Updated Cucumber Onion Salad

Today’s cucumber, red onion and vinegar summer salad. (Photo by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins)

Updated Cucumber Onion Salad Recipe

Here is the old, traditional cucumber onion salad recipe I found a couple of years ago:

1 cup apple cider vinegar

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

Mix in a pan and bring to a boil. Allow to cool. Pour over sliced cucumbers and onions; allow to marinade overnight.

New Cucumber Onion Salad Options

Since I shared that recipe, I have tried several configurations, starting with not boiling the mixture and deleting sugar. Now I splash equal parts vinegar and water, enough to cover the cucumber slices and onions, and allow to marinate overnight.

Another option is to cut the sugar amount in half, especially if the cucumbers are more on the sweet side.

This is best the second day.

You can also reuse the vinegar water mixture and make a second batch. It will be not as strong the second time around but when time is short and you still want a fresh summer salad it works well!

And wouldn’t my Bunny Days of the Week Kitchen Towels go well with this salad, especially since I remember my niece Rachel, who loved cucumbers as a child, getting indignant when she found rabbits munching on her favorite vegetables.

Charlotte

So Easy Moist Baked Chicken

Here's where you can make a nice dent in your shopping bill and have something ever so delicious without even glancing at a recipe book:

• I added cut up yellow onions and celery; sprinkled with my BBQ rub, and covered with an olive oil. You can use any seasonings of your choice.

• Cover with aluminum wrap with shiny side up, away from chicken, or cook in a pot with a lid. About 1 hr at 350F. The onions caramelize with the celery and become a delicious topping or side dish; I never make enough. Keeping the chicken covered helps keep chicken moist.

• After pulling out of the oven and letting it rest for 10 minutes, I had to check my cabinet for what olive oil I had used. It was a basil-flavored Olive Oil, which added a scrumptious taste!

• Once cool, you can remove from bone and either cut up to freeze, add to soups or serve just as it is.

• Store in juices to keep chicken moist when you heat it back up before serving.

Note to self; cut up more onions and celery next time!

Charlotte

Secret Chili Recipe Ingredients

At national cook-offs, the ingredients are guarded like a national secret. Some will hint at the special ingredient, others will claim they will go to their graves before they even hint at what gives their chili its special flavor.

Over the years, I have heard of a variety of "secret" chili recipe ingredients, and tried a few myself. One of my favorites is baking cocoa; it helps to balance the acid in the tomatoes.

I have also tried a couple of tablespoons of honey from my beehives. If you like tang, use a couple tablespoons of lime juice, it gives the chili a little spanish twist.

Want a little nutty taste? Try peanut butter. I experimented with both regular and light and couldn't tell a difference so I would pick the lighter version.

Don't forget cooking with beer. Cooking removes the alcohol leaving the taste of the different hops. Try different beer varieties until you find one you like. In the chili, I mean, and not all together!

What is your secret chili ingredient?

Charlotte

Homemade Chili Recipe

For those of you who have canned, frozen and otherwise preserved summer produce from your garden, now is your chance to shine - and be inspired to gardening even more. There are few dishes that chase away bone-chilling winter than homemade chili.

Over the years, I have tried a range of recipes from vintage to modern. I have also tried a number of combinations but forgotten to write most of them down - well, except for this one. I was making it at one of my brother's homes and my sister-in-law insisted I write it down as I was throwing it together.

One of the nice things about chili is there are a only a few basic ingredients; after the basics, you can customize to your own taste.

I start with fresh tomatoes when I can, or a jar of canned tomatoes. When you start adding other preserved garden produce like green peppers, zucchini, squash, and whatever else you may have handy, this chili recipe becomes a culinary adventure.

Do you also have a secret chili ingredient? Every chili maker has one!

Charlotte’s Homemade Chili Recipe

For this recipe, you will need:

• 16 oz. can pinto beans; 16 oz. can red beans or 32 oz. of one kind of beans

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef (optional)

• 1 large cut up yellow onion

• 1-3 cut up garlic cloves

• 2 cups water

For seasoning:  

• 2-3 tablespoons chili power

• 1 teaspoon fresh-dried oregano from garden

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon baking cocoa

• 1-2 teaspoons salt

• Bay leaves

Instructions: 

• Add and brown ground beef.

• In a larger pot, mix tomatoes and beans.

• Add seasonings and 2 cups water. Cook on low.

• Drain browned hamburger and onions; add to simmering pot.

• Taste test.

• Add salt if necessary. Add 2-3 bay leaves. Cook for 15 minutes longer.

• Remove bay leaves.

• Serve, or store in small containers to freeze for later use.

Charlotte

Sweet Potatoes

I can still remember taking a bite out of a favorite pie and not being able to take a second bite. Once I started to eat less processed, more natural foods, my taste buds changed. What once I craved, I could no longer eat because it was now too sweet.

The same thing happened eating sweet potatoes. Once slathered in brown sugar and topped with marshmallows, a traditional midwest Thanksgiving dish, I now cook these sweet treats baked without anything else.

How to Bake Sweet Potatoes

1. I try to pick the same sized potatoes so they all finish baking about the same time.
2. Wash then dry the potatoes.
3. Make a cross cut somewhere in the center.
4. Bake at 350F in center rack until the potatoes feel soft. Allow to cool on a cookie rack.
5. Store in refrigerator until you want to use it.
6. I slice mine, then add to a salad or eat three pieces with a protein at dinner as a sweet treat.

Charlotte

Steamed Basil Carrots

I ran across this recipe years ago and am still amazed at how simple, and delicious, it is.

Scrub fresh carrots. Don't bother to peel them if you've washed them well.

Quarter carrots into equal-sized strips; steam in steamer until done, about 8 minutes.

Add cut up fresh basil or, when you can't find where you put it, dried basil leaves.

The original recipe called for a drizzle of melted butter but I stopped doing that one night when I was short. If you want a little more flavor, dry a butter flavor substitute. Toss until fully covered. I prefer to eat it warm but

it's also good cold as next day left-overs.

Charlotte