Fresh Strawberry Jam

Since our oldest son is in his 20s, he doesn't live with us but we are very fortunate to see him often. He has been working at restaurants for awhile now but he only works in the evenings. My husband called him the other day and said this is your boss and we have decided to start serving breakfast so you need to come in. Our son called right back and said that he didn't fall for it and he wasn't even going to come over to make us breakfast. Hey, I thought it was a good try on my husband's part. 

Our son did come over later that day to join us for dinner. I offered him some of my jam and he really liked it. Everyone in my household liked it. I was glad since it was my first time ever making jam. Were you surprised? I have a great friend and she makes jam every year in a pressure cooker. I think the pressure cooker intimidated me. Plus I still have nightmares of sterilizing baby bottles so why start with mason glasses? This is an easy recipe and next time I'm going to get fancy with it.

Fresh Strawberry Jam
1 1/2 pint of strawberries, hulled and halfed
2 cups sugar (use slightly less if the strawberries are very sweet.)
1/2 lemon, freshly squeezed

Directions:
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice over low heat for 10 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
Add the strawberries and continue to cook over very low heat for 20 minutes or until mixture boils slowly. 
Continue to cook until a small amount of the juice gels on a very cold plate.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a week, freeze, or follow proper canning guidelines.

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten.  

Did you already know...
-In 1858, John Landis Mason patented his Mason jars.
-John Mason gave another company his patent rights and passed away in 1900 a poor man.
-Over the years, there has only been a few iterations to Mr. Mason's original design.

Tostadas with Chicken and Parsley

Today's Project Pastry Queen recipe was picked by Shawnda from Confections of a Foodie Bride. The original recipe was Prosciutto Tostadas with Shrimp and Parsley. 

Well, I conferred with my husband and he said he wasn't a big fan of prosciutto but he could eat shrimp anytime. Anytime means fried at a local restaurant. The problem with shrimp is that it is not in season here and I didn't feel like it. Don't you have to be in the mood for it? I live in Maine and I usually only have lobster maybe twice a year. So, I made this recipe with chicken.

Tostadas with Chicken and Parsley
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into chunks
2 green onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 Tbsp champagne vinegar
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
salt and pepper
6 flour tortillas
2 cups mixed baby greens, washed
1 red bell pepper, roasted and julienned

Directions:

1. Heat a skillet with the vegetable oil over medium heat.
2. Add one tortilla at a time and fry for 30 seconds or until golden brown. Flip and repeat on the other side. Remove the tortilla and place on a plate lined with paper towels.
3. Repeat with 4 more tortillas. The last tortilla cut into strips before frying.
4. In the same skillet used for the tortillas, lower the heat to low.
5. After a few minutes, add the chicken breast. Cook the chicken for about 3 minutes or until golden brown before repeating on the other side.
6. Add the green onions and garlic to the skillet with the chicken. Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes or until cooked all the way through.
7. Remove the skillet from the heat. 
8. Add the lemon juice, vinegar, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
9. On a plate, place on fried tortilla.
10. Top the tortilla with the baby greens, roasted red pepper, some of the chicken, and a few fried tortilla strips.
11. Repeat with the other 5 tortillas to feed a family of five.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen cookbook. Please make sure to check out the other's members versions of this recipe.

Did you already know...
-Maine Northern shrimp season is normally from December to May.
-It is estimated the New England shrimp fishery harvested approximately 6 million pounds of shrimp before regulators ended the season in February this year.
-Northern shrimp mature as males for 2 1/2 years before becoming females a year later.

How my daughter ate her tostada-note the added ranch dressing

Hand Pies

We did make it to the beach with no rain for the 4th of July. We even had no problem finding parking. Every time my children enter the cold Maine ocean water, I really expect them to come out blue. Not even their lips were blue so I know they are true Maineiacs. I may have been born in New England but I won't even put my toe into the New England ocean. I can say I have done it hence why I won't do it again.

 In Maine, it is strawberry picking time around the 4th of July. Since I had fresh strawberries, I decided to make Rebecca Rather's Fourth of July Fried Pies. I also made the cherries and blueberries. My favorite was the blueberry. My youngest daughter's favorite was the cherry but my mother in law liked the strawberry. The recipe in the book even had peaches. This time, I decided to bake the pies but next time I will definitely try frying them.

Fruit filling
1 cup fresh fruit (I tried strawberries, blueberries, and cherries)
1/2 cup fruit preserve to match the fresh fruit used

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the fruit with their matching preserves. Set aside.

