Dutch Oatmeal Delights

This month we have a muffin recipe from Deanna Ogle who lives in Bellingham, WA. Deanna is a gem of person, without whom, my private Facebook group would not run as smoothly as it does. She is my right-hand (wo)man and also one of my administrators, pro bono!
She worked as a bookkeeper until she got burned out on that, then she became a baker and, finally, at the age of 30, she went to school and got her nursing degree. She grew up cooking in 4H, her parents were 4H leaders and her mother ran the cooking groups. When she was 11 years old, she placed second at the state 4H fair for a streusel coffeecake in the bread-baking competition.
Like I said before, Deanna was a baker. She worked in a Dutch bakery in Lynden, WA and the following recipe is her variation of a classic Dutch muffin recipe. She said the Dutch tend to love coconut, raisins and walnuts and this muffin recipe utilizes all three.

Dutch Oatmeal Delight Muffins
1-1/2 cups boiling water
1-1/2 cups oatmeal
3/4 cup soft margarine (I used unsalted butter)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger *optional
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine boiling water and oats in a bowl and set aside.
Cream margarine with sugars, then add eggs and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and mix well.
Stir in nuts, raisins and coconut, then add the softened oatmeal.
Scoop into paper-lined or sprayed muffin tins.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until done.
(I baked mine at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Please keep in mind that I am using a small propane oven and it is a more true heat than an electric oven, so baking times will vary)
NOTE: An ice cream scoop works well to portion out the muffin batter. You can mix a larger batch of batter up and keep it stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks and bake off fresh muffins whenever you want them! I was able to get 24 regular sized muffins from this recipe, and they were delicious!

April was one of my busiest months, to date, and I even took a break from cooking around the world! I’m starting again, very soon, with Montserrat, and then I should be back on track. We are still house hunting because the time has come for us to get out of this RV and into a normal home again. Follow my blog!
http://lifeinanarv.blogspot.com to be able to join in on my upcoming giveaways. So, until we meet up in June, get those international recipes in (especially if they’re delicious, like this one is) and PEACE!

FRESH shrimp salsa

March has been a crazy month for us in the ol’ RV. My husband has gone back to work, I’ve had to take a break from cooking around the world until the middle of this month. My membership for my private Facebook group has jumped sky-high and I’ve had to establish a small group of administrators to monitor that for me because, otherwise, I wouldn’t have time to cook!
This month, in honor of spring, I’ve decided to feature a simple salsa dish I created years ago and it is really easy to change it up to whatever ingredients suit your taste.

Shrimp Salsa
1/2 pound small salad shrimp (you can use larger cooked shrimp, just roughly chop them into small pieces)
2 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped (or if you can get some heirloom tomatoes, that would make this dish over-the-top awesome!)
1/2 medium-sized red onion, diced (No red onion? No problem…just use whatever you have on hand…Walla Walla sweets are super good, too!)
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro (if you don’t like cilantro, use parsley)
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and diced (if you use a regular cuke, just scoop out the seeds)
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and minced (if you remove all the seeds and veins, these just add flavor and no heat)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder)
*I also made this with diced avocado added in and it was fantastic! You could also add in some lump crab meat. Use your imagination and use this recipe as a guideline because nothing is ever written in stone!

Combine everything in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to overnight.
This is awesome with “scoop” tortilla chips.
I have made this several times for parties and I’ve never had to bring home leftovers. It disappeared in no time flat and I have to say that it is my most requested recipe.
I cooked from Colombia and Pakistan in the last month. Like I said previously, I’ve had to take a short break. I had help with Pakistan because I have a friend who lives there, and I was extremely grateful for Nabila’s help. Thank you so much, Nabila, I find your country’s culture fascinating!
I plan on cooking from my 77th country, Montserrat in mid-April. You can keep track of my world “travels” food-wise at
www.lifeinanarv.blogspot.com
I am starting to plan for my recycled container garden and I already have gotten my snow peas into the dirt. I am not going to grow as big of a garden this year because we are planning on an upcoming move.
No, we won’t be moving the RV to a different spot, we will be moving ourselves back into a house if all goes to plan. I’m grateful for that. I miss my furniture!
There is something that I am curious about. Do you cook by following a recipe or just “winging” it? It’s just some food for thought!
Until next month…Peace!

