Pineapple Slicing/Coring Gadget--Beyond Use Recs

On and off throughout the years, I've been using my pineapple slicer and corer (mostly referred to as "gadget" for the rest of this article), along with a knife and plate. It was a great deal when I spotted it in a bargain bin—formerly $10, marked for $2 (woohoo!). Because I use it only sporadically, I didn't include it as one of my "Frequently Used Non-electrical Long-time Kitchen Items".

For online look-sees of pineapple slicers/corers, visit here, here, and here. (OK, I'm doing a rare violation of my aversion to "here" URL pointers.)

A week ago, I bought a pineapple for $1.97. Today, I saw them for $1.50! For several weeks, the store sold them for $2.77. Seems pineapple prices have collapsed over the years. I remember having bought a few at $6 each back about 2000. The same afternoon that I bought the $1.97 one, I spotted a newspaper grocery ad for a different store for 99 cents. That ad for those pineapples did not specify "personal" size; like ones my store had tried to push the previous week. (I wasn't buying; those fruits are not easy to process.)

Between standard dissection instructions on pineapple tags and "normal" spiral-cutting instructions. I've come up with a method for fruitful (ha) yield with less hassle. My pixstrip shows the following pineapple images:

1. First row
   1. Whole fruit and implements
   2. In sink (knife)
   3. In sink (sprayer and brush)
   4. Three parts (base, 2 other sections)
2. Second row
   1. Upper portion, gadget cutting start
   2. Upper portion, rind trimming start
   3. Upper portion, rind trimming finish
   4. Upper portion spiral-cut section and gadget in container
   5. Gadget upside down and core trimmed, pushed in slightly
3. Third Row
   1. Lower portion, most fruit in container
   2. Rest of pineapple needing processing—base, core, chunks (other items shown for reference)
   3. Container with all cut up pineapple on kitchen scale—approximately 3 1/2 pounds

Implements

• pineapple slicer/corer gadget
• two large plates (a cutting board if you prefer)
• various knives for cutting options
• container and lid
• item for loosening fruit core as needed (I used cooking spoon handle, not shown.)

Instructions
Caution: Pineapples are unwieldy; maintain good grips while processing.

1. Prepare the pineapple for slicing.
   1. Use the bread knife to cut off the top.
   2. Scour the rest of the fruit.
   3. Cut off the base for salvageable fruit from its core to the edge.
   4. Divide the rest of the pineapple at midpoint.
2. Process the upper half.
   1. Center the gadget over the upper (smaller) half.
   2. Slowly rotate the gadget clockwise until the teeth grip the fruit.
   3. Continue motions for spiral-cutting the fruit as well as cutting around the fibrous core.
   4. Combine rotating the gadget while turning the fruit in the opposite direction can help. When the gadget reaches the bottom, it turns freely.
   5. Trim the rind away.
   6. Lift the gadget and fruit into a container, and use a paring knife to cut the section into slices or pieces.
   7. If part of the core is splayed at the bottom, use a knife to trim excess and push it toward the handle. Otherwise, remove the core and set it aside. (You CAN partially disassemble the gadget, remove the core, and reassemble the gadget.)
3. Repeat steps a through g for the lower pineapple half. If the fruit does not slice as easily as the top half, you might need to slightly tip the fruit for better leverage in rotating the gadget. Be patient and careful as necessary.
4. Remove the core as appropriate.
5. Cut up the rest of the pineapple.
   1. Use a paring knife or comparably small knife to salvage fruit at the base.
   2. Slice the core into rounds if you want.
   3. Cut the rest of the pineapple into chunks.

For previous pineapple processings, I tended to use the gadget on the topless and bottomless pineapple (ooh-la-la), leaving rind on. Frugal as I am, afterward, I scavenged the fruit from the rind. The shape of the rind tended to be something of a challenge, even after cutting it into smaller pieces. With more recent past dissections, I concluded that spiral cutting was less laborious by processing two halves than the whole. YMMV for method preference.

Mmmm, fresh pineapple! Yummy, as it tastes fine for at least a week!

