Favorite Recipe - Italian Rice Salad + My New Rice Cooker

I really don't have much storage room in my kitchen so I tend to really think about adding a new appliance to the cupboard. Last spring my friend Kay told me she had purchased this rice cooker (affiliate link). She was in love with it and if Kay is in love with something in her kitchen, I listen. I splurged on one and it is absolutely fantastic. I'm a distracted cook - trying to multi-task too much. To say there has been a few pots of burned rice on the stove is an understatement. 

I've been thrilled with how this rice cooker slowly cooks my favorite short grain brown rice. Once the rice is done, it keeps it warm for quite a while. It has settings for both white and brown rice. I've been cooking rice in the morning and then storing it in the fridge to eat for lunch or add to veggies for dinner. If you too have been thinking about getting one, I highly suggest it. I have even been throwing cooked brown rice in the freezer - it makes a quick lunch with some steamed veggies cooked in Julia's microwave.

Many years ago, my sister Laurie gifted me a cookbook called The Frog Commissary Cookbook. Published in 1985, it was written by the folks associated with the Frog Restaurant and Frog Commissary in Philadelphia. This book has been one of my favorites for years - so much that it looks like this now.

It is held together in my kitchen bookcase with rubber bands. Now that is the sign of a well-loved cookbook. Whenever I am having a party, am going to a potluck or looking for something fun to cook, I turn to this book. It seems like it was way ahead of its time. Orzo and Carrot Salad with Raisins flavored with Sesame Oil anyone? 

The recipe I have made the very most is a real classic. In the book they call it Northern Italian Rice Salad. The dressing is delicious and is one of those that you might want to double or triple just to have it on hand to whip up a quick weeknight meal - although marinating whatever in it overnight is even tastier. 

NOTE: This salad keeps in the fridge for days. It also is a perfect recipe for your own interpretation or whatever you have hanging around in your pantry or fridge or coming in from the garden. Over the years I have added raisins, dried apricots, black olives, green olives, celery, chicken, cubed Italian meats, feta cheese..... you get the picture ...... a perfect recipe for winging it and making something out of nothing. 

I make this salad for most of my Creative Retreats and all my students love it. Give it a try.

Italian Rice Salad

Adapted from The Frog Commissary Cookbook

Dressing
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (I use whatever vinegar I have on hand)
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons pepper
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 Tablespoons dried parsley

Mix all ingredients. I often double the dressing recipe and keep some extra in the fridge to use it as a marinade.

Salad
NOTE: This recipe is a kicking off point for your own interpretation (or whatever you have in your fridge or pantry. Make sure you add the raisins and capers though because they add a very nice surprise to the palette.) You can swap the rice with couscous, farro, wheat berries, pasta or other absorbent grain. Use whatever color peppers you have but I like to mix up the colors for fun.

6 cups cooked brown rice (cooled)
2 cups finely chopped green, red, yellow, and orange peppers
1 cup (or more) chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped red onions (I use my food processor for the onions)
1 cup corn (frozen or fresh works)
1 can (14 oz.) artichokes - drained and cut into quarters
1/4 cup capers 
1/2 cup raisins OR currants OR some other dried fruit cut into small pieces
1/2 cup minced parsley
1/2 cup minced basil
1 1/2 cups of some kind of protein chopped into bite size pieces (optional) I have used salami, boneless chicken, shrimp, feta cheese and lots of times no protein at all.

Get chopping. This is the most time consuming part of this salad. 

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl or pan. Pour on the dressing and let it all marinate. 

Best made the day before. It also keeps nicely in the fridge for a few days. It is a good choice for a potluck. Store and travel with it in a ziplock bag, bring a pretty bowl and pour it in when you arrive at your destination. 

Family, A Cookbook, Tears + A Project for You to Do

How's your week going? Mine is zipping by. It is still very cold and there is barely a touch of green. The ground is covered with ice and it looks white. The yearlings are continuing to lamb and we have about 40 lambs in the pasture in front of our Farmhouse.

How do you like the new blog header? It is a photo by Rikki Snyder taken during the shoot for my new book Crafting a Colorful Home. I wrote about the Seller's Cabinet which I painted bright orange on this post. I love this photo - it includes a photo of my Grandmother Frieda and the Family Cookbook we wrote together in the early 1980's. I was the editor and she was the author. Guess this book thing goes way back with me - self-publishing before most people did it. 

Over the Easter weekend, we were lucky to see some of my extended family. Only 4 of Julia's cousins made the day. They are growing up and scattering far and wide and finding their way. Ohhhh, I wish them all the luck in the world. I hope they know how much I love them all. I can't wait to see what they do with themselves. 

My niece Olivia is graduating university this year. Olivia has been majoring in Art and she had to build a website for her portfolio. You can see it here. Julia, my Mom, and I are planning a visit to Philadelphia in a few weeks to visit her over spring break.

A few weeks ago, Olivia asked me about her Great Grandmother Frieda Roessler Nicholas who I wrote the Family Cookbook with. She was beginning work on a big project and had some thoughts and questions for me. I told her I had an audio tape of Gram and that she might like to listen to it. I had to find it - that took a few hours! And then I had to figure out how to digitally tape it (I used Garageband but don't ask me how I got it to work!). I didn't know what Olivia would do with the tape or how she would use it in her project. When my sister Laurie sent me the link to Livvie's website, I found this animated video. 

Olivia used a photo of Gram as a young girl from the cookbook (it is low quality - it was xeroxed!). She did stop motion embroidery and added other little bits of embroidery and drawing. She added audio of Gram beating her Christmas Stollen. At the end, there is audio of me and Gram talking. Fantastic job Olivia. Do you notice the embroidered flames? 

