carmamoms  seeds only

1 black cardamom, seeds only (optional)

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp ground ginger

Dry roast all but ginger for 2 minutes

Cool  Add ginger and grind to a fine powder

cool completely and store in airtight container in dark place up to 6 months

add a pinch when brewing tea  1/4 tsp flavors 2 cups of tea

add to boiling water pot of tea and milk

I found my frother–it made all the difference

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Molly wanted a Hamburger Cake for her birthday. We trolled around the Internet and looked at lots of photos and ideas. This is what we came up with. It might look like something difficult but let me be the first to tell you-I am not much of a baker and if I can put this together anyone can! I don’t have any photos of the cake in progress.

I bought 2 cake mixes-1 yellow and one chocolate. I made the chocolate in a 8×8 brownie pan-square patty like Wendy’s burgers!

I made 2— 8 inch rounds out of the yellow cake but filled one with more of the batter (bottom bun smaller-top bun larger.)

After they cooled I trimmed the patty to make it nice and flat as well as trimming the bottom bun. Then I took the extra chocolate cake and added it to the top of the top yellow cake bun to make it more dome like. Make sense?

I bought 3 cans of frosting 1 chocolate and 2 white

We took some frosting out  and divided it into 3 bowls for condiments and added food coloring –red for ketchup, green for lettuce and yellow for mustard. You don’t need much. After you reach the desired color put each into a plastic bag and squeeze down to one bottom corner. set aside.

Take more white frosting into a bowl and add color to look like American cheese—use this to frost graham crackers to look like cheese slices on the burger.

Take the other can of white frosting and make it bun colored-we added a bit of the chocolate frosting for some color plus some food coloring.

Now to put it together

bottom bun cake first with burger patty (chocolate cake) next. Frost the chocolate cake with the chocolate frosting-making the edges look burgery!

 To that we put the graham crackers already frosted on the edges of the burger cake-hanging over a bit. We didn’t go all the way into the middle of the burger with these I wanted it to stay stable and thought this might make it tippy and too sweet. We did use more of the cheese frosting between the graham crackers and on the edges to look like melting cheese.

Then top with top bun. Use the bun frosting to glue the dome shape together. Try to smooth the frosting out as much as possible. Now get your condiment frosting’s and cut a tiny bit off the corner (a little larger for lettuce) and pipe lettuce around the bottom edge and squeeze squiggly ketchup and mustard on the cheese frosting.

We added a few slivered almonds on the top for seseme seeds.

This really wasn’t too hard. And it was surprisingly good. I thought it was going to be way too sweet-but it wasn’t. It was a little hard to cut but no one seemed to mind!

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Post tags: american cheese, Bake, batter, birthday, Brownie, burger patty, burgers, burgery, Cake, cheese frosting, cheese slices, choc, chocoalte, chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, Food, food coloring, graham crackers, Hamburger, hamburger cake, Molly, PepperPaints, photos, recipe, Thursday, Thursdays, yellow cake

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