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FAMILYRECIPE I spent most of my childhood summers at my Grandma Bernice's house in a small town in south- western Louisiana. There was a country store — Mr. Martin's store, as I knew it, though I'm sure it had a real name — just around the corner from my grand- mother's place. That store had a huge candy case with every- thing a child with a sweet tooth could imagine: Raz- zles, Zotz, Candy Buttons, Necco Wafers, Marshmal- low Circus Peanuts, Lem- onheads, Astro-Pops and, who can forget Orange Slices candy? My grandma always made the kids a special treat at least once during our summer visit. Orange Slice Cookie Bars — which are simple to make with just a few ingredients — are super sweet, but also full of flavor. I hadn't had these cookie bars in years, so I decided to make them one after- noon after flipping through my grandmother's recipe book. One bite brought me back to Grandma Bernice's By Heather Shelton hshelton@times-standard.com It's funny how things change when you get older. When I was young, I loved candy of most kinds. These days, I'd rather eat fresh fruit and veggies. Still, the memories of my youth remain sweet indeed. Asliceof HEATHERSHELTON—THETIMES-STANDARD Orange slice cookie bars are moist, chewy and super sweet. orange kitchen, munching on these delectable treats and sipping on a hot cup of sweetened tea. Here's the recipe. Enjoy! Orange slice cookie bars INGREDIENTS 112-ounce bag Or- ange Slices candy 2cups flour ½ teaspoon salt 1pound light brown sugar 4eggs 1cup slivered almonds (optional) 1teaspoon vanilla DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut Orange Slices candy into small pieces. Add to one cup of flour and mix well. Set aside. In another bowl, mix the other cup of flour with the rest of the ingredients, then add the floured orange candy slices and mix everything together. Spread the dough in a well-greased 13-by- 9-by-2-inch pan. The dough will be sticky. Bake for 30-45 min- utes until done. Take out of oven and let cool, then slice into bars. Sprinkle pow- dered sugar over warm bars. Serve. Citrus- flavored cookies are a sweet treat THROUGH THE HOPVINE I discussed sake a few weeks ago. Today, I will discuss the art of making this traditional table beverage of Japan. You'll need just a few things — rice, water, a culti- vated mold called koji and yeast. You will also need ba- sic beer brewing supplies — like a bucket, airlocks and sanitizing equipment — and a large rice steamer. You must also be metic- ulously clean. Sake can be made in just 10 days, but commercial breweries tend to take longer, aging their sake for a time in steel tanks — partly to let fine sediments set- tle out and the flavors soften. The product, at the end, will be perfumey and fragrant, at least as strong as your average wine, and, as long as you haven't re- ally screwed up, anywhere from pretty good to delicious. A critter called Aspergil- lus oryzae will be working side by side with you as you brew your sake. This mold, widely cultivated in Asia and gener- ally called koji, does something novel: It converts starch into sugar, from which yeast makes alcohol. Whereas brewing shops, like J&M Brewing Supplies in Novato, usually carry pre- malted barley and even syrupy malt extract (eliminating the need for you to malt the grain yourself), you are not likely to find the equivalent products in the rice market. Thus, you must malt the rice yourself. To do this there are two ap- proaches. One — buy a sake homebrew kit at J&M, in which you will find a package of koji spores. Follow the instructions and blend these with steamed sushi rice. It takes a few days for the spores to propagate in the starchy kernels. This produces koji rice, which will be a critical sake brewing ingredient, provid- ing the enzymes needed to turn rice starch into sugar. The other option is to buy a package of premade, freeze- dried koji rice. In San Francis- co's Japantown, Nijiya Market, at 1737 Sutter St., carries a prod- uct called Cold Mountain Koji. Buy it and bypass the do-it-your- self process. Once you've got your koji rice, making sake is simple. For a 1-gallon batch, you'll want 3 pounds of white sushi rice. Brown rice is not suitable, since the germ and bran contain amino acids and oils that will produce funky flavors in your sake. Rinse the rice thoroughly, until the cloudy water running off it turns clear. Then, soak the rice for an hour. Finally, steam the rice (as opposed to boiling it) until the kernels are al dente — rubbery but edible. You've sanitized your bucket and other equipment using io- dine or One-Step No Rinse Cleaner (both available at J&M), right? Good. Dump in the steamed rice, followed by a gal- lon of cold water. This should equalize the temperature to a yeast-friendly, lukewarm range. Add 20 ounces of koji rice. Fi- nally, sprinkle in your sake yeast. Put a lid on the bucket and pop in the (well sanitized) airlock. Within hours, the air- lock will begin to go glug glug glug as CO2 pushes its way out from the fermenter— a sure sign that the koji and yeast are turn- ing the starch into sugar and the sugar into alcohol. You want to ferment sake rel- atively cold. Fifty or 60 degrees is ideal, though colder doesn't hurt. Neither will a few degrees warmer, but if you can't keep the temperature below 70, wait until November. Contact Alastair Bland at allybland79@gmail.com Turn your rice into sake and kanpai Alastair Bland If you're intrigued by chocolate for breakfast, this cake will do nicely. I mean, it does have vegetables in it! Chocolate zucchini cake Makes 24squares INGREDIENTS 1/2 cup (1stick) butter 1/2 cup vegetable oil 13/4 cups sugar 1teaspoon vanilla extract 1teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2large eggs 1/2 cup sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt 21/2 cups unbleached all-pur- pose flour 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa 2teaspoons espresso powder, optional but tasty 3cups shredded zucchini (about one 10-inch zucchini) 11/2 cups chocolate chips, divided use DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 325degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch pan. Set aside. 2. In a large mixing bowl or with a stand mixer fitted with the flat paddle, beat together Chocolate Zucchini Cake CONTRIBUTED Want chocolate for breakfast? This chocolate zucchini cake at least gives you some vegetable cover for those who might pass judgment. the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until smooth. 3. Beat in the eggs. Stir in the sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt alternately with the flour. Add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing until smooth. 4. Fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Spoon the bat- ter into the prepared pan. 5. Bake the cake for 30-35minutes, until the top springs back lightly when touched. 6. To ice the cake: Slide the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the remaining 1cup chocolate chips, and return it to the oven for 5minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. 7. Remove the cake from the oven, and use a cake spatula or rubber spatula to spread the chocolate chips into a smooth glaze. Cool on a rack before cutting into squares. — Contact Donna Maurillo at sentinelfood@ maurilloo.com. 365-7194 or 365-4322 OPEN 7 DAYS 6am-10pm 8080 AIRPORT ROAD Your full service: Meat Department, Deli & Groceries www.kentsmeats.com On-site HARVESTING CUTTING & CRYOVACING Round Up Saloon Round Up Saloon 610WashingtonSt. (530) 527-9901 COMING SOON 16Beersontap providinga larger selection of craft/micro beers 734MainStreet 530-690-2477 11am-9pm Mon.-Thur. 11am - 10pm Fri. & Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 9 CRAFT BEERS ON TAP Pizza Restaurant FOOD » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, June 8, 2016 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B4