As I was digitally taping the audio of me and Gram talking from the squeaky tape on an old tape recorder, it brought me back to the day I was with Gram. I wanted to have an oral history of her life. We started out the day with her making her Christmas Stollen so that I would have a clue of how to make it. Then, while the dough was rising, I asked her questions about her life. 

I remember this day as if it were yesterday (it was 35 years ago). We sat on her sunporch at her house at 13 Conger Street on her Lloyd loom wicker furniture which she had paid me to recover the 13 cushions as a way to earn some money. Gram recounted her life in Germany, coming to America when she was ten years old, her courtship with her husband Archie (who I never knew because he died before my Mom and Dad ever met), and her life in Dover, NJ. It was a cold November day with gray skies. I remember this because the Family Cookbook was a Christmas Gift for my Gram's Grandchildren. I wanted to include current photos of Gram. I took two rolls of black and white film as Gram talked and baked. For the life of me now I cannot find them. They are here somewhere, I hope. 

Friend Roessler Nicholas + Her Christmas Stollen

This past Easter weekend, my sisters, Mom, and my nieces were talking about the Cookbook Project. I was unemployed, looking for work after graduating with my Masters Degree in Textiles from Colorado State University. I was back living with my parents, not knowing what I would do with my life. It was an awkward time in my life - when I was trying to find my way. The economy was totally awful and there was no work for an unexperienced, over-educated young woman. It was that time when I was a young adult but didn't have anything of my own - no job, no career, no home - my life was in limbo. 

I needed something to do with my time. Gram was 81, still living in her own home, still cooking, baking, sewing, quilting, and gardening. Gram had always been such a huge part of our lives and was a huge influence on me personally. She was in the process of crocheting her 8 grandchildren each a Single Crochet Ripple Afghan in 100% wool yarn. Can you imagine crocheting 8 of them when you are 80? That is the kind of woman she was - taking a task and carrying through on it. Besides the Single Crochet Ripple Afghans, she also made things to sell at the Church Fair - jelly, dried flower arrangements, and handmade things. 

I cannot believe my good fortune to have had a role model like Gram in my life. As I listened to her speak on the old cassette tape as Garageband was recording, I couldn't help but tear up - with happiness that I had this slice of her still with me - the memories, the example of a life well lived -- it is totally precious and an inspiration for any age I am.

Frieda Roessler Nicholas - My Paternal Grandmother

This past Easter weekend, I encouraged my nieces to do a similar thing with their surviving Grandparents. To tape a conversation, to take photos, to spend a good long day with their Grandparents - doing nothing in particular but recording and photographing. I could do this same thing with my mom but I really think that a grandparent/grandchild relationship is so different. I think that Gram shared things with me that she would never have shared with her son, my Dad. I don't know if the girls will get their acts together to do such a thing but I will keep encouraging them.

I write this here on my blog so that perhaps you too might do a special project with an older or younger person you treasure. Perhaps stitch a quilt, embroider a pillowcase (or set of pillowcases), teach a grandchild or child to knit or embroider, write a cookbook together, tape a conversation about their/your life. None of these things cost much to do - mostly it is finding the time to do it, organizing the project, and getting a willing participant. There are lifelong lessons and opportunities that can disappear in a flash when a special person is no longer around. 

Seize the summer months that are upcoming. Take time now to plan your special project of making and creating if you have the opportunity. You will be happy you did. And I hope you will tell me about the project if you do it!

I am still taking orders for my new book Crafting a Colorful Home. You can purchase signed copies on my website for $27.95. I am still offering FREE Freight and a set of Kristin Postcards. Check it out here. 

Cranberry Ketchup - A Seasonal Recipe

Yes, you read that correctly - cranberry ketchup. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I hadn't until I received a jar from our friends Kay and Michael who are excellent cooks, former chefs, and bakers. It's nice to have friends like that!

A couple weeks ago I picked up some cranberries and decided to give the recipe a go too. I'm planning to give it as favors to our Thanksgiving Day guests. I found this recipe in an old book (1963) called Freezing and Canning Cookbook - Prized Recipes from the Farms of America compiled by Nell Nichols, Field Food Editor. Don't you love that title? I don't think it would get through a publisher's committee meeting these days. I'm a sucker for old cookbooks - I love to read through the different recipes and think about times gone past. Sometimes you find some real gems in these old cookbooks even if the methods are a little different than current methods.  

What is Cranberry Ketchup? It is a spread made of cranberries, sugar, vinegar and some really nice autumn hued spices. What can you do with Cranberry Ketchup? I'm going to use it on a turkey sandwich the day after the holiday. It would also be nice with cheese and crackers. And I must admit - I have even had it with a regular burger and it was delish. Sometimes I spread it on bread and have it on a grilled panini. Here's how you make it..... and did I tell you? - it is much easier to make than jam or jelly.

Cranberry Ketchup 

Makes 4 to 5 pints - I used the very small 4 ounce canning jars that are perfect for small gifts. I got 10 small jars from this recipe.
 
24 ounces cranberries (two 12 ounce bags)
1 large onion (3/8 lb.)
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice 
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

Chop the onions. In a medium saucepan, cook cranberries and onions in the water until tender and the cranberries pop - about 10 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients. Boil for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring so that it does not stick. Let cool and puree in a food processor.

Sterilize the jars and lids. Reheat the Cranberry Ketchup. Pack in jars leaving 1/2" headroom. Process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner and complete seals if necessary.