Peace and Plenty - Anita Shackelford

Ramps!

4/15/2021

The ramps (wild onions) are coming up and we had our first taste of the season this morning!

Preheat the oven to 375.
I used my small toaster oven, since I was making breakfast for two.
Wash the ramps and cut away the roots. Slice bulbs, stems, and leaves; all of the plant is edible and flavorful.

Also slice a couple of pieces of thin deli ham and saute all together for a few minutes, until the ramp is tender and the ham starts to brown.

Butter a ramekin or small oven safe cup and fill the bottom with the sauteed ramp and ham.
Drop a fresh egg on top, being careful not to break the yolk.
Season to taste.

Bake the dish for about 10 minutes. The dark you see around the edges here is just brown butter and ramp leaves.
The egg white should be tender and the yolk semi- liquid, the same texture as a poached or soft boiled egg.

I diced and browned a left over baked sweet potato and we added a slice of whole wheat toast to complete the meal. It was yummy!

My Meatless Monday Menus - Green Beans and Mushrooms with Pesto Noodles

4/12/2021

This is a good vegetarian meal, or you can add a bit of chicken if you want to make it a more substantial dish. It's delicious either way. I used green beans and pesto from last summer's garden and homemade noodles, but everything here is easily available from the market. Total prep and cooking time is about 20 minutes.
Makes 2 generous servings, or 4 side dishes.

Cook the green beans in salted water until they are tender crisp, then saute them with the onion for about 5 minutes. Both should be tender and just begin to brown.

Add mushrooms and garlic and continue to saute slowly until mushrooms give up their moisture and begin to brown. Season with salt and pepper.

I added a little bit of cooked chicken to this meal, but skip this step if you want a vegetarian dish. Continue to cook long enough to warm the chicken.

Add the cooked noodles and pesto and stir to coat everything.

I like to serve this type of meal in a shallow bowl.

Serve with fresh Parmesan cheese on top, if you like.

Recipe:
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, cut into chunks
2 oz fresh or frozen whole green beans
4 oz fresh mushrooms, cut into pieces
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 cup cooked chicken, cubed (if desired)
2 oz basil pesto
2 oz fettuccini or noodles, cooked
Fresh Parmesan cheese for garnish

My Meatless Monday Menus

3/26/2021

Probably everyone has a favorite Mac and Cheese recipe. Here's one we like. I think the smoked cheese makes it seem more than just a side dish. Simply add a side veggie or a green salad and it's a great meatless meal.

Smoky Macaroni and Cheese

1/2 lb macaroni
2 cups of half-and-half
1/4 cup flour
1 cup Fontina cheese
1/2 cup Smoky Gruyere or Sharp Cheddar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
Bread crumbs
Favorite mixed grill spice seasoning

Cook the macaroni and drain well. Pour into a greased casserole dish.

Mix the flour into the half-and-half and whisk to remove any lumps. Cook slowly to thicken. Add the grated cheeses and stir until melted. Pour over the macaroni and fold in until well coated.

Top with bread crumbs and a light sprinkle of seasoning. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, until bubbly and beginning to brown.

Quick Freeze for Vegetables

3/18/2021

At the grocery this week, I found good prices on two vegetables we like, so I bought extra; more than we could fit into menus right away. I have the equipment to blanch and freeze large amounts of vegetables when we are bringing them in from our garden, but today I want to share a quick idea I use to prep vegetables for freezing when I have only a small amount.

Beautiful asparagus and broccoli from the market, washed and ready to cut into smaller bites.

After veggies are prepped, the next step is to bring a large bowl of water to boiling, in the microwave.
I added the asparagus to the hot water and blanched (cooked) it on High for 3 minutes. This process is important because it stops the enzymes that cause food to spoil.

Also have ready, a bowl of ice water. Make sure the bowls you use are stoneware or other ceramics that will tolerate the sudden change of temperature for this technique.
Use a slotted spoon and lift the veggies out of the hot water and into the ice water to stop the cooking process.

Let the veggies chill for several minutes to be sure they are cold all the way through.
After cooling, lift the vegetables out and drain them in a colander to remove excess water.

Spread them out on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer until they are completely frozen.

Frozen spread out like this, the asparagus was easy to pick up and put into a freezer bag.
Label and date are a good idea if you do very many packages.

The broccoli went through similar steps, although I blanched these pieces for 5 minutes because they were larger and had thicker stems.
You can read on line for suggestions on blanching and freezing other vegetables. If you have the freezer space to do this, you can count on having just what you need to make a favorite recipe.
P. S. Some of the fresh asparagus is going into tonight's dinner. Watch for that recipe later.

