What is it like to eat Slow Food – Simply Divine…

When I first saw/read the term slow food, I thought, ok, NOW what the heck…I am already doing my best to eat less saturated fat, less red meat, eat organic foods, take my vitamins, etc., is there something new I am missing?

So I did a google search on the terms Slow Food and what I found was quite interesting. First of all the Slow Food movement has been around for more than a few years (been around since 1986), has gone international in its efforts, restaurants are getting into the ’slow food’ act, and there’s more to slow food than meets the eye or stomach I shall say.

First of all, there are a variety of ways to be ’slow food’, but let’s first start with wikipedia.com’s important facts and a short history on slow food:

The Slow Food movement was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy as a resistance movement to combat fast food. It claims to preserve the cultural cuisine and the associated food plants and seeds, domestic animals, and farming within an ecoregion. It was the first established part of the broader Slow movement. The movement has since expanded globally to over 83,000 members in 122 countries.

Slow Food organization

The Slow Food logo

Slow Food began in Italy with the foundation of its forerunner organization, Arcigola, in 1986.^[1] The Slow Food organization spawned by the movement has expanded to include over 83,000 members with chapters in over 122 countries. All totaled, 800 local convivia chapters exist. 360 convivia in Italy — to which the name condotta (singular) / condotte (plural) applies — are composed of 35,000 members, along with 450 other regional chapters around the world. The organizational structure is decentralized: each convivium has a leader who is responsible for promoting local artisans, local farmers, and local flavors through regional events such as Taste Workshops, wine tastings, and farmers’ markets.

Offices have been opened in Switzerland (1995), Germany (1998), New York City (2000), France (2003), Japan (2005), and most recently in the United Kingdom. The head offices are located in Bra, near the famous city of Turin, northern Italy. Numerous publications are put out by the organization, in several languages. In the US, the Snail is the quarterly of choice, while Slow Food puts out literature in several other European nations. Recent efforts at publicity include the world’s largest food and wine fair, the Salone del Gusto, a biennial cheese fair in Bra called Cheese, the Genoan fish festival called SlowFish, and Turin’s Terra Madre (“Mother Earth”) world meeting of food communities.

In 2004 Slow Food opened a University of Gastronomic Sciences^[2] at Pollenzo, in Piedmont, and Colorno, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Carlo Petrini and Massimo Montanari are the leading figures in the creation of the University, whose goal is to promote awareness of good food and nutrition.

Objectives

The Slow Food movement incorporates a series of objectives within its mission, including:

• forming and sustaining seed banks to preserve heirloom varieties in cooperation with local food systems
• developing an “ark of taste” for each ecoregion, where local culinary traditions and foods are celebrated
• preserving and promoting local and traditional food products, along with their lore and preparation
• organizing small-scale processing (including facilities for slaughtering and short run products)
• organizing celebrations of local cuisine within regions (for example, the Feast of Fields held in some cities in Canada)
• promoting “taste education“
• educating consumers about the risks of fast food
• educating citizens about the drawbacks of commercial agribusiness and factory farms
• educating citizens about the risks of monoculture and reliance on too few genomes or varieties
• developing various political programs to preserve family farms
• lobbying for the inclusion of organic farming concerns within agricultural policy
• lobbying against government funding of genetic engineering
• lobbying against the use of pesticides
• teaching gardening skills to students and prisoners
• encouraging ethical buying in local marketplaces

From time to time, Slow Food intervenes directly in market transactions; for example, Slow Food was able to preserve four varieties of native American turkey by ordering 4,000 of their eggs and commissioning their raising and slaughtering and delivery to market^{[citation needed]}.

Impact

It is difficult to gauge the extent of the success of the Slow Food movement, considering that the organization itself is still very young. The current grassroots nature of Slow Food is such that few people in Europe and especially the United States are aware of it.

Statistics show that Europe, and Germany in particular, is a much bigger consumer of organics than the US.^[3] Slow Food has contributed to the growing awareness of health concerns in Europe, as evidenced by this fact, but on society as a whole, Slow Food has had little effect. An example of this is the fact that tourists visit Slow Food restaurants more than locals, but Slow Food and its sister movements are still young. In an effort to spread the ideals of anti-fast food, Slow Food has targeted the youth of the nations in primary and secondary schools. Volunteers help build structural frameworks for school gardens and put on workshops to introduce the new generation to the art of farming.

