I'm back from the dead!

My cold is over and my head is out of the fog. It's been almost a week.  Thank goodness I didn't get the dreaded "flu"-this was bad enough.

I had some grammar comments on my last blog-and they were justified, please excuse me.  Remember my telling you that my old Dell was dropping "h's", now the "h's" are fine, but the "s" are dropping.  I will try and catch them all, but if I don't-oh well.  A new computer is in the making-soon, very soon.  Actually, a new computer is here, but then I have to set it up and my brain is only starting to function again.  I have been off work for the last five days, eating bread and Caesar's salad (yes, that's what I was craving).

I found an interesting book on my travels, called "The Gentle Art of Flavoring" by Robert Landry, originally written in French and translated into English by Chef Bruce H. Axler.  There are hundreds of entries in this delightful book from all over the world. This book sells on my Amazon storefront www.amazon.com/stores/oneofakindcookbooks for $79.99-definitely a collectible.  Here are only a very few new flavors I have never heard of before:
Fenugreek-it somewhat resembles a clover, which is why the Germans call it goat's horn club.  It i rather widespread on the periphery of the Mediterranean and is often cultivated as forage.  Its fruit pods contain several brownish-yellow, oblong, bumpy seeds.  Their aroma is agreeable.  lightly sweet, like sweet clover or Tonka bean.  All these plants contain coumarin.
The Indians dote on fenugreek, which they call helbet.  The dried, pounded seed is used in many condiment formulas (curry, chutney, etc).  They export it as well under the name of ground methi.  The Arabs eat the germinated seeds and the young sprouts of fenugreek, which are reported to be quite fortifying.  In the United States, an aromatic oil is extracted from them and used as a substitute for maple essence in making ice creams.
In the West, this aromatic (often imported from Morocco) is not highly rated.  It only flavors vinegar used for making pickle.  The sole meat to which it is suited is the domestic rabbit in a gibelotte, with many garlic cloves and a point of cardamon to counterbalance the sweetness of fenugreek.
Lacquer-A sort of cooking varnish that is the glory of Chinese cooks who possess a certain high gloss of knowledge.  It requires the use of a paint brush, as well as soy sauce, powdered sugar and great patience.
Molokheia-Also spelled mouloukheia andmeloukhie'.  A cooking herb, that is highly appreciated in Syria, Egypt, and Tunisia.  Fresh, it smells like melon: dried, like cut hay.
This herb is nothing other than edible Jew's mallow, corette, for the botanist, corchorous olitorius, belonging to Malvaceae.  In the last century in France it was called mauve des Jifs (Jew's mallow) or guimauve ptagere'. Arabs, North Africans, Jews and Hindus consider molokheia a plant between cress and sorrel.  It is eaten cooked in green, slightly limy sauces in chicken broth, even in the broth of Tunisian couscous. The gourmets on shore of the Nile's affirm that the smell is like that of snails!
Raventsara-A large Madagascan tree of the Lauraceae family whose leaves and nut are called cinnamon clove.  After leaves have been boiled, they are threaded on a string and dried in the sun.  The angular, oily units are dried for a long time on wattles.  This exotic spice is very worthy.  It's aroma is like a mixture of cinnamon and cloves, with cloves dominating.  Unfortunately, its taste i a little acrid, which is why it is rarely exported.  The Malagasy us it extensively , notably in zebra or squirrel stews.

That's quite a mouthful, but very interesting. 

Happy Cooking!

Julia Child

I love what Julia Child has done for cooking.  I don't own any of her cookbooks, but hope one day to own one.  I want her DVDs too.  She makes me laugh so much and I learn so much from her on those DVDs.  Whenever she can't figure out what to say or where to go next, she'll say in her big booming voice "And Now".

This is a little about her personal history from "Life is Meals" by Jame & Kay Salter.

On this day, August 15, 1912, Julia McWilliams who under married name of Julia Child would become a major figure in American cooking, was born in Pasadena, CA.  Her father was well-to-do.  The family always had a cook, and Julia did not begin cooking until she was 32.  Before that, he said, "I just ate".

She graduated from Smith College in 1934-tall, animated, and at ease with herself-worked as a copywriter in New York for a while, but then returned home.  When the country entered World War II, she signed up with the glamorous OSS-Office of Strategic Services-hoping to become a spy, all six feet two inches of her.  She was sent instead to be a file clerk in Ceylon, where, as it turned out she met her husband.

