Sour Cherry Jam (low sugar)

 

Ingredients

• 5 pounds sour cherries pitted
• 1 pound 3 ounces granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon calcium water
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Pomona's Pectin

Instructions

• Prepare a boiling water bath canner and enough jars to hold 4 pints.
• In a low, wide, non-reactive pot, combine the pitted cherries, 1 pound of sugar, and all the calcium water.
• Set pot over high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook at a vigorous boil for 20 to 25 minutes, until the volume has reduced by at least one-third.
• Stir pectin into the remaining sugar and stream it into the cooking jam, using a whisk to stir to help prevent clumps.
• Return the contents of the pot to an active boil and cook for an additional 2 minutes and then start looking for signs of thickening (it should be pretty clear as Pomona's pectin sets quickly). Once you see some thickening, remove the pot from the heat.
• Funnel the jam into the prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe the rims, apply lids and rings, and process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.
• When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel to cool. When the jars have cooled enough that you can comfortably handle them, check the seals. Sealed jars can be stored at room temperature for up to a year. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used promptly.

NOTES:

• From the Food in Jars site: Now, for the pectin. I like to use less pectin that the Pomona’s packet instructions call for. Typically, I use between 1/2 and 3/4 teaspoon calcium water and pectin for every pound of fruit. Use less for a soft set and a bit more for a firmer set.
• The cherries were easy to pit and that worked better than the food mill.
• I made a half batch from cherries on our backyard tree.

Chokecherry jelly

 

Ingredients

• 4 cups chokecherry juice (See chokecherry syrup recipe for method to get juice.)
• ¼ cup lemon juice bottled
• 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
• 1.75 cups sugar (original recipe offers a range)
• 4 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin powder mixed with sweetener

Instructions

• Before you begin, prepare calcium water. 

  To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.

  Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
• Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small saucepan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
• Prepare chokecherry juice.
• Measure juice into saucepan.
• Add calcium water and lemon juice and mix well.
• Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
• Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
• Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
  
  
  Credit: https://pomonapectin.com/chokecherry-jelly-2/

Chokecherry Syrup

 For the first year ever, we have a ton of chokecherries and beat the backyard creatures to them.

Ingredients

• 8 cups chokecherry juice (extracted from about 1 1/2 gallons of chokecherries)*
• 1 package pectin
• 10 cups sugar

Equipment:

• 7 pint jars
• 7 rings
• 7 lids
• canning equipment (funnel, pot, rack, jar grabber)

Instructions

1. To extract the juice, place the cleaned chokecherries in a large pot and add enough water to just barely cover them. Put them on the stove and allow to come to a boil, then reduce to simmer.  After about 30 minutes, the berries will have released their juice. The liquid in the pot will be opaque and a dark mauve color.

2. After the chokecherries are finished cooking, strain them and the juice through a fine mesh sieve over a large bowl. Gently press on the chokecherries in the sieve to get out any of the liquid, but be careful not to mash it too much. Give your pot a rinse and a quick scrub to remove any bits left. Measure the juice after it has been strained; you should have about eight cups. If you have less, you can half this recipe or you can cook more chokecherries to get the right amount of juice.

3. Sterilize 7 pint jars.

4. Place the juice back into the stockpot. It should still be a little warm. If, for some reason it’s not, warm it up, but don’t let it boil. Gently sprinkle the pectin into the juice while stirring, then allow to boil.  Add the sugar while you stir to help it dissolve. Keep stirring and allow the mixture to come to a boil again. Stir constantly and let it boil for one minute, then remove from heat and let it settle a bit. Skim off any foam and discard.

5. Pour the syrup into the pint jars, giving about an inch of headspace. Wipe the lip of the jars with a clean, damp towel (this removes any syrup that was spilled in the process) and place a lid on top. Seal it with the ring.

6. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

NOTES:

• Instead of a sieve or cheesecloth, I mashed the juice out using the food mill and medium disc.  
• Maybe because of this method, I ended up with 12 cups of juice instead of 8.  The rest is in a quart jar, maybe to be turned into jelly.
• I added about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice per another recipe.  (It actually called for lemon and orange juice to be added, but I didn't have any orange.)
• I also added about 1 tsp. of almond extract to this 8 cup recipe.  (I don't think Dad would add almond extract to his, but I thought I'd try it.)

 

Sangria!

