Recipes

Here's a few recipes I've used lately.

Easy Coconut Pie

4 eggs

1/2 cp. self-rising flour

1 3/4 cp. sugar (Decrease if using sweetened coconut, substitue partial honey)

1/2 butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cps. milk

1 cp. coconut, fine

Mix all ingredients. Pour into 9" pie pan. Bake at 325' for 30 minutes.

This is a custardy type of pie...we made it all the time when I was growing up and loved it.

Coconut Macaroons

3 cps. coconut, fine

1 cup sweetened, condensed milk

1/8 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Mix and form into balls. Place on heavily greased baking sheet. (I was feeling scrimpy with the oil, but it needs to almost have a puddle for each one.) Bake for about 8-10 minutes at 350', until lightly browned. Remove immediately and cool.

My review of this recipe is pretty good. They stressed the difficulty of removing the macaroons from the pan. This proved true, and a lot of them crumbled. I think parchment would make it easier to peel them away, but I would still grease it down good. The flavor is good, and I'm not one that cares for that condensed milk stuff. They are moist and chewy.

I plan on making this more traditional macaroon recipe sometime this week.

Traditional Macaroons

4 egg whites, beaten

1 tsp. vanilla and/or almond extract. (I will use the ratio from the previous recipe.)

2/3 cp. sugar

1/3 cp. flour

3 cps. coconut

smidge of salt

Carefully mix ingredients into egg whites, folding in coconut last. Form into balls and bake at 300' for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove immediately and cool.

Why all the coconut recipes, you ask? Heh...I recently ordered from the co-op, and for some reason put down an insane amount of coconut on my order. *lol* So now I have to use it all! Such a shame...coconut being one of my favorites.

Finally, here's a green beean salad I came across and tried.

Bean Vinaigrette

2 lbs. beans

1 TB oil

2 TB of each...

sugar or honey

dijon mustard

vinegar

lemon or lime juice

Steam the beans 10-12 minutes. Mix up dressing and pour over.

I added cucumbers, sweet peppers, green onions, and tomatoes. The dressings is nice and tangy, and the mustard gives a little kick. I would advise marinating several hours in the fridge, maybe holding off on the toms until time to serve.