Frugal Kitchens 101 - Gifts from the Kitchen

While homemade goodies have always been popular for gift giving over the holiday season there is a renewed interest in gifts from the kitchen this year. Part of the reason for this is the forced belt tightening of the recession. The fact is many have lost their jobs and many more are facing the very real possibility of losing their jobs. At the same time the holidays are a time of celebration and a time for a brief period of time to put the cares of the world aside for a few days. Gifts from the kitchen need not be expensive and it is surprising how creative you can get. Today's Frugal Kitchens 101 will focus on some of the basics necessary for getting the necessary materials needed for creating some gifts from the kitchen.

There are two main components for making gifts from the kitchen:

• the edible component - For the most part choose foods where refrigeration is not a concern especially if the gift needs to travel any distance.
• the non-edible component - This consists of any wrapping and/or containers for the food itself, the container to carry the food in and/or any additional items such as stuffings and decorations.

Edible component (of course as many homemade as possible):

• good choices - breads, cookies, cakes, dry mixes, many home canned foods, jams, jellies, maple syrup, candies, vinegars, oils, chocolates, spices, herbs, coffee, teas
• themes - Try to establish a theme for gift baskets or packets. One year we made movie theme baskets for friends of ours who had younger kids that included a video tape, a coupon for a free video renta, popcorn and pop. They still talk about that! What really matters with the theme is to come up with something that really reflects the recipient.

Non-edible components:

• think non-disposable - Choose baskets or re-usable bins to put the packaged foods in. Get creative! For example one of your friends brown bags it. Make a cute and thoughtful gift basket using a reusable lunch bag with water bottle packed with appropriate eco-friendly lunch goodies. If at all possible use non-disposable wrappings for the food itself. Consider the reusable food container part of the overall gift. Find cute but inexpensive mugs to include as part of breakfast basket. Add in inexpensive items like serving spoons or butter knives to accent the the basket. Package in reusable but inexpensive tin cans and wood boxes found in discount stores, dollar stores and department stores (bought on sale). One cute idea would be to fill those a large silicone gloves with a few different spices and maybe a kitchen gadget then give it that way. There are so many possibilities. Many store bought baskets have some type of stuffing usually plastic or paper to make the basket look fuller than it is. Replace this with T-towels for a useful part of the gift baske.
  
• wrapping - Most store bought gift baskets come wrapped in some type plastic wrap. If you need some type of wrapping aside of the actual basket or tin get creative using inexpensive T-towels or dishcloths something the recipient will find quite useful.
  

Please watch for next week's Frugal Kitchen 101 post that will continue the discussion on gifts from the kitchen.

October Contest Wrap-up & Kitchen Chit Chat

My gosh I can't believe it is November 1^st already! Where has the year gone? We are now starting to gear up getting things ready for the holiday season. So it's time to sit and do a little chit chatting in the kitchen. October began with a lovely five day road trip of which I shared some of the highlights. When we arrived home I was back into preserving mode thanks to the generosity of a friend who dropped off nine dozen ears of corn. As you know my husband and I ran a small contest in October to discover a couple new ingredients. My husband chose ground turkey for his two creations and I used coconut milk. This contest was fun simply because neither of us built on what we already knew. I'm not going to create a poll for this contest because it was just meant to add a bit of inspiration in our cooking. Towards the end of the month I ran a poll regarding microwave usage. I have to tell you I was a bit surprised at the results.

Of the seventy seven voters 46% used their microwave ovens 2 or more times a day, 24% used their microwave ovens at least once a day, 14% used their microwave 2 to 6 times per week, 2% used their microwave oven once a week, zero used their microwave oven less than once a week and 11% did not have a microwave oven. From this data it appears for those owning a microwave oven use them. What I also realized is we are in the minority at using ours at maybe at best just barely squeaking into using our microwave oven 2 to 6 times a week but that is really stretching it. In keeping with my philosophy that every appliance in my kitchen must earn it's keep I am embarking on an adventure on how to use the microwave oven more effectively.

I have a few ideas for what is to come in November's posts. Many are trying to find frugal Christmas presents so I will be posting a few loving from the kitchen ideas that aren't going to cost you a lot. It also a busy and expensive time of the year so I will be posting a bit more about using the microwave oven. Finally I have venison, moose, wild geese, wild duck and fresh caught fish (perch, bass, pickerel) so will be posting on that as well. Aside of that you will likely notice a few subtle changes in the layout but nothing disruptive of major. If there is I will be sure to give you a warning.

