Rita Fox Makes Pineapple Soup

All Photos: Rita Fox

I publish more recipes over the summer than the rest of the year likely because of the fresh produce available and social events that happen during the summer. It makes many of us want to try new recipes! When my friend, Rita, sent me her mouthwatering photos of a batch of her Pineapple Soup, I asked if I could share them on THE SAVVY SHOPPER, and she said yes!

The recipe comes from a cookbook, “Taste of Home Best Church Supper Recipes" Rita picked up from a church yard sale.

Ms. Rita Fox has made other appearances on THE SAVVY SHOPPER because she’s a great cook, baker and is multi-talented!

Looking for an entertaining summer read? Rita is a romance writer with fans all over the world. Connect with author, Kally Masters, on FB. What’s more, she has published a winning cookbook of family recipes. I highly recommend checking it out too.

 

For the record, I've never heard of a fruit soup. What a healthy and versatile recipe! An ideal way to use ripe fruit, turn it into a refreshing drink (virgin or alcoholic ... you don’t have to tell), or a delicious summer dessert!

Rita made a big batch of her pineapple soup as easy nutrition for her 94-year-old mother. With her mother’s large family of adult children, in-laws and grandchildren ... and a 93 degree F summer day, I bet real money, it doesn’t last long!🍍

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State Fair Blue Ribbon Desserts

Click to enlarge or go here for the digital edition and source.

During the summer outdoor parties, pot lot dinners and barbecues give us many opportunities to try new recipes or taste what others bring. 

In summer my parents always took me to the State Fair, an activity I can’t get to living in Manhattan. New York’s State Fair is held near Syracuse, New York in the town of Geddes on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Many Manhattanites (including me) don’t own cars, and I wouldn’t rent a car to drive to an area I don’t know. Where would I park it?

Freddy

Nonetheless as a child, attending the State Fair in my hometown in summer holds fun memories for me. This city girl loved the opportunity to eat corn dogs and cotton candy; see and pet farm animals; check out exhibitor and vendor booths: and sometimes talk to local celebrities. Once my Mother surprised her 10 year old nephew and me (aged 8) by bidding on a Singer Sewing Machine. For the outdoor auction, children stood in the front of the crowd so we could see. We were oblivious to who won the sewing machine until my Mom cut through the crowd to claim it. This total surprise thrilled us both! 

BTW: Nowadays you’d never let kids step away from you. My Father used to let me go into the woman’s bathroom by myself as he waited outside the door! Much younger we went into a stall in the men’s bathroom. Thank God and good people, I never had a bad experience.😌

Back in the day, my Mom didn’t enter cake or pie baking competitions but they are a big part of every State Fair. Here are 3 Blue Ribbon Winners from Texas, South Dakota, and Indiana. Before the summer ends, I aim to make them all starting with the toasted coconut pecan pie. 

Have you ever attended a State Fair? Which dessert appeals to you the most?

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Authentic vs. Inauthetic Coq Au Vin

Photo and authentic recipe from Delish

Coq au Vin, the classic French dish, translates into rooster with wine. It was traditionally made with an old rooster tenderized by braising in red wine. Nowadays it’s made with chicken thighs and drumsticks.

I never make Coq Au Vin the true authentic French way. A friend of mine does, spending hours in her kitchen cooking it. 

Coq Au Vin is the fancy way of making chicken stew. I take several liberties: Below in black font are the authentic ingredients and in blue font are my tweaks. One thing that remains the same is using a 6-quart Dutch oven to cook then transfer the chicken stew into your oven to bake: 

Authentic vs. Inauthentic Coq Au Vin

Ingredients/Ingredients:

6 strips bacon, cut into 1” pieces - Usually I dice smoked deli ham but if I have bacon, I’ll use it.

3 lb. bone-in, combination of skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks - I’m guilty of a travesty by substituting 2 to 4

Lodge

(depending on size) chicken breasts, leaving the skin on.

8-oz. pearl onions, peeled - I keep it simple by dicing a large onion, any variety.

Kosher salt - In my home, it’s usually pink Himalayan salt.

Freshly ground black pepper

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped - I toss in 1 carrot per person.

8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced - If I only have white snow cap mushrooms I don’t sweat over the difference. Into the pot they go!

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. tomato paste -  Tomato sauce if it's all I have.
2 cups red wine - Oh, yeah, this one stays, and I always have it.
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth - Never, always bouillon cubes with 1 cup of water.

1 Tbsp. brandy - Nope, substitute Kentucky bourbon or rum. Brandy? Sheesh! What am I, a liquor store?
Small bunch thyme - Dried thyme will do.