Don't have a pineapple slicing/coring gadget? Consult the fruit's tag. Also, Goggle for articles and videos about slicing pineapple.

Simply Simple Pineapple Cupcakes

How about pineapple cake that isn't upside-down cake or coconut-pineapple combo (piña colada-ish)? This recipe uses a standard recipe for yellow cake mix and crushed pineapple. Pineapple juice replaces the water. If you want to try an easy scratch recipe, visit "EZ Pineapple Cupcakes".

My cake recipes are usually for cupcake or mini-cupcake/muffin serving sizes; portions and handling are convenient for groups of people. They also take a lot less time to bake than sheet or round pan cakes. I can't work up enthusiasm for making a pineapple upside-down cake—too much mess and hassle for me, I guess.

I originally planned to try the bundt cake recipe that called for adding pudding, which I referred to in my "EZ Pineapple Cupcakes". This Dole recipe made my eyes glaze over, especially the need for 4 eggs and 3/4 cup of oil.

Fortunately, I spotted a related but more intriguing recipe. Although I want to bake a pina colada-type cake, I'm glad I read enough of the recipe to spot the part about replacing water with pineapple juice.

My pixstrip shows the following image sections:

1. Initial preparing
   1. Implements
   2. Ingredients
   3. 20-oz can of pineapple (measured for juice and divided fruit). Note: I squeezed the fruit a LOT to obtain the 1 cup of juice I needed.
2. Mixing
   1. Bowl with eggs, cooking oil, pineapple juice ("wet" ingredients)
   2. Lightly blended "wet" ingredients
   3. Cake mix powder poured onto the blended "wet" ingredients
   4. Mixed
   5. Pineapple poured onto the mixture
   6. Mixed
3. Baking
   1. Batter in pans
   2. Baked cupcakes
   3. Cupcakes turned over onto cooling racks
   4. Cupcakes in tins (8 cut into halves and in checkerboard placement with the other 16)

Implements

• mixer
• medium-large mixing bowl
• rubber spatula(s)
• measuring spoon
• measuring cup(s)
• spoon and bowls for divided pineapple, measuring cup or jar for juice
• cupcake pans (Use different size pans if desired, following baking time suggestions on the cake mix box.)
• cooling rack for baked cupcakes

Ingredients

• 1 box (16.5 oz) yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Classic Yellow cake mix.)
• half of well-drained crushed pineapple (6 to 6 1/2 ounces)
• eggs, number as listed on cake mix box (3)
• cooking oil, amount as listed on cake mix box (1/3 C)
• pineapple juice as replacement for the water called for on cake mix box (1 C)
• spray oil

Instructions (Have the cake mix box handy!)

1. Preheat the oven (350°).
2. Prepare baking pans with spray oil. (The box says to use baking cups for cupcakes, but I didn't.)
3. Lightly blend the eggs, juice, and oil.
4. Pour the cake mix powder into the bowl of liquids and beat as directed.
5. Pour the crushed pineapple into the batter and blend.
6. Distribute the batter into the baking pans. (Cupcake wells will be almost full.)
7. Bake for time recommended (18-21 min for cupcakes). Test for doneness with toothpick.
8. Remove the pans of baked cupcakes and place on cooling racks (~15 min).
9. Place cakes upside down onto the racks. You might need to use a knife to loosen cakes from wells.
10. When the cakes are totally cooled, you can serve them up (with or without frosting), or pack them up.

The recipe yielded 24 whole cupcakes. I cut 8 in half, then arranged all of them in checkerboard pattern. People can pick half size, full size, or combination cupcakes.
Post-Recipe Thoughts

 White Cake Mix Instead of Yellow Cake Mix
The day after I made the cupcakes with yellow cake, I tried the same recipe with Duncan Hines Classic White cake mix. I used the other half of the crushed pineapple and added 1 cup of canned pineapple juice. I also added 8 drops of yellow food coloring before I folded in the pineapple, but the outcome was still paler than using yellow cake mix. Interestingly, the white cake mix calls for 1/4 cup of oil instead of 1/3 cup for the yellow cake mix. The calorie amounts reflect the difference in oil amount.