Slow Food USA

As of 2008, Slow Food USA has a membership of roughly 16,000. Notable members include, Alice Waters, Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan.

In 2008 Slow Food USA will host its largest gathering to date when 50,000 people descend on San Francisco for the Inaugural Slow Food Nation. Founded by Alice Waters it will be the largest celebration of American food in history.^[4]

Criticism

Steven Shaw, a food writer and a founder of the food Web site eGullet, says the Slow Food movement succeeded because it “mixed hedonism with a leftist political agenda”. It is also antitechnology and antiglobalization and that message is not realized by the average member.^[4]

These arguments parallel those of the anti-globalization movement, Greenpeace and green parties against global export of monocultured foodstuffs, especially GMOs. A central point related to these arguments is that transport prices are artificially low because the true cost of fuel (including the protection of shipping lanes and military interventions around the world) are not factored into the price of goods, and are instead paid for indirectly through personal taxes.

****************

Ok, now that you know a little bit about its history and reasoning, how to you actually practice slow food while living in a city for example, as I do. Now I do not necessarily purchase directly from local farmers, though I do support my local farmer’s markets. For me, I eat less processed foods, stay away from fast foods of any kind. I also do my very best to make everything myself that my family eats.There are levels for which I stop at in terms of making certain foods myself, such as tomato paste for example, but when I look at the back of the can, I see that the product has come from New Jersey which is a lot closer to me than California.

On the SlowFoodUSA.org site they mention that their members try their best to:

In the United States, members of Slow Food USA’s 200 chapters celebrate the amazing bounty of food that is available and work to strengthen the connection between the food on our plates and the health of our planet. Our members are involved in activities such as:

• Raising public awareness, improving access and encouraging the enjoyment of foods that are local, seasonal and sustainably grown
• Caring for the land and protecting biodiversity for today’s communities and future generations
• Performing educational outreach within their communities and working with children in schools and through public programs
• Identifying, promoting and protecting fruits, vegetables, grains, animal breeds, wild foods and cooking traditions at risk of disappearance
• Advocating for farmers and artisans who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food
• Promoting the celebration of food as a cornerstone of pleasure, culture and community

Learn about Good, Clean and Fair

For me, I try to eat more whole foods, foods made from scratch, less processed foods (though I still can’t give up my Triskets) – I do have my limits. If I ran a small farm, it would be very different, but since I do not, I make sure to enjoy the food I prepare and eat. It is not about stuffing one’s face quickly to get on with life, but to take life at a more calmer pace, taking the time to enjoy the actual process of creating vitamin-packed fresh meals and without the TV on, to sit down with family and enjoy the time together.

Several things I have learned since becoming a ’slow food foodie’:

• I actually feel and know I am healthier since I am eating more raw foods, less processed foods and am even losing weight.
• Time spent in the kitchen has not cost me any more, but in fact has cost me less over all.
• The high quality of food is far superior to anything I can get and eat at restaurants, unless say I am splurging at a 4 star restaurant – which quite frankly is not very often.
• I am learning great new recipes and eating foods that I would have not otherwise.

Almost all of the recipes I have on my dinner and jam blog are homemade slow food recipes. I did not seek out to become a slow food foodie by any means, but when I learned more about slow food, I learned that I was already do a lot to support the ideals of the slow food movement, though I am looking forward to doing more this coming autumn.

So try it, making your own bread really is not that hard at all, making your own cookies if you want something sweet is also rather easy along with finding local animal-friendly butchers (sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it?) – but they do exist. My eggs I buy at the local grocery store come from a farm not 8 miles away.

Restaurants have also gone ’slow food’ as they are partnering up with local farms to provide the restaurants with locally grown produce and food. And many restaurants have even gone so far as to point out that they have gone ’slow food’. Ask the next time at your favorite restaurant, where they get their food from, you might be surprised.

Tips to help yourself and your family to become more ’slow food’ friendly:

• When you buy your food products at the store next time, try and buy those foods which are in season.
• Read the labels to see where and how far the plant/factory is located from your town/city to see if a similar product has had ‘less travel’ distance in getting to you.
• Get the kids involved in selecting recipes to try, in order to make dinner together. Known fact, that kids who are involved in the cooking process, usually eat better food and eat what they hand they hands make.
• Support your local farmers markets, try food co-ops, go grocery shopping and share the ride with a neighbor or friend.
• Prepare your meals at home using as many local ingredients as you can.
• Take the time to relax while eating your meals. Be more gracious as you sit down to eat.
• Take the time to actually sit down at the table period. Too many families regardless of their size tend to eat and run away into their own ‘Private Idahos’ and computer gadgets…

Come back to reality and become one with youself, and do yourself the best that you can, by becoming a slow food foodie – you will be healthier, happier and frankly, will have a more happiness in your life knowing you are doing more of your share to be more green in your kitchen by going ’slow food’.