My Meatless Monday Menues

3/15/2021

Several years ago, we decided to eat a vegetarian diet. We followed that plan for 3 years, we ate well, and I amassed a large file of vegetarian recipes. We have now added meat back into our diet on some days, simply because there were meals that I missed making. But we grow a large garden and I still make meatless meals several times a week. We know it's good for us and I hope by sharing some ideas here I can encourage you to try it too.

I was sorting through the freezers today, to see what was left from last summer and to decide what to eat for lunch today. This is what we had:

Best Tomato Soup*

7 quarts cut up tomatoes
7 celery stalks
4 onions
8 whole cloves
4 bay leaves
1 cup sugar
4 t. salt
a little black pepper

Use food processor to chop tomatoes, celery and onions. Boil until tender and then puree. Put spices in a bag and boil with pureed ingredients. When soup is well seasoned, add sugar, salt, and pepper.

You can see this makes a big batch; I freeze it in pint containers, which makes a cup of soup for each of us. We won't have fresh tomatoes for a long time, but I know some of you do now or will soon. It's easy to cut the recipe in half if you want to try a little smaller amount.

Carrot-Zucchini Veggie Burger

1 1/2 cups carrots, shredded
1 1/2 cups zucchini, shredded
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 1/4 t. ground chili powder
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 large eggs, whisked

Microwave the vegetables for about 2 minutes. Let cool slightly.

Add flour, cheese, salt, pepper, chili powder, green onions and eggs. Stir mixture until well combined. The chili powder is the secret for great flavor in these.

Heat 1T of oil in a skillet. Drop 1/4 cup fritter mixture into the skillet and flatten it into patties. Cook the fritters, 3-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

I serve these with a slice of Provolone cheese and a fresh tomato slice if we have one. They also freeze well and can be microwaved for a minute or so to serve any time of year.

Even if your veggies come from the market, I encourage you to give these recipes a try. They are both delicious!
Watch for more recipes each week and let me know what you think.

Planting in Sync with Nature

2/26/2021

We still have snow on the ground and more to come, I'm sure, but my mind is telling me to get busy and start growing something! Others, in warmer climates, are already ahead of our schedule here in Ohio.

About the first of March, we begin to think about starting herbs and some cold weather plants. We can fool Mother Nature just a little bit by planting inside, on a heated mat, under lights. Some herbs take a long time to germinate, so we like to give them a head start. Leeks, onions, lettuce, spinach, and cole crops can tolerate a Spring chill, so they can have an early start. We also can plant directly or move plants into the greenhouse earlier than we can trust things out in the open garden.

But today, I want to share with you a natural guide to understanding when it might be safe to plant in your area. For the most part, seeds germinate according to the temperature of the soil. Nature knows when it's the right time. If you watch for signs among the other things growing in your yard or surrounding area, they will signal when it is safe to plant seeds or set out other like-minded plants.
When crocus bloom in your yard, it is safe to plant radishes, spinach, and parsnips.....and so on, down the line.

Crocus = radish, spinach, parsnips
Forsythia = peas, onion sets, lettuce
Daffodils = beets, carrots, chard
Dandelions potatoes
Oak Leaves the size of a squirrel's ear = corn
Maple Leaves full = perennial flowers
Quince blossoms = cabbage, broccoli
Apple blossoms = bush beans
Apple blossoms fall = cucumbers
Lilac blooms = squash and flowers
Lily of the Valley = tomatoes
Iris = peppers and eggplant
Peonies = melons

I hope you find that interesting. I know I'll be watching for our perennials and trees to wake up this spring and be ready to give them some companions in the garden.

Roast Beef Au Jus and Roasted Vegetables

1/22/2021

I had several requests for the recipes for this meal, so here it is! I used my Instant pot and oven but you could do it all in the oven, if you adjust the timing on the roast.
Homemade bread and apple butter would be good with this.
Maybe next time.....

Beef Au Jus
1 T oil
2 lb rump roast
3 garlic
2 large onions, sliced into thin rounds
1 cup chicken or beef stock
1 t. rosemary
1 t. thyme
1 large bay leaf
(note: I would double the amount of herbs for a larger roast.)}
1 T soy sauce or tamari
1 T Worcestershire sauce

Set pot to sauté and brown the meat on all sides.
Remove it from the pot.
Sauté the onions 3-4 min. Set aside half of them for later.
Sauté the garlic and herbs for 1 minute.
Add the stock and deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits.
Add soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
Return the meat to the pan.
45 min pressure cook and 25 min natural release.
Strain the broth and add reserved onions. Cook for several minutes to reduce the broth and tenderize the onions.
Slice the meat and serve with the broth and onions. Or, seriously, put the broth over everything :)
It's delicious!

