Several readers called this week with praises for the “kitchen hints” that were featured last week. They asked for more and I will share one this week. I promise to try to add one occasionally along with the recipes so that everyone is happy.
Many of the hints that have been collected through the years are quite good and helpful. I enjoy them myself but one thing I have to consider is that the “Bear” gets upset when I don’t talk about him often enough.
Thursday he went to the VA for his six month check up and we won’t know results until next Thursday. It was pretty comical to watch him for the past two weeks as he tried to eat everything that would lower his stats.
He had no biscuits and gravy for some time and ate oatmeal almost every morning, reading the box that promised him these oats would lower his cholesterol. He also kept watching his sweets intake to make sure his sugar levels remain down.
Hilariously, as soon as he finished having his blood drawn and other tests he left the VA and headed straight for McDonald’s for a big breakfast.
So much for being sensible in regard to what he eats.
Freeze cherries now
A great hint for this week is timely for your freezer plans as the cherries are still fairly reasonable in price.
Wash your sour cherries in a water-filled pan and those that are wormy will float to the top and are easily discarded.
Drain cherries, pat dry and spread in a single layer on cookie sheets in the freezer. After they are frozen , transfer to a freezer container or heavy-duty plastic bag. When making pies, tarts or jams it is easy to remove just the amount you want to use.
If you cut the cherries in half while they are frozen, the pit comes out easily and there is no messy juice to stain your hands or work surface.
Summer fruit pizza
(This recipe will serve 18 slices)
1 package (20 ounce) sugar cookie dough
1 quart strawberries, washed and hulled (or other fresh fruit)
1 large box (¼ ounce) sugar free vanilla instant pudding
3 cups skim milk
6 ounces (½ of a 12 ounce tub) light cream cheese at room temperature
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 16 inch pizza pan with non stick spray. Slice cooking dough into ¼ inch thick slices and arrange on pizza pan so they are ½ to 1 inch apart.
Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden and set. Cool. In small bowl, combine pudding and milk. Beat on low to mix , add cream cheese and continue beating until thick and smooth. Pour over cooled cookie crust. Arrange fruit on top.
One slice (18 pieces) has 185 calories, 8 grams fat. People with diabetes should limit the use of this because it contains significant amounts of sugar.
Enjoy the hints and recipe and I will see you next week.
