Turnip Souffle

Sometimes, before I go to sleep at night, I read cookbooks. I guess it comes with studying nutrition and dietetics.
This is one of my favorites to flip through- it is a bit too fragile to inhabit my kitchen, but resides in my bedroom.


This particular copy was given to my grandmother by her sister in 1951. Over sixty years of greasy fingerprints and splatters of cake, make this a book with sentimental value.

As I create dishes from this book, when I stumble across a recipe with notes, or take a moment to gaze at the bookmarks that litter the pages, reminders for prayer and thank-you notes from friends, I feel close to my grandmother.

Age has obscured the clarity of her mind, so the only way to really commune with her is through song. But memories of her are very much alive in this cookbook. Not just her ability to cook, but the care and love for her family that this demonstrated.

Last night I decided to do something with my turnips that were a bit past their prime.
I'm not sure if this is quite a "souffle" as the title indicates, but I'm not very familiar with souffles.

Here's the dish before it went in the oven.



And here's the recipe, as I modified it:

1 cup cooked turnips
2 tablespoons cream
1 cup bread crumbs (divided)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter

Mash turnips and add 1/2 cup crumbs, egg, cream, salt, pepper, and sugar. Mix together.
Add milk gradually.
Place in a greased baking dish (I used an 7 inch round casserole) and cover with remaining crumbs and dots of butter.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.
Serve at once.
Serves 6.



This is a great way to dress up turnips that are too bitter to eat raw. Or rather, to just disguise turnips by mixing them with bread crumbs!

Friendship: Cozy and Sturdy

I had a delightful Thanksgiving break, and in addition to spending a lot of time with the family and friends that I hold dear, I spent a lot of time crafting. Not blogging, obviously. Sorry about that!
Hopefully I will get a few pictures of my craft projects up before too long. Although some of them are top secret, since they are destined as Christmas gifts.
But I just wanted to take a moment to brag on my friends. A few years ago, 6 of us took an afternoon and evening to make a denim comfort (like a quilt, but it's knotted, not quilted) together. We started with a big pile of old jeans, and ended up with a sturdy, cozy comfort with flannel backing. Each of us embroidered our name on a patch, and we have lots of pockets in the quilt. We pass it around, and each person gets to fill the pockets with little gifts for the next girl.
Here's a snapshot of the quilt on my bed:



And here's a photo of my loot. One of my favorite things is a notebook where we all write down something that God was teaching us during the time when we had the quilt- it's fun to look back over the past 2 or 3 years and see where we were and what we were learning.



So tonight, as I fall asleep beneath this cozy quilt of friendship, I will be reminded of the sweetness of dear friends.

Old Time Music

After a lifetime (okay, since I was in 3rd grade) of playing the violin, I attempted to play the fiddle tonight. Same instrument, but a COMPLETELY different style of playing.
My roommate, a banjo player, took me to a... a... I don't know what the specific term is, but a group of people sitting in a circle just playing music. Simple, beautiful, Appalachian Folk music.
I only recognized one song, out of the whole 2 1/2 hours, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be learning a good number of these songs.

I felt so much more comfortable with this style of music than I've ever felt with classical. There is an earthy freedom, a lilting joy, in these tunes.

Reason #92 that God placed me in West Virginia.

Meant to Be

Another pearl in the string of confirmations that God had has placed me here at West Virginia University, living in this home, studying nutrition at this program.

The other day, as the weather was sinking deeper into fall, I decided to change to my flannel sheets. And these sheets, which I was given as a birthday present a few years ago (when I lived in the frigid northwest corner of the old farm house!), are the exact same color as the paint on my bedroom walls in my new house.

Just a little thing, but a sweet reminder that He has ordained every step, and will carry His good works through to completion (Philippians 1:6).


How has God shown up in your life recently?

Relaxation in a Skillet

Sorry it's been a little while since I've written- my plate is filling up with the wonderful tasks of my masters program. I am reading lots of research articles on home gardening, and quite enjoying it once I actually get started.

I took an excruciating statistics exam from 4:15 to 6:45 today, and then I slipped and fell in mud on the way home!

That being said, I needed some nourishment and a few moments to not think about school when I got home.

I was considering baking a sweet potato with raspberries- one of my favorite simple fall dishes, but decided not to heat up the oven. Plus, I'm in love with my cast iron skillet, so why not use it?

(By the way- I ended up using the oven anyways because then I decided to make some Whole Wheat Flax Bread. It's in the oven now and it smells MARVELOUS!)

Here's my original creation (no internet searching for ideas, even!)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Skillet with Greens and Raspberries

1. Chop a sweet potato into chunks (about 1/2 inch)
Place in skillet over medium high heat along with a minced clove of garlic and teaspoon of oil.
Saute for about 10 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are 3/4 of the way soft.



2. Add 1/2 cup of black beans (mine were straight from the freezer, as described in my post on cooking beans) and cook another 3 or so minutes.

3. Roughly chop a handful of fall greens ( I used swiss chard). Toss in skillet along with 1/4 cup of water, and cover until greens are wilted.



4. Remove lid and add 1/3 cup raspberries, 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger and salt and pepper to taste.



5. Dish and enjoy :)

How to Punch a Pepper

I just wanted to share an idea that a friend of mine gave me recently- a simple method to prepare a pepper without a knife. It's quick, and although it doesn't yield perfect results, it may be helpful when working with youth that you don't trust with a knife, or if you just don't feel like getting a knife dirty.

Step 1.
Position both thumbs beside the stem of the pepper (only one thumb included in photo because the other hand was occupied with the camera).

Step 2.
Apply pressure until the stem recedes into the fruit.

Step 3.
Use your fingers to pull out the stem and seeds.

My New Favorite Convenience Food

So, I've just become enamored with a new vegetable: delicata squash. I've barely finished my lunch, and I can't wait to share it with you, so here it is!

A small squash (5-6 inches in length) is the perfect size for a meal for one person. I just cut off both ends, sliced it in half lengthwise, scooped out the seeds (saving them to make roasted pumpkin seeds- a great source of iron!) and placed both halves cut side down in 1/4 inch of water in a covered microwaveable bowl.

It took about 4 minutes to get soft in my microwave. Then, I drained the water, flipped the halves so that the cut side was facing up (looks like little canoes) and threw in a handful of frozen beans, some random spices, and a drizzle (2 teaspoons-even though it looks like a lot more in this photo) of tahini as a source of fat because I didn't feel like using olive oil. I also sprinkled some dried hot pepper over the pile, and the capsaicin is now dancing in my mouth.

I microwaved the squash for another 2 minutes to heat up the frozen beans, pulled it out, and commenced my lunch.

The great thing is that you can eat the entire squash- skin and all, at least according to my friend Sarah. It tastes fine to me, so even if most people don't eat the skin, I think I will.

I ended up needing a dollop of yogurt on top to cut the spiciness, but overall it was delicious.
This "recipe" is super versatile- you can stuff the "canoe" with pretty much anything- pre-cooked meat, tomato sauce, beans, pesto, cooked grains, and any sort of vegetable.

Enjoy!

After a morning of completing nutrition assessments in convenience stores and finding myself ridiculously tempted by the fatty, sugary, processed items (but resisting the temptation to buy anything, I must add!), I'm off to bake bread and quiche and all manor of yummy things for my cousin and his wife who are visiting this weekend. What a fun way to spend a Friday :)