Hunkering Down Update & Graham County NC

As the Yoshino Cherry blossoms fade, the Kwanzan's are in full bloom and Romeo loves to help me mow.

We have now completed our first 10 days of staying put and we are only interfacing regularly with our close neighbors but we have had two carefully controlled visitors from the outside.  We are getting some things done around the place including fertilizing the lawn and planting some new grass.  According to the reaction of my new hip muscles, I overdid it one day pushing the lawn spreader around, but I was happy to be able to do it – obviously continued home therapy is in order.

As you can tell from my recent posts, we have been eating well and can continue to do so for many more weeks so we’re okay with the new federal guidelines to stay put another month even though we will run out of some things.  A recent meal, enjoyed on the patio, of grilled salmon and steak for SIL, Pat (not a salmon eater) along with fresh hot homemade bread.

Several of you have posted shots of your well organized pantries and that will be one of my upcoming projects.

Our local county now has 8 reported Covid-19 cases and the nearest counties to our house have 28 & 8 cases respectively while the further away but still adjacent Knox County has 78 cases.

Serious About Containing Covid-19
One of the North Carolina counties just across the border from us has gotten very serious about controlling the spread of the virus in their county.  Graham county with a population of around 9000 and no hospital has implemented strict control of movement in and out of the county and, so far, has no reported cases of Covid-19.  It will be interesting to see how this works for them to see if this was the way the whole county should have behaved.

“According to a press release sent on March 21, the following highways will be closed or have restricted access in order to control traffic into Graham County:

Cherohala Skyway is closed to all traffic.

Highways US 129 and NC 28 at Deals Gap will be restricted to local resident traffic and commercial traffic.

US 129 at Topton will be restricted to pass through detour traffic and local resident traffic only. Once the US 74 detour is ended then US 129 will be restricted to local traffic and commercial traffic only.

NC Highway 28 going east from Stecoah will be restricted to local and detour traffic only and commercial traffic. Once the detour is ended NC 28 will be restricted to local and commercial traffic only.”

We hope you are making it fine through this very difficult time for America and I’m so glad we don’t live in a large city.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/2/20 event date

Cumin-flavoured Beef Wonton Soup

The wonton, also spelled wantan, wanton, or wuntun, is a type of Chinese dumpling. They are made with a thin wrapper filled with tender, juicy seasoned ground meat or seafood and are available in steamed, deep-fried or in soup with or without noodles.

	Filling
50 Wonton wrappers 500 ml Homemade broth 1/2 tsp Sesame oil angiesrecipes Pinch of salt 1/8 tsp White pepper 1 tsp Preserved cabbage width="150px" height="120px"/> angiesrecipes 1 tbsp Seaweed Some chopped spring onion and carrot julienne	200 g Ground beef 1 Egg 40 g Finely chopped spring onion 5 g Cumin powder 1/2 tsp Chicken bouillon 2 tbsp Light soya sauce 10 g Sesame oil 1/2 tsp Ginger paste angiesrecipes 2 tbsp Water

1. For filling, combine all ingredients except water in a bowl. Gradually add in water and mix with chopsticks until all the ingredients are well-blended and smooth.


2. Position wonton skin with one point towards you. Spoon 1 rounded teaspoon of filling just below center of skin. Fold bottom point of skin over the filling. Roll up skin and filling, leaving 1 inch at the top of skin. Moisten the edges of the triangle and bring both points of the triangle base towards the center to form a wonton shape.


3. Bring some water to a boil. Drop 20 wontons one at a time. Simmerangiesrecipes, uncovered about 3-5 minutes until the wonton float. Freeze the rest of uncooked in airtight containers. Boil directly from frozen for 6 to 8 minutes.


4. At the same time, bring the broth, salt and carrot julienne to boiling in a saucepan. Place some wonton in the bowls and add in preserved cabbage, seaweed and green onion. Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle with sesame oil. Enjoy!

© 2020 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

Olive Chia Seed Sandwich Loaf

A very aromatic, soft and easy to make sandwich loaf flecked with chopped black olives and chia seeds. This bread will be a hit if you love olive and it’s perfect for sandwiches, canapés and as a great addition to your bread basket on the dinner table.

