Berry Trifle

I asked Facebook for a trifle recipe, expecting something involving Jell-O pudding mix. Instead my friend Anna, a former pastry chef, came through with this.

strawberries, blueberries, or other berries
pound cake (she likes Harris Teeter store brand) or ladyfingers
amaretto, triple sec, or simple syrup
whipped cream
pastry custard

Place a layer of berries in trifle dish. Place a layer of pound cake and sprinkle with liqueur/simple syrup to moisten. Then layer with berries, custard, and whipped cream. Repeat pound cake through whipped cream layers to fill the dish.

(photo by Anna Fraser)

Pastry Custard

4 cups milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided in half
6 eggs (2 whole & 4 yolks)
7 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons vanilla

Dissolve first half of sugar in milk and heat to boiling. Mix eggs, cornstarch, and other half of sugar together. Temper eggs with hot milk and whisk. Heat on stove until thickened, stirring constantly. As soon as the custard starts thickening, remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Chill in fridge.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 - 1/2 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, and salt. In a third bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. Alternate adding dry and banana to the butter mix. Stir just enough to combine well. Fold in walnuts. Bake 50-60 minutes in a bread pan. Makes 1 loaf.

Date or Raisin Filled Cookies

These cookies are good but kind of labor intensive, so I've only made them once or twice. You end up with a little (ok kinda big for a cookie) pocket full of raisin jam, like a sweet pirogi or something.

img via: Epicurious Runner

Filling:
1/2 c water
2 c dates or raisins
1/2 c sugar
1 T vanilla

Dough:
2 1/2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 c sour milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grind water and dates/raisins. Add sugar and vanilla. Optional: add walnuts. Cook 5-10 minutes until thick as jam. Remove from heat, keep covered. 
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Combine butter, sugar, egg, and milk. Alternate adding wet and dry to form soft dough. Roll dough thin. For each cookie, cut two large circles. Spoon jam into center of one circle and cover with second. Seal edges, slit top. Bake 15 minutes.

Baked Apples

This is written on the same card as Swedish Nuts and Danish, which is titled "from Amy to me & to you". It's like a self-contained, crustless apple pie. One of many of Grandma's recipes that could either be dessert or breakfast, depending on your mood.

1/3 c walnuts
4 T water
4 apples
1/2 c sugar
2 T flour
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 c butter

Core and peel apples - do not slice. Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon well. Melt butter. Roll apples in butter, then in sugar to coat them. Place apples in cups or baking dish. Sprinkle walnuts and 1 T water on each apple. Microwave 1 1/2 to 3 minutes, or bake 35-40 minutes at 350F.

4 servings. Per serving: 374 cal, 18.2g fat (7.9g sat. fat, 30.5mg chol.), 55.4g carbs (5.6g fiber, 44.4g sugar), 2.5g protien

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 c butter
3/4 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
1 t baking soda
3/4 t salt
1 1/4 c mashed banana
1/4 c yogurt
1/4-1/2 c walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. In large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light & creamy. Beat in egg. In another bowl, sift together flours, baking soda, salt. In 3rd bowl, mix together banana and yogurt. Alternate adding flour and banana to butter. Stir just enough to combine well. Fold in walnuts. Pour into loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes. Makes 1 loaf.

Fruited Grain Salad

This is a neat salad from Moosewood, originally introduced to us by one of the Liberal Luncheon crew.

1 c raw wheat berries
1 c pearl barley
1 c short grain brown rice
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T lemon juice
3 T light oil
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c golden raisins
3/4 c minced chives or scallions
6-7 large mint leaves, minced
4-5 ripe plums, sliced (or grapes, peaches, etc.)
1-2 tart apples, diced

Soak wheat berries about 30 minutes. Wash barley several times, then cook with rice and 4 1/4 c water (boil, cover, simmer 35 minutes). Drain wheat berries, then cook with 2 1/2 c water (boil, cover, simmer 1 hour - 1:15). Combine warm grains. Add everything except fruit. Cover and chill. Add fruit just before serving.

Apple Breakfast

For Mother's Day yesterday, I raided my mom's recipe book and found some of my grandma's original recipe cards.

3 medium apples, peeled cored sliced
sprinkle of nutmeg
sprinkle of cinnamon
2 t sugar - white or brown
1 batch of pancake batter (1 cup mix, 1 egg, 3/4 cup milk, 1 t oil)

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter an 8 or 9" square Pyrex dish. Put in sliced apples, add sugar and spice. Microwave 4 minutes. Pour pancake batter over the apples. Bake 15 minutes at 375/400. Serve hot with syrup and butter. Serves 4.

A note on the back says, "I buy generic pancake mix. Raises nicely." My mom said she uses whole wheat pancake mix, but it does not raise quite so well.

Cranberry-Orange Salad

This is an simplified version of a rather complicated salad that I made for Thanksgiving one year. Now I make this one for everything.

img via: pinch my salt

2 oranges or several clementines
6oz baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup (or more) dried cranberries
4oz chopped pecans

Toast the pecans about 5 minutes at 350 degrees, then set aside to cool. Peel and separate the oranges and cut them into 1/2 inch pieces. Baby spinach usually comes well washed, but rinse if you want to. Toss everything together. Serve with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Cherry Pie

My grandma was a big fan of baking, and she gave my mom a lot of sweets recipes. Thanksgiving, of course, is pie season.

2 cans sour pitted cherries (not cherry pie filling - look in the canned fruit aisle)
1 cup sugar
1 t salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 T butter
1 t almond extract
2 pie crusts

Put one crust into a pie dish. Use a knife or small cookie cutter to make steam vents in the other crust, then set it aside to be the lid. In a sauce pan over medium heat, combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, and the liquid from the cherries. Stir constantly until the liquid becomes thick and clearish (about 15 minutes). Add the butter, almond extract, and cherries. Mix, then pour into the pie dish. Cover with the top crust, seal the edges, and sprinkle with sugar. Cover the edges loosely with a strip of tin foil to keep the crust from burning. Bake 30 minutes at 425. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.

Spinach Salad

This recipe is from our friend Lee Erikson. She's part of our group who gets together every month or so for the "Liberal Vegan Luncheon." Anyway, good simple salad, don't add the dressing til you're ready to serve it or the spinach shrivels and the apricots reinflate and it's just not the same..

2 10-oz. bags baby spinach leaves
1/2 cup cashews
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
2 apples

Rinse the spinach, chop up the apples, throw everything in a bowl. Ta-da, there's your salad!

3 T sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup garlic salt
1/4 cup celery salt

Mix everything together til the sugar and salts dissolve. Ta-da, there's your dressing!