Food and Space

I am forever fascinated by space food.

Quick and Easy Apple Bites

Every once in awhile I wake up and I can't find anything suitable for breakfast. Yes there are eggs and toast or yogurt in my house, but sometimes that doesn't cut it. Today with some left over crescent roll dough and some fruit lying around I made an easy turnover*. I'm never sure what to call anything I make because it is often a half-assed attempt at something with a real name.

This recipe is  fast, simple and can be used with any fruit.  In the end you have 8 little golden nuggets of yum.

What You Need:

• 1 Apple
• 1 container of crescent roll dough
• Cinnamon
• Brown Sugar

1. Cut up the apple, add cinnamon and brown sugar. Mix it all together

2. Place a spoonful of fruit onto each crescent roll and make an attempt to fold it into an attractive design. I found myself pinching dough on the sides to avoid leakage in the oven and it made a difference.

3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes and enjoy!

It is that easy to make a breakfast treat for when you are not in a standard breakfast mood.

Oyster Farming

I don't think I've ever eaten an oyster but after reading a passage about oyster farming I am way more interested in the process. For one oyster farming has been around for centuries, in fact in Japan there are accounts of oysters being cultivated before the birth of Christ.

The featured video shows one technique but another is to attach oysters to strings. The article explained how "spat" (little baby oysters) are places on shells or ceramic tile attached to the line. The source of the picture below says oysters are tied to the lines- which causes them to grow faster, have a higher yield as well as reduce costs.

Cranberry Bruschetta

If you're looking for a unique spread Cranberry Bruschetta is a tasty choice. It combines tart cranberries and savory spices like basil, garlic and oregano.

What you need:

• 1.5 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar (I also used balsamic)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 loaf of french bread (whole wheat)

 1. Add cranberries, vinegar and sugar to a saucepan, bring to a boil.
 2. Add garlic to saucepan and cook for about 8 minutes.
 - I didn't think there would be enough liquid to boil when I first added everything to the pan, but after a few minutes you really get some moisture from the cranberries. Once you add the garlic you have to cook it down further to get a thicker consistency

  3. Add basil and oregano and fold in. One batch makes less than 1 cup over all once cooked down.

 4. Toast some sliced bread and enjoy. I doubled the recipe for my family, but we had leftover (pigs in a blanket won the appetizer competition this year).

Overall this is a fruity spread and was still very tart even with the sugar which was a nice compliment to the things we usually eat. The basil and garlic carry it a long way.

Original recipe from OceanSpray - they recommend adding 1/2 a red onion but I wouldn't recommend it.