The table contrasts calorie amounts for yellow vs. white Duncan Hines cake mixes that I used.

Ingredients	yellow	white
prepared mix	2750	2400
pineapple	93	93
juice	130	130
total	2983	2623
each cupcake (1/24 cake)	~125	~110

 EZ Pineapple Cupcakes vs. Using Boxed Cake Mix
The process for the scratch vs. cake mix pineapple cupcakes mainly differs for mixing methods. Scratch requires gentler batter combining, and cake mix requires more vigor. The scratch results were moister than using cake mix. The calories for scratch is 125 (assuming 2 cups of sugar), same as for yellow cake mix. I skipped frosting the cake mix cupcakes to minimize calories and extra effort. I had also passed on adding extract.

Whatever's-In-Your-Kitchen Ham Sauce Recipe

Recently, I looked for an easy ham glaze recipe for my almost 11-pound fully cooked ham. This ham contrasts with the one I prepared and blogged about early last year—"New Year Ham Day". That ham was not quite 9 pounds, spiral-sliced, and included a packet of ham glaze, which amounted to a pound.

In my quest for a reasonably uncomplicated recipe for a ham glaze, my eyes glazed over so many recipes that called for ingredients that sometimes overlapped. The biggest commonality was sweet stuff—brown sugar, honey, syrup, juice, …. Non-sweet ingredients included soy sauce and mustard. Instead of coming up with a glaze, I wound up with ham sauce. More on that further down.

Just prepping the ham with pineapple slices and cherries was a much bigger hassle than with the spiral ham. I kept breaking toothpicks because so many wouldn't go into the ham gracefully.

I speared all the pineapple slices and cherries, and foil-covered the decorated ham. The foil was not easy to handle. It kept easily breaking between the toothpicks piercing it and my trying to gingerly wrap the open sides. I decided to skip the step of needing to open the foil, pour glaze, and rewrap a half-hour before finish time.

I looked for prospective ingred8ients for making some sort of sauce. It was like a treasure hunt in my fridge. Behold, the following list!

• Honey-flavored sauce from a fast-food place that used to provide real honey (two squeeze packets)
• Pancake syrup from yet another fast-food place (one 2-oz container)
• BBQ sauce from another fast-food place (one double-size squeeze packet)
• Bottled BBQ sauce (yes, about 1 oz, poured into the pan without measuring)
• Bottled yellow mustard (two squirts into the pan without measuring)
• Juice from jar cherries (from the 10-oz jar—labeled as 4.1 drained weight)
• Juice from canned pineapple rings (from the 20-oz can, no info on drained weight)

Note: I skipped using soy sauce, as ham is plenty sodium-loaded as is. I also passed on using additional honey that I had on hand.

I gently boiled the sweet stuff, BBQ sauces, and the mustard together in a small saucepan to reduce the liquid to about half its original volume, occasionally stirring and mixing with a wire whip. In a glass cup, I stirred together about a third cup each of cornstarch and water. With the liquid at a reasonably rolling boil, I wirewhipped in the cornstarch mixture until the sauce thickened. (I tossed the excess cornstarch mixture.)

Mmmm, the sauce came out tasty for pouring onto ham slices. Takeaways from my quest for ham glaze/sauce recipes:

1. Google the topic (ham glaze).
2. Note the kinds of ingredients (sweeteners, mustard, etc.).
3. Gently boil the fluid down to concentrate the flavors.
4. If necessary to attain thickening, mix up some cornstarch-and-water paste, and mix it into the gently boiling liquid.

For would-be ham preparers: Spiral-sliced hams are a lot easier to serve up than unsliced ones. If unfamiliar with ham-and-bone anatomy, it can be a bit of a hassle navigating the knife around fat, bone, and gristle to get the meat. One other difference between this ham and the spiral-sliced ham: This one had the skin, and trimming it off added some unexpected extra time meeded for meal preparation.

