The evening air is chilling, the days are getting shorter and most importantly yard work is ending until spring.
This leaves us with more time we can use to do things that we do not usually get a chance to. Yes, like cleaning. But what is even more exciting than coming home to a clean house? That’s right, coming home to a house that smells of home cooking – and I don’t mean the Glade kind. Real cooking.
Here are some heartwarming recipes to try.
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Sweet and sour meatballs
11/2 pounds ground 750 g
beef
1 chopped onion
salt
pepper
1 egg
Mix the first five ingredients, shape into balls and place in a baking dish.
Next, heat the following sauce in a pot.
1/2 cup ketchup 125 mL
1/2 cup chili sauce 125 mL
2 tablespoons vinegar 30 mL
2 tablespoons mustard 30 mL
1/2 cup water 125 mL
1 cup diced celery 250 mL
3 tablespoons soy 45 mL
sauce
1 cup brown sugar 250 mL
1 medium onion, chopped
Pour sauce over the meatballs and cook for one hour at 350 F (180 C).
Serve with rice and a green salad or vegetable of your choice. I have also used this sauce on chicken breasts, ribs and pork chops with great success.
And don’t forget dessert.
Chocolate coffee cake
This is my favourite chocolate cake.
2 cups sugar 500 mL
13/4 cups flour 425 mL
3/4 cup baking 175 mL
cocoa
2 teaspoons 10 mL
baking soda
1 teaspoon 5 mL
baking powder
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
2 eggs
1 cup brewed 250 mL
coffee
1 cup buttermilk 250 mL
1/2 cup vegetable 125 mL oil
1 teaspoon vanilla 5 mL
extract
Note: As a substitute for buttermilk, add 1/2 teaspoon (two mL) baking powder to one cup (250 mL) milk. You can also place one tablespoon (15 mL) vinegar in a measuring cup andfill with milk to one cup (250 mL).
Combine the first six ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed for two minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 10 inch (three L) bundt pan.
Bake at 350 F (180 C) for 45-50 minutes. Cool and top with the following:
Mocha drizzle from Five Roses Flour
11/2 teaspoon instant 7 mL
coffee granules
2 tablespoons melted 30 mL
butter
2 tablespoons evaporated milk or whipping cream 30 mL
1 cup icing sugar 250 mL
Dissolve coffee in one tablespoon (15 mL) of hot water. Blend in butter and whipping cream. Beating with mixer, gradually add icing sugar until blended. Add up to one tablespoon (15 mL) more hot water to make mixture easy to drizzle. Pour over a cooled cake.
And here’s something for snack time.
Zucchini pineapple muffins
This is my son’s favourite recipe from the autumn harvest.
3 large eggs
2 cups granulated 500 mL
sugar
2 teaspoons orange 10 mL
extract
1 cup oil 250 mL
2 cups grated 500 mL
zucchini
1 14-ounce can 398 mL
crushed pineapple, drained
3 cups all-purpose 750 mL
flour
1 teaspoon baking 5 mL
powder
2 teaspoons baking 10 mL
soda
1 teaspoon salt 5 mL
2 teaspoons ground 10 mL
cinnamon
1 cup raisins or 250 mL
dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
Line the muffin tins with papers.
Combine eggs, sugar, orange extract and oil, beat until frothy, approximately six minutes.
Stir in zucchini and pineapple.
Mix the dry ingredients, including the raisins. Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture with a wooden spoon or spatula. Put the batter into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.
Sip your tea
A study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that drinking tea, both black and green, appears to boost the immune system, possibly because of a protective ingredient that helps the body fight bacterial infections and perhaps viruses, parasites and tumours.
During the study, the researchers measured the activity of the immune system’s gamma delta T cells in people who normally don’t drink tea. They also exposed some of those cells to the protective ingredient ethylamine and then to bacteria.
The gamma delta T cells from non-tea drinkers didn’t attack the bacteria, but cells that had been exposed to ethylamine via tea multiplied 10-fold and produced a bacteria-fighting chemical.
All about photography
Dear TEAM: I would like to know where I can have pictures transposed onto decorative plates. – I.B., Yorkton, Sask.
Dear I.B.: After receiving your letter I did some searching. What a great gift idea for Christmas. I discovered that Black’s Photography will do this for you. This service is available across Canada. Contact your nearest store.
And speaking of photography, Halloween is coming. Have you seen the delight in a child’s eyes when he is in costume? These are the moments that we should capture on film. Here are some tips on taking good pictures that make time stand still.
Keep camera handy
You never know when your ghost or goblin will do something cute. And don’t just take costume pictures. There are great pictures to be taken while carving the pumpkin, decorating the yard, applying makeup, exploring the goodies in trick or treat bags and faces covered with chocolate.
Get in close
Fill the picture with your favourite clown or Power Ranger’s face and eliminate distracting backgrounds. Be sure to check your camera manual to learn the closest distance at which your camera takes clear pictures. Many cameras cannot focus closer than one metre from the subject. It is also beneficial to be at the same level as your subject.
Keep people busy
Candids often make the most treasured pictures. Catch your ghost at your neighbour’s door scooping treats out of the bowl or unloading their loot bag. Avoid stuffy, static poses and capture expressions that are more relaxed and natural.
Hold camera steady
Even the slightest camera movement can rob pictures of sharpness.
Avoid glowing red eyes
Redeye, which occurs when using a flash, is actually the reflection of light from the flash off the blood vessels of a subject’s eyes. To reduce redeye, increase the light level in the room by turning on all the lights, or have your subject look at a bright light, such as a room lamp, just before you take the flash picture.
You can also use a camera that has a redeye reduction feature. If you discover redeye on a really good picture, take your prints to a retail store where you get your film developed to see if redeye can be removed.
I hope this helps you capture those picture perfect moments at your house. Pictures help us savour the special times in our lives that could be forgotten if not saved on film. Pictures can tell a life story.
Halloween treats
Other than the excitement of costumes and pictures, what is the best thing about Halloween? Ask any child, it’s the treats. But before your children begin to eat their loot, make sure you examine it first. Throw out treats that are not wrapped, those in torn or loose packages or that have small holes in the wrappers. Check toys or novelty items for small parts and do not allow children younger than three years to play with them.
You might want to offer an alternative to sugar-based treats. Gum should be sugarless. Stickers, multicoloured pencils or beads can be a nice surprise in place or in addition to traditional treats. Ask your children what they think a good treat would be.
Then sit back and enjoy. Happy Halloween.
Jodie Mirosovsky is a home economist from Rosetown, Sask., and one of four columnists comprising Team Resources. Send correspondence in care of this newspaper, Box 2500, Saskatoon, Sask., S7K 2C4 or contact them at team@producer.com.
