Pressure cooker pep rally

We have two new cooks joining our email circle---Tracy Tang in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Barbara who is somewhere in the world but we don't yet know where. Welcome, Tracy and Barbara!

This week's new recipe is for raw Coconut Apple Bars. I started with a recipe from The Raw Food Gourmet and left out the oil and sweetener. The bars turned out well and I was delighted to have a completely healthy energy bar! I hope you will like them too:
Coconut Apple Bars (Raw!)

Shana in Texas sent a mouth-watering photo of her Amazing Cheese Sauce so I'm sending that recipe again so you can see how it looks: Amazing Cheese Sauce for Queso, Macaroni & Cheese, etc.

Last time I told you about the pressure cooker that came into my life unexpectedly and asked what I should do with it --- and all kinds of good ideas arrived. Sarah in Salem gave me her Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen cookbook with lots of pressure cooker recipes.

Justina in Colorado said: CONGRATULATIONS on winning the pressure cooker! WOW!!! That is fabulous! You asked for simple pressure cooker recipes. Are you on JL’s mailing list? She frequently includes recipes. Also, her cookbook is an investment worth making ... JL Goes Vegan, by JL Fields Justina also told me about another Lorna Sass book, Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure and pointed me to page 84 --- I got it out of the library and will be making that recipe when I can get to the store for some collards.

Joe here in Portland sent encouragement:
Hi Eve, I used to use my pressure cooker a lot. It’s very quick for vegetables such as squash and beans, that take much longer at atmospheric pressure. OF COURSE I did not have a recipe, nor do I remember anything in particular.... Take that puppy out and use it! ... When you see what it will do so cheerfully, singing its hissing little song, it will quickly become a buddy. Trust me. Cheers, Joe

Susan in Portland, who also attended the cooking demo, said:
Eve: How are you doing with the pressure cooker?? The demo encouraged me to try some new things, and I think the pc is great!...
I love the way my pc does collards—in about 3 minutes, plus the time to come up to pressure—about 7 minutes. susan

Christel in Germany sent a link to an interview with JL Fields ( the very person who gave the cooking demo that brought the pressure cooker into my life):
Dear Eve,
somehow the universe has send this e-mail to me so that I can send it immediately to you,
an interview Heather Nicholds ( a Canadian holistic nutritionist led with JL Fields on pressure cooking ). http://www.heathernicholds.com/planning/pressure-cooking-jl-fields?awt_l...
: )
Christel

Shana in Portland suggested using the pressure cooker as a canner and proposed a canning class as a group activity:
Eve - CONGRATS on the pressure cooker! :) ..One easy thing you might want to try to get your “sea legs” with the pressure cooker is to cook and can black beans (or whichever you use most often). We tend to buy them dried because they are SO much cheaper, then cook them overnight in the crock pot, and then pressure can them for easy-peasy grab and go dinner preps. We got 8oz canning jars and they stack nicely in the cabinet. I feel much better about this than tin cans, and it really was quite fast and easy.
.... PCC offers canning classes, actually! And I haven’t any details, but I expect that there are several extension services, too, that would provide classes. I learned on the farm, so I just sort of do it on autopilot, but I could use some training, too! Maybe we can look into an intro class for the Portland group? That would be fun. Cheers, Shana

Portland people----what do you think?

Ellen in Texas added her enthusiasm:
We bought a pressure cooker last year and love it! It is the plug in type, not the over-the-stove type. Congratulations for winning the raffle! I love making bean soup in it. With lots of veggies....whatever I have in the fridge. Beans usually require soaking and lots of time to cook. With a pressure cooker, you can have bean soup done in a flash....well, 30-45 minutes. We even made "boiled peanutes"! Experiment with it! Have fun! Lots of good ideas online.
Aloha, ellen :)

With all your support, I'm pleased to report that the puppy is indeed out of the box, we made our first recipe, and my pressure cooker phobia has been overcome! Once I have more practice, I'm sure I'll have recipes to share with you.

An in Vietnam shared the--- "joys of making Sushi in Norway :) Much of love from An" --- She sent photos and explained
"It is my cooking for the Mindfulness workshop we did in Haugesund, Norway." Thanks for including us, An!

Portland people, our Spring Potluck is coming up, Sunday, April 26. I hope you'll save the date. This one will be at my house---I'll send the details when it gets closer.

Happy cooking, everyone!

Eve