Tasteful Tweaks

I wrote the first part of this at the surgeon’s office this morning, waiting for my husband’s appointment, and wrote the last part this evening. I was finished helping with snacks for VBS and waiting for the kids to be dismissed so I could gather my grandchildren and come home to write this. I wrote it all on my cell phone, so hopefully it will fit together somehow.

Last week’s Tuesday Twister post was about tried and true recipes. This week’s post is about some new ones and the tweaks I used. Following Erin’s post on Gnowfglins, I made ketchup for the first time! (Even if the former ketchup wasn’t the healthiest, the bottle did come in handy!)

I either hadn’t realized there was a recipe in my Nourishing Traditions book or had dismissed it because of the fish sauce, an ingredient I didn’t have and didn’t expect to be buying. I ended up buying some, so I combined the NT recipe with Erin’s. I chose the NT for the fish sauce and quantity (a quart) and Erin’s for the wonderful spice combination (which I tripled to equal the quart). Delish! Can’t wait to make some cocktail sauce with it!

One of the things I used it on was sweet potato fries. While making them I thought of an easier way to fry them. I used my wok! The sloping sides made it much easier to get them in and out of the hot pan of oil.

Another great dish we had was my twist on a strawberry ice cream recipe posted by girlchef. I bought some strawberries on a day I wasn’t feeling well. I didn’t clean them and left them out overnight. When I got up the next morning, they were fuzzy with mold. The blueberries, however, were fine. If I ever use blueberries again, the one thing I would change is waiting until after everything else is mixed to add in the blueberries. By the time the ingredients were mixed, the blueberries were obliterated.

One thing I love about things like this, it’s a great way to get all those healthy ingredients into my grandchildren. (Fresh whole milk, fresh raw cream, raw honey, blueberries, and, of course, homemade cream cheese) Check out this thick raw cream!

I did use raw honey, rather than buckwheat honey, as done by Sarah at heartland Renaissance. It was a hit!

A new ingredient in my kitchen this week is grass-fed ghee. I bought it from Pure Indian Foods.

The smell always reminds me of fresh buttered popcorn. It gives a nice flavor to so many dishes. When I cook eggs in it, I can serve breakfast with a smile.

This post is part of Tuesday Twister at Gnowfglins.com and was featured on Pure Indian Foods Facebook page .