We all love those special treats offered at late summer and fall country fairs. These are delicious treats you can eat by hand  – that is when you are outdoors! Whether you are in your own backyard, your patio or sitting on the porch of your cottage, you will enjoyed these recipes!

Menu:

• Fried Chicken with Cream Gravy
• Red Cabbage Salad
• Sweet and Sour Pickles
• Spicy Grilled Corn on the Cob
• Green Tomato and Apple Hand Pies

Fried Chicken:

Making fried chicken for entertaining can be a bit of a problem, since it is best when fried at the last minute. You can precooked your chicken and then quickly fry it – that means you will only need about 10 minutes to start serving it!

Ingredients:

• 6 whole cloves
• 4 stalks of parsley
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 hot pepper, halved
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1-1/2 tablespoon of cider or wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 3-4 lbs. of chicken pieces
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup of whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon of each black pepper and thyme, crumbled
• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1-1/2 cups of bread crumbs
• 6 cups of vegetable oil

Directions:

1. in large pot, bring 8 cups of water, cloves, parsley, celery, onion, carrot, hot pepper, vinegar and 1-1/2 teaspoon of salt to boil; add chicken pieces.
2. Return to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken is tender when pierced with a fork – 25-30 minutes.
3. Using tongs, transfer chicken pieces to a plate and let cool.
4. Boil cooking liquid until reduced by about one third. strain and skim fat, reserving 3 cups for gravy
5. In a bowl, beat eggs, cream, pepper, thyme and remaining salt and whisk in flour until smooth.
6. Place bread crumbs on a plate
7. Pat chicken pieces dry, then dip in egg mixture and coat with crumbs.
8. Refrigerate for up to 4 hours.
9. In a large pan, heat up oil over medium-high heat
10. Fry chicken pieces in batches turning once until browned – about 4 minutes.
11. Drain on paper towels
12. Serve with cream gravy is desired

Cream Gravy

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoon of bacon drippings or vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup of flour
• 3 cups of reserved stock
• 1/3 cup of whipping or light cream
• Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In saucepan, heat drippings over medium heat, cook flour until golden brown – about 3 minutes
2. Slowly whisk in stock and bring to boil, stirring constantly
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring until thickened – about 10 minutes
4. stir in milk or cream and return to boil
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste

Red Cabbage Salad:

Red cabbage makes an excellent coleslaw – the colour and intense flavor makes this salad a very special dish. You can salt the red cabbage before making the salad – it is tougher than green cabbage.

Ingredients:

• 1 small head of red cabbage, shredded
• 1-1/2 teaspoon of salt
• Half of red onion, sliced very thin
• 2 large red apples, julienned
• 1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds
• 1/3 cup of cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of prepared mustard
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 6 slices of cooked bacon, chopped

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, toss toss cabbage with salt and let stand, tossing occasionally until softened – about 2 hours.
2. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible
3. Toss with onion, apples and caraway seeds
4. Whisk together vinegar, mustard, oil, sugar and generous 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
5. Mix well and toss with bacon

Sweet and Sour Pickles

These refreshing pickles are easy to make and will be a hit with you family and friends

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lb. of pickling cucumbers
• 4 carrots
• 4 inch piece of radish
• 2 fresh or dried hot peppers
• 8 cloves of garlic, smashed
• 2 tablespoons of mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons of coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns
• 8 whole cloves
• 1-1/2 cups of cider vinegar
• 1-3/4 cups of granulated sugar
• 8 teaspoons of salt

Directions:

1. Quarter cucumbers lengthwise
2. Peel carrots and halve crosswise, then quarter legthwise
3. Peel radish and cut lengthwise
4. Pack two 4-cup jars with cucumbers, carrots and radish, add 1 hot pepper and 4 cloves of garlic to each jar
5. In saucepan, toast mustard and coriander seeds, peppercorns and cloves over medium heat until fragrant and mustard seeds begin to pop – about 2-3 minutes
6. Add vinegar and 1 cup of water
7. Bring to boil; add sugar and salt, stirring until dissolved
8. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes
9. Pour enough into jars to cover vegetables
10. let cool and refrigerate for at least 3 days before serving or leave in your fridge for up to 4 weeks

Spicy Grilled Corn on the Cob:

This a quick, easy and delicious recipe -  precooked corn grilled with tasty barbecue sauce will be a hit!

