Re-growing Celery

Next on the list for my windowsill garden is re-growing celery.

I cut off the base of some store bought celery.

Put the base in water.  Note my continued use of ice cream containers.  I set the celery on the windowsill to get plenty of sunshine.

Growth after 1 week.  I have green leaves.  The center of the celery stalk started to sprout after a day or so.  Re-fill with water as needed.  

Growth after 2 weeks.

3 Weeks.

4 Weeks.

After 5 Weeks I decided it was time to plant it.  I cannot keep it going indefinitely in water like green onions.  Celery needs soil to keep on growing.

When the outside stalks started to rot I knew that it was the time to plant it.

I cut some holes in the bottom of yet another ice cream a container for drainage.  We go through a lot of ice cream at my house.

Then planted the celery with some soil and watered it well.  Fingers crossed.  I hope it continues to live.

This is my windowsill garden.  To the left I started another celery plant.  Center is the current one I just planted in soil.  To the right are my green onions, still growing well after about 2 months.

Johnny Cakes and Salt Pork a Civil War solider's delight

My husband and I are Civil War reenacters and since I am a bit of a foodie I am naturally drawn to Civil War era recipes. A soldiers rations often included:  Coffee, Hard Tack, Salted Pork or Beef, Flour, Cornmeal, some salt, sugar, and desiccated vegetables.  

I found Salt Pork at my locale grocers so I had to try it.  I have never had Salt Pork before.  It is well named. Wow is it salty (I know, it says so right in the name).  Since this one was refrigerated I imagine that salt pork was much saltier back in the day as the salt was used as a preservative.

Imagine my surprise when I opened the package and found it still had skin on, and is that a nipple there (ewww!)?  Why yes, that is a nipple (ewww!). Holding down my dainty-city-girl revulsion I began cutting. Pork belly bits, yum.

The meat is not bad looking once the skin is removed (ewww!).  It is starting to look more like bacon now, a personal favorite and a comestible with which I am well acquainted.

I cut it into thin strips and fried it up like bacon (mmmmm....bacon).  This is my cast iron skillet, I bought it with the intention of taking it to reenactments and making such dishes as the one described here.

In doing research on camp food I found that there are as many Johnny Cake recipes as there opinions (seems everyone has one).  The one I used is below. I chose it because it was the simplest and hence the most likely to be authentic.

 Johnny Cakes

• 1 cup Cornmeal
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 cup Boiling Water
• Butter
• Mix the salt and sugar with the cornmeal.  Add Boiling water and stir until smooth.  Well, it never really becomes smooth, just less clumpy.  Drop a spoonful of batter onto a well buttered pan.  Fry for 5 - 10 minutes per side on medium heat.

Drop (not literally mind you) it and Flip it.

Add more butter (what isn't better with more butter?) and serve with Salt Pork.  To try to make this dinner even more authentic I used my home-made butter. It is doubtful that they had access to butter like I do, and so probably fried it in pork fat, but hey I am an artist and claim the right of artistic license.

The Salt Pork goes really well with the Johnny Cakes.  We found wrapping a piece of pork in a johnny cake (like a pig in a blanket) helps to nullify the meats saltiness. Good eating and quite satisfying. Over the lips and through the gums, look out stomach here it comes. Yum!

Re-growing Green Onions

Re-growing Green Onions

I have decided to start a windowsill garden.  My Mom is a gardener.  My Dad is a gardener.  Every year that I can remember growing up we had a garden. I hate gardening.  At some point I swore I would never have a garden because I hate weeding, watering, planting, rock picking, pruning, pea picking and shelling, zucchini bread, bugs in my food, dirt in my food, being too cold, too hot, eaten alive by ants, spider bites, and always being dirty and miserable.  I have a lot of hate.  I think I can handle a windowsill garden.  After doing quite a bit of research I stumbled upon what I think is the easiest thing I can grow.  Re-growing green onions.  This is my second attempt.  I failed the first time.  The first set of green onions made the whole house smell like rotting onions and they turned to a grey mush so I threw them out after a few days because I could no longer stand the smell.

I think I cut them too short last time.  This time I cut them longer so a bit of green is still showing at the bottoms.  I bundled them up to keep from floating sideways.