3 Tbsp. butter - Leave out, with chicken drippings, it won’t be missed.
Freshly chopped parsley for serving - Dried parsley works fine!

Directions:

1) Grill your bacon or smoked ham in your dutch oven. A pad of butter if your pan is too dry, otherwise nothing. Remove for later.

2) Next brown your chicken skin side down in the Dutch oven.  If I don’t have enough skin on my chicken breast pieces I’ll dip them in a little bit of flour before putting them into the pan. Salt and pepper as they cook. Remove for later.

3) Brown the vegetables: onions, carrot, mushrooms and garlic until they start to turn brown. Toss in some flour and stir to coat the vegetables.

Photo: Wikipedia

4) Add the tomato paste, wine, water, bouillon cube, bourbon, dried spices and return the grilled bacon or ham bits and chicken pieces into the Dutch oven. Save a little of the bacon/ham bits for garnish.

5) Bring to a boil then transfer it to a preheated 350 degree F oven to bake for 30 minutes. It should cook until the chicken is well done and the sauce reduces and thickens.

Plate and top the chicken with the saved bacon or ham bits and dried parsley. A side dish of mashed potatoes and broccoli or green beans completes the meal.

I know, I know, chefs swear chicken thighs are the tastiest rich in flavor chicken part, but we’re a white meat family ... Coq Au Vin, our way. Chère France, Désolé d'avoir changé la recette.🍷🇫🇷

I’ll end the week with 3 State Fair blue ribbon desserts. 

Thursday’s post.

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Heath Bar Cake

Photo: Alcove

If you like English toffee, you'll love a Heath Bar Cake! This one begins with flour and leavening agent, not a box of cake mix, but it’s as easy to make as emptying a box of cake mix. This cake, made from scratch, is simple, moist and fluffy.

Heath Bar Cake 

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter

2 cups dark brown sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
½ cup of nuts, chopped (I use walnuts or pecans.)
Either an 8 ounce bag of Heath candy bar bits or you could crush 6 - 8 health bars to get 1 1/3 cups.

Directions:

1) Using a fork, mix the first 9 ingredients together in the listed order. 

2) Spread the batter in a buttered 9’’ by 13'' cake pan, or I prefer using 2 buttered 9" round cake pans to stack them.

3) Sprinkle 1 cup of heath candy bits (or the crushed health bars) evenly over the batter. Save the rest for garnish.

4) Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, until the center is done.

If you use crushed chocolate heath bars into the batter, icing the cake may be too much of a good thing -- unless you savor rich and very sweet cake, but if you use the bag of English toffee bits, you could melt chocolate chips on top of the cake for a ganache topping, then garnish the top and sides with the remaining toffee bits. Enjoy!🎂🎈🎉🍫

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Ground Beef and Cabbage

We’re all familiar with the dish stuffed cabbage, but the only person I know who makes it is my friend, Norma, who learned how from her grandmother. I’m too lazy of a cook to make it.

So when I stumbled across the following recipe from Zestplate, I, the Queen of one-pan dinners, said this dish is for me. A lazy cook need not be a bad or unhealthy cook! It means finding an easier way~

Cabbage and Ground Beef 

Ingredients 

ground beef, 1 lb

onions, 1 cup, chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 large bouillon, any flavor

½ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

cabbage small head, chopped 

diced tomatoes, 15 oz can

I add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chopped red bell peppers, chopped celery, smoked paprika and substitute 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes instead of using cayenne pepper.

Directions: 

1) In a skillet brown the ground beef, onion and after a beat, garlic. Drain if needed.

2) Toss in chopped cabbage, any vegetables you’re adding, a can of diced tomatoes and spices. 

3) Simmer on your stove top, middle heat, for 15 - 20 minutes until the cabbage is tender and the liquid evaporates to the right amount. Eyeball it. Adding 1-2 tablespoons of flour to the liquid makes gravy if you wish to serve the dish over cooked noodles, rice or with a dollop of mashed potatoes. Delish!

You can make this one-pot meal your own by adding or subtracting vegetables and spices to your taste. Eat it spicy or not, plain or with a carbohydrate. When out of cabbage, I’ve used Brussels sprat and diced potatoes with 2 cans of diced tomatoes. 

All the goodness of stuffed cabbage without boiling, stuffing or rolling it. Bon Appetite!