Life in an RV

This month’s recipe comes from Brooke Mackie-Ketcham who hails from the North Shore area of Boston, Massachusetts. She sent in a recipe for Korean Pumpkin Rice Pudding (at right). I was intrigued and not all together convinced that it would taste good.
Brooke is an amazing woman who adopted 2 children from Calcutta, India and 1 child from the USA.
She lives with  2 of her daughters, her husband, her adorable grandson, Anthony and 2 Siberian huskies. Her son, James, is in the Army and is stationed in Korea. Her diverse family has spurred on her love of international foods and she is always sending me interesting recipes that she finds. I’m really proud to count her among my friends, not to mention that my husband has a soft spot for her because he was born in the Boston-area, as well. Thank you so much for sending this recipe, Brooke!
Korean Pumpkin Rice Pudding
1 cup arborio or short-grained rice (the same rice used for risotto)
3 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean (I used a teaspoon of vanilla)
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice
A pinch of sea salt
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (I actually used 2 cups of pumpkin because I cooked some down last fall and froze it in 2-cup measurements)
In a large saucepan, combine all the ingredients, except the pumpkin. Heat to boiling over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once mixture reaches the boiling point, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, until the rice is tender and most (not all) of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and stir in pumpkin.
*The recipe can be made ahead to this point. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 days. To rewarm, simply stir in an additional 1-1/2 cups milk and heat over medium-low heat. Serve warm, sprinkled with brown sugar.
Like I said, I wasn’t sure I would like this recipe. I’ve never had rice pudding. I did screw up, however, by using long-grain white rice instead of the arborio rice I had purchased for this recipe. Other than a few crunchy rice kernels, it was surprisingly quite tasty and, while I wouldn’t want a steady diet of it, I would make this again on occasion.
February has been a super busy month for me. I have cooked meals from Yemen, Cameroon, Finland and Aruba. I was also asked to review a cookbook, Mourad: New Moroccan written by Mourad Lahlou. He is the owner/chef of the only Michelin starred Moroccan restaurant in North America located in San Francisco. I found myself fully engrossed in the book and was disappointed when it ended. You’ll be able to view my review of some of Mourad’s delectable recipes on Life in an RV http://lifeinanarv.blogspot.com
I have some giveaways coming up on my blog, so if you want to partake of those, make sure to sign up to follow Life in an RV. I am coming up on my halfway mark of Year II of Around the World in an RV, with a box crammed full o’ stuff being given away to one of you lucky blog followers.
I’ve also had new recipes published on Allrecipes.com. You can view my profile and get the links to my published recipes here. allrecipes.com/cook/witchywoman
Until we all meet up again in April…please get those international recipes in!! Peace!

