B is for Bison, C is for Clafoutis

by Jan Drexler

This is an exciting time of year in the Black Hills! 

Not only are we enjoying the annual influx of bikers for the Sturgis Rally, but it's rut season for the bison.

What is rut season?

Well, it's when these ladies with babies in tow...

...look awfully good to these gents...

The bull is on the left, and the cow he is "tending" is on the right.

...who have every intention of making sure we have more cinnamon babies next April and May!

Would you believe this little guy is one of this year's babies? He is already losing his cinnamon coloring - his fur/hair/whatever has gradually been getting darker over the last four months, and his little nubby horns are already growing!

But give him five or six years, and he'll look like this:

That is one big bull! And you can see his scars - you don't get to be the father of cinnamon babies without pushing around the other bulls. When they fight...well, you don't want to get too close anywhere near!

But in another month, the cows will be in their herds and the bulls will go off alone, or in pairs. The younger ones gather in groups of four or five. Best buddies spending the winter together. All animosity is forgotten...until next July!

Now on to the next letter of the alphabet - C!

I've shared the recipe for clafoutis here on the blog before, with pears one time, and with apricots the other. But when I was looking for a way to use some sweet cherries I found at the grocery store, I learned that they are the fruit used in traditional clafoutis!

Sweet Cherry Clafoutis

Clafoutis is a French dessert. It is a thick custard with fruit.

Does that sound hard? It isn't! This is one of the easiest recipes ever!

ingredients:

1 cup pitted sweet cherries

3 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup white sugar

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First, pit your cherries. This is much easier if you have a cherry pitter - I put one on my wish list after doing these!

Preheat your oven to 350°, and butter and lightly flour a 9" pie plate. Spread your pitted cherries over the bottom.

Whisk the eggs and sugars together, then add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until the batter is smooth.

Next, pour the batter carefully over the cherries. If you pour it in too fast, the cherries end up in a big pile.

Don't ask me how I know that!

Bake at 350° for 35 to 45 minutes. Mine took 45 minutes to get done - I live at 4000 ft altitude, and things take longer to bake up here.

How do you know if it's done?

As it bakes, the clafouti gets puffy, starting at the edges and going in to the center. It isn't done until the middle is just as puffy as the outside edges. If it starts getting too brown before it's done, you can tent a piece of aluminum foil over it.

As it cools, the clafouti collapses. Don't worry - it's supposed to do that!

You can sprinkle some powdered sugar on top, but I like it just the way it is.

In the traditional clafoutis, the cherries are cooked with the pits inside. This would make for difficult eating, I think, but it also added an almond flavor to the dish. If you want to, you can add 1/4 teaspoon of almond flavoring along with the vanilla to give it a more authentic flavor.

After trying the cherry clafoutis, I think I might try it with sour cherries next time - or go back to apricots. Or maybe peach...

That's one thing about clafoutis! You can use almost any fruit!

What fruit do you think you'll try?

Jan Drexler has always been a "book girl" who still loves to spend time within the pages of her favorite books. She lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband of many years and their active, crazy dogs, Jack and Sam. You can learn more about Jan and her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com.

 

Coconut Custard Pie - So Easy!

Jan here, with another favorite summer recipe!

This one is a rerun from BEFORE - before Carrie and Josh's wedding, before Jacob and Katie's wedding, before our long-awaited move into the Hills, and before Benjamin and Heather's wedding (Squee! That one was only two days ago!)

I do miss the days when the adult children were all living at home, but we knew at the time that when they started moving out, it would happen quickly - and it did! Between June 2016 and July 2019 all four of them flew the nest. If you're counting weddings and children, you're right - one son is not yet married. :-)

But back in those days, my kitchen was well-used and desserts were made much more often. It works out better when there are more people to help eat the goodies. Just sayin'!


Coconut Custard Pie

Ingredients: 

2 cups milk

2 1/2 cups flaked coconut

4 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup all purpose flour (or bisquick)

3/4 cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

Now, here's the hard part (just kidding).

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into a 9 inch greased pie plate.

Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350°, or until golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

This is one of those pies that makes its own crust, kind of like a clafouti, or those "impossible Bisquick" pies that were so popular years ago.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

Back to 2020!

