Mommy Cooks

Nutty Jumbles

Julia and I make the Nutty Jumbles from our April "Cookbook of the Month", The Kid's Cookbook, this afternoon.  These are a very simple snack to make, with a hint of brown sugar but not too sweet -- excellent with a glass of milk.  They firm up a bit as they cool, but are nicely chewy.

The foil is probably a good idea, as the freshly-baked jumbles are quite sticky, even with the butter and non-stick baking sheets.  You don't need to scrape up all of the egg white mixture to add to the mounds on the baking sheet, as the extra bits will just spread out from underneath as the sugar melts, instead of helping to hold everything together.

Obviously, different nuts can be substituted!  I was thinking cashews, myself --

Nutty Jumbles

1 tablespoon soft butter, for greasing the baking sheets
2 egg whites
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup pecan pieces
1 cup walnut pieces

Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line 2 baking sheets with foil, and lightly grease the foil with the butter.

In a mixing bowl, combine the egg whites, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt, and beat lightly with a fork until frothy and smooth.  Add the nuts, and mix until the nuts are thoroughly coated with the egg mixture.

Drop heaping tablespoonsful of the nut mixture onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

Flatten the mounds slightly, and bake about 15 minutes, or until the nuts are browned.  Set the baking sheets on a rack to cool completely.  Carefully peel the cooled jumbles from the foil.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to 1 week.

Makes 24 jumbles.  Preparation time, 10 minutes; total time, 25 minutes.

Recipe adapted from The Kid's Cookbook by Abigail Johnson Dodge (Oxmoor House, c2000).

St. Patrick's Day

Laura's contribution to the kindergarten St. Patrick's Day party -- mini-bagels and (what else?!) green cream cheese.

Simple Quesadillas

This is an easy, quick lunch that our girls love.  I'm almost embarrassed to call this a "recipe," it's so simple, but here is how we make them.  Use any mild cheese or a combination of what's on hand -- our favorites are Sargento's Mexican Blend, or Jarlsberg.  Add chopped tomatoes, if you like, or serve cherry tomatoes on the side -- one of the fun things about this is eating with your hands.  They sit well, if you are interrupted on the way to the table (as we were today, in fact), and they transport well, too, so are a good choice for picnics at the park.  Apple juice goes especially good with quesadillas.

Leftover wedges will keep nicely in the refrigerator for a couple of days (reheat briefly in the microwave), and make a good school snack, too. 

Simple Quesadillas

4 8-inch flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups grated cheese, more or less

Preheat a skillet over medium-high heat, and spray it with cooking spray.

Place 1 tortilla in the bottom of the skillet, spread half of the cheese evenly over it, and top with another tortilla.  Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until the bottom is nicely browned and the cheese is melted.  Flip the quesadilla carefully with a large spatula, and brown on the other side.  Remove immediately to a cutting board, and repeat with the remaining tortillas and cheese.  Cut the quesadillas into six or eight wedges -- kids can do this with a pizza cutter -- and serve.

Serves 2 or 3.  Active work time, about 5 minutes.

Buttered Popcorn

A rainy afternoon, the first of the fall season for us.  Since it was gloomy and muggy outside, we decided to stay indoors and have popcorn and a movie.  It's amazing, the taste of popcorn made on the stove, after years of the microwave stuff.  Fresh, buttery, with a heavenly smell -- it's a real treat.

Use a pan with a lid -- glass, if you have it, as watching the corn pop is almost as much fun as eating it.  The pan should be at least 2 or 2 1/2 quarts, or you will have to hold the lid down to keep the popcorn in, and it may scorch.  The amounts given below will depend on the size of your pan.  This might not seem like much butter when you start pouring it over, but a little discretion is a good thing.  (I remember, too, eating freshly-made popcorn when I was little and finding a really buttery piece among the not-so-buttery ones, and it was like a little treasure!)

Julia measured the popping corn, and then Laura took a photo as I shook the pan on the stove.

Laura chose the movie, one of her favorites, so we ate buttered popcorn and drank cold milk, while watching clips from great MGM musicals.

Buttered Popcorn

2 to 3 tablespoons canola oil
1/3 to 1/2 cup popping corn
4 to 5 tablespoons butter
salt, to taste

Melt the butter, either in a very small pan on the stove or in a measuring cup in the microwave.

Put the oil and the popping corn in a medium-sized pan; you want just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, and enough kernels to form a single layer or somewhat less.  Cover the pan and put over medium heat.  Start moving the pan almost immediately to keep the kernels from burning -- quickly push and pull the pan easily across the surface of the burner, so that the pan is never off the heat but so that the oil and corn are moving constantly. After about a minute, the first kernels should start popping, and after about 3-4 minutes, most should be popped.  Remove the pan from the heat when you hear that the popping is slowing down.  Pour the popcorn into a serving bowl or bowls (discarding the unpopped kernels), and shake a small amount of salt over it.  Add the butter slowly and evenly; toss and serve immediately.

How many servings this makes completely depends on how many people there are in the vicinity.  Active work time, about 7 minutes.

Banana Bread

Around here, we tend to like our eating bananas just on the green side of ripe, and so when that last banana starts to turn brown, I pop it in the freezer.  When there are enough for banana bread, I bring them to room temperature, then make the bread.  Sometimes we can't wait, so we use a few yellow ones, too, as we did today.  Our favorite recipe is Marion Cunningham's Kona Inn Banana Bread, from "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book".  It's delicious, moist and flavorful, and pretty foolproof -- we've made it using several different methods, food processor or fork for the bananas, stand mixer or wooden spoon to mix everything together, and although the texture is a little different each time, it always tastes good.  It makes a great afternoon snack, and Laura can take a slice in a Zip-Loc bag for her school snack, too.

If your kids don't mind the noise of the food processor, you can purée the bananas until smooth; otherwise, it's fun to mash them with the back of a fork.  A few lumps won't matter, but get the purée fairly smooth.

For a whole-wheat version, substitute 2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour for the 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour.  Of course, you could use pecans instead of walnuts, or a sprinkling of sliced almonds on the top, or no nuts at all.  You may also use half shortening and half butter, or a good cooking margarine, or splurge on all butter! just make sure that it is at room temperature before preparing the batter.

Kona Inn Banana Bread

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 5 or 6 bananas)
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 450° F.  Grease and flour 2 9x5x3-inch loaf pans.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, cream the the shortening and sugar, add in the eggs and mashed banana, and then the walnuts.  (You can also use an electric mixer.)  Add the dry ingredients, and mix just until the batter is thoroughly blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans, and bake for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.  Remove the pans from the oven, and let the bread cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a rack or a piece of wax paper to cool completely.

Makes 2 9x5-inch loaves.  Active work time, about 20 minutes; total preparation time, around 1 1/2 hours.  This banana bread freezes well, for up to four months, wrapped securely in double or triple sheets of plastic wrap.