 ½ cup brandy

¼ cup lemon juice

⅓ cup frozen lemonade concentrate

⅓ cup orange juice

1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red wine

½ cup triple sec

1 lemon, sliced into rounds

1 orange, sliced into rounds

1 lime, sliced into rounds

¼ cup white sugar (Optional)

8 maraschino cherries

2 cups carbonated water (Optional)

In a large pitcher or bowl, mix together the brandy, lemon juice, lemonade concentrate, orange juice, red wine, triple sec, and sugar. Float slices of lemon, orange and lime, and maraschino cherries in the mixture. Refrigerate overnight for best flavor. For a fizzy sangria, add club soda just before serving.

NOTE: I got this recipe from Caroline Langfeld who had made it for Daniel's grad party.  We also served it for Felix's baptism without the cherries.  A bottle of Winking Owl red it just right!

Kolaches

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted (If you use unsalted butter or margarine, add an additional 1/4 teaspoon salt)
2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
2 large eggs
1 tsp orange or lemon zest(or a few drops of lemon extract)
4 cups All-Purpose Flour

PINEAPPLE FILLING 
20-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained*
1 cup sugar(This was quite sweet, you could probably easily get away with 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons cornstarch OR Instant ClearJel
2 tablespoons melted butter

*If you’re using cornstarch as the thickener, reserve 3 tablespoons of the pineapple juice, in which you’ll dissolve the cornstarch.

STRAWBERRY FILLING
1.5 lbs. frozen strawberries
1 cup sugar(This was quite sweet, you could probably easily get away with 3/4 cup)
2 tablespoons cornstarch OR Instant ClearJel
2 tablespoons melted butter

*If you’re using cornstarch as the thickener, reserve 3 tablespoons of the strawberry juice, in which you’ll dissolve the cornstarch.

STREUSEL TOPPING
2/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar 
1/3 cup (about 5 2/3 tablespoons) melted butter
(This is more than enough streusel for a double batch of dough)

DOUGH: Warm the sour cream gently, and combine it with the sugar, salt, and butter or margarine in a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer. Cool the mixture to lukewarm (if it isn’t already that temperature), and add the yeast (if you’re using active dry yeast, dissolve it in the water first), warm water, eggs, and flour. Mix and knead the dough, using your hands, or a mixer, until it’s soft and smooth. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the dough overnight. Note: This dough won’t rise much, so don’t worry about having to put it in a huge bowl.

Next day, remove the dough from the fridge, and divide it into about 24 pieces, each 1 3/4 ounces, about the size of a golf ball. Place the pieces on lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about an inch between them. Flatten the balls till they’re about 1/2-inch thick, and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.

PINEAPPLE FILLING: In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the drained pineapple to boiling. If you’re using Instant ClearJel(r), mix it with the sugar, and stir this mixture into the pineapple. Immediately remove the filling from the heat, and stir in the melted butter. Cool to lukewarm before using.

If you’re using cornstarch, mix it with the reserved pineapple juice. Stir the dissolved cornstarch and the sugar into the hot pineapple, and cook over medium heat, stirring, till the mixture thickens and becomes clear. Remove it from the heat, stir in the melted butter, and let it cool to lukewarm before using.

STRAWBERRY FILLING: In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the strawberries to boiling, drain off excess juice(I removed ~1 cup). If you’re using Instant ClearJel(r), mix it with the sugar, and stir this mixture into the strawberries. Immediately remove the filling from the heat, and stir in the melted butter. Cool to lukewarm before using.

If you’re using cornstarch, mix it with the reserved strawberry juice or water. Stir the dissolved cornstarch and the sugar into the hot berries, and cook over medium heat, stirring, till the mixture thickens and becomes clear. Remove it from the heat, stir in the melted butter, and let it cool to lukewarm before using.

STREUSEL TOPPING: In a small bowl, mix together the flour and sugar, then add the butter, stirring till crumbs form.

ASSEMBLY: Using your fingers, make a wide, deep indentation in the center of each flattened dough ball. Don’t be afraid of being decisive here; you want to make a deep enough indentation that it doesn’t just disappear as the buns rise and bake. Place about 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling into each bun; crumble a little of the streusel on top. Cover the kolaches, and allow them to rise for about an hour; they won’t necessarily double in bulk.

Bake the kolaches in a preheated 350°F oven for 15 to 20 minutes, till they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm, or at room temperature.

