Cleaning Pencil Marks Off Walls

Liberally wet a no-scratch blue scrubbie, add a generous dollop of toothpaste, and then begin scrubbing the pencil marks. You may have to let the toothpaste set on the pencil marks for a minute and then go at it again. Once you have removed the pencil marks, wipe the walls down with a clean, wet cloth.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

 Combine the following ingredients and store in appropriate container:

• 10 teaspoons cinnamon
• 10 teaspoons ginger
• 5 teaspoons nutmeg
• 1.25 teaspoons cloves
• 1.25 teaspoons black pepper

Note: if you are using this to make King Arthur’s pumpkin pie, add 2 3/4 teaspoons to your pie filling.

Salisbury Steak

This recipe makes 4 patties—two of which can be saved for the next night’s meal. The gravy recipe, however, is only enough for one night. If you’re planning to cook all 4 patties at once, double the gravy recipe.

Ingredients for the Meat Patties

• 2 slices crustless white sandwich bread, diced
• Half of 1/3 cup (40 ml) milk

• 1 pound 80/20 ground beef
• 8.5* ounces of onion: 2.5 ounces finely minced for the meat patties; *6 ounces diced & divided for two batches of gravy
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp Morton’s kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon Wright’s liquid smoke

• 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil, plus more if needed

Ingredients for the Gravy

• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 cup chicken stock (made with 1 cup water & 8 g BTB)

• 4 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, sliced and diced
• 4 g tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions

• In a medium bowl, combine bread with milk and soak well, breaking up bread pieces with your fingers until no firm or dry bits remain. Set aside.
• In a measuring cup or medium bowl, combine cornstarch with a couple tablespoons chicken stock, stirring to form a smooth slurry with no lumps. Add remaining stock, stir well, and set aside.
• In a the bowl of a stand mixer, add the ground beef, minced yellow onion, bread mixture, egg yolk, salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and liquid smoke. Mix well using the paddle attachment.
• Form meat mixture into 4 balls. Flatten each ball into an oblong, steak-like shape and place on individual-sized pieces of wax paper. Refrigerate two of the patties for the next night’s meal.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over the notch just above medium heat until shimmering, about 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium and add the two remaining steaks by flipping the steaks over into the skillet. Using a knuckle, form dimples all over top side of each patty.  Cook, using a thin metal spatula to rotate steaks for even browning, until browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip steaks and repeat on other side until browned and internal temperature reaches 145°, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer steaks to a platter and cover with foil.
• Increase heat back to the notch just above medium and add mushrooms to skillet, scraping and stirring until mushrooms begin to brown.
• Add diced onion and cook, stirring  until onion softened and beginning to turn lightly golden, about 4 minutes.
• Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir stock mixture to lift any settled cornstarch from the bottom, then add to skillet and bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping up any browned bits. Continue to cook until stock has reduced by about one-third and has thickened slightly.
• Stir in Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper. Lower heat and add butter, stirring vigorously, until butter has melted and a smooth, emulsified sauce forms that lightly coats the back of a spoon. Add the apple cider vinegar to balance out the sauce.
• Return steaks to skillet along with any accumulated juices, spoon sauce all over, place a lid on the pan, and simmer gently until the patties are above 150°. Serve right away.

Dehydrating & Grinding Fresh Ginger

1 pound of fresh ginger will almost fill a 0.95-ounce jar once it has been dried and grinded.

About choosing fresh ginger:

When purchasing fresh ginger look for firm pieces, with taught tan skin, and minimal dry spots. If the ginger is looking shriveled, dried out, or has soft spots, it’s a sign the ginger is past its prime and won’t have good texture or flavor. Larger pieces tend to be less dried out because they have had fewer segments snapped off; the more that are snapped off, the more openings there are for moisture to escape. Some fresh ginger has a blue or green tinge on the flesh, which can be caused by long-term cold-storage or simply is an attribute of the particular varietal you picked up. In either case, it’s perfectly safe and doesn’t result in any significant changes to flavor once cooked.

