My sister's monkey bread was very good. She hadn't made any before even though she can make 6 very good loaves of bread in one batch.  

Posted by: @mel

@snowangel, when you say you made the apple blackberry jello pie from scratch, do you mean you made the jello too? It sounds like a tasty combination.

I haven't used a box of jello for several years. We have been getting beef gelatin by the pound from a local food co-op, it's so much better. I used cran-raspberry juice because that's what we had in the pantry for making kombucha, so I guess it was actually cranberry raspberry apple blackberry pie.  

My mom was hungry for apples, so I switched cooked apples for pumpkin in the THM recipe and made apple pie filling. It was good too. I need to write all the changes I made to the recipe down, so I can make it again.

SnowAngel

@fantasia 

Although I haven't made Turkish delight (as you may know from my previous post), the videos I have watched have said that there is some sort of way to store it, so that it doesn't lose its perfect shape and consistency, ?. I do know that Turkish delight requires lots of confectioners sugar on top, so that might be what keeps it from getting soggy or lumpy. 

@johobbit 

I know that many people use rosewater to make Turkish Delight (definitely an odd ingredient), and I think that you can use any sort of flavor like mint or lavender, it just wouldn't be the classic Turkish delight. ? 

QueenSuTheGentle

Just for fun today, my daughter and I made yogurt in an instant pot. We got our milk pasteurized and our yogurt starter mixed in and now we are waiting for 12 hours. It'll finish after she's in bed tonight, which is kind of a bummer that she won't be able to see her finished product tonight. But if this turns out well and we decide to do it again, we'll aim to start it BEFORE bedtime so it can do the yogurt part overnight and it'll be ready in the morning. 🙂 

Today I made the first cherry pie of many pies to come. We are having a get-together with our life group from church tomorrow and they heard the tales of my picking bags and bags of cherries from my tree this past month, so I figured I'd better make a pie to bring along.  

This is seriously my favorite pie of all time and it's my mom's recipe, so I hope I did it justice! I'll keep you all posted.  

I should mention as an aside, that even though spring is my favorite season of the year due to lack of bugs and beautiful weather and everything waking up from winter and turning green, summer is my favorite season for food. I just love fresh produce!!!

I may also need to make my Aunt Dinah's Raspberry Rhubarb Pie with my own raspberries. Sadly my rhubarb died years ago and I keep forgetting to run to the farmer's market to see if anybody local is selling some. 

That pie sounds simply scrumptious, @fantasia. No doubt your life group will thoroughly enjoy this, and wish that you had made more. So great you have such a prolifically-yielding tree!

Posted by: @fantasia

I just love fresh produce!!!

Hear-hear! I am eager for our garden veggies to be ready to harvest ... but that is awhile yet.

I have made a few rhubarb pies over the past couple of months with local rhubarb from one of our town markets, but this year we finally planted our own, which is growing beautifully. Hopefully next spring we can use the stalks from it for pies.  

I have found the most delicious (imho, 'though shared by my kids) and simple homemade spinach salad dressing recipe. We like this a lot:

• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 overflowing Tblsp balsamic vinegar
• fresh black pepper
• 1 & 1/2 Tblsp olive oil

Mix all ingredients together in a lidded jar and shake them up well. To the spinach, add (if you wish): feta cheese, cherry tomatoes or diced strawberries, sliced hard-boiled eggs, sliced kalamata olives.

I usually double or triple this recipe. It keeps very well.

Wonderfully tasty!  

We get Atlas Crates from a company called Kiwi Crate, which features one country around the world per month. As part of those crates, they include a recipe that's common to the country. My middle daughter has been eyeing all of the desserts that are featured.  

A couple weeks ago we tried to make Brigadeiros, a candy that's popular in Brazil. Well, that one didn't go well because it was an actual CANDY and I'm a terrible candy maker. Not only that they didn't give me a temperature to cook it to, but rather a texture. So I didn't cook it long enough and we ended up with a thick frosting rather than a fudge-like consistency. It still tasted good though. We just spread it on cookies.  

This morning we made Champorado, a chocolate, rice, breakfast-porridge from the Philippines. Talk about a diabetic nightmare! We only had about two spoonfuls per person (I only had one!). It was quite tasty though. Interestingly enough, it sounds like the locals will eat it with salted dried fish. Huh. At least that would cut through some of the sugar!

Anyways, just a couple fun experiments that my daughter and I have done over the past couple months. 🙂 The next one on her list is a Godro-Godro (Coconut Vanilla Pudding Cake) from Madagascar. She's also been eyeing the Maple Tarts from Canada.  

I've just recently moved to a new apartment in a different part of England, about to start in a new job — where I was living before, I got most of my meals provided (except breakfasts), but now I'm having to cook for myself again. Which is actually a big blessing, because I love cooking and it's ages since I last did it regularly! I will be working full time, but as I don't have to cook for anyone else but myself, I tend to make recipes that serve 4 people, eat one serving and freeze the other 3 in portions. That will soon mean that I only have to cook a major meal once or twice per week, and the rest of the time, I have a selection of my own homemade "ready meals" to live on. Life is pretty good.  