National Trail Mix Day is August 31st

So you want to be healthy, huh? Then get yourself some trail mix man, chew a bit, and voila, you are healthier than before. You see I grew up in the 70’s when trail mix was becoming more popular – this was before energy drinks for those kids who don’t know or understand – and yeah it was a time even before Cable TV was easily available and something you paid for on a monthly basis. Don’t even talk to me about cell phones.

I can even recall those old fashioned cable boxes that were hooked to the TV. You would drag a keyboard sized box to your couch and push the buttons referring to which Chanel you wished to watch, the chord would only go so far – back then HBO would repeated replay the same movies….but it was a gas, just as much as some trail mix can give you today.

So speaking of gas, trail mix, the trail mix industry has become something of an amazing industry all unto itself. But what is trail mix? Trail Mix first started with granola being a major component to Trail Mix- which has been around for a long time… here is what wikipedia.com says about granola:

*********
The names Granula, Granola and Ganolietta were trademarks in the late nineteenth century United States for foods consisting of whole grain products crumbled and baked until crispy; compare the contemporary Swiss invention, muesli. The name is no longer trademarked except in Australia where it is by the Australian Health & Nutrition Association Ltd.’s Sanitarium Health Food Company.

Granula was invented in Dansville, New York, by Dr. James Caleb Jackson at the Jackson Sanitarium in 1863. The Jackson Sanitarium was a prominent health spa that operated into the early twentieth century on the hillside overlooking Dansville. It was also known as Our Home on the Hillside and so the company formed to sell his cereal was known as the Our Home Granula Company. Granula was made of Graham flour and similar to oversized Grape-Nuts.

A similar cereal was developed by John Harvey Kellogg. It too was initially known as Granula, but the name was changed to Granola to avoid legal problems with Jackson.

Crunchy granola

The food and name were revived in the 1960s, and fruits and nuts were added to it to make it a health food popular with the hippie movement. Several people claim to have revived or re-invented granola then.

A major promoter was Layton Gentry, profiled in Time as “Johnny Granola-Seed”^[1]. In 1964, Gentry sold the rights to a granola recipe using oats, which he claimed to have invented himself, to Sovex Natural Foods for $3,000. The company was founded in 1953 in Holly, Michigan by the Hurlinger family to make a concentrated paste of brewers yeast and soy sauce named Sovex. Earlier in 1964, it had been bought by John Goodbrad and moved to Collegedale, Tennessee. In 1967, Gentry bought back the rights for west of the Rockies for $1,500 and then sold the West Coast rights to Wayne Schlotthauer of Lassen Foods in Chico, California for $18,000^[2]. Lassen was founded from a health food bakery run by Schlotthauer’s father-in-law^[3]. The Hurlingers, Goodbrads, and Schlotthauers were all Adventists and it is possible that Gentry was a lapsed Adventist who was familiar with the earlier granola.

Granola made a major appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Festival.^[4].

In 1972, Jim Matson, an executive at Pet Milk (later Pet Incorporated) of Saint Louis, Missouri, introduced Heartland Natural Cereal, the first major commercial granola^[5]. At almost the same time, Quaker introduced Quaker 100% Natural Granola. Within a year, Kellogg’s introduced Country Morning and General Mills Nature Valley^[6].

In 1974, McKee Baking (later McKee Foods), makers of Little Debbie snack cakes, purchased Sovex. In 1998, they also acquired the Heartland brand and moved its manufacturing to Collegedale. In 2004, Sovex’s name was changed to Blue Planet Foods^[7][8][9].

After nearly 30 years of being characterized as a ‘hippie’ product, the granola category was revived in large part due to Bear Naked, now a subsidiary of Kellogg’s.^{[citation needed]}

Granola bar

Close-up of a chewy granola bar showing the detail of their pressed shape

“Granola bars” were invented by Stanley Mason [1] [2]and have become popular as a snack. The granola bars are identical to normal granola except in their shape. Instead of a loose, breakfast cereal consistency, granola bars are pressed into a bar shape and baked into that shape. The result was a more convenient snack.