Notes
*I didn't get a picture, but mine came out looking like your average grocery store danish, not very tall at all, but they have a lovely texture.
*I'm sure you could substitute just about any frozen berry for the strawberries without any complications.
*There are loads of other filling recipes online.
*I only got two out of the 4 pans of assembled kolaches baked before we had to leave for the vigil mass; the remaining pans were left out for ~4 hours and there was not a noticeable difference between the them and the ones that had risen for an hour.

Fresh Cherry Crisp

FOR THE CRISP TOPPING

1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup butter, melted

FOR THE FILLING

2 cups pitted cherries
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Spray four ramekins with non-stick cooking spray.
Combine oats, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a medium bowl. Whisk together well to evenly combine.
Add brown sugar and melted butter to the flour mixture and mix well to form a clumpy dough. Set aside.
In another bowl combine pitted cherries, granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. Mix well so the cherries are coated with the flour and sugar. Divide them between the four sprayed ramekins.
Cover cherries with crisp topping, dividing it evenly between the four ramekins.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crisp topping is golden brown.
Notes:
You can easily double this recipe and prepare in one 9"x13" baking dish.

NOTES:

• Easiest dessert ever AND quite delicious served warm with a little ice cream.
• I made it as directed except I added a few blueberries to get more fruit.
• I baked it in a 9x9 pan instead of ramekins.
• Source

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - No Pectin

1-1/2 lbs Fresh Strawberries, chopped

1-1/2 lbs Rhubarb, diced

2 cups sugar(more or less to taste)

2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice

Combine all ingredients in a non-reactive bowl and let sit for 4+ hours.  Pour the contents of the bowl into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat, keeping it just at a slow boil for around 20 minutes or until thickened(somewhat like apple butter).  If you want it smoother, puree with an immersion blender.

Makes 2 pints.

Sangria

1 bottle red wine (Winking Owl Merlot was perfect for this)
4 oz brandy
3 oz triple sec
2 oranges
2 limes
1 apple
4-6 oz simple syrup, to taste
12 oz or more club soda

Juice one orange and one lime; combine with first three ingredients. Add simple syrup to taste. Slice the remaining fruit thinly and add to pitcher. Chill thoroughly and serve over ice mixed about 2:1 with club soda.

Rhubarb Vodka

Just bookmarking it here so I can find it again.  Delicious!

3 pounds rhubarb, cut up

Mixed with
1 bottle vodka
1/4 cup grand marnier
Simple syrup (6 tablespoons sugar heated to boiling with 1/4 cup water)


Cool the syrup before mixing into the rest of the ingredients. 
Let stand 1-2 weeks in covered container.

Recipe is flexible - it originally called for 1/2 cup of the Grand Marnier, but my source preferred with less.

It's a lovely pink color and, according to reports, is dangerously good when mixed with 7-Up.

Rhubarb bars

CRUST
1 c flour
5 tbls powdered sugar
1/2 c butter, softened

FILLING
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups rhubarb
1/4 flour

Mix the crust ingredients.  Pat into a 9 x 13 pan.  Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Mix filling ingredients and pour over the top of the baked crust.  Bake at 350 for an additional 35 minutes.  Cool and cut.

NOTES:

• Delish and easy!
• The crust was buttery and delicious.
• The filling was a little sweet and could have used more rhubarb.  Next time try three cups of rhubarb with this amount of sugar or 1 1/4 cups of sugar with the 2 cups of rhubarb.
• Source: Parish cookbook from Sacred Heart in Norfolk, NE (p. 222)
  
  
  
  

Strawberry Pimm's Cup Cocktail

Trust me, you want a double.  

INGREDIENTS:

For the Strawberry Syrup:

16 ounces fresh strawberries, hulled and rinsed

1 cup granulated sugar

For the Drink:

Ice

2 ounces Pimm's No. 1

1 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce Strawberry Syrup

2 ounces 7UP or ginger ale

Sliced cucumber, strawberries and fresh mint to garnish

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the Strawberry Syrup: Puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth. Press the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve and measure out 1 cup of the strawberry puree. Add it, along with the sugar, to a small saucepan and bring to a light boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. (The strawberry syrup can be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month.)

2. Make the Drink: In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the Pimm's No. 1, lemon juice and 1 ounce of the strawberry syrup and shake. Strain into an ice-filled glass and top with the 7UP. Garnish with sliced cucumber, strawberries and a sprig of fresh mint.

