Apple-less Apple Pie

Back in the day, during World War II, there was a shortage of apples. I'm not sure of the correlation between war and apples but it happened. So says my grandmother. Anyway, being the creative sort that they were, the people of her time improvised and made due with what they had. Below is my grandmothers recipe for apple-less apple pie. Give this a try. It's pretty darned good.

Ingredients:

Pastry dough for a two crust 9 inch pie. (You can use a pre made crust if you wish)
1 3/4 cups of Ritz crackers, coarsely crumbled (about 36 crackers)
1 3/4 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Roll out half the pastry dough and line a 9 inch pie plate/tin. Put the cracker crumbs in the prepared crust and set aside. Heat water, sugar, and cream of tartar to a boil over high heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice & zest. Let cool. Pour the cooled mixture over the cracker crumbs. Dot it with butter or margarine. Roll out remaining pastry dough & arrange over pie, cutting slits in the top to vent the steam. Egg wash the pie crust to enhance the golden color of the crust. Bake at 425 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until pie crust is golden and crisp. Allow to cool before serving.

Got Chickpeas? Got Sweet Potatoes?

It's recipe Friday and as you may (or may not) know, I am the world's biggest hummus fan. I eat it, make it, cook with it & once used it to glue my mirror back on. Well, no not really on the mirror thing but I LOVE HUMMUS!

I have recently been embraced the science of flavor blending. I have been trying some seriously off the charts hummus flavors like lemon (tastes like a dessert), scallion, buffalo wing, and crabby but I've got to tell you that Sweet Potato Hummus might be my gift to the masses! This stuff rocks. I never tout my own food or my cooking but this stuff is that good! You can serve this warm or cold with the cracker or pita of your choice but if you are alone and want to be decadent, put a few dollops in a bowl and just eat it with a spoon. The recipe is below and I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Sweet Potato Hummus

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups cooked chickpeas (or one can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained)

3 tablespoons tahini

3 cloves garlic, peeled

juice of 1 lemon

zest of 1/2 lemon

ground sea salt, to taste

1 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 teaspoon cumin
pinch of cinnamon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake the sweet potatoes on the middle oven rack or in a baking dish for 45 minutes to an hour. They should yield to a gentle squeeze when they’re done baking.

While the sweet potatoes are cooling, toss all of the other ingredients into a food processor (if you’re sensitive to spice, you may want to save the spices for last and add them to taste). Once the sweet potatoes have cooled enough to handle, use a knife or your fingers to peel the skin off of them. Add the sweet potatoes to the food processor.

Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve.

Fire Safety Part Two: Bedroom Fire Safety

Each year, fire claims the lives of 3,500 Americans and injures approximately 18,300. Bedrooms are a common area of fire origin. Nearly 600 lives are lost to fires that start in bedrooms. Many of these fires are caused by misuse or poor maintenance of electrical devices, such as overloading extension cords or using portable space heaters too close to combustibles. Many other bedroom fires are caused by children who play with matches and lighters, careless smoking among adults, and arson.

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the Sleep Products Safety Council (SPSC) would like you to know that there are simple steps you can take to prevent the loss of life and property resulting from bedroom fires.

Children are one of the highest risk groups for deaths in residential fires. At home, children usually play with fire - lighters, matches and other ignitables - in bedrooms, in closets, and under beds. These are "secret" places where there are a lot of things that catch fire easily.

Did you know that children of all ages set over 35,000 fires annually. Every year over 400 children nine years and younger die in home fires. For some reason, kids are fascinated by fire and flame. Keep matches and lighters locked up and away from children. Check under beds and in closets for burnt matches, evidence your child may be playing with matches. Above all, teach your child that fire is a tool, not a toy.

Bedrooms are the most common room in the home where electrical fires start. Electrical fires are a special concern during winter months which call for more indoor activities and increases in lighting, heating, and appliance use. Do not trap electric cords against walls where heat can build up. Take extra care when using portable heaters. Keep bedding, clothes, curtains and other combustible items at least three feet away from space heaters. Only use lab-approved (Underwriters Laboratory is a good example) electric blankets and warmers. Check to make sure the cords are not frayed and make sure your smoke alarms are in working condition.

Finally, tuck yourself in for a good night of restful sleep by never smoking in bed, replace mattresses made before the 2007 Federal Mattress Flammability Standard. Mattresses made since then are required by law to be safer & most of all having working smoke alarms dramatically increases your chances of surviving a fire. Place at least one smoke alarm on each level of your home and in halls outside bedrooms. And remember to practice a home escape plan frequently with your family.

Next Up: Cooking Fire Safety

Fire Safety Part One: Smoke Alarms

I have decided to concentrate my blog on a subject that I feel is very important. As a firefighter, fire safety is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. I don’t care what people think, but true dedicated firefighters don’t want to come to your home or business to put out a fire if it can be avoided. We would much rather that you are safe. Fires are devastating, potentially deadly events that even on a small scale cause undue heartache and grief to those involved. I am going to break this down into five parts. Each one giving an overview of fire safety from the perspective of a firefighter but broken down into wording and terms a citizen will understand.

The first subject concerns smoke alarms, their placement, their maintenance and replacement and what not to do to your smoke alarm.

A properly installed and maintained smoke alarm is the only thing in your home that can alert you and your family to a fire 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you’re awake or asleep, a working smoke alarm is constantly on alert, scanning the air for fire and smoke.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in properties without working smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm significantly increases your chances of surviving a deadly home fire.

Smoke alarms should be at a minimum placed on every level of your home, the basement included. Many fatal fires begin late at night or in the early morning so I recommend that you place smoke alarms in every sleeping area of your home also. Early warning is a key to saving your life and the lives of those you love.

