Family Chow Hall

Peach Cobbler - About a thousand times easier to make than pie and just as delicious. Best served warm with a scoop of ice cream. A sure-fire family pleaser than can guarantee a few moments of silence at the dinner table while all family members have their mouths full.

Cobbler is a great dessert that young girls and boys can make when they are ready to learn to bake. Because there is no dough to roll out and the ingredient list is short and simple, it’s a great dish to set a beginner up for success in the kitchen. This afternoon, my girls will be making this Peach Cobbler.

The recipe comes from my grandmother, my mom’s mother who I never had the fortune to meet. I am blessed to have a cook book that Mom compiled and it has recipes - old and new - from my aunts, cousins, sisters, and even a few from Grandma. If you come from a family that loves to cook, compiling a cookbook is an excellent idea. Everyone can contribute and share the cost of publishing. I have enough copies to give one to each of my children and a few spares.

Peach Cobbler

3 c. fresh or frozen sliced peaches
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. baking powder
cinnamon
3 T. butter
1/4 c. water

Start with a greased baking dish and place the peaches in the bottom. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients thoroughly and then sprinkle them on top of the peaches. Cut the butter into pats and place on top. Finally, pour the half cup of water over this. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. If at all possible, serve with vanilla ice cream.

Thanks to Mom and Grandma for this post!

Salsa can mean a lot of different things to different people. Before I continue, I will say that I am in no way an expert of salsa or any kind of Mexican food. I only know what I like and how to make what I like.

Simply put, salsa mean sauce. When you say sauce, it can mean almost any kind of condiment. Similarly, there are many kinds of salsa.

Salsa can be cooked or fresh, spicy or mild, green or red, smooth or chunky. The great thing about making your own salsa is that you can make it just the way you want to. Another great thing about salsa is that it’s so darn good for you. Corn chips and salsa are a much healthier snack than potato chips and dip.

So, if you decide to make salsa, you must decide how you like it best. To determine this, you MUST visit several Mexican restaurants and sample as many kinds of salsa as possible. You can also visit a few groceries and try different kinds. Fresh salsa can sometimes be found in the refrigerated section of your grocery, while - obviously - the cooked kinds of salsa are with the canned goods.

Think about these things:

I like my salsa to be cooked, slightly spicy, red and mostly chunky. One of my summer goals is to perfect my salsa recipe and can a few jars of it.

Here is my recipe as stands, although I may make a few adjustments before making 5 gallons of it:

Cheryl’s Salsa

1 8oz. can of tomato sauce
4 c. fresh diced tomatoes
OR 2 cans petite diced tomatoes in juice
1 yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
3 jalapenos
1 t. oil
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. cilantro or some fresh
2 T. lime juice

First the diced tomatoes and sauce will go into a saucepan. Next, I’ll dice the onions, mince the garlic, and seed and chop the peppers. (Use gloves when handling peppers or live to regret it!) Then these vegetables will go in the skillet with a little oil and saute over very low heat. I don’t want to brown anything, just soften them up. When they’re done, I’ll toss them in with the ‘maters. Then I’ll add the seasonings and bring it to a simmer. Once I’m satisfied that everything is cooked and the flavors are blended, I will have to sample it and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Good Luck!

No one has to be a cooking genius to make superb strawberry jam. Move over, Smuckers, because you ain’t got nothin’ on made-at-home strawberry freezer jam.

Truthfully, I can give Smuckers and other jelly and jam makers some credit for making some pretty darn good off-the-shelf products. They even make lower sugar and sugar free jams and jellies now that are quite tasty.

But for some reason, I have NEVER purchased a strawberry jam that I liked. It all has a fake-strawberry bubble gum kind of a flavor to me. Raspberry is fine. Blackberry is delicious, Grape jelly is good, even Orange Marmalade. But not Strawberry.

I guess in many ways my mother spoiled us by making certain things from scratch all the time. I’d never even tasted anything but homemade jam until I was a grown woman. And once I did, I knew I would also be forever making my own jams. I think it must be the fact that it’s frozen instead of canned. The berries are never actually cooked, which makes a huge taste difference.

My thirteen-year-old has recently developed a serious talent for consuming large quantities of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He eats them in the morning (sometimes twice each morning), for lunch, and even snacks. Until recently he preferred purchased raspberry jam. That was because it had been a couple of years since I’d made strawberry jam.

Well, I put some up and and it disappeared quickly. I recently put some more up. If he gobbles it up, too, I am going to give him the permanent job of family jam maker.

I won’t give the recipe because I can in no way claim it as being originally mine, but I will tell you how incredibly simple jam is to make.

Simply go to your grocery - poke around near the rubbermaid containers or in the baking aisle for the SUR-JEL - if you see canning lids and jars, you’ve probably found it - and buy these items:

1 box of SUR-JEL

1 4 lb. bag of sugar - (you will need about half of this)

1 quart of fresh strawberries

2 freezer containers

In your kitchen, you will need:

a large bowl

a knife

a chopper or pastry blender for mashing the berries

measuring cups

a small sauce pan

a couple of spoons

the ability to read directions

The directions are in the box of Sur-Jel and are very simple.

Have fun and hurry up before Strawberry Season is over!