Ingredients:

• Husked, steamed or boiled corn cobs
• Vegetable Oil

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons of chili powder
• 1-12/ tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon of ketchup
• 1-1/2 tablespoon of cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Mix together chili powder and 3 tablespoons of water – make a paste. Let stand for 10 minutes
2. In a small saucepan, heat chili paste, oil, garlic and cumin until fragrant – 2-3 minutes
3. Stir in sugar, soy sauce, kwtchup, vinegar and 1/3 cup of water – bring to boil
4. Reduce heat and simmer on low until very thick – about 10 minutes
5. Let cool
6. Lightly brush corn cobs with oil; grill over medium heat until lightly charred and heated through – then brush over with sauce
7. Return to grill and cook, turning it for about 1 minute

Green Tomato and Apple Hand Pies

You would not believe just how well green tomatoes taste when combined with apples. If you think the apples are a bit tart, increase sugar when making the filling!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of cold, unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup of cold lard or shortening, cubed
• 1 egg
• Ice water
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons of coarse brown sugar

Filling:

• 1/4 cup of butter
• 3 cups of chopped green tomatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 6 apples
• 3/4 cup of packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Pinch of nutmeg

Directions:

1. In food processor, pulse flour and salt.
2. Pulse in butter and lard until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few larger pieces.
3. Pulse in egg
4. Add 1/2 cup of ice water, mixing until dough holds together when pressed, adding a little more water if necessary
5. Press into a ball and then flatten into disc.
6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days

Filling:

1. In a skillet, heat half of the butter over medium heat
2. Fry tomatoes and slat until almost tender – 8-10 minutes
3. Scrape into a large bowl
4. Peel and core apples and cut them into about 3/4 inch chunks to make about 5 cups
5. Add remaining butter and sugar to skillet, cook, stirring until sugar is dissolved
6. Add apples, stir well and cook until almost tender – 6-8 minutes
7. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water, stir into apple mixture and cook until thickened
8. Transfer to bowl with tomatoes and mix well – let cool
9. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg
10. Roll out pastry to scant 1/4 inch thick
11. Cut out ten 7-inch rounds, rerolling scraps once.
12. Divide filling almong rounds (you will need about 1/3 cup of filling for each pie)
13. Fold over pastry to make half-moons, moisten edges with water and crimp well with a fork
14. Mix egg yolk with a bit of water and brush over top of pies.
15. Cut vents in each pie
16. Bake on bottom rack at 375F  until golden – about 25 minutes

Hope these recipes will be helpful to you and you will have a wonderful weekend! Please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences – your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated

Your children may be getting restless these days, ready to run off to school. Here are a few crafts you can make with them to help passing the time before the exciting new school year starts. These crafts are easy to make and you can have your children make extras for their friends or as a gift to their teachers!

Easy Back to School Crafts

Foam Pencil Toppers

Making these cute pencil toppers will allow your children to use their imagination without limit! You will be surprise at their creativity as they make their favourite topper. Suggest that they make unique toppers for their friends and as a gift for their teacher as well!

You will need:

• Foam sheets or shapes
• White craft glue
• Scissors
• Wiggle eyes
• Pom-poms
• Pencils

Directions:

1. Start with 2 identical shapes – for example circles or hearts.
2. Put glue around the edges of one shape, leaving about ¾” without glue – that is where you will insert the pencil.
3. Press second shape onto the first one
4. The glue will need to dry for couple of hours, but you can start decorating the outside at this point
5. Decorate using wiggly eyes, pom-poms, glitter glue – whatever  the imagination calls for.
6. You can also make flowers using several pom-poms
7. Once the glue dried completely, carefully insert the eraser end of a pencil into the opening.

Tie-Dye Book Cover

Letting your child create this book cover will make it his or her own – reflecting individual tastes.

You will need:

• Large brown paper bag or brown craft paper
• Fabric pieces
• White craft glue
• Small bowl
• Water
• Paintbrush
• Wax paper
• Scissors
• Textbook

Directions:

1. Make a shell for the book cover. After it is made, remove it and start doing the decorating.
2. Start by cutting the paper bag open – cut from the top of the bag to the bottom at one of the corner creases. Cut the bottom off the bag – you should have a long rectangle when you are done this step.
3. Lay the textbook in centre of the rectangle and fold top and bottom up so that the height is equal to the height of the textbook. Crease the folds using your fingers. Next – bring the left side of the paper over the book and line up ends with the right side of the paper cover. Then open the book and left side of the paper around the cover of the book. Repeat this process on the other side of the book as well.
4. Open the cover and trim the paper to about half the width of the actual book’s cover. Use pencil to make the paper inside cover where you will trim it and repeat on the other side of the book as well.
5. Remove the cover from the book and trim off excess paper with scissors.
6. Carefully slide the front and back cover of the textbook into the temporary paper cover to make sure it fits well – you can adjust the height if the cover feels too snug or too loose. When youa re satisfied, remove the cover and put the textbook aside.
7. Line surface with was paper
8. Then mix together 2/3 of glue and 1/3 of water in a bowl with your paintbrush.
9. Cut fabric pieces into shapes – best to work with are 2” x 2” pieces.
10. Open paper book cover and place it good side up onto the wax paper.
11. Start by painting a 2” section in a top corner with glue mixture. Place fabric piece onto the glue painted part. Add more glue mixture to your paintbrush and paint over the top of fabric – smoothing with the paintbrush as you are working on it. The fabric piece should be saturated but not dripping.
12. Repeat these steps, until paper is covered completely and make sure you overlap fabric pieces to create a tie-dye effect.
13. When paper is totally covered with fabric, open the book cover and carefully place textbook inside. Close the book carefully and place a piece of wax paper in between the front cover and front page, as well as the back cover and back page. This will keep the wet covers from sticking to the actually textbook as the cover dries. Let dry overnight.