Instructions 

1. Break off any knobs from the larger pieces in order to make it easier to clean, peel, and slice.
2. Clean the ginger pieces under cold running water. Dry.
3. Use a spoon to remove as much skin as possible; however, don’t worry about getting all of it. Some skin is fine.
4. Slice the ginger as thin as possible. Don’t worry about making it a uniform size or anything. It will all dry just fine.
5. Place the sliced ginger on dehydrator trays and let it dehydrate until the next morning.
6. Remove and grind one tray of ginger at a time.*
7. Sift the ground ginger.
8. Place the ground ginger into a jar using a funnel.

*To clean your grinder, fill it with dry white rice and whirr it.

Sally’s Apple Cinnamon Bread

Makes two loaves

Ingredients

Crumb Topping

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 48 g AP flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 TBSP butter, cold & cubed

Apples

• 2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled & cut into 1.5” chunks
• 2 medium Jazz apples, peeled & cut into 1.5” chunks
• 2/3 cups brown sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Batter

• 438 g AP flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 sticks butter, room temperature (TRY ONE STICK OF BUTTER AND 1/2 CUP NEUTRAL OIL)
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 160 grams unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup whole milk, room temperature

Directions

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position (just below center) and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray 2 9×5-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray.
2. Crumb Topping: Make the crumb topping first. Mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together. Add the cold butter, and using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers, cut butter into the brown sugar mixture until pea-size crumbles form. Freeze until ready (the colder it is, the less likely it will sink into your batter).
3. Apples: Stir the apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
4. Batter: Whisk the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and granulated sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Add the eggs and then beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the applesauce and vanilla extract on medium speed until combined. Mixture will look chunky and curdled—this is normal and expected.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, turn the mixer on low speed and with the mixer running, slowly pour in the milk. Beat just until combined and do not overmix. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be sticky and slightly thick.

Pour and spread about 1/2 of the batter into the bottom of the prepared loaf pans. Spoon apples and any cinnamon/brown sugar juices leftover in the bowl evenly on top. Pour and spread remaining batter on top, making sure to scrape out every last drop of batter. Using a knife, swirl the batter down the center of the loaf pans.

Bake for 60-75 minutes. Add frozen crumb topping and loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil at the 30 minute mark.

These are large heavy loaves, so if your bread is taking longer, that’s completely fine. A toothpick inserted in the center of the loaves will come out clean when the bread is done. Begin checking at 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack.

Once cooled or nearly cooled, cut into slices and serve. (Bread falls apart if you try to slice it when it’s warm.)

Cover and store bread at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Freeze baked & cooled loaves for up to 3 months.

Sally’s Master Scone Recipe

Note about Orange Cranberry Scones: because the cranberries are so tart, try adding 3/4 cup sugar next time

Ingredients

• 250g all-purpose flour, plus more for hands and work surface
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 stick cold butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (plus 2 Tbsp for brushing)
• 1 large egg
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• coarse sugar for topping

Instructions

1. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together in a large bowl. Dice the cold butter into small pieces, and then work it into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until it looks like the picture below. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
2. Whisk 1/2 cup heavy cream, the egg, and vanilla extract together in a small bowl. Set aside. Mix any add-ins into the flour mixture, and then drizzle the wet ingredients over the flour mixture. Mix together until everything appears moistened.
3. Pour onto the counter and, with floured hands, work dough into a ball as best you can. Dough will be sticky. If it’s too sticky, add a little more flour. If it seems too dry, add 1-2 more Tablespoons heavy cream. Press into an 8-inch disc and, with a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut into 8 wedges. For smaller scones, press dough into two 5-inch discs and cut each into 8 wedges. To make 10-12 drop scones: Keep mixing dough in the bowl until it comes together. Drop scones, about 1/4 cup of dough each, 3 inches apart on a lined baking sheet.
4. Brush with remaining heavy cream and for extra crunch, sprinkle with coarse sugar (You can do this before or after refrigerating in the next step.)
5. Place scones on a plate or lined baking sheet (and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F (204°C).
7. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat(s). If making mini or drop scones, use 2 baking sheets. After refrigerating, arrange scones 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
8. Bake for 18-26 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on top. Larger scones take closer to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes.
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Pasta Shells with Ham & Cheese

 

Roasting Pie Pumpkins to Make Puree (and How to Roast the Leftover Seeds)