Meanwhile, I've just baked a batch of my favourite choc chip banana bikkies [cookies] — I shared the recipe here a while ago — to take tomorrow for my first day in my new workplace. It's called How to Win Friends and Influence People. (I already know several of the people there, including the managers, and am sure I'll have no trouble fitting in. But I figure I may as well get off to a good start. )

I still have never tried Turkish Delight! It's a bucket list dream. I know I could just get some delivered for a small price, but I feel like I need a special occasion to order it! I would be WAY too scared to try to make it myself!

I love the idea of making something from every country. There are so many delicious foods in the world. 

We've been wanting to make a cobbler but haven't gotten around to it. Now that it's September, it seems like a great "cobbler month."

Posted by: @mm1991

I still have never tried Turkish Delight! It's a bucket list dream. I know I could just get some delivered for a small price, but I feel like I need a special occasion to order it! I would be WAY too scared to try to make it myself!

I know right! Turkish Delight is always associated with Narnia, so I need to order it before I read the book or watch the movies or something Narnia-related like that. My sister and I looked at a few recipes ourselves, and we decided it would probably be better to buy it then ever attempt to make it.  It sounds pretty confusing to me, but then again I'm not a natural at making desserts and sweets.  

Crazy Cake 

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 cup carob (or cocoa)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/3 cup honey (or molasses)
• 1 1/3 cup water (or cold coffee)
• 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/4 tsp. vinegar

 Stir together dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Added wet to dry and stir until combined. Pour into a ungreased 8x8 pan. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes.

Can add in chocolate chips, craisins, coconut, etc. Also good with 1 T. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp. cloves, and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, for this variation use carob or additional spelt flour. Or frosted with peanut butter.

There’s a pasta dish called a rishda. 

• turmeric
• red chili powder
• ginger
• cinnamon
• 11/2 liter boiling water

Put onions, spices, tomato paste and oil at the bottom part of the couscousiere. Stir and add the meat till the meat is cooked. Cook the chickpeas. Slice the onions into rings and add to the sauce. Place the pasta in the couscousiere and cook uncovered for around 15 minutes. Take down the couscousiere and pour the pasta into a bowl to fluff or separate the noodles to make sure they are not clumping. Put the pasta back in the couscousiere and cook again till fully cooked, around 20 minutes. Add the potatoes and pumpkin to the sauce at the bottom part of the couscousiere. Take off the pasta, pour into a wide bowl if communal or separate plates. Pour the sauce over the noodles/pasta, and then add the meat and potatoes and pumpkin

My little brother and I have made two small cakes in the last couple days, the first one was pumpkin and the second one was snickerdoodle crazy cake. We enjoyed both, but loved the snickerdoodle crazy cake served with peaches.  

SnowAngel

@snowangel For thanksgiving, my mom makes pumpkin cake roll:

Pumpkin Cake Roll

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup pumpkin

Preheat oven to 375. Beat eggs in mixing bowl at high speed for 5 minutes; beat in sugar until blended. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. Combine flour, baking powder, spices, and salt; fold  into pumpkin mixture. Spread in greased and floured 15x10x1 pan. bake for 15 minutes. Remove cake from oven; turn out onto clean linen towel liberarlly dusted with powdered sugar. Starting at narrow end roll towel and cake together, cool.

Cream Cheese Filling

1 cup powdered sugar

6 ounce cream cheese

4 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine ingredients to make filling, mixing until smooth. Unroll cooled cake; spread filling and roll back; dust with powdered sugar.

Yum, Jasmine.  

I'm currently waiting for some special flours to arrive so that I can bake for my mom. The tapioca flour is arriving today and then later in the week I should get cassava flour and tigernut flour. I've baked with the cassava and tapioca both before, but the tigernut is a new one for me. My mom has had a really hard time with all of my cake baking recently, but I didn't have had the special flours I need to be able to bake for her. As soon as the tigernut flour arrives, I plan to try several new recipes for crackers, flatbread, and apple bars, oh, and donut holes. My little sister and I spent way too much time on Pinterest recently picking recipes.  

For the rest of family I have been trying recipes from mommyshomecooking.com, lots of eggless baked goods. I tried her pancake recipe last week,  it was almost like our favorite recipe with eggs. I've been looking for a good eggless pancake recipe for nearly a year, so glad to have finally had success (although I still need one without gluten for mom). I hope to make it again soon, and maybe with some chocolate chips, too.  

I haven't quite worked up the courage to challenge eggs, especially since I have found a number of good eggless recipes. With Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, I might just wait until the new year.

SnowAngel

@snowangel I understand your situation. I've been looking for a way to veganize the pumpkin cake roll. Our family aren't vegan, but one of my cousins is lactose intolerant. I like to find a way to make our family holiday desert into something she can have without the dairy. And I think making a gluten free could be an idea as well.