Dough
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 1/2 cups ice water
1 large egg
2 Tbsp water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
5. Add the ice water and gently form the dough into a ball.
6. Divide the dough into thirds.
7. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out each portion of the dough to 1/16th inch thickness.
8. Cut the dough into 5 inch diameter circles.
9. Place 1 Tbsp of the desired filling in the center of each dough round.
10. Fold the rounds in half and with wet fingers press the edges to seal using water.
11. Crimp the edges of each hand pie with the tines of a fork.
12. Beat the egg and water together to make an egg wash.
13. Lightly brush the tops of each hand pie with the egg wash.
14. Bake the pies for about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Toppings:
Sprinkle with powder sugar.
Recipe adapted from the Pastry Queen cookbook.

Did you already know... 
-The first fruit to ripen in the Spring are strawberries.
-There are about 200 seeds in one strawberry.
- Strawberries and roses belong to the Biological classification Rosaceae family.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July! Do you have big plans? We are just hoping it will not rain. My youngest daughter keeps telling me that we can still go to the beach. It doesn't matter if it is raining since we will be getting wet anyways. I guess it is the perfect way to miss the crowd.

When I was growing up, we would visit my relatives in New Hampshire around the 4th of July. 4th of July was my grandmother's birthday. We would go swimming at the pond and visit with our relatives. Plus my uncles would have a fireworks war. 

 Chocolate Cookie Cutouts
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups powder sugar, sifted
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
nonparelis, colored sugar, other decorations

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and powder sugar until fluffy.
4. Add the egg to the butter mixture and vanilla.
5. Slowly, add the flour to the butter mixture. Mix until incorporated.
6. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
7. After the dough is chilled, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness onto a lightly floured surface.
8. Using a cookie cutter, cut out the desired shapes. Transferred the cutout shapes to baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
9. Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator and allow to chill for 20 minutes. (I worked in batches so the dough was chilling while some were baking.)
10. Sprinkle the dough with desired edible decorations. 
11. Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes or until crisp.
12. Allow the cookies to cool completely on wire racks.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

(If you store these in plastic bags, the cookies will still taste good but will become soft.)

Did you already know...
-According to the weather channel, the weather in Philadelphia was 76 degrees F on July 4th, 1776.
-When the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, there were 2.5 million people living in the newly independent nation.
-This July 4th, 2012, there is an estimated 314 million people living in the United States.

Happy Fourth of July!

Bacon and Cheddar Scones

Yes, I did write bacon and cheddar scones! What a great combination for any time of day. These scones are really good. I served these scones with a salad for supper. The leftovers will probably be gone at breakfast by my oldest daughter. These scones were picked by Emily of Ruflove for this weeks Project Pastry Queen. 

The only difference I made to the original recipe would be I substituted chives for the green onions. I like green onions but I had chives on hand. I also grate my butter for scones in which my youngest son thought it was funny. I will admit I cheated with the bacon. I talked my oldest daughter into cooking it. My oldest daughter tells me she cooks it better than I do anyways. Since I prefer for her to continue to cook bacon for me, I will have to agree that she does an awesome job! (It is like when you want your honey to continue to do laundry so you give a lot of praise. What a great job you are doing! My whites pinks have never looked better.)

Bacon and Cheddar Scones
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup unsalted butter, grated and chilled
2 cup Cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup chives, chopped
10 slices bacon, cooked and chopped into 1 inch pieces
3/4 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
2 Tbsp water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a large bowl on low speed.
3. Gradually add the butter to the mixer. Combine until the pieces are crumbly and the size of small peas.
4. Add the grated cheese and mix until just blended.
5. Stop the mixer and add the chives, bacon, and 3/4 cups of buttermilk.
6. Mix by hand until the ingredients are incorporated. If the dough is still too dry add 1 Tbsp of buttermilk to the dough until the dough forms into a ball but do not over mix.
7. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured flat surface.
8. Pat the dough into a ball.
9. With a floured rolling pin, flatten the dough into about an 8 inch circle that is 1/2 inch thick.
10. Cut the dough into 8 to 10 equal wedges.
11. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water.
12. Brush each wedge of dough with the egg wash.
13. Place the scones onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
14. Bake for about 18 minutes or until golden brown. The scones should no longer be sticky in the middle.
15. Serve warm.

Recipe adapted from Rebecca Rather's cookbook The Pastry Queen.

Did you already know...
-In 1797, the scrub board was invented to improve washing clothes.
-In 1851, James King patented the hand powdered drum washing machine.
-In 1874, William Blackstone built a machine that would wash dirt from clothes and then washed the dirt away. He presented the machine as a gift to his wife for her birthday.