How to Make Oven-Dried Tomatoes

I mentioned how to make oven-dried tomatoes in a previous post, but I thought since I would continue to reference them it would be easier to do a seperate post on them. So here it is...these are delicious, chewy little bites just packed with flavor. We love using them on pizza, in pasta, in quesadillas, etc.

Just chop up some cherry or grape tomatoes into fairly uniform sizes, drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake in a 250 degree oven for several hours, until tomatoes are shriveled and somewhat leathery when you rip them apart. They should look something like this:

Just watch them closely for the last little while, as they go from perfect to burnt somewhat quickly. If you need to, you can take the pan out and remove the ones that are done to let the rest cook a bit longer.

Copycat Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning

I don't know about you, but I think having ranch/sour cream dip makes raw vegetable eating about 100 times more manageable. But every time I hand over the nearly $3 for a packet of approximately 1 Tbsp. of seasoning, I feel a little bit irritated. One day a friend gave me a can of powdered buttermilk she said she wouldn't use. I found this recipe online and found it to be quite similar to the packaged seasoning. I mix up a batch of this and keep it in the fridge to use as needed. 1 Tbsp.=1 pkg. of Hidden Valley ranch seasoning, so if I'm doing single servings I just mix 1/2 tsp. or so into some sour cream.



Original recipe from food.com

1/2 c. dry buttermilk
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. dried onion flakes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Comebine ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until seasonings are crushed and combined.

How to Can Pineapple

Canning pineapple had never occurred to me until I saw a post about it on my friend Melissa's blog. It's not much different than canning peaches or pears. When pineapples went on sale for $1 each here, I jumped at the chance and bought 20 to can.

1-Chop pineapple as desired.

Note:  I didn't let the pineapple ripen enough and my canned pineapple is really lacking in flavor. Make sure the pineapple is ripe before starting for best results.

2-Place pineapple in clean jars.

I used quart jars because they were cheaper, but pint and half-pint jars are the more ideal sizes for pineapple, since you don't typically use 4 cups at a time (at least I don't).

3-Add 1/3 cup white sugar.

4-Fill up jar with water, leaving 1/2 inch head space.

5-Bring lids to a boil.

6-Wipe rims of jars off, ensuring sugar grains are removed.

7-Place lids on jars and screw on rings.

8-Process in steam or waterbath canner for 20 minutes, according to your canner's instructions.

Melissa doesn't waste anything, really--she even dehydrates the rind and grinds it into powder to use in drinks and flavorings. She takes the cores and covers them with water, cooks them on the stove for several hours, and then strains the juice into jars to can as well.

The juice didn't have a particularly strong flavor, but it would add a nice punch to some Sprite or something.

Melissa also said she has a recipe for pickled pineapple cores that tastes like wassail. I'm hoping to get that recipe from her and try it for next time!

Herbs de Provence

This post is not actually a recipe, but a highlight of one of my favorite ingredients - herbs de provence. This is a french mixture of herbs and spices including basil, thyme, savory, and lavender blossoms (among other things). I seriously don't know how I cooked before Ryan introduced me to this wondrous delight. My local closed-on-Sunday little grocer doesn't carry it, but most well-stocked spice aisles should have it. I usually buy it at Target, but I would imagine that Smith's or Kroger carry it as well, and we have found it at Harmon's too. It's priced about typical for spice blends - a regular size jar is several dollars, but a little bit goes a long way, so it's not like you'll be buying more every other week. I use this in pretty much anything, here's just a few examples:

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Meat: throw some in the cavity of a roast chicken, add it to your pot roast, use as a pre-grilling rub for steaks, or sprinkle it on fish before baking.

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Veggies: sprinkle on mixed veggies before roasting, toss in a salad, or mix with bread crumbs and stuff in tomatoes (see recipe for tomatoes Provençal).

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Bread: add to mayo with garlic and lemon to make a savory sandwich spread, mix in olive oil and vinegar for a yummy dip, mix in butter to toast on french bread.

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A little addition of these herbs really adds new life to your meal! Try it, I'm begging you ...

Yice for Dinduh

This special recipe comes straight from the kitchen of Peter May.

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1. Grunt and groan as you pull the rice cooker out of the corner cupboard - if you have to pull a few other things out in the process, that's okay.

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2. Go over to the pantry and stand up on your very tippy toes, reaching as high as you can. If you still can't reach the rice, say "Yice, yice..." repeatedly until Mommy gets it down for you. If you're in a really good mood, you can add a "hep pweess," and that should get it a little sooner.

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3. Carry the bucket of rice over to the rice cooker.

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4. Open the rice cooker and carefully place the whole bucket of rice inside.

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5. Close the cooker.

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6. Open the cooker and bang the rice bucket around with the rice paddle a few times, then close the cooker.

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7. Repeat step #6 until you get bored or Mommy says it's time for dinner.

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8. Make a pose and say "cheeeess" when Mommy wants to take a picture of your amazing Yice for Dinduh.

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