NOTES:

• The garnish is not necessary for the flavor, but smelling that cucumber and mint with each sip adds a surprisingly wonderful-ness to the drink.
• We happened to have a bottle of lemon sour open, so we used that instead of sprite.  It's a solid choice.
• When I made the strawberry syrup, I strained it through my wire mesh strainer and very little was strained out.  (Some of the seeds, probably not the majority.  I'm not convinced this is a necessary step.)
• Thanks to Brown Eyed Baker (my new hero)

Pearsauce

3 1/2 lbs. pears, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup water
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 - 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions:
In a large saucepan, combine the pears, water, lemon juice, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and boil gently, occasionally stirring, for 20 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a food processor, working in batches if necessary, fitted with a metal blade and puree just until a uniform texture is achieved. Do not liquefy.
Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Alternatively, freeze in one cup quantities in the freezer and store for several months.

NOTES:

• I bought a flat of pears earlier this week and it was time to do something with the ones we hadn't eaten.
• This was my base recipe but I didn't peel them and I simmered everything longer so it was a little thicker.
• For a final step, I pulverized it all with the immersion blender and added about 2 tbls. brown sugar.

Cherry Pie LaraBars

1 1/4 cups medjool dates, pitted
1 1/4 cups dried cherries
1 1/2 cups almonds, toasted (optional)

To toast the almonds, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 400°F for ten minutes. Remove from oven and transfer the almonds to a bowl or plate to cool.

Place dates and cherries in a food processor and pulse until a gooey semi-paste has formed (you want some bits of fruit, but not huge pieces). Empty the dried fruit into a large mixing bowl. Put the almonds in the food processor and pulse to coarse bits. You don’t want to make this a powder. Empty the almonds into the mixing bowl with the dried fruit. Knead the dried fruit and almonds together until combined and evenly distributed. Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan to about 1/2-inch thickness. Refrigerate the mixture for 30 minutes. Invert the pan’s contents onto a cutting board and slice to desired size. Makes about a dozen 1.5- x 3.5-inch bars with a few odd pieces leftover.

NOTES: 

• Source for this recipe.
• I had a bag of dried cherries from Aldi which was a little more than a cup, so I just added 1 1/2 cups of dates.
• The Aldi cherries list sugar as an ingredient, so I might search for a sugar-free option next time.  The sad part of this is that Aldi's dried cherries are a fantastic price.  :(
• I added a little salt.
• Not sure I had the variety of dates this recipe called for - I bought whatever it is they sell at Sam's.
• It says that toasting the almonds is "optional."  Ignore that.  Toasting the almonds is fantastic!  It was an easy step and added a wonderful flavor.
• I would never do this without a food processor, but it worked really well with it.

Clif Bars

Yield: 9 bars

Prep Time: 15 minutes

1 cup dates (pitted)
1¼ cups crisp rice cereal
1 cup quick-cooking oats
¼ cup coarsely chopped peanuts
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
½ cup peanut butter
1/3 cup brown rice syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup mini semisweet chocolate chips

1. Spray an 8×8-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray; set aside.

2. Place the dates in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Combine the pureed dates with the cereal, oats, peanuts, flaxseed, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

3. Combine the peanut butter and brown rice syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until melted and completely blended. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

4. Pour the peanut butter mixture over the oat mixture and stir until well combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly to pack the mixture into the pan. Let the mixture sit until completely cool and set, at least 1 hour. Cut into bars, then wrap individually in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

NOTES:

• The recipe above is from Brown Eyed Baker.  
• I didn't add the chocolate chips because ... why would I want them for breakfast?
• I also looked high and low for brown rice syrup with no success.  I'll keep searching, but until then, I just used corn syrup.  I was tempted to use agave syrup, but had a sample at Costco once that I wasn't too fond of.  I hated to buy an overpriced bottle of something I likely wouldn't like and wouldn't have another use for.
• Bottom line: these are good.  I'll play around with different flavors if they work well for breakfast on the go and I make them again.