 Ingredients

• 3 pie pumpkins
• a bit of neutral oil

Directions for Roasting & Pureeing the Pumpkin

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper.
3. Slice off the tops & bottoms of your pumpkins.
4. With a scrub brush, thoroughly scrub your pumpkins under cold running water. Dry. Also be sure to clean your cutting board to remove any dirt. You do not want gritty pumpkin puree!
5. Slice your clean pie pumpkins in half from top to bottom. Scoop the seeds & flesh into a large bowl.
6. Using your finger, rub the rims of your pumpkin halves with a bit of oil. Then place the pumpkin halves cut-side down on your sheet pans. You should be able to fit three halves per sheet pan.
7. Roast the pumpkin halves in the oven until they are…done. Forget “fork tender”; that’s not good enough. Roast those suckers until they no longer keep their shape. It will probably take over an hour. Rotate the trays somewhere within the 30-40 minute mark. *[While your pumpkin halves are roasting, prepare your seeds for roasting.]
8. Once the pumpkins are sufficiently roasted, let them cool until you can slip the skins off without burning your fingers and cussing. While the pumpkins are cooling, line a colander with cheesecloth and set it over a large bowl.
9. Cut the roasted and skinned pumpkin flesh into hunks. Then, working in batches, whirr the pumpkin flesh in the food processor on high power until it’s silky and smooth in texture. 
10. Spoon the puree into the colander. Once you’ve finished processing all of your pumpkin, cover the colander/bowl with foil and let the puree drain in the fridge overnight.
11. The next day, portion your drained puree into quart size freezer bags—15 ounces per bag. Label each bag and then freeze.

Directions for Roasting the Seeds

1. Remember the large bowl in which you chucked the seeds and innards? Fill it up with cold water. 
2. Now the fun part: reach your paws into the water and start separating the seeds from the innards. Toss the now-seedless innards in the trash. 
3. Once you’ve removed as much of the innards as possible, place a colander in the sink and dump the remaining contents of your bowl into the colander. Pick out any larger chunks of innards that remain, and then rinse the seeds under cold water.
4. Spread a towel out (preferably on a sheet pan or large cutting board), and spread the seeds out on the towel in a single layer. Blot the seeds with another towel or a healthy amount of paper towels.
5. Set the seeds aside so that they air dry a bit. If you remember to, stir them around at least once while they’re drying.
6. Once your pumpkin puree is in the fridge, heat your oven to 300 degrees and line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Carefully pick up the towel and dump the seeds onto your sheet pan. [Your towel will have some stringies stuck to it. That’s fine. Just let the towel dry overnight, and shake the stringies off into the trash the next day.]
7. Place the sheet pan on the middle oven rack and roast the seeds until they just start turning golden—about 30 minutes. Make sure to stir the seeds every 5 minutes.
8. Let the seeds cool and either eat them or toss them outside for the critters to enjoy,

Sam’s Andouille Rice

 Ingredients

• 14 oz. Andouille sausage
• 1 Tbsp cooking oil 
• ½ bell pepper 
• ½ onion ** Sam’s Addition
• 1 tsp smoked paprika 
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano 
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme 
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder 
• 1/4 tsp onion powder 
• ¼ tsp penzy’s cajun seasoning
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper 
• 1/8 tsp black pepper 
• 1 bay leaf ** Sam’s Addition
• 1 15oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes 
• 1 15.5oz can red beans ** Sam’s Addition
• 1 cup long grain white rice 
• 1.5 cups chicken broth 

Instructions 

1. Slice the sausage into ¼ inch thick slices. Add the sausage and cooking oil to a deep skillet and sauté over medium heat until the sausage is well browned. Don't worry if the sausage begins to brown on the bottom of the skillet. That's extra flavor that will cook into the rice later.
2. While the sausage is cooking, dice the bell pepper and onion. Once the sausage is browned, add the bell pepper and onion to the skillet and continue to sauté for about one more minute.
3. Add the spices (minus bay leaf) to the skillet and continue to sauté for one minute more to toast the spices.
4. Add the fire roasted diced tomatoes (with juices), rice, beans, bay leaf, and chicken broth to the skillet. Stir to combine and dissolve any browned bits off the bottom of the skillet.
5. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let the skillet simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the skillet from the heat and let it rest, with the lid on, for an additional 5 minutes.
6. After the skillet has rested, remove the lid, and fold the sausage and rice to redistribute the rice and sausage throughout.