She and Paul Child were married in 1946 and soon moved to Paris, where, trying to learn to cook, she attend the Cordon Bleu, the only woman in the class.  She met Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck, and the three of them started a cooking school of their own and collaborated on what was to become her influential work. Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which took ten year to write.  It wa dedicated to France and it people, who through generations of invention and concentration, had created "one of the world's great arts."

Her true popularity came through television.  She whisked up an omelet on her first appearance and viewer loved her from the start, her manner and high, enthusiastic voice.  She established herself as a personality, lively and imperturbable.  "I fell in love with the public," he said, "the public fell in love with me, and I tried to keep it that way."

Fervent, dedicated to instructing, she was always so relaxed that it was often thought that she had been drinking.  She became a national figure and remained true to her principle, as well as to public television, where she had the freedom to cook tripe, kidneys, and other things, unthinkable on commercial TV.

During her career she wrote ten cookbooks, all of them noted for their clarity.  She once said that her ideal house would have just two rooms, a bedroom and a kitchen, and when she was asked what her guilty pleasures were, replied, "I don't have any guilt."

She died in California two days before she would have been ninety-two.

My recipe today is from Rachael Ray 2 30-Minute Meals by Rachael Ray & the Food Network.  It sells for $8.99 on my Amazon storefront.  www.amazon.com/shops/oneofakindcookbooks   I love Tiramisu and this is actually a very quick & tasty version.

Quick Tiramisu

1 package lady fingers

1/2 cup strong black coffee

3 ounces coffee liqueur

2 cups Mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup powdered confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Open the ladyfingers and separate them.  Paint the ladyfinger with coffee combined with the coffee liqueur using a pastry brush.  Line 4 martini glasses with a single layers of ladyfingers, letting the cakes overlap a bit in them.  Pres the cake down to fit the lines of the glass.  Beat Mascarpone and sugar together, 2 or 3 minutes and spoon into the glasses.  Top glasses off with a cap of coffee and liqueur-soaked ladyfingers.  Dust each completed dessert with cocoa powder combined with a touch of cinnamon.

Happy Cooking!

The Baked Potato Fiesta

Tonight I am having people over to play cribbage and I think I will serve a Caesar's salad and a Baked Potato Bar.  With all the fixings.  As I write this, I am trying to think up items for the potato fillings. So far I have come with the normal things: butter, sour cream, bacon crumbled, shredded cheddar cheese and maybe grilled chicken.  I have to put my thinking cap on.  I am going to bake the potatoes the old-fashioned way in a hot oven for a few hours after they have been rolled in oil, crusted with kosher salt, then wrapped in foil.

Another Topic: Mustard

No hot dog or corned beef sandwich is complete without it.  In fact, since prehistoric times, mustard has grown so readily in so many places that, next to pepper, it is the condiment mot commonly available in the world for adding happiness and flavor to food.  The oil from the black mustard seed  is widely used in India in cooking, hair tonic, and as a liniment.  It once represented fertility to Hindu.  The Chinese are more likely to use the greens a flavoring vegetable a did the ancient roman.

When the tiny seeds are crushed, they release an oil that forms a paste.  Brought into contact with water, this results in a volatile, pungent compound that gain strength for about ten minutes and then begins to diminish.  The idea is to let the flavor develop and then stop it at the chosen strength by adding an acid, such as vinegar.  The result is "made mustard" in a form ready for ue.  German, French and American mustard are made this way, with the bright yellow of the American type created by adding the herb turmeric.

In France, Dijon became the center of mustard making in the 14th century and by the mid-15th century, Louis XI was traveling with his own pot of it.  The process and the ingredients have been regulated since that time, and white wine and the juice of unripened grapes are used instead of vinegar.  It was here that Antoine Maille' developed hi mustard and vinegars in the 18th century and where in the next, Maurice Grey invented the Poupon mustard he named for himself.

Across the Channel in England at about the same time, Jeremiah Coleman was popularizing his brand of dry mustard, using and old technique of making a powder of the seed.  The powder wa then mixed with water when needed, producing a far stronger mustard than the French and rivaled for bite only by the Chinese.

