St. Patrick's Day Peas

 

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PEAS

This past week I was finally able to plant some veggies in my garden. I dug up the rich black dirt to prepare the soil, made rows, and planted tiny seeds of beets, carrots, lettuce, radish, and kale. Pushing fat mini bulbs of red onions in the ground gave me all kinds of satisfaction at the thought of fresh onions to come.  But when I sprinkled the pea seeds is when I really began to drool.

Lots of people hate eating peas- even my two kids (of all people). I don’t know if it was what they considered “torture” picking peas and the time consuming shelling that transferred to their taste buds that did the trick or what. I certainly did my best to raise them to become farmers like my grandparents.  There is something altogether fascinating about peas from the fat little seeds that you plant in the earth, to the delicate vines that produce lovely blooms that turn into fat pods you pick, and then delightfully eat. Raw or cooked peas have a distinctive taste that shouts spring.  As soon as I plant peas, my taste buds go into overdrive demanding fresh green peas.

To satisfy my craving for peas, I grabbed the next best thing- peas out of my freezer.  So once again in a valiant effort (my children call it stubbornness, but I prefer to think of it as the Irish in me) to convince my kids and all you pea hating people, I’ve come up with a sure-to-please pea recipe that I call my St. Patrick’s Day Peas. The St. Patrick’s Day Peas have a smooth creamy cheesy flavor that hints of spring. My St. Patrick’s Day Peas is another quick (only 15 minutes) and easy no-fail recipe that serves four to five.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PEAS

1 lb frozen peas

½ tsp salt

Cover the bottom of a small saucepan with water, add peas, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for five minutes.  Mix together:

½ c milk

2 tb cornstarch

Add to the peas. Cube:

 1 c Velveeta cheese

Add to mixture and cook until thickened and the cheese is melted.  Serve hot.

Tip: Adding ½ tsp of margarine helps prevent veggies from boiling over when cooking and adds flavor!

Happy New Year

Cocoanut Chocolate Balls

It has been ages since I did up a cooking article for any blog or newspaper so this New Year- while going through my end-of-the-year organization and realizing my pile of recipes to try and new cooking ideas had reached an alarming all time high stack- to do up and post a new recipe once a month.  You’ll notice I didn’t go for once a week- ha!

I thought I’d start out the New Year with my Cocoanut Chocolate Ball recipe that I made for the last couple of Christmas seasons. My Cocoanut Chocolate Ball recipe is perfect during the holiday rush as there are only three ingredients and it only takes a short time. This recipe came about while I was looking at a colorful magazine drooling over all the delicious looking pictures of candy that they sold.  Anything chocolate especially catches my eye. I casually looked at the advertisement beside these Cocoanut Chocolate Balls when I did a double take reading that cocoanut and chocolate covered a marshmallow center.  I knew instantly that I could make up a batch of Cocoanut Chocolate Balls myself.  So I made some Cocoanut Chocolate Balls that Christmas and they were an instant success- not only in how good they tasted, but how easy it was to fit them into my hectic schedule of finishing wrapping gifts.  My Cocoanut Chocolate Balls are simple to make and would fit anywhere year round when you need something quick to make.  

Cocoanut Chocolate Balls

14 oz bag of shredded cocoanut

10 oz bag of regular marshmallows

2 lb of dark chocolate squares

wax paper

In one small bowl pour ¼ bag of cocoanut. In another bowl break off a couple squares of chocolate and microwave for thirty seconds to a minute stirring until melted. Place one marshmallow in the melted chocolate and with a fork roll it around until covered, lift out, and put into the cocoanut.  Turn over until coated with cocoanut and then lay on wax paper. Repeat until all the marshmallows are used up. Let the Cocoanut Chocolate Balls harden and enclose in a covered plastic container. Total time is fifteen to thirty minutes.

Tip: For an added holiday look and taste crush some peppermint candy canes into small pieces and add to the shredded cocoanut!

Baked Fish

Baked Fish

Two brand new babies were born in our household the other week in my husband’s fish aquarium.  The tiny baby fish match their surroundings so well that at times it is hard to spot them, but soon they will become a colorful orange with black markings and outline like their mother- a sunset Molly.  When my children were small I had an aquarium with fish that needed cleaning out periodically- quite the chore in those days.  When Dawn and Dwight hit their teen years I opted for an outdoor goldfish pond and turned the aquarium into an enclosed still life relieved to cross cleaning an aquarium off my list.  Years later Dana decided we needed an aquarium and bought a thirty gallon tank that he put on his desk and has become his hobby.  Thankfully now-a-days aquariums are a lot easier to keep clean.  The only time I bother with Dana’s aquarium is taking fish water- when he needs to add new- and using it to water my plants.

