88-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,2003 If you are looking for a recipe but can’t find it, send your recipe request to Lou Ann Good, Cook’s Question Comer, in care of Lancaster Farming, P.O. Box 609, Ephrata, PA 17522. There’s no need to send a self-ad dressed stamped envelope. If we receive an answer to your question, we will publish it as soon as possible. Check your recipe to make sure you copy the right amounts and complete instructions for making the reci pe. Sometimes we receive numerous answers to the same request, but cannot print each one. Answers to recipe requests should be sent to the same address. You may also e-mail questions and answers to LGOOD.EPH@LNPNEWS.COM QUESTION Barbara Reed, a northern Berks County reader, is looking for what a friend calls a three-milk cake with a fruit filling between layers. She thinks it might be a Carib bean or Latin American recipe. QUESTION Mrs. Riehl, Narvon, is looking for a recipe for chicken gumbo, which is served in the soup and salad bar at Shady Maple Res taurant. QUESTION Linda Fletcher, Walnutport, is looking for a recipe for Beef Barley Soup. QUESTION Marg Sharp, Glenmoore, writes that when her granddaughter was small, her baby-sitter used bread dough to make steamed buttons served with a sauce. Marg would like that recipe. QUESTION Linda Fletcher, Walnutport, re quests a recipe for pineapple squares, which has a cake base. She thinks the recipe is quite old. QUESTION Melissa Evarts, Guilford, Ct., writes that her dad remembers his mother mak ing a vanilla custard using 13 eggs. Does any one have a recipe like that and also one for homemade ice cream that uses pudding and sweetened condensed milk and is hand cranked. QUESTION Mary Tampion, wants the reci pe for pina colada zucchini bread, which had been printed in this paper she thinks in August or September. QUESTION Esther Sheaffer, Kirkwood, re quests a recipe to make good meatballs. QUESTION Shirley Schwoerer, Wysox, wants to know if sesame seeds can be sprouted. She is familiar with alfalfa seed sprouting. QUESTION Ralph Kieffer, Halifax, wants a recipe for Aunt Flossie’s tomato soup, which he heard is printed in a Lancaster County cook book. QUESTION A reader wants low-fat recipes and diabetic recipes that other readers have tried and liked. QUESTION A Narvon reader writes that she accidentally discarded two recipes, which she had clipped from this column, that her fam ily really liked. One recipe was for waffles, and the lady who had submitted it wrote that she sold them at a stand when she was young. The other recipe was for biscuits that used cold butter cut into the flour. Anyone know to which recipes she is referring? Please send in to be reprinted. QUESTION June Martin, Oxford, N.J., wants a recipe to make venison hot dogs. ANSWER A steady reader wanted to know how to make natural vinegar, which is a vinegar that gets a “mother” in it. And if there is a place to buy such vinegar? Thanks to Shirley Orfanella, Quarryville, who writes that many years ago, when she brought her first home, the basement had huge jugs with these “things” floating on top. She nearly fainted. Since then, she learned about Mother-of-vine gar, and writes that when a “mother” gets too wet, it sinks to the bottom and will be useless. Here’s the scoop, which makes interesting reading but is not endorsed by this paper: Mother-Of-Vlnegar Mother is the term used to describe the mass of sticky scum that forms on top of cider when alcohol turns into vinegar. Mother is formed by the bacteria which creates vinegar. You can grow your own mother by combining 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup cider. Let set in open air for days or weeks (depends on temperature). The scum which forms will be a mother, which is used to grow your own vinegar for “nibbling.” Lore is that a bite or two, morning and evening will keep germs, infections, and parasites away. “This is where I draw the line —ugh,” writes Shirley. Vinegar was originally started as a byproduct of the wine industry. It’s fairly simple but also time laborious to make your own vinegars. If in terested in making vinegar, Shirley recom mends sending for “The Vinegar Book” by Tres co Publishers, 718 12th St. N.W., Canton, Ohio 44703. ANSWER Shirley Schwoerer, Wysox, want ed to know if butter can be made in a blender. Thanks to a reader who writes the answer is “yes.” She writes: “I have a 5-cup blender con tainer so I put 3-4 cups of cream in and blend on high until it gets thick. I then pulse and/or shake by hand to get the butter to clump. It is obvious when it is finished as you can see the butter and the buttermilk does not cling to the sides of the blender. Do not blend too long or you will mix the butter back into the buttermilk! “Pour butter and buttermilk into a strainer over a container to catch the buttermilk. Then put the butter into a bowl and press out the buttermilk. (I use the back of a large spoon). Next cover butter with cold water and rinse, pouring off the water and pressing again. Re peat until water comes off clear and Is all pressed out of butter. “I have found that the temperature and age of the cream makes a difference. Cream that has just been skimmed off fresh milk should be left in the refrigerator for a day or two. I usually freeze cream until I have several quarts to do. I set the cream out the evening before so it is thawed and nearly room temperature in the morning. I’ve also had better luck in the winter than in the summer since room temperature is usually too warm in the summer. I save the buttermilk to make cakes, cookies, waffles and pancakes.” ANSWER Mary Templon, Grantsville, W.V., writes that she canned sauerkraut in jars this past summer, but the seal broke by six weeks, and the sauerkraut got brown and went bad. What went wrong? There are many methods to can sauerkraut, but Shirley Orfanella, Quarry ville, writes that the following method works best for her. Select firm large heads of cabbage. Remove outer leaves (save) and remove core. Cut heads into quarters. Using a slaw shredder, place overtop of a large crock. Shred cabbage until you have a few inch thickness. Sprinkle small amount of canning salt over and tamp down gently. Continue doing this until about 3- from