Shortbread Tea Tarts

Photo Credit:
J. M. Klejeski

Crust:
1 cup (227 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (55 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) all purpose flour
3 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch (corn flour) or rice flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

• Lightly butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, 36 miniature muffin tins (approximately 2 inch (5 cm) in diameter).
• In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together (1-2 minutes) until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix just until incorporated. If the shortbread dough is too soft to roll into balls, cover and refrigerate for about 30-60 minutes.
• Take a scant 1 tablespoon of shortbread dough (about 15 grams) and place in the center of each muffin tin. With your fingertips, press the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of the individual muffin tin. Once filled, cover and place the tart pan, with the unbaked shells, in the freezer for about 15 minutes so the shortbread can become firm. (This will help to prevent the shortbread from puffing up during baking.)
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.
• Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly golden brown. About halfway through the baking time, if the shortbread has puffed up, lightly prick the bottom of each shortbread with the tines of a fork. Once they are fully baked, remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. When completely cooled, remove the tarts from the pan. (They can be frozen.)

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese (not low fat)
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Fruit:
We used blueberries and raspberries, but kiwi, tiny strawberries, or blackberries would also be good.

Notes:
The original recipe is here.  There were lots of warnings about how fragile the crusts were, but mine came out of the pans really well.  I did take care to weigh the dough (15 grams, as suggested) and when I pushed them into the mini-muffin tins, I made sure the sidewalls weren't thin at all.  The impressions I made were more bowl shaped, resulting in fairly thick bottoms and walls.  Fortunately, the shortbread was delish (!) so this wasn't a problem at all.

We piped my standard fruit pizza filling into each (rather than the sweetened condensed milk version on the original recipe), topped it with a berry, and refrigerated them until the tea party.

I made the crusts early in the week, and just filled them a few hours before serving.  It is now the day after though and they're still very good.

FIg Cinnamon Preserves

3 lbs fresh figs, the riper the better
2-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 cup water
3 tbsp lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

Stem and quarter the figs.  Combine the water and sugar in a small kettle and heat until the sugar dissolves.  Add the lemon juice, cinnamon and figs; simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally and breaking up the figs.  Fill sterilized jars leaving 1/4 inch head space.  Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.

Makes ~3 pints.

Rustic Peach Pie

From some magazine in the dentist's office.

Maybe Real Simple.

Good and Easy.

Like a pie but smaller.

And no effort was needed to make it look cute.

Rhu-berry Crisp

1 1/2 c flour

1/2 c butter, melted

1 c brown sugar

1 c rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon

Blend flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon. Stir in butter until mixture is crumbly. Pat half into a greased 9-inch square pan.

2 c sliced strawberries

3 c sliced rhubarb

1 c sugar

3 tbls cornstarch

Mix fruit, sugar, and cornstarch. Spread over crust. Sprinkle with a few drops of lemon juice, if desired. Sprinkle with the remaining crust mixture and bake at 325 for about 1 hour. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

NOTES: I used blueberries instead of strawberries. Very good!

This is in the church cookbook, page 309, but it says to use 1 1/2 cups margarine in the crust. It must be a typo. I used 1/2 c butter and it was good. Update your cookbooks, ladies.

Lemon Blueberry Pancakes

(source)

• 1½ cup Cake Flour
• ¼ tsp Salt
• 1 T (heaping) Baking Powder
• 3 T Sugar
• 1½ cup Evaporated Milk
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1 Large Egg
• 1½ tsp Vanilla
• 2 T Butter, Melted
• Zest From 1 Lemon
• 1 cup Blueberries

In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix evaporated milk, juice of 1 lemon (more if lemon isn’t very juicy), and lemon zest. Allow to sit for five minutes, then add egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix to combine.

Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Stir gently to combine. Splash in more evaporated milk if mixture is overly thick. Stir in blueberries. Again, check to make sure mixture isn’t overly thick.
Melt butter in heated skillet. Drop batter by 1/4 cup measures and fry pancakes on both sides until golden.

Notes: These were so good, Brian complemented me on them the next day!

I used regular milk with no problem. I also used whole wheat pastry flour instead of cake flour.

Cranberry Pecan Bread

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 cup pecans, toasted and chopped coarse(optional)
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
2/3 cup buttermilk
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups cranberries, coarse chopped
Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out extra.

Stir together the orange zest, orange juice, buttermilk, butter, and egg in a small bowl. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients with a spatula until just moistened. Gently stir in the cranberries and pecans. Do not overmix. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Bake 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° F; continue to bake until the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes longer. Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool at least 1 hour before serving. The bread can then be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature for several days.