An interesting thing about fish is that they are sensitive to change so whenever you add new fish to an aquarium it is important to stir up the gravel and move things around to disrupt any previously set boundaries.  We humans often react negatively to any change in our life preferring for things to stay the same and yet life is full of changes.  Change helps us grow and expand in new areas.  I’ve learned along the way that when one door shuts other one will open.

Due to budget cuts at the Herald-Citizen this will be my last column.  A big thank you to all the staff for an excellent job done, along with their professional touch, in publishing my cooking column each week.  It has been great working with you. One of the biggest perks has been getting acquainted with many faithful readers of my column. I hope that we can stay in touch. Feel free to email me at: www. dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com  anytime.  If you want to keep up with the Walker household and all the crazy happenings here at the “farm” sign my guest book on my website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com for automatic quarterly updates.   Meanwhile I shall concentrate on finishing my cookbook that many of you have requested- unfortunately delayed by complications of having Lyme disease that slows me down more than I like to admit.  In the meantime happy cookin to y’all!

Baked Fish

2 pieces of frozen perch, tilapia, or cod
1 tb butter sliced thin
minced dried onion
garlic salt
lemon pepper seasoning
reg salt & pepper
Place fish on a baking tray or pan.  Spread butter around and shake on spices and salts.  Place on the top shelf in the oven and bake at 350º for thirty-five minutes until golden brown.  Garnish with sprigs of parsley. Serves two!

Weekly tip:  Homemade tartar sauce: Mix together well 2 c real mayonnaise, ½ c sweet pickle relish, and 1 chopped hardboiled egg.  Fills one sixteen oz jar or 2½ c of tartar sauce!  

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at:  dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com  For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at:  www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com

Wheat Rolls

Wheat Rolls
Dorcas Annette Walker
 
Company is always a good excuse to get my house organized and back in shape.  I also like to check and see what tasks have been put off.  For over a year I wanted to get my daughter’s old bedroom painted and sorted out as it had become a catch all for items that overflowed my sewing room.  One of the greatest challenges as a housekeeper is keeping things where they belong.  When my children were small I’d go through the house each night making sure that everything was put in place.  There were always projects stuffed in closets that I planned to do someday.  I used to think that once my kids were grown I could catch up on everything and would have no trouble keeping a spotless perfectly organized house.  I still haven’t obtained that goal yet, but I did manage to turn out the bedroom and get it painted- barely getting it back in shape before my guest arrived.

The only problem with focusing on one area inside is that, even though we’ve had frost and cooler weather up here on the mountain, everything outside (namely weeds) has grown like “Jack and the Beanstalk” overnight.  I cross one thing off my list only to discover several more demanding my immediate attention.  Since I can’t go 24-7 like I used to in younger days, I’ve learned to do what I can and leave the rest for tomorrow reminding myself what my grandmother told me years ago, “that there will always be work even after we are dead and gone”.   So each day I make a goal of stopping (taking a break- preferably on my front porch in the rocking chair with a cup of tea in hand), looking around savoring the beauty and wonder of God’s creation right under my nose, and listening to my birds sing (the hummingbirds came back this week).

Since I spent time cooking in my kitchen while I had company I did up a batch of Wheat Rolls one day.  Homemade rolls are always a great addition to any meal and my yeasty Wheat Rolls are healthy as well.  You can substitute honey instead of sugar, add orange juice for some of the water, or use half white and half wheat flour.  This dough can be stored in the refrigerator overnight or for up to one week. Preparation time for my Wheat Rolls is around thirty minutes (not counting rising time) and this recipe yields thirty-two rolls.

Wheat Rolls

1 pkg active dry yeast
1 c warm water
1 tsp sugar
5 c wheat flour
½ c sugar
1½ tsp salt
2 eggs beaten
½ c shortening melted

Combine yeast, water, and tsp of sugar in cup, stir well, and let sit to activate.  In a large bowl place flour, sugar, and salt.  Add eggs, shortening, and yeast.  Stir then knead the dough with your hands until a large ball forms- dust hands with flour if needed.  Spread shortening on top, cover, and let rise in the bowl until doubled in bulk one to two hours.  Punch dough down and shape into rolls placing them in a greased pan. Apply shortening to the top of the rolls and let rise again. Bake at 350º for fifteen to twenty minutes until lightly browned!

Weekly tip:  Adding a little bit of ground ginger to the bread/roll dough improves the rising of yeast.  Use ¼ teaspoon for a two loaf recipe- around six to seven cups of flour!

 Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at:  dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com  For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at:  www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com