An excerpt from "Life is Meals" by James & Kay Salter

Though I didn't make any baked sweet potato for tonight (though I probably should have), I have a great Sweet Potato recipe that you can make in your slow cooker.
Candied Sweet Potatoes
6-8 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
20-oz can crushed pineapples, undrained
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon

Cook sweet potatoes until soft.  Peel. Slice and place in slow cooker.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Pour over sweet potatoes.  Cover.  Cook on high 4 hours.

It doesn't get any easier than this.  This is from "Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook-Feasting with your Slow Cooker" by Dawn J. Ranck & Phyllis Pellman Good.  It sells on my Amazon storefront for $4.99.
www.amazon.com/shops/oneofakindcookbooks

Happy Cooking!

Nellie Melba

When she performed at London's Covent Garden as the reigning operatic soprano of her day, the royal laryngologist declared her vocal cords "the most perfect I have ever seen".  But as Nellie Melba said of herself, "it's no use having a perfect voice unless you have brains, personality, magnetism, great willpower, health, strength and determination."  She had them all in spades and was so famous that her name became attached to toast, wafers, and a dessert made of peaches and ice cream created by the great 19th-century French chef Escoffier. 

She was born near Melbourne, Australia,  on May 19 in 1861.  for her operatic debut in Rigoletto, she changed her name from Helen Mitchell to Nellie Melba, in honor of her birthplace.  "See to everything yourself" was her motto and at Covent Garden she negotiated a singing fee one pound higher than Caruso's at the height of his career.  She dazzled audiences and critics at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and others across Europe and, using the media to her own ends, welcomed publicity no matter how unfavorable.  Adored in Australia as a local girl who made good, she returned for seven triumphal tours and finally, for her death at age sixty-nine from blood poisoning after a botched face-lift.  Today her face looks out from the Australian hundred-dollar bill.  She probably would have preferred the thousand-dollar.

Peach Melba made its own debut at a dinner given in honor of Nellie Melba by the Duke of Orleans at the Savoy Hotel in London when she stayed there in 1893 while performing in Lohengrin.  Escoffier's first version featured a swan made of ice that held peaches on vanilla ice cream, garnished with spun sugar.  Seven years later, when he served it at the world famous Carlton Hotel, he abandoned the swan and the spun sugar was replaced by a raspberry puree'.

Today it rarely appears on a menu but can be made with pitted peaches, peeled and poached in sugar and water with a vanilla pod.  They're served over vanilla ice cream and topped with a puree' of raspberries and sometimes a scattering of slivered almonds.

An excerpt from "Life is Meals" by James and Kay Salter.

Today, we're taking a recipe from Quick & Easy Recipes Pasta and Noodles, a Food Writers' Favorites, which sells on Amazon at www.amazon.com/shops/oneofakindcookbooks for $3.99.

Mother's Macaroni and Cheese

5 ounces shell macaroni (2 cups)

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

3 tbsp cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups grated medium Cheddar cheese (8 ounces), divided

3 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp. salt

Cook macaroni according to package directions.  Drain, then rinse with cool water, Drain well.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  Add flour' stir with a whisk 3 to 4 minutes.  Gradually add cream and milk; stir until the sauce thickens.  Add cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups of the cheddar cheese; stir just until blended.  Remove from heat.  Add green onions, bell pepper, tomatoes, salt and macaroni; mix gently.

Spoon mixture into a greased 13x9x2 inch baking pan.  Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese on top.  Bake, uncovered , in a preheated 350F oven 30 minutes, or until hot bubbly.  Serve immediately.

You can never have too many macaroni and cheese recipes.  I have to try them all!

Happy Cooking!

The Bakerys of the Future

Hot Baguettes-Baker and entrepreneur Jean-Louis Hecht has come up with a brilliant way to provide Parisians with one of their favorite foods-fresh warm baguettes-around the clock.  Hecht has installed Paris's first vending machine that bakes and dispenses baguettes.  The loaves of bread are partially baked before they're put in the machine.  They finish baking automatically when a customer orders from the machine.  When are they coming to the U.S.?

What a clever idea!

