“Shine on, shine on harvest moon.”
Is this song in your head now?
Autumn is such a nice time of year. The evening is colourful and chilling, the days are getting shorter and most importantly, the yard work is ending until spring.
This leaves us with more time to have fun – time that we can use to do things that we do not usually get a chance to do. Yes, like cleaning, but what is even more exciting than coming home to a clean house?
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That’s right, coming home to a house that smells of home cooking, and I don’t mean the artificial room freshener kind. Real cooking. Here are some heartwarming recipes to try.
Corny soup
This recipe was a favourite from my Grandma Foster. It was given to her by her sister Winny. We always enjoyed eating at her house, especially when she made corny soup. I like to make this soup in fall with fresh potatoes, carrots, corn and onions from the garden. Served with fresh bread or buns, it’s a meal to remember.
2 medium onions chopped
2 stocks of celery, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, finely sliced
1/4 cup flour 60 mL
2 tablespoons butter, divided 25 mL
4 cups milk 1 L
2 10 oz/284 mL cans of cream corn (or the equivalent of frozen corn or fresh cooked corn)
salt and pepper
Sauté the onion, celery, potato and carrot in one tablespoon (15 mL) of butter and a bit of water in a large saucepan. Add the flour, remaining butter and milk and cook on medium heat until thick, stirring constantly.
Add the corn and mix. Add salt and pepper according to your taste. Serves four.
Pear crisp
I love putting apple, purple plum, peach and pears into a warm crisp with ice cream. It’s a nice change.
1/2 cup flour 125 mL
1/3 cup quick cooking oats 75 mL
1/3 cup packed brown sugar 75 mL
1 teaspoon ground 5 mL
cinnamon, divided
3 tablespoons butter or 45 mL
margarine, cut into pieces
6 cups sliced peeled pears 1.5 L
2 tablespoons sugar 25 mL
1 tablespoon lemon juice 15 mL
1 teaspoon grated lemon 5 mL
peel
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 2 mL
In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form; set aside. Place pears in a large bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel, nutmeg and remaining cinnamon; toss to coat.
Transfer to an eight inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with crumb mixture.
Bake at 350 F(180 C) for 45-50 minutes or until pears are tender. Yields nine servings.
Zucchini chocolate cake
This is a chocolate cake that is somewhat healthy.
13/4 cups sugar 425 mL
1/2 cup oil 125 mL
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup unsweetened 150 mL
applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 mL
21/2 cups all-purpose flour 625 mL
1/2 cup cocoa 125 mL
1 teaspoon baking soda 5 mL
1/2 teaspoon salt 2 mL
1/2 cup buttermilk 125 mL
(To make the buttermilk add 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice with milk to equal 1/2 cup)
2 cups shredded zucchini 500 mL
1 cup (six ounces) miniature semi sweet chocolate chips
In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and oil on medium speed for one minute. Add the eggs, applesauce and vanilla; beat one minute longer. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating just until blended. Stir in zucchini.
Transfer to a 13 by nine inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 F(180 C) for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake 10 to 15 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
Yields 18 servings.
Fruit flies
With all of the seasonal fruit around, I have one complaint – fruit flies buzzing around the kitchen. It seems that they come to visit and bring all of their friends. However, like a bad party that all your friends and even strangers have crashed, there comes a time when they all have to leave.
One good thing about these insects is that their food and breeding grounds are the same. They inject their eggs into their food, and they tend to gather in areas of your home where they’re finding food. This means it’s pretty easy to cut off their supply lines.
However, you must go through your entire house even if they do not occur in every room. Once you remove one source of food, they will search for more, and if they find it somewhere else, you will be starting over from square one.
Fruit flies eat and breed in moist, organic material, such as fruit and vegetables, especially when overripe or rotting, dirty sponges and washcloths, juice, spills and messes.
Kitchens:
- Remove standing liquids, soft material and wet fabric.
- Flush drains and garbage disposals with ammonia or drain cleaners. Do this once every few hours, or partially plug the drain and fill the sink so the cleaners trickle down slowly and stay present in the pipes.
- Empty trash before it overflows and invest in trash containers with tight-fitting lids.
- Check dishwasher for grime collecting in the bottom and the filter. Refrain from storing dirty dishes in the dishwasher until the incursion has been eliminated.
- Scour cabinets and pantries for exposed and forgotten food. Sacks of potatoes are common culprits, as are bags of moist grain and legumes. These will breed moths as well. Store fresh fruit and vegetables in the fridge until the fruit flies are eradicated.
- Check under the refrigerator, on stovetops and under burners for spills and messes.
- Dry sink surfaces when they are not in use.
- Relocate potted plants or herbs outside if the weather allows and/or apply an insecticide that is safe to use on houseplants and edibles.
- Clean underneath sinks, looking for leaks and soft, moist or rotting wood.
- Dispose of or clean towels and sponges.
Living areas:
- Walk around barefoot and thoroughly inspect the entire carpet and behind furniture for spills and moisture.
- Clean up leftover food, plates and cups.
Bathrooms:
- Flush sink and bathtub drains with ammonia or drain cleaner, just in case.
- Inspect cabinets underneath the sink for leaks.
By now you should have found fruit flies’ hiding places and eliminated them. You will likely see the fruits of your labour shortly. The life span of a fruit fly is less than two weeks, so mark it on your calendar, and if they remain, then there is either something you missed or they are sneaking in from outside.
Traps
Speed the process with traps to diminish the population.
DIY pop bottle trap
Find a narrow-necked two or three litre soda bottle and fill the bottom inch or so with fruit juice, beer, soda, V8, apple cider, or vinegar, along with a few drops of cooking oil or dish soap to break the liquid’s surface tension so bugs that attempt to land will be caught in the liquid. Place the bottle in the area of infestation and watch all of the little fruit flies become trapped in the bottle or trapped in the liquid inside.
DIY bowl trap
Don’t have bottles? That’s OK, make this trap instead. Cover the bottom of any size bowl with fruit juice, beer, soda, V8, apple cider, or vinegar, along with a few drops of cooking oil or dish soap and then cover the top with plastic wrap. Poke small holes in the wrap with a fork or thin knife and set it out in the area of infestation. The fruit flies will smell their way into the bowl and be unable to escape.
Store-bought fruit fly traps
You can find ready-to-go fruit fly traps in hardware stores or on-line.
Source: wikihow.com.
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.
