Recipe: Cabbage & Pear Dish

Cabbage & Pear Dish

3 tablespoons butter, divided

1 small head cabbage, shredded

2 pears, peeled, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon sugar

In large skillet, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Add cabbage.  Stir to coat with butter.  Cover.  Cook 10 minutes.  Remove from heat. In small skillet, saute pears, 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, and sugar.  Cook 1 minute.  Add to cabbage.  Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.  Makes 4 servings.

Recipe can be found on page 96 in 

MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK

I love cabbage!  I remember my great grandmother in the kitchen cooking up a big pot of it.  With lots of butter and bacon.  It was so good!  That is probably where my love of cabbage started.  

My husband is not  a big fan of cabbage.  Shortly after we were married, I prepared cabbage just like great grandma taught me.  He didn't like it!   How could that be?  It has bacon and butter, two of his favorite things. He didn't try cabbage again until years later when my mom asked us try a new dish.  It was the recipe above.  He liked it!  He said the pears mellowed out the flavor of the cabbage.  Now when I make cabbage he will eat it.

If you have a picky eater in your house, or if your kids have never tried cabbage before, this is the perfect recipe to try on them.   

Recipe: My Favorite Chocolate Dip

My Favorite Chocolate Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (7 ounce) container marshmallow creme
1/4 cup chocolate syrup

In medium bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix well using an electric mixer.  Serve immediately with fruit, cubed angel food cake, cubed pound cake, cookies and/or crackers.

Recipe can be found on page 21 in 

MY KIND OF COOKING COOKBOOK

When I was growing up my mom always had a can of Hersey's Chocolate Syrup in the refrigerator.  My sister and I put that chocolate sauce on almost everything.  We put it in milk, on ice cream, poured it over popcorn, and I am sure some other ways that would make you go yuck! 

Have you ever started to make a recipe only to get halfway through it and realize you are missing an ingredient? That's happened to me when we had the youth group at our church coming to our house to watch a movie.  Teenagers are always hungry, I had a lot of fruit in the refrigerator that I needed to use up, so I planned to make my Pineapple Fruit Dip.  When I realized I didn't have the pineapple needed to make the dip, and I didn't have time to go to the store, I began to look around my kitchen for a substitute.  Like mother, like daughter, I opened my refrigerator and spotted the chocolate syrup.  The chocolate was a perfect substitution.  Everyone loved it!  Even my husband, who is not a big chocolate fan.

Since that day I have served this recipe as an appetizer and as a dessert.  The chocolate flavor is not overpowering, just light and creamy.  

Tip: Storing Fruit and Vegetables

I love fresh fruit and vegetables.  Knowing how and where produce should be stored, not only extends the life of the fruit and vegetables but helps me get the most flavor out of them.   

How you store fruit and vegetables will effect not only their taste but their texture as well.  Almost all fruit and vegetables can be stored in the refrigerator.Some of the exceptions include:

• Bananas
• Lemons and Limes (They have a tendency to absorb odors / flavors from the refrigerator)
• Tomatoes (their texture becomes mealy if refrigerated)
• Potatoes, garlic, onions,  

All of these should be stored in a cool, dry place at room temperature, not in direct sunlight.

Both pineapples and apples can be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature.  My husband likes pulling a crisp, cool apple out of the refrigerator on a hot summer afternoon. He says it reminds him of pulling them right off the tree on the way to school when he was growing up back in Iowa  Since most of the sugar in a pineapple is concentrated in the bottom of the fruit I like to store them upside down to allow the sweetness to spread.

Store berries in the refrigerator and wash just before you eat them.

Treat asparagus and herbs the same way.  Wash asparagus and herbs.  Dry them well.  Cut the ends off the asparagus and herbs.  Place stem side down,  in a glass of water. Wrap tops in a paper towel.

If you don't want to take the time to do all the prep work on the asparagus, just wrap the stems in a damp paper towel until your ready to prepare.

I don't have room in my refrigerator to store herbs in glasses of water.  I wash and dry my herbs, then wrap them in a paper towel and place them in plastic bags.

Always store meat and fruit and vegetables separate.  The crisper drawer is the best place to store produce.  The moisture produced in the drawer, will help to keep the produce fresher longer.

These are just a few of the tips I use to make the most of my fruits and vegetables.  I would love to hear your tips on storing produce.