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Charts: Apples From Tart to Sweet

The Bell Tree Forums

Recently I stood in the supermarket ready to buy a bag of apples for snacking. I prefer tart over sweet apples, so usually I know to grab Granny Smith or McIntash apples. But what’s on a supermarket shelf can change every time you go to buy them. Pink Lady apples were on sale the week I went so I pulled out my trusty phone to see where on the apple spectrum they fell. Tart! So into my shopping cart they went. 

Photo: go here

Unless you can buy the same apples time and again, it’s beneficial to have a chart to check. Each time you look at the charts, you might be able to keep the varieties straight, but probably not, and produce tends to change at the supermarket. Next time you go you’ll likely see a new unfamiliar variety. 

Although red delicious -- sweet apples -- are not my favorite, I will eat one if offered. Still when buying a bag of apples, I’d rather buy what I most enjoy snacking.

Apples are kind of fascinating because ancient, as well as, modern people ate them; they grow all over the planet; and there are 7,500 varieties of apples. I wrote all about apples in an earlier blog if you want to know more facts about them.

Photo: go here

A note about charts: I link them back to the source where I find them, however often they are posted on multiple websites so their true origins may be unknown. I’m prepared to relink or remove a photo if requested, and I don’t claim ownership which is why I link them to my source. Blogging is a hobby to share and exchange thoughts, tips and information with others, not to earn revenue. When I know better -- how to share -- I do better.

Back to apples ... there are many varieties I’ve never tasted! I’d like to try a Pacific Rose, a Jazz, and a Lady apple, which isn’t the same as Pink Lady. Which apples would you like to try?

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Shorts: Daily Habits That Will Change Your Life

These types of charts are circulating all over Facebook and Instagram, so much so, I don’t know who produced the one I’ve selected to share, and (look→) who should be credited?

I share the above as great, solid advice that is also sustainable to do. Some of the 9 activities are challenging (#1, #2, and #3) and do require committing to them, but others (#6, #7 and #9) are enjoyable. It’s a balanced list and what we should be doing to live a long healthy life! What an excellent reminder for you to check off daily! If you are wondering about #3: Tea is loaded with anti-oxidants. Studies support its health benefits.

I promised you a post this week on Korean Beauty, which I’ve written but will hold until next Monday. Instead, I'm ending the week with the above Savvy Shopper Short. Why? Because it’s end-of-the-week Friday and sunny. Start by sleeping those 8 hours tonight! 🛏

Enjoy your weekend my lovies!🏖🌞

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Saturday's Breakfast Courtesy of Simple Food

My senior Mom and I ate this dessert from Simple Food for breakfast. As I anticipated, it was too chewy to satisfy a cake or brownie craving. I'll post Simple Food's video below so you can see how easy it is to make and why I was so tempted to try it. 

Note: I don't let FB track my or your activities. Click here to watch if you don't wish to give FB such permission. 

Ingredients:

For the Cake --

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup warm milk

2 eggs

a pinch of salt

2 smashed bananas

4 tablespoons of cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

I added 1 scoop of Premier protein chocolate powder to the recipe.

For the Topping --

Dark Chocolate and walnuts 

We're not in my kitchen today so we didn't have a loaf pan. I used an 9" x 9" square baking pan and surprisingly got  more pastry than expected. I used butter flavored cooking spray, and it lifted out cleanly.

After baking, I let dark chocolate chips melt on top of the pastry while we waited for it to cool enough to eat.

Here's my review: If you crave a piece of cake or a brownie, skip this recipe. If you're trying to eat a bowl of oatmeal and want to dress it up, then wait about 40 minutes for it to bake, go for it!

Although we had no problem eating it (we were hungry waiting!), and it was nutrious, I doubt I'll make it again. Either I'll eat a bowl of oatmeal or have a piece of cake. Sometimes you can't have it both ways.

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15 Cheatsheets For Smoothies, Juices, Sauces & Snacks

What is happening on my Facebook page? A proliferation of charts! Of what, you may ask? Cheatsheets on how to grow vegetables, make smoothies, sauces, green drinks and more!

They are nifty charts you can put in a Google image search to see if you can link them back to their original sources. They seem to be passed around on social media. For our blog purposes, they are just a collection of practical information, all neatly on a single post that we do not claim ownership of and are free for all to read. Enlarge the ones of interest to you ...

