MmmmCocoa!

Mama Jalackie’s World Famous Cocoa Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of ground, pure, unsweetend cocoa powder, preferably free trade.
• 3 TBSP of UNSALTED Butter.  If butter doesn’t work for you, coconut oil can be substituted.  It may change the taste slightly, but it’s a delicious difference.  I actually encourage those who normally use butter to try the coconut oil option as well, since it really does impart a sweet, creamy flavor.
• scrapings of two (2) inches of vanilla bean pod, or two TSP of *real* vanilla extract.  (See below for simple instructions on making your own vanilla extract!)
• ½  TSP your choice of nutmeg, mace, cinnamon, anise or allspice.  Remember that nutmeg is not good for preggo mamas, so please choose one of the alternatives.  I’m most fond of allspice in lieu of nutmeg.
• ½ to ¾  TSP chili powder
• 1 cup coffee (light) cream (OPTIONAL, Dairy free alternatives work well too.)
• 3 cups milk.  You can use any milk here - cow’s, almond, rice, soy... if you don’t drink cow’s milk, I strongly suggest unsweetened original almond milk.  It’s very creamy and infuses the cocoa with a delicious, subtle nutty flavor.
• Demerara or turbinado sugar to taste.
• Cinnamon sticks or candy canes for garnish
• Bourbon, whiskey or rum, or coffee liquore if so desired.

DIRECTIONS

1. Melt your butter or coconut oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat. Do NOT heat to separation where it’s possible to skim the solids off the top.  You want those oils to remain emulsified.
2. Using a whisk, temper in your cocoa powder.  The mixture will be very thick at this point.
3. If using cream, whisk that in first.  If you have a double boiler, now would be the time to transfer it to the double boiler.  Otherwise, turn the heat down to low.
4. Add in your vanilla and spices.  Whisk well for two minutes to ensure spices are well distributed and have begun to release their aromatics before cooling the cocoa with your milk.
5. At this point, your cocoa should have the look of a thick ganache, and should lightly coat a spoon when dipped in it.
6. Temper in your milk sloooowly, whisking gently the entire time.
7. Continue to heat on low.  DO NOT bring to a simmer, but bring it close.  At this point, add sugar to taste.  I usually use ¾ a cup, but we like it sweet over here. Whisk until sugar is melted and well incorporated.
8. Ladle into mugs, garnish with cinnamon sticks or candy canes, and enjoy!  This would also be the point where you would add your alcohol, making sure to put the alcohol in the mug BEFORE the cocoa, and then gently stirring to mix thoroughly.

BONUS! HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN VANILLA EXTRACT

• 3 large vanilla beans
• 1 cup top shelf bourbon (I like Jim Beam Black.)
• Glass jar with tight-fitting lid - I recycle pasta sauce mason jars for infused oils, home made extracts like this, and a whole host of other uses.

1. Cut a slice in the middle of each bean, leaving a bit at each end still connected so it looks something like this ()
2. Place vanilla beans in your jar and cover with bourbon.  Cap tightly.
3. Storing the bottle in a dark, cool place, shake it once or twice a week for six to eight weeks.
4. You may either strain and decant into another glass bottle with a tight fitting cap, or you may use as-is.  This mixture keeps indefinitely due to the high level of alcohol.  Use with with the same volume you would a commercial extract. (ex. 1 tsp is 1 tsp.)

Welcome to Florida in the fall!

A lot of people will say that we have no real season changes here - just moving from really hot to less hot - but that's not true.  Most years.

This year brings a very definite turn in seasons, and true to subtropical climates, it's very rapid. 

With it comes the standard round of illnesses - colds, coughs, sinus infections... Autumn Agues.

Oh, woe... what to do with sicky babies and sickie kids?

Well, do what I do - kick 'em outside to play the snot away, and then bring them back in and feed them well.

It is now well-known that it is not the weather itself that causes illness, but rather the effects of the body's adaptation to changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure that wreak havoc on all systems, including our immune system.

One of the best ways to assist the body in fighting back and retaining its strength during these adaptations is to feed it well.  This is particularly important for children, since their immunities are still forming and their metabolisms are lightening fast.

A very simple, tasty, nutritious meal is a thick stew, or pottage.  I like to make pottage with meat, but vegetarians and vegans shouldn't depair, since it's equally as tasty and nutritious without.  Here's a rough recipe... please keep in mind that I'm one of those cooks that doesn't measure, but rather goes on instinct.  If in doubt, always use less.  More can be added, but little can be removed without starting all over.  Additionally, don't be afraid to adapt or stray, or to tailor to the tastes of your family.  If you dislike one of my ingredients, don't despair about it.  Just change it up a bit!  Most importantly, enjoy yourself.  Enjoy prepping and cooking, and savor the meal.  It does equally as much for your spirit as it does for your health.

Beef Pottage ala Accidentally Mommy

• Beef for stew, well marbled***
• Beef broth, consomme, boullion or stock (I love love love "Better than boullion" concentrate.)***
• Root veggies of your choosing - potatoes, turnips, carrots, yams - anything works, really.
• One or two good sized onions
• Garlic.  I like a LOT of garlic - but that's your choice, really.
• Celery
• Butter***
• Flour***
• Seasoning - my usual defaults are sea salt, ground mixed pepper (pink, black, white peppercorns,) ground rosemary, a dash of parsley, a sprinkle of herbs de provence mix, and sometimes a little paprika and turmeric, if I'm using lamb, venison or rabbit, or if I'm making it vegetarian with seitan, TVP or tofu.