EZ Pineapple Cupcakes

I recently became intrigued at a poked pineapple cake recipe that I saw in a coupon ad. I found the online version, but only after I ran across a no-poke recipe that attracted me for its simplicity.

In the past, I've looked at pineapple upside-down cake recipes, and can't seem to muster the enthusiasm to make one. Holey moley! Both Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines have recipes that, to me, are mind-numbing for numbers of ingredients. As for maraschino cherries inside the pineapple rings, I'll save those ingredients for the ham that I picked up for Easter and still haven't baked yet. (Sell-by date has another 1 1/2 weeks.)

Back to the Dole recipe, I thought the number of ingredients and process looked way more complicated than what I wanted to try. Making a cake with pineapple in it interested me, along with making handy individual smaller sizes instead of using a bundt pan. It took a good while to find the "Pineapple Poke Bundt Cake" recipe on the web. Without Googling the exact title, I was unable to find the exact recipe. Even searching Dole's website didn't yield the recipe.

The upside in expending the effort to find the pineapple poke cake recipe was finding food.com's "Frosted Pineapple Cake". The cake part calls for only five ingredients—flour, sugar, eggs, crushed pineapple, and baking soda. As usual, when I see a recipe, I assess the ingredients and process. As the poke recipe included vanilla bean, I figured the scratch recipe might be ok with adding vanilla extract.

I further deviated from the scratch recipe as follows:

1. Measured the pineapple juice for curiosity's sake (3/4 cup, the same amount for the poke cake recipe).
2. Stirred the dry ingredients in a plastic measuring bowl.
3. Stirred the wet ingredients in a different measuring bowl. (Added 1 teaspoonful of vanilla. As the poke recipe calls for vanilla bean, good enough use vanilla extract in the scratch recipe.)
4. Stirred the wet ingredients into the plastic bowl.
5. Noted the batter measurement (5 cups).
6. Poured the batter into the 24 spray-oiled cupcake pan wells, baking at 350° for about 20 minutes instead of 9 x 13 pan for 40-45 minutes.
7. Skipped the frosting.

My pixstrip shows eight image areas:

1. Implements (Your preferences might vary.)
2. Ingredients
   • Dry, with plastic bowl
   • Wet, with glass bowl, and spray oil
3. Batter in plastic bowl
4. Batter in cupcake pans
5. Baked cupcakes on cooling rack
6. Baked cupcakes detached from pans and flipped onto cooling rack.
   Note: For extracting the cakes, I used a plastic knife to gently cut around the cakes and nudge at the bottoms.
7. Baked cupcakes in cake taker.

Ingredients

• Dry
• 2 C flour
• 2 C granulated sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• Wet
• 1 20-oz can crushed pineapple, all of it
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• spray oil (Next time, I might try also shaking some flour into pans after I spray oil and see if the cakes detach a little more easily.)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Pour the dry ingredients into the plastic bowl, using a wire whip. (I used a flat one.)
3. Mix the wet ingredients in the other bowl.
4. Pour the mixed wet ingredients into the plastic bowl and stir the ingredients until they're moistened.
5. Pour and evenly distribute the batter into the 24 spray-oiled cupcake wells. (I pushed my luck by pouring the batter to almost the top instead of the usual 2/3 to 3/4 full.)
6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are lightly browned. (Use toothpick test for doneness if desired.)
7. Transfer the baked cupcakes onto cooling rack.

Post-Recipe Thoughts

The recipe makes more of a quick bread than typical cake mix cake. Thus, I used a wire whip to gently but thoroughly mix rather than use a hand mixer and beat the ingredients. The cupcakes' texture seemed denser than regular cupcakes—weighing about 2 ounces each, a little less airy than regular cake, only slightly chewier than a muffin, and not crumbly. The cakes were not crumbly. I put them into cupcake papers for neat handling.

The cupcakes are low fat and low sodium, but extremely high in carbs—lots of sugar, pineapple, and flour. Each is about 125 calories, way less than if you add frosting. Yummy taste and texture; seems like adding frosting would be loading even more sugar and also adding more work.