Life in an RV

January has been a busy month for me! My new tenure for the Allrecipes.com Allstar Ambassador program (if you’re interested, see allrecipes.com) began this month and I was able to watch a miracle unfold in my private Facebook group. Actually, there have been a couple of miracles.
First, people keep asking to be added in, which is super cool and second, I got to witness my Peeps of the Page, as I like to call the members of my witchywoman’s Life in an RV page on Facebook, band together when one of our members fell on misfortune. I was totally amazed at the spirit of community and the awesome side of people to help someone that they have never met in person. It was heart-warming.
Last night, I cooked a menu from my 69th country, Nicaragua. To catch up, please see http://lifeinanarv.blogspot.com. I made Nicaraguan enchiladas. Now forget any notion you may have of cheese-laden, sauce-drenched, yummy enchiladas, these are completely different! These are more like an empanada and equally delicious! My dilemma is that I had all of this leftover shredded pork loin roast that I roasted with an orange, garlic and pepper.
In writing the Life in an RV blog, one of my most frequently asked questions from readers is how to make an Asian-style fried rice. Well let me show you how to turn Latin into Asian in a snap!
Recycled Pork Fried Rice (Recycled because I’m digging the whole recycling thing right now)
4 beaten eggs
1 cup leftover meat (pork, chicken, beef, shrimp or bacon…doesn’t matter)
1 cup cold cooked plain white rice (leftover rice from the night before is best, but I have done this successfully with freshly cooked rice)
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (I like some heat, what can I say…if you don’t, leave it out or use bell pepper or use no pepper, if they aren’t your gig!)
1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced (if you don’t dig garlic, don’t use as much)
Soy sauce and sesame oil, to taste (I use tamari, which is an aged soy, but it’s more expensive…regular or low-sodium soy sauce is just as good)
1. Get out a wok or a huge skillet. Heat 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil (canola, safflower, peanut…they all work) over medium heat. When oil is hot, add beaten eggs and continuously scramble with a spatula until the pieces of egg are no bigger than your thumb nail and are “dry” looking. Remove from skillet and set aside.
2. Add about a tablespoon of oil to the skillet and crank the heat up as high as it will go. Add in this order to the screaming hot skillet: carrots & celery, cook for about 3 minutes or until crisp-tender; jalapeno, onion & garlic, cook for another 2 minutes, then add in meat and then the rice, toss to combine everything. Cook until meat and rice are heated through.
3. Add in egg.
4. Start by adding a tablespoon of soy sauce at a time until it reaches the desired salty consistency that you like. Once it’s there, drizzle sesame oil on the top…not much, maybe a teaspoon or two at the most.
5. Enjoy! You just made better fried rice than you can get at any restaurant around here!
Like I said, I’ve cooked from 69 countries so far. In January I cooked from Switzerland, Togo and Nicaragua and Brazil will round out the month.
Make sure to get those international recipes in to me…if we have to depend solely on my culinary skills, you may be doomed….JUST KIDDING!
Peace!
Send your recipes into:
editor@valleybugler.com
Subject: Recipe

Peanut-raisin-cashew Clusters

This month’s recipe is a little unconventional and for that I apologize. I’ve been super busy with Allrecipes.com and the Cookies Across America campaign. In December, I also took a trip up to the Allrecipes headquarters in Seattle and toured their office. I was really impressed.
This is the #1 (Numero Uno) recipe website on the internet and it’s also where I got my blogging start. If you head over there, look me up. I am the one and only witchywoman on Allrecipes. We have the “Buzz” over there and it is a forum where you can post questions and get answers from some of the best home cooks in the world.
The blogs are also a great source of information and humor. It is the one website that I will actually pay to support because they have opened up a whole new world for me, cooking-wise and I’ve made some dear friends from around the world due to Allrecipes.
I’m not sharing an international recipe with you this month, although we did receive some from readers. I’ll save those for next month.
Instead, in light of the Christmas baking and candy making that I have done, I created a new recipe that will surely fix any sweet tooth you may have during the rainy, cold winter season. It can be as simple as only using 2 ingredients or as complex as you want to get.

Peanut-Raisin-Cashew Clusters
24 ounces chocolate confectioner’s coating (or commonly known around these parts as Almond Bark)
2 cups roasted peanuts, unsalted (use salted if that’s your gig!)
2 cups multi-colored raisins (I buy mine in bulk at Winco)
1 cup roasted cashews (I had a cup hanging around from a recipe I did a few weeks ago)
*Melt the confectioner’s coating in the nuker (microwave) in 30 second intervals, stirring until it is completely smooth and no lumps.
*Stir in peanuts, raisins and cashews until everything is well-coated.
*Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
*Stick it in the fridge until the chocolate is set.
*Store in the freezer or refrigerator.
Now, I don’t know about you, but with me, I like to have something chocolatey hanging around because living where we do, tons of people suffer from seasonal depression. I, sometimes, get those wintertime blues myself. What is a better way to beat the blahs than with a piece of homemade candy??? That and hot chocolate and a good comedy in the ol’ DVD player and you’re all good to go!
I’ve made it through more countries from around the world. I did take a break over the Thanksgiving holiday for 2 weeks, but it felt like 2 years! This last month, I have made meals from: Rwanda, Ukraine, The Federated States of Micronesia and Bahrain. I have some giveaways coming up on Life in an RV, so make sure that you sign up to follow the blog to be able to get in on those.
http://lifeinanarv.blogspot.com
Peace!
**Note: All of your “International Recipes” qualify for an experiment in my RV kitchen, don’t you think? Submit to the Valley Bugler, and include your “tips and tricks” so I can cook my way into the international cuisine you send my way!
eMail to: editor@valleybugler.com

Filipino Adobo Recipe!