Now for a recipe.  This is from my Amazon storefront.  One of my readers pointed out to me that they couldn't get on it-neither could I.  So I contacted Amazon and this is where you go to see my inventory-something for everyone.  www.amazon.com/shops/oneofakindcookbooks 

This cookbook sells for S7.99 "Stuffed Spuds" 100 Light Meals in a Potato by Jeanne Jones.  Here's one for our vegetarians and one for our meat eaters.  Great book.

Guacamole  Stuffed Spud

This baked potato is a delightful surprise.  Not only is it delicious and certainly different, but it considerably reduces the calories per spoonful of guacamole because potatoes are so much lower in calories than avocados.

2 baked potatoes

1 large ripe avocado, peeled and seeded

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp finely chopped onion

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cumin seed

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp light sour cream

1 large tomato, diced

Dash of Tabasco

Chopped green onions, for garnish

Cut a thin slice from the top of each potato.  Remove the pulp from the potatoes being careful not to tear the shells.  Place the potato pulp in a mixing bowl and mash'; cover and chill. 

Mash the avocado until there are no lumps.  Add the lemon juice, onion, salt, cumin, chili power, garlic powder, and sour cream; mix well.

Add avocado mixture to the mashed potatoes and mix thoroughly.  Fold in the diced tomato and Tabasco and stir lightly until thoroughly mixed.  Heap the mixture into the potato shells and garnish with chopped onions.  Yes, this is served cold!

Makes two servings.  Each servings contains approximately 425 calories, 3 mg cholesterol, 24 gram fat, 922 mg sodium.

BLT Stuffed Spud

2 baked potatoes

1/4 cup nonfat, cholesterol-free mayonnaise dressing

4 slices Canadian bacon, cooked and diced

1 large tomato, diced

1 cup finely chopped lettuce

Cut a thin slice from the top of each potato.  Remove the pulp from the potatoes, being careful not to tear the shells.  Crumble the potato pulp.  Combine the potato with the mayonnaise..  Add the diced bacon, tomato and lettuce.  Toss thoroughly.  Stuff back into the potato shells.

Makes two servings

Each serving contains approximately 294 calories, 28 mg cholesterol, 4 gram fat, 1193 mg sodium

I told you that I was going to have a layover in Jackson, MS.  Of course, that day they had a snowstorm and I was snowed in.  Hopefully on my next layover on Wednesday, the weather will be nicer and I will have a chance to explore the planetarium 2 blocks from my hotel.

Happy Cooking!

LIFE IS MEALS

This first excerpt is from "Life Is Meals" by James & Kay Salter.  The book is not for sale on my storefront, but it continually entertains me with their stories.

The Sun King:  Louis XIV, known as the Sun King whose long reign in France lasted for seventy-two years (1643-1715), was a great patron of the arts, cordial to Moliere, Racine and La Fontaine, among others.  Under him, the immense palace at Versailles was built, and the court inhabiting it, 'the' court of Europe, became ceremonial and introverted.

The king's long list of mistresses included Mlle de La Valliere, Mme de Montespan and Mme de Maintenon, whom he eventually married.  He was fond of  food as well, and cooking was spectacular at the court.  One observer noted that she had frequently seen the king consume at a sitting four different plates of soup, an entire pheasant, a partridge, a large salad, mutton, and two large pieces of ham, followed by a plateful of cakes, fruits and jams.

He ate in two ways, au grand couvert, which was by himself but in public, or least in courtiers' view and at the petit couvert, private and intimate, where he and the ladies sometimes threw little balls of bread at each other.

What and appetite for so many things!  With that said, I have to tell you about a woman I met the other day.  About 50 years old, maybe weighs 110 pounds-maybe.  Asking me if I knew where she could find an all you can eat prime rib buffet-because she typically will eat 6-8 pieces.  I can barely eat one 10 ounce piece of prime rib, but 60-80 ounces.  Bravo!

With that said, I will lead with a recipe that is found on my Amazon storefront "One of a Kind Cookbooks",  "In the Kitchen With Rosie" by Rosie Daley and this sells for $3.99.  For those of us who are a little more weight conscious.

