Warm up remaining chilly days with ‘winter food’
I know it is getting warmer weather, and everyone wants to get into the yard planting. Just be sure the soil is warm to make your seeds sprout, and make sure we’ll have rain so they will grow and bloom and produce veggies and fruit.
We will have a few more cool nights, and what I call “winter food” will be warm to our systems, so we will fall asleep like during the cold winter months. Here is a good one to make:
Chocolate Cobbler
¼ cups sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons unsweetened natural cocoa powder, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups hot water
Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl combine ¾ cup sugar, flour, three tablespoons cocoa baking powder and salt. Add milk, butter and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Pour batter into an ungreased, 8-inch square glass baking dish.
Combine remaining ½ cup sugar, brown sugar and remaining four tablespoons cocoa. Sprinkle cocoa mixture evenly over batter and pour hot water over top – do not stir.
Bake until center of cobbler is almost set, 35-40 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Spoon into individual dessert dishes. The cobbler makes its own chocolate sauce in the bottom of pan. Spoon sauce over each serving. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if desired.
Yellow Squash Casserole
Yield around 12 servings. Cooks in 20 minutes.
12 cups or 4 pounds sliced yellow squash
1 cup chilled sweet onion
2/3 cup salted butter, divided
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 eggs beaten
1 sleeve buttery crackers, crushed
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease a 13×9-inch baking dish and set aside.
Place squash in a 6-quart Dutch oven with enough water to cover. Boil until tender. Remove from heat and drain well. Return squash to Dutch oven, but not to stovetop.
In a small skillet over medium heat, cook onion in ½ cup butter until onion is translucent. Pour over squash then add sugar, salt, pepper and eggs to squash. Stir gently to combine. Add cheese and about a teaspoon of Italian Seasoning, if you want a little kick.
Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Top with crushed crackers. Drizzle remaining butter over crushed crackers.
Bake until golden brown, about one hour.
Enjoy all the fresh veggies this season, whatever is in the garden or farmers market – and, of course, your grocery store. They will have fresh veggies that we enjoy on our tables.
