It’s been too hot to cook or bake these days, which has resulted in a bit of a hiatus for Will’s Kitchen… The fun thing is that when the weather happens to break, we have all these fresh ingredients from our gardens to work with! Here are our “Best Blueberry Muffins Ever” with one cup of Blueberries replaced with one cup of freshly picked raspberries… we were able to whip these up during a thunderstorm. Check back when the summer turns to fall — we have tons of awesome recipes to try!

Canola Oil – 2 Cups
Flour – 1 Cup
Salt – 1/2 Tablespoon
Baking Powder – 1/2 Teaspoon
Sparkling Apple Cider – 1 Cup
Fish — Flounder, Cod or other White Fish – 1 pound
Lemon – 1/2 to squeeze

You will need – Mixing Bowl; Measuring tools; Whisk; Knife for Cutting – watch little fingers!; Rubber Spatula; Deep Pot for Frying; Slotted Spoon

Start by pouring the oil into your pot and heat it over medium/low heat and then whisk together the Flour, Salt and Baking Powder in your mixing bowl. Pat down the fish with a paper towel and then trim while looking for any bones to remove and then cut into strips. Slowly pour the Sparkling Apple Cider into the flour mixture and stir with the spatula until smooth.

Once the batter is combined, use your fingers and dip the fish into the batter piece by piece and add to the hot oil. Only add in a few at a time making sure that they aren’t touching — otherwise they will stick together. Let one side cook for approximately 4 minutes and then use the slotted (or holed in our case) spoon to turn each piece over. Cook both sides until the color is golden brown and then remove to drain. Repeat until all the fish is cooked, give a good lemon squeeze over the whole lot and then GO FOR IT!

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? We are happy to announce that YES, Will ate them! He actually tried a bite of each one to see which was the yummiest! It was only a few months ago that he did an about-face rejecting the frozen fish sticks — needless to say, we are really happy to see fish back in his diet again! Just goes to show how important it is to TRY TRY AGAIN!

Bread is not an easy food to accomplish. Most of our attempts have not only taken too long, trying the 2-year-old’s patience, but in many cases the dough never rose to the occasion — making for hard bricks of flour. This recipe was simple AND we were done with the actual preparation in less than 20 minutes — just enough time to make the experience fun!

Adapted from The Complete Book of Breads by Bernard Clayton, Jr.

For One Loaf:
Whole Wheat Flour – 3 Cups
Sugar – 1/4 Cup
Salt – 1/2 Tablespoon
Dry Wheat Yeast – 2 Packages
Hot Water – 1 1/2 Cups

You will need – Mixing Bowl; Measuring tools; Whisk; Rubber Spatula; 9×5″ Bread Pan, greased; wax paper

In your mixing bowl, whisk together the Wheat Flour, Sugar, Salt and Yeast. Pour in the water and stir 50 Strokes to blend with the spatula and add to the bread pan. Wet your fingers so that the dough doesn’t stick to you and push the batter into the corners and smooth it out. Cover with wax paper and put in a warm place to rise — approximately 30 minutes until the batter has doubled in volume.

DAIRY FREE SHORTENING – 1/2 Cup
GRANULATED SUGAR – 1/2 Cup
APPLE SAUCE – 1/2 Cup
MOLASSES – 1/4 Cup
ALL PURPOSE FLOUR – 2 Cups
BAKING SODA – 1 Teaspoon
WATER – 1 Cup
OATS – 2 Cups
RAISINS – 1 1/2 Cups

You will need: Measuring tools; 2 Mixing Bowls; Wire Whisk; Mixer; Spatula; Spoon; Parchment Paper; Cookie Sheet

Take the Dairy Free Shortening out of the fridge about a half hour before starting to make it easier to work with and preheat your over to 400°. Once the shortening has softened so that it can be mashed easily with a spoon, combine it with the Sugar, Apple Sauce and Molasses. In the 2nd bowl, combine the Flour and Baking Soda with your wire whisk and add it to the other mixture. Using your Mixer on the lowest speed, combine while pouring in the Water. Once mixed, add in the Oats and Raisins and stir by hand until mixed through. Using a basic spoon, dish out the cookie dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet – try to keep the cookies less than 1/2″ thick and reasonably sized. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

And the NOSH – Did Will eat it? Well – he ate the cookie dough but has yet to eat the baked cookie… same thing, right?