Hibiscus BBQ Sauce (NYTimes) by Barbara

A vinegar-style spicy and sweet BBQ sauce

I had some hibiscus flowers so when NYTimes Cooking posted this recipe, I said "I am going to try that!"  Hibiscus flowers are edible and often used in tea and Mexican and Indian cooking. 

 

I paid $1.27 for .4 ounces in the bulk tea section at Wegman's 

Purchased back in 2019, I didn't really like them as an herbal tea, so they've been in the pantry ever since.  

I wasn't afraid to try them in BBQ sauce because I had once made an interesting BBQ sauce using rhubarb with great results, too.  See Oven-Roasted Rhubarb BBQ Chicken .

It's a pretty BBQ sauce, too.  

What's nice about the hisbiscus flowers is the ruby red color they produce when hydrated.  

---Barbara

Smoky Swiss Chard Enchiladas (Smitten Kitchen) by Barbara

Meatless!

This is a very good, very filling, very satifying recipe for enchiladas.   

Started with Deb Pearlman's recipe from her new cookbook Smitten Kitchen Keepers but I really didn't like her sauce (and having to pull out the food processor to make it.) But I did like the fact that she used swiss chard, black beans and corn.  

My head of swiss chard was so large that I had enough filling to make two full pans of enchiladas.

I added mesquite salt to the beans and chipotle hot sauce which makes them smoky.  We bought our mesquite salt in Arizona near the Mexican border, but there are grocery store options, like McCormick's Mesquite Seasoning.

---Barbara

Rustic Mashed Potatoes You Can Freeze by Barbara

Whenever I make potato salad --see my recipe here --- I always have to buy more potatoes than I need.   I end up with two extra pounds.  

So, I became curious --- could I turn the extra potatoes in to mashed potatoes and freeze them?

The answer is yes.  But they will need a little TLC to make them creamy again.  

    ---Barbara

Pickled Slaw by Barbara

Tom likes spicy dill pickled things.  Dill pickles, dilly beans, dilled asparagus, etc.  So, I made pickled slaw from him using the extra cabbage we had from making coleslaw and his leftover pickle juice.  He says it tastes a little bit like kimchi.  

It's so easy.

Pound Cake (Smitten Kitchen) by Barbara

I've been trying recipes from Deb Pearlman's "Smitten Kitchen Keepers" cookbook which we received as a Christmas gift from Sarah & family.  This recipe I am likely to make again and again. The pound cake tastes great on its own, or with fresh fruit and a little whipped cream.  

   ---Barbara

Cinnamon Bread (King Arthur) by Barbara

Tastes like a cinnamon roll

We loved this cinnamon bread.  Although it's made with yeast, it only takes a total of two hours start to finish.  Mix, let it rise for an hour, then bake for 45 minutes. Very easy.  The recipe was on the back of the bag of cinnamon sweet bits we bought when we stopped at the King Arthur Baking store in Vermont last fall.    We used the delicious cinnamon sweet bits to make two loaves of this bread, and Tom used the rest for waffles.  They also can be used for making scones, which is how we discovered them.  Several years ago, we took a class at the King Arthur Baking School and they taught us how to make cinnamon bit scones.  

       ---Barbara

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins by Barbara

Tender and lemony with plenty of poppy seeds

UPDATED 2023

My notes say that I first made these muffins back in 2012 for our grandson's First Communion brunch.  He is now a junior in college.  Since then, I have made many, many muffins, so I've updated the recipe to reflect the techniques I have learned for making tender, moist muffins. 

 

These muffins are very easy to make.  Recently, I made two batches and froze them for future use.  Now, I think the recipe is just right for a true muffin with lots of lemony flavor and a pleasant pop from the poppy seeds.  

For fun, I am posting the original recipe from 2012 which came from an old cookbook called Home-style by Ivy Vann.  Her recipe is very good, too, but it makes more of a cupcake than a muffin. 

    ---Barbara