MANGO FRUIT PARFAIT

3 cups cubed mango (2 mangoes)

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

24 strawberries, hulled

1 cup peeled and sliced kiwi (4 kiwis)

12 red raspberries

Put the mangoes and orange juice in a blender and puree until smooth.  Slice 20 of the strawberries, leaving 4 whole.  Line the bottom of 4 balloon wineglasses with the sliced strawberries.  Pour a thin layer of the mango puree  over each to cover.  Reserving 4 kiwi slices, layer the rest on top of the puree.  Top each with a slice of kiwi, surrounded by raspberries.  make a slit in each of the whole strawberries and position 1 on the rim of each glass.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Serves 4

Fat per serving=0.8 gram, Calories per serving=139

I am on a layover tonight in Jackson, Ms.  I am off now to explore the town and it's surroundings.

Happy Cooking!

Even More Edible Flowers

I am going to get these edible flowers out of my system, but it really is interesting.  There are some supermarkets I'm sure that have them, but I am not familiar with them.  But know we know greenhouses carry them, so that is a source.

Please excuse my computer if I miss my "h's".  This 12 year-old Dell is on it's last legs and I'm losing my "h's".

Roses-To serve roses in a salad, gently tear the petals off the stem and mix them with the greens.  If the slightly bitter flavor seems unpleasant, cut away the white base of each petal. To flavor sugar, layer rose petals in the sugar jar.
Bee Balm-A blend of flavors-citrus, sweet, hot  and mint.  Pull individual, tubular-shaped blooms from the flower head.  Use in jams, jellies, baked goods, desserts and salad.
Borage-Has a mild cucumber-like flavor.  Delightful frozen in ice cubes for use in summer drinks. Great candied.  Use in salads or as garnishes.
Scarlet Runner Bean-It has a delicate, bean-like flavor with a slight crunch.  Nice garnish for soups, salads and vegetable dishes.

Once again, never use flowers sprayed with pesticides.

Okay, now we're on to some new recipes for you to try.   I now have 981 cookbooks on Amazon at my storefront "One of a Kind Cookbooks".  The first cookbook we are looking at is "Celebrity Cookbook No. 9", that sells for $7.99.  This was created by a Real Estate Company named HER Realtors with 21 locations in Ohio in 1980.  I don't know if this company is still in existence, but they accumulated hundreds of recipes from senators all over the United States and celebrities as well.  I selected an easy pie for you to try.
FROZEN LEMON PIE
24 graham crackers, crushed
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp grated lemon rind
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup whipping cream
Beat egg yolks with rotary beater, or hand-mixer, adding sugar slowly.  Cook in double boiler until thick, stirring constantly (about 3 minutes).  Pour into a bowl and add juice and rind.  Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into mixture.  Whip cream and fold into mixture.
Line a 8x8 pan with waxed paper.  Sprinkle half of cracker crumbs on bottom of pan.  Pour mixture in and then sprinkle the other half of the crumbs on top.  Place in a freezer for at least 3 hours.  Bette if made the day before serving.

Next up is "Sweets to the Sweet" by Susan Branch,  a pretty well-known author, who is known for her beautiful illustrations in her books.  This sells for $7.99.  Now, I know it's not Thanksgiving, but I chose Indian Pudding for my next recipe-something different.  This is an old New England favorite, this pudding is served warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Perfect for a comforting wintertime dessert.

INDIAN PUDDING
5 1/2 cup whole milk
2/3 cup cornmeal
4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup molasses
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup raisins
Vanilla Ice Cream
Preheat oven to 300 F. Butter a small casserole dish.  Over med. heat, in a large saucepan, heat the milk, but don't boil it.  Slowly whisk in cornmeal and continue to stir until mixture begins to thicken-10 minutes or so.  Add remaining ingredients and keep stirring till heated through.  Pour into casserole and bake 3 hours till sides are brown and sticky-looking (The pudding hardens a bit as it cools).  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

It really tastes as good as it sounds.

I'm off now to play Mexican Train at a friend's home.  This is a domino's game that I have never played before.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Cooking!