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1. Romaine Lettuce  Similar to celery. Keep the base of your romaine lettuce in a bowl with 1/2 inch of warm water. Let it sit in direct sunlight, and in a week or two, your lettuce stem will produce fresh, new lettuce leaves for all your great salads. Transplant your lettuce to soil to continue growing. They should be fully grown in 3 to 4 weeks. This process works for Bok Choy as well. 2. Garlic Sprouts Are those tentacles?! Nope, those long green things growing out of your garlic are green shoots. You can put them in a little water, under a lot of sunlight, and grow a bunch of garlic sprouts. They are milder in taste than garlic cloves and are great in salads, pasta, and as a garnish. 3. Carrots Plant the end of the carrot, and when it begins to sprout, take those seeds and plant them. Pretty soon, they will begin to sprout delicious greens from the top that are a nice addition to meals. Using a deeper container and more water, use toothpicks to keep carrots halfway in the water and wait for them to root. Once they root, you can plant them in your garden for a continuous supply! 4. Turnip Like carrots, cut off turnip tops and leave them in a shallow container with water until they begin growing roots. This can take a couple of weeks. Once they’ve sprouted, plant them outside the same way you would your carrots! 5. Sweet potato Unlike most vegetables, sweet potatoes aren’t started by seed but by slips (or shoots). Clean and cut a sweet potato in half, then place it half in/half out of a jar full of water using toothpicks. Over a few days, your sweet potato will begin to sprout slips at which point you remove them and place them in water to grow roots. You should have rooted slips with the week. Next, plant them in loose, well-drained soil and water every day in the first week, and then every other day (or as needed) the following weeks.

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1. Asian Honey Marinade  Ingredients:  1/4 cup soy sauce  1/4 cup honey   2 tablespoons rice vinegar  2 cloves garlic, minced  1 teaspoon grated ginger  1 tablespoon sesame oil Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Marinate chicken for 1-4        hours for a sweet, savory, and umami flavor. 2. Jalapeno Garlic Marinade  Ingredients:  1/4 cup olive oil  2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped  4 cloves garlic, minced  Juice of 1 lime 1 tablespoon honey Salt and pepper, to taste Instructions:  Mix ingredients well. Marinate chicken for 2-4 hours for a spicy and garlicky kick. 3. Italian Marinade  Ingredients:  1/4 cup olive oil  1/4 cup red wine vinegar   1 tablespoon Italian seasoning   2 cloves garlic, minced   1 teaspoon dried oregano   Salt and pepper, to taste   Instructions:   Combine and marinate chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Expect a classic, zesty Italian flavor. 4. Fajita Marinade   Ingredients:   1/4 cup olive oil   Juice of 2 limes   1 tablespoon chili powder   1 teaspoon cumin   1/2 teaspoon paprika   1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)   2 cloves garlic, minced   Instructions:   Whisk ingredients together. Marinate chicken for 1-3 hours to get the vibrant, tangy, and spiced fajita flavor. 5. Honey Mustard Marinade   Ingredients:   1/4 cup Dijon mustard   1/4 cup honey   2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar   1/4 cup olive oil   Salt and pepper, to taste   Instructions:   Mix all ingredients. Marinate chicken for 1-2 hours. The result is sweet, tangy, and creamy. 6. Nashville Hot Marinade   Ingredients:   1/2 cup buttermilk   1/4 cup hot sauce   1 tablespoon paprika   1 tablespoon brown sugar   1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)   1 teaspoon garlic powder   Instructions:   Combine ingredients, and marinate chicken for at least 1 hour. Expect spicy, smoky, and slightly sweet notes. 7. Teriyaki Marinade   Ingredients:   1/3 cup soy sauce   1/4 cup brown sugar   2 tablespoons mirin (optional)   1 teaspoon grated ginger   2 cloves garlic, minced   1/4 cup water   Instructions:   Mix until sugar dissolves. Marinate chicken for 1-4 hours for a traditional, sweet-savory glaze. 8. Cilantro Lime Marinade   Ingredients:   1/4 cup olive oil   Juice of 2 limes   1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped   2 cloves garlic, minced   1 teaspoon cumin   Salt and pepper, to taste   Instructions:   Blend all ingredients. Marinate chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours for a bright, zesty, and herbaceous flavor.

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The next 4 charts are healthy snack choices. Ideally a snack should be 100 - 200 calories. Protein snacks, including a handful of nuts, stop hunger in-between meals. At work I always got hungry at 4 PM, so began eating turkey sticks or almonds because pretzels, a carb, made me hungrier!  Protein is the better choice.

Fruit makes an excellent snack as well because fiber fills you up and takes time to digest. I consider fruit "free" food since it's packed with vitamins and doesn't add up to many calories. If I have a day I'm always hungry, I eat an apple, move onto a orange and if still hungry, follow up with a banana, or a pear, a handful of blueberries until my appetite stops bothering me!


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