I added small red potatoes to this meal. They were placed on the baking sheet with oil, salt and pepper and roasted for 25 minutes before adding the green beans and mushrooms.

Roasted Garlic Green Beans and Mushrooms*
1 pound green beans
4 oz shiitake or Portobello mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Wash, dry, and trim the ends of the green beans.
Slice the mushrooms in large bite sized pieces. Mince the garlic. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat the vegetables.
Spread on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes or until the green beans are tender.

A gardener's note:: the green beans I used in this meal were an heirloom French filet bean called Jade. We grew them last year for the first time. They have great flavor, fresh, canned, and frozen, and I already have them ordered and waiting to plant again this summer.

Bang Bang Shrimp

1/11/2021

I made this for dinner a few nights ago. It's an easy recipe to put together, quick to cook, and delicious. The mayo and the chili sauce balance each other nicely, creating a creamy sauce with just a touch of heat. Adjust the red pepper flakes according to your own taste. It is good on regular spaghetti and on the whole grain noodles, as well. We have fresh basil under grow lights during the winter, and it was the perfect garnish for this dish, but parsley would be pretty. This recipe will serve 6 people. Enjoy!

Bang Bang Shrimp
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T lime juice
1/8-1/4 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 T onion powder

1 lb spaghetti or other noodles. I used Soba noodles in the photo shown above.

1 lb shrimp or diced chicken breast
1 T olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 T paprika
1 T fresh basil
Black pepper to taste

Mix sauce ingredients and set aside.

Cook pasta and drain.
Combine pasta and sauce and turn to coat well.

Saute shrimp or chicken with garlic, paprika, and pepper until no longer pink. Serve shrimp on top of noodles. Garnish with fresh basil.

A Gardener and a Quilter

1/8/2021

Below is the first article I wrote for American Quilter Magazine in 1992. I find it surprisingly insightful, considering the state of the world today. Over the years, my focus on gardening has increased and I have added several new approaches to my quilting, but I still try to find a balance, spending time on both of these things.
Enjoy, Anita

"I am a gardener and a quilter. A good combination, I think. Both give me the same pleasure and sense of accomplishment. They satisfy my creative needs and provide something tangible for my family. There is order, pattern and color in each one. Both are long term projects and I enjoy watching them grow.

I like to think that growing our own food gives us a little bit of self sufficiency. That if the world suddenly changed, I could still put food on the table. There is comfort in that.

Quilting may be even more important than food to me. Reflecting on this idea of self sufficiency, I thought if I were suddenly cut off from civilization, I could still quilt. I would miss my goose neck lamp, but natural light is really the best anyway. Since my work is almost all done by hand, I could live without my sewing machine. All I need is my needle and thread.

But what about the needle?...and the thread?...and the fabric? What would I do if I could no longer buy those wonderful fabrics and my favorite little betweens? I know that it is possible to spin and weave, but after all of that, would I really cut it into thousands of pieces to be sewn back together again? How could I make all of the quilts still waiting inside my head? It made me thankful for all of the people who make these things available to me.

I will continue to garden, to work and wait and watch it grow. But I feel lucky to be able to buy, at a moment’s notice, anything I need to make my quilts. If the grocery stores close, I can still feed my family, but without my quilting, my soul would surely starve."

Wishing you a new year of abundance and gratitude.

December 2020

12/24/2020

Merry Christmas!

I made my old fashioned Santa with a ruched beard and eyebrows. His bag and apples were done with padded applique, and I created his little tree with several different embroidery stitches.
Hand appliqued, hand quilted. 1991

Most people like pecan pie for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I have my grandmother's pecan pie recipe, but this variation has always been a family favorite. She called it Oatmeal Pie, which might not seem too exciting, but it has the sticky sweet taste of pecan pie with the added flavor of coconut. It's delish!

Grandma Peterson’s Oatmeal Pie*
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup coconut
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
2 beaten eggs

Mix all together and pour into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until well browned on top.

Author

Anita has a long background rooted in traditional handwork and quiltmaking, which she still enjoys.

Often, these days, you'll find her digitizing patterns for the Statler Stitcher and other computerized longarm quilting machines.

Her summer days are spent in the garden and she loves finding new ways to prepare good veggie-based meals.

She's always in search of a way to balance all of those activities and find time to share with others who are passionate about the same things.

This page is a sneak peek into what's happening in her world right now.

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