400 g All purpose flour 10 g Dried yeast 1 tsp Coconut sugar 3/4 tsp Black salt 120 g Warm milk 2 Egg yolks 1 Egg white 60 g Butter, melted 4 tsp Chia seeds 100 g Black olives, chopped 1 Egg white 1 tbsp Chopped nuts for the topping, optional

1. Lightly grease a 9cm-deep, 11 x 22cm loaf pan with olive oil and line with baking paper.


2. Combine flour, yeast and coconut sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir in salt. Make a well in the centre. Add in milk, egg yolks, egg white and melted butter. Mix on the slow speed until the ingredients roughly come together. Increase the speed and knead for 5-8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.


3. Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Brush the mixing bowl with a little bit of olive oil to grease. Return the dough to the mixing bowl and cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 45 - 60 minutes or until the dough has almost doubled in size.


4. Punch down the centre of the dough with your fist. Knead for 2 minutes or until the dough is elastic and has returned to its original size.


5. Roll out the dough into a square. Sprinkle with the chia seeds and chopped olives. Fold the dough in half to enclose the seeds and olives and knead until well combined.


6. Divide the dough into 3 even pieces and round up. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Roll out each dough to about 15 x 25 cm rectangle with a rolling pin. Fold the dough towards the centre from left and right. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and roll it up. Place the seam side down into the prepared loaf pan. Repeat with the other two dough balls.


7. Cover with a damp tea towel. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place to prove for 30 minutes or until the dough has almost doubled in size.


8. Brush the top of the loaf with egg white and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Turn onto a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve at room temperature.

Chocolate Hermits

Source: Happiness is Baking (Little, Brown & Company, 2019 ed.), pg. 134 and
Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 19.

How have I went this long baking Maida's recipes without making the Chocolate Hermits? These cookies are the bomb! Seriously, we can't stay out of them. 

Hermits are old-fashioned cookies that has been around since the 1800s. How they got their name is a mystery. I don't know why I thought the cookies would be hard. They are not but in fact super soft with an intense chocolate flavor with a delicious hint of cinnamon. They remind me somewhat of the Snackwell's Devil's Food cookies. They almost melt in your mouth. 

This is definitely one my new favorite cookie recipes!

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1 1/4 sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 TBS. unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. instant espresso or coffee powder
4 oz. unsalted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup raisins
1 cup walnut or pecan pieces

Glaze

1/4 cup sifted confectioners sugar
1 TBS. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 TBS. milk or light cream
Pinch of salt 

Preheat the oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment or foil.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa, cinnamon and coffee.

Cream the butter and add the vanilla extract and sugar, beating well. 

Add the egg and the melted chocolate.

Add the milk.

Add the sifted flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Add the raisins and the nuts.

Scoop the batter out in a rounded tablespoon and place them on the cookie sheets about an inch apart.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until the cookies are firm and bounce back slightly when lightly pressed. Do not overbake.

While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze.

Stir all the glaze ingredients (confectioners sugar, butter, vanilla and milk) until it is smooth. It should have a slightly runny consistency. You can adjust it by adding more milk (if too thick) or sugar (if too thin). In my experience, I had to add a bit more milk.

When the cookies come out of the oven, place a dollop of the glaze on each cookie. (I wasn't too happy with the way the glaze looked on mine so I will try and be more careful when I make them again).

After the glaze has dried, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container. Use wax paper to separate layers.

Peanut Butter Bacon Fat Spelt Cookies

Easy to make, free of dairy and refined sugars, deliciously crunchy and chewy spelt cookies with organic peanut butter and a secret ingredient - bacon fat. The mild sweetness comes from coconut sugar, but real cane sugar would be just as great in the recipe.

200 g Semi-solid bacon fat 200 g Organic crunchy peanut butter 200 g Raw sugar 100 g Coconut sugar or brown sugar 2 Large eggs, room-temperature 2 tsp Vanilla extract 280 g Refined spelt flour ©angiesrecipes 2 tsp Baking soda Raw sugar for rolling

1. Using a hand mixer, cream bacon fat, crunchy peanut butter and both sugars on medium speed until combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, then beat on high speed until combined.


2. Whisk together the spelt flour and baking soda together. Sift the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, then mix on low until combined.


3. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper.


4. Roll the cookie mixture into tablespoon size balls and then roll the balls in granulated raw sugar. Place them on the prepared cookie sheets. You don't need to press or flatten the cookie balls. They will spread while baking. Bake for 12-14 minutes.


5. Remove from the oven. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.