By Laurrie Piland
I received this recipe from my blog reader, who submitted it to the Bugler Editor, Gail Cobile from Virginia. Gail’s husband is from Southern Leyte, The Philippines. This recipe has never been published in any form (it has now!) and the recipe came to Gail from her husband’s aunt. Watch for my step by step blog of this delicious recipe, and how I adapted it on December 2nd:
lifeinanarv.blogspot.com

Tia Nonie’s Chicken & Pork Adobo
8 cloves garlic, crushed
3 bay leaves
10 peppercorns
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 pounds lean pork, cut into 2-inch cubes (I used 3 pounds of pork)
6 chicken thighs (I omitted the chicken…I didn’t have a pot large enough to hold everything)
1/3 cup vegetable oil

*Combine garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns, vinegar and soy sauce in a large zippered storage bag. Add pork & chicken, marinate for at least 4 hours.
*Transfer meat and marinade to a large, non-reactive Dutch oven or heavy saucepan. Heat to boil, over high heat. Boil, uncovered, 2 minutes.
*Cover, reduce heat to medium; simmer until meat is cooked and liquid is reduced by half, about 30 minutes (the reduction of the liquid provides a delicious gravy for the cooked meat). Set all aside.
*Remove garlic and bay leaves from mixture with a slotted spoon. Heat oil in a large skillet. Remove chicken & pork from sauce; add to skillet and lightly brown on all sides.

*Add meat and 1 tablespoon oil from skillet to remaining sauce in pan, cover and simmer over low heat10 minutes or until all the meat pieces have been coated by sauce.
Serve with a sushi style (sticky) rice, as shown below.
This dish was absolutely delicious. My husband, a Vietnam veteran, has been to the Philippines. He said it brought back nice memories of the beaches and so on. I will absolutely make this delicious dish again. What I like about it is that all the ingredients are readily available and are usually found in my pantry.
I have to say that Life in an RV has been very interesting as of late. Suffice it to say there is never a dull moment! I’m getting ready to prepare our Thanksgiving feast this year by attempting to prepare a duck for the first time. I am actually preparing a menu to honor Pacific Northwest cuisine. We are so lucky to live where we do and have the ingredients available that we have. I always hear about Southern, Cajun, Southwestern…but, I really don’t hear much in the way of Pacific Northwest cuisine, so I’m up for the challenge!
I have prepared menus this month from San Marino, Chile and Monaco. I am taking a break from world cuisine until after Thanksgiving, just to give the holiday it’s due respect. I’ll be continuing on with my world journey by cooking from Rwanda on December 1. So until we meet up in January, make sure to send those international recipes in, keep cookin’…and…peace!
Happy Holidays to all!
**Note: All of your “International Recipes” qualify for an experiment in my RV kitchen, don’t you think? Submit to the Valley Bugler, and include your “tips and tricks” so I can cook my way into the international cuisine you send my way!
eMail to: editor@valleybugler.com

Bakonyi Sertesborda!

By Laurrie Piland
I want to share a super easy, super tasty recipe that we received from Valley Bugler reader, Donna Barnes.
She got this recipe from her Hungarian exchange student, Daniel, who gifted her a cookbook and she adapted the recipe to resemble recipes that she was used to and to reflect ingredients that are available to her up in British Columbia, Canada.
Thanks so much for sending it in, Donna and watch for my blog on November 2nd showing a step-by-step of how I made this delicious recipe with my tweaks!
www.lifeinanarv.blogspot.com

Bakonyi Sertesborda
4 1/2-inch cut pork loin chops
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Flour (to dredge)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
4 slices bacon, chopped (the original recipe came over to me saying “rashers”…I don’t know exactly what a “rasher” is, so I assumed it meant thick cut slices)
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon (Yes!) paprika
2 cups chicken stock
1 bell pepper, chopped
3 roma tomatoes, seeded and cut in wedges
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped (I’m lucky…I’m growing it in a tub out front)
3/4 cup sour cream (full-fat, baby!)