top. Cover with old white sheet “circles” tucking into crock. Put several layers of large cabbage leaves on top and weigh down with an old plate with a brick on top. You can also eliminate last step and place a very heavy duty trash bag filled partially with water on top. This works well to keep out air. Let set about 4- weeks at approximately 68 degrees. At that time, remove all old leaves and if thin layer of scum has formed, remove. Rinse to remove salt. Cook in large kettles to 180 degrees. Pack into quart jars and place in boiling water bath approximately 15 minutes. Some people like to leave kraut in crocks and use as needed, but Shirley prefers to can to eliminate the odor. ANSWER Pat Elligson had requested a recipe for an old-fashioned fruit cake. It’s amazing how much recipes vary. D. Bonnell, Barker, N.Y., sends in this Scottish recipe that is updated from the really old-fashioned kind, but it’s in the traditional cake-shape rather than the loaf-shape that is more common in this area. Bonnell writes, “This recipe is an en deavor to make and not for those who demand instant consumption, but for fruit cake lovers, it’s worth the wait.” Royal Fruit Cake 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Va teaspoon baking powder Va teaspoon baking soda Va teaspoon nutmeg Va teaspoon cloves I Va cups currants 1 Va cups dark or light raisins 1 Va cups diced mixed candies and peels 1 cup mixed candied fruits and peels 1 cup candied red/green cherries Va cup ground almonds 4 eggs 1 cup sugar Va cup saltless butter, melted Va cup rum, whiskey, brandy or orange juice 3 tablespoons lemon Juice More rum, whiskey, brandy or orange Juice 8-ounce can almond paste Sauerkraut 1 recipe royal icing (follows) Grease two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottom and sides with parchment or waxed paper to prevent overbrowning; grease paper. In large bowl, stir together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir in currants, raisins, fruits and peels, cherries, and almonds. Set aside. In mixing bowl, beat eggs until frothy, with a fork. Add sugar, butter, Va cup rum or whiskey and lemon juice; stir until combined. Stir egg mixture into fruit mixture; pour into pans. Bake in a 300-degree oven for VA-IVz hours or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cover pans loosely with tin foil after one hour to prevent overbrowning. Cool in pans on wire rack. Remove cooled cakes from pans. Wrap layers separately in rum or whiskey-soaked cotton cheesecloth and overwrap with foil. Store in re frigerator or cold room for 1-2 weeks. Every 3-4 days, moisten cheesecloth with rum or whis key, or when dry. Assemble by placing one cake layer, top side down, on serving plate. Spread with half the al mond paste. (If paste is too thick, form into ball, place between waxed paper layers and roll to size a little larger than 9-inches in diameter. Trim to 9 inches and place on top of cake by re moving one sheet of waxed paper, inverting on top of cake. Peel off remaining waxed paper. Spread some of royal icing over almond paste. Add second layer, top side up; top with remaining paste. Frost top and sides with re maining royal icing. Makes 16 servings. Royal Icing: Combine: 4 cups sifted powdered sugar V 2 cup water V* cup meringue powder 1 teaspoon vanilla Beat on high speed 7-10 minutes or until very stiff. Use immediately, covering icing in bowl with a damp paper towel. Store in refriger ator. Also freezes well for months if sliced first and well wrapped. ANSWER Here is another version from Au drey Lohr, Mount Pleasant. Stained Glass Window Fruit Cake 1 1 /2 pounds pitted dates 1 pound candied pineapple chunks 1 pound candied red/green cherries 2 pounds walnuts or pecans or combination 2 cups sifted flour 2 teaspoons baking powder Vs teaspoon salt 4 eggs, beaten V 2 cup dark com syrup 1 /4 cup firmly packed brown sugar Va cup com oil Grease 10x4-inch tube cake pan. Line with greased paper. Mix together fruits and nuts. Sift dry ingredi ents. Mix eggs, com syrup, sugar, and oil. Grad ually beat in dry ingredients; pour over fruit mixture and mix. Firmly pack into pan. Bake at 275 degrees for about 2 hours and 15 minutes or until top appears dry. Cool in pan. May also be baked in two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. How Much Protein Is Needed? COLUMBUS, Ohio Is it true that people need only a few ounces of protein a day? Actually, that is true. Adults should get 10 percent to 35 percent of their calories from protein. That means adults who consume 1,800 calories a day should get be tween 180 and 630 of those calories from protein, or be tween 45 grams (about 1.5 ounces) and 157 grams (about 5.5 ounces) of protein a day. However, we’re talking about pure protein here, not protein-rich foods. Take a look at Nutrition Facts labels or the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Data base (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fiiic/cgi-bin/nut—search.pl) and you’ll see that you can’t assume that protein-rich foods are totally made up of protein. On the other hand, even foods that aren’t considered “good” protein sources often contain some protein. Take, for example, a three-ounce portion of roasted chicken breast. That weighs 85 grams, 26 of which are protein. A three-ounce can of tuna has 25 grams of pro tein. Either would give a typical consumer more than half of the protein they need each day. Other protein sources are plentiful. A cup of fat-free fruit yogurt has 10 grams of protein. A cup of 2-percent white milk has eight grams. A half-cup of baked beans has seven grams. A large hard-boiled egg has six grams. A medium-sized baked potato (about 7 ounces) has five grams of protein. A slice of bread usually has two grams. Two tablespoons of peanut butter have eight grams. A half-cup of com has two grams. A half-cup of cooked brown rice contains two grams. According to national food intake surveys, American adults typically get about 16 percent of their calories from protein a day more than they absolutely need, but usually within the recommended range. With the increas ing popularity of high-protein diets, protein consumption could increase. Men typically consume more protein than women.
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