Fancy Scrambled Eggs

I like the word fancy.  I tend o use it a lot.  

Eggs are tasty, nutritious, easy and quick to make, with endless flavour combinations.  I bought a bag of spinach for crepes, and had lots left over, so I ended up having some raw, and various scrambled eggs for lunch a few days in a row.  I didn't get tired of them, because I changed the ingredients each day, with the exception of the eggs and the spinach.  Here is one of my lunches.  It includes, cherry tomatoes from my back yard, yellow and red ones, spinach, lachsschinken, parmigiano reggiano, s&p, butter.  First melt butter, then add spinach, and cook until it softens and shrinks a lot, then add the  lachsschinken, let it shrink a bit.  I love using  lachsschinken, because of its smoky flavour, but you can use various meats, or skip it all together.  Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, add to the pan and cook until they soften a bit, you can even squish them with your spatula to speed things up.

Add the cheese, and s&p.

Mix it all.

Depending on how you like your eggs, cook accordingly.

I enjoyed the eggs with a slice of toasted rye and butter.

This idea could just as easily be made into an omelette.

Cherry Butter

I love cherries.  When they are in season I eat loads fresh, and I make cherry pies.  This year I decided to make cherry butter, same idea as apple butter.  There is no butter involved, but the texture is thick and smooth.  I made three batches; the first was an experiment.  I used cherries, a bit of brown sugar, some maple syrup, red wine vinegar, lemon, and a bit of water.  After hours of cooking on low heat, the mixture shrunk to about 25% of the original volume.  I then used an immersion blender to smooth it out.  Since this was an experimental batch, I didn't use much, so I didn't end up canning it, just put it in a jar and fridge.  I've been using it on rye toast when I have a hankering for something sweet.

The next batch I made with 8 cups of frozen cherries I had from last year.  I pitted and froze them, measured out for what I need per pie.  Since I didn't use those two bags (4 cups each), I made cherry butter.  I like pies made out of fresh fruit much better anyway, but homemade cherry pie, even when the fruit is frozen, is still way better than any store bought pie.  This batch I made with red wine, a merlot, and some brown sugar, no maple syrup.  It has a slightly different taste.  Eight cups of cherries yielded 2 236ml jars of cherry butter.

The third batch was made with bourbon and lime juice instead of lemon.  I made 2 x 236 ml, and one 125 ml jar.  Bourbon and cherries  are awesome together, though the merlot, as well as the red wine vinegar turned out well too.

I don't have measurements, because I didn't measure anything.  Those 8 cups of cherries were pre-measured for pies.  Amounts aren't all that important for these cherry butters, just taste while it's cooking, and adjust flavours to your liking.  Can in a hot water bath, as you would any preserves, for bout 10 minutes, then wait for the lids to pop.

This is definitely worth the time and effort.

Frozen Coconut Treats

These coconut treats are so easy, and fast, if you choose to make them small shapes.  I made a few flavour varieties.  The ones in the photos are vanilla and honey coconut milk treats.  I made some with fennel seeds, as well as with coconut shavings.  You can add cinnamon, lavender flowers, pineapple bits, chocolate chips, etc.  These are ice cube sized, but you can make them larger, using sticks would be more helpful for larger treats.

Use good quality coconut milk,  and mix it with whatever you like, pour into a form which can go in the freezer.  Adding even just a bit of honey and / or vanilla makes them yummier than the milk on its own, which is a bit bland when frozen.  Within a couple of hours the milk freezes, if using small containers.  You can check if your treats are frozen just by pressing on one.

Super refreshing!  It's best to lick or suck (depending on size), not crunch too many icy treats or ice cubes, because that makes the teeth brittle, and they can chip more easily.

Enjoy!  :)