*Pound out chops until they are 1/4-1/3-inch thick (I skipped this step and just adjusted the cooking time).
*Season with salt & pepper, dredge in flour and shake off the excess.
*Fry in a skillet in 2 tablespoons olive oil until golden on both sides (about 3 minutes per side if you pound them out…longer than that if you don’t!).
*Remove from skillet and set aside. In a clean pan (I used the same skillet), add the bacon and render for about 4 minutes.
*Add onions & cook until translucent.
*Add bell peppers, mushrooms (I used chanterelles, I love having a foraging neighbor!!), and paprika, stir to combine.
*Arrange pork in skillet, add chicken stock to barely cover chops…here is where I switched stuff up: I used a can of sliced stewed tomatoes instead of romas, with the juice (I’m on tomato buying strike, tomatoes only look like tomatoes at the store, they taste like nothing!) and cut the stock back to one cup.
*Top with tomato wedges and parsley.
*Cover pan and reduce heat to low.
*Simmer for about 30 minutes or until chops are tender.
*Remove chops to a platter.
*Turn heat back up to medium and add 1/2 of the sour cream (I only used about 1/2 cup total and I just added it all in), reduce until sauce coats the back of a spoon.
*Adjust seasonings and pour sauce over the chops.
*Top with remaining sour cream (I skipped this step, too!).

I have to say that this will be a regular go-to recipe for this ol’ RV from now on.
In the last month, I have made a complete menu from Azerbaijan, Sri Lanka, Norway and tonight will be the night for Bermuda…what’s been up in your kitchen? Stay tuned until next month and get those international recipes in…cuz I ain’t skeered of anything except snakes.
So, until we meet up in December, peace!
**Note: All of your “International Recipes” qualify for an experiment in my RV kitchen, don’t you think? Submit to the Valley Bugler, and include your “tips and tricks” so I can cook my way into the international cuisine you send my way!
eMail to: editor@valleybugler.com
or Mail to: 705 Vandercook Way
Longview, WA 98632

Calling all recipe enthusiasts!

It’s been 3 years since my husband and I moved into the ol’ 21-foot RV here with our 2 big dogs and mouthy girl cat named Dave. It’s been 2 years that I’ve been blogging about our RV life, my recycled container garden and what I cook in the kitchen/galley. I’d like to explain the “what I cook” deal a little further, but give me a sec…
My name is Laurrie Piland and I write Life in an RV.
www.lifeinanarv.blogspot.com
It feels weird to say that. What I cook is NOT typical RV or camping fare. I am cooking my way ‘Around the World in an RV’, seriously, that’s the name of my project. I’m getting ready to prepare a meal from my 54th country, Guatemala, today. I let my blog readers choose which country they would like to see, I cook from one country per week and I prepare each meal on a budget of $20 or less with ingredients that I find around Longview/Kelso…no easy task!
I have no formal cooking training, I’m completely self-taught. This project has taught me quite a lot about different cuisines, spice mixes and world cultures. It has taught me that I can create a plan and stick to it and it’s taught me self-reliance.
I wanted to share a quick Korean-style marinade with you, and, forgive me, but I’ve no formal writing training, either…but you’ll get that idea quickly enough!

Korean Kalbi Marinade
*Use for beef, pork, chicken or shrimp, if that’s your gig!

* 1/2 cup soy sauce
(use low-sodium if you must)
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
(light, dark, who cares!)
* 2 finely chopped scallions
(green onions, around these parts)
* 3 teaspoons sesame oil
* Pinch of red pepper flake
(a pinch is open to interpretation)
* 2 cloves minced garlic

Put all ingredients into a gallon freezer bag – make sure it’s closed or you’ll be cleaning a heap ‘em big mess – and smush (Yes! That’s one of my technical cooking terms!) everything around to combine it. Put in whatever meat you want to use to the bag, seal it again and stick it in the fridge. Now just walk away for at least 6 hours so that the meat can have a bit of privacy with the marinade!! When they are done doing what it is that they do best…GRILL THOSE SUCKERS UP!

**Note: All of your “International Recipes” qualify for an experiment in my RV kitchen, don’t you think? Submit them to us, and we will highlight one reader-submitted recipe each month here in the Valley Bugler, as well as in my blog. Include your “tips and tricks” so I can cook my way into the international cuisine you send my way!
eMail to: editor@valleybugler.com
or Mail to: 705 Vandercook Way
Longview, WA 98632