We Like Making Our Own Stuff

Whoopie pies, made popular by the Amish, are a dessert sandwich made by enclosing a vanilla frosting between to chocolate cake-like cookies.  This recipe has been modified somewhat from it's original Amish version however, mainly to substitute a healthier fat for the shortening that was initially called for.

We have lovely patches of wood violets ( Viola papilionacea ) growing this time of year, and I was interested to learn that these pretty purple flowers are not only nice to look at, but are edible as well.  And there are multitudes of other edible flowers as well--some that may be growing wild in your own backyard! One particularly quaint way to use these edible flowers is to candy them.  They are coated in sugar and allowed to dehydrate, and then can be used to garnish cakes and cupcakes, pressed into cookies, or even as a salad garnish. Certain flowers take to the "candy-ing" better than others, however.  Some good choices for this project are: Whole flowers Borage (Borago officinalis) Calendula (Calendula officinalis) Carnations (Dianthus caryophyllus) Clover (Trifolium sp.) Lavender ( Lavandula angustifolia) Nasturtiums ( Tropaeolum majus) Flower Petals and Leaves Basil Leaves and Flowers (Ocimum basilicum) Mint leaves (Mentha sp.) Rose Pet...

I had two questions.  The first question was:  Why do we celebrate St. Patrick's Day? The second question was:  What can I make for dinner to make St. Patrick's Day fun for the kids (and us crotchety grown-ups too, I guess)? Well, to answer the first question, St. Patrick's Day is actually a catholic holiday, originally celebrated in honor of St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, who died on March 17. This holiday was originally celebrated as a feast day by the Roman Catholic Church.  However, over time, the holiday morphed into a celebration of Irish pride, and began to include other festivities involving consuming large amounts of alcohol and other green mischief. Though I am not much Irish, and am not a Catholic, I still will try to wear at least a little green, so I don't get pinched, and pretend to talk like a leprechaun in a horrible Irish accent.  And I will eat green food. Which brings me to my second question.  What should I make fo...

I am finishing up processing most of our garden harvest at this time, but I still have not taken care of my pie pumpkins yet.  The reason being, I still have a huge container of frozen pumpkin puree in my freezer from last year's harvest!  Needless to say, we are going to be eating lots of pumpkin this month.  My first pumpkin recipe was pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting.  This probably isn't good for you.  So make a batch, let everyone at home have one, and take the rest to work to share with your coworkers. The original recipe for these pumpkin bars comes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook , but I have modified it so that I could use the ingredients I prefer. Pumpkin Bars Ingredients: 4 eggs 2 cups raw sugar 1 cup coconut oil (melted) 2 cups pumpkin puree 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 cup oat flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teasp...