Smoke alarms, whether of the 9-volt, 10 year lithium, or hardwired variety need to be maintained. General guidelines are as follows:

Smoke alarms powered by a 9-volt battery should be tested monthly. Replace the batteries at least once per year and the entire smoke alarm unit should be replaced every 8-10 years.

Smoke alarms powered by a 10-year lithium (or “long life”) battery should be tested monthly. Since you cannot and should not attempt to replace the lithium battery, the entire smoke alarm unit should be replaced according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Smoke alarm that is hardwired into the home’s electrical system tested monthly. The backup battery should be replaced at least once per year and the entire smoke alarm unit should be replaced every 8-10 years.

Finally, never, ever disable a smoke alarm while cooking. A smoke alarm is just doing its job when it sounds while you’re cooking or taking a shower with lots of steam.

If a smoke alarm sounds while you’re cooking or taking a shower with lots of steam, do not remove the battery. You should open a window or door and press the “hush” button, wave a towel at the alarm to clear the air, or move the entire alarm several feet away from the location. Disabling a smoke alarm or removing the battery can be a deadly mistake.

Did I say that you should NEVER, EVER, EVER disable your smoke alarm because you are cooking? Ok, I did but I really wanted to emphasize the fact that the consequences can be deadly if you disable your smoke alarm.

Next up: Bedroom Fire Safety

Taoism & Operating Subconsciously

Although we can only focus on one thing at a time, multitasking is far more natural to us than constant focus. Meditation exposes our inner lack of control and inability to hold focus on one thing at a time and, when it comes to historical accounts of a person able to dedicate a lot of constant thought to one issue, then they are far and few those who display this ability. This is a strange statement. We can only focus on one thing at a time, but we all know from common experience that our focus constantly shifts from one thing to the next.

Sorry, I lost my train of thought then and had a swig of coffee.

It is certain that evolution would favor those who shifted attention frequently as one who was stuck in one thought could well find themselves starving or under attack. It is not obvious why evolution would not have encouraged the ability to focus on more than one thing at once. Yet do we actually operate this way? Is it one thing or nothing? Apparently not.

Have you been stuck on a problem then either forgotten about it or had a good sleep and awoke with the answer? This is a common experience and research into it has shown that our subconscious is always at work on multiple tasks and, in fact, when people feel they are being Wu Wei and just getting things done by not really trying, when they master a particular act so much that even the complexities of say drawing happen just as breathing, it is the subconscious at work. It is known by all in that state that if they become too conscious of the event, then they'll flop.

Is the feeling of being conscious of only one thing at a time perhaps a flaw in our thinking? Could it be that if we operated entirely from our subconscious and never have conscious attention enter the picture that life really would flow with the Tao in perfect Wu Wei?

Crown Pork Roast

Lately, I have been trying to get away from eating a lot of meat. I'm trying to achieve a better balance in my diet and add more variety also. Today is the first time this week I've eaten a four legged animal. Since my breathing has gotten better, I decided to roll the dice and go for the grand daddy of all pork related meals and cook a Crown Pork Roast for my coworkers tonight. It was amazing. I've made this before but each time it gets a little better as I adjust seasonings and cooking times. I cooked this at home today and let it finish at the oven in work while I made the stuffing, carrots and gravy. Here are the directions I use if you would like to try this. It looks more intimidating than it really is, especially if you have the butcher french the bones and tie the roast himself.

Cook the stuffing separately from the roast. Cooking with the stuffing in the center or cavity of the roast takes longer and may dry-out the meat.

Cook the roast in a pre-heated oven at 350°. General cooking time is 1 ¼ hours to 1 ¾ hours depending on the number of ribs and thickness of the meat.

Place a tin foil ball or a firm fitting tin can (label removed and washed) in the center of the roast. Both methods will help in retaining the shape of the roast and help it cook more evenly. If using a can it will create a chimney effect that can help the meat cook more quickly and circulate the hot air in the oven.

Season the roast to your liking. I use a combo of dried lemon peel, granulated garlic, fresh ground pepper, meat tenderizer, Spanish paprika, minced onion and sea salt. These are all one tablespoon measurements except for the lemon peel and sea salt which are 1/2 teaspoon measurements. Combine all seasonings in a zip top bag and shake until well mixed. Place a small piece of tin foil as a cap over the tip of each of the bones. Allow the roast to rest on the kitchen counter for twenty minutes before cooking.

Use a meat thermometer. When the internal temperature reaches 140° to 145° the roast can be removed from the oven. Keep in mind that when the roast is removed from the oven and is resting before carving, it will continue to cook a little more and allow the juices to come back to the center of the roast.

After cooking remove the roast from the oven and allow it to rest at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Slice the roast between the ribs allowing approximately one rib per serving or more if serving real hungry firefighters.

Chicken Whacked

Chicken Whacked                       Ingredients:

2 boneless chicken breasts,
breadcrumbs
4 eggs
pesto sauce
fresh shaved sharp provolone cheese
vegetable oil
4 long sandwich rolls
lettuce
tomato
red onion

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and heat vegetable oil over medium heat in a skillet or non stick pan. Butterfly cut the chicken breasts, then cut in half, creating four pieces, set aside. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl. Place breadcrumbs on a plate. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg, letting the excess drip off. Coat chicken with breadcrumbs and fry for two minutes on each side. Remove from oil and pat away excess oil with a paper towel. Place chicken on an ungreased baking sheet and place in oven for twelve minutes. Remove chicken from oven and brush with pesto sauce and layer the provolone cheese on top. Return chicken to oven for five minutes to melt cheese. Remove from oven and place on sandwich roll with lettuce, tomato, and onion.