Apple Core Magnet

This cute magnet can be used to hold pieces of special artwork, schedules, school projects or even the grocery list.

What you will need:

• Red craft foam
• White craft foam
• Green craft foam
• Brown chenille stick
• Brown marker
• Round magnet
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Trace the pattern onto red foam and cut pieces out, then repeat with white foam.
2. Glue red foam to the white with the red on top
3. Cut out two leaves from the green foam and use white glue to attached the leaves to the top os the apple – behind the red foam.
4. Let dry.
5. Cut a two inch piece off the chenille stick and hot glue it to the back of the apple, leaving about one inch showing. Bend the stem slightly.
6. Then use brown marker to draw a few seeds.
7. Use hot glue to attach the magnet to the back of the apple and you are done!

Hope you have enjoyed these crafts – please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences, your imput is always welcomed and very much appreciated

Here is a simple guide of suggestions what to have on hand:

For Your Pantry:

• Whole grain breads
• Ready to eat cereals
• Whole grain crackers
• Canned and dried fruits
• Canned tuna or salmon
• Canned legumes – i.e. chick peas, black beans, baked beans in tomato sauce
• Seeds and nuts or pre-mixed trail mix

For Your Fridge:

• Yogurt, yogurt drinks, plain yogurt for dips
• Cheese – block or cheese strings, cottage cheese cups, cream cheese
• Milk (small cartons)
• Fresh fruits and vegetables

For Your Freezer:

• Whole grain pita and tortillas (they will defrost quickly in your microwave)
• Frozen fruits for smoothies
• Leftovers like chilli, lasagna and soups in single servings containers
• Juice boxes (they will keep the food cool and defrost by the time your child is ready to drink them)

For Your Cupboard:

• Reusable containers and cutlery
• Small plastic bags
• Thermos
• Cloth or paper napkins
• Lunch boxes or bags

And remember – setting aside short period of time in the evening to pack lunches and snacks avoids early morning rush!

For creative school lunch tips and suggested menus, check out:

How to Make Healthy School Lunches

Hope you found this information helpful, please send in your comments, suggestions and experiences, your input is always welcomed and much appreciated

In getting ready to plan your child’s school lunch, think about food groups and aim to have at least three or four food groups included. It doesn’t have to be a sandwich – you can get more creative than that! You can use pita, flatbreads, tortilla or even cereal instead of plain bread – it will make the lunch more interesting.

Here are 10 sample lunch combination ideas:

1. Hard boiled egg, red pepper strips, tortilla or flat bread, fruit yogurt
2. Tuna or salmon salad, snow peas and carrot strips, yogurt dip for the veggies, cereal snack
3. Ham on English muffin, baby corn, milk
4. Cheese cubes, bran or oatmeal muffin, cherry tomatoes, hummus dip
5. Rice cakes, melon balls, pudding
6. Cottage cheese cup, whole grain crackers, fruit smoothie, sunflower seeds
7. Cheese filled pasta, zucchini sticks, cauliflower pieces, yogurt dip,fruit
8. Marinated tofu, sliced mango, bread sticks, chocolate milk
9. Marinated cooked tofu in a tortilla wrap with shredded lettuce and grated carrot, fruit yogurt

10.  Hot cereal (in thermos) with berries, milk or soy beverage, fruit

Planning snacks:

Think of snacks as mini meals – here are a few ideas:

• Wholegrain crackers with a cheese stick
• Fresh fruit with yogurt dip
• Yogurt and small oatmeal muffin
• Homemade trail mix: dried cranberries, raisins, dried apricots, apple rings, sunflower seeds, favourite cereal. You can mix a lot of this ahead of time and store in air-tight container

Get Your Child Involved:

From planning to packing, it is a good idea to get not only your child, but also your family members get involved. If you do that, your child will more likely eat everything that is in the lunch bag – simply because they feel they chose it.

You can have older children help making sandwiches, pita wraps and vegetables and have the younger child do the packing.

Take your child grocery shopping and let him or her choose some of the foods – like vegetables, breads, fruits, yogurts, keeping an watchful eye on them making healthy choices.

Hope this information was helpful to you, please send in your comments, suggestions adn experiences, your input is always welcomed and very much appreciated