Submerge the roots in water.  Note my continued use of "Talenti" ice cream pint containers.  Blood Orange Sorbet is my new favorite flavor so I have accumulated quite a number of them.  I change the water out every day or every other day.

Growth after 1 week.  Barely enough for a garnish, but they are growing and have not made the house smell like onions yet.

Growth after 2 weeks.  Okay, I think I am good.  I have green onions.  Now I can just cut off as much as I need for my dish and stick them back in water to re-re-grow.

 The roots have also gotten longer.  I almost have my full length green onion back.

Three Weeks.

Strawberries and Cream

Strawberries and Cream

To go along with my strawberries and cream cupcakes for Margo's Bridal Shower I made a lighter dessert of cream stuffed strawberries.

Wash and dry 30+ pretty strawberries.  Do not cut the leaves off.

Whipped Cream

• 1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 Tbs powdered Sugar
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• Whip it.  Whip it good.

Cut the strawberries in half, then in half again or quartered.  Do not cut them down to the bottom stem or they flop open and do not sit upright.  I accidentally cut a few of them in half but it was okay.  Those are now defective strawberries and must be eaten immediately.  There were so many strawberry casualties I was surprised I managed to get any done to take with me.

Stuff the whipped cream into a piping bag and fill each strawberry.

J piped out pink chocolate "M"'s for Margo for garnishes.

The dessert table at the Bridal Shower.  Strawberries and Cream, cupcakes, Mexican Wedding Cookies, and a veggie plate.

I think they turned out pretty.

Strawberries and Cream Cupcakes

My cousin Margo is finally getting Married.  I am so excited for her.  She had her Bridal Shower at my parent's house.  I asked Mom if I could bring cupcakes.  This is how desperate I am to make cupcakes.  I have to ask people to make them for their party.

I made two dozen vanilla cupcakes with white chocolate ganache filling topped with strawberry buttercream and little pink chocolate "M" monograms.  I should have gone with a different color for the "M".  Pink on Pink does not showcase the "M" for Margo well enough.  No, not one bit.

White Chocolate Ganache

• 1 part chocolate
• 1 part heavy whipping cream
• Chop up white chocolate bar or use white chocolate chips. Heat cream in saucepan to near boiling but not burning.  Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until melted.  Refrigerate to cool.  Then here is my favorite part: Whip it. Whip it good.

I used 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup heavy whipping cream which made exactly enough filling for 24 cupcakes.  I could have had extra cream if I had not eaten so much of it during the process.  But it was so tasty. 

J helped by piping out the pink "M"s for Margo.

This is the Parchment Paper Piping Bag J made.  It was a grand accomplishment on his part.

Folding them can be tricky. 

Strawberry ButterCream Frosting

• ½ cup shortening
• ½ cup butter – softened
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbs heavy cream, milk, or water – Mix with beater
• 1 Tbs Meringue Powder
• 4 cups powdered sugar – Mix with a beater 1 cup at a time.
• 1/2 cup food processor strawberry puree
• Add more heavy cream or powdered sugar for the right consistency you want

Vanilla Cupcakes

• 1 and ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbs vanilla
• 2 and ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 and ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 1 and ¼ cup whole milk or Vitamin D milk
• Cream sugar and butter.  Add eggs and vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients.  Alternate adding dry ingredients and milk starting and ending with milk.  Stir to combine.  Bake 350°F for 15-18 min

I use an apple corer to remove the middles.

Then pipe in the white chocolate ganache filling.

Finally top it off with strawberry buttercream and some white candy sprinkles to give them some sparkle.

Sparkly Pink Bridal Shower Cupcakes.

With the cupcake centers and extra frosting I made a few pink cake pops to snack on with the rest of the dessert tray.

My trio of Bridal Shower desserts:  Cupcakes, Strawberries and Cream, and Cake Pops.

Along with Mom's Mexican Wedding Cookies we had a complete set of pink and white goodness.  It wasn't all sugar though, a veggie tray was provided.

Ofcourse, who wants celery sticks when you can have cupcakes.  Not this little cupcake obsessed sugar fiend.  Nope. No sir.