She Said - Coconut Milk

If you have been following this blog you will know my husband and I hold special cooking contests called He Said/She Said. This month's contest (announced here) was for each of us to find one ingredient we had not cooked with then use that ingredient to make 2 dishes/recipes. That sounds simple doesn't it, but trust me it is a bit more challenging than it first appears.

I decided to follow my husband's approach of KISS (keep it simple silly). What I did was modify a tried and true recipe to create a new flavour for a lovely dessert to take to a friend's. Now here is where I cheated just a little as I didn't make two stand alone dishes but the cake could be finished using another method and the icing I created could also be used as a topping for other desserts. So technically I used the coconut milk in two ways for this contest.

White Cake

The beauty of my favourite basic white cake recipe is it can easily be modified. What I wanted to create was a cake that wasn't overly sweet yet moist and flavourful. I wanted it to be a little bit different. The recipe calls for ¾ cup of milk so I decided to substitute coconut milk instead. Coconut milk is not the thin watery liquid found inside a coconut but rather it is a sweet, milky white cooking base that is derived from the meat of mature coconuts. Canned coconut milk can be found in most larger grocery stores. If you cannot find coconut milk you can make it yourself by soaking grated coconut in hot water or milk to extract the oil and aromatic compounds then straining. Coconut milk has a fat content of approximately 17%. It should not be left at room temperature as coconut milk spoils quickly so always refrigerate.

Using coconut milk as a substitute in the white cake mixture resulted in a richer flavour and moister testure than the plain white cake. This comes from the higher fat content of the coconut milk. While the cake was baking and cooling I set about looking for an icing thinking something lightly flavoured with pineapple would be nice but then looking at the half can of left over coconut milk I came up with another idea that would give me the not too sweet result I was after.

Coconut White Cake

While I was searching for a topping that would use the rest of the coconut milk I came across a site that said coconut milk could be whipped to use as a replacement for whipping cream for those who can't or don't eat dairy. I decided to test this out and see what I could come up with. I placed the cold coconut milk in the bowl of the KitchenAid® stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment I beat on setting 10 for 3 minutes. The coconut milk did thicken somewhat but not to the same degree that heavy whipping cream does. In comparing the stiffness of the peaks after whipping, meringue is stiffer than heavy whipping cream which is stiffer than coconut cream. The problem was I wanted a topping with a bit more body. The first two additions that came to mind was gelatin and xanthum gum. Xanthun gum is a polysaccharide food additive used as a thickener. It is produced by fermenting glucose or sucrose by the Xanthomaonas campestris bacterium. , gluten free . Xanthan gum is gluten free so is a popular thickener for those on gluten free diets. It is also the ideal thickener for salad dressings. I thought xanthan gum would be quicker and easier so I used that. The main trick when using xanthan gum is using a blender or whisking at high speed while incorporating it into the mixture. I used about one eighth tsp of xanthan gum adding while whisking on speed 10. This gave the whipped coconut milk a nicer body. Then I spread the frosting over the cake and garnished with sweetened flaked coconut. I think it came out quite nice and it did get 2 thumbs up from our friends.

Note: This cake needs to be refrigerated because of the topping.

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts

Good home cooking need not be time consuming or complicated. In fact some of the best meals are the simple meals. Typically these meals have fewer ingredients, nothing fancy just normal ingredients you would find in your pantry, vegetable bin, refrigerator or freezer. I love finding a simple side that just works nicely especially when it is just a bit on the rustic side! When it is a side that can be easily made with ingredients I have on hand that's even better.

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts

There is no doubt that food is a bonding factor in our family. We often call or email other family members with a new recipe we tried. One of our kids called with a way to cook Brussels sprouts that was quite tasty yet very simple involving two ingredients, Brussels sprouts and bacon. Brussels sprouts are one thing I have had problems growing but they are one of my favourite vegetables. I usually steam fresh Brussels sprouts. They don't can well and I don't care for them frozen so fresh it is.

I liked the idea of sautéing with just bacon but had a half of an onion in the fridge so chopped that to add with the Brussels sprouts and bacon. Home made shake & bake chicken legs with backs attached and oven baked potatoes completed the entrée. It was a simple meal, easy to put together with very little prep work just the perfect meal for busy homemakers.

Sautéed Brussels Sprouts

30 Brussels sprouts
½ medium onion chopped
6 slices thick bacon

Wash and trim the Brussels sprouts. Chop the onion. Cut across the bacon slices to form 1-inch pieces. Place in a fry pan on medium high. Sauté until Brussels sprouts caramelize and bacon is golden brown. Remove from pan using a slotted spoon to help drain any grease before serving.