October 31, 2015 (update)
If you want to use a cake mix method for pineapple cupcakes, visit "Simply Simple Pineapple Cupcakes". An update to ingredients: In researching for that blog article, I saw a scratch-ingredients recipe where 1 1/2 cup of sugar is ok to use. Though 400 calorie savings per batch makes sounds impressive, it translates to only about saving 17 calories per cupcake.

New Year Ham Day

About the time I bought the turkey that I roasted a couple of weeks ago, I spied the supermarket coupon offering $10 off for purchasing a spiral half or whole ham. Hmmm, I hadn't baked a ham in maybe a few years, and the discount looked reasonable if I could find a ham that didn't cost an arm and a leg. Soooo, a couple of days before the coupon expired, I managed to find a ham priced $26.37.

The price per pound wasn't that bad—$2.99. My ham weighed 8.82 pounds. After the coupon discount, the price per pound came to $1.86. Woohoo!

On the day I prepped the ham for baking, I unwrapped it and found two packets—brown sugar and glaze. Hmmm, so how much of my $1.86/pound went for the sugar and glaze? It depends on how much you trust the alleged weight on the packets? OK, I did not weigh the ham in the store, trusting the marked weight on the pricing label.

I weighed the sugar on my kitchen scale. The scale's weight reasonably matched the label, with some flexibility for possible parallax and slop because the scale being analog instead of digital. (It's old!)

The glaze was another story! It was marked as 7 ounces. It weighed 12 ounces! I decided to weigh the sweeteners together and also toss in the prep instructions for good measure. Holy moley—a pound of non-ham stuff! Soooo, recalculating my purchase, my ham cost $2.09 a pound, although buying glaze and brown sugar separately might have been just as costly. Still a good deal.

I did not consider the bone as non-ham weight. Intact hams include the bone anyway. Eh, I should have weighed the bone and fat that I cut after I portioned slices and pieces afterward, for curiosity's sake. Maybe next time. Anyway, "Ham 101: What to Know Before Buying a Ham" is a good resource for reading up on hams, and it has a handy pig diagram.

On the day the coupon was to expire, I told some lunch buddies about the deal. One friend told me later that after luch was over, she went to her neighborhood supermarket, but did not find any coupons. She said a cashier told her that they tend to pull coupons a few days before the expiration. The next day when I went to the supermarket near me, I saw coupons, even though expiered. Looks like different stores might have different policies for removing coupons.

As in my turkey preparation from last month, I looked up oven time. On Google, I encountered advice that ranged from an hour to several for the same approximate weight. The ham recipe on the tag specified an hour after oven preheating. I was amazed that the ham did take only about an hour to heat.

My pixstrip shows the empty pan, a pixstrip of the items on the scale that shows the non-ham weight, and progression of the ham preparation.

Note: Not shown—For lessening fluid evaporation, I put in foil before putting on the ritzy ham. :-) I had narrow foil, so I used two sheets, one overlapping the other one.

1. I laid out pineapple slices to see how they'd take up space, poking a toothpick at the core's hole about 2/3 way into the ham to keep the slices somewhat in place.
2. I speared a cherry onto each of the exposed toothpicks, nudging pineapple slices as needed.
3. I tore off an additional, smaller piece of foil, placed it on the ham, and wrapped the other two sheets over it and the ham.
4. After the hour of baking time, I pulled the ham out of the oven and opened up the foils. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm!

I heated the glaze and sugar as directed. It seemed a better idea than fussing with more complicated recipes that I found on the web. I especially decided I didn't want to try recipes that included having to score the ham and jam in cloves.

The next day, the glaze was so thick that when I dipped a spoon in and pulled it out, it resembled caramel-colored warm taffy. I poured in the leftover pineapple and cherry juice, microwaving and stirring until the glaze was manageable. Good enough to smear on leftover turkey also! (I'm talking abut the turkey from last month that I parceled into serving sizes and froze.)

I was amazed that the ham yielded as much meat as it did. The fact that it was spiral-cut helped the parceling-out process a lot. Now I have packets of ham in the freezer to keep packets of turkey company.