Corn Fritters

Last summer when we vacationed in Gatlinburg, TN, we had a fantastic dinner at The Old Mill in Pigeon Forge. The food there was nothing short of fantastic! It was served family-style, and along with an enormous main entree, you got salad, soup, mashed potatoes, green beans, desert, and the best of all... corn fritters. They were like little fried balls of heaven and they were just fantastic! A while back, I went to their site looking to buy the mix and found something even better... the recipe! This allowed me to tweak it to fit our needs and to be dairy-free.

I made these tonight and they were just as fabulously delicious as I remember! Granted, they weren't as pretty, but they were absolutely delish! Preston came into the kitchen as I was cooking them because he thought he smelled waffles. When he saw them, his face lit up. It took him only seconds to realize that these were a cross between his two favorite foods- doughnuts and corn bread! He loved them until we sat down to dinner and he realized that there was actual corn in them... Darn! He and I did eat several before dinner even began. They are that good! I remember they were still super yummy the next day last summer, so I plan to enjoy them again for lunch tomorrow. Mmmmmmmmm!

Corn Fritters!
1/2 cup bread flour
1/2 cup self-rising flour
2 tbs rice milk
1 tbs melted dairy-free margarine
1/4 cup frozen cream style corn
2 tbs sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Mix all ingredients and drop into hot grease by spoonful. Fry to a golden brown.

Now, copying this recipe directly from their site, I realized that I wrote it down wrong and instead of a 1/4 c. of creamed corn, I used a whole can! No wonder it was runny batter! They still turned out deliciously!

Refrigerator Pickles

These are a summer staple. I love cucumbers and all different ways to fix them. This is my Granny's recipe that I grew up with. Back when I was pregnant with Preston, I craved anything with vinegar- mustard, pickles, and well, vinegar. Being summer, there was an abundance of cukes at Granny and Pa's, so they shipped me home with a ton of them. I was in full-on nesting at that time and felt an overwhelming urge to stock our freezer and pantry. So I had this wild idea to can pickles. I had never canned before, and had no canning supplies. I made them up (a whole gob of them), and canned them in a large cooking pot. They looked good, and they all sealed, but I was way too terrified to ever eat any of them. They sat until we moved 4 years later before I dumped them. Food poisoning scared me to death- and that was before I got salmonella! Anyway...

Refrigerator pickles

Cucumbers sliced thinly
salt
1 c. sugar
1 c. water
1/2 c. vinegar

Boil together sugar, water and vinegar until sugar dissolves. Set aside until cool.

Slice cucumbers and put into a large bowl of water with a generous amount of salt (I just dump until I think it's enough) and let sit for 1 hour. Drain and pour the "brine" over the cukes. Refrigerate a few hours before eating, but they're best if they wait overnight.

Blackberry Freezer Jam

Now this is how you make jam! No cooking and no canning! It used up some of the blackberries that we have running out our ears. For this super easy recipe, you'll need:

3 cups crushed blackberries
5 1/4 c. sugar
1 box powdered fruit pectin
3/4 c. water
Mash berries until you have enough for 3 cups (not 3 cups whole berries). Add all of the sugar, stir, and wait 10 minutes. Mix pectin and water together and pour into berries. Stir a few minutes and...

You have made blackberry freezer jam! Pour the jam into sterilized jars or freezer containers and let sit at room temperature for 24 hours until set, then send them on their way to the freezer! This recipe made enough for 3 jelly jars and two larger jars.

I'll be making a yummy blackberry cobbler this weekend for a cookout, so be sure to check it out once I get pics of it! Seriously, we pick a whole cool whip container or more full every other day, so I'm trying to find different ways to use them up- unfortunately, no one seems to want to take just the berries.

Grilling!

Today is Show Us Your Life over at Kelly's Korner and the theme is grilling recipes! I love grilling! In fact, when we bought this house, I insisted on a Jenn-Air range with a built-in grill. Best investment ever! I can grill rain or shine or in a foot of snow and never leave the kitchen! Here are a few of my favorite grilling recipes, and I apologize for no pictures- I can't wait to eat to take a picture!

Favorite kabobs

Marinade:
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/3 c. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
3T. mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced

Kabobs:
chicken breasts
cherry tomatoes
new potatoes
green pepper

Mix all marinade ingredients together and divide in half. Cut chicken breasts into small chunks and add to half of marinade. Cook potatoes until tender. Cut pepper into chunks. Add all veggies into a bowl with the rest of marinade. Refrigerate for several hours. Skewer and grill until chicken is done. Sorry, I don't have a time, I just check it.

Summer Chicken

Chicken breasts
1/3 c. olive oil
1/4 c. balsalmic vinegar
1 t. dijon mustard
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 t. seasoning salt

Combine all ingredients and marinate chicken overnight. Grill until chicken is done. Delish!

Never fear!

You know what? I have tons of new summer recipes that I haven't put on here. I'm lazy, what can I say? I rarely have the camera up when I'm cooking. I hate to go all the way downstairs to get it. And when dinner's ready, I'm ready to eat, not take pictures of my food! But today I just happened to have the camera in the kitchen as I was making blackberry jam, and captured that and my refrigerator pickles. As soon as I get the urge to hook the camera up to the USB cable (that btw, is sitting right next to me) I'll post them... complete with pictures!