This pie was SO delicious that I still remember that flavor, even seven years later. I'm going to have to make this one again.

But not today! As of this writing, my husband and I are planning to drive slowly home from Benjamin and Heather's wedding, making two stops in towns that I've been longing to visit nearly my entire life!

I had many favorite authors when I was a child. Being a book-girl, I devoured stories by Beverly Cleary, Marguerite Henry, L.M. Montgomery, E.B. White, Mary O'Hara, Lois Lenski, Beatrix Potter, Jim Kjelgaard, Carolyn Haywood... I could go on for an entire blog post! Two other authors belong in that list - Laura Ingalls Wilder and Maud Hart Lovelace. 

If things go as planned, we will have spent yesterday afternoon in Mankato, Minnesota (aka "Deep Valley" from Maud Hart Lovelace's books,) and today in De Smet, South Dakota, where several of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books took place. The ten-year-old inside me is thrilled!

I'll share pictures next week!

Jan Drexler is an author by day who is addicted to counted cross stitch and sauntering through the Hills with her dear husband and their puppies - goofy corgi Jack and growing-fast border collie Sam. You can find Jan's books and other fun things on her website: www.JanDrexler.com.

Revisiting My Favorite Pasta Salad

I shared this recipe a few years ago as we were approaching the Fourth of July, touting it as a perfect side for burgers, brats, ribs, chicken or steak, but chances are your July fourth is going to look a little different this year. Though that doesn't mean you can't enjoy some delicious summertime dishes. Like this super yummy pasta salad.

Naturally, the key ingredient is pasta. You're welcome to use whatever you like/have on hand, but I prefer something with a little color so I often opt for the Wacky Mac or some other tri-colored pasta.

Sometimes you can even find holiday pasta, like red, white and blue stars or red and green Christmas trees. I've seen them at places like Homegoods and Cost Plus World Market. They're fun for both cooking and decorating. Simply keep them on display in a sealed mason jar until you're ready to use them. (BTW, I have no idea why my font size changed)

Cook your pasta according to package directions to al dente. Once the time is up, drain immediately and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Then place your cooked pasta into a bowl. 

Add some chopped red onion, bell pepper and sliced black olives. 

These are my veggies of choice, but you're welcome to add whatever you like. But this next ingredient is what takes this pasta salad to the next level.

Imitation crab, which can usually be found in the meat section of your favorite market, is the key ingredient. Chop it up and stir in as much or little as you like into your pasta mixture.

Top everything with some Italian salad dressing (I don't recommend fat-free versions because without the oil the liquid ends up soaking into the pasta, making for a drier salad) and toss again.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until ready to serve. That means you can make it the day ahead. But when something is this easy, you really don't have to.

Colorful, tasty and simple, making this one of my all-time favorite recipes. Oh, and did I mention it's always a crowd-pleaser?

So what is your Independence Day celebration going to look like this year? I know a lot of the larger cities will be televising their annual fireworks. Somehow, that's just not the same. Ours will be lower than low-key since we'll be celebrating two of our grandsons' graduation on the third. Yes, I have now have two adult grandchildren. And yes, I had my first child when I as ten. 

Award-winning author Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com

Strawberries - Summer's First Fruits

Summer has hit Texas with a vengeance. Temps are in the 90s, but the "feels-like" temperatures have soared into the hundreds. But there is good news. Strawberries are in season.

We've had strawberry shortcake two weekends in a row. And there's never a bad time for chocolate dipped strawberries. But what about a savory strawberry salad?

This is one of my favorite salads.

Here's what you'll need to make it:

• One 10-12 oz package baby spinach
• Half a small red onion, thin sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• Blue cheese crumbles
• Sliced fresh strawberries
• Your favorite red wine vinaigrette

Toss together the spinach, onion, almonds, strawberries, and blue cheese. Now add 1/4 cup of dressing and toss again. And you can always add more dressing, if you like. 

How's that for a simple dish? It's great by itself or on the side with a slice of quiche or, maybe, a grilled chicken breast. The flavor of the blue cheese melds so well with the strawberries and vinaigrette. It's light, it's refreshing... Perfect for summer.

So this happened this weekend.

Nothing like a little encouragement when you're struggling with the beginning of a new story. I'm beyond thrilled.

What are some of your favorite ways with strawberries?

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com