Another variety is the chewy granola bar. In this variety, the oats are not baked as long (or at all) for a chewy texture. Some question whether such a snack should be called granola at all; in fact, some manufacturers prefer cereal bar or snack bar.

“Granola” – the other meanings

“Granola” is also used as a slang term (metonym) describing a person who is hippie-like, a modern bohemian, environmentalist, or leftist in outlook^[10]. The protagonist of Neal Stephenson’s Zodiac delights in the nickname “Granola James Bond”. It is also used to refer to cannabis.

The term “Granola” is occasionally used derisively by some political Conservatives to describe Liberals as being mostly “fruits, nuts and flakes”.

Granola can also refer to a style of dress which is independent of an individual’s political or philosophical ideology. A Health Food store is sometimes referred to as a “Granola Factory”.

Granola is also a variety of potato cultivated in Europe and some parts of Asia.

Well OKAY>>>

*******************

Now that I have learned a thing or two about granola, I’m on the trail of trail mix. I recently caught on the Foodnetwork a show I love to watch (airs on Friday mornings 10:00am EST) called ‘Recipes for Success’ which highlights people who are about to embark in going into the food business or who have already started and are still struggling with their successes and failures. If you should want to learn a thing or two from other people’s experiences before starting your own restaurant or bagel business for example, catch this show – it really is quite interesting.

Anyhooo, they highlighted an interesting couple who invented Bear Naked Granola which comes in many forms. The show tells their story from the beginning of their business to where they were about a year ago, which is quite interesting – their product does not fail either – being extremely organic in every way, not just in their products. They have had unheard of success and wish them continued success as well.

Trail Mixes started out as additional choices to the energy food bars to provide hikers and campers with quick energy-filled, vitamin packed quick goodies that could travel in harsh conditions and when they needed a quick pick me up due to the rigorous healthy activity such as hiking, sailing and other healthy activities . Actually, they were invented long before the ‘power bar’ came to be, and as there are as many types of energy bars out there, there are many varieties of trail mixes you can purchase online, at the store and recipes for which you to make your very own trail mixes.

One of my own is fun to make and is great at parties – though due to the chocolate, it might not be the lightest in calories…

Leah’s Fun Granola Trail Mix:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk chocolate morsels
• 2 cups granola
• 3-4 cups mixed nuts – salted or not
• 1 cup soy nuts
• 1-1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup toasted coconut – make your own by placing coconut on cookie sheet and allow to bake at 325 for 15 minutes, stirring on occasion to brown evenly – allow to cool before adding to your trail mix.
• 1 cup sunflower seeds (the kernels – the the seed pods loaded with salt)

Directions:

1. couldn’t be easier – simply put all ingredients in a large bowl, stir till combined, then put in sealed containers and travel baggies when you need something at work to munch on.

Here is another recipe for your hiking pleasure from cooks.com:

1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup dried pineapple
1 cup dried apple pieces
1 cup peanuts
1 cup cashews
1 cup almonds
1 cup marshmallows (any kind)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanutbutter chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Simply once again put into large bowl and mix to combine.

So happy trails are here…… music hums in head, horse pulls forward, and off I go down an unbeaten path…

Does anyone hear remember those old cable boxes I speak of, along with their first experience with granola or trail mix? Do share your hippiness with us all….

peace man, peace

National Cherry Turnover Day is August 28th

Now making turnovers is something I know about. I know that I just adore to eat them up! My mother often would make a little turnover from left over pie pastry dough when I was a kid, filling it up with jam, or apples with a little brown sugar and butter….. oh it was always fantastic – and I would do this very often for myself when I was making pies for others after I grew up. In fact, I often thought that the turnover was usually better than the actual pie, but that’s another story.

Both quick and homemade from scratch recipes have been included for your viewing and reading pleasure.

So today is national cherry turnover day. Now, aren’t you glad you learned this? Would you like to learn how to make one? I was going to share a from scratch recipe, but I am feeling a bit lazy today, so I will share with you the quick method which includes cheating with a premade cherry filling which you can get in the store in your baking isle.

Later this week I was thinking of making either empanadas or samosas with some new recipes I received, and if I do, I will make sure to share with you.