More Edible Flowers

I have gotten a great response from readers about edible flowers, so here are some more:
Violets or Pansies-use the whole flower.  It has a wintergreen flavor.  Use as a garnish and in salads, desserts, soups, sauces, omelets, fritters, custards and cakes.  Add a handful of purple or white violets to salads, garnish grilled meats with fresh pansies or top a cake with pretty violas.
Culinary Sage-the flavor of the flowers is more subtle than the leaves.  Use in salads, soups, chicken and fish dishes.
Marigolds-all varieties have edible blooms, but the best flavors are those with small blooms such as Lemon Gem and Tangerine Gem.  The flavor is a combination of citrus and spice.  Use only the petals, as the base of the bloom can be very bitter.  Use them in salads or with eggs and soups.
Day Lily-Pick individual flowers to use in salads orgarnishes or try stuffing the blooms with soft cheese for an appetizer.

More edible flowers to come in upcoming blogs.

And once again we have another collectible book from my Amazon storefront, "One of a Kind Cookbooks".  I really am trying to find inexpensive books, but some of these recipes in the older ones are just so enticing.  "Rumford Complete Cookbook" published in 1947, by Lily Hartworth Wallace for Rumford Baking Powder-selling for $79.99
The recipes I chose are "corn fritters" and "cheese souffle`".  Corn Fritters was a childhood favorite of mine.  Whenever my mother had leftover corn from dinner, she would make up the corn fritters on Sunday morning, served with pancake syrup on top.  And I am including a recipe for Cheese Souffle, because everyone things they are so hard to make and they're not.  A little extra time, but definetly not hard.
Corn Fritters
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. Rumford baking powder (or any baking powder)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups canned corn (not creamed)

Sift together flour, salt, pepper and baking powder.  Add beaten eggs and corn and if necessary, a little milk.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a hot, well-greased griddle or frying pan and cook golden brown on both sides.  Serve with pancake syrup (no butter is necessary).  Serves 6

Cheese Souffle`
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
3 eggs

Blend butter and flour smoothly in saucepan.  Add milk, a little at a time and stir until boiling.  Cook three minutes, add grated cheese, salt and pepper and set aside to cool.  Beat egg yolks and whites separately, add yolks to mixture in saucepan, blend throughly; fold in the stiffly beaten whites.  Turn into a deep, well-greased dish and bake in a moderate oven 350F about 25 minutes.  Serve immediately.  Serves 4

See that wasn't so hard, was it?

News on the edible flower front.  My friend Gail Aleksander, works for a greenhouse in Boise, ID and forwarded more information http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/blflowers.htm


Happy Cooking!

I have put this off as long as possible.  Not really, it just seems that way.  If I don't make myself focus on this, I let writing my blog slip by.  So now I have gotten many other things out of the way, so I can focus on my blog.

Edible Flowers:

If you love flowers and appreciate good food, consider combing them!  That's right, flowers with food.  Flowers are not only beautiful to look at, but they add color, unique interest and flavors to meals.  But never use flowers sprayed with pesticides.

Some edible flowers:

Calendula-slightly bitter flavor.  The petals are used mostly for color.  Use for rice, chicken, soups and baked goods.

Chive-quite flavorful, slight oniony flavor.  Break the flower into individual florets.  Very versatile, use for herb vinegar.

Nasturtium-Great spicy pepper flavor.  It's name is Latin for "twisted nose", referring to its peppery flavor.  Blossoms and leaves are edible.  Use for salads, vegetables, pasta and meat dishes.

More edible flowers to come in upcoming blog.

Next up is a book from my cookbooks for sale on my Amazon Storefront "One of a Kind Cookbooks"-Delta Zeta Centennial Cookbook 1902-2002.  Within this book the bonds of sisterhood are laced together with friendship, loyalty, memories  and of course, food.  The selling price is as a collectible for $59.99.

From this book, I chose the recipe of Peanut Brittle Epsilon, 1909 Indiana University, submitted by Grace Mason Lundy National President 1940-1946.

I would say easy as pie, but instead I'll say "easy as peanut brittle". This takes no time at all to make.

Peanut Brittle

2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup Karo syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup water

2 cups jumbo peanuts, chopped

Boil the sugar, water and syrup to hard ball stage in cold water.  To the mixture, add the peanuts and cook until the mixture is light brown, stirring constantly to keep the nuts from burning.  Add the baking soda and stir until foamy.  Pour the mixture onto a well buttered pan and pull out as thing as possible.  After cooling, break into pieces.

Does it get any easier than this.

Now that's it made, it's being placed in a tin and sent to my son in Afghanistan.  Happy eating Baby!