Cooking Lessons for Dad

Cooking Lessons for Beginners

Fruit Salad

by Leave a Comment

Yield: Varies

Fruit Salad

Ingredients

  • Variety of colorful fruits (fresh, frozen, and/or canned)

Instructions

  1. Rinse fresh fruits. Drain canned fruits and thaw frozen fruits as desired.
  2. Gently mix fruits together in a bowl.
  3. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

Acidic fruit juices (like pineapple, orange, or lemon) will keep cut fruits (like bananas and apples) from turning brown. Add enough juice to coat the fruits.

Give frozen fruits enough time to thaw.

Frozen fruits will help to chill the salad and keep it cold for a while. This is nice when taking the fruit salad to a picnic, potluck or another location.

You can also add nuts or coconut if you would like.

© Karen Breyer

 

Frozen Grapes

by Leave a Comment

Yield: Varies

Frozen Grapes

Ingredients

  • Grapes, seedless

Instructions

  1. Rinse grapes and take them off the vine.
  2. Pat or air dry the grapes.
  3. Place them in an airtight freezer container or plastic bag.
  4. Place grapes in the freezer.
  5. The grapes are ready to eat when they are frozen.

Notes

Take out the frozen grapes you are going to eat and leave the rest in the freezer for later. They should last at least a month in the freezer.

There are many varieties of seedless grapes to try.

© Karen Breyer

 

Apricot-Orange Balls

by Leave a Comment

Yield: About 24

Apricot-Orange Balls

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces apricots, dried
  • 2/3 cup almonds, whole, toasted
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest (from 2 oranges)
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (Kosher preferred)
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks (semi-sweet or dark)

Instructions

  1. Wash and dry oranges. Zest oranges, set aside.
  2. Separately chop apricots and almonds in a blender (low speed) or food processor.
  3. Place chopped apricots and almonds in a bowl and mix together.
  4. Stir in sugar, orange zest, salt and orange juice.
  5. Roll mixture into 1 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet.
  6. Microwave chocolate in a glass container on high until melted. Start with 1 minute and stir. If needed, microwave a little longer and stir again. Repeat until melted.
  7. Spread chocolate on top of the apricot-orange balls. Set them aside until the chocolate hardens.
  8. After the chocolate is dry, place candies in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Notes

You can also melt the chocolate on the stove on low in a thick-bottom pan.

If you have extra chocolate, spread it on the top of dried apricots. Let it dry and have a delicious treat!

The drying time for these candies at room temperature will very depending on how warm it is. The warmer it is the longer they will take to dry.

To toast almonds: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place whole, raw almonds on a cookie sheet and bake until they begin turning brown and have a nutty aroma, about 15 minutes.

If toasting sliced almonds, bake 5-10 minutes. Check them early and often as they can burn quickly.

The total number of servings in this recipe vary depending on the size of the candies.

© Karen Breyer

 

Recent Posts