But before I do share the recipe, let me share with you some history on the turnover which goes my many different names, and is not necessarily always sweet by any means. In fact you probably love other types of turnovers – as these little pockets of food have been created for centuries:

****************************

Courtesy of fornobravo.com

A turnover by many other names: Many cultures prepare “turnovers” where a piece of dough is wrapped around some type of filling, singular or in combination. I’m sure there are many twists to our basic folded pizza recipes. I loved the Stromoli’s that we bought from pizza joints in upper New York……How about a little history?

Beerocks are a baked German pastry crust filled with meat and cabbage. (How about sauerkraut and smoked sausage for a twist.)

Calzones are the Italian delicacy that means baggy pants. Calzones are made with floppy soft doughs but were strong enough to be carried. Calzones are made with many different dough’s but pizza dough works well. Calzones can be baked or fried but we’re more into baking for good health! Calzones, like Pasties and Empanadas now hold all kinds of fillings.

Dim Sum is a small bite filled turnover with seasoned mixtures of meat, fish, or vegetables. There are varieties which can be baked, or fried, or boiled. I just love going to a Chinese Dim Sum restaurant and getting hit on by all the oriental servers (pushers) with their Din Sum items!

Empanadas means sandwich in Spanish speaking countries. Empanadas are typically filled with ingredients unique the area in which they are made. Often empanadas are filled with ground meat or sweet potatoes or fruit or raisins. Many of these are made in corn dough crusts that are baked or fried.

Fruit Turnovers made from pastry dough, fried or baked, or puff pastry varieties and even sweetened yeast bread doughs. We have a lovely quick fruit/cream cheese turnover recipe to try in the wood oven! I’ll post it later after we try it in the Horno Lena

Pastelillos are Puerto Rican & Caribbean meat pies. Often made with yucca flour in a leavened dough filled with pork, ham, onions, olives, raisins, capers and/or egg. (Pastelillos Rellenos are a Colombian meat filled pie, pork filled version of an empanada.)

Pasties were favorite foods of the Cornish miners from England. There are many varieties, but the most original were simple turnovers with potatoes, vegetables ground meat. Our recipe uses rutabagas or turnips and we’ll try it in the wood fired oven and post pictures. The copper miners in the Keeweenaw mines took them down into the mines for their meal break over 100 years ago. This mixture was wrapped in a basic pastry crust. You can still find Pasty shops in the Upper Peninsular of Michigan. Remember the ketchup!

Pastelitos Fritos are a Brazilian fried pastry turnover filled with meat or cheese.

Pierogies are Polish turnovers-usually served as a side dish. They are filled with potatoes, or cheese or vegetables or fruits or combinations.
Risole are a Brazilian fried turnover. It’s a boiled dough filled with meat, cheese, shrimp or hearts of palm mixtures. The turnovers are egg washed and dipped in manoic meal before frying.

Salteña is a baked South American (Peru and Chile) meat pie containing meats, potatoes, cheeses, onions, and sliced hardboiled egg and sliced olives.

Samosas are fried East Indian turnovers filled with chick peas, parsley, barley, mutton and onion and spices.
Sambosak Hulow is a Middle Eastern turnover made with a cookie dough and filled with chopped dates typically seasoned with sugar, butter, sesame seeds, cinnamon and cloves.

Sanbousic is a fried Middle Eastern small turnover in the Arab world. Its filling is diced cheeses like feta, mozzarella, jarlsburg. They are seasoned with fresh chopped dill and served warm.
Spanokopitas are Greek baked turnovers with spinach, cottage cheese, feta cheese and olives.

Strombolis are a close relative of the calzone. A folded pizza that uses meat fillings. I had my first ones in Beacon, New York. They’re found on the Eastern US, northern that is!

*********************************

How to Make Cherry Turnovers – The Easy Quick Way

So here is one version on how to make a cherry turnover with cheating the system a bit since this recipe calls for using pre-made pie pastry dough and canned cherry pie filling. Ok, Don’t shoot me, you know I usually do EVERYTHING from scratch, I am allowed to ‘cheat’ once in awhile.

