i pity the fool that don't eat my recipes

1 2/3 cup unbleached flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbls minced crystalized ginger (about 2 oz)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 extra-large eggs
2 tbls grated peeled gresh ginger
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf plan. Sift first 6 incredients into a bowl. Mix in 3 tbls crystallized ginger. Beat butter and both sugars in a large bowl until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Mix in fresh ginger. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining 3 tbls crystallized ginger over batter and lightly press into batter. Bake until toothpick instered into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing. Serve with fresh fruit.

3/4 lb medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
2 tblspn cornstarch
1 egg white, lighly beaten
1/3 cup peanut or vegetable oil
1/2 cup skinless roasted peanuts
1/4 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes
1 (6 ounce) package frozen Chinese pea pods, thawed
1 (8 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained
3 scallions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons chili paste with garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tblspn dry sherry
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tblspn cold water

1. In a medium bowl, combine shrimp with 1 tablespoon cornstarch and egg white. Toss to mix thoroughly.

2. In a wok or 10 inch skillet, heat oil over high heat until hot. Add shrimp, and stir-fry until pink and loosely curled, 1 to 2 minutes. With slotted spoon, remove shrimp to a bowl.

3. Add peanuts to oil in wok and fry 30 seconds. Remove and drain on paper towels.

4. Drain off and discard all but 2 tablespoons oil from wok. Add hot pepper flakes, pea pods, water chestnuts, scallions, and garlic. Stir-fry over medium-high heat 2 minutes. Return shrimp to wok and stir-fry 1 minute longer. Mix in chili paste with garlic, soy sauce, sherry, red wine vinegar, sugar, and chicken broth until well blended.

5. Dissolve remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch in cold water and add to wok. Cook over high heat, stirring, until sauce boils and thickens, about 2 minutes. Add peanuts and mix well. Serve immediately.

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Sift together flour and baking powder; stir into creamed mixture, alternating with the heavy cream. Cover dough and chill for 2 to 3 hours until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease cookie sheets or use a Silpat liner. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1" apart on prepared cookie sheets. Sprinkle with colored sugar if desired.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes in preheated oven until bottoms and edges of cookies are light brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

1 lb ground Italian Sausage
1 small onion diced
1 large carrot julienned
3 small stalks celery chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can red kidney beans (with liquid)
1 15 oz can great northern beans (with liquid)
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 12 oz can V8 juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp basil
pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 pkg pasta

Brown the ground mean in a large saucepan over medium heat. Drain off the fat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and saute for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, except the pasta and simmer for 1 hour.

About 50 minutes into simmer time cook the pasta in another pan and drain. Add the pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5 - 10 minutes and serve.

2 3/4 cups of All Bran
1 1/2 cups Sugar
2 1/2 cups Flour
2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Cup butter
2 eggs
1 pt buttermilk

Stir together the dry ingredients, then mix in the wet ingredients. May be refrigerated after mixing. Use a small ice cream scoop to fill the greased muffin cups. Bake in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes.

We recently used this recipe with sturgeon that we caught on the Columbia River in Astoria Oregon. It's a spicy soup that is nice to have with garlic bread.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (use less if you don't like spicy)
6 garlic cloves - crushed
3 cups of clam juice
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspooon dried thyme
1 jar of your favorite meat-free tomato-based pasta sauce
1 lb sturgeon (or other white fish) cut into 1/2 inch peices
1 lb uncooked peeled shrimp
1/2 lb uncooked scallops
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups torn spinach

Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large pot. Add pepper flakes and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds.

Add clam juice, parsley, basil, thyme, pasta sauce, sturgeon, and scallops. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add wine, salt, pepper, sturgeon, and shrimp. Cook for 5 more minutes.

Add spinach before serving.

The Mojito is perfect drink on a hot summer day. It's a drink the whole family can enjoy because it can easly be served "virgin".

Last weekend, we tried to make mojitos for the first time and it was an incredible success.

Fill a glass about half way with crushed ice. Add a few splashes of rum (optional), the juice of half a lime, a spoon full of sugar, and 10 or so mint leaves. Take a kitchen pestle and lightly beat the mint leaves into the ice cubes. This will release the delicious mint flavor into the drink.

Once done, fill the glass with your favorite lemon-lime soda. Enjoy!

One of my earliest memories of pizza was home-made pizza made by my mom and dad. The crust was made with a “jiffy mix” from the store. It was ok, but not as good as restaurant pizza. In the late eighties, my dad tried something that was ingenious. He bought some Rhodes bread dough from the freezer section of the grocery store, thawed it, and used it as a pizza crust. It was great! For many, many years we had a tradition of putting out two loaves of frozen bread dough at the beginning of the day so that we would have crust for our pizzas on “Pizza nights”.

Recently, I took a pizza cooking class from one of the world’s master pizza makers. After taking the class, I realized that making pizza of his caliber requires a lot of time and a lot of forethought. In my opinion, you’re better off going to his restaurant and ordering his pizza. But some day, when I have time on a weekend to devote to the crust making process, I will make his pizza!

For now I have a pizza recipe to share for people like us who can’t devote days to making a pizza crust. This crust utilizes my Zojirushi bread machine as a kneading/rising tool. You could do it on your own, but if you have a bread machine, use it.

Add the following ingredients to your bread machine and set it on “dough manual”. The cycle takes about 2 hours in “The Zo”.

1 bottle of flat beer
3 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tbsp olive oil
1 ½ tsp active dry yeast

The dough will be very sticky. Once the dough is complete, divide it into 4 dough balls, wrap each with plastic wrap, and put it in the refrigerator. The time in the refrigerator is key to making the dough taste good. Dough that has been in the fridge for a couple days will taste better than dough cooked immediately.

When you’re ready to make your pizza, lightly cover the dough ball with flour until it’s no longer sticky in your hand. Use your hands to transform the dough ball into a flat crust. Don’t smash it into a pancake. Instead, hold the edges of the crust and let gravity and a little hand action stretch the dough into nice pizza crust. My pizzas are rarely perfect circles.

When you have a nice looking crust, put it on to a metal grated pizza pan. It’s the kind that you can see through. They’re available at restaurant supply stores. Then put about ¼ to ½ cup of pizza sauce on the crust if the sauce is pasty. Use a more generous amount for "saucy" sauces. My favorite ready-made pizza sauce is the Trader Joes brand sauce, but any sauce will work.

Cover the sauce with cheese. You can get pre-grated “pizza cheese” at the store. Then add your favorite toppings. Fewer toppings are often better than more. Try to stick with less than three.

Cook the pizza in a convection oven at 400F degrees for about 14 – 16 minutes. If you have a conventional oven, cook at 425F degrees for 16 – 18 minutes. In my opinion, convection ovens cook a crisper, yummier crust.