Chop your veggies and toss them into the pot, covering them with your liquid of choice. This includes your onions, but not your garlic.

Put a dollop of butter in a pan, and brown the stew meat with your garlic and your seasonings.  I like to get it really brown, so that I can deglaze the pan later with either broth or red wine.  You could use olive oil here, but I feel it imparts a flavor that doesn't mesh so well with the rest of the ingredients. 

Deglaze the pan if you so wish, and add that to the pot, along with the meat and garlic.

Cover and let simmer for as long as you want.  Depending on the thickness of your veggies, it could take as little as 45 minutes or as long as two hours.  You can go even longer, if you'd like.  Just make sure your root veggies are at least fork done before moving on to the next step.

So now that the veggies are done, you're going to make a medium roux.  The trick to a good roux is making sure you're using equal amounts of fat and flour, and that your fat is a high-quality fat.  I use salted butter, full-cream spring butter, if I can.  If not, the best butter you can find/afford will work.  Hell, whatever you have on hand will work, too.  Melt the amount of butter you're using (say, 1/2 cup,) over low heat.  Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup of flour to the melted butter.  Keeping it on low heat, whisk constantly until mixture begins to turn a light tan color.  Then do it some more.  You're looking to get a pretty, rich carmel color and smooth texture.  Whatever you do, DO NOT turn the heat up, and DO NOT stop whisking!  You will burn the roux, and it will smell awful.

Once you achieve that golden carmel color, incorporate it into your pottage/stew.  I use the whisk to whisk it into the top layer of the stew, and then a long-handled wooden spoon to mix it the rest of the way.

Experiment, have fun, and eat up!

*** Better than Boullion makes an awesome veg*n veggie and a mushroom base.  TVP, Seitan, Tofu... use whatever you prefer to sub the beef.  If you're veg*n, use a corn starch slurry to thicken instead of roux.  (To make slurry, add cornstarch to cold water and whisk.  Gently temper in mixture to pottage, taking care to make sure you mix as you incorporate.)

When life hands you lemons... that are infected with fungus... that also have worms...

So, AccidentallyMommy has AccidentallyBroken her leg.  Yep.  I was doing laundry (I knew that house cleaning was inherently bad for one's health!) and fell whilst exiting my laundry room.  The dog may or may not have had something to do with it, he refuses to 'fess up.  Anyways, one moment I was grumbling about the lack of white vinegar next to my washer so I could launder diapers, and the next I was on the floor.  I'll spare the squeamish the gory details, but the end result was an incomplete linear spiral fracture of the fibula, which in english means that it fractured clear through the middle long-wise, but stayed together.  There was also an open dislocation and tendon and ligament damage. 

Lots of surgery and screws and plates later, here I am, on orders to bear ZERO weight on that leg, which means crutches or a walker on  good days, the wheelchair on bad ones.  (I have vertigo directly attributed to the use of Lamictal as part of my pharmaceutical regimen to control my bipolar symptoms, as well as fibromyalgia that likes to flare at the drop of a hat.  Both of those things make using crutches or the walker very, very difficult.)

At this point I am three weeks post-surgery.  I am also a walking (see?  I'm punny.) plague.  What started out in the household as a virus has turned into an ear infection in Kinder Major, potential ear infection in Bug, Bronchitis in my mother and sister, and Bronchitis AND double ear infection AND sinus infection in me.

"Where the hell is she going with all of this, does she think we want her life history?" you're asking.  Bear with me, I'll get to the good part here in a minute.

What does a parent DO with two young children when they feel like death and can barely wipe their own ass, let alone get down on the floor to play and entertain?  Well... here's some ideas that will work for anyone.  I gave you all of the above background info to PROVE that they'll work for everyone.  If I can make them work, you can, too.

• TV screen whiteboard drawing.  Now, this only works if you have a glass-faced television, and if you have opaque white board markers.  That said, pausing your favorite movies and giving the paused characters various... ahem... accessories... like moustachios and funny hats and kitty ears and glasses... well, it leads to hours and hours worth of hilarity that can be very easily wiped off.
• DVD case Jenga.  Standard Jenga pieces are waaay to small for little hands, IMO.  Hell, they're too small for my hands.  DVD cases, however, are light, large, and (at least in our house,) abundant.  Played on the floor or a coffee table, it's a simple but fun activity that can be done without the worry of someone breaking/scuffing anything important or losing small pieces.
• Coffee Table Chef.  Because my house is NOT handicap friendly, I've had to be very creative with my food options during the day when no one is home that can safely use the stove or the microwave.  As a result, there is a variety of ingredients that do not require cooking in any way left in a low shelf in the fridge.  It is not unheard of for Kinder Major to bring them in and spread them out on the table, where I then tell her to pick two or three things and we come up with ideas of what to make.  She gets to help and have fun by doing most of the making, of course. :)  It's a little messy, (okay, a lot messy,) but it's great for her self-esteem and yields something much yummier than peanut butter on crackers.

There are other wonderful activities that fall into more traditional categories, such as playing dolly pretend, being the rapt audience in an impromptu fashion show, reading, coloring, drawing, singing and sit-down crafts that are minimally messy.  If you're like me and staring six more weeks of frustration down, though, sometimes you need to think outside the box.

I hope you may find these ideas helpful, and at the same time I pray it's not for the same reasons I do. 

Have some out-of-the-box solutions of your own?  By all means, feel free to comment.  Likewise, watch the comments, you may find more things to add to your own personal arsenal.  :)