Ingredients:

• 1 pre-made pie pastry un-thawed
• 1 can of cherry pie filling – found by the canned pumpkin in your baking isle at the grocery store
• One working oven preheated for 10 minutes at 425 degrees
• one cookie sheet
• parchment paper
• Rolling pin, clean working surface
• a little flour
• fork & spoon
• little butter
• sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Take pie pastry dough and allow to be un-thawed and come to room temperature
2. Dust working surface and rolling pin slightly with flour.
3. Place pie pastry dough onto working surface, roll out a little more if you can.
4. With knife, cut pie pastry into four equal sections.
5. spoon only 2 tablespoons of the filling into each cut section of pie pastry.
6. fold over and with fork, seal edges by pressing down
7. Place parchment paper on cookie sheet which will help your turnovers be released.
8. With flat metal spatula, slide folded pie pastries over to cookie sheet leaving a couple of inches in between each ‘turnover’
9. With knife, slightly cut a few slashes across the turnovers in order to allow the steam to escape during baking.
10. place on the middle rack of your preheated oven and allow to bake for 15 minutes.
11. Let cool 15 minutes prior to serving. As they say at MickyDee’s, Caution, filling is hot!
12. Serve up with a dollop of whipped cream if you are feeling extra naughty.

Do you want to learn how to make the real McCoy Cherry Turnover from Scratch…. ok here is it…. I came back after a few hours from posting this originally and felt I cheated you as well as me…. here’s my granmother’s version of homemade cherry turnovers from scratch:

Recipe should yield 6-8 turnovers

Ingredients for Standard Pie Pastry:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chilled shortening (such as crisco)
• Very Cold Water 6 tablespoons

Directions:

1. With pastry blender, break and cut half of the shortening into flour and added salt until mixture resembles corn meal, then add remaining shortening and continue blending until mixture resembles the size of small peas.
2. This creates a tender yet flaky crust – a big secret here folks….
3. most recipes have you add the shortening all at once….
4. Sprinkle tablespoons at a time of the chilled water into the pastry dough, using the pastry blender until mixture is combined.
5. Wrap up pastry dough into wax paper and place into fridge to chill for at least one (1) hour.
6. While the pastry is chilling, prepare your homemade filling so that it is also ready.
7. Once chilled, roll out onto lightly floured surface, and roll till 1/8 thick.
8. Cut out squares or circles to create your turnovers.
9. Place on cookie sheets, add 1/4-1/3 cup of filling to each turnover.
10. Before folding over turn over to close over filling, add a little of water to fingers and wipe edges to help seal turnovers. Then fold over pastry.
11. Using fork, press edges closed.
12. Do an egg wash over turnovers for a shiny look – beat one egg yolk and ad 1 tablespoon water, then brush egg yolk over raw pastry turnovers.
13. Create several slits with a knife into the tops of the turnovers to allow the steam to be released during the baking stage.
14. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and place into freezer to chill until ready to bake.
15. Use a preheated oven at 425 degrees and allow turnovers to bake on the middle rack for 15 to 20 minutes.

Homemade Cherry Filling for Turnovers:

This filling can also be used over cheese cakes, and as cake fillings.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup homecooked or canned SOUR cherries, with juices drained.
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/2 cup cherry juice

Directions:

1. Add sugar and cornstarch to 2 quart pot.
2. Add cherry juice drained from cherries, cook over medium heat until clear and thickened stirring constantly.
3. Add 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract for serious extra flavor which matches really well with the cherries.
4. Once slightly cooled, add to your turnovers, fold over as described above and bake in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes.
5. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before diving in…. enjoy!

You could also create a simple confectioner’s sugar glaze as you would use on cinnamon buns if you are so inclined, simply tale one cup of powdered sugar, sift, then add 1/4 cup of milk, whisk till combined. Add a little more milk if you need to to create a syrupy concoction, then drizzle over cooled turnovers.

August 26th is National Cherry Popsicle Day

Wow, we must still be in the summer months to have this day be the National Cherry Popsicle Day! Here is a recipe on how to make homemade cherry popsicles of your very own. Recipe courtesy of E-How.com

Ingredients:

• 2 packets of Kool-Aid – cherry flavored
• Popsicles holders
• Drink container
• 3 cups of water
• 2 cups of sugar

Directions:

1. Open up the Kool-Aid package and put the Kool-Aid coloring in a container.
2. Add two cups of sugar in the container if the Kool-Aid is sugar free.
3. Fill up the container with cold water.
4. Shake the containing to mix the Kool-Aid and sugar together.
5. Pour the Kool-Aid in popsicle holders and place in freezer.
6. Freeze the popsicle for three to fours until it is well frozen.
7. Take it out the frezer and enjoy them.