This past week was b-u-s-y! Any time you have to be somewhere at 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. four days out of five is in that class. Monday wasn’t bad, I didn’t need to be anywhere until 12:30 and that was Pokeno, which is always fun, even though we now only have nine members and several of our substitutes couldn’t play. Tuesday was meeting day and work shop day with the Hospital Auxiliary, Wednesday found me working in the gift shop, Thursday I had an appointment in Victoria and Friday I had another appointment, but at least it was practically local, and, yes, I was late as I thought the appointment was at 10:00 and it was actually at 9:30. So far, this coming week I don’t have that many things to do.
Today, we’re going to talk about an unusual spice, called ‘Turmeric’. It has anti-inflammatory properties and can be used in cooking as well as being brewed into a tea.
Turmeric is a perennial plant grown primarily for its edible, orange-yellow rhizomes, and it is used in many of the native dishes of India. The rhizomes are roots of the turmeric plant and they can be used fresh or dried and can be found ground in the spice aisle of the grocery store. According to the photos that accompanied the article I read, the rhizomes are very similar in shape to ginger, and since turmeric belongs to that plant family, it makes sense. Turmeric is usually for culinary purposes, however the plant, especially the leaves resemble a canna lily. It is usually planted in the spring and grows to a height of three to four feet and has that same width. It can also be grown in pots indoors, but seems to take quite a bit of care, including daily watering. Where a canna lily is pretty much shaped like a lily of some type, this plant has a spike type of bloom, sort of shaped the same as a blue bonnet or larkspur. If you would like more information, including benefits as well as side effects, type ‘turmeric’ into your search box and you’ll find quite a lot of information. For recipes, go to ‘Allrecipes’, as there were no recipes included with the article.
Since the articles didn’t have a recipe, I thought maybe this old-fashioned Fruit Cocktail Cake would be something you’d like to try. The recipe is pretty simple, and you don’t even need a mixer!
Fruit Cocktail Cake
(Preheat oven to 350ºF)
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 can fruit cocktail, undrained
2 eggs (lightly beaten in a cup before using)
Stir the above ingredients together by hand until mixed well.
Sift together and stir into first mixture:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
Stir until dry ingredients are incorporated with the liquid ones.
Pour into 9x 13 pan; then, mix together and pour on top of mixture in pan
½ cup brown sugar and ½ cup shredded coconut.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until cake tests done with toothpick inserted near center of cake.
Topping:
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup evaporated milk (i.e. Pet, Carnation or desired brand)
½ cup butter or margarine
Place in saucepan and cook about 2 minutes or until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved; then add:
¾ cup coconut
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup chopped pecans
Pour over top of hot cake.
Happy, Happy Birthday to my precious daughter!!!!